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What’s Stopping Me?

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

From my last post you’ll see I have trouble keeping my office, shed and garage tidy.

I realise that we all have goals that we achieve and others that we don’t.

What’s the difference?

For me it’s about what I believe I like doing and what I believe I don’t like doing.

This results in either action or inaction.

All the other bits are there: I now it’s good to achieve; I know how to do it; I want the end result; but – I don’t like doing it – in this case tidying up! So I put it off, make excuses like – too busy etc. It doesn’t get done.

So what can I do to differently to enjoy tidying up as an action?

How can I make tidying up fun or important and pleasurable?

How can I reframe my dislike of the function of “tidying up”?

Do you have any ideas?

Let’s have a competition to see which ideas are best.

Send me your best idea to help me enjoy tidying up and I’ll give all of you who respond within a week, an e-book that I use in my private client coaching program, and to the winner (in my sole and humble opinion), I’ll give a $50 gift voucher for Amazon.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

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Two Thirds of the Year Left – How are Your New Year’s Resolution’s Going?

May 5, 2010 By 2 Comments

Have you noticed which of your New Year’s Resolution’s have been dumped, and which ones are being achieved?

I’ve noticed that my NYR regarding my fitness level has been achieved and I now enjoy maintaining it.

I also confess that my New Year’s Resolution to keep my office tidy is a dismal failure!

Within a week of tidying my office it becomes identical to what it looked like before I tidied it.  Since the beginning of the year I’ve tidied my office only once.

So I ask myself these questions: -

  • Was my NYR realistic?

I thought it was.  Tidying isn’t difficult, but it’s boring.

  • Did I plan it properly?

What’s to plan?  Start at one end and go through to the other end!

  • Did I get a friend or coach to help me stay accountable and in action?

No I didn’t.

  • What was the cause of my broken NYR?

It’s boring, I prefer to get on with my work.

  • Can I identify an underlying belief or beliefs that keep me stuck with an untidy office?

I find tidying my office a boring task.   I need to focus on my work, not on keeping the office tidy.

I’m actually an untidy person in many areas of my life – check out my shed!

Bingo!   My beliefs are running the show.

I should know better.  Our lives are largely a reflection of our beliefs.        Our beliefs are automatic – they occur without our having to remember or think about them.  That’s great if the beliefs are positive and useful, but not great if they are negative and useless!

OK, I need to work on my beliefs about me being a tidy person and capable of keeping things tidy, and actually doing it and maintaining it, just like I did with my fitness.

What about you?

Would you care to reflect on your broken NYR’s and see if you can identify something deeper and more powerful to work on to help you achieve your NYR?

Follow my process or even create your own way of reflecting.

Just pick a broken NYR, ask the same questions and see if you can discover the underlying belief that you can improve upon – and watch the difference!

I’m going to share what I do from now on about changing my beliefs about being tidy.

Let’s track and see what works. I’ll post progress photos of my office, then shed and garage.

I invite you to join me and let’s do this together.

Let’s each choose a broken NYR and help each other to achieve it?

Have your say below. I look forward to hearing from you.

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The Essentials of a Successful Small Business

December 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Build the business on a real opportunity – find a niche.

Create and maintain a competitive advantage – do it better – be unique.

Remember: Competitive advantage is temporary – constantly search for new opportunities – welcome change – if you are not different in 5 years you probably won’t be there at all.

Don’t try and be the biggest – be the best.

Seek and use professional advice – it is an investment, not a cost.

Manage all your resources: People – Cash – Time and Information.

Know the risk you take by being in business. Remember: If the business fails it will be you who wears the financial and personal consequences.

Build on your strengths. Do one or several things very well – you cannot do everything.

Continually update knowledge, skills and information.

Hire the right people for the job and then lead, motivate and reward them adequately.

Regard cashflow as the lifeblood of the business. Remember: You can run out of cash long before you are no longer profitable.

Maintain liquidity by effectively using budgets, controlling credit sales, maintaining effective stock levels, running on lean overheads and maintaining profitable margins.

To do this effectively you must keep good records.

Learn form past mistakes – and do not repeat them.

Watch for signs of personal stress - decide on the cause and fix it.

Keep a proper balance in all you do, your family and health are important.

Be decisive and assertive – decide on the best course of action and do it!

Above All – Believe In Yourself and Your Business Idea. Be Totally Committed To Succeeding – Or Don’t Even Start!

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Big Picture For New Year’s Resolutions To Work

December 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The reason a lot of New Year’s resolutions don’t last much beyond a week or a few days, is because they do not connect to a “bigger picture” . Usually they are just one “nice to do” type empty promises. You know, things I “should do”, like, give up smoking, lose 20 kg, go to a gym, etc. etc. If they are not part of a bigger picture or “Vision” we have for our lives, then there is no motivation to follow through. You need a roadmap for your life.

Whoops, I think I took the wrong road. I turn left, right?

Where is your road map to your destiny in life taking you?

Take some time to seriously identify what really matters most in your life and what you really want to be and do. To really begin your journey with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

Find your passion. What do you care about most? Allow your passion to take more priority in life.

Follow the big picture of your life. Allocate your time more efficiently and don’t waste time on things that aren’t important to the big picture.

Spell out to yourself a dream version of your passion. How does it feel? What does it look like? Where would it take you?

Get a move on. Don’t wait until a better time to move toward what you want. There is no better time. The time is now.

Stay open to changes. Just because things aren’t going exactly to plan doesn’t mean they are not in alignment. Trust the process.

Focus on the big picture or Vision for your life and continually check in with yourself and ask “Is what I am doing right now taking me closer to my life’s vision / goal?” If the answer is “No’ then do something else.

Good luck.

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Attitude

December 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude in life. It is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than whatever anyone might say and do.

It is more important than appearances, giftedness and skill. The remarkable thing is that we have the choice to create the attitude we have for that day.

We cannot change the past. We cannot change the way people act. We cannot change the inevitable. The one thing we can change is the only thing we have control over and that is our attitude.

I’m convinced that life is 10% what actually happens to us and 90% how we react to it.

Charles Swindall

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