We've come through the Winter Solstice and on this Eve of Christmas let us remember the Light that is shining through all of us.
The greatest gift we have to share with ourselves and others is the light that shines within each of us.
We can shine that light on the paths of others to help illuminate their way.
We can also, and more importantly should always, shine that inner light on our own path to illuminate our way through life.
We can do a better job helping others when we first help ourselves.
So, how are you going to illuminate your path with the Light that shines within?
Namaste and Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
MaXIMIze - Celebrate!
As we count down to the winter holy days and the change of the calendar, my challenge to you, my dear readers, is this - celebrate!
Celebrate your successes, big and small.
Celebrate your gifts, one and all.
Celebrate your life.
Celebrate today - yesterday is gone and tomorrow is, well, tomorrow.
Find the positives in every day - from the driver who lets you go first to the friendly cashier to the person who asks your floor on the elevator or who holds the door open for you.
Find the things that make you fell good - doing all the things noted above or doing other things over the course of the day - a walk in the park, communing with pets, spending time with others.
Life is grand and glorious - shouldn't it be celebrated every day in ways great and small?
Tis the season of celebration - what can you find to celebrate each and every day?
Until next time, Namaste!
Celebrate your successes, big and small.
Celebrate your gifts, one and all.
Celebrate your life.
Celebrate today - yesterday is gone and tomorrow is, well, tomorrow.
Find the positives in every day - from the driver who lets you go first to the friendly cashier to the person who asks your floor on the elevator or who holds the door open for you.
Find the things that make you fell good - doing all the things noted above or doing other things over the course of the day - a walk in the park, communing with pets, spending time with others.
Life is grand and glorious - shouldn't it be celebrated every day in ways great and small?
Tis the season of celebration - what can you find to celebrate each and every day?
Until next time, Namaste!
Saturday, November 22, 2014
MaXIMIze - Manifesting Gratitude
Wow - Thanksgiving is right around the corner! The one day of the year specifically set aside to give thanks for the year's bounty - at least here in the States.
In the last post, we discussed how to share our bounty with others.
In this one, I'd like us to pull inward and think about the things we are thankful for in our own lives and what we would like to keep manifesting in the years to come.
So my challenge to you this week is to make a manifestation board of all the things, people, etc. - past and present - you are thankful for in your life. You can do this as individuals, as families, or as whatever group you wish to do it as.
Then, as you sit down to dinner on Thursday - Thanksgiving Day - I want this visual to be front and center and for you to share and think about all the good things, all the abundance that has shown in your life to this point.
I for one am grateful to you for taking the time to read this blog, for sharing this time and space with me and the others who read this blog.
Until next time, Namaste!
MaXIMIze - Gratitude - Sharing Thy Bounty
I meant to post this last week and didn't get that far…so y'all get two posts for the price of one this week!
I noticed the annual food drives have started for the holiday season - the kids' canned food drives, the various grocery stores offering a bag of groceries to buy and donate, even the local CSA - Farm Fresh to You - asking us to donate the box of food we will not be needing this holiday week. The local TV station - KCRA - had their annual turkey drive, and the Rocklin firefighters were collecting food in front of the WalMart grocery on Pacific Ave this AM. Also, the annual Coats for Kids and Sleep Train's drive for helping foster kids have started for the season.
One way we can show our gratitude is by sharing our abundance - our money, things and time - with those people and charities who embody our values and share our ideals with others.
Whether it is your local homeless shelter, food bank, animal shelter, place for homeless children and teens, or charities like Habitat for Humanity or Heifer International and other charities who empower others to help themselves, please consider showing your gratitude by sharing your abundance now and throughout the year.
With our next post, we will continue the gratitude theme. Namaste!
I noticed the annual food drives have started for the holiday season - the kids' canned food drives, the various grocery stores offering a bag of groceries to buy and donate, even the local CSA - Farm Fresh to You - asking us to donate the box of food we will not be needing this holiday week. The local TV station - KCRA - had their annual turkey drive, and the Rocklin firefighters were collecting food in front of the WalMart grocery on Pacific Ave this AM. Also, the annual Coats for Kids and Sleep Train's drive for helping foster kids have started for the season.
One way we can show our gratitude is by sharing our abundance - our money, things and time - with those people and charities who embody our values and share our ideals with others.
Whether it is your local homeless shelter, food bank, animal shelter, place for homeless children and teens, or charities like Habitat for Humanity or Heifer International and other charities who empower others to help themselves, please consider showing your gratitude by sharing your abundance now and throughout the year.
With our next post, we will continue the gratitude theme. Namaste!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
MaXIMIze - Gratitude - Preparing for the Holidays
It is fitting that this post is coming out on 2 November - Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead - a day when we remember, honor, and celebrate loved ones who have passed on.
While preparing for the holidays does mean the frenetic planning, cleaning, cooking and shopping we all seem to experience at this time of year, it also means preparing for and dealing with the thoughts and feelings that well up as families and other closes ones gather together (or not) during what is supposedly the happiest season of all.
The holiday season can bring up all sorts of memories - good and bad - and the feelings that go with them. It can bring up feelings of guilt, regret, remorse, loss, and lack that can sometimes be overwhelming.
I know this firsthand. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 1977, my father passed away from lung cancer at the age of 56. I was a mere 13 years old at the time. Some years have been better than others, but I still feel his loss most keenly during the holiday season. And that's okay.
Yes, it is okay that sometimes we are not happy during the holidays, that we are dealing with negative emotions more than positive ones.
The trick is to not let those negative emotions get in the way of appreciating what is is front of us - and that is true all year 'round, not just during the holiday season.
We do this by acknowledging our feelings and then choosing which ones to focus on - positive or negative.
Take some time when you are preparing for the holidays to consider how you deal with the "holiday blues" and what you can do to mitigate those feelings, where else you can focus your energy, thoughts and emotions.
When my father passed away, I was not yet mature enough to see his foibles and his sheer human beingness - he was still my hero in the strong innocent belief in shiny knights on white steeds that many young girls have.
So, it is easy for me to remember the good things - how he let me be a kid, banging away with a hammer and nails in the backyard, watching the Muppet Show and Hee Haw on Sunday evenings, making fried bologna sandwiches.
I lost my mom early too - in February 1987. She would have been 64 and I turned 23 that year. We had survived my teen years, and she saw my older two children come into this world with me.
Her I miss most at Halloween - she loved the spirit of the season and the costumes. I remember the Halloween that she dressed up as a fortune teller to pass out candy.
It's the good things I focus on and am thankful for this time of year - the rest is just noise to be ignored.
So again - instead of focusing on the negatives, focus on the positives and what we are thankful for in our lives, right here, right now.
Next week we'll discuss Sharing Thy Bounty.
Until then, Namaste!
While preparing for the holidays does mean the frenetic planning, cleaning, cooking and shopping we all seem to experience at this time of year, it also means preparing for and dealing with the thoughts and feelings that well up as families and other closes ones gather together (or not) during what is supposedly the happiest season of all.
The holiday season can bring up all sorts of memories - good and bad - and the feelings that go with them. It can bring up feelings of guilt, regret, remorse, loss, and lack that can sometimes be overwhelming.
I know this firsthand. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 1977, my father passed away from lung cancer at the age of 56. I was a mere 13 years old at the time. Some years have been better than others, but I still feel his loss most keenly during the holiday season. And that's okay.
Yes, it is okay that sometimes we are not happy during the holidays, that we are dealing with negative emotions more than positive ones.
The trick is to not let those negative emotions get in the way of appreciating what is is front of us - and that is true all year 'round, not just during the holiday season.
We do this by acknowledging our feelings and then choosing which ones to focus on - positive or negative.
Take some time when you are preparing for the holidays to consider how you deal with the "holiday blues" and what you can do to mitigate those feelings, where else you can focus your energy, thoughts and emotions.
When my father passed away, I was not yet mature enough to see his foibles and his sheer human beingness - he was still my hero in the strong innocent belief in shiny knights on white steeds that many young girls have.
So, it is easy for me to remember the good things - how he let me be a kid, banging away with a hammer and nails in the backyard, watching the Muppet Show and Hee Haw on Sunday evenings, making fried bologna sandwiches.
I lost my mom early too - in February 1987. She would have been 64 and I turned 23 that year. We had survived my teen years, and she saw my older two children come into this world with me.
Her I miss most at Halloween - she loved the spirit of the season and the costumes. I remember the Halloween that she dressed up as a fortune teller to pass out candy.
It's the good things I focus on and am thankful for this time of year - the rest is just noise to be ignored.
So again - instead of focusing on the negatives, focus on the positives and what we are thankful for in our lives, right here, right now.
Next week we'll discuss Sharing Thy Bounty.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, October 26, 2014
MaXIMIze - Bringing in the Harvest - Letting Go of Ghosts and Goblins
In order to move forward, we need to let go of the past - the ghosts in our lives. We may also need to let go of goblins - those things in our present that are inhibiting our ability to move forward. Goblins can be beliefs, habits, personal prose, and even people in our lives who are holding us back from living our best lives now.
This gets back to earlier posts on identifying roadblocks, assessing them, and working through them.
Cutting ties to these ghosts and goblins will help us with the seasonal cleaning we all need to do from time to time in order to recalibrate and get back into balance in all areas of our lives.
Fall is a great time for reflecting on this year's harvest, sweeping away the ghosts of the past, dealing with the goblins of the present, and planning for next year's harvest before we get wrapped up in the upcoming holiday season of thanksgiving and celebration.
So, shine your light to dispel the ghosts of the past and ward off the goblins of the present as you plan for the harvest of the future - the harvest of Living Your Best Life Now.
Next week starts a new month - one in which we enter the season of gratitude - and that will be our theme for the month. Some of the items we'll be discussing in future posts include Preparing for the Holidays, Share Thy Bounty, and Making a Board of Thanksgiving.
As always, if there is a specific topic you would like to see addressed in this blog that fits the theme of Living Your Best Life Now, please let me know.
Until next time, Namaste!
This gets back to earlier posts on identifying roadblocks, assessing them, and working through them.
Cutting ties to these ghosts and goblins will help us with the seasonal cleaning we all need to do from time to time in order to recalibrate and get back into balance in all areas of our lives.
Fall is a great time for reflecting on this year's harvest, sweeping away the ghosts of the past, dealing with the goblins of the present, and planning for next year's harvest before we get wrapped up in the upcoming holiday season of thanksgiving and celebration.
So, shine your light to dispel the ghosts of the past and ward off the goblins of the present as you plan for the harvest of the future - the harvest of Living Your Best Life Now.
Next week starts a new month - one in which we enter the season of gratitude - and that will be our theme for the month. Some of the items we'll be discussing in future posts include Preparing for the Holidays, Share Thy Bounty, and Making a Board of Thanksgiving.
As always, if there is a specific topic you would like to see addressed in this blog that fits the theme of Living Your Best Life Now, please let me know.
Until next time, Namaste!
Sunday, October 19, 2014
MaXIMIze - Bringing in the Harvest - What is Manifesting in Your Life Now?
Last week, we took a well-deserved break and went to Lassen National Park area for the weekend. Very little cell coverage and a nice, peaceful, beautiful respite from our day-to-day lives.
On to the post…
In order to plan for the future, you need to first analyze the past - what has worked, what actions are still resounding through your life now.
We've discussed the ripple effect in previous posts - the fact that what you sow today will reverberate into the future, much like the ripples a stone skipped across a pond makes that are still coming ashore long after the stone has sunk to the bottom.
So what is reverberating - manifesting - in your life right now? Can you trace that to actions, reactions or responses in the past - things you have sown either intentionally or unintentionally?
Think about it, journal about it, analyze it. Likely you will have at least one if not more "ah ha" moments as you connect the dots from past stones to present ripples.
Now - think about what you want to manifest in your life from now on - what do you need to sow now to manifest that in the future? What does that look like, feel like, taste like, smell like, sound like?
Finally - what have you sown in the past that has yet to come to fruition - what stones have you skipped across the pond whose ripples are still coming to the shore?
Lots to think on - next time we will discuss Letting Go of Ghosts and Goblins - until then, Namaste!
On to the post…
In order to plan for the future, you need to first analyze the past - what has worked, what actions are still resounding through your life now.
We've discussed the ripple effect in previous posts - the fact that what you sow today will reverberate into the future, much like the ripples a stone skipped across a pond makes that are still coming ashore long after the stone has sunk to the bottom.
So what is reverberating - manifesting - in your life right now? Can you trace that to actions, reactions or responses in the past - things you have sown either intentionally or unintentionally?
Think about it, journal about it, analyze it. Likely you will have at least one if not more "ah ha" moments as you connect the dots from past stones to present ripples.
Now - think about what you want to manifest in your life from now on - what do you need to sow now to manifest that in the future? What does that look like, feel like, taste like, smell like, sound like?
Finally - what have you sown in the past that has yet to come to fruition - what stones have you skipped across the pond whose ripples are still coming to the shore?
Lots to think on - next time we will discuss Letting Go of Ghosts and Goblins - until then, Namaste!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
MaXIMIze - Harvest Time - What Have You Sown This Year?
For us here in the US and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, this time of year is harvest time. So, what have you sown this year?
This week, my challenge to you is to create a manifestation board of what you have sown and what you feel your harvest will be. You can use pictures or words or anything else that holds meaning to you.
Take all the time you need to do this exercise.
If you've journaled during our time together, go back through your entries for inspiration and ideas. Once you've put together what you've sown and what you're likely to harvest, think about what you want to harvest in the future. What do you need to do, to sow, in order to have that harvest? Go ahead and either continue on your current manifestation board or start a new one for the new year.
A variation on the manifestation board is the manifestation book - you can either use a blank journal or a spiral notebook, or you can repurpose outdated books destined for the landfill. You can ask your local library for books to be discarded for this purpose.
Whatever variation you choose, make it yours - make it show you the path to living your best life now.
Next week, we'll look at what is manifesting in our lives now.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
MaXIMIze - Overall Well-Being - Balance
Here we are at the last topic for the theme of overall well-being - Balance.
Balance does not mean everything is even keel all the time. It means that you never let the glass ball drop - whatever that glass ball is to you. Usually the glass ball is family, sometimes the glass ball is health. What it usually is not is your career.
We have to be able to recognize what our glass balls are - what is the most important area to us at any given time, and which one needs the most attention in order not to truly fail. And by fail, I mean get to a point from which there is no return or repair.
We know when we are in balance overall when we feel at peace, calm, centered.
If we have been living an unbalanced life for a number of years, the feeling of peace and calmness can be very alien to us, even scary, because our comfort zone is now one of chaos instead of centeredness.
So, determine what your glass balls are, and embrace the calm when it comes.
Next month, we will discuss Bringing in the Harvest.
Until then, Namaste!
Balance does not mean everything is even keel all the time. It means that you never let the glass ball drop - whatever that glass ball is to you. Usually the glass ball is family, sometimes the glass ball is health. What it usually is not is your career.
We have to be able to recognize what our glass balls are - what is the most important area to us at any given time, and which one needs the most attention in order not to truly fail. And by fail, I mean get to a point from which there is no return or repair.
We know when we are in balance overall when we feel at peace, calm, centered.
If we have been living an unbalanced life for a number of years, the feeling of peace and calmness can be very alien to us, even scary, because our comfort zone is now one of chaos instead of centeredness.
So, determine what your glass balls are, and embrace the calm when it comes.
Next month, we will discuss Bringing in the Harvest.
Until then, Namaste!
Monday, September 22, 2014
MaXIMIze - Overall Well-Being - Harmony and Sync
You know that feeling when all the stars in heaven align and life is grand? It's a great feeling!
That's what harmony and sync is - being in harmony, being in sync, moving smoothly and living your best live now.
All the tools I've shared with you over the past nine months, when used properly, will help you sing in harmony and move in sync with living your best life now.
Proper use is the key - to ensure your entire well-being is at its highest level, all other areas of your life need to be at their highest level too. Otherwise you get out of sync, lose the harmony, and life gets choppy.
When you are truly pursuing your passion, your highest purpose, you will receive what you ask for and doors will open upon your knock. That is harmony and sync.
If this is not happening in your life, perhaps you need to review all areas of your live to see what is missing where so you can get back on track.
Just like musical instruments and cars need to be tuned in order to play right and run smoothly, so too does your life. Check in and make sure your goals are in alignment with your passion, your true mission in life.
When you are in harmony and sync with living your best life now, work isn't drudgery - it's fulfilling and energizing; relationships are lively and loving; you glow with inner health and beauty; your money flows as it should; and you are at peace with your spiritual self.
Life is Grand!
Next time we'll discuss Balance - until then, Namaste!
That's what harmony and sync is - being in harmony, being in sync, moving smoothly and living your best live now.
All the tools I've shared with you over the past nine months, when used properly, will help you sing in harmony and move in sync with living your best life now.
Proper use is the key - to ensure your entire well-being is at its highest level, all other areas of your life need to be at their highest level too. Otherwise you get out of sync, lose the harmony, and life gets choppy.
When you are truly pursuing your passion, your highest purpose, you will receive what you ask for and doors will open upon your knock. That is harmony and sync.
If this is not happening in your life, perhaps you need to review all areas of your live to see what is missing where so you can get back on track.
Just like musical instruments and cars need to be tuned in order to play right and run smoothly, so too does your life. Check in and make sure your goals are in alignment with your passion, your true mission in life.
When you are in harmony and sync with living your best life now, work isn't drudgery - it's fulfilling and energizing; relationships are lively and loving; you glow with inner health and beauty; your money flows as it should; and you are at peace with your spiritual self.
Life is Grand!
Next time we'll discuss Balance - until then, Namaste!
Sunday, September 14, 2014
MaXIMIze - Overall Well-Being - Journaling
One of the ways we can enhance our overall well-being is to ensure things flow through and around us, that there is nothing blocking the flow that is helping us live our best lives now.
Journaling first thing in the morning, whenever your morning may be, is one way to clear the flotsam and jetsam that can interfere with your flow of abundance, of creativity, of drive.
Whether you just free write three pages, as recommended by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way, or focus on one issue and write through it, or do a combination of both or choose your own method of journaling, writing things down helps us to center and focus on what is truly important at that moment in time in our lives.
It can also help us look at things from various angles, work through anger and pain, focus on the positive things in life (like the challenge I gave you in last week's post), or just focus our daily lens to see the things that are really important to get done or work on that particular day.
I journal nearly ever day, long hand, in pen, in a, well, journal - a bound book with lined pages that I usually get at Ross for about $4. On weekdays, it is more of clearing the flotsam and jetsam, acknowledging issues, worries and distractions, and focusing on the day ahead. When I make the time to journal on the weekends, I tend to focus on the bigger, more long-range picture of my life, where I want to go, what I want to do, what is helping me get there, what is hindering me, and how I can deal with the roadblocks to living my best life now.
However you wish to pursue journaling, I strongly encourage you to do it for at least 30 days. The insights you gain will be worth the time spent, and will help you to better live your best life right here, right now.
Other topics still to come this month are Harmony & Sync, and Balance.
Until next week, Namaste!
Journaling first thing in the morning, whenever your morning may be, is one way to clear the flotsam and jetsam that can interfere with your flow of abundance, of creativity, of drive.
Whether you just free write three pages, as recommended by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way, or focus on one issue and write through it, or do a combination of both or choose your own method of journaling, writing things down helps us to center and focus on what is truly important at that moment in time in our lives.
It can also help us look at things from various angles, work through anger and pain, focus on the positive things in life (like the challenge I gave you in last week's post), or just focus our daily lens to see the things that are really important to get done or work on that particular day.
I journal nearly ever day, long hand, in pen, in a, well, journal - a bound book with lined pages that I usually get at Ross for about $4. On weekdays, it is more of clearing the flotsam and jetsam, acknowledging issues, worries and distractions, and focusing on the day ahead. When I make the time to journal on the weekends, I tend to focus on the bigger, more long-range picture of my life, where I want to go, what I want to do, what is helping me get there, what is hindering me, and how I can deal with the roadblocks to living my best life now.
However you wish to pursue journaling, I strongly encourage you to do it for at least 30 days. The insights you gain will be worth the time spent, and will help you to better live your best life right here, right now.
Other topics still to come this month are Harmony & Sync, and Balance.
Until next week, Namaste!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
MaXIMIze - Overall Well-Being - Coming From a Place of Abundance
We started the year by looking at our Circle of Perception and the six segments that make up the circle.
Over the last few months, we've focused on our financial segment (April), our physical health segment (May), our spiritual health segment (June), our career segment (July), and our relationships segment (August).
Now we've come to the last segment of the circle - our overall well-being.
Over the course of the year so far, we've gone deep into ourselves to understand where our actions and reactions - or responses - come from in each of those areas. Now we bring that all together in order to look at and address our overall well-being.
Back in January, we talked about our core values and principles, and vetting our goals against them to make sure our actions were in alignment with those values and principles.
In February, we discussed identifying and assessing the roadblocks to our success, and increasing our awareness by moving from unconscious incompetence to conscious competence.
In March, we talked about getting back up when we fall off the wagon, developing our follow-through, working through fear, and doing the spring cleaning necessary so that we can grow our best lives now.
One of the ways we can aid the growth of our best life now is by coming from a place of abundance. I touched on that theme in all of our discussions, and the post that most sticks in my mind and reinforces this is the one from May on Self-Image!
Positivity is a conscious act, and one that must be practiced on a daily basis.
I'm sure many of you have seen, and may even have been tagged for, the exercise of coming up with three positive things in your life right now every day for the next seven days. If you are not already doing this, I challenge you to do so for the next week. You don't have to share and tag others to keep the exercise going, though...
What we focus on is what we bring into our lives.
What are you focusing on - the actual abundance already present in your life right here, right now, or the perceived lack in it?
Over the next few weeks, we will discuss Journaling, Balance, and Harmony & Sync.
Until next time - Namaste!
Over the last few months, we've focused on our financial segment (April), our physical health segment (May), our spiritual health segment (June), our career segment (July), and our relationships segment (August).
Now we've come to the last segment of the circle - our overall well-being.
Over the course of the year so far, we've gone deep into ourselves to understand where our actions and reactions - or responses - come from in each of those areas. Now we bring that all together in order to look at and address our overall well-being.
Back in January, we talked about our core values and principles, and vetting our goals against them to make sure our actions were in alignment with those values and principles.
In February, we discussed identifying and assessing the roadblocks to our success, and increasing our awareness by moving from unconscious incompetence to conscious competence.
In March, we talked about getting back up when we fall off the wagon, developing our follow-through, working through fear, and doing the spring cleaning necessary so that we can grow our best lives now.
One of the ways we can aid the growth of our best life now is by coming from a place of abundance. I touched on that theme in all of our discussions, and the post that most sticks in my mind and reinforces this is the one from May on Self-Image!
Positivity is a conscious act, and one that must be practiced on a daily basis.
I'm sure many of you have seen, and may even have been tagged for, the exercise of coming up with three positive things in your life right now every day for the next seven days. If you are not already doing this, I challenge you to do so for the next week. You don't have to share and tag others to keep the exercise going, though...
What we focus on is what we bring into our lives.
What are you focusing on - the actual abundance already present in your life right here, right now, or the perceived lack in it?
Over the next few weeks, we will discuss Journaling, Balance, and Harmony & Sync.
Until next time - Namaste!
Monday, September 1, 2014
MaXIMIze - Relationships - Guilt
Guilt: an emotion one feels when one thinks he/she has violated a moral standard or his/her own standards of conduct.
Of all the types and degrees of guilt, sometimes familial guilt is the strongest and deepest of all. The closer bond we have with other human beings, the deeper the guilt we feel when we think we have violated a particular code of conduct is.
Of course, one can have this feeling related to work, particularly if one is very bound to his/her career.
When we feel guilty about something, particularly if that guilt is triggered by the words or actions of another, we need to look inside ourselves and determine if that guilt is truly justified or if it is a conditioned knee-jerk reaction. In a previous discussion on reaction versus response on my old blog, we learned that we need to stop, breathe, step outside the circle and look at the whole picture in order to respond to stimuli in our environment rather than just reacting to it. We need to determine if the guilt we feel is a reaction to someone else's action or a true response to a particular situation.
Not a one of us is perfect, and because we are not perfect we will each make mistakes along the way to living our best life now.
How we deal with those mistakes is what determines how far along our path we get. If we are continually dragged down by feelings of guilt - the would have, could have, should have, but didn't thoughts and feelings - we will never see and acknowledge all that we have accomplished thus far. If we focus on one tree, we cannot see the wondrous forest in our lives.
So, as with any other feeling we feel, we need to take guilt out of its shrouded box and really examine it in the clear light of day.
Is what we feel guilty about truly something we must continue to pay penance for? Is it something that remains within our sphere of control or our sphere of influence? Why do we feel guilty?
Once we do the introspection necessary, the guilt we feel will be put in its proper perspective, and it won't stop us from living our best life now.
Next week starts a new month, and we will be discussing our overall well-being with topics such as Balance, Harmony and Sync, Coming from a Place of Enough, and Journaling.
Until then, Namaste!
Of all the types and degrees of guilt, sometimes familial guilt is the strongest and deepest of all. The closer bond we have with other human beings, the deeper the guilt we feel when we think we have violated a particular code of conduct is.
Of course, one can have this feeling related to work, particularly if one is very bound to his/her career.
When we feel guilty about something, particularly if that guilt is triggered by the words or actions of another, we need to look inside ourselves and determine if that guilt is truly justified or if it is a conditioned knee-jerk reaction. In a previous discussion on reaction versus response on my old blog, we learned that we need to stop, breathe, step outside the circle and look at the whole picture in order to respond to stimuli in our environment rather than just reacting to it. We need to determine if the guilt we feel is a reaction to someone else's action or a true response to a particular situation.
Not a one of us is perfect, and because we are not perfect we will each make mistakes along the way to living our best life now.
How we deal with those mistakes is what determines how far along our path we get. If we are continually dragged down by feelings of guilt - the would have, could have, should have, but didn't thoughts and feelings - we will never see and acknowledge all that we have accomplished thus far. If we focus on one tree, we cannot see the wondrous forest in our lives.
So, as with any other feeling we feel, we need to take guilt out of its shrouded box and really examine it in the clear light of day.
Is what we feel guilty about truly something we must continue to pay penance for? Is it something that remains within our sphere of control or our sphere of influence? Why do we feel guilty?
Once we do the introspection necessary, the guilt we feel will be put in its proper perspective, and it won't stop us from living our best life now.
Next week starts a new month, and we will be discussing our overall well-being with topics such as Balance, Harmony and Sync, Coming from a Place of Enough, and Journaling.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, August 24, 2014
MaXIMIze - Relationships - Letting Go
You must let go of what no longer serves in order to grow.
Relationships are perhaps the hardest things next to habits to let go of, particularly family relationships.
There are all kinds of relationships that can get to a point of no longer serving, and, in fact, can drag you down instead of lifting you up. Business partnerships, romantic partnerships, friendships, and family ties.
In order to truly let go of a relationship of any kind, you must discover what led you to that relationship in the first place, what has changed within you over the course of that relationship, and why that relationship no longer serves you living your best life now.
I think the hardest relationships to do this type of deep introspection with are lifelong friends and family - if it is a parent-child or sibling relationship and you are the child or sibling, you did not choose the relationship. The loyalty engendered by and/or expected from family is very hard to walk away from, though.
The same could be said of lifelong friends - ones you've known since crib, cradle, playpen, daycare or elementary school days.
Both family and lifelong friends tie you to your past, to what made you what you are today. Sometimes, though, you must cut the ties with your past in order to cut the ties with the destructive habits and patterns that drag you down instead of lifting you up to live your best life now.
Letting go of these relationships does not mean you do not care about these people in your life. It simply means you are practicing extreme self-care.
Perhaps the relationship will heal and continue forward. Perhaps not. That is a choice you make and those are boundaries you set.
So, the challenge this week is to examine your relationships and determine which ones are lifting you up to living your best life now and which ones either need to change to be let go.
Next week we will discuss dealing with guilt.
Until then, Namaste!
Relationships are perhaps the hardest things next to habits to let go of, particularly family relationships.
There are all kinds of relationships that can get to a point of no longer serving, and, in fact, can drag you down instead of lifting you up. Business partnerships, romantic partnerships, friendships, and family ties.
In order to truly let go of a relationship of any kind, you must discover what led you to that relationship in the first place, what has changed within you over the course of that relationship, and why that relationship no longer serves you living your best life now.
I think the hardest relationships to do this type of deep introspection with are lifelong friends and family - if it is a parent-child or sibling relationship and you are the child or sibling, you did not choose the relationship. The loyalty engendered by and/or expected from family is very hard to walk away from, though.
The same could be said of lifelong friends - ones you've known since crib, cradle, playpen, daycare or elementary school days.
Both family and lifelong friends tie you to your past, to what made you what you are today. Sometimes, though, you must cut the ties with your past in order to cut the ties with the destructive habits and patterns that drag you down instead of lifting you up to live your best life now.
Letting go of these relationships does not mean you do not care about these people in your life. It simply means you are practicing extreme self-care.
Perhaps the relationship will heal and continue forward. Perhaps not. That is a choice you make and those are boundaries you set.
So, the challenge this week is to examine your relationships and determine which ones are lifting you up to living your best life now and which ones either need to change to be let go.
Next week we will discuss dealing with guilt.
Until then, Namaste!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
MaXIMIze - Relationships - Hands and Sands
So, I turn around twice and it is Wednesday and I still haven't posted the bit I wrote on Sunday for this blog...let's start with some song lyrics, shall we?
Just Hold On Loosely by 38 Special
"Hold on loosely/but don't let go/If you cling too tightly/You're gonna lose control"
If you've ever held sand - dry sand - in your hand and then closed your fist around it,you know the grains are small enough to slip between your fingers.
Like the lyrics say, if you cling too tightly to something, you'll lose control of it.
And, when we are talking about being in relationships with other human beings, the only person you can control is yourself.
Yep, this one was short, sweet, and to the point. Next week, we'll discuss letting go of the past.
Until then, Namaste!
Just Hold On Loosely by 38 Special
"Hold on loosely/but don't let go/If you cling too tightly/You're gonna lose control"
If you've ever held sand - dry sand - in your hand and then closed your fist around it,you know the grains are small enough to slip between your fingers.
Like the lyrics say, if you cling too tightly to something, you'll lose control of it.
And, when we are talking about being in relationships with other human beings, the only person you can control is yourself.
Yep, this one was short, sweet, and to the point. Next week, we'll discuss letting go of the past.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, August 10, 2014
MaXIMIze - Relationships - Release the Toxins
You guessed it - this week's subject is toxic relationships.
Let's start with a couple of definitions:
Toxin: a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms
Toxic: of, pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or a poison
A toxic relationship then is one that is having a negative effect on your life - and likely affecting your physical and emotional health in a very real way as well, by causing your body to produce cortisol - a hormone released in answer to stress - and other hormones and chemicals that, in large and/or sustained doses, lead to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease...well you get the picture.
We all know to stay away from the poisonous and toxic items in our homes - no eating lye soap or drinking bleach or ammonia - right? So why do we allow toxic relationships to form in our lives?
A toxic relationship is like a weedkiller to our personal growth as well as our personal well-being. Would you water your favorite plant with weedkiller, knowing it would likely die from that exposure? Of course not!
So why then do we not only allow but sometimes hold on to toxic relationships in our lives?
From fear, plain and simple. We are afraid of hurting other's feelings, of their reactions to us cutting the ties, of letting go of that which is familiar.
Sometimes we are comfortable in situations that are not healthy for us because that is what we are used to. Those situations seem safe or normal because that is all we have ever known. And, fear of the unknown trumps pain of the known more often than not...
We need to realize though that these toxic relationships are at best slowing our growth and at worst literally killing us day by day. There is a saying about death by a thousand cuts, and that is what holding on to a toxic relationship does to us - drains us little by little, day by day, until we just give up.
So, how do we avoid these to begin with and get out of them if we are already in them? By practicing extreme self-care and letting go of that which no longer serves our growth.
Shedding relationships is not easy - the fear of being alone can be quite intimidating. However, if we practice enough extreme self-care, we will realize and truly understand that we are enough, right here, right now.
Like the caterpillar transforms into the butterfly, and birds molt their feathers and snakes shed their skins, we too should shed the things that no longer serve us - and toxic relationships never serve us. They do not encourage our growth or accept us as we are. They feed the darkness rather than strive for the light.
NOTE: If you are in a dangerous toxic relationship - abusive, controlling, etc. - please seek professional help and make sure you have a support system before shedding the relationship.
Each of us is enough, does enough, and has enough right here right now in order to move forward on the path to our best life now. Keeping that focus helps me to keep the toxins out of my relationships as well as shed the toxic relationships I've developed over the years, and I believe it will help you do so as well.
Next week we will discuss holding on too tightly - something I call "hands and sands."
Until then, release the toxins and remember - You are Enough!
Namaste!
Let's start with a couple of definitions:
Toxin: a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms
Toxic: of, pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or a poison
A toxic relationship then is one that is having a negative effect on your life - and likely affecting your physical and emotional health in a very real way as well, by causing your body to produce cortisol - a hormone released in answer to stress - and other hormones and chemicals that, in large and/or sustained doses, lead to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease...well you get the picture.
We all know to stay away from the poisonous and toxic items in our homes - no eating lye soap or drinking bleach or ammonia - right? So why do we allow toxic relationships to form in our lives?
A toxic relationship is like a weedkiller to our personal growth as well as our personal well-being. Would you water your favorite plant with weedkiller, knowing it would likely die from that exposure? Of course not!
So why then do we not only allow but sometimes hold on to toxic relationships in our lives?
From fear, plain and simple. We are afraid of hurting other's feelings, of their reactions to us cutting the ties, of letting go of that which is familiar.
Sometimes we are comfortable in situations that are not healthy for us because that is what we are used to. Those situations seem safe or normal because that is all we have ever known. And, fear of the unknown trumps pain of the known more often than not...
We need to realize though that these toxic relationships are at best slowing our growth and at worst literally killing us day by day. There is a saying about death by a thousand cuts, and that is what holding on to a toxic relationship does to us - drains us little by little, day by day, until we just give up.
So, how do we avoid these to begin with and get out of them if we are already in them? By practicing extreme self-care and letting go of that which no longer serves our growth.
Shedding relationships is not easy - the fear of being alone can be quite intimidating. However, if we practice enough extreme self-care, we will realize and truly understand that we are enough, right here, right now.
Like the caterpillar transforms into the butterfly, and birds molt their feathers and snakes shed their skins, we too should shed the things that no longer serve us - and toxic relationships never serve us. They do not encourage our growth or accept us as we are. They feed the darkness rather than strive for the light.
NOTE: If you are in a dangerous toxic relationship - abusive, controlling, etc. - please seek professional help and make sure you have a support system before shedding the relationship.
Each of us is enough, does enough, and has enough right here right now in order to move forward on the path to our best life now. Keeping that focus helps me to keep the toxins out of my relationships as well as shed the toxic relationships I've developed over the years, and I believe it will help you do so as well.
Next week we will discuss holding on too tightly - something I call "hands and sands."
Until then, release the toxins and remember - You are Enough!
Namaste!
Sunday, August 3, 2014
MaXIMIze - Your Most Important Relationship - You!
This month's blog topic is Relationships. Over at least the next five posts, we will touch on various types of relationships in our lives - however, since this is a blog about personal coaching and personal development, the relationship and interaction we are going to focus most on is the one with ourselves.
The relationships we have with others are mirrors of the one we have with ourselves.
What I mean by this statement is: No one can make us feel one way or another. Our feelings, particularly as a reaction to someone else's action, come from within. Since they come from within we can choose the way we feel about and respond to (rather than react to) the actions of someone else.
My book, MaXIMIze: Take Your Life in Your Arms and Kiss It! covers a lot about developing your relationship with yourself.
We see the world through the lens of ourselves - our thoughts, our feelings, our view of the world - so it makes sense that to be the best person we can truly be, we need to know ourselves as intimately as we think we know our lovers.
We need to truly understand what motivates us, what stalls us, what truly lies beneath the way we react and respond to the world around us.
So the first question I have for you to ponder is - are you treating yourself the way you treat others?
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" is one of the tenets of the New Testament, and as I often people-watch I wonder - do the people I watch truly love themselves?
What we put out in the world is a reflection of what we have and who we are inside. Do you really know who you are? Do you know the root cause of your reactions to people, places, and things?
I challenge you for the next week to take note of your reactions and to apply the 5 Whys to each one to get to the true root of that particular response. If you don't have at least one "Ah Ha!" moment doing this, either you know yourself very well - in which case, great! - or you are not going deep enough. Whichever it is is up to you to know.
Over the next few weeks we will be discussing dealing with toxic people, letting go of the past, holding on too tightly (sands and hands), and guilt.
There are likely to be more challenges along the way - I encourage you to do the work to get to know your true self.
Until next time, Namaste!
The relationships we have with others are mirrors of the one we have with ourselves.
What I mean by this statement is: No one can make us feel one way or another. Our feelings, particularly as a reaction to someone else's action, come from within. Since they come from within we can choose the way we feel about and respond to (rather than react to) the actions of someone else.
My book, MaXIMIze: Take Your Life in Your Arms and Kiss It! covers a lot about developing your relationship with yourself.
We see the world through the lens of ourselves - our thoughts, our feelings, our view of the world - so it makes sense that to be the best person we can truly be, we need to know ourselves as intimately as we think we know our lovers.
We need to truly understand what motivates us, what stalls us, what truly lies beneath the way we react and respond to the world around us.
So the first question I have for you to ponder is - are you treating yourself the way you treat others?
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" is one of the tenets of the New Testament, and as I often people-watch I wonder - do the people I watch truly love themselves?
What we put out in the world is a reflection of what we have and who we are inside. Do you really know who you are? Do you know the root cause of your reactions to people, places, and things?
I challenge you for the next week to take note of your reactions and to apply the 5 Whys to each one to get to the true root of that particular response. If you don't have at least one "Ah Ha!" moment doing this, either you know yourself very well - in which case, great! - or you are not going deep enough. Whichever it is is up to you to know.
Over the next few weeks we will be discussing dealing with toxic people, letting go of the past, holding on too tightly (sands and hands), and guilt.
There are likely to be more challenges along the way - I encourage you to do the work to get to know your true self.
Until next time, Namaste!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
MaXIMIze - Career - Mentoring
The definition of "mentor" per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: a trusted counselor or guide; see also tutor or coach.
Seeking out mentorship in your chosen career field or path means you are seeking someone - or several someones - to help counsel and guide you along your chosen career path. Having a guide to light the way is a good thing, particularly when you come to a fork in the road and are unsure of which side to continue on. Having several mentors means you get different points of view, different facets of experience and knowledge to draw from.
A good mentor, like a good coach or counselor, gives you guidance but does not plot out your course for you. Your mentor should give you reasoned, honest input and feedback based on his or her own experiences and the experiences of those your mentor knows or has known personally and professionally.
A mentor can be someone further along on your chosen career path, perhaps someone in a position you might attain to, or someone who came up the ranks in a similar fashion - like the supervisor I shared about last week who advanced from being an administrative assistant to the chief of our contracting division over the course of her career.
Your mentor might also be a peer who is going through some of the same trials and tribulations along his or her path that you are.
Feedback and guidance can come from all levels, and mentorship is no different. Someone in a higher position might not see the pitfalls of his or her communication style or treatment of those around them clearly. Good leaders garner feedback from all levels - above, peer and below.
There is formal mentorship - where you build a relationship based on mentoring or being mentored, with scheduled meetings and such - and there there is informal mentorship - where you seek guidance from those around you in a less structured manner.
I recommend that you look outside your direct supervisory chain for formal mentoring both to avoid unnecessary conflict and to gather other points of view in order to broaden your horizons. I also recommend you offer to mentor others, particularly where you see potential in someone - helping others grow helps us grow too...and it builds good karma!
Next week begins a new month and a new topic - Relationships.
Until then, Namaste!
Seeking out mentorship in your chosen career field or path means you are seeking someone - or several someones - to help counsel and guide you along your chosen career path. Having a guide to light the way is a good thing, particularly when you come to a fork in the road and are unsure of which side to continue on. Having several mentors means you get different points of view, different facets of experience and knowledge to draw from.
A good mentor, like a good coach or counselor, gives you guidance but does not plot out your course for you. Your mentor should give you reasoned, honest input and feedback based on his or her own experiences and the experiences of those your mentor knows or has known personally and professionally.
A mentor can be someone further along on your chosen career path, perhaps someone in a position you might attain to, or someone who came up the ranks in a similar fashion - like the supervisor I shared about last week who advanced from being an administrative assistant to the chief of our contracting division over the course of her career.
Your mentor might also be a peer who is going through some of the same trials and tribulations along his or her path that you are.
Feedback and guidance can come from all levels, and mentorship is no different. Someone in a higher position might not see the pitfalls of his or her communication style or treatment of those around them clearly. Good leaders garner feedback from all levels - above, peer and below.
There is formal mentorship - where you build a relationship based on mentoring or being mentored, with scheduled meetings and such - and there there is informal mentorship - where you seek guidance from those around you in a less structured manner.
I recommend that you look outside your direct supervisory chain for formal mentoring both to avoid unnecessary conflict and to gather other points of view in order to broaden your horizons. I also recommend you offer to mentor others, particularly where you see potential in someone - helping others grow helps us grow too...and it builds good karma!
Next week begins a new month and a new topic - Relationships.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, July 20, 2014
MaXIMIze - Taking Charge of Your Career
As I wrote this post out longhand (as I do with all my posts), I realized there is a lot to cover in this topic!
As I considered this topic, two images came to mind. The first was of a boat bobbing along on the water without direction. The second was of a boat with its sails being adjusted to compensate for the storms and calms, but definitely heading in a particular direction.
You can either take charge of your career (the second boat) or let it take charge of you (the first boat).
Some of you know that I work for the Federal government as a civil servant. I spent the first nine years of my career moving from administrative assistant job to administrative assistant job, through two closing bases and moving from working for the Air Force to working for the Army. I didn't have a true career path, even though I enjoyed my work.
In 1997, I decided that to move forward I needed at least a business degree, so I started going to community college with that aim in mind. Shortly thereafter, I was intrigued with the design of websites, and started to follow that path in my education until that industry tanked in the late 1990s-early 2000s. My supervisor at the time was a woman who had moved up in Federal service from a GS-1 or 2 (the lowest grades in civil service) admin clerk to chief of our contracting division - a GS-14 (the second highest grade in civil service without moving to a political appointment-type position). And she did this all without a college degree.
This supervisor saw the potential in her employees and encouraged them to grow, even though it meant she might lose them to another part of the organization or to another organization altogether. She saw in me the ability to run an office budget and basically be an office manager, taking care of the day-to-day administrative issues so the contract specialists could deal with, well, getting contracts out the door. Her encouragement, as well as comments from others in the budget analyst field about my abilities in that area, and of course the opening of an upward mobility position as a budget analyst in our resource management office culminated in me heading off on the budget analyst career path 13 years after entering Federal service.
Now, I was still a bit like the boat bobbing along on the water, but at least now I had an oar or two to use for steering. And I had a path to move down - becoming a budget analyst working with overhead funds and operating budgets.
I learned a lot working for our resource management office about how funds came into the organization and the various colors of money we dealt with and what those colors meant during the course of the year.
Two years or so after I became a budget analyst, I got to work with our planning division on their operating budget and learned how our project budgets (we are a project-funded organization) and schedules affected the operating budget for that particular division. I did a lot of workload and workforce analysis, and wanted to know more about the programs and project side of the house.
Within two years after I started working with our planning division, a budget analyst position came up on the programs and project side of the house,which I applied for and got. So, now I was working with project funds and learning about the three-year cycle of the Federal budget process. Wow!
My ship was growing from a rowboat to a sailing ship!
Within a year or so, the opportunity to be a program and project manager for a program that ran our smaller projects came available, and I took the chance and applied for it - and got it.
If someone had told me back in the days when I was a GS-2 military admin clerk that I would become a budget analyst let alone manage a program and all the projects in it, I would have called them crazy!
I have since done an eight-month stint as the supervisor of our project budget analysts - during which I discovered I am a much better worker-bee or project manager/team lead than a true supervisor. It can be very challenging to deal with the sometimes complex issues of adult children that other people raised.
I am currently back to being a budget analyst, working with several complex and interesting projects, and I'm happy with the work and the people I work for and with.
There are some that would say I caught a lot of lucky breaks to get where I am today. I disagree.
Did I have people recognize my potential and encourage me along certain paths? Yes! And I bet if you look at your own life and/or career, you have people who do this for you, too. They are called mentors.
Am I sorry I gave up on designing websites? No! I have a very fulfilling career and I've been involved with projects that helped communities with their flood risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, and water supply issues.
Was I willing to take chances, seeing a need and/or a job I thought I could fill and do well? Yes!
Was I scared of failure and disappointing those who believed in me and hired me? Yes! That has just fueled me to do the best job as I saw it.
Yes, I said "as I saw it." The best way to move up is to truly serve - not please, serve. And the best way to do that is to understand the truly unbendable parameters of your job in your organization and then do that job to the best of your ability. This means not saying no without a compelling and valid reason, never saying that something is not your job and just leaving it at that, and truly doing your best at whatever you are hired and assigned to do.
Was I always looking for that next promotion? No! I did the best job I could do in the job I was in until I saw a need to be filled somewhere else that called to me with a siren song. That is how I moved from budget analyst to program and project manager to supervisor - not because I was simply looking for the next promotion.
Now the topic of this post is taking charge of your career, and - as I hope you've seen in the examples from my own career above - the best way to do this is by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, your personal boundaries, and the boundaries of the organization and the position. If the job you are in is not a good fit, find another one keeping those parameters in mind.
What you end up with as your career should be your passion, your calling, your vocation. It should fulfill that part of your life, not just be a J.O.B.
Next week, we will discuss mentoring - helping others find and walk their best path or finding someone to help you find and walk yours.
Until then, Namaste!
As I considered this topic, two images came to mind. The first was of a boat bobbing along on the water without direction. The second was of a boat with its sails being adjusted to compensate for the storms and calms, but definitely heading in a particular direction.
You can either take charge of your career (the second boat) or let it take charge of you (the first boat).
Some of you know that I work for the Federal government as a civil servant. I spent the first nine years of my career moving from administrative assistant job to administrative assistant job, through two closing bases and moving from working for the Air Force to working for the Army. I didn't have a true career path, even though I enjoyed my work.
In 1997, I decided that to move forward I needed at least a business degree, so I started going to community college with that aim in mind. Shortly thereafter, I was intrigued with the design of websites, and started to follow that path in my education until that industry tanked in the late 1990s-early 2000s. My supervisor at the time was a woman who had moved up in Federal service from a GS-1 or 2 (the lowest grades in civil service) admin clerk to chief of our contracting division - a GS-14 (the second highest grade in civil service without moving to a political appointment-type position). And she did this all without a college degree.
This supervisor saw the potential in her employees and encouraged them to grow, even though it meant she might lose them to another part of the organization or to another organization altogether. She saw in me the ability to run an office budget and basically be an office manager, taking care of the day-to-day administrative issues so the contract specialists could deal with, well, getting contracts out the door. Her encouragement, as well as comments from others in the budget analyst field about my abilities in that area, and of course the opening of an upward mobility position as a budget analyst in our resource management office culminated in me heading off on the budget analyst career path 13 years after entering Federal service.
Now, I was still a bit like the boat bobbing along on the water, but at least now I had an oar or two to use for steering. And I had a path to move down - becoming a budget analyst working with overhead funds and operating budgets.
I learned a lot working for our resource management office about how funds came into the organization and the various colors of money we dealt with and what those colors meant during the course of the year.
Two years or so after I became a budget analyst, I got to work with our planning division on their operating budget and learned how our project budgets (we are a project-funded organization) and schedules affected the operating budget for that particular division. I did a lot of workload and workforce analysis, and wanted to know more about the programs and project side of the house.
Within two years after I started working with our planning division, a budget analyst position came up on the programs and project side of the house,which I applied for and got. So, now I was working with project funds and learning about the three-year cycle of the Federal budget process. Wow!
My ship was growing from a rowboat to a sailing ship!
Within a year or so, the opportunity to be a program and project manager for a program that ran our smaller projects came available, and I took the chance and applied for it - and got it.
If someone had told me back in the days when I was a GS-2 military admin clerk that I would become a budget analyst let alone manage a program and all the projects in it, I would have called them crazy!
I have since done an eight-month stint as the supervisor of our project budget analysts - during which I discovered I am a much better worker-bee or project manager/team lead than a true supervisor. It can be very challenging to deal with the sometimes complex issues of adult children that other people raised.
I am currently back to being a budget analyst, working with several complex and interesting projects, and I'm happy with the work and the people I work for and with.
There are some that would say I caught a lot of lucky breaks to get where I am today. I disagree.
Did I have people recognize my potential and encourage me along certain paths? Yes! And I bet if you look at your own life and/or career, you have people who do this for you, too. They are called mentors.
Am I sorry I gave up on designing websites? No! I have a very fulfilling career and I've been involved with projects that helped communities with their flood risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, and water supply issues.
Was I willing to take chances, seeing a need and/or a job I thought I could fill and do well? Yes!
Was I scared of failure and disappointing those who believed in me and hired me? Yes! That has just fueled me to do the best job as I saw it.
Yes, I said "as I saw it." The best way to move up is to truly serve - not please, serve. And the best way to do that is to understand the truly unbendable parameters of your job in your organization and then do that job to the best of your ability. This means not saying no without a compelling and valid reason, never saying that something is not your job and just leaving it at that, and truly doing your best at whatever you are hired and assigned to do.
Was I always looking for that next promotion? No! I did the best job I could do in the job I was in until I saw a need to be filled somewhere else that called to me with a siren song. That is how I moved from budget analyst to program and project manager to supervisor - not because I was simply looking for the next promotion.
Now the topic of this post is taking charge of your career, and - as I hope you've seen in the examples from my own career above - the best way to do this is by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, your personal boundaries, and the boundaries of the organization and the position. If the job you are in is not a good fit, find another one keeping those parameters in mind.
What you end up with as your career should be your passion, your calling, your vocation. It should fulfill that part of your life, not just be a J.O.B.
Next week, we will discuss mentoring - helping others find and walk their best path or finding someone to help you find and walk yours.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
MaXIMIze - Career - Follow Your Passion, Find Your Bliss
When you focus on doing the things you do well, that bring you joy, you find your bliss.
When you focus on doing the things that bring fire into your life, you find your passion.
When you focus on all the above, you follow your passion and find your bliss.
I've written on this topic before, and will likely write on it again since part of my passion is helping others be the best they can be, and that means helping them follow their passion and find their bliss.
Is what you're doing right now feeding the fire inside? If not, you may like your work, but it still feels like a job rather than a vocation.
For some questions to consider while you're looking for your passion, see my post from December of last year on my previous blog page.
You can even create a Manifestation Board that shows concrete images and words connected to that which makes you feel alive, that which feeds your fire.
Here is a quote from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand to consider:
"Why do they always teach us that it is easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves. It's the hardest thing in the world - to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage."
Do you have the courage to follow your passion and find your bliss?
Or are you content to live a lukewarm life?
The choice, as always, is yours.
Here are the links to my previous posts on the subject of passion and bliss:
More Questions To Consider
Finding Your Passion
Find Your Passion
Next week, we will discuss taking charge of your career.
Until then, Namaste!
When you focus on doing the things that bring fire into your life, you find your passion.
When you focus on all the above, you follow your passion and find your bliss.
I've written on this topic before, and will likely write on it again since part of my passion is helping others be the best they can be, and that means helping them follow their passion and find their bliss.
Is what you're doing right now feeding the fire inside? If not, you may like your work, but it still feels like a job rather than a vocation.
For some questions to consider while you're looking for your passion, see my post from December of last year on my previous blog page.
You can even create a Manifestation Board that shows concrete images and words connected to that which makes you feel alive, that which feeds your fire.
Here is a quote from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand to consider:
"Why do they always teach us that it is easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves. It's the hardest thing in the world - to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage."
Do you have the courage to follow your passion and find your bliss?
Or are you content to live a lukewarm life?
The choice, as always, is yours.
Here are the links to my previous posts on the subject of passion and bliss:
More Questions To Consider
Finding Your Passion
Find Your Passion
Next week, we will discuss taking charge of your career.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
MaXIMIze - Career - J.O.B. or W.O.R.K.?
Are you just marking time and collecting a paycheck or are you in a place where you enjoy what you do and you have room to grow?
Is this just a J.O.B - just obeying the boss - or is this W.O.R.K. - a willing opportunity for respect and kindness?
Now, you may be working yourself through college or need a job to put food on the table, however that doesn't mean it has to be a J.O.B. Even the most temporary employment can be W.O.R.K. - it all depends on what you are willing to give and able to receive.
I know a lot of people complain about their jobs, saying they are "oppressed by the Man" and such. My answer back to them is what are you doing to make it better? What are you doing to make a difference? And, if it is truly as bad as all that, find another job that fulfills you and sustains you.
The catch is this - in order to have something outward that fulfills and sustains, you need to be inwardly fulfilled and sustained. Everything comes from the inside out. If you are not content within yourself, nothing outside can fulfill or sustain you.
So, what lens are you looking at your employment through - is it just a J.O.B. or is it truly W.O.R.K.?
The choice, as always, is yours.
Next week we will discuss Follow Your Passion, Find Your Bliss.
Until then, Namaste!
Is this just a J.O.B - just obeying the boss - or is this W.O.R.K. - a willing opportunity for respect and kindness?
Now, you may be working yourself through college or need a job to put food on the table, however that doesn't mean it has to be a J.O.B. Even the most temporary employment can be W.O.R.K. - it all depends on what you are willing to give and able to receive.
I know a lot of people complain about their jobs, saying they are "oppressed by the Man" and such. My answer back to them is what are you doing to make it better? What are you doing to make a difference? And, if it is truly as bad as all that, find another job that fulfills you and sustains you.
The catch is this - in order to have something outward that fulfills and sustains, you need to be inwardly fulfilled and sustained. Everything comes from the inside out. If you are not content within yourself, nothing outside can fulfill or sustain you.
So, what lens are you looking at your employment through - is it just a J.O.B. or is it truly W.O.R.K.?
The choice, as always, is yours.
Next week we will discuss Follow Your Passion, Find Your Bliss.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
MaXIMIze - Mid-Year Review/Recap
Okay, so I was a week off last week. My inner calendar was telling me this was the first weekend of July, not the last weekend of June.
Since we are halfway through the year, this is a good time to take stock of where we are and how far we have come (or not) since the year turned.
At the beginning of the year, we started with a bunch of questions to gauge where you are now, what is important to you, what your satisfaction levels were in the areas of overall well being, physical health, spiritual health, finances, career, and relationships and how your personal prose is affecting your satisfaction level.
We worked through the Circle of Perception exercise and discussed values, goal setting and the 5 Whys and manifestation boards.
We talked about identifying roadblocks and assessing the true risks to achieving your goals.
We discussed moving from unconscious incompetence to conscious competence, giving up bad habits, and getting back up after following off the wagon.
We worked on developing our follow through, moving through fear, and spring cleaning.
Finally, we discussed growing our best lives before starting the specific areas of finances (April posts), physical health (May posts), and spiritual health (June posts).
During the last six months, I've also thrown out several challenges for us to work on, starting with manifestation boards and including the following:
Sharing positive energy and eliminating negative energy
Tracking your expenses
Analyzing what we truly need
Tracking your input (diet) and output (exercise)
Fine-tuning your input (diet)
Believing you are enough, you have enough, you do enough (meditation)
Three pages a day (journaling)
Now I challenge all of us to review the material and the challenges we've accepted (or ignored), and see where we are right here, right now.
Has anything improved in our lives?
Have we truly committed to MaXIMIzing ourselves, MaXIMIzing our lives, and living our best life now?
If you've fallen off the wagon, remember you can always get up, dust yourself off, and get back on the wagon that will take you down the path of your best life!
For additional inspiration and support you can keep at your fingertips, I offer my book, Take Your Life in Your Arms and Kiss It!, available here.
Next week, we will tackle the topic of career, starting with is this just a J.O.B. or is this truly W.O.R.K.
Until then, Namaste!
Since we are halfway through the year, this is a good time to take stock of where we are and how far we have come (or not) since the year turned.
At the beginning of the year, we started with a bunch of questions to gauge where you are now, what is important to you, what your satisfaction levels were in the areas of overall well being, physical health, spiritual health, finances, career, and relationships and how your personal prose is affecting your satisfaction level.
We worked through the Circle of Perception exercise and discussed values, goal setting and the 5 Whys and manifestation boards.
We talked about identifying roadblocks and assessing the true risks to achieving your goals.
We discussed moving from unconscious incompetence to conscious competence, giving up bad habits, and getting back up after following off the wagon.
We worked on developing our follow through, moving through fear, and spring cleaning.
Finally, we discussed growing our best lives before starting the specific areas of finances (April posts), physical health (May posts), and spiritual health (June posts).
During the last six months, I've also thrown out several challenges for us to work on, starting with manifestation boards and including the following:
Sharing positive energy and eliminating negative energy
Tracking your expenses
Analyzing what we truly need
Tracking your input (diet) and output (exercise)
Fine-tuning your input (diet)
Believing you are enough, you have enough, you do enough (meditation)
Three pages a day (journaling)
Now I challenge all of us to review the material and the challenges we've accepted (or ignored), and see where we are right here, right now.
Has anything improved in our lives?
Have we truly committed to MaXIMIzing ourselves, MaXIMIzing our lives, and living our best life now?
If you've fallen off the wagon, remember you can always get up, dust yourself off, and get back on the wagon that will take you down the path of your best life!
For additional inspiration and support you can keep at your fingertips, I offer my book, Take Your Life in Your Arms and Kiss It!, available here.
Next week, we will tackle the topic of career, starting with is this just a J.O.B. or is this truly W.O.R.K.
Until then, Namaste!
Sunday, June 22, 2014
MaXIMIze - Recharge Your Batteries
What is spiritual health? It's about what centers you, what grounds you, what you turn to in the dark times. Whether you are a church-goer or find your solace in nature, meditation, or just silence, taking time for this part of your life is as important as taking care of your physical health.
Taking the time to nurture your spiritual well-being also recharges your batteries,which helps you to better deal with the things that come up in life - whether they be the day-to-day trials and tribulations or the large traumatic issues that come up either gradually or suddenly in life.
Whether it is being filled with the Spirit by attending church services or honoring your innermost Self by communing with Nature, doing contemplative yoga, or practicing meditation, we all need to recharge our batteries on a regular basis.
How do you recharge your batteries? Are you doing this often enough to counter the daily drain of energy? If not, why not, and what can you start doing right here, right now to take better care of your spiritual health?
Next week starts a new month, and a new topic. We'll be discussing the career area of our lives, talking about things such as taking charge of your career, is this a J.OB. or is this truly W.O.R.K., and Follow Your Passion, Find Your Bliss.
As always, your thoughts and feedback on this post or any others on this blog are welcome and appreciated!
Until next time, Namaste!
Taking the time to nurture your spiritual well-being also recharges your batteries,which helps you to better deal with the things that come up in life - whether they be the day-to-day trials and tribulations or the large traumatic issues that come up either gradually or suddenly in life.
Whether it is being filled with the Spirit by attending church services or honoring your innermost Self by communing with Nature, doing contemplative yoga, or practicing meditation, we all need to recharge our batteries on a regular basis.
How do you recharge your batteries? Are you doing this often enough to counter the daily drain of energy? If not, why not, and what can you start doing right here, right now to take better care of your spiritual health?
Next week starts a new month, and a new topic. We'll be discussing the career area of our lives, talking about things such as taking charge of your career, is this a J.OB. or is this truly W.O.R.K., and Follow Your Passion, Find Your Bliss.
As always, your thoughts and feedback on this post or any others on this blog are welcome and appreciated!
Until next time, Namaste!
Sunday, June 15, 2014
MaXIMIze - Journaling: Clear Your Mind, Focus Your Energy
In her book, The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron recommends writing three pages in your journal first thing in the morning to clear blockages to working your craft. No editing, no censoring, just writing to clear the flotsam and jetsam from your mind.
I too recommend journaling as a way to clear your mind and focus your energy for the day. By putting things down on paper, you unblock the path so your energy can freely do the work it is meant to do that day.
Journaling can also help us answer our innermost questions by opening the pathway for that small, still voice inside to communicate more easily with us by quieting our minds and focusing our energy.
Sometimes the mere act of writing something down brings out into the light that which has not truly been seen or acknowledged before. And we all know the first step to moving past a problem or a roadblock is to acknowledge it exists. Once we can see the problem or the roadblock and define it, we can work toward solving it or moving past it.
Journaling is a way our innermost Self - that small, still voice within each of us - can help us sort out our problems and work past our roadblocks.
My challenge to you this week is to write at least one - preferably three - pages a day, by hand - either in a journal or a notebook or even just a pad of paper. Do this without editing or censoring yourself. Just let the words flow - even if the words are, "I don't know what to write." Once your inner voice knows it has a consistent way to communicate, the words will come.
Next week we will discuss recharging your batteries.
And in remembrance of a voice from my childhood who left the world this day - "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars." RIP Casey Kasem
Until next week, namaste!
I too recommend journaling as a way to clear your mind and focus your energy for the day. By putting things down on paper, you unblock the path so your energy can freely do the work it is meant to do that day.
Journaling can also help us answer our innermost questions by opening the pathway for that small, still voice inside to communicate more easily with us by quieting our minds and focusing our energy.
Sometimes the mere act of writing something down brings out into the light that which has not truly been seen or acknowledged before. And we all know the first step to moving past a problem or a roadblock is to acknowledge it exists. Once we can see the problem or the roadblock and define it, we can work toward solving it or moving past it.
Journaling is a way our innermost Self - that small, still voice within each of us - can help us sort out our problems and work past our roadblocks.
My challenge to you this week is to write at least one - preferably three - pages a day, by hand - either in a journal or a notebook or even just a pad of paper. Do this without editing or censoring yourself. Just let the words flow - even if the words are, "I don't know what to write." Once your inner voice knows it has a consistent way to communicate, the words will come.
Next week we will discuss recharging your batteries.
And in remembrance of a voice from my childhood who left the world this day - "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars." RIP Casey Kasem
Until next week, namaste!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
MaXIMIze - Spiritual Charity Begins at Home
I know I've reminded us before of what flight attendants teach us about the oxygen masks in airplanes - we have to put our own on before we can help other put theirs on.
Spiritual self-care is just as important as self-care in all other areas of life. Our spiritual selves are an essential part of the battery that keeps us going, that keeps our light lit from within.
If we do not tend our spiritual selves, we find ourselves depleted, jaded, starting not to care about what goes on in our lives or the lives of those we care about. We may find ourselves sucked into the shallowness of inane TV shows or gossip or other one-dimensional ways of living instead of going out into the world and making our little piece of it better, instead of letting our light shine as a beacon to others.
We each need to take the time to shut out the world and connect with our innermost selves - that small, still voice that lives within each of us - in order to be our best selves and to share our best selves - our light - with the world.
My challenge to you this week is to take 15 minutes a day and find a quiet place where you can just sit and be with no distractions. Settle in, and do some breathing exercises to still your body and quiet your mind - inhale to a count of eight, hold to a count of four, exhale to a count of eight. Do this three to five times, as many as it takes to quiet your mind.
Then, on the inhale say "I am," and on the exhale say "enough."
Inhale - "I do"
Exhale - "enough"
Inhale - "I have"
Exhale - "enough"
Repeat the sequence three to five times.
Then, just sit quietly and let the small, still voice within you share its wisdom.
If you find thoughts coming in, let them slide through with no attachment. If you cannot yet do this, go back to the breathing and then the "I am, I do, I have...enough" mantra.
Just 15 minutes a day spent in this manner can have a profound effect on how you view what unfolds over the course of your day.
I hope you take up this practice, this challenge to live your best life right here, right now.
Next week we will discuss journaling as a way to clear our mind and focus our energy.
Until then, namaste!
Spiritual self-care is just as important as self-care in all other areas of life. Our spiritual selves are an essential part of the battery that keeps us going, that keeps our light lit from within.
If we do not tend our spiritual selves, we find ourselves depleted, jaded, starting not to care about what goes on in our lives or the lives of those we care about. We may find ourselves sucked into the shallowness of inane TV shows or gossip or other one-dimensional ways of living instead of going out into the world and making our little piece of it better, instead of letting our light shine as a beacon to others.
We each need to take the time to shut out the world and connect with our innermost selves - that small, still voice that lives within each of us - in order to be our best selves and to share our best selves - our light - with the world.
My challenge to you this week is to take 15 minutes a day and find a quiet place where you can just sit and be with no distractions. Settle in, and do some breathing exercises to still your body and quiet your mind - inhale to a count of eight, hold to a count of four, exhale to a count of eight. Do this three to five times, as many as it takes to quiet your mind.
Then, on the inhale say "I am," and on the exhale say "enough."
Inhale - "I do"
Exhale - "enough"
Inhale - "I have"
Exhale - "enough"
Repeat the sequence three to five times.
Then, just sit quietly and let the small, still voice within you share its wisdom.
If you find thoughts coming in, let them slide through with no attachment. If you cannot yet do this, go back to the breathing and then the "I am, I do, I have...enough" mantra.
Just 15 minutes a day spent in this manner can have a profound effect on how you view what unfolds over the course of your day.
I hope you take up this practice, this challenge to live your best life right here, right now.
Next week we will discuss journaling as a way to clear our mind and focus our energy.
Until then, namaste!
Sunday, June 1, 2014
MaXIMIze - The Importance of Spiritual Health
This month's focus is spiritual health, and we're going to start with the difference between religion and spirituality.
According to the dictionary, here is how those two words are defined, as well as the word "spirit":
Religion: 1. the service and worship of God or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. 2. a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. 3. scrupulous conformity. 4. a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.
Spirituality: Of, relating to, consisting of, or afflicting the spirit
Spirit: 1. an animating or vital principle held to give live to physical organism. 2. the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person.
Religion focuses on the outward; spiritual focuses on the inward.
The only person we can truly change is ourself, and that change, to be lasting, has to come from the inside out. Our outward actions come from what we think, feel and believe within.
Therefore our spiritual health is at least as important if not more so than our physical health.
In order to nurture both, we need to set aside time and space devoted to our practices. For spiritual health, meditation and/or prayer and reflection, preferably on a daily basis, helps bring clarity to who we are inside and can help transform us into our best being now.
Even if it is just five minutes of sitting quietly and clearing our minds by focusing on our breathing, that small amount of time letting go of the outer world helps bring balance back to our inner world which we can then share with the outer world.
We cannot give what we do not have ourselves, and we cannot know what we DO have if we do not know ourselves and how we fit into the greater scheme of life.
Tending the garden that is our spiritual life enables us to know ourselves on the deepest level.
What are you doing today to bolster your spiritual health and bring balance to your life?
Namaste!
According to the dictionary, here is how those two words are defined, as well as the word "spirit":
Religion: 1. the service and worship of God or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. 2. a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. 3. scrupulous conformity. 4. a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.
Spirituality: Of, relating to, consisting of, or afflicting the spirit
Spirit: 1. an animating or vital principle held to give live to physical organism. 2. the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person.
Religion focuses on the outward; spiritual focuses on the inward.
The only person we can truly change is ourself, and that change, to be lasting, has to come from the inside out. Our outward actions come from what we think, feel and believe within.
Therefore our spiritual health is at least as important if not more so than our physical health.
In order to nurture both, we need to set aside time and space devoted to our practices. For spiritual health, meditation and/or prayer and reflection, preferably on a daily basis, helps bring clarity to who we are inside and can help transform us into our best being now.
Even if it is just five minutes of sitting quietly and clearing our minds by focusing on our breathing, that small amount of time letting go of the outer world helps bring balance back to our inner world which we can then share with the outer world.
We cannot give what we do not have ourselves, and we cannot know what we DO have if we do not know ourselves and how we fit into the greater scheme of life.
Tending the garden that is our spiritual life enables us to know ourselves on the deepest level.
What are you doing today to bolster your spiritual health and bring balance to your life?
Namaste!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
MaXIMIze - SPECIAL FEATURE - The Power of Prose - Hope versus Faith
I don't rightly remember if this is something I read on the Internet or something I gleaned from a TED talk, but either way, it was one of those AH HA moments.
Working for the military, I've often heard the phrase, "Hope is not a plan," usually in response to someone saying something along the lines of, "Well we hope..." this will happen or this group of people will come through or ...you get the idea.
Hope is passive. When we hope for something, we sit by and wait for things to happen.
Faith, on the other hand, is active. When we have faith, we move forward as if things are happening to bring about a certain outcome, that people will come through on their word.
We've all heard that things in motion tend to stay in motion. Faith is the catalyst, the energy source of that motion.
It has been said that faith can move mountains. What mountains are your faith moving today?
Namaste!
Working for the military, I've often heard the phrase, "Hope is not a plan," usually in response to someone saying something along the lines of, "Well we hope..." this will happen or this group of people will come through or ...you get the idea.
Hope is passive. When we hope for something, we sit by and wait for things to happen.
Faith, on the other hand, is active. When we have faith, we move forward as if things are happening to bring about a certain outcome, that people will come through on their word.
We've all heard that things in motion tend to stay in motion. Faith is the catalyst, the energy source of that motion.
It has been said that faith can move mountains. What mountains are your faith moving today?
Namaste!
Monday, May 26, 2014
MaXIMIze - Toning versus Weight Loss
Last week, I was having too much fun in Las Vegas with the family...now, back to the regularly scheduled programming...
We've all heard that we should get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. Movement is necessary to keep our blood flowing and our muscles toned. And toned muscles is what we should focus on, not weight loss.
Toned muscles will help keep us going as we age. So yes, we need 30 minutes of exercise per day at minimum. And we need to exercise our whole body from the core outward. Walking, swimming, pilates, and yoga are great forms of exercise as is going through the weight circuit at the gym. With the plethora of training media and equipment at our disposal, we have plenty of opportunities to take care of our bodies.
How much time do we spend sitting passively in front of our computer or TV for entertainment instead of taking 30-60 minutes of our day to take care of our bodies?
Which activity will do us better in the long run?
The choice is ours.
Next week starts a new month (June already!) and with it, a new topic. We'll be discussing our spiritual health, and that's when I'll get into dealing with stress, practicing meditation, and tracking our energy flows.
Until then, namaste!
We've all heard that we should get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. Movement is necessary to keep our blood flowing and our muscles toned. And toned muscles is what we should focus on, not weight loss.
Toned muscles will help keep us going as we age. So yes, we need 30 minutes of exercise per day at minimum. And we need to exercise our whole body from the core outward. Walking, swimming, pilates, and yoga are great forms of exercise as is going through the weight circuit at the gym. With the plethora of training media and equipment at our disposal, we have plenty of opportunities to take care of our bodies.
How much time do we spend sitting passively in front of our computer or TV for entertainment instead of taking 30-60 minutes of our day to take care of our bodies?
Which activity will do us better in the long run?
The choice is ours.
Next week starts a new month (June already!) and with it, a new topic. We'll be discussing our spiritual health, and that's when I'll get into dealing with stress, practicing meditation, and tracking our energy flows.
Until then, namaste!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
MaXIMIze - Lifestyle Change versus D-I-E-T
Yes, diet is a four-letter word - we tend to view dieting as a temporary state, akin to taking antibiotics for an infection, and frankly that is why the dieting mindset does not work for the long haul. And believe me, life is a long haul!
If we look at the changes in our eating and drinking habits that would be beneficial to our overall physical health as true lifestyle changes or even a bettering of ourselves - such as we do when pursuing higher education of any type - those changes are more likely to stick and become the good habits that replace the bad habits in the long-term. And the long-term is what we are shooting for here, not the short-term quick fix. Our bodies are going to last us 70-90 years or more, so we owe it to ourselves to take the best care of them that we can. And - as long as we draw breath, it is never too late to make these changes and live a better life.
Just like what we choose to read, listen to, or watch can elevate us or drag us down, so too can our eating and drinking habits.
Here are some rules of thumb I've learned over the years:
The more colorful the fruits and vegetables are, the better they are for you.
Darker lettuce is better for you than lighter lettuce (romaine versus iceberg for example).
Fresh and in season is better than canned or frozen.
Natural is better than processed or artificial (cane or beet sugar is better than high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners)
If you eat meat, a serving is about the size of the palm of your hand.
Home-made or home cooked is better than store-bought or processed.
The gist here is as close to natural as possible and portion control. Both help reduce the toxins we ingest. Also, drinking plenty of water over the course of the day helps the body flush out toxins and keep our digestive tract, well, on track.
Eating right doesn't mean giving up on sweets or treats either - again, as close to natural as possible and portion control.
One of the things I've done in the last year to help ensure I eat healthier is to subscribe to a service called Farm Fresh to You. They deliver in-season fruits and vegetables and organic eggs to my doorstep every other week. They do have weekly service as well, and you can tailor the list of items so you don't get food you know you won't eat. And, they provide recipes for what they deliver in the box, so you're not left wondering what to do with, say, bok choy, when you get it.
I also visit the farmer's market a few blocks down from my day job when it is in sessions (Wednesdays from May to October) to augment what I get in my deliveries and to get out of the office on a weekly basis for a nice stroll!
I know a lot of us say we don't have time to cook, however, I bet if we looked at the amount of time we spend eating out or engaged with either the TV or the computer we could find plenty of time to cook a delicious, nutritious meal at home. Even if you have an active life with school and sports and such, you can still prepare easy meals for yourself and your family with a little preplanning. For example, if you have leftover chicken, you can easily cook some rotini pasta and mix the chicken and pasta with cut up tomatoes, avocados, artichoke hearts, black olives, and other vegetables you like and a bit of dressing to make a quick meal of a salad.
The choice is ours - live a healthy lifestyle for the long-term, or go on the diet for the short-term over and over and over again.
Just like a well-maintained car will last much longer than a car that is only fixed when it breaks down, so too will our bodies stay healthier longer when we live a proper lifestyle instead of depending on diets for the quick fix to our self-induced weight problems.
And, eating right can help mitigate a host of other ills such as diabetes, allergies, insomnia and fatigue, just to name a few.
Remember the challenge I gave you last week of tracking what you eat and drink? Look at that list from last week and think about how you can change what you imbibe for the better long-term health of your body.
And, again, it took time to get where we are at, and it will take time to get where we need to be in this area of our lives - however, the long-term benefits are worth it!
Until next week, namaste!
If we look at the changes in our eating and drinking habits that would be beneficial to our overall physical health as true lifestyle changes or even a bettering of ourselves - such as we do when pursuing higher education of any type - those changes are more likely to stick and become the good habits that replace the bad habits in the long-term. And the long-term is what we are shooting for here, not the short-term quick fix. Our bodies are going to last us 70-90 years or more, so we owe it to ourselves to take the best care of them that we can. And - as long as we draw breath, it is never too late to make these changes and live a better life.
Just like what we choose to read, listen to, or watch can elevate us or drag us down, so too can our eating and drinking habits.
Here are some rules of thumb I've learned over the years:
The more colorful the fruits and vegetables are, the better they are for you.
Darker lettuce is better for you than lighter lettuce (romaine versus iceberg for example).
Fresh and in season is better than canned or frozen.
Natural is better than processed or artificial (cane or beet sugar is better than high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners)
If you eat meat, a serving is about the size of the palm of your hand.
Home-made or home cooked is better than store-bought or processed.
The gist here is as close to natural as possible and portion control. Both help reduce the toxins we ingest. Also, drinking plenty of water over the course of the day helps the body flush out toxins and keep our digestive tract, well, on track.
Eating right doesn't mean giving up on sweets or treats either - again, as close to natural as possible and portion control.
One of the things I've done in the last year to help ensure I eat healthier is to subscribe to a service called Farm Fresh to You. They deliver in-season fruits and vegetables and organic eggs to my doorstep every other week. They do have weekly service as well, and you can tailor the list of items so you don't get food you know you won't eat. And, they provide recipes for what they deliver in the box, so you're not left wondering what to do with, say, bok choy, when you get it.
I also visit the farmer's market a few blocks down from my day job when it is in sessions (Wednesdays from May to October) to augment what I get in my deliveries and to get out of the office on a weekly basis for a nice stroll!
I know a lot of us say we don't have time to cook, however, I bet if we looked at the amount of time we spend eating out or engaged with either the TV or the computer we could find plenty of time to cook a delicious, nutritious meal at home. Even if you have an active life with school and sports and such, you can still prepare easy meals for yourself and your family with a little preplanning. For example, if you have leftover chicken, you can easily cook some rotini pasta and mix the chicken and pasta with cut up tomatoes, avocados, artichoke hearts, black olives, and other vegetables you like and a bit of dressing to make a quick meal of a salad.
The choice is ours - live a healthy lifestyle for the long-term, or go on the diet for the short-term over and over and over again.
Just like a well-maintained car will last much longer than a car that is only fixed when it breaks down, so too will our bodies stay healthier longer when we live a proper lifestyle instead of depending on diets for the quick fix to our self-induced weight problems.
And, eating right can help mitigate a host of other ills such as diabetes, allergies, insomnia and fatigue, just to name a few.
Remember the challenge I gave you last week of tracking what you eat and drink? Look at that list from last week and think about how you can change what you imbibe for the better long-term health of your body.
And, again, it took time to get where we are at, and it will take time to get where we need to be in this area of our lives - however, the long-term benefits are worth it!
Until next week, namaste!
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
MaXIMIze - Self-Image as a Saboteur
Change comes from within, as does beauty.
This morning, I saw a headline that said people who lose weight still see themselves as fat. Once you have a certain construct or belief about yourself, it is very difficult to change that belief - harder even than to change a belief you hold about another person.
However, in order to truly MaXIMIze yourself and MaXIMIze your life, you need to replace old negative beliefs with new positive beliefs.
You are beautiful, you are worthy, you are special, you are perfect, you are worth MaXIMIzing!
Now go forth and express your inner beauty by MaXIMIzing yourself and MaXIMIzing your life!
Namaste!
This morning, I saw a headline that said people who lose weight still see themselves as fat. Once you have a certain construct or belief about yourself, it is very difficult to change that belief - harder even than to change a belief you hold about another person.
However, in order to truly MaXIMIze yourself and MaXIMIze your life, you need to replace old negative beliefs with new positive beliefs.
You are beautiful, you are worthy, you are special, you are perfect, you are worth MaXIMIzing!
Now go forth and express your inner beauty by MaXIMIzing yourself and MaXIMIzing your life!
Namaste!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
MaXIMIze - Physical Health
This month's focus is on Physical Health, and as I was brainstorming ideas to write on this month, I realized this is a huge topic that covers more than just diet and exercise. We'll touch on things from, yes, diet and exercise to dealing with stress to meditation to journaling to energy flow. Our physical health is the foundation for our being in so many ways, and it is also a barometer, a gauge if you will, of what is going on in the other areas of our lives.
Somewhere along the line I picked up this list of seven things successful people do on a daily basis.
1. Get enough sleep
2. Eat breakfast
3. Exercise
4. Floss
5. Read
6. Save money
7. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Did you notice that five of the seven items on the list are directly related to physical health? I could write a post on each of those alone - that's how important our physical health, our physical well-being, is.
This is definitely one area where we need to practice extreme self-care, because no one else will do it for us. Others may encourage us to take better care of ourselves, but it is truly up to us to choose to follow that encouragement and commit to taking the best care of ourselves as possible.
To do that, we must stop thinking of paying attention to what we put into our bodies - diet - and how we use our bodies - exercise, or the lack thereof - as four-letter words, bad, or even truly work. Giving ourselves the right kind of nutrition is like putting the best gas and oil in our cars, and getting enough exercise is like getting our cars tuned up on a regular basis. If we can care for our cars - our things - this well, we should give at least that much care and attention to ourselves, right?
So, my first challenge to you this month is to keep track of what you eat and drink, and what kind of physical activity you engage in. Awareness is key in knowing what you are doing right now and discovering what needs to be adjusted.
This may well be a month where bonus posts come up during the week, since there is so much to cover on this topic! So until the next post, namaste!
Somewhere along the line I picked up this list of seven things successful people do on a daily basis.
1. Get enough sleep
2. Eat breakfast
3. Exercise
4. Floss
5. Read
6. Save money
7. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
Did you notice that five of the seven items on the list are directly related to physical health? I could write a post on each of those alone - that's how important our physical health, our physical well-being, is.
This is definitely one area where we need to practice extreme self-care, because no one else will do it for us. Others may encourage us to take better care of ourselves, but it is truly up to us to choose to follow that encouragement and commit to taking the best care of ourselves as possible.
To do that, we must stop thinking of paying attention to what we put into our bodies - diet - and how we use our bodies - exercise, or the lack thereof - as four-letter words, bad, or even truly work. Giving ourselves the right kind of nutrition is like putting the best gas and oil in our cars, and getting enough exercise is like getting our cars tuned up on a regular basis. If we can care for our cars - our things - this well, we should give at least that much care and attention to ourselves, right?
So, my first challenge to you this month is to keep track of what you eat and drink, and what kind of physical activity you engage in. Awareness is key in knowing what you are doing right now and discovering what needs to be adjusted.
This may well be a month where bonus posts come up during the week, since there is so much to cover on this topic! So until the next post, namaste!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
MaXIMIze - Finances - Recap
This month we discussed examining our relationship with money - are we coming from a place of abundance or a place of lack in this area of our lives? Do we think money is a dirty word? We also discussed finances, like charity, begin at home - covering the basic needs first before going after the nice-to-haves. Finally, we discussed setting and achieving financial goals, touching on our previous discussions on commitment and follow through, Personal Prose, Values, Goal Setting, and the Five Whys, the Manifestation Board exercise, identifying and assessing roadblocks, and looking at what you want to harvest in the future.
Take-aways include:
Always come from a place of abundance.
Money - More Opulent Natural Energy, Yeah!
We have to take care of ourselves financially. If you need help in this area, get it!
Money is a tool, not a true goal.
Bless those who have wealth rather than cursing them; for in cursing those who are blessed, you curse yourself. ~ Financial Karma
Know the difference between want and need. Pare back to what you really need and then you'll be able to get what you really want.
It took time to get where we're at, so it stands to reason that it'll take time to get where we really want to be. By being diligent, persistent, and patient, we will get where we need to be in life.
By setting SMART goals and working diligently, persistently, and patiently toward them, we will make great strides down the path of MaXIMIzing this area of our lives!
Next week begins a new month and a new area of our lives to discuss - Physical Health.
As always, feel free to let me know what you think of this blog.
Until next time, namaste!
Take-aways include:
Always come from a place of abundance.
Money - More Opulent Natural Energy, Yeah!
We have to take care of ourselves financially. If you need help in this area, get it!
Money is a tool, not a true goal.
Bless those who have wealth rather than cursing them; for in cursing those who are blessed, you curse yourself. ~ Financial Karma
Know the difference between want and need. Pare back to what you really need and then you'll be able to get what you really want.
It took time to get where we're at, so it stands to reason that it'll take time to get where we really want to be. By being diligent, persistent, and patient, we will get where we need to be in life.
By setting SMART goals and working diligently, persistently, and patiently toward them, we will make great strides down the path of MaXIMIzing this area of our lives!
Next week begins a new month and a new area of our lives to discuss - Physical Health.
As always, feel free to let me know what you think of this blog.
Until next time, namaste!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
MaXIMIze - Setting and Achieving Financial Goals
Setting and achieving goals in the financial area of our lives is the same as setting and achieving them in the rest of the areas of our lives.
If faced with a mountain of debt, paying that debt down, let alone off completely, can seem overwhelming. It can be done though, one step, one payment, at a time, particularly if you've done the work I've challenged us with in the last two blog posts.
You may look at that mountain of debt and say, "I can't."
One of my mother's favorite phrases when I was growing up was, "Can't never did nothing."
I'm here to tell you Yes You Can!
It took time to get where you are financially, therefore it will take time to recover and get to where you want to be financially. If you are willing to truly commit and follow through, you can achieve financial stability and freedom.
Remember our discussion on Personal Prose? How are you talking to yourself about money and how you deal with your finances? Is it positive self talk or are you letting your inner critic run the show and shower you with negativity? Are you using your power words when you think about or talk about your financial situation?
Remember our discussion on Values, Goal Setting, and the Five Whys? Did you do the exercise of determining your core values and principles? How does the way you currently deal with your finances align with those values and principles? If the alignment is not there, what needs to be done in order to get in alignment with those values and principles in this area of your life?
Have you set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals in this area of your life, and if so, are you working diligently and persistently toward those goals? And - are you being patient in and celebrating the small victories along the way to reaching those goals?
If you did the Manifestation Board exercise, are your financial goals envisioned there? Can you clearly see where it is you want to be to attain a satisfaction rating of 8 or more in this area of your life?
Have you identified and assessed the roadblocks that may lie in your way to achieving your goals in this area? This includes the fears that you may have regarding this area - remember, we need to bring our fears out into the light and shake hands with them. By recognizing and acknowledging them, we can work through them and move toward MaXIMIzing our lives in all areas, not just this one.
And last but not least, what are you sowing in your financial garden right now? What do you want to harvest here in the future?
By really looking at and working through all these questions and developing and working toward SMART goals, you can move down the path toward MaXIMIzing this area in your life.
Next week, we'll recap what we've discussed in this area and look at the topics for next month's discussion - until then, namaste!
If faced with a mountain of debt, paying that debt down, let alone off completely, can seem overwhelming. It can be done though, one step, one payment, at a time, particularly if you've done the work I've challenged us with in the last two blog posts.
You may look at that mountain of debt and say, "I can't."
One of my mother's favorite phrases when I was growing up was, "Can't never did nothing."
I'm here to tell you Yes You Can!
It took time to get where you are financially, therefore it will take time to recover and get to where you want to be financially. If you are willing to truly commit and follow through, you can achieve financial stability and freedom.
Remember our discussion on Personal Prose? How are you talking to yourself about money and how you deal with your finances? Is it positive self talk or are you letting your inner critic run the show and shower you with negativity? Are you using your power words when you think about or talk about your financial situation?
Remember our discussion on Values, Goal Setting, and the Five Whys? Did you do the exercise of determining your core values and principles? How does the way you currently deal with your finances align with those values and principles? If the alignment is not there, what needs to be done in order to get in alignment with those values and principles in this area of your life?
Have you set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals in this area of your life, and if so, are you working diligently and persistently toward those goals? And - are you being patient in and celebrating the small victories along the way to reaching those goals?
If you did the Manifestation Board exercise, are your financial goals envisioned there? Can you clearly see where it is you want to be to attain a satisfaction rating of 8 or more in this area of your life?
Have you identified and assessed the roadblocks that may lie in your way to achieving your goals in this area? This includes the fears that you may have regarding this area - remember, we need to bring our fears out into the light and shake hands with them. By recognizing and acknowledging them, we can work through them and move toward MaXIMIzing our lives in all areas, not just this one.
And last but not least, what are you sowing in your financial garden right now? What do you want to harvest here in the future?
By really looking at and working through all these questions and developing and working toward SMART goals, you can move down the path toward MaXIMIzing this area in your life.
Next week, we'll recap what we've discussed in this area and look at the topics for next month's discussion - until then, namaste!
Sunday, April 13, 2014
MaXIMIze - Finances Begin at Home
Financial focus - money is a tool, not a true goal. It is an inanimate object that has no value except that which man has given it. Therefore money in and of itself is neither good nor evil - it simply is.
Bless those who have wealth rather than cursing them; for in cursing those who are blessed, you curse yourself. ~ Financial Karma
You know the saying, "Charity begins at home"? Well, finances begin at home too.
What do we need - truly need - money for?
A roof over our heads
Food in our bellies
Clothes on our backs
These are the basic needs we have to cover on a day-to-day basis. Linked to those needs may be transportation costs such as public transit fees, gas, car insurance, parking fees, etc., in order to get to and from our jobs. Also, items to keep ourselves, our clothes, and our homes clean and presentable. Perhaps a phone for others to keep in touch with us for work and other urgent issues. Those are the true needs, even in today's society.
Some may say connecting to the Internet is a need - I counter that with where can one connect for no and/or low cost - the library, a job resource center, etc.
Some may say TV is a need. I say it is not - it is a want and a distracting one at that. If you want entertainment, go outside and enjoy the outdoors. If weather doesn't permit outdoor activity, read a book, play a board or card game, engage in meaningful conversation, journal, plan for the future, and/or let go of the past.
The first thing we need to do financially is ensure our true needs are taken care of - keeping a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and clothes on our backs. And, we need to do these things within the confines of our current financial means - without the use of credit, plastic or otherwise. In fact, if you are a person who abuses credit by using it to cover basic day-to-day expenses, you need to find a financial counselor NOW!
Remember the challenge last week of tracking your expenses? Well, this week I give you another challenge. After putting aside money to cover transportation to employment expenses, pay your living - roof over your head - expenses first. These include rent/mortgage, energy (gas/electricity), water, utilities (sewer/trash) and home owner's or renter's insurance. After that, do you have enough to cover groceries and sundries (cleaning supplies and other non food items - pet food, etc.)? If not, where do you need to pare back and perhaps downsize energy consumption or living space costs?
Note I did NOT include cable, dish, satellite, Internet, or phone in those living expenses.
Remember, roof over your head, food in your belly and clothes on your back. And, want versus need. Once we can get back to truly covering our basic needs and have funds available to put aside for a rainy day, then we can think about saving for those wants in life - a home of our own, the ability to travel, the ability to send our children to college without student loans, or whatever else we desire to have in our lives.
Bottom line, cover the basics first and remember, want versus need.
We will talk more on the topic of personal finances next week.
Until then, namaste!
Bless those who have wealth rather than cursing them; for in cursing those who are blessed, you curse yourself. ~ Financial Karma
You know the saying, "Charity begins at home"? Well, finances begin at home too.
What do we need - truly need - money for?
A roof over our heads
Food in our bellies
Clothes on our backs
These are the basic needs we have to cover on a day-to-day basis. Linked to those needs may be transportation costs such as public transit fees, gas, car insurance, parking fees, etc., in order to get to and from our jobs. Also, items to keep ourselves, our clothes, and our homes clean and presentable. Perhaps a phone for others to keep in touch with us for work and other urgent issues. Those are the true needs, even in today's society.
Some may say connecting to the Internet is a need - I counter that with where can one connect for no and/or low cost - the library, a job resource center, etc.
Some may say TV is a need. I say it is not - it is a want and a distracting one at that. If you want entertainment, go outside and enjoy the outdoors. If weather doesn't permit outdoor activity, read a book, play a board or card game, engage in meaningful conversation, journal, plan for the future, and/or let go of the past.
The first thing we need to do financially is ensure our true needs are taken care of - keeping a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and clothes on our backs. And, we need to do these things within the confines of our current financial means - without the use of credit, plastic or otherwise. In fact, if you are a person who abuses credit by using it to cover basic day-to-day expenses, you need to find a financial counselor NOW!
Remember the challenge last week of tracking your expenses? Well, this week I give you another challenge. After putting aside money to cover transportation to employment expenses, pay your living - roof over your head - expenses first. These include rent/mortgage, energy (gas/electricity), water, utilities (sewer/trash) and home owner's or renter's insurance. After that, do you have enough to cover groceries and sundries (cleaning supplies and other non food items - pet food, etc.)? If not, where do you need to pare back and perhaps downsize energy consumption or living space costs?
Note I did NOT include cable, dish, satellite, Internet, or phone in those living expenses.
Remember, roof over your head, food in your belly and clothes on your back. And, want versus need. Once we can get back to truly covering our basic needs and have funds available to put aside for a rainy day, then we can think about saving for those wants in life - a home of our own, the ability to travel, the ability to send our children to college without student loans, or whatever else we desire to have in our lives.
Bottom line, cover the basics first and remember, want versus need.
We will talk more on the topic of personal finances next week.
Until then, namaste!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
MaXIMIze - Finances - Our Relationship with Money
There is a scrap of paper on the bulletin board by my desk that says:
Is money a naughty word?
No, it just means:
More
Opulent
Natural
Energy
Yeah!
When we think about dealing with finances and money in general, we come from one of two places - a place of abundance or a place of lack. Which do you come from?
This is actually a difficult topic for me to write about, which is probably why I decided to tackle this segment of the Circle of Perception first. My satisfaction rating for this particular segment of the areas of my life is currently a 5, which is down from last year's rating of 6. And I'll be quite honest, I am no financial guru in any way, shape or form.
When I was growing up, money was not talked about in our household, other than to say we couldn't afford something or other. I was not taught to save or plan for the future. My father was career military, so he had a guaranteed pension and medical benefits. My mother was Federal civil service under the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which also meant a guaranteed pension and medical coverage.
Today, though, staying with one company for an career that could span forty years or more is the exception rather than the norm. And, even with Federal civil service, the retirement program has changed the ratio of the guaranteed pension to the 401k type program (Federal Employees Retirement System came on line in the mid-1980s, replacing CSRS), and is poised to potentially change even more, depending on the whim and will of Congress.
Back in the day, the advice was to save 10% of your income, and to insure you had at least three months' living expenses in the bank. The advice now seems to be have at least six months if not a year's living expenses in the bank.
The availability of credit is another thing that has changed over the years. Credit as we know it - with MasterCard, VISA, Discover, American Express, and all the store and gas cards - did not come into being until the 1970s. Back in the day, credit was something to be used sparingly for large purchases, not to buy everyday items such as clothes, groceries, even gas on.
Our way of looking at the use of money or credit to buy things has changed as well. We have become a society of "I want it all and I want it now" rather than one of "good things come to those who wait." We have lost the distinction between what it is we really need to live and what it is that we want to have.
When was the last time you waited to buy something - say, a painting - that struck your fancy? And by waiting, I mean going home, really looking at your financial situation, and sleeping on your decision rather than buying it right then, right there.
Household budget - do you know where all your money goes every month? Do you know how much you spend on meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, laundry items, bathroom items, pet items, alcohol, soda, junk food, etc.? Do you really need all those cable channels or can you pare down to the internet connection and Hulu or Netflix? Or do you really need TV at all? How much is that smart phone costing you each month?
I challenge you to track each and every expense for a month or two and really see where your money goes - and I mean every expense - whether you buy it with cash, check, or debit/credit. Then ask yourself what do I really need to have/eat/use?
As you do this, you will begin to see your bank account grow, and then you can pay off your credit debt and save for your future.
Which brings me to my last question for you - have you done any retirement planning? Do you know where you're going to live, how you're going to spend your time, what funds will be needed to cover all that for as long as you are likely to live?
We have to take care of ourselves financially, period. No one else will do this for us - and frankly, we shouldn't let them. We owe it to ourselves to be able to pay our own way, balance our accounts, and save for our future, period.
We owe it to ourselves to become educated about money, our relationship with it, and its place in our lives. We owe it to ourselves to acknowledge the strengths we do have in the realm of finances and use them to the best of our abilities. We also owe it to ourselves to acknowledge our weaknesses in this area, bring them out in the open, and seek the help and advice we need to get to a place where we can have a healthy relationship with money and rate this segment of our lives at a minimum of 8 if not higher.
There are many resources out there for this particular topic. Suze Orman is one of my favorite authors and speakers on this subject. There is also a book called Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Monique Tilford that is very good.
If you are already dealing with your finances from a place of abundance - great! Keep on trucking and refine things as you need to.
If you are dealing with your finances from a place of lack - of never having enough - do the work you need to do to figure out why your relationship with money is what it is and work to move from a place of lack to a place of abundance. If need be, get counseling - both financial and personal - to help you move down the path toward abundance.
We owe to ourselves to live our best lives now - and MaXIMIzing our financial health and well-being will help us to do that.
As we move through the month, we will discuss more on the topic of finances and money, coming from a place of abundance and reminding ourselves that money is a tool we use to MaXIMIze our lives, not a be all and end all of itself.
Until next week, namaste!
Is money a naughty word?
No, it just means:
More
Opulent
Natural
Energy
Yeah!
When we think about dealing with finances and money in general, we come from one of two places - a place of abundance or a place of lack. Which do you come from?
This is actually a difficult topic for me to write about, which is probably why I decided to tackle this segment of the Circle of Perception first. My satisfaction rating for this particular segment of the areas of my life is currently a 5, which is down from last year's rating of 6. And I'll be quite honest, I am no financial guru in any way, shape or form.
When I was growing up, money was not talked about in our household, other than to say we couldn't afford something or other. I was not taught to save or plan for the future. My father was career military, so he had a guaranteed pension and medical benefits. My mother was Federal civil service under the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), which also meant a guaranteed pension and medical coverage.
Today, though, staying with one company for an career that could span forty years or more is the exception rather than the norm. And, even with Federal civil service, the retirement program has changed the ratio of the guaranteed pension to the 401k type program (Federal Employees Retirement System came on line in the mid-1980s, replacing CSRS), and is poised to potentially change even more, depending on the whim and will of Congress.
Back in the day, the advice was to save 10% of your income, and to insure you had at least three months' living expenses in the bank. The advice now seems to be have at least six months if not a year's living expenses in the bank.
The availability of credit is another thing that has changed over the years. Credit as we know it - with MasterCard, VISA, Discover, American Express, and all the store and gas cards - did not come into being until the 1970s. Back in the day, credit was something to be used sparingly for large purchases, not to buy everyday items such as clothes, groceries, even gas on.
Our way of looking at the use of money or credit to buy things has changed as well. We have become a society of "I want it all and I want it now" rather than one of "good things come to those who wait." We have lost the distinction between what it is we really need to live and what it is that we want to have.
When was the last time you waited to buy something - say, a painting - that struck your fancy? And by waiting, I mean going home, really looking at your financial situation, and sleeping on your decision rather than buying it right then, right there.
Household budget - do you know where all your money goes every month? Do you know how much you spend on meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, laundry items, bathroom items, pet items, alcohol, soda, junk food, etc.? Do you really need all those cable channels or can you pare down to the internet connection and Hulu or Netflix? Or do you really need TV at all? How much is that smart phone costing you each month?
I challenge you to track each and every expense for a month or two and really see where your money goes - and I mean every expense - whether you buy it with cash, check, or debit/credit. Then ask yourself what do I really need to have/eat/use?
As you do this, you will begin to see your bank account grow, and then you can pay off your credit debt and save for your future.
Which brings me to my last question for you - have you done any retirement planning? Do you know where you're going to live, how you're going to spend your time, what funds will be needed to cover all that for as long as you are likely to live?
We have to take care of ourselves financially, period. No one else will do this for us - and frankly, we shouldn't let them. We owe it to ourselves to be able to pay our own way, balance our accounts, and save for our future, period.
We owe it to ourselves to become educated about money, our relationship with it, and its place in our lives. We owe it to ourselves to acknowledge the strengths we do have in the realm of finances and use them to the best of our abilities. We also owe it to ourselves to acknowledge our weaknesses in this area, bring them out in the open, and seek the help and advice we need to get to a place where we can have a healthy relationship with money and rate this segment of our lives at a minimum of 8 if not higher.
There are many resources out there for this particular topic. Suze Orman is one of my favorite authors and speakers on this subject. There is also a book called Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, and Monique Tilford that is very good.
If you are already dealing with your finances from a place of abundance - great! Keep on trucking and refine things as you need to.
If you are dealing with your finances from a place of lack - of never having enough - do the work you need to do to figure out why your relationship with money is what it is and work to move from a place of lack to a place of abundance. If need be, get counseling - both financial and personal - to help you move down the path toward abundance.
We owe to ourselves to live our best lives now - and MaXIMIzing our financial health and well-being will help us to do that.
As we move through the month, we will discuss more on the topic of finances and money, coming from a place of abundance and reminding ourselves that money is a tool we use to MaXIMIze our lives, not a be all and end all of itself.
Until next week, namaste!
Sunday, March 30, 2014
MaXIMIze - Growing Our Best Lives
The Bible tells us as you sow, so shall you reap. Karma tells us what comes around, goes around. What we put out in the world is what we get back, directly or indirectly. What we planted in the past is what we are harvesting now. What we plant now is what we will harvest in the future.
Here are some questions to ponder:
What are you harvesting now? What is showing up in your life right now?
What do you want to harvest in the future? What do you want to show up in your life from now on?
Are you planting the right seeds in the right soil to be able to harvest what you want to in the future instead of growing weeds?
The parable of the mustard seed illustrates that last question very well. The seeds sown in the well-prepared soil and tended appropriately grew and provided a bountiful harvest. The seeds sown in barren soil with no preparation or tending did not even germinate to be able to die on the vine.
So, are we willing to do the work to ensure that what we are sowing now is really what we want to harvest in the future? Are we willing to till the field, remove the rocks and cobbles, plant the seeds, water the field, and pull the weeds while the seeds we planted grow into a bountiful harvest?
Over the coming months, we will go into each of the six areas we looked at in the Circle of Perception post, discuss bringing in the harvest, express our gratitude, and finish the year by celebrating ourselves and our successes.
My sincerest hope is that you will continue to read this blog through the rest of the year, and if you feel the need to go deeper on any topic at any time, please feel free to contact me.
Next week, we will explore the topic of finances and examine our personal relationship with money.
Until then, namaste!
Here are some questions to ponder:
What are you harvesting now? What is showing up in your life right now?
What do you want to harvest in the future? What do you want to show up in your life from now on?
Are you planting the right seeds in the right soil to be able to harvest what you want to in the future instead of growing weeds?
The parable of the mustard seed illustrates that last question very well. The seeds sown in the well-prepared soil and tended appropriately grew and provided a bountiful harvest. The seeds sown in barren soil with no preparation or tending did not even germinate to be able to die on the vine.
So, are we willing to do the work to ensure that what we are sowing now is really what we want to harvest in the future? Are we willing to till the field, remove the rocks and cobbles, plant the seeds, water the field, and pull the weeds while the seeds we planted grow into a bountiful harvest?
Over the coming months, we will go into each of the six areas we looked at in the Circle of Perception post, discuss bringing in the harvest, express our gratitude, and finish the year by celebrating ourselves and our successes.
My sincerest hope is that you will continue to read this blog through the rest of the year, and if you feel the need to go deeper on any topic at any time, please feel free to contact me.
Next week, we will explore the topic of finances and examine our personal relationship with money.
Until then, namaste!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
MaXIMIze - Spring Cleaning
"You can't reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday's junk." ~ Louise Smith
It seems only appropriate with the turning of the season from Winter to Spring that we focus on cleaning out and letting go of that which no longer serves us in order to lay the groundwork to sow the seeds of our best life now.
Just as we get annual physical and periodic dental and eye exams, so too should we take stock of and excise where necessary our emotional and psychological baggage.
If you've ever read Cheryl Richardson's book Take Time for Your Life, then you've seen this theme run through her writing as well. And as I said in my post from July 19, 2013 on my previous blog, as we move up the spiral staircase to our highest, most MaXIMIzed life, we must leave behind those things - ideas, habits, thoughts, people, situations - that no longer serve us, and in some cases are pulling us down the bannister back toward the bottom step.
In order to do this, we must inventory and acknowledge that which we currently have and take stock of it - ask the question of what is still truly serving us by helping us achieve our goals and what is holding us back by directing energy away from our goals.
We can MaXIMIze our lives by minimizing the baggage we carry through them - both physically and otherwise. Sometimes though, we need to work through the otherwise to be able to minimize our physical baggage.
Once we identify those things, thoughts, and beliefs hat are holding us back, we can work to disengage ourselves from them by removing physical reminders and replacing them with things, thoughts, and beliefs that fulfill us and lead us to achieving our goals.
Those things that are holding us back are the darkness in our life, and those things that fulfill us and lead us to achieving our goals are the light in our life. So, we need to close the door on the darkness and always face and move toward the light.
Next week, we will discuss sowing the seeds to grow our best life now.
Also, my new book - Take Your Life in Your Arms and Kiss It! - is available from lulu.com - click here for more info!
Until next time, happy cleansing and namaste!
It seems only appropriate with the turning of the season from Winter to Spring that we focus on cleaning out and letting go of that which no longer serves us in order to lay the groundwork to sow the seeds of our best life now.
Just as we get annual physical and periodic dental and eye exams, so too should we take stock of and excise where necessary our emotional and psychological baggage.
If you've ever read Cheryl Richardson's book Take Time for Your Life, then you've seen this theme run through her writing as well. And as I said in my post from July 19, 2013 on my previous blog, as we move up the spiral staircase to our highest, most MaXIMIzed life, we must leave behind those things - ideas, habits, thoughts, people, situations - that no longer serve us, and in some cases are pulling us down the bannister back toward the bottom step.
In order to do this, we must inventory and acknowledge that which we currently have and take stock of it - ask the question of what is still truly serving us by helping us achieve our goals and what is holding us back by directing energy away from our goals.
We can MaXIMIze our lives by minimizing the baggage we carry through them - both physically and otherwise. Sometimes though, we need to work through the otherwise to be able to minimize our physical baggage.
Once we identify those things, thoughts, and beliefs hat are holding us back, we can work to disengage ourselves from them by removing physical reminders and replacing them with things, thoughts, and beliefs that fulfill us and lead us to achieving our goals.
Those things that are holding us back are the darkness in our life, and those things that fulfill us and lead us to achieving our goals are the light in our life. So, we need to close the door on the darkness and always face and move toward the light.
Next week, we will discuss sowing the seeds to grow our best life now.
Also, my new book - Take Your Life in Your Arms and Kiss It! - is available from lulu.com - click here for more info!
Until next time, happy cleansing and namaste!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
MaXIMIze - Working Through Fear
Last week we discussed working on your swing - developing your follow-through. This week, we tackle one of the biggest obstacles to following through and achieving your goals - Fear!
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
What is your greatest fear? Specifically, what fear or fears hold you back from achieving your goals and living your best life now?
What is fear really? Physically, the manifestation of fear is the same as that of excitement - racing heart, sweaty palms, adrenaline rush. Psychologically though, the two are quite different.
Where excitement is gleeful, joyful anticipation of an event or an activity - a very positive emotion - fear is the exact opposite, usually fueled by that nasty little creature known as the Inner Critic.
Where excitement vitalizes, fear paralyzes.
So how then do we move through fear?
"Do one thing everyday that scares you." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
We move through fear by acknowledging it. We bring our fear out into the light and shake hands with it. Light diminishes darkness, and fear is part of the darkness that we need to shine our light on in order to achieve our goals and live our best life now.
We identify where the fear is coming from. We talk to the fear and get it to tell us its roots - how it came to be. For example, we may have a fear of never being good enough that is deeply rooted in our growing up years.
We develop a plan to refocus when fear appears and tries to derail us from our goals. For example, we make a list of all the things that we have accomplished and been praised for and/or just know deep down that we did really well.
Then, when fear does appear - and it will, trust me - we work the plan and refocus on achieving our goals. For example, when that fear of not being good enough rears its ugly head, we can go back to our list of what we have accomplished and done really well and bolster ourselves with those accomplishments. If we did those things, we can achieve these goals too!
So, to move through our fear, we acknowledge it, we identify it and its roots, we develop a plan to refocus if and when it appears, and when fear does appear, we work that plan.
Next week, we will discuss Spring Cleaning - getting rid of that which no longer serves us.
Until then, namaste!
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
What is your greatest fear? Specifically, what fear or fears hold you back from achieving your goals and living your best life now?
What is fear really? Physically, the manifestation of fear is the same as that of excitement - racing heart, sweaty palms, adrenaline rush. Psychologically though, the two are quite different.
Where excitement is gleeful, joyful anticipation of an event or an activity - a very positive emotion - fear is the exact opposite, usually fueled by that nasty little creature known as the Inner Critic.
Where excitement vitalizes, fear paralyzes.
So how then do we move through fear?
"Do one thing everyday that scares you." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
We move through fear by acknowledging it. We bring our fear out into the light and shake hands with it. Light diminishes darkness, and fear is part of the darkness that we need to shine our light on in order to achieve our goals and live our best life now.
We identify where the fear is coming from. We talk to the fear and get it to tell us its roots - how it came to be. For example, we may have a fear of never being good enough that is deeply rooted in our growing up years.
We develop a plan to refocus when fear appears and tries to derail us from our goals. For example, we make a list of all the things that we have accomplished and been praised for and/or just know deep down that we did really well.
Then, when fear does appear - and it will, trust me - we work the plan and refocus on achieving our goals. For example, when that fear of not being good enough rears its ugly head, we can go back to our list of what we have accomplished and done really well and bolster ourselves with those accomplishments. If we did those things, we can achieve these goals too!
So, to move through our fear, we acknowledge it, we identify it and its roots, we develop a plan to refocus if and when it appears, and when fear does appear, we work that plan.
Next week, we will discuss Spring Cleaning - getting rid of that which no longer serves us.
Until then, namaste!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
MaXIMIze - Working on That Swing - Developing Your Follow-Through
Follow-through - goes right along with the previous post about falling off the wagon. We need to develop ways to keep that light that is our goals firmly in front of us and to keep trekking down the path to that light one step at a time.
In my coaching practice, one of the tools I develop for my clients is a vision statement - a written and oral focused compilation of what the client's future will look, smell, taste, sound, and feel like when his or her best life is being lived.
Here is the vision statement I developed for myself as part of my training program:
In my coaching practice, one of the tools I develop for my clients is a vision statement - a written and oral focused compilation of what the client's future will look, smell, taste, sound, and feel like when his or her best life is being lived.
Here is the vision statement I developed for myself as part of my training program:
"Beth, as you awake to feel the arms of your life partner
enveloping you, you are aware of and amazed by how far you have come over the
last year or so because you developed all the skills, talents and tools that
you need to easily achieve the goals you have chosen for yourself…your
confidence and belief in yourself increased as you grew, banishing the
persistent procrastination and enabling you to show your true gifts in the area
of financial well-being and coaching acumen. As you stretch and run your mind
over your client list for the day, you realize that you easily create the life
you want because you have a clear vision of what you want to be and have and
work positively and diligently toward those goals with confidence and self-assurance,
grounded in your knowledge base and secure in your relationships with others in
your life, both personal and professional. As you get ready for your work day,
you look forward to working with your clients to coach them to bring into their
lives the success you’ve brought into yours. Your ability to see the big
picture as well as handle the devilish details has increased exponentially as
you incorporated more regular exercise and more healthy eating habits into your
daily routine. Your debt load is minimal and you are checking things off your
bucket list (and sometimes adding to it!). Your commitment to do the work
necessary in all these areas and your extraordinary follow-through has led to a
greater sense of well-being and peace in your life overall. Life is good!"
I listen to this at least once a week, more often if needed, to keep my focus on what living my best life means to me - and to keep that light in front of me.
To use a baseball analogy, this is my way of keeping my eye on the ball and watching the bat I'm swinging connect with the ball and knock it out of the park.
If we keep our eyes on the prize, on achieving our goals in life, and continue down the path toward those goals - that prize - our follow-through will develop naturally.
There is a line from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - the Claymation version from the 1960's - that goes along the lines of, "Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking 'cross the floor." Follow-through is simply the act of continuing to put one foot in front of the other and walking down the path to our best life now.
Next week, we'll discuss walking through fear. Until then, namaste!
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