Here is a portion of a journal entry I wrote earlier this month:
"This is the month for tilling the garden and sowing the seeds - what do I want to grow in my life this year? What weeds do I need to pull out of my garden of life? What rocks do I need to remove from my soil? What fertilizer do I need to add to my life to help me better move toward my goals?"
That journal entry was focused on, well, FOCUS - do I focus on the negative things at work or do I focus on the promise of the future? Do I lament about the things I have not done on my to-do list or do I focus on the positives in my life and endeavor to do better just for today?
Here is more from that entry:
"Yesterday is past, tomorrow may never come, so focus just on today. The past is done - focus on the present. Plan for the future, yes, but focus on the present - what can I do today to move toward my goals, my desired outcomes?"
So, what do you want to see more of in your life this year? Is your focus such that you are working toward that vision, or are you focusing on things that are moving you away from attaining that vision? What can you do right here, right now to move toward that vision you have for your life?
Pretty powerful stuff!
And yes, I journal nearly every day, first thing in the morning mostly. It helps to clear the flotsam and jetsam and set the tone for the day. It also helps me focus on the vision I have for my life and sort through the life plants, so I can pull the weeds from life, which helps the plants I want in my life to thrive.
Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, recommends three pages of long-hand journaling first thing in the morning to clear out the negativity and flotsam and jetsam so you can focus on what needs to be focused on.
CALL TO ACTION: Journal; lay out your vision; till the field of your life for the upcoming year.
CHECK-IN: How are you doing with the other calls to action thus far? Are you moving out on your goals for the year? If not, perhaps the information in today's post will help you to refocus your energy to do so.
NEXT TIME: Next post will discuss seven questions to help you focus on living your best life now, and possibly how to use manifestation boards to keep that focus firmly in front of you.
Until next time, Namaste!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Questions? Comments? Feel free to leave a comment on this post or contact me at the email address below:
Beth Henderson, MaXIMIzer
maximize.beth@gmail.com
Showing posts with label focus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label focus. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Sunday, October 4, 2015
MaXIMIze - Overall Well-Being/Harvest - The Myth of Multi-Tasking
"Slow down and you'll get more done." ~ Karl Palachuk
This was supposed to be the topic of last week's post - which, of course, I never wrote and posted.
My day job, as some of you know, is as a budget analyst for the Federal government. That means the last week or two of September is an extremely busy time as we are trying to finish up getting our contracts and other financial obligations wrapped up for one fiscal year and get things in place to start the next. So, the end of September finds me drained at the end of the day and at the end of the week. Hence, no blog post last week.
Okay, back to the topic at hand - the myth of multi-tasking. And yes, it relates to, well actually, all parts of our lives. In my case, we just saw how it affected my coaching career, as it had to take a backseat to my budget analyst career. In order to focus on doing my analyst duties to the best of my abilities, I had to put the blog on the back burner for a week or two. However, the harvest of doing so is that we did over 95% of what we said we were going to do financially on my projects in Fiscal Year 2015 - which means we were Green as far as our metrics go. A job well done!
The quote at the start of this blog is from Karl Palachuk, author of Relax, Focus, Succeed. There used to be a free download on his website of a talk he gave where he shares what brought him to this, well, philosophy or mindset, if you will. Karl was diagnosed with a chronic illness that caused him to slow down and focus on the important things in life. It could have brought him to a screeching halt, but it didn't - he is a very successful businessman, author, and speaker, and a inspiration for us all!
We can have it all, just not all at once. We have to figure out what is truly important in any given time and place we are at in our lives and then act on that determination.
For me, when my children were growing up, it was important for me to be involved with their schooling and extracurricular activities. So I chose to put my career and higher education on a back burner to ensure I could be there for them. When the older two (I have three) were in junior high and high school, I then went to community college and changed career tracks from administrative assistant to budget analyst.
Are my children as successful in their lives as I would wish? One yes, one no, the last getting there. They are, after all, individuals and have their own paths to choose and live. However, I was able to be there when they were young to support and guide them as far as I could, so I know they have the tools to make the choices in life that will enable them to succeed.
Now, I have a successful career as a budget analyst and am five years out from retirement - if I choose to - from that career.
Could I have done that if I had wanted it all at the same time? No, I don't believe I could have.
I don't know how many of you have heard the story of the many balls we have to juggle in life. The main thing is to not let the glass ball drop.
The glass ball is where our focus needs to be at any given moment to ensure success rather than failure. It also changes as our priorities change in life. At any given moment the glass ball could be family, health, or career. For each of us, that is a choice we make by where we focus our energies.
If we try to focus on all the balls in the air in our lives, the glass ball will likely fall and shatter.The rest will bounce or land unscathed, but the glass one will break. And nothing, once broken, is ever truly repairable.
So it is up to each and every one of us to determine what our glass ball is and work to ensure it does not break.
What is your glass ball, right here, right now?
What are you doing to ensure it doesn't break?
Next week, we will focus on Harvest, the theme for October - until then, Namaste!
This was supposed to be the topic of last week's post - which, of course, I never wrote and posted.
My day job, as some of you know, is as a budget analyst for the Federal government. That means the last week or two of September is an extremely busy time as we are trying to finish up getting our contracts and other financial obligations wrapped up for one fiscal year and get things in place to start the next. So, the end of September finds me drained at the end of the day and at the end of the week. Hence, no blog post last week.
Okay, back to the topic at hand - the myth of multi-tasking. And yes, it relates to, well actually, all parts of our lives. In my case, we just saw how it affected my coaching career, as it had to take a backseat to my budget analyst career. In order to focus on doing my analyst duties to the best of my abilities, I had to put the blog on the back burner for a week or two. However, the harvest of doing so is that we did over 95% of what we said we were going to do financially on my projects in Fiscal Year 2015 - which means we were Green as far as our metrics go. A job well done!
The quote at the start of this blog is from Karl Palachuk, author of Relax, Focus, Succeed. There used to be a free download on his website of a talk he gave where he shares what brought him to this, well, philosophy or mindset, if you will. Karl was diagnosed with a chronic illness that caused him to slow down and focus on the important things in life. It could have brought him to a screeching halt, but it didn't - he is a very successful businessman, author, and speaker, and a inspiration for us all!
We can have it all, just not all at once. We have to figure out what is truly important in any given time and place we are at in our lives and then act on that determination.
For me, when my children were growing up, it was important for me to be involved with their schooling and extracurricular activities. So I chose to put my career and higher education on a back burner to ensure I could be there for them. When the older two (I have three) were in junior high and high school, I then went to community college and changed career tracks from administrative assistant to budget analyst.
Are my children as successful in their lives as I would wish? One yes, one no, the last getting there. They are, after all, individuals and have their own paths to choose and live. However, I was able to be there when they were young to support and guide them as far as I could, so I know they have the tools to make the choices in life that will enable them to succeed.
Now, I have a successful career as a budget analyst and am five years out from retirement - if I choose to - from that career.
Could I have done that if I had wanted it all at the same time? No, I don't believe I could have.
I don't know how many of you have heard the story of the many balls we have to juggle in life. The main thing is to not let the glass ball drop.
The glass ball is where our focus needs to be at any given moment to ensure success rather than failure. It also changes as our priorities change in life. At any given moment the glass ball could be family, health, or career. For each of us, that is a choice we make by where we focus our energies.
If we try to focus on all the balls in the air in our lives, the glass ball will likely fall and shatter.The rest will bounce or land unscathed, but the glass one will break. And nothing, once broken, is ever truly repairable.
So it is up to each and every one of us to determine what our glass ball is and work to ensure it does not break.
What is your glass ball, right here, right now?
What are you doing to ensure it doesn't break?
Next week, we will focus on Harvest, the theme for October - until then, 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!
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