Are your goals IDEAL? It’s a good time to check them out!

January 23, 2017 By

It seems just a moment ago, we were ushering in the new year and yet here we are, almost at the end of the first month of this trip around the sun.

Statistics tell us that this is the time when we are most at risk of losing our momentum for the determination and drive we embraced as the calendar page turned.

Life has already started to challenge us.

My focus this year is around investment. And I can personally attest to the fact that resistance has already appeared. But I can also sense and see where for me, this time I’ll be defying those odds (don’t you love when that happens?) and my resilience is showing resistance the door.

I’ve been giving thought to what creates our ability to sustain our pursuit of our dreams beyond the blush of making them.

As I was listening to a speaker this past weekend talk about real estate investments I began to see a universal application to some principals he was sharing. The segment was on how to know when you had found an ideal property for investment. While the specific details are different, the concept of testing your choice before the commitment of investment was directly on point.

There are so many things we can do. We have so many choices in terms of where we want to grow. How do we know that the goals we’ve chosen will in fact stand the test of time?

Using the word IDEAL as our guide, here are some thoughts to consider:

I-IMPACT

When we know what the results of our efforts will be, they have a higher probability to be sustainable. As Jim Rohn taught: “When the promise is clear, the price is easy.”  We have to start with the promise.

D-DEFINED 

The plan to achieve needs to be flexible but not vague. This is also vital to long-term success. What steps are we taking, in what time frame and how are we going to track progress?

E-ENERGY 

When you think about the impact and effort, how do you feel? What energy is produced? High? Low? Excitement? Dread? Everything in our life either creates or consumes energy. The ideal goal will do both but not be in equal proportions. It will be producing more positive energy than it expends. If thinking about your goal does not energize you, it’s in jeopardy.

A-ALIGNMENT 

This could be the place where we are most vulnerable. When we set a goal that isn’t in alignment with the rest of our life it can become a point of contention, even conflict with other priorities. When we begin by creating alignment for the goal, we are supporting its ultimate success. We are making room for it from the onset. Sometimes this is not just alignment for our own life but also alignment with others in our core circles.

L-LEVERAGE

While this is in the final spot, it could be considered the secret sauce of the whole effort. What do you have you can leverage and integrate into this new work? How will you be able to leverage the results of this goal for future work? What opportunities are being created before, during and after success? It is the bridge between now and next.

Our investments must be setup for success from the start.

Let’s recap: The IDEAL goal will have a championed impact, be exquisitely defined, bring optimized energy, support alignment in our life and create opportunities to leverage resources we have now and produce an outcome we can leverage for everything to follow.

I believe It’s a good check-up for where we’re focused. What about you? How do your goals fare? Are they IDEAL for this time and place in your life?

Live today like you want tomorrow to be. Live well!

 

Filed Under: Adjusted Sails, Possibilities & Perspective, Resilience, Winds of Change Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do you spend or invest? A declaration for 2017

January 1, 2017 By

How does a word guide us? Can it clarify intention? Create influence and focus? Yes, yes and yes!

The beginning of the miracle happens when we choose a symbolic word around the over-arching and current intention we have for our life.

Its fundamental purpose is to influence our choices and sharpen our focus.

Do we need one? In short, no we don’t. It’s just a tool. But think about it. The right tool for anything we do makes it possible to execute with greater ease and efficiency. And once you’ve found such a tool, you keep coming back to it.

The selection of an annual guidance word is a practice I started a number of years ago. Their influence in shaping my choices and outcomes is easily identified. I can also see where the intention of the word became part of my personal belief system and part of my life’s fabric.

During one of my most challenging years my chosen word was gratitude. It was a difficult time. There was a significant amount of fear and pain, for myself and those dear to me. The antidote? Gratitude. I’m sure you’ve heard it said and I can attest that you cannot be fearful and grateful at the same time. If we were to compare the two contrasting emotions to a rock, paper, scissors contest – gratitude is the one that would always win. Even though it was some time ago that it was in my word rotation, gratitude remains a core value in my life. The habits I installed that year are now well embedded life practices and continue to serve me every day.

Admittedly, there have also been years where I chose a word as an exercise but never fully adopted it into my daily routines. It wasn’t long before I did not even think about that word. A practice recently discovered that helps counter that risk is expanding the idea of a guidance word to a guidance statement or proclamation. The word is the language symbol of the overall thought. This seems to me to have the potential of being even more effective. We don’t just choose and declare the word – we choose and declare its meaning to us.

As I am reflecting back on 2016 and looking forward to 2017, I recognize that an expanded bridge is definitely in order. This past year I focused on creating space; on letting go. It was a year centered on challenging the choices in my life in every area. I gave myself permission to question everything and let go of anything that no longer served my best life and work. It was daunting in some moments but in the end, it generated the result I needed.

That result? Space. The ability to see past life’s clutter and discover what truly matters to me and why. Finding room to breathe and allow myself to expand my perspective and possibilities.

What then is next? How to invest that space in a more meaningful way.

Invest.

Think about this with me for a moment. This is the pivot point for me. Do you invest or do you spend? I’m not just talking about money. I’m talking about all of your resources. Your energy, time, emotion and yes, your money. Everything. The idea that how we do anything is how we do everything comes to mind. If we are predominantly spenders in one area, chances are pretty high that’s our level of discipline in other areas as well.

My conclusion? I’ve definitely been on the spender side of the spectrum. Even though I work as a strategist, all too often I’m making choices in my life that are based on expediency or convenience. This shows up in my health, my calendar and yes, those pesky finances!

Once I cleared enough space to see the reality, the next question was this: Will I continue to just spend or will I balance that with investment?

We all know that spending is a natural course of getting through life. But when that’s all we do, we limit ourselves and what we can achieve. Nothing can compound until we invest. And without compounding, we will soon lack momentum.

It’s time to invest.

Here then is my declaration for 2017:

  • I am invested in my spiritual well being and communion with my Maker.
  • I am invested in my physical well being and daily practices that produce optimal health.
  • I am invested in my financial well being and take full responsibility for my future.
  • I am invested in my relationships and nurture the people in my life.
  • I am invested in my work and achieve continued mastery in my craft.
  • I am invested in my community and make a difference every day.
  • I am invested in my environment and honor what is entrusted to me.
  • I am invested.

Even as I was writing this the thought deepened. I recognized that the idea of investment brings complete clarity to what I have been talking about for some time. To have the tomorrow we want, we must act on those desires today. That is investment in its highest form. We invest in the tomorrow we want today. We make that investment with every thought and action.

Live (invest) today like you want tomorrow to be. Live (invest) well.

Invest.

Filed Under: Personal thoughts & insights, Possibilities & Perspective, Success & Significance, Winds of Change Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Re-gifting revisited. . .

December 27, 2016 By

If you were a fan of the Seinfeld television sitcom you will remember the iconic episode where the term re-gifting was born. If you haven’t ever seen it – you should do some due diligence and find it. A classic!

Since then re-gifting has taken on a life-form of its own. Search the word and you will find an unlimited number of articles teaching us the rules of re-gifting.

Yes- there are rules! Even the articles have a comedic flair.  One of my favorites and most practical comes from Dave Ramsey’s blog post 10 Rules of Regifting.

I’ve been giving thought to this of late in terms of what it is we would choose to re-gift. Throughout this past year an area of focus for me has been letting go. In some cases, beliefs that were not serving my best life and work, in others habits that were comfort zones but not driving excellence. But it was also about things. Including things that had special meaning for me. Why let them go? Because letting them go to the right person at the right time allowed me to create a stronger bond and continue a legacy.

One particular item was a small statue I gifted to my Dad many years ago depicting the safety of a father’s arms. When he died, my Mom re-gifted back to each of us the things we had given him. It was a lovely thing for her to do as we could now have those as remembrances of special times with him. The thought occurred to me that those items could now be an incredible re-gifting opportunity. The statue went to one of my brothers who has borne a special mantle of protection for my nephew through cancer to the miracle of healing. I don’t know that I could have given him anything more meaningful.

There have been other opportunities as well and through all this the spirit of what gifting is all about was made fresh and new for me and, I believe, for the recipients.

My library has been another great source of gifts now in the libraries of others with my sincere hope that they learn from them and continue them on their way. Lives don’t change because of what sits on our shelves. They change because of what we allow into our hearts and minds and then share with others.

After a year of focus around this idea of finding new homes and owners for treasured gifts it has become more natural. What is most remarkable is the shift from it being about giving anything up to the joy of investing into others. When we do that, the dividends are endless. It is absolutely true that as we invest in others through our gifts, we find we in fact have more to give.

The idea of re-gifting revisited. Instead of it being about things we don’t need or want, let it be about things that have meaning and allow them to contribute to the lives of others. As we go into the new year, let’s focus on what we can contribute, what we can share with others and find significance there.

In the words of the incomparable Albert Einstein: “Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.”

Live (gift) today like you want tomorrow to be. Live (gift) well.

Filed Under: Personal thoughts & insights, Possibilities & Perspective, Winds of Change Tagged With: , , , , ,

Abracadabra: What will you create?

December 12, 2016 By

CreateRecently I was privileged to hear David Bayer, author of Mind Hack and creator of The Powerful Living Experience speak at a conference I was attending.

He asserts that we begin to understand our true potential when we recognize that at their core, our beliefs are nothing more than decisions.

Whenever we want to change our mindset or belief about something, particularly ourselves, it’s not complicated. It just means we must make a different decision.

Think about that for a moment. It’s an incredibly powerful concept.

Since hearing him speak I’ve been thinking about new decisions that I want to make about myself and my life as I move into the next season. A word came to mind that has always fascinated me because of its origin: Abracadabra. A magician’s word. A word used to conjure up an experience of delight and wonder. Isn’t that what we all want from our lives?

Where does the word originate? An ancient language and phrase avra kehdabra, which means “I will create as I speak”.

Just imagine! We can speak new decisions into existence. Those decisions in turn create a new perspective and reality. It is what makes our words so powerful.

What will we create as we speak?

What magic, delight and wonder will we bring to life for ourselves and our world?

What is our personal abracadabra?

We must choose wisely! And then get ready for magic!

Begin with the end in mind. Decide today what you want tomorrow to be.  Then live that. Create that. Live well.

 

Filed Under: Inspiration & Creativity, Personal thoughts & insights, Possibilities & Perspective, Winds of Change Tagged With: , , , , , ,

When everything old is new again…

December 6, 2016 By

2016 is nearly behind us. Has it flown by for you? It seems as though it was just a blink ago that I was sharing last year’s holiday season with my daughter and her family in Oklahoma. Soon I will be traveling again for an early Christmas celebration with them.

On days where the rush of time passing by gives me pause, I am reminded of the value in looking back even as we live in the present.

This is one of those subjects where then can be some pesky “fine lines”. There are endless debates and writing on the competing values of looking forward vs. looking back. It can almost make them seem mutually exclusive of each other.

Like me, you have no doubt seen the many social media posts that talk about the “good old days” with a bit of a nostalgic, even bittersweet angst. Those images can appeal to the sentimental yearnings of our nature. However, they can also distort our perspective and set us up to somehow pit the “old days” against the “new days” in some sort of bizarre competitive dance.

One that I found amusing had a picture of an old hand crank operating wringer washing machine. Since that was something I actually used, I could say I definitely remember that one! But I certainly don’t want to trade the multi-everything version I have today that allows me to multi-task laundry with just about anything else I do. And I definitely do not want my old typewriter back! I enjoy the luxuries of modern tools!

So which is right?  Should we yearn for those simpler times of yesteryear or look forward to what is ahead? When we face these kinds of questions, it is where we can miss the opportunity to gain the best we can from every part of our life. We want to make things “either or”. But the truth is that there are very few times when we have to choose, or at the very least, we don’t have to choose exclusively. It is about perspective.

There is a difference between looking to the past and living in the past. Let that sink in a moment. We can look to the past without living there. That means the richness of the past can continue to serve even as we move to the future and all of the new opportunities afforded to us.

Here are six ways looking back can serve us. Using this as a checklist, we can keep things in the right perspective.

The first three focus on others from the past. These can be those from our personal circle or legacies from a broader stage.

  • To honor those that made a difference in the world and our lives
  • To learn from the experiences of those that traveled this path before us
  • To be inspired by the example of others that faced relatable challenges

The next three focus on our personal experience.

  • To see how far we have come.

Sometimes the road ahead can shrink just by looking at the road behind. This can be a highly motivating use of looking back. Even if we haven’t come as far as we’d like, that can be motivating as well. It’s a check-point practice.

  • To use knowledge from a previous experience.

We want to repeat solutions that worked and avoid those that failed. When we are faced with a challenge, it is productive to think back to another time when we were faced with something similar. What did we do?  What can we use in this situation?  This can also boost our self-confidence and allow us to handle challenges with more agility because we’ve mentally already overcome them simply by remembering past victories or knowing what pitfalls to avoid.

  • To give ourselves (and others) the opportunity to change perspectives.

Sometimes in life, particularly where there has been some pain, it can greatly distort our perspective about a person, an exchange or an event. Distance can be a great leveling period that allows us to diffuse the more acute emotional responses and see things with a clearer mind. That allows us to change our own perspective and hopefully, be open to learn, to forgive (ourselves or others) and to build on a stronger layer of understanding and empathy for others.

Three based on others. Three based on ourselves.

Begin today. Look to the past. Embrace it. Leverage it. But don’t live there. Use it to make a better tomorrow:  For yourself, your family, your community and ultimately, our world.

Live (remember) today like you want tomorrow to be. Live (remember) well.

Filed Under: Learning & Growth, Possibilities & Perspective, Winds of Change Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Let us give thanks…

November 23, 2016 By

Blessed

For the beauty and abundance of the earth,

For family near and far,

For friends old and new,

For the gift of each new day,

For the chance to make a difference,

Let us give thanks.

There are so many blessings for which I am thankful. Being able to be a part of your life is one of them. Thank you for sharing the journey.

Live today like you want tomorrow to be. Live well.

 

Filed Under: Inspiration & Creativity, Personal thoughts & insights, Possibilities & Perspective, Winds of Change Tagged With: , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »