3 Keys to a More Satisfying Life & Work

March 12, 2014 By

Old keysMultiple studies have shown that over 50% of people no longer find satisfaction in their life or work. In fact, they are becoming increasingly unhappy. While specific reasons vary, they generally fall into one of three categories:

1-  They no longer feel like a meaningful contributor;

2-  They are no longer comfortable taking risks;

3-  They did not plan to be where they are at this point in their life.

What about you?  On a scale of 1 to 10 – where is your life-work satisfaction meter registering?  If you are in that 50% that is dissatisfied, it is time for you to look more closely at your situation and determine what steps you can take to reclaim satisfaction in your life and work.

There’s another facet to realize about these three indicators and how they each can accelerate the others. Are you in the first group but find that the second point keeps you from taking action? Or perhaps you are in the third group but due to the second point, you are settling for far less than you can accomplish.  You see, these really do go hand in hand. Think of them as gears, one turns the other.  Not satisfied with what you are doing?  Too unsettled to fix it? Feeling trapped and without choices?

If this is you, the first step is going to be to take responsibility for where you are and stop allowing yourself to fall prey to victim thinking. I can share with you that when it was first put to me in those terms, I was insulted.  In fact I reacted badly until I realized it was in fact true. I was allowing myself to be held hostage. I was a functioning victim of the economy and settling for someone else’s idea of how to define and deal with risk in my own life.

So what can we do about this?  Consider with me these three basic keys to going from dissatisfied to satisfied:

  1. Commit to total honesty & self awareness
  2. Commit to being open to a new way of seeing everything
  3. Commit to taking responsibility and action

That’s it – three key ideas to consider.  If you are willing to make those three commitments, then get on board.  Your journey is about to get interesting and yes – satisfying.  Always remember, there is more value in the rest of your story than you ever dreamed possible. And if a different perspective would be helpful, we’re always here to help as your possibility partner.

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

 

 

 

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

What seeds will you plant today?

March 10, 2014 By

Planting SeedsIn his teachings,  Earl Nightingale talks about each of us being like farmers and compares our lives to their plot of land.  It is up to us to cultivate that land, to plant the seeds, to weather the storms and to bring in our harvest.

Whatever happens above, under and around our plot of land happens to everyone.  If there’s rain – it rains on everyone’s land.  If there is a draught – everyone has to deal with it. How the farmer prepares the land determines how those universal events effect it in many cases. Land can be cultivated so that it has the right elevation for drainage.  It can also be irrigated with alternate hydration sources.  Those are decisions (and investments) the farmer makes in the land in order to give it the best possible chance to produce the crops desired.

The farmer also must decide what kind of crops he (or she) wants to harvest.  After all, what comes up from the ground is going to be determined by what they put in the ground.  We can’t be surprised if we get get wheat instead of corn if we didn’t plant corn seed.  We shouldn’t expect an oak tree if a pecan seed is what we planted.  But that is quite often what we do with the plot of land called our life.  We want a certain outcome (crop) from our life but we don’t plant those seeds.  Then we are disappointed when we get a result we didn’t want.

If we want sustaining health, we must plant seeds of health.  If we want abundance financially, we must plant seeds of financial health. If we want a masterpiece life, we must plant seeds of mastery. Whatever you want from this experience we call life, you have to plant those seeds and allow them to grow.  A good friend from my college days experienced her final days here on earth this past week. As I read all of the posts from those that have known and loved her over the years since our time together it was clear that the seeds she planted were of excellence, warmth, love and faith. What a special reminder to those with days yet ahead to take care with  “seeds” and both select and plant them well.

It remains fascinating to me that within the seed, there lies the potential of a forest.  Just as the potential of our lives, begins with our days. What seeds have you planted? Are they going to bring the life forest you desire?

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

A new approach: Thinking “inside” the box..

March 5, 2014 By

Inside Your BoxAs a life strategist, one of the places I see people struggle is recognizing who they are and the gifts that are already theirs to claim.  There is great pressure to look outward and to “think outside the box” in pursuit of a “better you”.  So much so that we forget to examine “inside the box” first and see what we may already have within our grasp that can be used to propel us into our true purpose.

One of my favorite exercises we go through is an inventory of knowledge and skills.  The challenge is to take your age and come up with at least that many items of knowledge or skill that you have demonstrated in the course of your life.

The first half is typically very easy for us to record.  The next group might take some thought but we can typically come up with it.  It’s that last group of 15 – 25% that seems to stump us.  But in almost every case, the real gems come from that group.

Since this pattern proved out time and time again, it intrigued me.  I began to look deeper at why this might be true.  It seems that what we have most enjoyed in life about ourselves we tend to think of as “less important” because it may not be associated with our professional life and endeavors.  We operate from the misconception that what we most enjoy is a “sideline” or “hobby” or even something we do “just for fun”.  In truth, quite often it could become more central in our life, even be the secret ingredient for creating our most purpose-driven work.

When we start from where we are with the idea that we already have abundance within ourselves, exploring “inside the box” takes on new meaning.

What about you? If you are dissatisfied with your life, perhaps it’s because you’re focusing on what you don’t have – what is “outside your box”.

Try a new approach.  Take inventory “inside your box”.  Re-focus on what you have and what it can mean to you for building a richer, more satisfying life.

Of one thing I am certain.  You are going to find a gift.

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

How to turn “Once upon a time” into “Here and now”

March 2, 2014 By

When a story begins with the words “once upon a time…”, we expect to hear a fairy tale.  One of those stories where everything is extraordinary and the ending has everyone living “happily ever after”. But those stories also taught us a few character lessons when we first heard them as children.  They taught us courage, perseverance and doing the right thing.  We also learned that happy endings often come at a price, that there is sacrifice as well.

Over the course of time, we stopped remembering the middle of the story.  All we remembered was “once upon a time” and “happily ever after” and so we stopped believing in the fairy tale.

But what if once upon a time could be here and now?  What if happily ever after was not just for children’s stories?  What if we could lay claim to that?  I believe we can.  But we have to put the middle of the story back in.  We have to develop our story, we have to make the sacrifices, we have to slay our dragons.  In other words, we have to do the work.

For many years, any time I was asked to name my top five goals in life one thing on my list was always to write a book.  It was my “once upon a time” story.  And it was definitely staying in fairy tale land for me.  Why?  Because I wasn’t doing the work.  I had the desire but not the commitment.  I wasn’t willing to make the sacrifices I needed to make.  And then I was.

I started to do the work.  I signed up for some writer’s workshops, I participated in writer’s retreats and I started looking for mentors that would be able to guide me down the path of my dream to write that book.  I can’t really tell you exactly when it shifted for me but the shift did happen.  I went from talking about a book to actually working on my book.  I am writing everyday and working with an extraordinary editor and publisher.  It will finish in 2014!

But what really changed?  It wasn’t the desire.  It wasn’t even the skill although that is definitely being aggressively (and enthusiastically!) honed.  What changed is that I started to work.  I picked up that sword from the fairy tale and started slaying the dragons blocking my path.  And I made the sacrifices. My schedule had to make room for this.  That meant something had to go. The investments had to be made in time and money to make the “happily ever after” my “here and now”.

What is it that you want for your life that has been in that secret place or not so secret place of your mind that is your fairy tale?  What first step can you take to begin your work?  Here are four points to ask yourself to help get you from “once upon a time” to here and now”:

1)  You must believe it is possible

2)  You must believe it is possible for YOU

3)  You must be willing to do the WORK

4)  You must be willing to make the necessary SACRIFICES

I remember clearly one of the early lessons I learned from mentor Jim Rohn:  “When the promise is clear, the price becomes easy.”  What we have to remember is that the price remains.

To wrap this up, I’m going to borrow a quote from Sherri Shepard I will never forget as she was departing from the Dancing With The Stars competition about to start up a new season:

“And, I wanna say, to every person out there — that thing that scares you the most, that makes you say, ‘I don’t know if I can do it, I’m scared,’ run towards it because it’s so amazing on the other side.”

I agree.  There is nothing like being on the other side of once upon a time… here and now is unbelievably wonderful!

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

Bringing the virtual world home…

February 18, 2014 By

Virtual officeOur lives are enriched everyday by people we have never met in person.  Whether through on-line classrooms, forums, social media or just by reading the stories of incredible people leading extraordinary lives, the influence of the stranger has never been greater.

When we have the opportunity to bridge that virtual space and bring that virtual world into our physical realm, there can be both excitement and a bit of trepidation.

What if we are disappointed?  What if THEY are disappointed?  This of course is the fodder of many discussions when relating it to on-line dating and other personal circumstances but what about when it’s your business?

We engage with people we’ve never met now as a matter of course.  In some cases, they know more about our lives and businesses than our families and friends.  But there is a growing shift to close those gaps.   Even if 90% of the relationship and it’s exchanges stay virtual, there is a definite emphasis coming back to getting eye to eye through video conferencing and face to face at conferences, expos, mastermind meetings and other networking events.

What a wonderful time we live in and how fortunate we are to have all of these marvelous tools at our fingertips!  But as with anything, the strategy we employ and the integrity we maintain will be the key factors in making certain that all of these wonders of technology are being used to an effective end and purpose.

Technology in and of itself is just the tool.  The craftsmen are still required for it to actually create the miracle and transform.

So as we go about our lives, virtually and where there is dust and dirt, let’s not lose sight of the fact that we are still all people with very real lives and dreams.  Virtual doesn’t change who we are.  It just changes how we meet, how we communicate and the opportunity to bring value to so many in so many ways.

Filed Under: Learning & Growth, Personal thoughts & insights, Winds of Change Tagged With: , ,

Subject to change: More than you expected?

February 3, 2014 By

Future_ChangeThe subject of change is something I have been studying now for some time.  It is interesting to me how differently we each view change overall.  It’s also interesting that we don’t recognize all change in the same ways.  Some things that are obvious changes, we don’t even put in that category.

Here are five things that cannot be described as anything other than change and yet we don’t necessarily “categorize” them as change:

1)  Our calendar system.   Today is not tomorrow and tomorrow is not yesterday.  Each day is unique.  Every day we get a new one.  That is change.

2)  Our appearance.  We do not expect to look the same at 2 years old as we do at 20.  We also don’t expect to look the same at 50 as we did at 30 no matter how badly we might want it!

3)  The seasons.  Everything changes.  And depending upon where you live, they will change differently.  Having lived in different parts of the United States, I have experienced different seasons but one thing is for certain- there were always seasons.  They came around every year. And lately, even what happens within the season changes.

4)  Money.  This one is really a great discussion point.  We don’t expect to earn the same amount at 40 as we did at 20.  We don’t expect to pay the same thing for a car in 2013 as we did ten years ago.  We don’t even expect to pay the same price for a gallon of fuel from one week to the next.  We also don’t expect to pay the same amount for something at every store, every day.

5)  Time.  Constantly moving.  Forward.  We can’t turn back time.  And we can’t make it stand still.  It’s going to constantly be ticking away and changing.

If these things are obviously about change, why don’t we think of them as change?  I believe that it because of our perspective.  When we “expect” something to change, we are prepared for it.  We plan for it.  We even begin to look forward to it in many cases.

We look forward to future events!  We look forward to Fridays! We embrace changes in our appearance by evolving with them.  Whether it is changing our hairstyle, our wardrobe, or anything else.  It is part of what is uniquely “us”. The seasons each bring their own unique activities.  We plan our lives around those opportunities.  It starts becoming clear that anticipating change is part of what enables us to enjoy change.

How then can we transfer that perspective to our overall lives?  We can start with understanding that everything in our life is always subject to change.  And everything is always in a cycle.  Wherever we are, we are not meant to stay there.  And whomever we are, we are not meant to remain that person.  We are meant to grow.  That is change. Once we begin to anticipate change and plan for it, we will be at the place where we welcome it like the old friend it should be.

 

 

 

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