The One Thing You Can Do To Make 2016 Great

Have you ever noticed how you wake up one day and a whole month or year has passed! Life is speeding along at an ever increasing rate and you are just muddling through and moving mindlessly from one day to the next.  

So how do you change that trend? 

Live with intention. 
Live deliberately.  
Pay attention to the moments.  
Plan your day.  
Adjust your plan when your day doesn't go as planned.  
Live with gratitude - focus on the good.
Quit sighing so much.
Don't project into the future.
Do things afraid.
Keep the main thing the main thing
Know your end goal in life and live accordingly
Do what you can with what you've got
Quit wishing your life away
Quit waiting for the next "stage" of life.
Make yourself focus

Life can be lived a better way......more intentionally and more purposefully.  You can make that happen, now go to it! 

Why You Won't Reach Your Goal, Even Though You Want To

Wow,  How negative can I be? 

 I've already decided you won't reach the goals you have set for yourself in 2016!!  

What the title should read, but it would have been entirely too long is:

Why You Won't Reach Your Goal, Even Though You Want To, But If You Do These Things You Can Reach Your Goal!

So what are the magic bullets for reaching your goals:

1.  You have to be a little uncomfortable 

Yep, most goals take you out of your comfort zone. 

You have to get up earlier, you have to exert more effort, you have to change old habits, you have to change your way of thinking.  All of those things take you out of the familiar.

2.  You have to really want to change, not because someone wants you to change.

Many of us will set goals because a friend, a spouse, a parent are encouraging us to be different in some way......make some sort of change.  Yes, the change probably would be good for you, but until you are ready and you own it, your exuberance and drive will fizzle very quickly. 

3.  You have to make and schedule time.

Most New Year's goals center around weight loss, getting more organized, gaining financial freedom, practicing more quiet time, etc.  All of those things take effort and time.  So, when have you scheduled time to do these things?  If you say you are going to get up 30 minutes earlier each day, is that when it is warm outside the covers or are you really committed to getting up?  If you say you are going to clean out your closet, when is that non-negotiable appointment on your calendar?

  

What is planned gets done! 

So, now, look at your goals, re-evaluate and work on being a little uncomfortable, being committed to change and scheduling time.  If you do those things, this time next year, you will be saying.....LOOK AT WHAT I DID!!!!  

HAPPY 2016!  

I REFUSE

It was November 29th and I was walking around my neighborhood.  As I was walking, I saw several houses completely decorated for Christmas and several neighbors out decorating.  I started hearing this little voice in my head start to clamor for my attention:  

Peggy, you are already so behind.  You don't even have the first Christmas thing out of your attic. 

Peggy, look at how pretty that house looks decorated.  You decorate the same way every year and your house needs painting and your roof needs fixing and you should use fresh greenery and, and, and.......

Well, as I continued to walk I decided to take hold of that voice and replace it with my own real thoughts and truth. 

Peggy, you are not in a competition for how your house looks at Christmas or any other time of the year.   Is your home welcoming?  Does your home have good memories?  

You will eventually get your decorating done, it doesn't have to be done today, tomorrow or even the next day.  There are no Christmas police that will come knocking on your door to ticket you for not being decorated.  

Peggy, your home is not their home.  It does not have to look like theirs, it doesn't have to look perfect; it has to look and feel like you and your family. 

Peggy, stop comparing.  It is a dead end street.

So, all this to say, I REFUSE, to let the joy of Christmas be taken out of me by the voice in my head. I REFUSE to let that voice be in control.  I CHOOSE to listen and think truth and keep my priorities and values in line with who I am, where my life is right now and my schedule. 

Are you comparing yourself with others lives or perceived perfection?  Are you allowing comparison to be the thief of your joy? If so, pull those thoughts out of your head, replace them with truth and live a freer, less stressful and simple life as a result. 

One side note:  I do want to be the Christmas police in February when people still have their wreaths on the door......just saying. 

My Struggle

In order to do my best to remain transparent, I want you all to know that I struggle, too. There are several things I struggle with, but I want to share my biggest struggle at the moment and the biggest struggle I have had for years - losing 10-15 pounds. Those that know me and have seen me in person, would not say I have a weight problem and medically speaking, I really don't have to lose weight, but the clothes in my closet are saying something totally different.  

While a 10-15 pound weight loss might not sound like a real struggle, it has been a consistent struggle for me and it is real.  All of our struggles are our struggles.  They don't have to be worse than someone else's struggle to be real. 

So, what changed?  Why am I all of a sudden going to attack this and be very intentional about the weight loss?

1.  I began to see the scale slowly creeping up, but I attributed it to many other things.

2.  I am 56 years old and weight is going to be harder and harder to fight.

3.  One of my life goals is to be as healthy as possible and carrying any extra weight does not align with that goal.

4.  PFF - Pants Fitting Factor!  My pants and skirts are telling the real story.  

How am I going to achieve this goal?

1.  Little by little.  I am making small changes in my eating, my activity and my thinking.

2.  I will celebrate the small successes and give myself grace when I don't do as well as I should for a day.

3.  Keep the end goal in mind.  Fitting into my clothes and health! 

Do you have a struggle?  What is your plan of attack?  If you don't have goals or a plan, how about picking one goal and working on your plan of attack.  We all have something we need to change, what are you going to focus on? 

Are You Listening?

In my business, I have to spend a lot of time listening.......and not talking. Whew, for this magpie that is a difficult thing to do and sometimes I just don't do it as well as I should. However, listening is one of the most important things you can do, day in and day out.  What is the old saying.....that is why God gave you 2 ears and one mouth.  Research says we remember only about 25% of what we hear.....that is not a lot of remembering, therefore that is not a lot of listening.  

Active listening, implies doing just that....actively listening as opposed to passively listening. Active listening is something we all need to get better at doing because we can glean so much more information when we are really listening.  So here are a few tips for you and some great reminders for me!

1.  Focus on paying attention.  I know that sounds silly but you have to be intentional about listening.  

2.  Mirror back to someone what is being said so they can know they are being heard and being heard correctly.

3.  Maintain eye contact, nod, use vocal cues like "nice", "yes", "I see", lean forward a little bit and watch your body language.  

4.  Don't spend your "listening" time figuring out what your response is going to be (although at my age I am afraid I am going to forget what my response is going to be!)

5.  Don't interrupt (yikes - I think I might have that problem but working on it!)

6.  Don't start daydreaming, thinking about your own personal problems, your grocery list, etc.  

7.  Lastly, try to listen "non-judgmentally".  It is difficult to listen without putting your own history and frame of reference on what the other person is saying but this is an important component to listening. 

So, with all that being said, what did I just say??  Were you really listening?  
It is a fun experiment to see how actively you can listen and how actively people are listening to you.  You may find you are just talking to hear your own self talk!  
Now go use those ears and close that mouth!

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The Next Step.......YOU Have To Take It

As I work with clients, as an organizer and a life coach, I find one consistent issue, not taking the next step.  Let me show you a little bit about what the next step looks like in my life and see if there is anything you can apply to your own life.  

The towel on the floor

Next step:  hang the towel up - time taken: 1 second

Husband's clean socks on the floor

Next step:  socks matched up and in the drawer - time taken:  3 minutes

Hair Dryer and Straightener on Bathroom Counter

Next step:  Put hair dryer and straightener in drawer (even without wrapping the cord or making it look beautiful!) - time taken:  2 seconds

I have a goal I want to reach this year and I have it written down.

(photo: freedigitalphotos.net/stuartmiles)

Next Step:  Schedule a few action steps that will help me reach my goal - 

Time taken: 5 minutes 

(photo:  freedigitalphotos.net/stuartmiles)

The biggest problem with next steps.....YOU have to take them.  No one else can take them for you.  You have to commit to doing what you have to do to get to where you want to be. 

Next Steps - the best way to reach your goals in life and in 

organizing your home. 

It takes less time than you think but it will take you less time if you do it now rather than taking all the next steps later.