How To Fall In Love With Your LIfe

How to Fall in Love With Your Life
By Dan Goodwin

Ask yourself honestly this question - Are you in love with your life as it is right now?

Most of us can say that we love parts of our life - those parts we can’t wait to get involved in, and pour our time and creative energy into. Then there are other parts we don’t so much love, but just like, accept or tolerate.

Often we can find ourselves blindly hurtling down paths in various areas of our lives without much thought or planning or any particular aims. Without taking the time now and again to assess where we actually are in our lives, and whether or not we're heading where we want to be heading, we can end up with that heart-sinking moment we when suddenly look in the mirror one day and ask - “How did my life end up HERE?”

If you're not in love with your life right now (and very few of us are totally…), how would like it to be different? What would it take to for you completely and utterly fall in love with every part of your life?

Your life is a partner you're going to be with for the rest of your days. Doesn't it make sense to make that partner as lovable and as pleasurable to spend time with as you can?

Take some time to write, draw or otherwise create a picture of your life as it would be when you’re completely in love with every part of it, your vision of how you’d love your life to be.

One way to make this exercise more vivid and powerful is to write it in the present tense, as if you already have this life you love. Immerse yourself in it as deeply as possible, use all of your senses to describe your life.

Be honest and specific, you may want to divide it into different areas like Relationships, Work, Finances, Health and consider them each separately. Get into details and measurable aims.

For example don’t get drawn into vague statements like “I want to be a famous writer”. Instead state what kind of writer you are, what you’ve written, what you’ve published, where your work is published, how much you earn from it, who reads it and where and how you create.

We all have the choice to live as we wish. Every day is made up of a series of tiny choices, and the occasional bigger one.

And we all have imaginative and resourceful minds capable of being highly creative and then putting that creativity into practical action.

So start small, choose just one thing today, one part of your life you're not in love with. Then use your abundant creativity to start coming up with all the possible the things you could do to get closer to where you want to be in this part of your life.

Don’t censor or restrain your imagination, just write freely all the different things you COULD do, however viable they seem at this time.

Once you've got a long list, ask yourself - "And what ELSE could I do?". Ask this question again and again until you've completely exhausted all your ideas.

Then, from your list, pick three options that appeal to you most, and write down the first step you need to take for each and a date and time when you’re going to put it into action. Then do it!

Review your progress regularly and then work on a different area, each time aiming to fall more in love with your life. Remember once again, your life is the partner you’re going to be with for the rest of your days. It’ll benefit you greatly to make it as loving, and as lovable, as you possibly can.

© Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin.

Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin is the author of “Create Create!”, a FREE twice monthly ezine for people who want simple and powerful articles, tips and exercises to help them unleash their creative talents. Sign up right now and get your FREE “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook, at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Goodwin

Things That Can Prevent The Good Life

10 Things Between You and A Great Life

1. Unfinished business:
Free yourself from the past by identifying and cleaning up your unfinished business. Call an end to whatever you started - a project, a diet, a feud, a commitment - by dumping it, delegating it, or doing it.

2. Ignoring the Present:
Today is a result of all the Today’s that came before it. A well lived present will naturally produce wonderful future. Save a dollar today, and you’ll have a dollar tomorrow. Eat 500 calories less today, and you’ll lose weight tomorrow. Only what you do TODAY can affect tomorrow.

3. No Priorities:
Never trade what you want at the moment, for what you want the most. If you just react to the next thing that gets your attention, you’ll never have enough time for what is important. Don’t schedule your time around your priorities…schedule your Priorities around your time.

4. Betraying yourself:
Telling lies to yourself is the most hurtful form of disrespect. Write out the ways in which you have been untruthful to yourself, and how you can change that. “I will no longer pretend that what I put into my mouth doesn’t matter.” “I will no longer pretend that overspending my budget is ok.”

5. People Pleasing:
If you always say yes even when you want to say no, you will find yourself unhappily going through the motions of living, giving control of your time, energy, and spirit to anyone who asks for it. Free yourself by learning to quietly assert your boundaries.

6. Accepting Energy Drainers:
Everyday crisis and problems ARE NOT “just the way it is”. Choose to put life on your schedule. Make a conscious choice to simplify your tasks, organize your environment, and set up your life to support how you want to live.

7. Complaining Instead Of Asking:
You will only get as much as you ask for. Complaining is passive, not active. Choose to consciously educate people on what you need by making a request instead of complaining.

8. Low Reserves:
Without reserves to back you up, you will make decisions based on your LACK –lack of money, lack of time, lack of energy. And that will cause you to make mistakes, and miss opportunities. Systematically eliminate things from your life until you have a built-in reserve of time and money; then build from there.

9. Hiding your weakness:
Let your weakness help you be more truthful. Educate people. "I’m really impatient; please let me know if I skip over something you don’t understand." "I’m not good with secrets; please don’t tell me anything that you don’t want me to repeat."

10. Wishing Instead of Planning:
START! Do something! If you just sit around *wishing* that things would be better, it’s not likely that they ever will be. As my mother used to say, “wish in one hand, pour peas in the other…see which fills up faster.” Create a plan, and get into action.

by Kathy Gates, Copyright 2005

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Professional Life Coach Kathy Gates specializes in helping people who are ready to create a simpler, less stressful, more joyful and meaningful lifestyle. Get information on her programs and services at http://www.reallifecoach.com or call 480.998.5843.

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How To Be Happy Now!

I received this article in my email today and wanted to pass it on to you. After you read the article check out Miami's Blog article Happiness And The Mexican Villager. Every once in a while I need to be reminded to enjoy everything I do right now, to take time for myself right now, instead of continuously building an empire for tomorrow. Enjoy!

Begin With A Blank Page

If you could begin your life all over what would you change
given the chance to wave a magic wand and start from
scratch?

What if you had no ties, no burdens, no limits, no
memories, and no past?

What would that life look like? If the answer that comes
to your mind is different than what you are doing, why is
that? Why are you not doing what you want? Is it
because of someone else? A spouse, a parent - children?

I think the ultimate test is to close your eyes and place
yourself on your deathbed. (Fun, huh?) Now, look back at
your life as you are currently living it. What will you
think then? Will you be satisfied you lived completely?
Or will you wish you had done differently?

Here is a clue.

Very few, if any, of our senior citizens look back on their
life and say, "I sure wish I had spent more time at the
office!" I do not think anyone says, "I wish I had watched
more TV!"

This is what they say. "I wish I had been bolder. I wish I
had given more. I wish I had tried harder to see
more, do more and feel more." People wish that they had
lived more.

I know I have held back on some dreams and goals because
of our two boys. However, as my life progresses and learn,
I realize there is no reason to hold back. Just think -
if I hold back I am teaching them to hold back. Where does
that leave them - and their kids, and theirs?

On the other hand we have not been exactly standing still
either.

We have done our best to live our dreams. We
built a sailboat and lived aboard for 7 years traveling
about 15,000 miles. We lived in the snow in Aspen Colorado,
and on the beach in Hilton Head South Carolina. We lived on
an old brick mill in Long Island, and on the dock in Palm
Beach Florida.

We have written books and music, acted in
the theater, and home-schooled the boys. We have built a
horse farm, and businesses! Yet, there is so much more
we want to do!

It is a balancing act. We all must have sufficient
finances to support a comfortable lifestyle, (although
most of us tend to spend way too much on that!)

Part of this balancing act is understanding what we
are passionate about doing so that work becomes a joy
instead of a job.

Is this not a major reason of
lost dreams and goals? Many people find work, call it
a job and make a living at it.

But they begrudge every
minute of it, going as far as using the job as a reason
for playing the martyr. Find something else!

There are many, many teachers of the attraction
philosophies of "making a life". With as many opportunities
today in every field imaginable, somewhere, something is
calling to you.

Another part of the puzzle is to include those close to
you in frank and open discussions in what it is you desire.

Too many of the clients I have coached have kept their wants
and needs bottled up inside them forever! They decided for
the other person in their lives there was no interest in
whatever it was they themselves wanted to do! How absurd!

How can we possibly know what someone else wants or
desires without asking?

Would it not be tragic to spend
your life in a city for all your life, working at a job you
despise because you thought your spouse wanted that life,
even though you wanted to live in the country and be a
farmer?

Then one day you overhear your spouse tell her
best friend all she ever wanted to do was live in the
country? Don't laugh - I have seen this happen!

Sure this is a bit far fetched - but you would be amazed at
what I hear!

Make an attempt today to start with a brand new page of
your life. Create your life story how you want it.

If there are others in your life to be involved, have them
do the same exercise. Then compare what your notes. If
this matches your current life, congratulations! You are
one of the few. Now make it better.

However if your written life stories sound like someone
completely different, then you are living a life of
conflict.

Here is the good news. Your life is your life.
No one can take that away from you. You are not indentured.
You are not a slave. You are free to go, do, and be whoever
you wish.

It might not be easy, but it sure might be worth it. I coach
people daily who are changing their lives.

There are so many things to be grateful for, and so many things open to
us. We owe it to all the ones before us who gave us this
opportunity to take advantage of it.

Today.

Miami Phillips has spent the last decade teaching
business owners and others the secrets to living
a full and successful life. Try:
http://www.miamiphillips.com

Install Positive Habits And Live Big!

Where Are Your Habits Leading You?
by Jack Canfield

You are an accumulation of your habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you're living out your habits.

Habits are necessary. They free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don't have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the look out for danger while you are driving. You don't have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you're going.

Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success. To become successful, you will need to drop bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live.

People don't suddenly appear in the life they want to live, habits determine their outcome!

What are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals? Really be honest with yourself here... Are you always running late? Do you return phone calls within 24 hours? Do you get enough sleep? Do you follow through on your promises? Do you plan out your day?

Imagine what your life would be like if all those habits were their productive counterparts.

What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep? What if you saved money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything? What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began networking with people in your field? Would your life be different? I bet it would!

So, my suggested action step for you is to write down some productive habits you could adopt and visualize in your life, step wto is to 'act as if' you were living these new habits right now!

I'd like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits, so I'd recommend you develop four of your new success habits each year, one for each quarter.

Once you pick the new habit you're ready to adopt, next you'll want to create a method that will support your new habit.

Here are some ideas... You could write it down on a card that you keep with you and read several times a day. You could make it a part of your daily visualization. You could also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits to change.

It's important to make a 100% commitment to your new habit, so be specific about the steps that you're willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one. Don't be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.

Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with your vision. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective is shifting and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren't serving you anymore.

Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!

©2007 Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Do You DayDream?

Self Improvement: Destiny or Journey?
By Eldon Taylor

How high is up?

Have you ever asked yourself, "Just how high is up?" or "Just how successful is successful?" or "Just how good is good?" Have you ever thought about the different "Yous" within yourself? Most of us have, at some time, considered our own path to personal growth and desired to improve upon improvement.

There is a simple, yet powerful, way to evaluate many personal characteristics and thereby gain additional access to who we are and what we truly wish to be. If life is essentially a school, which I believe it is, then we not only have our course work cut out for us but our objective for which our "learnings" specifically prepare us.

Get a piece of paper and try this little exercise.

First, write down all of your strengths, all of those characteristics about yourself that are good. Begin with the obvious, perhaps you’re very honest, or friendly, or cooperative and so forth. After you have completed this list, write down some characteristics that you would like to improve.

Perhaps you wish to overcome some fear or stop being jealous, or end gossiping or release anger and so forth. So, you’d like to be more courageous or more accepting and trusting, or more confident and so forth. Now, with both of these lists completed, think about yourself as having four inner aspects (IA) of the same you.

The first IA is your actual self--who you are, what you do, etc.

The second IA is your concept of an ideal-self. The ideal-self for most of us is just that, an ideal—but usually too ideal to be realistic. "Under no circumstances will I ever become angry," may be one such ideal.

Okay, the third IA is the ought-self. The ought-self is that collection of things typically foisted upon each of us during maturation. The collection of "you ought to do this" and "you ought to do that" statements we all have heard particularly from our parents and family members.

Last, but not least, is our desired-self. The desired-self is attainable, not so ideal as to be impractical as a goal.

With these four IA’s, take another sheet of paper and write down characteristics that apply pressure to how you feel about yourself, positive or negative, under each IA heading.

That is, use a separate column or sheet of paper to list the items (including feelings) that you may have about each category. When you’re done, compare the categories.

The question, "How high is up" has no answer unless there is some reasonable estimate as to the ceiling. Personal improvement is much the same. Self-examination can assist all of us in obtaining reasonable goals and that can provide at least some clear steps on the way to our ceiling.

Fantasizing your way to your goals.

I related the research that showed one could obtain the same gains from imaging exercise as from exercising in a study I reported upon in my Wellness book (which is free to download in our e-book library at www.innertalk.com) where basketball players improved their free throw shots as much by practicing mentally as the group that shot free throws everyday of the thirty day study.

Current research tends to suggest that the scripts we fantasize, that is, our daydreams, rehearse our worldview and in that sense predispose our experience. Repeating themes such as those around "getting even" and/or emerging victorious at someone’s expense, probably tend to create scenarios in many peoples lives that may lead to violence, anger, and so forth.

In short, our mental daydreams may become rehearsed scripts seeking an opportunity to be played out.

By contrast to the above scenario, whenever I have spoken to a successful person, a champion athlete, or anyone else truly at the top of what they do, they have informed me repeatedly and universally that their daydreams were about their success.

You can choose what to daydream about and you can end a daydream if it’s not something you want rehearsed and thereby a part of you.

Knowing this, it is incumbent upon each of us to think about the goals we wish to achieve. Look back at your lists, and set up a day-dream that is truly self-serving — one that rehearses your success and achievement according to your goals—your highest best.

To your best and thanks for the read, Eldon

Eldon Taylor, Ph.D. is the author of over 200 books and self improvement programs. He is a Diplomat in the American Psychotherapy Association and received the 2005 International Peace Prize for his work in teaching self responsibility (http://www.innertalk.com/eldon/index.html).

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

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Action Step - Are you fantasizing or daydreaming about your goals?

Did you do the exercise? Do it later if you don't have time at this moment. But, do give it a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you write down.

Go ahead. Daydream once in a while, it's good for you . . . You can have all the advantages and wonders of being childlike without the disadvantages of being childish. I love a good 'daydream'. Go for it!

See you next time.

Al Smith

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Audio Motivation

Join Audio Motivation and hear exclusive interviews from the greatest names in personal development. Leap onto the fast track to success with dynamic, exciting audio motivation messages with AudioMotivation.com. Listen to Audios with Success Teachers and today's movers and shakers and keep yourself at the top of your Game. Find out more today.

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Are you missing out? Want shortcuts to your goals?
Great Attitudes Create Great Results!
Al Smith is also the Editor and Publisher of
FREE Motivational and Goal Achievement Ezines.
Blast through Procrastination, Inaction, and Distraction
with Consistent Focused Action!
For success tools at your fingertips,
Subscribe Now to The Realgoalgetter Ezine
at http://www.realgoalgetter.com/ezines/
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When To Focus On The Small Picture . . . Overwhelm

5 Tips to Eliminate Overwhelm & Accelerate Action
by Beth Tabak

"You can't swing and think at the same time." Yogi Berra

The more you get up to bat the more you develop skills. Each time at the plate is another opportunity coming your way. The more you take action the more you will advance. Whether the game is your sport, career, business, home, or taking a risk one thing is clear.

The more you take action, the greater your skills become, and the more you achieve. Below are 5 tips to eliminate overwhelm and accelerate action.

1- Maintain a Clear Path~ Imagine mowing your lawn by just wandering around mowing wherever you see grass at any given moment. Can you imagine how long it would take? Studies are now acknowledging multi-tasking to be multi-debilitating.

The more you create a clear track of what needs to be done while fully focusing on one thing at a time, the faster you can move forward on it. See the resource below for help with this.

2- Microstep to Success~ Overwhelm is paralyzing. Start by microstepping. Take tiny steps to progress. Do what you know you can do (even if it seems ridiculous). I know I can clean out 1 drawer. I know I can put on my workout clothes and walk to the street. I know I can sit down with pen and paper for 15 minutes to ponder my book idea or begin a business plan.

Microstepping will move you forward, build momentum and confidence.

3- Set Time Deadlines~ Setting deadlines when you begin a task helps maintain pace. It prevents the regret of, "where did the day go?". Time is a valuable asset to be cared for. When beginning decide how much time you will allow, and focus to complete within that time.

Set times during the day to manage tasks that would normally interrupt you such as e-mails, phone calls, and co-workers. When interruptions are inevitable, set a boundary by deciding the time you will allow for the interruption.

4- Schedule the Significant Stuff First~ We are so responsible that we cast aside the things that will make the biggest impact in our lives. Or maybe it is fear that holds us back. In any event, add the important things to your schedule as a priority and move towards what you want.

5- Systematize~ Consistently look to create systems to save time. Remember how time is saved by having a system to mow the lawn. When something new goes in a cabinet something old comes out. Return calls and check e-mails at scheduled times daily. Throw junk mail in the trash immediately.

Give your items a home so nothing is ever lost. Schedule blocks of time to handle tasks in the various roles you hold. Automate. Keep a running list of items you need and errands, then handle at once. Systematizing with regard to a person's strengths and passions is even more advantageous.

Resource~ You are welcome to use the complimentary Get Things Done Task List. Send a blank e-mail to GetThingsDone@aweber.com , confirm your request in the follow-up e-mail, and you should receive it in minutes.

This is the time to step up to the plate. Put the breaks on overwhelm and accelerate action by taking the first step. Starting Now!

Copyright 2005 © Beth A. Tabak, All rights reserved.

Beth Tabak is a Business & Life Coach, columnist, & owner of Starting Now. She coaches small business owners and professionals who think big to step out in a bold way to grow beyond limits, stand out in the crowd, and experience the vastness of their capabilities. Move beyond limits at http://www.startingnowcoaching.com.

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Are you missing out? Want shortcuts to your goals?
Great Attitudes Create Great Results!
Al Smith is also the Editor and Publisher of
FREE Motivational and Goal Achievement Ezines.
Blast through Procrastination, Inaction, and Distraction
with Consistent Focused Action!
For success tools at your fingertips,
Subscribe Now to The Realgoalgetter Ezine
at http://www.realgoalgetter.com/ezines/.
From The Realgoalgetter Group of Companies;
dedicated to helping you live a long, passionate, joyful life.
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