Before I ask you to thank one more person this Thanksgiving Weekend, I would first like to thank you. Allow me to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude for your reading this blog, whether it's your first time or your weekly installment, I know Design You Coaching would not be the same without you. Equally important I must also thank the detractors, naysayers and negative Nilly's in my life. Without them, I wouldn't push myself with such fervor and determination. In this week's Sun-day design I want you to join me and thank your foes and frenemies for the fire and drive they ignite in your life. Think of 3 people you have difficulty with. These may be people you speak to and even consider friend but when you're around them something inside you is roused and agitated, you get a bit unwound. That list should be pretty easy to come up with. Pick one of the three names and write it on a piece of paper. Next to that name write the biggest issue you have with that person, and describe what you're holding against him or her. This may be some moment of misunderstanding, hurt, disappointment, disrespect, or some indiscretion you hold from an a previous experience you've had with this person. Once you've written how the whole drama played out because of that person, I want you to now describe (and write down) your part in it. Include all the ways you created this very situation you loathe. Now, think of all the ways you've grown from the situation, learning more about who you are, the person you desire to be and the gap in between. Use your notes from this exercise to write this person a letter thanking them for being a teacher in your life. You don't have to mail the letter, that part's really up to you. The goal is that you send your appreciate for this person (or at least the situation) out in the world so that energy, courage, and grace comes back to you. Trust that the love and gratefulness you give will fill your life too. Leave a comment and share your story about your own reflective gift of gratitude. For many people the holiday season marks a time of celebration and playful abandonment where we let go of our fitness, food, and financial commitments without a care in the world. It's time to kick off this holiday season with a solid plan. Your plan can allow you to indulge in the seasonal foods you crave and still maintain a balanced approach to diet and exercise. In this week's Sun-Day Design I want you to click here and take a listen to my talk with fitness expert and coach Bayo Olorunto on how you can establish "Physical and Mental Holiday Harmony". You'll gain tips for how to design your Holiday Hot Body through mindful practice, fitness, coaching, and savvy planning. Follow the audio as a guide to create your holiday health and wellness plan. Don't forget you can use this time to empower and energize all areas of your life at the Design Your Year Event, Saturday, December 13, 2014. Click here to register for your seat now. Are you doing what you were put here on this earth to really do? What's your plan to find your purpose? And if you are aware of and connected to that purpose, what exactly are you doing to be in that space day to day? The amazing grace is you don't have to look far to find it. Your life purpose is to teach the very thing you are here to learn. Even the career path you choose whether it be a doctor, artist, or entrepreneur, is simply the vehicle for which you share the experience of what you are here to learn with the world. The Design Your Year Event provides an intimate setting where you will create and further expand your life purpose. In this week’s Sun-day Design I want you to take the first step and simply reflect on your life purpose. Some people may think it's cliché to think about purpose and passion, that as long as you have bills to pay a life of purpose will have to wait. It’s quite the opposite. When you believe you are living and working from a place of purpose you build the wealth, happiness and love you seek from the inside out. Grab your notepad and pen, here’s a brief exercise to help you think about your life’s purpose. First think back to age 7, when you still played imaginary games, who were you? Draw a picture of how you saw yourself. What were your dreams at that age? Now fast-forward to age 14, draw a picture of yourself at that phase of life. What changed? What fears and doubts started to come up in adolescence? What areas of life did you feel unloved or unworthy? The final period I want you to visit is age 21. What parts of you did you abandon as you transitioned into adulthood? What childhood dreams do you still hold on to? Examine your thoughts and heart's desire at those three critical age. Thank your younger self for carrying the message of what you needed to learn in order to teach others through the experience of your life. Leave a comment below and share where your life map illuminates your personal path to purpose. How great would it be for you to design your own happy paradise - a place where you can go to recharge, build your resiliency, feel loved and appreciated all in the blink of an eye? As you imagine this place do you smell the salt water and can you feel the ocean breeze caress your skin? Or maybe your happy place is filled with snow, mountains, and ice. Wherever the place you image you can experience that feeling happy without spending a dime! I have three happy places - home, U.S. bound, and across the globe, which is the equivalent to “break this glass and save everyone now!” My at home happy place is my music. I have a supply of songs and favorite artists who can transport me to a place of comfort, safety, and reprieve. I start my day to music (and of course seeing my son off to school makes my heart happy too). My at home happy place takes care of my mind. As stress, family and work priorities increase I need to visit my other happy places to reconnect with what matters most in my life. In this week’s Sun-day design I want you to create your happy place for three destinations each supporting different intensity levels in your life. You can continue to create your happy, purposeful, and success-filled place at the Design Your Year event on Saturday, December 13, 2014! Click here for more information. The clue for creating your alternate happy places is the more support you need the deeper you go within yourself to find it. Where’s the beach and sunshine in that? Well, the brightest light you’ll find is the one shining within you. When I’m craving my U.S. bound happy place which sounds like, “I need a vacation” it means I need to find a way to unblock my energy because there’s a cloud hovering over my inner light. To lift that weight I’ll go have a massage, journal my thoughts, and examine ways my daily habits and practices are out of alignment with my dreams. I recreate my happy place by taking care of my body. If I’ve attempted to take care of my mind and my body and theirs still some unresolved yearning to feel happy then the global destination is to the spirit within. Oh don’t get me wrong, a trip with a guru to the Himalayas would be great too, and in lieu of that excursion, I have my practices in yoga, mediation, and sitting in silence. It’s time to reestablish my sense of purpose. Your happy place is yours to design each day. Create a variety of practices at your disposal that are a happy place for your mind, body and spirit. Leave a comment and share what you do and the places you go to feel happy. Do you determine the course of your life based on what other people think? Most people would respond rarely or never, and the truth is probably closer to sometimes or quite often. Here’s the thing, our natural inclination is to believe what other people say or do must be right if everyone else is doing it. The desire to fit in and feel accepted overshadows our own unique desires and paths. The irony is that our personal path is where we find the most satisfaction and joy. In this week’s Sun-day design I want you to choose your own path, take a step that moves against the grain. Go to the movie theatre on your own, attend this season's ballet, sing karaoke…sober, or moonlight as a burlesque dancer. Choose some activity that's fun, exciting, and unique for you. Join me in creating your path for next year at the Design Your Year event next month! There are only 15 seats available. Click here for a sample agenda for what the day holds. Over the past few weeks I’ve been in more photo-shoots than I have in my entire life! OKAY so it was two events, nonetheless they were huge and completely against the grain for me. I chose these new, out of my box activities to secure the business path I chose for me. As I encourage my clients to stretch beyond their comfort zone I want - rather I need to do the same in my life. Securing my business path means I have to walk the talk, design ME, and be the coach I would want to experience. Moving against the grain in big or small ways serves as practice for the bigger decisions you have make in your life – but we’ll start with just this week. First, come up with something you want to do for yourself, that thing you haven’t been able to convince your partner or any of your friends to join you on. Pick a day this week to just do it. For once turn down the dial on planning, rationalizing, and excuses. Now it’s your turn! Leave a comment and share the adventures you plan to secure your path this week. |
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Lessons LearnedThe life we experience is designed to help us grow. My wish is that you learn from me as much as I learn from you. Share your life lessons and let's build together. Archives
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