Power-Ups

"The secret of your future is hidden in your daily  routine ."  For as long as I can remember, I have set New Year's Resolutions that I have (surprise, surprise) not been able to stick with.  Things like lose 20 kilos or cut out caffeine.  This time around, I thought I might take a different approach.  Again on January 1st, I made 13 resolutions, that I will endeavor to work through, however, already just three weeks later, I realise how hard it is to get these larger goals into play.  So today I have started to break down my resolutions into mini-resolutions.   I took a photo, which is a habit I'm trying to start (I want an album with the whole year in it). Rather than saying that “I am going to cut out caffeine”, I have made the commitment at the beginning of each day to give up caffeine for ‘today’.  Today I made a commitment to make my bed before I started any work.  I made this goal and felt good about it.  So again, as my p...

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind.”     As a teacher, I learnt very quickly that times tables, and repetitive learning of information would not catch the attention of my students, and I decided to adopt the lost art of storytelling back into my lessons.    I was filled with joy to see the students sitting forward listening in their chairs and asking questions and pondering some of the very important questions of life.  This taught me very quickly that there is always more than one way to look at a situation and sometimes it is worth looking outside of the box to get the answer that we need. Often life can seem like it is moving very quickly, with lots of decisions, yet very few real options.  This is where we really must take the time to take a few deep breaths and in fact give ourselves the space and time to reflect on the important aspects of life. When thinking about the...

S.Y.S.T.E.M.  Save Yourself Time, Energy and Money  A Roman Catholic priest, an Anglican priest and a Baptist preacher were standing near a river conversing when the subject of which church was nearest to the teaching of God arose. The Roman Catholic priest said that of course there was no argument that the Roman Catholic Church was. They were descended directly from the Apostles; in fact Peter was their first Pope. He said in fact so close are we that I can even walk on water like Jesus and he preceded to walk on the water to the other side.        The Anglican Priest said the Anglican Church was very similar in origin to the Catholics and he too demonstrated his ability to walk on water like Jesus Christ. The Baptist preacher said that he could not care where their origins were; he studied the word and preached it purely, and without any embellishments. Since they could walk on water he should be even better at it. He took one-step forward and sunk kne...

"The secret of getting things done is to act!"   I personally like to keep things simple.  If the process is to long, I won’t tend to get through it.  So often with self help guides to getting things done,  they have so many steps that by the time I have spent an hour working out what I need to do, I really don’t feel like doing anything with it. This in mind, I thought I would share with you the 5 steps I take when I want to get something done. Get A Routine  –  Get into good routines; over time it gets easier. Think about what you need to achieve in a day. Reward Yourself  – My philosophy in life is to work hard and then celebrate a job well done.  Reward yourself when you achieve each small step, even the easiest ones, such as calling a gym to check the prices, or making your bed. Plan For Fun  –  You won’t be able to stay motivated if your life is all about work and no fun. In your timetable, make sure you commit to doing ...

“Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.” ―  Colin Powell Driving a car looking in the rearview mirror is a recipe for disaster. Likewise, driving backward or reversing is dangerous. It is important to work on changing the directions of the front wheels and the back wheels will follow. Imagine you are about to go on a road trip from Western Australia to Sydney.  You have packed the car and filled it with petrol and you and your passengers are ready to head off. You have chosen to start this trip of an evening so that there will be less traffic on the road. You have many decisions to make regarding your trip. The first thing you need to think about is what setting you to have your headlights: 1) Sometimes we have our headlights turned off and we can’t see the road or we get off course or hit a roadblock. 2)  Sometimes we have our lights on low beam, so we can see a little way ahead, but it is a slow journey and we don’t see all the s...

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in." Morrie Schwartz The beautiful thing about any relationship (friendship, intimate partnership, acquaintance, etc.) is that it provides a context for you to get to know yourself better. You might say it is like a mirror; in that, it shows you yourself. Are the benefits of friendship solely selfish? Ponder this: to the degree that you don’t be yourself, know yourself, and love yourself may be the degree that there will be friction and sizeable opportunities for learning in the relationship (a.k.a. challenges!). Building a network of healthy relationships (through small, frequent actions over time) is the ultimate support. When your life moves through a chaotic patch, or your roots are shaken by a storm, it most likely won’t be your work that supports you through it! At the end of the day, all you have is yourself, family/friends, food and the earth. ‘Prune’ and ‘grow’ these things regular...

"It all depends on how we look at things and not on how they are in themselves." -- Carl G. Jung   It is our experience, that a good relationship starts with you. How do you have a relationship (in any form; be it friendship, colleague or intimate partner) without losing yourself? At the end of the day, our relationships may come and go, but 24/7 you are going to be with yourself.  That is why it is important to commit to knowing and, yes, even loving yourself. Are you taking care of yourself? To be able to have a good and meaningful relationship with someone else, you must first have one with yourself.  Below are some gold nuggets to respecting and being confident in who you are.  You will find that when you are confident in yourself, you are able to deal with what other people throw your way much easier and be much more tolerant of others. Be kind to yourself. Your needs and desires are equally as important as anyone else’s. Being comfortable to be with ...

"Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong." Emma Watson Sexuality has sparked much debate over the years .   Is it not fair to say that  we are all, first and foremost, human beings ?  Human beings who all need: A sense of power over their lives. To feel safe and secure. The freedom to choose and make decisions. A conducive environment to have fun. A feeling of being loved, belonging and able to share their love. Both sexes are also able to  feel, nurture and express their love , while both are also able when needed to  get into action and labour and be more task and fact orientated.      A man that can  show emotion and speak of how he feels is in balance with himself , not gay or woosy, and a women who can  speak her mind and can get the job done is action-driven  and not aggressive.     When push comes to shove we can play the role that...

Which wolf are you feeding? Our ancestors used to learn a lot through meaning-full story-telling. It is something of a 'lost art' that we would do well to bring back and practice. Next time you're at a get-together, or chatting with someone, find an opportunity to share this story with them: ~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One evening an elder told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside people. He said, “my son, the battle is between the two 'wolves' that live inside us all. One is Unhappiness.  It is fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow,   self–pity, resentment and inferiority. The other is Happiness.  It is joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth and compassion.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”. The old man simply replied, “the one you feed”.

"Life's not about expecting, hoping and wishing. It's about doing, being and becoming." After the poppers have been popped, Auld Lang Syne has been sung and the fireworks have lit up the sky, what then?  At the beginning of a New Year, we love to think of all the things we would like for the new year,  make our resolutions, go to bed and get up and continue through as we have always done before. In those few short hours, we have forgotten the weight we want to lose, or the new job we want to get or the Spring clean that your wardrobe was going to have. There is a quote that says: “ A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within. ” I believe that we can take this one step further and say that with every sunrise is a new day,  a new opportunity, a new chance to reach out and fix the mistakes of the past or move into a future that you design. Everyone will have their opinions, but the only opinion that matters is ...

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all other virtues”.  Marcus Tullius Cicero When the movie Flashdance was released, with its hit song "Feelings", it left people thinking about and discussing all aspects of freedom of expression, healthy differences and how people process emotion.   This article may make you feel slightly uneasy as it asks something of you (remember, "life begins at the end of your comfort zone").  It asks that you be prepared to fully allow yourself to tap into, and acknowledge, how you truly feel. With a host of things that will help us become “HEALthier”, this one is right up there.   Our feelings are signals. It is our body’s way of helping us get information about our internal or external environment.  Feelings, like most things, if left unchecked, can control us, and we can become an emotional wreck, or we can learn to read the signs and act on them before we get lost. I fully believe, that...

“We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things than we can to spend minor time on major things”.                     Our three most precious commodities:   1) Time  2) Money     3) Personal Productivity (energy) Do you jump out of bed each morning with a plan, feeling excited about what lies ahead for your day?  Or do you watch the clock hands tick by and wonder where all that time goes?  It is all too easy to feel that if we are not busy working on some project or urgent thing to do, that we are wasting time.  How we perceive time has a mighty effect on our priorities.  If we have a high priority on money for instance, then we will be driven to be more productive to try and use our time as effectively as possible in keeping with the phrase ‘time is money’. What is the price tag on time?  If we live by the above phrase, then we will indeed be giving cur...