Resolutions

As the New Year was approaching, I heard a lot of discussion about what everyone was making for a resolution for the year. It was amazing, though not surprising, that I heard such things as, "I'm going to lose weight." "I'm going to try harder to be less critical." "I'm going to work harder in school." All these are lofty goals however,as an educator, I began to think about what I have learned about growth and success - build on your strengths!

My wish is that we could all look at ourselves and see what we're doing well and set our goals to build on those things. An example might be, "I am really good at encouraging other people. My goal is to talk to at least 5 people I meet during the week and say something that will build them up."

Building on our strengths keeps us focused on the positive, creating more positives! This year, be kind to yourselves-what do you do well? How will you continue to build on that?

Have a wonderful and reaffirming New Year!

Self Reflection

I've been thinking quite a lot lately about things I do to sabotage my own health and progress. Although I never intentionally set out to make life harder for myself, at times, that's exactly what I end up doing!Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing?

Working with others toward their goals has made me a bit more reflective about my own. I am working toward helping others realize their own dreams and I need to realize mine! I have helped others work on goal-setting, time management, saying no to things that interfere with their personal and work lives -etc.,now I've begun to look at what I've been doing, and not doing!

Dealing with life's happenings, especially during this busy time of year, had, "thrown me off balance" temporarily. I've been talking to other friends and professionals and taken stock of what's going on, how much I can really control and what I need to let go. I have reassessed my goals and corrected my course so I can meet my needs and obligations as well as continue working toward fulfilling my dreams.

Self-reflection is a good thing, it helps put things in perspective, it refocuses us on what's important and sort out what isn't. Taking time to talk things through with trusted individuals can be all anyone needs to recommit to themselves and correct their life's path. It isn't selfish, it's smart to focus on your needs and wants...not only do you function more efficiently and effectively, you're happier, healthier and better company for loved ones, friends, family and all you come in contact with throughout the day! It's important to practice self-reflection and it's a great way to "tap into" your own voice and set a positive example for others so...go ahead, reflect. If you don't know how self-reflection works, ask someone to work with you, invest in yourself and learn, it's a life-long practice that will serve you well! Think about it...

Why Not?

I recently spoke to a group of wonderful, successful women in business. I wanted to talk about what keeps us back from really having it all and...it seems to be us!

It seems that many women have difficulty believing in ourselves! We have a fear of going after something we want because we are not traditionally brought up to be risk-takers. Our focus tends to steer us toward why we can't do something, we focus on what might go wrong and we put our dreams aside for others.

I say, why can't we have it all? We are strong, we have the God-given ability to multi-task and we have the intelligence and what it takes to get things done! What we need to do is to find the support system that exists where we can go to problem-solve, to mentor one another, to encourage risk-taking and to promote ourselves! I believe that women have traditionally felt guilty when trying to establish themselves as entrepreneurs, we want to be "liked" which, sometimes, does not go hand-in-hand with success, sometimes tough choices need to be made, priorities need to be set and one of those priortities needs to be us!

Come on ladies-take a risk and build your dreams, you can do it and I can help support your journey-just ask!

Wellness

I attended a workshop on wellness and had an opportunity to talk about the different areas we need to nuture to stay well. It's important to nurture ourselves nutritionally, spiritually, mentally,physically, sexually and financially. Often times, we manage to neglect one or more areas for a prolonged period of time and we are out of balance.

Ask yourself, what areas am I paying attention to, and when? Why are those particular areas being given more attention, are they more important? What can I do to address the areas of self-nuturing that are being neglected?

It may take some time to pinpoint what areas in our lives are being neglected but, unless we put the time in and "check-in" occassionally, we are harming our well-being. It's easy to forget that we need to take care of ourselves when there are so many people relying on us for so much. Take care of yourself and set time aside, each day, to "check-in" and see what you've done to nuture all the important areas of your life-you'll be happier and healthier and so will everyone else you care for daily!