Let Go, Surrender, Taste Freedom

"Abandon the idea that you will forever be the victim of the things that have happened to you.  Choose to be a victor." (Seth Adam Smith)

Two years ago, we took our two kids to Disney World and had the pleasure of watching a live production of Frozen.  While the Thomas and Jacqueline had already watched it in the theatre with friends, it was the first time that Rob and I had seen it.  We were enamored with the song "Let It Go". I had been hurt by someone and was having a hard time letting it go.  "Let It Go" became my mantra for the year 2015.  With Elsa on my Vision Board and with God at my side, I was liberated!

Brian Tracy recommends that if you want to be happy in life, you have to stop the blame game.  Blame requires negative emotions; it will drag you down.  Just one negative emotion can sabotage your happiness.  That's not to say that your anger is not legitimate, that you have no reason to be unhappy.  I had a good reason to feel betrayed.  However, if I had continued to feel sorry for myself, I would have hurt no one but me.  One day it hit me like a ton of bricks:  It's not my job to judge her, it's God's job.  I was able to forgive her.  A gigantic burden was lifted off my shoulders.

As Seth Adam Smith advises:  "Abandon the idea that you will forever be the victim of the things that have happened to you.  Choose to be a victor."  You can't control everything that happens to you. You will run up against obstacles, against injustice, against evil.  But you can control your reaction to it.  Say to yourself:  "I am responsible for my own happiness."  Don't let anything stand in the way of your goals.  Let it go.  

Note:  Read The Secret of Letting Go by Guy Finley at https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Letting-Go-Guy-Finley/dp/0738711985.

http://realrawtruths.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Let-Go-Sunflower.jpeg

Time Management: Work Smarter, Not Harder

"Don't say you don't have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo DaVinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein." (H. Jackson Brown)

You want to become more productive at home or at work.  You want to devote more time to what matters most in your life.   Shaving off a few minutes here and a few minutes there in your daily schedule can free up a significant amount of time.  H. Jackson Brown has listed 20 tips to help you manage your time and come that much closer to achieving your goals (http://www.creativitypost.com/create/work_smarter_not_harder_21_time_management_tips_to_hack_productivity).

1.  Prepare your day in advance.  You will feel more in control and less stressed.  

2.  Learn to say NO.  Reserve your time for the things that you either have to do or truly care about.

3.  Sleep 7 to 8 hours per night for optimum productivity.

4.  Focus entirely on the task at hand.  Multi-tasking isn't all it's cracked up to be.

5.  Rise early.  Studies show that productive, successful individuals start their day early.

6.  Complete the most important tasks first.

7.  Turn key tasks into habits.  

8.  Be aware of time spent watching TV or surfing the Internet or gaming.

9.  Assign a deadline to each task.

10.  Leave a buffer time between tasks ex. go for a walk, meditate or do another mind-clearing activity.

11.  Don't focus on the totality of your To Do List.  Take it one task at a time.

12.  Exercise and eat healthy to give you energy for the tasks at hand.

13.  Do less things with more value.  Emphasize quality rather than quantity.

14.  Create an organizing system either on your computer desktop or on a bulletin board.  Unsubscribe from e-mail lists that you are not interested in.

15.  Fill time when waiting.  Brian Tracy quoted a study done by an American airline which found that business people could on average accomplish 3 hours of work in the office within 1 hour on the plane.  The number of interruptions on the plane were far fewer than in the office.

16.  Lock yourself in.  No distractions.

17.  Commit to a plan.

18.  Batch related tasks together.  Different tasks require a different thought process.

19.  Find time for stillness.  Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).

20. Enjoyment should always be the goal.  You get so caught up in busyness that you forget to enjoy the moment.

21.  Don' allow unimportant details to drag you down.  It is good to strive for excellence, but perfectionism can cripple you.

Note:  Read Eat That Frog:  21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done by Brian Tracy (https://www.amazon.ca/Eat-That-Frog-Great-Procrastinating/dp/1576754227).

http://www.creativitypost.com/create/work_smarter_not_harder_21_time_management_tips_to_hack_productivity

Ninety-five Percent of What You Do is the Result of Your Habits

"Ninety-five percent of what you do is the result of your habits, whether helpful or hurtful." 

(Brian Tracy)

I always considered my Grandad to be a very successful man.  So much of his life was governed by his good habits.  Every morning, he would wake up his daughter, my Aunty Marilyn, with two ties in his hand.  She would choose one for him to wear to the school where he taught.  That habit was a good bonding experience for father and daughter.  It was also good for my Grandad's students because they got to see a different tie each day rather than the same pattern and colour.    Every day, Grandad would stay after school for an hour to help the weaker students.  In 40 years of teaching, he never had a student who didn't like him.  Every day, he would walk to school (two miles there, two miles back).  He lived until he was 94 years old.   Every day, he would eat Grandma's dinner (often a casserole) and reply, "That was delicious, Dorothy!"  He was married for 62 years.  Every summer day, he cultivated his garden.  It bloomed until it took over his entire back yard.  Every visit with his grandchildren, he would tell us stories, often about his teaching career, punctuated by his hearty laugh.  He served as my inspiration to become a teacher.

Grandad had discovered the secret to success:  forming and keeping good habits.  Brian Tracy maintains that:  "Ninety-five percent of what you do is the result of your habits, whether helpful or hurtful."(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ8f73e10l8) If you want to achieve new goals, here is Z. Hereford's seven step guide to forming and keeping a new habit (http://www.essentiallifeskills.net/develop-good-habits.html):

1.  Clearly decide on a specific habit.  For example, rather than saying "I will spend less time on Facebook," say "I will spend no more than 10 minutes a day on Facebook".  

2.  Never allow an exception to the rule.  If you spend 20 minutes on Wednesday on Facebook, don't start making excuses for your behaviour.  The next day, get right back to 10 minutes.

3.  Discover your triggers and obstacles.  For example, if you want to lose weight, and you eat when you get frustrated, be prepared.  Look for healthy ways of dealing with your frustration.

4.  Develop a plan.  For instance, Benjamin Franklin wanted to improve himself.  He listed 13 virtues that he wanted to acquire and spent 13 weeks trying to master each of these virtues.  He kept a journal of his progress and discovered that certain virtues helped the acquisition of other virtues.

5.  Employ visualization and affirmation.  Visualization is a powerful way to integrate a new habit into your routine.  "Affirmations program the subconscious with the right mindset for establishing a new habit".  

6.  Enlist the support of family and friends.  No one can do it alone.  If you are held accountable for your actions, there is a better chance you will stick to your plan.

7.  Find healthy ways to reward yourself.  Treat yourself to a new book, movie or concert.  If you are short on cash, visit a friend you haven't seen for a long time or go to a free art or history exhibit.  

I will leave you with this simple thought:  How can you expect to get different results if you keep using the same old habits?  Form new habits, lifelong habits like my Grandad did.  You will be on the road to success!

Note:  Read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey https://www.amazon.ca/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/1455892823.

http://coachingpotentials.com/2015/07/30/first-we-make-our-habits-and-then-our-habits-make-us_our-daily-bread/

Your Imagination is Everything: It is the Preview of Life's Coming Attractions

http://www.thrive-team.com/2014/08/see-it-to-believe-it-the-power-of-visualization/

Two years ago, I wrote a post called Conceive, Believe, Achieve about the efficacy of visualization to reach your goals (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/01/conceive-believe-achieve.html).  Visualization might be rare in your world, but in the world of professional sports, it's commonplace. Many athletes, including gymnast Mary Lou Retton, have proven that it works.

Colin Hiles, aka The Mindset Guy, maintains that visualization is the greatest accelerator to achieving your goals.  In his video, "How to Visualize to Achieve Your Goals Faster" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxoToJCWA44), he points out that your subconscious mind plays such a vital role in shaping your actions.  "Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions," maintained Albert Einstein.  If you focus on what you don't want, and that's what worriers do, you will likely attract trouble.  If you focus on what you do want, and that's what people who pray or meditate do, you will likely attract good results.  

Colin Hiles explains that in visualization, in the process of developping a new mindset, you start with the invisible and make it visible.  For example, if you want to lose weight, you see yourself as that thin person.  Your thoughts are very deliberate at first.  He recommends that you focus on images as the subconscious mind understands images rather than words.  Furthermore, the subconscious cannot distinguish between something that is real and something that is vividly imagined.  If you close your eyes and hold the image vividly enough, you should get a physiological response.  For example, if you imagine yourself sucking on a lemon, you might start to pucker up.  However, if you imagine yourself vacationing on a beautiful island, you'll probably find your body relaxing.

Here is Colin Hiles' six step process of VISUALIZATION:

1.  decide what goals you want to achieve

2.  relax; get into an Alpha state, the bridge between the conscious and the subconscious

3.  alternate between imagining (belief/desire) and feeling (talk and act as if you have already reached your goal)

4.  focus (act ideally)

5.  repeat (twice a day for 5 minutes)

6.  cheat (use Colin Miles' step by step audio guide)

https://quotefancy.com/quote/3150/Albert-Einstein-Imagination-is-everything-It-is-the-preview-of-life-s-coming-attractions

How to Prepare for 2017

"Excellence is not a destination, but a journey." (Brian Tracy)

Motivational speaker and author Brian Tracy posted a video on Youtube called "How to Prepare for 2017" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2QZvBHtscM).  It goes hand in hand with my New Year's Day post "My Vision Board 2017".  Here are some of Brian's suggestions to help you set and accomplish goals for the new year.

Brian recommends that you set yourself up for success by identifying and writing down your goals for 2017.  But first, seek closure on 2016 before you forge ahead.  The author suggests that you make a list of ten goals you would like to accomplish.  Imagine that you have already succeeded in reaching all of these goals.  Make sure you write them in the present tense, in a positive rather than negative sense and in a personal sense ex. I am signing a book contract for The Hockey Stick.

George T. Doran recommends that you follow the acronym SMART when setting your goals.  

George T. Doran, former director of the Washington Water Power Company, first coined the term SMART goals in 1981 courtesy http://www.cognology.com.au/learning_center/howtowritesmartobj/

Look at your list and decide which goal will have the greatest impact on your life.  Circle that goal and declare it your Major Definite Purpose.  Set a deadline for that goal.  In fact, I recommend that you set a deadline for all ten of your goals.  When I taught elementary school, I had to make Long RAnge Plans every year.  I made a chart which I photocopied on ledger size paper and posted it in my classroom where I could easily see it.  The chart helped me keep on track with the curriculum.  Unlike many teachers, I actually enjoyed making Long Range Plans.  

Brian suggests that after you list your goals, practice mindstorming (or what I like to call brainstorming).  Pose your Major Definite Purpose as a question ex.  How will I get a book contract for The Hockey Stick?  Write down twenty responses to this question.   Every so often go back and revisit your goals to determine how you are progressing.  

Remember:  Excellence is not a destination, but a journey.

Note:  I found this goal chart on Pinterest "Become a Better You" with space for ten areas of your life to set goals.  Included is a line to name the goal, give it a deadline and check off whether or not you accomplished it (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/8796161750433493/).

http://assistedlivingaboveandbeyond.com/2016/11/12/goal-setting-for-2017/

Brian Tracy's Sahara Crossing

Canadian-born American motivational speaker Brian Tracy never finished high school.  But he had a dream.  In 1964, he and three friends decided they were going to make the trek from the northern to the southern tip of Africa.  They had $300 to their name.  Setting out from Vancouver, they made their way across Canada to Montreal where they searched for work.  One friend threw in the towel and returned to the West Coast.  The other two found jobs and saved enough money to sail across the Atlantic to England.  Brian worked on the docks in Montreal and rejoined them later.

The threesome was determined to cycle across Europe.  However, the hills of France soon deterred them.  They made their way across Europe by train and eventually to North Africa.  There, they announced their intention of driving across the Sahara Desert.  Local Arabs said "Vous allez mourir."  However, the young Canadians refused to believe it.  They bought a Land Rover and planned their route.  They united with a band of Germans who were riding a Volkswagen bus.  Together, they set out to cross the formidable Sahara Desert.

Ignorance is bliss they say.  Such was the case with Brian Tracy and his young friends for the risks of crossing the desert were high.  They could have died of exposure within 20 minutes.  They were working against the clock.  They had to cross 500 miles within two days because that's how long their water supply would last.  If they failed to stay on the "piste", and wandered off the beaten track, they could get lost and die.  Brian recalled following the oil barrels posted at equal intervals along the route.

Obstacles kept presenting themselves:  the Volkswagen bus kept breaking down; they battled fatigue and dysentery; they risked being shot in the two countries they entered illegally.  Even so, the Canadian trio pressed on towards their goal and two days later, they made it safely to the far side of the Sahara Desert.

After Brian Tracy crossed the Sahara, he felt like he could surmount any obstacle.  The perilous journey gave him many life lessons, including:

• every adventure begins with an act of faith
• quitting is not an option
• nobody makes it on their own; ask for help along the way
• people will say that anything out of the ordinary "can't be done"; ignore the naysayers and press on towards your goal
• take the journey "one oil barrel at a time"
• obstacles are not to obstruct, but to instruct; learn from mistakes

Note:  For more information about Brian's Sahara Crossing, read Many Miles to Go (https://www.amazon.ca/Many-Miles-Go-Brian-Tracy/dp/1891984993).

http://realnutritionnw.com/?attachment_id=58

My Vision Board 2017

Imagination x Vividness = Reality

I remember reading Glenna's Goal Book in the original edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul back in 1993.  Glenna was a divorced mother of three with a house payment, a car payment and a dream.  She attended a seminar where the speaker explained the principal of I x V = R (Imagination x Vividness = Reality).  She decided to make a goal scrapbook to help achieve her goals which she succeeded in doing right down to the last one on her list http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/01/glennas-goal-book.html.

Like Glenna, I am a goal-oriented person.  Two years ago, I made something similar to a goal scrapbook, a vision board.  At the end of the year, I examined the pictures and realized that I had achieved much of what I set out to do.  Last year, I made a second vision board.  Once again, I was successful at reaching the majority of my goals.  

The key word is "vision".  Visualization is a vital part of the process.  Study the pictures and set them in your mind.  Think about them as you go about your day.  Picture yourself as already reaching your goal, of crossing the finish line.  

   

My vision board for 2017 courtesy Thomas Jonasson.

In the centre of my board is the Bible verse:  The same Power who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you (Romans 8:11).  What daily inspiration for my journey!  

My goals include:

1.  Supporting Thomas in his musical endeavours.

2.  Creating a War Room or Prayer Room.

3.  Reading the Bible from cover to cover.

4.  Editing my new picture book, Mr. Tufts' Ties this winter.

5.  Using my time more wisely.

6.  Maintaining a healthy eating routine.  

7.  Sending my picture book manuscript The Hockey Stick to Canadian publishers.

8.  Organizing my space more wisely.

9.  Sending Jacqueline to HDCH this fall.

10.  Sending Jacqueline to Kentucky on a mission trip this spring.

11.  Rob and I spending our 25th anniversary in the Maritimes this summer.

12.  Signing my first book contract!

13.  Reading 26 books, one every other week (added after photo was taken).

So why not make your own Vision Board this year?