The secret to becoming more satisfied in life

Dear readers,

After taking the time to reflect on a very interesting and enlightening week – a double anniversary day with two of the most important people in my life. This is the week in the year where I have the opportunity to learn from two of my own coaches (yes I have coaches too!).

I had the opportunity to spend the most exciting and happy day of my life and instead it turned out to be one of my most depressing days. What is still puzzling me, is it was not because of my two coaches (who were very nicely trying to cheer me up) but because I allowed someone else who had a miserable week to unload their misfortunes on me. It rubbed off my positivity and ruined my big day.

I was not happy and asked myself this question: what is the secret to becoming more satisfied in life?

So, have you ever wondered how you can become more satisfied in life?  How you can enjoy life more than ever?

I believe that clarity accounts for more than 80% of success and happiness.

Out of every other factor, the lack of clarity is responsible for the greatest amount of frustration and underachievement we experience in our lives. That’s why we say that “Success is goals and all else is commentary.”

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. This is true everywhere and under all circumstances.

You could even say that the three keys to high achievement with regards to your goals are, “Clarity, Clarity, Clarity.” Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.

I want to share with you the 7 steps I use when setting and achieving my goals:

1. Decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!

2. Write it down, clearly and in detail.

3. Set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order.

4. Make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list.

5. Organise the items on your list into a plan by placing them in an ordered sequence of priority.

6. Take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!

7. Do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

Only by discovering your innate strengths, by developing them, by exploiting them to their highest degree, you can ever fully realise the greatest amount of satisfaction and enjoyment in everything you do.

With clear goals you can enjoy the present moment, have a positive attitude towards life’s problems, and become more satisfied in life.

A very good quote to conclude today’s blog is :“Sometimes people feel that they are controlled by external circumstances. But the fact is that your life is largely determined by your own personal choices and decisions in every area. You are where you are and what you are because of yourself” – B. Tracy

Never allow people to rub off your positivity and your life accomplishments and even if others are supporting us – always remember that you are the person who is taking action and moving forward – nobody can do it for you!!!

Wish you well!

Viv

A push where we need it the most to get us moving in the right direction!

A very good morning to all my readers,

I have been taking time to reflect on my goals set for this year. I can tell you that after speaking to some of my closest friends and colleagues I have uncovered a deep underlying issue in my mindset. But what, you might ask? Let me elaborate …..

We can cheat ourselves and our dreams ….. just a little each day and nobody will notice it. A Sunday sleep-in, an extra cake and coffee with a friend, watching a TV series, etc – another week has gone past without working on our plans – fitness, business, trading, etc, without developing the skills to rescue us from the everyday life.

Everyone procrastinates; it is part of human nature. However when we cheat and do not do the hard things in life, it becomes corrosive. It rusts the soul. Little by little it erodes the fabric of our dreams and goals until we’re so far away from what we really want that we can’t get excited or passionate about anything. Before we know it, we become lazy, and making weak choices becomes a habit that infiltrates every area of our lives.

This is the essence of a mid-life crisis. Things seem boring, everything seems like a repeat of everything else, and all of a sudden you’re jaded. It doesn’t have to be this way. Small feats of discipline can help us to overcome inertia and bring a sparkle to our eye.

I challenge you. Tomorrow morning, before you get out of bed, lie for a few minutes and ask yourself: “Am I really happy?” While your brain isn’t yet in gear for the day and you’re chasing away the remnants of dreams, take time to reflect. And if you are not happy, ask yourself for some solutions:

A)    “What would it take to make you happy?

B)    Is that something within your control?

C)   What would be the first step towards making happiness come true?”.

You may think you have unlimited time, let me say this – if you are between 30 and 50 years old you have around 2500 weekends left. The clock is ticking. If you are not going to pursue the things that give you a buzz and put a spring in your step, nobody else will, I guarantee it.

I coach a lot of people and sometimes I see them taking the easy option. They do the fun stuff, and other things that are more demanding pile up on their desks.

Success is more about discipline than talent. It’s built on the back of the habits you form and the commitments you make.

When you truly desire something, your habits and actions align themselves with your priorities. You’ll find yourself doing things that are congruent with where you want to be in life and you’ll be granted some bonuses along the way when some things you desire fall miraculously into your lap.

Once you have written your plan – business, trading, fitness, etc – you are allowed to smile a little smugly. Realise you are in the top five per cent of people and traders. Know that this will make a difference to your entire life and career. When you do a small thing well, give yourself permission to admit you have done well.

Savour even small successes. Know that anyone who decides to stop making excuses can be just as successful as you are. You can achieve, without the guilt others may think should accompany your success. Get over it. Get on with following your plan – you owe it to yourself, to the people you love and the ones that believe in you!

The best possible thing you can do right now to cream success into your year is to dump the negative self-talk and get to work on writing your plan if you have not done so yet.

Then, how are doing against your goals set for 2012? Are you on track and committed?

As my coach highlighted to me when sharing one of my plans with him, we need to have in place, rewards and punishments for good and bad behaviours and most importantly we need to review our plan against our results on a regular basis.

Have you set time aside for reviewing your progress and results to ensure that you are following your plan?

Just remember that only if you are fully committed to following your plan diligently, will you reap the rewards of success…remember that the most important successes are related to discipline…

Strive to be different, and don’t give up. Statistically most of the people have already given up on their new year’s resolutions and goals. As you will know I am sure that you want to be in the 20% of successful people. So be BOLD and be DISCIPLINED to stick with your plan even if it is not easy, it will be worth it, believe me!!!

Have a great week!

Viv

 

What are your goals for 2012?

Dear readers,

I thought I’d start this year’s blog with a provoking question that will hopefully make you take some decisive actions!!!

I will start with a powerful quote from Steve Jobs:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.  Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the reasons of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary”.

In line with the quote above, I will be personally attending a workshop next week to ensure that I am committed to a journey of making a difference, self-reflection and taking action to achieve my goals for 2012. A journey that could well provide the time I really need to give me clarity of thinking for my personal mission in life. The time to reflect on how I can become my own hero in my own time.

What about you?

Have you thought of what are you going to accomplish in 2012?

How can you ensure that you will achieve your goals?

In life, we have all faced tough times, haven’t we? Amongst these many challenge there have been some incredible successes too.

When you think about your own life, how do you feel the last year has played out for you?

Listening to those around me and from my own experiences, I do see the problems and hardships that life brings us; I also see tremendous possibilities and greatness. Opportunities to take risks, gain new learning’s and wisdom, and to do incredible and extraordinary things.

Some people just sit around and expect change to happen to them. Be honest with yourself, you know it won’t happen. If you do not take action, you will not achieve your mission in life. I am not trying to be negative, I am speaking from the bottom of my heart. I have sometimes had to fight against the wind to achieve some of my goals and funnily enough when you think you have just faced the toughest time of your life, here you go again facing another challenge, this time even greater than the last. I am sure I am not the only one to face these kinds of situations!!! In self-reflection you realise the improvement that you have obtained by facing challenges head on. You become a better and stronger person and you might even be surprised by the number of skills you end up acquiring …. that is until you face you’re next challenge!!! I am sure that you know what I am talking about!!!

As someone well acquainted with life’s ups and downs, I see a great number of people struggling in our current economic environment.  I want to encourage you to know that no experience in your life is too difficult to overcome and no defeat is permanent.

I serve as an example, both good and bad, of how to deal with difficulties in our lives. I have recently been fighting against the wind (again) which believe me is quite something – I am more exhausted than ever before …. But I am still not about to give up (near though) as I know that if I am determined and focused and have my Big why and purpose clear in mind, I will eventually reap some blessing (maybe not what I originally wanted but something such as an important value that is still worth fighting for). So if I can, you can too…

I believe it is important to enjoy those times when life smiles upon us.  I also believe that it is unrealistic to expect good times to last forever.  For most of us, life offers us an abundance of opportunities, both for tears and for laughter.  The good times you put in your pocket to savour.  The hard times go to your heart and into your soul.

My friends, you have got to make the decision to be relentless; to never give up.  You have got to ask yourself the right questions, to find that reason … that purpose that will give you the stamina – if life has caught you on the blind side – to get back up again!

You have got to be BOLD – you have got to believe in yourself.  There is an old African proverb that says “If there is no enemy within, the enemy without can do us no harm”.

Now, after giving some food for thought, what are your goals for 2012?

What will make 2012 different from last year?

You are the only person that can respond to these questions and be honest with yourself as you are the only one who can make a difference in your own life.

Zig Zaglar quoted: “You are the only person on earth that can use your ability” – please use it to the fullest to achieve your goals and enjoy your life!!!

I hope all of us can take action and set at least one goal for 2012 to be achieved – just remember that you need determination, discipline and above all a good plan!!!

I will love to hear about your goals and achievements!!!

I hope you have benefited from my articles in my blog as I really enjoyed sharing my thoughts and experiences with you!!!

Sorry if this article is longer than the previous one, but it is a subject very close to my heart!!!

Have a nice week!!

To your success!!!

Viv