A Boomer's Footprint

Category: Self

our Self – who we truly are, our spiritual side,
our essence.

Have you discovered your true purpose for your life?
What are you most passionate about? Are you learning
new things, growing, stretching your limits?

Are you proud of who you are? Are you making a difference?

  • Delegating

    We are born with specific talents and passions. We also develop skills from our education, circumstances, and opportunities. These are the things we should develop and nurture.Every thing is not for everyone.

    Sometimes when we may find ourselves procrastinating about completing a task, it may be one does not use our talents or abilities.

    This may be an excellent time to consider delegating the task to leave more time for us to enjoy doing things which do best.

    Delegation is asking another to complete all of part of a task.

    At first, this may be easier said than done. We may worry about letting go.

    Some reasons why we may not be comfortable delegating are:

    -1- We are afraid of losing control. “Nobody can do this task as well as I can or the way I want it done.”

    -2- We must ask for help. We are used to doing everything ourselves. We may be afraid to be turned down.

    -3- Fear of being incompetent. We do better focusing on what we enjoy and do best, than struggling with tasks we are just not good at. We may think we are weak.

    -4- The cost. There are several ways to have help which does not include cash payments – such as trade, ask a family member, ask an employee.

    Next time we find ourselves stuck with completing a task, consider who you may ask to help us or do it for us.

  • Priorities

    Life is a busy, complicated assortment of commitments, to-do lists, chores, endless emails, facebook and maintaining relationships and expectations from ourselves, bosses, customers, clients, suppliers, friends and loved ones.

    No wonder we go to bed exhausted, sleep fitfully and wake up un-rested.

    We can become first responders to anything, which comes up in the moment. We stop what we are doing and give this new
    thing our full attention.

    As a personal opinion – this is why the new cell phones are so distracting. Does yours ping every time you get an incoming message? Do you stop whatever you are doing and react?

    Regardless of our present situation, we can make changes to create the lifestyle we desire and deserve. We are on a path to make a big change in our lives as we choose to fulfill a passion or solve a problem. So let’s do all we can to make it happen.

    An important technique we can use is to set our priorities each and every day. As we review our dreams and goals, we must choose the most important task and make it our first priority for the day. A priority that regardless of what else we accomplish at work and at home, we get this one item finished.

    We already have priorities in our life – some of them are our daily habits – our routines, others are chosen for us –work schedule, family commitments and schedules.

    Now we can also choose the priorities we need to achieve our goals.

    To get started:

    1. conscientiously set the priorities – enter it into your schedule
    2. keep them simple – take small, consistent steps
    3. live the priority – tackle the priority with joy and happiness.

    Remember, we are choosing this priority so find the pleasure in doing it.

  • Staying motivated

    Becoming very clear on our motivation when making a big change in our lives is an important step to achieve success.

    The are five key elements to staying motivated:

    (1) benefits – write out a long list of what you will achieve, or what you life will be like when you reach your goals. Be specific and detailed. This is a great time to use your vision board.

    (2) mistakes are okay – we are not perfect. Change take determination and courage. But don’t let one small miss derail your goals and dreams.
    Look at mistakes as lessons learned. Maybe we have to change a method or approach to achieving a goal. For instance, if you know you do not have extra time in your morning routine, don’t try to add even 10 minutes
    to this time period.

    (3) attitude – stay positive. You can achieve any and all of your dreams. The universe looks for ways to fulfill you dreams as long as we adopt the right thoughts and beliefs.

    (4) don’t give up – change can take a long time and can be challenging. Remember is at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

    (5) Reward yourself – This technique can really work. For each and every small step of progress, recognize your effort and treat yourself to a reward. Choose something meaningful – this does not include a big ice cream cone when you are trying to loose weight, instead save up for a healthy massage.

    Keep at it!

  • Committing to our new habit

    Why is it so easy to follow a bad habit and yet so difficult to create new good ones?

    I don’t mean our daily habits – such as wake up time, work day start, or walking the dog.

    I mean making the wrong choices – overeating, choosing the wrong food, drinking, watching too much TV, skipping the gym, etc.

    Our commitment and attitude are so important as we strive to improve a part of our lives.

    Reviewing our goal every day is essential. Remember the saying – out of sight, out of mind.

    This is very true in this instance. We must keep reminding ourselves of our goals.

    WHAT do we want to change.
    WHY do we want to make the change.
    WHEN will we achieve our goal.

    If you haven’t written down your goals and placed them in a prominent place, get it done.

    We must keep focused on our goals every day.

    One simple technique I use to create a new habit, I call “just this one time”

    Some say habits take 28 days to become ingrained. But I find. I hit the wall about 21 days and can easily give up.

    So I remind myself of the saying “just this one time”. It then is a time by time choice. I am not thinking about the next 28-30 days but just what choices I make today.

    This is especially true with my food choices. When available, I know I always order the french fries. Once I began saying “just this one time”, it was so much easier than thinking I can not eat fries again.

    Try this approach when you are too tempted to skip a workout, ignore a task, reach for that extra glass of wine or choose the wrong foods.

  • 8 steps to create a new habit

    8 Sure fire ways to create a new habit:

    Are you determined to make this change in your life? The funny thing is that the word DETERMINED is what it takes to be successful.

    You must commit from your heart that you want to succeed. Some changes may require you to form a new habit.

    Our days are run by our habits – the time we wake up in the morning, the order we put on our socks and shoes, our regular driving routes,how we organize our work desk.

    This practice works for us because we don’t have to think about how to perform these regular tasks. Reaching this stage of “just doing” is the goal when starting a new habit. At first, we may have to remind, encourage and even force ourselves to do something we “say we really, really want”. But eventually you will succeed!

    1. Know your WHY. This is your desire. It includes a list of benefits you will receive from adopting the new habit. The reason must be strong and clear. The deeper the emotion associated with the desire to change, the greater the motivation, greater the opportunity for success. It will be your inspiration and motivation. Read this statement everyday to remind yourself why you are making the commitment.

    2. WHAT is your goal? Write it down. It should be detailed, measurable and include a deadline. Goals should be stated in the present tense. The brain believes that present tense statement is already true. So your brain will look for ways to make it happen.

    3. Use of powers of affirmations, visualization and meditation to keep you focused on your goal. Read your goal statement everyday to remind yourself why you are making a commitment to change.

    4. Commit to 30 days. Habits take at least 30 days to stick. By stick I mean become rote. This is a process of retraining the brain to adopt a new activity or way to do a task.

    5. Make it regular. Do your new habit the same time everyday. Consistency is the critical to make a new habit. Write it in your schedule and stick to it.

    6. Start with something simple. If you have a big goal, break it down into smaller steps. While it may take longer to accomplish the big goal, your will experience success along the way and not be overwhelmed at so big a challenge.

    7. Plan ahead. If your goal requires props, have them ready to use before the scheduled time to do the task. Don’t waste time “Getting Ready”, then run out of time to do the activity.

    8. Accept a bump in the road. Be realistic about having an immediate success. Accept it if you miss a day. Do not use it as a reason to quit. For your first goal, choose something which you have a good chance of
    accomplishing. You want to have a success right away.

    Good Luck.

  • Setting goals

    Once we have decided on our big change, it is time to set the goals to make the change happen.

    One popular method to set goals is S.M.A.R.T.

    Specific – This part focuses on the five W questions:
    • What – what exactly do I want to accomplish?
    • Why – list the specific reasons benefits of accomplishing the goal
    • Who – who is involved in the process.
    • Where – identify the location
    • Which – identify requirements and constraints

    Measurable – How will you measure the your success of reaching your goal? Use this tool to stay on track and remember it is okay to adjust your goal as you evaluate your progress.

    Attainable – What are the actions are necessary to achieve your goal? As you set your goals you may need to develop new attitudes and skills to be able to achieve them. By breaking down bigger goals into smaller steps may enable us to make progress.

    Relevant – How will my goals help me to achieve my big change? Don’t become distracted by efforts that are not aligned with your desired result.

    Time-bound – Set one or more target dates for completion. This “by when” deadlines, dates and frequency.

    Write down your goal on a device, index card, calendar – keep somewhere it is always visible and you can refer to it daily. Taking a step everyday may ensure you best success.

  • Scusi, I missed the publish button last week.

    I wrote my post last Thursday as usual but somehow missed the post button. I am sorry – two times now since last November I missed a post date – not too bad.

    Perhaps it is a good thing because this week I wanted to go off my 52 week outline and review an important point. So I hope you read these two posts together.

    (By the way, I am following one of my dreams and am sitting in the town of Poppi – Tuscan region of Italy, enjoying a delicious glass of red wine and writing so I am nine hours ahead of my hometown of San Francisco right now.)

    I wanted to write a bit more from last week’s post about WHY we are committing to make a big change in our lives.

    If you have been following along since last November when I began this journey, you may remember my initial writings. I believe and support you in following your dreams.

    We deserve:
    To be happy
    To pursue our passions
    To enjoy life’s moments
    To be free
    To have all that we want from life
    To live with joy in our hearts
    To have abundance in our lives

    Yes, life has struggles and obstacle to overcome. We had them in the past, we have them now and we will have them in the future. But this should not prevent us from “going for our dreams.”

    Everything we dream about for our lives is available waiting for us make it happen.

    We simply need to trust the universe and remain open to all of the possibilities.

    ASK, BELIEVE, RECEIVE!

  • A life change – what, why, when

    This week we will write out a plan in our journal for our life change by answering these three questions:

    What, Why, When

    What do we plan to change, include as much specific detail as possible. Make positive statements.

    Some examples:
    I will maximize my 401k plan this year.
    I will lose 10 pounds.
    I will change jobs.
    I will take a vacation in France.
    I will update my estate plan.
    I will practice yoga.
    Etc.

    Why are we committed to making this change. This is perhaps the most important part of the plan. Change is not easy. We will run into obstacles or even lose our motivation.

    It takes determination and consistency to stick with a plan. Understanding our motivation helps when we lose our way.

    What benefits will we receive when we achieve success in making this life change.

    List all of the benefits, again use positive language.

    For example the benefits of losing ten lbs. are:
    I will fit into one lower size.
    I will feel more confident with my looks.
    I will have more energy.
    I will be encouraged to lose ten more.
    I will be eating healthier food.
    I will take advantage of my gym membership.
    I will meet new people in my walking group.
    You name your benefits.

    When – what is your deadline to make your change. Some big life changes are best broken down into manageable steps.

    For example – if you really need to lose 50 lbs. attacking them 10 lbs. at a time is doable.

    Summarize your What, Why, and How statements on index cards, on your cell phone screen saver or other device somewhere you can read them to yourself everyday to stay focused on your plan.

  • Making a life change

    This week we choose the topic for our big change – a life changing decision.

    To decide whether to choose a passion or a problem, let’s review our two lists from previous weeks blogs.

    In week 3 back on January 17th, we wrote out a list of our lifelong dreams. In case you didn’t finish the task or lost your sheet here is the exercise again.

    Take sometime today to complete the exercise.

    Dream worksheet – Write down your life vision in as much detail as possible.

    If time or money were not an object, what does your life look like?
    What are you doing?
    How do you spend your time?
    What are your surroundings?
    Who are you serving?
    What footprint are you leaving behind?
    What is your legacy?
    Where do you live, when do you begin, with whom do you share it?

    Your dream should include sensations – sounds, smells, sight, touch, tastes, colors, especially dream about how you will feel in your chosen life!

    Define these different aspects in your life:
    Life’s purpose
    Passions
    Personal accomplishments
    Family
    Friend / relationships
    Community
    Fun, joy, hobbies
    Adventures, experiences
    Recreation
    Health / Fitness
    Service
    Career
    Abundance
    Financial plan
    Other

    During week 26 – June 27th, we were to make a list of all of the areas of life which need fixing or improving.

    Suggested topics are:
    Cleaning up messes
    Procrastinating
    Not delegating
    Non-working relationships
    Managing time
    Work environment
    Disorganization
    Our physical environment

    While it is your choice where to begin, research shows it is hard to commit to living our dream life to live with passion if there is a major area in our lives which is holding us back. So choose wisely and remember, you can change you mind if you realize you are not ready, willing or able to pursue you first choice for your big change.

  • Problem or Passion?

    Once we are ready to commit to making a big change in life we need to decide where we can make the most difference for ourselves.

    When analyzing a change we want in our lives they fall into two categories.

    We have to determine if we have:

    A problem to solve

    OR…

    A passion to fulfill

    It can be very difficult to commit to fulfilling a passion if we have a big problem or obstacle standing in the way.

    I categorize problems into three general areas. Each topic includes a few positive terms to measure our status against.

    Health – physically fit, stress and pain free, flexible, active, vibrant,  agile, energetic, eat a healthy diet, and mentally strong

    Wealth – live with an attitude of abundance, debt free, successful,  philanthropic, prosperous, financial achievements, innovative, creative,

    Self – happy, confident, resourceful, passionate, dedicated, conscientious,  loving, free, personally responsible for self, and working relationships

    We face obstacle daily.  We have usually just finished solving a small problem, in the middle of one, or a new one is around the corner.

    But if we are facing a major problem, the challenge for the next 15 weeks is to really solve it so we can live our dream life.

    Passions are something deep inside of us dying to be expressed, to get out.

    We are all born with a true purpose  – a passion. The purpose which use our best skills, and talents.    The purpose which inspires us. A passion which touches our soul and fills our heart with joy.

    When discover our true purpose we are blessed.

    If we are ready to fulfill a passion, the challenge over the next 15 weeks is to identify the passion and create a plan to incorporate it into our lives.

    Take some time this week to sit quietly and think about where you are in life and what will take you closer to your dreams.