A Boomer's Footprint

Tag: dreams

  • Spring 90 Day Challenge Results

    You have to start somewhere.  I proposed the first 90 Day Challenge in spring 2017. The first meeting was held at the library on May 23rd.  Two other joined me and we each picked our own project. Three difference choices were made.

    The other two members were definitely more consistent than me. There results will be revealed soon.  I am extremely proud of R and S successes. Committing to a goal, taking action, doing your best and learning from your successes and failures takes courage. The process may be just as important as achieving a perfect result.

    My 90 days were really broken down into three 30 day challenges: first -stamina, second – live a dream, third – commit to my own self education with the Entrepreneurs Leadership Academy.

    Part one – increase my stamina.  It’s really a life-long goal, isn’t it? So I upped my step count on Fitbit to 7,000 / day. I also joined Weight Watchers. I had no idea – according to their program that each pat of butter was 8 points. Obviously I cut that and other high point foods down drastically.

    Part two – the dream. I just spent 30 days in Paris, France! A bucket list item for years. One of those big dreams.

    The trip could not have been better. I enrolled through City College of San Francisco for a study abroad class along with other 80 class mates. The program included my dorm room, breakfast and classes and about 15 other activities. Plus another 12 things I did with new friends.

    By July 30th, I had taken over 1,500 pics (photo journal coming soon) and walked over 340,000 steps. Here on the last day, I went to Versailles. We were so exhausted by then, my friends and I could only manage the palace tour and jitney ride around the grounds.

    This is my kind of challenge. While I will always have unfinished projects I’m constantly working on, I’m more interested in making my dreams come true.

    Part three is still happening.  I’m excited to share what I am learning from the Academy. It is part of my personal 90 Day Challenge Fall series. It will be good.

     

  • 2016 – If not NOW, WHEN?

    Set Sail for the Time of Your Life
    Set Sail for the Time of Your Life

    Many of us have UN……….……….s.

    Unfinished projects and business

    Unfulfilled relationships

    Unreached goals

    Unrealized dreams

    Fill in your own UN……………………………………………..

    The funny thing about the UN……………..s is,  they don’t go away.

    They may be hidden in our subconscious or stare us in the face every time we look at a stuffed closet, crowded counter top, a person’s face, a magazine picture, website, book, make the drive to work or any number of triggers which bring an UN…………..…. to our conscious level.

    (Did you ever notice how easy it is to look at something and not really see it? Like last year’s goal list hanging on the refrigerator door for over 365 days.)

    Now is the perfect time to make a big change in this New Year. Several weeks have passed since January 1 so we haven’t broken a New Year’s resolution yet.  That curse, remembrance of past failures is not relevant.

    Listening to radio, television, internet media, I am encouraged by all of the positive press about opportunities and the encouragement to take action in 2016.  Are these new opportunities?  NO, but our attitudes may be.

    This is NOT the time to be influenced by the recent stock decline.  Yes, we should always pay attention to our investments but we should not use the market to talk ourselves out of improving our personal situation.

    I feel very hopeful that change can happen in 2016. If not NOW, WHEN?

    To get started, make your bucket list. Your deadline is this Sunday – four days away. Really think about what you want to accomplish in life.

    What will you do this year?

    What will you accomplish in 5 years?

    What are life time goals?

     

    Pull out or buy a new journal for this process , use words, phrases, or pictures to describe your goals and dreams. Use the journal throughout the year to keep track of your progress. We will be referring to it often.

  • Celebration

    Congratulations on a successful year of CHANGE.

    Even if you made just the tiniest adjustment, it is a step in the right direction – and this is a reason to celebrate.

    Last week the charge was to review the year and our progress. Hopefully, we learned something from the exercise.

    It could be a strength we rediscovered, a weakness we need to work on, an untapped skill, a forgotten dream or just a desire to continue to grow and develop.

    Personal development is the ultimate goal of my coaching tips and techniques. Because this both our task and challenge in life.

    How can we do better, how can we experience more of life, how can we persevere through tough times, how can we tap into our true personality and passions, how can we best use out unique talents and skills. We began the year identifying our biggest dreams.

    Of course, it may not have been easy to reach them in one year.

    We had to believe that we could succeed. We had to overcome limiting beliefs and obstacles. We were asked to consciously bring more joy and happiness into our lives. We had to set goals, adopt new habits, know when to delegate, overcome procrastination and ask for the support of our friends and community.

    This is asking a lot. So as a new year begins, it is time to recommit to our dreams.

    Are we continuing on pursuing our dream or still working on solving a problem in life. Either way stay with me as we move int0 2014.

  • 2013 progress review

    Two more weeks until we have completed a full year of setting goals, adopting new habits, creating more positive thinking, overcoming obstacles and especially making our dreams come true.

    This week, let’s review our progress.

    I know I did not succeed in achieving all of my goals, but there is one I am most proud of.

    My background is in finance and math. For me to commit to a writing program was a Hugh challenge.

    For months, I struggled with writing this blog every week. But I am proud to say, that of the 52 weeks, I wrote for 49 of them.
    That is a big WOW. I am happy. I feel like a more confident writer and gained so much personal knowledge as I read and studied about how to CHANGE. Because this is what it takes to achieve new goals and dreams.

    This week’s process works best with your journal. Go back through your notes. What did you try? What worked? What did not? What did you learn? What can you improve?

    What lessons will you keep working on? What goal did not give you the result you were looking for?

    Don’t worry if you do not give yourself high marks? Change is a life long journey. Even when we achieve our dreams, it is time to commit to new ones.

    Make this exercise count. It is the basis for future.

  • Temptations

    We are in the home stretch – ending another year – 2013.

    For many of us, these are difficult last few weeks in the year. The pressure of shopping, entertaining, house cleaning, traveling, visiting, not to mention the agony of getting every gift just right.

    Now is not the time to also give into temptations. The temptation of overindulging in food and drink, and the mistake of overspending our budget.

    Now is the time to step up and just say “NO” to excesses by sticking to achieving our goals, and staying committed to living our dreams.

    Let’s schedule extra time in our calendars to focus on our priorities – creating new habits, improving our physical and financial health, reorganizing our messes, repairing relationships – whatever our goals have been.

    Let’s keep progressing and end the year strong so we can begin anew in 2014 proud of our accomplishments and successes.

  • 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.

  • 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.