A Boomer's Footprint

Tag: dreams

  • 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.

  • Planning a big life change

    In review, the blog posts so far have covered:

    20 weeks – discovering our biggest dreams which fulfill our passions, bring us joy and happiness and are fueled by the
    self beliefs and positive thinking that we can have a life we desire.

    15 weeks – overcoming various obstacles which stand in our way. Some topics included: negative self-talk, facing our fears, time management, non-working relationships, procrastination, and cleaning up various messes around us.

    While we may not be absolutely ready, willing and able, with the confidence and belief to make all of our dreams can come true, this next series of posts – from September 5th through December 31st is a challenge to choose one of the dreams on our list and make it happen.

    We will be making a plan to create a big change in life.

    But don’t panic – along the way we will strengthen our belief systems and work on overcoming obstacles still getting in the way.

    Often, I will suggest that you look at your calendar and realistically pick a goal or task which fits into your schedule, BUT for these next 15 weeks, I am challenging you to complete:

    one goal which will bring you the most joy, happiness, pride and satisfaction

    OR

    one goal which you may have been procrastinating about for awhile

    OR

    one goal which will fulfill a big life dream

    OR 

    one goal which will help you overcome a fear

    OR

    one goal which you decide is most important for you

    To get started each day take a few moments and day dream about what will make you happiest and jot down some notes in your journal.

  • Time management

    How many times do we say and hear others say: “I am so BUSY.”

    Life can easily become overwhelming with over commitments, work schedules, household chores, and maintaining relationships.

    So we often say – I don’t have the time as an reason or excuse for not getting things done.

    There are solutions.

    (1) Learn to say NO. Be sure you want to do something before making a commitment. Is the activity one that will bring you
    Closer to your goals and dreams. It is truly how you want to spend your time.

    (2) Prioritize your tasks. We often spend the majority of our time on the more unproductive tasks. Determine what task will provide the best results.

    (3) Spend quality time every day on your priority – even 10 minutes a day can be effective. This type of commitment works well with achieving fitness goals, cleaning up messes, preparing home cooked meals, even just sitting down and reading a book.

    (4) Eliminate time wasters. To constantly check emails, texts, and Facebook messages is very distracting and unproductive. Test yourself – using a timer determine how much real time is spent on a computer or cell phone.

  • Asking for support from your community

    Whenever we begin a process to pursue our dreams, there will always be skeptics, nay-Sayers, and sometimes negative input from family, friends, and colleagues about our new choices and likelihood for success.

    These attitudes are understandable. People are generally not comfortable with change.  Look at how long it took us to take even small steps to have the life and dreams that we want.

    It is best to let your community know up front in an organized, planned out, thoughtful, confident manner with no excuses or apologies about your commitment you made to yourself to change.

    Let them know what you are working on – a new adventure, career, or challenge, even a hobby – whatever the dream is – big or small.

    Ask them for what you need:
    Ask for the encouragement to take small steps in a new direction.
    Ask for acceptance of who you will become.
    Ask for the time and space to make small changes in your life.
    Ask for what you need from your group to become successful.
    Ask how you can help others to follow their dreams.
    Ask for forgiveness (in advance) if your new path threatens or harms them.

    Not everyone will be supportive.  So it is important to discount the negativity and doubts and stay true to yourself and follow your dreams.

    Over time when your community sees your unwavering commitment and dedication to your goals and dreams you may begin to generate more positive responses, support and feedback.

  • Overcoming Personal Obstacles

    Beliefs, fears and doubts are not the only things standing in the way to achieving our goals and dreams.

    Our past circumstances and outcomes do not have to impact our chance of  attaining success today. We all have had experiences,
    which have challenged us. It is probable that obstacles will surface in the future.  This is the nature of life. We live, we learn and
    we move forward with a positive spirit and belief in our abilities to create the life we want and deserve.

    We do this by making small changes each and every day in our lives to minimize our action and reactions to the obstacles we face
    and by making  better choices for today.

    This next section of the program includes 10 weeks of overcoming obstacles.

    Some of the topics are:

    • cleaning up messes
    • procrastinating
    • not delegating
    • non-working relationships
    • managing time
    • work environment
    • disorganization
    • our physical environment

    Don’t freeze and panic thinking about what it will take to change our environment and work habits.  Changes do not happen overnight.  This is why throughout my program I encourage you to take small steps, making progress 10 to 15 minutes a day will get the job done.  What is crucial is to get started and stay consistent with your efforts.

    Begin today by making a numbered list of all of areas in your life which need fixing or improvement.   Be honest and complete. If your list is 100 items long, so be it.  At least now you know. Writing things down, makes them real and your list will give your a starting point.

    So far mine are:  20 unread magazines, stacks of mail, saved reference articles to read and file, a full hallway closet, unfiled folders, disorganized clothing shelves, and more.  If you have similar projects you are not alone.

    Let’s commit time this summer while enjoying the good weather and late nights to also take steps to improve our life.

  • Changing bad habits

    One reason we are stuck with negative or limiting beliefs, doubts and fears is because they become engrained in who we are.

    They become habits. We have many beneficial habits in our lives, which make getting through each day happen effortlessly.

    However, some habits stand in the way of our achieving the dreams and success we want for ourselves in life.

    Some of these bad habits are hard to break because they become enjoyable and we want to keep them.  This is especially true
    about our relationships with food.

    We can close out eyes and vividly remember the smells, tastes, and textures of many foods that we are “addicted” to. Regardless of how many times we read about the harmful effects of these foods, We can not stop eating them!

    According to wikipedia, a bad habit is a negative behavior pattern. Behaviors are acquired and develop over time. Habits are actions we take over and over again. Habits become unconscious, automatic thoughts and actions we take when we encounter a situation, which are based on prior experiences. With bad habits, these actions may not give us a desired or different result from the past.

    Changing a bad habit is possible. We can learn what it takes and put new actions into practice in your daily life to change the
    engrained habits of a lifetime. We can even learn to change the nature programmed into your genes, but it will take determined
    actions, over and over again, to reprogram your mind and change yourself.

    Here are 7 ways to break a bad habit:

    -1- put it in writing – use your journal to write about a bad habit – include exactly what is the habit, what do you do before engaging in the habit, what benefits does the habit bring you (this is important because we usually experience something satisfying from the habit), and what is an alternative habit choice.

    -2- make it conscious – become aware of when we engage in the habit, such as picking at nails, watching TV, eating junk food, running late for an appointment, procrastinating, etc.

    So many habits are mindless, routine, we don’t THINK about doing them. We can focus on our choices and decide if they are giving us the results we desire.

    -3- choose an alternative behavior – decide what to do instead. By being prepared with healthy food alternatives, we are less likely to reach for an unhealthy one.

    -4- choose positive thoughts – use positive language to adopt change. Instead of saying – “I am not eating any junk food today”. State – “Today I will eat a piece of fruit for snack.” Then of course, do it!

    -5- have patience – changing a long standing bad habit is not easy and it will take time.  Take small steps on a regular basis.

    Use the phrase  “Just this one time” and choose the side small salad instead of the order the french fries (So often “just this one time” for fries is every time!).

    -6- engage an ally – identify a friend with a similar bad habit and work together to change.

    -7- Reward yourself – the Pavlov method can work. We can focus on what reward we will earn for sticking to our goal.

    Choose an appropriate one – when You choose to eat fruit every day for snack, do you want to sabotage your efforts with a big banana split at week’s end?

    In summary, bad habits, which have developed over time can be changed.  Take regular, consistent action to succeed.

  • Limiting beliefs and obstacles in the way

    We create a vision for life, we dream of all that we can have, be, do, say, inspire, empower ourselves and others to be the best
    that we can be.

    We set goals, make a plan.

    We create our vision board, we visualize about the activities, the feelings we have living our dreams, we write out and say our
    affirmations regularly.

    And yet, we struggle, we stumble, we fall, we are stopped dead in our tracks. Yes, it is hard enough to make any change in life even if it is to have something which we say we really, really want.

    We try to do better, to change but then life throws at us obstacles and challenges which we have faced in the past.

    This next 15 week series is a challenge to face what is standing in our way to achieving our dreams.

    Our fears
    Our doubts
    Our procrastinations
    Our negative thoughts
    Our negative beliefs
    Our hectic schedule
    Our old habits
    Our emotional baggage
    Our past failures
    Our messes
    Our negative friends, relatives and others
    Our disorganization
    Our time wasters
    Our physical limitations
    Our defeatist attitude
    Our inaccurate perceptions of our reality
    Our past bad choices
    Our endless lists
    etc., etc., etc…..

    WOW – even to me this list is overwhelming.  And the truth is that we may not be successful in making all of the changes we want and desire in just 15 weeks.

    But we must start somewhere and at sometime so why not now. As we proceed through this process of change, we focus on taking “small steps” each and every day.  To learn to reward ourselves for success and not punish ourselves for failures but to take the missteps and learn from the experience.

    Slowly, gradually, we will find the strength, the will power, the belief, the fortitude to stick to our plan to make all of our dreams come true.

    This blog is a perfect example for me.  My post is due today at  3PM, PST and here at 10AM I was wondering how to complete it and all of my other “Priorities” on today’s list.  So rather than fret and agonize and talk myself out of success in getting things done, I buckled down and one by one, I checked off 5 items, posted the blog early and I am out the door.

    I did it, you can too!  Join me on these next 15 weeks of thoughtful analyzation and deep conversation with self to conquer some limiting beliefs and obstacles standing in our way.

  • Gratitude and appreciation

    Our attitude is key to achieving our dreams. We discussed developing and maintaining a positive attitude, which can be easier said than done.  The important thing to remember is that when negative thoughts creep into our consciousness, we can acknowledge them and replace them with a positive statement – perhaps something from our affirmation list.

    Another tool for creating a positive attitude is to recognize gratitude and appreciation for all that we have right now.

    “Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude.” Joseph Wood Krutch

    Life constantly presents us with obstacles and challenges but they are not more than we can handle and each one offers us a learning and growing opportunity.

    When we practice gratitude and appreciation we are focusing our thoughts and energy on all that is good and what is working for us in our life, we are attracting more of the same to us. We can choose to embrace the positive rather than the negative in life.

    Two popular techniques to practice gratitude and appreciation are:

    Journaling –  each and every day take a few minutes to write down a few, simple gratitude statements.  Reread them with enjoyment and pleasure that we are blessed in many ways.

    Carrying a touch stone – a touch stone is a small,  meaningful object you carry with you everyday. Each time to reach into your pocket or purse and “touch” your piece is a reminder to take a moment and be more present in the moment and feel grateful for your blessings.  The piece can also helps change a negative thought or situation by reminding you that even a negative situation you may be in will pass.

    To sum up this section of using our attitudes to achieve our dreams, keeping a positive outlook using these simple tools activates the Law of Attraction to help make our dreams come true:

    a vision board
    affirmations
    visualization
    gratitude journaling

  • Using our vision board

    The use of a vision board was popularized by the movie “The Secret” and it’s focus on the Law of Attraction.  This law had been used and kept secret for many years by some of the wealthiest people in the country.

    The movie educated more of us about the benefits of using a positive belief system to attract what we want in life.

    Since the movie aired, thousands of us, have experiences success in many areas of life – beyond the measure of financial wealth.

    Creating a vision board was the first step in achieving success. We stated  what we want for ourselves in life.

    Today I will share two powerful techniques to use with the vision board: Visualization and Affirmations.

    Practice one or both of these techniques daily to ensure success.

    Visualization

    “Visualizing is daydreaming with a purpose.” Bo Bennett

    Create your day in advance – take a moment in the morning with your calendar in front of you and visualize how everything that day will go according to your plan, the plan you established to make your dreams come true.

    With your vision board in hand, sit in a comfortable position, take a deep breath and relax.  Picture in your mind a goal on your board with all of the details, sights, and sounds that this vision encompasses. Picture your exact vision happening just the way you imagined.

    Who is with you? What are you feeling?
    What are you doing?
    What will you accomplish each day to make your dream come true?

    Affirmations

    “Every thought we think is creating our future.” Louis L. Hay

    Every thought or statement we make is an affirmation. Whether the thought is positive or negative, it affirms a belief to be true for you.

    The purpose of writing and using affirmations is to create of list of positive statements will reinforce and inspire you to achieve your dreams.

    A few guidelines to create you affirmations are:
    – Use positive language, stated in the present tense
    – Make them short and specific
    – Use action words
    – Make them personal

    Some of  my affirmations are:
    – I feel and look great.
    – I give my self permission to be powerful.
    – I attract all the right people to work with me in business.
    – I experience abundance and prosperity in my life.
    – I communicate often and openly.

    Begin with a few statements for yourself.  Choose one priority from your vision board and write down 5 or 6 statements about the goal.  Read them to your self every day.  How quickly can you memorize them and speak them from the heart?