Tag: goals

It’s Fall! Purge! Mindset Reset…

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there

Nature. Life. The seasons. Don’t you just love them? Nature naturally brings change. We see them in the leaves. Animals hibernate. The weather brings warmth, cold, sunshine or rain.  As we start Fall, HGTV’s Joanna Gaines shared checklist to prepare for this season.

Like many of us, I just want to get to the good stuff. Joanna recommends for us to:

  1. Purge
  2. Organize
  3. Create Mental Shift
  4. Visually Reset

Of all the steps I hate purging. It’s annoying. It involves lots of work to get rid of my ‘good’ stuff! But purging is necessary. Because we hate doing it, we find it progressive to rent storage units to keep our stuff. Oh, what can I say?

The Good Stuff

On the other hand, my favorite is to get to the good stuff and start decorating! Just love that! But what’s more essential are the ways she recommends that we conduct what she refers to as a mental shift. For those who need a change…. my preference from her list are:

  • Start a Journal
  • Keep a calendar
  • Plan a Gathering
  • Set weekly or monthly intentions

Setting Goals

It’s important to set Goals. Like I have always said, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. So consider where you are now. Are you where you wanted to be at the start of the year? If not, do a mental review and reset. Yes, you may be disappointed but don’t remain in that state too long. Push forward. Start working on your goals again. Let nothing stop you. Before you know it, you will be steps closer to your dreams.

As you reflect on Joanna’s list, what step do you enjoy the most? Do share. We would love to hear!

Cheers!

 

 

If You Are Going In The Wrong Direction, Turn Around…

If you’re Going in the wrong direction, turn around. ~Seth Godin

Tis sad. So many recognize that they are on the wrong path, yet continue because they’re afraid or feel they can change things with ‘one last try’. Then the cycle repeats itself over, and over, and over again.

Just One Last Try

Stop. It’s such wasted effort, time, and resources. Turn around. Get back on track.

Go ahead, do it.

Cheers!

New York Times New Books: My Top 5…

Reading. The Thrill. The New York Times released its list of 17 New Books To Watch For. From the list I like 5. Here I share:

  1. Coventry: Essays,’ by Rachel Cusk

 

Care to share those you like? Whichever you choose, Happy Reading!

Cheers!

The Dreams That Tug…

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We all have dreams, goals and aspirations that consistently tug at our hearts. Some annoyingly, some quietly. We sleep, gaze, visualize, but the ideas just won’t go away. Most often we are stuck….afraid to take the leap. Here I share the story of how one dreamer who made the move that impacted generations. May it inspire you to never ever give up.

The cheesecake Factory story begins in Detroit, Michigan in the 1940’s. Evelyn Overton found a recipe in the local newspaper that would inspire her “Original” Cheesecake. Everyone loved her recipe so much that she decided to open a small Cheesecake shop, but eventually gave up her dream of owning her own business in order to raise her two small children, David and Renee. She moved her baking equipment to a kitchen in her basement and continued to supply cakes to several of the best restaurants in town while raising her family.

In 1972, with her children grown, Evelyn and her husband Oscar decided to pack up all of her belongings and move to Los Angeles to make one last attempt at owning her own business. With the last of their savings, they opened “The Cheesecake Factory Bakery” and began selling Evelyn’s cheesecakes to restaurants throughout Los Angeles. 

Through hard work and determination their business grew to a modest size and Evelyn was soon baking more than 20 varieties of cheesecakes and other desserts.

With a great foresight and intuition, their son David decided to open a restaurant to showcase his mother’s selection of cheesecakes. Somehow he just knew that guests would enjoy a restaurant with an extensive dessert menu. It was 1978 and he opened the first The Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. The restaurant was an immediate success and today there are nearly 200 The Cheesecake Factory restaurants around the world that share the Overton’s commitment to quality and spirit of innovation and hard work.

 

May the delicious delicacy of the Cheesecake’s story ignite your passion to step out, go after your dream, and do what you have always wanted to do.

Have a dream? It’s never too late. Go get it.

Need help? Let’s connect.

Cheers!

 

If You Do Not Travel…

If you do not travel,

You start dying slowly

If you do not travel,

If you do not read,

If you do not listen to the sounds of life,

If you do not appreciate yourself.

You start dying slowly

When you kill your self-esteem;

When you do not let others help you.

You start dying slowly

If you become a slave of your habits,

Walking everyday on the same paths…

If you do not change your routine,

If you do not wear different colours

Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

You start dying slowly

If you avoid to feel passion

And their turbulent emotions;

Those which make your eyes glisten

And your heart beat fast.

You start dying slowly

If you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love,

If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,

If you do not go after a dream,

If you do not allow yourself,

At least once in your lifetime,

To run away from sensible advice.

~Martha Medeiros

Hope this speaks to you as it did to me. Hope it inspires you to step out and do something different today. Something that you have been delaying. Something that you have been putting off. It’s time,

Thanks Miss World Runner-Up Yendi Phillips for sharing. I couldn’t resist.

Cheers!

15 Things To Do By Yourself…

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Spending time alone is one of my absolute pleasures. I’m sure I’m not alone. You may also like to do that as well.  A few years ago I shared that I had some planning to do and decided on a whim to jump into my car and drive to the beach. A few hours later, I had mapped out plans for my top goals for the rest of the year! yea! I left feeling totally satisfied to get things done! What seemed like an drilling exercise turned out to be quite productive, in a serene atmosphere.

Self-Care

Jo Chunyan shared a list of things do alone. I decided to pull my top 15 to share.

  1. Journal. Write up a list of things you would love to do. Declare your dreams and intentions or simply empty out all your thoughts into your notebook.
  2. Spend a day at a museum or art gallery
  3. Meditate – sit. Be still and devote time to listen to your spiritual thoughts. Breathe.
  4. Have dinner on your own in a nice restaurant – take time to really enjoy the food
  5. Go for a walk and enjoy breathing the fresh air
  6. See a film at a cinema on your own
  7. Rearrange your wardrobe and discover old clothes again.
  8. Donate old clothes, books and furniture. Make room for the new by clearing out the old.
  9. Go somewhere in the city where you have never been
  10. Give yourself a mini retreat weekend…eat healthy food, go for a massage, spoil yourself and really relax!
  11. Sip a cup of tea and look out the window
  12. Be Athletic. Go for a jog or walk on the beach. Breathe in the salty sea breeze and watch the waves lick the shore.
  13. Study. Sign up for an online course in any topic you have an interest in and learn something new
  14. Take a photo to depict each hour of your day
  15. Travel on your own. Learn something new about yourself.

Can you add any? Do share!

Cheers!

Register now to attend Writers Retreat and boost your writing project

I Hate My Life. I Hate My Life…

I hate my life. I hate my life. I hate my life. That’s the chant I heard her saying as I approached her. Why would anyone say that? Such negative thought.

She had lost her husband. Her job. Her house. Her children. Her sense of independence. She felt she had nothing to live for. Beautiful. Smart. Educated professional she was, life had handed her difficulties. She thought she could never overcome life’s storms.

What were the right words to say to someone such as this?

There’s Hope

  • When life throws you lemons, make lemonade.
  • Only the strong survive.
  • Hold on, never give up.
  • The tide will change. Keep going.
  • Stay positive.
  • Meditate. Pray.
  • While there’s life there’s hope.

Will she find solace in any of these? I’m sure. Your thoughts? Do share. We would love to hear.

Cheers!

4 Strategies To Beat The Over-Qualified Syndrome…

The fear they seek becomes their own

The Qualified are haunted and hunted by the overqualified syndrome. One recruiter even went so far as to say she would not hire someone who she believes is ‘over-qualified’ for the job. But has that recruiter examined the reason the so-called over-qualified applicant is searching? It could be for a career change. It could be to start a family and the person chooses to take a step back. It could also be an empty nester with a desire to simply slow down.

Give the Peeps a Chance

Here’s where it becomes necessary for the well-experienced candidate to use strategies to convince recruiters that you have no intention to come in to wreak havoc. Your desire is to join forces and work hard for the organization and/or department’s benefit.

Be warned Recruiter, one day you may be get there and then you will understand…when you’re misunderstood.

4 Strategies to Overcome

In her Wall Street Journal article the overqualified trap can hit you at any time, Sue Shellenbarger shared several strategies to combat the syndrome. Here I share my top 4 favs:

  1. Explain upfront why you’re applying for a position that seems beneath you
  2. Be consistent in explaining your reasons for applying throughout all interviews for the job
  3. Line up references who will vouch for your commitment
  4. Network with contacts who also know insiders at the target company

As a HR practitioner myself, I tend to be open to diverse applicants and our society certainly expects it. However, not all organization’s search process is without idiosyncrasies. So if you are an experienced job searcher as The power of Resilience when things go wrong in this depiction, the strategies listed before will help.

If you are on the hunt and find that there’s something that works for you, do share, we would love to hear.

Cheers!

 

The Writing Process…

Writing is usually done in a private space… as in a cave all by ourselves. We tell no one unless we choose to share with those close. Oft it can even be top secret or shouted from the mountain top as happens when some celebrities write. It’s entirely up to you.

It’s Your Prerogative

Writers commit a month, a year, 2, 3 or more to their Writing process. It’s your prerogative. It all depends on you. No need to attend a retreat, until or unless you’re ready and you can always remain silent in the background listening to others speak. At a writers Retreat, some talk. Some don’t.

Spend time doing what you want to do before, during and after the retreat.

Why Bother?

People approach me to share my knowledge and (writing) experience with them. That’s the whole point of doing a Retreat. Facilitators or Hosts often incur a loss or just barely meet the expense for meals and accommodation for a small group retreat when it’s done for aspiring local authors. Over the years, it becomes more profitable.

But it’s worth it because of the satisfaction it brings. Often though some aspiring authors who actually need the help tend to hesitate to go the extra mile to acquire the knowledge. For me, before I wrote my first book about my phenomenalogical study on leadership and success, I attended a writers event and it helped me a lot. I invested resources to attend and like a sponge was happy to hear from the facilitators on their experiences. Before that I attended many writing events held throughout the industry and on campus to boost my craft.

Personally, I tend… to attend both good and bad’ sessions. Essentially, I love to compare what’s happening in the marketplace. From the ‘bad’ I learn what NOT to do. From the good…well that’s self-explanatory. I want to do better than the best while helping others achieve their best potential, whatever that is.

All in all, Writers have to test what works. Each individual differs. What works for one person may not work for the other.

What works for you? Do share. We would love to hear!

Cheers!

Register now to attend Writers Retreat and boost your writing project