Category: Excelerating

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Have A Plan

“What is your dearest wish? What dreams do you have for the future? What do you want to be or do? Imagine your dream coming true. How wonderful would it be. How fulfilling.

“What holds you back from realizing your wish? What is it in you that stops you from really going for it?” ~ Gabriele Oettingen, Rethinking Positive Thinking

What holds you back?

As we near the end of another year, take a moment to reflect on this year that has nearly passed. Think back to January. Did you have big dreams? Make any resolutions? Set a BIG goal? Now that the year is almost over, how are you doing? Are you still on track? Continue reading “Have A Plan”

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Life’s Summons

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep need meet.” ~ Frederick Buechner

What does Life want from you? Most of us, if we think about it at all, typically ask “What do I want out of life?” (Some of us never even get that far . . . we coast from day to day, being blown this way and that by the winds of circumstance. However that’s a subject for another time.) But the question I have been contemplating for the past few weeks is not “What do I want from Life?” but “What does Life want from me?” I invite you to think about this question, too. Continue reading “Life’s Summons”

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Stop Stopping

Stop Stopping

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ~ Confucius

“A body in motion will remain in motion.” ~ Newton’s First Law of Motion.  I was doing wonderfully well. I was getting up and going through my morning routine — physical activity, meditation, journaling, and planning — consistently for weeks. I felt really good. I felt productive. I was making good progress!  “A body at rest remains at rest.” ~ Newton’s First Law of Motion  But then . . . I missed a day. Oops. My momentum slowed. Then I missed another day — turned off my alarm and slept in. I decided I needed some time off so I took off a couple more days. Before I knew it, more than 2 weeks had gone by and I was completely out of my routine. The more I missed, the less I felt like starting back. I had completely lost all momentum. I had stopped. Continue reading “Stop Stopping”

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Don’t Focus On What You Don’t Want

Don’t focus on what you don’t want. Choose the thoughts (and actions) that serve you best.

“The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do.” ~ Wayne Dyer

A friend and colleague recently loaned me a tape program, “Excuses Begone!” by Dr. Wayne Dyer. There was one concept from Dr. Dyer’s presentation that really sparked my imagination. Continue reading “Don’t Focus On What You Don’t Want”

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Break Negative Habits, Part 2

“Wisdom is letting go of some bad habits everyday.” ~ Farshad Asl

Recently, we talked about the benefits of breaking negative habits. I shared a few unhealthy habits I used to have and expressed gratitude that I was able to replace several of them with more helpful and healthful ones. I shared a list of some negative habits identified in an article in Inc. magazine and invited you to consider if there are any habits keeping you from making progress toward your Excelerated Life.

On the outside chance that you may have 1 or 2 negative habits you’d like to replace with more beneficial ones, let’s consider some recommended and proven ways to break negative habits. Continue reading “Break Negative Habits, Part 2”

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What If You Don’t?

To visualize,” said Peter McWilliams, “is to make visual lies. Visual lies, however, have a way of coming true.”

Visualization. You already do it . . . planning a party, replaying an argument and inserting what you “should’ve said”, daydreaming about an exotic vacation, fantasizing about Prince or Princess Charming. But did you know research shows that a specific type of visualization can help you reach your goals and help stimulate positive emotions? Continue reading “What If You Don’t?”

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A Procrastination Busting Technique

“The biggest lie we tell ourselves . . . is ‘I’ll do it later'”. ~ Peter McWilliams

You’ve heard me say before that Procrastination is one of my greater talents. Over the years, I’ve honed it to a fine skill. (At one time, my procrastinating was so bad that I was afraid of Saturday the 14th.) It’s the reason I think and write so much about overcoming procrastination – I need all the advice I can get.

I recently came across a technique that promises to be a great procrastination buster. Of course, there are a number of good ways to battle procrastination, and this is another good tool for those of us who find it so easy to “do it later”. Continue reading “A Procrastination Busting Technique”

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Ripples

A parable of the seeds

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” (Mark 4: 3 – 8 NIV)

A parable of stones thrown in water

A young child sat by the bank of a pond. The child held a number of small stones in her hand. The child tossed one of the stones in the water and watched as ripples went out across the pond in ever-growing circles – larger and larger. She tossed in another, then another, and watched in delight as the ripples grew and ran across the surface of the water, sometimes overlapping, sometimes converging and then moving away from each other. The ripples moved all the way across the pond, much further than the child could have tossed one of her stones. Continue reading “Ripples”

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Now What Needs To Be Done?

“The mature human being goes about doing what needs to be done regardless of whether that person feels great or terrible. Knowing that you are the kind of person with that kind of selfcontrol brings all the satisfaction and confidence you will ever need.” ~ David K. Reynolds

June* sought out coaching because she couldn’t seem to finish any of the things she said she wanted to do. She had a good idea of what she viewed as her life’s purpose and she had some challenging goals to enable her to live out her purpose. But when we met for the first time, she had made little measurable progress on any of her goals. During one of our early meetings, she selected one of her goals and we developed an action plan to move her toward it. June left with a list of things she could do before our next meeting and she was excited to get started. Continue reading “Now What Needs To Be Done?”