What's Scarier Than a Gost?

Today is the day before Halloween, which means tomorrow you will be visited by all sorts of scary and funny creatures. Do you want to know what scares you more than ghosts and goblins? Success. Until you take time to define success for yourself, it will remain mysterious and unfamiliar, and that it the scary part. So after you put away the costumes and candy, take a few minutes to consider what success looks like to you. Consider what you want at home and what you want at work. What legacy do you want to leave your children? How do you want to be remembered when you are gone? Make the time for this little exercise and start anchoring your life in what success means to you. Have a Happy Halloween, and enjoy the ghosts, goblins AND success.

Golden Moments

"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone." ~George Elliot

Aren't the fall colors beautiful? Or have you been too busy to notice? Take a break and enjoy the magic.

What Makes Life Worth Living?

There are so many demands on your time and energy that you may be feeling overwhelmed by the chores of daily living. You may find yourself so focused on what has to be done each day that you lose sight of why you are doing it in the first place. Review this past week’s schedule and notice what you enjoyed doing and who you enjoyed spending time with. What makes these relationships and activities worth your time and energy? Your answer is noteworthy so write it down! You will always be faced with many choices about how to spend your time and energy and it will be entirely up to you to invest yourself well. Make it a habit to follow-up with the people and activities that make life worth living.

Is Life Too Busy?

"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet." - Franz Kafka.

Do you feel as though you are chasing after the life you want? Perhaps it is time to sit quietly and allow it to catch up with you. Enjoy the magic!

Follow-up is a critical piece of any success strategy…and one that is often put off and avoided. You may feel inspired and excited about beginning a new project but three weeks into it you've suddenly lost interest. Why? One possible reason is that you've lost sight of why this project was important to you in the first place, or perhaps it really isn't that important after all. Choose one project or goal that you are currently investing time and energy into and ask yourself why this is important to you? Make a choice right now to recommit to it or let it go because you really do have a choice even though it may not feel that way. Follow-up on what you know needs to be done and what you can do today, and keep following-up until it is complete. Having a vision or an inspiring idea will give you wings but it's up to you to put those wings into action. Now get moving.

Goals That Inspire

"People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals - that is, goals that do not inspire them." -Tony Robbins

Do you have a goal that inspires you? Do you have a goal that gets you out of bed in the morning? Set a goal that inspires you and it will be so much easier to get into action. It might even seem magical.

Honor Your Contract

Your calendar is your best friend when it comes to staying focused and on track but a calendar is only a reflection of the choices YOU make about how to spend your time. Take sometime to review this past week’s schedule and circle or highlight the events you actually attended. Did you attend every event on your calendar? Did you “blow off” a few events at the last minute because you “ran out of time”? Did you attend events that were not on your calendar? Do you spend 30 minutes on the treadmill each morning? Did you spend two hours at your child’s ballgame this week? Add these to your calendar. Go back and “correct” your calendar so that it reflects what you actually did with your time. Make it a habit to reconcile your calendar each week just like you reconcile your bank statement. Allow your calendar to become a contract you make with yourself each week about how to spend your time and who to spend it with.

Now remember to follow-up, make it a habit and win this season!

Your Life Deserves Your Full Attention

“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.” -Michael Leboeuf

You are stepping into a new season. Set yourself up for success by clarifying what you want out of this season. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want meaningful relationships? Do you want to clean up your finances? Do you want to complete a big project? Season three will end on December 31, 2009. What do you want to be able to celebrate? Figure it out and WRITE IT DOWN.

Welcome to Season Four – The Holiday Season!

Give yourself the Gift of Compass this holiday season!

You are now two days into a three-month season. Are you looking forward to the upcoming season? This is a very special season for many people but can also leave you feeling overwhelmed and burned out, especially if you are unequipped and unprepared to deal with it. Don’t get caught off guard this year. Keep playing the Follow-up Friday Game with me and we will work together to keep you at your best during this busy season. Take time this week to map out your season by getting your calendar out and marking all the events and commitments you must attend to. Here are a few to keep in mind, but by all means this is not a complete list:

October 12 – Columbus Day (USA), Thanksgiving Day (Canada)

October 31 – Halloween

November 1 – All Saints Day, and Daylight saving Time ends so adjust your clocks as necessary!

November 3 – Election Day (USA)

November 11 – Veterans Day (USA), Remembrance Day (Canada)

November 26 – Thanksgiving Day (USA)

November 30 – St. Andrew’s Day (Canada)

December 12 – Chanukah

December 25 – Christmas Day

December 26 – Boxing Day (Canada)

December 31 – New Year’s Eve

It really doesn’t seem like that many, does it? And you don’t even celebrate all of these so choose only the ones that are meaningful to you and be sure they are on your calendar.

Now check last year’s calendar, if you still have it, and look for other yearly traditions. Include your child’s holiday pageant, your church celebrations and office potlucks. What about family traditions? Who is cooking the turkey this year? Find out as soon as possible and get it on your schedule.

Nothing is too small to be included. You are in the process of deciding where you will be investing your time and energy this season. Your time is limited, so start counting every minute.

Once you have a clear picture of where your time and energy will be going this season, think about your personal and professional goals for the season. What needs to happen for this season to be successful for you? What actions will you need to take? What conversations must you have? What and who will you have to say no to in order to get the results you really want? These questions will help you tease out your goals for the season. Write down 2-3 personal and professional goals and be sure they are SMART.

You’ve just had a crash course in planning your season, and with a little planning you will be prepared and equipped to enjoy this special time with family and friends.

Give yourself the Gift of Compass this holiday season! Visit www.discoveryourcompass.com for more details. Request additional information by e-mailing me at vicki@sweetvictories.com.

Let’s win this season together!