Clear the Clutter

In elementary school, I had a teacher who loved to proclaim, “A messy desk, is a messy mind.”  At the time, I had no idea what she meant, other than my desk was a mess.

As it turns out, my teacher was right (grrrrr…).  A messy home, car, or desk is often a reflection of what is going on in our mind.  If we have a closet stuffed full of old, worn out clothes we never wear, it is a good bet that we are carrying around some old, worn out beliefs that are blocking our ability to manifest our desires.  After all, how can you expect to get the job of your dreams if your head is cluttered with old thoughts and feelings about how you have failed in the past, you aren’t smart enough, or you that you don’t have enough education.

If our refrigerator is littered with 1/2 filled bottles of ketchup, moldy vegetables, and dried juice puddles, it can give us an indication of what we feel we deserve in our life.  We feel we don’t deserve to have fresh, new things to nourish our life so we hold on to little bits and pieces of garbage and debris just in case we need them.

As long as we are hoarding and hanging on to the old, how can we have room for the new things we desire?

So, over the next 5 days, I encourage you to clear out the old from your life to make way for the new wonderful dreams you are trying to create.

I did this a few weeks ago and I find that my mind is clearer,  I am more grateful for the things I have, and I feel like I have room to move and grow.

Here is the schedule I used:

Day 1 – Clean out your closet – We all have those t-shirts, jeans, and socks we keep around “just in case”.  For Day 1, get rid of 5-10 things from your closet that you have not worn in 6 months.  Throw away the really old, worn items, then sell or donate the rest.

Day 2 – Clear out your bathroom cabinet – Most of us have several bottles of partially full lotion or shampoo, soap chips, and toothpaste tubes with just a tiny bit of paste inside that we keep hanging around under our sinks or in the medicine cabinet.  Stop hoarding personal care items.  Combine bottles of lotion and shampoo, toss the flat toothpaste tube, and blend those soap chips with some water to make a liquid soap.  What you can’t combine throw away (be mindful of disposing of these items safely as some may be toxic).

Day 3 – Clean out your refrigerator – This can be a tedious and disgusting job, but trust me nothing will give you a feeling of accomplishment like a clean fridge.  Just like with your bath combine ketchup bottles and mustard jars when possible, check expiration dates and get rid of anything that is past its prime, wipe the shelves, and toss old, dried up, moldy food.

Day 4 – Declutter your office – Go through your desk drawers and throw away or shred old papers and receipts, and throw away pens/pencils.  Sort and organized office supplies in colorful containers.  Create a filing system that keeps documents and important papers neat and out-of-the-way.

Day 5 – Clear out your car – Collect and throw away any litter or trash, collect the change from under your seats and donate it, and declutter the center console .  Get you car washed and vacuumed or have it detailed inside and out if you have the funds.

As you clear the clutter from your physical life be aware of the thoughts and emotions that come to the surface.  Acknowledge those thoughts/feelings and express gratitude for the positive ones and do your favorite clearing technique to release the negative ones.  You may even want to keep a journal of how things change in your mind and in your life as you go through the process.

If you need help decluttering your mind, I am available to help one-on-one.  Send me a message at achievewellness@ymail.com to schedule your session.

Also, feel free to share with other readers your experience with this decluttering process in the comment section!

Have FUN and Good Luck!!!

A Brilliant Tip to Stop Procrastination

I just ran across this blog post from Salvatore Marotta about how to stop procrastinating and get things done.  I absolutely love the Post It note tip!  You have to check it out, it is brilliant.  Although, it has caused me to sleep on the couch a few nights (read the article to see why, lol).

How to Stop Procrastinating and Get Things Done

Are You Here?

What are you thinking about right now?

Are you worrying about your finances, your health, your relationships or what you see and read in the news?

Are you thinking about something that happened earlier today, or yesterday, or a year ago?

OR

Are you present in this moment; peaceful, calm, and focused on what you are reading?

Worrying about what is to come creates fear and anxiety which can prevent us from taking the actions we need to ensure success on our quest to reach our goals.  We focus on the “what if’s”, visualize disastrous outcomes, and take the safest course to prevent failure.  It allows our ego to control us and our limiting beliefs to keep us stuck in our comfort zones.  While our lives may not become worse they rarely get better and we are left feeling frustrated, stressed, and unfulfilled.

Thinking about the past also blocks our ability to move toward our goals.  Looking back often allows us to play the “victim” blaming others for our current situation.  Our inability to claim responsibility for our own circumstances prevents us from making changes within ourselves that are necessary to progress in our movement toward our desire.  Looking to the past can also encourage feelings of guilt, anger, and resentment.  When we focus on these negative emotions we not only create for ourselves more events to increase those emotions but we limit our ability to experience positive emotions such as gratitude, love and joy.

However, when we are present in the moment we can fully appreciate and learn from every experience we have, good or bad.  Being present in the moment clears our mind of distractions and allows us to focus on what is right in front of us whether it is a talking to family member, creating a work presentation, or driving to the market.  This focus makes us better communicators, improves creativity, reduces our stress levels, and give us the freedom to be happy right NOW.

In the present moment there is no limit to the success we can achieve because negative beliefs from our past no longer exist and the worries about our future have not yet formed.  With our mind free of fear, worry, stress, guilt, and anger we are left with only gratitude and happiness for who, what, and where we are in this moment.  It is in this state of joy and thankfulness we can use our inner knowing to manifest the next present moment, and the next present moment, and the next present moment until  we have achieved all our goals with ease and joy.

Need some help learning how to be present?  Check back next week for 4 tips you can use to be more present.  Can’t wait until next week?  Use the contact form below to set up your 1-on-1 session with me!

Until next week, Have A Happy Healthy Day!

 

Name(required)

Email(required)

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

What’s My Motivation

For the last several weeks I have been encouraging you to create a list of things you would like to achieve in the next two years in the areas of: finances, contributions, career/professional, relationships, personal, fun/recreation, and health/fitness.  Click here for a reminder.

Now that you have made your list of achievements and spent some time reviewing and getting to know them, it is time to take your work a bit farther. It is time to figure out what your motivation is for your goals.

So many times I have clients come to me with a particular goal they want to reach.  Yet time and again they resist my efforts to help them reach that goal.  For example,  I frequently ask clients to do some “homework” before their next session.  More often than not when I ask if they did the assignment they will answer, “No.”

Often we set a goal because it sounds good and we want it, but we lack the motivation to achieve it.  We aren’t “invested” in the goal.  Sure, we want to lose that last 10lbs but….

• “I don’t want to give up alcohol”
• “I don’t have time to exercise regularly”
• “I have all these social obligations”
• “I have a slow metabolism”
• And the excuses go on and on…

Now, give that scenario a little motivational kick like a poor annual health exam, a wedding, school reunion, or not being able to play with the kids and all of a sudden those excuses vanish.  Why? Because when we are truly inspired to achieve our goal it gets done!

The question is how motivated are you to accomplish all of the achievements you wrote down for yourself?

I suggest you spend some time with each one of the tasks on your list and write down what your motivation is to achieve it.  Don’t do all your goals at once, try one per day or every few days, but put genuine thought and effort into each one.

To help you along I have listed some of my motivations below:

Career/Professional

• I will have >1000 followers to my health and wellness blog by 11/1/16                                                                   

                Motivation:  I love sharing the information that has shaped my life over the years and hope that by sharing these experiences I can help people on their own path of learning and growing.  The more followers I have the more chances I have to help someone AND to learn from their life lessons.

Fun/Recreation

• I will take 4, 3-4 day vacations in 2016

Motivation: I tend to be a workaholic.  For me clients often come before my own personal time.  In the past, I have been guilty of skipping opportunities to rest and relax because a client wanted a workout or massage.  As a result, I start to feel burned out and confined by my job.  Taking a few long weekends for myself through the year allows me time to recharge and take care of my needs as well as be a better trainer for my clients.

Health and Fitness 

• I will improve my flexibility by spending at least 15 minutes every day stretching or doing yoga

               Motivation: As a personal trainer I know the importance of maintaining or improving my flexibility to prevent injuries and pain down the road.  I also know that I cannot expect my clients to work on their flexibility if I will not do it myself.  So, my motivation is to not only ensure my future health but to be authentic with my clients.

A few of my other planned achievements like taking ballroom dance lessons or learning to paint do not have any strong motivations other than I enjoyed dancing and painting as a child and I think it would be fun to reintroduce those activities into my life.  I still intend to achieve these goals but I am not committing much time and effort to them and that is ok.  Not every goal has to have a powerful motivation, although I might argue that having fun is powerful enough!

After reviewing my own list of planned achievements, I discovered that I really did not feel powerfully motivated to reach some of them or that my “motivation” was fueled by what other people wanted for me.  I did not totally cross those off of my list but the realization did make me rearrange them in my order of priorities.  Suddenly, my goal of taking my brother’s ashes to Germany didn’t seem as high a priority as buying a new home.

The point is, knowing what motivates or doesn’t motivate you to achieve a dream can help put your ambitions into perspective and help you decide what to focus on, what to put on a back burner, and what to get rid of all together.

 

Need help uncovering the motivation behind some of the things you plan to achieve this year?  I would love to help!  Use the form below to contact me to arrange a 1-on-1 session!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

 

 

Life is More Fun When You’re Happy!

 

We all know what life is like when we are happy.  Everything just seems to go right.  You get all the green lights, friends and family offer help and support, you get a promotion at work, the sunshines every day, and the birds are always singing.  You feel light, energetic, positive, and motivated to succeed!  Happy days are great days to be alive!

Then there are those days when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or someone rains on your parade.  On those days you feel irritated, overwhelmed, tired, and everything you do feels like a struggle.  These are the days you wish you had just stayed in bed with you head hidden under the covers.  We all have those days.  Some of us have them more than others.  

But, what if you could nip those icky feeling days in the bud and turn them into a day of wine and roses? 

The good news is you can!  With a little forethought and planning you can create a strategy to turn a not so pleasant day into a happy one in no time.  Make a list of things you enjoy and make you happy.  Perhaps you like to exercise, listen to music, cook, or watch funny movies.  Now, turn that list into some actions you can take to turn your day around.  

For example:

• If listening to music makes you happy create a “Happy Day” playlist for your iPod or phone.  This is my fav!!!
• If you like to exercise, have a short at home/work routine or walk planned out in advance for those “rainy” mood days.
• Find some funny youtube videos and put them on your “watch later” list so you can find them quickly then you will have them at your fingertips when a bad day comes your way.
• Create a slideshow of happy memories for your computer.
• Have a fun to read book on your tablet or reader add read a few pages.

Whatever makes you feel happy, joyful, uplifted and energetic have it close by to use when you need it to change your mood and your day.

You don’t need to trudge through a bad day hoping tomorrow will be better.  Having a “Great Day” action plan in place can insure that everyday is a “HAPPY DAY!!!!”

 

Keep up on Health and Fitness Topics

Looking for heath and fitness tips, articles and updates?

Look no further. 

Signup for my heath and fitness newsletter.  It’s FREE and includes a download of my report “10 Foods to Help Reduce Stress.”

Click here to subscribe

October Monthly Wellwork

Welcome to October!

This month, I have a question for you:

Do you love yourself?

I am not talking about narcissism or vanity but rather a healthy respect for yourself.  Do you love yourself enough to take care of your needs physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Do you expect and require people around you to respect and support you.  Are you respectful and supportive yourself.

Many of us, especially those with families, will put the needs, feelings, and opinions of others ahead of our own.  We will sacrifice ourselves to keep others happy or to avoid conflict.  But, in doing so we also sacrifice our self-esteem, self-worth and our individual identity.  We become unhappy, depressed or even angry and resentful because we are not our true self.  We don’t love who we are because we are not who we really are.

This month keep a journal of things you love about yourself.  Write in it every day if you can.  If not, do it at least 4 days a week.  It doesn’t have to be a long list just 2 or 3 things (more if you like, that’s even better).  Try to think of different things each day, get creative!  Maybe you love your eyes, your smooth skin, perhaps you love your strong work ethic or your dedication to your family.  Try things like: 

I love that I am a great cook.

I love myself because I exercise 5 days a week.

I love my creativity.

I love myself because I take time to meditate every day.

I love my positive “can do” attitude.

As you go through the month take notice of how the people around you start to treat you.  As we become more loving toward ourselves the people around us become more loving toward us.

This exercise is so powerful and so much fun and it only takes a few minutes a day to create big changes in your life so embrace it, enjoy it and as always have a happy healthy day!

If you enjoyed this post, click here to sign up for my newsletter!

From Loser to Winner in Minutes

Have you ever had one of those days where you just thought to yourself, “Ugh, why bother?”  You know those days, the ones where you feel like everything you do is doomed to fail miserably.  Where do they come from? Who knows.  Why do we get them?  No clue.

For most of us those moments of gloom don’t last very long, usually a day perhaps two.  But if left unchecked they can snowball into a serious case of depression.

Whether your suffering from a momentary lapse of reason or a more serious case of the “I’m a losers'” I have a quick tip  that can help you shift your mood and get back on track in no time:

Ask yourself, “What am I proud of?”  Make a list of all of the things you can think of you are proud of such as your work ethic, the business you started, your child getting an “A’ in English, your home, the landscaping you did on your yard over the weekend, going to the gym when you’d rather watch TV, your compassion, etc.  Next, ask yourself, “What else?”  I guarantee you will think of something else you are proud of.  Keep asking, “What else?” until you are absolutely out of things to brag about.  And that is what you are doing!  You are bragging about your accomplishments.

Your Ego is being a bully and telling you you are no good so stand up to that bully and let him/her have it!  Tell it every reason why you are a great amazing success!

Try it, modify it to fit your needs and let me know how it works for you.

And as always have a Happy Healthy Day!!!!!