Tag: Goal setting

Mental Lists

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Remember when you wrote down the first thought you had this morning? Great. Now write a post about it.

Every morning as I rush to turn the annoying noise of my alarm off—my brain turns on its autopilot. It instantly begins reviewing what happened yesterday and deciding on what needs to be done differently next time. Changes noted, my brain begins to make a mental list of today’s tasks. It is usually about this time my focused brain kicks in—broadening out the detail based on the overall days plan. Questions I ask myself:

  • What time do I need to leave the house by? I have a 1 1/2 hour commute  each way to work, so if I have a deadline I have to make sure I leave on time.
  • Am I going anywhere after work that requires me to pack an extra bag in the car as I won’t be coming home.
  • Have I got time to write, post and visit on my blog before leaving for work? Most days I make it happen.

Practical plans met, I go on to make my mental list for the day. What are my top to goals for today that if I do nothing else must get done? At least one usually pops straight to mind. I then consider the remaining things I am hoping to complete today and decide their order of priority. I am looking for my top 5 things to do each day. These will be my focus.

  • Two must be done—bigger or more important tasks first
  • Three hope to be done—simpler tasks

By limiting my tasks I focus on each day and not attempting to everything, I find I get more done. Sometimes I will  write down my mental list to give it more clarity and focus. My earlier post Hand Brain Connection will give you more information on this. Today I am off to a good start as I have completed one of my three simpler tasks—writing this blog post and visiting several sites in my blogging community—all before leaving for work.

Yes. Thanks to my mental lists it will be a great day. Hope you enjoy yours.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/first-light/

Proud Of Me

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When was the last time someone told you they were proud of you?

I think this prompt needs to be turned on its head. Instead of saying “when was the last time someone told you they were proud of you,” it should say “when was the last time you told yourself, you were proud of you.”

Our self-esteem depends on our opinion of ourselves. If we are regularly criticising our efforts instead of finding ways to encourage growth—we are going to go backwards. It is okay to be proud of even small changes—it is not about who has the proudest moment—it is about acknowledging our own worth, not waiting for external validation.

For me, the last time I told myself I was proud of me and that I had done a good job was last week when I printed off the latest version of my Inspiring Hope manuscript. I hadn’t seen the changes I had made in the last six months and it looks more like a real book everyday. It looks good. I am proud of it and all that I have learnt on my journey of writing it.

Take some time and consider when was the last time you told yourself you were proud of you. If it has been a while—what are you proud of recently? Beginning this month, join me and give yourself a pat on the back regularly. This will help motivate us to take on more challenges and grow into the person we dream of being.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/proud/

My Interesting Week

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Tell us how your week went by putting together a playlist of  five songs that represent it.

I was excited to see the topic of today’s Daily Prompt. This week for me has been varied and interesting which is unusual. My week began on Monday with Australia Day, which I celebrated with my blog post Celebrating Australia Day—an A-Z of interesting Australian information. The song I selected to represent this is “I am Australian” by The Seekers.

On Wednesday evening I participated in my Toastmaster club’s International Speech competition coming third. It as a fun night to end a particularly busy day at work. As there are no songs on speaking competitions so I choose a new song dedicated to Toastmasters International to represent this part of my week.

Friday evening saw me joining colleagues for farewell drinks with one of my staff leaving to work overseas for a few years. It is an exciting time and many memories were discussed.

On Saturday morning my husband and I attended a travel expo and began planning a trip for our 25th wedding anniversary later in the year. We haven’t made any decisions yet. However, I think a tropical holiday is in order and “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys represents that well. Unfortunately, Jamaica is a little for  us to travel for a week so won’t be the destination.

Today my husband finished putting up glass shelves above my desk. They are to  house my expanding Mickey Mouse collection in one place. We have planned this for about the last 5 years, so it is exciting. Now I just need to find everything and arrange them in a display.

This week also saw the completion of two other tasks we had planned since last year. On the public holiday Monday I did a Spring clean of all my kitchen pantry cupboards. I found things I didn’t know I had as well as made a lot of space by throwing out many bags of expired or no longer required food and containers.

Over the last two weeks we have had an opening and closing pergola build over our courtyard. On Friday after a week of rain the electrician was able to come and complete it. We are very happy with the result and look forward to using it now as an outdoor indoor living space.

In Australia we are now into February. I can’t believe how quickly this year is moving. January was a very unusual month. It was filled with many different things and many goals were completed—the question is will it continue from this week and month into this year. I hope so.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/playlist-of-the-week/

Create Yourself

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Creating yourself

 

It is now more than half way through the first month of 2015. How are your New Years resolutions or goals going? One way to help them happen is to take control and create a plan.

The more one understands and is guided by the above George Bernard Shaw quote, the easier success will be. Let’s look at difference between the two key words—find and create.

According to dictionary.com Find means

  • to come upon by chance
  • to locate or recover
  • to discover or perceive after consideration

Create however means

  • to cause to come into being
  • to cause to happen to evolve from one’s thought or imagination as in a work of art or invention

The way I see it, using the word create infers that you are empowered, taking control and ensuring your New Year’s resolution or goal happens. The word find has a more hit and miss feel. While the result may be the same, I believe the more direction one puts into achieving goals—the greater the chance of success.

For me—I plan 2015 to be the year I complete my dream of becoming a published author. To achieve this goal I decided to follow George Bernard Shaw’s advice. I created opportunities to write. I also created opportunities:

  • to find my voice
  • to learn my craft
  • to connect with others writers
  • to receive feedback
  • to understand the process

It is both exciting and scary to see the creation of my dream come together. Are your currently finding or creating yourself? How is it working for you? If it’s not working for you, change the steps you are taking and make your dream happen.

Hand Brain Connection

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When was the last time you wrote something substantive — a letter, a story, a journal entry, etc. — by hand? Could you ever imagine returning to a pre-keyboard era?

I hand write my first draft of just about everything. I find it helps my flow and connects better with my thinking. When I was editing my book, I would rewrite sections from scratch to help my clarity. From this exercise, I discovered I would often write the same information twice—without realising it. I would use the same words, in the same order and in the same place in the paragraph.  This confirmed to me they were correct. I have attempted this same exercise typing it instead of writing the second time and I get stuck. I  didn’t know what I want to say. For me there definitely is a hand brain connect.

As a Toastmaster, I hand write my speeches—both initially and as a way to learn them. Once again this helps with my flow, but I think in this case it also helps me—write like I speak. Once I am happy with my hand written first draft, I type my speech and make any necessary changes.  After I have my completed my speech, I learn it by writing it out by hand several times. It works for me. This process helps me to remember the main points in the correct order.

Today I learnt why this is so. In our brain is a collection of cells called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). They act as a link between our sub conscious and conscious mind. The RAS’s job is to filter all the information the world has to give us on a second by second basis, only drawing our attention to what we want to focus on. By writing things down we trigger the RAS into action. It begins to focus on the topic we are writing about. This definitely helps to explain why for me hand writing before I type gets the job done much quicker than staring at the computer screen.

Personally, I would never want to go back to a pre-keyboard era. Today with the keyboard comes many new options like the internet and self-publishing. But I am not voting hand writing off the island any time soon either. Variety is the spice of life—I’m using both to get the best result.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/pens-and-pencils/

Using My Brain

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Let’s assume we do, in fact, use only 10% of our brain. If you could unlock the remaining 90%, what would you do with it?

I am unsure I could cope with using 100% of my brain, although I do believe I use more than 10%. I have images of it constantly going and not giving me time to catch up. My brain sometimes seems full now, so how would using more of it change my life. Irrespective, I am up for the challenge and would like to further develop skills using the left and right sides of my brain as they are responsible for different things.

Left Side Brain Right Side Brain
Analytical Believes
Classic Music Big Picture
Control Can Be Absentminded
Critical Thinking Cat Lovers
Details Oriented Colour
Dog Lovers Creative Storyteller
Facts Creativity
Language Dreamer
Logic Emotions
Mathematics Fantasy & Mystery
Order Good at Arts
Organised Good at Sports
Past & Present Images
Patterns Imagination
Perception Intuition
Practical Listen to Music /TV While Studying
Prefers Verbal Instructions Passion
Rarely Absentminded Prefers Visual Instructions
Rational Present & Future
Reason Recognises Faces
Safe Risk Taking
Science Rock Music
Study In Silence Spatial Awareness
Structure Spontaneous & Unpredictable
Write Non-Fiction Thinks Better Lying Down
Write Fiction

 

Going through these lists, makes me realise I do use both sides of my brain. I am mostly a right brain person however, I use more of my left than I first thought. My goal is to develop my current skills further and see where they takes me. Afterall,

“Who knows, but you have to be in it to win it.”

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/brain-power/

Information Overload

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“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” — Gertrude Stein
Do you agree?

From my experience never a truer statement has been said. I am pretty good at processing information and controlling my chaos however, occasionally it takes over. During these times it is usually obvious to everyone by the mess around me. My desk reflects the state of my brain. And suddenly, I don’t make sense. I say and do stupid things. My natural calm disposition has melted away along with my common sense—I don’t think I am alone here either.

So, what do I do?

When I am suffering from information overload, I recognise it quickly. I don’t feel in control. I take myself to a quiet place—even the toilet ill do, stand tall and make big circles with my hands. This centres me and works well. I attribute it to the science behind Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk—Your body language shapes who you are. I love that fact that our mind gives us ways to control information overload—if we let it. Next time you find yourself suffering from information overload —give it a try.

2012-06-24 07.34.33

https://www.inspiringmax.com/change-your-body-position-change-your-life/

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/overload-alert/

Life Plan

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Take the first sentence from your favorite book and make it the first sentence of your post.

“What are you supposed to be doing with your life?”

And the answer is?

It’s your choice. Nobody can tell us what we should be doing with our life. I also believe that the goal posts are constantly changes—there is no right or wrong answer.

Decide what you want and make a plan for your life. Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle—a blank canvas that slowly and with consideration comes together.

Start by focusing on one or two areas. Every positive change makes a difference. Over time you can look back on your journey and notice how far you have come.  At times, you may choose the wrong pieces to go together. Don’t beat yourself up. Take out the wrong piece, make another choice and keep going. Every choice empowers you.

Completing a jigsaw puzzle, like planning your life can be frustrating. There is no quick fix and even the simple ones take time. The more complicated the puzzle or life plan, the more time it takes. Your options when completing your puzzle are:

 

  • The more you focus on the job, the quicker it comes together.

 

  • There is a greater chance of someone or something messing up your work when you are not focusing on it.

 

  • If you leave it and get distracted, nothing changes.

 

  • It is important to remember that the more people who help you complete your puzzle or support your journey—the quicker and with less frustration, it is completed.

 

images

Photo Credit: Google Images

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/call-me-ishmael/

F.I.R.S.T.

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Tell us about your first day at something — your first day of school, first day of work, first day living on your own, first day blogging, first day as a parent, whatever.

There is always a first time to do something. The problem is, often none of these are as simple as they seem. Starting a new job, having a baby or beginning blogging,  they all need a strategy.

To help us with this mission, I have made an acronym of FIRST.

F:  Fear

I: Inspiration

R: Resolve

S: Stategy

T: Test

All new things have a fear attached to them. Use this fear to develop inspiration as to why you want to overcome this fear. Then resolve to make a strategy to ensure your success and finally test it out.

Don’t let fear get the better of you. Make a plan to overcome it and make lots of firsts. They keep your life exciting.

Never

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/first/

My Timely Gift.

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You wake up one morning to find a beautifully wrapped package next to your bed. Attached to it is a note: “Open me, if you dare.” What’s inside the mystery box? Do you open it?

purple-gift-box1

Today is Christmas day. However, as I am travelling I wasn’t expecting Santa to drop by. Then suddenly I noticed a beautifully wrapped gift at the end of my bed this morning.

Imagine my surprise. Being a positive, glass half full type of girl, of course, I was going to open it. I believe everything happens for a reason. But, what could be in my gift? I had no idea. So, I decided I would put myself out of my misery and just open it.

Or so I thought.

The problem. It was very well wrapped. Each layer was individually wrapped with instructions or a quote like in pass the parcel (the children’s game).

The first layer said “Always remember. You can do it”.

Yes. This is something I am working on.

The second layer said “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”.

I was suddenly beginning to understand. Often, I didn’t know how I could get through  a situation.  But when I had no choice, I always came through with flying colours, by following my gut instinct.

The third layer and the toughest to get to said, “Change your attitude. Think of difficult situations as opportunities to take up a challenge, not obligations to be met”

Now I was excited. With these reminders my self-belief will improve greatly. Giving me more potential to make my dream of becoming a published author in 2015, a reality.

What a timely gift. I am glad I dared to open it.

Thanks. I am grateful.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/mystery-box/