Are you playing the "if...but and if.... when " game in your life?
We love this video clip. Take 16 minutes to re-evaluate whether
your blood is tingling with excitement today.
Watch this 16 minute video clip by clicking here
Enjoy
We heard a little story the other day about two business women who were looking to take on bigger premises together and at the negotiation stage with their prospective landlord. They are already successful and confident business women and still, the idea of playing hard ball on the rent and lease agreement with one of the city's most notorious property tough guys did not fill them with glee. Years of experience in corporate life had taught them the rules of negotiation - don't show your hand too soon, go in low, be prepared to walk etc etc. So they were ready for the fight.
We love David,
In fact we love anyone who rises to a challenge and particularly one around expressing love. As we know, it's hard to love others unless we first love ourselves. We suggested a few exercises in our last blogpost and David produced this wonderful expression of the courage to love life and yourself..
Roses are red, violets are blue
I love myself for all that I do
I care, and I risk, and I dream and I trust
I know that its go on and live, or go on and bust!
Thanks for the inspiration! David W
Happy Valentines!
Ah, Valentine’s Day approaches! It seems the world is divided into two camps. Those who adore the whole red rose and champers shebang, and those who see it as going through the motions of love (as opposed to experiencing love’s true emotions). We’re not going to come down on one side or other, except to say that ANY opportunity to love and be loved is worth celebrating. So whether you are partnered up this Valentine’s, or fabulously single, you might want to think about your own love rituals. Here are three to be starting with…
So whatever mood Valentine’s Day puts you in, this year we wish you self love unlimited.
One half of the founding team of Living Right Now is on her jollies and spent yesterday travelling up north to the highlands and islands. Just beyond
And it was a delight. Complete with two real live llamas in the back garden and an assortment of bizarre souvenirs including a llama glove puppet. (Which is now packed away in the suitcase waiting for just the right moment to bring some llama karma into any meeting that begins to lose its zest!)
And it got us thinking about what makes us stop in our tracks. Things that are quirky, beautiful, intriguing, valuable, different, engaging? All of these and more. At times, life can be shades of grey, days blending together with no particular stand out moment. And then the equivalent of the Llama Karma Kaffe will come along and shake us up a bit, and in a good way.
It applies to people too. Some people stop you in your tracks as their uniqueness shines out. Is that you? Do you glory in your special qualities and take every opportunity to display them to the world? Many women we work with fear that a little. What if “they” don’t like the real me? Maybe I am safer behind this mask that gets me comfortably through the day? Am I really confident enough to have the kind of impact that stops people in their tracks?
You know, fear of success can be even more debilitating than fear of failure. When all eyes are on you, it can feel like there is no hiding place. The good news? You don’t have to be anything other than exactly who you are. That’s quite good enough. With all your flaws and challenges you are perfectly able to stop people in their tracks with your unique brilliance. And know that the masks you might choose to adopt often simply dumb it down for you and others.
There are some great activities in our book Frazzled to Fizzingto help you get in touch with your brilliance. So take a tip from a roadside llama – be proud, be you and watch the crowds gather in admiration.
We love this image of two very beautiful women. What is their story do you think? There could well be a blood tie here or it or may be a close friendship. Whatever their connection, the beauty we see comes as much from the love they so clearly share as it does from any physical aspect.
How will you embrace your own beauty today?
This month's Psychologies magazine has a great article on life roles based on recent happiness research by bestselling author Marcus Buckingham. Buckingham's research is pretty dear to the hearts of us living right now gals - he interviewed women who were happy, fulfilled and motivated by their jobs and lives to see what roles they preferred to play, and how well they matched them to what they actually chose to do.
Just another spin on character traits maybe, but what we like about the idea of strong life roles is the questions that go with them. If you are a Creator, for example, the question you most ask yourself (in one form or another) is What do I understand? A Caretaker asks Is everyone Ok? and a Weaver poses the question Who can I connect with? It's been said that the quality of your life is determined largely by the quality of the questions you ask of yourself and of others, so we love a test that helps us get to the root of the ones that fit our preferred roles. It's another great way forward in the search for the components of a balanced life.
You can take the life role test for free at Strong Life Test
And if that inspires you to think more about the roles you play - willingly or unwillingly! - then our book is perfect to help you gain clarity on who you are, what you want and how to navigate your way from Frazzled to Fizzing. It's available at a big discount too so get your copy whilst stocks last!
Everywhere you look this month, the front pages of magazines and newspapers are screaming with headlines aimed at women:
- New Year, New You - lose 2 stone on our amazing diet!
- Start 2010 8lbs lighter with our new eat-all-you-like plan!
- Lose weight in 2010 without giving up carbs!
It's enough to drive a woman to the nearest Hotel Chocolat in protest!
We're all for having a 'new you' in 2010, but does it really have to involve a diet?!!
OK, we'll grant you that if you're overweight, then losing a few pounds is probably a good thing - but does that mean that you can only have a 'new you' if you need to lose weight?
Of course not! There are lots of ways to reinvent yourself in 2010, and here are just a few:
Well, here we are in a new year. What will it bring you? What will it take from you? What will you love and what will you want to leave behind at the end of the first year of this particular decade? Instead of encouraging you to make resolutions at the beginning of this year, we encourage you to think about making them throughout the year- a series of little commitments if you like. These commitments being to look after YOU. We want you to really reflect on what YOU want from and for your ; health, wealth, career, relationships and your spiritual development this year. Our commitment to you is that we will continue to provide as many professional women as possible with tools and tips to create the life you love, to support you in achieving work-life balance. A lifestyle you create that provides freedom and happiness.
We said a great deal in 2009 to encourage you to accept personal responsibility for you in making choices. So, our aim at the beginning of this year is to remind you of some of those key living right now messages that we gave you during the last 12 months......
If you are wishing and wanting this is just wishy washy thinking . To be, gather, have or become something , you need to do more than wish to make things happen. We challenge you to think about why you want something and consider how you are going to get/achieve it.What's your plan? Who is on your support team? What will help you to get there?
If you find yourself unable to go for success, we have encouraged you to consider whether you are frightened of success . If you are, consider that we have approximately 60,000 thoughts a day. Around 90% of the thoughts you have today will be the same as those you had yesterday. So that's a potential 54.000 thoughts that could continually keep you fearful! So, learn to change them.
We have been coaching for so long now that we know that many of you will want to get serious about creating more work-life balance this year and that this will be uppermost in the thoughts of many of you during January. What this lifestyle of balance means, will be different for each one of you. It can start with taking just 5-15 minutes a day to think about and focus on you and your wants.You value yourself enough to give yourself the gift of a little time each day don't you?
So where are the solutions to these dilemmas? Well, in truth, they're all around you. In books, journals, Cd's, programmes, holidays, meditations etc. There are loads of resources available to you. We are rather partial to our own resources. We have spent so many years reading, researching, coaching, training, writing and just listening, that we know what works. We know that you do not need to spend hours and hours reading self development books, Cd's and the like. Nor do you have to spend lots of time attending a range of workshops to develop yourself. If you want to, by all means do.Most people who do this stuff implement a tiny proportion of what they learn.
You are busy, your time is precious and rather than being overwhelmed by the volume of what you might tell yourself you should, ought and must do/read/experience, just commit to one thing- 5-15 minutes a day or even 5 to 15 minutes a week for yourself. Time to reflect on some aspect of life that you choose to focus on and time to complete a short thinking exercise, planning exercise or activity that will enhance you, energise you and even maximise you. Buy our book if you want a book choc full of reflections and exercises , the accompanying journal is for those of you who love to write down your thoughts and notes as you journey through From Frazzled to Fizzing. If you really cannot contemplate a book, buy the 52 card deck - a card for you to select every week. You can find 5-15 minutes a week for you can't you? (Many of our clients now keep these by their computer and start their week by picking one up every monday morning).
So, invest in you in 2010. Whatever you do, make this year the start of the decade of Living Right Now for you.
Our very best wishes to you and yours.
Marie and Jeni xx

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