A Word of Advice

A Word of Advice
By Marsha Reid

I want to tell you
to go ahead and reach out
for what you want.

I want to tell you
to go ahead and try;
try to make the things happen
that you want to happen.

Along the way
there may be some pain,
disappointment and doubt,
but if you never try,
you’ll never know
what might have been,
and you’ll always wonder
“what if” and “if only…”

Even though you
might be scared,
you’ll have reason to be
proud of yourself
and glad that you dared

to reach out
for the dreams
that only you
can make come true.

The above poem signifies the reason and courage we all need to get started today on our new healthy lifestyle journey. All it takes is one little step to get started. One small step you can take today is compliment yourself at least once a day.

After reading this poem and maybe taking the small step of complimenting yourself, please let me know what feelings and ideas formed. I am looking forward to hearing from you. You can reach me by leaving a comment on the blog or sending an email to helen@loveyourselfcoaching.net.

Tips from Oscar, the Black Squirrel

As I sit in my office, watching the birds and black squirrel eat from the birdfeeders; it reminds me of how I use to eat compulsively. It is amazing how after eight years of eating healthy and using quantity control it still bothers me watching others eat. I can never forget the fact my disease is doing push-ups in a corner and waiting for the right moment to act out with a vengeance.

I was thinking about this situation and realized I could continue being obsessed with the fact that watching the birds made me feel uncomfortable or look at the situation in a different way. I could watch the birds and appreciate their beautiful colors and acknowledge how lucky I am to have so many different types of birds in my backyard.

As far as the squirrel, named Oscar, watching him gave me motivation and confidence to pursue my dreams. Oscar is very persistent and never gives up until he manages to eat from every birdfeeder until they are empty. He appears early in the morning and gorges himself until he is full. Then he runs around, chasing the birds and disappears until evening. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed with life I think of Oscar, how nothing stops him from finding food and always plays after he eats. I have been working hard this week inputting information into a database and at the end of the day felt exhausted. I got into bed one night and thought there had to be an easier way. I started thinking about Oscar and how persistent he was and always took time to have fun. Made a decision, I would be like Oscar, to continue pursing my dream and also take a mini-vacation every day at 3:00pm.

A mini-vacation is taking at least 10 minutes for myself to do whatever made me happy. By taking the time for myself eliminates stress and is a great motivator. Everyday at 3:00pm for at least 10 minutes I either took a walk, read a book or called a friend. It is amazing how much better I felt and had renewed energy.

What mini-vacation for at least 10 minutes would you like to take everyday? Please let me know.

GETTING OLDER

‘It was a golden year beyond my dreams.
I proved you’re never too old to achieve
what you really want to do.’
Heather Turland
(Australian Women’s Marathon gold medalist)

I took time off last week to celebrate my birthday and spend time with family and friends.

For the last 10 years the week before and the day of my birthday were very difficult for me. Each year I kept thinking, I was a year older and what was I really accomplishing with my life. After getting through the day of my birthday, I felt better ans started thinking this was a new year and I would be accomplishing great things.

After a few days of feeling sorry for myself, I made a decision, this year would be different and I would enjoy my birthday. I started making a list of all my accomplishments and was pleasantly surprised to see how I was achieving my goals. Doing this simple little activity, changed my outlook and this year I had a beautiful birthday week.

Some of my achievements:
· Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy and exercising.
· Having loving and supportive relationships with my family members and friends.
· Being a loving and supportive wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
· Willing to take a risk and learn from the experience.
· Managing a successful coaching business.
· Blogging and loving it.

What are some of your achievements, I would love to hear about them.

ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS

In my office the desk and computer are in front of two windows. Last summer my husband gave me a beautiful gift by hanging birdfeeders in the trees directly in front of the windows. Now as I am working on the computer I watch the birds and squirrels eat from the feeders.

Each morning around 7:00am there are one gray and two black squirrels trying to eat from the birdfeeders. We have put up special feeders for squirrels and after they have devoured all the food they start on the birdfeeders. Even though some of the feeders are squirrel proof this does not stop them from trying different ways of getting at the food. It is amazing watching them not give up and keep trying. One morning I watched one black squirrel almost fall into a birdbath before running away and then within a few minutes he was back.

While watching the squirrels I keep thinking we are no different when it comes to getting what we want. Sometimes nothing will stop us from reaching a desired outcome and we will do whatever it takes to reach that goal. Other times in order not to reach a goal we will self-sabotage ourselves.

When working with my clients in reaching their goals, together we implement the following coaching process:
• Deciding what do you really want?
• Exploring what is stopping you from reaching your goal?
• Creating an action plan taking into consideration your goals and the tools for overcoming your self-sabotage behavior.
• Taking the action steps that will make your goal a reality.

Opportunity
• Make a list of a very small goal you would like to achieve within a month.

I would love to know your small goal. When I receive your goal I will send you a Daily Action Plan you can use to achieve your goals.