Doing what you HATE -- it can actually be FUN

There is something very freeing about making yourself do things you hate. Sound contradictory? I guess it is. But think about your own mental to-do lists: how many things do you have floating around in your mind right now that you should get around to, but don't want to take care of yet?

Maybe they aren't priorities. Perhaps you've put these things off for the last year, because it didn't really affect anything either way. But what it did effect, was your peace of mind. Because it takes energy to have these things floating around in your brain. That's a cost to you.

Think about how often these to-do items pop into your mind -- each time they do, they steal thought energy from other places. You have less room to be creative, to be objective, to adequately deal with your day-t0-day life, the more "clutter" you have in your mind.

When your mind is cluttered with things you haven't gotten around to, your brain doesn't stop working. It's similar to hitting snooze on an alarm. That annoying buzzing will keep coming on until you get up and turn it off. Same with your cluttered thoughts. Those forgotten to-do items will keep popping up into your mind until you do them.

Of course, trying to tackle everything on your list from the past year will also be stressful. So it's best to create a plan.
First, make a long, long list of all of those forgotten items that annoy you -- maybe you haven't been to the dentist in two years? Or have needed to buy stamps for a month, but the line is always too long. Perhaps there is a letter you haven't sent, something you really need to research on google, or a phone call you've been avoiding. Put everything down on this list and make it as long as possible. Challenge yourself to make the list as long as possible.

Next, break each task down into ridiculously easy steps. For example: getting a part-time job sounds hard. So break it down into simple steps: spell check resume (that takes what, a minute? Easy). Type monster.com into browser (duh, a child could do that), type "librarian" into the box (simple!), bookmark all matches (takes a second), write 3 paragraph standard cover letter (might take 20 minutes), change form letter t fit each job (editing maybe five words at the most), email letter and resume to each job (fast).

Now assign a priority to each easy task. Don't stress about this too much -- you'll know pretty quickly what really needs to get done. Keep it simple with a 1, 2, 3 rating, or the categories of ASAP, soon, and much later.

Then place each task onto a calendar -- try to schedule everything within the next 30 days! Schedule high-priority items sooner.

Now, instead of your brain popping up mental snooze alarm reminders for "difficult" tasks, distracting you, annoying you and stealing your brain power that you need for creativity and other tasks -- you can instead relax! Just follow your plan and it will tell you exactly what you need to do each day! You can take comfort in the fact that each step is so easy, it will only take you 5-10 minutes.

The benefit to having everything scheduled is you save quite a bit of time. You don't have to remember to do anything and you don't have to decide what to do each day, or stress about how to break a big, difficult action like "applying for jobs" down -- it's already broken down and scheduled for you!

The peace of mind you get from this is amazing, plus the productivity without the usual stress or needed caffeine. Give it a try, even with just a few tasks that have been bugging you. The difference is bigger than the time it takes to kill those little tasks.

http://www.yourdreamslifecoach.com

Want to find the best life coach for you and your goals? Need a new life? Career or personal dreams? Find out more about Life Coaching. I'm a NYC Certified Life Coach serving professional, ambitious clients. 

Moving to a new house...

When talking about transforming a life with clients, we often end up using the analogy of moving to a new house, from an old house. You can use this idea too, to make it easier to both picture your new life and make it happen!

1) Discover the ultimate dream (picture your new house)-- This is where we make a beautiful oil painting of what our new house will look like! You can't build it without an image of what you are building! What does your gorgeous new home look like? There's no reason to build something without passion -- so get excited about what wonderful things you will put in those new rooms. What memories will you make? Listen to that inner voice that knows which direction you really want to go. What would you ideal life look like? Sound like? Feel like? Picture it with all of its lovely details. If you're artistic, paint your dream. Or make a collage, sketch or even combine googled images in a paint program and print out the result -- this is your visionboard, aka, your new house! Hang it up, carry it with you, make your new house a part of your life. You already own it, even though it's not built yet.

2) To achieve the dream, create a detailed plan (your blueprint) -- Without a blueprint, you won't know where to put every 2x4! So first brainstorm every step needed. Then list them out on a daily action item calendar. Have someone hold you accountable for completing every single step on your list. Include a reward and a punishment (that you select)! This is like a contractor motivating the workers to get the job done. That beautiful painting of your new home won't magically appear without actually hammering together all of the pieces. And it helps to have someone motivating you to nail in every one.

3) Work on the negative thoughts (patch holes in the roof)-- think of these like holes in the roof of your old house (not the new one you're building). It's hard to complete work on your new home, when you are dealing with a leaking roof in the home you are currently living in. You're used to the holes and the sound of rain that wakes you up at night, but you deserve a non-leaking roof (which is one reason you're building the new house!) To deal with the leaking holes while you're still living in the old house, do this. First, identify each negative belief. Challenge whether it is true or not. Choose to accept a new belief, even if part of you is holding onto that old belief (and that old leaking roof!) Everything can be looked at from a new angle. Every hole can be patched if you choose to do the work. Change negative beliefs to positive ones!

4) Act "as if" (be a confident construction worker) -- so maybe you still feel like you are living in that old house. The one with the leaking roof that is barely standing. Maybe you don't know how to use a hammer and you keep forgetting what that painting of your new house looks like. That's OK. To motivate yourself to do the hard work of patching that roof and building your new house from the ground up, remind yourself that it works to act "as if" you are confident, "as if" you are not scared, "as if" you are already happy and content in your new lovely home. It will give you the strength to get the demanding job of building a new life done.

5) Don't worry about the demolition -- it's easy to get caught up in memories of that old house. It's comforting to live there, isn't it? No change. No growth. But you know it is stagnant and frustrating too, right? Instead of focusing on the sadness of demolishing your old house, focus instead on what you are building! It's exciting and new. It's OK to be a bit sad, since change does that to all of us, but remember -- with each new box you carry into that lovely new home you've built, every single box (i.e. each action item you complete on your list) is paying your dues and transitioning you over. Every action you complete and box you check off on your list, is a box you have carried from your old unhappy house, to your bright, beautiful new one. Can you see the new house filling up with all of the boxes you are carrying one by one? That is the power of competing small action items daily. Each box you check off brings you a bit closer to moving in! And trust me, the new place gets much better light! And it's probably right by a subway line as well!

NOTE: Remember, you are moving all of your boxes of loved possessions and the people you care about into the new house! The old house was just a container. But you bring the life and the joy with you. So there really is nothing to be sad about.

6) Enjoy your new home! You'll probably feel instantly settled, since this is a house you built from scratch with your own hands! It's all yours and was built with love -- feels homey doesn't it? Time to throw a housewarming party and celebrate! :)

http://www.yourdreamslifecoach.com

Want to find the best life coach for you and your goals? Need a new life? Career or personal dreams? Find out more about Life Coaching. I'm a NYC Certified Life Coach serving professional, ambitious clients. 

The Martha Stewart Dreamers into Doers Award

Martha Stewart hosts a contest each year called Dreamers into Doers. To me, it really is a Life Coaching type of a concept, as it's focused on individuals who have transformed a dream into reality. I was really excited to receive a last minute invitation to her cocktail party and awards gala, that broadcasts on November 12th.

One reason I got so excited about this is -- aside from just getting to be in the same room with Martha -- is because Martha Stewart is one of the women I really admire, for all that she has accomplished. I started reading her book back at the Borders in Scottsdale, AZ and I specifically remember sitting there in one of those big brown chairs, opening up to a random chapter and being blown away.

The part that inspired me the most, was when she mentioned that she didn't start Omnimedia -- she started a small catering company. She then grew that company into something much bigger. That idea that everything big, starts with something small, is a very motivating idea. I remember being really inspired by that. That idea definitely encouraged me through some tough times.

Then, the idea of sitting in a Manhattan TV studio, in the same location as Martha, the author of that book that really changed my thinking is amazing!

I just feel so grateful for that, and I think strong women like Martha, Oprah, and Angelina Jolie are really inspiring. We all have our own lists of who we admire most, but I think it's so important to have others to inspire us, whether they are people we know, authors of books or people in the public eye.

No one is perfect of course, so I don't think it's good to idealize anyone too much, but looking at a person's accomplishments can really remind you that something can be built from nothing, and there is so much out there to be accomplished in life!

She has all of the finalists for the award online and a description here: http://www.marthastewart.com/dreamers. They have some really neat stories on there! They announce the winner on the show on the 12th.

http://www.yourdreamslifecoach.com

Want to find the best life coach for you and your goals? Need a new life? Career or personal dreams? Find out more about Life Coaching. I'm a NYC Certified Life Coach serving professional, ambitious clients -- I coach financial traders, attorneys, entrepreneurs, artists and anyone creating a big, brand new life. 

How to Reach Any Goal in 30 Days -- Let's Make an Action Plan!

Read the article here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4590960_goal-days-lets-action-plan.html

http://www.yourdreamslifecoach.com

Want to find the best life coach for you and your goals? Need a new life? Career or personal dreams? Find out more about Life Coaching. I'm a NYC Certified Life Coach serving professional, ambitious clients -- I coach financial traders, attorneys, entrepreneurs, artists and anyone creating a big, brand new life.