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AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Goal Achievement: Visualise and you shall receive! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Law of Attraction DATE: 06/28/2006 12:37:03 PM ----- BODY:

"Luck favours the mind that is prepared"
Louis Pasteur

Goals:

Do you have them? Perhaps more importantly than whether or not you have goals is whether or not you believe in them, believe that you can achieve them, and will do everything in your power to reach them.
But why is that important?

Well can you imagine yourself being thin?

If you can then you are well on the way to actually getting there. But it is more than just "wishful thinking" that will get you to where you say you want to be.

You see, in order to reach your goal (whatever it happens to be), then you have to know the outcome in your mind, in advance. If you have never been "thin" then you may struggle with this kind of visualisation - however, there are some tips you can use.

Pick out a favourite outfit - it doesn't have to be one that you own - but is better if you do - now hang it up where you can see it. The door of the wardrobe is a great place. How do you think you will feel when you wear that outfit? What will you look like? Will you have a new hairstyle to go with it, what about new earrings and makeup? Create the new you in your mind's eye. Whenever you feel that your resolve is wearing a bit thin (and believe me it will), then simply replay that image in your mind. As long as you are on a sensible eating plan (ie., you are not following some fad diet or other) then you will reach your goal. The difference is, you will reach your goal quicker than those people who have no idea what they will look like when they get there. They don't know how far down the road they have travelled. Remember that if you are also exercising you may not lose "weight" on the scale, but your body will be trim and toned, and you will fit into your skin a lot better.
 
If you can't afford a new outfit just yet, then find some magazines and cut out some pictures and stick them onto a board. And just for effect cut out a picture of your own head and superimpose this onto the outfit....
 
Remember this visualisation trick can work for any of your goals. Work out exactly what you want - then take the steps you need in order to get there. And if you have a reminder to help you along the way then you will succeed far faster than if you have no idea what it was you wanted.
 
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"For one person who dreams of making fifty thousand pounds, a hundred people dream of being left fifty thousand pounds"
A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
English Writer



----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Drowning the negative voices STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination DATE: 06/29/2006 11:21:20 AM ----- BODY:

Have you ever gotten so fired up about a project, you are so excited you can't wait to begin.

Until the voices start that is. The "procrastination pixies" sitting on your shoulder whispering in your ear - telling you that you've got to be joking, and who do you think you are. I used to think I was alone, I used to think I was the only one who had those kind of voices offering a commentary on everyone and everything, telling me that I was going to fail, so why not procrastinate for just a while longer, after all no-one would notice. 

Thankfully I now know that I'm not the only one with "procrastination" sitting on their shoulder.

We all have the little blighters, hanging on for dear life. You see they are the ones that don't want you to change, and we allow them to rule our lives, whether we recognise it or not. They are the ones we listen to and then we wonder how we deal with procrastination.

So how do you handle them? Well you need to take them by surprise - I get my metaphorical ink pen and I squirt ink over my left shoulder which catches them square in the eye...as they are scrambling off my shoulder looking for a tissue to clean off the ink I can get on with what I need to.Sometimes it's the only way to beat procrastination.

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: It's a goal !! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: Cure procrastination CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Motivation techniques DATE: 07/11/2006 04:00:43 AM ----- BODY:

When you set a goal - Do you keep track of your progress?

With any goal setting it is important to measure how far you have come and how far you've still got left to go, otherwise how do you know whether you are on the right track or not?
 
I don't know about you - but unless it is written down, I find it is easy to conveniently forget what you were supposed to do and when.
 
So how do we achieve our goals and keep track of our progress.
 
Well there are lots of ways to do it:

Do something small to do with the project/goal every day.

I have found that once you start something, you usually find the momentum will carry you forwards.
 
Believe in what you are aiming for. It is no good going after someone elses goals and dreams, how on earth can you get fired up about their goals? Get fired up about your own - that way you will find ways around those obstacles that have a nasty habit of appearing in your way.
 
Find your to do list and choose the hardest thing on it, and break down the item into small(er) manageable steps. Things you can tick off one by one. Again the momentum will move you forward. Or if the item is a one-shot deal - like phoning someone you don't want to...then simply pick up the phone and do it. The result will usually be far less stressful than the worst case scenario - and once it has been done, you will feel much better and able to get on with all those other minor tasks on your list.
 
Whatever strategy you use, make sure you keep a note of what worked and what didn't so you can refine your strategy. Remember - doing the same things in the same way will mean that you get the same results.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Determining your role models STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Mentoring and Coaching CATEGORY: Role Models DATE: 07/12/2006 04:07:56 AM ----- BODY:

Who do you look to, to provide you with the information, the skills and the techniques that you need to get those things done you need to. If you have been following my suggestions, you should have recruited a couple of champions by now. Those people who will support you no matter what. And hopefully you will have limited your association with those people who bring you down to their level. The next piece in the puzzle is role models. Who do you look to when you need inspiration? 

I am fortunate to know some amazing people. The people I work with are experts in their own fields and I desperately play catch up on a daily basis to make sure I don't let my end of the bargain down. And my significant other is always willing to challenge conventional thinking and is willing to try, try and try again something new in order to find out what works and what doesn't. I think it was Einstein who said "I have not failed 10,000 times, I have found 10,000 ways that will not work." My partner is like that. 

But what happens when you don't have people like that you can turn to? Who do you turn to?
 
Well I have a few suggestions for you (and you would be disappointed if I didn't):
 
Your parents - you may not agree with all they do, but they will have instilled some disciplines into your way of thinking, and acting. If your parents are smokers - then you are 100% more likely to smoke than those who do not have parents that smoke. Frightening statistic. I have one parent who does smoke and one that doesn't. Thankfully I chose the non-smoking side to fall down upon. Unfortunately I also got mum's "shape" as well !!
 
Your siblings and other relatives - not to mention those people you spend a considerable amount of time with every single day - yes your co-workers. Spend some time with them and find out what makes them the kind of people that they are. You may find things that you want to incorporate into your lives, but the other side is just as important - what don't you want to be/do "when you grow up?"
 
Colleagues - And talking of the people you work with - my first professional role was with a group of 70 other individuals - who all had a role to play in the organisation and I took the opportunity to learn from as many of them as I could, so do the same. What  knowledge do they have? Fastrack your own career by leveraging the knowledge of others. And no I don't mean stealing other people's ideas. Again - find out what worked and what didn't and make adjustments to your game plan accordingly.
 
The final point is this - what are you hoping to do and achieve? It may be, the people you need to emulate are not available to you (for whatever reason), so find as many books, articles and other writings as you can, and spend some time studying them. People like Churchill and Socrates are no longer with us, but their writings are. And people have devoted their lives to find out how other people live. So make good use of your public library. Be an avid reader of things - you never know what you will find, or be able to bring to your current life by reading someone's life story.
 
However, I will make a point here - if you make a habit of reading the tabloids and gossip mags, guess what - your point of view will be slightly off colour (so to speak) so please make sure you read more than one - at least that way you may get a more balanced view.
 
Remember what goes into your mind, is likely to come out of your mouth...

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Overcoming Procrastination: Don't delay it any longer STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Avoid procrastination CATEGORY: Avoiding procrastination CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination help CATEGORY: Cure procrastination CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Stop procrastination CATEGORY: End procrastination DATE: 07/13/2006 04:11:13 AM ----- BODY:

Today you have a choice.

You can do the same things you did yesterday, or you can choose to do something else. Something different. Something that will make a BIG difference to the way your life turns out.

What have you been putting off? What tasks, letters, phone calls, job applications have you decided to do tomorrow rather than today?

We all do it. Procrastination is a terrible thing. We put off doing something today, and because we didn't get into real trouble, we feel that its OK. Our minds take that as a signal to do a little less tomorrow. And sooner rather than later, all those dreams and goals we had - are filed in a dusty corner of our memories.

It's like eating bad things - we know that eating too much junk food over a sustained period of time will make us less healthy than we should be (higher cholersterol, extra padding and insulation around the body and who knows what else). What would happen if the results of our food choices were a little more immediate. Would you continue to eat "bad" food if it made you ill as soon as you ate it? Of course not, I don't think there is anyone reading this who would deliberately go out of their way to do things that can cause them harm. Yet we continue to do harmful things to our bodies without thought to the long term.
 
So - think more about the long term effects over your individual choices. And if you do have to eat bad foods then at least walk to the shops rather than drive. Walking uses 3 times as many calories as driving does.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you suffer from analysis paralysis? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination DATE: 07/18/2006 01:33:32 PM ----- BODY:

Do you suffer from analysis paralysis?
 
If you are anything like me, I can almost guarantee that you do. You have all the facts, some would say you have more facts than you actually need. But you still can't make a decision. And you know that the more you think about it, the more likely you are to make a mistake - which makes it even harder to come to a decision. So we procrastinate. Over time that procrastination becomes a habit and we have trouble breaking through a habit we don't know we have, and don't want to deal with even if we did.

Science has born out this fact many times - if you are interested in reading something on the subject then "Blink: The power of thinking without thinking by Malcolm Gladwell" can explain it better than I.
 
But he and I both agree on one thing - the first reaction you have is usually the right one. "Gut instinct" can be the one of the keys to breaking the analysis paralysis procrastination habit. 

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Writers Block: Throw the pen away STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Writers block DATE: 07/19/2006 01:40:10 PM ----- BODY:

If you are having trouble starting a project - and lets face it, sometimes we all struggle when faced with that very large, empty blank sheet of paper - so put down your pen - that's right, put down the pen and pick up a nice big fat pencil.

Pen and therefore ink has a sense of permanency associated with it. Whereas pencil can be erased. You can doodle, you can make nice big arrows and link bits and pieces together. Your mind has been set free from the bounds of ink and permanency and I have found I am able to get started much more quickly because I know that if I stuff up I can screw up the piece of paper and start all over again.

As adults we have forgotten the art of being able to fail. We feel failure is not an option so we cling tightly to the pen in the vain hope the blood, sweat and tears will get us over the line. So throw the pen away and give yourself permission to "fail", doodle, draw, scribble and generally have a good time. By the time your mind has gotten over the shock you can be well on your way to having completed a major part of whatever written task you had set for yourself.

Oh and if you really want to get creative, get some coloured pencils and really go to town.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Have an attitude of gratitude STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Gratitude DATE: 07/22/2006 02:01:27 AM ----- BODY:

First of all a thank you of my own - thank you to all those readers who are taking the time to comment on the web site and to offer their own solutions to breaking the procrastination habit. It is good to know we are generating some discussion on this rather emotional topic.
 
Now the question is - when do you say thank you? Do you say thank you only when people have done something good for you - when they have met or bettered your expectations? Believe me it is only natural. But what about those people who have been working away in the background, those people who make your job and life easier? When was the last time you said thank you to your parents, your kids, the woman who makes your coffee every morning? It doesn't take very long, but I have seen so many instances where self-absorbed people "demand" their coffee, slap the money on the table and then wonder why the service was terrible. Of course it's not just coffee we are talking about here - but every interaction that we have on a daily basis.
 
If someone is "serving" you, make a note of a person's name and use it. If it somewhere you frequent regularly then offer your hand and your name, they may not remember "you" but they will remember the fact that you took the time to speak kindly to them.
 
Our lives are made up of millions of minute decisions and interactions we have with other people. You may not be able to make every one of them positive - but you can do your best, and you can start by saying thank you.
 
Thank you for reading, I hope you have a good day and an even better weekend.

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Bad days? Or just bad thoughts? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Law of Attraction DATE: 07/23/2006 02:05:19 AM ----- BODY:

Question - Do all your positive plans for yourself go out of the window when you have a "bad day"? Do you return to comfort(able) foods, habits and behaviours when things get a little tough or are you able to dig your heels in, and your resolve and just carry on regardless?
 
I would hazard a guess that most people can cope with a single instance of "bad" news / happenings / emotions...but would struggle when faced with a whole string of negative.

Let me explain what I mean - you don't hear your alarm and you get up panicked, rushed and race out of the door - dressed but without breakfast and the lunch you had prepared the night before. You arrive at work and you're starving. So what do you do? You eat what you find lurking in your drawer - promising yourself that you will go and buy yourself a healthy sandwich or salad for lunch.
 
Then what happens, your stomach won't stop rumbling, you berate yourself for sleeping in late, forgetting your lunch, and for feeling hungry...so you go and raid the biscuit tin in the company fridge. Now what happens, you add guilt to your bad start. Add in a couple of irate phone calls, maybe even an argument with your partner and you are well on the downward slide. Instead of having that salad sandwich for lunch you decide that you "need" a muffin and maybe a block of chocolate as well. 5 o'clock comes around and you are supposed to go to the gym, but you can't be bothered, not to mention feeling a little sick.

This is a classic example of the Law of Attraction at work. You've heard the phrase I'm sure "go looking for trouble and you'll find it". If your attitude is one of feeling anger, annoyance and guilt, you can guarantee you will see that all around you. The good stuff is happening too, its just that we can't see beyond the negative. 

You get the picture I'm sure, it's happened to most of us at some point down the track. So what is the issue here? Actually it's your non-conscious thought processes that are at fault. Those voices running around your head telling you the world is coming to an end, the sky is falling, you are going to starve to death if you don't eat. The question is - why do we let it run our lives? Next time you have a "bad day" stop for a minute and see what your mind is "telling" you. Easier said than done I know, but you will find that if you can stop the voices, you can stop downward slide.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Waking up depressed STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation DATE: 07/24/2006 02:08:52 AM ----- BODY:

Do you ever wake up depressed? I'm not talking about those days when we've hardly been to sleep because we've been worrying about something or other. No I'm talking about those ordinary days when the alarm goes off and it's time to hit the shower before going to work.
 
I'm sure you will be unable to point to any particular day where that actually happened. You opened your eyes, stretched a little before pushing back the covers and sliding out of the warm cocoon. You showered, dressed and got ready - then you turned on the television, deciding to watch the news while you ate your breakfast. Then what happened - the even feeling that you had when you woke up was replaced by a feeling of anxiety, all of a sudden you remember that you have to get petrol on the way to work, and have you seen the cost. The wars and skirmishes happening in the middle east are pushing up the price of fuel and everywhere you look people are killing each other. Anxiety starts to eat away at the feeling of calm that you had, and as you drive into work, the radio announcers advise there is a bad weather alert, accidents are likely. You start to worry - about everything.
 
Is it any wonder that you can hardly get motivated when you get into work. Worry, anxiety and depression are your companions, sitting beside you as you struggle to get through the day.
 
If you want to get more from your day, don't listen to the television or the radio news, and don't read the newspapers. Most things are sensationalised because bad news sells. If there is anything really important someone will eventually tell you.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Procrastination: What are you doing now? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Avoid procrastination CATEGORY: Avoiding procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination help DATE: 07/25/2006 02:12:24 AM ----- BODY:

What are you not doing at the moment? I know you are currently reading this email, so my question for you this morning is - what should you be doing that you are not - because you are reading this and probably all your other emails?
 
We all put things off, the question is why.
 
Do you know how much time you "waste" by delaying doing things, either starting, whilst undertaking projects or finishing those projects. We waste time on unnecessary phone calls, answering emails that are not urgent let alone important, talking to colleagues etc etc.
 
One of the best ways to discover how much time you actually spend on those activities that get you to where you say you want to be is to keep a time log. A simple piece of paper next to your computer, or download our timelog - and every time you do something - write down what you are doing and how long it took you to complete the task. If you spend 10 minutes answering emails that is ok, but what happens when you open your email every time the little message pops onto your screen? How much time do you actually spend working on your projects? The answer is not very much - in real terms.
 
My advice - have a designated time to answer your emails - when you arrive, lunch time and about an hour before the end of your day. Deal immediately with what is there - Do it, delegate it or dump it.
 
And keep your time log going for a couple of days - no-one needs to know what you are doing, but if you are serious about getting more from your day, then you need to know how you currently spend your days. Remember you only have a single chance to get the most from today. Once it has gone you cannot get it back. Apart from Dr Who I don't know of anyone who has a time machine - so spend each day doing what is important to you and you will achieve great things.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Motivation STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Motivation techniques DATE: 07/27/2006 02:36:10 AM ----- BODY:

Motivation

What are your motives for doing something and what actions are you going to take to achieve that "goal".

Motive + Action = Motivation

One thing that I have noticed with regards to motivation - you can't motivate others when you have trouble motivating yourself.
 
Whilst you cannot project your plans, goals and dreams onto other people - and expect them to get excited about it. If someone can see you doing well, then they will gladly follow you and ask what your secret is. Fair weather friends? or jealous - doesn;t really matter at the end of the day. If you are doing all that you can do and being all that you can be, and you can motivate others by your actions - then you are doing better than most.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Rewarding success STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Motivation to improve diet and health DATE: 07/28/2006 01:10:16 AM ----- BODY:

Do you reward your successes and when you do well? Or do you deprive yourself of acknolwedging your progress?
 
In the dieting and fitness world a "treat day" is essential. Treat days are those days when you allow yourself to eat what you like, when you like. So if you want a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast you can, followed by a muffin for morning tea...or whatever else you want to feed your body. In the days when we had to grow most of our own foods, or catch it and kill it - the feast days were those when the hunt had been successful - there was lots of food to go around, and people sat around the camp fire gorging themselves on their successes.
 
In today's modern society - every day can be a feast day - which is probably why most people have more than a little excess baggage they drag around with them every day...ouch.
 
We no longer have to catch, kill and prepare our foods. We don't cultivate our own gardens so that it produces healthy, nutritious foods. My parents have always grown their own veggies and salad stuff. They also have 4 fruit trees - 3 types of apple and a pear, plus rhubarb and blackcurrants. As a child we could run down the garden and pick a fruit from the tree and eat it...it was so good we often had the neighbouring children climbing the fence in the dead of night to help themselves to my parents and the tree's labour. My parents still have those trees my problem is I now live some 12,000 miles away - a little harder to pick the fresh fruit.
 
The hardest we have to work is finding the time to go to the supermarket. Everything labelled and pre-packaged. Grown under glass somewhere or other so that we no longer know what fruit is supposed to be "in season". In fact living and working under artificial light and air half the time we don't know what the weather is doing right now.
 
So what am I saying - that we shouldn't "treat" ourselves with our favourite foods when we want to? No I wouldn't be so presumptious to do that. You have the power to choose the way you want to live your lives. But if you are struggling to lose weight and you have severely cut your calorie intake so that you see a loss on the scale, then sooner or later you are going to lose the willpower to keep going....believe me I've been there - more than once.
 
I will talk more about the problem of severe calorie restriction and why it doesn't work in the long run in a later edition (or more than one edition - it's a big subject - excuse the pun). But if you haven't treated yourself in recent times - then please do so - your body will thank you for it. And if you have been stuck on a plateau for a while - and this will be explained in more detail later too - the additional food will kick start your metabolism again. Put simply - restricting your food intake is akin to your body thinking it is "starving" and it doesn't know when the famine will be over.
 
Of course this concept of a treat day does not just apply to food and dieting - it applies to everything we do. When was the last time you had a "day off" and did what you wanted? I hadn't had a day off for something like 6 months. My weekends were always taken up with kids, washing and cleaning - I'd forgotten what it was like to spend time outdoors under a tree watching the clouds scudding across the sky. Working in the marketing industry it is vital you fill your days with new experiences - failure to do so means that you have nothing new to fill the creative thought processes. So if you are feeling stuck in more ways than one - sit down and ask yourself - when was the last time you had a treat day....and aim for one treat day (for food - once a week) and a personal day off day - at least once a fortnight. You deserve it.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Stop "trying" and start doing STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination DATE: 07/29/2006 01:13:04 AM ----- BODY:

Do you use the word "try" in your vocabulary?

But as Yoda says "Do or do not, there is no try"

If you spend all your time telling yourself you are going to try and do something you are giving yourself permission to fail, or not to do all you that you can. Trying is also another way to procrastinate.

If you want to overcome procrastination, if you want to beat procrastination once and for all, you do have to stop telling yourself you'll "try" and take action.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The end is nigh! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation DATE: 07/30/2006 01:14:06 AM ----- BODY:

A question - if you only had 24 hours left on this planet we call home - what would you do?

I don't know about you, but I would try and do as much as I possibly could. 

I would call people and tell them what they really mean to me - yes including all those people I'd not spoken to in a while - for whatever reason. I would ensure that I apologised for all my errors and made good all the mistakes that I had made.
 
I'd spend as much time as I could with those people I really love - my kids, my partner. I'd make sure I wore my best clothes and wore the special perfume. I'd enjoy every single moment and I wouldn't want it to end. 

Well I have news for you - this moment is the only moment you truly have. We all have plans for tomorrow, next week, next year - but we don't make the most of today. We assume that we have all the time in the world to do what we want to do. But we don't. We don't know what is around the next corner, we don't know whether the super powers will get annoyed at one another and start dropping bombs everywhere. We don't know if we are due for a heart attack or condition that robs us of our strength, energy and vitality. We don't know whether we will spend our twilight years trapped in our own bodies unable to think clearly or be able to move very far.
 
So wouldn't it make sense to do as much as you can today - because today is all there is.
 
Now I am not saying that you should go and eat the entire contents of your freezer - just in case you're not here tomorrow. But I'm sure you know what I mean.
 
And just a final word - the actions that you take today will have a direct impact on the quality of your life tomorrow. If you do a little less than you could do today - thinking that you can pick up the slack tomorrow, guess what you have just put yourself under even more stress and pressure - and I can guarantee you won't get it all done - why - because if you put something off once, I can almost guarantee that you will have to do so again - because other things will take their place on your own priority board.
 
So don't put off the exercise, don't put off making those phone calls - and I include the ones to family and friends as well as those difficult customers you've been avoiding. Do all you can today and you will achieve far more tomorrow.
 
"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803 - 1882)
American Essayist, poet and philosopher

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Feel good factor STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Law of Attraction CATEGORY: Gratitude DATE: 08/02/2006 05:01:09 AM ----- BODY:

What makes you "feel good?" No i'm not talking about the half a bottle of red wine and the block of chocolate you've just consumed, but those little things that make you smile? OK red wine and chocolate it is then !! 

For me it is things like getting good feedback from a piece of written work I've created. Or finding out that someone learned something on a training course that I prepared and ran. Those times when someone complimented me on an outfit I happened to be wearing. But some of the best feelings are from simple gestures - a smile from a stranger, a kiss from a child, a rainbow arcing over the sky, a good cup of coffee, or a glass of wine and some chocolate. Go on create the feeling in your mind - this is your memory as well as mine. 

Did you know you look stunning when you "feel good" about who you are and what you are. Frowns and depression conspire to make us look and feel old. When you feel good everyone knows it and they are drawn to you. In fact all good things are drawn to those people who "feel good" about themselves. People are more likely to want to spend time with you if you are feeling good about yourself. You are not spending every moment preening in front of the mirror - you don't have to. You could wear a black garbage bag on those days and you would look fantastic...if you've ever had those kind of days.
 
And if you've ever had those kind of days, you may notice that your luck will change too. Just today for instance I found some money on the pavement. It's also interesting that I only find money when I am feeling good about myself. It's as if - you are a magnet, and good things want to come your way. Now wouldn't it be interesting if we can cure all our problems - if only we were happy with ourselves....because we draw people to us. The Law of Attraction works in many interesting ways.
 
And of course the opposite is also true - if we are feeling down about ourselves we repel people who can help us. In fact we shut everything down, and nothing comes our way.
 
So how do you start feeling good about yourself?
 
Well your book of celebration is a good start. Stop what you are doing and spend a few quiet moments and write down all those good things that have happened to you.
 
And the second point is - do what you enjoy doing the most...for at least 5 minutes per day. It will make a huge difference to the way your day turns out.
 
And the final point is - SMILE and act as if you are enjoying yourself, until such time as you can really enjoy your own company.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Work / Life Balance: Take a daily "vacation" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance DATE: 08/03/2006 05:03:19 AM ----- BODY:

Have you ever gotten to the point when your body decides to go on a mini vacation so it can heal? I am of course talking about being ill - or sick. You promise yourself that you will take a couple of days off after you've completed a project or some long-standing task, you run yourself ragged for days/weeks/months on end until your body says "ENOUGH" and you end up in bed for a week recovering. And it's usually because we have not managed to balance our working and "life" (Work / Life Balance)
 
The problem with running yourself into the ground is that you don't get the benefit from having time off. Whilst your body is recovering (which is a good thing) you are too sick to enjoy the experience of not being in work, or working.
 
When was the last time you actually had a day off? Now I don't mean the two days we call a week - end, because those are the days we usually spend running around doing the shopping, washing and cleaning. I mean a real, honest to goodness day off? No phones, no computer, no striving at all.

Can you remember what it felt like to get up an hour or so later than normal, fetching a cup of tea and going back to bed with your book, or going for a walk along the beach, or in the fields and woods by your house. Those kinds of days in our ever increasing fast paced lives are rare - unless you are very lucky of course. 

Unless you stop long enough to know where you are supposed to be heading, how on earth do you know if you are still on the right track?
 
I know that you may feel like you are unable to take an entire day off, or an afternoon - but a good example of down time is your lunch break. Take your sandwich to the park and sit outside and breath in something other than artificial air. See some real sunlight and not the false lighting that has changed our bodies natural rhythms and cycles.
 
Our bodies are the most amazing pieces of "machinery" we will ever own, yet we feed it inferior fuel and expect it to run 24/7 without a rest. Creating work / life balance is essential. So take a mini-vacation before your machine "breaks down" - you will thank yourself for it.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Life needs balance STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance DATE: 08/04/2006 05:04:51 AM ----- BODY:

Have you noticed that in order to have a rainbow first you must have rain?
 
In order to keep one species alive, another species has to give up something of itself. In the case of a lion - the other animal has to die. In the case of a flower, it allows itself to be stomped on by the bumblebee's feet - because it knows that the bumblebee can help it propogate, by attaching pollen to its feet. The bee gets something in return of course, he/she gets a nice life sustaining drink.
 
Life is balance, without one you can't have the other.
 
And so it is with us - supposedly THE "top dog" on the planet. Are our lives in balance? Do we give as much as we receive?
 
Much is said of work life balance. But what does it mean?

I feel that it means - when you are at work - then that is what you should be doing. When you are at home, you should be with your friends and family. Unfortunately, both impact of the other - usually in a negative way. You take work home so your family time suffers. Your kids become sick and you are forced to work from home or take time off to visit the doctors. 

We are all given 24 hours in a day, yet the balance is usually way off. Take a nice big sheet of paper - and colour in the amount of space you are usually at work, then block out the time you spend getting ready and travelling to and from work. Then block out the time you actually spend in bed (hint most adults need between 7 and 9 hours sleep per night). Watch a movie, do some exercise - then block out the hours...get creative, use some coloured pens....write big letters. What's left?
 
The answer is probably not very much.
 
Looking at your drawing of your life today - would you say that your life is "balanced"? Probably not - if you are anything like me.
 
We all need some "down time" but we need to make sure that our lives are in balance. And you determine that by deciding what is really important to you.

Do you spend every day eating too much? At the end of the day if you have eaten too much you either need to do some exercise or you will put on weight. As I said - Life is all about finding the right balance.
 
Do the colouring exercise a few days in a row - get a feel for how your life is at the moment - then take some time and figure out where your life is out of balance, and you can start to take the steps to correct it.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Handling Problems: Worry is just a series of thoughts you are having STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Law of Attraction CATEGORY: Gratitude DATE: 08/07/2006 05:08:28 AM ----- BODY:

Busy, stressed out? Don't have enough hours in a day?
 
Did you know that you only receive as many problems as you can handle at this point in time, and did you also know that you can stop having problems if you would only stop worrying about having problems.
 
Have you noticed that when you make a decision – no matter what it is, things happen to you? And this works for things that you say that you want, as well as things that you say you don’t. Strange – but this is how it works. It's been called many things, synchronicity, Law of Attraction, Coincidence and so on.
 
How many of you deliberately wake up each morning and decide that you are going to have a bad day?
 
Not many I would hazard a guess.
 
But how many of you start to “worry” as soon as you open your eyes?
 
You worry about what the kids are going to get up to at school. You worry that you are not going to get to work on time because you need to get a million things done today. You know that the person you dislike is going to be back off holiday and is going to make your day and your working life a misery.
 
And guess what happens, You get up and you're irritable. The kids have taken all the hot water, and left their dishes on the kitchen sink – again. So you shout at them. They leave the house angry and you slam around the kitchen trying to tidy up before you leave for work. And now they’ve made you late – again. And because you’re late, the traffic is conspiring to make you even later, and wouldn’t you know it the boss is in reception talking to the person who has been on leave, so you slink in embarrassed and angry at them both for being there when you arrive. You walk around the office as if you have a black cloud hanging over you, and guess what – it’s raining.
 
And you know why this happened – because you wanted it to.

Your brain doesn’t know that you have told it that you don’t want x,y or z to happen. All it hears is that you have put energy into x,y and z and that’s what it has decided that you want. That's why it's called The Law of Attraction. You are attracting things to you like a proverbial magnet. The reason being - anything that you put energy or attention onto comes into being. Your constant worry has manifested itself into everything you didn’t want to happen.

Then because you are “having a bad day” you decide to cheer yourself up with a cup of fresh coffee and a biscuit from the coffee shop around the corner. And you buy yourself a small bar of chocolate on the way back to the office for later. Because you know you are going to need it!
 
All your good intentions that you had last night before you went to bed, have gone out of the window, which then makes you feel even worse. You feel like you have let yourself down – and because you haven’t managed to stick to your newly found disciplines you feel you might as well start tomorrow, and on it goes.
 
Do you have days like this?
 
If you do, you are not alone. But you can do something about them.
 
And the first thing you can do is this - you can stop worrying for starters. Worry is just a series of thoughts you are having, usually about something that may not happen. So if “worry” is just a series of thoughts, why not change them for something “positive”.
 
Easier said than done I know, and I know this will take some practice to really get the benefits from. But if you can just “stop worrying” over the little things, you can save your energy for those things that really matter. Namely your family, your partner, your health and yourself. As I mentioned at the beginning you are only given those things that you can handle at this point in time. Remember - whatever happens, you can handle it.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Structured Procrastination: Busy doing nothing STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Structured procrastination DATE: 08/08/2006 05:10:17 AM ----- BODY:

"Don't mistake movement for achievement. It's easy to get faked out by being busy. The question is: Busy doing what?"
Jim Rohn
 
It's amazing how busy you can look when you want to. However, there will come a time when you will have to produce something, and that's where those "to do" lists come in very handy.

Now we all know that the item sitting at no 1 on the list is the item that you should be doing, after all it's sitting in the number one spot, and it is important and probably urgent as well. Steven Covey's 7 habits of highly effective people explains the concept extremely well, so if you haven't read it in a while, now would be a good time.

But further down the lists are things that we know we should do at some point or other. One of the great ways of getting in the right frame of mind you need to tackle the item sitting in the number one spot, and to cross something off your list is to start one of those other items.
 
This is called structured procrastination.
 
So how do you beat structured procrastination?
 
Well first of all you have to recognise it for what it is. And whilst it is OK to do less important things once in a while, sooner or later you know you are going to have to do something to that item that is sitting at number 1.
 
Now you could wait until something else gets added to your list that is even more important and urgent than the original item, in which case, in order to get out of doing the new item, you could start the old one. But lets face it, you could be waiting a while for that to happen.
 
You could delegate the task, or you could call a meeting to discuss the item in question - but neither of those suggestions actually solve the problem. The problem is you and why you don't want to do it. Are you afraid that if you succeed at the task you might be expected to repeat the performance? Or are you afraid of failing - so you don't even start. Only you can answer that one.
 
But I have found that if I exchange the pen (permanent) for a pencil, I can scribble and create things that I wouldn't have done if I had tried to do the same thing with a pen. I know - psychologists would have a field day with me. The other way I have found of beating structured procrastination is to start the task you've been putting off for some time, and don't stop until you've finished it. You might be surprised at how easy it was. If it is a task that is going to take more than one "sitting" then break down the task into day-size chunks.  As we have said before - a thousand words a day makes 30,000 by the end of a month.
 
So find your to-do lists and get started.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Structured Procrastination: Urgent vs. important STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Structured procrastination DATE: 08/12/2006 01:45:06 AM ----- BODY:

Have you read or heard of Stephen Covey's 7 habits of successful people book? Well if you have then you will know that he talks about doing things that are urgent, may not actually be the things that are really important to you.
 
Do you spend all your days putting out the fires, and don't end up with enough time at the end of the day to work on the project you said you wanted to start today. The project that will bring you endless rewards once it has been completed. Unfortunately as with most things, it might be important, but the urgent always takes our time, energy and resources.

I know I harp on about diet and exercise, the only time your health becomes an "important" issue is when you don't have it anymore. So we "urgently" try and fix the problem. Which can be a bit hard if we've been told that our years of smoking and eating junk food has given us lung cancer and heart disease. The question is - is that cigarette or piece of cake so important to you, that you need it NOW or is the ultimate "goal" of life long health and being able to fit into a size 10 pair of jeans AND have the health benefits of not carrying around excess body fat that goes with it more important.

And what of those other projects we have lined up - for when we have the time. They're important to us, otherwise they wouldn't be on our mental goal list now would they? So why don't we spend time working on them? Because they might be important to us, but they don't register on the richter scale of anyone else...which is why we spend all our time putting out the fires of the urgent demands on our time. 

So a suggestion to you. Calendars, Diaries, Time and Task Management - Tell your nearest and dearest that you need a certain amount of time each day/week to set aside for your own project time. This could be - time to meditate, go to the gym, or write a book, and you ask them to set aside the same time so that they can work on their own projects. So when you do come back together again - say over a meal time, you can discuss how far you have all managed to get in the alloted time, and where you want your project(s) to go...

It takes time to set new disciplines. For example, I had to set new ground rules for my two children during the last school holidays after my daughter's school report wasn't as good as it could have been. Now before she is allowed to go onto MSN she has to ensure that she has

Oh the joy, her work ethic has changed dramatically - and monetary bribes were only part of the story. This morning my son has gotten up and gotten breakfast and put all the dishes away, and yesterday he made breakfast for me too. And last night he did his homework without prompting. Time and Task Management isn't just for "grown ups". Respect for other people's time can start with children.  But it's up to us to show them that we respect our own time to. So stop putting out the fires of "urgent" and start planning ahead for what is really important.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Procrastination works - Dealing with days like today STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Procrastination CATEGORY: To do lists DATE: 08/14/2006 01:47:41 AM ----- BODY:

I had plans to do so much today. Write another chapter of my book, clean one of the cupboards in the kitchen, do some washing and generally tidy up. So what happened? Well other stuff got in the way of my self-imposed to do list.
 
I'm sure you know exactly what I mean. We know what we want to do, but something or someone conspires to nudge us off our course so we end up doing nothing. Do you get as frustrated with yourself as I do with me?
 
I had technology problems. I'd forgotten how bad my main computer keyboard was - I normally use a laptop for my writing in a quieter part of the house. But today I chose to use the main office desk so that I could use a bigger screen for the formatting and editing of my current writing project.
 
The problem was - both the mouse and they keyboard were at least third - hand. Hand me down's - from people who have upgraded. In fact that is how I have received all my computer upgrades. Recycling from someone who has more money than I have, and can afford the latest and greatest whizz bang software and hardware. Believe me, I am very grateful, and would sooner recycle than let things go to waste, filling holes in the earth with technological cast offs. But there has to be said for buying some things brand new. For instance - the keyboard and mouse were a hindrance rather than a help these days. So instead of writing I packed the kids and myself off to Fremantle.
 
Today is Sunday, a day of rest normally and living in Perth, Western Australia we do not have the benefits of 24/7 shopping. The two exceptions to this rule are Perth City and Fremantle, the Port City where I work during the week. Why Fre-o and not Perth I hear you ask - well Fremantle has an added advantage of being right next to the Indian Ocean and boats...well in this case - War ships. American - no less. The Kitty Hawk and her associated support vessels were in Port. I saw them arrive on Thursday morning, and they will be with us for a few more days at least. So Fre-o it was. It's not everyday you get to see an aircraft carrier with the reputation of the Kitty Hawk. We counted at least 2 dozen planes of various size and battle scars, but we weren't allowed too close to the docks - for very obvious reasons.
 
During our visits to the ports over the years we have seen more than our fair share of war ships of every naval demomination you can think of. We've also seen the QEII and the Rainbow Warrior. Fremantle really is a working port.

So why am I telling you all this...well it could be an excuse as to why I wasn't working today. But as I said technology needs must - OK I could have gotten these particular items tomorrow and not had to stand in a queue of American sailors buying clean socks and pencil crayons. But where is the fun in that.

But after a walk around Fremantle, getting wet I have to say - lunch and a quick foray into Target - it was back to the car and time to get started on the writing. But - and here is where it gets to be one of those days. In order to fit the new keyboard and mouse I had to unhook the other one...computer spaghetti. So whilst I was there I also unhooked the old printer and threw that in the bin - yes my technological woes continue. And then had to clean the desk - talk about dust - everywhere. So what should have taken a few minutes has turned into several hours of cleaning and tidying.
 
Procrastination? Not entirely. At least I can end my day technologically happy, rather than frustrated and grumpy because the darn thing didn't work - and believe me it was definitely getting like that.
 
So perhaps if I hadn't delayed buying the new keyboard in the first place, then I wouldn't have gotten to the stage I found myself in today, and we wouldn't have had to go to Fremantle. But then we wouldn't have seen the kitty hawk would we.
 
So don't put off doing the important things - because sooner or later they will become urgent. The problem with urgent and important is that we end up being tired and stressed. If you have a day like i've had today - see what you could have done better next time and move on. It's no good beating yourself up over a decision that you should have made and didn't, just try and make a better decision next time.
 
Until tomorrow
Elle

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: You are what you think about most of the time STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination DATE: 08/15/2006 01:50:06 AM ----- BODY:

If you are what you think about most of the time, what exactly are your thoughts saying about you?
 
Imagine if someone could read your mind, what would they find? Would they find you planning tonights dinner, or thinking about the good things that have happened to you today? Or would they be going round and round and round in circles re-hashing the last bad conversation you had, wondering how you could have made your point better, or worse - re-hashing the conversation making up different scenarios and endings. 

You see "internal chatter" is an effective way of stopping you thinking about all those things that you should be thinking about. Do you know what you should be thinking about? If you spend your life re-living the past, or projecting a future filled with conflict, and ways to get even, then there is not going to be any space left over for positive thoughts. Do you wonder why the good things you said you wanted haven't appeared yet? Well it is because you have focussed so much on the negative, that the positive thoughts have been drowned out by the voices that shout loudest. 

So how do you stop the negative thought processes cold in their tracks so you can get on with living your life in a positive way? Believe me it's one of the main ways we procrastinate.
 
The first suggestion is to recognise what thoughts you are having. Sometimes this is enough to stop the negative blighters (at least temporarily). But don't berate yourself for having them, it is said that we speak somewhere in the region of 20,000 words to ourselves each day - how many of those do you think are positive? That's right - not many.

The second suggestion is to focus on the good things that have happened to you today - have you been filling in your celebration book? Celebrate the little things in life, and if you are struggling to stop the negative chatter, get your book out and read a couple of pages.

And finally for today - avoid the news, and any other mindless chatter that you find yourself surrounded with....the radio, the tv, the lunch room gossip, you'd be amazed at how much more positive you feel if you don't read about death and destruction on a daily basis.
 
Like all bad habits, talking "badly" to yourself takes time to break, so don't be harsh on yourself if you don't get it right all the time. I'm still learning. Go back to the first point, and recognise the simple fact you are having bad thoughts and then move on. Believe me it gets easier with practice.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: "Gratitude Log" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Law of Attraction CATEGORY: Gratitude DATE: 08/01/2006 04:59:39 AM ----- BODY:

There are times when we may feel that we are spinning our wheels. The plans we put into place don't seem to be getting very far, and we might be tempted to throw in the towel.
 
Actually it is at exactly that point of giving up is the time we most need to stick to the plan. Because that is when the results are most likely to come.
 
But how do you stick to it when you don't think you are getting very far? 

One of the things I have developed over the years is a "gratitude log" or celebration book - a book containing all the highs that have happened, all the successes, all the "wins" that have occurred. And when I am feeling a little down - I fish them out and start reading. You can keep a gratitude log, a celebration book or a journal. I keep both. In fact I have notebooks on just about everything. The problem with a journal is you may be tempted to write down all the "bad" stuff you've got happening in your life at the moment - and believe me, it is very easy to get mired in the negative. 

So spend a few minutes each day and write down all the good things that have happened to you today. It might only be - the sun was shining and I got the washing dry, or the cute guy in the petrol station smiled at me this morning. You see the more time you spend on the positives, the less time and energy you will need to spend on the negative - because it is the positives that matter. Then when you might be tempted to wallow in self-pity (and believe me there will be days like those) you can read the best story of your life.

And the good thing about focusing on the positive, more positives come your way - it's called the Law of Attraction of LOA - and who doesn't need more good things happening to them?
 
So, what good things have happened to you today? Write them down and read them often.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Make the call STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Planning & Organization CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination help DATE: 07/25/2006 07:50:40 AM ----- BODY:

Hello fellow procrastinators, I hope this finds you well and enjoying the day. I am just killing time before I head off for an appointment - I don't see the point in getting stuck into a project, well I only have 15 minutes before I have to leave, and you know what happens when you get stuck into a project - you don't want to have to stop and start again at some other point down the track.
 
But that's beside the point - today's point that is. Today I want to mention telephone calls. I don't know anyone who enjoys talking on the telephone - especially if you know the conversation is going to go badly, or if you are in sales the person may turn you down before you even get to the good bit about how much money the person can save.
 
But what about those other phone calls you need to make and you've been putting off. Have you applied for a job recently - did you call them to ask if they had received your application? Did you call and ask for feedback if you were unsuccessful? One of the things I have noticed is that if we delay a telephone call (no matter what it is) we end up making other decisions about our future without all the pertinent facts. Take the job example - for example. If you repeatedly send application after application in for jobs but fail to get to the interview stage, and you don't ask the people why - surely it stands to reason that you are going to keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. But what happens if you call the first person and they had a hundred applicants for a job, what happens when 99 of them don't bother to call to see if they got your application...well they may assume you didn't care enough about the job to find out. Or you may find out that the number of spelling and grammatical errors in your application actually said that you didn't have a good eye for detail - in fact it was obvious you had simply re-used an old application. Feedback is vital to ensure that we are doing all that we can with the time that we have been given.
 
Telephone feedback is also instantaneous - if you have a terrible attitude it's going to show in the words that you say and the way that you say it, and you will have trouble selling anything let alone yourself.
 
So when you next speak to someone on the telephone, make sure your attitude is positive, then the words that come out of your mouth will also be positive and you will be amazed at how much further you will go.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How strong is your faith in your own abilities? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Business Philosophy CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: End procrastination DATE: 08/17/2006 06:30:30 AM ----- BODY:

Belief. It is quite an amazing word isn't it. What do you believe? Who or what do you believe in? Do you believe in a higher power? Or do you believe you make your own kind of luck?
 
In some cases, belief can be akin to faith. If you believe in yourself you have faith in your abilities to do what you need to do in order to achieve the things that you want to. But if your belief system is a bit shaky - then the faith you hold about yourself will also not be as strong or sure. 

Procrastination is one of the ways that we undermine our belief system. We may delay starting a project because we don't believe we have the skills or the time (or whatever else) to get the project off and running. And at the other end of the scale, we also don't believe we are good enough, smart enough, talented enough to finish things off. Why - because our faith in ourselves is shaky. 

There is of course another aspect to believing in our abilities - these are the kinds of people who believe they can do anything, and sometimes they may talking through their ego's, but for the most part, these are the people who do the most amazing things. They don't see road blocks as barriers - they see them as opportunities to stop and re-think their strategies.
 
So how strong is your belief system? Do you have faith in your abilities? Or are you feeling a little shaky at the moment?
 
And how do you re-gain the faith in your abilities?
 
Well - sometimes a deep breath can help, square your shoulders and start marching again. Dogged determination may assist you to get over the line. But a much better way is to celebrate each tiny step that takes you towards your dreams, goals and ambitions. Once you have "celebrated" find out what worked, and how you can do it better next time. And take the next step, and the next one. Each step will strengthen your belief system - have faith in your abilities and you will achieve many great things.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Be like the child - Patient but persistent STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Action DATE: 07/20/2006 01:48:26 PM ----- BODY:

"With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown"
Chinese Saying

 
Now I am not saying that we need to wait for ever in order to achieve our dreams, goals and ambitions - but we do need to be kind to ourselves - not to mention patient. Just as a child doesn't learn to walk the first time he stands on those strange protuberances sticking out below his/her well padded rear end, so we need to learn to deal with new situations and circumstances with patience and a good deal of humour

 A child doesn't burst into tears every time his rump hits the floor, no he hardly thinks about it, he just knows that he didn't get it quite right last time - so he has another go. Whereas we - as adults - tend to rush ourselves. We want everything now, and if we don't manage it the first time we throw up our hands in despair and tell ourselves we didn't want it anyway. So learn patience and kindness towards yourself and you will be amazed at how much faster and easier you can do things..

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: It's hard to be down when you're busy STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Planning & Organization CATEGORY: Project Management CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: Cure procrastination CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: End procrastination DATE: 08/20/2006 08:34:16 AM ----- BODY:

Do you have trouble stopping your mind wandering into territories that it shouldn't? Do you worry about things you have no control over? Well it happens to the best of us, but one of the best ways to stop worry in its tracks is to get busy. And I mean really get busy - you must have old projects that you started and didn't finish (hey we're not called procrastinators for nothing you know), so pick one and keep at it until you've finished it. Then find another and another, sooner rather than later, you will find that your natural enthusiasm will come back and then you will be able to get on with doing what you were supposed to be doing.
 
And if you don't have any projects then get your cleaning clothes on and the scrubbing brush out. It took me 4 hours to clean my house on saturday afternoon - the physical act of cleaning wore me out physically and my mind was finally able to slow down long enough to appreciate the hard work.
 
When you spend as much time in your creative mind as I do, then the physical act of exercise or cleaning can be a much needed break for the mind.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Self-help, self development: Conquer fear STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination help CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: Stop procrastination CATEGORY: End procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination DATE: 08/21/2006 08:37:45 AM ----- BODY:

Most people have one or two things that they fear.
 
Take a minute and think about your greatest fears. What do you fear the most, what makes you shudder at the very thought of whatever it is you loathe and detest?
 
Is it:
Spiders;
Snakes;
Heights;
Confined Spaces;
Falling;
Brussell Sprouts.
 
And because it is your fear of a brussell sprout eating venomous spider, you can picture it in all its large, hairy glory can’t you?
 
Now hold that thought, just for a minute. Ok, now think of something that you really love to do, see or experience.
 
Do you enjoy:
Sky Diving;
Rock Climbing;
Keeping exotic pets or
Growing vegetables?
 
You see, to someone else, your brussell sprout eating venomous spider would be an object of fascination. And I must admit the thought of a furry arachnid chomping down on a bright green vegetable the size of a ping pong ball is an interesting one. But if you don’t like spiders or sprouts then you are in serious trouble. As you probably know, what one person may fear, another person may like and enjoy. I loathe snakes, whilst others have them for pets. Some people have a fear of heights, whilst other people climb rocks for fun. Others may have a fear of falling, yet other people may deliberately throw themselves out of airplanes usually with a parachute on their back so they can enjoy the thrill of flying. 

So it is with the many suggestions out there to beat the procrastination habit, give up smoking, how to lose weight and so on. What worked for one person, may or may not help you, after all the way you respond and react is different from everyone else. 

I bet you have at least one "self-help" book on your shelves you have sort of read, half filled in the blanks and then lost interest in when the plan you tried simply didn’t work. Why?
 
Because it is not YOUR plan. It is someone else’s plan. Do not think for a minute you have failed because you didn’t follow the instructions and work on the exercises for a certain period of time. There are lots of reasons why something’s work and something’s don’t.
 
So how does this help us? Do we need to buy yet another book on overcoming procrastination, or goal setting in order to find something that works for us? Well, that’s up to you. But if you already have one or two “self help” books, or motivational books on your shelves gathering dust, then you are half way there. In order to move forward, all you have to do is find them, re-read them, and then follow the instructions, suggestions and exercises. But there is one final step that you should also take. And that is, take what works for you and apply it, and then throw the rest away. Once you start applying those things that work, and discarding those things that don’t, you will quickly come to work out, that it is up to you to take responsibility for finding the pieces to your own personal puzzle. It is time to take responsibility for your own “self help” program.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Is today well planned? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Planning & Organization DATE: 08/22/2006 08:40:34 AM ----- BODY:

A quick question as we head in to today - what exactly do you fill your days with?

Is today well planned? What about tomorrow?
 
Are the things you are planning on filling the hours before you go to bed going to be filled with positive happenings and thoughts or are they going to be filled with doubt, anxiety and fear?
 
As I have mentioned to you in a past edition of the daily dose, worry is just a series of thoughts that you are having. Well today we are going to take it a little bit further. What are the feelings and emotions that are currently filling your thoughts and your body. I mean right now - how do you feel about where you are and what you are about to do or have just done?
 
Are you filled with joy and happiness at the thought of what you are next going to do with your next moment of time, or is it a brooding - if only I can get through this moment I will be able to get on with what I really want to do.
 
But what of those niggles that are sitting at the back of your mind - constantly prodding you with subtle reminders - do you worry about your health? do you worry about someone elses health or state of mind? Does it fill your mind so that you can only do just enough to get through your day?
 
Worry and fear are interesting emotions, we all have them, and as we said yesterday, what one person may fear another person may well like or enjoy. But it is also interesting that worry and fear keep us from really doing everything that we can - and is probably the biggest cause of procrastination around. You see if you can't think past your worry and fear (or don't want to think past your worry and fear) - then you won't be able to embrace the things you know will take you forward. Yes there really are people out there who have a vested interest in their own ill health or their poverty mentality - it gives them something to talk about. I have an aunt who relishes a visit to the doctors, becaus it means she has something "interesting" to tell her neighbours.
 
Some time today I would like you to do yourself a favour. I would like you to stop what it is you are doing, and take a walk through your mind, and discover the hidden worries and fears that are holding you back - stuck in the same rut, doing the same things over and over again. Now this may be a little scary for some of you - especially if you have never asked yourself what the real matter is. But by finding out what is the true, underlying cause of your fears, anxieties and worries will you be able to deal with them and then be able to move forwards with those dreams, goals and ambitions that you said you wanted to achieve.
 
Try it and let me know how you get on. And I'll tell you about mine another day.

 .

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: 6 degrees of separation STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Business Management CATEGORY: Business Philosophy CATEGORY: Law of Attraction CATEGORY: Role Models DATE: 08/23/2006 05:27:30 AM ----- BODY:

Have you heard of the term 6 degrees of separation. You know people, those people you know, know other people and on it goes....and sooner or later you are going to find some link to famous people, infamous people or people who can help you in some way shape or form.
 
Well there is another interesting point about this kind of connection  - and that comes under the headings of coincidences and karma.
 
Imagine sitting in a coffee shop somewhere, and you watch the people around you - have you noticed the group of people who are making snide comments about the people around them. What they are wearing, what they are saying. These people have no idea who they are talking about, but they don't care.
 
Now imagine what would happen if the person who is being talked about overhears their conversation - shrugs it off and heads to work. Closely followed by some or all of the group who still don't know who he/she is. Imagine then being part of that group - who walks into a bank and is confronted by the same person they were laughing about just minutes ago. Will the bank manager be more or less likely to give "good" service? Of course the bank manager may be a professional and not make a comment about the group's rude comments overhead, and treat the group with dignity and respect - even if it could be warranted that they didn't "deserve" it.
 
And what of those casual encounters we have every single day of the week. If we believe in "karma" ie., you receive that which you put out....put out negative energy and you will receive negative energy. Give away smiles and you will receive smiles...try it - it's infectious. But what would happen if the result of your action is not immediate, as in the example given above, but several months if not years down the track.
 
Today I received a phone call from a gentleman. He was interested in some training that we ran. The interesting thing is - the last time I saw him - several months ago, he was so drunk he could hardly stand up. But I remembered his name. It was also interesting - he remembered mine - drunk or not, he remembered me. He had no idea until I picked up the telephone that I worked for an organisation that ran training on a subject that he needed assistance in. The point is - when I first met the gentleman I could have dismissed him as being a drunked fool - and he would have noted my name and made a mental note that I had been less than disrespectful to his state of being at the time. Would he have still been willing to talk to me had I done that. I don't know. But I do know that every interaction that we have today can make a difference to you at some point in the future.
 
So as you go through today, remember it may only be a casual encounter with some passerby, or sales assistant - but they may have the power of your future in their hands.  So learn to treat each encounter as an opportunity to make deposits into your karmic bank, and you will receive far more in return.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Speak kindly to yourself STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Law of Attraction DATE: 07/17/2006 05:18:41 AM ----- BODY:

In order to have a healthy body, first you have to have a healthy mind. If you don't treat your mind with respect, how on earth do you suppose you can have a healthy body?

But what do I mean by that rather interesting statement? Surely it is a matter of eating the right foods and doing the prescribed number of situps isn't it?

Actually that is only part of the equation. And this is why a lot of people fail in their bid to get fit, lose weight or achieve any number of goals that they set for themselves.

In order to have a healthy mind and body - you have to speak to yourself with respect and kindness.

Unfortunately most of the time we speak to ourselves in less than glowing terms and it shows in the way that we hold our bodies, and the quality of the words we speak to other people. You see we "speak" on average 20,000 words to ourselves each and every day. Those thoughts that run through our minds have the power to build up or destroy our creative and any other thought process we may have. And of course what we "tell ourselves" we usually attract - it's not called the Law of Attraction for nothing.

So what do we tell ourselves every day? We can't do that because...., we've always failed at...., who do you think you are to even think that you can.... and on and on it goes. 

It's an interesting process to actually listen to your inner dialogue, but it is essential that you know what you are saying to yourself so that you can stop the abuse. Because it is a form of self-abuse. If you spoke to other people in the same way that you spoke to yourself, you wouldn't have many friends.
 
So learn to say kind things about yourself, it is the most important step on the road to a healthy body and a healthy mind.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Role Models: What kind are you? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Mentoring and Coaching CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Role Models DATE: 07/16/2006 05:16:09 AM ----- BODY:

Are you setting a good example or are you setting a bad one?

Don't know the answer to that question? The answer relates to your habits. What habits do you have?

If you have other people who look up to you - for example children, then you will know the importance of setting a good example. Children have a "nasty" habit of emulating those people around them. So if they see you eating "bad" things, drinking far too much, and reading trashy magazines - guess what, that behaviour is going to be imprinted and they are going to think that it's OK for them to do the same. These habits tend to be "bad" ones, do you want your children / grandchildren / employees to think you only have "bad habits?"

Or do you have good habits? Do you exercise regularly? Read books? Eat well AND properly?
 
Be remembered by those people who look up to you as a person who set a good example, rather than a bad one.

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Using Anger as Motivation STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Action DATE: 07/15/2006 05:10:50 AM ----- BODY:

Have you ever noticed that the more angrier you are about something, the more likely you are to do something about it?

Not convinced?

Well - take the bank - if they overcharge you, how soon are you on the phone, or marching down to the branch to "sort it out?" I would hazard a guess - you will do it as soon as you notice. You make time to do it. You will change other appointments, or rearrange your day to ensure they give you your money back.

My question is:

The answer is not very quickly. Do we beat ourselves up about the bad food that we eat, or the fact that we don't exercise as often as we should of course not. Nor do we get vaguely upset about the fact that we didn't do as much today as we could have done. We let things slide, we tell ourselves that we will "do it tomorrow". Those are the things we should be getting angry about - when we repeatedly fail to get motivated about those things that can really make a difference to the way our lives work out.

What do you get angry about? Does it motivate you in a positive way?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Thursday - the wasted day of the week? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Time Management DATE: 08/31/2006 05:41:21 AM ----- BODY:

Thursday, it’s a bit of a strange day of the week don’t you think. Too far away from the beginning of the week for us to still be enthused about what the week has in store, and a day away from the start of the weekend. So what use is a Thursday really?
 
Actually, every Thursday that has gone past in a blur of anticipation for the following day is a day wasted. Think about it, each boring Thursday has 24 hours of untapped potential. 24 hours that you can use in any way that you want. After all it’s your 24 hours. No-one else has 24 hours exactly the same as you.
 
So why do we waste such a wonderful resource?
 
I think that some of the answer lies in how we plan our time. Did you start today with a proper plan? Or were you a little vague on the details? If I were to hazard a guess most people reading this would confess to not having made a plan, a to-do list, or any other kind of time management scheme. One question – then how on earth do you know where you are when you get to the end of this day? Are you on-track? Are you ahead or behind?
 
And yet another question for you on this Thursday – on track for what? Whilst we are on the subject of planning for a Thursday – the reason why we fail to plan for each Thursday, is because we don’t know what we want to achieve by the end of the day / week / year. We allow our days to drift along, thinking that we have hundreds of Thursday’s ahead of us. So we squander those precious 24 hours that we have been given.
 
One thing that I have noticed is that once we have a goal in our sights, then we fill each minute of the day with ways that will allow us to reach it. And not even a boring Thursday will stop us, why? Because there are no boring Thursday’s when you have a vivid goal in your sights.
 
So stop squandering time and start planning your future.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Killing time: 5 minutes at a time STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Planning & Organization CATEGORY: Project Management CATEGORY: Action DATE: 09/01/2006 05:46:31 AM ----- BODY:

Question – What do you do when you have five minutes to kill?
 
Those times when we are sitting in a waiting room, or standing in line waiting to be served. Do you pick up the nearest celebrity mag to find out what the stars are doing? Do you spend the time watching other people? Or do you get grumpy because someone is making you wait and you’re going to let them know about it.
 
A word – get over it. Just what makes your time more valuable than someone else’s anyway?
 
You see getting angry over someone making you wait is a little like dealing in double standards. Do you use every single minute of every single day doing what you know you should be doing? Of course not, and you’d be a liar if you said you did. What do you do when you are waiting for the kettle to boil, or for the dinner to cook or the washing to finish? Chances are you stand there waiting for said activity to finish. Added up, those minutes of inactivity constitute a good portion of everyone’s day / week / month and years of our lives.
 
It could be argued that it’s not worth starting anything because then the thing you are waiting for will be ready, by which time you’ll be part way through something else. And procrastinators the world over has hundreds of half-finished projects without adding to the tally.
 
Well can you imagine you would feel if you knew those few minutes were the last ones you were ever going to have? Surely then “killing time” would take on a whole new meaning. Thankfully most of us don’t know when our last moments are going to be, and it is interesting that we can’t and don’t go through life worrying about anticipating our last moments on earth. But what I would ask you to consider is those few minutes, in fact the time it has taken you to read this cannot be re-wound and re-used in another way. Whether we like it or not, once gone, those wasted moments have gone forever.
 
So before you are next tempted to waste time, consider this – as far as we know, we only have a single shot at this thing called life. Yes there are some instances whereby people have had a miraculous escape from death or serious injury – only to waste their lives worrying that they’re going to be stricken down with something else. Of course there are those other kinds of people who take whatever hand they have been dealt and make a whole new life. I happen to know people on both sides of the ledger, and I know which ones are the joys to be around.
 
So don’t get to the end of your life (whenever that is) wishing you could’ve done more, been more, seen more, used those moments to build a better future. Of course how you spend your time is entirely up to you, unless you live in a dictatorship of course, but then you wouldn’t be reading this would you.
 
Now the question has to be, how can you use your moments more wisely?
 
Well the first is being aware of what you are doing, and try and limit the number of wasted periods in your day.
 
The second point has to do with goal setting. If you knew what it was you wanted to achieve, you could use those few moments to do something that will take you a little closer to reaching it. You can read (or write) a book in five-minute increments. If you have a book outline – you know what you are going to say next – and voila a five minute writing slot will move your book about 2/3 of a page forward. Try it it’s quite interesting. Or you could spend those five minutes building a better relationship with your family.
 
But if you don’t know what it is you want to achieve then you will drift through your life in wasted 5-minute slots.
 
So next time you get “5” work out what is you want to achieve and then you will be able to work out the first couple of steps you need to take in order to get there.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Work / Life Balance: All work and no play? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance DATE: 07/14/2006 05:08:15 AM ----- BODY:

Today's slightly irreverent look at work and motivation is short and sweet as we head off into the weekend.

If you have time on your hands during the working day, and want to keep it that way - never, ever get a job you enjoy doing. If you do, you will spend all your time "working" and have no time left over for any personal stuff that you would normally do during work time.

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Carrots vs Sticks: What drives you? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Business Philosophy DATE: 07/08/2006 01:02:07 AM ----- BODY:

Just a simple question today as we head into the weekend.

I have come to the conclusion that we are all driven by one of two things when it comes to achieving our goals and tasks.

For some it's the carrot, others the stick

What drives you?

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Food habits STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation to improve diet and health CATEGORY: Habits DATE: 09/05/2006 02:20:03 PM ----- BODY:

We have spoken many times about habits, how some of them are important to have, whilst others we should do something about. Well today I would like to talk to you about your eating habits, or rather - where you do your shopping.
 
Do you shop in a supermarket with everything under the same roof? And why not - it's convenient, doesn't take too much time and energy, leaving you more of both to do all those other things we have to do.
 
But a question for you - has supermarkets made us fat and lazy?
 
We drive to the supermarket because we know we're not going to be able to carry everything we buy otherwise.
 
And once we get there we choose foods that weren't on our lists because we just happened to spot them (hint - there's an art to shelf placement in supermarkets - and guess what, they know you're going to spot the item(s) - they also know that these items will sell relatively well, especially if they are selling for less than they were last week).
 
If you're at home - go and have a look in the pantry and.or the fridge. What do the contents look like? Are they full of vibrant foods, full of colour and nutrients, or can't you tell because you can't see through the boxes and tins they come in?
 
I must confess that I prefer to buy my fruit and veggies from a growers market rather than the large conglomerates, but didn't know where I could buy other fresh type produce - flours, rice, tea etc. It has always bothered me that we probably spend far more on the packaging than the contents. It's also bothered me that the ingredients listed on most of the labels look more like a chemistry lesson than anything that can sustain life let alone promote it. So I was pleased to discover an old fashioned store, where you could buy loose foods....tea, rice, flour, coconut, dried fruits, herbs, spices, coffee beans and every other type of bean too. A vibrant energy filled the store, it was full of wonderful aromas and people enjoying their shopping experience.
 
Granted I'm now going to have to get my cookery books out to discover how to cook some of these things. But you know what - I am really looking forward to re-discovering food again. Yes it may take me a little longer to cook dinner of an evening - but and here's one of the bonuses for me - my kids love to cook - so we'll be enjoying some additional quality time together creating and eating new foods.
 
Now I know there will be some of you thinking I have completely lost the plot, you don't have time to shop at a dozen places to buy breads, fruit, meat and fish - that's what a supermarket is for after all. But a question for you - what do you do with the time that you save in shopping at a supermarket?
 
My feeling is that we all find time to do what we really want to do....
 
So my final question for you today - what do you really want to do? Do you want to experience life or exist in someone elses plan for you?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Breaking the habits: you need to take action STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits DATE: 07/07/2006 12:54:41 AM ----- BODY:

Did you enjoy yesterday's task? Did you bother to do it? All of it, or just some of it?
I have noticed that we only do those things that we really want to do. So if yesterday's task didn't appeal to you - you have to ask yourself why?
 
Were you embarrased? I know I was. Yes I did the challenge too. I did find the dress I wore 8 years ago, and it didn't look any better yesterday than it did then. My legs looked as shapeless as the dress. 

Did you feel that you "knew what you looked like" you didn't need to have it confirmed thank you very much? Ah, but that was the point - sometimes we need to see ourselves through other people's eyes. And photographs are a great way of seeing how you looked on a good day / bad day / the day when your hair needed washing. 

Of course you may have taken the challenge, the question is - now what?
 
Well that's up to you isn't it. You can choose to put all those clothes back in the wardrobe, or you can relegate them to the duster closet. Now please note that I am not giving you permission to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes just because I told you to ditch the old and the frumpy ones. The point of the exercise was to awaken you to the possibility that perhaps it is time to stop kidding yourself into thinking you are "something that you are not". Thin when you need to lose a pound or two, Fat - when you need to put weight on. We all have our own delusions about ourselves. But the reality can come in many forms and formats, and the easiest way is to take a cold, hard look at ourselves - and then choose to do something positive about it.
 
Change your hairstyle, wear a different colour, start to walk to work or the shops rather than take the car.
 
Remember it has taken many years for you to reach the point you find yourself now. Only you can decide to change what happens next.
 
I wish you an enjoyable journey
Elle

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Television as a habit STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal setting CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance DATE: 09/07/2006 06:50:56 AM ----- BODY:

Yesterday I asked you what you were reading, well today I'd like to talk to you about your TV viewing habits. Did I say habits - yep that word again.
 
Do you own a television?
How many?
How many are on at any given time of the day?
What are you watching? Do you watch the same programs each week?
How many hours a day do you sit down and stare intently at the tiny screen?
How many hours a week does that equate to?
 
Now I need you to be honest - you don't need to tell me - you need to tell yourself
 
What are you not doing when you are watching the television?
 
Am I saying that watching television is bad? Not at all, if you've done everything else you should have done. Do you have children? Do you insist they do their homework before they get to watch their favourite shows? Are you being a little hypocritical then if you sit and watch your tv shows when you haven't done "your homework"?
 
A couple of things about the television.
 
The news is full of doom and despair - how do you feel when you've finished watching the news? Happy, ready to get up and get going, fired with enthusiasm? No, me neither. Lets face it bad news sells and for the politicians who want to be re-elected - a great way to feed negative thoughts into the minds of the public. Did you notice before the last election - how the terror alerts went up - then miraculously they almost disappeared off the screens once the election was over....funny that....OK you can call me cynical if you want to, but the pattern was interesting.
 
And for the rest of the programs, well really they are a sanitized form of life. We are removed from the happenings. We can't smell the food being cooked, we certainly can't taste it, we can't feel the breeze on our skin, or hear the tiny rustle of creatures walking in the undergrowth - we are reliant on the skill of the presenters, the camera and sound crew and the actors to portray "life" to us.
 
But what do all these people in television have in common?
 
Earning lots of money perhaps? Well maybe!
But the one that I was thinking of - is they are all living their dreams. They are doing what they love, what they enjoy, they are living their lives to the absolute max and they are having the times of their lives.
 
What are we doing? We are watching other people living their lives, we are not living our own....well and this should not come as a surprise to you - life is not a spectator sport, life is a participation sport.
 
So my final question for today - what would you do if you couldn't watch the television? Say some nasty person went into your house and removed all the plugs. Yes the machines are still there, but there's no power. Would you rant and rave and find a spare plug and put it back together? Would you drive to the local hardware store and buy one - if you couldn't find one in the house? Of course you would. Television has become such an ingrained part of our lives, that we can't live without it....TV has become a habit. A bad habit.
 
Do I watch television? Yes, I do. But I don't watch the the news, or current affairs programs. But I only watch the TV after I've done my homework. Does that mean that sometimes I don't watch the television at night - the answer is yes. How on earth do you think I find time to write as much as I do?
 
Well my final thoughts for the day are this - we all find time to do what we want to do....and that is - 
what goes into the mind comes out of the mouth. So if your conversations revolve around who did what on which show, then my suggestion - turn the damn thing off and start living your own dreams. Go on, you will be amazed at how much more you can achieve, and you will be ahead of most of the rest of the population out there.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Words - the most powerful weapon you can use STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Role Models CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/08/2006 06:54:21 AM ----- BODY:

Over the last couple of days I've been poking my nose into your private lives. I hope you don't mind the intrusion - but I find the only way to break through the procrastination habit is to look at our habits. We can work out what we need to keep to keep functioning at the highest levels and discard those habits and behaviours that do not. Ah easier said than done I know. Which is why I try and "talk" to you every day.
 
Which is a rather radio 2 link to today's topic...words. They are the most powerful tool / weapon we can have in our personal armories. They have the power to destroy, and they have the power to build - and it is entirely up to us which words we use, and how we use them.
 
You see, depending on the tone of your voice, you can make a huge difference to the way the words sound. Try emphasising a different word or words in a sentence, and you will SEE WHAT I MEAN.
 
A couple of years ago I was having dinner with some friends. These friends had also invited some other acquaintances over for dinner, great a chance to meet and interact with some new people I thought. It was interesting when I arrived though (early to help out as is my want) I was warned that one of the people had an interesting choice of vocabulary and they hoped I wouldn't be offended. Forewarned is forearmed and I was able to observe the couple without wondering whether the person had Teurettes Syndrome. Whilst the male was busily using a word repeatedly - I noticed with interest how the female half of the couple then started interjecting the same word into her sentences. Yet on her own, she didn't use the term.
 
Now this is going to be a difficult exercise to do, but I would ask that you try it anyway. I need you to listen to yourself speak during a "normal" conversation. How on earth can you listen to yourself speak? You can - it just needs practice. But don't try and censure what is coming out of your mouth - unless you are totally rude and obnoxious of course, in which case - try and "be nice" as I say to the children.
 
Now and here is another interesting part to today's message. The way that you hold your body also impacts on the words that you use and the way that you speak them. Don't believe me - well try slouching, drop your chin towards your chest and try and explain how you are feeling. No-one has to be there, you can try this one on your own. If your body is "depressed" I can almost guarantee that the words and the tone of your voice will be depressed too.
 
Now - sit or stand up straight. Pull your shoulders back and lift up your chin. Now how do you feel? Explain out loud how your body feels. A hint - you should be feeling far more confident in yourself and your abilities. If not, then rearrange your body until you do.
 
Finally - the last task for today. Take what you have just learned, and observe those people around you - watch the words and the body language, it's fascinating.
 
If you do want to get more out of every day (and you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't) you need to speak and act like you do. If your body is "defeated" then guess what, you will be too. Act confidently and you will speak with confidence.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Determine your habits: clothes and image STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits DATE: 07/06/2006 12:49:47 AM ----- BODY:

Today I want to talk to you about your image. Ah, not the one that you see when you go and look at yourself in the bathroom mirror, nor the image that we "dress" ourselves in when we go to work.
 
The image I am talking about is far more revealing than that. I am talking about those images that have been captured and stored for prosperity. I am of course talking about photographs, specifically photographs of you.
 
I would like you to do me a favour - and go and find all the photographs that you can find of yourself....check albums, hard drives of computers, pictures on the wall, check the closets and the closets of your parents and your siblings if you are struggling to find any. (And if you're anything like me you will have purged the ones that weren't very flattering in the first place). I know that part of today's exercise will take some time, so carry on reading, and then continue with today's thoughs to ponder afterwards.
 
OK, now go to your bedroom and spread the images over the bedspread...hint you might want to make the bed first.
 
Now I want you to look at the clothes you were wearing. Did you look good in them? Or just OK? Be honest with yourself, because this bit gets interesting. Now I want you to go to your closet and find those clothes that are in the pictures.... I can almost guarantee you will have some (if not all) of them...
 
Now I want you to put them on again. How do you look? How do you compare to the image in the photograph?
 
Have you put weight on? Have you lost weight? Are those clothes just as frumpy now as they were when you had the photograph taken?
 
The question is not - does my bum look big in this...but - how do you look? Do you have rolls of fat hanging over the top of your trousers? Does your stomach stick out even if you are trying to hold it in?
 
Of course you may look taught, terrific and have the muscles to prove it...in which case, the question is - why do you still have those clothes?

So, why this particular exercise and why today? Well - why not today? When were you going to toss those clothes out anyway? Or do you still wear them? I know we all have favourites...those slobby clothes that we put on when we are feeling in need of comfort, but what about the rest of them?
 
I'm not a great believer in getting rid of things just because you haven't worn them in 6-12 months, but I have come to the conclusion that if I didn't look good in those clothes I was wearing in the photograph - why on earth would I look any better in them now.

The "How" we dress is a  habit of course, and as we know by now - if we want to get rid of a habit, we need to either

a) be radical

b) create a new habit

If you are serious about changing the way that you look at yourself, then take a cold hard look at how others see you...and photographs are a great way of doing that.
 
Now go clean out your closet, and I'll speak to you again tomorrow

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Is it working yet? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Motivating Children CATEGORY: Motivating Kids CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Motivating Teenagers CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: Role Models CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/10/2006 07:00:23 AM ----- BODY:

I hope this finds you well for a sunday afternoon

Just a simple question - is the nagging paying off yet?
 
Are you taking the time to think about all those little things that you do each and every day of your lives?
 
Have you begun to make some changes to the way that you do things? I do hope so, but I can't stand over you and insist that you do things....the words horse and water spring to mind here. So it really is up to you whether you do or not.
 
I can hear the muttering from here, that's all right for you to say - you don't have to do what I have to do....ad lib til fade.
 
Well to give you a bit of a clue about my circumstances:
 
I am single mother to two very bright children, which means they need stimulation - and lots of it. I have a full time job - and I have a home to run. I have friends and acquaintances who I take the time to catch up with, I exercise almost on a daily basis (3 or 4 times a week at the gym, plus other stuff including walking/running) plus my personal writing, this web site - and I do need to sleep - occassionally. The trouble I have found with trying to cram so much into every day is that sometimes my brain forgets it needs to sleep so I can be awake for quite a while at night...but at least I'm not missing out on anything.
 
I have said this many times and I will keep on saying it - in order to achieve great things you have to get away from blaming other people for where you find yourself right at this point in time. I could choose not to stimulate the kids with trips and books, questions, spelling tests in the car - you name it we do it....For instance today was daft question day.
 
If a shop is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - why do they need a lock on the door? 
Beats me, I mean if they're not - can we sue them for false advertising?
 
I consider it my duty as a parent to ensure that they have a wide and varied education that goes well beyond traditional schooling. And they love it, they still talk about those long trips - do you remember when we did....and that to me as a parent is a wonderful thing. My kids are teenageers now, and they still enjoy spending time with me, and for that I am eternally grateful.
 
So why am I telling you this? Well I also consider you to be part of "the family" and if I can help you to be all that you can be - with questions and proddings so that you can re-assess your lives to this point and to see where you can make some changes, then I will have done my job.
 
So a review of the last couple of days -
 
Have you listened to the way that you speak to yourself and others? This one takes some doing so don't be too hard on yourself if you can't get it right all the time.
 
Have you reviewed your television watching habits? Have you linked the TV with the food component yet? If you are not consciously watching what you are eating because your mind is focussed on other things I can alsmost guarantee you will be struggling to control your weight. (Been there - and had to buy a bigger t-shirt)!
 
And have you managed to get more out of this weekend? I do hope so.
 
I hope this next week will bring new and wonderful experiences to enjoy. I hope you have a great night and I will speak to you again soon.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Learning how to reclaim your time STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal setting CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Avoid procrastination CATEGORY: Avoiding procrastination CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Cure procrastination CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: End procrastination CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance CATEGORY: To do lists CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/12/2006 06:32:52 AM ----- BODY:

I hope this finds you well and trying to find new and wacky ways to have an upbeat day today.
 
As you know we have been looking at some of the many habits and time wasting techniques we use on a daily basis. Some may have been niggling at the back of your mind, but others may not have occurred to you and I hope I've given you some food for thought. Now that we've uncovered some of the problems, lets look at some of the ways we can reclaim some time so that you can get more out of every day.
 
The first is get enough sleep. Which was probably not the first item you were thinking of was it? You were probably expecting me to tell you how to multi-task and make do on 2 and a half hours sleep a night. Well actually in order to do more, you need to sleep well. Believe it or not, sleep and it's cousin "rest" is quite often the most overlooked component of breaking the procrastination habit. If you don't sleep well, you wake up tired, your body feels sluggish and it takes much longer to get going in the morning, usually with several shots of caffeine. But we'll be talking more about stimulants and how bad they are in a later section.
 
So, go to bed at a reasonable hour. What is reasonable? Well consider that you need between 7 and 9 hours sleep a night. Take that away from when you have to get up in the morning and voila your new bed time. For me I should be in bed about 10.15 - 10.45pm each night because my alarm goes at 6.15. If your favourite tv show plays after this time - then tape it....and watch it instead of the news the following day.
 
When you wake up, take a moment and stretch. Ease the kinks out of your back by raising your arms above your head and as you do take in lots of air and breathe deeply. Most people only use the top 20% of their lung capacity, consequently their body's are having to make do with nasty stale air. So breathe in and out deeply a couple of times and get rid of it. More oxygen in your blood wakes you up faster than a cyclist who's been blood doping.
 
Now I need you to smile, and remind yourself how ridiculous you look in your PJ's and you are well on the way to a better day. Now go and shower, I'll be here waiting.
 
Don't forget, you can reclaim those few minutes whilst you are waiting for other things to happen, like the kettle to boil, or whilst your toast is cooking to make a start on the day's to-do list. Remind me, we do need to talk about those endless cups of coffee and refined flour you eat and how these "foods" impact on your lack of motivation in anothe edition.
 
But the final point for today is this. It's OK to make more time in your day. The question is what are you going to do with it?
 
So let's go back to that to-do list? Is it a task list? Or a stepping stone to completing your goals list?
 
Most people only have a to do list...do the shopping, washing, ironing, take the kids to school, cook dinner, make lunch, clean the house, weed the garden, do the dishes... Now I'm not saying that it's bad to do those things, just that there has got to be more to life than cooking, cleaning and going to work.
 
So what do you have on your goal list? And do you know what you need to do today in order to reach that goal?
 
Goals are those wonderful things you would like to do at some point in the future. Pay off the house, go to Egypt, buy a new car, paint the house, write poetry. Now unless you are a millionaire several times over, most of these things can't be achieved over night. So you need to break them down. What can you achieve this year? What will take you a couple of years to complete? What will take you a little longer to complete? Only you can know, after all it's your list.
 
But lets say you want to pay off your house? Do you know how much you currently owe? What is their expected termination date? Can you make more repayments ie., divide the same payments into fortnightly or weekly payments so that you are paying the interest off quicker? Can you make additional payments? Will your budget allow you to? Can you do any extra work to finance the payment a bit quicker? What will extra payments have on the rest of your budget? Do you have a damn good idea that you can market that will bring in extra cash and help pay off the house quicker?
 
Questions that may take some time to answer, but once you have the answers - you can structure your days/weeks and years to accommodate the plan. Can you afford a cup of coffee each day on the way to work? Or can you spend the $15 a week on something else? (Assuming 1 cup per day at $3 per cup). Some may say - but it's only $3 a day, but over a year guess what, it equates to $720 (1 cup per day x 5 days x 48 weeks in a working year). Now what could you have done with an extra $720 in your bank account?
 
Daily decisions added up over time can make a huge impact on where you end up. But please, only you can decide what is important to you and what it is you want to achieve. So during those spare five minutes you have throughout today and the next few days spend some time and work out what it is you want, and then ask yourself some questions. Because it may be, that in order to achieve whatever you say you want to achieve, it may not be possible in the time you say. And this is usually where it gets forgotten about - it becomes "too hard" to stick to, or the plan you have will never work. Remind me to tell you about my unrealistic "size 10" goal at some point.
 
Now, I'm not going to be around tomorrow to keep an eye on you, I'm having the day off because it is my birthday - fire extinguishers at the ready!!! and I'm not planning on turning on the computer. Because for me, tomorrow is my day of rest, and that is as important as sleep. As we mentioned at the start of this daily musing. Rest and recuperation is vital. Take time out of your day to plan the future, but then you should take some time out at the end of the week (or whatever day you designate) and see if you are still travelling the right path. And if not, then you can determine what changes in course you need to make. You see if you know the outcome in advance, you know that minor detours won't make too much difference in the end.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Breaking the procrastination habit with a time log STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Project Management CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Homework Motivation CATEGORY: Motivating Students to Study CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Motivating Children CATEGORY: Motivating Kids CATEGORY: Motivating Teenagers CATEGORY: Motivation techniques DATE: 09/14/2006 06:35:59 AM ----- BODY:

Do you remember when you were a kid and you were given homework. Depending on the subject you either did it straight away or you stuffed it in the bottom of your bag and hoped the teacher would forget. Have you noticed that as we get older, we're just the same as those snotty teenage kids we were then? We really do do those things we enjoy but struggle to start those things we know we have to do, just don't want to do.
 
So we put things off until the last minute. We know we will have to start it at some point, just not today. Then what happens, we come to the point where we either do it or suffer embarrassment or worse by not having completed the darn thing. So we start the job (whatever it is) and then what happens, we keep going until the job is completed. We know that if necessary we will throw an all-nighter in order to complete the task.
 
But what happens then? Do we learn from our mistakes? Do we work out that if we had in fact started the item when we were asked rather than adding it to the list of other things we don't want to do, we wouldn't have ended up stressed and worried that we would be found out. Nope. Instead of completing that task and then working out which one of the other distasteful items we should tackle next, we slide straight back into our slow down mode. If you were serious about getting on with the tasks in hand you would complete one task then work out which one you are going to be doing next and start it...but we don't.
 
You tell yourself that you will work better next time, you'll start the projects sooner, you won't leave things to the last minute. So you sit back and rest after a job well done!! You go and make yourself a cup of coffee, read the paper or do whatever you do when you are not doing what you should be doing.
 
OK, I do know that we cannot work at full capacity for 24 hours a day. But in reality how many of your working hours are actually productive? How many times a day do you check your email? How much "research" do you do? How much research do you actually need to do?
 
Today I am going to ask you do keep a time log. Have you ever had to keep a timesheet? Well this is slightly different, because you are going to be making a note of the task that you do and how long it took you to do it. Now I am not asking to see it, I am not going to be marking you out of 10, this is up to you. If you really want to know where you spend your time and how you can get more out of every day then you need to know where you are currently spending your time.
 
No matter what the task is, I want you to make a note of it in your note book or on a sheet of paper. I use an excel spreadsheet marked with 15 minute slots, but its up to you which method you choose. Each day for a week make a note of the jobs and the time.
 
What happens then?
 
Would you believe me if I told you this was self regulating? Well it is. Because once you realise how you spend your time each and every day of the week you will begin to see how you can beat the procrastination cycle.
 
Do you spend 10 minutes each morning catching up on the latest goings on in the various soaps that you watch? How many cups of coffee do you make each day? How many do you actually drink? How long do you spend surfing the net or reading emails? How many of them are work related?
 
Now if you are struggling with weight at the same time, make a note every time you eat something - can you tie your eating patterns in with the jobs that you are doing? Are you eating because you are bored? Are you eating because you really don't want to do a distasteful job? We find many ways to delay doing tasks and jobs and eating and drinking are two of the biggest time wasters we can use.
 
Try it you will be amazed, if not a little embarrased by your lack of real productivity. Of course it is up to you what you do with all that extra time you find !! A tip, do the jobs you dislike first so that you have something to look forward to. If you do it the other way around I can guarantee you will find ways of delaying the nasty jobs even further.
 
As a gift to you - gee thanks - I've supplied a copy of the time log that I use. If you are on the computer as much as I am, I find it a simple task to open the log first thing in the morning and keep adding to it during the day. But the choice as they say is yours. I just know that this works for me, I hope you try it. If you haven't claimed your copy yet, you will find it under the Downloads and Free Stuff Page.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Achieving work / life balance STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance DATE: 07/05/2006 12:39:21 AM ----- BODY:

Life is about balance. Have you noticed that in order to work hard all day, you need to sleep well at night. If you don't sleep well, you can't perform your daily tasks and activities well. If you are feeling tired and run down, then I can gurantee that the work that you do, the conversations that you have and the way you hold your body (and head) will reflect the fact that you feel tired and run down. You will be lack lustre, your heart just won't be in it.
 
The thing is, most of us don't know how to relax. We forget what it's like to have down time, what I call non-striving time. I am on annual leave from my day time job this week, and so far I have not stopped. I feel that I have to clean every room in my house, go the gym, meet my "friends", cook a wholesome dinner every night. Are you like that - do you get back off your holiday feeling like you need another one?
 
Why do we impose deadlines on ourselves all the time? Why do we feel that we have to get things done within a certain space of time? Of course if you are punching a time clock, or have work-related projects that are time bound then you are more likely to keep a wary eye on the clock. We end up tired and out of sorts, like a car that isn't running on all cylinders.
 
Most motivational speakers recommend you taking 5 minutes out of each day just for you. Well if 5 minutes is all you can spare for your emotional and physical well-being, then take those 5 minutes. But let me put it to you this way. We all need about 7 hours sleep a night. If you work full time then you can be out of the house for something like 10-12 hours per day....that's 17-19 hours each day spoken for. Now add in the time taken to get ready for work, time to cook dinner and do the dishes - what's left? 2-4 hours per 24 hour day - if you are lucky. How do you spend those few hours? Sitting in front of the television? Doing chores? Doing work you've brought home to get a head start on tomorrow?
 
So take a personal inventory - in your daily allocation of 24 hours, is your day balanced? Or does it need some adjustment?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Picking yourself up after a "loss" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination help CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/17/2006 03:54:57 AM ----- BODY:

One of the interesting things I find about motivation and procrastination is how do you pick yourself up after a loss, or when you are feeling down? How do you keep on going, when you really don't feel up to the mark?
 
It's easy for those people who have never experienced "depression" to say "get over it" in reality it's not quite that easy as you may know first hand. However, there are some things that you can do.
 
First of all - remember your long term plans, goals, dreams and ambitions. If you are experiencing a bump in the road, know that it is only temporary and you will "get over it" - the bump that is. Yes it may feel like it is taking forever, but you can either sit down and just let life pass you by or you can remember why you were on the road in the first place and accept that somedays are going to be worse than others. But if you can see the "thing" in your minds eye then humps and bumps in the road are just minor inconveniences not major obstacles.
 
Find out who has been there before you - and ask them for a hand. If you are a member of a professional organisation and you just don't know which road to take next - ask the question, you may be surprised at the suggestions you receive. If you don't feel that anyone has ever been in the same place as you (and yes we all have unique situations) but someone, somewhere will have a similar experience to you - so find out - but a word of caution - don't use the time to whinge about how bad your life is at the moment - because you will not feel better by whingeing. Focussing on the bad - makes you feel worse.
 
Get busy - it doesn't matter what you do, clean the house, read a book, watch a stupid movie, go for a walk - but do not wallow in your self pity, believe me it doesn't get you anywhere. I have an aunt who delights in her illnesses. She doesn't do what it takes to make herself well - because if she did, she would have nothing to talk about. So if you are like my aunt and delight in telling people how bad things are, I would suggest that you need to evaluate what you want out of life.
 
Write it down - use big black marker pens, scribble, scrawl your pain and anger onto the page. Then I want you to screw up the paper and throw it away. Now you have that out of your system I need you to write down all the good things that have happened to you today - it may only be that the pimple on your nose has gone away, or you went for a walk at lunchtime. Focussing on the good things will bring more good things to you. And if you don't believe me, well try it for yourself anyway, you may be pleasantly surprised. Remember you cannot be "half open minded" you either are "open minded" or you are not. There is no half-way house on this one.
 
And finally for today - watch your thoughts. As we have said before - your thoughts do create your reality. So be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Be outrageous STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/12/2006 03:58:19 AM ----- BODY:

I was going to talk to you today about ways you can start to break through the procrastination habit, but then decided that can wait....yes ironic, but this thought has just occured to me.
 
I had to fetch a couple of stamps at lunch time today, and in order to get to the post office, I had to walk past a construction site. As usual the music was loud enough to merit the need for ear protectors. But what made me laugh out loud, was the very loud, very off key and very amusing chorus from the workmen. Obviously they were enjoying Bob Marley so much they decided to share it with the world. Well it made my day. Not that I'm keen on that particular song, you understand, just the impromptu karaoke session they were holding.
 
When was the last time you cranked the music up and sang so loudly you scared the local feline population? Or waltzed down the street to someone eles's music? When in fact did you last do anything so outrageous you can still recall the memory?
 
And how do you feel now when you think about it? Do you still colour with embarrasment? Or do you have a smile on your face as you think about it. I know I talk a lot about feelings don't I. But feelings are a key to breaking through the procrastination habit. If you are feeling good about who you are and what you are doing, then anything is possible.
 
I seem to have quite a few embarassing memories - there was the time when i was running up some stairs and I tripped over my feet and landed in an ungainly heap at the top. I still have the scars on my hands to prove it...but I have never laughed so much in my life. And then there are the "Because we can" parties. Once a year I throw a party - no special occassion - just because we can. And my friends must be as crazy as I am, because we've had kids parties for adults - everyone was given a new name and identity and they had to create the persona - and introduce themselves to everyone as their new selves....We had Poppy Seed, the Drug Baron - Ayr Force - US Airline Pilot, and my favourite - Hellen Damnation - Priest(ess).  Grown ups eating jelly and ice cream and creating the biggest playing card houses, and having easter egg hunts. Then last year we had a midnight feast - yep starting at midnight.
 
Why should we do stupid things?
Because we can.
 
I have a t-shirt that sums it up beautifully - it says (right above the red sequined lips) "Life is funny" and you know what - it is.
 
I hope your day is filled with fun and laughter - and lots of it.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How big is your personal sphere of influence? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 09/18/2006 06:39:55 AM ----- BODY:

The mind is an amazing tool, yet most people seem to use little or nothing of its infinite capacity. The mind is like a muscle, the more it is used the more it grows and develops. And if that is the case then the opposite is true.
 
Most people I know of (with one or two exceptions) have carved out their niche and they are quite happily sitting in it. Most people would term this a “rut” brought upon by the habits that we have formed throughout our lives. However, I liken it to this – imagine that the “world” you live in is a sphere – I know we live on a sphere – a darn great big one, but we each have our own spheres in which we reside. Can you visualise your sphere – how big is it? And more importantly - of the 360-degree sphere in which you currently reside, how much do you actually live in?  How many people do you associate with? How many places have you been to? How many books have you read? By how many authors? How many casual acquaintances do you have? If you could throw a dinner party tonight – how many people would you be able to invite? Would you need a marquee to house the guests, or would a tent on the back lawn suffice?
 
You see, most people carve out their 1 or 2 degrees and stick to the rigid rules by which they have created their lives. If you still do the same things day in, day out, I would suggest that your personal sphere is a tight bubble in which you walk around. A question for you then – isn’t it stifling you and your creativity having the walls of your world so close to where you live?
 
So what are we talking about here? Actually a lot of the reasons why we carve out our niche into such a tight little bubble is that we are scared. We are scared of change, we are scared of doing something different, we are afraid that the walls of our personal bubble will stretch and break and then what happens? We’ll be open to all sorts of outside influences, and oh my goodness we can’t have that, I’d have to change my thinking and my patterns of behaviour.
 
Do me a favour – a big one…. Do you remember as a kid chewing bright pink bubble gum and you tried to blow the biggest bubbles that you could – until it popped and splattered all over your face? Well imagine your personal bubble is like that big piece of chewing gum…and I need you to blow in it, I need you to create some space for yourself. Are you blowing yet? (By the way – part of breaking through the procrastination bubble is to do as well as read!!) please humour me – blow a bit more, create some space for your next phase in your personal journey. OK, now that you have some additional space, I would like you to think about today. What are you doing today – now? Have you done anything new and exciting yet?
 
“They” say it’s only strange the first time you try something new….so if you haven’t tried anything new for a while, something tells me you need a bit more air in your personal sphere of influence. Push the boundaries a little, seriously it’s not that scary out here.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How is your personal personal relationship? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development DATE: 09/19/2006 06:42:24 AM ----- BODY:
Today we have a look at our relationships with people. We all have them - unless you are a hermit of course. They can both enhance and detract from your personal life, your working life and your relationship with yourself. "Yourself"? yes, even a hermit has one relationship - they have a relationship with themselves, and so do you. How is your personal, personal relationship anyway?
Do you treat your body with respect? Do you feed it good food - all the time? Of course you don't. With all the added sugars, salts and fats in most of the foods that we eat, it is extremely hard to eat "properly" unless you create the foods yourself, which as we all know is hard to do especially when our routines are disrupted, for example, when we travel, or when we get stuck in traffic jams and don't get home when we hope we're going to.
Do you exercise your mind as well as your body? It's good to go to the gym, to ease out the kinks and strengthen and tone the body. But it's also good to exercise the mind. Studies have shown that the more and varied the thought processes you engage in can dramatically reduce the incidents and severity of alzheimers. So don't read the same types of books by the same types of authors, do crossword puzzles and mind games. Exercise the mind - or you won't be able to berate yourself in later life.
Do you speak kindly to yourself - all the time? I doubt it, we have about 20,000 thoughts running through our minds on a daily basis - how many of those do you think are positive? If you have been a regular reader of this column we have spoken in the past about learning how to watch your thoughts and to "try" and stop the negative thought processes that we have. Believe me when I say, I'm still learning this how do this one. But it is one of the ones I feel that can have the greatest benefit to our personal, personal relationship.
Do you give out positive "energy" when you interact with people? Are you a joy to be around or are your relationships purely transactional? Transactional relationships are quite interesting. It says - if you do this for me, I will do something or other for you. And what happens when those other people don't "perform" to your liking? Well you feel entitled to withdraw your energy from them....
Can you imagine how sad the world would be, if the only time we did something for another person was in the knowledge that we would get something in return? Of course there are those people who do give without fear or thought that they will receive anything from anyone - but we are not talking martydom here either. And as we know there are some people who will continue to take more than their fair share, eat more than they need and never do anything for anyone else - unless they know it will also benefit themselves. But I know that's not you.
So what can we do to enhance our personal personal relationship?
Treat your body and mind with respect. Eat well, exercise, don't drink to excess (at least not all the time), cut back on the stimulants and the chemical enhancers (drugs), avoid situations that are or can be potentially damaging to your health (smoky atmospheres). Sleep well, rest before your body demands that you stop doing whatever it is you are doing. Learn how to quieten the mind - meditation, soothing massage, long soaks in the bath. Turn off the artificial light and spend time in candlelight - or better still outdoors. Re-connect with yourself through other people. Phone someone you haven't spoken to in a while. Write a letter. Spend quality time with yourself and you will be more open to spending quality time with other people. Learn to be like that hermit - at peace with your own company and you will exude a radiance that can't be bought by purchasing even the most expensive creams.
And try - every day, to do something for someone without a) them knowing, and/or b) expecting something in return.
I once bought a couple of dozen $1 scratchie's and started posting them to people. No note, no letters, just a gift of hope to people who needed a boost...and lets face it, we all need one of those once in a while.
And you know what, I had a smile on my face for days - and you know what else happened, people started to smile back. They didn't know why I was smiling, but it is the most contagious gift you can give to other people. So here's a smile for you. I hope you have a fantastic day.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Small changes over time = BIG results STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/20/2006 06:46:11 AM ----- BODY:

Small changes over time equals big results. A cliche perhaps, but one that holds more than a glimmer of truth. But if you still don’t believe that, then consider the building of a house. You know the design and style of the house that you want, you have chosen the block of land where the new house is going to sit, plans have been drawn up and approved. You’ve gotten the builder, the plumber, the painter, the roofer, the concrete, the sand and the bricks organised. Each of these little steps has gotten you to the point of starting the building process, all without laying a single brick.
 
And then the building starts, and at first it seems like it is going to take forever, you want the bricklayer to lay more bricks, you want to see the walls up and the roof go on. But with each single brick the completion of the building project is one tiny step forward.
 
If you try and do or change too many things at the same time, you may find yourself being completely overwhelmed by the whole process and when that happens, you will find yourself retreating back into old patterns of behaviour. How many times have you set New Year’s Resolutions on January 1st only to find yourself forgetting the changes you wanted to make disappearing through the door of the bakery by February one?
 
However, little steps means you can re-evaluate your position, you can make minor changes to where you are in your life and on the path that you have taken and sooner rather than later you will find yourself in a whole new state of mind and body.
 
Question – if you are overweight, how long did it take you to reach the point you are now? Something tells me it would have taken months if not years of making the wrong choices with regards to food and exercise to reach the point where you are now. So how on earth can you expect to get rid of the problem in just a few short weeks?
 
Except people give themselves ridiculous goals and hopeless timelines and expect their bodies and more importantly their minds to give up bad behaviours overnight. As you will know if you have ever been on this particular treadmill of life, it is the consistent practice of going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week over a considerable period of time that can have the biggest benefits.
 
Eating 7 apples on a Sunday does not make up for the apples that you should have eaten during the week. So bingeing on either excess or famine type strategies will not have a positive effect.
 
Or take the goal of running a marathon. Can you imagine lining up with the thousands of other competitors without putting in some planning, preparation and a lot of training miles first? Of course not, well I hope not at any rate. If you don’t know how fit you are, if you have no idea how long it would take you to run 26 and a bit miles, you have no way of knowing where you are, or whether you are in the right race.
 
Now believe me, I use the dieting and exercising analogy a lot, because it the one that most people seem to relate to. But this holds true for anything that you are struggling with at this moment in time. Not studying all week, then going out with your friends and partying all night, only to throw in a couple of all nighters in the hope that your brain can cope with the cramming is not the best way to get the grades you need to go to university, which is why we need to spend time and re-evaluate where we are on our personal paths.
 
Re-evaluate your goals:
 
Problems can and do arise with any project, so it is vital that you understand there will be the potential for detours along the way and be prepared for them when they arrive. Therefore it is vital that you check, not only your progress along the way, but whether you still want to be on that particular project at all. However, the main reason is that it is so easy to get nudged off course little by little. Like a small shift in the wind, catching the sail. Can you imagine what your new house would look like if the builder didn’t use measures and checks against the previous work, to make sure the new layer of bricks is in the right place? Little by little, each course of bricks would be laid slightly off centre, and instead of a brand new house, you would end up with something that looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
 
But there is another important reason why we need to check our current position against where we say we wanted to be. Sometimes other priorities take their place, or we move the goal posts. We may decide that after losing our initial goal of 5 kilos, we now want to lose an additional 10. So instead of going into maintenance mode, we start to re-evaluate our diet and health plan, we do more exercise, we re-assess our goals against our current outcomes and we make minor adjustments to the plan and the timeline.
 
So when you are planning your goals and your timelines, make sure that you allow time for re-assessment and re-alignment. Make sure your bricks are in the right place, or you may end up like that tower in Italy. 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Waiting for the call STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Time Management DATE: 09/21/2006 06:48:20 AM ----- BODY:

In a follow up to the “what do you do if you have five minutes to kill” e-zine of a few days ago, I would like to speak to you today about one of those other time wasters we don’t realise we have. Phone calls.
 
Now there are two sides to this problem:
The first are those calls you need to make. Especially those phone calls that you know won’t go at all well. For example, trying to persuade a utility company they have made a mistake, and that you aren’t going to pay the money up front so they can “credit” the next two dozen or so bills. Or those sales calls you need to make. What happens is that you find all sorts of excuses not to pick up that telephone and make the call. You may even find yourself getting stuck into one of those major projects you’ve been putting off for a while, just so you can conveniently forget about it. And we all know you can’t possibly call between 12 and 2 because it’s lunchtime and they’re not likely to be at their desk. Or you do call between 12 and 2 and hope they are at lunch so you can pretend you are solving the problem.
 
So what can you do when you are faced with that kind of “problem”? Well there are two sides to that one too!!
 
The first is this – you have to determine what it is you really don’t like about the person/company that you need to speak to. If you have had bad dealings with them in the past, then chances are good you are going to feel apprehensive about speaking to them again. One of the things that I have noticed (and this goes for all conversations that you need to have, not just the ones on the telephone) is that if you are polite to the person on the other end, if you say to the person (especially if the person isn’t responsible for the problem) “look I know this isn’t your fault, but I was wondering if you can help me with a problem I’ve been having” – the person on the other end, having been screamed at all day by other irate customers will do more for you than if you had gone in all guns blazing.
 
Once you know why you don’t want to talk to them, pick up the phone and call them anyway. You’re going to have to do it at some point, so why waste time worrying over a conversation you haven’t had yet. Chances are good that it won’t be as bad as you had anticipated. And even if it is, at least it’s over and done with.
 
The other side to both parts of today’s e-zine questions are those phone calls you are waiting for!
 
Imagine that you have been waiting all day for the phone to ring, you applied for a job and you want to know if you’ve got it, or you’re waiting for a call from your partner. What happens when they don’t call you when they say they were going to call? If you are anything like me, you run a stream of conversations through your head, you “worry” about the problem, the issues, the last conversation that you had with them and you wonder if you could have done it better…
What happens really is that your productivity goes down the drain. You spend most of your time alternating between looking at the clock, and the telephone. You do don’t you?
 
So what can you do to rectify this kind of situation?
 
You could always instigate the telephone call!
“I was just wondering if there had been any progress with…”
“Hi hunny, was just thinking about you, and thought I’d give you a quick call…is it OK to speak now?….”
 
Then you can get back to doing what you should have been doing in the first place. Alternatively if you can’t (for whatever reason) pick up the phone, then accept that sometimes other things take priority…remember those phone calls you didn’t want to make this morning? Well they may be feeling the same way about other things that they have to do, and the phone call to you may not be high on their list of competing priorities.
 
It’s up to you of course how you handle the later conversations that you have, but one piece of advice that I have for you, from years of experience of telephone work is that you never start off a conversation with a bad attitude, because that just makes things worse.
 
So what else can you do whilst you are waiting for the phone to ring? Well you know those nice goals, plans and items on your “to do” list. Well get stuck into one. I find it very hard to worry and “do” at the same time.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Going nowhere fast: Habitual behaviour STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits DATE: 07/03/2006 04:59:53 AM ----- BODY:

Today and every day we have a choice, we can choose to be miserable, sad, angry, depressed or whatever else you want to call it. We can choose to eat good, nutritious foods - or we can choose to fill our minds and our bodies with junk. If you live your life on a diet of soap operas and day time TV, if you snack on gossip and back biting, I would suggest your diet needs a major overhaul. If you fill your mind with things that do not take you forward, then you are on the roundabout of life, and you need to make a decision as to which exit you need, or whether you are planning on staying on the roundabout of life - busy going nowhere - fast.
 
And that is why most people find it hard to smile, they know they are on the roundabout of life, they have forgotten what it was like to achieve great things, they've forgotten that life was meant to be an adventure, not an endless round of doing the same, boring things day after miserable day.

Have you forgotten how to enjoy life? Are you stuck on the roundabout of life - busy going nowhere - fast?

Then it is time you chose an exit and started living your life. OK, you may not get it right every time, you may choose a dead-end occassionally - but at least you are moving. And who knows, you may just pick the right road - the one that takes you directly to your destination. But even if it doesn't, at least you can enjoy the journey.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Learning from other people actions STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Mentoring and Coaching DATE: 07/02/2006 04:55:24 AM ----- BODY:

If you stop and actually listen to some of the conversations going on around you. Listen to the way people speak and then look at the way they are standing, look at their faces, especially their eyes and their mouths.

People who live their lives stuck in negative mode, will almost always have a downturned mouth (an upside down smile), their eyes will be narrowed and they will exude pain and anger. Now go into the bathroom and stand in front of the mirror, do you have lines around your mouth?

Is your smile the right way up, or is it upside down? If you do have an upside down smile at the moment - ease your mouth back into an even line...see the difference it makes to the way your whole face looks. Now try smiling....and note the difference. 

Become a people watcher. And as your words mirror the way your face looks, it becomes important to always speak in the positive.
 
So, whenever anyone asks you how you are, from now on your answer will alwys be in a positive way. Fine, wonderful, good, fabulous - "I'm good thank you, how are you?"

The reason is simple, saying things in a positive manner will make you feel better, more "up", more positive about yourself and your circumstances. And when you feel better about yourself, you will feel more able to do more, be more and enjoy yourself more.
 
So - how are you feeling today?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Time to paint a different picture STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal setting CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/26/2006 08:06:44 AM ----- BODY:

Are you happy in your habits? Are they like a comfortable pair of slippers you wear and are afraid to throw away? Or are you not unhappy enough to change any of them? Do they serve your current needs and requirements?

The good thing about some habits is you don’t have to think too deeply about them. It allows us to listen to the radio whilst we are driving. Or iron our clothes whilst watching the television. We run on auto pilot, and only jolt ourselves when we hit a patch of turbulence. But we know that things will even themselves out again and we will be able to get back to coasting through our lives.

Imagine that every day you are given a blank canvas on which to work. We have the opportunity to create a dazzling day, filled with colour and vibrancy.
 
Unfortunately, some people can't be bothered to fetch the clean canvas, they haul out the same one, and re-paint the same lines. It's easier you see. They may change one or two colours - but day after day, they paint the same picture.

Can you imagine getting to the end of your life and having to walk down a corridor with your daily paintings hanging on the walls? How scary would it be to see the same thing? Row upon row of the same picture, an endless stream of monotony, interspersed occasionally with the odd picture that stands out, a day that was “special” in some way.
 
You pause for a moment, to reflect, but then as you return to the walk down the corridor the paintings return to the same themes again and again. You stop and try to go back to that picture you saw earlier, but it’s no longer there. You have to keep walking, past picture after picture of drudgery.

Now imagine what it would be like to walk down a corridor where the walls are lined with vibrancy. You would walk quickly towards the next one, to see what new and exciting things you had done. You would smile, you would frown, and you would remember the happy times, the sad times, and the days of pure bliss. Each day the painting was filled with something different.

The question is what would your paintings look like? Would they be filled with the same kinds of images day after day, or would your pictures be filled with lots of different things and memories?
 
We all have the same amount of time each day, each and every one of us. We are all given a block of time that we can spend in any way that we want, with a few exceptions.
 
It is quite a simple equation:

24 hours; take away the time that you are sleeping; Take away the time that you spend getting ready to go to work, traveling to and from work and the hours you are at work. And what have you got left? The answer is not very much.
Still not convinced? I’ll let you do your own math!
 
24 hours ( - ) _________ (sleep) ( - ) _________ (getting ready for work, traveling to and from work, plus time spent at work) ( - ) ___________ (dinner preparation, eating, supervising homework, dishes and housework) =  _____________ (left to do what you really want to do).

So in order to paint a different picture each and every day takes some planning, and yes some creativity, which is why people return to the same canvas. They don't have to think about it. They may spend 50 weeks of the year doing the same thing, saving enough money to go somewhere on holiday - to do the same things in a different place. But don't let that be you. Use bold colours, bold strokes and make a difference to the way your own lives turn out. The beauty of this is - when others see you having a good day, with a smile on your face, they will stop and some will return that smile, and you may unknowingly make someone elses day.
 
So isn’t it time you painted a different picture every day?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Today is the first day of the rest of your life STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/27/2006 08:09:09 AM ----- BODY:

Oh no, cliche city....actually there is more than a grain of truth in a cliche, the wisdom of the world condensed into a few short sentences. They may be easy to remember, but most of the time, the true meaning has been lost.
 
But think about it. You cannot undo the past, the words that you have spoken, the actions that you have taken. The only thing you (and everyone else for that matter) can do is to understand that you cannot undo the past and to accept that today is the first day of the rest of your NEW life. You can learn from the triumphs of the past and the defeats you suffered yesterday, and then you can apply those techniques and those lessons to today....but unlike Bill Murray, you cannot relive yesterday as today.
 
But thinking about the movie Groundhog Day - personally I think it is the best movie to watch as someone has to relive the same day over and over and over again, until he gets it right.
 
So today you need to ask yourself....what can I do today that is better than yesterday?
 
Is it:
I can eat less junk food and more fruit and veggies
I can drink more water
I can drink less alcohol
I can go for a longer walk
I can say something nice to everyone I come into contact with
I can smile more
I can frown less
I can stop chewing my nails
I can stop worrying over the things I have absolutely no control over
I can tell my family that I love them
I can treat my body with respect
I can treat my mind with respect also by talking positively to myself and reading something powerful, something that makes me think differently
I can be whoever and whatever I want to be. I am only limited by my own imagination.
 
The thing is you really don't have to be the same person you were yesterday. Did you know that every cell in your body has been replaced hundreds of times since you were born. Well to give you a clue your spine is totally replaced every couple of weeks. The question is why then do I look the same? Well I feel it is because we imprint each cell with thoughts and the DNA from the old cell(s). The trouble is we interfere with the cells lifecycle by taking medications we don't need, filling our bodies and our minds with stimulants, depressants, alcohol, cigarettes and yes even caffeine. Each jolts the body at a cellular level (watch "What the Bleep do we know") but the biggest impact comes from the mind.
 
Today is important, because not only is today the first day of the rest of your new life, but today you are not going to settle for average. Average is everyone elses "normal". Today we are going to redefine our own definition of the term "normal". Don't settle for someone elses plan for your life...create your own remarkable life.
 
You note I used the term "can" in this newsletter.
 
Can means you will
Could means you may give it a go, but hey you might fail and that's ok...
Can means failure isn't an option
 
Hope you have a remarkable day.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Taking stock of where you are and what is important to you STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/27/2006 08:11:20 AM ----- BODY:

I hope this finds you well and enjoying everything that the day is offering to you. And I do mean everything....yes even the "not so good" happenings that happen to us can make us stop and re-evaluate where we are and what we need to do next.
 
And that is what I would like to discuss with you today.
 
What is really important to you?
 
Now you could say that having fun and partying all night is the most important thing in the world to you right now, or it could be that finishing your degree or meeting lots of people and visiting new places is.  You tell me, after all this is your list as well as mine.
 
For me I have several categories where I need to focus, so let me explain them to you.
 
1. My children. Two beautiful people who are a delight to know, and spend time with. Being able to show them that the world does not revolve around the next, latest, greatest brand name. Teaching them the importance of savings and investment. Good nutrition and exercise. Teaching them the importance of values and ethics. As a parent, it is a huge responsibility to nurture their growing minds.
 
2. My home. My home is my haven, a place to return to after the end of a long and sometimes stressful day. I have several areas in my home that have been designated my space, a space that I have filled with the material things that are important to me. In my case, candles, incense, books, writing implements, a laptop, comfortable chair, music and did I mention books?
 
3. My friends and acquaintances. Knowing they are safe and well and enjoying everything that they are currently engaged in.
 
4. My writing. This one should go without saying, but for those of you who don't know me well, well I get really twitchy if I don't write for a couple of days.
 
5. My work. Now this one has two categories. I have my paid work which gives me the opportunity to pass on my skills and experience in the information sector. And of course my personal project of which you are a very big part. I want you to be all that you can be, and I do that by "nagging" you on a daily basis.
 
6. My belief in myself and my abilities. Rather a strange category perhaps. But I am a "do it yourself" project. I am constantly looking for ways I can be more than I currently am, and do more than I currently do. I have a to do list for my home tonight that is a foot long. Little things that need doing and organising. But the belief that I can be a better person by eating the right foods and exercising my body as well as my mind. If I am not learning something, I feel that I am slipping behind. There is so much out there to absorb, I could spend a lifetime reading and learning and not know everything there is to know.
 
So what is on your important category list at the moment?
 
But there is another aspect to taking stock of where you are and what is important to you that we need to touch upon.
 
What would you take with you if you had to evacuate your home and premises in a hurry?
 
With the threat of terrorism and bush fires in Australia, this is not a subject that you can take lightly. Oh that will never happen to me. A colleague at work said that they could get copies of all their important documents if they ever needed them again. The question is - can you? I'm not sure if you are aware, but when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans vast storehouses of information were lost through fire and flood. Computers were ruined, and data was lost - forever. And Katrina was not an isolated incident. Most of the companies housed in the twin towers that collapsed on September 11 never recovered because their "vital" information was not sufficient to ensure their businesses could start up again.
 
So what would you pick up, if you needed to get somewhere safe, and in a hurry?
 
If I were at home, the first things I would ensure were safe were the kids and the car. That way we could move and move fast. We could also transport other important things.
 
We don't have pets these days but if we did, then they would be picked up and bundled into the car too. But what else? What would you take with you? What is really important to you? Where do you keep your "vital" records? Property deeds, insurance documents, phone numbers and names and addresses of important people? What about passports, birth certificates and everything else? What about photographs? Which books would I take? I have a briefcase stashed away with the most important stuff in it. Beyond that there are a couple of files that contain other important info. I have several archive boxes that contain our history. Cards for each birthday the children received. Christening gowns and the like. So if I had time I would also sling those in the car. Things that just cannot be replaced.
 
And then there are those things that you carry with you all the time, do you know what you carry in your wallet or handbag - do you know who to call should these items get lost or stolen?
 
What about your home computer - do you have a backup plan in place? I backup most of my important documents to an internet based email account...one of the biggies that aren't likely to be affected by a local disaster.
 
So as you go through today and when you get chance to spend some quiet time tonight, spend time and work out what is really important to you.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What are you hiding from? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Avoid procrastination CATEGORY: Avoiding procrastination CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination help CATEGORY: Cure procrastination CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Chronic procrastination CATEGORY: End procrastination CATEGORY: Procrastination DATE: 09/28/2006 08:12:52 AM ----- BODY:

What are you hiding from? Me hide? never!!
 
Really? Then you won't mind me asking what your office looks like, and for that matter - your home office and your home in general.
 
Does your desk look like a snow storm of unfiled papers and bits of things you should have completed by now? Do you rationalise that the reason your desk is untidy is because you're really busy and you don't have time to clean up today. Well I'm not sure if I can agree to that one. You see we hide behind piles of work to show how busy we are...we try and fool ourselves into thinking we are so busy we can't possibly start x, y or z project - because we have so much to do.
 
And what of your home? We forget to put things away, and then what happens - yep we can't find it when we need it and need it in a hurry. So you have a mad tidy up - but stop immediately when you find the item you were looking for. But what have you learned from this episode? I would say absolutely nothing. Because I can almost guarantee that you will go back to not putting things away when you've finished with them. I should know I've been there. The thing is - if you are avoiding one task, a great way to do that is to hide behind "scruffy" then you can pretend you are making progress by having a major overhaul a couple of times a year. We are hiding from ourselves and our abilities - why? Are we scared of what we will find when we get to the bottom of the pile? Or are we afraid that if everything is neat and tidy then we won't have any more excuses?
 
But untidy homes and offices are only one sign that we are hiding from ourselves and our abilities. "We" are a good barometer of what we are hiding from too.
 
Take a look at what you are currently wearing. Did you dress to impress yourself this morning or did you throw on the first thing that came to hand? We have already spoken about being the director of first impressions. But this is the thing. If we are trying to hide our general lack of body tone or ample shape, what do we do? We cover it - usually in solid, dark colours, and usually with little or no shape. And what of your hair and makeup (assuming you wear it of course). Whilst cycling my 12 kms at the gym yesterday I decided to read a magazine - a sports mag as it turned out, (i find cardio boring as bat droppings so needed something to keep me going). In it there was some before and after pictures. In each case, the women - how come it's always women in these things anyway? looked frumpy as all dickens. Unwashed hair, no makeup and shapeless clothes. What happened - new and brighter clothes that showed off the curves, new hair style and colour and of course - makeup.

The food and depression cycle is also interesting. A lot of people hide behind food. They eat because they are "down" - it's not called comfort eating for nothing. Then what happens? it doesn't take long for the extra kilos to pile on, and the clothes you used to wear start to feel a little tight which gets you "down", so you eat something to cheer you up....and on the cycle goes. So the question is for today - what are you really hiding from with your current habits and behaviours? Remember, our lives are made up of minute decisions,  and each decision impacts on the next one that you make. it's time to stop hiding and to start discovering the real you.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Where do you go for inspiration? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Gratitude CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/29/2006 04:49:26 AM ----- BODY:

Where do you go for inspiration?
 
Have you ever wandered aimlessly around looking for something, anything that will spark the next creative thought? Of course you have, this is a site dedicated to procrastination after all. The question is where do you go? Do you need different types of inspiration depending on your state of mind, or the projects you are trying to avoid? Chances are you said yes to that one too. We all have people we turn to when we need answers to certain questions, after all, why re-invent the wheel if someone has been there and done that already.
 
But what about those other times. This isn't really about inspiration about "work" but rather what do you do when you are feeling "down" and in need of something to soothe your soul. Where do you go? What do you do? Who do you speak to, to recharge your central core, your "soul" your - essence. Everyone has a different word for it, and you know the place inside you that sometimes insists on a good cup of coffee in front of a log fire. Or needs a hug that only your mum or your best friend can give you. What is it for you? What is it that you do that allows you to take a deep breath that says " I can do this, I can succeed, I can keep going even though a minute ago I felt like giving up"?
 
I'll give you a few a my favourite things - to coin a very old song:
 
Hot chocolate and marshmallows
A blazing log fire
Warm towels
A hot shower
Massage, hugs and kisses
Smiles from a complete stranger
An endorphin rush after doing exercise I really didn't want to do
A long drive along the ocean front
Fish and chips with lots of vinegar
A chat with my mum
A chat with a long lost friend
Receiving unexpected letters in the mail, knowing that someone has taken the time to write to me in this electronic age
Music, Books and Writing
Candlelight
The smell of oranges
Writing by candlelight
The smell of incense
Wrapping myself in my long black velvet cloak
Lying on a rug under the stars - real wide screen, high definition sound and vision
Meditation
Leaning against a tree absorbing its strength, listening to the sounds of the birds calling
The love that only a pet can give you
A baby's smile
Poetry
The smell of newly mown grass
The feeling of satisfaction after a very physical job that has been completed....
 
When you are feeling less than crash hot it is so easy to focus on the things that haven't worked for you today. So next time that happens to you - remember this one thing, whatever happens - you will handle it. Then take a few moments to reflect on a few of your favourite things. Things that make you smile, things that say - you know what I can do this...and then go do it.
 
So if you haven't yet created a celebration book now is the time to get out a piece of paper and a nice writing pen and start writing down all those things that inspire you. Keep it with you, so when you need a source of inspiration you can read it, and add to it when you think of new items that inspire you. In today's world of negativity it is the best book you will ever read, not only because you wrote it, but because each "reading" will bring a memory to the forefront of your mind and if you are focussing on the positive, there is little room for the negative to play in.
 
I believe that you can be whatever and whoever you want to be. We are only limited by our minds and our creative ability. So it is time to get creative.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Inspiration: To your success STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Success and Failure DATE: 09/30/2006 04:59:37 AM ----- BODY:

In following on from the list you should have created which lists some of your favourite things. There is another source of inpsiration that you can turn to when you are feeling a little down on yourself and your progress to date. There is? Well, where can I find it? Actually you already have it, you've just forgotten it's there.
 
But where is it, what room is it in? Actually it's not a room in your house or a specific spot in your garden, although both may be places of inspiration to you.  No, the place I am talking about is your mind.
 
By now you should have a note book filled with things that inspire you and make you smile. But we are nw going to add to that book with some other bits and pieces we like to call "success". We've already spoken about creating a celebration book - you know those little things on a daily basis that you deem to have been a "success". For example, not eating chocolate, only having one glass of wine with dinner, completing a project that you've been putting off for a while, or whatever else you can think of that you can count as something to "celebrate" each day. Remember, focussing on the good things will bring more good to you, focussing on the negative will attract more of the same - like iron filings to a magnet. So be careful of what you think about, because you might just get it.
 
No, today we are going to talk about the "big wins" that you have had over the years. This one will take some thinking about, but it is very important if you are struggling with motivation and feelings of worthlessness at your inability to complete anything. Because it is these "big wins" that can make your current problem look insiginificant compared to those things you have already succeeded at doing.
 
Now before you start going on at me because you can't remember the last time you did manage to complete ANYTHING, let alone something BIG. I want you to get out a nice big piece of paper and some coloured pens. Lets get a little creative.
 
So starting when you were a baby I would like you to draw a timeline in 5 year blocks
down your page it should look something like this
 
0-5
 
6-10
 
11-15
 
16-20
 
Now leave a couple of lines between each of the time lines and start filling in the things you completed during those years.....as you start this process you may end up re-writing your list several times as you think of new successes, but as we know by know, when we focus on the good ....
 
So to give you a head start
 
0-5 = learned to sit up, crawl, pull myself onto my feet, climb stairs by myself without falling down, learned to talk, to run, to pull the tail of the dog, to feed myself without having to change my clothes after every meal, to go to the toilet on my own, went to pre-school and learned how to play and interact with other kids, gained a whole set of teeth (makes life a lot easier to eat stuff), went to junior school - and starting learning all sorts of amazing stuff.
 
6-10 = learned to read, spell, do maths, care for animals, swing on the monkey bars,
 
16-20
Gained my queens guide
Moved out of the family home into my own place
Got a weekend job
Got a full time job
 
 
Now most people wouldn't consider these early skills a "success" but if you think about it, without these skills and abilities you wouldn't be the person you are today.
 
Remember, each success you have creates the foundation on which the next success is based.
 
So, no matter where you are in life, you have already had hundreds of successes and big wins you can lay claim to. So - what are you waiting for, get writing and I'll speak to you again tomorrow.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Fit to drop STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivate me to exercise DATE: 10/01/2006 05:01:39 AM ----- BODY:

It's not easy being fit, it's even harder to stay fit once you've gotten there. Being fit is not something you can do once and hope that you will stay that way forever. Like most things it can't be bottled and saved for a later date. You either have it or you don't.
 
So how do you get it?
 
Unless you are a complete couch potato who's only exercise is to get off your butt to walk to the fridge, I would hazard a guess that most of you reading this would do some kind of exercise during a typical day. Walking to and around the shops does count - if that's all the exercise you get, but if you want to do more each day then you are going to have to become fit in both body and mind.
 
Why do we need to have a fit mind? Well when the body really doesn't want to do something it is the mind that makes the real decisions for it. You can set the alarm a half hour earlier so that you can go for a walk before breakfast, but it is your mind that prompts you to reach over and hit the snooze button.
 
So in order to get fit, first you need to reducate the mind:

So what can you do when you are not feeling up to the mark?

Most diets are based solely on calorie restriction - when they advise you not to exercise for the duration you know they are working on the principle that all you will be really doing is losing a lot of water in the first instance...Lose 10lbs in 2 days...As your body cannot sustain severe calorie restriction for a long period of time, you will soon go back to eating the same way you've always done and bang the weight comes straight back - usually with a bit more. The dieting industry is banking on you trying and failing - that's why they're in business...if they succeeded in helping EVERYONE to lose weight and keep it off they'd be out of business in 6 months.
 
Think of your body fat as a storehouse of energy. Energy that needs to be used and you will understand how much exercise you need to do.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: kick start your writing brain STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/02/2006 05:04:01 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Some times we don't have time to write a whole letter to someone, but a postcard - well, they're easy....
 
2 things, use photographs - get a sticky label and create the back of the postcard - that way you can send pics of the kids to grandparents, family overseas or interstate - without having to feel you need to write an essay. Of course if you want to you can, it's up to you..
 
But the main reason why I write postcards though is to kick start my writing brain. Sometimes it can take a while to switch between tasks without something in the middle to turn off one mode of thinking and to turn on another. Which is why I use the writing postcards technique....I keep a supply of cards at home and another supply at work. With most of family overseas I have a ready supply of waiting recipients for the news from "down under". But you can write them to yourself if you want to. The point is - if you feel you are suffering from writers block, writing anything can help you to get started on the main projects that you have to do. So why not send a postcard or two?

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What do you take for granted? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/02/2006 05:04:44 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Backup plans, we spoke about them the other day. What do you value? What would you take with you if you had to leave in a hurry?
 
You've probably heard about my recent computer woes - the server at work melted and had to be re-built...thank goodness for backup tapes!! and my personal domain went down due to the registry office failing to take payment in time. Thankfully it is all back up and running. My main computer at home is going through a back up too, over the last couple of weeks I've been going through my personal computer and backing up files and photos to an internet based email account. If you haven't got a decent backup plan in place, please think about it. We have become so reliant on electronic communication that we've forgotten how devastating it can be to lose important information. So don't wait for your hard drive to crash before deciding you should have backed up your data, because by then it is too late.
 
And that goes for everything and everyone in your life. What do you really value, who do you value? Have you told them recently? Don't assume they will always be there, because life is short even at its longest. Think about it, the Earth has been around for millions of years, we have but a few to make a difference to the way that our own lives and those people who will follow us turn out.
 
So my final question for today - but perhaps the most important - do you take yourself for granted? Do you feed your body with the best foods that you can, or do you fill it with inferior fuel? Do you drink yourself into oblivion every night so that you don't have to think about those things that are really bothering you? Do you think about doing things and then fail to take the steps you need in order to become fit and healthy, rich and famous or whatever it is you say that you want to be? Do you spend too much money on things that really don't matter and then wonder why you are up to your eyeballs in debt and you don't know which way to turn?
 
Remember sometimes we can't do it alone. Even the greatest athletes have coaches, successful business people have coaches and mentors. People to help them be better, to force them to stay the distance, and not to quit when the going gets hard and rocky. So what about you? Who do you turn to to give you a hand, or to bounce ideas off? Stop thinking that you are a lone voice in the wilderness of humanity, you're not. You may be unique - but so is everyone else.
 
It is time to stop assuming you can't, and to tell yourself that you can. It is time to stop taking yourself for granted.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What happens if you are on the wrong track? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/03/2006 05:06:11 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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What happens if you find out you are on the wrong track? You've spent a considerable amount of time and energy and you find yourself either not going anywhere or worse still going backwards? and what happens if you've worked so hard for something, only to find out it wasn't what you hoped for when you got there. Do you continue to work hard at whatever it is, even though you know it's not what you want? Or do you keep on hitting the same brick wall ending tired and frustrated?
 
How many times do you have to reach a certain point in your life before you decide that enough really is ENOUGH?
 
The first thing you need to do is to decide whether you are on the wrong track or whether you are taking a side road to your destination. If you find out you are taking a side road, you can make a few minor adjustments and you can find yourself running back up to the main road in no time. For instance, you may think you are doing everything correctly but a quick look at what you are actually doing (your time log is a great source of information) will tell you the truth - assuming you are filling it in of course. So if you are not losing weight and you think you are following the diet and exercise plan properly a quick scan of the food that you have eaten over the last couple of days/weeks will tell you whether you are eating too much for your exercise load. When losing weight it is important to remember that weight constitutes everything your body is composed of. Therefore if you want to lose body fat and become smaller then you need to ramp up the cardio component. The fat stored in your body is our bodies energy supply....so use it to lose it.
 
Or what about that writing project that you should have done by now, how much time have you actually spent on it? Again your time log will tell you. Fill it in and you will find yourself being able to get a whole lot more done on a daily basis. If you haven't tried it yet, you will be amazed at how much time you can waste each day....as one person said "going to the loo" !!
 
So a wrong track may not be a wrong track after all, minor adjustments are all you need. But what about those things you no longer enjoy, or you no longer want? Well - you need to go back to your goal list and more importantly the reasons why you said you wanted something. It may be that the holiday to the Bahamas really wasn't what you wanted, you actually need a new car and a caravan so that you can travel all weekend....without having to pay for hotel accommodation....you tell me, after all it is your goal list.
 
If you find yourself delaying the start of saving for the holiday or not working on the project - you need to take some time and to re-assess your goal list and your reasons. MOTIVE (what are your reasons) + ACTION (what steps are you willing to take to reach it)? Note the use of the word "willing" not everyone is willing to give up going out every night so they can save up the money to buy a new car and a caravan.
 
What are you willing to do to reach your goals? But before you rob a bank, you may also like to check your personal value system first. If your desires go against your value system then you will have conflict and your value system will win every time.
 
What do we mean by value system? Well say you applied for and got a job. On paper it sounded perfect, the people were great - but when you got there, it turned out to be all smoke and mirrors - ie., their value system wasn't in keeping with yours, do you admit that you've made a mistake and move on, or do you keep plugging away - hoping their value system will catch up to yours? The choice as always is yours and yours alone to make. But one thing I will say at this point - don't ever get to the end of your life with regrets. So if you feel that you have made a mistake, then admit it and move onwards and sideways.
 
Remember the wrong track may only be a minor detour after all.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Today is the day STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/05/2006 05:08:03 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Why is today the day? Well today is a good day to go back over the last week and to decide whether or not you could have done things better than you did. Today is a good day to decide what you want the next 7 days to bring to you. Do you want good things to happen, then today is the day to plan your week so that those things can happen.
 
Today is also a good day to say thank you for all those things that you've received and the lessons you've had to learn this week. This week has been particularly hard for me, but there has been a lot of positives amongst the negatives.
 
The computers at work are back up and running after 2 days of down time. We managed to clean the office, giving it a breath of clean, fresh air. Consequently we are now able to focus on what is important rather than what is cluttering up our working lives.
I didn't do as well in the personal challenge as set by the gym as I had hoped, so it has been a good opportunity for me to spend some time to decide what I want to achieve during the next 12 weeks...which incidentally takes us up to Christmas....
 
So what have you decided? Are you going to use your time better next week than you did this? Are you going to make those phone calls that you have been putting off? What about those letters? Are you going to eat well and exercise better and more effectively than you did last week? Are you going to treat everyone with respect - including yourself? Are you going to work on your projects during this week? Only you can decide - and only you can decide to act. Because thought without action is merely dreaming.
 
Reflection is vital. Without knowing where you have been you cannot make the decisions about where you are planning on going in the near future let alone in the long term. So take time out today to reflect on what you have achieved so far, and tomorrow we can start making plans.

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All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Start planning STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/07/2006 05:08:56 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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As promised yesterday, today we will start planning the next phase in our personal journey's. Did you take the time to reflect on the past 7 days? Did you make some interesting discoveries about yourself? I know I did. I didn't eat as well as I could have done, and I missed a couple of exercise sessions due to poor planning and time management on my part.
 
As I've said to you in the past - you will always find time to do what you really want to do, and you will go out of your way to do it. Similarly, if you don't want to do something, you will make all the excuses in the book and then some more.
- I don't feel well
- I'm tired
- I'll do it tomorrow when I've got a fresh start
 
As you know by now, those kinds of excuses just aren't valid anymore. Not if you want to really beat the procrastination habit and get more out of every day.
 
So today - well it is Sunday, I would like you to get out your goal list...and if you haven't created one yet, then a goal list is something that lists all those dreams and things you say you want to do, be or see, yes it is that simple.
 
However that is merely a list. In order to achieve great things in your life you have to be willing to do something today (and everyday) that will take you towards reaching those targets that you have just set for yourself.
 
Now once you have your list, I need you to get your diary out of your bag and start to block the time into it. You need to decide when you are going to work on your chosen item. If you don't block it in, if you don't create the conditions in your mind that says - on this day, between these hours I will do............. please fill in the blank. Then you will find yourself conveniently forgetting that you had promised yourself that you were going to do something that would take you towards achieving your goals.
 
Remember those five minutes we waste when we are waiting for other things to happen? Well you can get a lot done in five minutes if you know where you are going and what you are doing...and it all comes down to planning.
 
A final word - Most people end up with about 2-3 hours of non-work time a day that they can use to devote to their own goals, needs and desires. Most people use this time to watch the television, or worrying about things that just don't matter and probably will never happen - don't let that be you.

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All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you know who you are? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/09/2006 05:10:20 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Good morning I hope this finds you well and enjoying another day.
 
A quick question - do you know who you really are? I mean YOU not the son or daughter of someone, or the sibling of someone else. Have you ever been introduced as someone's partner? Well that's not you either. Who are you? Here's the kicker - What would it say on your epitaph?
 
Here lies?
 
Why do I want to discuss this today? Well if you don't know who you really are, then how do you know what you want to be "when you grow up?". Please don't expect this to be a quick and easy process, it takes time to discover who you really are.
 
If you are still reeling under the numerous labels it's time to shake them off and get back to basics.
 
For most of you reading this, you are not the job that you do, your job allows you the financial freedom to do other things. But another question - if you had to introduce yourself - how would you describe you and what you are here on this earth to do?
 
So how do you find out who you are, well that goes back to what we like doing. Do you spend lots of time at home, do you enjoy time spent with friends, family, the kids, walking in the bush, what do you do in your spare time? If you could do anything in the world, what would it be? Now  and here is the thing, when making this pronouncement, do not add the negative word - "but" to your sentence. Because once you do that you have given your non-conscious thought processes permission to prevent that coming to you....you will not take the steps you need to take...
 
I want to travel the world and take photographs and write for National Geographic - BUT I don't have the time, money, the kids are too young...... or whatever else you want to add to the end of the sentence.
 
Once you know who you are - everything you do should support and nurture that person that is YOU. If you don't like what you are doing, then you will delay starting tasks, and you will end up living a life of regrets and in doing so you will never be YOU. Enjoy what you do, and do what you enjoy.
 
Remember the epitaph question? What would it say on yours?

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All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Plateau-tudes STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/10/2006 05:11:35 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
I hope this finds you well and enjoying everything the day has to offer you. I would also like to welcome all the new subscribers to the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. I hope you find the information contained in these daily ramblings of interest and use.
 
Today I want to talk about plateaus, peaks and troughs. Have you noticed that when you get fired up about a project you input huge amounts of energy into getting them started. You think you know what you want and you rush headlong into the doing, usually without much in the way of prior planning. And then what happens? Well a couple of things. First of all other things crop up and take your energy and time. What seemed like a good idea when you began the project becomes a nagging guilt that you should be doing something, anything to keep it moving. But you find yourself with less and less enthusiasm, and more often than not, when the "other" item fizzles out or gets completed, you simply don't know where you had gotten to and so you have to start all over again to pick up the thought threads.
 
However, that's not all that happens. In most cases, because we haven't taken the time to plan ahead, we don't actually know what "it" will look like when it's finished so we lose any sort of enthusiasm we may have had in the first place. We stop rushing to do things, and more often than not we struggle to find the energy and motivation to pick up the sword and keep fighting. What used to excite us has become mundane, a drudgery. So we stop and we rest for a while. We kid ourselves that we will get back on track in a minute, but hey the view's pretty good from here, we decide that we really don't need to put on the climbing shoes and climb all the way to the top - here is good enough.
 
The problem with a plateau is, is that it is a treachorous place to spend any time. We are in danger from falling objects - we forget that we should be doing something and we get knocked off the ledge, only to find ourselves scrambling through the dust and the debris to get back to the ledge we were sitting on. The energy we had to expend ruins any chance of making much in the way of additional progress.
 
However there are some more problems with plateaus, and that is, that it is so easy not to notice that we have begun to slide back down the mountainside. We hardly notice the view is changing until it is too late.
 
Have you ever been on a diet? Have you noticed that it is so easy to put weight on, yet it seems almost impossible to get it off again. So you start the see-saw of losing a couple of pounds, getting bored when you sit on the ledge for a little too long, and then forget the resolve "to be good" and find ourselves in the valley looking up at the side of the mountain, wondering how on earth you could find yourselves back there again so soon. Have you noticed how hard the climb is the second time around, because now you weigh more, it's harder on the knees and this time, you hardly make it out of base camp before you're having to sit down.
 
How can you tell if you are on that perilous ledge? Well - have you done anything towards your goals today? What about this week? Have you begun to put off taking the daily steps you need to take in order to achieve whatever it is you said you wanted? But there are other things to think about - when was the last time you did something a little bit differently? Think about it, you don't have to keep climbing upwards all the time to make progress, you can go sideways for a while if you don't like what is directly in front of you. The bonus of moving sideways is that you will find that tackling that enormous rocky boulder becomes a little easier when you look at it from a different angle. Who knows there might be some hidden passageway that you didn't notice from where you were sitting before, and that passageway might take you directly to the top of your particular mountain.
 
The old adage is true, if you keep on doing the same things in the same way, then chances are better than good, that you will get the same results. So challenge your thinking, challenge your actions. Try something a little different. To kickstart that exercise plan - borrow someone's dog, go rollerblading, volunteer in a soup kitchen, you don't have to pump weights to get fit and healthy.
 
To kickstart your writing project, work out what you want the document to look like, and what message you want to convey. Get out those nice big fat crayons and get creative. And if you don't have any then borrow your kids, better still get them involved. This is especially good if they have a project and they don't know how to start it or what they want to say....
 
And finally for today, know what the end product is going to look like when you finish...I don't mean - knowing every word in advance, but what is the book going to look like, how many chapters, how many pages to each chapter, what message do you want to convey in each chapter? What are you going to look like when you've lost all that size and weight? What outfit are you going to wear? What is your house going to look like when it's built? What colour walls, what sorts of lights and tiles? What flowers are you going to plant in the garden. Think about it this way, imagine you were driving your car - before getting into the seat it's important to know what you were getting in the car for.

And what of Plateau-tudes - well you may have hit a plateau, but it is your attitude that will determine whether or not you allow it to defeat your plans, projects and goals.
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The contents of this E-zine may be copied, reproduced, or freely distributed for all nonprofit purposes without the consent of the author as long as the author's name and contact information are included. Example: Reproduced with permission from the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine E-Zine. The newsletter of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit - http://www.motivateme.info.

All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How wealthy are you really? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/11/2006 05:14:55 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Good morning, I hope this finds you well.
 
Do you spend a lot of time worrying about things you have no control over? Then you might be interested in today's ramblings entitled "A Worrying Habit" in http://www.motivateme.info/motivational-matters/
 
But today I'd like to speak to you on the subject of wealth.
 
Now how many of you thought I was talking about the amount of money in your bank account when I asked how wealthy you were? Well most people can get more "money" but not many people are truly wealthy. You see wealth is more than just money!
 
Don't believe me? well consider this:
 
Do you have good health? You see all the money in the world didn't help Kerry Packer or Princess Di. If you don't have good health - it can be priceless.
 
Do you have friends you can turn to when everything turns to dust? That in itself is worth more than all the money in every bank account in the world.
 
Do you have family, what about children - are they healthy? Then that too is priceless.
 
Being wealthy of mind means that you think of more than just yourself and your own needs. Being wealthy means that you listen when people speak. Most people don't really listen, they are too busy thinking of their next response to take much notice of what is really being said. Being in the moment and giving the gift of attention is worth a lot more than you think.

Now that doesn't mean that you are a doormat and you have a friend who whinges constantly and you have to sit and listen to the same stuff over and over and over again, that's not what we mean.
 
Can you have wealth of body? Well I think so, consider that you have two hands and you are willing to lend one of them to help others out. Then you are truly a wealthy person.
 
So next time you think you don't have much in the way of assets - think again.
 
One of the many emails that did the rounds recently comes to mind when i think about wealth. In it there was a class discussion about the seven wonders of the world. The class set about deciding which should be on the list...but one girl seemed to be having trouble. The teacher asked what the problem was, and the girl sighed that she had more than seven, so the teacher asked her to share them and the rest of the class would help. She said, she thought the seven wonders of the world were:
 
Being able to see
Being able to hear
Being able to touch
Having enough food to eat
Sharing
Caring and
Being able to love and be loved
 
How wealthy are you really?
 
I hope you have a beautiful day, one that is filled with many exquisite and wealthy moments

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What kind of example are you setting? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/13/2006 05:30:59 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Today I would like to spend a little bit more time on the complex issue of image, but rather than focus entirely on what you are wearing, I would like to expand just a little. Therefore we are going to be looking at the example you are setting today.
 
When people look at you, what do you think they see? Do they see someone who is always immaculately dressed, as we discussed in a previous edition - remember you are a director of first impressions - but what of your manner, mood and demeanour? If you can, could you please go and find a mirror....what do you see? Are you happy or sad? Do you look tired or relaxed? Our eyes might be the mirrors of our souls, but the face is an amazing barometer of the depths of our feelings and emotions.
 
Now I need you to put your face in "neutral" ie., you are neither frowning or happy take a good look at the lines stretching away from your mouth. Which way are they pointing? A strange comment perhaps, but another excellent indicator of your general demeanour and mood. For example, those of you with lines stretching downwards will spend more time unhappy than happy, and vice versa.
 
Now if that isn't enough to think about today, here is another thing I would ask you to consider. The way that you hold your body, the way that you walk, the way that you talk all set an example - be it good or bad. The important thing to note is that everyone around you will look to "you" for their clues as to how you will react in a given situation. If your face could melt lead, then guess what, they're hardly likely to engage in a "happy" conversation with you, you will find people avoiding you instead. And conversely people who are genuinely happy, will draw others to them.
 
What kind of example are you setting for yourself? Holding your body in a negative manner will manner will automatically "depress" you - so sit or stand tall, shoulders back and look the world right in the eye. Because there are no more excuses.
 
You will get more enjoyment from life, if you actually enjoy the moments you have been given. So get your face out of neutral and start living your life as if you were enjoying it. Believe it or not, the added bonus is that you will get a lot more done that way.
 
Of course if you don't want to get more, do more and be more than you currently are, then carry on as before, after all it is entirely up to you.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Is your environment toxic? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/14/2006 05:32:25 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Good morning I hope this finds you well and enjoying the day
 
Carrying on from yesterdays discussion about setting a good example with body language etc, today I would like to talk to you about your environments. Now I don't mean the environment, Al Gore does that far better than I. No I mean where you live, work and generally spend your time.
 
What does your workstation, home, office or garden look like? Does your environment reflect the state of your mind and body?
 
Let me put it this way, if you don't know where anything is, you can't start anything can you. And lets face it, if you know where everything is, you don't have any excuses anymore do you. Clean and tidy means that you can put your hands on whatever it is you are looking for. You don't have to spend hours overhauling the environment, a few minutes every day will keep a clean environment clean. And that is enough to scare most people....if you can find it, you can get on and do it !!
 
Do people you interact with on a daily (or otherwise) basis, do they see the state of your office/home and think that because you live or work in that environment then it must be OK for them to do that too?
 
Please bear in mind that I am not just talking about children here, but anyone who looks to you, be it the kids or your co-workers or employees. It is vital that you never deal in double standards with these people. Don't ask them to do things that you yourself are not prepared to do. Don't ask the kids to do their homework if you can't be bothered to do your own. Nor should you expect the kids to keep their rooms clean if the rest of the house is a complete mess.
 
If you really and truthfully want to get on, then you need to make sure you are not sabotaging your efforts by living and working in an environment that looks like a toxic waste dump.
 
Here in Oz it is now officially spring, so get cleaning!!
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't "try" your hardest - do or do not...there is no try STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Action DATE: 07/01/2006 04:48:07 AM ----- BODY:

"Do or do not there is no try"
Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

And isn't that the truth. Have you noticed that when you use the words "I'll try" you are actually giving yourself permission to fail.
 
"Well I tried my hardest!"
 
Did you, did you really? 

Einstein said it best when he said "I have not failed 10,000 times, I have found 10,000 ways that will not work." He didn't see failure as failure, he just saw it as a reason to try something a little different next time around. 

Are you doing exactly the same things and getting exactly the same kind of results? I know I did, and because I said that I was "trying to lose weight" my non-conscious mind took that to mean that it was OK if it didn't work out - it didn't matter enough to me to do something different in order to reach the goal, and that is the same for any goal - not just losing weight.
 
I used to think that reading was actually doing. I was feeding my mind with the theory but failing to act on the knowledge I had gained. I didn't do the suggested exercises, or if I did, I half did them. I didn't take the time to do, re-do and practice the new techniques. I would tell myself that I would go back to the exercises at a later time and do them. Except I didn't. I would conveniently forget that I had promised myself that I would go back and look at the exercises and do them. I would find another book and another book. Kidding myself that I was working on my personal development, when in reality I was just adding to the vast storehouse of knowledge that I had captured in my own personal computer.
 
Are you like I was? Are you a reader rather than a do'er? To use a very bad exercise analogy - it is very hard to think yourself thin. You still have to go to the gym and do the prescribed number of repetitions for quite a long time in order to gain some long-term benefit.
 
And so it is with everything...
 
Do or do not - trying is half-hearted, so stop kidding yourself and get on with it...or not as the case may be. The choice as they say is entirely up to you.
 
I go to the gym 4 times a week - rain, shine or whether I want to or not. I know the short term pain is definitely paying off. My clothes feel better, I can get into things I couldn't 6 months ago. I may weigh almost the same on the scale as I did back then, but it doesn't matter - I look like I weigh about 15 kilos lighter than I did and that is more important to me than numbers on a scale.
 
What short term steps are you taking to reach your long term goals?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Be the best at what you do best STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/16/2006 05:36:06 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Be the best at what you do best, sounds like one of those "blindingly obvious" statements people use doesn't it. And yes it is I suppose. The problem is, most people don't do the best they can, all the time. Most of the time they settle for second or even third best. You see if you were the best you can be, all of the time you would be a very rich and powerful person. Are you known as the best person in your field? Are you rich and powerful as a result of it? Or are you still running with the pack on this one.
 
Most people I know, and I am sure you will be the same, know of a few people who really are the best at what they do. They excel in certain areas, and they are rich and powerful as a result. Now, you should remember what we spoke about the other day - being rich does not always equate to money. Does that mean they have oversized ego's? No, I don't believe that either. And this does not always equate to the business world. You may be the best cook in the family, or can write superb poetry, you tell me you're the best at what you do best, so enjoy it, share it if you can, and thank whatever god you talk to for giving you that particular ability.
 
But talking about work, do you do all that you can all of the time? Of course not. In a typical 8 hour working day, there are only 5-6 hours of truly productive time. Don't believe me, then you need to have a look at your time log again. How many hours did you waste reading emails and surfing the Internet today? And what of your evenings and weekends, a perfect time to perfect a skill, or learn a new one. Time to work on your goals and your projects, yet few people do so.
 
I know I talk about doing more so that you can be more, see more and do more rather than wasting time effort and energy on things that do not matter. Does that mean I don't have any "time off"? of course I do and so should you. But and here is the thing, you should not confuse the two. If you are having time off, then have time off, don't think about work, don't work on the weekend if you can help it. When you are at work you should work. Don't confuse the two. And if you can get that right (and believe me when I say that most people haven't been able to master that particular trait) then you will be better than most of the rest of the population as a result. By allowing yourself the right to be in the moment...work at work, rest when you are at rest, and make time for personal development and also play time, then you will certainly be the best at what you do best.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Determining your "happiness generators" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/30/2006 04:44:01 AM ----- BODY:

Do you use "external" successes to chart your progress and your happiness? By external I mean - buying something to cheer yourself up when you are feeling down, or feeling "happy" because the sun is shining.
 
Now I am not saying that you shouldn't be happy when the sun is shining, nor rewarding yourself when you have done something remarkable. The problem I have found with using external "happiness generators" that sooner or later we need more to give us the same effect. 

An associate said that he had stopped drinking alcohol because he found that instead of having one or two drinks a night - he needed 6 or 7 to reach the same kind of feeling that the one or two bottles of beer used to generate. He also said that he had put on about 10 kilos as a direct result of the additional "empty" calories he was consuming. 

If we constantly look for other people or things to make us happy, we will never be truly happy with who we are or what we have. We rely on external influences to make our weather, and if things aren't to our satisfaction we run the risk of being sad and more than likely - grumpy as well.
 
Do you rely on external influences to make your weather? How do you know if you do?
Think back to when you were last "happy" - what were you doing? Who were you with? What were they doing?
 
So the question is - how can you start the process of change from external happiness generators to internal happiness generators?
 
First of all I would recommend taking a moment or two to do the exercise above.

Now - add another question or two

When was the last time you were truly contented? Ah - a much better word than "happy".
Did you do an amazing piece of work? Did you clean your house? Did you sit on the grass and enjoy the sun seeping into your skin? Were you playing silly games with the kids? Did you sit down at the end of the day and think - I have achieved some wonderful things today?
 
You see - being contented is about being "happy" with yourself and your achievements - those things that boost your self-esteem rather than your ego.
 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: An exercise STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/19/2006 01:47:33 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
For those of you who are regular readers of the Daily Dose and the website - motivateme - you will know that one of the reasons that I created the site in the first place was to help other people get more out of their lives, and in doing so, kick start my own.
 
Have you ever found yourself thinking that you have it just about right, then discover not so long later, that you have actually been spinning your wheels? I do it all the time. Now it could be argued that that is the process of growth. We struggle for a while learning new disciplines, removing old ones, then coast for a while, until we make the next push forwards. It doesn't matter what your goals are, unless you are doing something towards them every day, you are unlikely to get beyond the plateau we spoke about a few days ago.
 
Books can't be written in one day, neither can entire houses be painted or gardens completely renovated (unless you are part of the backyard blitz team that is). And for those of you who exercise on a regular basis will know that fitness cannot be done once, then bottled and stored for a rainy day.
 
Having procrastinated for so long over my weight issues, I decided to take it right back to basics. Weight loss (or gain) is a simple equation...eat more than you need and you will put on weight, eat less than you burn off and you will lose weight. Simple! until you start to look at serving sizes and misleading packaging that is. So I found my calorie counter book (i hate counting the darn things) and did some maths. Even with the exercise I did last night, I had managed to overeat by several hundred calories ...so what? Well in my research I also found it takes just an excess of 7,700 calories to create a kilo of fat. Which equates to about a carton of beer.....not that I am a beer drinker, preferring wine - so in wine terms - about 15 bottles....or 15 oven roasted chicken 6" subs (without mayo) or 7 and half big macs and large fries....or 30 60g Mars Bars or whatever is your particular downfall of choice....read the labels you'd be surprised.
 
So, today I would like you to take it back to basics. What are your projects, goals or dreams, and what are you doing today to reach them? If you don't do something today, when will you do something? If you aren't doing something today - then you are not serious about breaking the procrastination habit. So please, it's time to get back to basics.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Millions of decisions STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/20/2006 01:49:17 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Good morning I hope this finds you well and looking forward to another day on this heaven we call earth.
 
Following on from yesterday's discussion about going back to basics, i'd like to talk to you about the decisions you have made today. What do you mean you haven't made any? Of course you have, hundreds of them.
 
Did you get up when the alarm went off or did you hit the snooze button?
Did you get up and go for a walk or stagger to the kitchen for a cup of caffeinated beverage to wake you up?
Did you have a shower or are you smelling like a water buffalo on a hot day?
Did you put on clean clothes or - see point above?
Did you have a healthy breakfast? Or did you get up so late you didn't even manage to grab that coffee and clean your teeth?
Did you pack a healthy lunch or are you going to pick something up from down town?
Did you stay calm on the trip to work or are you filled with anger for those inconsiderate drivers who cut you up every time you left a sizeable gap. Or are you one of those inconsiderate drivers?
 
Every day we make millions of tiny decisions. Each decision that we make impacts on the next decision that we are then faced with. No time for breakfast, usually means you are starving by 9am and what happens, you find the nearest high fat, high carb thing you can find and eat it, usually telling yourself that you will cut back on cakes, biscuits and pastry tomorrow....what happens then? 9.30 and you are hungry again....
 
Your decision to sit and watch a 2 hour movie with a beer and chips, means that your plan to work on your goals this evening goes out of the window.
 
Your decision to plan your day by no means prevents you from having a lack of choices, when in fact your decision to plan means that your choices can be informed ones. So when thinking about what you want to do, see and be, then you need to know that the plans that you make, and the choices you are faced with impacts on the next decision and the next decision and the next decision that you make.
 
Decisions, decisions, decisions we make millions of them over a course of a life time, each tiny decision may not seem like much, but these have a far greater impact on your life than those so called momentous decisions we are sometimes faced with.
 
My uncle is quite ill, he has made a lifetime of poor choices with regards to food, and now after one triple heart bypass, and failing to make better food choices he is worse off now than he was before the first operation. Doctors have told him there's not much he can do except wait to die. Each tiny decision he made to eat fried food, and far too much. Each decision he made not to go for a walk and drink too much beer on a daily basis means that now, when faced with the momentous decision of vegetables or potato chips, creamtion or buriel it seems to be sinking in. Yet these tiny decisions he made, didn't seem like they were bad decisions at the time. However, a lifetime of tiny bad decisions means that he will not live to see his next birthday.
 
Never assume those tiny decisions won't make a difference, because they can be the difference between life and death, success or failure, happiness or sadness.
 
I wish for you a life time of informed decisions and excellent choices.  
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The Gift of Giving STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/21/2006 01:50:54 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
"The manner of giving is worth more than the gift"
Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)
French dramatist

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I love giving gifts to people. I prefer though to give gifts at unexpected times. Whilst I also give gifts at Birthdays, Christmas and all the "normal" dates, unexpected gifts, cards, letters, the gift of listening, the gift of being with someone when you could be off doing other things, now those gifts can be priceless. Why? Well you give because you truly want to.
 
It says:
I've been thinking about you
I want you to be as happy in receiving the gift as I was when I bought it
 
But I also like to give gifts to people without them knowing it's from me....that way there can be no ego involved, you can see the delight in their faces, and you can share that joy without them knowing that it was from you...
 
These "gifts" don't have to be big, I buy scratchies, and post them to people...
and cards with poetry or things that I know the person likes....
 
A colleague got a card and a $100 postal order...now that was a gift and a half, and it was totally anonymous. She eventually cashed it, but not until she had regaled everyone who she met with the story....and no it wasn't from me. But what an idea.
 
But you cannot give with a grudge because that rather negates the gift and the thought. So if you are not in a good frame of mind, then wait until you are. You will feel much better for doing so.
 
And so it is with most things in life. Do things begrudgingly and you will do so slowly and delay starting them if you can. Do things because you want to and you will get things done far more quickly and far more easily, and usually with a smile on your face. So if you are struggling with a project ask yourself if you resent the task and / or the person who asked you to do it. Then ask yourself, if you have to do it - as in there is no way that you cannot do it, then ask yourself if you would sooner be happy doing the task or grumpy....
 
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"Miracles happen to those people who believe in them"
Bernhard Berenson (1865-1959)
American Art Critic

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What are you afraid of? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/22/2006 01:54:10 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
The minute you start talking about what you’re going to do if you lose, you have lost”
George Shultz

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What are you afraid of?
Fear has been described as:
- A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.
- A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.
- A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish.
- Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.
- A reason for dread or apprehension: Being alone is my greatest fear.
www.dictionary.com
 
It is interesting to note that most people will admit to having a phobia – “I’m afraid of heights”; “I don’t like speaking in public”, but will not admit that they delay doing things because they are afraid of either doing the task, or what will happen when they do.
 
The difference between fear and a phobia is - a phobia can be classed as:
 
- A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
- A strong fear, dislike, or aversion.
www.dictionary.com
 
So what are you afraid of?
 
I have a real dislike for reptiles, especially snakes, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that I do not come into contact with them. Living in Australia with 9 out of the 10 most deadliest land snakes in residence you would think this would be almost impossible to do. However, apart from controlled situations – for example displays, I have only seen one snake in the “wild” and I ran over the poor thing on the road. Thankfully for the snake, another car had just done the same, so by the time my car ran over the remains, it had long since passed into the next dimension.
 
Fear keeps up doing the same things over and over again. We repeat patterns of behaviour, because we are afraid of what will happen if we don’t. Repeated patterns of behaviour means we react in exactly the same way to the same kind of stimuli. I will "jump" if I see a snake strike on the television. I know it's going to happen but I jump anyway.

Are you afraid of failure?
Those people who are afraid of failure are those people who rarely try anything new. If they don’t start a project they can’t fail can they?
 
Are you afraid of success?
Those people who are afraid of success are likely to sabotage their own efforts, or allow their efforts to be sabotaged. Or they give up half way through. How many people have been on a diet? How many times have people said to you “oh go on, it’s only a small piece!” and you have been persuaded to take something that you didn’t want.
 
Are you afraid of change?
The reason why a lot of people fear success is because it usually means considerable change, and not just for you. And the ones that fear the changes the most are those people who profess to love and care for us.
“What are you doing that for?”
“I like you just the way you are”.
 
You see, fear based comments do not have to be an outright attack, sometimes subtle comments repeated often enough are all it takes for someone to stop you right in your tracks. The point is they don’t want you to change, they are happy with the status quo. They fear that they will lose their “hold” over you and their place in their version of the perceived hierarchy.
Yes – they fear you, and the power that positive change will have over you. So they will do everything in their power to sabotage your efforts. Of course they may not do this deliberately; a lot of what we say and do is habitual.
 
But this is also important for you too. Trying to make too many changes all at once can be overwhelming and it becomes easy to slip back into the old way of doing things. Then those people who have been telling you all along that you are no good – will now be able to say – I told you so. You are hopeless, you can never finish anything.” They will move from being fearful to dominant – and you may find it extremely difficult to start all over again. Because you may feel that you have “failed”.
 
If you encounter this kind of behaviour on a daily basis – and loved ones are prime candidates. You may have even unknowingly done this yourself. You should avoid telling them your grand plans. Make small but subtle changes, so that they are not shocked by the “new you”.
 
The point is, if we are to break free from the fear of success and failure, we have to change poor habits for better ones. And as you probably know, this can and does take time. If you have ever tried to lose weight, you will know that you can’t lose more than a pound or two a week, and keep it off, no matter how much you may try.
 
It has taken time to reach the point you are at now, so small but measurable steps are important, and that goes for everything you want to do.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The attitude factor STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/22/2006 04:40:19 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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The Attitude Factor
 
“Every day is irreplaceable, so don’t ruin yours by allowing the negative moods of other to pull you into their frame of mind”
Anonymous

 
If procrastination is a choice, so is our attitude. We can choose to be happy, or we can choose to be sad, miserable, and grumpy. We can choose to allow other people to influence us in a positive way, or we can allow other people’s actions and reactions to influence us negatively. And most of the time, we allow the negative to have a more and lasting impact on our day-to-day lives.
 
Have you noticed that when you have had a “bad day”, or someone has upset you, you spend time and energy going back over the conversation? What is interesting is that when this happens our bodies react in the same way as if we were going through the experience in real-time, all over again. Your body will secrete the same levels of hormones and adrenalin, your heart will pound, your blood pressure will rise. Blood may rush to the skin, so that you appear flushed. Imagine driving home after a particulary bad day, when we get to where we are going, we allow the person who annoyed us to influence the interactions we have with other people.
“How are you?” they ask.
“Well, you ought to hear what so and so did to me today.”
 
You are so worked up that the person who asked the question is probably convinced that the person who caused the pain and the angst has arrived with you.
 
The interesting point is that our brains cannot distinguish real from imaginary events. Or even current events from past ones.
 
Take the movie industry as a prime example. We know that what is being portrayed on the screen is fictional. We know that people haven’t really been blown up, mangled or left their spouses for another woman. We laugh, we cry, we cringe with horror and embarrassment. But we can watch the same movie again and again, and our bodies will react in the same way – why? Because our brains cannot tell real events from imagined ones.
 
Does this mean I am advocating that you only watch interesting movies that do not upset you? Not at all, all I am asking you to be aware of, the movie industry along with the books, journals and papers that you read, and the people that you interact with on a daily basis, all have an impact on you. You can allow things to affect you positively, or you can let things affect you in a negative way. Whilst the choice may be yours, it is alos worth remembering that your mind plays a huge part in the decisions that you make and the way that you respond.
 
So whilst those people around us may make our lives interesting, they do not decide how we should feel, we do. They cannot dictate our emotions; only we can decide how we respond to them. Unfortunately, we allow the negative, the whining, the complaining, and moaning to affect us more deeply than the happy, positive and motivated people we occasionally meet.
 
How do you feel after spending time with people who are always whingeing and complaining? Do you feel happy and ready to tackle the next big thing on your mental to do list? Or do you feel like someone has stuck a great big pin into the balloon you are holding and it is slowly deflating. Well that balloon is you.
 
Now, how do you feel after spending time with positive, motivated people? Do you leave them feeling like you are a failure because you are not as successful as they are? Or do you feel like you can go away and do whatever you want to do knowing that you can never fail?
 
So it is with every interaction that you make on a daily basis. Do you get to the end of the day feeling flat and lifeless or do you arrive home, full and buoyed up ready to tackle the next item on your to-do list?
 
Find a clean sheet of paper, or page in a notebook (preferably one that only you use) and complete this task. It is up to you whether or not you use real names or imaginary ones, or devise a special code if you have to. Now be honest – ask yourself the following question. Are the interactions you have with them – Positive, Negative or Neutral? Neutral is an interesting emotional state, as sometimes we can be emotionally flat, neither positive nor negative. I’m sure you have had days like that. I know I have.
 
Name                      Positive                       Negative                           Neutral
                              
                                                 
                            
Once you have completed this task, there is one more name you need to add to your list (assuming you haven’t already added it), and that is your own name.
Are you a positive kind of person, or are you predominantly negative about your life and your circumstances? If I were asked to complete this task today I would say that I am a positive kind of person. The interactions that I have had with people have been positive. There was lots of laughter, and I achieved several items on my task list.
 
How about you? What was your day like? How would other people rate you on this very personal scale?
 
Now ask yourself - What can I do tomorrow that will improve my position on this personal scale?
 
If the attitude that we have at any given moment, determines how much we achieve during a given period of time, is there anything we can we do to change things?
Can you get around more positive people? Can you spend less time with those people who have a negative outlook on life?
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Indecision STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/23/2006 04:42:35 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Procrastination is a choice, we all know that. Every decision we make every single minute of every single day is a choice. We can choose to do, or we can choose not to. It is up to us.
 
But what about "indecision" - Indecision does not really mean that you are between making a decision one way or the other. Indecision simply means that we are delaying the making of the choices we need to make. And this procrastination is stealing precious moments of every day. Indecision is not just about which shoes go with which outfit, but do I get up now and go for a walk or do I stay in bed and read a chapter of the book? Have you noticed when faced with those choices, you end up doing neither because you go back to sleep. Then when you do wake up, you are less refreshed, more flustered and frustrated because you haven’t done either. So now you feel guilty! Do you try and make amends by telling yourself that you’ll go for a walk tonight and you can always read your book on the train. Guess what, there’s a storm front moving through the area tonight and you will choose not to go “I’m not going for a walk in this!!”
 
So don't be indecisive - make your choices and go for it.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Blocking time STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/24/2006 04:44:56 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Beating the procrastination habit is hard. We have ingrained patterns of behaviours - some of which we know about and call habits, some of them don't register on our consciousness scale, but they are there anyway.
 
We may find ourselves delaying the start of one task by completing another - this is called structured procrastination and means that we do get things done, just not the things that may be sitting in the top one or two spots. Do you ever get to those items? Of course, but not until something else takes its place in the delay basket. And every time we commit to these actions, we reinforce our conscious and non-conscious thought processes that it is ok to put things off.
 
But what happens when you can't delay the start of the item anymore. You've called in sick once or twice, you've created half a dozen appointments that you didn't really to make. You've even tried burying it under a mountain of other stuff, so that you do your tasks "in order", the problem with this is - you can keep shuffling the item to the bottom of the pile. But what happens when the item is "the pile" - do you pick it up and start it straight away?
 
Of course not, there are other delaying tactics we can still use. Do you need to make a phone call or a cup of tea? Do you need to go to the loo to get rid of said beverage accumulation? And then there is always the Internet and Email.
 
We stare blankly at the offending item, wishing it were hometime, but the clock refuses to move. Inspiration that's what we need. Music, words of encouragement and inspiration, anything to kick start our recalcitrant minds. We all have different time wasting techniques, the question is - what are we going to do about said item that is staring at us that refuses to go away?
 
Most time management techniques recommend that you handle a piece of paper only once:
Do it
Delegate it
Dump it
 
And it is true you can get rid of most pieces of paper in this manner - if you want to. And as you know by now, that really is the only way to deal with stubborn problems.
 
What this does not take into consideration is our state of mind at the time. We may feel angst at the thought of tackling the problem, so what can we do then?
 
Well the only technique that i have found that works is this - break the task down into very small time slots. And when I say small, I mean 5 minute blocks. Why five minutes? Well everyone can cope with doing a job they dislike for 5 minutes.
 
Make a single phone call, write a single letter. Write a chapter/report outline. Block time in your calendar or diary and then start the task when the time slot appears. Don't look forward, don't look backwards. Do the item that is directly in front of you and you won't feel quite so overwhelmed by the task.
 
Take time today to go through your dreaded list, and work out what you can do in the next five minutes. Chances are it won't be as bad as you thought, and even if it is you are still five minutes closer to finishing said problem task.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Where are your weeds? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/25/2006 04:47:15 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Where are your weeds?
 
Have you noticed that if we don't go out into the garden on a regular basis to pull the weeds out of the garden beds, then before we've had time to sit back and relax and enjoy the flowers, the weeds have taken over again.
 
So what happens? we have to spend hours and hours pulling out great chunks of vegetation so that we can see the flowers again. Whereas a few minutes every weekend will mean that our garden beds are weed free.
 
But weeds aren't just limited to the garden, but to every aspect of our lives. If we don't do something every day towards those things that are important to us, we then need to spend hours and hours overhauling ourselves and our projects just to get back to the place we were at the end of the last overhaul.
 
Neglect of our health and fitness means that we have to diet longer and harder every time we need to overhaul our weight loss goal. Excess weight means that it is harder for us to exercise. It is harder on the joints and our cardio systems. But keeping an eye on both our diet and the exercise on a daily basis means that we don't need to overhaul ourselves.
 
Neglect of our homes means taking a whole lot longer to clean every weekend, which means we don't have time to work on those things that will bring us closer to our goals, dreams and aspirations.
 
Neglect towards money means that we will spend more than we earn. We fail to budget, and we don't know where it disappears too. Do you get to the end of the week and wonder what you spent your money on?
 
Neglect isn't limited to one area of our lives. I can almost guarantee that if you have weeds in one area of your life, then you will have weeds in other areas too. So work out where your weeds are, and then start removing them. Because if you don't you will either spend all your time overhauling your life only to reach the same point over and over again. Or your weeds will choke you.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What kind of day are you having? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination DATE: 06/25/2006 12:47:15 PM ----- BODY:

So how are you today? I hope that you are well. One question though:

How do you react when you are ill?

Do you make all those people around you miserable because you are? Or do you try and but a brave face on and carry on regardless. 

A comment from my personal trainer really put it into perspective for me, he noticed that I was feeling "stressed" and I told him I was having a bad day... to which he responded "you're having a bad day because you say you are." 

The wisdom of the world explained in one easy sentence. And now, whenever my associate or anyone (including myself) is tempted to "have a bad day" I remind myself that it is entirely up to me what kind of day I'm having.....
 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Take the project lead STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/28/2006 03:18:19 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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If you are a follower rather than a leader, you will always be waiting for someone else. Waiting for them to do their part, so you can do yours. If you are following a procrastinator then lets face it you could be waiting a while before they get out of the starting gate.
 
So today, don't march to the sound of someone elses drum, take the project lead and set your own pace.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: your clothing habits STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/30/2006 04:19:46 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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I was at the New Norcia Library Lecture on Thursday last week, fascinating morning session by Sister Veronica Brady. Not only was she eloquent, but she was so very well read, and I came away inspired and in awe of the lady. Yet again, I came to the conclusion that there is not enough time left for me to read everything there is to read and absorb. And that we should focus on what is really important and discard those habits and behaviours that no longer serve us or our needs.
 
For those of you who don't know New Norcia, it is the only Benedictine Community of Monks in Australia. And I started to wonder if the word "habit" that we use so flippantly to describe those behaviours that we have, comes from the same word as the traditional garb worn by the religious clergy. And the answer is yes. According to the well-worn dictionary that sits on my desk a "habit" is "the customary apparel of a particular occupation, rank etc. especially the costume of a nun or monk".
 
Which then of course started me thinking about my own habits regarding "dress". We don't have a uniform at the place where I currently work, but we do have a "habit" of wearing what can be described as "professional standard of dress" - jackets, skirts, trousers, stockings and shoes....you know the sort of things I am referring to...it is a "habit" we get into, and if you are anything like me, you wear the same kinds of things - day in day out, and if you get outside of those boundaries - you feel uncomfortable. Well I do at any rate.
 
And that is the point - we have become so ingrained in our "habits" - our clothing, that we don't dare to be different. We don't dare to try anything new. We buy the same colours, same styles and we wear the same sorts of things day in, day out.....don't believe me, then it is time to go and look in your wardrobe, and at the pictures that line your walls. What do your clothes say about you and your ability to take risks. Or are you like me and hide behind a certain colour?
 
The next question then is - what are we really hiding from?
 
I hope you have a suitably daring week and I'll speak to you again soon
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Personal Development: What are you reading? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Study habits DATE: 06/22/2006 12:29:44 PM ----- BODY:
What you are currently reading?
"I don't have time to read books", said one "reader" of this newsletter. "I can only find time to read my email, and watch a bit of television before it's time to go to bed. Besides which I'm always reading at work, who wants to read when they get home as well."
It has been said by many people, that the only difference to the way your life turns out are the people you meet and interact with and the books that you read. I would like to add a major point to that statement and that is - I believe that what comes out of your mouth is directly related to what goes into your mind.
So if you spend all your time in front of the tv and reading the latest celebrity gossip, guess what you will be talking about to those people with whom you associate most regularly....and what do they spend all their time talking about - yes - what they have done in the last few hours, or days since you last saw them....
I have to confess that I am not a great TV watcher. Yes I will watch the occassional movie, especially when someone brings one over. But my collection of reading material is massive. I visit our local library every few weeks to see what new books are on offer. I make a note of those that I would like to own, and then when funds allow, I make a point of buying a copy for my own personal collection. The reason being, a book should not be read just once, it should be read and studied, especially if you want to get the most from it. But I've also discovered a second hand bookstore that contains a huge range of material at a fraction of the cost of a new one.
And the best bit is that the money goes to charity. You see some of the books that I want to read are no longer in print (being a librarian does have its advantages) and I can't buy a new one...
Along with my book collection are a series of notebooks that I can make notes in - no I will not write in my books - once a librarian, always a librarian !! but the notebooks are a fast way of going back over the main points contained in a book.
But what has this got to do with you?
Well if you are on some sort of changed eating plan and you are following someone's advice, my "advice" to you is to go back and re-read the literature that you have been given. You may find that you are not following the suggestions properly and you may find that your progress has slowed - maybe that is the reason why.
But you may also like to know that the great leaders of our time, and times past are those people who read, and read a lot. They are not afraid to take someone elses ideas and see where they fit into their own situation. Why re-invent the wheel when someone has already drawn up the blueprint and worked out the right materials to use.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: taking stock of where you are STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/31/2006 05:28:17 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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 Good Morning I hope this finds you well. Today I just want to spend a couple of minutes and go back over some of the things that we have been discussing recently.

Now before you decide this issue has nothing of value, let me persuade you otherwise....if you don't review where you currently are - how do you know if you are on the right path?

Yesterday I asked if you were happy to work for the person who looks at you every morning as you clean your teeth and slap on a bit of makeup (sorry to the blokes out there who read this...but you know what I mean).

Did you review your clothing habits? Are you happy with the way that you look? Or do you need to make some changes? Does your hair need a good cut, do the roots need "seeing" to? We still judge people by the way that they look? What do you "look" like?

Did you review your "consumption" habits - Food, alcohol and other substances eg caffeine?

Have you listened to the words that go into your mind and out of your mouth? If they are predominantly negative - are you attempting to stop them and change them for something a little more positive and uplifting?

Have you reviewed your television watching habits?
What books are you currently reading?
Everything that goes into your mind has a habit of coming out of your mouth - so make sure you're not just talking about who wore what to what function....unless that's really important to you that is.

Have you reviewed your financial systems? Can you make some changes?
Have you paid your bills and done your filing so you're not hiding behind clutter?

Have you taken time out of the day to be still and just "be"? Yes this is extremely important in today's hectic lifestyles.

Have you smiled today?

Have you spoken to those people who have caused you angst and explained (nicely of course) about why their words and actions have upset you? If they cannot stop their behaviours then I would suggest you limit your association with them becuase otherwise you will be carrying around their clutter as well as your own.
Do not give head space to those people who do not deserve it. Leave room for those people who do matter!!

Understanding your long term goals and plans means that today you can either take steps towards them - or take steps away from them. Only you have the power to decide which way you want to go.

And more importantly even than that - is your attitude.

Remember that it takes time to design a new life, but a whole life time to live it. So why not enjoy the process.

If you have found this to be useful, don't keep it to yourself - but pass it on to anyone who you think may benefit from this kind of information. Not only would I appreciate it, so might they. Thanks and Regards

I'll speak to you again soon.
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: saving the best til later STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/01/2006 05:31:01 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Good Morning I hope this finds you well and looking forward to another day to advance the business of YOU inc.
 
A question for you on this bright and sunny day, do you save the best stuff for a later date?
 
Do you have "best china" or glassware that you only get out on a special occassion? Which begs further questions - How many special occassions have you used them?
What constitutes a special occassion?
What happens if that special occassion never turns up, or you get so worked up about using said "best" stuff, you don't enjoy the meal, the company or anything else - why? because you a too worried that something might happen to said "stuff".
 
And what of everything else that sits in your house waiting for that "special occassion". Those clothes that are gathering dust and smelling of moth balls, the perfume/aftershave that sits in a bottle waiting for an opportunity to make you smell beautiful. Or the undies that you bought for that "dirty" weekend that never happened.
 
Any occassion can be special....it's not the china you eat from or the clothes that you wear that makes an occassion special, but the attitude that you have.
 
You should also bear in mind that what you consider special someone else may not see the beauty of, so if you are planning on giving the china to the kids, make sure that they can see the value of it before you die - otherwise it might just end up being sold to an antiques shop, and the clothes given to the second hand clothing stores for "dress ups".
 
Accidents can and do happen, illness can strike anyone at anytime. Your partner may decide that they prefer someone who enjoys the moment, rather than waiting for the "right time" to arrive.
 
Today can be a special occassion - if you want it to be.
 
Invite the family over for dinner - if they turn up, then that is truly a special occassion. Wear your best perfume/aftershave to bed, it will make you go to sleep with a smile on your face....and if you are lucky enough to share your bed with someone then why not change those cotton pj's for the silk ones you bought and never wore. Go on - make two people happy.
 
So to finish today's thought for the day - please don't save the good stuff for some unknown time in the future - enjoy it today, after all it gave you pleasure to buy it, so why not appreciate it, after all that projected time/event may never arrive.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: delaying gratification STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/03/2006 05:31:47 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Carrying on from yesterday's discussion about the importance of not saving stuff for use "later", i'd like to talk to you today about our need for instant gratification. The must have it now syndrome.
 
How many store cards and credit cards do you have? How many things have you bought on the spur of the moment, and then never used/worn? How much "stuff" do you actually need?
 
Because of the ease in which we can get credit cards and store cards, we forget how to save up for the things that matter. Do you save up money for a holiday? or do you stick it on the credit card and hope to pay it off later? And that goes for anything and everything we want or say that we need. Interest free terms, buy now - pay later, 48 months to pay. Is it any wonder the businesses of "me Inc" are in severe financial distress!!
 
For those people who have recently joined this list, you may not know what I mean by the term "Me Inc". Well in short - we are in business for us, everything that we do, say, eat, buy etc impacts on our ability to be "in business" - which is why most people are in the red and not the black....back issues explaining this in more detail will be posted to the web this weekend.
 
Now, please do not think that I am advocating a life of poverty or feeling guilty about buying things, absolutely not. But what I am hoping to do is to ask you to think twice about buying things that you "think" you need. As a matter of interest - go through your house, especially your cupboards and wardrobes, these are great hiding places for "retail therapy" purchases. Not only will you be amazed at how much you have bought - but how much money you have "invested" in these purchases. Have you had your money's worth? Or have you made one or two shopping errors.
 
So before you purchase anything else, you need to find out just what it is you are actually buying. Are you trying to buy happiness? Then I would suggest that if you are, you may like to delay gratification and put the money to one side just for a while to see if you do need the item, or whether you simply "want" the item.
 
And if you can't help yourself, then conveniently forget to take your wallet with you when you go out....or only take enough cash to buy what it is you actually want - that way you can't spend your hard earned money on anything else.
 
Delay instant gratification, save your "rewards" for when you complete one of the items off your goal list. And remember to make the goals comparable to the rewards - don't party for the week if you completed a small task. Apart from the week long hangover, the main reason I say this is because our minds and bodies get used to rewards - so you need bigger and better rewards to achieve the same effect....which is another reason why delaying gratification is important. Get motivated for the task - not the reward at the end of it.
 
I'll speak to you again tomorrow, yes I know it's Saturday, but that's when we actually have time to work on our goals. Until then.
 
Elle
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The contents of this E-zine may be copied, reproduced, or freely distributed for all nonprofit purposes without the consent of the author as long as the author's name and contact information are included. Example: Reproduced with permission from the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine E-Zine. The newsletter of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit - http://www.motivateme.info.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: how are you today? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/04/2006 05:35:27 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Today is Saturday, a day of rest for most people. A day off to do the shopping, spend time with the family, friends and a time for getting stuck into those projects you have sitting waiting for you.
 
But what I would like to talk to you about today is not your goals per se, that is a secondary component of today's message. Today I want to talk to you about those conversations that you have as you go about your day(s).
 
Do you speak differently to people depending on who they are and where they fit into your social hierarchy? You may not think you do, but if you want to see it in action - I need you to go the supermarket or a.n.other shop where there are lots of people serving and a few customers. And I want you to observe.
 
What are the people who are serving speaking about? Do they look the customer in the eye and speak to them with respect, or are they just doing enough to get by? Now you could argue that they're only kids and kids don't know any better. Well kids tend to emulate those people around them, so watch their interactions with their peers. If you have children, have you "taught" them to speak to people with respect? - How do they learn to do that you might ask? Well they learn by being shown, and as a parent, we do most of the "showing".
 
Now, look at the people who are waiting to be served. Are these people smiling or grumpy? Do they speak with respect to the person behind the counter or not? Now turn it around, if these check out persons came into your business, would you treat them in the same way as you were being treated? Of course not, you'd have a bad reputation if you treated these people in a rude manner, so why do we think we can get away with speaking to these people as if they are not worthy of being spoken to?
 
You have the chance to make or break someone's day, just by the way that you speak to them. One day I happened to be in the store buying some bits and pieces - it was the middle of a working day - I'd taken a couple of days off work to write, so don't assume I was shirking. Anyway the person who served me was a young(ish) boy, late teens I'd say although I didn't ask. But I did ask, why he was working at a time when most people were either in school, university or "in a proper job"...he replied that he was going to uni and was earning some extra cash, but because it was a minimum wage job he'd applied for another casual position - in a warehouse. Now and here is the reason why I spoke to him, the guy looked despondant...so me being me, asked him what had happened. he then said he had failed an colour-blind test for reds and greens, and was annoyed because - he didn't think it mattered that he was colour blind - all he was doing was moving boxes.
 
He was a little shocked when I explained to him that these uncaring people had probably saved his life. He opened his eyes wide and said "why?"
"Well" I said "most warehouses have forklift trucks that use the traffic light system to move around the warehouse. Imagine if you can't tell if the light is on stop or go, you could have been run over."
 
I then advised him not to go for a job as a sparky - but my very short interaction with that person - made his day. He had thought he was a failure becuase he had failed at a job interview for moving boxes, now he knew that he wasn't. He was already over 6 feet tall, but he lifted his shoulders, stood up straight and thanked me....
 
Don't think you cannot make a difference to people you meet, you will be very surprised at the effect you can have on people. Just make sure your interactions are positive ones.
 
And as a final word - when someone asks you how you are today, always respond in the positive
 
I'm well thank, and you?
Good,
Never been better
 
OK it may be a fib on occassion - but most people don't really need to know that you didn't sleep well, you have a bad back and your boyfriend walked out on you last night. Say it - even if you don't mean it all the time, Square your shoulders and look the person straight in the eye, and say it with a smile on your face.
 
Sooner or later your mind and your body will start to believe it too.
 
So - how are you today?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: is that piece of cake worth it? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/05/2006 05:36:35 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
I am sure that most of you reading this will know that I have struggled with my weight over the years. For those of you who are not carrying excess baggage may not appreciate what it is like to do so. Do you carry excess weight around with you? If you don't congratulations - keep on doing what you are doing. However, it is interesting to note that as we get older, our daily calorie intake requirements get less, yet we tend to eat the same amount of food. Not only that, but the minor aches and pains, and the major aches and pains of ageing take their toll on our desire and our ability to exercise. As muscles are the body's furnace, allowing us to eat more, if we don't exercise in a way that maintains that muscle mass - we lose our ability to eat what we like and keep the weight off. There are some great books on the market that explain that better than I...of the two that I would recommend (and no they don't know that I am telling you this)....are Donna Aston's "Fat not Fiction"  and Stephen Smith's "Look Good, Feel Great" The latter is Stephen's first foray out of the gym and into the writing world and it does show in the writing style he uses, but that aside - both books explain the science of weight training, body building and fat loss explains it better than I.
 
As we have discussed in previous editions of the daily dose, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie and weight loss or gain, is a simple maths equation. Eat more than you use, and you will gain weight, eat less than your body needs and you will lose weight.
 
But what has that got to do with motivation, goal setting and everything else that you want to do?
 
There are some interesting facts - a lot of people eat or drink to excess when they are "down". Comfort eating. What happens then is you feel guilty for having eaten the "wrong" thing and you spiral - usually downwards. There is a double edged sword at work here. Your mind is responsible for the messages it sends - telling you to eat more, go on it won't hurt....and then the other side of your mind, starts to beat you up as soon as you've finished - see I told you, you shouldn't eat that.....This dual personality is your EGO. Yep, your ego, the nasty little blighter that keeps us off balance, and easy prey to every whim. And when that happens everything else you say you want to do, be or achieve is lost in the downward spiral.
 
So how do you stop this thing called ego. Well sometimes you just have to recognise that it needs to prod you occassionally. But what I have found happens is that if it spots you watching it, he does what every kid does and - says "what? I didn't do anything!!"
 
Smack it metaphorically on the rump and pick up a piece of fruit....by which time the other parts of our brain have cottoned on to the teenager and they're back to keeping it in line.
 
But what happens if you don't spot it in time and you start to eat? Well there is an exercise I would like you to do. It's OK you don't have to go to the gym, but you do need to participate, so that when your egotistical teenager starts again you can remember the exercise and you can ask yourself if you really want to carry that excess weight around all day.
 
So what is the exercise?
 
I would like you to go into your pantry and pick up a bag of potatoes, or a bag of sugar...a typical bag of sugar is 1kilogram or 2.2lbs. A bag of spuds can weigh anything from a couple of pounds to 3 or 4 kilos. Now imagine carrying that around with you all day. Make the trial realistic - stick the item into a back pack and carry it with you all day.
 
Now I am classed as "overweight" with a Body Mass Index of 25.5 - OK it is only slightly over the height/weight ratio for my height, but even so. Every day I carry around a couple of bags of "potatoes" - it puts pressure on my heart, my lungs, my joints. Remember that it only takes an excess of 7,700 calories to add a kilo of fat to your body - how many bits of cake do you think that equates to? Actually not that many, or if you are not into cake, then consider - 15 bottles of wine, 7.5 Big Mac's and Large Fries, 15 6" Chicken sub sandwiches, 30 mars bars.... over and above your normal calorie intake and hey you've got yourself an extra kilo of weight to carry around with you. So add another half bag of sugar to your load.
 
Now take off the back pack - how much better do you feel now that you're not carrying the excess weight around with you? Here's to keeping our egotistical teenagers in check.
 
Speak to you again soon
Elle
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Goal achievement: Celebrate your successes STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Success and Failure DATE: 06/19/2006 12:18:01 PM ----- BODY:

Do you celebrate your successes?

You should, especially if they are worth celebrating.

But you should bear a couple of things in mind.

Do you celebrate with food? What about alcohol? Did you know that alcohol is a depressant, so if that's the case why do we use it to "celebrate"?

So before you celebrate your next success with something that is not actually giving benefit to you or your body, ask yourself a simple question. Is this "item" taking me towards my goal(s) or away from where I say I want to be?

If I consider that I have done something worthy of celebrating I will arrange something that benefits both my mind and body. A massage, a new pair of socks, a nice bar of essential oil soap or similar.

Take time to have a look at how you celebrate your successes, and you should celebrate your successes - each and every one of them. But make sure that:

a) the celebration "matches" the success

b) make sure the rewards are actually that and not a drain on you and your resources.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: get to the point STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/07/2006 05:42:48 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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 Phone calls, we all have to make them. But have you noticed that if you don't really know your subject matter - ie., you are phoning on behalf of someone, or you're unsure about what you have to ask, say or do - you will delay picking up the phone. And when you do pick up the phone, you spend a great deal of time on pleasantries.

There are a couple of direct consequences to this type of behaviour.

1. You waste your time and theirs by not getting to the point.
2. You are focussed on not hurting someone's feelings (including your own) by asking questions which may indicate that you are not as well versed in the subject matter as you should be. And no-one likes to admit they don't know something.
3. You waste time avoiding the task in the first place by doing other, and probably less important "stuff".

If this sounds like you - a couple of pointers.

Try telephoning first thing in the morning. Get the item crossed off your list of things you have been avoiding.

Admit upfront that you don't know if you have the right person, or that you are not entirely up on the topic -
"I'm not sure if you can help me on this, but I've been asked to call with regards to .... do you know anything about it? or could you put me through to someone who does?"
That takes the onus off you and does not make the other person's hackles stand on end, especially if the organisation you are chasing may be in the wrong (over charged accounts spring to mind).

And wasting your time and theirs on pleasantries - well unless you know the person really well, spending 10 minutes finding out how well they are and what they've been up to is hardly going to get your questions answered is it? So a suggestion...


"Hi John, I know it's early so I won't keep you, but I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction...."

And of course this works the other way around too - if the person on the other end of the phone won't get to the point
"you know it's been good to talk, but I've got a meeting in a couple of minutes was there something I could help you with in the meantime?" the meeting may only be with yourself and your desire to get home at a reasonable hour, but you don't need to tell them that....

So get to the point, stop wasting your time and theirs, and you will save yourself some precious time to spend on those things and people that really do matter lips.png

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: what would you do if you had to succeed? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/08/2006 05:45:24 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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What would you do if you had to succeed. Because if you didn’t – you or a member of your close family was going to die?

What would you do?

I hope that you would do EVERYTHING In your power to make sure that you were going to succeed, that you found the right treatment – regardless of space, time or money. If you are like most people you would go to the ends of the earth, walk over hot coals, sell your house or whatever else it took. You have your goal, succeed or die. Your focus is crystal clear - sure you might have a moment or two of panic, but you would square your shoulders, grit your teeth and get on with doing what you had to. You would wouldn't you?

Do you know why most of us don't achieve what we say that we want to achieve? Because our dreams, goals and aspirations are not real to us, they are "ho hum, you know it would be nice if...."

They are not life or death decisions, they have no sense of urgency, and we do not CARE enough. If you can't see it, feel it, live it every single day, then chances are good you will quit at the first sign of adversity, or chocolate cake (depending on your particular goal).

Now I am not asking you to run around like a headless chuck (sorry "chicken" for those non-aussie readers) putting panic mode into everything you do. But what I am asking you to do today is to look at those things that you say you want, and I want you to assign a do or die rating to them.

If you don't give your "goal" a 7 or above - ie., you would go to the ends of the earth to achieve it - either modify your goal or don't bother.

7-10 = you really want this and you will do what it takes to get there. The higher the number the more likely you are to achieve it.
5-6 = a bit of effort to change the focus of these items and you will get there - eventually
3-4 = vague, wishy, washy dreams - not worth spending time on
0-2 = what are these items doing on your list? Stop dreaming and get doing.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What are you waiting for? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/09/2006 04:01:50 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Good morning

A comment from one of the readers of the daily dose of motivational medicine yesterday has prompted me to send a follow up to yesterday's message.

Yesterday if you remember I asked you to get out your goal list and to assign a do or die rating to them. 7-10 = will achieve no matter what; 0-2 = why bother?

Well his comment threw me a little. He had his dream, he carries a picture of it around with him in his wallet...great start I thought to myself. This person knows what he wants, and you know what he will do it - I'd say his do or die rating was about an 8. Why an 8? Why not a perfect 10 I can hear you say?

Well in this readers particular case, his work is taking him away from from his home for quite long periods of time, and he is unable to devote the time he needs to creating this particular goal item. Yes the money might be good (and I can only assume this as I don't ask) - so money isn't the thing that is stopping him.

So what is?

Well I call it the BUT factor. No, not as in - I can't be bothered to get off my BUTT to do what it takes, but the BUT factor. The negative word that gets in the way of most of our hopes, dreams and aspirations. Remove the BUT factor from your goal list and you will immediately raise the do or die rating by a couple of notches.

I will achieve my goal of being mortgage free in 5 years.
I will get a better paid job
I will move house to one that is closer to....

These kinds of statements means there is no doubt in your mind....

You know that you will achieve them, yes it may take a little bit of negotiation and planning on your part to achieve them, but and here's the thing. You really have to want to - want to change your beliefs, behaviours and thought processes and you need to believe that you can do it....Remove the word BUT from your vocabulary and you will achieve far more than you ever dreamed possible.

Never assume that the person(s) you think is/are going to hold you back will do so...

I'd like to move house but the kids like their school, and I can't expect them to make new friends it's not fair...(Excuse me - fair for who? Fair on the kids that you are sad and miserable all the time...)
I'd like to travel - but the bank manager will say no, the hubby won't be able to get extended leave from work (have you asked him?, what about the kids schooling? (what about it? Go talk to the teachers, department of education? They will learn far more in the real world than in the classroom - project management, time management, written and verbal communication, team work - the list is endless).

The only thing really holding you back is what is going on in your mind. Stop having conversations with yourself, don't get down and depressed because you think you know the answer before you start....get the people involved. Start to visit the area(s) where you'd like to move to, see if you can't get a day in the school your kids will be attending, get some reference points for the kids - they're always on MSN these days so get a few names and addresses - let them communicate with their new friends. Get them started on the projects you want to start, plan the holidays - get the books, guides, talk to a financial advisor, see where you can start to make a difference to your goals...and get off your BUTT and get rid of the BUT from your thought processes.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you know what you want - exactly? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/11/2006 04:06:44 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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EXACTLY
 
Being exact takes away the doubt away from what you want. How exact are you in your goal setting and the actions that you take in order to reach them. Think about it, if your words don't reflect exactly what you think you want - how on earth are you actually going to reach your target?
 
Do me a favour and get out your goal list - what does it look like? Is it full of specifics?
 
I want to visit Egypt in the next 2 years. I am going to save x amount of dollars each week in order to reach the monetary goal. i am going to save up my holiday this year so that I can take 6 weeks off next year.
 
Or is it full of wishy washy vague statements?
 
"I want to travel to lots of places" - you do? Where? When? How long for? How are you going to afford it? Who are you going with? Do you have enough annual leave or do you need to factor in leave without pay? Will you rent out your place or will you get someone to house sit? What about the pets? What about the kids? Are the kids at school? What are you going to do about getting them ahead in their school work so you can do this?
 
"I want more money" - 5c is more. How much do you want? How are you going to get the additional money? What do you want the additional money for?
 
"I want more money to be comfortable" - compared to whom?
"I want to be happier" - than what? Than who? What will make you happy? What difference will having an inane grin on your face constantly do to your life?
 
"I want to win the lottery" - so does everyone else!!! - what will you do with it? If you don't have plans for it, well you'll soon end up back where you started because other people will have plans for it.  As a matter of interest - you are statistically more likely to have an accident on the way to get your lottery ticket than you are likely to actually win it.
 
Let me put it this way - be specific, but make the goals that you have for yourself realistic. Tomorrow we'll look at what makes a realistic goal. But let me put it this way - Winning a million dollars is not a realistic goal !!. One thing I will say is that if you are basing your future financial planning on some external happening over which you have absolutely no control - then chances are better than good you will not be "rich".
 
So today - well it is Saturday I need you to get out your goal list and see if your goals are specific or vague. And then you need to work out how you can change those vague desires into something that you can and will achieve.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: SMART goals or unrealistic ones? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/12/2006 04:08:58 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
---------------------------------------------------------- 
I hope this finds you well and inspired to look at your goal list in an entirely different way.
 
As you know, yesterday we spoke about wishy washy vague statements that we tend to have on our desired lists. A quick question - did you review any of the statements that you had on your list???? A minor point - and I know I've said this before, but how on earth do you expect to get anything if you don't actually do anything that I or anyone else suggests? Remember a goal without action is merely a dream.
 
But lets take a closer look at unrealistic dreams.
 
I would hazard a guess that most people reading this would have heard about goal setting....and SMART goals in particular. Specific, Measurable, Achieveable , Realistic and Timebound. Unrealistic dreams have one or two components missing.
 
You know what you want - Specific
You know what you want to achieve - Measurable
It may even be Timebound - but as for the rest!!!
 
Let me explain what I mean.
 
Weight loss - a good topic for the silly season. I could say I want to lose 10 kilos by December 25. Specific target, timebound and measurable. But is it achieveable? And is it realistic.
 
No and No.
 
We are in the middle of November, which means we have about 4 weeks to go before Christmas day. With all the will in the world, 10 kilos in 4 weeks - I don't think so. So not only is unrealistic its hardly achieveable. I would be setting myself up for failure.
 
By the way 1-2lbs per week is realistic (BTW - a kilo is 2.2lbs)
 
And that is where most people set themselves up for failure - they have no idea what constitutes a realistic goal.
 

An unrealistic goal is something we say that we want but have no idea how we are going to achieve it. We get totally overwhlemed by the goal and we panic, and everything else shuts down too. For example - If your unrealistic goal is weight related I can almost guarantee that you'll eat everything that isn't nailed down. Money is another emotive issue. How many of you have "I want a million dollars" on your list. Do you have any idea of how you are going to get your million bucks? Or are you waiting for Aunt Doris to pop her clogs. Let me put it this way, Aunt Doris is more likely to leave her fortune to the cats, so you have to have a better plan than that.

 
Unrealistic - I want a million dollars and I am going to win the lottery next week and realise my dream, or wait for Aunt Doris to pop her clogs....hmm where did I put the arsenic anyway?
 
Realistic - I want a million dollars in the bank -
 
I am going to buy several investment properties, keep them for a year (you pay less Capital Gains Tax) and sell them on. A few years of buying a selling and I will realise my goal.
 
I am going to invest the money I would have invested in the lottery, I will buy shares instead...ok it may take me a few years but sooner rather than later, I will get my million, especially if those insider tips come off (no, I did not say that)....
 
I will invest my money in a high interest saving account. The compound interest over time will allow me to reach my goal.
 
OK OK it's hardly exciting, nor did I say it would be a quick process, but you will get there.
 
Of course you could lie, cheat and steal your way to a million dollars, but then you should also factor in some down time  as you contemplate your dream home from a slightly smaller abode.
 
Remember - small steps are not a bad thing.....
 
Be SMART - but more importantly - be realistic.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you really need all that food in your house? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/13/2006 04:12:19 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
----------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning I hope this finds you well and looking forward to thinking about the new week in an entirely new way.

Today's topic is slightly different from previous editions, but I make no apologies - because as you will know by now, everything that we say and do impacts on everything else. Which is why i want to speak to you about your food buying habits.

Are you the kind of person who goes to the shops with a list, and gets what is on the list and only those items that are on the list? No, me neither.

Or are you the kind of person who has a partial list, then buys things for just in case you fancy something a little different this week. Yep that's more like me too.

Can you do me a favour and go and have a look in your pantry, food cupboards, fridge and freezer. Do your food stores look like you are stock piling for the next world war? Yes I thought so.

Now and here is the thing. Do you have any idea of how much money is tied up in the food stocks you have stuck in your pantries and freezers? I'll give you a clue, it will be hundreds if not thousands of dollars especially if you have chest freezers filled to the brim of "stuff".

So if you want to save yourself some money this week - and probably the next few weeks - then all you need to do is eat the stuff you've bought and then stuck in the cupboards.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Break bad habits by creating new "good" habits STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits DATE: 06/18/2006 12:11:44 PM ----- BODY:

Habits, we all have them. Some of them are good to have, like remembering to clean your teeth and how to drive a car. Can you imagine how difficult our lives would be if didn't have the ability to learn new things and then not have to think about them too hard once the pattern had been imprinted into our brain waves or thought processes?

And bad habits are especially bad because most of the time we don't realise what we are doing. Do you sit and watch the television when you are eating your dinner at night? Do you consciously make the choice to sit and stare at the box whilst consuming vast quantities of food? Have you noticed that you eat a lot more if you are not actually watching what you are eating? Your mind is consumed with what is on the television rather than what is on the plate, so the satiety feelings we used to get (just before the bloated feeling) are drowned out by outside events.

In order to break a habit - first you have to know that you have one. Then you have to ask yourself, are you willing to let the habit (whatever it is) into your life. If you are not willing to have the habit dictate to you, then what do you do? Do you avoid the situations that led you to creating the habit in the first place, or do you do other things so that you don't have time to think about the bad habit - namely it is very hard to eat and clean at the same time.

So take a few days and consciously watch what you do, make a note of the times that you do it, keep a log book if you have to. You will be pleasantly if somewhat embarrased by your daily activities. Because it is those daily activities that are taking you towards your goal(s) or away from them. So take time to do an inventory of yourself and your actions, once you know what you are doing it is a lot easier to choose what you do next.


----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: To have a positive outlook on life: Avoid the negative STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits DATE: 06/17/2006 12:08:25 PM ----- BODY:

A few days ago I suggested that you get yourself a champion.  A champion is the kind of person you can call when you are feeling down. These are the kind of person who can pick you up, dust you off and advise that perhaps a huge piece of chocolate cake is perhaps not the kind of "help" you need. Instant gratification is usually offset by a huge guilt trip afterwards, and a champion can really help you to avoid those kinds of moments.

Today's daily dose looks at the reality of our lives...have you noticed that we are surrounded by the negative. Every time you turn on the television or the radio there's doom and gloom (ok at the moment it's soccer, soccer and more soccer - but you get my meaning)...wars, bombings, murder, mayham, is it any wonder you get to work and you are depressed?

I personally avoid the news and talk back radio these days. I found that the sensationalist news stories were making me angry and tense, and it affected my entire day. I simply found it difficult to be positive when all around me was - negative, negative, negative.

But have you noticed there will be a group of people you either know or associate with on a regular or semi-regular basis that are also full of woe is me, and doom and gloom. They are the kind of people who don't have anything nice to say about christmas or the fact that the sun is shining....I'm sure you know the kind of people I am talking about. But what happens if "you" are that kind of person? Do people avoid talking to you, have you noticed that your circle of "friends" is really just a group of people having a bitch session. I hope not, but these kinds of people exist.

And speaking from experience, they should be avoided like the plague. These are the kind of people who will do everything in their power to make you feel inferior - "Oh, you're on another diet. You don't seem to be able to stick to anything for very long do you." Throw away comments that can destroy any self-confidence that you had. And what happens, if you're anything like me, you will turn to some kind of comfort food.

So limit your association with these kinds of people. Even if they live in the same house as you !! and yes it is possible.

Small, subtle changes over a long period of time can make a big difference to the way your life turns out. Just as sustained over eating over a long period of time will ensure that you put weight on, so small changes to your eating plan over a long period of time will ensure that the weight will come off. And when it does, celebrate with your champions...but try not to make your reward "food" related. Reinforce the positive, and avoid the negative.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Mentors and Coaches: Get yourself a champion STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Mentoring and Coaching CATEGORY: Motivation to improve diet and health DATE: 06/14/2006 08:53:00 AM ----- BODY:

A champion is someone who believes in what you are doing and will do it with you.

If you want to succeed in any endeavour and find yourself falling by the way side, you need to find someone who is willing to put your health and your eating habits before a night on the town. That someone will make sure you stick to your diet - even if you are on a night on the town. I'm sure you know the kind of person I am talking about.

Once you have that kind of support on your side, anything and I do mean ANYTHING is possible.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Laugh yourself silly! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/13/2006 08:50:27 AM ----- BODY:
When was the last time you laughed so hard your face hurt? Do you remember how good you felt afterwards? And do you remember how you could revisit that glorious moment for hours and sometimes days afterwards and you would raise a smile.
Laughter releases the "feel good" hormone - serotonin, and if you feel good, you almost always look good too. And if you feel good - you can do more. I don't know why - I just know it works. So why not capture that feel good feeling a little bit more often....rent a silly movie, and make sure you invite a few friends over for the screening...the more laughter there is, the better you feel.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Give without regret STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/16/2006 07:01:29 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Have you started to think about de-cluttering your lives so that you can find whatever it is you need to find? Have you started to look at what fills your life and your houses and work spaces. If the items don't fulfil an immediate need, and you can't see yourself using the item within a couple of months, consider giving it away or having a garage sale. The beauty of giving things away, means you have room to receive more.
 
I'm not sure if you've heard of the seed money principle...basically it works along similar lines to tithing (ie., you give part of your money to church or charities), but with "seed money" you are planting the idea that you are giving with a hope to receiving back in return. If this sounds grasping, consider this - you don't plant veggie seeds and hope the veggies don't grow do you? Now you can do the seed planting deliberately or you can do it non-consciously, the only thing that it asks you to do is give without regret. If you can do that - you will be amazed at what starts to come your way.
 
And you don't have to do it just with money...although a hint - if you want more money to come to you - then you need to give money away. Start with little amounts - give it to street vendors and charity collectors...and believe you will get money (money off, discounts, overtime all count) back in return. The interesting thing about this is that it works with other things too - for example. I gave a friend a box of glasses I'd got stuck in the back of the cupboard - she was always breaking them and money being a bit tight...so I gave her some of mine....a week or so later, another friend offered me a piece of glass - suitable for a coffee table that she was getting rid of..Coincidence - no I don't think so. For every religion that I am aware of there is the law of sowing and reaping, give without regret and you will receive. Hoard everything that you have and you will struggle.
 
You may be wondering what this has to do with procrastination and a general lack of motivation. Well it is interesting, and we have touched on this aspect in the past...if you are stuck doing the same things in the same way, your energy will be stuck too. Giving things away, spring cleaning etc gives the energy a chance to move again. One thing I have noticed is that it is almost impossible to be down and depressed when you are busy creating a new life. Now we may have to start small, cleaning the kitchen drawer may not sound like it is a very exciting way to break the procrastination habit. But if you can choose an area where you know you have been stuck - and we all have metaphorical kitchen drawers that need de-cluttering, and spend a few minutes on it today, and a few minutes on it tomorrow, by the end of the week you will have managed to move your project forward by quite a distance.
 
Remember - houses have to be built a single brick at a time.
 
Clean your "kitchen drawers"
Give the stuff you don't want to someone who does
Give without regret
Open yourself up to receive more - opportunities, money, "stuff"
Say thank you when you do receive....
 
The final point is essential....whenever you receive something (no matter what it is) - you should say thank you....if you don't you will stop the good flowing your way. Don't believe me - do you know a sad, sour faced person who never says thank you for anything? Is that person always whingeing about how poor or unlucky they are????
 
Thank you for listening to today's ramblings. Thank you for passing on these newsletters to others. Thank you for being open to new ways of thinking. Thank you.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What keeps you awake at night? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/28/2006 07:07:38 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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What makes a story so compelling that you can stay up most of the night turning pages? You know the story is one that resides in the mind of the author. The places he or she describes may exist in reality, but not the events that are purported to revolve around them. What draws you in, what motivates you to continue reading long past the time you should be asleep dreaming of your own long-forgotten plans?

It's a long time since I've read any fiction. A long time since I've felt the need to enter into the mind of another writer. The world of another writer. But for once I am glad to put aside the techno babble that has kept me stuck to my computer like the proverbial limpet for the past weeks, no make that months. I feel like I've been suffocating in a pit of legalese, and one that I can happily now relinquish for a far more exciting realm. It makes me want to pick up my own pen and re-trace the many steps i've taken to write (or should I say partially write) the many novels that used to careen through my mind.
Why the change of heart? Why fiction? Why now? Well apart from finishing the latest edition of the Australian Record Retention Manual (a sure fire way to beat insomnia even if I do say so myself), I went to a writers forum last Wednesday. Two publishers, 2 poets and a psychologist who publishes his own work (can psychology be classed as Vanity Publishing these days?).
The biggest thing for me was a comment they all made at various times throughout the evening - not enough writers are readers. Now I am constantly reading, filtering, disseminating the information that I find. It is what I do, it is what I feel I am good at. But read poetry? Not since I was forced to read the Canterbury Tales in Original Olde English at High School. I seem to have an aversion to rhyme - which makes me wonder why I write it really!! And fiction - I stopped making time to read it, which is interesing because it's also about the same time I stopped writing it too.
So, wandering around a local conglomerate at lunchtime yesterday I walked around the book shelves. What surprised me was I didn't recognise many of the authors (oops and me a librarian - albeit non practising) let alone the titles. When did I lose track of what the publishers wanted anyway?
Well what do they want?
The same they've always wanted if the publishers were speaking the truth - well written words that convey a message to the reader, and even better if the reader doesn't need to sleep - it means the author did his job well.

What would you give up sleep for? What motivates you to spend countless hours crafting and honing  a skill that would leave your "readers" wanting more? What excites you? It is the answer to these questions that will determine where you will end up and where you should be - if you're not there already.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Keep your appointments STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/17/2006 07:09:06 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Appointments aren't just to do with other people and meetings you need to have. Although they are important. We have hundreds of appointments every day, the question is do you arrive promptly and in the right frame of mind with all the pre-requisite work done?
 
Of course not.
 
From the moment we wake up in the morning, until the time we turn off the light before we go to sleep we have things we need to do, things we must do and things we want to do. And yes there is a difference.
 
Depending on the type of person you are - you have either a written list or a mental one. Either of which can get lost. My written list of appointments and things to do is sitting on my kitchen counter, so I've had to rely on my memory. And believe me when I say it occassionally springs a few leaks. So today I've done those things that I can remember needed to be done. They may not be everything I was hoping to do during the day, but hey I can't do miracles.
 
Each time you have to rely on your memory, your non-conscious thought processes will fill your mind with what it thinks is important. Paying those bills may not be a high priority to your non-conscious thoughts processes, but they were actually sitting at number one on the list. Especially as you are thinking, I hate paying bills, what do I have to pay bills for. Your non-conscious thought processes have filed bill paying into the "pain" category and therefore won't remember.

Each list item if you haven't guessed is an appointment with yourself to move forwards with your dreams, goals and aspirations. If you have to constantly play catch up with yourself because you are failing to keep your appointments, then you are always going to be behind. Remember in a previous edition, we discussed that you are working for "you" - and if you had to go to work for you and watch yourself running around like a cross between a headless chicken and a mindless zombie would you be wondering how on earth you got anything done during the day?

I'd say the answer is yes.
 
Keeping your appointments with yourself means that you get up when the alarm goes off in the morning. It means getting prepared for the next appointment - ie., dressing appropriately, eating so your stomach doesn't rumble and making sure you have all your notes prepared ready for the things you are due to do during the day.
Are you punctual?
Are you prepared?
Do you ensure that you keep all your appointments or are your excuses longer than your to do list?
What appointments didn't you keep with yourself today?
What appointments didn't you keep with yourself yesterday that you are having to fit in today?

If I were to hazard a guess most people would ensure that they keep those appointments that you have with other people. However, if we are lax in keeping our appointments with ourselves, we may also be lax in our dealings with other people and their time. It doesn't matter to you if you are five minutes late for an appointment with the doctor, bank manager, or hairdresser, but to these people your lack of consideration has inconvenienced them greatly.

So if you have an appointment with someone else, please make sure you:
a) keep it
b) be on time
c) be prepared
d) don't waffle once the meeting has finished (respect their time even if you don't respect yours)
e) confirm the date and time beforehand - don't get the wrong day
f) be polite at all times to all people - even if they are late and have kept you waiting
g) if you are unavoidably delayed - telephone and let them know, they may not be able to fit you in when you do finally arrive.
 
Don't do less than you should becuase that is the culture of the organisation that you work for. Remember you are in the business of "you" so don't do what everyone else is doing, be willing to do all that you can....and smile whilst you are doing it.

Focus on one task at a time. Just so you can't be in two places at once - on the physical plane, neither should your mind be. So focus your attention on what you need to do now. Once you have completed that first task, finish it and move on to the next one. Don't stop for a 5 minute chat (even with yourself) - pretend you are going on holiday tomorrow and you need to get some things finished before you go. You will be stunned at how much more when your attention is focussed and you have a limited time span, and you will achieve a lot more than most other people possibly can.
 
If you are serious about getting more out of your life, then make appointments with yourself - and then keep them. Make yourself accountable for the business of "you"
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The silly season is upon us STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/18/2006 07:12:18 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Good Morning I hope this finds you well for a Saturday morning.
 
A comment yesterday from a member of staff at the gym I go to has made me think about my exercise routines and habits. And my health in general.
 
He was inquiring about what I was going to be doing this weekend, so I replied - oh the usual, washing, cleaning, shopping and some writing. Which of course, then prompted another series of questions after I told him about this website and these newsletters. To which he said "I see it all the time. How many people buy a gym membership for an entire year and then not turn up...at all"
 
Why do people buy a gym membership and not go? Do they think they can think themselves thin? Hint !! Fat is an energy store - you have to use it to lose it. Gym memberships aren't cheap. Ranging from several hundred dollars per year, to thousands if you include personal training sessions, supplements, clothing, decent footwear etc etc.
 
But the real cost is priceless if you think about it. What would you pay for good health? Not even the richest people in the world are immune to disease and death, yet they cannot buy too many extensions to their lives. So prevention has to be better than a cure.
 
So why are we talking about the "silly" season? Well every other email I get is from an organisation or other having an end of year get together involving food and copious amounts of alcohol. Even the gym that i go to is having a Christmas dinner, 3 course meal, drinks and canapes to start.
 
One of the things we will see in the beginning of January is an influx of people to the gyms around the country. New Years Resolutions to get fit, lose weight, not over-indulge "ever again". How soon people forget though, and soon the excuses start to roll in. I can't I've got to work late, so and so has invited me over to dinner, I don't feel like going to the gym I'll just go for a walk instead.
 
So if we are talking about prevention rather than a cure, and going to the gym three times a week at a minimum, why do we need to wait until January to make a start on the new life and healthy way - we say we want for ourselves. Bear in mind that it is going to take several months to see the benefits. (Your body will feel them long before you can see the results).
 
The other reason why it is important not to wait until January is that it is still several weeks off, and we are just procrastinating if we don't do something we say we want to do - now. Don't try and do too much, or make too many changes all at once becuase you will be overwhelmed by the process. Decide that you will do something today, and then do it. Let others get stressed about the silly season - not you.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Creating work - life balance STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/19/2006 07:15:30 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Work / Life Balance sounds like a misnomer and to most people it is. They spend long hours at work thinking they are being productive. They get home exhausted, grumpy and have little or no time for the home or the family. They take work home, they work on weekends, they work long into the night - getting home in the early hours of the morning, and for what? A heart attack or other stress related illnesses? Poor relationships with the family? A house rather than somewhere you can call "home". If your house still looks like you haven't unpacked yet, then I would say you have your priortities a little wrong.
 
Charles De Gaulle said it best when he said "the graveyards are full of indispensable men"
 
You see most people are under the mistaken impression that longer hours at work means you are being productive. Now, and here is the thing, are you using every minute of the day as effectively as you can? Of course not, it's impossible - interruptions and setbacks - they are part of every day (no matter where you happen to be). Long time readers of the daily dose of motivational medicine knows that I am a firm advocate of using a time log to see just how productive you actually are during a specific day. If you haven't found it yet, a copy of the file is available for download from http://www.motivateme.info - just go to the downloads and free stuff page. It's the only thing there at the moment - but other stuff will be coming in the not too distant future.
 
So today being Sunday, I need you to have a look back at your weekly time log - assuming you kept one....and this is important because you need to see what you were doing, how long it took you, how further forward you are towards your goals and dreams, or were you just doing "stuff".
 
Reflection is important. It is important to have some down time, some time for reflection, some time for play. But it is also important not to confuse the different times. So reflection isn't about beating yourself up because you didn;t do as well as you perhaps could have. Reflection is a time for seeing where you can do a bit better next time. No matter how well we plan, there will always be interruptions and setbacks, but if you have your plan written down, if you know what you want to achieve and where you want to go, you can deal with the interruption and get back to where you were. If you don;t know where you are going - how on earth do you know when you get there.
 
So when you have next weeks plan worked out - I need you to stop. Because today is Sunday - not necessarily a day of rest, but a day of not working. So when you are creating your plan for better work life balance. Remember that when you are at work - work, when you are at home - be at home. Don't confuse the two and you will be far ahead of the rest of the population.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Planning the start of the week STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/20/2006 07:20:06 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Monday - half way through the day, yes already. My question for you then is how is your week shaping up?

Have you waded straight back into where you left off on Friday? Or have you taken time out this morning to plan your day and your week? Keeping a time log of what you have done is all well and good, but that only tells you where you've been, it doesn't tell you where you need to be. If you don't spend time at the start of your working week to plan the days ahead (at least in rough form), then how on earth are you going to know whether you have done what you should have by the end of it?

Planning your week is like planning anything of value. Do you go to the airport and wait for the first flight to land and then get on it. Or do you spend some time beforehand working out the time, how you are going to pay for it, where you are going, who will be meeting you at the other end, and why you are getting on a plane in the first place? I'd hope so !!

Planning your week is about putting your personal appointments into place. For the new readers of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine, we spoke last week about keeping appointments we make with ourselves. If we're totally honest with ourselves, there are some times we manage to keep all our appointments - we cross things off the list, and we move on to the next items. But there are some days when the appointment book didn't get opened, we failed to do anything - sometimes this is our fault, and sometimes things happen that are out of our control. But as we have mentioned, if you don't put the appointments into place, you can conveniently forget what you were supposed to do now can't you.

If you want to get more out of every day, then it is important to set your appointments. And then once they have arrived, it is important that you keep them. Failure to keep your appointments with yourself is another subtle hint to your non-conscious thought processes that it is OK to procrastinate, to forget, to delay, to put off until tomorrow - because you can't be bothered to do it today.

How do you set your appointments? Apologies - some of these come under "duh" I knew that....
1. Put in the big items first. Do you have to be somewhere this week? Where? When? How long for? These external appointments are vital. So once these are in place:
2. Make sure you have set aside time to work out what you are going there for. Should go without saying, but preparation is extremely important. Get your notes in order before you go.
3. Factor in travelling time. Can you do something else whilst you are travelling? Are you going by bus/train - take something with you to read on the way.
Do you have a media player in your car - there are many books in electronic format these days.

Once you have the external appointments in place, then it is time to work on the internal appointments. These are your projects and work items that have to be done. (See I told you it came under the hard of thinking category).

4. What projects do you need to work on?
5. What reports do you need to write?
6. In-trays - do the important first. Don't get caught up with the urgent but not important - if you keep your appointments you should never have urgent items of your own making in your in-trays. And if they belong to someone else - do you have to bail them out? Or should they do their own work? Bailing people out all the time - does not teach them anything other than they can continue to procrastinate. Don't let other people take your time and energy.
7. Email - set aside time each day to answer these, and then turn the darn thing off. Unless you are waiting for important and urgent information regarding a project or external appointment - then you do not need it on and it will only interrupt your train of thought as the little envelope appears.

It may take a few days to get these new practices in place, but the technique will work for you - if you choose to use it. 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Motivating Others STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/21/2006 07:22:13 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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How do you motivate others?

The simple and quick answer is - you can't. If you haven't realised it by now - if you cannot motivate yourself, how on earth are you going to motivate other people?

Employers use all sorts of tactics and tricks to motivate employees, you may have been on the receiving end of some of them, you've probably all seen them...pictures of "employee of the month" hanging on the wall in the lobby. Have you noticed that sometimes those pictures don't change for months on end. What sort of "motivation" does that signal to the employees?

Employers use incentive schemes but all that tends to do is introduce resentment and competition. It also means that employers have to use bigger incentives or "bigger sticks".

Employers also try "firing up" their employees by hiring motivational speakers, or doing some kind of team building activities, both of which have little or no long term lasting effect. In fact employees can see straight through these kinds of things for what they are...band-aid solutions, and false bonhomie. Having been on the receiving end of both these types of "ra ra sessions" I do have to question if the money could have been better spent.

Motivating others is impossible if they do not want to be motivated. If they are doing a job they hate, with people they dislike they are not likely to bond with these same people on a raft in the middle of a river now are they?

So what can you do?

Well you could lead by example:
If you have a job you enjoy doing you are more likely to fire other people up with your enthusiasm than any other way that I know.
On the other side - if you have a job you hate. Before you get a new one, ask yourself a simple question - is your attitude towards your job the problem? Or is it the job? If it's your attitude it doesn't matter where you work, you'll always hate what you do. You could be earning thousands a week and still be a miserable, grumpy person. So check the attitude factor before you chuck in the job. Oh and -
Don't take your personal problems to work, don't snap at people and then try and be nice when you want something - guess what - it doesn't work.
 
So if you want to motivate others, motivate yourself first, and you'll probably find people running to catch up. 

(MMO1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How do you motivate yourself? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/22/2006 07:24:01 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Good Morning

Carrying on from yesterday's ramblings on how to motivate others, today I'd like to offer some suggestions on how to motivate yourself:

First of all I will let you in on a secret. All the planning you've done so far is absolutely no good if you are not "in the mood" to do something towards your goals, dreams and ambitions.

Another secret....there is never a right time. There will always be things (people or events) that get in your way and take your time, energy and money. It's a fact of life - get used to it.

So if there is never a right time, and you simply aren't in the mood to get started, what can you do?

Start anyway!! And you were hoping I was going to say have a day off weren't you. Recharge your batteries, forget the plans just for today.

Well you can do that if you want to, after all every thing you want to do, be or see is entirely up to you. I can't stand over you and insist you do anything. I can only motivate myself to be better than I was yesterday, I can't expect you to do anything - if you don't want to.

If you want to do more, and be more, then all you need to do is make the next five minutes better than the last five minutes. Anyone can be better for the next five minutes - can't they. One thing to remember, is that today is all you have. Tomorrow hasn't arrived yet, and who knows for some people it may never do so.

So - all well and good I can hear you say, you don't have my problems, you don't have my worries. Well no I don't know many of you personally, but I do know that my problems, concerns and worries are just as important to me as yours are to you. But by taking each decision as they come, by trying to be better in the next five minutes than the last five, I don't have to worry about some unforseen events in the future. We seem to spend a lot of time worrying over events that may not happen, and if they do - well we usually find a way to solve the problem don't we.

Each big project will have a million tiny steps that you need to take in order to get there. Each tiny step, may take a few seconds, minutes or hours to do. But each time you complete one of those tiny pieces, you have slotted another piece into your own personal jigsaw puzzle. And like most difficult jigsaw puzzles, sometimes you will have to try numerous different pieces before you find the right one. So instead of bashing the jigsaw when you get frustrated, tearing all your hard work to pieces again....persevere. Be consistent in your actions. Try a piece, if it doesn't work put it in another pile, don't put it back in the main pile - why - well you may end up trying the same piece over and over and over again....

yes the old cliche - if you do something in the same way you will get the same results.
 
Consistency with anything is essential - To use the exercise example, buying a gym membership doesn't count - you do have to go, and you have to go 3-4 times a week and sweat to get the benefit. Once in a blue moon doesn't count!! (By the way a Blue Moon occurs about every 2 and a half years or when there are 2 full moons in a calendar month).
 
Be better in the next 5 minutes than you were the last 5
Start now - there never will be a right time
Take one decision at a time.
Don't sit on the fence and wait for someone to push you off onto the wrong side - stop giving away your power.
Be consistent with your actions. Chip away at the problems.....if you can't take a flying leap that is....some gaps can only be made in one jump!!
And be persistent - do something towards your goals for 5 minutes, make one phone call, write a letter, write a chapter outline, go for a walk, do something...get out your plans, and to do lists....and do something

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you get scared easily? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/23/2006 07:25:30 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Do you get scared easily?

NO?

Then why haven't you done something / anything different lately?

Unless you are willing to challenge and question the stereotypical behaviours of societal expectations and what everyone else has planned for you, then you are not willing to take risks, ergo - you must be afraid.

Unless you are willing to quesiton, unless you are willing to start asking "why" - why me
why now
why don't you just shut up and let me get on with living my life...

then you will carry on doing the same things in the same way that you have always done.

Why is questioning a good thing?

Well if you don't question - then that must mean you are happy to sit back and let other people decide what you are going to do with your life. That's why!

When did you stop questioning anyway?

I can almost tell you the date, give or take a few years. It was the day you asked too many questions, and your parents told you to sit down, shut up and stop asking so many damned questions. Do you remember the day?

You had a million questions running through your mind, and the answers you were given would generate a million more. You were never satisfied with the glib answers provided by the taller people. You wanted to know why, how, what, where, when, what if... you did, didn't you?

So what happened to that inquisitive child?

I can almost guarantee you were made to conform, you were told to sit down, be quiet, watch the telly. Oh the damage we do to our children. Can you imagine what would've happened if the parents of the scientists did that to their offspring?
Where would we be?

We take so much for granted, but if we stop to think - just for a minute, we owe our current state of being to those people who were willing to question the stereotypes, and why can't it be done.

So a thought for today - is your current state of mind, body, place in life and society - because you stopped thinking of all the possibilities that are open to you?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Mediocrity STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/24/2006 07:27:50 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."
Andrew Carnegie, 1835 - 1919
Scottish/American industrialist and philanthropist
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Being mediocre, means you do the same things as everyone else.  You’re not a leader nor do you want to be. You got good grades in school, but to get an A would have taken you away from your friends on MSN and the telephone. You don’t have a clue what you want to be when you grow up and that’s ok thanks very much.
Mediocre is mass market. You buy the same brands from the same place, because you’ve always done so. You’re happy to shop in the same place, go to the same holiday destination, you save up for 50 weeks in the year, so you can do the same things for the two weeks you are away – just in a different place.
Average is watching the same programs on the television, at the same time of the day, on the same day of the week. If it’s Thursday then it’s got to be Fish and Chips. Average is normal, average is wearing the same kinds of clothes, reading the same kinds of books by the same authors, whilst having your hair cut back into the same style you’ve had it in for the last 20 years.
Average is normal. Average is a habit. Average is a rut you’ve gotten yourself into and you can’t be bothered to climb out of. You’ve carved a niche out of the 360 degrees that exists around us and you are happy to wallow in your own small space. You don’t buy anything new and remarkable – you prefer the tried and tested of the mass marketed goods and services on offer on every street corner in the industrialised world.
Why are you happy to do the same things day in, day out? What are you scared of anyway? Are you scared of being noticed? Are you scared that if you choose to shop somewhere different the wheels will fall off your bandwagon? When did you become Mr Boring Average anyway? Who told you, you had to settle for average?

    What is the opposite of average? One of the words I would use is “remarkable”.

Believe it or not, you were remarkable once upon a time. Before the big people told you to be safe, be careful, don’t do that you’ll hurt yourself. You were willing to take risks (sometimes death defying risks). But every day was a remarkable adventure wasn’t it. Do you remember learning how to walk, ride a bicycle, read a book, climb the stairs, dare to kiss a girl (or boy), eat different foods? Of course not, you were too busy enjoying life to know that each of these new experiences were remarkable. But that’s what they were – we learnt so much in those first few years of life, that we were always buzzing. We didn’t want to go to bed because we were busy. We couldn’t wait to get up in the morning because who knew what the new day was going to bring. We enjoyed change. Of course our parents despaired they would ever get us to sit still long enough to eat or have a bath, let alone sleep for any length of time. They would get grouchy and tell us to be quiet they’re trying to watch the telly. So what did we do, we learned that being noisy was bad – we learned that being grown up meant being serious. We emulated the tall people in our lives and eventually we stopped jumping out of bed in the morning, because we knew there would be nothing new to look forward to. In short we grew up.
What would have happened if we had been encouraged to continue to be excited at the day’s prospects – there are some people on this earth who do exactly that! You may know some of them, heck you may be one of them. Then again – if you’re reading this website – then probably not…sorry.

    But you can kick off the shackles of average if you want to. You can stop being mediocre if you want to. You can do something remarkable today, you can be someone remarkable today – if you want to.

How?
Average is your comfortable zone. Average is where you don’t feel threatened. In order to do remarkable things, and be a remarkable person you have to be willing to try a few new things. You have to be willing to take risks again. Now I am not advocating that you take up hang gliding or ice skating – but it’s not a bad idea – who knows you might just get used to enjoying it. But you can make a few changes today that can profoundly impact on your life from here on in.
· Drive a different way to work tomorrow. Yes you may have found the safest, shortest way to and from your place to the place where you work – but so what.
· Turn the radio to a different channel. Better still turn it off and wind down the window, find some music from your dim and distant past and play it. Or if you still listen to the music from your dim and distant past – borrow some of your kids and play that instead. And then you’ll have something to talk to your kids about. And no I don’t mean – how on earth you can listen to that crap I don’t know. That’s not talking to, that’s talking at your children. Remember they will emulate you.
· Go to a different restaurant and try something other than fried meat and potatoes, or whatever it is you usually order.
· Go to the library and choose a book from an author you’ve never read before. Better still go to the Biography section and choose a book by someone who has led a remarkable life. Books rarely get written about the average person. Who would want to read it?
· Go into your wardrobe and find something you’ve not worn in six months or more, and wear it. Stop wearing your usual colours.
· Tell your partner that you love them. But tell them why. Better still, show them.
Change doesn’t have to be scary – it’s just something different that’s all. And you can stop living a mass market, average lifestyle and start living a remarkable “hand crafted” one instead. It’s truly remarkable when you do, because there’s not many people there.
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I first wrote this in my online blog - Through the barrier - back in August this year - http://www.motivateme.info/through-the-barrier/2006/8/31/are-you-settling-for-average.html

but when I came across the quote from Carnegie I felt compelled to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed reading.
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All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you borrow time from tomorrow? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/30/2006 01:22:58 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.
We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ MOTIVE + ACTION = Motivation. The reasons why you want something are no good without the steps you take to get there. 
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A man who dares waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life
Charles Darwin
English Naturalist
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Do you borrow time from tomorrow?
Whilst this may sound like a misnomer - tomorrow never comes....If you've ever sat up half the night studying for an exam you will know what I mean. But have you considered that borrowing time from tomorrow is actually setting yourself up for a life time of procrastination and re-inforcing the belief that it's OK to put things off until the last minute.
Have you considered that the reason you need to stay up half the night to finish a job is because of:
1. Poor planning - you may not know how long a certain job is going to take, so you underestimate the level of time needed or complexity of the job facing you.
2. Poor time management - are you letting the trivial decisions you make on a daily basis impact on the important?
Or
Do you feel you work better under pressure?
Says who?
Do you enjoy the adrenaline rush and the feverish working at the 11th hour to get the job done....and all the other cliches you can think of to tell people just how busy you are!!
HINT - everyone and I do mean EVERYONE can see through this. If you didn't spend your time on the pointless (see point 2 on poor time management) - the trivial, the endless phone calls that bring you no monetary reward for your time, the endless emails and face-to-face meetings where all they want to do is chat, then you'd be able to get what you needed done - done....and be home at a reasonable hour.
Unless you really don't want to be home at a reasonable hour of course. Put it like this - if you are spending all hours the goddess sends at work to get away from your spouse, you really do need to work out what is important to you. Because in the end - no-one wins if you keep borrowing time from tomorrow.
Oh and by the way - one thing I have noticed with borrowing time from tomorrow is that sooner or later "time" will want the borrowed amount back - with interest.
Stop setting yourself up for failure through poor decision making, poor planning and putting things off until the last minute. You will end up exhausted and unable to do anything until you have paid back the interest on the time that you thought you had borrowed and gotten away with.
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To unsubscribe please send a blank email to [email protected] with unsubscribe daily dose in the subject line - thank you.
Contact Information: http://www.motivateme.info or email [email protected] and I will respond to your inquiry as soon as I am able.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Who are you associating with? Are you doing what they are doing? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Leadership DATE: 06/12/2006 08:48:12 AM ----- BODY:

The people we choose to spend time with can have a massive impact on how much we can do and achieve. The question is - Who do you associate with?

If you associate with people who spend too much money, eat too much food and drink too much alcohol - chances are you will end up doing exactly the same. Granted it may take a while (it depends on how good your willpower is) before their influence wears off on you, but it will wear off on you sooner or later.

Of course, you could be fortunate enough to associate with people who are fit and healthy, and don't take "no" for an answer when they ask - are you going to the gym tonight?

It is always worth making an inventory of those people with whom you associate on a regular basis, and see what they are doing, what they are saying, and then you have to ask yourself the very tough question - is that OK?

Are they holding you back from doing all that you can, or being all that you can be? Or are they helping you to become the best you can be?

And when you are making your inventory of people you associate with on a regular basis - don't forget to add your own name to the list. Are you helping others to be all they can be? Are you helping yourself to be all that you can be?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Are you a technique collector? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/02/2006 01:34:09 AM ----- BODY:

Good Morning I hope this finds you well and enjoying the start of your Saturday morning.

Have you noticed that when you know what you want you move with purpose towards your desired target. You move effortlessly from task to task, obstacles and problems don't get in the way. You know what you want and you know how you are going to get there. Going from "A" to "B" is easy.

But what happens when "B" is off somewhere in the distance, hazy, blurred a little around the edges. YOu think you know what you want, but you're not sure, and so you don't keep your eyes fixed on the target long enough to make sure.

So what happens?

Your mind wanders off on minor tasks and when some thing new and exciting appears you're off exploring.

There are lots of people who I call "Technique collectors". I used to be one myself. Hoping for that magic bullet that meant I didn't have to spend hours in the gym or pounding the streets in the vain hope I could get fit and healthy without getting hot and sweaty.

Do you have every diet, health and fitness book under the sun? Have you tried Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Atkins? What happens? You read the information, you try it for a little while, but then....you move on to the next shiny bauble.

If that sounds like you, then you are a sporadic do'er.

The other kinds of people are what I call a diligent do'er. The thing is a diligent do'er will achieve far more than the sporadic do'er every time. The sporadic do'er may seem to be making huge gains in whatever they are doing, but they quickly lose ground to those people taking sure, steady steps towards their goals and dreams. A diligent do'er will not cheat on the portion sizes, or types of food they supposed to be consuming and pretend they're eating properly. Nor witll the diligent do'er conveniently forget to go to the gym and will exercise more than their jaws when they do get there. A diligent do'er knows what he needs to do and will do it with due diligence.

A sporadic do'er is just like everyone else. They seem to know ALL the theory, but can't be bothered to put it into practice, let alone the time and the effort to get the results they say they want.

So what happens? Well as you can imagine - sporadic means you do something for a little while, then stop when it gets too hard or you're not getting the results you want. You stop for a while convinced that you'll get going again soon, and then a new technique comes along and you're off.

The self-help industry is just the same as the diet and the health industry. They are worth millions of dollars each year. And they are literally banking on the sporadic do'er to keep them in business. If they are totally honest, they are banking on the fact that you wont succeed, because if you did, if we all did, then they would be out of a job.The diligent do'er scares them. And they are hoping that no-one tells the sporadic do'er the truth because money and jobs are at stake.

Well I am hoping to debunk the myth once and for all. Perserverance and patience are the two things you need to truly succeed in life. Stop being a technique collector and start practising what you read.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Can you see the possibilities? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/04/2006 04:35:57 AM ----- BODY:

Good afternoon

One of the readers of the Daily Dose pointed out that it is all very well being a Diligent Do’er, but you can do any amount of stuff, without actually achieving anything of true importance.

And how true is that one. So thank you for that, and thank you for taking the time to comment, it is very much appreciated.

So perhaps what the Saturday edition was missing was the links back to goal setting, prioritising tasks and of course the Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly successful people recommendation in ensuring you do the important not just the urgent. For example, health and fitness is always important, but rarely urgent….and by the time it is urgent, it’s usually too late. So work out what is really important to you – and don’t wait until it is also urgent. The first rule of breaking the procrastination habit is to take small steps every day, until you feel confident enough to take giant leaps. Because once you can take the giant leaps you will be able to move with confidence towards your dreams, goals and ambitions and nothing much will get in your way.

Anyway, on to today’s edition. For those reading this in Western Australia – welcome to your new time zone….have you made plans for your extra hour of daylight? I’m sorry, I can’t help it. From the comments that I have heard, most people don’t understand the importance of an extra hour of daylight and how that can help you achieve your goals far more quickly.

Think about it, when most other people are settling into their chairs for an evening of television, we can do things we normally have to wait until the weekend to get done. We can put in an hours worth of gardening, we can go for a walk – in the daylight, rather than the dark, we can sit outside and catch up with the family, rather than being stuck indoors, we can meet family and friends for a picnic or BBQ rather than going home to cook and eat indoors – because it’s dark. We can do all sorts of things – if we want to.

We have just a few short months to take advantage of the extra hour of daylight that we have been given. Our Eastern States neighbours, our friends in the UK and elsewhere in the world have had this gift of time for many years, so lets take advantage. But like all things – be prepared to spend some time planning the days and weeks ahead, because unless you do, you will find yourself diligently doing “stuff” rather than those things that will take us towards our dreams and goals.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Breaking the associations STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/05/2006 12:07:04 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Thank you for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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As you are aware by now, Procrastination is a habit, and just like all those other "bad" habits we have, we must either accept that we have them and manage them as best we can, or we can begin to break them, and start the slow process of getting more out of every day.

But how do you begin to break the procrastination habit?

Whilst the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine can offer you hints, tips and suggestions - it all comes down to you, and whether you want to get rid of the habit or not. Believe me when I say that some people revel in the fact that they delay starting things, they leave things to the last minute (they work better under pressure!!!!), they delay making the phone calls or having the conversations that are holding them back....sometimes in the mistaken belief that the "problem" will sort itself out and sometimes because they are afraid of the ramifications of having those calls and conversations.

Is that you? Are you afraid to take a cold, hard look at your life and get ready to discard those beliefs and behaviours that are holding you back from being all that you can be, seeing all that you can see, and doing all that you can do? Believe me when I say it is easy to pretend that everything is all right, and you'll get there eventually...when the universe smiles on you, or you win the lottery.

One of the best ways I have found to break the procrastination habit is to break the association with the habit that you have.

Today I want you to do yourself a big favour, and look at everything that you do as if you are having to explain your actions to an outside observer...imagine a child asking "Why" or a creature from outerspace...why are you doing that? what does that do for you?

Do you drive the same way into work every day? Do you pass a coffee shop and you pick up a cup of coffee to drink absentmindedly on the way into work? Do you really need the added caffeine and calories from the milk? Are you really thirsty? Is your morning coffee a habit you've gotten into? Try driving a different way into work so you don't have to pass the coffee shop. Break the association.

Do you struggle to pay some/all of your bills? Have you added up how much money you spend absentmindedly each day? Multiply that by a week, then a month and then the year - can you better spend that money elsewhere?

Have you ever tried to stop smoking? Do you do anything at the same time you have a cigarette? Do you have a glass of wine and some potato chips whilst smoking and talking about your "hard" day at work? Are you overweight as a result of your "bad" habit(s). Try going for a walk with your spouse instead to talk over your "bad" day.

As we have mentioned in previous editions of the Daily Dose, if you are procrastinating in one area, I can almost guarantee that you are procrastinating in others.We cannot stop one bad behaviour because it is associated with another. So in order to stop one, you need to determine whether or not you need to stop all of them. Or whether you need to stop kidding yourself and learn to manage the process.

Take a good look at what you do today, how many habits have you gotten yourself into that you didn't realise you had? You can only move on - if you know what is holding you back, and whether or not you are willing to let that happen.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Defining success STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/06/2006 02:40:25 AM ----- BODY: Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Thank you for forwarding this issue onto friends and other interested readers. Back issues can be found at: http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive.
We hope you enjoy reading.

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Defining success:
Being successful isn't just about having money in the bank - being a success may mean that you've brought up your kids to say no to drugs, they're fit, healthy and respect other people's property.
Having a long, healthy and productive life - given the amount of rubbish we are prone to pour into our bodies on a daily basis, which they have to process - living a long and healthy life - personally that's what I would term a success.
Having enough money to pay your bills on time, and live your life free of debt, having friends who enjoy your company, throwing a dinner party and the guests turn up - now they're the kinds of success I would have any day.
Being able to talk to your spouse - have them understand and be by your side when the proverbial hits the fan - that's a success.
How would you define success?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Being positive is only part of the answer in goal setting STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/07/2006 02:00:51 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/. We hope you enjoy reading.
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Do you have trouble staying positive? You start off on your new plan and everything goes well for a couple of days, and then things start to slide. Your positive thoughts aren't quite as positive. Doubts start to creep in, and before you know it, your new found energy for life, the plans you have start to diminish.
- You start to do a little bit less today than you did yesterday.
- You don't watch what you are eating quite as carefully as you did when you first started.
- You don't work quite as hard in the gym. Everything is more of an effort.
We are coming up to the start of 2007, a time when most people set themselves ridiculous targets and goals they say they want to achieve - by some unknown time in the future. These New Year's Resolutions are not worth the paper they are written on...why?
1. Because writing down a few lines isn't enough - "I want to lose 20 kilos"
2. Saying a few affirmations isn't enough - "I am thin, fit and healthy"
3. Having an unrealistic timeline makes life impossible, and adds stress and pressure to your rolling stomach - "I am going to achieve this goal by Valentine's Day"
What most people have yet to learn is that on their own these are not worth anything....they set themselves up for failure and they do it with good intentions. But what happens when things stop happening. The weight refuses to budge, the gym visits become less frequent, Valentine Day rolls around and you have to buy a bigger size outfit for the "special event".
There are a couple of reasons why this happens.
First of all it is hard to stay positive when everything you see and hear is negative. The people you meet are grumbling about how bad their lives are (compared to whom?)
The tv programmes are full of crime scenes and investigations - blood, guts and gore or reality tv shows...cheap tv feeding off the emotional needs of people to see how bad someone elses life is. Soap operas - where a major death cull occurs every couple of years so they can kill off the main characters which allows them to start the same round of unrealistic and unbelieveable plot lines with a whole new generation of cast and audiences.
And then there is the news....the coup, the war on terror, shark attacks, bombings, more blood, guts and mayhem
It's no wonder you have trouble staying positive with that going on in your mind. Turn it off.
And the reason why you turn it off is so that you have time to work out the reasons why you want something. Going back to the list of things you say you want - consider the main reason why most people fail is because they don't know why they want it in the first place.
Why do you want to lose 20 kilos? Is it really to fit into that new pair of pants? Or is it because if you don't you're going to be a heart attack candidate by the time you're 50?
What benefits will being 20 kilos lighter bring you?
If you are serious about getting more out of your life, and learn how to set goals that you can achieve...
1. Turn off the negative
2. Persist past the first 7 days - once you have set the routines in place, it does become easier - believe me, we all have to chip away at problems and setting new ways of being. It's easy to slip back into old ways of living and working.
3. Know what you want
4. Know why you want it - What benefits will the "item" give to you.
Once you have that worked out - you won't need New Year's Resolutions. Why? Because you are already on the way to achieving everything you ever wanted.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: TGI Friday STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/08/2006 05:07:29 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.   Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
We hope you enjoy reading.
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When do you wind down for the weekend?
 
Or perhaps the first question should be - did you ever get going again after last weekend?
 
It is now Friday afternoon, it is also the end of the school year in Australia. The kids are looking forward to a whole six weeks of - doing what exactly? Which makes me wonder why the kids started winding for the holidays on Monday. They have had 5 whole days of additional chances of learning things, but what happens - the teachers decide that to break the kids into doing nothing for the next couple of weeks - they'll do nothing on the last week as well. My daughter has watched a dozen or so movies and played frisbee all under the watchful eye of the teachers. Now I'm not saying that the teachers don't need a break (I wouldn't like to teach hormonal teenagers) nor am I saying that the kids don't deserve a break either. It just makes me wonder if we would have more motivated kids and young adults if we inspired them in new and different ways to learn new and exciting things.
 
For example, how much more excited would the kids be if they researched the history of Christmas. Where exactly did Saint Nick fit in with the whole baby in a manger thing anyway? Did the three wise men actually arrive on a sleigh being pulled by reindeer rather than the camels I was told as a child? And were they really wearing bright red suits?
 
Why do we have Christmas trees? What is Boxing day (other than another day off work?)
 
Would the children be far more excited about their school holidays if they were allowed to plan their time off? I know that as a parent a lot of this comes down to us, but teachers have a lot to give in the way of time and project management. Am I the only parent who has had to do this on their behalf where homework is concerned or are the teachers just slack where my kids go?
 
Kids learn a lot about procrastination from adults. They emulate the people they see. It is not just peer pressure we need to concern ourselves with, but how our actions are impacting on the mind set of the kids we influence.
 
They assume that because the teachers don't want to teach them anything, it is OK to do little or no work on the last week of the school term. Given that school terms are 40 weeks long, that's 12 weeks of holiday. Why do they need an additional week at the end of each term to "wind down"? So an entire year of learning crammed into just 36 weeks, that means 16 weeks of holiday in effect. Given that we don't ever start work on the first day or two back after a holiday - it takes time to get back into things after all,  we can effectively wipe off another week of schooling - so 17 weeks of wasted opportunities, and only 35 weeks to learn what we need to learn during the year.
 
Is the reason why we fail to achieve very much in the last day of every working week (and yes I know I am generalising) because we have been "taught" that it's OK to do less than we should. That it's OK to waste time that we have been given, by the well meaning adults that we came into contact with during our formative years?
 
How much more could we achieve? How much more could we learn? How much more could we earn if we actually worked on a Friday afternoon rather than treated it like an extension to the weekend? How much could we teach our kids by being fired up about projects and the things we are doing, or going to do. Get them involved in the process and you'd be amazed at how motivated they can be.
 
Given that we only have one chance to use the minute that has just arrived? Are you still happy to waste it staring into space, or making small talk - because you are bored, or should you be excited that you still have a couple of hours to get a head start on your competetion, your projects, your colleagues and the work that you have lined up for next week.
 
But do me a favour when 5 o'clock does come around. Switch off the computer and go home, because the weekend has finally arrived. Then you have 2 whole days and an evening to do what you really want to do, so enjoy every second.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Motivation to lose weight & Sally's story STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Motivation to improve diet and health CATEGORY: Motivational Stories DATE: 06/10/2006 08:43:00 AM ----- BODY:
Dieting Myth number 1:
The word “diet” is incorrect. We are all on a “diet”. The food that we eat every day makes up our individual "diet"ary requirements. Therefore if we want to lose size, we need to modify them. In other words we need to change what we are eating from foods that have allowed us to gain weight, to foods that allow us to use that food stuff more effeciently and therefore lose weight. Losing weight is a simple equation – eat less than your body needs to use as fuel and you will lose weight. In very simple terms – eat less and exercise more by modifying your daily dietary requirements.

Sally's story:
I met Sally at the gym again today. A fey scottish grandmother who still bears the effects of a stroke almost two years on. It might affect her speech but not her spirit. Over the last couple of years, Sally and I have sweated over the small stuff (we're not into pumping heavy weights you understand). But she is more disciplined than I. Five days a week she gets up at 5am. Walks her dog, then walks to the gym. It doesn't matter what the weather is doing, or whether she wants to. She just does it.

Today I found out why.
She has beaten cancer, gone through a heart operation to have a pace maker fitted, and she lost the use of one side of her body for a while. I also found out that she had retired from her job as a counsellor for the second time this year at the age of 68. But that is not what is truly remarkable about Sally. Added up it is more than most people ever have to deal with. You see as Sally is walking home she is gearing up for the hardest part of every day.

She is going home to someone who looks like the person she married all those years ago. Had children with and grew together as they grew older. But is now a stranger in his own body and his own home. He doesn't  know that Sally still believes in those vows she spoke all those years ago - In sickness and in health, for better or worse.
 
So every time you feel like giving up or not doing everything that you are capable of, then remember Sally. I know I shall the next time the alarm clock goes off at 5.30 am.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do or don't it's up to you STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/10/2006 12:50:23 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Motivation, if you think about it seriously just for a moment - it comes down to one simple concept:
You either do or you don't - either way it is entirely up to you
Elle
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All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Planning & organization means you have to stop for a minute STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Time Management CATEGORY: Planning & Organization CATEGORY: To do lists DATE: 08/15/2006 06:25:08 AM ----- BODY:

Before you start your day, I would like you to stop what you are doing for a minute. Stopped? OK good, because now you shouldn't be reading this !!

Before you start your day's work I would like you to take a few minutes and ask yourself a couple of questions. 

Do you know what today is going to look like? No I don't mean, what the weather is doing at the moment (where I am - the storm fronts are moving in) I mean - do you have your day planned? Yesterday I mentioned the to do lists but more importantly the "to don't lists". Today I would like you to take that one step further. Your to do list should take you towards your dreams, goals and ambitions. If your to do list is a "task list" ask which of those tasks are taking me towards my goal, or away from them. And then you have to ask yourself - is doing these tasks the best use of my time here today. Remember you only have one chance to live this day. Once gone it can never be gotten back again.

The next thing I want you to ask yourself is a subjective question.
 
Are you happy with where you are at this point in your life? Now I don't mean, you've just read the funniest joke and you're grinning like a demented rabbit. But are you "happy" or "contented" with what you have achieved so far, and will today's tasks fill you with positive feelings about where you are now, or will you get to the end of the day filled with dreary, negative filled thoughts about stringing your boss up by the toes?
 
If you are struggling to get through your days, I would suggest you are not yet fulfilling your "life's" purpose. Because when you are fulfilling your life's purpose, you won't want to go to bed, sleeping is a nuisance when you have so much you want to do. And when you do go to bed, you can't wait to get up again and start the day - you are filled with a buzz and an energy that draws people towards you. Everything you do takes you closer to fulfilling your life's purpose. And when that happens, things start to fall into place. People may call you "lucky" but luck has nothing to do with it. You are in the right place, right space and the right frame of mind to accept what you are being "shown" and more importantly you act on the impulses that you are given.
 
So how do you find your life's purpose...well the energy equation mentioned above is one of the best ways to know whether you are on the right track or not. The other way to determine what your life's purpose is - is to stop for a minute, and remember what it was you were doing when you were in the positive energy frame mentioned above.
 
For me, it is and always has been writing.... What is it for you?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Exercise the mind, not just the body STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Habits DATE: 08/16/2006 06:27:29 AM ----- BODY:

Most people don't think about exercise as a way of exercising the mind as well as the body. Do you exercise with purpose or do you find yourself drifting off to the tv programme you watched last night, the conversations that you had with the last person you met? You see exercising the mind at the same time you exercise the body can see a dramatic improvement in the results that you get from the physical activity.
 
An example for you. When you are exercising your bicep muscle - question do you know where your bicep muscle is? OK if you don't it is that muscle that sticks out when you lift your arm up and out from your body and bend the elbow at 90 degrees. But if you think about contracting that muscle when you bend your elbow you can actually make the muscle work a lot harder - without the need to lift any weights. Clenching the fist can also make a lot more difference. Why? Because you are now deliberately exercising that muscle with purpose as opposed to just going through the motions.  Try it you will be surprised.

Now what has that got to do really with exercising the mind not just the body? Well have you noticed that you can get through most of the day without really having to think too greatly about what you are doing? 

Take driving a car for example, can you remember in vivid detail the drive into work this morning? No - me neither. My experience is a mish mash of every day's driving memories all rolled into one. And most other jobs and tasks that we do each day are similar. But if you really think about what you are doing and why you are doing it - the difference (as with the muscles) can be quite dramatic.
 
Your brain - will have to work harder, therefore exercising the neurons again. Do you remember how many repetitions it took before you finally got the hang of changing the gears and turning the wheel at the same time before you didn't have to remember? Habitual patterns are formed by the brain for those activities we do on a regular basis. Which is why it is important to stimulate the brain in more ways - just to keep them active. But did you know that recent research indicates the people less likely to get alzheimers are those people who exercise their brains regularly.
 
One of the best ways to break the procrastination habit is to treat each task as if it were the first time you had ever encountered it before, and find out whether you can do it differently, more efficiently, or whether you need to do it at all.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Planning ahead: To do lists STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal setting CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: To do lists DATE: 08/18/2006 08:32:11 AM ----- BODY:

Do you have plans for the weekend? Or do you let things simply happen?
 
There are certain things that I know I have to do each weekend - like do the washing and fetch some groceries. But other than that - the rest I play by ear. I've found that living by to-do lists and the clock all week, makes me want to rebel over the weekend, find all the notepads and pens and stick them somewhere. My problem is - by not having a list of jobs that need doing, then I do forget to do some of them, so then I spend a frantic couple of hours on a sunday evening trying to do the ones that I conveniently forgot about. Consequently all my hard earned rest and recuperation goes out of the window.
 
So as much as I don't like to live my life with a series of post it notes stuck on my forehead - sometimes it is the only way to pace the tasks and allow yourself time to do those things we really want to do with your spare time.
 
It's a simple fact, that we can waste a lot of time simply by being busy.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Personal development lasts a lifetime STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Planning & Organization DATE: 08/24/2006 05:28:59 AM ----- BODY:

It takes time to design a new life, but it takes a whole life time to live it.

Therefore it stands to reason that as you grow and change, your needs grow and change with it. So it also stands to reason that as you grow and change, your personal development needs will also change.
 
If you do the same things this year as you did last year, chances are you are going to end up in exactly the same situation in 12 months time. So if you continue to eat in the same way, exercise to the same level, read the same kind of books, work in the same job doing the same kind of things - what is going to be different? Not much - except you will be a year older.
 
Now I am not advocating that you make massive changes today in the hope that come the end of the year you will have made every change that you need to. On the contrary - too many changes all at once will probably overwhelm you and you will retreat into your old habits faster than you can say new years resolutions.
 
So take the time to plan where you want to be at the end of this week, end of the month and end of the year. Once you have those kind of deadlines mapped out - then you can determine what you need to do in order to get there. But and here is the final point to ask yourself - is that realistic?
 
You see - you may decide to set yourself a task of saving $400 by the end of the year - now if you had started at the beginning of the year - you could have saved $1.10 a day and you could have reached your target quite easily and without too much stress. Now with only 4 months to go to the end of the year - can you afford the $27 a week you will need to put aside. If you have never had the discipline of putting $27 aside a week - chances are your budget won't stretch to accommodate the additional expenditure and at the first sign of bills will wither and die.
 
So make sure that the steps you take today (and every day) are realistic. And then make sure that you apply them conistently and persistently - and you will reach your new goals. And that is the lesson with all personal development - treat each day as an opportunity to do better than you did yesterday and by the end of the year you will have achieved great things.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Driving me mad STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/15/2006 04:47:42 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers. Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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The Freedom of Choice and….Our Attitudes to Driving

Whilst most of us have the choice between driving a car, walking or catching the bus (or other public transport) to get to where we need to be. I would hazard a guess that most of us (yes me included) would choose to take the car. Why?
Because it’s easy that’s why.
We seem to have forgotten how to walk, how to get from A to B without the map we have lodged in the car door. I bet most of us would not have a clue where our nearest bus stop was, and more importantly, where the buses went, should we ever need to catch one.

I have a feeling that if our own personal vehicle of choice was suddenly not available to us to use for an extended period of time, then we really would have a better appreciation of this wonderful piece of equipment that we have at our disposal. Instead, we choose to berate it when it breaks down, curse the fact that it costs more money to service and maintain it than ever did before, hate the fact that the price of fuel keeps going up, and we totally despise the fact that other people, seemingly ignorant people want to use the publicly funded roads that we have chosen to use on any particular occasion.

We get angry when they are in the exact place that we feel that we ought to be in, we get annoyed when these same people aren’t travelling at the speed you would prefer to travel, and how dare anyone park in “your” spot in the car park.

There is a lot of anger directed around this activity, yet we have the same freedom to choose how we drive, as we do with our reaction to those people who for some reason or other seem unable to keep their car in the same lane for more than a few seconds at a time. We can choose to be angry at the other road users, we can choose to speed up so that others can’t pass us, we can choose to get completely annoyed when someone fails to see us. Or we can assume that some people think the size of their engine is all that matters and let them get on with it. Chances are you'll catch them up at the next set of traffic lights anyway.

I am not immune to the road rage that seems ever present on our roads, it’s hard to ignore the horns blaring and the finger wagging. Why? Well I had a problem with my brake light - the switch that sits under the brake pedal decided to stay "stuck" in the on position, so the other drivers thought I was sitting on my brakes. It wasn't until my son told me my lights were on that I found out about it. And I got it fixed the next day. It also cured another problem that I had had, my car had struggled to start on a couple of mornings!! not surprising really. Now if someone had bothered to tell me....

I remember driving to work one morning, following a car that was leaking something clear...and not just a little, it was leaving a swathe of "wet" down the road, and looked like either the radiator or the petrol had given up. Which was OK, but the person driving the car was smoking....so we get to the first junction and I get out of my car and race to the driver.... she said thanks for that...but didn't bother to check what the problem was before driving off again. Obviously after the car finally stopped for want of important liquid, she may have decided I wasn't a nutter after all.

As we get closer to Christmas, there is going to be more "fun and games" on the roads than normal. So please be careful. If you are going out to party, please ensure that someone is designated driver for the evening, or even better catch the bus and remove the problem entirely.

But can you do me a second favour, if you are on the road and see something, then please tell the other driver (nicely of course) what is wrong, because they may not know they have a problem. Thank you and please have a safe journey home.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Work hard, sleep well STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Life balance CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance DATE: 08/28/2006 05:31:03 AM ----- BODY:

Are you planning on working hard today? Good - in order to get the best out of today, you should need to work to a relatively high level. But as we have mentioned in previous editions - it's very easy to fill your days with busy work. So before you go much further - can you make sure that your plan for today is in place and you know where you want to be at the end of the week.
 
But that's not really what i want to talk to you about today - today I want to share with you my thoughts on sleep. Do you get enough?
 
If you're anything like me, probably not. The average person needs between 7 and 9 hours sleep per night. I probably get about 6, 6 and a half if I am very lucky. Sometimes it is because I go to bed late, but other times it is because I don't sleep very well when I get there. And having to get up early - to get to work, can be a struggle sometimes.
 
Do you wake up refreshed and raring to go, or are you suffering from an over-indulgence from the night before? And I don't just mean alcohol.
 
You see - in order to work hard you need to sleep well. Sleep is the body''s mechanism to ensure that it re-builds itself during the body's downtime. An over-indulgence in food and alcohol just before you go to bed can see your body go into crisis mode to process the "energy" it doesn't need - and where does it go? Yep - right into those waiting fat cells. The problem with having your engine turned on - is that your sleep is disturbed, and the cells don't get replaced. Imagine a car engine revving and you will begin to see what I mean. If your cells don't get replaced, what happens is that your hair and skin start to look "tired" too. And no amount of creams and shampoo can help.
 
But it's not just about food and alcohol - what about your evenings activities? Do you watch disturbing items on the TV? And I inlcude the news in that genre. What kind of books do you read? Are you studying? Have you noticed that when you over stimulate the mind close to bed time, you have trouble switching it off again?
 
So as you think about your daily plan, think also about your evenings. I'ts ok to veg out in front of the tv. But take some time this week and evaluate your evenings, and your sleep patterns, keep a notebook - don't trust your memory on this one. I'm not asking you to cut anything out - but as it goes into your mouth write it in your book, write down your activities (use code if you don't want anyone to know !!!) when you have about a weeks worth of data, you will begin to see where you can make changes. If you want to or need to that is. But I know that the better the sleep, the better the following day will be.
 
Sleep well and I will see you on the starting line tomorrow.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Being open minded to change STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Life balance CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 08/29/2006 05:33:58 AM ----- BODY:

You can't be half open minded. You either are open minded or you're not. There is no half-way house.
 
However I do believe that few (if any) people really are open minded. They may say they are, but and this is why I believe that few people can lay claim to the fact - most people (read 99.99% of the population) bring their own personal beliefs, opinion and hearsay to a conversation and relationship. For example - Most religions are based on the fact that you have to believe in one god, and their god is the only god. Isn't that why most wars are fought?
 
But if people were truly open minded, they would accept that the other person(s) have a valid point and be willing to accept that perhaps there is more than one god.... a truly radical thought....Now I have this image of the "gods" and "goddesses" sitting around "upstairs" having a cup or two of ambrosia discussing the world's problems and issues. Would these omnipotent beings have an open mind? I'd like to think so, otherwise there would be arguments and wars up there too.
 
So just a thought for today, be quick to listen, but not quick to argue. Be willing to discuss all the options - rather than just yours. Because more often than not, the other person is only defending his/her position because they feel they have to. No-one likes to be "attacked" verbally or otherwise - and will come out fighting. Believe me you will be far ahead of the population if you can master this trait, and you will receive far more respect if you do.
 
I hope you have a truly open minded day today.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: A thought on thoughts STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal achievement CATEGORY: Success and Failure CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits DATE: 09/02/2006 02:02:46 PM ----- BODY:

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn't hear yourself think? Do I mean, standing next to a major runway with planes taking off every second - well maybe, but at least with airports there is usually a lull between planes. No, what I am talking about is the insiduous noise that permeates through to you.
 
Yesterday was impossible - we had training on the go, and my office sits next to the training room - which is ok if you're the trainer. Yesterday I was a bystander - listening to the low level buzz that crept through the walls. Unfortunately what made yesterday impossible for me was the telephone conversations and racket coming from the other offices. Why impossible? Well being a creative - means that one usually has to create something, and with the noise pollution racing through the office like a child on speed - my normal orderly thought processes were prevented from flowing.
 
I could have gotten grumpy - but who with?
 
The builders for not putting in adequate noise prevention measures?
Myself for not asking them to be quiet, or not closing my door?
My fellow workers for their inconsiderate level of speech?
The trainees for enjoying their training course?
 
And what good would it have done? In my opinion it wouldn't have achieved anything - except annoy everyone else, which would have disrupted the entire office output, rather than just mine.
 
So what did I do?
 
I actually added to the noise pollution - and turned on some music. Did it work - absolutely, and I was able to start my writing for the day.
 
Now I am not advocating that my "solution" to the noise pollution would work for everyone, in fact it probably won't - but if you have trouble thinking (for whatever reason) ask yourself a couple of simple questions - can I do anything about the situation? And should I do anything about the situation, or will it make things worse?
 
But and here is today's radical thought - are you the person responsible for most of the noise pollution? Do you work in an open plan office? then please bear in mind that not everyone will want to hear about your date with the new bloke, or what you had for dinner or watched on the tv. If you are planning on having a meeting - then book a meeting room and close the door. Simple workplace etiquette can make for a far more harmonious work environment.
 
We are totally responsible for every thought process that we have. Yet another radical thought - did you know that your thoughts can be seen as an outward manifestation - the way that you hold your body, the pattern of your speech, the way that you slam the door - all give tell tale hints about what you are thinking at the time. But what do you do if you can't stop the negative thoughts that you are having?
 
Well - putting on music that uplifts rather than depresses you. But don't listen to radio - the presenters may annoy you even more. So choose something that you normally enjoy listening too and allow the music to seep into your thoughts.
 
It is also worth taking a moment or two and asking yourself just who you are annoyed with. Most of the time the only person you can be annoyed with is yourself - as we discussed yesterday - we waste so much of our time waiting for things to happen, our thoughts have a field day. We also waste so much time listening to the negative thoughts that race through our minds. It has been said by other people, that we speak something like 20,000 words to ourselves every single day of the week - how many of those are positive? Between 2 and 5% - in other words - not very many.
 
I am not saying that changing your thought patterns and processes can be easy - but you have infinite power within yourself to change them - and if you can - you will get far more out of every day if you do.
 
So watch your thoughts during those 5 minutes you are waiting for the kettle to boil and see what you are thinking. It's quite an interesting exercise.
 
I'll speak to you again soon, until then - happy thought processes to you.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: There's only one shot at this thing called life STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal setting CATEGORY: Planning & Organization CATEGORY: New Year's Resolutions DATE: 09/04/2006 02:12:08 PM ----- BODY:

An Australian Icon - known around the world as the crocodile hunter - died in an accident today whilst filming stingrays. He apparently received a shock to his heart. He was 44 years old.
 
Why am I telling you this? Well if you have ever doubted yourself, and thought you had all the tomorrows left in the world to do what you needed to do, then today is a wake up call. Because who knows how many more tomorrows we have left?
 
Over the past few days I have spoken about how we waste time - killing time is perhaps a more appropriate term if you think about it, because that moment has gone, it can never be recaptured, it is "dead" time to us. Just like the spilt milk, it has gone down the drain.
 
So what have you not done today that you should have done?
What did you not do yesterday?
What could you do better today than you did yesterday? (I know what I should have done !!)
What plans have you made for this week?
Are your plans in place for the next month?
 
We are just 3 months away from the end of 2006. Did you set goals at the beginning of the year? Are you any closer to fulfilling any of them? Or are they still on the dream drawing board?
 
And what of 2007?
 
The start of the new year is the traditional time for setting new goals and challenges for the next 12 months of your journey? Will you be travelling new and exciting routes or will you be going back over the same ground again?
 
Our lives are made up of millions of minute decisions - each decision impacts on the next one that you make. Do you take the left hand fork in the road, or do you take the right? Do you go to the gym or do you veg out in front of the television? Do you pick up the telephone and reconnect with someone or do you put it off again? Do you allow someone elses insecurities to impact on your life, or do you say - nope, I'm not prepared to do that anymore, I'm going to live the life I've always wanted to live.
 
The choice as they say is yours. So today - please do me a favour - do something, anything that is totally different from your normal routine. And tomorrow do something else. Break through the habits and the things that you have procrastinated over for so long - because we really do only have one shot at this thing called life. 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you treat personal development as a hobby? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Goal setting CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Overcoming procrastination CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: How to overcome procrastination CATEGORY: How to stop procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: End procrastination CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/06/2006 02:23:25 PM ----- BODY:

Do you buy personal development books? How many have you got? How many times have you read them?
 
I know, sometimes I can be very nosy. But your reading material, and your reading habits are a good indication of where you are on the self development curve.
 
Do you keep these daily musings? Do you re-read any of them? Do you make notes and try the exercises they contain? Or do you read them and say - that doesn't apply to me and move straight on to the next item on the list of things you have to read. FYI - most of the back issues of this e-zine are on the web site if you are interested in re-visiting any.
 
The reason these e-zines come out on an almost daily basis is this - motivation, personal development, self-help or whatever else you want to call it, needs work on a daily basis, otherwise you will falter at the first sign of chocolate cake. One of the things that I have said in the past - which still holds true today - is that you can't just watch the news once a year and then expect to be fully informed of the world's events and goings on. Neither do you shower once a year and hope no-one notices the smell in between.
 
Personal and professional development is a commitment to yourself and where you want to be in your lives. And as we said earlier your reading material and your reading habits are a good indication of how serious a student you are.
 
So what are you reading at the moment? I am reading a book by Maggie Hamilton - What men don't talk about...and once I've read it once I will read it again. My first read of any book is usually a skip read - a quick determination to see what I can get out of it quickly. The second time I read a book of this kind is with a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. What can I take out of this book? What can I use? What is relevant to me and what isn't?
 
You see every time you read something you have a whole new set of experiences and knowledge that you bring to the reading of the book. How many times have you had a "a - ha" moment when you've read something for the second time? I get it now. I understand that better now, oh I see what he was getting at when he said that. Yes that's relevant to me this time around.
 
Most people reading this would have read and/or probably own a copy of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich - how many of you are rich as a result of reading that book? Not many, including me I have to say... why aren't we rich? Why didn't it work for us? Other people have read it and have gotten rich as a result - the difference? They took what they read and they applied it to where they were in their lives at that moment. Sure it may have taken several reads before all the bits fell into place, but they didn't read it once and decide they weren't going to bother reading it again because they knew everything there was to know. They took the suggestions and they saw what worked and what didn't. Then when they read it again, along with whatever else they were reading and applied those disciplines too they moved on, they reached their goals and then they set new ones.
 
If on the other hand you read a book, say that you will apply those things to your life so that you can make a difference to the way your life turns out...but then put it back on the shelf and pick up the next one. How long is it before you forget that you were going to try something different today? The answer - not very long at all.
 
So take a good look at your reading habits and stop treating your personal development as a hobby. In order to break through the procrastination habit you have to act as well as think about acting. MOTIVE + ACTION = MOTIVATION. What are your reasons for wanting something, and what are you going to do today to reach that "something".

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Weekend plans or planning the weekend? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Motivation CATEGORY: Life balance CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Motivation techniques CATEGORY: Work / Life Balance CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/09/2006 06:57:44 AM ----- BODY:

Weekends, the end of the working week - and a chance to do all those things that you want to do rather than doing all those things you have to do.
 
So what are you doing today? Did you have a plan for all those things you wanted to get done this weekend, or are you just drifting along hoping that at some point you will get around to doing what you need to do in order to move your dreams, goals and ambitions forward?
 
You remember on Monday I told you about Steve Irwin - the Crocodile Hunter who died doing what he loved. Well yesterday another famous person died. His name was Peter Brock and he was a racing car driver, who at the age of 61 hadn't given up the steering wheel. Well he crashed his car on a bad bend in the forests of Western Australia at Gidgeganup. So why am I telling you this - well Peter, like Steve died doing what  he loved doing. He was as passionate about safe driving and passing on his skills as he was about his need for speed. Time will tell what actually caused the car to crash of course - but here's the thing. If you were to die right now (goddess forbid) would you be doing something that you really enjoyed, that you were truly passionate about, or would your end fizzle out like a damp squib?
 
Would you be remembered as the person who did great things, every day of your life, or will your family and friends find your house filled with half-finished projects and wasted opportunities?
 
As we said yesterday - every time we sit and watch the television we are watching someone else live their dream. Are you living yours, or are you existing in some boring nightmare?
 
Well I would like to offer you some encouragement. A few years ago I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Yes I have a degree and a job that I enjoy. but was it what I really wanted to do every day for the rest of my life? The answer was no it wasn't. But I didn't know what I really wanted to do, so I drifted.
 
And then I had a letter from a school friend, her kids are similar ages to mine, and we are only a few weeks different in ages ourselves. Her letter was a wakeup call for me. Sue lived through a couple of years of treatment and surgery but she died of Ovarian cancer just a few weeks short of her 40th birthday.
 
It usually takes some kind of wake up call for us to realise our own true potential, for me a bout of depression and weight gain followed - and then it dawned on me. I had the power within me to change everything. I didn't have to stay in the job I was doing if I didn't want to. I didn't have to eat the rubbish I chose to feed my body with. I didn't have to be fat and unhappy. I could be whatever and whoever I wanted to be.

AND SO DO YOU.
 
So instead of vegging out in front of the tv this weekend - well not all weekend at any rate. Sit down and work out what it is you want to do when you grow up. Chances are you were doing it when you were a kid. What did you enjoy? What couldn't your parents drag you away from? And why aren't you doing that now? Today is the start of the rest of your life. You can't do anything about yesterday, and tomorrow can only be planned for, we can't live it yet. We can only live the best that we can today.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: You are a director of first impressions STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Personal development CATEGORY: Habits CATEGORY: Breaking bad habits CATEGORY: Avoiding procrastination CATEGORY: Beat procrastination CATEGORY: Conquer procrastination CATEGORY: Cure procrastination CATEGORY: Conquering procrastination CATEGORY: Dealing with procrastination CATEGORY: End procrastination DATE: 09/16/2006 03:50:34 AM ----- BODY:

It's interesting, but in all the motivational and self-help type books that I have read over the years, no-one that I can recall has ever linked procrastination to a person's image. Well I'm going to change that today.
 
What has procrastination got to do with the way a person looks you might ask, and it is an interesting question. Well here are my thoughts on the subject I hope you find them of interest and more importantly of use to you.
 
First of all I want you to do me a favour and go and stand in front of a mirror. Now what do you see? More importantly what are you wearing? What does your hair look like? Ladies are you wearing make-up, what about lipstick? Do you look good, and more importantly do you feel good about yourself and what you look like?
 
Today is a Friday - a work day for most people. In Australia Friday is classed as dress down or casual Friday. Have you become too casual in your pursuit of comfort? Or could you still meet a client and be comfortable in your choice of clothes.
 
But what has this got to do with procrastination? Well consider this. Those people who tend to procrastinate about work and other projects also tend to be lax in other areas of their lives too. Have you started using the time log yet? Have you linked the boredom factor to the amount of food that you eat and the time(s) of the day that you succumb to the "i'll just have a cup of coffee" syndrome before you start?
 
Well image is another very good indicator of where you are in your lives and what you get done each and every day. If you can't be bothered to get up and have a shower and wash your hair in a morning, guess what - you can tell!! Not only do you look crumpled, but your attitude is likely to stink too. Did you press the clothes that you are wearing today? Or are they as crumpled as the rest of you? You see, we all have an image that we portray, some people can wear a garbage bag and still look fantastic - why? because their attitude is one of confidence and assurance, they know they look fantastic and they are showing the world that they do. Now try wearing those same clothes when you are feeling down and depressed about where you are and what you are doing. You guessed it, you will look down and depressed and lacking motivation. Your clothes and the image that you portray to the world is just a reflection on where you are in your life at the moment.
 
And whilst we are on the subject of being a director of first impressions, have you noticed that when you don't look good you don't smile, your eyes are dull and lifeless, your hair and skin don't glow, and you hold yourself as if your whole body is wracked in pain. Don't believe me, then become a people watcher. It's a fascinating exercise.
 
I was in the local supermarket the other day and the person being served in front of me didn't look the check-out chick in the eye. When asked how she was - the woman replied "I'm feeling a bit down". A bit down!!! any lower and she'd have been sitting on the floor in a nice big hole. Everything about her screamed depressed, unmotivated, can't be bothered. From the lack of smile, makeup and poor choice of clothes, to the rounded shoulders and clenched stomach. And when her card didn't swipe through the machine, she got angry and swiped harder which of course didn't work either. She wasn't just a bit down, she was annoyed at life and everyone around her.
 
You are a director of first impressions, if you feel good about yourself and where you are in life, then it will show. And the opposite also holds true for you too.
 
So what can you do?
 
Well you can play the "what if" game. What if I were feeling good about myself - what would I wear today? What would my skin look like, would I be smiling? Would I look happy? Would I get more done today if I felt good about myself? The answer to the last few questions is yes. It's a shame we can't video tape our day's performance, because only by seeing ourselves through other people's eyes can we see where we are at this point in time.
 
Now and this is the hard part - but I need you to keep a wary eye on what you wear each day for a couple of days, Does your choice of clothes and your "look" reflect your motivation? And if it does, can you change the way you look so that you feel good about who you are, and does that make a difference to the amount of work that you do.  Have fun.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you write how you feel? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 09/22/2006 07:57:52 AM ----- BODY:

Do you spend a lot of time writing? It doesn't have to be books, poetry or anything "creative", but could be research reports, job applications or letters. Did you know that your choice of words directly reflects your state of mind?
 
Believe it or not, it does.
 
If you keep a journal a good way of testing my theory is to go and read a few of the pages. In the first few sentences of each day's entries you will find evidence of your state of mind on a current day.
 
Full of pain, then your writing style will be "angry" - I scrawl anger and suffering, you might write in a controlled cramped style. I write in a much more fluid, lucid way when I am in a good mood.
 
But there is a much easier way to test this "theory". If you need to write something, I can guarantee you can start the project and finish faster if you:
like the topic
feel confident of your subject matter (ie., you know what you want to say)
and feel good about who you are and where you are in your life.
 
But today we are going to be doing something quite interesting (well I think so at any rate). Today I'd like you to do as well as read.  For today's exercise you will need a piece of paper and a writing instrument of choice...or you can use the 'puter - it's up to you.
 
Now I am going to give you three words - one of those three words you will use at the beginning of the sentence. The remaining two words have to appear in the first paragraph - somewhere. Now you can add endings to the word - plurals, "ing" etc
 
Car
Pain
Child
 
Now all I want you to do is write for 5 minutes and then stop.
 
Once you have done that I want you to stop - and re-read what you have written... surprised at the choice of words that you used?
 
Now, just humour me for a minute and do the writing exercise again, this time use
 
Dance
Time
Laughter
 
again you can change the endings to make the first word you choose easier to use....
 
When you are faced with a writing project that just won't get going, remember the technique, you will be surprised at how fast and how much you can write using the three word suggestion. Work out what your topic is really about and write a number of keywords that you need to convey in that paragraph and away you should go.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Obsessive, Compulsive Disorders STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/28/2006 12:17:44 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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Do you have an addictive personality? Of course you are going to say “no”, you’ve never been addicted to any drug in your life. Actually I didn’t say are you addicted to a chemical substance you made that leap on your own. I said do you have an addictive personality”?
An addiction is something that you cannot “not do”. I fact you have to do it, regardless of what “it” is.

I too would have said that I wasn’t addicted to anything, apart from chocolate once upon a time. There were some things that I did on a regular basis, there were even some other things that I did on a regular basis that were routine, second nature – and yes there is a difference, some of which as you may realise become habits. 

But what happens when those those habits become compulsions?

There was a woman in the coffee shop the other day. She was dressed in 1970’s fashion – tight white blouse and denim shorts cut so high that you could see the cheeks of her butt. Which is all very well, except she was 30+ years too old for what she was wearing….stuck in a time warp, or just a wardrobe malfunction – who knows. Anyway, that is not what I wanted to tell you about not today. You see it wasn’t her clothing that intrigued me per se, but her actions. She collected her cup of coffee, and then sat with her back to the room, and proceeded to shake chocolate powder over her drink. A confection that she had taken with her! She put down the shaker, picked up her cup and spoon, and then proceeded to eat the chocolate powder from the cup. Put down the cup, pick up the shaker, turn it upside down, two pats on the base, pick up the cup and start all over again. Compulsive, Obsessive.

The question I am mulling today is why don't we have compulsive behaviours over things that are good for us...like working on our projects, eating fruit and veggies or going to the gym. Why do the compulsions that we have keep us stuck in our own particular time warp, and how on earth do we know that we have them, and then be willing to do something about them?

I know this is going to sound odd, but if you can do it, you can find insights into your behaviours and actions....keep a note of what you do, it doesn't matter what the action is - it could be going to the loo and having to wash your hands fifteen times before you think they're clean. (This would be a good time for someone to follow you around with a video camera I think). Watch what you are doing, and then once you have collected your data, you need to ask if those actions, behaviours and emotions are worth keeping, or not.

Because you can only truly move forward if you know where you are starting from.

I wish for you a thoughtful day today...
Elle B
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: You won't change until it hurts badly enough STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 CATEGORY: Action CATEGORY: Change Management DATE: 09/25/2006 08:01:41 AM ----- BODY:

Have you noticed that you don't change until something prompts you to do so? What prompts you to change comes from one of two things, "love" or "hate" (you can substitute the word "anger" for hate if you prefer). But in my own experience, the biggest driving force isn't a desire to reward myself for changing something - "i'd really love to be thin, fit and healthy" - no it's more like - "I hate being unfit, I hate not being able to wear the clothes that I want to, I hate getting out of breath running up the stairs" - so we embark on a fitness campaign that is not driven by a desire to enjoy it, we are doing it out of frustration and annoyance with our current bodies.
 
I have noticed this goes for most things that really need doing too. Yesterday I spent 5 hours in the garden - working on one garden bed, and I'll upload some photos onto the web in the not too distant future so you can see for yourself. It wasn't because I really like gardening, I don't. It's something that needs to be doing, like cleaning the bathroom, which is why it took me 5 hours to weed the one garden bed. If I'd enjoyed it, it wouldn't have needed overhauling, i'd have been out there most weekends. The reason why yesterday was the day to get the garden done, was because i was totally fed up with it. I was sick and tired of going out of the drive way and cringeing at the very healthy weeds that filled the space.
 
What is it with you? What prompts you to get on with something? Do you do things out of duty and obligation? Do you do things because you love the thought of change? Or are you like me, only do the major changes if you get annoyed at the situation you find yourself in.
 
Now I am aware, that what I find annoys me and will prompt me to do something, may not be the thing that prompts you do change. And that's the trouble with most of the rest of the "motivational type" speakers out there. They have a one size fits all philosophy that just doesn't work. Do this and great things will happen to you!!
 
So over the next few days, but if you can, today, after all today is sunday - I would like you to reflect back to a time when you really needed to change something. Did you do it out of a desire to be better, or was it driven from a negative perspective?
 
It's also interesting to note, you are more likely to sustain the changes over the long term if you enjoy the process.
 
So work out what you need to change, and then work out why you aren't taking the steps you need to make those changes. Only then can you determine if you need to get a personal trainer to push you into becoming fit, hire a painter, gardener or anyone else, or whether you can go it alone.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: compliments STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/15/2006 05:34:06 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Do you like to receive compliments or do you blush furiously and say something detrimental about yourself to negate them?
 
What about giving compliments? Are you the kind of person who can walk up to a complete stranger and say:
 
"Hi, I just wanted to say I think that outfit you are wearing is just gorgeous.... "
"Wow you look fantastic!"
"You have a beautiful smile"
 
And you know what happens then? Well you've just made several people's day....
 
The person on the other end of the compliment - why? because when you said it, you really meant it....
 
The other person is you. If you feel good about who you are, what you are wearing and generally feeling happy and joyous, you are more likely to give compliments to others. But it is also interesting to note that you will receive more compliments when you are happy and joyous. Most people I know are drawn to the beautiful, and whilst they will notice the "bad" and the not so pretty, they will hardly draw attention to the fact that someone isn't feeling or looking their best today.
 
So if you see something or someone you like, why not make two people happy. Go on I dare you.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Still not sure STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/31/2006 04:52:09 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Still not sure what you want to be when you grow up - then you should remember, that your indecision is costing you more than just time.
Imagine walking down the centre of a road, chances are going to be good that you are going to be hit by cars going in both directions. Similarly if you spend so much time sitting on the fence, sooner or later someone will come along and shove you off, the question is are you happy for them to make your choices, your decisions for you?
We are coming up to yet another bank holiday, another day to do what you want to do. So if you have your plans laid out in advance, and someone asks you "what you want to do today dear" you can tell them in graphic detail. And who knows you may even get some helpers.
Cheers, Elle B
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Change of behaviours STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/01/2007 11:22:51 PM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning I hope this finds you well and ready to tackle the start of the new year. One thing I have noticed is that we change our behaviours and patterns when we have extended periods of time off work.
You go to bed when you're tired, you get up later, you eat at times more in tune with your own personal body clock rather than watching the clock...oh it's 12.30 I must go and eat. How long did it take you to get into a different time zone? I have to be honest that after a week off, I still wake at the ridiculous hour of 6.30, but rather than getting up I do have the luxury of turning over and not worrying about over sleeping.
So how long does it take for new behaviours and patterns to become the norm. Depending on who you listen to, the time ranges from a few days to a few months. Personally I think it depends on a couple of factors - namely the person, and how motivated you are to change.
Now of course you have to find a way to balance those new things you would like to do (new years revolutions) with a change back to your normal pattern of work/eat/sleep - and this is where the cracks start to show. It is so easy to slip back into old ways. For instance, you may not have had a cup of coffee and a muffin all the time you were off, I mean who gets up, gets dressed, gets in the car and goes out to deliberately find a cup of coffee in a morning? not many I would hazard a guess. But I bet you didn't think twice about pulling nto your favourite coffee shop on the way to work this morning, now did you.
So what about that desire to lose weight - did you remember to pack your lunch? Or will you be out at lunch time, trying not to eat everything that isn't nailed down?
So today, before you slide back into old behaviours, ask yourself if you really want to do the same things as last year, or not. Then make the changes that you know you can make stick in the long term. Like everything, new disciplines, behaviours and practices do take time, so don't despair if you don't get it right all of the time.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: On your marks, get set.... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/31/2006 11:38:41 PM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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GO !!!!
Happy New Year, I hope you managed to get through the revelries unscathed and you are ready to tackle the start of the new year.
The 2nd of January marks the start of most people's working year, if that is you - then I hope you have a productive day, unlikely but we can hope.
Why unlikely? well if you don't spend some time today planning tomorrow, choosing your outfit, making sure you have lunch packed, change for the parking meter or bus fare, then you are going to start the new year trying to catch up with the last one.
And not only that, but you will need to catch up with a thousand emails, backlogs of mail, and of course the catch up chat with your colleagues. For me, the start of my working year is next monday (8th), and we have to rebuild offices, find the computers from under the dust of the office refit, before we can do anything.....so my working year will more likely be Tuesday or even Wednesday - half way through January and already behind.
But before I left, I made sure I had my project plans up to date and ready to go as soon as the computers were plugged in. How about you? Ready to start your new year with a bang, or are you more likely to begin with a whimper and a plea for people not to shout too loudly.
I hope you found time to plan the next few months, whilst you had the time to do it in. Because as you may have realised by now, failure to plan, means that you will get to the end of the first day, first week and first month without any idea of whether you are ahead or behind, like joining in a marathon mid way, you just don't know where you are or how far you have to go.
So take time to plan for tomorrow today, and you will be ready to start the new year with a smile, rather than a hurried dash around the house hunting for shoes, keys, bags and pens.
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Motivation and Anger STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/18/2006 01:45:57 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Motivation and anger. It is an interesting thought, if you think about it. Have you noticed you are more likely to do something if you are annoyed? Do you immediately get on the telephone when you find out that you have been overcharged by a bank or utility company? Of course you do, you are angry and boy are you going to let them know about it. In fact nothing will stop you from achieving your goal of getting them to admit their mistake and compensate you for wasting your time.
 
So  my question to you today. Why don't you get angry with yourself for wasting precious time? You know you have jobs to do, but you watch the television, or talk on MSN. If you are at work, do you spend time chatting to your work colleagues instead of actually working? How much time do you spend on the electronic mail and internet each day? Why don't you get annoyed with yourself for wasting time on things that really don't matter.
 
We waste time, each and every one of us. Yet we don't get annoyed with ourselves...I mean, really annoyed, drop everything and sort it out kind of annoyed. You don't do you? Of course not. But you should, because you have the power to do amazing things. But what happens, we run with the average crowd.
 
Well if you want to get more out of life, you have to stop wasting time on average activities and get annoyed with yourself every time you are tempted to waste time. Remember, once a minute has been spent, you cannot get a refund and spend it again.
 
If you still don't know how you spend your time, then get your timelog out of the drawer, it is the best way to keep track of those precious minutes.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: are you hiding behind the multiple project syndrome? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/27/2006 03:15:01 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Good Morning Procrastinators, I hope this finds you well and looking forward to another day of finding ways of not doing things....
 
If you think about it, that's exactly what being a procrastinator is. We find a million excuses as to why we are not doing things, and then find a million other excuses to get out of doing what we're supposed to. The biggest and by far the best I have come across is hiding behind the multiple project syndrome.
 
Not only do serial procrastinators have a lot of unfinished projects, but they tend to have more than one project on the go at any one time. Surely you say, they are one and the same thing? Actually no they're not, and this is why. A successful person also has a lot of projects on the go at the same time. The difference between the successful and the not-successful is the fact that the successful person is also a completer-finisher more often than not. They take each project to its logical conclusion but in doing so have other major tasks lined up to take their place once they are finished.
 
The procrastinator on the other hand, may have lots of projects on the go at the same time, but does so in order to prove how busy they are. They can hide behind excuses as to why they haven't finished things - "have you seen what I've got to do today"
"I've got so many things I've got to get done, is it any wonder i don't find the time to work on my own projects..." They like to suffer and suffer loudly.
 

Failure to manage your projects effectively, and hiding behind multiple projects is a great way to ensure that you don't finish anything - why? Because you have to keep going over the same old ground to see where you got up to.
 
So today I need you to stop whatever it is you are doing. That's right we are going to procrastinate for a while, actually we are going to be planning - believe me there is a difference. Now I want you to have a good look at your desk/work station/house....or wherever else you spend a good portion of your day.
 
Now please get out a couple of sheets of paper and a pen, coloured crayons or whatever works best for you. And I want you to make piles of everything that you have to do...
 
Tax - you have 5 days left to get this to your accountant
Bills - what haven't you paid
Filing - put it away and stop hiding behind mess
Reports - what do you need to do to finish it off
Phone calls - who, what about, when -
 
Now I need you to prioritise those tasks you have just found - and block time on your sheet of paper to complete them.
 
Now - get your diary out - what do you have to do today? This week? This month?
For your long term projects - where can you slot in the work that needs to be done?
 
Now and here is the thing. I also need you to set some time aside for YOU. Yes I said you.
 
If you don't take time out for you today, this week, this month - you will wind up exhausted and unable to get anything done....so plan your projects, but don't forget - you. After all you are your own Do It Yourself Project too.
 
Have a great day and I'll speak to you again soon.
 
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: are you in the red or the black? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 10/30/2006 05:26:01 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Who do you work for? Believe it or not, the answer is not the company who pays your wages. I believe that the person you work for - is actually you.
 
Think about it, you are totally responsible for the business of YOU. You are entirely responsible for the direction you are travelling, who is travelling with you, and how fast you are getting to your destination. You are also entirely responsible for the health of your company - health being physical shape, emotional shape, financial shape and your company's personal spirituality and/or philosophy.
 
Now the question has to be - if you had to go to work every day and work for that person, would you enjoy working for them? Or would you be looking for a new job in the not too distant future?
 
Think about it this way:
- Would you continue to work for a company that doesn't pay it's bills, let alone on time?
- Would you continue to work for a company who has a huge debt and works from pay cheque to pay cheque just to get by?
- Would you continue to work for a company that does little or nothing to move the business forward, but continues to do the same things over and over again?
- Would you continue to work for a boss who eats too much, smokes to excess or drinks every night, and comes into work hung over and not looking the best every morning?
- Would you continue to work for a boss who looks like they might keel over from a heart attack because of poor decisions, stressful relationships, and is miserable doing what he/she is doing?
- Would you continue to work for a company that does not appreciate it's workers, speaks down to them, and bitches about other people behind their backs?
 
OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T.
 
You'd be off like a shot wouldn't you. There is no way you would continue to work for an organisation that doesn't appreciate who and what you are, and what you can do.
 
The thing is - if we are working for us, then we are doing exactly that. We are working for a boss who doesn't give two hoots about our emotional, physical or spiritual well being. We are up to our eyeballs in debt and we drink and eat to excess so that we can forget how bad it all is.....
 
So my question to you is this. When are you going to get your business into shape? When are you going to get your business out of the red and into the black?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Is money on your new years resolutions list? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/06/2007 05:47:48 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Money, is money the number 1 thing on your list for 2007? i.e. get more of - well you need to remember that 5c is more, $5 is more, so first you need to determine how much more you actually want.
Then you need to decide where it is going to come from. Can you arrange a payrise from the organisation that you are working with? Or do you need to move on?
So first things first, how much can you earn doing what you do? Check the papers and the job websites - then once you have that information you will need to determine if you should work full time and get the paid holidays etc or go for contract work - you get paid a higher rate, but you have to cover all your own holiday and sick leave.
Like everything else if you are planning on getting another/different job or a job for the first time, then you should remember that getting the job is your job until you get what you think you want. So make sure that writing job applications and proposals is first on the to do list.

Followed by contacting the agencies to see what is available. Hint - if they don't know you are looking for work, they can't contact you now can they!!

It is important to make sure you have a variety of CV's and resumes ready just in case that perfect job comes up. Why not a one size fits all? Well - a couple of reasons, not everyone needs your entire life history (CV) so a resume will do. However, some jobs insist that you apply online - the reason being - is so they can weed out those people who do not meet their selection criteria - and this is usually done by software....therefore you will need to make sure you have the right mix of keywords and phrases in your documents otherwise you will receive a thanks but no thanks letter in the not too distant future.


So when planning for your future and money is quite a large motivator for some people, then you need to plan your days and how you are going to tackle the issue of getting "more" money. Days that aren't planned usually end up disappearing faster than .... you get the picture. But you need to structure your day properly, otherwise your to do list will look like a shopping list - everything everywhere and no idea which aisle you should be going down first.

So, those things that you should do first are those things that are likely to bring in the money - quickly. Hence the job applications, follow up phone calls, surfing the job sites, networking.

The second items on the list should be those that have a longer span to bring you money, namely work on that web site or book you've been writing. Articles that you need to write and submit, turn into a give away for your network marketing opportunities. Creation of a newsletter to promote your services - again give them something of value and they will ask you to do business with them. As with all these items on the second half of the list – long term strategic planning can pay off. But you can also spend a lot of time without seeing much in the way of instant pay back.

The next set of important items are those things that are always important - but never urgent. Eating well, exercising, spending time on you. Even if it is only a walk around the block to clear the cobwebs before settling down to work on the next set of important tasks.

The last items on your daily to do list are those items that we always like to do because they are the ones that we enjoy doing but get us little return, or they are necessary things, like dishes, washing and ironing, rearranging the items on our desk top, writing emails to friends.
I'll write that job application after I've....
I need to be in the right frame of mind....
This kind of structured procrastination zaps our physical and mental energy. We feel that we are being productive because we have managed to cross things off our list. And justify that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that there is always tomorrow.

So don't neglect today thinking you will do it tomorrow, because you still have to live today, even when planning for your future.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: look at it this way STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/06/2006 05:40:23 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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Have you ever stopped to consider that what you see and perceive may not be the same as what others see?
 
No?
 
Well imagine that you are in a 4WD and you decide to slow down because of what is happening in front of you. You know exactly what is going on - because you can see it. But the guy in the mini driving too close to your bumper hasn't got a clue why you're stopping suddenly. A momentary lapse of concentration on his part and he could total himself and his car. Of course it could be argued that he shouldn't be driving that close to your rear end, but lets face it, few people actually leave a big enough gap between them and the car in front, and if they do, someone jumps into the spot you're trying to leave for safe breaking purposes.
 
Imagine our friend in the mini he came through the accident relatively unscathed, after all he's still alive, ok he might not be able to walk again, but you'd figure that he'd be OK getting around in a wheel chair. His able bodied friends and colleagues can get around easily enough, they don't mind negotiating steps, and getting around people is easy, they just go around them. But for our friend in the wheelchair - well all he can see is the butts in front of him. He can't tell if there is going to be an obstacle that he's going to have to negotiate. Now imagine he's got tickets to go to a concert. Going to a concert where people stand up means he gets little chance to see the band - just more butts.... Given that a lot of children are of a similar height to a person in a wheelchair, all of a sudden you may understand why being in a crowded place can be an absolute nightmare for "little people". Of course you can always pick "little people" up, it's not quite as easy for people who have to sit down all day.
 
Or can you imagine trying to describe colour to a person who can't "see", or a Brahms concerto if they can't hear?
 
For those of us with our bodies and senses intact, can you imagine what we could do - if we decided that we would use everything we had. How much could we accomplish if we appreciated just what we had, and utilised it all. Don't wait for a life changing event to make a difference to the way your life turns out. Make a difference now, but whilst you are doing that, spare a thought for those people who look at things in a different way to you.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: De-clutter your cupboards - de-stress your life STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/14/2006 04:17:51 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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I hope you had fun inspecting your cupboards, pantries and freezers yesterday. Were you as shocked as I was by the amount of food that you had bought, stored and never eaten. Quite scary isn't it. One final word about this particular area before we move on. Now is the time organisations such as the Red Cross and Anglicare are looking for food items to give to those people who don't have as much as you and I. So if you can't eat it, consider giving it away.

Anyway today I'd like to continue this excess removal exercise by looking at other areas of your life. As you will have realised by now, if you have clutter in your life in one area I can almost guarantee that you will have clutter elsewhere too.  Clutter means you can hide behind it. Clutter means that you have every excuse not to get on and do the things you should be doing - because you can't find whatever it is you need to find. Today, there are no more excuses, and if you follow the suggestions outlined, no more clutter. Now I do understand this is not going to be a quick process, but and here is the thing. The more you do, the more you find time to do. It's quite interesting. Don't have time to go to the gym? An evening climbing up and down ladders to get into the top cupboards will have muscles you didn't know exist, working overtime.

One of the biggest areas I have found for procrastination is clothes. How many clothes do you actually wear? Do you wear the same ones over and over again. Are they looking as sad and as worn as a pair of comfy old slippers. Remember that discussion we had the other week about being a Director of First Impressions. If your clothes, shoes, undies all look old and tired then it's about time they were relegated to the gardening, cleaning and painting only collection. We buy things on impulse, we buy things and never wear them. We wear the same stuff over and over and over again, regardless of what we look like. So - now is the time to be honest with yourself. Get rid of those clothes you are hoping to get into one day (after you've lost all that weight)....a hint - by the time you can get into them, they'll be out of fashion....

Get rid of anything that is worn to death, frayed at the cuffs and hems. Get rid of the old and the tatty. But if it still has a bit of life (ie., you bought it and hated it when you got home) then give it to the salvos (or whoever).

Remember all that money you saved by not buying groceries this week? Well now you have some spare cash to go and buy some new clothes. Try factory outlets if you have them close by, or wait for the 25% off everything in store sales. But don't just buy more "stuff" - buy what you need. And if you are not sure what you need, then you obviously don't.

Knowing what you have is important, but it is also worth noting when things need throwing away, and then doing so. Like the food you won't eat, why not donate the items you have never used/worn to the charity shops. Let other people make use of the items. After all, you don't need them, because if you did - you would have used them by now.
 
Have fun with the de-cluttering of your cupboards and your lives. We'll continue this discussion tomorrow.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you feel guilty? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/25/2006 10:21:59 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  We hope you enjoy reading.
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Do you feel guilty when you take a break from working on your dreams, projects and goals?
I must admit that I do find it hard to switch off "the day job" and turn on the creative side that says, hey now I have time to write my book. And when you get home at night - do you look at the dishes in the sink, or the clothes in the ironing basket, and think to yourself that you will get started on your project just as soon as you've done....
So how can you turn off one side of the thinking brain and tune into the alternative side?
1. Your thoughts create your reality. If you feel guilty about taking time out to work on your dreams, goals and projects you will struggle to achieve anything. You will find your thoughts straying towards those other things that you think you need to do. So
2. Have a set time to do - housework, dishes etc. And do the jobs....Do the jobs, clear the decks and the mind and then get on with your projects.
3. Planning is important. If you take time off work to work on your projects etc, then make sure you do exactly that. If you need to take a day off to do jobs then organise for two days off, don't try and cram it all into one day otherwise you will end up doing everything half-hearted.
4. When you get home after work, have a shower, get changed. Rid your body of the grime of the day, and your mind of the rubbish that's gone on - imagine it washing down the drain...some people find this technique useful. I certainly find it useful to change my state of mind.
5. Exercise. A brisk 20 minute walk can do wonders to switch the brain from work mode to creative mode. Don't try and think of anything - and don't try and work out tomorrows to do list....hint - that should be the last thing you do before you leave the office. So that when you arrive the next day, it is there waiting for you. That way, you don't have to remember anything - because it's all written down. If you are at home, working on your goals etc - have a note book sitting by you. If you do think of somethiing that you think you need to do, simply write it down, and then forget about it.
6. And if none of that works, start anyway. When all else fails - perserverance is one of the best keys to breaking the procrastination habit.
Today sees a new format for the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. You can now post a comment directly to the site, share your thoughts with your fellow readers should you be so inclined....
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What haven't you done this week? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/12/2007 05:30:32 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Friday, the last day of the working week. Hopefully you will have taken some of the suggestions offered this week, and have started to see things being crossed of the to do list, as well as goal list.
But there will be some things that you haven't done this week - go on - i'm right aren't i??
Now if you can honestly say that you have used every moment of the working week on work related items, then you are doing extremely well. However, chances are going to be good that there will have been a few holes in the execution of the plan - not enough sleep, too much lunch causing your brain to slow down in the afternoon, unscheduled meetings, phone calls that went on too long, people dropping by for a chat. It happens, it can also throw our well laid out plans into disarray.
So - what do you do?
Transfer the items you haven't done this week to a new list....starting Monday. Accept that it is Friday and in most cases you are not paid to work on the weekends. Saying that, if you haven't done as much as you could because personal stuff kept interrupting then you may feel guilty enough to take some of it home with you. But before you do that - you need to ask yourself a couple of questions:
Is the reason I am behind because of the work I did at home last weekend, and the home stuff I should have been doing didn't get done? Then you need to remember that you should give the gift of attention to where you are right now. If you are at work, then really you should be doing work stuff....after all they are paying your wages.
When you are at home, then be at home. Give the gift of attention to the family, the pets, the house and garden. Plan your lunch breaks so that you can schedule in those important phone calls and appointments that you need to make and do. And if you can't do it any other way, then take a half day off and get it all out of the way.
Or am I behind at work, because I was late in to work, spent too many hours on the net, phone or chatting? Then you need to determine why you are at work...are you bored because the work is no longer challenging? because everyone does the same thing? you did all your work on monday and don't have anything left to do?
So - honesty time.
And lets face it, you are only kidding yourself, so where can you make changes? What can you do differently next week that you didn't do this week? ie., get up 15 minutes earlier and get the earlier train and miss the crowds.
Get up half an hour earlier and go for a walk.
Stop watching the television a couple of nights a week so that you can work on your personal goals, read a book, write a letter or whatever else you've got to do.
Turn up the radio and dance as you clean the house - burn off twice as many calories and hey it's a great way to get an endorphin rush - twice over - from getting a nasty job done - satisfaction, and the rush after exercise.
Friday is a good day to review your progress, you can see where you went wrong, but just as importantly where you went right. Because you need to focus on what went right and then re-create those moments so you can get more done next week. For example - were you happy? Why?
Review, Reflect, Plan and Execute...sounds like military manouevers doesn't it. But it's true - that without all those steps, you won't get very far at all.
I'll speak to you again soon
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Regrets - I've had a few STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/27/2006 01:46:40 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.   We hope you enjoy reading.
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“Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it is good only for wallowing in”
Katherine Mansfield, 1888 – 1923
New Zealand Author

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Monday morning, an entire week stretching ahead of you, a whole week that you can use to make huge gains in your projects and plans.

So – what have you done so far this morning?

Have you spent time catching up with your work colleagues? Did they have a good weekend? How about you, did you share the news from the weekend? How many cups of coffee have you consumed because of an over-indulgence in alcoholic substances over the weekend? Do you look as bad as you feel as a result?

Have you even looked at your daily planner yet today?

On Saturday I mentioned that you should have written down your “must do” items – as one of the last things you do before you leave the office. OK I should have mentioned this on Friday, but it wasn’t on my list so I “forgot” – but the reason why you should practice this, is so that when you start work every morning you know what it is you have to do. If it’s written down you don’t have to worry about trusting your memory, just losing the list. HINT – if it’s important and MUST be done, then schedule it into your electronic calendar, so that you can get an annoying reminder when you should be starting the job/task.

I am not aiming to make you feel guilty about chatting to your fellow workers, or drinking more coffee than your body needs or can safely process in a day. But I am asking that you take some time this morning and plan your week. Do you have any major projects that you need to spend time on? Do you have meetings that you need to go to? Have you scheduled some preparation time?

Don’t get to the end of the day filled with regrets about the work that you should have done. Because regrets are reinforcing double negatives that you haven’t done what you should have.

And if you are reinforcing the fact that you are a failure - you are less likely to get any work done tomorrow either.  

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Christmas or broke STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 11/15/2006 06:57:58 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. Have you signed up for your daily dose yet?
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I hope this finds you well and enjoying the mid point of the week.
 
I've taken today off work because the stray cat that seems to have adopted us woke me up at 2am this morning, demanding to be let in...she was in distress and needed comfort....the three reasons appeared about 7am this morning. Needless to say I needed to get certain things for the new mother, thankfully I also have a very understanding boss. Having spoken to the vet I can't get her "seen to" for a couple of months, so I hope she enjoys being an indoor cat from now on.
 
Anyway, todays enforced home stay has allowed me to make huge inroads into my cleaning, sorting and tidying that I decided needed to be done. I can't believe how much clutter there is in my house. And I didn't think I was a hoarder. But I do seem to collect paper clippings, printouts of useful stuff (or so I think at the time) and books of every genre. Well my bookcase is looking much better, unfortunately I still have a lot to do, so had best get on I suppose.
 
But one of the things on my list and the thing I really wanted to talk to you about today is Christmas. Do you plan Christmas ahead of time, or do you hope that your next pay cheque will have enough left over to buy some gifts? Or is your credit card going to get severely bent between now and then?
 
Part of the problem I have found with regards to Procrastination and Motivation is money. Some people find that having nothing in the bank would be the best incentive to get out there and do something about it..."I've had it with being broke" whereas other people pretend it isn't happening and continue to overspend.
 
Do you know what the first rule of wealth creation is ?
 
Believe it or not, it's quite simple - spend less than you earn. Given that the mortgage rates have just gone up again, petrol prices have a nasty habit of rising with the whim of the petrol station owners, it becomes harder to budget. But unless you get on top of it now, you will stress and worry over the christmas break and you will not enjoy the "silly season".
 
The first stage in getting on top of your budget (and apologies if you already know this) is to know what you are spending your money on.
 
Get out your bank statements from the last 12 months or so and break them down....what do you pay weekly, fortnightly, monthly, yearly etc etc....
What do you receive as payment? Take one away from the other and you will have some idea of whether you have a shortfall or not. Then you need to keep an eye on the bits and pieces that you buy without thinking twice about....do you buy coffee on the way to work? Multiply it by a week, fortnight, year and you will begin to see that tiny decisions over time can equal quite a lot of money at the end of the year.
 
Am I advocating that you don't buy coffee (or whatever you buy) ? Of course not, just asking you to be aware of what you are buying today can make a huge difference at the end of the year.
 
BTW - $3.00 (average cost per cup of coffee) x 5 days in a working week x 48 weeks in a working year = $720
 
What could you do with an extra $720 in your pocket at this time of year?
 
p.s. if you know of anyone who would like a kitten in about 6 weeks can you let me know
Thx
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: We are what we ... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/15/2007 12:38:50 PM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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eat...
so if we are what we eat - could we have a death wish if we continue to consume those things that we know are bad for us?
sorry - sometimes I have a very strange sense of humour.
So how are you today? I hope you are well and looking forward to a productive and busy day.
Remember it is important to start your week knowing some or all of the following:
What appointments do you have already in your calendar?
What appointments do you need to make?
What preparation do you need to do?
What birthdays, anniversarys, major events are happening this week - do you have the necessary gifts, cards and/or phone calls logged into your planner so you don't forget to make /get them?
What work can you do on your projects today?
Have you scheduled in some time for exercise, relaxation and planning the kids return to school....(sorry for those people not in Australia - we are coming to the end of the kids summer holidays - so what school supplies do you need to get, uniforms etc etc).
Remember you cannot burn the candle at both ends and not expect the flame to go out once you hit the middle. So please ensure that you get adequate amounts of sleep, so try and ensure that you do all that you can today, so that when you leave the office tonight, you really can leave the office tonight and not have to take work home.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Half way point - charting your progress STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/16/2007 05:41:10 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Hello it's me again....did you think I'd forgotten you?
 
Well you will be pleased to know that I haven't....so what do I mean by half way point....well as we "speak" we are mid way through the first month of the calendar year. Gone quickly hasn't it?!
 
So what have you been doing with yourselves?
 
If you can't answer that question easily then I would suggest you need a better "accounting" system. If you get to the end of the day and have no idea about how much you've done, and still have to do, or worse still get to the end of the month and have no idea how much you have accomplished then how on earth are you going to be able to:
a) celebrate when you reach your milestones (assuming you have milestones in place) or your goals.
b) know when you've actually reached your goal
c) know when to pick up the pace so that you don't start to do less today than you did yesterday....otherwise you won't reach your goals.
 
Whilst a time log is a good start (copy available for download from the web) a decent accounting system that says - I needed to do this and this and this by the end of the day/week and I have only managed to this...but I did do a lot of other stuff - honest... is vital.
 
It doesn't matter whether you use a whiteboard or a scrappy piece of paper to keep track of your progress, but you do need to do it.
 
Imagine that you were paid by the hour and had to account for your time....would your accounting system allow you to bill the correct amount of money for the work that you have done, or would you end up charging your "clients" less than you should because you don't have the proof you need (either in deliverables or logged time) to do so. If you consistently over work and under charge, you are going to go bankrupt pretty quickly. Or worse still - under work and over charge, and be morally bankrupt...
 
The choice as they say is yours.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: If at first you don't succeed... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/17/2007 04:53:50 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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If at first you don't succeed - I'd suggest you stop for a minute, and take a good look at what you were doing.
 
Most people assume that if they do something long enough or hard enough they will eventually get to where they need to go. And you may do....eventually. It's like wandering down the same street neither looking left nor right, and hoping the right address will suddenly appear in front of you....
 
Then there are those people who know what they should be doing, but don't do it (dieters will understand this one only too well). They should be walking straight down the centre of the path, but they see all the side roads and decide to go exploring....
 
You see - your technique may only need tweaking a little in order to get you off and running. Or you may need to completely re-design your "experiment" before starting the process again.
 
A couple of suggestions - Emulate the scientists - they design an experiment and if it doesn't work, they will make a note of what they did and how they did it, and then they will modify their experiment, and try something else....imagine making a cake, and finding out you didn't add enough sugar to the original recipe.. Do you decide that you are a failure at cake making, or do you simply add butter and cheese to the cake and insist that it was a savoury cake instead? You'd also make a note in the recipe book that it needed double the amount of sugar - so you knew the next time you made that particular recipe.
 
Life can be a complete experiment....just like the cake making thingummy we spoke about earlier, most people are working from a recipe (a plan if you like). Not many people I know would decide to make a cake, and pick half a dozen ingredients from the cupboard, throw it together and hope a cake comes out the other end....you wouldn't would you? You may be lucky and find that you have developed the next best thing, but unless you knew what you had done, how on earth are you going to re-create that "experiment"? The answer is - more trial and error.
 
So write it down. That's the plan.
Try it...
Modify it - if you have to
Try it again.
And as your life changes, so should your plan.
 
But what happens if you have absolutely no idea where to get your own recipe for life from?
 
Well that one's easy(ish) too.
 
You should know by now what it is you say you want to do, be or achieve. Well guess what - someone, somewhere will have done that same thing. So if that is the case, then all you need to do is find their recipe and follow it - modifiying it for your own circumstances as you go along. No two people or situations are exactly alike, so you will need to make modifications - you may decide that after reviewing their recipe and trying it for a while, you can actually make a tweak here and there....and hey - you have a brand new recipe that can make you....
 
Well that's up to you too.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you define success by using other people as your benchmark? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/18/2007 12:20:17 AM ----- BODY:

Or perhaps more importantly do you define your failure rate based on how well you think other people are doing compared to you? You see in that kind of thought process, someone has to be a "winner" which means someone else has to be a "loser"!
For example - you knew there was going to be a for example....
You spend 4 years gaining your qualifications...you are very proud of the fact that you achieved 88%. You are a "success". What happens then if you find out your excellent pass mark of 88% is actually the lowest of the class....do you still define your 88% as a success? I would probably say that you would feel embarrased that your score was so low, and you would feel like you had "failed". You would start to negate the 4 years of hard study as a complete waste of time - after all - compared to everyone else you were a "failure".

And your body, your words of congratulations to your fellow classmates may be half-hearted at best, or sarcastic - as you try and belittle their "success". They had better luck, or you weren't feeling your best on the day....
Do you want to know something interesting? An associate of mine once told me that to get a doctorate, you had to narrow your focus so much that you were only "clever" in one area of your life....think about it. You can be a doctor of ants, you can also be a doctor of ant nest creation and how it relates to the macrocosm of society....ok i made the last one up. But one gentleman I saw on a TV documetnary does have a doctorate in mud brick building and how to make them safer during earthquakes....so what happens, when someone else takes his work and builds a safer, stronger mud brick house - does that negate the original work? Of course not. But he may consider that he is a failure, because he didn't think of ALL the alternatives....
Lets face it - if we consider that the definition of success is how well we beat other people, then we are complete failures. We will also spend a lot of wasted time and energy - berating ourselves for not doing more or better than our "opponents" or we will negate the work of the others - trying to bring them down to our level.....
It's interesting, the other people may not consider the fact that they are competing against you, all they know is the whole class passed with flying colours. Whilst you may think they are being a smug smart ass, after all anyone would feel gracious to others when they win can't they....have you seen the movie cars yet? You should.
We need to redefine this definition of success....but first you need to stop comparing yourself to others, and then you can ask the questions that needs to be asked...
Did you do all that you could all of the time?
Can you learn from your "mistakes" (ie., the actions that you took to reach the outcome that you got) to get a better outcome next time?
Did you win at the expense of others, or could you have both/all done better if you had cooperated?
With many thoughts for a successful day
(MMW1, MMM1)

----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Not so sleepy EMAIL: IP: 203.59.156.61 URL: DATE: 01/19/2007 01:23:38 AM It would be good if we could 'just be' self-validated. But the western ethos of compete-or-die means that we either join in, opt-out or live in delusion. Delusion is a big feature of the American educational system, where you can get a MacDegree of dubious quality. If a student really believes he/she is well-qualified (when objectively that's not the case) - how does this serve the progress of Man? That's surely the purpose of benchmarks.

Of the above options, opting out is the procrastinator's obvious choice. As in "I'll get the degree one day", "If only I'd had a better education, then I'd be able to ...(insert avoided activity)"

not-so-SH ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elle DATE: 01/23/2007 03:12:49 AM I feel that it depends on who or what you are benchnarking yourself against. And whether you are using those benchmarks as a push to get you inspired to be more, do more, see more than you are currently achieveing. Or whether you use those benchmarks as an excuse not to start because you can't possibly do better than so and so. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you talk to yourself? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/19/2007 05:30:17 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Do you talk to yourself? By that I mean, do you have conversations, words, phrases running through your "head" - like the annoying song that you hate but can't stop singing?
 
Yep, thought so....just stop whatever it is you are doing and listen to your conversation...and I know what you will be thinking now...."stupid woman, how can i stop and listen to myself, with all the stuff that i've got to do....." "What has this go to do with..."
 
just do me a favour and stop will you....what are you hearing? Are you going over the last conversation that you had with your partner? Or with the utility company? Or are you working out the conversation that you need to have with your partner, or the utility company? What are you "telling" yourself and them?
 
What on earth has your inner conversation (dialogue) have to do with motivation? Actually quite a lot. If you are having "bad" conversations with yourself, then how do you think your body is going to react? It will secrete cortisol and adrenaline, your muscles will tighten as if you were having the conversation for real. You see the mind cannot tell real from imagined. It doesn't know if the conversation that you are practising has been and gone, or to come yet....it just knows that you are spending an awful lot of time going over and over and over and over the same stuff....
 
So if that is the case, when we spoke yesterday about comparing yourself to others to determine your success or failure rate, you need to know that the conversations that you had with yourself will reinforce the belief that you are either a complete failure or a success...
 
The conversation that says....."Hey well done, that's great" (to yourself....smug blighter, who on earth does he think he is? I bet he sucked up to the teacher. I could have done better if I had had the same circumstances as he did...I mean....and on and on and on it goes...)
 
It is said we speak about 20,000 words to ourselves each and every day....and most of the time we don't speak nicely! We berate the other drivers for getting in our way. We mock and mimic the people around us (don't beleive me - listen to yourself one day, it's embarrasing), we read something and "tell" the author that "i knew that, god did I pay good money for this "rubbish?"
 
Is it any wonder we have trouble staying motivated with those kinds of conversations running through our heads. Conversations that we don't realise we are having, yet they are affecting ourselves and our behaviours anyway.
 
So what can you do? For every bad thought you have - stick a dollar in a jar - well you'd be bankrupt in a week.
 
Like all new things we need to practice. First of all you needed to know that it was happening. Armed with that knowledge you can listen in to your conversations when you remember to do so, and when you do catch yourself thinking or saying something nasty, then try and stop the conversation. Distract it with something else. Read something that stimulates the mind. Recite the times tables, or poetry you learned as a kid. By the time you have finished, the mind will have forgotten (usually) the fact that it was being horrid.
 
Whilst some people seem to make a study of being nasty, running roughshod over everyone else to get what they want, you will achieve far more if you are "kind" to yourself and your thoughts.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Personal Development - it's up to you STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/01/2006 04:03:50 AM ----- BODY:

There are a lot of you who may be wondering why I decided to create this resource. Or it may not have occurred to you. You may have assumed that I had jumped on the self-help, personal development bandwagon to make a fast buck – and you’d be wrong….no money, fast or otherwise – but maybe one day!!

No the reason this started, was because of a friend in England. A friend who at the wrong side of 50 decided that he was out of work and likely to stay that way.

Working in the employment sector had given me quite a different view of the world and I suggested that perhaps the reason he wasn’t getting where he thought he should be, wasn’t because of his age, but other factors …..my friend needed reminding that he wasn’t over the top – by a long shot…so the “daily dose” was created.

I bullied, I prodded, I suggested, I gave him exercises to do. I made his life pure misery whilst he perfected his newly found zest for life.

And it worked. He did it all, and he did it all by himself if you think about it.

I could make all the suggestions in the world, but unless he was willing to put in the hard work, then nothing was going to change.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to make a difference to the way your life turns out? Personal development means that you are working on you, yourself.

You will be pleased to know that I received an email from him a little while after I started to ask him to look at things in a slightly different way, he had his new job, and he hasn’t looked back since.

But you know what I think really made the difference – his attitude. He had reached the point where enough really was enough, and he was willing to try anything to change the way his life was working out. And that is what this web site, and the daily dose of motivational medicine is really about. Changing the way your life turns out – if you want to that is….and believe me when I say you have to really want to. Some things take time (try losing the last 5 kilos on a diet and you will know what I mean). Some times you want to give up and say to heck with it, I’ll stay where I am.

Well you’ve gotten this far, so welcome, and thank you for making the decision to try something just a little different. We have had a lot of new subscribers over the last week or so, thank you for passing on the information to your friends and anyone else you think is stuck in the sand dunes, spinning their wheels. We know what that’s like, we’ve been there after all.

A reminder that all back issues of the daily dose are available on the web site – http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ and there are lots of other ramblings, musings as well as hints and tips for getting out of doing those things you really don’t want to do. So if you haven’t checked back to the web site in a while, please be my guest….procrastinate a while – why not, it is Friday.

I’ll speak to you again over the weekend.

Elle

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you need someone to motivate you? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/23/2007 01:22:39 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Do you need someone to motivate you?
 
Strange question really given the name and content of this particular site. But a reader mentioned that sometimes she needs someone to motivate her - to get her going....
 
Which is like saying - I need someone to entertain me. Today I don't want to think for myself, today I want you to do it for me...so motivate me.
 
Now I am not saying that we don't need alternative ways of thinking about things. That is something entirely different (in my opinion). Like I asked a kick boxing instructor the best way of burning fat, for example. I knew that what i was doing, was not working, and I was willing not only to ask the question, but to listen to the answer and then to go away and put the answer into practice.
 
What this reader wanted was an excuse not to do something. I can't be bothered today, so can you ....
 
You may get external triggers that can keep you going for a little while, like personal trainers can push you to do more than perhaps you would do yourself whilst at the gym. But unless you are motivated to continue that process when you walk out the door, then it isn't going to do you much good is it? What do I mean by that? Well say you put - get fit on your goal list. First step you get a gym membership, and a couple of personal training sessions thrown in...you turn up for the first session dreading what's going to happen, and sure enough you walk out feeling exhausted and totally wrecked. What do you do then? Go for coffee and a muffin (because you deserve it)? You see motivation has to come from within. If you want to get fit, then we are talking about more than exercising a few muscles a couple of times a week, but the insides of your body and more importantly your mind as well. So high fat muffins should not be on your rewards list.
 
Everyone is perfectly capable of motivating themselves to do what they need to do, except we fear not knowing all the answers - so we don't start. We are afraid of falling on our faces, so we don't do all that we can all of the time. We are afraid that if we do succeed we will be expected to continue that level of success all of the time....and what happens if we can't? If we rely on external triggers to motivate us, then we have all the excuses we need.
.Oh, well the Daily Dose didn't offer me anything new today, so I don't need to do....
.The personal trainer just went over the same old ground, I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere, so I will look for someone different.
.I'm reading the book, and when I finish - then I'll get started.
 
Do me a favour - get your goal list out and cross out all those things that don't inspire you. If your goals don't inspire you - you won't be bothered to work on them. And if they do inspire you - then what on earth are you waiting for?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Are you a shuffler? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/24/2007 02:32:42 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.   We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/  
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Are you a paper shuffler? You know the kind of person who has a list of things they need to do, yet instead of taking the first item off the pile, you shuffle through the stack until you reach one that you want to do. Well, as you will have gathered by now, you're not the only one. We are all shufflers to one extent or another.

But leaving the work tasks to one side just for a minute, and focus on our personal projects and goals, you would think that we would have no problem at all getting fired up and enthusiastic about those items on the list. So how come when it is cold and wet outside, we really don't want to get up, put on our running shoes and go outside?

Yet we know that health, fitness and losing weight is no.1. on our list for 2007.

How come we say we are going to save money to pay for a holiday yet we continue to spend our spare cash buying things that we know we shouldn't.   We tell ourselves that it's OK, we'll start tomorrow, we absentmindedly shuffle the pile, conveniently "forgetting" what it was we said we wanted to do/achieve.

Structured procrastination (otherwise known as shuffling) can depend on how we are feeling at a particular place/point in time. It may also be that the tasks we really want to do aren't on the list (why not?). If we really can't get inspired, then what do we do?

Accept that sometimes we don't want to do something - regardless of the fact that we know we will have to do it at some point?

And then what - we accept that we don't want to do it, so what happens now? Well the only way we can get over this particular hurdle is to do it anyway.

Yes you can have the day off if you want to. I'm not going to stand over you and watch you. But what happens when tomorrow comes around? Well not only have you got today's tasks to do, but - now you have "tomorrows" tasks to do as well.

If you persist past the point of "I can't be bothered" you will achieve quite a lot. So stop shuffling, pick a task and just do it (as a well known company tells us).

(MMW1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Today's entry from "through the barrier" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/25/2007 03:57:43 AM ----- BODY:

I was going to send something completely different for today's edition, but decided to send you today's journal entry instead. Am I cheating? No I don't think so. I know that some of you don't get over to the website very often - so today I thought I would bring the website to you. I hope you enjoy reading.

http://www.motivateme.info/through-the-barrier/2007/1/25/star-gazing.html 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Tis the season to be grumpy STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/09/2006 08:27:32 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
We hope you enjoy reading.
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"We are always getting ready to live, but never living"
Ralpho Waldo Emerson
 
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Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? Have you ventured into the shopping centres? Nightmare isn't it at this time of year. Unless you are willing to get there at 8.30 on a Saturday morning, and be out again at 9 that is.
 
Assuming you can get in and out the car park unscathed you still have to negotiate over stuffed shopping trolleys, bawling kids and stressed parents. I don't know about you, but the thought of shopping during December fills me with absolute dread and I will avoid it at all costs. Does that mean the people I know actually get a Christmas gift, or do they just get a card with bah-humbug written in it !!
 
Hardly - but here's a thought
 
Do people really need more "stuff"?
 
Most people I know have more money than I do, so can afford to buy themselves whatever they want. So for the main, rather than buying consumable gifts I like to get gifts that can be deemed to be experiences....
 
Movie tickets, vouchers for just about everything - High Tea at the Hyatt, Breakfast, Coffee and Cake vouchers, magazine subscriptions, etc etc....and every year, I choose a "theme" and everyone gets the same....that way I don't have to stress, people don't get "stuff" they neither want or need, they get things they may not have thought about getting for themselves, I get to shop in one place saving me valuable time I can use for other things, and I don't have to go the major shopping centres. Talk about a win-win situation.
 
But if you do decide to go to the shopping centres, go with the knowledge that it is going to be busy, assume you are going to have to set aside an extra hour or two each weekend between now and Christmas to do what you need to do. But take time out to get a coffee and sit and watch everyone else getting stressed. It's actually an interesting time for people watching if you take the time out to do it. You get to see human nature at its best and its worst.
 
"Cheers"
Elle
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't wind down for the Christmas break just yet STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/12/2006 04:26:03 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning, I hope this finds you well and looking forward to another day filled with excitement and the thought that you can be anything you want to be.
Don't you just hate it when I start with the Polyanna bit??
Ah - but here is the thing, A couple of years ago I had the thought about creating this website and this resource. I had half written the book on overcoming procrastination....hmm I suppose really I should finish it one day (and no I am not joking - I have a cupboard full of unfinished manuscripts) but that's by the by. So why didn't I? Well it was something I read, that stopped me literally in my tracks....
I don't recall who wrote it, but it doesn't matter - it changed my way of thinking quite dramatically
"Don't attempt to motivate other people if you can't be bothered to get out of bed in the morning." There was another one that said something similar "Don't motivate others when you can't motivate yourself"
oops.
Never one for hypocrisy I decided that if I wanted you to become more, then I had to change me first. Only when I had changed my thinking, when I had thought about what I wanted and started to put into place the thought processes and behaviours could I then feel comfortable about helping other people. Now I am not saying I get my own thought processes right every day - I don't. Like all bad habits and behaiours they take time to get rid off.
So why am I telling you this? Well we have had quite a few new subscribers and I would just like to say welcome to you all, I'm glad you could join us. I would also like to say, that there will be times when you may feel that I am being downright annoying, reminding you to do more, be more. It's interesting I've had as many people unsubscribe as subscribe since this resource was first created. But that's OK, it means that the people (you) who are still reading this, are serious about how their lives turn out. Not everyone is...so welcome and I hope I can inspire you - just a little.
So what of today?
Well we have just 10 days left before we break up for Christmas (assuming you finish on the 22nd like most folk) 8 of which are working days....1 of those 8 is already half way through. Have you got a plan for what you want those 7.5 days to look like or are you going to drift along, telling yourself that you'll get started again in January when you've had a rest?
Hint, what happens if you don't make it to Janaury. It is sad statistic, but more people die on the roads through alcoholic related accidents than at any other time of the year. Now I am not saying that you are the one who will be drink driving (at least I hope not), but make sure you have adequate amounts of food in your system before you start. And don't drive if you are tired.
What would people say if they had to come into your office or your home and clear out the place for you after you had passed on? What would they find?
- Would they find a cupboard full of half finished manuscripts like mine?
- Are your bills paid and up to date?
- Do you have an up to date will?
- Are all those important documents relating to your house etc in one place so that people can find them without ripping your home to bits (to see what you've left them in your will!!)
Actually this last point is quite important. We are going into summer here in Oz and the bush fire season has already started. What would you pick up and leave if you had to go in a hurry? If your important (vital records) documents are in one place, it makes it a damn sight quicker to vacate your house.
And what about your work place? Does your office look like the roof has caved in?
Can you say at a glance where you are on your projects?
Do you have a daily task list waiting for you when you get into the office in the morning?(remember you should create this before you leave the office at night)
Do you know what you want to achieve in the next 12 months?
As we go through the next 10 days, why not see how many half finished projects you can finish.
Tidy up the office, put things away, start each new day with the knowledge and belief that you can do more than yesterday, and you will already be way ahead on the rest of your work colleagues who've already wound down for the christmas break. 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Make the effort, achieve much more STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/13/2006 12:25:34 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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An important aspect about goal setting and goal achieving is this. Everyone can set goals - not everyone can achieve them.
 
The reasons why are numerous:
 
Every day we achieve many great things....they're the easy "goals" - they don't require much in the way of effort.
- Painting the house - over a couple of weekends and the job is done;
- Sorting out the garden - well we now have an extra hour of daylight we can use to create a new space to enjoy:
- Losing 5 kilos is easy (not necessarily in a single day, but a couple of weeks of sensible eating, and a bit of exercise and you can lose 5 kilos - easy). Losing 55 kilos on the other hand takes a lot of effort, long term planning, time, patience, committment, perseverance and a real desire to do it.
 
Don't have a spare 55 kilos? Well a woman at the gym I go to has lost 50 kilos over a 45 week period. It wasn't a quick fix, it took time - 45 weeks that's 7 weeks short of a year!!, and it took effort...I've seen the sweat and I've seen the result. It's amazing.
 
The problem is most people quit before they reach the 5 kilo mark.
 
And that's the main problem with goal setting or should I say goal achieving...most people don't have the strategies in place, they're not willing to spend time and effort to achieve their goal. You see the biggest thing with achieving goals is not the end result - that's secondary, the really important thing if you think about it is this:
 
What kind of person are you going to become as you work on and achieve those goals?
 
So when you are thinking about your goals and those things you say you want to achieve, then it is important to decide upfront what kind of person you are willing to become in order to achieve them?
 
On most people's goal list is the one about money. How much more money do you want? Remember "more money" can be as little as 5c, when working out how much extra you want, you need to remember the key - why? Why do you want "more money"? Do you use the money you currently have properly? By properly I mean - do you pay your bills? Do you have loans and debts? Do you want more money to get rid of those debts or are you planning on spending the additional money on "stuff"?
 
So now you've worked out how much, and you should have some serious reasons why you want it. And if you've had a good look at your budget, and made any changes that can mean a difference at the end of next week, next month or next year. Remember that cup of coffee you buy on a daily basis $3 x 7 days x 52 weeks = $1,092. Now I am not saying that you don't need coffee, but can you afford a thousand dollar a year habit spent in $3 increments?
 
So the question is - if you've changed your household budget as much as you can, you're not able to negotiate a payrise, how are you going to get more money. What are you willing to do in order to get it?
 
Do you want a million dollars but aren't willing to trade houses, shares or blood, sweat and tears in return....then are you willing to become someone who "robs" other people, are you the kind of person who wants it all and wants it now without putting in any effort? I would hope not. But as with all things, the choice as they say is yours.
 
Some goals we can achieve easily, others take time and effort. What kind of effort are you putting in today? Remember we now have just 6.5 days before the Christmas break, so stop reading this email and start work.
 
Best regards to you all, and thank you to those people who have been kind enough to give me feedback. It is wonderful to know the annoying reminders are working. Remember if you don't mind other people hearing about your successes you can post comments to the web.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The countdown to the Christmas Rush is on STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/14/2006 01:27:45 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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We now have 10 days to go until Christmas Eve, amazing how slow time goes when all you want to do is sit back and eat far too much turkey and bread pudding isn't it?
Well you can sit back and wait for that day to come around if you like, but I've got work to do. And so do you. Don't leave the work that you know you should be doing to the last minute. No-one likes rushing to do jobs just before the Christmas (or any other) break so:
1: Make those phone calls. No-one likes to be kept waiting when they are dreaming about their Christmas dinner. Don't think you can keep your customers waiting until after morning tea and your daily mince pie, or worse still after the Christmas break. Respect their time and the fact they are in the business of making money - even if you don't respect yours.
2. Respond to the emails that are sitting in your inbox. If you are waiting on a response from someone before you can answer the question completely, then tell them so. Don't keep them in the dark. No-one likes to think they've been ignored.
3. Deal with the stuff sitting in your in-tray. Just because there are still 10 days left before Christmas doesn't mean you can leave all your cleaning until the last minute. Deal with it today. And if you think I don't practice what I preach....the office where I work during the day, is being re-modelled during the Christmas break....which means we are going to have to dismantle the offices and un-plug the computers for safe storage....which will happen on the last working day before Christmas, so we can't put things off. Do you have any looming deadlines? No? Well then make some, pretend!! You will get far more done if you do.
4. Do your kids have any projects they are supposed to do before the start of next term? Tonight instead of watching the television - talk to your kids about what they are going to do with their holidays. How are they going to break the project down? What are they going to do with the 8 hours or so they have each day whilst you are out at work? Teach your kids about time and project management...but then lead by example. Don't deal in double standards, kids know you know.
5. And what are you planning on doing with your time off? What projects have you got lined up? Or are you just going to "relax" with several glasses of wine and a good book? Well that will keep you occupied for an hour or two, then what are you going to do? We don't have many times when we can really get stuck into our personal projects. Get out your goal list and work out what you can do and should do during the break. Hint: the more you do, the more you find time to do.
We have less than 240 hours between now and Christmas day. So do all that you can now, so you can enjoy the break without feeling guilty about having not done what you should have.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What don't you want to face up to? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/31/2007 06:48:36 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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 Procrastination as we know is the putting off until a later time/day/date something that you don't want to do. But I want you to look at it in a slightly different way - this "thing" you are not doing - what is it allowing you not to face up to?

Sounds like a double negative doesn't it.

We delay the start of doing something, or changing our behaviours because we don't want to face up to the fact that we have the problem in the first place.

We delay going on a diet because we don't want to face up to the  fact that we're eating ourselves into an early grave, or that we look terrible with clothes on.

We delay writing the report because we can't face up to the fact that we weren't paying attention in the meeting, and admitting that would mean we would lose face.

Our "ignorance" of the problems that we know we have, but don't want to "face up to" keeps us insulated from the discomfort that a change in behaviour inevitably brings.

What are you not willing to face up to? Go and stand in front of a mirror and look yourself in the eye and tell the person who matters most to you, why you are not doing all that you can every single day. Go on. You daren't dare you? Are you afraid of what you will see if you actually care to look? Most people are! How about you?

If you truly want to get more out of every day, then you need to face up to the fact that what you have done in the past has gotten you to the exact point in your life that you find yourselves now. No-one else is to blame except you. No-one forced you to eat to excess, spend too much, fail to write the reports on time, or listen at the meetings. It is ourselves who are to blame. We can try to blame other people, but - at the end of the day (apart from it getting dark - without fail I would hasten to add), only we can decide what it is we are going to do with our lives.

So what are you avoiding?
What are you not willing to face?
Until you work out the answers to those two questions, you will keep getting stuck.
 
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Obligations STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/16/2006 04:04:44 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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 Good Morning I hope this finds you looking forward to a weekend of non-striving. Actually given how close we are to Christmas chances are you are going to be doing last minute shopping and rushing around - just like everyone else.

Have you also noticed that this time of year we are often pressured to do things we don't want to do? We are invited to go to Great Aunt Mabels for dinner, or round the neighbours for drinks and fat laden food stuffs.

Do you really want to go or are you just feeling obliged that you should?

One way to tell if the invitation/acceptance is obligatory is how you've felt in the past after spending time with these people. Do you come away feeling positive, happy that you spent time with them? Or was it a real downer, where they had nothing nice to say about anyone or anything?

Of course you also need to temper your attitude to these occassions. If you are not a socialite, chances are going to be good that you won't enjoy large gatherings of loud, raucous over indulgence.

Do you feel guilty about going - thinking you should be doing other things? Well if you have planned and used your time well, then this one shouldn't be an issue, not this year.
But and here is the thing about today's DDOMM - do you consider your close family a part of those obligatory sessions that you need to go to at this time of year?
My family is 12,000 miles away - a day in the air, and there are times when all I want to do is knock on my mum's door and go and have a cuddle....I don't mind admitting that at the age of 40 something, sometimes you just need a hug from your mum.
But sometimes we treat our families and our close friends with the same cheerful disdain of a distant neighbour. We remember the past hurts and the pain, and we are too proud to put it to one side and say, hey, we may have differences in the past, and you know what I'm not even sure I remember the exact reasons why now....but i just wanted to say that I do care about you you know. And if you can use the L word, then all the better....but i know that not everyone can.
Christmas is supposed to be a time for giving,  and what better than the gift of kindness, care and yes even Love....
Christmas is a time - forgiving.....
With many thoughts
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: killing yourself with kindness STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/02/2007 02:10:30 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning
I hope you have started the process of looking at the problems you have in a new way. And believe me when I say we all have our own problems to deal with. As I said yesterday though, this process is not a fast one, and can be quite confronting to do and deal with, and some of you may not feel up to doing it just yet.
Unfortunately the longer we delay in dealing with our problems the bigger the emotional blocks to overcoming those problems seem to be. Just like anything we procrastinate over, if we delay starting something we add pressure, stress and a whole slew of other problems to just getting started on whatever it was we decided to delay doing. And so it is with looking at the problem in and of itself. We may decide that we will sit down and spend some time over the weekend looking at what we know is causing us to grind to a halt, but until then we can continue doing what we have always done....can't we?
Well yes we can, but in doing so are we killing ourselves with kindness?
Lets say your problem relates to emotional eating. That is the time when you eat because someone or something has upset you, rahter than your stomach is growling because it is actually empty. They shout at you, so you head off to the cupboard to find your comfort food. Not that you enjoy eating it, you don't even think about what you are eating most of the time - because we are telling ourselves what a nasty person he/she is. But the serotonin we release as a result of eating - makes us feel better, for a time at least. And like all habits, we quickly need another "fix" to get us over the slump of the last one.
By delaying the process of looking at the root cause, and then dealing with it (talking to your partner) and then looking at each enabling aspect, you can literally kill yourself with "kindness". We forget that we don't really need to eat 4 big macs and consume half a liter of ice-cream on top of 3 big meals we've already had today. But the extra calories and associated fats, sugars and stress it places on our systems can kill us. And we can stop it, by dealing with our emotional reaction at the root cause. Did I say it was going to be quick and easy to change the habits of a life time? Not at all. But - you can deal with each problem as they appear. One decision at a time, one day at a time. Yes you can make a decision to stop tomorrow, but why wait? Do it now and start to reclaim the power you have over you.
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Have a clear mind policy STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/05/2007 04:40:52 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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I hope this finds you well and looking forward to your working week. I hope you noticed that I didn't bother you on the weekend, I thought you deserved some time off. But it's back to work time, so here's todays thought to ponder.

Do you have a clear mind policy?
When you get to the end of your working day, do you leave your desk tidy? Or does it look like the roof has caved in and deposited the contents of the rest of the building over your floor and working space?

It is so easy to hide behind clutter, so that when we get into work we have no idea what we were doing, or where we got up to yesterday. It means that we spend a fair bit of every day going back over old ground playing catch up with ourselves.

Now I could ask you to clean your desk before you leave for the day, but that's not what the message from today is really about. I feel that we hide behind clutter because it reflects what's going on in our minds.

If your mind is crammed with too many things to do, you will not be able to focus on what needs to be done now. So you have bits of paper relating to everything you need to think about within hands reach - you do don't you. And I would say, that because you are not able to focus on one thing you have trouble locating what you were supposed to be working on next....so you rifle through the stacks of paper looking for inspiration.

Whilst goal lists and to-do lists are all very well, it doesn't help if there is other stuff running through your mind now does it. So what I would recommend is doing what I term a brain dump. The best time for this is now. Actually first thing in the morning is a good time to clear the decks, along with a couple of minutes at the end of your working day and again at the end of your actual day. But once is better than not doing it at all.

A brain dump is exactly as it sounds. Getting everything that is running through your head out and onto paper. It doesn't matter whether you've been humming the tune from that movie, or you've got shopping to do at lunch time. If it's running through your mind you are focussing your time and energy on it, and it's taking up valuable space for other more (let's face it) important things.

So grab a piece of paper, notebook and a pen and start writing. Get it out of your mind and onto the paper. I've found that once I've released it, I can get on with what I should be thinking about.

Then if you want to carry this through - keep a notebook with you and as you think of things during the day – write them down. Don’t rely on your memory, if it’s anything like mine, it will have more holes than swiss cheese. Things can and do fall through the cracks. So write it all down.

Now the first time you do this exercise, it may take you a while. But if you stick to the discipline for a while, you will refine the process. But it also depends what you are thinking about I suppose.

Once you have written it all down, review it. Cross out anything that doesn't need action on (which will be most of it). Transfer anything that does need action to your "to do" list. And any ideas and projects for future reference should be added to another notebook. I use the same book - just back and front to cut down on carrying two books, but whatever works for you.

In it I have questions that I need to answer, great business ideas, plot lines for the best seller i've always wanted to write. But whatever you want to remind yourself about later, write it in your future plans book.

Why is it important to get it out of your head and onto paper? Well not only does it free up the mind to then focus on what needs to be focused on now. There is a second more important aspect to this. Once these things are committed to paper, you actually stand more chance of achieving them.

The reasons why are complicated, but it has to do with the reticular activating system in your brain. It is the bit that filters every thought, sound, sight and smell that you receive and allows things to pass from the non-conscious part of your brain to the conscious part of your brain. The more you focus your thoughts on something the more likely the RAS will remember and work with you to create that which you say you want.

Imagine that you were thinking about buying a new car. You want a brand new mini cooper S in bright red. You check out the car magazines and car yards, you know exactly what it looks like, right down to the number of fluffy dice you are going to have dangling from the rear view mirror. And then what happens is you start to see Red mini coopers everywhere.  Your RAS has realized that you are focusing your attention on something, so it now has a reference point and as if by magic, they start appearing.

Whilst this is a rather simplistic explanation of the power you have over your mind, you can control what you are thinking about, and you can control what you are able to achieve and receive, if you focus on something long enough. So don’t waste this precious and amazing tool on the mundane and unimportant. Don’t focus on the negative, focus on what you want. And you can start this process, by writing it down and committing it to paper.

A goal that is not written down is merely a dream. So get writing.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How far we've come STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/17/2006 08:31:16 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Afternoon, I hope this second day of your weekend is going as well as you could hope for.
 
Just a quick thought for today:
 
If you are struggling with getting started on your goals today - or anyday because you don't seem to have moved very far. Then it is important to remember where you started from.
 
If your personal goal is to write a book, and you started off with nothing more than an idea and a desire to write, and now you have a plan for what the book will cover, and you have written fifty pages...that is worthy of celebration. You are 50 pages towards completion of your goal of having a finished manuscript. Yes you may have another 350 pages to go, but a page a day will see the project finished in about a year. Personally given what else we have to do, a book a year is a good work rate.
 
Or what about your desire to lose weight. You said you wanted to lose 40lbs, to take you from your current weight of 200lbs down to a much healthier 160lbs....and so far you've managed to lose 10 of those 40lbs - then you are 1/4 of the way towards your goal....
 
Each success should inspire you to go that little bit further towards your desired target. But it is important to recognise the successes along the way. Don't forget that some of the most important parts of every journey is not the destination, but what you will experience along the way, and the person you are becoming as you celebrate each and every success.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't wait for New Year to make resolutions STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/18/2006 12:03:07 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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 Good morning

Yesterday I asked you to consider how far you have come since joining me on this particular push towards getting more out of every day, and your lives in general. Is it working yet? What have you managed to achieve since we started talking? By now you should have a brand new list of things you say you want to achieve, and you should have started to cross off some of the steps that you have taken in order to reach there.

And if you are crossing things off your list, then you should be feeling good about how far you've come....but don't panic if you haven't managed to cross much off the lists, we'll spend some time today working out what is holding you back.

You see, every day is a brand new opportunity to re-evaluate what it is you say you wanted, and more importantly why. And then it is important to align those things with the core values that you hold.

Core values? What are they?

Well the way I look at core values is this...what makes you, you?

Do you value good health, yet you continue to eat badly, smoke too much, smoke the "wrong" things, or drink to excess too many nights a week? And we won't talk about exercise. You see if you value health, yet you constantly do things that goes against that core value, then you will feel bad about who you are and that is enough to stop you in your tracks. You won't take the time or the effort to go to the gym, or eat salad for lunch. You will walk to the shops at lunch time and find the fattiest, sugaryest laden foods you can eat and you will tell yourself that you'll start tomorrow - when you're in the right frame of mind.

What is missing in this? - your actions are going against your core value of good health.

What about the core value of love, family and friendship - yet you spend all day and part of every night at work. Unless you love your job more than those you profess to care about, then you will be in conflict with yourself. You will feel guilty.

Why? Why do we do this to ourselves?

If you value love and time with your family or your partner, yet you don't spend time with them because of work, you need to ask is the job you are doing day in and day out the job you should be doing? Or are there other positions that you could take in order to give you more time doing what you really want to do?

One of the biggest tests to determine whether or not you are being true to your core values is to imagine travelling five years into your future. What are you doing, where are you? Who are you with?

Then you need to look at where you are now and compare the two. Only those people who wouldn't change a thing...they are happy with where they are living, with the person they are living with, they are happy with the amount of money they are earning, the weight and size that they are etc etc. then I would say you are living in tune with your core values....

If however, there are a few discrepancies between your now and your "ideal" world, well then you have a blueprint for what you need to do in order to reach that point. But remember, we are not just aiming for some unseen point in time, we also need to remember the importance of living today, for today...because today is the only chance you have of living today. You can't live today, tomorrow, or next week when you have the time. Today, now. Start living your core values today and you won't need to make New Year's Resolutions....because you are already doing it.

I hope todays DDOMM has given you some food for thought and more importantly a chance to rethink what kind of person you really are, and whether or not you are living up to your core values or not.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Enthusiasm has to come from within STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/08/2007 01:10:29 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.
 
We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Enthusiasm has to come from within if you want to get on.

Having listened to the “Claim your power now” introductory, try before you buy video (watch it here - http://www.asamanthinketh.net/cypndvd) I am both in awe of the simplicity of the sales message, and the people who spend thousands of dollars getting “fired up” with motivational speak. Do they manage to translate that message into long-term practice? Why hasn’t everyone who has read “think and grow rich” by Napoleon Hill managed to do just that? Are you still poor – financially speaking? Well you will be interested to know so are most other people who read the book.

So what happened? Well – these people may be able to sustain the enthusiasm over a couple of days or weeks, but it takes a huge change in your thinking before you can make the break throughs offered by the people on the Claim Your Power Now weekend - Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor, Vic Johnson, Lisa Jimenez, Christopher Guerriero etc etc. And not everyone can make those changes. They think they can, they create impossible goals for themselves, start planning the strategies they think will get them there, and then at the first sign of failure, they stop, unsure of what to do or where to go. They don’t have the daily proddings, the musings and suggestions that you do to keep them focussed on where they need to be. So what happens, well they buy the next set of tapes, DVD’s and Books. They find the next seminar to go to and try and find that elusive magic carpet that will take them to financial success, or success with their families, weight loss or whatever else they need motivating to achieve.

So how come Jim Rohn and the rest can make millions every year? Well they rely on people’s need to hear the message one more time, to get fired up one more time. To buy the next set of tapes and books. And they do it extremely well. As I said, the sales message is superb, I’ve bought some of them, so it must be good!!

But overcoming the procrastination habit is not hard, you just have to want to do it. You have all the power you need within you to do the most amazing things. It’s there, just waiting to be directed into action. And you alone have the power over you to do just that.

And that is the key to motivation and overcoming the procrastination habit, you need to direct it to where you want it to go. It is no good spending all your time on things that will not move you forwards towards where you say you want to be – be it having financial freedom, improved communications with family, friends and co-workers, being fit and healthy or whatever else you say you want to achieve. Spending too much time on things that zap your time and energy is like having a pin prick hole in a balloon, you may not know it's there, but sooner or later you run out of air.

So, decide what you want. Then decide if you are willing to find the sticky tape and fill the holes in your personal bubble. Stop wasting time on things and people that do not matter. Make some decisions, and then do them. As you start crossing things off your list you will gain a momentum you hadn’t thought possible. And you have the power to do that. If you want to.

Now I am not saying you shouldn't read the books, watch the tapes and go to the seminars, but when it all comes down to it, it is up to you what you do with the information. Information on its own is nothing if you don’t use it. So don't just read, you still need to do.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: A little forward planning can take the weight off your shoulders! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/19/2006 02:24:27 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning, just a quick note today to ask you to remember the importance of forward planning.
 
We are about to come up to the worst time for diets and exercise regimes of the entire year, so it is worth taking a moment to decide whether or not you are going to indulge and not feel guilty, or plan your days meals several days in advance so over the course of a couple of weeks you haven't blown your diet and weight loss completely.
 
OK, I know that some of you don't need to go on a diet, are not on a diet and have no intention of going on a diet....but given that the first couple of items on everyone's New Years Resolutions List is lose weight and get fit....I thought I would cover it today.
 
So what do you do?
 
The answer is - plan, plan, plan. I know - boring.
 
Whilst this sounds like we are taking away any chance of spontenaiety out of the forthcoming events, planning now can save a whole artery of problems later on.
 
For example - make sure you have lots of fresh fruit and veggies in the house. Chop up a tub of salad and stick it in the fridge, so if you do feel hungry you don't snack on half a pound of cheese because it's easy.
 
Freeze most of the naughty stuff and only get out what you are planning on eating that morning. Or even better leave it in the freezer and you won't be able to eat it on the spur of the moment. I mean do you really need 3 dozen mincepies all going off on the pantry shelf at the same time? Or would it be better to spread the load a little. BTW - dried fruit is a great sweetener - it takes time to chew, satisfies the cravings, fills your stomach and it helps with the removal of excess food consumption a little while later !!!!
 
Have plenty of mineral water on hand to offset the alcohol consumption. Buy sparkling and pretend it's weak champers !! And have a laugh at everyone else getting drunk. It's also a good time to be behind the camera - great for bribes in the new year.
 
Christmas is a time for catching up with family and friends, and there is usually food involved. So if you don't want to indulge too much, nor do you want to feel guilty about doing so, then take some healthy options with you. A bowl of nuts, seeds and dried fruits to snack on instead of potato chips, fresh fruit for dessert, that bowl of salad that's wilting in the fridge !! Or if you can't help yourself, then instead of finding the biggest plate, ask for a side plate instead. Take small portions of things, savour the taste and allow time for the food you've just eaten to hit the satisfy button in your brain. Usually by the time this occurs we've eaten so much we're groaning at the seams.
 
And if you are serious about getting fit and healthy in the New Year, then why not start now. Book your assessment at the gym and beat the post Christmas rush.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Make time to "play" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/19/2006 11:49:55 PM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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If you could do anything right now, what would you be doing?
Would you be at work - working, or would you be at home doing something you really enjoyed and wanted to do. I'd probably say you'd choose the latter, like most people. Why? because most people don't really enjoy their "JOB" it's just a means to an end. 
Which is why the question was important, what would you be doing right now if you had half a chance. If you think about it just for a minute - doing what you really want to do is more like what we did as kids - we "played", and we had a great time doing it. Whether it was running around a basketball court, or reading a book, walking in the rain, or building sandcastles on the beach, we enjoyed every single minute of the time we had allocated to our "play".
Of course chances are good that we were never likely to get paid to do those kinds of things. Unless your name is Lance Armstrong, or enjoyed riding in the Peloton through miles of countryside, you are unlikely to make a living from cycling. Which makes me wonder why people insist that to find out what you should be doing NOW, you should relate back to what you were doing when you were a kid. I don't know about you, but I don't think there's much of a market for mud pies, scraped knees and playing tennis down the street in between the cars.
There are two sides to today's DDOMM - the first is this:
As adults - most of us have forgotten how to "play" we've forgotten what it's like to mess around with paints or colouring books, jigsaw puzzles or get on our bikes to see if our mates wanted to "come out and play". We've become serious as we've grown up. We feel that we have to work all the time, or pretend to work (which is even worse). What do I mean by pretend to work - well consider all those things you keep on doing so you don't have to face up to going home, or making those nasty phone calls. We put things off, and we keep on doing them. When if you think about it, if we got rid of those things we don't want to do first, we can have more time to "play" and do those things we want to do.
So - a task for you during the Christmas holidays -
and if you haven't put these on your christmas list to santa then you should do so and quickly....
Get a paint canvas and some paints - house paints will do if you can't find anything else...put on some old clothes and create a masterpiece....be a devil and create two.
Or pinch the kids or grandkids colouring books and spend some time filling in the spaces...and don't worry if you go out of the lines.... This is nothing to do with "thinking outside" the square, the box, the circle, triangle or any other shape you want to conjure up in your mind. No it is just a fast way to transition between the serious side of what we do for our day jobs (btw - a job = Just Over Broke) and what we really and truly want to do every day. And what better way to stop being serious than to be completely and utterly stupid for 10 minutes.
Besides which, you'll be laughing so much at your artistic talents that you'll be relaxed too. And what better way to de-stress after a year of hard work, than to have a good laugh at yourself. And whilst you are at it, over the christmas holidays rent a comedy or two from the video shop and enjoy the serotonin rush you get from laughing so hard your face hurts.
The second part of today's message is this:
If you can find a way of leveraging what you really enjoy doing into a way that someone is willing to pay you for it, then you will be far more productive, you will enjoy going to work. And that's why I think that the "other" motivational speakers out there have a little simplistic view of fun. It's not about what we did as a kid, but what we enjoy doing, what we cannot bear not to do that is the true key to your future...if you are willing to take a chance.
And that is the final point in this...and the whole point of procrastinators R us - most of us aren't willing to take a chance, because we are afraid we are going to fall flat on our faces.
Well guess what, it happens - get over it....ask any of the truly successful people and they can cite a litany of what worked and what didn't. The difference, is they knew they didn't want just a JOB they wanted something they enjoyed doing, that other people were willing to pay for.
So get colouring, get creative, and whilst your mind is in a good mood, then ask yourself what you would truly prefer to be doing today - right now.
With much mirth and merriment
Elle B
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Persistence is a key to breaking the procrastination habit STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/13/2007 12:58:19 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning, I hope this finds you well and enjoying this Tuesday morning.

Did you get lots of things done yesterday, did you enjoy the process? Or was it a  total grind?

It's important as you may have realised by now to enjoy whatever it is you are doing. But sometimes, we don't. And it can be as simple as that. Our minds and thoughts are off wandering into places they shouldn't be allowed to go. We day dream our way through the day, hoping for someone or something to pull us through. We're bored and we don't know why. Yesterday we had a great day, today? today may not be so good, today you may want to rip someone's head off, you may want to go and hide in a dark corner and not come out again until spring. But lets be honest, these are just feelings and feelings can be controlled and changed. Yes they can!!

So what can you do?

Well a few thoughts -

Stop whatever it is you are doing, grab a notebook and pen and write down all the stuff running through your head. If you haven't managed to do your brain dump today this may be the major cause for your distress/disinterest in whatever you are doing today.

Now too many days of feeling like this and I would like to make another suggestion. Get a job you enjoy, you obviously don't like the one you are doing. So find something else. And yes it can be as simple as making that decision that can get you off the morose into the excitement again.

Go through your ramblings, in them you will see what is the cause of your distraction. If you can, deal with it now. After all you are useless otherwise. So transfer the item to your to do list and make sure it is the first thing you do this morning.

If you can't see anything in particular that is causing you to feel distracted, you just are, then there are still a couple of things you can do. You can remove yourself from the environment for a while. Whilst this can be classed as running away, I do think better on my feet and will go for a walk, especially if it's noisy. Thankfully the boss understands my need for creative peace so understands my need to walk on occassion. But if you don't have an understanding boss, then make sure you get out and about at lunch time. What you may have been unable to write down, you may be able to admit to yourself in the quiet space of walking. So think it out.

The other thing you can do, is persist with whatever it is you are doing. Pretent everything is normal and just do whatever it is that needs doing. Sooner or later the job will be done, and you can get on and do something else. But when all else fails persistence is a key to breaking the procrastination habit.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Happy Valentine's Day! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/14/2007 12:04:36 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning and a very brief message today.

I hope that today is filled with many happy memories, thoughts and blessings for you as you go about your day today.

But a word - if you care about someone, or more than a single person - remember you have 364 other days in a year that you can use to tell people that you love them. Don't wait for an obscure day in February to remind you to do it.

"love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile"
Franklin P Jones
 
With love
Elle xo
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: fearful listening STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/21/2006 12:39:51 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Driving to work this morning I was listening to a CD (I hate drive time radio) and actually heard the lyrics for the first time. Now don't get me wrong I had listened to this CD a dozen times already, but I had not "heard" what I was being told...
"Fear is only in our minds
But it's taking over all the time"
Track 1 - The Open Door, Evanescence

I was not giving the gift of attention to the words being spoken. And how many times do you have a conversation with someone, but you don't really listen to them? You are too busy working out the next line, the next comeback, the response to what you thought you heard, but didn't actually hear....
So today, give the gift of attention to everything that you do, and those people to whom you come into contact with. And stop wasting time on things that don't matter. Because that is what procrastination is all about - we fill our minds with so much clutter that we don't hear what is really important.
And that is why these words are so important today - because "Fear" is the one thing that is holding us all back. We are afraid to get on with our lives, afraid that things will not work out, afraid that we will fall flat on our faces and have to eat our words. Just think, how much more could you do if you weren't anticipating the outcome in advance...and expecting it to go wrong?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What are you going to do today? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/21/2006 11:40:56 PM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ 
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The last official working day before Christmas is of course a day to wind down, catch up with colleagues, eat too many mince pies and drink far too many glasses of cooking sherry.
Actually before you do that. Do me a favour.
Go through your inbox and make sure that you haven't forgotten to reply to people. Don't start the new working year trying to catch up on this one.
And before you sign off - I would like you to consider writing yourself a series of task lists for week 1. Most people get back to work after a week or so off, having forgotten where they were up to (far too much alcohol can do this)....so get your project(s) planned in advance and you can officially start to have a good time - no feelings of guilt that you should have done something and didn't.
For those people who won't be accessing their emails during the break - there will be issues of the DDOMM waiting for you when you get back. Just because it's holiday time, doesn't mean I won't be nagging you and getting on your case.
For those people who are subscribers from the northern hemisphere, today is the official start of New Year (winter solstice is the day when the wheel of the year turns and the days start getting longer). Most people wait until the start of the "normal" calendar to begin their new lives....don't let that be you.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life, what are you going to do with it?
I wish for you a year of many completed projects, success in all its shapes and forms, and lots of love and happiness as you move forwards to creating the life you have always wanted but couldn't be bothered to start.
Cheers
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Keep an eye on your targets STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/17/2007 05:01:50 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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If you know what you want, you will be able to "see" it. And if you can "see" it, then you are more likely to achieve it.
For example on your goal list you may have decided that you want a new car. Now - if you close your eyes can you see the car that you really want, or is the target car a little hazy? To achieve goals, you have to know what it is you want. So close your eyes and go back to what you can see in your minds eye. 
What colour is it, how many doors, what engine size, what make, what model, does it have any special features? As you build your car in your minds eye your target becomes clearer doesn't it?
It doesn't matter what is on your goal list, be specific, "see" it, and you are more likely to achieve it.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Your decision, your choice STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/27/2006 01:57:47 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning, For those of you who have had to go back to work today, I hope you have enjoyed the couple of days off work....but for those of you who are fortunate to have additional time off between Christmas and New Year, just a question - what are you doing with that additional time?
Now before you hit the delete button - I did promise to annoy you during the break, and I do like to keep my word....so go on tell me - what are you doing?
Everything we say and do is a choice. Every decision that you make, impacts on the next set of choices that you are faced with. Remember, even your decision to nothing is doing something. But I do know that sometimes it is hard to get enthused about projects, plans and goals...even I struggle to start sometimes. But - and here is the thing....sometimes you just have to pick something and to start it. And don't stop until such time as the item is finished.
Do you have your list of things you said you wanted to do, be or achieve, then it should be relatively easy to pick one and get started on it. Why? Because if they are on the list, then you should want to do something that will take you towards them. Sitting on your butt watching too many TV repeats, watching other people live their lives and dreams is hardly going to help you achieve yours now is it.
So, now you have a choice. You can let other people dictate your life, you can let the negative drain you of your energy and vitality, or you can decide that today, today is for you. We spend so much time and energy on people and things that just don't matter, we lose track of what is important.
Reconnect with your list. This is not about affirmations or positive thinking per se, rather, why are those things on your list? Get excited, make some decisions, make some choices. Sometimes you have to fall flat on your nose, in order to determine how badly you want something.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Brand new beginnings STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/19/2007 12:33:04 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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The start of the new chinese year - the year of the fiery pig (or boar) depending on which book you read.  Boars are loyal, reliable, and sociable. Howevver Fire Boars are known to be reckless....
Are you a fire boar? If you were born between 22.1.47 - 09.02.48 then yes you are. Did you know that - whilst each animal is celebrated once every 12 years, your element only occurs once every 60 years.
To those who celebrate - I hope this new year brings you many completed projects and fulfilled dreams and ambitions. Come to think of it, I wish that for everyone who reads these pages, regardless of faith or doctrine. And whilst the start of any new year is a good time to slough off the old and bring on the new, if you think about it, each brand new day gives us that same opportunity. After all, this day will only occur once in our lifetimes, so what are you going to do with yours?
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Let's get started STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/20/2007 03:14:27 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good afternoon, I would just like to say a personal thank you to those people who have taken the time to tell me of their successes since reading and taking action as a result of these daily batterings. Thank you I hope you continue to get lots of useful information, suggestions, hints and tips out of them so you can get more out of every day.
So how do you get more out of every day?
The first thing is to sleep well. If you wake refreshed and raring to go, you will achieve more than those people who hit the snooze button and then have to play catch up for the rest of the day.
But before you go to sleep, you should prepare for tomorrow. And you do that by making sure your bag is packed, you know what you are doing, and where you need to be, and where you need to go. Sounds like a recipe for a sales rep, but it should apply to us all. We may go to work at the same place, at the same time, we may choose to dress with care or we may choose to pcik up the first thing we found lying on the floor. But if you prepare yourself the night before, you can find the clothes you are going to wear, shoes etc, and pack your bag. Just as we make our kids do before they go to bed, so when the grumpy little wotsits wake up in the morning to go to school there isn't a last minute panic trying to find the right books.
1. So preparation is one of the major keys to getting more out of every day. 2. Followed by getting a decent nights sleep. And when the alarm goes off, get up. Now you are way ahead of everyone else. And finally for today -
3. Try not to watch the morning news, one thing i have noticed is that most people who watch the news tend to be more depressed and aggravated on the drive into work. Especially if they have heard nothing but doom and gloom all morning. News is designed to sell, so the more sensationalist it is, the better. Unfortunately - it also tends to dominate our thought processes for the rest of the day. So if you want to do more each day, don't watch the news as you get ready. And don't listen to the radio either, especially drive time radio in the car. Again, inane chatter, interspersed with adverts advising you to buy things you don't need, designed to keep the population "down".
Believe me when i tell you, you will have a much happier and far more productive day if you listen to something cheerful on the way into work each day.
So those are the first three things you need to do - every day. Tomorrow we will take a look at what else you need to do in order to get more out of every day, until then, lets beat the procrastination habit.
Elle
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Planning, preparation, to do lists STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/21/2007 10:49:53 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Yesterday we discussed some of the ways that you can get more out of every day:
The start of every day begins with the preparation you did yesterday. Organising clothes, school and work bags..before you go to sleep.
However there are a few other things that you need to consider doing before you hit the pillow.
1. Make time to exercise. Go for a walk after dinner, better still go for a walk whilst dinner is cooking (and can be safely left of course).
2, Make time for at least half an hour of you time. We are all (or so it seems) beholden to someone else. If we don't feel like we have any time to ourselves, we can get annoyed at giving our time to others.
3. Do your homework. Now this is not just for the kids out there who are at school. We all have homework. Get the important things done first. Pay any bills that need paying. Write cards and letters that need writing and sending. Do your chores. We all have them, so make sure the dishes are done, washing is away, dirty stuff is in the laundry etc etc. If you do these minor things as you go along, you won't have to spend ALL weekend playing catch up.
4. Organise your task list for tomorrow. What needs to be done. What has to be done and cannot wait. What is important, if you do the important then it rarely becomes important and urgent.
5. Do a brain dump of what worked well for you today. Write it down. Keeping a journal is an excellent way to quickly release those things that may be bothering you.
6. When you wake up - do a brain dump of all those things that occurred to you overnight. Believe me when I say - if you release the stuff that has been bothering you by writing it down, you can make space for the next round of information that needs to be processed.
7. Transfer anything to your task list that needs transferring. And put the task list in your bag for the morning.
It sounds like all this can take you hours, and you will have no time left over for "fun". Well everything I have just asked you to do can take you as little as 30 minutes, or as long as you want to spend on it.

Planning: Preparation: Time management: To do lists:

Tomorrow we will continue
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Get rid of the blame list STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/22/2007 05:51:39 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Over the last couple of days we have been discussing ways to get more out of every day, with preparation, planning and task lists. However, these kinds of techniques only work for a short time. Sooner or later you will slide back into old ways of doing things.
Old habits die hard, and yes they do. We have reached the points we are at in our lives by allowing those habits to creep up on us and share our journey. Most of the time we don't even know we have them. We just know that when things start to get a little bit harder, we abandon the new ways of working for the old.
Do you want to know the biggest culprit when it comes to sliding back into back habits?
The answer is blame.
Blame is another word for excuses.
Blaming something or someone else for our lack of progress is far easier than acknowledging that we've made a mistake or two, or not done as much as we could have or more importantly SHOULD have done. We don't want other people to know we've been lazy so we blame others, or our circumstances.
 You will always find time to do what you need to do, and more importantly want to do.
By the way, everyone can see through the blame game, the excuses list. More often than not, they can see through it because they are using the same kinds of excuses for not doing whatever it is they should be doing. And by doing so they validate your reasons for wasting time, just as you validate theirs. I suppose you could call it a support network in reverse.
Instead of telling you to get on with it, or encouraging you to try something a little differently, they say things like "Oh I know, it happened to me, I mean it's just not fair is it?"
So if you want to get more out of every day you need to find the blame list, and you need to throw it away.
You also need to:
1. Take responsibility for every action that you have made so far, and those you are about to take, no matter how small.
2. Acknowledge that every decision has an effect on what you do and the next set of choices that you are faced with. And then accept the consequences of those decisions.
3. Limit your association with those people who validate your excuse list. Of course if you want to continue along the same path then let me know and I will unsubscribe you from this newsletter too, because nothing I will say will make you change your mind. Only you have the power to think differently and to act differently.
4. Understand that frustration is a call for ACTION and not an excuse to go and find a corner and sit in it. Only then will you truly be able to get more out of every day, why? Because you will only have yourself to blame.
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: You will always find time to do what you need to do, and more importantly want to do. STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/23/2007 03:07:28 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers. Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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You will always find time to do what you need to do, and more importantly want to do.

Interesting isn’t it.

We all find time to watch the movie, or go to the ball game, but we can’t find the time to read the books that will educate ourselves, or take the classes that will give us the skills that we need to take our businesses to the next level. That to some people is “study” and who wants to study, we did that when we were at school didn’t we?

Since leaving school and later university, I have read and studied hundreds of books, papers, articles, and research reports. I’ve taken classes and learned new skills, Why? Because I want to brag about it? Or because I want to show off my information gathering skills? Actually it’s neither of those reasons.

The formal classes may give you the basic grounding and the information that you need. But unless you put that information to use, it will only remain as information, it will never become “knowledge”. And I do have a thirst for knowledge. What can I do today to make me a better person, what can I do tomorrow to make me a better person than I was today. What new skills do I need to have? What is happening in the world that will impact on the way that my life turns out? What new business opportunities are out there that I can capitalize on?

Yet so many people rarely go into a book store, let alone read a good book, they don’t take the time to read the journals, or take additional classes. Then there are some people who flit from book to book, technique to technique, diet to diet, trying to find the magic formula that will transform them from the lives they are currently living into ones filled with riches and abundance. They want large homes and cars, and more money than they can spend in an average lifetime. Whilst reading is a good start, there is a major step missing.

What is the difference between the people who read, and read and read, and the ones who rarely read at all? Actually there is little difference between the two:

· One fails to read,

· The other fails to act upon what they have read.

Both will end up in the same place, doing the same things they have always done. The major missing step is ACTION. You still need to act upon what information you have been given, otherwise the information you have gathered will never become knowledge, and the reason it will never become knowledge is because the information has never been used.

Of course I also read for pleasure, remember what I said about finding time to do what you want to do? Well reading for me is something that I want to do, and I will make time to do it.

The other main reason I read and study so much is because the time someone has taken to gather up and place in one place words that inspire me, they can take me to places I’ve never been to before, words make me laugh, they make me cry, I can meet people who I would never get to meet otherwise, I can hear their wise council and I can try and add their wise council to the way that my life and the life of my family turns out.

Now don’t get me wrong, some books bore me rigid, I still can’t read books on economics, or a profit and loss statement without getting hopelessly confused, which probably explains why I am still struggling with money and need outside advice. But I know that if I didn’t read as much as I did, then my life would be far less richer than it is now.

So please set aside some time over the next couple of days and look at what you are doing in the light of this new insight. Are you reading, attending classes but failing to ACT on the information you have been given?

Remember MOTIVATION is two words contracted into one....What are your MOTIVES for doing something and what ACTIONS are you taking to get you to the life you say you want. Whilst reading is important, so is doing.

L

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: New Year's Revolutions STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/29/2006 01:42:44 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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New Year's Revolutions:
Why revolutions? Well if you think about it, New Year is the perfect time to change EVERYTHING you don't like about the way that you live, work, behave. We know what hasn't been working for us  - I mean if it was working for us, we wouldn't need a daily reminder now would we!.
Whilst every day is a chance to begin afresh, January 1 seems to be the perfect opportunity to re-write our futures. We have a whole 12 months ahead of us to do amazing things.
But and here is the thing, you have to be honest with yourself. What are you willing not to do, in order to make the changes. It's no good saying you want to be debt free by December if you continue with your bad spending habits. Or that you want to be 20 kilos lighter by June if you continue to eat poorly and exercise rarely.
12 months to think about, 12 months to plan. And given how fast the last 12 months disappeared if we don't set aside time over the next couple of days to plan those 12 months, we are going to be in exactly the same place we are now, just 12 months older.
So planning is part of the revolution process. How many generals go into battle without some sort of plan? OK the plan may fail, but they know how many troops they have at their disposal, they know how much fire power they have and where they are going to make their initial assault, and they will make adjustments to their plan based on the responses of their enemies. And no I make no apologies for referring to war, after all we are waging wars with ourselves all the time. We are fighting our bodies needs by feeding them poorly, and still expecting them to put in a 16 hour day - every day. We are waging a battle against what we really want to do against what pays the bills and generally speaking, the other side is winning.
So a revolution - it's time to fight back.
What do you want to achieve?
When do you want to achieve it by?
What steps are you going to take to get there?
OK, the first two seem to be easy enough...we can all make big pronouncements. But the final question - what steps are you going to take? That one seems to stymie most people.
So - Break it down. But begin with the end in mind.
Now this is not where i ask you to visualise and you shall receive, rather think about backwards planning.
Imagine building a house. Do you know what kind of house you want? Can you buy one of the plan or do you need someone to draw up the plans for you? Where do you find someone who can do that - people who build houses for a living, where are they based - try the telephone book, or drive to the suburbs where the houses are being built at the moment.
Do you know where you want to live? What size block do you need to build the house you are after? Can the house fit, or do you need to remove the indoor swimming pool and the 10th bedroom? Should it be 2 storey rather than single?
What money do you have to complete the project? Have you spoken to the banks yet? Do you have an existing house you need to sell in  order to finance it, where will you live whilst this is going on?
As a major project, building a house sounds impossible to complete if you decide one day that you are going to buy a couple of dozen pallets of bricks and simply start. You may end up with no windows and 6 doors. And if you don't own the land you're building on, then someone somewhere is going to get a little grumpy.
But each step in the planning process does not take much time or effort to do.
Where is the land?
Where are the builders?
What style house?
What plans do you need to draw up
What permissions do you need
How much will it cost?
and so on.
Every major project can be broken down into small incremental steps that over the course of a few weeks and months can be achieved quite easily.
So - now is the time to get serious about planning. Do not think you can't plan your future, because you can.
You have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Take away the time you need to sleep, work, get to and from, make and eat dinner....what time have you got left? NOT MUCH and this is where most people's revolutions fail. At the first sign of conflicting demands, we revert back into old habits and behaviours. We conveniently forget that we were going to do this, that, and the other and we revert back to cream cakes and red wine in a bid to forget that our lives are going nowhere.
So planning is vital. What do you want? When do you want it by? What are you willing to do? Break it down, but start with the end in mind.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Dealing with conflicting prioroties STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/25/2007 09:24:34 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Every thought that you have, every word that you speak, and every action you take is entirely up to you. Sometimes we may feel that we are being pulled in a dozen different directions, with conflicting priorities, and when that happens it is easy to do nothing rather than upset anyone, let alone yourself.
So what do you do?
First ask yourself if the changes you are making are making other people nervous. One thing to remember is that everyone fears change and the biggest challenge is dealing with those people who fear that you will change and in doing so will move away from your "designated" place in their lives.
How do you get around this kind of fear? Re-assurance works well. Explain that you are trying to be a better person than you currently are, and you could really do with their help and support in doing so. This could be - getting them to go with you on your evening walk, or helping you to study, or be a watch dog if you are trying to lose weight.
But don't let their fear stop you from trying.
Your mind and stomach are classic examples of conflicting priorities. Your stomach says "feed me" "feed me" whilst your brain is torn with the promises it's made to itself about not drinking to excess tonight and eating that extra bag of potato chips, with "being good". So a tip - have a glass of water, get up from what you are doing and walk around the house/office you are in and as you go around pick things up and put them away. Your stomach will be full from the water, and your mind has been given something else to do. Then once you have done that, go back to whatever you were doing. By the time the mind and stomach have realised they've been tricked you can re-evaluate whether you need to eat because of genuine hunger or whether you were being conned by some emotional response.
No matter where you currently are, know that you do not have to stay there. It is up to you what you do and where you go, who you meet and what you talk about. Whilst it is OK to be a wallflower occassionally, sometimes you do need to get on the floor and dance.
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Miracles are possible STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/26/2007 07:04:31 AM ----- BODY:


Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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When thought and creativity meet action, miracles happen.

If your goals inspire you enough so that you can dream about them, and by that I mean - you go to bed at night and your thought processes are so consumed by what you have created so far, and what you need to do tomorrow, you can barely sleep. You are so excited, because whatever you can see in your minds eye is so vivid, so very real, that it exists for you.  And nothing will stop you from reaching out and touching it. And I do mean nothing, no circumstance and no person will get in your way.

But it's also interesting to note that when your dream has become so alive for you, circumstances and people help rather than hinder your progress. It could be said that the universe has fallen into step with you and will do what it can to help you achieve that goal. I have also noticed is that it gets more exciting the closer you get, and momentum seems to take over.

When was the last time you had those kinds of feelings?

When you can recapture those kinds of feelings towards your current goals, then the miracles start to happen. Some people may call it luck. You can call it whatever you like.

But if you have never experienced what I am talking about you may have a little trouble believing me, but believe me when I say, I know it happens and I know it works.

But this is not some sort of hocus pocus, nor is it affirmations without action, this is actively creating your dream and doing everything in your power to achieve it.  ACTION - that word again.

If you want to try this technique on something small, pre-create an ideal day. What would an ideal day look like, think it through, pre-create it in your mind. Don't let doubt, negativity or worry cloud your thoughts. I'm not saying you'll win the lottery - but you will have a good day as a result.

Now how much more could you get done if every day was a pre-created perfect one? And once you have pre-created your days, start pre-creating the results of your goals, and if you can't get excited about your current goal list, then choose ones that do. Because until you do, then you will find all sorts of reasons not to do the work.

MMM1
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
 

 
 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Designing a new life STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/30/2006 12:38:03 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ 
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Good morning, did you wake up this morning ready to get stuck into those new projects, plans and ideas that you have had? Or have you only just found the kettle after a night of hard partying?
I know it's the holiday season, but if you are serious about getting more out of your lives, then you are going to have to stop those behaviours that are not serving you. BTW Alcohol is a depressant, whilst you may get animated at some point during the consumption process, it will calm you down eventually and any plans you may have had to do great things last night will have gone out of the window.
You see if you over indulge at night, your days are going to be affected. Which is why you may be walking around holding onto a cup of black coffee hoping your head isn't going to drop off....shhh I'll type quietly.
How on earth are you going to do anything this morning feeling like that?
It's not hard to design a new life, but you have to be serious about it....a friend told me it was quite simple, don't buy those things that you shouldn't eat, don't keep them in the house, and reserve your "treats" for one or two days in the week...or weekend. My gym said something similar on the last 12 week challenge that we did...be good for 6 days, indulge on the 7th, and if you believe the creationist theory - so did God. And if it's good enough for him (or her depending on personal beliefs) then it should be good enough for us too.
However, I do know that is easier said than done, especially with Christmas, New Year and kids and guests in the house.
So whilst everyone else is nursing their hangovers - do me a favour, actually do yourself a bigger one, and look at those behaviours over the last couple of months, I know you won't remember specifics but you should begin to see a pattern emerging.
Who did you spend time with that insisted you sink to their level?
Who did you spend time with who challenged you to become more than you currently are?
The former will drain you of energy, the latter will fire you up - now the question is - who should you be spending more time with? Chances are also good that you over indulged with the former and not the latter also, so if you want to get more out of every day and your lives then you have to ask yourself if you are willing to allow the negative to rob you of vitality?
So that is the first thing....
Next, work out when did you over indulge - in anything. That includes alcohol, cigarettes, other substances, but also includes food - and yes Chocolate is a food (well sort of). When you were down and depressed or when you were on the go. As we have mentioned before, you will find it very hard to be down and depressed if you are busy, you'll also forget to eat, well I do. When I am busy with my goals, projects etc my stomach does not rule the day, my mind does.
So you need to analyse the patterns of over indulgence too.
And the final part of today is this....I bet you achieved more when you knew what it was you really wanted didn't you. As we discussed yesterday, objectives and time bound. What and when. You won't want to over indulge - why - because you won't be able to wait to get going in the morning....that's why.
So designing a new life isn't hard..But first you need to work out what was holding you back. Once you have done that, you can decide whether or not to keep those behaviours or whether they should be discarded like last week's newspaper. And then you can dust of those new year's revolutions and get started on designing the new life you have always wanted.
"Cheers"
Elle B
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All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: 10 steps to preventing writers block STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/01/2007 12:13:35 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Do you sometimes struggle with the writing discipline? You have a broad idea of what you want to say, but faced with writing an entire assignment, article or book, the dread starts to creep in. You don't think you can, and doubt and worry starts to cloud your thinking, and your pen refuses to budge. Then panic takes over.

You will be pleased to know, there are a couple of things you can do to stop this kind of problem from happening.

1. Throw the pen away for the time being. Changing the pen (permanent ink) to a pencil (you can erase this at any time) can be a simple but effective way of telling your brain, it doesn't matter what we write - we can rub it out if it isn't any good.

2. Fire up your word processing software on your computer and start making notes, it doesn't have to be in order, you can leave gaps. Save it as "notes" and your brain immediately starts to relax and the words will begin to flow.

3. You don't need to do any more research. Write down what you know right now. you will be surprised at how little you do need to find out. Perfectionist procrastinators make the excuse that it has to be perfect before it can be handed in, which means knowing everything about a subject before you start writing. Hint - you will never know everything there is to know about a subject. So start writing you can fill in any gaps later (if you need to).

4. Write how you speak - unless you speak in a rude, obnoxious manner that is, in which case you will need to modify your writing style. So perhaps a better way to describe this concept is - imagine that you are writing to a single person. "talk" to them. Like all things you may have to edit it back later, but you've crossed the imaginary blank page line.

5. Focus only on the step in front of you. Do not panic about how long the project is going to take you. Just focus on what you can do now. Just as a book cannot be read in one day (most of the time that is), do not expect to be able to write one in a day either. Just focus on writing the next word, the next sentence, the next paragraph and the words will flow. And when this happens I just hope you can type as fast as your brain speaks to you....as a writer you are just going to have to take my word for it, it does happen.

6. Start where you are now. Write about what you can see, what you are feeling. I keep a pack of scrap pages in front of me, and write down everything that crosses my mind. Once it is out of the head and onto paper the brain stops worrying that you'll forget and it can move on. Once you have completed this - start straight on with whatever you were worried about and you will find that the worry was not about the document but some other problem you had niggling away at the back of your mind.

7. Keep a journal. At the end of every day write a series of bullet points (or an essay if you wish) about the good things that happened to you today. Also write down any "lessons" you have learned. For instance yesterday I wrote in mine - I cannot change any one elses behaviour I can only change mine, and the actions that I take. I can only lead by example.

Why? Well next door's children were having a screaming match on their drive, and my writing area is the closest point to their altercation zone. Whilst I have asked these people in the past not to swear at each other, and to stop shouting, it hasn't made any difference what so ever. So rather than get annoyed because they were distrupting my writing time....I turned the music up and tuned them out. Consequently I managed to write 3,000 words to the book I am working on.

8. Read lots. Rather a strange way of dealing with a writing problem. But one of the things that the Publisher - from the Fremantle Arts Centre Press told us at a writers forum was - a lot of would be writers fail because they are not readers. So see how other people structure their writing. Now this is nothing to do with research, just a way of getting the brain into synch with what you want to do today. Before starting last night's writing session (btw 7.30-10.30pm is my usual writing time) I read 3 pages of a book called "Book of Shadows" by Phyllis Curott. It is her published journal. That's all it took - just 3 pages and I was ready to start.

9. Leave a paragraph half finished if you need to take a break from your writing. Then when you sit back down, re-read the paragraph and your brain will remember where it was and what it was going to say next.

10. Send yourself a message. A good trick for the end of the day. Attach the document to a mail message and send it to yourself. Write notes in the body of the message about what still needs to be done and you will be able to complete the task in half the time had you stayed late and laboured over the work that still needed to be done.

Now get back to it.

Elle
MMM1
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide.
No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.


----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: If you want to be better than you are, associate with people who can challenge you STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/02/2007 05:01:27 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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If you want to be better than you currently are, achieve more than you have done in the past and generally get more out of life, then it is vital that you associate with people who will challenge you to raise your game.

Now I don't mean this is a competition, and you want to get one over someone else. What I mean is this:
If you associate with people who spend all their time watching the telly and drinking beer, it is likely that you will do the same;
If you associate with people who do the same things that you do, you won't feel the need to challenge yourself or your thinking; But
If you associate with people whom you respect because they have qualities, skills and abilities that you admire and you would like to aspire to have or be, then you will have to raise your own game to be like them.

When I was in my late teens I used to play a lot of tennis. To be honest there wasn't much more to do in the village where I lived. Sure I hung out with my mates, but I enjoyed tennis and joined the local league. But I also knew that my game lacked power. So I joined the mixed doubles, and played against some of the most powerful servers in the competition. Why? because I wanted to be able to play with powerful strokes like they did. I needed to learn how to volley against these people. When facing a 100 kph serve, you needed not only to be able to defend yourself but to also return it and hopefully win a point or two. And when they weren't available to play, I challenged my cousin John to a game or two during the summer months (we played on outside courts in England btw). He was the most competitive player I knew and if I wanted to beat him (and I only broke his service game once that I can recall) I had to pick up my game....a lot.

I might not play tennis any more, but I do still use the same association principles in the rest of my life. I have disassociated myself with quite a few people who were content to do the same things in the same way for eternity. Personally I want to be better, achieve more and will seek out those people who I know will challenge myself and my thinking.

How about you? Do you have people you look up to and who challenge your thinking and behaviours? You should if you want to get on.

Cheers, L

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Break the cycle STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/03/2007 11:54:17 PM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
 
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If you want to get more out of every day you need to challenge your current routine and mix it up a little. Do something just a little bit different today, add a new step to break the routines and the habits that you currently have in your life. One new activity will set the stage for many more in the future, and once you do that, who knows how many more bad routines and habits you can break.

Why is this important?
 
Well the habits and routines that you currently have in your life is why you are - where you are - and if you don't change then you will not reach any diiferent conclusions (goals, dreams and ambitions).
 
So mix it up a little.

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.

 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Does it feel like you've never been away? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/03/2007 10:39:19 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Two days back at work since New Year, does it feel like you've never been away from the place?
Have you noticed how quickly people slip back into the same old routines and habits. I hope that's not you by the way. OK I know that somethings you will need to do in the same way, like go to work, go home and eat at some point....but the rest, well, if you are constantly getting stuck in traffic there are a couple of things you can do:
.You can whinge about it, and get mad with the other drivers for getting in your way
.You can wind down your windows and share your music (or even better the talking books you found at the library or you purchased from the "other" motivational speakers you may have heard about and subscribed to!!).
. Or you can try leaving the house a little earlier to miss the traffic. Talk this one over with the boss, who knows you may be able to negotiate a different start time so that you can make better use of the driving time/working time.
And so it is with everything, can you be open minded enough to see problems as opportunities?
The other thing I would ask you to consider is this - do you like spending all that time, driving through traffic to work at the place that you do? Because if you have gotten two days into your new working year, hating everything about it, it may be time to change...so get the paper out, and see what's available. And if you can't be bothered to do that, then things can't be that bad, so stop complaining and get on with it.
For those of you who don't know, or who haven't been to the website in a while, there is a procrastinators section on the website, for those of you with time on your hands and want to keep it that way...whilst it is a light-hearted take on what procrastination is all about, sometimes it gets a little too close for comfort, so if you haven't yet read the entries....you might like the one I added today - a new job would be nice but....http://www.motivateme.info/procrastination-tips-for-work/2007/1/3/a-new-job-would-be-nice-but.html
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you want to change? Really? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/07/2007 12:42:29 PM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/


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Do you want to change? Really?


As you may have realised by now, unless something hurts badly enough you are unlikely to make any long lasting changes to your life.

How do you know if it is hurting badly enough? Well only you can determine that, after all what motivates one person to do something will not motivate another. But take for example, the fact that you are going to lose your house or business because you lost a business deal, would that prompt you to go out there and find an alternative? I would hope so. Or imagine that you have been told by your doctor to lose weight or stop smoking or you will die, would you be more willing to take the steps you need to take to ensure that you live to see your kids and grandkids grow up?

Whilst you may think that losing the business deal wasn’t such a bad thing, after all there are other business deals to be done. The impact that your procrastination can be devastating for other people, of course not just in monetary terms, but in relationships with your family and business colleagues.

Your decision to carry on smoking is yours and yours alone to make, after all you tried to quit once and you really couldn’t handle the withdrawal symptoms, not to mention the gaining weight. But your decision actually impacts on other people. And whilst the smoke does affect your asthma, the chance of you getting lung cancer – well so what, you’ve got to die sometime. But think about the people who have to watch you. To them your death is not an abstract condition. They’ve seen you hooked up to the ventilator in the hospital on more than one occasion. They may also have to sit with you as the chemotherapy drugs drip into your veins is very much a reality. Your short term decisions, your procrastination can have a lifetime effect, and not just on you, but on everyone around you.

So going back to whether or not you want to change, really! Comes down to a few things. What do you want, and why do you want it? Unless you are willing to give up the short term gratification for a life time of health, long holidays or a house that is paid off in full (or whatever your long term plans and goals are) then you will NOT take the steps you need to take.

Change will either come from outside forces:

o     Quit smoking or die

o      Lose weight or you’ll get diabetes

Or internal forces:
I am sick and tired of not:

o       Having enough money to do what I want

o      Being able to wear really sexy clothes

 

Until you work those things out, then nothing will change for you. 

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Setting realistic timelines STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/08/2007 01:54:51 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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What is a realistic timeline?

Well that depends on your goal(s), what do you want to achieve? When do you want to have the item achieved by?

If you have worked through the previous messages of the Daily Dose, (back issues are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ you should have established a list of priorities or things you would like to do, see or achieve. But if you haven't yet written one of these, please do this first.

The next thing you need to do is to assign a timeline to the items. Don't panic if you have no idea of how long something is going to take, you can adjust these as you start to gain momentum.

If you don't assign some sort of timeline, all you are doing is dreaming. Planning without action is nothing; in fact it is worse than nothing as you are living an imaginary world filled with imaginary achievements. Whilst it is important to be able to visualise your goal, it is essential that you do something to realise them. Yes, the old affirmation without action is still prevalent in today's motivational speaker world....sorry - I actually expect you to do something.
 
But getting back to timelines, when you are assigning, a realistic timeline you need to determine how much time and energy you are willing and able to devote to the activity.

For example, if you want to run a marathon you cannot hope to turn up to the starting line without any kind of preparation. Well you could, but you know you won't be able to last the distance. If you're overweight and unfit, chances are better than good that you will have a heart attack before you've gone very far! So what should you do? Well depending on how unfit you are, you will have to schedule time on a daily basis several months (yes I did say months) prior to the event in order to train safely and effectively. And if you are extremely overweight, the time you are giving yourself to train for the marathon will mean that you are able to drop a few of the excess kilos which will make running a whole lot easier on the heart, lungs and knees. By the way there are several good web sites that have already set out a training schedule - if you're interested. Just go to your favourite website and type in marathon training schedule, and voila....
 
Once you have that information you can then determine if you have time in your current schedule to devote to the new task. And then you need to block it in. And that goes for anything you say you want to do, see or achieve.
 
Now and here's the thing, if you don't block it into your calendar, schedule or bank account then the first sign of bad weather or a new pair of shoes will see you forgo the new plan for instant gratification. Blocking the new tasks into the calendar is also good if you struggle to maintain new disciplines for any length of time. And as you probably know, if it isn't written down, you can conveniently forget you were supposed to do it.
 
Time, money and project management. It all sounds extremely boring doesn't it? But I’m afraid that unless you win the lottery or get left money by Great Aunt Doris, then you are going to need to plan, and you are going to have to break down those plans into manageable steps and then actually complete them.

The next question is - how long did it take you to reach the stage you are in now? Are you unfit and overweight? How about your credit limit on every credit card and store card that you possess? Chances are that you said it had taken you a while.

If that is the case, then please do not expect the solution to be presented to you overnight. Unless Aunt Doris does pop her clogs, but let’s face it, not even Aunt Doris can help you lose weight and get fit now can she...unless Aunt Doris is a fitness instructor that is.
 
Seriously there is no silver bullet. But there is the tried and tested, steady and daily progress that you can make. Whilst this may sound boring, let me put it this way, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I never promised that goal setting was a quick process, but then again neither is breaking the procrastination habit. Habits take time to create, and like most things, they take forever to get rid of. In fact the tighter the reigns that you place around yourself, the more likely you are to throw in the towel. So get used to the idea that time and project management is going to be an important and integral part of your life from here on in.
 
Kind Regards
 
Elle

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: In a dog eat dog world... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/04/2007 04:23:30 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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In a dog eat dog world, what kind of animal are you?
Are you the social butterfly who's only reason for being at work is to get enough money to buy the next pair of shoes, outfit and drinks on the weekend? Do you spend most of your time talking to people about what a great night you had last night. And you have to wear far too much makeup to cover up the fact that you haven't slept properly in days!
Or the sloth - you do everything at your own pace, and you won't be hurried - nope, not for anyone. You only do enough in order to survive the next round of headcutting.
The hyena - laughing at everyone and everything. You pretend to work in a team, until you get the spoils, then you steal all the glory for yourself. The trouble with being a hyena of course is that your colleagues quickly learn this "trick" and start doing the same things.
A cat - you spend 70% of your day "asleep" in front of the monitor, waking up long enough to eat and relieve yourself.
Or are you like the faithful dog, loyal, obedient, fetching and carrying, always at someone's beck and call. All you want is to be noticed, and "patted" and told what a great job you've done. But sometimes you get ignored, or worse still - shouted at, and it wasn't your fault -  whatever it was, was it? You slink back to your office, tail between your legs, forgotten about, until someone wants something and you're there....thinking this time - it will be different...won't it.
The elephant - plodder - until you get annoyed and then you charge and snort angrily until people get out of the way
The sheep - always running with the crowd - you're the yes people of the organisation
The cow - full of hot air
The pig - don't mind working in a complete pig sty, people have no idea what you are working on because they haven't seen your desk in years.
Or the panther - decisive, you know what you want, and you are ruthless in the way that you stalk your prey before going in for the kill.
Whatever kind of "animal" you are - people are the only "animals" who can willingly change their behaviours and habits, isn't it time you changed your bad ones, for ones that move you forward.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The esteem paradox STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/10/2007 05:44:18 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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If you feel good about yourself, not only will you look good, but you will be able to get more done each day. The more you are able to do and achieve, the better you will feel about yourself.

But which comes first?

Well if you have ever suffered from low esteem you will understand what I mean when I say little or nothing can make you change your mind about how you think you look, or how you feel....

But you can always do more than you did yesterday.

Whilst this sounds like we are manipulating our inner selves, we are. But it should also be noted that we are not out to drive ourselves into goal achievement without appreciating the journey.

So realise how far you've come and what you have managed to do so far. Celebrate the success, and then take the next item on your goal list and work out what you can do in the next half an hour and do it. You will be amazed at the changes you can bring to your lives as a result.

Elle

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Move forward, let go of the past STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/12/2007 07:24:27 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
 
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If it has taken you all your life to get you to where you are now, why do you think you can hope to sustain massive change if you don't learn the lessons of your past?

And that is where most people fail. It is not the massive changes that have the biggest impact, but the tiny decisions that we make each and every day. The tiny decisions that say:
- It's only a mars bar - I'm going to eat it and start the diet tomorrow.
- I'll start saving for my holiday after I'm paid again, I just have too much to buy until then.
- I'll write the business plan tomorrow, I'm not in the right frame of mind today.
- I don't want to go to the gym tonight I'm too tired.
- I don't want to do my homework I'd sooner talk to my friends, school work is boring and I can cram before the exam.

Each tiny decision that you are faced with is a chance to do something better, or to continue with the same practices that has led you to where you are right now.

oday you have another choice - you can let the past rule your future by:

- going over and over what has happened
- by repeating the same mistakes

Or you can draw a line in the sand and accept that you cannot change the past, but you can do something about your future, by making the right decisions today.

I'll speak to you tomorrow

Elle
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
 

  ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: End of working week 1 STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/05/2007 12:53:41 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning, today is the end of the first working week of the calendar year which means that there are only 51 more weeks to go before the end of the year, or 11 months and 3 weeks. My question for you today is a simple one - so what have you achieved so far this year?
And before you whinge and say give me a break - it's only been a week, you can't expect me to have completed great things in a week. Why can't I? I have - so why can't i expect you to have done the same?
OK, I can see the eyes rolling from here, I am the kind of person you really love to hate aren't I? You think that I can set any goal and achieve it, or I am lying and am just saying stuff to get you motivated. Well the answer to both is no. I don't deal in double standards - I don't ask you to do anything that I am not willing to do or try myself, and I have set many goals and have failed to reach quite a few of them too. I am a work in progress just like you are....but just to prove a point I'll attach a couple of photos - I was going to load them onto the website, but the darn things won't load - something wrong with their server today....
Remember me telling you that if you lead by example you'll have motivated followers/helpers. Well last week when my teenage children said they were bored, I said - good you can get your scruffy clothes on - we're going to do some gardening....they thought it was the usual weed pulling exercise we engage in now and again....but when they realised they would be mixing concrete and laying bricks, well I couldn't work fast enough to keep up with them.
So why am I telling you this? Well the usual reasons, I had two weeks off work. I could have spent the time sitting around outside in what passes for my garden. I have a huge stack of books that i want to read, letters that i need to write, a book that i am working on, or i could have gone shopping (then again - no I couldn't I don't really like shopping!!). But I decided that it was time to cross one of the major things of the goal list....the patio. OK I was a little naieve when it came to planning and execution. In fact I could have given up on day one when I ripped off the skin on one of my fingers, but I didn't....we changed the plan, in fact we changed the planning and execution a few times. But the end results...well you can see for yourself. We're going plant shopping later on this morning to do the finishing touches.
The point is - you can do great things...if you want to.
You don't have to be the same person you were last week or last year, you have the infinite power to change everything about you and your circumstances - if you want to
And if you don't want to - then it can't be that bad, now can it.
So the end of the first working week, what amazing things did you manage to do this week or are you still coming to terms with the fact that Christmas and New Year has just gone, and there are Hot Cross Buns in the supermarket already!?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't rest for too long between projects STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/09/2007 01:38:43 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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So you've just completed a major project, do you sit back and celebrate the success? (you should) How long for?
(not that long!!)
Silly question perhaps, but one thing I have noticed is that if you celebrate for too long and too hard between project completion and consideration for the next item on your major goal list, chances are going to be good that you will lose momentum, and you may find weeks or months have gone by - drifting along just doing "stuff". Whilst that "stuff" may need doing - dishes, laundry, surfing the net, catching up with friends, going to the movies etc etc, too many weeks of doing that and you will need a jump start to get going again. NOw please don't think, that these aren't important items, because they are....but probably not as important as those "other" things that you said you wanted.

So how can you ensure that you don't rest too long between your projects?

1. Have overlapping projects. Now I don't just mean that your projects should be similar, rather have a short term plan on the go, as well as a long term goal. For instance -
2. Have an eye on the long term goal, whilst working on the short-term ones. It's easy to think - OH I have 17 months before i need to get into my wedding dress/tux so I won't start the diet today, maybe I'll start it tomorrow. What happens is that 12 months later, you're still the same size - but now you only have 5 months to lose all the weight. Now you might achieve the goal in 5 months, it depends on how much weight you wanted to lose, but if you couldn't be bothered to start it 12 months ago, why do you think you are going to be able to stick to your plan now?
so - have a short term plan - maybe to exercise more....paint the house, clean the kitchen cupboards, finish the garden - anything that needs doing that will get you moving - bonus the kilos will also start to shift, giving you an incentive to get stuck into the next round of short-term goals, of perhaps looking at what you are sticking into your mouth on a daily basis.

or:

If your goal is to paint the outside of your house, sooner or later it's going to be too dark to paint (unless you rig spotlights), so why not have an indoors project at the same time - for example - writing a letter to everyone in your contacts book...one a night - this could take you a single evening, or 37 - it all depends how many people you know, but you know what i mean. The second project doesn't have to be as indepth as the major one, you'll just wear yourself out, but there may be other things you should/could be doing when your body is resting from the labour of the first.

3. Have a mad / would like to do sometime list....this could include - white water rafting down the grand canyon, taking a year off work and writing the bestseller, paying off the credit card debt. Sometimes it is the "mad" list that can give you all the incentives you need to get going.

4. If you have a "grand" plan, then you can choose whether or not the short term item you were going to do, will take you closer to the goal, stuck in the same place or worse still - going backwards. Say you have a mad plan to go round the world, but your credit card is maxed out, how are you going to pay for both? So your short term goals and plans would be - earn more, consume less, speak to a financial advisor, get a second credit card (no I did not say that), which then leads to the very short term goals of - make an appointment with the bank manager/financial advisor, re-write the CV and apply for those jobs you've been thinking about, not buying coffee for an entire year (work it out - it's quite scary what you can spend in a year, a few dollars at a time), cut back your shopping habits, eat what's in the fridge, freezer and pantry before buying anything else...

Remember - everything you currently do is a habit you've gotten into. Now, you need to ask - is that habit one that I am happy to keep or should I be doing something about it? But don't attack it from a negative perspective - I am going to quit smoking, rather change it to the positive - the money I don't spend on cigarettes I am going to put into an account to pay for that white water rafting trip I've always wanted to do.

Think about it.
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't let your thoughts overwhelm you STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/10/2007 07:14:01 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Sometimes when we are faced with a brand new plan, our brains can go into overdrive. We start to panic when we think about all the various options that are open to us, or worse still we don't think we know all the answers so we are afraid to start the process - whatever that process happens to be.
OK, first things first.
Stop worrying. Mild panic is ok, but worry gets you nowhere. You may think I am joking, but actually I'm not. Worry can stop us cold as our brains go into - eeyore mode. (Eeyore mode = oh I don't know if i can do that...)
Panic on the other hand, means that you have a deadline and it's looming, or you are excited because you can't wait to start, or you are so close to finishing you aren't willing to stop right now....panic can be a good thing - occassionally. Now I am not advocating that we spend our entire lives in panic mode, that would not be good for us. But when we are faced with our brand new plan, we can get excited and yes panicked about what we should be doing first.
So, have you stopped worrying yet? The thing about worry is that we usually worry over things we have absolutely no control over. Like the weather, or whether the buses will be on time, or whether there will be a parking spot. Worry can cloud eveyrthing else that we have to do, and can sour the entire day or special event. Worrying if the service was going to be terrible, worrying over - nothing. I said stop it.
So you have your plan, and do you know what the beauty of your plan is? Well the beauty is - that most of it lies in the future. You have a finite amount of time alloted to you today, so what can you do today to get you moving towards your goal? You can't worry about tomorrow, because the steps you take today may have an impact on what you will be doing tomorrow.
Do you know what else is good about the future? It comes to you one day at a time !! that's it - you can't do next weeks part of the plan, because you haven't completed todays steps yet. So - complete what you can complete today, and make your job easier tomorrow. That's the beauty of taking the plan one step at a time. You know what the ultimate outcome should be, but each step is revealed to you as you complete the one that you are working on. And yes, you may have to make course corrections along the way. Just like we do when we are driving home after a long day at work. We don't just put the car in "drive" and do nothing, we still have to change gears, move the steering wheel etc etc, otherwise we won't get to where we want to get to now will we.
For example - my recent garden project took about 16 hours to complete (with trips to garden centres thrown in etc). 16 hours, that's less than 24 hours, 8 hours for sleeping - therefore possible to do in a single day. Unlikely though. Because when we started, we didn't know how many bags of concrete we needed to get, or paving slabs, or tonnes of roadbase, soil or plants. Each step was revealed to us as we laid the plans and then executed them, and yes - made course corrections along the way. We had no idea we were going to need roadbase when we started, but it became very obvious about half way through day two.
You see if I had known it would have taken me a torn calf muscle, ripped skin, sore foot, 150kilos of concrete, .75 of a tonne of road base and the same of soil, a tonne of pavers and a boot full of plants then I may have given up before I had started. The total plan would have completely overwhelmed me, and I may have decided that there was no way I was going to complete all that in a month let alone 16 hours.
Of course now that I know, I can be better prepared for the next phase, but that as they say is "great with hindsight"
So - don't let your thoughts overwhelm you. Do what you can today, and the tomorrows will begin to take care of themselves.
But - and the final thing for today is this - don't forget to set goals that get you excited, and yes a little panicked too....you're hardly going to leap out of bed in the morning faced with the prospect of doing just enough to get you through to the end of the day - now are you?
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Actions speak louder STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/17/2007 03:25:40 AM ----- BODY:
When all is said and done, there is more things said than done. I don't know who said that originally, but I know he/she was talking about you - my fellow procrastinators.
We are full of big plans and great ideas - but lack the skills and more importantly the courage to put those plans into ACTION. Because with courage comes the ability to do absolutely anything we want.
What are you scared of? Are you afraid of failing? Or are you really afraid of succeeding?
Personally I think more people fear - fear than anything else, it isn't one thing in particular, it is a mixture of apprehension and uncertainty that keeps us - stuck. Some call it the fear of the unknown, but really it is fear of living the lives we were meant to live, fear of having to maintain the levels we have reached, fear of everything that makes us leap out of our skins and the zone of comfort we wander around in.
But lets face it - it's not very comfortable where we are is it? After all we wouldn't need to make big plans if we were totally happy with what we had achieved so far.
So - make the big plans yes, that is so very important. But then take one of those plans and work out one BIG step that you need to take in order to get it off and running, and then take it. And then - when you don't fall flat on your face (and you won't) take the next and the next and the next.
You can be better today than you were yesterday, and you can be better tomorrow than you were today. If you want to that is.
(MMM1) (MMW1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The Exercise Discipline STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/11/2007 02:37:00 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Given that "Exercise" "Getting Fit" and "Losing Weight" are always high on everyone's New Year's Revelations I thought I would dedicate today's edition to the exercise discipline.
 
As you may have realised by now, you don't get very far without is...discipline that is. Discipline that says I will get up when the alarm goes off, get ready, eat breakfast and go to work. Oh and put some clothes on before leaving the house...always a good discipline to have, after all we don't want to scare the neighbours!!
 
And so it is with exercise, we need discipline that says I will go for a walk tonight, I will go to the gym, I will meet my personal trainer, I will go even though I may feel tired, or that I have too much to do. There are some things that are always important - but rarely urgent, and exercise is one of them.
 
So a few questions for you:
 
Do you exercise?
What kind(s) of exercise do you currently do?
How often do you exercise?
Where do you exercise?
Do you exercise with anyone (personal trainer, partner, friend)?
At what intensity do you exercise? - a brief stroll will not do much - believe me I know.
Do you like your current shape - or is there room for improvement? OK I do know that round is a shape, are you happy being "round"?
Are there any kinds of sports or activities that you would like to try that you haven't done yet? Why not? What is stopping you from trying some of them? - The usual ones are - money, fear of embarrassment, don't know where to go, no-one to exercise with....get over it, get on with it...you will find the money to do what you want to do, and it is only scary the first few times!!
 
Do you have an exercise plan? An exercise plan is vital - we have been told many times that we can't "spot reduce" - quite simply, your body will reduce fat from where it wants, and not from where you need it to go from. (Tried it - didn't work). Nor should you work on a few areas - why? Because you'd look silly that's why...mind you it doesn't stop the guys at the gym doing just that...great chest, arms and back - minor point they've neglected the sticks that are trying to hold them upright.
 
So, you need an exercise plan that works all the major muscle groups....arms (biceps and triceps), Shoulders, Back (upper and lower), Chest, Abdominals, Legs - Front and Back of Thighs and Calves....plus the cardiovascular system - you know - heart, lungs etc etc....
 
So a brisk walk might be OK to get the heart pumping and the legs and butt looking reasonable, but it's not enough on it's own...carrying some weights with you as you go, might do a bit more, but unless you are into swinging them around as you walk, then you are only going to be making minor changes to your shape...
 
But there is another vital organ that we need to exercise properly for it to function at its best, and that is the skin. Yep the biggest organ of the body and we treat it badly. And one of the simplest ways we can treat it properly is to hydrate it. As in drink - water. Nope, coffee, tea, juice or alcohol does not count. Drinking adequate amounts of water will flush the skin of impurities and make you glow, this is done predominantly by sweating, but you also need to bathe occassionally otherwise the sweat will stay on the skin and make people shy away from you as they recoil in horror from the dirt, dust and pimples....ok i know you know that. But you get my point. We seem ok with cleaning the outside, but we fail to clean it from the inside. We feed ourselves inferior foods and fuels and expect our skin and our bodies to look fantastic. We also fail to give ourselves enough sleep and relaxation, making us look as tired as we feel...but more of that another day.
 
Combining your exercise plan with an adequate food and fuel plan is vital if you want your body to change shape. There are many "experts" out there who can help you - but the biggest thing you can do for yourself is to find a plan that works for you and to stick to it, come hell or high water. Persistance is the key, and a dogged determination that you want a better, healthier you.
 
As we said yesterday - starting your new years revolutions from a negative perspective never works - so you are not out to lose weight or get fit...you are out to - look better, feel healthier, fit into those sexy size 12 jeans you've had stuck in the back of your cupboard for the last 10 years, reduce the chances of having a heart attack - or whatever your real reasons are...the more "real" reasons you have, the more likely you are to achieve your goals.
 
And once you have your real reasons you will find that you have the discipline that moves you forward...through rain, shine, dust storms or whatever mother nature throws at us today.
 
And for those people who tell me that they don't like to exercise or "go to the gym" - tuff - we all do some things that we don't like to do when we start...I HATE going to the dentist, doesn't stop me from going though. So make it easy - stick your gym gear in the car and stop off on the way home. That way there aren't any excuses - you can't get home and pretend you forgot....this is one habit I would seriously recommend you create in your life. Your body will love you for it.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Ask and you may receive... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/19/2007 12:45:25 PM ----- BODY:

Do and you will certainly get what you said you wanted.
 
Much has been written in the press about asking for things and then "releasing" that want into the universe. And lo, sooner or later if you wish hard enough. The problem with this scenario is that the people who tell you about the "secret" is that you have to do whatever it takes in order to make sure those things come to you. ACTION - that word again. Dreaming without action = Delusion.
 
It's like wishing you could win the lottery and then not buying a ticket. Actually that's not a very good example, because statistically speaking you are more likely to get run over on the way to get your ticket than actually winning. But you see my point.
 
. You really cannot think youself thin, you still have to eat less than you currently are and exercise more in order to shift the fat.
 
. You cannot will your hand to pick up a glass of water and take a drink. Unless you have a straw in the glass, then you really are going to have to actually move your hand and pick up the glass. Alternatively of course you could always get someone else to do the work for you, but that as they say is another story.
 
You can have the best will in the world, but unless you are willing to do whatever it takes to get the result that you say you want then you will continue to have unrealised goals.
 
What do I mean by "Whatever it takes"? Well imagine that you were in a tunnel and the end had collapsed, and not only that but you were going to run out of air before the rescue team got to you unless you did your bit and started moving the rocks and the debris from your side....or are you going to sit back and wait for the people on the other side to do all the work, and hope they get to you in time?
 
Personally I would be moving the rocks....
 
Those "rocks" are actually those obstacles that we continue to place in our way. We say we want to lose weight yet we eat chocolate, and tell ourselves that it's only a bit and you can exercise it off tomorrow. Or it doesn't matter if you buy another pair of shoes - you can start saving for the holiday after the next pay check. You can make the phone calls tomorrow when you feel in the mood.
 
Get rid of the rocks.

(MMM1) (MMW1)
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Changing patterns of behaviour STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/13/2007 06:46:32 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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I hope this finds you enjoying the first day of your weekend....it's amazing how much stuff needs to be done on this day "off" isn't it....washing, cooking, cleaning, ironing, gardening, rest and recuperation, gym...whatever it is you are doing today, I hope you are enjoying it.
And enjoyment is important when it comes to goal setting and more importantly goal achievement - if you don't enjoy the journey are you really going to enjoy the end result? Or are you going to "hate" it - whatever "it" is once you have gotten there? After all if you whinge, whine and complain along the way, you are hardly going to change your patterns of behaviour when you get there now are you.
So - when you are deciding on those things that you say you want to do and achieve, you have to determine if you are doing it out of obligation, a sense that you "have" to do it, or are you doing it because you want to...the more you "want" the more likely you are to get. Now remember I am not talking about wanting without doing, more a feeling, a determination that says I can do this, I really can.
And then do it with a smile on your face.
Goal achievement starts with the belief that you can do it.
That you are "worthy"
That the item you are planning on spending time and energy on is "worth it"
But it also comes with a risk, after all you are going to need to change certain behaviours in order to get there. If you are overwight and unfit, then you are going to have to believe that you can be healthier and smaller. So when you are setting the new eating disciplines or the patterns for exercise into your daily regime, you may need to distract yourself. So ensure that you have lots of things to do to keep your mind off the fact that you need to lose weight and onto the fact that the house is a complete tip and needs cleaning, or you haven't written to your mother in a month....
Another good way to ensure you don't break your new habit is to not buy it in the first place. Not only will your bank balance be much improved - if it isn't in the house you can't consume it, or you have to make a special journey to go fetch and sometimes it just isn't worth getting the car out....
Don't go to where the temptation is....or if you do go, "forget" to take money or credit cards with you.
And until you set the new patterns in place, it is worth not taking a day off...do the same things day after day for a few weeks....and then once your mind knows the rules, then give it a day off....
Something to think about at any rate...
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Measuring your progress is not just about numbers STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/22/2007 02:33:27 AM ----- BODY:
Emotions and feelings are just as important as the actual numbers when you are measuring your progress.

How you feel on a particular day can make the difference between the glass half empty or glass half full concept. Some days when we are feeling particularly vulnerable it may even seem like everyone wants your glass as well as their own. It's usually on these kinds of days that we are more prone to procrastination than at any other time.

Why? I have noticed that when we feel good about who we are and what we have done so far, we will push that little bit harder. We forget to eat, we cross things off the list, we smile and we enjoy the process.

When we feel down, we are more likely to overeat. When we feel down we don't want to get off the couch and into the gym. We don't do as much as we could or know we should be doing.

So before you check the numbers check your emotions.

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Goal setting - what questions you need to ask yourself STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/14/2007 01:37:22 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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How are your new years revolutions coming along? Did you set any new goals this year, or did you pull out the same bit of paper as last year and recycled them? The reasons why people fail in goal setting is because they may know what they want, but they've missed out one or two important steps. But don't panic these steps are easy enough - when you know what they are...and believe me when I say you would pay good money to be told this...
So let's get going:
Setting goals - that's easy - decide what you want and write it down
How are you going to achieve those goal items? This is usually where most people get stuck, they know what they think they want, but they don't know all the answers...which stops a lot of people from beginning the process.
How do you write a book? - one word at a time.
How do you paint a house? One wall at a time
Where do you get the paint from? - a hardware store, garden shed, paint shop
How much do you need? - take the room size and ask the person behind the counter
Losing weight - exercise more, eat less. It's taken you a long time for you to get to where you currently are, so don't expect a miracle overnight "cure".
Remember - You don't need to know all the answers personally to get started on a particular goal item, just a desire to reach the goal can be enough to set you on the right path. Someone, somewhere will have done what you are trying to do - find the online message boards and ask, go to a shop and ask, go to the library find a book - read it, then do.
When are you going to achieve it by?
Mosot people have a vague, oh i'll get it done by so and so....
A goal is just a dream without a proper time limit on it. But how do you set a time limit. Well it depends on the goal.
Painting the house - An average size room can be stripped of furniture, cleaned, patched and painted in a weekend. Average of two days. If you only have the weekends - then each room will take you a weekend....4 bedrooms = 4 weekends....or 8 days.
Planning and saving for a trip to Europe - will depend on your current level of debt and your ability to save. If you spend more than you currently earn, then you won't achieve the goal at all.
Weight loss - half a kilo to a kilo a week is do-able...any more and you run the risk of putting the weight back on as soon as you stop restricting your calorie intake. So work out how much weight you need to lose and you have the number of weeks it is likely to take you. 10 kilos = 10-20 weeks
Writing a book - if you are working, then a thousand words a day is a good target, depending on how fast you write (or type) - an average novel starts at about 100,000 words - therefore a hundred days or 3 and a bit months (to get the first draft)
But don't put yourself under pressure to achieve something because your timing is off. Either modify the goal, or the timeline.
What are the benefits of achieving the goal items?
Writing a book - you may get international or national recognition, and more money. You may simply have the satisfaction that you did it...
Losing weight - may mean - better health, a whole new wardrobe, much better self-esteem and an improved bank balance
What are your reasons for doing it?
The house is a pig sty and needs a complete overhaul;
We've just moved in and we want to make it look like it belongs to us
It's been years since these walls last saw a coat of paint - it's time !!
That style of decoration went out 30 years ago (don't worry - wait a few more years and it will be back in again)
Weight loss - I have an unhealthy BMI and the doctor told me to lose weight or die
I do not look very nice without clothes on !!
I don't look much better with clothes on !!!!!!!!!
I hide behind frumpy clothes to try and disguise the fact that I am fat and unhealthy
I don't have any energy
Who will help you achieve your goal?
Remember no-one can go it alone, all of the time
An author needs an editor and a publisher. Even if you decide to self-publish your work, you still need to get someone else to read it to make sure you haven't written drivel
You may need encouragement to reach your new weight - in which case a personal trainer can be invaluable, or a weight loss consultant, a nutritionist, your partner and your kids can all help you to keep to the straight and narrow and encourage you not to buy and eat "bad" things.
What is stopping you?
Your belief in yourself may be your biggest stumbling block. If you don't believe you can do it, you may struggle to achieve anything.
Lack of motivation is the other big factor - if you don't believe in your goals, if they don't inspire you to get started on them, then you will find all the excuses in the world not to get started.
So, when you are working out your goal plan, ask yourself the questions:
What do you want?
How are you going to get it?
When are you going to achieve it by?
What are the proposed benefits of getting it?
What are your reasons?
Who will help you?
What is currently stopping you?
Goal setting isn't hard - that is the first question in the above list....goal achievement is easier once you have the answers to the remaining questions worked out.
(MMM1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What is today really about? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/27/2007 01:05:44 AM ----- BODY:

We have been given one opportunity to live today. Just one. 24 hours of untapped potential. How many of you woke up this morning excited about
a) waking up
b) being able to do amazing things with the next 18 or so hours before you go to bed again
c) going to work/school
d) earning money so that you can do what you want to do when you want to do it
e) being happy.

Or was the start of your day more akin to hatred and boredom? I don't want to get up, I don't want to go to school/work, I hate cold mornings, I hate the heat and the humidity, I just want to go back to sleep !!

Oh please.

I had an amazing weekend. A weekend of birthday's (unfortunately not mine), but three friends all celebrated their birthday's this weekend. It was a weekend of anticipation, a weekend where all the planning and preparation would finally culminate in the party to end all parties. But one thing that occurred to me in amidst all the running around is this. Every day is special. It doesn't have to be a special occassion to make the day unique and special in some way.

So before you dive back under the blanket and live your life in dream mode, think of the most outrageous thing you can do today, and go do it. Make today the day when you decided to live your life, rather than allowing life to drift past you in a haze of boredom.
 
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Where are you living your life? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/21/2007 10:39:12 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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"I am not interested in the past. I am interested in the future, for that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life."
Charles Franklin Kettering - American Engineer and Inventor
So where are you living? Most people I listen to (with one or two exceptions) live in the past....what they've watched, what they did on the weekend, what arguments they had...."And you would never believe what he/she said then...."
And they let the past impact on the future....by allowing the past to influence what they do with today....
So if you have a tendency to go over old ground, reliving the past hurts....well then you will never be able to move forwards....only when you can let the past go, because lets face it - what you did yesterday cannot be changed....you can't re-run the old tape, not really...of course if you want to live every day in the same way, then maybe you can....but lets face it - that would be a shocking waste of today now wouldn't it.
Watch your thoughts, learn from yesterday, and you can make movements forwards.
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[email protected] and I will respond to your inquiry as soon as I am able.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Aromatic torture STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/29/2007 03:46:14 AM ----- BODY:

Have you noticed that when you start to reduce your reliance on certain food stuffs (ie., go on a diet) things start to happen. Well they do to me at any rate. I see overly large people waddling down the street. I know they’ve always been around – some of them work in the same office building as I do, but you can guarantee if I am even considering being – well naughty, I see more of them. As in more people, not plump people wearing little or no clothing.

But today it is absolute torture. You can tune out noise with the use of ear plugs or music. You can stop looking at things by either turning away or closing your eyes. You needn’t touch anything if you stick your hands in your pockets. But have you EVER tried to stop your nose from picking up the aromas and scents from around you? It's impossible - unless you are full of cold.

It’s interesting – one of the major supermarket chains in the UK deliberately build their stores so that the exhaust fans from the bread ovens filter into the rest of the store. Why? Because they know that the smell of freshly baked bread will ensure that it is sold. People cannot resist the smell, I know I can’t.

So why is today torture?

Well my office is obviously situated directly above the kitchen downstairs. Why? Because I can usually smell last nights left overs cooking, or freshly ground coffee percolating. But today they have gone too far – today they have decided to cook/warm – or whatever it is they do with their food – pastry, filled with garlic, cheese and herbs. I can’t remember the last time I had pastry, I simply don’t buy it. It’s one of those no-no foods that come straight off the diet list because if it tastes as good as it smells you can almost guarantee that it will be full of calories. And despite what people say, something’s you really can’t have in moderation.

Excuse me I need to go for a walk.
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do or do not - the choice is yours STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/27/2007 06:17:50 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers. Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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A reminder as you set your next set of goals. It's what you decide not to do, that will have the biggest impact on the results that you get. So when writing your to do list for next week, make sure you write a to don't list as well and you will get a lot more done.

Have fun Elle B ---------------------------------------------------------- No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
All contents Copyright (c) 2006 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: My life is a constant battle... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/31/2007 06:02:39 AM ----- BODY:

with food. I know what I should be doing, yet I wage war with myself. I know what foods I should be eating, sometimes however that does not translate into the foods I do eat - and then the battle is all but over. The "fat" side is winning.

It sounds like I am on a downer doesn't it. But actually I'm not. But I did find something in a notebook that took me a little by surprise as I start the training for this year's city to surf. My measurements are now almost exactly the same as they were in December 2005. Yes I have stats going back that far. Every time I hit the wall I revert back to food. Comfort eating. I sit down get comfortable and I start eating !! I think I must be about 12 years old when it comes to deciding what I ought to be eating.

Everyone has a different wall - a different stopping point. If you're like me - you have more than one thing that stops you in the middle of something and it can take what seems like an age to get going again. It's also true to say that the old physics law has a lot to saya bout the law of motion. A body at rest stays at rest, a body in motion - well you get the picture. Imagine getting on a bicycle. The first few times you turn the pedals it's hard - sometimes impossible to get the darn thiing moving. Then after a while, you can take it a little easier as the wheels start to move. Putting things into motion can and does take massive action - remember the bicycle when you are thinking about quitting.

I wish I had.

But I digress - what do I mean by many different stopping points?

The first is guilt, you can also call it obligation. My house is a tip - 3 kittens, 1 cat and 2 teenage kids  all conspiring to have a good time. Normally I would whinge and complain about the state of the place as I went around picking things up and putting them away. Given that I work full time, write this web site and the Daily Dose as well, hardly leaves me any time to do those other things that I actually want to do - I don't want to spend my free time cleaning. Life is too short to clean !!

The second is emotional. I allow other people into my "space" and sometimes that is not a good thing. We all have emotional vampires and I can be my own worst enemy. I told you I am a reforming procrastinator - it is so easy to slip up and spend time going back over the same ground, re-doing work that doesn't need to be done. Writing is like that. You can pretend you are getting on - when really all you are doing is editing.

So why am I telling you all this?

Well - I would just like you to know that I am not perfect, I am working on me just like you are working on you. But I am not a hypocrite, and will never ask you do something that I am not willing to do, or have done myself.

The Daily Dose contains my methods of trying to get more out of every day, some of the suggestions may work for you - some of them may not if you are not at that particular stage of your journey. All I would ask is that you keep an open mind to some of the suggestions in these ramblings, and remember that all back issues can be found in the archive.

I have just 22 weeks to get from Class D of 70 minute plus to do the 12 km fun run (Perth to City Beach) City to Surf. Category D stands for - why are you bothering to "run" category, why don't you just walk..... I am in the midst of setting up a page or two on the website of my training diary for those of you who may be interested.....and if you want to know why I am inflicting this on to myself - well go to the entry in Through the Barrier and I'll tell you all about it.

(MMM1)


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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/


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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Coping with interruptions STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/01/2007 02:45:03 AM ----- BODY:

Keep it down - I'm trying to think.

Distractions come in many different shapes, sizes and forms. At the moment my daughter is ferreting around in the kitchen, the kittens are hard at play, and the washing machine is humming along in the background.

That's the trouble with open plan housing and offices, we are constantly surrounded by noise. Other people impacting on our thoughts and the amount of work we can get through in any one day. As a writer, sometimes the noise can be a welcome distraction to a complex plot line, but most of the time it's down right annoying.

But it's not just people who distract us - I bet most of you leave your email account open all day, and your eye strays to the windows that pop up telling you that you have a new message - you do don't you. You make a split second decision whether or not you are sufficiently bored to go and read the message, or whether the message is important enough for you to stop whatever it is you are doing and read it. Either way your productivity has just gone down the drain. Whichever way you decide - read it or not, your brain has moved from the creative phase it was in, back into the linear phase of do this, must do that. The problem is that it can take several minutes of uninterrupted time to get back to where you were BEFORE the interruption.

How many of you get several uninterrupted minutes before you are distracted again? No, me neither.

There is a children's book entitled "five minutes peace" you should read if you get the chance. Mama Elephant is trying to read the paper and eat her breakfast when....she gets 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

But how do you cope with the constant barrage of interruptions - some of which we welcome and some of which we could do without?

Well a few things that may work for you:

If you work in an open plan office, and you can get permission - take your mp3 player into work. Plug it in and tune out of the office politics and noise. But don't try this if you're on reception, clients may get a little annoyed if they can't get through cos you're listening to the top 40.

Have a designated time to open, read and answer all your emails. Have a disclaimer on the bottom of your email signature/auto reply that says that you are currently not at your desk and you will reply by the end of the working day. They do not need to know that you are working on other things. Remember pigeon post? Well email has made us slaves to other people's time frames. Claim back some of this by this one simple technique and your productivity will go through the roof. Just remember to spend half an hour at the end of the working day to reply to those message that you need to reply to and end your day having completed major items off your task lists.

Walk with purpose. People will rarely stop you if you look like you are going somewhere in a hurry.

Have doors fitted on your home office. Close the door and explain that now is working time....play time comes later. A girlfriend has practiced this technique for many years - and now has a masters degree and has just completed her doctorate, whilst holding down a full time job, breeding burmese cats and raising a family.

Keep a time log. You can download a copy of this from the site if you haven't got one already...http://www.motivateme.info/downloads-and-free-stuff/ this really does get to the heart of where you spend your time on a daily basis.

Try one, or try them all. You will be amazed at how much more you can get done if you do.

(MMW1) 

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Do you dress to impress? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/02/2007 08:28:03 AM ----- BODY:
We’ve all heard the premise that first impressions count, and that people really do make up their minds within the first few seconds (let alone minutes) of meeting you.  But how true is it? Well, unfortunately, people do make assumptions about others based on what they see and observe.

Be honest, we’ve all done it, haven’t we? The question is - How accurate were your observations?

If I were honest I would have to say that sometimes I was spot on, and other times I was completely and hopelessly off the mark, but the fact that we can and do, make assumptions based on nothing more than a few spoken words, gestures and the physical appearance of another person is part and parcel of what makes us human. It may not be logical, but we can and do make assumptions on little more than how you carry yourself, your mannerisms, what you wear, and your attention to detail.

Why is this knowledge important?

Well imagine going to an important business meeting, visiting clients or trying to get a new position. Can you imagine walking into the offices wearing your sports gear (well you've been to the gym and you thought you would save yourself another journey); or the clothes look like they've never seen an iron - what kind of impression do you think you would make?

So before you head off to that next meeting consider:

1.    Dress appropriately for the organisation that you are visiting. Even if you are only planning on dropping off your CV, make sure you dress the part. It may not be necessary to wear a business suit, but smart is essential. Jeans and t-shirts should be avoided at all costs. After all you never know who you are going to meet. It might be the receptionist’s day off and your future boss may be filling in.
2.   If you are going to an interview, avoid “loud” ties and hip and trendy fashions, if in doubt, err on the side of conservative, at least until you know the culture of the organisation. If you base your business wardrobe on what you have seen on the day of the interview, remember that in some organisations (especially in Australia) Friday is “casual” day.  
3.    Make sure your shoes are shined and polished. It is true that your shoes say a lot about you. So don’t neglect this part of your professional image.
4.    Always have clean hands, if you are prone to damp, sweaty palms, make a point of arriving at the interview a few minutes before hand and ask where the bathroom is. That way you can wash your hands before you go in.
5.    Don’t forget to brush your teeth before you leave home. If you chew gum (to disguise the onion you ate for lunch), make sure you dispose of it before going into the building. Similarly, try not to smoke before going for an interview as smoke clings to hair and clothing fibres.
6.    If you wear makeup, please make sure your mascara hasn’t run, you don’t have lipstick on your teeth, and your nail polish isn’t chipped.
7.    One for the men – do not wear white sports socks. Match the colour of your socks to the colour of your shoes and/or business suit.
8.    Always shower before dressing (sorry this one was for the "hard of washing") – body odour is a definite no-no. Do not assume that your perfume or aftershave will mask the fact that you didn’t give yourself enough time to get ready, or that you had been to the gym before going to the clients offices.
9.    Always be polite, you never know who you are going to meet, remember the receptionist may not be the receptionist, so don't sit and fume about being kept waiting, read the literature on the company that's available to you (try and avoid the tabloid mags); and finally
10.    Smile. You may be feeling a little nervous, but a smile and a firm handshake can really make the difference.

Whilst we are on the subject of dressing to impress, remember that it can be insulting to a new organisation, or an existing organisation for that matter, the person you are meeting and your co-workers to show a lack of concern for your appearance. Being wrinkled, unshaven, smelly or unkempt communicates (intentionally or not) that you don’t care enough about the situation, the people or the company to present yourself respectably. If you are in any doubt about yourself and your appearance, go into the bathroom, or anywhere where you have a good sized mirror and ask yourself – would you enjoy meeting this person?

(MMW1)
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: First impressions and written communication STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/03/2007 01:32:50 AM ----- BODY:

Yesterday we looked at the outer part of what makes you - you. Today I would like to discuss the other overlooked factor in making a good  impression on other people, and that is the quality (or not) of your written work.

Now before you hit the delete button, consider this - every quote and invoice that you generate and send to clients, every email that you write, every note or memo that you send to your work colleagues, every assignment that you hand in, in fact everything that comes from you in some written form or other (yes digital counts as written - even in a court of law), everything that has your name on it “speaks volumes” about you and the kind of person that you are. So what is your writing style saying about you?

Is your message short and to the point? – if it is you could be seen to be blunt and have little time for anyone or anything. Of course it could also mean that you don’t have a great deal of time, or the subject matter does not need a long, flowery description.

Do you write long, descriptive prose that meanders and fails to get the point?

Or do you write with the reader in mind? I can see the frowns from here? What do you mean, the reader in mind – it’s an email, not a book !!

Emails like all professional written communication, should be carefully composed with spelling, grammar and facts checked before being sent. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case, a case of familiarity breeding contempt. It seems that emails have replaced telephone conversations, face-to-face meetings and traditional letter writing, and with it many of the thought processes that used to go with these alternative forms of communication.

What amuses me (and yes I have been caught once or twice with this) is how many times we haven’t verified the name of the recipient before pressing the send button. I know I would think twice before picking up a telephone and randomly pressing numbers, hoping to reach the person that I wanted, but we do not seem to worry too much with electronic messaging if it reaches the right person or not.

So next time you write an email, consider your audience, who is going to be reading this “letter”, and is the content and writing style appropriate, or do you need to tailor your message a little more?

Or how about applying for a new job.  What is the first thing a potential employer sees when you apply for a position with their organisation? They don't see you in person, they see “you” through your writing, so what is your application saying about you?

Is it saying, I am a professional, I understand your needs and I have demonstrated that I am the best person for the job? I have proven that I do have good written communication skills, because I have been able to persuade you by my written words that I am a suitable candidate, and should be asked to come in for an interview.

Or does it say, well I am applying for this job because I think I can do it. My experience is a bit vague, just like the words I have used in my application. I’m not really sure what you are looking for in a person, and I’m really not sure if my skills are as up to date as I would like them to be.

Does your application scream “Pick me, pick me”. Do you hope that the coloured paper and the fancy font, and the many clichés you have dripped through your application, will help the prospective employer overlook the fact that you are a little short on relevant experience?

Or is your CV out of date, is your application crumpled and dirty, with coffee stains on the back? Do you expect the prospective employer to read between the lines, and to work out for themselves that you really could do the job – if you could be bothered?

If we take the example of a job application a little further, if you write with the reader in mind, you will ensure that you know who you are talking to – instead of Dear Sir/Madam, you will use the name of the person you are sending the application to. You will also ensure that you have tailored your application to the organisation, which means giving specific, relevant examples of your skills and experience. This also means that you won’t use the same letter/application that you have sent off for those other jobs you’ve applied for recently. If you are still in the habit of doing this – one question – if you didn’t reach the interview stage using that letter/application/version last time, why would you expect it to get you to the interview stage this time?

So as you go about your business today, take a good look at every piece of paper that you are going to send to the outside world, and then ask - does it portray me in the way that I would like to be seen? Or do I need to brush up on my presentation skills a little more?

With many thoughts today
Elle
 
(MMW1)
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Live and learn STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/04/2007 02:30:50 PM ----- BODY:

Do you cringe with embarassment when you make a mistake? Well you shouldn't, not unless you keep on making the same kinds of mistakes over and over again.

Every time you fall flat on your backside you have an opportunity to pick yourself up, go back over what did or did not work for you and then change the behaviour so that you don't make the same mistake over and over again.

I used to think that I could diet and have potato chips in the house - how wrong was I? Now I don't buy them.

It doesn't matter what you fail at - be it spending money on things you don't need or drinking too much every night, if you remove the temptation ie., don't buy the booze and don't take the credit card with you when you go shopping, you can remove the problem once and for all.

Now please believe me when I say  it's not easy changing the habits of a lifetime, but whilst you are training your mind - it's easier not to give it the signals.


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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/


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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: You don't have to do it alone STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 12/11/2006 02:45:16 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Sometimes when we are faced with a major task we may feel overwhelmed, unsure of what to do first, let alone how to complete the darn thing.
What happens as we have discovered is that we can either give up before we start, or make a few tentative inroads before giving in to temptation to run and hide behind the sofa. Fear of failure has stopped many a project before it has had chance to develop into a workable plan. However, just as many people fear success as they do failing. They worry about whether or not they will be expected to repeat the "success", and if they can cope with all the added pressure being a "success" can bring. However, there is a third aspect, and that is this - these people fear what will happen to them personally, emotionally and physically - they are afraid of change and how the changes will affect them. Will they cope?
In most cases the answer is yes. The good thing about project management is that once the plan is set, it is like a road map - and each section of road is revealed to you as you travel. Whilst you can worry about the road works and traffic snarl ups further down the road (if you want) but chances are good you will have worked out a way around them, by the time you actually reach that point.
But the good thing about having a good road map (project plan) is that you can recruit fellow travellers to assist you if you don't know how to negotiate a particularly rough section. Just as you would hire a guide if you ventured into unknown territory - so you can find people who have been there and done that to assist you.
Where can you find these people?
Well depending on your particular project the following are some suggestions:
Your own social network of people - given that you know quite a few people, who also know quite a few people....sooner or later you will find someone who has the skills and abilities you need.
Your own professional network of people, including online boards. Don't know the answer, ask the question. Most people don't bite - too hard.
Your organisation library or information centre. If you are fortunate to know a librarian or two - they may not know the answer straight away, but they probably know where to look.
And talking of libraries - books, journals and databases of information - all available for you to use.
And if all else fails, hire the expertise. Whilst I can lay concrete I would prefer someone who does it for a living, to do the work....it's likely to be quicker.
And that goes for almost anything you want to do.
- If you lack motivation to go to the gym - then find an exercise buddy. Someone who will keep you accountable.
- If you are struggling with your diet, then recruit the family. Chances are good, if your diet is poor, so is theirs. And whilst they are helping you lose weight etc, you can recruit them to go for a walk with you too - if they think they are keeping you on the straight and narrow, they won't realise they're getting fit and healthy too....I know - being a parent can be really sneaky sometimes.
So please don't give up before you start. If you have a plan, you will know who you need to recruit. Now that doesn't mean you can "delegate" all the jobs, nor should you feign ignorance just to get out of doing something. But if you are struggling, you will find people are willing to help - all you need to do is ask.
(MMO1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How long will you try to make a difference to the way your life turns out? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/26/2007 12:02:11 PM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers. Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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How long will you try to make a difference to the way your life turns out? Did you give up the first time you tried to walk and landed on your butt? Of course not, so why do you give up so easily now? Stop looking for problems - look for the solutions.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Focus on what is really important, get rid of the mundane. STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/11/2007 01:34:27 AM ----- BODY:

"When you have 186 objectives nothing gets done" observed Peter Drucker (management consultant and author).

So my question for you today is this - what are you focusing on? Do you have a clear idea of what you have to do today or are you staring inanely at your to do list wishing you could be bothered to start something?

So how do you choose which item to do first?

The answer is easy - the important ones of course.  Stop wasting time on the mundane and the time wasters we fill our lives with, for goodness sake would you like to end your life having completed lots of stuff, but little of importance to you? Or do you really enjoy shuffling bits of paper, reading pointless emails, surfing the net - because you think you need to do more research.

There are certain things we need to do each day, but remember this - behind every great person is a team of people helping them to become greater.... do you think that Tiger Woods got where he is today all by himself? What about the greatest doctors on the earth, the scientists, the explorers, the technical wizards, the business entrepreneurs, and everyone else you can think of - lets face it - we wouldn't be here if it weren't for two people sharing a dream.

Focus on what is really important, get rid of the mundane.
 
(MMW1)
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ian EMAIL: IP: 202.72.152.180 URL: DATE: 04/11/2007 02:11:34 AM Had to laugh – the quote was so painfully pertinent.
Bravo ! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elle DATE: 04/11/2007 02:12:48 AM Thanks Ian, that's fantastic, I love hitting a nerve - Elle ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Bored yet? But it's only the end of January! STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/30/2007 12:14:12 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.  We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning I hope this finds you well.

As I write this I am again struck by how fast time flies when you need more of it.

So a couple of usual questions:
- How much have you managed to achieve so far this year?
- Are you happy with your progress or could you do better? Hint - we can all do better!
- How are your projects coming along?
- What have you done today that takes you closer to achieving it/them?

We've been back at work a few weeks since the Christmas and New Year period, are you back into the groove of only doing enough to get by? Or are you still fired up about making a difference to the way your year turns out?

If you're response was - heck no, I could hardly drag myself out of bed this morning, and please don't talk to me before I've had my third cup of coffee....then we really do need to talk.

Your attitude towards getting more out of every day starts with some simple things. For example:

- What time did you get up this morning? Did you hit the snooze button so many times that you didn't have time to shower, shave/put your make up on?

- What are you wearing? Are you still taking the same care with your appearance as you did when you started your present job?

- What attitude are you wearing? Yes attitudes are something we can change at will. So what is your "face" saying about your attitude towards your job? Now I am not asking you whether you have cleaned your teeth or your lipstick is smudged....but how does your face look? What do others see? Do they see a welcoming face, or one that says - bug off I don't have time for you you insignificant twerp. How dare you interrupt my day.

Which is all very well, but try keeping your job if the boss sees you. Worse still if you are the boss, do you have a high turnover of staff? No wonder - everyone thinks you an unapproachable jerk, and someone who is only nice when they want something. Hint - everyone can see through it, they are just scared to tell you, because they fear getting fired.

In order to change the way your life turns out, you have to look at everything.
- Every thought that you have
- Every word that you speak - outloud or to yourself
- Every action that you take
- What you look like (appearance)
- What your face and your attitude says about you

And then you have to ask - is the rest of the year going to be the same if I am not willing to do things differently? The answer is of course YES.

The final question you need to ask yourself today is:

Is that OK?

And if it's not - then what are you going to do about it?

With many thoughts
Elle B
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What is your "problem" protecting you from? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/01/2007 01:22:19 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Carrying on from yesterday's message regarding problems and what you are not willing to face. In other words - you know you have a problem, but one that you are not willing to admit to having (well not in the cold light of a sober day that is).

So the next question has to be - what is the problem protecting you from?

If you would like to look at it this way - having the problem stops you from moving forwards, yes? But confronting it may take you into territories only your shrink would be able to deal with. So we protect ourselves, we are afraid to deal with it, so the problem insulates us, but protects us from - what?

Well usually - doing more, being more, achieving great things.

Imagine drinking yourself into oblivion every night. The reason why you do that may be linked to all sorts of reasons, not least of which are habit or your folks are drinkers so you've been dragged up to believe it's normal behaviour. And for them of course it is. But really all alcohol is - is an excuse for you to hide behind.

You say you want to start a home based business - but because you need the money you currently earn, you have to work at night and on the weekend. At first you may be excited to get the project off the ground so you don't touch the stuff.

Then you get your first customers and you celebrate the success....now depending on your ability to drop bad habits and pick up good ones, may depend on whether you can stick to one drink or are you the kind of person who needs a bottle? Anyway, the next night comes around, and because you've had a bad day at work (which is one of the reasons why you want to work from home) you hit the booze early. You stagger off to bed thinking that tomorrow, you'll be able to cope with the additional demands and pressures and it won't happen again.

The original problem is then compounded by the "problem" with your reliance on alcohol. It may have several other problems associated with it, namely poor health, excess weight, monetary etc etc. But until you get to the root cause of why you need alcohol, food, illicit drugs etc and then there are those things you hide behind that aren't food related - for example, why you cause problems through argumentative or violent behaviour.

It doesn't matter what you use to enable your problem, the problem exists because you are not willing to deal with it, because dealing with it, means losing your emotional reliance on those things you can "blame" for not getting on.

Today's edition is quite long and quite complicated, but it goes to the heart of procrastination.

What are your problems?
What are they protecting you from?
What are your enablers?
By not dealing with the problem you will never get rid of the "enablers" and the enablers keep you stuck going around the problem.

It takes some doing, but if you want to answer those few questions - and be willing to deal with the answers that you get, you will be able to get rid of procrastination once and for all.

But then you wouldn't need me to talk to you....darn - can't win can I?

Have a thoughtful day
Elle

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Your last memory STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/06/2007 02:38:18 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good morning and just a quick thought for today

If this were your last ever memory. Would you be happy to die doing whatever it is you are doing right now?

Does this sound morbid? Well I hope not, we all have to die at some point, unless you know something I don't of course.

So would you like to get the end of your life not having completed those things you said you wanted to achieve? Not just those things you have on your to do list for today, but all those life goals...the do before I die kind of goals that we have lurking at the back of our minds.

Only you can decide that of course, and like everything else that we do and say – it is entirely up to us how much effort we put in to living the life we say that want to live.

As we mentioned yesterday, focus on what you want for long enough and things start to appear. Focus on what you don't want and guess what - that will appear too.

So just for today, practice the complete it before moving on to the next job way of working.
Make those phone calls you have been putting off.
Clear your intray and your inbox, answer what needs to be answered and file the rest.
Clear your desk and your mind of clutter and focus on what is important to you right now.
Smile and enjoy what you are doing - whatever it is. You have to do it anyway, so why not enjoy the process, otherwise you will just get grumpy. And life is too short to spend being grumpy.

I hope you have a fortunate day
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Because... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/16/2007 05:49:14 AM ----- BODY:

You can overcome the procrastination habit - but first you need to admit that you have a problem with procrastination. You see most people don't mind admitting that they smoke or eat too much, they're not quite as willing to admit that they delay starting things, or start things and don't finish them. They make excuses - oh well I didn't do so and so because....

Because is a great word when you want to explain why you didn't get around to doing whatever it was you know you should have done. Because is our way of trying to wheedle our way out of accepting responsibility for our actions.

I didn't get around to it because....
- I didn't have the time/money/space/energy
- My kids/family/friends/work colleagues wanted me to do .... and i ran out of time to ...

Actually the reason why you didn't do something is BECAUSE you didn't want to. Admitting that you didn't want to do something can be the first step in recognising that you do have a problem with procrastination. Too many people hide behind the word "because" and those who don't hide behind the word "because" hide behind the other procrastination words - BUT and TRY.

Because, But and Try are words our minds associate with not doing all that we can. And every time we use them we are giving ourselves an excuse to give up when the going gets a little bumpy.

So if you want to break the procrastination habit you have to stop giving yourself permission to fail. Accept responsibility for the decisions you have made so far and those you are about to make. And if you don't want to do something, don't pretend that you do. And stop using the kind of words that hold you back from achieving greater things.

"Do or do not, there is no try"
Yoda.


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(MMM1) (MMW1)

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Life is short, make yours count STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/17/2007 01:28:38 AM ----- BODY:

Today I was going to talk to you about your reading material and the impact that can have on where you end up at the end of your life. But a major event has just occurred in a campus at Virginia Tech - where a friend and colleague of mine works, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  For those of you who haven't heard the news yet, there has been a shooting  - and it has been labelled by the press as a massacre. Staff and students are involved and at this stage I don't know whether my friend - Professor Ray Dessy is one of those involved.
All i can do is wait for the news.

Way back when I worked at a chemical company in their research department, we were looking for some information to do with Electronic Laboratory NoteBooks. In those days, few people were talking about the longevity of digital records - one of the people we found was Ray Dessy. Many conversations, emails and christmas cards later, we are still no further forward with the answer to how on earth do we keep electronic records in a way that we can still access them in 5 years let alone 50 - but people like myself, Ray and others like him are still looking for the answer.

So why am I telling you about my relationship with a guy I've never met personally?

Well - when I needed help and information, Ray was one of the few that answered the call. A genuine person who was willing to help a complete stranger. The information he shared allowed us to make an informed decision on a major business venture, and for that I am grateful.
 
As today has shown, we never know what today is going to bring, let alone tomorrow. So before you waste your day on things that do not matter, things that take you away from living the life you say you want to live, remember life is short. So make yours count. Be remembered as the person who made a difference to the way other people's lives turn out.

With love and light
Elle
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What gear are you in? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/07/2007 12:40:31 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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What gear are you in?

No I don’t mean, what clothes are you wearing at the moment. Rather what “gear” are you in?

As you learn something new, you will be in first gear, struggling to climb the hills and negotiate the corners.

Do you remember learning how to drive? When we first learn something new, that is exactly what it’s like, you wonder how on earth you are going to remember how to do all that – AT THE SAME TIME. But sooner or later, you get what the instructor is trying to tell you and you manage to change gears, steer and breathe at the same time. Before you know it, you start to coast. You don’t have to remind yourself to change gears (actual ones this time as opposed to metaphorical ones), nor do you have to remember to check your mirrors before signaling and changing lanes. It becomes automatic.

Now the question has to be, what are you doing now? What gear are you in? Do you consider that you have learned everything there is to now with regards to your current position? Are you still learning new things, or are you coasting through the day, barely acknowledging the other drivers who happen to get in your way? You know where all the humps and bumps in the road actually are, and you can negotiate the curves like a pro. Work has become something you simply do. Mundane, never changing....boring.

Translate that scenario into the rest of your life, what gear are you in with regards to your relationships? Are you still working hard at it, or have you begun to coast?

What gear are you in with regards to exercise, health and fitness, personal development? Unless you are learning, asking "why" you will lose ground to those people around you. All of a sudden you look up to find they're miles ahead of you, and you wonder what on earth happened! You stopped looking, that's what happened. You gave up, your eyes glazed over and decided near enough was good enough. And whilst you were doing that, everyone else overtook you. They're busy changing gears to see what new and exciting things are around the next corner - whilst you are slowly grinding to a halt like a seized engine.

Imagine walking into your life with amnesia - what would you see? What would you want to change? How would you want to live your new life?

Of course you don't have to get a bang on the head to see this and make some changes, but if that's what it takes.....
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Are you a lazy student? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/19/2007 02:19:49 AM ----- BODY:

Tell me what you are reading and I’ll tell you if you are serious about getting more out of life. The books you read are one of the things that can tell me whether you are a serious student of life, or whether you are content to let life happen to you.

So what are you currently reading? OK I’ll go first. I never have a single book on the go at any one time, there are at least 4 books on my beside table as we speak. The Treehouse - Naomi Wolff, (just finished) Thursday’s with Morrie – Mitch Albom; The Occulatum, In Search of Stones, M Scott Peck (yes he of the road less traveled fame) and Natural Magic. Why so many books? Well they all serve a different need depending on what I am thinking about at any particular point in time. However, one of my favourite books of all time is the dictionary - as strange as it may seem, but the difference between an average intelligence and an exceptional intelligence comes down to a few thousand words. But that does not mean you should simply read the dictionary, and be able to spell properly (although it does sometimes help). But knowing what the words actually mean.

The reason the dictionary is one of my most thumbed possessions is simple - I consider myself to be ignorant in quite a few areas of life. For instance, maths might as well be written in Sanskrit, and legal jargon is exactly that. But I am a serious student of life, I have to be, Not only do I have to speak to you every day, I have the very important task of raising two exceptionally bright children. I don’t want them to come home from school and ask me a question and not be able to answer them properly, or at least not be able to find the answer somewhere. The difference between my children and myself, is that I will turn to books first, the Internet second. My children use the Internet first. They don’t know what it’s like to live their lives without the World Wide Web, I do, and whilst I can see the immense benefits of having access to the world’s information at my finger tips, the children have yet to learn that everyone can have a website, and probably has. And with that of course, everyone has their own version of opinion, bias and hearsay to share with the world – yes even me. Everyone is a publisher and whilst this can be a good thing, it also means that we have to be more discerning as a reader as to what we fill our minds with.

So what happens when we plug in a few words into our search engine of choice? How many pages do you go through before you give up? One? Two? Half a dozen? The trouble with limiting yourself to this kind of search and information retrieval means that you are unlikely to find all the information that you need to make an informed decision. And today is not the time or place to explain why. But I will say this.

I consider myself to be an expert searcher, but even I struggle sometimes to find what I need on the search engines of the world, and the reason is quite simple. Any web site that sits behind a firewall, a password, a screen that needs you to ask a question before you find an answer, even the old frames based sites, are incomprehensible to the average spider. Hint – spiders are those bits of code that roam the world wide web and create the rankings that you see when you get a list of answers back to your question. How intelligent do you think your average spider is anyway? After all they can’t ask questions and they don’t have fingers to press the button that says – click this button to enter….

Which is why I rarely rely on a single search engine, or reference tool. It’s also the reason why I have more than one book on the go at any one time.

So my questions for you today:
? Do you always read the same kinds of books by the same kinds of people?
? Why?
? Do you read non-fiction as well as fiction? Or do you prefer the supermarket tabloids?
? When are you going to become a student of life rather than a follower of what other people do and say?

The final point – being a student and not a follower is essential – be willing to question – everything, don’t take things at face value, judge a book by it’s cover or any other cliché I can’t think of at this moment. It is only when you begin to question do you begin to learn.
(MMW1) (MMM1)
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: torrent download EMAIL: [email protected] IP: 122.52.45.223 URL: http://www.areze.com DATE: 11/26/2010 09:16:48 AM You've got a great article here. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The time equation STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/20/2007 02:48:56 AM ----- BODY:

We have had quite a lot of new subscribers to the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine since I last spoke about the time equation, so for those of you who have heard it before I apologise. But it is also a good reminder, just how little time we actually have each and every day to spend on those activities we say are important to us….

So my serious students, are you ready to begin?

It is Autumn here in Perth, Western Australia, the heat of the summer has finally left and we can finally get to grips with the brown patches of earth that used to be lawns and gardens. I love Autumn, I love the fact that the mornings are cool, and the evenings are not yet too cold. We can sit outside and watch the wide screen views that come with living so far away from the city. I may grumble about the drive sometimes, but living away from all the light pollution does mean I get to “see”.

Autumn is also a great time to re-establish the priorities. What plans do you have for those wet winter months? Or are you planning to sit and watch the indoor plasma whiling away your lives watching other people live theirs?

We are about to start the next season of Big Brother – for me this is a good thing, it means that I definitely have a reason NOT to turn the television on. Whilst it is an interesting concept, that of being able to watch other people live mundane lives, I don’t want to spend my life doing it. But I know that for a lot of people, this kind of “reality” tv show becomes an extension of their own lives. They sit on the sofa watching other people sitting on the sofa….

We are all given 24 hours every day – no exceptions;
Take away the time that you are sleeping; Take away the time that you spend getting ready to go to work, travelling to and from work and the hours you are at work. And what have you got left? The answer is not very much.
24 hours ( - ) _________ (sleep) ( - ) _________ (getting ready for work, travelling to and from work, plus time spent at work) ( - ) ___________ (dinner preparation, eating, supervising homework, dishes and housework) =  _____________ (left to do what you really want to do).

Most people sleep about 7 hours a night. If you work a “normal” full time job you will get up at 6am, get ready, have breakfast and travel to your destination for an 8.30am start where you will stay until approximately 5pm. Then you go home, pick up the kids, supervise homework and cook dinner, which of course then has to be eaten. Dishes washed and all of a sudden the clock says sometime between 7 and 8pm. Which means that you have approximately 3-4 hours left of each day for you to work on your dreams and goals, usually broken up into tiny slots during a typical day. Of course you may decide that you can get stuck into your projects on a weekend, but how many of you actually do that?

So as you think about your weekend, I would ask that you spend a little time and work out your own time equation, and then once you have determined where you spend your time, ask that you ask yourself a question:

Is that OK?
 
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(MMM1) (MMW1)
If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Struggling to write, send yourself a message STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/09/2007 12:29:21 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ MOTIVE + ACTION = Motivation. The reasons why you want something are no good without the steps you take to get there. We hope you enjoy reading.
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Good Morning a quick tip for today.

If you are struggling to finish a report or any piece of writing, attach it to an email and send it to yourself with a few notes on what still needs to be done. If you do this last thing at night, it is waiting for you as you log back in the following morning. The notes act as a prompt and you can usually (this may not work everytime) finish the piece in a quarter of the time it would have taken you had you laboured over the words on the previous day. What I have also found is this - the words you did labour over yesterday, you will edit back anyway.

Kind Regards
Elle 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't settle for failure STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/10/2007 04:20:40 AM ----- BODY:

The kittens are hard at play. Oblivious to my need to write and concentrate. Oblivious to the destruction they are causing in their pursuit of feline happiness.  To them, life is fun, full of new things to explore and taste. They are totally focused on the fact that they are kittens and they have been put on this earth for one thing and one thing only – to play. With a capital P.

The cliché – curiosity killed the cat….I can certainly relate to that one. Given where they get to in their exploration of the house and its contents. But did you know there is a second part to that saying? Well there is, believe it or not….curiosity may have killed the cat, but persistence brought him back.

No I’m not saying we should be cat like in our behaviours, not unless you enjoy washing behind your ear with your tongue. But we can learn a lot from simple yet complex creatures.

They have complete focus on one thing at a time. Sure they dash off when the next shiny things catches their eyes. But whilst they are looking at and playing with one thing, they focus their entire attention on it.
When they get bored – they move on.
They are not afraid to take big leaps
They get into impossible situations and then work out a way to get out of it. They don’t care if they land flat on their faces, they’re off and running, and they learn from their mistakes.
They see playgrounds where most of us would see a chair.
They sleep when they’re tired
They eat only when they’re hungry and stop the minute when they get full (how many of us do that?) – which probably explains why there’s not many fat cats around!!

So am I saying we should act like cats, without thought or consequence for our actions?
No, and that’s what makes us difference from other animals on this planet as far as we know. We are the only species that can think and act according to our beliefs and those actions that we have taken in the past. But that said, those things can also hold us back. Sometimes we are afraid to take those flying leaps, afraid that we may land on our noses and the shame and embarrassment of that….
But what I am asking you to do is to look at what you are afraid to do and then ask yourself if you would do that “thing” if you weren’t afraid of the consequences. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: How to demotivate your employees STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/23/2007 03:33:34 AM ----- BODY:

Worst case of customer service I have ever seen and it happened to me.  

Sunday morning, a long leisurely walk down to the river and coffee - a perfect start to our day...or so we thought. We paid our money, was given a table number and we chose to sit by the waters edge....some 45 minutes later - still no coffee. So I volunteered to go and see what the hold up was...

The reception I received was less than hospitable - the person making the coffee picked up the receipts and slammed them down in front of one of the wait persons - mumbling - "Oh no, not again" she proceeded to go through them. Unfortunately she didn't find it, so then I was glared at and told to go and sit down - a non-verbal accusation of being a liar and a cheat. What was wrong of course, was there were no systems and checks in place, the procedure was faulty - but both the wait person and myself were made to feel that we were in error. She may have been, it may have been her first day on the job,. Who knows - what I do know is that after being told a third time to go and sit down - to which I replied "I heard you the first time" - I was stunned and appalled by the behaviour. The person making the coffee may have been the owner, she may have just been a fellow employee of the waitperson she had just humiliated. But it doesn't matter, the damage was done, and it got worse.

After a life time of working in the customer service industry, there is always one rule, be polite, followed by - be sincere. The "thank you for your patience" we received when the coffee was finally delivered was both rude and sarcastic, compounding error with error.

Every day we are given one chance to make a difference to the way other people's lives turn out. We have the power with both words and deeds to make someone's life a joy or an absolute misery.  The error that the staff at this particular establishment then made, was that I was a tourist and not a local....

Does this sound like I am going to be vindictive? Absolutely not, but I have sent a note to the management this morning, and advised them to employ people who a) want to work b) enjoy what they are doing because if you don't, you are likely to get staff treating customers with a little less than respect. And worse still treating their colleagues badly too.

Everyone who works with you and for you can make a massive difference to way your business is run, and ultimately the profits you make. It doesn't matter if it's the cleaning staff, or the CEO if you have a problem in one area I can almost guarantee you will have problems throughout the organisation.

So, how do you know if you have a problem? Well turnover of staff is one of the biggest clues. If you don't pay people according to the current levels, they will find a job that does. If the conditions they work in are not good they will find one that is, but if the people who work together have no idea how to treat each other with respect, then you will have people leaving in droves.

As with all things in life, you cannot change another person's behaviour you can only change your own. If you have any say in how your business is run - hint - you all have a say in how the business performs, then lead by example. If you want people to be surly and rude towards you and your customers, then be surly and rude to them. If you want to be taken seriously then you need to look at your own actions and lead by example.

(MMO1)
 
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: What does today look like? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/15/2007 12:36:33 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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Good Morning

What does today look like? Does it look exactly like yesterday? Apart from different clothes that is? Worse still are you wearing the same clothes that you wore yseterday? Is it any wonder that today and every day seems like groundhog day, when you cannot distinguish between today and the many yesterdays that have gone before. You are living your life in a dispirited, confused haze.

We tell ourselves that today - today is going to be different. I am going to do.....and .....

and we get to the end of the day, tired, frustrated and having no sense that you have made any impact on .... anything.

You stagger home from work, eat, have a drink or two to numb the pain of dejection, watch some television and head off to bed.....telling yourself that tomorrow you will.....

and

Why is today exactly like yesterday and the day before and the day before?

Did you know that you only have one chance to live today. Although given my previous comments you would think we had all the time in the world, and it doesn't matter if we don't live up to our potential or our own personal expectations, after all there's tomorrow. You can make the changes we need to make tomorrow, when you're more in the mood.

Did you know there will never be a better time than today. There will never be a good time, a time when you're in the right mood for long enough to do what you need to do, a time when the kids have left home, when you've eaten all the bad stuff in the fridge, when the weather changes, or whatever it is you are waiting for to pull you out of the mire of if, but and maybe....

So if you are living your life in a blurry haze, it's time to ask yourself what it is you want and want to achieve. Are you not making any progress because you keep asking for the same things out of life?

Well it's time to throw away the old list, it's time you designed a new life. And you do that by doing as well as reading, by making a decision rather than allowing others to make decisions for you. Working out the reasons why you want something, and what problems you are hiding behind.

Don't be afraid of change, after all it's one of the constants in this thing called life.
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so. I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Set goals that inspire you STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/16/2007 12:13:24 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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"Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling."  Vincent Van Gogh
 
Setting goals that inspire you is vital. Without something to look forward to you will simply drift through each day.
 
How do you set goals that inspire you?
 
Sit down for a minute with your mad/would like to do before you die list of things. In there are the seeds of inspiring goals.
 
Have you ever wanted to visit the pyramids? How about white water raft down the grand canyon or travel around Australia on a bus?
 
These are the keys to designing the life you were meant to live. How are you going to achieve these things? What can you do today to take you one step closer to achieving these things? Visit the pyramids - get on the net, check out the tours on offer, go to the travel agents, go to the bank to talk about your finances, go home and talk to your spouse. Get a new job if you need to earn more money, write the book and sell it, have a garage sale to make some additional money - do whatever you have to do in order to achieve those things.
 
Get excited about life and living it.
 
If your current goal list doesn't inspire you then you need to spend some time this weekend working out what does, because until you do, you will end up in the same place next year, doing the same things you've always done - the only change will be - you will be a year older.
 
Elle
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Habits are de-sensitizers STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/26/2007 03:40:36 AM ----- BODY:
Easy to acquire, impossible to get rid of, habits keep you locked into patterns of behaviour that form our existence.

Of course not all the habits that we have are “bad” in fact some of them are extremely important. They keep us moving forwards when if we had to stop and think about everything that we had to do every day, and I mean really stop and think about them, we would be completely overwhelmed by everything that we had to do and achieve, and as you can imagine, you would get very little done.

Every day we are bombarded with millions of stimuli, competing for our attention and energy. Our non-conscious though processes have the task of filtering out those things that it thinks we don’t need to worry about, and filtering in to our conscious thoughts those things it thinks we are interested in. Then what usually happens, it is usually only the loudest or the most persistent that seep through the fog of unconsciousness into what passes for clarity in our minds.

In order to break through the fog, and the procrastination habits that form our lives, we need to think differently. But if our thought processes are weak, our non-conscious brains quickly come to the conclusion that we are not serious., and before you know it, you have “forgotten” that you were going to….

So how do you begin to form long lasting thought changes that will replace those current habitual practices that you have into something more meaningful? “they” say it all begins with a thought.

Well we are going to test that theory in a very fundamental way.

If you can – close your eyes, and “see” a white circle on the black screen in front of you. Now change that white circle for an orange one…..and keep on staring at that orange circle. Can you imagine picking that orange up, can you smell the citrus? Can you “peel” the orange?

If this is the first time you have ever tried that kind of visualization technique, chances are going to be good that you lost the plot when I asked you to visualize a white circle. I can guarantee that other thoughts started to intrude into your mind didn’t they? If you managed to get further than the white circle, you did extremely well. You see the mind is not used to focusing on one object for more than a few seconds at a time. We have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to thinking about new things. Remember all those New Year’s Resolutions we set ourselves each year?

So my question for you is this. How on earth can you hope to bring lasting changes to the thought processes that you have had for a lifetime that you have had if you can’t “think” of something for more than a few seconds at a time?

Well, like all things it takes time, practice and patience. Which is why habits are so important. They stop us having to worry about thinking too hard about the little things that fill our days and nights. They may keep us locked into doing the same things day after day, but if they didn’t we may fail to remember to clean our teeth and have a shower.

If you have failed to make lasting changes to the way you live your life so far, then it is because you have allowed your non-conscious brain to control your life. You have filtered out so much that you no longer “see” and if you don’t “see” anything new then you are not going to make any long lasting changes.

So how can you change your thought processes from ones that don’t work, to ones that do?

Well – yesterday we spoke about believing in ourselves and those items on our goal lists. If you believe that something is possible you are taking the first steps towards goal achievement. You will begin to re-train your mind to think that you can have those things that you say that you want. But that is only the first step. Now it gets a little harder.

Take one of those items on your goal list and “see” it in your minds eye. Is it clear or is the picture you have a little fuzzy?

Now as you imagine that thing, I need you to start adding some details. What can you see, what can you hear, what can you touch, what can you smell?

As with the previous exercise with the circle, if you struggled you are going to have to spend some time creating and re-creating the images inside your mind. You see once you know what it is you are trying to achieve, then you will be able to move towards it. But what if you can’t imagine what it’s like to be skinny, or healthy? Well then you use the other technique, and play with photoshop (or cut and paste) and find an image of the thing that you say that you want, and then you need to superimpose yourself on that image. Newspaper tabloids have been practicing the technique for years, and most people can’t tell the difference between real and the imagined. And neither can your mind.

So, if you are serious about changing the habits of a lifetime, then you need to get the glue and the scissors out and get creative.

 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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(MMM1)
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Practice makes perfect STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/18/2007 07:35:53 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
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I'm sure you've all heard the phrase - practice makes perfect.
Athletes, sports people and professional people all make practice a study. They watch what they do, they watch what they say and they make changes according to what works and what doesn't.
But how many of us make practice a study? I'd have to say most of what we do is trial and error.  We may have a vague feeling that we're not quite on the right path, but we're not sure what path we should be on. So we make some changes, sometimes those changes are radical, we change jobs in the hope that we can find that elusive push to get us going again. Or we forget that we wanted to do better things for ourselves and our families, swallow and keep on doing what we've always done. I'm sure you know what I mean, and I'm sure you've all done the same, I know I have.
OK, this is not a beat yourself up session. We feel that we've tried our hardest, and hey it's not your fault that....
Well when I said it wasn't a beat yourself up session. I will say that in order to get a different result, then you do need to accept that the choices that you have made so far have gotten you to this point. If you can admit that you made a few mistakes all well and good, because it's only by admitting that perhaps the choices that you've made so far may not have been the best ones, but perhaps they were the best ones you could make at the time, then you can truly move on.
So how do you make better choices next time?
Well like all things, practice really does make perfect. Learn from people who have been there before you. Read their books, read their stories, see if there is any correlation between their situation and yours and see if you can't make a few changes. Their stories contain the blue print for designing a new life. They have a different mindset, they know that sometimes they will win and sometimes they will lose, but they see "losing" as an opportunity to tweak their game plan.
Visualise what you want your life to look like, but not in a vague, ooh - when I win the lottery I'm going to.... I want you to see your new life in your minds eye, what are you doing, where are you, with whom are you doing it, what do you look like. When you can see this new life in glorious technicolour detail - much like the mini cooper S we were talking about the other day, then you will be able to work out the steps that you need to take to get you there.
Sounds simple doesn't it. I have to say it's not rocket science, but most people live their lives in the negative, they know what they don't want....well work out what you do and you will stand a better chance of achieving it. I'm not saying this will be a fast process. Neither your goals nor your visualisations should be something you do once and never have to do again.
So today - take the time to start designing your new life, after all that's where you are going to be living.
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Ask and you shall receive STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/24/2007 07:16:26 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
hope you enjoy reading.
 
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We are all born with a curiosity to know and to learn. Do you know the difference between those people who get on and those who don't? The questions they ask, and what they do with the information they receive.
As children, we can't wait to get up in a morning and we hate going to bed at night. We wanted to study the bugs and the beetles - have you ever wondered how a bee can fly with those tiny wings, or how on earth a pelican can get in the air with a mouth laden with fish? You didn't? children do, and if they can't work out the answer themselves, they ask.
They're not afraid of ridicule, they may get it, but that doesn't stop them asking. I remember asking my mum what a "crust - a - cean" was? To this day she has never let me forget that. But it didn't stop me from asking the questions.
As adults though, we think we can do it alone, that we know all the answers or know where to look for them. If we could be bothered to get up and look that is. Do you know the main reason why we aren't where we should be? Because we forgot to ask questions, and lots of them.
If you don't know - ask. Why is that important - because failing to ask means we don't want to do anything about our circumstances. Because if you don't know you can't do anything about it. Learn to ask the right questions, and you will start to get the right answers, and once you have right answers, then anything is possible.
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No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Finishing things off STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/30/2007 08:09:13 AM ----- BODY:

Just reading a book by Bob Burg - Mastering your traits.... - hmm looks like I have one or two traits I still need to master. Anyway one of the things he talks about is persistence. In other words don't stop once you have created your list of goals, but actually spend some time and see things through to the end.

One of the things I am guilty of is failing on the persistence stakes - as in half doing things, it could be a book I am writing, and I have several half-written....but it could also be  a gardening project, or  - well you name it, almost anything.

Yesterday I decided that I needed to clean the house and get rid of a few half-finished projects that have been lying around. It was also bucketing it down for most of the day, so a perfect chance to do just that....until I found that I didn't have all the bits that I needed to complete the tasks. So we downed tools (vacuum cleaners and polishing cloths) and drove into one of the few major centres  that are open on a Sunday in Perth, WA. Why, when I was actually driving to that very same place the following day, and could have picked up the bits that I needed during my lunch break.

I can only put it down to a classic procrastination technique. You stop doing one thing, so you can focus on something else - now this is not the same as the "more ups and downs" that we spoke about the other day. Rather - you pretend that you are getting on, when all you are doing is not using the time that you have been given in a structured manner. Did we then complete the tasks when we got back from our shopping expedition? Of course not, the items are still sitting in their bag on the floor in my study. Now I have a perfect excuse lined up for tonight - can't possibly do so and so because I need to ....

See what I mean. Classic procrastination technique.

So, a few random thoughts.

    * What projects have you started but not finished.
    * Are you going to finish them or are they going to hang around waiting for when you have the time....
    * Are you afraid that once you have completed everything on your task lists, you'll have nothing left to do?
    * Are you hiding behind multiple project syndrome....as in - too much to do, not enough time, can't choose which one to start first - so won't be bothered to do any of them.


A few suggestions on solving the problem:

    * Go through each room in the house in which you live and write down everything that needs sorting out. Be it, new cushion covers and curtains to cleaning out your desk drawers.
    * When you get a spare five minutes - for example, when you are waiting for the kettle to boil, dinner to cook - or whatever it happens to be, pick one of the tasks and do it.
    * Cross it off when you have done it, and give yourself a figurative pat on the back. Then go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before hand. Unless you weren't doing anything before in which case - choose another item off the list and do that one as well.
    * Throw away the clutter, de-stress your living environment and celebrate every little  completed act. (Hint throw the big party for the moment when you've completed everything off the list).


And no I shan't be hypocritical, I shall also be busy tonight.

Elle
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Manageable steps STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 02/27/2007 04:23:50 AM ----- BODY:

Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info.We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
 
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I know I seem to have spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks talking about setting goals that inspire you. Ones that you can see in your minds eye, ones that are so real they come alive for you.
 
Which is all very well I can hear you complain, but what happens when those things that you say that you want, bear no reality to where you are in your life at the moment, and more to the point, it's going to take you years to actually achieve it.
 
Well I never said it was going to be easy now did I? And if setting goals and achieving them was like making toast in a morning and all you had to do was decide whether to have butter or vegemite on it, well it would hardly be worth getting up for now would it?
 
All together now - NO
 
Well there are a couple of things to remember.
 
1. Those things that you do on a daily basis can either take you towards your goal or away from them. That's up to you as you know.

Say you are saving for a holiday. But rather than putting money to one side when you receive your pay check you decide to wait until the end of the pay period just in case something comes up, and sure enough you get to the end of the pay period and you're hanging out waiting for the next paycheck to come through. You have a nasty nagging feeling that you were going to put money to one side so you can go on holiday next year. And you vow that you will do better next time. If you just stop buying those cups of coffee and take away meals, you'd have lots of money saved by now.

2. Some goals cannot be completed in one giant leap. However, each step can take you a little closer to achieving what you say you want.

Say you have always wanted to open your own training and consultancy business. One of the first things you need to do is gain a reputation in your field - preferably a good one - which can take years. You start of with a company and learn all you can, you may take additional courses to gain more experience and knowledge and you go out and about and conduct reviews and training courses for clients. You should get some feedback at this point - do you need to brush up on some things, or did you nail it on the first try? Hint, few if any people nail absolutely everything on the first go. So don't panic if you received a - "could try harder" on your report card.

However, after a couple of years of working with a number of clients, you decide that you know enough about the business so you can start to create one of your own. Now you can poach your current employers client list, but it's a sure way of getting a bad reputation in the market place. So you need a business plan. Who are you going to target and how are you going to grab their attention first, followed by lots of money - second. If you can't do the first, you won't be doing the second.

Where are you going to work from, have you got a business name and number, do you have a web presence and a personal but business related email address - hint - elvisthechicken@.... will not do much for your reputation (and yes it is a real address - and no it's not mine). What about phone numbers, fax numbers, do you have your training courses written? What about course material? Where are you going to hold the training? Will you offer lunch or just morning tea (hint - you will need to factor this into the cost).

As you can see, each step is a minor point along the way to creating the life that you really do want to live. And each step is a minor milestone that you can cross off the list of things that need to be done.

But to go back to the clear vision I've been asking you to cultivate for a while, if you don't know what training to offer, because you don't know what you are good at, you are hardly going to succeed now are you?

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: If you are at work - then work STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/04/2007 12:12:12 AM ----- BODY:

If you work from home, then have a designated time for work, and a designated space in which to do your work in. Otherwise you will find the rest of the family impacting on your work time. And your family time missing out on their time when it comes to doing family things.

And time management can be as simple as that. Combine that with working in designated half hour blocks as I mentioned in "through the barrier" and your productivity will surpass anything that you've tried before.

It is another long weekend here in Western Australia which means that I now have to do 5 days work in 4. but it also means that I get 3 days to do my own things, not the usual 2.  But regardless of whether you have 1 day off a week or 4, it still comes down to balance. There are some things that you cannot change, so work with them rather than against them.

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: When was the last time? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/04/2007 06:16:55 AM ----- BODY:

You took a day off and did absolutely nothing?? What do I mean by nothing? Well no dishes, cleaning, washing, cooking, visiting friends and family, cleaning the car, fetching the kids from school. A day when you could relax and catch up on your sleep, your reading, meditation, exercise. You could have a bubble bath and drink hot chocolate, or cocktails (your choice). No I can't remember a day off like that either.

A friend remarked recently that I was not able to relax and do nothing. They also said - it was because of a need to be busy ALL the time. And that was caused by guilt.

It's true I find it very hard to switch off - there is always something going through my mind. And you know what - it's usually just stuff - either stuff I am concerned about (otherwise known as worrying over nothing), what I have to do at work, what I have to do at home, what the kids are doing, whether or not I will find time to exercise today, what projects can I fit in whilst dinner is cooking, and a million other things that really I should just forget about from time to time.

How about you? Do you find it hard to switch off? Are your plans written down so you don't forget what you have to do, or are you (like me) relying on your ever active memory to constantly remind yourself about what you should be doing?

You may be wondering what this has got to do with overcoming the procrastination habit? Well it has everything to do with the procrastination habit. If you're work/life balance is out of line then you are going to feel stressed and unable to cope with yet more pressures of goal setting and goal achievement. What happens then is that your old habits kick in, those better eating habits you were planning on incorporating into your life disappear into the ether as you reach for whatever comfort food you indulge in. Or your reach for a cigarette or a glass of wine to calm you down. You dull the constant nagging with reality TV and before you know it, you are back to where you started...except it's not where you started at all. You've gained all the weight that you'd lost plus a few extra kilos. You're back to smoking 2 packs a day and you've forgotten to go to the gym this week.

We all need periods of quiet, we all need time to reflect on what we've achieved so far. We also need time to plan the next stages of our development, growth, changes, goals, but most of the time we are so caught up just doing stuff.

So what can you (and I) do about that?

1. Write down all those tasks you need to do tomorrow, next week, next month (not to be mistaken for goals) and then forget about them for today.
2. Explain to your partner, kids and any family members who may be around that you need some time out, and then go and take it. If you have to go and sit in a library or a coffee shop somewhere, do it. And finally,
3. Remember what it is like to be still, but you don't have to do this on your own. As I have said, I am not good at this, so I am heading over to a friends place later.  A group of us are getting together, we're having a pot luck dinner, we're going to watch a movie and then we're going to set the incense and candles going and we're going to treat each other to a massage. As professionals we're all buried deeper than a mine during the week - this is our one chance a week to re-discover the beauty of being still.

Enjoy your evening, I'll speak to you soon
Elle

(MMM1)

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Hiding from fear STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/07/2007 05:36:17 AM ----- BODY:
Pain and angst occurs as a result of too many conflicting priorities.

If we are taking on too many projects so that we can avoid something else, then it could be argued that we are afraid. By avoiding the item(s) whatever they happen to be – be it making a decision regarding your living or working arrangements, you can avoid the pain of trying something and failing. You agonise over the decisions that you are facing, you lose sleep over the mental  processing that you are doing. What happens at this point is that you rationalise that the job that you have isn’t that bad. Besides, what would happen if you did apply for another job and you didn’t get it? Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be if people found out you had been rejected.

If your relationship with your partner is poor, but you are afraid to seek counselling or to break free and ask for a divorce. You rationalise that by keeping busy, taking on more duties and responsibilities at work, signing on to every committee and boards you can find, you can avoid going home. In the back of your mind however, there is another reason why you don’t want to face your partner. By admitting that your relationship is not as good as it could be, would mean that you would also have to face the pain and angst of telling the rest of the family especially the children, and you don’t want to admit that you’ve failed, not to them. Besides then there is the financial side to tack on to the emotional side as well, you rationalise that keeping busy and staying away from the “problem” is a solution that works for you.

You feel that the benefits and payoffs in this instance are worth the added stress and pressure that goes with the extra work.

What benefits and payoffs are your current behaviours giving you? Because there is always a benefit and payoff - you decide to forgo your evening exercise for an early night, beer and pizza. Short term benefit in this case of instant gratification rather than long term benefits gained by exercising, which could extend your lifespan by months if not years.

Once you know what your benefits and payoffs are, you can begin to make progress towards overcoming your procrastination habits.
(MMW1)
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Why to do lists don't always work STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/09/2007 03:06:53 AM ----- BODY:


Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/
 
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I’m sure you have at least one “to do list” sitting on your desk right now. If you are anything like your neighbours and colleagues, you probably have several lists – one for work, one for home, one in your briefcase just in case you forget where you put the other lists you created last week, and a list of things you need to do “when you get the time”. The thing is, lists are easy to create, they are also easy to lose, easy to overlook, and easy to forget about when other more urgent items get dropped on your already over flowing desk.

So why do we spend a lot of time creating something that very rarely works? Well there are a lot of reasons, not least of which – having a list means that we can create structure and form out of the chaos that is our desks. We know what we need to do, and we know when we need to have it done by. The problem with most lists, is that there is always something far more exciting to do further down the list rather than the item that sits at number one – which is now important and urgent by the way. We reason that in order to get into the right frame of mind needed to tackle the item that is at number one spot, we’ll do one of the other items on our to do list, and then we will get around to the number one item.  Except of course, we very rarely do, until someone, somewhere (usually the boss) asks where the item is. All of a sudden, the important and urgent item becomes important, urgent and overdue. We work late into the afternoon and evening to produce whatever it is that we need to produce. People (especially the boss) can see us working feverishly away, and reason that we must be very busy, because we are always working so hard.

And because you were able to produce something (OK it wasn’t up to your best standard, but hey you simply ran out of time), this reinforces your belief that you work best under pressure, so instead of starting right away on the next item on the list, you take time out to congratulate yourself on a job well done, perhaps taking time to read the paper, make a cup of coffee, talk to people about how busy you are and so the cycle starts again.

Believe it or not, this is a form of structured procrastination. We put off doing something we ought to do, usually by doing something else simply because we can. And because you are still producing something, you can create the illusion that you are busy and productive, when in reality all you are is busy. You may deceive yourself into thinking that your working day has structure and purpose, you have managed to cross some of the items off your list after all. But I am sure that if you were truly and brutally honest with yourself you will know that you haven’t achieved what you set out to do today at all.
 

“When people say to me, “How do you do so many things?” I often answer them, without meaning to be cruel, “how do you do so little?” It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.”
Philip Adam

 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Building better business relationships STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/13/2007 12:08:23 AM ----- BODY:

Business is all about relationships. It doesn't matter if you are a window cleaner from Wyoming or a Banker from Bakersfield, if you don't manage the relationships with your clients and customers you won't be in business for very long.

But how many times do you see and hear of poor customer service. The sales staff who are sullen, or talking about what they did on the weekend with their significant other rather than serving the people who are waiting? Every time you pick up the telephone, every email that you send, every face-to-face meeting says something about you and your business.

And we are all in business. You don't have to be a business owner to be in business. I have mentioned in a previous edition of DDOMM that we are all in the business of ourselves. If your CV reads like the yellow pages because you keep getting asked to leave, something tells me that you're not very good at being in business.
 
So how do you build a better business? And how can you can get people to buy into your business relationships (and every other relationship you have).

You can do it by FEAR....
- Have you considered what will happen to you and your family if you don't buy/have
- If you leave I will

You can do it by MANIPULATION....
- We have a special offer just for this week,
- Buy one get one free,
- 50-70% off - for this week only and we won't be repeating this kind of pricing ever again.

Internet marketers use this tactic a lot. Go to any of the motivational sites and you will see this kind of offer for "valued" subscribers.

Or you can get people to start and then maintain a business relationship with you because you are:
- Genuinely interested in their needs, wants and desires
- You are honest
- You have a genuine desire to help people.

The difference between the first two kinds of people and the latter kind is repeat business and the amount spent. People can and do see through manipulative tactics, they will eventually see through the fear you are instilling in their minds, and if everything you sell is dependent on price, then sooner or later someone else will come along and offer a cheaper widget, or one that lasts longer.

Yes the first two kinds of people will make money, you can make a lot of money from a fear driven society, but if you are in business then surely you don't want people to buy once, you would like them to come back to you, and you want them to bring their friends.

In order to build better business relationships, and to stay in the business of YOU Inc, you have to remember that you are not selling an abstract "thing" - you are really selling YOU.

The question is - Would you be willing to buy whatever it is you are trying to sell - from you?

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Deadlines are vital STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/10/2007 05:05:30 AM ----- BODY:
If you really want to overcome the procrastination habit, then you need to ensure that you add some deadlines to your goals.

Having a deadline that you cannot get out of, as in there is no way the day or date can be changed, means that you have to do the work or fail miserably.

For me the biggest thing has been the looming City to Surf race. I have not yet registered for the race; you don’t do that for a few more weeks yet. But I know that I needed to start training early so that I could give myself plenty of time to gain the stamina, speed and endurance I would need to complete the course.

I have just uploaded my training diary, so if you want to check out the aches, pains and general training notes, then please visit the City to Surf Training Diary.

But of the other things on my goal list, there are no deadlines in sight. Every thing is “when I get around to it”.

But does it really matter?

Well of course it depends on the items on your goal list. But if you really want to get them moving, then you need to ensure that there is a deadline, and that you are held accountable.

If you are a student, handing assignments in on time, can be a great motivator. But unless the penalty for non-completion of the task is big enough to motivate you, as in – you are going to fail this course if I don’t get your assignment, then you may be tempted to do a little less than you know you should.

Business owners know they are completely responsible for how much work they do each and every day. If they are also responsible for motivating staff (employees sic) to achieve goals and targets, then there is no way you can deal in double standards, and hope to
a)    stay in business for very long
b)    retain your customer base
c)    retain your employees.

If they see you sitting around all day, surfing the net, playing computer games and talking on the phone, whilst they do all the work, you can just imagine how much productivity there is going to be.

KPI’s (key performance indicators) are designed to make you assign realistic deadlines to a series of goals that you are supposed to complete.

If you have not yet assigned a deadline to your tasks, it is perhaps time to do so. After all, if a goal is on your list, then it is important to you, and should be a key performance indicator for where you are in your life at the moment, and where you hope to be after you have achieved the said items.

Of course there will be some items on your goal list (as there is on mine) that you simply can’t assign a date to – for instance, I have “read the top 100 books as designated by Angus and Robertson’s readers”…why should that be on my list in the first place? Well I have become very lazy when it comes to reading. Having chosen half a dozen items off the list so far I am impressed by the wide variety of titles on offer. It’s also known in my family as “because I can”. These “because I can” items are when either money or time allows. The wall climbing challenge was one of those items, climbing Ayers rock is another…

But for everything else, well I need to set some dates, and like the City to Surf training that I am doing, set aside some time each week so that I can complete them. How about you, does your goal list have realistic timelines set against them? Or are yours open ended? Whilst you need some open-ended goals, you also need to balance those with some definite end dates, otherwise you will get to the end of the week / month / year and have achieved – what exactly?
(MMM1) (MMW1) (MMO1) 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Motivate me to exercise STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/11/2007 02:02:16 AM ----- BODY:

Today's entry can be found at - http://www.motivateme.info/motivate-me-to-exercise/2007/5/11/inspiration-to-do-just-that-little-bit-more.html

With love and light

Elle 

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Claim back time, unconnect yourself STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/14/2007 06:52:57 AM ----- BODY:

Pagers, faxes, cell phones (mobiles), land lines, e-mails, the Internet….we are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week. Is it any wonder we are constantly stressed out, wondering where on earth the day has gone as we tried to respond to everyone else’s calls on our time….

You heard it correctly – the technology that keeps us pegged to our desks are designed to make us feel responsible for other people’s wants, needs and requirements. Yes we send out our own version of wants, needs and requirements also, but a question – how many of those messages were that important?

If you want to claim back some time, it is vital that you answer some simple questions:

How many of you keep your electronic mail open?
How many times a day do you check it?
How many accounts do you have?
Have you any idea how much time you waste on that one simple activity?
Does the world fall over if you don’t answer your emails over a weekend? By the way, if you really need to know something, someone, somewhere will find a way of reaching you. And they’ll probably call one of the many telephone numbers that follow you around all day every day.
Do you switch your mobile phone off?
Do you switch your mobile phone off when it’s charging?
How many hours a day do you spend on pointless Internet surfing, pretending to do research?

I realised how sad I had become when on my way into work this morning, a tanker was crossing the intersection in front of me, and sitting there waiting for the truck to get up some speed I had chance to read its payload….carbon disulphide….so basic chemistry kicked….one carbon atom, 2 sulphide CS2…I wonder what it’s used for??? I’ll look it up on the Internet when I get to the office….which rather brought me to a mental standstill. WHY do I need to know what Carbon disulphide is? I don’t, it has no bearing on my immediate life. It didn’t roll over so I didn’t inhale copious quantities of airborne particles….it just drove past me. Why do I want to waste my precious time on something that will not enhance my life?

Which reminded me of something I heard a while back….

If you place a thing in the centre of your life that lacks the power to nourish,

It will eventually poison everything that you are and destroy you.

A simple a thing as an idea or your perspective on yourself or your world,

No-one can be the source of yourself, it lies within, in the centre

“Faithless”

So what lies at the centre of your life?




----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Believe in your "products" STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/14/2007 03:24:15 AM ----- BODY:

You are the CEO of your own business. We may get paid by an organisation, but we are really in the business of “us”. Everything that you produce is of your design and making.

How well we do each day is dependent on a number of factors.

Do you do all that you can every day? Or are there certain areas that you could improve on?

Do you believe in yourself? If you don’t think you can do something then you have already given yourself permission to fail. But if you tell yourself that you can and you will, then anything is possible. Remember learning to walk? Of course not, you were too busy having fun. But no one told you you couldn’t because you had fallen on your well padded backsides a few times did they? No, you kept trying. It’s only as we’ve gotten older we start to believe other people when they tell us that we can’t do something.

Do you believe in what you are trying to “sell” : Selling can be to the other members of your organisation (internal clients) or to the general public and other organisations (external clients). Remember we all have to sell something even if it is only an abstract concept.

For example a few of my readers are in the business of “selling” a better way of doing something to the organisations they work for. They have a particularly hard job because what they are selling is multi-fold, they are selling their expertise, they are selling the concept that a particular piece of software (which they may or may not have had a hand in choosing) that can help their organisation manage their documents and records in a better, more efficient way (and in doing so ensure that their organisation is compliant with the various pieces of legislation). The reason this is problematic is that they are doing it to an unresponsive “market” – “we’ve always done it this way, why should we change”.

So you can imagine – if these people do not believe in what they are trying to sell (either product, process or self) then they are hardly going to convince their “market” that it is worth spending time, effort or money on is it?

The problem with dissonance

You may believe that you are a good person, honourable and will do the best by your clients. However, you also know that the “product” that you are trying to flog is not as good as the marketing hype that has been assigned to it. You know that the engine is a bit dodgy, you may have also noticed the tell tale signs of a traffic accident, but you fail to tell the prospective buyer. The insurance policy you’ve been tasked to sell has more hidden clauses than a pre-nuptial agreement, and the fees associated with the repayments to the bank are glossed over. Would you be happy to hand in an assignment that you didn’t write?

Am I saying that you should be honest about all your dealings? Surely there is a time when you can tell a white lie or two?

Well the answer to both is yes. It is important to be honest with your business dealings, and you do that by admitting that the software has a few glitches. It does some things much better than the old piece of software, but the developers still haven’t gotten their head around a particular process. But you can turn this to your advantage by asking those people who dissent to work with you to create a better solution than if you had kept quiet and allowed them to grumble about it behind your back. It means admitting that the car has seen better days, but you have a report from the mechanic that says…. It means admitting what is included in the price of the insurance and whether or not they would like the additional pieces. As we said yesterday, would you be happy to sell “it” to yourself?

But what did I mean by it was all right to occasionally tell a white lie. Well imagine that you are going to face a new set of clients. You’re not feeling particularly well due to some kind of over indulgence from the night before. You can admit that you are hung over, or you can greet your clients with a smile and reply when asked the question “how are you” with the comment “I’m well thank you, and how are you?”

If you have never considered yourself to be a product before, now is the time to do so. Then you can decide whether or not your “product” needs some additional features, and if so, which ones are you willing to develop.


 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: The secret is out - don't tell anyone STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/16/2007 05:27:16 AM ----- BODY:
Did you know "the secret" is based on is a public domain work written by Wallace D Wattles - The Science of Getting Rich. If you buy the "secret" you get a free copy of the e-book. Given the cost you will be pleased to know there are other options.

If you would like a free copy without having to buy anything then please visit - http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net - you get the book in exchange for an email address.
 
So perhaps the "secret" is how do you leverage something that was written ages ago and make a squillion, or maybe i'm just being cynical. What I do know is - Thought without Action is merely a dream. You can read as much as you like, but if you really want to improve your life, your income, your job, your relationships and everything else you care about you need to decide what you want and then work out how to achieve it. Once you know what you want - and can "see" it - then you will know what steps you need to take in order to make them manifest in your life.

Every thing that you see around you started as a thought in someone's mind. What are your thoughts creating?
(MMM1)(MMO1) 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Take time out STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/18/2007 06:45:36 AM ----- BODY:

Overcome the procrastination habit by taking time out occassionally. Of course if you barely get started in a morning, then you could overcome the procrastination habit by doing something, but lets say for the sake of argument that you have had a good and productive week, surely you should be entitled to some down time.

The answer to that one is "of course".

But when I talk about time out I am not talking about beer and pizza with the boys - well  not all the time. Friday is a good day to go back over the week that you've had. What meetings did you have that went well? How many business deals did you make? Do you remember why they went well? Was it because you slept well and woke refreshed and raring to go? Or was it because you were just happy with where you were and what you were doing that particular day?

Every one of course will have a different definition of what constitutes a "good day" so whatever it was for you, try and break it down (as far as you can) because next week you will be trying to re-create that feeling and that emotion.

I have to confess that today I am feeling tired, worse still I "look tired"....shame really because I have a wedding to go to tomorrow (and no it's not mine). I have achieved a huge amount both at work and at home this last week, but I still feel there have been gaps in my personal time line that lacked direction and purpose.....

So what happens now? Is this a beat yourself up session for not having written another 20 pages of the book or what?

Actually no, which is why it is important to take time out. Have a breather and work out what worked and what didn't, and as we have said - why??? The universal question, have you noticed that kids love that question. They want to know why and they won't be satisfied with a half baked answer either. Why did you do that? Why didn't you do it a different way? Why? why? why? why? Have you noticed that when you are asked a "why" question - you can't wriggle out of the answer? Well you can try, but both you and the questioner know when you are not being entirely honest.

So as you take time out over the weekend (assuming you don't work on a weekend that is) or whenever your next day off is, is start asking yourself the hard "why" kind of questions. And then make yourself answer those questions....properly.

If you can't do this in your head, then get a sheet of paper out and write the questions down. It's a fascinating exercise. Not only does it make you focus on what worked and what didn't, it also helps to clarify your thinking and your doing the next time you are faced with the decisions, did I do all that I could today? If not - then why not?

With love and light
Elle

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: is procrastination a cause or symptom of tiredness? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/19/2007 04:44:37 AM ----- BODY:

Overcome the procrastination habit by getting enough sleep. How can you hope to work hard all day, and play harder all weekend if you don't get enough sleep at night.

And you thought I was going to say - in order to get more done, you are going to have to learn to get by with little or no sleep every day of the weekend, didn't you?

If it is one thing that i have learned bringing up two children virtually single handedly is this - if you want to function effectively, then you are going to need your sleep.

Nite nite everyone
Elle

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Stop taking others for granted STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/21/2007 01:20:57 AM ----- BODY:

Unless you live in a hotel, then stop treating your home like one. We can all be guilty of expecting other people to clean up after us, do the laundry, dishes and cook the dinner. But it is more than just treating other people like you have your own set of unpaid maid servants, it is a lack of respect for yourself that is the biggest telling point especially with regards to procrastination and motivation.

If you don't respect yourself and the place you supposedly call home, then you are unlikely to want to spend time and clean it are you? If you expect other people to clean up after you then you have no respect for other people's time or needs. Are you guilty of borrowing other people's time to compensate for your inability to manage yours?

But what about those people reading this who can afford to pay for the services of a cleaning person, am I saying that you shouldn't have one? Not at all, you are employing another person, giving that person a chance of a better standard of living, and there is nothing wrong with that.  But the question I have to ask is this - are you using the extra time that you have been given by not cleaning your own home as effectively as you could or should, or do you feel that you don't have to work quite so hard now you don't have to run around like a headless chook?

Whilst we are on the subject of taking others for granted....remember it doesn't have to be a special occassion to make it one, after all today is the only chance you have of living life today. Are you sure you still want to be miserable and grumpy knowing that today will be it for some people?

Speak soon
Elle

p.s. today's city to surf training ramblings are now online also. http://www.motivateme.info/city-to-surf-training-diary/2007/5/21/still-playing-catch-up.html
(MMO1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Use your travelling time effectively STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/22/2007 02:38:37 AM ----- BODY:

Imagine being stuck with an extension to your journey you didn’t know about. Trains delayed, traffic jam caused by an accident you can’t yet see, planes diverted because of adverse weather conditions, buses having to stop at EVERY bus stop – you can either get annoyed about the delay. Or get busy. The choice as they say is yours. If you are adequately prepared for this kind of eventuality (otherwise known as opportunities in disguise after all you can’t do anything else), you can make these times work in your favour. Or you could fume, but that will hardly make planes fly faster, or cars drive through knots in traffic now can it?

So carry a notebook and pen wherever you go.
. You can spend the time planning tomorrow and if you're lucky next week as well.
. You can write the next chapter of your book.
. Get a pad with perforated edges you can also spend the time and write to your best friend, your mother or the traffic department.
. Load up your MP3 player with talking books, self-help CD’s and music and while away the hours doing something constructive rather than arrive at your destination frazzled and grumpy.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Take small but measured steps STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/23/2007 08:11:41 AM ----- BODY:

Sometimes it is easy to get overwhelmed by a BIG goal. Imagine that you want to save $10,000 to take the family on a holiday. Some of you may be able to take that amount out of cash flow, but for most of us, $10,000 is a big goal. But saving a few dollars a day can be quite easy....Did you know that a single cup of coffee bought every day can cost almost 1,000 dollars over a year? Well it does, a few decisions like not buying lunch every day, but taking it into work can get you well on the way to your goal. But try saving $10,000 in the last 3 months before the trip is happening....you'd wonder whether you had to take on a second job in order to reach your goal, or cancel the trip wouldn't you?

Or take the weight loss issue, can you lose 20 kilos in a couple of weeks? Of course not.  But you can lose a kilo or two a week, and sure enough over the course of several months you can lose the total amount of weight.

And what about that house you want to paint, or the book you want to write. Impossible targets when you are staring at the task in front of you. But wall by wall, page by page, anything is possible.

So take small measured steps today because those tiny steps repeated on a daily basis can bring you immense results.

Speak soon.
Elle

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ralph Lovuolo EMAIL: [email protected] IP: 71.59.91.215 URL: www.mortgagemotivator.com DATE: 05/23/2007 05:43:07 PM Goals are dreamlike, or should be. We should dream of what we want. but we need to realize that we are dreaming "in the present", understanding what resources we have "at the present". It is very difficult to see where we want to be, our dream, our goal, when we live in the present and yet want to believe, dream that we can have what we want in the future.
Dream big dreams, not little ones.
The bigger the dream, desire, want,craving, longing, yearning, the more we are apt to acheive the dream.
We need to keep the dream in mind, constantly, in order to realize the steps we are taking to achieve it.
Then we need to awake from the dreamlike state and act as if the dream is a reality. Act in every way that we possess the dream, and act to take the steps to achieve the dream.
Without action, dreams, desires and wants are just dreams.
----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Respect for yourself starts the process STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/24/2007 05:09:01 AM ----- BODY:
Respect for yourself says that you will do whatever is in your power to achieve what you say you want to achieve.

Respect for yourself means that you will:
Eat well
Exercise your mind and body on a regular basis
Dress to impress yourself

It means that you don't treat your mind and body like a garbage dump, or infecting other people with your negativity....should you happen to suffer from that particular problem. It also means that you think twice before infecting yourself with whatever negative thought patterns that are running around your head at any particular point in time.

Why is all this important?

Well there are lots of reasons, some of which we have already covered in the many issues of the Daily Dose, but one of the most important reasons is that we are always being judged by those people around us. You may not consider that you are in a position of leadership, but we are. Every one of us, all of the time. Remember me telling you that you are the CEO of the business of you, well you need to add Leader to that title also.

You may have children who look up to you, subordinates who check to see what you are doing first before they start doing their daily tasks. Your brothers and sisters will check to see what you are doing before deciding whether to emulate you or not, and they will emulate you - for good or for bad. Your neighbours look to see whether you are taking care of your property and then decide whether to treat it and you with respect.

OK, sometimes it doesn't work. For example, my neighbours are a little less than respectful at times, but it's amazing what peer pressure can do. My son advised the neighbours son that throwing rocks was not the done thing. But it was also interesting that when there was trouble between the neighbourhood children and a blow in from another neighbourhood, it was me they came to sort it out. You see, the children watched and were aware that it was me who could sort out an issue they were not yet able to handle themselves. And in turn now know how to handle similar problems in the future.

Are you seen as someone who people can turn to? Do people look to you with respect? Or as someone who is a perfect example of what NOT to do?

We all have immense power. How do you use yours?

With many thoughts
Elle
 
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(MMO1)
If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Living up to your true potential STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/18/2007 01:06:05 AM ----- BODY:
Contemplation of the day's activities is essential. Deciding what not to do, is as important as deciding what you should be doing. But I would hazard a guess that not many people would consider starting a Sunday with planning and preparation.
Life without plans, each day a chance to live up to unfulfilled potential.
Of course a few people think they are getting on, living their dream lives. Crossing things off their lists, but how many of them are working on their goals every second of every day. Impossible? Well yes it is if you don't know where you are going and what your goals are. But infinitely possible if you do.
The city was just waking up as I started my day, the sun at an awkward angle. The sound of birdsong drowned out by the clanging of chairs and cutlery. Fishermen drifted into the cover, gliding across still waters. But the fish weren't hungry and they left to cast their lines elsewhere.
In the distance loud speakers counted down to the start of some unseen competition, 4,000 people about to challenge their minds and bodies to do something. As I sat contemplating the tasks I had to complete today, drinking a cup of take-away coffee, a few people were out, enjoying the dappled start of what promised to be yet another humid day. The forecast thundery showers not evident as the early morning exercisers wobbled past the wait staff who had drawn the short straw for setting out the tables for those who couldn't be bothered to cook for themselves.
Sunday - the day of rest for some, but for most, a day of not living up to their true potential.
(MMM1)
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Excuses are for lazy people STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/20/2007 05:21:19 AM ----- BODY:
Every time you make an excuse about why you didn't do something, you are admitting that:

. You didn't have the guts to say no to the task when you were asked to do it. Sometimes other people try and offload their tasks onto us so they can get out of doing it themselves. If you don't have time, then say so. If you do have time and you say yes, then get on and do it, don't grumble, gripe or whine.
. You didn't manage your time properly to cope with the amount of work that you had been assigned to do.
. You kept throwing rocks into your path (see yeserday's edition).
. You pretend you had to do other things first....especially true if you don't like the task you have to do. We can all be good at doing nothing in particular. One guy I know - who shall remain nameless would sooner put up shelves in his new building than get on the phone to clients.
. You leave everything half finished and then explain you can't finish something because you've got so much to do.

If you really want to get on - then stop making excuses. Accept responsibility for where you are and what you have not yet done, and then take steps to rectify the situation. In other words, stop blaming other people, and circumstances for where you are in your life and get stuck in. Accept that one day you are going to die, and then ask yourself - are you willing to die today having left all those jobs half finished?
(MMW1)
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  ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Strength of faith STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/27/2007 04:32:56 AM ----- BODY:

Faith - you believe without question there is a higher power. The strength of that faith may be dependent on your culture and / or the way that you were raised. The question is - do you have the same kind of faith (without question) about your own skills and abilities? Do you believe that you can do something? Do you believe so strongly that if you do everything in your power, you will achieve whatever is your heart's desire. When we look at goal setting and perhaps more importantly goal achievement, and no they are not one and the same thing.

Do you have unquestionable faith that once you set your mind that you are going to do it - no matter what gets in the way, you will find a way around it? Because unless you have that kind of faith - then your goals and dreams will remain on your piece of paper. And if that's the case then it doesn't matter what random collection of words you use, they have the same effect on you and what you are willing to do.

As today is Sunday, here is a task for you. I need you to reconnect with the faith you have in yourself. And if your faith is a little shaky (you feel you don't have all the skills you think you need to fulfil a particular goal) then I need you to act anyway. One thing I have noticed is that when I choose to work on something, regardless of whether i have all the tools i need to finish it, the normal filtering mechanism we use in our non-conscious thought process, suddenly starts to take notice of what you are trying to do and then tries to help you by providing references, pointing you in the right direction.

As Jack Canfield said in "the secret" - until he asked the question - how could he get his book out to the people who would want to buy it, he didn't "see" the magazine the National Inquirer. It had always been there you understand, he just hadn't seen it. Once he had, the rest as they say was history.

Have faith, things will change if you are willing to believe in yourself.

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers. Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Clear the clutter - find the gems STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 05/28/2007 03:41:05 AM ----- BODY:

I spent the entire day yesterday filing. Well I was waiting for someone to come and talk to me about some gardening work that I want doing (he didn't come round BTW). So whilst I waited, I cleaned the two desks that I use - one is the general computer and office and that's where I dump all the home based correspondence. The other space is my writing desk - away from MSN and other Internet distractions.

What I found was amazing. No checks, but discs - lots of them. Do you remember those small plastic things that you could get a whole 2 MB on it. Well I had a couple of dozen, and what they contained - my entire short story collection. A book I thought I had lost and pictures, lots of pictures. So I spent a fair bit of time going through this treasure trove of material and uploaded them onto my external hard drive. Why were they on discs? Well I have had several computer upgrades over the years, and the only way I could move them was via discs....
 
If you clear the clutter from your life, what gems will you find lurking?

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Ralph Lovuolo EMAIL: [email protected] IP: 71.59.91.215 URL: www.mortgagemotivator.com DATE: 05/28/2007 04:37:58 PM Clearing clutter is an everyday task. It is true that if you do it daily you will never lose anything. Sure you might misplace an item now and then, but losing things becomes a long memory.
Here is an action item that might help. Every night, clear off your desk. Put everything on it away in a drawer, cabinet or the like. Then every morning, take everything out again and go through it as if you just got your job. That way, you will know where everything is and what needs to be done with it.
Additionally, studies have proven that "hoarding", as I call it, the art of compiling, retaining, piling up, keeping till it is needed, is best defeated by taking half an hour every three months and “throwing away” anything not used in the past 3 months. If you find something that you have not used in the last 3 months, anywhere in or around your desk, get rid of it. I promise, you don't and won't need it.
By the way, if you practice the daily task above, you’ll find the 3 months task will take only 15 minutes. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Elle DATE: 05/30/2007 05:13:54 AM Thanks Ralph, I do exactly what you describe...for papers. My problem was that I had had several computer upgrades, and made backups of backups....and then stored them. Now I have a neat 60gb external hard drive, and have been able to re-load everything, clean the discs and ....

found some amazing gems i thought i'd lost.

Another comment from a reader, said - inviting someone to your home can be a great motivator to clean also. ----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: some things have to be broken before you can gain the benefit STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/23/2007 06:33:24 AM ----- BODY:

"The egg must break for the Eagle to fly"
The Oculatum

Is the eagle afraid to break out of the only safe place he has ever known? Of course not, the shell has protected him whilst he was vulnerable - but now, he can take his place. For animals everything is instinct. Eat, grow, find a mate, reproduce. Failure to do any of that goes against it's reason for being.

Whereas we - supposedly the superior species on this planet we call home, have trouble getting out of bed some mornings, and please don't ask me to find breakfast before I've had my coffee.

What habits are keeping you locked inside? Bearing in mind that it is those habits that form part of your comfort zone, well in order to fly, first you must realise that your habits are keeping you tethered to the ground.


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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: habits are like flowing water... STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/28/2007 06:16:33 AM ----- BODY:

easier to go with than try to swim against. Which is why it seems impossible to break the bad ones, we are pushing against a force that has a power of its own. As you know, habits are our comfort zone.

Why change the way you've done something if you know it's going to be painful and time consuming to do so?

Why not carry on doing the same things in the same way? After all they've gotten you to this point haven't they? Surely if you've gotten to this point it can't be THAT bad - after all you would have done something about it by now wouldn't you?

OK, it's time to throw down the anchor - time to stop just for a minute, stop going with the flow of your habitual behaviour, it's time to... Actually time is the key to most things. We can with time and patience do just about anything that we want to do. It takes time to learn a new skill, it takes time to build a portfolio of investments properties if you are starting from scratch. It takes time and sometimes massive action to stop going with the flow of behaviours that have not worked for you.

I used to think that "stars" who checked into rehab were cheating. But I've now come to the realisation that sometimes - going cold turkey and changing absolutely everything may be the only way to get rid of a problem once and for all. It's no good telling yourself that you are going to stop doing something and then leave temptation in full view. For example - we decide that we are not going to spend any more money - but we wander around town at lunch time and like kids let loose at christmas we are lured by the shiny baubles on display, and before we know it - we're back into debt using the store card we've just acquired.

Or we decide that we're going to clear our desks of all those problem items we've not had the courage to face up to. But we breathe a sigh of relief when someone comes to us with an issue that needs our "urgent" attention. We can conveniently forget that we've made a commitment to ourselves.

But you know what, I think getting out of the river for a while, may be the answer we have been looking for. We need to check ourselves into our own version of rehab.

So it's honesty time.

You know what your worst habits are. Decide which ones you are happy to keep - coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, other substances, retail therapy etc etc - and then decide which ones you are going to get rid of once and for all.

- Go out for a walk at lunch time without your wallet, that way you cannot buy anything.
- Take your lunch to work with you. Use with the above suggestion so that you get your exercise and a better bank account.
- Leave your money at home so you can't go and buy anything else, especially the credit cards. Better still - get the banks to cut the limit, and then keep on cutting the limit when you reduce the liability - then once you have paid off the debt - get them to cancel the cards. No card - no more problem.
- Enlist the services of a personal trainer, family friend, or other person who will keep you accountable.

Remember - With time and patience you can do anything you want.
 
(MMM1) (MMW1)
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: As you do more, you will do more STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 03/30/2007 07:53:04 AM ----- BODY:

Friday nights are a good way to relax and wind down from a busy and hectic week. But what exactly are you going to be doing with your time?

Examination of your weekend or evening interests might reveal a gem of potential you can apply to your vocation/life's purpose. I don't recall who said it - it doesn't really matter, but it has been said that if you can be paid for doing what you love to do, you will never feel like you are "working".

Now you may decide that after a long week of "working" and I would hazard a guess that you didn't do all that you could all of the time - you didn't did you? That you deserve a night off. And you may do - but let me put it to you this way

As you do more, you will do more.

Sounds like a circular argument doesn't it. But it's one of the interesting facts of life, that we all do what we want to do - and will do it willingly for hours upon end. So the question is - can you translate that passion into something that can benefit others, because if you can - then you have the seeds for a very successful and profitable business venture.

So - whilst most people spend evenings and weekends doing things they enjoy doing, please take a moment or two as you "play" to discover if you can "earn" at the same time.
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Half way through the year already STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/03/2007 05:17:01 AM ----- BODY:

We have reached the beginning of June, which means we are half way through the year already.
 
So a couple of questions:
- How much have you managed to achieve so far this year?
- Are you happy with your progress or could you do better?
- How are your projects coming along?
- What have you done today that takes you closer to achieving it/them?
 
Your attitude towards getting more out of every day starts with some simple things. For example:
- What time did you get up this morning? Did you hit the snooze button so many times that you didn't have time to shower, shave/put your make up on?
- What are you wearing? Are you still taking the same care with your appearance as you did when you started your present job?
- What attitude are you wearing? Yes attitudes are something we can change at will. So what is your "face" saying about your attitude towards your job? Now I am not asking you whether you have cleaned your teeth or your lipstick is smudged....but how does your face look? What do others see? Do they see a welcoming face, or one that says - go away I don't want to talk to you.
 
In order to change the way your life turns out, you have to look at everything:

- Every thought that you have
- Every word that you speak – out loud or to yourself
- Every action that you take
- What you look like (appearance)
- What your face and your attitude says about you
And then you have to ask - is the rest of the year going to be the same if I am not willing to do things differently?
 
The answer is of course YES.
 
So the final question you need to ask yourself today is:
Is that OK?
 
And if it's not - then what are you going to do about it?
Speak soon
Elle
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Multi-tasking: Impossible to do properly, or important if you want to get on? STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/06/2007 05:53:52 AM ----- BODY:

Most arguments centre around multi-tasking and gender: As in most blokes aren’t capable and most women can and do. Well rather than get embroiled in a debate on the issue, there are some important aspects to consider when trying to do more than one thing at any one time.

1.    Focus on the most important thing you can do now, and then do it. Now before you say, but that has nothing to do with multi-tasking – in fact it’s the polar opposite, let me say I do agree with you. But and here is the thing.
2.    Sometimes we are not able to get on and complete a task item because something or someone has to do their bit first. But rather than wait around for that to resolve itself, you can get on and do what YOU can do. So it has everything to do with multi-tasking.

When considering what you have to do versus what you want to do, consider the next set of variables. Is what you are doing now taking you towards your goals or away from them?

Actually I think I may have gotten away from myself, especially for the new readers of the Daily Dose, by the way, welcome to all those who have joined us recently, it is wonderful to have you with us.

First of all you need to have determined what it is that is on your goal list. So please do me a favour and get out that scrappy piece of paper and have a good look at those items that are listed.

Most people will have a list of work related goals and tasks, and a bigger set of personal goals. By the way if it’s the other way around, please remember “The graveyards are full of indispensable men” – I think it was Napoleon who said it, or it might have been Jimi Hendrix, but really who said it didn’t matter, the fact is your goals have to be balanced. If you’re spending all your time at work, then how on earth are you going to fit those personal goals into your already packed day?

OK I can hear the muttering from here, what has this got to do with multi-tasking? Well consider this. If you don’t know what goals you want to achieve, then you can fill your day with anything you like and you can end the day having achieved – something, some of which may be worthwhile. But if you have a clear understanding of what it is you say you want to achieve today, tomorrow, next month and in the next 5 years, then each minute task can take you a little closer to achieving those things.

Which is where multi-tasking comes into play. If you are being stalled in one area because you can’t think what that next step should be, then pick up one of your other goal items and work on that one instead. Move two goals forward rather than just one.

For instance. Your major goal in life may be to pay off your mortgage. Now are your day-to-day actions taking you towards that goal or away from them? Add a second shorter term goal – lose weight and get fit and healthy. Well cut out the morning coffee on the way to work (add it up the cost is phenomenal), save the booze for special occasions, and take your lunch with you to work.

OK that may be a bit of a banal example, so how about setting up your own business. In deciding what business you want to set up, you will have a list of people you need to speak to. As you leave messages for one person (because you can almost guarantee they won’t be at their desk waiting for your call), you can organise your list of suppliers, or speak to the bank manager, or visit suitable locations for your enterprise.

Or how about those times you are waiting in a queue, or for the kettle to boil. Each minute opportunity can be used to make notes, take or make phone calls, write a letter to your mother. If you work from home, you can cook dinner whilst adding a load of laundry to the machine at the same time as the computer is booting (well you can if you run a slow computer like mine).

Every day we have lots of opportunities to multi-task our projects and goals, but it starts with knowing what it is we want to achieve. The rest then becomes a whole lot easier.

(MMM1)

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: if only STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/06/2007 11:29:20 PM ----- BODY:

The perennial whinge - if only

If only life were simpler
If only I had more money
If only I had more energy
If only I were thinner, healthier, sexier, smarter, good looking
If only there were no bills to pay
If only I could win the lotto
If only
If only
If only (fill in the blanks)

Every time you utter the words "if only" you are admitting that you don't have enough, or feel that you are not good enough as you are, right now.

If only

Amazing aren't they, those two words. They immediately signal your brain and your non-conscious thought processes, your body slumps, your mind starts to run over and over the same things.

The more you focus on the "if only" the less likely you are to improve your situation and the way your life turns out.

So what can you do?

Well I wish it were as simple as deleting the words "if only" from our vocabulary. But now you have acknowledged the words as being in your vocabulary you will start to notice when you speak them or just as importantly "think them".

For those of you who are adept at the practice of watching what you say to yourself and stopping the thought processes that allow the words to surface, I would like you to try and gather up those two words and stuff them into your personal recycling bin. What do you replace them with? Well a simple thank you is a good start.

Thank you for the challenges I face at the moment, they are making me a stronger person. If life were simple, then it would mean that i wasn't growing or changing.
Thank you for the bills i receive, as it means I have a house in which to live.
Thank you for the opportunity today to eat well, to exercise, to tell my love ones that I do love them, after all some people never get that chance.

Thank you.

Two of the most powerful words in the human vocabulary, and we forget to use them. So today all I ask is that you replace the "if only" with "thank you" and I can guarantee you will have a much better day.

Thank you for sharing my day, thank you for taking the time to read this, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my own personal brand of philosophy with you, thank you for being open to the possibilities that today can bring.

Speak soon.
Elle

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - it's real STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/05/2007 08:08:43 AM ----- BODY:
Another weekend filled with a glut of over indulgence beckons. A dentists dream, a mother's nightmare - scraping over excited kids off the ceiling as they consume far too much sugar laden confection.

On my way home from the gym last night I went through an RBT - the police out "in force" to try and curb over indulgence in alcoholic substances.

Question - Where are the food police? Why isn't someone out to stop people from eating too much - everyone knows that eating too much "bad" food for too long can kill....why aren't they throwing them in the gym as punishment for eating more than they know they should? Why aren't they chasing down the food mafia for making foods they know are bad for us? Why don't restaurants stop serving people when they know they don't need MORE food?

So before you eat it, consider how long you are going to need to work to get rid of it again...then ask are you really willing to pay the price.

For those of you who work @work I hope you have a good break. For those of you who work @home I wish you a peaceful opportunity or two. I'll speak to you soon.
 
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Speak Clearly STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/09/2007 12:26:21 AM ----- BODY:

Imagine that you are on the telephone to a customer. You are asking him a series of questions about his desire to purchase - lets say a brand new car.

But the answers he gives you are so vague that you have no idea what sort of car he is after.

Well it's got to have 4 wheels and a boot (sic trunk)
Yes sir, most cars have those. What model would you most like to look at.
And a steering wheel, it's got to have a steering wheel and a decent stereo. Oh and it's got to be purple with black striping.
OK sir that narrows it down a little. Do you need us to sort out the finance for you?

Most people's goals are like that "purple car with black striping"  - a little vague. Whilst the colour is a definite, the rest - well it could be anything from a bus to a mini.

Once you know what you want, you will be able to speak clearly, there will be no vague
"oh well you know - I'll know it when i see it"
Nor will you mumble. Mumbling means you don't know all the details and directions you need to travel, you will speak with purpose and you will speak clearly. It's amazing how focused you can be when you know what it is you want.

So my question for you as you go about your day. Do you always speak clearly about what it is you want, or are you prone to mumbling?

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Reclaim some personal time STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 01/29/2007 11:56:30 AM ----- BODY:
Welcome to today's issue of The Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. The e-zine of Motivateme: Breaking the Procrastination Habit. http://www.motivateme.info. We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/  We hope you enjoy reading.
 ---------------------------------------------------------
Good Morning and welcome to today's issue of the Daily Dose of Motivational Medicine. Just a quick thank you and welcome to all our new subscribers, it is wonderful to have you join us.
--------------------------------
What time do you get up in a morning? I am and always have been an early riser (except occasionally on a weekend). Yes it is a habit I have gotten into, but one that I am more than happy to hang onto.
Why?
Well a couple of reasons. It gives me a calm transition between sleep and wake...whilst that may seem like an obvious thing to say, what I mean by that is - I am not running around like a headless chicken trying to remember to do everything in a very short space of time.
I don't arrive at work stressed. Instead, I get a chance to enjoy the cool of the early morning, read, write and do all sorts of things that I couldn't do if everyone else was up and about. So if you always seem to be doing things for other people and never seem to have time for you, then try getting up half an hour earlier than the rest of the household and reclaim some personal time.
------------------------------------------------------------
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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Don't stop now STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/11/2007 05:48:17 AM ----- BODY:

It can be very tempting to give up sometimes, especially when things are just not going as well as would like.

Have you noticed when there has been no movement  on the scale how tempting it is to eat that piece of cake or bag of chips. You tell yourself "Well the diet's not working so I might as well eat what I like."

"I've tried to make the relationship work, but..."

"I'm making lots of telephone calls but no-one wants to buy."

"I'm training hard, but I'm not getting any faster."

"I'm studying hard, but I can't seem to get the results I feel I should be getting"

Whilst I say that you should not stop now, you should take the time to re-evaluate what it is you are doing. Are you really studying, or are you spending more time on the telephone or the Internet than reading your books?

Are you pushing yourself as hard as you did when you first started training - you know - when you woke up the next day stiff as a board and it hurt to move your arms? Yes, that kind of feeling. Are you pushing yourself to the limits of your lung capacity or do you tend to cruise if your trainer isn't there?

Are you still following your new healthy eating plan properly, or have the portion sizes increased just a little?

So before you quit, make sure you aren't sabotaging your own efforts first. And the second part of this is - do something different today. Jump rope rather than cycle to warm up, take dance lessons rather than run. Drink twice as much water as you did yesterday. Give yourself a mock exam or get someone to "test" you.

You see, when you have been doing certain things in a certain way for a certain period of time, your mind tries to cut corners. It doesn't need to "learn" how to do something anymore so it stops trying. It also has a nasty habit of seeing what it wants to see rather than what is actually there. So change your routine and you will re-energise your mind. And once that has happened, well anything is possible.

Elle
 
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(MMO1) (MMM1)
If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Testing times STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/12/2007 05:53:41 AM ----- BODY:

Tests, the images of school rooms with desks laid out in rows springs to mind doesn't it. The cold feeling of dread that seeps into your mind when you sit down and stare at the blank sheet of paper, and the absolute feeling of desperation when you are told to turn over the paper and begin.

Go on, you all know what I mean, after all we've all been in that silent classroom watching other people's hands race across the page as you wonder whether on earth you are in the right exam or not.

What didn't occur to me at the time is this. Tests are designed for two main reasons:
1. To see how well the teachers have passed on their knowledge to you. If you enjoy the subject and like the teachers I can almost guarantee you will retain more than those who don't like the topic and/or the teacher.
2. To see if you have gaps in your knowledge. And if you do find you have gaps in your knowledge, then you have a good indication of where you need to pick up your revision for next time.

Every day we have an opportunity to do more and be better than we were yesterday. Every day we should set ourselves new challenges and targets, otherwise we will fall into the habit of doing only enough to get by. However, few of us don't bother to test ourselves.
It's too hard,
We can't be bothered
We don't want to
We figure there is no reason to set new challenges, we're doing OK.

Imagine that you are paid every 2 weeks, you know what bills you have to pay and how much money you should have left over, so you spend everything that you have "left over" and then sit back and wait for the next pay packet to arrive. What happens when something breaks down, or you have an unexpected expense? Well there is nothing left in the bank for those kinds of emergencies is there. So you either bend your credit card or you pretend it's not happening and you tell yourself you'll sort it out after you're paid again.

If you don't test yourself on a regular basis, your life is like that empty bank account. You have no thought to the future challenges you may face, you're not taking the steps you need to take today to ensure you have something in the left in the bank for those times of challenge and emergency.

So set yourself a challenge or two, be prepared to challenge your current thinking and more importantly your current level of doing....remember those class rooms and then remember the exhilaration you felt when you had finished the test and you knew you had done "well".

Build on those moments of success and you will achieve far greater things than if you never tested yourself.
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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(MMM1)

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Talking to yourself STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/12/2007 05:45:14 AM ----- BODY:

Is not the first sign of madness - but a way to see if those items you have sitting on your goal list are actually goals or merely things you may want at some point or other.

If you are anything like me you will have read your goal list a million times, trying to "see" the item in glorious technicolour detail. How many of you are that good at visualisation? How many of you half -read read this, skipping through those yawning bits, picking up the odd word here and there, focusing on those words that make you SIT up and take NOTICE. See I knew I could get your attention somehow.

What happens when we read things inside our heads is this - our non-conscious brain has decided what it wants to focus on and then feeds into our conscious parts of our brains those things it thinks we want to see. But if you read those same words outloud you have to read all the words, otherwise it doesn't make sense. What is also interesting when you read words outloud is that you immediately begin to see that the words you have used to describe those things that you say that you really want - are actually quite vague. Wishy washy words that may tell you what it is - but not WHAT it is. Is it a new car or is it a Ford Falcon with wire rims, jet black metallic paint with flames running down the side. I don't know - this is your car we're talking about...

If all your goal list is - is a list of "stuff" then you are hardly going to be inspired enough to talk about them to your best friends, to wake up in a morning and "see" that brand new, shiny powerful vehicle with you behind the wheel? Can you imagine racing off to speak to your financial advisor or the bank manager with your plan to actually owning it? No, thought not.

If you are serious about your goals, and you should be - after all they're on your list, then you are going to need to have a conversation or two with yourself....outloud if you please. Go on - no-one is listening. Explain why it's important to you, what do you want to accomplish and why, what will it mean to you to get there - because a goal item is not just about the end result - it's also the journey. Talking outloud about your goals, can determine whether you are willing to strap on the hiking boots and set off on the journey, or whether you are going to stay in your lounge room watching the friday night game.
 
(MMM1)
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Follow up, follow through STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/14/2007 02:41:04 AM ----- BODY:

In a customer service world, following up with clients is essential. Following through with the advice you said you were going to give, sending documents and papers you said you were going to send - when you said you were going to send them.

I'm sure we've all been on the other side of this equation. We're waiting for something to arrive, days, sometimes weeks go by and the item / information doesn't  arrive. So you chase them, and whilst they are apologetic you know their mind is elsewhere and you know for a fact that you won't get what you want.

So what happens then? Well depending on what it is you are after, you might be tempted to go without or go elsewhere.

Now turn it back around. Are you as conscientious as you could or should be with regards to the promises you make and the things you say you are going to send? Or is there definitely room for improvement? If you find that your customers are going elsewhere, then it is time to ask yourself some questions:

Are you promising things but failing to deliver?
Are you answering calls promptly and politely?
Are you failing to answer emails?
Are you ready to go out of business?

Because if your customers are going elsewhere, you can almost guarantee that they will tell everyone they know how bad you are, and word of mouth being the best form of advertising there is, will follow.

Of course the opposite is also true, so if you are serious about the business you are in, and no matter what job you do, or what stage of life you are at, we are all in the business of ourselves....ask - am I being the best advertisement for "me" and my services that I can be, or should I check my strategies for following up and following through?

(MMW1)
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: First impressions and verbal communication STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/13/2007 05:41:18 AM ----- BODY:

If I were to ask you "how are you today?" Would you answer with a smile and words that said "I'm doing really well thank you, and you?"

Or would you respond with something along the lines of "I'm OK, I've got a bit of a headache, the drive into work this morning was awful, the kids played up all morning and to cap it all off the dog was sick on the carpet - I hate Friday the 13th...."

I don't know about you, but if I was confronted with the second kind of conversation starter on a regular basis I'd avoid the person like the plague. I mean who wants to listen to a litany of disaster every single morning? And believe me when I say these "negative" types of people can suck the energy out of you faster than air escaping through a hole in a balloon.

But what if that negative person is you? Do people avoid taklking to you these days? Chances are good, you're the one who is constantly whingeing and whining about how bad your life is. How can you tell if it is you that's the problem? Well you need to stop and listen to the words that you speak in conversation. Not tried it? You should, it's very revealing. Like video-taping your performance and trying to catch the errors, except this is in real time.

Depending on your mood, your posture and the confidence you have in yourself and your abilities, your voice and your speech patterns will change. Not convinced? Try slouching when you are speaking to someone on the telephone. The physical act of compressing your lung capacity will have a dramatic effect on the quality and tone of your voice. Slouching also seems to give your mind and body “permission” to lower the quality of the words coming out of your mouth.

How do you sit when you are making an important phone call? Most people sit tall, shoulders back with feet flat on the floor. Next time you receive a phone call from a prospective client try if you can to observe the way that  your body responds to the external stimulus. Similarly, next time you speak to a friend, or someone you know extremely well, watch how your body reacts, and the choice of words that you use.

I am sure there will be people out there who are thinking, what complete and utter garbage. Of course I am going to sit differently when I am talking to family and friends, as opposed to when I am talking to the bank manager – who wouldn’t?

Well, that is all well and good, but most of us do it subconsciously, and we can allow periods of illness, depression (feeling down), when you are hurt and angry, to affect the quality of our voices, and the words that we choose to use, either to ourselves and to those people we interact with.

Whilst most of us will be able to pick up the phone and manage to hold a conversation no matter what our mood is, it is very obvious to the person on the other end of the telephone, what mood you are in. If you are in a sales or customer service role, this can have a huge impact on the money that you make and what is worse, the hard work that you have put into cultivating the relationship will have gone.

But, verbal communication isn’t just about telephone manners, I’m sure we’ve all been to events where someone has dominated the conversation and we have felt a little put out by their attitude and sometimes arrogance to the people around them. We have all seen the bluff and bluster of a sales person who thinks very highly of him/herself, the people who are out to get the sale no matter what, and no matter whether you want the product or not. Or what about the shy, timid person who has trouble raising a smile, let alone have a conversation with you, would you want to do business with any of them?

If you change your thoughts, you can change the words that you use. Change the words that you use and you can change the attitude that you have. And if you change your attitude you can change the way your life turns out.
(MMM1) (MMW1)
 
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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Climbing the walls - crossing things off the list STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 04/15/2007 07:37:12 AM ----- BODY:

Some time ago I asked you to create a mad list, a do before you die kind of list. You did create one didn't you? Well today I was able to cross one of those items off mine, when the kids and I went indoor rock climbing.

I have a vague fear of heights, and a bigger one of not being in complete control in dangerous situations. But the biggest fear I have, is the fear of making a complete arse out of myself in public. Today I had to confront all three, and all at the same time. 30 feet off the floor, hanging onto tiny hand holds, slipping fingers caused by the sweat of fear on my hands, and a thin rope.

Scared? It does not even begin to explain the intensity of emotions that went through my mind. But I conquered them all, and I have the blisters (and the photos to prove it).

Now I'm not saying that you have to confront your fears like I did, but unless you are willing to inspect them occassionally - you will never do anything new. And if you're not willing to do anything new - Well you know what tomorrow and next week will bring - and whilst it's good to have a certain amount of certainty in your life, it's hardly worth getting out of bed in a morning is it? So do me a favour, but do yourself a bigger one. Have a good look at your goal lists and cross off anything that doesn't inspire you or make you feel slightly afraid. Because most of the time it's not the achievement of the goal - getting to the top of the wall was good, but conquering the associated fears was the thing that kept me climbing not just that first wall, but several more.

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers. Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/ All contents Copyright (c) 2007 Motivateme.info except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. No Spamming or List Sharing - We do not share, nor give out, our subscription list to third parties.

----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Get ready for tomorrow, today STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/17/2007 11:11:34 AM ----- BODY:

Sunday evening is a great time to make sure you are ready for next week's challenges.

Have you organised your diary for the week?
Do you know what appointments you have to go to?
Do you know what appointments you need to make?
Do you know what you are going to wear?
Have you done your washing?
Have you organised your bags?
Do you have homework that needs to be handed in?
Do you know what "free" time you have next week? What are you going to do with that time?
Have you ensured that you have some "spare" time for you?

Life is about balance, if you don't schedule your own time, then I can almost guarantee that someone you know will fill those precious moments for you. You will drift from task to task with no idea of the end result.

Imagine that you were going on a road trip. You would need to ensure that you had enough money, or a means to earn some along the way. You would need petrol, you would need food and water. You would need a vehicle of some sort. But most of all you would need a plan, or a road map of where you were planning on going, and what you were hoping to see and do on the way.

You would wouldn't you? Otherwise what would the point be?

Travelling for the sake of travelling somewhere? Now I am not saying that's a bad thing, but can you imagine travelling the length and breadth of your country and missing out on some of the best views and "things" to see because you forgot to pack a map.

Our weeks are like that road trip. If you don't know what this week has for you, then you will end up - where exactly?

With many thoughts

Elle

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Elle TITLE: Space to create STATUS: Publish ALLOW COMMENTS: 1 DATE: 06/18/2007 04:24:12 AM ----- BODY:

Long lasting change usually only occurs when you have the time and space in which to let your creativity appear. Our day-to-day lives are filled with a chaotic jumble of things we have to do. We know there are also things we should not be doing, but we do them anyway. Somtimes out of a hope for peace and quiet and sometimes so we don't have to focus on those things we know we HAVE to do, just don't want to do.

If you have begun the process clearing the clutter from your lives (and I hope you have tried to do this) then you will begin to see the space between the trees.

If you think about it, music cannot be formed if there were not the spaces between the notes. Written words cannot be formed without the white space that surrounds each and every letter, and between each word and between each line.

Our minds also need space to create, to think, to be. What it cannot do, is cope with the jumble of thoughts and energy created by clutter - either in our physical environment, nor in our mental one.

Space allows you to create meaning in the rest of your lives. Think of your tasks as the words on the page or the notes you can hear....the true creativity comes from making sense of the white space that surrounds them.

If you haven't managed to create some space you can truly call your own, I would stongly urge you to do so. We are all at the beck and call of other people. I have two children who enjoy reality TV and soaps. I've also got neighbours who seem to think that loud is best, and kittens who think your sole reason for being on this earth is to play with them, so if I can create some space to call my own, then I would suggest that you can too.

Only then can we create the true meaning of the lives in which we currently exist.

With many thoughts
Elle

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If you'd like to reproduce any of the material contained on this newsletter, please feel free to do so.I only ask that you ensure  the material is attributed to me, and you provide a link to my website, http://www.motivateme.info

We would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue onto family, friends and any other interested readers.  Please note all back issues of this newsletter are available from - http://www.motivateme.info/ezine-archive/

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(MMM1)

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