The power of ideas and taking action

I attended a seminar on the weekend and there was an inspiring young woman there by the name of Delice Kennedy and I’d love to share with you what she has managed to acheive in such a short space of time.  The following is an article from the website:

www.adelaidenow.com.au

Charity that is good for the sole

• by: Michael Milnes
• From: The Advertiser
• September 30, 2011 11:30

 

A trip to Kenya has motivated Dalice Kennedy from Soles4Shoes to collect 10,000 pairs of shoes to protect the feet of the less fortunate. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: The Advertiser

WOMEN can never have enough shoes but Dalice Kennedy wants 10,000.

The St Marys woman, 29, has seen first-hand what happens to the health of people who do not have the basic luxury of shoes.

With more than 300 million people globally without shoes, she is urging us all to donate shoes to those who have none. She has just returned from a three-month stint helping to build houses in the west of Kenya with the volunteer group World Youth International.

“I had the best time of my life in Kenya, but also the saddest seeing children with no shoes that have worms burrow into their feet, it poses a major health risk if their feet get cut and infected,” she said.

“We are collecting gently worn (secondhand) and new shoes and are hoping to get 10,000 pairs to fill a shipping container by Christmas. Schools or workplaces can do collections or if wholesalers that have excess stock could donate them as well.”

She is working with the charity soles4souls and has set up the website donateshoes.com.au.

P.S – Over 50, 00 pairs of shoes were collected, surpassing all expectations. It goes to show how an idea can grow with an action.   For more information please click on this link :  http://donateshoes.wordpress.com/ 

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How to ask the right questions

You know, perspective is really important.  It is the way you look at something that makes the difference.    One way to do this is to shift focus. The best way to do that is to ask the right type of questions. 

Let’s look at this more closely.  Imagine that if you ask “how can I lose weight?” you will be finding ways to cut things out of your life – probably foods, and food that you enjoy,  and  getting more exercise – you’d probably see it as a chore.  If on the other hand, you asked yourself – “how can I get fitter and healthier (which is what you would end up if you dieted and exercised more anyway), you would be focussing more optimistically on how to make changes in your life to achieve that goal.  I’m sure you would find ways of exercising that you enjoy, you would perceive the food that you would be eating in a more positive manner and you ‘d enjoy it more as well. 

When I first started walking up the steep streets behind my place, I used to use a mantra as I walked – strong legs, tight butt – in time to my pace – one word per movement  - It worked for me and I found that my physiology changed as well when going uphill – going up seemed a whole lot easier.

There are many other areas in life to change the questions we ask ourselves. 

Instead of asking how can I feel less stressed, ask how can I feel calmer

Make it a question around something that has meaning for you. If you know what your values are, pick out one of those values and find a way to do something around that value. If you value timeout and solitude, ask yourself what can I do, or where can I go, for 15 minutes today –(I have an Art gallery about 2 minutes away and a rose garden about 5 mins down the road.

If fun is something you value ask, “What can I do today to laugh more?”

You’ve got it?

The thing that started this for me today was a video that was emailed to me by a marketing company pointing out that the questions we ask impact upon our results in business, and so it is for any area of our lives. 

The analogy used was that of a very large boat, one of those multi-million dollar ones you see in marinas, weighing tons, being propelled by a small propeller. In other words, it’s the little things that move us forward.  It can be just a small shift in attitude that can create a great day as opposed to a crappy one.

Hmmmmm………So, my question for tomorrow, Monday 6 February is going to be “What can I do to make my day more efficient?”

What will be your question for tomorrow?

7 secrets to success

1/ Be true to your-self.  Decide how you want your life to be, find your values. What do you gain by always conforming to other people’s ideals?   

2/ Turn the TV off and spend more time thinking and dreaming, reading, meeting new people, finding new ideas, get that imagination going.

3/ Do something you are scared of.  Don’t think of it as getting out of your comfort zone, think of it as EXPANDING your comfort zone.    4/  Don’t over plan – that can result in procrastination, confusion and barriers being erected.

 5 Take action – standing still gets you nowhere, you need to take that first step and then another, and another……………. 6/ If you lose your way – ask for help

7/ Have fun & have it now.  What’s the point of waiting? A friend wants to do a trip down the Murray but is leaving it for many years down the track.  She said that she wants something to look forward to – the trouble is, the river may not exist by then (which looked like a possibility given the drought we come out of) and neither might she.

 I’d love to hear what you think

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Entrepreneurship and innovation: let’s start with our kids (and even yourself)

I decided to post a link to an interesting talk I came across on TED.  I thought it was timely this week as I am going to Bali on Wednesday for the Wealth Dynamics Academy (I’ll let you know all about it early next week when I get back).  

The following talk does not apply only to children, this appiles to anyone of any age.  Stop limiting what you can do and start looking for opportunities for you what can do, or even better, what YOU HAVE ALWAYS REALLY wanted to do.  What better example for your children and grandchildren   

How to avoid becoming overwhelmed by overwhelm

Overwhelm is one of those feelings that we have sometimes.  It seems that a whole lot of things need to get done and all at the same time.  I used to ‘do’ overwhelm in the workplace. I used to look at all the work I needed to get done, thought that it was all too much, didn’t know where to start, OMG what will I do now!!!??? ARRGGHHH

I tried to use time management strategies – yuk! – too boring

block time on the calendar to get tasks done (then something “urgent” would pop up)

send the phone to voicemail and turn off email (still had to find time to deal with that later)

I tried to write out a ’to do’ list – got too OVERWHELMED again!!!! COS IT WAS TOO LONG!!!

Bugger!

What to do????

Overwhelm is an emotion, an emotion that we can CHOOSE to have. Yes, that’s right – we choose it.  The way I got around the feelings of overwhelm was to find my strategy for doing that emotion. 

We all have a strategy for anything we do and any emotion we feel. I suppose it may help if you think about it like brushing your teeth.  Oh yes, we all have a strategy for brushing teeth.  Mine is a bit like this:

go into the bathroom,

go over to the hand-basin,

pick up the toothbrush,

pick up the toothpaste

flick open the lid,………………

Got the idea? 

So, in dealing with overwhelm, think about the latest time you felt overwhelmed.  

• Remember where you were…………………
• what it was that you were doing just before the overwhelm occurred?.
• what were you seeing?…………………………….
• what were you hearing?…………………………..
• what were you telling yourself?…………………

If you have a close look at your strategy for overwhelm you can learn to deal with it. It’s all well and good to try and find ways of developing strategies to break the work down, or de-clutter etc but our emotions are not usually experienced consciously.

Approximately 95% of our actions are governed by the unconscious mind. Developing a way to diffuse that emotion will be helpful in being able to think more clearly and find a solution. The road ahead will be easier to see (I really wanted an excuse the insert the following pic LOL)

“The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.”

Richard Cech

So, do one thing at a time.  Uncover your strategy for overwhelm, one step at a time.

I trust that in the next 3 days you will feel overwhelm. When you do, acknowledge that feeling, and then ask your-self the 4 WHAT questions.

Oh, and by the way, please tell me how you went – I’d love to hear about it

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How to Create the Ideal Lifestyle

I was doing an exercise the other day which involved creating awareness of ‘opportunity’.  The exercise was to make a list of the key elements necessary for a business opportunity to be worth pursuing.  This is important because when the right opportunity comes along the decision to pursue it can be made quickly, before it disappears.  When I did the exercise I made 2 lists, one for business and another for lifestyle and then merged them.   Any opportunity for my business will have to take into account my ideal lifestyle as well. 

In my coaching practice, when I take my clients through the business goal planning process, I ask them to also write down non-business goals as well.  Now, I am not talking about material things such as buying a new car, having a mortgage paid, designer clothes etc.  I mean personal goals such as learning a language, having time to go dancing, doing regular yoga classes, getting fitter, volunteer work, goals some people never consider when creating a business plan.

It is not often that people plan and make goals for personal satisfaction.  Most planning is for work/career/monetary gain etc with little thought to family, relationships and lifestyle, and doing the things that lead to a deeper sense of life satisfaction.    

Some of my key elements for a great business opportunity are:

• It has to be fun
• Feels right and is based on integrity and respect
• Freedom for me to spend time with my family and friends when I want and to do things I find gratifying
• Time for me to do activities I love related to my health and fitness (I love my sunrise walks and yoga)

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it”  Charles Buxton

So, how can this be achieved?  A while ago, I read a book called First Things First by Stephen R. Covey et al.  In the book a story was related about an experience someone had in a seminar.  In that seminar the lecturer placed a very large wide mouth jar and several large fist sized rocks on a table.  He asked people to guess how many of the rocks he would be able to put into the jar.  After several guesses were made he placed a number of rocks in the jar until no more could fit in. Then he asked if the jar was full and everybody said yes.  He pulled out a small bucket of gravel from under the table and started to put gravel into the jar, shaking the jar around so the gravel fell into the spaces.  Again he asked if the jar was full and by then people were aware that something was going on so they said “probably not”.   The lecturer reached under the table and this time pulled out a small bucket of sand which he then tipped into the jar, shaking it around so that the sand filled in the spaces between the rocks and the gravel.   By that time the seminar participants knew that when the lecturer asked if the jar was full that the answer was a resounding “NO”.  At which he pulled out a jug of water and managed to carefully pour about a quarter of that water into the jar. 

The point of the demonstration was that if the rocks had not gone in first they would never have been able to get in.  So, I have certain things in my life that are my “rocks” (yes, that is what I call them, which is confusing for people when I say that and I get a few strange looks), some is gravel, some is sand and the rest is water. Often when we plan our days/ weeks/ months etc, we put the gravel and water in first or maybe one or two rocks followed by sand then water.  Now, paying the bills, eating and having a roof over our head is important, but many of us only place  those ”rocks”  in our jars and then start to fill  the remainder with water or sand etc.  Then when we try to put another rock in we have problems and get frustrated and stressed.   Hmmm……. not a recipe for an ideal lifestyle, is it? 

When I look at the key elements of a great opportunity I consider time as well – I make sure that my “rocks” can stay in my “jar” and are not taken out to replaced with sand or water.  

Have a think about what you are allowing to fill your ‘jar’ right now.

P.S - here is  my latest “rock”,  grand-daughter number 4

If you need a bit of help click on this link  http://www.shiftlifestyle.com/ – you will need to give your email address. The 7 steps come to you in weekly videos.

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your unconscious mind at work

I was listening to someone talking recently about the importance of creating a vision or picture of how you want your life to be, daydreaming.  I thought to myself that while picturing what you want is important, nothing will happen if no action is taken; and how does that action happen when you tell yourself it’s too fantastic, it won’t happen when you’re stuck and are not sure how to go about it?

Not long after that I watched a documentary called “Finding My Mind” (6 July 2010, 7.30pm, SBSONE).  One of the experiments was around consciousness and unconsciousness where the subject was undergoing a brain scan & asked to make a couple of very simple decisions.  The result was that the scan showed that certain parts of the brain were activated for one decision and other parts for the alternate decision up to 6 seconds BEFORE the subject actually consciously decided.  That meant the researcher was able to predict what the subject was going to decide before he consciously decided and acted on that decision. 

The person carrying out the experiment explained that there is unconscious brain activity that is determining our decisions and that unconscious brain activity is “in harmony with your beliefs and desires”. 

Then I took my mind back to “daydreams” I used to have, daydreams about how I wanted my life to be, my desires….   

My Daydream Back Then

Back in 2002 I was living in country town about 4 hours drive from the coast, drought stricken area (still is), only employed part–time, broke, in a house with no view of anything, at the end of a cul-de-sac which veered to the left as you drove out of the street (yes, that detail is important)

I used to spend my Saturday mornings reading a Sydney newspaper.  One of the sections I loved was the real estate section – properties on the coast, views of the ocean.  

At that time I used to imagine that I was living somewhere on the coast with the water just around the corner, where my cul-de-sac met the other street.  I knew the housing prices on the coast were well out of my reach and decided that it was all just fantasy. 

My Life Now

Well, as I was thinking about what I had heard about the importance of visioning, and the daydreams I had in the past, I realised that the ‘fantasy’ I had back in 2002 had come true – I am living in a property with the water, the ocean, just around the corner!!  To the left!!!  (told you that detail was important) AND I have been here since 2005!!  

So, the vision was in my unconscious mind, my desire, was there all along & possibly influenced every decision I have made in the past several years.

• The decision to leave a permanent part-time job,
• the decision to accept a temporary full-time position,
• the decision to apply for a permanent job with that particular employer even though it meant leaving everyone I knew, family etc. 
• the decision to move down the coast and commute for 2 years

All of that was influenced by my UNCONSCIOUS mind.

I didn’t move straight here either – I lived in a couple of other areas & apartments before I moved to this area.  My UNCONSCIOUS mind hadn’t forgotten that daydream, hadn’t forgotten that desire AND it only took me 3 years!!! 

I am living the lifestyle I had dreamed about !!!!

What can you now create for yourself from your daydreams, your desires? 

“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.”
– Buddha

 

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