Month: November 2016

It is essential to be healthy and structured in your life, this is something that we continuously recommend to our clients. However, there is a risk that you become a slave to your routine and forget to be mindful, present and excited about life. So, we often recommend scheduling in time where you can do something really exciting or unplanned – concerts, dinners out, travel and local adventures. It is not just inside your routine that life should have variety, with new skills being learned, new foods and workouts to be tried, new friendships to be formed – but completely new experiences to broaden and enrich your life. Visit a comedy night in your city with friends, train and run for a triathlon, attend a film premier, go to a convention or expo to be inspired and enriched about something that you may not have had much knowledge about beforehand. Booking tickets to these things (and arranging babysitters if needed) can keep you accountable to make sure that you are incorporating a variety of new experiences that will open your mind and keep life interesting. Be careful, though, it does become addictive and you become a much more interesting person as a result!

Image credit: Meaghan Eldurkin

Definition from Oxford English Dictionary – Tenacious (Adjective)

1.1 Not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined
1.2 Persisting in existence; not easily dispelled

 

Setting a goal and the path is sometimes the hardest part of changing your life, if you have the right mindset. Once you have developed a habit of being tenacious, or persistent, following the directions is simply a matter of switching off the idea that you are choosing to do something each day, but simply following a new routine. Once you begin to look at the actions to achieve your goal as a negotiable, you lose ground with your sense of tenacity and persistence. For example, if you are looking to improve your energy levels through fitness, you can book all your classes/sessions in for the week and simply recognise that these times are as set and firm as your starting time for work. They are no longer optional or dependent upon mood. They are a set part of your week. This can also be the same for eating well – you can do a meal plan or even all your meal prep for the week, so that what you eat is already chosen and requires no emotional input that may waver and test your resolve. Working towards a promotion or building your business? Incorporate an extra 25 mins a day studying business or performance improvement and implementing what you learn. Building habits helps you to grow in tenacity, it keeps you hungry and disciplined and soon, you begin to crave these sessions of self-improvement (usually after 14 days or so of consistent adherence to a daily habit). How will you grow in tenacity this week?

Some of us walk around with a number of goals in our minds simultaneously, which is great – however, if we can’t articulate how and when we plan to have these goals and the steps towards them realised, we may be inadvertently cutting ourselves off at the knees. For example, if one of your goals is to invest in Real Estate and another is to travel three times every year and you haven’t planned out an exact earning and budget goal, you may find yourself dismissing either or both goals in the name of the other – saying no to an overseas trip “because you should be saving for a house” and/or not adequately saving regularly because “I’ll probably end up spending it on travel anyway”. While both goals are wonderful, if they are not clear, broken down, planned and implemented, they can serve as barriers to you realising your best life. These goal conflicts can come in many forms and so the best way to avoid this is to set timelines and specific goals – visualising and articulating situations and circumstances in which you take steps every day. For example, It’s payday on November 26^th and I open the banking page on my app. I’ve been tempted to buy ‘X’ all week but I know that I have allocated $300 for saving for the house and $150 for travel saving. I set up a direct debit to come out early on payday so I don’t need to face this decision every fortnight. I do, however, check it when I have woken up and colour in the rising totals of savings on my progress chart in my diary and I feel incredible satisfaction at my discipline and I know that I am closer to realising those dreams. I soon forget about spending the money on ‘x’, but if the temptation doesn’t leave, I will do an extra couple of hours work and buy it for myself on 30^th November. Here the focus is not on living a life of deprivation, but realising the satisfaction of reaching long term goals and recognising the small steps along the way to build momentum. An essential component of this is to recognise potential temptations and addressing them in your visualisations – showing yourself that you are conquering them and moving them to the appropriate priority. So take some time this weekend to map out, plan and visualise your goals and process to give yourself direction and determination for the upcoming week.

At LLUMI, we begin by discussing self-image and rating our clients’ sense of self-importance. Why do we do this? Simple. If you don’t love yourself and take care of yourself, you will often be running into burnout, fatigue and resentment. If you spend most of your time looking after other people and neglecting your own needs and desires, little joy and appreciation flows from what you do. Even though you feel that you are being unselfish and helping other people a lot, your attitude will often detract from the potential joy and quality of the gift that you are intending for others. For example, if you find yourself working tirelessly to provide for your family, coming home and cleaning and cooking and organising everyone – you may begin to feel a sense of purposelessness and resentment creep in. Your exhaustion will not enable the situation to flourish and be one of contentment and love. It is best to look at a situation and identify where you can meet your own needs, so that the ‘giving’ part of you is well nourished and does not spring from a place that is empty and neglected. You may indeed discover that your loved ones will appreciate your uplifted mood over a vacuumed carpet, some quality time spent ‘hanging out and relaxing’ rather than a larger pay-check from the overtime you have worked. You are a human, you are designed to feel and to be renewed by rest, hobbies, interests and quality time spent with loved ones. It’s time to write down your typical week (or just the one you are presently in) and identify time slots where you can put yourself first, refuel and replenish.

Every day that you wake up, you have a new opportunity. You have the chance to have a day that is inspiring for yourself and others – to choose to make today as perfect as it can be by putting in your best attitude and effort. On the other hand, you can tell yourself, ‘one day won’t make a huge difference, I’ll just sleep in/skip breakfast/cancel that engagement, miss my workout, etc.’ However, as many of you have experienced, one day off (when not scheduled or thought of in advance as a rest period) can much more easily roll into a longer period of time. It is a slippery slope when you begin to lose accountability to yourself. It is the unseen moments of decision and determination which build your character. It’s those tiny moments where you refuse to let your alarm clock sleep again and you harden up and face your day with a positive attitude, when you put your runners on even though you seem to think bed will give you more satisfaction. Because, if one day doesn’t make a difference, then what is two days – a week? Everyday makes a difference. Every single step toward becoming a better you is worth it. It is worth the momentary struggle to overcome the barriers of comfort and strive for greater. As is most of our experience, once you actually get up and begin what you have considered avoiding, the discomfort gives way to a sense of satisfaction and pride in ourselves and our determination. So, if you are tempted to give in to your complacency today – we urge you to instead make today count.

Routine is important, none of us at LLUMI will ever deny that – but LIVING and EXPERIENCING and FEELING your life is equally vital. Sometimes we get so caught up in the ‘doing’ that we simply forget to ‘be’. We feel despondent and lost, grinding away at dreams that seem closer than yesterday, but still so far away. We are always trying to be mindful about how we can also appreciate and enjoy the process and the journey on the way to becoming more. Looking at the beauty of the stars when you wake up early to get work done – to enjoy the rush of adrenaline and the satisfaction of the sweat that you earned in your morning workout, the giggles of your children or companionship of your workmates that bring life to what you do. We avoid ‘trudging’ through life just to get from point A to point B, as that is the majority of what you are doing. Realisations of success come many times in life, but they are often momentary and fleeting. Enjoying the process, making sure that you are proud of who you are and what you are doing; aiming at perfection and contentment with every step that you take is what brings a true satisfaction. When you imagine your dream, always, ALWAYS include the work that will go into it as part of your goal visualisation. Bring vivid pictures of yourself getting out of bed in the morning without pressing snooze; picture yourself putting your phone down every night when you get in the door to spend quality time with your family, flatmates or significant other; visualise the internal battle each day to get up and move your body – pushing harder than the day before and the effort that will take. Day in, day out – every move should be something that you aim to be proud of. Go to bed reflecting on the incredible effort that you have made today, how you appreciated the beauty in every step and really lived.

Mondays are always a good time to re-start and re-evaluate your ambitions and goals. The week is new and full of possibility to be a week that you are proud of, that you can look back on and know that you have pressed closer to realising your dreams. Planning your days and ensuring that your to-do lists align with the outcomes that you desire and need is essential in any path to success. Mondays (or Sunday nights) have that freshness and potential to re-invigorate your passion and drive, they can give you a clarity to seek a greater you. Sitting down with your favourite music, journaling or mapping out your week in a diary  can ensure that you are consciously using your time to grow and investing your energy in activities that will be effective in developing you to a greater version of yourself. So, if you are lying in bed as you read this – get up and do what you ought to do. You will be so pleased that you started your week off on the right foot!

Many people find it hard to say ‘no’ or ‘enough’ to people and situations. Sometimes we find ourselves taking on many things that do not benefit us and also don’t align with our values simply because someone has asked us to do it, or assumed that we would ‘be fine with it’. It is a scary and intimidating skill to practice at first – where we tell someone that we are not comfortable with that situation, or we would prefer not to do something that they have suggested or asked. Our society has pushed us to always be amenable. However, as you continue to practice this skill and employing it with grace, an explanation and politeness, you will find that others will actually have an increased respect for you and your time. You will also spend less of your life feeling trapped by others’ demands of you and you can find ways to help others in ways that build on your own strengths and preferences and enrich their lives in ways they may never have thought to ask for. It isn’t about being selfish with your time (although, sometimes you do have to be), it is about using your strengths and values to make yourself and others better people with fuller lives. So, if there is something in your life that is putting an upleasant pressure on you, consider having a conversation with a key person about the situation and a potential solution that will benefit everyone involved.

Failure is not easy to take. It often brings feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, especially if we know that we are responsible for the failure. If you ‘ruin’ your diet by having a huge weekend of unhealthy eating, if you miss three workouts in a week, if you lose a race or competition or promotion, if you miss out on a great opportunity; these things threaten to shake our resolve and leave us running back to our old habits or giving up. Failure or personal disruption, however, is one of the most powerful tools of insight into your own character and needs in your life. It is an opportunity to monitor your personal behaviour patterns, reflect deeply on them and then grow in wisdom and strategy to ensure future success. If you do not take the time to look at yourself honestly in times of failure, however, and simply blame circumstance or write it off as a moment of weakness, you lose out on the opportunity to build a greater understanding of who you are and where you can grow in discipline and maturity. If you begin to dig into the causes of self-sabotage (ruining your own opportunities by neglecting discipline or important actions to get you towards your goal) or adverse reactions to the unexpected, you will learn about your own fears and habits. Some of us are simply afraid of success – we can’t picture what it looks like and our comfort zone beckons us to remain where we are. The unknown can be truly frightening. The temptation to blame external circumstances, rather than to look at our actions and reactions and be honest about how we can respond in a way that benefits ourselves and others prevents growth and success, even if it makes us feel temporarily less guilty. Even acknowledging our weaknesses isn’t enough. For the process of reflection to be successful, one has to implement action in response. Write down how you could have responded, what the appropriate action would be and identify an upcoming opportunity in which you can actively practice this new self-knowledge and how you will feel about yourself once you do this. Writing this down creates an element of certainty and accountability that is extremely powerful and will assist you in creating real and positive change in your character. So, when you hear the clichéd “you win or learn”, take it deeper than a simple statement.

The way that we begin our day sets a precedent for our mindset and performance for the remainder of the day. If you press the ‘snooze’ button six or seven times before you kick your feet onto the floor, your brain and your body are receiving messages that you are not ready for the day, you are not excited and you don’t have a passion for what comes next. We recommend setting a daily time that suits you and allows you to get ready in a calm fashion and sticking to that, ensuring that you get 7-8 hours of sleep by being disciplined about your bedtime. We also suggest spending some time each morning doing something that is beneficial for you that you really enjoy. This could be anything from a morning run to a guided meditation, reading a chapter of a book, sitting with your favourite tea and watching the sunset – the options are endless. Taking this time for yourself gives you a sense of contentment and fuels the rest of your day, which is most likely full of doing things for and with other people. This is your sacred time of reconnection with yourself. Incorporate it into a planned morning routine which stays more or less the same each day – then the effort to get out of bed, make a healthy breakfast, spend some time connecting with yourself and getting ready for a full and positive day will simply become part of what you do and, increasingly, who you are. We challenge you to write down a morning ritual and try it for 10 days. See if it makes a positive impact on your daily movements and thought patterns as a whole.