I’m tired of dreaming. I’m into doing at the moment. It’s, like, let’s only have goals that we can go after.

Honing in on your goals & the power of positive speech

There is something about labor that allows you to have a single-minded focus on the goal at hand. I have two friends who are pregnant and preparing for natural childbirth, so I sent them my birth story from my first child’s birth (I had both my children at a midwifery birth center with no drugs). Re-reading the birth story was pretty funny and rather enlightening.

The biggest theme from my labor was how I dealt with negative thoughts. Whenever I had a negative thought, I filed it away, and didn’t act on it, much less talk about it. I was so focused on preserving my energy and focusing my energy on my goal—delivering my child—that I set aside every thought that didn’t relate to helping me achieving this goal.

All of the negative thoughts at the time were laughable afterwards. And they fell into two categories: the well-informed and the ill-informed.

The well-informed thoughts related to our doula. Her comments weren’t unhelpful, they just weren’t helpful. When we called her to tell her we were in labor, she asked if she should meet us at the birth center when we arrived. I thought, “Why else would I spend my time (pant/contraction) calling you now? And “Aren’t I paying you a set fee to help throughout the entire birth?” But I didn’t argue she should meet us right away. If she didn’t think she’d be helpful, she probably wouldn’t be. And later, after she had finally arrived, when she told me that I was far enough into  labor (pant/major pain) to begin pushing, I didn’t bother to respond that I had been pushing for the last four contractions.

The ill-informed: Our midwife left the room at one point, telling me she was going to fix the water fountain. I was thinking “What the hell (yes, I ought allowed that thought in labor) do I need a drinking fountain for now?” But I was in labor, and saved my energy for the next contraction (pain/breathe/pain/count/pain subsides/breathe more). Later in even more intense labor (pain/breathe/pain/breathe/etc.), they moved me back to the bedroom, and they had one of those soothing fountains where water flows over rock with an awesome dripping/pooling/gurgling sound, and I loved it. That was the water fountain she had fixed, God bless her! And that was one of the first sounds our baby heard other than our voices.

In the first case, my husband and I still giggle about the doula. We were competent enough and he was supportive enough that I didn’t need one, and it was so refreshing not to have wasted any negative energy on bashing her. We hired her, she was useless but it didn’t matter because we didn’t need her, she wasn’t outrageously expensive, so it was over and it was all behind us. No energy spent, and actually energy gained laughing at our nervousness about childbirth in wanting a doula and discovering our strength in dealing with it with a useless doula. It was sort of like an “Amazing Race” win (we think we would ROCK on that show). We didn’t even talk about getting a doula for our second birth—it was a non-issue. Instead of focusing on how bad she was, we focused on us, and how well we dealt with it.

In the second case, I was so grateful I had kept my mouth shut. There wasn’t anything the midwife could have done in my room at that point in my labor, and if I had spoken up, it would have created negative vibes between me and the midwife, my husband would loyally have taken my side exacerbating the division, and I would have beaten myself up for being horrible when I had found out what she was really doing. I laughed at myself, during my later more intense labor, when I realized what she had done, and later was able to revel, guilt-free, in the spa-like environment.

In both cases, not speaking my negative thoughts brought me much more positive outcomes, and outright joy–in my marriage, my husband, my child, and the whole experience.

I’ve realized, just after the four year anniversary of that birth, that this attitude can have a profound effect on my life—both in business and personally.

What’s your goal? And what does it take to achieve it? Most of the time we’re not as single-minded as a woman in labor, but it’s not a bad ideal. Defining your goals helps you reach them.

What are your goals? Most of us have multiple goals, and most of them are derivations of: to have good relationships, to be happy, to be successful, however we define all these.

Drama trains don’t usually play a role in these definitions. So being negative rarely helps you achieve any of these.

So, since I’ve reread my birth story, I think differently about voicing negative thoughts. What is my goal? Is saying this (which is the same as focusing on this/spending energy on this) going to help me reach my goal?

I have curbed my tongue ever since (not 100% of the time, I’m still working on it), resulting in giggling at myself over the outcome, and laughing at the results.

Does this remind you of the saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?”

Who says we can’t learn from those that came before us?

When acquaintances discover that I work from home while managing a household and 4 school-aged children, everyone asks me: “How Do You Get It All Done?” I am always honest and say, “One day at a time.” Most of them will laugh, but walk away still wondering how I do it.

 If they really wanted to understand, they might follow up with: “OK, what does your day look like?” Here’s the truth: before my day even begins, I know exactly what my most important tasks and appointments are. Now, there are times when God gives me an entirely different plan for the day, and I have learned to listen. But mostly, I know what my priorities are in my life, and I definitely know my priorities for that week.

I have also learned to gain so much freedom by the power of choice and the power of limitation. When used together, they are like a one-two punch! They knock out all kinds of nasty habits and outcomes, such as: procrastination, stress, overcommitment, burn out, etc… The list goes on and on.

Where did I learn this new habit? My Simply Effective Planner. It’s my best kept secret. I’ve been using it for about 3 months now and I can see the results in all areas of my life. If you want to “get it all done,” you ought to check it out. We are offering a Workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 18th at Maryland Heights Centre. Go to www.meetup.com/Simply-Effective-Planner to register.

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development claimed that children reach their full potential with extra assistance.  suggesting the difference between being and reaching your potential is assistance.   Children generally receive this from their teachers, parents or siblings as they learn through experience and stimulation.  As we become adults we no longer have this support and settle into the development scope we have made for ourselves.

Basically Vygotsky claimed that we all under achieve on our own when unassisted however when a new perspective is added we challenge ourselves to achieve more.

To book a free 30 min exploratory life coaching session.

email candice@balancedlife-coaching.com

Now I feel like i’ve been for a real airplane ride.  Your sitting in the cockpit with the pilot, looking out the window at the sky and the clouds.

What a feeling of exhilaration to be way up there.  I always wanted to go up in a plane, but still haven’t found the courage, time or money to do so. (Okay I promise, it will be added to next year’s bucket list)

Hilary Swank does an excellent portrayal as the character Amelia Earhart.  Richard Gere plays her doting husband George Putnam.

This is based on a true story about the first woman pilot back in the late 1920’s.

How she conquers the world’s fears of having a woman fly a plane.

She pushes herself to fly over the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.

Her final flight is around the world.

The cinematography is just gorgeous, especially when they are in Africa, and Asia.

They shoot the scenes in places we are not familiar with, so it’s fascinating to see for the first time.

You see a woman driven by her dedication to do whatever she feels like, and whatever makes her happy.

She’s totally free in her marriage to do as she pleases (she has a lover.)

She raises thousands of dollars to pay for her flights.

All the money she makes goes towards her goals.

A woman who is independent, and driven to succeed, to prove that she can do what any man can do and better!

I really enjoyed the movie, because she reminds me of myself.

I’m very independent and I like to do whatever I please too, especially if it will make me happy.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chinese proverb

That seems so obvious, yet it is overlooked by many. Many people focus on the distant goal and get disappointed when they realize it they must spend a lot of time and effort to get there. The goal seems so overwhelming that they abandon their dreams. Or their worries and fear crowd out any incentive they might have to get started. They see impossibilities, not the opportunities.

Our Western society is fixated on the idea that if anything requires effort, it’s not worth having. Far better to use the plastic to get what you want today than struggle through the steps to reach the goal. We look for quick fix solutions.

Far reaching goals require a great deal of patience and persistence, both of which build discipline. While the goal is often achievable, most people seldom focus on the individual steps needed to get there. In truth it’s far better just to take the first step and follow it up with another, then another until the goal is reached. What they don’t often see is the enjoyment that comes from putting that one foot in front of the other. Joy and happiness can only come from achieving one step at a time. Every step means one less to take and one more added behind us.

Those who succeed find joy in the journey, not at the journey’s end. They feel a sense of accomplishment on reaching their goal. It is the reward of all the effort and time taken. They have developed discipline an important commodity that spurs them to achieve even more. They appreciate the gift of life and know its value. It’s a trait that few people never learn nor develop throughout life.

___________________________________________________________________________

The author is a diabetic and has written two ebooks and a special report on this deadly disease. They can help arm yourself with the knowledge you need to stay healthy and avoid the complications that shorten life. Contact this author of you are looking for ghostwriting or need articles to post on your site. For more on the ebooks, visit:

http://stores.lulu.com/mrmagica

To read more of the author’s work, visit: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/mrmagica

The author also has a number of articles you can purchase to post on your blog, website or newsletter, you can find a number of his articles here:

http://www.constant-content.com/author/20444-mrmagica-details-0.htm

cabbage flower winter flowers

I received a disappointing email from Squidoo a few days ago saying that I didn’t make it into the 100 Club.

So I’m still just a Giant Squid! (the 50 lens club)

I made 50 lenses about this and that and worked my butt off making 59 more lenses within a 2 week period.

In total I’ve created over 109 lenses in Squidoo.

For some reason they don’t like them?

And no one’s really Explained why they were not good enough for the contest.

So I’ve been linking them together and today I’m putting about 5 links per post on Idea Girl Consulting Blogspot, to promote each site.

I do a write up about each of them (one sentence).

This is good practice for making a book proposal.

How do you condense 130,000 word manuscript into a one page, single spaced presentation for a publisher?

You look for the key points in the story, the highlights.

The exciting parts that people will want to read.

Sometimes it’s hard to get the right words.

So I’m going to suggest that you GOOGLE “book proposals” and take a look at the different examples.

Every month I get a small one paragraph blurb sent to my Facebook from a Romance Writers Group.

I read them to get ideas on how to do mine.

As for the Flowers, my sweetie wanted to encourage me, so he came home with a bouquet of winter flowers and it had a CABBAGE FLOWER in it?

I never saw one before, it is very pretty and unique.

He told me to keep working hard, don’t give up, and wrote a little “I love you card.”

Then he told me that my books will be unique like that cabbage flower.

They will stand out from the rest and people will want to read them.

That made me feel a hundred times better.

So I can be thankful that even though I was disappointed about not getting into the 100 Squidoo Club, I was encouraged by my sweetie to keep pressing on, working at my goals and eventually I will reach them.

I can be thankful for having such a friend.

You can be like that too, today think of someone that needs some encouragement.

Go get them some flowers, and look for the cabbage flower to throw in with it.

Then you can tell your friend that they are one of a kind, and for them to be true to themselves, work hard and eventually they will reach their goals.

Some goals take longer than others.

It’s like being a diamond in the rough, after much polishing you will shine.

I sat down one day in May this year and thought about getting the life I wanted, and somewhere in the middle of mulling over my thoughts an A – Z of doing it came to me.  To some of you this will be quite obvious, to others it will make a difference.  Enjoy.

A

Acknowledge Your Achievements.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Of course we’re going to acknowledge our achievements, but all too often we don’t.  We wait until we’ve achieved a big goal, like buying a house, getting engaged, graduating college or starting a new job.  What about all the little achievements?  How often do we stop and congratulate ourselves for all those goals and achievements that got us to where we are now, all those “baby steps” that led to quite a distance being travelled?

I absolutely hate, hate, hate cleaning!  I can’t abide it!  In fact I have some of those witty fridge magnets with comments on housework, my favourite being: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste on housework”, closely followed by “You can

cleaning

touch the dust, but please don’t write in it”.  I know, however, that it is a chore that has to be done if I want to live in clean surroundings.  Now, I can just as easily decide to ignore the mess as it piles up and live in squalor, but I choose not to.  However, that does not deal with the problem of a house that needs cleaning, regularly, and some parts daily, day in and day out.

I particularly despise cleaning the toilet.  What a disgusting  job for anybody to do!  However, it gets a cursory clean every day and a thorough good cleaning once a week.  I acknowledge each week, my achievement of cleaning my bathroom, especially the toilet, by going out and treating myself to a cup coffee.  It’s not much, but I look forward to that cup of coffee each week and the weeks where money is tight I still treat myself to my coffee as my reward for achieving a goal I set myself – to do something necessary that I hate.  By acknowledging this simple achievement – and to me thankless, tedious chore, I am allowing myself to congratulate myself, pat myself on the back as it were.  And it is this simple acknowledgement that makes doing this chore less oppressive.

Rewarding treat

It is by acknowledging our small goals and rewarding them that we find the strength and courage sometimes to take the bigger steps to those much bigger goals that we are aiming for.  The ones where visiting the cocoa plantation in sunnier climes is the reward rather than the cup of coffee in the local café.

It has been said that your level of financial and personal success is directly related to how well you are connected to your purpose in life.   I  am sure of one thing.  My purpose is not to spend everyday in a Dilbert Cubicle working away to make a corporation more profitable.  That is not your purpose either.  We all want to be free, rich and successfull but  it takes more than just wanting it.  

I have recently become much more connected and attached to my true purpose in life.  There are goals I must achieve and there are other things I will no longer tolerate  in my life.  I have made the decision to put in motion a whole new life for myself, my loved ones and all others I can reach out to. 

My goals are huge and will be attained through great effort, but I already know that I will reach all my goals.  

My love for others is the reason and the why that makes all things possible for me.   Ask yourself, what one thing is so powerful and compelling that it will require me to change my life and the lives of all who become involved with me.  When you find that one thing, nothing will be able to stop you.

I will admit, my weight loss has been slow. But, I’ve still lost 40 pounds.

My current weight is 197. To me this is very exciting becuase I can’t remember the last time I was at this weight, or I guess I do but not since some crazy year like 2002.

The exciting news for me is my BMI is 29.8. I am now considered to be overweight! I’m not longer considered to be obese! I’m excited because it was a small goal I was looking towards and I made it!

A new season of The Biggest Loser has started. I was really into this show when it first started, but haven’t watched in few seasons. I’m excited to watch this season, I’m also hoping it will help keep me extra motivated this fall/winter. I’ve watched the fisrt episode already, and plan to watch the second this weekend. There are 2 things I dislike about the show though… and they are that it gives people the idea that losing 15 pounds a week is where its at and all the crazy yelling Jillian does.

As hard as losing weight is and can be, it is 110% worth it. I feel fantastic! I can walk 6 miles straight. I can wear cuter clothes. People flirt with me more. I’m more flexible. I can squeeze into smaller places. I weigh almost 50lbs less than my spousual unit. I’m probably adding years to my life. It may cost $40 a month to do Weight Watchers but I’m sticking to this for life.. the rest of it.

dreams goals visions

After my interview yesterday at Niagara Colllege I was feeling pretty discouraged to say in the least.  I was so depressed that I came home, had a good cry, grabbed daisy and went for a nap on the couch around 12 noon!

I woke up at 4:15 p.m. and felt much better.

I told Harold that my Idea Girl Consulting business idea to become a writer went up in smoke!

I was told because I do not have any credentials or College, University Education that Publishers will not even look at my manuscripts.

I was told no matter how GREAT a manuscript is, the publishers don’t even bother with them anymore.

Negative, negative, negative.

My squidoo sites will not make me any money, so it’s a waste of time.  Keep it as a hobby!

I’ve spent 100’s of hours working at 14 novels and over 100 websites and I’m told I cannot make money from it, so I cannot do it as a career path?

I was just trying to start a new career for myself.

Train myself to be a writer and now I feel like I’ve wasted my valuable time thanks to this person!

But wait, that’s how I felt BEFORE I laid down for my nap!

I was miserable, cranky, upset and angry!

When I woke up, I felt better, and I sat down to my computer with determination.

I finished lens number 104 with a flourish last night!

I will be entering into the 100 lens challenge with squidoo and I’m going to win!

I was determined to become a GIANT SQUID and I worked hard and made 50 lenses and I won!

So the moral of this clip is this.

If I work hard enough and believe in myself, I can beat the odds!

I believe that the Universe if it has put a desire in me to write, will open the proper doors when the time is right.

When I have the manuscripts completed and I’ve organized everything that I’m supposed to do, I believe something or someone will step in and give me a hand.

Believe you me, I wasn’t looking to write before as a career!

If I had known how difficult it would be I would have run the other way.

But something in my soul compels me to do this, so I do it!

I follow my gut instincts and they usually turn out right!

So I will not give up on my making money ideas.

I haven’t even TRIED to make money doing this.

I’ve been doing it out of pure enjoyment!

Who needs money? LOL

Sure I could use a few bucks but I’m not going to sweat over this anymore!

I have been bothered by it now for about 5 months.

They want me to do something to make money.

I don’t want to make money for other people.

I’m a naturally born sales woman, so I’m looking for something of my own to sell so I can make my million dollars.

Yes it’s my goal to become a millionaire!

I believe when the time is right for me, it will all fall into place.

In the meantime, I will work hard at becoming a writer (without an education).

I can do it on my own because there’s lots of material out there to educate me.

I know for a fact that most of the people that have gone to college are NOT doing what they trained themselves to do?

To me that is a complete waste of time and all you get is a big debt from it!

School is too boring for me, I fall asleep during class!

I need to be busy doing something or I fidget.

I have a hard time reading people’s emails, because reading makes me sleepy!

So I have no choice, I have to learn the ropes on my own, by trial and error.

Practice makes perfect!

I see my dream before me and I persist to reach my goal

My grandfather has been living with my family for the past 2 and a half years.  He moved in with us after being in the hospital for over 3 months because of a pretty harsh stroke.  He has lost a lot of independence over the years and it is even getting to the point to where he needs someone to walk with him wherever he goes.

However, today, as we ate our breakfast together, he shared an inspiring piece of information.  He was practicing his walking and he strolled up and down the driveway 3 times on his own.  This is so much more than just his legs working.  This shows his driven spirit and his impelling morale is still alive and kickin’!  Despite losing everything (car, license, home, privacy on the toilet and in the shower, alone time, choosing what he wants to do, choosing what he even wants to eat) he clings onto what independence he has and that is the choice to live life to the fullest.  The fullest right now is choosing to be alive and to push each day to make every minute count.  

Instead of accepting what life has given him, giving up, and becoming a vegetable, he walked the driveway to try to reach a goal of someday walking through a grocery store or walking up the steps to his own home again.  

Next time you feel your world is crashing down on you, try to find ways that you can crash back and define your own path to success.  Keep pushing to master the small things that open doors to big goals.

The man on a mission to independence. My grandfather, who we call "Poppy."

About four weeks ago I started attending a 6a.m. fitness bootcamp.   About three minutes into the first session, I was muttering under my breath about my sanity.   Actually, it probably started when my alarm went off.  Why, oh why, would I subject myself to this? Push-ups? Sprint runs with sit-ups and push-ups (and a whole lot of other unnatural movements) in between? All before my morning coffee!

I know- to some of you, this sounds great.  But, to me, as someone who has always struggled with consistent, rigorous physical exercise, it was quite a feat.  Yet, it got me thinking a whole lot about motivation and what’s got me committed.  For you, it may not be exercise you’re struggling with, but maybe it’s eating healthy, trying to find balance at work, finishing school, starting a new business or changing careers.   Good questions to ask yourself are: where do you get stopped?  And, what keeps you going?

I started to think about my life lately and what I’m committed to.  I realize so much of being able to fulfill on my commitments is : 1) finding a way to get support,  2) setting up a structure for fulfilling on my commitments and 3) seeing my commitments as part of something bigger than myself.  See, for bootcamp, my success so far is because I have set up accountability checkins with friends (support), going to bed early and eating well (structure) and really getting that I am a part of something bigger- a group effort to get more fit as well as being the healthiest I can be for not only myself but for my husband and family.  This last thing really is the reason I keep getting up even when I don’t want to.

So, when you start evaluating the areas in your life you want to improve, ask yourself first — why am I doing this? Make it bigger than just about you.  Then set up the structure and support for fulfilling on your commitment.  It won’t be perfect (no, I haven’t gone to bootcamp every time), but you will be amazed at how much more effective you are at living the life you want.

Empowerment, having an “I can do it” attitude, is critical for happiness and success. Children can begin to development empowerment by reaching a goal or accomplishing something they have set out to do. The goal can be big like learning to play the guitar, or small like cleaning up the playroom. The size of the goal matters less, than the act of setting one and working to reach it.

Mastery Moments

Det er viktig å sette seg mål hvis man vil oppnå noe i livet. Her skal jeg legge frem en prosess som (selv om den kanskje ikke er revolusjonerende) fungerer. Dette er kanskje den mest effektive måten å oppnå mål på som eksisterer.

1. Den korteste strekningen mellom målet ditt og deg er i en rett linje.

Hvis du har lyst til å ha en trekant med 2 jenter, hva er den raskeste måten å få til dette på? Betal 2 horer. Håper du skjønner tankegangen. Mange jobber med ting som ikke leder dem nærmerere målene deres, eller enda værre. De vet ikke hva målene deres er.

2. Velg deg STORE mål

Skriv ned 10 mål etter du har lest hele punkt nummer 2. De burde være STORE mål. Det er bare fantasien som setter grenser. Har du lyst til å være første menneske på mars? Har du lyst til å tjene 50 millioner i året? Har du lyst til å ligge med 3 nye, nydelige jenter i uka? Skriv det ned!!! Uansett hva det er! Ingenting er for dumt!!! 

Grunnen til at du burde ha store mål er fordi de er mer motiverende. Hvis noen sier “jeg skal gjøre alt jeg kan for å tjene 5000 kroner neste uke”, så er dette kanskje motiverende. Hva om du sier at i løpet av neste uke skal du få tjent 10 000? Det høres mer fristende ut.

Spør deg selv til slutt hvorfor du har valgt disse målene. Er det noe du virkelig har lyst på, eller er det bare noe som andre synes er kult? Det må være ting DU vil klare for DIN skyld, ikke noe som du valgte fordi vennene dine ville blitt imponert av det. Skriv om målene dine til du har funnet 10 mål du virkelig har lyst til å nå.

3. Velg deg riktige mål

Velg deretter 1 av disse målene.  Du burde velge det  målet som du virkelig brenner for. Det er ikke alle som har lyst til å ligge med 3 nye jenter i uka eller tjene 50 millioner. Finn de målene som du kjenner du virkelig er følelsesmessig knyttet til. For eksempel er et av mine mål å få et barn med en som jeg er glad i og som har lyst til å fostre opp dette barnet sammen med meg. Dette er noe jeg er sterkt følelsesmessig knyttet til. Velg det målet du er mest følelsesmessig knyttet til! 

I tillegg til dette må målet ditt være konkret.  “Jeg vil ha god selvtillit” er ikke konkret. Skriv heller ned noe du vil skal være et tegn på at du har fått god selvtillit. For eksempel kan målet ditt være “Jeg vil at 20 folk skal si til meg at de synes jeg har god selvtillit”.

4. Sett opp en steg-for-steg plan for hvordan du skal nå målet.

Skriv ned hvor lang tid du tror du trenger for å nå målet ditt. Skriv ned datoen! Du skal prøve å nå målet innen denne dagen. La oss si at du vil nå målet ditt innen 5 år. Hva kan du gjøre i dag for å komme litt nærmere målet ditt? Hva kan du ha som nyttige delmål? Skriv ned disse delmålene, og datoen du skal ha nådd disse delmålene!

La oss si du vil tjene 5 millioner i året i løpet av fem år. Et godt delmål vil være å tjene 1 million i løpet av ditt første eller andre år.

5. Hvordan ville ting sett ut hvis du hadde nådd målene dine allerede?

Skriv ned hvordan ting ville vært hvis du allerede hadde nådd målene dine. Hvordan ser det ut? Hvordan lukter det? Hva hører du? Hvordan føles det? Skriv ned alt dette i så stor detalj som du klarer.

6. Organiser livet ditt så du lever i harmoni med målene dine.

Du må revurdere alt du driver med nå. Jobber du på rimi? Hvorfor? Det bør være fordi det er et delmål til en av dine store mål i livet. Hvis du driver med noe som ikke fører deg nærmere målene dine bør du sterkt revurdere om du skal fortsette med det du driver med.

7. Revurder målene dine jevnlig.

Hvis du ikke er motivert for å jobbe mot delmålene dine på jevnlig basis, så har du antageligvis et mål du ikke brenner nok for. Dette kan skje nå med en gang når du ser over målene du har skrevet ned, eller når du er halvveis på vei til målet ditt. Det er helt greit!

Hvis du fortsetter å jobbe mot et mål du ikke lenger brenner for vil du raskt merke at du mister motivasjon og drivkraft. Da må du finne deg et annet mål. 

Every year I’d make my list of new years resolutions and would forget about it within a month. In July of this year, I watched the movie “The Bucket List” and it changed my life. The story was about two men who are given the news that they have cancer and a time line of when they could die. They devise a plan to make a list of ten things that they have always wanted to do but never took the time to accomplish. It was a wild list too! Imagine skydiving in your fifties? I’ve never done it and I’m younger then fifty!

I got to thinking about it and then decided I too would make a list of ten things and call it “My Bucket List for 2008.” I picked goals that were obtainable and easy to manage. I decided that I would accomplish at least two for each month because that was all I could afford. Unfortunately I misjudged the amount of money I would need and I was unable to do two of my choices. I will add them to my 2009 bucket list instead! This time I plan to devise a budget that will provide the necessary funds for the goals on hand.

Today I went through some of my journals from May 2008 up till now. I found out that I kind of stopped writing my daily agenda back in November? That’s because I’ve been working hard on completing one of my goals; it was to write a novel this year. I looked at my calendar and journals and realized that I started on the Novel back in August. I had read this book called “How to write a novel in 30 days.” It was about this NaNoMo Club, which meets in the month of November and takes 30days to write a 100,000 page novel and have it typed up too! Well it took me a month to write the basis of my novel and the last four months have been typing it up. I’ve been working on the rewriting phase and adding new chapters to this book.

I’ve also spent many hours researching hundreds of books about my topic of interest. I never realized in all my lifetime how much time was wasted doing absolutely nothing. It seems like I’m working harder now that I’m older and defining my goals in a much more productive way. This is something everyone should do. One day when were very old and on our deathbeds we all want to be able to say we lived life with no regrets, followed our dreams and met everyone of our goals to the best of our ability. Can you honestly say that now? Have you given yourself a good track record to follow? Or are you just going along in life with no direction at all?

Talking to many students including my sons who are at the age now to go to college. They are seriously confused about what to do with themselves. I believe they have both since childhood have devised several career options pertaining to life. First it was I want to be a fireman, then it was a policeman and swat team person, a paramedic, an engineer and now a truck driver! He finally decided which one to do and is currently going to school for it. I’m proud of him for even coming to a decision. I was in my 30’s before I became a true career woman. Before that I had been married and raising two small children and I worked here and there but nothing that could be called “a career.”

Now after several life changing events in the past four years I have literally started at square one and I’m asking myself what career do I want? Many of us will be in this boat with the way the economy is. With factories and large corporations downsizing to deal with this recession we will all have to find new ways to provide for ourselves. This is the time to tap into your instincts and find something to do that you love. I’m not just writing because it’s a career option. I’m doing it because it comes naturally to me and it’s something I get joy from when I immerse myself in the world of make believe.

I do research on fiction and non fiction topics. I’ve learned a lot of new things this year and I am proud of myself for doing so. Now you will have to do the same. Take some time each day to learn a new thing. You never know what may come around the corner of life but you will find it rather amusing that when you do have to make some sort of decision that the universe has been prodding you along in that very same direction. Whether you believe in such things is not the question. What you do with the knowledge in your mind and heart is.

Every year I’d make my list of new years resolutions and would forget about it within a month. In July of this year, I watched the movie “The Bucket List” and it changed my life. The story was about two men who are given the news that they have cancer and a time line of when they could die. They devise a plan to make a list of ten things that they have always wanted to do but never took the time to accomplish. It was a wild list too! Imagine skydiving in your fifties? I’ve never done it and I’m younger then fifty!

I got to thinking about it and then decided I too would make a list of ten things and call it “My Bucket List for 2008.” I picked goals that were obtainable and easy to manage. I decided that I would accomplish at least two for each month because that was all I could afford. Unfortunately I misjudged the amount of money I would need and I was unable to do two of my choices. I will add them to my 2009 bucket list instead! This time I plan to devise a budget that will provide the necessary funds for the goals on hand.

Today I went through some of my journals from May 2008 up till now. I found out that I kind of stopped writing my daily agenda back in November? That’s because I’ve been working hard on completing one of my goals; it was to write a novel this year. I looked at my calendar and journals and realized that I started on the Novel back in August. I had read this book called “How to write a novel in 30 days.” It was about this NaNoMo Club, which meets in the month of November and takes 30days to write a 100,000 page novel and have it typed up too! Well it took me a month to write the basis of my novel and the last four months have been typing it up. I’ve been working on the rewriting phase and adding new chapters to this book.

I’ve also spent many hours researching hundreds of books about my topic of interest. I never realized in all my lifetime how much time was wasted doing absolutely nothing. It seems like I’m working harder now that I’m older and defining my goals in a much more productive way. This is something everyone should do. One day when were very old and on our deathbeds we all want to be able to say we lived life with no regrets, followed our dreams and met everyone of our goals to the best of our ability. Can you honestly say that now? Have you given yourself a good track record to follow? Or are you just going along in life with no direction at all?

Talking to many students including my sons who are at the age now to go to college. They are seriously confused about what to do with themselves. I believe they have both since childhood have devised several career options pertaining to life. First it was I want to be a fireman, then it was a policeman and swat team person, a paramedic, an engineer and now a truck driver! He finally decided which one to do and is currently going to school for it. I’m proud of him for even coming to a decision. I was in my 30’s before I became a true career woman. Before that I had been married and raising two small children and I worked here and there but nothing that could be called “a career.”

Now after several life changing events in the past four years I have literally started at square one and I’m asking myself what career do I want? Many of us will be in this boat with the way the economy is. With factories and large corporations downsizing to deal with this recession we will all have to find new ways to provide for ourselves. This is the time to tap into your instincts and find something to do that you love. I’m not just writing because it’s a career option. I’m doing it because it comes naturally to me and it’s something I get joy from when I immerse myself in the world of make believe.

I do research on fiction and non fiction topics. I’ve learned a lot of new things this year and I am proud of myself for doing so. Now you will have to do the same. Take some time each day to learn a new thing. You never know what may come around the corner of life but you will find it rather amusing that when you do have to make some sort of decision that the universe has been prodding you along in that very same direction. Whether you believe in such things is not the question. What you do with the knowledge in your mind and heart is.