Tag Archives: Positive Change

Where are you on the Emotional Scale?

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Image Credit: Madhuri Gupta

 Our emotions, whether consciously or subconsciously drive every single thing we do.

Emotions are not only in the driving seat, they’ve got Google Maps! 

Our emotions set the direction & determine our each and every move.

They determine what we say & how we say it, determine what we think and subsequently determine what comes in and out of our lives.

Pretty important yeah?

Well worth some time to evaluate and understand!

So, for today, tomorrow and beyond, where do you want your emotions to take you?

The image above is the Emotional Guidance Scale. This is attributed to Abraham Hicks and is a scale of emotions going from the highest of joy, empowerment, love, freedom to the lowest of  fear, powerlessness & depression. 

Take a look at the emotional scale, create some quiet time for yourself and have a think about where you currently are on this emotional scale, what are your underlying emotions each and every day?  

Of course our emotions can fluctuate during the day but at a high level we will find ourselves in and around a few numbers on the scale.

Are you on the upward spiral where you are feeling hopeful, optimistic, positive, enthusiastic & content?

 Are you on the downward spiral where you are feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, disappointed, doubtful, worried, angry & discouraged?

Wherever you are on this scale, ask what is contributing to your emotions and what changes can you make to move yourself up the upward spiral.

Every one of us should be aiming for & moving towards the pinnacle of the upper scale spiral of joy, knowledge, empowerment, freedom, love and appreciation. I smile just thinking about  these words! 

After taking on way too much work & many steep learning curves last year, I was hovering around overwhelmed, frustrated, disappointed & impatient and had much work to do to climb back to the upward spiral of hopeful, positive, enthusiastic and content! 

Where are you on the Emotional Scale?

Where would you like to be?

How will you get there?

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

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3 Steps To Your Annual Review

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Another year has whizzed by and it’s time for your Annual Review – how fast did that year go?

That’s the thing with time, it literally flies by which is why it’s so important to live and love every single minute you have.

How do you make the most out of every single minute?

You plan for it which you can do by setting intentions & goals.

What else can you do?

You can look back and review your progress to learn what works for you & what doesn’t work for you and change your direction accordingly.

It is through PERSONAL REFLECTION that we LEARN THE MOST. 

We are our OWN GREATEST TEACHERS and so reflecting on our experiences brings us so much wisdom. 

The ‘3 Steps to Your Annual Review’ is easy to follow – no jargon, no fancy words and will take as much time as you want to dedicate to it.

Here’s a few tips on preparing for your Annual Review.

  • Print your Annual Review Workbook (you can download it at the end of this blog post) – you can also use a journal/notebook or an online document. I document my Annual Review in Moleskine journals and use Google Suite tools for online documentation throughout the year.
  • Schedule time in your busy calendar – I usually take about 2 days to do this. That may sound like a lot of time but it is time well spent when you think of the amount you will learn. No matter how long this takes you, the most important thing is that you schedule and take this time for yourself. 
  • Refer to your Wheel of Life as you answer each question – keep in mind the key areas of your life in your Wheel of Life. If you haven’t created a Wheel of Life, you can use mine below. The areas of my Wheel of Life are Sense of Self, Health, Relationships, Work, Finance, Social Life, Environment & Contribution.

Step 1 of your Annual Review is reflecting on what went well in 2023

1: What worked well for you in 2023? 

What did you enjoy?

Did your plans work out how you wanted or better? 

There are so many blessings in our lives each and every day.

If you focus on the small stuff first you may see that life goes your way more than you may realise – the small stuff really is the big stuff!

 2: What did you do that supported this success?

How did you bring success into your life? 

There are so many things in our lives that we cannot control and so it’s best to just focus on what you can control.

The only person who has control over your life is YOU and the only life you can control is YOUR OWN. 

Did you work hard at something and then reap the rewards?

3. What brought you joy and happiness in 2023?

When were you at your happiest in 2023?

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you? Knowing what brings us happiness allows us to bring more happiness and joy into our lives.

You want to be spending as much time as possible with those who bring out the best in you. The more you bring out the best in yourself, the more you can bring out the best in others.

4. Are you happy with where you spent your time in 2023?

Time is so precious – we all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year but nobody knows how many years we have!

This realisation always makes me so determined to live life to the fullest every single day and that means spending my time where I am happy spending it.

Where did your precious time go in 2023?

Are you happy with where your time was spent in 2023? 

Did you fully enjoy every minute of every day?

That’s Step 1 of your Annual Review done!

 

 Step 2 of your Annual Review is reflecting on what didn’t go well in 2023

1. What didn’t go well in 2023?

When did your plans not work out in 2023?

What happened that you didn’t enjoy?

No matter how much we plan, no matter how much we try to control our plans there are times when things just don’t go our way. 

In his book ‘Green Lights’, Matthew Mc Conaughey talks about the fact that if we only had green lights in life, if there were no amber or red lights, then life would be very boring and we would never grow and evolve.

Such truth and wisdom in that.

  1. What challenges got in your way?

Were there challenges that got in your way in 2023?

Challenges can turn into opportunities for success if we take the time to evaluate and learn from them.

What can you do to eliminate these challenges?

If you can’t eliminate the challenges, how can you think about them differently? 

We all have compete control over our thoughts and just reframing things in our mind can turn challenges into opportunities for success.

3. What didn’t bring you joy and happiness in 2023?

Happiness and unhappiness go hand in hand – no human life is devoid of unhappiness.

Acceptance of this goes a long way to find out what exactly makes us unhappy.

When were you at your unhappiest in 2023? 

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you?

Knowing what makes us unhappy allows us to think deeper about the role certain people, situations, interactions and places play in our levels of happiness.

What did you do to understand and alleviate your unhappiness?

4. Where would you have liked to have spent more time in 2023?

As mentioned above, we all know time is precious – we all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year but nobody knows how many years we have.

Where would you have liked to have spent more time in 2023?

Think about all of the key areas of your life from your Wheel of Life – did you spend too much time in some areas and not enough in others? 

What areas would you have liked to have spent more time in?

How balanced is your life in terms of where you spend your time?

That’s Step 2 of your Annual Review done! 

 

Step 3 of your Annual Review is reflecting on what you learned in all areas of your life in 2023

The only way we grow and evolve as humans is by learning more and by turning these learnings into action that propels us forward. 

Work through the categories of your life in your Wheel of life and ask yourself the following questions,

Sense of Self – what did you learn about yourself? How did you grow and evolve as a person? Did you dedicate enough time to personal development?

Relationships – what did you learn about your relationship with yourself? Has your relationship with yourself improved? What did you learn about your relationship with others? Has your relationship with others improved? 

Health – what did you learn about your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health? Did your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health improve or decline?

Work – what did you learn about your work? Are you growing and developing in your work?  Does your work improve your life? Does your work disimprove your life?

Finance – what did you learn about finance? Did your financial situation improve? Did your financial situation disimprove?

Social Life/Recreation – what did you learn about socialising and recreation? Did you have enough fun & recreation?

Environment – what did you learn about your environment ? Did your environment improve or disimprove? For me, environment relates to my home and also our planet, both are of immense importance to me and bring me happiness and joy.

Contribution – what did you learn about contribution? Did you give more to the world in terms of your time, money or skills? Did you make the world a better place by giving more? Giving doesn’t have to be grand gestures, giving in the smallest possible way can often be the most impactful.

That’s Step 3 of your Annual Review done!

I wish you SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look back at 2023 and even more SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look forward to 2024. 

You can download your free resource, the ANNUAL REVIEW WORKBOOK below, 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain 

x x

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How To Get SERIOUS About Your Goals!

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Image Credit: Madhuri Gupta

Following on from my previous blog post A Guide To Your Mid Year Personal Review’, 

Step 5 of your Mid Year Review is getting SERIOUS about your GOALS  for the next 6 months.  

This is my favourite part of the Mid Year Review as it is where you take your learnings from the first 4 steps and turn them into PURPOSEFUL PERSONAL GOALS!

So how do you set PURPOSEFUL PERSONAL GOALS for the rest of 2022?

 Here are six simple steps to Personal Goal Setting. 

1.Buy notebook –  I highly recommend physically writing your goals down, if you don’t write your goals down somewhere it’s very easy to forget them and not be accountable to them. Henriette Anne Klauser’s excellent book Write It Down, Make It Happen’ explains the science behind writing down your goals and their increased chance of success.

2. Divide your life into categories, this creates your Wheel of Life. If you can’t think of categories you can use my Wheel of Life below or your own version of it. The categories of my life are Relationships, Health & Fitness, Personal Development, Career/Work/Purpose, Finance, Social Life/Recreation, Environment & Contribution.

3. Set goals for each area of your life with the timeline of the end of December 2022. Don’t forget to DREAM BIG as Robin Sharma advises. (Document these in your notebook)

4. Work on your goals EVERY DAY (Document what you do in your notebook)

5. Review your goals EVERY DAY (Document your progress in your notebook)

6. Celebrate and acknowledge progress of your goals EVERY DAY (Document this in your notebook)

The above will build a habit of working on, documenting and reviewing progress of your goals EVERY DAY. 

This gives your goals the best chance of success and will ensure you are learning about goal setting, achieving and reviewing EVERY SINGLE DAY.  

The acronym SERIOUS can support you to set goals for the rest of 2022 in all of the key areas of your life.

Go through your Wheel of Life (or use mine) and ask yourself the following questions for each of the key areas of your life,

S = STOP 

What will you stop doing that is not supporting you?

Do you have habits that you want to stop? 

Do you have behaviours that you want to stop?

E = ENGAGE

 Who do you need to engage with to support you?

Are there relationships you need to give more time to?

Are there relationships you need to give less time to?

Do you need to find a coach and/or mentor?

R = REMOVE 

What do you physically need to remove from your life/work/business?

What do you mentally/emotionally need to remove like beliefs & stories you tell yourself?

What do you need to remove electronically – electronic space also takes up mental headspace!

If your life is full, there is no room for anything else to enter! 

I = IMPROVE

What will you improve in each area of your life?

What is working for you that you want to build on?

What parts of your life do you love that you want more of?

O = OPEN YOUR MIND 

How will you open your mind, grow, evolve and move out of your comfort zone? 

Your comfort zone is exactly that – comfortable.

There is no growth there, you will only grow by moving outside of your comfort zone. 

What do you need to learn about to move you out of your comfort zone? 

U = UNDERSTAND 

How will you understand more about each area of your life? 

How will you understand more about yourself? 

How will you understand more about others?

S = START

What will you start? 

Our lives are already overflowing with busy and so to start something new, we need to create the precious time, space and energy to do so. 

It’s better to focus on everything else in SERIOUS (especially STOP & REMOVE) so you can create the physical, mental and emotional time & space to start something new!

That’s it, answer these quick & easy questions to get SERIOUS about PERSONAL GOAL SETTING in every area of your life for the rest of 2022. 

Whether this was your first time setting Personal Goals or you have been doing this for many years, I hope you learn something new during your Personal Goal setting process.

More importantly, I hope you TAKE ACTION!

Goal setting is only as good as the ACTION YOU TAKE

I wish you happiness, joy, success and purposeful, positive change for the rest of 2022 and beyond. 

If you missed my post on ‘A Guide To Your Mid Year Personal Review’, you can find it here, 

‘A Guide To Your Mid Year Personal Review’

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

Want to read more about Positive Change in life & business?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ and sign up to my Weekly Newsletter below.

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Zzzzz

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change”

This quote from Heraclitus suggests change is constantly happening and is inevitable. As we change and evolve every second, minute, hour and day of our lives it is essential that we find time in our busy schedules to rest and recharge our body, mind and soul.

Whatever we do for rest and relaxation, whether it’s reading, listening to music, spending time alone, spending time with others, exercising, meditating, sleeping or just being, it is so very important to schedule rest and relaxation into our calendar each and every day.

Resting, relaxing, reconnecting with ourselves will not only replenish our energy levels, keeping our mind and body and spirit healthy, it will also keep us sane!!!

My basics for resting and relaxation are spending time with family and friends, solitude,  reading, writing, meditating, journaling and exercising.

As we are all different and unique, only you will know best how to bring rest and relaxation into your life. Only you will know how you best bring rest and relaxation into your life – do you make time for this in your life during times of change?

What are your basics for rest and relaxation?

Do you make enough time for rest and relaxation? 

‘We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.’ Thich Nhat Hanh

Want to read more?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x 

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You

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

All change starts and ends with you.

No matter how big or small, no matter how long it takes, no matter how crazy it sounds, no matter how many doubts and fears you have – all change that you want to see and bring into your life starts with you.

We may think that we need external factors to bring change into our lives and be happy with such change. We all know the saying ‘I’ll be happy when….’. This may be true for short term unsustainable change but for real long term sustainable changes in life and in business it is internal factors that determine success.

How much do we want change and how hard are we going to work for it?

When it comes to change, Mahatma Gandhi summed it up when he said 

‘Be the change you want to see in the world’.

How can we expect the world around us to change if we remain the same? 

How can we expect more from life without changing ourselves?

What change do you want to see in your world?

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”  Gail Sheehy

Want to read more?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Xtra Effort

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

No matter what type of change you are going through or implementing you will need strength.

Strength to ensure you follow through on what is required for change, strength to be able to support yourself through change, strength to support others through change and strength to ensure you keep going no matter what external factors and obstacles may come your way.

If you put extra effort into building your Physical, Mental and Emotional strength, nothing will get in your way of change. Keeping your mind, body and emotions strong and healthy will make everything along the path of change is that little bit easier.

How do you put xtra effort into your physical, mental and emotional strength?

Are you putting in xtra effort towards the change you want?

‘No matter what kind of challenges or difficulties or painful situations you go through in your life, we all have something deep within us that we can reach down and find the inner strength to get through them.’  Alana Stewart

How do you build your physical, mental and emotional strength?

Want to read more?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Work

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

As outlined in my previous post, having a grand vision is critical to creating and sustaining positive change in your professional and personal life.

When you have determined what your vision is, then it’s work – consistent work, hard work, and focused work that is required to realise your vision.

Sustainable change is a step by step process. Each step towards change requires a different type of work. A new skill may be required or you may need to re-energise  the skills you already have, it may be research or planning that is the next step, delegation of work may be the best way to go or asking for the help and the support of others. You may require inner work to build up your confidence, bravery, patience, resilience and motivation, all necessary elements for change.

One of my favourite quotes by Brendon Burchard comes to mind when thinking about the amount of work required for change,

‘When you knock on the door of opportunity, do not be surprised that it is work who answers.’ Brendon Burchard

What work do you have to do to implement the change you desire?

What new skills do you need?

What personal development will support you?

Want to read more?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x 

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Vision

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

In order to bring Positive Change into your personal life, professional life or business you will need a VISION.

As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, a vision is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom, a mental image of what the future will or could be like, a vivid mental image, especially a fanciful one of the future.

A favourite quote of mine from is

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Norman Vincent Peale

Shooting for the moon is indeed a grand vision but why would you shoot for anything less?

The above quote is so true and something to keep in mind when you are creating your own grand vision.

A grand vision will stretch you personally and professionally to work towards it.

A grand vision will ensure you either reach the moon or do indeed fall among the stars.

A grand vision will keep you on track, keep you centered, keep you focused on your goals and will bring clarity and comfort when times get tough.

In the world of Lean we use the term True North to describe where we are aspire to be and what we are working towards.

True North like a vision becomes the compass that continuously shows you where you are going and if you are on or off track.

When you are clear what your vision is you can take the action required to bring your vision to life.

What is your personal vision?

What is your professional vision/vision for your company?

Are you working towards this vision every day?

‘Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others’ Jonathan Swift

Want to read more?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Unknown

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

All change requires taking a leap of faith into the unknown.

We know we want to change, we know we need to change, we know what we have to do to change, yet the path to change is unknown and mostly the destination of change is also unknown.  

Leaping into the unknown may create feelings of stress and anxiety but those feelings will soon pass as the journey to change commences. With every step we take along the path of change, we become more comfortable with change, more comfortable with the unknown that lies ahead and sometimes we learn to enjoy the journey into the unknown.

The unknown is more common than we realise.

Every day we wake up we are faced with the unknown, nobody knows what the day ahead holds. We may know where we are going every day (work, school, college, holidays) but nobody knows what will happen or what the day holds in store for us.

When we become familiar and comfortable with the unknown, it becomes less of a scary concept.

Instead of stressful and anxious feelings we start to feel excited and inspired by the unknown which allows us to take even bigger strides towards positive change.

‘The challenge of the unknown future is so much more exciting than the stories of the accomplished past’  Simon Sinek

Want to read more? Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Time

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

As mentioned in previous posts, sustainable change takes time, lots of time.

If you want to make change you will need to protect your time like a lioness protects her new-born cub! Your time belongs to you, it is solely yours and only you can decide where your time goes.

Sometimes we give so freely of our time that it becomes someone else’s and we are left wondering where it went!!

Would you give your money away as freely as you give your time? I didn’t think so!!

One of my all time favourite quotes is by Jim Rohn, 

‘Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time’ Jim Rohn

This quote is so true and is especially pertinent when you are going through personal or professional change.

Take time to think, time to plan, time to ensure your decisions are the right ones for you, ensure your time remains your own and is spent wisely on bringing the change you are working towards into being.

Who uses your time?

is it the same person who uses your money?

Something to think about!

Want to read more?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below. 

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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