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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Ponder Your Life Goals in an Ideas Book

Some time ago I received a rather nice notebook as a Christmas present. It is a hardback book and inserted amongst the note pages are photographs of my family. It was a nice gift that I didn't want to waste, so I pondered about how I might use it.
I decided to use the book as an "Ideas Book" ... a book that is for me personally, and captures ideas for my life.
I have numerous sections in the book ...
There is a section on health and fitness, that has some goals (which I can modify with time). This section contains some ideas about health and fitness related activities and goals that I might be interested in over time.
I have a section for travel ... I add places of interest over time and it helps me to understand where are places that truly interest me that should be on my bucket list, and where are other places that might be of interest.
I have section about work ... what I enjoy, what intrigues me, what strengths I think I have and what I am not so good at! This helps me to think about the future and what I might enjoy doing with my time after Eagle. It also helps me to understand where I might need help in my current role.

I have section devoted to writing. This is something I enjoy so perhaps I might write a book or two. This section contains some book ideas, along with some details that I add from time to time ... plots for novels etc.
I have a section for hobbies ... things I do now, and things I might do in the future.
The whole idea of the book was to capture ideas as they came to me and to have one resource that might help me to plan my life. It has been an interesting exercise, and one that I highly recommend. It is like capturing your goals in one place, adding some prospective goals over time and having all of the relevant data to determine what is important to YOU ... in one place.
Of course it doesn't need to be on paper, it can be digital ... but I enjoy the book, leafing through it, pondering the entries and flipping back and forth. I find it helps my creative thinking. I also like the fact that I can pick it up any time, and do some thinking about the various topics in it.
The book has become much more than an "ideas book" ... it is rapidly becoming the blueprint for my life.
Try it ... it has helped me to clarify some of my thinking, it might just work for you too!

Author: Kevin Dee

Brought to you by Life Coaching by LC

info@lifecoachingbylc.com

Monday, March 17, 2014

Even The Littlest Things You Do Can Become A Major Turning Point For Someone

Relationship is one of the most effective tools for spiritual evolution because we're always in relationships. Think of the web of relationships you have at any time—friends, parents, children, colleagues, teachers, lovers, even enemies. All are, at their heart, spiritual experiences.
Where would you be without all those lessons learned through relationships? Could you have grown into the person you are today? Could you have known the things you know today?
If you think back to all the little things we do for each other, and pay attention to some of the events that have unfolded as a result of them, you'll learn to recognize the impact we have on one another, everyday.
I want to take this time to remind you that you all matter to many, in more ways than you know. I see this everyday and everywhere, and am grateful for it. Let me give you an example.
In the late 80's soon after my move from Malaysia to Canada, I found myself being antagonized by a group of students I barely knew at my high school. Maybe I didn't quite understand their culture; perhaps my English wasn't perfect; or maybe my clothes didn't suit their taste. Who knows? But they seemed to enjoy tormenting me. They often threatened me, called me names and threw things at me and laughed.
I dreaded recess because I knew I would bump into them. I was afraid of them. I was afraid of getting in trouble and I was afraid I would disappoint my family if I retaliated or hurt anyone. Most of all, I was angry with myself for feeling so weak.
Feeling scared, sad and angry all at the same time, I kept my composure when I asked my art teacher, Ms. Kroeker, if I could spend my lunchtime in the art studio to practice my artwork. I even convinced her to lock the door so I could "keep a better eye on all the art supplies." She never questioned me. She was always very good to me.
To this day, Ms. Kroeker doesn't even know the truth about what she's done for me just by doing me that "little" favor. You see, while I was locked in the art studio each day during lunchtime, I came to realize that I was a good artist. I soon understood why Ms. Kroeker always praised my work. She believed in me long before I even believed in myself.
Learning to appreciate my own creativity was just my uncovering a piece of the puzzle. There was more. Being locked in at lunchtime gave me a safe place to be, to think, and to do some soul searching.
And with this opportunity to reflect, something inside me began to change. I was sick of feeling scared; sick of being locked in; sick of allowing others to have so much control over the way I felt. I knew that sooner or later I would have to face up to my fears and stand up for myself.
I had to unplug from a negative belief pattern about myself that had no truth but nonetheless had "power" over me. I knew I had to stop judging myself and give myself permission to do what's right for me.
I was ready. I gave myself permission to be free – to have lunch like everyone else. It wasn't long before my tormentors spotted me in the cafeteria. I felt something bad was going to happen but I kept my cool and went about my business until one of them decided to creep up from behind to attack me. That was when I lost it. I detonated.
In that little moment in time, every social grace I've ever adopted went out the window. I had to do what came naturally—defend myself. Though I held a black belt in Karate at the time, I must admit fighting for real was very different from fighting in a ring. In the ring, we had to follow the rules. In this case, there were no rules. Anything goes.
I was striking moves I didn't even know I was capable of just to fight not one, but three people off me. After a taste of my "temporary insanity," all three of them scattered off like mice running away from a cat. I was in shock. Did I hurt someone? Was I hurt? Was I the cat? (Like I said, I was in a little bit of a shock.)
To make a long story short, from that day onward, things were never the same. No one tried to bother me anymore.
I learned something else along the way as a result of all this. I used to think that doing my best means I have to be in the best mood or else I'm just not doing my best. Or my best has to be this awe-encompassing deal, or else it's not good enough. I'm glad to say I was wrong.
The truth is that your best is going to change from moment to moment, and that's okay. It will be different when you are healthy as oppose to sick, happy as oppose to sad. Under any circumstance, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Doing your best means doing the most natural thing for you in each moment – making decisions to move away from what you don't want and more towards the things you do want. And if this means you have to take a few steps back in order to move forward, that's okay, too.
Doing your best also means making each moment for yourself a little better than the last. This does not necessarily mean that the next step you take will put you in an ideal place right away. It may not even make you happy in that moment. But nonetheless it is a necessary step in order to move towards your ideal outcome.
And if those steps you take should somehow lead you to fall hard along the way, that's okay, too. Just know that sometimes we have to fall in order to rise again—stronger than before.

Author: Penny Phang

Brought to you by Life Coaching by LC

info@lifecoachingbylc.com

Friday, March 14, 2014

Do You Realize That You're Living Someone Else's Dream?

It's no secret that your relationships with others are enriched when you learn to appreciate one another for the little things (not just the big stuff). The same goes for feeling enriched in the life you live – regardless of your circumstances. When you learn to continuously appreciate the "little" things in life, only then will you discover an indestructible inner peace within – one that money cannot buy.
This is most evident in people who are less fortunate and yet able to stay in good spirits. They've found a way to maintain inner peace regardless of their situation.
I've come to know that part of the journey to finding inner peace is to understand life is so much more than what's happening in front of us. Just because we do not see it does not mean it isn't there. Just because we do not feel it does not mean it isn't happening. Your life, whether you believe this or not, is but only a dream for billions of people in this world.
Take thirty bucks for example: what's thirty bucks to you? How do you spend thirty bucks in a single day?
Now, what if I told you, in most poverty stricken countries, thirty bucks can provide a child three nourishing meals a day, proper education and medical care for one full month?
In 1994, through World Vision, I sponsored a 5-year-old child in Zimbabwe, Africa, for thirty dollars a month. Her name was Lasi Sibanda. We stayed in touch by mail. However, four years ago, she sent me a letter expressing her deepest gratitude for my sponsorship. The funds have raised her well—she completed school and was working.
What I didn't know was that the funds also helped her family become self-sufficient and in turn, were able to contribute in helping their community. They no longer needed my help. Instead, I was kindly led to sponsor 4-year-old Doreen Komunjumba in Uganda, Africa. It was then that I truly grasp the notion of what thirty dollars can do.
Lives can be empowered… A better future can take shape…
Sadly, many people think of the world as a compartmentalized entity that is made up of various countries. Some of these countries are rich, some poor. Some are over populated, and some under populated. Some are rich with natural resources, others are barren and infertile.
However, where we as individuals fit into this scheme, some may say it's the luck of the draw and others may say it's a choice we can make for this particular lifetime.
If you were born in a region of the world that happens to be rich with resources, or economically prosperous, you're more likely to not worry about where to go for food, what disease you may die of tomorrow, or who will take care of you when you're sick.
The reality is that we are all inhabitants of this single place called earth, and there is no reason why one person arbitrarily born in one country should live in poverty, while others born in another country live a relatively lavish lifestyle.
Imagine for a moment…if the world was one country. Then imagine that the world president started allocating land to all the citizens. How would you feel if you were randomly given a piece of land which turned out to be a desert barren of life, while your next door neighbor ended up on top of a gold mine? Obviously you would think it was unfair, right?
Well then imagine if your rich neighbor started using their wealth and influence to make your life even more difficult by taking what little resources you had, and polluting your environment. That is exactly what happens today between developed and undeveloped countries.
It is a fact that rich nations would not be wealthy if there were not poor nations to support us. We could not possibly afford our products if it wasn't for people working in factories for less than a dollar a day, nor could we afford to feed ourselves if it wasn't for the billions of people farming in developing countries for less than three hundred dollars a year.
We would not be able to buy prawns if it wasn't for the tens of thousands of prawn farms in south east Asia and south America—as there is no way developed societies would allow this environmentally damaging practice to take place in our own backyard.
Examples like these are endless, but they show that the developed world's standard of living, for the most part, is supported by the demise of others.
It is not one person that created the divide between the developed world and the developing world, nor can one person fix the issues. Therefore, we as "global citizens" all have a social and moral obligation to help each other to enable a safe and healthy life for all.
Keep this in mind when you're ready to donate to a charity of your choice. After all, what does thirty bucks mean to you? A cheap sweater? Five Starbucks coffee? For the less fortunate, it means much more; it means a chance for health and education, hope for the future and a great reason to live.

Author: Penny Phang

Brought to you by Life Coaching by LC

info@lifecoachingbylc.com