Hi Everyone,
I saw this today and wanted to share it with you.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Jefferson.
What opportunities did you miss out on in 2009? What will you be doing differently in 2010 to ensure that you take seize all the opportunities that will be made available to you?
Bye for now
Gina
Showing posts with label New Habits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Habits. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Routine verus habits
Hi Everyone,
Since my visit to London and getting back home to Trinidad, I have not settled back in my routine, of running for an hour each day, writing to you in my blog, sticking to my healthy eating plan, working etc!!
Yesterday, I started to get annoyed with myself! I had an amazing January with many great outcomes and results achieved, but February appears to have ended and I don't feel as though, I have accomplished anything!! Which is not actually true, I just checked, I've completed 50% of what I set out to do.
I can see now, why I am feeling as though not much has happened. Looking at my outcomes for February, they are all about getting ready for the next wave of results!! Completing marketing materials, completing company proposals, hiring staff, meeting new clients etc. I feel stimulated by achieving results!! Sometimes you just need to get stuff done in order to achieve the results!
And I have also realized something else too!!! The routines I mentioned earlier, running, writing to you etc, are not written in my monthly. Well no wonder, I was not focusing or working on them!!!
With any change, you have to work on it for a while, before it become a habit!!!
Definition of a habit
1. regularly repeated behaviour pattern: an action or pattern of behaviour that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody, although he or she may be unaware of it. http://uk.encarta.msn.com/
My new routines are not habits yet!!
You will be pleased to know, that I did go for a run this morning and felt so much better for it and I will be spending the next few hours working on the more difficult February outcomes, so that March, can be a month were results are achieved!!!
What routines are you working on? What needs to happen for them to become HABITS?
See you.
Gina
Since my visit to London and getting back home to Trinidad, I have not settled back in my routine, of running for an hour each day, writing to you in my blog, sticking to my healthy eating plan, working etc!!
Yesterday, I started to get annoyed with myself! I had an amazing January with many great outcomes and results achieved, but February appears to have ended and I don't feel as though, I have accomplished anything!! Which is not actually true, I just checked, I've completed 50% of what I set out to do.
I can see now, why I am feeling as though not much has happened. Looking at my outcomes for February, they are all about getting ready for the next wave of results!! Completing marketing materials, completing company proposals, hiring staff, meeting new clients etc. I feel stimulated by achieving results!! Sometimes you just need to get stuff done in order to achieve the results!
And I have also realized something else too!!! The routines I mentioned earlier, running, writing to you etc, are not written in my monthly. Well no wonder, I was not focusing or working on them!!!
With any change, you have to work on it for a while, before it become a habit!!!
Definition of a habit
1. regularly repeated behaviour pattern: an action or pattern of behaviour that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody, although he or she may be unaware of it. http://uk.encarta.msn.com/
My new routines are not habits yet!!
You will be pleased to know, that I did go for a run this morning and felt so much better for it and I will be spending the next few hours working on the more difficult February outcomes, so that March, can be a month were results are achieved!!!
What routines are you working on? What needs to happen for them to become HABITS?
See you.
Gina
Monday, February 2, 2009
What's Cooking?
Hi Everyone,
On the treadmill this morning, I was listening to an interview on my ipod with a lady called Gregory Anne http://midlifewithavengeance.com/ who has combined her culinary and coaching skills and has a business, where she helps women in their midlife stay fit and healthy.
During the interview, Gregory Anne stated if you want to know how you work, look at the way you cook. I thought about this for a moment and it actually made sense.
When I cook, (I don't do it very often, as my wonderful boyfriend Dereck, does most of the cooking) I used to have everything on the counter top, several things going on at one time and if it is in the week, I would be normally running between the laptop and the pots!!! I would be also be banging cupboards, pots and tasting everything as I go!!
When I compare this to how I used to work, it is actually quite similar. I would have papers around me, with scribbles and notes, I would have email open and I would switch regularly between emails and the work I doing.
Dereck can normally tell, if I have been working and cooking in between. He says he can taste it, 'the love is missing!!' This makes sense, in that my focus was not on the cooking, hence it was not my best and the same applies to my work. If my mind is on several things, I don't produce my best work.
So now, if and when I do cook, I stop working and concentrate on one thing and guess what? The meal is cooked faster, I am not stressed out, and my work gets completed too. This works for me, as I am not a great mutli tasker.
So how do you cook? And how are these habits, showing up in other parts of your life?
And if you don't like cooking or don't cook, how are these habits showing up in your life?
Whcih habits help you and which ones don't?
What can you put in your recipe for success?
See you tomorrow.
Gina
On the treadmill this morning, I was listening to an interview on my ipod with a lady called Gregory Anne http://midlifewithavengeance.com/ who has combined her culinary and coaching skills and has a business, where she helps women in their midlife stay fit and healthy.
During the interview, Gregory Anne stated if you want to know how you work, look at the way you cook. I thought about this for a moment and it actually made sense.
When I cook, (I don't do it very often, as my wonderful boyfriend Dereck, does most of the cooking) I used to have everything on the counter top, several things going on at one time and if it is in the week, I would be normally running between the laptop and the pots!!! I would be also be banging cupboards, pots and tasting everything as I go!!
When I compare this to how I used to work, it is actually quite similar. I would have papers around me, with scribbles and notes, I would have email open and I would switch regularly between emails and the work I doing.
Dereck can normally tell, if I have been working and cooking in between. He says he can taste it, 'the love is missing!!' This makes sense, in that my focus was not on the cooking, hence it was not my best and the same applies to my work. If my mind is on several things, I don't produce my best work.
So now, if and when I do cook, I stop working and concentrate on one thing and guess what? The meal is cooked faster, I am not stressed out, and my work gets completed too. This works for me, as I am not a great mutli tasker.
So how do you cook? And how are these habits, showing up in other parts of your life?
And if you don't like cooking or don't cook, how are these habits showing up in your life?
Whcih habits help you and which ones don't?
What can you put in your recipe for success?
See you tomorrow.
Gina
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Press Pause
Hi Everyone,
Last night, I caught the end of the movie 'Click' with Adam Sandler. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389860/plotsummary
I have seen the movie before and remembering it to be quite entertaining, I decided to watch the last 30 minutes.
For those of you, you don't know the film. It is about a husband and father, who is stressed at work and is finding it hard to spend time with his family and build his career. He goes to a store on day, to buy a universal remote and find one with 'extra' features!!!
With this new remote, he can fast forward his life. So he decides to fast forward parts of his life (arugments with his wife, promotions at work, time with his parents, kids etc). This all works well until, he realises that he is no longer in control of his life, the 'remote' is!! When he gets a chance to rewind to the parts of his life that he has fast forwarded, he sees himself with his family, he is there in body, but his mind is elsewhere. At the end, as he is dying, he says to his ex-wife and grown up kids, that he hardly recognises 'Family comes first'
When I first saw this movie, I felt sorry for him after a while. but on watching it this time, I was able to see a connection between Adam Sandler's character and my life and the lives of many other people.
How many times, have you fast forwarded through life in order to meet your work commitments?
How many times have you rushed through family events or cancelled them, because you have other 'more important' things to do?
How many times, have you been to visit your parents, but your mind is elsewhere and you hardly engage in any conversation?
How many times, have you focused on your next promotion and once you get it, you focus on the next one?
I know, I used to be guilty of these!!(I sometime slip back into old habits, but the difference is now, is that I can catch myself doing it and then I stop it)
There are parts of my life, that I don't remember. My sister Michelle asks me regularly, if I remember certain events, parties, conversations etc, and some I can't even recall!! I was there, but only in body!!!
A few times in my life, 'life' was in control, not me and when life 'pressed pause', it was rather painful!!
A book that helped me to learn how to'press pause' is 'The Power of Now' by Erkhart Tolle. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1577314808/bookstorenow57-20
Erkhart states that most of us live in the past or live in the future, but we need to learn to live in the 'Now', to live in the present!!!
His book helped me to see where some of my unhappiness was coming from. I was not even taking time to celebrate the successes I had sacrificed so much for!! I had either been worrying about things that had happened or worried about things that had not happened yet. Does this sound familiar?
I suggest that you take control and 'press pause', because if you don't life will step in and press it for you!!!!
What have you recently fast forwarded?
When has life, 'pressed pause for you?
If you were to 'press pause now', what would you start doing?
One of the things I do now, is call my mum and speak to her everyday (one of resolutions).
I also spend quality time with friends and family. I left London over seven years ago and even though I visit at least once a year, it is a world wind trip. so i tend to have a dinner with all my friends at the same time. So we see each other, but we don't really catch up.
So this year, I decided to take five weeks off work in total (I worked for three weeks in between). So, I was away from home for eight weeks!!!
During my trip, I planned to see all my family and closest friends separately!!! Each day was amazing!!! We shared, we laughed, we cried, we talked about old times. I have to say it was one of the best times in my life and guess what, because I was in the 'Now', I remember every magic moment, that we shared!!!
Press pause!! You will glad that you did.
See you tomorrow.
Gina
Last night, I caught the end of the movie 'Click' with Adam Sandler. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389860/plotsummary
I have seen the movie before and remembering it to be quite entertaining, I decided to watch the last 30 minutes.
For those of you, you don't know the film. It is about a husband and father, who is stressed at work and is finding it hard to spend time with his family and build his career. He goes to a store on day, to buy a universal remote and find one with 'extra' features!!!
With this new remote, he can fast forward his life. So he decides to fast forward parts of his life (arugments with his wife, promotions at work, time with his parents, kids etc). This all works well until, he realises that he is no longer in control of his life, the 'remote' is!! When he gets a chance to rewind to the parts of his life that he has fast forwarded, he sees himself with his family, he is there in body, but his mind is elsewhere. At the end, as he is dying, he says to his ex-wife and grown up kids, that he hardly recognises 'Family comes first'
When I first saw this movie, I felt sorry for him after a while. but on watching it this time, I was able to see a connection between Adam Sandler's character and my life and the lives of many other people.
How many times, have you fast forwarded through life in order to meet your work commitments?
How many times have you rushed through family events or cancelled them, because you have other 'more important' things to do?
How many times, have you been to visit your parents, but your mind is elsewhere and you hardly engage in any conversation?
How many times, have you focused on your next promotion and once you get it, you focus on the next one?
I know, I used to be guilty of these!!(I sometime slip back into old habits, but the difference is now, is that I can catch myself doing it and then I stop it)
There are parts of my life, that I don't remember. My sister Michelle asks me regularly, if I remember certain events, parties, conversations etc, and some I can't even recall!! I was there, but only in body!!!
A few times in my life, 'life' was in control, not me and when life 'pressed pause', it was rather painful!!
A book that helped me to learn how to'press pause' is 'The Power of Now' by Erkhart Tolle. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1577314808/bookstorenow57-20
Erkhart states that most of us live in the past or live in the future, but we need to learn to live in the 'Now', to live in the present!!!
His book helped me to see where some of my unhappiness was coming from. I was not even taking time to celebrate the successes I had sacrificed so much for!! I had either been worrying about things that had happened or worried about things that had not happened yet. Does this sound familiar?
I suggest that you take control and 'press pause', because if you don't life will step in and press it for you!!!!
What have you recently fast forwarded?
When has life, 'pressed pause for you?
If you were to 'press pause now', what would you start doing?
One of the things I do now, is call my mum and speak to her everyday (one of resolutions).
I also spend quality time with friends and family. I left London over seven years ago and even though I visit at least once a year, it is a world wind trip. so i tend to have a dinner with all my friends at the same time. So we see each other, but we don't really catch up.
So this year, I decided to take five weeks off work in total (I worked for three weeks in between). So, I was away from home for eight weeks!!!
During my trip, I planned to see all my family and closest friends separately!!! Each day was amazing!!! We shared, we laughed, we cried, we talked about old times. I have to say it was one of the best times in my life and guess what, because I was in the 'Now', I remember every magic moment, that we shared!!!
Press pause!! You will glad that you did.
See you tomorrow.
Gina
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Pack Your Own Parachute
Hi Everyone,
No, I am not going sky diving (even though I have always wanted to, but I have not gotten enough courage yet to do it).
'Pack your own parachute', was a term used by a consulting colleague of mine. It basically means, make sure, you have everything in place to make things happen!!
One of my resolutions this year, was to have made 20k profit in my investments (I have no shares at the moment, so this is a bold statement), through building a strong and profitable investment portfolio. This might sound grand, but all I mean, is that I wanted to buy some cheap shares in a few stable companies and then over the next 5 -10 years, watch them grow.
My best friend Brenda and I decided a few years ago to invest in ourselves and we hired a investment mentor, to teach us how to find good shares and make money in the stock market.
Since we took the mentoring class, I have to say honestly, we have not really used the skills we acquired!! Why do people do that? Spend money to learn something and then do nothing with it?
I know for me, one of the reasons, I did not put my new skills into practise, was because I thought I was not good enough at it and I thought I might fail.
A dear friend of mine Cyndi said to me, 'If you are not trading, then you have already failed' That woke me up!!!
So, back to my resolution for this year
No, I am not going sky diving (even though I have always wanted to, but I have not gotten enough courage yet to do it).
'Pack your own parachute', was a term used by a consulting colleague of mine. It basically means, make sure, you have everything in place to make things happen!!
One of my resolutions this year, was to have made 20k profit in my investments (I have no shares at the moment, so this is a bold statement), through building a strong and profitable investment portfolio. This might sound grand, but all I mean, is that I wanted to buy some cheap shares in a few stable companies and then over the next 5 -10 years, watch them grow.
My best friend Brenda and I decided a few years ago to invest in ourselves and we hired a investment mentor, to teach us how to find good shares and make money in the stock market.
Since we took the mentoring class, I have to say honestly, we have not really used the skills we acquired!! Why do people do that? Spend money to learn something and then do nothing with it?
I know for me, one of the reasons, I did not put my new skills into practise, was because I thought I was not good enough at it and I thought I might fail.
A dear friend of mine Cyndi said to me, 'If you are not trading, then you have already failed' That woke me up!!!
So, back to my resolution for this year
- 20k profit from my investments.
- The habit I had to stop, was to STOP stalling
- One of the new habits was to build a watch list of companies, I would like to invest. ( This will allow me to notice whether the shares prices are rising and falling and help me to see, when would be the best time buy).
So that's what I did. I built my watch list (using information from the news, or http://www.fool.com/, they send me daily information on the market and the economy, banking info etc and it is really jargon free).
Anyway, I have been watching shares in a company called Xstrata. Brenda and I had bought shares in this company about 2 years ago for 21 GBP and sold then for about 36 GBP!!! Well with the economy the way it is right now, the shares were down to about 7GBP.
So, I put my skills into practice and worked out that once the shares fell below 6 GBP, I would buy them.
Then guess what, yesterday, the shares were at about 5.50 GBP. I was so excited. The company was issuing cheap shares to raise capital.I was going to BUY!!! I was READY!!!
So, I excitedly went into Brenda and my share on line account to buy the shares. I had the password and log on. YEAH, I was in. But then they wanted the secret word!!!! No! No!. I did not know it!! Brenda had set up the account!!! So why couldn't I call Brenda I hear you ask?!!
BECAUSE she is on holiday and I did not have a number for her!!!! I did not pack my own parachute!!! I always relied on Brenda to make the transactions!!! So I watched the share price rise yesterday and could not get in the game!!! Something just came to me!! I did not even think of a different way to buy the shares!!! If I had thought of a solution, rather than just starred at the problem, I might have those shares now at the 5ish GBP price!!!
So, when getting ready to do anything, make sure that you have thought everything through, so you can seize the opportunity when it comes, rather than have to sit on the plane and watch everyone else jumping out and having an amazing time!!
See you tomorrow.
Gina
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