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

What needs are driving your behaviours?

Hi Everyone,

I am back!!! It's been 13 days, did you miss me?

I have had an amazing time, celebrating my 40th birthday!!!!

I spent my actual birthday with my mum, sister Michelle and my boyfriend Dereck in one of the National Trust homes in England. Here is the link, so you can see where we stayed http://www.nationaltrustcottages.co.uk/nt.asp?p=63&c=348

This was a very different birthday for me. Since the age of 16, I have always celebrated my actual birthday surrounded by friends and family. I was a nightmare, when it came to MY BIRTHDAY!!! Before email (yes there was a time, before email), I would do a count down of my birthday on my screen saver and I would change my answer machine message, informing all callers that it was my birthday on 10th February, so there was no excuse to say you forgot!!

Once everyone had email , there would be an email sent out every mid January reminding everyone, that the special day was coming!! And for EVERYONE who knew me, everyone knew my birthday was 10th February.

As a friend of mine, you were not allowed to do anything else on that day except celebrate with me!! I remember a dear friend of mine Richard, one year could not make the celebration due to a work commitment, so he sent me flowers to my office, as a gift with a card apologising for his absence!!!

I told you, I was a nightmare!!! At the time, I thought I was being completely reasonable!!

In 2006 I attended an Anthony Robbins seminar called 'Unleash the Power Within' and one of the areas he covered was the 6 basis human needs. A few months after the seminar, I realised that my behaviour around my birthday celebrations was not really about enjoying time with family and friends, it was more about my need for significance and certainty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsYiXuz1aQ

Significance and certainty had to be 'fed' at all times, these two needs drove my behaviours!!! It was quite a shock to come to this realisation.

Through the Anthony Robbins Mastery University http://www.tonyrobbins.com/MasteryUniversity/Index.aspx and other self awareness events and programs, Growth and Contribution are now my two driving human needs!!

So celebrating my birthday with my mum, Michelle and Dereck was just as enjoyable as my other birthdays.

Don't get me wrong, I still love to celebrate, I had my 40th birthday in London and Dereck and my friend Marjoliene threw me a surprise birthday party, when I got back to Trinidad. The difference is, I don't need to be surrounded by loads of people to feel loved, I know my family and friends love me. And if you can't make it or forgot, it's OK.

I carry everyone's love inside me, it does not have to be displayed physically anymore for me to know that it exists.

I love life and all it has to offer. I love myself and I am comfortable in my own skin!!!

Friends and family have noticed and commented on the change in my overall behaviour (not just regarding birthday celebrations). I have transcended and it is a great feeling.

Which of the 6 human needs are driving your behaviours?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsYiXuz1aQ

What impact is this having on your life and the lives of the people around you?

See you tomorrow.

Gina

Who supports you?

Hi Everyone,

Well, I am off to London for a week's vacation to celebrate my 40th birthday with family and friends.

I have lived away from London for over 7 years now and I have been blessed to still be in contact with my dear friends and family.

Even though, I am only in London on average once a year now, my ties with my family and friends is extremely strong.

We don't talk or email everyday, but when we do, it is as though, we only spoke yesterday!!!

I decided late last year, that I had to spend my birthday with the people who I grew up with, so we could share, laugh and remember things when we were youngER!! I could not have spent it anywhere else!!!

When I use the term 'friend' it is someone , who is a part of me (not an acquaintance), someone who feels me and I feel them.

My friends are my extended family. Growing up, I took on a supportive role, I was there for everyone, but I did not let others, be there for me.

But over the last few years, I have trusted myself to trust others and this has liberated me and helped my friends and my family to give me the support they always wanted to give.

For my dear friends who are reading this (some of my friends I have known for over 29 years) , and my family (Mum, Michelle, Junior, Dora and Dereck)........

I love you with all my heart, you have supported me and loved me and this is priceless.

Here's to the next 40 plus years!!!

See you after 10th February!!!!

Gina

What have you been doing?

Hi Everyone,

Well, next week Tuesday, 10th February will be my 40th birthday!!!

I was chatting with my friend Oneka, who turned 40 in December and we were laughing that we did not feel, like we had been around for 40 years!!! We laughed and said, 'What have we been doing for all those years!!! '

So, this got me thinking, what had I been doing? At first I thought, 'Not much!!' But the more I reflected, I realised that I have done a lot over the last 39 years!!!

• Became House Captain at school
• Graduated from University
• Started working in my then chosen field - Finance
• Started driving
• Got married
• Qualified as an Accountant
• Joined one of the leading Accountancy firms
• Got divorced
• Became Senior Manager
• Bought my own home
• Changed career to become a Change Management Consultant
• Moved to Trinidad
• Met Dereck
• Worked in Trinidad, Jamaica, Canada and Africa
• Went to Disneyland
• Commenced developing my coaching skills
• Started my own companies
• Learnt to love myself
• Enjoying everyday and all life has to offer
• Plus I have visited all 5 continents

So, by taking a quick look, over the past 39 years, I can see that I actually have been quite busy and I have enjoyed myself.

I have been blessed. I love the poem footprints http://www.wowzone.com/fprints.htm, it is one of my favourite poems.

There were some really rough and tough times during the last 39 years, (when God carried me)but I realised a few years ago, that everything that happened has made me stronger, made me love life and myself sooooooo much more and everything happened for a reason..

So, I am excited about the next 40 plus years. What will be in store for me? One thing for sure, I am going to enjoy the ride to the fullest!!!!

What have you been doing with your life? What can you do to ensure, that you enjoy every single day, that you have been blessed with?

See you tomorrow.

Gina

Eliminated!!!!!

Hi Everyone,

One of my resolutions for this year, is to eliminate 40lbs in weight!!!My bold statement.

My resolution is not loose!! when I loose weight, I always find it back again!! So this time it is being eliminated!!

My reason for eliminating this excess weight this year, is to bring physical self and mental self into positive alignment.

I have worked on improving my life over the past 3 -4 years and now it is the time for me to 'create my ideal body'. I have removed the mental baggage, so now it is time to eliminate the excess physical baggage!!

I stole this phrase 'create your ideal body' from a coach called Terri Levine, who has created a coaching program and book called 'Create Your Ideal Body' http://www.terrilevine.com/

The habit I had to to stop, was to STOP comfort and habit eating (habit eating i.e. eating while driving, eating while working, eating because I am watching TV etc)

And the new habit is to eat consciously and to drink water when I feel hungry first.

I have been working away from home for the last three weeks and I have run for an hour everyday except Sundays ,and the visible results from these new behaviours have been.......

8lbs and 6 inches eliminated in 3 weeks!!!

My routine will change after Friday, as I am leaving to go to London to celebrate my 40th birthday with my family and friends!!! My boyfriend Dereck arrives on Sunday!!! Then I will be back in Trinidad after that, so I need to work out (no pun intended), how I will keep my new habits in a changing environment!!! I will think it through and share them with. I would love to hear , if you have any ideas too.

How are your resolutions progressing? What are your visible signs of progress?

If you have not tried out my BEHAVIOURS approach for your resolutions, or any change you are making, then check out the formula in my first ever published posting - January 26th 2009.

See you tomorrow.

Gina

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

Break it up into bite size pieces

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are having or had a great weekend.

When does change become easy?

When it becomes normal, i.e. accepted.

The theories that talk about change are based on 'Elizabeth Kubler Ross, '5 stages of Grief' Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. http://rule-of-thumb.net/2008/09/26/the-change-curve/

About two years ago, I was working abroad with a team in the oil industry and we worked 28 days on and 28 days off. Yes, 28 days straight, for 11 -12 hours per day!!! Saturday and Sunday is just another work day and that includes Christmas Day!!! I was in a meeting on Christmas Day at 9.00 am!!! When I said to my friend Barry, I can't believe we are working on Christmas Day, he said 'Christmas begins at 2.30 pm !!!' DENIAL

And when I started this assignment, I used to count the days!!! It was really hard going at first, being away from home for so long and with people you did not know and nothing familiar around you.

Two weeks into my first month, I hit a wall. I was tired, missing home ANGER

Eventually I said to myself (yes I do talk to myself!!!I know you do too). You are not helping yourself and you are not a quitter, so how will you make this work?' BARGAINING

'I am not sure that I can do this for a year!!!!' DEPRESSION

This thoughts kept going round and round in my head, then I said 'It's a month on and a month off. Therefore in reality, I only had to do this for 6 months!! I was half way through my first month, therefore I only had 5 months left. OK, I can get through 5 months!!!' ACCEPTANCE

Once I had broken this down into bite size pieces, it was much easier to swallow!!

It reminds of something I heard, when I first starting in consulting'

'How do you eat an elephant?' '

'Piece by piece!!!'

By the end of my second month, everything was fine. Then before I knew it, the year was over!!! I really enjoyed the year and I also grew both personally and professionally.

What are you facing, that is making you feel overwhelmed?

What bite size pieces can you create, that will help you to see your clear path forward?

Oh, guess what? I am working here again for a little while!!! I have one week left and the previous three weeks have flown by. When asked to come back, I was happy to accept. It's does not feel like change anymore, it feels normal!!

See you tomorrow

Gina

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

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

• 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

Take a Deep Breathe

Hi Everyone,

How are you today?

I am great!!! I am so excited and full of energy today. It's so funny, the number of emotions we can go through in such a short space of time!!!

Last night, I was fired up with all the different topics, I could share with you on my blog and then I could not decided which ones to share first, then it got confusing, then exciting and I started to feel like a news reporter.

I woke up still energised and while running on the treadmill (I have run everyday but Sunday, for the past three weeks and i am enjoying myself. I feel like a runner now, so the running feels effortless. It's amazing...sorry I digress).

I was on the treadmill listening to a podcast (yes, funny, I have changed from listening to music and I actually find it more energising listening to people talking and sharing things I am passionate about, rather than music...interesting). Anyway, today by chance (or not), I happened to be listening to Suzanne Falter Barnes http://www.getknownnowblog.com/ and www.howmuchjoy.com about how to use blogging to grow your business.

By the time I got back to take a shower, my head was spinning, I was feeling empty, all the ideas that had been buzzing around, seemed to have disappeared!! I said to myself 'why are you feeling like this?'

I kept pondering and then I realised, I was trying to see how I could do everything NOW!!! There were so many great ideas and tips. My head /thoughts, had taken over my feelings!! All my energy was in my head and not in my body, no wonder I was feeling empty!!

So, I stopped the thoughts and took a deep breathe, and asked myself 'What had I been trying to do before my feeling changed? What had I been passionate about?' And guess what, my positive energy came back.

So, when you are next feeling overwhelmed, confused, lost, empty, take a deep breathe and just ask yourself 'What made me feel passionate about this? What am I trying to do?'. This will help you find the clarity and direction you need to continue on the journey.

The deep breathe sends oxygen to your brain, which naturally starts to calm you down and gets your body and brain connected again.

We have the power to control our emotions, so take a deep breathe and decide where you want your energy to go!!

See you tomorrow

Gina

The Power of Belief

Hi Everyone,

How are you today?

On the news this morning, I heard a disturbing story. A husband and father in the USA, killed his family (wife and 5 children) and himself apparently because he lost his job!!! http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13384720&icid=ukhotmail

This story brought tears to my eyes!! This man's 'power of belief', made him do the impossible...Kill his whole family!!!

I am sure if he had been asked previously - 'What would have to happen for you to kill your whole family?' He would have said 'Nothing. That's impossible!!'

The 'power of belief' is so strong in all of us. Imagine, if we chose to use our 'power of belief', to empower ourselves, rather than to disempower. How different would our lives be? How different would the lives of this family be?

Think of two empowering things that you consider to be impossible for you to achieve. (E.g. owning your own business, being happily married, graduating, etc) What would need to happen for this to be possible?

My passion and purpose in this life, is to help people to tap into their maximum potential to design the careers they want, all in order to have the lives they desire. On hearing this story, this morning, I realised, even more how important, my purpose is. God blessed me with some amazing skills, that I have not always valued, because I took them for granted. But once I believed in my power, I have been putting my skills to work.

I am helping others to put their natural powers to work, so that they too, can achieve the impossible!!!

So, now you can see, why having 'bold' statements that you truly believe in, is one of the keys to achieving your resolutions.

See you tomorrow.

Gina

Focused

Hi All,

How was your day? I am very tired today, as I slept late last night, but for good reason.

I created my company profile last night!! I had not intended to work on this last night, but I started toying with it and then after about 3 hours (I was so excited and engrossed in the work, that I did not realise the time!! )

Over the past year, I have writing statements of my purpose and vision of what I do and what I would like the business to focus on and last night it all came together!! It was an amazing feeling!! I rang my mum to share my joy with her.

Before I was trying to put all of my ideas into one business, therefore I now realise that's why my vision was not clear. I was trying to help people with different needs all in the same place!!!

I now realise that I have 4 related business ideas, but they are for totally different audiences!!!

Now that the ideas have been separately labelled, i can package them one at a time and make them available to the right people!!!

So this leads into the the first behavioural change for 2009. FOCUS!!!

Bold statement is to increase my business revenue by 100% which will
Enhance my life, by providing me with financial security (which is the first step to absolute financial independence), the
Habit stopped was 'loosing focus',
And the new habit is to 'focus on one business idea at a time, complete it and share it
Visible progress, booked work for every month
Incredible celebrations - having an early night to night!!!
On to the next one - that come's tomorrow!!
Understand the role of family and friends - shared my joy of my company profile with my mum, who is one of my major
Reliable
Sounding boards


So there you have it!!

I am so proud of myself, I honored my promise to you and myself and I have kept my blog current. OK I know it only been 2 days, but that is great progress!!!

See you tomorrow.

Gina

At last....I did it!!!

Hi All,

I did it!!!

I have committed to starting up and keeping up with my blog. Gina's Passion, do you like the name?

I created a blog last year made two entries, but never published it!!! But not this time. I am full of energy, passion, joy and love. I have so much to share with you!!!

My life is transcending to another level. 2009 is already an amazing year for me and the world!!!
I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited.

I created an approach for successfully achieving new years resolutions and to practise, what I preached, I completed the process my self.

It was am amazing exercise (even if I do say so myself!!!). It took me two hours to complete. I was in New York for New Year's Eve with my boyfriend Dereck and while he watched 'Saw' (I don't like horrors. I scream, jump and don't really enjoy them at all). Anyway I went into the bedroom and from 9.30 pm - 11.30 pm, I completed my newly created BEHAVIOURS process for my New Years Resolutions. I got some much clarity about what I wanted, but more than that, I got even greater insight into why, I wanted these changes and the value it would add to my life!!

I would like to share my BEHAVIOURS approach with you.

B old Statements to
E nhance my life
H abits stopped
A nd replaced with new ones
V isible progress leads to
I deal celebrations
O nce the resolutions are made, I need to
U nderstand the role of friends and family who will be
R eliable and supportive and who will help me to
S ucceed

Yes, I truly believe, that behaviours are the key to success!!!

Please note, that I am originally from London, hence I have used the UK spelling!!! - Just in case you were wondering!! I now live in Trinidad, but more about that as we get to know each other better.

So over the next few days, I will share each of my new year's resolutions using my 'behaviours' process.

Hopefully with me sharing my journey with you, it will inspire you start your journey too.

So tomorrow I will share my first resolution for 2009!!

Are you excited?

See you tomorrow.

Gina