by admin | Jul 14, 2022 | Simple Self Help
Creating the life you want, and producing the results that matter to you is about ensuring you are clear on the values by which you live and lead that same life. If you expect challenges you may get them. If you anticipate a bed of roses and an easy walk through the park, it is likely you will get this or something akin to it. Develop the focus that supports you.
Your vision and the values by which you lead your life each day are crucial in underpinning the results you get and the actions you take in order to create the results you want.
If the vision you have is a measure of the breadth of your ambition then expanding your vision is likely to have a corresponding impact on the results that you achieve. Tied in very closely with this is the matter of the values that you embrace and live with as your pursue your vision of a life that truly reflects not only what you want, but also who you are.
The values you hold might be such things as honesty, hard work, thrift, balance, happiness, friendship, trust, self-discipline and others. Each one that you identify and adopt for yourself is a piece of your own personal jigsaw. In the same way that principles are timeless so too are values. These values act as a benchmark by which you can judge and assess not just the progress that you are making towards your goals, but also serve to help you measure yourself against colleagues and friends, clients and suppliers, relatives and family members.
A man spoke with me not long ago about an issue he was concerned about and which was based upon the clash of his vision and his values. While he was making more than adequate progress financially with the business he ran in his home town, he often found himself looking at other business owners who appeared to have more money, greater status in the chamber of commerce and greater success in life.
The issue that he wanted to discuss with me was abut the dilemma he found himself in. Knowing of a way to adapt his business that would allow him to make greater profits and bank much more money, his concern and the sense of his anxiety he presented me with was this - he could achieve the new contracts but only at the cost of doing some things that went against his most heartfelt values about the need for business to be a win- win relationship. Wanting always to feel that he gave a fair service for a fair price, the possibility that he could do some deals where his profit was out of proportion to the service now troubled him. To obtain the new revenues he would be doing things that he knew would cause him to feel guilty, and so he chose to listen to his heart and turned down the opportunity.
As he went away from our discussion he was concerned that he might have missed out on the 'apparently' lucrative deal, but pleased with himself for not having breached his value system.
Just two weeks later he called me up with great delight obvious in his voice as we spoke. He had that morning received an offer of a contract that was in line with his values of decent service, fair contribution and looking after the customer, and which would give him a significant uplift in his profits. He had been rewarded for not selling out his values and for maintaining his self-belief even after the stress of the previous opportunity.
In your own life there will of course be times when the principles and values that you live by will be tested. Equally, you will discover time and again that the more you lead a life in which your vision and values are in alignment together, you will receive rewards and pleasures unheard of by those who do not understand. Hold to what you know and feel to be right.
by admin | Jul 13, 2022 | Simple Self Help
If you say you will be home for hockey practice, or dinner, or a trip to the cinema, don't then ring home to say you have been delayed or that you have to work late. I know and it has cost me dearly! It might have been OK if it was an excuse a couple of times, but to be repeated week after week will get you in deep trouble and understandably so as you begin to realise with sadness that others may end up expecting you to let them down.
One of my friends keeps a special place in his diary for his commitments and this always impressed me so much since I discovered this.
These are distinct from his appointments which are normally times when he has to show up and be in meetings or with family. William's commitments are different. Here he will list the thing he has agreed to do and the date he has promised it by, as well as the outcome of achieving the commitment.
Next to these he has the penalty written down for not accomplishing the commitment. He actually writes down on the paper the true cost of letting someone down if he does not deliver, fails to turn up, gets the report in late or misses the party. I had never seen this recorded before and it struck me how valuable it is to make a commitment and to honour the promise. Seeing his promise and the cost of not delivering written down in black and white in his journal, this was a tremendous wake-up call for me.
In the sense of using this approach like an emotional bank account he knows whether he is in credit or if he is at risk of becoming overdrawn in his relationship with the person to whom he has made the commitment. Is this a little extreme? If it works for you to do something like this yourself, then do what works. It does not matter what others might think about it.
Try it, and see if the real test produces fruit, namely that you break less commitments and honour more promises than you did before. If you can see progress in this approach as opposed to whatever method or behavior you were following before, then you know for yourself you are on track.
A promise to be there for someone is still a promise however you look at it. No matter that your train was late or that you needed to stop for gas and got delayed. In the eyes of the other person maybe you should just have been on the earlier train or filled up with gas the night before.
I can't hold my hand up and say I don't understand this, as I have been late more times than I care to remember and it was only when I focussed on the actual promise made that I found myself turning up on time or leaving early for my destination that I saw the excitement in the eyes of another when I arrived in a timely fashion and was there when I said I would be there.
Your own peace of mind will be enhanced and those around you will notice and comment with pleasure on the change in your behavior.
by admin | Jul 7, 2022 | Declutter
If you are in a financial muddle and wanting to understand the trouble, then brew yourself a coffee, grab those statements and start to hunt for the clues that can help you get back in control. Within those columns of money in and out are the trends and spending patterns that reflect your approach to money.
Look at all transactions for a two month period, particularly at the regular and committed payment arrangements you have set up. Are any of these for Shopping Clubs you no longer participate in, for incentive and Discount Clubs that you joined to save money and yet never have enough money to spend to qualify for the Sports and Leisure or Dining Club activities you were seduced by to begin with. If you find any of these regular payment programmes, cancel the payment and cancel the commitment. Just three or four such items at $10 to $20 a month will save you $300 - $400 and more this year. Keep that money in your account and get the potential benefit of being able to ask for a discount the next time you are going to buy something significant and have the cash available for the barter.
Can you see some transactions you don't recognise? Raise these with your bank and have them check for fraud. Identity theft and false transactions are increasing as fraudsters become more skilled at making tiny deductions to accounts, on the correct idea that most people only query large deductions they don't recognise. It doesn't need to be fraud. You may have a load of small repeat payments for apps or services you have stopped using, but which you have never cancelled.
Are there regular small purchases such as Coffee and Snack Food to and from work each day which might constitute $10 or $20 per day, but which add up to several thousand spent over the course of a whole year? Making up a flask of coffee at home in the morning will save you a huge amount of money that can instead stay in your account and be used for investment and long term income. Take a food pack-up with you a couple of times a week as much for the variety of taste and flavour as for the money savings.
What about files, binders and unopened Financial Post stashed around your home and taking up useful shelf space or occupying cupboards? Get these all out and in one session go through them. If you have any papers that are more than a year old shred and dispose of them. A small shredder for your home will occupy far less space than the volume of unneeded statements, letters, documents and general papers that are taking up space in your life and adding to the stagnant energy.
Stay up to date with Financial Apps that allow you to track your spending or monitor your investment monies easily and all from your phone or laptop. Have you looked at installing a Water Meter to your home so you only get billed for your actual use? How about asking your Energy Company for a free Smart Meter to monitor your usage of gas and electric? With these installed you can actively manage the way you use energy in your home, often adjusting your behaviour simply because you become aware of the cost of usage. It can be tiring to deal with the potential mountain of financial paperwork that comes in to your home. Realise that no matter where the paperwork comes from you can choose what to do with each letter or email.
In your personal finances deal with each monthly summary statement as it comes in, whether by paper or email. Check the expenditure against your receipts. An easy way to do this is to take any purchase receipts from your purse or wallet on a certain day each week and put them in a place where you do your finances. If you don't have any specific filing area at home, each week take the expense receipts for that week and place them in an envelope. When your bank statement comes in simply check off the purchase receipts against the larger monthly statement. Everything should match.
The benefits of being more financially organised include greater peace of mind because you know where things are, more relaxation because you spend less time worrying and less wasted money because you are not repeat buying things that you thought you lost among the clutter. Good decisions are not supported by chaos, disorganisation or by having to look for information. As you sort, organise and structure your financial records you will naturally be drawn to look at their performance and the creation of more financial security and enhanced rewards from your activity.
In becoming better organised with household finances you can get closer to your financial goals, precisely because you know what your money is doing and how it is performing. By getting clear on financial paperwork, statements and information, you will naturally find yourself better able to make decisions about what to do with your assets so that they start to work for you, building your future wealth and financial freedom. The clearer you get with your finances the more likely it is that your money will work better for you.
by admin | Jun 30, 2022 | Simple Self Help
At all times and in every situation you are drawing to you those things that happen around you. No exceptions! So if the life you have does not reflect the life you want then you really need to something about it and fast.
One sure way to step closer to the results you want, is to acknowledge what is going right for you, to identify and give thanks for the things that are working, for those areas where you are pleased and happy with what you have in the moment. The act of showing gratitude will cause more of the same to come to you.
Yet it is not all about what is right in your heart.
You also need to give attention, focus and energy to the practical and logical aspects of attracting the results you want. How are the parameters of your work defined? Who are the people you know can be of service and help to you in determining the outcomes that you want? Have you shared with them the detail of what you seek to bring about with their help? Aside from the people you know, who else might be out there in the wider community, who could be beneficial for you if only you could make contact with them?
Put some thought into describing the people and the physical resources and materials that will take you toward the results that you want. Consider the scope for you to tell people as you meet with them, about what you want to create.
Remember that the Universe will always give you what you ask for and that with this being the case you need to be clear that you are asking for what you want to receive. Only ask for that which you really want. The alternative is to ask for that which would be OK or acceptable or reasonable. The issue in this case would be that the Universe does not know which is truly great, or magnificent or fabulous. But you do know the difference and so you need to ask for the outcomes you want to see turn up in your life.
If you will just let it, then life will always seek to astound you with what it delivers up for you.
Create a Vision Board or a Treasure Map of what you want. From your favourite magazines, books and social posts clip the images and ideas that fill you with inspiration and motivation. The involvement of more of your senses will serve to accelerate the process of your attracting the good that you deserve. From the websites and catalogues that have products and offerings that you love, cut the images that mean something special to you. Pin or paste these onto your Treasure Map, placing the images in such a way that they call to you and encourage you in the pursuit of your goals.
Invest time and energy in being around the people who can lead the way for you or who can introduce you to others within their social or business networks. Build relationships and rapport with those people, and at the same time remember that the flow needs to be a two way thing benefiting others just as they benefit you.
Continue to believe in your own ability to create the results that you seek.
by admin | Jun 28, 2022 | Simple Self Help
Too much to do! Too little time in which to do it or too few resources with which to achieve it. Maybe even both!
If you are anxious about traveling to work, worried about your performance when you are there, distracted by worry at away from your family and loved ones, then face the stress head-on and be honest that you have it. It could be workload, financial pressure, relationship dissatisfaction, health matters. Any number of things have the potential to place you under pressure that is difficult or even impossible to cope with and to deal with.
You may feel tension in your mind or body. It could be that you are experiencing pressure upon your ability to lead a life that is satisfying. Being aware of the stress and being honest enough with yourself that it is there, is the first important step and then you can begin to take action to deal with it one piece at a time.
The other aspect of looking at stress is noting how it is affecting your wider life. I know that when I face more stress that I become irritable and poor company, that I can be grumpy and short tempered. More positively than this though, I know that if I let others know the pressure I am feeling and the way it is impacting me then they can understand. Once they are aware of this then they are free to help me, to participate in my own recovery from the downward spiral or simply to know to let me be and to allow me the space to start working through it!
One thing is certain. Until you are honest with yourself about the issues you face, you will find neither the time, resources or energy to deal with it and your situation will simply deteriorate. Take action now before the issues become more serious and require further external help and support.
Worry is a strange thing, part defense mechanism, part self-protection. It exists to keep us alert and to encourage us to stay sharp in case of danger that we think is lurking somewhere out in front of us. Yet too much worry, too great a focus on worry and that same behavior has converted itself into looking for trouble when it is not there; into dark imaginings that will render you permanently fearful and ever dreading that the worst is about to happen.
We both know that statistics and logic and probability mean that what you are worrying about is unlikely to come to pass, but in the act of worrying you don't help yourself at all. It is very much the case that what your mind focuses on is further enabled and given more presence.
To take a simple example, if you worry about meeting and paying your household bills on time, you can get yourself into such a state of concern that you will magnify the problem and begin to draw more bills to you in the process! You are an attractor and you draw to you the same energies that you send out into the Universe. With this example of bills, you can reduce your worry by agreeing to spend only a certain amount of your time thinking about the bills. Beyond this imagine and visualize instead the bills being paid on time and in full. See the "PAID WITH THANKS" stamp upon each of your bills. See the mail arriving at your house each day with a check in the mail, with online credits to your digital bank account. See refunds being issued to you. Do this instead of multiplying the worry factor.
Sure, this is a cute example and does nothing to allay your fear about the things that concern and worry you. But please help yourself some more by thinking about the external influences on your thinking and which may well be placing their own seeds of fear and doubt in your mind. The television and the radio news don't focus on providing you with positive and inspiring stories. Instead they report on negative actions that serve only to create more fear in your mind. As an experiment let yourself do a day without either watching or listening to the news items. You'll survive the day and after a week of this you will also begin to see a reduction in the thoughts and fears that have been affecting your well-being for the worse.
