Monday Morning (Meltdown) Motivation

This weekend my office was blighted by a technology meltdown of sorts, ok so I have a propensity to exaggerate slightly. The "meltdown" manifested as: no broadband and no email. So my usual Monday morning task of posting this blog was put back while I cleared some of the backlog of mails and error messages this morning.

What's this got to do with motivation you say?

Well I realised that, while I have a fairly strong internal drive to get most things done, I also have a fairly short window in which to do them before motivation wanes. This blog is an example, I very nearly didn't take the time to write it. Firstly because I hadn't even sketched out the usual Sunday night draft as Mike and I were over at friends of ours for dinner. Secondly, due to being out with said friends, there is a little more alcohol in my Monday morning bloodstream this morning, than usual. Lastly as I knew it would take some time and I was already playing catch up.

Well you're reading the evidence of the motivational strategy that was applied and it's what I like to call "The Expectation Principle". It's very simple, I knew that someone was expecting to see this blog this morning, I also knew that they were expecting to see it at 9.30. I hold this particular person in high esteem which also led me to be motivated meet their expectations.

When we don't have the internal motivation, having someone else hold your feet to the fire to achieve certain tasks can be very useful. There is a difference, however, between The Expectation Principle and the kind of stick motivation that you get when someone nags you to get something done. The Expectation Principle is a positive feeling, a pull towards meeting high expectations, a desire to please if you like, with a little something extra.

So if you know you have things to accomplish today or this week, that might slip off the radar, engage someone to help you with your motivation.

There are a number of ways to set in motion The Expectation Principle, here's one process:

• Find someone you respect or admire who's opinion of you matters, but perhaps you don't know too well yet.
• Have a chat with them, explain why you're aiming to achieve your particular task, get excited about the benefits of doing that.
• Allow them to be curious and genuinely interested in your desired outcome, take on board their suggestions, thoughts and comments.
• Be specific about the day and time that you will achieve this task by.
• When the time comes to do your task, remind yourself of their expectation. I have an image of this person in my head and can hear their words of encouragement, but whatever way you remind yourself will work just as well.
• If the time passes without you having achieved your task, allow them to remind you about the benefits of your outcome (you might need to ask them to do this for you in advance).

If you need a buddy to help you get fired up about that task that's been bugging you then drop me a line, I'll be delighted to help.

Wishing you a thoroughly motivated Monday!

Just for today...

As I sit looking out over London on another misty morning (I’m lucky that my office affords me spectacular views across town), I am contemplating my To-do list and how I will accomplish the usual time distortion in order to achieve it all.

In this pregnant stillness of London before she wakes I am reminded of something that brings me much clarity, comfort and focus.
As a Reiki Master, who has been practicing for some years now I am often asked about the way in which I use this powerful energy and teachings in my everyday life.
One of the many ways is by applying the hugely pivotal and sometimes neglected teachings of Dr Mikao Usui that he gave in the form of his 5 principles. Dr Usui, for those not familiar, was a Buddhist priest and teacher in Japan (1865 – 1926) who had a powerful enlightening experience with the Universal Energy that is Rei (Universal) Ki (Life force energy). As a result he developed and passed on the traditional Reiki healing system that we refer to today.

Dr Usui’s 5 principles are beautiful spoken in Japanese and even more soothing when chanted.
Kyo dake wa:
Okuruna:
Shinpai; suna;
Kansha shite;
Goo hage me;
Hito ni shinsetsu ni.

I work with them as:

Just for today, I will not anger
Just for today, I will not worry
Today, I show gratitude and count my many blessings
Today, I will do my work honestly
Today, I will show compassion to myself and every living thing

The key piece of the principles for me is “Kyo dake wa” - Just for today.
They remind us to be ever present. They remind us that we don’t have to sort out the problems of tomorrow today, they invite us to manage ourselves and the important things in life on a daily basis. Step by step, moment by moment.
There is a beautiful Sanskrit poem which is on our bathroom mirror, that re-affirms Usuis message:

Look to this day
For it is life
The very life of life
In it’s brief course lie all
The realities and truths of existence
The joy of growth
The splendour of action
The glory of power
For yesterday is but a memory
And tomorrow
Is only a vision
But today well lived
Makes every yesterday and memory of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope
Look well therefore to this day!


It is my belief that worry and anger in particular bring disease. With a to-do list as long as your arm and the pressures that running a company can bring (never mind everything else outside of it), it can be very easy to allow negative thoughts to spiral. Worry and anger lower out personal vibration weaken our physical bodies and sap our vital energy.
Thank fully for me I am very gently reminded by the principles which hang above my desk of a way to banish those feelings and come back to myself. Gratitude and compassion are immensely powerful. The realisation that to be sitting here typing this, warm, fed, rested having enjoyed a safe and comfortable sleep in my own home, with a good education behind me and money in the bank, puts me in the top 2% of the most privileged people on this planet.
Pondering on that for a moment, as it’s a wonderful feeling. I think of my husband, my friends, my family, the work that I’m able to do, the books that surround me in my office and feed my mind, the car that starts first time, my good health, my freedom of speech, my ability to enjoy music, the red wine I can enjoy, the fact that I can type, the sun is shining, my tea is hot, my shower works, my loo flushes….the list of daily blessings is endless.

Just spending a moment on these thoughts raises my energy (and my zest for the to-do list) like you wouldn’t believe. It also sends out a wave, a powerful restorative healing wave of energy that touches all those in its path. By allowing myself compassion it takes the pressure off. I get done what I get done and I’m doing my work honestly and to the best of my ability. Today is a new day, as tomorrow will be. By allowing myself compassion it also puts me in a space to receive love, support and compassion from others, without which life would be infinitely harder. By extending compassion to every other living thing, I am able to pass on a gift acceptance and love that is one of the most powerful forces in our Universe.

As I reflect on Dr Usuis teachings it occurs to me that I don’t use Reiki, Reiki uses me, and that is the greatest blessing of all.

Are you sticky?

I was delighted that the sun was shining on my Amovita Netwalk yesterday and our small band of eager networkers took to the luscious paths of Richmond Park with vigour.
After an opening icebreaker and giving the participants a chance to circulate and share histories and interests I broached the subject of stickiness with them. It’s something that I’ve long been fascinated with from my time in sales, marketing and PR and it crosses over into everyday networking.

Stickiness is a phrase I borrowed from Malcolm Gladwell, I read his book “The Tipping Point” some years ago on a flight to Lisbon (I’m a quick reader). I was travelling to facilitate at a conference for a large organisation, more specifically their global sales and marketing teams. What Gladwell writes pulled together a few years worth of musings and reading into one of those delightful "a-ha" moments for me, so much so that I made it the content of my keynote speech at the end of that conference.

Stickiness refers not only to how memorable your message is but how effective it is at spurring people to action. For those of us who network regularly both virtually and in reality, perhaps you wonder, as I do, what people actually remember about your conversations.
How would you like to influence more often what parts of your message get across and which parts stick?!

In our netwalking session yesterday some of us were surprised when given feedback at which bits of the message stuck out and stuck in the most. What people remembered I noticed was governed mainly by two things, they are what I like to call The Passion Bug and the WIIFT rating.

The passion bug is simply your congruence and the passion while delivering your message and how infectious that is. If we are outwardly passionate and enthusiastic about our message and it comes from the heart then it has a level of congruence and integrity that exudes and becomes sticky. That state is readily infectious. Gladwell uses the term “senders” coined by psychologists in the past, to describe those people with special personalities. He notes that those of us who are good at expressing our emotions and feelings are far more emotionally contagious than others. How would it be if your passion and enthusiasm and love of what you do could be “caught” by others? How much more powerful would that make your business, if you had all those extra sales people walking around?
I experienced catching someone else’s passion bug on Thursday. I was on a call with Karen Skidmore of CanDoCanBe and she was talking about the virtues of auto-responders, not something I would normally think to get excited about. She’s mad about them (in a good way) and was eager to share her enthusiasm and I’ve got to admit I can see, and feel, what she means. I’m now hooked on the virtues of them for my business. Thanks Karen!

The WIIFT rating is something I’m sure you’ve all come across in one guise or another. Simply put it’s What’s In It For Them, your customers? People connect with a message at the point of value for them. In the context of our walk we were talking about our lives up until that point, now that’s a whole lot to cover and remember. We all noticed that those points that stuck in people’s hearts and minds were those elements that they could relate to, or were interested in from personal experience or had some additional value to them.

Just think of the phenomenal effect if the WIIFT part of your message is passionate and highly contagious.

Now I consider myself to be hugely blessed, being passionate about what I do comes easily to me because I LOVE IT and I’ve noticed how powerful being able to say that is to people. I love the process and most of all I love the benefits it brings and the way it touches people I work with. If you cannot say passionately and congruently I LOVE WHAT I DO then you might like to consider what needs to change so that you can.

Wishing you a wonderfully passionate day!

Peak experiences

Following on from an earlier blog on combating the symptoms of SAD I thought I’d remind us as the end of the week (and my Netwalk) is coming up about the benefits of getting out in nature. Those in “the scientific know” have finally caught up with what us nature lovers have been raving on about for a fair while now.

Although I’m rarely surprised, it still always pains me to hear of the number of my clients, who work corporately in particular, that don’t take a lunch break. Either they don’t have time, or worse still don’t see it as important. As winter draws closer, the likelihood that many of us will be travelling to and from work in the dark increases. Would you stick your favourite pet in a dark box all day? As I encouraged you to do in my earlier blog (sorry for sounding like a scratched record) Get out and take a break in the sunlight – even if it’s not a blazing sunny day, the natural light will make a difference to your mood. If you can combine it with time in a green space all the better as this has even further beneficial effects.

In a report by Dr William Bird, A GP and Strategic Health Advisor to Natural England, entitled “Natural Thinking” published June this year he clearly states that “access to green space can also help alleviate a range of mental health problems. Contact with nature reduces stress within minutes, increases the elderly’s satisfaction and with where they live and improves children’s concentration and self-discipline, including the symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Scandinavian studies indicate that playing in nature has a positive impact on children's social play, concentration and motor ability (Bang et al, 1989; Grahn, 1991; Fjortoft, 1995, 1998, 1999; Grahn et al ,1997).

A recent American study confirmed that green play settings improved children's concentration: children with Attention Deficit Disorder were found to function better than usual after activities in green settings (Faber Taylor et al, 2001).

As highlighted last year by John Davis, Ph.D.of Naropa University nature is also a trigger for what Maslow describes as Peak Experiences. (Experiences of optimal mental health, comparable to intense spiritual experiences or mystical experiences. Maslow also talked about plateau experiences characterized more by a sense of tranquillity and serenity, lower intensity, and often, longer duration.)

Some of the most profound experiences in my life have been in natural settings. Earlier this year I was moved to tears and had astounding personal revelations, while I watched the natural wonder of dawn breaking over the completely cloudless peak of Mount Kenya.
Davis goes on to say that: Anecdotal evidence suggests that many spiritual leaders had key mystical experiences in wilderness settings, e.g., Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Black Elk, et al. Of course, many people have used nature experiences as paradigmatic examples of spiritual or transpersonal experiences. In a psychological context, the integral theorist, Ken Wilber, is notable for referring to "nature mysticism" in describing transpersonal experience. Survey results on frequency and triggers for peak experiences (Davis, Lockwood, & Wright) shows that nature is the most common trigger for peak experiences
I adore England not least because of the spectacular diversity that it’s natural environment abounds.
Here’s some of my favourite spots around England and Wales (I haven’t spent enough time in Scotland yet!), if you fancy planning a natural peak this weekend.

Forests
New Forest – Knightwood Oak
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6a5kvg
Burnham Beeches
http://www.timetravel-britain.com/05/fall/beeches.shtml

Rivers
New Forest – Adventures on Beaulieu River
http://www.newforestactivities.co.uk/beaulieumain.htm


Seaside
Beachy Head
http://www.beachyhead.org.uk/about_the_area.html

Isle of Purbeck
http://www.isleofpurbeck.com/corfe.html

Hills & Mountains
Snowdonia National Park
http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/1098/Eryri.html
Scafell
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/webcams/scafell.shtml
South Downs
http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/Southdowns/index.asp

Enjoy the great outdoors!
Warm regards
Elizabeth

Sunshine on SAD days

I was chatting with a lovely lady in my network the other day, Sue Atkins, The Parent Coach, and we were noting the change of season and musing about the virtues of light boxes, particularly those ones that simulate the sunrise. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons and I don’t know about you but if I wake up to glorious sunrise streaming through the curtains it usually entices me out of bed a great deal quicker than murky grey mist!

The changing seasons I’m sure affects all of us, from the little old lady down the hall who’s rheumatism flares up in the damp, to the young lad who will soon be walking home from school in the dark. Seasonal Affective Disorder S.A.D is something that’s been on my radar for some time.
According to the SAD Association it affects an estimated half a million people every winter (Source http://www.sada.org.uk/).

Some of the symptoms they list also crop up fairly regularly in my clients and colleagues, and I’ve noticed them in myself too. There is some debate as to whether SAD exists but leaving that aside for the moment I think it is fair to say that the symptoms are experienced by many. So what can we do to actively prepare ourselves for the retreat into winter?
How can we continue the vitality and vibrancy of energy that we need to maintain thriving businesses and happy lives?’

Well a light box may well be a viable solution and there are a wealth on the market. I haven’t road tested them all so can’t make a personal recommendation, but I’ve listed a few sources in case it’s helpful. If you have and you can, do get in touch.
http://www.outsidein.co.uk/
http://www.britebox.co.uk/
http://www.sadbox.co.uk/

Equally there are some very simple lifestyle changes that we can make that will raise our general vitality.

Make the most of the little sunshine we have.
If you go to work in the dark and travel home in the dark, take time out during the daylight hours to get out in the fresh air. There’s no real excise not to take ½ an hour out for lunch is there?
Build in walks in green spaces at the weekend, rain or shine it will do wonders for your natural vitality. After all there’s no such thing as bad weather…only the wrong clothing.

Get the right Vit’s.
Common sense for most of us I know but when comfort food beckons it can be really easy to loose sight of a healthy balanced diet. Try to stick to Vegetables in season.
If you’re lucky enough to have a weekly farmers market on your doorstep like us then great, but for those who have a little less time and may not be sure what’s in season or not perhaps consider getting it delivered.
Abel & Cole or Farmers choice are just two companies that have been recommended to me and reach most UK areas.
http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/
www.farmerschoice.net/organic


Have a good stretch.
Those of us that enjoy yoga, tai chi or similar can rave about the numerous benefits. If you aren’t that way inclined, don’t have time to get to a class then a good top to toe stretch when you get out of bed in the morning, gives your meridians, muscles, energetic flows and aura a good surge of energy to get you going. It doesn’t have to be those fancy lycra coated stretches you might see in a London park. Reaching to touch the ceiling and bending to touch your toes in your fluffy pjs works just as well.

For those more interested in learning more about energy work and getting the subtle energetic flows working even more effectively you might like to try a simple 5 minute daily energy routine.
I thoroughly recommend Donna Eden’s Energy Medicine work and of course my own Amovita Vitality Workshops.

Talk, write, scream, paint.
Symptoms of depression can be cripple ling to the most creative, extrovert and lively individuals and families. When low mood hits it can have a tendency to “domino” and effect our whole lives. As soon as you notice a change in mood, do something about it before it spirals. For some people a chat with a friend, coach or counsellor may help. For others a good scream in the privacy of your own car parked in a remote field can be liberating, The tried and tested “write and rip” technique for when your mind is cluttered with negative thoughts or worries works wonders. Write it all down in a stream of consciousness, don’t re-read it just rip it up, burn it or bury it. Painting for some can be creative and cathartic especially on a huge canvas so it become a whole body experience. Dancing, singing, walking, crying ….the list goes on as far as your imagination will let it.


Be around happy people!
We all know joyful vibrant people in our lives, I’m so blessed that so many of my friends and family are a joy to be with. Spend time with those people, release those natural endorphins and have a good laugh!

Do something for someone you love
A colleague of mine once said to me there’s no such thing as altruism, which is an interesting thought (for another blog I think). I think it is fair to say that doing something for someone else can make you feel good. Even the little things, a smile, a kind word or a hug given with unconditional love has a butterfly effect that we can only try and imagine.

If this blog has opened your eyes to something new then great and if it has simply been a reminder of truths you already knew, fantastic, if it has provoked curiosity, argument or a thought about your own lifestyle then my work here is done.

Wishing you a sunny day
Elizabeth

It goes without saying that if you feel you are suffering from serious S.A.D symptoms then a trip to your GP or alternative health practitioner is also recommended.

Monday Morning Motivation

Mike, my husband, and I spent a lovely evening with two great friends of ours over the weekend. Both very creative passionate people who’s company we thoroughly enjoy. We got to talking, as we usually do, about our work.
By the end of the conversation we were geared up for a great week ahead, reaffirmed in our commitment to the work that we do and overflowing with enthusiasm, helped a little by the mulled wine.

On reflection this morning I started to unpick the process that we went through, in a fairly fundamental way, to gain a deeper understanding of how that seamless and elegant process worked. I thought I’d share my initial thoughts in the hope that it may provide some Monday morning Motivation for you.

If you were a donkey, which I’m not suggesting you are of course, would you be more motivated by the carrot or the stick? If you were an athlete, would you be a sprinter, or a long distance runner? The Tortoise or the Hare? Sheep or Shepherd?

It’s fair to say, I think, that we are all slightly different in our motivation.

In Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) the patterns that I’m fascinated by in relation to motivation, amongst other things, are known as Meta Programmes. In straight forward terms, these are patterns in our way of thinking that we use to form our view of the world, preferences if you like that determine the filters we apply to the information we receive. It’s important to note that each Meta Programme or pattern is highly variable according to the situation.

As an example the carrot / stick analogy might be used to describe the Meta Programme of Towards – Away From. Does a person move towards pleasure, or away from pain in that particular situation? In my work, I’m very much pulled by the carrot, the stick just irritates me. When I’m moved to do the ironing, it’s because I can’t get in the room before climbing Shirt Everest! (Away From).
In the context of motivating my friend towards her work, the Towards also applies. The prospect of bringing to fulfilment creative, artistic, profound projects inspires her more than the need to pay the bills. I’ve also noticed this trait in a number of my friends and fellow networkers who have entrepreneurial tendencies.

So if we know the carrot motivates us, how can we use that?
I noticed, during our conversation, that we were loosely following a process that I often engage with when coaching, that may be useful if you’ve not considered this before.
Lets imagine being a donkey again, if there was a carrot round the next corner, but you couldn’t see it, it might edge you forwards for a while, but you would likely soon get bored and give up. It might not be as motivating for you as if it was hanging on a string, just out of reach of your nose. In order to be motivated by it, the carrot needs to be visible.

My friend is an artist, a really god one and she likes to work big. As we were talking I could see her imagining herself engaged in her work on these giant canvasses, painting and screen printing to her hearts desire. She could see the process and the end result including the delighted look on her clients faces when they hang their piece with pride. The more she saw, the more excited she became. When we added dialogue to the images in her mind and rehearsed those successful conversations she would have with her clients, it became even more real.

The process is a simple one that you can apply today. Create a simple vision for your work, ask yourself
“What’s the big picture here? Why am I doing this? What will it achieve for me? What’s the value of what I do for my clients?” All these things, start to make you feel good about what it is that you’re doing.
Then see yourself doing it with great success. Make the images big, colourful and real for you. To make it even more compelling use as many senses as you can. Add a soundtrack that reinforces it for you. Add the smells, make them really specific, for aromatherapists out there imagine that perfect top, middle, base note blend that works wonders on the mind body and soul, if you’re a chef, add the sizzle, the aroma, the taste! Make your vision as real as possible. Then dangle it in front of your nose….! Keep it in front of you when you need a lift or a spurt of motivation, remind yourself of why you’re slogging through your to do list, writing your blog, using market place, updating your status, making that call you might not want to make. Spend a minute of your precious time to paint a picture in your mind and re-motivate yourself.

I’ve only scratched the surface of meta programmes, mental rehearsal and the wealth of tools and techniques that are related to this fascinating field of motivation. Watch this space for future MmM’s or message me if I’ve inspired curiosity and you want to find out more.

“Motivation is like bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.”

it's a small world...

I've just finished a phone call with my dearest friend Clare who moved to Oz a couple of years ago and runs a people development business called Change-works.
www.change-works.com.au

I have long been aware that a huge number of people I can now call my friends have been introduced to me by Clare as she is quite simply the most efficacious and effervescent networker I know.

Being half way accross the globe she's still helping me make valuable connections. The latest gem she has sent me today from the Sunshine Coast comes in the form of an international networker Gordon Cramer, from Radio 4 Small Business.
Clare sent me a link to his website, rather than sending Gordon himself in the post) so I thought i'd pass it on and hopefully there will be a few top tips and hints in there for keen networkers amongst you.
www.radio4smallbusiness.com.au/scbwn.html

Having been inspired by Gordon, i'm going to take a visit to ecademy and do a bit more e-networking.

have a great day
x

Smoking ban, a burden or a blessing?

I'd welcome your views.....

Oh the irony

I thought it was only yesterday that I wrote down my musings about filling our days or being fulfilled and I realised it was nearly a whole month since I added anything to this blog....and the irony struck me. Where does the time go?

This week has been filled, with website copy writing, networking meetings and coaching sessions and I can't believe it's the weekend already..

On Wednesday night Liz Labrum of Think-Right now did a talk on burn out and planning which was a well timed reminder. The Summer Solstice has passed already and it made me realise that I haven't put my head up and taken a really good look at the big picture of where we are going with Amovita for a while now.

So this evenings glass of Red will be the perfect accompaniment to a bit of future visioning and reflection on the past few months successes. Michael is out playing a charity gig tonight and while the Monkey is away the Cat ….naps. What can I say my Saturday night clubbing days are well and truly behind me, thank heavens.

Whatever you’re doing this Saturday night, have fun and be safe.
Elizabeth
x

Filled full or fulfilled?

Today I had the dubious pleasure of travelling across London by tube. I say dubious as I’m never sure I’m going to arrive at my destination on time or before the heat and thick tube dust overwhelms me. Not being an avid fan of crowded, dark, enclosed, dank and dusty places it's often more of a challenge than a joy. Being with my hubby Mike today helped considerably as he loves the tube.

A very marked upside to being in town for me is the endless fascination I have with people. Thankfully for my fellow passengers, curiosity often takes over my yearning to run screaming for the exits and fresh air!

People watching is a great pleasure of mine and the tube is greatly suited to it. Where do all these people go? Where do they work? What do they do? What makes them tick and what are they chasing?
There is a definite rush, I’ve noticed, for a great deal of travellers, and it's not only confined to those trying to get to work on time. Even the tourists are chasing the next big London attraction, every second filled with frantic activity.
I've noticed a trait amongst a few clients too who come rushing in to see me at the tail end of a hectic and jam packed day. I realise what a gift it is to be able to provide a sanctuary for them, and me, a place of calm, to regain balance, and take time for renewal.

As I sat with Mike soaking up the sun, having just handed in a research project of his we have been working on for some time I had a wonderful acknowledgement. Amovita, with all its associated to do lists, phone calls, client visits, writing, chatting, NetWalking, networking creativity, pressure, stretch and challenge, is a wonderful extension of myself. I wonder how many people get the pleasure of being able to say that, a fair few I’d guess in this world of entrepreneurship. Amovita being such a passion close to my heart, everything I need to do for the business is a joyous fulfilment of my dreams, my values and my reason for living. I realised that I was at that moment, fulfilled and it was a very different feeling to that of having my days filled full in the pursuit of “I’m not sure what” which characterised my early corporate career.

Being fulfilled doesn’t mean that I don’t have goals and dreams and hopes and wishes, far from it, if anything it drives me more to grow the feeling and achieve potential. What it does mean is that because my days are filled with those things that I have consciously and willingly chosen to do, I get moment by moment satisfaction from them. What a great place to be! ….now how to get back across town without causing mass hysteria on the underground…?

Are you feeling lucky?

It's been a few days since my last post and I realised I was procrastinating…DOH! So here I am with today’s offering.

I suspect it will be fairly brief today as the sun is shining gloriously outside. I must admit I find it quite hard to be inside working away on the business when the prospect of a walk in the park is so tempting.
The great news is that could be one of the best ways for me to attract clients and make my business even more successful.
Now don't get me wrong I will be doing some emails this afternoon and I’m not planning on accosting every poor soul who happens to be out with their dog in the park and talking to them about the virtues of Amovita, what I'm talking about is much simpler than that.

I’ve noticed a great buzz building over the last few years about a Secret of sorts, a key to the Universe and a way to get more of what we want.
I'm so excited that more and more people are hearing about this and what I’m referring to is one of the Universal Mental Laws, the Law of Attraction.

Just like we have Physical Laws, like gravity, that govern the way our physical world behaves so we have Mental Laws, that are always operating, which govern the way our thoughts and beliefs affect and create our reality. The Law of Attraction is just one of these powerful laws and it is brilliantly simple.

In fact Karen Skidmore of CanDoCanBe wrote a great blog recently about it that you might like to check out http://candocanbe.typepad.com/adventuresofabusinessmum/

The first step is easy, ask for what you want. Make a clear positive request. Think it, write it, dream it, say it, use whatever way works for you, or better still all of the above.

The next step is usually what we spend most of our time focussing on and that is how to get it.
Well I’ve got news, there's no need, the Universe takes care of that. Now that doesn't mean sit around and don't do anything, after all, if you want opportunities to drop in your lap then it's worth putting your lap where opportunities will drop.

What I mean is, don't spend time and energy worrying about whether your request will be fulfilled and how exactly that will happen. This second step is one of faith and trust. Have faith in yourself and the power of your intention and trust that things will work out exactly as per your request.

The key step is number 3. Receiving what you've asked for.
Now I could ramble on about metaphysics here and raising your vibration, bringing yourself into vibrational alignment and so on, but let’s keep it simple.
You've sent out a positive signal a clear message that has been received, the request has been answered and the gift is winging it's way to you.

Do you know any lucky people?
You know the ones, they always seem to be in just the right place at the right time, things always seem to work out, they usually get what they want…I’m sure if you don’t have a “lucky” friend or two then you know someone who does.
You’ve probably noticed another trait of these lucky people. They’re happy, well more often than not anyway. They’re always in the thick of it, enjoying themselves, being positive, being friendly and are generally upbeat. Now as you probably know by now I don’t believe in co-incidences, happy and vibrant and positive people are lucky and get more of what they want for a reason.
The quickest, and most enjoyable way to get more of what you want is to ask for it and then to spend your energies feeling good more often than not.

What a great excuse for doing more of what we love, spending time in great company, really laughing and having fun. Whatever floats your boat.

Esther Hicks the author of “Ask and it is given” which is a great book exploring this Universal Law, tells us to "Follow your bliss” and what she’s talking about is exactly that, follow whatever makes you feel blissfully happy, for that’s the way to attract more of what you want into your life…

This wasn't as brief as I thought, which reminds me, I’m off to enjoy the sunshine!

Have a blissful day!

a little thought to ponder

If you knew Love was a verb...how might life be different?....

Putting it off...

Ok, so now I know what writers block feels like, actually it's more like writers dribble, a little drip of words that may or may not capture your attention long enough to read on. This blogging malarkey might take a bit of getting used to, but they say practice makes perfect, so I hope you'll bear with me as I find my bloggers voice.

When faced with a task somewhat like this in the past when I didn't know quite what to do, I would often procrastinate to the point of lunacy. When my tax return was due, for example, I’d have a habit of leaving it up right up to the wire. I'd find myself, cleaning windows, skirting boards, doing 6 months of backlogged ironing, clearing out wardrobes, little decorating projects that suddenly became a matter of life and death, all to avoid getting started.

Apparently this is not uncommon behaviour, quite a few of my clients mention similar creative feats of avoidance when the motivation just isn’t there.
Procrastination can be a huge drain on our energy and our time and more significantly can start to impact on our self esteem if it goes on for long enough.

So what can we do about it?
Having finally mastered the art of doing the tax return now on the day it's due and carefully studying my own and my clients putting it off behaviour here's a few suggestions.
The first step for me is to catch myself in the act of putting it off.

Step 1. Recognise when what you're doing is procrastination, even if it's masquerading as a very essential and worthwhile task.

Step 2. Remind yourself of what it is you're putting off. I keep a daily action list, very short with 3 must do things on it, everything thing else is a bonus. These 3 things, I do before anything else.

Step 3. Take a minute to work out exactly how long the task you are avoiding will take you. Quite often it's amazing how we will spend a whole day delaying a task that might not take us more than an hour or two!

Step 4. Explore the consequences. What are all the negative consequences of not completing your task and what are the knock on effects of that and so on. You may start to feel a little squirmy at this stage but keep going. It's stick rather than carrot motivation but for a lot of us it can work.

Step 5. Explore the benefits or completing the task. How great will you feel when it's done? What will that free you up to do? How much more can you achieve if you don't have all these little things hanging over you?

Step 6. Get started. Do something, anything in the direction of achieving your task, you don't have to know exactly how you will get it done but getting started will build useful momentum for completion.

Step 7. When it's done, reward yourself and allow yourself some unrestrained "play time" to do exactly what you want.

Now if reading this blog is an attempt at procrastination maybe it's time to get back to work, but do pop back again tomorrow. :o)

"You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great"

Well that was easy....

So this is it, my first blog, that was quite easy not at all the super technical feat of e-engineering that I was expecting, really quite painless.

How exciting a whole new world at my fingertips.
As this is my first posting, i'll keep it short and sweet with a quote of the day:

"if you want opportunities to drop in your lap....place your lap where opportunities will drop."


Have a great day.

The Mind Body Connection

At Amovita one of our passions is walking in the outdoors. We love it so much in fact that we try to do as much of our work outside as possible.

We host facilitated NetWalks in Richmond and Bushy parks and even some of our workshops and coaching sessions are held outdoors with Walking to Clarity and our Steps to Success programmes.

It's not just because of the natural vitality that can be restored to us by being in nature and green spaces, there is also a scientific and physiological method to our madness and the article blow might help to give some further insight.
Why walk?
The Mind Body Connection.
Walking is one of the best forms of exercise available to us. We can do it anywhere, anytime and it doesn’t cost the earth, far from it. In fact there’s a lot to be said for taking up walking for those keener to go greener. Increasing your personal footfall while reducing the potential carbon footprint created by supporting high powered, high tech, gyms might be something to ponder in these changing times.

We all know the health benefits of getting more regular exercise and more recently it has now been proven that spending time in nature and green spaces is good for you! But you don’t need me to tell you that. Walking in the green dramatically reduces stress levels, can reduce high blood pressure and lower heart rate in a matter of minutes. Within just half an hour it affects our general state of well being and ease.

We can take the simple act of walking a step further, if you’ll excuse the pun.
Your mind and body are inextricably linked. What you do with one affects the other and vice versa. As the old saying goes “healthy body, healthy mind” but what does this really mean, and what are the implications for us?
The area of the Mind and Body connection is not only fascinating but vast, so I will briefly explore one small part here.

Before we learnt to walk there was the arduous task of crawling everywhere, not to mention the discovery that coffee tables with sharp corners happen to be at head height!

If you have ever had the joy of watching a baby crawl, you would have noticed that they move diagonally opposite limbs together, the left leg moves with the right arm and vice versa.

This act of crawling, in addition to moving us around, serves the function of facilitating the cross over of neural pathways between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and is essential for healthy development.

Studies have shown that babies left to crawl for longer develop certain competencies and core intelligences faster, and more fully, than those who don’t. This is due to the integration and balance created between the two sides of the brain and the functions that they facilitate.

The left and right hemispheres of our brain compute information in different ways. In simplistic terms: one side prefers working in a random, creative fashion and the other in a process driven, linear fashion. Each mode of processing lends itself to certain tasks. Mathematical and linguistic endeavours, for example, favour left brain linear processes.

We will naturally have a dominant side and tend to learn and think with the preferences of that side of the brain. As different tasks and skills require different modes of operation, as far as the brain is concerned, it follows that we can be much more effective if we use the resources of our brain in a much more balanced way.
Walking, particularly the Amovita way, when the arms are brought into play to such a great extent, provides for us a similar function to that of crawling.
While walking in this way you are also more able to access the processing capabilities of each side of the brain simultaneously.

You can use the movement of your body to; facilitate creative problem solving; walk through scenarios; step over blockers to success and take life’s challenges in your stride. With the help of an experienced coach this process can revolutionise the way you walk through life. Email walkingtoclarity@amovita.co.uk for more information on walking coaching sessions in Richmond Park.