Living an Inspired Life Blog

Spring Clean Your Life!

"Dear Diary
I love the springtime, the first rays of sun, the extra hour of daylight in the evening as the clocks change, and the new flowers emerging in the garden.  I have noticed that these changes in the outside world seem to reflect a new creative phase in me too. During the winter, I find I tend to hoard things.. from clutter to emails to a few extra pounds of weight (for warmth purposes obviously!!) So how can I make the most of this new found energy to create more momentum in my life?"

This is a good time to capitalise on this burst of energy. Here are 3 tips for creating space in your life :

1) Clutter Clear: 
A great time to clear out the junk and stuff that you have accumulated. I have a philosophy of love it/use it... or bin (recycle) it. For more information on this, OrganizingLA have  some great suggestions at: http://organizingla.blogs.com/organizingla_blog/2005/07/excellent_syste.html

2) Create a system for your emails:
I love technology. When I consider the opportunities we have in this decade compared to even the last one, I am blown away (ok, I confess I am a secret geek, but don't tell anyone!). But I have noticed that many of my coaching clients don't always share my enthusiasm for IT, especially when it comes to email.

The Quality of Your Life is a Reflection of Your Questions

"Dear Diary,
I have had the privilege of coaching and working with some wonderful people. One thing is obvious… we all have self talk that either limits us or encourages us in the moment. I have been curious recently about what makes the difference between an internal chatter box that supports us and one that makes us less resourceful. In my experience, the difference that makes the difference is the quality of the questions we ask of ourselves. It is the questions that we ask ourselves that direct the focus of our attention and therefore affect the success (or lack of it) in our lives."

In my last post, I discussed how in the moment of facing a difficult situation, changing our focus is a really easy way to recover emotional wellbeing. To go a step further, our lives are a direct reflection of what we (consistently) focus upon and the quality of the questions we ask ourselves. Our internal dialogue (or self-talk) directs and controls our attention to the various aspects of our experience and is a deciding factor in the meaning we assign to events.

Personal Development "Guru" Tony Robbins is quoted as saying "The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of the questions you ask of yourself". He differentiates between low and high quality questions. Low quality questions are those questions that keep you stuck. High quality questions move you forward and help you to grow as a person.

Handling Set Backs

"Dear Diary,
This year has got off to a flying start and I am right on track with the deliberate creation of the lifestyle and wellbeing I really want. And then it happened…my most-of-the-time adorable 5 year old dropped a drink on my laptop. Firstly, anyone who knows me, also knows that my MacBook is one of my most treasured possessions but add to that a few weeks of non-backed up work and we are looking at a major trauma! My first reaction was blind panic….But in even the worst situations, there is always a learning opportunity… so apart from the obvious lesson (to back up my work more regularly!), how else can I learn to handle situations more effectively so if nothing else I can limit the emotional fall out?"

Even when we have made the decision to become the deliberate creators of our lives, there are going to be some unforeseen events, seemingly outside of our control, that knock us off balance and set us back. With hindsight, we may spot the clues or patterns of thinking that led up to the situation we face, but in immediately going into the analysis of what went wrong, we will tend to set ourselves up for guilt and regret, and this doesn’t serve us in getting back on track.

What we can do, even in the moment of experiencing a set back, is to make a conscious decision on how we are going to respond. This isn’t about taking action…instead its about making choices about the emotional journey that we want to take.

Visualisation, Affirmation and Appreciation

Dear Diary. I have come to realise that being a deliberate creator in my life is about focusing on what I want and then allowing the process to unfold. Manifesting my desires in my life seems to be preceded by a feeling of alignment - an absolute knowing in my being - that something is about to happen. As soon as I have a sense of this alignment, almost instantly, what I have been waiting for appears in my life. So how do I create more alignment in my life so more good things come my way?

We all want good things to happen in our lives - whether it is something tangible like that new relationship, ideal job or dream car, or something less specific like a feeling of peace or happiness, more love and laughter, or a sense of wellbeing. Whatever we desire, we can have as long as we can bring ourselves into alignment with what we want. The only obstacle to having what we want right now, is the degree of resistance we have to achieving those desires.

Its all about Feeeeeling Good!

"Dear Diary. Over the last few days, I have really come to understand the importance of my emotions as my "inner guidance system". I am really aware that when I feel good, I am attracting more positive things into my life and when I feel bad, I can be pretty sure that I am attracting negative experiences. I have noticed significant changes to my overall emotional standpoint . I spend much more time being content and accepting of where I am whilst still being clear about what I want to create. I even feel good about some of the things that I want that have not yet arrived... I can be in joyful anticipation of what is on its way! I still experience negative emotions but my ability to recover from them is much quicker and I recognise that setbacks are only temporary. I am beginning to truly recognise that I am the creator of my own experience"

The principles of the Law of Attraction have been part of my life for some time now, and yet, I am noticing a deepening of my understanding of how our emotions provide us with our own internal guidance system to let us know when we are moving towards our goals and when we are off track. Our thoughts are our point of attraction and yet we don't need to constantly monitor our thoughts (which would be a time consuming task!), as our emotions our are feedback source to let us know what we are creating. The analogy used by Abraham Hicks is that our feelings are like our Sat Nav system, gently guiding us when we are heading in the right direction and reminding us when we are not. Those "feeling bad" emotions are the equivalent of the Sat Nav saying "turn around when possible"!

A question of trust?

"Dear Diary
Its an interesting and challenging time as I change the focus of my work and create a new business. Letting go of the old to create something new can sometimes seem scary and its easy to doubt that I will make it through this with my sanity intact. But I have been here before! Last year I had practically no paid work. For some inexplicable reason it all just stopped and I watched in horror as the finances drained away. I had irons in the fire left, right and centre but nothing happened. Just as I was about to give up, things suddenly turned around...with it came more confidence and more self-belief..I guess its all a question of trust!"

So what happens when results aren't coming as quick as you would like? For a long time, I would look for solutions that were external to myself. Seeking advice and praying to the universe for help. Not to say that these things don't help in some way but there is an alternative.