Category Archives: Inspire

WHAT’S YOUR WORD FOR THE YEAR?

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Most of us have heard or seen the saying that we are who we think we are. Now I don’t want to scare you but when we look a little below the surface of the life we are living, it is entirely possible that our life reflects our thoughts both positive and negative. Can we, through our constant thoughts, actually create success, failure, sickness, abundance and everything else we experience in our time here? I strongly suspect that this is exactly what we do.

Given those random thoughts, I wonder if we could be more intentional about what we create for ourselves and how might we do this in a way that could be both fun and effective? Like many of you, when I begin to ponder things, interesting stuff begins to show up in my life. A few days ago, I received some information that began to focus my thought waves into the idea of forming a thought or mantra that I could carry through the next year. The possibility of intentionally choosing a word to guide me through the next 12 months is very interesting and appealing.

So, I invite you to join me in taking a few minutes (we all have lots of those this year) to ponder your word for next year. Think of it this way; your word will be like a filter through which you will funnel your decisions, plans, and actions to guide you in your life. Now lets have a little fun with this – when you have chosen your word, add a comment to this post with your word. You don’t have to justify or explain yourself, unless you want to. Add your word in a comment and please, feel free to share this post with your family, friends, social networks – let’s offer this idea to other people so they can live next year with intention, purpose and success.

You might want to create some signs around your house or workspace with your word on it to remind you as you go about your day. I have added a list of words as inspiration but you don’t need to choose one of these if you have a better one. Later this week, I will add a comment with the word I choose as well.

My hope is that you have an incredible 2021.

ABUNDANCE ACCEPT ACCOMPLISH ACTION ADVENTURE AGILITY ALIGNMENT AMAZE APPRECIATE AUDATIOUS AUDACITY AUTHENTIC AWAKEN AWESOME BALANCE BELIEVE BLOOM BLOSSOM BOLD BOUNDARIES BOUNDLESS BRAVE BREATHE BRILLIANCE CALM CAPABLE CELEBRATE CHANGE CHOOSE COMFORT COMMIT COMPLETE CONFIDENCE CONNECTION CONQUER CONSISTENCY CONTENTMENT COURAGE CREATE CULTIVATE DEDICATED DELIBERATE DETERMINATION DILIGENCE DISCIPLINE DISCOVER EFFICIENCY EFFICIENT ELEVATE EMBRACE EMERGE EMPOWER ENGAGED ENOUGH EPIC ESSENCE ESSENTIAL EXPLORE FAITH FAMILY FEARLESS FIERCE FINISH FLOURISH FLOW FOCUS FOREGIVENESS FORWARD FREEDOM GIVE GLOW GRACE GRATITUDE GRIT GROUNDED GROWTH HAPPINESS HARMONY HOME HONOUR HUSTLE INCOMPARABLE INDEPENDENCE INSPIRATION INSPIRED INTENTIONAL JOY KINDNESS KISS (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID) LAUGHTER LEAP LEARN LESS LIBERATE LIGHT LIMITLESS LISTEN LOVE MAGNETIC MAINTAIN MARGINS ME MINDFUL MINIMIZE MOMENTUM MOVE NOBLE NOW NURTURE OPEN ORGANIZE OVERCOME PASSION PATIENCE PEACE PERSEVERANCE PERSIST PHENOMENAL PLAN PLAYFUL POSITIVITY POSSIBLE POWER PREPARED PRESENCE PROACTIVE PRODUCTIVE PROGRESS PROSPER PURPOSE QUEST RADIANCE RECEIVE RECOVER REFRESH RELATIONSHIPS RELAX RELEASE RELENTLESS REMARKABLE RENEW RESOLVE REST REVIVE RISE ROUTINES SELF-CONTROL SERENITY SHINE SIMPLIFY SLOW SOAR SPACE SPARK SPONTANEOUS STEADY STRENGTH STRIVE STRONG STRUCTURE SUCCEED SURRENDER TEMPERANCE TENACIOUS TENACITY THRIVE TODAY TRANSFORM TRANSITION TRUST TRUTH UNBOUND UNCLUTTERED UNFLAPPABLE UNSTOPPABLE VALUE VICTORIOUS VICTORY VISION WECOME WELLNESS WONDER WORTHY YES

WE’VE GOT THIS

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I always end up where I plan to go. As most readers of this corner know, I am a male and consequently, the whole idea of asking for directions is entirely unnecessary. Going around in circles from time to time is just me getting to know the “lay of the land.” I often like to get to know the neighborhood a little better. The idea of actually stopping and asking for help – are you kidding me???? I don’t know why anyone would want to do that. So, I am exactly where I had planned to be. Some of that planning didn’t start until 30 seconds ago; most of it didn’t exist a year ago.

A few thoughts pop into my mind as we end 2020 and consider what 2021 will bring: we’ve got this. We handled the challenges that we were presented with and actually thrived. After all – here we are – no road map, no plan to survive a pandemic, making the best of limited social interactions. We’ve got this! We have proven to ourselves that we can survive and we are willing to persevere and move forward. Let’s stop focusing on all the things we consider negative about the past year and congratulate ourselves – we have made it and we can make 2021 a fabulous year because we are stronger than we could ever have imagined. We have been honed in the fires of 2020 – nothing can stop us now. So, OK world, bring it on, but maybe this year I will look at creating some goals and plans for that next move forward, understanding that I can change direction along the way if I need to. After all, like you, I had to change direction a few times in the last 12 months.

There are a few people in this world who can succeed without any goals or plans. They are either lucky or made some kind of otherworldly deal. For the rest of us, having a plan is probably the only way to succeed in what we want.

It makes no sense to persevere if you choose the wrong plan or decide on no plan at all. By setting goals, you can strive to complete them, which often requires perseverance. This doesn’t mean that all the goals or tasks will be correct. But, you can find alternatives when needed. At least when you have a plan, you have a reason to pursue them.

There are many ways to set goals, but one of the more acceptable ways is to start with high-level goals. Then, for each of those high-level goals, define the tasks that it would take to accomplish those goals. Set milestones so that you can measure how you are doing at each step. It’s okay to make adjustments along the way, even to the high-level goals. But, the key is to use this as a roadmap to keep going. That is the best way to get to where you want to go. Perseverance will play a big role here.

If you give up at any point, don’t beat yourself up too much. Either start over or if possible, pick up where you left off. When you finally accomplish your goals and milestones, the success you feel will come from knowing it required perseverance to accomplish. The kind of perseverance that we have grown to understand and undertake in 2020.

Sometimes, people don’t get back to their goals. Either they gave up too quickly, or they weren’t meant to make them happen. If this happens to you, find out what you really want from those goals and if they are right for you. It is okay if they aren’t, but just make sure that you didn’t give up because it was easier to do that. You don’t want to live with regrets.

If you find that you are constantly giving up on your goals, you may want to get some professional help. This can either be in the form of coaching or in extreme cases, you may want to seek the advice of a counselor. Sometimes this can make the difference in breaking the barrier of quitting before meeting your goals. A mentor or counselor can give you the necessary guidance and may even be able to help you define better goals. It could be you just weren’t following the right plan.

So, don’t tell my wife this, but maybe she is right. I could always stop at the gas station and ask someone to tell me how to get there. Or, I could use the car’s GPS but that would require opening and reading the owner’s manual. There’s always some catch isn’t there? The real catch is that we can use 2020 to power the rest of our life because we’ve got this!

GOAL SETTING MADE EASY

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Alright, put up your hands, how many of you set a goal for 2020 of surviving a pandemic? That’s what I thought. OK, how many have this as a goal for 2021? Let’s hope that “goal” means more than just managing to stay physically alive. We have had one of the most challenging years that any of us will ever experience but it gives us an opportunity to reflect on what is really important.

In keeping with that theme – what is important – creating a few goals for the coming year may provide an opportunity for change, growth, peace and prosperity in 2021. With that in mind, here are a few thoughts on the link between our behaviors and the outcomes we produce that will hopefully give us some food for thought as we head into that traditional “New Year’s Resolution” season.

Behavior vs. Outcome-Based Goals

We know that goal-oriented people are usually more successful, happier, and more productive. But setting and keeping goals is a skill, and like any skill, there’s a right way to do it. One thing you might find useful is separating your goals into behavior-based and outcome-based groupings. There are a few differences between the two, and knowing which is which can be very helpful.

Behavior-Based Goals

Behavior-based goals are typically changes you make to how you act. For example, “I want to handle stress better”, “I would like to be nicer to other”, and “I want to spend less time procrastinating.” These are all examples of behavior-based goals. They focus on how you personally feel and behave, rather than just looking purely at the results or outcome of your actions.

Behavior-based goals play into outcome-based goals, but they aren’t the same. When you change how you think and feel, often you’ll notice a change in results. But that’s not the focus, it’s just a pleasant side-effect.

In order to create behavior-based goals, you’ll need to reflect on how you feel when you’re completing a certain task. Do you get snippy with customers, family or coworkers in the mornings, or feel exhausted when you’re trying to meet a deadline? Focusing on the way you feel when you aren’t performing well and then making a concrete effort to change can help to make you more pleasant and productive.

Outcome-Based Goals

Outcome-based goals are changes you make to your performance. For instance, answering your emails faster, reducing the amount of errors you make, and setting and getting projects done on time are all outcome-based goals. They focus on the outcome of your actions, rather than how you feel about performing your tasks.

Outcome-based goals tend to be easier to quantify. You can count the number of emails you respond to before lunch, and you can keep track of the amount of time you spend on a certain project. For this reason, most people focus on making outcome-based goals. After all, your progress is so much more obvious and easier to quantify.

Making Them Work Together

The real key to success is melding behavior-based goals with outcome-based goals. Often you can get to the root of a problem by changing your behavior, and then watch as your outcomes change. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the two, and that’s okay. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that your performance is a mix of both. Having the right mindset is just as important as working hard if you want to succeed.

And with that in mind, let’s not let 2020 go to waste and lose the time that we spent thinking. Thinking about the changes we want to make, thinking about what could be better in our lives, thinking about the new possibilities that we can explore and achieve. Let’s go beyond the obvious and shallow what we want to have and what we want to do and seriously consider what we want to be. Let those creative juices flow and make 2021 your best year ever.