Month: December 2014 Page 1 of 2

This time of year can get so busy with many demands and festivities. It can be easy to overlook taking some time to reflect and celebrate all that has been good about the year and for all that you have in life.

I like to dedicate some quiet time with a notebook and to think about what has been great about the year, lessons learned that I have learned and what challenges have taught me and given me new insights.

This process helps me prepare and plan what I would like to achieve and experience in the forthcoming year.

There is also another task that I like to complete before the year concludes. For several years now I have kept a gratitude jar which I empty on New Year’s Eve. Throughout the year I make a note on a piece of notepaper (about the size of a post it note) of any wonderful experiences.

Examples of things that I make a note of include:

• Concerts that I attend or trips to the theatre/cinema

• Holidays and days out

• Nice meals and special time spent with loved one and friends.

• Instances of good fortune like winning money, unexpected windfalls,

• Birthday presents

• Interesting people that I meet and places that I visit

• Learning new things

• Someone sharing their wisdom with me

• Securing new clients and contracts etc.

• Act of kindness and positive feedback

When I have made a note of the things that I mentioned above, I put the date on it and write thank you. I then fold it up and place it in the gratitude jar.

Then on New Years Eve, I empty the jar, read all the notes and remind myself of the things that it is so easy to forget and take for granted. I have found it to be a really great way to finish a year on a positive note, to develop a sense of deeper level of gratitude and to look forward with anticipation to the New Year.

Also at this time of year, I spend some time reflecting on the year and planning for a positive New Year.

I take a notebook and spend a few hours answering a series of questions and noting my answers in the notebook, which I periodically review throughout the following year (normally at the end of each quarter).

I don’t always answer the questions in one session preferring to split my time into bite sized chunks over the course of a week. If it works better for you to answer the questions in one go, then do it that way, whatever you prefer and fits with your schedule.

I have found the following questions to be useful when reviewing the year and planning for the forthcoming one:

Review of the past year:

• What are my 5-10 highlights?

• What was the smartest decision I made?

• How have I grown and developed?

• What gave me the greatest happiness?

• What do I want to celebrate about this year?

• What lessons have I learned?

• What do I need to let go of from the past year?

Planning for the forthcoming year:

• What would I like to celebrate at the end of the year?

• What are main personal and professional goals in the forthcoming year?

• What are my financial goals for the forthcoming year?

• What steps do I need to take to improve/maintain my health and fitness?

• What can I do to improve my relationships?

• What would I like to add to, change or eliminate from my daily routine?

• What plans do I have to grow, develop and learn?

• What steps can I take to improve my happiness?

• How can I increase the amount of fun that I have?

Enjoy the New Year celebrations. I hope that the forthcoming year is a First Class one for you and is full of happiness, good health and abundance.

This week’s quotation:

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” Seneca

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk

 

I was talking with a client recently and they were explaining to me that company they work for is going through a merger and they are thinking about what they will do for employment if they don’t secure a position in the new structure and felt a little anxious and concerned.

The client is extremely talented, good at their job, well respected by their colleagues. They have worked for the same organisation for over 20 years. They are certainly someone that the organisation would wish to retain as they are one of their top performers.

I asked if they had been given an indication that they would not be retaining their job. They said that wasn’t the case, the organisation had said they were looking to ensure there was a position for them moving forward. I asked why they were feeling the way that they do.

They explained that part of them is thinking that this could be a great opportunity to start their own business and have a fresh challenge. However, they are not sure that they have the necessary confidence and courage to do so.

They told me that the truth was that having worked for the same company for so long, their brain was telling them that they would not be able do anything else if they lost their job. They are scared of the uncertainty and the unknown. They are frightened of having to step of their comfort zone and of what is familiar although the chance to be their own boss and master of their destiny is appealing to them. There are certainly two forces pulling them in different directions at present

Many people adopt a similar stance about their potential and capability when faced with similar circumstances to what is described above. As Dale Carnegie explained in his book, “How to win friends and Influence people”, most people have no idea what treasure lies within them. Sometimes the biggest limits we have are the ones that we have in our own minds.

I mentioned to the client the story I was told once about the way that baby elephants are trained. Control is established while the elephant is very small. A chain is placed around the baby elephant’s leg and attached to a three foot iron stake which is driven into the ground. Therefore for several days the baby elephant pulls and tugs and strains against the stake and the chain… but he is too small to dislodge it.

Soon he is convinced, by this experience, that the three foot stake and chain have the power to bind him. He no longer attempts to pull free. Years later, when the elephant is fully grown — weighing thousands of pounds— capable of uprooting trees or pulling a car, he can still be held by a three foot stake! Yet, if that stake were as big and planted as deep as a telephone pole, he could easily uproot it!

How does the stake and chain hold the elephant? Control and conditioning. I think sometimes our lives reflect the story of the elephant. We get so conditioned to a certain way of life and thinking that we believe that we are not capable of doing anything new.

I can empathise with the client as I felt much the same way prior to leaving the corporate world in December 2000. Coincidentally, last week was the 14th anniversary of me starting my business and completing my first paid assignment.

It was my choice to take a leap of faith and leave as I had not been made redundant. Accordingly, I did not have a lump sum payment behind me and I was not under any pressure to find a new job. However, I had a desire to work for myself and to test myself.

That said, it was not an easy decision to make to give up on what was known and relatively safe to step into a whole new arena. I had to overcome the inner voice that said that it was too risky and the feeling that I could not do anything else having worked for only one employer for almost 20 years.

The way that I got comfortable with the risk was to ask myself a question that I always ask when I am contemplating change or taking a risk.

The question is “What is the worst thing that can happen?”

If I am able to get comfortable with the consequences detailed in my answer to the question, it helps me step into the unknown and take a leap of faith. It gives me the courage and strength to take that first step.

Over the Christmas period, why not take some time to think about if there is something that you would like to do or is there is a dream locked inside you? Ask yourself the question, what would you do today if you were really brave?

This week’s quotation:

I came across the following when I was sorting through some old papers in my office this week. It was written by William Arthur Ward.

To Risk

“To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return,

To live is to risk dying,

To hope is to risk despair,

To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow,

But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.

Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.

The pessimist complains about the wind;

The optimist expects it to change;

And the realist adjusts the sails.”

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk

 

I saw the actor Jim Carrey being interviewed on the Graham Norton Show last week and it was very interesting.

In his career, Carrey has received four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning two. He is well known for his highly energetic slapstick performances and has been described as one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood.

Carrey started out as a stand-up comedian and received massive support and encouragement from his father to develop his career.

He said to Graham Norton that he is a big believer in visualisation and enjoys manifesting things into his life. He talked about life before his movie career took off in 1994. That year, he starred in several big name movies – Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Dumb and Dumber and The Mask.

He explained that for four years in the lead up to landing roles in those movies, he has visualised being a successful actor. As part of the visualisation he had written a cheque for $10m made payable to himself for acting services rendered.

The cheque was dated November 23rd 1995 (Thanksgiving Day). What is incredible is that he received a cheque for $10m six months before the due date on the cheque for his part in movies! He gave the cheque to his dad.

Jim mentioned that he learned the visualisation technique from an Irish Teacher he had at school, who said that he prayed and asked for what he wanted and when doing so promised something in return. He said that he got whatever he wanted!

Carrey said that he tried it out when he was a child and asked for a bike. Two weeks later he came home and his parents said that he had won a Mustang Bike with chopper handlebars in a raffle. What was amusing was that he had not entered the raffle himself. A friend had gone into a sports goods shop and put Jim Carrey’s name on a ticket (as well as his own) and had not told him. It was a real surprise when he won the bike.

The Jim Carrey story is an illustration of the law of attraction in action.

Much has been written over the years about the Law of Attraction. Napoleon Hill wrote a book called “Think and Grow Rich” in the 1930’s after interviewing many successful people. He found that they had a common trait which was the power to visualise! He famously said “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Rhonda Byrne produced a movie and wrote a book on the topic called “The Secret” which became a best seller across the world. Esther and Jerry Hicks had written extensively on the topic some years prior to The Secret being released.

Interestingly, in writing this blog I have just remembered that I won a copy of their book “The Law of Attraction” when I was at a seminar in 2006. At the start of the session unbeknown to us all a bow was placed under somebody’s seat. There were 400 plus delegates and you chose your seat at random. I was astounded when we were asked to check underneath our seat and I found a bow under my chair!

A book that I have enjoyed reading on the subject is called “Law of Attraction” by Michael Losier. It is practical and a bit of a “how to” guide.

Many people who teach the Law of Attraction talk about the vital role about being clear about what you want to attract plays and the need to believe wholeheartedly that it is possible and will happen! To act as if it has happened, a done deal.

Many teachers say that you need to ask, believe and receive.

This week why not spend some time thinking about what you would like to attract into your life but remember be careful what you wish for – your dream may just come true!

This week’s quotation:

“Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs.” Dr. Maxwell Maltz

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk