Posts tagged ‘New Year’s Resolutions’

June 20th, 2012

How to Bring Meaning Back Into Your Life

{photo by The Inspiring Bee}

Have you lost that loving feeling for your current job? Has blogging become a monotonous activity? Do you find yourself daydreaming about the other life you didn’t take?

If you said, “Yes,” to the following, there are probably two reasons why you’re going through what you’re going through:

1) You’re ready for change.

2) You’ve lost the purpose of why you’re doing it all in the first place.

The good news is that what you’re going through is normal. It’s just our intuitive voice nudging us in a different direction. It’s saying, “Hey maybe it’s time you refocus your life.” Or, “When was the last time you did something meaningful in your life?”

If you keep going without adhering to that voice, you will seek deeper and deeper into a fit of unhappiness so great that you may even lose yourself.

Wake up now before it’s too late.

How to Bring Meaning Back

1. Revisit your goals. Remember that goal you had in 2011 to take a photography class, give back to your community or learn how to paint? Maybe it’s time you do that. There’s no time like now to begin fulfilling your purpose.

2. Discover what your purpose is. Is it to help others, be more creative, have more meaningful moments in your life? Perhaps along the way you gave up on your dreams. You let life derail you from getting what you want or believing it was possible. You create your life. Find out what you want out of it and just let yourself dream of its possibility. You’ll be amazed and how that tiny shift can ripple into big shifts into and what you think you can do in your life.

3. Surround yourself with people who are living their purpose. There’s nothing that will bring you down more than someone who has become jaded with time. But the same can be said of someone who’s lived their dreams. They’ll inspire you, remind you that with perseverance, determination and courage you can also achieve your goals. They may even give you the push you need to achieve greater meaning in your life.

4. Do less. It may seem crazy that doing less could bring more meaning into your life, but it can. Feeling burnt out and overwhelmed can suck out inspiration and meaning faster than anything else. It can make you forget that life is supposed to be magical and beautiful instead of tedious and predictable. Giving yourself time to explore life, to literally smell the roses, can help you to redefine what’s really important in life. And in doing so, you may begin to incorporate more meaningful activities and less busy ones.

CategoryFinding Your Purpose | Comment2 Comments »

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December 29th, 2011

Revolutionary Resolutions 2012

{via pinterest orignally from reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com.}

I’ve been making resolutions since I was a teenager.

Looking back I wrote things like:

1. lose 10 pounds

2. stop drinking soda

3. write a book

4. travel to Europe

I managed to somehow tackle items number 2 and 4. And surprisingly eliminating soda was a lot harder than finding my way to Europe.

But this year instead of racking up another thoughtless throw-away list, I wanted to create something revolutionary. What if I compiled a list of resolutions that actually meant something to me?

After rolling up my sleeves and digging in there deep, I realized that in 2011 I did more healing than I did producing. I still haven’t finished that book and I’m still working on getting closer to my dreams. But I worked on being more conscious of how stress affected my body, how taking time to be in nature was just as important as writing a blog. I learned that people may stay the same, but that I can change how I react to them. I re-discovered yoga and found peace in tai chi. I learned that it’s not the sunset, but it’s opening your eyes to that sunset that makes a difference.

For 2012, I want more of that in my life. I want…

  • to remember that no matter what my mind, my neighbor, my friend or my enemy says, I have control over the choices I make in my life.
  • to remember where the sun shines not just where the shadows are.
  • to choose not just good people in my life, but the people who are strong, courageous and  supportive.
  • to pick opportunities that are not just once-in-a-lifetime, but are once-in-a-lifetime to me.
  • to bite my tongue in the heat of the moment and exhale compassion and peace.
  • to know that my purpose isn’t to change you, but to hold you in your light and then let go at the right time.
  • to learn that the only real purpose in my life is to grow.
  • that kindness always goes down better than anger.
  • to remember that you can be both good to yourself and good to others.
  • to know that my life is not measured in numbers: in age, in weight, in height, in visitor counts and social media followers.
  • to accept me even when I’m leaning on acidic and far from being sweet.

What do you want most in 2012?

Will you create a standard list or do something revolutionary?

CategoryDaily Inspirations, Holiday Inspiration | CommentNo Comments »

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January 18th, 2011

Getting More by Doing Less in 2011

I’ve been dreaming about this post for awhile.

It’s been beckoning me before I go to sleep. Haunting me while on bike rides.

It’s been dropping me hints throughout these last few months in 2010.

And then the day I decided to write about it, the ever famous Zen Habits blogger Leo Babauta beat me to the punch with his, “Finding the Elusive Work-Life Balance.” But that’s okay. His post is awesome, but I hope mine will offer the same topic in a different light.

“What is this weird circle with a bunch of clips and pushpins below,” you might be asking?

Well, it’s my piece of the pie. The way that I’ve been living my life. Sadly, it looks like a big creative mess. You see that white blur in the background? That’s how much time I spent on spirituality last year. And the orange? It was all the energy I spent on work. I don’t know if you can tell, but it consumed most of my energy. With pink devoted to health, green to finances, yellow to fun, and blue to friends and family.

Maybe it’s not the perfect representation, but seeing it visually helped me to realize just how little time I was spending on the things that mattered most and HOW MUCH TIME I was spending with not just the things that were less important but that were draining me.

That’s why in 2011, I decided it was imperative that I started changing things around here. No more daily work hours until after midnight. No more answering emails after 10 pm. This year I realized how important my health is because while I can always work toward my career goals, I may not live long enough to enjoy the consequences of all the hard work I put into them.

Most writers and entrepreneurs are doing the opposite this year.

They are determined to make 2011 a success. Working harder than ever, feeling the excitement of being busy, transforming themselves into workhorses not stopping for a cup of tea or to be present in the moment. There’s no time for that.

I understand because I was there in 2010. I was the one feeling like I was always trying to catch up-catch up with my Twitter followers, catch up with my fellow freelancers.

But in the end, it left me weak, drained, sick and unable to be the best me that I wanted most to be.

So here is my challenge and I invite you to challenge yourself too:

My goal for 2011 is to get more out of life by doing less. In a series of blogs, I will be posting ways to do this along with how I’m holding up in the process. Will I still be able to make a business a success by doing less? We’ll see.

Blogging here will force me to make the changes I need to live a happier, healthier life. And I hope we can support one another on this very important journey.

What do you think?

Are you in?

CategoryHow to Make Your Business Better Series, Inspired Life | Comment1 Comment »

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November 29th, 2010

Who Do You Want to Inspire in 2011?

{photo credit}

Time is going fast! It’s already December, which means just a month left to finish up your goals for 2010.

Have you accomplished them?

Did you even write them?

Set Goals for 2011

One of the things I try to stress in my weekly writer’s group is the importance of setting goals.

Why?

Because prior to writing them this past year, I had gone almost a decade without creating any, living by what felt “right,” and it pushed me farther and farther from the life I wanted for myself.

If you have BIG dreams, but have yet to figure out what it will take to get you there, now is the time to start finding out why.

We have just one month left in 2010. But that’s still 30 days. Thirty days to plan who you aspire to be and who you want to inspire in 2011.

My Biggest Regret

One of my biggest regrets and one I hear from a lot of older adults is that they didn’t do something sooner. If you’re putting a pause on your business idea because of fear, because of the belief that your idea or you are not good enough, skilled enough, etc., you are a doing a disservice to you and to the world. There is something unique about you and that gift doesn’t do anyone else good sitting stagnant, wasting away in a cubicle somewhere.

I regret not realizing this sooner and that I gave others the power to dictate and direct me through disbelief, discouragement and negativity.

If you are on the same path, break free and be your own person now. There’s still time. There’s still magic in the air, miracles around hidden corners and possibility everywhere.

Maybe you’ve forgotten. So let the upcoming new year remind you. Come back to yourself and your dreams again. You deserve it!

We’ll be waiting…

CategoryInspired Life | CommentNo Comments »

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