Building A New And Better (YO)U

"Who's the Boss?" 10 ways to start taking control (time management, goal setting, record tracking)

At first glance, it would seem that positive thinking and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have nothing to do with one another. But many people with ADD develop negative thinking patterns because we become frustrated by our challenges and frequent feelings of being overwhelmed. This negative outlook then makes it even harder to manage those challenges and move forward.

Practicing positive thinking allows people with ADD to focus on strengths and accomplishments, which increases happiness and motivation. This, in turn, allows more time for making progress, and less time feeling down and stuck. The following tips provide some practical suggestions that you can use to help you shift into more positive thinking patterns:

1. Take Good Care of Yourself
It's much easier to be positive when you are eating well, exercising, and getting enough rest.

2. Remind Yourself of the Things You Are Grateful For
Stresses and challenges don't seem quite as bad when you are constantly reminding yourself of the things that are right in life. Taking just 60 seconds a day to stop and appreciate the good things will make a huge difference.

3. Look for the Proof Instead of Making Assumptions
A fear of not being liked or accepted sometimes leads us to assume that we know what others are thinking, but our fears are usually not reality. If you have a fear that a friend or family member's bad mood is due to something you did, or that your co-workers are secretly gossiping about you when you turn your back, speak up and ask them. Don't waste time worrying that you did something wrong unless you have proof that there is something to worry about.

4. Refrain from Using Absolutes
Have you ever told a partner "You're ALWAYS late!" or complained to a friend "You NEVER call me!"? Thinking and speaking in absolutes like 'always' and 'never' makes the situation seem worse than it is, and programs your brain into believing that certain people are incapable of delivering.

5. Detach From Negative Thoughts
Your thoughts can't hold any power over you if you don't judge them. If you notice yourself having a negative thought, detach from it, witness it, and don't follow it.

6. Squash the "ANTs"
In his book "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life," Dr. Daniel Amen talks about "ANTs" - Automatic Negative Thoughts. These are the bad thoughts that are usually reactionary, like "Those people are laughing, they must be talking about me," or "The boss wants to see me? It must be bad!" When you notice these thoughts, realize that they are nothing more than ANTs and squash them!

7. Practice Lovin', Touchin' & Squeezin' (Your Friends and Family)
You don't have to be an expert to know the benefits of a good hug. Positive physical contact with friends, loved ones, and even pets, is an instant pick-me-up. One research study on this subject had a waitress touch some of her customers on the arm as she handed them their checks. She received higher tips from these customers than from the ones she didn't touch!

8. Increase Your Social Activity
By increasing social activity, you decrease loneliness. Surround yourself with healthy, happy people, and their positive energy will affect you in a positive way!

9. Volunteer for an Organization, or Help another Person
Everyone feels good after helping. You can volunteer your time, your money, or your resources. The more positive energy you put out into the world, the more you will receive in return.

10. Use Pattern Interrupts to Combat Rumination
If you find yourself ruminating on the negatives in your life, a great way to stop it is to interrupt the pattern and force yourself to do something completely different. Rumination is like hyper-focus on something negative. It's never productive, because it's not rational or solution-oriented, it's just excessive worry. Try changing your physical environment - go for a walk or sit outside. You could also call a friend, pick up a book, or turn on some music.

BANABU - To Building A New And Better Universe - A New And Better (YO)U

Fran Watson

Ten Commandments of Human Relations

1.      Speak to people.  There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word.

2.      Smile at people.  It takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.

3.      Call people by name.  The sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the sound of his/her  name.

4.      Be friendly and helpful.  If you would have friends, be friendly.

5.      Be cordial.  Speak and act as if everything you do were a pleasure.

6.      Be genuinely interested in people.  You can like every body if you try.

7.      Be generous with praise – cautious with criticism.

8.      Be considerate with the feelings of others – it s appreciated.,

9.      Be thoughtful of the opinions of others – there are three sides to a controversy – yours, the other person’s and the right one.

10.  Be alert to give service.  What counts most in life is what we do for others.

Be kind to one another

Fran Watson

Weeds or Flowers?

This afternoon I had a chance to get back out into my garden for a few minutes.  I was enjoying the beautiful flowers, but I noticed how quickly the weeds had grown up and how they were trying to take over the garden.  As I pulled them out I thought about how much like life this is. 

We "plant" beautiful deeds in our lives and we go along for a little while quite comfortably but then we notice that some "weeds" have sprung up.  Perhaps someone said something and your feelings were hurt.  Perhaps you said something to someone that you now regret.  Perhaps you didn't get the job you wanted, the project you were hoping for, the raise you expected and the niggling doubts (weeds) started taking over. 

It doesn't take long for the negativity to set in after that and unless you get rid of those weeds quickly they can take over and you  begin to feel some signs of depression.  You may wake up in the morning and not want to get out of bed.  You may not want to get out and socialize with your friends.  You may sit around your house moping.

It is important to deal with those "weeds" as soon as they start.  It is much easier to pluck them when they are small rather than wait until they have grown and firmly implanted themselves in the garden. 

Unfortunately for me today, it had been a long time since I was able to get in the garden due to weather and my schedule so many of those weeds were quite firmly implanted and it is going to take more than one session to get rid of them.  It is the same with the "weeds" in our life. 

It takes approximately 3 weeks to make or break a habit, so if the weeds are firmly implanted in your life, it will take more than a single effort to get rid of them.  It will take conscious, repeated efforts to get rid of them and restore your life garden to a state of beauty.

BANABU

To having a beautiful Life Garden

Fran Watson

How Are You Doing?

Every time I log into Facebook, it asks me "What's on your mind?"  I wonder why they want to know, are they really interested in who I am and what I am thinking about or are they just trying to figure out how they can market to me?

Have you ever felt that when people ask the question, "How are you doing?" they are just waiting to tell you how they are doing, but they want to be polite and ask you first? 

It seems to me that it happens more and more often.  People also ask the question as they pass you on the street, but they really don't expect you to stop and tell them.  "Hi, how are you doing?" they say as they walk on by.  I sometimes wonder what would happen if you stopped and said, "Actually, I'm not doing very well.  I had this (operation/accident/event) happen and ......"  Can't you just picture them squirming and wanting to get away?

How many times have you asked the question and not waited for the answer?  Or just expected someone to say "great, how are you?" as they pass on by. 

Well, today, I want to really ask you... "How are you doing?"  Are things going well in your life?  Do you need a little help or support?  A listening ear?  If so, post a message below or send me an email.  I will take the time to listen and respond to you.

Have a great day!!

Fran Watson

Time Management and Goals

I have been having conversations with people lately about Goal Setting and Time Management.  Everyone says they don't have enough time to set goals or to accomplish tasks, but the truth is unless you set the goals you will NEVER find the time to complete them.  You see you can't really manage time, you can only manage you.

Do you really know what you spend your time on each day?  Have you ever taken the time to really look at what you do?  How long does it take you to make and eat your breakfast each day?  Do you read the paper while you eat?  How long does that take?  Do you sit and wait for the coffee to perc or do you do other things while it is percolating?  What about lunch?  Do you eat on the go?  Eat at your desk?  Go out for lunch?  Again, how long does it take? 

Have you ever sat down to watch ONE program and found yourself still sitting on the couch 3 hours later?  That's because you didn't have a goal, something else you wanted to accomplish that night.  If you had, you would have made a decision about whether or not you would even watch the one program, or would you work on a task towards completing your goal.

Do you have a goal you want to achieve?  Other than, "I want to be rich and retire."  Do you know the exact amount you want to make, the exact amount you would need to retire comfortably, taking into account inflation and what activities you want to do when you retire.  Have you written your goal down?  Have you begun your yearly, monthly, weekly, daily plan on how you are going to accomplish it?  Studies have shown that if you WRITE down your goal and put it somewhere where you will see it every day, you have a better chance of achieving it.  If you write it down and set out a plan on how you will achieve it, you are well on your way.

Think about it....A multi-millionaire has the same number of hours in the day as you do, they just do different things with it.  You will probably not find them sitting on the couch in their living room watching hour after hour of TV.  You will probably find them getting together with people who can help them with their goals.

What do you want to accomplish?  Start today by taking a look at how you spend your time and see where you can make some time to work on YOUR GOALS.  If you would like a time log to record your time for the next week,  send me an email (franlwatson (at) gmail.com) with the subject line "TIME LOG" and I will send you a copy. 

It takes time and effort to achieve a goal, but it is always worth it.  Start small, reward yourself for accomplishing tasks, but START.

Have a great day!!!

Fran Watson
BANABU

Missing....

I MISS THESE THINGS

 

Go back now...........

Close your eyes.....And go back....
Before the Internet or the MAC,
Before semi automatics and crack
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo
 

Way back........

 
I'm talking bout hide and go seek at dusk.
Sitting on the porch, Hot bread and butter.
The Good Humour man,
Red light, Green light.

Chocolate milk,

Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.

Playing Pinball in the corner store.

Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch

Jacks, kickball, dodgeball, y'all!

Mother May I?

Red Rover and Roly Poly

Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds,

Jolly Ranchers, Banana Splits
Wax Lips and Mustaches

Running through the sprinkler

The smell of the sun and lickin' salty lips....

Wait......

Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons, Fat Albert,

Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs,

Or back further, listening to Superman on the radio

Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar,
Playin sling shot.

When around the corner seemed far away,

And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.

Bedtime, Climbing trees,

An ice cream cone on a warm summer night
Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe butter pecan
A lemon coke from the fountain at the corner drug store

A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,

Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians,
Sittin on the curb,

Jumpin down the steps,

Jumpin on the bed.
Pillow fights

Runnin till you were out of breath

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt

Being tired from playin'.... Remember that?

I ain't finished just yet...

Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar

........Remember when...

When there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyers) and the only time you wore

them at school, was for "gym."

When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up, if you even had one.
When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got there.
When nobody owned a purebred dog

When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a miracle.

When milk went up one cent and everyone talked about it for weeks?

When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then.

When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done, everyday.

When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time. And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!

When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.

When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not

even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your

parents.

When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed ... and did!

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.  Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of em!!!

Didn't that feel good.. Just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that!

There's nothing like the good old days! They were good then, and they're good now when we think about

them.

Share some of these thoughts with a friend who can relate, then share it with someone that missed out on them.

 

Sometimes I think our life would be so much better if we could go back to these days.  There is so much anger and killing in our world.  People have not learned good ways to deal with their unhappiness other than lashing out at others.  Many people don't have the words to recognize and/or express how they feel so they react in anger.

 

To simpler and happier times in your life

All the best

 

Fran Watson

Being Mindful

1. Do one thing at a time. Single-task, don’t multi-task. When you’re pouring water, just pour water. When you’re eating, just eat. When you’re bathing, just bathe. Don’t try to knock off a few tasks while eating or bathing or driving. Zen proverb: “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.”

2. Do it slowly and deliberately. You can do one task at a time, but also rush that task. Instead, take your time, and move slowly. Make your actions deliberate, not rushed and random. It takes practice, but it helps you focus on the task.

3. Do less. If you do less, you can do those things more slowly, more completely and with more concentration. If you fill your day with tasks, you will be rushing from one thing to the next without stopping to think about what you do. But you’re busy and you can’t possibly do less, right? You can. I’ve done it, and so have many busy people. It’s a matter of figuring out what’s important, and letting go of what’s not. Read more: TheLazy Manifesto: Do Less.

4. Put space between things. Related to the “Do less” rule, but it’s a way of managing your schedule so that you always have time to complete each task. Don’t schedule things close together — instead, leave room between things on your schedule. That gives you a more relaxed schedule, and leaves space in case one task takes longer than you planned.

5. Spend at least 5 minutes each day doing nothing. Just sit in silence. Become aware of your thoughts. Focus on your breathing. Notice the world around you. Become comfortable with the silence and stillness. It’ll do you a world of good — and just takes 5 minutes!

6. Stop worrying about the future – focus on the present. Become more aware of your thinking — are you constantly worrying about the future? Learn to recognize when you’re doing this, and then practice bringing yourself back to the present. Just focus on what you’re doing, right now. Enjoy the present moment.

7. When you’re talking to someone, be present. How many of us have spent time with someone but have been thinking about what we need to do in the future? Or thinking about what we want to say next, instead of really listening to that person? Instead, focus on being present, on really listening, on really enjoying your time with that person.

8. Eat slowly and savor your food. Food can be crammed down our throats in a rush, but where’s the joy in that? Savor each bite, slowly, and really get the most out of your food. Interestingly, you’ll eat less this way, and digest your food better as well.

9. Live slowly and savor your life. Just as you would savor your food by eating it more slowly, do everything this way — slow down and savor each and every moment.

10. Make cleaning and cooking become meditation. Cooking and cleaning are often seen as drudgery, but actually they are both great ways to practice mindfulness, and can be great rituals performed each day. If cooking and cleaning seem like boring chores to you, try doing them as a form of meditation. Put your entire mind into those tasks, concentrate, and do them slowly and completely. It could change your entire day (as well as leave you with a cleaner house).

11. Keep practicing. When you get frustrated, just take a deep breath. When you ask yourself, “What should I do now, Self?”, the answer is “keep practicing”.

“When you drive around the city and come to a red light or a stop sign, you can just sit back and make use of these twenty or thirty seconds to relax — to breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy arriving in the present moment. There are many things like that we can do.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

 

BANABU!

 

Fran Watson

Resilience

"To become resilient, it is important to take care of yourself.  Simplify your life.  create balance by streamlining and prioritizing activities.  Make sure there is enough time for faith, fun, and family.  Eliminate unnecessary tasks and give permission to yourself to rest.  Don't be afraid to ask for help.  Pace yourself.  Learn as much as possible.  Keep a sense of humour.  And remember:  the key to resilience is the acceptance that the only certainty in life is change itself." - Diana M. Amadeo

 

Simplify your life - what are some of the things you can do without?

Streamline and prioritize activities - do you really need to do everything? 

Time for faith, fun and family - do you have a "family night", a time to sit down together to get to know each other better, to play some games or watch tv together?

Eliminate tasks - what can someone else do for you?

Permission to rest - yes, it's ok to take some time to just sit down and relax - not only is it ok, it is necessary for life and health and balance.  Read a book, watch a movie, sit out in the sun.

Ask for help - we are not "superman" or "superwoman", people like to be asked for help, it makes them feel needed.

Pace yourself - don't try to do everything at once.  If you have a large project to do, do one step at a time,  break it into small bites.  As they question goes, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."  It is how you accomplish anything - one small step at a time.

Learn as much as possible - try to learn one new thing each day.  At the end of the year you will have learned 365 new things.  Read a chapter of a book each day.  You will be amazed at how many books you will have completed in a year.  15 minutes per day = 91 hours in a year.

Keep a sense of humour - learn to laugh at yourself when you make a mistake.

Accept that change is inevitable and go with the flow!

 

BANABU - Building A New and Better Universe / Building A New And Better "U"

Fran Watson

 

 

What Makes You Tick?

"What Really Makes You Tick?"

Some questions you should ask to yourself. 

Are you stuck?  Or are you somewhat contented with life the way things are, but think, "what if?" Then maybe it's time to ask yourself some hard questions.

1. What do I really want? - this is the toughest question. 
What would I do if I only had a little time left to live?  What would I do if I had all the money I wanted/needed and could do anything at all?

2. Should I really change?  If so, what should I change?  What parts of me do I like and what parts do I want to get rid of or minimize?

3. What's the bright side in all of this?  Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? 

4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing?  Truthfully?

5. Have I done enough for myself?  Do you really look after yourself or are you looking after everyone else?  Do you take the time to eat properly, to exercise, to grow mentally, to spend time with friends who make you happy?

6. Am I happy at where I am today?  If not, then how can I change what is happening?

7. How much could I have?  How much do I want?  How much am I willing to work for it?

9. What motivates me?  What makes me so happy that time flies by, that hours seem like minutes?  What makes my heart race, my face smile and my insides fill with joy?  People, places, things??

So, What Really Makes You Tick?  This is not an easy question to answer, but when you get to the point where you can answer it, everything will begin to fall into place and you will know where it is you are going and how to get there.

Why not leave a comment below once you discover what makes you tick?  Let's see all the different answers that come up.

To ticking!!

Fran Watson

P.S.  What makes me tick is sharing what I learn with others.  One of the things I have done for the past 11 years is public speaking with Toastmasters.  Click here to find out more.

Your 7 Day Program to Self-Development

"A Better You" Your 7 day program to self-development

I seem to lost count on how many times I've read and heard of celebrity marriages failing almost left and right. Not that I care (and personally I don't), it seems strange that we often see movie and TV stars as flawless people, living the fairytale life of riches and glamour. I suppose we all have to stop sticking our heads in the clouds and face reality.

There are many ways to lose your sense of self-esteem despite of how trivial it could get. But whatever happens, we should all try not to lose our own sense of self.

So what does it take to be a cut above the rest? Here are some of the things you can think and improve on that should be enough for a week.

1. Know your purpose:  Are you wandering through life with little direction -hoping that you'll find happiness, health and prosperity?

Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your truth north every time.  This may seem tricky at first when you see yourself to be in a tight or even dead end. But there's always that little loophole to turn things around and you can make a big difference to yourself.

2. Know your values:  What do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values.

Some examples are security, freedom, family, spiritual development, learning. As you set your goals for 2012 - check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn't align with any of your top five values - you may want to reconsider it or revise it.  The number shouldn't discourage you, instead it should motivate you to do more than you can ever dream of.

3. Know your needs:  Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically.

Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? There are so many people who lived their lives without realizing their dreams and most of them end up being stressed or even depressed for that matter. List your top four needs and get them met before it's too late!

4. Know your passions:  You know who you are and what you truly enjoy in life.

Obstacles like doubt and lack of enthusiasm will only hinder you, but will not derail your chance to become the person you ought to be. Express yourself and honor the people who have inspired you to become the very person you wanted to be.

5. Live from the inside out:  Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence.

Commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind. For most of us city slickers it's hard to even find the peace and quiet we want even in our own home. In my case I often just sit in a dimly lit room and play some classical music. There's sound, yes, but music does soothe the savage beast.

6. Honor your strengths:  What are your positive traits? What special talents do you have? List three - if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these. Are you imaginative, witty, good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. You can increase your self-confidence when you can share what you know to others.

7. Serve others:  When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being.

When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others -your spirit - your essence. The rewards for sharing your gift with those close to you is indeed rewarding, much more if it were to be the eyes of a stranger who can appreciate what you have done to them. 

Self-development is indeed one type of work that is worth it. It shouldn't always be within the confines of an office building, or maybe in the four corners of your own room. The difference lies within ourselves and how much we want to change for the better.

To your success

Fran
P.S.  Check out  this Ultimate Success Program

Life has a way of getting in the way

Have you ever noticed that?

You have good intentions, you have a goal in mind, but something gets in the way.  You lose focus, your goal seems to have drifted off into the clouds.  Why? 

Because you didn't have a plan.

Your goal is in the clouds because you didn't determine the steps needed to reach it and so it began to slip away.

Has this happened to you recently?  It happened to me. 

I started this year full of expectations and ideas of things I wanted to accomplish, and here it is 3 months later and this is the first blog post I have made in 3 months.  It doesn't mean that I haven't been busy pursuing some of my goals, because I have.  I have been doing workshops on Time Management and Communication and Conflict Resolution.  I have been giving presentations at my Toastmasters Clubs, but, my goal to post weekly updates on my blog.... well, I didn't set an action plan in place and here I am.

Today I am determining to do better.  I am going to write down in my Day Timer a schedule for my blogs - for this blog - BANABU, for my Job Search Tips, my Marketing Tips and Diet Tips.  I am also going to weekly ensure that my webpage is updated.

This time next week there should, make that will, be another post, so help keep me on track.  Check in with me...comment on my blog. 

Till next time

Fran
http://www.franwatson.ca/bio.html

Good Habits

Good habits are hard to come by. They take WORK – a four letter word that many people fear (another four letter word).

If you want success, you must develop good habits. This takes discipline. It is easy to slide into bad habits – sleeping in just a little bit longer, putting off a task until the end of this tv show, eating just one more helping of dessert. It takes discipline to get up when the alarm goes off, to get started on your daily tasks, to tackle the difficult chores before the easy ones – but it is worth it in the long run.

Do you know someone who is very busy but always seems to be able to get things done? Ask them how they do it. They probably have excellent time management skills and you may be able to learn from them.

Do you know someone who is highly successful in their business? Observe them, see what they do, how they treat people. Talk to them, ask them their secret to success. They will probably tell you about some good habits they developed.

In order to develop good habits it is necessary to have a goal, something you can focus on to give you a reason to achieve. For instance, if you want to lose weight, you may put up a picture on the fridge of what you want to look like, so that when you are tempted by that dessert, you can say no. When you think about eating lasagne instead of stir fry, you can say no. You begin to develop healthy eating habits and the habit of exercise in order to have a healthy body. In the beginning you have to work hard to stick to the habits, but eventually they become part of your daily life and you do them without thinking. Think about it – do you think about your morning routine – get up, brush teeth, go to the bathroom, shower, get dressed – or is it a habit?

It takes approximately 3-4 weeks to make or break a habit. This means that you do the task repeatedly every day for that entire time so that your brain develops the necessary pattern.

So, do you want to be successful in life? Develop good habits. It’s worth it.

To your success

Fran Watson
www.franwatson.ca

P.S. If you want some help in developing your successful habits, click here

Jim Rohn

Have you heard of Jim Rohn?  He died December 5, 2009, two days after my brother, but his memory and his teachings live on in books and videos and tapes and CDs...  Recently someone sent me some YouTube videos and I thought I would share them with you.  Grab yourself a coffee or cup of tea, a notebook and sit down in a comfy chair while you watch and listen as he shares some of his wisdom with you.

The Three Keys to Greatness


Living An Exceptional Life

I hope that you enjoy these.  Let me know.

To your success.

Fran Watson
www.franwatson.ca

Goal Setting

Setting Goals


When it comes to resolutions, the inherent problem lies within the name.

A resolution means to resolve to do something. It is a promise to yourself. Unfortunately, it does not include any plans or goals to make the change happen.

To accomplish success you need to pick out a set of goals and make plans to reach those goals, but how do you do this?

Start from the end and work backwards.  Determine what your life would be like if you achieved your goal and then look at what you would have had to do in order to get there. 

Before stating the goal, write the desired result then ask yourself what steps you need to take to attain it. Determine if money, supplies, or tools are necessary. Have in mind what particular action can be taken to accomplish the resolution.

Next think about how much time you can schedule each day or every week towards working at the goal and what would be reasonable to accomplish in those time slots - half an hour a day, an hour a day, 3 hours a week, etc..

Establish ways to make working at the goal simple. For instance, if it's to improve wellness, then establish an exercise area and mark time for it on a calendar.

If it is to eat better, write a shopping list and stock up on the foods that are necessary, get rid of any junk food in the house and find a number of healthy recipes to put in a convenient location.

Keep any needed supplies or tools that are necessary to accomplish your goal together and accessible.

Plan ways to get and stay motivated to stay on target. For instance, for a physical activity, find a partner or plan a reward (like seeing a movie) for each week goals are met.

You might also want to create and print a chart or check list to track your progress. The chart helps build in accountability.

Write or print out motivational mottos. These can be Scriptures, wise sayings, encouraging words, or cheers. Post them where you will be able to see them easily several times a day.

Ask someone to be an encourager. Let them know what your goal is and ask the person email notes of encouragement. This makes it more social and provides outside motivation.

You can list and post the benefits of your goal, e.g. “I will be able to fit into that beautiful new outfit in the store window.” This keeps you focused on the results.

After a few weeks take some time to evaluate your progress. Decide if the goals are realistic and if you are making progress. Determine whether or not you need to adjust your plans or your time frame.

Mark the calendar ahead for a set day of every month to review your progress. This can keep you motivated or even help you restart if the goal has been abandoned for a few weeks.

Dream big, but break the dream into achievable goals and take it one step at a time. Commit to following the goal and plans laid out, or reassess them and work out something more attainable.

Once you determine your goal, stick with it. Your plans may change, but your goal shouldn’t if it is a true goal.

To your goal setting success!!


Fran Watson

P.S. For more tips click here

The Bottom Line

FACE IT.....nobody owes you a living.

What you achieve or fail to achieve in your lifetime is directly related to what you do or fail to do.

No one chooses his or her parents or childhood, but you can choose your own direction.

NOTHING is carved in stone.  However if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. 

You can change anything in your life if you want to badly enough.  Too many of us are hung up on what we don't have, can't have, or won't ever have.  We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy - if not less of it - doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do. - Terry McMillan, Writer

Time plays no favourites and will pass whether you act or not.  Every time you wake up and ask yourself, "What good things am I going to do today?" remember that when the sun goes down at sunset, it will take a part of your life with it.

Excuses are for losers.  Benjamin Franklin said that "He who is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else."  Those who take responsibility for their actions are the real winners in life.

Winners meet life's challenges head on, knowing there are no guarantees, and give it all they've got.

It's TIME to TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE.  BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

"You can truly be whatever you want to be...you only have to want it badly enought to succeed."  Lillian Vernon. 

Dare to dream....to take risks...  Never think it's too late or too early to begin.

As Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said:  "The Greatest POWER we have is the power of choice.  It's an actual fact that if you've been moping in unhappiness, you can choose to be joyous instead and, by effort, lift yourself into joy.  If you tend to be fearful, you can overcome that misery by choosing to have courage.  Even in darkest grief you have a choice.  The whole trend and quality of anyone's life is determined in the long run by the choices that are made."

So what do you choose to do today?

Fran Watson
www.franwatson.ca

Help Give a Gift of Water

This year I'm going to turn a year older. And, this time, I'm actually wiser.

I learned that 800 million people on this planet still don't have access to clean drinking water, and I'm doing something about it.

This year, for my birthday I'd like to raise money for charity: water. You can help me.

Please donate $65 for my 65th birthday, and help me bring clean water to people in need.

Go to my campaign to donate: http://mycharitywater.org/birthday65

What's really cool is that 100% of the money we raise will directly fund water project costs in the field, and charity: water will prove every single dollar. When the project we help fund is complete, they'll send us a digital completion report with GPS coordinates and photos of the community we helped.  Here's an example.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate turning 65 than by giving the gift of clean water to people in need.

Please join me. http://mycharitywater.org/birthday65

Thank you for your support!
Fran
P.S. Read this story from charity: water to learn how clean water changes lives.