"Carpe Diem, Boys. Make Your Life Extraordinary"

Okay  - much has been said about the late Robin Williams recently. I hope the sharing of this clip does not seem opportunistic; however, it is relevant to what is on my heart today. Go ahead - watch the clip. I don't care if you saw the movie fifteen years ago. Watch it - the clip is worth viewing again.

How about that? Life is short - we know this all too well. How many of us wake up and realize our lives are not what we wanted them to be? How many of us are truly blessed and realize it? The power is in our hands. Make your life what you want it to be. Do not stand by and think you don't "deserve" the best. Do not stand by and view ambition as a dirty thing. If you can dream it - chances are you can live it. You just have to identify the path on which you should travel to get it.


There are times in our lives when opportunities are there for our taking - but do what do we do? Are we open to them? Or are we busily walking with our heads down, thinking of what we need to get done for the day? Don't live your life with regrets. Don't live your life wondering "What if?" What if I had said yes to that date? What if I had accepted that rare job offer? What if I had networked more? What if I actually submitted my novel to agents? What if? 


Keep your eyes open. Ears too - listen. We are usually our largest obstacle. Stop doubting your abilities. Stop assuming YOU AREN'T WORTH IT. You are. You have the power to change your life. Make the new habits stick. This is something I struggled with. I would procrastinate like you would not believe. Swamped with chores and tasks and things to do - I put myself last. I delayed attempts at hobbies. I just put my head down with the GOAL to "make it through the day." Guess what? That's not enough for me. I don't want to simply exist.


Life is meant to be lived. Life is meant to be loved. Cherished. Enjoyed. When you embrace Life - pursue it the way you do a lover in the middle of the night.

Focal Point: Goalsetting/Change

As I stated in my introduction, I will be taking the time to explain the different focal points of my blog. The first one? GOAL SETTING and going about CHANGE! Sure - it seems simple enough, right? You want something different. Go get it. It's not that easy.

How many of us have said, "I'm starting a new diet Monday?" And then, "I'll start again tomorrow." Or then, "Well, might as well start NEXT Monday." Or wanted to save money. But darn it, those shoes sure were cute. And they were on sale! I'll start next paycheck, right?

Wrong.

Setting goals and achieving them are different things. To set a goal, you must do more than think about it. Brian Tracy says goals should be SMART: SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, and TIMELY. 

Instead of saying you "want to lose weight" (which is a popular goal) - make it a SMART goal. "I want to get my body fat percentage in the athletic range of 18-21% by the end of the year.) Or make smaller goals that will snowball into larger ones. I once was 60 lbs. heavier than I am now. My first goal? Stop drinking sodas and eating fast food everyday for lunch. And I bought a scale to keep an eye on my weight and started working out to Beachbody DVD Programs. My first was Tony Horton's Power 90. It grew from there. I lost some weight, I began measuring my body to keep track of where I was and set new goals. Then I began eating more turkey, chicken, and fish. Then I switched to a plant based diet and went vegan two years ago. I fluctuate between vegan/vegetarian now.

My new fitness goals? Complete Chalene Johnson's PiYo program in 60 days and meet my water intake every. single. day. Do you see how my goals changed over time? Instead of having a vague notion of "wanting to lose weight" - I set a SMART goal. It was specific. It was measurable. It was attainable. It was realistic. It was timely. And I got the results I wanted.

How about terminating debt? Setting SMART goals helps us actually achieve this. There were times when I felt my debt termination was accomplishing nothing. Things come up, I may not be able to put that much extra on the payment. But when I stopped and reassessed the situation - I WAS making progress. It amazes me how those quick $5.00 Starbucks add up. Know what you could do? Instead of running by there, take that $5.00 and stick it in an envelope or in savings. At the end of the month, you could have $100.00 to put extra on something. It's a SMART goal. Or eliminate needless bills (magazine subscriptions, club memberships, etc.) and divert that money to debt termination. Dave Ramsey has great advice on debt termination and more information can be found on his website www.daveramsey.com.   

Once you set your SMART goal - keep it on your mind. Write it down. Read it everyday. In fact, I read a story where an IT technician, who was required to change his password every 30 days, used his password to keep his goals top of mind. And you know what? He met them. Everything from forgiving an ex wife, to quitting smoking cigarettes, to saving money for a vacation to Thailand. Read his story HERE - it's a great example of how immersing yourself in your SMART goals daily help force accountability.

By making it more specific, you are capable of aiming your efforts where they matter most.

By making it measurable, you capture your progress which just FUELS your motivation!

By making it attainable, it's within grasp. You CAN do it. 

By making it realistic, you stay grounded. 

By making it timely, you are increasing the chances of being successful! It also forces a deadline and promotes accountability!

Whether it is to drink one soda per week rather than seven or to block out thirty minutes a day to read something for pleasure or write 200 new words a day - setting SMART goals and then verbalizing those goals help us reach them. That success fuels us for further success. 

What are some SMART goals you currently have? Post them. Share them. Make this a community where we can hold one another accountable and encourage one another!

I'm Back?!

So - I decided to pick up blogging again. Oh how I have missed it! I have missed the community - the chance to connect with others from other paths in life. We share. We debate. We learn. We GROW. I was really introduced to blogging by Heidi Willis (Some Mad Hope) when we joined the "Writing Group from Hell" and then promptly left the "Writing Group from Hell." I "met" some cool people, LOVED blogging, and enjoyed the interaction. Then I went back to school, things took off with my company, and well - I've just been "busy."

But who isn't? We make time for what matters to us. I realized that recently in my business coaching session. My mentor told me I was spreading myself too thin and as a result, the quality and dependability of my work was sub-par. OUCH! Believe it or not, I had multiple people in my life tell me the same thing during the same week. Before you think "conspiracy!," no - these people had never met.

I took a step back. Simplification is what I desired. Focus was what I needed. I made some cuts and got back to basics. One thing I realized - I missed writing. I missed my community. I missed this. So I caught up with my kick-ass writing partners at 4 Corner's and started planning this new venture. What do I have to say? What can I offer? What's my plan? Without a plan, without a vision, I am doomed from the start.

So - this post is my announcement, of sorts. In the coming days, I will write posts centered on each focal point of this blog. You will then understand what that element means to me and "get it" when I publish new posts. For instance - I love to cook. Who's to say I won't share my adventures cooking a bestselling vegan cookbook? I love energy and positivity. Who's to say I won't share the top Feng Shui cures for your home and blog about my adventures of cleaning out my closet at midnight because I was overcome with the desire for simplification?! No one - that's who.

Here we go - I hope you subscribe and check in. COMMENT! I would love to hear from you. Let's embark on this journey together - it's more fun that way!