What Do You Wish To Take A Break From?

It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

What Do You Wish To Take A Break From?

The first answer that springs to mind is that I wish to take a break from worrying. It serves no useful purpose and just gets me in a tizzy! And the second answer is that I wish to take a break from work. I need a holiday!

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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It Doesn’t Matter

OH MY GOD! I’m not feeling 100%…it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t do all the housework today…it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t do everything I wanted to do workwise today…it doesn’t matter.
I didn’t go to the gym today…it doesn’t matter.
I haven’t taken over the world today…it doesn’t matter.

Why doesn’t it matter? Because none of this is life shattering! It is only my expectations that I ‘should’ have perfect health all the time (insane!), have a sparkling house (never gonna happen!), finish every work ‘thing’ I ever thought of (yeah, right! I would need about 200 years to take action on every idea I have), go to the gym every day (unrealistic…and I don’t want to do that), take over the world (like I’d want that responsibility?!). So what does matter?

Only that you feel good. Life is here to enjoy – most of the stuff we get stressed about DOESN’T MATTER! Feeling good, now that’s important! So forget the rest of your to do list today and put right at the top ‘Enjoy life’.

Love

Donna.x

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OnTheBeach – Push, Push, Push

Do you ever get the feeling that you are pushing a stone uphill? Against a herd of bison coming toward you? With your feet tied together? There are times in life when we seem to push and push and push, and yet nothing happens, nothing changes. Apart from our energy level, which visits the basement! And what do you do in response to the ‘nothing happening’?

Push harder? And keep pushing? Yes! Because if you want things to happen, you’ve go to put the hard work in, right? If we let ourselves off the hook for just a second, we will become lazy, idle, unproductive members of society. And this is a bad thing. What would you think if I told you that was absolute tosh? Would you think ‘yes, I know but I still keep pushing myself’?

There is a body of thought which says that when we stop pushing and start allowing things to happen naturally, organically, they happen faster than if we ‘push, push, push’. Not only is the happening faster, it is easier on us – there is a flow, a rhythm, an ease that is joyful. A surprising number of people know this, agree with it and ignore it! Me included on occasion! Just this week I was trying to push myself to do some work.

I was tired, couldn’t concentrate, wasn’t interested, kept being distracted, didn’t want to do it…and it still took me an hour to read the signs and move onto something else! Der. I had become very attached to doing this work – my success or failure had become tied into ‘getting this done’ (a ‘push’ attitude if ever I saw one!). As soon as I let go of pushing myself to ‘get shit done’, I actually managed to do something useful instead of being the living incarnation of resistance to pushing!

This does not mean forgetting altogether about what you want and giving up. It means stopping pushing and trying to force things to happen. It means stepping back from your challenge for a moment and finding out WHY it is so hard to do – it could be many things – there might be a better way, you might need some self care first, there might be something more important to do, you may have something to learn, something you need, something else that has to happen first. If you don’t stop pushing, you will never know if it could be easier to do what you want to do.

And if you collapse in an exhausted heap and the stone you’ve been pushing uphill runs over you, how does that get you closer to what you want? So, if you could stop pushing for a moment, enjoy your life and allow something to evolve naturally, what would change for you today?

love

Donna.xx

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The 3 Pillars – Your Mission

At the heart of my coaching program is something I call ‘the 3 Pillars’ – they are self-care, energy and joy. If these 3 pillars are strong, life is easier, achieving goals and ambitions is easier and life is a great deal more fun!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this:
EVERY DAY ask yourself this:
How cared for am I feeling right now on a scale of 1-10, where one is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘cradled in the arms of love’. If it is less than a 7, your only task is to do something to make yourself feel more cared for – do something that nourishes you.

If it is a 7 or more, ask yourself this:
How energetic am I feeling right now on a scale of 1-10, where one is ‘no energy’ and 10 is ‘I feel like Tigger, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!’ If it is less than a 7, your only task is to do something to raise your energy – do something fun, get out in nature, do something you love that raises your energy.

If it is a 7 or more, ask yourself this:
How much am I enjoying life right now a scale of 1-10, where one is ‘I’m not’ and 10 is ‘I am totally in love with my life’. If it is less than a 7, your only task is to do something fun, something you enjoy – this is your life. ENJOY it!

When all 3 are a 7 or above, then you will naturally get moving on your goals because you feel good. Make feeling good a priority and a habit.

Let me know how you get on with your mission!

Love

Donna.x

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Wallowing in Happiness

One of the things that ‘happy people’ have in common is that they wallow in happiness. They look forward to things (not just big things), they enjoy the memories of things (not just big things), they are grateful for good times they’ve had, they appreciate good things as they happen and make a big deal of them. ‘Unhappy people’ on the other hand tend to dwell on how much life sucks, wallow in the bad things that happen, and pretty much ignore the good stuff. I know this because I used to be unhappy. And now I’m generally happy.

And one of the big things that has changed is my focus. Instead of wallowing in and dwelling on the ‘bad’ stuff that happens on a day to day basis, I wallow in and dwell on ‘good’ stuff and I make a point of noticing that I am enjoying whatever it is that I am enjoying. Not all the time, I’m not perfect…but when I have a bit of a visit to negative town, I can get out pretty quickly because my habit is to focus on, pay attention to and be grateful for ‘good stuff’. And we all have ‘bad’ stuff and ‘good’ stuff happening every day. Not just the big stuff that only happens once a year/lifetime like birthdays, christmas, promotions, marriages, holidays. But little things, like the sun shining, clean washing, a tidy desk, a laugh with a friend, a stranger smiling at you, someone letting you out in traffic.

That’s why, over at my facebook page, I have started to focus even more on ‘the good stuff’ every week. Every Monday I ask “What was the best part of your weekend? And what are you looking forward to this week?” and share my thoughts. Every Wednesday I tell you one of my favourite things, and ask what one of your favourite things is. And every Friday I ask “What was the best part of your week? And what are you looking forward to this weekend?” So everybody who ‘likes’ this page will be reminded to focus on what’s good in life. It’s a small thing, but it is SO powerful. So why don’t you come and join me over at facebook.com/donnaonthebeach? And wallow in the small happinesses in life.

Love

Donna.x

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What Delights Do I Wish For?

It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

What Delights Do I Wish For?

Hmm. I actually found this quite difficult to answer today – not that I couldn’t come up with delights, but that my mind raced hither and thither and back again, skittering from delight to delight without ever coming up with a coherent answer! So, the overall answer is that I wish to experience every delight of my heart. (ooh, can you feel that one?! Got a total whoosh of delight there!) Specifically, here’s my top 5:
- I wish for the delight of a steady and ever increasing stream of clients, sales, money and joy in my business.
- I wish for the delight of seeing my clients step into the lives they dream of and becoming who they were born to be.

- I wish for the delight of being with a man I love.
- I wish for the delight of living by the sea in a beautiful climate and being able to watch the sun set over the ocean every night from my home.
- I wish for the delight of being full of vibrant energy every day.

I could easily go on, but I’ll do that in my journal later tonight.

What Delights Do You Wish For? Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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Excerpt from Banish Money Misery: Panic Stations

Panic Stations

I’m sure you’ve had this situation in your life – the bank statement arrives, or an unexpected bill or expense and suddenly you start to panic. ‘Oh my God, how will I find the money’; ‘I’m going to lose my house’; ‘I need to go and get a second job, I know I’ll sell my body…’ 2 days later everything is fine again because you remember that you had the savings all the time, or you are getting paid soon so that will clear the shortfall, or it’s not as bad as you first thought.

If you keep track of your finances and balance the books, this will happen less often, but it may still happen. I have this pretty much every February because my business and car insurance and car tax all come due at once – sending me into a 5 minute stress where I realise I will have to put the Caribbean holiday on hold again. The key moving on from ‘Panic Stations’ is not to stay there panicking, but find a way to get out of the overwhelm quickly. You will find your own way out of it, and some of the ideas in this book will help you in the long term.

But for now, I just want you to look at when you get into panic. When was the last time? What happened? When was the time before that? What happened then? And other times? Do you notice any patterns emerging? When I first did this exercise, I noticed that I had a mad panic every month at the beginning of the month – in that gap between my invoicing going out and coming in.

There was always a late payment that I was expecting that sent me into a total tailspin…because my financial margins were so slim. Once I’d noticed what set me off, I could take steps to sort it out (for example by getting ahead of myself so I had time to collect outstanding debts). The next time the same trigger happened, I could shift myself out of it more quickly. Again, this is about finding out where you are so that you can find your way out.

Other potential triggers:
- ‘unexpected’ bills – the kind that come once a year, and always slip your mind
- emergencies – like car repairs or new boilers
- Conversations with your accountant/spouse/father, who always looks on the bleak side
- The weekend before payday – knowing that there is another week to go before you’ll have any money.

Once you know your triggers, you can start to put plans in place that will help you to be able to get past these moments into financial serenity.

£ exercise: Looking at the times you have visited ‘panic stations’, how did you sort out the situation? What would have prevented each situation? What can you do (or start to do) today to stop this ever happening again? Or at least make it easier on yourself if and when it does happen again.

You may think ‘that’ situation will never happen again – and you may well be right, but you may have a similar situation come up. This is not closing the stable door after the horse has bolted; it is ensuring the stable door is secure so that the horse won’t be able to bolt again. And keeping you in financial serenity instead of in financial meltdown on a regular basis.

This is excerpted from my ebook ’110 Ways to Heal Your Money’ (soon to be renamed ‘Banish Money Misery’). For more information, or to buy the ebook, please click here.

Love

Donna.x

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When Life Seems Jolly Rotten

When Life Seems Jolly Rotten…there’s something you’ve forgotten. And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing. (good old Monty Python)

When any situation in your life seems ‘bad’, what are you looking at? The cost, in time, money, energy? All the reasons that this is ‘bad’? What if you were to actively seek the blessings in any situation? Think of a situation you are seeing as ‘bad’. Now think of 10 blessings in this situation.

One of the most inspiring stories I ever heard was of a woman who lost her job, her husband, and discovered she had cancer, all in the space of a week! Her reaction? “I will have plenty of time to focus on getting well, and there will be no dirty socks to pick up!”

There is a bright side if you will only look for it. A silver lining in every cloud. And if all else fails, laugh and smile and dance and sing!

Love

Donna.x

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What Do I Wish to Begin?

It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

What Do I Wish To Begin?

This one has been quite amusing (in an ironic way) as in between seeing the question and starting to ponder it, I got some news which means the end for a part of my business. This part has been a big part of my life for over 6 years, so it’s quite a shock. But of course with an ending comes a new beginning…which brings me back to what I wish to begin. Before this news, I thought of a few projects that I wanted to start, I had a few ideas I wanted to take some action on. Now, my answer is much more simple.

I wish to begin a new phase of my business where I make great money from work I LOVE to do. I want this ending, shocking as it is, to spell the beginning of something even more fabulous, profitable, enjoyable and delightful.

Every week, I really appreciate your energy being added to my wishes. This week, I want to say thank you so much in advance cos today I really need your positive energy!

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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Why Do Something You Simply Don’t Want To Do?

Last week I was wrestling with a decision – not an earth-shattering, life-changing decision (I usually find those easier!), just a humdrum decision…but I couldn’t decide for the life of me what to do. Luckily just as I was in the midst of my indecision, I got a call from a friend. After telling her that I was wrestling with this decision, she said “If you’re trying to talk yourself into that, you clearly don’t want to do it.”

And she was correct. Had I wanted to do this thing I was trying to decide about, I would have. Simple. I didn’t want to but I felt that I ‘should’ so I was trying very hard to talk myself into it. Without success incidentally. As soon as the obvious had been pointed out, I was left with the question: “Why do something you simply don’t want to do?” It’s a good question, to which I have found no rational answer. Of course, sometimes we just have to do the thing we don’t want to. My end of year accounts are a case in point, and I am struggling through them with the aid of loud music and chocolate right now. But there are times when we are trying to push ourselves to do something that doesn’t have to be done and we don’t want to do.

What are you trying to talk yourself into that you simply don’t want to do? And why? If you don’t absolutely have to do it, can you just not do it? And if you have got to do it, find a way to enjoy the doing of it (see aformentioned loud music and chocolate to ease the brain-frying tedium of my accounts!).

Love

Donna.x

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