What Do You Wish to Focus On?

Wishcasting Wednesday is here again.

What Do You Wish to Focus On?

Simply, those things with the most… The most power, the most energy, the most love, the most joy, the most life. I wish to focus on the things that will propel me forward into the life I wish for. Of late, I realise, I have been distracted by things that are not that important. My focus has been taken up by matters I cannot change and can only marginally affect. I wish to focus on those things that are mine to focus on. Those projects that I can bring into the world. Those things that bring me the most enjoyment. Those things that will most serve others. I wish to focus on what is important.

Joy. Love. Energy. Life.

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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Feeling Low as Rocket Fuel

What happens to your forward momentum and enjoyment of life when you feel down? Does your low feeling suck the life out of your dreams, desires and love of life? If your answer to that is yes, you’re not unusual. Most of us have a chain reaction to feeling low – feel down, start being negative, wonder if we’ll ever get to wherever it is you want to get, have a very glum face and no energy to move forward at all. We kind of wallow in that mud of misery for a while. After some time of idling and not moving forward, we start to get some forward momentum again and slowly our mood, energy and desire reawaken.

What if you were to use disappointments, doubts and fears to fuel your forward momentum? See them as like reaching the bottom of the swimming pool, if you use the bottom to propel you upwards, you will reach the surface faster and you may even (if you get it right) appear to leap out of the water, like a fish. How? As soon as you notice that you’re feeling a bit ‘meh’, use that as a reminder to take care of yourself, or a reminder to do something that energises you, or a reminder to go have some fun, or a reminder to focus on what you want.

Rather than being ruled by your feelings, use them as cues. It’s like when you see your fuel guage on the car is low, it reminds you to go to the petrol station. As soon as you notice you are feeling empty or low or fearful or discouraged, let it remind you to refuel in whatever way feels right to you. You know yourself best, and you will intuitively know what it is right for you to do. If you’re not that in touch with your intuition, this is a cue to work on sharpening your intuitive skills (which we all have by the way – and the more you use it, the more you will hear it and the more you will understand it).

And if you’re really unsure about what to do – laughter is always the best medicine!

Love

Donna.x

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My Mojo Came Back – WOOHOO!

Folks, my mojo is BACK! Yeah baby! As you may have noticed, I’ve been competing with ‘Mr Grumpy’ for the title of ‘Grumpiest Person in the World’ for the past month or so. Ever since I got back from my holiday, I’ve been creatively dampened, uninspired, a bit pessimistic (for me), and of course, grumpy. But yesterday, the Winter Solstice, I felt my energy change. A dark, grumpy cloud lifted off my shoulders and I found myself unaccountably cheerful. Unaccountably because it’s still snowing, icy and ‘orrible weather. In recent weeks, this has guaranteed a grump!

But no longer, all of a sudden I am bursting with ideas, enthusiasm and cheer (I still don’t want to go outside for long periods but I do feel a ‘snow angel’ coming on! (seriously, I can’t tell you what a difference this is!) The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, and the longest night, and it has long been celebrated for the ‘return of the sun’. I certainly feel like spring is much closer now that hideous day is out of the way! Lol. Speaking to a client this morning, I find that it is not just me who is feeling this shift in energy.

So, I wish to send you a little of this cheer, and to wish you a Happy Solstice! May spring return to your heart and your climate (unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case Happy Summer Solstice), may the year ahead be filled with joy and all things auspicious.

Lots of love

Donna.x

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Follow the Energy

I was on a group call last night with the fabulous Joel Young about NPA – a lovely method for freeing and allowing energy.  Joel was talking about following the animation – the things that have energy.  You know how your energy changes and goes down when you are, say, moaning about the weather?  And how it changes and goes up when you are talking about something you love to do – like holidays, gigs, nights out with friends etc.  Well that positive animation is what we’re talking about.

Joel likened it to surfing a wave – following that energy.  When we are trying to ‘make’ ourselves do something…we are trying to surf on a millpond!  That’s why sometimes it is so difficult to get something done…and on another day, you will fly through the same task.  So where is the animation for you today?  Where is the energy?  What are you interested in and engaged by?  Not what you ‘should’ be doing, but where the energy is building with a wave ready for you to surf.

If this is something you are not used to doing, it might sound a little hard…but it just takes a bit of practice.  So start to notice – where is the animation?  Where is the interest?  What has a a wave of energy?  Go do that – follow the energy and see where it takes you.  I have found that following the energy makes life 1000 times easier.  When I am trying to make the energy flow, life is harder, stuff takes longer, I am constantly getting stuck and it feels bad.

Take writing a blog post for example, if I try to write when there is no energy to write, I could sit at the laptop for a week without writing anything useful!  But today, now, the energy is flowing…and this has taken 10 minutes so far.  What a difference!  Now there are times when you’ve just got to do it, and at those times, you can build the energy – for example, to get my accounts done, I put on some loud music and raise my energy so I can ‘get it done’.

But it’s becoming rare that I will try to force myself to go where the energy is not these days.  And when I do, I remember it is a very inefficient way of living!  Tap into that energy of life that is all around you and just watch your life get easier as you ride that wave.

Love

Donna.x

PS If you have any questions or comments about this concept, leave me a comment below.

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The Ebbing Tide Wants to Flow

Can you imagine if the Tide decided that it didn’t want to ebb, it wanted to keep on flowing? Imagine the effort, the strain, the pressure, the struggle. Imagine the force of energy that would be required to stop the tide from ebbing. I’m guessing that it would be a losing battle. Eventually the tide would have to ebb, giving up exhausted. I’m also guessing it would extend the ebbing time. Instead of 6 hours 13 minutes flow, 6 hours 13 minutes ebb, the tide would waste a few hours of ebbing time trying to flow…but it would still have to ebb for 6 hours 13 minutes so the ebbing would take longer.

Now of course, this would not happen, the tide is influenced by the sun and moon, it does not have a contrary nature and for it to try to flow when the time comes to ebb would be absurd. But we humans on the other hand, are conflicting, contradictory, inconsistent, stubborn and wayward. When our time comes to ebb (when our energy is low and we ‘don’t feel like doing much’), we call ourselves lazy, idle, slow and unindustrious, and we try desperately to keep flowing. We want to be in that high energy, flowing, fast paced, creative state all the time.

Unfortunately, fighting the ebb tide exhausts us even more, drags down our energy and ensures the ebb tide will last even longer. I do this a lot. I know it’s an ebb time and there is no point heckling myself, flagellating myself, being mean to me and being contrary. BUT I wanna be flowing, I wanna be moving, I wanna be creating, I wanna be out there doing the do. So I fight the ebb. And it is a total waste of time. I am just coming to the end of an ebb now, it feels like I’ve been ebbing for ages and I’m getting frustrated…I want to flow! Is my frustration helping me flow or just extending the ebb time even longer? Yep, you guessed it…the latter. Note to self: allow self to ebb!

Modern lifestyles don’t really allow us the luxury of honouring ebb and flow, there is too much to be done, a job to be kept, family to take care of, friends to spend time with. Our society reveres industrious action, but the ebb times are just as productive – like winter, the low energy phases are times of great change underneath the surface. The more aware we can be of our natural states of ebb and flow, the more effective and productive we can be, we can use our energy more intelligently, and perhaps most importantly, we can enjoy both our ebb and our flow.

Love

Donna.x

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Bounce, Bounce

This week’s OnTheBeach Article – to receive it every Wednesday, sign up here.

I knew I had forgotten something yesterday! This newsletter totally slipped my mind. I was far more interested in the leaking pipe that’s wrecked my office carpet, and how to prevent any more damage being done. I was also a little pre-occupied by my fat percentage. I was at a HR conference yesterday, and they had a ‘health check’ – which included measuring your fat ratio. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly delighted with the result! But, it did get me thinking. Firstly, I wonder if they take boobs into account? And secondly, what action I could take daily to get this percentage down to a healthy level.

The answer was simple and instantaneous – the mini trampoline that currently acts as an obstacle to dodge, fall over and generally get annoyed by in my office. Perhaps rather than just moving around it, I could use it. So my plan is 10 minutes a day, every day. Accompanied by the playlist I did to bounce to! Should be fun. Anyway, all that reminded me of the article I wrote when I first got my mini trampoline 5 years ago. Here it is, enjoy!

- Bounce, Bounce -

I am very excited this week. I have bought myself a mini-trampoline and I have been bouncing for Britain! The reason for the purchase was that I went to a gig a couple of months ago and was bouncing along to my favourite song. For a minute. Then I turned puce, got a stitch and could hardly breathe.

I was horrified. How unfit am I that I can’t even bounce for 3 minutes? Only a few years ago I could bounce for an entire set, never mind just one song. So, I decided on a mini-trampoline to improve my fitness so I can bounce with the 19 year-olds at the next gig. I am not without vanity you will notice.

The unexpected and delightful side-benefit of this purchase is that when I am bouncing, I access a state of absolute joyfulness and excitement and happiness and fun. This is due to the physical ‘memory’ of the festivals and gigs where I have been happily bouncing along to the music. (or in NLP-speak, an anchor)

This has been wonderful this week – not only have I been getting a great cardio workout, I also bounce off my mini-trampoline feeling fired up and ready to go. Woo hoo! The benefit of this was proven today – I sat down to write this newsletter, and my mind went blank…then raced with disorganised chaotic thoughts…then went blank again.

After a couple of frustrating minutes, a ‘bouncy’ song came on the radio and up I got. 3 minutes of bouncing later (yes, I am up to song-length now…although I can’t sing along for more than a minute.) and I was inspired to write this newsletter. And I think it’s the fastest I have ever completed one. Amazing.

I discovered this anchor completely by accident, but if I had thought about it I would have found that I do feel fantastic after bouncing along to music at a gig…and maybe I would have found a way to do it daily at home. What about you? What makes you feel bouncy? Think back to the times you felt fired up and motivated and excited – what made you feel that way?

Now figure out how you can get that essence into your daily life and let’s get bouncin!

- Something to Play With -

Think about the things that make you bouncy, excited, fired up, motivated, fun, happy. What can you do daily to access that state of fabulous joyfulness? Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave me a comment.

Love

Donna.x

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You’d Think I’d Know Better

Despite knowing that I get my worst and least work done when I am feeling uninspired, still I find myself forcing myself to sit at my desk and ‘get on with it’. Instead of getting up, stretching, playing with the dog, dancing, singing, laughing, getting some fresh air, blowing bubbles, bouncing on the trampoline or doing just about anything else to wake me up, energise me, make myself feel more inspired and up for it, I was sat at my desk, my head getting lower and lower to the surface, my brain atrophying, my energy ebbing away, my creativity hidden under a fog of indifference.

You can imagine that my output was legendary in that state! Sheesh. The good news is that it takes so little time to turn it around. A change of playlist, a quick dance (my big sister showed me a new dance today – it’s completely hilarious, energising and ridiculous. Love it.), moving my keyboard and straightening my back and a new blog post is born! It’s really very simple when you think about it. When your energy is really low, re-energise, THEN ‘get on with it’. We manage this with our cars – if the petrol indicator is low, we fill up. Every time.

But when it come to ourselves, we seem to believe that we should be able to run on fresh air and will power alone. It’s nuts. Stop the insanity – next time you are feeling uninspired, take a moment to re-vitalise yourself in whatever way works for you. Then when you get back to work, you’ll be 1000 times more productive than you will if you don’t re-fuel.

Love

Donna.x

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What’s Your Life About?

If you had to say what the ‘theme’ for your life was, what would it be? For too many of us, it is ‘misery’, ‘working hard’, ‘getting through the day’ – and largely because we don’t pay attention to what we WANT our life to be about and take steps to make that happen. So if you were to choose what your life was about, what would you choose? Love? Fun? Joy? Enjoyment? Energy?

My life is about falling in love with life – enjoying my life no matter what the circumstances, walking through life with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. Do I always have this? No. I am often pulled off course by “comparisonitis”, “impatience”, “should-bee’s” and wanting things to be ‘different’. But more and more I come back to what life is really about – enjoying it.

So what’s your life about? And what are you going to make it about? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!

Love

Donna.x

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10 Things I Love About You

I tweeted the other day “Finish this sentence 100 times. I love… Feels good eh?” I’ve been talking recently about getting your energy right first before you do anything – well this is one GREAT way to raise your energy. Focus on what you love. Love energy is so strong, it can work miracles – people have achieved extraordinary feats for those they love.

And it feels GOOD! So I decided to take my own advice and focus on what I love about my business.
1. I love my clients – they are fabulous, fun, open, intelligent, curious, ambitious, and they are all about enjoying their life!
2. I love talking to these clients – I enjoy all my coaching calls SO MUCH!
3. I love the way I get to share all the insights I’ve gained and help others.
4. I love that I get paid to do something I love!
5. I love hearing what people are passionate about, what they love, what their purpose is in life
6. I love coaching – it’s such a fabulous thing to help someone get where they want to be in life
7. I love the uniqueness of it – every conversation is different
8. I love the energy generated by coaching – you can really feel something being created through the coaching process
9. I love celebrating the successes of my clients
10. I love seeing people become more confident, gain their power, LIVE their life

I’ll stop there, i don’t want to bore you! But I hope you could feel the energy change as I concentrated on what I love about… And I hope that you start focusing on what you love about…everything in your life!

Love

Donna.x

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An Injection of Energy

Since having ‘the tingles’, I’ve been unable to do a couple of the things that normally help raise my energy – yoga and swimming. So I’ve had to pay attention to what else raises my energy level and do more of that. When talking about this with a friend, I realised that some people are entirely unaware of their energy levels. I mentioned yesterday the scale I use where 1 is flat, can’t be arsed energy and 10 is WOOHOO, full of enthusiasm energy.

Where are you on that scale today? And what will you be doing this weekend? And will those things raise or deplete your energy? Notice this weekend what you are doing that leaves you feeling drained of energy, and what you are doing that makes you feel alive and full of energy. And take the decision to get an injection of energy – to do things that energise you and fill you with enthusiasm and joy.

And if you like it, you could continue with daily injections of energy…forever.

Love

Donna.x

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