Ask Donna: My SMART Goals Aren’t Inspiring Me

Q: I was trying to figure what I wanted from life, and I got some ‘SMART’ goals…but they don’t feel like a Big Dream. I think a couple of them are close to being part of that Big Dream, but the energy feels all wrong and I don’t know how to change them…and they’re really not that inspiring! – Mel

I find SMART goals really boring – they have no energy, no juice to them. So, let’s talk about SMILE goals instead (something I made up!) — does your goal make you Smile? Does it have a touch of Magic about it? Is it Inspiring to you? Do you have Lots of enthusiasm for this? Does it give you Energy?

For example, a SMART goal might be “Lose 10 pounds in 3 months”… whereas an example of a SMILE goal might be “Look stunning in a beautiful frock with gorgeous shoes”.

If you have a question you’d like me to answer, please leave a comment below or contact me.

Love

Donna.x

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

OnTheBeach – A Few of My Favourite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…a few of Maria’s favourite things. Do you remember this song from the Sound of Music? “I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don’t feel so bad” – is not just a lyric from a song, it’s great advice. Your favourite things put a little spark of joy in your heart. They make you feel better when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when you are feeling sad.

Over on facebook (and sometimes twitter if it’s in less than 140 characters), I often share one of my favourite things – a shopping trolley without a wobbly wheel, music turned up loud, an empty road to drive on, sunsets, sunshine, a novel to read, a movie, being snuggled up in bed while the wind howls, laughing, blowing bubbles, the sea, stars, my dog Mollie, being with friends, paprika pringles, orange matchmakers, drumstick lollies…the list goes on.

Why do I share these things? And why do I ask what your favourite things are? Because it FEELS GOOD! Remember the September Daily Practice: Feeling Good? It feels good to think about your favourite things. It feels good to talk about your favourite things. I have a book by Cecilia Ahern called ‘If You Could See Me Now’ (one of my favourite books!) which has an imaginary friend in it who often says ‘ooh, that’s my favourite’…about pretty much everything! Do you remember being that in touch with the things you loved to do?

Most kids have this connection – most kids (and dogs) have a hundred ‘favourite’ things. And most adults, sadly, lose the ability to recognise their favourite things and to take the time to enjoy them, wallow in them, get excited about them, talk about them, be enthusiastic about them. Have you lost your ‘favourite thing mojo’? Well, if you have it is time to get it back! It’s time to dust off your favourite things – identify them, do them, enjoy them and SHARE THEM! Leave me a comment and tell me some of your favourite things! Go on, it feels good!

Love

Donna.x

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Rah Rah Rah!

Ever been of the opinion that enthusiastic people are quite irritating? You know, the sort who are always up and peppy – the jumpiest jumping bean of them all! I have made a startling and quite entertaining discovery over the past few years – it’s not so irritating when it is you that is the enthusiastic one! Hap Hap Hazah!

How’s your enthusiasm rating right now? Today? In general? I must admit that mine has fallen slightly flat over the last few weeks – I’m blaming female hormones – and I’ve been struggling to find the enthusiasm to get my admin done. I’d much rather be doing something else…only I haven’t had much enthusiasm for something else either. Sigh. And today, once TUT had reminded me of the fanfare that accompanies my every move, I could feel my enthusiasm returning.

Then I read something about doing what you do with enthusiasm and EUREKA! I am enthusiasm personified. Now apart from the fact that it is a GREAT word, what’s so good about enthusiasm? Well, several things – being enthusiastic feels great, you get more out of an experience you enthusiastically participate in, people notice enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is infectious.

Just in case you are wondering, the dictionary definition of enthusiasm is “ardent and lively interest or eagerness” – the definition alone is pepping me up even more. Get the pom-poms out! Ok, so maybe you are slightly less excitable than me about this, how do you summon this ardent and lively interest on a Wednesday afternoon? Well, firstly, think about what makes you enthusiastic – what is different when you are enthusiastic?

Do you clap excitedly, jump up and down, dance about the office (or is this all just me?!)? Are you a little more sedate in your enthusiasm? Do you look forward to things and enjoy being part of what you’re doing? Are you keen to get started and focused on what you’re doing? Do you smile and laugh more? Do you just feel a sense of ‘rightness’? Think of the enthusiasm of children and dogs – can you learn from them?

I’m not suggesting that you run around your office jumping up on people and licking their face (although if you did I would howl with laughter!). That might be a jump too far in enthusiasm for you. So what would bring it up just a notch? I encourage you this week to go about your business with as much enthusiasm as you can muster, and just see what fun it is to see the world through enthusiastic eyes.

Love

Donna.x

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Weekend Mojo

How’s your mojo today? Just to make sure we are on the same wavelength here – your mojo is not a chewy penny sweet, your mojo is your passion, your joie de vivre, your enthusiasm, your desire for living and loving life. How’s your mojo right now? Give it a score on a rating of 1 to 10. Are you feeling full of beans, bouncing around, on top of the world? Or is your mojo hidden under several layers of stress, worry, chores, daily grind?

Often, the trouble is that your mojo isn’t that high on your priority list. Bills and chores come higher…and that, I suspect is what makes us lose our mojo. When you lose your mojo, you start to lose that love of life, the love of yourself, the knowledge that you are completely wonderful and life’s a laugh…and that is tragic.

Agatha Christie said “I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” The trouble with leaving your mojo low down on your to-do list is that you forget that to be alive is a grand thing.

You leave this lust for life til ‘tomorrow’, and miss out on LIVING – a fun, passionate, joyful, playful life. And that, quite frankly, is a big waste. Life is here to be enjoyed…and underneath all the layers of stress, worry, daily grind and bullshit, you are a fabulous, joyous, fun, isnpirational and magnificent being. So this weekend do what you can to rediscover your mojo.

Try some extreme self care, have some fun. If you must do chores, put some great music on as a backdrop and sing into the vacuum cleaner…or whatever! But whatever you do, get some weekend mojo!

Love

Donna.x

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Aiming High, Aiming Low

I came across this quote recently “the problem for most of us isn’t that we aim too high and miss, it’s that we aim too low and reach it”. Many people are afraid to dream big because they feel they will be disappointed if they miss their goal. And yes, there can be lots of disappointment when you’re going after something big. Often it feels like your dream is still a thousand miles away, and sometimes you wonder if you are ever going to make it.

But there is also a great deal of joy in going for something big and exciting. It is a lot of fun to go for your dreams. There is enthusiasm, passion, laughter, adventure, growth, connection with people you never would have met otherwise, learning you would never have had otherwise. You often find out how much you don’t know about the journey you’ve embarked on…and then you get what you need to know!

If you don’t even bother aiming for something big, life is a drudge, a series of small disappointments that add up to a life of quiet despair. Now, call me picky, but I would much rather have the chance of failure than the certainty of misery and feeling like a failure anyway for not going for it. And remember that your big dream is just that – YOURS. It doesn’t have to be what someone else would think is ‘big’…it’s just what you want for your life when you start to dream big.

So, if you were going to just think about dreaming big, what big dreams might you have? leave me a comment or contact me and let me know. You don’t have to go after that big dream, but you might want to!

Love

Donna.x

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

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

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

The Optimist’s Creed – Video

I have just loved this poem so much, that I wanted to record it on video so as well as reading it, you could listen to it. I am reading it to myself every day, and doing my best to keep these promises – they’re a great recipe for a good life!

The Optimist’s Creed by Christian D Larson.

Enjoy!

Love

Donna.x

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.