Thursday, March 24, 2011

Aiming For Success? How to Keep on Track

Sometimes it is essential to take stock - in fact our success depends on it. Here's a recent experience of mine that shows why.

I had arranged a short break in the country. I drove the car and my friend read the map. Before each leg of the journey we would agree the route that we would take to our next destination. The trouble was that after a few miles we would get lost.

Struggling to stay patient, I would stop the car and between us we would try to work out what had gone wrong. It was clear that my friend remembered the route we had agreed. It was also clear that he was in no doubt about our destination.

It was only after yet another deviation into unplanned country lanes that I finally twigged what was happening. Although my friend knew exactly where we had started from and where we were going, he was not keeping track as we motored along of our current position!

The result was that when we came to a road junction, he did not know which one it was on the map. Therefore we became reliant purely on road signs which were often non-existent.

Fortunately, there was a happy ending. With practice my navigator became more proficient and I would glance across to the passenger seat and see him with his finger on the map tracing our progress!

It struck me that it's like this in life too. We can be clear where we started from and clear about our goals. But if we do not check our current position now and again, how can we know we are on track? We may be lost.

As it happens, a holiday is a good time to take stock. When you are out of your normal environment it's easier to take a more objective view. But you can take stock at any time. The critical thing is to be honest - your current position is where you are, not where you would like to think you are.

I decided it was time for me to take stock and here are the questions I used. You might like to use them too.

1. What is working well?

- What is energising?

- What is exciting?

- What do I look forward to doing?

- What do I relish?

- What am I glad that's on my 'To Do' list?

- What do I do that puts me into creative mode?

2. What is not working?

- What makes me groan?

- What am I bored by?

- What drains me of energy?

- What makes me want to stay under the duvet?

- What is not 'me'?

- What is wasting precious time?

3. What are the lost opportunities?

- What is past its sell-by date?

- What am I doing purely out of habit?

- What was energising but has now reached a plateau?

- What of my strengths are under-utilised?

- Where could I add more value?

- Where is my natural curiosity leading?

As you 'trace your finger over your map', you can see how near or far you are from your chosen destination.

I'm Trevor Hill, author and inspiration coach. I help people who want to break out of current limitations and enjoy inspired and rewarding lives. You can claim your free copy of my downloadable book 'Passport To Inspiration' containing 7 proven techniques you can use right away - just click on <a target="_new" href="http://www.inspiration-at-work.co.uk/">http://www.inspiration-at-work.co.uk</A>

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Aiming-For-Success?-How-to-Keep-on-Track&id=4683317] Aiming For Success? How to Keep on Track

The Wisdom Of Letting Go - The Monkey and The Butterfly

The Wisdom Of Letting Go - The Monkey and The Butterfly
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Hill]Trevor Hill

When you really want something, the advice to 'let go' seems crazy. Yet when you look more closely, it becomes clear that holding on can destroy the very things you want.

It reminds me of a story of catching monkeys. When I checked, some say the story comes from Asia, other sources claim South America - maybe it's both. The way the monkey trap works is this. The monkey hunter uses a container that has a narrow opening at the top just large enough for a monkey's hand. This container is tethered firmly to the jungle floor and inside the hunter puts all sorts of food that monkeys love.

As the sun warms the container, it spreads a delicious aroma. When a monkey picks up the scent, it's drawn to the container and reaches inside for the food. But when it tries to withdraw, its clenched hand is too big to come out.

Now, rather than drop the food and regain its freedom, the monkey hangs on. Even as the hunter approaches with a net, the monkey struggles to keep the food. It's bad for the monkey which ends up in a zoo, or worse.

The parallel is obvious - what do we hold on to so tightly, refusing to let go, that causes us to lose our freedom? What appears to be worth so much that it costs your liberty?

Holding too tightly has another danger - it can destroy the very thing we are holding. As children we learn that if we grasp a butterfly too hard we will crush it. The pretty, dancing creature that delights us is put in jeopardy by an overbearing grip.

Instead, if we want to hold a butterfly, we can cup it gently, creating a space with both hands that respects its delicate nature. This way we stop it flying away but the downside is that we cannot see it - our hands hide its beauty.

Better still is to wait quietly near nectar bearing flowers and watch closely as the butterflies come and go. They are free in their natural element as they dance in the sunshine. Sometimes they will rest, wings open, and you can enjoy their full magnificence. You may even find that they touch down on your outstretched hand.

You may be thinking that although this seems desirable, it is all rather dreamy and a shade too passive. So let's get practical:

1. What are you holding onto that is taking your freedom?
2. What are you holding so tightly that you are crushing the life out?
3. What could you do to attract the 'butterfly' you wish for?

Depending on your answers, choose one step to take and notice the difference!

Welcome - I'm Trevor Hill, author and inspiration coach. You can get specific details on 7 great techniques to inspire yourself in my free downloadable book 'Passport to Inspiration' from <a target="_new" href="http://www.inspiration-at-work.co.uk/">http://www.inspiration-at-work.co.uk</A>

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Wisdom-Of-Letting-Go---The-Monkey-and-The-Butterfly&id=5142736] The Wisdom Of Letting Go - The Monkey and The Butterfly

Thursday, March 17, 2011

How to Take Inspired Action Today

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mary_B_Owens]Mary B Owens

How do you take inspired action and what does that look like? Imagine you are waking up from a peaceful nights rest. You flow out of bed and into the shower. As you are bathing you get this amazing idea! You cannot wait to find someone to share your idea with. You are sure with the right help and coordination this idea will have a huge impact with so many people. You are pumped up and ready to go. Then you get out of the shower and the phone rings. It is your nanny and she is sick and can't help you with your kids today. You completely understand and instead of jumping into your work clothes you slide on a pair of sweats and a cozy sweatshirt. You are a little worried now about how you are going to get what you wanted to accomplish done today. Then you recognize this is part of your responsibility of having children that are small and aren't in school yet. You know you can work from home but there is a small "let down" feeling in your stomach but you say "life happens; I will get to it tomorrow." You call the people who you were going to meet and reschedule your plans. The day goes on and you are able to accomplish some administrative tasks but nothing you really wanted to do. So what happened? What happen to all that inspiration you had in the shower?



Inspiration is something that excites you. It literally pulls you into action. The problem with inspiration is you can lose it as fast as you received it. In the above example you were about to take on a huge idea that could have the potential to impact many people. Yet once you received that call your inspiration was soon covered up by your worry and rescheduling. This is completely normal to worry about rescheduling and taking care of your kids at the same time. The reality is that people get sick and we still have responsibilities to our children and most of all we have responsibilities to ourselves. The responsibility to yourself is to live in that inspired state. So how is that done? How do you move and take inspired action with all of the requirements of your daily life?



The first step in living and taking inspired action is to recognize when you are inspired. Keep your focus and proclaim out loud that you are inspired. Saying something with conviction and out loud is very powerful. It literally cements your inspiration into your physical life. You will not forget it if you say it out loud, "This is inspiring and I want to do something about it!" It may seem silly and even a little too easy but have you tried it? Being inspired enough to make a claim to it will help move you into the next crucial step.



The next step is to share it will someone. Now if it is an idea that you want to keep to yourself until it is more developed, writing it down will be enough to keep you inspired. See the key here is that you want to stay engaged in this inspiration. Life does happen and you will have to attend to different aspects or responsibilities around you. If you have spoken to someone or written down your idea when you get side tracked you will be able to reconnect with the inspiration more easily. Think of it this way, if someone came to you and you felt their excitement and their joy you would want to support them in that. If you noticed that they weren't talking about it anymore there would be this curious part of you that would probably ask them how it was going. That is how you would get your friend to reconnect with their inspiration. The same is true for you! A short conversation or a glance at your notebook can connect you with the energy you had when you wrote it or spoke it.



The next piece of this is how to take the inspired action. This is where many people get stuck. Inspired action is just that, action you take when you are inspired. Many people have a great idea and then focus on it and beat it up until they are sick of it. What happens is they get frustrated and then become done with the idea. They worked on it when they weren't inspired and pushed and pushed until their energy was depleted. They end up getting discouraged and move onto the "next best thing." The point here is to only work on the idea when the inspiration is flowing. That is extremely difficult for most people because they want to finish it and see it manifest into the physical form. Some have a belief that if they aren't "working" then they are being lazy. There are many thoughts that people have that keep them busy but the key point is to get into that inspired state.



With inspiration you trust that when you have that spark and work in that flow. There will be little push and frustration when you are inspired. It will feel as if time stands still and all of a sudden the project is complete. So when you are not feeling inspired do not work on it! Remember inspired action pulls you forward, it doesn't push you forward. You will recognize it you are out of this vortex of creative energy because you will feel discouraged or frustrated. If that happens put the project away. Pull it out when you feel inspired again. Even if it isn't for months later. If you are too attached to it and just pushing it won't have the same impact as it would if it was developed from pure inspiration.



Now some of you have to work under deadlines. The best thing to do when deadlines are part of the picture is to connect with yourself before working on what it is that has to get done. Meditating on the concepts and connecting with the project will give you helpful insights to get you into that space of flow and it will spark the creative energy.



Being inspired comes from your spirit. It comes from deep within you and it is a way to support you on a journey and a life of fun and fulfillment. If you recognize when you are inspired, proclaim it, share it with a friend or write it down, you are on your way to living more free and connected to the flow of life. Remember to only work on it when you are feeling the flow and the inspiration. If life gets in the way, don't beat yourself up. Look to connect with it at a later time and if you must complete something for someone else, give yourself time to connect with how you want to present it or complete it. Connect with that inspiration and then take action!

Mary B Owens ~ committed to empowering you to creating the business of your dreams so you create the life of your dreams! Mary received a Master's in Social Work from the University of Denver in 1997. She is a Certified Law of Attraction Empowerment Coach with QSCA. She is also a Landmark Education graduate and a Bob Proctor Coaching Graduate. She helps people go from where they are in their lives to where they want to be by using the Laws of the Universe. She has spent years studying the Laws of the Universe and how they play a part of our lives and relationships. For more information on her life coaching please visit http://www.livewithpurposeandpassion.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Take-Inspired-Action-Today&id=3544522] How to Take Inspired Action Today

What Inspires You?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Graham_Harris]Graham Harris

Have you ever thought? What inspires YOU? What is it that drives you day in and day out?  What is it that inspires you?

We think of creative people as being inspired and ask about their work. What inspired you to paint, draw, produce this piece of work? What inspired you to make this? Usually the answer is: a book, poem, film, experience, person, a place or in Cole Porter's case the 'phone call from the director'.

Something else or someone else inspired the artist, the songwriter. But what about the person in a regular job? What inspires you?


"Inspiration is a desire to live life without flinching. To take a risk and possibly fail.
To act on your emotions, creativity, ability and beliefs. To take criticism but have the faith in yourself to do it anyway. Bloody hard work, but then hard work never
killed anyone (or so my Dad says). Oh, and I find foster parents inspiring.
They pick up the pieces when the fundamental teachings and rules of our society fail. If I were religious I'd ask God to bless em."
Carolyn Tomley
(Sydney Morning Herald website).

What is it that inspires you?

You can begin to see that if nothing inspires you or excites you or lights up your life you are really missing something. You are just like a robot performing task after task. We believe that deep down you have a place where you can be touched. You have a place that is solely ours. Solely for you to show the world. Can you name it?

What inspires me, is the thought that I am more than my body. My limitations are only down to my thoughts. Thus I want to keep pushing the boundaries to find out what is there. Find out what I can communicate to the world. I am inspired by the fact that through what I do I may enable another person to open their mind. To remove the blinkers and reach their possibilities.

Julie is inspired by life. All that is around her. To Julie, inspiration is a rush of adrenalin, a rush of energy that creates a clearing in her thinking. It's that time when you see something from a different perspective and say to yourself, Why didn't see it like this before?

For Julie, inspiration is like the prisoner who says you can do whatever you like to my body but you can't touch my soul, my reason for living.

But what inspires you? What makes you go to that space where you continue to do what you do for hour after hour, when you forget the need to eat and drink. What is it that inspires you?

Some artists suggest that it is their imagination that inspires them. The need to tell the world what is going on in their heads. The links that they make. The different ways of viewing the world. After all literature, music and visual arts are all about the originator communicating with the rest of us.

So inspiration appears to be linked with the need to communicate with others. It may not be in words. But we feel it is about communication. What about you? What are you inspired to communicate?

Inspiration is linked to innovation. To introduce new ways of seeing things.  Inspiration is a way of understanding the essence of ourselves. Understanding who we are and what we dream about. Whatever it is that inspires you, it is the core of your very being. So what is it?

Perhaps the role of inspiration is to wake us up from a big sleep. A sleep where everyday is the same. Where we contribute to the world but at the same time we don't contribute because there is nothing of us in there. Perhaps the role of inspiration is to get us to become involved with the world rather than be a bystander, an observer.

This was definitely the situation for Alice Foote MacDougall, an American Business woman before the second world war. Like many of her era she was driven by her husband's financial failure and the necessity of supporting her three young children.

...the opportunity offered by life to women is far in excess of any offered to men.
To be the inspiration is more than to be the tool. To create the world,
a greater thing than to reform it.

When we tap into whatever it is that inspires us we become a full member of society. We are able to share our ideas, thoughts and emotions. As we share and show our dreams, emotions and ideas and thoughts then we gradually become to understand the person we truly are.

So, the role of inspiration is more than we first thought. More that just a drive to action. It actually enables you to understand the very essence of yourself and what you have to offer the world.

Inspiration gives you understanding.

Inspiration gives you an identity.

Inspiration gives you a way of being.

Can you really live without knowing what inspires you?

Good luck

Graham and Julie

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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Inspires-You?&id=33550] What Inspires You?