Monday Motivator – yes, a day late.

“I’ve always thought that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.”

~ Leo Buscaglia

As the new year begins and I am looking at what I want to accomplish this year, I am reminded of all the different kinds of support I have in my life: my family, my friends, my Master Mind buddies (past and present), my Human Design study group, my business connections, etc.

With that reminder, I realize how important their contributions have been in being able to do many – if not all – of the things I have done in my life.

What started me thinking about this is a thought-provoking power point presentation a friend sent me that tells about a Navy veteran who ejected from a plane in distress and landed safely. Years later, he met the man who packed his parachute and had a chance to thank him for a successful landing. After that meeting, he thought about the fact that he had never given those sailors who packed the parachutes much thought because he was an elite fighter pilot.

He now gives talks about his experiences and the people who “packed his ‘chutes”, providing mental, emotional, and spiritual support throughout his life. Whether we’ve ever actually landed a parachute or not, we all have people who have helped pack our mental, emotional and spiritual parachutes along the way.

As you begin the new year, I invite you to recognize those who have provided that support for you along your life’s journey and, as you think about what you want to accomplish this year, include some ideas about how you can help others in your life pack their ‘chutes to accomplish the things that are important to them.

Wishing you the best year of your life in 2010 —

Cheri Fredrickson, CPC

Small Business Coach

Reiki Master/Teacher

503-970-1973

www.cherifredrickson.com

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Monday Motivator

“Visualize this thing you want. See it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin.”

— Robert Collier

 

For some reason, I had the urge to “earn my turkey” this Thanksgiving. So, I got up and went to a boot camp style workout that lasted an hour and a half. Kicked my butt. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish. Fortunately, I did. Not just because it felt good to finish, but because I had a chance to meet with a very inspirational young woman at the end of class.

This is her before and after picture:

Avis shared that she has lost more than 125 pounds in a little over two years. She has 34 to go to reach her goal. I asked her to share her secrets of success. I thought we could all benefit from her wisdom, so I’m sharing them here today. This is what she told me:

* I started seeing myself as the person I wanted to be, rather than the person I was.

* When faced with a challenging situation, I ask myself, “What would a 130 pound person do here?”

* When I lose weight, I get rid of my bigger clothes. I don’t give myself a back door. Failure is not an option.

* I remind myself of the reasons it is important to me to succeed.

* I joined a group that provides support and encouragement (TOPS), and I developed relationships with the people who were serious about losing weight – not the ones who have been going for years without a change.

* I set up a chart with celebrations for milestones along the way.

As I listened to her, it was easy to see why she is accomplishing what she set out to do. The keys to her success can be applied to anything a person wants to do. Let’s revisit the steps in a more generic format:

1. See the goal as if it is already true.

2. Train yourself to think and act in alignment with that truth.

3. Don’t make a “just in case it doesn’t work out” plan. Plan for success.

4. Remind yourself why it is important to you to do what you’ve set out to do. That helps get you through the tough times.

5. Get support. Join a group, set up a Master Mind team, get a coach… whatever will help you be successful.

6. Celebrate the progress along the way — not just at the end.

If there’s something you’ve wanted to accomplish that hasn’t happened yet, take a look at the steps that Avis shared. Her opinion (and mine) is that she wouldn’t have made it this far if she left one of the steps out. Is there something missing from your list? Is there something you can do to amp up your results? Why don’t you take it on and see what happens?

Wishing you even better results than you’ve gotten in the past–

Cheri

Cheri Fredrickson, CPC

Small Business Coach

Reiki Master/Teacher

503-970-1973

www.cherifredrickson.com

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Monday Motivator

 

“The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”

— Henri J. M. Nouwen

Thanksgiving is, without question, my very favorite holiday. Somehow it has escaped the over-commercialization that so many holidays have fallen victim to. It remains a time to enjoy family and friends while pausing to reflect on and appreciate what we have to be thankful for.

Coming up to it has been particularly fun for me this year. For some reason, in this past month or so the subject of keeping a gratitude journal has come up in several different areas of my life. I’ve had the opportunity to discuss my experience of keeping a gratitude journal and what it has done to impact my quality of life with a number of people.

Since I like to keep things simple, I have chosen to use a small spiral notebook that I keep handy. I used to make entries every night before going to sleep, although I’m not quite as consistent as I used to be. But, with all this discussion the daily habit may return!

What I have noticed as a result of keeping a gratitude journal:

• I always go to sleep with happy thoughts.
• I began noticing more and more things to be grateful for.
• I could refer to my notebook when I was having a difficult day and it changed my attitude very quickly.
• It was fun to see who showed up in it regularly and share that with them.
• After a while, I found that I was just naturally feeling grateful and I didn’t have to look for things to put on my list.

So, I invite you to give it a try. It’s a wonderful practice that will impact you more than you imagine.

And, I realize you may not want to commit to a regular journal. If not, how about committing to writing down 10 or 20 things to recognize on Thanksgiving Day? Take some time to reflect and, if you want it to take on even more value, share those things with others.

Wishing you many things to be thankful for and a joyful holiday–

Cheri

Cheri Fredrickson, CPC

Small Business Coach

Reiki Master/Teacher

503-970-1973

http://www.cherifredrickson.com

 

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