January 15, 2010

How To Make 2008 A Great Year

I love this time of year, as we let go of the old and look ahead to the new. With a clean slate, we can re-create our jobs, relationships, spirit, and health. As we review the year about to close we gain perspective about what might enhance the future. This is a great time to reflect on where you’ve been and what felt right, dream about what you want, and plan for what’s next.

Reflection is not a normal pastime in today’s 24/7, busier-than-ever world. Speaking to an audience of 150, I typically find fewer than 10 people who spend even five minutes a day in absolute silence. Yet it is prayer, meditation, and communing with nature that help us turn down the volume of the outside world and hear the whispers of insight within our selves. So, before you do any reflection about 2007, turn up the quiet: take a long walk, visit a place of worship, or sit with your eye closed just paying attention to the rhythm of your breath. When your to-do lists have stopped popping up, try posing a question. How did I feel this year? What do I wish I’d spent more time doing? Where did I make a difference…to my family, friends, a cause, or at work? When did I feel most energized? What challenges did I survive? For what am I most grateful? Or, if posing questions doesn’t appeal to you, simply reflect on 2007 by creating a mental list of what you liked and didn’t like about the past year. Thinking about where you’ve been will prime your pump for imagining what you want next.

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November 6, 2009

You CAN Buy Happiness

For many years research has indicated that wealth does not make people happier…at least not much happier. After basic needs are met, studies show, an increase in income only bumps our happiness slightly. Winning the lottery, getting a raise, or inheriting wealth just doesn’t result in the joy we might expect.

New research, however, is shedding some light on the correlation between wealth and happiness, focusing not on how much we have, but on how we spend it. Findings indicate that, indeed, we CAN buy happiness-if we spend on the right things!

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January 12, 2009

The Bounce-Back Factor:
How to lift yourself up when the going gets rough
Economic environment got you down? Well, don’t despair. You’re not alone! If my circle is any indication, you’ve got plenty of company. And why not? It’s easy to be optimistic, gung-ho, and unstoppable when the environment seems ripe for success and happiness. You just put one foot in front of the other and –bingo!- you’ve reached another plateau on the climb to your goals.

But, it’s a different story when life throws you one curve ball after another, and then starts pelting those around you too. A deal gone sour, a loan turned down, a job lost, a medical crisis, a college fund depleted…the list goes on. In what seems like a blink of an eye, life as we knew it has morphed into a new reality. What used to work no longer does, and what we took for granted may now seem like a far-away dream.
 

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