1. Our Tolerations Exercise to help you get clarity and identify what’s dragging you down – so you can save your energy for what’s really important!

2. Our Self-Care Quiz so you can see if you really look after yourself – or if you just think you do…

For these and other awesome [...]]]> Announcing our latest FREE Coaching Tools & Exercises!

1. Our Tolerations Exercise to help you get clarity and identify what’s dragging you down – so you can save your energy for what’s really important!

2. Our Self-Care Quiz so you can see if you really look after yourself – or if you just think you do…

For these and other awesome free coaching tools,
visit our FREE Coaching Tools & Resources page here!

Enjoy!

Experts interviewed for a report by NBC News talked about “Overworked, [...]]]> I was just interviewed by the awesome Brooke and Monti on their Radio Show “The Ladies Room” at Movin 92.5 – about Superwoman Syndrome. Hopefully I’ll be able to give you a copy of the actual interview segment soon – I’ll let you know. In the meantime:

Experts interviewed for a report by NBC News talked about “Overworked, overwhelmed and overscheduled women juggling families, friends and careers are turning to stimulants, painkillers and anti-anxiety meds to help launch them through endless to-do lists,” the article goes on to say. “Women load their lives with so much that they get in over their heads, and some turn to prescription pills to cope,” said Talia Witkowski, a psychologist in Los Angeles.

So, here are my thoughts on Overwhelm & 7 Tips to BEAT it!

Do you ever experience forgetfulness, racing thoughts, daydreaming at inconvenient moments, become snappy, have difficulty falling or staying asleep or find it hard some days to ‘see the wood for the trees’? These signs of stress have become so common that we accept them as part of life today.

In fact, these days we’re better off than we’ve ever been – most of us in the Western World have no worries about food, clean water, clothing and shelter. And technology has made things faster, smaller and more useable – entertaining us, saving us money, time, stress and hassle!

But instead of using the time saved to relax while the dishwasher is on we simply cram more into our already busy lives. And we can now be in constant contact with everyone at all times via multiple phone numbers, email, Facebook, Twitter and many different forms of instant and text-messaging.

The explosion of automation, possibility and choice means we are constantly over-committed, over-connected, over-informed and overwhelmed!

The good news is that overwhelm is something we largely create for ourselves. We try to manage time better when we really should be managing ourselves better – doing less and looking after our needs more.

7 Top Tips to BEAT your OVERWHELM!

1. What’s your overwhelm indicator? How do you know you’ve gone too far, taken on too much or are pushing yourself too hard? Just starting to notice when you feel overwhelmed is a huge step forward. As people get better at noticing, they learn to stop, think and do something about it.
2. Simply stop and ask yourself the question; “OK, so what’s the EASY way to do this?” Listen to your inner wisdom and implement!
3. Identify your Top 5 Priorities and make these your focus. People’s top priorities often include things like family/friends, health, financial security and being happy or enjoying life. Next time you feel overwhelmed you can regain calm by asking “What would help my family?” or “What would be best for my health/financial situation/happiness right now?”
4. Create calm in your mind. Place your feet on the floor and focus on your breathing for a moment. Now close your eyes and imagine your thoughts, tasks, “to do’s” etc. as a river raging around you. Slowly imagine the river getting calmer and calmer until it is a quiet, gently flowing stream. Once it is a gentle stream, imagine it getting smaller and trickling into a beautiful, quiet, still pond. Now you are ready to continue with your day – one thing at a time.
5. Just make a decision. Sometimes NOT making a decision adds to your overwhelm, as options and possibilities crowd your mind. Simply make the best choice with the information available to you at the time and CHOOSE to be happy with it.
6. Re-learn how to say “No”. There will ALWAYS be more to do than time available. Once you know what’s REALLY important to you, make that your priority and let go of the rest! Re-learn how to say “No” and you’ll feel amazing!
7. Set yourself up well for the day. People know they cope with daily stresses better when they are well rested. If you go to bed just 30 minutes earlier each day you will start your day feeling more rested and better-fueled. Also, the TV stimulates your brain so turn off the TV at least an hour before bedtime and allow your brain to unwind.

I once read that the harder you push yourself, the harder your self pushes back. So, remember that your life is a never-ending series of choices – make yours wisely!

Remember, we ALWAYS LOVE to hear YOUR thoughts!
Just leave your reply below!

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Because millions of people around the globe set resolutions for the year ahead – but most give up part way through. In fact according to statistics, 23% of resolutions are broken in the first week and 45% by the end of the month.

Each ‘New [...]]]> It’s week 2 of January 2010. Where are you with your resolutions?

Because millions of people around the globe set resolutions for the year ahead – but most give up part way through. In fact according to statistics, 23% of resolutions are broken in the first week and 45% by the end of the month.

Each ‘New Year’ gives us another opportunity to let go of the past and define the future we want. And wherever you are right now, it’s always helpful to have some tips to help up along the way…

Firstly, what can you do to improve your resolution success stats? Well you need to get committed! We say, “I’d like to eat more healthily, stop smoking, make more time for me,” but really it’s more of a ‘nice to have’ or something we feel we ’should’ do: The key elements of making a COMMITMENT or a DECISION are simply not there.

Have you noticed that when we really want something enough we FIND a way to MAKE it happen? When people express their goals and then repeatedly avoid their actions it’s time to explore where they are holding themselves back. Because sometimes it doesn’t matter how much you WANT the goal, your hidden resistance will find a way to sabotage you… I’m sure you’ve experienced this yourself at some time – and in coaching we call this your ’secondary gain’.

To identify your secondary gain you can ask, “How do I benefit by staying just as I am?” Maybe in the case of a fitness goal, you get to stay in bed longer in the morning or you get to continue enjoying your daily doughnut (yum!).

The famous motivational speaker Anthony Robbins says its all about pleasure and pain: When the pain gets bad enough, we WILL do something about it. But often the pain of where we are at the moment simply isn’t enough for us to make the changes we think we want... So we choose to put up with known, familiar pain, rather than take the ‘hit’ of unknown, unfamiliar short-term pain to change our habits.

10 Tips to help you KEEP your Resolutions this year!

1. Choose something for YOURSELF, not because someone else (or your inner critic) wants it for you.
2. Keep it SIMPLE and choose ONE THING to focus on. Don’t spread your attention too wide.
3. Keep it SMALL. If the resolution is TOO large a change it will be all too easy to fall back on ‘old habits’.
4. Make it WORTH DOING – challenging enough to hold your interest and make you feel good when complete.
5. State your resolution in the POSITIVE eg. If giving up nail-biting try “I have beautiful nails” so every time you think about it you are reminded what you WANT and not what you DON’T want.
6. See a ’slip’ as an opportunity to REFOCUS. What can you learn, change, avoid or do differently next time?
7. TELL PEOPLE you trust about your resolution and ask them to hold you accountable.
8. If you have a bigger goal, choose a TRANSITION step or ‘journey goal’ for your resolution and create a firm foundation for your future.
9. Get COMMITTED and WRITE IT DOWN! Now put it somewhere you will see it regularly.
10. Use dates and measures to make the resolution SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE – how else will you know you are on track or have succeeded? When we see progress or an improvement it spurs us to keep going.

So, maybe you now have a better idea of why we don’t meet our resolutions… This year, will you make a DECISION to commit to your resolution and ‘just do it’  or will it be a ‘nice to have’? The fabulous thing is YOU get to decide!

And if you want some help setting some goals for 2010 you may like our awesome free Goal-Setting Tool – a 3 page Funsheet – complete with a Summary Page to put up and remind you…

Let me know how you get on – as always we LOVE to hear what you are thinking
just comment and leave a reply below!