Top 10 Hit List

Top 10 Hit List

Life Changing Habits

Seventy-six newsletters later I’m thinking it’s time for a top 10 hit list of those suggestions most celebrated and proven when practiced to make a significant impact on clients lives. Though clearly what works for one person won’t work for all, this month I’m taking my 77th newsletter to highlight those insights I’ve shared over the years standing the test of time and reported to be game changers in MOST peoples lives.

Ten Habits That Will Dramatically Change Your Life For The Better

1. Live Life Authentically
Express yourself-style and your gifts-in all that you do. Operating from a place of greatest authenticity, frees us up, allowing us not to be so focused on being something or someone else we are not. Better enabling us to put our energy into more effective and productive actions that enhance the way we show up in life.

2. Surround Yourself With Positive People                                                                                                                                   Align yourself with people who inspire, motivate, and support. Positive relationships nurture and influence us to greatness simply because they allow us to be at our very best.                                                                                                                                

3. Pick Three Things to Do Each Day
Staying on top of our personal and professional lives can be overwhelming. Pick 3 things to do each day and get to those three things first, and then wherever the rest of the day takes you, you know at least you’re progressing and accomplishing what you need to.

4. Unplug From Your Phone/Computer
Unplugging from the digital world is a great way to reduce the stress that being “on” can bring into our lives. Keeping up with email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. 24/7 is simply not good for our brains, resulting in overstimulation that takes away from our levels of productivity and presence within our relationships. Developing new protocols to lessen, “unplug” from time to time should be apart of everyone’s daily routine.

5. Maintain A Balance Approach To Life
I call it the ripple effect. When we attend to all valued aspects of our lives it makes each aspect of our lives better. When I go to the gym, have a great “date” with my husband, participate in a community event, or just read a good book all by myself, the following day I’m all that more productive and engaged at work. Then when at work and finding a great groove it empowers me to be a better coach, parent, wife, colleague, sister, friend, and daughter. It’s not so much the amount of time one commits to the varied valued aspects of their lives but more importantly that they do.

6. Cultivate a Mastery Mindset
A mastery mindset is the desire to continually develop into the best we can be. It is an approach to life that embraces constant self-expansion with the understanding that setbacks and disappoint do not define our realities but rather are the building blocks from where our greater success comes from. As it is through life’s trials and tribulations where we gain valuable knowledge about what we need to attend to in order to acquire what it is we want in and for our lives. Consider yourself, your life a work in progress. Strive for mastery, not perfection. Simply ask yourself each day what can you do to support a better version of yourself than the day before.

7. Practice Gratitude
Consider the possibility that your life is already filled with overflowing abundance and start seeking evidence to support this. Research shows that those who practice gratitude daily by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems. It’s a great way to shift the focus off the negative and help drown out the cynical mindset that holds us back from experiencing greater happiness in our lives (see below for more on that).

8. Reframe Negative Self-Talk & Thoughts
Our thoughts can make or break our success and well-being. Deliberate, positive self-talk is the fastest and most effective way to replace the negative “mind chatter” that holds us back. The practice of reframing our negative self-talk into more constructive and optimistic perspectives and language enables us to better move on from situations where we may feel stuck, confused, frustrated, and or angered. Though in the beginning reframing may feel as if you’re faking it, research proves, in time this consistent interruption and change of thought patterns will generate more proactive responses and actually begin to retrain your brain to embrace positivity.

9. Take Care of Your Body
A strong body makes for a strong mind. When our bodies are functioning optimally, we have the physical energy to work, play, study, and think. In other words, we have the energy to do the things that bring us success, in however we measure that. This not only includes the obvious like sleep, nutrition, and exercise but attending to doctor/dental appts, rest & relaxation, use of supplements, drugs, and alcohol as well as stress management. The more proactive we are about taking care of our physical self, the more energy will be present where and when it needs to be in use…which is pretty much always even when we are sleeping.

10. Deprioritize Whatever Doesn’t Honor Your Goals                                                                                                                Learn to say no. If you want to achieve your goals, becoming more selective in how you allocate your time will be a must. Ask yourself how much of what you’re doing in your day promotes your objectives. Say no to anything that is not in alignment with what you want in and for your life.

So here’s my suggestion, since experts say it takes up to 21 days for a new habit to form, pick one of the above-suggested habits each month for the rest of the year (coincidentally there are 10 months left to this year) and by years end you too will experience for yourself the dramatic impact these empowering habits will have on your life.

Wishing You Always The Best Of Success

-Holly-

Power Of Gratitude

Power Of Gratitude

A 21 Day Challenge.

No better time than November to welcome everyone to my 21 Day Gratitude Challenge. Why give thanks? Bottomline, counting our blessings is good for us! Research shows the benefits of practicing gratitude are nearly endless. People who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems. Why 21 days? Because most experts agree that’s what it takes to establish a new habit and for many has proven to be manageable yet life changing. I have found it is through the consistency and accumulation of the practice where people will experience the most profound difference in how they feel and as a result wind up sticking with it well beyond this challenge.

How It Works:

1. Buy a journal, notebook or grab a blank pad, whatever you prefer, and find yourself a pen.

2. Write down a minimum of 3 things each day that you are grateful for. They can be as simple as having a perfectly hot and tasty cup of coffee that morning, a seamless commute into work or getting kids off to school, maybe a great workout or funny text exchange with a good friend that literally had you laughing out loud.

3. Be as specific as possible. Rather then just saying “I am grateful for my job”.  State why. For example “I love the people I work with”. Or “I am grateful that my job allows me to have flexible work hours so I can still be available to my children”.

4. Try turning negatives into positives. For example:

• Though today I got stuck waiting over 45 minutes to be seen by my doctor I was able to catch up on my emails.

Though now with a sprained ankle I can’t work out like I prefer, today I joined that mediative restorative yoga class I’ve been wanting to check out.

5. Shake it up, avoid duplicating your list. Try not to state the same things more than once-this is how you learn to flex your gratitude muscle.

6. Every day, review the list from the day before. And at the end of the week, read them all.

7. Most importantly stay consistent. Establish a routine, decide on a set time of day to reflect and write. If need be, schedule it on your calendar and have your computer/phone send you a reminder for the next 21 days.

My hope will be that once you become oriented toward looking for things to be grateful for, you will find that you begin to appreciate simple pleasures and things that you previously took for granted. Learning that gratitude isn’t just a reaction to getting what we want, but an all-the-time gratitude, the kind where we notice the little things and even the good in unpleasant situations. 

Wishing Everyone A Very 

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Holly-

Go Anti-Hibernation

Go Anti-Hibernation

Resist The Urge To Hibernate

 February 2016 Insights

With dead of the winter upon us and the holiday season no longer luring us out of our homes to keep us busy, the temptation to hibernate heightens for many of us. Like bears we humans experience a state of “winter lethargy”. But unlike bears we humans do not need to preserve our energy stores nor lock ourselves in our caves to beat the elements. In fact, contrary to how hibernation works for a bear’s survival it can be rather counterproductive for us human beings. (more…)

Finding Life Purpose

Finding Life Purpose

What Does Spirituality Mean To You?

 June 2015 Insights

I’ve intentional stayed away from writing about the concept of spirituality knowing it would conjure up different thoughts and feelings for everyone. Hesitant, to take a very personal experience and write about it generally so that it could be helpful to most, was  a bit intimidating to me. Actually to be honest up until about 3 years ago, if someone asked me about my spiritual beliefs I pretty much felt ill equip in answering that question. But I’ve  since come to realize, especially now that I have been coaching for over 4 years, how essential investing in one’s spiritual growth is. The rewards in fostering this aspect of our lives can be hugely impactful. So naturally, it makes complete sense to take this month’s Keys to Success Insights, regardless but yet respectful of each woman’s spiritual beliefs to share how cultivating the concept of spirituality can be significantly helpful in taking charge of your health and well-being. (more…)

Promise to Pay It Forward

Promise to Pay It Forward

 

Giving Thanks

 November 2014 Insights

The other day someone asked me, “what’s one of the best decisions you’ve ever made?” Without hesitation, I said becoming a women’s leadership coach. Now of course I’ve made some other instrumental decisions in my life, like marrying one of the greatest people I know and then of course creating a family with him. There was also the decision of welcoming a 75lb dog into our lives and I have to admit purchasing a Keurig coffee machine rates rather high on good decisions made. However, the question in and of itself- “What’s One of the Best Decision I’ve Ever Made”- really got me thinking and why was leadership coaching the first thing I blurted out? (more…)