Planning is not enough

This morning I found myself totally ignoring my plans.  While I had planned to spend the morning painting with my watercolor and new oil paints, I ignored it.  I said, just 5 more minutes.  And I got engrossed in reading and surfing and it's 11 a.m. - now too late to get the material out and start.  Tomorrow I'll do it.

Because I was so intent on using the morning to paint, I decided to do a post-mortem on my failed plans and I discovered a couple of things.  First, while I had planned in my head to paint, I had not written it down in my day planner.  Second, my plan was vague: watercolour, oil, some drawing and being vague is the opposite of having a clear goal.  Third, I had not set the stage.  What would have helped would have been to  take my painting material out last evening.  Of course, that would have forced me to be a little clearer on exactly what I wanted to do.

Most plans fail because they are not written, because people fail to be clear about the steps needed from A to D and because they let themselves get distracted (like me this morning) by other stuff.

Do you have a goal that seems to be elusive?  Is that something really important for you?  Want help to achieve it?  Call me at 613-744-1538 for a free 20 minutes exploratory session.

Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
Canada's Coach

Success and Fearless Living Coach for Women over 40
Life and Wellness Coach for Women over 40

http://www.canadas-coach.com
http://www.eftottawa.com

Valentine's Day and Wellness

Do take very good care of yourself today.  Yes, a couple of chocolate, the dark kind, is OK.  If you are alone for this day, treat yourself with something other than food.  A massage, a good walk, a swim, a great movie, enough sleep.  Love yourself.  Today is Valentine's day.

Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
Canada's Coach

Life and Wellness Coaching for Women
Success and Fearless Living Coaching for Women 40+

http://www.canadas-coach.com
http://www.eftottawa.com

What is mindfulness

Mindfulness is not about spirituality, although it can be.  It's not about religion, although it can be.  Mindfulness is about bringing attention to the present moment, instead of being in your head, somewhere in the past or the future.  Mindfulness is about being present in the here and now.

Coaching challenge:Today, practice being 100% present for at least a few minutes, whether peeling carrots or playing with your child or enjoying a swim at the local pool.  Focus on what you see, what you hear, how it feels, everything about this experience.

Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
Canada's Coach

Success and Fearless Living Coach for Women 40+
Life and Wellness Coaching for Women

http://www.canadas-coach.com
http://www.eftottawa.com

Mindfulness and, driving.

A lot if being said about mindfulness - and I try to keep up with the information because I truly believe that mindfulness can produce great benefits.  However, when it comes to trying to explain what it is and how to do it, most people find it too hard and too time consuming.  And yes, mindfulness takes some time and effort to master.

As I was driving this morning  it dawned on me that I may have started practicing mindfulness of sort when I started driving.  Giving all my attention to the task at hand, without letting my mind travel in the past or the future.  Being in the now.

If you have been curious about mindfulness but have not known how to practice it, I suggest that the next time you get behind the wheel, you make an effort to just concentrate on driving.  Consciously letting other thoughts go by, without stopping to worry, plan, make a phone call or receive one (turn off that phone in the car)  or get lost in the "what was done" or "what needs to be done".

This suggestion may not get the approval of purists but it will give you a taste of just being in the moment.  And driving is a task that does require all our attention.

Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
Canada's Coach

Success and Fearless Living Coach for Women 40+
Life and Wellness Coach for Women

http://www.canadas-coach.com
http://www.eftottawa.com

Having discipline and stress: the link

From the title of this post you might get that having discipline will cause you stress, and well, it will, for a little while.  You see, most changes are stressful.  We need to be more aware, we need to do things we are not used to and that's more stressful in the moment, than simply continuing in our less-than-good-for-us behaviours that make our life unmanageable or even hell.

But there is a silver lining to this.  It's short term stress for long term relief.  Whether we are talking about discipline to be organized, or to take time to cook and eat healthy or to exercise or prepare your papers for filing your income tax, or the discipline to get to bed instead of watching a television program, even your favorite program, the benefits far outweigh the effort.

Coaching challenge: Choose one area of your life where you lack discipline.  Commit to making one change starting today for the next two weeks.  Record the benefits in a little notebook.  I promise you will come out ahead.

Marguerite Tennier, M.A.
Canada's Coach

Success and Fearless Living Coach for Women 40+
Life and Wellness Coaching for Women

http://www.canadas-coach.com
http://www.eftottawa.com