Vision - How Do You See It?

You know the old adage about some seeing the glass half-empty while others see it half-full? The point being your vision is nothing more than a filtered perspective. Whatever we create, whatever vision we have for ourselves--personally and professionally--must always make its way through the filters we have crafted to keep us safe.

This became apparent to me in one of my seminars on Public Speaking. Every person that signs up for this seminar has this in common: they are fearful and have very little confidence in their abilities to stand and speak in front of others. You see, their fear is the vision they hold of themselves. How did it become their fear? (emphasis on their to indicate ownership). It became their fear as they continually passed the idea of public speaking through preset filters. Those filters may have been created from a past experience where they felt scared, pre-judged or ignorant. With those kinds of filters in place, it's little wonder that the vision is one of fear and trepidation.

The only way to change the vision is to replace the filter. And the only way to replace the filter is to acknowledge that it exist. This helps to explain the sound advice of the Proverb that states: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Think about it. People are perishing or living beneath their priviledge because their filters keep them from even having a vision of a life different from the one they have right now. One filter can make the difference between poverty and prosperity; love and hate; happiness and sadness -- you get my point, right?

What is your vision? How do you see it? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? What filters do you have in place keeping you safely in your little corner when there's so much you could experience if you were to venture out?

I know. I know. I'm bombarding you with a lot of questions! Now, take a few minutes and answer them, and be completely honest with yourself. Afterall, this is your life and you don't want to perish now do you?

Remember,
Life with no purpose is no life at all!
http://www.lifeonpurposellc.com

Blessings,
Dr. Angela aka "The Purpose Professor"

Six Techniques to Avoid Distractions

Let's face it, distractions are designed to take you away from the task at hand which generally means ... time waster!

Here are a few techniques to help you avoid becoming distracted:

• Ask yourself, "What is the real issue?" Whenever we give in to a distraction, we are avoiding completing the task we're working on. For example, I'm working on getting ready to teach a new seminar topic for one of my clients. When my sister calls and I decide to talk to her for an hour, I need to ask myself "why?" Is it because I don't like preparation time (propably). You have to get to the root cause.
• Ask yourself, "Does this distraction fit into the priorities I've set for myself today?" Sometimes a distraction is a good thing, but if it adds to the task you're working on.
• Do you like mini-diversions, you know, little breaks from what you're doing? Again, be real! My sister has a new love interest, and the truth is that I want to know what's going on, so I welcome her calls.
• Before giving in to a distraction ask yourself, "What do I stand to lose if I give in to this distraction?"
• Remember, just because it seems urgent doesn't mean that it really is urgent! Don't get sucked in to someone else's priority.
• Be flexible, and change your priorities if you feel that this distraction warrants a higher priority than what you may be doing.

So, if you want to live and work in a stress-free environment, take control of your distractions and don't let distractions take control of you!

Until next blog,

Dr. Angela

"Life with no purpose is no life at all!"

Five Steps to Overcoming Overcommitment

I teach people how to manage their time, and one of the biggest culprits to mismanaged time is overextending or overcommitting.

This is the definition: Trying to get more done than there are hours in a day to do. Here's my simple test to help you determine if you are overcommitted: "no" does not exist in your vocabulary! If that's you, help has arrived as long as you will commit to following these five simple steps:

1. Write down everything you have committed to, both personal and professional.
2. Write down everything you should be doing, but -- because of overcommittment -- cannot do.
3. Go over your first list realistically and decide, based on your available time and your priorities, what should you really be doing.
4. Come up with a way to get out of all the things you identified in step #3.
5. Commit to a specific time to begin each of the items you identified in step #2.

Remember this: "Devoting a little of yourself to everything means committing a great deal of yourself to nothing."

Two great resources to help you manage your time:

• Prioritize, Organize - The Art of Getting It Done by National Seminars Group (National Press Publications.
• Work Less, Do More - The 14-Day Productivity Makeover by Dr. Jan Yager

The key to managing your time begins with a decision to do just that!

Until next blog,

Dr. Angela

"Life with no purpose is no life at all!"

Slow Down

Peace to you!

A short blog today.

Sometimes we move so quickly through life -- rushing here, dashing there -- everybody's in a hurry. Well, today I want to remind you to take it easy. Really. Take the time to appreciate the sunset. Stop and inspect all the newness that this new season is bringing: buds on the trees, native birds returning, squirrels trying to figure out how to steal the bird seed, Easter lilies, the grass turning green ... my list could go on. Busyness can rob us of the beauty of the simple. If you want to release some stress, lower your blood pressure, and lift your attitude, slow down! I guarantee you this: you won't miss a thing and it will be there when you get there!

Until next blog,

Dr. Angela
"Life with no purpose is no life at all!"

You Really can C-A-N!

Here's an encouraging thought for you: whatever you think you can do, you CAN do!

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.”

CAN is such an empowering word because it speaks of ability. Don't you just love that word "ability"? Your "able to do"! From that perspective, we CAN dream and achieve. We CAN keep going when we want to give up. We CAN stay focused when we want to wander. We CAN apologize when we want to remain angry. We CAN get outside of our comfort zone even though no one else has done it before! With CAN the world becomes our playground! I believe that's why President Obama's simple campaign slogan, "Yes, we can!" was so powerful. Every time people chanted those three one-syllable words, emphasis on CAN, they were reinforcing their ableness (I made that word up) to do it -- to turn this country around, to make life better for their children, to recover this country's greatness, to dream and achieve again.

Can only becomes a limitation when we add the word "not". So, I challenge you to start thinking and speaking on purpose about what you CAN do. Think of this way: every time you hear that thought of can't and decide to turn it into CAN, you just decided to Counter All Negativity! Yes, you really can C-A-N!

Until next blog,

"Life with no purpose is no life at all!"

Dr. Angela