Motion is Emotion!

If you're looking for more happiness and satisfaction in your life, try going for a walk, a run or a bike ride!  You'll be amazed at what a difference some fresh air and exercise can make.  Get into the open air, get your blood circulating a bit faster than it usually does, and the endorphins - those natural highs - will soon be helping you to feel happier and calmer.

If you do exercise on a regular basis you'll know how right this is.  If you haven't exercised for a while, it doesn't mean you can't - it just means you're out of practice - and the only way to change that is to give it a go! - gently at first, and soon you'll want to do more....

In no time at all, you'll discover that motion produces great Emotions!

For more on this and ways to transform your life please see our website!

Money - are you in control?

Money doesn't buy us happiness - most people agree with this, yet also feel that life would be quite a bit easier with more of it!  Why is this? - because money buys us choice, of course.

Not everyone says they want more choice, yet most people will say they want more money.  So what will they do with more money?  - they'll have to make decisions on how to spend it, and so they will be making choices, even if they haven't seen it in this light.

To get more money, the first thing you need to do is to take control!  Know exactly how much you have coming in, and where it is going - what you're spending it on.  It isn't enough to hope it will all work out OK - you might be short this month, but it'll be better next month.....make a decision now to take charge of your life - and your finances!

How to do this?
- keep to your monthly budget
- monitor your spending closely
- spend within your means
- start a savings plan - and have something specific that it's destined for
- keep asking other people questions about how they got ahead

There are many people out there in the same position as you - you'll be the one to get ahead if you take control of your life right now! What's holding you back?.....

For more information and more about how we can help, please visit our website.www.activelifematters.com

How much do you value your time?

Have you ever noticed how often we talk about time in the same way as money?

- I've run out of time
- I'm short of time
- I wish I had more time
- Time is precious
- Can you spare a minute?
- Where did all that time go?
- I can't find the time

How different would things be if we talked about time like this:
- I have plenty of time
- My focus is this right now
- I choose to do this with my time
- I love the way I choose to spend my time

Because our language gives away the way in which we approach life, you can choose to live life as if you have plenty of time to do the things you want to - or you can choose to live a life of scarcity.  In the end, it makes no difference to the amount of time you have - we all have exactly the same number of hours in the day, and yet some people seem to pack heaps in whilst others never get anything achieved.  What's the difference? - simply the way in which they choose to think of time, and choose to focus on the things that are really important to them.

So next time you're feeling a little time-poor, look at where you are focusing your energies.  You'll find it's probably on the things you find easier, or more enjoyable and that you're putting off the things you anticipate will be difficult or painful - and yet, if you do those things you'll feel a much greater sense of progress and satisfaction.

By valuing your time sufficiently to decide what will give you the greatest results for your effort, you'll soon find that the onerous 'to do' list starts to shorten - either because you've achieved those things you were avoiding, or because you've realised that some things just aren't worth your time.   Hence, greater time for your buck - to mix the time and money metaphor!

Something to think about!  For more information on this and other ways to transform your life please see our website.www.activelifematters.com

The power of focus!

We've all heard 'what you focus on is what you get' but how many of us really appreciate the power of this?  It's all to do with the way we phrase the questions we ask ourselves.

For example, instead of asking 'why does this always happen to me?', try asking 'what can I learn from this to make sure it works out much better next time?'.  This way, the focus will be on moving forwards, learning, growing rather than staying stuck in the past.

Or - 'What if I fail?' - try replacing this with 'What if I succeed - how brilliant will that be!'.  In this example, you've moved the focus away from failure and now you're considering all the possibilities that will come from succeeding - making it so much more likely that you'll succeed!

Or - 'Why can't I stop eating?' - try replacing this with 'How can I appreciate even more the level of health I have right now, and improve it by feeding myself even healther food!'.  In this instance, you're moving the focus away from deprivation, and concentrating on appreciation, valuing, and respecting your body so that you're far more likely to make healthy choices from now on.

So next time you find yourself indulging in a bit of self-flagellation, verbal thrashing or internal moaning, change the question and the focus - make a decision today that you're going to make the power of focus BE your focus - use it to take you where you want to be, and enjoy the journey!

For more on this and other ways to transform your life please see our website.

Powerful questions to transform our lives

What have you learned today?  This is one of the most valuable questions to ask yourself at the end of every day, and to ask your children so that they learn to see life as a constant opportunity to gain wisdom from every experience.  If you can't think of anything specific, find an encyclopaedia, explore Wikipedia or look through the dictionary so that you create a new learning that you can share with others.

What's great about this?  Another superb question to ask in any situation, whether challenging or otherwise.  By searching for the value in situations, you'll always find ways to maximise the benefit for yourself and others around you.  By asking this question aloud, you'll also teach others to look for the value - so you'll be spreading the learning and the growth - and what they find that's great about something may be completely different to what you see, so you'll learn from each other.  Again, another valuable question to ask your children, to help them focus on life's positives - a lifelong skill that is priceless.

How can I use this?  Again, focusing on the value that is inherent in any situation - particularly challenging ones.  This question helps you to seek out the positive meaning and turn it into a benefit.  Once again, encourage your children to ask themselves this and you'll find that they become far more self sufficient and resourceful human beings.  Try it with your team members too - and learn from their responses!

For more information and ideas on how Active Life Matters (active coaching for outstanding results) can help you, your family and your organisation please visit our website.

Change your physiology - change your results!

A challenge for you to remember - next time you're feeling down, check your body language and you'll almost certainly find that your posture reflects your mood.  Your head is probably slumped forward a bit, your shoulders will be drooped, you won't be breathing as deeply or freely as you could and you mood will be reflected in your face.

Similarly, if you're feeling fantastic you're likely to be standing or sitting up, shoulders back, head held high, eyes are smiling even if your cheeks aren't (and they probably are).......you'll be breathing freely and easily, and feeling great!

So - you know how to do each mood - so the next time you're feeling down, make a conscious decision to adopt the physiology of the fantastic - straighten up, breathe more deeply, find someone to smile at (and see them smile back), hold your head higher - and immediately you will find that you start feeling better.  As soon as this happens you're in a much better position to review your situation with better perspective, and find solutions to your current challenges!

It may sound simple, perhaps even trite - but just give it a go - you may be surprised at how powerful this technique is, and how much more powerful and effective you will become as a result.

For more information on this or for help with improving your results, please visit our website

Active Life Matters provides individual and business performance coaching by phone and online, so our clients can be anywhere in the world that has access to a phone or computer - and so can we!  Extremely time efficient, you will make powerful changes to your results very quickly - the moment you choose to do so!

Are you giving yourself enough acknowledgement?

Do you sometimes doubt yourself, or secretly diminish your self-worth through negative self-talk?

For years, I used to wonder when they were going to find me out.  My career was going well, promotions happening on a regular basis and yet I never really had faith in myself.  I simply thought I was hiding my inadequacies so well that they hadn't yet realised that I wasn't as good as they thought I was!

Negative self-talk like this doesn't help anyone, and I've finally realised a few steps to leading a happier life:

1. Trust myself
2. Trust those around me to see and acknowledge my qualities
3. Accept that there is always room for improvement
4. Continue to strive for improvement
5. Accept that I can't do it all by myself
6. Be willing to ask for help
7. Make the opportunity to acknowledge others as often as possible
8. Offer to help others whenever I can
9. Enjoy the process

Simple, effective and creates a whole new way of looking at life - far more relaxed and enjoyable - try it for yourself!

Personal performance coaching can assist anyone wishing to improve themselves and their mindset towards life. 
For more information and help with this please see our website!

Personal Power - now is the time

Do you ever feel that life is happening to you, rather than you making life happen?  If so, now's the time to change this, and regain your personal power.

How to regain your personal power?  Simply decide that's what you want to do, and take action right now!  One step is all you need to give you a sense of progress - and that small step is the decision to make changes.  To make changes in your life, you need to make changes in your life.

If youi're not sure how to make this decision, simply look at what it is costing you to stay the same.  What are you missing out on?  How much frustration and dissatisfaction are you experiencing at the moment?  How much extra energy is it taking you to struggle on, with no sense of progress?

At the same time, get really clear on what changes you're going to make.  How is life going to be different for you?  Which aspects of your life are most urgently demanding attention?

Once you've decided where to focus initially, decide what type of action will make a difference.  The first step doesn't have to be huge, in fact it's much better if it's a small step so that it's easy, effortless and yet gives you a sense of progress.

For example, suppose you've been working long hours, money is tight, you come home exhausted every day and don't enjoy being with your family because you're so tired.  No way to live, and yet you can't seem to find a way out?  Firstly, look at what it's costing you and your family.  Is your long-term health suffering?  Are your family suffering and missing out from not having the best of you?

Make the decision now that you're going to make changes.  How would you like it to be?  Talk to your family - an open discussion about it will help to strengthen the communication and they may have ideas you haven't thought of!  Create a picture and imagine how it would be in an ideal world - and then work out just one small step you could take to move closer towards this reality.  Put this step in place and notice the improvements that happen immediately.  Then work on the next step, and so on.

Nobody climbs a mountain with a giant leap - but lots of small steps one after the other will get you to the top more easily than you could have imagined.  Use your personal power now, and see how effortlessly you progress forwards towards your destination.

If you'd like more information or assistance with this, please see our website.

Where will you be in 5 years?

If you're having trouble getting focused, imagine where you'll be in 5 years time if nothing significant changes in your life.

Is this where you want to be heading? - if you're on track for great success, fantastic and congratulations!  However many of us know that we need to make changes - and we need to make them now in order to ensure that we're heading in the direction we want to be going.

So what does this mean?  It means that you can achieve almost anything you want to, if you get really clear on what you want, and what you need to do to get there.  However clarity by itself is not enough, of course - you need to take consistent, conscious action every day to keep yourself moving forwards towards your goals.

Each night, review what you achieved today that moved you closer, and - very importantly - acknowledge your efforts and congratulate yourself for it.  Constant reinforcement of your progress will maintain motivation and enthusiasm.  If things didn't go so well, don't beat yourself up about it - simply decide to do things differently tomorrow.  Stay focused on moving forwards in a positive way.

Once you've acknowledged your successes for the day, plan your actions for tomorrow - what else can you do towards your master plan?

Once you've worked that out, you can sleep peacefully - perhaps with a -pre-sleep meditation to totally relax you and set you up for another great day.

Every now and then, review your 5 year goal to make sure it's still relevant, desirable and appropriate for your life.

For assistance with this, please see our website.

Time to relax!

How often do you consciously make time for relaxation in your busy world?  We can change from relaxed to tense in a split second, yet without practice, it's not so easy to reverse the process.

And yet, our best decisions are made in a relaxed state when we can consider the big picture, look at all the implications, and feel that we're in control.  So doesn't it make sense to learn techniques that allow you to relax at a moment's notice?

Meditation can help you to develop these techniques, and with just 15 minutes practice each day you'll learn how to tap into far more of your brain power, so that you can run the show with ease.

Simply put, the technique requires you to:
1. Close your eyes (best not to do this when you're driving!)
2. Breathe longer, slower, deeper
3. Relax your body from head to toe
4. Repeat a mantra (simply a phrase or word that works for you, eg: 'I'm calm and confident', or 'Life is good' - whatever works for you)
5. Imagine a peaceful scene - see the colours, hear the sounds, feel the sensations and emotions
6. When you're at your most relaxed in this scene, create an 'anchor' by pressing a trigger point, eg: your finger and thumb - so that when you need this sensation in a hurry, you can re-create it instantly just by pressing your trigger point, without going through points 1-5.

Do this repeatedly, and you'll soon find that you're more relaxed anyway - and you'll be able to conjure up this state at will.  Do this, and watch your results dramatically improve.

For more information on this, or to improve your results with personal performance coaching, please see our website.

Is your self-talk working for you?

All of us have this little voice inside that comments on what we do, how we do it, and even what we're thinking.  Let's call it our 'observer'.

Our observer is completely free of emotion, it simply observes - and frequently comments on what we're up to!

The question is, is your observer commenting in an encouraging and supportive way?  Even if things go wrong, does it say things like 'so, let's learn from that experience' and 'ok so that one didn't work but let's try something different and hopefully better next time' or 'good on you for trying - far better than not trying!'......

Or, as often seems to be the case, is your observer holding you back, saying things like 'you're so stupid, of course that wasn't going to work!'...........

The funny thing is, although it sometimes seems as if we can't control our observer of course we can.  We can make the decision today to only listen to comments that are encouraging and supportive; to instruct our observer only to give us helpful and positive feedback.  It won't respond overnight, but in time you'll find that the self-talk becomes more and more supportive.

If you don't believe me, give it a go! - and remember to be firm with your observer - only positive self-talk from now on!

For more on this, and for help with improving your results please check out our website.