Journey into Gratitude Retreat

On the weekend I attended a retreat completely different to anything I had ever experienced before. For starters I was on the committee and we had been organising it since January. I have organised girls weekends away before but never to the point of organising activities etc. From the outset, we were determined that we wanted a retreat to satisfy all the participants. We created a vision that encompassed everything each four committee members thought were important. With that in mind, we began planning speakers, activities, gifts and many other minute details. We put loads of energy and action into achieving this event.

It was to begin on Friday at 5 pm. As you can imagine, there almost wasn't enough time in the day on Friday. However, when 5 pm came along, we were in position and relaxed to welcome guests. We hosted some fantastic presenters; we had yoga, tai chi, speed manifesting, NLP, self gratitude, painting and Indian healing. We even had time to wedge in a 'Christmas in July' thanksgiving dinner. Well after all the Saturday night was the 25th.

All along the journey of organising this retreat, the four of us on the committee maintained that if we kept focused on what we wanted to achieve it would happen. And quite simply, that is what we did. We were clear on what outcomes we wanted and we stayed focused on that. If one of us lost focus, someone else was there to restore our faith and positive thinking.

We had hiccups, definitely. Our art therapy lady cancelled her presentation a week or so out from the retreat and on the day before the retreat, we had another presenter cancel. We stayed calm and focused and it all turned out perfectly.

I guess why I am sharing this with you is not only to reinforce that if you set your goals, take action toward them and stay focused then you can achieve whatever you want or turn things around to make them whatever you want them to be but also to reinforce that sometimes you come up against things that do trigger doubt or disbelief in your ability and with assistance from a coach, you can bounce back to where you want to be in next to no time.

So remember, if you are stuck in doubt or disbelief, call me.

3 great questions

Recently I read 3 great questions to start your children's day off in the right direction. It's using the Law of Attraction. I read them and thought they were great questions to start the day off for anybody. From time to time we all come across challenges in our life, most of us have more than one challenge every day. If we haven't learned to master the art of switching off the negative self talk yet, this may just be a way to help us live a better life. It certainly helps us to visualise our day and focus on what we want to have in our life. So, what are the questions?

What kind of day do you want to have today?
What kind of things do you want to have happen today?
How do you want to feel in your day today?

Simple? Easy? I have these questions on a nice piece of paper on my napkin holder on the breakfast table. That certainly reminds me to focus on what I want in my day. My son however is 9 and reading something on the napkin holder would only really happen if it had nintendo at the top! Today being his first day back at school after holidays, he kept saying he wanted to stay at home again. Obviously the holidays at our house are too much fun. I'll have to do something to change that next holidays so he wants to go back to school when the holidays are over, maybe even before!

On our drive to school I asked him the above questions. I just simply used them in our conversation. I can't wait to hear about his day today. I'm not sure if it will have an obvious instant affect. I hope so. Even if there is no obvious tangible change, it really is a nice conversation to have with yourself, your husband and your children at the beginning of the day.

So what kind of day do you want to have today?

These trying times?

Each day, I hear more and more how people are 'struggling' and how 'business is slow'. Today on the news I heard our acting Prime Minister talking doom and gloom and economic crisis. Even people I know who are usually very positive are beginning to feel the negative pull into this kind of mentality. I appreciate that perhaps people aren't spending the way they used. I feel what we should be focusing on is what is good. If things are slow, are we doing everything we can to promote our business to others? Are we focused on growing our business or are we content with saying that business is slow and quiet. Let's not focus on what we don't want. If we have less jobs on than before, what do we want to have?

Here's some simple steps to get you focused in a positive way. Write a list of all the things we don't want to happen. Let's face it. It's easy to identify the things in our life we don't want. Now write a new list. Ask yourself (for each of those items on our 'what we don't want' list) so what do I want? Put that list up in a place where you will see it regularly. Do you need one for work and one for home? Focus on getting those things. Do you need to think about how you are going to go about getting those things? Perhaps an action plan or maybe even enlist the help of a friend, a partner or a coach to get those things happening in your life. Think about what you do want and get it!

An example:

I don't have many clients "So what do I want" I want more clients= What can I do to get more clients?