Spring Cleaning Time

It’s that time again. Springtime is just around the corner! I’ve been sort of obsessed with becoming more productive and organized lately. Sometimes you just need to remove the clutter in your life to make room for new and better things. I personally like to start my spring cleaning a little early, because as soon as it gets nice outside, the last thing I want is to be cooped up inside.

I just got through listening to Marla Dee’s Get Organized the Clear & Simple Way to see if I could get some good organizing tips before I started the process. I’m glad that I did, because she has some really great ideas. I’ll share with you some of the tips that I found useful. Of course, she goes into much more detail in her programs. This product has 9 programs, each over 1 hour long!

Her process includes 3 steps:

See it: Start with taking in your current surroundings. What’s working? What’s not working? Where are you stuck and why? What do you most need to accomplish? Create a vision of where you would like to be in the future. What do you need from a particular space?

Map it: Create this vision in its physical form. Where you are going and how you want to get there. This can be a list, chart, vision, mind map, pictures. This is your roadmap.

Do it: Take the action and create the results.

She also has a system called "S.T.A.C.K.S." It’s basically putting everything into piles without deciding where they go. It’s like categorizing everything. But the best tip is that as you are putting your stacks together, you put them each in a different banker’s box. This way, when you lose steam, you can put the boxes neatly away until you can deal with them another day. I really liked this idea,because I usually get over-ambitious and lose steam after the piles are created. Then I try to rush through the last part and usually end up cramming things places or not even finishing the project.

Do you have any good organizing tips? Please share with us by leaving a comment below.

Getting Things Done

My to-do list has been getting a little overwhelming these days both at home and at work. When I first began keeping it, it felt really empowering to be committed to an organized list. Before, I kept everything in my head and on notes scattered around home and at my desk. You can imagine how that system worked! But after a few weeks of dutifully keeping my list, I started to feel a little paralyzed on some of my projects, and soon I started to rebel against my list completely. Looking at the list was giving me anxiety and making me feel guilt and grumpy. I was starting to ignore the list completely and revert back to my old way of doing things – even though it didn’t work, at least it was familiar.

Then, David Allen came into my life. Sometimes things just sync up at just the right moment! David Allen is a NY Times bestselling author and creator of The Getting Things Done System. The tag line to this system is “whether you are a CEO, a student, or a stay-at-home worker, we’ll give you the keys to focus your energies without letting things fall through the cracks. We’ll show you how to create environments and best practices for work and home to avoid burn out and keep you relaxed, focused and productive” Sold! Sign me up.

I decided to just dive in and download the GTD full 2 day seminar. The seminar is an investment, but it is a fraction of the price of attending David Allen’s conference in person, and contains over 9 hours of really good material. The goal of the program is to master the flow of priorities into a manageable system so that your mind is emptied and ready for the present task. He claims your subconscious is usually on an endless loop about all of the things that are unresolved in your life. So this causes a lot of unneeded anxiety and keeps you from truly being focused on the present moment. Rings true for my life!

His system is much more advanced than creating simple to do-lists. He actually doesn’t believe these lists work because people tend to ignore them. Spot on!

One of the things he talks about in this seminar is mastering your workflow into five phases:

1. Collect all of the stuff you potentially have to pay attention to

2. Process: focus your mind on these things and determine they mean to you

3. Organize the results of that thinking into coherent systems that make sense

4. Review and keep current

Then: use this process to move ourselves into trust in terms of our judgments about what we do, and finally:

5. Do

Do you have your own process for getting things done? We want to know what is working for you! Please leave a comment below.

Instinctive Weight Loss

Last week I voiced my skepticism about hypnosis. I thought hypnosis could be a good addition to other types of programs you were using to help you achieve a goal, but I wasn’t convinced it could magically fix a problem you were facing. Well, I started listening to an amazing new program this week that combines hypnosis with practical advice and teaches you how to challenge some of your unconscious beliefs which may be keeping you from losing weight. This combination of hypnosis and advice makes this program an excellent tool to achieve and maintain your ideal weight.

It’s called the Instinctive Weight Loss System and I highly recommend that you check it out. It claims that diet and exercise treat the symptoms of weight gain, but it doesn’t tackle the source of your problem. This is why so many people gain the weight back after they lose it. Each program is an hour long and each program includes a special hypnosis session at the end. Damien Young, who is a clinical hypnotherapist and sports nutritionist, delivers some of the best hypnosis sessions I’ve ever listened to. His voice and visualizations truly helped put me in a hypnotic state. It’s only been a week, but I’m already seeing some results. I can’t wait to share with you more of my progress from this program.

If you have used Damien Young’s Instinctive Weight Loss System, please email me your experience! You can find our contact email by clicking on our blog profile.

If you’ve tried a weight loss program that has worked for you, we want to know about it. Please leave a comment below.

Does Hypnosis Really Work?

I’ve always looked at self hypnosis programs with a heavy dose of skepticism. First of all, I’ve never believed that you can fix problems without work. I don’t buy all of those marketing schemes that claim you can lose weight, but still eat as much as you want without exercising! Second of all, I can’t imagine lulling myself into a hypnotic state without falling asleep.

But I do believe in the power of the subconscious mind and the power of suggestion. I’ve been listening to a lot of motivational self help programs lately. I listen to them to and from work, every time I go out on a walk, while working and sometimes when I’m doing chores around the house. Listening to these audio programs has certainly helped me as I’ve been working toward my goals this January. I’m more optimistic and certainly more positive. These programs have helped me stay focused and have positively changed my overall attitude towards life.

Most of the self hypnosis programs I’ve listened to have some sort of positive affirmation and they seem geared toward putting you in a meditative state. Meditating on an issue and focusing on a positive outcome is a great way to progress toward your goal more quickly. Will a hypnosis program magically fix your problems, help you lose weight or make you more confident? I’m not sure. But I do know that they can be an important part of the solution.

Check out some of these self hypnosis programs: Build Confidence Hypnosis Session, How to Attract Love, Stop Smoking, Lose Weight, Success & Prosperity, Sleep Better, Relieve Stress & Anxiety

Programs I’ve been listening to recently: The Power of Self Coaching, The Body Fat Solution, Eat that Frog

What do you think about self hypnosis? We would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below.

Relationships II

Before I met my fiancé three years ago, I thought I might never have a long term relationship. My longest relationship had been in high school, which -- lasting only nine non-continuous months -- can’t really be characterized as long term. He was my first love, but I was very young and we broke up when I moved away to college. For years after this relationship, I only dated a few people and for no longer than 4 months or so. I was always looking for the next thing and really didn’t want to settle down.

But as I approached thirty, , I started to wonder why I couldn’t find a mate., The question “what is wrong with me?” began to haunt my thoughts. Now, I was not particularly proud of this thought. I am ferociously independent and claimed my singlehood like a badge of honor. But inside I was a hopeless romantic and had always dreamed of the day when I would meet my soul mate. The day I would meet the man who would turn me into the best possible person I could imagine. Looking back, I now know there wasn’t really anything wrong with me. It was my perceptions and attitudes that were keeping me from really connecting with anyone with whom I could build a solid relationship. I didn’t really understand what I wanted in a mate.

Once I began to examine some of the faulty perceptions I had about myself and about relationships, and to understand how I was attracting the exact opposite of what I truly wanted in a mate, my experiences began to change. I became more specific about what I was looking for and offered this vision up to the universe. I became more in tune with what is and is not good for me. I was able to explore relationships I would never have been open to before. Then, it just happened. It wasn’t a magical lightning strike like I thought it would be. It was something that grew with time and nurturing. And it was my choice. It was what I wanted. Now this relationship IS helping me become the best possible person I could imagine, but it’s not my mate who is magically causing this to happen. It is the relationship. Just like every relationship and experience helps you grow to become a better person, this one is helping me grow too.

If you are looking to understand yourself better and how you might be sabotaging your own relationships, check out these programs: Natural & Lasting Attraction, Cocky Comedy & Other Conversational Skills, Find Your Passion for Singles, Everything You Need to Find Real Love

Relationships

As we approach Valentines Day, many of us start focusing on our relationships, or lack thereof. It is my wish that all of you reading this have a loving and healthy relationship in your life. But even loving and healthy relationships need our special attention from time to time. Relationships are dynamic, constantly changing. They must be tended to daily, and we must be flexible enough to shift and change along with them. I wanted to share with you some relationship advice that Dr. Laura Berman details in her audio program, Guide to a Loving Relationship. The “soft addictions” portion surprised me and I realized this was something that I needed to work on. The technological innovations that permanently connect us to the outside world are amazing, but they can get in the way of being present with the people we love.

Dr. Berman advises: ·

• Never go more than two weeks without having sex. Having sex regularly keeps you more emotionally in tune, more connected, you get angry less easily, and you fight less often. It’s also great for your immune system and your health. ·
  
• One key to keeping your relationship strong is making sure you take time to create your own life, what psychologists call “individuation.” Make sure that you have your own friends, your own hobbies, and your own life. While it’s very important to spend time with your partner, you also need to find time for yourself.
  
• Soft addictions (such as blackberries, video games, shopping) get in the way of intimacy between partners. National research shows that partners who spend more than an hour every evening tending to their soft addictions have significantly less sex than those who don’t. · When men and women experience stress, they respond to sex differently. Men fall into a “fight flight” response, which increases their adrenaline and makes them want to have sex to let off steam and feel more powerful. Woman fall into a “tend and befriend” response, which lowers their testosterone levels (the hormone of desire) causing them a lowering of libido. If you’re aware of this difference, you can be more sensitive to your partners’ needs.

How do you keep your relationship healthy? We would love to hear from you! Please add your comment below.

Get in Touch with your Spirituality

One of my New Year’s goals this year was to get back in touch with my spirituality. I’m not a very religious person but I am very spiritual. Whenever I’ve gone a long while without nurturing my spirit, I can really feel the chaos of life start to get to me. There is so much negativity that we face in our daily lives, it is necessary to balance it with spiritual positivity. One of the ways I do this is by meditating. Even five minutes of daily reflection or silent contemplation can help. So on this note, I thought I’d share with you a simple meditation I recently learned. It’s straightforward and easy to do anywhere.

Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Sit on a pillow with legs crossed and spine straight. Close your eyes and spend a few minutes checking in with your body. Focus on relaxing each body part from head to toe. Check in with how you are feeling at this moment, acknowledge this feeling and then let it go. Try to spend five minutes on each breathing meditation described below:

1) Breathe in and out as you normally would. Count your out breaths until you reach 10. Once you reach 10, start your count again

2) Repeat above, but this time count your in breath

3) Now breathe in and out and this time concentrate on following your breath as it goes in and out of your body

4) Finally, as you breathe in and out concentrate on how the breath feels on your top lip as you release the breath from your nose

This meditation is designed to focus your mind on your breath instead of your thoughts. If your mind does wander off, just bring your attention back to your breath without judgment. Once you accomplish this meditation, you can combine it with other meditations. Check out some of our guided meditation downloads like The Eflexx Awareness Meditation: Dissolve Stress, The Efflex Empowerment Meditation, Mantra Meditation for Creating Abundance, Meditation Emotion and Healing, Kabbalah Meditation, Chakra Breathing Meditations, One Gentle Soul Meditation, Beginner’s Guide to Meditation, Loving Kindness Meditation, Mantra Meditation for Attracting and Healing Relationships, Plum Village Meditations, and Meditation for Beginners