Sweep away the obstacles!

January 23, 2012 By

You have determination, made your decisions and laid out a plan for your success — and you can’t wait until you see and experience those results!  But wait; there is something else to think about.  Obstacles!

Obstacles, now just where did these come from?  Have they always been there?!  I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but yes, they have!  And it’s rare to accomplish anything without having to face them first.

Have you ever tried to ski or ice skate?  If so, you know that falling down is a big part of learning.  How do world class skiers and skaters become world class?  If you said through determination, you are correct!  They, just like you and I, have to start somewhere.  They decided to become world class and they made plans to get there.  Yet, just doing that, doesn’t bring them success.  They also see obstacles get in the way, but they tackle each one and sweep them away until one day they find themselves not falling down — well, not as much anyway!  And so then, what they do when they fall down is just as important isn’t it?  They get back up and keep going.

Where in your life do you allow obstacles to hold you back?  Or even, where do YOU PUT obstacles in your own way?  Oh I can hear you, you’re saying “That makes no sense; I don’t put stuff in my own way!”  Right, it doesn’t sound like something you would choose to do, but remember last week’s article where you admitted you do keep saying the same thing every New Year?  That’s the exact thing I’m talking about.  Last week, I asked you to look at things differently so that next year you wouldn’t be saying the same thing.  This week, I’m asking you to look at where you put obstacles in your path of determination that keep you from reaching your goals.

A client kept saying she wanted to lose weight.  She would create a great plan for herself and then every month she was frustrated because she still hadn’t lost a pound.  Yet, she was determined and sure that once she did, her life would be ‘so awesome’!  Did she clean out the food cabinets like she had planned?  No.  Did she get to the gym like she told herself she would?  No.  But her life would be so awesome if only she would!  So why was she NOT doing them?  Because she kept putting obstacles in the way of her own success.  Once she recognized that bringing more sweets into the house and choosing the couch over the gym were creating obstacles and keeping her from having the ‘so awesome’ life she craved, she let go of the resistance, swept away all the obstacles, and finally experienced a life that was ‘so awesome’!

This week I ask you to think of the ways you hold yourself back with obstacles you put in your own way — they could be physical, mental, or emotional — and see where you can begin sweeping them away so that you may live a life that is ‘so awesome’, too.

I would love to hear from you.  Feel free to share your comments below!

© Copyright 2012 Kim Ravida Coaching. All rights reserved. Feel free to use the material from the article in whole or in part, just makes sure you include this complete acknowledgement including the live website link and let me know where the material will appear: “Kim Ravida, owner and founder of Kim Ravida Coaching, is a Certified Professional Coach and a personal and professional motivation mentor. In essence, she motivates people to stop beating themselves up and helps them get off their butts so that they maximize their time and energy to quickly get what they want in their lives… and love their reflection! Kim produces a weekly ezine where she shares insights, inspirations, tips and ideas for setting and reaching personal and professional goals. To get more information or sign up, please go to www.kimravida.com.” 

Filed Under: Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , , ,

Start planning to be who you say you want to be

January 16, 2012 By

Isn’t it wonderful?  Over the past couple of weeks you have acquired determination and made decisions!  Way to go!  Now it’s time to create your plan.  A plan is the number one tool you can use to reach your success.  The purpose for creating a plan is so that you know the steps to take to achieve your desired results… and often in a shorter amount of time then you might expect.  Without a plan, essentially you have no map of where you are going and that makes the journey more of a challenge than it needs to be.  We have all heard the Proverb quote:  “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  Your successes aren’t easy to come by when you have no plan.

Weight loss is top of the list for New Year’s goals for many – ok, ok, it’s usually top of the list all year round!  While it is a great goal, I find that many of my clients haven’t planned out how they are going to do this.  They show determination in saying, “I want to lose weight” and they make the decision to make changes, yet never create a plan for them to succeed. Then they become frustrated and disappointed because they don’t meet their goals.

Awareness is the first part of the process to creating individual plans that succeed.  For example, you hear yourself saying “Boy oh boy, food keeps going in my mouth and I want it to stop if I’m going to lose this weight.”  This is a great place to start; you’re aware of the problem you want to address.  From here you can create a step by step plan: how much weight do you want to lose, by when, what steps will you take to do this, what will you continue to do, what will you stop doing, and what will get in your way and how to address those situations.  This will help you say, “I’m losing this weight no matter what and here is how I’m going to do it!”

My clients sometimes allow themselves to be pulled in whatever direction that happens to come to them at the moment.  A good example of this is:  it’s someone’s birthday at the office, and guess what comes with a birthday?  Usually a cake – and cake is yummy!  So they allow themselves to be sucked in and they end up eating the cake.  Yet, if they had a plan for this type of situation — how to gracefully decline the offer without offending anyone or getting into debates — they would have a much better chance of saying no to the cake and yes to staying on target to lose weight.  It’s easy to see how a plan can help you reach your goals!

So when will you start planning to be who you say you want to be and do what you say you want to do?  I would love to hear from you below.

© Copyright 2012 Kim Ravida Coaching. All rights reserved. Feel free to use the material from the article in whole or in part, just makes sure you include this complete acknowledgement including the live website link and let me know where the material will appear: “Kim Ravida, owner and founder of Kim Ravida Coaching, is a Certified Professional Coach and a personal and professional motivation mentor. In essence, she motivates people to stop beating themselves up and helps them get off their butts so that they maximize their time and energy to quickly get what they want in their lives… and love their reflection! Kim produces a weekly ezine where she shares insights, inspirations, tips and ideas for setting and reaching personal and professional goals. To get more information or sign up, please go to www.kimravida.com.” 

Filed Under: Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , ,

The beauty of decisions

January 12, 2012 By

Last week we talked about determination and how having it can help us move forward in our lives and obtain what we truly desire.  If you haven’t read it, click here.

Great, so now you have the determination to get what you want… but wait, there is so much you want that you don’t know where to begin.  As a Life Coach, I ask my clients questions to help them MAKE decisions that will assist them with reaching their goals.  The important piece is to MAKE an active decision so you aren’t left there standing, looking around, wondering why you haven’t gotten what you wanted.  Because when you fail to decide, you fail to move forward.

And don’t think you’re off the hook if you experienced a situation where you simply didn’t take action, because – yup, when you take no action, that’s also a decision!

I bet you don’t like that one bit.  I don’t either.  I have about 15 books that I started reading over the past few years that I have not finished. I took no action. So my decision NOT to finish them has now left me with new choices to make — like, just what do I do with all these books? Wouldn’t it be easier to decide to finish reading them, all of them? Truthfully, yes it would because then I wouldn’t have so much to make up my mind about. But in reality, I need to make a decision about which books to finish and when I’m going to do it — and that’s when it gets tricky.

So then, where in your life does the “tricky” part show up that keeps you from making decisions?  Where could you make a choice that would open a door or even several doors of opportunity to you?  Is there a conversation with someone that you think will be difficult so you keep putting it off?  Do you need to decide that yes or no you’ll join that coaching program?  Do you need to let go of something?  Is there some information you need before you make the decision?  Whatever it is, you have to face it head on and move beyond it. If you need to seek the counsel of others, do it. Otherwise you will continue to fail moving forward.

One thing I have experienced and trust is that once you do make the decision, doors will magically open – maybe even fly open.  So make the decision to get what you want, and trust that you’ll get it and a whole lot more!

Since last week you have been working on your determination, let’s keep the momentum rolling and add decision to your plan.  What is ONE decision you can make this week that will open a door so that you move closer to what it is you want?

I’d love to hear what your decision is; feel free to let me know!

© Copyright 2012 Kim Ravida Coaching. All rights reserved. Feel free to use the material from the article in whole or in part, just makes sure you include this complete acknowledgement including the live website link and let me know where the material will appear: “Kim Ravida, owner and founder of Kim Ravida Coaching, is a Certified Professional Coach and a personal and professional motivation mentor. In essence, she motivates people to stop beating themselves up and helps them get off their butts so that they maximize their time and energy to quickly get what they want in their lives… and love their reflection! Kim produces a weekly ezine where she shares insights, inspirations, tips and ideas for setting and reaching personal and professional goals. To get more information or sign up, please go to www.kimravida.com.” 

Filed Under: Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , ,

Have the determination to finally do it!

January 11, 2012 By

Happy New Year! It’s the time that we like to have a clean slate to start (or start over), but really, just how many times have you said that before? Did you say it last year, the year before, and the year before that? And each year you thought you were determined, right? Of course you were and you had great ideas for reaching your goals. Yet, here you are again in 2012 saying the exact same thing! What is going on with that?!

What if, going forward, you aren’t determined but instead you have determination? I know, you’re wondering “What’s the difference?” Other words for determined are: resolute, gritty, and unwavering. I’m not sure about you, but all I feel when I read those words is “blah”! I don’t feel very inspired. When setting goals and making plans, being inspired is an absolute! Now let’s look at the word determination: it also means purpose. Another word for purpose is intention, which also means goal. Hmmm…now that feels way better!

What is the purpose that you want to accomplish this year? Is it really losing weight or is it looking great in your jeans? Is it really about exercise or is it about feeling great inside and out? Admit it, it isn’t about losing the pounds or doing the exercise, it is about how you are going to FEEL once you do!

Does it make sense that by changing how you view something you can alter your interpretation? It’s about looking at things differently so you see them the way you want them to be!

What if this year you said “My purpose (aka, intention/goal) for 2012 is to look great, feel great and love my reflection”? How do you think that would change your outlook? What if you set about reaching those goals with easy-to-accomplish inspired actions? Might your results at the end of this year be more favorable? Sure they will! Whoohoo! Let’s do the happy dance!

In fact, let’s just do the happy dance right now. Go ahead: get up and dance around! Envision exactly how fabulous you will look and feel. It all starts with the determination to achieve your goals this year so next year you aren’t saying the same ol’ thing.

I’m looking forward to hearing how you use your determination to remove your blocks so that you find that you are Loving Your Reflection!!

© Copyright 2012 Kim Ravida Coaching. All rights reserved. Feel free to use the material from the article in whole or in part, just makes sure you include this complete acknowledgement including the live website link and let me know where the material will appear: “Kim Ravida, owner and founder of Kim Ravida Coaching, is a Certified Professional Coach and a personal and professional motivation mentor. In essence, she motivates people to stop beating themselves up and helps them get off their butts so that they maximize their time and energy to quickly get what they want in their lives… and love their reflection! Kim produces a weekly ezine where she shares insights, inspirations, tips and ideas for setting and reaching personal and professional goals. To get more information or sign up, please go to www.kimravida.com.” 

Filed Under: Personal Development, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , ,

So, just who is running your show?

December 2, 2011 By

I thought so. It’s time for you to take back the reins and make the decisions and choices you want and not what someone else wants.

It happens all the time, you say ‘yes’ when you really want to say ‘no’. Then you get mad. First at the person you said yes to and then at yourself. Is this fun, easy and enjoyable? Absolutely not! So, why does yes keep coming out of your mouth, when you really want to say no?

There could be many reasons, but I find that the number one reason is (hang on to yourself, its eye opening): ‘I want to be liked’. You want others to really, really like you, to see how awesome you are and so you say yes when you really mean no. You want them to like you, and see how great you are. You are afraid that if you say no, they won’t like you, won’t accept you.

This is similar to what I call ‘The Red-Nose Effect‘. Remember “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”? His father wanted his son to be accepted by his peers, so he hid his special (and important) nose. He said yes to make others happy. When you say yes to others, you say no to the most important person in your life…YOU! Where are you not running your show because you want others to accept and like you?

Filed Under: Personal Development
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