Month: August 2019

Hey, well this is the end of the 12 easy tips for an improved life. I hope you have found them to be of some help. So, here is the last one, and to me possibly the most important one.

Tip 12

Pet a cat, smell a rose, sit in the sun

The point here is to appreciate life when we can. We can all feel overwhelmed by life. Sometimes it can seem as if nothing is going right. Life can be a downright disaster at times.

Sometimes we get very busy with life. We may feel we are chasing our tail. This needs to be done. That needs to be done. You are like the Energizer bunny going and going.

When life is like this, the key is to stop. Yes you can. You can take time out to rest. When life is this busy, this is when you need the rest the most. It isn’t a waste of time. It is necessary to recharge.

Do any of the above or what it is that relaxes you. A little tip about cats is that their energy goes in the opposite direction than our energy. So, petting a cat will unwind you so to speak. Use your left hand when petting a cat because we receive energy in our left hand and it leave through the right. But it you don’t have a cat, a dog will work nicely.

The point is to do something in a stressful moment that helps you to take a breath. That you appreciate the small joys in life. It is to emphasize the need to see the good.

One of my favorite examples of this is say you have a small child who has left finger prints all over your sliding glass door or some windows. Now you have to clean the glass. You may be frustrated with the need to have to do this. But just remember that the child was able to do that. That child has 10 fingers to leave marks on the glass. A sick child may not be able to do that.

So, remember is life is a disaster or busy to your breaking point, do something to take a step back, take a breather.

OK there you have it.

Take care,Lisa

www.facebook.com/coachLisa

Introduction: Hello I am back. I have presented 9 tips so far that are easy to do, and if done right, can make a big impact, improvement in your life. I hope you have given them a try.

Tip 10

The person to whom you listen, knows more than you.

I react the most to statements from people who know more than I do on that particular subject. Most everyone is an “expert” on at least one subject. This is a subject they have dedicated their life learning. This is a subject they have practiced for many years. They have life experience with this subject. They have been through it.

For example, I have studied dog behavior since 1987. I love it. I consider myself to be an expert on dogs. If you have a question about dogs, I can probably answer it. If you were to ask me, I would expect you to really listen. Why? Because you would not ask if you did not think I knew more than you.

But, if you did not know that about me, you may not listen to what I have to say because I don’t know that I know more. Right?

I, like most people, have a mentor. When she says something, I listen. Sometimes it really aggravates me. Why? Well, she may say something that I find really “wrong”. My initial reaction is to think, “you don’t understand. You don’t get me. You don’t know how I have struggled. You are asking too much.” I get frustrated.

But then I think about it. She really does get me more than I realize. She also has a lot of faith in me to learn from her. When I give the thought to sit with me awhile, the how becomes clear.

The point is I listened to her because I know she knows more than I. If I did not believe she knew more than I, I would not listen, pay attention. I would ignore her words. It would not give it another thought. So, what we need to do is to seek advice, guidance from someone who knows more than we do. We need to seek out someone who understands. And when we find that person, listen, pay attention.

And some day, you may be the expert for that person. I was for my mentor. I counseled her. She listened and it helped her. What a great feeling that was.

OK.

Cheers.

Lisa

www.facebook.com/coachLisa

Hello, I am back with my 12 easy tips for improvement. These are 12 easy tips that can make a big impact.

Tips 8 & 9

Tell the truth. Be precise in communication.

I would think it goes without saying that integrity is important. I would think that everyone wants to be honest, and that no one wants to hear lies. It, telling the truth, isn’t always easy though is it? Sometimes it is done to not hurt someone’s feelings. The key to that is to be as gentle as possible and to not say too much. The more we say sometimes makes things worse.

I am that individual who would rather hear the truth than a lie. Lies are always revealed. And when that happens, it hurts. Someone thinks you are a fool to believe what they are saying. Sometimes I pretend to believe the lie because I can use that to my advantage. But, it still hurts that someone thinks I am that dumb to believe them. The point is it hurts.

A poem to relate this: Dark Despair

To learn that you have been deceived that dark despair, The darker pain to learn of it and find you no longer care. ~Carolyn Elizabeth Barnes Yerington

It is also important to be precise in what we say. There is a lot of misunderstanding in this world. This really hit home with me when I said something I thought was very innocent. (I do this a lot). And the receiver of my words was I will say taken aback. She told me what she heard. “I did not mean it like that”, I responded. Her response, “It does not matter what you meant, what matters is what I heard.”

This was years ago, and it has stuck with me all these years. It is quite noticeable in the world today. People hear something. They twist it to what they think someone said, and then tempers flare up and finger pointing begins, and the message which was simple is now lost.

Another problem with language is that we are clear in our mind what we want to say. It can be a very simple statement. But people can be on two different pages. We are making reference to one thing and someone thinks we are making reference to something else. Then there is confusion. Remember, that other people are not reading your mind. We need to be specific when we talk.

The key to this is think before speaking. What will that person or those people think when I say _____? How can I say what I want to say without having it be unclear or misunderstood? How will my words be interpreted?

Now, I don’t want you to be afraid to speak. Just be clear. Be specific. Make sure that what you say will be on the same page as who is listening. You don’t want to talk about one thing when someone else thinks you are talking about something else.

OK.

Cheers.

Lisa

www.facebook.com/coachLisa

INTRODUCTION: I have a series of 12 tips for an improved life. These are simple yet make a big impact.

Tip 7:

Find the Meaning in the thing rather than getting through.

The world today is very busy and fast paced. Frankly, I think people rush too much. Most people try to cram too much into the day. When we do this, we lose meaning in what we do.

We are so busy doing what we do, that we hardly know what we are doing. We have not finished one thing and we have, at least in our minds, already moved on to the next item on the list.

To help speed things up, many have become very good at multitasking. Let’s try to do more than one thing at a time while we think of the next thing on the list. Although many people brag about their multitasking skills, more often than not, it really is not a good thing to do. While multitasking, one is normally not doing either activity well. And they are so busy doing two things they really don’t care if it is done well, just get it done.

Slow down.

Yes, you can.

This is what is known as mindfulness. It has to do with being aware. It has to do with paying attention. It has to do with appreciating the moment. It has to do with excellence.

There is a serious lack of people wanting to be excellent anymore. People who love their jobs want to be excellent at their job, but otherwise as long as it gets done, that is all that matters. I am not suggesting that you aim to have everything perfect. But care about what you do. Take time to reflect.

People today say their life has no meaning. It does. You just don’t see it. Rushing through everything you miss it. Those dishes you have to clean well, they were what you used to put the food on the table. That dog mess you have to clean up. That is part of having that wonderful companion you have in your dog if you enjoy your dog’s company. Those clothes you need to launder. They give you style. They help to define you. You get the idea.

Mobile phones are another distraction. For Pete’s sake put them down from time to time. I feel sad being in a restaurant and see a family sitting together only to have their elbows touching because they are watching some video or messaging someone. Stop. Talk to each other. When I am around a good friend or family, I can’t talk enough. I used to be around my mom every day. We never ran out of things to discuss. We enjoyed each other’s company. I miss mom.

On the same note is video games. They are OK. But really, I have seen children cry over the thought of not being able to do that. Where is the meaning in them? They are a distraction from life.

In summary, do one thing at a time. Find the value or meaning in that thing that you are doing. Put down the mobile phones and stop gaming so much. And you will find life has more meaning.

Cheers.

Lisa

www.facebook.com/coachLisa

Introduction: I have been sharing 12 easy tips for improvement. These tips are designed to be simple, but make an impact.

Tip 6:

Have your life in order before being critical of others.

It is really interesting to me how we all have the ability to see what is wrong in another person’s life, but cannot see it in our own life. I am guilty of this as much as anyone.

What helps to break us of this is looking in the mirror. I told someone that, and her response was that she did not want to look in the mirror. I get that. It is hard to look at our selves sometimes, and be critical. But it can be very helpful. We are not reflecting on who we are in order to try to be perfect. We are not reflecting on who we are to be hard on our self. We are reflecting on how to be more free. We can reflect then let go of any bad habits we have.

I am just the opposite of a lot of people. I like to look in the mirror. That is, I like to look at my actions. I ask why a lot. I wonder what should I be getting out of this experience? Let me give a few examples.

I have had dogs all my life. They teach so much. My dogs tend to get very excited sometimes when people walk by the house. Now that they are getting older, they don’t run to the fence as they used to do. But there have been times when I say to them, “calm down, you are out of control”. Then I realize, there have been occasions, when someone could say that to me. My initial reaction at times can be to be “out of control” and I need to settle down. I did not see that in me until I reflected on that.

How about another dog example? I have trained my dogs. They know how to properly walk on a leash. But in the beginning, they would pull. They were always in a rush. Lets go! My response to them was “take it easy we’ll get there.” And what was I doing? Rushing. I was always rushing. I was in a hurry to accomplish one thing or another. What did I learn? Slow down. You will get there.

Here is one more example. My cousin had a very messy home. Stuff was piled up everywhere. Food on the counter. Dishes everywhere. She had a newborn. It was no place for a baby. When her neighbor was about to bring home her newborn, what did my cousin do? She went over and cleaned house because that was no place for a baby. My cousin could not see the mess in her own place, but saw the mess next door.

The point is that what often bothers us about others bothers us about us. If you are really bothered about the actions of others, look in the mirror. Reflect on it. What are you seeing in others that you are not seeing in your self. What bothers you the most in others is something you need to change in you.

Remember that no one is perfect. We are all doing the best we can. But until we work out the kinks in our life, we can’t help others with their life.

No one can help others if they can’t take care of their own self. It is only through mastering something yourself can you assist others.

OK. Take care!

Cheers!

Coach Lisa

www.facebook.com/coachLisa

Introduction: I am doing a series of easy tips for an improved life. They are designed to be simple actions that make a big impact.

Tip 4:

Who were you yesterday?

When we are working on self improvement, change may seem really slow. It may seem that we are not making any progress.

A big problem many people have is comparing their self, their progress against others. Most of us have a model. We have some person we admire and want to be like. We take steps to be more like that person. We start out very enthusiastically. But it often seems that that other person has really big shoes to fill. As time passes, we get disappointed.

That person makes it look so easy. And for us, it can be very difficult. It is not impossible, but harder than we thought. Sometimes it is so hard, we quit.

What to do?

Stop comparing your self to others for one. Understand that some things are naturally a lot easier for some than others. For example, some people are natural born sales experts. I know someone who can sell anything to anyone. Me, it is really hard. I could do the exact same thing as this person, but my results would pale in comparison. People you admire are probably naturally good at what ever it is you admire in them. It will take more work and effort for you to do what they do. If it were something you do naturally well, you would not be looking at them for inspiration.

Don’t get me wrong. It is great to have a mentor. It is great to try to improve your self in some aspect of life by following their example. Learning what that mentor did and following in their footsteps is a great way for improvement. But, remember that person is naturally good at that and has been doing it a long time. You can’t be as good when you are just starting out.

Look at your own progress for two. The question here is how have you improved since just yesterday? No really, how are you better today than yesterday?

Let me give an example. I got a new home 4 years ago. The yard was a blank canvas. I had all sorts of ideas of how to make it beautiful. I’m still working on it. I get discouraged sometimes. I thought I could have it perfect in 18 months. But, it takes time. I have to think how much I have actually accomplished in 4 years. I look at the project I did a couple of months ago. When I look around the yard, there is a lot of change and improvement.

The point is to look at you and your accomplishments. You may not reach your goal in the time you expected or wanted. But as long as you make progress, you are improving. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Change can be quick. Sometimes things can happen really fast. But it can be slow too. Don’t be discouraged. Follow this tip, and you will realize you are making changes.

Here for you.

Cheers.

Coach Lisa

www.facebook.com/coachLisa