To optimise our #efficiency we have to eliminate anything that might be holding us back or slowing us down, first. That’s why we started out this New Year with #decluttering and streamlining our physical (January’ Wholesome Blog Post)) and mental (February’s Blog) environments. Now we can start optimising the #resources we already have available to us, second.
What’s your most valuable #asset? Time! In order to become successful you will need to become an excellent time and money manager! #Goalsetting is ultimately #timemanagement. Having your time work with your dreams and aspirations, not against it.
“A goal is a dream with wings!”
Time Management
To optimise our #time we need to start by observing how we spend our time daily. We need to identify and eliminate our biggest time wasters to become more efficient with our limited time on this planet.
Time wasters indicate a lack of planning, personal organisation, self-discipline or self-management. You are wasting time whenever your attention shifts from a high to a low priority task. Supposedly, your top three #timewasters alone will waste up to 2 hours of your time every single day! (Sign up for the SUCCESS TRACK program if you want to get to the bottom of this. And make sure you sign up for this month’s Wholesome Newsletter if you’d like access to our ‘Time Waster’ worksheet to identify where you need optimisation. )
The universal 80/20 RULE applies on all levels, in every aspect of your life. Including but not limited to your inbox and bank accounts. What are your most valuable assets? Most people would answer time and/or money. Look at your life with new eyes and identify your time and money wasters. Stop yourself at regular intervals during the day and think: “what is the best use of my time right now?” Managing your time boils down to managing yourself. Listen to your inner Feng Shui Master and notice, organise and streamline every aspect of your life. De-clutter for clarity and efficiency!
“Success is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing of vision to be embraced and achieved with direction and passion.”
Hellen Keller
Time Affluence
How do you define #success? What does an affluent lifestyle look like to you? What do you think of when you hear ‘#affluence’? Most people think of expensive things and luxurious experiences, but you can be rich in time as well. #TimeAffluence is that luxurious feeling when you have an abundance of time. You never feel rushed, or strapped for time. You have time for the things that are important to you. You have time to do the things you want to do.
People think they want more money to become happier, but it is actually the other way around: people who prioritise time over #money, turn out to be #happier!
Money doesn’t buy happiness. Money will never satisfy us, because we will never make enough of it. Research has shown that whatever raise you receive will never be high enough. Scientifically research has figured out that for every $1.00 increase in your income, you believe you should have been given a $1.40 increase! One of the main reasons why money will never satisfy us, is because of one of our detrimental mental programming where we are always comparing ourselves to others. It’s called #SocialComparison. We #compare our salaries with our coworkers’ and our neighbours’ income. There have been studies showing that when you find out your colleagues make more #money than you do, you will be less satisfied with your job. When your neighbour wins the #lottery, YOU will likely end up buying a new car! And, interestingly enough when the unemployment rate is high (like during the Covid Lockdowns and aftermath) those that are unemployed tend to be happier than if the unemployment rate would have been low.
Keeping up with the Joneses is costing us dearly, it’s costing us our happiness! Everything comes at a price in life, you just have to decide what it is worth to you. Release any ideas that don’t serve you any longer and let go of any patterns or habits that hold you back. De-clutter for #happiness!
“Follow your Bliss.”
Joseph Campbell
Practicing Presence
Transformation doesn’t happen by itself, it takes a lot of effortful dedication and diligence. It is so easy for us to get caught up in ‘to do’ lists and deadlines, that we forget that the journey is the destination. To RESET that old habit of rushing and racing through life, we need to teach ourselves to hit the PAUSE button.
Meditation has that desired zen side-effect of slowing us down in everyday life. Instead of constantly reacting, it teaches us to take a breath first so we can choose how we want to respond. Another way to slow yourself down is by really savouring the moment. Savouring is the act of stepping outside of an experience to review and appreciate it fully. By doing so it intensifies and lengthens the positive emotions that come with doing something you love. Fully appreciating the present moment, is a profound expression of gratitude. Savouring every step of your Journey is the Destination.
Savour Yourself
Practice Presence this month by picking one experience each day that you will enjoy thoroughly. It could be a nice long shower, a bath, a delicious meal, the walk home from the subway station, the flower stand on the corner, a book, a phonecall with a loved one. Everything in life is better shared, and sharing an experience significantly enhances the savouring of it. If you’re not sharing a meal with someone, maybe you can take a picture of the stunning sunset you saw on your way home and share later. The photo will be a great souvenir for you as well, and remind you later in the day or week of how lucky you were to have been able to enjoy such an amazing moment. Just make sure that you stay fully present in the moment the entire time, even while taking a snapshot of it. Don’t let the snapshot interfere with the actual experience!
Gratitude is a positive emotional state in which we recognise, acknowledge and #appreciate what we have already received in life. It is a selfish way of tricking the Universe in giving you more, while making you feel good to boot. Manifest the life you want to live through expressing #gratitude for the #wholesome moments you already have!
“We Convince with our Presence.”
Walt Whitman
Attitude!
Time and money are the most measurable #assets we have. There are many kinds of obstacles that can be placed on your path towards our goals, both in the outside world as within ourselves. You could look at them as assets, or as #obstacles, depending on your #perspective. Do you focus on the negative or #positive? Do you see mistakes or opportunities? Do you focus on the problem or the #solution? Are you a whiner or a winner?
A whiner is someone who is problem-oriented and spends his or her time on complaining, criticising, blaming, gossiping, backstabbing, and excuse-making. A winner uses his or her time much more efficiently by focussing on #solutions. A winner is focused, enthusiastic, energetic, action oriented and driven.
Attitude of Gratitude
Gratitude can also help us through challenging times by simply making our minds #focus on the #positive instead of loosing ourselves in the negativity. You can save a marriage by simply focussing on everything that is going right, instead of wrong. #Reframing a #challenging experience by focussing on the #silverlining can reform it! #Countingyourblessings makes you acknowledge what we already have accomplished together and reflect how far we have come.
Give Attitude like a Boss!
We are all leaders in our own lives. To be successful you need to become an excellent time and obstacle manager with a CAN DO ATTITUDE. #Goalsetting is ultimately #timemanagement. Having your time work with your dreams and aspirations, not against it. Managing your #time boils down to managing yourself. Be your own boss. Act like your favourite manager! Being at the effect of your actions, not just affected by circumstances. Stop yourself at regular intervals during the day and think: “What is the best use of my time right now?”
#Success and #happiness are a #choice! Have the #attitude that obstacles come to instruct, not obstruct. Learn from your #mistakes, keep an open #mind (#growthmindset ). Success isn’t about not failing, it is about bouncing back!
The Success Track Program will help you with further developing your goal setting and time management skills. Sign up here. It looks like this pandemic might put our lives on hold till the summer, so why not take a 3 month self- coaching program to have you chomping at the bit by then?!
This month put your CANDO Attitude of Gratitude into action! Live intentionally by being fully present every step along the path to your #happiness and #fulfilment!
Best Regards in Success and Wellbeing,
Nathalie Francois
Feel Good, Be Good, Do Good.
Everyday this month fine-tune your timing:
1. Practice Gratitude Daily:
Be here Now.
- Pick an activity, experience or moment to savour every day this month. Write it in your gratitude journal at the end of the day while reliving every aspect of the experience as if rewinding a recording of it.
- At the end of every day this month, write down the three things/people/experiences you are most grateful for that day.
2. Be and Excellent Time Manager:
What’s the best use of your time?
Hit the PAUSE button several times a day this month and ask yourself if you are fully present. Ask yourself “What’s the best use of my time right now?”
Start a time log to see how much time you spend on certain activities, if you want to streamline your time as much as possible. Keeping a time log could help you identify your biggest time wasters.
Once you have identified the above, you can create a schedule to work your plan. Write them down: start using your word creatively instead of descriptively. Live intentionally to create your wholesome life! Live by design, not happenstance.
(Sign up for the Wholesome Newsletter (usually published around the 21st of every month) to receive the Time Waster Document to help you identify where you waste most of your time.)
3. Think like an excellent Time Manager:
What is the best way to achieve this?
Learn from your mistakes. Look at obstacles as instructions to improvement. What’s the most efficient way to achieve success? Who could you enlist support for your endeavours? Who is better at completing certain tasks successfully? How can you create an invincible team that exceeds all expectations?!
P.S. Sign up for the Wholesome Newsletter to receive these monthly Wholesome Living #coachingtips straight into your inbox. You will receive the extra BONUS Time Waster document in March’s Newsletter!
P.P.S. The Success Track Program will help you further develop your goal setting and time management skills. Sign up here to get started today! It looks like this pandemic might put our lives on hold till the summer, so why not take a 3 month self-coaching program to have you chomping at the bit by then?!
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