Month: February 2016

Posted in Blog, Personal Inspiration, Podcasts

Connecting with Others and Building Friendships

Posted on by Coaching for Inspiration with Patti

A few weeks ago I wrote about life changing subjects to consider incorporating into ourselves this year in the blog post It is a New Year.  The seventh key action step is working on connecting with others and building friendships.

I have heard people say there seems to be a trend happening of people lacking a connection to others. More and more people appear to becoming distance, isolated and lonely.  Humans are made to be social, crave friendships, and want to feel accepted and loved.

What can you do today to connect to others?  

If we want to have lasting friendships we have to be willing to open ourselves up to the possibility of failure and to trust people even when we are not sure we can trust.  How can we break down those walls and connect with others to have lasting friendships?  Building friendships is hard work but well worth every minute of working on it.

Do you think there would be less lonely miserable people if we reach out and help others by building bridges instead of constructing walls?

To keep relationships going, make an effort to reach out by contacting and responding back.

If someone takes the time to call, send an email, instant message or text you respond back.  People who do not respond back appear to be rude, self-absorbed or come a cross that you aren’t important to them.  This may not be the case at all but that could be how it is taken.  Respond back even if it is “I got your message.  Thank you!”  To keep good relationships with friends, associates, clients, family and others in your life make some sort of effort or people may give up on you.

We all get busy with work and personal lives.  Sometimes we feel overwhelmed.   When we can take a few minutes every day to reply back to others it strengthens our friendships and happiness. ~ Patti

Questions-  Is this a subject we all may want to improve upon?  How does it make you feel when others don't respond back to you?

 

Posted in Blog, Business Inspiration, Inspirational Moments, Leadership Inspiration, Personal Inspiration, Podcasts

The Practice of Journaling

Posted on by Coaching for Inspiration with Patti

The Journal

A few weeks ago I wrote about life changing subjects to consider incorporating into ourselves this year in the blog post It is a New Year.  The sixth key action step is working on the practice of journaling.

Choose a time to journal daily.  It can be when you get up in the morning, on your lunch time or before going to sleep.  You may use the questions from this website or just self-reflect about your day. Journaling can open up your mind to change and help inspire you to pursue your dreams, aspirations and goals.

Journaling allows you to alter your thoughts which block you from achieving your goals.  We all need someplace to think and rejuvenate.  Are you taking time for you?   Would scheduling some time help?  Is this something to consider for creating balance in your life?  If you don’t have a place, imagine where to find one?  It could be anywhere you feel at peace.  Why not consider journaling and let me know how it made a difference in your life.  ~ Patti

Comments are always welcome and please share it with your colleagues and on your social networks!

 

 

Posted in Blog, Personal Inspiration, Podcasts

Daily Forgiveness Practices

Posted on by Coaching for Inspiration with Patti

Forgiveness

A few weeks ago I wrote about life changing subjects to consider incorporating into ourselves this year in the blog post It is a New Year.  The fifth key action step is working on daily forgiveness practices and forgiving yourself and others.

This is a difficult topic even for me.  I have my own battles with forgiveness.  It is not easy and I continue to keep working on it daily.  There are some relationships that may not ever be where I want them to be and forgiveness is a work in progress.  It is important to continue being positive and forgiveness will follow.  Like the old saying goes “Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness but because you deserve peace.” ~ John Lockwood Huie

How do we forgive when someone has hurt us deeply and we comprehend that they will probably not ever apologize?  They may think what they said or did was justified.  They may think they did nothing wrong.  They may think they have every right to behave in that way.  They may be too selfish or self-centered to even realize they hurt you.  Or they may have the attitude, just don’t care and going to say whatever they feel without any regards to others feelings.  They may have the philosophy “Life is short, so say what you feel” and use it as an excuse to say hurtful things.

Forgiveness maybe even harder, when it is a family member.  The holidays and family special occasions are more difficult when these circumstances are in the mix.  These gatherings don’t feel joyful, it feels more like sadness, anger, anxiety and overwhelm.  Sometimes family members take sides and the hurt keeps hurting.  There may be rude intentional remarks towards you or other family members.  Conversations move toward your past mistakes instead of encouraging you or a happy to see you.  So how do we move past these situations and be able to forgive?

Okay, now let’s talk about some strategies to help deal with moving forward and not letting these occasions open up those old feelings of pain, anger, anxiety or an emotional breakdown and turn them into happy memorable times.

  • Listen to happy, soothing, spiritual or religious music when feelings of unforgiveness start to surface within you.
  • Think happy thoughts and find something fun to do.  A hobby, an art project, a sport activity, go for a walk or run.
  • Practice meditation and/or pray of “Letting Go”.
  • Use positive affirmations daily as well as before, during and after family gatherings.
  • Imagine yourself having a great time at the gathering and you have changed your perception of the unforgiven person as if they are someone you truly liked being around and admire.
  • Watch your reactions and triggers when you assume other people’s motives.  Become aware of those negative thoughts and/or assumptions, push them away with positive thinking. When there is continual negative thoughts and/or assumptions this will keep you stuck in the past.  Thinking with positive thoughts and action steps is a great way towards forgiveness.
  • When faced in a situation with the person who engages in being rude and demeaning towards you, calmly excuse yourself from the conversation, walk away and find someone who you like being around to uplift your spirits.  Smile and laugh with them to ease  the tension or apprehension you may be feeling.
  • After the occasion think about only all the good conversations you experienced and any special things that happened.  Journal about all these good things that happened and reflect on only them.

Being angry and unforgiving only hurts you.  Let go of the unforgiveness inside you and move towards experiencing peace, love, joy and true happiness in life. ~ Patti

Another saying:  “I believe that life is short, and there is too much time wasted bearing grudges, and I like to move on”. ~ Sam Taylor-Johnson

Self-Reflection Question:

What action steps will you do to achieve forgiveness in your life?

Coaching for Inspiration
Coaching for InspirationwithPatti.
com – TM
Posted in Blog, Personal Inspiration, Podcasts

Developing an Achievable Budget and Change Spending Habits to Relieve Stress and Overwhelm

Posted on by Coaching for Inspiration with Patti

The Journal

A few weeks ago I wrote about life changing subjects to consider incorporating into ourselves this year in the blog post It is a New Year.  The fourth key action step is developing an achievable budget and to be successful in managing your money.

There are all kinds of budget planning systems out there.  Making it simple is the key.  Some people like budget daily planners, some like spreadsheets to keep track of spending, others like APPS on cell phones.

Let’s make it simple:

Get a pen and small notebook to track daily spending habits it is really easy to track spending.  Everytime you want to purchase something pull out your spending notebook.

Set daily, weekly and monthly goals of how much free money you have to spend.

How much money per month do you make (Income)?

How much per month goes towards bills (Expenses)?   Add up all your bills for the month. example: (Mortgage, Rent, Utilities, Credit Cards etc.)

How much money do you need per month for food, groceries and travel to and from work?  Add up and review what you spent last month.  Is there something you can change in your spending habits to save money?  Do you go out for lunch and dinner everyday?  Do you make your breakfast, lunch and dinner at home?

How much did you spend for other expenses?  Add them all up from last month.  Review your spending habits from last month.  Is there something you are spending your money on that you really don’t need?

How much money do you want to put towards savings?

How much do you have left?   Take your total income and minus your total expenses and savings amount.

Do you have any money left?

Example:

Income (Total pay for the month)             $2,500.00

Expenses (Total bills per month)             – $1,500.00

Total spending per month on groceries, gas in car etc.   – $   300.00

Total to put towards savings account each month        -$     250.00

Total amount left                                                                 +      450.00

$450.00 divided by 31 days = $14.51 per day in spending to make monthly money goal.

If yes, how much?

If no, review what you are spending your money on and what can be cut out.

Once you have your figure.  Each day write down everything you are spending.  At the end of the day review what you spent.  Did you stay at your target amount?

Every time you pull out that notebook and write something down think about it before you spend it.  Is this really helping me achieve my money goals.  Do I really need this $4.00 cappuccino and coffee today?  If I buy that $4.00 coffee I will have $10.52 left for the day.

Knowing how much you have to spend in a day will help you stay within budget.  By writing down everything you spend makes it easy for better decisions with your money.

My challenge for you is to take last month figures and start incorporating your daily budget number into your daily spending habits this year.  If you have not been saving any money this may help you achieve it. ~ Patti

Coaching for Inspiration
Coaching for InspirationwithPatti.
com – TM

 

 

Posted in Blog, Business Inspiration, Leadership Inspiration, Personal Inspiration, Podcasts

Using Daily Affirmations

Posted on by Coaching for Inspiration with Patti

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Four weeks ago I wrote about life changing subjects to consider incorporating into ourselves this year in the blog post It is a New Year.  The third key action step is using affirmations in our daily life.

Affirmations are positive words or sentences that may assist you to stay focused in an encouraging manner.  If you repeat an affirmation every day, throughout the day you may notice an optimistic transformation in your attitude towards yourself and others.  This may help improve your relationships at home, in the workplace and may even increase career opportunities.

Examples of Daily Affirmations for home and work.

Daily Personal Affirmation:   I reflect love and happiness!

Exercise:  Practice this affirmation daily and reflect on how it made you feel through out the day.

Daily Workplace Affirmation:   I achieve my goals!

Exercise:  Practice this affirmation daily at work and reflect on how it made you feel.

Some people either like to use affirmations and some don’t believe in them.   I personally use affirmations myself.  Here is a good blog post article by Ruby McGuire at http://www.RubyMcGuire.com about Affirmations – Love or Hate them? .

Do you use affirmations or not?  If yes, have you noticed a positive change in your attitude? If no, have you ever tried them?

Feel free to share your thoughts on using affirmations in the ” leave a reply” box below.

Coaching for Inspiration
Coaching for InspirationwithPatti.
com – TM

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