Author Archives: siodanphoto@gmail.com

Is Your Life & Work In Flow?

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Have you heard of the concept of flow?

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was a Hungarian-American psychologist who passed away on 20th October 2021. I’ve been aware of his work for ages and have become fascinated by the concept of flow.

‘In his best selling book ‘Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience’ Csíkszentmihályi outlined his theory that people are happiest when they are in a state of flow—a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. Flow is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. The idea of flow is identical to the feeling of being in the zone or in the groove. The flow state is an optimal state of intrinsic motivation, where the person is fully immersed in what they are doing. This is a feeling everyone has at times, characterised by a feeling of great absorption, engagement, fulfillment, and skill and during which temporal concerns (time, food, ego-self, etc.) are typically ignored.’ Wikipedia

Doesn’t flow sound great?

You know that feeling when you are doing something or working on something and absolutely nothing else matters. You are in a world of your own and you could keep doing the activity or work forever and it would never get boring or dull?

This is FLOW.

It would make sense that we would want to spend as much time as possible in our personal & professional lives in a state of flow which Mihaly explains is a necessity for our happiness and well being.

Below is Mihaly’s model of flow in relation to challenge and ability.

‘To achieve a flow state, a balance must be struck between the challenge of the task and the skill of the performer. If the task is too easy or too difficult, flow cannot occur as both skill level and challenge level must be matched and high; if skill and challenge are low and matched, then apathy results.’ Wikipedia

How important is this model in terms of our personal and professional lives?

It is a quick and simple explanation of what we feel when we are either challenged too much or too little and what we feel when we possess or do not possess skills & abilities required to meet these challenges.

How helpful would this be in terms of happiness in our personal and professional lives?

What it does show is that to be happy, confident, contented & focused you need to be continuously challenged and continuously growing your skillset to match those challenges.

Fascinating eh?

Here are two amazing Ted Talks from the late, great Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

As well as explaining flow, in the video below, Mihaly also talks about the relationship between happiness & money and how it’s not a linear relationship meaning that gaining more and more money past a certain point will not bring you happiness!

TED Talk – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Flow – 2004

In this Ted Talk, Mihaly goes deeper into the relationship between happiness and flow.

Living in flow – the secret of happiness with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi at Happiness & Its Causes 2014

Lean philosophy is all about growth of people in the workplace to ensure growth of business. There wouldn’t be much growth of people or business if everyone were anxious, worried, apathetic or bored!

Hence the necessity to prioritise people’s skill development and challenge to match.

This ensures your workforce are alert, focused, happy, confident and contented. All necessities for people & business growth.

I’m in flow when I spend time with family & friends or when I am writing, reading, creating content, teaching, learning/researching, exercising, traveling, taking/editing photos. Not surprising then that these are my passions in life.

When are you in flow?

Is your work/business in flow?

How can you bring more flow into your life?

Here’s to more flow in all of our lives!

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Is Your Focus In or Out of Control?

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Where is your FOCUS?

Is it on what YOU CONTROL?

Is it on what YOU DON’T CONTROL?

Positive change is my passion and, when I had one, it was my day job!

Change fascinates me and the more I learn, the more I love it.

I have learned through time & experience that there is only one thing you control in this life and that is YOURSELF.

Everything else is OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.

Every person, every event, every situation, every single thing outside of yourself is OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.

Because of this, wouldn’t it make sense to only give our time and energy to what WE CAN CONTROL?

In an ideal world the answer would be YES.

But we don’t live in an ideal world – we live in a messy, unpredictable, busy world where most of what we encounter during our daily lives is outside of us.

So if we don’t control what is outside of us, how do we change it?

The answer is WE DON’T, all we can control is our REACTION TO IT!

We absolutely, 100% can control our REACTION to EVERY SINGLE THING THAT HAPPENS.

Read that again.

Easier said than done for sure.

The next time something happens that you want to change, think about the following,

1. How can I accept this?

Eckhart Tolle in his profound and my favourite book ever ‘The Power of Now’ suggests to accept everything as if you had chosen it. Following this acceptance, Eckhart then suggests to ask what the situation is trying to teach us. This is a concept that takes a bit of getting used to but absolutely brings much peace of mind.

Acceptance of any situation is totally IN OUR CONTROL.

2. Can I change this?

YES, then change it.

NO, how can I change how I view it?

Wayne Dyer in his masterpiece book ‘Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life’ introduces the concept of changing how we view things which doesn’t change what they are but changes our perception of them. Wayne’s beautiful quote sums up this thinking ‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Again, a concept that takes a bit of getting usd to but also brings much peace of mind.

How we view and think about any situation is totally IN OUR CONTROL.

3. Do I need to make a plan for this long term?

If you can’t accept something and can’t change it then the only other option is to remove yourself from the situation.

This is not always straight forward or easy and might take some planning on your part. While you plan to remove yourself from the situation, acceptance and changing how you view the situation will go a long way to protecting you and your mental health.

The situations we allow ourselves to be in is totally IN OUR CONTROL.

4. Reflect on your reaction

The more I reflect, the more I learn about how I react in situations that I want to change and how I make decisions, big and small.

Reflection is one of the most powerful things you can do to learn more about yourself. Do you reflect on decisions you make and how you react to situations you want to change?

Reflection on and learning from every situation is totally IN OUR CONTROL.

The next time you are faced with a situation you want to change whether it is a small situation or life changing situation, I hope the above will support you with acceptance, changing how you view the situation, planning to remove yourself from it and reflection on all of the above.

As mentioned above, here are 2 life changing books that I love and that you might love also..

‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle

By far my favourite book of all time, if you only ever read one book in your lifetime, let it be this one! Eckhart’s follow on book ‘A New Earth’ is equally as good.

‘Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life’ by Dr Wayne Dyer

An incredible book on how to change situations by changing how we think about them which is turn totally transforms our lives. Anything by Dr. Wayne Dyer is a transformational read.

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Is What You Think, Say & Do Aligned?

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Mahatma Gandhi is well renowned for his deep wisdom and I just love his quote,

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

Is what you THINK, SAY & DO in harmony?

This is a very simple question but takes some deep thought to answer.

Does what you THINK ALIGN WITH WHAT YOU SAY?

Does what you SAY ALIGN WITH WHAT YOU DO?

Of course this is a difficult place to get to at all times but even being aware of the relationship between what you THINK, SAY & DO is a step closer to happiness.

Here’s where unhappiness creeps in.

When we don’t say what we think, we bottle it up.

This not only causes discord within us but can cause discord with others as we aren’t SPEAKING OUR TRUTH.

When we don’t behave aligned with what we say, we are giving off mixed signals. Again, this not only causes discord within us but can cause discord with others as we are not LIVING OUR TRUTH.

If we do the above for long enough what we THINK, SAY & DO becomes misaligned resulting in deep happiness.

I’m sure Mahatma Gandhi didn’t mean that we tell everyone our each and every thought.

The interpretation I take from his quote, is more around being true to ourselves in our being.

That we are THINKING, SAYING & DOING aligned to our values and to who we are at our core. That we are speaking up for ourselves and what we believe in, that we are striving to be the very best version of ourselves that we can be.

I am at my unhappiest when what I THINK, SAY & DO are out of alignment and at my happiest when what I THINK, SAY & DO are aligned as much as possible.

Is what you THINK, SAY & DO aligned & in harmony?

How can you achieve more alignment in what you THINK, SAY & DO?

Here’s a super video on the power of truth telling.

The Power of Truth Telling | Christine Carter | TEDxThacherSchool

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Where are you on the Emotional Scale?

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Image Credit: Madhuri Gupta

Our emotions, whether consciously or subconsciously drive every single thing we do.

Emotions are not only in the driving seat, they’ve got Google Maps!

Our emotions set the direction & determine our each and every move.

They determine what we say & how we say it, determine what we think and subsequently determine what comes in and out of our lives.

Pretty important yeah?

Well worth some time to evaluate and understand!

So, for today, tomorrow and beyond, where do you want your emotions to take you?

The image above is the Emotional Guidance Scale. This is attributed to Abraham Hicks and is a scale of emotions going from the highest of joy, empowerment, love, freedom to the lowest of fear, powerlessness & depression.

Take a look at the emotional scale, create some quiet time for yourself and have a think about where you currently are on this emotional scale, what are your underlying emotions each and every day?

Of course our emotions can fluctuate during the day but at a high level we will find ourselves in and around a few numbers on the scale.

Are you on the upward spiral where you are feeling hopeful, optimistic, positive, enthusiastic & content?

Are you on the downward spiral where you are feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, disappointed, doubtful, worried, angry & discouraged?

Wherever you are on this scale, ask what is contributing to your emotions and what changes can you make to move yourself up the upward spiral.

Every one of us should be aiming for & moving towards the pinnacle of the upper scale spiral of joy, knowledge, empowerment, freedom, love and appreciation. I smile just thinking about these words!

After taking on way too much work & many steep learning curves last year, I was hovering around overwhelmed, frustrated, disappointed & impatient and had much work to do to climb back to the upward spiral of hopeful, positive, enthusiastic and content!

Where are you on the Emotional Scale?

Where would you like to be?

How will you get there?

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

Want to read more about Positive Change?

Download your free e-book ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.

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21 Lessons Learned in 2021

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I love looking back, reflecting on and learning from what has gone by, then using these learnings to create positive change in my life. 2021 was a year of many lessons learned, some harder than previous years but all very valuable.

When you start to treat both wins & challenges as lessons learned, life’s ups and downs become wondrous and exciting and even the challenging times seem to have a sparkly silver lining!

Here is 21 of my favourite lessons learned from 2021,

Time with loved ones is the most precious gift
Our most important relationship is with ourselves
The only person who defines our value & our worth is ourselves
People are amazing, that includes YOU!
Health is wealth
Money cannot buy health but health is required to make money (read that again)
Abundance is not just about money – it is about love, health, time, freedom and everything else important that money can’t buy
You need a vision to give you direction in life & business – no vision, no direction, no progress
Where & with who we spend our time & energy directly impacts our mental, physical, emotional & spiritual health
Everyone needs support and everyone deserves to be supported
Loving who you are and loving what you do is the key to inner happiness & contentment
Burnout and boreout are very real & very damaging
To create a new version of ourselves, we need to let go of the old version
For introverts, solitude is just as important as oxygen
We are the authors of our own story – no-one else holds the pen
How we spend our energy is just as important as how we spend our time
No growth occurs in the comfort of our comfort zones
Everyone has challenges that most people know nothing about
Acceptance of challenging times goes a long way to overcoming them
Everything is on time and in perfect time
Florence & The Machine were spot on – ‘It’s always darkest before the dawn’!

What lessons did you learn in 2021?

How will these learnings support you in 2022?

I’d love to know what you learned in 2021, comment below or share with me on social.

I hope that whatever 2021 brought you, you can build on & learn from it to make 2022 your best year ever.

May 2022 bring you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace & prosperity.

Thanks for reading, stay safe,

Siobhain

x x

Below is a list of blog posts designed to support you with your Annual Review, you can download your ‘Annual Review Workbook’ below also.

5 Steps To Your Annual Review

Get SERIOUS about your Intentions and Goals for 2022

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Annual Review 2021

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In the Lean/Continuous Improvement world we carry out ‘Hansei’ which is Japanese for ‘Self-Reflection’. Hansei allows us to reflect on our goals evaluating what worked so we can celebrate & build on the successes and also evaluating what didn’t work so we can adjust and change direction. I have been carrying out a personal Hansei in the form of an Annual Review for many years and find it hard to believe this is the 9th year I have published this review online. See annual reviews from past years at the end of this blog post.

2020 was a year like no other on a global scale and for me 2021 felt like the hangover from 2020! In 2021 I reached very few of the goals I set for myself and it was a year of immense unplanned and challenging change.

Whatever 2021 brought you, I hope you find time to reflect on your year, leave behind what doesn’t serve you and bring into 2022 everything that supports and nurtures you.

I use my version of the Wheel of Life below, you could use this or your own version for your goal setting and reviewing. Below is my Annual Review for the year that was 2021,

Relationships:

As always, Mike, my family and my friends are my reason for everything. and the source of much of my happiness. Similarly to 2020, even though we were in lockdown and in varying degrees of restrictions, I spent loads of time with Mike and my family in 2021. Working from home, removing the long commute from my day and working reduced hours gave me precious time to spend with those I love.

Everything has a silver lining, for me this was definitely the silver lining for 2020 & 2021, more quality time with loved ones and less rushing & racing around trying to get everything done.

I will be bringing this slower, less stressful, more peaceful way of life with me into 2022.

Similar to most people, I didn’t get abroad in 2021 but I did enjoy many day trips with family & friends and spent lots of time with family in my hometown of Kilfinane which was lovely. I also attended my friend’s Fiona & Trevor’s wedding (as photographer) which was amazing and I had a few days away after that.

Here’s hoping the world becomes safer so we can travel freely in 2022 and enjoy holidays & weekends away with loved ones again!

Health is Wealth:

There is no truer saying than health is wealth.

In 2021 my loved ones remained safe and healthy which is the greatest gift of all. I hope you and your loved ones remained safe during 2021, we have more work to do to ensure this in 2022

I have always been aware of the importance of physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health and over the past few years, for many reasons, this awareness has been brought to a deeper level. 2021 was challenging for me in all areas of my health and I didn’t reach any of the goals I set for myself. Healthy habits I had spent years building were broken and I have much work to do to embed them again.

I suffered serious burnout early in 2021 which pretty much negatively impacted the rest of 2021 for me. This was due to working a day job and trying to build a business on the side – lesson learned! Following this, I stopped working on my writing & business for most of 2021 and took a break from social media for about 8 months.

Physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health is a journey and just like any other journey, it’s important to keep learning & keep moving forward no matter the pace!!

Here’s to a healthy 2022 in Mind, Body & Soul for us all!

Finance:

Every year I learn more and more about personal finance and every year I wish personal finance was a subject I learned in school, it certainly would have saved me much trial and error. Just like health, finance is a journey of which learning & understanding are constant companions.

In 2021 my entrepreneur income (outside my day job) was more than ever! 8% of my income came from entrepreneur work and 3 separate income streams which was very exciting!

In contrast to this, my earnings were the lowest they have been in a very long time. I was on reduced hours due to the pandemic and then I left my day job in October, without another job. For a million reasons this was the best decision for me, albeit a difficult one.

I am a born optimist and so always find a silver lining. In leaving my day job, what I have lost in income I have gained in the precious resource of time. Where and with who I spend this valuable resource means more to me than anything money can buy.

Ironically when I left my day job, my income reduced but I felt more abundant in so many other areas of my life. This taught me that abundance is not just about money – it is also about love, time, health, freedom and everything else that money cannot buy.

Work/Business/Purpose:

In 2021 everything changed immensely for me in terms of my work, writing & business.

I got very serious about setting up my own business early in 2021 and with the support of my moach (mentor & coach) Natalie Sisson and her 10K Club I realised many firsts in my business.

I launched and delivered my first 6 week online course of which I loved every minute of. I held my first free webinar and my first paid webinars. I was interviewed on Natalie Sisson’s podcast and Sharon Singh Sidhu’s podcast which were my very first podcasts. I ran my first 5 day email challenge which was not very successful but was an abundance of lessons learned. I co-started the Women in Lean (WIL) Personal Strategy Table with Debbie Barnard. WIL is an amazing group of Women in Lean founded by Karyn Ross and Dorsey Sherman where we share our knowledge, thoughts, wins & challenges of being part of the wonderful world of Lean.

In Q1, all of the above on top of a day job resulted in me taking on way too much work and getting seriously burnt out. This was awful and I felt the effects of it in every area of my life for the rest of the year.

As mentioned above, I left my day job in October, without another job. This was not an easy decision but it was the right decision for me at the time. Following this, what I had in income was replaced with the precious resource of time.

I had time to myself, time for those I love, time to think, plan, dream and be, time to close projects, time to write, time to schedule social media posts, time to do what brings me joy fulfilment and happiness. After I left work I had so much time for writing and loved every minute of it, writing makes me blissfully happy.

One constant in my work in 2021 was my weekly email to those on my mailing list. I am so grateful to everyone who has signed up for this weekly email as without knowing it they were a flashlight when the light at the end of the professional tunnel was very dim.

If you want to sign up to my mailing list and receive my weekly email, download your free ebook linked in the image below and you’ll be signed up.

Another constant throughout 2021 was the support of my small but mighty team. Debbie, Madhuri and Mugdha are a dream to work with and supported me more than they can realise in 2021.

Over the past few years I have missed Travel Photography so much. In 2022 I am going to reenergise my passion for Travel Photography and am very much looking forward to this – watch this space.

2021 brought so much change in my professional world – some planned but mostly unplanned. I have realised that life is a bit like this, no matter how much we plan, the path that is meant for us (not necessarily the path we plan) will always be the path we travel!

Personal Development:

Reading physical books is one of my favourite things to do. I love audiobooks but there is nothing more relaxing than sitting with a physical book and immersing myself in it’s wisdom.

Here’s a list of books I read & loved in 2021 and highly recommend. Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and The Power of Intention and Wishes Fulfilled by Dr Wayne Dyer (RIP), Start with Why by Simon Sinek, The Greatest Salesman by Og Mandino, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, The 5 Invitations by Frank Ostaseski, The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, Ranger 22 by Ray Goggins, The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, Ikigai by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles.

‘Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn’ (hard copy & audible) was my absolute favourite book of 2021. Lean is a business philosophy that I follow both professionally & personally. Every year I am more aware of the power & necessity of a Lean culture/strategy in business and the importance of growing people to grow business. Katie’s book ‘‘Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn’ absolutely nails the philosophy of people centric leadership & business. If you are in leadership & business of any kind, I highly recommend Katie’s book.

I completed the Certificate in Business & Executive Coaching and loved every minute of it. The biggest learning I took from it is that life coaching, while designed to support others, is really a journey of self discovery. If you don’t take that journey yourself, you can’t support others to do so!

In 2020/2021, I bought many online courses but didn’t have the time to dedicate to all of them. Now I’m not working, I’ll have plenty time to go through all these courses and am looking forward to it all.

Social Life/Fun:

This category could be combined with relationships as it is with those I love that I have the most fun times. No-one makes me laugh out loud more than those I love and those who love me, they are food for my soul!

Reflection on this category of my life is short and sweet which kind of sums up my social life!!!

Environment:

This category for me is about the planet and also our beautiful home.

In terms of the planet, I reduced my plastic usage but the more I reduced, the more I realised I used. This is a work in progress. Global warming is a very real thing and small steps taken by many can really make a difference.

Mike and I cleared out our spare room so I could have a home office. It’s all set up with my Visual Management boards and I absolutely love it.

Even though I have read Marie Kondo’s ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ I seem to be continuously clearing clutter! I haven’t carried out Marie’s technique to banish clutter for once and or all – maybe 2022 is the year for that!

Contribution:

I have been supporting 4 main charities for many years and year on year I try to give more to each charity. Charities have been severely impacted by the global pandemic and so need our support more than ever.

That’s it, my 2021 in review.

As with all Annual Reviews, looking back and reviewing my year brings pride in what I have achieved but also many lessons learned and things I would like to do differently that I will bring into 2022.

Thank you for reading my blog posts and your kind words during 2021, I really appreciate your support. I hope whatever 2021 brought you that you can build on & learn from it to make 2022 your best year ever.

May 2022 bring you and your loved ones health, happiness, peace & prosperity.

Thanks for reading, stay safe,

Siobhain

x x x

Want to carry out your own Annual Review? Below is a list of blog posts designed to support you with your annual review, you can download your ‘Annual Review Workbook’ below also.

5 Reasons To Prioritise Your Annual Review

5 Steps To Your Annual Review

Get SERIOUS about your Intentions and Goals for 2022

My previous annual reviews can be found below,

Annual Review 2013 Annual Review 2014 Annual Review 2015 Annual Review 2016

Annual Review 2017 Annual Review 2018 Annual Review 2019

Annual Review 2020

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5 Reasons To Prioritise Your Annual Review

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One of my favourite things to do at the end of each year is my Annual Review.

Reflecting on the year gone by is such a worthwhile exercise.

Looking back allows you to see clearly what worked and what didn’t work in the year gone by but it also paves the way for clear, focused and intentional goal setting for the year ahead.

But first – WHY!

WHY is your Annual Review so important.

Simon Sinek is famous for his brilliant TED Talk ‘How great leaders inspire action with over 13 million views on YouTube.

In this video, Simon talks about the importance of knowing your WHY in terms of everything you do. When it comes to everything in your life, your WHY is your first step to success!

Here are 5 reasons WHY I think your Annual Review deserves to be your priority,

Your Annual Review slows you down giving you time & space to think

Reflection of any kind allows us to stop moving forward, to be still in the present moment and to give the necessary time and space required to learn from the past.

Not to dwell on or judge the past, but to take the learnings from it to move forward with more knowledge, focus, intention & purpose.

When was the last time you took a few hours to look back and reflect on your life?

Do you give yourself the gift of time and space to learn from reflection?

2.Your Annual Review allows you to acknowledge and celebrate your successes

Do you celebrate your successes or do you move through life at the speed of light, not looking back to reflect on anything?

We make progress in our lives all day every day yet we are sometimes so busy and focused on getting things done that we don’t see all our wins & successes.

Carrying out your Annual Review gives you the time and space to acknowledge and celebrate the progress you have made in the year gone by.

This in turn will get you thinking about all of the amazing wins and successes you have every single day of which we all have so many.

3.Your Annual Review allows you to understand what contributes to your success so you can take action to create more

There are many reasons why we are successful at some things and not successful at others.

Have you ever sat down and reflected on your successes and really thought about how they happened.

Was it something you did alone or something you got support with?

Was it a bit of pot luck or did you plan meticulously for it?

When we understand what contributes to our success, we can build on this to bring more success into our lives.

Reflecting on your success supports you to create an action plan that will build on the success you already enjoy!

4.Your Annual Review allows you to acknowledge challenges that got in the way of your success

Things don’t always work out how we plan or how we want them to.

Even the best plans don’t work out, this is a normal part of life.

Acknowledging your challenges is the first step to overcoming them & ensuring you don’t come up against them again and if you do, you are better prepared.

Sometimes we don’t want to face our challenges however it is from our challenges that we can learn so much and grow and evolve as human beings!

5.Your Annual Review allows you to understand what contributed to these challenges and take action to turn challenges into successes

Challenges are a normal part of life and business, it is how we deal with them that determines our ability to overcome them.

Understanding what caused the challenges goes a long way to dealing with and overcoming them in a healthy way!

Challenges are your stepping stones to success and so learning from them makes stepping over those stones that bit easier!

Taking action from what you learn will turn challenges into opportunities!

I wish you SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look back at the year gone by and even more SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look forward to the year ahead.

You can download your free resource, the ANNUAL REVIEW WORKBOOK below,

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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3 Steps To Your Annual Review

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Another year has whizzed by and it’s time for your Annual Review – how fast did that year go?

That’s the thing with time, it literally flies by which is why it’s so important to live and love every single minute you have.

How do you make the most out of every single minute?

You plan for it which you can do by setting intentions & goals.

What else can you do?

You can look back and review your progress to learn what works for you & what doesn’t work for you and change your direction accordingly.

It is through PERSONAL REFLECTION that we LEARN THE MOST.

We are our OWN GREATEST TEACHERS and so reflecting on our experiences brings us so much wisdom.

The ‘3 Steps to Your Annual Review’ is easy to follow – no jargon, no fancy words and will take as much time as you want to dedicate to it.

Here’s a few tips on preparing for your Annual Review.

Print your Annual Review Workbook (you can download it at the end of this blog post) – you can also use a journal/notebook or an online document. I document my Annual Review in Moleskine journals and use Google Suite tools for online documentation throughout the year.

Schedule time in your busy calendar – I usually take about 3 days to do this. That may sound like a lot of time but it is time well spent when you think of the amount you will learn. No matter how long this takes you, the most important thing is that you schedule and take this time for yourself.

Refer to your Wheel of Life as you answer each question – keep in mind the key areas of your life in your Wheel of Life. If you haven’t created a Wheel of Life, you can use mine below. The areas of my Wheel of Life are Sense of Self, Health, Relationships, Work, Finance, Social Life, Environment & Contribution.

Step 1 is reflection on what went well in 2024

1: What worked well for you in 2024?

What did you enjoy?

Did your plans work out how you wanted or better?

There are so many blessings in our lives each and every day.

If you focus on the small stuff first you may see that life goes your way more than you may realise – the small stuff really is the big stuff!

2: What did you do that supported this success?

How did you bring success into your life?

There are so many things in our lives that we cannot control and so it’s best to just focus on what you can control.

The only person who has control over your life is YOU and the only life you can control is YOUR OWN.

Did you work hard at something and then reap the rewards?

3. What brought you joy and happiness in 2024?

When were you at your happiest in 2024?

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you? Knowing what brings us happiness allows us to bring more happiness and joy into our lives.

You want to be spending as much time as possible with those who bring out the best in you. The more you bring out the best in yourself, the more you can bring out the best in others.

4. Are you happy with where you spent your time in 2024?

Time is so precious – we all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year but nobody knows how many years we have!

This realisation always makes me so determined to live life to the fullest every single day and that means spending my time where I am happy spending it.

Where did your precious time go in 2024?

Are you happy with where your time was spent in 2024?

Did you fully enjoy every minute of every day?

That’s Step 1 of your Annual Review done!

Step 2 is reflection on what didn’t go well in 2024

1. What didn’t go well in 2024?

When did your plans not work out in 2024?

What happened that you didn’t enjoy?

No matter how much we plan, no matter how much we try to control our plans there are times when things just don’t go our way.

In his book ‘Green Lights’, Matthew Mc Conaughey talks about the fact that if we only had green lights in life, if there were no amber or red lights, then life would be very boring and we would never grow and evolve.

Such truth and wisdom in that.

2. What challenges got in your way?

Were there challenges that got in your way in 2024?

Challenges can turn into opportunities for success if we take the time to evaluate and learn from them.

What can you do to eliminate these challenges?

If you can’t eliminate the challenges, how can you think about them differently?

We all have compete control over our thoughts and just reframing things in our mind can turn challenges into opportunities for success.

3. What didn’t bring you joy and happiness in 2024?

Happiness and unhappiness go hand in hand – no human life is devoid of unhappiness.

Acceptance of this goes a long way to find out what exactly makes us unhappy.

When were you at your unhappiest in 2024?

Think about what you were doing, who were you with, where were you?

Knowing what makes us unhappy allows us to think deeper about the role certain people, situations, interactions and places play in our levels of happiness.

What did you do to understand and alleviate your unhappiness?

4. Where would you have liked to have spent more time in 2024?

As mentioned above, we all know time is precious – we all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year but nobody knows how many years we have.

Where would you have liked to have spent more time in 2024?

Think about all of the key areas of your life from your Wheel of Life – did you spend too much time in some areas and not enough in others?

What areas would you have liked to have spent more time in?

How balanced is your life in terms of where you spend your time?

That’s Step 2 of your Annual Review done!

Step 3 is reflection on what you learned in all areas of your life in 2024

The only way we grow and evolve as humans is by learning more and by turning these learnings into action that propels us forward.

Work through the categories of your life in your Wheel of life and ask yourself the following questions,

Sense of Self – what did you learn about yourself? How did you grow and evolve as a person? Did you dedicate enough time to personal development?

Relationships – what did you learn about your relationship with yourself? Has your relationship with yourself improved? What did you learn about your relationship with others? Has your relationship with others improved?

Health – what did you learn about your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health? Did your physical, mental, emotional & spiritual health improve or decline?

Work – what did you learn about your work? Are you growing and developing in your work? Does your work improve your life? Does your work disimprove your life?

Finance – what did you learn about finance? Did your financial situation improve? Did your financial situation disimprove?

Social Life/Recreation – what did you learn about socialising and recreation? Did you have enough fun & recreation?

Environment – what did you learn about your environment ? Did your environment improve or disimprove? For me, environment relates to my home and also our planet, both are of immense importance to me and bring me happiness and joy.

Contribution – what did you learn about contribution? Did you give more to the world in terms of your time, money or skills? Did you make the world a better place by giving more? Giving doesn’t have to be grand gestures, giving in the smallest possible way can often be the most impactful.

That’s Step 3 of your Annual Review done!

I wish you SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look back at 2024 and even more SUCCESS, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS as you look forward to 2025.

Download your ANNUAL REVIEW WORKBOOK below to support you with your Annual Review.

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

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Get SERIOUS about your Intentions & Goals for 2022

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Following on from my previous blog post ‘5 Steps to Your Annual Review’,

Step 5 is getting SERIOUS about your INTENTIONS & GOALS for 2022.

Getting SERIOUS about your INTENTIONS & GOALS sets you up for success for 2022 and beyond.

This is my favourite part of the Annual Review as it is where you take everything you learned from the first 4 steps and turn them into GORGEOUS, DREAM DRIVEN GOALS!

So how do you set GORGEOUS, DREAM DRIVEN GOALS for 2022?

Go through every area of your life in your Wheel of Life (or use mine below) and think about what success in each area look & feel like for you in 2022? Then go back through all of the questions from the first 4 steps of your Annual Review and use your answers to set your intentions & goals for 2022.

The first step to success to is writing down your goals, I highly recommend buying a notebook/journal specifically for your goals and revisiting this regularly to check progress. You can also document them online but I find they can get lost with everything else that we have online, emails, documents etc.

When I am setting intentions & goals I use the acronym SERIOUS, I hope this supports you to set goals for 2022 in all of the key areas of your life.

Go through your Wheel of Life (or use mine) and ask yourself the following questions,

S = STOP

What will you stop doing that is not serving you in 2022?

Do you have habits that you want to stop?

Do you have behaviours that you want to stop?

E = ENGAGE

Who do you need to engage with in 2022?

Are there relationships you need to give more time to?

Are there relationships you need to give less time to?

Do you need to find a coach and/or mentor to support you?

Do you need to offer support to someone?

Do you need to receive support from someone?

Is there someone you want to learn from?

R = REMOVE

What do you need to remove from your life in 2022?

What do you physically need to remove from your life/work/business?

What do you mentally/emotionally need to remove like beliefs & stories you tell yourself?

What do you need to remove electronically – electronic space also takes up mental headspace!

If your life is full, there is no room for anything else to enter!

I = INTENTION & IMPROVE

What is your intention in each area of your life in 2022?

What will you improve in each area of your life in 2022?

What is working for you that you want to build on?

What parts of your life do you love that you want more of?

O = OPEN YOUR MIND

How will you open your mind and move out of your comfort zone?

Your comfort zone is exactly that – comfortable.

There is no growth there, you will only grow by moving outside of your comfort zone.

What do you need to learn about to move you out of your comfort zone?

What passions do you have in life that you want to learn more about?

How will you grow & evolve in each area of your life?

U = UNDERSTAND

How will you understand more about each area of your life in 2022?

How will you understand more about yourself?

How will you understand more about others?

You are the key to your own success in life and so understanding and nurturing your relationship with yourself is time very well spent.

S = START

What will you start?

We usually take on way too much and so ‘Start’ is the last thing to do.

Our lives are already overflowing with busy and so to start something new, we need to create the precious time to do so.

It’s better to focus on everything else (especially STOP & REMOVE) so you can create the physical, mental and emotional time and space to start something new!

That’s it, answer these quick and easy questions to get SERIOUS about INTENTION & GOAL setting in every area of your life for 2022 and beyond.

Whether this was your first time setting intentions & goals for the year or you have been doing this for many years, I hope you learned something new.

More importantly, I hope you TAKE ACTION!

Intention & goal setting is only as good as the ACTION YOU TAKE to plan for 2022, I’d love to hear how your intention & goal setting went and what ACTIONS you will be taking?

I wish you happiness, joy, success and purposeful, positive change in 2022 and beyond.

You can download your free resource, the ANNUAL REVIEW WORKBOOK below,

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Are You Cognitively Overloaded?

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Image Credit: Marvin Meyer @Unsplash

What do you struggle to do when you don’t have enough TIME, ENERGY & MENTAL SPACE?

I struggle with my writing.

I have been hitting walls with my writing for most of this year, it’s one of the reasons I have been on a social media break since the end of March.

Writing needs a lot of TIME, ENERGY & MENTAL SPACE.

Taking original thoughts and concepts, turning them into words that people want to read, physically writing/typing these words and then editing to ensure what you are sending out to the world is interesting and valuable – I’m getting brain fog even thinking about this.

There are clear reasons why I have struggled with my writing – preparing to leave my day job (without another) has totally consumed my life for the past couple of months. This wasn’t on my plans for this year yet one by one different circumstances, events and situations moved my thinking towards leaving my job and finally (after much soul searching) taking the plunge to follow my dreams into full time entrepreneurship.

When we go through big life changes – planned or unplanned, positive or challenging, wanted or unwanted it can consume us. During these times, there really isn’t too much room for anything else.

Recently I started researching this, not just because I have struggled with my writing but because I suffered serious burnout in the first 3 months of 2021 – I’ll write about that when I can process it (I get the comedic irony of that sentence!)

This research brought me to a phenomenon called ‘Cognitive Overload’ which sums up 2021 for me! I have been cognitively overloaded.

Are you cognitively overloaded?

Do you have too much on your plate?

Are you struggling to find time for what & who you love?

Are you rushing and racing through life?

Are you struggling to find time for yourself?

What gets dropped when you don’t have enough TIME, ENERGY & MENTAL SOACE?

Here’s a few articles I found on Cognitive Overload,

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ways-to-avoid-cognitive-overload#3-example-causes-of-cognitive-overload

https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/why-youre-probably-suffering-from-cognitive-overload-but-dont-have-to.html

And a really great Ted Talk – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWKvpFZJwcE

The end of the Ted Talk really struck a chord when Peter Doolittle said,

‘What we process, we learn. If we are not processing life, we are not living it. LIVE LIFE.

Have you heard of this phenomenon?

I’d love to hear how your plate is?

Is your plate sparse?

Is your plate overflowing?

Is there too much on your plate that has led to cognitive overload?

Here’s to not being too cognitively overloaded!

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

x x

Want to learn more about positive change? Download your FREE EBOOK ‘The A-Z of Positive Change’ below.

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