Tag Archives: Effective Change

Support

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

No matter who we are or what our roles are in life we all need support.

Personal and professional change is a certainty and no matter how big or small the changes we go through are, change is made so much easier with support from those close to us.

Support doesn’t have to be a big grand gesture, more often than not it is the small gestures, the small acts and words of support that can make the biggest difference.

Are you giving support to those close to you personally and professionally?

Are you receiving the support you need?

Surround yourself with those who care about you and who will be by your side through thick and thin. Having sincere and active support will help you, guide you, motivate you and inspire you. 

‘ Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you’ Misty Copeland

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

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Respect

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

Respect for yourself and others is a critical ingredient for lasting business and personal relationships. Without respect in relationships you will always be on shaky ground and making sustainable positive changes will continuously be an uphill struggle.

Respect and the importance of respect can mean something different for everyone and so you need to figure out what respect means and how important it is to you.

What does it mean to have self-respect in your personal and professional relationships?

What respect do you give and want from others in your personal and professional relationships?

What are your boundaries in terms of this respect?

To have respect for others you first must have respect for yourself. Just like Pinky in the image above, he must first have his respect t-shirt on before he can give respect t-shirts to his friends.

Respect for yourself will ensure that situations you find yourself in are healthy for you and healthy for others and that decisions you make are based on a very solid foundation. If a situation is not healthy for you or you find your boundaries are being compromised, your internal self-respect compass will give you the strength and courage to face these situations and determine next steps.

Giving respect to others shows you value them which makes personal and professional relationships strong and enduring. in times of change relationships built on mutual respect will stand the test of time.  

Give respect to those close to you and there is no surer thing but it will be reciprocated!

‘One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say’ 

Bryant H. McGill

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Siobhain

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Originality

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Quit

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

Sometimes the best thing you can do is quit.

Yes you read correctly, sometimes quitting can be and is the best thing to do. During change there are many decisions to be made, many paths that can be chosen and sometimes the best path to take is to quit.

Maybe you need to quit in order to enable change, quit to clear the path to change, quit in order to make the change easier or quit the change itself.

When you find yourself at a crossroads, faced with hard and tough decisions weigh up all the benefits and challenges and don’t be afraid to cut your losses and quit.

All the popular sayings and mantras tell us not to quit, to keep going, to persevere, to never give up. It is not wise, helpful or healthy to keep going if it is not the right path for you, if it doesn’t feel right, if it is making you unhappy, if it is not working.

If you find yourself in a situation like this, take a deep breath, put a smile on your face and quit.

“When quitting is done correctly, it isn’t giving up – it’s making room for something better.”

 Adam Kirk Smith

Want to read more and join my weekly newsletter on Positive Change?

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Siobhain

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5 Reasons to Prioritise Your 12 Week Review

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Image Credit: Madhuri Gupta

When you start doing 12 week reviews you start to realise just how fast 3 months go by.

The end of each quarter is a super time to look back and reflect on how things went in the past quarter and plan for the quarter ahead.

Having a personal strategy is all about creating an amazing, fulfilled, purposeful and meaningful life. Your personal strategy is only as good as the reviews you do and the changes you make as a result of these reviews.

When personal strategy and the goals you have set, the quarterly review can be the most important. It certainly is my favourite review because it’s a deep dive into progress of goals and there is way more progress quarterly than can be seen daily, weekly and monthly which is always motivating.

As humans we are wired to perform better when we are making progress which is why reflection & reviews are so important. You may not think you are making progress in your life & work but you are probably making way more progress than you think! 

On reflection, this will become very clear!

BUT FIRST – WHY! 

WHY should you carry out a 12 Week Review?

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 the first step to success! 

Here are 5 reasons WHY I think your 12 Week Review deserves to be your priority, 

1. It slows you down and gives you time & space to think

We live in an extremely fast paced world and we seem to be so busy all the time. 

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, motivation & understanding of what our priorities are.

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

Do you give yourself the gift of sufficient time & space to reflect regularly and learn from reflection?

 

2. It allows you to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate your successes

Do you celebrate all your wins & successes or do you move through life at the speed of light, not acknowledging, appreciating and celebrating your success?

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

 Carrying out your 12 Week Review gives you the time and space to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate the progress you have made in the past 12 weeks. 

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. It allows you to understand what contributes to your success and take action to create more

There are many reasons why we are successful at some things and not so 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? 
  • Was it something you got support with?  
  • Was it something that happened quickly or something that took a long time? 
  • Was it a bit of pot luck or did you plan meticulously for it?  

When we understand what contributes to our success, we can replicate & build on this to bring us more success. 

Success has a different meaning for everyone as we all live different lives, are at different stages and have different priorities. 

Reflecting on success supports you to learn more about exactly what success means to you so you can create an action plan that will build on the success you already enjoy! 

 

4. It 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 and work. 

Acknowledging your challenges/obstacles is the first step to learning about them and overcoming them. 

This in turn ensures 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/obstacles let alone reflect on and review them, however it is from our challenges/obstacles that we can learn so much and grow and evolve as human beings!

 

5. It allows you to understand what contributed to these challenges and turn these into successes

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

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

Challenges/obstacles are a constant companion on the road to your goals and are your stepping stones to success. Llearning from them makes stepping over those stones that bit easier! 

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

What can you learn from the challenges you experienced over the past 12 weeks? 

What action can you take to turn your challenges into successes? 

That’s it, the 5 Reasons to Prioritise Your 12 Week Review. 

I wish you success, health and happiness as you look back at the past 12 weeks and even more success, health and happiness as you look forward to the next 12 weeks 😊

Do you want to bring more positive & effective change into your life?

Linked below are 26 ways you can start creating (and embracing) positive & effective change in your life and business today 😊

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Originality

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Image credit: The brilliant Andy Kefford

Originality. Change means doing something that has never been done before.

Being original allows us to have original thoughts which in turn allows us to behave in an original way. Lucky for us, each and every one of us is original! In the history of the world, there has never been and never will be another one of you! You are unique, different and original. Don’t be afraid of being original, of going against the grain, of moving in a different direction to the herd, of bringing the real, authentic you to all situations of life. 

The path least travelled is usually the path paved with gold! One of favourite thought leaders, Marie Forleo, is a big advocate of the importance of originality. Marie’s tagline supports that and rings true,

‘The world needs that very special gift that only you have’ 

Do you celebrate being original?

Do you utilise your originality to create your own path?

‘It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation’  Herman Melville

Want to read more and join my weekly newsletter on Positive Change?

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

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Never Give Up

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Image credit: The brilliant Andy Kefford

Never give up are easier words to say than do!

When creating change it is very easy to say and sign up to ‘Never give up’ at the start because it’s an exciting time, it’s all new, you cannot see the path ahead and you do not know what obstacles you will come up against. 

By the nature of change there will always be obstacles to overcome and unforeseen challenges to deal with. 

When these obstacles arise, keep your goal, intention and focus for change in mind, continue to work hard and never, ever, ever give up!!!

No matter how crazy your dreams sound to others, no matter how much people may try to dissuade you, no matter what challenges you come up against  –  follow your dreams. They are your dreams, they belong solely to you – you and the world deserve them to come true.

‘Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is true strength.’

 Arnold Schwarzenegger

Want to read more and join my weekly newsletter on Positive Change?

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

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Motivation

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Image credit: The brilliant Andy Kefford

Motivation is a key ingredient to ensure you stay on the path to change when times get tough as they inevitably will.

What gets us out of bed in the morning and what motivates us is different for every person.

Some are motivated by a search for inner peace, a need for freedom, a desire to help others and live a life of service. Others are motivated by money, power and status. Whatever it is that motivates you, be aware of it and follow that inner motivation until your desired change is achieved.

Tony Robbins through his popular TED Talk introduced us to the 6 Human Needs that subconsciously drive our behaviour. 

These 6 Human Needs are Certainty, Uncertainty, Significance, Love/Connection, Growth and Contribution. The Human Needs that are most important to you will drive everything in your life and knowing what these inner motivators are, is essential to creating the most rewarding and beneficial change in your life.

What motivates you?

What motivates you to make change in your life?

What are your priority Human Needs?

‘Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.’  Jim Rohn

Want to read more and join my weekly newsletter on Positive Change?

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

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Love

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Photo credit: The brilliant Andy Kefford

Love makes the world go around and this is never more true than when we are going through change. Self love, the love of others and the love of what we do will go a long way to smoothing our path and increasing our levels of happiness, contentment and fulfillment.

Love who you are

Loving who you are and what you are about is a lifelong journey. Accepting and loving ourselves with our quirks, nuances and human fallibilities brings a certain inner confidence and inner strength. With self love comes a silent knowing that you are enough, you do enough, you are perfect exactly the way you are and yes the path of change may not be easy but you are more than capable and with enough inner strength, are absolutely unstoppable. Loving who you are will not only make life more enjoyable but will also make loving those around you possible and worthwhile.   

“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” Brené Brown

Love what you do

Loving what we do makes life so much easier. Chances are you spend more time at work than at home and so your happiness levels at work will go a long way in determining your happiness levels outside of work. A job that challenges you, allowing you to change and grow is a job that you will be happy in and that you will bring your best self to. 

I have huge admiration and respect for the late great Steve Jobs. Steve’s vision, simplistic thinking, tenacity and flair transformed how the world communicates and will continue to do so for many years to come. He is quoted as having wisely said 

‘You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle’ Steve Jobs

Don’t settle is simple yet deeply wise advice. 

If you are doing work/in a job/company you don’t like or if you are doing work/in a job/company that you feel doesn’t value you, you will not be giving your best and you will not be growing professionally or personally in that role. 

Life is way too short to allow a anything or anyone to stunt your professional and personal growth.

The path to change is filled with love, spread that love around like fairy dust!

“Yes, I’ve made a great deal of dough from my fiction, but I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it. I have written because it fulfilled me. Maybe it paid off the mortgage on the house and got the kids through college, but those things were on the side – I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for the joy, you can do it forever.”

Stephen King

Want to read more and join my weekly newsletter on Positive Change?

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

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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Knowledge

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

Change of almost any kind requires more skills and knowledge than we currently have.

Learning and gathering knowledge on the path to change will ensure that when change happens we are more than ready for it.

There has never been an easier time to learn and build our portfolio of skills.

The internet has brought us a never ending stream of information and has allowed us to have access to mentors and coaches that before the internet we may never have known about. It has never been easier to become proficient in any area you are interested in.

There are so many avenues for learning these days. As well as online courses for absolutely everything, with the introduction of audiobooks we can now read/listen to books while we wait in the line at the shops or while we exercise using time more efficiently in terms of learning.

Podcasts by our favourite online mentors/coaches are available 24/7 on our smartphones. We have access to personal workouts in our home thanks to the fitness gurus on the countless social media sites available.

‘To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.’ Nicolaus Copernicus

With all this access to information and knowledge it is never to late to make a change, whether you are learning a new skill or completely reinventing yourself or your career.

What skills are you learning to bring about positive change in your life?

Want to read more and join my weekly newsletter on Positive Change?

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Siobhain

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Journey

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Thanks to the brilliant Andy Kefford for the above image

Journey. Treating every change we make in our lives as a journey allows us to enjoy change without the stress and anxiety of constantly thinking about the destination. We need to know where we are going, however the more we focus on the journey and not the destination the more we allow ourselves to enjoy the process of change. 

There is a Chinese proverb that says ‘The journey is the reward’. This is something I keep in mind during times of change and more so when change is challenging.

Pinky, in the image above is at the start of his journey of change, he feels a little nervous as he is unable to see the destination. The best thing he can do is take the first step and make progress step by step allowing himself time and space to enjoy the journey even though he can’t see his final destination. 

Are you slowing down long enough to enjoy each step along the journey of change? 

Is your focus on the journey or the destination?

‘The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.’ Lao Tzu

Want to read more?

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

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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