Out of my head

by Liz in attitude, beauty, choice, happiness, now

I had plans for today – big plans.

There was a pile of Life Dreaming Expedition design and thinking work on the list.

A great big lovely list that just makes life look like there’s a vestige of control.

I had a plan to site quietly – looking at a candle flame and focusing on my breathing as monks chanted [obviously they're not in the cottage - although in my life anything's possible].

I sat looking at the candle as monks chanted – peace descended – I was one with whatever the universe is …. for exactly 3 minutes!

Coco dog decided I’d been quiet and still for far too long and came over to check I wasn’t dead … then she tried to climb on my lap to make extra sure.

Monks kept chanting … I blew out the candle.

I was drawn to one of my favourite places – the kitchen – and that’s where I got out of my head and found a modicum of peace.

There’s a herb and spice mix that I make from scratch because I love the way it connects me to my senses – to the scent of crushed spices – the look of all the colours – the smells and eventually – the tastes.

When I make the Berbere mix [it's an Ethiopian recipe] I concentrate on just the moment, on just the spice I am crushing and mixing.

And the monks sang on.

As you know I’m a time billionaire and cash challenged so all the food gets eaten.

I rummaged around the fridge and the vegetable bin and created a yummy mince and vege mix that started with a tablespoon of the berbere mix in oil and went from there. I even used the broccoli stalks in the mix and a few vege that were about to say goodbye – spinach, leeks and sweet peppers.

Very tasty.

In all this sensate bliss I went and checked my emails – bad idea. A 1 to 1 design client had messed something up and I will help to fix it. No big deal but I got really irritated because my peace had been disturbed.

Yup – I get the irony.

Decided it’s best just to take a breath and get on with it. I’ll deal with the clients problem and all will be well but I’m leaving the emails alone until later this afternoon when I decide to get back into my head.

I adore my brain and while it is one of my great strengths it is also my greatest weakness. It can crowd out my body, heart and intuition when they want to speak.

I have to consciously create time and space for the other parts of me to not only be heard but also to just exist.

I’m off now to wander the acre of garden that surrounds the cottage I have just moved to in Wicklow. It’s a wonderful space and I get to housesit here for 6 months – a great boon for a cash challenged woman. It’s also a fantastic space for a time billionaire as there are no shops or pubs or anything close by – so I can concentrate time, energy and enthusiasm on getting the Life Dreaming Expedition launched.

Speaking of the LD Expedition – I had a mug made for me and one for brother Marc. I like to have symbols of my dreams around me as I work to make them a reality and what better thing than a mug.

 

If you’d like the Berber mix recipe just click here.

How do you get out of your head and connect with the other parts of yourself?

Love to hear from you and if you Like this then click the button or Share it on Facebook or Tweet away.

 

Fab Observations ( 1 )

A present for you

by Liz in action, belief, choice, dreaming, happiness, LD Morsels, now

It’s V Day and I want to give you a present as a thank you for supporting Marc and me as we create Life Dreaming.

I created this lovely sheet all by myself without any help from the design genius of this partnership – my brother Marc.

It’s a short and sharp way for me (and you) to hold all the fab things you want to be and do in your life this year.

You’ll notice that my sheet has a lot of words at the top – that’s my passion and purpose stuff – words that are about how I am in the world.

In the hearts I put a key word at the top and then the core actions I will take to make it happen.

I’m creating a great journal that will hold all the action stuff across a year/months/weeks and days and Marc will make it beautiful with his genius design. They will be available sometime this year to our Life Dreamers.

3 BIG things re: Life Dreaming this year:

  1. Marc will be writing a post once a week. I adore his perspective on life and his writing is wonderful. I’ll be writing a post as well – sometimes in response to what brother dear has written and more often it’ll be on a topic that is completely random.
  2. I’m organising a Luxury Life Dreaming Voyage for May/June in the Dylan Hotel Dublin for 6 women. This will be 1 day of pure pleasure with very practical results. Women will be able to rise above the day to day and really take time to reflect and plan what’s important in their lives right now. There’s a gift bag with hand made wool wraps and chocolates and perfume – and all the Life Dreaming activity sheets and materials and lunch and a cocktail at the end of the day. I’m also organising 20 minute shiatsu treatments for each woman and there will be other treats on the day.
  3. Marc and I are working towards a late April [ish] launch of the Life Dreaming site and online Life Dreaming Expedition. I can’t even begin to say how wonderful the launch day will be – and there will be gifts for our loyal Life Dreamers.

For now, download the sheet and dream/action away.

Let me know what you think of it and let your friends and family know about Life Dreaming – Share us on your Facebook page.

Take good care

Liz

Fab Observations ( 2 )

Ghandi’s Top Ten Fundamentals

by creativespark in action, belief, inner chatter, On Our Radar

I love the kindness of people who give things away (speaking of which, have you got the Life Dreaming Workbook yet? We’re going to take it off the site shortly, so please grab one if you haven’t got a copy!)… and I love the message in this poster. It’s by Idea Obscura, and she’s put a downloadable pdf version online so you can print it and hang it somewhere that needs a little old-school typographical beauty.

poster of Ghandi's 10 fundamental thoughts

What do you think?

99 Things You Can Do Better in 2012

by creativespark in change

99 Things In 2012

Happy New Year everyone! I’m not sure how you went, but I feel like I came out of 2011 emotionally richer than I went in, and this year I’m a dragon in a dragon year, so I’m expecting some big things (good, bad, who knows? but I feel growth, and I’m excited by that).

I just wanted to share this list from wonderful letterpress-y design site FPO: For Print Only. You can download a PDF there if you like it.

Can’t wait to spend 2012 with you… and promise to write more often.

=)  Marc

 

Fab Observations ( 1 )

11 Ways to make your dreams a reality in 2012

by Liz in attitude, change, choice, create, dreaming, power

It’s that time of year again my lovelies when we feel like refreshing our lives and doing some dreaming about the life we want to live.

There’s a cynicism about dreaming and making changes in our lives that we can use as an excuse to do nada.

We say things like

‘ I can’t change’

‘ I’ll start tomorrow’

‘I don’t have the willpower’

You can make changes in your life if you take on board some of this useful advice that I’ve reworked from a presentation created by the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford University:

1. Stop relying on willpower alone for long term change – draw on all the other internal and external resources you have at your disposal, particularly the ongoing support of other people. I don’t believe that we’re meant to do everything alone and on sheer willpower – life’s too short for that kind of hardship.

2. Big leaps are great if you’re a panther otherwise it’s ok to take small steps towards your dreams – breaking down [chunking] all the steps to make your dreams a reality decreases the Awe/Fear/Give Up factor. It’s also really cool to be able to tick of actions in the short term and this acts as both a reward and motivator as you move towards the big dream.

3. Be aware that your external environment affects and shapes your actions – if you’re aware how external situations and people affect you then you are a step towards also having some power to change them. There’s a lot of external chatter in the world that tries to tell us the Truth about Life and the life we Should lead. Listen by all means and then use your own power to decide how you define a successful life and how you choose to live it.

4. Create new behaviours rather than trying to avoid or stop old ones. I’m going to be creating new actions for myself around money and food that’s about a fab and healthy relationship with both. I’ll be focusing on creating healthy/tasty food and value driven money creation rather than thinking about what I can’t/don’t have. It looks like a teeny tiny shift in perspective and it will have a big impact.

5. ‘I’m just not  motivated’ is the biggest/easiest excuse not to do anything. Read my Motivation Fish story to more clearly understand motivation and you’ll see that clarity of dreams and specific actions are key to realising your dreams and making changes.

6. What’s your trigger/s? Victor Frankl said [and I paraphrase as I’m crap at remembering quotes] ‘There is a space between a stimulus and our response where we can choose our attitude and behaviours’. You have the power and ability to become even clearer about that space and what triggers your positive and not so positive behaviours and actions. When you understand and acknowledge your triggers you are a step towards having the power for real change in your life.

7. Information is only part of the solution as we move to action our dreams. I believe that we need to engage in conscious conversations with all the parts that make us human – our minds, hearts, bodies and intuition. We are a mix of the rational/irrational and need to honour that as we move towards our dreams.

8. Be clear and specific in your dreaming – saying ‘I’d like a house’ or ‘some money would be nice’ is just too airy fairy for me. It really doesn’t act as a motivator or energiser for my ‘E’ Factors [enthusiasm and expenditure of energy, time, money and passion]. If I said ‘I want to earn 2000 euro in a month’ – well, that’s got my attention and I can start to create clear actions to make it happen. When I decided to become healthier I was very specific about what I wanted to do to make that happen – 20 minutes exercise every day; 3 healthy meals [I sorted all the recipes and bought the specific yummy food] a day; clear rewards at milestones; etc.

9. Forever is a long long long time – focus on timeframes that encourage and support the changes you are making. When I started the healthy eating process in October I gave myself 3 months as the big time frame and then broke it all down into weeks and days in terms of what I’d do. I allowed myself the space and time to fall off the wagon – and then got back on it!

10. Changing things in your life can be easier than you think, you just need the tools to do it – and [blush] I think I’ve created a lot of tools in our Life Dreaming Expedition that will help people make their dreams a reality.

I’ve added a final piece that Stanford didn’t mention and I think it’s vital.

11. REAP – Rewards for Effort, Action & Planning – Creating and recognising progress points is vital to the process of making your dreams a reality. I’m a great believer in rewards for effort. Taking the time to stop and look around you – see how well [or not] you are going – celebrating that you are dreaming and working towards making them real is vital. My 3 month healthy eating/exercise plan has reaped a lot of rewards that include – high energy; great sleeps; more even emotional keel; lost 20 pounds; feel healthier.

Take time over the new year to stop and celebrate your life.

2012 will bring a mountain of challenges and opportunities – some planned and many unexpected.

I send you huge wishes for a healthy and abundant year and look forward to making one of my big dreams a reality – launching the Life Dreaming Expedition online in early 2012.

Take good care.

Liz

 

What do you think?

Success

by creativespark in create, dreaming

success

Fab Observations ( 2 )

Life Dreaming Paradox Part 2 – Looking to the Future and Living in the Moment

by Liz in action, attitude, choice, happiness, now, play

A neat paradox.

This one has been and will be my biggest challenges as I work towards getting me and Coco dog back to Oz in early 2012.

Getting back to Oz – that’s the Big Dream – obviously.

Now dear reader, I would happily loll and live in the moment if :-

  • All the money I needed (€12,000 and counting) was in the bank
  • Someone else tracked down all the info about transporting a dog across the world – and – sorted my New Zealand passport – and – did all the marketing for my workshops – and – launched Life Dreaming – and and and and

It would be easy peasy.

It’s not – never is – never will be.

That’s the kick in the arse of having dreams and not just drifting through life. You gotta work (and play) your sweet butt off to make things happen.

The last few months have felt really stressed and all because of – money honey.

My delightful life challenge is to find ways to make money in Ireland during a recession (feels like a depression) that has decimated my consultancy.

I’m no quitter so I’ve been developing ideas and trying to get things up and running. Very slow results but I have hope.

A few weeks ago I realised that most of my energy was focused on the future – planning, making lists, thinking about the next steps and worrying myself into a dither.

I wasn’t looking after myself as well as I could. I do love to eat as a comfort and you know I love my bubbles.

I started to feel totally overwhelmed, stressed, irritable and close to depressed. I was letting my thoughts and feelings rule me. The gerbils were running faster and faster in the cage.

That is not the woman I choose to be.

I stopped and explored what I was doing and what needed to be done.

This is what I asked myself

Work out what you want to do and mark what’s negotiable and what’s not – and then decide next steps.

Here’s what I wrote:

  • I want to move back to Australia – not negotiable
  • I want to bring Coco dog back with me – not negotiable
  • I want to feel healthier and calmer – not negotiable
  • I need money to move back – not negotiable
  • I want to move back to Oz by the end of February 2012 – negotiable

As you can see, my dream is standing the test of time and it’s just the time frame I need to change to decrease the stress and earn the money – and do the thousands of things that need doing.

I am now looking at a move date of April/May 2012 and that has it’s own ramifications as I’ll need to look for short term accommodation from the end of Feb – but that’s something that will work out.

People have suggested I leave Coco dog here for 3 months and go to Oz and earn money. My gut tells me that I’d rather stay here with her and bring her across. Trying to sort someone to look after her has its own costs.

S0, that’s the big picture sorted.

How am I embracing living in the moment?

I’ve created and decided a few things over the last 7 days that have really helped me enjoy the day to day:

  • Go Play – I walk Coco for 45 minutes every day. I laugh and throw the ball and just revel in her delight at being alive. She’s the zen mistress of living in the moment. The exercise is also fab for me and I just relax and take lots of deep breaths and keep throwing the ball for Coco.
  • Shut the Feck Up - I’ve placed a moratorium on worrying about bloody money for 2 weeks and may extend it. When the fear rises and the Goblins sing – I tell them to shut the feck up – I’m doing the best I can.
  • Look after my body – Over the last week I cut out all sugars, starches, carbs and alcohol. I was amazed at how my emotions evened out and calmed down – no anxiety or mood swings. I felt clearer and more able and my body got lighter (by 7lbs) as a result. I’m giving alcohol a miss for the next 60 days and loving my vegetables, fish, chicken and green teas. And it’s no hassle as I can already see the results physically and emotionally.
  • Don’t give up - In terms of earning money I’m working every day to promote my workshops and 1 to 1 sessions and am applying for any kind of work that matched my skills. All this effort will reap some reward soon – I hope.
  • Enjoy the details - In November I start creating the vids for the Life Dreaming Expedition and I’m tres looking forward to it. I’m also doing a self directed learning course on launching online products so I can be ready next year when we launch it all. I see all the actions I do everyday as having meaning and purpose – working towards my dream. I also see a lot of what I do as a kind of work/play and do the best I can in every moment.
  • Ask for Help – I’m asking for help and support from friends, family and complete strangers. I’m asking for feedback on the Luxury Life Dreaming Voyage I’m creating for January. I’m asking/bartering time from a student artist to put my workshop flyers around her campus. I’ll keep asking and most of the time people want to help.
  • It’s not always about me – I give my time to help and support others. Like every human being I can be tres self absorbed. Listening and supporting other people takes me away from myself and gives me perspective.
  • Treat myself – I bought some second hand books and lovely bar of scented soap this week. Things that cost very little and give me great pleasure.
  • Just Stop - I stop all through the day and  - breath in, look around, stretch the old muscles and tell myself it’ll all work out somehow. I revel in the now and relish the taste, texture and scent of things. It calms and delights me. Patting Coco dog always helps.

And when the details of the day to day look like tumbling down on me I

STOP

And take a look at the Big Picture Dream – me and Coco dog on the beach with my sis and time with all my family and friends. I also savour the moment I’m in right now.

New Adventures.

And here’s a little blast from the past – The Only Way is Up

 

What do you think?
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