Blog Archives - Creative Spirit

Celebrating success - 30 day challenge complete

17/6/2015

I just thought I had better count up how many blogs I had done as I had lost track of the date, and I was very pleased to see that yesterday was my 30th - that was a nice surprise.

What I wanted to achieve at the end of this was to get clear on to blog or not to blog, and if I were to what that would look like for me and how to make it work. I have already been sharing my learnings along the way, however here is my summary of what works for me

Make it fun not a chore
Be authentic and don't try to hard
Just get started, find a bite sized piece and get going
Proof read and spell check before posting the blog
Jot down topic ideas and write up drafts when inspiration strikes, so you know they are captured
Get into the habit of writing regularly - just make time to write at least weekly
The more I write the more ideas I have and the easier the flow seemed to be
My preferred topics - Authentic Living, Authentic Leadership, Inspiration and Wisdom in Action
Build a collection of posts in draft format to get you started and tie it into a marketing strategy to build web presence or expertise in a particular area
Draw on my own personal experiences or topics that regularly feature in client sessions (all within the bounds of confidentiality goes without saying, but I will as it is important)
It can also be a quote, a resource, a video clip or something that someone has shared with me that I have found valueable
Use colour and graphics in your posts - I like them anyway
Check out all your website functionality regarding posts

With that I am going to say a big YIPPEE IYE AYE - I have completed and now gone beyond my 30 day challenge, with this being post 31 !!

My next joint 30 day challenge

16/6/2015

I am having fun playing with other ways you can use the 30 day challenge. I have lined up my next one, which I am going to do once I have completed this one, which should be any day now. I really do need to count how many posts I have done .....

The twist with this next 30 day challenge is that I have asked my husband if he would like to do a joint 30 day challenge with me, in partnership on an area that we jointly agree. I came up with some suggested areas and we agreed that this is something we both would like to do and benefit from. We have agreed to a daily challenge of 15 mins a day focused on the house move. The aim of the challenge will be to get clear on what we want to move to and how we are going to make it happen. In effect, it looks like a month of planning and then when we have a really clear plan we will be able to focus on actioning the plan. I am going to be using my trusty timer to time our 15 mins, and the rest we will let evolve.

30 ways in 30 days

15/6/2015

I love being creative and thinking up new ways of doing things. Just as I was opening up my website to write a blog, thinking what am I going to write about I had an idea. I was thinking of the 30 day challenge, and then thought of all the other 30 day challenges I had lined up in my list of ideas and voila it came to me. 30 ways in 30 days. Still based on the concept of the 30 day challenge, was the opportunity to improve my life in a kaleidoscope of ways. On the first day of the challenge you brainstorm at least 30 activities that you think would improve your life. This could be in one area of you life, such as health and fitness or it could be in lots of different areas of your life. The activities could be big or small, so that you have a variety of things to focus on depending on the circumstances that you find yourself in at the time. Once you have brainstormed these activities another import step is to commit to doing at least 30 of these activites. I would recommend making an agreement with yourself, something along the lines of

I (name) hereby commit to improving my life on a daily basis for the next 30 days, by doing at least one of the following activities listed each day. Then sign the declaration, in the spirit of more fun, fulfilment, happiness and joy (or whatever other adjectives suit your purpose).

I think that this would be a fun way to kickstart changes that you have been thinking about making to have an even better, more fulfilling and authentic life.

Yes Let's.....

14/6/2015

I learnt a new game a few weeks ago called "Yes Let's..." It reminded me of being a child again, and put me in that curious, playful frame of mind and I felt like I would have liked to have worn red shoes whilst playing this game.

When you play the game, the nominated player "tries on" a number of different things that the other players suggest. For example, the questioner would ask Let's pretend that anything is possible in your life, and I would respond, Yes Let's and then I would be curious and explore what that might look like for me. Then they might ask another question - "Let's imagine that you had everything you wanted in your life to feel happy and fulfilled, and I would respond Yes let's explore what that might look like.

Your commitment is to trying on new possibilities and ways of thinking to open horizons.

Let's imagine what the world would be like if we had peace, health and prosperity for all

Yes Let's ....

Kia Ora Mary B.

Reframing my relationship to technology

13/6/2015

It's late, I am tired. I am waiting to get a midnight flight to Sydney and then onto Christchurch, but I am here. I showed up to the blog and I am writing. I have 5 or less days to go on the 30 day challenge and I am confident that I will be here until the end. It has been a useful, interesting and sometimes uncomfortable learning experience, but a worthwhile one none the less. The fear and procrastination I was feeling in relationship to my website and writing a blog is now in the past. I am even thinking that I might quite enjoy the challenge of producing some video clips, posting on Vine and exploring the world of twitter. I am thinking more positively and more curiously about how I can use technology to make my life easier, to make connections meaningful and have a better reach. All whilst maintaining lots of time out in the world, not in front of my laptop, and in a way that is easy to manage and enjoyable.

This was a simple case of being stuck on the story of what I didn't want, rather than focusing on what I wanted to create. It took facing my fears and doing something about my stuckness for me to be able to see that it was an illusion of my own creation and nothing more than that.

Planning ahead of time

12/6/2015

I would just like to acknowledge myself for my commitment to this 30 day challenge, which has resulted in me planning and writing my posts ahead of time, knowing that I would be faced with times when I have other commitments on that would likely mean that it would take extra energy and effort to remember and complete the challenge. By doing the planning and upfront work I made it easier for myself to keep the commitment. There is a good lesson in that. Where else can I use my planning skills to best effect? To achieve results with less effort, more enjoyment and with a better outcome. I am drawing on a natural strength to best advantage. I wonder what other natural strengths I can leverage

What I am learning about myself is...

11/6/2015

If I break the challenge/task down into small enough pieces it makes it easier to get started and get into action. So if I want to make any change in any area of my life - fitness, finance or relationship, to name but a few then I can make progress incrementally towards what I want, or create a new habit through repetition, either way it is progress one small step at a time. It was helpful to work with a coach to identify a bite sized, actionable and inspiring challenge that I was fully committed to take on, there were lots of options, so what was going to be the most beneficial to me right then. It was also invaluable to have someone to be accountable to, as I know that without someone to check in with I probably would have given up by now and put it in the to hard, or can't be bothered category.

So if there is something you want to change, whether it is a start something or a stop something, taking on a 30 day challenge may just kick start you on that journey, then who knows where you will will take it.

What am I continuing to learn through my 30 day blog challenge

10/6/2015

Here is what am I continuing to learn about through my 30 day challenge of writing a daily blog.

That showing up to the page is probably easier than I thought
There are a number of things that I notice, I reflect on, I share with clients or that simply inspire me that I can share
It is interesting to see what I am naturally drawn to write about - things that do inspire me, or prompt me to self reflect. I am also drawn to writing about my life, which is probably of more interest to me than anyone else other than my family and close friends. Some of those things are what I would naturally write in my morning pages and I guess I could be things I share on Facebook as a way of me staying in touch more regularly with the people in my life that are important to me. Facebook and social media could be another one of my 30 day challenge opportunities - possibly?
I have also learnt a few more of the technical features in the back end of my website, which makes me feel more confident and less doubting of my technical ability.

That's all for now, more sharing tomorrow

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail

9/6/2015

Just turned out the light to go to sleep and remembered that I had a blog to write. So here I am. It is short and sweet, in fact it is all in the title I seem to be getting my messages and inspirations from all around me at the moment. I saw this quote written on a University of WA billboard

"Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail"

I think this is simple and oh so powerful. We often don't start something because of fear of failure. I think this would be a great antidote to procrastination or not following your dreams.

A friend's wisdom shared

8/6/2015

I was inspired today by the simple wisdom shared on Facebook by an lovely friend of mine

Here is what he said

"To live powerfully, we simply do more of what works and less of what doesn't.
We could say there's two significant options. One is to look at all the data and try understand it then, decide what to do based on that. The other is to enjoy as much as possible what you are experiencing knowing you created it while giving yourself complete freedom to imagine and contemplate new creations and your future." Paul Stewart