The Life Design Studio

New Year’s Resolutions 2009 : Increasing your chance of Success

Yet another year on the turn, yet another set of New Year Resolutions to be broken.  Am I being pessimistic?  Well, that’s not my style at all but I do know that there is sound evidence that most people don’t carry out their pledges – well at least not for more than a few days.  So why is this?  How can I help you to be on the right side of the statistics heap?  After all, it’s not as if I’ve always kept my promises to myself ... but I have learned a lot in the process of breaking them about why that happens and I want to share it with you.  Let's do battle with our enemies and emerge victorious!

Five Easy Pieces to piecing together your purpose in life

I found this piece on someone else’s blog and I liked it so much I’m going to re-post it here.  Unfortunately, I don’t know the original author.

5 easy pieces to piecing together your purpose in life

"In the film Five Easy Pieces starring Jack Nicholson, the main character played by him, works in an oil field for many years after failing to achieve the dream of being a pianist; a dream which his parents created for him. Throughout the film, Jack's character Robert Dupea doesn't really know what he's supposed to do with his life. He keeps running from his fears, his family, and from his past.

Figuring out what you were put on this Earth to do can sometimes be like putting together a jigsaw puzzle when the pieces are spread around the world. Some people don't complete their puzzle because they often don't have the patience, desire, or they're just fearful. However, the five pieces needed to complete the puzzle of your life purpose are actually quite easy to find.

The Excuses We Make!

Have you ever heard yourself saying anything like this?  – I have!

“They asked me to write a blog but I don’t think I can, I haven’t got the time to prepare for it you see … I’m  far too busy. 

"I will find the time if I can of course but  ... I am a perfectionist you see; to get it right will take far too much of my time.  I know that having to have things just right is getting in my way and it’s not that I don’t want to change I have tried everything but it’s just the way I am. 

"I am too old to change now.  I suppose I could try, but deep down I know I haven’t got the will power. I’ve always been that way, never could get down to things properly at school with all that Who Ha going on between Mum and Dad at home, I couldn’t cope then so I can’t expect to now.

"I’ll just have to wing it – if it’s not brilliant I am sure everyone will understand – in the circumstances.”

Excuses Excuses - What Are Excuses About?

We use reasons like these all the time to explain why we’re not making the changes in our lives that we need to.  They sound valid enough - we’re all pressed for time and money, and there’s a limit to what we can do surely?  But all too often they are simply excuses, a way of absolving ourselves of taking action. 

Quietening the Chatter of the mind | Part I : Preparation

Have you heard this expression before : “the chatter of the mind”?

What it refers to is the constant thought processes that we are running every day of our lives.

Because we cannot get into another’s mind, we have no idea if our chattering mind is normal or healthy.  It’s just the way we are; it’s what we are used to and, anyway, why would we want to quieten it?

We have many thousands of thoughts each day and much of the time we are not even aware of the thoughts we are thinking.  Can you remember 60 thousand thoughts from yesterday or the several thousand you had in the last couple of hours? ...