I have had the small success now of having stuck with one of my goals for this year – to get fitter! (Well actually, its more like a ‘pre-wedding’ resolution that started back in December, but I’m still going strong). I’m up everyone morning with my weights and new running shoes – and I must admit, I’ve never felt better. I bring this up, not to remind you of how you’re going with any new year’s resolutions specifically, rather ‘how are you going with what you don’t like’? You see, I’m not a runner – never have been. Actually I hate it - much prefer to walk. Yet since I’ve been out every morning with my personal trainer (who thankfully I live with anyway … spoilt I know), I’ve actually found myself enjoying the exercise. Yesterday I even went for two runs – on my own! And I know what you’re thinking – oh she’s just doing this until the wedding and then she’ll let herself go! Well who knows? I can’t predict what will happen then, but what I do know is that I have three more months to ...

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It is interesting to see that many people are just waiting, waiting for their lives to begin, to feel complete, to be happy, they are in a queue and their number isn’t up yet. Do you get this feeling sometimes? It is like those who buy a lotto ticket, thinking that they deserve to win, and yet week after week they are still at the mercy of the lotto draw. With waiting comes the anticipation that once they have ‘it’ then life can truly begin, I often hear, ‘when I have a new career I will feel happier about my direction’ or ‘when I have my soul mate I will feel complete’. What are these people waiting for? An opportunity, an external power to come into their lives to make it better, a fix, a solution. They wait and expectations get higher as the time keeps on ticking. If you haven’t achieved those goals in 2007, well then begin afresh in 2008. Also explore the reasons why you haven’t achieved them, are they always the same goals? Do you find yourself indulging in sabotage behaviours ...

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I heard the other day in my yoga class about how we hold onto emotions and they are stored in our bodies, in particular our hips. Made me think about my tight hips and what is going on for me. A whole range of emotions poured out as I had been layering them in, one at a time, thus my hips got tighter and less mobile. On the outside I look healthy and I can still dance salsa, however on the inside I knew my hips were crying to just ‘let go’ of all the residual punishment I had subjected them too, my emotional rollercoaster. Going through the IVF program is like climbing a mountain, or running a marathon, never ending and full of surprises and disappointments. Your life evolves around the calendar, dates, blood tests and ultra sounds. You place everything else on hold and you prioritize your life. I have been on the journey for two years and yes it is emotional. Combine this with my Latin blood and it is almost a deadly combination! I am glad that now I laugh about it, distant from my ...

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You hear people often say ‘be in the now’ and ‘live in the moment’. They are all talking about being really there in that precise moment and connecting with that thought/event. I just read an excerpt from a book ‘My Steve’ by Terri Irwin, she spoke about her late husband, Steve Irwin alias the ‘crocodile hunter’. It was evident that he saw life as an adventure to be lived every minute. He was on a mission to do as much as possible everyday, he didn’t sleep that much as his batteries recharged quickly and once they were he was on a trail to explore, learn, teach people about what he loved most, the wildlife kingdom. His sense of curiosity was never satisfied, thus his thirst for living was never quenched. The energy he radiated was magnetic, he lived in the NOW, truly and for him time was of essence. He needed to do as much as possible in the time he had left on this earth, he took risks, and that provided the thrills, and excitement. What a wonderful example of a person on a mission,...

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When we are doing things we often do the same as last time, we have habits and often times this dictates our actions. This is being in auto pilot and we just go through our actions in an automatic way without really thinking about it. Another way of looking at this is going down the path of least resistance. We go there every time and our body has an express route to get there. When we are in this habitual trance as I like to call it, we are really not thinking about what we are doing, it just happens. For example exercise, your body is trained to go there in a certain sequence and it just does it when you go for a jog for example, or go cycling. Can be any sport, your body knows what to do. So when we stay on this road of least resistance, we do not learn new ways, we prefer the old way because it is effortless and well by now a natural way to do things. If you learn a new sport, example golf, then this is a whole new category and you need to breakdown the actual task and model of ...

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What I am going to write about has had a huge impact on my life within the last year and has moved me forwards to where I am right now. Being truly happy, playful, balanced and focused in my career and life. Corrr...just thinking how far I have come in such a short space of time is giving me a huge wave of excitement already! It was all down to one new belief I chose to take on board late last September that is making me smile. The power of choice. I believe the quality of life all boils down to the choices we make. Now I am not saying this is right or wrong, however I choose to think this way as it really works for me. My career and life is just booming with new opportunities. Wanna play? Ok, simply slide out of that overrated comfort zone into unfamiliarity land for a second and choose to think a little differently than usual. Just for today or this evening, focus on the way you are interpreting situations occurring around you. Of course, if you love the results then by all means...

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Isn't if funny how when someone points out a particular car, celebrity or place that you hadn't really noticed before all of a sudden seems to appear everywhere, on TV, in a magazine, in conversation... Coaching also brings to surface many things we may not have noticed before about ourselves, our relationships, our attitudes, our fears, our strengths. With this newfound knowledge what you may have seen as a flaw is now an attribute or what may have been scary is now exciting. Some people want to conquer the world, others want peace of mind, others still want to become more creative. A life coach is what you want them to be: a support, a sound board, a facilitator, a motivator, for accountability, an objective pair of ears. If something is missing then change is in order. Even small changes can make the world of difference. It's all about understanding where you are at and where you'd like to be. You might be surprised to find you're just where you want to be, or close. Only you hadn...

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This was explained to me by our yoga teacher Paul. See your yoga practice as like dominos, one pose leads to the next and if you do these well then you get in a state of flow. The intention behind this yoga, (like many other forms of exercise) is to Struggle, Yes struggle he said. Allow me to explain. You see when you struggle you are building new building blocks in your body; it is a new thing, to struggle. This will strip away to your authentic self and eventually get to your essence. Powerful stuff I thought. So struggling is good YES, most definitely. When you struggle you get growth, your body is doing something different. That is why when you finish your class you feel a wonderful sense of completion. You have a sense of achievement because it was a struggle, not a walk in the park! So next time you embark on your exercise regime, remember these wise words, Struggling means you are going to make a breakthrough, so take a deep breathe and keep struggling. Success awaits those ...

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I never thought the day would come when I would say “where are the good old days of emails?” To yearn for a letter, well that’s just outdated … but an email??? Understandably as technology improves, the ways in which we communicate are constantly changing. First there was MySpace, then YouTube. The latest craze to hit our virtual world is Facebook, another social network. To the untrained eye (that is, me) it seems much like MySpace (though probably has better viral marketing). So, as is the case with these fads, I joined – begrudgingly. Now I realise I’m at the more “mature” end of Gen Y and that this comment makes me feel old (as though already I’m not able to keep up with change) but I’m totally overloaded. Between a website, blogs, online newsletters, regular emails (all of which require immediate attention of course), I feel like I’m constantly glued to a computer. My relationships with my friends and family are all screened and observed by my little black laptop! So my way of...

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Don’t think of a red apple, no I said don’t think of a red apple! He he... What did you just think of? Give me a clap if you just thought of a red apple. Yipeeeee, thank you! No, I’m not a mind reader, however what I do know is this....... you can’t think about, what you don’t want to think about, without thinking about it. Think about that! Yep, I’ll say it again and I bet you’re saying it in your head slowly, right now..........you can’t think about, what you don’t want to think about, without thinking about it. Think about that! So........What’s this all about then? Why is it some people might say “I hope I don’t put on weight like I did last time I went on a diet? What are they really focused on telling themselves? Of course,.....putting on weight. What are they just as likely to do in the long run? Put on weight, right? Because that’s the image they have created in their mind. Think about it for a second, what happens when a person who wants to create a great relationship is...

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