Putting The Joy Back Into Your Holidays

(ARA) – While it may be the most wonderful time of the year, all too often the holidays are short on cheer and high on stress. With the festivities just weeks away, many are feeling the pressure to find the perfect gift, plan a delectable feast and make the trek to visit the in-laws.

With the holiday to-do list seemingly endless, it’s still possible to skate through the season with plenty of cheer and no sneer.

Whether you’re the ultimate procrastinator or meticulous planner, Brooke Burke, TV host, entrepreneur and mother of four, has gleaned some tips and tricks from Bing.com on how to reduce the stress and spend more time celebrating and less time worrying.

Ditch the crowds: The mall is often the last place you want to be during the holidays, with its jammed parking lot, hoards of people vying for the season’s “it” gift and the never ending cashier lines. It’s enough to make anyone want to stay indoors and curl up with a hot buttered rum. But, you can’t because you have a mile-long shopping list that would make Santa cringe.

* Don’t waste time and gas going to the mall. Cuddle up to your computer and do all your shopping online. Tackle your list with just a few clicks instead of hours visiting stores. You can even squeeze in a few minutes before work or while the kiddos are doing their homework to scratch a few things off the list.

* Get ideas on how to find the right gift for everyone on your list — from the kids to your mother in-law — with Bing Shopping. Bing lets you browse at your leisure through trusted reviews, price comparison tools and a ranking system so you can buy with confidence.

Deck the halls and table: Just planning your day-to-day activities can be enough of a headache, but making time to plan a holiday feast and decorate your home can be an entirely different story. The pressure to whip up a meal that appeases the taste buds of both the in-laws and the kids is enough to make anyone’s blood pressure rise. But, don’t lose faith; entertaining during the holidays can still be fun.

* Want to look like you went all out and still maintain your sanity? Try this: Decorate the bushes and trees on your property with all white lights, making for an elegant look that brightens up not only your home but the neighborhood too.

* If you prefer more subtle decorations, decorate the windows inside your house with assorted candles. It’s a great way to quickly add warmth and cheer up your home.

* When cooking for large groups, think about your audience before selecting a dish. If there are a bunch of children, the Chilean sea bass with saffron risotto may be too sophisticated. To keep it simple, try making chicken fried rice or spaghetti and meat balls for your guests. These dishes are simple and usually crowd favorites. You can use Bing Recipes where you can get user ratings, nutrition facts and more, so you quickly find the right dish.

Jet setting: The airport during the holiday season can make anyone cringe with the inevitable flight delays, steep ticket prices and grumpy kids who want to be anywhere but on a plane. It’s enough for anyone to want to stay home and visit the in-laws another year. But, traveling during the holiday season doesn’t always have to be an expensive hassle.

* To avoid the migraine, plan ahead and book in advance to keep costs down. Prices are usually much higher during the holidays with people off of work and kids out of school. Bing Travel’s Price Predictor helps you decide when and where to book your holiday trip to get the best deal.

* Book your travel right after the holiday season. You can often find great deals and resort areas will be less crowded, perfect for family getaways.

If you’re struggling with how to deal with stress and anxiety and would like someone to talk to who can really help, contact me for your 20 minute free consultation. I would love to talk with you about how I can help you overcome stress and anxiety in your life and in your business.

How to Reduce Stress This Holiday Season

Like many people throughout the country, you may have a love-hate relationship with the holidays. You love being able to visit with friends and family but you may not enjoy having your home life in an upheaval. There are parties to attend, shopping to get done and a house to decorate. When are you going to find the time for everything? The following tips will help you learn how to stay organized and sane this holiday season. Let’s get started!

First and foremost, ensure you get enough rest throughout the holidays. If you’re not sleeping properly, you could become sleep deprived which will add to your stress level. Rather than staying late at holiday parties, it would be better to leave early so you can get your rest.

Make a master list of what you have to do for the holidays. Once you know everything that needs to be done in a given time you’ll be better prepared to accomplish them. Here are some things you may have on your list:

* Budget – Set a budget for the things you’ll spend over the holidays for gifts, postage, wrapping materials, food and beverages. Try to purchase things over the course of the months leading to the holidays rather than having to spend everything at once.

* Food – Are you having a gathering at your home? What will you serve? How many people will attend? What special foods will you prepare? What shopping will you need to do above your normal grocery shopping?

* Preparation – There are many foods which can be made ahead of time rather than spending an entire day or weekend cooking. Pies, cakes, cookies and casseroles are some items you can prepare days to weeks ahead and freeze. Take them out before you need them to give them time to defrost.

* Decorations – Purge your current decorations for worn out or broken items. List things which need to be replaced and plan when and where you will get them. Then make plans on when the decorations will actually be put up.

* Gifts – Decide who you will be giving gifts to and what you will give. If you make a list to refer to each year it won’t be like recreating the wheel over and over again. Once you know what gifts you need to purchase, you can plan to go shopping.

* Shopping – Go shopping when the stores aren’t as full. Most stores are busy after 5 p.m. or on the weekends. Try going during a weekday if possible. Or you could do all of your shopping online so you don’t have to deal with crowded stores at all.

* Cleaning – If you’re planning on having company over, you may want to enlist help to get your house cleaned up. Paying someone to do the job can be a viable option if you’re running short on time.

* Deadlines – Set some deadlines as to when you would like to have things done. Decide when you’ll have all gift buying done, when you’ll wrap things and when you’ll make goodies. The more you have planned out, the more likely you are to actually meet those deadlines and keep your sanity.

No matter how many holiday parties you have to attend and no matter how many gifts you have to buy, you can learn how to stay organized and sane this holiday season. There’s no sense in working yourself to a frenzy or feeling like you have to do everything by yourself. Get help if you need it so you can enjoy your friends, family and festivities as well.

Get Organized Now is an amazing collection of 2,175 ideas, tips and techniques for organizing your home, your clutter, your time, your schedule, your money, your paper, your family and much more!

Think you can’t do much in 20 minutes? Schedule a free 20 minute coaching consultation with certified Personal Life Coach Aurelia Williams and start forming your plan of action today!

Effective Goal Setting Techniques

There’s been a lot written about effective goal setting techniques and there are many different approaches and methods in fact, it’s easy to get caught up in the confusion about how to set goals and not end up setting any.   These simple, effective goal setting techniques will help you to set powerful goals and make goal-setting an invaluable part of your life. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve with the help of some well though-out, written goals try it!

Make a date –  Make time in your diary to find a quiet, comfortable location to set your goals. I spend a morning at my favourite table in the tearoom of the Sheraton on the Park (a beautiful hotel in Sydney city) in January every year to review my goals and set new ones for the year ahead.

Take five – Create five categories for which to set goals: physical, educational, spiritual, financial, relational. By setting goals for each of these areas of your life, you will be taking a balanced approach and not neglecting any important aspects of your life.

Write it -  You must write your goals down it makes them more powerful. Use positive language words like I will and I am this will help you to feel as though you have already achieved your goals and to change your behaviours accordingly, for example, I am going to the gym three times per week. Make sure you allocate a specific timeframe for the completion of each goal, for example, By the beginning of March, I am going to the gym three times per week. Now, identify a reward for achieving each goal don’t just make a list of rewards, relate a specific reward to the achievement of a specific goal. This will inspire you even more toward the achievement of your goal. And finally, list the possible obstacles that will get in the way of you achieving each goal, and how you will overcome these. This will help you to pre-empt the things that might go wrong and immediately swing into action with your solution, rather than giving up on your goal.

Share –  Make yourself accountable to someone you trust. Share your goals with them and ask them to check in with you regularly to see whether you are on track, and if not, why not.

Review constantly –  I have been told that the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is that a billionaire reads their goals twice a day. Simple really. I keep a copy of my goals in several locations around my house (on the bathroom mirror, on the printer, outside the shower screen, on the fridge, on my bedside table and in my wallet), which makes it easy for me to see my goals and be reminded of what I am working towards several times a day.

Keep track – When you return to your favourite place next year, review your progress and take the time to feel proud of those goals you achieve before you move on to setting goals for the next year.

By using the effective goal setting techniques above, you will be on your way to reaching the goals that you set for yourself.

If you’re ready to reach yoru personal goals and would like to work with a coach – why not grab our free 20 minute coaching consultation or simply sign up now one of our affordable coaching packages and allow me to help you reach your personal goals.

Personal Goal Setting Tips

Personal Goal setting is the true secret to success in any area of life. But although setting a personal goal may seem simple, achieving it is usually another question altogether.

Why is that?

Because you will never achieve your goals unless you: (1) know exactly what you want, (2) are passionate about your goal, and (3) have a solid, realistic plan of action. This is what marks the difference between nebulous dreams and wishes – and truly achievable goals!

Many obstacles and challenges will fly right in your face when you’re going after a goal. Here are 5 time-tested personal goal setting tips that will help get the success you deserve.

Know Exactly What Your Goal Is

Your first job is to discover exactly what your goal is. What will achieving that goal really look like? Be as specific as possible about exactly what your desired end result is. Your success will be a measure of your clarity – since an achievable goal plan cannot be created around a nebulous “dream.”

If your goal is to create a more successful business, what will that look like? Are you thinking in terms of simply hiring someone else to give you more free time? Are you looking for a very specific monthly profit? Or can your goal be best expressed in terms of a certain lifestyle?

Regardless of what you want, one of the best personal goal setting tips is to first clarify exactly what you want in as much detail as possible. This can be hard work. But without a clear mental picture, you’ll never have the focus required to achieve your goal.

Be Willing To Pay the Fee

Success takes dedicated planning and effort. In a way it’s like building a house. In the beginning all you have is a rough concept. Then you develop a complete set of plans – and you immediately move closer to success. The same is true of creating a better lifestyle, or a more successful business.

But there’s always a *fee* to be paid for success.

Creating more success in your business may mean less recreational time. Writing your own book may require less TV. Being closer to your children may require adjusting your work or social activities.

It’s the “full glass” deal. If your life (your time) is already full to the top, there’s no room for something new. The entry fee is carving out the time to create that something new.

Focus On Your Goals Daily

When it comes to personal goal setting, I’m sure you probably want to achieve your goal as fast as possible. That’s why clear mental focus is so very important.

One of the best personal goal settign tips is to be consistent. Daily focus on your goals is absolutely necessary to “burn in” the new neural pathways you need to create your new goal. Without daily focus, the old mental habits that have kept you from your goal will continue to take over.

This happens automatically – since these old habits replay 24/7 deep in your subconscious mind. The only way to override subconscious anti-success messages is to consciously focus on what you DO want – and build new neural networks!

That’s why success is an every-day event.

Re-commit to your goal every day. Don’t let your goal take a back seat to the daily tasks and distractions that will try to take over. Life WILL try to get in your way. Just get, and stay, on course every day. Focus on your goal, and on success!

Get Passionate

One of the most powerful tools in your “success tool box” is having real passion for your goal. An intense passionate desire for your goal will help you burn in those new neural pathways even faster. Many, many scientific studies have shown that intense emotion (passion) is a key success tool.

PLUS (and this is really a *big* plus), intense passion will also help you rapidly override any inappropriate old “failure messages” stored in your subconscious mind.

Take Consistent Action

In many ways, actually taking action can be the most difficult step. Successful goal achievement is built by taking one small action after another.

If you commit to take at least one small action each day, your actions WILL add up and make a difference. So avoid sitting back waiting for that big second when everything will magically “just happen.”

You CAN create whatever you want in life. The secret is to determine exactly what you want, then pursue it passionately. But remember — in the end, only action counts! You can’t just dream about it! You have to DO IT! Be sure to use any and all of these personal goal setting tips so that you can start to reach your goals.

If you’re ready to reach yoru personal goals and would like to work with a coach – why not grab our free 20 minute coaching consultation or simply sign up now one of our affordable coaching packages and allow me to help you reach your personal goals.

Balancing Family and Working from Home

Life is about balance. There is a balance for everything. There is a balance for your budget; the right balance allows you to keep your bills paid and still have money for extras. There is a balance for your health. The right balance of exercise and healthy foods extends your health while allowing you to enjoy some occasional junk food. There is also a balance when it comes to work and family. Finding the right balance for this aspect of your life is important for the emotional well-being of you and your loved ones.

Working from home gives you the freedom to create your own schedule. But with that freedom comes responsibility. If you are going to earn the money that you need, you have to treat your work from home job like a job, not a hobby. It is easy to keep putting things off, working fewer and fewer hours, until you are barely making a profit. You have to create a schedule, one that works for you, and try your hardest to adhere to it. Work around the busy times of your family life. For instance, try not to schedule for when the kids get home from school.

Determine how many hours each week you need to meet your financial goals. Then, determine where you can fit those hours in. It might be early in the morning or late at night. It might be working several hours a few days a week or a few hours five or six days a week. Give yourself at least one day off each week to prevent the burnout that comes easily with working from home. Use this time to be with your family, just as you would use your days off from a brick-and-mortar job.

Plan for vacation time at least once a year. Give yourself a week off to just relax and do things with your loved ones. Be prepared to work fewer hours in the summer when the kids are home all day. You can make up the time in the evening or later in the night. The important thing is to put your family’s needs first. Working from home should be enjoyable, not a burden on you or your family.

Think you can’t do much in 20 minutes? Schedule a free 20 minute coaching consultation with certified Personal Life Coach Aurelia Williams and start forming your plan of action today!