Tude Tips Blog

There are many ways to simplify your life such as prioritising what is important to you, decluttering your space or spending time with loved ones, kids or the elderly.  Take a moment to smell the roses and relax, even if it's just 5 minutes.  Treat yourself to a cup of coffee with a book or magazine for a quick 10 minute escape from the chaos.  Better still make a list of 10 things you can do to simplify and enjoy life so next time you want to take a 'Tude break' the ideas are already there for you.  Simple...

You deserve to enjoy your life so make sure you really make the most of it by taking notice and appreciating the small things that make a big difference.

For me it is singing or writing.  I can spend hours doing either of these two things.  I am passionate about both of them and neither feels like work. Taking time out to sing or write changes my state and starts checmical reactions in my body and brian that make me feel good - Endorphins!  Get addicted to endorphins!

Well it is February already and how are you going with your New Year's goals? If you didn't set any at the beginning of the year there is no reason why you can't start setting some new goals today. 

Keeping on track with your goals can be challenging. I have found the following things work well.  Even though some of them you do at the beginning of your goal setting process - its helps to review them periodically. 

1. Get really clear on your goal - it needs to be clear enough for you to be able to explain it to someone else so they understand what you are going to achieve.

2. Work systematically - yes attaining goals requires constant attention and every little bit counts. 

3. Notice what is holding you back - identify limiting beliefs, behaviours and patterns and change them to more empowering ones.

4. Learn new information and skills - identify what else you need to learn to reach your goals, then research where to find that information. 

5. Have a sounding board for your ideas - choose a friend or your partner to bounce your ideas off. They may have a useful perspective you haven't though about. They may also be able to give you feedback to help you unblock areas where you might be stuck.

6. Acknowledge your success - there's no need to wait until you have achieved the big goal - notice what you are achieving daily to help you reach it and stay motivated. 

7. Be accountable and honest about how dedicated you are to your goal and taking the actions daily - if you are not completely inspired by the idea, write down what inspires you about it - list at least 10 big things that really excite you. 

8. Take regular action - small steps regularly are easier then large leaps infrequently. 

100% personal responsibility, 100% of the time Wow! Big call–yes, yet such a simple concept.  The beauty is almost all humans have the ability to take 100% responsibility for themselves 100% of the time.  

Whether you are a pauper on the streets or a wealthy aristocrat, or anyone in between you have the power to choose 100% responsibility for yourself and have some influence on how your life happens.  No person has more of an advantage than another person.

What is 100% responsibility?
What I am referring to here is your ability, in fact your choice, to take responsibility for how you think about things and the attitudes you choose.

Imagine how free you can feel when you take 100% responsibility for all of your choices and decisions.  This is the key to personal freedom.  When you know in your heart you are responsible for yourself on all levels, you can tap into a feeling of internal freedom that no one can take from you.  When you commit to 100% responsibility 100% of the time you will experience a much less stressful life.  From this place, you can manifest what you want in life more easily.  Life becomes more in flow, easy, fluid.

I remember why I started my first business, many years ago.  At the time I was working for a large corporate.  I had worked for several companies and different bosses, and didn’t enjoy the rigid structures I had to work within.  I felt that most of my results were out of my control because of the boundaries I had to work within.  Unfortunately I had the experience of working for a boss who enjoyed taking credit for what others did well and chastising them for anything that didn’t.  I decided that I wanted to take personal responsibility for my results – good or otherwise.  I started a marketing consultancy company and never looked back.  Today I can’t imagine working for someone else.  I love the freedom of being able to take 100% responsibility for my results no matter what they are.

The same applies in our personal lives.  When you decide to take 100% responsibility for who you are, where you want to go and your actions you experience a beautiful sense of personal freedom.  There is no blame, because you have chosen a particular thought, action or decision.  The people who experience life the most are those who take responsibility and learn the lessons as they walk through life, versus the people who choose to blame external influences for the hand they are dealt.  The latter group miss the lessons and miss out on some of the gems in life.

Nobody else can make this choice for you
Thoughts and attitudes are internal processes therefore you are the only person who can choose them.  Alternatively, you can choose to allow others to influence you.  Again, that is your choice.

It is futile to waste time and energy on blaming others for your situation and results.  You are where you are in life because of all of the choices you have made up to this moment.

As discussed in Chapter 3 of the book 'Attitude, Aptitude, Altitude—Choose your 'Tude!' you cannot not make a choice.  Choosing to do nothing is still making a choice.  Choosing to live life at the peril of external forces, blaming your situation on other things or people outside yourself is a choice.

Some people appear to have a charmed life where everything happens as they intend it.  Some call this lucky.  However it is in fact their choice.  They have chosen positive intentions, thoughts and actions, which result in creating what they want.  These people are not attached to a rigid outcome because they know they will create a positive result.  If their result is not 100% exactly as they imagined it to be, it will be close and therefore they can relax and enjoy the outcome.

Whether you are aware of it or not, you ultimately take 100% responsibility for your choices 100% of the time because your results are determined by your choices, subconsciously or consciously.  You are the product of your choices.  As such you have to live with your self as you have created it through the choices you have made.

Affirmations:
I am grateful for the strength, courage and openness to live my desired life
I receive everything I deserve graciously and easily
I take 100% responsibility for my thoughts, beliefs, words and actions
I am open to my full potential on all levels

Can you think of some of your own?

Our minds also need a spring clean from time to time.  Especially after a long winter, a good spring clean of the mind can do wonders to get you motivated to pick up a gear and sprint to the end of the year achieving all those goals you intended to achieve at the beginning of the year.

I'm no expert in decluttering, but here are some quick tips that can help to spring clean your mind:

1.  Meditate:  Take a moment to allow your mind to rest.  Clear the clutter in your mind, and you will be amazed at how the rest of the noise and clutter around you simply disappears.  It's easy when you give yourself permission to do it.  If you'd like some assistance, try meditating to our Guided Meditations.

2.  Spring clean your environment:  Clean up your office and desk, organise the third draw down in the kitchen, rearrange the furniture in the lounge, tidy up the garden.  All of these things require your attention, so while you're concentrating on that you're giving your mind a rest and achieving a satisfying result at the same time.

3.  Hanging around...  Its time to hit that wardrobe and clear out the things lurking in the wardrobe taking up space—if you haven't worn it in 12 months, its time to let it go.  How you look affects how you feel and how you perform, so get a friend or a personal stylist to help you decide what works and what doesn't. 

4.  Recycle pre-loved belongings:  Don't throw things out... recycle them by either selling them on your website, Face Book, Trade Me or EBay, or gifting them to a charitable organisation.  Christmas is just around the corner, so think about packaging up a few pre-loved things and donating them to a worthy cause.

5.  Have a makeover and/or a massage:  After all your cleaning you'll need to rest and relax, rejuvenate your mind ready for the next adventure.

Remember your mind can be as cluttered as your environment.  Spring cleaning your mind can have a cleansing affect on your environment and vice versa.  Let go of the old and make way for the new.  Any inspiring tips you have to help us spring clean mind, body and environment, we'd love to hear them.