Do You Deserve to be Happy?

A recent lunch with a friend brought this subject to light. In our conversation, I detected that our views of happiness differed so I asked. The conversation followed this thread… Me: Do you deserve to be happy? Friend: Deserve connotates that you did something to deserve, that you earned the privilege to be happy. Me: Let’s rephrase – do you have the right to be happy? Friend: Meaning this is a natural right. I am …

So You Think It Doesn’t Matter?

Rest that is! Many of us short-cut our bodies on the rest that is needed to restore and refresh us. We’ve all had those events or evenings when we just can’t get in the 7 to 8 hours we need. We are groggy or short-tempered the next day but we live. That is the challenge with our immediate gratification society. Our bad habits don’t do us in immediately. If we were unable to function the …

Recharging

The need for vacation is not just once or twice per year as us Americans like to think. We need rest far more frequently. The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz make the point in their book that as humans we tend to view ourselves much like the machines we utilize. The computer continues to hum along awaiting our next instruction or foray onto the Internet. Except for needing fuel and …

Getting Away from it ALL!

Did you get away this summer on vacation? Good for you! What did you do? Play, get sunburned, sleep late, eat good food? Well yes you say, I did that between frequent check-ins to my smartphone and fielding a few calls from the office. You know work doesn’t stop when I go on vacation. Really? Why did you bother? To be effective in our work endeavors we need time away. I am not much of …

Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes!

Are you considering a career change? What happens when we think of career changes? Do your thoughts turn to the “logical next step” given your experience or are you thinking outside your box, outside your comfort zone? How do you even begin to consider other options? Many people have an all or nothing attitude toward a career change. The thinking is typically “how can I quit my job and start all over from the beginning?” …

What Lights Your Spark?

How is your career? Do you feel stuck, limited in your options based on your experience and personal situation? Creativity is called for. Do I hear you saying “I’m not the creative type”? Are you limiting yourself right from the start? Let’s shake off those self-limits and open the world of possibilities. Here are a couple of steps to get you started. If what you are currently doing does not excite you, take a deeper …

Handling Tolerations

We all have them…tolerations that is. Some may appear bigger or more consequential than others, yet they all have the same impact. Tolerations are a condition that is allowed to exist even though it tends to drain our energy. So how long is your list?   2, 5, 50 or 200?  My list started with 4 but grew to 50 quickly as I learned to recognize tolerations.  If you need help recognizing them, e-mail me at barbara@acceluspartners.com …

What are you Tolerating?

The last issue of this newsletter dealt with clutter in the physical and mental form. There was a sentence at the beginning that stated “Some of us are oblivious to the amount of clutter we have.” Oblivious? Yes, we can all get used to that mess of a desk or the disorganized closet, yet deep down inside we know it exists. There is also a form of clutter that we have a harder time seeing …

Creating Space (aka Decluttering)

Clutter. We all have it. For some of us we derive a feeling of importance from it. Others of us can’t imagine parting with any of it. Some of us are oblivious to the amount of clutter we have.  We need to create space. Clutter is physical. Open that closet again. Yes, it is the same feeling every time…overwhelm and “I just can’t deal with it now!”. Yet once you clear the clutter from the …

Developing Awareness

The last two messages involved you in a process to develop awareness. You can only harvest what you plant. Are you aware of what you are planting and nurturing? Awareness is two-fold: The amount of time we spend in reflection forming thoughts, opinions or ideas Where our attention is focused Instead of reflection we live in reaction, responding to what happens to us, rather than creating our world. In turn, our attention is focused on …

What’s Growing in Your Garden? Part Two

Last week you wrote down an inspiring, motivating, life advancing thought.  Yes, that one! What’s growing in your garden? What has happened with that thought?  Did you do anything with it?  Did it grow?  Did inattention cause it to never take root and thus die? If you did something with your thought, pat yourself on the back, and KEEP GOING! For most of us, the thought lies and will continue to lie dormant, awaiting water, light …

What’s Growing in Your Garden?

What’s growing in your garden? Have you looked lately? This garden is your life. What’s growing in it? Have you tended it lately? Life is flying at us and by us at warp speed, matching the ever increasing speed of our electronic devices. When do any of us have time for a prolonged thought, much less a true reflection on our life. For most, the only unplugged time that remains is the shower. Once they …

Suiting Up and Showing Up

early days

Usache (my horse) and I began showing competitively in early 2008.  For the first few shows we (okay, me) were thrilled just to be there.  After our third outing came the wake-up call.  We had an okay showing but it was obvious there were some skills yet to be learned by me and some teambuilding for the two of us.  Usually the Sunday night after a show I am wiped out, but this time I …