Tips & Resources

There is a general theme existing among most of my clients and the people I come across these days. The theme is “Over.” Over spent, over weight, over extended. Invariably, at least two of the three themes surface in just about every conversation.  People are feeling challenged managing their spending, their weight and their time. Is there a relationship between them? I would definitely say “yes.” Our lives and challenges are interrelated. When you feel out of balance in one area of your life, it spills over into other parts of your life.

 

Now is a great time of year to begin making improvements in our own behavior. Spring is a time when the earth begins to bloom, awaken and burst forth with renewed life and energy. We can do the same, using the energy we get from Spring to set new tones for our lives, increasing our mindfulness, bringing more consciousness to our daily actions and decisions. By making these minor changes, we will be turning on a faucet that pours more good into each of our days.

So how do we fit this into our already jam-packed lives? Begin by thinking about what a good day looks and feels like. It sounds simple, but it is a powerful first step in making rewarding choices in our life (and it doesn’t cost anything!). We need to become conscious of the cycles that are driving our lives. It is very easy to get caught in unconscious cycles running through each day full speed ahead without any feeling of fulfillment. We finish the day exhausted and drained without any conscious consideration to anything ‘great’ that happened in that day, week or month. These are the cycles we need to replace with enriching cycles. Cycles that are deliberate, simple and harvest fulfillment within us. Creating enriching cycles begins with a constant attempt to become clearer on the things that make a good day look and feel great.

Once we begin to digging up the things that feel good, we uncover cycles that create positive spaces in our days. For example, let’s say it feels good when the current credit card bill is significantly less than the previous month. Set a goal to limit the number of transactions per month to a given number, say 30. Make fewer trips to the grocery store, to the mall, to eating out. The result is more deliberate and conscious spending, and more free time. We are spending less time on trips to the stores, and less time finding places to put the ‘stuff’ when we arrive home. Less driving also means less gasoline purchases. Each time we find ourselves in a store, we are susceptible to spending money on things we did not intend to spend money on. By visiting stores less, we spend less money. Limiting the times you dip into your wallet turns into a very positive cycle and rewarding cycle. Shop less, spend less, go for a walk. That’s an enriching cycle!

Get more rest. I am obviously not a health expert, but there has been a tremendous amount of research done on the importance of sleep in overall well being.  When we are rested, we simply make better decisions. How many times have we been exhausted and made a purchase to comfort ourselves? Whether it has been a meal, a gadget, or an item of clothing, we attempt to draw comfort from a purchase when we are feeling drained. Next time, go to bed and get some rest. Being rested increases our attention to our days, it helps us approach our days more constructively, and improves our decision making. We use time replenishing our energy rather than cluttering life with another purchase. Here is another positive cycle. Feel stronger, more rested, make better decisions, feel more enriched. Its simple, but its good stuff.

These cycles will begin to appear more and more frequently. But first, we need to do a little gardening.  Dig away the over spending, over eating, over extending by planting quiet moments into each day. Use the moments to become clearer on the enriching parts of life. Continue to take notice of the parts of the day that feel good and consciously invest energy into more of those moments. Soon, we see more powerful patterns growing throughout each day. We all have the ability to live abundantly great lives. We just have to give the proper care and attention to harvesting daily goodness. Spring is here. Its time to awaken the enriching cycles in our lives.