Are you right now?

Are you fatigued or energized?

Do you feel tightness in your chest or do you feel open an free.

Pessimistic or Optimistic?

You could go for days without food or water, but without air you would hardly last a minute.

And just like there are unhealthy and healthy ways to eat, so too with our breathing.

If you are feeling tired, unmotivated, and tight in your body, shallow breathing might be part of the cause.

Not only does your breathing give your body oxygen to power its many processes, but the actual action of breathing helps to move the toxins through your lymphatic system.

Shallow breathing = less oxygen and toxins not being moved out of your system

Deep breathing = Oxygen rich blood and toxins being flushed out.

You can find numerous breathing exercises on line and you can even find some interesting breathing test as well

It is worthwhile to take a few minutes daily to do some breath exercising. Work it and it will work for you.

Here is one that I like

Breathing Exercise

If you can do this exercise for five minute 3 times a day (morning, noon, night) in a quiet and distraction free setting you will also benefit from it as a meditative practice as well.

What you need:

You
A quiet place.
Lungs

The Technique:

Breath using a 1:4:2 ratio.

For example:

Breath in - 3 seconds

Hold breath - 12 seconds

Breath out - 6 seconds

Repeat the process for 10-20 breaths.

Be careful not to over exert yourself.

Start of your inhale at 3 seconds and work your way up.

If you feel to much strain when you are holding your breath cut back on the time.

the process should be relaxed.

Do this 3 times a day for 10 days and you will begin to notice a huge difference to your energy, your clarity and your ability to stay healthy.

“Wax on, Wax off. Breath in, Breathe Out” - Mr Miyagi, Karate Kid

Coaching Question:   

• Why is your breathing important to you.
• How will better breathing help you today.

How are you feeling?

Exhausted? Overwhelmed? Unfocused? Miserable?

You are getting descent sleep and you are eating OK but you just can’t seem to get out of your rut.

It could be that your Procrastination List is way to long.

Have you ever tried to navigate your computer with 50 windows open, or not defrag your computer for a year? So to with your physical and mental world. When you mind is filled with dozens of things left undone, the clutter uses up all of your energy and makes you move slower than molasses.

But when you close all those files and defrag your computer? Whoosh.  Every thing just flies.

When you remove the clutter of things undone from your life you experience a sense of ease, lightness, clarity and an abundance of energy.

The exhilaration that you feel after a physical clean up is far greater when you do a mental clean up.

The mental clutter in your mind that leads to procrastination is often as a result of three types of decisions.

Not Making a decision.

Being indecisive is a way we fool are selves into thinking we have multiple options. In truth we are in the paralysis of analysis and nothing gets done. Not choosing will sap your mental energy.

Look at being indecisive as if you made a decision. It is the decision not to act at all. By seeing it this way one of two things will happen, you will either close the issue as it has been decided “I’m not taking any action” or it will force you into making a more deliberate decision.

Deciding But not acting

Deciding but not acting on the decision.

This is related to what we spoke about in the last post
The Enemy Of Change

If you plan to start tomorrow then it will never happen. We can never be sure that tomorrow will come, all we truly have is today.

If you don’t take action on your decisions it is as if you never decided. ” I am going to start eating healthy tomorrow.” tomorrow arrives but you already forgot about your decision. It’s like you never  decided.

When you make a decision take action. Action builds momentum, it gives life to your decision. With even the smallest action you begin the process that will lead to success. When you have made a decision, take action immediately. No matter how small the action, take it.

Decision with incomplete action.

As the saying goes “There is nothing like a job well done”. The key word is DONE. You know that feeling you have when you have been working on a project, a report, or maybe refinishing a bedroom and you finally finish it. That feeling is a key in building your momentum to continued success.

When you decide and take action but leave things hanging, you are continually nagged by that incomplete task.  Again it drags on your energy.

When you complete something relish in the moment and celebrate, then take the high you are feeling and immediately begin on another task. The energy from the previous success will grow in the new project.

Success requires focus.

In order to succeed you have to be able to focus on the objectives at hand. When your mind is all cluttered with uncompleted projects, your focus is weakened and you are hampered in achieving your highest level of fulfillment.

So are you choosing to clean our your physical and mental clutter?

Here are 5 action steps.

1. Make a list of “My Incomplete Projects” - Make sure to include physical and mental things that are incomplete; Work, home, relationships, education, dreams, goals, meditation, fitness, healthy living, un-returned calls, an incomplete assignment, or a broken friendship left unresolved, etc.

2. See if there is anything on the list that you can complete immediately. - Maybe there are some items that you will decide that you will make no decision and remove it from your thoughts. For example, You can’t decide between a Blackberry or an IPhone. Instead of being indecisive maybe you will decide to buy neither. You’ve gone this long without them you might as well just let it be.

3. Pick a few tasks that you complete this week. A few that you will complete this quarter and a few that you will complete this year. Take an action immediately. -Break down the tasks into manageable pieces, don’t try to do everything at once or you will become overwhelmed and end up wasting your life watching TV so you can sit in oblivion and avoid real life.

4. When you complete a task Celebrate and Take Action. - Don’t take celebration for granted. When you complete a task celebrate whether you buy yourself and ice cream, treat your self to a massage, take a personal development course or go on the vacation that you always dreamed of (this last one might be save for finishing your whole list).  After you have completed and celebrated TAKE ACTION. Move onto the next task and immediately take action. Remember no matter how small take action.  If you decide that you what to exercise more, don’t wait till tomorrow, do 5 push-ups NOW.
5. When you have cleared your slate enjoy the moment and anticipate the future. - When you have removed the clutter from your physical and mental world, reflect on how you feel, really embrace that feeling. Then take joy in the amazing potential that lies before you. With a clear uncluttered mind, you will be able to take the things that matter most to you and focus your full and abundant energy on them.

Find the clutter!  Clear the clutter!  Feel the energy!

Have an Abundant Weekend,

Rob

Have you ever felt like you just can’t get in gear?

Physically you feel fine. You’re eating OK, getting a bearable amount of sleep, and don’t have to many stressors weighing you down. But mentally you are a sputtering blob. You feel like you are running on one Read the rest of this entry »

I went to a two hour real estate presentation today. I had gone more with the intention to do some networking, than to learn about the business. The presenter was very powerful, and even though I was more interested in his presentation style than in the course that was being marketed, by the end of the presentation I found myself wanting to take the course. It required a conscious effort not to sign up. The information was useful and the program was sound. I didn’t sign up for the course for two reasons, one because I decided to wait a day to see if the desire remained after the energetic presentation, and two because although I would benefit from the course, it was not in-line with my current focus.

Driving home I was reflecting on the times when I get super energized about something - A great book, movie, speaker, or even a powerful conversation - and how I often want to absorb myself further into the source of that feeling.

An example is watching a martial arts movie. Back in 91 I saw this great action movie “Perfect Weapon”, the actor Jeff Speakman is a master in Kempo Karate. The movie was awesome, and for days after I was practicing the moves and looking into martial arts classes. Ultimately the high would dissipate and the martial arts interest would die (never got past orange belt), until the next movie.

Back to the reflecting.
What if when we feel energized because of an experience, instead of trying to absorb your self further into something that will most likely not sustain your interest, why not use that energy and focus it on working towards one of your goals, or working on your business or relationship?

The idea is something that Napoleon Hill refers to as Sex Transmutation. Hill contends that the most successful men of his time had an intelligent woman behind them, that knew how to focus their desire/energy towards success.

Maybe next time when you see a great action movie, instead of looking to take up kung foo fighting, try writing that post, working on your business, or making those cold calls (the prospect will be affected by your energy). You might be surprised at the successful outcome.

If you have had any experience with this idea, I would appreciate you sharing it with us.

KiiiiiiYa