What do see in your reflection?

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Are you happy, sad, content, tired, overworked, fed up, burnt out, frustrated, excited, hopeful or stressed? Do you think of yourself as a uniquely loveable person? Do you view your life as a work of art that is woven with rich life experiences, painted with colourful relationships and sketched with the fine detail that comes from taking notice of the little things? When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you see a true reflection of who you really are?

Getting to know you!

Most of us have a distorted view of ourselves which is based upon our life experiences, emotions as well as the needs and wants that haven’t been met.  Not knowing who you are will distort how you view your professional career goals or vision.  Leaders need to take time to clarify who they are in order to obtain that clear understanding of their vision.  Once you understand who you are – you will be in a position to know what it is that you expect.

Clarifying your vision.

In order to obtain a clear understanding of your vision, you need to ask yourself what it is that you want from your future and what the end result will look like once you have achieved it.

Is it money that you desire to achieve in order to experience successful independence?

Is it having more time with your family and loved ones?

Is it understanding what it is that you want?

Is it just the pure freedom of being organized enough to enable you to do the things you want to do?

Only you can answer these questions.  Take the time to go through this process and you will experience a better sense of direction.

Successful leaders know who they are and what they want!

Paula Morand is a dedicated wife, mother and lover of life.  She is the Founder and CEO of JumpStart 720, an award winning leadership coaching company that is committed to powering life by engaging individuals, companies and communities to more intentional living.  For more information:  www.jumpstart720.com

What do you set your Belief Compass to?

So what do you believe when you hear talk of recessions and depressions in the media? Talk is subjective for sure. Remember the last recession forecasted in 2008 and was expected to be the worst recession ever. Really?

‘Canada is headed into a worse recession than anyone expected, one that could last until almost 2010, said the country’s top economists’…..warned CBC News Business blogs back in October of 2008.

November 2008, one month later reports changed to…’While this country can’t escape the serious drag from a U.S. recession, there’s reason to believe that the slowdown in Canada will be a good deal less serious’, says a new analysis.

A year later the Globe & Mail reports – ‘Canada’s 2008-2009 recession was “less severe and shorter” than in other G7 nations, said Philip Cross, chief economic analyst at Statistics Canada and author of its year-end review.’ ‘It was called the next Great Depression, then dubbed the Great Recession.’

Trust in your ability to see beyond the hype.

There will always be talk of recessions, falling stocks and unemployment. The trick is to trust your ability to see past this and study the facts as they affect your business. If you are part of a supportive peer-peer group [if not, you should be], leverage them to garner positivity and to substantiate reality.

…but it sounds so convincing!

Remember Y2K in the year 2000? Enough said. There will always be hype. The trick is to discern between fact and hype, by doing research, trusting in your own projections and relying on others for opinion or experience on the “real” picture.

Paula Morand is a dedicated wife, mother and lover of life.  She is the Founder and CEO of JumpStart 720, an award winning leadership coaching company that is committed to powering life by engaging individuals, companies and communities to more intentional living.  For more information:  www.jumpstart720.com

Are you ready to take your rightful place in the driver’s seat of your life…to take the leap?

Using visual cues to keep you motivated toward your dream (or your big goal) is a great tool.  Often called a Vision Board or a Mind Map, these visual tools can assist you in more literally feeling and experiencing the emotion around that goal.  Of course, your vision should include all of the positive things that you desire in your life.

Get on board! Make your 720 come to life using this visioning process.

Here are 7 easy steps to building a vision board unique to you:

STEP 1:  The Board – Choose a canvas on which your vision will come to life. (Some ideas are bristol board, cork board, paint a wall, cardstock paper etc.)

STEP 2:  The Visuals – Peruse magazines, travel books, brochures and tear out images that speak to you.  Enjoy the experience of looking and remember to not only pull pictures, but words or headlines that interest you.  At this point, don’t put a lot of thought into it…just create a pile or a visual archive of things that elicit a positive feeling to you.

STEP 3:  The People – Choose any photos of yourself, your family, your pet, etc. that you feel would be a great reminder to have on your board.

STEP 4: The Layout – Review all of your images and start to lay out your favorites on the board. This is the point where you can remove any images that don’t feel are right. Let your intuition guide you; feel your future.

STEP 5:  The Feeling – Step back from your layout and take a good overall look. How does it make you feel?  If done correctly, you may feel a sense of excitement, contentment, hope and the list goes on.  At this point, the tool should really come to life as you visualize your 720 art.

STEP 6 – Time to lose the need for perfection – Your board needs to be created so it speaks to you.  You may want your board to look like a collage or to make a folding board, like a book that tells a story.  The most important thing to know when creating your board is that there is no wrong way of presenting it.  The most important part is that you create an overall vision of how you wish your life to be.

STEP 7:  Time to display it – Glue everything onto the board. Add writing if you want. You can paint on it or write words with markers.  Don’t forget that the focus of this vision board is YOU, so consider placing a picture of yourself right in the middle so you take centre stage.  Find the perfect spot on your wall so you see it often.  Remember, it is a vision board so keeping it in your line of vision will keep you on the path to realizing you 720.

OPTIONAL VIRTUAL VISION BOARD – For some of you, you may want to use your computer to do this. Go through the same process as listed above. Upon completion though it is recommended that you go to a printer and print it big enough so it will make an impact when you hang it on your wall.

Paula Morand is a dedicated wife, mother and lover of life.  She is the Founder and CEO of JumpStart 720, an award winning leadership coaching company that is committed to powering life by engaging individuals, companies and communities to more intentional living.  For more information:  www.jumpstart720.com