Winging it!

Today I'm going to tell you my biggest secret of how I get motivated.... You know, here it is, Sunday morning today I'm going to get xy and z done and ugghhh.... I just don't feel like getting started. Are you ready for my secret? Here it is. I look at Pinterest. I type in whatever it is I need to do and read people's posts about it. It could be cleaning, organizing, de-cluttering, painting, etc., I read a post (or 2) and boom, I'm motivated. It works every time. Typically when I look at Pinterest, I'm not able to do all of the things I read about and I feel so motivated to do them right at that moment, but, I'm in the car (with my husband driving) or I'm on my lunch break, etc.... But when I'm about to get started, it's the perfect time to read those posts and get myself in gear. PS. If you don't have Pinterest, you should get it OR you can just look on Google and find similar posts. HOWEVER, be warned that Pi

When there are days/weeks/months/years that you have all of these plans and things you want/need to get done, sleep is usually one of the first things to go. We stay up late trying to get things done, we wake up early to get things done or simply because we have kids to take care of or a job to go to. And before we know it, our bodies have gotten used to 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep and you'll find that you are more focused and productive during the day. You're mind is sharper, it's easier to stay on task and you'll get more accomplished. If you have trouble falling asleep, there are many things you can do to help you with that. Yoga or just stretching all over before bed. White noise machines Meditation Take a shower right before bed using lavender scented body wash There are many online resources to help you find many more ways to fall asleep faster. My husband will tell you that I fall asleep faster than anyone he h

Sometimes when you're not motivated it's because your literraly burnt out. And that's ok. When you've been doing too much for too long, it's ok to take a break. However, before you start that break, write down some of the things you're going to do after the break.. This helps to keep the things you want to do at the top of your mind without feeling guilty that you're taking a break. So what do I mean by taking a break? It can be ... in any form you desire and/or can afford. We'd all love our break to be a long vacation to someplace we really want to go, but it can be as simple as taking a walk or even spending an entire weekend binge-watching your favorite shows. Just make sure it's a plan and that you know when you've had you're break, you're going to start on that "thing" you've been putting off. MW Copyright 2017

What keeps us from being motivated and self-disciplined when we know we need or want to do something, but we just can't force our self to do it? You know, those days when you literally don't have the energy to even start. Unfortunately there is no quick fix for everyone. We're all different. We're in different places in our lives with different circumstances. There is no one magic wand that we can wave to fix it. Fortunately it's good to know we are not alone. Most people fe el this way at some time or another. And because of that, there are many solutions. Some will work for you, some won't. Hopefully in reading these posts or even the quotes I've attached, something will resonate with you.   Take a moment to think about your life.   What is holding you back?   Are you too tired, too busy, too overwhelmed?   Keep in mind that I'm not trying to motivate you to do something you don't want to do. I'm talking about helping y

I've learned through years of being a gym goer and years of working at a gym, that motivation doesn't always come from picturing the end results that you want I tried for years to figure out how to motivate the women I worked with to come in regularly. More often than not I found that people will do more to avoid feeling bad than they will to feel good. The trick is to figure out how to make that work for you. For many of my clients, it was that they hated to receive that phonecall from me, asking where they were. They wanted to make a doll with a pull string of my voice that said "go to the gym now!" lol. My next couple of posts will be about finding the motivation that helps you stick to your self-discipline. # selfdiscipline # motivation # liveyourbestlife # lifehacks # lifequotes MW Copyright 2017

The quote above touches on my last blog post and on something that I have found totally works for me when I do it. Unfortunately I don't do it often enough and it's something I'm working on. Scheduling your time/time blocking. If you make time to do something every day, it eventually get's done. For example, you could spend an entire day doing laundry - Or you could decided to do one load every day. Wash it, dry it, fold it, and put it away. Done. You've accomplished something today. Sometimes t he idea of getting 10 loads done is overwhelming, so break it up when you can. If you have a book you really want to start reading, but keep putting it off, commit to reading it xx minutes each day. Even if it's only 10 minutes, it will add up at the end of the week. You might even find yourself reading it longer when you get into it. Once you get started by forcing yourself to just do a small amount of something you've been putting off, you'll

Ok, so we know what we want, and we know how it will change our life, so why don't we already have it? This is a BIG one. Because we PROCRASTINATE! Yes we, you, me, everyone procrastinates about something at some time. It's human nature. However, keep in mind that when we put things off it reinforces our negative habits. It keeps us stuck in a place we don't want to be. On top of that it makes things really seem worse than they are. Have you ever stressed about making a phone call? Even for something simple, like the cable bill came in wrong. You get the bill, you think "I'll call tomorrow, first thing." First thing tomorow comes and you think "I'll call after I do x,y & z." Those things are done and it becomes after lunch. After lunch so many other things need to be done. Before you know it the day is over. Ok, so I'll call tomorrow. And it weighs on you all week, sometimes for several weeks, until you finally make the call, w

Picture your life a year from now if you actually accomplished the things on your list. How would this benefit your life? Seriously, just stop, close your eyes and imagine a year from now. For the past year you have ______. (Fill in the blank with something from your list.) # selfdiscipline # livingyourbestlife # lovingyourlife # happiness # workhard # besuccessful

So how do we build self-discipline? First we figure out where we need self-discipline in our life. What are the areas in your life that you are struggling with? These are usually things you want to do, but for some reason you don't do them. Here are some ideas. Exercising, cooking meals, laundry, networking, de-cluttering, organizing your desk at work, yoga, meditation... the list could go on and on. Think about your list for a minute. Now, write down 2 or 3 things that you know you want to do, but keep putting off. These are things that you know would make an impact in your life. Now, next to each item, write down why you're not doing them AND why you want to do them. # selfdiscipline # lifehack # gettingstuffdone # liveyourbestlife  #jimrohnquote MW Copyright 2017

I was recently informed by a colleague that people from my previous employer are giving out false information about me. I figured it's time to set the record straight. Lie #1. I wasn't selling new business. Before you spout such lies, you should probably remember that I was in the top 10 personal lines producers in the country and in fact won a trip to Miami with the other 9. This is a national company with many locations. Pretty sure no one else in my former office was in the top 10 of anything. Lie #2. I wasn't a team player. If by team player you mean willing to screw over my customers by giving them low coverage and high deductibles just to give them a lower price and therefore write their business OR if you mean by pointing out that new members of our team were not being trained OR if you mean by giving specific & detailed  examples to management and HR of how our company was at risk for law suits due to errs and omissions being done by someone they hired

Yesterday I talked about how important self-discipline is. Today I want to talk about the benefits of self-discipline. So what exactly happens when we are successful at disciplining ourselves? - We remain focused on our goals ... - We reach our goals - We become mentally stronger - We get more done - We become more productive and more efficient - We feel more self-confident because we've gotten more done and reached our goals This sounds like a win-win to me! # selfdiscipline # takecontrolofyourlife # loveyourlife # success MW Copyright 2017

I spent last month writing posts on my FB page about Self-Discipline. I've gotten great feed back from people, so I've decided to post the same topic on my blog. If you've read these posts of my FB page, please read them again. Sometimes it takes reading something more than once for it to click. Here we go.... Self-discipline is important for every aspect of our life, from getting up and going to work on time every day, to exercising, to single-tasking at work, t o cleaning our homes, to everything else we do. When you find yourself procrastinating, you need self-discipline. When you find yourself ignoring your goals, you need self-discipline. When you find yourself not doing anything that you know you need or want to do, you need self-discipline. # selfdiscipline # success # lifeskills # lifehack # liveyourbestlife MW Copyright 2017

I have been focused on the habit of not multi-tasking for 4 weeks now. It started as a one week experiment that just kept going. It's a learning process. It requires effort on my part to make a conscious decision to complete the one thing I'm doing before moving onto something else. But, it works! It's amazing how much more I get completed when I don't multi-task. I'm more organized, more thorough in what I'm doing and make less mistakes that I don't have to go back and fix later. Has anyone else given this a try? I'd love to hear how it's going for you. If not, there's no time like the present. Here's all it takes. MW Copyright 2017

Here's what I was thinking on day 1: I have already found one thing that causes me to multi-task and that is a slow website.... I am trying to do one thing at a time, working on a quote on an insurance companies website and it's taking literally 3 minutes for the next page to load. I can't just sit there and stare at the rotating hour glass, so I start reloading the page OR doing something else. Ugghhh. Trying to be patient. I just have such a hard time doing nothing. I wrote that while waiting for that page to load, so you can see how successful I was at that moment. I meant to follow up on this post after one week, however we were out of town visiting family last weekend so that didn't happen. I spent a second week focused on not multi-tasking and here I am. After two full weeks: I've learned that it takes time to retrain your brain. This was not a one week project, it will be an ongoing project. I have also learned that it's true, I do accomplis

I've decided it's time to tackle the problem I have of multi-tasking. It's on my list of goals, and I'm a huge multi-tasker, so I need to nip it in the bud right away!  I've read article after article about it and it seems that no matter what anyone thinks (including myself), multi-tasking doesn't work and it lessons your ability to get things done correctly by 40%. That's a lot. As I read other people's comments about how when multi-tasking they send emails and forget to attach the attachments, get distracted by phone calls and incoming emails, spend longer than necessary in meetings because they and others spend more time texting, checking emails, etc... than actually participating in their meeting and generally work their butts off all day only to feel like they didn't get anything done. I had my a-ha moment. "Welcome to my world."  Another good point is favor of not multi-tasking is that you really aren't multi-tasking, you'

Well, 2016 is officially over. Overall I would say it was a fantastic year! There are things I would change, but for the most part it was wonderful. Looking back through my blog, my twitter account and my Instagram I was reminded of so many great memories from the year. Here's my list of top moments (both good and bad) 1.  Going to Paris with my daughter (and son for part of it). <3 2.  Going to the Bahama's with my husband for our 7th anniversary. <3 3.  Getting my teeth fixed. 4.  My cousin passing away at 43. 5.  Being a member of Leadership Prince William Class of 2016! 6.  So many fun bunco nights with girlfriends. 7.  Spring Vision Retreat with Andria Corso! 8.  Quality time with family. 9.  Fantastic networking events where I made new friends and strengthened my existing relationships. 10. A whole year of LOVING my job. The people I work with, the job I do, just everything about it! 11. Another successful trip to White Lake, NC with the whole family!