Good. Better. Best. Which self do you want to be?

March 11, 2010 - Issue #95
5 Suggestions for Streamlining Your Life

Welcome to The 3-Minute Coach

Looks like the snow around here is finally tapering off and there is a hint - but just a hint - of spring. When seasons change I always find myself motivated and ready to go. It's time to bring all those projects and goals out into the light of day and start taking action! Here's to moving forward on everything you want.

In peace, love and gratitude.
Louise

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Food for Thought

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business." --- Michael J. Fox

Keep It Simple

Andy Rooney's I've Learned...

that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
that when you're in love, it shows.
that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
that being kind is more important than being right.
that you should never say no to a gift from a child.
that I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
.that simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
that money doesn't buy class.
that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
that love, not time, heals all wounds.
that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.
that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
that life is tough, but I'm tougher.
that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
that I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.
that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
that when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life threatening situation.
that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

Feature Article

5 Suggestions for Streamlining Your Life

Often, when we feel overwhelmed by life, it seems that the world is conspiring against us. No matter what we do, it feels like we can't get out of the deep hole. While it may seem that way, it is absolutely up to you to replace that overwhelm with a calm centered 'can-do' attitude. Here are some suggestions for streamlining your life.

Got a backlog? Start with the most recent work and go backwards.
When we are behind the eight-ball, it appears that the most logical way to approach the backlog is to start with the oldest work and bring ourselves up to the present. While it seems logical, the truth is that this approach keeps us constantly behind the eight ball. Unless we are able to stop new work from coming in, it is almost impossible to get things under control fast enough. A much better approach is to start with the current work and then once all of today's work is done, start on yesterday's. This has two positive benefits. The first is that once today's work is done, you feel better and more productive, giving you more energy to tackle that backlog. It doesn't seem so hopeless! The second reason is that if you work backwards, you actually have fewer unhappy customers (or family members). Instead of creating a backlog of unhappy customers, the current ones are happy. You can always add a perk to those few customers who had to wait the longest, thereby getting them to once again have a favorable impression of you or your company.
Pick a number and stick with it.
For must of us, we can't buy a new couch or car unless we get rid of the old one. This makes sense as keeping the old one along with the new one reduces our 'livable space' and makes us feel crowded and overwhelmed in our living space, the last feeling we want 'home' to evoke. This simple logic can actually be applied to everything in our homes, from toothpaste to jeans to knickknacks to kitchen appliances. In the kitchen, identify those small appliances you use at least once a month and let the others go. If it's something you use for an annual holiday meal, store it somewhere other than the kitchen and give or sell the others. If you think of each appliance as a five-pound bag of potatoes you must carry around, you can begin to understand the impact of getting rid of those five pounds! This works just as well in our closets. Once you pick the number of the article for each item (say 4 jeans, 7 pairs of shoes, etc.) stick to that number. It doesn't really matter what the exact number of items is as that is a personal choice. I have a friend who would keep more shoes than books, while I would be the other way around. The critical piece is that you stick to that number and if you bring a new one into your space, then one of the old ones must go. For me, just reading this makes me start breathing easier!
Don't confuse any item with the person who gave it to you.
Most of us have one ore more items that were given to us by a loved one. Even when we don't use or love the article themselves, we tend to hang on to them because it feels like, instead of rejecting the item, we are rejecting the person. While that might happen in 1% of the cases, it is not what is typically going on. One way to honor the person who gave it to you is to take a picture of the item, or the item AND the person. Keep the picture and let the item go to someone who will really appreciate it.
Help others by only giving gifts that dissipate.
While you are streamlining your life, why not help others streamline theirs by not adding to the 'stuff' they own. When it's time to give them a gift, pick something that has a short life span. Some examples are flowers, candy, fruit or other foodstuffs, tickets for the movies or a show. Such gifts will still be appreciated, perhaps even more because they do not become permanent fictures or objects that creat guilt later on in time.
Don't bring it IN the house so you don't have to get rid of it later.
The best tip for streamlining your life and keeping it simple is to not bring anything in the house in the first place. When you have the urge to buy, take a deep breath. Make a decision to not buy whatever it is for at least 24 hours. If you still have a desire to purchase the item, go back and buy it. Otherwise, look around and enjoy the space you didn't fill!

Related Quotes

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. " -- Henry David Thoreau

" The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. " -- Hans Hoffman

"The lurking suspicion that something could be simplified is the world's richest source of rewarding challenges. " -- Edsger Dijkstra

"Simplicity of living, if deliberately chosen, implies a compassionate approach to life. It means that we are choosing to live our daily lives with some degree of conscious appreciation of the condition of the rest of the world. " -- Duane Elgin

"Simplicity is an exact medium between too little and too much. " -- Sir Joshua Reynolds

"Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful. " -- William Morris

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The Welcome Mat Guest Column:

The Three Most Common Limiting Beliefs You Have About Yourself
By Kimberly Englot

A limiting belief is a thought that does not support your success. Often, we know what needs to be done, and yet we just don't do it. Fear holds us back, and the limiting beliefs cause a lot of fear.

Anytime you have an idea or opportunity, and you come up with an excuse or a reason that starts with "I can't because..." or "That's a great idea, but..." you're experiencing a limiting belief.

I've identified the 3 most common limiting beliefs for you, because once you know they're there...you are better able to work through them.

1. I don't have enough money. Not everything requires a lot of money. I had a client who insisted that she didn't have enough money to write a book. I told her, "You don't need money to write the book. Get started and the rest will fall into place." It's true. Most of the time, you use money as an excuse, because you're thinking too far ahead of yourself.

2. I'm not smart enough. Your IQ doesn't determine your success level. There are so many other factors, like the quality of your relationships, your ability to communicate and the way you seize (or don't seize) opportunities that come your way. Education level and undervaluing your real life experience will keep your from success, and wealth.

3. I don't have the time. I bet if you made the time you would. This is about priorities, and if success, health or wealth is a priority, you will make the time. Many just use this as an excuse. "I'm just so busy." And then I find out that by busy, they mean watching TV. If you want to lose weight, stop putting the laundry, Survivor, or the charity food drive ahead of working out. If you want to write a book, carve out 30 minutes of time each day to do so.

Just by being aware of when these beliefs are popping up, is enough to help you work through them. You can't change something you're not aware of, but knowing these 3 common limiting beliefs will get you started.

It can be hard to do this alone. These are beliefs that come in all forms. If you need more help identifying your limiting beliefs, or just want to investigate the topic more, I invite you to explore the limiting beliefs with me in the Happiness & Harmony Makeover call. It's free and we touch on the 6 things holding you back in life. Go to http://kimberlyenglot.com/hhteleseminar to sign up and get your free mp3 and report

Kimberly Englot is the Authentic-Life Coach, & the Founder of the Center for Authentic Self Development.

Working Towards Wholeness: Action Step

[For me, wholeness represents being my best self living my best life. I believe there are 13 keys to living in wholeness (5 Steps, 8 Elements). Each newsletter, I will look at one action step you can take so that you may get one step closer to wholeness]

WHOLENESS KEY: Focus on the Elements
ELEMENT: Time
ACTION STEP: Time Management? NO! by Dr. Dorene Lehavi

Many people want to be coached to manage their time better. I say NO! to that. You cannot manage time anyway; it just keeps ticking away no matter what you do.

What you can do is manage yourself based on the two concepts I keep mentioning: self-knowledge and self-acceptance. Following are four principles to maximize the time that you have. They take time to incorporate into your life at the habit level. Don't give up. Keep practicing.

1) Good Enough
Accept that no human being is meant to do everything. We all have our uniqueness; things we do better than others and vice versa. Perfection is not a human condition. Cut yourself some slack and adopt the concept of "good enough". You can rework your resume 50 times. Is it really so much better than a much earlier draft? You can shop for the perfect dress endlessly? Wasn't the first one you tried and liked as good as the 15th? How much time did you spend past "good enough"? Demand higher standards of excellence where it really counts.

2) Specialness
Concentrate on excelling in what you do well, what you would enjoy doing better, and new areas you would like to learn. Delegate, hire, share, partner with people who complement you or can fill the needs you have in areas you don't enjoy or do not know that well. Don't ever berate yourself for not being able to do it all. Appreciate your talents and excellence and flaunt them. They are you, yours and very special. Let others have their specialness too. The results will not only save time but enrich and free you.

3)Energy and Time
Know and honor your energy levels. Are you a morning person, do you have an afternoon slump? Your time will be best used if you pace the tasks you have to do based on this knowledge. Do the most challenging at your peak energy time. Build in your Joy Breaks (see last month's newsletter) both as rewards for finishing a formidable task and to refresh yourself at low energy periods.

4) Focus in the Moment
Develop habits that help you focus on what you are doing in the moment. Do not allow yourself to think of what you have to do next while you are doing what you are doing. Put a "do not disturb" sign on your door and do not take phone calls. By putting everything else out of your mind while focusing on the task at hand, you will be using your time efficiently. If you get stuck on something, take a break. Move to something else, get the information you need to continue, change scenery, stretch, whatever it takes, but don't sit there stuck.

Note: The suggestions I make are not one dimensional or simple. The questions I suggest you ask yourself have multiple answers and may be different on different days. I suggest you keep them all in a file or notebook and refer back to them regularly. You will gain a lot if you do.

Dorene Lehavi, Ph.D. is principal of Next Level Business and Professional Coaching. She coaches Professionals and Business Partners and teaches teleclasses on techniques to break through barriers to the next level. Dr. Lehavi offers a complimentary coaching session so you can experience how coaching can work for you. Visit CoachingforYourNextLevel.com

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All That BIZ

Louise Morganti Kaelin is a Life Success Coach who partners with others to help them turn their dreams into reality.
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Louise is a Life Success Coach who partners with individuals who are READY (to live their best life), WILLING (to explore all options) and ABLE (to accept total support). She specializes in helping those who know what they want to do and how to do it but still can't seem to get it done by breaking through the blocks and barriers to their success. For many free resources, including Louise's free newsletter of insightful, practical suggestions for creating your best life, visit her website at

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March 11, 2010 - Issue #95 5 Suggestions for Streamlining Your Life