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Focus makes perfect

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Annie Anderson

Welcome back! Coffee's always on around here. Pull up your favorite chair and a grab a cup. Enjoy your visit today! And don't forget to stop back by again soon.

You’ve likely heard the old saying “Practice makes perfect” dozens of times in your life but let me tell you a secret . . .

It’s not really practice that makes perfect. Oh, sure it helps a lot especially in the beginning and it’s kind of an underlying side benefit of what’s truly important – and that is focus.

Focus makes perfect.

You can practice and practice and practice something but if you’re not really focused on it, let’s face it – you might not get the results you want. Or maybe, you will, if your heart’s not in it in the first place! If you’re not truly interested in something, chances are, your practice alone won’t make you perfect. And if you’re not really interested, you’re likely not all that focused.

Do you see what I’m saying?

In order for practice to be perfect, you must be focused.

So, let’s change the saying to “focus makes perfect.”

And in order to change your life for the better, in order to blaze your own trail, you’ve got to have focus. I’ve spent some time recently developing an outline of the big picture. It’s now time to take the big picture and break it down into smaller blocks that I can focus on each week, each month to move me to the end result of what I want for my life.

This week, and for the next few months, my focus is going to be on 3 things:

Learn more about writing. Although I think of myself as a fairly good writer, I know there’s always room for improvement. I’ve found a couple of blogs and courses that I will be following in order to help me achieve that.
Add to my design skills. I will be focusing on learning new and better techniques for design. This will include newer standards like HTML5 and CSS3 among others.
Develop my Self. With school starting very soon, I will have some uninterrupted time that will allow me to really focus on my Self – body, mind and spirit. Sometimes with kids home all day long during summer, it’s hard to etch out that time alone we need to nurture our own being.

Now, what are YOU going to focus on for the next block of time? Tell me in the comments!

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Posted in Ideas, Life, Self | Tagged action, create, focus | View Comments

Let’s get uncomfortable

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Annie Anderson

Being comfortable is uncomfortable.

I know . . . you’re probably thinking, “Huh? What in the hell are you talking about, Annie?”

What I’m talking about is this — sometimes we get so comfortable in our daily lives, that we don’t move forward. We just stay stuck in a rut, a dark black hole. And although we don’t usually notice it in the beginning, suddenly we wake up one morning thinking “how in the world did I get here?”

And that’s what I’m talking about. We get so comfortable that ultimately, it becomes uncomfortable.

So, today I want to give you a few ideas to keep things moving forward in your life. How not to get stuck in that one place and just keep trudging on because you think life can’t be different for you. You stay stuck because you think that’s all there is.

Well, YOU and you alone, have the power to change that. Nobody else can do it for you. I can’t, your spouse or significant other can’t, your parents can’t. It’s up to you to change things.

It starts with acknowledging that your life isn’t what you want.

Trust me, I know that’s a hard step. It’s something I have recently gone through myself so I know how hard it is – and how painful it is – to admit to yourself that you’re not in the right place and maybe YOU have made some less than stellar choices that got you there.

Now, stop for a minute if you’re thinking someone or something else got you there. The truth is, your life is controlled by YOU. All the choices you made. All thee choices you didn’t make. All the times you kept quiet when you should have spoken up. The excuses you made along the way that justified those choices. In the end, it boils down to you alone.

You’ve allowed life to happen TO you instead of making life happen BECAUSE of you.

That’s a heavy thought, a heavy burden. But look – it doesn’t have to be. You got you where you are and you can get yourself out of it. While the work you have to do will not be easy, it is a simple process:

Acknowledge your life isn’t what you want. Go ahead, say it out loud. Tell yourself you know you’re life sucks the way it is. Say sorry if you feel the need to. Cry, rip some paper up, write it all out, pound your fist into a pillow. Whatever you have to do to understand and realize the truth.
Decide what you do want. Rekindle those dreams you had as a child and young adult, do some research on them, find other people who are living that dream and create a connection with them. Ask yourself “Who am I when nobody else is looking?”
Create a plan to get there. Write it all down! Get specific! Have fun. Even write down the crazy ideas that make you laugh and say “I could never do that!!” Make lists. Allow yourself to dream.
Take action! A plan is no good unless you actually DO something. Make some kind of effort every at opportunity to help move in the direction of your dreams. Don’t be afraid to take small steps – they add up over time just like big ones.

One thing that is necessary to get beyond this stage is to realize no matter happens in your life, you are responsible for it. That’s the most important thing you can do right now. And if you need help with the rest, I’m always here. Leave a comment or contact me through the contact page (located under the “About” tab of the navigation menu above).

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Throwing convention to the wind

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Annie Anderson

A couple of years ago, a good and well-meaning advisor told m my “problem” was that I had too many irons in the fire. She said I should pick a thing or two and only do those. In the time since then, I’ve heard and read this same “wisdom” from a variety of resources. It seems every coach, advisor, guru under the sun spreads this conventional idea far and wide. They all seem to think one can’t have a wide variety of likes and abilities in life and be successful. They say you should follow your “passion” and let everything else go.

Well, kiss my ass, people.

Because I am about prove that all wrong. I’m throwing convention to the wind and doing things MY way. No more listening to the well-meaning advice of people who haven’t walked in my shoes.

And what is “passion” anyway? I think if I hear that one more time, I am going to scream. Because, really, do YOU only have ONE freakin’ passion in your life??? If you’re anything like me, I doubt it.

Listen, everyone has intuition and if you listen to it instead of everyone else, you’ll be much better at living your own life. Now, that’s not to say mentors aren’t good or necessary now and then. But it does mean that sometimes we have to forego the advice of well-meaning people and make our own road.

Like Bon Jovi says

It’s my life, it’s now or never, I aint gonna live forever, I just wanna live while I’m alive

I’ve never been one to do what everyone else is doing. At least, not very willingly. LOL But I went down that road because of “good” advice from folks I trusted. It’s an unnatural state of existence for me and frankly, it’s breaking my spirit. I will never again live my life by following the crowd. I just want to be ME.

And that means, living life on my terms. I will have 25 irons in the fire if I so choose. I will succeed at every single one of them if that’s what I decide. I will follow what I know works for me.

Where there is no path, I will blaze a trail.

If you’re up for the ride, I’d be honored to have you along. But please know that things may get uncomfortable now and then. Things may push you to the limits of what you think you’re capable of. There WILL be work involved. It won’t always be easy. And there may be some risk on a regular basis.

But I promise you, life will not pass you by and when you get to the end of your road, you won’t wish you could do things over again because you regret how it all turned out. You won’t be standing there wishing it was different, wishing YOU were different.

I won’t hold your hand, but I will walk beside you and be your friend.

So, game on . . .?

‘Cause I am ready! Please join me!

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A serious confession

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Annie Anderson

Let me tell you a secret . . . ok, well, not really a secret but it’s definitely a confession . . .

I am my own worst enemy.

Here’s why:

Back in January, you might remember I wrote about my intentions for the coming year and that my one focus was to CREATE. Well, I haven’t really done anything all too useful since then. Nope. I’ve been slacking.

Now, granted – some of you are probably saying “Yeah, but Annie, you’ve gone through some really devastating stuff since then! You deserve a break for once.”

Ok, well – thank you! I appreciate that. And while it may be true, the other half of the truth is that I just didn’t do what I set out to do. Circumstances be damned! I mean, sometimes you really just have to do things ANYWAY. Because the bottom line is, I am accountable and responsible for myself. That means I have to remember life doesn’t just happen to me – it is what I make it. No excuses. My world isn’t controlled by what’s “out there” – it’s controlled by what’s in my heart.

Basically, what it all boils down to is that I was living my life like it was happening TO me instead of BECAUSE of me.

Now I’m pissed off because I know better. I know there is no external source to blame – not my lousy almost ex-husband, not my health issues, not my kids’ wants or needs. It’s all me.

So, I’m sorry. I apologize to you because I let you down too. But most importantly, I apologize to myself and my dreams.

Today I am deciding to just move forward in spite of myself. So . . . here’s to CREATing my Best Life yet! (And yours too!)

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Around the web August 24, 2010

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Annie Anderson

I have some really awesome, kick-ass links for you this week! These will make you think.

Danielle LaPorte – Your Permission Slip From the Universe
Advanced Riskology – This blog is great so . . . Just read everything here, ok?
Art of Non-Conformity – And then when you’re done with Advanced Riskology just go read, everything here too . . .
Erica Douglass – First, read How to Manifest Large Sums of Money and then, read everything else
Edge of David – Life is Absurd? Why Yes, Yes It Is

And that should be enough heavy reading for the week.

All 5 of these blogs are simply fantastic! I have spent the last week or so (and longer on a few of them) reading pretty much every single post and comment. They are fabulous and will really get you thinking about your life and it’s direction.

By the way – they are NOT for the faint of heart – if you want your life to continue on as it is, you may not want to read them But if you embrace change and seriously want something more, or are already on a path to enriching your life, these blogs will be great assets for you. Either way . . .

Enjoy!

See you soon, friends!

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Renewal

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Annie Anderson

So, I had a tarot reading last Saturday. First one I’ve had in a few years. And as always, it was spot on.

But more than that . . . it’s what I already knew – confirmation of what I already knew. And I find that comforting, somehow. I see it as the Universe speaking through someone else for my benefit. I like confirmation from the Universe that I’m on the right track! That is always awesome and I’ll take it in any form it comes in!

The roadmap is no more clear, though. It’s still “out there” and kinda hazy but at least I can see it taking shape now. That’s exciting! Being a big picture thinker, it’s hard for me to not see the whole thing clearly by this stage.

I recently had a conversation with Tyler over at Advanced Riskology about fine tuning my business ideas and I gained a few more insights. I’m not quite sure where it all fits into the big picture yet or exactly how it will play out but along with what I learned from the tarot reading, it certainly has cemented things in my mind.

Deciding on the details and getting them all worked out is going to be the largest piece of the puzzle going forward. I took some time yesterday to begin writing down a plan. It’s shaping up quite well and I’m excited by that! I now have all sorts of ideas running around my head just waiting to get out!

When I finally get things fully pinned down, I’ll share the roadmap with you. It’s not anything earth shattering but it’s my hope that if you have even the slightest inkling of wanting to start your own business, it will be helpful for you.

Another topic I’ll be discussing with you on a regular basis beginning very soon, is creating your best life. We’re going to get down to the nitty gritty of what you really want and how to go about getting there. I’m really looking forward to sharing that with you as well.

So, stay tuned, peeps! We’re on the way!

Until we talk again, take care!

Be blessed,