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Loving on the Lonely and Sad During The Holidays

Holiday Sadness

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Right?

True for many, but not for everyone…

The holidays can be a time of loneliness, sadness and depression for some.  They may be experiencing a holiday without a loved one for the first time, are isolated and looking out on a merry world that they’re not part of, or their depression is sharpened by the jolly expectations during this time of year.

The beauty is that there are simple ways to be a blessing to someone who may fall in one of these non-enviable positions and I can sum it up with two words… I’ll explain in today’s video.

Being generous of heart doesn’t cost a thing, but it does take a little effort.  If you get stuck in figuring out for whom you will bless or what you will do, just recite one of my favorite quotes: “Do the next right thing.”

I’m so thankful you’ve chosen to spend some time with me here today!

Please share this post with your friends, family and co-workers.  You never know who will be blessed because you did.

Jill xx

If you prefer bulleted lists, I wrote a post a couple years ago with simple holiday reminders and you can read it here.

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A Weight Watchers Tip For All Of Us

Weight Watchers Tip

IIWI?

A co-worker has this post-it note at her work space that reminds here to ask herself a very simple question?  Is it worth it?  She was encouraged to ask this question by her Weight Watchers accountability group when she’s tempted to eat or drink something that wouldn’t be a healthy choice.

You and I make hundreds of decisions every day, some are well thought out, while some are impulsive.  In today’s video, I point out areas in all of our lives where we might be prone to make impulsive decisions, how to protect ourselves from making these type of decisions, and how to move on when we mess up.

Try it out!  Make your own post-it note and put it in an area where you need a reminder to be more mindful in making decisions.

I’m so thankful you’ve chosen to spend some time with me here today!

Your friends, family and co-workers would benefit from asking themselves this simple questions, don’t you think? Please share this post with them.

Jill xx

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This 2-Minute Focus Method Can Save You Hours Every Day

Time Saving Tip

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24 hour days.” — Zig Ziglar 

As Zig says, we all have the same amount of hours and minutes in the day, but it’s how we use our time that matters.  It’s all about how we guide our focus.

I’ve tried out a lot of productivity tips and focus techniques over the years, but this single method I’m sharing today takes less than two minutes per day and can, literally, save you hours in your day.

There are no excuses with this one.  Before you leave my blog write your two or three things down and get to it.  Don’t forget to make a rule for yourself that while you are working on these items there are no distractions allowed.  Keep your head down, get it done, and move on.

I’d love to hear back from you after you’ve tried this technique.  I’ve generally hear back from people after just a day or two because it makes such a huge difference in the focus and productivity of their day.

Here’s to setting your focus on the important things and getting stuff done!

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today.

Your friends, family and co-workers need this simple focus strategy in their lives, too, don’t you thing? Please share this post with them.

Jill xx

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Exit Strategies and New Beginnings

Exit Strategies

Every ending is a new beginning, and every exit is an entry into something else.

This post idea came from a scary dream I had recently in which I was desperate to find a safe exit strategy from a dangerous situation for myself and one of my nieces.  After I awoke and breathed a sigh of relief that it was only a dream, I thought about how we are all in need, at different times in our lives, for a proper exit strategy–a time to gracefully leave one part of our story behind and step into what’s ahead.

Whether you’re ending a relationship or a chapter or season of life, it’s important to be aware of your need to exit one part of your life and enter the next.  The problem is that exits, endings, and even beginnings are not always easy.     

In today’s video, I break down how and why we get stuck in our efforts to exit certain situations, and how to plan for a successful exit strategy.

I hope that something I said today resonated with you.  For all the reasons I mentioned in the video, it’s clear that change can be hard, but we can do hard things, can’t we!

Here’s to putting on our commencement hats and taking a step into the next part of our journeys.

I’d love to hear from you.  In the comments below, answer this question:

  • What’s holding you back from taking your proper exit and getting started on the new beginning that’s waiting for you?
    Fear?  Overwhelm?  Too comfortable where you are? Decision fatigue?

I appreciate you spending time with me here today!

If you have friends, family or co-workers who might be in need of an exit strategy or a re-frame on their understanding of new beginnings, please share this post.

Jill xx

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4 Steps To Creating Your Life Motto

Life Motto

Do you have a Life Motto?

A friend told me last week that her life motto was, “Leave places or situations better because you were there.”  This got me thinking about the importance of all of us claiming a life motto, an overarching principle or rule to live by.  As you probably noticed, my friend not only said to leave places better, like we’re told when we venture out in the woods, but “situations” better.  This covers everything, doesn’t it?  Conversations, conflict resolution, campsite etiquette, the work you do, the words you choose to use verbally and in writing.   

Today, I’m sharing four easy steps to create your life motto.  Let me know in the comments below what yours is.   

Click here to take the fun “What’s Your Life Motto” quiz I mentioned.  While the quiz is fun and may come up with something fitting, I think it’s important to put a little more thought into creating your motto.

Thank you for hanging out with me today!

Jill xx

Don’t you think your friends, family and co-workers should create a life motto, too?   Share this blog with them and ask them to share theirs with you.

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What the Dying and Death Can Teach Us About Living

Lessons from death

Unexpected death, those we are faced with individually and collectively, are devastating, but there are life-giving lessons to be learned from death.

None of us knows the exact moment we, or our loved ones, are going to die, but we do have a choice in how we live out our days.  Hospice nurse Bronnie Ware learned quite a bit from her dying patients and the regrets they shared with her before their death.  In today’s video, I share the top 5 regrets of the dying and how we can learn from them, whether you take your last breath today or years down the road.

Here’s to living without regrets!

Jill xo

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How to Revisit, Reclaim and Redefine Your ONE Word

Learn how to Revisit, Reclaim, and possibly Redefine one of the most important words in your vocabulary.

At the beginning of each year many of us choose one word to represent our intention for the year.  I heard from many of you and your words were: Faith, Listen, Positive, Less, Love, Unite, Focus, Create, Slow, Discovery, Intentional-Joy, Grace, Quiet, Heal.

An important part about choosing a single word to focus on throughout the year is to keep it at the forefront of our thoughts so we are intentional about bringing about the transformation we hope for.

Whether you’ve had your WORD on your mind everyday or you haven’t really thought much about it for the last several weeks or months, today’s video is for you.  I discuss the 3 R process: Revisit, Reclaim, Redefine.

I’d love to hear from you.  Which of the Rs symbolized where you are? Let me know in the comments below.

Join me for Your Intentional Life Facebook Live series every Wednesday morning.

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today!

Please share if you have friends, family, and co-workers that could benefit from the power of setting an intentional word in their life.

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Meditation 101

This week we’re diving into the basics of MEDITATION.

In today’s video I’ll be covering ideas to get you started on your meditation journey, including:

  • The benefits of meditation, of which there are many.
  • The 3 types of meditation I practice (and what happened when I stopped meditating for a couple of months).
  • The 3 free meditation apps I recommend.

Here are links to the meditation apps I mentioned and highly recommend:

Calm (I use the free version.)
Insight Timer (I use the free version.)
Headspace (I’ve not used, but have heard from many trusted friends that they enjoy.)

Whether you try meditating for 5 minutes or an hour per day, I highly recommend you try it for at least 30 days.  I’m pretty sure you’ll see benefits that will make you a meditator for life!

Let me know if you have any questions, or have suggestions,based on your meditation practice.

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today.

Jill xo

P.S. You know that sharing is caring, so please share away. : )

If you didn’t catch my video last week on practicing everyday mindfulness, watch it here.

I also created a guide which will get you from distracted to enjoying the present moment in less than 1 minute.
Download that free guide right here:

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Your Guide To Everyday Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be present.

You’d think those three words, “basic-human-ability” would make it a no-brainer for us to be able to really be present in the moments that fill our lives, but alas, as with so many good things, it’s just not that easy.  Mindfulness takes work.

That’s why the word “practice” is so often combined with the word “mindfulness.”  Just like anything we want to get better at, we must practice.  You can’t expect to perform a perfect cartwheel without practice, right?  The same goes with mindfulness.  Daily practice will help you to create mindful habits, which will, in turn, create a lifestyle of living in present moments.

I created a guide called, The Practice of Everyday Mindfulness that has lots of normal, everyday events that you can practice at being more mindful. If you’d like to lower your stress, increase focus and clarity, and improve your relationships, I suggest you download it immediately.  : )

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In today’s video I discuss what mindfulness is, how it can make your life better and how you can begin practicing mindfulness today.

I’d like to hear what works for you in your efforts to be more present.  Do you practice mindfulness?  Is there something else that helps you reach this state of awareness?  Have you tried any of the exercises I suggest in today’s video?

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today.

Share my blog with a friend, family-member or co-worker that might find this topic interesting and/or helpful.

Here’s to experiencing more mindful moments in our day-to-day lives.

Jill xx

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How To Weather The Storms In Your Life

Are you prepared to weather the storms in life?

Our friends in Texas are dealing with catastrophic devastation due to hurricane Harvey.  As the storm was approaching, there were alerts as to how to prepare for the storm that was approaching.  Clearly, no matter the amount of precautions you take, some storms will devastate despite our best efforts.  Nevertheless, it’s still always a good plan to prepare.

Isn’t this the case with our own personal storms?  Whether it be emotional, spiritual or physical, as the storms in life approach — and we know they will — we are wise to heed similar disaster preparedness suggestions.  In today’s video, see how the 4 most common disaster preparedness techniques relates to how we handle our personal life-storms.

I’d love to hear from you?  Can you relate to these storm warning suggestions?  Have you seen that one applies more than the others?  Tell me in the comments below.

As always, I appreciate you spending time with me here today!

Jill xx

P.S. There many opportunities to help those affected by the Harvey storm, but I was particularly moved to hear author Brene Brown request donations for one of the most basic items: NEW underwear.  There is a basic level of dignity that wearing clean underwear brings and many of the people going through the aftermath of Harvey right now, do not have even this most basic item.  Please watch Brene’s video with donation instructions here.

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