Goals Archives - Lisa McDonald

28/12/2019 by Lisa McDonald

4 Easy Steps To Close Out The Year

The end of the year is almost here. It’s time to close out the year.

It’s now only 2 days until the sun goes down on 2019. And, only 2 days until the end of another calendar decade.

A great way to close out the year is to have an end of year ritual.

Four Easy Steps

Here are four easy steps you can follow to finish this year, to start clearing the decks for 2020.

Make a list of mistakes, failures or regrets you have from during the year.
On a separate piece of paper, write down at least one thing that you learned from each word or your list.
Create a short ‘letting it go’ affirmation. These words will represent the core elements of what you want to surrender for the year.
Set your list of 2019 mistakes, failures and regrets on fire. It’s time to let go of these negative thoughts about the past year. Read the ‘letting it go’ affirmation you wrote down, and then set your list on fire.

Then, if you haven’t done so already, schedule a date for writing down your goals for 2020. You can get my free Goals Setting Checklist by clicking here.

Doing today’s four quick steps is a great way for you to close out the year.

Do you have another favourite way to close out the year? I’d love to hear.

With warm regards

Lisa

12/09/2019 by Lisa McDonald

Are You Operating In Protection or Creation Mode?

Operating in protection mode is vastly different from operating in creation mode. One mode delivers very different results to the other.

Did you know that that the same part of your brain that you use to create your life, is the same part you use to protect yourself? That’s right.

But your brain can’t perform both functions at the same time. So you are either operating in creation mode OR you are operating in protection mode.

Why the brain moves into protection mode

The brain moves into protection mode when it perceives stress. This happens when there is a perceived threat to your existence. That includes any physical threat eg a wild tiger, or someone with a gun. It also includes any threat to your sense of identity or self-image (who you think you are, and are not). Because the mind perceives a threat, the body immediately creates a stress response in the body. It’s preparing for fight or flight.

These stress responses are also elicited when you are faced with making or implementing a big decision, goal or other outcome. For example contemplating how to rebuild your life after divorce. Or deciding on whether having a baby or not is the right path for you. Or setting a goal to earn a million dollars when you’ve only earned $10,000. Each of these situations stirs up our fears, beliefs and sense of self. They strike at the heart of our past, present and future identity.

How humans experience stress differently to animals

Protection - Why humans experience stress differently to animals

In animals, once they are removed from the threat, their body systems return to normal in about 20 minutes. However, humans often accumulate stress. They have the ability to replay the stressful event over and over in the mind. Each time they replay the event, the same stress response is experienced in the body, mind and emotions.

If not addressed or released, that same story will sit within them. It becomes part of where the edge is to their protection and comfort zone. When someone or something causes the old memory to pop up, that same stress response will be triggered. The same pattern can be triggered over and over again – unless addressed and released. Stress affects decision-making and action-taking, and if prolonged, can affect health.

The cost of continuing to avoid stress

If you keep resisting and dodging important decision-making or action-taking, you will create a void within you. Continuing to resist what you know you need to do or want to do will drain your energy, focus, enjoyment and well-being. You’ll also beat yourself up for not living or achieving the things that are most important to you. All of this resistance and self-criticism will prolong the stress cycle, perpetuate operating in protection mode and reduce your ability to actually create the life you want.

If you’re tired of wasting all that time and energy, make a commitment to address your stress and to resolve the issues. Otherwise your brain will keep you stuck in protection mode, which will prevent you from making important decisions, taking action and creating the life that you desire.

If you’d like some help to shift out of protection and into creation mode, so you can make an important decision, achieve a goal or create some other outcome, click here to contact me.

30/07/2019 by Lisa McDonald

The Benefits of Pruning Your Life

A few days ago I completed the winter pruning of my roses. It’s really important to prune plants because it clears deadwood, helps to reduce disease, encourages air circulation and lets more light in. Therefore, it allows the plant to focus its attention and energy on producing beautiful green shoots, blooms and fruit for the next season. And, winter is the ideal time to give roses a good strong prune.

Time For Some Life Pruning?

Just like plants, our life needs a good pruning from time to time. We need put aside some time to take stock of our life, and to evaluate where we are going. We need to ask questions, such as:

Where am I now?
Where do I want to be?
What is most important to me?
Am I honouring what is most important to me?
Are my current habits supporting what is most important to me?

Start Pruning

Based on the answers to the above questions, it’s time to start pruning your life. Especially if you are tired, stuck or at a cross-road in your life and have an important decision, goal or other outcome you want to achieve.
It’s time to eliminate things that drag you down, drain our energy and cause you to shrink. It’s time to prune the areas of your life which are not supporting the direction you want to grow in.

The Benefits

Pruning your life will help bring you into alignment with what’s most important. It will help to freshen up your focus and energy. And, it will help to create more space for your life to grow, bloom and flourish.

Take a few minutes now. What part of your life could do with some pruning?

If you’d like to find out more about how I can help you with an important decision, goal or other outcome you want to achieve, click here to contact me.

06/06/2019 by Lisa McDonald

Life Has Many Crossroads

In life there any many crossroads. A point at which we must consider which pathway to take.

That crossroad might be about having a baby or not, our health, a relationship, a job/business or any other area of your life. It might be in relation to a decision, an action or an outcome. Or any significant event.

How Will I Deal With It?

It’s a time where we have to pause and consider which path we will take. Will I: ignore it and keep doing the same thing? Run away and avoid it? Or, confront and deal with it?

sometimes the answer is clear to us. Other times we can get really stuck in indecision and inaction. Each pathway has it’s benefits and drawbacks. So it can become confusing, confronting and uncomfortable.

Ultimately, each of these crossroads is an opportunity. Either to clarify our intentions, to solve the underlying problems and to move on with our life. Or, to stay in our safe familiar comfort zone (even if it’s uncomfortable) and not solve the problem. Either way, it’s our choice.

But nothing will change unless we make a clear decision and commitment that we will choose a path. Have you decided that you will decide?

Making A Decision and Taking Action

If you’re facing a life crossroad take a few moments to stop and check in.

What is the key decision I am facing right now?
What is the purpose of making this decision or taking this action? Want will it help me to do or achieve?
Am I really committed to doing what’s required to achieve this outcome?

It can take a lot of courage to step forward, confront and make decisions about which path to take in life. That’s why it can be really beneficial to have someone by your side who knows what it’s like, because they have been there. Someone who can provide a safe space and sounding board for you to work through the issues. Someone who also has the experience and skills to guide you through the process of figuring out what is right for you.

If you’d like some support to navigate through this important crossroad in your life, please connect with me and let me know how I can help. Or, click here to book a chat. I’d love to support you in figuring out the next steps

23/05/2019 by Lisa McDonald

Moving Beyond Fear: Taking The Firewalk

Yes this is a real photo of a real firewalk – with Oprah Winfrey firewalking, and Tony Robbins coaching alongside. It is a great example of the power of the mind, supporting what you focus on and believe.

I wasn’t with Oprah when this photo was taken. But I did do Tony’s firewalk myself in 2001.

The Firewalk Is A Powerful Metaphor

It’s a powerful metaphor for what can be achieved when you apply yourself. That’s the reason why they do the firewalk on the 1st night of a three day seminar. Of course they coached people through the strategies beforehand.

Was it a bit scary? Absolutely, you’re going to walk on coals that are between 1,200 and 2,000 degrees. And they tell you all about that and the risks. Its even more scary when your buddy (someone you partner up with to do the walk) had scorched her feet the previous year doing it. Leading up to it I seemed more fearful than my buddy. She, on the otherhand, seemed quite calm about it.

Taking The Firewalk

I moved through my fear and did the firewalk first time.

When it was my buddy’s turn, her fear was definitely evident. She psyched herself up and started to move forward, but then stopped before the burning coals. She false started at least twice. Each time I encouraged and coached her through the fear, and what she needed to do. Eventually, she did it. I was so proud of her completing it, given what she had to overcome in her mind to do it!

We had focused, applied what we had learned and then acted in spite of our fear. Our reward – the success of not allowing our fears to hold us back.

Symptoms of Fear

Indecision, confusion and inaction are all symptoms of fear. They distract our focus, waste our energy, and erode our self-esteem if we let them hold us back.

Think about an important decision you have to make or goal you want to achieve. What is it that you most fear? What’s holding you back from making a decision or moving forward?

Just like Tony coached us to do the firewalk, I’d love to help coach you to build the confidence to push through your own fears – so you can make decisions, take action and achieve the goals that are important to you. If you’re ready to do that, please click here: to book a chat with me.