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Simple Strategy to Stick to New Years Resolutions

Simple Strategies to Stick to New Years Resolutions

Simple Strategies to Stick to New Years Resolutions

I hope you are in good spirits and excited about 2016. I sure am because… good things are coming. But now I have a thought or two about the famous New Year Resolutions.

Here we are again…it´s a few weeks into the New Year, the gym is packed, my favorite class is overcrowded… what happened? This phenomena happens every year, people create resolutions just to drop them 4 weeks later? It must be some kind of insanity as Albert Einstein stated in his quote 🙂

Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is the definition of insanity

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I don´t do this… but I´m aware of it. I think it´s kind of a herd thing….As soon as the end or the beginning of the year comes around and everybody creates New Year resolutions… I have to do it too.

Yeah it feels good….we have the best intentions until we decide otherwise and they are put on ice again until next year and then the same game starts again. Can you relate?

So what’s the problem?

New Year Resolutions normally reflect short-term thinking, or a quick fix, instead of having a long term plan, that’s why only a small percentage of those who make resolutions achieve their desired goals….Now that’s not a good success rate.

So is there a reason people don’t stick to their resolutions? Professionals’ answers are mixed. Some believe that many don´t have a strategy or someone to keep them accountable and support them to achieve these “goals“. But there is a way to empower yourself and stick to your new years resolutions.

Below are some strategies that will help you keep your resolutions Steven Covey, the author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People “ once said, “Some habits of ineffectiveness are rooted in our social conditioning toward quick-fix, short-term thinking.” This is how I feel about resolutions: As the CEO of a strategic marketing firm, my New Year’s Resolution is not to have one. As an individual, could I say that I plan to improve myself in 2016? I certainly strive for that on an on-going basis, but not that the start of each year. That too is a marathon, not a sprint.

Be clear with your goals:

If you want to be healthier what does that mean for you? Exercise, eat healthier foods? Meditate, work less? Let’s just ake the example of healthier foods.

What’s on the list of foods that’s not good for you?
Are you willing to find a healthier replacement?
Are you willing to change some habits?

The key is to make it work for YOU…when you make a shopping list please…. write down things that you like to eat, don’t write down spinach and whole grain noodles if you hate them. Make it a habit to write a grocery list, with healthy foods, that you like. If you have only chips, soft drinks and junk food at home it’s impossible to eat healthier.

Would you like to move more? Think about exercise that you would like to do, there must be something. Sometimes it’s easier to go for walks, go on a bike ride be in nature, or take fun classes, than to work on machines. Although I like the machines because I listen to interesting audios at the some time.

Keep track

What did you eat today?
What kind of exercise did you do?
What did you do that is good for you?

Try to do 3 things every day towards your goal, even small things. Write down how you exercised, or what you ate….. if we keep track of something it’s easier to manage. Just simply tracking how much you are….or aren’t…doing, will push you in the right direction. If you didn’t do well…please just forgive yourself and try again….make it an experiment, there is no fail there is only: I try again!!!

Be accountable to someone

This will motivate and inspire you, just tell someone you trust about your endeavour, work out with a trainer, take a class, do something with a friend or get a coach. Start a little accountability group where everybody can work on their own resolution, but you still watch out for each other’s goals. All this takes you out of your “alone zone” and it will be more motivating if you are not left to your own devices.

If you break your resolution today, try again tomorrow. Voltaire.

Do it one step at a time and forgive yourself if you think you didn’t do it right. Try again and again and again and again until eventually you will establish a new habit. New habits get easier, because after doing something for a while new neural pathways get established in the brain.

Lots of luck to YOU and I hope this article will help you a little bit, but no matter what…don’t give up. To finish this up, please remember to celebrate your successes whenever you made a little step towards your goal celebrate…Take yourself on a date, get your nails done, buy some chocolate, go to a nice café and have a cup of tea or coffee. Go to the spa, do something nice for you. Will ya 🙂

Talk to you next time 🙂

Coaching and Human Design Work Together

How Coaching and Human Design Work Together

Coaching and Human Design Work Together

How are you? I’m so happy that you are here. Today I would like to share something with you that has been a life-changer for me. Oh, before I forget I would like to wish you a very merry christmas and a happy new year.

My studies and training in personal development and coaching have been extensive and just when I thought I can stop learning for a while, my coach introduced me to Human Design.

He used it in our coaching sessions and I was amazed how it helped me move through some issues that held me back. So now you might want to know….

What is Human Design and how does it work with coaching?

Chetan Parkyn, a human design expert and author of several books on the subject explains it this way: We each have our own unique design — a blueprint of our individual nature. Yet, few of us live in accordance with our Design, because we don’t know what it is. Instead, we try to mold ourselves to the expectations of other people. (That´s where the problem starts)

So the key benefit to knowing your design is that once you know how your energies flow, what your strengths and weaknesses are, you can better work with them, accept your unique nature and be yourself. Of course it will make it easier to accept other people for who they are, too.

You will have access to some simple strategies on how to make decisions according to your type and how to interact with others. It will help you to know which relationships will be good for you and which will be complicated, then you can decide if you chose to hang out with the difficult ones or not.

It will also be beneficial to accept the fact that life is programmed and that your internal navigation system will guide you through it. Now this is a tough one to swallow for some people but for others it´s a relief. I am a fan of 12 step programs and a practitioner of mindfulness and I found that these 3 practices work together in total harmony.

This is about all I want to say about the system and if you would like to know more about it you will find great information at Human Design for us all and Human Design America. I also would like to let you know that I am not a human design expert nor offer professional readings, I simply use elements that have proven to be beneficial for me and my clients in my coaching.

Some practical examples how it works.

First I print out an interesting chart based on name, place, date and time of birth of a person which gives me a lot of information about certain energies in the human being. Some people do not like this, that`s ok, but for the ones who like self-discovery and want to know the truth of how they operate in the world, this is truly an amazing tool.

Let me give you some examples of how it has benefited me. One of my challenges is fluctuating self-worth, I never thought about it and just knew it was there but did not really know how to work with it.

So I learned that it`s not my nature but what I learned while growing up, because most parents and society do not support individuality, they try to mold little people to their standards. So it’s easy for a child to believe that they are not worth anything, they are not lovable, or they always feel that there is something wrong with them. These are called patterns of belief and survival patterns. These are also the internal energies that keep us stuck.
The other important insight was that my energy fluctuates and that it`s very important for my wellbeing to be aware of my energy and not force myself to do things when the energy is not there, but fully utilize it when it’s there. I have to be aware of my flow not only for me but for my environment, because when my energy is off I mess up your flow. So I have some responsibility 🙂
I have some energies that work as a catalyst for others, meaning that when people are around me or work with me….out of the blue they open up to stuck energies, now this might sound a bit weird, but I notice it more and more.
The last one I want to mention is a huge creative energy which has to be shared with the others. Most of my life I was very closed and did not share myself, but since I started my journey of self-discovery I started to open up and the more I open up and share my findings the more fulfilled I feel.
Oh, here is one more…I am all over the place that means I am jumping from one idea to the next one excitement to the next, one task to the next and I thought I have to be concentrated and do one thing at a time. Knowing this has opened up new opportunities because I can accept that my energies work like this, but I can also learn how to be effective when I`m all over the place.

This is it for now, I could go on forever, but I just wanted to give you a taste. This information has been life changing and I am forever grateful to my coach and trainer Dave Buck, CEO of Coachville to use Human Design in our coaching sessions.

Perfectionism Kills Dreams

Perfectionism Kills Dreams

Hello again…I'm so excited to share this post with you….I turned 60 this year and the older I get the less I'm interested in being perfect, the more I want to be playful and experimental. Why?…Because life is a lot more fun 🙂

Lately I've noticed again and again…. that so many people have very little joy in life and noticed that the common denominator is perfectionism: Focusing on chores, what we need to do, you know the annoying stuff like homework, shopping, cleaning, working, we beat ourselves up when we do something wrong, but rarely do we celebrate when we do something right 🙂

Even as adults…. it's still like this: Do your homework and then you can play. The weird thing is… now you say this to yourself, no teacher or parent required. Have you noticed this? Take a moment and ask yourself this question….are you one of them? do you do this? Just this little “awareness” can change your life.

Change your attitude, change your life.

So… how can you actually change your attitude?

Be aware of your thoughts
Be willing to experiment
Accept that new behavior feels uncomfortable.

Be aware of your thoughts

What are you actually thinking? Interesting question isn’t it. For a few minutes several times during the day…. watch your thoughts. Like an outsider, observer, be aware of what you think. Yes it’s simple but then it’s not….. try it and see what happens. Actually… why not write it down….take a journal and write down whatever pops into your mind. Do I hear you say: this is stupid??? maybe but it’s very interesting to know what’s going on in your mind, actually my mind too 🙂

For example it could look like this: I have to do the dishes, I really don’t like what so and so said yesterday, I am tired of doing this, why should I write down my thoughts, oh I forgot to buy toilet paper, this person doesn’t like me, I don’t want to do this, the potato soup was not good, it’s raining again, I don't know what to do…… It’s a mindfulness meditation to be aware of your thoughts.

This simple action step can change your life, if you chose to do it. Mindfulness Meditation is a great tool to help be more aware of your thoughts and feel yourself…. but it’s a process and won’t happen overnight.

Be willing to experiment.

I have to be perfect
I have to do this right
I will not do this because I have to do it perfectly

Oh man….. perfectionism is a killer, it kills creativity, aliveness, joy, It can make people sick and invites them to give up. Experimenting and being playful is the opposite of perfectionism. What you need is the willingness to play, to make mistakes and yes, you MUST be willing to fail. Kids have this kind of presence and willingness, they always experiment and play until …….they grow up.

I'm sure you heard the stories of famous people for example: Steven Spielberg was rejected from schools several times, Albert Einstein had a learning disorder, Thomas Edison was told by his teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything, Henry Ford failed at several businesses. There are many others who failed many times, some over years but they did not give up, they kept experimenting until eventually…. they succeeded.

By changing one simple thing, YOUR ATTITUDE, you can change your life. Try it out, set little experiments for yourself and just play and enjoy whatever you are doing.

Don’t try to do it right,
Don’t be serious
Don’t be attached to the outcome…..just play.

Now be aware of how it feels. Does it feel any different, are you experiencing more joy, is it more fun to do things… even if some things are not exactly fun? Watch yourself, write it down and keep experimenting and noticing. Get to know yourself, be your best friend.

Accept that new behaviour is uncomfortable

This is a tough one, but it's an important part of the new game…..why should I be doing something that is uncomfortable? We are creatures of habit, even if the habits are not good for us. Smoking for example can calm you down, but most people know that it can kill you.

To be a perfectionist feels comfortable… to experiment might not, even if it’s a lot healthier for you. Working too much is a habit and working less will feel very uncomfortable. Putting yourself down feels comfortable, celebrating what you do right might feel uncomfortable. Taking time off and just playing will feel uncomfortable but is actually a good thing…..and on it goes.

When you start doing new things it will feel weird and you have to know that this is normal and not be discouraged by it. This is why people abandon their dreams, it’s that important!!!! Write it on a poster or set a reminder on your phone, tatoo it on your hand, whatever will help you remember, just do it! I am doing new things and I am willing to play. I invite you to play to win 🙂

Leave a comment and let me know how it works for you. do you have any tricks you would like to share?

Do More of What You Love to Do

Do More of What You Love to Do

It's a rainy day and I'm sitting in a cafe in Aachen Germany, with a view of the old townhall, dating from 1300. My fingers are tapping rythmicalIy on the keyboard…… I love to write, actually it wasn't always like this……it used to be something that I thought I'm not good at…… I did not enjoy the process and it never crossed my mind that I would actually love to write. All the stuff that my mind would tell me, to keep me from doing the things I love to do 🙂

But you just never know what miracles can happen. Now I'm thinking about writing a book to share my eventful life experiences, a journey from enduring life to loving life. We'll see when that happens….Right now I am fascinated by Human Design and I learned that one of my "superpowers" is to share my experiences. Wouldn't it be great to share this in a book?

The more you do the things you love to do, the more the things you love will come to you.

Meditative dancing is another great way to express yourself. It's not recreational dancing, but a form of moving meditation, which I discovered through a good friend of mine in California. It's called "5 rythm dancing" or "sweat your prayers". Click the link if you would like to find a class in your area, they normally let you try one for free and after that it's $15 per class.

When I tried it the first time, I could not believe how good I felt after the dance. My busy mind was quiet, my body was calm and totally realaxed. I felt like being on a cloud without having taken any substances. I was so moved by the music and spirit that I had tears streaming down my face 🙂

Dancing meditation is: to be moved by the music. The body is the instrument that is being moved, it's a way to get into the body out the mind, to free yourself from thinking, planning, strategizing, future tripping and worrying for a short time. Sometimes when I dance, solutions to problems float into my mind, or I get flashes of creative ideas.

Moving meditation is also self expression at it's finest, it's not about looking good, it's not about taking the right steps, it's not about performing…..It's about "the expression of self" expression of spirit, a prayer in motion…..and also a way to deeply connect with others.

Ok, this might sound a bit too much for the people who are "rational" and don't believe in spiritual practices and believes… By the way this could have been me ten years ago, I was very rational and did not understand the "new age thing, the old hippie thing, the "god thing"….But I changed my mind.

I now live in a mind-space of miracles, when I say miracles…it's the little things in life where the timing is just right. Someone or something appears out of the blue and it helps, inspires or motivates me. Maybe it's the next piece in the puzzle of my life.

For example, I was at a friends house and I had the thought; Marita… walk to the creek… somehow I did not do it….another hour later I had the thought again….Marita walk to the creek. This time I put my shoes on and walked to the creek.

At the turn in the road a man and a dog came up the path…I looked at him, he looked at me and he said…are you Marita? I looked at him perplexed and said yes… are you Tom….he said yes….it was a friend of mine from 40 years ago, before I moved to the states. (By the way I did not use his real name)

If I would have come 2 minutes later or one minute earlier… we would not have met on this path… this is what I call "my little miracles." I don't know, why we met, but I know the timing was so crazy that there must be a good reason.

Maybe I can say something to him, that he needs to hear to open something up for the next step on the journey, maybe it's something I will need to hear……Who knows?

What are your miracles?

Now… you might ask; what's the common denominator between miracles and doing what you love to do. Well for me it works together, the more I do the things I love to do and I can generate the energy of inspiration, the more I experience these kinds of miracles.

I think it's heightened awareness and being in tune with my intuition. Simple Miracles happen all the time, but the question is: are you aware of them?

Make a little experiment and try it for yourself…… Now back to dancing, tonight I will actually go visit a club with disco music, it's not the same spiritual experience, but it's super, fun exercise for me.

I remember that 10 years ago it would have been in agony to think about going to a club alone, just dancing and having a blast. These days I can do it… no problem and I totally enjoy myself.

Doing more of the things I love to do, is changing my life. The energy of blissful enjoyment is attracting more things that I love into my life.

Yeah, that's how the Law of attraction works in my life….

What do you love to do? Please let me know and write a comment…..I love to know 🙂

PS: If you don't know what you love to do….yes it happens and believe me you are not the only one…maybe you would like to try a fun coaching session. My gift to you…to get to know you is your gift to me 🙂 click the contact tab and let me know…

My dance video to give you a little taste

Make a Vision Board Work – Be Confident

Make a Vision Board Work – Be Confident

Hi my friends… Sometimes people tell me that they made a vision board, but nothing manifested….Frustrating, I get it…. sometimes it happens to people who do not have a lot of confidence. But the good news is that you can practice to believe in yourself.

Life can be great, life can be miserable and it’s up to you what you how you want to experience it. Now this is a tough statement, especially if you went through a lot of suffering in your life. But on the other hand it’s extremely powerful and a great way to transform and create a great life. It’s worth considering the concept!

Do you have doubts that you can be successful, that you can achieve your dreams and goals? Do you know that you can do certain exercises, to be more comfortable with the idea of being successful, confident and wonderful 🙂

Affirmations and power patterns are used in coaching and they are great, simple tools. You just repeat the same short sentence over and over again, like a mantra. You do this every day for at least 5 minutes, and also as a remedy when your limited thinking comes up.

Like… you know what: The little voice in your head that tells you all the bad things that can happen, that you can fail if you try, that you can’t do it any way, good things happen to other people and so on…That’s when you use the affirmation or the power pattern. I have many and I use them all, they work!

Use the opposite of your limiting belief, something that totally resonates with you. The key is to feel great when you hear yourself say the words. If your mind is telling you “you can’t do it”, you say: I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. If it is: “It’s too hard”, you say: I can do this with ease, I can do this with ease, I can do this with ease. Below are some more examples:

I am brilliant and confident
I am fit and in great health
I attract wonderful things
Money is flowing into my life from expected and unexpected sources
I attract all the right people into my life
I am getting better and and better every da
I am loved
Everything is working out perfectly
I trust the flow of life
Everything I need is coming to me
I am here to express my gift

This might sound too good to be true, but it is a simple exercise, that will help you to transform your inner critic to your best cheerleader. Just try it! It’s like a brainwash.

One other simple exercise is to not engage in negative thinking. This technique requires some mindfulness and presence, but if you are aware of the thoughts coming up, you can chose to not engage in them. Just let them go.

To manifest your vision, you have to belief that you are worth it to achieve your life aspirations. You want to look at the vision board as much as possible and feel the images on the board as your truth. You see it, you experience it, you vibrate it, you will draw it into your life. Indeed you will!

Feeling happy, successful, with a wonderful partner, a great career, a great team, wonderful friends and family relations. Driving the new car, on route to your dream destination. Dream big, go for the stars!

If you think you need more help: I use a powerful coaching method called “Inner Freedom,” to help people move through resistance and fear. Also, John Kehoe has a wonderful program called mindpower, it is very simple with easy step by step exercises. It is a truly life changing program.

But first just try the exercises…..Let me know if they work for you and if you have other tips, please share them in a comment.

How Turning 60 Can Be Fabulous

How Turning 60 Can Be Fabulous

Hello my sweet friends….. How are you? I hope you are enjoying the warm balmy weather, I sure am and I'm so glad you are here, let me guess…. you must be close to turning 60 or just turned 60 or maybe close to the occasion?

How does that make you feel?

I turned 60 a few weeks ago…… There is a wide variety of feelings connected to aging, but no matter how you feel about it, you do not have a choice, like it or not, you can't change the fact. A few lucky "angels" find it easy, while it’s a visit into the abyss for others.

For some it’s the realization of….. oh my god, my skin is sagging, I hate those bumps… and the next action is to call a surgeon and get liposuction, a facelift, or maybe the famous breast lift….. Can you relate?

I can… it was a big decision to let my hair turn gray, which I had dyed blonde for 10 years. About 2 years ago I had enough of running away from age and of soaking chemicals into my skin. I asked my hairdresser for moral support, which he gracisously did….. so I got my hair cut very short and let it go gray over the course of six months.

It was a stretch, but now I love it. I wear a bit more makeup, more colorful clothes and fun jewelry.

Acceptance is such a huge help with anything in life….. have you heard the saying?

“What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size.” Carl Gustav Jung

The other difficult experience was….. when I noticed white patches all over my body and face…. I actually panicked. These spots were familiar to me, my mother and grandfather had them. It’s called vitiligo, a skin condition, where areas of the skin don’t pigment any more.

Not really that bad, but I freaked out, I thought…. oh my god I don’t want this, this can’t be true. Unfortunately my complaint and shock did not help. The fact is: I have it, it will not go away and there is no treatment.

When this sank in I started to be grateful, that it’s only that and not a life threatening disease. The next thought was ok, I better accept it, because the resistance of not wanting it was very painful and it made me feel insane, yes… like "ouch" 🙂

To minimize the contrast in skin color, I stay out of the sun, wear tinted sun lotion, a hat, long sleeves and it’s fine..

A friend of mine actually said, Marita you are beautiful with your spots, why do you think you have to be perfect, just love yourself the way you look and are. That was candy for my soul….. ( I love my friend) 🙂

Now of course….. looks are not the only thing that need to be adjusted. What about attitude? For me getting older means that I look at myself more closely and every day I ask myself a few questions.

Who do I want to be?
What’s most important?
What do I want to do in the world?
Who do I want to hang out with?
Is this really what I want?
Is this good for me?
What simple thing can I do to make this world a better place?

When I was still married, I used to be afraid of being alone…. now I love it. Somehow it just happened, the more I like myself the way I am, the more I enjoy my company. What am I doing different now?

I hang out with positive people,
I Do things I enjoy
Go on little adventures
Hang out with people who are positive and nourishing
Exercise and eat healthy food
Laugh a lot
Listen to my needs

I also noticed that it feels good to express my uniqueness instead of trying to fit into the small box of what others want me to be like….. So why not get a crazy haircut, a tattoo, or maybe wear some wild clothes? Why not……have deep conversation, even if most people don't understand it. Why not say that you can start a new life with 60, or finally live out your passsion. Why not???

Would you allow yourself to do that? Ask yourself the question: What is one thing that you always wanted to do? And then....would you allow yourself to do it?

Please let me know what’s helping you to accept reality, be happy, be grateful, age well and be fabulous, I love you sisters….. and I love to read your to read your comments 🙂

How To Use Creative Visualization With Your Vision Board

How To Use Creative Visualization With Your Vision Board

How are YOU? I am so happy YOU are here 🙂

Visualization is the most important ingredient when YOU make a vision board…..But what exactly is it… how do YOU do it?

Visualization is the practice of seeking to affect the outer world by changing one's thoughts and expectations with positive thinking, or better said, producing positive images in YOUR mind.

Like…. daydreaming with a focus, YOU produce an image in your mind and focus on it, the longer the better, the more often YOU do it, the more effective it will work to help create YOUR life

“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve“ Napoleon Hill

It's a very simple process, but lots of people have a hard time with it. Same with meditation, a very simple process, but some of us make it very complicated. Are YOU one of them?

To be honest, I was one of them…I used to say that I don't know how to meditate, I can't visualize…..hello how crazy is that? Now I know why…. my mind does not want to engage in healthy activities like this.

Why is it so hard? In my opinion the major reason is that they get too intellectual and try to figure it out. Logical mind wants to know exactly how to do it, always screaming how, why, how, why… but there is nothing to figure out, you just let it go and it will happen. Some more reasons below.

You are convinced it's hard and it pushes the images away
Too much mind activity will overpower the visualization
Stress will make it difficult to calm the mind

Being too intellectual and trying to let the mind run YOUR lives is what we all learned… and it's a problem. The mind is a great servant, but not a great master. The key is to use the mind for certain things, for example: collecting information, memorizing, evaluating, analyzing, sorting……… but not to run YOUR life and make decisions.

Now that we know the problem, let's look at the solution….Meditation is a great practice to calm the mind, so just let go and accept whatever comes up…..Sit quietly in a peaceful place and let go of your thoughts, just let them float by… like clouds. If YOU have a dreamlike fuzzy visualization that's ok. If it's easier for you to feel, then focus on feeling the sensations instead of seeing images.

There is no wrong, YOU can't make mistakes. The most important thing is to feel good, to get into a state of anticipation that, what YOU desire is on the way. The more often YOU can feel or see things, the more effective it will be.

A vision board is a wonderful, fun tool to help visualize…. because it gives YOU the images to look at. So make a vision board, hang it somewhere where YOU see it all the time and gaze at it. Look at the images, feel all the beautiful things, be grateful that they are being attracted into YOUR life……

Believe it's happening, believe YOU deserve it, believe it's YOUR birthright to be happy, content and successful. Do it as much as possible in addition to being aware of YOUR thoughts. It's a practice, it might take time, but enjoy the journey…. it's all part of life. The more YOU enjoy your life the more "good things" will come to you, it's a law of the universe 🙂

Let me know if YOU have any more tips on visualization, please share them with us and leave a comment.

Some more tips for YOU

Visualization Exercises

What Makes You Come Alive?

What Makes You Come Alive?

Hello my friends, I hope your holidays were peaceful and nourishing and that 2015 will be a great year for YOU all. I would like to start my new blog series with my favorite question: What makes you come alive, or in simple words: what gives you great, vibrating positive energy?

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

Oh, what a fascinating question. How do you feel when you hear it? Did anybody ask you this question before?

Does it irritate you?
Does it inspire you?
What else do you feel?

Just to be honest: if anybody would have asked me this question 10 years ago, it would have irritated me. In those days I had very little awareness and would have translated it with: am I still breathing? What a stupid thing to ask? Hmmm, yes that was me then 🙂

Now I get excited and I want to mention all the beautiful things that make me come alive. Deep meaningful conversations, helping other people believe that they actually can change and live their dreams. Help someone to be open to see their own greatness and to own their own value.

Sharing insights that inspire others, to know that there is always the possibility of a wonderful life. Knowing that most limitations are self made and can be overcome.

I love it when I can support people to take care of themselves by eating healthy foods, being mindful, excercising, enjoying nature. I love to hang out with like minded people where I get support and inspirations.

Wait there is more: going on little adventures, even when it's just a new hike or I explore some new areas with my bicycle. I get excited when I do something different, learn something interesting, take a new class, meet someone new.

Feeling alive, is enjoying the simple things in life, expressing ourselves, being creative, being playful……. just for the heck of it!

Now let's explore what drains energy.

For me the biggest energy drain is negativity, it totally zapps me, being around gossip is bad for me too, just like judging others or being judged. Tiredness and being around uptight people who don't understand me is bad too.

When I don't get fresh air and can't exercise it drains me, when I am dishonest or get angry it drains my energy, noise and negative news ………..Well I'm sure the list goes on but I will stop here. If you come up with other goodies please share them with us.

So what makes you come alive? Please leave a comment to share with others.

PS: Don't wait to do all these good things until you retire, start NOW.

English is not my first language please forgive twisted grammar and misspelled words 🙂

How To Discover Your Super Powers

How To Discover Your Super Powers

Sounds great doesn’t it? Superman powers, Yoda powers, Angelic powers, Psychic powers, Divine powers. I sure want them, what about YOU?

Theses are actually not the powers I would like to talk about today….. The super-powers I am talking about are very real and yes, every human being has them. They are energy forces within your system that youl have access to.

There is a trick though…….you must be aware of them. Some of these super powers are conscious and some are subconscious, but even knowing about the subconscious ones will help you in your life as long as someone points them out to you.

My coach introduced me to human design and I found it soooo fascinating that I started to immerse myself into studying and now I get great results using some aspects in my coaching.

Ok, now the big question: what is it and how can this be of practical use for you? …. A human design chart is an interesting looking chart based on many aspects from Astrology, I Ching, Kabballah and Chakras.

It’s called “a system where science meets spirituality”. The most important fact is that when you learn about your uniqueness and how to express your uniqueness, you will be able to create a great life.

With work that you love, people that support and stimulate you, a healthy body and mind and the feeling of being alive. It will help YOU

Discover Your gift,
Discover Your purpose,
How to work with challenges
Create a fulfilled and balanced life
Make good decisions

One of my superpowers is my “gut feeling” a built-in guidance system, so as long as I listen and I am aware of it; my gut feeling tells me what I should focus on and what to let go of. I can’t go and make things happen I have to wait until something happens that awakens this gut feeling and then I can respond. This was a life saver for me, because I always tried to make something happen and when it did not work I was FRUSTRATED as hell.

Another superpower is my curiosity, which is always interested in things, in new programs, new ways of being, travel, transformation and sharing with people what I just learned. For years I was trying to be an expert and it actually killed my creativity. My unique way of presenting myself is to share my curiosity with others and stimulate them with my creative flashes.

The last one is my sense of timing… I was born and raised in Germany with never ending schedules and rules; when I had to what. My unique design is the opposite; I have to follow my own rhythm in order to be happy, I have to “go with the flow”. It is essential for my well-being to honor this. As a result of not knowing this, I always thought that there is something wrong with me. Now that I know, I can live my life accordingly and not schedule every minute of my day.

Now I leave unscheduled time to do whatever inspires me; well yes…. sometimes it’s doing the laundry 🙂

Can you see the practical use in your life? I can’t even tell you how good it was to know this………….. It has changed my life.

One other part is that my feeling of self-value fluctuates depending on who is in my environment, so it’s not my stuff. When I feel low self-worth I sense whatever people feel who are around me, this energy affects me. Being aware of this has helped me to look at feelings from an observer perspective. What is mine and what is yours and I do not have to be so affected by everything.

Ok my friends this is only a very small part of how to create a great life, there is a lot more to it. Are you ready to change your life from blah to great? Contact me and sign up for a complementary, 2 part exploratory session, where you will meet your own superpowers………..wow, how awesome is that?

Blessings

Marita

Over 50 Happy and Fit

Over 50 Happy and Fit

Do YOU remember when YOU were young and thought that women over 40 are very old? I sure did and now that I am almost 60………. it's not old at all.

How do YOU feel about your age, the state of YOUR body and YOUR mind? Are YOU happy with YOUR life? If not, what do YOU do about it?

I come from a background where I heard, and for that matter, hear the following sentence a lot: Things are the way they are and I am the way I am and that's it……….no room for growth 🙂

These days I don’t have to accept this statement as truth any more. It's empowering for me to be fit and happy and to create my life the way it works for me.

I started making changes when I was 50 and it has been a marvelous, but also a painful journey of self-discovery. But to be honest even the pain was ok, because it helped me feel my feelings.

My life up to that point was ok, or at least that's what I thought………….

Turning 40 I was middle aged-plump, I weighed about 160 pounds and did not feel good in my skin. Eventually I signed up for the gym and did a 3 day routine, lost some weight but not much……..Turning 50, I went through a total crises and changed my diet, my lifestyle. some of my friends, my old way of thinking and more.

I dropped French bread and replaced it with dark German whole grain bread, I quit alcohol, smoking and comfort food……… Or to be honest I still had comfort food sometimes and here and there I had a glass of wine with dinner. I believe that it's too hard to be too strict with myself; there are always exceptions to my rules.

My new diet included more steamed vegetables and salads, and water replaced juices. The interesting thing was that I quit smoking but did not have a desire to binge eat. That was a miracle, It probably was due to the fact that I practiced meditation and lots of methods to help me be aware of what I think and what I do.

These programs and teachers helped me:

Mind power with John Kehoe
Mindfulness meditation
12 step programs
Byron Katie
Louise Hay
Eckhart Tolle

Now that I'm 59, I still keep up my gym routine, I found a class that I love. A mix of Yoga, Tai Chi and Chi Gong. I do weights and I love power plate exercises, which also helps with osteoporosis… or so I heard. I love to ride my bike and go for walks.

One of my other favorites is 5 rhythm classes, but so far I have not been able to find it in my town in Germany, although I could take the train to Cologne………..It's funny, when I lived in the state a one hour commute was normal. At times, I would do it every day, now I think it's too hard….I have to meditate on this one………..Anyway, it’s important to make it fun and keep it exciting.

Yesterday I met a woman at the gym, she is 62 and has the body of a 30 year old, I kept noticing her and thought wow, this is amazing……… she inspires me. We started chatting about life, what we do in order to keep our bodies fit and how we stay inspired and happy.

She told me that she works with a hospice service as a volunteer which reminded me that I wanted to volunteer for a hospice service for a long time, but keep talking about and have not done it. So now that I got the contact information of the organization that does the training, I will talk to them.

For me this was another sign that it's something I should do. Believe it or not I've been thinking and talking about it for years……………….I believe in signs, if I want to do something and somehow reminders show up out of the blue, it's my sign to DO IT. This is part of my "spiritual fitness."

To recognize the signs, follow my intuition and my gut instinct. If I live my life according to these guidelines I’m in tune with myself. Meditation and self-reflection are great tools to help strengthen these qualities.

How do YOU keep your mind and your body fit? Please leave a comment I love to read them.