#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Accepting Yourself

A Simple 3 Step Process To Self-Acceptance

It’s February and ”relationships” is my blog theme for this month of Valentine’s Day. Let’s begin our deep dive into the Relational life area, with your most important relationship: your relationship with yourself. Specifically, accepting yourself unconditionally.

The other day in a coaching session it became apparent to me that my client hadn’t yet fully accepted herself.  Now, I admit we all on-goingly struggle with this to a certain extent, but she hadn’t even begun the process and this was standing in the way of a major breakthrough for her so I walked her through the following simple 3 step process:

Step 1:               Your attitude toward yourself is determined largely by the attitudes that YOU “think” other people have toward you. When you believe that other people think highly of you, your level of self-acceptance goes up and vice versa.

Step 2:               For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you have to be able to get those things off your chest. When you can disclose what you’re truly thinking and feeling to someone else, you can become aware of those thoughts and emotions yourself. If the other person simply listens to you without commenting or criticizing, you have the opportunity to become more aware of the person you are and why you do the things you do. You begin to develop perspective, or what some call “detachment.”

When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.

Step 3:               After doing those things, you arrive at self-acceptance. You accept yourself for who you are: the good and the bad, your strengths and your weaknesses. When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.

YOUR ACTION STEP

A valuable exercise for developing higher levels of self-acceptance is to take an inventory of your unique talents and abilities and your past successes in both your personal and professional life. Think about how those things will serve you in the future and the possibilities that may come from them and soon you will determine that you WILL be who you want to be, have what you want to have, and do what you want to do. You can then set goals and move toward them.

Remember, there are no obstacles to what you can accomplish except the obstacles that you create in your own mind…so keep your monkey-mind in check!

Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Functional Families

8 Equivalents of Functional Teams & Functional Families

Let’s segue into the month of Valentine’s Day by talking relationships. Today I identify 8 habits that crossover from functional teams at work to functional families at home. It was an article in Real Simple magazine by author Patrick Lencioni (The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team) that prompts this post translating organizational dynamics to a family setting:

Identify your core values. Companies define their core values because they provide a great framework for making all kinds of decisions. To apply this idea to your family, think about what common traits drive each family member.

Establish a single top priority.  If everything is important, nothing is. Too many companies fail because they spread their time and energies too thin. Answer this question as it relates to your family: “If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months, what should it be?”, and then work on it.

If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months,

what should it be?

Keep your values and top priority visible.  You don’t need an engraved plaque stating your vision and mission, but write it down and stick it on the refrigerator where everyone will see it everyday.

Don’t make snap decisions.  Companies (and families) tend to take on commitments out of peer pressure or guilt, before they understand what’s involved. Gather information and then make a decision.

Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Relationship Tips

10 Tips For Having More Meaningful Relationships

In this last of my February Relationship Series, I give you 10 tips for having meaningful relationships. The term “relationship” encompasses many forms: clients and customers, work colleagues, one’s significant love, parents, children, even acquaintances and strangers to a certain extent. All of these “relationships” can have a positive or a negative influence on our lives. The condition of our relationships, and most certainly our most significant relationships, have an impact on our successes in each of the 7 life areas.

Want to know how to achieve more meaningful relationships with those around you? Start with these 10 simple tips:

1. Take inventory of the relationships you have.

Some relationships are meant to last for a long time, others serve a short-term purpose or life lesson. Take an inventory of the relationships you have and see which ones you would like to keep and which you should let go. Letting go of unnecessary or toxic relationships make room for new ones to show up.

2. Be happy with yourself.

As I described in my blog post A Simple 3 Step Process to Self-Acceptance found [here], your most important relationship is your relationship with yourself. Be happy with yourself…always.

3. Be positive.

Here’s a quick question. Would you rather spend time with someone who is a downer or someone who is upbeat?  Barbara Frederickson, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina, backs up the obvious by writing in Psychology Today, that positive emotions help us “broaden and build” relationships.

Would you rather spend time with someone who is a downer or someone who is upbeat?

4. Don’t be someone else.

Be yourself. Be authentic. As Adrian Savage puts it in LifeHack, “If you can’t trust yourself, why should others trust you?”

Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Functional Families

8 Equivalents of Functional Teams & Functional Families

Continuing my blog theme of “Relationships” for this month of Valentine’s Day, I identify today 8 habits that crossover from functional teams at work to functional families at home. It was an article in Real Simple magazine by author Patrick Lencioni (The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team) that prompts this post translating organizational dynamics to a family setting:

Identify your core values. Companies define their core values because they provide a great framework for making all kinds of decisions. To apply this idea to your family, think about what common traits drive each family member.

Establish a single top priority.  If everything is important, nothing is. Too many companies fail because they spread their time and energies too thin. Answer this question as it relates to your family: “If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months, what should it be?”, and then work on it.

If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months,

what should it be?

Keep your values and top priority visible.  You don’t need an engraved plaque stating your vision and mission, but write it down and stick it on the refrigerator where everyone will see it everyday.

Don’t make snap decisions.  Companies (and families) tend to take on commitments out of peer pressure or guilt, before they understand what’s involved. Gather information and then make a decision.

Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Accepting Yourself

A Simple 3 Step Process To Self-Acceptance

It’s February and ”relationships” is my blog theme for this month of Valentine’s Day. Let’s begin our deep dive into the Relational life area, with your most important relationship: your relationship with yourself. Specifically, accepting yourself unconditionally.

The other day in a coaching session it became apparent to me that my client hadn’t yet fully accepted herself.  Now, I admit we all on-goingly struggle with this to a certain extent, but she hadn’t even begun the process and this was standing in the way of a major breakthrough for her so I walked her through the following simple 3 step process:

Step 1:               Your attitude toward yourself is determined largely by the attitudes that YOU “think” other people have toward you. When you believe that other people think highly of you, your level of self-acceptance goes up and vice versa.

Step 2:               For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you have to be able to get those things off your chest. When you can disclose what you’re truly thinking and feeling to someone else, you can become aware of those thoughts and emotions yourself. If the other person simply listens to you without commenting or criticizing, you have the opportunity to become more aware of the person you are and why you do the things you do. You begin to develop perspective, or what some call “detachment.”

When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.

Step 3:               After doing those things, you arrive at self-acceptance. You accept yourself for who you are: the good and the bad, your strengths and your weaknesses. When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.

YOUR ACTION STEP

A valuable exercise for developing higher levels of self-acceptance is to take an inventory of your unique talents and abilities and your past successes in both your personal and professional life. Think about how those things will serve you in the future and the possibilities that may come from them and soon you will determine that you WILL have what you want to have, do what you want to do, and be who you want to be. You can then set goals and move toward them.

Remember, there are no obstacles to what you can accomplish except the obstacles that you create in your own mind…so keep your monkey-mind in check!

Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

You’ll recall when I and my team sent you are Thanksgiving greeting that I recommended keeping a daily or weekly Gratitude Journal. I mentioned its many benefits and wanted to add one more benefit to the mix with this blog post as we approach the stereotypical goal setting time of the year:

Why Having Gratitude Helps You Achieve Your Goals

One of the challenges in reaching our long-term goals is getting derailed by short-term gains. These are decisions that look good in the moment—instant gratification usually does. But they actually prevent us from making progress or even set us back.

See if you recognize any of these:

• The impulse buy that dings your savings goal.
• The skipped workout routines that plateau your weight loss.
• The late night at work that keeps you from your child’s school recital.

We get the short-term win from the purchase, the rest, and the project completion. But we lose the long-term payoffs that only come from reaching our goals: financial security, physical health, and lasting connection with our kids.

Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here. It is for anyone who is looking to achieve a specific goal in their personal or professional life, no matter how big or small. If you’re unsure of how to go about starting on a path to achieving your goals, then this challenge is for you. Over the course of 7 days, you will gain clarity into exactly what you want to achieve in every area of your life and determine a clear-cut plan for how to achieve those goals. Download it here and listen to my Talk with Tom podcast episode where I describe in detail how to use the guide.

It’s true for all kinds of goals. What I and many others came to realize is that gratitude is the difference maker. Why? There are at least three reasons gratitude can help you stay the course and reach your goals:

1. Gratitude keeps you going. In one study researchers Robert A. Emmons and Anjali Mishra had students list goals they hoped to reach over a two month period. Ten weeks later they checked back and found the grateful students were closer than others in the study to reaching their goals. Emmons and Mishra said there’s a prevailing (but unproven) idea out there that gratitude can leave people feeling complacent. If I’ve got enough, then maybe I don’t need to achieve more. Instead, they determined, “gratitude enhances effortful goal striving.”
2. Gratitude improves your patience. A lot of times we take the easy out because we’re impatient. Achieving big goals takes time and effort. Thankfully, gratitude can keep you in the game. David DeSteno of Northwestern University led a study where participants were asked to recall an event that made them feel grateful, happy, or neutral. After writing about it, they reported their mood and then made a series of financial decisions. If they wanted, they could take a cash reward at the end of the session or receive a larger amount by check in the mail at a later date. The grateful were happy to wait for the bigger payout. “On average, we increased people’s financial patience by about 12 percent,” said DeSteno. “Imagine if you could increase people’s savings by that much.”
3. Gratitude lowers your stress. People fall for instant gratification because indulgence and avoidance are both attractive ways of coping with stress. But we all know they’re not effective in the long run, and we’ve got the bills and ill-fitting clothes to prove it.It turns out gratitude is a far more effective way to cope with stress. Emmons and Mishra conclude, “The evidence strongly supports the supposition that gratitude promotes adaptive coping and personal growth.”

Instant gratification looks good in the moment, but can actually prevent us from making progress or even set us back.

I love asking successful people what they do to succeed. When their answers overlap with each other it’s like building a list of best practices. When the science backs them up, we’d have to be foolish not to listen.

Expressing Gratitude is just one of eight different best practices in goal setting. Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here. It is for anyone who is looking to achieve a specific goal in their personal or professional life, no matter how big or small. If you’re unsure of how to go about starting on a path to achieving your goals, then this challenge is for you. Over the course of 7 days, you will gain clarity into exactly what you want to achieve in every area of your life and determine a clear-cut plan for how to achieve those goals. Download it here and listen to my Talk with Tom podcast episode where I describe in detail how to use the guide.

Your Action Step

Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here and get started today setting your 2018 goals.

Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

Perhaps you’re on a roll with your mindfulness practice by incorporating my FREE 7-Day Guided Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series into your week. If not, give it a try [here] or at  www.SuccessSeriesLLC.com/wordpress/meditation. If so, fantastic!! Keep it up! Maybe it’s time to integrate a Gratitude Journal into your mindfulness practice.

A Simple Mindfulness Practice – Keep a Gratitude Journal

Studies suggest that writing in a gratitude journal three or four times a week might actually have a greater impact on our happiness than journaling every day. So just take 10 minutes every other day and note three things you are grateful for.

The overall benefit you want to achieve is to actually FEEL the joy…the good emotions…that come with your recollection of a good event, experience, person, or thing in your life.

Write down up to five things for which you feel grateful. Physically writing it is important—don’t just do this exercise in your head — and yes, you can do it on your computer, or with an app, and not lose out on anything. The things you list can be relatively small in importance like “my tasty lunch today” or significant, such as “my game changing new job.”

How to do it

There’s no wrong way to keep a gratitude journal, but here are nine guidelines to get you started:

1. Be as specific as possible—specificity is key to fostering gratitude. “I’m grateful that my co-workers brought me soup when I was sick on Tuesday” will be more effective than “I’m grateful for my co-workers.”
2. Go for depth over breadth. Elaborating in detail about a particular person or thing for which you’re grateful carries more benefits than a superficial list of many things.
3. Get personal. Focusing on people to whom you are grateful has more of an impact than focusing on things for which you are grateful.
4. Try subtraction, not just addition. Consider what your life would be like without certain people or things, rather than just tallying up all the good stuff. Be grateful for the negative outcomes you avoided, escaped, prevented, or turned into something positive—try not to take that good fortune for granted. Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Physical

The older one gets the harder it is to achieve our BIG audacious physical goals, like competing in a triathlon or riding a century. Not only because of growing physical limitations but also because of growing responsibilities of family, career and community. Can you still go BIG? OF COURSE YOU CAN! If you follow this system, the only thing that can stop you is YOU.

A Formula For Achieving Big Physical Goals After Age 40

#1 – Assess yourself and what you are asking your body … and your mind … to achieve.

First, and foremost, you must believe you can do it. And, I don’t mean just competing in the event, but the needed training as well. Belief is the genesis of all accomplishment. Maintain a realistic perspective during your training and push yourself to excel at a rate necessary to peak at the competition. To help keep perspective, remember these things:

Find your why. This is your reason for wanting to achieve your big audacious goal. Without it you will fail when the going gets tough.

Go all in. Decide at the onset that you are going to do whatever you need to do to achieve your goal. Sign up for the event, commit to training, and fill your days with positive motivation to keep you going.

Know what you are willing to give up and what you aren’t. There are certain things I have on hold when it comes to my training and certain things that I will not give up. I must continue to run my businesses in spite of my training and I want to continue to spend time with my family and friends, so often times it is my leisure activities that must be put on hold if I am in the middle of training for a century ride or other big audacious physical goal.

#2 Make a plan.

Set yourself up for success with a routine. Figure out your training plan and do not deviate from it unless, or until, you experience a flaw in it. Create a realistic timeline. Many of the athletes I work with get down on themselves when they aren’t progressing at their pre-determined pace because they were unrealistic about how long something would take in the first place. They feel so discouraged that they beat themselves up and their mental-game plummets.

Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal and Professional

Want to know how productive you really are?

I am pleased to offer to you this FREE resource from my friend, Michael Hyatt: Michael just came out with a quick self-assessment test to find out how productive you really are. It’s completely FREE, and it only takes a few minutes.

http://freetofocus.com/WLPROG/2017assessment

You may be asking yourself, “Why does this matter?”

Because if you’re like most high-achievers, you want to your spend time well — and live intentionally. This test helps you do just that.

You can only find the path to more time and more freedom when you’re CLEAR about where you are now.

I just finished taking mine and I was surprised with my results. I encourage you to take the assessment for yourself and discover your Productivity Score! Michael explains what it all means and gives you a free summary of your answers.

It’s the ticket to upping your productivity game…

Ready to discover your score? Just click here. http://freetofocus.com/WLPROG/2017assessment

Please share this post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

DISCLOSURE: As a Michael Hyatt affiliate I am pleased to offer Michael’s Free To Focus course to you. In the event that you register for this valuable resource I will receive an affiliate commission.

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Physical

In the late 1990s I was 30 pounds overweight due to too many years of entertaining real estate clients at fancy restaurants, private clubs and Laker games. I gained the weight over 10 years and when my mom had a minor heart attack, following my dad having one himself years earlier, I knew genetics wasn’t helping any. So I lost 30lbs in 60 days by eating less and exercising more.

That wake-up call taught me first hand the value of monitoring your exercise and nutrition and I present to you here five reasons why we can’t afford to neglect diet and exercise:

5 Reasons Why Attention To Exercise And Nutrition Is A Must

1 – First, our bodies are made to move. Our bodies are literally built to move with muscles, tendons, and bones. Our world of technology has created a sedentary culture where people are sitting and staring at their cell phones, tablets, or computer screens for hours on end. In previous times, physical work was a given.

2 – Second, exercise adds fuel to your gas tank. some people think, “I can’t workout, I’m too tired.” What they don’t realize is that if they would just do it, they would be more energetic for the rest of the day. Exercise not only eliminates toxins from our bodies, but according to the Mayo Clinic, it also improves our circulation and our hear and lung health. It might sound counter-intuitive, but exercise gives you more energy than it takes. Read my blog post here on Natural Ways To Gain Energy.

3 – Third, exercise lifts our mood. According to one survey found in one of my Recommended Reading books by Tom Rath, Eat Move Sleep, just twenty minutes of moderate exercise in the morning has been shown to improve mood as much as twelve hours later in the day. Exercise unleashes neurochemical processes (endorphins) that can leave us feeling exhilarated and happy.

4 – Fourth, exercise helps regulate our blood-sugar level, which directly relates to our energy levels. And, of course, so does food. This is one reason why I generally avoid high-carbohydrate, especially refined carbohydrate, meals. They make me sleepy and lethargic because they spike our blood sugar ramping up our insulin, then send us crashing.

5 – Fifth, eating for convenience instead of health and well-being leads to obesity and a whole range of conditions that sap our energy. Looking at the World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Report, what drives down the U.S. numbers is primarily our bad health. There’s a direct connection to the foods we eat and what we’re able to accomplish.

YOUR ACTION STEPS

Determine to get (and stay) physically healthy. It’s easy to compromise here. You have to decide ahead of temptation that you’re not going to back down from what matters most to your physical well-being.

Next, move! Get intentional about moving. Park away from the entrance and walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Ease into it if you need to. Take the elevator up and the stairs down until you’re in the groove. Eat with conviction not convenience. Go to the work of juicing that morning green drink. Pack your own lunch. Order small portions. Watch what you eat and don’t let that deadline or to do list take you off course with an easy out fast food meal.

Please share this post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.  I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

3 life lessons you can learn from skydiving.

When my son turned 13 I told him we would have an adventure of his choosing to move him from childhood to manhood. He chose hiking the Grand Canyon. I did the same with my daughter but by the time she had decided what she wanted to do, she had turned 16…and, gulp, she had decided to go skydiving!!

Now I write that with emphasis because though hiking the Grand Canyon was arduous and entailed multiple days (1 day down, 1 day on the bottom, and 1 day out), my son and I were somewhat prepared having made many hikes over the years. But skydiving? My daughter and I had no experience whatsoever. It was a complete outside-the-box thing with challenges of its own. For instance, my daughter had no idea that I had a fear of heights!

For years I had been developing skyscrapers. Up and down the exterior construction elevator I went showing colleagues, partners, and prospective tenants the city view from 1,000+ feet up. As I would step off the exterior construction elevator I would bee line for the middle of helipad and stay somewhat away from the edge, if I could. And here my daughter was telling me the one adventure she wanted to have was to skydive. So…of course…I had to swallow hard and just say “yes” without skipping a beat.

Life Lesson #1 From Skydiving: Step out of your comfort zone and lean into your fear.

The best time to skydive is the first jump of the day. This way you avoid the inevitable weather delays that come later in the day as jump after jump is pushed out an hour, maybe two, maybe even to the next day. So we drove out to the airfield for the 7am tandem jump and took the required orientation training, then off we went with our instructors, a few other novice divers and their tandems, and a couple intermediate and advance solo jumpers.

‘Round about 5,000 feet the solo jumpers step out the door. You see, they were just after increasing their jump count to advance to the next level of their sport. We on the other hand, were going to 10,000’ to be able to experience the free fall as well as gliding to a landing. Well let me tell you, when those jumpers stepped out at 5,000’ my daughter and I, wide-eyed, with pupils-dilated, looked at each other and said, “We’re really doing this!!”  We knew there was no going back, our turn was next.

Life Lesson #2: When you commit to a vision, follow through.

Up to 10,000’ we went and sure enough when our names were called we were strapped to our instructors and ready to go. When you tandem skydive, and I hope you do, very little is under your control. Though they tell you how to position your legs and arms, and when to pull the chute, you’re basically going along for the ride.

My daughter went first. She screamed as she went out the door and my heart sank. You see…as a Dad or Mom you must relate…you see, I wanted to help her, comfort her, and assure her that all would be well, but no, she was having to find out that all for herself. I was next, and out we went.

Remember me mentioning the free fall? For the first 5,000’ you have the exhilaration of the free fall. You do some spinning tricks, some aerodynamics. I’m, of course, looking for my daughter hoping all is well with her and that she is enjoying the journey…to no avail. It’s hard to orient to things when you’re going who-knows-how-fricken-fast free falling to the earth. Then the tap on your shoulder comes to pull the rip cord. A little aside if you do go skydiving: don’t worry if you don’t pull the rip cord fast enough, your tandem instructor is watching his/her little altimeter and if you don’t act fast enough, they will. No need for that with me, I was ready and waiting.

Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal
If you want to be healthy, wealthy and wise about the fruits and vegetables you eat, you should know when to go organic, as well as when it’s unnecessary. Sometimes I find it worthwhile to pay a little extra for organic…sometimes not so wise.

I came across a study by the Environmental Working Group which ranked produce based on what contained the least and most amount of pesticides. The ones with the most pesticides were strawberries and spinach – so go organic for these two, as well as nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, celery, tomatoes, bell peppers and potatoes.

As for least amount of pesticides (making it unnecessary to go organic): obviously the thick skin things such as avocados, pineapple, bananas, eggplant, mangoes, papayas, cantaloupe, kiwi and grapefruit, but also cauliflower, cabbage, onions and asparagus.

On another note, Happy Birthday to my Dad…he’s 84 today! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you <3

One of my missions in life is to move and inspire people to live their highest vision.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.  I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

Do you often find yourself running low on energy late in the day? Or, do you occasionally wake up already tired? Energy Management is as key to success as Task Management and Focus but few people realize that. Conventional wisdom taught us that if you slept eight hours a night, ate right and exercised well, you would have all the energy necessary to accomplish a successful day.

We now know that there are many ways to gain energy, both naturally and unnaturally. It can be easy and convenient to grab an energy drink or coffee when you’re feeling tired, but a cheap-and-quick energy drink will leave you feeling even more fatigued than you initially were once it wears off. Try these natural, clean and easy methods for increasing your energy:

8 Ways to Gain Energy Naturally

STAY HYDRATED. The more water, the better. Staying hydrated keeps your body functioning properly, which in turn keeps your energy levels up. Here’s the popular rule of thumb my clients have heard me say time and again: Drink half your body weight in ounces every day.

REMEMBER CAFFEINE IN MODERATION. Natural caffeine in coffee, green tea, or black tea is a great way to boost your energy level. Caffeine has also been found to stave diabetes, dementia and migraines.

INCREASE YOUR MAGNESIUM INTAKE. Halibut, whole grains and nuts (particularly almonds and cashews) are rich in magnesium. If those don’t appeal to you, take a daily natural supplement. A Department of Agriculture study found that women who had more magnesium in their diet could workout longer and harder at the gym.

GO SMALL. Eat smaller meals more often. By eating a small meal every two to three hours, you maintain your brain’s steady flow of nutrients and avoid fatigue. If you prefer less frequent, larger meals, make sure you don’t skip any. FYI, a portion is the size of your fist.

ADD ANTIOXIDANTS TO YOUR DIET. Blueberries, artichokes, and tomatoes are great examples of foods full of antioxidants, a clean energy source (meaning they can protect the body from energy swings). Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

You’ve heard me say, write, live SMART goals. That is:

SMART GOALS:

S   pecific
M easurable
A  chievable
R  ealistic
T  ime bound

Here’s three other acronyms I came across for you non-conformists:

PURE GOALS:

P  ositively Stated
U  nderstood
R  elevant
E   thical

CLEAR GOALS:

C  hallenging
L  egal
E  nvironmentally Sound
A  greed
R  ecorded

HARD GOALS:

H  eartfelt
A  nimated
R  equired
D  ifficult

For more on goal setting, check out my recent blog post Mid-Year Goals Check-in and dive deep with my 2016 Goals Series of blog posts: [here’s #1] [and #2] [#3 is linked here] [find #4 here] [and last in the series #5] and read [this blog post from the 2015 archives]. To learn how to write an action plan for goal achievement read [this post].

My crash course for this year is my 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK! I describe it in detail in this Talk with Tom podcast episode on the subject [here].

Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge eBook – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK! [Download for FREE here].

In continuation of a sampling of the 100 Things Successful People Do from the book of the same title by author Nigel Cumberland (but not all 100 🙂 Here’s another 5:

1. Have the courage to fail

2. Seek wisdom and use it

3. Model the best

4. Sleep well

5. Laugh more.

One of my missions in life is to move and inspire people to live their highest vision.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.  I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Financial

Disclaimer: This material is based on my personal experience and has been prepared for informational purposes only. It should not be the only means of your personal finance decision making; please consult a professional advisor before taking action.

Some of you have attended my Create The LIFE You Want workshop and you would remember much of these personal finance basics from my Saturday afternoon Money module. For those of you who haven’t attended (you can [sign up here for the next one] held closest to you in either LA, Denver, Dallas or KC) here’s a quick lesson in the basics of personal finance:

10 Basics of Personal Finance

1. Have a reason why money and financial freedom is important to you.

You must know your “Why” to be motivated as to the “What” and “How”.

When I started my first business at age 18, I was motivated to make money because I needed to pay for my college education. When I sold that company, a Southern California-based auto detailing company named Every Last Detail, and went into real estate it was because I was a new father and wanted a more profitable career to provide for my family. Your “why” will motivate you and keep you on track when the inevitable peaks and valleys occur. Continue reading →

#GrowYourLife

As I pointed out in my last blog post, our minds often prevent us from accomplishing our New Year’s resolutions and after while, whether from procrastination or lost focus, our resolutions fall by the wayside. For those of you out there who set new year’s resolutions vs concrete goals, I have an experiment for you to try this first quarter of the year: rather than set new year’s resolutions, why not aspire to new habits in each of the seven life areas? After while they will soon become a lifestyle…a happier, healthier lifestyle… by doing little things every day. Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving! This coming Thursday those of us who reside in the United States will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday primarily celebrated with family and friends in an expression of shared gratitude for our many blessings. As you sit down with you and yours, please remember that we at Success Series are truly grateful for the wonderful support that we receive from all of you. Continue reading →

Five Steps to a Higher Self-Esteem

“I want to increase my self-esteem”

“I want to increase my self-esteem” is a statement I hear quite often from participants in my EmpoweredWoman 101 seminar (soon to be released in its updated and renewed version entitled Goddesses 101). The participant’s asking believe that once they achieve a higher self-esteem, they’ll be able to become more successful. Continue reading →

Meditation and the Benefits of Its Daily Practice

Guest blog by: Aaron Wilker, host of Talk with Tom

A quick word from Tom:

Are you interested in meditation, but question its validity since it appears a little too foo-foo for you? Despite its PR problem, mindfulness meditation is a simple, secular, scientifically validated exercise for your brain. Just in case you’re worried, meditation doesn’t require a lot of the things people fear it might. For example, you don’t have to sit in a funny position, light incense, chant, become a Buddhist or believe in anything in particular. Continue reading →