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Volume
26 June 04l
Welcome to Volume 26 of Living on the Edge, the now monthly newsletter from Living Edge Life Coaching, designed to inform, educate, challenge and inspire you!
For previous volumes click here.
I recently spoke at my church's women's conference, Body Soul Spirit about time management, I hope you enjoy the summary of it in Coaching Corner.
If you enjoy Living on the Edge please forward it onto your family and friends.
Annabel Varvel Life Coach BA.LLB
COACHING CORNER
Big Rocks
I am turning 30 in a few weeks time. Hitting a 'milestone' age has made me wonder...Am I half why through my life? A third? 75%? What do I want to do with whatever time I have left on earth? Will I waste it? Will I use it wisely? Since I was in my early twenties, I've always had a sense of not wanting to 'waste' my life. I have wanted to take some risks, push myself, surprise myself, and others. The whole sense of Carpe Diem (seize the day) I want to live by. I know I don't do it all the time. I know I can be complacent, lazy. I can procrastinate. I am so far from perfect, so as in all the work I do (including writing these newsletter's) I come as a fellow traveller, not an expert!
In my work as a life coach I see lots of people who want to organise their time better. People want to have time for important things. Most of us don't want to waste time. So how do we prioritise it? Make it count?
We first need to see time for what it is, our most valuable and most perishable possession.. We can never go back in time and do things differently. It doesn't work that way. NOW is the moment we have. It is a gift. We can't relive the past, we might not have the future. But we have right now. You have total control over what you chose to do with the moment.
When you get a grip of time as a resource you can then look at how you want to spend that resource. Here is a story which you may have heard to help give some perspective to time management:
One day an expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration. As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'big rocks' in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. ---
So what are your 'big rocks'? Here are some examples of what they could be:
- family
- relationship with spouse/significant other
- relationship with God/spirituality
- career/job
- friends
- health/fitness
- giving to others
- hobby
- recreation (true recreation)
- personal development
Big rocks in your life are usually the important things that require preparation and planning. They will empower. They are not necessarily easy or urgent, but they are important. They are things like your key relationship that you need to actually make time for, or otherwise the quality will deteriorate.
Let's get practical
- Work out what your Big Rocks - no more than about 5-7.
- Get a diary with plenty of space to plan personal and work related things so they're all in together
- Each week/fortnight/month (whatever works for you) write at least one specific thing you can do in each of your big rock areas. You need to plan things to make them happen, that includes making appointments with yourself.
- Turn it into a lot of fun!
Enjoy....
WHAT HAPPENED IN MAY?
May was a really busy month for me! Here are some of the highlights...
- I was involved in the first Weigh Ahead workshop in Brisbane - what an exciting opportunity to meet with a small group of women to talk about our relationship with food and our bodies.... see below for more information.
- I spoke at the Body Soul Spirit, women's conference at Rivercity Christian Church about time management and self -esteem.
- Leigh and I ran a days personal coaching with a group of successful business people wanting to spend time on personal development. We spent the day looking at the different things we tolerate in our lives that we are dedicating time and energy to and want to stop. For more information on having this program run in your organisation, please email me, coach@livingedge.net
WEIGH AHEAD
Are you constantly on a weight watching vigil?
Know all the answers but can't seem to lose weight?
Do you look at your body and sigh, wishing you looked differently, but are sick to death of diets that don’t work?
Do you already know HOW to lose weight but don’t seem to have the “willpower” to stick to a diet?
weighahead™ is an exciting new small group seminar for women who want to explore their relationship with food and their bodies...
Groups are being run in Brisbane, Sydney, Bowral and soon coming to New Zealand, USA and South Africa! Call me for details 1300 137 803.
GOT A QUESTION?
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
If you have a question or situation that you would like a life coach's perspective on... email it to coach@livingedge.net and I'll answer in Living on the Edge.
Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week.. Charles Richards
Questions, comments, suggestions email coach@livingedge.net
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LIVING EDGE
LIFE COACHING
Grange QLD Australia
p: + 61 7 3352 7033 f: + 61 7 3353 7133 m: 0409 076 040
1300 137 803