Your Five-Year Plan - How You're Going to Get Where You Want to Go
Mon, 07/25/2011 - 4:03pm | by monicadear
You either have a five-year plan, or you don't. It may be written down in great detail, it may be an idea in your mind, or it may be a scrap of paper you carry around in your wallet -- or it may be just something you're interested in right now.
Here are eight steps to help you get your five-year plan out of your mind and into reality.
1) Write it down.
When you write something down, it becomes more real, both to you as a physical inhabitant of reality, as well as to the Universe.
Think about the following: who you want to be, where you want to live, your relationships, and your job/career/work, your daily life ---- and describe it in exhaustive detail. I use Keynote (or Powerpoint) to create fairly detailed screenshots.
See what other real people are saying about their visionboards by searching Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/search/visionboard
2) Continue your education.
Create a schedule and learn weekly about a topic of your choice. Replace tv or mindless time with this continuing knowledge-gathering. Potential topics to think about include: business, finance, spiritual development, history, mythology, physical fitness, nutrition, technology. I'm sure you can come up with more.
Blogs, books, online courses, study groups, clubs, and in-person classes are great ways to connect with others interested in the same field.
3) Take risks.
Where you are now is a direct result of the risks you took up until this point. If you're going to stretch and exceed your expectations, you'll have to do something that scares you, just a little bit, every day.
Branch out. An excellent way to envision this is to think about how much money you currently make, or how many people/customers you currently reach, and increase by a factor of 10. What steps have to happen to make that idea a reality? Put those incremental steps into your 5-year plan.
4) Find new friends.
Some believe you are the sum total of the top five people with whom you hang out. Look around. Now is a great time to start dropping the haters, negative naysayers, and frienemies.
Find new individuals who support you and your dreams, and who are advancing along their own pathway --- you'll learn more, have more fun, stretch, and have closer people with whom to share your blessings.
5) Mentor.
Consider sharing your continuing evolution by mentoring someone less experienced than you. Mentoring takes the form of quarterly check-ins, a monthly chat, regular coffee, lunch, or breakfast, and ongoing interest in your mentee's personal and professional development.
6) Volunteer.
Come up with a scheduled plan to give back to your community. This is pro bono work - or time you invest -- for a non-profit, religious group, school, charity, or cause of your choice.
You can offer your labor, or volunteer, or be a part of a board or governing organization. Love the organization you choose --- it makes it more fun.
7) Express gratitude.
The quickest way to heap blessings upon your life is to express your utmost appreciation and gratitude for all that you have. Everyday express gratitude for your life, for the opportunities you have, and for all the love that showers in on you. Expect even more of the good stuff.
8) Celebrate.
Always take time to celebrate your accomplishments. It's not the destination, it's the journey. Once you find that your personality, abilities, and soul are expanding, you'll realize that this evolution relies on the day-to-day, incremental baby steps you take on your journey. Five years = 1825 days = 43,800 hours = 2,628,000 minutes.
Make every moment count.
2012 visionboard, by monicadear
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Send to friendMy Story of my First Ring
Fri, 02/17/2012 - 2:42pm | by monicadear
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have never been much of a primp. Things like baubles and bangles are nice, but not a primary focus of mine. However, about 5 years ago, I had a dream about a ring. In my dream, that particular ring was a black onyx-type stone and a silver setting, but that particular ring was meant to be in the far future, after I was living in New Mexico and was a publishing editor, probably in my late 60s (go figure).
In my waking life, I started researching jewelry to find a ring for the current or near-future me.
Productivity Apps on the Windows Phone
Sat, 02/11/2012 - 3:03am | by monicadear
I've been using my Windows Phone for the last month on an AT&T plan and I think I've finally settled on how I want the layout to be: it's now juuuuusssst right, including my colors, ring tones, and the order of the first "landing screen" and my most frequently-used tiles, which are:
Top Seven Scary Ingredients in Supermarket Foods
Wed, 02/08/2012 - 6:38pm | by monicadear
The human body has evolved to be a lean, mean, athletic machine, and we are suited to being strong, fit, and consuming whole foods like grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish and lean meats. While I am not against the occasional bubble gum, cheesecake, or potato chips for me and the kids, we do insist on healthy food for mealtimes, and we choose organic as often as possible.
Here are seven items on my "watchlist" when I read labels on packaged food-- if I see these in the list, I put the item aside and choose a different option.
Visionboard #10: Trust the Universe
Mon, 02/06/2012 - 2:26am | by monicadearOne of my favorite meditations is the idea that each of us are simply manifestations of the Universe, and so every experience that we go through, no matter how difficult and terrifying, is still a way for us to learn, expand, grow, and increase our self-knowledge.
This visionboard item is one of my ways to remind myself to place my trust that everything is part of a greater plan, or at least, I can put everything into place and know that there is unity and harmony within all the different chaotic strings and threads of experience and activity.
Tags:
7 Tips to Prevent Bullying
Mon, 02/06/2012 - 1:30am | by monicadear
If you're a mom, mentor, or involved in the classroom, you know the importance of maintaining a decent, respectful, positive, safe, and supportive environment for all students. Bullying can happen to children, teens, and young adults who do not get along well with others, who are "less popular", or who have few to no friends in the school. Also at risk for being bullied are youths with depression or anxiety, and those who have low self esteem. Those especially at risk are LGBT and questioning youth: in one study by Laura Sessions Stepp, "four out of five gay and lesbian students say they don't know one supportive adult at school."
Don't Just Settle - Make it Meaningful, Happy, and Deeply Satisfying
Wed, 01/18/2012 - 2:18pm | by monicadear
I am always a proponent of upgrading your lifestyle in as many ways as possible. I believe that for the sake of mental health, sanity, and security, we each deserve to follow our intuition, treat ourselves well, and look after our own best interests. If we focus on continuous improvement and do this naturally every day, with the mindset of being grateful and expressing deep respect for the gift of life, we can incrementally change our living situation.
7 Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for the Woman Business Owner in your Life
Sun, 01/15/2012 - 2:48pm | by monicadear
1) Pay for her website domain and hosting
Most small business owners don't think of this precious detail, and if your special lady is in business, this is one of a myriad of other details. Do her a favor and prepay for the next 2-3 years of domain and hosting. You'll get a chance to reassess her existing website details (username and password) and inventory the current situation.
2) Get her Quickbooks Online
Comments
Great article, Monica. Even
Great article, Monica. Even better timing too, as I was just thinking about my 1-year and 5-year plan. I'm in the midst of re-evaluating my priorities and goals.
Thanks for sharing!
Namaste <3