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Jan 15 2015

5 Ways to Make 2015 Your Best Year Yet!

sandra

It’s the start of a New Year. Time for goal setting, setting intentions and putting a plan into action! I love the New Year because I always feel like it’s a fresh start, a clean slate to do things differently, better, than the year before. I would love to hear your tips to make this year better than the last. Here are my 5 suggestions to make 2015 your best year yet.

  1. Celebrate your accomplishments from the previous year

This is something that I started to do several years ago. On New Year’s Eve, before any festivities begin, I grab my journal and list all of the things that I accomplished during the current year. They don’t all have to be monumental goals, but you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by all that you’ve done, even if you think you didn’t have such a stellar year.

  1. Review what worked and what didn’t

We’ve all heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results. If we don’t take the time to look at the systems and strategies that worked and evaluate the ones that didn’t we might end up making the same mistakes again next year. Don’t beat yourself up about the failures, but do learn from them. What can you do differently next time?

  1. Identify at least 3 things you intend to accomplish this year

What would an article about the New Year be without talking about setting goals? They don’t all have to be about your business. Throw some personal goals in the mix too. When we’re at our best, we do our best. Achieving personal goals can help you be more effective in your business as well so don’t forget to take care of yourself when setting your intentions for 2015.

  1. Choose at least one skill to upgrade or learn

If we’re not learning, we’re not growing. I’m a firm believer and strong supporter of continuing education. We can never possibly know all there is to know, even in areas that we’ve mastered. Whether it has to do with your business or not, learning a new skill or learning how to do something you already know in a different way, expands our minds and opens us up to new opportunities that we might not have known existed otherwise. My 9 year-old lab/border collie mix is a constant reminder that you’re never too old to learn and you actually can teach an old dog new tricks! 😉

  1. Create a 90-day action plan

If you work out regularly, I’m sure you’ve witnessed the popularity of your local work out spot in January and the decline in attendance as we head into February. It’s why I no longer believe in New Year’s Resolutions. We can’t just say we’re going to start doing, or stop doing something; we have to figure out how we’re going to do it. In addition to that, we have to make sure we’re committed to our goals and make sure that it’s a goal that is important to us, and not something someone else wants us to do. The action plan doesn’t have to be perfect, but it definitely helps to have one. If you want to increase the effectiveness of the plan, share it with someone you know will hold you accountable.

Reflecting on the previous year can be a bittersweet time for many of us. It’s easy to focus on the things that didn’t go the way we hoped or expected rather than on the things that worked out, sometimes even better than we had planned. Whether last year was phenomenal or lack-lustre, celebrate the fact that you survived another year and know that this year can always be better, it’s all up to you!

Sandra Dawes is a certified life coach specializing in helping women who feel unfulfilled with their 9-5 follow their dreams and pursue their passions. She holds an Honours BA, an MBA as well as a certificate in Dispute Resolution.She has completed her first book,Embrace Your Destiny: 12 Steps to Living the Life You Deserve!
Connect:
www.embraceyourdestiny.ca
www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestiny
www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestinythebook
www.twitter.com/sandradawes

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Sandra Dawes · Tagged: 2015, 90 day, Accomplishments, action, Action Plan, Canadian Small Business Women, coaching, Embrace Your Destiny, entrepreneur, fresh start, goal setting, new year, New Year's Eve, personal goal, personal goals, plan, Sandra Dawes, skill, small business development, small business owners, what didn't, what worked

Jan 04 2015

15 Inspirational Quotes for 2015

Praveeni

Happy New Year! A new year is a chance for all of us to wipe the slate clean and get a fresh start! A time to get rid of everything and everyone that was a bad or negative influence in our lives and move forward. It’s also a chance for us to have new experiences and make new friends. 2015 gives us all an opportunity to be better people; people who lift others up instead of bringing them down. Here are 15 inspirational quotes to help you have a prosperous and positive 2015 :

  1. “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.For poise, walk with the knowledge that you will never walk alone” – Sam Levenson
  2. “ Be yourself everyone else is already taken “ – Oscar Wilde
  3. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible !” – Audrey Hepburn
  4. “ A lady’s worth is not measured by wealth or social status, but in the way she treats others” – Praveeni Perera
  5. “Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you” – Margaret Thatcher
  6. “ Let no man pull you low enough to hate him “ – Martin Luther King
  7. “Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of someone else” – Judy Garland
  8. “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t ” – Margaret Thatcher
  9. “Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives” – Michelle Obama
  10. “Don’t waste time putting others down when you could be building yourself up “ – Praveeni Perera
  11. “ A girl should be two things : classy and fabulous” – Coco Chanel
  1. “The attributes of a great lady may still be found in the rule of the four S’s: Sincerity, Simplicity, Sympathy, and Serenity” – Emily Post
  2. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness” – Oprah Winfrey
  3. “Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman” – Coco Chanel
  4. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much” – Oscar Wilde

Praveeni Perera is the CEO and co-founder of Professional Edge Consulting a corporate training company based in Ottawa offering training and coaching services to clients around the world.  She can be reached via Website, Twitter, Facebook or her Blog.

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Praveeni Perera · Tagged: 15, Audrey Hepburn, business development, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, Coco Chanel, Emily Post, fresh start, friends, Happy New Year, inspirational, inspirational quotes, Judy Garland, Margaret Thatcher, Martin Luther King, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Oscar Wilde, positive, Praveeni Perera, Professional Edge Consulting, prosperous, quotes, Sam Levenson, small business, small business owners

Jan 15 2014

Time To Take Inventory

sandra

When we think of inventory, we often think of a storage room or warehouse full of merchandise to be sold.  The inventory I want talk about today is our personal inventory.  It’s January – the time for New Year’s resolutions, revised business plans and targets, and a fresh start!

I did an exercise with the youth at the shelter I volunteer at and wanted to share it with you:

  1. Make a list of your habits.
  2. Divide them into two categories, those that serve you (aka good habits) and those that hinder your progress (aka bad habits).

It’s helpful to look at this exercise from a personal and business standpoint.  Often the two overlap for entrepreneurs anyway!  This exercise should be done as part of your “what’s working/what isn’t” review that should be a part of your 2013 recap.  Whether it’s spending too much time on Facebook or not enough time getting leads and referrals, we have to be honest with ourselves about the things we’re doing (or not doing) that are hindering our progress.

We all know that habits are hard to break, but when those habits are hindering your personal and professional/business growth, it’s time to take notice and take action!  It’s said that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit.  That’s it.  21 days of consistent effort will get you closer to opening up the channels that contain all the good stuff that’s going to help you be a better entrepreneur, mate, friend or parent.  There are going to be challenges.  Don’t beat yourself up if you fall back into old habits.  Acknowledge the slip up and why it happened and move on.

The habits we want to release took time to become a part of our daily routine.  It’s going to take time and commitment to let them go and develop new ones that will help you to take your life to the next level.  Try not to overwhelm yourself.  When we’re making the list of our habits, it can be easy to get carried away focusing on all of our negative habits.  We’re not going to change all of them at once.  Focus on one or two that you feel are manageable and work your way up to the bigger ones.  Remember that small successes will build momentum.

If you need help, ask for it.  An accountability partner is a great help when you’re working on making changes in your life.  Surround yourself with positive people.  We all have changes we want to make; we might as well support one another to ensure that we all achieve success!

 

Sandra Dawes is a certified life coach specializing in helping women who feel unfulfilled with their 9-5 follow their dreams and pursue their passions. She holds an Honours BA, an MBA as well as a certificate in Dispute Resolution.She has completed her first book,Embrace Your Destiny: 12 Steps to Living the Life You Deserve!

Connect: 
www.embraceyourdestiny.ca
www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestiny

www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestinythebook
www.twitter.com/sandradawes

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Sandra Dawes · Tagged: 21 days, accountability, bad habit, business development, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, coaching, commitment, Embrace Your Destiny, entrepreneur, fresh start, good habit, inventory, new year, progress, routine, Sandra Dawes, small business, small business development

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