Hi,

Have you heard the saying “Life is short – use good dishes?” Well, one particular morning I decided that there are more important luxuries than pretty tableware…

The realization came to me as I was reading a note a friend of mine sent me which contained the following quotation about life:

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
~Hans Christian Anderson

I’m sure you can guess where I was. If I’d had a pen, I could have written this post on that paper …What was I thinking buying that stuff?

There are lots of ways to save money. Ways that make us feel in control of our finances and good about ourselves. These are great things to do. But some luxuries are necessary, aren’t they?

Anyway, back to my point … Life is short. How many times have I thought that it’s the big moments that really matter? If you have kids, maybe it was the birth of your children. For someone else it might be running into a burning building to save someone. And you’re right, times like these times are unforgettable and important. But trust me on this: it is the tiny fleeting moments that build your history.

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Hi,

I was looking out one of our windows this morning and was reminded again of how badly we need to clean our gutters.

And just at that moment it hit me it’s probably a great analogy for our own personal development and well-being…

Gutters serve a purpose. See, they’re conduits… clean gutters channel water from your roof into the down spout and away from your home. In other words, they keep you protected, clean, dry and secure. And if you think about it, these conduits are actually pretty important for keeping your nest, your castle, your home, from rotting away.

If you let them go uncleared for a little while is okay – you know how we all get busy with other things. But let them go for a long time, and that’s how you spell trouble. The gutters get all clogged up, mosquitoes lay their eggs which then become squirming larvae, leaves and other debris start to rot and get really nasty and stinky… and eventually there is nowhere for the water to go but into your roof (and maybe even into your living room).

And ignore them for a while and you also start to do that other thing…

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Hi,

It’s amazing how small an agent of change can be…

For me, it recently was a tiny fruit fly that motivated me to make a change in my life.

I’ve talked about motivation in earlier posts; and what really gets you up and moving. This time for me-of all things-it was bugs near my fruit bowl.

Picture this… It’s summertime, and fruit flies are multiplying all over the joint! Naturally we’re to blame because we see so many delicious fruits and can’t resist piling it up in the kitchen…

…And wouldn’t you know these eager little critters can’t resist helping us eat it.

See, the “fruit fly situation” in my house just got unbearable. Actually, out of control. They gravitate towards anything that has even a hint of sweetness or sugar to it.

They converge onto a spoon.

If you leave a bottle of wine open, they swarm to the rim or just plunge right in.

I forgot how quickly these suckers can procreate and multiply.

…It kind of makes me want to brush up on my biology 101 to see how long it actually takes them to create more offspring. I’d say it’s about fifteen seconds? And BAM!, a thousand more pesky Drosophila Melanogasters now fluffing around my fruit bowl.

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You may have heard of the 7 Areas of Life?

If you’re new to the concept (welcome, by the way) the 7 Areas of Life are:

Money, Time, Relationships, Health, Emotions, Work or Career, and Greater Contribution.

Each of these 7 Areas are like pillars that support your happiness and well-being. When one is weak and crumbles, your well-being caves in.

If you sit back and think about it, you might agree that most of us work on one, two, or at best, three of these pillars, right?

Some pour their heart and soul into their jobs. Ever found yourself concentrating on your career …identifying yourself with your job title or how much you earn, only feeling fulfilled when your work life is going well? …I know I have.

Others focus predominantly on their relationships. For these people, family and friends are the most important of the seven Areas, and they do not feel like a whole person if they’re not always focused putting others first.

By now maybe you can see how you favor one or two Areas the most. And likewise you might just as easily have clear in your mind the Areas you neglect… say maybe your health (when you eat out a lot to save time and energy), your money (when you spend money on things you know you don’t really need) or maybe your relationships (if you get caught up in a rat race of life bound with responsibilities)?

Don’t feel bad about the Areas you neglect, because we all do it. Just promise me you’ll avoid making the mistake of assuming that two or three strong “pillars” will make up for the rest. Because if you do, sooner or later the roof of your inner house will cave in, there is no doubt (I’ve been there and got the t-shirt).

And maybe it already has caved in… Perhaps right now you as you read what I’m saying there’s an uncomfortable sensation in the pit of your stomach – the one that signals now is time to change some things in your life…

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Hi,

You have probably already realized we are more than half-way through the year. And whether or not you make formal new years resolutions or set goals for the new year, we all have at least a few things we hope to achieve before the year draws to a close, right?

So I wonder …what’s cooking with you? And it’s perfectly OK to share what’s not cooking or what you’d like to change.

Ciao!

Taylor

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The fly that didn't break the habit

The other morning I was pouring myself some juice, and something on the window sill caught my attention.

I hadn’t noticed it the night before so I took a closer look.

A fly.

A fly turned on its back.

Obviously dead.

I didn’t give it a second thought until I had a different thought…

We didn’t keep any poison, so why the dead fly?

Maybe because it died in a struggle.

Perhaps the fly kept trying to make its escape, doing what it was doing…

…until it could do no further.

It was up against the window.

That’s right, fly versus window. And you know who won.

See no matter how much the fly bumped up against the window, it would never succeed.

It would never break through.

Unless it changed something.

Can I ask you to imagine how the fly could have made its escape?

You probably guessed several ways, including this one…

For the better part of the day, there was an open window nearby.

Freedom was literally just around the corner.

The fly was so close to freedom, yet so far.

Now imagine the things  that we do, sometimes without even realizing them, that hold you back…

Just like bumping up against that window.

And no matter how hard you fight it, you just get more and more tired…

Frustrated, overwhelmed, and more overwhelmed.

Until finally you throw in the towel because you’re not getting where you want to go.

You give up because there’s no exit in sight. Exasperated because there are no results on the horizon.

But is that true?

Now you can thank the things that we do that are standing in our way…

Like obstacles preventing us from achieving what we want or what we say we want.

And even though these are usually imaginary obstacles, they might as well be real because they have the same effect as a real ones…

…they block and trap you just the same, keeping you from all that you are meant to be and what you are meant to do.

Or you can do something about it, because even the fly had options, didn’t it?

So, what would a different fly have had to do to break free?

Here are a few ideas… Change strategy. Try a different route. Get some distance from the problem. Look at the situation from a different point of view. Think in a new way.

That’s a lot to ask of a fly.

Still, some flies manage to pull it off and break free because I’ve had plenty buzzing around my house before and haven’t found them lying around.

Maybe you are wondering what things stand in your own way.

What can you clear out of the way so you have more energy and passion to pursue those things most important to you?

What needs to change so you can have the freedom to live, the freedom to be happy?

Are the obstacles obvious? Then what will it take to clear them?

Not obvious? Well, what if you could identify them?

What would you do differently if you knew the answer is around the corner?

Remember, doing the same things over and over again and expecting to get a different result, like following the same recipe to bake a cheese cake but expecting brownies, is one man’s definition of insanity.

When you open your mind to the possibility certain things you are doing are destroying any chances of your success, destroying your quality of life, you can experience life at a whole new level. And it starts with changing your strategies.

So tell me, what habits do you need to break?

Ciao!

Taylor

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