TGIF!
Hope you are having a fantastic day!
I’m talking about goals today so keep reading to find out what my pant size has to do with my current goals and my ‘word of the year’!
Well it is the end of the week peeps and we finally seem to have seen the back end of the winterish weather. It is sunny as I write this but more spring rains are a coming apparently, on par with living in a rain forest I guess!
I am in a ‘fabulous Friday’ kinda mood as I am off to see U2 and Mumford and Sons at BC Place tonight with Steve!
Cannot wait!
I think the last concert we went to together was Coldplay about 5 or 6 years ago, we are well overdue.
And yes I did pay WAAAAAYYY too much for these tickets through a ticket resale site (thinking I was purchasing in Canadian $ when it was really $US-gulp!) but I am going to put that aside and enjoy the show, and for the record I am TOTALLY going to lobby for legislation to out- law ticket re-sales, I cannot believe that this is allowed! What hasn’t anybody done anything about it? I will be contacting my MP this week (I don’t know why I didn’t do that at the time I got fleeced, but will do so now!).
I am also feeling particularly pumped this morning as I am on an endorphin high from my workout at Thrive Fitness Studio. The instructors there really know how to push you (so much so that you can barley lift a loaf of bread the next day) but overall I haven’t felt this good in a long time.
I need to give my friend Erin props for suggesting it to me;
‘Thx Erin!’.
I have a bunch of updates to share with you today – related to my ‘Word of The Year’ so be sure to keep reading because there are some points I am hoping you can take away and apply to your own life.
Let’s go!
Passion Dream School is Underway!
This week I am fine tuning Module 3 of Passion Dream School, my online course that is all about creating a more peaceful and gorgeous life. I can’t believe it is Week 3 already, we are about half way done! And the feedback about the course so far has been good. Yay!!!
As I review the information contained in the first 3 weeks of the modules – about owning your worth, creating your ideal environment, and goal setting, I find it is helping me recalibrate my daily practices and improve my focus as I continue to work towards my goals.
‘Word of the Year’ Update
If you have been a Full Flight Insider for awhile you will know that every year I like to choose a ‘word of the year’ (WOTY) -a word that represents how you want to feel in the coming months, and for 2017 I choose ‘LEAN’.
I liked ‘LEAN’ as it represented what I aspired to, not just in my body and overall health and wellness, but in my home environment, business and finances too.
So that means for this new year I intended to;
- lose some weight and gain muscle (become ‘lean’ in my body)
- de-clutter my home and create a more uplifting, peaceful environment (make my space ‘lean’)
- weed out unnecessary expenses, fees, charges etc. from our financial investments and ensure that we only hold worthwhile vehicles (make our finances ‘lean’)
- in my coaching business, get more specific about what I provide as a coach and who I can best serve, while paring down programs that no longer resonate with me, or my overall business model (make my business ‘lean’)
We are now four months into 2017 and let me tell you, for the first two months I really wondered about the wisdom of choosing ‘lean’ as my WOTY AND announcing this publicly on social media!
February was a dismal month as the kids were sick and then there were snow days so school was cancelled, and it all felt like two steps forward, one step back.
By month three though, I found my stride, and I want to share with you a few things that helped me stay on track with my WOTY, as my experience may help you as you focus on your own ‘WOTY’ and your own goals for the remainder of 2017.
SO ABOUT ‘LEAN’
Why I quit my gym…
Although I liked the gym I was going to (and had been going to for about 15 years) I quit last month, because in January I started a small group training exercise class (as mentioned above) at a studio close to my house. Going to my previous gym and working out on my own wasn’t getting me the desired results, so I knew I needed to change things up.
When I first started the class (1x per week each Wednesday) I could barely get through the 45 minute circuit (and my ongoing plantar fasciitis didn’t help matters either-still not cured of that BTW), but over the next few months I saw an improvement in my cardio and strength, so a few weeks ago I decided to add a second class.
I am happy to report I feel like a different person!
Here are some changes I have noted;
-I went for a bike ride with my kids and my youngest said “Mom slow down you are going too fast”, where as in September I was huffing and puffing, trying to keep up with them. *That was my first big clue that I was making gains (I have not weighed myself since January and I have NO CLUE what I weigh right now).
-Last weekend I went in for my 3 month assessment at the studio and instead of holding the plank for 40 seconds I held it for a one minute 15. Instead of lifting an 8 pound weight like I was doing back in January, I was now lifting 15 pounds. I could not even do a proper burpee when I started and now I can do 10 in a row.
-I went shopping the other day for new summer pants and bought two pairs that were both a size smaller than what I was wearing last summer.
Improvements!!!
Why I didn’t care that I irritated our financial planner…
So you know how I was focussed on making our family finances ‘leaner’?
Well in February I spent TWO WEEKS, (yes two entire weeks) reviewing every aspect of our financials- mortgage, debt, investments, RRSPs, RESPs and Oliver’s RDSP (registered disability savings program) AND doing research on the best investment vehicles for our family. (Handling the family finances doesn’t really turn my husband’s crank, but I actually enjoy it and I think I am pretty darn good at it too!)
This financial overhaul meant talking at length to our advisor and asking him any question that came up. My advisor is a patient man and he responded to all my emails and spent a couple of hours over those two weeks on the phone with me explaining anything I didn’t quite get.
There would have been a time not so long ago where I would have just accepted the advisors recommendations and not spoken up about anything I was confused about, but I can’t live like that anymore. I am at that point in my life that I don’t care if I ‘make waves’ (and it has taken me a long time to get here!).
I figure it is our money and I need to understand where it is going and what it is doing, and I don’t care if my many questions irritate someone.
Because I spoke up I now have a much better understanding of what is going on with our investments and the market, and once I had the information I needed I instructed our advisor to move money from funds of their choosing to funds of MY choosing and in the process switched over some $ from mutual funds to index funds (lower fees).
Last month our investments had a great month, so so far so good!
But really, regardless of what happens in the market, I feel it is a big WIN, because spending time and energy to understand what is going on with our money and then making our financial investments ‘lean’, turned out to be a very empowering experience.
The state of my office
Welllllll……, it hasn’t come along as far as I had hoped but my husband is almost done with scraping the ‘popcorn’ off the ceiling, so I am hoping that by next weekend we can start prepping to paint.
Once painted I can move out of the laundry room (where my desk and computer currently are) and set up shop again. When I moved into the laundry room several months ago I did a big purge of old papers, files and books and I will do another before moving back in. I am slowly getting streamlined and creating a beautiful new space to work in, and I bought a new picture for my office wall which I can’t wait to put up.
So in terms of streamlining my home (making it ‘lean’) it is coming along!
The state of my business
As mentioned the Passion Dream School course is underway and I am having a blast with it !!!
I discovered the I really love creating audio trainings (a big part of PDS), and this is something new for me. This course is all done on-line which is fabulous as the participants can work on it on their own time, and re-listen, review portions as need be.
Due to scheduling conflicts, I decided not to run another round of the ‘live’ Power Posse group this spring, but I am looking forward to catching up with the last PP group next month for a coffee, a hike and coaching ‘brush up’ session (if the gals are interested in a ‘brush up’ that is).
We will also be stopping by Vista D’Oro winery, as Lee, who was part of the last Power Posse group, has just published a cookbook ‘The Preservatory’ all about her delicious preserves and I am looking forward to getting a copy and taking home another jar of her delicious vanilla rhubarb preserve.
As usual I have other ideas percolating in regards to Full Flight Life Coaching so watch this space for info about more about future offerings…
What I learned about this ‘word of the year’ process – in a nutshell
I’m sharing all this with you because I think choosing the right (for me) WOTY helped keep my focus in the above areas of my life.
So that being said I recommend;
-That you have choose a ‘WOTY’ that is right for YOU, and if you have chosen one, now would be a great time to review it and see how you are making out in terms of your progress.
-That you have the necessary supports in place to help you achieve your goals. (I could not have made progress on my health & wellness goal without enrolling in a new exercise group, or trying something new)
-Don’t be afraid to ‘make waves’ and ask the questions that need to be asked. Women have a particularly tough time with making themselves heard but when we stay small and quiet we lose our power. Don’t accept the status quo if you are uncomfortable with it.
-Make changes if you need to. Just as I quit one gym and signed up with another you may need to juggle things a bit too.
-Listen to your gut but do your research as well. I knew that in terms of our finances our fees were too high, so I asked to move our money, but before I did I made sure to do all my homework so I could stand my ground with my advisor and not get ‘talked out of things’.
As we approach the half way point of the year, take a few moments and check in with yourself and see what small adjustments or tweaks you might like to make in order to get closer to making your goals, (your dreams really!) a reality.
Hope this helps my friend!
And now I must dash, get my kids over to my Mom and Dad’s and head downtown for the big show!
Have a wonderful weekend!
xo
Eliz
PS
The below clip is from a social media post the other day (word of the year update on Instagram).