learning

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Friends come and go

 I was considering why it is that friends come into our lives and some of them go out of our lives again.

There are many and varied reasons I suspect, but for me I think that some people fall away because of the changes I have made to myself.   I have learned so much about myself over the past few years that I was unaware of before. For instance I didn’t realise until recently that I have stuffed emotions and feelings down for years because I was conditioned growing up not to show emotion or share feelings.

When I was in a toxic relationship I had very few friends, and those I did have were not that close.  I wasn’t allowed to get close to anybody.  Getting divorced and learning to live my life as me has been a steep learning curve.

Four Women Friends at the Beach

I have learned how to express my feelings, get close to people I really like and keep others at arms length.  Now that I am able to express emotions and share my feelings other people may find this unacceptable to them. And that is okay. What I am comfortable with is not always comfortable for everyone else. And that may be why some friends have moved away. The fact that other people think differently from me is perfectly okay.

The friends I have currently are wonderful. Some live nearby, some live on different continents, but I am grateful to them all for their friendship and support. I do my best to support all my friends, it may be in a big way or in a small way. My life is so much richer for having my friends in it.

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I am grateful for all the friends I have had, still have and those I have yet to meet for their contributions to my life.

Do you have friends in your life that you are grateful for? Have you had friends move away for one reason or another? Is your life richer for having your friends in it?

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Perception

As far as I know there is no secret recipe for happiness or contentment. The people who move through life joyously have not necessarily been blessed with lives of abundance, success and prosperity. These people do have the ability, however, to take the circumstances they’ve been given and make them into something great.

Our individual realities are affected by our perceptions – delight and despair come from within rather than from external sources.  Situations we perceive as fortuitous please us, whereas situations we perceive to be inauspicious cause us no end of grief.

attitudeisalittlething

Yet if we look at all the things we have accomplished and make each new situation our own, the world will become a much brighter place. A simple shift in our attitude can help us excavate our potential for fulfilment in every event, every relationship, every duty and every setback.

The Universe is often unpredictable and we as humans tend to focus on the negative and assume the positive will care for itself.  But life is no more or no less than what we make of it.

Take working in a job you dislike, what if you were able to think to yourself, ‘what if I did like this job?’ and find the positive aspects of the position and approach your work with a different attitude.  By doing this you can turn it around so you like it and enjoy it more.

When faced with the prospect of tackling something you fear, you can think of it as an opportunity to discover what you are truly capable of doing.  Similarly, events that are unexpected, if you view them as surprises, can add a new dimension to your daily life.  By choosing to love life, you can create an atmosphere of happiness that is wonderfully infectious.  A change in your perspective is all it takes to change your world, but you have to be willing to adopt an optimistic, hopeful mind-set.

donotfeedthefears

To make a conscious decision to be happy is not enough. You must re-learn how to view life’s complexities as though seeing them through the eyes of a child seeing everything for the first time. The wonder on their faces and the curiosity is amazing to watch.  You must also try and rid yourself of any preconceived ideas of what is good and what is bad so that you can appreciate the rich insights hiding in various stages of your life’s journey.

And you must strive to discover the pleasure of wanting what you already have.  As you begin to shift your perspective, your life will be permeated with happiness, and this will remain with you forever.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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What I have learned from business coaches

Over the past past four years or so I have worked with several business coaches.  Each one is extremely successful in their field and each one has taught me something.  Interestingly, what I have learned from them is exactly the same.

Each of these coaches, entrepreneurs, business people, has come from a different background, and some have come from different continents.  They are all considered to be ‘gurus’ and are highly acclaimed.  I have no reason to doubt this or their abilities. They are all very nice people too, I have met with each of them, spent time with each of them and admire their work and tenacity.

I have attended their retreats, their seminars and listened to them all intently.  I have even qualified as one of their coaches.

graduated

But, what have I learned from each and every one of them? I have learned they are very good at running their own businesses and creating their own wealth. I have learned that I don’t want to run my business in the ways they have been telling me to.

According to them each retreat, seminar, training, coaching session is a lead in to a more expensive programme or elite group.

I went down the route of offering free workshops and from these offering paid for coaching etc.  This didn’t sit well with me so I stopped doing these, even though I had great attendance and everyone enjoyed them and learned something.  And so did I.

This is not what I want to do.

So what do I want to do?

happydog

I want to work with people to help them regain their self-esteem and confidence so they can lead their lives as their authentic selves, rather than live their lives as others want them to. I want to work with people who have hit rock bottom and are now wanting to move upwards in their lives. I want to work with people who want to re-build their self-worth.

I thought long and hard about this and decided what I needed to do. I have obtained a grant from the Lottery to work with women who have escaped abusive relationships.  I have written a course, Mind the Gap, which is made up of six modules. I have met with the Southern Domestic Abuse Service and met some of their ladies who have been through the amazing Freedom Programme but who are now looking to move forward in their lives. And I am going to be running the very first pilot programme in January 2017.  I have 30 ladies signed up, the venue is booked in Havant, the creche facilities organised.

This is so exciting and feels right to me.  There is no sign up to a more costly follow on course.  The Mind the Gap is free to the attendees, who are all very excited to be included.

A programme will be starting in January 2017 here on the Isle of Wight too for women who have escaped from domestic abuse.  I want to work with men too who have escaped from domestic abuse and that is a work in progress.

I have also obtained funding from Island Roads Foundation to work with the homeless people, and those who have been homeless, here on the Isle of Wight.  And that will be beginning in early 2017 too.

I shall be applying for more funding to be able to work with more people both on the Isle of Wight and on the mainland.

That is what I have learned.  I don’t want to work in the ways that they work.  I want to work in the way that I work.  And that is a huge lesson and doesn’t make them wrong, but makes me more able to sleep at night and to know I am really helping people.

If this resonates with you, and you would like to learn more about my work,  get in touch with me today. I would like to hear from you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

 

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Why, what, how and what?

Why would you want to work with me?

I have over a decade of experience as a coach and mentor and have worked with an amazing array of people from all walks of life.

Here is a comment from one of my clients in the USA:

“‘Oh, what a wonderful call I just had with Maggie, she has a way of coaxing out of me things and putting others in proper perspective. Feeling so much better, the little residual of melancholy about the fourth of July was gone by the end of the call. Great feeling letting it go. Now to get on with the rest of the day I am feeling very upbeat’.” – VB, USA

Additionally I have extensive qualifications, having worked hard on my own personal and professional development:

And I am currently working with Jenny and Rudi Kennard to become an Innate Wellbeing Facilitator.

My vast experience includes:

graduated

What do I provide?

Coaching and mentoring either individually or in groups to help you reach clarity about your current situation, about what really matters in life, the choices you want to make and who you really are?

I can help you with:

  • Personal development
  • Career development
  • Anxieties and stress
  • Relationship issues
  • Limiting inner beliefs

and so much more………………………

Here is a comment from a gentleman I coached a few years ago:

“I was helped immensely by Maggie in finding my way with the career I wanted, She was non judgemental and patient and made me focus on what I really wanted. I knew she was a good coach, but it wasn’t until I implemented what I learned that found out what a great coach Maggie is. Can’t recommend her highly enough.” – CG, UK

I provide results for my clients.

theworldisyourcanvas

How does it work?

Initially we will have a completely free, no obligation chat.  We will get to know each other better and I will get a sense of what is you want to achieve.  If you and I agree to work together, we will get a date in the diary for your first coaching session.

Case study:

A young lady came to me saying she was unhappy in her life and working together she came to realise that her relationship with her partner was stagnating.  She made the decision to leave the relationship.  Since then she has found her soul mate and challenged herself to do some really challenging things in her life.  To name a few things she has achieved:  Gone through astronaut training at NASA, experienced weightlessness in a plane, taught a class in Italy and many other things.

Here is a comment from a gentleman I worked with:

“Maggie has great experience of dealing with life situations in a positive way. I have seen people grow within themselves during several of her presentations and seminars. She deals with people in a non-judgemental and constructive way, whilst challenging them to look at their view of them selves and to re-evaluate their own self-worth.” – KC, UK

top100coaches

What if you did work with me?

Everyone of us was born for greatness and we knew that, until we forgot! Working with me will help you remember again.

When you start to see the true power of thought and its relationship to your way of living your life, your transformations will begin and you will better understand yourself and the world in which you live.

You will discover how your mind only works one way – from the inside out.  Your life will be more productive, enjoyable and fulfilling.

If you do nothing but hope your life will change, it won’t.  Be certain your life will change when you work with me.

So get in touch with me and we can get a date in the diary for an initial chat.

I am offering YOU 3 coaching sessions for the bargain price of £247 (usually £1500). So grab a bargain whilst you can!  Offer ends 31st October 2016.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Making time for YOU!

My clients often tell me that one of the added benefits of coaching they hadn’t considered before they started, is that their coaching session can often be the only time in a busy week that they feel able to step back and truly focus 100% on themselves.  Hand on heart, how often could you say that you allow yourself to do that?

A lot of the time we get so busy ‘doing’ that we forget about ‘being’.

This was a revelation of sorts for me some years back.  I had something fantastically inspiring to aim for, I had the focus and drive to work really hard and I was making good progress.  And yet, I wound up feeling ill, stressed and fairly disillusioned.  If this was what having stretching goals was about, I wasn’t sure I wanted them after all!

Talking through how I felt with a friend one day, I was brought up short when she said “oh yes, you’ve become a human doing instead of a human being” .  That comment really resonated with me and I thought about it all the way home.

As I reflected on the previous few months I could think of few times when I wasn’t ‘doing’ and even fewer times when I’d consciously decided to take time out and ‘be’.

So how much of your time do you spend ‘doing’ and how much do you spend ‘being’?   If you had to divide a circle up with how much time you give over to each, what would it look like?  How big would your ‘being’ slice be?

piechart

With our busy lives and time-poor society it can seem impossible to take more time for ourselves, but at what cost do you choose not to?  My decision those few years back was to invest more time in myself and I’m certain that I’m much more productive as a result.  I get more done in my ‘doing’ time now than I ever did when I was ‘doing’ every waking second of the day.  Plus, my ultimate decision was that it couldn’t all be about the doing and the destination or I’d miss the journey altogether.

So what time could you make for yourself to ‘be’?  To listen to your thoughts and feel your feelings.  When could you next set aside an hour or two, a whole day or even more than that to relax and recharge?  Can you set aside fifteen minutes a day to sit and have a cup of tea or coffee, relax and be you.  How much better would you feel if you did?

Could you do with some regular time set aside to focus 100% on you and on making your life how you want it? If so, what are you prepared to commit to?

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Learn to live your life more simply.  We all have around 80,000 thoughts a day, but we don’t have to listen to or believe them all.  Which are the thoughts that give you a nice feeling?  Which are the thoughts that you don’t like?  Have you considered that you are only one thought away from a lovely feeling and a more peaceful life?

Have you got so lost in the process of life that you have forgotten how to be you?  Would you like to have a conversation to discuss this further? Get in touch today.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/Maggie-Currie-Coaching-527886050648208/?ref=hl
Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Putting ‘You’ first

Do you remember travelling on a plane?  If you do, you have probably heard the instructions of the cabin crew reminding you to put on your own oxygen mask before helping anyone else with theirs. This advice is often told as a story for self-care because it expresses accurately why it is so important.

A woman was travelling on a plane with her twin 4 year old daughters.  The safety message clearly stated that should there be an emergency the oxygen masks would drop down.  Passengers were instructed to ensure they fitted their own masks before going to aid anyone else.

oxygen masks

There was an emergency, the oxygen masks fell.  The mother tried to fit a mask on one of her daughters, who wriggled and screamed and so she failed.  She tried to fit a mask on her other daughter with the same effect.  By the time she had unsuccessfully tried to fix their masks in place she had lost consciousness.  They too lost consciousness.  Sadly they all died.

This is why it is so important to look after you first.  To put your metaphorical oxygen mask on first.  So that if there are problems with helping others, you are still alive to keep on helping.

There are very few situations in your daily life that mimic the wake-up call of a plane emergency, so it’s very easy to keep putting off self-care.  Easy, that is, until you get ill, overwhelmed or physically exhausted, and suddenly you don’t have the energy to care for the people who count on you.  That’s when you realise that you haven’t been caring for yourself. It begins to dawn on you that taking care of yourself is not selfish or indulgent; it’s just plain practical.

Putting yourself first means that it might be necessary to say no to someone else in order to say yes to yourself.  For many of you, that is the point where guilt kicks in and you feel you could or should be doing something for someone else.  Keep in mind the oxygen mask metaphor.

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You can encourage yourself by saying “I am caring for myself so that I can care for others” or any other sentence or phrase that you find encouraging.  It will also help you if you remember that self-care doesn’t have to be very time-consuming. In fact, the best prescription for taking care of yourself probably means small, daily rituals; for example, taking a half-hour for yourself at the beginning and/or end of each day to meditate or journal, think or read or just be. You may also like to transform your daily shower or bath into a half-hour self-pampering session occasionally.

Whatever you decide is right for you, making that small gesture where you put yourself first every day will pay off  hugely for you and the ones you love.

Putting yourself first is not selfish, it is vital; you just need to be reminded how important you are to you and everyone else.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Consultant, Coach, Author
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/Maggie-Currie-Coaching-527886050648208/?ref=hl
Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Your accomplishment diary

A great way to remind yourself how good you are is to keep an accomplishment diary.  It is a smart tool to remind yourself just how good you are and what you have to be thankful for and pleased about in your life right now.

It is something I used to remind myself of my accomplishments and successes after going through a toxic relationship, divorce and learning to be me again.

diary

Buy yourself a beautiful notebook or a day to view diary and once a week for a month jot down your answers to the following questions.

Don’t give me any excuses about you haven’t got the time to do it! Take 10 minutes per week, sit down and jot down your thoughts to the following:

  • What have I got to be grateful for in my life right now?
  • What am I happy about in my life right now?
  • Why am I happy about these things?
  • What did I accomplish last week?
  • What am I excited about in my life right now?
  • Who do I love and appreciate in my life?
  • Who do I like hanging around?
  • Why do I like hanging around with them?
  • Who loves and appreciates me for what I am? Warts ‘n all!

Answer these questions honestly at the start of each week and it will set you up for success.

If you need a booster midweek, then by all means read your answers again, or even answer the questions again, whenever you want to feel centred and remind yourself of what you have got going for yourself in your life right now. And you have a lot.

I would love to hear about your experience of writing in your accomplishment diary.

Maybe you need help to begin thinking more positively about yourself.  So, if this resonates with you, and you would like to have a conversation about how coaching with me will work, get in touch today and we can arrange to have a chat to begin finding out where you think you are in your life and how I can serve you.

As Sydney Banks says, “ When the mind is filled with positive thoughts, cause and effect rule, resulting in a positive feeling.”

I really look forward to hearing from you soon.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Consultant, Coach, Author
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/Maggie-Currie-Coaching-527886050648208/?ref=hl
Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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A different conversation

Working with the Three Principles and coaching my clients using these principles is a totally different conversation from when I first started training as a coach over a decade ago.

I remember there were ‘models’ to learn, such as GROW – Goal, Reality, Options, Willingness.  There were SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.  There were hierarchies such as ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’.  Techniques such as NLP – Neurolinguistic Programming.

There was a mountain of stuff to read and digest, coaching practices to study and learn, seemingly endless amounts of information to absorb.

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I love coaching and seeing my clients achieve so much, but I felt constricted by the numerous models, hierarchies, techniques which I was supposed to follow to ‘be a good coach’.  So mostly I didn’t use them, except in the very beginning.  I tend to listen to what my client is saying, and listen to what they are not saying, get an understanding of their world and begin from there, and the sessions are organic, the flow and are successful.

So then I had the opportunity of learning all about the Three Principles (Mind, Consciousness, Thought) with Jamie Smart on his Clarity programme.  There are no models to learn, there are no acronyms for goal setting to stick to, there are no techniques.  It sounds very simple doesn’t it?

And it is.  Our realities are created from the inside out.  Unlike goals which are set from the outside in.  The Three Principles paradigm is subtractive, there is nothing to add to it, but there is loads of stuff to take away from it.  For instance all those models, acronyms, techniques etc.

The moment you realise thought and feeling are inseperable, the 100% nature of the thought feeling connection, you insightfully see that you are living in the feeling of the principle of thought taking form in the moment, and you wake to to the fact that there is no world ‘out there’ wielding power over your feelings. Which means you can never be the victim of circumstance and your head clears, you start experiencing the pre-existing fact that you and your perceptual reality are one….that there is no separation between self and other, which leads to clarity, peace, love, connection, oneness, wholeness, security, joy, wisdom.

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So this is feeling so right for me, much more so than NLP ever did.  I am developing the grounding I need to feel comfortable in my own skin, my confidence has grown markedly as I share these principles which are having a profound effect on my clients and on myself.  There is something incredibly powerful about knowing that I am able to share something that is truly transformational.

I would like to share this with as many people as possible.  My vision is impacting the lives of one million people so they too can have transformational insights into their own lives.

If you are ready to experience a genuine transformation, I am here to serve you.

So, if this resonates with you, and you would like to have a conversation about how coaching with me will work, get in touch today and we can arrange to have a chat to begin finding out where you think you are in your life and how I can serve you.

As Sydney Banks says, “ If you want to replace a glass of stale wine with fresh wine, first you must pour out the old wine.  It is the same with clearing our minds of unwanted, stale thoughts.”

I really look forward to hearing from you soon.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Consultant, Coach, Author
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://goo.gl/ZByKGW
Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

 

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Refocusing after setbacks

How many times have you thought you were getting through a life trauma, or you are in the aftermath, and then you hit a setback and it seems that you went back to the way you were? I know I have.

Don’t worry, you are not the only one!  Setbacks and difficulties occur all of the time – they are a natural activity of life. It really doesn’t feel like that at the time.

There are two ways of facing difficulties. You can either change or alter the difficulty, or you can alter yourself to be able to deal with it.

Deal with difficulties correctly and you will enhance your confidence, deal with them incorrectly and you can do some serious damage to your feelings of self worth.

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When you are faced with any setback your ability to deal with it can be turned around into a position of strength by asking yourself positive empowering questions.  There is an unwritten rule that says:

‘Ask your mind a stupid question and you will get a stupid answer!’

So, if after a setback you ask yourself something like “Why does this always happen to me, I never have any luck?” That little voice inside your head will probably come out with:

“Because you are useless and good things do not happen to you!”

Sound familiar?

Instead, if you ask yourself a positive empowering question like:

“What did I learn from this setback that will help me the next time?”

Your little voice inside your head will be silenced and you will kick into solution mode.

Here are some rules and things to think about when setbacks do occur:

  • Acknowledge that it has happened. Don’t hide from it. These things happen. So what?
  • What positive empowering questions can you ask yourself?
  • What is good about this situation? There is always something good in any situation, you just have to find it.
  • How can I make the most of this situation?
  • What can I/did I learn from it?
  • What are the facts about this problem?
  • How can I make it a successful outcome?

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Acknowledge that setbacks occur to everyone and you are not being singled out. View them as a challenge to overcome rather than an issue or problem.

Think about those negative dis-empowering thoughts that you think on a regular basis after a setback.  The ones that little voice keeps nagging you about.

What new empowering questions could you ask yourself to give yourself some better answers?

Write them down now and make them become a habit.

If this is something that interests you and is something you would like to experience by working with me, get in touch today.  I will be delighted to chat to you about how I will support you through the changes you want to make.  I will deliver the goods and help you get the results you want.  It’s time to really invest in yourself.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Coach, Mentor, Consultant, Speaker, Author, Survivor
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://goo.gl/ZByKGW
Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Are you holding on to things you ‘should’ do?

A lot of people carry around with them a whole load of “baggage” or “clutter” in their minds. When I say this I mean that they are still holding onto things that they say they ‘should’ do, but  they really don’t want or need to – the person who they had a row with, but neither is now speaking to the other – but both want to.  The ‘coulds’ and ‘shoulds’ in your life that hold you back – you want to let go, but you don’t.

This is very common and you are definitely not alone, I have done it myself.

Are you carrying around with you a lot of emotional baggage that you could be doing without? If you were to lose that emotional weight you could be focusing on something more productive instead.

Does this resonate with you?  If you are carrying around a lot of emotional baggage, I bet it has a negative influence on your confidence and self esteem.

Take a look at your life and begin to get rid of this baggage by asking yourself some questions and by completing the following exercise.  In effect, what you are doing is making certain tasks “complete”, drawing a line under them and moving on.  You are decluttering your mind too.  The less cluttered your mind, the clearer you will be able to think.

This is one of the most important things to do I have discovered whilst working with the Three Principles – Mind, Consciousness and Thought. A new paradigm that is changing the face of coaching. They produce clearer thinking, better performance and bigger results.

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Take as long or as short a time as you like to answer these questions and finish the exercise. By writing your answers down they become more real.

Get to it and watch your confidence soar!

  • Make a list of 10 things that you are putting up with at home
  • Make a list of 10 things that you are putting up with at work
  • Make a list of 10 things that you are putting up with in any other areas of your life

Make an action plan to get rid of or communicate to others the things that you have been putting up with. Take action!

  • Make a list of things that are unresolved/unfinished in your life.

Make an action plan to reduce this number! Take action!

  • Do you need to clear the air with anyone? If so, just do it! Life is too short!
  • Did you ever say that you were going to call someone or keep in touch with someone yet have done nothing about it? If yes, call them or send a card or an email to them today

Let go of as many coulds, woulds, shoulds, maybes, oughts as you can. Take action!

By completing these exercises you will be able to focus more on the here and the now. You will now be able to let go of some of the things that have been taking up your valuable attention – those things that not only knock your self esteem but take up valuable thinking time.

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If the Three Principles are something that interests you and is something you would like to experience by working with me, get in touch today.  I will be delighted to chat to you about how I will support you through the changes you want to make.  I will deliver the goods and help you get the results you want.  It’s time to really invest in yourself.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart
Coach, Mentor, Consultant, Speaker, Author, Survivor
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://goo.gl/ZByKGW
Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk