Let Go of Limitations

2010 - Destined Let Go of Limiations Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy Dear Friend, I hope you had a great first full week of 2010! How did the four questions go last week? What one change would you like to see yourself make? And what is it going to take to get there? What is one goal that might seem unattainable now, but with hard work you believe you can achieve it? What is one thing, outside of yourself, you want to focus on this year? What impact would you like to make on those around you - family, friends and community? As I mentioned my goal as your coach this year is twofold: Support you in changing yourself so that you can change the world around you. Help you answer the question, "Just who am I destined to be?" As your coach I want to encourage you to dream wildly, love wholeheartedly, persevere relentlessly, believe in yourself unwaveringly and give abundantly! If you are new this week...welcome...let's make 2010 your best year yet! During January we will focus on playing to your strengths, releasing fear and fleshing out your 2010 goals. In February we will move on to your love life...and on from there. God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Let Go of Limitations Dear Friend, "We love our limitations! We must, because we certainly don't want to let them go" ~Jinny Ditzler By definition a limitation is, "something that limits." When we let go of what limits us we create a new possibility. This new possibility represents our future. Being stuck in old habits and beliefs prevents us from moving forward and realizing new goals and new ambitions! In order to reach the goals you established last week you may need to say good-bye to an old habit or routine -- a limitation. For example, when we resist corporate change we can spend lots of energy gossiping about what is ahead rather than taking action. What if we accept - there will be change - and develop a couple of different plans for how to deal with the change? See the difference ... one is spinning our wheels on "what if" ... resisting "what is" and the other is creating action regardless of the outcome. The limiting belief in this example might be "change is bad" or "fear of change." This works in our personal life, too. When we want so badly to make a change we need to realize the cost of not changing, let go of the fear and take action. Really, what is F.E.A.R? It is False Expectations Appearing Real! Like noise in a dark room...is it a monster or the air flowing through the ducts? It is easy to be stuck in the past when we don't realize the cost of our limitations. What if the cost of being afraid of the dark meant that you never got sleep? That would be a pretty high price! In releasing F.E.A.R. we let go of limitations and lack, and step into abundance. As we step into abundance we are free to manifest our dreams and desires and achieve our goals. Make It Happen This week face your F.E.A.R. - head on - and walk past it. Release the limitations of the past and feel light and free. Use the exercise below to help you identify your F.E.A.R's and the cost of those fears. Take a sheet of computer paper, holding it horizontally; fold it into three equal sections. Label the columns as show below. Goals/Dreams/Aspirations F.E.A.R. Cost Write a book People will think I'm stupid World doesn't get to hear my voice I don't have enough time Feel like I failed without trying It won't be any good I can't publish it Run a Marathon I don't have enough time Never push myself physically I will injure myself Feel like I failed without trying If I lose weight then I'll gain it back fast Notice for each dream how many F.E.A.R.'s we actually have! No wonder few of us ever accomplish that which we truly desire. This week examine each F.E.A.R. -- are they real? What is the cost of each F.E.A.R.? It is when we see the cost that we become motivated to let go of our limiting beliefs. Good luck this week...remember this is a process, be patient with yourself. May you be blessed for you are a blessing! Encourage your friends, family, and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. Margaret Pundmann is a life and business coach, speaker, and author of numerous articles on living your most powerful life. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

Do You Live from Abundance?

POWERFUL LIVING, POWERFUL YOU This Week's Topic: Do You live from Abundance? Links Margaret's Website More About Margaret Coaching Teleclasses Margaret's Writing Margaret in the News Join Our Mailing List Join LinkedIn Network of Friends Link to Margaret's Blog In the News & Upcoming Events Welcome to our new subscribers! You inspire me to keep writing. Please keep forwarding the newsletter along. Thank you for sharing this column with your friends around the world. Article College Connection Magzine a publication of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Navigating change: a roadmap to independence" This Week's Topic: Do You Live from Abundance? Dear Friend, "It is not only my right and my privilege to walk in the abundance God has for me, it is my responsibility ... just as it is my responsibility to live the rest of my truth." ~Jan Denise A dear friend of mine and his wife lost their newborn son earlier this week. In telling friends and family who were not with them, they wrote the following of their son, "He was an amazing miracle; a true gift from God." And to their friends and family they wrote, "Thank you so much for keeping us in your hearts over the past week. It has been challenging, rewarding, heartbreaking, and joyful...all at once." These are words in the middle of pain and sorrow, but they are filled with joy and love. Why, you might ask? I'll tell you. From my perspective, there are two reasons: 1) They believe in that which is greater than themselves. 2) They live from abundance. This week what I really what you to consider is, "Do you live from abundance or scarcity?" In those few words above my dear friends were focused on the joy of their son. The precious time they had with him. The blessing that he was to them. I suspect we all could benefit from a shift in focus this week - from scarcity to abundance. As you focus on your abundance - notice that the competiton ends, the superiority fades, and the need to be more, better, different is replaced with acceptance. Acceptance, first of yourself and acceptance for others follows. Make It Happen This week focus on your abundance - focus on your full, over-flowing glass of love and abundance. When negative thoughts creep in...drift past them and shift focus to your bounty of blessings! Maybe you'll even want to write them down ... writing them down will help to reinforce your view point. To ensure you receive our newsletter each week, add Margaret@MargaretPundmann.com to your address book or your approved list of senders. Blessings to you, Margaret. P.S. Encourage your friends, family, and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. Margaret Pundmann is a life and business coach, speaker, and author of numerous articles on living your most powerful life. Stay tuned, Margaret's first book for emerging women will be available for pre-order in the coming weeks. Please feel free to forward the "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter to friends and colleagues, but please forward in its entirety. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise. Copyright © 2008 Margaret Pundmann. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

By Giving, We Receive

Dear Friend,

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. -Winston Churchill

When we give we also receive. There is something about giving that we all yearn to do because when we give we share a piece of our heart and a piece of our soul. And, when our giving is monetary it requires a sacrifice. When we give, we share with the world - adding meaning and value to the lives around us and to our own life, as well. Think back to last week's article on the blessings in our life. I suspect many of us had some material items on our list. When we give some - even just a little - we share our abundance with the people around us. Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, considered one of the fathers of positive psychology and author of Authentic Happiness, has created an experiment for his students. Students are broken into two groups. One group was told to do something fun, the other group was told to serve others. Guess which group of students came back as the happier group? You are correct if you guessed the one that served others. When we simply serve our own needs we can experience pleasure, but research shows that once the "fun" activity ends our pleasure ends as well. Rather, if we want to experience sustainable pleasure - we must think beyond our own needs and desires and consider those around us.

Consider several phrases from the poem Giving by Kahlil Gibran:

Then said a rich man, 'Speak to us of Giving.' And he answered: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

... There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

... It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

... Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'. You often say, 'I would give, but only to the deserving.' The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

... See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving. For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

Make It Happen

This week I'm going to ask that you perform a random act of service. Perhaps at the grocery store you help someone unload their groceries or perhaps you offer to pay for their groceries. Do whatever feels right to you. Find one significant way to serve someone around you either with your time, money, or resources. Another act of service might be to select an amount of money that you are willing to part with - cash (no tax benefits here, only emotional ones!) and find someone in need and give it to them anonymously. Another suggestion is to drive someone to work who typically relies on public transportation. My request is that you find at least one way serve those around you this week. Once you do jot down in your journal or even on your calendar what you did and how it made you feel. By giving, we chart the path of our life!

Moderation - Is more better?

Dear Friend,

The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and of wisdom.

Plato

Benjamin Franklin suggests that moderation is averting extremes. In a culture obsessed with accumulating more things, more approval, more beauty, and more pleasure we must rethink - do we really need more or do we simply need moderation? I believe it is important to consider the question - how does moderation help us to live a fulfilling life? And I suggest to you there are three ways moderation guides us to a fulfilling life:

Less is More The law of diminishing return states that beyond some threshold, each additional unit "in" does not yield more. Imagine one cook in the kitchen, initially more cooks in a kitchen increases the effectiveness of cooking yet there is a point at which too many cooks in the kitchen yields negative results in other words less productivity. Our life works like this as well, too many clothes in a closet yields an inability to find what we need, too much time working leads to an inability to have a social life, and too much food in the stomach leads to an inability to move! More isn't always better hence moderation is key.

Contentment When we stop searching for more, for better, for different, for larger, for newer, and appreciate exactly what we have now, we surrender to the perfection of the present moment. Moderation allows us to fully savor that which we already have.

Balance Balance in our lives is a place where all of the people, projects, and things presently in our life are manageable. Moderation brings us this stability. Balance is also about managing the extremes of our behavior. When we have too much or too little of any one activity we become out of balance. Take sun exposure, for example, too little and we have a vitamin D deficiency, too much and our skin is bright red and painful. Moderation both tempers and anchors.

Through moderation we find that often less is more, we feel content, and we find balance - each of which leads to a fulfilling life. The ability to enjoy and appreciate what we have today leads to a full, rich life filled with gratitude and satisfaction. Therefore I suggest to you that moderation is one of the secrets to a fulfilling life.

Take Action Challenge Take five minutes and select one area of your life where you would like to have moderation. Grab a pen and write down five ways that you can add moderation to this area. Then next to each put the days of the week, Monday through Friday. Remember to keep this list in a place where you can refer to it. Mark your calendar for one week from today and reflect upon your success. Notice what worked and what didn't and adjust accordingly. For example, if you decide that you are going add moderation by getting more sleep each night then select five ways that you can get more sleep. At the end of the week reflect upon the success of your goal. Ask yourself, am I sleeping better? Is my time, closet, office, or car more organized? Am I working more efficiently and effectively? Whatever area of your life you desire to add moderation - ask yourself what steps worked and continue to do those. May you have success in your journey!

Blessings to you, Margaret.