Your Joy List

Your Joy List Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy In April, we are celebrating the vibrance and color in your life! April's Recap Week 13 - Express Your Gratitude Create a gratitude journal Speak your gratitude outloud Don't hold back! Share what you feel! Week 14 - Turn Over a New Leaf Select one behavior you would like to change Decide how you will make this change - a plan! Get reinforcement to back you up - accountability! 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! For a recap of what we've covered so far visit the archives. In April we focusing on the color in your life! God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Your Joy List Dear Friend, "I feel like a tiny bird with a big song!" ~Jerry Van Amerongen, Ballard Street Since we are celebrating your life this month, this week I want to discuss the joys of life. The joys of your life are people, events, experiences and things that make you smile just thinking of them! It can be a little confusing differentiating between our gratitudes and our joys. Use this simple rule: you are grateful for all of your joys, but each gratitude doesn't necessarily bring your joy. For example, I'm grateful for my computer - without it I would be a mess and unable to do much of my work, but my computer doesn't really bring me joy. Now the screen saver on my computer of my husband and me at a wedding in Seaside, FL ... that picture brings me joy! See the difference? Make your joy list filled with people, events, experiences and things that light you up, that make you feel alive and flowing with energy (most of the time!) When you simply think about the items on your list...you will feel joyful! To help you begin writing your joy list I want to share my joy list with you...enjoy! My Joy List 1. Faith 2. Family 3. Puppies 4. Evening summer rainstorms sitting on a covered porch in a rocking chair, with a blanket 5. Spending time with girlfriends 6. Travelling 7. Swimming 8. Holidays and traditions shared with family and friends 9. Meeting new people and having a connection 10. Change, improvement, goal attainment 11. Laughter 12. Champagne 13. Making everything - FUN, even a boring meeting! Make It Happen This week make your own joy list and put in a place where you will see it often and frequently! For example, I have mine on my nightstand and in my organizer. Next, try to add as many of the items on your joy list into your daily activities. When we do what brings us joy - true and pure, joy - our mood increases, we are reminded of the blessings in our life and our attention on what isn't working in our life diminishes. My Joy List (put as many items on your list as you want!) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. P.S. I appreciate your encouragement on procrastination...I'm a "work in progress!" 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. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise, LLC. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann Fortner. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

4 Habits of Happy Famillies

POWERFUL LIVING, POWERFUL YOU This Week's Topic: 4 Habits of Happy Families 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 in College Connection Magzine a publication of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Navigating change: a roadmap to independence" Ignite Your Fire - 8 Week Challenge How is YOUR eight week challenge going? We are four weeks into the challenge. We are 50% there!!! If you haven't yet begun...that is okay...start today...it isn't too late! Select something that has been pestering you and go for it over the next month ... a cluttered closet, a foul mouth, a soda habit...YOU name it and YOU can conquer it in the next four weeks! For those of you well on your way...here are some reflections questions to help guide you through the next week: Why is this goal so very important? ('WIIIFM' - remind yourself what is in it for me - in the long run!) What are your successes? What is working? What isn't working? What adjustments do you need to make? How are you and your buddy best supporting each other? What is your celebration at the end? For extra motivation start planning it today! Use your answers to these questions and your reflection time to help propel you to the next level! You can do it!!! This Week's Topic: 4 Habits of Happy Families Dear Friend, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." ~Leo Tolstoy A friend recently reminded me, her father on his death bed, wasn't detailing professional successes, of which there were many. Rather, he was looking around at his family - at each of his children - appreciating the moments they shared together and the joy they brought him. As we are in the middle of the holiday season filled with family time, this week I want to focus on your family and review recent research that suggests that happy families share four common characteristics. Give Thanks - Be Grateful Ideas to Achieve: Select five things to give thanks for each day and write it in a journal or have your children write it in a visible place in your home. Pick one family member each month and have each family member write a letter of gratitude to this person. To celebrate, around the dinner table read the letters aloud. Once a week at the dinner table have each person give thanks aloud for five things that have occurred that week. Have Satisfaction in your Choices Barry Schwartz, professor of psychology at Swarthmore College and author of the book "The Paradox of Choice," says, "explicit lessons are the least important ones. The most important thing you can do is to model the behavior for your child." Ideas to Achieve: Repeat three times, "You get what you get and you don't get upset" Lead by example, when we question our choices rather than stand firm in them we lead a ripple effect through our communities, workplaces, and homes. When you make a choice that just isn't right, focus on your lesson. Life isn't about the end point, but rather the journey. Choices define the journey. Lose yourself in the moment - Focus on the Moments of Joy Research indicates that happy people focus on the moments of joy in their life. Ideas to Achieve: Take time to remember the good things in life - open the history books of life and share. Document the joy in your life through the photo albums, stories, and even the internet. As you drive around your town remind your children, that is where you had your first...step, piano lesson, ice cream cone, etc. These anecdotal stories help cement joyous moments. Spread Out the Joy Research illustrates that when you compare a group of people who spend a day doing things to please themselves vs. a group of people who help others ... the group who helps others feels happier and more joyous at the end of the day! Ideas to Achieve: Put this research into action in your own home, community or office ... challenge people to give their time and resources to others...let them reap the joyous benefits. Remember more isn't always better ... for your children space out the giving and receiving of presents and space out their activities. Make It Happen This week select one of the four ways above to add joy to the life of your family. God bless you and your family. I hope you are able to return to the basics and have a happy, healthy and joyous holiday season. 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.