Don't forget to breathe!

During my fitness class yesterday as we were doing a particularly challenging modification of crunches, the instructor reminded us to not forget to breathe. At the time, this struck me as a particularly odd comment. After all, breathing is one of our natural biological functions - we don't have to think about doing it - it just happens. Then I realized that I was holding my breath!

How often do we forget to breathe? Maybe not in the literal sense, but in the sense that we take things too seriously, get wound up over little things, and just don't take the time to relax like we should. A well known benefit of yoga is the increased awareness of breathing. Meditation also focuses on breathing and the clarity and calm that deep and controlled breathing can bring.

My challenge to you today is to focus on your breathing. Take several deep, cleansing breaths and notice how it feels to both your mind and your body. Use this technique frequently and see how calming it can be.

Don't forget to breathe!

April Mims
Life Coach, Nexus Coaching Partners, Inc.
http://www.nexuscoachingpartners.com/

Let's GO!

I thought I was an organized person but it turns out that I'm only a surface level organized person. What does that mean? Well, it means that my house is fairly neat, all my bills are paid on time, I never miss appointments, and I know where to find just about everything. However, if you were to visit my home, I would die of embarrassment if you looked in most of the bedroom closets or at my filing system or in the kitchen cabinets. If you tried to open my front hall closet, I would likely throw my entire body in front of the door to block the view (and to keep things from falling out). Granted, most people don't look at my house in that much detail but I figured that I would need to be completely organized if I wanted to call myself an organized person. That's what started my mission to organize and lead to the developement of my "Let's GO - Get Organized" program.

The mission is to develop a plan over several months to get everything organized and decluttered. It took a long time to create the mess so realistically this isn't a weekend or even week long endeavor. Once one area is organized, the challenge is to KEEP it organized while moving on to other areas.

More details about the program will be coming soon and will be fully explained in my free telecourse on February 5th. To find out more about the teleclass, please visit http://www.nexuscoachingpartners.com/new_classes.

Let's GO!

April Mims
Life and Career Coach, Nexus Coaching Partners
http://www.nexuscoachingpartners.com

Your Most Valuable Asset

As I prepare for an upcoming teleclass about taking care of yourself, I've spent considerable time pondering the subject and looking at my own life. The premise of the workshop is that we are our own greatest asset - we have so many different roles to play in life that if we don't take care of ourselves, then everyone and everything else will suffer in some way. Because many of us spend so much time caring for others, I wondered how we would answer these questions and what those answers would tell us.

* Do you take time out for fun?
* Do you feel guilty when you aren't "doing" something?
* When was the last time you did something "just because"?
* How well do you take care of yourself?

Honestly answering the first three questions answers the fourth question. This leads to one more question:

What are you going to do to change this?

This is my challenge to you today: Do something for yourself today, even if it is only for a few minutes. You may just be surprised how taking care of yourself can help you take care of others.


Take care of yourself today and every day,
April Mims, Life and Career Coach
http://www.nexuscoachingpartners.com
"Bringing Inspiration to Life!"

Progress of New Year's Goals

Now that we are halfway through January, how are your New Year's resolutions going? Have you stuck with your goals? Or have you given up already? Research has shown that it takes 21 days to create a habit. If that's true and you have stuck with your goal, you are well on your way to creating a new habit!

If you have given up, what made you give up? It's a good idea to evaluate the reasons that you gave up so that you'll know how to overcome those reasons in the future. Some of the most common reasons that people give up are: procrastination, lack of discipline or accountability, and not having a plan. Do you fall into any of these categories? In a study done by the Gail Kasper consulting group, 99% of respondents felt they needed to improve in more than one area of life. The surprising news is that only 9% are actively doing anything about it. ONLY 9%!!

Do you want to be a part of the 9% or the 90%? If you are already part of the 9%, keep up the good work! If not and you'd like to be, what can you do today to recommit and refocus on your goal?


Wishing you much success as you work toward your goals,

April Mims, Life and Career Coach
www.nexuscoachingpartners.com
"Bringing Inspiration to Life!"

Living with an Attitude of Gratitude

I published an article yesterday about living our lives with an attitude of gratitude. I've received quite a bit of feedback from it and it seems that this is something people really struggle with. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how hard this is for some of us. How can we be grateful when we are so darn busy all the time? I admit that is a challenge but let's look at why we are so busy. Are you so busy at work because your business is thriving? Hmmm, sounds like something to be grateful for. Do you feel like you are constantly doing laundry? There are plenty of people that only have the clothes on their backs. The point is that we have so much to be grateful for, no matter what our situation looks like.

My challenge to you today is to look for all of the blessings in your life and write down at least 5 of them. Try doing this every day for a week and see what happens!

April Mims, Life and Career Coach
www.nexuscoachingpartners.com

Transitioning from the Corporate World

December 28th marked the end of my time in the corporate world. Due to a restructuring within the department, my job was eliminated. This was GREAT news for me! Because I had lots of notice that this was coming, I was able to get my own business going on the side. So, now the time has actually come to completely make my exodus from the corporate world and completely immerse myself in the entreprenuerial world.

I wasn't sure how the transition would feel. I've worked in the corporate world for my entire career, always too afraid to get out there on my own. It has taken some adjustment, but so far it's been great. Although I was quite ready to leave my previous profession (as an accountant), working for myself was both exciting and scary at the same time. It is exciting in that I get to pursue something that I'm passionate about. It's scary because I no longer have a steady paycheck. The really cool thing is that I am now my own boss and get to create my own destiny. My deadlines are self-imposed and I get to pursue more of my creative side. Not only that, but I get to help other people that are dealing with career transitions. Not a bad deal!

I've talked to many people interested in changing careers. The question I hear quite often is "How do I find a career that I will love when this is what I've done for so long?". The only way to anwer that is with another question. I'll leave you with a couple of questions for consideration:

What are you passionate about?
What gives you energy when you think about doing it?
How can you take action on this?

You CAN find a career that you love and are passionate about! It may take some soul-searching but it's worth the time and effort!

Keep moving forward to achieve your dreams!

April Mims, Life and Career Coach
Nexus Coaching Partners
"Bringing Inspiration to Life!"
http://www.nexuscoachingpartners.com