Wendy’s client Jan with her “seeds of intention.

One of my favorite things about weekends is watching the Sunday Morning News show with a hot cup of coffee. Surprised?

For the many who have read my book or heard me speak, you know how adamant I am about not watching the local news. If you want to raise your Joy Factor, then watching and listening to a broadcast that focuses on robbery, missing persons, catastrophes and murders will not support that desire. On the contrary, watching this breeds negativity, paranoia and fear.

I’m not saying your head need be in the sand around current events.-that is what CNN is for. Our time is such a precious commodity that watching the local news is a waste of this valuable resource if you want to flourish!

No matter what stage you are in, climbing the corporate ladder, building a successful company or deciding what’s next for you in the form of success and fulfillment, one thing I know for is this – what we put our attention on expands.

Think about the last time you bought a new car. When I bought my Sebring convertible, I saw them everywhere. My attention was there and there they were.

There is a plethora of research and studies that show when you raise your Joy Factor, you will be more productive and creative. These are two important qualities to learn to integrate into your life if you are on the quest for success.

Today, I want to share one tip you can use to support you in accomplishing more and feeling good –

Pay attention to what you put your attention on. If you want more peace, joy and clarity in your life, then be mindful of what brings peace, joy and clarity. Here’s how:

1. Take a few minutes each day to focus on what you’re grateful for. This can be as simple as each evening reflecting on your day. Think about what made you happy. You can write it down or visualize it. Find at least three things to be grateful for.
2. If you’re a morning person, pre-pave the day with what you want to feel gratitude for. For example, if you are preparing for a conversation with a potential client or employer, see yourself achieving your intention. Allow yourself to feel the appreciation and excitement for things working out in your favor. If having a hard conversation with your partner or children is on the agenda, feel gratitude for your ability to express yourself with ease. This paves the way for a productive conversation.
3. As you move through your day, take time to appreciate the little things that pass by in your busyness – savor the beauty that surrounds you. If you can’t see the beauty, create it by filling your house or office with something you love – photos of loved ones or fresh flowers.

You do have a choice about what you are thinking. You can choose to put your attention on what is not right in your life. If you choose this route and focus on what you don’t have, then you may receive more of that.

Weaving gratitude and appreciation into your life is a practice, the kind of practice that not only helps you to feel better in life, but also to accomplish more and have fun doing it.

Use the 3 step process above, stop watching the news and watch something that makes you feel good – maybe the Sunday Morning News show.

As Wayne Dyer says, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Every day I work with people that want change in their life. If you have this desire, but are not sure how to get there, click here to schedule your 45 minute virtual conversation and we’ll get your positivity practice started.

Often, we hear when life gives us lemons, make lemonade. The lemons that show up in your life may include:

Not reaching your personal or professional goals

Illness or your body not performing like it once did

Losing your job

An important relationship ending

Having a challenging time navigating through changes in your life

Here is the thing. Life is going to hand us lemons every now and again. If you want to make really good lemonade you have to change the way you think about these situations.

Recently, a colleague shared with me that her husband had lost his job. Surely, not what you want to hear when you say, “how was your day dear?” He experienced the normal feelings that coincide with loss; worry, doubt, fear. However, it didn’t take him long to recover and shift his mindset to “this is going to be an adventure!”

Some may say he was tapping into the power of positive thinking. As a Joy Strategist this is a strategy I share with clients regularly.

It is often said that affirmations, the act of affirming what it is that you want to create, is the welcome mat to manifesting your desires. This practice works for many, yet not for all. Some have a hard time wrapping their mind around affirming something that’s not already present in their lives.

This is where Non-Negative thinking, changing the destructive things you say to yourself when you xperience the setbacks that life deals us, may work better.

With two dogs in the house, it is important to make sure all of the doors to rooms are closed when we leave, that removes any temptation for Abbey and Eli to do something they shouldn’t. Last Sunday, we ent out to meet friends and I forgot to close the door to my office upstairs. Being gone for six hours combined with an upset stomach of one of the doggies resulted in a very special “gift” left for us- not on the hardwood floors that cover the majority of the house, but in my office – with white carpet.

First I was upset that one of my doggies didn’t feel well. Then I proceeded to be angry at myself for not shutting the door. It only took about 7-8 minutes to recover and realize the way I was thinking about this situation was ruining a wonderful day. I stopped and consciously shifted my thoughts, got Matt to clean up the mess J and we eased through the rest of the weekend.

The next time life hands you lemons, here is your new recipe for lemonade:

1. Look at the lemons long enough to know what you need to do with them.

2. Feel whatever feelings you need to feel.

3. Consciously reframe what you are saying to yourself about the situation. No need to beat yourself up when a few lemons show up.

4. Pour over ice and enjoy—essentially do your best to chill out and roll with the punches.

I know this is easier said when done, however with practice, the act of non-negative thinking will become easier.

It is from this perspective that you can enjoy the juicy sweetness of life.

Now that’s delicious.

When Jake was in the womb we would speak to my sister Lisa’s belly, “now pitching for the Atlanta Braves, Jake Lovvorn.” It’s not surprising he’s a hot-shot left handed pitcher, power hitter and rocking first base man. He’s played ball since he was old enough to hold the bat.

Fast forward seventeen years… he attends Tucker High School, and the past seasons were not so good for the baseball team. They finished darn close to last in the 2012-13 season.

Everything changed this year when Coach Byams joined the team. He lives the words, if you want different results, you have to do things different—my kind of guy!

He trained them differently and talked to them differently. A new level of respect was present.

The team had new goals and was held accountable to being their best selves.

Guess what happened?

They started winning games.

It was exciting. As a fan, we went from a handful of people in the stands, to people bringing their own chairs and staying for the whole game.

It was empowering to watch these boys show up differently. The only new thing…the coach.

I was giddy. I have always known the power of a great coach.

Here are the three things that great coaches do to help people be their best.

1. They tap into their strengths, what they’re naturally good at doing. Think about it, when you put your time and attention performing tasks you’re good at, you naturally excel. If you are a coach, then it’s best for you to spend time coaching, not building your website. On the same not, if you are a website designer, you need not coach yourself to create your yearly strategic plan. If my clients are unclear about their strengths, there are a couple of wonderful assessments that I use. Once they are clear, they weave them into their days and enjoy confidence and accomplishment.

2. They create measurable targets for their clients to reach. We have so much on our plates, thinking we need to complete everything yesterday can be overwhelming. When you break tasks into small steps that lead to measurable results, you’ll move towards your goal with increased ease. Whether you want to increase the speed of your fastball (Jakes goal) or you want to improve the speed it takes to convert a prospect to a client, there’s a simple formula you can use .

Clarity (where you are going) +incremental steps (break it down) +practice (create new habits) =
Successful Results (reaching your target!)

3. A wonderful benefit that coaches, strategists and mentors provide is accountability. It’s human nature, when you tell someone else, besides yourself that you’ll accomplish something, the odds increase dramatically that you reach your goal. The success of programs like Weight Watchers comes from the weekly weigh-in, a powerful form of accountability. It helped me to lose forty pounds many years ago and keep it off!

What goals do you want to reach this year?

What impact would they make in your life?

Ponder what may be different if you had someone who had your back, clarified your goals, helped you create a plan and kept you accountable.

What would you be celebrating at this time next year? A 10% increase in your revenue? A healthier body or mind? Spending more time with family than at work?

You get to choose what your “homerun” is and I hope it is something that makes you feel like you are part of a winning team.