AMY HANSEN

With the change in the weather, it marks a change in seasons.  You may be coming into fall, winter, spring, or summer.  But, just like the weather changes seasons, your life has seasons too.  You may be going through a tough time or simply feeling like you’re out of alignment that something isn’t quite right.  It’s in these moments that you need to reassess where you are in your life.  Take inventory to see what’s working and what isn’t.  You don’t have to continue on your current trajectory.  You have the power to create change.  Change is hard but there is a lot to learn with the changing of the seasons.

Reassess Your Life

Your seasons may not change every three months like the calendar predicts.  However, that’s a good timeframe to keep in mind so that you can complete a check in with yourself.  Taking a hard look at your life every three months allows you to see if you’re...

You are a creature of habit.  You have routines from the way you get ready in the morning, traveling the same route to work, to then coming home to unwind so that you can do it all over again the next day.  Your routine becomes something that you don’t have to think about.  You just do it.  But, without having to put in much conscious thought, you can easily lose track of what matters most in your life.  The things around you become white noise when you do the same things day in and day out.  You must make it a conscious habit to keep the things that matter most to you in plain sight.

Finding Time

Sometimes you get swept up in this busyness of life that you lose track of what’s most important.  Dates with friends and family get pushed until another time when you’re not so busy.  Vacations aren’t booked because your schedule is too full to get away.  You avoid going after your goals and dreams because...

When you think about life, what makes time stand still for you?  Where time slows down and you’re fully present to what’s going on around you.  You don’t want that moment to end.  You’re present and aware of everything that’s happening and you don’t want to miss a single moment of it.  Think about what moments make you feel happy, joy, and fully alive in the present.

Rat Race

Often, you get so caught up in the day to day routines of life that it’s hard to be fully present.   It’s like driving your car and realizing that you got to your destination but not remembering anything about the trip to get there.  Scary!  You often drift off, thinking about your to do list, or things to come in the future.  You’re so focused on getting it all done, running as fast as you can to achieve everything and maintain your success that you easily forget what truly makes you happy in life.

When you think about achieving your goals, you’re either thinking about the past, present, or future.  You’re remembering that amazing achievement a few years ago, being thankful for where you’re currently at, or focusing your attention on the big mountain goal that you’ve set for yourself in the future.  Do you know where you spend the most time thinking about your goals?

Past Difficulties

If you’re thinking about your goals in the past, you may be beating yourself up if you fell short.  Perhaps you’re stressed and worried about what may have happened.  You might feel sad or shame as you constantly replay past events.  Maybe there were tough conversations that keep rerunning in your mind that you’re not capable, worthy, smart, or enough.  Psychologically this can take a toll on your mental state.  Living in the past of how you wish it could have gone differently only keeps you stuck and focused on...

Working to achieve your goal is difficult work.  It takes a lot of stamina, especially when times get tough.  You may feel like you need to push through and carry all the weight on your shoulders.  After all, it is your own personal goal that you’re working towards.  Not someone else’s goal.  However, getting help to achieve your goal can actually be beneficial.  Here is how to ask for help to achieve your goal.

Why You’re Not Asking For Help

Your goal means a lot to you.  Asking someone else to help you achieve it can be a big hit to your pride.  Considering help may be the last thing on your mind because it may appear like you’re weak and that you can’t handle it on your own.  Perhaps it’s that other people will find out that you really don’t have it all together.  It could be that you don’t believe that someone else will follow through and complete the work as well as...

As an adult, you have a lot of responsibilities.  From your job, ensuring you have enough financial means to live comfortably, to making sure your family is well taken care of.  There are a lot of demands on you each and every day.  But, some of these demands may be holding you back from fully experiencing life and achieving your goals.  You can’t let your goals and dreams die.  Here is how to fully experience life and love the life you live.

No Regrets

If it were just you, with no responsibilities, where you could do what you want, when you want, no matter where you want, it would be easy.  However, in today’s world, you most likely have obligations that require your immediate and undivided attention.  Yet, life is about the experiences.  If you’re simply stuck in your mundane day to day routine, you won’t be fully experiencing life and all that it has to offer.  You don’t want to get to the end of...

Water creates this calming effect, watching the tidal waves roll in and out.  Sometimes they are small laps against the beach while other times they are big waves crashing along the shore.  The ocean water is a lot like working to achieve your goal.  It can be calm until the next moment when it begins to build into larger swells.  Here is how to use the power of the ocean to help you achieve your goal.

Ocean Visualization

Close your eyes and imagine that you step into the ocean.  Feel your toes in the sand.  Sense the cool water on your feet, surrounding your legs.  Look upward and soak up the warmth of the sun as it beams down against your face.  Listen to the sounds around you.  Hear the seagulls call and the waves of the ocean.  Maybe you even hear faint voices or laughter from others playing on the beach around you.

Your Emotions

Now, imagine each time you experience an emotion that you’re stepping into the...

When it comes to achieving your goal, there are plenty of ups and downs along the way.  Sometimes you encounter a curve ball as test or reminder to see if you’re paying attention.  Often these are full of lessons to learn.  But, in the moment, it can seem almost impossible to face the upcoming hurdle.  Whether it’s bad news or something unexpected that happened, you will get through it.  It may just take more of a battle than you want it to.  Yet, your willpower, strength, and determination will help you get through a difficult time.  Here are six tips to help you get through a difficult time so that you can achieve your goal.

You’ll Get Through This

First, tell yourself that you'll get through this.  Remind yourself that you're strong, capable, and can handle whatever life throws at you.  Recall difficult past experiences that you’ve made it through as evidence that you can make it through this too. ...

A common reason why goals are abandoned and never achieved is due to trying to do too much all at once.  Big goals can feel overwhelming and sometimes impossible to achieve.  This is especially true when you feel like you’re running on all cylinders, working extremely hard but seeing little to no progress.  Achieving your goal should not feel this way.  If you want to achieve your goal, you need to see progress in order to stay motivated.  But, that doesn’t mean you need to go to extremes and work yourself to the bone of exhaustion.  Here are five tips on how to avoid overwhelm when it comes to achieving your goal.

Small Milestones

First, break down your goal into small bite size pieces.  Set small milestones for yourself where you can take little daily actions.  This will help you feel like your goal is more manageable because you aren’t trying to do too much all at once.  Yes, you want to achieve your goal...

There are some days when you’re feeling a lack of motivation.  You know you should be taking action towards your goals but you’re just not feeling motivated to do so.  Don’t give up.  Everyone has an ebb and flow of motivation.  Sometimes you feel discouraged because the path to achieving your goals gets difficult.  Other times you’ve just lost interest, passion or excitement.  The key is to get back to your motivation as quickly as possible.  Here are six ways to help you get your motivation back.

It’s Normal

First, recognize that it’s normal to lose your motivation.  It happens to everyone.  Don’t beat yourself up or get down on yourself if you’re feeling a lack of motivation.  Sometimes you’ll be super excited and motivated and other times you won’t want to do the work because it feels like a chore.  That doesn’t mean that you’re on the wrong track...