Arbutus Coaching’s Blog

Spring Cleaning Thoughts, Emotions and Habits Right Out of Your Life

By arbutuscoaching | April 7, 2010

Spring cleaning is a yearly ritual isn’t it? Being a Virgo, a sign that is known for its organizational abilities, I love “creating space,” by getting rid of what I no longer need and creating room for something new. This past weekend I got rid of tons and tons of paper that has outgrown its usefulness and it feels so good.

While spring cleaning usually refers to our physical environment, this annual ritual, along with the New Year, is a great time to look at what we also need to clear out of our mental, emotional and spiritual environment.

The ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui tells us that everything in our physical environment impacts us and that we should consider everything’s placement. Going beyond the physical, is there a belief about yourself that needs to be “spring cleaned,” right out of your mind? Once you’ve eliminated it, what are you going to replace it with? Or as I often ask my clients, what’s your new story?

As you clean, purge and organize thoughts, emotions and habits that no longer work for you, you’ll create a vacuum. You’ve probably heard the saying that nature abhors a vacuum and so these practices must be replaced with new thoughts, emotions and habits that make for a more successful you.

The problem is that most people aren’t students of success and so are at a loss as to what to replace them with. If I’ve just described you, and you’re interested in increasing your satisfaction with your life, check out my group coaching program, My Best Year Yet by visiting http://www.arbutuscoaching.com/salespage/my-best-year-yet.htm

The program, which was scheduled to start April 6, will begin later this month. If past participants feedback is any indication, the program will provide you with an embarrassment of riches in the way of strategies to help you be more successful. If you’re interested in learning more, or registering, please contact me at the contact information listed below.

Happy spring cleaning!!! To twist a familiar commercial just a bit, “I’m going to wash that thought right out of my head.”

Kathy Santini
Arbutus Coaching – Growing People and Possibilities
250 388-6108
Kathy@ArbutusCoaching.com
http://www.ArbutusCoaching.com

If you don’t subscribe to Arbutus Coaching’s newsletter, Growing People and Possibilities, you’re missing out on some valuable coaching tips which will make your life easier and you more effective. To subscribe, go to Arbutuscoaching.com\newsletter.php.

What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver, poet

Topics: Success | No Comments »

Success Strategies and Tools For Those Who Want More Out of Life

By arbutuscoaching | April 1, 2010

Now that one quarter of the year is over, how is YOUR year going? Is it panning out to be the kind of year you had hoped for at the beginning of 2010? If it isn’t, there’s still time to turn things around, by learning the tried-and-true strategies and tools that all successful know and use.

You can access these tools and strategies by enrolling in the My Best Year Yet Group Coaching Program, which begins this Tuesday, April 6. In the six week (12 hour) course, you will learn:

The secrets about success all successful people know and use to help them reach their goals.
The importance of having a vision for your life and how to create one that uniquely suits you and what’s important to you.
How to create a more positive mindset; how to change from “stinkin’ thinkin,” and limitations to a more positive view and a world of possibilities.
Tools for moving from victim status to victor status.
Easy strategies recommended by brain researchers to increase your chances of success.
Simple steps to re-educating your mind about fear so that you see it as a fact of life instead of a barrier to success.
The key to raising your self esteem.
The most common deterrents to success and how to reduce or eliminate them from your life.
The SMART way to set goals.
The importance of perfecting your home and business environments to optimize success.
The secret to time management.
What procrastination really is and how to overcome it.
What you’re tolerating is costing you and why it’s important to reduce/eliminate distracting tolerations.
The importance of having a like minded community to support you as you become more successful and
Much, much more.

To learn more or to register, visit http://www.arbutuscoaching.com/salespage/my-best-year-yet.htm

Remember, it’s not too late to make 2010 your best year yet and to make the changes that you know would improve your life immensely. Millions of people have used these tried-and-true principles to create happy and meaningful lives, ones that make them eager to get up every morning and leave them good tired at night.

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Money Management Workshop for Victoria, B.C. women on April 14, 2010

By arbutuscoaching | March 1, 2010

Empower Yourself Financially, A Five-Step Plan to a Richer Life and Better Money Management.

What is your relationship with money like? Do you: worry a lot about money; earn less than you’re worth; get nervous about investing; pay your bills late; find money management elusive; have no idea what your worth; or can’t look after yourself financially?

If you resonate with one or more of these points don’t beat yourself up because many people do. Despite the value our society places on money, many of us have a complicated, unfulfilling relationship with it. This relationship can limit your choices, your freedom, your peace of mind and your quality of life. A workshop developed specifically to look at women’s relationships with money can help.

This two-hour workshop was designed to help women identify and overcome the psychological blocks that stand between them and success and to help them more successfully manage their money. It was developed to empower women financially so they can live a rich and rewarding life. In it you will discover: what you can learn from high earners; what may be keeping you from your earning potential; five simple steps to increase earnings; the myths of financial success; the signs of under earning; what foundational, childhood beliefs are at the root of your relationship with money; what you’re resisting and what it’s costing you and the steps you are willing to take to demonstrate your new relationship with money.

Past participants report that after attending the workshop they have: a new appreciation and respect for money; a better understanding of their personal blocks and barriers to success; a tendency to think bigger, to stretch their comfort zones and an increased commitment to reaching their financial goals.

If you want to learn better money management skills, attend this popular workshop. You must enroll in advance, the contact information is listed below. For more information on the workshop, visit http://arbutuscoaching.com/seminars.php

Topics: money | No Comments »

Success Tip, Five Habits of Successful People

By arbutuscoaching | March 1, 2010

Are you looking for ways to be more successful? To take your game to another level? If you are, please join me this Thursday, March 4, or Monday March 8, at 6 p.m. PST, for tips on making 2010 your best year yet. During that FREE call, I’ll reveal how to move from goal setting to goal getting, using the secrets that successful people know for creating more successful lives. For call information, please contact me by email or by phone, using the information listed at the end of this blog.

And in the interim, some things that successful people do, that make them successful:

v They align themselves with like-minded people. They understand the importance of being part of a team. They create win-win relationships.

v They are ambitious; they want amazing results – and why shouldn’t they? They consciously choose to live their best life rather than spending it on auto-pilot. v They have clarity and certainty about what they want (and don’t want) for their life. They actually visualize and plan their best reality while others are merely spectators in life.

v They innovate rather than imitate.

v They don’t procrastinate and they don’t spend their life waiting for the ‘right time’.

Join me, will you, for more tips on making 2010 your best year yet, which is the name of the group coaching program that starts April 6. For more details, visit: http://www.arbutuscoaching.com/salespage/my-best-year-yet.htm

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Success Tip - The Power of Focus

By arbutuscoaching | February 17, 2010

I was watching the BCTV noon news where a doctor, who is a coach for athletes, mentioned something I believe is worth repeating. She said that many sports reporters ask the athletes what they were thinking before they started the downhill, or whatever their sport. She said to a one they said, “Nothing really, I was focusing on what I was about to do.”

Business coaches like myself know that being able to focus, especially during trying or stressful times, when the pressure is on, is what separates successful people from those who are less successful. Think Tiger Woods before a putt, or Usain Bolt before a sprint.

This trait called focus encompasses much more, however. It means being able to control your thoughts, regardless of what those around you are saying or believe. It means focussing on the results that you want, rather than being swayed by the random opinions of others. It means beleiving in what you’re creating, even if there isn’t proof yet of your success.

Books like The Secret, The Law of Attraction and many more emphasize the importance of focusing your attention to what you want and not on what you don’t want.

Coaching Tip: Start monitoring your thoughts. What are you telling yourself about the situation that is stressing you? If your thoughts are negative, replace them with positive ones. One of the quickest ways to change what you’re focusing on is by changing the questions that you’re asking yourself. Instead of asking what will happen if you fail, ask yourself how you can have a great time while getting the job done.

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Success Tip – The Key to Motivation is Having a ‘Why.’

By arbutuscoaching | February 11, 2010

At a workshop I held in January, called from Goal Setting to Goal Getting, I spent almost half the two hours helping participants find their why. If your why isn’t strong enough, it doesn’t matter how many tools or strategies you have to help you reach your goal.

I asked them why they wanted to achieve their particular goal. What would happen if they did? And if they didn’t? What would the gains and losses be short term and long term? (This is using the carrot and the stick.)

Having a compelling why helps you remain disciplined and focussed. It helps you keep going when the going gets tough. Ultimately, it helps you reach your goal because it is the key to motivation.

The more specific and clear you can be the better. If the question was why you wanted to get in better shape, see the difference between these two answers: “Because I’m tired of being overweight,” or “Because if I don’t lose weight, my blood pressure will remain high, there’ll be a greater chance that I’ll die of a stroke or of heart disease and I won’t be able to enjoy my life as a grandmother with my recently born grandchild.” The second answer outlines in the why in detail, which will keep you motivated.

Tip: Keep a copy of your ‘why,’ around you, in highly visible places like on your bathroom mirror, kitchen cupboards or office. It will keep you motivated when you find yourself losing your resolve.

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Success Tip - Life Lessons Worth Remembering

By arbutuscoaching | February 2, 2010

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll remember that I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my 77-year-old Dad, Gary Santini, being admitted to hospital for emergency surgery.

To our great surprise, the man we dubbed the ever ready battery who despite quadruple bypass, kidney and prostate cancer, a number of aneurysms and much, much more who kept going and going finally ran out of energy and passed away January 24, a day before his 78^th birthday.

In honour of my Father, who taught me many life lessons, I’d like to pass on some of his wisdom to you. He was a wise man and I know you, my readers, will benefit from a few of his pearls.

A few lessons, in no particular order:

v Demonstrating a great work ethic is an invaluable legacy to leave your children, or for that matter anyone around you. They say children pay less attention to what you say than what you do. Dad was an incredibly hard worker, and one of our last conversations was about how I had that trait too. While it was nice to be acknowledged, I believe his great example impacted me and helped me realize the importance of loving what you do and doing it well.

v Successful people value learning and are the stereotypical life long learners. Dad was one of the brightest men I ever met (with apologies to Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, who I’ve never met), who was fascinated with the world. He was well read on a variety of subjects, extremely well travelled and spent his life deepening his understanding of his personal world and the world at large.

v Don’t discount those who don’t have a degree or formal education. My Dad, like Bill Gates who quit Harvard to start Microsoft was a self-made man whose education ended in 1950 at Grade 13. In North America one of the first questions we ask each other when first meeting is “What do you do?” It’s worth exploring beyond that to discover what treasures the particular person we are talking to has to offer us. People are sometimes like oysters, the outside is rough and unattractive, but if you dig a little deeper you just might find a pearl.

v And lastly, the importance of having a vision and not waving your white flag prematurely. Dad started Parklane Homes, B.C.’s largest home builder in the 1980s, at a time when interest rates were in the upper teens. Not a lot of people were buying houses and I was privy to some very serious conversations about Plan B around the dinner table. By hanging in there, during the darkest hour, he reaped incredible rewards.

Take Action Challenge

Make a list of 10 lessons you learned from the important people in your life when you are growing up. When reviewing them, think about which beliefs serve you and which ones don’t. Lastly, what beliefs could you replace the ones that don’t serve you with? Replacing beliefs that don’t work for more productive ones will improve your life immensely, because we see the world through the filter of who we are, not as it is.

We’ll be exploring how beliefs create our personal worlds in the group coaching program My Best Year Yet, which starts tonight, Feb. 2, 2010 at 6 p.m. PST. For more information and to register, visit http://www.arbutuscoaching.com/group.php

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Success Tip - Ten Habits of Successful People

By arbutuscoaching | January 19, 2010

Are successful people that different than you or I? Well yes and no. For 10 habits of highly successful people, read on. And if you want to increase your chances of success, and obtain more of the habits that successful people have, check out my six-week phone group coaching program, which runs from Feb. 2 – March 9. Deadline for registration is Jan. 25. Click here for more information about My Best Year Yet, From Goal Setting to Goal Getting program.

Now for those promised tips. Successful people:

· Look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.

· Find a lesson while others only see a problem.

· Are solution focused.

· Consciously and methodically create their own success, while others hope success will find them.

· Are fearful like everyone else, but are not controlled or limited by fear.

· Ask the right questions – the ones which put them in a productive, creative, positive mindset and emotional state.

· Rarely complain, because it’s a waste of energy. All complaining does is put the complainer in a negative and unproductive state.

· Don’t blame, what’s the point? They take complete responsibility for their actions and outcomes, or lack thereof.

· While not necessarily more talented than the majority, they always find a way to maximize their potential. They get more out of themselves. They use what they have more effectively.

· Are busy, productive and proactive.

Look for future blog posts to outline 40 more habits successful people share.

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Success Tip – Delayed gratification is the secret to success

By arbutuscoaching | January 18, 2010

The most successful people in any society are those who take the longest time period into consideration when making their day-to-day decisions. This insight comes from Harvard University’s Dr. Edward Banfield.

After studying many of the factors that were thought to contribute to individual financial success over the course of a person’s lifetime, he concluded that time perspective was the primary factor that took precedence over all others. What Banfield found was that the higher a person rises in society, the longer his time perspective or time horizon.

People at the highest social and economic levels make decisions and sacrifices that may not pay off for many years, sometimes not even in their own lifetimes. People at the lowest levels of society have the shortest time perspectives. They focus primarily on immediate gratification and often engage in behaviors that are virtually guaranteed to lead to negative consequences in the long term.

People with long term perspectives are willing to pay the price for success for a long, long time before they achieve it. They think about the consequences of their choices and decisions in terms of what they might mean in five, 10, 15 and 20 years.

What this essentially underscores is the importance of having a vision for yourself and for your life. Leafs get blown whichever way the wind blows, but leaf blowers blow the leafs. And I know we’d all prefer to be leaf blowers than leaves.

In the My Best Year Yet Phone Group Coaching Program, which starts Feb. 2, we cement your vision, so that it’s crystal clear. This helps make decisions easier, which in turn makes you more focused and effective. And according to Dr. Banfield, more likely to reach financial success. More information about the program can be viewed here. A teleseminar about the program is being held Jan. 18 and 25 at 6 p.m. PST. To get the call in number visit the seminars page at http://www.arbutuscoaching.com/seminars.php

Take Action Challenge
Start taking a long term perspective in every area of your life. Think of where you would like to be in five years time and begin taking steps to get there.

Topics: Arbutus Coaching | No Comments »

Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce magazine’s article on success

By arbutuscoaching | January 10, 2010

If you interested in modelling excellence, and don’t have a lot of time to devote to research, take a look at the January February issue of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce’s magazine, Business Matters. Because of length restrictions, I wrote the Coles notes version of success in the magazine’s “Ask an Expert,” column on page 27. And as a a teaser, one of them involves managing your thoughts.

Happy new year, one and all.

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Spring Cleaning Thoughts, Emotions and Habits Right Out of Your Life

Success Strategies and Tools For Those Who Want More Out of Life

Money Management Workshop for Victoria, B.C. women on April 14, 2010

Success Tip, Five Habits of Successful People

Success Tip - The Power of Focus

Success Tip – The Key to Motivation is Having a ‘Why.’

Success Tip - Life Lessons Worth Remembering

Success Tip - Ten Habits of Successful People

Success Tip – Delayed gratification is the secret to success

Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce magazine’s article on success

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