Love

Love

Love is such a powerful word that has been said and expressed right throughout history. It would be hard to imagine a life without love, when we think of love we tend to think of our loved ones, family, friends some might be thinking, car, job, holidays anything that brings us real happiness. Love on my list comes purely from the heart.

Self love is something that is becoming harder and harder to find, with society and the media creating an unrealistic scorecard of success, job, status, house size, fashion, we judge ourselves as a person based heavily on how we rate in these certain extrinsic areas of life, with so much to live up to self-love is getting tough. A lot of smarter people than I, believe you can’t love anybody if you don’t love yourself,  you can care, do things, attend but deeply love somebody or something, now that’s different kettle of fish, what about loving what you do? When was the last time you got up and did something because you loved it, no outcome, reward, paycheck or pat on the back, the love you expressed when you were 6 riding freely on your bike, a simple pure and authentic love with no strings attached. Unconditional Love, better or worse, richer or poorer, even when you get a job and that makes you really busy or whilst stuck at home looking after our 4 kids under 6, stressed out of your brain and you want to scream, that kind of love. How many people do you stare in the eye and tell or at least think “ Gee I love you” how about an experience when all you can feel is pure joy and happiness in your heart?

 

To find love I think you need to pause, create some space to just be, take it all in. You can do a wedding, but you can’t do love, you BE in love, you don’t do caring, you BE a caring person, you don’t do compassionate, you be a compassionate person, remember we are human BEings not human doings.

 

My guide to love

 

1. Show love any chance you get
2. Love the environment, ride instead of drive, compost or plant trees, little things that show love for this land.
3. Let your guard down, be vulnerable and let love in
4. Discover what you love to do and do it
5. Lastly and most importantly, look into the mirror and into your heart and start to love yourself, love the person you have become.

Thanks Love and Peace

2 loves of my life right there.

 

10 Mantra’s I live my life by

 

Life isn’t difficult, it wasn’t meant to be difficult, over thousands of years we have made it more and more difficult, our lives are easier but our minds are full with unhelpful mindless busyness, most of us have no clear direction or clarity of what we want to do with our time, energy and attention. I developed MY 10. MY 10 are the 10 behaviors, beliefs and ways of living I value most and try to live by each day, the 10 things I want to be known for and true to, the 10 things at the end of the day I could sit on my rocking chair and feel that I have lived a truly purposeful life, because I lived true to MY 10. Over the next 5 weeks I’ll dig deeper as to why I value MY 10 so much, each day I look over MY 10 and ask myself questions similar to the below. So here’s MY 10 and I look forward to digging deeper in the coming weeks as to why they mean so much to me.

Love

Mindfulness

Health & Nutrition

Movement

Compassion

Simplicity

Personal Growth 

Positive vibration

Open an Flexible Mind

Fun & Play

 

 

 Questions I ask myself

Have I been mindful today

Did I energise and nourish my body

Was my diet aligned

Did I move

Did I show compassion and gratitude

Did I live simply

Did I grow and learn

Did I vibrate my values to others

Did I allow things in to my life, was I open, inviting and flexible

I really look forward to taking you through MY 10 and helping you find your personal mantra’s that resonate with your values and spirit.

Enjoy

 

Surrounding yourself with ENERGY

 

Hands up if you would like more time?

 

Sorry no can do, time is fixed.

 

What about getting some more energy to use your time to its fullest, here’s 10 sure fire energy givers to keep you humming throughout the day.

 

• Wake up and think about 3 things you’re grateful for, First thing, get up and think, my job, family, breakfast whatever it is. At the moment I’m sharing a room with my wife, 5 month old and my 3 year old, it’s easy to find three things pretty quick
• Stand up and stretch, shake around a bit, awaken that nervous system
• When you first get outside, look up, close your eyes and take 5 deep breaths, listening to any sounds, feeling the wind.
• Get in the car and start the day with your favorite song
• Ring someone that’s going to give you energy
• Google a motivational or inspiring quote
• Look into someone’s eyes when they smile, kids are the best, you can see the stillness in their mind and their joy and energy is genuine
• Leave work and put that song back on
• As your about to get back inside, look up take 5 deep breaths, listen to any sounds
• Remember 3 things today that gave you energy. Add them into your ritual for tomorrow.

 

None of these will take you more than 4 minutes, do it for 5 days and notice the change to your energy levels.

Enjoy

Live more naturally

 

 

We all love the thought of living a more natural life, that blond-haired girl with a daisy chain crown, white summer dress and bare feet dancing in the grass is idealistic. For so many of us that thought and how we live couldn’t be further from each other, we drive our car 2 blocks to the shop, run on the treadmill and eat food that doesn’t resemble its natural state what so ever. Here’s a couple of ways you can live more naturally, looking after yourself and environment along the way.

 

 

• Ditch the treadmill: Getting outside for your walk and run will give you some much needed Vitamin D, whilst releasing lot’s of happy chemicals like Dopamine. Ditch the treadmill.
• Eat Real Food: It might sound silly but does the food you eat resemble how it looked when it was on the tree, in the ground or in the paddock. The other question that’s always good to ask is “do you know where your food comes from?”
• Ride: It’s good for you and for the environment; sometimes we are too quick to jump in the car, leave the keys at home and take it all in at a slower pace.
• Nurture Nature: Gardening, Trail Walk, Yoga on the beach, Just sitting and taking in sounds will reconnect you with nature.
• Have an outdoor day: Dedicate a day outdoors, ditching the devices and doing something outside.

Enjoy

Filling Buckets & Getting Buckets Filled

Yesterday I was heading to my favourite Wholefoods cafe for lunch, it’s a bit of a Friday ritual for me. I parked my car and got out, as I walked to the ticket machine, to buy a parking ticket a man pulled up beside me an handed me his parking ticket with 3 hours left on it, he mentioned he had it given to him and he wanted to pay it forward. Such a little thing made me feel great “It filled my bucket.” Danielle Harris is head of retail for Cotton On Kids, I do a lot of work with her on retail health and wellbeing, she’s awesome by the way, very caring and compassionate. Dani was telling me that her daughter had a little program at school called ” Bucket Fillers” where each day you talk with your parents about who filled you bucket, or who’s bucket did you fill. Filling buckets is about doing kind and caring things for people, whilst getting your bucket filled is about reflecting and being grateful for the little nice things that have happened on that day. I have just started using this with my kids and it’s a really nice way to end the day.

So who’s bucket can you fill today, or maybe you will get your bucket filled 😉

Enjoy

10 things to keep me mindful (and sane)

 

 

  Picture From a Photo Run

Is it getting busier or is it just me? Even the things that should be helping people relax and enjoy are becoming busy and stressful. In the last 20 years we have brought in so much technology that it’s overloaded us, with a constant question of what’s next? i Pod, i phone, Tablet, Music Streaming etc. Noise Noise Noise, actually noise and mental noise, I’m going for a run, Hmmm, how can I distract myself, I’ll use my I pod, even better, don’t run outside, we will put a TV on a treadmill for you, distracted enough? Gym’s are amazing, it’s like watching deaf ants scurrying around, with the only language being the occasional nod and smile (if your lucky). Here’s 10 things I doto keep me mindful and active, both physically and mentally.

1. Surf: Get a board and a wetsuit, it’s free, no we don’t get charged for beach use yet. Sit in the water and just take it all in. If you’ve thought about surfing, give it a go.
2. Trail Running / Walking: Leave the i pod at home, listen to the birds and the wildlife and be mindful of all the decisions you have to make with your feet.( mountain bikes and kangaroo’s don’t make much noise )
3. Photo Run / Walk: I know I’m using technology, I love going for a beach run with a camera and stopping to capture awesome moments.
4. Golf: A little left field, but 3 mates, outdoors, walking and talking. (phones away)
5. Kayaking: Anytime I’m on or in the water I’m in the moment, the ocean is such a beast it deserves your full attention.
6. Tennis: Hand Eye co-ordination, it’s hard to be thinking about past and future when your chasing that little furry ball around, tennis or basketball are like moving meditations.
7. Gardening: I once hated gardening, now I find it soothing. Sun, earth, exercise, yep I’m growing to like you gardening.
8. Cooking: Personally, right or wrong this is where I use music. Ingredients out, in sense on and away we go, Michael Franti gets a workout.
9. Sitting: Silence, no agenda, just sitting, appreciating whatever thoughts or noises that come along.
10. Last but not least BLOGGING: Soothes the soul, thoughts and expressions out into the open, I feel better when I blog.

There you go, what would your top 10 look like?

Enjoy

What Does Winning Look Like?

I was reading “The Only Way To Win by Jim Loehr “ and I found a great question I wanted to share. “ Is winning always extrinsic”. In society winning is about receiving awards, prizes, money, trophies, in the westerns it used to be the girl “AH THE WESTERNS”. It got me thinking that so much of our perceived success is object and material based, the man with the most toys and the biggest house wins mentality. In health and wellbeing this has created massive problems in two instances,

Firstly we reward ourselves with food.

“My goal is to lose 5 kg, when I do I will reward myself with Chicken Parma and Chips along with a night out of drinking.”

Secondly, we need to continue getting objects with every little win we get.

“When she lost 5 kg I got her some new runners, at 10 kg we went away for the weekend and if she loses 25kg, I’ve promised her a new car.” People are struggling for motivation, to stay fit, healthy and energized to live a better quality life, that’s the win, your trophy is being able to run 3km without walking half of it, playing with your kids and not needing to rest every 10 minutes.

After some thinking I believe the best type of winning, the best result you can get is intrinsic. Teaching your kids gratitude and compassion, helping people in need, having a laugh with a friend, you still win, you get a great result after making and effort. It doesn’t need to be a trophy, money or any other object, if you’re fulfilled and proud of your effort, satisfied with the result, then it’s a big win.

Have a great day.

Don’t Forget The Little Things

I must say the past 6 months has been massive in terms of my learning.

I think I get it!!!

I think I get it, that you never actually get it, it’s already here, so what do we do with it now we have it?

Stop searching and start living is a mantra I’m trying to live by, the next article, book, and recipe isn’t the ticket to happiness, mindfulness or bliss. It’s actually lot’s of little things done well, preformed with energy, passion and compassion, it’s doing little things everyday that resemble who you are, what you value and how you want to show up everyday. At the moment, I have a few key behaviors and emotions I really value, I try to exercise these on a daily basis. These can change, as one thing I do value and want to improve is being open and flexible, these have nothing to do with diet or exercise, NO this is the simple stuff.

• I say hi and ask how people how they are, then I listen.
• When people ask  “how are you?” I think and answer honestly
• I’m present when people talk
• I ‘m becoming more compassionate
• I smile and talk with a positive tone
• I try and come across patient and calm
• I  give people the time they need
• I’m grateful
• I laugh
• I ask questions when I’m unsure

That’s it, 10 ways I’m living my life, very simple but very important to me. I find if I’m good with these 10 things, I have a great day.

What do you value in a day-to-day way of living?

What are you on autopilot for with your life?

How do you want to be perceived by your peers?

See you soon, have a great day

Finding The Balance

What’s real happiness?

What’s fulfilment?

What’s success?

Three big questions and I’m not going to pretend that I know the answer to those three questions. I would like to take a closer look at how people have some very limited beliefs on these three questions, beliefs that never get challenged.

What’s real happiness? When I say real, I mean long term. I thought for a long time that when I earn a certain amount of money I would be happy. If I wasn’t then I could afford to buy a bit of happiness. Thankfully I am only 33 and still have a’lot of living left, personally I need passion for happiness to be in my life, passion for my family, passion for fitness, passion for health and passion to help others, I’m happy when I have passion. I have friends who work in the mines, they earn good money but you can see the passion has been sucked out of them, short bursts of passion hit them when their home and then it get’s sucked away as they trudge slowly back to their outback mines. I need passion everyday and lot’s of it, a purpose to wake up at 5 am, write blogs, read books to grow and learn. Yep that’s my version of happiness.

 

What’s fulfilment:? Driving my passion is a sense of purpose, a real want to be involved in the contest, be part of something great. I work for the best company in the world, not because it pays me massive amounts of money. My job gives me fulfilment, helping and coaching people gives me fulfilment, having 3 kids gives me fulfilment. Are you honestly fulfilled with your life, your job, your relationships? Maybe you don’t even think about the word fulfilment, If not that’s ok, being aware of it is the first and most challenging step to find fulfilment.

What’s success? I was like every other youngster, success was money, money brought happiness and with money and happiness came fulfilment , right. That’s how the Western world works. Success is simple, get Happiness and Fulfilment then you’ve got success.

Now these are my views and I’m not saying it;s gospel, but if you caught at the crossroads like I was it might just steer you in the right direction.

 

 

Enjoy