Mindset Matters – Live Your Paradigm

by Diana Baysinger,  Best Year Yet Partner and Trainer

 
Each year at the end of December, I look forward to making my new Best Year Yet plan. I have been creating Best Year Yet plans for 12 years, and what I have noticed is how the paradigms that emerged each year tracked my growth and development. It has been an extraordinary ride through my 50’s and into my 60’s as I have grown more and more confident in the passion and purpose I experience in my life.

Eleven years ago when I was first introduced to BYY, I was celebrating my 17^th year as a successful Licensed Marriage and Family therapist in private practice, my sons had been launched into their own lives, and I was looking forward to kicking back and taking more time for myself and my own life. I had spent the majority of my life living up to other people’s expectations and so it was not surprising that the answer to Best Year Yet Question 4, my most limiting paradigm, was “Everyone else’s needs come first.”

I was not accustomed to thinking through what I wanted; I was more focused on what others wanted. The discipline of setting goals that reflected what I wanted in my life was challenging. My paradigm that year was ”I am important.” During that first year, I began to travel and took 4 weeks off during the summer to spend time with family in Maine.

These simple words led to more conscious choices, and it was the beginning of a mindset that has set me free to live what I know now to be my true purpose. It took me two years to relax into this new mindset as I moved from other limiting paradigms such as, “It is too hard to learn new things” to “I have all the resources I need to be successful.”

My “I am important” paradigm carried me through a year when my coaching business began to blossom. It took on a life of its own, and I was challenged to keep up with all the new things I was learning and using in my service. My work expanded from the United States into Europe and I spent time in the Netherlands with colleagues and friends. Thanks to my paradigm I took a 5-day cycling trip with friends down the Danube River.

By the 5^th year, I was feeling a shift from the conscious effort I made to live into the paradigm to a relaxation and trust in living from my paradigm.  I was more creative and aligned with trust in the higher good that kept presenting itself to me. I felt a reconnection with something that had always been present in my life and was now embedded in my daily practice.

My faith grew ~ Forward Action Inspired by a Trust in a Higher Power. During this timeframe, I developed new business partnerships and started working with non-profit organizations, colleges and a local foundation.

Over the last five years I have felt a depth of gratitude. Yes, even through the economic challenges, I have felt a depth of gratitude for the things that I cherish most: family, friends, fun, faith, health and service. My paradigms have kept me focused on these most valuable parts of life. When it comes to these things, I am a wealthy woman.

Recently, I was asked to step up and claim my role as a leader. I felt uncomfortable about the suggestion and yet when I was making my paradigm I challenged myself to break through the discomfort and take a stab at a paradigm that would reflect the suggestion. My first attempt at the new paradigm for 2012 was, “I am an extraordinary leader who makes a difference in the world.” I let that sit for a few days and all of a sudden the one that really resonated came to me and this is the one I declare for 2012.

“I lead from the inside out, making dreams come true
for myself and the people I serve.”

Once again my paradigm challenged me to move from an outside influence to the inside and align with what is most true for me. As you think about this year, think about the paradigm you want to live from, declare it and live it and watch the miracles of passion and purpose come alive in your own life.

If you would like to receive a free half-hour consultation with your BYYO plan for 2012, please click here and then write to me diana.baysinger@gmail.com to book a time for us to meet.

Diana Baysinger, co-owner of Arizona Partners has been in business for over 29 years. She serves non-profits, leaders, individuals, students and teams throughout the United States and Europe. She is the Best Year Yet Online coaching certification trainer and has trained over 45 individuals around the world to use Best Year Yet in their business. You can contact Diana at arizonapartners.net or diana.baysinger@gmail.com 

Choosing Your Roles for 2012

by Ashoka Gore, Best Year Yet Program Leader in Australia 

Let us imagine that we are making our 2012 Best Year Yet Plan and have reached Question 6 – What Roles Do I Play in My Life? In my opinion this is a really important and crucial question and will play a huge role in how successfully we live our year.

A majority of us have a major day activity five days a week from Monday to Friday, and for some there is also additional work on Saturday and Sunday. Let us give this role the name of “Major Activity” and keep it aside for a while.  Now explore the other activities that we get involved in, such as Family, Friend, Self Coach or Caretaker, and close personal relationships such as Wife, Husband, Partner, Son, or Daughter.

All the other things that we do in our lives such as Community/Social activities, Charity work, Volunteering, Religious pursuits, Sports – playing and/or watching, Family and Home welfare and well-being (financial and physical), Artistic pursuits, Hobbies, Second or third jobs make up the remaining three roles.

Now let us have a look at how much time do we have in a week. There are 7 days in a week with 24 hours in a day which means that we have 168 hours in total. Let us make two main assumptions, firstly we sleep 7 hours per day and work 5 days a week working in total 40 hours and use 3 hours per day to get ready for work and travelling time – total 104 hours. We are effectively left with 64 hours per week to distribute across the 7 roles.

Time is an extremely precious commodity that is equal and fair to all beings, does not discriminate or play favorites, does not judge or criticize –  just simply exists. We know when the clock started but know not when it will stop, while knowing for sure that for all of us it will definitely stop.

Being aware of how much time we have at our disposal week to week and knowing the importance of life balance, we are in a better position to select which 7 roles besides the ‘Major Activity’ will help us live our Values and achieve the Results that we seek.

The next step I propose is to imagine an ideal week in which you have a chance to devote time and attention to each of your Roles. Map out each day starting with when you wake up to when you sleep and allocate time to each Role as appropriate and allow for other things that one has to do – such as pet care / exercise, housework, meals, shopping, reading newspapers /books/magazines, Internet, Mobile phones and Tablets and so on. You will be amazed how little time is left for the Roles that you decided were most important.

It is no wonder then that the Goals we set for ourselves are so difficult to accomplish because we have not matched the time required to successfully complete the Goals to the time that we have available.  Having a role to be your ‘Major Focus’ in the year is effectively selecting a role that will get your full Focus and Commitment and be first in line to get allocated the precious commodity – TIME.   This role must be the last thing that is sacrificed.

Recognize the time-wasters and let them go, be aware and never be stuck with Time on hand but nothing to do – carry your Best Year Yet Ppan with you at all times. Learn to say ‘No’, and find innovative ways to multitask so that you can get more from your day.

Make the most of every day and have your Best Year Yet.

Ashoka started working at the age of 17 as a Cadet Officer in the Merchant Navy and sailed the 7 Seas on various ships becoming a Master Mariner and then swapping his Sea Legs for Land Legs in 1992. The key learnings gained in these 15 years were: Take initiative and be innovative, Face and challenge your Fears, Storms seem to last forever but they are always followed by calm and peace, and finally Treat people with respect and without judgement.

The years 1992 to 1996 were transformational years, wherein he worked as a Taxi Driver, Storeman, Warehouse Supervisor, Maritime teacher, Sales representative, Telemarketer,  Insurance sales, Financial Planner, Network Marketer and a Maritime Consultant. The last role led to a permanent position in a big energy company, managing the two LPG ships that they had. Tackling the Fears on land was far scarier than the Storms and huge waves at sea, such as the fear of speaking in front of a class, making sales calls to sell advertising and insurance.

He completed an MBA in 2003 and was given the opportunity to manage 9 subsidiary companies in the South Pacific. The businesses and the people grew and developed due to his strong principles and values driven approach, putting people first, and providing coaching and mentoring to all staff. Ashoka is a trained facilitator in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people program which was rolled out to all Leaders and Managers.  In October 2011, he became a Best Year Yet Coach, and he completed the Best Year Yet Program Leader’s training in November. He is now a certified Master Coach and has embarked on the next phase of his journey setting up his own company ConsultNCoach to help people from all walks of life find their purpose and achieve Results. He can be contacted at Ashoka.gore@bestyearyet.com

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together!

by Karen Morey, Best Year Yet Director of Training

This was a favorite saying of my dad’s – one we heard many, many times.  And yes, he definitely was a planner and an articulate intellectual.  But in this case, he was actually quoting Hannibal Smith (the George Peppard character) in the television series “The A Team,” which was his unlikely choice for favorite TV show of the 80’s.

I see a quirky irony in the fact that thirty years later I, as his eldest daughter, have made a career out of helping plans come together!  I too love it when a plan comes together, but I love it even more when a plan WORKS together.  Here’s what I mean by that:

A Best Year Yet plan is made up of four components:  Guidelines, New Paradigm, Major Focus, and Top Ten Goals.  When I help clients create their own plans, I encourage them to see how these components work together, integrating behavior, mindset, focus, and action to effect real change in their lives.  It isn’t always easy to draw those connecting lines, but when it happens, the impact is exponential.

I experienced this phenomenon in my own plan last year, and it motivated me all year long.  The connections began early in the process when I chose as a guideline “Read, Write, and Think,” based on a lesson I had learned in the previous year about the importance of setting aside time to contemplate deeper truths.  I am an avid reader of fiction, but I wanted to include more philosophical and meditative books on my reading list.  In addition, I wanted to use journaling as a way to record my own thoughts as I read.

When it came time to examine my biggest limiting paradigm and choose a new mindset for the year, I decided my biggest roadblock on the way to exploring the next phase in my life was my belief that

“Everyone depends on me to keep doing what I’m doing,
and I can’t let them down.”

This conviction, coupled with the idea that I’m nearing retirement age and “should” be slowing down, was definitely holding me back.  So I created my new paradigm:

“I’m in my prime and moving on”

as a way to shake off those limiting beliefs.

But then came the question, “Moving on to what?”  What did “moving on” mean?  Since I had no answer to that question yet, it was clear that what I needed was to move on with the exploration – to figure out what I want the next phase in my life to look like.   And to do that, I needed to give myself time for that exploration – for thinking about it, reading books that help me dig deeper, and journaling about the process.

This is where my Number 1 Goal comes in:

 #1.    Schedule ‘Prime Time’ weekly for reading, writing, and thinking.

Of course, there were nine other goals in my plan, related to growing my business, working with clients, volunteering for projects, planning a reunion, and managing my health; but the one that really captured my attention was this idea of Prime Time.  I was determined to follow through on this!

At the beginning of every month, I blocked out a half-day each week on my calendar, usually on Friday afternoon, and labeled it ‘Prime Time.’  I created a space in my home office with a big, comfortable chair and ottoman, a fleece blanket, a small table, and a lamp.  I selected from my bookshelf a few books that I had always intended to read and stacked them on the table, along with a journal, a pen and pencil, and some Post-Its.  Each week, when Prime Time arrived, I made a pot of tea, stepped away from the computer, and sat down in this new space to slow down and turn my attention to bigger things than responding to email.

Okay, okay, truth be told, it didn’t really happen every week.  Out of the 52 weeks in the year, I cheated myself out of Prime Time at least one third of the time; I scheduled a meeting with a client right over that spot; I decided to run an errand or two before starting – and used up all the allotted time; when I was the only one on a team who didn’t want to meet on a Friday afternoon, I gave in.  But over the course of the year, my commitment to Prime Time never lagged.  I always put it on the calendar and week after week, I renewed my determination to be accountable – to myself!

I was conscious all year of the synchronicity I felt between

          My Guideline:  Read, Write, and Think.

          My New Paradigm:  I’m in my prime and moving on.

          My Goal #1:  Schedule Prime Time weekly for reading, writing, and thinking.

And now I have moved on to my new plan for 2012; I have new guidelines, a NEW new paradigm, and new goals.  I did not keep the old ones, much as I liked the idea.  I forced myself to think of new ones, based on my most recent experiences, including the fact that I read several thought-provoking and inspiring books, wrote several articles and journal entries, and established Prime Time as an ongoing commitment in my calendar – a commitment I will continue to honor, at least two-thirds of the time!

And best of all, I DID gain a clearer understanding of what I want that “next phase of my life” to look like, and the top ten goals in my new plan are all about taking the first steps to make it happen.

I LOVE it when a plan works together!

Want to begin 2012 with your own Best Year Yet plan?  Click here to get started!

Karen Morey has been helping executive teams shift limiting behaviors and mindsets and achieve extraordinary results for the past decade. Combining the latest tools in planning, team development, coaching, and communications with her 25 years of experience in front-line management, she consistently helps clients develop strong, innovative, and focused teams that achieve breakthrough results.

Karen has a proven record of working with corporate leaders and teams to overcome their limitations and achieve their vision for the future. She leads them through the creation of a structured, results-based plan and coaches them to achieve and exceed the goals they have aligned on.

With 25 years of corporate leadership experience, Karen brings to her clients a credible, practical approach that builds high-performance teams, whether corporate or non-profit, large or small. She has worked with clients in manufacturing, financial services, medical systems software, and mail order distribution, as well as numerous local and regional social services and religious organizations. Karen specializes in an adaptive approach to coaching and uses a thought-provoking method of questioning that leads her clients to draw meaningful conclusions that can be readily applied to their personal lives and working environments.

In addition to her work with organizations and executive teams, Karen trains other facilitators worldwide to use the Best Year Yet system of planning, tracking, and follow-through with their clients. She has also designed and delivered training in leadership, performance management, customer service, and sales management.

Let Wisdom Be Your Guide

By Audrey Taylor, Success and Life Coach

Do you remember the valuable life lessons you learned during your formative years?

Some of the most meaningful lessons many of us have learned came during our early childhood experiences “Kindergarten”.  In an excerpt from the book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, American minister and author Robert Fulghum shares a list of lessons normally learned in American kindergarten classrooms such as:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don’t hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.

These lessons have served us well. They are helpful guidelines to live by as we grow, interact with others and follow our dreams. They support us to feel safe, sane and secure in the world. Just by following such simple advice will lead to more good outcomes and fewer of the bad ones.

Now as a grown up “life” is our classroom. It presents opportunity after opportunity to grow, follow our dreams and live the life we imagine.

In September, I started my second year using the proven goal setting system Best Year Yet Online (BYYO). The 10 powerful questions in this system are transforming and allow me to be responsible for the direction of my life. As Jinny Ditzler, author of the book, Your Best Year Yet shares, “Every single one of us has the energy, heart, soul and talent…everything we need to be the person we want to be”.  This being said, the self-directed BYYO questions effectively draw out lessons to live life on purpose.

The first three BYYO questions when asked with childlike curiosity reveal valuable lessons for personal transformation. This life changing exercise is instrumental to for creating future success.

These questions reveal the answers we seek from the “inside out”.  They encourage us to go within and listen deeply to our inner wisdom for direction. Wisdom is our guide when we are open, curious and willing to learn.

Let me share an example . . .

In the past, I had a tendency to give less attention and appreciation to all my wonderful accomplishments (ICF Coaching certification) and got bogged down in disappointments (lack of coaching clients). I would chastise myself and also underestimate my ability to unleash my true potential. Believe me, this behavior got in the way of learning the valuable lessons life had come to teach me. By behaving this way I actually was allowing guilt, regret and judgment to hold me back from living into my passions.

“There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons.” 

~Denis Waitley

“Say yes to the next step” is one of the most impactful lesson in my first year using the BYYO system. By this I mean to be in the NOW instead of getting into a state of overwhelm where procrastination can set in. Doing what is the right natural next action has kept me on purpose with growing a flourishing coaching business. In addition to other personal guidelines, “Say yes to the next step” serves as motivation for me to produce the results I want with confidence.

Following my guidelines supports me to build my confidence muscle. When I follow them, I honor who I am and I am always pleasantly surprised with the results I am able to achieve.

Now I see the mishaps in my life more as an “oops” than an invitation for punishment/self-criticism.  Disappointments when kept in perspective uncover supportive advice for success. Accomplishments, when honored, are the greatest source to leverage future success.

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure

are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

~Dale Carnegie

Recently, one of my clients revealed to me that once she accepted her own advice “Follow-thru with what I say I will do” she stayed motivated to file 7 years of delinquent taxes. She equates this major accomplishment with being a reliable and dependable person. In addition she feels joy, pride and confidence in her accomplishment.

“Inner wisdom is more important than wealth.

The more you spend it, the more you gain.”

~Oprah Winfrey

Join me in following these helpful reminders as you let wisdom be your guide.

• Live in the question: “What did I learn?” What did this disappointment come to teach me? Stay open to the answer.
• Be in a state of curiosity.
• Notice how your guidelines support you each and every day.
• Use your guidelines to strengthen your confidence muscle.

 

Contact Us:

Coaching for Greatness

Marietta, Georgia

770-420-2621

audrey@coachingforgreatness.com

www.coachingforgreatness.com

Audrey Taylor is President of DeBarros Ltd, a Human Resource Consulting, Training and Coaching business in Marietta, Georgia in Human Resource Management, Organization Development and Coaching.

Audrey is a seasoned professional with an extensive background in delivering Diversity and Inclusion, Change Management initiatives and Executive Coaching programs in various industries. She is highly rated as an inspiring coach, enthusiastic facilitator and college professor. Her optimistic style encourages and empowers the best in those she serves.

Audrey holds distinct certificates: Best Year Yet® Online Coach, International Coach Federation as ACC, “Coach Academy Professional Coach (CAPC)”, “Certified NLP Coach (NLPC), “Passion Test” Facilitator, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), graduate of Robbins Research International Inc., Mastery University Program. She is also an Adjunct Professor Online at DeVry University, teaching classes in Career Development.