It’s that time of year again where we all go goal crazy, turn over a new leaf, get out our pens and papers and make the lifesaving list called New Year’s Resolutions! Before you do that, why not have a look at some quick tips to starting 2013 with a positive bang,  increasing the chances of you achieving your goals and making 2013 your best year ever!

1. START WITH THE END IN MIND. Remember the cook books with the glossy picture of what your dish will look like; well that is what you need to do with your goal.  Imagine, salivate, and get excited about the end goal. Create a picture in your mind, on a wall, on a piece of paper, of what your end will look like and get excited!

2. GET CLEAR. Having the big picture is great but it is important you get clear on the little things too. Every great dish is made up of individual ingredients, so what are you ingredients/ little things that make up this goal. Be specific!

3. GET REAL. Life leaves clues, be honest about why this is a goal for you. Also is the list you are making the same as last years? If so why? Is this goal on the list again? Why didn’t you follow through last year? What has changed?  Is it time to drop the goal, which is not always a bad thing as it can allow more space for something, new and more exciting that you really want to do or have? Do you need to be more flexible around some deadlines that are out of your control? Do you need to be held accountable for your actions? I have posted my goals on Facebook so everyone can hold me accountable throughout the year!

4. BE SELFISH. After all this is your life and your goals. You know yourself better than anyone so make sure that whatever you are going for in 2013 is really for you and not for anyone else.

5. ASK FOR HELP. Remember nothing is a failure, only a learning experience. So if your goal was to lose weight and get fit last year, what stopped that from happening and what will change this year? Do you need additional support or help to ensure you achieve your goal?

6. BREAK IT DOWN. Where and what is the easiest place for you to start your goal from. Break it down, if you want to lose weight, make a list of the different ways you can do that and then pick out the ways that really appeal to you. Get creative and even if it will take twice the amount of time for you to achieve your goal, you are more likely to stick to it if you enjoy it and break it down into manageable, steps.

7. REWARD & RECOGNITION (R & R). What is the icing on the cake? Recognisable rewards and celebrating milestones along the way are essential parts of goal setting and measuring your success. What is your R & R? Where are your pats on the back for sticking with it?

8. SPICE IT UP A BIT. Variety is the spice of life. Have a mixture of things you would like to do over the course of the year and make sure they aren’t all big goals. I have nothing against shooting for the stars, but sometimes we need to have enjoyable pit stops along the way. So mix up your goals, and don’t make them all about one area of your life, like work, relationships, a new body, etc. There is nothing wrong with having one main goal, but you will be surprised how enjoying the little successes feed into your main goal for the year.

9. AVOID A JANUARY 1 START. Unless it is imperative and you are in a good strong space to do so, avoid kicking starting a goal January 1st. I always find that giving yourself a few days after the New Year is a great tester as to whether or not this is a real goal for you and also any alcohol-induced or New Year hysteria goals have been safely put to bed!

10. KEEP GOING! Don’t beat yourself up. Go easy on yourself if things become tough or you fall off the goal wagon for a while, especially if you are working on a goal that has been a real life time’s journey and challenge. Remember if Plan A doesn’t work there are a lot more letters in the alphabet!

Make 2013 your best year ever! is a post from: The Life Chef

You inspired me is a post from: The Life Chef

ALTERNATIVES MONDAY NIGHT TALK (3/09/12) – MINDFUL MANIFESTO

Yesterday was a great kick start to the new Autumn programme and my first day as Alternatives Director, we had a lovely evening with Ed Halliwell (a regular writer for the Guardian on meditation and well-being) and Dr Jonty Heaversedge (an inner city GP with a passion for alternative ways of dealing with mental health and wellbeing,  as well as a presenter for BBC’s Street Doctor).

Their new book is called The Mindful Manifesto and is a great hands on guide for people who are really looking at ways of slowing down, reducing stress and literally taking time out to smell the roses.

The term Mindful is definitely the new buzz word at the moment amongst the spiritual and well- being circles. Historically, the most prominent practitioner was the Buddha, and mindfulness became the basis for the spiritual tradition Buddhism. However the practice existed even prior to his time in many cultures and can be traced in various forms amongst many different faiths.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE MINDFUL?

There was a great definition online by Wisdom Books

The thing I really enjoyed about this talk is that they gave some very practical, tips on how to be mindful, things you could implement into any daily schedule, So a big thank you Ed and Jonty for  great evening,  look forward to seeing you soon and good luck on your journey to inspire a more Mindful Nation!

The Mindful Manifesto – Recipe for de-stressing is a post from: The Life Chef

Could you accept someone completely? That is what I am currently exploring in the 2nd chapter of my new book. Acceptance a very powerful word.

No judgement, no expectations, no should be, could be, why aren’t you this way or that way?

Who are you struggling to accept right now in your life? Where do you continously feel you are butting heads and struggling to see eye to eye. What is it about them you are struggling to accept?

How much peace would it bring to your life if

you suddenly let go of the fight and simply accepted what is? Remembering that acceptance is NOT resignation.

Recently this has really been put to the test for me big time, and I have to say I needed to step back a bit first before I could move forward in a space of acceptance. What I did learn is that you can accept someone or something but also accept that it is not healthy to have that in your life right now. Accepting what is healthy and good for you is also very important.

The Art of true acceptance, being able to have someone or something in your life and it not create a emotional trigger of any sort.

Wow what a peaceful life that would be!

Hmmm, with love The Life Chef…

Cooking up a storm in the universal kitchen called life. Mxx

The real recipe for peace? You tell me… is a post from: The Life Chef

I have learnt that life creates opportunities for you to dig deep and show up stronger. But opportunities are like lots of raw ingredients, the ingredients only become a dish once you DO something with them.

Life can only show you your strengths if you get involved. Sitting on the sidelines won’t do it. You have to jump in, participate and show up, even if the outcome is messy, or your fingers get burnt. Only then will you get to see the amazing gems that lie within.

Life leaves clues, but you have got to live to be able to see them in the first place. You need to trust you won’t break because true strength is unbreakable. You need to believe that whilst you can’t govern how every part of your life will turn out, you can control what you take from it and how you move forward.

This summer I have been a part of an amazing programme with Future Foundations called NCS. This programme has really shown me so much about myself, the team, staff and most incredibly the amazing strength of so many teenagers today.

Know your own strength? is a post from: The Life Chef

THANK YOU!

I have learnt that a friendship is not dictated by the length of time you know someone but the AUTHENTICITY of the moment you connect with them.

History, shared experiences, family connections etc.. those are fluffy bits to the friendship. A real friendship is when you connect with a person in a way that is real and honest and allows you both to show up simply as yourselves, no games, no expectations.

In that moment you have made a friend, an invisible chord that can last beyond a lifetime.

Last night I had a friend surprise me, who I haven’t seen for a long time yet in an instant it were if time had stood still and we had never been apart. Then this morning at 5.30am I set off for a farewell/ birthday breakfast with someone I am glad to call a new friend, feisty, full on and REAL, and as she embarked on an exciting and wondrous new journey, I felt very grateful to have had some quality moments to get to know her well.

I am very blessed at the amount of people I can call true friends in my life, the ones that are made of rubber and bounce back no matter how you show up, through great times, good times, bad times and now and then the ugly times! lol….

So it is with that in mind I want to say a BIG FAT THANK YOU for all the texts, emails and facebook birthday messages, thank you for taking that moment to connect.

Have a fab weekend.

xx

The recipe for true friendship! is a post from: The Life Chef

Do you have an allergic reaction when you think of your job?

Want to know the signs?

• It’s Monday morning….
• The alarm goes off and you wish it would shut up!
• You hit snooze and hope that it buys you an eternity under the bedsheets or the opportunity to re-start your weekend starting 6pm Friday!
• You’d genuinely rather be sick than have to go to work!!
• Instead of bouncing out of bed excited about what the day has in store, you wake up  feeling sick to your stomach, full of dread, wondering how you got here and when will it ever end!

Sadly, if you are suffering from all of the above, then you do indeed have an  allergic reaction to your work!

For those of you who have met me or seen me in action you will know that I love my job! I love every bit of it… EXCEPT admin!

Yep even  I recognise those feelings! I remember when I started my third business not long after University. It was great, we had a team of over 30 people, it was doing really well, I bought my first home, a lovely 4 bedroom town house near the river… frankly it was amazing!  FROM THE OUTSIDE!

Inside however, I was starting to hate what I did,  I had promoted myself into a managment and mainly administrative role, which was not good for me and most definitely not good for the company,. I started to become unhappy, was useless at it, and it took me forever to get the simpliest task completed!! So I have been there, and can relate to the above.

Whilst I don’t experience that dis-ease around my work now (as I have admin help) there are some administrative tasks that are unavoidable and  I do tend to procastinate now and then depending on what is involved. However I have learnt some very effective  recipes to make the experience much more enjoyable, a lot less time consuming and frankly much more effective all round!

Last week I  posted a little blog on my facebook page saying how much I loved my work..  I received several emails from people telling me that they wished they felt the same way about their work… and that got The Life Chef juices thinking, that maybe this week I should share some of my tasty tips on how to avoid turning an allergic reaction to work into  full blown food poisoning!

SO FELLOW CHEF’S WATCH OUT FOR ……

• Tomorrow’s 10 Tasty Tips on how to avoid your work making you sick!
• Then later on in the week I will share  -How to avoid promoting yourself out of your passion!
• And finally -  How to bite the bullet and go it alone- The mouthwatering road to Entrepreneurship!
  

Have a fantastic day!

With love The Life Chef

Cooking up a storm in the universal kitchen of life! x

Allergic reaction to work? is a post from: The Life Chef

Why do so many strong women hand their power over to something outside of themselves? Why are so many strong, talented and gifted women lost.

Whitney Houston, aged only 48 , found dead in her hotel room..Ladies this is a story more powerful than the tradegy of a great singer, artist, it goes way beyond the music industry, adoring fans, and fond memories. This is a story about saving all of your love for you.

This morning I woke up to a story that really shocked me and moved me to tears, Whitney Houston was dead, another great star has moved on. Yet the tears I wept were not for the loss of her contribution to the music industry, (which trust me, growing up as a huge fan I am fully aware of the impact) . It was for the loss of a female icon who lost her battle with herself.

Who on so many levels struggled to find the love for herself in her own life that she sang about so often through her songs. Trust me, I am not speaking as a critic on the outside looking in for I too can relate to the challenges I have experienced and I am sure we can all relate to the struggle that faces every woman around self love, over loving in a relationship and loving yourself out of your own authentic power.

So my tears today are for all women who struggle to remember or would love to connect with that part of themselves that deserves unconditional love, for all women that struggle to see how amazing they are,  for all women that  desperately want to dance with somebody that will love them. The time for compromising is over. Celebrate who you are, know what you want and recognise that the greatest love of all should be the one you have with yourself…

And so Whitney Houston, my childhood hero, a legendary icon and a mother of all Diva’s, in the truest sense of the word, ‘Where do all the broken hearts go?’  Hopefully somewhere beautiful ….. And as I sit here staring at my first Whitney Houston album, I can truly say ‘I will always love you!’

Cooking up a storm in the universal kitchen!

With love The Life Chef!

Mx

Whitney Houston, where do broken hearts go? is a post from: The Life Chef

Deeper Conversations …Yuna is a post from: The Life Chef