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‘Live Your Greatest Life’ eNewsletter is written by Margie Warrell, a Life Coach, speaker and writer who is passionate about empowering people to live lives they love. The eNewsletter is designed to inspire, challenge and support you in being your greatest in life – to doing what you love better, with more success, balance and much less stress.

Margie Warrell International encourages you to invest a few minutes in yourself in the midst of your busy day to read this newsletter. Regardless of where you are now in your life we hope you find something of value in it. Perhaps you might identify some beliefs of your own that are limiting you and in doing so be able to move forward toward being the person and living the life you would love.

May you have a wonderful day!




RAISE YOUR SIGHTS IN 2005!
By Margie Warrell

Happy New Year to you! Having recently returned from 5 weeks in Australia, I’ve spent the last week back in Dallas getting back into the ‘swing’ of things and focusing on what I want to accomplish in the year ahead. This months newsletter is dedicated to helping you plan a new year that compels, inspires and excites you.

So, what are you planning on doing over the course of 2005 that will enrich the quality of your life, provide you with a deeper sense of fulfillment (personally and professionally) and allow you to express yourself more fully?

I’m sure that you, like me, have been shocked and saddened by the recent tsunami tragedy. Not only have over 150,000 been killed but millions of people have had their worlds completely turned upside down by this catastrophic act of mother nature. As the death toll rose I found myself unable to comprehend the enormity of the devastation though I did become increasingly present to the fragility of our lives and mortality of our bodies.

For those of us whose only connection to this event is through the media, what we can remind ourselves of is that each day we walk on this earth is a gift we should not take for granted. To take it a step further, whilst we are alive and breathing we need to take responsibility for what we do with our life and refuse to limit ourselves from becoming all we can be by succumbing to resignation about our ‘lot in life’. To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes, you get what you settle for (never more).

There may be one or several aspects of your life that you feel dissatisfied with and yet, for one reason or another, you decide not to address. The present never seems like a good time. Maybe next year. Well, I hate to remind you but, it is now officially ‘next year’. Just imagine what a great year it will be if you transform this area of your life into one you feel fabulous about!

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Before launching into what you want from the year ahead - and what you don't want - it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the year just past. I invite you to reflect on each of these areas of your life for a moment and honestly answer each of these questions:

• Your relationship with your spouse/partner – did you enjoy a rich, loving and honest relationship, regularly talking through any issues that arose between you?
• Your relationship with your children – were you a great role model for them; did you laugh and spend quality time with them regularly?
• Your occupation – did you feel a sense of passion for the work you did?
• Your physical body – did you enjoy great health and a sense of wellbeing?
• Your financial situation – did you move forward financially?
• Your mental wellbeing – could you concentrate when necessary and then easily relax in your leisure time?
• Your spirit – did you enjoy peace of mind, feel inspired and able to express your self fully?
• Your social life – did you enjoy the company of great friends who you admire and respect and who love, admire and respect you?
• Your environment – did you enjoy spending time in your home? Did your work and home environment bring out the best in you?
• Your future – did you pursue things that excited and challenged you; did you experience excitement about your future?

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If you weren’t able to answer “YES” to any of the above questions, then put aside some time to think about what you can do over the following 12 months so that you can answer “YES!” this time next year (if not sooner!).

Given that we humans are programmed to resist change (even change for the better) the Action Challenge below provides a series of steps to help you get moving in transforming those aspects of your life you would like to improve. The most important step though is the first one - making a commitment to action; to doing what is required to bring about the positive change you want. The reason it is most important is because it means you are acknowledging that all is not well, that you’re tired of making excuses and that you’re ready to take responsibility for doing something about it. More power to you!!

I encourage you not to settle for less than what you want out of life; to raise your sights in your life. Remember, your life is a gift and today, as you read these words, is as good a time as you will ever have to begin the work of transforming the life you have now to the one you really want to live! After all, if not now….when?

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ACTION CHALLENGE

Get out a pen and paper (or journal if you have one) and write down your answers to the following questions. You can repeat this exercise for each area of your life you would like to experience real improvement during 2005.

1. Which area of your life are you dissatisfied with and committed to improving in 2005?

2. Why haven’t you done anything to effectively address this issue until now (i.e. what has been the pay-off that’s kept you resigned to the status quo) and how much it has cost you (in terms of your inability to fully enjoy your life) for not doing so?

3. Imagine you could have this aspect of your life made ‘perfect’ with the wave of my magic wand (I do have you know albeit on loan from my daughter’s dress-up box) and describe what it would be like?

4. How will you feel about yourself and what will the impact be on your life (and your joy/stress levels) if this aspect of your life is just the same a year from now (though, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but with no action it will likely just get worse)?

5. How will you feel if a year from now you have accomplished this goal and/or made the changes that you would like? How would it impact your experience of each day including how you feel about your future?

6. What is the first thing you could do that would make a positive difference in relation to this area and write down a deadline some time in the very near future to do it (e.g. if its your job then who could you speak to about other options?; if fitness/weight loss was your goal, then it might be joining a gym or buying a pair of sneakers; if you want more time with your children then schedule it in your diary or rework other commitments; if there was an issue with your spouse/colleague at work it might be to organize a time to have a conversation with them to discuss the issue; if finances, then it could be to put together a budget of expenses).

7. Write down all the other actions you can think of that you know would be helpful in addressing this problem and beside them write down a deadline by which you will begin taking them.

8. Get support! The simplest way is to share with someone (or several “someone’s”) what you’ve committed to do in relation to this area of your life and ask them to hold you accountable to the actions you’ve written down. Alternately join a club of likeminded individuals or consider hiring a coach to get you into action




Margie is available to do key-note and workshops in your organization or association. Please contact her for a summary of her key speaking topics. For speaking testimonials please visit www.margiewarrell.com.



For more information about Margie Warrell, please click here, or visit the Web site at http://www.margiewarrell.com.