Sara Fitts Reflects on 2008

This Week with Sara Fitts reflects on 2008 on this New Year's Eve afternoon. As is my tradition of many. many years I use this day to reflect on the past year and assess the entire year in this afternoon while planning the new year.

2008 had many good points, several struggles, and lots of opportunities for growth - both personal as well as professional. I had my best business year ever during 2008 from January to June. Then the economy hit me like it hit so many others. July was a real turning point for me. Then in August I accepted a position in DC Government with DCPS as a coach - actually, a professional developer. My business skills were used in a whole new way in an educational setting.

In October I reached a personal milestone that I had prepared for over a period of 18 months. It was fabulous - and still is! Lesson learned: planning, goal-setting, and implementation plans work!

Since August my routine has certainly changed - I rise before 3:30 a.m. and am on my way to my office even before 5:00 a.m. I arrive back home between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. My routine is definitely different - and life is good!

If I had to bottom-line what I've learned in 2008, this is it:

• Faith is really the way to live life for me.
• New things don't have to be scary.
• One can definitely be fit by 50.
• When you love what you do, you do it better and you enjoy it much more.
• When you embrace what is difficult, it gets easier - and you find joy in it.
• When you look for the joy in everything, you find it.
• When you get out of the boat in faith, your feet really do stay dry. (Thanks Stuart!)
• Planning, goal-setting, action plans, and implementation of the action plan moves one forward faster than flying by the seat of one's pants.
• One can be older and wiser without being old.
• Escape is necessary - especially in the form of music, books, movies, and good conversation.
• Life is good - because (to quote my grandmother) nothing is ever so bad that it can't be worse.
• Results are the real returns on investments. So to invest in oneself is the way to go!

And looking to 2009, these are just a few of the goals I have:

• to learn French - and be able to speak it
• to maintain personal fitness and wellness
• to be as financially fit as possible
• to enhance my appreciation of art and music
• and to live each day to its fullest with no regrets

Thank you for indulging me on this New Year's Eve. I wish you much happiness and many blessings in 2009. Happy New Year!

Sara

Sara Fitts is a personal and business coach as well as professional developer. She motivates and coaches individuals and business owners. For a confidential appointment with Sara, please contact her @ thecoach@SLFConsulting.com or call her @ 703.791.4741. Visit www.SLFConsulting.com for more.

Get Your Personal Needs Met Once and For All

This Week with Sara Fitts looks at principle #13 of Thomas Leonard's 28 Principles of Attraction: get your personal needs met, once and for all.

The theory behind this principle is based on the thought that if you have unmet needs, you'll attract others in the same position. Another way of saying it is this: You have more needs than you know, and they are distracting you.

Why do we have unmet needs at all? Well, for one thing, most of us have been raised not to be needy. Being needy is not a positive thing; therefore, we haven't focused on our needs. This can be a huge negative, though. Because we all have needs - and it is OK to acknowledge these needs.

Needs are different from values. Simply defined, a need is what you must have in order to be your best. Needs are not optional for this very reason. No one can be attractive to others if they are not getting their basic needs met. Attraction just can't happen if unmet needs exist.

How do we get our personal needs met, then?

• Accept that we all have needs - and they are essential to our happiness and our own well-being.
• Identify the most important need we have. [Is it to be validated? Is it to be heard? Is it to have our work acknowledged?]
• Identify one additional need. [What else is important to you? What else must you have in order to be your best?]
• Acknowledge that these needs are important - imperative, actually - in order for you to attract everything you want in your life.
• Make sure our two most important needs are met every single day.

The benefits of getting our needs met are amazing. We will begin to be more open - and more attractive - to others as well as ourselves. And by being more attractive to others and ourselves, we will attract much more of everything we want in our lives and in our work.

Today's Powerful Question for you: What are your two most important needs and how will you get them met?

Eliminate Delay

This Week with Sara Fitts continues discussing Thomas Leonard's 28 Principles of Attraction with principle # 12: eliminate delay.

Delay is increasingly expensive - and very unattractive both personally and professionally. It is extremely stressful when we are waiting on someone for information, service, or just a call back. It is also stressful for the person who is causing your delay - because they are very likely overwhelmed and paralyzed by delay themselves.

Eliminating delay will create much more peace - personally and professionally - as well as increase productivity and efficiency at an incredible rate. Eliminating delay will create space in your day - and give you much more time for what is most important to you. Eliminating delay will automatically reduce your level of stress as well as the stress levels of all whom depend on you.

Eliminating delay will make you more attractive - more attractive to your colleagues, your customers and clients, your employer or employees, and your family and friends. When you are more attractive, more things will come to you - more time, more money, more fun, more peace, more space. If you will eliminate delay, you will attract more of everything you want in your life and in your work.

How can you eliminate delay? There are many ways to eliminate delay - and here are a few to get you started:

• Refuse to "talk it to death" and just get it done.
• Respond immediately to all requests, if possible. Otherwise, schedule specific times to return phone calls, emails, requests for information, etc.
• Refuse to keep an inventory of "To Do" items. Instead, keep up with your list of to-do items and get them done.
• Face your fears and reduce personal processing time to get things done. Perfection really doesn't exist - revision can occur later. Just start the project and refuse to fear the project.
• Prepare in advance for possible delays. Have a plan to address them.
• Filter out negative thoughts and words.
• Automate and simplify your processes as much as you can.
• Find out what you are waiting for - the real reason for your delay.

The most important way to eliminate delay is this: the mindset has to change. The paradigm must shift. We have to really want to eliminate delay in order for it to happen. We have to make all the changes that are necessary in order to be successful in this principle.

I really think that eliminating delay is one of the most important things we can do in our lives and in our work. We can eliminate delay in all areas of our lives and work - we can eliminate delay in forgiveness, in acts of kindness, in offering peaceful solutions to conflicts, in making simple phone calls or answering emails. How many times in any given day have we delayed doing what needed to be done? We all can eliminate delay - and we need to begin right now!

Create a Vacuum which Pulls You Forward

This Week with Sara Fitts discusses principle # 11 of Thomas Leonard's 28 Principles of Attraction: create a vacuum which pulls you forward.

Thomas always said that being pulled forward is attractive, but pushing forward is not.

It really is much easier to be pulled forward as opposed to being pushed. I don't like feeling pushed and I'm sure you don't either. If we can create a vacuum that pulls us forward, then we have positioned ourselves for success.

There are many ways in which we can create a vacuum that pulls us forward. One way is to be driven by a vision rather than just a goal. We can all have goals - and certainly should have goals! - but when we can have a vision and see the end result clearly in our minds, we can be pulled forward quicker and easier. The best way to do this is to simply begin with the end in mind. Then hold onto the vision and keep it clearly in your mind's eye. Let the vision pull you forward.

Another way we can create a vacuum that pulls us forward is to surround ourselves with those who bring out the very best in us. When we design our own support team and stay away from negative people as much as possible, we are clearly better set up for success.

Yet another way to create a vacuum to pull us forward is to unhook ourselves from who we were. Rather than focus on who we were we need to focus on who we are right now. Let go of the past and live in the present. By doing this simple thing, we can create a powerful vacuum that will pull us forward.

The point of these principles of attraction is to make us better in all aspects of our lives. Whether we embrace one or two of these principles - or whether we take one each week - the effort of doing something different can be powerful.

If we can create a vacuum which pulls us forward, then we can attract more of everything we want in life.

Deliver Twice What You Promise

This Week with Sara Fitts continues with principle #10 from Thomas Leonard's 28 Principles of Attraction: deliver twice what you promise.


I really like this principle of attraction because it is quite possibly the easiest one to implement as well as the easiest to get immediate results from. It's quite possibly the best advice any of us can use in life as well as in business. Deliver twice what you promise.


Deliver twice what you promise. How can you do this?

1. Cut your promised time in half by getting back to everyone in exactly half the time you originally promised. If I tell you I'll get back to you in an hour, I'll really get back to you in 30 minutes or less. If I tell you a project will take a month, I'll really get it done in 2 weeks.



2. Double your promised results by adding quality, service, and time on task. Customers and clients will absolutely love this because it's like getting a "2 for 1" deal. If I tell you I can help you increase sales by 15%, I'll really help you increase sales by 30%.



3. Arrive early and stay late - in order to get the job done. Never watch the clock to the point where you run out on a client or customer at their expense.



4. Keep your word, and then some. Always add your own brand of value to your customer or client - or your neighbor, for that matter.


5. Consistently exceed people's expectations - as well as your own. Believe in your work and in your ability to deliver.


6. Never limit yourself - or what you can do for others.


7. Be sincere in your delivery. Be authentic - or else it will never work for you.


8. Instead of talking too much and telling too much of what you can do for your customer or client, just do what you can do. Actions really do speak louder than words.


9. Under promise and over deliver - simply for the joy of it. Enjoy what you can deliver - and do it.


10. Stop talking about it and get it done. It's all about the results.

If you really want to attract more of everything you want in life, deliver twice what you promise. It really does work when you are sincere and enjoy what you can deliver for others.

Get a Fulfilling Life, Not Just an Impressive Lifestyle

This Week with Sara Fitts continues with Thomas Leonard's 28 Principles of Attraction. This week we are looking at principle # 9: get a fulfilling life, not just an impressive lifestyle.

It really doesn't matter what car you drive, what designers you wear, what house you live in, where you vacation and how many times you travel in a year. You may have an impressive lifestyle - and that's fine. However, in the bigger scheme of things, all that doesn't matter at all if your life isn't fulfilling.

I believe that there is a huge distinction between living a life and having a lifestyle. The two are often interchanged and some feel are mutually exclusive. Thomas asked the question, "How much of my life is being consumed by my lifestyle?" and I think the question is powerful.

What are you really about? What do you really want to accomplish in your life? What about your life isn't really you at all? Interesting questions that need to be answered if you are going to attract all that you want in life.

Try this exercise - and see what happens.

1. Take an hour and sit in a quiet space and connect with yourself.
2. Write down what your own ideal life would look like.
3. Who would you really be? Where would you be? How would you feel? What would you do?
4. After an hour, stop the exercise. Let some time pass - and go back and read what you wrote. Tweak it as necessary.
5. Start living your ideal life. Don't hesitate.

Remember that a fulfilling life is not about an impressive lifestyle. It's so much more than that!

Much more to come from Sara Fitts......

Become Irresistibly Attractive to Yourself - and Attract More of What You Want

This Week with Sara Fitts continues the focus on attraction with the 8th principle from Thomas Leonard's 28 Principles of Attraction: become irresistibly attractive to yourself.

What does this mean exactly? It means that in order to attract any bit of what we want in life, we must look the part, play the part, feel the part, and be the part. We need to show up as if we already have attracted what we want. We must become irresistibly attractive to ourselves in order to fully attract what we want in life.

How do we become irresistibly attractive to ourselves? The answer, as far as I'm concerned, is this: Whatever it takes to make us feel empowered and 100% engaged in life is what we need to do in order to become irresistibly attractive. It is whatever makes us feel the very best about ourselves.

What makes you feel empowered and engaged? What makes you feel good about yourself? How do you see yourself in your mind's eye when you are feeling your best? Are you 10 pounds lighter? Is your hair a different style, cut or color? Are you wearing clothes that fit in a certain way? Are you smiling? Are you happy? Do you portray your happiness to others? How do you make other people feel when they are around you? Are you positive or negative in your thoughts, words, and actions? Are you irresistibly attractive to yourself?

One of my clients puts this principle in this way: If you were in a crowded room, would you ask yourself out?

I look at it this way: What qualities and attributes are attractive to you? Do you possess these same qualities and attributes?

How can you become irresistibly attractive to yourself? Really think about it - and define what would make you irresistibly attractive to yourself. Then put it into practice.

Become irresistibly attractive to yourself - and attract more of everything you want.