2709, 2011

30 things before 30 !!!

By |September 27th, 2011|A Life That Counts, Dare to Dream|2 Comments

I was out celebrating a good friends birthday the other night and we got to talking about one of my most popular blogs – my bucket list ! I’d just ticked something off it – getting my first ever tube surfing. My friend Vanessa had just had the idea to write her own version of a bucket list – 30 things to do before she’s 30 !

My challenge to Ness was to write her list and put it out there in the public space on my blog for all to see  – to inspire others but also make herself accountable to it by doing so. So … over to you Ness … I’m proud of you and it’s an honour to have this on my blog …

“Often we have great intensions and goals for ourselves, yet they tend to go unrealised when juggling life’s web of professional and social commitments.

Since the age of 9, I have always kept a journal and have often penned lists of goals I have wanted to achieve for myself – namely in the cooking (I’m terrible) and fitness department.

Having recently celebrated my 29th Birthday, I have decided to set the personal challenge of achieving 30 goals before I turn 30!

While being limited by finances (please refer to Goal 18) many of my goals have repeatedly featured in a number of my journals over the years…I am hoping by putting my list out into the public domain, this will be the ignition I need to achieve many long-outstanding personal goals and interests.

So without further ado – here’s to a cracking 29th year!

1.     Go camping for the first time in my life – yeeeha!

2.     Run a half marathon

3.     Take cooking classes to improve skills and confidence in the old kitchen

4.     Cook and host a three-course dinner party for ten (shivers…)

5.     Take up paddle boarding and tennis

6.     Write a letter once a fortnight to a close friend or rello

7.     Be the fittest and healthiest I have ever been – including doing at least 30 mins of exercise every day

8.     Return to Cambodia with Tim

9.     Change all four tyres on my car, oil and air filter (never been attempted)

10. Read 15 books, starting with Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities”

11. Book a weekend away with Tim and close friends and absolutely indulge in good wine, cheese and their fabulous company

12. Learn to scuba dive

13. Complete an artwork that I’d been happy to hang on our lounge room wall

14. Drive the Great Ocean Road

15. Proudly stand by my sister as she marries her best friend & life partner

16. Accept that every day I am doing my best  – be calm, breathe and be aware that God’s work is at hand

17. Go to church regularly

18. Be in a position to purchase a home for the Birch family

19. Volunteer once a month (Streetlevel, with kids or oldies)

20. Be more aware and alert of my environmental impact and make smart choices regarding the products I purchase & consume

21. Do a public speaking course and speak in front of 100 + people

22. Get in the car and just drive away for the weekend, no plans, just go on a road trip to the great unknown (possibly tie in with No.1)

23. Plant a herb garden and enjoy the fruits of my labour (extremely poor track record)

24.  Learn how to play a song on the guitar

25. Complete our 2009 Honeymoon coffee table book / album

26.  Once a month see Sydney through the eyes of a tourist and get out & about on small adventures (art galleries, exhibitions, free festivals)

27. Stop biting my fingernails once and for all!

28. Stand up on a surf board and attempt to ride a wave

29. Always be open to give of my time, support and finances to those in need

30.  Host a kick arse 30th Birthday Party!

A Final Thought
I trust you’re inspired and those creative juices are flowing for your own list. And here’s the thing with going after your dreams. Let’s say Vanessa ticks off only 20 of the things on her ‘bucket’ list and not all 30. Does it matter ? Isn’t she better off regardless ? Hasn’t she had one hell of a ride doing them ? Hasn’t it led to her having an adventurous and purposeful year doing the things she loves and has always wanted to do ?
It’s the same with your own dreams. Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you DIDN’T do than by the things you did. So go after them and approach life in the same manner – without regret.
You’re better off regardless, you live life without regret, and heck … what if they come true ?

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2009, 2011

Are you asking the right questions ?

By |September 20th, 2011|Miscellaneous|0 Comments

You may have heard the expression “If you ask a good question, you’ll get a good answer”. Well, with that in mind, guest blogger Tim Birch once again offers some great advice, wisdom and challenge for us around this topic. Over to you Tim …

Questions can be a powerful motivator if asked in the right way, context and by the right person…namely you!

The ability to ask the right questions of yourself when faced with challenging situations or when you require extra motivation, help you add the necessary layers of confidence that you need to propel you closer to your goals and dreams. If you’re able to ask courageous questions that cause you to then take positive action it will further reinforce your ability to achieve your desired outcome.

For example, questions are great at interrupting your thinking pattern and get you to focus on what matters. They also help filter the information in your environment; what you take notice of and what you ignore. Asking the right questions can also dramatically change the meaning you give to any experience and can cause a change in perception; ‘What can I take away from experience that will help me grow into the person I want to be?’

Here are four types of questions you can use in your own life:

1.       Questions that focus your mind on solutions and get us to consider options: ‘What are five ways to solve this?’ or ‘Who else has done this and what can I learn from them?’

2.       Questions that get us to take action: ‘What must I do right now to get the result I want?’ or ‘What is the cost to me not taking action right now?’

3.       Questions that get us to take responsibility: ‘What can I do about this situation to turn it around?’ or ‘Who can I speak to in order to achieve the desired action?’

4.       Any question that changes how we feel about an experience: ‘How can I learn from this?’ or ‘How will this make me stronger?’

Challenge: Remember, the deeper your level of self-questioning, the greater depths of self-awareness you’ll have to convert into actions. So what questions will you ask of yourself today?

‘Some men see things and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).

ACKNOWLEGDEMENT: The context of this post was taken from an extremely well-written and powerful book, ‘How To Take Control Of Your Brain’, by George Lee Sye…well worth a read!

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1309, 2011

How bad do you want it ?

By |September 13th, 2011|Action, Motivation|0 Comments

Today I have invited a good mate of mine Tim Birch to write the weekly blog. Tim is an inspirational guy and one of those good guys all-round. In many ways we’re cut out of the same stone and we often trade quotes or videos or thoughts. That was why, as expected,  I knew he’d come up with something inspiring and challenging. Over to you Tim …

“How often does ‘life’ get in the way of our best laid plans and intentions? So often the things we know we want to achieve get pushed further and further away due to the circumstance we let limit us…

I say ‘let’ because there is always a choice. A choice to say ‘Yes, I’m getting up when the alarm sounds to take a step in achieving my dream’, or ‘Yes, I’ll spend my weekend focussing on my studies’. The alternatives to these two scenarios may be staying in the warm, cosy bed or heading out to see friends for dinner…but at what cost.

You need to make your goals and dreams mean something and often it is only when these things seem like they will be taken from us that we start to really fight for what we want.

The below clip illustrates that, “when you want to succeed, as bad as you want to breath, only then will you be able to succeed”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowB5wNPvWQ&feature=player_embedded

Don’t tell me how bad you want to succeed.  Get up each day and show me.  No one will remember you for what you planned to accomplish in life.  You will only be remembered for what you actually did.

My challenge – What will you do today ?

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809, 2011

It is more blessed to give than to receive

By |September 8th, 2011|Miscellaneous|Comments Off on It is more blessed to give than to receive

We have so much STUFF ! And so much that we don’t use or don’t need. Do we really need that extra gagdet, that extra dish or kitchen utensil, that next toy, more wine …

I have tried to start a tradition in our family at Christmas that we  don’t waste money buying each other big presents that we don’t need but instead put money in to buy someone else less fortunate a present that they will truly value. We are so blessed after all. So after reading an inspiring post of Sarah Wilson’s recently I thought I’d share a thought. Why not buy an inspired gift.

Basically, you buy a gift for someone that goes to someone else in need. A goat. Or a bike! I do this at Christmas. Do you really need another toaster ? Does someone else at the wedding need another bowl ? Are there people in serious need in the world ? Are you blessed ? … then here’s a smart, easy way to bless others. (There’s lots of organisations that do this – Unicef, Oxfam, Childfund to name a few).

Here’s a few of my  favourite gifts:

  • A Bike: $87. UNICEF has found that in some parts of the world a bike is one of the most important modes of transport for villages. It is particularly helpful for health workers to reach vulnerable children in remote communities. It is often used to transport other Inspired Gifts like the vaccine carrier.
  • Measles vaccines: $31 will protect 100 children from measles.
  • Family water kit: $127
  • Goat: Sarah tells the hilarious story of wondering how the goat she and her family gave at Christmas was going and of writing “sponsor letter” from the goat and posteding it six months later…”thank you for my life, milking time is always fun”…). Hilarious !

Here’s what others’ gift-giving antics delivered around the world last year:

So my challenge today … consider giving an inspired gift. After all, it is more blessed to give than receive and in any case … the fragrance of the rose always stays in the hand of the giver !!!

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