The types of things we are willing to spend more money on will vary for each of us (e.g. think gadgets, clothes, car, or entertainment), and this is based on more than just the retail value of the product or service.

For the next 30 seconds, think about the main things you spend the most money on and write a short list. You should be able to come up with 3-5 things pretty easily. Include things that you may not purchase very frequently, but that you spend a fair bit on when you do.

I really encourage you to record them in some way – because there’s a lot this list can tell you!

Dr John Demartini talks about the correlation between what we spend our money on, and what our values are.

For example, I spend quite a bit on cat food/health/wellbeing – which suggests (correctly) that I value my kitties very highly. If you spend a large portion of your income on your accommodation, then that might suggest that anything from security, to location or personal space are top priorities for you. And if holidays are a big annual spend, then that will indicate another of your top values – depending on what a holiday means most to you  (it could be about escape, relaxation, adventure, exploration etc).

So you can start to see some of the insights about what is important to you, and also use it to sanity-check a purchase… “Will this xyz honour the value that I’m buying it for?”

I was also struck by a particular appeal while watching the TEDx video that Gina shared with us a few weeks ago; Adam Baker encouraged us to:

“Start collecting experiences, not things.”

And as I was pondering this today, I realised it provided another clue based on what we spend our money on.

My list looks something like this (in no particular order):

• Cats
• Travel (to Australia, for courses/business)
• Dining out
• Books

And if I add one or two things that seem slightly disproportionate to the rest of my spending, then Starbucks and fine wine probably deserve a place too.

I was quite surprised to find that all of these were actually more about the experiences they give me, than the actual purchases themselves. Travel grants me access to my family, friends and development opportunities. Books give me experiences of escape and learning. Dining out and fine wine give me experiences that anchor me in the moment – I love savouring a mouthful of culinary magic, or the complexity of an aged red (not to mention the usually fine company!). And I confess, Starbucks gives me a whole host of experiences – comfort, belonging, social interaction, a creative environment.

So whilst I do still spend money on other “stuff” – a greater amount of my spending is done on things that I deem to give me valuable experiences.

And it can get even more interesting when we discover that our spending habits highlight values we may not have recognised as top priorities in our lives! Our values heavily influence our decisions – whether we are aware of them or not!

I was pretty surprised to consider the amount I spent on health & wellbeing last year… I certainly valued recovery from injury (mobility, independence, relief from pain) pretty highly!

We can also look at things we dislike or resent spending money on, for clues as to what might fall nearer the bottom of our values list. Whilst there might be some usual suspects, are there any that surprise you?

Perhaps next time you take out your cash or plastic – you might take a moment to think about which value the purchase is affirming for you.

Is it giving you a valuable experience, or is it just more stuff?

It may be arbitrary but the turn of a new year is a perfect opportunity to set a plan for what you want to experience, create, have and do over the next 12 months.

Part of what spurns us on to thinking about our future is the middle of December to early January, for most, is a time where we have time less time at work and spend more time with friends and family. This end of year cycle is a perfect catalyst for reconnecting with what matters most.

But knowing what matters (or what you want to achieve) and making it so are wildly different things.

Having spent a huge portion of my adult life investigating what makes the difference between ‘those who achieve what they want’ and ‘those who try but don’t, or don’t really try at all’, I’ve learnt that 99% of the time it comes down to five factors.

Five factors that are within your control.

1. Clarity

It’s near impossible to succeed when you don’t know what success looks like for you. Most people — not a general statement but a quantifiable one from surveying hundreds of people — have a loose, or vague, or ill-defined outcome they are working so hard for. Check this with yourself: What are you currently working so hard for, putting in lots of time and energy? Do you know what specifically you want to have or feel when you’re done?

Pick one goal or dream or intention you want in your life in 2012 and spend focused time on getting clear and specific on what that final outcome looks like, feels like or does for you.

Clarity is an essential starting point.

2. Conviction and Motivation

Let’s face it, with all the demands in our lives today it is incredibly challenging to stay on track with what you want and not get pulled in dozens of directions from distractions and other people’s requests. That’s life! And it’s your job to keep your most important things front and centre in your life.

Yet even when it’s on our to do list we still need conviction to put in the day-to-day investment – sometimes baby steps and other times giant leaps of faith – to keep working at it.

For your main goals in 2012, strengthen your motivation to make consistent progress. Get clear on WHY you want to do this. Summarise all the benefits you — and those around you — will gain from achieving this goal and reflect on that list on a very regular basis.

3. A plan for inaction

If you’re clear and inspired to take action you still need a plan to get it done. However, you also need to prepare how you’ll respond when things don’t go your way, when you get sidetracked or disillusioned at your results along the way. How will you respond to setbacks? How will you get yourself out of a rut of frustration, procrastination or overwhelm?

Successful goal achievement is not just about taking action but it’s mostly about how to overcome the hurdles along the way.

Here are three sentences worth completing when you sit down and design your action steps:

If I get frustrated with lack of progress, in order to keep going or find a better way I will….

If I find days or weeks passing by without taking any action towards my goals, I can get back on track by….

If I’m really stuck and not sure where to begin, or am overwhelmed by everything I need to do, I can ease my way forward by…

4. Habits of Success

As Aristotle noted long, long ago, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”. Our day-to-day behaviour is largely driven by our habits.

Habits of behaviour, thoughts and feelings. For example, do you have habits that build physical health or erode it? What is your ritual the first moment you turn on your computer at the start of the day – productive work or guilty pleasures?

Your success in the next year is a direct reflection of the balance sheet of your habits — those that serve you in achieving your goals and those that prevent you from getting closer to them.

What habits will you need to create for your big goals? Which habits do you need to eliminate in order to make consistent (and enjoyable) steps towards living the life you want?

5. Be open and seek support from others

You’re not always going to have the answers, the willpower or the energy necessary to take action. No great things are achieved in isolation.

Collaborate with others on solving the problems in your way. Find a quick tip via Google. Get a coach or mentor to help you to navigate to your end destination. Join a like-minded online community to gain ideas and a network of enthusiastic supporters.

For all of your goals, identify a Top 3 list of people, tools or resources you can tap into when you’re stuck or when you simply start to feel your motivation fade. Nip it in the bud and get back on track!

This is where the magic happens. If you fail to address these Big Five you’re likely headed for a year of missed opportunity, frustration or regret. So give yourself the gift of spending quality time thinking – and writing – through all of these. It’s a wonderful way to kick start your year with optimism and vibrancy.

You’ll be hearing a lot more from ActionPodcast on these points in 2012 and we look forward to helping you achieve fun and rewarding success throughout the year.

These often unpleasant and uncomfortable parts of our life can attract a lot of our attention. They can absorb a lot of our energy and take us away from other things that are more rewarding, important and fulfilling.

Perhaps recently you’ve been spending an extraordinary amount of your time on a problem.

How can you tell if it’s just a symptom you’ve been focusing on?

But what if the attention you’re giving it is misguided?

What if your energy is being wasted?

What if the solution you’re after can’t be found where you’re looking.

What if the problem you see isn’t the problem after all?

One of the great skills of excellent problem solvers is being able to properly identify, and put their focus on, the RIGHT PROBLEM.

More specifically, it’s the ability to separate the symptoms from the cause.

I’m talking about being skilled at identifying the ROOT PROBLEM (or the root of the problem).

When you can identify the root of the issue – the source of all the troublesome symptoms that are showing up – you set yourself up for quicker, easier and more effective solutions.

How can you tell if it’s just a symptom you’ve been focusing on?

One clue is that symptoms often show up as the behaviour. For example, you do something that you’re not pleased with (….like skipping exercise or eating junk), or a colleague is regularly irritable or late for meetings.

What you see is the behaviour yet the root cause of the bad behaviour is usually underlying emotions or thoughts such as fear, anxiety, or habit that’s developed over time to name just a few.

A second clue is the problem keeps recurring. This means something that never seems to be resolved such as a body ache that won’t go away, or an ongoing argument with your spouse. If it is a recurring issue, you’ve likely been addressing the symptoms, not the root.

The next time you find yourself needing to deal with a problem, approach it with a different perspective than you have in the past. Or if you’re currently in the middle of a troubling situation, try to separate the symptoms from the root cause.

Get curious on whether what you THINK is the problem, is the real problem.

Question whether there is something more fundamental underlying the behaviour that you witness.

The more you do this to begin with, the greater your skill will become at developing lasting solutions in less time with less effort.

And then you’ll have more energy to put into the things that really matter and fulfill you.

Do you have a problem you’re currently facing? How has this changed your approach. How can we help you identify a new solution? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Today, I’ve been out-of-sorts (or crabbit, as they call it up here!) all day, feeling lethargic and even a bit nauseous… not to mention having trouble concentrating. Why? Largely because I chose to ignore what my body was telling me during the last 24hrs.

Firstly, I was thirsty much of yesterday, yet only managed to drink about 3 glasses of water despite my dry mouth and deep sense of craving. Secondly, I went to bed late even though I was tired and then felt knackered when I awoke in spite of the 9hrs sleep I’d had. And thirdly, I ate a big slab of baked Camembert for lunch rather than finding myself something decent to eat.

We can probably all relate to self-inflicted late nights, over-indulgence and dehydration at times, so what is so significant about this? Basically, because I know better than to do this to myself. Why? Because my body told me so, and has done on many occasions!

I know from past experience that if I am not asleep by about 11pm, then it doesn’t matter how many hours I get, I’ll still wake feeling tired and poorly-rested. I also know that when I am thirsty, I sometimes confuse water cravings for sugar ones… which leaves me feeling doubly bad (because I don’t drink enough water to wash all the sugar out of my system). And I certainly know that when I have dairy these days, I tend to feel sick afterwards – no matter how much I enjoyed it at the time.

I know these things, because my body has repeatedly given me messages confirming them – particularly when I forget myself and decide to splurge with a late night, lots of chocolate or anything creamy! My body is infinitely patient, and despite my continued mistakes, it simply keeps reminding me that I’m not listening.

But the cost is much more than just feeling crabbit all day.

I haven’t taken some of the actions I’d had planned for today to progress my big goals. I have minimised my chance of feeling refreshed and well-rested come the end of the weekend, and will probably find Monday morning more of a struggle because of this. And I also feel guilty, because deep down, I know this is not how my body deserves to be treated.

On top of that, I’ve also re-enforced some of the bad habits I’ve been working to shift – equivalently undoing some of the good work achieved previously. So how can we tune in to our body wisdom to better effect?

Here are a couple of things to try:

• Simply take a few moments to notice how you physically feel after you eat or drink something. Do you feel good? Lethargic? Refreshed? Unwell?
• Likewise, when you wake in the morning how do you feel? Are you ready to bound out of bed? Feeling like you need another night’s rest? Stressed because you’ve hit the snooze button a few times without realising?
• How do you feel at the end of the day, and what were your activity levels? Were you sedentary for most of the day (at a desk, pc or driving etc)? Did you get your body moving with some exercise?
• Use trial-and-error to check how your body reacts to differences in your diet, exercise or sleep patterns. What seems to work best for you?
• Try picking just one thing that works well for you, and persist with it for a while. What differences do you notice? And how do you feel if you ignore the magic of your body wisdom by reverting to an old habit or choice?

Whilst it is best to start with just one thing, rather than trying to overhaul all your physical routines at the one time, do notice what happens when you choose the “wrong” thing… because often one bad choice where we ignore our body wisdom seems to lead to multiple bad choices, and they compound to leave us feeling even worse!

Once we’ve started building our awareness of the messages our body tries to send us, we can start paying more attention to other things like our “gut instinct”, and even our reactions to situations or specific people. There’s an infinite amount of wisdom within our millions of cells just waiting for us to start listening to it!

Leave a comment below and share with us one message that your body repeatedly tries to send you, and what impact it has when you choose to ignore the wisdom! Enjoy the process of becoming more body aware!

Have you recently started something new, or been hesitating from taking the plunge?

Paul & Sam explore different ways of dealing with the teething pains of trying a new challenge, and how you can let them be helpful rather than harmful. Take your pick of perspective shifts to either motivate, strengthen or sign-post you along the way!

Our society seems to relentlessly push us to want more and need more. “Do more with less” is a common mantra in today’s businesses, cutbacks in staff means to continue on the path of ‘getting ahead’ you simply need to put your head down, nose to the grindstone and work harder. All in the name of more. However, there is another side.

If you surveyed a group of people, and asked them for one word that describes success, they will come up with terms such as (examples in brackets):

• Progress (taking steps towards, see/feel improvement)
• Achieve (promotion, salary rise, award)
• Gain (knowledge, skills, health)
• Grow (confidence, talents, relationships)
• Acquire (insights, partnerships, tools)

Any of those terms could apply to your health, finances, spirituality, business or career, and relationships. “If it’s not growing, it’s dying” as the saying goes.

All of those points are true, accurate, and an important part of any success equation. But there is an equally important, equally powerful yet commonly overlooked part of the success equation.

Often, on our road to our own success, we reach a point where not only do we need to continue to acquire, but we also need to let go.

The flip side of the terms listed above are all incredibly important for you to continue on your journey to fulfilment and satisfaction:

• Release
• Relinquish
• Let go
• Leave
• Die

You got to where you are by all your actions, attitudes, beliefs and values you’ve adopted over the years. However, to get to where you want to go and be in your life, sometimes (…more than you realise) you need to let some things die.

For example, beliefs that no longer serve you, habits that hold you back, relationships that prevent your progress.

By embracing the ‘letting go’ side of success and deciding what you no longer need to hold on to in order to achieve your ambitions and desires, you will be liberated.

Take the following 3-minute audit now and decide what you should let go of today, in order to truly fulfil your potential, achieve your goals, or simply make a bit more progress every day.

Think of one area of your life where you are striving for more success than you are currently experiencing. Here are seven questions to help you to take action now:

• What is holding you back from making more progress, quicker progress, easier progress?
• What are your beliefs about what it takes to make the progress you want?
• Are all those beliefs true? Are you sure?
• What are your daily habits that might feel good or helpful in some way but don’t fully allow you to make the progress you want?
• What is more important to you—making progress towards your goals, or staying where you are?
• What is more risky for your long term success and fulfilment—moving forward despite the fear or feelings of discomfort, or staying trapped in your comfort zone?
• What is one thing you no longer need to have (extra plate of food?), do (constantly multi-task?), or be (a worrier?) in order to achieve your outcome?

Answer those questions now and it will become clear what you need to leave behind in order to really achieve the level of success you desire…and the success you deserve.

Leave a comment below to let us know what you’d like to let go, or where you’d like some additional suggestions on how to make this part of the success equation work for you.

Our minds are much like our homes.  They both get cluttered. They fill up with bits and bobs we no longer want or need. Both benefit from a regular cleaning out of stuff that we collected for one reason, and are holding onto out of habit, neglect, or just delusion it’s still the right thing to do.

Getting rid of old habits, procrastination or negative emotions, and replacing them with a fresh perspective and renewed optimism, is a great way to re-energise yourself and put a bounce in your step.

Here are simple suggestions to spring clean your life and mind.

Mind

Most clutter of the mind comes from a) losing sight of what is most important b) trying to mentally juggle too much. If you find yourself distracted on a regular basis and doing lots of things but not getting much accomplished, take a 30 to 60-minute time out to reset your inner compass on what is most important to you.

Action: Reflect on your goals for the year or what outcomes you really want to create in your life for the next week or month. Eliminate or delegate anything that isn’t a top priority.

Action: If you find your mind overloaded with too many things to remember, start each day with a pen and paper. Our brains are incredibly powerful, but very poor at organisation. Get back to basics and once you see all the items on paper you can make better choices on where to put your focus, attention and appreciation.

Relationships

What relationship have you neglected the past few months? Give it a polish and freshen the air around it. Is it a friendship you’ve gone too long without being in touch? A partner you haven’t spent enough positive and loving time with? Don’t worry if it’s been too long, now is the time to revive it and they will greatly appreciate the gesture.

Action: Decide to get in touch or make extra special plans to add shine to your relationship once again.

Emotions

What negative emotion have you been clinging to for too long now? What fear, stress, anxiety, worry, frustration, hatred is no longer serving you? We adopt these emotions because in some way they helped us. Perhaps to protect us from an illusion of greater pain ahead. But time has passed and it’s no longer contributing to your life and is likely contaminating it.

Action: Choose one negative emotion that is polluting your mind and body and decide to let it go. Replace that with something positive and make more room for happiness.

We’d love to hear your additional tips and ideas for spring cleaning your mind and body. Please leave a comment to share with other readers, and let us know what you will do to freshen up this spring.

What you do in the first 20 minutes can set you up for a great day…or an unfulfilled day. Are you aware of your morning habits?

In this podcast Paul and Chris discuss how to create powerful morning habits and ways to overcome the negative habits that you no longer want. Both of which can have a dramatic influence on your daily success.