Welcome to the Fulfillment@Work Newsletter
Published by Joel Garfinkle, Dream Job Coaching
ISSN: 1533-3906

Contents

1. Creating Calmness
2. Quotes of the Week
3. Tip of the Week
4. We Recommend

Feature Article
Top 10 Ways To Create Calmness In Your Day

This is a Top 10 that was published in this ezine a few months ago. It received such a positive response that I am reprinting it here to kick off this month's theme of bringing more balance to your life.

Learning how to create more calmness in your day so your life feels more peaceful is something that most of us would love to do. Many of you live busy, successful lives and it's hard to find a sense of calmness during your day. You are feeling stressed out and overwhelmed due to the high expectations you have to yourself, your employer, family and friends.

What you want to do is to move from being stressed out and overwhelmed to a sense of calm and peace during your day. Here are some ways that will help you in creating calmness in your day:

1. Lower Your Expectations
Lighten up on yourself. Most of you set your expectations too high in both your work and home life. Lowering your expectations can give you a sense of space to help you feel more calm. Don't lower your standards...just be more gentle in your expectations of yourself. For example, if it takes you three days to accomplish a task, give yourself five.

2. Narrow Your Focus
You might have three, five, ten or more things on your mind all clamoring for your attention. Your focus is scattered and you feel stress. Choose one task and do it slowly to completion. Feel the calmness that comes from focusing on one task or item at a time.

3. Underpromise, overdeliver
Promise far less than you know you can do or less than the person is asking you to do. Reduce expectations and allow yourself more freedom. The freedom you give yourself can allow your creativity to be stimulated and you can deliver a better product, idea, presentation, dinner, activity, etc.. People will be amazed at your improvement and you will have more calmness in your life.

4. Have a beginning and ending ceremony for the day
You may start the day rushing out of bed, rushing to work or school, rushing home again at the end of the day to collapse in bed again. Try beginning your day and ending it focused on calmness & serenity. Wake a few minutes early to meditate, walk, journal or read. Begin the day not in chaos but in a calm, focused state of mind. Gather your thoughts and plan your day. At the end of your day, again, have an ending ritual. Read or journal, take a bubble bath, garden - any calming, centering activity to allow your mind to relax and recuperate from the day's activities and enter sleep in a restful state.

5. Create calming rituals throughout the day
During the day, have a calm time ritual that you use to transition from one activity to another. For example, as I get into my car to leave home, I take three breaths. Before I walk into my office, I walk slowly and calmly. When I leave again at the end of the day, I take some more breaths. This ritual helps me prepare for each activity and I gain more compassion for the driven side of myself and appreciation for the calm side.

6. Delegate tasks
You don't have to do it all yourself. Delegate various tasks throughout the day and not only will you feel more calmness from having less to do, you will feel better at having more time to focus on the activities that you enjoy the most and do the best. Assign chores to each family member, hire an assistant, find a cleaning service - there are many ways to take the load of total responsibility from your shoulders.

7. Create a Pleasant Environment
The environment in which you live and work contributes to your sense of calmness or lack thereof. Make sure that the place in which you're spending a majority of your time is soothing and calming. If you're in an office all day, make sure there are plants around, the lighting is good and you have personal mementos around you. Get an ergonomic keyboard and proper seating so that your body is not unnecessarily stressed or in pain. If you're at home most of the time, clear out clutter and make sure that your decorating reflects your personality and is calming. Soothing music or a noise machine can also help to contribute to environmental calmness.

8. Be aware of your environmental habit energy
An environmental habit energy is something you've done over and over again. It's difficult to change this energy force because it's something you've done that way for such an extended period of time. Examples of workplace environmental habit energies are over-promising and over-committing. Identify what environmental habit energies you have that are positive and negative. Work to use the positive energies and to eliminate the negative ones.

9. Fuel Your Body Food is fuel for our bodies.
Just like cars, if they aren't fueled properly, they won't work properly. Think of how you feel when you haven't eaten in a while. You become disoriented, short-tempered, dizzy, etc. Your focus is lost and you feel a great deal of stress. If you eat small, healthy meals throughout the day, your blood sugar level will remain steadier and your ability to focus and deal with your day in a calm manner will increase. Water is another important component. Your body and brain both need to be well hydrated in order to function at their top level. When you take care of the physical needs of your body, you can think better, make better decisions and not allow minor stresses to become major ones.

10. Count Your Blessings
Make a list - in your mind or on paper - of all the positive things that are a part of your life. Focusing on positives instead of negatives will make your mind calmer as you realize that the blessings greatly outnumber the negatives and your life is unfolding exactly as it should be. When you feel overwhelmed and out of control, stop, take a breath and make yourself list at least 5 blessings/positives in your life. Take a moment to reflect on those things and to cherish them. Then return to your work refreshed & renewed.

If you want to learn how to Find Your Dream Job, click here:
http://www.dreamjobcoaching.com/coaching-overview.html

If you want to learn about Executive Coaching, visit:
http://www.GarfinkleExecutiveCoaching.com

~ Joel Garfinkle
Dream Job Coaching:
Live Your Dream Life!

Quotes of the Week

"I have so much to do today, that I must meditate twice as long."
~ Mahatma Ghandi

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen."
~ Leonardo Da Vinci

"Get away from the crowd when you can. Keep yourself to yourself, if only for a few hours daily."
~ Arthur Brisbane

Tip of the Week

Create an attractive workspace to help you feel calmer, more balanced and more centered. Bring photos of loved ones, pictures/prints that you love, plants or flowers to add life and color. If you have your own office or work at home, consider painting or wallpapering the walls. Consult a decorator, Feng Shui consultant or friend with an eye for design. Make sure you have lots of light and your chair is ergonomic and comfortable.

We Recommend

The official website of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Find professional help to help you conquer clutter and get organized and have more time to relax and enjoy your life! http://www.napo.net

FREE content for you

Nationally published articles that you can FREELY use as content for your websites, newsletters, and publications.

Website LINK EXCHANGE program!

Would you like to exchange website links with Dream Job Coaching? Just visit our link exchange page.

Coaching Services

Joel Garfinkle is available for coaching. Send him an email at joel@dreamjobcoach.com or call (510) 339-3201.

----------------------------

Copyright 1998-2006, Joel Garfinkle, all rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute DreamsWork so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached.