Not getting what you want out of life? Here’s why…

I have a few pet peeves in life – don’t we all?  Like yours, mine are quite simple and quirky – but they are mine.

For instance, I cannot stand it when my kids and dogs step on my feet – they do it chronically and it drives me nuts!  I also can’t stand it when guests plop their butt in a head seat at the dining room table in someone else’s home.  Another favorite peeve of mine is when people don’t RSVP to invitations and then they show up to the event (and sometimes they bring their own guests.  I once saw a picture in someone’s beach home that had a saying on it “Guests of guests may not bring guests” I loved that one).  So you get the point – my peeves (and these are just a few) are stupid – the are little things that are ultimately harmless in the grand scheme of things but they carry big power to “get my goat”.

Well one more of my favorite peeves is that anytime I go out to eat I always ask for lemon with my glass of water or iced tea.  About 75-80% of the time, I don’t get them lemon (at least it seems that way).  When this happens I would usually let it go – until recently…

Let me share with you what happened one innocent Friday afternoon at lunch with my 3 year old daughter.

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How to Accomplish Anything

Stop trying is the answer.

So how is it going with your New Year’s Resolutions?  Here we are – week 3 of the new year and my resolution is going great.  I decided to stop trying anything for 2012 (and for the rest of my life).  Why?  Because trying is a state of mind and it is a trap for losing and aggravation – or as I like to say it in a fancy way (I like to say a lot of things in a fancy way) – willfully engaging in a prolonged struggle that will lead to certain failure.

I learned this from one of my favorite coaches – my 3rd grade son.

He came home from school the other day with his (or should I say OUR) homework.  New for this year, he has to grade his own assignments on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best.  I asked him how he thought he did on his assignments and he said a 3.  I asked him what he thought he could have done to make him feel like he did “4” work.  Surprisingly he had 3 specific things he thought he could have done (I was blown away!).  I asked him that since he knew what he could do to be a 4, if he was going to do 3 or a 4 work with his next assignment.  He said he would try to be a 4.  This struck my coaching chord in me.

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