Here's a great post from Mike Reining.

* Aim for a 1% improvement every single day

That's it! I think all of us could agree that a 1% improvement is something we are capable of.

Well, the power of this is that if you do this every single day, then you will completely transform yourself and your life in less than 1 year.

In fact, if you will be 3,700 times better by the end of this year. This is also why Einstein used to say that "the power of compounding is one of the most powerful forces in the world."

Now, please don't take this example literally. Why?
Because a 3,700 % improvement is impossible! If I could do that, perhaps I could fly. :-) The key idea that I am trying to communicate is this:

* Aim to be better today than you were yesterday

I think gratitude is one of these laws that helps you easily and effortlessly achieve that goal. I think that by being grateful, you are instantly 1% better off every single day than if you forget to express gratitude and the effect after one year will be just as massive.

So, if you have not yet taken a chance to be grateful today, do so now.

http://www.GratitudeLog.com

I'm Flyin' Now

I did it! I know. I said I'd wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but last Wednesday American Airlines put their flights from Austin to Kauai on sale---60% off the regular price. I was stunned and thrilled. I booked through AMEX where I had a $1000 worth of rewards points. Then the topper was that because I had trouble booking online and called AMEX, they gave me $800 off of the the price of the the trip. Aah, waiting until last minute can pay off sometimes. That's hard for a planner like me to admit.

So, we leave 12/29 and come back 1/5. On the 30th, my 60th birthday, we'll be flying all around Kauai in a small plane. Then on New Year's Eve we're going to a luau and then to the beach to watch the fireworks over the water. We've rented a convertible to get around on the island. The hotel is located on the beach and was surprisingly inexpensive. I can't believe after 10 months of waiting I finally know what I'm doing on my 60th birthday.

But what about the profound change I was hoping for during this year? Has it happened? Surprisingly, yes, I believe it has. Not because of anything I have done. It's happened because Barak Obama is now going to be president. The profound change is in me because he won? I have hope again. I realized at the moment the news splashed across my tv screen that for the last 8 years I have been in a funk, a gray haze with not the slightest glimpse of light leading into the future. I've felt a profound sadness deep inside that America had passed its glory days and the future was all downhill from now on. But Obama's unwavering belief that things can be better and that everyone can be part of making it better, his belief that "we can do it," truly gives me hope. Everyday since the election I've gotten up feeling lighter.

I know, not everyone agrees with me on this issue and some may even feel that funk because Obama won. But I have faith that if people just give him a chance, he will lift our spirits and take our country to place of respect in the world again. I believe he has "the right stuff" and will be a great leader.

Winston Chuchill said, "Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was like drinking it." I believe we'll all be "drinking champagne" in the next 4 years.

More Roots

Well, I never made it to see Lucy, my long lost relative from Ethopia. But in the last year I have been tracing my closer family roots. Ancestry.com is an amazing thing. I found two distant cousins who are passionate about geneology too and we have been furiously exchanging information about the Newton family and all the descendents.

Again as I approach my 60th birthday, I'm trying to make dramatic changes in my life. Not to say my life is bad. It certainly isn't, but I feel as though going from 59 to 60 is a passage into, at least mentally, the phase of life called "crone," a phase of wisdom, maturity and spirtuality. In pagan beliefs, I should have gone through that phase at 50, and I guess in many respects I did. But I've also always been a late bloomer. Or maybe, because people live longer now, we can hold off moving into "cronehood" until 60.

With my transition to 60, I've decided to go back to the place of my farthest recorded roots. I'm going to Pennsylvania in October. I hope to plug the gaps in my family history. It will be an interesting journey. I'm going alone. It seems that as we age, it is our destiny to be alone. We come into the world alone and become part of something bigger, but at the end, we go out alone.

But until that day comes for me, well, I say, there's no reason you can't be wise, mature, spiritual and, also, flying down the highway of life at 90 miles an hour with the top down. I bet B B Ellerbeck was at least 60 when he designed the first retractable hardtop car in 1931.

By the way, did I mention we bought a convertible a month ago?

60 is the new 50, and I'm going to live the rest of my life like my pants are on fire. Carolyn C. Martin

My Addiction

I discovered this week that I have addiction. I never knew this. Of course, the "first step" to dealing with any addiction is "acknowledging you are powerless over _________." Well, I'm publicly acknowledging that I am powerless over planning. I feel so compelled to "plan" that I can hardly help myself. I discovered this thing about myself as I have gone through the the last few months with my pending birthday celebration looming over me. My "plan" was to wait until the last minute to "plan" my birthday vacation. This decision was a "plan" to try to have a life changing experience during the year proceeding my 60th birthday.

But I never dreamed my life changing experience would lead to a discovery of addiction. I just can't stand not knowing what I'm going to do for this vacation. Everytime I have a free moment, I find myself trying to find "a cheap flight, vacation etc." I just can't seem to leave it to chance. Of course, the wise thing to do would be to "plan" ahead in order to get the least expensive flights, accommodation, etc. And, my criteria for what it is we will do, is that it can't be expensive. So, I keep thinking, the only thing cheap enough in December will be to somewhere like Alaska, a place where no one would want to go between Christmas and New Years--in the dead of winter.

But I, also, discovered that unconsciously I had a back-up "plan." Tickets to Paris in the winter are very cheap. If all else fails, we'll be in Paris for my birthday and New Years. Who could complain about that? So, like all addicts, I've got a something "stashed" away if I need it. I can get my fix just by reminding myself that I have a back-up plan.

Spontaneity is way overrated and given half a chance I'll stamp it out.
Carolyn Martin

First Things First

So, here's the bottom line. I'm turning 60 in December and I want to celebrate by doing something profoundly life changing. I'm struggling trying to determine what this event will be, but my intuition tells me the journey from deciding what to do and finally doing it is what will cause the profound life change.

Like so many children, I frequently had dreams that I could fly. It was the most amazing feeling. Upon waking, in my child's mind, I believed I could fly and would grab a small blanket, tie it around my neck and run up and down the sidewalk in front of my great-grandmother's house. No amount of logic would have convinced me I wasn't flying. In a child's imagination, I had powers others didn't and could defy gravity. The flying wasn't jet like, but more like floating, swooping, and gliding. I was one of them--one of the butterflies I watched so intently in my great-grandmother's backyard.

On my 60th birthday, somehow, I would like to rediscover the feeling of flight.

An unwritten goal is only a dream. Make your goals a reality by defining them, writing them down, and committing not just to accomplishing the goal, but committing to finding in yourself that thing that will make you stand by your committment even when things get tough.

The Metamorphosis Begins

For those who know me, this is not new information. I am a private-practice psychotherapist in Austin, Texas. I see individuals for a wide range of issues. I also see couples. I do pre-engagement, pre-marital, marital and post-divorce counseling. My area of specialization is issues of infidelity and affairs. The name of my practice is Mariposa Psychotherapy Services. I've been doing counseling and/or psychotherapy since 1986. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT). This means I can do counseling/psychotherapy with anyone for any issue.

The name of my practice is Mariposa because it is Spanish for butterfly. I picked that name because butterflies symbolize change, transformation, and metamorphosis. My goal in doing counseling and psychotherapy with clients is to help them make their desired changes and transform into the best version of themselves and have the most fulfilling and happy life possible.

I also named the practice Mariposa because I have a fascination with butterflies and have had it since I was child watching them live and work in the hollow of a tree in my great-grandmother's back yard.

And because I have this fascination and my practice is named Mariposa, my office is filled with butterfly pictures, specimens, ornaments, pottery, figurines etc.

About 8 years ago, I had an idea for a book, wrote it and then decided I wanted to turn it into a movie script. The premise was based on my experience as a therapist. Though the goal of a therapist is to help their clients change, the process of trying to achieve this goal changes the therapist. I named the book and script, "The Secret Life of a Butterfly." What happened with the book and script could fill many blog entries. Basically the book and script are just sitting, waiting for me to take yet another step to get them into the right hands to be published or made into a movie.

On the issue of change, today I have three offerings from the Dalai Lama
1. "I believe that satisfaction, joy and happiness are the ultimate purposes of life. And the basic sources of happiness are a good heart, compassion and love."
2. "A compassionate state of mind brings inner peace, and therefore a healthier body."
3. "If you harbour ill will, it has a negative impact on yourself. You may lose your appetite and good sleep."

These are encouraging words as I embark on my 2008 goals. I hope they help you too.

Metamorphosis in 2008

This time of year all around the world people are deciding on new goals for the coming year. For me this year has a special significance. In December I turn 60 years old. And as I face that fact, I am struggling with the changes I would like to make in my life. My hopes are that the struggle, like the butterfly struggling to escape the coccon, will make me strong enough to wing my way into my senior years.

Hence, the name of the blog.