Now is not the time to think about what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. Ernest Hemingway.

How many times have you caught yourself saying, “I can’t believe how fast time is going.”

Of all our possessions, aside from good health, of course, time is the most precious. When it’s gone, it’s gone. As far as I know, nobody  has ever reported back.

The demands on our time are unending. If ever there was an occasion to re-evaluate how we’re spending our days it is now.

I was reminded recently of these thoughts when I came across a wonderful poem, Slow Dance, written by David Weatherford.

When time allows…catch your breath, stop for a few minutes and read it.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask: How are you? Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won’t last.

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die?
Cause you never had time to call and say hi?

You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurray through your day,
it is like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race, do take it slower.
Hear the music before the song is over.

                                     ______________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

I hope to see you back here again.

As always, thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you searching for a way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need someone with whom you could do some positive, strategic thinking and refresh your spirit to help get to your next objective?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

So often it happens that we live out our lives in chains and we never know we have the key. From the song, Already Gone, by the Eagles.

Growing is a very much a creative process. Growing takes the willingness to take risks stand up each time you stumble… one step forward, two steps back. Repeat.

The process varies by individual and goes at their individual speed, depending on their circumstances.

Here are five suggestions to get you started:

1. Be open-minded and ever curious. Work on developing and nurturing your ability  to change your mind as you come upon each new and experience.

2. Be empathic – willing to step into the shoes of those whose lives are vastly different from yours. You can never understand the reality of others unless you have had a taste of it yourself.

3. Strive to make a difference – doing your best to better yours and other’s circumstances.

4. Live more simply – keep all the extraneous ‘stuff’ in perspective.

5. Expand your social circle – one of the best ways to challenge your assumptions and prejudices and develop new ways of looking at the world is to  surround yourself with those whose lives and lifestyles differ from yours, rather than hanging around with people who share your world view and your place in it. You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.

Wonder where to start? Ask your way to success. Seek out other’s advice, ideas and opinions.

One thing will lead to the next and before you know it you’ll probably be on a path you’ve never walked before.

It’s amazing how life goes. Go out and live yours.

                              ______________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

As always, thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you searching for a way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need someone with whom you could do some positive, strategic thinking and refresh your spirit to help you make it all happen?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T.S. Eliot.

We all need to grow. The process of personal growth is part of humankind’s DNA. We are hard-wired to be curious, always hungry for more.

But it isn’t our aspirations or goals that count. It’s the action of striving to reach them that lies at the heart of the process of growing.

That’s where the excitement lies. That’s because the action of striving is a creative, albeit challenging activity.

When you are growing, you’re full of energy. One advancing step flows effortlessly, seamlessly into another. The ensuing sense of accomplishment propels you ever farther ahead, from one achievement to the next.

On the other hand, if you stop growing, inevitably your life begins to diminish. You become stale and dull. Your sense of agency stalls. Worst of all, your courage gets thinner and you start to doubt your own abilities and personal worth, sometimes without even being aware of it. The joy who used to experience soon gives way to enervating doubt and your horizons start to narrow.

Could you have you stopped growing?

Ask yourself these five questions:

1. Am I being honest with myself about the direction of my life?
2. Am I proud of myself?
3. What value am I bringing – to my relationships, my work, and any other areas where I need to show up and contribute?
4. Am I living up to my full potential or resting on my laurels?
5. Is what I’m doing right now moving me a way from or towards my highest aspirations?

These are tough questions. It takes a brave heart not only to address them but to keep searching for the solution(s), especially in today’s crazy, demanding environment.

The good news news, though, is that boosting your spirits and keeping your wits about you is a learned process. If you feel you may have stopped growing, join me in my next post later this week to learn more about the process. Over to you…

                              ______________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

As always, thank you for reading me.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you searching for a way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need someone with whom you could do some positive, strategic thinking and refresh your spirit to help you make it all happen?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Never for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions. Dag Hammarskjoid.

Everywhere change is in the air. The challenges are many but so are the opportunities for those willing to take risks and put themselves out there.

If you’re seriously thinking about making a change – and are clear in your mind about what you want to do, here are three questions to ask yourself. There are many more, of course, but these will get you started:

1. How well have you planned?
2. What actions do you need to take to make the change?
3. Are you willing to step outside your comfort zone and do the hard work required?

Seriously is the operative word here. Stepping outside your comfort zone takes courage, discipline and more faith in yourself than you ever imagined you had.

Listening to your heart, stepping up your game and slipping the bounds of convention will take time (longer than you thought) and it won’t be easy, but who ever promised you easy?

It’s your call.

Are you ready?

______________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

As always, thank you for reading me.

I hope to see you here again soon.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you searching for a way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need someone with whom you could do some positive, strategic thinking and refresh your spirit to help you make it all happen?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions. Chinese proverb.

In our world that just keeps getting more daunting and fiercely competitive, vying to live on your terms, however you see them, the pressure is enormous. Staying with the status quo just isn’t an option, not if you are still hungry.

Perhaps it might even be a time to do something you’ve never done before. Without even knowing where it might lead.

Sometimes, if you want to lead the orchestra, you may have to turn your back on the audience

______________________________

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay engaged.

As always, thank you for reading me.

I hope to see you here again soon.

3 QUESTIONS: Are you questioning your current life situation, wondering if you have it all right? Are you an entrepreneur searching for a way to be the best version of yourself you can be?

Need someone with whom you could do some positive, strategic thinking and refresh your spirit to help you make it all happen?

Read my approach to coaching. For A COMPLIMENTARY, CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION text/call me at 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.