Nothing builds self-esteem and self confidence like accomplishment. Thomas Carlyle.

The challenges of the New Year are coming back into focus. Time to put away the proverbial New Year’s lists of resolutions and jump back into the game again.

Before you do, though, as you are heading back on to the field, here’s one more list with some admonitions to keep in mind.

Whether you are resolved to step up your game or start a new one, the items on this list aren’t new or original but they will play a big role in your success:

1.   Get fit – eat healthy, exercise right and get enough sleep.
2.   Show more kindness and respect. It’s not just about you.
3.   Choose to be positive. Don’t listen to the pessimists.
4.   Keep social media in perspective. Each day only has 24 hours.
5.   Search out and cultivate new opportunities. Continually.
6.   Fend off thoughts about the past.  It’s today that counts.
7.   Be the best at what you do.

The only edge you have that really separates you from your competition is you.

Need to step up your game and could use a down-to-earth, experienced coach? Like me to speak to your group? We could chat. I am easily reachable. Text/call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com

Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right. Oprah Winfrey.

Leave it to Oprah to put an optimistic spin on it.

Optimism isn’t always fashionable, I know. Particularly this past year. Cynicism is endemic. If we were to believe what we read on our screens and in print, the times are truly challenging, to say the least.

But Oprah isn’t alone. In spite of the cynics and pessimists, there are good things going on all around us and much for which we can be thankful.

There are countless people, quietly doing their best everyday for themselves and others, refusing to give into exclusiveness, greed and selfishness.

They make an active choice to stand up what for they believe in and continue to work towards a better world.

Not blindly, but rather with a hard-earned optimism, they embrace the new year and celebrate another chance to get it right.

In that vein, I wish you a happy New Year… and all the best in 2018.

And those new plans you have in mind? There isn’t a better time . Go for it!

Need some street-savvy marketing assistance with those new plans? We could talk. Like me to speak to your group? I am easily reachable. Text/call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com

The holiest of holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; the secret anniversaries of the heart. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow.

It’s that time of year again. For a few days at least, people stop their frenetic pace and take time out to gather with family and friends, to share a meal and gifts and to express feelings of gratitude, love and hope.

In our global, interconnected village, however or wherever the greetings and wishes are conveyed, or in whatever language, as the old year winds down and a new one beckons, the message is as universal and timeless as this medieval Celtic blessing:

May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your door and happiness be guided to your home by the candle of Christmas. And in the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship and never in want.

My best wishes to you and all whom you hold dear. All the best in the New Year.

This is the last post of 2017. Please join me again the first week in January and watch for some exciting  new developments.

Thinking about starting out in a new direction in the New Year? Need some pointers? Like me to speak to your group? I am easily reachable. Text/call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. Maya Angelou.

Gratitude is the inward feeling of a kindness received. Thankfulness is the action of expressing your feelings for the kindness shown you.

Living gratefully is an important link to those qualities of heart and mind which tend to lend themselves to simplicity and sustainable motivation in an ever-changing, fractious world.

Developing an attitude of gratitude for what you have rather than what you don’t can unlock the fullness of life, bringing with it a sense of peace and equanimity.

Simple acts of kindness such as lending a helping hand to someone less fortunate or aiding a group of people in distress, or even something as small as flashing a smile to a stranger can have a positive effect on our long term moods.

Developing an attitude of gratitude for everything that happens to you, knowing that everything in life is an experience to learn from and grow more, is a step forward to achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.

Something, indeed, for which to offer a heart felt thank you, especially at this time of year.

Hmmm…

Thinking about starting out in a new direction in the New Year? Need some pointers? Like me to speak to your group? I am easily reachable. Text/call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com

In today’s market place, creativity is the key to building and sustaining any type of viable business.

That means working in a new space – reliant not only on your linear, metric-driven left brain side, nor with an over emphasis on the creative, right brain side, but in using both in tandem.

It’s all about listening to your intuition and then taking the practical information and filtering it through both sides to a new space, between the two spheres.

It’s here where you are at your best – following your hunches, but also using your smarts and your experience to bring your work to successful fruition. It isn’t always easy. Don’t be discouraged. Few of us are Mozarts. Inevitably it is a trial and error process that can take time.

Here are three tips to help get you there:

1. Think outside the proverbial box. That’s where the status quo isn’t.
2. Focus on a bigger future even though you can’t always see it.
3. Play the game of life with joy. Life is a very special when you approach it as a splendid gift and a once-in-a-life time adventure.

Stay strong. Life sparkles and you’ll find yourself totally engaged when you are working in the magic middle space.

Thinking about starting out in a new direction in the New Year? Need some help finding your magic middle space? Like me to speak to your group? I am easily reachable. Text/call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com