How does your Narrative play out? Does your Story serve you? How can you start this week with a new story?
Nature vs. Nurture
Blog from above the Palm trees…Still looking for more contributors for my upcoming Adoption book, if you are interested please just send me an email to Annie@AnnieMeehan.com with the word Adoption in the subject line……On to the Blog Nature vs. Nurture
I’ve always been so fascinated by the nature versus nurture conversation. As a birth mother with adoption as part of my story, I’m typically very curious to see how things play out.
When adoptees reunite, they discover so many things they have in common with the other person even though they’ve never been a part of each other’s lives. Then, on the other hand, many kids who grow up in the same home with the same parents end up being so much different.
As you know, I speak a lot about choices which has always led me to wonder is it more about personality, family, or choice? When it comes down to it, should we place the blame of our successes and failures on another person, or ourselves?
As I meet more people I’m starting to notice, no matter how they were raised, that a majority place credit, or blame, on their mother rather than anyone else or themselves for their successes and failures in life.
The most heartwarming to me is when I meet someone with a powerful, maybe even painful story who now has an abundance of hope and healing in their life. It can be astonishing to meet someone who has taken total responsibility for getting themselves to where they are now.
No one else made it happen for them. They decided to focus on what they had versus what they were lacking and chose to remake an incredible life for themselves. The more stories I encounter the more I ask myself, “Were they able to accomplish that because of nature or nurture?”
This week, I encourage you to reflect on where you stand in the age old question of nature versus nurture. Is it up to us to create our stories, see our successes through, and overcome our struggles or should we rely on others to rescue us and help make it happen?
What does living your exceptional life look like to you? Is your life path a result of nature or nurture? Do you give credit to or place blame on your mother or yourself as you experience successes and failures in life?
Do you believe nature is best or nurture? Why? #adoption #LifeAbovethePalmtrees #mentalwellnessexpert #naturevsnurture #celebratinglife
Winnie the Pooh, What character are you?
Winnie the Pooh
Do you long for simpler days when you were young and carefree with your friends at times? Do you miss hanging out and talking about everything in life, getting to know all the things that make them tick? As we continue finding new ways to connect, it’s much harder to get to know someone with all of us behind the screen.
However, something that’s always intrigued me are the fun personality assessments you can take online. There’s plenty of great professional ones available but I feel I learn more about someone, their personality, and their characteristics through quizzes like “Which Winnie the Pooh Character Are You?”
Stop for a moment and think about who you may be. Are you Tigger, like me? Bouncing all over the place, always having fun, in danger of getting into trouble or breaking something along the way. How about Rabbit who’s always overthinking, or Owl who’s always yearning to know more?
Maybe you’re like Piglet, going along for the ride; or how about Roo, just traveling along with his loving mother? Do you feel like Christopher Robin who’s overjoyed to simply wander through the woods with his friends? Are there times where you see the sad side in everything, like Eeyore?
Thinking of others as Winnie the Pooh characters helps remind me we’re all different yet need one another to thrive. Each of us brings a unique response and perspective to the varying situations we encounter each day. Getting to know someone is a learning opportunity to help grow our minds and our hearts.
This week, I encourage you to take the time to seek out and learn more about one person in your life. It’s important now more than ever that we strive to understand each other, learn how we can use our differences to achieve new goals, and to love even greater than we already do!
What does living your exceptional life look like to you?
Which Winnie the Pooh character are you? Why?
Who will you take the time to learn more about this week? What do you think you’ll learn?
What’s your favorite way to get to know others right now?
Turning Ideas into Reality
Turning Ideas into Reality
Are you someone who’s full of ideas? Sometimes, when I begin coaching a new person in transition, they have hundreds, if not thousands of ideas which is always so exciting! I love helping them document all the things they want to do, could do, and think they should do. Once the list is created, we then start narrowing it down.
As I work with clients to narrow their lists down, we not only narrow them down to what they could do, but more importantly, what they would love to do and why it’s important to them. From there, we work to select their top ten most important ideas, followed by their top three, until finally we identify the top idea they want to explore.
We then work together to break down the components of the idea into a step by step, week by week plan to keep positive momentum going. Whether an idea is set professionally or personally, it still needs to be taken one step at a time and given great care.
I’ve always been a big dreamer, and over time I’ve learned that without an action plan and accountability, very little will be accomplished. Without a proper road map, some people may never see their idea in action because they get caught in the dreaming stage.
It’s important to me that I work with clients to make a plan, help them share that plan with others in their lives, then start coaching them through the plan to see them turn their idea into reality. One of my greatest joys as a coach is watching my clients achieve what they set out to do while walking alongside them to offer support.
This week, I encourage you to act on an idea you’ve long held in your mind! Take time for yourself to write that idea down, create a list of the steps you need to take to get there, and then break them down further by adding the who, what, how, and why to each step. From there, it’s time to start seeing your ideas as reality by taking the first step!
What does living your exceptional life look like to you?
Do you write your ideas down? Where do they go from there?
Do your ideas stay in your head and turn into daydreams?
What do you imagine building or creating? How would it help your life?
Tell Annie what life you’re living! E-mail her at:
Annie@AnnieMeehan.com
Let’s Get Organized
Let’s Get Organized
Believe it or not, having an organized space can ultimately reduce stress and future anxiety. We decided to put our house on the market after living here for 24 years, so we’ve had lots of organizing to do! So far, our declutter process has resulted in 30 car loads which feels like FREEdom to me! What does decluttering feel like to you?
Throughout our lives, we accumulate incredible amounts of “stuff” which can sneak up on us until you look around one day thinking, “Where the heck did all this stuff come from?!” Whether it be all the pieces of art your child made you over the years, knickknacks from places traveled, or those old teacups from your mother-in-law, it can be hard to say goodbye. When you can’t bear the thought of letting go, it’s time to get organized instead!
Like many others, getting organized can be overwhelming to me. I find myself starting in one space, only to jump to another, then another before the first spaces were truly finished. Throughout the listing process, I took a different approach to organizing which helped me find success. The three-step process I followed made organizing easier, and if you can believe it, even a little fun!
1. Make a List: Jot down all the rooms/areas that need an organization face lift and deep cleaning
2. Shrink the List: Select TWO rooms/areas from the list and assign them a timeline (i.e. by the end of Sunday, the living room will be completed). Then, focus on organizing in that room/area for one hour a night throughout the week or assign two different evenings when you’ll focus multiple hours in that space (i.e. Tuesday and Thursday for three hours each).
3. Keep Marie Kondo in Mind: “Often, we have a hard time getting rid of clutter because we “might use it later” but I can bet 99.9% of the time we actually won’t use it later and we will not even remember we have that item. If you are cleaning and find an item(s) that you have had for the past 6-12 months but haven’t used, it is time to let that go. Give “thanks” to the item(s), it has served its purpose, and let it go! Donate it, throw it away, or sell it but know that letting go of it is not a bad thing.”
With so many of us utilizing our homes in a much more prominent way these days, it’s a great opportunity to get organized and make our spaces work better for us! This week, I encourage you too choose a single room/area in your home that you’ve had your eye on. Once chosen, set your schedule and get to it! You’ll be amazed at the positive feelings you’ll have from a job well done and the peace your refreshed space will help bring to your day.
What does living your exceptional life look like to you?
What room/area will you start with? Why?
Let Annie know what you think! E-mail her at:
Annie@AnnieMeehan.com
Do you hold on to everything or enjoy being a minimalist?
Let Annie know your plan! E-mail her at:
Annie@AnnieMeehan.com
Does getting organized help you feel accomplished?
