Do you have a Plan B?  Not many people do. I find that surprising.

A large number of people that I have encountered are worried about the economy, and their jobs and income. And rightly so – it’s still a nerve racking – stress producing economy.

I don’t blame them for being worried, but what I wonder about is why don’t they have a Plan B.  By Plan B , I mean another potential  source of income that touches upon your passions and dreams. A back-up plan that you can turn to if the worse happens and your primary income shrinks.  Something that brings you joy, and an income.

So many people are waiting passively for the economy to change, and are not playing an active role in their career  and professional development. And as they wait, they worry, become anxious and stressed out.

Which one are you? Waiting and worrying or actively building your Plan B, and reaching towards your dreams?

There’s some great resources out there. Try  reading Free to Succeed by Barbara Reinhold, Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields or The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. All of these books will tap into your dreams and get you thinking about what’s next for you.

See Change Now Coaching can help you design and develop your Plan B as well.  Give me a call and let’s uncover your Plan B.

I’m amazed at the amount of energy people expend in complaining about something they don’t like.

Does this complaining make the task easier? Does complaining make it go away? What exactly does it accomplish?

What would happen if you channeled your energy into more positive thoughts and actions?on a constant basis?

What could you really accomplish – and how would you feel?

The possibilities are endless.  Try it – you might like it.

This past weekend I spent doing some yard chores here in New England, as well as spending Saturday afternoon, and evening, hiking and hanging with 4 friends I really hadn’t seen all summer.

It was so much fun – we were laughing, telling jokes, razzing each other as well as catching up on life’s successes and challenges.  As we settled down by a backyard fire pit and began catching up, one friend, who is a business owner,  shared she  had a difficult challenge with an employee,  another friend shared news of an illness in her extended family and  I shared how my business did over the summer.

But through it all — the ups and the downs — our energy was positive, upbeat and lively.  I was amazed with all we had going on, that we all still approached our lives with such positivity and  such commitment.  I was reminded of  a quote from my work in energy leadership: ” Life offers neither problems or challenges, only opportunities.”

It made me think about my week ahead and the attitude I was going to approach it with.

Positive, upbeat and lively. Abundant opportunities.  Easy-peasy as one friend would say.

What’s your attitude going to be for the week? How will you approach the opportunities that cross your path this week?

The Big 4 energy blocks keep you stuck and prevent you from achieving what you want in your life. I’ve written about limiting beliefs and assumptions, let’s take a look at #3 – Interpretations.

When you interpret something, you create an opinion about an event, situation or experience. In essence, you create an explanation and then look for evidence to support it’s validity. When you make an interpretation,   you don’t even see that other explanations exist.  In actually, though, an interpretation often represents only one viewpoint among many that are possible.

Your interpretations hold a strong energetic charge, which affects your emotions and actions. If you believe your viewpoint of a particular situation is the only explanation, you might not be aware of another point of view. You may end up wasting a lot of time and resources marching off in the wrong direction.  Because you don’t see that other possibilities exist, you remain stuck in your story, and feel like you have no control over the outcome.

As with assumptions, interpretations  are personal and somewhat difficult to let go of and challenge. Holding onto them may seem like the easy way out as facing them moves you into uncharted territory. However challenging your interpretations opens you to a world of possibilities, literally.

So this week before you jump to conclusions, and believe the first story that comes to your mind, I’d ask you to consider other possibilities that could lead you to new empowering choices and actions and ask yourself this question:

” What’s another way of looking at this?”

I recently went to visit some family in Virginia, and had some wonderful dinner conversation that lasted well into the evening.  My sister had invited some neighbors over for dinner so we could meet them. She and my brother-in-law spoke very highly of them, and their pet pig.

Pet pig? I had to meet these people.  I’ve never met anyone one with a pet pig you see.  Well, I learned a lot about how pigs make great pigs ( and no, I won’t be getting one any time soon), and I also met a wonderful retired couple with a zest for life.  This couple was enjoying and living life to the fullest – full of curiosity and questions.

At one point in our conversation,  Pat ( one of the neighbors) said she’d never move back north to the Albany NY area. I asked her why- and she said  ” Her hometown operated on the theory that the glass was half empty–and she was a half full type of gal.”   Wow – she got it – how your core thoughts and thinking guide your life,  and how this leads to being a great leader.

How often are we operating under the theory that the glass is half empty instead of half full?  And what happens when we do? I’ve been there, done that – my glass is now half full, with a million possibilities to fill it to overflowing.

What’s your thinking on this?  Half empty or half full? and how’s that working for you?

So I went to NYC last week to attend a seminar.  I’d really never been to the Big Apple though I’ve been to Amsterdam, Paris, London, San Francisco and Cairo. My friends, who know I travel as much as I can, were surprised that I had never been.  I realized I was afraid to visit. All my limiting beliefs and assumptions about this great American city kept me away.

So I decided to look my limiting beliefs and assumptions about New York City squarely in the eye and challenge them.  I followed the advice I found at www.travelonadimenow.com and made my way to the Big Apple.  A car ride, overnight stay in CT and a train ride later – I found myself at Grand Central Station.

and you know what – not one of my limiting beliefs or assumptions  was accurate and correct.  And guess what else happened?  I had a blast!  Meeting some great people, eating some truly wonderful food.  I can’t wait to go back to NYC and spend a lot more time there exploring.

What limiting beliefs and assumptions can you dispel? And how much better will your life become?

Give it a try and see what happens.

Last blog, I explored Limiting Beliefs briefly, the first of the “Big 4″ energy blocks which prevent us from making conscious choices and reaching our potential. Let’s take a look now at another one of those blocks — Assumptions.

An assumption is a belief that is based on the premise that because something happened in the past, it is automatically going to happen again.

When you make choices based on assumptions, you are letting the past control the future. Assumptions hold you back, because when you already “know” that something won’t work, you probably won’t even consider doing it. Even if you do attempt it, you won’t have a lot of energy for what you’re doing, since you don’t really believe it can work. When you hold onto your assumptions, you miss out on many possibilities.

Here are some typical assumptions:

If I don’t do it myself, it won’t be done right.   No one listens to what I am saying.  My kids are lazy and unproductive.  I’m no good at interviewing.  I can’t do that job.

Because assumptions are primarily based on personal experience, they are internalized and emotional, and difficult to let go. Delving deep to remove the emotion of the past experience may be necessary before moving forward.

The main question to ask when challenging an assumption is simply ” Just because that happened in the past, why must it happen it again?”

So when you just “know” that something won’t work based on your past experience, recognize your assumption for what it is, question it, and consciously choose to let it go and take positive action. You’d ll be surprised at the results.