Did you know that I write a blog schedule so I stay focused on writing the type of informative articles the blogging gurus recommend?

I have to, because otherwise my mind flits from one subject to another as randomly as a butterfly in a cottage garden.

But the first rule of blogging is pick a topic and stick to it.

I try my best to concentrate on helping you improve your life and live your dream, so today I was going to provide you with a post today called “Avoiding Holiday Madness”.

But if you want to avoid something, one effective way is just to ignore it completely. So in the end, that’s what I decided to do here.

Forget the holiday season, cast aside all your stresses and worries for a moment, and take five minutes to bury your head in the sand here. You might even learn something about Australian birds too, or just have a laugh at my expense.

Oh, and in case you’re not of British, Kiwi or Australian stock, please note that there’s a silly pun intended because to us lot ‘birds’ also means girls, chicks or ladies as well as our feathered friends.

Crime Watch Australia

I fully expect there will be a mugshot of me in the next Neighbourhood Watch Newsletter. And if there is, I will place the blame squarely on your shoulders.

I’ve complained before about the noisy birds here in Australia, specifically the cawing crows which seem to have swooped straight out of a Hitchcock movie, and the kookaburras, the national bird famed for its “laughing” call which I find more reminiscent of a demented cackle.

So raucous and vile is the kookaburra’s call that I wanted to share it with you, dear reader.

I was keen for you to experience what life is like here in Australia where we are regularly woken at 4, 5 or at the latest 6am by the kookaburra’s fearful racket, and in this way share a little of our lives Down Under.

So this morning at 5am, as I lay in bed willing sleep to return to me, hearing a kookaburra “laugh” nearby spurred me to stumble out of bed, pull on some ancient, threadbare clothes, grab my camera and venture out into the neighborhood bleary-eyed and shock-haired.

It wasn’t a completely selfless mission as there are two things I love in life nearly as much as chocolate and travel ~ those sworn enemies cats and birds. So while I hunted the not-so-elusive kookaburra I also captured on camera some of the other local avian and feline life.

I must have looked a fright and my strange behavior attracted some funny looks from a dog-lover who was innocently walking her pesky pooch. But when I told her what I was up to she kindly directed me to a small park at the end of a short road called Bond Court.

I lingered there at length, eyes peeled for kookaburras, killing time by peering over peoples’ fences, taking photos of birds in their trees and fantasizing about buying a house there so when people ask for my address I can honestly answer:

“It’s Bond, 007 Bond Court.”

I like to think that the endless cacophony of Australian birds is retaliation for the fact that we Europeans have covered their once pristine breeding grounds with ugly suburban brick houses, manicured lawns and swimming pools.

But, amidst these suburban boxes, one house stood out. Its garden was an overgrown shambles, its trees held four bird nesting boxes and, by standing on tiptoe and peering over the tall wooden fence, I was surprised, and a bit jealous, to see they even had chickens.

Naturally, the place was a focal point for birding activity and soon a kookaburra arrived, being chased aggressively by three other birds, and snatching me rudely out of my idle reverie.

Sadly, this winged harassment had left the kookaburra in no mood for laughing. He did attempt a sad chuckle at one stage, but the recording I got came out so quietly that if you heard it you’d immediately write me off as a misguided madwoman with a tendency for wild exaggeration.

I hung around looking shifty for as long as possible hoping he would let rip, before being chased back home by suspicious stares flung at me from various neighbors.

Several hours and cups of tea later, I realized that there’s probably a kookaburra call on the Internet already. Sure enough, after searching Google for roughly three seconds I came upon a professional recording, so all my efforts were rather pointless.

You can hear a kookaburra “laughing” here thanks to the keen ornithologists at Birds Australia.

For best effect play at full volume. Preferably while you are in a deep sleep.

Newsflash or How To Lose 40lbs Overnight

I’ve been turned into a stick figure by the lovely, talented and zany Stephen Zhao at Human Explosion. If you’re suffering from middle-aged spread, probably caused by too much time on the computer, this is the best, indeed maybe, the only way to fix it, and since it’s free there’s no silly money-back guarantee either.

Check out Stephen’s impression of me. Not only do I look lithe and youthful but I’m also surrounded by animals like Saint Francis of Assisi. Virtual life doesn’t get much better than this so many thanks to Stephen for interviewing me. Do take a moment to check it out here.

Thanks for reading GetIntheHotSpot.com

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Have You Read These Funny Stories Yet?

>> How To Listen To Kids

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>> Heard the Joke About Kiwis and Sheep?

>> Fuddy Duddy Mummy Exposed

>> Funny Family Portraits

Filed under: Smile | 12 Comments » | Print This Post

But first, the results of the personal coaching giveaway, kindly donated by super personal coach and everyday heroine, Suzanne Blake.

I recorded the draw on video (1 min 39 secs) and would love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment here with your feedback and say if you’d like to see more of me on video, or if you think I should stick to writing.

What’s Your Take On Video Blog Posts?

I’m not trying to be the new Oprah, although I know she is kindly stepping aside for me, but I’ve read that blog readers enjoy videos or podcasts every now and then. Is it true? What would you like to see the odd video blog post at Get In the Hot Spot or not? And if so, how often?

Thanks for watching! And now for the main course:

What Everyone Ought to Know About Their Identity

A guest post by Jared Yellin

We have become a nation that is compromising our identity due to the societal pressures and past events that surface in our lives. Whether it’s sacrificing the “who we are” to be in an abusive relationship, feeling inadequate in a career, or tying our individuality to the amount of money that we have in the bank, all of these issues result in our inability to achieve our full potential.

Loss of Authenticity

Who said that it’s okay to base our existence on something that outside of our being? We are the problem because we do not listen to our intuition and that little voice inside which says:

“Stop doing that. Do not conform. Don’t give in. This does not feel right. Life is too short to be miserable. Take action.”

Far too many of us begin to live a life where someone or something controls who we become, and as a result, our authentic self is lost, as we begin to feel emptier than ever before.

If action is not taken, then people will continue to believe that their identity is defined by their abusive marriage, terrible career, money, eating disorder, drugs and alcohol, or even death.

Something obviously needs to be done because many of us are trying to fill a void with behavior that’s detrimental to our well-being. As a result, we’re getting further away from “who we are,” and once we have the courage to actually look in the mirror, we will have no idea who is looking back.

Getting Back In Touch With the Real You

The strategy that has worked for me in the past and has allowed me to learn about who I am and what I stand for in this world is a lesson that I call, “Ask yourself on a First Date.”

We’ve all experienced an awkward first date, where we’re sitting in a restaurant, coffee shop, or the park, and there’s a peculiar tension in the air. Both people attempt to analyze one another and learn as much as possible, in order to see if they would be willing to go on a second date. This could potentially lead to a relationship, engagement, and even marriage.

Take Yourself On a Date

What I would like to see all of you do is to literally ask yourself out on a first date. Find a place where you can answer the following questions, and begin to assess yourself and your IDENTITY.

• Tell me about yourself and your family.
• What do you like to do, and what makes you laugh?
• What do you do for a career and do you like it?
• If you could do anything, what would it be?
• Tell me about your friends and why are they so special?
• What makes you cry and what are you afraid of?
• Do you like being alone and what do you do when you are alone?
• What are you looking for in someone that you hope to share your life with?
• What makes you lose track of time and place?
• What is your purpose?

When you listen to the answers to these questions, would you go out with YOU on another date?

Do you like the person that you are presenting as or are you still struggling with an imposed identity?

You only have one lifetime to chisel out the individual that you want to be, rather than get stuck in a role that keeps you stuck forever. It is important to realize that similar to dating, learning about your identity is not an easy task, and it will take time to get to the point where you can actually look in the mirror and say, “I get you.”

But the journey to this place is worthwhile, because once you find yourself and are complete with the “who you are,” then locating the perfect relationship, job, or attitude about money will be attainable. Uncovering your identity is a process because there is a good chance that you have been a shadow of your true self for many years and conformed to your circumstances.

An anonymous author once said, “Identity is such a crucial affair that one must not rush into it.” It takes time and commitment to discover who you are in the same way that it takes persistence to find your last first date.

We all need to work together and hold ourselves accountable to learning who we are and what we stand for because when it is all said and done, your identity is what makes you…YOU, so choose wisely!

Jared Yellin is a motivational speaker, writer, and the founder of Brandentity, which focuses on combining your BRAND + IDENTITY in order to empower you to realize what makes you…YOU! Jared is on a quest to start an Identity Revolution, which will enable people to begin living the life they create for themselves, as opposed to the life that someone or something creates on their behalf. Please feel free to visit Jared’s website at www.jaredyellin.com and subscribe to receive a plethora of free resources to help you reclaim your most precious asset…YOURSELF!

Thanks for reading

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out! Thanks to Craig Allyn for the smiley photo and to Jared for letting me to use his personal development article and sharing his ideas with us. I appreciate it.

Please Support Me: Tell People About This Website

If you like this article, please Tweet it or email a friend with the link. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to friends, or add it to your favorite social media website.

I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here. Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

More Personal Development Articles

>> A Surfer’s Guide to Living Life to the Full

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be

>> 3 Keys To Living Our Dream

>> 10 Ways To Get The Life You Want

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happy

Filed under: Believe In Yourself | 16 Comments » | Print This Post

Have you ever had one of those moments where you wonder:

Who am I?
Where am I?
How did I get here?

I had one the other night.

It was accompanied by a sore head and a pain in the neck which lasted 48 hours. Ouch.

Here’s what happened

I was in a deep, dreamless sleep when my daughter woke me up. It happens from time to time. Usually, I just get up, guide her back to her own bed and either fall asleep there or head back to my bed when she’s asleep.

This time was different.

This time, the next thing I knew, I came to spread-eagled on my bedroom floor with my daughter screaming nearby. My head hurt and I was confused.

Silently I ran through the 3 big questions:

Who am I?
How did I get here?
Where was I going?

As I tried to fill in the gaps and piece together what happened it would have been the ideal time to reinvent myself.

Instead I worked out that I’d stood up too fast and fainted. I remembered who I was and slipped happily back into my old life.

It’s taken me a while to get here, I may not have figured out who I am 100%, but I’ve made a good start. I certainly don’t want to start over again from scratch.

A week later the three big questions were still playing on my mind but then I realised that actually, only the first one matters.

Who am I?

It’s the only question you need to know the answer to. Knowing who you are is the only thing that really matters in life.

Knowing who you are will help you work out what exactly you want to get out of life. What your dreams are and how you’re going to realize them.

How did I get here deals with the past. The progression won’t have been linear. It never is. Life’s full of ups and downs, highs and lows that shape our character and form our experience. But how you got here is history. It’s fun to reminisce, look back and see how far you’ve come but not that relevant to where you are now.

Where am I going deals with the future. Who knows what the future holds? It’s the present that’s important. I’m a huge planner but that’s all we should really do with the future ~ plan for it, but not live in it.

Who are you?

That’s the one question you may want to ponder and answer. That’s the question you should seek to address. Work on that because nothing else is important. If you can find the truth inside yourself and accept it then happiness will follow.

Have you ever had a moment like this? The chance to reassess your life or reinvent yourself?

We’ll be finding out more about identity later this week in a special guest post.

Thanks for reading

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out!

Please Support Me: Tell People About This Website

If you like this article, please Tweet it or email a friend with the link. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to friends, or add it to your favorite social media website.

I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here. Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

More Personal Development Articles

>> 5 Quick Ways To Volunteer and Feel Happier

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be

>> 3 Keys To Living Our Dream

>> 10 Ways To Get The Life You Want

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happy

>> 6 Inspiring Dance Videos To Rock Your World

Filed under: Self Help & Self Development | 20 Comments » | Print This Post

I had a post all scheduled, written and ready to roll but something came up. It’s fun to be spontaneous and when great  opportunities arrive you should run with them.

The popular holiday celebration in the USA called Thanksgiving is taking place right now. As many of you live in the States, you’ll probably be mildly amused to think that some people may not have heard of Thanksgiving.

What is Thanksgiving?

If I’ve got it right, originally Thanksgiving came about as a way of celebrating a bountiful harvest of food.

What’s wonderful is that lately people are using Thanksgiving as a way of giving thanks for just about everything in their lives they’re grateful for.

I wasn’t planning to mention Thanksgiving here but I’ve been touched by the vast numbers of people on the Internet who are writing about things they are grateful for. People are blogging about it, tweeting it and giving thanks on their Facebook pages.

There’s a lot of love and happiness being shared all the way round the world because of Thanksgiving.

Globalization can be a good thing

Usually I think globalisation is a bad thing. Seeing the popularity of McDonalds in developing countries makes me sad. Hearing that a major fast food chain may be opening close to my home makes me shudder.

But US citizens are really onto something with this Thanksgiving thing. If their annual celebration and thankfulness can spread via the Internet and teach other people the joys of practicing the art of gratitude, even just for one day, then the world will surely be a better and happier place.

I’ve already written about the importance of being grateful, explained why we should practice gratitude more often and suggested simple things most of us can be grateful for on a daily basis.

Now it’s time to practice giving thanks again so I’ll get the ball rolling.

Things I’m thankful for

• Having support and feedback from an amazing and diverse group of readers;
• Being able to share what I’ve learnt and what I’m learning with other people who want to live their dream;
• Living in a stunning place and sharing that with my kids;
• Being able-bodied, solvent and inquisitive;
• Believing that the world is my oyster and that people can get what we want if they put their minds to it.

What are you thankful for right now?

Thank you so much for reading

I can’t say it enough. My readers are a huge part of my dream and I’m so glad you visit the site, read what I write and sometimes share your thoughts with us. Thank you all.

Thanks also to Q Thomas Bower for the photo.

Don’t forget to get updates by email now or get the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already, so you don’t miss out.

As always, good luck with all your plans!

Please Tell People About This Website

If you like this article, please Tweet it or tell a friend. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to a friend or add it to your favorite social media website. I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here. Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

More Feel Good Articles

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happy
>> The Joy Of Text
>> Shaggy Dog Story To Make You Laugh
>> Funny Search Engine Terms
>> Funny Family Portraits

Filed under: Stay Motivated | 12 Comments » | Print This Post

“If you’re lost in the forest, let the horse find the way home.”
Anne Lamott

Have you read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott? My friend Molly recommended it for my reading list of the best books I’ve ever read.

Bird by Bird is sub-titled, “Some Instructions On Writing and Life”,  and it’s a classic you must read if you haven’t already. It’s so good that I’m going to put in on my Christmas wish list because it’s one of those books you want to read more than once and underline your favorite passages.

I rarely buy books because I’m blessed with a brilliant local library so this is a true accolade.

Will Bird by Bird Appeal Only to Writers?

Bird By Bird will do more than just help you improve your writing skills. Anyone who loves to read would enjoy this book for the brilliant writing and intimate stories it tells. It will also appeal to readers who like life development or self help books and memoirs.

The instructions Lamott gives us are definitely as much on life as on writing. She has much to share on dealing with:

• Lack of confidence;
• Jealousy;
• Depression;
• Addiction;
• The death of a loved one;
• Being a parent;
• Self-identity;
• Self-acceptance;
• Self-love;

Lamott dares to share so much personal information about herself in a way that makes me yearn and dares me to do the same.

I came away from reading it feeling that I know a lot about her but there’s still much to learn, and likewise that I understand a lot about myself and life in general, but there remains much to learn there too.

5 Instructions on Writing and Life From Bird by Bird

1. Trust your instincts

This sounds new age and hippyish but it’s true. I think many of the problems facing us in the modern age are caused by people being so out of touch with their instincts. Life’s too full of goals to be reached, new cars, clothes and houses to be brought and deadlines to be met.

Sometimes you just have to chill out, go with the flow and see what happens. Some things can’t be rushed. Some problems get bigger (or seem to) the more you spend worrying at them and trying to solve them.

As the quote by Lamott at the top says:

“If you’re lost in the forest, let the horse find the way home.”

Do you ever feel stressed, lost or indecisive? Don’t worry, sometimes you just need to let the river carry you along. You’ll end up down at the sea in time anyway so there’s no point in fighting against the current.

2. Self-acceptance is the key to happiness

Lamott quotes Ethan Canin:

“Nothing is as important as a likable narrator. Nothing holds a story together better.”

You’re creating and narrating your own life story and you need to like or even love yourself. What makes people likable is not their clear skin, designer clothes, state of the art cell phone. Surprisingly, what makes people likable is their faults. Lamott says:

“perfect means shallow and unreal and fatally uninteresting.”

We connect with other people who have the same flaws as us. We are more aware of our own flaws than anyone else but we need to accept them and embrace them because those faults are what make us interesting. They might be hard to live with at times, but they’re a huge and valuable part of us.

3. Give it all

Don’t be afraid to give everything you’ve got and avoid saving something for later. Don’t worry that if you give all of yourself too soon you’ll run out of ideas, love or hope. You won’t.

The more you give the more you’ll get back. That’s the way of the world. The more you hold back the lonelier and more unfulfilled you’ll become. So give freely of yourself and to others.

4. Live in the now

Lamott quotes from the movie Cool Runnings:

“If you’re not enough before the gold medal, you won’t be enough without it.”

How many people do you know who think they’d be happy if they only had the right career, holiday or wife? The trouble is happiness doesn’t hinge on what you’ve got.

I’ve come to realise that people are either happy or they’re not. Even momentous events like winning an Olympic medal, winning the lottery or your first novel becoming a run away best seller won’t change your happiness level in the long run.

So we need to decide to be happy today, even if we’re unco-ordinated, badly paid and physically imperfect. Nothing can make you happy apart from yourself.

5. Be truthful

Admit who you are. Lamott says writers are needed to say:

“This is who we are.” It’s true for everyone. We spend our lives hiding behind our designer sunglasses trying hard to be cool, funny and popular when we’re not.

“If you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over the island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”

Let your light shine too. Some people won’t like it. They might even try to get you to change the light bulb or turn your light out all together. But if you can find your own true light and connect with other people who enjoy basking in it then the world will be a better place.

More About Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott writes for Salon. She’s the author of several books including Bird by Bird which you can buy online at Amazon.

Thanks for reading

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get updates by email now or get the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already, so you don’t miss out. As always, good luck with all your plans!

Thanks to Brendan Lally for the photo.

Please Tell People About Get In the Hot Spot

If you like this article, please Tweet it or tell a friend. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to a friend or add it to your favorite social media website. I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here. Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

Other Interesting Articles

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happy
>> The Joy Of Text
>> Shaggy Dog Story To Make You Laugh
>> What Everyone Ought To Know About Coping With Life
>> Top 10 Personal Development Blogs

Filed under: Self Help & Self Development, Writing | 16 Comments » | Print This Post

Could you use a personal coach to guide you towards your goals? Help is at hand.

Free Personal Coaching With Top Coach

Suzanne Blake is a coach who featured in the article, Overcoming Fear – Turn Fearful Into Fierce.

Suzanne’s a highly experience coach whose work has been profiled in publications like the New York Times and Redbook Magazine. She’s also published a book, 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, with leading experts Jack Canfield, John Gray and Bob Proctor.

Suzanne teaches private and corporate clients around the globe how to experience more career, lifestyle and relationship success. Check out the Suzanne Blake coaching website for more information or for free tips on careers and relationships.

Suzanne has kindly offered to give away free career coaching sessions to one lucky Get In the Hot Spot reader.

Giveaway Details – What You Get

The giveaway winner will be sent a gift certificate for two one-hour personal coaching sessions with Suzanne valued at US$200.

To get started, Suzanne will email you background questions which you can respond to by email or phone. The two coaching sessions will be done on Skype or by phone.

Suzanne says:

“Blake Coaching and Consulting will give you one-on-one custom tele-coaching to help you achieve your relationship, lifestyle or career goals. Our coaching framework ensures that coach and client work in partnership and establish a trusting and constructive relationship designed to build on existing skills.

Leveraging your strengths, we empower you to master new attitudes and behaviors – and to achieve bigger goals than you ever imagined. Our unwavering commitment to your goals, along with warmth and humor, aids our clients in being even more committed to their own success.”

How To Win the Free Coaching Sessions

Just visit the Get In the Hot Spot Facebook Page now and leave a comment saying “I’d love free coaching sessions with Suzanne!” or something like that. Do it now before you forget.

I’ll pick a random entry and Suzanne will take care of you from there. You can’t get any easier than that.

Deadline: The giveaway ends on Wednesday 2 December. The winner will be announced here on Friday 4 December.

Don’t miss out on this fabulous opportunity to help you stay on track with your new years’ resolutions and make 2010 a year of positive change. To leave a comment visit Facebook and click the “become a fan” button.

Do You Know Someone Who Could Benefit?

Please email them the link to this article so they can have a chance to enjoy the sessions.

Other GITHS News

Read an Interview With Me at 2Inspired

Check out this interview with me by Brandi at her new blog with uplifting and inspirational stories to motivate people to make the leap towards the job of their dreams.

Personal Development in Verse

I’ve been sent a poem by a reader I’d like to share with you. It tackles many of the personal development issues we talk about here to help us work towards living our dream. It was sent by Archan Mehta, an itinerant poet and foodie who likes to meditate, go for long strolls, play sports and be outside in nature.

On Being Yourself

Hey, guess what?
Yes, it’s worth a shot.

So what if you are broke
And don’t look like Tom Cruise
What have you got to lose?

Every day that arrives,
Treat it as a gift for sore eyes.
There’s no need to move away,
Grab the opportunity and stay.

The eagle soars in the sky,
And the rabbit dances in the park,
Discover the inner joy of your heart.

Avoid the company of embittered souls,
Seek out new ideas and views,
The road to success is yours to choose.

People will be critical of you,
Belittle you behind your back.
Move forward anyway,
Handle them with tact.

Grace is a virtue you will find,
In the recess of your mind.
Train yourself to ignore,
Focus instead on the final score.

If you can’t find a friend or mentor,
Re-visit the library for ancient lore.
There you’ll find buried treasure,
To lift your spirits in good measure.

Life is not a joke to to be taken,
Lightly, and then forsaken.
Look always to the distant hills
And the pretty bird on your window sill.

Seek out and find inner joy,
Kiss a child, buy them a toy.
Life is not always about winning,
It is also about the joy of giving.

Naysayers and critics will follow you,
Every step of the way and say:
“It can’t be done.”
Play with an idea and have some fun.

Winter may bring you down,
Cover your face with a frown.
Look up instead to the sunny skies,
And keep on walking for miles.

Look back on your life,
You don’t need material wealth
To discover who you really are.
Go outside,watch for a shooting star.

What’s your creative outlet?

I think the poem is a great reminder to all of us that we need to be creative.

What’s your creative outlet? Writing, poetry, art, music, dance or something else? And how do you make time to pursue it?

Thanks for reading

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out.

Please Support Me: Tell People About This Website

If you like this article, please Tweet it or email a friend with the link. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to friends, or add it to your favorite social media website.

I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here. Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

More Personal Development Articles

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be

>> 3 Keys To Living Our Dream

>> 10 Ways To Get The Life You Want

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happy

Photo Credit: Thanks to Search Engine People Blog for the use of the picture.

Filed under: What's Your Dream? | 5 Comments » | Print This Post

There! Now doesn’t that feel good?

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
Andy Warhol

Has your car ever got stuck in boggy ground? It’s happened to me a few times, mostly in Costa Rica, which boasts some of the worst roads in the world.

Once we got lost and ended up driving down a narrow, muddy lane with no room to turn round. The track eventually petered out into a muddy succession of deep pot-holes which sucked our 4WD up hungrily.

When your car gets stuck it’s not a pretty sight. The wheels spin hopelessly sending mud flying all over the vehicle and splattering anyone who’s trying to push you out.

So you put your foot down harder, but the more you rev the engines, the deeper your wheels sink into the mud. Finally you realise you’re not getting anywhere with that approach. It’s time to try something new.

What’s the best way to get unstuck?

Sometimes life can feel as if you’re spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere. Often, the more you do, the less progress you seem to be making. That’s when you need to shake up your life, get out of that rut and back on the road to fulfillment.

If your car gets stuck I recommend calling a friend with a big 4wd, a tow bar and a strong rope to help pull you out and get you motoring free again. I hope this post will provide you with the psychological equivalent.

Are you ready to get out of your comfort zone and take a few risks?

Try some of these ideas to give yourself a new lease of life.

1. Move abroad

Moving overseas is the ultimate way to get out of a rut. Travel gives you time and space to evaluate your life so far and start making plans for the next stage.

When you travel, or go somewhere you’ve never been before, you open your life up to new cultures, new food, new places, new experiences, new people and new ways of communicating.

If you’re not ready to move abroad, or you don’t want to, get the same benefits by busting out of your routine. Here are a few routine-breaking ideas but the possibilities are endless:

• Wear something you don’t usually wear.
• Try a different sandwich filling for lunch, be creative.
• Sit with someone you’ve never sat with before or head outside and find a quiet spot to enjoy your meal alone.
• Go vegetarian or raw food for a day.
• Break with tradition these holidays. Forget how you usually spend those special holidays or birthdays and do something different.

2. Quit your job and follow your dream

Or stay put for a while longer but think about how you’ll go about getting closer to your dream. Do you need to start researching your chosen field? Checking out the competition or lack of it? Or maybe you need to study or volunteer first to get new skills or qualifications that will allow you to make the change.

I read somewhere that most people have 3 separate careers in their lives. It makes sense to me. Who wants to stick in the same job for 40 or 50 years? To be fulfilled and happy you need to constantly reinvent yourself and set yourself new challenges.

3. Give fear the finger

Accept that your ideas will probably be rejected and that some people will scoff at you but don’t let fear hold you back from doing what you want to do.

Embrace fear. Look forward to taking on a new challenge and mastering your nerves. Set yourself a challenge and arrange to do something that scares you today.

What makes your palms go clammy and your heart skip a beat? Whatever your personal fears are, tackle them before they get bigger. Choose something small to begin with: go skinny dipping, join toastmasters, go to the dentist or shave your head. Whatever is is, just do it.

Tackling the small fears one by one will show you that they’re not life-threatening. It’ll prove you can do stuff that scares you and survive. It will pave the way for the big scary stuff.

4. Just do it

Stop procrastinating. Promise yourself that you’re going to get started and put it in writing. Work out a realistic timescale and stick to your deadlines.

No matter how big or small your dreams are, you’re not going to feel totally happy until you’ve at least tried to achieve them. Don’t end up regretting doing the things you care about because you were too scared or didn’t make time for them.

5. Love Yourself

Decide to do the right thing for yourself. Choose health and life. Reject unhealthy habits. You know what they are. Put yourself first and don’t be a victim. It’s okay to be selfish.

Make an effort to get to know what you want in life. Find out what your strengths and weaknesses are and accept yourself the way you are.

Spend a day alone, writing, reading, thinking or drawing. Stay in bed all day if you feel like it, or organize to not speak to anyone for 24 hrs.

Try getting a stack of magazines and using them as a tool to get in touch with yourself. Cut out pictures, words or quotations that talk to you and stick them all on one giant sheet of paper to see what comes up.

Or spend a day reminiscing about your childhood by looking through old photo albums, then do some of the things you used to love as a kid but haven’t done for a while, like skipping, rollerskating or horse-riding.

7. Keep trying

You may have already made the first steps to changing your life but faltered or even given up completely.

Be like those people you read about who are on their 6th marriage. Just as they’re optimistic that they’ll find true love in the end, believe that you will find what you’re looking for eventually. Even if you don’t know what it is yet. But you have to keep trying.

8. Make new friends

Friends can be found in all kinds of unexpected places. At the library, in the park, outside your kid’s classroom or right next door. Heck, some of us are even unashamedly making connections and friends on the Internet these days.

Some people think they don’t need any more friends. They think they’ve got enough, or they think you don’t look like their type. That’s sad. The more friends you have the wider your experience of life will be, especially if you cultivate a broad mix of friends.

Even if you don’t want to make friends, be friendly. Start a conversation with someone you wouldn’t normally talk to.

9. Do something you’ve never done before

Say yes to everything for a day and see where it leads you. Try something you’ve never tried before but have always been meaning to. Bikram yoga? Quinoa? Taking a sickie and spending the afternoon in a bowling alley with a new friend?

10. Stop wasting your time

Stop watching TV, reading, surfing the internet, shopping, cleaning. There, now what are you going to do?

The Wisdom of Andy Warhol

He wasn’t just a great artist. If you read the quote at the top you’ll see that Warhol knew a truth about life too.

There are no short cuts. If you want to shake up your life you’ve got to make the changes yourself. No one else can do it for you although other people can motivate and encourage you.

Understand that making changes won’t help you grow to be a better of more knowledgeable person. But it may help you start thinking about other life changes you’d like to make.

If you do some of these things to shake up your life you’ll see that:

• making changes doesn’t hurt you;
• doing scary stuff won’t kill you;
• challenging yourself boosts your confidence;
• mixing things up makes life more fun;
• shaking up your life will re-energize you.

Have you got any more ideas on how we can shake up our lives? Have you ever done anything radical to get your life out of a rut?

Thanks for Reading

A warm welcome to all my new subscribers and welcome back to the old faithfuls – it’s great to connect with you. Many thanks also to Dan Bennett for use of the doggy shaking photo.

Have You Subscribed to Get In the Hot Spot Yet?

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out!

Please Support Me: Tell People About Get In the Hot Spot

If you like this article, please Tweet it or email a friend with the link. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to friends, or add it to your favorite social media website. I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here.

Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

Other Inspirational Stories

>> How to Use Twitter as a Motivational Tool

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happier

>> 5 Ways To Prevent Depression

>> 10 Ways To Get The Life You Want

>> 3 keys To Living Our Dreams

Filed under: Self Help & Self Development | 22 Comments » | Print This Post

First a massive welcome to everyone who’s come here after reading my guest posts on Zen Habits and Problogger.

My first 2 guest posts several months ago attracted exactly zero new readers to my site.  I blame it on a deadly combination of bad targeting, bad choices and bad luck. Plain naivety and blogging inexperience played a part too. It’s been a steep learning curve.

Happily, my latest 2 guest posts encouraged 1000s of new visitors to come and see what Get In the Hot Spot’s about. Best of all, 100s of them liked what they saw and subscribed.

If you haven’t seen the guest posts yet they may prove useful:

On Zen Habits – Low-Stress Ways To Move House and Declutter Your Life

On Problogger – Getting Over the Blogger’s 6 Month Itch – Please leave a comment for me there.

What’s the deal with Get In the Hot Spot?

I decided to call my blog In the Hot Spot back in 2007. I loved writing but had a fear of being read so started blogging to overcome that fear. I’m serious! It seems nuts now but it took a few years for me to really give fear the finger and write regularly.

There are all kinds of ‘hot spots’, not all of them positive either. Judging by the number of results from Google Alert, ‘hot spot’, is a hot phrase too.

My personal favourites are celebrity hot spots, travel hot spots and piracy hot spots which conjures up all kinds of delightful images. Ahoy there me hearties!

One online dictionary defines a ‘hot spot’ as:

“a lively nightclub or other place of entertainment” or “an area of great activity of a specific type”

My Vision for Get In the Hot Spot

I want this blog to be a lively place where people come to be entertained and get actively engaged in improving their life.

Working out what your dream is and trying to achieve it can be hard, lonely and depressing.

Doing it with a friend is more fun and if you have a dedicated buddy to encourage you then you’ll stand a better chance of succeeding.

I aim to be that buddy. It’s a win win situation too, because by visiting my blog you’re encouraging me to keep following my dream of writing full time.

As the blog grows so the number of co-motivators increases and our community will grow stronger. Can you imagine what the world would be like it everyone was following their dream?

Topics Covered

My dream is to make this site a hub for self development, travel, optimism and fun. I write from experience about my ups and downs and share the lessons I’ve learnt, or am starting to learn along the way.

There’s a geographical meaning to ‘hot spot’ too:

“A volcanic area that forms as a tectonic plate moves over a point heated from deep within the Earth’s mantle. The Hawaiian Islands formed as a series of hot spots.

If reading my posts shakes up your life so much the better.

Are You Ready to Shake Up Your Life?

I want this blog to be a place where people come to overcome their fears and put themselves in their own personal hot spot by acknowledging their dreams and working out how to make them come true.

I want Get In the Hot Spot to be a hub for activity to:

• Give you permission to have a dream.
• Help you work out what  your dream is.
• Advise you on how to nail your dream life.
• Provide a fun, safe, inspiring place for people with a dream.

If you’re ready to get started and get into your own personal hot spot please subscribe.

Next week I’ll be posting a new article called 10 Ways to Shake Up Your Life to help you get started.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts, adventures and experiences with you and to hearing yours.

Have You Subscribed Yet? It’s Free…

I’ve got over 100 subscribers now but I’d love more – my dream is to have 1000 visitors a day to Get In The Hot Spot a day. Can you help by joining us? Get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out.

Another way to support my writing is to tell people about this website, mention it on Facebook, Twitter, or email a friend the link to a specific article.

Thank you! I can’t offer you any incentives, free gifts or prize giveaways but I do promise to keep writing quality articles that I hope will inspire, encourage and inform us all on how we can get closer to living our dream life.

7 Numbered Lists Worth Checking Out

7 Good reasons To Go For a Walk

101 Ways To Feel Happy

3 Keys To Living Your Dream

10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be

5 Ways To Prevent Depression

10 Ways To Get The Life You Want

8 Secrets of Mountain Climbing and Life

Photo credit: treyevan

Filed under: Writing | 18 Comments » | Print This Post

“Poker reveals to the frank observer something else of import – it will teach him about his own nature. Many bad players do not improve because they cannot bear self-knowledge.”
David Mamet

I love playing cards. I used to play whist with my granny when I was small. She made the best meringues ~ crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and sandwiched together with whipped cream.

Those meringues could have cemented my love of card playing. But it’s the combination of familiar cards, versus the random nature of the hands you’re dealt, which makes card games fun and interesting.

Poker People

I learnt to play poker in Costa Rica. We were hanging out in the jungle with US expats and that’s what they did during the long, dark, rainy nights. So that’s what we did too.

I read a few books about poker and practiced online before taking part in a tournament for real money.

It was small stakes. Usually $20 to play then, if you won, you’d come out with $200 six hours later.

It wasn’t about the money. The main appeal of poker night was to socialize and have fun.

I never came 1st – I squeaked in at 2nd a few times – but I definitely enjoyed poker nights.

It’s More Than Just Understanding the Game

I think I know the rules of playing winning poker. The problem is, I don’t always stick to them.

It’s easy to make mistakes. Either you lose concentration, get bored, give up too soon, take silly risks or allow yourself to be intimidated by other people, especially the people who have a much bigger stack of poker chips than you.

So here’s my pick of poker skills to help you win at life, as well as at the card table.

5 Poker Skills for Winners

1. Know When to Fold

New players often make the mistake of betting on cards that they should have thrown away in the first round.

In poker, as in life, you have to know when to give up on something. It’s good to try things, and sometimes perseverance is the key to winning in life, but often it’s a case of knowing when to fold  your hand and quitting while you’re still ahead.

Sometimes the cards you’ve been dealt are mediocre and your betting position is poor. That’s when you need to cut your losses and get out of there fast.

Patience is the key to winning in poker and in life. Sometimes it’s a long wait for a decent hand but if you don’t learn to bide your time you won’t win.

2. Perseverance Pays

I know this seems to contradict with rule number 1 about knowing when to fold. But winning in poker and life is about being able to balance these two opposites, and learning which one to apply in individual situations.

You have to learn when to get out because you’re onto a loser and when to stay in the game for a chance to win. Sometimes, when you have a semi-decent hand at poker, you have to keep representing yourself as the best hand on the table, even when you’re worried that you might not be.

In that case, you can’t just bet once, you have to keep putting your neck on the line and place bets repeatedly or you won’t win. Read this for proof that perseverance pays off.

3. Be Confident

Sometimes, no matter how long you wait, you never seem to be dealt a decent hand.

So you have to bet anyway because things can still work out, but only if you’re super-confident.

You may not have been dealt the best hand in life, you may not be the most skillful player, you may not know all the odds, but confidence can be crucial for getting you through and setting you on a winning path.

4. Be a Gracious Winner or Loser

When you lose do you throw your cards on the table, shout, cry and storm out? I’ve played poker with grown men who throw a worse tantrum than my four year old when they lose.

Most people don’t want to play with them again.

When you lose at anything, it’s important to be able to shake hands with your opponent and say:

“Good game, well done.”

Even though you know they only won because they were on a lucky streak and, if the odds had played out as they should, you would have won, gosh darn it!

If you’re a good loser, people will respect you.

They’ll say you’re a top guy or chick. They’ll look forward to playing you again, and when you do win, they’ll be glad you did because they like you. They’ll say you worked hard for it and you deserved to win.

Just be sure not to rub their noses in it.

5. Study, Practice, Have Fun

As with poker, you have to apply yourself to winning in life and work at it.

Study finding happiness and self-acceptance as poker champions study the odds of certain hands. Practice your life skills daily to get better at them and come out a winner in the end.

Most of all have fun. Remember that poker and life are both games.

They can be long, grueling and frustrating games at times, but the first rule in any game is to enjoy it. Otherwise what’s the point in playing?

Thanks for Reading

A warm welcome to all my new subscribers – it’s great to connect with you. I wish all my readers many full houses, flushes and hidden straights in life.

Have You Subscribed to Get In the Hot Spot Yet?

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out!

Please Support Me: Tell People About Get In the Hot Spot

If you like this article, please Tweet it or email a friend with the link. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to friends, or add it to your favorite social media website. I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here.

Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

Other Inspirational Stories

>> A Surfer’s Guide to Living Life to the Full

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be

>> 101 Ways To Feel Happier

>> 5 Ways To Prevent Depression

>> 10 Ways To Get The Life You Want

>> 3 keys To Living Our Dreams

Thanks to CarbonNYC for the photo.

Filed under: Self Help & Self Development | 9 Comments » | Print This Post

News Flash: Over 200 people have subscribed to my blog. Still well short of my 1000 subscribers target, but a good start. Have you subscribed yet? Please keep my dream alive and subscribe by email or via RSS Feed. It’s all free, no obligation and a great way to make my day:)

Sometimes it’s fun to live vicariously through your children. They learn so fast and have so much fun doing it. Plus they get rewarded for their efforts.

My daughter just learnt to ride her bike. There’s a video here to prove it, but more on that later.

When was the last time you got a certificate in recognition of your achievements?

No one’s going to give me the Nobel Peace Prize, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything worthwhile, or worthy of at least a little pat on the back.

So what have I been up to since February?

Let me see…

• I washed and dried 256 loads of laundry. Approximately.
• I shopped for, prepared and served 392 meals. More or less.
• I learnt how to set up and publicise my blog, then wrote 83 articles for it.
• I finished my 68,000 word manuscript. It still needs oodles of work, but what I’ve done so far is a reasonable start.
• I got a travel article published in a national newspaper and some financial remuneration for my effort.
• I entered a couple of writing contests. Didn’t win but we tell the kids it’s all about taking part and having fun…
• I helped about 50 kids (not all mine) with their spelling or reading.
• I launched Mucho, our new web design and Internet marketing business, with my hubby.
• I wrote a shed load of web copy and sales copy emails.
• I got out and about networking at business meetings and meeting some good people for fun.
• I surfed. Not as much as I should have but I pulled on my wetsuit and gave it a go.
• I resisted the urge to give up on several projects and kept on slogging away at them.
• I taught my four year old to ride a bike. Now that’s a major parenting achievement and not as easy as it sounds.

Just look at all those action verbs.

Then there’s the vicarious living through my kids…

My 11 year old son won a prize for dancing at the school disco. He was the only kid in his class chosen to take part in a national science exam and was chosen to be part of a special reading program run by a university in Queensland because he’s a super reader. He loves learning the guitar and playing basketball.

My 8 year old son got sent out of his violin lesson for laughing. The the same thing happened in his drama class a few days later. When he saw a book called Puberty Boy with diagrams of a penis he wanted to know if I had a book with pictures like that of girls. I lied and told him I didn’t. He was the only kid in his class who was nominated to take part in the national maths exam and got a credit.

Both my sons have reading levels well above average for their age group despite the fact that they have been bandied around Central America of 18 months and spent a year being educated solely in Spanish in the Costa Rican education system.

My four year old daughter just got an orange belt in karate. She’s been doing karate for 10 months and in order to get her orange  belt she earned stripes for co-ordination, fitness, discipline, memory, teamwork, control, balance and focus. She kicks butt and keeps her family in line, especially her older brothers.

She just learnt to ride a bike too. Oh, maybe I mentioned that already?

4 Tips on Learning Something New

Because we bloggers are supposed to provide our readers with useful information here are a few lessons gleaned from the learning to ride a bike experience. You can apply them to learning any new skill or doing something you’ve never done before.

1. Make sure you’re wearing the appropriate safety gear. You will crash from time to time.

2. Start down hill. Make life easy on yourself, and don’t try to go too far to begin with.

3. Find someone patient to help you. If you can find more people to clap and cheer you on that’s even better.

4. Go easy on yourself. If you can just balance and pedal you’re off to a flying start. Learning to steer, stop gracefully, wave at people as you go by and ride with no hands can come later.

Check out the video

I think you’ll enjoy this 18 second video of my daughter riding her bike without trainer wheels.

Hear the proud mummy praise her, see how her little face glows with achievement, then cast your mind back to something you’ve done recently to be proud of. I’m sure there’s heaps of stuff you haven’t even had time to consider.

Thanks for reading

Please add your comments below and don’t forget to get free updates by email now or with the RSS Feed, if you haven’t already. That way, you won’t miss out!

Please Support Me: Tell People About This Website

If you like this article, please Tweet it or email a friend with the link. My clever computer boffin has added a little tool to make it easier for you to email it to friends, or add it to your favorite social media website. I hear that if you Digg it, or bookmark it on Delicious or Stumbleupon, that will get more readers here. Many thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

More Popular Articles

>> 10 Things To Be Grateful For and Why You Should Be
>> 1o Ways To Get The Life You Want
>> 3 Keys To Living Our Dream
>> Changing Crappiness Into Happiness
>> Follow Your Dream, You Only Live Once

Filed under: Stay Motivated | 15 Comments » | Print This Post