Goals & People on Purpose, Comfort Zones, 50 new experiences

2 years ago today 200 people joined Mark and I to raise money to help educate girls around the world. We exceeded our target and raised over $5,000, all of which went to the charity, Room to Read.

It was an incredible feeling, being a part of something that united so many people for one purpose. During the event we watched a movie, Girl Rising, that uses storytelling to inspire action, and shared the stories of girls who had risen above the challenges of their lives and gained their educations.

I was so delighted to see a post on the Room to Read website at the end of 2015; the charity has made a difference to 10m girls so far! So, thank you again to all of those who joined us on that night and helped make that 10m a reality.

Link to download movie if you haven’t seen it

Perhaps not surprisingly, my theme this week is RISING. Since that event, as many will know, life with my parents has been challenging, to say the least! However, personal-development and my rapidly approaching 50th have given me new perspective, and I believe that I am ‘rising’, taking charge of my life and taking on new challenges.

My list of ’50th year challenges’ continues to grow. The latest is donning a Marilyn Monroe costume and joining my fellow ‘Marilyns’ in a jetty swim to raise money for cancer research. A double challenge really, as I take on a new and very different public persona whilst also testing my new open-water swimming skills (albeit with the aid of a ‘floaty’!).

I intend to continue living my life ‘on purpose’, and that includes helping others to get the most out of life. We already tutor kids, and now we have added coaching adults to our remit so that we can help more people. Life is good and getting better.

PEOPLE ON PURPOSE: the wonderful Maya Angelou. This is my favourite quote of hers:

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style”

Still I Rise video with Maya

Books on Purpose has to be RISING STRONG by Brene Brown this week click here to review/buy via Wordery affiliate link

And finally…. 50 new experiences on Purpose

New experiences to date (latest in bold) : 1. ocean swim; 2. NYE boat on harbour; 3. ocean kayak; 4. boogie board; 5. hosted teacher well-being workshop; 6. Speed Networking; 7. Adelaide Hills CRUSH wine festival; 8. Being ‘Marilyn’!

 

 

#onpurposeatfifty

Goals & People on Purpose, Comfort Zones, 50 new experiences

This week I am sharing some of my personal goals with you.

BIG goals are achieved with tiny steps, a little bit at a time, all adding up to something greater. As coaches this is what we support clients with; dreaming big then working towards those dreams.

I have already shared my swimming success with you. That was a long-term goal achieved. My small steps were the chapters of the book I read and the exercises I completed as a part of that reading. Each time I tried, and sometimes failed, I was step closer to my goal. Oh, and the satisfaction of getting there! So much greater than just swimming, which for most of you will be an “uh huh, swimming, easy, so what” sort of thing. But for me it was overcoming a lifelong fear that was so much greater than learning the mechanics of swimming!

Water has become a bit of a theme for me. After years of saying no to Mark, I finally decided to give kayaking a go. And, guess what? I absolutely love it! I have my own little kayak, and my own paddle, and I venture far from shore! In fact, I like it so much that canoeing together in Canada is now on my bucket list. Mark is still in shock!

Swimming and kayaking are also about staying healthy. I’m not a big fan of gyms; all that grunting and sweating and still not getting anywhere. Organised sports? Ditto. Golf? Tennis? Been there, done that. I wasn’t half bad actually, I just got bored! But give me an open stretch of water and I’m a dolphin exploring the big blue. Okay, not quite, but you get the drift.

I do not want to have heart disease, I do not want dementia, I do want cancer. All 3 of these my mum has, and all 3 have strong lifestyle connections. Well, actually, Mum doesn’t have cancer anymore. She was diagnosed with lung cancer 8 years ago, but she completely ignored it, refused all treatment, and it apparently got bored and went away. Seriously, even the doctors were amazed and couldn’t explain it.

The irony of course is that she doesn’t even remember having cancer and on a daily basis says she is so lucky not to have had anything bad happen to her. Tell me there isn’t a mind-body connection going on! In fact, all those years ago she said she would prefer to have cancer than dementia. Oh the irony of life.

Each week I take mum out for lunch. It’s only an hour or two as she gets very tired. Up until last year I found these outings very stressful. Learning mindfulness has really helped.

I also try to gently keep her from repeating stories from her past, which she can tell over and over and over again. Now, I still show interest, but move her off on a tangent to another part of that story or to move her more to the present. The odd thing is that she seems to have no memories at all between age 13 and now.

This week I bought mum one of her favourites, a peppermint chocolate to go with her coffee. We both savoured our naughty little chocs and carried on chatting, discarding our bright green sweet wrapper on the table.

After a few more stories mum grabbed her wrapper and said “oh, this reminds me of my mother. she used to tell me off for screwing up my wrappers saying ‘life isn’t like that Peggy’.”

By contrast, my wrapper was folded neatly next to hers. I don’t know where that comes from!

New experiences to date: ocean swim, NYE boat on harbour, ocean kayak, boogie board, teacher workshop.

Books on Purpose

One I often recommend to my clients who are concerned about their finances is Money Love (Buy it here). It has completely changed the way I think about money, including how I spend it and save it. Definitely worth a read, even for those who think that they have a healthy relationship with it.

People on Purpose 

My choice this week has to be Richard Branson. I have just noticed that he has copied my idea and is doing 65 new things in his 65th year! The cheek!

The irony is that the first time I can remember really going out of my comfort zone was back in 1987 in London. I was working for a merchant bank at the time and a group of us decided to start a band so we could play in the Square Mile Charity Concert.

So, complete with green silk shirt and fishnet tights, I was one of the backing singers for our band, Gordon and the Gekkos (yes, the fictional character from the movie Wall St – wow, I really am showing my age now! Oh yeah, I think I’ve kind of given that away with my blog anyway!).

Coincidentally, Mr Branson was launching his new condoms brand, Mates. One of his campaigns was to sing on stage to launch them. And who do you think were his backing band for the launch at the concert? Yep, the ‘Gekkos’! Great experience, definitely out of my comfort zone! I can also say that Richard Branson is a fantastic businessman, but singing will definitely never be his forte!

 

 

 

STOP PRESS – as I was about to publish my latest blog I learned of the passing of David Bowie…and my world stopped for a few minutes. I can’t think of another artist that has been so large and so present my entire life. The Thin White Duke has literally been in-step with me from childhood until now. And it is not just me; Mark literally had tears in his eyes when he heard the news.

So, in a week when I am focussing on people living lives ‘On Purpose’, I had to include this amazing man, hence my re-draft and consequent delay in p0sting.

But before that, here’s a bit about my journey so far to ’50 new experiences’ this year.

This week I worked from my favourite new office, my beach tent! It’s such a perfect way to get out of the house and away from all that stuff that tends to distract us. Best investment ever (thanks to Mark for a well-thought through Xmas present last year – much cheaper than a shack!).

I spent half the day at the beach, out of the wind, protected from the sun and people-watching through my tent ‘doorway’, or, as I have come to think of it, my personal cinema screen!

Every time I escape to the beach I have new experiences. This week I took countless photos, rattled away in my ‘second language’ to the young Spanish couple sunbathing next to me, swam, read 200 pages of a novel,  journalled, slept and meditated. All of this brought me so much JOY, little if any cost apart from time!

Out of my comfort zone this week was a swim in the ocean (managed to finish my swimming instruction book finally). I have been terrified of the ocean  and boats all of my life (where that fear comes from is another blog coming soon!). The photo below is proof that I did it. My mantra for this year is F… it, just do it! That is our little dog swimming next to me by the way, not a dolphin – I wasn’t that lucky!

How fast our goals can change! The next day I was with some friends further down the coast and they suggested boogie boarding! Proof that I had never done this is not only in the video below but also the fact that I pronounced it ‘boooogie’, as in the dance! Mark hasn’t stopped laughing!

People on Purpose
Has to be David Bowie. We were so lucky to be able to see the retrospective exhibition dedicated to his life’s work in Melbourne last year.  It is hard to put into words how overwhelmed we were by the hard evidence of his talent, so I thought I would try stream of conscious and see what comes out. No editing I promise! Here goes: reinvention, exploration, flamboyant, spaceman, my youth, Ziggy, an inspiration to so many, live as if today was your last…..R.I.P.

There will never be another David Bowie. He couldn’t exist now, stepping so easily from one music genre to another, easing himself from one decade to the next with a change of clothes and a fresh perspective. His latest album is dark, somewhat frightening, and absolutely amazing. A testament to his artistry, yes, but also to his courage when faced with the end. No quiet passing this; instead a clanging, raging, magnificent roar of colour and chaos. Well done Mr Bowie.

source: BBC News 11/01/16

 

 

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Fifty blogs at 50…

I have now officially entered my 50th year. A milestone in itself.  As coaching is all about milestones, goals and living on purpose, I have decided to blog once a week for my 50th year. What does this mean to you, the reader? Well inspiration definitely! But also book reviews, motivational quotes and an inside look at a girl’s life in Adelaide who is living on purpose. One of my goals this year is to improve my blogging and writing skills so what better way to start, than just start. Annie on Purpose

The photo below is a design I came up with this week and then coloured it in; one of my mindfulness activities I do now and again. This design was to prove to myself that I can be creative. What goes creative mean anyway? Coming soon in another post..

Annie on Purpose

So Annie on Purpose is basically Annie living each and every day on purpose, aligned with my values. This section of the blog is about bucket lists, goals, new experiences and moving away from my comfort zone.  Photo story below.

   Out of comfort zone  = fear of the ocean, fear of sharks, fear of boats.

     Bucket List – me on the right – karaoke queen singing Mama Mia!

Bucket List – on a boat on Sydney Harbour – New Year’s Eve 2015

Out of comfort zone – fear of waves, fear of the beautiful people, fear of great swimmers.  Yes that’s me under the arrow at the Sydney Icebergs Pool at Bondi.

So unoffically I have ticked off FOUR complete new experiences before 4th Jan 2016!

Goal Setting

To be able to do three of the four experiences above, I had to teach myself to swim, yes, teach myself! I joined a group swimming class and hated it and never went back. Something about me wanting to be in control of my learning. So I bought a book (Total Immersion) from the USA and watched one video on YouTube (Learn to swim with Pierre Gruneberg) and low and behold I can swim! Ok so I’m only on Chapter 7 but the previous 6 chapters have obviously given me enough courage and confidence to get out there and do it!

People on Purpose

My choice this week is Brene Brown. First saw her TED talk (The Power of Vulnerability, a TED Talk by Brene Brown) in 2011. I have now read both her books (click for more info) and watched her interviewing Oprah (Living Brave interview with Oprah Truly inspiring! Look her up!

Just a note on Books

I am very excited to be an affiliate for Wordery online bookshop ( wordery homepage) which has free worldwide shipping. Click on the links in brackets which has my affiliate code attached. 5% of your purchase will go to a variety of charities we will choose throughout the year (more on this soon).

Thanks for Reading! If you would like to receive notifications of new blogs, please comment below.

Annie Harvey

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