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September is a wonderful time of year for new beginnings. With the carefree days of summer over and kids back to school, you can finally get back to working on YOU. It seems appropriate that this month we'll look at:

TEN STEPS THAT WILL HELP YOU MAKE A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE QUICKLY.

Here are ten areas you can begin looking at. You probably can't work on all ten at once, however, just becoming aware of them is a beginning in itself.

1. Get clear on what your ideal life would look like if you could create it any way you want.

   If you sat in front of a blank canvas and were able to "paint" a picture of your ideal life, what would it look like? Where would you live? What kind of car would you drive? How would you look? How would you spend your mornings, afternoons and evenings? What would you do for a living?

   You need to decide what your perfect future would look like. If you don't, you'll miss out on so much that life has to offer. It would be like deciding to go on a trip, packing up the family, but never choosing where to go! Pretty silly, right?

   Here's a fun project. In a couple of pages, write out what your ideal day would look like. Begin your story when you wake up in the morning…and finish it at the end of the evening. Once you've finished writing out your perfect day, read it every morning and evening. Don't worry how far-fetched it may seem. Picturing yourself in your perfect world over and over again is one of the most powerful tools you can use to begin changing your life in that direction.

   Once you have a clear picture in mind, think about what small changes you can make right now to begin making your life look like your vision. Making these little changes sends a powerful message to the universe that you're serious, strengthens the power of your vision and the potential for its fulfillment. For example, if you see yourself exercising on a daily basis, looking fit and trim, make sure you're doing some type of exercise now - even if it's only walking around the block once a day. If you see yourself waking up peacefully to a quiet breakfast of croissants and fresh fruit with time to read or meditate, do it now! If you see yourself with lots of free time for fun with your children, start taking the time right now! Play games with them; take them to the movies, shopping, whatever, but start NOW! The more you take the actions that are within your power, the quicker you'll get there.

   Anyone who has reached high levels of success and created a wonderful life did so in their imagination first, even if they weren't aware of it. You can too!

2. Choose your priorities.

   One of the most common challenges I see when working with clients is that most people have far too much going on. They're starting a business, raising a family, volunteering their time at their place of worship, cooking gourmet meals and keeping a perfect house, running the children to lots of extracurricular activities, etc. Whew! We put more and more on our plate... say yes, yes, yes to things, but never take anything off! The result is burnout, confusion, guilt, stress, low self-esteem, and not being GREAT at anything!

   Most people can only have one or two main focuses. For most moms, one main focus is usually their family. Then they can pick ONE other; maybe their home-based business, being the PTA president, or a full-time job. But if they try to add additional things, everything suffers!

3. Saying no.

   Have you ever automatically said "yes" to something and immediately wished you hadn't? Without even thinking about it, we say yes because we're concerned people won't like us, we may offend someone, worry about what they'll think, etc.

   When you begin to say no to anything less than your highest and best, you will experience freedom as never before, and go from being the victim of your circumstances to creating them.

   Once you have determined what your highest priorities are, it becomes much easier to say no. There will still be other things going on in your life, but you can't give massive amounts of time and energy to anything unless it falls into one of your two main priorities.

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For additional information on the programs Mary Jo offers and to learn why someone might decide to hire their own personal coach, check out her website at VirtualSuccessCoach.com or send her e-mail at MaryJo@CreativeCoachingSolutions.com