growth – Page 4 – Ruthann M. Wilson

Effective Goal Setting: Stay Focused and Thrive

One of the best ways to focus your time, energy, and money is to set a goal. Goals enable you to go from hoping and wishing to manifesting what you desire.

The journey from setting to achieving goals is fraught with obstacles, challenges, and distractions. If we are not laser focused on what truly matters, little by little, we can lose sight of our goals.

It is a great time in the new year to do a progress check. Spend some time today considering the following questions:

Is the way I am spending my time, energy, and money helping me create what I envisioned for my life?
Am I creating and nurturing the relationships I need to bring my goals to life?

If you don’t feel like you are making progress toward your goals, consider taking the following actions:

Keep track of how you are spending your time, energy, and money in a journal or notebook every day for the next seven days. Use the results to see where you need to make adjustments in support of your goals. Small changes on a daily basis can have a big effect.
Make a commitment to nurture your personal and professional network. Commit through action: make a call, send an email, or set up time to meet in person.
Ensure your goals are SMART, use positive language, and affirm what you want to create versus what you want to avoid.

Have fun, make changes where changes are needed, and trust the process in life and in your career as you bring your goals to life.

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All the best,

Ruthann

Why Clarifying Your Values Matters

The next time you find yourself looking for a reason why you haven’t started, completed, or followed through on something, take a step back and ask yourself if it is really important to you. If the answer is yes, spend some time exploring why it is important. When you ask yourself why something is important, you are tapping into your personal values.

Your values are always at work in your life whether you are fully aware of them or not. Clarifying them and using them as a guide can change your life. If you haven’t taken the time to clarify your values/what is most important to you in writing, I encourage you to make it a priority. Life flows when you are clear on your values.

We are likely to struggle to keep commitments when they are not clearly connected to personal values. When this happens, commitments tend to be rooted in fear and obligation rather than rooted in your heart.

Today is a great day to evaluate your commitments to ensure they are in alignment with your values. If not, give yourself permission to make changes or let them go.

Clarify what is most important to you and why. It will help you manifest what you desire.

Clarifying your values ensures that your career choices are authentic and sustainable, guiding decisions about roles, promotions, and leadership.

Need support? Be True to You: A Practical Guide to Pursuing an Authentic Path is designed to help you clarify what is most important to you and bring it to life. Click here to learn more about Be True to You.

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All the best,

Ruthann

How to Truly Apologize: Steps for Authentic Repair and Growth

“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

—Benjamin Franklin

The best way to say “I am sorry” is to say “I am sorry” and support your words with action. Anytime we say “I am sorry, but…” we have cancelled the apology and shifted into defense mode. What typically follows the word ‘but’ is an excuse for what we said, did, or didn’t do.

“I am sorry, but you made me angry.”
“I am sorry, but it wasn’t really my fault”.
“I am sorry, but [fill in the blank].”

Extending an apology to someone we have hurt or offended is an act of humility and a way of acknowledging the other person’s feelings and the importance of the relationship.

If you are someone that typically adds ‘but’ to your apologies, ask yourself why? Use what you learn through self-reflection to grow. Be clear as to why you are apologizing and extend your apology from the heart—an excuse free zone.

Take Action

Is there a relationship in your life that could benefit from an excuse free apology? If yes, take action, extend your apology and support your words with action.

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All the best,

Ruthann

Understanding Commitment vs. Attachment in Goal Setting

“Be committed, not attached; but more importantly, know the difference.”

—Anonymous

The difference between being committed vs. being attached is trust.

Trust enables you to dream big, set goals, work toward your goals, and stay open to more than one outcome. Trust enables you to ask “what did I learn?”, “how did I grow?” when things don’t go as you planned.

Commit to taking the action needed to bring your goals to life, but don’t become attached to a specific outcome. When we are attached to a specific outcome, we try to control the process rather than trust the process. Trust will enable you to keep your mind focused and your heart open to possibilities as you pursue your goals. The true power of commitment lies in your ability to make decisions, act on your decisions, and trust the process of bringing your goals to life.

In your career, commitment means taking consistent action, while trust keeps you open to opportunities that may unfold differently than planned.

Need help staying open to guidance? I invite you to read my post Embrace Possibility: 3 Transformative Tips.

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All the best,

Ruthann

The Power of Silence: Embracing Solitude for Inner Peace

“Let silence take you to the core of your life.”

—Rumi

When I was growing up, my mom used to make me and my siblings spend time alone on a regular basis. She felt it was important for us to learn to enjoy our own company and not feel compelled to fill our time with other people or activities to be content and happy.

Spending time alone was never an issue for me. I am an introvert by nature and quiet time alone is how I recharge and reenergize. I looked forward to and enjoyed my time alone.

As I look back on my childhood, I feel a deep sense of gratitude to my mom for laying the foundation for what has proven to be a very important daily practice—time alone in silence to cultivate patience, peace of mind, and trust in the process of being internally guided.

If you don’t already have a regular practice of spending time alone in silence, I encourage you to create time in your day to be still and silent. Strive for 15-20 minutes in silence each day.

If sitting in silence is new to you, start small. Take five minutes or ten minutes out of your day. Set a timer so that you can be fully present to the moment and not watching the clock. You may want to consider using your breath as a focal point for your time in silence. When the timer goes off, bring your quiet time to a close in a spirit of gratitude for the gift of silence. Capture your experience of going within in a journal or notebook.

In the beginning, the benefits of spending time in silence may not be obvious, however, as you continue with this practice, I believe you will feel a deeper sense of peace, calm, and balance. Give yourself the gift of silence.

Questions for reflection:

Are you comfortable being alone? If not, why not?
Are you comfortable in silence? If not, why not?

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All the best,

Ruthann

Create Your Own Happiness: Discover Joy by Choosing What You Love Each Day

Happiness is an inside job—it’s not something that you go out and find, it’s something that you create from the inside out. How much time have you scheduled this week for things that you truly enjoy?

In preparation for the coming week, I invite you to create a “top 10 list” of things that you enjoy. It can be as simple as reading, writing, walking, spending time with others, or spending time alone. Search your heart and make the list your own.

Take Action

Make time in your day (every day) to do at least one thing that you truly enjoy.

In full disclosure, this post was inspired by my own realization that I didn’t have enough things that are special to me on my list of things to do. I love to browse bookstores; however, I have not browsed in a long time. It’s on my list of things to do this week.

Create Your Own Happiness

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All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Organize for Success: Five Steps to Turn Vision into Action

Success begins with vision, but it takes organization to bring that vision to life. These five steps will help you move from inspiration to action with clarity and confidence.

I have outlined five steps, best accomplished in writing, to help you begin the process.

Step one is to determine your goal/desired outcome.

What does success look like? Envision what you desire and capture your vision on paper through words and/or images. Consider creating a vision board.

Step two is to determine why your desired outcome is important to you.

Why do you want what you have outlined in step one? What is your motivation?

Step three is to identify obstacles to reaching your goal and ways to overcome.

What might get in the way of you reaching your goal? How will you overcome?

Step four is to determine what resources you will need to bring your vision to life.

What will it take to bring your vision to life in terms of time, energy, money, and others? Be specific and realistic.
Plan backward.

Step five is to implement your plan.

What is one thing you can do this week to stay true to your vision of success?

In your career, organizing resources with a clear vision ensures that projects, priorities, and opportunities move forward with focus and integrity.

Thank you for pausing here. If my writing has offered meaningful insight or sparked a shift in you, I would be honored to hear what stayed with you.

You’re welcome to follow the blog to receive notifications of new posts, subscribe to the mailing list to receive new posts and updates directly to your inbox, or connect with me on social media, whatever feels most supportive.

Success begins with vision and grows through the steps you take with focus and integrity.

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Stand For, Not Against: Focus on what you want to grow

Take a stand for what you believe and magnify it in your life.

When we know what we stand for, we spend time and energy creating what we want instead of fighting against/resisting what we don’t want.

Resistance can feel good in the moment and give us a sense of power, however, resistance is not solution or growth oriented. When we are in resistance mode, we are focused on what we don’t want; rather than creating what we want.

Take time each day to renew your connection to your heart to help you stay focused on what you want to magnify in your life and in the world (e.g., peace, love, joy, etc.).

Global change begins with personal transformation.

In preparation for the week ahead, I invite you to reflect on the following questions.

What do I stand for?
How can I magnify it in my life?

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All the best,

Ruthann

Mid-Year: Review, Reflect, Keep Moving Forward

It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through the year. It’s a good time to pause and reflect on the first half of the year to see where you are versus where you hoped to be this time of the year. Make an effort to look back at the first half of the year without getting stuck in feelings of guilt or regret if you are off track. The goal of a mid-year evaluation is to review, reflect, correct, and move forward.

If you work in a business setting, you are more than likely used to a mid-year assessment related to your role/position. It is also a good practice for other areas of your life. Here are a few questions for you to consider:

What have I accomplished year to date?
- Consider all of your life areas (e.g., career, finances, health & fitness, etc.)
- Celebrate your accomplishments no matter how big or small.
What didn’t I accomplish that I really wanted to? Why?
Who or what has been my greatest blessing? Why?
What did I learn?
How did I grow?
What am I really committed to?

The last question is important to crystalize as a part of your mid-year evaluation. It will help you to see where you need to make adjustments to your current plan or change course and create a new plan of action.

For your reference, I have provided links to previous posts that are related to this topic.

Be Intentional (includes a downloadable worksheet)

Focus on what truly matters

SMART Goals: Bring Your Desires to Life

Create a Vision Board

Create a Theme for the Year

Keep moving forward! 🙂

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All the best,

Ruthann

Navigating Change and Life Transitions: Reflection Practices for Clarity

If you have read my book, you know there is a recurring theme that the nature of life is change and transition for the purpose of growth and evolution. Change is an inevitable and necessary element of life. It can be self-initiated or the result of external factors that might be out of our control (e.g., death of a loved one, loss of a job, health crisis, economy, sociopolitical environment).

Change is difficult whether we initiate it or not because it requires us to release/let go of something or someone and venture into the unknown. The unknown can be exciting or frightening depending on your perspective. Being able to reflect on the changes and transitions that have occurred in our lives enables us to learn and grow from our experiences.

As a part of my year-end process, I look back at the changes that occurred over the course of the year. I put the changes into two categories: 1) changes that I proactively initiated and 2) changes that were in response to external factors. I look at them separately for two reasons: 1) I am committed to personal growth and it is a way to hold myself accountable and 2) I recognize that some events/circumstances are out of my control, however, they provide me with an opportunity to learn more about myself, as well as others, and make changes accordingly.

I invite you to look back on the year in the context of the changes that occurred in your life. Look back with the following questions in mind.

What did you learn?
How did you grow?
What did you do for the first time this year? How did it make you feel?
Did you proactively initiate any changes in your life? If not, why not?
What did you learn about yourself and others as a result of external factors that were out of your direct control?

If your desire is to create your life from the inside out, commit to setting goals and proactively making changes in your life. Choose how to respond to external factors that are out of your control and stay focused on your goals.

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All the best,

Ruthann