Balance – Page 4 – Career Life Institute

Finding Focus in Our ADHD World

If you're like most people I know, you have way too many things you need to track:

too many contacts
too many appointments
too many bills
too many clothes or shoes
too many ebooks on the computer
too many ideas you simply can't get to
too many responsibilities
too many temptations
too many priorities
too many phone numbers and email addresses
too many birthdays and special occasions
TOO MUCH PHYSICAL STUFF that no longer serves a purpose…

So recently I've been attempting to de-clutter all those pockets in my life where the "stuff" has built up.

I have several reasons to simplify – including our desire to become "bi-local" and share our time between California, New Zealand and other ports of travel. But even with such a great reason to get rid of stuff, it's been an interesting challenge, and many times I found myself simply stuck.

As part of the process I decided I was tired of doing a manual back up of my computer data every week or so, and I bought a 2 terabyte hard drive that's supposed to do continual backups.. That was an interesting experience as it took almost 2 weeks to back up the computer, an external drive and our music drive.

And of course everything dropped to a crawl during the backup process. So I learned from that process that the backup drive gets connected at night when I'm not doing anything else & it can hog resources. Not quite what I wanted, but close enough I guess.

Once I had everything backed up, I started reorganizing files and deleting duplicates as well as anything that was way old and no longer needed. An fascinating thing happened – as the space cleared, my energy lifted.

That's when I started hitting gold!! I found several projects that were in various stages of completion, including one that was 3/4 finished when I had to set it aside about 7 years ago to take care of other things.

So I pulled it out and have been working to finish it up. It's amazing how much energy that in itself has created. And now I'm excited about the project again, even if I've changed my focus and it ends up a somewhat different product.

I've also begun to prioritize the other projects I still want to work on, and deciding which ones to let go of. As I complete what's in front of me, it's freeing up more energy to do what I want. Which makes it that much easier to focus on what's important to me now.

The key has always been taking action. Especially when you feel you are stuck. It's isn't always necessary to take massive action, you just have to start somewhere. Your momentum and focus will build as you create the space for them.

Taking those first few steps towards clearing out the clutter in my life has resulted in giving me back the ability to focus.

Restructuring for the New Decade

When I started the project of converting this website to a blog, I had no idea that it would take me more than a month to get everything transferred over!!

For the past few years I have been encouraging my clients to set their websites up as blogs, and I have been playing with "static blogs" for the past few years myself. With all the changes to WordPress, it is so much easier for the small business person or solo-preneur to create, modify, and maintain their site as a blog. The freedom and flexibility as well as sheer number of plugins and widgets gives back the power to the independent business person – and saves a lot of money for the person who is just starting out.

However, I forgot to take into consideration that this site has been around since 1997, and currently has close to a hundred individual articles.

There is always a balance to be considered between time and money, and this is one time I would have been smarter to have simply paid someone to do the work instead of doing it myself (wondering if I'll ever really learn that one about letting go)! I didn't even think about how many links would need to be verified, or how many other details would need to be addressed in order to bring the site back online after the restructuring.

I just knew that since it's become so much easier to maintain an active site using wordpress, I wanted to make that leap with the Career Life Institute. And since I was already in the middle of re-evaluating and shifting several key fundamentals for myself personally, having a little downtime with the site didn't seem such a bad thing. I didn't even notice until I was about half-way through that there were more little pieces to deal with than I had accounted for.

Any time you restructure things – whether in your personal life or in your career – you discover thoughts, ideas, pieces that just no longer seem to fit anywhere. When you attempt to hold on to those things which have lost their usefulness – instead of streamlining for the present so you can anticipate the future, you risk becoming inflexible, outmoded and being left by the side of the road yourself. The challenge again comes down to a balance of values, and an updated vision that lights the way.

I'm reminded of something Phil Bookman, Vice President of Silton-Bookman Systems used to say every time we upgraded the software: "God was able to create the heavens and the earth in only 6 days because he did not have an install base!"

So, please forgive our dust as the new site settles in. We are bound to find dead-end links and gaps where pages used to be. And we'd appreciate you telling us if you find yourself at a 404 page unexpectedly. We hope you'll continue along with us as we make our way forward.

Feng Shui with Style – Working with Your Element Type

When you begin to study feng shui, you quickly realize the importance of the qualities and characteristics of the five feng shui elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. This knowledge is essential to selecting appropriate colors, furnishings, and accessories for your home. You can also use your understanding of the five elements to develop a personalized feng shui strategy, based on the element that is reflected most strongly in your own style of living.

Metal energy is clean, simple, and detail-oriented. Earth is lush, nurturing and comfortable. Water is free-flowing, expressive, and intuitive. Wood is ambitious, forward-thinking, and practical. Fire is passionate, excitable, and changeable.

Each of us has a unique combination of these five energies in our own personality, usually with one element dominating. This is reflected in how we decorate and use our homes.

Some of us developed a strong style preference at a very early age, which continues to serve and suit us well. Others go through different phases as they progress through life. You may once have covered anything that didn't move in chintz and ruffles, but now find yourself appreciating the clarity of a more sparsely decorated space – or vice versa. During an earlier phase you may have been happy with few possessions and a minimalist lifestyle, only to find greater comfort now in the abundant colors and textures of a more lavishly decorated home.

The element that is strongest in your personality right now will influence your current decorating style, housekeeping habits, and your approach to feng shui. Your experience will be more fun and more comfortable when you tailor your feng shui strategies to your element style. Let's begin by seeing which of the five descriptions below most closely describes you:

Neat Freak (METAL): I hate clutter! My home is always immaculate, with everything tidy and well-maintained, and I am very thoughtful about what I bring into my space.
Pack Rat (EARTH): I love my stuff, and can't get rid of anything. My house is so full of clutter that when something is broken I can't even get to it to fix it.
Free Spirit (WATER): I'm too busy being me to clean up! If something's a mess, I just toss a shawl over it. People say my home has lots of personality, and I am constantly redecorating and moving things around.
Go-Getter (WOOD): Housekeeping? Home décor? Don't ask me; that's what the maid and decorator are for. I just want things functional and practical, and I need a quiet place to come home to at the end of a busy day.
Whirlwind (FIRE): Enough of the quiz already! I have a million things to do and a short attention span-just tell me how to feng shui my house!

Many people are a combination of styles, so it may be hard to choose just one answer. If you're not sure, ask a few relatives or close friends for feedback; if you're a true Neat Freak, you may think your house is a mess even when it's immaculate by other people's standards!

You may also find that you live one style, but secretly crave another. As a dyed-in-the-wool Free Spirit, for example, I regularly break the feng shui rules of good housekeeping because I'm just too busy creating, writing, and living to keep things as clean and organized as I would like them to be. But whenever I visit a Neat Freak's home, my soul goes "ahhhhhh."

The trick is to be aware of what type of space you are really, truly most comfortable in. As much as I like visiting pristine, zen-like spaces, I know that I don't really want to live in one — that if I did it would soon look just as lived-in as my current home.

Here are some guidelines, based on the element-affinities described above, to help you develop a personalized feng shui strategy:

NEAT FREAK –
Your home is so neat and tidy that it may be a little rigid, sterile, or monochromatic. You tend to like the minimalist look, and are the most likely type to have all-white decor. If your furniture has been in the same position for years, look for ways to get chi moving without making more change than you'll feel comfortable with.

Live plants and flowers will bring natural energy and color to your space. You may also need to add more personal touches here and there. Find a place to display a few favorite photographs of friends and family members, so there are some human images around you.

Your love for clean, simple spaces and attention to detail mean you are probably on top of any maintenance or clutter issues, so focus on creating a good flow of chi through your home, counteracting any negative influences, and activating your power spots. Your clean and tranquil home is a wonderful environment for self-nurturing methods such as meditation and qigong.

PACKRAT –
Your biggest problem is clutter! Closets are overflowing, you have three sets of everything, books are stacked two deep on every shelf, you've saved every greeting card you ever got, and all the flat surfaces in your home are piled with stuff. You might still be able to breathe, but your space isn't getting any chi at all!

Create some breathing room in your home before you do anything else, or you'll just activate all your clutter into even greater chaos. Chances are you've been feeling a little stuck lately, so focus on getting rid of the old to make room for the new before you do anything else.

Once you've cleared out enough stuff to get a good look at your house, make sure you've got a good flow of chi through the space and address any maintenance issues before making other feng shui changes. Your own chi will shift a lot as you clean out your home, so be sure to practice some grounding and balancing techniques as you go along.

FREE SPIRIT –
You've been feng shui-ing your space since the day you first got your own bedroom, even if you didn't know to call it that.

You are the type most likely to want to work on everything at once, so be sure to define some priorities before jumping into making changes.

Your enthusiasm for creative décor may lead you to overlook basic maintenance issues and allow clutter to pile up. Take care of those first, then make sure that you are applying your individuality to your power spots rather than scattering it randomly about the place.

Of all the types, you are boldest in your use of color, so get out the brush and roller and have some fun with feng shui color-theory.

Make sure that you haven't overlooked any negative influences that should be corrected, and use your creativity to develop your own unique feng shui enhancements. You've probably tried a lot of different personal renewal methods over the years, but may not have kept up a consistent practice. Make a commitment to pay as much attention to the inner you as you do to your surroundings.

GO-GETTER –
Your house is probably beautifully furnished and well maintained, but you may have delegated so many of your home-maintenance chores that you no longer have a strong energetic attachment to your space.

Make sure you don't delegate all your feng shui tasks, too, or they won't have much power behind them. Find small, simple things you can do yourself and be sure to put some of your own energy into enhancing your key power spots. If you arrange for someone else to take care of other feng shui chores, it will be especially important to perform the body-speech-mind empowerments on each one when the work is done.

Throw practicality out the window for a moment and choose one unique and unexpected item for your home that expresses the inner you others so rarely see.

Chances are good you've been pushing yourself pretty hard for a long time, so be sure to make time for balance and renewal. A candle-lit aromatherapy bath will help you relax so you can enjoy your beautiful home.

WHIRLWIND –
You're usually moving too fast to pay much attention to your house, but once you get into feng shui you'll want to get it all done in one afternoon.

Do some planning before you begin, or you'll jump from one unnecessary embellishment to another without getting to the important stuff before you're distracted by the next exciting idea. You want to start with the wind chimes and water fountains because they look like the most fun, but if you skip over locating your personal power spots you won't know where to place them. And leaving the household maintenance tasks for later could sabotage your other efforts.

You'll benefit from the discipline of empowering your changes with a daily ritual-it's an essential part of the process, and the thing you're most likely to skip! Promise yourself a massage when you're done, and splurge on a big bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece for your home, so you remember to stop and smell the roses from time to time.

About The Author

Stephanie Roberts is a feng shui consultant in Maui, Hawaii, and the author of the best-selling Fast Feng Shui: 9 Simple Principles for Transforming Your Life by Energizing Your Home (rated 5-stars by Amazon.com readers) from which this article is adapted. To find out how you can use contemporary Western feng shui to help you achieve greater success and happiness in your life, please visit the Fast Feng Shui website. stephanie@fastfengshui.com

Enhancing Your Business With Feng Shui

Most of us want our businesses to be "powerhouses", where there is a great deal of energy, activity and production, in perfectly manageable doses. Even in the "quieter" healing professions, a steady flow of energized clients is desired. Achieving this takes a variety of efforts on many different levels–professional training, advertising, networking, accounting, etc. Yet many of us overlook the very real impact that our actual physical work space can have on our goals.

Beyond the common sense basics, like having a clear and organized desk space, well-kept records and files, and up-to-date equipment, there are numerous spatial remedies and enhancements that Feng Shui offers for business success. Looking at your workplace through "Feng Shui eyes" will show you exactly where to apply a change to achieve more success in your business.

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art which uses the balanced placement of everyday objects to harmonize both our inner and outer environments. Furniture placement, specific objects and decorations, colors, textures and room energetics are all scrutinized and balanced. For example, in a business or home office, Feng Shui will suggest you place your desk in the "power position" in the room. This position will have your chair facing the door or entry opening, with a solid wall directly behind you. Windows should be at your sides rather than directly behind you if possible, but curtains or a blocking plant can provide a solid wall feeling if needed.

When situated this way, you will feel protected at your back and ready to encounter safely anything that is coming your way. The effect this has on your energy, and even on your health, is much greater than one would expect–our primitive "fight or flight" readiness response is calmed and we gain energy.

Feng Shui works in a similar manner to address the location of your business, the approach and entryway(s), retail or service situations, the actual layout of merchandise, and all other aspects that promote sales. Feng Shui also looks at enhancing the well-being of the employees–making sure that their comfort in the workspace translates into increased productivity and generally raised energy levels for the entire business.

Whether you want to increase your client flow, change your customer base, increase your efficiency at work, bring overdue projects to completion, or any other business goal–applied Feng Shui techniques can assist you with uncanny accuracy.

Feng Shui uses the map of the "Bagua" to identify eight areas in a space which best holds specific energies such as Career, Wealth, Helpful People, Creativity, etc. Careful enhancements of these areas will allow more Ch'i, or life force, to flow through those areas of your life. For example, placing an abundantly healthy green plant in the Health area of an office will have an immediate positive effect, as will the colors red, blue and purple when placed in the Wealth area. A skilled Feng Shui practitioner will be able to discover your main business concerns and suggest physical changes to create an environmental affirmation of your specific goals.

Usually the initial simple remedies of Feng Shui prove so successful that business owners continue with the larger improvements as their profits and positive life changes increase. As both a practical science and an intuitive art, Feng Shui can transform your work environment into the place where all of your true talents can blossom and prosper.

By Karen Carrasco, Essential Feng Shui ™ Consultant
fengshui@humboldt1.com