Top 12 Posts of 2008

I know it isn’t year-end yet, but experience and observation have shown that not many people want to begin the heavy lifting of reflection and self-assessment near the Holidays.

So, after 700+ posts in 2008, I’m publishing the 12 Most Read Posts at Slow Down FAST so we can all get a jump on the new year.

Thank you all for your support throughout the year.

Here they are:

  1. The Causes and Cures of Procrastination
  2. Mindhacks: 5 Ways to Increase Creativity, Productivity and Intelligence
  3. How to Overcome the #1 Fear: Public Speaking
  4. 8 Essential Ingredients to Master Your Time
  5. Do Not Wage Psychological Warfare
  6. Stuck in a Rut? Fire Up Your Creativity with These 7 Steps
  7. What Are You Passionate About?
  8. See How Easily You Can Handle Change
  9. How to Maintain Professional Boundaries
  10. 5 Simple Tricks To Make You Smarter
  11. 5 Signs You’re a Pleaser and What to Do About It
  12. From Greedy to Grateful – Appreciating What You Have

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Slow Down and Experience the Real Meaning of the Holiday Season

sledding.jpgby David Bohl

Amazingly, the holidays are upon us again. It feels as though this time of year comes so fast, turns our lives upside down and is over before we know it. Sometimes it’s hard to be fully present in the moment when we’re overwhelmed and stressed about gift giving, tons of parties to attend, and juggling our families through it all. It helps to step back and take it all in. Slow Down and enjoy the holidays.

Giving is better than receiving…

Make time for others. The good deeds you do will not only help others but really allow you to experience the true meaning of the holidays. Why not volunteer at a soup kitchen, organize a toy drive for underprivileged children or even make time at your child’s school for fun activities? Even simple gestures like baking cookies for your elderly neighbors or inviting those without families to visit during the holidays can be ways to give to others what they would have missed this year.

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Say YES to Personal Choice!

yes.jpgby David Bohl

Are you aware that you are at choice in every area of your life?

When I ask that question of my personal coaching clients they sometimes get very quiet, then say, “No. I don’t feel like I make all my own choices.” That’s a very common response. Many people feel like other people make choices for them, dictate what they “should” do, how they should do it, when they should do it, what they should eat, what they should wear, etc.

It begins, of course, with our parents. Until we’re at an age where they can trust us to make our own, correct decisions, they make our choices for us. If they were controlling, over-protective parents, they may not have instilled in us the opportunity to develop our ability to make our own wise decisions. Thus, we may have grown into adults still looking to others to choose our life situations. Or they may have taught us how to choose and take responsibility for our choices and we became confident, self-assured adults.

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Teach Your Kids to Think for Themselves

ducky.jpgby David Bohl

When I think back to my own childhood, I can’t help but recall things that my parents would say. “You weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth.” You can be anything you want to be.” “The sky is the limit.” “Act your age, not your shoe size!” Some positive, some negative, but all really true, at least in my case. As I look at the basis for the things to teach my own kids through what my parents taught me, it turns out “the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

The last thing in the world I would want to do is make my children completely dependent on me and my wife. I want to teach them about what’s really important in life. But also I want, more than anything, for them to be able to handle themselves with self assurance in this often fantastic and sometimes difficult world. As parents, maybe we need to get the idea out of our heads that we’ll be able to prepare our children for any situation. It’s not possible! The truth is that we don’t know everything, our mothers and fathers didn’t know everything, and kids will need to make their own mistakes to learn from them as you and I both did and still do.

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Emotional Vampires, Time Suckers, and Other Characters to Avoid During the Holidays and Always

vampire.jpgby David Bohl

With the holiday season upon us, sometimes along with the merriment comes an overdose of certain folks who grate our nerves or cause us just a bit too much inconvenience. This article is NOT about wreaking revenge on such individuals, but figuring out how to limit their inflence in your life so that you have more time to focus on the really important things!

Warding Off “Emotional Vampires”, Giving Bad Friends the Boot

Emotional vampires sap us of our life force with their neediness and ability to attract drama/stir up trouble wherever they go. Friends like this start off seemingly normal– and then suddenly you find yourself being dragged down a perilous path of emotional blackmail and destruction! After a while, you realize that you don’t care for the way the “emotional vampire” treats people, whether it’s other friends, neighbors, business associate or even the check-out girl at the grocery store. You feel frustrated over the lost time it takes to deal with such a person and the complications they invite.

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‘Tis the Season to Slow Down

holidaysmile.jpgby David Bohl

When Halloween candy hits the shelves before Labor Day and animatronic Santas are ho-ho-ho-ing at you before you’ve even had a chance to carve your Thanksgiving turkey, it’s hard not to feel rushed through the holiday season. However, difficult as it may be to pause and reflect on the meaning of the holidays, it is certainly beneficial.

If you feel like the time between Halloween and Christmas is nothing more than a blur before your eyes, try a few of these tips to slow down and enjoy your holidays this year.

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A Thanksgiving Recipe for Gratitude

dinner.jpgby David Bohl – Life Coach and Lifestyle Designer

Baste the turkey? Check. Craft a cornucopia centerpiece Martha Stewart would be proud of… check. Buy an extra place setting for Aunt Flo’s new fling. Check.

Your Thanksgiving to-do list may be complete in your eyes, but have you forgotten the purpose of the holiday in all the excitement and hubbub? This Thanksgiving, don’t lose sight of the deeper meaning behind your 20-person, eat-till-you-drop get-together: gratitude.

Whether you’re a first-time Thanksgiving host or you’ve been serving up white and dark meat for years, it’s easy to get carried away in the details lose sight of the true spirit of the day. But don’t forget that especially during the holidays, it’s important to slow down. Take time to stop and smell the pie – and be thankful for that wonderful aroma!

Slowing down at Thanksgiving means stopping to reflect upon all that life has bestowed upon you! Why not start a Thanksgiving tradition of gratitude? It can be as simple as going around the table and sharing what each person is thankful for — or taking a moment to read a special poem aloud around the dessert table.

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8 Pitfalls of Managing Your Own Business and How to Overcome Them

technology.jpgWhat an exciting venture– to start, run, and manage your own business!

Maybe you have a talent that you are offering as a service to clients such as massage, consulting, or financial planning. Or maybe your business is selling a product like clothing, wines, or information products. Whatever your plan involves–services or products–managing your own business takes certain skills beyond the specialized knowledge that makes you good at what you do.

If you don’t learn the skills of running and managing your business, you may find yourself experiencing some of these common pitfalls
. If you do experience them, acknowledge where you are, then take measures to overcome them.

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Do You Need Help? Read This!

istock_000007178358xsmall.jpg

“I finally learned that you cannot help people unless they really need help, are willing to be helped, want you to help them and ask you to help them. Even then, you can only help them to help themselves.” ~ Vincent Collins

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What Should Women Know About Men?

From my article What Women Should Know About Men’s Brains at Dumb Little Man:

istock_000001728505xsmall.jpg“As more and more research reveals the differences in the male and female brains, it becomes easier for each gender to better understand the other and to allow the differences to unite rather than separate us.

After many carefully controlled studies, scientists have discovered actual physical differences between the brains of males and females. Men and women tend to maintain these unique brain characteristics throughout their lives.”

Read the rest of What Women Should Know About Men’s Brains.

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