A New Blog Site!

 

As of June 1, 2015, my blog has moved to: http://michaelsunnarborg.com/blog/

Please join me there and continue following the stories, insights, and coaching tips for finding better balance and happiness in your work, relationships, and life. 

To Our Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

The Empty Inbox

After being laid off from my full-time job two weeks ago and reluctantly enrolled in what I term The White Box Club, I found myself wading through waves of phone calls, text messages, and emails from friends and family expressing their words of wisdom, love, and support. People I didn't even know were sending messages of hope and encouragement through social media. The outpouring of support was amazing.

Then this past Friday—exactly two weeks after that shocking and unexpected event—my inbox was empty. Hardly an email, phone call, or text message. It suddenly felt like the whole event had never occurred. Until I remembered that it had.

So what just happened?

The moment I told my Mom about this unexpected condition, she recalled the time when our home was lost to a fire back in 2002. "There was such an outpouring of support for quite a while. But then there was a day when it all came to a screeching halt. Another note for the time frame, but also another twinge of the heart."

I was reminded that every life event has a process—a beginning and an end—and so do the people touched by it. When others near to us are swept into the emotional waves of a personal life event, they, too, become a part of it... for a short time. But then they return to their own lives. They come, they love, they leave.

So if other people can move on so quickly, why can’t I? How come I can’t just process the sadness and disappointment and get over it? 

Because it happened to me.

Other people process faster because empathy can only take you so far. Even when we extend support to others, we will naturally have an inherent need to nurture ourselves. And when the event happens to us, our own process will always be different from anyone else—especially since we're the ones who are most affected. And that’s okay.

As a life coach, I encourage my clients to receive—and not be afraid to ask for—support from their friends and family when facing tough times. I also teach them to rely on themselves for encouragement. Learning to becoming your own coach can serve you for the rest of your life.

Starting to reflect upon the lessons I'm learning during this layoff process is, yet again, another opportunity to me to learn how to coach myself—another chance to "drink another cup of my own coffee." Whereas the encouragement came from others during the past two weeks, it now needs to come from me. My friends and family reminded me how important my gifts are to the world, and now I need to remind myself.

If I believe that every life event has a process, then this, too, shall pass. Sometimes in the most difficult times, the glimmer of hope becomes the light at the end of the tunnel.

My challenges this week?

• To allow myself to keep processing, and be very kind to myself as I do
• Keep bringing clarity to these moments
• Acknowledge all of my thoughts, feelings, and intuitive "nudges"
• Continue to practice patience and trust the process
• Keep focusing on internal and external alignment

Throughout this process of grieving: anger, confusion, sadness, and acceptance, I will stay true to myself and my integrity. And while my hands are staying busy doing logical things (arranging finances, networking, searching for new opportunities), my heart will continue healing and my next opportunity will, indeed, come into alignment with me.

To Our Better Balance,

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life.

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!

Photo courtesy of me :o)

It's Spring. Go Green!

If you stop and think about how much waste is created on a daily basis, you will notice how fast it adds up: more garbage + more pollution = higher expenses = less money, not to mention our abuse of the planet. It's not a pretty picture. 

Perhaps you've heard my favorite muppet Kermit the Frog crooning in his song, "It's not easy being green..." I've been thinking about the green movement lately, and even though it may be challenging for Kermit, being green is rather easy for us once we raise our awareness and start paying attention to our choices and actions.

There are more than enough resources available about greening your life. Allow me to highlight some simple habits you can quickly adopt to respect our planet, keep our lakes and air cleaner, and benefit your own balance (and budget!) as well.
 
Simple Tips for Greening it Up:

• First and foremost, start paying attention to what you use, keep, and throw away. Keep in mind the 3 R's of the 21st century: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Everything you discard has one of two fates: garbage can or recycle bin.
• If you like paper towels, buy the "select-a-size", which uses half the amount of a regular towel each time you tear one off (also makes great napkins!)
• Reuse gently used paper towels or napkins as handy wipes for wiping food from dirty dishes, greasy pans, or for quick clean-ups.
• Use the backs of previously printed papers in your printer. Most of what we print at home isn't that important, so save the new paper for special things.
• You know those handy little Ziploc bags? Unless you're filling them with pudding or peanut butter they can usually be reused once or twice.
• Ask for a ceramic mug (instead of paper cup) at your local coffee shop and take a moment to stop, relax, and enjoy your java or tea.
• Consider replacing your coffee with green tea (blended with jasmine or lemongrass rocks). It's green and full of antioxidants.
• Buy electronics with rechargeable or solar-powered batteries instead of disposable ones.
• Reuse hotel sheets and towels. Do you change your sheets and towels every day at home? Then don't do it when you're on vacation.
• Use reusable shopping bags. Save a plastic tree!
• Reconsider bottled water. Consider purchasing an aluminum bottle or go back to the tap. Seriously. The bottled water craze is more hype than hip.
• Consider non-chemical cleaning supplies and health supplements. Natural and essential plant oils replace any synthetic cleaners and healing supplements. Young Living is one fantastic organization I've used for years.

This week, I encourage you to think about where you can Go Green by reducing, reusing, and recycling more in your life. You'll feel good about the planet and your pocketbook. And by showing Kermit that you understand what being green is truly about, you'll make him a happy frog.

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life.

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!

Photo courtesy of insideclimatenews.org

Losing Your Religion?

 

Religion. Spirituality. God. The Universe. Source Energy. Life. Death.

What does it all mean? Nobody knows. Let me repeat that. NOBODY KNOWS.

Not a single person on this planet knows what any of those things really mean. Oh, we certainly have an abundance of theories, ideas, and beliefs, but ultimately, none of us really knows the meaning behind it all.

But we spend a lifetime trying to figure it out.

Isn't that what our lives are all about: Questioning? Answering? Creating? Believing? And why is everyone so upset about our differences? Don't we all look, speak, and act differently? Isn't that the whole point of humanity? And shouldn't we believe different things? It seems that would only makes sense.

Religious and spiritual beliefs have been a topic of conflict since the beginning of time. The differences over this one topic have caused more turmoil, pain, arguments, and wars in our world than any other. In its simplest form, what we are seeing in our world is the opposite of what it is truly about: Love. What we are experiencing so often is Fear—the opposite of Love.

However, if we stop and think about it from a scientific perspective, not understanding something [because it's different from what we believe] causes a natural resistance. It is new information, and we are naturally wired to question something that is new.

Fear is a natural reaction in it's most primal form—a response by the human brain to what it cannot understand. And while feelings of Fear are automatic and natural, the response to Fear is not. Responding to Fear with anger, violence, abuse, resentment, or hatred is a chosen response—a choice—and that is what sets apart the natural from the unnatural. 

Reacting is natural; responding is thoughtful. We are human; therefore, we are response-able.

We always have choices. We choose how to respond to every situation, thought, and feeling in every moment. We can choose to respond to Fear negatively, or we can choose contemplation, compassion, and curiosity. Our choices create our reality. If you think your attitudes, actions, and words don't matter, think again. It ALL matters. We ALL matter. Everything we think, feel, say, and do matters—whether we realize it or not.

What are you choosing today, and how is that causing a ripple effect in the world around you? Which words are you using? How are you supporting what you love instead of pushing against what you don't? When we start remembering that we are all creating the world we currently live in by each word and deed, we might start taking ourselves—and our actions—more seriously.

Choose for yourself and allow others to do the same. And above all else, "Live and Let Live", for that is what we came here to do.

Namaste

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life.

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!

The Nudge

 We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen R. Covey

Ever get a "nudge" to do or say something? 

Something I learned early-on in my writing and coaching work was to give my thoughts, feelings, and intuition a voice—a way to better understand the language of my mind, body, and spirit. We all perceive information through our senses and this information is being filtered and translated into our thoughts, feelings, and intuition. We can use our words to describe how we're thinking or feeling, but how do those internal voices work?
 
Usually the loudest voice—our Mind—is busy analyzing information and making conclusions. Simultaneously, our Body is translating all the visual, audio, and tactile stimuli of our busy world and giving us feedback through the voice our feelings. Logic and emotion—the constant balance between head and heart. But while our minds and bodies are "doing", our Spirits are just "being". In fact, our Spiritual energy is working with the power of our intentions—consciously and subconsciously—and the voice of Spirit is always coming from a place that knows what we really want, versus what our minds and bodies think we want. I equate intuition as a "gut feeling", or sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Since Spirit is the eternal part of our tri-part being, the quiet voice of our Spirit gives us little nudges and hints throughout the day. This nudge may come to us as, “I should hold this door open for that person,” or “I can spare some change for the woman ahead of me in line.” Sometimes it's even just a smile to a passing stranger. Spirit never asks from us more than we can give at a given moment. Spirit knows us and our boundaries. In fact, our Spirit lets us exercise our healthy boundaries and create new ones, while our Mind may have us thinking in old patterns or behavior and repeating the same mistakes. Been there, done that!

By paying attention to those little nudges throughout the day, you can get closer to hearing your natural intuition. In fact, if you get quiet and really listen, you will start to hear the calm rhythm within. And once you start accessing the energy of your Spirit, you can bring your thoughts and feelings into better alignment with intuition, and activate that knowledge to create better balance in your life—awareness, alignment, activation: the balance formula is complete.

How can you be quiet and listen to the intuitive voice within you this week?

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life. You can also tune into Michael's recent radio interview with Sharvette Mitchell at: bit.ly/15H2MRK (Michael starts after 31:00).

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com 

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!

Favorite Things

Last evening during the 2015 Oscars celebration, Lady Gaga sang a 50th anniversary tribute to the movie The Sound of Music, a 1965 American musical film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

Thinking back to the first time I saw the stage version of that musical (which I'd actually auditioned for and didn't get... *sigh), I remember one song that always made me smile: My Favorite Things. I liked the song because it was about remembering those things which bring us happiness. Sometimes, just thinking about our favorite things can help put us into a spirit of appreciation, which reminds us to be thankful for what we have and love.

So on a semi-regular basis (especially on those "down days"), I will start a list of my Favorite Things, and soon I will start to feel lighter... or, as Julie Andrews' character puts it—"...then I don't feel so bad."

Although my most recent list doesn't contain Raindrops on Roses or Whiskers on Kittens (listen to the song), it does contain many things that give me a lift whenever I think of them. So here's a recent list of my 50 Favorite Things. How many of these things can you relate to?

1. Sitting around a campfire
2. A fresh cup of coffee
3. Warm fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies
4. The feeling right after good exercise: body buzzing with life and energy!
5. Staying up late with friends talking, telling stories, and laughing until my face aches
6. Going for a walk through freshly fallen snow while it’s still soft and sparkly
7. The anticipation at the beginning of any game, show, or concert
8. The holidays and that renewed feeling of appreciation
9. Comfortable shoes
10. Music that makes my body want to move
11. Moments of peace and quiet
12. Moments of loud crazy fun
13. Prolific pontification stimulating engagement in apophenia
14. Cool stuff that lights up
15. One of those excellent books you can’t wait to keep reading
16. A personal epiphany—or "light bulb moment"
17. Bacon
18. A new haircut
19. The fact that I don’t know how to file my tax return, I don’t want to know how to file my tax return, and I am happy to pay someone to do it each year
20. That my family are best friends and my best friends are family
21. Trees
22. Being by water, over water, under water, on the water, in the water... etc.
23. Traveling. Anywhere. Especially places with mountains
24. That feeling right after watching a really good film where you were transported to another world and having to adjust back to “reality” (whatever that is...)
25. Things I don’t understand or never seen/heard/thought of before
26. Muse driving, muse walking, muse traveling, muse (anything): just following my nose
27. The unexpected
28. The expected
29. Making lists of favorite things
30. Meeting people who change my life
31. Freedom of choice
32. Starting with an idea, expanding the idea, trying different approaches, revising the idea, adding more to the idea, refining the idea, review, rewrite, spell check, run past a friend for feedback, revise, edit, and then realize your final product has changed drastically and looks only remotely like your original idea, but the process was well worth it and now your idea is absolutely awesome!! (still with me...?)
33. Playing cards and board games with my parents
34. A blank piece of paper
35. A new baseball cap
36. Heights
37. Walking through busy airports while Lisa Gerrard serenades me from my iPod
38. Lying on my bed staring at the ceiling while Lisa Gerrard serenades me from my iPod
39. Lisa Gerrard
40. Remembering that we are all a version of source (God) energy in human form, and that we are creating our experience with every thought, word, and deed
41. Making someone’s day by not doing anything but spending time with them
42. Someone making my day by not doing anything but spending time with me
43. Puppies
44. When I get a check in the mail and don’t know how much it’s for
45. When I get a check in the mail and know how much it’s for
46. Trying something new that excites and scares me at the same time
47. The feeling of starting a new project
48. The feeling of completing a project
49. Sitting and talking
50. Sitting and listening

How about you? What are some of your Favorite Things? Try making a list and see how you feel after you read it. Perhaps you, too, will experience the feeling of alignment and happiness that comes with appreciation.

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life. You can also tune into Michael's recent radio interview with Sharvette Mitchell at: bit.ly/15H2MRK (Michael starts after 31:00).

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Image compliments of post-movie.net

Simplify Your Life

Many people are looking for better balance and happiness in life. Through my writing and coaching, I help guide people towards those goals by providing them with options. One of my favorite lines of questioning includes challenging the complexity of people's lives.

Some questions include: What things are you currently experiencing in your life that you no longer want? How are complex or difficult relationships helping or hurting you? In what ways can you simplify areas of your life to bring you more peace and happiness?

Here are tips in three areas of your life to help get you started down the road to simplicity:

Simply Your Choices

• Just because you can doesn't mean you should. To optimize your power of choice, pay careful attention to the results of your choices. Make your choices and notice the consequences. Be willing to try something new. And remember you can always choose again. Sounds simple, but not always easy.
• Like a good parent or teacher, give yourself options. For example, I choose from three different health-related activities each day: swim, gym or nap. I need to choose one activity each day, but I don't have rules about which activity or how often I can choose it. I give myself the choice and allow myself to go with whatever I'm feeling that day—no judgments.
• Help out your health. Keep a supply of healthy food choices stocked in your cupboard, refrigerator, and desk drawer at work. Avoid running low on healthy snacks or you might be tempted to binge on something you don't really need. Save the treats for special occasions!

Simplify Your Relationships

• Take inventory of your current relationships. Which people are adding to your life? Which people are taking too much of your time and energy? Who is really supporting you, or who is waiting for you to do something for them? Think carefully. Choose which relationships to nurture accordingly.
• Invest more in the most important people. I know this sounds obvious, but there is a tremendous power in incremental investments. Think of your most cherished relationships like a savings account. Adding a small deposit each week equates to large payoffs down the road.
• Rise to meet conflict by softening your stance. Think about the outcome (what you really want out of a situation), and stay focused on the goal while you approach it with curiosity instead of coercion. Better resolution comes through collaboration rather than collision. Seek to win-win!

Simplify Your Outlook

• I'm not speaking about your Outlook email account (although that could be another blog!), but rather Simplify your outlook on life. When you see that all of your choices—and ultimately your experiences—stem from your own unique perspective, you can learn to accept that your perception does, indeed, create your reality.
• Develop a higher tolerance for ambiguity. There are so many unknowns and variables in our world. Developing a higher tolerance for ambiguity means learning to be more at ease with "not knowing". In other words, by allowing yourself to learn from the momentum of your experience, you don't need to figure everything out right away. Be patient. Watch. See what happens.
• Learn to accept all things and people as they are. Right now. In all ways. Simple? Yes. Easy to do? Not so much. When you start to allow the things and people in your environment to exist without judging them (if they are "right or wrong"), then you are in harmony with nature. Pay attention to your own path and allow others to keep theirs. We are only responsible for our own journey, not the journey for anyone else.

My hope is that by making a few small changes here and there, you will notice how simplifying your life in subtle ways can have a profound on your feelings of balance and equilibrium. Besides, balance is already within you, so let it shine.

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Need a bit more motivation? Pick up a copy of 21 Days to Better Balance, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life. You can also tune into Michael's recent radio interview with Sharvette Mitchell at: bit.ly/15H2MRK (Michael starts after 31:00).

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

A New Year. Really?

New year's resolutions. New eating plans. New goals and objectives. New rules. New gym membership. New morning routine. New attitude. New job. New enthusiasm. New relationship. A new start! Or is it?

Whether we realize or not, the new year always brings about a shift in our perspective. And it's simply due to one fact: a calendar date.

Does the universe really know what day, month, or year it is? As human beings, we are inherently "chronologically impaired": we rely on the clock and calendar to organize our lives. But time is just an illusion created (by us) in order to understand where we relate in the scheme of things. It's only our concept of time that is real.

Our perception is our reality—and we are creating our reality each moment, regardless of "what time it is."

So what does this have to do with the new year? Everything. The new year is the illusion. The choice to make changes is the reality. Sure, the new year is a trigger for change, but you can change at any time. Why wait until January 1st?

Creating change in your life may be simple, but not easy. Creating healthy habits takes effort and with change comes loss. We grieve old patterns (even if they're unhealthy), and creating new habits takes dedication and commitment. Nothing substantial happens overnight. But change is possible, and you can start whenever you want.

Here's a few tips for developing healthy habits that will stick:

• Change one thing at a time. Pick something you'd like to change. See how it works. Course correct, if needed. Choose again, but don't go back to old habits. For example, instead of reaching for soda, try a vitamin drink, low sugar juice or flavored sparkling water. If you don't like your choice, choose something else, but don't go back to soda. Think forward.
• Ease into your exercise routine. Just because you jogged 3 miles or took the 1-hour Zumba class in the past doesn't mean you can jump right back into your old routine overnight. Build back slowly. Be patient. Allow your body to readjust. If you push too hard, you will pay. Pain is not a sign that you're doing it right.
• Consciously choose your food. Stop the autopilot. Think before you bite. Look at labels. Watch portion size (most portions at restaurants are double or triple the size of what you really need). Save dessert for special occasions. Getting through your week is usually not a special occasion.
• Get the right tools before you begin. To do anything right you need the right support. For example, if you've been meaning to re-organize the hall closet, open it up and do a quick assessment of what is needed to do the job right (i.e., buy some new shelving, shoe rack, bins, etc.) before you start cleaning. A few minutes of planning can save you hours of extra work.
• Avoid projecting. When we think outside of ourselves, we project. For example, what do I look like as I'm doing (this)? What do others think of me? What are other people doing that I'm not doing? Why can't I (look, talk, act, be...) like them? Focus only on yourself. This is about you.
• Support yourself. Make a commitment to do your best, believe you are doing your best, and then do your best at whatever it is you are desiring to change. And if you fall off the wagon, get back on. Don't give up. Believe in yourself. Respect the process. And don't blame anyone else for your results. Own it. Do it. Create the change for yourself.

Remember: it doesn't take New Year's Eve to create changes in your life. Decide what areas of your life need new direction and try something new. What's the worst case scenario? You learn! The most important thing is that you tried. In the words of Wayne Gretsky, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Take a shot, and go for the goal. 

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Bring in the new year by returning to the natural balance within you. Need a bit of motivation? Pick up a copy of 21 Days to Better Balance, or another book in the series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Mom Was Right

Ah, the simple things. In our busy lives, the small things—like finding your keys or keeping a clean kitchen—can make a world of difference. Simple habits practiced over time can have a profound effect on your sense of balance—especially when you develop healthy and consistent habits for yourself.

As an adult, I still hear my Mom's voice giving me practical nuggets of advice—in fact, sometimes I hear them several times a day!

Let's admit it. Mom was right about a lot of stuff. Simple things do, indeed, add-up. Even small changes or modifications can add up to major shifts. Just think about what would've happened if the Titanic had started changing course just a few minutes earlier?

So let's review some of the simple advice my Mom gave to me and my sister over the years—many things that are still good reminders today.

Simple Tips from Mom:
 
•    Pick up after yourself
•    If you can do it now, do it now
•    Put things in the same place every time (i.e., your keys)
•    Do the dishes and clean up right after you're done eating
•    Use reusable sticky notes reminders for the bathroom mirror or front door
•    Hide a $20 in your jacket or pocket of your pants for a fun surprise
•    Create a stash of healthy snacks within reach at home and work
•    Add 5-10 minutes to your start time and arrive early
•    Avoid "stinking thinking" and re-frame negative thoughts (i.e., could be worse!)
•    Take time to stop and give thanks throughout your day
•    Drop a friendly note into someone's (or your own) lunchbox
•    Focus on one thing at a time
•    Be aware of the company you keep
•    "Don't borrow sorrow from tomorrow"
•    Remind yourself, "The world needs me today!" (Thanks, Grandpa :o)

Simple, yes, but still applicable. Thank you, Yvonne, for all of the sound advice that I still practice—as best I can—to this day.

What advice do you still follow from a Mom, Dad, teacher, or friend? How many of these things help lead you to better balance and happiness in your life?

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Bring in the new year by returning to the natural balance within you. Need a bit of motivation? Pick up a copy of 21 Days to Better Balance, or another book in the series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to drink hot cocoa while helping people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

 

Healthy Holidays!

 

Speaking from someone who loves to celebrate, this time of year can be most exciting. The holiday season gives us opportunities to be thankful, giving, and ring in another new year. With all of these reasons to act in exceptional ways, this time of year can also cause many of us to lose our sense of equilibrium. Stress, expectations, and "waiting until the last minute" to get something done can push us out of alignment and affect our natural sense of balance.

As the holiday season is moving into full swing, here are some quick tips to help us maintain better balance in our mind, body and spirit while we celebrate this exciting time of year:

• Get plenty of rest. The holidays always include extra activities and will take more energy than usual, so getting adequate amounts of rest will let us join in the fun!
• Drink lots of water and other fluids (including hot teas). This will keep us properly hydrated and less prone to holiday germs.
• Eat healthy foods high in vitamins and minerals. Most of us will eat some holiday treats (candy, chocolate, etc.), but be sure to keep it balanced with healthy portions of proteins, fruits and vegetables. Too much sugar will spike our energy and can cause headaches and fatigue.
• Help stop the spread of holiday colds and illness. By covering our mouths when we sneeze or cough, and washing our hands often we lessen the spread of germs. Carry extra tissues with you if your nose is runny or some natural throat lozenges if you have a cough.
• Get plenty of exercise. Even a short walk in the mornings or evenings will help keep our blood moving. Exercise and stretching helps improve circulation and promotes faster healing!
• Take time to spend with people. Visiting with our family and friends during our holiday time off and taking the time to reconnect with those we love strengthens our relationships, boosts our immune system, and reconnects us back to ourselves.
• Unplug a little! Take time off from the busy hustle and bustle: Turn off the ringer on your phone and let calls go to voice mail; take a few days off from Facebook & Twitter—the world won't end without your updated status; don't read email for a couple days; turn off cable and pop in a classic holiday movie. Try to unplug from the world and plug back into a good book, the people, the music, and the nature around you. It's free.

May this holiday season allow you time to relax, refresh, and recharge your batteries, and provide you with the opportunity to connect to the natural balance within you.

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Bring in the new year by returning to the natural balance within you. Need a bit of motivation? Pick up a copy of 21 Days to Better Balance, or another book in the series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to drink hot cocoa while helping people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Kringle Coaches Warlock, Change Imminent

North Pole (NP WIRE) December 8, 2014 - Another holiday miracle is sweeping the nation causing widespread goodwill, uplifted spirits, and hope to the humbug. The trending craze was sparked by the recent streaming of the Rankin and Bass production of Santa Claus is Coming to Town—a 1970's holiday television classic.

In a pivotal scene, the Winter Warlock tells a young Kris Kringle, "It's so difficult to really change," to which Kringle replies, "Changing from bad to good's as easy as taking your first step." Kringle continues by breaking into a merry song about changing ones life by taking a step at a time. Kringle is joined in the festive holiday scene by Topper—a dancing penguin adopted earlier by Kringle—as well as other animals from the enchanted forest.

According to Kringle,"Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you are walking 'cross the floor. Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking out the door!" Profound and simple wisdom from an elf, but easy enough for a warlock to put into practice. In fact, with the help of a choo-choo train and Kringle's witty song and dance, Winter's icy heart is melted within minutes. A true Christmas miracle!

Kringle's song drives a simple point. We all have the potential to make changes no matter where we are on our life journey, and truly lasting change comes in small steps—one at a time. Each step evolves into a new habit, and over time our new healthy habits can become major life changes. 

This week, take a note from Coach Kringle and try the 1+1 Challenge:

1. Write down one thing you’d like to stop doing and one thing you’d like to start doing to help bring better balance to your life (i.e., I will stop checking my email every ten minutes, and, I will start taking a 30-minute walk each day)
2. Put this list where you can see it—on your laptop, iPad, desktop, or sticky note on your bathroom mirror (this reporter's favorite strategy)
3. Focus on making only those changes this week
4. Notice the results

Then each week, add one thing and remove another until you start seeing positive changes. Perhaps you, too, can melt an icy heart and experience the benefits of "putting one foot in front of the other", bringing better balance and happiness to your life.

Happy Holidays

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg, North Pole Reporter

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to drink hot cocoa while helping people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Photo: Aminationmagazine.net
 

Losing it? Get it Back

Tired? Stressed out? Lost your sense of balance? You actually haven’t lost anything. You’ve just forgotten how to access what’s already within you. "Huh?" you say. Yes, it's true, but let me give you a little more background first.
 
Last week I had the privilege to speak at Elliott Masie's Learning 2014—an annual conference held in Orlando, Florida, which brings together more than 1,700 education and learning professionals from around the world to meet, share best practices, learn from one another, and be inspired by a variety of thought leaders.

During one of my breakout sessions, the question of "How?" entered the better balance discussion. With so many competing priorities in our busy world, how do we find better balance while juggling our relationships, work, and family?
 
We don't actually "find" anything; we return to a natural state that's already within us.

Think about young children. They are often happy without reason, generally accept anyone introduced to them, and most don't have issues like adults do… well, not yet. Their world of experience is small and they are easily in alignment with their natural internal happiness—something many of us "big kids" have easily forgotten—well, until we go on vacation, attend a really good concert, or experience a pocket of joy outside of our normal routine.

But, seriously, wouldn't it feel better to experience that "happy state" more often? I have good news for you. We can.

Remember: We are naturally born in a state of equilibrium, but as we age and become distracted by the fears of the world we begin to stray from our innate sense of well-being. With that in mind, we can return to better balance by removing the barriers and blockages within us, many of them created by our own thoughts and behaviors. We can start feeling the "happy state" without taking a cruise to Jamaica (although that does sound appealing during the Minnesota winter...)

In my writing and coaching I introduce a three-step process: 1) Awareness; 2) Alignment; and 3) Activation, to help jump-start the process of returning to better balance:

1) Awareness. Your powerful consciousness is absorbing and processing everything in your environment—sights, sounds, and smells—whether you realize it or not. In order to find better balance in your life, you must first become aware of the factors that influence your balance. Some themes include: Thoughts, Feelings, Intuition, Fear, Communication, Power, and Choice.

2) Alignment. Alignment happens both on the inside and outside of you. Internally, this means that you strive to be conscious of your thoughts, feelings, and intuition so that your behaviors reflect your true values. Externally, this means that over time, you bring your attitudes, actions, and words closer to your fundamental beliefs. Some themes include: Relationships, Truth, Intention, Purpose, Trust, Listening, and Appreciation.

3) Activation. Activation puts theory into practice and thoughts into motion. Without activation, good ideas are only ideas. Activation is the key to implementation and the third step to finding better balance. Some themes include: Focus, Softening Your Stance, Boundaries, Perspective, Living Your Passion, Gratitude, and Managing the Leader Within.

So the next time you'd like to conjure up the feelings of "vacation freedom", then I encourage you to start applying the steps to your life. You can even allow me to walk you through the steps, answer questions, and complete a few short exercises in my book, 21 Days, Steps & Keys... or any of the individual books. 

I believe that through deliberate effort, you can begin to return to that natural sense of balance in your work, relationships, and life. It's your choice.

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com