by David Bohl

Credit makes the world go round. OK. That’s not exactly true, but if you have bad credit, it can sure throw your world off its axis.

If you want to pay a decent interest rate on a mortgage or any loan you get or just get approved for a credit card, then you have to act to bump, bump, bump, bump it up (your credit score that is).

If you have blemished credit or downright bad credit, take these steps to get your credit back on track. While you already know that you have to pay your bills and pay them on time to increase your credit score, here are some lesser-known ways to get the job done.

Credit piggybacking.

If you’re married or have a close friend or relative with good credit, use this to your advantage. Have them add you to one of their established credit accounts–a credit card account usually works best for these purposes. With a simple phone call to the credit card company, your trusted credit buddy can request to add you as a cardholder on their account. Once this happens, their good credit becomes part of your credit report too. Simple and easy. The hard part–getting someone to add you to their account.

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There’s a saying in recovery/treatment/12-step programs that says: “TREAT THE DISEASE, not the symptoms.”

What are the diseases causing your stress? The current economic “crisis”? The political race? The politics in your office? Your son’s report card? Making your next credit card payment?

You hold the power. Once you get clear in your mind, you have the opportunity and ability to deal with the anxiety and stress of today’s world by keeping your side of the street clean. Read Post

In today’s crazy economy, it often helps to take a deep breath and see where you are in the midst of it all.  Taking everything in, rationally, will help you to glide through these times with your head held high and a smile on your face. Assets and liabilities weigh heavily in on this synopsis of your life and lifestyle, and being able to recognize them is a must.

Sometimes there is a fine line between an asset and a liability. An asset is something that is positive… puts you in the plus column… a wise investment. A liability is something that can drag you down, suck away your money… a bad business move. For instance, it’s great to own a car and many of us do. But an asset would be a car that is paid off, in great shape, is descent on gas and only requires routine maintenance. A car that is a liability, however is one that you owe more on than it is worth, is horrible on gas (for its purpose),  requires a trip to the shop every month or so and is in general, not in good running order.

It’s important, if you have assets, to NOT turn them into liabilities. Read Post

Your mind is a powerful tool! It has the ability to process information and keep you in reality, but it also has the ability to take you on fantastical journeys. Oftentimes, we’re not even sure of where we are.

Are we living in the moment of real time? Are stuck in the past enjoying or bemoaning our wonderful or difficult history? Or are we projecting ahead, imagining our brilliant or troublesome future? It’s all up to you where your mind goes. Although, sometimes it doesn’t seem as if we have control over our mental meanderings.

Have you ever said, “I feel like my mind has a mind of its own?” I know I’ve said it from time to time, and some of my coaching clients have said it as well. But the truth is there is no one in control of your mind but you. And the more control you learn to apply, the more you will have control of your life.

You might ask, “Why is it so important to practice living in the moment, anyway?” If you examine your reality–the past, present, and future–you will come to realize that there is actually only the present moment. Think about it. When are you reliving the past? In the present moment. And when are you fantasizing about the future? In the present moment. So if the present moment is really all there is, it makes sense to learn how to live fully in the present.

With a powerful mind like yours, you have the ability to harness its power to utilize these mental exercises to help you practice living in the moment. Experiment with some of these or come up with your own. Read Post

Would you rather be a rock star or a rock steady friend, parent, or partner? I’d rather be the latter. Why? Because “sincere” is ALWAYS better than “in vogue.” Didn’t we all learn that once we passed our high school years?

Maybe some of us were reminded of that after celebrating a bit too much last night!

The lure of the rock star persona when we were young was about being popular, fitting in, and looking our best: “in vogue.” Our whole sense of self worth was wrapped up in how many friends we had, whether or not we were invited to the best parties, and who we were dating.

It was difficult to be sincere, because we really had no sense of who we were. We were–if we were lucky–one of the crowd. No individuality, no distinctions, no uniqueness. The more we fit in and got lost in the crowd, the more we felt we were worthy. The more we were “in vogue,” the more we felt accepted and were okay with ourselves. There was nothing worse in our school years than being on the outside, being a geek or a loser. Not fitting in because of our clothing or looks, or being too intellectual and not socially  savvy.

And that’s when we lost sight of the value of sincerity. We may have lied to our parents, lied to our teachers, and lied to our friends. Ultimately, we lied to ourselves.

Of course, if good values were instilled by our parents, we may not have fallen into this trap. If we were able to develop a sense of who we were in those early years, we may have shunned the rock star persona and been a rock steady friend, son or daughter, sister or brother. We may have developed honest relationships with our friends, teachers, and parents.

But what about now? As an adult, do you still find yourself fluctuating between rock star and rock steady? Torn between fitting in and being “in vogue” or being sincere, being who you are, and finding your unique place in the world? If so, here are some questions to answer that might help you to stand on your own two feet and find your rock steady position in life. Read Post

“The next time you feel … fear begin to wrap itself around you, don’t run from it but embrace it, dance with it, and demand that the light be shed on it.”  ~ Dennis Merritt Jones, D.D., The Art of Being

Sure, everyone is afraid of something! It’s the human condition. It can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the situation. We’re afraid of whatever threatens our physical, emotional, mental, and financial well being. We’re afraid of whatever threatens our safety, our health, our happiness, and our loved ones.

Fear can protect us if we need to remove ourselves from a dangerous situation. Fear can help us to follow the law and avoid unpleasant consequences. In most cases, however, fear is a limiting factor in our lives. It keeps us from growing, learning our lessons, and reaching our goals.

Here are some of the most common fears. Which ones do you relate to?

• Fear of failure
• Fear of success
• Fear of the unknown
• Fear of taking risks
• Fear of rejection
• Fear of being alone
• Fear of embarrassment
• Fear of public speaking
• Fear of ill health
• Fear of losing everything
• Fear of change
• Fear of poverty
• Fear of death
• Fear of life

It’s fine to feel fear when it is for your safety, but when it limits you, it’s time to take a look at your fears and see how you can let them go. I wouldn’t say there is only one way to let go of fear. It will be a different process for each person, and for each fear. Here are some techniques I’ve used successfully with my coaching clients to move past their inhibiting fears into greater freedom. Read Post

Do you live for today? Or do you find yourself dwelling on the past or imagining the future?
If you follow certain spiritual thinking and are in alignment with modern day guru/author Eckhart Tolle, you might agree that all that is real is the present moment. The past exists as a memory in the present moment, and the future exists as wishful thinking in the present moment. So if all we have is now, let’s seize the day!

Do you live each day to its fullest? Do you find joy in your accomplishments as well as your challenges? Do you wake up each day looking forward to how you can make it a great day? Do you have relationships that nurture you? Do you earn your living doing something you love? Do you have a balance between work and play?

It’s critical for you to learn how to make the absolute most out of each minute, because once it’s gone, you will never have it back again. If you don’t know that you are the writer, producer, director, and actor in your own life, then I’m here to tell you that you are. You are responsible for creating your magnificent life.

How are you going to do that? As a life coach, I work with people every day to guide them into living lives of joy, contentment, purpose, and passion. I’ve come up with 5 critical areas of your life that you can manage in order to have the life you desire. You may want to add a few areas to the list. Remember, that in order to choose the life you want, and to seize the day, you need to take action in each of these critical areas. Read Post

by David Bohl

“This isn’t my dream job, but it pays the bills and it’s close to my house.”

“I’ve been here for ten years and the company is good to me. While things aren’t always great, I should stick it out when times are tough.”

If these statements sound like something you’ve said or what the voice in your head is saying, now is the time to take a serious look at whether or not you’re suffering from job complacency. Especially in rough economic times, like the ones we’re experiencing now, you’ve got to be hyper-alert to what is going on with your job, your company, and the job market in general. Complacency doesn’t mean it’s time to switch jobs. It may or may not be that you need a new job. It may be as simple as correcting what you need to while sticking it out with the same company.

3 ways complacency in the workplace can negatively affect you:

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Are you content to live an ordinary life? I’ve often thought that people choose to live in misery, mediocrity, magnificence, or mastery. Most people don’t realize they are choosing their life situations, but if you believe you are responsible for everything in your life, then you can accept your present circumstances as your choice.

If you’re ready to move out of misery or mediocrity into magnificence and mastery, you might want to consider looking at how to strive for excellence. If you’ve been content with less or just enough, it may be because you didn’t realize you could have more. Or maybe you’ve set your sights too high–on perfection, rather than excellence.

I like to encourage my coaching clients to strive for excellence because it is achievable, while perfection rarely is. I suggest they pursue the projects and goals they set for themselves to the best of their abilities. And rather than aiming for perfection, use the journey of life as a learning and growing experience to improve personal and professional skills.

In striving for excellence, it’s important to know that challenges, failures, and distractions will arise in our lives and in the world around us, and learning how to respond to these will add to the enjoyment of the journey and effectiveness of the results.

If you’d like to learn how to raise the quality of your life, here are some things you can do to strive for more excellence in your life: Read Post

Judy Martin, the Emmy award-winning journalist and speaker with more than 20 years in broadcast news, has acknowledged Slow Down FAST in the Top 10 Work Life Revelations of 2008.

Judy, who covers the merging of the working and living experience in what she refers to as our “Work Life Nation,” says:

“The Slow Movement is picking up speed. Taking a chill started catching on for busy entrepreneurs with a little meditation and exercise in between meetings and conference calls on the tread mill. The quandary - so many are stressing due to the economy and record unemployment - that most are scared to slow down. Personal Coach and author David Bohl was way ahead of the gang on this one.”

Thank you for the acknowledgment, Judy! We’re trying to spread the word that you can, in fact, do less and ACCOMPLISH MORE!