Archive for the ‘Simplicity’


FM: Joy, Hope & Balance

Mini #134

This Faith Matters Study takes a look at three core components of life happiness and contentment joy, hope and balance. We explore what scripture has to offer about these three components and create a series of Key Verse card to help us practice these principles daily. This is a 10 day study that will offer a renewed peace of mind when focusing on the scriptures.

FM: Simplicity

Mini #130

In this week long study we explore what Scripture reveals about simplicity in life. Our study focuses on how letting go of emotional and physical clutter opens us up to experience more joy, true abundance, and God’s Grace.

Mastering the Moment

Mini #121

In our quest for contentment and balance one of the most important areas to focus on is the power of each moment. We cannot change the past, and the future is not yet here–the moment is where we truly can impact powerful change. Often moments become filled with stress or anxiety if we cannot maintain balance. In this Mini we will look at exercises to help us stay grounded in the now so we can make the most of every day.

Audio Mini: Tips for Staying Balanced

Mini #120

Often our lives feel like a push-pull as we struggle to find a centered-place from which to make healthy decisions. We know that being balanced is a great goal–and a great concept… but how do we figure out what balance looks like for us? And how do we identify the boundaries we need to maintain that balance when we find it? In this Mini we will explore those questions and more with tips to help you find and maintain balance.

Effective Decision Making

Mini #119

Each day we are inundated with decisions. How we respond to those decisions is one of the single-most important factors in shaping our lives. Some decisions are little-others can be quite challenging. The more we hone our decision making skills, the better equipped we are to maximize each day and move forward in life. In this Mini we explore the  key factors of decision making as well as tools, handouts, and decision making techniques to help us hone our decision-making skills.

Priority Planning Workshop

Mini #115 - April Featured Mini

One of the ways to maximize your time in the Make Today Matter program, and your time in general, is through a routine of Priority Planning. While it takes a little time, this planning is key to helping us stay on track throughout the month. Done thoroughly, this planning allows us to stay focused in  spite of adversity and to focus on what truly matters.  Priority Planning also reduces stress and helps us manage our time better. The five steps of Priority Planning can be accessed by all MTM Members in Phase II by following the link in the blue “quick links” menu. This Mini is an additional workshop that provides an audio version of each of the five steps, and also provides a location to share and encourage one another with our plans!

Life Profiler Mini * Featured Mini

Mini Makeover #105

If you are ready to do an in-depth analysis of your strengths and weaknesses to help you “go beyond the Snapshot” then this is the Mini for you! Brook developed the Life Profiler Mini to help people pinpoint what specific steps they can take to improve life areas of concern. The Profiler includes over 200 questions and can be downloaded in Microsoft Excel format. After answering the questions, you will be able to see how well you score in 17 different life areas as well as learn what MTM solutions and strategies can help you improve! This is a great in-depth review to do once or twice per year.

Audio Mini: Working with Routines

Mini #102 - Audio Mini 30-45 minutes

One common thread can be found in the hundreds of women Brook has coached– the desire for effective, sustainable, routines to help life go smoothly. In this Audio Mini, Brook reviews the routines covered in the MTM Toolbox and covers tips for refining, honing and maximizing their use to create the life you desire. Topics include: Building balanced routines, the Nightly Reflection, Good Morning, and Priority Planning.

Staging a Home

Mini #92
Includes worksheets to build your action plan

WikiHow suggests that a well staged home can sell 30-50% faster than a home that is not stage (or not staged well). Staging your home can be simply defined as: Preparing your home, in detail, to make it more attractive, welcoming, inviting, and appealing to the potential buyers. If a buyer is interested in more than one home, eight times out of ten, the chosen home will  have been a staged home. Staged homes are welcoming, warm, and open.

The process of staging a home is not only for home-sellers. Staging techniques are valuable for streamlining, organizing, decluttering, and creating a welcoming atmosphere for any residence–home, condo, apartment, etc. For those of you who own your residence, in the event you need to sell down the road, performing a “staging sequence” periodically will have you many steps ahead in the competitive real estate market. 

Statistics reveal most of us will sell at least two homes– or be in charge of selling a home (such as a parents house). While there are professional home-stagers for hire, you can easily learn to work through the staging sequence on your own by learning the skills and process outlined in this Mini.

This Mini is divided into seven sections:
1. Initial Prep Work and Walk Through
2. “Updates” Check
3. Decluttering
4. Arranging Furniture
5. The Entryway
6. Curb Appeal
7. Master Plan

For each section you will work through a walk-through exercise and then in the seventh section we create an action-oriented

Creating a Month of Magic

Mini #88 - September Featured Mini
Available 9/3/09

Includes Audio
and Month of Magic Worksheets

Special online event with Brook Noel: Join Brook Noel from 7:00PM-8:30PM on September 23rd for a special chat event.

Often when we think of making change we think BIG. Sometimes SO BIG that we paralyze ourselves from taking action. This Mini is designed to show you how simple taking positive steps can be–and how a well thought-out plan can help you promote and maintain balance, contentment, joy and organization.

In this Mini you will create a special set of “10 Minute Cues” using a template that encourages you to give a little focus to several important life areas. These cues will then become a grab bag for creating a month of magic. Each day you will choose a 10-Minute Magic Prompt at random and paste to a calendar. You will be amazed at how much magic you can create in a single month with a little concerted effort!

Selling Off Stuff: From Garage Sales to Consignment to Ebay

Mini #87

Perhaps it was the recent move that made me realize just how much “stuff” we acquire! WOW! As I looked at going from 6,000 square feet to 1,500 it became apparent that at least 75% of our home contents would need to be donated or sold. In this Mini I have put together information to help you maximize “selling your stuff.” We will look at online options like Craigs list, Ebay and lesser-known sites as well as specialty sites. You will also find tips for consignment and resale shops as well as garage sales. Lastly, tax information is included for items you donate. (For many items, donation is the best choice–saving time and money.)

Organizing and Inventorying Arts and Crafts Supplies

#81

With all the little pieces and parts involved in arts and crafts, often we spend much of our creative time trying to find a specific item, or sorting what we have. This disarray also poses a challenge to our creativity, since the time involved in retreiving supplies may use up all the time we have.

In this Mini I  share ideas for effectivly organizing and storing arts and crafts supplies. We will also review how to create a catalog-inventory for punches, fabrics, stamps, and other large collection.

* Adapted from my ebook Step-by-Step Arts, Crafts, Stamp and Scrapbook Organizing

Beautify Your Home

Mini #73

Our homes serve us best when they are a sanctuary to relax, yet functional to meet the demands of our lives. As years go by, too often our homes become a depository of “stuff” that dictates their design versus our choices actively influencing the design. In this Mini we create a Home Beauty Book and work through the rooms of our home to design the space for both functionality and visual appeal. The Home Beauty Book acts as a depository for ideas, giving clear direction toward creating a home that matches the mood, ambience and needs of your family.  We explore focal points, arranging, color, patterns, lighting and much more.  The good news is that beautifying your home need not cost a bundle, very simple strategies can give a fresh look to a tired space. If you are looking to make your home more inviting, appealing, or a better “fit” for you–then this Mini will help you lay the foundation.

Creating a Mini Goal Grab Bag

Mini #68
6 pages

“Historically more than 80% of resolutions are abandoned by late February, Many women believe they are doomed before they begin. A resolution becomes another pressure in an already pressure-filled life.

As I waited for the clock to strike midnight this year, I was deep in thought about this challenge we face when reaching our goals. With statistics like these, it seemed creating a resolution is a way for many people to procrastinate on the very thing they resolve to do for another year.

If you have been discouraged by goals and set them half-heartedly or not at all, then the technique I present in this Mini offers a new approach for creating fun, Mini goals. You can use this technique to set goals for a week, a month, a quarter or an entire year. It is a great technique for regaining focus that flows with life.

Faith Matters: Explorations

Mini #065

Scholars throughout the centuries agree that the Bible is one of the most fascinating books to exist. Yet for many of us the Bible can seem complex and it can be hard to relate its contents to our lives today. Often people avoid more difficult books,  focusing instead on the areas that are easily understandable.

God created the Bible in its entirety–selective reading is like reading just one chapter of a book or seeing one scene of a movie–you will likely gain some knowledge, but lose the context. When we take the time to truly delve into the Bible and begin looking at the context, the times, the people and the places we can find captivating events and people, many facing experiences we can relate to.

In this Faith Matters Study we work through how to deepen our knowledge of Scripture by applying  techniques, tools, prayer and resources to work through a book in the Bible.

 Note: This Faith Matters Study teaches a series of steps that can be applied to help you explore the book of your choosing. This study will be available January 10, 2009.

Creating a Goal Poster

Mini #64

Many people think “day dreaming” is a useless exercise – they may be right – but I can guarantee that visualization is not a useless exercise. Visualization is the practice of vividly and clearly envisioning something you wish to manifest in your life. The clearer this image in your mind, the more likely you are to see it in reality.

Visualization in terms of our goals is very important. We must have a crystal clear vision of how it will feel to live this goal to get us through the obstacles that will undoubtedly surface. In this Mini we work through the process of creating a Vision Statement for your goal and then illustrating your goal with a goal poster.

Beyond Magazine Madness

Mini #59
7 pages

If you are drowning in magazines or have piles of magazines you think you might need “someday” then this Mini is for you. In this seven page Mini we work step by step through creating a personal reference system to transform piles of magazines into efficient reference tools.

The Mini begins with a challenge to sort your magazines into three categories and then guides you through how to process each of these of categories to create a customized system for managing what was once a paper pile.

Adapted from Everyday Paper Piles and Paper Piles & Files

Reality Routines

Mini #57
Includes Reality Routine worksheet

Please note this Mini will not be available until November 7, 2008.

Recently I have had quite a few conversations with women about their Master Task Lists. I found that many women assumed I followed my Master Task List to a tee.  In one conversation I began explaining that the Weekly list is what is most important to me and receives 90 percent of my energy. The 2x a month tasks, monthly tasks, and quarterly tasks are all those I hope to get to (and often do) but they are not my focus. By focusing on a solid weekly routine the longer term tasks tend to be much more easy to manage because my life is managed. I may not get everything done, but I get what is most important done.

Then there are the times when life goes haywire. The unexpected trip, or unexpected guests. The overtime at work or the problem with a close family member.  The unexpected illness or the emotional rollercoaster. During these times a solid weekly routine is one tool that can help us keep our sanity and stay above the chaos.

This Mini takes you step by step through building your weekly “Reality Routine.” This is not a routine based on everything you WANT to do, but based on the “anchors” that help you stay sane, maintain balance, and feel good about home and self. By the end of this Mini you will have created a solid routine and run it through the reality test.

An Attitude of Gratitude: Keeping A Gratitude Journal

Mini #53
Please note this Mini will not be available until November 7

“Gratitude turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

Developing a thankful attitude, goes a long way toward developing a more resilient, confident, and appreciative self, while also dramatically influencing life joy, contenment and inner peace. In this Mini we work thorugh practices for keeping a Gratitude Journal to increase your attitude of gratitude.

This Mini includes printable Gratitude journal pages, exercises, and prompts to help you discover the magic of this timeless tool.

Creating a Goal-Treasure Book

Mini #52

Study after study has shown how recordig our goals, dreams, aspirations and affirmations improves our ability to manifest our goals in our lives.  In this Mini we explore how to build a “Treasure Book” filled with pages and words that inspire and affirm our personal and professional goals.

You’ll learn book-building basics
How this technique helps you
How to use your Treasure Book to maximize life results
Complete four exercises to beginning building a book of your own