31 Cheap and Fun Date Ideas for Couples - Part 1 of 2

BY AMANDA BRADBURY

Spending quality time together with another person doesn’t need to cost that much, after all love doesn’t cost anything. Sometimes the most fun you’ll ever experience costs little to nothing. If you’re low on money or just tired of the same kind of dates over and over again, then try these ideas for a fun inexpensive change of pace.

 1. Go on a virtual vacation together.

Take a 3-D virtual tour around the world together with 360 Cities. Pick a different city to explore once a month together. You could even plan out a vacation together; even if you don’t go, it’s still fun to plan something together and spend time finding out what you and your partner would like to do or see.

2. Watch funny YouTube videos.

Compile a list of funny YouTube videos to share together or take a look at some lists people have already put together online: YouTube’s 50 Best Videos according to Time magazine, Top 20 YouTube Videos, 50 Funniest YouTube Videos of All Time.

3. Stargaze while laying on a blanket outside.

Grab a blanket and go outside in your yard, snuggle up together with some hot chocolate and watch for shooting stars. Use the free Sky Map app to see which constellations and planets you’re looking at in the night sky in front of you. This is an especially great idea whenever there’s a meteor shower to watch.

 4. Grab some water guns at your local dollar store and have a water gun fight.

Or you could always opt for water balloons and pelt each other with them. This is a fun outdoor activity in which you can play hide and seek, run around like kids, and generally have a fun time.

 5. Picnic at a local park.

Pack a lunch for the two of you and be sure to bring some bread to feed the ducks if there’s a pond. Enjoy a nice day outside walking around the park and pick a spot to sit down and share lunch. You could even bring a game along to play after you’ve enjoyed the park.

6. Game night with stakes.

Have a game night with stakes set ahead of time. The stakes could be anything you want, like something your partner has to do for you if they lose, or it could be something around the house, like they have to do all the chores for a week, or perhaps something a little frisky, like they have to undress for you and do as you say. You could play anything, a game of cards, board games, or even a video game.

 7. Share a milkshake, a Frosty, cookies, dessert or some other snack.

Grab just dessert together somewhere. It could be a cheap Frosty from Wendy’s, a milkshake that you share with two straws, two cookies, or a large piece of pie. Grab something that both of you like and split it with each other. Remember whipped cream on top of anything makes it even better. You could even go to the store and grab a small dessert or ice cream to indulge in together.

8. Have a spa night at home giving each other a massage.

Be sure to include candles, massage oil, and essential oils. Feathers make for a great add-on to a massage; just rub them over your partner before, during, or after the massage.

9. At home themed dinner and a movie night.

Choose which cuisine you and your partner would like to make together (Mexican, Italian, Asian, Thai, etc.) and pick a dish to make at home. Watch a free movie at home using Popcorn Time, or Hulu or Netflix if you have a subscription, or pick up a movie from Redbox (you can get codes for free or discounted rentals all the time).

10. Write a piece of fiction together.

Sit at a coffee shop or at home together and take turns writing lines.

 11. Volunteer together.

Make DIY homeless care kits or volunteer with a local organization.

 12. Do something together outdoors like walking, running, hiking, biking, or swimming.

Get outside and get some sunshine and fresh air together. Being active together and/or exercising together can help both of you.

13. Movie marathon weekend.

Pick a trilogy or a series to watch and marathon it all weekend.

 Source:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/31-cheap-and-fun-date-ideas-for-couples-2.html

Your Daily Quote - Filter Your Thoughts

Negative thoughts and feelings – anger, sadness, regret - are like junk food to your mind. And they don’t even taste nice… Push them away by replacing them with affirmations and gratitude.
Elena Long

When You Are Not Sure Which Way Next

When you are not sure what direction to take next in your life, try one (or all) of the following:

1. Close your eyes and spend 5+ minutes in quiet contemplation. Note where your consciousness (or the subconscious) takes you.

2. Spend 20 minutes writing down everything you think you want to achieve in life. Then see which theme(s) come up most often.

3. Seek advice from the person in the mirror. What do you see in their eyes? What is the next step? What do you see their potential to be?

Elena Long

Your Coach to Success

Raise Your Standards, Take Action

Whatever areas of your life you want to improve, if you want anything to change, you have to raise your standards right now!

So take a moment, make a decision and prepare your lists on:

1.       Things you will no longer tolerate in your life

2.       What you expect of yourself and what you will do instead (instead of No.1).

Make a list of ten items, and start acting on them. In two weeks increase to 20, and start implementing the changes.

Because the small steps you take today, the humble, or more brave, degrees you start raising your standards by, will multiply the results month by month, year by year. Think of the amazing outcomes you will have achieved in 10 years! All starting with a small list of ten items – ten things you will no longer tolerate, and TEN that you aspire to.

Elena Long

Your Coach to Success

Your Daily Quote - Your Choice

Quite often we choose not to change, to stay in our “comfort zone”, because we are afraid – of the unknown, of the pain. The truth is, pain is part of life. Suffering, on the other hand, is optional.

It’s your choice.

Do you choose to lift your game?

Contact me today for a free discovery coaching session!

Elena Long

Your coach to success

Your Daily Quote - Your Choice

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success - Law of Least Effort

No.4 The Law of Least Effort

Nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease, harmony and love. When you harness those forces – of joy, harmony and love, we create success and good fortune easily and effortlessly.

How to apply it?

-       I will practice acceptance. Today I will accept people, events, circumstances as they occur.

-       Having accepted things as they are, I will take responsibility for my situation, and for the events I see as problems. This means not blaming anyone or anything, including myself.

-       Today I will let go of the need to defend my point of view, and not be attached to it.

Accept your day. Enjoy every minute...

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success - Law of Pure Potentiality

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra are:

No. 1 The Law of Pure Potentiality. Our essential nature is of pure consciousness, infinite potentiality, therefore - pure joy.
How can you apply this law in your life?
- take time each day to be silent, to just BE
- commune with nature and silently witness the intelligence in every living thing
- practice non-judgement.

Elena Long

Your Coach to Success

Creating Stories and Metaphors for Change

Stories, or as we often call them, metaphors, are a very powerful tool not only when creating creating characters for novels and movies, but when we want to give a powerful example with a moral, and help create a lasting change. Story with a morale for the children - whether as a parent or a teacher, or our clients, in your role as a life coach.

Author Joseph Campbell studied myths and tales, and identified that most of them share the same "formula", which he called: The Hero's Journey.

Stages of the Hero's Journey

There are twelve steps to the hero’s journey:

1.      Ordinary World: This step refers to the hero's normal life at the start of the story, before the adventure begins. 

2.      Call to Adventure: The hero is faced with something that makes him begin his adventure. This might be a problem or a challenge he needs to overcome. 

3.      Refusal of the Call: The hero attempts to refuse the adventure because he is afraid. 

4.      Meeting with the Mentor: The hero encounters someone who can give him advice and ready him for the journey ahead.  

5.      Crossing the First Threshold: The hero leaves his ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.  

6.      Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero learns the rules of his new world. During this time, he endures tests of strength of will, meets friends, and comes face to face with foes.

7.      Approach: Setbacks occur, sometimes causing the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas. 

8.      Ordeal: The hero experiences a major hurdle or obstacle, such as a life or death crisis. 

9.      Reward: After surviving death, the hero earns his reward or accomplishes his goal. 

10.  The Road Back: The hero begins his journey back to his ordinary life.

11.  Resurrection Hero - The hero faces a final test where everything is at stake and he must use everything he has learned.  

12.  Return with Elixir:  The hero brings his knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world, where he applies it to help all who remain there.  


Here is a little task for you - can you track the steps of some famous characters and match them to the stages of the Hero’s Journey? The Lion King, or Fight Club, are great examples.

Storytelling is an art in itself, but what it is most powerful for, is the influence it can have on our lives in achieving a desired transformation that lasts and help you grow.

Elena Long

Your Coach to Success

Your Daily Quote - Laugh

Put a positive spin on your life. Get yourself laughing.  "Why do angels fly? Because they take themselves lightly."
Elena Long

Your Daily Quote - Determination

“The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.”– Author Unknown

Bob Proctor - Positive Affirmations and Changing Paradigms

Never change things by fighting reality.

If you want to change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.

How to Deal with Rejection

by Elena Long

How often has the fear of being rejected, of being given the answer “no” stopped you from taking a step towards something you want? Maybe at uni you didn’t ask that gorgeous girl out for a coffee because you assumed she would say no? Or when you negotiated the terms of your new job you didn’t dare to ask about higher salary? Was there a project at work you wanted to get involved with, so that you could learn new skills, but you thought your manager would say you don’t have experience to be involved…

The truth is, if you don’t explore new possibilities, if you don’t get out of your comfort zone and take this moderate risk of getting “No” for an answer, you are raising barriers to your own development. And you will wonder for the rest of your life: “What if?”

One of the golden principles of personal development, life coaching and success is that how happy and fulfilled you are with your life is dependent not on what happens to you, but how you react to what life throws at you. Quite often the hiccups you encounter along your journey are just tests, areas that you need improvement in. You lack confidence when approaching girls? Then practice ten times a day. You can’t work with PowerPoint? Then volunteer and help prepare the presentation for the next workshop in the office, or with your study group.

What is the worst that can happen when you ask the question: “May I?” I love the example Jack Canfield gives in his book, The Success Principles. If you choose to apply to Harvard, but fear of rejection is stopping you, think twice. If the worst happens and they say “No”, would you be able to handle it? Of course you would – you have spent all your life NOT studying at Harvard, surely you know how to deal with that. And if you do get in – well, it was worth trying!

After all, Colonel Sanders got over 300 rejections before he found someone to believe in him and his special “KFC” chicken recipe. Nor did Sylvester Stallone get disheartened with ”No” after “No” for the script of the first Rocky, until United Artists agreed to produce the script on his terms, with Stallone getting the lead role.

So next time when you toss between: Should I, Should I not, think about that: “some will, some won’t – so what – someone’s waiting.” Or, the SWSWSWSW formula. If someone now says “No”, there still is someone out there waiting for you skills, your ideas, your smile, your contribution. Work your way out to getting there, one rejection at a time.

Inquire within - Jack Canfield

Brain researchers estimate that your unconscious database outweighs the conscious on an order exceeding ten million to one. This database is the source of your hidden, natural genius. In other words, a part of you is much smarter than you are. The wise people regularly consult that smarter part.

Michael Gelb, Author of “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci”

According to an ancient legend, there was a time when ordinary people had access to all the knowledge of the gods. Yet time and again, they ignored this wisdom. One day, the gods grew tired of so freely giving a gift the people didn’t use, so they decided to hide this precious wisdom where only the most committed of seekers would discover it. They believed that if people had to work for find this wisdom, they would use it more carefully.

One of the gods suggested that they bury it deep in the earth.

No, the others said – too many people could easily dig down and find it.

“Let’s put it in the deepest ocean.” Suggested one of the gods, but that idea was also rejected. They knew that people would one day learn to dive and thus would find it too easily.

One of the gods suggested hiding it on the highest mountaintop, but it was quickly agreed that people could climb mountains.

Finally, one of the wisest gods suggested, “Let’s hide it deep inside thepeople themselves. They’ll never think to look in there.” And so it came to be – and so it continues today.

From “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield

TRUST AND DEVELOP YOUR INTUITION, BELIEVE IN THE POSSIBILITIES OF YOUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND!

ELENA LONG

Your Daily Quote - Greatness

Greatness does not come as a complete package, in a one-off delivery. You have to consistently build on your skills, knowledge, strength, with responsibility, perseverance and focus on the goals, on your mission.

Elena Long

Workshop in Toronto: Six Steps to Fulfilling Relationships

IF YOU ARE IN TORONTO ON 13 JUNE 2015,

come to Elena and Trevor Long’s free workshop:

Six Steps to Fulfilling Relationships
4pm – 6pm, 13 June 2015.
4978 Yonge Street (north of Sheppard Ave.)
3 Floor, Party Room, North York, ON M2N 7G8
(free underground parking)
For more information, email Elena at: 

VisionLifeDesign@gmail.com

What is NLP?

A lot of people I meet – at my seminars, online, in my networks, are interested in the fastest ways to achieve personal change and improve the quality of their lives. So they ask me how I use NLP to bring this change to my clients, and what NLP actually is.

I give a detailed description below, but, in one sentence, my friend, NLP provides me with amazing tools which I tailor to help my clients achieve personal changes and move quickly toward achieving their goals, to clear emotions and blockages, and to overcome fear and grief, within one or two sessions.

Neurolinguistic programming, or NLP, was originally developed by a psychologist, Richard Bandler, and a linguist, John Grinder. The American motivational speaker Tony Robbins has trained with Grinder and utilised NLP ideas for his own motivational and self-help programs.
Here is the quick definition of NLP: it helps you avoid a slow, long process of change by helping you to learn to change MORE QUICKLY than therapy, for example.

Richard Bandler

Many people suffer from the lack of knowledge of how their system of beliefs and attitudes influences the quality of their lives. Their perception of their career and life in general is clouded by the excuses and reasons why they cannot succeed. This is one of the reasons why NLP coaching has become one of the leading techniques for achieving fast and lasting personal change.

Personal transformation coaching has become a major field in NLP coaching. Every successful business person works with a coach or mentor. So do successful sports people, and people aspiring to constantly improving the quality of their life.

A more extensive definition includes, but is not limited to:
NLP looks at patterns and processes, rather than content. Your coach or NLP practitioner does not dig into the story of your life and make you analyse why things happened. It instead uses language and non-verbal communication cues to identify behavioural patterns.
It is also an enhancement technique of modelling.
The main role of the NLP practitioner is to take the client – yes, YOU, from effect to cause.

NLP uses different techniques to help you develop more effective strategies in life.
It’s a way of replacing unhelpful behavioural patterns with useful, resourceful strategies. Unlike traditional techniques, NLP gives quick results in personal transformation.

The techniques I use help you with clearing, energising, and transforming your mind, body and spirit. You’ll find the NLP coaching tools applicable to all areas of your life: business - sales, management, communication, and coaching/mentoring; teaching, sports, therapy, personal growth, as well as relationships. They are proven to work, producing tangible results.

Elena Long

NLP Practitioner and Relationship Coach

Your Daily Quote - Your Reaction

You can’t control the events in your life but you can choose your reaction to them. You can even master that reaction. This will then determine the outcomes for you. E + R = O

Elena Long

Your Daily Quote - Memories

Don’t limit your spring clean to your wardrobe. You can also choose what memories to hold on to, and what to bin.

Elena Long

Overcome bad memories - demo

This ie a great demonstration of a powerful Neuro Linguistic Programming NLP tool.
The results are fast because the NLP practitioner addresses the subconscious / unconscious mind where lasting changes happen within minutes.

The individual sessions I offer to my clients are equally fast and efficient.
Elena Long