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

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

Breaking Free - The Role of a Life Coach

by Simon

Since emerging from a religious HK cult, I’ve discovered that many successful people in the world have a coach. It’s not just sportspeople who have a coach, it’s all kinds of people. The phenomenon is known as life coaching, and it’s now quite common-place to find a life coach behind people who lead the pack in the world of business, politics, corporations, mainstream media, the entertainment industry, etc.

To a large degree life coaching is coaching in the matter of life skills, and of course life skills are not taught in the education system of any country, and usually not by parents. The ICF (International Coach Federation) provides independent certification for professional life coaches, and it’s not unheard of for a handful of the world’s leading professional life coaches to command fees of $10K an hour from clients whose annual income is in the multi millions.

Back in the day of the “hare krishna explosion” a dearth of life skills amongst “people in general” meant ripe pickings for hk preachers.

“Here in mrityu loka” we were told, “there is no enjoyment … unless you join us, and embrace the regulative principles of freedom. Otherwise it’s just endless samsara.”

Nowadays, anyone with a modicum of life skills knows such ideology is total clap trap, and that life is meaningful and indeed fulfilling if one has the life skills to live life with purpose.

Anyway, having snapped out of samsara, I decided to take on a professional life coach (who charges rather less than $10K per hour) with a view to enhancing my post-cult life skills. His name is Trevor.

It wasn’t long before Trevor cottoned on to the missing chapters of my life, lost to decades in the hk cult. Kinda embarrassing, although as would be expected of a life coach of good calibre, Trevor was pretty cool about it.

I was resigned to having wasted decades of my life to poppycock. A life totally wasted (“surrendered”) to a wretched cult agenda of exploitation. But now I get to the point of this posting. Trevor’s approach to dealing with my cult history (yes, it needed dealing with) astounded me.

Trevor didn’t agree with me that those decades were totally wasted. But I didn’t agree with Trevor. How could I agree with him? After all, everything about hk is bad, we know there is nothing good.

So Trevor gave me some homework. He insisted that I write down 100 reasons that I benefited from being involved with iskcon. Man, that was painful but I had no choice, I had to do it.

Reluctantly I began to write, with no idea how I would come up with even ten reasons, what to speak of 100. I began gently with …

Pleased my mother because of becoming totally drug free

Then as I moved on it became easier, I started to gain some momentum …

Learned to sell, got years of experience, and markedly raised my selling skills

And then found my stride as I got into the more subtle …

Gained insight into the fickleness of the notions of good and evil

After a couple of hours I was done! I discovered it wasn’t all bad after all, and I have to confess it was a liberating experience.

Factually my life wasn’t wasted by decades in the hk cult. Whatever one does in life, it’s not so much our life circumstance, but rather our approach, attitude and outlook that determines our degree of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Source:

http://breaking-free.info/decided-to-break-free/comment-page-2/#comment-25913

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

Why Do We, and Should, Make New Year's Resolutions - part 1

Have you noticed how the week leading to Christmas, and the next one, leading to New Year's Eve, have something magical and optimistic and inspirational about them?
We become more generous, relaxed, connected with friends and family... And start making plans for bigger and better things to happen to us, start planning for a more fulfilling, different, and adventurous year ahead. 
This article, (split in several parts), will answer two major questions:
1) Why is it such a good time to make new plans?
2) How to keep committed to these resolutions throughout the new year.

What is so special about the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve? Why is it actually the right moment to make resolutions?
1. Time to close an old chapter
The end of the "old" year is the time to draw a line and have a good look at that past chapter of your life. Look back and analyse - what worked, what didn't, and in what area of your life have you had enough? The strongest internal motivation to achieve change is when you are fed up with the same old results, have had enough and want to put an end to it. Whether it is the "staple items": quit smoking, lose weight, be fitter, start a new relationship, or something unique and special to you, you know you are ready for a change. You are ready, because you can look back and the retrospective pile-up of negative experiences and emotions related to that unresourceful habit give you a strong trigger to move away from them.

Leave your pile of dirt in the year gone by

And what better opportunity to move away from that old thing, than when you step through a brand new door to your future, step into the New Year, New Beginning, New YOU!

Start a new chapter

To be CONTINUED with:

2. There is magic in the air - anything is possible
3. Generous and forgiving to Yourself
4. You are relaxed and happy

Elena
Your Coach to Success

Your Relationships and Goals

During the last couple of weeks we looked at different aspects of creating strong, lasting intimate relationships. Whether you are single, or would like to create and enjoy an even more beautiful relationship with your partner, the decision to enhance your life takes commitment. You need clarity of what your desired relationship is, and help to achieve it.

For relationship advice, refer to our resources, or contact me for a confidential discussion of your needs or questions around how life coaching can help you achieve your goals.

And speaking of goals, the next theme of my blogs will be on the principles of career development. We will start with the foundations of goal setting with John Assaraf...

Elena
Your Coach to Success
http://www.envisionlifedesign.com.au/