Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Refresh Yourself | Episode #379

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Refresh Yourself | Episode #379 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

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  Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your Life Count.
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  I'm your host, Doctor Gloria. Gloria Burgess, international leadership expert and
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  trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. I'm delighted
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  that you joined me today. I want to give a big thank you to
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  those of you who are listening. I also want to give a great,
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  big shout out to all of you listening around the world. I'm delighted and
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  so great that you tuned in. I sure hope you're enjoying a fabulous day
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  to day and that you're having a fantastic week, because you know what,
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  in the grand song of the universe, life is short, very short.
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  It's short, sweet and very very precious. So I hope you're making a
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  difference in your own life, because when you do, you also make a
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  difference in somebody else's life. Now, a lot of folks want to make
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  their life count for something, and they ask me, Doctor Gloria, how
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  do you do that. Well, it's very simple, very simple. You
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  make your life count, day by day, step by step, moment by
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  moment, every single day. Three sixty five twenty four seven. That's what
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  Legacy living Make your Life count is all about You can learn more about legacy
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  living make your life count by visiting my website. That's the Gloria Burgess website.
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  G L O R I A b as in boy you are Gess dot
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  com the Gloria Burgess website, or you can visit me on Facebook or LinkedIn,
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  or you can now find me on the Ted Talks website. Just search
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  for Gloria Burgess. Now. Today's focus is all about reflection. What it
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  is, what it means, and why it's so important for all of us
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  young people, parents, leaders, entrepreneurs. Reflection is really for every single
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  person. One way to define reflection is to share an example. Now,
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  I just love of this collection of reflections from Patrick Lindsay's Now is the time.
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  Now is the time to lighten your load. Drop tomorrow's worries, yesterday's
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  baggage. Today is enough. Now is the time to make the most of
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  every day. There are no guarantees how many we will get. Now is
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  the time to seek authenticity. To be genuine, it will set you apart.
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  Now is the time to be you. Take time to discover yourself,
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  find your unique you. Now is the time to cherish your memories, relive
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  them, learn from them, hand them down to your children, then go
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  and add to them. Now is the time to cherish your family, Treasure
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  your time with them, to think of others, look where you can help,
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  do it with selfless passion. Now is the time to try kindness.
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  Step outside your world. Chances are that many are caught in struggles. Now
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  is the time to spread love. It gives us meaning, brings compassion,
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  and gives us new eyes. Now is the time to embrace your challenges.
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  Look upon them as opportunities. Use them to strengthen your resolve to gain wisdom
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  and compassion. Now is the time to fight for justice. Stand up when
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  you know something is wrong. Support others who promote righteousness. Now is the
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  time to keep trying. When things are not going your way, believe in
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  yourself keep going. Now is the time to watch the sun rise since the
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  stillness, enjoy the warmth, marvel at renewal. Now is the time to
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  care for our planet. We hold its future in our hands. Make your
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  commitment. Now is the time to find your inner leader. We all have
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  an inner leader within us. Now is the time to live in the present.
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  Your time is precious. Spend it wisely. Live in the present.
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  Your time is precious, spend it wisely. In other words, celebrate,
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  celebrate the music of your life. As I always say in the Grand Song
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  of the Universe, life is short and very precious, So make the days
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  in your life count. So that's it, Folks, you just heard an
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  example. You just heard a wonderful example of a reflection. Now I love
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  this example because it's all about what it means to truly take reflection to heart
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  and actually do it. Did you know that reflection is one of the many,
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  many facets of vision, which is all about seeing, and vision,
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  of course, is not only about what we see. It's also about how
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  we see. So reflection is about taking time to look not just once,
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  but many many times, to look at what holds heart and meaning for us.
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  And when we find out what holds heart and meaning for us, we
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  must be steady, which allows us to hold fast to our vision. Reflection
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  also requires discernment, so we can look at our vision with new eyes,
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  with fresh eyes, with a new person, so that we can gain insights
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  and so much more. Now, many of us have just celebrated our festive
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  winter holidays right or summer holidays depending on where you are on the planet,
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  or maybe you celebrated another special occasion a birthday, an anniversary, a naming
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  ceremony, whatever your celebration with your family and friends and other loved ones.
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  I love nothing more than just to set aside a few days to kick back,
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  to take time to reflect, to take long walks, to take a
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  nice warm bath, to make myself a cup of tea, to put my
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  feet up and savor all the lovely memories I've made, all the memories made
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  throughout the past year. Reflection, true reflection, is a time to look
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  again. The month of January is named after a Roman god by the name
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  of Janice. That's right. In Roman myth and religion, Janice oversaw beginnings,
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  doorways, passages, gates, transitions, time and endings. Now.
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  He's usually depicted as having two faces right or with a face that looks one
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  way and another way right, so with one face he looks to the future,
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  and with the other face he looks to the past. So in many
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  cultures, we often think of January as opening the doorway to look at endings
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  right, what's in the past, as well as a doorway to envision new
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  beginning. All that lies ahead. January opens the door to reflection. In
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  fact, in some cultures, this is the time of year when people step
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  back and take time to reflect on their life. Why. Because they want
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  to be intentional about taking stock of where they are, where they've been,
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  and where they are going. Do you know how to be reflective? That's
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  a great question, isn't it? Now? I often include reflection in the
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  courses I teach, and I always include reflection when I'm leading retreats or when
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  I'm coaching a client. Why. Reflection is a way to hit the pause
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  button so we can slow down, and so we can remember who we are
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  and whose we are and what's important to us. It allows us to take
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  time to be intentional. It allows us to take time to pause and slow
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  down from our typical hectic pace and to breathe, actually breathe, right.
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  It allows us the spaciousness of time to become conscious and to digest and to
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  metabolize what we have achieved or accomplished. When we consciously and intentionally digest and
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  metabolize who we are, whose we are, and what we do, we
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  can actually integrate all of that into our lives. Now, reflection doesn't have
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  to be hard work, but make no mistake about it, it is work.
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  It is work. In just a few moments, I'm going to give
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  you some questions you can ask yourself to help you slow down so you can
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  track, digest, metabolize, and integrate the various arenas of your life now.
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  I find these questions especially helpful when you want to look back at your
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  life during the past week, or past month, or even the past year.
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  The cool thing is that you can also use these questions for your work
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  or for your business. If you are a coach or teacher, or doctor
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  or nurse, or a mayor or a parent or whatever whoever you are,
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  whatever you do, you can use these questions for you to help build or
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  reimagine yourself or your business, or your relationships within your family or at work,
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  or as I mentioned earlier, for the goals that you have in your
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  personal life in general right now. Maybe you want better health or a new
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  job. Maybe you want to go back to school, or maybe you're already
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  in school and you want to get better grades. Or perhaps you want to
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  start a new project or make more money, or you already have money right
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  and you want to decide what to do with that unexpected bonus, or maybe
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  you want to save money so you can move into that new apartment or buy
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  that new car or dream house. Or perhaps you simply want to look back
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  at the past month or year and take it all in, right, take
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  it all in, all that you set out to accomplish, and see how
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  you made out, to see how you did and achieving those goals that you
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  set for yourself. Okay, here are the questions. Are you ready?
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  Okay, grab a pen, pencil, and some paper or tablet something to
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  drop these questions down. You can always listen to the show again. Right,
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  So, here are the questions. Ask yourself, what goals, what
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  goals or milestones did I set for myself? What goals or milestones did I
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  actually achieve? So? What did I set, what did I achieve?
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  What did I learn? Right? What did I learn? What are my
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  key takeaways? In other words, another question is what can I improve on?
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  What can I do better? Right? Another question, and I love
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  this one? Where am I stuck? Right? Where am I stuck?
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  And then the follow on question of that is what's keeping me stuck? What's
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  holding me back? In other words? All right, could it be procrastination?
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  Could it be because I'm just not resourced, not quite fully prepared or
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  equipped. Do I need more people around me? So what is that?
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  Okay, where am I stuck? And what's keeping me stuck? What's holding
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  me back? Now? If you're like me or most people these days,
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  you lead a very busy life. And when you lead a busy life,
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  it's very easy for your achievements to get muddled up or lost under the weight
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  of all those check marks on your daily to do list, right, or
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  maybe you just zap them and poof, they're gone, never to be seen
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  again. Hey, but wait, you can actually restore your calendar these days,
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  right, all right, So it's so important to really look back at
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  all of your yeses, all of those coffee dates, all the time that
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  you had with family and friends, all of your business meetings, your work
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  meetings, all of your engagements with clients. That great vacation you had or
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  planned but had to postpone, all the time you spent with vendors and suppliers,
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  with your doctors, nurses in the hospital. Okay, all of those
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  encounters with staff and co workers, all of those walks with your son or
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  daughter or spouse, all of the conferences you attended or spoke at, or
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  trained at all of the blog posts you wrote, the newsletters, the courses
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  you developed and taught, right all of those projects you have said yes to.
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  Now take a good long look at how you've moved forward. Are not
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  what you did that worked well and what you can do better, what you
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  need to tell somebody to share with someone else, and what you need to
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  do to move ahead into your future. Now, you don't just want to
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  move ahead in a knee jerk way, but you want to really be intentional
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  and in tune with who you really are and with your purpose. That's what
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  Reverend doctor Howard Thurmann calls listening to the sound of the genuine within you.
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  Okay, being really intentional and on purpose. So doctor Thurman reminds us that
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  there is something in each and every one of us that waits and listens for
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  the sound of the genuine within. He says, it is the only true
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  guide you will ever have, the only true guide you will ever have,
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  and if you do not find it, you will for the rest of your
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  life beyond the strings, the end of strings that somebody else pulls. Now,
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  I don't know about you, but I don't like that image of being
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  on the end of the strings that somebody else pulls. You know, I
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  get this image of being a puppet and somebody else is controlling all my movements,
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  all the things I do, you know, with my head, my
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  fingers, my arms, everything, Right, So he says, listen to
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  the sound of the genuine within you. It is the only true guide you
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  will ever have when you take time out for reflection. It actually helps you
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  locate and pay attention to that sound of the genuine within you. Taking time
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  out for reflection invites you to look with and it invites you to look back
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  and also to look ahead, like that January image right, looking back and
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  looking ahead. Now as you look ahead, here are some more questions to
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  ask yourself. Okay, get your pen pencil out. Ask yourself, where
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  do I want to go? Where do I want to go in the next
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  month or three months, or six months or twelve months? In other words,
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  where do I want to be at the end of that time period?
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  Right? And ultimately you want to say, you know, where do I
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  want to be at the end of this year? And you might just want
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  to break it down into chunks, into months or three months or six months
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  chunks. So that it's doable. So where do I want to go in
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  the next one month, month, months, six months, or twelve months.
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  Where do I want to be at the end of this year? The
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  next question is, as I am going wherever it is I want to go,
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  Okay, going after whatever it is I have set out to do,
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  who do I want to be? Who do I want to be as I
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  do this work? So you don't want to be a human doing you want
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  to be a human being? So ask yourself? Who do I want to
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  be as I do this work? As I complete this project? As I
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  commit to another six months or nine months or twelve months to the courses I
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  enrolled in? Right, as I invest time, money, and energy into
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  being a healthier person, or being a friend who is more available, or
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  building a bigger nest egg or planning that garden. I keep planning in my
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  head, but I keep forgetting to begin right, So who do I want
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  to be along the journey? The next question is what do I want to
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  accomplish? I mean specifically, what exactly do I expect? What are my
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  goals? Are they specific? And how will I hold myself accountable? Will
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  I check in with myself? Will I have someone that I trust check in
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  with me. How will I do that? Another question is how will I
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  get there? What do I need? What resources or support do I need
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  to get from here to there? Another question is how will I know?
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  How will I know that I'm there? Okay? How will I know that
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  I've arrived? That I'm successful? So that's why it's really important to be
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  specific, to hold yourself accountable. Okay, ask yourself that question again.
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  Who do I want to be as I'm going along this journey? And how
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  will I know when I've arrived? And a final question for you, and
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  this is an important question. It's a legacy living question. And the question
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  is who will I take with me on my journey? Who will I take
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  with me on my journey? In other words, this is not worth doing
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  if I'm doing it on my own by myself. Who will I serve?
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  Who will I support? Who will I bring with me along the way?
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  Okay, and encourage them to pass it on as well. Remember, legacy
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  living is all about living, loving, learning, and serving. Not merely
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  for yourself. It's about living, loving, learning, and serving. It's
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  all about making your life count sell that you can make a way for others.
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  So that you can build a bridge for others to cross. Now is
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  the time as you launch into your reflections. I sure hope you're filled with
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  gratitude, love, wonder, joy, hope, forgiveness, and compassion,
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  because if you are filled up, guess what, the months ahead will also
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  be filled with gratitude, love, wonder, joy, hope, forgiveness and
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  compassion. Now is the time you are exactly what the world needs now,
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  and be sure be sure to make it a point. No, I'm gonna
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  say, get a priority to be intentional about reflecting on what matters most to
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  you now more than ever, our world needs your voice. So that's how
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  you do it. That's how you make your life count. If you want
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  to be the change you seek, remember this. How you live is how
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  you lead. How you live is how you do everything. You have the
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  power to make our world a better place. All right. I want you
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  to be sure to listen to this episode again and again, and hey,
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  be sure to tell somebody about it. Pass it on. You can find
• 24:51
  me right here on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart, tune
• 24:57
  in, break your dot com, talk network, radio, and sew many
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  other places. If you happen to miss any part of this week's episode,
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  or if you missed last weeks, you can simply download the recording and listen
• 25:14
  to it at your convenience. You can even listen to it on the go.
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  Check us out at www dot talknetwork Radio dot com. Forward Slash Hosts,
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  Forward Slash Legacy Living. That's Talknetwork Radio dot com. Forward Slash Hosts
• 25:37
  Forward Slash Legacy Living. You can learn more about my work and Legacy Living.
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  Make your life count by visiting the Gloria Burgess website, and you can
• 25:48
  subscribe to my inspirations. Right on my website. You just scroll down a
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  little bit. Look on the right hand sidebar right until you see the place
• 25:56
  to add your email to subscribe to my weekly inspirations. That's right. If
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  you want a short little quote and a beautiful image to land in your inbox
• 26:07
  your email inbox every Monday morning, that's all you have to do. Go
• 26:11
  to my website, scroll down to you see that little place to add your
• 26:15
  email to subscribe, and you will be on the list to receive my weekly
• 26:22
  inspirations. It's that simple. So again, to learn more about me and
• 26:27
  my work, just browse a bit on my website or visit me on LinkedIn
• 26:32
  or Facebook and be sure to listen to one of my Ted talks. Just
• 26:36
  go to the ted dot com website type my name to find me there.
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  Before I close today, I want to thank each of you for tuning in
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  to today's show, for allowing me to share a bit about my journey with
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  what legacy living is all about, not just living and learning, but living
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  and learning and serving so that you make a difference in your own life and
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  in the lives of others. It's all about being on purpose every single day.
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  Three sixty five twenty four seven. Legacy Living is a powerful way to
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  make your life count. Once again, thank you for joining me for today's
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  show. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this is Legacy
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  Living, Make your life count. Please join me again next time right here
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  on Talk Network Radio for another show of legacy living. Make your life count.
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  Don't just count the days in your life, Make the days in your
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  life count. That's what legacy living is all about. Have a fantastic day
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  and remember, make the day in your life count. God bless you.
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  That's our show today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria, Gloria Burgess.
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  I hope you'll join me again next time. Until then, don't just count
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  the days in your life. Make the days in your life count. That's
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  what legacy living is all about. Here's to you have a fantastic day and
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  be sure to make it a yes kind of day. Remember to celebrate the
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  music of your life. Make the days in your life count.