make it happen

How do you WANT to feel? (Not what DO you feel like?)

It takes just a split second.

One decision.

As my favourite poem says:

'In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse'.

The question isn't 'what do you feel like doing right now'?'.

Well, not usually, the question is, 'what do you want to feel like? what is the outcome, the result you want?'


I fell out of my daily yoga habit that made me feel so great, strong and good.

There was a mini heatwave (but hey 35 degrees in a small Notting Hill flat is too hot for yoga).

So that was a few days ... and I wasn't feeling it.

Rachel Redlaw me on yoga mat

But I missed the outcome for sure .. but somehow, seemingly not enough to get back in the habit.

Why is that?

That the things that make us feel great, that we KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt are GOOD ... we still resist.

And then I jumped and fell and was shaken up and covered in bruises and couldn't even THINK of a downward dog without wincing.

But that was ten days ago and it's been totally nagging at me that I haven't got back to my daily practice.

The last few days, honestly, I've been pretending that I'll just do a short practice - that 7-minute one - but guess what?

I didn't even do that.

Today ... I got sick of myself and my excuses for not doing what makes me feel great.

And I did it fast!

I decided I wanted the outcome.

I wanted to feel how good I feel after half an hour of yoga.

Mat out. Did it.

And yep, feel great.


It's always about the outcome, the result, the desired feeling.

Never about what you feel like in that moment.

Sometimes the two are the same.

Sometimes they're not.

But it's that easy (and that hard, I know).

Practice, remembering how good it feels to make that decision - makes it easier, makes that choosing-the-outcome-muscle easier to exercise.

What's the outcome you want?

Choose THAT action to take.



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Saying YES to your dreams

A week or so ago I wrote this post about how getting to achieve your goals means saying NO a lot of the time.

To things you don't want to do, to stop being a yes-person people-pleaser, but more importantly also to things you DO want to do!

So, you're gonna have to prioritise!

And if you SAY you want to reach that goal, then y'know, you do actually have to CHOOSE to spend the time on actions that will help you reach that goal (rather than socialising, watching TV, family gatherings, sleep, whatever it is).

But .... and this is where I think I might have misrepresented myself in the great urge to try to combat all that, 'but I'm soooo BUSY!', (poor little old me) negativity people say as an excuse (oh I do hear myself do it sometimes too of course).

Fine, don't go for your goals then, but don't WHINGE about it!

Anyway, digressing ... because what I WANT to say is actually that ...I think I misrepresented myself.

It's not a negative to say no.

It's not (usually!) hard to get less sleep, to be here writing and creating at my Macbook and talking with people rather than watching TV.

And why?

Because actually, it's not about - really - saying NO.

It's ALL about saying YES!

And that's what makes it easy (well, usually!).

Saying YES, a great big huge YES to my dreams and my goals.

THAT's what this choice is all about.

And yeah, often it's a hard choice, it's occasionally a lonely choice, but it's 100% MY CHOICE to say YES to making the choices I make that are the ones that will move me towards reaching my goals.

I want to share what I've learned and I want to impact MILLIONS!

I want to make the Tiniest Thai Diet the most successful, globally recognised, way of changing your mindset forever around food there has EVER been.

I want to share my message, and write and speak and connect with people.

So YES, I say NO a lot ... and yes I push myself.

Because I'm really, truly, actually saying YES to my dreams by doing so.

It is about saying NO ... to make space for the huge HELL YES to creating your life.

Reframe time - if you thought my previous post was berating you for not turning down things you want to do - well, I didn't mean it that way.

I meant, and mean, that to make that choice a YES rather than a NO means always keeping the goal in mind.

Keep taking the actions needed to get the results you want.


Getting (every)thing done in 25 minutes

I use this technique all the time and it definitely works for me.

I heard about it a few years ago and now also know that it's also known as the pomodoro technique, although also talked about by many, many other people. (I haven't read or used the 'actual' pomodoro technique itself so can't comment on anything specific to it).

Basically, for me it means focusing on one thing, one task - for 25 minutes.

I use ticktocktimer to set my 25 minutes.  I switch off distractions (yes, you Facebook, yes you Instagram, yes you telephone ring volume!). And I just knuckle down to whatever it is that needs doing for a full 25 minutes.

And it works for me because: 

25 minutes is short enough that I can maintain a full-on sprint level energy

it's long enough to get a LOT done (when you're really focused)

it's not so long I get withdrawal from all those distractions

I don't even need more water or coffee during that time!

And, at the end, when the timer goes - I'm usually astonished how 'in the zone' I am and how much I've accomplished.

It's tempting to just re-set immediately and do it all again straight away, but it's good to then take five minutes - stretch, get a glass of water, go outside for some fresh air, do something different ... and then you can set it again for another 25 minutes if you like!

I use this in my working day when I have tasks I really need to concentrate on and am being pulled in too many directions with other (less important, often 'more urgent' tasks).  

I use it at home if I have something I really want to do (like write 'my story' page for my website - yes, yes, on my list and I'm planning on seeing if I can get it done in 25 minutes tomorrow).

It just works for me, concentrates my mind, gets things done.

Do you use this technique? Or have something else you do when you want to be really productive? 

SHARE please! :) 



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