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Hello From Dubai

June 16th, 2010 by Reeta Luthra

Hello from Dubai

If you’re a regular reader, you might have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet on here recently.

Lots has happened – After a couple of years of travelling back and forth between the UAE and the UK, I am now based in Dubai. Moving was a hectic time but thankfully it all went without a hitch.

The culture, environment and atmosphere here in Dubai is as different from the UK as you can get! But it’s already beginning to feel familiar and I am still loving the novelty of the wall of heat that hits you as you step out no matter what time of the day or night it is.

I was thinking today about how Dubai personifies the characteristics of personal development.

It has ambitions, spectacular achievements, controversies and difficulties, Dubai kind of illustrates what goes on inside us a lot of the time. We all have personal riches in the form of dreams, ambitions, aspirations, talents and resilience. Sometimes, we go through the mirage phase too wondering if all that we feel within us is simply an illusion.

As I look out at the extravagent and lush green spaces that they’ve created in the middle of the desert, it’s apparent that money plays a big part in helping dreams come true. Is money important? Does the lack of money stop you from pursuing your dreams?

It’s a big and important question – and one I’ll save for another day. Do think about it in the meantime though – and question your first response as it might be camouflaging a different answer (mine was)

It’s business as usual as far as your personal tele-coaching sessions with me are concerned – a few things you need to know are:

6 day week

Fridays are a weekend here whilst Saturdays and Sundays are workdays.

I’m following this custom because it’s going to work out better for you as you don’t have to take time off work for your sessions if you book weekend slots.

Weekend coaching slots have always been popular with my clients and I’m glad to be able to offer more of them now.

For my US friends

I’m having to introduce an appointment system for enquiries from the USA. It’s necessary because my new time zone means that if you call or skype me during your day, it’ll be my evening and I’ll miss your call – and we could end up playing phone-tag for days.

I’m more than happy to talk with you outside my normal office hours but please do drop me an email and we can arrange a time that’s convenient for both of us.

Call Quality

In my experience so far, landline and Skype seem to give the clearest call quality. Mobile phones give the worst.

I have spoken to some people in the UK & Switzerland on their mobiles from here and I wouldn’t recommend it for lengthy calls. If you need to call me or if you want to leave a number for me to call you on, my head would be ever so grateful if you choose landline or Skype!

Getting in touch

You can still reach me through my UK telephone number +44 (0) 208 816 7013.

It will go to voicemail if I am away from my desk so please leave a message or email me on reeta@reetaluthra.com and I’ll call you right back.

And of course as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch!

~

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Change One Small Habit

May 27th, 2010 by Reeta Luthra

Personal Development: Change One Small HabitHabits allow to you be efficient at things. You don’t have to think about what to do, your habits let you get on and do it.

Without habits, life would be clunky and tedious and we’d all be having to think harder about things we don’t really want to think about.

Habits create comfort zones. As the name implies, comfort zones are a set of behaviours and thoughts that you have tried and tested and now feel very comfortable – even when they’re dull or inappropriate.

This morning on twitter I tweeted about stepping out of comfort zones and @adamskib replied saying “reeta, I am rarely IN my comfort zone!! I get bored easily.”

I can completely relate to Adam’s statement because I too find it very easy to develop new interests and learn new skills and as a result, I am never bored or lacking things to do.

However, as I thought more about what Adam said, it struck me that comfort zones come in all shapes and sizes and that developing new interests and learning new skills is actually within my comfort zone! I may be stretching myself with the skill I’m learning but making the decision to learn the new skill is a habit.

There’s nothing wrong with this because this habit of mine – this comfort zone – is one that supports me. It does not hinder.

Remember, just because something is a comfort zone, it doesn’t mean that you MUST step out of it. Not all habits are bad habits. Some are fabulously efficient.

I asked a few people to define a comfort zone and the common consensus was that stretching a comfort zone involves making some kind of a grand statement such as running a marathon or walking out of a relationship that’s not working.

Sometimes, it is appropriate to stretch yourself in a “grand statement” kind of way. But often, it’s the small things that have the greatest impact.

Some of the most profound changes to your life come through changing a simple, habitual everyday behaviour… Something like the way you respond to someone who is annoying… Or perhaps the way you rush around in the morning only paying superficial attention to the people you love.

Make one small change to one simple behaviour. Create a habit that creates a comfort zone that supports you.

What kind of amazing ripples would changing one small habit create in your life?

Photo Credit: Topsoft

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