10 Ways To Be Extraordinary From the Comfort of Your Sofa

Sofa Psychology

10 top tips that you can start using today to make yourself and your life extraordinary


Celebrity life coach Sloan Sheridan-Williams reviews the 7-day “Your Sofa, Your Way” service from Lombok and shares ten ways you can be extraordinary from the comfort of your sofa. Founded in 1998, Lombok is a luxury homeware brand selling exclusive, inspirational, high-quality, handcrafted furniture, lighting and accessories.

I had such fun choosing my Lombok sofa and I could easily spend a lot of time describing the process from walking into the showroom, choosing my sofa, having additional options such as 35 amazing colours to choose from and or chatting about designing the luxuriousness of the plump of my cushions which was a fabulous experience but as a busy professional writing for other busy readers what really stood out for me was speed.

I did not feel pushed in the showroom I had the exact amount of time to make my decision but once I had chosen my order, fast was the name of the game. I made my order around lunch and before I had even stepped out of my very next meeting, I had confirmation of my delivery date – the soonest offering just 7 days away.

I wasn’t shocked by this because Lombok pride themselves on having a whole range that can be delivered in 7 days but I was impressed. There is always a little voice that wonders will there be a clause that says, oh but we have a weekend coming up or we ran out of fabric in stock. Talking to owner Keiran, he has planned for all customer needs and has his production and buying requirements fit for every eventuality so long as you choose from the 7 day range. Cleverly he has chosen the most stunning of pieces to have this fabulous service attached to.

A sign of a good owner is also one whose team is happy and efficient. You cannot sacrifice one for the other. What a delightful group they have at Lombok. From Victoria who gave me a tour of the showroom and discussed the marketing plans, to Kazi who took my order, Val who arranged my delivery and Dan and Lee the delivery crew who were a spark of fresh air – Lombok really has a well oiled team to match the manufacturing department which provides undoubtedly super quality items.

So what stood out for me was twofold. The first being why are other companies not producing this quality in 7 days, instead offering you some demonstrator sofa and a non-reduced enough price when it is quite clear if you want to be extraordinary then it is very possible because Lombok have achieved it.

The second thing was with a sofa that has been brought to me so quickly I have an extra 30 days with it before I would even think about receiving a sofa bought elsewhere, it would seem criminal not to make the most of those 30 days and be as extraordinary as the company who created my soon to be new pride and joy piece of furniture.

Here are 10 ways to make yourself and your life as extraordinary as your furniture in the extra 30 days you get with your sofa thanks to Lombok’s 7 day delivery from date of order.

1. Write in your gratitude journal

Take a moment with your new sofa to write down five things in a gratitude journal that you are either grateful for or that made you smile that day. This will help you get a good perspective on your life and help focus your subconscious towards positive energy and therefore attracting more of the same. If you believe your life should be a certain way and it isn’t then you are going to experience unhappiness, especially if you also feel it is beyond your control to change it. Perception is everything, so the best way to shift your focus off anything negative is to look at all the positive things in your life that you are grateful for. What you focus on your brain moves towards. Many believe that being grateful for things will bring more abundance into your life. Physiologically, this is explained by the Reticular Activating System a part of the brain which draws us to the things we focus on.

2. Attract that which you desire

Keeping physically fit will keep illness at bay but staying mentally tough and emotionally fit will keep the blues away. Identify your intrinsic drives which motivate you to keep moving forward because achieving even small targets will increase your sense of significance. This takes time, planning and intention setting and what I work with my clients in creating my signature Get The Sauce Coaching program. For those who aren’t coaching with me yet, you can make a start by writing down on a large sheet of paper where you are in life on the left-hand side and where you want to be on the right-hand side. Then brainstorm all the mini goals you need to do to accomplish your bigger goal and put them in a logical order. This exercise will trigger your brain and your subconscious into seeking out the opportunities you need to make that which you desire and deserve come true. To compound this, choose one or two mini goals and set them as your intentions for the coming day or week.

3. Let go of the outcome

Often people find setting intentions hard if they are being held back by fear, disappointment, sadness, depression and other negative emotions. Whether it is an issue in your emotional, physical or professional life, learn to let go of the outcome by shifting your focus on the end destination and take a moment to appreciate each small step you take on the journey progressing forward towards your end goal while letting go of that which is not for your best and highest purpose. A great exercise is to get comfy on your sofa, shut the door and carve out a few minutes for yourself. Take a few deep breaths, and imagine a hot air balloon. Really imagine the details, the colour of the balloon, how large it is, the wicker basket at its base. Now imagine filling it with everything that represents what is weighing you down, then cut the ropes and watch it float into the far distance as that balloon get smaller and smaller so you can hardly make out the colours anymore let alone your problems.

Meditation and visualisation have both been shown to have a positive effect on the brain by reducing activity in the right prefrontal cortex which is associated with negative emotion. So by reducing activity in this area of the brain will help you feel happier, reduced anxiety and increased feelings of calm. Studies from researchers at University of California, San Francisco have shown that teachers who took an intensive meditation course had reduced levels of stress, anxiety and depression but also demonstrated better empathy and more compassion. Another study by scientists at UCLA discovered that people who had been meditating for a long time had more folds in their brain’s cortex specifically in an area of the brain that controls decision making, attention and emotional awareness. There was a direct correlation between the years of meditation and the amount of brain change which suggests more evidence for neuroplasticity.

4. Get Creative With Your Goals

Create a vision board from your sofa. All you need is a stack of magazines and photos that inspire you, a pen and some paper. Start clipping photos of the you that you would like to become. Write words on the paper that describe the bigger version of you, the version that accomplished all your dreams. Some choose words like “dazzling” or “brave” or “confident”, others go even bigger and colour them in with all manner of sparkles and crafts. There is no right or wrong way. The only idea is to collect all your dreams in pictorial representations with single words or short phrases that you can see every day.

Once created you can use a vision board to trigger your subconscious into seeking out the opportunities you require to make your desires come true. Seeing images and words every day which represent your dreams and ambitions will move you closer to the life you deserve. For those who don’t know where to start with what to put on their vision board try this exercise to get motivated to become more confident in your life by using techniques to focus your mind on being confident and move you towards that which you desire.
Take a sheet of A3 paper and write where you are on the left-hand side then write where you want to be on the right-hand side. Left hand examples might be “I procrastinate”, “I am fat”, “I work too hard” and the respective right-hand side could say “I am organized”, “I love my body”, “It’s OK to have Me Time”. Then take the next 5 to 10 minutes to brainstorm in no particular order all the things you need to achieve or execute in order to be more confident. Put all these points down on your A3 piece of paper then link them together in the order necessary to get your desired confident outcome. Now fold this piece of paper away and put it somewhere safe, knowing you’ve already triggered off your reticular activating system and your subconscious into seeking out the magazine clippings, and other ideas that you can begin to put on your vision board.

Once finished put it where you can see it from your sofa.

5. Take a Deep Breath

Deep breathing exercises help energise the mind and relax the body. It calms the mind and the body and helps you stay focused and confident. By taking a deep breath you are giving yourself a moment to mentally distance yourself temporarily from a stressful situation allowing you time to shift focus away from negative thoughts towards more positive solution-based thoughts. Deep breathing also works physiologically by reducing heart rate which speeds up during stress and increasing oxygen saturation in the blood going to your muscles and organs especially the brain allowing your cells to recharge and work at optimal performance. An effective deep breathing technique is to close your eyes to shut out external stimulus, inhale slowly for a count of four, hold for a count of four and then exhale slowly for a count of four and hold again for a count of four. This is one of the techniques they use in military training as it has been shown to shut down the fear response and engage the logical part of your brain. It may also help to visualise your breath as colours, a white purifying breath in and a red cleansing breath out. Have fun with it.

6. Have a good laugh

Watch a comedy film or series from the comfort of your new sofa. It’s so simple but something that so often gets overlooked when we jump towards the Netflix binge worthy set or those horror films that increase your cortisol levels so you feel excited but not contented. Comedy on the other hand is a dose of feel good without having to expend much effort apart from that deep-down belly laugh.

7. Connect with friends or a loved one

Connection is one of the six emotional needs and cultivating meaningful personal and work relationships will help increase your feelings of self-worth and self-esteem ultimately leading to greater happiness. What better way than to order in and invite your friends around for a christening of your new sofa. They will get to marvel at the fabulous creation you now have and you will also get to spend quality time with them catching up on that which is important – your connection to each other, your support not only in the bad times but to inspire them to also be extraordinary with their lives, wherever that may take them. Success is best surrounded with success, in this world of comparisons and haters and bullies it is important to remember that life isn’t just standing up to those who attempt to tear others down it is about lifting your community up even if it is already high.

8. Read a good book

Take time out at least once a week to do something just for you. Losing yourself in a good book is amazing for the psyche and will be even more comfortable from your new sofa. For those who just want an escape you can’t beat a good fiction but many fiction books are filled with unhelpful fantasy which although maybe good escapism often does not contain valuable insights to navigate you through life’s challenges. If you are up for more, then make the effort to choose a book on a more productive topic such as fitness, wellbeing, personal development, professional development or even healthy recipes and use it to inspire you to make changes which develop you mind and increase energy levels. For those who want to be inspired autobiographies are a great choice and those who want to grow I challenge you to read a self-help book a week for 4 weeks.

9. Talk positively to yourself

Positive self-talk focuses on thoughts and language which inspire and motivate you to push forward and achieve the goals you have set yourself. For positive self-talk to work it must be realistic but still optimistic. The language you use is very important as the brain subconsciously ignores the word “not” so it is not helpful to say that “I am not a loser” as the brain will only focus on “I am a loser”. Therefore you have to use positive language and powerful affirmations and intentions to get the best out of this technique and achieve the results you desire. Take 10 minutes either at the beginning or end of the day to carve out time for yourself to talk nicely to yourself rather than critically. Find a place on your sofa and centre yourself as you remind yourself the things you love about you. If you are finding this difficult start with telling your body you are grateful for it and that you love and appreciate everything it has done for you today. Take each part of your body in turn.

10. Create positive memories through Affirmations

The left prefrontal cortex is known as the feel good centre of the brain. By increasing brain activity that strengthens the left prefrontal cortex, neurotransmitters are released which increase feelings of happiness and contentment. Two methods which have been proven to increase activity in this area of the brain are Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (or CBT) and physical exercise. Another powerful way to rewire the brain and increase activity in the feel good centre of the left prefrontal cortex is to utilise neuroplasticity and spend an extra ten seconds feeling happy than you normally would as this is all the time it takes for the positive feeling to transfer from your short term memory into your long term memory. Having these pleasurable long-term memories stored in the brain will increase your overall levels of happiness and satisfaction. I find affirmations are a good way to have positive memories of a future you help create that future you.

Here is an affirmation that is perfect for all:

“I have the power to change what I believe.

I recognise the impact my beliefs have on how I feel and behave. Believing something about a situation determines how events progress. What I think and feel about another person affects how I relate to that person. What I think and believe about a situation affects how I relate to my situation. My beliefs in myself determine how I perform.

However, I can choose what I believe. If I want to see a situation differently, I have the power to do so. If I want to see myself as one who can achieve my dreams I have the power to do so.

My beliefs are particularly important when I am relating to others. If I believe a person has certain qualities, then I assume I know how they think and act. But when I change my mind about someone, I see the person differently, often for the better. I am free to determine what I believe about someone.

My beliefs about myself determine my level of confidence. Whether I am beginning a new project, attending a social event, or experiencing changes in a personal relationship, how my life progresses is largely determined by what I believe. And I am blessed with the power to change how I see things.

Knowing I can change what I believe brings success into my life. Inside myself, I make a decision about what I think is true. But if I observe factors that do not coincide with my beliefs, I remind myself that I have the power to change how I view other people and situations based on this new information.

Today, I plan to embrace my power to change my beliefs so I can create a more positive reality for me where obstacles always present me with opportunities as well.”

About Lombok’s 7 Day Service

The idea of having to wait up to 6 months for a new sofa puts many homeowners off going down the bespoke route, even though they would love to personalise and truly style as their own. In an industry where immediacy and customisation is now key, Lombok’s delivery of a perfect sofa in just 7 days – Made to Order – is the solution everyone has been waiting for. The Muna (my personal favourite) is one of Lombok’s most comfortable upholstery collections and is available within the 7 day service offering. The low arms, sumptuous cushion height and depth make it a must-have. I’ve installed mine in my cinema room. With over 35 fabrics options to choose from within the bespoke service, you can truly customise your sofa to your own preferences. This new service from Lombok delivers quality without compromise. For more information, please visit www.lombok.co.uk

Lombok
204-208 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7PL
020 7736 5171
www.lombok.co.uk

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