Let The Umbrella Of Positivity Defend You From Negativity!

Positivity or the attitude of positiveness is an umbrella to protect you from negative influences. What actually is going on around you has nothing to do with your perception of what is happening.

Many times our own internal thinking is off-track and therefore mountains from small piles of dust grow.This is especially true when we use external measurements to measure our peace of mind or internal state. If our happiness is dependent on getting that new pair or shoes, or better job, or losing 10 pounds we guarantee ourselves disappointment. Why? Because external materialistic goals can never be satisfied. Completed and met, yes, but not satisfied.

Have you ever wondered why? They are constantly being replaced with new desires, wants and dreams, which in turn will lead to more and more. It is self-perpetuating, the more we get the more we want. If amassing a certain material item is critical to your happiness then you must change your focus to inside yourself and seek what you are missing.

For calmness of mind and a positive attitude, honesty is the only way to deal with ourselves (others also). We also need to merge compassion with our honesty. We are most unsympathetic when we are dealing with ourselves. It is true that sometimes we must be critical, and tough on ourselves to promote growth. Undeserved self-guilt, self-pity and self-criticism simply bog us down and keep us from seeing the real picture of what is going on around us.

To keep our umbrella of positivity up we need to take action. Reach out to others, we are not the only ones with a faulty mindset. Seek out other positive people and soak in their positive comments and listen to their perspective.

Take positive action about one thing that is really bothering you now. Sometimes correcting even one small item can free us to take more steps. Be flexible in your thinking and search out new solutions; opportunities and reasons for joy. A different perspective enables you to find answers that were not obvious.

Give reign to your creative side. Write, draw, sing, dance, create! Great joys come from creativity. The joy lasts far longer than the time spent on any particular item. Build a monument in your mind to your creative forces. When low points and disappointments visit, the creative moments will seep into your memory and bring back the joy.

Perfect Happiness?

So you want to create a better life that you love but what is realistic in terms of happiness?

Primo Michele Levi was an Italian Jewish writer, who spent a year as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He experienced some of the toughest times imaginable. In his book "If this is a Man" he shared his view of happiness:-

"Sooner or later in life, everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealisable, but there are few who stop to consider the antithesis; that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable".

Makes you think doesn't it? Humans can demonstrate incredible strength and resilience, and find some happiness in the most appalling situations.

Perfect happiness is not then a realistic target but imagine if your life was ideal and every day full of "sunshine and joy". It sounds wonderful but would you appreciate it? Sometimes it's only when you go through bad times or have bad days, that you then value the good ones so you need some balance in your life.

And what should we be satisfied with? What should we be content with? As part of his "Motivation Theory", Abraham Maslow described man as a wanting animal who is rarely satisfied for any length of time. He said that once one desire is satisfied, another one will pop up to take its place so that throughout our lives, we will always want something else.

We therefore need to be aware that what we want and what makes us happy will depend on where we are in life and which needs are currently being met.

To help you improve your chances of finding happiness, think about who you spend your time with - and how they make you feel. What would they say if they knew you wanted to change your life? Would they be supportive or dismissive of your desire to change your life?

If you are part of a group who are very down and anti-everything, it's easy to get pulled along on their wave of negative energy. You listen to what they say and you are influenced by their messages. Conversely, if you mix with people who are optimistic and positive, you are far more likely to be positive yourself. The group will see the good in any situation and will maintain a positive stance despite issues that they may face. They are also more likely to support you in any changes you wish to make - rather than to hold you back or to belittle your attempts at self improvement.

Now I'm not saying that you should "dump" your negative friends. Just become more aware of the impact they have on you and learn to manage the impact they have.Take time to consider the people you spend time with and how you feel when you leave them. If its negative, do think about how you can change that and when you want to see those people. If it's positive, then just let it rub off and enjoy it!

Take some time to think about what makes you happy and see if you can come up with three simple changes you could make to increase your contentment. And do it now - because you only get one life!

You Can!

It is entirely possible to always adopt a positive frame of mind. This can be aided through changing our mindset, paying attention to the language that we use and standing guard over our belief systems.

A positive mental attitude is a powerful prerequisite for motivating ourselves to live the lives that we so richly deserve. It is a must. A positive attitude is a prerequisite for achievement. Without it, little is possible.

Positive expectancy leads to a life that can be lived with complete fulfillment. We will be much more inclined to live a life of joy, focusing on doing what we want to and doing whatever it takes to achieve that, rather than living a life of fear and worry focusing on all of the 'disasters' that may befall us. The truth is, these 'disasters' may befall us and they may not. As we know, we get what we focus on. This may seem like a cliché and yet the reality of it cannot be denied. The key really is not so much about whether 'disaster' may befall us, rather, it is what we do with the 'disaster', how we respond to it, and that is really what makes the difference.

Being positively focused does not mean that you will not feel down sometimes. It does mean though, that these times become fewer and last for shorter amounts of time. It also means that in that place of not feeling entirely positive it is possible to be in that place for that short time knowing that you will come through it.

I know when I am feeling positive and being positive, it feels like all things are possible. I have many of my best thoughts, my best ideas from this place of positive energy, positive focus. I step into a place of no limits, where all of my limiting beliefs just wash away. An attitude of gratitude is also very significant here. Being grateful for the many lessons and many blessings that life brings us enables us to get stronger, even though in the moment of the lessons (that can otherwise be called challenges) it might not feel as though they are strength-building experiences. I believe that we are never given more than we can bear and in the moments of what might feel like life-threatening, soul-destroying experiences I do take time out to remember that, no matter what, I can handle it because of my fundamental belief that we are never given more than we can handle.

I have recognised that I do have a huge ability to achieve great heights in whatever I choose to do. Residing in this place of certainty enables me to know this beyond any doubt, and it is the power of positive focus that helps me know this. It elevates me to another plane. Being positively focused takes me out of complaining and into taking matters into my own hands to make things the way I want them to be. The questions that I ask myself are entirely different when I am in a positively focused place to when I am a place of negativity. The focus really is on, what can I do here and now to take me to the next level? What do I need to do to enable me to positively focus on coming up with a solution? How can I creatively address this challenge/situation/problem? What do I need to do to get the outcome I want? What do I need to do right now? What can I ask others to do?

The more I locate myself in the landscape of YES I want to do this, then the question of how becomes my focus, rather than... I want to do this, it feels impossible so I won't even attempt it. Do I falter sometimes? Yes, I do, of course I do. Do I get up and dust myself off and get on with it? Absolutely.

It is stunning how many people wire their brain to focus on the impossibility of it all, as they perceive it. When we do this, what comes through are all the reasons that make what you think you can't. We need to stand guard over our internal dialogue, the dialogue that sabotages the will of our best endeavors.

Some of the internal dialogue that is very prevalent and recognised by many, centres chiefly on not being enough, as in....

o I'm not intelligent enough

o I haven't got enough money

o I haven't got the support

o I don't want to do it on my own

o I won't succeed

This list could go on forever. In creating these limiting beliefs in our own minds, all that is being done here is that we are creating a false scenario of fear. We need to find ways to effectively manage this fear.

Follow Your Heart!

Failing to identify your purpose is like being on a ship without anyone steering it to the chosen destination. It will end up anywhere.The key to finding your purpose in life is to follow your heart and do what you really LOVE to do! That's it!! When you wake up to this truth, you will find everything changes because you're doing what you were put here for in the first place.

How?

By looking within. Some of you will already know what your passion is, but will find it difficult to step out the box. But its time to listen to that inner voice. At this point it will be time to put your negative thoughts about yourself aside and start entertaining a positive outlook on knowing that finding your purpose means it can be achieved.

Don't live someone else's dream. When you have figured out what your purpose is you must NOT let anyone 'steal' it by their opinions, too often people are more concerned with what others might think Instead of doing what they want. I used to be so conscious about what others would be thinking of me, the actions I took and the things I would say. So as a result I would not be living as the real me!

Finding your purpose will lead you to have a vision. Your vision is the route you take in steps to complete you purpose. Your vision will lead to the end goal. In order to reach your goal you must set short-term goals in order to keep you on track

"Where There is no Vision The People Perish." ~ Bible

You may feel like you cannot earn money doing what you love to do. There's no need to just give everything up that would be silly (unless you can afford to do this) but there is always downsizing. Work a part-time job so you are earning enough to live off while you have the time to pursue you life's purpose.

Be ambitious and don't give up! Finding your purpose can change your life overnight if you would just be committed in taking the first step - making a decision to follow your dreams!

"What a different story people would have to tell if they would adopt a definite purpose and stand by that purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming purpose." -Napoleon Hill 

Do What You Have To Do!

What is it that makes you come alive? What is it that makes you feel like you are truly living the sort of unique and inspired life you feel that you were born to live?

 So few of us ever really live a life of purpose and passion. The reasons for that are not as simple as most new age self help books want you to believe.

Your defining life purpose is revealed through adventure, trial and error and the spiritual evolution that comes naturally through living life. Do things you know you love and that make you feel alive, awake and inspired to share with others.

I believe that the secret to living... is GIVING. Sharing what it is that you truly love to do.By discovering your gifts in a way that best serves others, and that makes the world a better and brighter and more enlightened place, your true light reveals itself as well.

As a matter of fact, statistically... people who are in service oriented industries, and those who help others through teaching, or nursing, or mentoring or advising in a capacity that helps folks overcome obstacles are some of the MOST likely people to believe they are enjoying the sort of life they were destined to live (and conversely, people in positions that are primarily financially driven or economically oriented, are the LEAST likely to feel they are living on purpose... and have some of the highest levels of regret later in life as well).

I believe that the best way to discover your true mission in life is to start by believing that there is a genuine reason you are here. Believe in something bigger than yourself, and that there is some sort of karma that continues on after this life is over.

People who have near death experiences, for example... and "see the light" almost universally come back believing that their lives are meaningful and that they were sent back to fulfill some unique mission that they had not yet discovered, or equally as often, had not pursued (even though they knew what it was).

What do YOU believe? What is your life's true purpose? Have you discovered it? The truth is, once you awaken to the idea that your life is bigger, broader and more meaningful than you imagined, only then, do we truly live a life we love.

How To Find Your Life's Purpose.

"Why am I here?" is probably one of the most asked questions whenever someone gives a thought to his or her own existence. This may be an ancient question but only a few really know the answer. What we do know is that each person has a different purpose and that purpose always points to something that will make your life and the life of others become more fulfilling. So if you're on the path to finding that purpose, here are some of the ways to get you started.

Find out the things that you love doing. It all starts with love. What do you love doing? What is the good that you do every day that makes your blood boil with joy? Find that out and keep it in mind forever. For example, I love knowledge, I love improving myself, and I love helping other people. These are the good things that I know I will never stop acquiring and doing that can make lives better. It gave me a higher sense of satisfaction so that became a purpose.

Look for the people who complete you. These are persons that you have or will have in your life that make you whole. It can be your spouse, your children, a family member, or a very dear friend. If their absence makes you incomplete or if your absence makes them incomplete, then you have found a purpose.

Embrace your talents. If you have a talent and you love doing it then by God, embrace it and keep doing it. If you have a talent for painting then paint your own masterpiece. Writing? Keep your imagination running wild and write something wonderful. You love to sing? Then sing your heart out. Embrace your talents and keep on creating something that comes from your heart. That is a purpose.

Find out what is lacking. This isn't about focusing on the negative part of your life but rather it is about opening your eyes to things that you can help improve. Look around you and see for yourself. Do you like the way you are living now? If not, then make it your purpose to improve it. Do you feel unhealthy? Then make it your purpose to be truly healthy. Always strive to make things better. Make that your purpose.

Work on your legacy. If you die today, do you have anything to leave behind that will help people remember you for generations to come? No? Then I suggest that you start working on your legacy while you still can. Famous and legendary people like Albert Einstein or Steve Jobs are remembered because they left something behind that benefit the lives of others. These are their legacies. What is your legacy? Make that your purpose in life.

Our purpose in life is like a fuel that keeps us going. It is what drives us to make our existence more meaningful. Purpose is what makes us a human-being. So go out there and live your life and find your purpose.

Attitude For Success. 

Having positive thoughts is one of the main keys to success. Thoughts attract circumstances and people towards us. Through the Law of Attraction our dominating thoughts create the life that we live in. We become our own creator through our thoughts. Whether we realize it or not we're responsible for what has happened in our life, what is happening and what we are about to experience in our lives.

"Change your thoughts and you change your world". ~Norman Vincent Peale

Our dominating thoughts are the medium which we attract what we desire. Unfortunately most of us have let this go autopilot. We've failed to take possession of our own mind. The undesirable circumstances that we experienced are not the conspiracy of some power that wants to punish us. Rather it's the outcome of our own continuous thoughts and believes. Negative thoughts attract negative circumstances and positive thoughts attract desirable circumstances.Thoughts of fear, hatred, jealousy, worry, doubts, anger etc. creates circumstances that reinforces these emotions.Thoughts of love, gratitude, self- confidence, faith, happiness brings about similar circumstances.

I've known people who have gone through difficult times. Even after these trying times are over they kept reminding themselves of the hardships, broken relationships and erosion of respect from society. They just refuse to come out from their rut. By constantly occupying their thoughts with negativity they dig their own hole even deeper.Dwelling in self-pity and wallowing in worry and complaining of past and current negative situation have never helped nor will help anyone. That's the law and that's the way it is and that's the way it will be!

We can both go against the nature's flow and perish or we can go along the nature's flow and flourish.
We can either follow the path of failure or we can follow the path of success. Following the path of success need deliberate, conscious effort- constant effort in fine tuning our thoughts but taking the path of dissatisfaction and frustration requires no such efforts.We can either walk the road of frustration, disappointment and misery or we can walk the road of happiness, satisfaction and wealth.

How exactly do we do that?

Through positive thinking; through constantly dominating our thoughts with optimism; through getting aware of our thoughts and feelings and transforming any negative thoughts or feeling to positive ones.Whenever you feel down, whenever you have negative emotions, stop and ask yourself why you are feeling this way.There are only two things you can do. Either you can allow yourself to feel the negative emotions or take a little effort to neutralize them with positive ones.

Get away from any environment that gives you the negative feelings.Think about things or people that make you feel good. Do the things that help you to get rid of the undesirable feelings-like listening to your favorite music, playing with your pet or reading a book.For some, they prefer to think about their future success. They imagine and dream about the life style that they want and feel them as if they're already achieved.They feel so happy and satisfied that they take control of their own mind and think what they want to think rather than allowing the environment to affect them negatively.

With great optimism and positive mental attitude come the powers to direct the mind to whatever goals you have. As optimism take over, aid comes from unexpected direction. With positive thoughts come positive circumstances!

Prepare Your Steps!

Personal development is a process, and because it's a process planning it should be organized and well thought of in order for it to be successful. This article will be showing you a guide on fully planning and completing your venture for self-improvement.

Self Evaluate!
First step is self-evaluation. Take note of all your strengths and weaknesses. In this process make sure to be unbiased and totally honest. Keep in mind that this will be the foundation of the whole process. Therefore make sure the results are accurate and true. You can also asks opinions from people who are close to you, because there are some parts about ourselves that we don't usually notice but is very noticeable from another person's view-point.



Determine!
The first step is done; now, the second step in the whole process would be determining which strengths and weaknesses you plan to develop. Prioritize which you need to do first or which you can do together.


Strategize!
In this step you will need to formulate a plan or strategy in improving yourself. Since you already know what specifics thing would you like to improve about yourself, you will need to plan specific interventions on those things, and also in this stage you need to clearly state the goals you want to achieve and how you can evaluate these goals after the end of the whole process.


Application!
Here's comes the hardest part, since you've already fully plan the things you need to do. This is the stage to put your plans into actions. Remember, this is the hardest part and if you don't properly do the plans you need to put into action, chances will be very high that you won't be successful. Also a point to remember here is not to give, there might be times in which you will fail to fully follow your plan, but don't let this get you. Give yourself some chances to commit mistakes, just make sure to do your best to not let it happen again.


Appraise!
This stage is the evaluation stage, as I've mentioned in the planning stage to put how to specifically evaluate the goals you want to achieve. This is the stage that you will be doing it. Verify if the goals you want to achieve were met. If by any chance they weren't, don't let this upset you. You just need to retrace the steps that you've taken. Check which part didn't allow you to achieve your goals. If you've already found it, reformulate a better plan and go through with the process again and again until you succeed in personal development.


Following these steps will help you in achieving your goal to achieve your quest in personal development, but remember that the path of self-development in itself is personal. Therefore, if you develop your own method to develop yourself without these steps, then you can also do that. Each person has his own style. This guide is more of a generic guide that you can use.

Let's Improve.

In order to develop self-esteem and build self-confidence, you must appreciate the fact that you are not superhuman! Realize that you cannot always make everything better, but that you can change certain things.

"The Serenity Prayer" puts it like this...God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.

Here Is What You Can Do;

Take responsibility for your actions. Developing a successful attitude, rather than showing low self-esteem, means to accept responsibly for your own failures as well as your own victories. Therefore you will know that it is down to you to do well in life or not.

Discover your inner personality. It is a step in the right direction to discover the root cause of why you often feel the way you do. Truly knowing yourself and your inner problems is the first step in achieving your goals in your life.

Deal with your problems. Will help you if you are struggling against low self-esteem and aid you to act with the confidence you need in your day-to-day life. You may need to seek professional help to effectively deal with a major problem. You can then move on and develop other good qualities in yourself. You can develop self-esteem and build self-confidence simply by finding out why you act the way you do.

Change the thoughts in your subconscious mind. By conditioning your mind, you will change your subconscious thoughts without having to think about it, you will then automatically behave and act the way you want to. Studies prove that that is exactly what happens!

The Benefits Of Positivity!

The strength of positive thinking is a tool that makes one's life brighter and more positive. Positive thoughts encourage good health, good relationships and happiness. A good life cannot be achieved by having positive approach for a few minutes, instead; you need to have positive thoughts throughout your life. You should submit your life to thinking and promise yourself to remain positive throughout your life. Your action not only brings a great change in your life but affects the people around you. Positive thoughts are not only achieved by repeating certain positive lines to yourself for some minutes... you need to make it your regular practice. This will bring a positive effect into your life. 

It will be noticed that after some time the uncertainties and doubts will fade away and rays of will spread all over your life. Before doing anything always imagine the desired result of what you are going to do. Always visualize in your mind what you want to happen, you would be taken aback by the results. Try to add the words like will, able, can etc to your vocabulary to spread and to let positivity penetrate your whole mind and soul.

You will see positive results spreading out over the whole environment. You can impress people with your positive approach. Your thoughts can also boost your relationship with your friends, family and co-workers. This will make you amazed at your quick gain of reputation as an optimistic person. 

While talking, try to use the words that promote positivity, success and happiness. In this way your positivity not only affects you positively but it also leaves positive marks on the life of the people in your surroundings.

Try to keep yourself around positive people and avoid being in the company of people who you always find whining, complaining and spreading negativity. Try to help those people in thinking positively and eradicating negative thoughts from their mind. Always try to confine your thoughts and mind to positivity and try not to think negatively in any way. Whenever you find anyone complaining, try to find the solution to their problems and tell them to start thinking positively.
Try to help people in thinking positively and eradicating negative thoughts from their mind!

Aspire To Be The Best. 

You should always aspire to becoming the best. Your passion should always lead you to aspire to greatness. The fact is that we may never be the absolute best at a single thing, but we can aspire to be an inspiration to others in our fields. Always attempt to boost your worth in the field you work in, then enjoy what it does for your self-esteem.

When you are engaging in the personal development process, experiencing failure often deals a damaging blow to your self-concept. Actually, failure is really a learning experience. It shows you what your strengths and your weaknesses are. In that sense, every failure should be a point of pride for you, as you have uncovered another piece of your personal puzzle.

If you notice that you are consistently failing to meet your goals and live up to expectations, you should attempt to diagnose the probable causes. Find out some ideas online and look to others who have similar expectations. You also might find that your goals are indeed not realistic, or that some other critical resource is needed before your goal can be realized.

Knowing where to steer your life is an important thing to consider when thinking about personal development. Long-term goals are huge and can have a huge impact on your perspective.

Maintaining benevolent wishes for others can lead to an increase in the good things you bring into your own life. In this instance, wish only the best for people. Focusing on positive things will help you stay happy and motivated.

Each day should be an opportunity to top the previous day's accomplishments. You should never stop trying to find ways to do things better, and better yourself. Push yourself to do something better today than you did the day before.

Leaders are humble, though powerful and strict too. A strict attitude is required but advice should be given in a caring way. A good leader has morals and is honest; these are crucial characteristics for any successful person to hold.

Making yourself number one, and not overextending yourself, is very important. You are responsible for making yourself happy. While it is important to remember this, you shouldn't step on other people. If you are true to yourself and stick to your morals, you will end up happier on your path to personal development.

Learning to react selflessly is a sign of progress in the path of personal development. There are times when you may have to sacrifice something and simply care for someone else. You will soon become the person you envision for yourself, when you have mastered the ability to personally sacrifice without harming your own well-being.

Planning For Better.

Planning is a very powerful instrument in order to achieve exceptional results. With the use of planning you can achieve your dream career for s successful life in the future. It is important to write and post your goals where you can always see them. As you write your goals, it is imperative that you make a realistic deadline. For example, if you will write a goal to lose 40 lbs. in one week, it is better not to try it because it is very unrealistic. If you will write a deadline it is better to write "lose 40 lbs. at the end of the month". Planning is all about writing goals that are very realistic and you think are possible for you to accomplish on time.

Exact details are very important when it comes to planning. If you will write your goals, then you need to write several details that you want to happen with your goals. For example, you want to build a Jacuzzi in the middle of a beautiful garden filled with lots of flowers. You need to write down all important details that will lead you in achieving this goal. It will be helpful if you will frequently read this plan so you will be reminded that you have deadlines that you need to meet. Planning is one of the best things that you can do if you want career advancement or if you are planning a career change.

Planning can help you achieve your dreams for as long as it is realistic. If this is your first time to set a goal, it is better to think of simple gal that you can accomplish for the day of for the week. This will help you established your own strategies that will help you to accomplish your goal. Those people who are very successful in life use goal setting because they want to accomplish something for themselves. Without setting goal, you might end up waking up one day realizing that you have not accomplished much in your life. Without any plan, you will wander aimlessly within your lifetime. Life will make you busy, but it does not mean that you are satisfied with what you have achieved. If you are busy, then it does not mean that you are being productive. You can be busy every day, but in reality you are not accomplishing anything.

You will realize that once you start goal setting that there is something magical happening in your life. If you will focus on your goal, then you will go towards goal-relevant activities and you will stay away from goal-irrelevant activities that make your life busy. If you have goals in life, then you focus your time, energy and abilities to accomplish goals. Every time you do something, it is important to always ask yourself if it is moving you forward towards your goals to moving away from it. Planning is minimizing activities that are moving you away from your goals and focus on activities that will bring you closer to your goals.

The 3 Daily Choices. 

The other day, one of my clients was telling me about their life.They explained how, in both their personal and business lives, they had trouble finding time to do what they wanted.They talked for about 15 minutes straight on how they couldn't do this because of that, or how they couldn't get out of meeting so-and-so. Listening to them talk I noticed an interesting pattern emerge; it wasn't that they didn't have time, but that they were letting other people take their time away from them.

Each and every day we are faced with 3 very simple choices:

1- A bad  choice

2- A good choice 

3- A great choice

Most of us go with option #2 hoping that it's really #3. Bad choices are easy to distinguish, they are any choice that is detrimental to your life, goals or future.But what's the difference between a good choice and a great one?In my experience, a good choice is one that gives us a quick reward (ie. buying a new gadget or bag), great choices often take time to reap the reward (ie. studying a language).

As Alex Mandossian likes to say, "Forgo short-term profits for long-term wealth."

Many of us instinctively know what a great choice is, but choose a good one instead simply because it's faster and, more importantly, easier. Remember time passes regardless of what you choose to do.
The 3 hours we have free later tonight can be spent on any one of the following three activities; 

1- Watching sport

2- Getting drunk

3- Reading a book on how to improve your business

Obviously the good choice is...getting hammered. Yikes! if that's what you think then we're really need to talk. The book might not be the most fun but when we think long term it is most likely the only one with any staying power. And for sure, it's the only one with real positive staying power.The 3 hours are ours. No one else's. We can cave in and very possibly regret going out for drinks as more than a few people can attest to.It's not easy to say no to our friends but remember, it's your time. It's your life.You will either reap the rewards for your actions or pay the consequences for them.

Once time is gone, that's it. There's no going back. There are no time machines no matter how many movies we watch.Time is so undervalued by so many of us which is precisely why I devoted a chapter of my book to the concept of time, because for many years I let this precious gift slip away.

Learn from my mistakes.

Go for great. You'll be glad you did.

Turn Up The Volume On Your Inner Voice.

I believe that we are all born with a unique purpose and have a special reason for being on this planet. Have you managed to identify your true purpose in life, your true reason for being, your true vocation in life or the "right livelihood" for you? As your Life Purpose becomes clear, you'll discover passion and determination in every facet of your life. You'll discover that knowing your true purpose, breathes life into everything you do and brings fun and fulfillment into your very being. You will find that all the opportunities you need to live on purpose will be delivered to you, the resources and relationships that will guide you become available to you, and small successes will start to build on each other.

Until you find your life purpose you may feel incomplete and unfulfilled and battle to make any progress toward living your dreams. You may feel like you are wandering aimlessly through the journey of life and may never find true happiness and passion.
Identify the "Why", that will propel you toward your dreams.
From very early in our lives we are coerced to conform to the whims of our caregivers and to do what makes them happy. This belief that we must do things, which make other people happy at the expense of what we really want in our lives, does not serve us as we grow up. We go through life doing many things to please other people, instead of living on purpose and only doing things that serve our purpose. Until you find your life purpose, you may wander aimlessly through life and never find your bliss.

"I believe each of us is born with a life purpose. Identifying, acknowledging, and honoring this purpose is perhaps the most important action achievers take."
Finding your life purpose allows you to gain direction for your life's journey and allows you to organize all your thoughts and actions around satisfying this true essence that is you. Anything that is not a true expression of your life purpose should be excluded from your life.

Once you have identified your true life purpose you will gravitate toward doing only those things that bring you closer to living your purpose. Living on purpose will inspire and become the "WHY" that drives you to do what is necessary to live your dream life. Once you know your "WHY" for living, everything in your life will become crystal clear.

Listen to Your Inner Guidance System!
We have an incredible guidance system that tells us when we are doing things that serve our life's purpose and will lead us to that magical place where we live our bliss. This incredible guidance system easily tells us when we are living in alignment with our true essence or purpose. This amazing guidance system, which tells us whether something is in line with our purpose and values, is quite simply, our emotions. When something we do makes us feel really happy and good about ourselves, we are living on purpose. When something makes us feel sad or bad about ourselves we are defying our own true purpose.

To help you find your life's purpose you must try to think to those times when you felt the most joy, happiness and fulfillment. Your life's purpose has always been there, you need to let your inner voice speak to you and allow yourself to discover it. Try to remember what you were doing; who you were with and what purpose you were you working toward at those wonderful times. Try to identify the common elements, which were present during all the experiences that you identify. Try to identify the common thread in each. What made you feel the most joy, happiness and fulfillment?

Once you finally identify your life purpose, your level of joy and happiness will serve as a barometer to guide you and keep you in alignment with your purpose. By listening to your inner guidance system, you can consistently take corrective action to keep you on the path of following your bliss and live your purpose. Life is an incredible ride, enjoy the trip!

Strength Of Mind.

Today's fast moving world requires people to set goals and work hard to achieve them. So it has become essential that one should always have positive attitude and a strength of mind to balance both personal and official life. Negative attitude can create an imbalance in life and leads to failure. Behind every successful human being there lays a strength of mind.

Motivation:
Motivation is the most important factor to achieve goals and that's the major reason why companies have leaders. A leader should always set goals for himself and for his subordinates. Once the goal is set, focus on achieving goals is essential. A leader is a person who can actively take part in analyzing the issue and motivating his subordinates to reach their goals. Yes, motivation can help an employee to achieve his goals, why because, there might be situation when the employees get dejected.

Self Motivation:
Every successful person had practiced self motivation since it helps them to get what they exactly looked for in life. Before motivating yourself it is a must that you decide on what you need and set goals accordingly. Your goals need to be clear and concise. Clarity and vision are the two significant aspects that lead to real success. So take time to decide accurately and be as clear as you can and work towards achieving your goals.

Overcome Your Challenges:
Once you set goals, you need to take certain steps in your daily life. As you change your life, you will come across many obstacles and new challenges. To manage and overcome these challenges one should learn to think of new methods to assist in making choices. Positive mental attitude and strong mental strength help us in overcoming new challenges everyday.

Positive Attitude Tips:
Some people are pessimistic towards this world and some are optimistic. People who are pessimistic think and feel that things can't be done and hence never achieved anything they needed. People who are optimistic think that nothing is impossible and hence they prepare themselves to struggle and at last they win.

Here are some tips to develop strength of mind:

1. Our attitude towards others will establish their attitude towards us.

2. Before a person adopts the kind of life they want, they should think, act, and follow their conduct of affairs, as their behavior would reflect others to think what they wanted.

3. Treat everyone (whom ever you come along in your life) as the most important person on earth.

Finally, by reading the above article, one can know the power of positive attitude and start implementing and following the tips to develop mental strength in real life and become successful. 

Creativity, Discipline Or Willingness.

When it comes to creativity, the word discipline can present problems. Many define discipline as a controlled behavior, a systematic method to obtain obedience, a state of order based on submission to rules and authority, punishment intended to train or correct. For many of us, discipline is like taking a dose of castor oil. Admonishing ourselves into action, we "force it down" in order to accomplish our goals.


Discipline is born of resistance. In itself, resistance is not negative, and is certainly not a character flaw. In fact, it is an inherent link in the chain that comprises one's creative process. We all must work through varying degrees of resistance in order to create momentum, which carries us into that delicious natural high we call, "flow."

Why then, does discipline fail us? Why does it often bring on a tangle of inner conflict, stress and guilt that hinders momentum and flow, or even stops us in our tracks? I think the reason is that discipline is too often applied in opposition. When we oppose our resistance, we compound tension and perfectionism. We get so focused on outcomes that we miss the joy of creating in the moment. The discipline that was intended to bring mastery, in fact, brings reluctance and disappointment.

Since this word "discipline" is so highly charged in relationship to the creative process, I prefer to use the word "willingness." Willingness can be cultivated, as long as we are patient as we strive to learn a new way of approach. It takes a little time, but the rewards are great, indeed.

Here's how it works:

Like meditation in motion, the awareness mind accepts resistance with no struggle. The inner eye simply observes the resistance non-judgmentally, creating a soft "container" for it. Then the mind gently shifts its focus back to the task at hand, wasting no time in a draining struggle. Ironically, gentle acceptance loosens and melts resistance. Put another way, normal resistance is now prevented from devolving into a pesky demon that gains control over our endeavors.

As we practice this dynamic, we will notice resistance floating off more easily and more often. We push nothing away.Resistance is simply allowed to dissolve on its own. Conflict, stress and guilt begin to fade. Starting becomes easier.Resistance is replaced by more and more calm. We begin to feel long lost pangs of excitement when we wake in the morning. We are willing to take action, to focus, to let go of outcomes, to surrender and create moment by moment. If we stay loyal to this practice, one day we will notice that our discipline has become our willingness!

Your First Purpose Is... Identifying Your Goals!

What if you were to identify your life purpose...then, you could achieve all of your goals and dreams? Goals are there to identify the actions you must take to fulfill your purpose. Purpose is the driving force behind you setting the goals you want to achieve. Goals are merely a reflection of your overall purpose. But, as Dan Miller says in his book, 48 Days To The Work You Love, "A goal is a dream with a time frame of action attached."

Perhaps some of you read this article because you are you feeling confused, depressed, even hopeless about your direction. Others of you may be brimming with enthusiasm yet seeking a system to record and live out positive changes you desire to make. However, some may be curious as to how knowing your life purpose could make any difference?

What you need to know is that your life purpose is about knowing who you are and what energizes you. Also, it is about realizing your natural talents as well as the contribution that is made to the world when you are utilizing your gifts. Your purpose gives you a new framework of value that begins to shape every action, decision, choice and moment of your life...especially when the flow of situations try to throw you off course. So, whether you are experiencing a crisis, elation moment, or you are faced with a transformational opportunity, it is important to stop and self reflect in order to identify your purpose. ALL goal setting revolves around your core purpose.

To identify this purpose, it is important to explore four primary questions:

1. What are your ASSETS/STRENGTHS (they energize you)?
2. What are your EXCITEMENTS and ENTHUSIASMS (they energize you)?
3. What do you REQUIRE TO BE STIMULATED?
4. What is your PRIMARY LIFE ASSIGNMENT?

For every new opportunity that comes along, I now ask myself how it aligns with my purpose. Regardless of how much money I could acquire, if the activity does not align with my primary life assignment, which is the core of my personal mission statement, then I do not pursue it. Here is my primary life assignment: "To stimulate, orchestrate, and implement initiatives that transform people, organizations and communities while in the process bringing intrinsic value fiscally and personally ".
So go ahead!... discover your real purpose in life? I'm not talking about your job, your daily responsibilities, or even your long-term goals. I mean the real reason why you're here - the very reason you exist!

Ten Career Skills To Keep You Employable In The 21st Century.

Most people drive through life looking in their rearview mirror and judging the future by the past. They have a really good view of where they have been and mistakenly think the future will be similar to the past as they make decisions based on their previous experiences. Even though past experience gives a base for the future, there are many employability factors to take into account as you plan to grab one of the best jobs in 2012 and beyond.

The future work world will be even more global. If your job is not one that requires you to physically be in one place, i.e. serving food, washing windows and stocking grocery shelves, you will be competing with bright and hungry workers in India, China, Korea and other developing nations around the globe.

Competing in the new environment will require higher levels of competence and necessitate looking straight ahead, not constantly glancing rearview mirror for warm fuzzy feelings about what you have achieved in the past.

Here are 10 skills to acquire and refine that will increase your professional confidence level and make you more employable in the 21st Century:

1. Constantly adapt to technology. Dependency on technology in the future will increase, not decrease. Spend time learning new computer programs but more importantly, use the applications in your daily routine and strive to use technology as an enabler of productivity, not as a neat new toy with tons of cute features that you don't use. To decide if the new gadget is worth the time, ask yourself, "Does this make time or waste time?"
2. Embrace diversity. Get comfortable with other ethnic cultures, religions and customs. Be curious about what makes people from other cultures tick. Learn a little about the customs and attitudes that belong to workers from other countries. The time will be well spent as you begin to relate human to human, not human to inhabitant of another country.
3. Be a life-long learner. When you finished your last college course did you utter a sigh of relief and mumble something like, "Whew, glad I'm finished with my education!" Surprise, the new century will require you to be a continuous learner. Be prepared to reinvent yourself, the pool of information in your brain and your work-related skills every 4-5 years.
4. Practice impeccable integrity. Employers need to feel your spirit and have the quiet assurance that you are honest. Even one person in an organization who takes advantage of company assets for personal gain causes untold rules and regulations. Taking integrity beyond just simple honesty, however, means that when you commit to a deadline, you are fully committed to producing results, not excuses.
5. Be a self-starter. Fire yourself up or look forward to being the first to go when bottom lines dip into the red, a recession lurks around the corner or the next merger takes place. Those who learn to work on the optimisticside of life, not the pessimistic side of life, are more valuable to the organization as they create a positive work environment that produces higher productivity.
6. Demonstrate personal discipline. Employers want to hire people who have disciplined work habits and disciplined thinking. The more disciplined the worker, the less time managers must spend rethinking, retracing and reworking - basically, worrying if you will be reliable. When you demonstrate personal discipline, you and your manager can spend more time on solving problems and moving the company forward.
7. Prioritize and evaluate daily. Two of the biggest time wasters in the world are not knowing where to start when you get to work in the morning and working on low priority items. To compete in the global work environment takes meticulous prioritization of tasks and the ability to identify the highest priority item that you tackle first every morning.
8. Be adaptable. To stave off obsolescence, organizations must constantly change and regularly introduce change initiatives. Often employee resistance derails plans for updating processes and procedures and stalls company progress. To increase employability in 2010, learn to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Ask tough questions that define the future and actively look for ways to support the new change initiatives.
9. Think creatively and innovatively. Contributing to your organization in 2010 demands thinking outside of the box and looking for creative ways to solve nagging problems, increase productivity or produce a new product or service. When a challenge presents itself, be the first to offer a new viewpoint, discover an alternative or recommend another course of action. Your ideas combined with the creative ideas from other employees will help your organization renew itself as necessary to be competitive in the 21st Century.
10. Have the Can-Do attitude. Immerse yourself in all the available positive mental attitude material you can find. Negatives are thrown at you the entire day from the news, next door neighbors and the nerd in the next cubicle. Teams face hurdles to productivity which causes dissention among members. Management faces stockholder dissatisfaction and product deadlines. To compound the problem, your mind naturally generatesnegative thoughts before positive thoughts. You have to train your mind to see the positive, to find thepositive and to see the opportunity lurking in the obstacle. If you can master the positive can-do attitude, you will add value to everything you touch and be more employable in an increasing negative world.

Some of these skills will be relatively simple and others may be difficult for you to implement. However as you improve in each area mentioned above, you will increase in confidence and competence and create an environment where you add value to the organization and a need for your personal services. You will have greater job stability.

Positivity Is The Key To Your New Life.

Positivity is the key to the life you once could only dream of. This new life could be yours if you change your mindset to positive.
Some people are born with a positive attitude and an abundance of confidence while others struggle. To rise above negative thoughts and try to eliminate them can take a lot of hard work and perseverance.Although changing your mindset can take a certain amount of time and effort, the rewards can be immeasurable.

First of all you have got to admit to yourself that you have a problem. A problem that all the anti-depressant medication in the world cannot put right. If you choose to address your problem with medication you are destined for a life of mediocrity.

To live the life you want for yourself and your family you have got to work towards a positive attitude. Throw away the tablets and eliminate all negative thoughts from your mind. You have only one life and eliminating negativity will ensure that you have done your best. Doing your best is all you can do but is it?

Nobody realises what they are capable of until they are forced into a situation. If they are not forced into such a situation, then laziness and inertia set in and they just amble through life happy with their meager existence. But everyone is capable of so much more. Did you know that the average person uses only a tiny percentage of their brain power? So imagine what you could achieve if 25% of your brain power was used! Just the thought of this is awesome!

So instead of lazing in front of the TV for hours, put your brain to work. Shrug off the inertia that has been holding you back, keeping you from obtaining a better life. Imagine what you can accomplish with some hard work, driven by enthusiasm and the knowledge of the life you could lead if you wanted.You could become the person who is envied and respected by those close to you so you must eliminate all negative thoughts and develop a positive lifestyle and work towards your dreams. If you think about it, your dreams are just around the corner!



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Accentuate The Positive & Positivity Will Ascend!

Anything you accentuate will inevitably become more real and relevant in your life. You must realize that accentuation is an"active" step in highlighting something for a better perspective and result. Your mental perspective is a major area that emits tremendous power on you and others. Unfortunately, it can be either negative or positive. The choice is yours.

Accentuation in your mental outlook will take an active step by YOU! It will not just come by happen chance or feelings. It will up to you alone to actively pursue positivity. Many circumstances will come your way to scuttle your positive mental condition. We live in a world that constantly presents challenges and disappointments in our paths. Yet, the choice to remain positive will be always before you. Accentuate the positive and the negative will go on its grumpy way to someone else who beckons its call.

Positivity is a state of mind that you need to constantly desire. Positive perspective will achieve more in your life than you can ever imagine. People love to be around positive personalities. You are no exception as you are always on the lookout for positive individuals. They make you feel good, and help to make your day better. Thus, be the one who attracts others. You and them will be very glad you did.

It is no easy road to walk up the road to the summit of Positivity. It will take diligence and desire to look at problems and challenges with a positive mindset. As you do this, you will only ascend to the heights that others only wish for. Do not be a "wisher", but a "doer" in your attitude accentuation to the positive. If you do, your climb will be one of fulfillment. Get your mind in gear, and walk with Positivity by your side. Remember, keep walking in a positive direction and you will rarely get lost! and, others will happily join you both!

"Accentuate the positive and the negative will leave!"

Positivity Is As Simple As Feeling Good.

Thinking positive is about focusing on the solution rather than the problem, looking at what is working, rather then what is not working, choosing to see the silver lining in all situations. This takes practice, if you are habitually used to looking at what is wrong and what is not working then it will take some practice on your part to change what it is you choose to focus on. So, how do you begin to change? Start with yourself and how you feel. When we feel good, it is easy to see the positive side of life, it seems to come naturally. Think about a time when you first fell in love with someone and all of a sudden all those everyday stresses seemed to disappear and you only saw all the good things happening in your life. Because you were happy, you felt good about who you were as a person and you looked at all the other things in your life with rose tinted glasses, you felt good, so it was easy to see the good in other things.

So, if it is easy to think positively when you feel good, start by feeling good. The reality is that the two are interconnected you cannot have one without the other, if you are feeling good then it must be because you are thinking happy thoughts and if you are thinking happy thoughts then you automatically start to feel good. You see it is always the thought that comes first, but as we know, it is a much more difficult task for us to continuously monitor our every thought; we have thousands of thoughts every day. Has anyone ever asked you "what are you thinking?" and you said, "I don't know" or "nothing", you see our thoughts can be so fleeting that even when prompted to ask ourselves what is going through our mind, we have already moved onto the next thought and the next one and the next one. It is by being conscious of our feelings that will give us an indication of the general vibe of our thoughts.

So focus your energy on feeling good and you will know your thoughts are focusing on positive things. Some of us may ask, 'What is there to feel good about?' And the answer to that has got to be, you, yourself. Feel good about who you are. Recognise all the wonderful things you have in your life, your achievements, and your successes. Recognise everything that you have to feel good about, not only the physical and material things but also your characteristics, your personality, your talents and abilities, there must be some things you like about yourself... what are they?

Recognise yourself for perhaps being a good speaker, good with numbers, good at sports, creative, good memory, good cook.... don't stop with the obvious... think small! Remember your body; your arms and legs, your sight, your sense of smell, maybe you have really good hair or skin. What about how you have the ability to make someone in your life smile? You might be really excellent at your job? Maybe you secretly love art, but have never given yourself credit for that hidden talent you could develop. Perhaps you are a fantastic mother, or friend, or brother. Now think about all the amazing experiences in your life thus far? You might be married, have your own business, have great kids, home owner, maybe you've travelled, been to college, seen your favourite rock band, met your idol or mentor.... There are literally hundreds of things in your life to feel good about; you simply have to be willing to look for the evidence, the feel good evidence.

In order to believe something most of us require proof of some kind, so do yourself a favour and look for the proof in your life that you do have hundreds of things to feel fantastic about. Don't hold back look at your life from every angle, write it down and refer to it. It will remind you of all you have to appreciate in the moment and feeling appreciation for what we have right now is a sure way to put ourselves in a positive frame of mind, and when we are in a positive frame of mind we see the possibilities for so much more in our life, more happiness, more love, more money, more laughs, more empowered living!

3 Keys To Unlocking Your Soul Purpose.

Knowing and understanding your life purpose may be easier than you think. Sometimes you hear life purpose referred to as a single thing or event - a job, a relationship, any one thing. Really, it's the deepest expression of who you are and how you move in the world - your core being. It's the light that guides you on your life journey. Everything you do - your dreams, your goals, your daily actions are all filtered through this purpose. When that happens, you feel alive, energized and on track - you know that feeling.

You also know the feeling of being out of touch with your life purpose. We all have those 'wilderness' experiences - sometimes for hours or days and sometimes even for months and years - they are part of the seasons of life, of being human. We all lose sight of our inner compass from time to time. Those can be very powerful times however, as we reinvent in those moments, they serve our life purpose and life plan well, even though it may not feel that way when we're in the thick of it.

Here are some simple questions to reflect on and find your life purpose, or to recalibrate your compass if you're feeling slightly off course. Set aside a quiet hour, undisturbed to reflect on these questions and do a bit of journaling to work through what comes up for you. Taking a pen to paper helps you focus and shuts out distraction. It adds benefit to you experience - and depth.

1. Who am I really? List 10 qualities, unique attributes or characteristics that make you, you.

2. What am I most passionate about? Passion and purpose go hand and hand. Write down everything that comes to mind and the go back and circle the things that have big energy around them and an emotional charge. Add more as they arise when you see what you've circled.

3. What were the 3 most fulfilling moments in my life? Why? What stands out about those experiences? When did you feel completely connected, fully alive, and energized?

Look at what you've written and find commonalities and themes. Circle the things that stand out most and write a vision statement, see what speaks to you about who you are and who you want to be in the world.

Notice how you feel when defining what moves you. Do you feel clearer? More energized? More purposeful? This is your highest self, your biggest purpose and your guiding star - you've revealed your life purpose, or deepened your understanding of who you are and who you are meant to be!

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Factors To Consider When Making A Personal Development Plan.

A personal development plan is the perfect tool for finding your life balance. In the process of making one, a person may discover which aspects of his life need more attention. One by one you he can work on each phase until he achieves a state that he is happy with. Here are some important features that one might want to include in a personal plan.

1. Develop A Physical Health Plan:
Due to how hectic our daily schedule can get, we can easily often forget to pay attention to our health. A desk job may cause us to live sedentary lifestyles and a job on the road may cause us to develop a poor diet of fast food and junk food. When you make a personal development plan, make sure you develop a schedule that accommodates for sufficient physical exercise. You might also want to include a nutritional guide to make sure that you're not consuming too much bad cholesterol and sodium. Finding ways to take care of your health is a giant step towards self improvement.

2. Develop A Financial Plan:
Do you have any savings? Have you thought about where to invest your savings on? Do you have any idea of how you're going to be able to sustain yourself financially after you retire? If you haven't thought about these things yet, then your financial situation is one area of your life that needs more attention. Self improvement isn't just about improving the mind and body. It's also about making financial progress. In the process of making a personal development plan, make sure to include short-term and long-term financial goals. If you often find yourself in debt, make a financial plan to get you out of debt. You'd be surprised how much a little planning can improve your financial situation.

3. Plan For A Vacation:
Work-related stress and anxiety can take a toll on a person. The little challenges we encounter daily can accumulate and cause fatigue and apathy. Exhaustion from work drastically reduces our professional productivity. One way to avoid burnout is to go on a vacation. Everyone needs a break from the hassles of work. When you make a personal development plan, try to include a date for a planned vacation. It doesn't have to be a long one. Sometimes all a person needs is a weekend away from the city. Self improvement is also about having peace of mind. If you're having trouble finding it, take a short break until you've regained a sense of spiritual equilibrium.

4. Make Time For Sleep:
How much time do you have for sleep? A lot of people take pride in being so busy that they often lack sleep. However, studies have shown that people who sleep at an average of less than 6 hours per day have less energy, less focus, and less enthusiasm for work. In other words, a person who gets sufficient rest can get more work done in a shorter amount of time than a person who stays up all night. When making a personal development plan, don't forget to make a schedule that allows for sufficient rest. You can achieve self improvement just by making sure that you get enough sleep.

5. Make Time For Family:
One of the hottest professional trends these days is home-based jobs and businesses. The reason for this is simple. More and more people are recognizing that emotional and psychological benefits of having more time with their loved ones. Sometimes long hours at work alienate us from the most important people in our lives. Before you become estranged from your family, make time for them; make your family a priority in your personal development plan. Self improvement is easier to achieve when you have your entire family supporting you.

Even if you weren't able to accomplish all the goals on your personal development plan, it's not a wasted effort. The mere act of making one forces you to take a step back and evaluate your life. You may realize how you've lost track of your priorities or how your desires have changed over time. At the very least, the construction of a plan forces you to contemplate on the important things in life. Self improvement begins with awareness and contemplation. You can't correct the mistakes you don't recognize. The more you learn about yourself, the more capable you will be of making life changes.

The Mind To Body Connection.

Everyday your mind feeds you're body with thoughts. However, most people don't realize this is happening, yet wonder why they react and feel the way they do. Always remember, your body is behaving exactly as you tell it to, so be aware of the thoughts you're feeding it! Your mind and body work on the same level, once you fully understand this, you'll be able to make the necessary changes. It all begins in the mind, so let's start there.

What is your subconscious holding onto? Again, most people don't know because they don't access their subconscious mind. This part of your mind holds onto every experience you've had and attached to each experience is an emotional reaction. This is why people react in ways they themselves don't understand or realize. The emotional responses are programmed into the mind. So when a circumstance presents itself, the mind automatically plays that tape. This programming won't change until a new tape is introduced and applied into the subconscious. Along with each emotional reaction there is a physical reaction that takes place in the body. This is what makes you feel the way you do. What makes you feel defensive? Angry? Offended? Ask yourself why and dig deep. The answers are there.

Visualization is a tool that many have used over the years to change unproductive habits and thought patterns. The trick to making visualization work is believing in it. If you're visualizing yourself applying a new emotional reaction, yet at the same time you are telling yourself, "This isn't going to work," guess what? It isn't going to work. Energy in neutral. It does what it's told. Use your own power to change. No one else can do this for you. You can pray about it all you want, but until YOU decide to play a new tape, things will remain the same.

Learn to use visualization in a productive way. SEE it happening in your mind. SEE yourself reacting in a new way. SEE the changes taking place on this new tape and let it sink in. Most importantly... BELIEVE you can do it. This new way of thinking will filter down into your body, creating a change in the way you feel physically. Remember, your mind and body feed off each other. When you fill your mind with light, high vibrational energy, and allow it to filter down into your body, you will begin to notice a difference. You will start to feel lighter and your mind will be less stressed. When the mind is less stressed, so is the body. In addition to seeing the results you want, it's also important you feel them. Emotions create feeling, and feeling is another vital factor in visualization. How will you FEEL after this change has taken place? Start feeling that way now. Pretend (if you have to) that the change has already taken place. Tell yourself, "This is how I'm going to feel now. This is the feeling I want." Like attracts like and you will always get what you ask for.

People also become frustrated when affirmations and visualizations don't seem to be working. It's important to keep in mind you should never use affirmations and energy work to interfere with the free will of another person. If you're visualizing that you want something from a specific person, you are going to be disappointed when you don't get the results you wanted. You can't change the way another person reacts. They have the free will to make whatever decisions in life they feel is right for them. Use affirmation and visualization techniques to better yourself and your own situation. Do not attempt to use them to change someone else or bring them into your life. Unless the other person wants the same outcome as you, you will most likely end up frustrated and disappointed. At this point, all you're doing is creating more negative energy for yourself. Be specific in your visualizations, but don't pin the outcome on one specific person. Sometimes, not getting what you thought you wanted is a blessing in disguise.

Learn to think for yourself. Build your own self-confidence so you can project positive energy into your own mind and body. This will assist you in becoming an example for others. Visualize what you want and hold onto the feeling of how it's going to be once it's obtained. Believe it's going to happen!

Most importantly, be careful what you wish for!

What Exactly Is This Personal Development? 

Have you ever wondered "What is personal development" exactly? If you have been to many personnel and human resources development seminars lately, and if you are in constant contact with co-workers who read self-help books and go to self-help seminars, then you might have encountered personal development. On one hand, when explained, personal development can sound like a whole lot of usual life lessons packaged into a sensationalized whole. On the other hand, personal development can sound like something worthwhile and encouraging to undertake ' especially when work takes its toll on you and makes you feel more down and discouraged than ever. So: What is personal development?

Personal development can be difficult to explain if you do not acknowledge your uniqueness first. Believe it or not, you are different from any person who has ever lived, and from any person who is to come. Genetics will tell you that unless you are part of a set of identical siblings, your DNA is different from any DNA that has existed or will ever exist. This should be enough to tell you that you are special!

So, what makes you special? You have a combination of different factors that lend a definition to the real you: your personality is comprised of many past events and experiences both good and bad, the food you like to eat, your reasoning ability, languages you speak, your culture, likes, dislikes, dreams and ambitions all contribute to your overall personality and demeanour. What then, is personal development, and how does all this relate to personal development?

Personal development includes the improvement of your overall ability in everything you do, part of your improvement also means taking stock of your strengths and weaknesses and knowing yourself very well. First, you are a product of your upbringing. Depending on the external environment when you were in the womb, can make a very big impact on your life after you were born and it affects everything in your life. What is personal development? It is complete recognition of all these aspects of your childhood, and acceptance of the fact that such things cannot be changed. If you have learned to improve in the past from harsh teachings and methods, then it's up to you to not dwell on the past, but rather work out intelligent ways to move on for the better.

What is personal development as it relates to your childhood? It means trying to erase the past, as you cannot get back what has already happened; it also means anticipating the future, because you can make it better.

Personal development also has some very deep goal setting steps, and working out exactly what your purpose is and what drives you. What do you want to do in the next five years? What do you want to accomplish in the next ten years? What is personal development? It is identifying what you should prioritize in life, and what dreams you should run after. And what is personal development, further? It is the use of your strengths to meet your goals, and the improvement on your weaknesses so that you can be better as a person.

What exactly is personal development? This is a question that can be answered in many different ways. You can have a personal development plan, which you can make on your own, or which your psychiatrist or therapist can assist you with. You can also join personal growth and development classes, where you can know yourself better and find ways to improve your life and reach your goals.

What then, is personal development? Personal development is simply knowing yourself completely, from all your strengths and weaknesses, all your dreams and goals, and using all these to fuel your life and lead you to greater heights. With complete personal development, you can be sure of success not only in your career, but in many other important aspects of your life as well.

What Does It Mean To "Self Improve?"

What does it really mean to "Self Improve?" What are we really improving when we self improve? And what "self" are we improving?

We each have two "selves" - our wounded self and our core Self. Our core Self is our true self, our natural soul self - our essence. Our core Self is our passion, our joy, our gifts and talents, our ability to love, our creativity. We come into this life as our core Self, and when this Self is loved and valued by our parents, we continue to naturally grow our God-given gifts and talents and manifest the fullness of our beings. This Self wants to improve by learning the skills necessary to fully express itself.

But when this Self is not seen and valued in the way we needed, we create an alternative self, a self we hope will have control over getting the love we need and avoiding the pain we can't handle - a self to help us feel safe. This is our false self, our wounded self, our ego self. This self is filled with the false beliefs that we absorbed as we were growing up - beliefs that end up limiting our true, core Self. This self does not needs improving - it needs healing.

The term "self improvement" can sometimes be a bit misleading, because we do not want to improve our wounded self. We do not want to improve on the ways we lie, manipulate, and avoid in our attempts to have control over getting love and avoiding pain. We don't want to improve on our many addictions to substance and processes. We don't want to improve on our anger, our compliance, our withdrawal and our resistance.

We want to heal it.

Healing and improving are not the same thing.

We can certainly self-improve when it comes to skills. We can improve in sports, in art, music, writing, cooking. We can improve our health and wellbeing by improving our diet and exercise program. We can improve in the knowledge we need to be more successful regarding work and money. We might be able to improve our relationships by learning new communication skills. But what if acquiring new knowledge and skills does not improve our health, or our ability to earn money, or our relationships? And what if learning new skills does not bring us more joy and inner peace? It may mean that we need to heal the underlying fears and false beliefs that cause us to be anxious, depressed, stressed, guilt-ridden, shamed, withdrawn, angry, blaming, or sad.

Sometimes Self Improvement just means practicing a skill, and others times it means that we need to participate in a deep healing process. For example, many people try to improve their health by losing weight and exercising. But if their food addictions are covering over unhealed pain, they might not be able to just change their diet. They might need to open to a healing process in order to eventually improve.

If you are really trying to self improve but find yourself stuck and unable to progress, or find that you have no joy or inner peace, you might want to open to the possibility that unhealed pain and beliefs are blocking your progress and causing your pain. It is easy to improve yourself when there is nothing blocking the way. But if you have old false beliefs about your adequacy and worth, these beliefs may be blocking your ability to take loving action in your own behalf. All your efforts to self improve will not bring you the satisfaction you are seeking if you have beliefs that are keeping you limited in fully expressing your true, core Self. If you are stuck, then you need to seek out a healing process, that will move you out of the fears and beliefs that limit you. Healing these fears and limiting beliefs will open the door to improving your life in all ways!

Happy Happy Happy! 

How to be happy? You may ask yourself! Happiness is a state of mind. You can choose to be happy. No matter how much you try however, as a normal human being you are going to experience some unhappy moments in your life. Do not beat yourself up when you are down in the valley of sad and lonely times. To enjoy the better part of your life with happy times, your life has to be fashioned and conditioned for that enviable state. The following are tips that can make your life full of happiness

Make a special concerted effort to be in a healthy state. Your health is your greatest wealth, and when you have good health, you can achieve anything. A healthy body also carries a healthy mind, and that is a satisfactory state to be in. Among other things, there are three basic principles to practice every day for good health. I call them living in the RED, which means Rest Exercise and Diet.

We were not created to be alone, and we did not come in existence all by ourselves. Therefore, it is very necessary to have close ties and solid relationship with your relatives. Never separate from you family members without a close hug in the mornings. In fact research has shown that hugging and physical touch is like therapy. You should also have a small circle of close like-minded friends that you bond with. I call that the mastermind group.

Be light hearted and carry a pleasant smile around your waking moments. Smile and give lots of compliments to others every day. That does not mean you are taking life for granted, but you are learning to be in control of those things that are controlling and destroying others.

Be willing and ready to give more than you want to receive. The good book says that it is better to give than to receive. Your gifts do not have to be tangible, it can be a genuine smile, helping an old person across the street or some kind and comforting words to someone going through a rough time.

Reward yourself for any achievements, no matter how small or insignificant it may appear. The bigger the achievements however, the more unusual your reward should be. If you work with a team, look for every occasion to reward them, and if you have difficulty finding , create the opportunity.

Love, respect and take special care of your body. At least once per month you should get a complete body massage. You need to realize that you are a special and unique person with abilities unlimited. You can awaken some of those potentials greatness sleeping inside by relaxing and exercise your mind and meditate on creating possibilities.