“When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives, but are grateful for the abundance that’s present…we experience heaven on earth.” BJ Gallagher
It is during the beginning of the New Year that we seem to make resolutions to ‘change our ways or habits’. We have good intentions but many times lose site of these resolutions as we go through each busy day. Change can be difficult. Trying to break a bad habit takes time and much effort.
This year try taking a different approach. Rather than looking at the negatives in your life, focus on the positives. Instead of making resolutions, try writing down goals. Look forward. What is it that you want to accomplish? Write it down. Then write down two things that might get in your way to reach your goal. And lastly, write down two or three actions that you can do to start working toward your goal. Work on two or three goals. These could be in any areas of your life. If you would like more direction or support, I’d be happy to help you. Call me at 585-346-7334.
To keep you motivated, practice saying positive things. Become more aware of your positive and negative statements or comments. Every time you catch yourself saying something negative, rephrase it into a positive statement. With practice, this will become easier and be said more naturally. Also, praise yourself. Each of you has grown up with hearing many more negative comments than positive about yourself until you believed them. Now you act on what you believe, whether they are true or not. You want to reprogram yourself. To do that you can use what is called ‘positive self-talk’. Look at your goals and write a short paragraph related to your goals telling you in a positive way what kind of person you are. For example, repeatedly throughout the day tell yourself that you are a wonderful, competent person or that you are a very organized and reliable worker. Read your paragraph at least twice a day each day for at least a month. If you would prefer, you can buy a set of Dr. Shad Helmstetter’s Self-Talk CD’s that work on each area of your life. Just contact me at 585-346-7334.
You will start seeing little changes in your life. Your day will go more smoothly. You will be interacting more with positive people. You might sleep better or feel healthier. You will increase the number of times that you are pleased with yourself. You will feel empowered. Amazing things will keep coming into your life. Believe me, amazing things have and continue to happen to me!
Lastly, be sure to express your gratitude for what is in your life, for the positive or good things that are happening each and every day of your life. A suggestion is to start your day expressing your gratefulness for what you are starting your day with. Then at the end of each day be sure to review your day and express your thankfulness for the good that has happened. You will see your life move forward.
As you see, my blog entries seem to repeat three specific things; setting goals, thinking and talking positively and expressing one’s gratitude. These are powerful tools that can bring positive change into your life. Are you ready to make a difference and move your life forward?
Remember: “When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present…we experience heaven on earth.”
As the Holiday Season begins, a good way to deal with all the extra things you feel you need to do is to WRITE DOWN your goals. Start with two or three over all goals. Write down a couple of obstacles and then how you will overcome those obstacles. Then each day write down what two or three goals you want to accomplish for the day. Write down the obstacles and then the actions you plan to take to overcome those obstacles.
Cross out each action as you accomplish them and CELEBRATE. Give yourself a compliment, hug, cheer. In some way congratulate yourself.
Remember that you need to WRITE the goals down. You will have a much higher rate of success when you write your goals down. And be sure to do this at least once a day. It is a great habit to get into and you will see wonderful rewards!!
This is a great way to manage stress and enjoy this busy but wonderful season.
“Don’t Look at the Problems, Search for the Possibilities”
It is easy to get wrapped up in our problems or feel sorry for ourselves when things don’t go the way we think they should. The depression or negative thoughts can suck the life out of us. The answer is to have goals written down so we can remind ourselves of what we are working towards. We need those little reminders or steps to help us walk away from the negative feelings and actions. Try to do something simple each day that helps get closer to at least one of your goals. Little steps add up to big steps. When we see progress, we can compliment ourselves and we feel good about ourselves. It helps us see a light at the end of the tunnel and we are motivated to keep reaching for our dreams.
Brainstorming possibilities and actions is another way to help us keep looking for answers to our problems. Writing these down is a powerful way to get our thoughts focused on where we want to go and what we want in our life. We also need to continue giving ourselves positive self-talk. Try not to question our abilities and actions or lack of actions. Visualize what you want to be doing. This all leads to believing in ourselves and in what we want. These actions keep us motivated, which in turn gets us to reach our goals.
Note that the H1N1 flu and the Health Care Reform issue are problems that we need to search for possible answers rather than focus on the problem. Read and gather as much information as you can so you can make intelligent decisions about each problem. Our media doesn’t always give us the facts so we need to gather information and verify each ‘fact’ at least three times to make it worth believing.
Remember,“Don’t Look at the Problems. Search for the Possibilities.”
Dream big dreams, but realize….short term realistic goals are the keys to success.
Setting goals help make our dreams come true, step by step. Write well defined objectives that you want to reach. Focus on two or three goals at a time. Set a specific date to help motivate you to an end result. Then write out one or two obstacles or things that you think could get in your way of reaching your goal. Next, write three to four action steps that you can do to reach your goal. Be sure to set a date for each action plan to be completed. It is ok to change the date as you go along but a date gives you a specific time to work with. Lastly, read your goals at least once a day and keep them close to your thoughts so each day you are working toward your goals.
It’s ok to modify your goals or action steps. Your purpose is to achieve your goals. Things change. We change. Always look for the positive things you are doing as you work toward your goals.
Compliment and reward yourself when you complete an action step. When you achieve one of your goals, Celebrate!! And praise yourself. You will be one step closer to your dreams.
Repeat each day:
Dream big dreams, but I realize….short term realistic goals are the keys to success.
