Motivational Words of Wisdom, Inspirational Words of Wisdom

Why is it that a person is willing to listen to the author of a self-help book, yet discounts their own thoughts, feelings, and intuition? What makes one person’s insight more correct than another’s?

Perhaps the answer lies in one’s belief that they really can find the solution to a question. If so, then how does one achieve this level of confidence? How about, through practice? Exercise, if you’d prefer to look at it that way. Trusting in intuition is learned. It is developed through repeated instances of success.

What does your heart tell you when it speaks to you? What about your “gut?” Do you actually listen to it? Thoughts, feelings, health clues, etc. are ignored daily; often to the detriment of the person being oblivious, or simply unsure of which course to take. It’s time to tune out the extraneous interference and concentrate on the inner melody.

So how does one let their intuition guide them to success? First and foremost, by “tuning in.” With so much going on each day, the typical person barely has time to breathe, let alone sit down to unwind and think. That needs to change. It’s impossible to get in touch with your feelings if you’re clueless about what they are. Tuning in can be done a number of ways: through guiding meditation or relaxation techniques, yoga, a long bubble bath, or a turn in the steam room. Whatever you choose, or wherever you are so long as it helps you relax can get you tuned into what you are feeling.

Second, it helps immensely to record your thoughts and feelings in a journal. Especially when you are working on something big that requires multiple sessions. In addition, a journal allows you to keep track of the things you want to accomplish and lets you glimpse your thoughts in that exact moment, so that you can see how everything unfolds. A journal is your way of recording life scene by scene. It helps to write things out when you need to see how they fit together, and make sure that what you thought at 3:00 am was really as good as what you thought at 9:00 am. The plus side is that you are sure to remember what you were thinking.

Lastly, your plan to trust your intuition needs to be put into play. A well thought out plan is simply a well thought out plan unless it is put into motion. If you have a history of not trusting your instincts, why not start small. Try selecting what you “feel” is a good restaurant, a good book, etc. in order to build your confidence level. Follow it up with increasingly bigger events. Each success will bring you closer to comfortably following your instincts, and soon it will become second nature.

Remember, listening to yourself with your full attention is the precursor to positive, successful attraction. You cannot attract what you want if you are not in command of the kinds of vibes you are shooting out into the universe. So enjoy this process of becoming in tune with your actions, thoughts, and feelings. The results will be well worth the effort when you let our intuition be your guide.

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Isn’t it true that everyone has a goal? Some may dream of wealth, some of travel, some of dedicating their lives to service others, whatever the goal … it is human nature to have something to “aim for.”

If you were asked, “How willing are you to take whatever steps necessary to achieve your personal and/or professional goals?” What would your answer be? Are you willing to change your perceptions, learn new things, and embrace new ideas? Are you willing to grow in order to grasp your brass ring?In human resources management, the buzz word “KSAs” has been quite popular. It stands for knowledge, skills, and abilities. These are the things that make employees attractive to employers, and propel them up the ladder to success. Are your knowledge, skills, and abilities up to date? Many people rely on existing skills to get them where they want to be, without thinking to update skills, research new technologies, or perfect their delivery. What are some of the things in your life that could stand a little refreshing, updating, or attention? Do you take time each day to visualize what you would like to accomplish and where you would like to be in life? Daily visualization is an excellent tool that has been commended for helping many reach their goals much quicker than normal. What about persuasion? In 2003, so much of our success depends on selling products, ideas or services. Being able to successfully persuade an audience into considering and actually purchasing your product will go a long way to achieving success. The same holds true for marketing. Think of the last product that had you rushing to the store to make a purchase. Did you need it, or simply want it? What about toy manufacturers that start priming children for the December holidays after Labor Day? They are truly experts at marketing! There are so many tools available that simply need to be utilized. Don’t let fear or complacency stand in the way of success. That was almost what Roger allowed to happen.

Roger decided to start a new contracting business, his life long ambition. He knew the contracting business, had wonderful ideas, was quite honest and ethical, and did fantastic work. Roger had all of the necessary contractor skills, but not all of the skills necessary to run a successful business. Roger is one of those “baby boomers” who were not exposed to computers in school, and his work experience has all been hands-on in the field training. Thus, he is completely computer illiterate with no idea of how to run the office and paperwork end of his business in this new technological millennium. When Roger discussed his dilemma with his sister, she suggested that he either hire someone to perform these tasks for him, or that he take a small business management course. Roger was always very reluctant to embrace computers, the internet, and technology as a whole, so his sister was completely surprised when he agreed to take the course, instead of hiring someone.

The small business management course was held at his local community college and was sponsored by the Small Business Administration. After the completion of his class, Roger decided to shelf the idea of starting his business immediately and to take a few more courses to learn computer and internet skills, business accounting, and management. He realized that he needed to know that basics of how to operate his business, in order to even be able to consider hiring someone to perform the office administration for him down the road. Roger recognized that he could not successfully start and run his business with the skills that he had, so he updated his knowledge with gusto. Today, Roger owns a growing contracting business and only recently hired someone to take over the day to day office management.

Success in anything occurs when one takes initiative. So, be proactive in reaching your goals by asking the universe for assistance, studying new materials and technologies, or by learning the powers of persuasion. It is through new experiences that new ideas, skills, and opportunities occur. Allow growth in all aspects of life and prosperity will follow.

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In life, as we go about our daily tasks it is so easy to lose sight of a very fundamental important fact: you are your most important resource. Your ideas, skills, qualities, and characteristics…the essence of you… are what will propel you towards success, or hinder your progress if you allow it to. Which will become your reality?

Do you remember making a “Pluses versus Minuses”/Good Versus Bad “T”? Well, it’s time to dig out the pen and paper, or fire up the computer. Your “T” will have one side marked advantages and the other marked disadvantages. Your advantages column will contain all of the “assets” that you bring to the table. The disadvantages column will contain all of the “liabilities”. Please remember to be realistic, thorough, and above all else…honest. While it may be eye-opening, and perhaps even a little unflattering to see “you” listed on a legal pad or on a computer screen, this may be just the catalyst needed to implement change. The adjustments necessary to shorten your liabilities column and lengthen your assets tally.

The purpose of the “T” exercise is to use this as a tool to help you move towards success at a more rapid rate. So as you develop your columns, always keep the goal in the back of your mind. It is often easy to mistake qualities as assets in all areas of life that may be disadvantageous to your overall quest for success. For example, Gerald is a well educated man in his mid-thirties. He has always taken pride in the fact that he made his own way in life. He got himself into college on an almost full scholarship, paid his way by working two jobs while in school, and has even managed to pay back the bulk of his student loans. He did this all without asking anyone for any assistance.

Is this an asset or a liability? We are taught that being self-sufficient is an admirable trait, but in his quest for success and prosperity, Gerald’s trait could be a serious liability. In The One Minute Millionaire Robert G. Allen, and Mark Victor Hansen stress team building as an essential element for becoming an Enlightened Millionaire. Gerald’s reluctance to seek the help of other could be extremely detrimental to his success, since we know that we cannot be all things, solve all things, or foresee all things. The way to increase the probability of success is my combining the assets of everyone on a team.

Gerald’s is just one instance of a characteristic that is strong in one area. That could have a different set of repercussions when applied to a different scenario. So when you are sitting down to make your “T”, hold the intention for yourself that the list you generate will be for the sole purpose of success and prosperity. As The One Minute Millionaire points out, “you are your wealth.” Without the creativity behind the thought that sparks the idea, nothing would come to fruition. The creativity begins with Y-O-U. It’s time to uncover, explore, and celebrate the assets that are the essence of you and give credit where credit is due.

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Take a deep breath, close your eyes and imagine how you’d respond to the following scenario: You’ve been told that you have only two weeks left to live.

Now, after the shock wears off, what would you do next? How different would the next two weeks be compared to the way you’ve been living thus far? Would it be any different at all?

Take a look around at the day to day lives of your friends and family members. It seems to be human nature to put off one’s idea of happiness until…”I graduate,” “I earn and save more,” “I get married,” or “I’m done raising my family.” THEN, I’ll be able to play, to have fun and travel, or pursue my dream. What’s up with that? Why should all of the other things come first? Why not simultaneously? Have you wasted what could be very precious time by putting your life on hold until – whenever?

Somewhere along the line, society seems to have programmed us into believing that the majority cannot live life and be happy simultaneously. But there are many who threw caution to the wind and believed that they could have the best of both worlds – and do. They are living proof that it all comes down to belief. If you believe that you can have the life you want, doing the things you want, with the people you want by your side, then the universe will make it happen for you.

Take Tanya and Daria, 28 year old twins with completely different takes on life. Tanya has always been outgoing, a free spirit who enjoys life at every turn and believes that she is destined to have all the successes that she seeks. Daria, on the other hand, lives her life very cautiously and believes that you must take care of your duties before you can reap the benefits, and happiness and the freedom to pursue dreams is something that must be waited for. Yes, they are completely like night and day. Which one would you think is most successful and happy? Is it Tanya who takes risks, invites failure and strives to make her own happiness daily, or Daria who treats her life like a linear progression by finishing school, going to grad school, moving up the corporate ladder, getting married, having children etc.? Actually in their own ways they are both happy and successful. They’ve each accomplished all that they’ve set out to. However, if the two week scenario were posed to each, Tanya would probably have fewer goals and dreams to pursue, and Daria may find herself scrambling to accomplish all that she had put off until later.

Would you have a long list of things to get done like Daria, or would it be perhaps a more aggressive continuation of your day to day living like Tanya? What are some things that you could do to put your goals and dreams in the here and now? What beliefs would you have to embrace or thoughts might you have to discard? Create your own ‘today’ and make it all that you want it to be. Become the master of your destiny while you’ve the time to enjoy it and can mold it any way you want. I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying, “Live each day as though it were your last.” Life is too short and there are no guarantees. Why waste the chance to have all that you want and live life to the fullest every step of the way. Just imagine the possibilities, then go out and make them your reality.

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Do you have fun everyday? The kind of fun that Cyndi Lauper knew that girls wanted to have, although she chose to ignore the poor guys! The fun that makes you run out on a sunny day and play in the park, with or without children?

Or that makes you crank up the stereo and go dancing through the house bellowing at the top of your lungs, despite the fact that dogs are howling outside? If you don’t do this on occasion you’re really missing out! In fact, you could be self-sabotaging your everyday goals by not incorporating fun into your daily existence. Yes, you read correctly, I did say daily!

I’m sure that you’ve heard the old adage about it taking three times the number of facial muscles to frown than to laugh, right? If you haven’t, it does take 43 muscles to frown and 17 muscles to laugh, but here are a few other facts about fun and laughter.

• Fun resulting in laughter activates the immune system
• Laughter boosts the number and activity level of killer cells. Those that attack viral infections and some cancer and tumor cells
• Laughter decreases stress hormones
• Laughter decreases epinephrine levels and decrease dopamine levels which are associated with high blood pressure
• Laughter relaxes muscles

The most startling tidbit is that we’re born with a sense of fun. Did you know that the average preschooler laughs or smiles about 400 times per day? By the time he or she grows up, the number decreases to a mere 15 times per day! That’s awful! Amazing how we allow ourselves to take something that comes naturally and suppress it due to daily environment, outside influences, or preconceptions. Just because preschoolers grow up into adults does not mean the fun has to disappear on the journey. Fun can and should, mature as well.

John and Raquel are parents of two very active preschoolers. They both work, him from home and her as an accountant outside of the home. They love their children, but one night when they got together with a neighboring family, they realized how serious their lives had become. They did their work, did the grocery shopping, took the kids to daycare, picked them up, did things together as a family, ate together, and had a nighttime ritual, but they did not really have F-U-N together. When John and Raquel witnessed how much laughter was present and how much less discord there was, they were intrigued. So they decided to get back to some of the fun things they used to do as a couple, to incorporate the family into what they could, and to find some things that the kids like. To start they began bike riding with the children, began making weekly outings to fun, but educational spots, started going dancing again, and began walking the neighborhood in the evenings for the exercise and the family time. The results were pretty dramatic, right from the start. They laughed and smiled more, bickered less, the children talked more (perhaps not a plus when you have two preschoolers), John and Raquel reconnected as a couple, and they reconnected as a family of four. The biggest surprise they found was mood elevation, and the positive affect their moods had on their careers. They vowed to keep fun in their lives and to keep it growing with the children. John and Raquel learned firsthand how much of a positive affect fun had on both their family and work environments. Whether you have a family or not, the next time someone interrupts your workflow with a joke, or you’re in a supreme funk, just allow some humor and fun into your day. Despite the fact that you may feel like you’re goofing off, in reality you’re merely taking steps towards success from the inside out. You’ll be nurturing your body, mind, and spirit with a natural high that does so much to promote great health and good feelings. And the best part…It’s even FREE!

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We live in a hectic time. Ours is an instant gratification society. We want it now. Yet, as we reflect on the best things in our lives, we often find the truly important things (like relationships, love and peace) took time to develop.

The ‘always on’ nature of the tools we use in business can all too easily trap us into believing that we can function as machines too. But we’re not machines, we’re human beings.

Is there a way to achieve peak performance and happiness in life too? Of course. Here are five factors which, when practiced consistently in your life, will help you tap into the giant creativity reservoir you have within.

1. Find your peak mental timeYou may hear some people say “I’m a morning person” while others say they don’t really get started until 11pm. There is no right or wrong in these situations, but it is vital to know who YOU are and go with that rather than fighting it. One great way to discover your peak time is to keep a log of how you feel. Keep a log for a week, noting when you felt the sharpest. Then arrange your work around these peak hours, planning the most important tasks for this time. Many have found that once they harmonize with who they really are, they get much more done in less time.

2. Make a ‘creativity appointment’ with yourselfPlan 30 minutes every day DURING this peak time for a “creativity appointment”. Make this time as undisturbed as possible. Use this time to connect deeply with your mission in life.

3. Get ready to solve a problemDuring this time, think deeply for the first 10 minutes about the biggest problem you face. Allow yourself to play ‘what if’ about the challenge you face. If you had every resource a person could have, would it still BE a problem? What if you tackled it and did nothing else? Would that solve it? What if you neglected it completely for two weeks? Would that make it worse, or make it go away?

4. Let your subconscious workAfter these 10 minutes, and for the rest of the time, let your mind wander anywhere it wants to go. If possible, look outside and look at the sky. Even better, go outside and hear the sounds of nature. You want to think expansively now, to consider all possibilities.

5. Prepare for the answerDuring this quiet time, keep a pad and pen handy and write down any new and creative thoughts that come to you. You may find that during this time new, and very exciting, thoughts and possibilities rush into your mind. Write each one down, no matter how silly they may seem.

Be consistent. The more often you keep your creativity appointments, the more you will find that you have the “aha!” moments during your day, when solutions to problems just pop into your mind.

Expand the appointments to include a half-day a month and you will unleash even more creativity. Soon, you will hunger for these times because you will find that it is while doing nothing at all that something very good gets done.

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As the grey skies of winter become less frequent, and new life takes their place, now is the perfect time to think about priorities. I’m not talking about New Years resolutions that fall by the wayside in only a few weeks, but rather the real priorities that shape our lives and control our actions.

Everyone has priorities. Some people are very involved in setting goals and write their priorities down in a formal list. Some think about priorities on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries, while others never give them a second thought. Expressed or not, we all have priorities.

What matters most to you? Some people want a bigger house or a new car. Some want more time with their family or to travel to distant lands. Some want to open their own business and become successful. Some want it all!

No matter your choices, one thing is certain. You won’t enjoy what you get if you are in poor health.

While we may not think about maintaining excellent health (or gaining excellent health) as a priority, in fact it is the highest priority you can have. After all, how many people on their deathbed wish they had just another thousand dollars? No, at that moment people know that life is a gift to be cherished. What they want is what you have right now… more time.

Today is the day to begin making excellent health your top priority. When you do this you will find that an amazing thing happens. As you become more aware of your health, your ability to get the other things you want actually improves.

You have more energy to work for the things you want. Your thinking is clearer, enabling you to make better decisions. You are able to enjoy each day and get more life out of living. In fact, you are able to live out loud!

These changes and more are all at your fingertips. The good news is that today you have access to more information, more products and services, more resources than ever before. YOU are in control of your health. The choices are yours to make. All you have to do is give yourself permission to be the best YOU that you can be.

Not everyone can get out and walk or run, but everyone can do something. Start where you are. Choose one thing that will help you live healthier and make it part of your routine. Once you’ve formed a good habit, start on another. Soon, you will be enjoying a better quality of life and preventing health problems too.

Taking steps to improve your health can’t guarantee that you will never become ill, but everything you do will be a step in the right direction. Just like it’s smart to carry good health insurance, it’s a smart move to begin now to improve your health and prevent problems.

No matter what your other priorities are, make your health your top priority and you will be able to truly enjoy your other accomplishments. Do these things and this year will be your best year ever!

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