Sow a Thought, and you reap an Act;
Sow an Act, and you reap a Habit;
Sow a Habit, and you reap a Character;
Sow a Character, and you reap a Destiny.

attitude · beliefs · habit · inspiration · personal development

I am your constant companion,
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am at your command.

Half of the tasks that you do,
you might just as well turn over to me
and I will do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed,
but you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done;
after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great people
and alas of all failures as well.
Those who are great I have made great,
those who are failures I have made failures.

I am not a machine,
but I work with all the precision of a machine,
plus the intelligence of a person.

Now you may run me for profit or
you may run me for ruin.
It makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me,
and I will lay the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Now, who am I?
I AM CALLED HABIT

(Author Unknown)

beliefs · habit · inspiration · motivation · personal development · productivity · self-improvement · success

I loved the Disney movie, “Pollyanna,” about a young girl sent to live with her aunt after the death of her parents. Pollyanna had a cheerful outlook and looked on the bright side of life. Unfortunately, her name became mistakenly synonymous with being naïve, wearing “rose-colored glasses,” or ignoring facts. That wasn’t her philosophy at all. Pollyanna simply looked for the best in each situation.

Over the years, positive thinking has also gotten the erroneous reputation of ignoring the negative. The common belief is that if you have a positive attitude, it means you must repress any distressing emotion, disregard negative circumstances, and dismiss reality.

That doesn’t accurately represent what optimism is. Being positive doesn’t mean you won’t grieve, feel sad, angry or get upset at times. It just means you allow yourself to experience the normal flow of those emotions and then begin to bounce back to a more positive frame of mind. Eventually, you’re able to view things in perspective, rather than wallow in the suffering.

When you’re positive, you don’t pretend that unpleasant occurrences don’t exist. You simply don’t focus on them. Recognizing reality is essential to formulate a constructive strategy to overcome obstacles. It’s like driving a car. You notice where the other cars are and what they’re doing, so that you can make informed decisions about how to avoid collisions. But you keep your gaze on the direction you’re going.

When you’re optimistic, you seek positive solutions and are open to possibilities. If someone calls me a “Pollyanna” in an attempt to put me down, I say “Thank you” because I know what its real meaning is. Smiling when pessimists want to spoil your day will make them nuts. It’s a win-win situation. Now that’s positive.

attitude · beliefs · empowerment · inspiration · optimism · personal growth · positive thinking

Recently, Jeff and I visited Phoenix, 120 miles away. I had a meeting and we planned to do some shopping. The afternoon was forecasted to be stormy, but I hoped the rain would hold off until we were on our way home in the early evening.

We were pretty lucky. The rain held off all afternoon. As Jeff shut the car door after our next-to-last stop, it started to rain. By the time we pulled out of the parking place, it was pouring.

We still had one stop to make, to get gas, which would have been interesting with the continuous lightning. But we drove out of that storm cell, and were able to stay dry while we got gas.

Our route remained dry most of the way home. Lightning lit the clouds all around us on our trip. About 30 minutes from home, we noticed a bunch of brake lights up ahead on the freeway. We slowed down, and as we got closer we noticed lots of cars pulled off to the side of the road.

As we got to the area, we realized that the ground and road were covered with hail. There were a few hailstones still falling, but nothing like what had created this hazard. We must have missed that storm by just a minute or so. A couple of miles further, we drove out of the precipitation.

Just a few miles from home, we drove through some rain and a few hailstones. But it was dry when we got home. We unloaded the car, and not fifteen minutes later, it started to pour. We were very fortunate to have ducked most of the storms that day and evening.

When I heard the weather report for our trip, I’d set my intention to stay dry while in and out of the car in Phoenix. For the most part, it happened. Do I believe I changed the weather? No. Especially since so many thousands of people in our drought ridden state wanted it to rain.

However, I believe my intention affected our timing. If we’d been in that last shop for 10 seconds more, we would have been drenched. We missed the hailstorm by seconds, and got home minutes before the storm hit. We weren’t able to avoid all of the storms, but we dodged most of them and the most damaging ones.

When you set an intention, you bring all the force and direction of your creative mind to bear on a situation. It can make you aware of opportunities, or inspire you to make a contact. Or it can affect your timing so that you return home safely during a day of storms.

empowerment · intention · intuition · subconscious

Have you ever walked away from a problem, then had a light bulb go off in your head and had the answer? That’s the way the mind works when it’s looking for solutions. Several recent studies have validated that your subconscious mind is hard at work while your conscious mind is otherwise engaged.

Apparently, your subconscious has been hard-wired to accumulate information to make the best decisions for you. According to research, the conscious mind does a better job at making analytic decisions. But the subconscious mind is more capable of solving greater challenges and making discoveries.

Learning to trust the subconscious is key to allowing it to dealing with complex problems. If your conscious mind keeps turning the issue over and over again and keeps it front and center in your attention, the subconscious never has a chance to work on it.

Just like when you try to remember someone’s name and let it go. Shortly thereafter, while you’re in the middle of doing the dishes, it pops into your mind. You have to be able to let go of the problem.

The subconscious also helps you make better decisions. It uses the same process as with problem solving. Evaluate all the information, and then go on to some other task. This allows the subconscious to process the data. If no insight comes to the surface, reassess or gather more information and let it go again. Eventually, you’ll get a sense of which direction you want to go.

Your subconscious mind is creative, resourceful, and a problem solver. It processes the information that your conscious mind has given it and comes up with a solution. Now, research and studies are validating what many of us have known for decades.

Information in this article based on these studies from Science Daily:
Decision-Making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity
Our Unconscious Brain Makes The Best Decisions Possible
Eureka! How Distractions Facilitate Creative Problem-Solving
Profound Impact Of Our Unconscious On Reaching Goals Revealed

creativity · inspiration · problem solving · subconscious

I love weaving and embroidery, but have been so focused on work that I haven’t had time for either for a very long time. Also, my loom is in storage because it’s too big for our condo. So I’ve spent my free time hiking and doing other enjoyable things. But it hasn’t been the same or given me the same fulfillment.

Recently, I took a class that included doing a little bit of simple embroidery on some felt. I didn’t finish it in class but worked on it a few days later. Unfortunately, I found out that the embroidery floss supplied by the class was about 6 inches too short to finish the project.

I had to wait for several weeks until we went to a nearby city to get the needed embroidery thread. During that time, the project sat on the table, as a reminder that it needed to be completed. Every time I went by and glanced at it, I got a thrill of joy, excitement and satisfaction. The same feelings I had when I actually worked on it.

I realized that I needed to make the time to do some of the fiber handiwork that feeds my soul. Eventually, I need to find a smaller loom. Until then, I’m designing an embroidery project that will satisfy my need to create.

And I wasn’t the only one in my life to come to this conclusion. A friend of mine loves music and hasn’t been able to play her piano for quite some time. A few days ago, she went to play it, and once again discovered how it makes her heart sing. She’s committed herself to practicing again because it’s so important to her emotional health.

Creativity helps keep a person young and their brains active. It’s when we block our creativity that we begin to shrivel up inside.

What creative pursuit have you abandoned to focus on family, work, or other pastimes? How can you begin to include that activity in your life again? When you do, it will enhance your relationships, reduce stress, and give you more energy because you’re being authentic and attending to your soul’s needs.

creativity · happiness · inspiration · intention · stress management

Jeff and I visited the Grand Canyon again, recently. On this trip, we hiked the last three-mile section of the rim trail that we hadn’t done before. It took us four trips to complete the thirteen miles of trail. This accomplished a goal I set over twenty years ago.

Even though I’d wanted to hike that trail, until a little over a year ago, I hadn’t made any plans or taken any action. You can have a desire or a goal, but unless you decide to do it, nothing will happen. Your inner mind won’t consider that you really want it unless you start taking some steps in that direction.

Whenever we had an opportunity to visit the National Park, we arranged to go. It’s a day trip for us, including about six hours of driving, hours of walking and Jeff taking photographs. Because of that, we set aside two days. One day to spend on the trip and one to recover at home.

I could have just enjoyed the scenery on our first visit and not returned, but I had a goal. So we decided to take advantage of every chance we had to visit the Canyon. Because of this, I was able to achieve my goal in just over a year.

Before each trip, we planned which part of the trail we’d hike next. We also checked the weather, and made sure we carried enough water, snacks, and the right kinds of clothes (jackets and gloves for winter, neck coolers and hats for summer).

A goal is only as good as its plan. Then you have to work the plan. The opportunity for me to fulfill my goal came up unexpectedly. But once it did, I took advantage of it. I planned for it and worked the plan. You can accomplish your desires in the same way.

believe · goals · inspiration · intention · motivation

In many self-help programs for addictions and anxiety, they recite a prayer to help them focus on what they can change and what they cannot. It’s called the “Serenity Prayer” and is helpful to remember that you can’t always change what’s going on.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference

When you stop resisting what is, you can put your energies and resourcefulness to dealing with it. You can then create something better because you know in what area you can then change.

After my last article, “You Can Only Change Yourself,” a reader sent me this spin on the original Serenity Prayer. I loved it!

God grant me the serenity
To accept the people I cannot change,
The courage to change the one I can,
And the wisdom to know it’s me.

This pretty much sums up my article.

You can change your responses, attitudes and actions towards other people, but you won’t change anyone else. If you set boundaries, you can improve the way they treat you. But it depends on your establishing and sticking to the consequences you decide on if you’re not treated according to your wishes.

Accept the wisdom to know that the only one you can change is you.

attitude · change · inspiration · personal development · personal growth · self-help · self-improvement

How to Stay Positive when You Know Your Life Sucks
from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Thinking negative? Here are some strategies for how to start thinking positively and accomplish what you want in life.

Steps

1. Ground Yourself. The most common reason why people think their lives suck is that they aren’t living their own lives. Look deeply into whether you are acting to please others – to please family, friends, and society. Realize that you need to get to know who you are and what your needs are, and make the choices to follow your own path. To know these things, a path of meditation and inner exploration is invaluable.
2. Look on the inside. What are some qualities you have that you like about yourself? Are you funny? Are you intelligent? Are you sincere? Are you generous? What do you have pride in? Try focusing on the positive things in your life. You may be having a positive influence on others even when you think you’re useless.
3. Prove those negative thoughts wrong. When you find yourself in a bad mood, you could think of the negative things such as, “I’m dumb and annoying”, “I’m better off dead”, “I’m ugly, I wish I looked different”, etc. Even though it’s not true. Change your mind. Look for your good features, think about the ones that you know love you, look on your greater side. Realize that nobody’s life is easy and that there will always be ups and downs, and moments of low self esteem. Don’t automatically assume that nobody cares. Every person matters to someone. You’re alive for a reason.
4. Appreciate what you see. Look in the mirror. Find some beautiful things about yourself…. Do you have nice skin? nice nails? beautiful eyes? full lips? Find stuff that appeals to you. When you can’t change something, change your attitude towards it!
5. It’s all how you look at it. Jealous of the people with ‘amazing’ lives? They chose to be that way! Remember, there are people living in mansions who are miserable and people living on the street who are perfectly happy. It’s all on how you look at it.
6. Determine how your life could be better. What can you do to make your life better? What do you desire to do? How do you want to feel? Make a few reachable goals and your own strategies. The first step is usually the hardest – getting help or admitting you need it.
7. Get motivated. What motivates you? What gives you energy to go on everyday? Music? Love? Family? A 1km run? God/Allah? Your attitude? Your pet? Friends? School? Give yourself a boost by focusing on what is important to you personally.
8. Remember that some things can pass with time. There will be a tomorrow. There will be a next week. There will be a next month and perhaps by then, things will have changed for the better.
9. Reminisce. Whenever you feel like the future is ‘hopeless’, think about happy memories. It will help make you feel better and remind you that in the future, there will be good things, too. Think about all the good things you’ve experienced, felt, and achieved, and consider how many more good things could be waiting ahead. There will be many great moments in your life – don’t let a few obstacles get in the way.
10. Don’t stop yourself from feeling the joy. It’s okay to step back once in awhile and just enjoy the moment. Even in tough situations – it’s important to smile and laugh here and there. Don’t restrict yourself from doing things you love because they’re “not important” or because you think you’ll be criticized for doing them. Let yourself enjoy life even if you’re not at the best place you could be. You only live once – make the best of it.
11. Develop a gratitude journal. It’s pretty simple. At the end of every day, write down five things that have made you happy or appreciative that day — not necessarily big things, even small ones count. For example: nice weather, being praised by my boss for getting an urgent errand done, my playful dog, kids and hubby kissing me goodbye before they went to school/work, a hilarious joke a mate shared, etc.
12. If you feel persistently sad, unmotivated, anxious, hopeless or fearful, seek professional help. You may be suffering from a mood disorder or nutritional deficit which could be contributing to your situation. Remember there is always somebody there who wants to help you. You are valuable!

Tips

• To “go for it,” simply get up and do it. There is a small voice inside saying “Get up!”, and you need to do what it says; just dive in! Turn off the computer, turn off the TV, and get going!
• When you think positively, your whole views change about the world and you tend to look on the better, clearer side. It may sound stupid but being resentful is what really renders positive thinking useless. When you let down your walls (or hold out until they collapse…) really trying to “focus on the positives.”
• If the above fails for you, take the Buddhist view: Life is difficult. The fallacious thought is that we can change that. In accepting that life indeed is difficult, we begin to make it less painful…not less difficult. Accept that life is full of difficulty and choose the religion, belief system, or substance to ingest to decrease the pain; that is after all what the rest of us do. Life can suck, deal with it.

Warnings

• Don’t make the mistake of standing still rather than giving it a try.
• Don’t get lost in self-pity. Remember you have the ability to change your outlook and your situation.
• Resist the urge to act out moods on those around you. Instead, write, confide in a friend, draw, take a walk, etc. Do something creative or physically active, something you feel comfortable doing and that others don’t have the right to criticize.
• Consult someone if you start having suicidal thoughts. Don’t keep it inside.

Related wikiHows

• How to Be Happy
• How to Regain Confidence
• How to Develop Self Esteem
• How to Be Happy Being Yourself
• How to Deal With Teenage Depression and Nostalgia
• How to Be Happy With Who You Are
• How to Realize Your True Potential
• How to Be Bold
• How to Cope with Depression
• How to Get out of a Depression
• How to Help Someone With Depression
• How to Say No to Drugs and Alcohol

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Stay Positive when You Know Your Life Sucks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

attitude · empowerment · optimism · personal development · personal growth · positive thinking · self-esteem · self-help · self-improvement

by John Assaraf

As you already know (and have posted comments about), making a recording of yourself talking about your new belief, then listening to that audio twice or more a day can be extremely beneficial. This method of reprogramming is effective for all kinds of beliefs, ranging from health to wealth, from business success to charitable contribution, from relationships to spirituality, from productivity to creativity. Your main time investment will be up front in making the recording, which can be as simple (just your recorded voice) or as elaborate (including music, sound effects, and so on), as short (just five minutes) or as long (half an hour) as you like. After your recording is complete, you can listen to it while driving, as you go to sleep, as your “alarm” to wake you up in the morning. Be creative!

Creating a recording can help you reach your goals. To write the script…

1) Imagine what your life will be like as a result of achieving your goal, and
2) Describe it all in the present tense, as if it’s already happening.

A script to be used for the goal of running a half marathon might start like this:

I love how it feels to run because my body is in such great condition. I can feel my heart working, and my breath is strong and even. My quadriceps and calves are tested but don’t burn out. I am a healthy, vibrant person who respects the body as the amazing vessel it is: home to my soul. I am in the zone and running better than I ever have before. I am getting faster and stronger every day…

As you reprogram yourself and listen to your audio, you can also add other visualization techniques have learned. Top athletes visualize religiously, because they know it unlocks potential at a level that analysis and even physical practice don’t reach. By repeatedly visualizing the outcome you want, you create new cells of recognition in your subconscious. This way, your body gets used to that behavior and then expects it. To use your recording to help you visualize, instead of just listening passively to the recording, close your eyes and picture everything happening exactly as you hear yourself describe it. (Not a good idea while running or driving, but you can do this at other times.) It’s as if you’ve created a “movie” you can play over and over in your mind. Try it!

Copyright 2008 John Assaraf
All Rights Reserved

John Assaraf, aka The Street Kid, is a New York Times & Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author, Trainer & Entrepreneur, certified life coach and world-renowned speaker. Thanks to a powerful belief system and positive affirmations, he was one of the experts featured in the hit film and book, The Secret, and helped launch it as a worldwide phenomenon.

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation, inspiration

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