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Use Your Strategic Vision to Succeed

Use Your Strategic Vision to Succeed

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” J. F. C. Fuller, Union General and Military Writer (misattributed to Sun Tzu)

When you have a long-term goal or vision, you generally develop a strategy of how you’re going to achieve your aim. This could be a plan of how you want to improve your health or get to the next level in your business or career. Without a strategy, you rely on dealing with whatever challenges crop up on a daily basis. You may have a collection of tactics that have you running in circles. When you have a strategy and tactics which move you forward, then you’ll make progress and reach your goal.

The Difference Between Strategy and Tactics

There has to be a reason for your tactics. Your vision is what you’re working towards and your strategy is your overall plan of how to achieve it. The Law of Attraction is informed by your vision and strategies. This allows the LOA to draw more opportunities and inspiration to you. Tactics are the actions you’ll take to support your strategy. Your actions stimulate the Universe with more energy to use on your behalf. Without direction from a vision or strategy, tactics are just purposeless actions, accomplishing little.

For instance, your vision, or long range goal, might be to improve your health. Your strategies would be the general actions you’d take to achieve it, such as exercise, eating habits, etc. Tactics would be the concrete steps you take to implement your strategy, such as going to a gym several times a weeks, reducing sugar and carbs, and getting better sleep.

Strategy without tactics might eventually get you to your goal, but it would be a slog. Tactics without strategy would result in inconsistency and running in circles. Both are necessary to fulfill your goal or vision.

What Is Your Vision?

  • What goal do you want to achieve? Pick one major goal and focus on it. The clearer the vision, the faster the Universe can respond.
  • What strategies do you intend to use to accomplish your goal? Don’t choose too many or dismiss unusual opportunities that the Universe puts in your path.
  • What reasonable tactics, or steps, can you take regularly? Keep them small and manageable actions. The more dedicated you are, the easier it is to be Divinely Guided.
  • Visualize yourself successfully achieving each step, and reaching your goal. This gives the Law of Attraction direction.

Follow this process, and you’ll set yourself up for success!

Affirmation: As I set my intention and take action towards my vision, the Universe provides me with everything I need. The Divine Right opportunities, people, information or resources come into my life before I require them. I am Divinely Guided and Inspired every step along the way. The Universe wants me to be successful and makes my path easy, smooth and harmonious.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Practice Mindful Self-Care During the Holidays

Practice Mindful Self-Care During the Holidays

by Linda-Ann Stewart

heart shaped Christmas wreath

This time of year is filled with chaos and overwhelm. Trying to get holiday preparations accomplished, attending gatherings, while balancing your other responsibilities is a challenge. Unfortunately, this season of love and joy often creates issues of stress and anxiety. It’s common for me to start having nightmares in August that it’s Christmas morning and nothing’s done.

What Mindfulness Is

This season inspires us to love, be kind, compassionate, and be of good cheer, towards others, and ourselves, as well. When you’re mindful of your own welfare, you can appreciate the season more. Mindfulness means that you’re focusing on what’s going on only in the present, so all the future tasks aren’t crashing into you.

If you start worrying about the future and what still needs to be done, bring your attention back to the present moment. By being mindful during the holiday rush, you’re better able to maintain your peace of mind. And you’ll remain more open to the Universal flow of good.

Being Mindful

To stay mindful, give yourself permission to make your mental and physical health a priority. When you’re calm, you can accomplish more and have more energy to share with others. So set your intention to pay attention to your needs.

  • Don’t overcommit yourself to social events.
  • Reserve your energy for what’s most important to you. 
  • Set reasonable expectations for yourself.
  • Instead of thinking about everything that you want to get done, focus on what you can do today.

If you start getting anxious, remember that everything will get done in Divine Time. It always does. And if it doesn’t get done, then it’s not worth sacrificing your wellbeing and ability to enjoy festivities with your friends and family. This time of year is about creating cherished memories and spreading good will towards all. Have a joyous holiday season!

Affirmation:

I grant myself the gift of greater peace and harmony this season. When I begin to feel overwhelmed, I bring my attention back to what I can do this moment. Moment by moment, I glide through this holiday season. The Universe guides all my actions. Everything gets done in Divine Time and with Divine Order.

Please watch the accompanying video, Mindful Meditation to Ease the Season’s Stress (or any time of the year).

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Life Leaves Clues

Life Leaves Clues

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Zigzag change

Have you ever stayed in a relationship, a job, a friendship, or a residence too long, hoping that things would improve? I have done all of the above. Many times, though, the situation never improves and actually gets worse. Someone once said “Life leaves clues.” Life drops hints that you’ve learned as much in that experience as you can, and it’s time to move on. Feeling constricted, trapped or suffocated are signals that you need to expand. And sometimes that means leaving the circumstances causing these feelings.

Is It Time to Let Go?

Leaving a condition that is no longer serving you is different from running from a difficult situation in an attempt to avoid the mental/emotional cause of it. When a person tries to escape from what is uncomfortable, without addressing the reason they attracted it in the first place, they tend to fall into a similar situation or worse.

But when you’ve outgrown a situation, that situation itself tries to push you out. It begins to leave you. You might get fired, or not get the promotion you expected. Or the relationship deteriorates. If you’re like me, and don’t easily embrace change, you might tend to hold tightly onto the familiar. Even though you become more and more uncomfortable, and circumstances are trying to push you out of the door, you resist leaving.

Recognize the Clues

I once had a friend with whom I no longer had anything in common. Whenever we were together, there was tension in the air. I wanted to continue the relationship, hoping it would improve, even though we’d grown in different directions. The tension increased until she finally found an excuse to end the friendship.

In retrospect, I realized that the friendship had actually been over for months. The clues for me were the tension, and how she avoided talking to me. For awhile, I was hurt. Now, years later, I’m grateful to her. She recognized, whether consciously or unconsciously, that we’d gone as far down that road together as we could.

The challenge is to read the clues correctly. When you’re feeling like Life is pushing you out of a situation that you’re holding onto, it’s time to make the change. The Universe  undoubtedly has something better in Mind for you. But you have to be willing to release the old before the new condition can manifest.

Affirmation:

Since I am always Divinely Guided, I correctly read the clues that Life leaves for me. I recognize the signs that tell me that it’s time to move on. When I realize that I’ve outgrown a situation, I gracefully release the old conditions. I know that the Universe has something wonderful in store for me. I bless the old situation and gratefully accept the new. 

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Is It Time to Move On?

Is It Time to Move On?

by Linda-Ann Stewart

I used to have a good friend that I’d occasionally meet for lunch or coffee and we’d have interesting conversations. Then, she started showing up late at the restaurant, and once spent most of the time on a phone call. In our last phone conversation, she screamed that I wasn’t doing what she wanted, said she would never call me again and hung up.

We haven’t spoken since. I was sad the relationship had ended, but it apparently had fulfilled its purpose.

“People (and other things) Come and Go”

There’s a saying that, “People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.” It’s very true. I’ve had many people come and go in my life. And they have all been teachers for me, some pleasant, some not so much. Some come and go, only to return again later. They all serve a purpose.

But this sentiment doesn’t just apply to people. It also applies to situations, beliefs, activities, and everything else in your life. I’ve had to let go of something in each one of these categories, often against my wishes. I ignored the warning signs, hoping they’d work out if I put enough energy into them. But the Universe had other ideas.

When to Let Go

There are times when you have to release something in your life that you value, because it no longer serves you. You’ve taken a different path, or have outgrown whatever it is.  The challenge is knowing when the right choice is to stick around or to move on. It’s rarely an easy decision. Many times, the obvious choice is thrust upon you, like it has been on me. Or the Universe simply takes the choice away from you, because It has something better in store for you.

Over the years, I began to recognize the red flags for when to quit wasting time on something that had ceased to be good for me. And conversely, I learned to identify the signals of when to persist.The following are some of the indicators that have worked for me to decide what to do in these situations.

When to Consider Persisting

  • If the relationship or situation is still of benefit to you.
  • If your belief or mindset is still supporting you in your endeavors, health and well being.
  • If there’s a balance between your giving and receiving from where your energy is going, whether a relationship or situation.

When to Consider Moving On

  • When you’re overwhelmed.
  • When you’re being taken advantage of.
  • When you set boundaries and they aren’t respected.
  • When you’re drained and exhausted whenever you’re dealing with the person or situation.
  • When you’re resentful of the time or energy you’re putting forth with not much in return.
  • When you’re out of sync with the person or situation, and just going through the motions to maintain it.

Considerations

  • Take a step back, assess, and decide if you need to let go of just some of what’s contributing to your distress, or all of it.
  • Say “No,” without explanations, excuses or rationalizations. Your decisions aren’t accountable to anyone.
  • Assess if the relationship or situation is still worth putting your energy into it. If so, decide how much energy you’re willing to invest.
  • Decide what needs to change for you to continue. Determine what your actions will be if there is no improvement.
  • Always ask, “What am I learning from this?”

The universe is always about change. So unless you’re stagnant, you’re always growing. Whenever there’s a person or situation in your life, there’s a gift in it for you. You’re to learn from it, to continue on your path of personal development and fulfill your potential. Remember to seek out the gift.

Affirmation:

People and situations come into my life for a reason. Once they have served that purpose, it’s time to release them to their Highest Good. The Universe guides me when it’s time to move on. I willingly let go and open my mind and heart to something better. Only the Highest Good comes to everyone involved with me.

Please watch the accompanying videos, Is It Time to Say “Next?” and Recognizing the Melancholy of Moving On.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Moving from Motivation to Momentum

Moving from Motivation to Momentum

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Steam locomotive of train

I’m sure you heard of this natural law when you were in school. “A body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.” It’s not just applicable in science, it’s also true of your life in general. Inertia, which is the tendency to do nothing, can be challenging to break through.

When you have a task, goal or vision, sometimes it’s hard to put any effort towards it. You could want to tidy your desk, begin a project, clean out the garage, begin a diet or start a business. But it’s difficult to intensify your desire enough to take steps towards your goal. Any artist, writer or creative knows it’s intimidating to face the blank canvas or page. The Universe waits to help you, but you have to give It something to work with first.

Release the Brake

You may be waiting for inspiration or motivation before you get moving. If so, you could wait a long time. Frustration, and maybe guilt, will build up. The more they do, the more you’ll be stuck in that emotional cycle. You’ll attract more circumstances to keep you blocked and distracted, and the Universe will have a hard time guiding you. It’s easier for the Law of Attraction to draw good to you when you have opened the door.

Once you’re able to get up and get moving, natural law indicates that you will stay in motion. And when you have momentum established, you’ll continue on your way. The Universe can direct you and gives you what you need. It’s like a train pulling out of a station. After the engineer releases the brake, it takes great effort for the train to begin its journey. But once it does, it not only keeps moving, it accelerates until it reaches its desired speed.

You use more energy keeping your foot on the brake, than releasing the brake and beginning to roll. Allow your vehicle (you and your goal) to gather speed as you advance. You are in control of the whole process, and the Universe supports you. Don’t wait for motivation. Just get started by taking that first step.

The 4 Stages of Motivation

However, it’s hard to take the first step when you’re at rest. When you understand the 4 stages of motivation, they can empower you to move through them more quickly and develop your momentum.

1. Resistance. You may procrastinate getting started or just plain avoid it. Your subconscious mind is trying to keep you safe. You’ve probably heard the statement, “What you resist, persists.” Whatever you’re avoiding won’t go away. And trying to ignore it will just make it gain energy to get your attention. Anything you’re evading will always be at the edge of your mind, taking up mental space, and siphoning off energy from the rest of your life.

2. Action follows attention. Wherever you’re directing your focus will influence your conduct. “Energy flows where attention goes.” Spend time considering your task or goal, or gather information about how to accomplish it. Build excitement about it. This could be as simple as assessing what you need to do, and writing a list. Or you could bring together your materials, read articles about your goal or decide how to begin.

3. Action can inspire motivation. Once you’ve devoted time to examining your goal, take a baby step. When I have problems writing, I’ll start writing something, anything, to get in the flow. Taking a tiny action triggers the reward center in brain and you feel good. Even checking something off your to-do list will cause you to feel like you accomplished something. This sparks motivation to do something else, so you experience the mental high again.

4. Build momentum. Commit to dedicating five minutes a day to work on a tiny step of your project or goal. This amount is doable. Since it feels good to achieve something, you’re then motivated to take the next step or do more. Once five minutes becomes comfortable, increase your time or the number of tasks. again.

Philosopher Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the single step.” To put this into practice, take a step, no matter how small. Then, take another step, then another. With motion comes motivation, and that creates momentum. Putting one foot in front of the other will accelerate your progress until you’re unstoppable.

Affirmation:

I now release anything that is holding me back from taking action on my goal. It’s safe for me to take the first step. The Universe supports me, and makes my way smooth and straight. As I take a step, I’m encouraged to take another. I am Divinely guided and inspired to go in the right direction for me. As long as I’m moving, the Universe can guide and direct me. The Universe makes my path smooth and clear. Everything I need is now provided, whether it’s motivation, ideas, contacts, opportunities or anything else. I am now advancing in the right way to fulfill my potential.

Watch the accompanying video, Overcoming Resistance.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Personal Growth Opens the Door to Success

Personal Growth Opens the Door to Success

by Linda-Ann Stewart

“Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.” Jim Rohn

Chasing success in any situation, personal or professional, can burn you out. Your emotional well runs dry, and you’re running your life, career or business on fumes. Instead of focusing so much on the outer circumstances, focus more on your personal growth and inner development. This is where your success truly originates.

Instead of pursuing outer achievement, seek to become your best self. This could include improving your attitudes, letting go of self-limiting beliefs, as well as raising your self-confidence and self-worth. Continuing to uncover and release more of your tremendous inner potential will make you more appealing to others. And this results in more success for you.

Benefits of Personal Development

Cultivating personal development boosts your performance, strengthens your self-management skills, and increases your motivation. Most employers prefer an applicant with a positive attitude and eagerness to learn, over those with skills or a college degree. If employers are hiring employees for their optimism and enthusiasm, can you imagine how people in your personal and professional life would respond to these traits in you?

On a personal level, focusing on your self-growth lowers stress, adds to your wellbeing and supports authenticity. The Law of Attraction teaches that you attract what you think and who you are. When you work to enrich yourself on the inner level, you become the person others are looking for to socialize and work with. You open the door for the right people, opportunities and success to walk into your life.

By creating the mindsets, habits and ongoing dedication to self-improvement, you’ll radiate goodwill to those you meet and generate an aura of success. You’ll feel more comfortable in your own skin.  People, and success, will be attracted to the person you are and will become. 

Affirmation:

I am becoming the person the Universe wanted me to be. As I develop my inner self, letting go of old limiting beliefs, I open myself to greater good in all areas of my life. It’s safe for me to uncover my inner potential and let myself shine. The world responds well to my sense of goodwill as I radiate it to all those around me.

Watch the accompanying video, Personal Development Tools for Success.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Heal From The Inside Out

Heal From The Inside Out

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Have you ever had an issue in your life that just wouldn’t go away? It might be weight, abundance, health or some other problem that just wouldn’t improve no matter how hard you focused on it? Most of us try to change our lives by working on the issue itself. “Okay, I have a weight problem. I’ll just diet and exercise.” Except the weight generally doesn’t stay off.

The problem is that you’re trying to heal the issue only in the physical, material world. But the issue is simply an outpicturing of an idea you’re holding in your mind. Your idea may have been formed as a child, and you’ve lived with it so long that it’s become an unconscious habit.

There Are Many Inner Reasons

There are many things that could contribute to the inner issue. It could be a belief concerning you and the challenge. For instance, you might have an unconscious limit to your income. Or you could be hanging onto an image of yourself with a specific problem. Many people who have been overweight most of their lives have a hard time adjusting to being slender after they’ve released the excess pounds. They may still have a self-image of being overweight, and that has to change before the weight reduction can be permanent.

You could have a belief that you’re not worthy of anything better, and that influences any attempt to create a better life. It causes you to hold yourself back or sabotage your progress. All of these concepts, and many more, could simply be outdated habits of belief that have operated below your mental radar to keep you from the life you deserve.

Dealing with the Outer Problem

Trying to deal with problems in the physical world alone, by moving from one fix to another, will only perpetuate the problem. There’s an old adage that says, “Those who don’t learn from their history are doomed to repeat it.” Twelve-Step Recovery programs know this, and advise members to heal their wounds before getting into a new relationship.

A friend of mine left one boss who didn’t appreciate her for another job where she thought she would be valued. Her new employer initially did so, but soon began treating her even worse than her original boss had. Since my friend hadn’t dealt with the underlying problem within her, it quickly returned.

Sometimes it’s necessary to take initial action in the material world to affirm your worth and get out of an abusive situation. A battered spouse should leave the toxic environment. An employee who’s being taken advantage of should find another position or learn to stand up for themself. But unless you want to keep re-creating the problem, you need to resolve its inner cause.

How to Deal with the Inner Cause

There are many ways to begin to heal the inner wounds. Assess what image you may be holding about yourself, or about the issue, and change it to reflect your desired future. Examine your attitudes about the change you want. Write down everything you think and say about your goal. Journal about it, asking what could be blocking you. (For more information on journaling, read my article Your Write To Self-Discovery) Use affirmations, self-hypnosis, or some other modality to release outdated beliefs.

Before there can be any permanent change, you have to resolve what caused the issue in the first place. It must be healed within before it will be healed in the outer realm. The problem isn’t what’s going on in your world, it’s what’s going on in your mind. Like ripples in a pond, once you heal the cause, the change will be expand into the outer plane of your life.

Affirmation:

I know that healing my inner issue will change the outer expression of it. The Universe completely supports my desire to improve my life. Anything I need to know about the original cause of my problem is now revealed to me. I recognize that it’s an outdated belief, and now change it to reflect what I want in my life. All levels of my mind accept and approve of the changes I desire.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

4 Steps to Transforming Your Thoughts through Self-Talk

4 Steps to Transforming Your Thoughts through Self-Talk

Linda-Ann Stewart

Your attitude determines your direction

Your thoughts become your beliefs.

Your beliefs trigger your feelings.

Your feelings create your attitudes.

Your attitudes promote your actions.

Your actions lead to success or frustration.

There is a direct line between your thoughts and how well you do in life. Unfortunately, most of the mental programming behind your thoughts is undermining and sabotaging your efforts. This is because between 65% and 80% of what you tell yourself is counterproductive. Your thoughts are habits, programmed in your past from other people.

Because you were too young to know better, you absorbed older authority’s ideas and assessments, and began acting as if they were true. Those opinions went directly into your subconscious mind. Over the years, you reinforced the negative programming as you repeated those beliefs to yourself. As a result, those detrimental thoughts being so familiar and reflexive went unnoticed.

You Can Direct Your Thoughts

When you do start to become aware of your old thoughts, you can change them into more supportive and productive ideas. Instead of letting your past concepts control you, you can direct your thoughts. You have the ability to transform what you tell yourself, so that your thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors support your goals and aspirations. You simply have to use the same process you’ve been using, but in a more constructive way. As you do, you give the Law of Attraction instructions of what you want.

But you first have to become aware of those thoughts. And that’s the hardest part. Those old ideas have been flying around under your mental radar for years. Once you identify what those beliefs are, then you can change them by deciding what you want to tell yourself. Instead of criticizing yourself, give yourself beneficial feedback that aligns with the vision for your life. The Universe completely supports you in whatever is for your Highest Good.

Steps to Transform Your Thoughts

First step – Awareness of the old thought.

You have to catch that old thought as it streams through the edges of your mind.

Begin to notice when you’re tense, upset, sad, depressed, overwhelmed, anxious, or angry when nothing in your environment is in upheaval. If nothing in your immediate situation seems to be causing those emotions, check what thoughts are running through your mind. Identify the one(s) that are promoting your distress. 

Second step – Assess that old thought.

Bring the old thought to the front of your mind and examine it. Ask yourself the following questions.

  • Is it accurate?
  • Who says it’s true? This could be some idea you accepted sometime earlier in life, without considering whether it was a fact.
  • How can you challenge that old thought? What are some facts that would neutralize it?

Third Step – Transform that old thought.

  • Shift to a new perspective with the following questions.
  • What other things can you tell yourself that would be more productive?
  • What do you aspire to in this area or circumstance?
  • Develop a statement that directs you to the new way you want to believe, feel or act.
  • Create an affirmation reflecting Universal wisdom about the situation. 

Fourth Step – Be consistent with the new thought.

To be successful with this method, you have to counteract the old thought with the new one whenever the old one surfaces.

  • Repeat your new statement over and over, whenever you think of it.
  • To give your new statement more power, repeat it out loud, in a forceful voice. If you’re alone, you can even shout it. The emotion will get the attention of your subconscious and it will respond more quickly.

The Power of Persistence

You may notice, as you begin to change, that the old idea may try to fight you. It may try to make you doubt yourself. That’s normal. The subconscious doesn’t like change. Just acknowledge the objection as an outdated concept, and continue repeating your new choice. Pretty soon, your subconscious will accept your direction and support it.

When you transform your thoughts, it also transforms your behaviors and decisions. You begin to take actions that lead to greater success and fulfillment in your life. Changing your thoughts really can change the course of your life.

Affirmation:

I become aware of the things I tell myself that are not helpful or constructive. Those thoughts were necessary when they were created, but they aren’t now. It’s safe for me to change those ideas, as my situation is completely different now. Everything I choose is already mine in Universal Mind. Old thoughts that undermined my health, harmony and happiness are vanishing. I’m claiming new thoughts and ideas that help me build the life I want. The Universe completely supports me in transforming my thoughts, as it wants the best for me.

Please watch the accompanying video, Don’t Believe Everything You Tell Yourself.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Focus on Your Strengths for Greater Wellbeing and Success

Focus on Your Strengths for Greater Wellbeing and Success

by Linda-Ann Stewart

If you’re like most people, you probably try to improve on your weaknesses. These are areas where you don’t do as well in life. Unfortunately, if they’re a weakness for you, you’ll never excel at them, because they’re not natural for you. You’re just able to manage them. As an individualized part of the Universe, there’s no way you can express all of Its attributes. One of my weaknesses is making small talk. With a lot of effort, I can hold up my end of that type of conversation, but it’s not easy for me.

The Alternative

Instead of working so much on your weaknesses, focus on your strengths. The Universe created you with a whole host of other positive attributes you can call on. Consider what’s right about you, what you do well, and depend more on them. Essentially, you’ll be cultivating the best parts of yourself.

When you keep trying to prop up your weaknesses, you’re likely self-critical about them and that doesn’t help to build you up. But if you highlight your strengths, you feel better about yourself and are more positive overall. You’re accepting your true self, the person the Universe designed. When you’re clear about your strengths, you’re able to utilize them more and be more successful. They also give you a sense of resilience and you start noticing how you use them in your life.

How to Shift Your Focus

To shift your focus from your weaknesses to your strengths, I suggest you make a list of your strengths. These could be positive qualities, such as: optimistic, self-reliant, organized, curious, thoughtful, and so on. List at least two or three of them, if not more. You might even consider the opposite of what you think of a weakness in yourself, especially in specific situations. For me, I began to cultivate a skill I already have that’s good for conversations. I’m a good listener.

As you look over your strengths, notice if you don’t feel more empowered and good about yourself. You may even feel more grounded and authentic. This allows a deeper connection to your Higher Self. Contemplate how you’ve used these traits in your life and how they’ve helped you. And think of how else you could use them going forward. Ask for Divine Guidance to help you utilize them in the best way.

Your strengths could give you a new direction to follow that will open doors for you. Doing this exercise can boost your optimism and sense of wellbeing. This isn’t to say you won’t work on your weaknesses, as I did to learn to make small talk. Just that you shift the majority of your attention to your strengths so that they support your success.

Affirmation:

The Universe created me with specific positive traits and characteristics to help me navigate my life. As I recognize and cultivate these strengths within me, I discover a deeper acceptance of myself. By embracing my strengths, I’m more authentic and connected to my Higher Self. I am now Divinely Guided about how to utilize my positive qualities in the best way for my satisfaction and success.

Watch the accompanying video, Empower Your Inner Strengths.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

You Are Your Authority

You Are Your Authority

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Chains breaking
vector silhouette of a girl with raised hands and broken chains

Years ago, I discovered that the critical people in my life, who loved to pick at me and tear me down, were just echoing the condemning voices in my head. I’d spent so much time distracted, defending myself against those outer critics, that I hadn’t addressed the real issue, how I felt about myself. I’d given the past, and the people in it, authority over me.

Most of us have disapproving judgements about ourselves that tell us that we’re not good enough. Maybe you have an inner critic that tells you that you can’t do anything right, that you “should” be perfect, or that making a mistake is worse than death. I know of people who can’t take a day off because they’d feel guilty. And others who refused to hire someone to paint their house because they felt they “ought” to do it. Your internal judge pounds you with its condemnations, both from within, using guilt, and outwardly by reflecting your inner feelings in how the people in your life treat you.

Life Reflects Your Inner Struggle

Many people who have rebelled against authority figures in the past tend to have problems now with bosses, police, the IRS, etc. They defy internalized critical messages from their childhood environment, and don’t accept responsibility for their actions. Therefore, the energy that they have resisted and disowned increases and echoes back to them from the world.

Whatever you feel victimized by will mirror in your life. Just as my environment had been reflecting back to me what was already in my consciousness. I had to change my attitude from defending myself to addressing the internal messages from a position of strength. As I took responsibility for my own well being, the critics began to fade out of my life. I’m not saying it was easy. It wasn’t. But once I convinced myself that no one had the right to put me down, including my internal critic, my life began to improve.

How to Counter Your Critical Judgements

When you listen to the critical things that you say to yourself, you can begin to deal with them. As with everything in the subconscious, they once had a reason and a purpose to protect you. Although they’ve been trying to help you, they’ve been doing it in a way that you have outgrown. Those messages were patterned on the authority figures in your childhood so that you could fit into the conditions at that time. But they are no longer necessary, and won’t realize it until you tell them so. Believe it or not, they’re waiting for you to assert your power over them and reclaim your authority.

If the old ideas are telling you that you don’t deserve good, or that you’re not worthy, realize that the Universe has much more authority than the people who implanted those beliefs in you. And the Infinite knows that you deserve all the good that Life has to offer. Spirit is stronger than any outdated attitude. A Divine truth is that the Universe wants you to accept and express the wholeness of your being.

You Have the Right to Be Free

You have the right to re-examine the standards by which you have lived your life. Those condemning internal messages have been trying to keep you living within the bounds of someone else’s values. With all the knowledge you now have, you can change the attitudes that no longer serve you. Using affirmations and Divine guidance, you can transform the outdated values into ones that are in alignment with love, harmony, joy, abundance, and all the good there is.

Affirmations I used during this period were, “I am the authority in my life” and “I own my authority.” I had to review all the standards I’d grown up with, reassess them and release the ones that no longer served me. When I began to do this, it was scary. The first few times that I stood up for myself, I felt the sky might fall. It didn’t. Instead, the Universe rushed in to support me and my world expanded. The same will be true for you.

Affirmation:

I know that the Universe supports me in the good that I desire. The only one that keeps my good from me is my own thoughts about it. I now release any old concepts that might have restricted my acceptance of all the good I desire. As I place my desire in my mind, knowing that I deserve it, then the All of the Universe rushes in to fulfill it in a perfect way.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html