How do you live your life? At cause or at effect? It is important to be aware of this distinction. It is the rare individual who always lives his or her life at cause; however, far too many of us live a large portion of our lives at effect - responding to the whims, desires or emotional states of others.
Being at cause means that you are decisive in creating what you want in life and take responsibility for whatever you achieve. You see the world as a place of opportunity and you move toward achieving what you desire. If things are not unfolding as you would like, you take action and explore other possibilities. Above all, you know you have choice in what you do and how you react to people and events.
If you are at effect, you may blame others or circumstances for your bad moods, for what you have not achieved or for the disarray of your life in general. You may feel powerless or depend on others in order for you to feel good about yourself or about life. You may think, "If only my spouse, my boss, my co-workers, my parents, my children understood me and helped me achieve my dreams or did what I wanted or what is best for me, then life would be great." If you wait and hope for things to be different or for others to provide you with results or happiness, you are at effect, or a victim of circumstances. And really, how satisfying is that? How satisfying do you think it is for others to be around you? Believing that someone else is responsible for your happiness or your different moods is very limiting and gives this person mystical powers over you, which can cause both you and the other person a great deal of anguish.
Being at cause means you have choices in your life - you can choose what is best for you while ensuring the choice is ecological for those around you, in your community and your society. That is, you consider the consequences of your actions on others, while not taking responsibility for their emotional well-being. Believing you are responsible for the emotional well-being of someone else places a heavy burden upon you and can cause a great deal of stress.
Those who live their lives at effect often see themselves as victims with no choices whatsoever. The truth is that they do have choices but have chosen not to take action. They are simply reactive to whatever is thrust upon them.
Emotions such as guilt, fear, anxiety and resentment are the result of being at effect. People at effect tend to blame others and do not take responsibility for their actions. Emotions such as these can wear heavily on a person's body and life, and can be the root cause of many physical and personal issues.
Do I always live my life at cause? No, not a chance; the great majority of the time I do live at cause. When I don't, one of the following usually comes to mind: ‘There is no failure only feedback' or ‘There are no unresourceful people, only unresourceful states'. Then using various personal growth techniques, such as those from NLP (neurolinguistic programming), I am able to explore other ways to achieve my outcomes or ask others for help, without being a victim to their answers.
Each morning when you get up, you can either ask yourself, "I wonder what my day will bring," or "What do I choose to bring to my day?" The choice is yours.
About the Author: Roger Ellerton is a certified NLP trainer, certified management consultant and the founder and managing partner of Renewal Technologies Inc. (www.renewal.ca) This article is an extract from his book Live Your Dreams - Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You (www.live-your-dreams.biz).
Wednesday
Tuesday
Feel Good!
What does it mean to feel good? Well, that's going to be different for everyone, but many people describe it as a contentment, joy, peace, or happiness. Most of us prefer to feel good than the alternative.
How can we feel good with everything that's going on in our world, and in our lives? What you focus on expands. If you watch the news, read the papers, focus on what's not working in your life, you may be bombarded with negative thoughts and feelings. What if you watched and read less of that stuff. What if you focused on the 80% that is working in your life instead of what you don't think is working? What if you focused on what you do have, instead of what you don't have? What if you focused on solutions instead of problems? What if you were grateful for all the positive in your life and in your world (because there really is far more positive than negative)? What if every time a negative thought came into your mind you replaced it with a positive one? Do you think your perceptions would change? Do you think you would start to ....feel good???
Why feeling good is important. When you feel good you approach everything in your life with a better outlook and perspective. You have more creativity, openness, energy, and optimism, life flows easily and effortlessly. Who wouldn't want more of that?
My belief is that if you focus on feeling good then you raise your consciousness, or your vibration and attract to you more things to feel good about. I also believe if you want to feel good and create wellbeing you have to do it on all levels of your being....mind, body & spirit, its all connected. Remember, we all have a choice. We choose what we are going to put our focus and attention on. We choose how we are going to respond to everything in our life. Choose to feel good.
Here are some helpful tips to incorporate in your life so you can Feel Good everyday!
MIND
Attitude of Gratitude: Start each day being grateful for all the blessings in your life. Create a mental list or write it down in a gratitude journal & watch your focus change.
Positive focus: Focus on the 80% that is working in your life.
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
Mindfulness: being fully present, not thinking about something in the past or future but what is happening in the present moment.
Thought awareness: Become aware of what you are thinking, then consciously focus your thoughts on whatever it is you want to create in your life (i.e., peace, harmony, cooperation, sharing). Thoughts become things, what you think about becomes your reality, so think good thoughts!
Flexibility of the mind. Keep the mind active. Do something regularly that will challenge your mind.
BODY
More whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, less sugar, fats, and processed foods.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate! (water hydrates, soft drinks and coffee do not).
Read Labels: know what you are putting in your body. If there are too many letters in it, or you can't pronounce it, chances are you shouldn't be putting it into your body.
Sleep. Be sure to get enough.
Exercise everyday. You brush your teeth and shower everyday, move your body everyday too. The results will be remarkable.
Lift weights, milk bottles or soup cans. Lift whatever you can to strengthen your bones.
Stretch. Try a yoga class or stretch on your own. A flexible body is less prone to injury. I've seen plenty of Seniors regain flexibility in a matter of weeks. I particularly remember one woman's excitement when she was able to touch her toes for the first time in 25 years! It sure makes putting your socks on easier.
SPIRIT
Nourish your soul regularly. What would truly make your heart sing and bring you true joy? Figure it out and do it.
Spend time everyday in prayer or meditation or just sit quietly and listen to your inner wisdom.
Laughter. Find the funny side of things. Laughter is like a massage for your soul.
Practice random acts of kindness.
Challenge yourself. Get out of your comfort zone and do something you've never done but always wanted to do. Maybe its skydiving, or riding on a motorcycle down the Pacific Coast Highway, or volunteering in a third world country. I've done them all, and recommend them all. Courage expands your life.
Be kind and gentle with yourself. Remember others will love you to the degree you love yourself. Also, your strengths and magnificence are far greater than any perceived failings.
Copyright (c) 2007 Char Cooper RN, MSN, APRN
We all have a core desire to Feel Good. So why don't we feel good more often? When you work with Char you will learn how to break through unresourceful behaviors, & beliefs that prevent you from Feeling Good. Using her expertise as a Nurse Practitioner, Life Coach & Yoga Instructor, & integrating a mind, body, spirit approach, Char empowers her clients to Feel Good every day!
Visit http://www.TheFeelGoodCoach.com & start Feeling Good now!
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
How can we feel good with everything that's going on in our world, and in our lives? What you focus on expands. If you watch the news, read the papers, focus on what's not working in your life, you may be bombarded with negative thoughts and feelings. What if you watched and read less of that stuff. What if you focused on the 80% that is working in your life instead of what you don't think is working? What if you focused on what you do have, instead of what you don't have? What if you focused on solutions instead of problems? What if you were grateful for all the positive in your life and in your world (because there really is far more positive than negative)? What if every time a negative thought came into your mind you replaced it with a positive one? Do you think your perceptions would change? Do you think you would start to ....feel good???
Why feeling good is important. When you feel good you approach everything in your life with a better outlook and perspective. You have more creativity, openness, energy, and optimism, life flows easily and effortlessly. Who wouldn't want more of that?
My belief is that if you focus on feeling good then you raise your consciousness, or your vibration and attract to you more things to feel good about. I also believe if you want to feel good and create wellbeing you have to do it on all levels of your being....mind, body & spirit, its all connected. Remember, we all have a choice. We choose what we are going to put our focus and attention on. We choose how we are going to respond to everything in our life. Choose to feel good.
Here are some helpful tips to incorporate in your life so you can Feel Good everyday!
MIND
Attitude of Gratitude: Start each day being grateful for all the blessings in your life. Create a mental list or write it down in a gratitude journal & watch your focus change.
Positive focus: Focus on the 80% that is working in your life.
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
Mindfulness: being fully present, not thinking about something in the past or future but what is happening in the present moment.
Thought awareness: Become aware of what you are thinking, then consciously focus your thoughts on whatever it is you want to create in your life (i.e., peace, harmony, cooperation, sharing). Thoughts become things, what you think about becomes your reality, so think good thoughts!
Flexibility of the mind. Keep the mind active. Do something regularly that will challenge your mind.
BODY
More whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, less sugar, fats, and processed foods.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate! (water hydrates, soft drinks and coffee do not).
Read Labels: know what you are putting in your body. If there are too many letters in it, or you can't pronounce it, chances are you shouldn't be putting it into your body.
Sleep. Be sure to get enough.
Exercise everyday. You brush your teeth and shower everyday, move your body everyday too. The results will be remarkable.
Lift weights, milk bottles or soup cans. Lift whatever you can to strengthen your bones.
Stretch. Try a yoga class or stretch on your own. A flexible body is less prone to injury. I've seen plenty of Seniors regain flexibility in a matter of weeks. I particularly remember one woman's excitement when she was able to touch her toes for the first time in 25 years! It sure makes putting your socks on easier.
SPIRIT
Nourish your soul regularly. What would truly make your heart sing and bring you true joy? Figure it out and do it.
Spend time everyday in prayer or meditation or just sit quietly and listen to your inner wisdom.
Laughter. Find the funny side of things. Laughter is like a massage for your soul.
Practice random acts of kindness.
Challenge yourself. Get out of your comfort zone and do something you've never done but always wanted to do. Maybe its skydiving, or riding on a motorcycle down the Pacific Coast Highway, or volunteering in a third world country. I've done them all, and recommend them all. Courage expands your life.
Be kind and gentle with yourself. Remember others will love you to the degree you love yourself. Also, your strengths and magnificence are far greater than any perceived failings.
Copyright (c) 2007 Char Cooper RN, MSN, APRN
We all have a core desire to Feel Good. So why don't we feel good more often? When you work with Char you will learn how to break through unresourceful behaviors, & beliefs that prevent you from Feeling Good. Using her expertise as a Nurse Practitioner, Life Coach & Yoga Instructor, & integrating a mind, body, spirit approach, Char empowers her clients to Feel Good every day!
Visit http://www.TheFeelGoodCoach.com & start Feeling Good now!
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Monday
Five steps to inner peace
Recently a visitor to my pages asked me this question.
“I just wanted to ask a very simple question, how can we have inner peace?”
So in my simple ways, I gave him the simple answer in my response.
“To answer your question in its simplest form:
Love yourself, simplify your life, live by good beliefs and have a good attitude towards life.”
Looking back on it this may have been the simple answer, but he may have wanted more of a response.
So here is a more in depth response.
Inner peace and how to attain it in five short steps.
1.Love yourself.
Loving yourself has to do with accepting who you are, what you are and what you look like. Stop rejecting yourself and putting yourself down.
If you cannot do that for your self no one else will either. Learn to accept that you do not need to look like others, that you may not ever be able to carry a tune or to paint a masterpiece. Beauty and talent is what is inside of you. Look in the mirror and love what you see.
2.Simplify your life.
Often times unnecessary worldly possessions can cause undue stress and internal turmoil. Do you really need that new high priced auto with all the bells and whistles along with the payments that come with it? Or would a car that is two, three or more years old rally meet your needs?
Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and you will see that your stress levels will begin to subside. Be happy with what you have.
3.Live by good beliefs.
This could be as simple as the golden rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Be fair and honest in your business deals, friendships and relationships. Do not take advantage of others.
Fix what is wrong, be honest with yourself and others.
4.Have a good attitude towards life.
Enjoy life, your family, friends and your job. Don't let the little things upset you. Put a smile on your face and the world will smile with you.
If something upsets you, try to put it into terms of how serious it really is. For example is it as serious and upsetting as having a broken arm, a black eye, losing a limb or is it really just a little bump in the road? I bet most of the things would fall under the bump in the road category.
Try the old smile again. It is hard to stay upset when you put a smile on your face :)
5.Daily motivations.
Read quotes or inspirational messages daily. Write out your own affirmations and repeat them daily.
Visit any of the hundreds of self improvement sites for great articles and information.
Practice and begin to live by these five steps and you will begin to see the emotional turmoil began to disappear and the inner peace begin to take it place.
Have a great day and best wishes in all you do,
JD
“I just wanted to ask a very simple question, how can we have inner peace?”
So in my simple ways, I gave him the simple answer in my response.
“To answer your question in its simplest form:
Love yourself, simplify your life, live by good beliefs and have a good attitude towards life.”
Looking back on it this may have been the simple answer, but he may have wanted more of a response.
So here is a more in depth response.
Inner peace and how to attain it in five short steps.
1.Love yourself.
Loving yourself has to do with accepting who you are, what you are and what you look like. Stop rejecting yourself and putting yourself down.
If you cannot do that for your self no one else will either. Learn to accept that you do not need to look like others, that you may not ever be able to carry a tune or to paint a masterpiece. Beauty and talent is what is inside of you. Look in the mirror and love what you see.
2.Simplify your life.
Often times unnecessary worldly possessions can cause undue stress and internal turmoil. Do you really need that new high priced auto with all the bells and whistles along with the payments that come with it? Or would a car that is two, three or more years old rally meet your needs?
Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses and you will see that your stress levels will begin to subside. Be happy with what you have.
3.Live by good beliefs.
This could be as simple as the golden rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Be fair and honest in your business deals, friendships and relationships. Do not take advantage of others.
Fix what is wrong, be honest with yourself and others.
4.Have a good attitude towards life.
Enjoy life, your family, friends and your job. Don't let the little things upset you. Put a smile on your face and the world will smile with you.
If something upsets you, try to put it into terms of how serious it really is. For example is it as serious and upsetting as having a broken arm, a black eye, losing a limb or is it really just a little bump in the road? I bet most of the things would fall under the bump in the road category.
Try the old smile again. It is hard to stay upset when you put a smile on your face :)
5.Daily motivations.
Read quotes or inspirational messages daily. Write out your own affirmations and repeat them daily.
Visit any of the hundreds of self improvement sites for great articles and information.
Practice and begin to live by these five steps and you will begin to see the emotional turmoil began to disappear and the inner peace begin to take it place.
Have a great day and best wishes in all you do,
JD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
