How to stop worrying and start living

I am reading an old classic by Dale Carnegie on “How to stop worrying and start living”. It is chock full of wisdom and goes into great detail on ways to go beyond worry and live life to the fullest.

This daily reflection from the book inspired me to post a blog article. It was written by a Sibyl Partridge..

Just for Today…

1) Just for today I will be happy. This assumes what Abraham Lincoln said is true, that “most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Happiness is from within; it is not a mater of externals.

2) Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust to my own desires. I will take my family, my business and my luck as they come and not fit myself to them.

3) Just for today, I will take care of my body. I will exercise it, take care of it, nourish it, not abuse or neglect it, so that it will be a perfect machine for my bidding.

4) Just for today I will strengthen my mind. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

5) Just for today I will exercise my soul in three way: I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do, as William James suggests, “just for exercise”.

6) Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress as becomingly as possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with praise, criticise not at all, nor find fault with anything and not try to regulate or improve anyone.

7) Just for today, I will try to live through this day only. Not to tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do things for twelve hours  that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime.

8) Just for today I will have a program. I will write down what I expect to do every hour. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. It will eliminate two pests, hurrying and indecision.

9) Just for today I will have a quiet half an hour for myself and relax. In this half an hour sometimes I will think of God, so as to get a little more perspective into my life.

10) Just for today I will be unafraid, especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love, and to believe that those I love, love me.

Managing and directing emotions

One of the biggest challenges we all face is to know how to manage emotions otherwise they will manage you!

In school and business a person is measured by their IQ or intelligence quotient. Very little is known of our emotional quotient or EQ. I know some very clever people in business who appear successful yet when it comes to managing their emotions they have a low level of emotional intelligence.

Having a healthy EQ is now more important than ever because we live in uncertain times and with that uncertainty emotions such as fear or anxiety seem to be more apparent.

Our emotions have far more potency than our our thoughts.  Thoughts mixed with strong emotion create. Thoughts that lack emotion will never create anything lasting.

The person who can manage both is in an advantageous position in life to see life as it is and not a projection of one´s own thinking or emotions or personal stories.

A simple formula for managing emotions such as fear, anger, frustration or disappointment is to..

1) Acknowledge them and know they are signals to make a change

2) Appreciate the message of the emotion and not judge it as good or bad – it is just energy in essence.

3) Ask the question: “how do I want to feel?”

4)  Go to a time in the past when you handled a negative emotion successfully and moved through a challenge.

5) Imagine yourself going beyond the negative emotion and see yourself owning some solutions. So if there is a feeling of seperation, image yourself connected to your family or friends etc.

6) Move in the direction of your imagined solution.

The above steps seem like alot but the process can be fast and in moments you can switch out of negativity and into a more resourceful state.

This is not to say that postive emotions are better than negative emotions. All is energy and the key is what are you going to do to take responsibility to make the shift.

Remeber, that every feeling or emotion you have is not based on reality but more your personal view of the world you see. You give meaning to everything.

Why not give meaning to the things that support you in life and start with managing and directing emotions?

Intention has power

Understanding the power of intention is one of the secrets in creating the life you want.  An intention is different from a goal in that there is a sense of openness and flexibility, yet there is a clear and focused way forward towards the thing you want to create.

Intentions can be set all through the day. It is not just about setting intentions around money, health and a great relationship. I usually set small intentions as I enter new segments of the day.

As I start my day: “It is my intention to be open to a new opportunity and take action immediately”. After lunch: “I intend to complete all my important tasks before I close off my business day”.

One has to be aware that an intention can come from a lower level of awareness, that is usually referred to as ego  or the higher level of awareness – spirit or soul.

When something stems from the spirit or soul it tends to stick for longer and more enjoyment and fulfillment can be gained from doing a specific project or activity. The signs of knowing if something is coming from the spirit or soul is that you feel a sense of enjoyment or simply “feel good” when you undertake something.

Usually the activity makes you feel good becuase you spend less time trying to “get” things and more time in service to others. I regard this as higher intention working through a person.

I read a book some time ago by Wayne Dyer: “The Power of Intention”. In the book Wayne refers to Intention having 7 aspects to it – kindness, creativity, loving, beauty, expansion, abundant and receptive. I see these as positive aspects of higher intention and when focused on over time, the quality of your Intentions improves.

Like with most new ways of thinking, doubt will come up and stop your progress because the mind does not like to change. Part of the process is to suspend doubt and reach for thoughts that feel good. This takes practice and a dogged determination to stop thoughts of doubt and match these with expecting the best, appreciating the good things in your life and choosing to see beauty even when things seem hopeless.

As a suggestion, make an intention to work with setting positive intentions throughout the day and expect the best as you develop this skill over time.

How to live your life in flow

Living a life in flow requires certain conditions to be present that no matter what your life circumstances seem to be like, you can live a life of flow according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of  the highly acclaimed book “Flow”

The author carried out a study of this concept for over 20 years and took a selection of people from all walks of life and of different ages. Certain common patterns seemed to emerge that pointed to living a life of flow.

One of the basic requirements to live a life of flow is to be able to take charge of where your attention goes. If we are unable to take charge of the way we think and where we place our attention then “psychic entropy” becomes a part of our life experience. This is another way of saying inner disorder rules our inner world and it is difficult to achieve our goals and dreams while in this state.

The author goes on to say that it is not the experience of pleasure that brings flow but more importantly the ability to “enjoy” the tasks or challenges that we face. One can have a lofty challenge and be tested and stretched but the full engagement in doing what is in front of one triggers a state of flow. This points towards putting full attention on whatever it is you are doing with full commitment.

If one can achieve this state then the relationship with time is altered. Hours pass by in minutes and minutes can stretch out to seem like hours. As a result a sense of deep enjoyment ensues from this quality of attention and action when living your life in flow.

I experienced this state recently when I decided to sit down and write a short ebook and simply immersed myself in writing the content. Before I knew it two hours had passed whereas I felt as if 10 minutes had gone by. I lost all notion of time and the fact that I just immersed myself in the writing of the book created a sense of enjoyment and fulfilment that I never would have imagined.

Whatever you may be putting off or thinking about doing, consider just deciding to just do the task with full engagement and commitment. A flow state may just begin to emerge in the task that otherwise could have been perceived as an obligation or chore.

Nothing has meaning except the meaning you give it

Recently I attended a Harv Eker seminar called Millionaire Mind Intensive in London. The seminar covered alot of information about money and the supportive and unsupportive beliefs we hold around money and wealth. One thing that Harv shared is that “nothing has meaning except the meaning you give it”.

Using this phrase is like saying that life is really like a canvass. We have the choice to paint whatever we want on the canvass and therefore give that meaning. For example, experiencing failure is based on the meaning one gives it. Failure to one person could be considered as feedback and an opportunity to adjust focus for greater success for another.

The things that happen to us in life are very much based on our interpretation we put on an experince. How is it that two kids growing up in a home where the parents are mistreating the kids creates a different response from each child?

One child takes the abuse of a parent too much to heart and ends up suffering for the rest of  his or her life while the second child takes this early life setback and uses it as an opportunity to become a bigger person and maybe work in a job or vocation for what is right and just  in later life and so giving a deeper meaning to life.

From what I can see of it, we choose to give meaning to things in life so we may as well find ways to deliberately support us as we move through life’s experiences.

Is time running out for you?

Is time running out for you?

When we focus on time running out the result is that time seems to run out! We are live in a fast paced world where time seems to be even more important than money for many people. Setting goals can be an inspiring thing to do only to realise that time is needed to devote to making the goals manifest.

You may be starting off the new year with inspiring goals, however, time management strategies  will need to be put in place in order for those goals to manifest.

You may have multiple goals and the question is how are you going to prioritise the importance of those goals and give them the attention they deserve?

Here is one tip:  I would suggest that you consider the 80/20 rule which states that 80% of the results we get comes from 20% of our actions. In other words what are your critical few goals or activties that you need to focus on as opposed to the  trivial many?

Another way of putting it is to imagine you have a big empty glass jar and you have a selection of sand, stones and  say 3  large rocks. What most people do is to place the sand and stones in first which equate to the non urgent or low priority activities and so lose sight of what is very important in their lives – the large rocks.

The rocks may represent your main goals or important areas in your life.

By focusing on the rocks you end up feeling alot more in control of your life and day and this leads to feeling good about the way life is going. You may even change the mantra “time is running out” to “I am in charge of my time and life”. Changing vocabulary changes your beliefs and behaviour.

I am hosting a FREE teleseminar on winning the productivity game and if you have a burning question you would like answered you can go to my Ask Page here. The free call may have been done by the time you get to the Ask Page, however you cal still send in your question.

You are welcome to join this call and it will require that you send me a comment of your wish to attend the conference.

Many thanks and may catch to you on the conference call.

Values help you attract the life you want

Knowing your values help you attract the life you want because values are the engine room of your being that motivate you in a specific direction.

Many goal setting methods miss this vital part of the process in accomplishing your dreams and goals. Also people who study and apply the law of attraction seem to have very little awareness of this often missed aspect that is a vital part of one´s character.

I know of people who have obsessed about making $1 million and have neglected other aspects of thier lives such as health, friends, family, joy and so on. As a result those people get the money and in the process lose contact with loved ones or a serious health problem shows up in the process of making the big bucks.

I am all for making alot of money however the key is to recognise that in addition to the value of wealth I have other values that need to be given air space each day. Having a clear values system makes my decision process easier and life flows so much better.

I would suggest that before you write your goals, think about your values. In other words the things that are really important to you. Once you have a list then match your goals in with the values or change the framing of the goals so that values are aligned.

As an example, here is a list of values:

Health, Joy,Integrity,family,passion,wealth, contribution.

So if I am to aim at making alot of money (wealth value), I will also ensure that I have  specific goals or intentions to work on my health, have fun, spend time with the family each week and live each day with passion.

I may have set a goal to make $1 million,  however to include the the other values of my life I may have to adjust that figure so that the other areas are given time and attention or find another way that is balanced to generate that wealth.

If you are deciding on your goals and intentions for the future then consider creating a list of your values and by focusing on this list your values help you attract the life you want.

What dont you want?

What if you could start from a point of considering what you dont want as a way to gain some clarity in your life?

The biggest obstacle that most people have is that they are not clear on what they want. For some it can it can be a long soul searching experience and for a few it seems graceful and easy.

What I have found is that when I try to focus on what I want there seems to be inner blockages that prevent me from getting clear. This is becuause on a sub conscious level we are focusing on what we dont want or have some deep seated beliefs or excuses that get in the way.

This simple excercise may help you to clarify some of the issues about getting clear:

Take a piece of clean paper and draw a line down the middle. On the top left write “What I dont want or dont like” and on the top right of the paper write “what I want or like”.

Think of a theme like going on a vacation.

List on the left side of the paper list all the things you dont want in terms of going on a vacation. For example: “I dont want to be in a crowed area of tourists”, “”I dont want to travel very far to get to the desitination”, “I dont want to have another vacation by the sea”.

Now counter these “dont want”  statements with what you do want. For example “I want to visit a location where there is hardly anyone around such as a national park”, “I want to travel within 5 hours of where I live”, “I want to have a vacation in a natural environment”

The above is one of many examples of how you can flip switch from what is not wanted to what is wanted and in that process more clarity emerges from the excercise.

This is a simple excersice yet very revealing.

I hope this was of value to you in some way.

 

 

Abundance is your natural state

You may be down on your luck with money or the state of economy is making your feel anxious and so this kicks in thoughts of lack and scarcity. All of this seems real enough yet within you is a natural place of Abundance which is even more real however it requires you to switch back to thoughts and feelings of abundance.

Abundance is more of a feeling than a thought. When you feel abundant you are connected to your natural state. So your job here is not to try to “become” abundant but realise that you already have the Abundance within you in the form of the power to re direct your thoughts towards whatever you desire.

Napoleon Hill who wrote the classic book “think and grow rich” came to the conclusion that we are already born rich from birth and it is our job to use our minds to move in the direction we want to go. It takes  discipline and a realisation that our thoughts are things and whatever we dwell on becomes more real for us.

If you take a walk in nature you will witness the natural abundance around you. How many blades of grass are in a field?

Just like nature we come from the same Source. Unfortunately the news and media tell us something quite different.

Perhaps it is time to switch off the news and refrain from reading the newspapers and start appreciating what you have, what you have had and will have. Start small and slowly build up that feeling of abundance that is your natural right to experience.

Abundance is your natural state – just keep reminding yourself of that when it all seems like a challenge.

100 day countdown to end of 2009

Today, 23rd September, marks the day where we begin the 100 day countdown to the end of the year. It is an opportunity to reflect on where you have come and what adjustments you will make as the year comes to a close in just over 3 months.

As this blog focuses on Law of Attraction, think and about the things you want and focus on those on each day and spend less time dwelling on what is not wanted in your life. Here are some questions to reflect on as you go forward to end the year on a positive note:

1. What specific results have you achieved so far this year?
2. Are you healthier, wealthier, and wiser?
3. Are you winning, losing or just holding ground?
4. What results are you committed to achieve by the end of the year?
5. How have you grown and what have you learned this year?
6. Is there any unfinished business that needs to be tended to in your life?
7. Are you actively pursuing what’s most important on a daily basis?
8. What habits do you need to change to ensure better results?
9. What is the key issue that inhibits your ability to perform
at your best?

Answer these questions with total honesty and as you move forward use each precious day as an opportunity to make this part of the year the most amazing finish setting you up for an even more successful 2010.