The Simple Self-Improvement Blog » Personal Development

Reaping The Rewards Of Self Improvement With Business Goals In Mind

joannalyns — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:35:25 +0000

Reprinted from: Ruralcom

It does appear more attractive to take the easy road, a path we think offers the least amount of work to achieving peace of mind. But we assert that the way of self improvement will never be that path. Your business and personal life will improve more by traveling the harder road. Like setting up an online business, it will be harder to do in the beginning. You know how it is, usually all the work is loaded on the front end. Similar to the reward of passive income once the hard work is done, self improvement has its own type of passive income. That form of income can reward us with currencies such as peace of mind and a sense of contentment. Think about the few things here and see if they apply to you.

Misery and bad news sells like hot cakes every evening when you watch the news. The producers know what does or doesn’t sell. If you listen to those around you, will you hear more things that are positive or negative? Business is one of the few occupations that demands a positive outlook and frame of mind. Success will be beyond your grasp if you continue to think negatively about everything you are doing. Take some time to do a little introspection and find out where you are. With some effort and attention, it isn’t difficult to change your outlook. Doing so will be one of the greatest investments you can make in your business.

People who are new to Internet based marketing often make the mistake of creating falsely high expectations. A large part of that could be the result of what they have read about the experiences and results of others. Or maybe they simply believe the hype that so many peddle online. It doesn’t really matter why they do it, what happens is failure because they can’t actually make their goals happen. The solution here is to aim for an amount that you’ve already brought in and then raise it little by little. You don’t have to worry about meeting your goal because you’ve met it before but the “little extra” can be great added incentive to work harder. We wanted to give you a good selection of points on make money online, and we hope you like what you have read, thus far.

Having so much to choose from actually can make things more interesting when you are researching information.

The web has such an amazing amount of content on it that you are sure to find much more.

Never think that something like this, learning more, is not important or does not matter because it does. Once you do that, then you will be more confident about your choices.

Staying focused on the positive can be very difficult task to accomplish. It is a learned behavior to have a negative mindset. Have you noticed if children are naturally negative? Of course they are not – they are naturally happy beings living in their small world. While we learn to be negative in a number ways, it isn’t that important. Giving attention to what you think at all times is of more importance. If negative thinking seems to be predominate for you, it is now time to change that. A positive thought can be found to replace each negative thought as they happen. How you perceive it is also a learned behavior.

Deciding to take on the difficult task of self improvement in an attempt to make it easier to reach your professional goals is worth the discomfort that you may feel as you work through things. In the end you’ll be rewarded in so many different ways!

If you take a look at what is here, you will see that these are rock solid pieces of advice on the subject matter.

All you need to do is take a close look at this, and you will be able to tell that it is right on and especially with the supporting research. You can easily find tremendous amounts of information on tech news, and there are relevant sites that are very helpful. Before you try to take any kind of solid action, be very sure of what you want to do and how you plan to approach it.

But one thing that we always do is try to let people know there is a lot more that needs to be discovered. Try to avoid getting to scattered with what you choose to do based on this information, and it is always a good idea to limit your activities to something that you favor for whatever reason.

Technorati Tags: Business, Health, Learning, Mental Health, Optimism, Passive income, Personal Development, self help

The Biggest Mistake A Leader Can Make

joannalyns — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:29:14 +0000

Reprinted from: Forbes

by:Sandy Styer, Publisher in Forbes

Thanks to Procentus I’ve recently been introduced to a video blog from the Harvard Business Review on the biggest mistake a leader can make with ten insights from top academics and business thinkers. What they have to say may surprise you.

Top Ten Bad Behaviors

Putting self interest first - Bill George, Professor, Harvard Business School and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic
Everything focused on the leader – Scott Snook, , Associate Professor, Harvard Business School and retired Colonel, US Army Corps of Engineer
Becoming too enamored of their own vision – Gianpiero Petriglieri, Affiliate Professor of Organizational Behavior, INSEAD
Acting too fast – Jonathan Doochin, Leadership Institute at Harvard College
Failing to embrace uncertainty - Dr. Ellen Langer, Professor, Harvard University
Arrogance – Carl Sloane, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School
Lacking self-reflection – Daisy Wademan Dowling, Executive Director, Leadership Development at Morgan Stanley
Failing to live up to their espoused values – Andrew Pettigrew, Professor, Said Business School, University of Oxford
Being Inauthentic – Scott Snook, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School and retired Colonel, US Army Corps of Engineers
Betraying trust – Evan Wittenberg, Head of Global Leadership Development, Google, Inc.

Mistakes One through Three

Nine thinkers, ten ideas. Let’s take a closer look. We can loosely group mistakes one through three as this: leaders start to believe it’s all about them, mistake their organization role (and the perks that go with it) as their self-worth, and fail to look beyond their inner circle.

These are the executives who hold the mistaken notion that their world is theworld. They are entitled and cloistered; and all too often they find out firsthand that the gods hate hubris.

Mistakes Four through Seven

Mistakes four, five and six don’t fall far from the first three. Leaders who make these biggest mistakes think they have all the answers. Their attitudes are arrogant, their decisions often rash, and in a world that is changing as fast as ours they miss both the threat and opportunities of uncertainty.

These executives are likely to get blindsided by reality.

Mistakes Eight, Nine and Ten

Biggest Mistake Number Ten nicely sums up this group: leaders who betray the trust of others. This kind of betrayal may range from outright fraud and malfeasance to simply saying one thing and doing another, or having two sets of rules, say, one for themselves and their friends and the second for “other people.”

These leaders are always found out because people recognize inauthenticity.

Move from Self-orientation to Service-orientation

It’s interesting to me that not one of these top thinkers said the biggest mistake a leader can make is in not paying attention to the sales pipeline, or hiring the wrong people, or letting expenses get out of hand. All of these biggest mistakes have to do with fundamentally who the leader is. Their integrity. Their understanding of something bigger than themselves. The breadth of their vision.

I suggest that the single theme which runs through all ten of the biggest mistakes is simply that leaders who make these mistakes have forgotten one thing: they have forgotten that they are in their positions to be of service to a greater good.

We can debate whether it’s a character trait, some kind of hubris, which these leaders bring with them on their rise to the top, or whether they become more and more isolated, more surrounded by yes-men (and women) or some other combination of factors which pull them into the big mistake.

But the cure is the same no matter what the cause, and the cure is a continual focus on service – to customers, to employees, to shareholders and to society at large. The cure is to move from Self-orientation to Service-orientation.

Technorati Tags: Andrew Pettigrew, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Leadership Institute at Harvard College, Morgan Stanley, Professor, United States Army Corps of Engineers

Developing Positive Attitudes in the Workplace

joannalyns — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:16:41 +0000

Reprinted from:Corrections.com

by:Carl ToersBijns, Publisher in Corrections.com

Workplaces can be very negative and very challenging at times. Your place of work was created by past and present cultures, customs and practices, thus exists through its own influences, creating with it a lack of enthusiasm that is sometimes difficult to deal with. This will often frustrate those employees coming through the door unprepared to perform in such a potentially volatile or stressful environment. They have to learn and cope with this flawed encounter of procedural inconsistencies in practices or techniques of training. Most likely, these false expectations of the job or personal disappointments were created by pre-conceived beliefs, expectations and perceptions. After all, many employees expect to work in a predetermined organization that is consistent in character of their own beliefs and are extremely disappointed to find out that there is a discrepancy between their own beliefs and behaviors and those of others who appear to be doing things their.

Almost instantly, newly assigned or transferred employees are looking for a change in their daily routines to find consistencies with their own style and practices. They are challenged almost immediately to change their own perceptions of pessimism that surrounds them and change them to positive thinking. Subconsciously and rarely confessing this to be the truth, they want to get rid of those pesky and intruding negative thoughts that impair their ability to perform up to their own expectations. Patience is the key to the right timing and being at the right place to make this change in the correct manner. The “core focus of cognitive psychology” is on how people acquire, process and store information. Cognitive research shows there are methods that can improve one’s memory, increase decision-making with a higher degree of accuracy and structuring educational curricula to enhance learning or development of skills associated to the job and career steps.

Block the negative thoughts and prevent them from developing into permanent thought provoked patterns. The rookie or the transferee has to create a mindset to take control of the thinking and created better thoughts with improved patterns of behaviors that reinforce the good things of the job and makes the day worth while as you meet these extremely difficult work problems head on and with good spirits. The first thing you need to do is find those individuals who are positive and good performers. Surround yourself with those who share your values, your outlook on job and observe the way they make decisions to cope with the difficult surroundings. Therefore, in plain English, spend some time with those you consider good role models and mentors. Don’t settle for mediocre when you can excel or do better than others.

Consider every situation carefully and examine what choices you have to make the right decisions and proper practices in place. Don’t let conflict between you and others lead you down the path of frustration and self-imposed morale-busters. In other words, you control the situation and avoid letting the situation control you. Many employers consider this as a “reality check” and often do little or offer any help to adjust in this area. It has been said that in order to avoid poor morale, an organization must promote a positive culture of commitment, high expectations and encouraging healthy relationships. There will be times where you won’t be able to eliminate conflict but realistically, you can attempt to reduce or minimize your own feelings by holding onto the beliefs and staying with good choices. Focus on your decision making abilities and capabilities and try to change the conflict to work to your advantage. Seek mentors who have demonstrated similar values and the willingness to share their experiences with you.

There are three key strategies to reduce your work negativity or frustrations. They all require persistent internal intestinal fortitude [guts and courage] and confidence that these strategies are needed to be learned in order to avoid becoming a whiner or complainer that are the very same people you dislike or abhor when it comes to getting the job done. The first strategy is to focus on your supportive thinking and approach the problem open minded and with fairness. Secondly, reduce the importance of the conflict and handle it with the required attention to detail according to your training and directions provided in the academy and the workplace. Lastly, when you find the conflict to extreme or disproportionate of your own values or beliefs, find a way to minimize your feelings without changing your values, your judgment or your personal evaluations of the situation.

Practice dealing with this matter every time you realize there is a conflict and work on it with tact and diplomacy. Don’t dwell on such keywords as “nepotism, favoritism, poor communication, out of touch management, non-supportive, unfair and inconsistent, bad attitudes and non-listeners.” Pretty soon, you will have improved your ability to recognize the situation faster and better, thus making your decisions more accurately to avoid becoming overwhelmed or involved with the problem and not making it your problem.

Technorati Tags: Belief, Business, Courage, Decision making, Employment, Management, Thought, Workplace conflict

The Importance of Positive Thinking

joannalyns — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:51:34 +0000

Thinking positive can make the difference in having a very positive day or having a day filled with negative events, issues, and situations. Thinking positive changes everything! Positive thinking changes the way things come to you because it helps you to perceive the events of the day in a more positive manner.

The key to positive thinking is to look for the positive in every situation and event that presents itself to you. The Universal law is that you get what you expect in life. If you expect positive things then that is what you get. If you constantly look for the negative, or expect negative outcomes, then you will surely not be disappointed. Negativity will freely present itself to you in many different forms throughout the day.

Thinking positive changes the perception of the situations and circumstances that come to you.When thinking negatively the tendency is that it brings more negative things into your life because that is what you expect. When you think positively about things in your life you bring more positive circumstanced, outcomes, and results to you.

When you think positive and issues arise then you should look for the positive in every situation – you should expect the positive outcome. Your immediate perception is that there is something good to be found within this scenario. You have the faith that whatever comes to you, even though it may not appear to be positive, you know that there is a reason for it and some part of it is positive.

Technorati Tags: Health, Mental Health, Negativity, Optimism, Science in Society, self help, Skeptical Inquiry, Thought

12 Happiness Tips For 2012

joannalyns — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:11:14 +0000

Amplify‘d from – www.positivelypositive.com

Good News

Each New Year brings awesome blogging opportunities for self-help junkies like me. I love offering up tips for making positive change—especially when readers are committed. This year I’m going to take advantage of the resolution bandwagon and throw down some tips for bringing more happy into the new year.

Now is the perfect time to make powerful change—your willingness is at an all-time high.

Check out my top twelve happiness tips for 2012:

Tip 1: Let go of 2011 baggage.

It’s likely that 2011 brought many ups and downs. This year, resolve to focus on the good stuff. Choose to let go of what went wrong last year, and commit to what will go right this year. Be grateful and appreciate all that you have. When you appreciate what you do have, you create more of what you want. Stop focusing on lack and let the energy of gratitude create a more abundant life.

Tip 2: Change the conversation.

Make a resolution to change your dialogue about fear and negativity. When you think, talk, and act from a negative place, you attract negativity into your life. Commit to a new conversation. Begin the New Year talking and thinking about what you love about your life, rather than replaying the same old negative story. You might just be surprised by the results.

Tip 3: Give.

Being altruistic not only benefits the person you’re helping but greatly enhances your own life, too. This year, commit to the mantra “How can I give?” rather than “How can I get?” Giving produces endorphins, which make you feel great! Plus, giving to others helps you get out of your own way. When you focus on giving you can stop focusing on what you’re not getting.

Tip 4: Take a ME break.

Commit to a ME break at least once a week. Take time out to focus on yourself. This is a powerful habit to create early in the year. Need some suggestions? Take a long yoga class, prepare a nice meal for yourself, or create an evening ritual. One of my favorite ways to take a ME break in the evening is to give myself a facial.

Tip 5: Get naked!

This year, make a commitment to be authentic. Get naked with your truth, offering the world your greatest gift: your authentic self. Begin a practice of being yourself on dates, in the office, or even in your home. We all thrive on true connection. So this year, get naked with your truth. Don’t deprive the world of your authentic gifts. Even if it feels uncomfortable at first—go with it—you’ll feel liberated in no time.

Tip 6: Get creative.

This year, I commit to spend more time painting. This creative hobby takes me out of my daily patterns and ignites my inner spirit. Pledge to engage in a creative project as often as possible. You’ll find that time spent in creativity heightens your happiness, and gives you more energy for the other areas of your life.

Tip 7: Do innovative exercise.

Each New Year, millions resolve to hit the gym and lose weight. This year, make your physical resolutions fun! Rather than locking yourself up in the gym for days, find cool ways to shed the pounds. I am a huge fan of Hoopnotic, a rockin’ workout with a Hula-Hoop. When I Hula-Hooped as a kid, it was just a fun thing to do. I never would’ve imagined doing it as a killer (and totally addictive) workout.

Tip 8: Practice the F-word.

Carrying resentments into the New Year will only recreate the patterns from years prior. This year, vow to let go of resentments by practicing the F-word and forgive. Become conscious of whom you need to forgive (including yourself) and be willing to let go of your resentment and turn it over daily. Each morning when you wake up, set the intention to forgive. This daily intention will ignite a consciousness of forgiveness and provide you with the necessary tools to allow the F-word process to set in.

Tip 9: Eat mindfully.

To keep your Spirit Junkie mentality intact, you must feed your soul superfoods. This New Year I’ve committed to kicking the coffee. Rather than go nuts trying to eliminate everything bad in your diet, keep it simple and choose one thing to let go of. My spiritual running buddy Kris Carr offers amazing tips for cleaning up your palate in her book Crazy Sexy Diet. Let Kris’s book inspire you to keep it simple and wholesome. There’s no need to kick it all at once. Small shifts create powerful change.

Tip 10: Be Authentic.

Rather than conform to what you think the world wants you to be, in 2012, serve the world more of YOU. Make a New Year’s resolution to be more authentic. When you share your truth with the world, your genuine gifts shine through. Plus your authenticity gives others the chance to be truthful, too!

Tip 11: Sit back and receive.

I work hard to balance my go-getter mentality with my sit-back-and-RECEIVE approach to life. This year, welcome stillness and receptivity. Through a daily meditation practice, you can begin to transform your need to control outcomes and learn to sit back and receive. You’ll come to understand that stillness is sometimes the greatest action. Begin a meditation practice today with one of my FREE Spirit Junkie guided meditations. CLICK HERE to download.

Tip 12: Expect miracles.

Kick off the New Year with a miracle mindset. Begin each day with a prayer for peace and happiness. Say out-loud or to yourself: “Thank you, inner guide, for reminding me of all the love and light in my life. I welcome positive support throughout this day. I expect miracles.” This daily prayer will jump-start your day with a miracle mindset and awaken your consciousness to the greatness around you.

Incorporate these twelve tips into your daily practices and enjoy the positive results. Trust that the Universe has your back, expect miracles, and be happy!

6 Steps to Stop Caring What Other People Think

joannalyns — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:18:29 +0000

Amplify‘d from - workawesome.com

You may be aware that in life, most things typically exist on two levels. To succeed atrelationships for example, you must fix your inner game – your self confidence, maturity, self esteem. You’ve also got to fix your outer game – your conversation skills, your appearance, your lifestyle. The reason most people get stuck when they try to stop caring what other people think is because we don’t realize that in order to do so, there are things you have to handle with your inner game, and there are things you have to handle with your outer game.

Your Inner Game:

1. Stop making imaginary reasons why people won’t like you.

Until someone has explicitly told you that they don’t like you, caring what other people think is like trying to be a mind reader – and that’s crazy. How can you know what the other person thinks without getting confirmation?

Even if you DID have a clue what “other people” thought about you, what does that matter? What other people think of you is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

2. Be prepared to accept the worst case scenario

If you’re worried about what someone else might think of you, often times it’s because you imagine a negative outcome for being honest.

Now unless you’ve acted in a crummy way to this person, chances are you can handle the worst case scenario. Most people are extremely bad at estimating how bad something will be. In order to get over this fear, rehearse this scenario in your head. Come to the place where you can accept it if it happens.

3. Get in touch with how you feel about yourself

If you’re obsessed with what other people think, could it be because you don’t think highly of yourself? Take a hard look in the mirror, and come to terms with who YOU are.

If you don’t like what you think of yourself, you must face it, and realize that that’s ok. Then you need to figure out what you need to do in order to start liking yourself again!

Do you need to make amends with somebody?

Do you need to be more disciplined in one area?

Or do you need to spoil yourself in another?

Do whatever you need to do so that you feel and believe in your own self respect.

Your Outer Game:

1. Make your opinion more important. Speak your mind, and assert boundaries

It’s almost impossible to simply “snap” and stop caring what other people think. This is because if you care what other people think, it’s because you’ve spent your life acting in a way that encourages you to care what other people think.

When you avoid speaking your mind freely for example, you force yourself to stay trapped by what other people think of you.

Here’s why:

Suppose someone offends you, but you just take it because you don’t want to cause trouble. You’ve essentially slapped your own face.

Anytime you hold your tongue, you train your mind to think “My opinion of myself doesn’t matter, but other person’s opinion of me does”.

2. Act based on what is right or wrong, not based on how much approval you get.

Most people are afraid to do what is right because they will lose friends in the process. Ironically, it is that person who can unapologetically act based on justice who is the most wildly popular person.

When you act based on what is right or wrong. You look to yourself, to determine your actions. When you act based on how much approval you get from other people, not only do you look to others to make decisions for you, terrible things can happen.

Can anyone say The Holocaust?

Acting based on right and wrong reinforces your self-respect.

3. Act based on what you think of yourself, not based on what you can get away with.

Have you ever cheated in your relationship? Have you ever stolen something?

It might feel like when you “got away” with it.

Like you’ve won. . .

But you pay a huge price for dishonesty.

When you act dishonorably, first, you establish a tone in your life where you spend time hiding the evidence of your evil deeds because you care what other people think – rather than walking around with your head held high.

Secondly, even if you get away with it in the short term, you know what you’ve done, and you know what you did was wrong. When you betray your mind like this you condition your mind to believe that your opinion of yourself is of no importance.

When you live like this, it’s impossible not to care what other people think.

–

Hope you enjoyed this post, and I’d love to find out how you will do things differently with your new tools to stop caring what other people think of you!

Say Yes to Freedom

joannalyns — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:05:14 +0000

Amplify’d from - www.livingincourageonline.com

Happy New Year from Living in Courage!

“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” -Thucydides

I wanted to share a bit of my year in 2011 with you, and to tell you that I am very excited to walk into 2012 with the gifts and lessons of 2011 under my belt. Here goes!

Wonderful lessons occurred in many areas of my life, and truth be told, some frustration and challenges. These are things that are important for personal growth and change, so I remind myself that living from the inside out, as well as living in courage is my best way forward. I am learning to be more patient and embrace stillness, to commune with nature daily, to embrace my writing heart to pen, and to always enjoy the chapters of my life. I have an amazing husband, family and friends that I am ever grateful for. Better said, I am grateful for all that is here and all that is yet to come. My personal freedom is of utmost importance to me, and that freedom means living my best life from a place of love, wisdom and joy. I am grateful for you and your support ofLiving in Courage. I wish you a very Happy New Year in 2012!

Wouldn’t it be great to see everyone living the dream of freedom? Free will gives us the power of choice, and I like to think that true freedom lives within, as do all the great qualities of love. When we make the choice to live from the inside out versus the outside in, our lives can transform. We each have to find our own place in a complex world, but what a wonderful world we have to play and create in! Freedom from the ties that bind, whether physically, mentally or spiritually is a task worth pursuing with gusto. The importance of your personal freedom will determine your course of action. I can’t tell you what that course is, only you know what is right for you. I feel freedom is our birthright, and one that goes beyond our limited thinking feeling reality. We can feel limited when we think our freedom is in jeopardy. There are many forms of freedom. What does freedom mean to you? We can bring a sharper focus and more clarity to our sense of freedom when we understand that we are solely responsible for our life by the choices we make and the actions we take.

The voice of freedom is knocking. We can all make a difference in 2012 by making choices that reflect love, wisdom and joy. We have a collective choice to change or not to change, to grow and expand, or to contact, which restricts life, and who wants that? Freedom of choice is a gift to be treasured, so in conclusion, be a good person, be harmless to yourself and others. Respect the freedom of everyone, no matter the cultural differences. We are more alike than different. After all, if we expect to engage and enjoy our freedom by living from the inside out, that takes responsibility. In that way we can each be responsible for our own inner freedom. The one that really matters!

Read more at www.livingincourageonline.com

Technorati Tags: Courage, God, Holidays, New Year, Personal Development, Philosophy, self help, spirituality

10 Reasons to Love Yourself

joannalyns — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:23:22 +0000

Amplify‘d from - blog.beliefnet.com

With the holiday season upon us, everyone is out looking for gifts to give others. Yet it’s also important to consider the gifts you can give YOU. The greatest give you can give yourself is yourself—filled with self-love. Unfortunately, many people have a hard time giving this gift is hard and are more concerned with giving others love than they are in giving it to self. That’s backwards!

January is Self-Love Month and I encourage you to think about beginning the new year with an effort to love yourself. Don’t just make self-love a New Years resolution. Take my 31 Days of Self-Love Challenge, a pledge to do something loving for yourself for the first 31 days f the year, to jumpstart building self-love. Hopefully, if you enjoy it, you’ll continue to be kind to yourself every day.

Self-love fees great! Loving yourself and who you are creates a satisfying feeling of contentment. Instead of fighting with yourself, beating yourself up or being hard on yourself, you accept yourself in your own imperfect skin. Romantic love feels great but being able to give love to you all the time trumps that! Here are 10 reasons to build your self-love:

Self-love attracts love. While it’s an almost played out philosophy, it remains that truth that if you want love, especially from a romantic partner, you have the best chance of attracting someone healthy and loving if you’re healthy and loving to you. The Law of Attraction helps with that. But in addition to that, loving yourself radiates out from you and makes you more attractive, to everyone, whether at work or play.

Self-love motivates taking good care of your health. When I began to love me, I also began to work out in the gym with a trainer, run in the park, take vitamins and supplements, and be more vigilant about what I eat. Loving yourself makes you want to take good care of the one body you have. Doing whatever you can to improve and maintain your health says, “I love me!”

Self-love is spiritual. Not loving yourself is not. It’s hard to be spiritual and not like yourself at the same time. You may pray to God and go to a place of worship and try to be a good person but if you’re not being loving to you, something is off. The more you love yourself, the more you have to give and the stronger your faith becomes. God wants you to love yourself, not just others!

Self-love helps you appreciate yourself. It helps you view yourself through the lens of love and acceptance, not criticism, self-doubt, beating yourself up for your imperfections or only seeing what’s wrong with you. It allows you to recognize and celebrate the good qualities you have instead of ignoring them until the day you lose those extra pounds, find a way to make more money, get the hair you envy in others, or whatever shortcoming you make more important than the good person you are.

Self-love gives you a 24/7 best friend. Other friends may come and go but when you love yourself, you’ll always be there for you. At that point you can learn to enjoy your own company so you’ll never feel alone. Since I fell in love with me I began eating out, traveling, going to shows and movies, for walks, etc. on my own and love it! When I didn’t love me I treated people to join me so I’d have company. Self-love makes you the best friend you could possibly have since you know what you need and will get it.

Self-love helps you make healthier decisions. While I still occasionally eat French fries, chips, rich desserts, etc., I do it in moderation. When I didn’t love myself, I never considered how I hurt my body by consistently eating unhealthy food. I ate it for comfort, as a substitute for the love I didn’t have. Now that I love me, I think more about what to eat. It also helps me to say “no” to things I don’t want to do, clear toxic people from my life, and never settle for the best in a romantic partner. Self-love is a barometer for your choices that motivates doing things that are better for you.

Self-love improves your self-image. As you see yourself through the eyes of love, your perception of you gets better. I went from thinking I was fat to having a hot sexy body without losing a pound! Self-love changed my opinion of me and enabled me to build good self-esteem and strong confidence. Over time, the more you love yourself, the more you trust yourself. That helps you take more risks and to follow your dreams!

Self-love can help you look and feel younger. The peace and joy that self-love brings can be like a tonic for your soul. That can affect how you carry yourself and your energy level. When my self-love got strong, I bumped into some former students who I hadn’t seen in several years. They asked if I’d found the Fountain of youth since I looked so much younger than when they’d last seen me. No, I explained, I found me, and love the me I found. I no longer had the weight of feeling lousy about myself in my face. Strong self-love can make you glow, just like you do from romance.

Self-love fuels the train out of DoorMatville by helping to break people pleaser habits. The more you love yourself, the less you’ll tolerate poor behavior from others. The more you love yourself, the more boundaries you’ll set. When my self-love got strong, the train out of DoorMatville was waiting for me. I got on it and never looked back! Self-love motivates protecting yourself and doing things that make you feel good. It makes you the most important person in your world so you’ll please yourself first.

Self-love leaves you with a lot more to give to others, for healthier reasons than buying acceptance. When you’re not putting all your energy into being a people pleaser so people will like you, you’re more motivated to help others from a place of kindness. And doing good for others nourishes self-love because it feels so good! People pleasing doesn’t! It leaves you feeling used, taken advantage of, etc. Self-love radiates out and back when you give of yourself.

I encourage your to build self-love so you can experience the kind of joy I feel today. It’s a lot more satisfying than jumping around to please people who don’t necessarily value you or give you back what you need. Love yourself enough to be good to you! When you take the 31 Days of Self-Love Challenge—to do something kind for yourself for 31 days—you begin to set the foundation for loving yourself for the rest of your life!

Goal Setting and Stages of Personal and Spiritual Development

joannalyns — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:42:14 +0000

Amplify‘d from - about-goal-setting.com

Moving from an outer life focus to an inner life focus defines a major transition in a persons personal and spiritual development. Living from this key stage you begin to start setting personal and spiritual goals for your life by willingly aligning your life’s energy with the guidance from the wisdom teaching within you. At the lower stages of spiritual and personal development goals are mostly driven by ego wants. I use the word lower here; this isn’t to be regarded as inferior.

Moving through the various stages of personal and spiritual development is a recognised process. You do not skip one stage and then immediately jump into higher levels of personal and spiritual awareness. Each higher phase of personal and spiritual awareness involves control over that stage. It is this mastery that gives the drive and the power to push on through all the resistance to the next stage. During all phases of spiritual and personal development you will experience resistance.

When the personality begins to become more integrated the pursuit of personal and spiritual development goals becomes less driven by the ego and begins to enter a state of flow. There is less requirement to drive the results. The energy that was once moved from the will of the personality begins to become a willingness that then expresses your heart’s desire. This willingness, rather than willfulness, becomes the drive that then manifests your sought after goals.

This higher alignment with your goals is a process of allowing. All wisdom teachings suggest that this way of approaching life is a superior way. When I use the word superior I do not intend this as a judgement but more as a description of a life lived from a sense of ease and balance. This higher process of personal and spiritual development has been given different names. It has been called the Tao. It is the invitation made from the wisdom teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. It is part of one’s true spiritual education and should be part of the education that you receive in centers of higher learning. Unfortunately most centers of higher learning ignore such wisdom teachings.

The person who can gain most benefit from this higher wisdom teaching is the person who can trust their intuition and their inner voice. Such an individual will have developed a level of personal integration whereby they are then able and willing to trust the still small voice within. If one mistrusts their interior knowing or lives a driven life, this power tends not to be made available to them. Such a person will have the tendency to set goals from the directive of the ego self and then use the power of their will to drive forward the never ending demands of the ego. This is the case even though such goals are being driven at high cost to themselves and loved ones.

At the lower levels of personal and spiritual development goal setting can become, as many behavior’s do become, addictive. This type of addiction nonetheless, is socially accepted and is commonly rewarded. When goals are being driven solely from the will this tends to reflect that the practice is being done in a half hearted way. This approach to goal setting result’s in the development of a one-sided personality. Such a person becomes more and more driven. They become more isolated from the potential fullness of a life lived from a more integrated persona.

Goals, lived in alignment with core values, lived in alignment with the will and the willingness to trust the creative process leads to a life of harmony. It is learning how to be in flow. It is allowing the drive of Creation to create forms in this world world through you. This way of setting goals is the way that the wisdom of the I Ching refers to as ‘the way of the superior man ‘ (and indeed this applies just as much to men and women). This way of the superior man or woman tends to be very different from the way that many people engage in the practice of goal setting. The primary focus of setting goals very often tends to be purely self serving with no relation to the higher Self.

Goal setting, like any other aspect of life, is a matter of balance. If the practice of goal setting becomes one-sided as, frequently occurs, then life will create situations that will pull you into balance. Often such a pull is resisted by the ego. This resistance is called suffering. It’s good to have goals. Remember, however, to keep a balance between the drive to do and the willingness to simply accept what Creation is more than willing to give. When you are willing to accept the real power of personal and spiritual development then you tend to be gifted the result you are asking for without a great deal of effort.

Tony Cuckson writes and promotes personal and spiritual development courses. He is also a professional storyteller guiding you to finding meaning and purpose through life stages and life transitions. Using various maps of the stages of personal and spiritual development together with mythology, story telling and personal and spiritual development practices you are guided to live your One Wild and Precious Life. To find out more about various stages of personal and spiritual development and the power of story telling and poetry to transform your life visit http://www.tonycuckson.com

10 Ways to Improve Your Self Image

joannalyns — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:20:23 +0000

Amplify‘d from - www.self-improvement-advice.com

How we view ourselves has a great impact on how we move through this world, how others view us, and the decisions we make in our lives. Having a positive self image is one of the most valuable gifts we can give ourselves and those around us. Our self image or self esteem as it could be called, is our source of power and here are 10 ways that will aid in improving your self image.

Positive Thinking - Filling the mind with positive thinking will reflect in your life. By thinking positive we create positive. When our thoughts are focused on the good, that which is right, the creative, the passion that we feel, we can easily make those thoughts our reality.

Positive Self Talk - For many of us there is a dialogue running through our minds most of the time and for most of us we can be our own worst enemies. Changing our inner dialogues to positive self talk can quickly and easily improve our self image. Telling ourselves that we are beautiful, creative, talented, intelligent, and worthy will aid in the process of becoming those wonderful positive aspects that reside within each of us.

Positive Speech - What comes out of our mouths is a direct reflection of what is going on in our minds and it is how people get to know us and see us. By speaking positively and sharing that with others you are not only sharing your positive self image with others you are also helping others to focus on the positive within them as well.

Do What You Love - Create the job, hobby, and life of your dreams. By doing what you love you express who you are. When you do what you love, you love and respect yourself more.

Make Healthy Lifestyle Choices - By making healthy choices in food and exercise, you feel good about yourself and you have the nourishment to be the best you that you can be.

Surround Yourself with Positive People - Positive people will help you increase your positive thinking, your positive speech, your positive self talk and your positive self image. You can use these individuals as a mirror of who you are, who you want to be, and who you are becoming.

Seek Out Positive Situations - Finding the best possible situations that will lead you to your ultimate goals will allow you to continue increasing your self image. When you are on the right path for you, you know it and you feel good about yourself.

Embrace Creativity - Create something; a project, a drawing, a garden, an article, anything you can image or dream up. Self expression through creativity allows you to release and express a part of your deeper self, increasing self awareness and in turn increasing self-image.

Focus On That Which Makes You Uniquely You - Whether it be wearing a flower in your hair, reading books for hours on end, dancing to your favorite song as you make dinner, do it! Have fun with it and enjoy every moment of it!

Stand Behind Yourself 100% - Be who you are without apologies. If you make a decision that you firmly believe is right and good and makes you feel good about who you are, stick with it, own it, it is yours, part of what makes you the special person that you are.

About Amanda Duncan: Amanda Duncan believes that a great way to achieve weight loss results and to improve health in general is to start The Day Off Diet

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