Getting Negative? Try This!

I want to share this article by Anna Watkins with you today. Talk about turning the negative into the positive.

Substitute the solution "I Could If . . .", whenever you feel like "I Can't Because . . ." whenever you feel a negative self talk coming on.

Here is Anna:

I Could If . . .

Action expresses priorities. (Mohandas Gandhi)

Many of us could have graduate degrees in excuse making. We have developed it to such a fine art that we really should get an honorary doctorate.

Now you may be thinking that it would be terrific to have people calling you, "Doctor." However, all that excuse making skill will not cut it in the real world if we want to achieve our dreams and have an enjoyable life.

Let's try another approach.

Take your personal example and put it through this exercise.

Your current story begins, "I can't because blah blah blah."

Here are some examples:

I can't get a new job or promotion because my computer skills are not strong enough.

I need more clients but I don't have the time or money to work on my marketing.

I want to spend more time with my family (friends or hobby), but my work is too demanding.

Is that really true? Do you have so little control over your life that these things are beyond your reach? Ha! If you really really really want to make this happen, you can!

Your NEW story begins, "I could if."

Now start writing and list as many actions as you can think of - no matter how crazy some of them may appear. No judgment - just writing!

I could if I:

Spend 20 minutes a day using the Help function of the computer application I am using

Read the user manual

Take a class

Ask someone with more skills to help me

I could if I:

Attend one more network gathering each month

Follow up with current or former clients to see how they are doing and how I may be of assistance

Give prospective customers something of value - an article, free newsletter, etc.

Listen to my customers to learn how I can add more value for them

I could if I:

Schedule and keep an appointment for time with my spouse, my kids, my golf clubs, bird watching, painting

Look for events we can enjoy and mark them on the calendar or post them on a bulletin board

Buy tickets and commit to attending an activity together

Volunteer, making a commitment to support a cause that we can enjoy together

OK. Your turn!

What ever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now! (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

by Anna Watkins

Anna Watkins is a Career Coach with a special interest in group coaching and Master Mind Groups, networks of like minded people who support and help each other stay on track with their life goals.You can learn more about the resources she offers through her website: http://www.one-e-anna.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anna_Watkins

Is Winning Everything? Depends On Your Definition Of Winning!

Picked up the following video from a tip from tkulser of Aweber on Twitter - Just had to pass this on, had me in tears.



WOW! How do I follow that? What an example of true winners . . .

Brainstorming, Cultivating Belief In Your Goals

Following up on the last post, I have been asked how to create belief in your goal, if at first you are not sure you can do it. Yes, how do you create certainty for yourself? Or is it a leap of faith?

I think Belief is a critical requirement to getting what you want. I believe you must believe your goal is attainable or you will not make the efforts necessary to achieve it.

Here is how I generally start out.

Remember, I do believe that you have to have the Belief that you can do it and more importantly, that you will do it! Belief And Commitment combined . . . are unstoppable. This is why people with a cause are so persistent.

So first, give yourself a cause.

Choose one goal and commit to it's achievement. It seems that this is always the starting point isn't it? It must be something that you feel you can not live without, or you must develop that feeling for it to work. Remember, reasons first, then action.

Did you choose one?

Are you commited to making it a reality in your life? Did you decide that you must have it and absolutely will have it? Is it do or die? Are your reasons for having it, strong enough to propel you forward right now and compel you to action when you may not 'feel' like it?

If not, then choose another one, this is no time to waste your energy on something you are not serious about.

OK. Aggressively research and brainstorm all the ways you can get this goal.

Write them down quickly as you think of them. Use shortforms and abbreviations if you have to, but keep the flow of thought going for as long as it takes. This is a tremendously important part of the process.

Set out some quiet time for this, no interruptions allowed. Let others know that you are doing something of the utmost importance and you are not available for this time period. (Could be 1-2 hours)

Also, do not consider any negative thoughts while you are in the flow. Keep the positive momentum flowing and stay in the zone. There is plenty of time for exploring the negative after you finish with all of your positive ideas.

Finished? OK now, remember those negatives that kept coming up throughout the above?

What challenges or problems will come up when you start taking action? What do you see happening or preventing you from getting what you want? Are there any limiting factors or bottlenecks that may delay or stop your progress?

Write these down also. You have to know what may stand in your way, so that you can address it within your planning. It is not good or bad, just what is.

Be honest with yourself, if you think it, write it down. There is no such thing as unimportant thought. It is all important, vitally important!

Next, come up with solutions that will take care of these problems.

Write down multiple answers to each problem. Stay positive and focused on your target. Write down everything that comes to mind.

All those things that could keep you from succeeding, come up with tons of ways to deal with them. This will give you unstoppable confidence and belief in your ability to have what you want.

Break down your solutions into action steps, into small workable tasks that you can complete quickly. Break each step down into 5 smaller actions. Then break those down into 5 smaller ones. Keep breaking down tasks until you have absolute belief in yourself that you can and will do it, right now, today!

In fact, Break them down until they are ridiculously simple!

Small, simple actions are easy to accomplish, and when these particular actions are put together, they equal the goal result that you want. Again, together they equal the goal result you want!

Belief becomes automatic because you "know" that there is nothing standing between you and the next simple little step, and so on to your goal.

All that is left is to work your plan. You created it, you are commited to it, you must do it, so just do it, and go get your goal. Start with the first step and complete it right now, today. So what are you waiting for? Go For It!

Are you still here? Go get that goal! LOL!

No plan is perfect so there will inevitably be obstacles and distractions, little things which will stand in your way for temporary periods of time. When this happens, just break these down.

And start again . . . and again. Stay flexible and adjust your approach when these occur. Believe, and have faith in the long term.

Adjust your plans and actions as necessary until you have what you want. The result is in the bag, it is a sure thing, all that will change are the strategies, and the timing. You will prevail. This is true.

If this is a major complex goal, you will want to work it backwards through smaller goals, and then break them down into action steps.

Focus on the solution instead of the fear or doubt. This strategy will work for any goal you pick.

Focus on what you want continuously, with passion, and with absolute faith, knowing that you have absolutely done everything necessary and are entitled. Act with that level of belief, and certainty that causes miracles to happen!

Believe it! Now . . . go make your own miracle!

I hope that helps. See you next time.

Life's Treadmill - Easy To Get On, But Can We Ever Get Off?

Are You Bored With the Treadmill of Life?
By Gary Simpson

Every week for years and years you get up in the morning, go to work, come home, pay the bills, get up again, go to work, come home, pay the bills. Sound familiar? You're on what I call "the treadmill of life."

Unless you are happy with this existence you had better start doing something to change it. Because, if you don't, in ten years time, and with a few more wrinkles and some more gray hair, you will still be getting up, going to work, coming home and paying the bills.

You see, most of us get into this routine. Pretty much we fall into it, obliviously. Everybody else is doing it. It's just the done thing. Or is it?

Well, who wrote the script?

If this is "normal" for you then I can almost guarantee that after years and years of doing it you will one day wake up and wonder why you keep doing it.

Maybe it will be next year, maybe in a few years, maybe it will take another ten or twenty or thirty years. Hey, maybe you are wondering about it right now! Are you?

What are you going to do about it? What is the defining event that will allow you to jump off the treadmill? To answer that, you need to know why you are on the treadmill in the first place.

I can categorically state that 100% of people who are on the treadmill do it to pay those darn bills that seem to appear almost magically every day in our letter boxes.

Let me put you to the test. If you had no bills to pay and could exist comfortably without money would you still you get up every morning and tootle off to work? Well, would you?

Do you have something else that you would rather do with your time? Do you enjoy battling the highways and the subways with hundreds of thousands of other commuters?

What are you going to do about it? To replace your income will open up your life to a whole new spectrum of options. Think about it.

But how can you achieve such a thing? How can you replace your income? How can you get off the treadmill that will command your life until you retire?

Just think - when you "retire" with that nice little super-annuation and retirement benefit - then you can REALLY enjoy yourself. Heck, maybe you can even take that ski trip that you have spent all your youth waiting for.

Have I got you thinking? I hope so! Don't wait until all your youth and health has been spent in the system before you realize that there could have been so much more to life.

To learn how you can get off the treadmill click here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Attitude, That Is What We Have To Work With - Quote

Charles Swindoll said,

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home.

The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.”

-- Charles Swindol