Thursday, November 29, 2007

You Are What you Think

"Whatever thoughts you plant in your subconscious mind
and nourish every day with conviction and emotion will
one day become a reality.

Constant repetition carries conviction.
Repeat something often enough and it
will start to become you.

A change in what you tell yourself will result in a
change in your behavior.

What you impress upon your mind, you'll inevitable become.
You are what you think."

I recently received this quote from The Daily Guru (www.thedailyguru.com).
Just as we are what we eat, we are what we think. When we fill our bodies
with healthy, whole, nourishing food we are fueling our bodies to enable us to
live a full healthy life. When we fill our minds with positive thoughts we fuel our minds to inform our bodies and our soul that enables us to become our best.

We all have the inner critic that fills our minds with "I can't", "You're not good
enough", "Don't even bother," or "Just quit." That negative inner critic often gets louder as we begin to make changes to our lives. That inner critic resists change and wants us to stay right where we are. This increase in negative chatter can cause us to feel we're in the midst of chaos. The negative voice is so loud! Clients often ask me, "How do I quiet that voice?" or "How do I NOT listen to it?"

It's all about choice. You can choose to listen to the negative chatter or you can choose to do something about it. If you choose to continue to listen to the chatter, where will that take you? What's the impact on your life?

If you choose to do something about it, here are steps to Quiet Your Inner Critic.
1. Gain awareness. Notice when you hear that negative voice.
*When are feel criticized
*If you make a mistake
*Situations where you risk failing
*Situations where you are challenging yourself
*Times when you feel hurt
*Times when you are making changes
2. Gather your awareness. For one week, become aware as possible of the negative statements that you hear. Keep a log using three columns:
1. Time of day
2. Negative statement
3. Positive reconstruction*
3. For each negative statement write down a positive reconstruction of the sentence.
a. For example: "I can't do it" becomes "I can try"
"I am not (Fill in the blank)" becomes "I am becoming (BLANK)"
b. Eventually your "becoming" statements will turn to "I AM" statements!

Take the advice from the quote above, whatever you plant in your mind will become a reality.
Repeat it often, and it will become you.

Go out and fill your mind, your body and your soul with positive and nourishing fuel. You are what you think! What are your thoughts about yourself? Make those changes today! It's time.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Have A Plan, Work Your Plan

Have a Plan, Work your Plan

When we have daily success in our lives, we receive the benefits from feeling good about ourselves as people. When we create a positive environment for ourselves and others, we learn and perform better.

When we recognize harmful thoughts as they happen, and change them to helpful ones, we learn and perform better.

Here’s a way to incorporate daily success into our lives and our to-do lists!

If your goal is to fit exercise into your weekly schedule, here’s four steps to accomplish that goal.

1. Make the time: Look at your daily routine. Where can you find 30-60 minutes to exercise each day. Finding the time might require you to change your routine…which is good, because your current routine is not allowing for the exercise time. Write your exercise time on your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself.
a. Wake up earlier,
b. Change your morning routine so that you go to the gym instead of reading emails or reading the paper.
c. Take a walk before your shower.
d. Use your lunch hour
e. Pack your gym bag and leave it in the car

2. Have a workout plan before you go to the gym.
a. Know what you will do before you get there.

3. Have a contingency plan.
If the kids are sick, it’s raining, or you’re called to a last minute meeting, have plan B in mind to implement if going to the gym is not going to work today.
a. Jump rope
b. Push ups
c. Go for a walk/run

4. Be happy with progress-not the results.
a. Remember, Action is progress.
b. Track your progress. Write down what you did, how you felt, your HR, miles, weight in a workout journal after each workout.
c. Every so often, flip through the pages and see how far you have come.

Exercise is now part of your daily routine! Make no excuses!

So, what about you? How will you implement these tips into your life to increase your daily success? Post your reply.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Steps to Achieving A More Balanced Life

In general, Mothers have HUGE hearts and they give it all. They work until it hurts. They give to their children, spouses, friends, at work, volunteering...the list goes on and on. Most Moms also tend to get frustrated, stressed, exhausted, drained. Moms often try to solve this by working harder, giving more, doing more....really giving EVERYONE their all. And, it shows. Many times it shows in their health, in their well-being. Giving until it hurts is not sustainable.

However, there IS another way!

Most Moms want good health, energy and more time.
How do I know this? I was one of those Moms. I gave to everyone and everything, except myself. I felt guilty if I dared even think about doing something for me. Sit down, read a book? I just could not! There was always something to DO!
I live my life very differently now. I learned to slow down, live in the moment, fill myself up with what I love. This new way of living has enabled me to be fit, healthy, balanced and present for my family.

Here's four things you need to know:
1. Invest in yourself, NOW. Not tomorrow. TODAY.
Just as a financial advisor would tell you, if you want to save $10 a month, put it in your savings account first, then pay your bills. Same for YOU, fill yourself up then you'll know how much you have to give.
2. Get clear about what your personal values are, and start living them.
What's really important to you? Think about someone you most admire. What are the qualities of that person? Those qualities are important to you because they are also your personal values. Is honesty important to you? Then how can you live more honestly right now?
3. Know the first signs of stress and release them.
Pay attention to your body. How do you experience stress? How do you release it?
4. Set clear boundaries. Learn to say NO!


Sounds simple, doesn't it?
Well, the key to making changes in your life is not to just think about what and how to change...it's taking ACTION!
So, how will you invest in yourself TODAY? What action will you take?
What action will you take in getting clear about your values and then living them?
What action will you take to relieve your stress?
What do you need to say NO to in order to say YES to yourself?