By definition,an affirmation is a statement repeated time and
again either verbally or mentally-or written down. The words
of the affirmation statement - in themselves -when spoken,
thought of, or written *without* a pictorial (visualized) or
emotional connection- make a very weak affirmation.
Year after year I find more and more individuals saying to me that they were still waiting for the warm temperatures to arrive one more time before the snow comes. In many ways these individuals did not have a very positive outlook on the arrival of the winter season. What can be done to have a more positive outlook towards the arrival of winter?
There was someone I used to work with who, well aware of their tendency to look at the negative side of things, used to constantly tell themselves to "think more positively".
I am an educator as well as a coach and am interested in what it is that brings out the best in the people with whom I work. Over the last few years I have read a great deal of research on the power of beliefs. I am convinced that it is essential that I hold, and communicate to my students or clients that I believe in their ability to learn, to heal, and to grow.
This may sound quite aberrant to most of the younger generations who are not really exposed to the personality development articles, books or motivational lectures.
As a being of thought, your dominant mental attitude will
determine your condition in life. It will also be the
gauge of your knowledge and the measures of your attainment.
The so-called limitations of your nature are the boundary
lines of your thoughts; they are self-erected fences, and
can be drawn to a narrower circle, extended to a wider, or
be allowed to remain. You are the thinker of your thoughts
and as such you are the maker of yourself and condition.
Thought is causal and creative, and appears in your character
and life in the form of results. There are no accidents in
your life. Both its harmonies and antagonisms are the
responsive echoes of your thoughts. A man thinks, and his
life appears.
Look for the positives!Seek them out - those little scary places that it's challenging to let yourself go to - the positives are genuinely scary, because they give you hope and it's hard to let go of all the fears you have right now - so hanging onto them is the easiest path!So try letting yourself go, just for the heck of it!Take that step back from being 'done to' and take the initiative. At work, at home or wherever, this can be a great time, if you let it. There are loads of ideas why. Here are eleven of my favourites...
Personal Growth
Change gives us great moments for self-development and personal growth. It is in times where there is a lot going on, where we have to get out of our box to think, even when change is imposed, that we move forward.
Involving Others
During change periods we can create relationships that are new - and we, as managers, have a great chance to bring others into our confidence and into our network.
Adventure
There is something about change, large or small which creates 'something different' from our routine day. This is pretty cool really. We are being provided with stimulating mental exercise to make the best of things happening differently. It might not look that way, but change brings adventure!
Building it in
Learning about big changes, means that we can closely observe why those changes are necessary. We have to make radical changes because we have strayed well off course. So as we learn, we can make provision to have some minor course corrections rather than completely the wrong destination.
Challenge
In his great book, 'The Inner Game of Work', Timothy Gallwey talks about the fine balance between security and challenge being what gets people motivated. By creating new things to learn, to do, we stretch our people - and ourselves.
Opportunity
Change brings new opportunity. For learning; for understanding ourselves better; for new perspectives; for different roles. These can be grasped personally or they can be dwelt on miserably. The better choice is to go for it!
Team Bonding
Change exercises, big and small can be great to develop a team. Where there is the opportunity to work together, manager with their closest people there are often places, moments where the team spirit; the trust and the shared commitment - the 'Dunkirk spirit' even, enables future potential of a team to be loosened.
Honesty
Where radical change proves necessary it enlightens those involved that where they are is not where they need to be. Carrying out a review of why serious change is necessary and seeking the real truth is very revealing. The icing on the cake for those involved in organisational change processes is to create a feedback loop that renders future major change unnecessary.
Choice
Change is not truly necessary. Change is about choice. You have the choice whether to accept it positively or not. It is your choice and everyone has that - believe it or not. No-one is holding you down to prevent you getting away. Take personal responsibility for the choices you make.
Focus
Change gives the opportunity for and usually gets really down to the gist of the issues that have precipitated the need. This is good. Your organisation is realising that things need to be different, for all sorts of reasons, but usually for the health of the organisation and that means you, usually. For some it may mean loss of role, status and even job - now what positive opportunity does that bring!
Passion
And finally, we have the opportunity to review our own roles, not just in the workplace, but in life too. Are you passionate about your work - or are you just muddling through? Are new opportunities presented to you personally through change - within or without the place where you work today? What is your personal passion and how do you work towards making that how you spend every day of your life?
Last time we talked about how to begin building the mind's powerful framework for success. The lesson we needed to learn was that self-talk has a powerful affect on the results we achieve. We learned that the mind will manifest whatever we dwell on, be it negative or positive.
Have you ever noticed what can happen if you just met a friend in the street and shared a cab? You are both in the cab, all is fine, you plan to attend a social function and suddenly your cab gets involved in an accident. The police comes and you are a witness in an unforeseen event. Per chance? Not quite. There might be an explanation.
All people have vibrations emanating from their bodies. Some people have much stronger vibrations than others (as evident in the human aura) while others have energies very focused at a certain point in the human system (physical, mental or spiritual) and of greater strength than most. Such people are instrumental in attracting to themselves events of a positive or negative nature. As in the case of an earthquake that has an epicenter. I term such people as catalysts because that?s what they are.
The late Norman Vincent Peale was a controversial preacher who burst into public consciousness with his best-selling book, "The Power of Positive Thinking". He believed that ordinary people could become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things, and when they believe in themselves, they have the secret of success.
Optimism: The Tremendous Benefits of a Positive Attitude
How many times have you heard someone say, "Hey, cheer up!" or "Turn that frown upside-down!"? Unconsciously we all seem to know that optimism is a virtue and that a negative outlook is something to be concerned about. And did you know that there are actually a host of concrete reasons why this is so?
Crocker returns to haunt Bellamy (The Australian) IF it had been up to Craig Bellamy, Michael Crocker would have spent last night snuggled up with his wife in a nice English cottage, trying to stay warm rather than being welcomed back into Queensland's State of Origin camp.
Kay Hill, 101, says positive attitude the key to long, happy life (The Daily News) Katheryn ?Kay? (Beckham) Hill has lived a number of lives in her 101 years. From the daughter of a deputy sheriff in Kelso, to wife of a farmer, to a poised and polished manager of a clothing store, Kay has dipped her toe in many pools. Sometimes things turned out well. Other times, the life just didn?t work out for her, she said.
Green Day Having The Time Of Their Lives (CBS News) "Time of Your Life" was a huge hit for Green Day, the rock band that this weekend has the No. 1 album in the country. After years in the business, Green Day continues to make records - and news.
College: Princeton s rising star (The Citizen of Laconia) Princeton freshman Patrick Saunders (22) drives to the hoop against Rutgers earlier this year. The Gilford resident and New Hampton School graduate was the recipient of the Bob Rock Sixth Man Award in recognition of his relentless work ethic and positive attitude.
Ethiopia: The New Climate of Fear (AllAfrica.com) Europeans are the creators of unfair trade, colonialism, and other bad practices which resulted in the current human chaos all over the world; Americans are collection of immigrants who do not have positive attitude to their native nations.
RELATED ARTICLESWhy We Shouldnt Worry
Almost everyone experiences some form of worry one time or another. It is a part of life. Everyday, we struggle financially, make decisions, and face major changes in life. These things create an inevitable occasional wave of apprehension. Ordinarily, a certain amount of worry is essential for our survival. It helps us to focus on the task at hand and leads us to constructive action. However, when worry goes overboard, instead of being a good friend, reminding us to use good sense, worry suddenly morphs into a bully, making us crazy about things we can't control. Here's a list of reasons why constant worry is not good, if it is at all:
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Striving to improve our self esteem is on everybody's mind. It doesn't matter if you actively pursue this goal or you subconsciously working on improving your self esteem. The problem with this is that you really don't know exactly what you want to improve. You're acting intuitively on external signals.
Peak Performance
Peak Performance. It means being at the top of your game, feeling supremely confident, feeling like everything you do is effortless and acheives its goal, feeling resilient and detached from the outcome, being in the flow, being in the zone, feeling relaxed, feeling happy and joyful, having a sense of clarity and certainty about everything that you do, feeling a sense of fullness in your life, indeed feeling fulfilled.
Keep Your Cool
Know your limits. Accept what you can't change and let go of things out of your control.
Ease your tension. Take a walk; listen to music, splash cold water on your face.
Earn small rewards when you make the choice not to become angry.
Phone a friend. It helps to share your concerns and talk things out.
The Ultimate In Positive Thinking?
I will never forget an evening in 2003, when I met an amazing gentleman. I had, for several weeks, had a problem with my foot and ankle, having great trouble walking because of the pain. It was a bit swollen, and I thought it was an injury of some sort, although I could not recall how it had happened.
How to Plan a Vacations of the Mind
Part 1
Taking Responsibility for Yourself
This week I happened to catch a few minutes of a popular talk show on television, and the topic was confessions. A young man was confessing to his girlfriend of 5 years that he had cheated on her with her best friend. Not too unusual these days I guess. But what he said next floored me. "It was an accident. One thing led to another and before I knew it, we were having sex."
Improve Your Relationships Instantly
Discover how easy it is to improve your relationships. The following
relationship advice will encourage people to help you willingly and
cheerfully. It just takes one easy communication skill, and two magic
words.
Balanced Living: 18 Steps
A balanced life not only leaves you feeling more fulfilled; you will become healthier in body as well as mind. Ponder on each step below. One per day is the ideal. If you rush then you are failing before you begin. Taking your time over anything is the first positive step to a sustainable success in all things. Anything worthwhile ? they say ? is worth waiting for. Today we cannot wait for anything ? allow your self the luxury of slowing down and discover you will actually achieve more.
Being Tender With the Ugly Parts of Yourself
Does that title make you cringe? It made me cringe when it popped into my head a few days ago.
Change Your Attitude, Change Your Life - Books to Help You Find the PMA Inside You
Many of the books on this page were inspired by the late great Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, God rest his soul, who encouraged us all to have a PMA every day!
3 Ways to Change Roadblocks into Valuable Tools
Our initial reaction when hitting a setback or a "roadblock, whether it be during an important project or even just trying to finish a task, is usually one of frustration or the thoughts of "Why does this always happen to me?" or "why doesn't anything ever work for me?". Roadblocks can be valuable though. Here's how:
Think Positive: Using Affirmations to Create Health, Wealth and Beauty
You've heard the buzzwords: Attitude is everything! Change your perspective! Have a positive outlook! But, can these words really change our future? And if so, how?
Important Days Ahead
Humans tend to categorize things by large or small, bright or dull, special or ordinary, and so on. We like to bring order and structure, but sometimes our efforts to place things into neat little slots can blind us to the little moments of joy we could be experiencing every day.
A Major Block to Constructive Change
A Yale University study a few years ago revealed that the average child is scolded - criticized - over 20,000 times between the ages of two and ten. Mom says, "No, Charlie - don't touch that!" Or a teacher says, "Jackie, that's not the way to do it!" All those "Nos" and "shouldn'ts" add up to a predisposition toward self-criticism that we must look at before we can truly change our lives.
Personal Assignments for Great Self-Esteem
Do you wish you had high self-confidence? Some of us go through our life fighting against that feeling that we are just 'not good enough'. We convince ourselves that we don't matter and that we don't deserve to amount to anything?..but what price do we pay? The fact is that many people are lacking is self-esteem, yet feel powerless to do anything about it. Poor self esteem needs to be addressed with a vengeance; it affects your emotional and physical wellbeing and really reduces the quality of your life. So it's time to take action and raise the bar right now. Here are some tips to help you get started:
Perfect to the Penny
At some point in our careers, we may find ourselves part of an obsolete operation, such as a downsizing, business insolvency, or even a single retail store closing.
