Dance Crazy!

By John Lee

I can't confess to being much of a dancer. In fact, even using the word 'dancer' with reference to my dubious efforts is taking a bit of a liberty. Have you ever witnessed the comical gyrations of the stereotypical embarrassing dad or uncle 'strutting his stuff' at a wedding?

Well, I have to confess that I have been that person. And no amount of blaming it on 'a little too much champagne' could justify my energetic and over-enthusiastic displays. I'm slightly worried that my two nephews may never get married just to avoid the shame and dishonour! ; 0 )

So I was delighted and highly amused to discover this very funny video by US motivational speaker Judson Laipply. Entitled, 'Evolution of Dance 2', it's a follow-up to his first video, charting the development of popular dance in recent years - as interpreted by less gifted 'dancers' such as myself!

It's not a new video, by any means, but is still great fun and well worth a look. So click on the link below, which will take you directly to YouTube, and enjoy a few good honest laughs.

http://youtu.be/inLBPVG8oEU

Advice To My Younger Self

By Douglas R Kruger

Contrary to popular belief, cool people do watch Star Trek. Putting the posters up in your bedroom, however, is crossing the line.

The 2010 Star Trek 'prequel' featured some mesmerizing visuals; most notably the scene in which a sprawling Romulan ship, shaped like some grand, tentacle-trailing space squid, got sucked backwards through a wormhole in time. It was Back to the Future in outer space, as Spock was afforded the chance to speak to his younger self.

'Neat trick!' I thought, and then wondered what advice I might give to my own younger self (if I'm ever sucked backwards, squid-like, through a worm-hole. These things happen).

Grasping certain principles early, rather than later in life, could exponentially increase your current-time success and prosperity. Some of what I'd tell myself would be business related and some would pertain to relationships. Some would be financial advice and some would simply be motivational.

Here's what I'd go with:

1. Nothing Comes to You

Anything you want out of life, anything you want your life to be, anything at all that you foresee as a part of your future, will only happen if you make it happen. Design and personal agency. You have to think it and make it. Time spent waiting for your ship to come in is pursuit-time wasted.

2. Start Early

Every financial planner you'll ever encounter will speak about the importance of starting to save while you're still young. That advice applies to everything: start saving early, start writing early, start taking care of your physique at the gym... like... yesterday.

The trouble with twenty-year-olds is that they don't feel a sense of urgency. The clock is ticking in the background, but they can't hear it over the hormones. I would grab my younger self by the shoulders and try to shake a sense of urgency into that dull, nattering boy.

3. Grasp the Art Epiphany Early

My younger sister won an award for Best Art Student in her senior year at high school. I requisitioned her to draw five illustrations for one of my books, but said I was not able to pay a large amount. I offered her one thousand Rand in total.

She was blown away, and replied that we had vastly differing notions of what was 'not a large amount.'

Original illustrations should be valued at thousands of Rands per item, certainly not five for a grand. So what was informing her (very low) sense of her own value?

As an eighteen-year-old, Lauren's only context for income was the odd jobs she did as a cameraman's assistant at weddings. She understood that four hours of carrying cameras is worth approximately R200. Her mistake was in extrapolating that to her area of expertise; art; and assuming that four hours of drawing should be worth the same.

It isn't.

It is worth exponentially more.

Business is the same. As an entrepreneur, you should not simply rate yourself according to hours of slog. You should rate yourself according to the value of the solution you provide. That sort of thinking makes entrepreneurs wealthy, and helps to position them at the top-end of their industries.

4. Get the Technique Right First and the Gains Will Follow

You see it in gyms around the world: Young guys, just starting out, grasping the heaviest dumbbells they can lift from the rack and swinging them dramatically to and fro, pimply faces scrinched tight in manly concentration.

Not only is that a spectacular way to permanently ruin your shoulders, but it also doesn't achieve the goal of muscle-development. So, why do they do it? Simple: To show off.

Serious bodybuilders advise us to leave our egos at the door, drop down to a weight that we can properly manage and learn the proper technique first. Get that right and the gains, they assert, will follow.

Don't get hung up on showing off. In the early stages of anything - a new job, sport, craft, hobby, skill or pursuit of any kind - learn to dispense with ego and educate yourself. Get the principles right. The gains will always follow.

5. Grasp One Simple Financial Principle

My twenty-year-old self would not listen to a long financial lecture from my thirty-year-old self. So I wouldn't try. But if there was just one principle I could impart, frankly, that would be sufficient, because this principle covers everything you'll ever need to know:

* If more is going out than coming in, you're getting poorer.
* If more is coming in than going out, you're getting richer.

It took the first half of my twenties to build up a vast mountain of debt, and the second half to (largely) climb back out from under it. Grasping that one principle could have changed my life.

6. Abuse is Not a One-Off Incident. It's a Precedent

My final pearl of wisdom to my younger self would be relationship advice. It would stem from the incident in which I asked my father-in-law for permission to marry his daughter, and he responded with, "Here are my concerns... ," and then spent the next 20 minutes laying into my character, prospects and likelihood of ever procreating.

If I could have that moment back, I would say that I wasn't there to hear his concerns. This was a polite formality only, and he could choose to give his consent or not, but we would be getting married either way.

I might also use less savory language while making the point.

Ultimately, my advice to my younger self would be a stern warning never to accept abusive behavior, in any type, shape or form, from anyone, ever. Because the first time you let it slip, you've already set a precedent for the other person's behaviour. That is now how they are allowed to treat you.

Shall we sneak a seventh in there? All right, let's round it off with: "Get a mentor."

Mentors, just like time-travelling versions of yourself, are able to shorten your learning curve. Seek them out; heed their wisdom. They are usually surprisingly willing to give of their time and advice.

The Real Lesson:

According to Popular Mechanics, time travel won't be possible for at least a couple of months yet. Pity. So the real lesson becomes this: Another ten years shall pass, whether you learn these lessons or not.

Why not practice the astonishing level of foresight necessary to ponder what advice the you-of-ten-years-from-now might wish you would follow... and then follow it?

Yes, you'd have to create a sense of urgency that you don't necessarily feel yet, and you'd need to initiate action that doesn't seem 'relevant' at this point.

But the squid-like, worm-hole traversing version of your future self will surely thank you. Maybe he'll even look you in the eyes and declare, "Live long and prosper."

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of the '50 Ways' series of books. His most booked keynote speeches are: The Rules of Hamster-Thinking, The Big Bum Theory, and How To Position Yourself As an Expert. See him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at: kruger@compute.co.za or follow him on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger

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

Learning From Life's Lessons

By Laura Schroeder

Do you ever wonder what your purpose is and what the future holds? The answer may lie in where you have been in the past. Life is like a road map. We may take different roads along the way but we will make it to our destination.

When I was a young adult living in public housing, life didn't seem to have any purpose, other than existing. What got me through it was my sense of humor and determination that there was more out there than what I was currently experiencing.

One example of this was an evening at my apartment at the scene of a crime. We were all standing outside. An officer standing by me said, "What's a nice girl like you doing in a dump like this?" I smiled at him and said, "I chose it for the ambience." He chuckled and dropped it.

Little did I know that twenty years later I would be a parole officer. God knew exactly what He was doing. Along the way, I worked hard on self improvement and education. I had some good experiences and built relationships in the community.

In my work as a parole officer, I dealt with people who seemed to have no sense of direction. On their life road map, there wasn't a destination. They just wandered from place to place. It didn't help that they were also under the influence of substances. I helped as best I could but ultimately, their choices were their own.

In order to learn from life's lessons, here are six key thoughts to moving ahead:

1. Why am I here today?
2. Where would I like to be?
3. What do I need to do to make that happen?
4. How can this be achieved?
5. Who will I need assistance from?
6. When will I see results?

I came up with these questions ten years ago for myself. They have helped me so I am sharing them with you. Even as I enter a new stage in life, I go back to them to start over. The kids are grown and I am seeking a career change. I plan on drawing from the past and helping others find their own destinations.

Whatever your destination, look where you've been and draw from it to determine where you are going. There were reasons for your paths. That is where the key lies.

Author, Laura Schroeder enjoys sharing her life experiences and encouraging others. If her articles have been helpful, you may contact her at laura@lauramschroeder.com. You may read her blog at http://lauramschroeder.com. Please make any comments family friendly.

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

Success Is Easy

With T. Harv Eker

Can it really be easy to achieve the success you desire, when there's such a strong perception in much of the world that you have to struggle and 'pay your dues' to have, do or be whatever you want?

Motivational speaker, entrepreneur and author of the book 'Secrets of the Millionaire Mind', T Harv Eker thinks so, as he explains in this brief yet highly informative video from his Rich Life Club series.

In it, he outlines the ways in which we can all make our life easier, more fun and more successful, and achieve permanent, constant results with a lot less effort than we might think.

Just click on the link below and you'll be taken directly to the recording:

http://tiny.cc/THarvSuccess



Motivational speaker, entrepreneur and author, T. Harv Eker.



The Pursuit of Happiness Becomes True Happiness

 

By Norm Ephraim, Ed.D.

Let’s face it. We all want to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a common pursuit.  We all realize, sooner or later, that outer success does not produce lasting happiness.

So what does? Loving ourselves and loving others. In fact, we can only love others authentically when we love ourselves.

So why is it that some people seem to feel self love easily, while others spend their lives searching in relationships or career accomplishments to find it? While it may seem cliche, the answer does seem to point to experiences in childhood.

What we know as self esteem begins, originally, in the esteem parents have for their children. Through the simplest acts of touch, attention to feelings, and guidance toward accomplishment, a child comes to see their own worth reflected in their parents’ eyes. They see themselves as love-able i.e. worthy and able to be loved.

These feelings are so powerful that they have been found to influence longevity. When through various forms of abuse and neglect a child fails to get this mirror of love, two things happen. First the child begins to take in the feeling of defectiveness or un-loveability.

Since, to a child, a parent is God, parental abuse and neglect (including insensitivity to feelings) is experienced as justified. "If mommy or daddy treats me this way, it must be my fault."

 A second thing also happens. Children are masters at devising strategies to get love or prevent abandonment. A common "protective strategy" is perfectionism. "If I'm perfect, then mommy or daddy will love me."

The search for perfection can become a lifetime one, whether it be for the perfect partner, the perfect accomplishment, or the perfect amusement or "high." But the result will always be disappointing. Nothing can replace self love.

Is there hope for those who didn't get enough love in childhood? The answer is a resounding yes!! But like anything worthwhile, it takes effort. The key is in the way we experience our memories of parenting.

Rather than being simply static memories from childhood, each of us carries within our mind an "inner parent," a voice which talks to us much as our parents did. If our parenting was primarily supportive, our self talk will be so also. If our parenting was primarily negative, we will tend to be self critical much of the time.

Some of this self criticism will be a simple replay of what we heard. More often, though, a child criticizes themselves to protect their relationship with parents. In this fact lies both the source of much of our distress -- and the seed of our renewal.

Once we realize that people with high self esteem talk lovingly to themselves -- especially when under stress, and those with low self esteem are self critical, we create for ourselves a pathway to change. The goal becomes changing the way we talk to ourselves.

Three Steps to Move from a Pursuit of Happiness to True Happiness 

Step One: Awareness

It’s amazing how differently we can talk to ourselves at different times. If we're having a good day, our mind often reflects this in positive thoughts. Often, at such times, our mind can be very quiet and peaceful.

Contrast this with times we're under stress or after experiencing some disappointment. At those times our mind can be quite negative and quite "busy."

In my experience, when our mind is full of anxiety, and general static, we are often re-experiencing a "child state of mind." In essence, a negative life event has sent us shuttling back in time to experience younger feelings.

Once we can recognize how we've gone from feeling expansive and adult to insecure and childlike we have an amazing gift. We can feel compassion.

Step Two: Compassion

Whenever we shift into an insecure child state of mind (we all do at times), we each "go home" to specific inner experiences of support, abuse, or neglect. Depending on our particular childhood, we will be able to generate self love and self care at such times, or not.

But whatever happens, it’s not our fault. This fact is crucial. Once we recognize that it’s only by the luck of the draw that we go home, in our minds, to inner parental support, we become more empathic.

We can feel love for ourselves and our particular story. From that compassion we can truly take better care of ourselves. We can undertake authentic adult action.

Step Three: Authentic Adult Action

In a child state of mind, we often feel passive and helpless. Our self talk includes either anxious statements like "I'll never be good enough," " I can't do it," "If only," or self critical ones "snap out of it," "grow up," or "stop making a mountain out of a molehill."

Once we recognize that we're in a child state, and have compassion to our unique childhood experience, we need to actively assert our adult energies. Authentic adult actions are those which help us shift us out of a child state to a more expansive and adult sense of ourselves. Simply put, authentic adult action involves greater self care.

Sometimes this involves just accepting our current feelings as a reflection of earlier childhood experience. At other times, it includes actively taking better care of needs. Whether it be preparing a nice meal for ourselves or calling a friend, authentic adult action is, in essence, being like a "positive self parent."

Often, too, authentic adult action involves challenging our stream of negative self-talk. This is much easier to do when we realize that we're in a child state of mind. We may be stuck in the pursuit of happiness and not truly happy.  Whenever we're having catastrophic "what if" thoughts about the future, we can become more relaxed if we recognize that our thinking may be more that of a young child than a full adult.

This can give us compassion -- and, often, a humorous perspective. The three keys to self love and truer happiness are awareness, compassion, and authentic adult action.

Article Source: http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/the-pursuit-of-happiness

About the Author:

Norm Ephraim, Ed.D., is a licensed psychologist in Boston, Mass. specializing in the treatment of anxiety and depression. He is the author of Mood Shifting: Understanding and Transforming Your Negative Moods.

Are You Struggling with Resistance?

As Carl Jung – the founding father of analytical psychology – one famously stated, “What you resist, persists.”

And if you’ve ever tried with all your might to put a difficult incident, situation or relationship behind you, only to find it coming back time after time, his words will ring true.

This sense of ‘struggle’ that we often experience when we resist a particular outcome is the subject of an email that dropped into my inbox the other day from Dr Robert Anthony.

A psychotherapist, NLP practitioner, master hypnotist and personal performance trainer, with over 30 years’ experience, Dr Anthony is one of my personal heroes.

Not only does he impart incredible wisdom, in my view, he’s authored some of the finest personal development products ever seen.

Products such as The Secret Of Deliberate Creation, Self Confidence Creator and Deliberate Creation Instant Self Hypnosis – all well worth investing in, as I have myself.

In the meantime, however, below is that email. I hope you find it both interesting and beneficial:

“Breakthroughs do not happen when we are stressed. They happen when we finally let go and stop struggling. Resisting is at the heart of struggle.

Although what we are resisting feels like it is ‘out there’ the resistance is really inside of us. That is, if you are resisting anything, you are really resisting yourself.

When we resist something we increase the amount of struggle in our lives and this in turn increases how much scarcity we experience.

When we resist, we make things harder than they have to be. By making things difficult we create struggle and prolong getting where we want to be.

We make things complicated because we are afraid to decide. It is partly our fear of the unknown – what will happen if – and partly our fear of making a mistake.

The excuse I hear most from my clients is that are afraid they may make the ‘wrong’ decision.

There is the fear that somehow they will permanently be locked into the consequences of their choices.

But consider this for a moment. What if there are no ‘wrong’ choices, only choices. Even if we don’t make the best choice, we will be guided to what we need to learn.

All great athletes understand this concept. They know they can only anticipate so much, but have to make constant instantaneous decisions IN THE MOMENT as each new situation arises.

So who wouldn't want to stop struggling? More people than you can imagine. I struggled for most of my life with the illusion of struggle.

The power of any illusion is its ability to keep us thinking the illusion is real.

When you give up struggle it involves letting go of both the past and the future to activate what is needed right now.

It is not your hard work that creates the results, but your ability to give up struggling and forcing things to happen.

Flow happens when we accept and embrace ‘WHAT IS’. Flow happens when we release our death grip on resistance and insistence and instead step back and take more conscious actions.

Flow is the lack of resistance. It is effortless. The magic in life is believing in possibilities and the getting out of your own way.

Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation that you are making progress – IF YOU LOOK FOR IT!

Truly Caring for Your Success!

Dr. Robert Anthony."

9 Success Factors for Achieving Your Best Life - with Brian Tracy

A really good video from one of the personal development world's most established leading lights, in which he shares his opinions on the kinds of qualities we all need to develop if we want to start living the life we want.

Intellectual capital (as opposed to the knowledge gathered from conventional education) good work habits, a positive mental attitude and a positive image are among the subjects he covers, along with the value of good friends and personal relationships.

Some of it may sound a little obvious, but it's always worth reminding ourselves of such things as the routine of day-to-day life and habits that we easily fall into steer us along a certain path and shape our attitudes. Hope you get something out of it.

Simply ==> Click Here

Watching Over Yourself

I came across this great feature by a lady called Nur Nuha the other day and it rang so true that I wanted to share it with as many people as possible.

It's about taking the time to care for ourselves - something that so many of us ngelect to do when we spend our lives looking after others, whether it be children, partners, other relatives, friends or even colleagues.

Nur suggests, quite rightly, that we make sure to take the time out to care for and nurture ourselves and our desires, and offers some excellent advice on how to do so. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

"When we care about someone, we watch over their well-being. We do whatever we can to care for them, to support them, and to help them whenever they are in need. We follow their life journey because we care. But do we care about ourselves enough that we watch over ourselves moment to moment?

Oftentimes we have a wish list in our mind: what we want to do, what we want to have and what we want to be. We want to get rid of our bad habits, we want to stop the chaos in our life and be at peace again, we want to be in control of our own life. The list could go on and on... But do we care enough that we watch over ourselves to make sure our wishes come true?

How do we watch over ourselves?

Be mindful. Every moment is a space to live in. Every moment is an opportunity to make changes or to improve your life. Every moment is a chance to explore new things. Be there for yourself every moment of your life. Do not waste, not even a moment. Life is precious. Make the best use of every moment of your life.

Use your five senses to feel alive. Live with your heart and soul. Enjoy, cherish and make full use of what you have right now. Forget about what you don't have. It's a time wastage. Do not live with your mind, but live with your heart and soul. Let go all the noise and chatter in your mind. Let go the past memories. Let go plans and worries of the future. Let go judgments. Let go expectations. Just be there for yourself and watch over yourself through your heart and soul.

Oftentimes we miss watching over ourselves because we are too busy living in our mind. It is not easy to let go those memories, the worries, the judgments and the expectations. Our mind just can't stop thinking. So, just let it be. Let your mind think, watch over what you are thinking, through your heart and soul.

Use the 'push out' therapy, rather than the 'pull out' therapy. When you say to yourself, "I want to let go my past memories, my worries of the future, my judgments and my expectations", you are pulling out those negative thinking out of your mind. Though you want to get rid of them, you are still thinking about the negatives when you mention them in your mind.

Push out therapy, on the other hand, occupies your mind with the positives to push out the negatives. Be appreciative. Be grateful of what you have right now. Thank God for the clean water you are using, the electricity that enables you to do your activities day and night.

Thank God for your good health. Be thankful for the lessons you gain from the obstacles and hardship in life. Whatever it is, fill up your mind with only the positives one. Every time there is an attempt to think about the negative, replace it with the positive ones.

Push out therapy is more relaxing and peaceful because you fill up your mind with the positives and give no chance at all for the negatives to occupy your mind. Whereas pull out therapy is more stressful. You are trying to clear up your mind without replacing it with something beneficial. Your mind can't stay empty for long. It needs something to digest. This gives the negatives the chance to get back in.

The important thing is to be aware. Watch out what you are thinking. Let your heart and soul be your guidance. Appreciate what you are doing and being. Feel it with your heart and soul. Just live your life the best you can, moment to moment.

Life is about creating, improving and being."

Check the author's website at http://learn-wisely.com for more inspirations. Create a beautiful life, improve your relationship and be your best with the help of her e-book 'A Guide to a Blissful Life', which outlines 8 simple attributes to live by.

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

Releasing Limiting Beliefs... with The Inspiration Show

By John Lee

If you've studied personal development to any level, you'll be aware of the concept of 'limiting beliefs' - those beliefs anchored in the subscious mind that we pick up or learn, usually at a very early age, from parents, teachers and other influential people, who often have only our best interests at heart.

Unless something happens to change our view, life experience tends to reinforce and strengthen these beliefs, which hold us back even though we recognise in our conscious mind that there's no logical reason for us to hold on to them. So the question is, how do we release them?

Well, Natalie Ledwell of Mind Movies, who hosts her own internet-based video series called 'The Inspiration Show' has some great ideas and advice. Take look at the episode entitled 'Eliminating a Limiting Belief' by clicking on the picture below. I hope you find it useful...