How to Be Happy: 5 Steps to Living a Life You Love – with Brian Tracy

Posted by John Lee of YourBestYouEver.net

GIVEN the turmoil being stirred up around the world by various political and social events, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the above idea is becoming increasingly difficult.

In fact, you may well have read the title of this post with a wry smile on your face and a heavy dose of cynicism in your heart. 

Brian Tracy reveals his 5 steps to a Life you Love

Yet whatever’s happening to our world – on a local or global scale – the one element we all have under our control is our personal happiness.

Of course, whether or not we choose to do anything about that is up to us as individuals. But the video you can access below certainly offers some excellent pointers.

If you’re already familiar with Brian Tracy, you’ll know he’s one of the very best specialists in personal and professional development. If not the best.

And the short recording is typical of his simple and down-to-earth, yet very powerful work.

In the video, Brian examines concepts such as:

* The vital ingredients for happiness

* The need to listen to the, ‘Still, small voice within’

* Why you must first understand that you deserve to be happy

* Why happiness must be the, ‘Organising principle of your life’

* The importance of being prepared to, ‘Pay the price’

It’s characteristically insightful and thought-provoking. And it’s much more encouraging than any TV or internet news channel you might be watching right now!

Take a look. Click on the link below to be taken to the original recording:

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Five Steps To Move Toward Your Dreams

By Dee Scott

A FEW years ago, I watched the movie ‘Castaway’, starring Tom Hanks.

The movie was about a man named Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer, whose ruled-by-the-clock existence abruptly ended when a harrowing plane crash left him isolated on a remote island, struggling to survive.

It took Chuck four years to realize no one was coming to rescue him. One day he decided to build a boat and take a risk to get off the Island.  

Are you 'cast away ' on an island of unfulfilled dreams?

It was ‘do or die’ time for him. He realized if he remained on that Island he would eventually die. He also knew if he tried to leave, he could risk dying at sea.

He took a chance. He decided to risk his life before he remained stranded.

Many of us have been cast away to an island that we do not want to remain on. Yet, we are too afraid to leave because we do not know if we will succeed.

Maybe that Island is a dead end job, a toxic relationship, friendship or habit.

For me, it was becoming an author. For years I wrote books, poems, and short stories; then I would let them collect dust.

It was only after I recovered from an illness that I decided, like Chuck Noland, it was time to get off my island.

Maybe you have a dream you want to fulfill but everyone is telling you that you’re not qualified.

Maybe you want to submit a manuscript to a publisher, go back to school, or start a business, but fear of failure, rejection, and criticism are impeding you.

Whatever it may be, you can do it!

Here are five steps to get started.

1. First, realize that no one is coming to rescue you. If you want to achieve anything, YOU, will have to put in the hard work.

The daydream that something or someone will save you from the hard work, or rescue you from your current situation, is just that – a dream. No one can get you off of your island, but you.

2. Sketch out your boat. Write down your dreams. Outline what you need to do to achieve your goals. The purpose of this is to have a vision of what it is you want to do and achieve.

3. Gather your supplies and start building your boat. Place your goals in short and long-term categories.

Doing so will help you not to become overwhelmed, and not take on things that may be unrealistic for now. Remember, rarely do things happen overnight.

Sometimes, it’s the thousands of tiny baby steps that will get you to the bigger goal. It is good to start small and conquer the short term goals.

Short-term goals are the things you can do now to begin pursuing your dream. If you feel clueless, do some research and get the facts.

Do whatever you have to do in order to learn. Maybe you can read a book on something you are interested in. Maybe there is a class you can take.

Maybe you can walk a half mile. Maybe you can write a chapter of a manuscript. Whatever, you decide – start small.

4. Continue to work on and perfect your boat. If you do not reach goals, don’t give up and don’t quit. Continue to revise your goals and move toward them.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, lose the naysayers and find mentors and people who support you.

5. Use others’ success as motivation and inspiration, but never copy someone else.

Copying someone else’s brand is like taking a medicine that wasn’t prescribe for you and expecting it to cure you.

You have to follow your own authentic path and be who you are. You need to find your own voice. Being who you are is what brands you and makes you different.

Remember, the only failure is not trying at all. So what are you waiting on? Start building your boat today.

A boat is your plans, goals, and steps you will take to get there. You have everything within you to get off of your Island and succeed!

Join in on the conversation. Please leave your thoughts, whatever they may be on our social media pages. Check back to see the next five steps that will be updated soon.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9530478

How to Develop Positive Self-Talk

By Terri Cole

WOULD you ever speak to your favorite child or your beloved using the same language and tone of voice that you sometimes speak to yourself? I bet the answer is, ‘No’.

Many people endure constant negative commentary from an inner sh*t-talker or mafia mind that they rarely question.  

Do you have 'Positive Self-Talk'?

Take a moment right now to identify any habitual negative things you might say to yourself. Do you call yourself demeaning names?

Do you put yourself down and harp on your flaws? Are you straight up mean to yourself in a way that you would never be to someone else?

When asked this question to clients, most will reply, “Oh my gosh, No!” or “Of course not!”

I think we can all agree that we deserve the same consideration we give others.

So much of the time, the negative voice was internalized long ago from a critical parent or authority figure and is not even our own.

This brings me to today’s Hello Freedom podcast featuring a conversation with Amy E. Smith, who’s an empowerment coach and creator of The Joy Junkie.

I discovered Amy’s work when I stumbled upon her ebook titled, ‘How to Stand Up for Yourself without Being a Dick – 9 Proven Challenges to Radically Improve Your Self-Confidence and Self-Love’, which I immediately downloaded and loved!

As I delved deeper into her blog, I became intrigued by her tips and strategies to shut up your inner critic.

And I’m not talking about your intuition – I’m talking about the repetitive negative commentary that you may have rolling through your mind.

So many powerful, successful women who seek my help have a brutal inner mean chick who is still torturing them daily.

Why don’t we work to find out where that negative self-talk comes from instead of believing it, so we can change it? What is there to gain from this kind of self-talk?

As a therapist, I am positive that you have the power to identify and shut down the mean girl inside of you.

I was impressed with Amy’s suggestions and her no nonsense, step by step guide to achieving that result.

Amy inspires people to move beyond their limiting beliefs and sabotaging mindsets to a place of radical personal empowerment and self-love.

Her main focus is helping clients find their authentic voice. I totally clicked with her and loved what she had to say, and I think you will too.

Try this ‘Self-Talk Inventory’ exercise, from Amy’s ebook, to identify the content of your negative self-talk.

Step 1: Identify your inner critic’s language with a self-talk inventory by paying particular attention to how you speak to yourself.

Answer these questions: What do you say to yourself when you make a mistake? Drop something/spill something?

What do you say about your parenting or your relationships or your intelligence? Do you get triggered by specific issues like weight, appearance, work, or health?

Step 2: Look out for these sh*t-talker lines: “I’m so _____” or “I’m a _____.”

Also watch out for the “what ifs” and “shoulds.”

Typically, these are all disempowering statements that seek out perfectionism and encourage your inner bully.

Step 3: Take note of all the ways you speak to yourself today on a piece of paper and write “Today, I noticed my inner critic saying” at the top.

This exercise will help you identify the sh*t-talking you are doing with yourself (you can’t fix a problem if you don’t recognize it first), so that you can begin to interrupt the flow of negative self-talk.

Check out the podcast now for even more ways to shut down (and shut up!) your inner self-critic and unleash your inner Badass!

You can’t fix a problem if you don’t recognize it first. @terri_cole (Click to Tweet!)

Click HERE to listen now to my interview with Amy E. Smith!

This post previously appeared on www.positivelypositive.com.

Article source: http://tiny.cc/qpqkfy

Six Fail-Safe Tips to Make You More Persuasive

By Kurt A Tasche

HOW can some individuals be so persuasive while others cannot appear to encourage anyone to do anything?

Persuasion is part art and part science. Some people are born with the charisma that most people lack. But anyone can become more persuasive with the right approach.  

Have you got the power of persuasion? (By freedigitalphotos.net)

 Anyone that can read or write can influence others successfully.

What would it mean to your professional and personal life if you could reliably influence others? Very few abilities are as extensive in their advantages.

Persuade others to align with your mindset:

1. Produce a connection with those you wish to influence. Whether you’re aiming to influence a single person or a thousand, it is essential to produce relationships.

The level of trust and connection you can develop will directly influence your capability to affect others. This is an essential first step. There are lots of ways to establish a connection:

* Show what you share in common.

* Mirror and match the other person’s body movements and gestures.

* Be sincere and real.

* Show others that you can be trusted.

2. Be convincing. You might feel very small and insecure. However, holding yourself in that manner won’t encourage anybody that they should follow you.

There are a number of ways we show an absence of conviction, such as body language, using qualifiers like, ‘I think, probably, maybe and possibly’, and absence of eye contact.

Stand tall, look them in the eye, and present your viewpoint like it’s an apparent truth. Your self-confidence is key.

3. Use reciprocity to your advantage. Research studies reveal that you’re far more likely to return a favor after someone does something for you.

That’s why the people who knock on your door and aim to offer you vinyl siding offer you a pen or a magnet. They understand that you’ll be more likely to buy from them.

Do something for the individual you’re trying to persuade. You might buy them lunch, drive them to the airport, or let them borrow a cup of sugar.

Do something for them prior to you trying to persuade and influence them. Your odds of success will increase drastically.

4. Consider their interests. Even the most honorable of people question what’s in it for them. Make it clear exactly what they’ll be receiving out of the deal.

Your neighbor might not want to accept your idea of building a fence between your properties.

Nevertheless, he may change his mind if you can show him the advantages he’ll be enjoying.

You might explain that your dog will stop leaving ‘gifts’ on his lawn.

It may help the resale value of his house.

It may minimize the amount of weeds on your lawn spreading to his.

It will increase his level of privacy.

5. Be an excellent listener. The other party matters a lot. We tend to only consider ourselves when we’re aiming to be influential, however this is a serious error.

Open your ears and close your mouth. When you comprehend the needs of the other individual, you’ll understand how to influence them.

6. Develop yourself as an authority. If you hung around with the Dalai Lama and wrote three books on meditation, your viewpoints on the subject are much more likely to be valued and appreciated.

Wearing a suit would convey authority in the right setting.

Persuasion is a highly researched topic. There are countless resources if you wish to learn more.

The capability to influence others is useful both in and outside of work. Invest some time in practicing this important skill. You’ll be glad you did!

Kurt Tasche is a martial artist, internet entrepreneur and motivational coach, who writes articles and produces videos on the subjects of marketing and personal development.

You can connect with him on his Facebook Page here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9507988

Remaining Sane in an Insane World – The Case for Forgiveness

By Rosalind Henderson

RESEARCH tells us that fear, constant anger, and bitterness can flood your mind and block your ability to access critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

It can even warp your ability to view situations realistically, and undergird limited beliefs.

 Moreover, it kills creativity.

Emotional stress can be likened to a toxicity which suppresses the full function of the body, heart and mind.

It is impossible to function well with this constant pressure nipping at your heels.

Then it makes sense to clear repressed anger from your spirit, so you are living more in alignment to how you were created – as an unlimited being.

Sadly, bitterness has been a companion for some of you – for months, years and even decades. Some of you are even defined by your bitterness.

So expect the process of letting go of ought and bitterness to be an unpredictable journey, taking longer than you anticipated. But you are worth the work.

My process has been decades long. My proclivity has been to personalize and internalize perceived and actual abuses that punctuated my childhood.

Others, however, externalize their anger. You might find such people lashing out at others – verbally or physically.

For me, you had only to listen to my cruel self-talk to realize that I was on a mission to beat myself up for the ways in which I was unable to provide the answers to my parents’ tough problems as a young child.

“You are not enough! If you were smarter, prettier or more behaved you’d make people happy!” It made me miserable.

Ruminating on the past and its accompanying bitterness, only stoked my spiritual ailment until I hit rock bottom in my early twenties.

Riddled with secondary issues, anxiety, nameless terrors, depression and deep self-loathing, I was rendered helpless.

Navigating the maze to forgiveness has gifted me with certain epiphanies:

1. Release the emotional pressure valve by finding a warm, mature person with whom you can share your feelings.

Being vulnerable with another allows you to drink in understanding, tenderness and empathy which rewires the brain. Grief shared is half the burden.

2. Understand that you’ll activate the grieving process through confession.

Particularly if you’ve been violated years and even decades ago, you will realize that there are tears you should have cried when you were eight, but were not able to.

Perhaps the reality of a particular violation was too weighty and you repressed the horror of it.

But the reality of the negative event is within you and it’s been seeping out in disastrous ways for most of your life. So, let it find its proper expression.

As you process the offense, the surfacing shock may stomp you as you accurately name the REALITY, and the sorrow about what you’ve lost by being violated (for instance your innocence if it were sexually abused) can feel very heavy.

The anger, the confusion, but the eventual acceptance and resolution are perfectly normal stages which result in healing.

So be patient with yourself, and make sure you have the emotional supports – the therapist, the friends or coach – to lean on.

3. Understand that forgiveness is for you. Releasing bitterness and accompanying negative emotions is so you can free up positive energy to live the LIFE YOU DESERVE.

4. Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you have to expose yourself to the offender again. It is your right to dissolve an unhealthy relationship, or to restructure it so you’re not exposed to their brand of brokeness.

Yes, the process for me has been arduous but also surprising, invigorating and hopeful. I am reclaiming my emotional health, my critical thinking skills, and creativity.

Resilience and increasing esteem and self-respect has also been a beautiful by-product of this journey.

Remain sane in an insane world by draining toxic bitterness from your life.

Rosalind Henderson is a certified John Maxwell leadership trainer. Learn how to lead yourself and better influence others.

Join my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadtotransform/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9466466

The Curse Of The Ledge

By Sarah Krivel

HOW many of us get trapped in the same pattern of behavior because it’s known and comfortable?

We stay in the same dead-end job or the same unfulfilling relationship or at the same less-than-ideal weight for days that turn into months and months that turn into years. 

Do you feel like you're 'Peering over the ledge'?

 The fact of the matter is that when we stand on the ledge looking down into the abyss, we freak out.

We can look behind us at the safety of the land and we know what we’re gonna get – the controlling boss or the absentee partner.

We know it’s not ideal and we know we need to do something about it, but we stay right where we’re at because well, the alternative is a crapshoot.

At the bottom of the fall may be a beautiful, sunlit grassy meadow or it may be a pit of snakes. We don’t know.

And not knowing keeps us trapped in patterns and habits we know we should break, but we just can’t bring ourselves to do it.

The idea of living life without regrets, or by being a ‘Yes’ person is certainly admirable.

Sometimes I wish I was the sort of person who always leapt before I looked, figuring it out as I went, but alas, I’m not. I’m an ‘over-thinker’.

No matter the situation, I think, ponder, analyze, over-analyze, rethink, re-ponder... well, you get the idea.

And this pattern is what keeps me on the ledge. No matter the situation, I can rationalize my way into and out of it a thousand times. And I’m stuck.

In the book “What Alice Forgot”, Alice wakes up from a concussion thinking she’s 10 years younger than she is.

That it’s 10 years before it actually is. And she realizes that her life is nothing like she had envisioned.

Now I’m not foolish enough to believe that all childhood dreams come true. That everyone can be an astronaut or a famous actress.

The realities of life sometimes stand in our way. But we are also not a victim to our circumstances.

We always have a choice.

We can always fight, or say ‘No’, or run, or quit. But that means leaping off the ledge. And often times, there’s nothing in the world scarier than that prospect.

And yet sometimes, there comes a moment of clarity. A lens sharpens either as a result of a life event or a universal shift, giving us just the nudge we need to do it.

Whatever it is. To leave the ledge.

Because at some point, we have to stop thinking and analyzing. We have to realize that no matter what happens, we have to act.

We cannot see our lives in ten years and be standing on the exact same ledge looking into the exact same abyss. We are meant to change.

To grow. To act. To react.

It won’t always be the beautiful meadow we hoped for. But sometimes, perhaps, it will be. The unknown will never be less scary than the known.

But it will be necessary.

Continue to receive articles like this to your inbox by subscribing to The Simpler Blog at http://simplersurroundings.com/blog/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9470800

Love Yourself To Truly Love Others

By Cassie Parks

WE, as humans, can debate just what it really means to love others, and just what that takes from us as individuals.

First, we need to at least loosely agree on what love is. Second, it’s important to understand that to love others you must love yourself.  

Do you love yourself enough for you to love others?

One good definition – and the most correct – is that love is a choice. It’s not something we fall into or out of, nor is it a divine inspiration.

Love, plain and simple, is a choice an individual makes.

Of course there are hormones, the emotional states of the people involved and societal pressures, which figure in and point us in one direction or another.

That’s the spark. It’s up to the people involved to bring the fire or smother it before there is a chance for real love to flare.

Understanding the choice

Once it’s understood what love is, the next step is to figure out that to be able to love others you must love yourself.

That doesn’t mean swoon over your image in a mirror or be spellbound by your own musings, just be comfortable in your own skin and your place in the world.

No deity will do that for you, nor will you find the key in another person. It’s something which has to radiate out of you.

Also, the ability to truly do it has to be earned. You have to be a person deserving your own love.

How do we get there?

One of the more maddening aspects of any piece describing a way to live better or with more understanding is that the goal falls into the old cliché of being easier said than done.

A great deal of self-introspection is needed to reach the point where the level of awareness is high enough to allow real self-love to blossom into an experience which is at once liberating and a heavy new responsibility.

To finally gain the veritable upper hand in the world of love by understanding yourself enough to appreciate your individuality and what you can bring to others.

You cannot love another person and yourself without loving humanity at a basic level.

You cannot be apart from the greater human experience. That doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone.

One person may bring that appreciation into full expression in an entirely different way than another.

The key is to be at peace with who you are and your part in the greater whole.

After that, the discovery of love at all levels is more fulfilling.

To find a partner and choose to fall in love will bring more enjoyment than you might have thought possible before your own awakening.

If you are already in a relationship and want to see it rise to new heights, seek self-awareness of love and build that back into your current status.

First, fall in love with who you are in order to love others.

It sounds like a simple formula, and in truth it is. The hardest part is taking the first step.

Look at yourself like you never have before, and ask what you can do to earn your own love. Once there, extrapolate that into all of your relationships.

Are you a woman and you want to learn how to gain confidence and love yourself more? You don’t have to be alone on this journey.

Our online courses will teach you how to increase your self confidence as you learn from women who are experts at different aspects of living a successful life joyously.

Come to our community where you can learn about how to love yourself.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7189662