Self Improvement Information

‘Move your bloomin’ arse!’

It’s a line from a multi Oscar winning film from 1964, do you know which one?

Well it was My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.
I’d even go so far as to call her the scrumptious Audrey Hepburn. Maybe you might think of Rex Harrison as scrumptious, but I’m sticking with Audrey.
She could round off my vowels anytime, if you know what I mean…

Anyhow, back to the film, and why it’s a great model of goal achievement.

In the story, the common flower seller Eliza Dolittle has a chance encounter with Henry Higgins, a professor of speech, and Higgins jokes that he could pass her off as a lady within 6 months.
(goal achievement note - belief in ability)

The next day out of the blue, Eliza presents herself unannounced at Higgins’ house, having overheard his address the previous night, and tells him that she is there for the lessons she had mentioned.
(goal achievement note - taking action with no guarantee of success)

Despite initially rejecting the idea out of hand, Higgins considers it, and decides it would be a fun experiment for himself.
(goal achievement note - Eliza’s action getting a result that would never had occurred otherwise).

Hours after hours of work seem to produce no progress whatsoever.
(goal achievement note - progress may seem slow, but persistence is the key)

Just as they are about to give up, Eliza speaks a sentence in perfectly pronounced English.
(goal achievement note - the subconscious takes time, but will always soak up what you tell it.)

They try the new Eliza out at Ascot races, but despite a good accent, her manners let her down, culminating in her yelling at a horse to ‘move your bloomin’ arse!’
(goal achievement note - at some point, your progress must be tested in a real environment.

Six intensive weeks later, Eliza passes herself off flawlessly at a high society ball.
(goal achievement note - you can do exactly what you aim to do!)

Eliza and Higgins realise they have formed a close bond with each other.
(setting out towards one goal can lead to all sorts of surprises).

I hope you can see why, as an author of a book about goal achievement, that My Fair Lady is the kind of film I love watch over and over, it’s a perfect example of how to achieve goals and improve yourself.
(Plus of course, it has the bonus of Audrey Hepburn!)

Gordon Bryan is the author of ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days!’ which has been described as ‘motivational magic.’
Read about it and grab his free 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan at:
transformyourlifenow.com transformyourlifenow.com

Determine Your Procrastination Personality

Brook Noel is the author of The Change Your Life Challenge: A 70 Day Life Makeover Program for Women. Learn more at www.changeyourlifechallenge.com

Let’s face it: at one point or another, we are all bound to procrastinate on something. Even the most efficient time-manager will have a bump in the road now and then. But what happens when procrastination becomes the norm instead of the exception? While Nike® tells us to “Just Do It,” what happens when we “Just Don’t!”

Procrastination is a frustrating diversion for many. In Day 9 of the CYLC book we explore a Prescription for Procrastination. However, given this is such a hot-topic for many, I wanted to offer further exploration. Now, this exploration won’t do you any good if you don’t explore with me. So create a new file in Word or grab a pencil and paper. Go ahead, I’ll wait here. (Come on… go… if you procrastinate you’ll be missing the point! And don’t do this in your ‘head’ because you don’t like to write things down—just follow the instructions and grab that paper.)

Make five headings at the top of your piece of paper.

1. Procrastinated Task: List out at least 10 tasks you are currently procrastinating on, or remember procrastinating over in the past. (The more you list, the more revealing this exercise will be.)

2. Extent of Procrastination: How long has the task remained unfinished?

3. Life Area: What area of your life does it fall into? (Consult the sections of the CYLC book if you need help determining the different life areas, i.e. spiritual, self-care, relationships, time-management, etc.)

4. Deadline Driven: Is there a definite deadline; if so, list it out.

5. Solo or Not: Does this task involve other people? If so, list the people.

6. Reason: (We will get to this column in a moment)

Leave some space below each task that you record.

Give yourself as much time as you need to list 10 or more tasks before completing the next section of this Challenge.

Let’s analyze each column.

1. Procrastinated Task: Look at this column in conjunction with Life Area. Is there a certain life area where you tend to procrastinate? (The tasks may fall into a couple of life areas—if so list them out.)

2. Extent of Procrastination: Look at how long you have procrastinated on your tasks. Then take a moment to write down all the cons of this procrastination on another piece of paper. If you are delaying exercise, could you be seriously impacting your health and your family and you might pay for it later? If you have been procrastinating on taxes or budgeting, are you furthering financial stress that will continue to weigh on your shoulders? Take a realistic look at the cost of your choices. Also, evaluate whether you are a “dawdler” or not. Dawdlers take mini-steps, just enough to say they aren’t procrastinating, but never seem to finish a project. Renounce dawdling and start doing!

3-5. Deadline Driven and Solo or Not: These columns offer an interesting insight into common themes among procrastinated tasks. Some people find that the tasks they procrastinate on do not have deadlines. If this is the case, an easy remedy is to assign a self-made deadline to everything. Other people find that it is the solo activities where they procrastinate most. A quick solution is to find a support partner to be accountable to.

6. In the space that you have left blank, write down what you have learned about each of your procrastinated tasks. List a new action based on what you have uncovered. Keep this list right next to your keyboard and read through it everyday along with the page you wrote on the cost of procrastination. Continue to do this, each and every day, until you have crossed these items off of your list. Overcoming procrastination is a lot like riding a bike. Once you understand the logic behind your specific choices, you can make better choices moving forward.

Brook Noel is the author of The Change Your Life Challenge: A 70 Day Life Makeover Program for Women. Learn more at changeyourlifechallenge.com changeyourlifechallenge.com

Your thoughts determine your results – if your thoughts are predominantly positive, about success and about achieving your goals that’s what will happen. The personal development tip is that you might be surprised to find just how many of your thoughts are quite the opposite – negative, leading to bad feelings and thinking about what you don’t want.

If you spend a lot of time focussing on negative feelings and ideas and thinking about things that you don’t want, you chances of getting what you want are diminished.

Warning! Killer ANTS on the loose!

Your mind is continuously flooded with thoughts all day long – problems you are solving at work, what you are going to have for tea tonight, what you think of the boss, how you need to loose some weight… Many of these thoughts are automatic, they just pop in to your mind without you consciously thinking about them, stay for a few seconds and the go only to be replaced by the next thought.

The problem is that a large number of your thoughts are of the undesirable negative variety - ANTS- Automatic Negative Thoughts. Like their insect cousins, these ANTS are present in huge numbers, they run relentlessly through your mind and they are very difficult to get rid of!

Personal development tip – first find your ANTS

The first job is to find your ANTS.

Carry a piece of paper around with you for at least one day. Every time one of these ANTS crosses your mind, write it down. You may find this difficult at first. Many people I have worked with find that they only see the most obvious negative thoughts when they start looking for them. For example when they have an argument, when some inconsiderate driver cuts across them and so on.

However, over time, as you get used to spotting these insidious creatures, you will find that there are a lot more of them – sometimes they are very trivial and fly by in a flash.

You’ve probably developed the habit of ignoring the vast majority of your ANTS, so they don’t appear to be having an effect on your life. But where there are small ANTS there are also big, destructive ones and there are so many of them that they have a big impact on you life through their sheer weight of numbers!

Personal development tip – kill your ANTS

There are two ways you can approach this problem – you can use tools that will kill any ant stone dead or you can find the source and eliminate it.

My personal development tip is to adopt the habit of positive thinking – every time you come across a bad ANT, expose it to the light of day and watch it shrivel into nothing.

Ask yourself “on the scale of things, just how important is this, what impact will it have on my life tomorrow, in five years”. Often the answer is that this is an insignificant problem that is not worth the emotional turmoil that it might be causing you.

If it turns out to be potentially more serious, then develop a plan to deal with it. Once you know it has been controlled, you can get it out of your mind and get back to working on the things that are really important for you.

ANTS can be a major problem – they occupy your mind, they attract negative results and they cause unhappiness. Learning to spot them and control them are two very useful personal development tips. Do you want some more

Having clarity about what you want to achieve in your life is absolutely critical if you want to meet with success. Many people yearn to succeed in life yet never take the time to clarify what it is they really want to achieve. They know they want success and to be happy but never specify what that means exactly. As we delve into the subject of clarity and how it pertains to success, you will see how the one is an extension of the other. Understand that regardless of where you are now; the first place you must start to get to where you want in any area of your life is to clarify exactly what it is that you want.

You absolutely must clarify what you want to achieve in every area of your life. Neglecting to do so will leave you drifting and wondering aimlessly with no sense of direction. However when you can clarify exactly what is that you want, you have something in place to guide your thoughts and actions. Definitively clarifying your objectives in the different areas of you life will allow you to set your sail in that direction and move towards it.

People that do not clarify what they want are sabotaging their own efforts to achieve any kind of real success, regardless of the endeavor. Think about it logically, how can you possibly make a plan to get something in any area of your life if you do not know exactly what it is that you want? You can’t. It’s like trying to hit a target that you can’t see. You are stacking the deck against yourself and greatly reducing the chance you have to succeed.

When you define exactly what it is that you want to accomplish in all areas of your life, you now know what it is you are working towards. The simple act of clear defining what you want can now allow you to put a plan in place to achieve it. Because you know what the end goal is, you can carefully craft action steps to make it reality. By taking focused and directed action, the likelihood of you reaching your end goal is much much greater than if you were to never define it.

Regardless of the area of your life in which you are attempting to succeed, take the time to clearly define what it is that you want. Define what success is and by so doing, you can allow yourself to create an action plan and set goals to bring it about. An action plan and goals will then allow you to take focused action and move you towards your end. Take the time to define your end objective. By so doing you put a target in place and as we all I’m sure would agree, it is far easier to hit a target that you can see than one you cannot.

Aaron Meredith is a successful entrepreneur who has been involved in network marketing since 2003. He now builds his business primarily online via internet marketing. For a limited time, Aaron is offering jobfreein30.com mentoring to those serious about achieving success online.

For information on how you can take control of your financial situation and achieve real success online, visit jobfreein30.com jobfreein30.com . Aaron may be reached at 856-630-1109 and by email at mailto:aaron@jobfreein30.com aaron@jobfreein30.com

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest
fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our
light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask
ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,
fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child
of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There
is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make
manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just
in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own
light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission
to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson

This quote by Marianne Williamson is my absolute favorite
and always gives me a chill up my spine. I feel this way
about it because I know it deep in my heart to be true. I
know I have had a hard time accepting the light that is
within me. I know that I have hidden it many times to please
others. How about you? Does this ring true for you as well?

How many of us hide the light we have inside because we are
afraid of what people will think? We don’t want to appear
immodest or like we think we are “all that”. But aren’t we
all “all that” in some way? Don’t we all have a place where
we can truly shine? We all came into this world with talents
and gifts. We truly are doing no one any favors by hiding
them or even just diminishing them in any way. We were born
with those gifts for a reason. We don’t know what lives we
touch by embracing and sharing our gifts.

We tend to be so hard on ourselves. Why is that? Why can’t
we see the beauty that we all possess? Why can’t we see this
light that is inside all of us? We don’t see it in ourselves
and we don’t see it in one another. I think we get a glimpse
of this beauty and light when we first fall in love with
someone. All we can see is what is right about that person.
We can’t see any of their flaws or problems, only their
perfection. What is so bad about that? We always talk about
how we have to be realistic, but why? Just imagine what the
world would be like if we all treated ourselves and one
another like we were in love. All we would see would be the
good. They say what we focus on, we get more of. So why not
focus on the good? Why do we have to be so darn “realistic”?
If it is true that we get more of what we focus on, then
wouldn’t it follow that if we were mainly looking at the
good, we would get more of it?

I believe in my heart we are all trying our best. It is time
to start seeing it. We need to stop jumping to the worst
conclusion, both of ourselves and of one another. Wouldn’t
it feel great to have someone only notice your best?
Wouldn’t it make you want to make them proud of you?
Wouldn’t that inspire you? It’s time for us to step up and
start inspiring greatness in ourselves and one another by
even just recognizing it in the beginning.

At the end of every yoga class I’ve ever taken the
instructor says, “Namaste”. This means that the spirit in me
sees the spirit in you. That is so beautiful. It means I am
seeing your perfection. I recognize mine, and I see yours.
We already know that spirit is perfect, complete, whole.
There are no flaws in spirit, and spirit is our essence. It
is time for us all to claim this birthright, and begin
walking in it.

My goal is to inspire all of us to recognize this light
that’s in us and then to let it shine to the world. I am
convinced that if we all began to live in this place of
light more often, we would bring more light, love, and
healing to the world. We have to first recognize the light
in ourselves and completely own it. Then we can pass it on.
This is the healing we all need. Think of one way you can
let your light shine today and do it.

Teri Thomas is a spiritual life coach. Are you ready to begin living the life that inspires you? Learn how to connect with spirit and design your life around your deepest priorities at LivingSpiritually.com LivingSpiritually.com

That is what the gladiators said as the went into the arena to fight warriors and lions and beasts.

The Mark of the Beast. Yes you are right! It is a spiritual number- and that is why it is invisible.

But because it is invisible, Jesus said He could erase it. Most people may not even realize that they have taken the mark of the beast, but when they hear the trumpet sound “come out from among her My People” and respond or when their eyes are opened and they realize about the Antichrist and Jesus guides them back to Him, then the mark of the Beast is replaced with the mark of God on their forehead.

I have no church to fellowship with- Jesus has already sent me to enough churches and each I am in the service, the Spirit of Prophecy will come over me heavily. I obey the Spirit and give the prophecy and God always confirms that it is His Voice speaking. But afterwards, the leadership of the church makes it clear that they do not want me to return.

The prophecies that God has me for His People in the church services do not really address the Antichrist. They have just been other things He has wanted to say to His Body. And when I have prophesied, God has always sent in waves of His Glory. (We who are about to die salute you. The Christians who were martyred in the coliseums or arenas, when they were facing the lions had so much Glory on them as they went to their deaths and that is how I feel)

How is a Christian martyred today in the United States? When you are outcast, shunned, rejected, ridiculed, humiliated, disfellowshipped, that is spiritual martyrdom. And those people who have been faithful to Jesus and have had to loose their fellowship with their churches and other groups will be able to sing the song of the martyrs before the Throne of the Lamb.

If you only knew how much I just want to be able to fellowship with other Christians. How much I want to go to church- but the church has slammed her door in my face and praising Jesus in the congregation of the saints is one of our most precious gifts; it is not the same as our private prayer time, and something inside dies when we can’t get to Jesus that way.

Just imagine the woman with the issue of blood desperate to just touch the hem of His garment if the crowds would have blocked her to such an extent that she could not reach Jesus no matter how hard she tried.

That is how it is for me.

But He keeps telling me that there is a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming and I will play an important part in this last days outpouring that is coming.

You can read other prophetic writings of Darlene at her website angelfire.com/planet/warriorbride Warrior Bride End Times Prophetic Ministries

You can reach me by emailing me at mailto:bridewarrior@lycos.com bridewarrior@lycos.com. I will put you on my email list to include in my mass mail outs from week to week. I am a good friend of Matthew Robert Payne who is here also and has set up this account for me.

A good story about the woman with the issue of blood can be read at ezinearticles.com/?id=282804 ezinearticles.com/?Go-in-Peace-and-Be-Healed-of-Your-Affliction,-Dramatized-Story-of-Healing-Based-on-Mark-5:24-34, EAID=282804

Shoulds come from the outside and not from within. They are the opinion of someone else and not our own. Shoulds are what other people want us to do. In childhood and as young adults we heard the should word a lot. We learned to do what we were told we should do because we feared the consequences if we didn’t.

Our children, spouses, parents, families and friends may still be shoulding on us into doing what they think is best or manipulating us into doing what they want. We fear rejection if we don’t comply and then we feel guilty and start shoulding on ourselves. You know that self talk..maybe I should do what they want, it really is not that big of a deal, or is it?

People treat us the way we have taught them and if they are accustomed to shoulding on us, then why would they not continue to do so? We need to teach them differently.

No one has the right to should on you unless you allow it. The best way to stop them in their tracks is to calmly say, do not should on me and I will not should on you, that is s-h-o-u-l-d. Be sure to spell it for them so they won’t think you used a four letter word instead of six. There may be silence for a moment followed by laughter. You have politely made your point and they will most likely remember it, although you may need to remind them once in a while.

When you have used this exercise several times and have seen the results you will soon realize that people have stopped shoulding on you and you are no longer shoulding on yourself. Become aware of the temptation to use the should word with yourself or with others and then reframe it.

My motto: Don’t should on me, I won’t should on you or should on myself!

Written by Nanci Biddle

Author, Certified Life Coach and Licensed Personal Freedom Trainer

Visit YourCoachingPartner.com YourCoachingPartner.com for more tips and tools on Taking Great Care of You; get your FREE 50 Great Self Care Tips on the home page.

“Ask and It Is Given” is not just the name of Esther Hicks’ book. It is the most accurate expression of this entire universe. You ask, and the universe delivers.

This philosophy has been given the name the Law of Attraction.

It isn’t something that can be switched on and off whenever you want to, it is working continuously. It works every time and there are no exceptions.

Similar to the Law of Gravitation, you would not expect it to suddenly go on the blink and half of planet suddenly begins to float 3 metres off the ground, whilst the other half of the planet have 3 tonne lead boots on and are welded to the ground!

So why do we sometimes feel as if the Law of Attraction is not working for us? Why do we sometimes wish we could turn it on and off at our own choosing? It is because the majority of people on this planet have untrained minds and thus untrained thoughts.

Their thought patterns are erratic and feel spontaneous - thus their lives unfold in that manner also. If the average Joe Bloggs were to spend a tiny fraction of their time training their mind instead of watching television or reading the news, that person could begin to focus, at will, on whatever they desired with accurate images firing their way into the mind.

Instead what happens is, thoughts get flung left, right and centre into their mind as if it is not really them in control of it. The fact of the matter is you ARE in control of what you think about. You get to choose how you react to every circumstance and you also get to choose whatever thoughts you want to think.

Mike Dooley (author of “Infinite Possibilities”) states that “Thoughts become things”. And this is a very accurate description.

An even more accurate description would be to say it is the emotions you feel that attract physical manifestations into your life.

Thoughts create Images which create Emotions which create Results.

So how can you tell if you are on the right path to creating your desires? Pay more attention to the Thoughts, Images and Emotions that you experience on a day to day basis. Make it your intention to feel good for no other reason that to feel good!

Gary Evans is a Law of Attraction practitioner, author and owner of the company Good To Feel Good who’s mission is “Teaching by Example”. Gary is dedicated to supporting people in their understanding of Deliberate Creation and has been applying the principles of Law of Attraction for many years. To get your free copy of Gary’s 7 Proven Steps To Success e-course visit 7ProvenStepsToSuccess.com 7ProvenStepsToSuccess.com

What is the difference between diversity strategies that engage the workforce and those that don’t? Businesses that truly support diversity link it to the company’s vision and mission. They incorporate diversity into their recruitment, promotion, reinforce the value of diversity in hiring, and they are committed to diversity education. “Successful [strategies] will enable participants to leave with an understanding about the relationship of Diversity Management to their organization’s mission, vision, strategy, and culture.” [1]

For these diversity strategies to be effective, the leaders must incorporate diversity as a meaningful tool that impacts each part of your leadership and employee population. The responsibility to demonstrate a respectful and positive approach toward diversity falls on the leadership team. Therefore, diversity efforts must originate at the top. A study of management teams identified diversity as the single most important attribute for achieving organizational growth.[2] One of the best ways for an organization to affirm that it has sufficient diversity is to ensure that the leadership team is comprised of individuals with varied sets of skills.
__________________________________________

[1] Thomas, R. Roosevelt. (1996). Redefining Diversity. New York, NY: AMACOM Books. p. 73.

[2]Weinzimmer, Laurence G. (1997). Top Management Team Determinants of Organizational Growth in a Small Business Context: A Comparative Study. Journal of Small Business Management 35, no. 3. 1–10.

Lieutenant Ken Rice is an Active Duty Naval Officer stationed in Norfolk VA. He is currently assigned to Commander, Naval Surface Force’s Warfare Requirments Directorate as the FORCEnet Requirements Officer. Lieutenant Rice is responsible for the program analasys and budget oversight for Information Technology Transformation for the Surface Fleet. He is currently enrolled at Regent University working towards a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership.

We can be just as afraid of our strengths as we are of our weaknesses, and just as afraid to succeed as we are to fail. In her book, A Return to Love, in a passage that was made famous by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inauguration Speech, Marianne Williamson writes:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Connecting with your strengths is about learning how to acknowledge your own gifts, accept compliments graciously and to present yourself confidently as the extraordinarily unique artist that you are. I’ve addressed accepting compliments graciously in a separate article, so we’ll examine the other two skills here.

1. Acknowledge your own gifts

Ask other people what they love about you. Create a booklet of these “testimonials”. Then, make a list of everything that’s wonderful about you and/or your creative work – the different roles you hold in life, your accomplishments, the failures you’ve learned from and survived, the losses you’ve endured, the gifts you were born with, the skills you’ve developed and the knowledge you’ve gained.

Read these lists every day and really take them in. It might seem like you’re talking about someone else sometimes – focus and bring your attention back to the purpose of the exercise. Talk back to your inner critic and show him the evidence! For a more powerful experience, read these lists of your strengths out loud, beginning with the words, “I am ____”.

2. Present yourself confidently as the extraordinarily unique artist that you are

Remember those lists that you made earlier to acknowledge your strengths? Well, did you know that you are the one and only person who has ever and will ever walk this earth that has that unique combination of skills, experiences, knowledge, creative gifts and perspective?

Say it with me: I am the one and only person who has ever and will ever walk this earth that has my unique combination of skills, experiences, knowledge, creative gifts and perspective.

Know that. Feel that. Believe that down to your core. It’s virtually impossible to doubt yourself or to compare yourself unfavorably to other artists when you’re truly acknowledging and believing in your uniqueness.

There’s a well-used phrase that advises, “Fake it till you make it”. How would you act if you DID feel confident? Who’s another artist that you think of as confident, and how do they present themselves? Use them as a role model and imagine how they would handle the situation that you’re in – what would they do or say? How would they act?

Remember that another artist who seems so confident sometimes has exactly the same worries and doubts that you do.

Another way to gain confidence is through daily efficient action. This is a concept first introduced to me in The Science of Getting Rich, which I wrote about in my article, “Is there a science of creative success?”

Approach each separate thing you do today with purpose and focus. Do your best, and finish each job one at a time. It’s amazing how great it feels at the end of the day, to recognize that whatever you accomplished (and it’s not the number of things that matters), you truly gave it your best and completed the actions successfully.

In her book, “Take Back Your Life!” productivity coach Sally McGhee points out that nothing makes us feel better about ourselves than doing what we said we’d do. And nothing makes us feel worse about ourselves than NOT doing what we said we’d do.

The most important component of connecting with your strengths is your willingness to BE strong. Be willing to succeed. Be willing to master something. Be willing to finish what you start. Be willing to become the best person you can be. And then celebrate.

© Linda Dessau, 2006.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for your complimentary copy of the popular e-course, “Roadblocks to Creativity” by visiting genuinecoaching.com genuinecoaching.com.