Being able to adequately express yourself isn’t something that comes naturally to some, or even most of us. But it’s important for you to be able to express yourself and express your wants, needs, and desires, as well as express things you don’t like. Being able to express yourself is necessary to live an authentic, fulfilling, and healthy life, and to help you create the life of your dreams! Today we’re discussing all about Laying the Groundwork of Self-Expression.
There are three (3) main steps involved in learning to express yourself. These steps may not feel natural at first because they are new, but stick with it! You’ll soon find yourself better able to express yourself to those around you with confidence.
1). Learn to listen to yourself, your emotions, and your intuition. Too often, early in life, we are taught (directly or indirectly) to hide our emotions, and put on a smiling face even when we don’t feel like it. It’s time to unlearn all of that. So, the first step is to begin to really feel the emotions that are inside you. Your first instinct may be to mentally run away from those feelings but try not to do that. Feel each emotion, no matter what it is, without any self-judgment. Your emotions are simply what they are, and there aren’t any wrong emotions, only wrong ways that we’ve learned to react to them. So, quiet yourself and allow yourself to feel because you can’t express yourself if you don’t know what you’re feeling.
2. Acknowledge whatever you are feeling. Honor those feelings, again with no judgment. By self-validating your feelings, you learn to seek answers from within yourself, rather than always looking outside yourself for solutions. In reality, all we need we already have inside of us. Acknowledging your feelings might seem very frightening at first because you feel vulnerable. That’s okay. That feeling of vulnerability will go away once your mind realizes there isn’t really any need for fear.
3. Tune in to how your body reacts to the emotions you are now experiencing. Body awareness is very important in learning to express yourself, as it is one of the best ways to gauge your comfort level. If you tense up in response to an emotion, show your body and brain that everything is going to be okay by doing some deep breathing. Close your eyes, acknowledge the feeling, and then let it go. If a part of your body tenses up, consciously relax it. Use your new awareness to find what works for you in terms of expressing yourself, both emotionally and physically.
What do you think about writing in your journal like this? Have you thought about what you might write about and how it might be different? Let me know in the comments below.
Today we’re discussing Why Writing Down Your Goals Boosts Your Chances of Success. Setting goals is an important part of life. Without them, you won’t know how to recognize success or achievement. By knowing your goals, it tells you what you want to achieve and why it’s important to you. While not all goals are equal they do all deserve the best chance of achievement.
What’s in a Dream?
In life we all have dreams, ambitions we want to achieve. However, it is entirely in your power whether they remain dreams or whether you will actually set out to make them a reality. If you think of a dream, then it is more like a hope; a wish not yet fulfilled. Perhaps your ambition is to be promoted to director in your company. That’s great but just having that dream won’t actually help you achieve it.
Writing it Down
Writing your dream down can help increase the chance of it becoming a reality. The very act of committing it to paper makes it more real and concrete. You can see it. In black & white! However, there is more to making your dreams turn into reality than merely writing it down. You actually need to flesh it out. You need to give it substance and to create a goal. By turning your dream into a goal you are further committing to its ultimate achievement.
Your Focus
Your goal is the end-point. It is what you want to achieve and how you will know you have been successful. The key to success is to write down the steps you will take to get there. How you will turn that goal into a reality. What do you need to focus on to create it? It is important to know why that goal is one you want to achieve. So you need to write down what achieving it will look and feel like to you. How will your life change? By making your visualization of your success as descriptive as possible and by writing it in the present tense as if you are living it now, you create a connection with your subconscious mind.
Visualize It
Additionally, writing is a right-brained activity. It is part of your logical and analytical mind. However, the very act of writing keeps the right-brain occupied and allows the more creative left-brain to be accessed. This will let you begin to create and visualize the future you want. Setting that vision down on paper is a record that you can refer to again and again. It will remind you why you want to achieve the goal you have set and how you will know you have achieved it.
The Ultimate Goal
Adding the steps to achieving the goal provides you with a to-do list. You can tick off each step as you complete it and see your progress. This can be very motivating especially if you find yourself struggling. Acknowledging how much you’ve achieved can strengthen your resolve and provide motivation to continue.
Has The Goal Changed
Alternatively, by having a written record of your goal and the steps needed to achieve it you will be able to see if your mind has changed. Often you’ll find that your actual goal changes. Where you started as wanting to be promoted to Director you may find that you actually want to be promoted to Director of a different division or department or maybe even a totally different role!
It’s Not Written in Stone, Y’all!!
Goal setting is not something that is written in stone. Your written goal, visualization, and plan will not only be a record and guide but a working document that can be changed as your vision of your future changes. Having it written down enables you to track your progress and any changes. You can evaluate as you progress and by ticking your achievements off as you go you’ll be able to celebrate your progress along the way.
Did you write that all down? I hope so! The next article will be the cherry on the top of this whole journaling thing. So make sure you come back to read the next tips about journaling. You’ll be glad you did!
Is Success Taking YOU Longer Than YOU Think it Should?
I get it – You have big goals for your business. Who doesn’t these days? Is Success Taking Longer Than You Think it should for you and your business?
I understand…you have large visions for your business, your success, and for your business to attain the goals you’ve established. Any major success you want to obtain is just beyond your reach.
BUT…
It’s probably going to take a lot longer than you anticipate when you start the journey. And that’s ok because everything worth having in life is all about the journey to get there.
After all, it’s just human nature to want to be successful. Right?
We get a good idea about something we want to be, do, have and the idea captures our minds and our emotions. The honeymoon phase is awesome, don’t you think? You are daydreaming and brainstorming of your exciting new idea. The world of possibilities that will open up once you reach this new goal is hypnotizing. (Now this is YOU talking to yourself… “This is so awesome; this is the greatest idea I’ve had in such a long time”.)
AND…
You are energized and ready to take on the world. But…but…but…
If you are new to this game, I’m sorry to tell you but you have a big ass mountainahead of you. And no one has ever successfully scaled a mountain quickly and easily. Yes, that is absolutely true, trust me!!
Sure, from a distance, that mountain may not look that big. It looks like fairly smooth terrain and a manageable grade when you stare at the mountain from a few miles away. You excitedly sprint to your starting point. Now…on your mark…get set…and GO!
Now, this is when the work begins and within a very short period of time, reality starts to sink in at the difficulty and struggle that awaits you. OMG!!!
Are YOU READY for this?
MOST people don’t make it far enough up the mountain to be invested in the journey. This certainly isn’t YOU, is it?
They quit early enough that the pain of investment isn’t harsh enough. The sting of quitting isn’t harsh enough.
However, if the goal at the summit of your mountain is something that you REALLY want… and you have enough reasons to get there (and enough reasons not to quit), then your first mission becomes the “investment phase”. Ahhhh…
We all know that you have to put in enough blood, sweat, and tears to reach a point where turning around and quitting would be more painful than continuing.
AND…
Once you reach this point, you gain a whole new perspective on life. The struggle doesn’t go away, but it takes on a new form. You find a sort of peace and “sense of knowing” during your struggle.
Yes, you know you will make it to your goal… you just don’t know how long it will take. But it almost doesn’t matter because you no longer count the cost. You are focused purely on the journey. YOUR journey, towards success.
This is an easy metaphor to understand but it applies to anything in life.
Make a point to first be the kind of person who dreams, has big visions and gives yourself permission to set major goals.
Then, make CERTAIN you stay with it long enough that turning around is no longer an option.
Because even though it will likely take far longer than you think to reach your peak, you will.
Is Success Taking Longer Than You Think?
Don’t stop dreaming, don’t stop reaching, keep climbing. I can show you how. Contact me by filling out the form below. Let me help you.
It’s not enough to dream of success. It’s not even enough to set goals. You need productivity! Yes…that’s right! Here’s an interesting article on organizing that will help you with your productivity.
The only way to achieve your dreams and build the business you’re meant to build is to sit down and just do it.
And that’s what many of us fail to do. We resist because we are afraid of failing. But it’s the doing that stops us. Are we good enough? Will I be a success? Can you relate to this?
Here’s what we do…
We will overbook our calendars until today’s to-dos become next week’s past dues. We procrastinate on the things that are important while attending to things that are merely “nice to do.” And sometimes we simply take on too much—even when we know better. I know that I do this and it prevents me from advancing to where I want to go in my business.
So, what’s the answer?
According to the dictionary here’s exactly what productivity means as far as business goes:
pro·duc·tiv·i·ty
ˌprōˌdəkˈtivədē,ˌprädəkˈtivədē/
noun
the state or quality of producing something
the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.
“Workers have boosted productivity by 30 percent”
5 Solutions
Check out these five productivity solutions that top coaches use to get more done in less time.
1. Rituals and Habits: Simply put, a ritual or habit is a consistent way of doing something. You have a morning ritual (wake up, brush your teeth, work out, shower, and head to your office), evening ritual (check homework, tuck the kids in, watch the evening news, and hit the sack), weekend ritual (sleep late, mow the lawn, catch a movie, visit your mom), and many others.
The problem here is that if you’re not careful with your rituals, they can turn into productivity killers. Is checking Facebook or email a part of your morning ritual? Is turning on Skype a part of your at-work ritual? Distractions such as these can turn even your best intentions into hours of wasted time. And your productivity levels will wind up really suffering.
Take a good look at your rituals. What are you doing that you should not be—or that should be moved to another part of your day? Make your rituals more efficient, and you’ll automatically get more done.
2. Calendar Management: Want to know how much time you really have available for that new project? Try blocking off time in your calendar for all your existing projects. Fill in all your client calls, your business administrative tasks, time for meals and breaks, outside appointments, and everything else you’re committed to. What’s left might just shock you.
Make it a habit to block time in your calendar for every commitment, and you’ll never again over-promise or over-commit. You’d be surprised at how much your productivity will go up because you are more focused on the tasks at hand.
Here Are The Rest
3. Learn to Let Go: Here’s a news flash. You do not have to do everything in your business. You can (and should) hand off those low-level tasks to someone else. Hire a VA to create your documents and manage your calendar. Read this on how to help with your marketing.
Let your tech support person manage your blog and email. Turn over your bookkeeping to an accountant.
The time you free up will allow you to work on what’s truly important—and that only you can do. You will notice that your productivity in what you “desire to do” will go up and you’ll be happier too!
4. Work Hard, Play Harder: You are not a machine. You cannot work all day every day and hope to be at your best all the time. Yes, I know this from experience!
Take a day off. Get some rest, or relax on a long, slow hike. Take a friend out to lunch. Go shopping with your kids. See a movie or a play. Do something—anything—other than work.
Not only will you return to the office feeling much more refreshed, but you’ll also find yourself more creative and your productivity level will be better than before as well.
5. Focus: Multitasking is impossible. What? You cannot efficiently create a new coaching program while you’re simultaneously surfing Facebook, keeping an eye on the kids, and answering the phone every time it rings. Really? Most business people do this way too often and it definitely affects their productivity.
Use your calendar to block time off for important tasks, then turn everything else off so you can focus. No phone, no Facebook, no kids or husbands or neighbors or pets demanding “just a minute” of your time. Tune everything out, and you’ll find your work getting done much faster.
Managing your time and turning up your productivity is not something that comes naturally to most people. When you learn to master this skill, you’ll find your business grows right along with you.
A Few More Ideas
Here are a few more ideas that will help with your productivity:
Make a master list for your grocery list and make copies to fill out every week. Or use a grocery app on your smartphone.
The ideas are endless. Just put on your “magical” thinking cap. And if you need help with that…contact me so I can provide some great ideas for your business.
Let me know what you think in the comments below. How are you managing your productivity in your business?
