Assumptions

“The harder you fight to hold on to specific assumptions, the more likely there's gold in letting go of them.” - John Seely Brown

How many times have you been wrong about yourself? Your world? You assume certain things are just GOING to happen and they don’t do they? Prejudging yourself based on false beliefs will only limit you. Do not assume that just because it was true a moment ago that it will always be true.

Affirmation – say: “I will let go of the negative assumptions I have about myself.”

Limitations

“Our limitations and success will be based, most often, on your own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.” - Denis Waitley

When you focus on all that you can not achieve you will not reach success. Truly happy people, truly successful people focus on possibilities. What do you center on in your life? All that you can’t do or all that you might be able to do?

Affirmation – say: “I will focus on the possibilities in me, instead of my limitations.”

Focus

Are you going 90 miles an hour? Doing a million things, yet nothing gets accomplished? STOP and focus. If you need to make a to-do list and prioritize! For heaven’s sake stop doing what is in front of you at the moment…it’s distracting you. You must do the important things first and everything else can wait.

Affirmation – say: “I will focus my attention on the most important matter at the moment.”

ReCHARGE!

Try to take some time for yourself today. Perhaps it means spending time with your family, going to a ball game or gardening – maybe you can curl up with a good book. Every day doesn’t have to be filled with productivity. Life doesn’t stop or end with days filled to the brim with crazy activities.

Affirmation – say: “I will take a leisure day to recharge!”

Celebrate

Today, celebrate life and the little things in life. We worry so much about the big events that we fail to see the wonder of the every day journey.

Affirmation – say: “I will enjoy the day for the here and now!

Find the easy way

Are you trying too hard and making things more complicated than they need to be? Are you so busy looking at the challenge that you miss the solution? Focus on what you’ve accomplished and the possibilities. Start with the basics. You didn’t just pick up a book one day and start to read. You started with the alphabet. But, just because you couldn’t read, didn’t mean you couldn’t tell a story. What can you do in the mean time? What positive steps can you take while you figure out that challenge?

Affirmation – say: “I will look for the easy solution.”

Uniqueness

Do you find yourself comparing yourself to others? Wondering if you are the same or if you are too different? Stop worrying about others! You bring so much to the world. You are not dull, boring or predictable – you are unique and that is what makes you stand out.

Affirmation – say: “I celebrate my uniqueness, even when I may seem similar!”

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking is not something to always be proud of. If you are a perfectionist, you probably take pride in saying that one of your best skills is multi-tasking. If you are a guilty parent, you probably think multi-tasking is a requirement. If you are a go-getter at work, you probably think multi-tasking makes you more efficient.

If you do true multi-tasking – i.e. more than one thing at a time, then you are not giving anything 100% of your focus or effort. Mistakes will be make. Try this on for size: “Task Switching.” How fast you switch between tasks is up to you. Just keep in mind the 100% focus.


Affirmation – say: “I will give the things I do and the people I interact with 100% of my attention and effort!”

Procrastination

What are you waiting for? We make time for the things are important to us. Maybe you are putting it off because it’s not something that is important to you. Perhaps you are overwhelmed. Time to break it down to smaller chunks. Remember, if you aren’t working on it, it’s not getting done. Either drop it or do it.

Affirmation – Say: “I will get it started or I will toss it!”

Worry

Worry is just like fear! It can be an asset or a block. Most times it’s a wasted emotion – a block that keeps us from doing anything. You can use it wisely if it’s something that comes into your life. Much like fear use it in a way to protect yourself.

Why do you worry? What do you worry about? Do your worries come true? If they do make changes so that it stops. If your worries don’t come true, you need to change your thinking. Positive outcomes are just as likely as what you worry about!

Affirmation – say: “I will think positive outcomes are a possibility.”

Awareness

Do you have blinders on? When overwhelm or underwhelm occurs, it is easy to stick our heads in the sand and pretend things are not there. Take a moment to look around and see if you are engaged with the world, the people you love and yourself. Are you aware of your behaviors? Are they representing the real you? Something could be out of sync. It’s ok to ask for help in seeing the blind spots of your life.




Affirmation – Say: “I will be more aware of myself and everything around me.”

Giving Up

Something not working? Many times you will just go and go and go without stopping to see if you are spinning your wheels – wasting precious time – beating a dead horse with a stick! STOP!

Take a look. Do you need to shift gears or trying something new? Maybe you need a new perspective or try a different approach?

IT’S NOT GIVING UP!

You don’t have to be so stubborn! Learn from what you have done so far and try a different approach. It’s not failure it’s paradigm shifting AND a smart thing to consider.

Affirmation – Say: “I am not giving up. I am learning from what I have done so far and improving!”

Consideration

Consideration of others before your self is a form of self-care, however, it can be tricky! Others will notice when you consider them and will in most circumstances reciprocate.

It is important to use consideration wisely and for the right things. Allowing someone who only has two items to go ahead of you and your cart is full is wise consideration. Saying “Yes” when you really mean “No” is not wise consideration.

Learn the differences.
Affirmation – Say: “I will use consideration often and wisely.”

Legacy

What kind of legacy are you creating for the next generation? Are you living in a way that is loving and honorable? Are you proud of your life?

It’s never too late to recreate your life in a way that honors who you are now, how you are thought of and how you want to be remembered.

Affirmation- Say: “I will take steps to create an honorable legacy.”

Potential

Everyone has potential to accomplish whatever it is they need to accomplish. The difference between those that succeed and those that don’t has nothing to do with potential – it has to do with using that potential to its fullest.

Don’t sit around saying that you’d like to do something. You have to take action, even if something small.
Affirmation- Say: I will use my potential to its fullest.

Honor your body

Is your body sending you messages that you are ignoring?Self-care is more than just mental; it is also physical.

Do you and your loved ones a favor and make sure that you take care of your body. Do not take it for granted, it’s the only one you got! If it breaks down, they will no longer have you in their lives and they need you.

As you age, if you do not take care of your body, you can become a burden. Is that what you want?

Affirmation – say: I will start to take care of my body so that I live a long healthy life – for me and for my loved ones.

Mistakes

How many mistakes have you made in life? If you are like most people, it’s a million!How many of them reoccur over and over. STOP!

You must move on and stop remaking the same mistakes. They might be in disguise or come in different forms but, it’s still the same mistake.

Find someone to help. Not a friend – it must be a neutral party who can give you honest feedback.

Affirmation – say: I will stop repeating the same mistakes!

Resistance

Is there something in your life that you have been resisting? You might even think of it as procrastinating? Why? There are a lot of reasons we resist. Try this one on for size.

Perhaps it doesn’t honor the core of who you are. There are some things that we have to do, whether we like them or not. Some things don’t have to be done, but we don’t push them away permanently. Why not?This is a waste of time and energy!

Affirmation – say: I will end the things I’ve been resisting and be reenergized!

Band-Aids on problems

We so often put bandaids on infections. Our problems in life are like infections. We treat the surface, only for it to come back again. Real problems are usually deep and have to be treated or they will never go away.

Get to the root. Use “___is a problem because…” on your problems until you can’t answer it anymore. You will get closer to the root problem.

Affirmation-say: I will work hard to get to the root problem.

Fear

Fear can protect and it can paralyze. Most often it is the later.

We constantly make up reasons to be fearful but, they are so rarely based in reality – our perception and beliefs are too strong.Make a list of your fears and see how often they have ever come true.

Perhaps it’s time to remove some fears that keep you from living life and excelling at what you most desire.Fear is a wasted excuse…lessen it’s power.

Affirmation – say: I will use fear wisely and with an open mind.

Journey

We’ve become so impatient lately. The economy is making everyone stressed out and anxious – so much so that we are forgetting the journey of life. 

You’re urgency can be a wonderful asset – it’ll keep you from wasting time. However, if you are not enjoying the process you need to be spending your time elsewhere. Do the things that make you whole and serve your life purpose.

Affirmation – say: I will relish the moments even when I’m in a hurry.

Indecision

Making a decision about anything can create havoc on your mental energy. If you are having trouble with making a decision right now, take a day off. Don’t think about it!

Next make a list:
Strengths of decision
Weakness
Opportunities
Threats

You can also do a simple pros and cons of each choice – don’t go be the number of items but the weight.Most decision are not life threatening. You just need to set your priorities.

Affirmation- say: I will methodically plan my large decision making.

Inner Critic

The things you tell yourself hold you back – if you listen. Put the toxic voice on mute. Building your self confidence begins with the words you use. If they don’t say something good about you, don’t listen and throw them out! It’s true we are not good at everything but you can rephrase it in a way that is not toxic.

Take a moment to think of something you beat yourself up about – “I’m bad at….” Let’s change it to I’m good at….”

Affirmation – Say: I’m a good at many many things. One of them is_________.

Conflict

There are many ways to handle situations that make you angry.  You can react or respond.  Reacting is usually destructive.  We either fight or retreat into a shell only to let things fester.  A better way is to think and respond.  Stop and decided do I need address this now?  How important is this issue?  Sometimes it's better to wait but don't avoid - either within yourself or with the one that you have conflict.  Waiting will help you respond instead of react.

Affirmation ---

Say: I will respond to conflict with a level head!

If only…

Regrets will keep you in the past!!! You must let go of what could’ve been. Learn and move on!  We live in the present with an eye on the future. You will waste time or might not even try if you wallow in regrets.

Write them on a piece of paper and then burn it.


Affirmation

Say: I will let go of regrets and move on with my life.

You have to care

If you don’t care about others then they will not care about you. Caring doesn’t make you a weak person it makes you more respected.  You can be strong and care at the same time. As a matter of fact, only the strong can truly care. In turn, caring can make you stronger.



Affirmation


Say: I will learn to care more about others.

Gratitude

When life is hard and you are struggling, it’s hard to find things to be happy about – but, it’s not impossible.  When we take a moment to be grateful for the good things we have in life, our attitude changes quickly.

What are you grateful for?


Affirmation
Say: I will find gratitude in the good areas of my life.