March 2012
We are 700 times more likely to follow through on something if we have someone we are accountable to... (heard at a Dale Beaumont seminar in February).
February 2012
I've just been tutoring a young man who thought he might want to be a writer but just couldn't seem to get around to doing any writing... It seemed he had a case of laziness, but the truth is that he hadn't yet identified what he really wanted to do.
Sometimes it looks like we're being lazy but if we need external motivation to do something, it probably isn't that important to us. Our true values inspire us and energise us, and when we identified the thing that was higher on his values than writing, he lit up.
What lights you up?
January 2012
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it dresses in overalls and looks like work.” - Thomas Alva Edison
Goals we just dream about remain dreams; it takes a strategy and persistent action to achieve our dreams.
November 2011
“You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.” - Jerry Gillies
October 2011
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people that have come alive." – Howard Thurman
September 2011
From Pollyanna’s Door to Happiness by Elizabeth Borton
… “Pollyanna thought of the power of the imagination.
“Curbed and exercised for our entertainment, it gives us pure happiness,” she mused. “Running wild, though, and substituting itself and its manufactured dreams for reality… it plunges us into problems, despair, mental troubles… It is a thing like fire; capable of infinite good and comfort if harnessed and guided and understood… and capable of injuring us in unaccountable ways, if we permit it to rule us.”
August 2011
Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo shared: "We are like rough pieces of wood. If we rub ourselves with silk or velvet, it may be nice, but it won't make us smooth. To become smooth, we need sandpaper."
July 2011
The power of self-discipline
In the classic Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, researchers gave children a choice between one marshmallow right away, or two later. Most struggled to resist the treat and held out for less than three minutes. "A few kids ate the marshmallow right away," Walter Mischel, the Stanford professor in charge of the experiment, remembers. "They didn't even bother ringing the bell. Other kids would stare directly at the marshmallow and then ring the bell thirty seconds later." About 30% of the children, however, successfully delayed gratification until the researcher returned, some 15 minutes later. These kids wrestled with temptation but found a way to resist. The most interesting results came years later: children who waited fifteen minutes had SAT scores that were, on average, 210 points higher than those of those who waited only 30 seconds. This New Yorker article delves into the mental processes behind self-control. For the whole article: http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4668
June 2011
How to fit affirmations into your day
My daughters and I have just started working out at Curves and it struck me that this is the perfect place for doing affirmations. I used to do them while walking at the park with my dog, and for a while haven't done them much at all. I think of affirmations as 'training wheels for the mind' – they're a great tool when you want to blitz your consciousness and change an attitude that isn't serving you into something more useful. Then I find that the general thoughts I'm thinking start to reflect my 'blitzed new idea'.
Recently I decided that I wanted to address a few limiting thoughts again, and the gym circuit is proving to be a great place to organise me: I do one affirmation while I'm jogging and another while I'm on this machine, another on that machine... Brilliant. I gather that Dr Demartini links his affirmations to daily activities like brushing his teeth and eating an apple, so there's another idea for you. Anything habitual, repetitive or regular is a great activity to link an affirmation to. Red lights in traffic could be a good one... "Every day in every way I'm getting more and more patient..." 
May 2011
Trust yourself.
The last couple of months have demonstrated the 'orderly beauty' and inspiration available to us when we trust ourselves. Not only was I treated to some magnificent examples of synchronicity, but paths that appeared to be diverging have converged, with insights and greater love for all, and risks are paying off. (I share much of this in my blog.)
I'm increasingly finding that trust is about taking small steps and following small inclinations, hints, urges. So don't wait for drums and cymbals or lightning or fireworks. If you feel drawn to do something, trust that impulse and go explore. You might feel like contacting someone, seeing a movie, reading a book, cooking a particular meal or even having a nap - make it a habit to trust yourself more and more. The rewards are so enriching and often astounding.
April 2011
From Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author, philosopher, and motivational speaker:
"Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become."
February 2011
From The Greatest Manifestation Principle in the World - The Missing Secret behind the Law of Attraction that will enable you to finally manifest your heart's desires, by Carnelian Sage.
"One important thing to bear in mind is that it is never materialism or the desire for personal gain that manifests your desires. Therefore, for as long as your desires are motivated by materialism, personal gain or other selfish interests you can visualize your desires all day long and yet you may never get what you want... In practising the Law of Attraction,while it's possible to observe good things happening in your life, more often than not, it is either confirmation bias or the observer-expectancy effect that may be causing you to observe those good things."
Instead, love is the x-factor: "Love is the most powerful magnetic force in the universe. It is the doorway from the unmanifest to the manifest, and the bridge between the emotional and the spiritual - the pathway from the linear to the non-linear domains... Any endeavour that employs the magnetism of love MUST necessarily manifest because love's frequency is a vibrational match to that of God (G.O.D. - LG), who is architect of all creation."
January 2011
From Hunting for Power by Susan Oliver:
'There is a reason that we have the goal we do, whatever that goal is. There is an equal reason to why we have not yet achieved that goal. In other words, if you didn't have some form of negative belief, you would have already achieved what you want and would no longer have this goal. In hunting for personal power, we are seeking out the limiting beliefs that are preventing us from achieving whatever goal we place before us. If, in thinking about what you want, your body re-acts in a way that indicates a fear, then this is the issue that needs to be addressed. Again, this is the wound that needs healing. In some respect, our goal is our fear.'
December 2010
With the festive season at hand, hot weather increasing, and many people tired and challenged, remember to stop the mad rush to wander in nature, sit and gaze at trees and clouds, listen to birds, say 'I love you' to the people you care about, have a laugh with them, hug family, friends and trees... and back-up your computer!
(I had just lost 2 weeks' worth of stuff because my hard disc crashed. So take the time to do the practical things and the self-caring things!)