Tag Archives: Attitude

Dare to be Daring

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“I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity, is daring to dare.” ~ Maya Angelou

Risk-taking is the act of exposing yourself to potential failure, danger, harm, or loss.

While that might not always sound like a great idea and may push you beyond your personal comfort zone, the adage, “No risk, no reward” rings true regardless of how you feel about potential failures. You have to put yourself out there and move beyond your comfort zone in order to get what you want and to succeed.

History is repeat with those individuals who took the biggest risks and fought against the greatest odds and they were the ones that have been remembered. “You can’t outwit fate by standing on the sidelines placing little sidebets about the outcome of life. Either you wade in and risk everything you have to play the game or you don’t play at all. And if you don’t play you can’t win,” states Judith McNaught.

“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.” Seneca

Thus, dream boldly and reach for the stars. You, and most people, are more capable and able to live their dreams and achieve the big audacious goals if only they’re willing to believe, focus, work hard, be patient and persist. “It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever,” writes Philip Adams

References:

  1. https://www.inhersight.com/blog/career-development/taking-risks-quotes
  2. https://www.maverickmindsets.com/blog-posts/quotes-on-risk-taking/

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

Mindfulness and Wellness

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“Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

We need to adopt the practice of mindfulness in every realm of our lives.

Mindfulness is a way of being, of experiencing life, that is alert, awake, and present. It is the quality or trait of being aware of what’s happening, in the present moment, without judging your experience or needing to change it. 

Mindfulness is shown to reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus, and provide many other benefits.

“With this self-awareness, you’re able respond appropriately to the present moment instead of simply reacting with emotion fueled by your past experience.”

Moreover, mindfulness bolsters focus and clarity, can help you better navigate relationships with mindful listening and by reducing reactivity, and it can help you achieve your goals. It can make you feel more optimistic and also kinder and more forgiving toward yourself and others.

Mindfulness helps you respond appropriately to the present moment instead of simply reacting with emotion fueled by your past experience.

By witnessing our thoughts and feelings instead of automatically reacting to them, we disengage from our mental narrative and instead lightly hold our attention on the wider, quieter space beyond the thinking mind.

When mindfulness is paired with physical movement, and especially when done outdoors, the benefits are even greater for your mental, emotional and physical health, from measurable improvement in mood and immune function to better cardiovascular and respiratory function.

Studies show that mindfulness can improve confidence, resiliency, and focus among athletes. One study found that mindfulness helped college athletes sleep better, which improves both performance and mental endurance.

Mindfulness rewires the brain

Neural pathways are the superhighways of the brain—the most direct routes from initial thought to desired result. Mindfulness interrupts this process. Being present and witnessing your thoughts and feelings instead of automatically reacting to them, you disengage from our mental narrative and instead lightly hold your attention on the wider, quieter space beyond the thinking mind.

When you repeatedly disrupt the old reactive pathways and make different choices, over time you lay down new neural pathways, effectively rewiring how your brain reacts to certain situations.

These higher cognitive functions can point you toward more healthful ways of handling a situation. Mindfulness is a practice that really reaches into almost every area of our lives.

Here are just a few of the ways that mindfulness can help:

  1. Boosts serotonin levels and reduces cortisol levels — which can help relieve symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress
  2. Improves heart health
  3. Lowers blood pressure
  4. Reduces chronic pain, muscle tension, and inflammation
  5. Improves sleep quality and duration
  6. Alleviates digestive issues
  7. Improves attention, focus, concentration, and memory
  8. Increases self-compassion and empathy

The best way to understand mindfulness is to experience it for yourself! Mindfulness supports mental health in all the ways mentioned above—helping you to bring your awareness into the present moment, to take a mental and emotional pause, and to gain perspective on your situation instead of letting your habitual thoughts and reactions run the show.

Most experts recommend a daily mindfulness meditation practice of 10 or more minutes. You can also practice mindfulness for any amount of time, even just a minute here and a minute there will help you develop your innate capacity for mindfulness.

References:

  1. https://mindfulness.com/mindful-living/mindful-walking
  2. https://mindfulness.com/mindful-living/benefits
  3. https://mindfulness.com/mindful-living/mindfulness-a-beginners-guide

Two Wolves

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An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

  • One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued,
  • “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Feeding yourself with or focusing on negative thoughts can bring out the worst in yourself.

Conversely, positive thinking fuels the goodness within us. We exude joy, peace, hope, kindness, and love.

Essentially, what you focus your mind and thoughts on grows.

References:

  1. https://www.virtuesforlife.com/two-wolves/

Mindfulness

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Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Mindfulness is about fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, to the space you’re moving through. It is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

The annoying fact that we so often veer from the matter at hand.

Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with our body, and pretty soon we’re engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about the future. And that makes us anxious.

The practice of Mindfulness can help you overcome anxiety, worry and many of the stresses of life.

Mindfulness can be cultivated through proven techniques. Here are some examples:

  1. Seated, walking, standing, and moving meditation (it’s also possible lying down but often leads to sleep);
  2. Short pauses we insert into everyday life;
  3. Merging meditation practice with other activities, such as yoga or sports.

When we’re mindful, we reduce stress, enhance performance, gain insight and awareness through observing our own mind, and increase our attention to others’ well-being.

8 Facts About Mindfulness:

  1. Mindfulness is not obscure or exotic. It’s familiar to us because it’s what we already do, how we already are. It takes many shapes and goes by many names.
  2. Mindfulness is a thing we already have. We have the capacity to be present and we can cultivate these innate qualities with simple practices that are scientifically demonstrated to benefit ourselves and our love ones.
  3. You don’t need to change. Mindfulness recognizes and cultivates the best of who we are as human beings.
  4. Mindfulness has the potential to become a transformative social phenomenon. Here’s why:
  5. Anyone can do it. Mindfulness practice cultivates universal human qualities and does not require anyone to change their beliefs. Everyone can benefit and it’s easy to learn.
  6. It’s a way of living.  Mindfulness is more than just a practice. It brings awareness and caring into everything we do—and it cuts down needless stress. Even a little makes our lives better.
  7. It’s evidence-based. We don’t have to take mindfulness on faith. Both science and experience demonstrate its positive benefits for our health, happiness, work, and relationships.
  8. It sparks innovation. As we deal with our world’s increasing complexity and uncertainty, mindfulness can lead us to effective, resilient, low-cost responses to seemingly intransigent problems.

When we practice mindfulness, we’re practicing the art of creating space for ourselves—space to think, space to breathe, space between ourselves and our reactions.

References:

  1. https://www.mindful.org/how-to-practice-mindfulness/
  2. https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/

Hope is a Way of Thinking…a Super Power

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Hope is a feeling of expectation, a desire or wish for a certain thing to happen.

According to psychologist and renowned hope researcher Charles R. Snyder et al. (1991) hope is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of successful goal-directed determination and planning to meet these goals.

“Hope is not an emotion; it’s a way of thinking or a cognitive process.” Brené Brown

In other words, hope is like a snap-shot of a person’s current goal-directed thinking, highlighting the motivated pursuit of goals and the expectation that those goals can be achieved.

Hope helps us remain committed to our goals and motivated to take action towards achieving. Hope gives people a reason to continue fighting and believing that their current circumstances will improve, despite the unpredictable nature of human existence.

As psychologist and renowned hope researcher Charles Snyder et al. (2002, p. 269) stated so eloquently:

A rainbow is a prism that sends shards of multicolored light in various directions. It lifts our spirits and makes us think of what is possible. Hope is the same – a personal rainbow of the mind.

While some approaches conceptualize hope in the realm of being, that is acknowledging hope during illness and within palliative care; Snyder et al (1991) emphasized the relevance of hope in the context of doing – that is the capacity to achieve goals.

According to Snyder’s Hope Theory (Snyder, Irving, & Anderson, 1991), hopefulness is a life-sustaining human strength comprised of three distinct but related components:

  1. Goals Thinking – the clear conceptualization of valuable goals.
  2. Pathways Thinking – the capacity to develop specific strategies to reach those goals.
  3. Agency Thinking – the ability to initiate and sustain the motivation for using those strategies.

Hope does not necessarily fade in the face of adversity; in fact hope often endures despite poverty, war and famine. While no one is exempt from experiencing challenging life events, hope fosters an orientation to life that allows a grounded and optimistic outlook even in the most challenging of circumstances.

Practicing optimism has much in common with hope. Both are concerned with a positive future orientation and both assume that good things will generally occur in one’s life.

The difference is that optimism is a positive attitude about a future event that is probable and likely to occur: the optimist expects that life will work out well and as expected (Scheier & Carver, 1993).

On the other hand, being hopeful is regarded as more realistic than optimistism.

The hopeful individual recognizes that life may not always work out as planned, yet maintains positive expectancy directed toward possible outcomes that hold personal significance (Miceli & Castelfranchi, 2002)

Hope is more than just a state of mind; it is an action-oriented strength.

References:

  1. https://positivepsychology.com/hope-therapy/

C.R. Snyder was a fellow of the APA in the divisions of teaching, social and personality, clinical, and health. He worked as the director of the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Kansas and was  the editor of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Snyder passed away in 2006.

The biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation.” Hope means “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen” and it is a cognitive processes or way of thinking.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NIV)

The Power of “I Am”

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Self-talk, which is also known as your inner voice, are the words and messages you repeatedly say to yourself. These words, whether they are positive or negative, strongly influence how you feel and act in your daily life.

Self talk directly and substantially influences the way you think, behave and feel. Therefore, it’s important to use positive, motivating words that are structured to help you live your best life. For example, some people say destructive and disparaging comments to and about themselves that they would never say to someone else.

What follows the two simple words, “I Am”, will determine what type of life you have and will either bring success or failure in your life, says Pastor Joel Osteen.

Instead of saying negative “I Ams”, – “I am a failure. I am never going to succeed”, say what God says you are. Declare “I am blessed, confident, loved, accepted.”

When you change your “I Ams,” your life will change for the better. The seeds of greatness on the inside will spring forth.

10 Tips to become physically/mentally/emotionally stronger:

  1. Workout and move every day, eat healthier and get adequate sleep
  2. Meditate every day and strive to live a purpose driven life
  3. Accept new challenges or try something new…keep growing.
  4. Take some time to reflect and to be mindful…and spend time reading everyday
  5. Develop positive self-talk (affirmations) and stop negative self-talk
  6. Get comfortable with and learn from rejection and failure
  7. Have a gratitude attitude daily and keep a gratitude journal
  8. Be kind to yourself and others
  9. Stop comparing yourself to others
  10. Surround yourself with positive people

References:

  1. https://www.joelosteen.com/how-to-watch/Messages/2018/04/09/20/26/The%20Power%20of%20I%20Am
  2. https://positivewordsresearch.com/thoughts-matter/

Thoughts of the Day

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Gratitude is a Super Power!

Gratitude is a choice, not just a feeling. You must choose to live a life in gratitude and therefore gratitude is an attitude and virtue. Gratitude is a virtue you choose to live your life by.

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues but the parent of all the others.” Cicero (106-43bc), Roman Philosopher

Angeles Arrien wrote: “The practice of offering gratitude bestows many benefits. Anger, arrogance, and jealousy melt in its embrace. Fear and defensiveness dissolve. Gratitude diminishes barriers to love and evokes happiness, keeping alive what has meaning for us.”

Gratitude is recognizing the fact that everything good that happens in your life is a gift. Not something we’re entitled to, or should expect, but actually a very sweet gift.

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ~Eckart Toll

“Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”– Robert Collier

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” -William Jennings Bryan

“Minimalism isn’t about removing the things you love. It’s about removing the things that distract you from the things you love.” ~Joshua Becker Over

“In every season of our life, we’re tempted to focus on our present burdens and miss the opportunities and blessings.

We love it when we receive the blessing, the promotion, the new house, the baby, but with the blessing comes new burdens, responsibilities, payments, cares.

Rather than enjoy where we are on the way to where we’re going, we get so caught up in the challenges that we miss the beauty of this moment.

You could be in one of the best seasons of your life, but you don’t realize it because you’re focused on the struggles, on what you don’t like, on what’s taking so long.

At some point you have to put your foot down and say, “This is the day the Lord has made”, and I will not allow my burdens to steal my joy, my peace and my enjoyment of my blessings.

Change your perspective and attitude. Shift your focus from life’s burdens to the blessings and opportunities, from what’s wrong to what’s right, from what you don’t have to what you have.

Make the most of abundant joy and peace every day.

“Being grateful all the time isn’t easy. But it’s when you least feel thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest most powerful way to effect change in your life — this I know for sure.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

References:

  1. https://www.joelosteen.com/en-US/inspiration/todays-word/2021/03/21/20/06/Todays%20Blessings

Growing Your Gratitude

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“The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now. And the more grateful you are, the more you get.” — Oprah Winfrey

By cultivating a life of gratitude, you will be able to feel joy no matter what your circumstances are. As dark as things might seem, if you can dig deep and find something to be grateful for, your whole attitude can change.

According to an article in Psychology Today, “Scientists say that these techniques (focusing on gratitude) shift our thinking from negative outcomes to positive ones, elicit a surge of feel good hormones like dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, and build enduring personal connections.”

Being grateful shouldn’t be reserved for those times when it’s easy to be grateful, either. Gratitude promotes life. It’s optimistic. Practical. It takes courage and brains to be grateful.

Gratitude clears the way for positive choice and change. It motivates and moves you into a higher place so you feel better. Hopeful. Strong.

When you appreciate things you’re kinder. Gratitude boosts you physically, mentally and emotionally.

Gratitude helps you build wealth

Nourishing yourself with gratitude makes you feel stronger, more alert and alive. It builds up and strengthens your entire body, mind and spirit.

Six strategic steps to fill up your gratitude account:

  1. Call it “intentional gratitude” or “conscious appreciation” but build a new habit of expressing gratitude frequently. It will make you feel fortunate, powerful and kind.
  2. Create a specific daily mantra for yourself — a prayer, wish, vow or commitment —
    ‘I am grateful for_______________’. Have it in your mind. Say it to people. Write it in notes and emails.
  3. “Thank you” takes one second to say. Consciously look to express it and do good things often. Don’t miss an opportunity to be grateful.
  4. Start a Daily Gratitude Journal – Write 3 things you’re grateful for every night before bed.
  5. How does gratitude live in the world? Look for examples in music, art, literature, daily life, history, people you see and know.
  6. Acknowledge negativity and counter it with genuine appreciation and thanks.

“Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships…regardless of the inherent or current level of someone’s gratitude, it’s a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further.”

References:

  1. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/grow-your-gratitude-six-easy-steps-for-smart-people_b_5760096
  2. https://www.aplanforjoyinthehome.com/grow-in-gratitude/
  3. https://www.seventeen.com/life/a37198250/gratitude-quotes/

Just for Today

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Think and act cheerfully, and you will feel cheerful.

Create your happiness by follow daily program of cheerful and constructive thinking written by Sibyl F. Partridge.

  1. Just for today, I will be happy. This assumes that what Abraham Lincoln said is true, that “most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals.
  2. Just for today, I will try to adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my family, my business, and my luck as they come and fit myself to them.
  3. Just for today, I will take care of my body. I will exercise it, care for it, nourish it, not abuse or neglect it, so that it will a perfect machine for my bidding.
  4. Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
  5. Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three ways; I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do, as William James suggest, just for exercise.
  6. Just for today, I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress as becomingly as possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with praise, criticize not at all, not find fault with anything and not try to regulate nor improve anyone.
  7. Just for today, I will try to live this day only, not to tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do things for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime.
  8. Just for today, I will have a program and plan. I will write down what I expect to do every hour. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will eliminate two pests, hurry and indecisive.
  9. Just for today, I will have a quiet half-hour all by myself and relax. In this half-hour sometimes I will think of God, so as to get a little more perspective on life.
  10. Just for today, I will be unafraid, especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love, to believe that those I love, love me.

Written by Sybil F. Partridge and printed in How To Stop Worrying, And Start Living by Dale Carnegie, 1951

The Optimist

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“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~ Winston Churchill

While your health is very important to your quality of life and longevity, your emotional well-being is equally important. Your emotional well-being impacts the way you do nearly everything in your life.

Studies show that people who are optimistic are less likely to suffer from a chronic illness, states Brian Tracy, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International. They live 11-15% longer and have a greater chance of living beyond age 85.

Optimistic people have better job security, are more likely to succeed in their careers, and have greater job satisfaction. They are able to turn disappointments into motivation, which leads to increased productivity and accomplishments. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Optimistic people get sick less often and recover from illnesses faster. Optimists seem to have different ways of dealing with the world that set them apart from the average, says Tracy:

  1. “First, they keep their minds on what they want and keep looking for ways to get it. They are clear about their goals and they are confident that they will accomplish them, sooner or later.”
  2. “Second, optimists look for the good in every problem or difficulty. When things go wrong, as they often do, they say, “That’s good!” And then set about finding something positive about the situation.”

When you think and talk about what you want and how to get it, you feel happier and in greater control of your life. When you think about something that makes you happy, your brain actually releases endorphins, which give you a generalized feeling of well-being.

Moreover, if you are looking for something good or beneficial in a person or situation, you will always find it.  And while you are looking, you will be a more positive and cheerful person.

Optimists seek the valuable lesson in every setback or reversal.  Rather than getting upset and blaming someone else for what has happened, they take control over their emotions by saying, “What can I learn from this experience?” 

When you experience a setback or a negative event occurs, it’s your response that matters most and truly determines the outcome. Thus, it’s vitally important to always look for the positive response or optimistic lesson when such setbacks and events take place.

“While you cannot control everything that comes your way, you can control how you respond to them.” Brian Tracy

The true measure of emotional well-being is how positive and optimistic you are about yourself, about your talents and abilities, and about your life.

We all face challenges, but it is our reaction to those challenges that determine how quickly we can overcome them. Your ability to find an optimistic view of challenges will impact your overall success and emotional well-being, so to ensure you know how to be optimistic during hardships.

Resolve to see your glass of life as half full rather than half empty. Happy people give thanks for the many blessings in life rather than worrying or complaining about the things they do not have.

Assume the best of intentions on the part of everyone around you.  Most people are pretty decent, honest and are trying to do the very best they know how to, says Tracy. When you look for something good in their words and actions, you will almost always find something.

Finally, resolve to be cheerful, no matter what happens.

Looking on the bright side is most important when things go wrong. According to Tracy, “While you cannot control everything that comes your way, you can control how you respond to them.”

“Success is not an action that you take, it’s a way of life. If you want to accomplish great things, greatness must be reflected in everything that you do.” Brian Tracy

References:

  1. https://www.briantracy.com/blog/personal-success/be-an-optimist-at-all-times/
  2. https://www.briantracy.com/blog/personal-success/positive-attitude-happy-people-positive-thinking/

Brian Tracy, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.