Author Archive
Discovering Happiness in Your Life
Posted by: | CommentsIf there is one thing that I have learned in my 40+ years on this planet, it is that: Happiness is a choice. I am serious, It is VERY true! The choice is yours – You can choose to:
- let life’s circumstances get you down
or you can choose to: - be happy no matter what challenges life brings you overcome
What I find that most people do not know is the fact that happiness is already within each and every one of us. We, as a human race, are born to be naturally happy! I mean think about it for a moment; have you ever noticed how infectious the sound of a baby’s giggle is? Or, if someone is having a serious belly laugh, you know the kind I am talking about, they are laughing so hard their eyes are watering and they can not speak. Those two simple things, bring a smile to your face – if even for a moment. However, for some reason, as we get older, we loose sight of the happiness that resides inside us, we forget where to find that happiness within ourselves and, instead, allow outside forces to determine our happiness. Forces like, our job, a spouse, a sibling, money, cars, a house or other such tangible items. Do not get me wrong all of these things can bring a level of happiness into your life, BUT if your not first looking inside for your happiness then the happiness these materialistic items will bring will be short lived – shorter than even the warranty some come with.
So, with all that said, let me give you six tips that will enable you to discover your own happiness from within:
- When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Cliché, I know, however even the cliché can be oh so true. You do not have to let the troubles in your life and problems get you so down that you forgot the good that still resides in it – no matter how small it may seem. I mean lets face it, there will always be troubles, large and small, because no one is perfect, but YOU can choose your reaction to situations. Look at the positive side of things, even if that positive is nothing more then a lesson learned. At first it you might have work hard to see the good in people and circumstances, but it will be time well spent and it will turn your perspective from one of doom and gloom to one of possibilities.
- Find something you love to do and do it. Do you have a lifelong dream or desire? If so, start working toward it – NOW, even if you have to start doing it for free. Taking baby steps towards a dream or goal will help you feel like you’re accomplishing something. This feeling of accomplishment will fuel your drive and determination to reach that goal especially when it’s something you love to do. I loved to speak in public – so I contact every service organization in my town and in the surrounding towns to offer a free speech – some said “No.” However many said yes. I shared a message I was passionate about, help educate others on the topic and built my skills – soon I was getting paid for the same thing I was doing for free. Find your passion and go for it – it will fuel your desire, drive and happiness like nothing you can imagine!
- Do you have a gift or talent you’re not using? One reason so many people are unhappy is that they’re not doing what they’re called to do with their God-given talents. Each and every one of us has a purpose in life. You have natural gifts and talents to help you achieve your purpose, so use your gifts effectively! Here is a key – your talents are something you are naturally good at even if you have not honed them yet. Do you have some thing you have a ‘nack’ for? Then perhaps that is a natural talent you need to give some attention to. Also this usually links back to #2, and it is something that you enjoy doing (even if others thing you shouldn’t be doing it).
- When you’re feeling down, don’t wallow in your sorrows alone; do something about it. Call a friend who you know is positive and cheerful. Talk about your thoughts, and feelings, ten listen to their advice. So often, people allow themselves to go deeper and deeper into self-pity or depression because they think it has to be that way. The truth is, you don’t have to be sad and you should not be. You can decide to be happy. You just have to make up your minds to do so. Again, do not get me wrong – things will happen that make you sad, and at times you buy cheap Penis Extender Deluxe online need to go through those feelings. The key phrase is “to go THROUGH” the feelings – not get mired down in them. A perfect example I remember back some years ago; I had a good friend whose girl friend left him. He was quite upset and asked if I would chat with him. Of course, happily I met him down at a local restaurant and we ate a good meal has some great discussions about his relationship and what potentially went wrong. But as the evening wore on he drink another drink, and another and another. He began to share his heartbreak story with anyone that would listen, wallowing in the feelings rather than coming out the other side. Of course the next morning, he was still along, heartbroken and now he had a hang over to boot. We tried again a few days later – this time at a place with no alcohol and I’m happy to say had came through his feelings much easier then with a little coaching and support he was back in the dating scene and met a wonderful young lady a couple months later.
- Think about all the things you have to be thankful for. Often we get so caught up in what is going wrong with our life that we forget to look at what is right and working. Pause, take a step back and review on your life as a whole. How far have you come from, say, six months to a year or even five years ago?
- Do you have children, family and/or friends to be thankful for? If they are like mine, they are not always everything we would like them to be, BUT imagining a life without them empty. So, be thankful that you have them in your life.
- Do you have a job? Okay maybe it is not your dream job, but in today’s economy, those of us who have a job should be thankful for it.
- What about your health, your home, or some of the more simplistic things we often take for granted – like the ability to see. Enabling you to read this very article. To hear the birds chirp “good morning,” to speak and say “I love you” to those special people in your life.
- When you’re feeling down, journal your thoughts and feelings. Often you’ll find that just getting your feelings down on paper will allow you to work through them, helping you to feel better about yourself and your beautiful life! Also, you might notice a trend if you journal regularly. I had a friend that I was coaching and as he reviewed his journaling entries, he noticed that entries made on the day he met with an old buddy of his were far more negative then any others. His friend was jaded by all the troubles in his life and was using my friend as a venting post to offload all his troubles on my friend. This was obviously having a negative impact on my friend, so he slowly spent less and less time with this negative influence and found he days remained far more positive. Later he let his friend know that he could not spend such time with him if he was going to be a “negative Nel.”
If you’ve been prone to look at life negatively, then you’ll have to put more effort into seeing and choosing happiness. But don’t let that stop you from being happy! You, too, can learn to be happy.
Practice the steps above and train yourself and your mind to focus intensely on the positives. Never ignore the realities when focusing on the positive. Rather choose to not wallow in the negative. When you feel a negative thought coming on, or your mind gravitates toward the negative, learn to recognize it, stop it in its tracks, and then turn your attention to the more positive aspects of the situation.
Starting from this moment onward, make the conscious choice to be happy!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Today’s Top Motivated Coach & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://WriteYourSuccessStory.com
Mind Web – Spinning a Web of Ideas
Posted by: | CommentsAnyone who has had to give a presentation, write an article, create a training buy cheap Penis Extender Deluxe Gold online session or even give a quick talk to some children can probably quickly recall sitting in a dankly lit room, behind a desk covered with research material, a glazed look upon your face as you gaze at the stack of information you so desperately want to pull into a first rate piece. You hope for some spark of genius, yet all you get is frustration and probably a headache. You try harder and harder to pull together the words, thoughts and phrases to articulate your message, but your brain gives you nothing to work with.
Well, fear no longer for those days are over. Today you are going to learn a technique that will pull out those ideas into a form that allows you to ‘see’ your message in a natural flow. Once your see your message, writing that speech or presentation will come far easier than you ever expected.
I use this technique over and over again to create articles like the one you are currently reading. The only downfall to this brain web or inspiration web as I prefer to call it is that I often get too many ideas and have to cut many of them out of the article I am writing. But that is ok, for that leaves me with plenty of ideas for the next article, all ready and waiting for me to call upon them in a moments notice. This even works for those times when you have only minutes before you have to stand before your audience.
So, let’s spinning a web of ideas.
The tools you will need to create your web are a pen, paper, and a timing device. Larger paper is better, but standard 8 ½ x 11 paper will do as well. In the center of this sheet of paper, write the topic of your presentation and draw a circle around your words.
Now take a few deep breathes, and stand up, yes that’s right, stand up. Hold your head high and look up at the ceiling. Throw your shoulders back, and puff out your chest proudly. And smile a really huge smile. The kind of smile you would see on the face of a child before opening that wonderfully wrapped present on their birthday or on Christmas morning. Feel those feelings, the excitement and the thrill of finding what is within the brightly colored wrapping. Breathe fully and deeply while doing this. Open your mind – remember that for now there are no rules, no limitations. This is the time for no-holds-barred idea creation.
Now, with those wonderfully energizing feelings pumping you up – set the timer for five minutes. Sit down, grab your pen, and begin to write. Write down every idea that comes to mind. Write fast; do not let your pen stop moving. Abbreviate so that you can get as many ideas down on your sheet as fast as possible. What you will find is that you will be writing one idea and BANG the next one hits, then, before you even can finish writing that idea down, BANG another, then another BANG, and so on. Write every thought that comes to mind, filling up your paper. Don’t be concerned with spelling, grammar or neatness. Make no judgments as you write during this five-minute period. Only record the thoughts as they come to you. Your end goal right now is a vast number of ideas and thoughts.
While you are writing, circle each idea, and connect related ideas/thoughts with lines or even arrows. Keep writing until the timer goes off. Then relax, sit back and review your inspiration web. Is it full of ideas? It should be. Did you make all the connections? If not, make those obvious connections now. As before use lines, arrows or whatever you are comfortable with.
Take a break, ten to fifteen minutes is a good period of time. During this break get away from your idea sheet, and take your mind off of it completely. Then come back and look at the page. By now a few main idea threads will become obvious on your web of lines or arrows. Identify three to five ideas (five maximum for the best audience retention) that you want to cover. Highlight or color-code them so they stand out on the page. Now you have your topic and primary talking points. Your lines and arrows will guide you in your flow from one speaking point to another. I guarantee by this point your piece is taking direction in your head and you will be quite ready to begin putting it to paper.
Use this inspiration web technique anytime that you need to give birth to some creative ideas. This technique will work not only on coming up with speaking points for your main topic; it will work in problem solving, product enhancement and innovation as well.
Think Successfully and Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Today’s Top Motivated Coach & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://WriteYourSuccessStory.com
http://SuccessAtlas.com
Journaling and Idea Generation
Posted by: | Comments“If you’re serious about becoming a wealthy, powerful, sophisticated, healthy, influential, cultured and unique individual, keep a journal. Don’t trust your memory. When you listen to something valuable, write it down. When you come across something important, write it down.” – Jim Rohn
While sitting listening to the 2004 Jim Rohn 3 day Leadership conference in Anaheim California, Jim Rohm made that a quote and I guess the time was right because it stuck with me that time. I have tried journaling in the past but was never able to remain consistent with it. However, these days I regularly journal my thoughts, ideas, events, emotions, etc successfully. Keeping a journal helps me see where I have been; where I’m going and if I need to adjust my course along the way. It helps me see those times when emotion was getting the better of me.
Where journaling really has proved to be its weight and buy cheap Penis Extender Deluxe Girth online gold is in idea generation. Whenever I get an idea no matter how large or small I write it down. If I don’t have my journal handy (which isn’t very often) I would grab a piece of paper and write down the idea and put it in my pocket then transfer it to my journal later. These days, I keep one of those little digital voice recorders with me and when I get an idea or a thought I pick it up and click ‘REC’ and save the idea.
If you start recording your ideas the moment you get them, whether via paper/pen or digitally you will begin to get more and more ideas. Trust me I speak from experience. A short bit after I started my journal and voice recorder techniques the ideas began to flow like water.
In my next blog post I am going to to give you yet another way to prompt ideas for presentations, articles, books, product or whatever you might need it for. Check back tomorrow, read the new post, give it a try and let me know how it works out of for you.
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Today’s Top Motivated Coach & Author of Success Atlas Products
Focus on Your Audience
Posted by: | CommentsMany readers of my blogs, articles and eBooks are business people either in corporations or in their own business, many are sales people and still others are in network marketing. All these have a common thread. At one time or another, often MANY times over – they are called upon to present information to an audience. Whether that audience is one or one thousand, one thing that your audience will appreciate from you is focus. It does not matter whether your audience is live in living color, reading your website, or like you right now, reading this blog post. Each an every one of them will appreciate you getting focus so they can get the most out of the time they invest in ‘listening’ to you. Give them the value they deserve by focusing on them. In order for you to focus in on them via your subject you will need the following three things:
- A Message
- An objective
- Knowledge of your audience
1 – Message – sit down and write a single sentence that states what you want your audience to remember. Make sure it is simple. Make sure it is clear. This will become your overriding message and theme of your presentation, article or blog post. Your message needs to be repeated throughout your presentation at least six times and most importantly driven home at the end of the speech. Weave it throughout your talk like a binding thread to insure your audience remembers this message.
2 – Objective – Going into your presentation you should know the buy cheap Penegra online answers to questions like; do you want to motivate your audience? Entertain them? Inform them? Gather input or sell a product? Sit down and answer this question – I want the audience to…
3 – Audience – In previous posts, audios and books I have stressed the benefits on knowing your audience. Why are they interested in this topic? After all, how you motivate a group of college students to save for their future will be far different then how you motivate a group of thirty-something business professionals that are parents. So be sure to relate your message to their needs and issues. Be sure to communicate to them how the action you want them to take will benefit them.
Gaining this focus early on in the creation of your presentation will guide you as you prepare the material. Then you are ready to prepare your material. By knowing these three essential pieces of information your information and its presentation will begin to take a life and flow in a way that makes sense. But if you attempt to write the speech without this information you WILL struggle harder for not only what you should share but the manner in which you should share it. You will risk spending time on talking points that are irrelevant and you will loose your audience. Give them what they want, give them what they need and stay focused.
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Today’s Top Motivated Coach & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://WriteYourSuccessStory.com
http://SuccessAtlas.com
Three More Ways to Stay Positive
Posted by: | Comments‘The first step of reaching a goal to is clearly define it, down to the last detail.’
– Tracy Brinkmann
The best way I have found to keep positive is to minimize the bumps in the road. One of key things you can to reduce the turbulence along your flight to success is to take the wheel on the suggestive factors in your surroundings. Take control of the things you are seeing, listening to and exposing yourself to. Insure that these factors are consistently aligned with the goals you want to achieve in your life.
1 – Learn, Learn and Learn
Gain information in areas that will move you towards your goals. Attend seminars; learn from those that have gone before you. Take additional courses and learn everything you possibly can. Find someone that has done what you want to do (or even part of what you want to do) and model them. Read their book(s), listen to them live, read their articles, write them letters. Invite them to a lunch, get their advice. You can cut months and even years off your trip to success by listening to and modeling your actions after those that have proven track records in areas that are vital to your success.
One great way of learning is audio programs. Listen to educational and motivational programs in your car. The average person drives over 12,000 miles annually. That could be from 500 to 1,000 hours per year that you spend in your car, usually listening to music or someone else’s opinion on politics, the weather and the news. You can quickly become an expert in your area of interest by simply turning off the radio and putting on some educational material instead. You are going to be in the car anyway – why not turn it into a university on wheels. I know of an interpreter then currently know 4 languages and is learning a 5th. Each of these languages he learned in his car. You can even take your audio learning one step farther and listen to them while you are doing yard work, while you are painting the fence or going for a jog.
2 – See What You Want To Be
Every evening before you lay your head down to rest, and the first thing after your pick it up, picture your goals as already reached. Imagine your goals as though they already existed. Doing this will trigger your subconscious mind to see opportunities you might otherwise miss, and afford you the control to respond rather than react when life does not go the way you want it to. However, your mind will only be activated when you feed it these affirmations and pictures in the present tense. See your goal vividly, feel it, smell it, taste it as if you were living it in that very moment before you go to sleep, then again when you wake up. Picture yourself performing at your best. While this may seem like an odd technique, it is not. This technique is used by many Olympians and pro athletes the world over. They have lived that winning shot, jump or sprint thousands of times before the first time they actually execute it. You can put this same winning technique to work for you by imagining the situation you are facing, and seeing it working out just the way you want it to.
Picture yourself living the level of success you want to enjoy. See yourself with the kind of family relationships you desire, the level of fitness you wish to enjoy. Picture yourself cruising down the road in your dream car. Pulling up to that perfect house and parking that dream car in the garage. Whatever it is your heart desires – feed it all the mental pictures of how you want it to be every night before you go to sleep, then again when you awake. This will do wonders for your attitude and for enabling your creative intellect to naturally come up with solutions that will permit your imagined picture to become a reality.
3 – Fly With Eagles
I remember having a t-shirt when I was a teenage that said “It is hard to soar with the eagles when you fly with the turkeys.” This is so very true on many levels. You need to associate primarily with like-minded, positive and success oriented people. Find a group of winners and soar with them. If you loose your job, who do you think is going to help you deal with that and find another one. The group of unemployed folks down at the local pub, complaining about the job market and their situations? Or, a group of positive success oriented people getting together to network and locate new opportunities? While the answer is obvious, many people do not take that obvious answer and make it a part of their action plan.
You can not fly with the eagles if you scratch with those turkeys. Get away from the go no where types and most certainly get away from negative people. Wean yourself as quickly as possible away from negative people. They have a way of siphoning the positive energy from you and setting you adrift on a course you would rather not be on. Associating with negative people on a regular basis is enough to lead you to a life of underachievement, failure and frustration. So, only associate with positive thinking men and women!
Time To Take Action
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Right now decide what one area or topic that you would like to increase your knowledge in. Once you have decided on the topic – find a book, seminar or course on that topic and get it. Then apply yourself to learning it. You will feel better for having done so. This will feed your desire to read the next book, attend the next seminar or take the next course. Creating an upward attitudinal spiral that you will enjoy! There is a great eCourse at http://WriteYourSuccessStory.com that will get you started on a unique way to creatively design the life you desire and deserve.
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Turn your car into automobile university. Turn off the radio more and listen to those tapes and CDs that will feed your mind and pull you towards your goals. You will more about your chosen topic and take your focus off the frustrating traffic in front of you. You can also use an MP3 player for those times your doing other tasks that would leave your mind free to absorb more educational and motivational material. Once upon a time I did not like to work in the yard – these days I pop in some Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy or any of my other favorite speakers and I’m off to happily trim the bushes and mow the lawn. Try it –it works!
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Shift your group of friends from the negative thinkers to the positive ones. Resolve to associate with optimistic people as much as you possibly can. Associate with winners and move away from those negative, criticizing, complainers that will suck the energy you need to get you to your goals. This one act can have as much impact on your life as any another other step you will ever take.
Think buy cheap Paxil online Successfully and Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Today’s Top Motivated Coach & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://WriteYourSuccessStory.com
http://SuccessAtlas.com
