How to Develop Your Strengths

2021-07-25 ~ adminlife

Everyone has unique talents and strengths, but whether we’ve discovered and actively developed them is the real question! Maybe we’ve been told that we’re good at something, but we let our skills go untapped while we wait for the confidence and courage to take action.

There are even some people whose self-esteem is suffering to the point that they truly believe they don’t possess any talents at all! If this is you, please believe that your talents are there, just waiting to be revealed to you!

These tried and true strategies will help you develop your strengths to their full potential:

Perhaps you think that you’re strong in one area, but you aren’t completely sure. This is where you need to look into things that interest you or that you believe you might be good at. See what resources are available and what it would take to make the commitment to strengthen your strengths.

Patience. Developing your strengths to their full potential won’t occur overnight. To fully develop a talent, you must be patient. Patience is not easy and many of us tend to struggle with it. But if you can be patient, you’ll definitely reap the benefits at the end of the process.

- A useful way to think of developing your talents is to consider it as a journey. It may take a while, but you’ll learn a lot along the way.
- You’ll make mistakes and celebrate milestones, and by the time you’re done, your strength will be fully developed to the peak of your abilities.

Set goals. People are more successful when they set goals. Write down what you’d like to accomplish and what date you’d like to achieve this by. Remember to be realistic and review your goals frequently to keep yourself on track.

- Post your goals in places where you’ll see them throughout the day. The refrigerator, bathroom mirror, and your computer monitor are a few ideas. This will not only keep you on track, but it’ll also motivate you to reach these goals as quickly as possible.

Believe you can do it. Confidence can be one of your greatest strengths and assets. When trying to improve yourself in any capacity, if you truly believe that you’re able to accomplish anything, you’ve won half the battle.

- The battle with your mind is often greater than any challenge you face in reality.
- You may have tough days when you’re unsure of yourself, but as long as you get back on track quickly, you’ll build momentum. Remember, you can do this!

Final Thoughts on Developing Your Strengths

Strengthening your strengths may be a daunting and overwhelming journey at times. And, yes, it will take some work. But everything worth anything involves hard work!

It’s important to focus on the big picture and remember the rewards you’ll enjoy once this process is over. Also, ensure that you have the unwavering belief that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. By possessing these two attributes, you’ll be on the road to success in no time!

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button below

and we can talk about how you can develop your existing strengths to be more successful

To your success

Michael

P.S. if you have always thought that you should have a Life Coach on your personal team to help you create the best year of your life but were put off by the cost and the time requirement, I have created a Self-paced course that covers what we would do when working together.

While not the same as working one-on-one with a Life Coach, this self-paced course can help you to understand your present situation, how you got there and how to set goals that will move you forwards to success.

Click on the logo below to find out more about the course

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Back to Basics: How to Develop a Positive Attitude

2021-07-182021-07-18 ~ adminlife

You know thinking positive is good for you, but it may be difficult to put that belief into action. Can you develop a sunny outlook when your bank account is almost empty or your boss is yelling at you?

The truth is you can control your attitude regardless of what is going on around you. Follow these practical steps for understanding yourself more clearly and making each day a more joyful and rewarding experience.

Understanding Your Attitude

Assess your personality. Your personality is your unique combination of qualities and traits, and your attitude is the way you decide to look at the world. While you can make fundamental changes, appreciating your basic nature helps you to focus your efforts and pick strategies that leverage your strengths.
Question your assumptions. Learn to distinguish between beliefs and facts so you can let go of your limitations. For example, you may be single, but unless you live on a deserted island there are other adults you could date, so it’s unrealistic to think that finding love is impossible.
Watch your language. Words are powerful. Choose statements that give you hope. Avoid exaggerations that turn minor irritations into major disasters.
Examine your relationships. Attitudes can be contagious. It’s easier to stay on track when your interactions with others affirm your value and increase your confidence. Share meaningful discussion and activities. Resolve conflicts promptly and limit complaining.
Manage stress. Pressure is part of life, but you can find constructive ways to let off steam and hold onto your inner peace. Set aside time to meditate or pray each day. Take a long walk or soak in a warm bath.
Stay fit. Honour the connection between your body and mind. It’s easier to feel enthusiastic when you’re eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and sleeping well.

Changing Your Attitude

Set specific goals. Identify one area at a time to work on. Lasting change takes time so you may want to aim for maintaining your new way of thinking for an hour or a day at a time to increase your chances of success.
Reframe challenges. Be prepared for obstacles. Let adversity teach you to take refuge in a constructive mindset instead of surrendering to external conditions. Look at the big picture and muster up your courage.
Seek support. You can accomplish more by teaming up with others. Let your family and friends know that you’re trying to create new patterns. You’ll be more likely to stick to your commitments. Ask for help when you need it.
Boost your motivation. Remember your purpose. The way you think defines your experiences. You can choose to be happier and more productive.
Move forward. Design a plan of action that will help you think differently and transform your old patterns. Take the first step. When you’re tempted to nag your spouse about an errand they forgot, switch your attention to the things you love about them. It will put the missing dry cleaning in perspective.
Reinforce your determination. Changing your attitude requires persistence. Just when you think you’ve become more patient or assertive, something triggers the old familiar response. Use setbacks as a teaching tool. Give yourself a reward for making an effort and celebrate each sign of progress.

Look on the bright side and take concrete action to create the outcomes you dream about. Make it a habit to replace each negative thought with an inspiring message. A positive attitude will make you happier and help you achieve more.

A positive attitude can move you forward in your life and career at an astonishing speed. You can develop a positive attitude by reviewing your beliefs and setting goals that can be attained.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button below

and we can talk about how you can make the changes necessary in your life to develop and carry forward a positive attitude.

To your success

Michael

P.S. if you have always thought that you should have a Life Coach on your personal team to help you create the best year of your life but were put off by the cost and the time requirement, I have created a Self-paced course that covers what we would do when working together.

Click on the logo below to find out more about the course

Photo by Mert Talay on Unsplash

Discipline: A Simple Plan for Cultivating a Crucial Habit

2021-07-11 ~ adminlife

We all want more discipline than we have. Discipline requires dealing with discomfort, which is something we all instinctively avoid. However, all the amazing things you want to have and achieve will require at least a little discipline.

Without discipline, luck is your only other option. Luck is great when it happens, but it is a poor strategy. Discipline is a tremendous advantage to have.

Use these techniques to create the life you desire with discipline:

Practice dealing with discomfort. Discipline is uncomfortable because you’re either doing something that you don’t want to do right now or you’re avoiding doing something that you want to do right now. Neither one is as enjoyable in the moment as following your impulses.
- When you feel discomfort, notice where you feel it in your body. Describe it to yourself. What does it feel like? Continue objectively observing it until it goes away. It will go away.
Examine your excuses. What are the excuses you give yourself for eating that ice cream, staying up late, skipping the gym, or not getting your work done? How do you justify your lack of discipline?
Choose your goal wisely. A highly meaningful goal is much more motivating than one you feel lukewarm about. You’ll do more and endure more to achieve a goal that means a lot to you. Life is too short to spend your time on anything less than goals that are spectacular to you.
Do it every day. Practice discipline each and every day. You can make yourself stare at the wall for 10 minutes. Make yourself sit up straight at work. See if you can actually work for 30 minutes without checking your email or phone.
- There are plenty of opportunities to build your discipline muscles!
Reward your successes. When you successfully show a new level of discipline, give yourself a reward that doesn’t break the bank.
Do it earlier in the day. Discipline tends to be higher in the morning. Use that to your advantage if possible.
Have a plan for when you falter. What will you do when you start to slip? What is your plan when you have the urge to order a pizza, call your ex, or buy something you know you shouldn’t?
- Will you call someone?
- Go for a run?
- Eat a carrot?
- Take a nap?
- Listen to your favourite song?
- What are you going to do?
Slow progress is acceptable. A little progress each day is more than enough. Big changes rarely stick unless life and limb are at risk. Be thrilled with making consistent slow progress.
Focus on the action rather than the desired outcome. If you want to lose weight, the scale matters. However, it’s even more important to follow your diet day in and day out. It’s more important to keep saving part of your paycheck than to have a specific bank balance.
- Keep doing the right things and the results are guaranteed.

We admire those people with high levels of discipline. We often associate discipline with elite soldiers or Buddhist monks, but most people can train to have just as much discipline as either of these groups. Remember that discipline simply means choosing the future you desire over the thing you desire in this moment.

Your level of discipline impacts the quality of your future. Are you willing to give up meaningless short-term pleasures for a great future? If so, you can have the future you desire.

A lack of discipline may mean that you have beliefs that are holding you back. These beliefs may limit your success by stopping you from achieving your goals.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button below

and we can talk about your limiting beliefs and habits and how you can change them to be more successful.

To your success

Michael

Click on the logo below to find out more about the course

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Live Your Best Life in 6 Steps

2021-07-04 ~ adminlife

Everyone is different. It’s not reasonable to expect that everyone wants to live the same life. But, to step outside the options that society deems to be acceptable can be a little scary. Our need to impress and be accepted can be very strong.

Perhaps you’ve never really considered what your dream life would be. It’s hard to hit a target that you’ve never identified.

Follow these steps to imagine the best life you could possibly have and then live it:

Be true to yourself. You can’t live your best life if you’re pretending to be someone or something that you’re not. The first step in living your best life is to admit to yourself who you really are. Be honest about your likes, dislikes, and dreams.
- Maybe you would like to live in a cabin in the woods and grow all of your food.
- Or do you love the idea of minimalism and frugality?
- Do you prefer animals to people?
- Would you like to live in a commune?
- Do you love to play the accordion?
- Would you like to travel the world like a nomad without a home base?
- Do you want to spend all of your time and resources saving the planet?
- Does the idea of having children horrify you? Or would you like to try for 13 kids?
- Choose what appeals to Any admiration or scorn you receive from others won’t last long enough for your cup of coffee to get cold.
Make a plan. Relying on chance or luck is a losing game in the long run. If you want a specific life, it’s important to choose it and then make a plan to get there. Make a long-term plan that begins with something you can do today.
Execute your plan. Many people love to dream and plan. That’s the easy and fun part. Unfortunately, few people ever take the first step in their plan. They never get started.
- Take some sort of action each day outlined by your plan. You don’t have to do an amazing amount of work each day to make significant progress over time. A little each day eventually grows into substantial results.
- The hardest part is getting started, so ensure that you get started as soon as possible. There will never be a perfect time to begin. Begin now and make the best of it. Everything changes once you actually begin.
Learn from your mistakes. Neither you nor your plan is flawless. You will make mistakes and try things that don’t work. That should be expected. Decide that you’re going to learn from your mistakes, adjust your approach, and try again.
Keep your attention on those things that are relevant regarding your plans. Reject nearly everything else.
- Why are you gossiping about your coworkers or neighbours?
- Still upset about how your ex cheated on you 13 years ago?
- Annoyed by the price of gasoline?
- What do any of these sorts of things have to do with achieving your goals and attaining your dream life? (Nothing.)
You can’t live your best life if you give up on your quest to attain it. Keep going until you’ve arrived where you want to be.

Your best life is out there ready for you to claim it! Be completely honest with yourself, make a plan, and stick with it until you’ve arrived. The life you desire is attainable and within your reach. Do you have the courage to make it happen?

Take a chance on feeling happy and fulfilled. Chase after your dream life.

You need to move to make your dreams and your life better. Just having dreams isn’t enough.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button below

and we can talk about how you can move your dreams to reality and live the life you desire.

To your success

Michael

Click on the logo below to find out more about the course

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Finally, Make a Major Breakthrough in Your Life

2021-06-27 ~ adminlife

If you’ve been stuck for a while, it’s time to make some changes and enjoy a breakthrough in your life. It’s easy to be stuck in a rut. The same thinking, routines, habits, and actions lead to the same mediocre results.

Since change is so challenging, it’s important to put all your resources toward changing just one part of your life. You can change if you really want to.

Follow these strategies and you can change anything about your life you desire:

Focus your attention on one aspect of your life. Accomplishing something big will require a lot of your time, energy, and focus. Now isn’t the time to search for the partner of your dreams, lose 40 pounds, find a new job, and train for your first marathon. Pick just one thing and give it all you’ve got.
Set a goal. Be crystal clear on what you’re committed to accomplishing. It takes courage to set a goal, because once you set a standard for success, you’ve also defined failure. Are you willing to risk failure to have a major breakthrough in your life?
- Setting a goal is also a form of making a decision. Once you’ve made a decision, you don’t have an excuse to avoid getting started.
Become an expert. Whatever the topic of your breakthrough happens to be, become an expert. Acquire a few books, watch a couple of videos, and talk to an expert if possible. Avoid spending too much time on this step. At some point, you’re just procrastinating.
Raise your standards. If any part of your life is less than you want it to be, your standards are often to blame. Whether you’re overweight, have an unfulfilling relationship, or your bank account is limiting your life, your standards set the bar.
- You must be less tolerant of what you’re willing to accept in your life if you’re going to make a breakthrough.
- Notice how hard you’ll work when your life slips below a certain level. Notice again how you relax once you re-attain that level. If that level were higher, you’d work like crazy to get there.
Make a plan and get started. You know what you want, and you know how to get it, or at least how to get started. Make a plan that will lead you to success. Keep in mind that making a plan is easy. You don’t have to do much, and you feel like you’re doing something, but you’re not. You’re just preparing to do something.
- There are many people that make great plans, but few of them actually follow through on those plans. It’s okay to be excited by your marvelous plan but understand that your enthusiasm can quickly fade.
Track your time. This is where the rubber meets the road. Track your time each date and tally up how much time you’re actually spending on working toward your breakthrough. It’s probably a lot less than you think. Decide to do better each day until you’ve achieved your goal.
Drop habits that are getting in your way. You have habits that undermine your efforts to change your life. Depending on your objective, your bad habit might be eating late at night, spending money on expensive clothes, wasting time, or treating your friends poorly.
- Look at all your behaviours and think about how they impact your attainment of your goal.

Don’t quit. You’ve heard this advice 1,000 times because it’s true. It’s hard not to be successful if you’re working hard and don’t quit. Keep going until you’ve had the breakthrough you desire.

Are you ready for a breakthrough? Are you willing to make the necessary changes to attain a breakthrough? Take control of your life and improve your results. Now is the time.

You can take control over your life but you may not be able to do it alone.

A Life Coach can help you to understand where you are stuck and what you can do to remove those things in your life that are holding you back.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button

We can talk about how a Life Coach can help you to move to a better more successful future.

To your success

Michael

P.S. if you have thought about working with a Life Coach but have always thought it was too expensive or took too much time, I have created a Self-paced course that may be of interest to you.

You can check it out by clicking on the logo below.

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