Applying What You Learn In Self-help Books

2015-10-092015-10-09 ~ adminlife

“You are essentially who you create yourself to be and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.” ― Stephen Richards, Think Your way to Success: Let Your Dreams Run Free

How to Apply What You Read in Self-Help Books

Self-help is an ancient tradition that is still going strong. Long before there were 250 varieties of chicken soup for the soul, advice-seekers were looking for answers in the Tao Te Ching or the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

Today, self-help is an $11 billion industry, with Amazon listing almost half a million choices in this popular category. According to some estimates, up to one-half of American adults have bought at least one title on weight loss, relationships, or other common concerns.

How do you find what you need in a selection so vast? Consider these tips for shopping for self-help books and translating what you read into concrete action.

What to Look For

Check the science. Remember that you’re investing your hopes as well as the cover price of the book. Does it make realistic claims? Do the reviews suggest that it’s psychologically sound? Look closely at the author’s credentials and experience.
Follow your faith. You may have an instant affinity with writers who share your religious beliefs. What are other members of your congregation reading?
Know the target audience. Publishers often market to specific demographics. For example, the biggest buyers of self-help books are upper-income women on the east and west coasts. Ensure that the message seems pertinent to you.
Feel engaged. Enjoy some laughter and entertainment while you’re enriching yourself. You’ll probably pay more attention to the text if you like the writing.
Browse multiple categories. All kinds of books are taking a self-help angle. You may find the information you’re looking for in memoirs and fiction, as well as psychology and business.
Stay up to date. Recent research may cast doubts on certain conclusions in books that used to be bestsellers. For example, many doctors and nutritionists now say that it’s okay to eat eggs regularly even if you’re watching your cholesterol.

How to Apply What You Read

Consider counseling. While you can find valuable information in books, some situations may call for extra assistance. Talking with a therapist allows you to receive individual feedback and access medical care if necessary.
Think critically. However popular a book is, you still need to evaluate whether it works for you. Beware of extravagant claims like, “Become a millionaire in thirty days!”
Take small steps. Big changes often start with simple tasks. Look for tips that you can implement right away to build momentum and confidence.
Go back for more. Some critics joke that self-help books don’t work because at least 80% of consumers buy more than one. Would you give up on a restaurant just because you wanted to eat again the next day? Becoming happier and stronger is a life-long process.
Be flexible. You’re one of a kind. Check that a book encourages you to adapt the program to your own style. You might like to read a work cover to cover or you might browse chapters for takeaways you can try out immediately.
Prepare for lapses. Sick children and leaky roofs can interfere with your plans. Does the author suggest what to do if you’re looking to get back on track after a few delays?
Track your progress. How will you know if your reading is paying off? Some books have forms for setting and evaluating your goals, or you can design your own. Measuring your success creates great motivation.

Self-help books can teach you how to talk with your teenager, manage your diabetes, or enjoy more peace of mind. Shop wisely and put your new knowledge to work in your daily life.

Michael W

Photo credits: “150 Psychology and junk self-help literature”- Helder da Rocha

CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Having A Positive Mindset Changes Lives

2015-02-20 ~ adminlife

“Control Your Own Destiny or Someone Else Will” ― Jack Welch

Building up your self-confidence takes time and effort, that is why many people don’t do it.

Here is an article that you can view as well as a second article that outlines why a positive mindset is critical to your life.

How Does Having A Positive Mindset Change Lives by Debra Ashton

When it comes to goal setting, it is essential that you have a positive mindset.

It is this positive mind set that will see you through all the expected and unexpected obstacles that crop up along the way. Having faith in your abilities is also essential when it comes to taking the necessarily actions on your path to success.

Hence, we see this everyday in people who are considered headstrong and determined. Their self-belief carries them along. Self motivation can be a brilliant thing as long as they can keep their feet on the ground.

A negative mind set is associated with low self-esteem and low self-confidence. Examples include fear of failure. Or self doubts which renders the individual paralyzed and unable to make even simple decisions.

Help would be needed to turn this around. Whether that helps is in the form of self-help or assisted help from a qualified or experienced counsellor. This would be up to the individual.

Knowing help is need is the first and major obstacle when you are trying to create a positive mindset.

Having defined a step-by-step action plan is essential. Not only will you see where you are going. You will also be able to see where you’ve been. With every successful and completed step, no matter how small, would be an enormous boost the individuals’ self-esteem and self-confidence. With each actualized goal, the momentum builds and the individual is motivated onwards to the next step. Then it’s onto the next goal, and the next.

It’s a bit like a baby learning to walk. First the baby has to learn how to crawl before she can stand, and then learn how to balance when standing before she can walk, and learn how to walk without holding onto things before she can run. Baby steps. One step at a time. One task at a time. One goal at a time. Keeping focused is a must.

It is inevitable that there will be set backs along the way. But they would not seem so dramatic when compared to a row of successes. Gradually the negative mindset would be transformed into a positive mindset, raised self-esteem and raised self-confidence.

This is very powerful stuff. It can and has turned lives around for the better.

To Learn More Click On This Link http://my-positive-mindset.blogspot.com/

Debra Ashton

An avid consumer of business and personal development information for over a decade. Now sharing what I’ve learnt with others.

Article Source:

Michael

To discuss what a life coach can do for you and your motivation, and to schedule a session with Michael, use the contact form below.

Michael is a certified Life Optimization coach as well as a Law of Attraction and Law of Attraction Wealth coach.

Your Success and Your Destiny

2014-12-272014-12-26 ~ adminlife

“Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny. “

Unknown

We all want to be successful and to have a wealthy and healthy life full of abundance. All of this depends on your choices you make and the belief in the direction and path yo are following.

The article below talks about destiny and success and gives some very valuable tips.

Let Your Destiny Manifest Itself To Attain Life Success – By: GEby

What drives you? What is it that defines your entire persona? What are you living for?

Unfortunately, most people have are way ward of the very purpose they exist. Can you remember those days of your youthful exuberance when you undoubtedly believe you can achieve anything? Filled with unfathomable enthusiasm and driven with a determined resolution.

Sadly for most those days are long gone, they are the ghost of their former selves. Battered and beaten by the ravages of stress from work, society and life itself. So many haven’t dreamed in for so long that they actually don’t know what they want any longer! Don’t you think it’s time to stir up that dream inside of you? Your dreams and your destiny are not determined by “CHANCE” but by “CHOICE” It is solely your Decision.

The life you have now is the result in direct correlation to the Choices you’ve made in the past. But, sometimes you are hindered and stuck in mediocrity because you were afraid to make a sound Decision. You are just flowing along the stream that forces of nature roll you along. The kind of cavalier “Que Sera Sera” attitude is not only inexplicable it’s repulsive and inexcusable. Isn’t it time you got involved with your own life? Isn’t it time to start living through your own Decisions and take responsibility for your actions, be it the Choices you make in your life.

It’s your life, live it the way you see fit. It is a concept so simple yet people indignantly miss it therefore missing out how prolific it really is!

I believe that you can attain anything in life if you act on it and persevere to achieve it regardless the hindrances looming over. It’s your Decision, it is your Choice!

Quoting from Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland… Alice asked the cat, “Would you please tell me, which way I ought to go from here?” The cat answered, “That depends a great deal on where you are heading to.” Alice exclaimed, “Oh, I don’t much care.” “Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go, the cat remarked poignantly.

What are you trying to accomplish with your life? What do you want to attain? It’s your Choice, you are in direct control. Take responsibility for your actions and refrain from blaming others for your failures! Make a sound judgment for your Decisions, start by getting serious and get going! Life goes on, with or without you!

Here is an inspiring quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Never let anybody steal your dream or vision!

You need to make a Decision! Don’t go on through life idly staving away when there is boatload of opportunity in front of you. It is much easier to make a course correction that it is to get started! It takes careful planning and solid preparation with corrections on the side. But before they can do that they had to make a Decision to take off first.

How do you process a Decision?

It is vitally important to grasps all the concepts. Never make 100% assumptions while only having 10% facts. It is illogical and impractical, you need to consider various solutions and objectively evaluate their consequences. Weighing the best and worst case scenarios, and then make sure that the Decision is congruent with your Goals, Plans and Mission statement. Lastly you must always effectively convey your judgment to your support team.

An ideal support team would be your family members, close friends, relatives who are helping out your cause, refrain from consulting with those who are dragging down.

Remember you are the architect of your life. You must be willing and able to make Choices. Your destiny is determined by Choice not by chance!

Source

Gary Eby, a member of the Jim Rohn Speaker Bureau, is gifted to teach deep truths in a clear and easily understandable style. His messages are power-packed and often filled with laughter and practical illustrations. He has shared the stage with great speakers such as Jim Rohn and Les Brown. Not only is Gary a sought after speaker, but he is also an author whose personal development book Lefthanded Soldiers has received worldwide attention. You may receive a free copy at cli.gs/garyeby

Michael

To talk about business and other areas, please use the contact form below.

Motivation and Passion In Your Life

2014-12-16 ~ adminlife

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

Create a Passion and Motivation for Life

Are you trying to build up your self-confidence, something that can give you some help is to find your passion and motivation for getting up in the morning. If you are really really down that you don’t even know if you have a passion in life, then it’s time to sit down and create one. This will give you something to work for and will also give you an inner glow that will radiate outward to anyone that comes in contact with you.

If you have a passion in life this is like a magnet drawing people to you. This is also one of the best cures for shyness that is part of a lack of self confidence. when you first meet people, speak to them enthusiastically about those things that are going on in your life and share your plans for the future. Even if you are a bit shy when you first meet new people and you’re not feeling all that confident, fake it until it becomes a real factor for you.

If it bothers you to meet new people or you’re still a bit shy, keep in mind that the more you talk about your passion in life the more positive and confident energy will shine through. Once you find your passion, don’t be frightened to talk about it. Passion is a motivating factor and will project confidence you know what you want out of life and that you’re going to get it. You don’t have to be surprised others don’t want to jump on board and live your passionate dream with you.

You may have to talk yourself up a bit before you start believing your passion, but the more you talk to others about things that get you excited, it becomes obvious that you are someone that is going places in their life. This excitement catches on and suddenly you are popular because people can feel the confidence that is pouring out of you. The one thing that you will find that you need to keep an eye on is to make sure you’re not doing all the talking, encourage others to share their opinions and passions too.

When you get others to start talking about themselves, this can make you appear even more confident to them. When you get people talking and feeling important, this makes you look great and you are someone they like to be around. At the same time, you must have make your interest in them genuine and sincere, because just as appearing interested makes you appear confident with a healthy dose of self-esteem, insincerity will make you appear arrogant and condescending.

Hopefully you already have a passion in your life or at least something that motivates you to display your best qualities to others and to help you appear very confident. If you don’t however, you may want to consider creating one for yourself so you have something to use and project yourself at a confident person.

Michael

Michael is a certified Life Optimization coach as well as a Law of Attraction and Law of Attraction Wealth coach.
To discuss what a life coach can do for you and your motivation, and to schedule a session with Michael, use the contact form below.

Defeat Low Self Esteem

2014-11-152022-11-08 ~ adminlife

“Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” ~ Les Brown

If you suffer from low self esteem, you can deal it a crushing blow. There are many methods to really defeat your feelings of low self esteem. We will discuss a few of these methods in this article.

Low Self Esteem – 3 Easy Ways to Crush Low Self Esteem by Sam Arch

Low self esteem is a devastating downward spiral of negative thinking. Every negative thought you have about yourself dents your confidence. That in turn is made obvious to anyone that meets you and they react to that. This then reaffirms your perception of yourself as useless and worthless.

The only way to break out of the black hole of low self esteem is to smash this negative thinking spiral and replace it with a positive thinking cycle. This is sometimes referred to as a virtuous circle. Positive thoughts make you more self confident. People see this and treat you as someone worthy of their attention. This reaffirms your self belief and so on.

So if the secret to improving your self esteem is in changing your subconscious thought patterns, how can you do it? Easy. Build up an arsenal of powerful ‘mind weapons’ which you will use every day until they become second nature to you. Usually within about thirty days.

Here are three quick and easy ‘mind weapons’ to get you started. Although simple to use, they become hugely effective when you develop the habit of using them and they take effect on autopilot.

The first mind weapon is the fixed positive thought. Your aim is to create one extremely powerful positive thought about yourself which you will draw upon every time you feel bad about yourself. To make this powerful, listen to your favourite happy song with your eyes closed and imagine yourself doing something you are good at and really enjoy.

Do this exercise every day for a month until the image is deep in your mind. Every time you feel low, go and listen to that song and close your eyes if you are in a place to do so. Over time you can recreate this in your own mind without having to close your eyes or even listen to the song. It will take place in your mind.

The second mind weapon is switch thinking. Imagine walking into a party and someone attractive looks over at you. Your low self esteem reaction would be to think that that person thinks you are ugly and boring. Instantly switch that thought to the exact opposite. Imagine that look means they find you attractive and they are catching your eye hoping you will come and talk to them.

Cue your fixed positive thought and then give a quick smile back and move straight on with purpose to something else whilst fixing an imagine in your mind that the other person has smiled back. Giving someone a smile whilst not waiting for one back shows the other person extreme self confidence and they will admire you for that. Over time you will feel comfortable with this and allow yourself to wait for the real smile back which will ultimately come.

The third mind weapon is critical thinking. If you are self conscious you will imagine that everyone is judging you and your actions every second of the day. You are processing those negative thoughts almost constantly and it is exhausting and humiliating.

With critical thinking, make snap decisions on how to process these incoming thoughts. You cannot prevent these thoughts coming in but you can decide to simply ignore them. If it is all too much for you simply allow the thoughts, as they say, to pass in one ear and straight out of the other. Then just switch to your fixed positive thought.

If you have a bit more confident with this you can allow the negative thought to be stay long enough to be processed. In most cases you will recognise that it is an irrational thought and not worthy of reacting to and let it go.

What about those negative thoughts that do seem to have some rational truth to them? This is where you make the biggest leap. You accept that nobody is perfect and there is absolutely no way you can please everybody all of the time. Think to yourself “Yeah? And so what…” Honestly, try it. It is one of the most liberating thoughts you can have.

The key to successfully dispelling low self esteem and building immense self confidence is to create your own personal arsenal of these quick and easy mind weapons. Use each one at least once a day for a month until they become second nature. A habit or subconscious thought pattern then happens automatically. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you give them a try.

Michael

Source:

Transform your crippling low self esteem into rock solid self confidence in just thirty days with this complimentary video at http://SecretMindForce.com