Lumpuckeroo

Note: This is a guest post from Caz Makepeace of y Travel Blog

As parents we are always monitoring the words our children use and do our best to steer them onto a better path with their word choices.

A path where words are chosen that reflect “good manners”, “kind words”, “happy thoughts.”

“Watch your words” or “Use your words” is the advice what we often repeat to our children, demonstrating the fact that we understand words are powerful and communicate what we desire and how we are perceived.

But what about the words we are choosing to use ourselves?

Are we monitoring them? Are we aware of the message they may send out and what we may bring back in as a result?

What we think about we bring about.

Words are so powerful and reflect our thoughts. Here are 8 words commonly used in our everyday conversations with ourselves and others that we need to monitor and change in order to bring about the future we really desire

1.Try

“I’ll try to get it finished by…” “I’ll try to catch up with you on Saturday”

Whenever I hear someone saying this, or even myself, then I know that they are not serious and it is not going to happen.

Try is a wishy washy word that is devoid of commitment, leaving wide open the space for excuses to creep in and get in your way. No one created the life of their dreams and positive results by trying. They got theirs by doing and making it happen.

Make a clearer commitment instead by saying “I’ll have it done by…” “I am free at this time and I can meet you then…” or if need be, “I can’t promise anything but I will do my best to ….”

2. Wish

Wishing is sitting on your couch daydreaming, waiting for your lotto ball to drop or the fairy godmother to appear. Wish removes yourself from the equation and tells you that you have to rely on the powers that be.

Change wish to “I will…” “I am…” I’m determined….” “I deserve…” “I desire”

3. I am

Be very careful how you use the term “I am” to define who you are. You are not angry; you are not depressed, you are not happy. All of these things are temporary emotions that come and go. If you define yourself as being this way than that identity can have a tendency to stick and what will follow will be excuses such as “I can’t do this because I am depressed” “There is nothing I can do about it, this is who I am.”

A better way to say it is “I feel angry. I feel depressed”

This lets yourself know that it is a temporary feeling which could quite easily change.

4. If

How many times do you mutter, “If I get that promotion then…” “If the money arrives then…”

“If” always presents the element of doubt. Doubt and insecurity don’t bring you what you want, certainty and confidence does. So instead of “if”, simply make it “when”

“When I get that new job…. “

When signals that you are serious and committed and you believe that what you deserve is on its way to you.

5. Should

Again a wishy washy promise word. “I should call my mother more.” “I should go to the gym tonight.” Should is rife with feelings of guilt and complacency.

You know you are never going to do it and by somehow saying that you recognize you should makes you feel better. It doesn’t really; the only thing that makes you feel better is doing it.

Should can be turned in to “I will…” or “I am going to…”

6. I can’t

This is one of those words that can be debated. We’ve all heard there is no such thing as can’t. Well there is really, I can’t sing. I really can’t. I’m dreadful. But you know what, I can try or I can learn.

As soon as your brain hears you say the word can’t, it goes on a holiday. It shuts down and celebrates because it no longer has to find a way to do it. “I can try” means that you open up a creative space for learning and exploring that may just bring you new ways of thinking and doing.

When my daughter says “Mummy, I can’t,” my response is, “Maybe, but you can always try first and see. Let’s have a go!”

7. Desperate

When we really want something there is a tendency to attach the word desperate to it, as if this word will hold some power to bring it to us faster.

“I am desperate for him to call me” “I am in desperate need of a transfer.”

Desperation breeds more things to be desperate about. It is not an attractive word.

Instead say “I am so excited that he is going to be calling me tonight. “I really desire a transfer and am ready to go!”

8. Luck

Ugh. This is my least favourite word. I really despise it as I often hear it said to me, “You are so lucky to travel like you do.”

I just want to scream. Luck has nothing to do with it. There has not been some genie in my backpack. I have travelled the world for 14 years because I made the decision to do it and then I took action. Luck has never played a part in it.

And luck never will play a part. If you always fob other people’s success off as luck, you are doing two really bad things

1) Not recognizing and appreciating all the hard work they have put into bringing about the life they desire

But more importantly

2) You are saying that it is not possible for you. So you give up before you even start creating the life you want. You think it will only happen to you if a genie appears. This is such a lie. You can have whatever you desire as long as you are willing to do what it takes to get it.

***

Choose your words carefully and you’ll soon learn that you can be, do, and have whatever you want.

Caz Makepeace has been living and traveling around the world since 1997. She is co-founder of the popular “y Travel Blog” where she shares tips, stories and inspirations on world travel. She also shares mindset and success tips for putting the mojo back into your life at her blog “Mojito Mother.”

Photo by aussiegall

Life Optimizer

‘There are two driving forces in your life: love and fear.

Love is your higher self.

It is the place of pure intention and hope.

When your higher self drives your life you are on purpose and empowered. Life surges through you; you thrive and society thrives because of it.

Fear, of course, is its opposite and is your lower self.

It is, unfortunately, the place from where the majority of us exist. When fear drives your life you stagnate and die. You don’t live your true purpose and you become dark and heavy and the world suffers as a result.

Who is the driver of your life?

Who are you allowing it to be? How do you know?

Most of the time you don’t, as you are totally unaware of what is controlling you and your victim circumstances.

Ask yourself.

Are you living your true passion and purpose? Does life course through your body allowing it to feel light and powerful?

If the answer is no, then you are allowing your lower self  to control your life. It is a bitter pill to swallow but the truth is fear drives your life.

“But fear is a good thing,” you say, “it protects me and keeps me safe.”

Fear does serve a very important purpose; to warn you when you are in physical danger and this is when we should heed its call. At any other time, fear suffocates you and prevents you from knowing for yourself how beautiful you are and all you are capable of.

When Fear Drives Your Life

Fear once was the dominant driver in my life and I was dying inside because of it. Deep down I knew I was capable of more but my lower self was in control and I could just never allow myself to be.

I had gone through my life dreaming of becoming a writer. Writing was always my silent passion. It was the form I took as a child to express myself. It was where I felt most safe and most recognized. I could express my thoughts, opinions and ideas without it being criticized or ignored.

My lower self, though was always the driver of my life. This was the part of me that believed I was worthless and had no ability whatsoever. It was never shy to tell me so either. I would write from my heart and it would say,

“That is crap Caroline! You cannot write. No-one will ever read your words or be inspired by them. Don’t be so ridiculous to think you can do this.”

And so it went and I would put down my pen and give up on my dream. My lower self had me believe that it was just a far out wish; much similar to my one of being a rock star. That it would just never happen, and so I would forget about it.

The Struggle for the Higher Self to Win

My higher self was always there struggling to come out and be the driver. It was holding onto my dream for me and was trying to make it a reality- but it had so many obstacles to overcome first.

For years my lower self dominated and nothing I tried could make it take a lessor role. I was dying inside and living such an incomplete and unfulfilled life because of it. It was not living my life on purpose.

My higher self kept trying to surface and eventually, through much introspection and self-improvement work, allowed my lower self to finally recognize what my higher self always knew.

That I was powerful beyond measure, that I was worth sharing with the world and that I could be, do and have anything I wanted. I could make a difference.

My higher self now drives my life. It knocked my lower self to the ground and asked the fear to remain their only as a warning to me in those moments of danger when I truly needed it.

When your Higher Self Drives Your Life

I no longer just write my thoughts in the privacy of my journal. I am now regularly published across the net. I write two popular blogs that both have newsletters and podcasts; I have written a few ebooks and have almost finished my book on my experiences travelling the world inspiring others to do the same, and have just hosted my first teleconference on travel blogging.

I regularly receive comments from my readers as to how my words uplift and inspire them. I am beginning to live my dream and my purpose. I tell you this to impress upon you the absolute power there is in taking the time to work on yourself. You can move mountains and you can free your soul.

You came here for a purpose and for most of us fear holds us back from being who we truly are. We don’t even notice this so habitual are our limiting thoughts, beliefs and actions.

We need help to move aside those lower forces of fear and allow love to guide us into our purposeful future.

Now in my life when I reach a moment of decision or courage, I recognize so clearly the voice of fear telling me what I should do to become less. I did not know this voice before, it acted with me being so totally unaware of it. At times now the voice can get strong enough to almost make me follow it, but the driver in my life has changed.

I have moved beyond freedom into living a life on purpose. The fear is still there but I know how to control it. I know when to listen to it and when to use it.

I know who to allow to be the driver of my life.

Start Choosing the Driver of Your Life

What is possible for you? What is your higher self asking you to do? What is your lower self squashing that it shouldn’t be?

It will always remain squashed until you find a way to remove that fear and let love for yourself and all things be the greater power.

Fear does not want you to take control because then fear will no longer have any strength or power.

You need to know for yourself just how worthy and capable you are of living your true purpose. My mission is to help people become aware of their higher self and allow this to be the dominant driver in their life.

The choice is yours as to whether you will allow fear or love to drive your life.

Love is our higher being.

With love all things are possible. With love we thrive.

Imagine the world if we were all driven by love and not fear?

Bio: Caz Makepeace has been living and traveling around the world since 1997. She is co-founder of the popular  “y Travel Blog” where she shares tips, stories and inspirations on world travel. She also shares mindset and success tips for putting the mojo back into your life at her blog “Mojito Mother

PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement| PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

“You’ll never succeed.”

“You’re not good enough.”

“You might as well give up now.”

Chances are, you’re hearing things like that every single day.

They don’t come from your friend, or even your enemies.

They come from inside your own head.

Perhaps you’re working towards a big goal: like losing weight and getting fit, or starting up your own business. You might have big ambitions … but you’ve also got to fight a battle against those internal voices.

You’re not the only person who feels that way. We all have to struggle against self-doubt. And we can all overcome those negative, destructive thoughts that hold us back from reaching our goals.

Here’s how.

#1: Remember What You’ve Already Accomplished

You’ve managed to achieve lots of amazing things already. Perhaps you’ve made direct progress towards your goal: you’ve lost 10lbs, so you know you can go on and lose another 10.

Even if your goal is brand-new, you can draw on past accomplishments. Maybe you’re overwhelmed by everything you need to learn in order to get your graduate degree … but you can remember how your hard work paid off when you were an undergraduate, or a high school student.

Do it: Write down three things that you’ve accomplished. It doesn’t matter how big or small they are.

#2: Act Confident

Even if you don’t feel at all confident, you can behave as if you are. Once you start acting confident, you’ll begin to believe in yourself.

Let’s say you’ve started doing freelance photography on the weekends, and you’ve got your first few paying gigs. Your clients don’t need to know that you’re new to this. They don’t need to hear about how nervous you are. If you behave like a professional, they’ll see you as one – and you’ll start to see yourself through their eyes.

Do it: Figure out one way in which you could act confident, starting right now.

#3: Read Success Stories From Other People

Whenever I’ve tackled a big goal in my own life – like losing weight or starting my own business – I’ve been inspired by stories from others.

Lots of people have achieved the goals that you’re working towards. Many of those people will have started off in a worse position than you: they were more overweight, or more deeply in debt, or struggling in all sorts of ways. But they still succeeded … and so can you.

Do it: Look for a book or blog written by someone tackling a similar goal to yours, and read a little bit every day.

#4: Ask For Feedback from a Professional

You might have spent months or years honing your skills in a particular area, but you’re still worried that you’re not good enough.

Find someone professional, and ask them for their opinion. If you’re hoping to write a best-selling novel, hire a writing coach or editor. If you’re planning to start up a restaurant, ask for advice from someone who’s done the same thing. You’ll find out that you’re doing a lot of things right (and you’ll also get a few tips on how to make improvements).

Do it: Consider hiring a coach, or joining a small group or class. You could look locally or online.

#5: Collect Compliments and Testimonials

If you’re working on a long-term goal, chances are that you’ve have some nice comments from other people. Perhaps your friend told you how great you look now that you’ve lost a few pounds, or your first clients raved about what a great job you did for them.

Make sure you keep any encouraging words that you hear. Write down what your friends say. Save all those “thank you” emails. Post your testimonials on your website for the world to read. All of these positive, encouraging voices will help to quiet the demons of self-doubt.

Do it: Look through your emails for any positive feedback, and print it out.

#6: Plan Your Next Few Steps

One of the best ways to overcome self-doubt is to have a clear plan. It’s easy to start thinking “I’ll never do it” if you don’t know what your next steps are.

A clear plan lets you break things down into manageable chunks. It highlights any areas where you’ll need to do further research or get some help. It takes any vague worries and fears and forces them out into the light – where you’ll be able to see plenty of ways to overcome them.

Do it: Write down the next three steps towards your goal.

Are you struggling with self-doubt in any areas of your life? Or have you successfully overcome those self-doubt demons? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement| PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. — Gail Devers (Olympic Gold Medalist)

Most of you have heard of Ripley’s Believe It or Not books and museums; or maybe you’ve seen the TV show. Ripley’s is a collection of crazy and sometimes grotesque images of people doing outrageous things.

Many of the images are really “unbelievable,” which explains the greatness of the title. We know they are true, but it’s hard to believe that someone would or could actually do those things.

Have you ever had that Believe It or Not feeling yourself, when something happens in your life that seems unbelievable? Maybe it’s a divorce or death in the family; or maybe it’s losing your job, your house, or something else you didn’t see coming. However, the fact that you didn’t believe it was possible didn’t change the fact that it happened. Believe it or not, it just was.

We cannot control the lives of others, just as we cannot control events such as earthquakes and other natural disasters. We can, however, choose to believe these events are part of a master plan and that there is a greater power at work on our behalf. Or, we can believe the opposite: that the world is out to get us. We can be positive, trusting beings, or victims.

I personally choose to believe that everything, good and bad, happens for a reason and that my grand plan is unfolding each day of my life, “believe it or not.”

If you’ve ever driven across the country, you know what it’s like to be sailing along at the maximum speed limit for long stretches, with little traffic on a well-paved, four-lane highway. Then, suddenly without warning, the detours occur: road construction, a bridge out, a traffic accident ….

This is a picture of daily life. Often a detour will lead us away from where we thought we were going—onto a totally new road. Or it will delay our trip because of unforeseen circumstances.

You can either enjoy the ride, potholes and all, or get angry and upset—maybe even feel frustrated enough to turn around and go back.

Fear keeps us from our dreams; faith moves us toward them.

Belief can open doors for you that you might not have even known were there.

* Know what you want and why you want it.
* Believe you will then get what you want.

I have to tell you that I’ve had my share of struggles throughout my life. When I was eighteen years old, I had just begun my test drive and I would encounter many speed bumps along the way. These challenges tested both my goal setting and Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) skills that I’d learned at a very young age, but I also learned about stamina and perseverance. I didn’t let anything interfere with my dream.

You Are In Control…

Life can take a lot from you, but it can’t take away your dreams. You have complete control over your thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

You are the only person who can make you feel depressed or rejected. Only you can tell yourself that you’re worthless. You might hear these statements from other people, but you are not those people. Whatever they think, say, or do is their opinion, their statement, their action.

Only you can tell yourself what you want to feel.

* If you want to feel powerful, tell yourself you have power.
* If you want to feel successful, start acting the way successful people act.

You will have challenges; everyone does. In fact, we create those challenges ourselves in order to meet and surmount them. As mentioned in Proverbs, without grist for the mill, the wheel will not turn!

* Believe in yourself and you will be able to keep that wheel turning.
* Believe in your dreams and you will find yourself always moving forward.

I want to share with you one of my favorite poems about belief. During my college years, it helped me to believe that I could accomplish whatever I set out to do. Even now as an adult, I still embrace the message this poem delivers.

…Believe in yourself and in your plan;
Say not – I cannot – but, I can.
The prizes of life we fail to win
Because we doubt the power within

– Author Unknown
______________
Michelle Prince is the Best-Selling Author of the book “Winning in Life Now… How to Break Through to a Happier You!”. Aside from being an author, Michelle is a sought after motivational speaker and one-on-one mentor. Contact her at www.WinningInLifeNow.com or info@princeperformance.com

-What are your thoughts on the ideas above? What are some ways you go about keeping your self-belief at its peak? Use the comments below to share your thoughts.

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

Everyone would rather do anything at all except clean the house. Time spent cleaning feels like time wasted that could be used doing something fun. When cleaning is viewed as a chore instead of as an aspect of family life, the person stuck with cleaning feels imprisoned. Spend some time deciding what you hate about cleaning and then use these ten tips to embrace housecleaning as something that can become a good habit.

1. Cleaning supplies

Maintain a sufficient supply of quality cleaning solutions that work well and can be used consistently. Purchase sponges, cloths, brooms, dusters, and a vacuum cleaner that are sturdy and will last for years. Buying good quality supplies will eliminate one frustrating aspect of cleaning the house.

2. Storage areas

Designate certain areas for items that are used consistently. When every item has a proper place, cleaning is easier and the home appears to be well-maintained. Teach the children where their toys, books, and clothes must be kept and encourage them to participate in putting things away.

3. Manageable tasks

One major reason cited for not cleaning the house is the overwhelming tasks that must be completed. Break down every task into manageable stages that can be completed in smaller increments of time. When every other activity must be postponed to clean the house, the cleaning will be delayed and go unfinished.

4. Daily routine

Straightening the area near the television should be a family activity at the end of each day. When everyone takes their own belongings out of the room and puts them away, the room is ready for the next use. Working together to clean this room will build positive maintenance habits that will spread to other areas of the house.

5. Weekly routine

Designate one or two hours each day to completing some chores. Instead of using all of Saturday to complete the cleaning, set up a cleaning schedule where each room is cleaned every week. Choose a day to address each child’s room. Designate another day to clean the baths. When small areas receive attention each day, the entire house will be cleaned each week without using weekend time.

6. Help from others

Some major tasks require help from family members and others require some professional cleaning assistance. Hire someone to clean the carpet throughout the home. Designate two Saturdays each year to clean and straighten the garage and have a party at the end of the day to reward everyone.

7. Incremental progress

Initial efforts to establish a cleaning schedule will be met with some resistance, but each successive week of cleaning will result in progress. Stay with the new schedule and notice that each week the chores are taking less time. As you notice areas that need improved, the house will become cleaner with less effort.

8. Final task of each activity

At the end of a meal, clean up the kitchen so that the area is clean for the next use. Whenever a craft project is completed, clean the area and put everything away. At the end of each day, hang up jackets, put away toys, and throw away the junk that is lying around. The house will appear clean in the morning as the family is getting ready to greet the day.

9. Fun is required

Listen to some music, an audio book, or a great radio program while completing the cleaning chores. Passing the time while listening to some great music will enable everyone to remember that cleaning can be seasoned with fun.

10. Excuses!

Resist the urge to let yourself avoid the cleaning chores for even one day. The life of a family is greatly improved when the house is not cluttered and dirty. Break down each chore and decide to spend some time each day working through the clutter and cleaning at least one area.

When every family member participates in cleaning the house, each person becomes more aware of the effort required to manage the home. Battles over putting everything away will be eliminated when cleaning takes less time each week. Children learn quickly that keeping their own belongings put away will result in less time to clean their rooms later. Giving the children a good example of maintaining a clean home will be a lifelong gift they will appreciate as adults.

George Baker knows all there is to know about vacuum cleaner bags! (and hopefully a little about blogging!)

Image credit: Banksy

PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement| PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement