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Make Success A Habit

“When we try to change our behavior, we strategize about our motivation and self-control. But what we should be thinking about instead is how to set up new habits. Habits persist even when we’re tired and don’t have the energy to exert self-control.” ~ Wendy Wood [Life: Wellness]

The Parable Of The Threads

A father gave his young child a thread and directed her to break it. This she did easily.

The next day, the father wound two threads together and asked the child to break the pair. Again, she easily broke them. Continue reading “Make Success A Habit”

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Do It Now!

“’Someday’, you said you’d do it yesterday; Yesterday, you said you’ll do it today. Today, if you push it to tomorrow, it’s likely tomorrow, you’ll shift it to ‘Someday’! Do it now!” ~ Israelmore Ayivor

Filling The Backpack

A mountain climber was ascending a high peak, where he had been told the views were amazing. He began his climb in high anticipation of reaching the top.

The climber hadn’t gone far when he came upon an unusual rock that attracted his attention. He decided he wanted to study the rock more later, so he picked it up and put it in his backpack. He climbed a bit higher and saw another rock, even more interesting than the first. So he picked that one up too and put it in his backpack to examine later. This same thing happened again and again. The climber found more and more rocks and other objects he wanted to inspect later and stuffed them in his backpack. Continue reading “Do It Now!”

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Live From Your Strengths

“The good life consists in deriving happiness by using your signature strengths every day in the main realms of living. The meaningful life adds one more component: using these same strengths to forward knowledge, power or goodness.” ~ Martin Seligman

Stuck!

When Shannon (*) and I met for our first coaching session, she was frustrated, stuck in place and spinning her wheels. When she was in college, she planned for a career with a non-profit organization, preferably one that worked with children. Now in the work force, Shannon worked as a clerk in a retail store. “I’m not doing the job I worked toward for years,” she told me. “I am doing something I don’t enjoy just to pay the bills. I’m just going through the motions and I am not making any real difference. I want to explore what I need to do to maybe find a different job.” Continue reading “Live From Your Strengths”

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How To Get The Golden Eggs? (Take care of the goose.)

“An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.” ~ Source Unknown

“The Goose And The Golden Egg”

Once a poor farmer possessed a goose. One morning when he went to her nest, he discovered a glittering golden egg. He took the egg to the market and sold it for a good price.

The next morning, the farmer discovered another golden egg. Again, he sold it at the market for a good sum.

Each day, the farmer found another golden egg that the goose had laid. Soon, he became wealthy. Continue reading “How To Get The Golden Eggs? (Take care of the goose.)”

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Giving Thanks

 

“You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.” ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Have An Attitude Of Gratitude

At this time of year, our thoughts naturally turn to Thanksgiving and thanks giving. That is good. However, the act of being grateful, of giving thanks, is too important to relegate to only one day each year. Indeed, gratitude – being thankful – is one of the keys to the Excelerated Life.

The importance of being grateful has been recognized and taught by many people, from the apostle Paul to New Thought teachers to positive psychologists. Continue reading “Giving Thanks”

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Your Personal Goal Achievement Plan

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ~ Yogi Berra

“We’ll eventually get somewhere.”

Imagine you are embarking on a cruise. You’ve spent months thinking about, planning and preparing for the trip. Your imagination is dancing with thoughts about the places you’ll go, the people you’ll meet, and the things you will see. You are ready for this adventure and ready to go.

As you settle into your stateroom, the captain’s voice comes over the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are minutes away from leaving port. We have a beautiful destination in mind but we don’t have any idea how to get there. So we’re going to get started and see what happens. We’ll eventually land somewhere and I know you can’t wait to see where we end up.”

What do you think of your cruise now? Continue reading “Your Personal Goal Achievement Plan”

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Why You Need Focused Energy

“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” ~ Source obscure

The Joke’s On Me

My daughters love to play practical jokes on me. The April Fool’s Day tricks they have orchestrated over the years have become legendary to my friends.

One morning, and not April 1, I got in my car and turned the switch. The car sprang into life! The lights came on, the wipers started beating back and forth, the blinkers started blinking, the heater sent out a blast of air, the radio blared. Those little stinkers had turned on everything they could in my car. Continue reading “Why You Need Focused Energy”

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Positive Powerful Goal Setting

“Sometimes we may ask God for success, and [God] gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. [God] may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals.” ~ David A. Bednar

From Authentic Happiness To A Theory Of Well-Being

In 2002, Martin Seligman, the “father” of Positive Psychology, introduced the Authentic Happiness theory. The theory can be stated in this “happiness formula”: H = S + C + V where H is your level of Happiness, S is your happiness “Set point”, C represents the Circumstances of your life, and V stands for things under your Voluntary control. According to Seligman, we can influence as much as 40% of our happiness level through those things under our voluntary control. [Seligman; Authentic Happiness]

About 10 years later, in Flourish, Dr. Seligman explains how the theory of Authentic Happiness evolved into a deeper and wider Well-Being theory. Whereas the Authentic Happiness theory was concerned with happiness only, Well-Being theory is concerned with the broader concept of well-being.

Continue reading “Positive Powerful Goal Setting”
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When Things Go Right: The Power Of Positive Responses

“People we care about often tell us about . . . good things that happen to them. How we respond can either build the relationship or undermine it.” ~ Martin Seligman

4 Friends React To Good News

Sally was excited to meet her friends for dinner after work. She had received a promotion that day, for which she had worked and prepared a long time. Over dinner, she excitedly shared her good news about her big promotion. Let’s listen in to hear how her friends responded.

Continue reading “When Things Go Right: The Power Of Positive Responses”
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Don’t Feel Like It? Do It Anyway.

“The mature human being goes about doing what needs to be done regardless of whether that person feels great or terrible. Knowing that you are the kind of person with that kind of self-control brings all the satisfaction and confidence you will ever need. Even on days when the satisfaction and confidence just aren’t there, you can get the job done anyway.” ~ David Reynolds

“He didn’t feel like it.”

Once upon a time, there were two friends, Sue and Stan. One day, Sue and Stan decided they needed to get in better physical shape. They joined a gym and made plans to work out.

The next morning, Sue saw that she was scheduled to work out, so that’s what she did. She got dressed and went to the gym. She had a good work out and left feeling energized.

Stan woke up and saw he was scheduled to meet Sue at the gym. But he hadn’t slept that well and decided he didn’t feel like working out. So he didn’t.

Continue reading “Don’t Feel Like It? Do It Anyway.”