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DREAM

Watch the video. It speaks for itself.

What’s holding you back?

For me, it’s fear of the unknown. It’s fear of not being good enough. It’s fear of how others perceive me. It’s fear; plain and simple.

Why do we fear? Here’s an excerpt from the article Angela Percival (Fear of the Unknown and How the Mind Works) wrote:

When we are experiencing factors in life that are unknown, especially issues around security, this can trigger survival instincts and the ‘flight or fight’ responses. If we are not sure that we are secure in the world, the fear can be intense – for example, if we have lost our job and aren’t sure how we will pay our bills. Even if the change is positive, like getting married, we can still feel elements of fear as we are fundamentally making a change and the consequences of that change are as yet unknown to us.

It’s all a matter of processing and how we perceive life. I went through a mindset reset a couple years ago. It’s something I still struggle with. We all do.

Chase after your dream! If you have obstacles, remove them. No excuses!

Contact me if you feel you need help. Coaching sessions are helpful.

Massage Therapy is Good Medicine

Massage Therapy is Good Medicine

Low-Back-PainEvery now and then massage therapy finds its way into the news. It’s not all bad. Researchers all over are hard at work finding ways that massage therapy is beneficial in medicine and helping people heal and recover.

Many people often think of massage therapy as a luxury and only used for relaxing and feeling good. There’s a whole lot more to it than just relaxing. It can aid in healing, reducing pain from injuries and recovery.

Researchers concluded massage had a positive effect on patients with chronic low-back pain and propose that the use of massage causes fast therapeutic results and that, in practice, it could help to reduce the use of anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of chronic low-back pain. -Quoted from research results. Linked below is AMTA’s research news update from which this is quoted.

Research Roundup: Massage is Good Medicine

There’s many other ways massage therapy is good medicine. Massage therapy isn’t just for relaxing. Although, if we chilled out and didn’t sweat the small stuff life could be more relaxing. For some that’s easier said than done. Everyone is wired differently.

Tips for being less stressed:

  • Take your time when engaged in any activity to avoid straining and injuring yourself.
  • Take a breather and get a drink of water every so often to stay hydrated.
  • Get at least 7 hours sleep to avoid exhaustion.

Can you add any suggestions? Comment below with your suggestions for being less stressed. What methods do you use for being less stressed to avoid injury?

Life Balance

balancingWe all find ourselves in this place. Can’t say no syndrome. The over achiever. The guilt trip. The multitasking illusion. The perfectionism.

Sooner or later it all comes crashing down and we burn out. I’ve done it. I have to catch myself sometimes and stop myself and regroup my thought process.

From time to time we need to take a step or two back. Evaluate our life. Figure out what’s causing imbalance.

The best way to handle imbalance is to eliminate tasks.

I came across this article about it:

These are some good tips.

However, in order to have life balance sometimes we much do some soul searching to figure the “why?”. Why am I this way? How can I change it? One answer is our mental habits.

As we grow and learn life lessons we pick up habits along the way. Everything in life around us helps shape who we become. The trick is to form yourself. Because, not everything we encounter is good.

Finding that balance will help you be a better you.

When you feel stuck and don’t know where to turn, you can do one of two things.

  1. You can ignore it and continue being stuck and mentally paralyzed. Or,
  2. You can seek help to get unstuck and find direction.

The choice is yours. I can help.

Contact me for some life coaching sessions today.

Do you know you’re blocking your own success?

“You have a choice. You’ve always had a choice. It’s OK not to fit in. It’s OK to follow your own path and see where it leads rather than arranging your life to fit someone else’s concept of success. Figure that out, and you’ll find the adventure you’re looking for. Figure that out, and you’ll find happiness.” by Kate Luther

I came across an article about success. It spoke profoundly to me. I’ve always lived with fears and self-doubt. Kate Luther, who’s quote above, shared ways to overcome the negative mindset.

In our life we are surrounded by people we feel we can trust. Unbeknownst to us many of those people aren’t feeding our minds positively. Next thing you know you have all these preconceived notions about how life “should be”. When things don’t go like we want them we get down and disappointed and become depressed eventually giving up. We must never give up.

In this article, Kate goes into some details. She explains the reality of our mindset and how to overcome that.

Are you tired of not succeeding? Contact me for some coaching sessions to help iron out what you can do to be successful. We all like to succeed in life.

Emotional Self-Reliance

lost and faded image
This is a hard place for me. I’m pretty sure it is a hard place for many. We’re emotional beings. We learn from a young age to depend on others for what we need, including emotionally.

When others fail us we fall into the pit of despair, creating depression and being withdrawn and isolated.

All of those things are a bad place to be. I love how Leo Babauta describes and defines this in his article: Becoming Emotionally Self-Reliant. He offers some great options and questions to help us put our emotional health into perspective. Me included.

I’ve been going through this transformation, albeit awesome and wonderful, has it’s potholes and bumps along the way.

There’s nothing wrong with being emotional. It’s how we cope with it and handle it. Check out Leo’s post linked above and ask yourself the questions he offers. Get alone and do some soul searching. I do it often. Meditating/praying is awesome at centering me. Being centered is vital to our mental health.

Coaching offers assistance in clarifying our life’s journey. Contact me for coaching sessions or questions about coaching.

Alternative Treatment to Back Surgery

back painWe all experience back pain at times. There are many causes ranging from overwork to injury.

A Chiropractic friend, Dr Gene Bermann, posted this article on his blog: The Back and Neck Pain Relief Doctor: See a Chiropractor First to Avoid Back Surgery?

He mentions gentle massage as an option for alternative treatment to surgery. There are many techniques of massage that would benefit back pain sufferers. Click here to read about massage and back pain.

You can also read more about the benefits of massage here.

If you’re a neck and/or back pain sufferer consider alternative treatments first over surgery.

Self Confidence Habits

We’ve all seen those personal development articles and posts that give tips for living a better life to be a better you.

I came across Kate Luther‘s post linked below:

The 5 Habits You Must Break to Become More Self-Confident

To be honest, our habits are formed by our mindset. What kind of mindset do you have?

There are two major mindsets: fixed mindset and growth mindset. The fixed mindset holds you prisoner and holds you back. The growth mindset launches you forward.

Which mindset are you? Whichever you are determines your outcome in life. You are able to adopt a growth mindset.

Here’s some steps you can take to jump-start your new mindset:

  • Identify words, thoughts and actions that restrict you and keep you a prisoner.
  • Once you begin to identify these you’ll be in a state of transition and easily choose the growth mindset.

In order to make these changes you must believe you are able and believe in yourself to do it.

Growth mindset looks like this:

  • Thoughts of: Being intelligence, Being skillful, Being talented
  • Sounds like: “I know I have a choice and I will do something about it.” “I’m not perfect, I just work hard.”
  • Actions look like: Finding new ways that work, trying new things that are effective, reject what does not work, sustaining your moving forward path.

If you slip, just start where you are and keep going forward. It takes 28 days to create a new habit.

Are you ready to grow? What will you do next to grow?

If you need assistance contact me for some life coaching sessions.

Defining Yourself

Daily we’re faced with doubts, fears and all manner of negativity. It comes from all types of sources.

Don’t let other people define you. It’s not their life; it’s not their story. Live your own life, and write your own story. Define yourself. -Uknown

When faced with these challenges it’s hard to not allow it get to us. I go through this too. I was bullied for a very long time.

Bullies have issues too. The reason they are bullies is because they don’t know how to handle their issues. The way they handle their {monsters within} is to attack other people to try to control them.

When others see in you what they fear they fight back to try to block it out.

Watch this TEDx video and see an example of what this gal did to overcome her self doubt and bullying: How Do You Define Yourself? Click the link.

zig ziglar quote

Don’t give anyone permission to control you. Show them the door and send them on their way.

Some tips to help:

  1. Have a good support system around you.
  2. Look in the mirror each day and tell yourself, “This is going to be a good day!” and make it so.
  3. Do something positive for yourself and anyone who happens to cross your path in the process.
  4. As the quote goes: “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Be an example.

Please share your experience. Let others know they can get through it, because it has been done. Letting others know they’re not alone in all this is an encouragement and a hope to keep going.

New Years Goals

Smart GoalsWe’re well into January of our new year. How are you doing with your goals/resolutions?

Many people set new years resolutions. Many set new years goals. Many do a combo of the two. Many do none.

It’s great to have goals, aspirations and dreams. The challenge we face is just as my life coach trainer posted on her blog: “Can you be guided by your feelings?” We get all emotional about it.

In order to be successful in life we must be realistic. Have you ever gone somewhere with anticipation and high expectations then were let down because it all turned out less than what you expected? I have!

Our lives are the same way. We get an idea for something. We get excited and anticipate its outcome. We do one of these things:

  • Mentally picture it at the finish without any goals or effort to get it done.
  • Set goals to accomplish our idea without any forethought to get it done.

What’s wrong with these things?

“Good intentions don’t really matter if they don’t lead to good actions.” -Ash Sweeney

Being emotional and allowing our feelings to drive us is a disaster waiting to happen. So, what do we do you ask? This is what you do:

Setup S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Specific (and strategic):  Linked to position summary, departmental goals/mission, and/or overall School of Medicine goals and strategic plans. Be as specific as you can.  Answers the question—Who? and What?

Measurable:  The success toward meeting the goal can be measured.  Answers the question—How?

Attainable:  Goals are realistic and can be achieved in a specific amount of time and are reasonable.

Relevant (results oriented):  The goals are aligned with current tasks and projects and focus in one defined area; include the expected result.

Time framed:  Goals have a clearly defined time-frame including a target or deadline date.

Examples:

Not a SMART goal:
Author will improve their writing skills.
Does not identify a measurement or time frame, nor identify why the improvement is needed or how it will be used.

SMART goal:
The Department has identified a goal to improve communications with administrative staff by implementing an internal departmental newsletter.  Sally will complete a business writing course by January 2015 and will publish the first monthly newsletter by March 2015.  Sally will gather input and/or articles from others in the department and draft the newsletter for supervisor review, and when approved by supervisor, distribute the newsletter to staff by the 10th of each month.

It’s common to miss the intended target date. There’s nothing wrong with this as long as there’s action. Extend the date to fit the need. Just do not give up.

This is usually where emotions and feelings take over. We begin to feel down and upset that we’ve missed our deadline date. Don’t allow this to happen. Keep plugging away at it. Leaving your emotions on the sideline allows for you to make progress. It’s important to resolve within yourself that your negative inner voice will not take over. Set in place a series of positive affirmations that you can refer to when you begin to get down.

“Successful people in life or business push through their feelings and in some cases ignore them! They step out and do things despite how they feel.” –

It is important not to be so hard on yourself if you make a mistake.

Mistakes are just practice while you become proficient. —Kimberly A Edwards
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Live audaciously! Be bold. Check your feelings/emotions at the door. Step into a new life with this new year.