Seven Steps To Success

1 Take immediate action

Write down everything you want to be different in your life from this moment on. As a guide I have listed some topics below use these if you want to but be sure to add lots of your own. Don't rationalize just write. • be in control of my life • live with less stress • not feeling guilty about saying no • doing more of what I do want to do • doing less of what I don't want to do • be better at managing my time • feel happy and joyful • enjoy life to the full • make the most of opportunities • have more confidence • have work life balance • have more energy • have inner peace

2 Create the change

To get different results you will need to think and act differently. Remember "if you do what you've always done you'll get what you've always got". Write down 10 ways you can be a different person today, one that will do and have the things you wrote down in your list from step 1. Examples would be: • more loving • grateful • confident • in control • healthier • think clearly When you write them down start with Today I am e.g. in control of my life. Then when you have completed your list take some time in a quiet place and read them again and after each one think, really imagine what it would be like to experience this in your life. What would you sound like, how would you look, where would you be, who would you be with and what would you be doing? Really go to town with your imagination.

3 Develop a game plan

Decide where you can put these changes into your life today. You could for example decide to eat more healthily, you could take a little time to think of all the things you are grateful for in your life. If you are attending a meeting you could decide to behave more confidently. You could resolve to think clearly about things before you form an opinion.

4 Prioritize

From the list of changes you want to make decide which is most important and rank that number1 then rank the rest 2, 3, etc. When writing down the change also write where you will implement it and why e.g. Confidence - at the meeting today I will voice my opinion because what I have to say has value.

5 Review

When you start to believe in and value yourself more you will find other values and beliefs surface that you were not previously aware of. Use these for positive change where appropriate e.g. to boost your self esteem. Take your new confidence and develop it to make a better contribution at work and socially. Value yourself and you will attract others that value you also.

6 Lose the negatives save the positives

Remember you can change the way you believe about you or anything else if you decide to e.g. you may have changed support for a political party because you stopped believing they would deliver on their promises. Take the negatives from your old beliefs and ditch them. Save the positives and use them to reinforce the new you.

7 Be in control

Constantly question if what going on in your head right now (call it mind chatter, head gremlins whatever you want) is a positive or a negative influence on what you are trying to achieve. If you decide it's negative replace it immediately with positive thoughts of your desired outcome. What would a more positive belief be about what you want to achieve be? Attach strong uplifting emotion to the belief. Create a new rule for negative mind chatter e.g. "any time I have a negative thought I will think of 10 positive ones to replace it with". Mindset dictates success so, be the person who’s cup is always half full and you will succeed

Len Foster is a certified Life Coach based in the West Midlands in the UK and the director of New-Horizons Coaching. Whilst he coaches generally he specializes in applying coaching to help individuals meet the requirements of company appraisals and apply information learned from training in the workplace to optimize performance. You can visit Len at www.new-horizonscoaching.com or contact him on len@new-horizonscoaching.com "helping ordinary

Does Positive Thinking Work?

I received an e-newsletter with a comment from a highly successful individual arguing that positive thinking doesn't work and why. He also claimed that when he expresses this opinion, some people get their knickers in a knot, especially those who've spent decades reading the books and attending seminars and, he added, without any significant change in their lives. Here are some other points he made.

* No amount of positive thinking will create a shift for a couch potato. * Nor for someone who has deeply held negative feelings about what they can accomplish. * The 20% for whom positive thinking works were achievers to begin with. * No amount of positive thinking will ever shift how life is experienced for a pessimist.

He makes some good points; but I'd like to look at and expand on them.

Positive thinking and repeating or writing affirmations without taking action is like looking at ingredients in your kitchen and wishing for a particular meal to happen. Now, it's possible you could feel hungry for something in particular, say, lasagna, and a neighbor invites you over or brings you a serving of lasagna. These are delightful occurrences; but more often than not, you'll have to get into the kitchen and cook.

If someone identifies their nature (some of it learned) as pessimistic, that's a huge step in the right direction. A pessimist doesn't need to become an optimist; he or she just needs to acquire, develop, and rely on tools that move him quickly to where he prefers to be. The writer of the article is correct about positive thinking not working because what we attract to us is based on our deeply held feelings. And, thank goodness. If the average person thinks over 12,000 thoughts each day, we could really get ourselves into some unpleasant situations if all of them came true.

I don't know if the commenter is correct about the 20:80 ratio but more than likely, some of the 80% he placed into non- or underachiever pessimists have probably had some successes in their lifetimes. What he feels will create results is visualization. My thought is that positive thinking, affirmations, and visualization work if and only if an individual can touch a feeling of having it.

Previously, I wrote that my triggered reaction (learned behavior) falls into the category of pessimist. Because I decided that it doesn't feel good to sustain this feeling, I've developed tools that help me move away from it so I can feel the way I prefer. My biggest motivator, and not just because someone wrote or said it but because I live it, is that whatever I feel the strongest is what I expand more of into my life. A significant distinction to get here is that this doesn't mean I never have challenges enter my life, it means I choose my thoughts, words, actions, and feelings about everything.

It's okay to identify what you don't like or want then identify the opposite or what's appropriate for you. The key is you have to let your feelings about what you prefer be stronger than what you want to change. Otherwise, your feelings stay on what you don't like and you get more of that.

You have to intend what you prefer. You have to commit to it, no mater what it takes. Think about anything you've ever been determined to do. You did it, right? Go ahead and write your vision or goal down. Visualize it. Affirm it's yours. But if you really want to charge it up, you're going to have to believe it will be yours and allow it.

How I get in touch with a feeling is to recall a moment when I felt a particular way, let's use successful as an example. I may start out bringing to mind what was going on and who was there, but I end up at what it felt like to know I'd chosen a target, taken aim, and hit it. I "stand" in the middle of the feeling until it's so familiar I can call it up at will.

Some of the actions you take may not work. Those are called Lessons about How Not to Do It. If you're committed to success about anything, your mantra can be, "There's a way and I'm going to find it or create it."

The way to do positive thinking may be to state, "I'm positive I can choose to feel differently at any time. I'm positive I can choose to be open to good things happening in my life. I'm positive I can find the actions that create the outcomes I choose."

It's not about what comes to us in life, it's about what we choose to do with what we have, who we are, and who we intend to be.

Joyce Shafer is an author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and weekly columnist published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her books, "I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at www.lulu.com/content/773467, and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at www.lulu.com/content/796351. Visit her new website at http://www.freewebs.com/joyceshafer.

What Makes For a Great Work Environment?

As nice as new buildings are and having the latest technology available to accomplish your work responsibility does not automatically make for a great work environment. Having an outside office and even a parking space in the corporate parking lot doesn’t mean you have a great working environment.

A great working environment is totally dependent upon the supervisor or manager. And it doesn’t matter where you are on the corporate ladder. If you are at the top position then the whole working environment for all the employees is dependent upon you.

It does seem amazing that all who enter the work-a-day-world want to and expect to climb the ladder of corporate positions, yet very few care about learning the interpersonal relationship that is needed in the work environment. Human nature being what it is tends to conquer some company square footage and then see everyone else in the department as “the enemy.” Instead of being the supervisor or manager they become the dictator. Many supervisors develop the attitude of “my way or the highway.” They are threatened if someone else has an idea.

Here are five critical conditions that a supervisor must understand if he is to create a great working environment:

1. He must care about the needs of those in the department. This really does cover the whole realm of living. I know �" usually we want the employees to do their work and don’t tell me about your personal life. However, life is never that black-and-white. That is another whole topic of discussion. For the moment let’s just consider the work that is to be performed. Do the employees have all the right equipment to do the task efficiently and proficiently? Is the physical environment the best that it can be?

2. He must have the right attitude toward people and work. The supervisor must have the attitude that people are his greatest asset. People are not things. He must also have a good work ethic. A good work ethic is almost a thing of the past in today’s world. It seems that people think that everything is “owed to them” whether or not they do any work. I know people who phone in sick because they want to go do something else that day. So, lying to the boss is okay.

3. He must use authority correctly. Just give me the authority and I’ll whip this department into shape. All too often this is played out in the office. We find far too many supervisors with the master/slave attitude.

4. He must have a proper response to mistakes and failures. If the supervisor just rants and raves about mistakes and failures he is going to find a revolving door to his department. A great supervisor has to be willing to defend his department to others. He must be willing to use these as opportunities for teaching and instruction.

5. He must be willing to give proper credit where it is due. To be a great supervisor this will be the hardest to accomplish unless he is totally secure in his position. I use to work in an office where I would write suggestions and recommendations and my supervisor would have it re-typed with his name on the bottom. When proper credit is given it creates an incredible ‘think-tank’ environment. Instead of a revolving door you have a line-up waiting to get into your department.

I know that I have been basically talking about the company or corporate structure. However, this is also very true in the independent businesses of network marketing. The phrase “you have your own business, but you are not in business alone” is incredibly true. Too many people have failed in a home based business because their up-line did not understand the principles of a great working environment. Platinum One Destinations is a new company on the scene with a fabulous understanding of working together. jjheller.gop1d

JFHeller

I worked in the corporate world for 15 years - oil & gas taxation, payroll account. The next 27 years have been spent in church ministry. Internet Marketing is allowing retirement. www.jamesfheller.com