Believe in Wonderful You and Get Your Glow On!

We all go through periods of self-doubt when we think that we’re not good enough. This often happens when we compare ourselves to others and think that we don’t match up.

I experienced a crisis of confidence recently. I was invited to a corporate function, as they wanted me to be the speaker at their next event.
The speaker that evening was a survivor of a terrorist bomb blast who had lost both his legs, and survived to become a long-distance runner.

As I listened to him I realised that I had always thought of myself as extremely lucky – and one my luckiest things ever was that I had been at the same restaurant as this guy - the night before!
And I was looking after other people’s children (one of whom had snuck out of boarding school – but that’s another story! ☺) so I still feel weak and hugely relieved every time I think about it!
But of course I didn’t want to tell that story. Especially after I heard what he’d been through. It was beyond harrowing. It wouldn’t have felt right to turn around and say how lucky I was to have been there the night before, after what happened to this guy!

And that’s when I started to doubt myself. And the self-defeating thoughts started going around in my head:

“Who wants to hear about how lucky you are? No-one cares how lucky you are. They want to know how you’ve overcome tremendous challenges. How you’ve survived bomb blasts or cancer or swimming in ice. Who do you think you are? What have you ever done that’s so impressive? What’s so inspiring about You?”

I confessed to a group of close friends that I didn’t think I was up to the task of being an inspirational writer and speaker.
Who would be interested in my story? I wasn’t a top CEO who’d built up a billion-dollar business. I wasn’t an ice swimmer saving the planet. I hadn’t survived some life-threatening situation. What did I know anyway? What inspiring credentials did I have to write a book, or stand up and speak to a crowd?

Thankfully, there’s nothing like good friends to help you get over yourself. ☺

They reminded me that I inspire and encourage many people every day!
My writing, talks and workshops always get fantastic feedback!
And then I remembered why I do the work I’m doing and that my credentials are my gifts that I’m sharing every day – the gifts of insight, intuition, humour and tongue-in-cheek wisdom that support and encourage people to enJOY their Life’s journey.

“We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~ Marianne Williamson

I’ve made a folder on my computer called “Nice Stuff” which contains wonderful messages and heartfelt Thank You’s from clients and people who’ve heard me speak, or read my work – and if I find myself having a mini meltdown I open this up and read the messages to remind myself that I’m on the right track! ☺

And when we are on the right track the Universe does kindly affirm it for us. ☺ Recently I gave a workshop which was attended by a woman who works for the ice-swimming, planet-saving Lewis Pugh – one of my personal heroes.
She came to thank me after the session and I admitted to her that her boss’s impressive credentials had me doubting my own contribution. She looked around the room and pointed out that I was succesfully achieving what I wanted to do. And she sent me a follow up email to thank me for "facilitating a wonderful session". ☺

Often the biggest challenge we have to overcome is the way we see ourselves!

We disempower ourselves when we compare ourselves to others and think that we’re not good enough.

We erode our confidence with our own self-doubt that stops us from expressing our unique gifts that we were born to share.

So what if there are a zillion people who do what you do. No-one else can do it exactly like You! 

We’re all travelling our own unique journey and we all have our own unique story to share.

"There are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give." ~ Leo Buscaglia

When we appreciate and honour ourselves and all that we are, we believe in ourselves and emPower ourselves to shine our Light and share our gifts.

"Every achiever that I have ever met says, My life turned around when I began to believe in me." ~ Dr. Robert Schuller

Don’t allow your own self-doubt to stop you from doing what You came here to do.
Believe in Wonderful You and Get Your Glow On! ☺

With Love,

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• Stay True to You and Follow Your Own Path
• Trust Yourself and Power Up :) 
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Patiently Allowing the Good Stuff to Flow :)

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” ~ Saint Augustine

I always thought that patience was something that I would sort of magically acquire when I ‘grew up’.
But I grew older, and patience never ‘happened’ ;)
I’ve always been a ‘quick’ person – I think quickly, I walk quickly, I talk quickly, I move quickly (my fingers are flying over the keyboard as I type this!), I’m always moving, I’m always in a hurry, and I’m naturally impatient  :)
So sitting still and having patience is something I’ve had to learn :)

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg -  not by smashing it." ~ Arnold Glasow

The thing is, it’s not so much that one learns patience, it’s more that one learns to ‘be patient’, because it’s the only way stuff happens properly – it’s the natural order of things.
Life unfolds as it does :)

"No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen." ~ Epictetus

We all want things “Now Now NOW!” but it’s often our own impatience that undermines our success and sabotages our happiness :(
Things may not always happen in the time that we (mostly unrealistically) expect, but everything is always happening perfectly, in its right time :)
And the best thing we can do is to put our faith into action and then Get Out of our own way!

When we’re fretting and stressing about ‘why things aren’t happening!’, we start forcing and insisting and creating more resistance, which isn’t helpful.
We don’t make our most inspired choices when we’re stressed, and often we just mess everything up when we’re in a hurry!

'The biggest pitfall as you make your way through your life is impatience.' ~ Susan Jeffers

We’ll throw up our hands and say “Ok, that’s it! It’s just not going to happen”, when we’ve barely given ourselves a chance. We give up on all our efforts and we give up on what we really want, and then move onto the ‘next best thing’.
But we can’t expect our gardens to grow and blossom, when we keep digging up the seeds!

Adopt the pace of Nature;
her secret is patience.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Since I’ve learned to become still (through meditation, and awareness), I’m a lot more patient than I was, and I’m consciously aware when I find myself slipping into impatience and anxiety. I’m approaching everything a lot more patiently these day, and it’s paying off :)
I don’t put myself under the same amount of pressure that I used to, and I don’t allow anyone else to put pressure on me either :)

I know that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be, and everything is unfolding in its perfect time :) And so it is :)

Here's to Rocking Your Wonderful Life with patience :) Allow the Good Stuff to unfold and flow and Get Your Glow On! :)

With Love,

 
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Get Into the Habit of Being Your Most Wonderful You :)

The way we think about ourselves, the choices we make and the actions we take are all a combination of our habits.

Some of our habits serve us well, and some most definitely do not.

When you are ready and willing to live your Most Joyful Life, you’ll want to start developing new habits that are consistent with your Most Wonderful You :) and dump the self-defeating habits that are holding you back.

“You need to drop bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live. People do not suddenly appear in the life they want to live - habits determine their outcome!” ~ Jack Canfield.

Developing constructive new habits helps us to build our confidence and self-esteem. We feel better about ourselves as we create our positive self-image.

“Our self-image and our habits tend to go together. Change one and you will automatically change the other. The word “habit” originally meant a garment or clothing. Our habits are literally garments worn by our personalities. They are not accidental, or happenstance. We have them because they fit us. They are consistent with our self-image and our entire personality pattern. When we consciously and deliberately develop new and better habits, our self-image tends to outgrow the old habits and grow into the new pattern.” ~ Maxwell Maltz

If you’d like to see some positive changes happening in your life, then you’ll need some new productive habits to help you get there.

First up and most importantly: Change your thinking! :)

"Thinking is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be changed; it just takes effort and repetition." ~ John Eliot

Lose the negativity! Stop judging, criticizing and talking yourself down.
Develop the new habit of thinking positively about yourself and focus on the Good Stuff. Create your new self-image of your Most Wonderful You.

“Whatever you habitually think yourself to be, that you are. You must form, now, a greater and better habit; you must form a conception of yourself as a being of limitless power, and habitually think that you are that being. It is the habitual, not the periodical thought that decides your destiny.” ~ Wallace D. Wattles

Think only of what you want – what are your most desirable outcomes?
How do you want to live your life?

"Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible." ~ Marcus Aurelius.

How do you consciously develop a new habit?
Commit wholeheartedly to what you want :)

When you decide that it’s non-negotiable you won’t go back to your old self-defeating habits.

“Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Non-negotiable. Case closed! Over and out.” ~ Jack Canfield

Make a conscious commitment to practising your new thinking and behaviour that is consistent with your Most Wonderful You.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation. ”~ W.H. Murray

Commit to constructive new habits that make you feel good about yourself.

"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding." ~ Harvey Mackay

When you develop new habits that support and empower you, you’ll start actively creating positive change in your life.

“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Commit to being your Most Wonderful You :) Lose the bad habits that are holding you back and choose to develop new habits that empower you to live your Most Joyful Life and Get Your Glow On :)

With love,

 

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Rock Your Self-Discipline and Wave your Magic Wand :)

Much as we’d all love it to happen, no-one’s going to wave a magic wand over our lives and make our dreams come true.
The Good News is :) you can wave the wand yourself. You've had it all along.
But you do have to make the effort to pick it up and start waving!

“If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.”
~ Les Brown.

You can’t hand over the responsibility of your health, wealth or happiness to somebody else.
People can advise you and guide you, but ultimately it’s up to you.

“You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you.” ~ Jim Rohn

You can read all the self-development books and listen to motivational speakers and tell me that you “need to get motivated”, but really, only you can motivate yourself to get going.

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.”
  ~  Dr. Wayne Dyer

It’s amazing how many excuses we make to ourselves, for not going after what we want.
It’s seems easier to talk ourselves out of doing something, than to put in the effort to actually do it.

You know all the stories :) You’d work out if you had a personal trainer/training buddy. But really, there’s no need :)
You can start by putting one foot in front of the other and taking yourself for a brisk walk.
You can’t save because life is so expensive. Yes, the cost of living is expensive, but you can forego a few unnecessary expenses to put a little money away each month for your dream home/holiday/retirement etc.

You just need to exercise your self-discipline.

“Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward.” 
~ Napoleon Hill

The only way to create what you want, is to discipline your mind to focus only on your desired outcomes, and to take consistent action towards those goals.

“Discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”
~ T. Harv Eker

It’s ok to have a sense of entitlement – of course you deserve to be/have whatever it is that you want.
But it’s not going to land in your lap - you do have to show up consistently to receive it :)

"Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you develop a sense of intent for what you want, you’ll start taking consistent action to get there.

Are you ready and willing to show up consistently and Live your Most Joyful Life? :)

With love,

Related Posts:

• Set Goals to Create Your Most Joyful Life :)
• Get Your Goals On: Believe, Commit, Take Action :)
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• Affirmations for Common Excuses, from Dr Wayne Dyer.