The Full Story about Journal Writing
The most comprehensive article you will ever read about writing in a journal. I recommend you study the information carefully.
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Follow Your Vibes Today
In order to dial into your intuition you have to first become a better receiver. Intuitive flashes are quick and subtle and can pass by without gaining our full attention until after the fact – to our complete frustration. Improve your perception and heighten your ability to tune into your inner guidance by slowing down, breathing, listening on a deeper level to what is happening all around you – then make the leap and trust what you feel – at least enough to acknowledge it. Do more than just think about your vibes/intuition (gut feelings). Speak them out loud. Write them down. Tell a friend. No need to act on your intuition at this point, just notice it is there. You have a choice to follow it or not, but not until you notice your vibes in the first place.
(Following your vibes WILL lead you to a more authentic, fulfilling and charmed life).
So today, SLOW DOWN, breathe, notice, acknowledge and then decide.
(From Sonia Choquette)
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Transform Your Life for the Better
By now you must all know that I’m a huge fan of IQ Matrix – their work is just phenomenal. Do yourself a favour and subscribe to their website – you will receive regular, valuable information which will ease daily life.
And as suggested in this specific article, print out and laminate this mind map and keep it in your laptop bag, your handbag or your purse – it takes 21 days (three weeks) to change habits and old (negative) beliefs and behavioural patterns – look at this mind map frequently throughout the day and apply the information.
(Please note – ALL the information below is directly copied from IQ Matrix – it is THEIR work, not mine – all credit to them):
Have you ever wondered how a person struggling emotionally, financially, or physically manages to completely transform their life over a period of only a few months? Have you ever considered the process of change and the steps that this person goes through that enables them to develop new empowering habits and behaviors that literally reshape their destiny?
If these are some of the questions you’ve had on your mind, than today I would like to show you how to use an IQ Matrix to help transform your life, behaviors and habits for the better.
At the time of this writing there are officially 150+ IQ Matrix maps available for download. Each of these mind maps are built around various personal development topics. The vast majority of these topics have been carefully intertwined into the MasterMind Matrix. However, this is of little importance if one has no idea how to make best use of an IQ Matrix beyond it simply being a pretty reference poster that one hangs on the wall to decorate a bedroom or office.
Today, let’s put these questions to rest and explore how you can utilize an IQ Matrix to help transform your life.
For the purpose of this article I’ve created a mini IQ Matrix (found top of this post). It is actually a first of its kind Pocket IQ Matrix (hopefully many more to come). It is an A6 size mini mind map (148x105mm or 5.8×4.1in) that you can print, laminate and carry around with you for reference throughout the day. I will be using it to help provide you with an outline of how I would personally utilize it to help me stress-less and transform this particular area of my life.
Decide What it is You Want
Before using the Pocket IQ Matrix you must decide what it is you want and what kind of outcomes you would like to experience when it comes to relieving stress from your life. Unless you are clear about what it is you want to gain from this challenge you are working through, than you will never have enough commitment or desire to follow-through with your actions. Ask yourself:
What would I like to gain from this challenge?
How would I like to feel?
What would I like to be able to do?
What things would I like to stop doing?
What would my life be like with less stress and less things to worry about?
Why is this important to me?
Why must things change right now?
Why must I begin to change right now?
What could not changing cost me both short-term and long-term?
Why is this important?
On a scale of 1 to 10 how motivated am I to experience this life?
On a scale of 1 to 10 how confident am I that I can do this?
On a scale of 1 to 10 how committed am I to get this outcome?
If your motivation, confidence and level of commitment is not at least on a scale of eight or higher, than it simply means that you don’t yet have enough “why” reasons to make the necessary changes to proactively take charge of this area of your life. In such instances, go back to the questions listed above and keep finding more reasons to change. If you are unable to do this, than unfortunately this process won’t work for you and you will fail to take the necessary steps to get the outcomes you want to experience in your life.
Build Solid Foundations
Having printed the mind map and clarified your desired outcomes, now spend some time going over the Pocket IQ Matrix and identify what you could do on a daily basis to begin applying some of these stress-less tips into your life. Maybe you will start meditating, eating healthy food, or possibly spend more time exercising in the morning.
The habits you commit yourself to developing over the coming days, weeks and months are going to build the foundations of your stress-less lifestyle.
For instance, while overviewing the mind map I might identify two or three critical things that I must avoid at all costs that are aggravating my stress levels. I might for instance persistently stress over the smallest of things (the little things). In such cases I will write down what I must do and the questions that I must ask myself when little things get the best of me. I might ask:
Is this really worth stressing about?
Will this really matter 5 years from now?
How would Mahatma Gandhi have interpreted this stress?
How would Dalai Lama respond to it?
How must I respond to it right now?
Are there any other questions I should be asking myself at this time that could help me interpret this stress in a more helpful way?
Other things to avoid on the list might pose a different challenge. For instance avoiding stressful people, smoking or alcohol can do wonders to alleviate your stress-levels. However, you will need to commit to a step-by-step implementation plan that will keep you on track and moving towards your desired outcomes.
Spend some time writing this plan of action on a piece of paper explaining how you will respond or counteract the various stressors within your environment (listed on the IQ Matrix). When finished, simply file your plan of action away out of sight. Under no circumstances should you carry it around with you. Instead just carry the Pocket IQ Matrix as a reminder of what you must do and focus on throughout the day. Simplicity is the key. You don’t want to get lost in the “how-to’s”, or you might end up doing nothing at all.
For instance you might choose to avoid stressful people in the office by closing your office door. Alternatively you could head-off to lunch at a different time in the afternoon. Therefore when your colleagues are eating lunch you can work peacefully without distraction.
Again, these are just guidelines. However, I hope you can see the power of this and how you can begin taking back control over your life starting today.
It’s also important to consider the things that you will do to avoid stress throughout the day. Make sure to add this to your implementation plan as well. You might for instance take a time management course, or read a few books about time management to help you improve your effectiveness and efficiency throughout the day. Or you could begin keeping a gratitude journal, where you write down all the things you are grateful for. You can then use this list to ground yourself in times of heavy stress. Alternatively you could develop a strategy that will encourage you to begin breaking large tasks into small chunks.
The key to your success will essentially come down to your commitment and willingness to make the necessary changes that will enable you to stress-less and enjoy life to the fullest. Your intention and your plan of action moving forward will form the backbone of this success. However, remember that nothing will change unless you are willing and committed to make the necessary changes that will help you to transform your life for the better.
Stay on Track Throughout the Day
Having built a solid foundation, take the Pocket IQ Matrix and carry it around in your purse, handbag, wallet or pocket throughout the day. There probably won’t be a need to refer to it constantly (as long as you’ve spent time building your foundations), however, during moments when you feel as though your stress levels are getting out of hand, slip out the mind map and remind yourself of the things that you must do and focus on that will help you to calm your mind, stay focused and productive. Ask yourself:
Why am I stressing right now?
Which of these guidelines am I not following?
How have I diverted from my plan of action?
How must I get back on track?
What must I do, think, say and decide to get back on track?
Are there things I could do right now to alleviate my stress that I hadn’t considered before?
Don’t be hard on yourself if you make mistakes and slip back into old habits. As long as you are able to realize that you’ve walked off the path, then that is all that matters. Recognize this and get back on track. Progress is often made by taking two steps forward and then one step back. As long as you stay committed to the changes you want to realize in your life, than you will eventually get there. New habits are not built overnight, but rather persistently over time.
Learn from Experience
At the end of the day before going to bed, pull out the Pocket IQ Matrix and your written plan of action and review all the points and questions. Identify the areas where you excelled and other areas where you could improve upon in the coming days. Ask yourself:
Did I achieve my desired outcomes today?
What did I do well?
Where specifically did I struggle?
What can I learn from this?
How could I improve things tomorrow?
What could I do specifically that will help me make progress in the right direction?
Many times we aren’t able to develop the necessary habits to make long-term changes in our lives because we simply fail to learn from our experiences. However, if you are able to commit yourself and take five to ten minutes of time at the end of the day to reflect on the progress you made or failed to make, than this will help build the foundations you need to cultivate the habits and behaviors required to make long-lasting change in your life.
Conduct Further Research
Learning a new skill or habit takes time, patience, experience (aka: making plenty of stupid mistakes) and a little knowledge. As such, you must be willing to conduct a little research on key critical areas of the Pocket IQ Matrix that you would like to adopt into your life. This research will help you gain a deeper insight and understanding into the questions you must ask, the decisions you must make and the actions you should be taking to achieve your desired outcomes.
I could for instance need more information about how to breathe correctly when stressed in order to calm my body and mind. I would therefore simply visit Google.com and search for “how to breathe when under stress”. And here are some some valuable resources I immediately came across on the very first page:
- Just Breathe: Body Has a Built-In Stress Reliever
- Stress and the Role of Breathing
- Breathing as a Bridge
I could do the same for time management, for getting more organized, for how to think positively during difficult times, for delegating responsibility, or for how to simplify my life. This research will provide me with the ammunition I need to make better decisions tomorrow about how to stress-less while living with more purpose and passion.
You are in the driver’s seat of your own life. And as such it’s your responsibility to be proactive and take the necessary actions to gain all the knowledge you can that will help you to make the changes required to achieve your desired outcomes.
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100 “likes” and a Nomination
Gosh. I missed out on life recently (three weeks of illness) but came back today to discover that I just had 100 “likes” on this blog – gosh. Thank you so much for reading. I’m so humbled by your attention and your wonderful comments.
I also received a nomination from Dave for the versatile blogger award. Thank you Dave.
Once you are nominated, there are certain rules to follow, such as nominate other blogs etc. – I will do that shortly.
In the meantime, stay in the moment.
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Creativity and Innovation
Discover the ingredients of Creativity and Innovation with the Creativity and Innovation Mind Map.
The Creativity and Innovation Mind Map captures the contents of a workshop of the same topic conducted with two different groups of participants. The workshop started off with an Intro of the trainer and visual recorder/judge. It progresses quickly to the next branch which defines Creativity and Innovation. The participants take a creativity test which will subsequently release them into the infinite possibilities universe with whole-brain techniques and Mind Mapping. The activities reinforce the power of the Mind Map in stimulating creativity. This Mind Map itself was done live as the workshop was progressing. The colouring after the workshop took more than 6 hours to complete.
You will discover all this and more within the Creativity and Innovation Mind Map. Also follow IQ Matrix on Facebook.
(Image and information credit: IQ Matrix)
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Meditation is Good for You
A mind is like a beautiful garden. You need to nurture and protect it against negative thoughts. Meditation gives you the ability to focus your mind at will and thereby control your thoughts. Have a daily meditation practise is one of the best forms of self-care. It is deeply healing and nourishing. Your meditation time is a sanctuary from the world, a space and time where you can come home to yourself; come home to your body to discover your inner peace, passion and pleasure.
A restless body is a symptom of a restless mind. By learning to meditate you learn to master your mind. The mind is a terrible master when left to wander on its own, but it is a powerful servant when focused through meditation.
To live to the fullest, you cannot afford the luxury of even one negative thought.
(From the book “Diary for Fabulous You” by Lady P)
Related articles:
- Meditation (pondermountain.com)
- Meaning of Meditation (eddiekays.wordpress.com)
- Transform yourself on the blank page
- The benefits of meditation.
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The Power of Positive Thinking
A super article to read about positive thinking.
How to develop and strengthen your self-control.
Another excellent article about self-discipline.
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It is Time to Live From Joy
Children of the Earth, you are in a period of great change. It is time for unity, harmony and co-operation and one-ness. However often this involves a purification to release all that which holds you back from experiencing your new reality. Never before has it been so important to rediscover your essence, your truth, your light. It is time to live from joy. To know yourself as a being of light. When you do this you will not be so easily influenced by the surrounding chaos.
The planet herself is also in a stage of purification. Yours is a planet and species of duality. The duality can co-exist instead of compete. Take the mind and the heart for instance – most of the time you vacillate between thoughts and thinking or feelings and emotions. Very rarely do you link head and heart. It is time to bridge the divide between head and heart and live from heart centered awareness and one ness.
You create problems in your life through fear (generally thoughts of fear which generate feelings of fear) and trying to control your environment (instead you should be working with your environment). This is why things will not manifest as you desire. You need to flow with the currents. It is time to surrender to what is and trust that everything is in divine order. Co-create with the universe. Trust that He knows what’s in your highest good and you don’t need to control it. What we mean is to honour all life forms and all people’s paths even if you don’t want it to be so or think you know better. You need to honour your humanness and your divinity. Right now it is more about the process than the outcome. You are not defined by the external but by the internal. Are you living according to your internal compass of truth, integrity and personal power?! Most people are not. This is why the external illusions are being stripped away.
You are not your job or career; you are not the multitude of titles by which you call yourself (wife/ husband, parent, healer etc.) or whatever other role you see yourself as. You are not your financial status or your street address or suburb. You are also not your wounding. Humanity has lost its way as you’ve forgotten the truth of who you are. You masked this with a layer of ‘titles’ or ‘achievements’ or ‘wounding’ and made this the total of who you are. As you’ve lost the connection to yourself so you’ve lost the connection and compassion to your fellow humans. You have become a narcissist society and race. Look in. You need to strip away these illusions of separateness and discover your divine nature, your I AM-NESS.
Humanity has lost respect and your value system has become misguided. You say you are compassionate but in reality it is all fear based. How can I be more loved, get more recognition, earn more etc? Instead we could be asking ourselves how can I love more (myself and others), how can I do what inspires me and make a difference etc.
Allow yourself to be in a state of Grace and Being. Be present to the NOW and what is. You are unknowable and imperfectly perfect exactly as you are right now. Celebrate this. You do not need to ‘fix’ or ‘heal’ yourself. This would imply that there’s something wrong with you. You are not just the total of your experiences in life but there is a deeper essence to you, that when you connect to, can help you understand and embrace these parts of yourself.
By focusing on what’s ‘wrong’ with you, you are not seeing that maybe the lessons you’ve been given are exactly what you needed to make you YOU and now its about working with these flaws, imperfections, tragedies, in a new and different way. Just as we will never ‘overcome’ the ego as it is part and parcel of being human so too it is not about ‘overcoming’ your past. It is about either befriending this dark part within you or looking at it in a different light. Please understand that we are not saying that some of your horrible or even horrific experiences are ‘ok’ but rather they have happened and now you have the choice whether you continue to allow your ‘story’ to use you or whether you are going to use your story in a new and different way. By berating or judging our pasts keeps us stuck there instead of seeing how our past can serve us to create a new present and future.
Own who you are in order to become more of who you are becoming. Release expectations and outcome based results and trust and enjoy the journey.
(With thanks to Michelle Hawkins).
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Take a Moment and Look at Your Life
Last year was a difficult year for many as it was about releasing that which no longer served us and stripping away the masks and shields of upbringing, protection, duty and survival to get in touch with our essence.
In this vulnerability we can hide ourselves from the world, blame the world or look at ourselves in a clearer light. How do you want your life to be? You can create the life you want but more importantly, you can be the person that you want to be. Sometimes when we are not willing to let go of things, they get taken from us (not in punishment) so that we can reassess and refocus our lives.
So many people are on the treadmill of life that they don’t actually realise what they have or the resilience they have until it is taken away or tested. A lot of people are sleepwalking through life or “just” surviving life and things needed to be shaken up so we could become more conscious and more aware.
Huge shifts in consciousness and an acceptance of what “is” in life is important. Begin the process of creating a new life and new opportunities will arise. Much of new age spiritually refers to “positive thinking” or manifestation but it is important how you use “positive thinking”. Stop trying to impose your will on the world and instead stop and see what the Universe is presenting to you. This often involves change in some form. It is amazing how scary change can be and it is only when you are clinging to an old way of “being” and resisting change that you will experience pain (physical, mental, emotional or spiritual) in your life. Take a moment to stop, be present and look at your life from a different perspective. Move from being reactive to life to being responsive.
Courtesy: Michelle Hawkins (echoes of the soul)
Related articles:
- Dancing to the Music of Your Heart (awakeningtothedance.com)
- The Power of Positive Thinking (zazenlife.com)
- Shifting with Positive Thinking (beyondtheshifts.wordpress.com)
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Recent
- The Full Story about Journal Writing
- Follow Your Vibes Today
- Transform Your Life for the Better
- 100 “likes” and a Nomination
- Creativity and Innovation
- Meditation is Good for You
- I am Me
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- It is Time to Live From Joy
- Take a Moment and Look at Your Life
- The Invitation – Oriah Mountain Dreamer
- 2011 in Review
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