There Is More to You than You Think

The person you look at in the mirror who is looking back at you may not be the person you think he or she is. Most of our self-awareness comes from our perceptions of how we think we appear to others. Just how accurate our thoughts about ourselves are, is usually dependent on our life circumstances and the people and events that have shaped our memories and our perceptions of the things that have happened in it. 

 

Our self-talk tells us about ourselves and if we listen long enough to it, it will speak louder than family and friends who often affirm our strengths and abilities. Not all self-talk is bad. Sometimes it says things, which give us a premonition, and keeps us away from harm. 

 

Others have achieved a sense of acceptance of who they are and where they fit into the world. For many people however, the public image they portray to others may not be a true reflection of their inner feelings. Self-talk convinces many people that there is nothing good in them or their lives. This creates tension and sadness that can manifest itself in destructive ways. It can affect relationships and health if not corrected. 

 

How do people develop the negative feelings about themselves? Often, they are the result of someone we love or trust saying or doing something that makes us feel bad about ourselves. Even though what we may initially know that what we are telling ourselves is not true, over time we begin to internalize and then believe it. It begins to affect the way we think and feel about ourselves and how we appear to others.

 

Escaping the negative feelings means learning to love the unique person we are. It means learning to allow others into our lives again without fear of a repeat of the hurt or rejection. We can do this alone by consciously rejecting the inner voice and countering it with a reminder of all the blessings and successes in our life or we can do it with the help of a trusted friend or counselor. 

 

Finding the inner strength to face our negative thoughts about ourselves is the first step to discovering that we have hidden qualities and strengths we are often not aware of. It is a journey that no person will regret taking, once they embark on it. 

5 Factors that Are Necessary for Personal Enlightenment

The concept of ‘to enlighten’ is very similar to the thought of ‘turning the light on’. When we think of personal enlightenment, it is easy to think of it as a ‘turning the light on inside me’. It is about getting to know myself. There are five factors necessary for this personal enlightenment. Learning these factors will change our own lives and the lives of those around us.

 

1.  Believe that Personal Enlightenment Is Necessary for Self-acceptance 

 

Many of us do not like, let alone love ourselves. Self-acceptance is only possible when we are comfortable with the person we are, physically, emotionally and spiritually. When we experience the ‘light bulb’ moment in our lives, we are at a turning point. We can use this moment to grow or we can choose to turn it off and retreat back into the darkness of our former selves. 

 

2.  Believe that Personal Enlightenment Is Necessary to Change Ourselves and Our World

 

Those who choose to explore personal enlightenment are usually self-empowered as they learn to recognize and then unlock the power of the person they are or would like to be. These are the Nelson Mandelas, Malcolm Xs, and Martin Luther Kings of this world. Their journey to enlightenment changed them so profoundly, it empowered them to change their world. 

 

3.  Believe that Personal Enlightenment Is a Journey, Not a Destination

 

Although we may experience a light bulb minute, this is self-awareness, it is not enlightenment. Our life is a journey of experiences and personal enlightenment enables us to make sense of those experiences as we meet them on the journey. As we apply what we lean each experience helps us understand ourselves more fully.

 

4.  Believe that Personal Enlightenment Is a Force for Good and Not Evil

 

The world is a global community and each of us is its member. As we learn about and then gradually progress to accepting ourselves, we are more likely to accept others and enjoy who they are and encourage them on their own path of enlightenment.

 

5.  Believe that Our Past Influences Do Not Control Our Future

 

As we accept that our past life influences have no control over us, we can learn from its lessons and apply them to our future. Our past often holds us captive to its mistakes. Enlightenment frees us to learn from them.

 

Getting in Touch with Your Inner Self

How often have you heard the old saying “I’m too busy to think?” All too often, this is true for most of us. Someone has said if we are “too busy to think, we are just too busy.” Very few of us spend time getting in touch with our inner self and this is to our detriment. It is only as we go on a journey of self-discovery that we can make sense of who we are, and why we are here. 

 

For some people, this might seem too much like a spiritual search and nothing else. This definition is far too simple. Spirituality is only one small part of self-discovery. Our inner self is the person we are when no one is around. Many people are scared of being introduced to their inner self and busyness is a means of “not having time to think” because it can be scary to think. Many people do not like their own company because then they are forced to think about things they can usually ignore. This makes some people feel very uncomfortable.

 

Other people have learned something important. We are more than just a physical being. We are also an intellectual being, a spiritual being, an emotional being and a social being. As we get in touch with our inner selves, life takes on a new meaning. A simple question to ask yourself is “what it is you want from life, and what are you doing to achieve it? If you can answer this, chances are you are comfortable with yourself.

 

Answering these two questions helps us maintain our holistic health. It helps us process the bad times as well as the good times. It helps us clarify our values and the things that are important to us. It helps to give our lives meaning and purpose. 

 

How do we get in touch with our inner selves? There is only one way we can do this, and it really is as simple as getting to know ourselves. This usually requires us taking some time each day to withdraw from the busyness around us. This has to be an intentional decision. Choose a time each day that suits your lifestyle, and a resource to help guide your thoughts and spend time in introspective thinking. Journal your responses and see the difference it makes in your life.

The 3 Keys to Creating Spiritual Growth

The success of such films as “Eat, Pray, and Love” reveal that we are more in touch with our spirituality, than we are often prepared to admit to ourselves. Increasing numbers of people are deciding to take a path of spiritual discovery, exploring a side of our humanity that for many of us we have not thought much about. Yet when we do decide to accept that we are not just a physical body, we may choose to go on a path of spiritual self-discovery. Here are the three keys to creating spiritual growth that will guide that journey.

 

1.  Do not be afraid to think outside the box. Expand your mind to the unseen world.

 

This first key is self-explanatory. There can be no spiritual growth without acknowledging that there is more out there than the physical dimension of our existence. 

 

2.  Spend as much time considering how to care for yourself spiritually as you care for yourself physically.

 

We spend a lot of time and money ensuring our physical growth is healthy. We follow the latest fad diet and spend countless dollars and hours at the local gym, seeking to look our physical best. We try to choose a balanced diet and make good lifestyle choices. 

 

The second key to creating spiritual growth is to prioritize it in the choice of how we will spend our day and the things we choose to do in our day. Just as there cannot be good physical health if we do not commit to healthy living, there can be no spiritual health and growth if we do not commit to spiritual health.

 

3.  Reading about spirituality will not create spiritual growth. Healthy body growth results from exercising our bodies. Healthy spiritual growth results from exercising our spirits.

 

We have all heard the old saying “no pain, no gain” and this is equally true of spiritual growth as it is for physical and intellectual growth.

 

The final key to spiritual growth is to spend time exercising our spirit by asking ourselves the tough questions:

 

·      Why am I here?

·      Where am I going?

·      How will I get there?

 

Whether we choose a religious or other path to find the answers is a personal choice, but unless we are willing to consider these questions and what they mean to us personally, there can be no spiritual growth.

You Are a Part of the Environment, Not Apart from the Environment

Whether or not we identify with those who call themselves ‘greens’, all of us are becoming increasingly aware that our natural world is hurting and that all are responsible for its care and health. The current discussions on how to reduce carbon emissions is an indication of the fragile relationship that exists between humans and the environment. I am certain that, like me, you too are becoming increasingly aware that you are a part of the environment not apart from it.

 

We often act with no thoughts of the consequences of our actions. We are creatures of habit and convenience. Our busy lives and indulgent life styles often create blindness to the adage that ‘every action has an opposite reaction’. Actor and environmentalist Ed Asnor described it like this:

 

"We all moan and groan about the loss of the quality of life through the destruction of our ecology, and yet each one of us, in our own little comfortable ways, contributes daily to that destruction. It is time now to awaken in each one of us the respect and attention our beloved mother deserves.”

 

We are increasingly realizing the impact that the accumulated consequences of hundreds of years of industrialization, is having on the environment. If we are aware of our relationship with the environment, we will actively change our lifestyle and habits to protect the fragile world we live in. 

 

In the past, the ancient indigenous cultures of our world learned how to live in harmony with the environment. They learned to use its resources for their needs and not their greed. They learned to protect its resources and live in harmony with the seasons by only taking resources for personal needs at a time when those resources were naturally in abundance. They lived in harmony with the environment and the environment lived in harmony with them. 

 

Somewhere in time, we lost the concept of being a part of the environment and not apart from it. We, as a human race, began to see ourselves as somehow separate to it and our lifestyles focused on what we could take from the world around us and forgot what we should give back to it. The price of our actions is not only the destruction of the environment that we are a part of, but also potentially our own destruction. 

Knowledge versus Wisdom—There Is a Difference

The pursuit of knowledge in some cultures is synonymous with bringing honor on the family. Those who teach knowledge are highly respected. It is certainly correct that knowledge empowers people and there are countless examples of people who on gaining an education have influenced their generation in some way or have changed the course of their society or even their world. 

 

Yet, as virtuous as it may be to have knowledge, without wisdom, knowledge can be dangerous at worse, or a waste of time at best. Wisdom is best defined simply as applied knowledge. It is the ability to take what is known of the world and of people, things and places and to make choices based on that knowledge. Knowledge knows the facts about something, but wisdom knows best how to apply those facts to the real world and to add an understanding of right and wrong to that knowledge.

 

Without wisdom, knowledge can be dangerous. It can lead to character flaws like conceit and selfishness. Without wisdom there is often little concept of the consequences of using knowledge without consideration of others or the impact on places and things. Knowledge can often lead to subjective actions, whereas wisdom has learned to be objective and to consider that there are two sides to every story.

 

People who speak with wisdom are often highly sought after for their advice. People do not just want to hear knowledge that they can read in a book or learn for themselves. Life experiences and knowledge provide a strong combination that wise people are often possess and it is because they themselves have learned to apply wisdom to a situation that others seek them out for advice. There is a common belief that wisdom comes with age or experience. This has its basis on this understanding that in our life experiences we learn to put our knowledge into action in a relevant way.

 

Practically speaking, all of us can learn to be wise. We may benefit from learning from a mentor who can guide us to think deeply about our life, the things we know and learn and the circumstances and events that shape our lives. As we consider these things in relation to their effect on our own life and the lives of others and learn to apply them to other situations, we are on the road to true wisdom. 

Using a Blog to Lose Weight!

There are many different ways to lose weight, and people are trying out new things all the time. But, did you know that a blog could actually be a wonderful way to lose weight? Sounds fantastic? Read on…

 

A blog is a chronicled journal where you can make posts, just as you do in a diary. You write about whatever you want. The best thing about a blog is that you can popularize it in various ways. You can send it to your family and friends and people can keep reading it regularly.

 

Now, what you can do is… you can share your weight loss adventures on your blog. Every day or two, write something about what you did to lose weight in those days. Tell people how much weight you lost, or what confidence you gained. Speak about the state of your mind. Speak about how determined you are about it... speak about anything you want to. 

 

In fact, you can name your blog something like HowILoseWeight.com. 

 

This could be a very fun way of losing weight. A few posts later, when you have people coming in and reading your blog, which will inevitably happen, you will find that you actually look forward to blogging. And, because you want to blog about something, you will actually try to do something about losing weight! It is a circle that really helps you go on at whatever it is that you want to do.

 

The best thing here is that there are many people who will be reading your blog. Just for that sake… so that you don’t lose face in front of them… you will feel encouraged to go on.

 

It is also possible that a lot of people with similar problems will want to check out how you are progressing. They may even take tips from you, because if you have a blog, you become a sort of an authority figure.

 

The motivation that you can get from such a blog is enormous. In fact, even if you feel like giving up, you will not, because you will feel uneasy about giving up the blogging. And because you have to meet most of your blog readers in person, you will not want the ridicule! Also, people will comment on your posts and they will flood you with messages if you want to give up. That kind of public support can have a fabulous effect in keeping you motivated.

 

So, think about it. Combine your weight loss programs with technology. You will see that you do much better than you could do it traditionally. 

 

What Can Sport Give Us?

There are several things that you can get from sport, many more than you think. Here we shall take a look at some of the important benefits that we stand to get when we participate in any sport of our choice on a regular basis.

 

Sport Keeps Us Fit

 

This is the prime advantage of sport. If you want to be in top physical shape, then there are very little other things can do for you, but sport can help you stay in your best form for a long time. That is why you see all those sportspeople remaining so fit and healthy even when they have passed the prime of their lives. If you want to preserve your body and health, participate regularly in some or the other kind of sport. You will thank yourself later in life for having done that.

 

Sport Keeps Us Relaxed

 

People who participate in sport are always free and relaxed in their minds. Sport helps to work out the tensions. The adrenalin rush that most sport activities create in our minds is good enough to work out all those worries and fill the mind with excitement.

 

Sport Improves Our Personality

 

When you participate in sport, your personality improves in several ways. In your sport, you are interacting with a lot of people in different ways. That definitely works on your personality. You become more casual and confident with people. You also learn how to manage the attention showered upon you by others… when you are playing, people are certainly going to look at you a lot. This becomes a commonplace thing for you too, and if ever you have to perform in front of people, you will have the confidence.

 

Sport Makes Us More Active and Productive

 

Sportspeople always realize the value of time. For them, every millisecond counts. Naturally, this is going to fill out in your routine life as well. When you begin to respect time, you will find that you can automatically finish your work faster and you have more time to do other things. The entire quality of your life is enhanced.

 

Sport Makes Us More Compassionate

 

When you participate in team sport, there are different players you are associated with. All of them have different strengths and weaknesses. In any team, players who are strong in something will always try to make up for those who are weak. When you do that, you learn the importance of that in later life as well. This goes a long way in making you a better person.

 

What Can You Do to Motivate Your Employees?

When you are at the helm of affairs in your workplace, a lot of responsibility lies squarely on your shoulders. You have to be able to motivate your employees, that’s the most important thing that’s expected of you… something that you have to do if you want your organization to progress. 

 

However, there are many leaders who find this to be a very daunting task. Employee motivation is actually never an easy job because there are so many different people involved with so many different mentalities and expectations. But, do not let that stop you. There are always common things that you can implement in order to try and motivate your employees.

 

Here we speak of some things that you can do.

 

Keep Your Requirements Clear

 

When you are assigning some tasks to your team, you have to ensure that you keep your requirements completely clear. It is only when you are able to speak with a clear objective in mind, and when your people understand what you are saying that they can perform as you want them to.

 

Give Them Clear Objectives

 

Why should people work for you? Loyalty and work ethic aside, it is important that these people are given the right incentives. Everyone performs their job in accordance with the salary they are given. But if someone is doing more than what their job profile tells them to do… which is your expectation of them anyway… then you have to give them the right incentives as well. And you have to make these incentives quite clear. You should tell people what they will get at the end of the day.

 

Express Yourself

 

Employees are always looking forward to receiving feedback. If they do something good, they need a word of appreciation. Do not take this for granted. Appreciation is a very important bonus. For many people, it means more than money. Money is spent and forgotten but the appreciation always lingers. At every opportunity you get, ensure that you give them the right feedback and praise them for the things they have done well.

 

These are three ways in which you can go about employee motivation in the right way. When you motivate your employees, you will find that they work in better spirits and that definitely works better for your organization itself. If you are looking for things like employee faithfulness and trust in the organization, then you simply cannot avoid these three important employee motivation guidelines. 

 

What Does Respecting Others Mean?

If you are a fan of reading self-help books, you will have read often about how it is important to respect others. Self-help gurus often say that if you want to earn respect, you have to give respect first. You have to make people happy, and then that helps you in earning your own happiness. But, what does it really mean to respect others? Should you do anything it takes to please them, even if that means compromising on your ideals?

 

When people speak about respecting others, it does not actually mean that you have to compromise on your core values in life. What it means is that you should be able to behave with them in the same manner that you would like them to behave with you. You do not have to put your coat down for them on the puddle so that they can walk over it—most likely you do not expect them to do that for you either—but the behavior is shown in the way you talk with people, act with them and deal with them in a general manner.

 

So how do you respect someone who is at a subordinate position to you? Here, respect comes by understanding what they are as humans. You should realize that every person is a human being and that they are subject to their strengths and limitations too. When you accept that, you are respecting them. You are respecting them when you understand that they might have emergencies sometimes too, they may have problems as well, and that they have their needs and aspirations.

 

Respect is subjective. The way you respect your employee will be quite different from the way you respect your father, for instance, and that will again be different from the way you respect the President. Hence, there are times when you have to act in a situational manner.

 

One of the things that you should keep in mind when you are trying to show respect to people is that you have to avoid any kind of offensive actions. They shouldn’t feel offended or threatened by your presence. The best indicator that you are showing respect to someone is when they are comfortable with you being around them. If someone looks forward to meeting you and is happy to interact with you, then most likely you are respecting them in the best way you can.

 

Also, it is very true that respect is a two-way thing. When you respect others, you get respect. This is the truest thing we can say about respect.