Stop for just a second, take a look around you and ask yourself if this is the quality of life you were hoping for. If you answered “No”, then my question to you is “why not?” “What are you doing to change your life?” Most people who have been asked what they’ve done to change their lives say “it’s no use because…..” and so it goes…. excuses.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. The first step in getting out of the rut is to stop making excuses and assume responsibility for the quality of your life. You can change your life situation today. How do I know? I know because others have done it. There will always be obstacles, but none that can’t be overcome. The only requirement is the desire to change. Mark Twain once said “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” If your “want to” is strong enough, you can achieve almost anything you set your mind to.
The second step to getting out of the rut is step out in faith and, as the Nike commercial says, “Just do it”. There is no time like the present to change course. You might not succeed the first time, but you must keep trying. Success will come with persistence. Don’t worry about making a mistake. Albert Einstein once said “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
So step out. Take a chance, and as William Durant, the founder of General Motors said “Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.”
I have a confession to make: I don’t like working with little kids.
Don’t get me wrong. I love children. I have nieces and nephews and I have friends with kids, and I love them all.
The thing is, when it comes to teaching, I am not a fan of teaching the young ones. Under age 12 or so is no fun for me.
You see, there are things I love about teaching. With children that young, I can’t do any of the things that draw me to speaking and teaching in the first place.
I have trained and taught the martial arts for years. A few years ago, I started teaching a class of 7 to 12 year-olds. While I liked all the kids in the class, I hated the act of actually teaching them. End result: I stopped teaching, felt burnt out, and left the martial arts for over a year (this was before I’ve learned some of the things I teach and write about though 
)
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I have been doing shows where I work with a group to teach kids valuable lessons such as how to make better decisions and why it’s bad to smoke. Most of the audiences for these shows consisted of children in the 5 to 12 year-old range.
Just like five years ago, I found myself not enjoying the shows at all and feeling very unhappy. This time though, I had a much greater understanding of what to do.
I knew I had two choices. I either had to stop doing the shows, or find a way to enjoy them. I decided to put my own theories to the test and force myself to find a way to enjoy these shows.
I started by using my creativity to brainstorm out all the reasons I wasn’t enjoying myself. I let my mind flow and created a big list. I then went through the list and picked out the key reasons I wasn’t having fun. They were:
1) I kept running out of things to do because each activity kept the kids attention for much briefer periods of time then with older audiences.
2) I like to teach ‘theories,’ because I believe that that level of understanding is key for real learning. Unfortunately, heavy theory doesn’t work well with the youngsters.
3) I felt it was a constant struggle to keep the kids’ attention.
4) I was stressing over whether the kids were actually ‘getting it.’
Well, this was a great start! Having identified these four key factors, all I needed to do was address them. Once again, I turned on the creative muscles and brainstormed out what I could do for each one. After I had that list, I picked out the techniques and ideas that would address the problems. They were:
1) For each show, I created a list of activities that was about twice as long as I thought I needed, so I would never run out of things to do.
2) I created a list of ways to teach the ideas without getting ‘theoretical,’ and committed to trying the new approach (i.e. I let go of my traditional teaching style).
3) Rather than trying to keep entertaining the kids, I decided to add in some hands-on interactive activities throughout the show to get them involved and give them a break.
4) I stopped stressing. I committed to the mentality (which I am paraphrasing from Alan Weiss), ’show up, do the best I can, and go home.’ I had my plan, I would do the best I could and work that plan, and that’s all I could ask of myself.
Lo and behold! The next three shows I did were actually fun! And they were all with kids between 5 and 12 years of age!!
Here are some key lessons from my experience:
1) Address your feelings before it’s too late. Years ago I waited too long and got burnt out. Recently, I addressed it earlier and am much happier.
2) Use your creativity to gain an understanding of what’s bugging you, and then pick the key factors.
3) Use your creativity to create ways of addressing what’s bugging you.
4) Create a plan of what you will do, and commit to working that plan.
5) Make sure you are having fun!!
This article is not specifically about how to teach young ones. Rather, it should serve as a guide for how to use some creativity to add more fun and happiness into your life. Life’s too short to stay unhappy!
Avish Parashar has a refreshingly unique approach to speaking and training: identify the fundamentals of success and then give people the tools to implement those fundamentals. Avish’s approach can be deceptive; it’s fun, funny, interactive, engaging, entertaining, and ridiculously simple. Success isn’t complicated, it’s simple. So visit the web site to learn more about the “Ridiculously Simple Ideas That Everybody Needs and Nobody Uses.”
Learn More:
http://www.avishparashar.com
Free Creativity Mini-Course:
http://www.avishparashar.com/creativity-free-minicourse.html
The legend of the phoenix can actually be found in several belief systems. It can be traced back to ancient
Whether this mystical bird is attributed to the Chinese “Feng-huang”, the Jewish “Milcham” or even an emblem of Christ, the legend remains the same…
After serving its life cycle, the phoenix builds a nest and then by the sun and the friction of its own wings, is consumed by fire. It is inevitably reborn from the very ashes. The phoenix is therefore symbolic of resurrection, immortality, and my personal favourite - triumph over adversity.
I has been said repeatedly that there are two types of people in this world: “marathoners” and “sprinters”. Both are ambitious at heart. They set a goal and will pursue it zealously. The only difference is that a sprinter expects to see immediate results and if they do not receive those results, they may get discouraged and give up all together. A marathoner on the other hand, can get side tracked, knocked down, and trampled on, but will refocus and redirect when necessary in order to meet their ultimate goal.
For example, a woman who had planned to lose thirty pounds in three months may be disappointed upon realizing that after the first month, she has only lost six. She had obviously expected to see faster results. But if that same woman takes into consideration that she is more toned or has more stamina, she may alter her official goal. She may decide “I want to go down a few dress sizes”, or “I want to be able to incorporate fitness and nutrition into my lifestyle permanently.” Along the way, she may miss a few morning jogs or go off her so-called diet, but above all, she is patient with herself.
Patience is essential. It’s important to accept that results are not always immediate. Sometimes, they aren’t even tangible. But by just going through the necessary steps, you are on your way, whether you realize it or not. Afterall, the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. Accepting that the process is slow will likely prevent you from giving up. By altering your original goal, you haven’t fallen short. You’ve simply become aware enough to realize when and where to strategize.
It is very important not to perceive set-backs as failures. Coming down hard on yourself can even crush your spirit. Within your spirit lies your innermost dreams, desires, and your attitude toward life. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Some people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until they are seventy-five”.
Some of us passively sit back and watch the rest of life go on because we feel we have had too many set-backs or let-downs to furthur pursue our dreams. Then there are those of us who have felt defeated at one point, but after getting side-tracked, knocked down, and trampled upon, rise up more determined to succeed than ever.
Denni Gill is an up-and-coming Canadian poet.
www.urban-eden.org chronicles her own spiritual growth.
Feedback may be sent to denni@urban-eden.org.
Copyright © 2006 Jeff Griswold, Effective Learning Systems,
Inc.
To a large extent, your happiness and your success in life is
determined by the thoughts you hold in your subconscious mind.
Positive affirmations are powerful statements that are used to
build a positive internal dialog. By consistently repeating
positive affirmations to yourself, you create positive
subconscious thoughts. These new, positive, productive thoughts
will replay automatically throughout your life. Each time they
replay, they’ll reinforce the new positive inner-image you have
of yourself and your life in general. By replacing old, negative
thinking with new, positive subconscious thoughts you’ll be able
to access the endless resources of positive energy you have
within yourself. And you’ll be able to create a new, positive
reality for yourself.
When you use positive affirmations, let yourself really feel
them. Fully experience each one. Enjoy them. Assume each
affirmation to be true in your physical reality. Feel the
positive emotions that are appropriate for this positive
reality. This will help you make positive changes more quickly
and automatically.
At the end of this report you’ll find dozens of carefully
chosen, time-tested, positive affirmations that will help get
you started. Select those that you think will be most helpful.
Write them down, carry them with you, and use them often. Get
into the habit of saying them while you’re doing routine things
such as brushing your teeth or washing your hands.
Maximize the Benefits of Using Positive Affirmations
The following two nuggets of advice will help you maximize the
benefits of using positive affirmations:
1.Use the affirmations frequently. It’s one thing to know about
affirmations and use them occasionally. It’s quite another thing
to use them regularly everyday for at least 30 days. Dr. Maxwell
Maltz in his book “Psycho Cybernetics” asserted that it usually
takes 21 days to make any perceptible change in one’s mental
image. For some people it takes a bit longer. That is why you
should use them frequently for at least 30 days.
2.You must continue to actively “eject” the negatives you
experience daily. If you use affirmations occasionally, but
allow negatives to dominate your thoughts throughout the day,
any progress you make will be quickly negated. So, if you find
yourself thinking a negative thought, consciously “eject” that
thought and replace it with one of your favorite positive
affirmations.
Start Using Positive Affirmations Today
Using positive affirmations correctly is one important step to
changing your subconscious thoughts and changing your life for
the better. But most of us need assistance in doing this
properly and consistently. Many people find that listening to
audio programs (like those available at http://www.efflearn.com) is
the best way to provide the consistency that’s needed to develop
new, healthy, positive thought habits. In addition to positive
affirmations, the best audio programs will incorporate a variety
of techniques including guided visualizations, mental imagery,
goal-oriented meditation, subliminal programming, whole-brain
learning, and more.
So, employ whatever resources you need to start using positive
affirmations consistently — whether it’s an audio program or
help from your friends or family. Be confident that you can take
steps to improve your life.
Examples of Positive Affirmations
Here are dozens of powerful, time-tested affirmations to help
you overcome negativity in many areas of life. Repeat these
affirmations to yourself (out loud or silently). Or use an audio
program (like those available at http://www.efflearn.com) to
help you develop new, healthy, positive thought habits.
Total Relaxation
How to Attract Money
Super Strength Weight Loss
Super Strength Self-Esteem
Becoming Totally Positive…Auto-matically
Develop a Super Memory…Auto-matically
TOTAL RELAXATION
* I feel calm and relaxed.
* I breathe slowly and deeply.
* With each breath I become more relaxed.
* I breathe as a calm relaxed person.
* I feel completely carefree.
* I am free of worldly cares.
* I am free of unwanted stress.
* It is healthy and wise to let go and relax.
* I choose to enjoy this moment.
* I feel very positive and confident.
* I feel so peaceful and calm.
* I feel so comfortable.
* I feel like smiling.
* I am smiling.
* I am happy and content - and so relaxed.
HOW TO ATTRACT MONEY
* I project wealth and good fortune to each person I meet.
* Large amounts of money are coming to me.
* Money flows to me easily and naturally, just as the waves
flow into the shore.
* I deserve great sums of money and use it to help myself and
others.
* I am putting more loving energy into my work and this is
providing me with a larger and larger income.
* The more money I have the more money I have to give.
* I am like a magnet to money.
* It is attracted to me.
* My financial worth increases every day regardless of what I
do.
* I am learning and growing every day which makes me more
valuable to the world.
* Money is always circulating freely in my life and there is
always a surplus.
* Every dollar I spend circulates, enriches the economy and
comes back to me multiplied.
* I see money as a useful tool.
* The more money I have, the more money I can use to help
myself and others.
SUPER STRENGTH WEIGHT LOSS
* I love myself as I am, regardless of weight.
* I eject negative thoughts.
* I choose to be slim and healthy.
* I now see myself as being slim and healthy.
* Everyday I get more control of my weight.
* My thoughts influence my body.
* I eject any negative thoughts about my body.
* I choose to think positively about my body.
* My beliefs create my physical reality.
* I now believe and I know that I control my weight.
* My new reality includes my ideal weight and shape.
* In my mind I am now slim, healthy and attractive.
* My physical reality is quick to follow.
* I shall attain and maintain my ideal weight.
SUPER STRENGTH SELF-ESTEEM
* I am at peace with myself.
* I accept myself.
* My self-esteem is growing daily.
* I love the real me.
* I’m happy being who I am.
* All I have to be is me.
* My life is meaningful.
* My life is important.
* I now make good use of my life.
* I’ll now be the best me I can be.
* I don’t have to be perfect; I just choose to be perfectly me.
* I now recognize my talents and skills.
* I feel good about myself.
* I feel better each moment.
* I’m happy being me.
* The more I accept and love myself, the more I can accept and
love others.
BECOMING TOTALLY POSITIVE…AUTO-MATICALLY
* I now eject negativity.
* I now control my thoughts.
* I now control my feelings.
* I’m building a storehouse of positive energy.
* I’m storing positive thoughts.
* I’m storing positive images.
* I am in charge of my mind.
* I am in charge of my life.
* I choose to be positive.
* I am positive.
* I have great potential and I’m going to use it.
* Every day life gets better & better.
* I expect good things to happen.
* I see something positive in all situations.
* I turn negatives into positives.
* I am totally positive.
DEVELOP A SUPER MEMORY…AUTO-MATICALLY
* Each day I tell myself I have a great memory.
* I have confidence in my memory.
* My memory improves every day.
* I replace negatives with positives.
* I easily remember anything of importance.
* My memory is well organized.
* I record information easily and naturally.
* My memory retrieval system is excellent.
* I am now good with names.
* I learn and recall names easily.
* I can remember names
* I do remember names.
* I am now proud of my memory.
* My mind is sharp.
* My memory for names is great.
* I enjoy remembering names.
To request a free copy of “The Greatest Thing You’ll Ever
Learn,” a 24-page report showing you how you can harness the
unlimited power within yourself to achieve your full potential,
go to: http://www.efflearn.com/best-thing.php
