07/09/08

Something Good is Going to Happen

It had not been a good morning and I hadn’t even made it out of the bed yet. My mind was telling me things that were not so good so I realized I had to control my mind before my mind controlled how the rest of my day was going to go. So while lying in bed, I said out loud, ‘something good is going to happen to me today.’ I have several biblically based, progressive affirmations that I read most mornings, so I got out of bed, walked up and down as I read them out loud. My heavy spirit became lighter and lighter as I spoke my affirmations out loud. ‘Ahh! That’s better,’ I thought.

I went to the bathroom then proceeded to wash my hands. The Spirit nudged me to look to my right. I then turned and looked towards the toilet and saw that after being flushed instead of the water going down, the toilet was filling up. (Stay with me there is a point here!) I saw the problem with just enough time to fix it. I smiled and thought, ‘yes, something good did happen to me today.’ Why? Because if I didn’t look at the toilet when I did, it would have overflowed onto the floor, then I would have had a big mess on the floor. Instead, I was moved to look up when I did. That was a good thing! So what lessons do I want you to glean from this?

Lesson #1: Don’t let your mind dictate what type of day you are going to have.
When most people wake up miserable, they automatically believe that they have to be miserable and that the day is going to be miserable. You can change the direction of your day by simply making a decision that you are going to have a good day no matter what. Let me be clear. Speaking positive things may not change negative circumstances to positive, but it can change your response to those negative situations. I probably would have been upset and complaining about the toilet if I had not changed the direction of my thinking that morning. Because I changed my thinking, I changed my response to my situation. Please get this. The situation didn’t change. My response changed! I had a better day because I had a better response.

Lesson #2: Things aren’t always what they seem.
In life there are times when we get into certain situations that we think are going well then for some reason we look again and see things going not so good or in the opposite direction. (I call that a nudge from God) When we take a second look, we are often able to correct things before they become a big mess.

Lesson #3: Sometimes the good thing is something small and simple.
We often look for big things or major positive changes to qualify as something good. Sometimes the good thing is simply that today my heart is still pumping and I woke up this morning. Or today I was able to stop the toilet from overflowing.

Get into the habit of looking for the good things in your life. We tend to focus on the negative. Depending on your personality, it may take a while to develop the habit of acknowledging the good things that are happening--especially the small things. So start today and say, ‘something good is going to happen to me today’. Now pay attention thoughout the day to see what small blessings you notice that you normally would have overlooked.

02/20/08

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Achievers

It is still the first quarter so we can still consider this a New Year. It is generally the time when we desire new things to come forth. It's a good time to reflect and figure out what has been going on 'behind closed doors' for months.

Isn't it a good time for you to start working on those ideas that you have been contemplating 'behind closed doors'?

Let this year be the year that your desires, ideas, thoughts, and concepts become reality. Become a Highly Effective Achiever.

Take a quick test. Are you a Highly Effective Achiever?

Consider these 7 Habits of Highly Effective Achievers and see if you pass the test:

1. Think with the end in mind.
2. Empower your willpower.
3. Don't allow fear to hinder you.
4. Know your talents and purpose.
5. Develop your motivation.
6. Create a plan to achieve your goals.
7. Review your goals with the Master Planner.

How well did you score? Do you need to improve your score? We can help you. If you want to find out more about becoming a highly effective achiever, join others and invest in the Goal Achiever Self-Coaching POWER GUIDE!

Your investment in this POWER GUIDE will include 30 minutes of complimentary coaching (a $100 value). We love helping you get unstuck and achieve. So check out our products below that are designed with 'your' end in mind. A more productive, empowered achiever.

Navigate through our user friendly website to find the workshops and seminars that you need. Check out our new schedule to see if there is a live workshop, teleclass or event that you need to attend. Or maybe you want to register for one of our coaching programs, or better yet don't forget to visit our blog and product page.

We have what you need to grow professionally, personally and spiritually!

02/13/08

Are You Loving Yourself?

When you fly on a plane they start out by showing you the emergency exits and what to do in the case of an emergency. Parents or guardians with children are instructed to put the air mask on before the child. Why? So that you can be alert and conscious to take care of them. Same with love. If you don't love yourself, you can't love others.

Ever wondered why you have a short temper with certain people? Or why you envy others? Is it possible that you aren't happen with who you are? Or is it possible that you haven't discovered who you are? I've discovered over the years that people who are making others lives miserable often have something deep within that they are not happy about.

Here are a few tips in loving yourself:
1. Develop a relationship with God. In or outside of church. His love is the most powerful and purest and most sincere that we can find on this earth, therefore that is a good start.

2. Be patient with yourself. We are often impatient with our growth or overcoming challenges in our life.

3. Be kind to yourself. Are you treating your body right? Do you go to bed on time or eat healthy? Do you neglect yourself? Do you pamper yourself? How about having a bubble bath and relaxing for 30 minutes? Be kind to yourself, when you mess up ask for forgiveness and move on. Don't re-live it over and over again in your mind. You only deserve to live it once. TODAY, make a list of some things you can do to be kind to yourself. Now pick one of them and do it this week or weekend.

I could say more, but I want you to focus on those 3 things for a while. Let them become a part of you. Discover any blind spots that you may not be aware of and discover how to love yourself a little more.

SMOOCHUMS TO YOU ALL!

02/06/08

What's Your Fragrance Under Pressure?

Tonight I went to Walgreens to pick up some items and I decided to stop by the perfume counter and ask them if they had any perfume samples. I wasn't too impressed with many of them until I took a whiff of Glo After Dark by JLo. This is me! I shouted. There are very few fragrances that I enjoy but this one just seemed to wake me up. It is not flowery like the others. Neither is it pungent. In my opinion it stands out because it has a soft almost chocolaty undertone to the scent. I got so excited the young lady assisting me started to laugh.

When I got home, without even saying hello to my sister I said, "JLo has a fragrance called Glo After Dark that I really like!" I was so excited and felt alive. You're probaby wondering why? There are only 2, now 3, scents in my lifetime that have been exactly what I really liked without hesitation and that still smell wonderfuly good on me after a few minutes or hours of wearing them.

It lead me to think about our fragrance. I'm not talking about your body scent or odor. I'm talking about your attitude. How do you affect those around you? Are they excited when they come into your presence or are they running for cover? Do they tolerate you or do they gravitate to you? What kind of fragrance are you giving off? Is it funky or is it sweet? I'm sure you all have heard the illustration that if you place a tea bag in an empty cup, you won't be able to smell much, if anything at all. But pour hot water on the tea bag and in minutes you will be able to smell the fragrance.

How do you react or respond when you're in hot water? Are you candid yet kind? Or are you rude and obnoxious? What fragrance are you giving off under pressure? It takes maturity, experience and wisdom to be able to respond to people with respect and kindness, even in stressful situations. If you want to see the characteristics and attitudes that you need to work on, just observe how you respond to people when they do or say something that you don't like, or when you are under a lot of pressure with people breathing down your neck. Most of us have to learn how to respond instead of react in volatile, stressful situations (of course I am not talking about life threatening situations, if you are being physically attacked, by all means, defend yourself!). For many, it is a lifetime of learning but the lessons can be learned. Try this:

1. Start by doing some inventory or observing how you respond in certain situations.
2. Now ask yourself why you may have a "funky" fragrance in these particular situations.
3. Begin taking a look at the people that you get "funky" around.
4. Now ask yourself why.
5. Take classes, purchase books, listen to CD's, or hire a coach to support you in discovering why and how to heal, then mature in these areas so that you can give off a "sweeter" fragrance.

Yes it takes time and effort (and humility). But it's worth it in the end. So join me in working towards your sweeter fragrance (I'm still working on mine!)

Feel free to contact me at 813-343-4112 or Clestine@DivineDiscipline.com for a 30 minute complimentary coaching session or to register for one of my coaching programs or packages, and let me support you in discovering how to learn how to navigate through your situations so you can have a sweeter fragrance.

01/31/08

Let Go!

Often times the reason that we can not move forward in our quest to achieve our dreams is because we can not let go! What are you holding onto that you need to let go off? Some of you may be saying. I am not holding onto anything, but when asked the right question you may find that you are actually stuck in an area and wasn't even aware of it?

Don't you want to find out if you are hindering your progress?

At one of my book signings for my thought-provoking book, Knuggets of Knowledge to Get Unstuck, a woman informed me that she was retired, enjoying her life and had no area in her life where she was stuck. In otherwords, there was no area in her life where she needed to let go of anything. She informed me that she was purchasing my book to just support me. I smiled inside.

Weeks later this woman told me that to her surprise she found an area she was stuck...and it was in the beginning of the book. She said she had no idea she was stuck in this area. I shared this story to show that many of us are stuck in areas that we are unaware we are stuck in. Or we may be aware but afraid to let go.

At the end of each chapter in my book, I have provided exercises, or questions, that will help you dig deep to bring up issues that you may not have been aware were still an issue for you.

Letting go of are mental or emotional barriers, and our hindering beliefs does not mean that we are going to loose self. In order for us to grow we have to constantly let go of something. Your first daay of kindergarten you had to let go of your mommy or daddy's hand so that they could leave and so that you could join all the other scared children in the big classroom. It was a scary experience for many, but you eventually got over it. First time I went ice skating, I went around the ice rink-- holding onto the side for dear life. My family and friends, were eventually able to pry my hands from the rail and drag me around with them, but I never let go of the side mentally. To this day, when I go ice skating or roller skating, I am still cautiously skating very, very close to the side, because I never mentally let go.

When you don't mentally or emotionally let go of past hurts, challenges,issues, or people, you don't allow yourself the opportunity to grow forward, so that you can learn and experience new things.

I envy people that can wiz around the rollerskating rink. I would love to be able to do that. But I never allowed myself the opportunity to not only physically let go of the side, but mentally and emotionally let go of the side.

Ask yourself these simple questions:

1. What area in my life doI want to move forward in?
2. Why do I want to move forward in this area?
3. Is there anything that happened to me in the past that I have buried so deep that I may have forgotten about it that could be keeping me from moving forward?
4. Is there someone I need to forgive?
5. Is there a belief I need to let go of?
6. Can I think of areas in my life that I was afraid to move forward in only to experience wonderful growth and freedom, when I finally let go of my beliefs or mental barriers?
7. Don't I want to experience wonderful growth and freedom as I move forward? Then why am I not moving forward? What is the real reason? Why am I letting this hold me back?

Don't allow your past hurts and mental barriers to anchor you to the past. It will give you a false sense of moving forward. In other words, when you anchor a boat, it will drift, but only so far. When your mind is anchored to hurt, and debilitating beliefs you can move forward, but you are only going to go so far.

Whatever it is you need to let go of -- let go! Let 2008 be the year that you achieve great strides towards your dreams.

As a life coach, I want to help you. Give me a call at 813-343-4112 to schedule 30 minutes of complimentary coaching, you will be surprised how with the right questions, I can support you in starting to get unstuck in an area...in just 30 minutes.

Or you can purchase my book, which will also be like your own personal self-coaching session, visit www.DivineDiscipline.com or www.Amazon.com to purchase a copy of Knuggets of Knowledge to Get Unstuck.

:: Next Page >>

07/09/08

Something Good is Going to Happen

02/20/08

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Achievers

02/13/08

Are You Loving Yourself?

02/06/08

What's Your Fragrance Under Pressure?

01/31/08

Let Go!

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