7 Strategies To De-stress - NOW - Part 1

Self Care on the Fly:

Your stress is high, your energy is low. Sound familiar? This is the common experience of most small business owners I know. Owning a business can be like running a marathon. You know you’re in it for the long haul, there’s not much time to catch your breath, yet you push on, and on, and on.

You can easily see how this scenario can lead quickly to an out of balance life and stress your business as well. This month I’m going to offer you 7 simple – on the fly remedies for creating breathing room in any stressful life. Even the busiest business owner can find five minutes in her day for a little self nurturing. I challenge you to try.

Here are 2 ideas to get you started:

Dust off your journal and write. One of the best ways I know to quiet the mind and access your deeper thoughts is to write. Even for only five minutes. Let yourself write in an uncensored way. Let your thoughts flow without concern for grammar or impressing a reader. Be curious about what your inner self wants to tell you.

Call someone. A five minute conversation with a friend or trusted advisor can inject you with some well needed perspective. It’s harder when you feel stressed AND alone. Ask for some venting time if that’s what you need. Or, talk about something completely off topic from what’s on your mind. Laugh together. Make sure you seek out someone you feel safe sharing with.

~Helaine~

Living to Please

Is your life one of your choosing? Do you make decisions based on what feels right to you, or do you make decisions based on what others might think? It’s time to stop “shoulding” on yourself.

Living life according to the wants, demands, and expectations of others puts you in a powerless position. You will never have the opportunity to bring your Authentic Self out into the world if your energy is dedicated to making everyone around you happy.

Please understand, I’m not suggesting that you disregard the priorities and desires of those close to you. I am encouraging you to give at least equal weighting to the priorities and desires of your heart. It is through this channel that your Authentic Self, and thus your power, have the chance to come into the world.

Instead of Living to Please – Live to Contribute

The essence of making decisions based on other people’s demands revolves around your desire to please others. This is similarly related to our first weapon; perfection. When you live to please you are essentially telling your Authentic Self that you don’t believe in your own worth. As a result, you work to earn approval and love – by being a good person vs. a real person.

Put the good person to bed! You’re grown up now; with intrinsic value, wisdom, and insight. Step into the beautiful creature you are, and harness the power of the gifts you’ve been given to contribute to the lives of the people you care for.

I promise you that the love you receive as a result of making a difference in another person’s life will be far more genuine than the hollow approval you receive as a result of living according to someone else’s rules and wishes.

This week, answer this question: Where in your life are you living to please?

Then – decide to stop that!

~Kim~

Believe In Yourself: You Deserve The Best

After you have decided what you want, visualized it, and believed it can happen, the next step is receiving it – fully and wholeheartedly.

This step may sound simple at first (and to some, it may be really simple), but in reality, people sometimes have a hard time receiving what they want. Why? Because they feel they don’t deserve it.

Feeling undeserving of good things usually stems from a lack of self-esteem which may be traced back to childhood. Dysfunctional families, lack of support from teachers or guardians and lack of acceptance from peers are common culprits of poor self-esteem.

The danger of such negative childhood experiences is that children may carry their trauma up to their adult life. The trauma may have a destructive impact on their thought patterns and relationships, among others. Because of feelings of low self-worth brought about by the trauma, they may consciously or unconsciously believe that they do not deserve the good things that can come to them.

So if you honestly cannot see yourself living with the best in life, you need to really ask yourself – why do I feel I do not deserve this thing I want? If your answer is along the lines of “I’m not worthy enough” or “These things simply cannot happen to people like me,” then you may have to review your self-image.

The good news is, even years of destructive thought patterns can be reversed through positive thinking and daily affirmations. After you identify your habitual negative thoughts about yourself, you can replace them with positive ones. And while negative thoughts may still enter your mind from time to time, it may encourage you to know that a positive thought is far more powerful than a negative one.

You can begin by daily affirmations like “I am a unique, wonderful human being,” “I deserve the best in life,” or whatever you feel will make you appreciate yourself more.

It may also be helpful to do these affirmations in the second person. Since we hear the hurtful, destructive words from other people, affirming from a second-person point of view can be empowering. For example, you can say “I love you for who you are. You do not need to prove yourself to anyone. You are already special as you are right now.”

An exercise which may also help is imagining a person close to you talking to you and telling you about what he/she likes about you. You can also assume the point of view of this other person, and look at yourself through his/her eyes.

Do your affirmations and meditations daily and watch your life change. By loving and appreciating yourself for who you are, you will open yourself to all the best life has to offer.

~ Jeff Cohen ~

Life without Obstacles

What would your life look like if you were to remove all of the obstacles that stand in between you and your potential? Would you be intimately connected to your family and friends? Would you work in a career that filled you with passion and afforded you the opportunity to make a contribution? Would you experience a sense of energized focus, and enjoy feelings of balance and calm? Would you be filled with a sense of purpose and an understanding of your blessings each day?

I can answer each of these questions for you. In a word – yes. When you fully step into the powerful potential waiting to be unleashed within you all of these joyful benefits will be part of your reality, and I want that reality for you! For that reason, this month I’m going to lead you through a process that will introduce you to your potential, and invite you to bring it out into the world!

Nature has purpose. Every gift you possess has been bestowed upon you with intention, and every experience you’ve encountered has been designed to help you expand on your strengths or to build your endurance. The composite of your inherent strengths and your unique life experience combine to form a blueprint of your personal potential.

Your blueprint, like your DNA, is unique to you. That means that you are singularly capable of making contributions to this world that that no one else on the planet can make. Translated, if you don’t make the contributions you alone are designed to make, they’re not going to make it into our world. What a loss!

Because of this, it’s important to note that stepping into your power is about more than accomplishing your goals or experiencing joy. Though you deserve all that you desire, and you are entitled to live joyfully, these outcomes are byproducts of a bigger purpose.

The catch is this; you have to plug back into your life. That’s going to take some effort. You’ll have to come off of auto-pilot. You’ll have to reconnect with your intentions, and you’ll have to use your gifts. Are you willing?

Think about your life.

In what areas are you just going through the motions?

Where are you on automatic pilot?

You have to name it before you can claim it.

Kim