Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I use my resources wisely.
One of my life-coaching clients, a business owner, shared with me this week that she’s working on using her resources wisely. From a business perspective, she took a look at her resources to see how she can use them better.
When you think “resources”, do you think external or internal?
We often think about external resources, but this made me think how powerful it might be to ask the same question about our internal resources:
Wisdom
Intuition
Common sense
Life experience
Gut feeling
Knowledge
Skills
We’ve got them. How can we better use them?
The external resources are great too! All the training, courses, workshops, books, teleclasses, seminars…
I look at the bookshelves in my office, where I’m sitting and writing this blog: there are so many books on the shelves and yet, only this week I ordered 3 new books. There are so many documents in my “inspiration” folder on my computer and yet, I always sign up for new websites, new blogs, looking for new inspiration.
This week, I am planning to reconnect to my resources and ask myself how I can use them wisely. This might mean dropping some of them.
What are some of the resources you have and are willing to reconnect to?
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I’m fully aware of my emotions and I express appropriate emotions at the appropriate time.
Being aware of our emotions requires to take a step back and to observe what’s going on. How do you become aware of your emotions? By listening to your body. Anger, sadness, frustration, joy or other emotions feel different on a physical level. Different people feel their emotions in different ways. Paying attention to what’s different in your body (tension in your shoulders, heaviness in your heart, upset stomach etc.) will help you identify the emotion.
Why is it important to identify your emotions? Because then you can choose how and when to express them.
This week, my daughter, who is 18, is starting a new chapter in life, becoming an independent adult, far away from home. Being away and not being able to be with her was hard for me. My natural tendency was to get busy and detach from my emotions. I started to feel some physical symptoms and couldn’t sleep at night. I did what I always ask my clients to do: I stepped back, meditated, got centered and listened to my inner- voice.
The message was very clear: it’s ok to feel sad. It’s ok to cry.
When I allowed myself to express my emotions it felt so right. It was a balanced expression of joy and sadness at the same time. I am grateful for the ability to experience such different emotions at the same time and today I am very happy and excited for my daughter.
Listen to you body.
Identify the emotion.
Express it at the appropriate time.
How does it feel?
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I’m curious and open-minded and I see life as an adventure.
Curiosity is the best attitude one should have. When you communicate form a curious place, you communicate in a positive way and you avoid being resentful.
When your child makes a bad choice and you blame him or give him a speech, most likely he will get defensive in return. If instead, you say: “I’m curious, what made you do that?” You encourage cooperation and real conversation.
What’s your attitude towards life? Is it a serious of challenges you need to overcome or is it a fun adventure?
This week be open minded, curious and adventurous.
Enjoy life!
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I make better choices no matter what.
Let’s say you’re an “up” person; you are optimistic and high energy, living a balanced life.
Then, something challenging happens. You’re now stressed, tired, trying to cope. Your energy level drops to fear, anger or maybe hopelessness. You feel like you have no control. Your energy level is spiraling down even more. My coaching clients will be familiar with this talk of energy levels. As this challenging period continues, you realize that you’re slipping back into old habits and behaviors.
Maybe it wasn’t such a big challenge. Maybe you just come home from work after a long day and break down when you see all the work still ahead of you at home.
It’s perfectly normal to experience these up and down cycles. That’s not the issue; trying to fight the natural rhythm of life is like trying to swim against the tide. Our mind waits for the opportunity to be negative and judgmental: “Poor you. OF COURSE you will overeat or procrastinate or do something you don’t want to do.”
When you “hear” the voice in your head, realize that it is only a voice, not reality. Respond to it: “I’ll keep my priorities straight no matter what. I’ll choose to eat healthy (or to finish my tasks on time or to take care of the mail) no matter what is going on in my life.”
Don’t let your mind trick you.
Take charge.
This week make better choices and use the words NO MATTER WHAT as your mantra.
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I go easy. I move forward with a peaceful pace and I don’t feel rushed.
Do you feel rushed?
Are you anxious, upset and beating yourself up for not doing enough?
The truth is that you can (and should) control you pace. Your mind might tell you that you have to run, to be faster. After all, there are so many things to do! Life is demanding and we grow up believing that faster is better.
In reality, when you go easy, gently and peacefully you can actually accomplish the same stuff (if not more) with a lot less suffering!
A few weeks ago I was vacationing with my family, and my son noticed that we were rushing, even on our vacation! We walked fast to the restaurant, to the theater, etc, even though we had all the time in the world.
Our pace was still fast.
This week, be conscious about your pace. Go easy. Move forward peacefully.
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I connect to my inner child and I invite playfulness into my life.
Close your eyes and remember yourself as a child. Think about a time that you played and had fun. Allow the memories to bubble up. How old are you? What do you do? How do you look? How do you feel? How do you feel now, remembering it?
Your inner child is within yourself. He/she is ready to be present in your adult life. Create a dialogue with your inner child. Talk/think/imagine, write a letter, reconnect. Ask your inner child to help you invite playfulness into your life.
As adults, we think we have to take life seriously. We have so many responsibilities. We’re told to “grow up” – to act like adults! We lose the innocent/spontaneous free childish spirit. If we could be more playful in our work and in our relationships… if we could be creative and imaginative like children (before they learn to “act like adults”), life would be more enjoyable. Things will seem more simple and effortless.
As Bernard Shaw said: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old: we grow old because we stop playing.”
This week, see the world from the eyes of a child. Take your inner child anywhere you go. Watch children play. Play with your kids (or your dog), talk to your friends about your childhood memories. Reconnect with childhood play.
Connect to your inner child and invite playfulness into your life.
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I take control over my schedule rather than allowing my schedule to control me.
In today’s busy world, we move fast from one activity to the next we multitask, and we always feel that we’re not doing enough and end up feeling drained & empty.
Although it feels like we have no control over how busy we are, we really do! Our left brain tells us to fit more stuff in our schedule but if we access out right brain, we’ll know that we have a choice.
It isn’t going to happen by itself. You have to take charge.
What would you change in your current schedule if you could change anything?
Ask yourself what’s stopping you.
Practice the affirmation and plan your schedule for the week.
Include in your schedule quiet time/fun time/rest.
Write it down in your calendar, just like you write down doctor appointments and meetings.
Make yourself a priority and schedule appointments with yourself.
Review your plan for the week and figure out how to simplify it to create the schedule you want. You have the power! It is in your hands!
Tell me what changes you made in your calendar this week and how it feels.
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I get quiet and I hear God’s whisper.
One of my friends said: “When my ego gets loud, I can’t hear God’s whisper.”
So true! I can be crazy and insane in my head (it’s always in my head!) but when I pause, close my eyes and calm down, the stillness speaks. I get peaceful. I feel a release. I am able to hear God’s voice – often just as sensations, but sometimes with words too.
Those of you who are not comfortable with the “God” part in this affirmation: name it as you wish. Call it the universe, higher power, inner voice. That’s not the point. The point is understanding the benefit of connecting and accessing the quiet place within ourselves that always speaks our truth.
My wonderful assistant Jennifer and her 3 children face daily worries and fears since their husband/dad was deployed to Kuwait. Today, Jennifer’s husband is visiting his soldiers in Iraq. He will be there for a week. I invited Jennifer to share with us every day this week on this blog how she manages to stay positive, choose love over fear and get support when she needs it.
I am sure that Jennifer’s mind will play tricks on her. Using this affirmation will hopefully help Jennifer to quiet her mind and hear God’s whisper.
How do we get quiet? Choose what works for you: Breathing? Meditation? Walking in nature? Listening to music?
Get quiet. You’ll hear the whisper.
Write to Jennifer if you want to support her. Jennifer: share with us! We are here for you!
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I practice courage and I am fearless.
“Courage is resistance to fear. Mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain.
There are always things we’re afraid of. Life provides us with many opportunities to overcome the fear, but it requires practice. In order to let go of fear, we have to practice the opposite – courage.
When you feel fear creeping up, do the following:
- Identify the fear.
- Tell yourself that it’s OK and normal to have the fear, that fear is simply an emotion. It has a beginning, middle and an end. It will pass. Ask yourself: what’s the worst that could happen?
- Imagine yourself approaching the fear with courage. What does it look like?
- Practice courage. For example: If you identify that you have fear of confrontation, tell yourself that you are fearless and actually confront the person or the situation you’re afraid of. If you have fear of success, act as if you’re fearless and very successful; behave like a successful person would. Acting as if you’re fearless will help you to feel better and to find more and more courage within yourself.
- Adopt this affirmation, changing it as you wish to make it your own.
Every time you say to yourself the affirmation, “I practice courage and I am fearless”, you will feel less scared and more in control.
Let me know your thoughts!
Sign up to receive the free Affirmation of the Week directly to your inbox. It’s free and we will respect your privacy and will never ever share your information with others
Affirmation: I honor my needs as much as I honor others’. Effortlessly, I take care of ME.
Most of us grew up trained to take care of others before taking care of ourselves.
As adults, we make an effort to rest and rejuvenate only after we attend to all other responsibilities.
In our modern day, time or energy for self-care is hard to find.
As a result, we move through our lives trying to finish everything on our “to do” list in order to have a moment for ourselves.
If we are caretakers, full time parents or service givers, we have a bigger tendency to disregard our own needs in the service of others.
When someone asks us to do something for them, me make time for it. Our calendar if full with appointments to help others.
How are we doing with scheduling appointments to take care of ourselves? Do we treat ourselves the same way that we treat others?
Self-care is essential to living life in a state of balance and well-being.
Taking care of oneself is not selfish, it is practical: an empty vessel has nothing to offer.
We don’t have to go away on a long vacation to the other side of the world in order to take care of ourselves.
This week, honor your needs as much as others. Think about simple things you can do to “fill up your cup” and schedule time in your calendar for self-care:
Walk, breathe, read, rest, nap, take a bath, watch a funny movie, listen to music, put your hands over your heart area and connect, close your eyes and imagine.
Share other self-care ideas that you have.
