Have you ever gotten an error message from one of your devices that it can’t save your image or document because there isn’t enough memory storage? Recently, this is what is happening in my brain. Thoughts are swirling around my head like sugarplums (or something like that).If you ever feel this way a good hack to clear up some brain space is to do a brain dump. Get a piece of paper, pencil or pen and set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Start writing down everything that comes to your mind. It could be a grocery list, items that need to be picked up, a relationship that is causing some concern. It could be people or places. It could be anxiety and worries. It could be silly and seemingly innocuous. The idea is that by putting these on paper we don’t have to keep track of them in our heads.…
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When we invest in something we do what is necessary to help it grow. If it is a garden, we prepare the soil, plant seeds or seedlings, water, fertilize, and weed. In relationships one of the easiest things we can do is to be grateful and express that gratitude through thanks. In the garden scenario, it would be easy to kill off the plants. Deprive them of water, or let the weeds take over. In relationships it is the same. We need to water and weed. We water by expressing gratitude and thankfulness. We look for the tiniest of things that we are grateful for. We weed out the negative thoughts and definitely the negative words that cut and tear the person down. Over time the relationship will blossom, bearing fruit and we will have much for which to be grateful. DrPaul "Think to Thank. In these three words are…
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"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." stephen covey O.K. this is a bit redundant, but life gets redundant sometimes and we need to remember why we are doing what we are doing. Even me. It is so easy to get lost in the details. Our goal at Live On Purpose is to “Save and Enrich Key Relationships.” The main thing that will keep those relationships going and bring us the highest amount of satisfaction and happiness we can know is love. Choosing love each and every day and in each and every interaction will save and enrich your relationships. Valentine’s is a great time to remember this truth and keep love as your MAIN THING. Remember how much you loved your spouse on your wedding day? Remember how much you loved your child on the day they were born? Remember how much you loved…
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Japanese businesses are known for some of their innovative ideas. Kaizen is one of those. Kai means improvement and Zen means good. Over time as the philosophy has been applied to business and implemented in other fields, it has come to mean continuous improvement. Kaizen seeks to find small ways to improve continuously so that over time big results can be seen. You can use Kaizen to reach your personal development goals. Look around you. What small adjustments could you make that would eliminate waste or make something easier for you in your daily life? It could be something as simple as packing your things (or the kids') the night before so there is not such a scramble in the morning. It could be setting your alarm 10 minutes earlier and practicing mindfulness before you start your day. It could be organizing a space to increase your productivity. Think about…
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This week has been busy as I am training 11 new Positivity Practitioners. The newsletter this week is from Sue Meintjes, who interviewed me for the wonderful work they are doing to support parents. Click on the link at the bottom of the article to get a ton of information to help you with your parenting. Not a parent? Share with someone who is. Sue Meintjes I'm not a fan of swimming in the ocean. I just can't shake the feeling that sharks are gliding around beneath me, waiting for their chance to snack on me. So when I saw the headline Killer whales deliberately hitting boats off coast of Spain and Portugal earlier today I just had to read the article for further proof that we should stay out of the ocean. Apparently, over the last year, there has been more than 60 incidents of killer whales, orcas, attacking and destroying…
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There are times in our lives when it is natural to take a pause and evaluate where we are and where we want to go. This happens when we have major life events. Experience beginnings and endings. When we feel restless, unsettled or bored. When we reach a goal. When we are frazzled, feeling like we are on a hamster wheel - getting nowhere but spinning around and around. I have recently discovered a tool that has helped me to push pause on a regular basis. It is called Midweek Think Time. I was sharing with my daughter, Lyndi, about some projects or concerns that I hadn’t come to a resolution yet about. And, my calendar was full. She said, “You need some weekly think time.” So, I put it on my calendar. MIDWEEK THINKING TIME I write down items that need my attention and additional thought to think through. …
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Have you heard the story of the little train that told itself, “I think I can, I think I can,” as it chugged up the steep hill? The little train was almost no match against the big hill, but in the end he did get up the hill because he told himself he could do it. He didn’t give up. (Can you tell I have been spending time with the grands?) I talk a lot about having a positive mindset because when done with the correct intentions and setting yourself up for success, the result is more positive behavior. Our brains are trained from a very young age to default toward negativity or positivity. The good news is that even if your brain has been trained toward negativity, you don’t have to stay there. Hebb’s Law was developed in 1949 by Donald Hebb and published in The Organization of Behavior:…
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Is there any good reason to compare yourself to others? Would it surprise you if I said, “Yes!” Social Comparison Theory is an area getting lots of attention as we have more social media than ever, but is also helpful in our social circles. And it is done at the earliest of ages. Small children see what the older ones are doing as they learn new skills. Kids are tested and know how they did in comparison to others. We learn social behaviors by comparison. When to speak up, when to wait, thank others, etc. Valuable life lessons are learned this way and we understand the cultural context of the setting we are in. We run into problems when our self-image is threatened by comparisons. If we see another perform well and we don’t identify with that action, then it doesn’t affect us. In fact we can be happy for…
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The topic of birthdays came up the other day and one woman said, “I don’t have those anymore.” Well, I do and my twin sister is about to have another one. I like birthdays because I like to get together with family and friends and celebrate. I like birthdays because I can reflect on what has happened in the past year and make goals for what I want to accomplish in the coming year. I like birthdays because it breaks up the normal routine. I like birthdays because I like cake and ice cream. I like birthdays because I get to think about other people and celebrate them. There could be many things to not like about birthdays, but I choose to celebrate people and their goodness. I get it, not everything about getting older is fun, but I would rather celebrate another birthday than not. And though in my…
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The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Socrates Have you ever met someone who declares they are over someone or a situation and then they go on and on talking about that person or situation? They say they want change. They say they don’t want to be stuck. They say they want to move on. And then they rehash the old - again. The thing is the past is the past and what has happened has happened, we can’t make events turn out different than they are. I always say something is not an option until someone sees it as an option. We don’t exercise the option to change because we don't see the option. There are many ways to get unstuck. Some have become more mindful to help stay in the present. Some have journaled…
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