Being thankful every day for what you have is a mind-altering experience.  Try this quick and easy exercise every day.  Wake up and immediately say what you are grateful for.  It could be as simple as another day on earth.  Your feet touching the ground. The ability to breath… or get more involved – and be grateful for a specific person, condition, thing, whatever it is in your life that you are grateful for. 

There are half full and half empty people on this planet.  The half full group has their glass filled with gratitude.  Gratitude is one...

If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts. ~ Albert Einstein

I love that quote!

Change is that scary word that most people shy away from.  I don’t want to change. Why should I change?  Why doesn’t everyone else change to accommodate me?  If I change, then I will be out of my comfort zone.  Why change something that isn’t broken?

• Change.
  
  Asking someone to change is like expecting the sun to not rise.  Isn’t it a pointless request?  Change comes from within.  Change is something we do with ourselves.  Only we can...

So many people wish life was easier, with less challenges and obstacles but without challenges, life becomes stagnant and we stop growing.  Challenges help us uncover who we are and it allows us to become better people. 

 Let’s examine a very simple 4-step method to overcoming challenges.

•  First, state the problem clearly.  When we are faced with challenges, we tend to avoid the issue and run the other way burying our heads in the sand hoping it goes away.  Or we may say – ok, there is an obstacle, instead of heading right to it and plowing...

Behavior defined can be a physical thing one does such as a morning routine and it can be non-physical such as replaying negative thoughts all day long.   A few behaviors are instinctual and built in while the rest is learned through meeting needs.  What this means is that our behaviors are motivated by our needs and therefore we can be manipulated as well as manipulate to have our needs met.

 So when we have negative behaviors and we want to change them, we find it isn’t always so easy because these learned behaviors that we exhibit are actually rather complex.

...

Attitude is the one thing all human beings have complete control of and yet many unknowingly choose a negative attitude.  If we understood the power of our own attitude in our lives, most of us would change it immediately.  How many times have you been told to change your attitude?  That is a common order from most parents and teachers!

Attitude is created by your thoughts, feelings and actions.  Your mind controls feelings and decides whether these feelings will be positive or negative through your thoughts.  Your body then follows these thoughts through actions...

The 80/20 rule sounds like a mathematical formula and in some ways, it is but don’t fret, this isn’t a lesson on statistics.  The rule came from an Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, who stated that 80% of the Italian income was earned by 20% of the Italian population.

What this means is that 80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your inputs.  To put this another way, 20% of your activities equate to 80% of your happiness.  Instead of focusing on income, we will focus on your overall well being or happiness factor.

To prove this theory, look at the distribution...

It's supposed to be warming up right now!

The calendar says so, right?

I'm sure it will, eventually.

And then our Spring and Summer seasons will let us spend our time more relaxed, and basking in the sunshine and easy breezy, leisurely days of the season. (sorry allergy sufferers)

Sounds great, right?

But lots of us have some spring cleaning to do.

(Ugh... just the thought)

Oh, but you know... I'm NOT just talking about around the house, or giving your car a thorough cleaning.

Maybe there is some other "baggage" you can distance yourself from of this spring too?

Perhaps, even letting...

Already today, I've had a barrage of "urgent" emails land abruptly in my inbox. I'd been logged in for an hour.

You too?

Some have even been marked "High Importance," to make sure they grab my attention.

I have a question: To whom are these emails "highly important?"

(Maybe NOT me)

Of course, your calendar is not at the top of someone else's priority list. They're focused on what's right in front of them and expect YOU to be there too.

Where is your focus?

Are you bouncing around all day between everyone else's requests, only to realize you didn't accomplish much of YOUR agenda for the...

It was bound to happen at some point. After 5 years of regular travel to the same city, the same hotel, and seeing the same staff (who had become like family to me)... the property was sold.

New ownership, new management company, and now, most of the "regular" staff have moved on too.

I've been working hard for over a month to introduce myself, all over again, to the new employees. I'd grown so accustomed to the same smiles, the same room, and the same great treatment... that I probably took it for granted.

Then, this week, a new employee at the front desk questioned my identity! My, things...