"You have to dream before your dreams can come true." -- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Having a dream is like having something in front of you that is taking you by the hand and pulling you into your future. If you don’t have a dream, a desire to be, have or do anything different in your life to what you currently have then you will find yourself in 5 years from now living in exactly the same circumstances you are currently in.

If there is something more you would like, even if there’s just one aspect of your life you would like to be different to what it is, then that change starts in your mind. This is where you need to be clear on what you want for yourself as not being clear is like going into a train station and saying you want to go somewhere but not knowing where.

Having a clear idea of what you want will give you the energy to move towards it and create what you want in your life. Once you get started on your journey of making your dream happen, your dream starts working on you. Once you set the wheels in motion, you can enjoy the ride while being present in your day to day life, safe in the knowledge that with every small step you take, your dream is getting closer.

So think about what it is you want for yourself if there was nothing that could get in the way of it happening, imagine what your life would be like in your wildest dreams. Don’t hold back, lose yourself in your dream life and then write it down. Knowing what you want is the first step towards moving from the life you have now to the kind of life you dream of having.

It’s the seeds you plant now that grow into your future life

What have you got to complain about? Most people can find at least one thing, one part of their life or themselves that they would like to change in some way. Knowing what you don’t like about your life is one thing, doing something about it is something else.

Quite often, we sit in a situation we don’t like claiming to be stuck or trapped with no way out. Well thinking or believing that you’re trapped is half the problem as it stops you from opening yourself up to possible options that are otherwise being ignored. Yet if you just consider where you are this very second, not the entire situation but just in this moment, how bad is the situation right now? Accept that in this moment, this is what it is but then think about what you can do right now to help remove yourself from the situation or start to change it in some way.

If any action is out of your control or involves a particular person behaving in a particular way then this is not something you can influence. However, if you start from the present moment, right here and right now and consider all your possible options, then narrow your options down to ones that you can act on straight away then you have started to crack through the shell you think you are trapped in. By taking one small step right now that can take you towards the change you desire then you are setting in motion the wheels of change.

Try doing this once a day or if not then do it as often as you can and you will build

momentum towards breaking free from the place where you feel stuck, using the power of where you are now to make the change happen. It is only with what you do today that change of any kind will occur in your life.

“Mistakes should be examined, learned from, and discarded; not dwelled upon and stored.” - Tim Fargo

What if I was to tell you haven’t failed – not at anything. You may not have gone about things in the best way possible or there may be a another way for doing something but this does not mean you have failed. Failure is such a strong word and to label yourself in this way creates a dead end to the path you’re on, it gives you nothing but a sense of giving up. Yet there is always another way, there is always hope. The world is filled with infinites possibilities and no matter how badly things may have gone wrong for you in the past, this does not mean you can’t do things differently from now on.

First of all, reflect back over the things that you wish had turned out differently. What was there that was in your control that you could have done differently? Try and see things from another person’s perspective, so that you’re observing what happened from the outside. Once you have found another way of handling the situation or performing the activity, take what you can learn from it and let that experience go. With what you have learned, create a positive affirmation that you can use going forward to remind yourself how you can be and of what you can achieve. State your affirmation in the present tense, make it who you are now.

Every day you get to learn and let go without the need to put yourself down. You would never make any mistakes if you didn’t at least try to do something and the fact that you put any effort in at all is something you should praise yourself for.


So give yourself a break, recognise that there's always more than one way of doing or achieving something and see new ways as opportunities to progress. This self reflection will teach you something about yourself and a renewed outlook will allow you to become even more of your truly wonderful, amazing self!

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison

Ever hear someone say “what’s the point, it’ll never happen, it’s too hard”, or “they’re better than me, I could never be like them” or “I’m not good enough” or simply “I can’t do this”?

The list of reasons why people give up on themselves is endless but the fact is, if you’re keeping your dream alive in your mind and you’re taking action in some small way, then you are always moving towards making your dream becoming your reality. Just because you don't know how near or far away you are from achieving what you want doesn't mean you should stop believing that you will get there.

JK Rowling took five years to complete her first Harry Potter book and it then took another year for a publishing house to consider giving it the green light. During her years of writing she endured hardship and struggles yet she kept going in her own small way. If she had given up after the 12^th major publisher had turned her down she would not be experiencing the success she has now.

James Dyson created over 5,000 dual cylinder vacuum prototypes before he made one that worked and went on to experience the success he has now. How many of us would have given up long before the 5,000^th prototype?

Thomas Eddison also is known for the quote: “I have not failed, I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He's another perfect example of how his attitude kept his dream alive and eventually he got there.

The trick is to not put all your eggs in one basket, if one way doesn't work try another, and then another, there's always another way. Giving up is easy, we can all think of a reason why we don’t think it will happen for us but if you just keep believing and keep going, the wheels of life once set in motion will always bring what you want ever closer to you - so long as you don’t give up!

“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” Zig Ziglar

No one else exists with your unique set of talents. No one else thinks like you do. No one else does things exactly like you do. No one else has lived the life you have so far. You are one of a kind. Only you will bring your gifts to the world in your own individual way, and the world most certainly needs them!

Your way of doing anything is different to how anyone else would do it and the people you reach are not the same people that another person would reach. This is why it is so essential that you do your part, that you bring your exclusive skillset and personality to everything you do and that you do it now!

Don’t be shy of who you are, start doing what makes you happy if only in a small way. Take one small action which involves using the skills or which involves expressing more of that desire that resides inside you. Start setting your natural born talent alight. You’ll know when you’ve found one of your gifts because of the good feeling you’ll get when you do anything that involves using it. That’s your sign, that’s your clue to becoming more of who you really are and this is where you should continue to focus your efforts from now on.

You can do this, you can and should be sharing your innate expertise and talents with the world because if everyone did this, there would far more people leading happy lives. The contribution you make when doing what you have a flair for is, without exception, significant. Not only does doing what you do best have, as a minimum, a worthwhile effect on you but it also has an impact in the part of the world in which you live. It will leave you feeling good about yourself so go on and make a difference just by being your true, extraordinary, amazing self!

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant” – Robert Louis Stevenson

When taking small steps towards your dreams or goals, it’s easy to underestimate the effect these small tasks are having towards making them come true. Yet in taking small steps you are sowing seeds that can blossom at any time given the right circumstances.


You know what your dream or goal looks like, you know what it is you want but like anything you have to ask yourself what are you doing now that will help make that happen in your future?

Let's say, for example that you want a garden full of blooming, colourful flowers. Well it's unlikely that they will just suddenly appear, there are actions that need to be completed beforehand to allow them to grow. This action will have to be taken by you in order to for you to have the garden you wish for and by working backwards from the desired end result to where you are today you can figure out what needs to take place now that will enable that to happen.

Furthermore, as each step you take leads you closer to your dream, things will occur along the way that will be proof that you are on your way to achieving it. With the

example of the dream garden, shoots will begin to appear in the earth, and later buds will appear before blossoming into the glorious garden that's dreamed of. And so it is with any dream or goal, these sorts of small indicators along the way show you that you're on the right path and they shouldn't be ignored. Instead celebrate them as signs of progress and give yourself praise and encouragement to keep going.

Remember there is no one set way to achieve anything, you always have options but as long as you keep going and keep taking action, it almost doesn’t matter what steps you take.  So long as you keep planting the seeds you will keep travelling down the path towards your desired outcome. So keep a look out for signs that appear from steps you have already taken as each and every step, no matter how small, will be setting the wheels in motion to help bring whatever you want closer to fruition.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”– Lao Tzu

So you’re in your car, you’ve entered your destination into your satellite navigation system and it’s told you “All set, lets go”. You’re in the driver’s seat with your seat belt on, you are ready to go. You’ve never been to this destination before but you know its somewhere you really want to be so you’re excited to get there. Meantime, while you’re sat there, your neighbour appears, they wave hello at you, get into their car and drive away. You however are still sitting in your car. Why? Because you haven’t taken the necessary action to get moving to where you want to go, you haven’t turned on your engine, you haven’t put the car in gear and haven’t started to drive.

This is what it’s like when you do all the dreaming, all the thinking, all the visualising but then carry on just as you were, not doing anything differently but expecting things in your life to change. If you want to reach the destination of your dreams, you have to take action. It really doesn’t matter what action you take, you don’t have to know how your dreams are going to come true you just have to do something – anything - that takes you one tiny step closer towards them.

Just as when you follow your sat nav to your desired destination, you don’t have to know

which routes to take to get you there. In fact, if it’s somewhere you haven’t been before you may not realise how close you are to arriving until you actually get there and it’s the same with reaching your dreams. You don’t have to know how near or far away you are, you just have to trust that with every step you take it is getting you closer to what you want.

As long as you know where it is you want to get to, what it is you want in your life, start thinking about what small step you can take today, and every day, that is in the general direction of your desired end result. Every day do something, it only need take a couple of minutes to do but take some sort of action and then know that with every single step, you have started your journey to your dream destination of life.

“Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking tartar sauce with you.” - Zig Ziglar

In a nutshell, this quote perfectly sums up how being confident is about having the conviction that whatever you are setting out to achieve or to be is inevitably going to happen. It’s in having this level of trust in yourself that the desired outcome is non-negotiable and you disarm any doubts from getting in your way.

Think about someone you know who you consider to be very confident. How do they carry themselves and how do they talk? Now think about how you hold yourself, do you stand tall, breathe deeply and talk with a strong, clear voice? Just by making these small changes in your physiological states can quickly start to change the way you feel.

Adopt an air of expectation in all that you do and focus on the best possible outcome. For example, imagine you are due to do a presentation but you’re nervous just thinking about it. You keep dwelling on how nervous you are and think about what could go wrong which in turn impacts on your performance and you end up not delivering the presentation as well as you could have. As a result, you think you’re no good at doing presentations and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for you.

So change your thought process. Imagine yourself confidently giving presentations instead, adopt the behaviours of someone you consider to be brilliant at presenting and visualise your presentation as going perfectly. Think of how it feels when the audience praise and congratulate you for it afterwards and fill yourself with a feeling of certainty that your presentation is going to be brilliant. Keep rehearsing this in your mind with that confident assurance of it going better than you expected then see how much difference it makes.

Going out after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking tartar sauce with you is all about having that feeling of certainty within yourself which you can apply to anything you do. Just as when you order and pay for something online, you have an unquestionable expectation that it is going to arrive. Apply the same undeniable trust in the outcome you want and with that indomitable thought, assume that there is no question that what you want will arrive.

“The only two words you should ever say to a mirror are “Hello, Beautiful.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich

Really? You’re expected to look into a mirror and say “hello beautiful”?
A lot of people find that just looking into a mirror at themselves at all is scary enough without attempting to say something positive in the process. Yet, as uncomfortable as it may be to face yourself in the mirror and say nice things about yourself, it is also the most effective way of showing you where you have resistance.
Louise Hay, the very successful American motivational author and founder of Hay House, is a huge advocate of mirror work. She was known to carry a small mirror with her everywhere she went and would talk to herself while looking into it. She would say things to herself similar to what a parent would say to a child if they wanted to show love, encouragement and praise and she would teach people to do it as a highly effective tool to use when wanting to develop self-confidence, self-esteem and to bring more happiness into their lives.

The trick is to just keep saying positive affirmations to yourself while looking in the mirror. No matter how awkward it may feel, if you keep doing it you will become more aware of any thoughts that you need to change that don’t serve you. The more you keep at it the less self-critical you become and the more approving you become of yourself. When you think more positively about yourself, you want to take better care of yourself and in so doing, you feel good and become happier.

It costs nothing to try and maybe, rather than feeling foolish as you talk to yourself out loud in the mirror, say something that makes you smile, choose a few positive statements and repeat them each time you see yourself. When you start your day look at yourself and say something nice. I met someone who would start their day smiling at themselves saying “hello cutie, what magic are you going to bring to the world today” and always stepped out into the world with an uplifted frame of mind.
So go on, give it a try and next time you see your reflection anywhere glance back at yourself and say “Hello Beautiful”, because you are.

Give yourself the most wonderful gift – the gift of yourself.

A lot of us coast through life constantly aware of our faults, of where we’re not perfect but with little focus on who we are and what we bring to the world. In truth, if I was to ask you to write a list of your good points it is likely that you would have to stop and think about it first but if I asked you to write a list of your bad points the list would just flow.
Loving and accepting ourselves just as we are is often something we don’t consider doing without it being conditional on something else happening such as losing weight, getting the right job, having the perfect partner in our life, winning the lottery and so on. Yet in order for anything to change externally to ourselves, we must first change what’s going on internally.
By changing our internal feelings we can experience more happiness in our lives and will

appreciate all the good things in life that we have already, thereby allowing yet more good to come to us. By changing how we think about ourselves we behave differently and the way we communicate and interact with people changes, the consequence of this is that we create more positive experiences. This in turn leaves us open to more opportunities and we find coincidences appear like little miracles that move us on towards greater happiness.
So next time you look at yourself in the mirror, instead of looking for all the faults in yourself remember the world is all the more blessed with you in it, as everyone has something good to offer this world, no matter who you are or what you have experienced in the past. Recognising the truth of who you are, seeing the goodness within you and realising that just being you is all you ever need to be is the best gift you can give to yourself.
Oh yes, and in case you forgot to remind yourself this morning, your eyes are dazzling, your smile lights up your face, you have a warm heart that is capable of sending rays of love throughout the world and your bottom looks great in whatever you wear!

“Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.” – Robert Henri

Are you feeling uninspired and unmotivated? Do you wish life was easier?

Emotions such as these are great indicators to our thoughts and beliefs. By taking a moment to tap into your emotions you get to uncover what triggered them in the first place and in so doing you can find out if you hold a negative mindset or limiting belief.

Let’s consider the emotions already mentioned where you may feel uninspired or unmotivated. If you stop for a moment and allow yourself to feel those emotions, you can listen to the thoughts that you attach to them. You might hear yourself saying things like life is hard, things never go your way or you’re stuck in a rut. Discovering your thoughts then lead you to understand the beliefs behind them. These beliefs could be that life is a struggle, opportunities are always hard to come by or maybe you believe that you’ll never make it because you don’t have what it takes.

Once you have some idea of the beliefs that are influencing your thoughts and emotions you can reflect back over your life to see where they came from. Can you hear similar words being spoken by your parents or teachers? Nonetheless, even if you’re not sure what started you off believing in this negative way you can still do something about it.

Remember, we were all born with the same wide eyed view of the world where everything was possible. Try to think the opposite of what your negative beliefs are and imagine, with a childlike innocence, of how the positive equivalent of those negative beliefs would feel like. Choose to feel emotions that directly oppose the negative ones and write down words that represent these good feelings. Focus on these new words that give you positive feelings every time you feel your negative emotion so that you recognise it but then replace it with how you want to feel.

So cherish your emotions and allow them to give you insight into your thoughts and beliefs so that you can make any changes that are necessary to your mindset in order to bring back a sense of wonder, joy, love and happiness into your life.

“An old belief is like an old shoe. We so value its comfort that we fail to notice the hole in it.” – Robert Brault

In last Monday’s Morning Motivation I referred to how your thoughts create the experiences of your life, this week you will see how they also reinforce your beliefs which creates a self-perpetuating cycle of what you experience in your life.

Let’s take a person who hasn’t achieved something they wanted to at some point in their lives, this may make them feel like they’re a failure. Perhaps someone says something to them about not being good enough to achieve what they want which makes the feeling of being a failure or not good enough become their belief. Once this belief takes root it becomes part of who they are, affecting how they think and behave. Any time they make a mistake this provides them with proof that they aren’t good enough and if they succeed at anything, they just put it down to luck.

The trick here is to understand that any limiting beliefs you have were created by you as a result of something you experienced so they are not necessarily true. By becoming aware of them you can start to provide yourself with evidence of times in your life when these limiting beliefs weren’t true. By recognising these times that contradict your limiting beliefs you’re proving them wrong and showing that they’re not true. Then next time you want to do something that your limiting belief would otherwise prevent you from doing, change your thoughts into ones that support you so that you can start to challenge and change your deep rooted beliefs.

It takes practice to keep changing your thoughts in order to defy your beliefs, particularly

as your routine way of thinking is easy, it’s automatic and takes little effort. Yet with just repeated attempts at thinking new, positive and supportive thoughts, the new way of thinking becomes a habit. Your new thoughts create new experiences which lead to new beliefs. Before long your old, limiting beliefs that felt like a comfortable pair of shoes are replaced with new, liberating beliefs that put a spring back in your step!

“Change your thoughts and you change your world” Norman Vincent Peale

Have you ever come across the concept that your thoughts create your life?

It’s a long held belief of many that our thoughts determine how we feel, what words we say, how we behave and also what we have or don’t have in our lives. For example take the person who thinks they’re a failure, as a result of thinking of themselves in this way they feel like they won’t succeed. By feeling this way it impacts their behaviour as they don’t put in the effort they would otherwise put in because they believe there’s no point. Their negative attitude and lack of effort leads to them not performing as well as they could which in turn reinforces their thinking that they’re a failure and so the self-perpetuating cycle is created. Can you relate to this in some way?

However, just by changing the way you think you can change any aspect of your life which

is not making you happy. In the example above, if the person who feels like a failure changed their thoughts so that they thought of themselves as successful at everything they do and learn at every opportunity, they create a positive outlook on life. This positive attitude means that they try their best at everything in order to get the best possible results which gives them a sense of achievement, it makes them feel good about themselves and in turn this leads to them thinking that they thrive in life. A new self-perpetuating cycle is created but this time it’s a positive one. It really is that simple!

Become aware of where your negative thoughts are not serving you and try thinking the opposite, positive thoughts instead. Indulge yourself with this new positive thought and notice how it feels if the positive thought were true.

You always have a choice; you can either think a negative thought or a positive one, either way you’re going to think one so why not choose the positive thought instead?

“To bring anything into your life, imagine that it’s already there” – Richard Bach

Your imagination ....This is where you get to escape to the place where your dreams live. 

If there is something you really want, imagine that you already have it in your mind first. Right now, it doesn’t matter how feasible it is that you will get or be any of the images you create in your mind but it is important that you don’t hold back. Dream like a child would in a world where everything is possible!

Fill your images with colour, make them bold and most importantly, put yourself in these images using all of your senses to make them come alive. Think about where you are, look at what you can see, think about what you can hear, what you can smell and if you can taste anything.

Make the image bigger and really feel like you are experiencing it. How does it feel to live in this dream, what are the circumstances of your life?

By creating these mental scenes and images you are starting to create your future. Ask any top performing athlete if they imagined themselves winning before they competed and you’ll find that in most cases, mental rehearsal was an essential part of any winner’s training. This technique of visualising what you want before you have it is a highly effective tool that will unquestionably help you get what you want in your life.

The best part of visualising is that even if you only to do it for a maximum of 5-10 minutes a day, that’s enough for it to work so long as you stick with it and make it part of your daily routine like brushing your teeth. Once you have seen your future through visualisation you can get on with the rest of your day knowing that your dreams are one step closer.

“There's no force in this world greater than the power of a dream.” ― P.S. Scott, Angel Land: A Teen/YA Fantasy Light Novel

I love this quote because dreaming is the driving force behind everything, the dream always had to come before the manifestation of anything. Think about it, take a look around you right now, everything started as a dream in someone’s mind first. The clothes you’re wearing, the mode of transport you last used, the device you’re using to read this blog post right now, none of it would have manifested unless someone thought ‘what if’ first.

That’s why dreams are so important, they allow us to imagine what could be and then give us motivation to take action towards making them happen. Everyone has dreams of what could be, they’re necessary in order for us to become all we can be which is why everyone’s dreams are different, we all want different things. Without them, we wouldn’t be who we are or have the things we have today.

So what’s your dream? Take a minute to think about your deeply felt desires for your life,

let your mind wander and imagine where you would live, what your life would look like and what you would be doing if you knew you couldn’t fail. Assuming that your dreams do not involve a specific person behaving in a specific way, build some images in your mind and put yourself into those images. Really feel what it would be like to live the life of your dreams, feel the emotions and sentiments they would give you.

It’s in your dreams that you will find not only some brilliant ideas but inspiration to go out and get what you want while also becoming more than you ever thought you could be.

“A man without a vision for his future always returns to his past” – Anonymous

When you ask a person what it is they want for themselves in life, it’s surprising how often they proceed to tell you what it is they don’t want. By always focussing on the things you don’t want you are actively ploughing your thoughts, words and actions towards that and hence it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of history repeating itself.  

In order for any aspect of your life to change you first need to decide what it is you want for yourself. Let’s take your job for example, even if you may not be sure exactly what career you would like to pursue, you can still figure out what sort of things you have enjoyed doing up until now. Perhaps you enjoyed talking and interacting with people, perhaps you enjoyed being creative in some way, or perhaps you enjoy performing. Whatever aspects of your past you felt good doing, focus on these areas and make them important parts of your dream job without being specific as to what that job actually is. By just being clear on the elements of what it is you want to do will, in many ways, be more effective than just focusing on a specific role, as in doing so you keep more doors open leading to many more possibilities for you.

So start thinking about what it is that you really want and begin to focus on that rather than staying stuck in the loop of believing that where you are and what you have is all you can ever get to and all you can ever have. Your life can always change no matter what has happened in your past, your history of life does not have to repeat itself but it will only begin to change if you get clear on what you want for yourself first.

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Saying thank you for anything feels hard when your life is hectic and you’re not feeling great about things. I get this. So when you really have too much on your plate to feel grateful for anything allow yourself time to sit with your feelings first. Take a moment to breathe deeply and do something kind for yourself.

Then, when you’re feeling like you have a little bit of calm in your life, even if it is in the eye of a storm, take those quieter moments to find something in your imperfect life to be grateful for. Instead of constantly chasing happiness look at all the things you have in your life that already contribute to your happiness. For example, did something make you laugh this week? Are you in good health? Did you eat something nice? Did you do one small thing for someone recently – if so be grateful to yourself that you did. Choosing your moments to be grateful is rewarding.

Maybe when you wake up at the start of your day, think of just one thing you can be

grateful for before you get up. Then, not necessarily daily but as often as you can, keep a note book by your bed where you can write down anything and everything you feel grateful for. Now and again focus on one thing from your list of things you’ve been grateful for, spend a minute feeling how thankful you are for that experience and let the feeling grow.

Life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to realise that you’re doing better than you think you are. Acknowledging your gratitude for what you already have will inevitably contribute to your happiness and wellbeing while helping you cope with everything in life a whole lot better.

Will The Real You Please Stand Up!

Have you ever watched someone else and wished you had their life? You do know that if you had their life, you probably wouldn’t be very happy? The reason is that whatever your lessons are now you will still have regardless of what your life appears to be. That’s because your lessons are yours, not someone else’s and everyone has something to learn.

The fact is that, rather than wear a mask so that you can be accepted by others, if you have the courage to follow your own path in life, to listen to your heart and intuition, only then will you find where your authentic self lies. Your true self knows who and what you want to be and by tuning in to the person behind the mask you set yourself free.

Try now and imagine what your true, authentic self would look like. Feel how happy you would be to just be yourself and imagine your true self standing in front of you. See how your real self stands, walks and talks to people and see how the true you thinks. Once you have a clear image of your authentic self in front of you, step into the body of that person and see through your authentic self’s eyes, hear through their ears and really feel what it’s like to be that person. Having taken time to be your true self keep practicing this until it becomes easier to be your true, honest self.

You were not born to hide in your own shadow of yourself, you were born to be yourself, to contribute to the world as only you know how and you will only achieve this if you stop hiding and start being you.

“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” Roy E. Disney

Getting to know you is like making best friends with your true self and in last Monday’s Morning Motivation I offered you a way to uncover what matters to you the most and find out what your values are in life. Today I’ll give you tips on how to apply them in your daily life so you can start to skip along your path in life, happy in the knowledge that you’re on the right track.

Remind yourself daily of what your values are that you uncovered last week, those special feelings that give your life meaning. If you find you have a long list then group some of them together under main headings as you often find that a number of values can be represented by just one or two words. Once you have grouped them together you should be able to narrow down your values into 3 to 5 groups with the heading for each group representing what really means the most to you.  Then next time you need to make a decision, follow these simple steps:

1. Stop and take a breath to clear your mind and become present in the moment.
2. Ask yourself what it is you really want, does what you want align with your values?
3. What can you do or say in that moment that is born from your values, from who you really are?

By becoming more of who you truly are you release the burden of being who everyone else wants you to be and just end up being yourself. As a result, you become more confident, happier and more fulfilled.

 

So start your week this week enjoying being you!

Getting To Know You

Do you know that many people reach their final years regretting not living a life where they were true to themselves, living instead a life based on what other people expected of them.

We also spend so much time on autopilot where we fall into automatic patterns of thought and behaviour that we disconnect with our true selves. When you run your life in this mode it can often feel like something is missing, you may feel empty or simply unhappy without really knowing why. This is why getting to know your true self is so important and discovering your values is an essential

part of this.

By knowing your values you get to know what matters to you and when you are functioning in alignment with them, your life feels different as you feel more confident in your decisions, you feel happier and more fulfilled.

So how do you figure out what your values are?

First take a deep breath and clear your mind, then think of a time when you felt unbelievably happy, vibrant and confident. Think about what it was that felt so special to you in that moment; was it a loving feeling? Was it because you applied yourself fully to achieve something and you did it? What was it? Write down the words that come to mind that best represent the special feeling you experienced then repeat this exercise to get more words and more feelings. You will hopefully find words such as being kind or loving, being honest, giving 100% to what you do and so on. Make sure you use your own words that best describe your feelings. When you have found what moved you, you will have found what matters most to you and these are your values.

Next Monday’s Morning Motivation will explore how to live according to your values.

"To Thine Own Self Be True" William Shakespeare

Was it your decision … be honest, was it?

Whatever ‘it’ in this question was, quite often we make decisions based on what we think we should be doing rather than being honest about what we truly want. For a lot of the time, we try to do what pleases someone else rather than being honest with ourselves about what we actually want, which not only impacts on our behaviour but also on who we become.

Being who you really are will provide you with so much relief that you will feel like a weight has been lifted as you follow your authentic self. In so doing, rather than upsetting anyone else, making choices that come from who you genuinely are will allow your relationships with others to flourish. This is because your decisions and your behaviours will be based on your own truth rather than on someone who you think someone else wants you to be – which is not the real you.

You know deep down what makes you happy. Just because you’ve been ignoring your gut feeling it hasn’t gone away so next time you need to make a decision stop for a moment and dig deep inside yourself to get a sense of what feels right to you. Start to really get to know what matters to you and act on it. Be true to yourself and you’ll be much happier for it.


Next Monday's Morning Motivation will help you get to know yourself better! 

“Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” Eleanor Brownn

Too busy to have any time for yourself?

If you think don’t think you have time for you, then think of someone you love or care for, how would you treat them? Would you constantly ignore their needs or would you be attentive towards them? By the same token would you want them to take good care of themselves before taking care of you?

The love and attention you would give to someone you care deeply for is how you should be treating yourself. Start by thinking about an act of kindness you could do for just for you. It doesn’t need to cost anything but it should be something where the focus is totally on you and your needs.

Even if it’s just taking 5 minutes to enjoy a hot drink, read a book or maybe listen to music, just having that small window of time to focus on you and do something that only you want to do is as important as everything else you fill your day doing. By treating yourself with kindness you give yourself permission to be happy and to forget everything else that is going on in your life if only for a short moment in time. It’s also likely that all the people you care about would be relieved to know that you’re taking good care of yourself too.

You cannot pour from an empty vessel so give yourself time to recharge, refresh and relax so that you’ll be in a better position to give that much more to those who matter to you the most.

Be The Best You Can With What You Have From Where You Are Now!

This can’t be it, surely? Where you are now can’t be the place from where you'll get you to where and what you want in life …or can it?

Well actually, where you are is right for you. You’re where you are now because it’s where you put yourself based on choices you made in your past. Just because you may feel like the path you’re on feels more like a bumpy dirt track, that doesn’t mean that it can’t lead you to somewhere else. You just have to be willing to do something to change it.

Here’s one thing you can do. First of all spend 5 to 10 minutes a day reminding yourself of where you’d like to end up, your dream life, but just 5 to 10 minutes, that’s all. Then spend the rest of each day really being your best self, look for ways to make your day fun and become so preoccupied with making the best of your situation that you stop paying attention to what’s wrong with it. This is what I mean by being the best you can with what you have from where you are.

In doing this, you will distract yourself to a point where, before you know it, your bumpy dirt track will switch to a path of sheer happiness and you’ll be left wondering how and when the transformation took place.