Create Change in your life

Once an idea hits you, you will never look back. It can happen anywhere, on a bus, walking in the street, sitting in a restaurant, in the shower or when you are in a queue waiting to pay for your groceries. But when you get an idea for something a new business, a new goal you want to set for yourself that is line with your aspirations and skills that could potentially change your life forever, you will never look back.

It could be the idea you have been waiting all your life for, and when it comes you will know it is your way forward, your path to a more fulfilled life.

It will be the thing you were born to do, no longer are you looking at others who are passionate and absorbed in their work with envy, because you will now have your very own idea, something which combined with action, effort and your desire to succeed will take you to where you want to be.

You may never know when it will arrive, but you will be glad it did, it will be like an awakening, your purpose, your future, your destiny all rolled into one little idea. You may ask yourself why it took so long to arrive but underneath be eternally grateful.

It will use all your talents, you will happily spend hours, days and months doing whatever is required to turn it into a reality, for you will know that it is the vehicle from which all your future successes will come from.

You will completely immerse yourself in the daily tasks required to make it happen. It will be a pleasure, one that you are only too willing to carry out.

Your idea will be yours and yours only and you will make sure that you do all that is required to turn it into a success.

admin Changing direction Changing direction

Everybody gets annoyed about something, what is it that annoys you?

Get your creative juices flowing here:

Step 1

Introduction - why I get really annoyed . . .
Explain the general reasons why the issue is important to you.

Step 2

What can you or anybody else do about it?
Is there a solution? If there is outline it ……

Please feel free to add your own, remember the criteria is a problem AND a solution.

admin New Ideas (creative thinking) change your life, creative thinking

One of the great ways you can come up with ideas is to make connections. Many new ideas have been born from this concept.

How do you make connections?

Well there are a variety of ways you can make connections but one way is simply to do it when you are out and about every day.

Take a look around you, what do you see? A tree, a car, a poster, some writing on the wall, a bird, a bright color, the clouds in the sky, people, shop Windows, signs.

Once you have identified different objects or whatever, make a connection between them.

When you do this have a problem in mind you want to solve.

For example

• A name for your new business
• A new idea for a business

You never know just what sort of idea may come of an exercise like this. Give it a go and see how you get on.

admin New Ideas (creative thinking) New ideas, The mind

To develop yourself, grow and improve your life situation. In order to grow as a person it is essential that you push your boundaries, doing so will expand your capacities, capabilities, enable you to experience new realities that previously you thought were unobtainable and to some extent it will allow you to re-invent yourself.

Will it be easy?

Probably not, but it needn’t be excruciatingly painful either, especially if you take it bit by bit, a little at a time.

What will happen if I don’t?

Probably nothing, you will be the same person in 6 months time as you are now. Is this OK with you? For many it might be, but if you are looking to make changes in your life, especially personal changes, then it is important you take action to do something about it, and stepping outside of your comfort zone is one way to do this.

What exactly is a comfort zone anyway?

Your comfort zone is an imaginary set of boundaries which are defined by you, keeping you safe in your own reality away from anything that you feel would cause you or your life situation discomfort or pain.

For example if you are shy and feel you need more confidence, maybe social confidence then unless you go out and start socializing and making an effort to overcome your shyness (moving outside of your comfort zone) then you will probably always feel shy and insecure. But if you start to take initiative and make changes to your life, then in time your confidence will improve.

I am not sure I need to step outside of my comfort zone.

Maybe you don’t, but when you look in the mirror every day is the person who looks back at you the best they possibly can be? Is it a person who has grown and stepped up to life’s challenges or somebody who has kept themselves hidden and out of the way? Is it a person who has always deliberately distanced themselves from any unpleasant situations that may cause them discomfort, real or imagined but that could provide major benefits to their life?

We are who we are but that doesn’t mean we have to remain as we are forever. The only way you will ever change yourself and to some extent your life is just how far you are willing to push the boundaries and make life uncomfortable by stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Life very often will require you to step up and be counted, now some people will and some won’t, never the less there will always be times when more is required of you then you are willing to provide.

And then there are people who actually create circumstances that actually require them to do something which they are not comfortable doing, deliberately pushing themselves to go on and reach the next level, and most of the time they will. They don’t wait for life to offer its challenges, they go out and create their own, thereby providing a ready made platform from which they can grow and develop.

Some people will always be just plain happy the way they are and won’t really see any need to step outside of their comfort zone. I wonder what lives these people will lead in the future. For some maybe it will be quite successful, but for most it will probably be mediocre just like 99% of the people out there.

Can you be successful without stepping outside of your comfort zone; I am not sure, perhaps. Can you grow and develop as a person without stepping outside of your comfort zone? No, I don’t believe you can.

I believe that if you do not take steps to move outside of your comfort zone from time to time then realistically how different can you expect to be months or years from now? And I am not just talking about wealth or financial status I am talking about you as a person.

Many people (and you will know if you fall into this category) will have to step outside of their comfort zone if they are to accomplish anything in their lives. You see life won’t meet you half way, it doesn’t work like that. But if you do push yourself into unfamiliar territory in order to become a better person, one who is capable of greater successes then the rewards will more than make up for any pain you have to go through in the short term.

For some people doing tasks that at first seem impossible are necessary before any real growth can take place, and sometimes it is this growth that needs to occur before any progress can be made in relation to completing other goals such as wealth, happiness etc.

Is it such a bad thing to step outside of your comfort zone?

What is wrong with having to do activities which we would not like to do in order to grow? For some people it is asking too much, perhaps some people don’t think the rewards are worth the hassle, or they could be content with the way they are already and see no reason to change. Others on the other hand will relish the challenge and know only too well how much they can potentially benefit.

So whatever it means for you to step outside of your comfort zone, go for it, with all the confidence you can muster, do whatever is necessary and remember to reward yourself for the progress that you will inevitably make and to enjoy the benefits when they arrive.

admin Confidence Self-confidence

There are 8 main ways of accessing your creativity; can you guess what they are?

1. How we feel (touch)
2. How we see (Observe)
3. How we listen
4. How we taste
5. How we smell
6. How we carry out our tasks
7. What we think about (imagination)
8. What we reflect upon

Colors and creativity

Is there a relationship between certain colors and creativity? Yes apparently there is.

• Red - Excites the mind and body
• Blue – Eases and relaxes the mind
• Yellow – Encourages sensitivity
• Orange – Produces a cheerful state of mind
• Green – Provides healing and harmony
• Indigo – Stands for creativity
• Violet – Produces revolutionary ideas

So if you want to induce the qualities that each color possesses, perhaps you could buy a painting or visualize that color in your mind or yourself as the color. Or any other method you can come up with.

admin New Ideas (creative thinking) Creativity

Are you a person who thinks that all the great products or ideas came from people who were experts in their chosen field of work? Well carry on reading as this post may change your mind.

• The cash register was invented by Jake Ritty, a restaurant bar owner

• The Kodak camera was invented by George Eastman, a bank clerk

• The first ballpoint pen was invented by Laszlo Biro, a Hungarian Journalist.

• The first car indicator signal lights were invented by Hollywood starlet, Florence Lawrence, who also invented the full stop signal light activated by applying the footbrake.

• The first workable fountain pen was invented by L E Waterman, an insurance salesman.

• The electro-magnet was invented by Thomas Davenport, a blacksmith.

• The first frequency hopping anti-jamming submarine communication system was invented by Hedwig Kiesler Markey, an actress.

• The first disposable razor blade was invented by a travelling salesman.

So, what is the next great thing that YOU are going to invent?

admin New Ideas (creative thinking) creative thinking, New ideas

What if I told you that in two years your life could be dramatically different to what it is now, what would your initial reaction be? I doubt it, but I’ll never stop dreaming or, yes it will and I know exactly how it will happen. The first answer doesn’t inspire confidence, yet for some it is the more common. The second answer shows the wheels are clearly in motion and that there is already a strong belief that it will happen.

If you were to place a bet on which person would succeed where would you place your money?

The fact of the matter is your life could be dramatically different to what it is now. It is possible, and the first thing you need to understand is this:

“You will never be able to change your life in the first instance unless you really believe it is possible, whatever that may be, either something about yourself or something external.”

Before you can take your life in any new direction you have to believe the final outcome is achievable. It doesn’t matter how grand your aspirations are (and at this stage the bigger the better), but what does matter is that you believe deep down that it can be done.

This fundamental belief will start a chain reaction that won’t stop until you are living out the life you have envisaged.

Once you know even if it is in imagination only that you can reach a new height or climb a bigger mountain, your mind can never really go back and settle for what you currently have, it becomes unacceptable. And it may be a little known fact but once you catch a glimpse of yourself in another time and place living a more successful life completely different to what you have now, you just may never be really happy until you experience and live it for real.

“A mind once stretched never goes back to its original dimensions.”

Such is the nature of things, once we realize we are destined for greater things in the future, it doesn’t become a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ it will happen. Of course once you believe this the next big question to ask yourself is, are you ready to step up and accept the responsibility to do what is required?

When we realize we can have the future we dream about, we need to take stock of where we are right now, and what we need to spend our time doing in the immediate future to get us closer to our goal.

Don’t get too caught up with thinking about where you are right now, it may seem like a million miles from where you want to be or from what you want to have. The important thing to remember is that you believe that it will happen, almost to the point of expectation, and that you have clearly defined steps that you are currently working towards.

So how far are your thoughts allowing you to go? Do you believe that you are destined for a certain level and that is it, or do you believe your potential is unlimited and that your only limit is your imagination?

Some people will only go so far in life and never any further. They will reach a plateau and go no higher, some will be happy with their lot, others won’t.

How big or small are your thoughts? The thoughts you have now, where exactly will they take you in the future? And is that going to be good enough for you?

Thinking big, grand thoughts can sometimes provide just the necessary motivation to go out and start taking action; whereas thinking small can do the exact opposite.

admin Mind The mind

When is your life going to be great? When is it all going to start happening for you, tomorrow, 3 weeks from now, 3 years, or what about in 10 years time? How much time do you spend living in the future? Constantly thinking about a time when your life will be preferable to what it is now, a time when you won’t worry as much or perhaps will have more money.

Is this time will spent? I have heard it said that people spend as much as 97% of their time living in either the past or the future. Does that mean that only 3% of the time is spent in the present?

What exactly is wrong with your now?

People always seem to be striving for something other than what they have at this very moment, the mortgage to be paid off, the money saved so they can buy a new car, the summer to arrive so they can enjoy their holiday. Doesn’t this way of always living for the future set you up to be unhappy for a fair amount of your life?

I am not talking about forgetting the future and not make any plans or anything like that, it is just that when you live too much for the future the current moment becomes just a means to an end.

The future along with the past doesn’t actually exist except in your mind.

All that you ever have or ever will have is this very moment. Nothing you have done or will ever do will occur outside of your current reality (now).

“Did you know that you will always be able to cope with the now, but you can never cope with the future, nor do you have to?”

Eckhart Tolle ‘The power of Now’

Wise words, and reassuring to. For somebody like me who lives a great deal of his life in his own thoughts, either worrying about the future or re-living the past. It is nice to know that I never actually have to worry about the future, because of course it never arrives.

All I and anyone else has to do is concentrate on the ‘Now’ and make it as enjoyable and pleasant as it possibly can be.

You see it is all about living this moment right now and not constantly living in your mind, be it past or future.

So are you living in another point in time other than right now? Never mind your life 5 days ago or in 5 weeks time, get back to your life right now! What is wrong right now?

Life really is about the journey and not the destination, if your goal is to be wealthy that’s great, but if every day that you remain poor you are miserable and unhappy then what is the point of it all. Are you really prepared to let your life pass by in misery until sometime in the future when all will be well and you can start to live and be happy?

That point will never come, remember the future actually never arrives.

It really doesn’t make much sense to put all of your focus on something in the future at the expense of the present moment. I am not saying don’t have goals but the point is to realize that more effort should go into making your current reality better or more enjoyable than to think about, theorize or just plain wonder what the future will bring or indeed how you wished the past could have been different.

All that you, I or anyone has or will ever have is the present moment. Anything we ever do or achieve will always come from the present moment.

Nobody has anything to worry about at this very moment, that is the beauty of it. Most people are constantly somewhere else, always thinking about stuff, forever carrying thoughts around with them, baggage, you can see it everywhere around you, most people are miles away, head down completely lost in their own thoughts. I think it was Mark Twain that said ‘I have had many problems in my life, none of them real’, or something similar. Does that ring a bell? I know it does for me.

People spend a lot of money to get away from it either by going on holiday or something similar but unless you learn to be more present you will never be able to escape from your thoughts, no matter how far you travel.

Don’t always be at the mercy of your thoughts, when they start to run riot don’t let them take over your life. Learn to silence them so you can become more aware of your present moment.

If you are suddenly consumed by your thoughts, start focusing on your breathing, look around, observe your thoughts understand that the thoughts are not you they are separate.

Don’t always try to be somewhere else, if it starts to happen learn to bring yourself into the present moment, the more your mind attempts to take you somewhere else (into the future, or back to the past) take this as a signal to focus your attention into the present.

admin Positive Thinking, Random living in the now, This moment

Here are some strategies for dealing with the f word (fear). False evidence appearing real. Your imagination is very powerful and left to its own devices can come up with a very vivid scenario of things going wrong. The more you focus on this false scenario, the more it appears real. You need to replace this with a positive vision of yourself achieving your goal and to focus on this instead.

Don’t misread anxiety as a bad sign

Any change evokes feelings that are uncomfortable, that’s natural. So don’t always see unpleasant symptoms as a warning sign, as they are not – it’s just that you are doing something differently. Most goals and the changes they can bring, or the changes you have to make to reach a goal, can generate anxiety.

Look back at when you worried about things unduly

Look back at what you have worried about in your life. It’s easiest to remember the times that your worries have been justified. However, on many occasions your worries turned out to be unnecessary – nothing bad happened and sometimes the outcome was better than you could possibly have hoped.

Surround yourself with positive people

Find some positive people who can be inspirational and motivational. Talk to these people and as much as possible steer clear of dream stealers.

Use fear as a motivator for actions

Use your anxiety to identify the actions you can take and then act on these. Say to yourself, it’s ok to feel anxious but then do something that is going to help get you closer to your goal.

admin Random Self-confidence

Not sure where to go next? Answering the following questions may help:

• I’m passionate about…..

• I’m pretty good at ….

• I know quite a lot about …..

• I love the idea of …..

• I’m really interested in …..

• One of my past times is ……

• One of the skills I’ve got is …..

• One of my ambitions in life is ……

admin Changing direction Changing direction