Beauty of Mathematics

Although I am not a particularly religious person.... I tend to be more spiritual in nature, I personally believe that God (or Universal consciousness as some call it) resides within. I think no matter what ones religious or spiritual affiliation this video is great food for thought.

ENJOY!

Self-Talk

"Whether You Think You Can or Can't, You're Right."
--Henry Ford

You may not realize how often you say negative things in your head, or how much it affects your experience but altering your self-talk can have a tremendous positive impact on all aspects of your life. Try the following strategies to help you become more conscious of your self-talk.

Write in a Journal! Putting to pen a general overview of your thoughts or writing down how you feel and then reviewing the contents later can help you see patterns of defeating self-talk.

Karate Chop Your Thought! The next time you notice yourself saying something negative in your mind, you can stop your thought by saying to yourself “Stop” or by doing what I like to do..... and Karate Kick the thought! Its true. In my mind I visually kick the thought away. I began using this tool when I was a kickboxing instructor but you can find something that works for you. Get creative! Find something you identify with.... Chef Emeril would probably say “Bam!” Then try and replace the negative thought with something positive.

Replace Negative Statements with Milder Wording: As a personal trainer I like to use the word ‘discomfort’ instead of ‘pain’. I do this because ‘pain’ is a much more powerful word, and discussing your ‘pain’ level can actually make your experience of it more intense than if you’re discussing your ‘discomfort’ level.

Turning more powerful negative words to more neutral ones can actually help neutralize your experience. I don’t allow my 7-year-old daughter to say the word ‘hate’ or ‘stupid’. Instead we use ‘dislike’ and ‘not so smart!’ I try and practice what I preach, so instead of, “I hate traffic! It makes me so angry” I say, “I don’t like traffic. It annoys me.” It really helps during times of high stress.

Change Self-Limiting Statements to Questions: Self-limiting statements like “I can’t handle this!” or “This is impossible!” increase your stress in a given situation and they prevent you from searching for solutions. Instead turn the limiting statement into a question. “How can I handle this?” or “How can I make this possible?” This will open up your imagination to new possibilities? You may even want to grab a pen and paper and write down anything that comes to mind. Without being critical let your ideas flow and a solution will most likely present itself.

Facing the Giants Wholeheartedly

This video clip is from the movie Facing the Giants. It is a wonderful example of how people can sell themselves short and not maximize true inner potential.

Are you giving your absolute best?!!

Too often we are swayed by what others think; and worse yet, all too often we talk ourselves out of what we are trying to do. We rationalize why we should take the easier road, or settle on heading in a different direction. Those that walk closest to their potential do so because they know, burning deep within them, exactly what it is that they are driving towards. They are able to block out any negative influence that deters them from their goal. They blindfold themselves to it!

Keep a clear mind and stay on your path by recommitting to excellence every single day. When you wake up in the morning look yourself in the mirror and say out loud "I recommit to being the best I can be today." This is also a great time to set a specific intention for yourself as well.

Upon arrival to my fitness camp the participants write down their intention for the day. Some real examples are: I intend to.....

Get organized.
Avoid junk food.
Be kind to myself.
Keep my temper in check.
Stay motivated.
Be happy with my kids after school.

So try and recommit yourself to excellence each day and set your intentions for that day. Like I always say, "You can't hit what you don't aim at!"

Surrounding Yourself With Positive Energy

Surrounding yourself with positive energy is one of the best ways to create the inertia needed to tackle life head on and achieve your goals. The following are four great ways to keep you in a productive positive frame of mind.

1. Uplifting Music: Listening to music that not only has a soothing melody, but an uplifting message, can be great for developing positive self-talk a crucial element in dealing with stress.

2. Inspirational Books: Books on strength, personal power, enlightenment, or self-help are good resources to help you achieve a positive outlook on life. Rather than triggering habitual self-defeating thoughts, you can find yourself thinking of new can-do concepts when times get tough.

3. Positive People: One of the most important ways you can get (and keep) positive energy in your life is with the company you keep. Do your friends uplift you, or bring you down? Are they critical, or complementary? Ideal friendships provide support when you’re down, fun when you’re up, wisdom when you’re lost, and positive regard. Good friends can inspire you to reach greater heights, and see your strengths even when you don’t. Pay attention to how your friends make you feel, and if they’re less than supportive, start putting your energy and time toward people who are better suited to be your friend.

4. Practice Affirmations: Positive affirmations are a great tool to reprogram your unconscious mind from negative thinking to positive. The idea is to take positive statements of what you would like to see manifested, and repeat them enough so that they’re part of your way of thinking and seeing the world. The following is a list of some great affirmations.

I always give the best in me and the best in everything comes to me.

I am a powerful prosperity magnet!

Every cell in my body vibrates with energy and health.

My body heals quickly and easily.

I am my own unique self - special, creative and wonderful.

I choose love, joy and freedom, open my heart and allow wonderful things to flow into my life.

Start surrounding yourself with the kind of energy that will help you achieve your goals. I am POSITIVE you'll be glad you did!

Embracing Change

This past August I had the pleasure of being the guest Expert Wellness Coach on the TV show Navigating Your Life with Dr. Nat Williams. The topic of discussion was change. What better time to explore the concept of change then the transformational fall season.

How do you view change? Do you embrace change or fear change? Do you view change as an opportunity or something to resist at all costs?

People who tap into their inner passions and achieve high levels of success easily adapt to change because, to them, change is simply another way of taking charge of their lives and fully living. They completely embrace the idea that life is a journey, a becoming, a growing. Life IS change.

Fear is often the basis for any negative notions a person has about the concept of change. If you have fear surrounding a change you want to make it is important to build a strong relationship with your fear by identifying the fear and then taking action to alleviate the fear. Writing down your fears or sharing your fears with a friend often helps ease some of the trepidation.

Once you face your fear, you'll find that it begins to lose its power over you. Instead of you becoming confined by the emotion, you now have the upper hand and can take action.

The next step is to be very clear about what it is that you want to change and exactly what achieving the change means to you. When you know something is important to you and why it’s important then a fuel burns inside you to achieve your goal and you can use that fuel to overcome fear and drive you forward.

Create a list of why you want to change and keep that list in a place you see often, such as in your wallet and/or on your bathroom mirror. Before you know it your fear will be a thing of the past and your transformation will have begun!

4 Steps to Success

Napoleon Hill is the author of one of the best selling books of all time Think and Grow Rich. He devised a 4 step process for success after interviewing more than 500 of America’s top leaders including Carnegie, Edison, Ford, Schwab, Rockefeller, Eastman and more. The 4 steps are:

1. A purpose backed by a burning desire for fulfillment.
2. A definite plan expressed in continuous action.
3. A mind closed against all negative & discouraging influences.
4. An alliance with someone who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.


A purpose backed by a burning desire for fulfillment.

It is very important to be clear about what it is that you want AND exactly what achieving it means to you. When you know something is important to you, WHY it’s important AND that it’s instrumental in reaching whatever you desire, then a fuel burns inside you to achieve it. Use that fuel, that burning desire, to drive you forward.

A definite plan expressed in continuous action.

Ideas are nothing without implementation. Your purpose and goals can only become attainable once the steps necessary to achieve them are laid out. Now, sometimes this road will be clear and many others time the road will unfold as you travel. In addition to the actual steps you must take for progress to occur, you also need to think about the skills and traits you must learn and adopt along the way.

A mind closed against all negative & discouraging influences.

Too often we are swayed by what others think; and worse yet, all too often we talk ourselves out of what we are trying to do. We rationalize why we should take the easier road, or settle on heading in a different direction. Those that walk closest to their potential do so without worry, fear, doubt, or hesitation. They know, burning deep within them, exactly what it is that they are driving towards.

An alliance with someone who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.

The final step is to have an alliance with someone who will hold you accountable to follow through with both plan and purpose. It’s extremely easy to let yourself off the hook. Find someone who understands what you’re trying to achieve and what it means to you – whether this is a coach, friend, colleague, or otherwise – and ask them to hold you accountable, to push you, to challenge you, to pick you up, to see forward when you are blinded, to remind you of your motivations, to give you a simple breather, and to help you keep focus. This is the fourth and final step because it’s absolutely required to keep you true to both your plan and purpose.

212 degrees - The Extra Degree

Change by Tracy Chapman

If there was one small change you could make, today, to take a step towards being exactly who you want to be, what would it be?

Practice make perfect

Have you ever heard the saying "Practice Makes Perfect?" In order to receive better grades students are urged to study more. In order to lose weight clients are urged to work out more and so forth. This concept is used in many facets of life but I think it is quite over looked in one very important area of life. Happiness.

Happiness is derived from a feeling that stems from within. To some people happiness includes feeling at peace, to some it lies in feeling secure, and for others it may be tapping into ones life's purpose. Each persons definition of happiness is unique. Therefore it is important to think about what happiness means to you.

So many people, including myself, struggle to hold on to that feeling for a significant amount of time. Some bad news arrives, events don't go according to plan, or some other life circumstance happens, and all of a sudden the feeling of happiness is gone and some other negative feeling takes over.

Practicing happiness is one way to be able to get the feeling back more quickly when life throws you curve balls. How do you practice happiness you may ask?

The first step is to define what your personal happiness feels like. By focusing on what thoughts and emotions you would like to attain such as gratitude, tolerance, confidence, spirituality etc and by letting go of specific projects events and outcomes you not only start to make deeper neural connections and imprints associated with that feeling in your brain but you also open up the door for the universe to bring about your desires. You become a part of the greater flow of the universe and life takes on a larger meaning.

Visualizing your happiness for 5 minutes a day can help shift your consciousness and energy levels enabling you to get in the right frame of mind to find solutions and tackle life.

Taking a few moments to close your eyes and feel peace, love, or what ever feeling it is your desiring opens up the channels of holographic thinking. Holographic thinking involves our ability to see multiple perspectives at once. We see the situation as a whole, taking in all dimensions. We incorporate our intuition, emotional awareness, experience, knowledge and logic. This thinking yields the greatest chance for success and happiness in life.

One of my favorite advocates of visualization is Mike Dooley. Check out his website at www.tut.com to learn more.

Now take a few minutes to feeeeeeeeel. It gets much easier the more you practice and it takes no more than 5 minutes a day. The benefits are so worth it!

There are 2 Forces That Create Your World Every Minute of Every Day

More than a hundred years ago, Albert Einstein addressed the scientific community, presenting the idea that everything we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell is not matter, but energy. 'Everything that "matters" is energy!' Resultantly, Quantum Physics has proven this concept to be true.

Our bodies, every cell, muscle, organ and bodily system is made of energy. There are two types of energy, that govern our mind, body, and spirit. These two forces are catabolic and anabolic energy. Catabolic energy is destructive in nature and effects us in negative ways. Anabolic energy in constructive, heals, and has positive effects.

Every thought, emotion and behavior we have emits an energetic frequency. Emotions like love or empathy are constructive and anabolic, while emotions like hate or guilt are destructive and catabolic. Thoughts like "I can do it" are anabolic, while thoughts like "I'm not good enough" are catabolic.

If a person experiences a lot of catabolic thoughts, emotions and behaviors, this energy will drag them down, interfere with their ability to take positive action, and may eventually manifest itself in disease. On the other hand, if a person experiences a lot of anabolic thoughts emotions and behaviors, this energy will have a healing effect and increase our ability to make effective life choices.

We can reduce catabolic energy and increase anabolic energy by building awareness of the different energy levels and eliminating energy blocks.

Take a moment to read the following words to yourself:

Gloom, hardship, despair, loss, sorrow, pain, tears, rejection, misery, depression, fear, dread

How do you feel? Notice the position of your body.

Now slowly read the next list:

Joy, Silly, Jolly, Cheerful, Laughter, Playful, Fun Exuberant, Giggles, Pleasure, Warmth, Amusement, Energized!

Now how do you feel?

I hope this illustrates to you that there is an energy to everything and that thoughts (and words) do transform our feelings and behaviors depending on what thoughts we choose to have. So next time a negative catabolic thought pops in your head, kick it to the curb and replace it with a more empowering thought. Your mind, body, and spirit will be glad you did!

Affirmations

You are never too young or too old to practice affirmations. Affirmations can shift a person from negative catabolic energy into a state of positive anabolic energy. It is when we tap into our anabolic energy that life flows and we create and experience a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment. I challenge you to say something positive each time you look at yourself in the mirror. It can have an amazing effect on all aspects of you life. Give it a try!

Check out the video below for some inspiration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg

Jessica's "Daily Affirmation"

Meditation

I’ve been to an astrologist, I’ve gotten my fingerprint and palm print analysis, I’ve gotten a quantum biofeedback assessment, I’ve visited therapists, I've had my aura read, all to find out more about who I am. I loved the insights that I gained during each of these experiences but it dawned on me that it was a little preposterous that I was relying on others to find out what was at the center of MY being. So I decided to turn my attention inward each day and meditate for a few minutes to discover what happens. As I have done this I have noticed that I carry a greater sense of calm through out my day.

Herbert Benson, M.D., a professor at Harvard Medical School, discovered that meditation counteracts the effects of the sympathetic nervous system – the one that gives humans the desire to fight or flee in any conflict situation. While primitive people needed this response in hunting situations, today it is the reason for many of our everyday stresses. During meditation, blood flow is directed to the parasympathetic nervous system instead. This is the part of the brain that triggers relaxation, a slower pulse and energy conservation – the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system.

I think this is a very important discovery. When life presents us with challenges taking the time to meditate for a few minutes before acting on any given situation can help us make wiser choices. It helps us tap into clarity instead of acting on thousand year old primitive coping mechanisms.

I challenge you to take a few minutes each day and practice mediation.

Have a Namaste!
Sarah

Fitness Quotes

I love reading quotes. So I thought I would share some fun Fitness Quotes with you.


Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.
- Earl of Derby

Time and health are two precious assets that we don't recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted. - Denis Waitley

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. - John F. Kennedy

You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is. - Ellen Degeneres

By exercise. I'll tell you one thing, you don't always have to be on the go. I sit around a lot, I read a lot, and I do watch television. But I also work out for two hours every day of my life, even when I'm on the road.
- Jack LaLanne

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right!
- Henry Ford

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. - Bruce Lee

Life Coaching Tip: Copy your favorite motivating fitness quote and put it in your wallet. Every time you go to get money out it will help motivate you to achieve your fitness goals.

Personal Mission Statements

When I do Executive Business Coaching I often help my clients create their company mission and vision statements. It is of equal importance to have a personal mission statement. As they say, you can't hit what you don't aim at! Creating a personal mission statement helps guide next steps, is a great decision making tool and it helps send a clear message to yourself and the world about who you are and what you want out of life.

Mahatma Gandhi's mission is written in a short list of "I shall" statements.

Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
I shall fear only God.
I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
I shall conquer untruth by truth.
And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.

Ben Franklin wrote a concise list of values.

Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

Martin Luther King Jr. started with the words, "I have a dream...".

To live a life of purpose think about what's most important to you, what you value, and how you express that in every day life. Let your mission statement be your guide. To give yourself clarity and focus write down your mission and live your life with a sense of purpose!

Inspiration

Be Brave!

Chocolate - Choreography by Sarah

March 19, 2010

“Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth, bending over backward, lying down on the job, sidestepping responsibility and pushing their luck.”


Instead we should be: jumping at opportunities, running towards our passions, stretching our minds, bending over to help someone, lying down and… breeeeeathing, sidestepping hatred, pushing forward to achieve our goals AND we should give our bad attitudes the hockey pokey.

Maybe that IS what life is all about!

Welcome to my blog.

With this blog it is my intention to exercise your mind with new thoughts, ideas, inspiration, and motivation. Like with any effective exercise I will cover various topical areas to ensure a well-rounded mental physique.

I hope you enjoy your mental workout session.

March 18, 2010

With spring upon us I thought the following excerpt from Michele Rossi’s poem How to Grow Happiness would be fitting.

‘Plant yourself deep in a bed of faith, and pack it down solid and tight. Drench daily with positive thinking, and keep saturated just right. Mulch often with forgiveness, for this will help you grow.

Quickly remove seeds of worry, for they will soon germinate, and keep out weeds of despair. Nourish disappointments with hope whenever it is needed, and always stay cool and shaded when you feel irritated or heated. Trim away guilt and depression, for they create decay, and cultivate with happy memories as often as every day.’

What happy memory can you pick in the flowerbed of your mind? Focus on that memory and let happiness grow!