Personal Growth

Live, Love, Grow:

One of the most heartbreaking things about the current world is that there is a growing number of people who have harvested a lot of negativity in their lives. This negativity comes in all forms- anxiety, low self esteem and depression being the most common. 

These negative qualities prevent people from attaining their true potential. Personal growth is the most powerful tool that one can use to overcome these obstacles.

How is personal growth different from normal growth?

Let us consider two cases. Both persons A and B face the same type of stressful work environment. They are equally vulnerable to unavoidable health problems as well.

Person A denies having these problems. He believes that they can’t be solved. He faces the stress without any emotional preparation and as a result his overall wellbeing turns out to be a little shaken up. By not identifying the need to do something about his stress, he has subjected himself to physical and mental strain.

On the other hand, person B acknowledges these problems. He has faith that there is something that can be done to overcome his stress- he believes that the power to change resides within him. He seeks out a good mentor, practices positive techniques, and turns out a changed man. He feels like a different person, because he has allowed himself to grow.

Personal growth is a choice. Once a person has decided that he wants to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually, nothing really can affect him.

Personal Growth and Positivity:

The first step to personal growth is acknowledging your own problems and flaws. The subsequent step can be summarized in one mantra: Believe is seeing.

In order to develop crucial all round life skills, you need to identify your own potential. Every person is a living container having a lot of positive energy. The power to change lies within you, and you need to believe in that.

There are many ways to allow this positive energy to flow out. The key is to alter the way you think. With a little coaching, a person can learn to shed all negative thoughts, vibrate his wishes to the universe and focus his positive energy towards pure thoughts and a calm mindset. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Personal growth starts with a positive thinking. Thoughts of a certain frequency will beget consequences of a similar frequency. Only in a comfortable, happy environment can a person truly grow in all directions. And the power to create that environment lies within you.

Growing through Actions:

Along with altering one’s thoughts, it is equally important to alter the way they influence their physical surroundings. One of the most pleasant ironies about personal growth is that you can’t do it without other people!

Look at it this way. Teachers learn more about themselves and their subjects through teaching. If you can be a positive mentor for someone else, you will earn a double prize- your own personal growth as well as their. 

Personal growth is also reflected in acts of kindness. If you can selflessly perform random acts of kindness on a daily basis, you will be nurturing yourself. 

Personal Growth through a Mentor:

Ancient wisdom has taught us that having a spiritual teacher can dramatically affect personal growth in a positive way. Approaching experienced mentors who can help you create a positive mindset and relaxed environment that you need for personal growth is a great measure to take.

What does science say about growth? It can never be negative. We all face issues that can stun the growth, but once we make a move to deal with them, the only way we can grow is up. All we have to do is believe.

Article Source : http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/personal-growth-2

How to make affirmations work for you

During my reading today, I found this great article that explains the truth about affirmation and how to make them work for you.

Hope you enjoy it.

Affirmations: The secret to making them work for you!

Positive affirmations are all over the internet (specifically social media sites like Pinterest and Facebook) 

But they’re not just some fancy saying.

People believe that if affirmations are used properly, they can change your life.

How?

Well, according to theory, if you say them over and over again your mind will start believing them;

And belief is one of the most powerful predictors of success.

But do affirmations really work?

Well the answer is a little more complicated than a simple yes or no. 

Tony Robbins, Life Coach and Self-help guru extraordinaire doesn’t think so. 

He personally attests to incantations which are essentially affirmations combined with movement, intended to get an emotional charge out of you. 

In fact Tony has personally been using Incantations for over 30 years and is a big part of his personal success; which at a net worth of $480 million dollars (as of April 2015) is no small feat.

But there is another way

A secret way of using affirmations that is supported by academic research. It’s called the REINFORCEMENT 

AFFIRMATION TECHNIQUE (or R.A.T. for short)

The academic community calls them self-affirmations and according to research, it’s all about HOW you use them that make all the difference.

So in the academic World many studies have been done on self-affirmation and its impact but instead of trying to figure all of that out for yourself, here are the important points and how it can help you change your life. 

In order to achieve lasting change through Affirmations, three items are absolutely necessary:

Accepting what you’re affirming. If you affirm the following:

"I am amazing at spotting and acting on all opportunities that come my way"

Are you going to believe it? 

If the answer is no then put a big X on accepting what you’re affirming. Suddenly your affirmation becomes nothing more than meaningless words you tell yourself. You might as well say:

"I'm a green banana that leaps tall buildings in a single bound"

Motivation for Change –

Okay so you believe what you’re saying, but are you going to do anything about it? 

It would definitely be a big fat no if you’re not accepting what you’re affirming, but you’re much more likely if you do. 

Subsequent Behaviour –
So you believe you are amazing at spotting and acting on all opportunities that come your way (or that you’re a green banana!) and you’re motivated to use that in achieving financial freedom for example;

Will you follow up with the appropriate behaviour?

Well the good news is that if you affirm correctly you’re far more likely to accept, be motivated and act on it then if you don’t. 

So what does this all mean?

How exactly do you do proper self-affirmations?

Well, two things are needed. 

You NEED to believe it and you need to build support around it to move from belief to motivation to action.

Belief

In order to believe an affirmation, you have to believe it to be true in at least one aspect of your life. 

It doesn’t even have to be in the area of your life you want to improve (at first). 

So let’s say;

You want to lose weight but cannot find the motivation to exercise. Saying “I’m motivated” over and over in the context of losing weight won’t be very effective. 

But what if you stop for a moment and think about another aspect of your life where you are or have been motivated. 

For example, you are very successful in your career and you’re motivated to do the best you can in your job. 

Well doesn’t that mean you are motivated in at least one aspect of your life? 

And if you can be motivated in one aspect, isn’t it entirely possible to be motivated in other? Absolutely! 

Now the affirmation doesn’t seem so unbelievable, does it! Of course not. 

Is that enough to actually motivate you into action? Maybe. It depends on the person. If you’re like most people, it won’t be enough. Fortunately there is another step.

Support

What the academics have discovered is that in a lot of cases it’s not enough to simply say it. 

What they have found is that you’re much more likely to alter your behaviour with the proper support around that affirmation. 

And that means taking that affirmation (I’m motivated as evidenced in the pursuit of my career) and write down the details behind that. 

Specifically examples of times when you were/are motivated. 

What that does is it opens your mind to the possibility that this affirmation can apply in other areas of your life and now you have real-life examples to support it. 

And that’s it! Instead of taking the 10 minutes you would use to say something you don’t believe over and over again, take the time to try the Reinforcement Affirmation Technique (R.A.T.) and see if it works for you.

It has a much better chance of positively affecting you. 

Now there are some additional tips I’d like to offer:

If you can’t find any aspect of your current life where the affirmations seems to ring true, then search your past and try and find examples that provide support.

If you’re having trouble figuring out an affirmation to explore further, read them out loud and see which ones touch a nerve. If one of them does, it’s your subconscious nudging you to look into it further, because there is some truth behind it.

Finally, if nothing is working, enlist the help of someone who you can trust and have them shed some light on which affirmation(s) are true in some aspect of your life.

I hope you found this useful and I would love to hear your feedback.

Article source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/affirmations-the-secret-to-making-them-work-for-you

How to Overcome Leadership Challenges

5 Ways to Overcome Leadership Challenges

An important part of creating a solid online brand and a solid business both online and offline is leadership. That said, anyone who steps up to be a leader is going to encounter challenges. One of the true tests of leadership is how you overcome the leadership challenges that will come no matter how great of a leader you are. 

Here are five effective ways you can overcome leadership challenges and become a star leader:

1. Ask yourself: “What is right with this situation?” Whenever you encounter a challenge to your leadership, no matter how bad the situation may seem, there is always something right or good about it. Make a list of all the things that are right and avoid dwelling on the wrong. Analyzing what is right can lead you to a better understanding of what happened to cause any problem or challenge that you are experiencing. Furthermore you can also get clues about how to avoid leadership challenges in the future by predicting what may happen in the future as well.

2. Search for and focus on solutions rather than problems. Make a list of all of the solutions to the leadership problem or challenge. Avoid being judgmental at first and write down anything that you could do that comes to mind. If there are other people involved ask for their opinion and then proceed solving each problem one at a time with what you have determined to be the most productive solution.

3. Learn from other successful and effective leaders. One of the best ways to become a star leader is to read books written by others who have paved the way before or to interview them or to find ways to associate with them. Take note of what they do or what they did when they encountered leadership challenges that were similar to yours. Pay attention to how they thought and what they did and worked on as a person as well as what they did with those they lead. Effective leaders are created by who you become as a person in addition to the actions you take.

4. Practice positive thinking and motivation. This can only help and improve your leadership. In addition you will be better prepared when those challenges that you know will come appear in your life. Positive thinking also helps you to tolerate and even embrace frustration, failures and challenges.

5. Ask for help. Admit it, sometimes you will need help to overcome your leadership challenges. Turn to someone who has been through the same experience that you have or something similar and ask for their advice. If the situation is severe you may even need to hire them to help you or somehow otherwise obtain assistance. Avoid thinking that this shows weakness since everyone needs help from time to time and a sign of a great leader is that they are humble and open to receiving help when needed.

Know that you can overcome any leadership challenge that is thrown your way and that in doing so you will become a stronger person and you will be viewed as someone that people want to emulate both online and offline.

Article Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/5-ways-to-overcome-leadership-challenges