Personal Growth Cafe

The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? – Pablo Casals

September 27, 2019March 27, 2018

Living in the Moment – Succeeding One Moment at a Time

When you live consciously in the present moment, you’re free from the stresses of life.

It enables you to feel calm and to think with an astounding clarity.

Living in the moment sounds easy, but it will take some effort until you get into the habit.

After all, with so much going on around us, it’s easy to get distracted by fears, worries, frustrations, and stress.

But once you get used to it, though, you’ll wonder how you could have lived any other way!

What can you do to make living in the moment your way of life?

Try these steps in order to gain present-moment thinking:

1. Meditate. The very point of meditation is to live in the present moment and accept things just as they are.

It’s a practice that you’ll get better at the more you do it.

To help quiet your mind, the best thing you can do is focus on your breathing and keep striving to release your thoughts with each breath you take.

2. Accept the past. You’ll feel better about yourself once you learn to accept past situations.

There’s nothing you can do to change the past.

Bringing the past into your present only clouds your present thinking and makes it harder for you to concentrate on the present moment.

Thoughts of the past will still arise, but when you learn to accept it for what it is, you’ll be able to return to the present moment without regret or grief.

3. Accept the future. On the other side of the coin, you also need to accept the future.

You ultimately have no idea about what’s going to happen, and worrying about it won’t make an ounce of difference.

How much time do you waste in a day by sitting around thinking about what you’re going to do?

When you stop thinking, you have more time to actually do it!

4. Be mindful. When you’re mindful, you pay close attention to what you’re doing in the present.

You may think it’s just a mundane chore, but it’s important to do it with an open mind.

Open up your senses to what you’re doing.

You might be overwhelmed with positive feelings that you didn’t know existed.

5. Get in touch with nature. Take some time to get in touch with nature.

You can go for a walk or just sit under a tree.

There aren’t many things that can open you up to the present moment like opening up to the vastness of nature.

Remember To Relax

As long as you maintain a relaxed attitude, you can achieve conscious living if you keep trying.

It may help to think of yourself and your brain as separate entities.

Your brain can be thinking thoughts all over the place while your “self” watches.

When you maintain the wisdom to realize that your thoughts are out of control, the self can pull you back into the present.

Of course these goals are best achieved through meditative practice, but you can also try any activity that you find relaxing if meditation isn’t for you.

While you’re relaxing, pay attention to your breathing and try to take deep breaths.

Remind yourself that, in this moment, the past and the future don’t matter in the least.

After you’ve successfully added present moment thinking to a relaxing part of your day, it’s time to spread the awareness to other times of the day.

The more time you can spend in the present, the better.

Live in the here and now, and enjoy a more fulfilling life!

What can you do now to start enjoying life?

How can this help you become a better person?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

Also, as your gift for taking this to heart – and this is profoundly important… to us ALL – go to UnitingPlanetEarth.com/ignition/ and do the Uniting Planet Earth 7-Day Quick-Start Ignition Program… and Allow it to Transform Your Life.

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September 26, 2019March 27, 2018

To repeat what others have said, requires education, to challenge it requires brains. – Mary Pettibone Poole

September 26, 2019March 27, 2018

Pressed for Time? Delegate!

The only way to make sure things get done right is to do it yourself, right?

Well, there comes a time when you can only do so much in one day.

Learning to delegate allows you to grow as a person.

When you delegate effectively, you can improve your life all around because you’re no longer a one-man band that’s trying to entertain the world on your own!

Delegating At Work

You might find it tough to delegate at work, especially if you feel like no one can get the job done as well as you.

Rest assured, though, that others can do a quality job, but only if you give them the opportunity.

They may not do it in exactly the same way as you would have, and that’s okay!

At some point you need to let go of perfection and allow others to help.

If you have staff available at work, or the ability to outsource work to other companies and individuals, then you have the makings of a great team that can help you grow and succeed.

Consider delegating these tasks:

Anything that involves data entry.

Repetitive tasks such as photo copying or filing.

Fact finding missions and data collection.

Writing.

Design work.

It’s up to you to decide which functions can be fulfilled by someone else.

Once you’ve chosen a person capable of the task, it’s time to consider some detailed plans.

Always ensure that your instructions are clear.

Provide details and examples of the end result that you expect and don’t focus so much on the steps they need to use in order to get there.

If it’s technical work, you can create short video tutorials using free software called Jing, or provide templates and checklists.

If needed, you can check up on the people doing your tasks.

Ask how things are going or tell them that you expect progress reports every day or week.

This will help you to maintain a handle on whether or not things are on track.

In the end, you must maintain trust that everything will turn out right.

While everything may not be exactly as you expected, delegation can still save you lots of time, stress, and headaches.

Delegating At Home

You can apply your delegation skills to your home life as well.

You certainly don’t need to come off as a dictator, but you can have family meetings in order to get a better idea about everyone’s expectations.

Write out a list of all the home tasks that need to be completed.

Decide a fair distribution of who will do what and maintain some clear deadlines.

Don’t forget that your children can complete some of the simpler tasks as a part of a chore schedule.

Consider some type of reward, especially if you expect the little ones to be active participants.

It’s a great motivator to reward each other every so often.

If everyone has done a great job, consider a family dinner out to relax and let loose.

Evaluate The Results

Whether you’re involved with a plan for work or home delegation, it’s important to evaluate the results.

If you’re especially upset about how something has turned out, think about what you can do differently next time in order for things to go according to plan.

Remember to maintain trust and awareness about what is going on around you.

Delegation can be a full time job in itself, but when done right it can provide an improved lifestyle for you and everyone around you.

What tasks do you need to delegate at home?

How about at work?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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September 25, 2019March 27, 2018

Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind with Affirmations

You might already be familiar with the power of affirmations.

They’re short, positive statements that you can read, repeat to yourself, or listen to from recordings.

With affirmations, you can reprogram your subconscious mind to help you think more positively about yourself.

An example of an affirmation is “I am calm and relaxed.”

It doesn’t matter what your current state actually is, you can still achieve this state by repeating and believing the affirmation.

Your subconscious mind will pick up on the statement and bring forth the new feelings.

Affirmations Can Change Your Life

When it comes to the world of affirmations, the only requirement is to approach it with an open mind.

After that, you simply allow the statements to wash over you and you can change your life all by yourself.

It’s may seem difficult at first, but the key is to get the affirmation into your subconscious mind.

This is easiest when you’re just waking up or when you’re drifting off to sleep.

These are moments when your conscious mind is less likely to interfere.

If you use the “I am calm and relaxed” example without an open mind, of course your conscious mind will say “Hey! I’m not calm and relaxed.”

Don’t get frustrated if your conscious mind likes to jump in a lot; eventually the messages will make it to your subconscious mind.

How Affirmations Work

If you pay close attention to how your mind really works, you’d be surprised at how often your mind slips into negativity about yourself and other situations.

Using affirmations will allow you to communicate with your subconscious mind and change those thoughts.

Affirmations have the power to recode your mind in the same manner that a computer program can be written.

You actively spend time saying and concentrating on these short positive statements and, eventually, your subconscious mind picks up on them.

It may take some time and practice for affirmations to work for you.

Some people report that they see results from their efforts right away, while others find that it takes longer for them to reach the subconscious.

How To Use Affirmations

There are a few ways that you can choose to use your affirmations.

First, concentrate on the things in your life that you want to change.

Try to keep it simple by focusing on one at a time.

Common topics are usually health, wealth and relationships.

You might use affirmations such as “I feel energized” or “I enjoy my job.” Write a few different ones that pertain to the same subject.

Then choose a time to repeat the sayings to yourself every day.

You can even make a recording of yourself repeating the affirmations with soothing music in the background.

This is especially helpful for using affirmations in the morning and at night when you have a stronger link to your subconscious.

Tips for writing your own affirmations:

Write them in the present tense, because that’s the only way to improve your life in the present moment.

Be short and concise to keep things simple.

Read and write your affirmations when you’re calm and away from distractions.

Remember to stay positive.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Make sure you keep up with your affirmations. If you don’t see results right away, try sticking with it for a while longer.

Before you know it, you’ll realize that these short simple sentences have improved your outlook, one thought at a time!

How has affirmations helped you get through a rough day?

How can you spread positivity with those around you?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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September 25, 2019March 27, 2018

Pull the string and it will follow wherever you wish. – Douglas Eisenhower

September 24, 2019March 26, 2018

Beauty is around me to be discovered and experienced.

As long as I allow myself to see the beauty that surrounds me, my life is enhanced a hundred-fold.

Therefore I strive to release any negative thoughts and feelings that can blind me from this beauty.

Beauty abounds in my loved ones and my relationships with them.

Each one has their own unique beauty unlike anyone else.

I see this beauty in their smile, feel it in their caress, and hear it in their song of life.

They share their beauty in their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

I listen and am lifted up as I encourage them.

When I feel down, they let their beauty shine through to bring me back up again.

I find beauty in everyday things – a wildflower lifting up its bloom through the rocky soil, the puppy that greets me with glee, the crystals of the morning dew, and the soft comfort of my bed at the end of the day.

Even humdrum routines bring a beauty of their own.

When I get something done at work, it’s a beautiful thing!

When I make a tasty dinner, that is beautiful also and I thoroughly enjoy it.

The moments of my life are filled with such beauty and I make it a point to take the time to discover and relish it for all it is worth!

When I focus my thoughts on experiencing the beauty of the moment, I find that things almost always go my way!

Today, I choose to discover and cherish the beauty that comes with each moment of this wonderful day in my life.

What beauty shines through each of your loved ones?

When was the last time you noticed beauty in the little things you see every day?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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September 24, 2019March 26, 2018

Nature and wisdom never are at strife. – Plutarch

September 23, 2019March 26, 2018

External obstacles are no match for my inner strength.

I have the confidence and creativity to find solutions and I take action no matter what challenges may seek to block my path.

My handy tools – affirmations, positive self-talk, and meditation – are like weapons that help me defeat any obstacle.

I use affirmations to help me build effective habits and attitudes.

Good habits make good choices easy and automatic.

Confidence and an optimistic attitude can get me through just about anything.

Using positive self-talk throughout my day boosts my confidence.

Whenever I do something well, I congratulate myself.

When I reach even the smallest goal, I celebrate my accomplishment.

When I make a mistake, I remind myself that I am human and seek to learn from it and move on, unaffected by the delay.

When I come upon an obstacle, I ask myself how this challenge can help me.

When I find a way to continue toward my goal, my positive self-talk encourages me to take decisive action.

Meditation also helps me build my inner strength and instills in me an unstoppable motivation to attain the life I desire.

I envision myself living my dreams.

In these dreams, I also feel the pride of accomplishment that comes only from overcoming challenges.

Overcoming challenges creates a cycle of strength, too.

Seizing a victory over my obstacles makes me even stronger and builds even greater confidence that I can defeat the next one.

Today, I choose to meet my challenges head-on with confidence, creativity, and the can-do attitude that keeps me moving forward.

How can you encourage yourself to become action-oriented?

How is your inner dialogue with yourself positive and uplifting, or negative and berating?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

Before you leave…

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Posts

Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on. – Maxwell Maltz

The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? – Pablo Casals

Living in the Moment – Succeeding One Moment at a Time

To repeat what others have said, requires education, to challenge it requires brains. – Mary Pettibone Poole

Pressed for Time? Delegate!

Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind with Affirmations

Pull the string and it will follow wherever you wish. – Douglas Eisenhower

Beauty is around me to be discovered and experienced.

Nature and wisdom never are at strife. – Plutarch

External obstacles are no match for my inner strength.