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Category Archives: Self-Reflection

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My Body Is Healthy, Whole, and Strong – Affirmations

Posted on November 10, 2020 - 11:42 am by
My Body Is Healthy, Whole, and Strong - Affirmations

 

Are you experiencing anxiety about your health during these stressful times? Use these affirmations and start feeling better today. Read these affirmations throughout the day to relieve your health anxiety. Make sure to save or even print this page.

I am grateful that my body is healthy, whole, and strong.

  1. A healthy, whole, and strong body is a priority for me. I am grateful to have a healthy body. My life is better, fuller, and richer because health, diet, and fitness are my priorities. My body is getting healthier each day in every way.
  2. I strive to increase my overall health. I accomplish this by focusing on a nourishing diet and avoiding unwholesome habits. I have a healthy lifestyle that supports both my physical and emotional well-being.
  3. I get enough sleep each night to rejuvenate my mind and body and prepare them for the rigors of a new day.
  4. I exercise on a regular basis to build strength and endurance. I follow my regular workout schedule religiously. I enjoy working out and my fitness routine pleases me. I am usually free of injury because my body heals quickly and easily.
  5. My body is a gift that I care for to the best of my ability. I know that I only get one chance to take great care of my body, so I avoid damaging it.
  6. I see my physician regularly and whenever else it becomes necessary. I follow whatever advice I am given. I like and trust my physician. We have an excellent relationship. My physician is knowledgeable and he provides excellent medical care.
  7. Today, I am creating a body that is healthy in every way. I make healthy decisions that ensure my well-being and vitality. I am grateful that my body is healthy, whole, and strong. I feel truly blessed.

 Self-Reflection Questions:

  1. Which of my health concerns still need to be addressed?
  2. What unhealthy habits can I change?
  3. How would my health change for the better if I made it more of a priority?

9 Healthy Steps to Help Cope With Anxiety

Posted on November 9, 2020 - 12:36 pm by
9 Healthy Steps to Help Cope With Anxiety

 

If you struggle with anxiety on a daily basis, you may find yourself using unhealthy methods, such as drug or alcohol abuse, to cope with it.

For obvious reasons, this is not the best approach, but what is?

Consider these strategies:

1. Deep breathing exercises. Many of us use our chests to breathe rather than the diaphragm, which is a large muscle found in your abdomen. When you breathe in, your stomach should expand and then contract when you breathe out.

  • Breathing with only your chest will cause you to have short and shallow breaths that can cause increased stress and anxiety.

2. Progressive muscle relaxation. This technique involves tensing your muscles and then relaxing them one at a time. When you do this you’re teaching your muscles that when you’re stressed, which often causes muscle tension, that you need to relax.

3. Mindfulness. This is a common technique to reduce anxiety. With mindfulness, you put your full attention on what you’re doing in that moment. You notice the sights, sounds, and smells around you. When your full focus is on the present moment, there isn’t room for feelings of anxiety.

4. Self-monitoring. What triggers your anxiety? It may be that certain people, events, or situations cause you to feel anxious. Once you figure out your triggers, you may be able to do something to prevent the oncoming anxiety.

5.Get support from others. It has been found time and time again that support from friends and family is incredibly important when dealing with anxiety. Having someone you trust that you can talk to can be helpful.

  • There are also therapists and various groups available full of like-minded people dealing with similar issues who may be able to help too.

6. Self-soothing strategies. While support from others is beneficial, sometimes you may find yourself alone. One self-soothing technique involves being positive and telling yourself that everything will be okay and that you can handle the situation.

7. Write down your thoughts and feelings. Rather than keeping how you feel inside to fester, it would be better for you to get these thoughts out of your mind and onto paper.

8. Distraction techniques. Sometimes focusing on your emotions can make them even stronger and leave you feeling more out of control of the situation. By using distraction, you’re taking your mind off your emotions, making them easier to manage.

  • You can do activities you love to distract yourself. A walk is commonly used as a distraction. So are puzzles. Anything you love.

9. Work towards a goal. Achieving a goal can be motivating and can help reduce both depression and anxiety.

  • Try using a technique called behavioral activation. Each time that you feel anxious, engage your mind in a positive and rewarding activity, such as working toward a goal.

These strategies can each help you to cope with anxiety. Some may work better for you than others. Some may work better in different situations. And some may not work for you. The key is to practice them and then try them out in anxious situations to see which ones work best for you.

I Commit to Personal Growth – Affirmations

Posted on November 6, 2020 - 1:36 pm by
I Commit to Personal Growth – Affirmations

I know it is important for me to be vigilant about improving my game. I stay consistent and persistent in achieving my goals. I stay on target.

I find ways to take my determination to new heights. I find positive people to keep me motivated. I relinquish outdated forms of motivation to get ahead of the game.

I recognize that in this New Game of Life, I need to be “all in”. I stay present with the trends and get out ahead of them. I take the reins of leadership in my hot little hands.

Just as in video games, where the players keep going up to higher levels, I keep my eye on the prize. My goals are within reach. I am positively motivated from within.

I read about the latest and greatest leaders in my field. I study what makes them tick. I try some of the same success strategies to see if they can work for me, too.

I use my time wisely. I make the most of every moment. I follow people who uplift me. I then, in turn, lift others.

In order to be a top performer in my field, I ensure that my body is in tip top shape. I eat foods that nourish my body and mind. My mind is sharp as a tack. I am on top of my game.

As I keep raising the bar for myself, I become a peak performer.

I rise to every occasion. I surprise myself with my incredible stamina. I am determined. I am strong-willed. I have everything it takes to do better than my previous best.

Today, I am proof that personal growth is a life-long legacy.

Self-Reflection Questions:

 

  1. What is one step I can take today to personally grow?
  2. What books can I read to help me grow?
  3. How can my legacy inspire others?

7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Home Today

Posted on November 4, 2020 - 11:37 am by
7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Home Today

 

The baby’s crying while you hurriedly put the fast food on the table, the dog is throwing up on the floor, the hubby’s got the TV on full-blast, and your teenager just angrily slammed the door on his way out.

Unfortunately, it’s a typical scene for many of us. However, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. There are, in fact, things you can do to ease this stress and create a more harmonious environment so that you and your family can look forward to coming home!

Although some degree of stress is inherent as you deal with the varying phases of your family members, if you strive to uphold a core set of values and go with the flow, you can maintain a happy and healthy home.

Here are some specific ways you can reduce the stress at home:

  1. Get organized. Life can quickly become chaotic when you don’t maintain organization. An organized home runs smoothly, while an unorganized home leads to stress and lost time.
  • A good tip is to start small with your organization efforts. Start with one room or even a portion of a room. The idea is to think of it as a series of small projects instead of one overwhelmingly huge one.
  1. Your family will certainly benefit from actively working on communication skills. When you fail to communicate effectively, you may not get what you want and can even cause upsetting misunderstandings. Working on communication will allow all family members to feel loved and appreciated and help the household run efficiently.
  2. Eat dinner together. Everyone in your family likely has a busy life of their own. It’s easy to suddenly realize that you have no idea what’s going on with your spouse or child. When you make it a point to eat dinner together every night, you make time to connect with your family. You’ll learn how to work as one even with busy lifestyles.

  3. Have fun together. It’s important to schedule time to have fun together as a family, even if these times can’t be as often as you’d like. Schedule family nights in advance and allow each family member a chance to pick that evening’s activity.
  4. Show unconditional love. Be sure to practice the art of unconditional love with your family. This leads to secure attachments and will ultimately keep everyone in your family happy and stress-free.
  • Children and parents alike need to know that, when they make mistakes, they have a loving family that will back them up and forgive them.
  1. Give support. Go out of your way for your family members. It might not be an ideal Friday night to go to your daughter’s art show, but just think of how they’ll feel when they see that they have your love and support. Actively express your support by really being there for your family – no matter what. Just thinking about how much you love them is not enough!
  2. Family rules. Having a set of family rules will help with organization and allow everyone to know what’s expected of them.
  • Schedule a family meeting to establish the house rules. Make sure everyone has a chance to participate and share his or her concerns. You’ll likely find a compromise that allows everyone to be happy.

A happy and stress free home is one built on love. Don’t be too hard on yourself and others, and you’ll have the basis for creating an excellent home life.

Do You Really Want to Change? Do You?…

Posted on October 27, 2020 - 12:00 am by
Do You Really Want to Change

 

Believe it or not, it is not only possible, but quite common for someone to consciously convince themselves that they want change in their life, but subconsciously put all their effort into keeping everything exactly the same as it is right now.

They even go through all the motions of starting a new project, enlist help, buying software, having a website built, creating all kinds of marketing text and tools, only to consistently find some insurmountable challenge when it gets close to a start date that prevents them from following through.

Why would anyone do that?

Fear

Fear is the prime reason that most people don’t follow through.

Fear of what?

  • Fear of success
  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of what others might think, say, or do
  • Or all of the above

They are unhappy, unmotivated, and unfulfilled. They know exactly what they need to do, but never manage to get it done. They are often solitary individuals who have lots of friends and contacts, but, in reality, they live their life almost entirely in their own heads.

This vicious circle of starting and then stopping, over and over again, can cause them to have low confidence, low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, which reinforces their overwhelming desire to keep everything the same, no matter how good a new future might look.

Does this scenario describe you? If so, what can you do about it?

Is There a Solution?

One of the best ways to break this pattern is to help someone less fortunate than yourself. Perhaps try charitable work or something similar, where people depend on your help, energy, and support, and you know it.

In this charitable work, consider how you have a responsibility to others where you cannot possibly let down those who depend on you. That way, you are not working for your own personal rewards, but for someone who cannot possibly fulfill their ambitions on their own.

The feeling you get from helping others is so strong, so compelling, that your personal anxiety diminishes and your self-esteem rises in direct proportion to each other.

You’ll enjoy strong feelings of accomplishment and, in turn, fulfillment. You’ll find yourself in a place of happiness that you’ve never experienced before, and you really like it.

Make a Decision and Take Action

Through practical experience, you’ll come to realize that when you make a decision and take action, you move forward. You’ll recognize that you only have one life, and you can live it best and most fully by making decisions and taking action.

You’ll also acknowledge that doing things for someone else allows you to fully engage your talents in a way that you could never have experienced while just working for yourself.

When you find purpose in all that you do, you will also realize that the fear evaporated long ago, and now you can actually feel a sense of pride in your work that was never there before.

Through helping others, you’ll come to understand that it doesn’t even matter if you make a wrong decision or take a wrong action. You can always make another decision and take another action and correct it.

The most important thing is that you keep making decisions and taking action. It’s the only way to effect change in anything.

The biggest changes will be the ones you experience yourself, but it may still take others to point them out. You are so talented, and you have no idea how gifted you really are, until you see other peoples’ lives improved because of your actions.

That’s when you’ll get to see your true, authentic self show up in your smile as you look forward to finally being able to start creating the future you desire.

How Self-Reflection Can Make You Happier and More Successful

Posted on October 21, 2020 - 12:58 pm by
Self-Reflection Can Make You Happier

 

Self-reflection seems to be a dying art. People either feel they don’t have the time or that it’s a waste of time. Others are afraid to take a good, long, hard look at themselves. This is a mistake, because there is so much to be gained by examining yourself and your past.

Self-reflection provides many advantages that can make life easier:

1. You learn about yourself. Most people are shockingly low in self-awareness. Some people are too busy, or at least they think they are. Others would prefer to distract themselves rather than spend one second in self-reflection.

  • However, there’s much to be learned by taking a few minutes each day and reviewing your day, the choices you made, the positives and the negatives.
  • When you know yourself, you can make better plans that utilize your strengths and avoid your weaknesses.
  • Recognizing your weaknesses and dealing with them is powerful. You can stop shooting yourself in the foot over and over.

2. You learn from your past. If you look at the biggest mistakes you’ve made over your life, you’ll find they’re surprisingly similar. You may have either spent money you couldn’t afford, got involved with someone you shouldn’t, or made poor decisions to get away from stressful situations.

  • If you’ve never taken the time to review these mistakes, you’ve repeated them.
  • Reviewing the past can also help you to identify what works, and then you can advantageously repeat those actions.

3. Take intelligent, thoughtful action. Many people are very action-oriented and avoid “wasting” time on thinking too much. Rather than just jumping in with both feet, it can be incredibly helpful to spend some time thinking and strategizing.

  • Reflect on what you actually want to accomplish for yourself. Ask yourself a few questions and use the answers wisely.

Graham Gibbs is an academic that studies self-reflection. He developed a six-step process to aid in self-reflection. This process can be used as a guide to help you get the swing of things.

Use Mr. Gibbs’ process to examine your past and present:

  1. What happened? This is simple enough. Describe the event to yourself. “I dropped out of college.”
  2. What was I thinking and feeling? What were you thinking at the time? What did you think afterwards? “I was stressed and failing. I felt a sense of relief when I first dropped out, but then I felt a sense of dread and felt lost.”
  3. What was good or bad about the experience? “I gained free time and my stress was relieved. But, now I don’t have a plan for my future and my job prospects are much more limited.”
  4. How does this affect the various parts of my life? What does it say about me? “My personal and career development is stifled. My significant other is upset with me and threatening to leave. My parents kicked me out of the house and told me to find a job. This suggests that I am impulsive and handle stress poorly.”
  5. What else could I have done? “ Talked to a friend. Spoken to my professors. Sought professional help. Learned meditation or yoga. Lightened my course load.”
  6. If this happened again, how would I handle it? “I would consider the long-term implications instead of just the short. I would get the help I need. I wouldn’t consider quitting to be a viable option.”

Self-reflection is a useful tool that’s free to learn and apply. Imagine being able to leverage your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and avoid repeating your mistakes.

You can make good use of those painful events from your past. Spend a few minutes each day and apply a little self-reflection. You’ll be happy with the results.

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