Are you pleasant?

Many times in our life we try and be people we're not.  We label ourselves as our activities, our jobs and our personalities.  Then out of nowhere when we lose something that we believe defined us and we forget who we actually are.  This can be devastating because somewhere along the way we forgot who we actually were.
I recently come across a list called THE PLEASANT PERSON ACT, this is a list of things we should all be doing that help label us as a pleasant person as oppose to the people we may not actually be. It's a long list but here are the top ten things (in my opinion) we should all do to be labeled as pleasant.

1. Listen more than you talk
2. Use no more words than are necessary
3. Make eye contact without staring
4. Don't brag
5. Don't force a smile
6. Keep agreements
7. Don't interrupt people
8. Don't every be phony with people
9. Cover your mouth when you cough
10. Don't talk badly behind people's back

This small easy list is often forgotten or we procrastinate thinking we can change our ways tomorrow yet people really notice when we break these simple life rules.  The more you follow these 10 simple rules the more pleasant you look to others and the more you can make a great name for yourself in this world of unpleasant people.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Taming those thoughts

How often do you talk yourself into a panic or even convince yourself you can't do something even though you know you are fully prepared to do it?  For me, I have days of full out confidence were I feel I can take on the world and nothing can stop me. Then there are other days I can convince myself I can't do the very thing I told myself I was ready to do just days before.  These are the days I feel defeated and unworthy of success in my life, I'm sure you've also felt this way many times through life.

I'm reading a book called TAMING YOUR INNER GREMLIN by Rick Carson, the author describes our inner conflict as our Gremlin.  It's sole job is to make you feel bad by making you wallow in the past and making you over analyze relationships between people and the different things in your life.  These little Gremlins make you live in a land of fantasy filling your head with all kinds of scary scenarios that often prove to be completely fake.  Your inner conflict or your GREMLIN and Rick calls it is a totally imaginary thing made up by your mind that actually controls you because you tend to believe the talk and images you develop in your mind.  The key to defeating this little Gremlin is very simple, all you need to do is be aware and listen to what is going on. 

When we stop and we are aware of what is going on without reacting to negative feedback we become a master of our thoughts.  To often we get suckered into listening to our imagination and give into negative self talk.  Here is the most effective way for dealing with your inner GREMLINS.

1. Stop and be aware by simply listening to your thoughts.
2. Know you have the choice to not give into negative thinking.

This process takes a bit of practice so don't give up in the beginning, just be aware of the thoughts and know you do not need to act on them.  Before you know it you will become a true master of acting upon all the right thoughts that fill your mind.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

What I overcame

When I meet people and we start to discuss making changes in life I explain that I am a totally shy, quiet person by nature.  People seem very shocked becuse after speaking with me you would have no idea I am that person what so ever, yet deep down that shy person who rarely wants to talk is always inside of me.  A couple of years ago I made a concious decision to become more extroverted, I would speak more, become more outgoing and be much more charasmatic.  This challenge to myself did not come easily, I worked on it daily but it took me awhile to break free of my old quiet ways.  It wasn't until I changed my beliefs about myself that I was able to make the change.

Everything we do in life steems from our beliefs, we act a certain way because we believe that it's exactly how we should act.  We tend to make choices based upon feelings we have without questioning whether or not we can challenge our feelings or even our beliefs. We often believe we can't break free, for me I felt people would think my opinions or my conversations were boring, I felt I had nothing interesting to contribute in conversations so I had no problem remaining quiet and shy, this was my belief and I was sticking with it.  Then when I made that decision to change I challenged myself by telling myself I could do it, I could speak up and I could become a more outgoing person.  I didn't always succeed in challenging myself but slowly over time I would overcome a tiny self challenge getting me one step closer to the person I wanted to become and next thing I knew I was actually becoming more and more confident in speaking to people and keeping up conversations.

No matter who you want to become or what you want to accomplish you must tell yourself that you are changing and becoming better. You will learn over time to get over those feelings that always pull you back down to the same old routines and same old habits that leave you feeling unaccomplished with your life.  When you wake up repeat to yourself that you are getting better and repeat to yourself that you can do anything.  There are days you won't feel like you are getting anywhere but the constant repeatition that you are getting better and that you can do anything trick your mind into believing the affirmations you've been repeating to yourself.  If I can change myself from a shy, quiet, unconfident person into a more outgoing person I'm sure you can change yourself into whatever you would like, this world is yours now get working on yourself.

Stay motivated
Shane C

Develop yourself

It seems over the last few months people around me have been complementing me more on my attitude, physical appearance and also in the work I have been doing.  It's extremely flattering to get the compliments and I do truly appreciate them.  Over the last year I've been working on myself, physically and mentally as a  way to reach a new set of goals that require a bit more of my focus and energy than I had been putting in over the last few years.  Although there was a time when I never even thought I could achieve half of what I'm on my way to achieving.

It's the same old story we were all born with the same things, a brain, a body and a blank slate that has allowed us to do absolutely anything we want in life. Then somewhere along the way we developed a set of beliefs passed down to us by people who manipulated us to believe in their beliefs of weakness and inabilities to accomplish the "so called" impossible.
We tend to forget we have abilities and even beauty because we get so caught up in our negative thinking and it truly is a shame that we lose so many years not tapping into our potential. 
In my line of work I often meet people who have lost incredible amounts of weight some losing over 100lbs and when they do they feel amazing about themselves.  It's not that they are completely different people,  it's just their beliefs about their own abilities were clouded because they believed they were ugly because society has taught them a totally false belief about their appearance.  Once they worked on themselves to develop a newer, better version of themselves they fell amazing and they accomplish great things in life, yet in reality they could have accomplished anything at any stage in their lives.

What I hope you take away today is you have these amazing possibilities in your life and you simply need a little time and effort to develop yourself.  You can do it because you can do absolutely anything you want to do.  Allow yourself to believe in the possibility of doing anything you please.

Here are the rules
1. Know you can do it
2. Time and preparation is key
3. When the time comes you will know as long as you follow step 1 & 2

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Changing your outside look on life

There was about a year that I suffered with a bad case of red itch skin on my hands and wrists, it was embarrassing and very uncomfortable.  I finally got to go see a naturapth and she informed me it was caused from a food allergy.  We needed to eliminate any foods that would cause negative reactions and fill my body with better foods and great nutritional supplements to help the condition get better.  I did want she told me and what I battled for 1 year started to heal in less than a week.

Today's blog is not a medical one but an example of how your inside world creates your outside world.  As long as what you put in your mind (thoughts, emotions, and the words you speak) are positive and geared towards growth, your outside world will appear as a world of opportunity and one filled with positive experiences.  Now just like the condition I was suffering from, the more I put in my body that was aggravating it the worse my condition got.  Your thoughts and how you talk to yourself do the same, the more negative you put in the worse your outside world will appear. 

Make sure to feed your mind and life with better people, better self talk and better thoughts.  Negativity is all around you and it is very easy to get caught up with all the talk.  My skin condition was caused from things that aggravated it so it didn't look healthy.  Maybe just maybe if your world doesn't look as happy as you would like it to look, it could be you are feeding your mind some thoughts that are aggravating it.  Do a thought detox and watch your world change in just a matter of days.

Stay motivated
Shane C

BOLD MOVES

I came to a point in my life not long ago where I made the decision things needed to change in my life.  I wasn't sure what to do and then I figured it out, I needed to start to make really BOLD MOVES to leap ahead of my present self.  If something scared me I decided just dive into it.

In your life there are basic things that I know terrify you and they are probably very simple things.  Something as simple as striking up a conversation with a total stranger or even taking on a project at work that you have no faith in yourself in the beginning.  Take a small risk and reap the rewards.  It doesn't matter if you know how to do something you will adapt each and everyday to mold yourself into someone who knows how to figure out how to do the scary things in life.

The day you start facing your little fears by preforming BOLD MOVES is the day you grow, it's almost like having a breakthrough in life.  You break free of the negative thinking that has been holding you back from becoming the better version of yourself.  Today I want you to preform a BOLD MOVE it's the most rewarding thing you will ever do for your future.

Stay motivated
Shane C