Sep 26, 2011
Look Somewhere Else
Creativity is an inspiration problem, and that’s easily fixed.
You don’t have inspiration because you’re looking in the wrong places.
So start looking in the right places.
What are the “right places?”
Anything outside your current market.
If you run a blog on marketing, read articles about creativity. If you run a real estate business, look at internet marketing businesses. The ideas you’ll get from these “off-topic” places will help you discover new ideas.
Get Out of Your Box
Can you link all the nine dots using four straight lines or less, without lifting the pen or pencil? We all have boxes – visible, invisible, cultural, religious, social, intellectual, regional, etc. and it takes great time and effort to think out of these boxes. Liberate your thought, think beyond the boundaries and a lot of impossible will become possible.Get out of your box, you deserve it!
Here is the solution..
Ask "Why?"
Curiosity is an important trait of a genius. I don’t think you can find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, they are all curious characters. Richard Feynman was especially known for his adventures which came from his curiosity.
But why is curiosity so important? Here are four reasons:
- It makes your mind active instead of passive Curious people always ask questions and search for answers in their minds. Their minds are always active. Since the mind is like a muscle which becomes stronger through continual exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind stronger and stronger.
- It makes your mind observant of new ideas When you are curious about something, your mind expects and anticipates new ideas related to it. When the ideas come they will soon be recognized. Without curiosity, the ideas may pass right in front of you and yet you miss them because your mind is not prepared to recognize them. Just think, how many great ideas may have lost due to lack of curiosity?
- It opens up new worlds and possibilities By being curious you will be able to see new worlds and possibilities which are normally not visible. They are hidden behind the surface of normal life, and it takes a curious mind to look beneath the surface and discover these new worlds and possibilities.
- It brings excitement into your life The life of curious people is far from boring. It’s neither dull nor routine. There are always new things that attract their attention, there are always new ‘toys’ to play with. Instead of being bored, curious people have an adventurous life.
1. Keep an open mind
Be open to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Some things you know and believe might be wrong, and you should be prepared to accept this possibility and change your mind.
2. Don’t take things as granted
If you just accept the world as it is without trying to dig deeper, you will certainly lose the ‘holy curiosity’. Never take things as granted. Try to dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around you.
3. Ask questions relentlessly
A sure way to dig deeper beneath the surface is asking questions: What is that? Why is it made that way? When was it made? Who invented it? Where does it come from? How does it work? What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people.
4. Don’t label something as boring
Whenever you label something as boring, you close one more door of possibilities. Curious people are unlikely to call something as boring. Instead, they always see it as a door to an exciting new world. Even if they don’t yet have time to explore it, they will leave the door open to be visited another time.
5. See learning as something fun
If you see learning as a burden, there’s no way you will want to dig deeper into anything. That will just make the burden heavier. But if you think of learning as something fun, you will naturally want to dig deeper. So look at life through the glasses of fun and excitement and enjoy the learning process..
6. Read diverse kinds of reading
Don’t spend too much time on just one world; take a look at another worlds. It will introduce you to the possibilities and excitement of the other worlds which may spark your interest to explore them further. One easy way to do this is through reading diverse kinds of reading. Try to pick a book or magazine on a new subject and let it feed your mind with the excitement of a new world.
Give Yourself a Whack on the side of the head
If an architect looks at an opening between two rooms and thinks "door," that's what she'll design. But if she thinks "passageway," she may design something much different like a "hallway," "air curtain," "tunnel," or perhaps a "courtyard." Different words bring in different assumptions and lead your thinking in different directions. What else can you call your idea?
Sep 25, 2011
Believe In Yourself
“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen” – Frank Lloyd WrightIf you want others to believe in you, then you must first believe in it yourself. Success is built on confidence. If you believe in yourself then you have confidence in yourself and your abilities. The building blocks of self-confidence are:
- Knowledge
- Skill
- Experience
- Attitude
- Self-belief
“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself” – Robert Collier
Dealing with self-doubt
Everyone experiences moments of doubt in their lives. Those nagging little voices inside your head that say, “What if I can’t do this?” or “What if I fail?”
Self-doubt stems from a lack of self-belief so taking steps to build your confidence will allow you to replace any negative thoughts with far more productive, positive ones.
The power of your own thoughts should never be underestimated. Thinking positive thoughts will lead to positive actions being taken so thinking negative thoughts will lead to negative actions being taken, or quite possibly no action being taken at all.
Success is only possible if you believe it’s possible. Learn to silence negative voices in your head by using positive self-talk: “What if I can’t do this?” becomes, “I can do this.”
If you are unable to believe it’s possible and unable to tell yourself you can do it, then chances are you never will do it.
“Self-confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that your world has come to an end or you’re a worthless person”
- Author Unknown
The negative voice you hear in your head and the positive voice you create through self-talk are forms of feedback. Feedback can be divided into two main categories:
Primary feedback
Primary feedback comes from within. This is feedback received through internal sources or you could say, from the inside out. It describes how something makes you feel so, to use an example from sport, a golfer receives primary feedback from the experience of swinging the club to hit the ball. A golfer may instinctively know whether the shot is a good one or not just through the ‘feel’ of the swing – the primary feedback.
Secondary feedback
Secondary feedback is received in the form of add-ons from the primary feedback already received. This is feedback received from external sources, so you could say from the outside in. For example, the golfer who feels through primary feedback that he has hit a good shot may then hear applause from spectators or feel a congratulatory pat on the back from a fellow player as sources of secondary feedback.
Verbal feedback falls under the secondary feedback heading but the power of words, whether spoken through the voice in your head, your own self-talk, or an external source can inspire and motivate you or crush your confidence and completely de-motivate you.
Here’s a little story, often used in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), that highlights just how powerful the spoken word can be:
The Story Of Two Frogs
‘A group of frogs were travelling through the woods when two of them accidentally fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the fallen frogs they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and started trying to jump out of the pit. The other frogs continued to tell them to stop, they were as good as dead. Eventually, one of the frogs gave in to the comments and simply fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump with all his might even though the others continued to tell him to just give in and die. The more they yelled, the higher he jumped until he finally managed to jump out of the pit.
“Did you not hear us?” asked the group of frogs.
The now free frog explained that he was deaf and he thought they’d been shouting words of encouragement to aid his escape from the pit!’
The moral of this story is that words, metaphorically, carry the power of life and death. In reality, this translates into the power to both motivate and de-motivate, depending on how they are interpreted. Feedback is essential in terms of continuing progress, as without it, changes or improvements will never be made. Positive feedback in the form of words of encouragement from external sources can be really motivating and provide a real boost in your confidence. The same benefits can be achieved if you learn to provide your own words of encouragement through positive self-talk.
Confidence building tips
1. Remember what you’re good at
2. Remember that everyone lacks confidence from time to time, not just you
3. Remember that failure is not permanent – neither is success – everything can be changed
4. Messing up is just one small moment in the bigger picture – your life!
5. Realize you don’t have to be perfect to be confident
6. Realize there’s no such thing as ‘perfect timing’ either so seize all opportunities that come your way – things don’t have to be perfect to be right
7. Be yourself: you are the only you, and you are the best you
8. Use good posture; walk tall
9. Compliment others – what goes around, comes around
10. Dress sharp: ‘clothes don’t make the man’ but how you dress can affect how you feel
In the Olympic Games, eight athletes will position themselves on the start-line of the 100 metre sprint final. All of them will be in peak physical condition; all of them will have prepared meticulously over many years for this one event; and all of them will believe themselves to be capable of winning the gold medal. But, there will be only one winner.
When all of the athletes have proven physical ability, what is it that separates the winner from the others? Winning athletes will often attribute their success to having a ‘mental’ edge over the other athletes. When the pressure is on and when it really matters, they have the ability to remain confident; to remain focused; and to maintain their self-belief.
Sep 14, 2011
The Balance of Body, Mind and Soul
There are different kinds of activities you can do to nurture your body, mind and soul.
It is important to keep the balance between all three aspects of you, because only then you will achieve a perfectly balanced life.
Some people feel that they are missing something but they do not understand what it is.
They usually make conclusions that they need an ideal partner, bigger house or more money to be happy. But these are all external things.
What they are really missing is the balance of their body, mind and soul. It is easy to achieve a perfect balance of these aspects once you know how to nurture each one of them.
How to nurture your body
To improve the health of your body you can do several things. Firstly, you should eat healthy food. It is true that ‘You are what you eat’ , therefore you should always make sure that you are eating food that is good for you.
Eating meat really damages your body because you absorb all the negative energies of the animal whose meat you eat. You will notice that if you stop eating meat you will become more positive, ‘lighter’ (hard to describe in other words) and you will be more receptive to the clues and signs from the universe which will help you attract good things into your experience.
You will also better understand the nature and animals. You will become closer to who you are because there will be less blockage in connection to your true self.
Fruit and vegetables are the best foods to eat, especially raw ones. They still have good life energy inside them, which is pure positiveness. So if you eat them regularly you will feel a big difference it makes to your health and your mental state.
The more alive the food, the better. The less alive it is (preserved, dried, etc.) the less good energy you can get from it.
Another great activity for you body is exercise. It tones and strengthens your body therefore your body becomes more immune to different weather conditions and diseases.
Exercise not only makes your body more resistible, but it also makes you more patient and increases your focus. The increase in your focus will be obvious from the great results you will get no matter what task you undertake.
You can also nurture your body by taking hot relaxing bath, going to a spa, having a massage or doing other relaxing and pleasurable activities.
How to nurture your mind
Although all the aspects of you are closely interlinked, your mind is interconnected with your body most. Therefore whatever you do for your mind almost always reflects in the body.
For example, if you think negatively, your body suffers from stress. If you think positively, your body relaxes and becomes more immune to diseases.
The quality of your thoughts results in what kind of health and general bodily conditions you have. It is important to watch and change your thoughts into only positive ones because your general well-being depends on it.
Meditation is also good for the mind because it stops its activity at least for 20 or so minutes during the day. That gives your mind a break and prevents it from overworking.
Positive affirmations are extremely useful too because by the constant repetition of a positive phrase you convince your mind (conscious and subconscious) of some good condition that you are experiencing.
Although this is a created condition and you still do not have it, through positive affirmations you convince your mind that it is your current reality. Therefore the evidence of what you affirm starts showing itself in your life.
Good reading and watching positive movies nurture your mind too. But it is far more better to read something positive than watch it. This is because when you watch any kind of programme, your focus shortens (on all subjects) therefore your work will not be of quality. Whereas if you read a positive book you get all the benefits (positive statement introduction to your mind, positive visualisations) without any drawbacks.
If you read many positive books, you should not be surprised that what you read actually manifests sometimes. This is because when you read something and see it in your mind, mix it with a positive emotion and ponder on it for a bit, it will manifest. However if after reading, you lower your vibration by becoming more negative, you will block such manifestation.
You may know people that live in a dream world, as some may describe them, hoping to meet their dream partners and live in amazing conditions. If they retain exactly the same mood in the reality as when they read positive books, their reality must reflect how they feel.
You may have noticed that such people are always getting what they desire, they are considered ‘lucky’ and everything they want comes their way.
This happens because they are closely aligned to who they really are. Such people always achieve what they want because by being positive they allow the universe to bring everything they like into their experience.
How to nurture your soul
You might think that it is almost impossible to nurture your soul because it is so intangible. But there are a few things you can do that will feed your soul.
Souls appreciate beauty and they crave for it constantly. When you are very disconnected from who you really are, you seem not to need to see beauty. People who enjoy violent movies are a perfect example of such disconnection.
They enjoy negative things because they are so away from who they are that they cannot hear the needs of their soul and they only feed their addictive ego.
When you become more in tune to who you really are you start realising that you constantly seek for beauty. This way your soul is telling you that it appreciates beauty.
There are many ways to nurture your soul through beauty. Going to art galleries, looking at nature, drawing, singing, listening to people singing, being very nice to someone, making people happy are all forms of beauty.
When you express or look at beauty you may feel relief inside you. This is the sign that your soul is appreciating the beauty.
When you really appreciate beauty and are immersed in it, you feel like at home. Different people have different beauty preferences. Some feel at home when they listen to the music, some – when they appreciate art.
I personally feel completely at home when looking at historical paintings, archaeological findings and all the aspects of ancient civilisations. They seem to give me such a relief and so much energy. I always feel like at home in such places. I am a frequent visitor of The British Museum for this reason.
You should try to find some form of beauty that makes you feel like at home – completely in tune with who you are. Such feeling will benefit you immensely.
Conclusion
Some people are so involved in their daily struggles and the need to get ahead that they completely disconnect from all the aspects of who they are.
This produces various forms of diseases, unhappiness and complete disempowerment. Their connection to all the aspects of them becomes week and they do not know how to balance it. Therefore it is important to consciously restore the balance between your body, mind and soul.
When you nurture all three aspects of you equally, you get a perfect balance between each of them. This gives you great health, pure positivity and happiness. You feel free and secure, you lose fear and you get into the flow of life – everything you desire comes into your experience easily.
To balance your body, mind and soul equally only requires to pay attention to each of them and not place any particular emphasis on any of them. Nourishing these aspects of you will give you numerous benefits and you will get closely connected to the true you.
It is important to keep the balance between all three aspects of you, because only then you will achieve a perfectly balanced life.
Some people feel that they are missing something but they do not understand what it is.
They usually make conclusions that they need an ideal partner, bigger house or more money to be happy. But these are all external things.
What they are really missing is the balance of their body, mind and soul. It is easy to achieve a perfect balance of these aspects once you know how to nurture each one of them.
How to nurture your body
To improve the health of your body you can do several things. Firstly, you should eat healthy food. It is true that ‘You are what you eat’ , therefore you should always make sure that you are eating food that is good for you.
Eating meat really damages your body because you absorb all the negative energies of the animal whose meat you eat. You will notice that if you stop eating meat you will become more positive, ‘lighter’ (hard to describe in other words) and you will be more receptive to the clues and signs from the universe which will help you attract good things into your experience.
You will also better understand the nature and animals. You will become closer to who you are because there will be less blockage in connection to your true self.
Fruit and vegetables are the best foods to eat, especially raw ones. They still have good life energy inside them, which is pure positiveness. So if you eat them regularly you will feel a big difference it makes to your health and your mental state.
The more alive the food, the better. The less alive it is (preserved, dried, etc.) the less good energy you can get from it.
Another great activity for you body is exercise. It tones and strengthens your body therefore your body becomes more immune to different weather conditions and diseases.
Exercise not only makes your body more resistible, but it also makes you more patient and increases your focus. The increase in your focus will be obvious from the great results you will get no matter what task you undertake.
You can also nurture your body by taking hot relaxing bath, going to a spa, having a massage or doing other relaxing and pleasurable activities.
How to nurture your mind
Although all the aspects of you are closely interlinked, your mind is interconnected with your body most. Therefore whatever you do for your mind almost always reflects in the body.
For example, if you think negatively, your body suffers from stress. If you think positively, your body relaxes and becomes more immune to diseases.
The quality of your thoughts results in what kind of health and general bodily conditions you have. It is important to watch and change your thoughts into only positive ones because your general well-being depends on it.
Meditation is also good for the mind because it stops its activity at least for 20 or so minutes during the day. That gives your mind a break and prevents it from overworking.
Positive affirmations are extremely useful too because by the constant repetition of a positive phrase you convince your mind (conscious and subconscious) of some good condition that you are experiencing.
Although this is a created condition and you still do not have it, through positive affirmations you convince your mind that it is your current reality. Therefore the evidence of what you affirm starts showing itself in your life.
Good reading and watching positive movies nurture your mind too. But it is far more better to read something positive than watch it. This is because when you watch any kind of programme, your focus shortens (on all subjects) therefore your work will not be of quality. Whereas if you read a positive book you get all the benefits (positive statement introduction to your mind, positive visualisations) without any drawbacks.
If you read many positive books, you should not be surprised that what you read actually manifests sometimes. This is because when you read something and see it in your mind, mix it with a positive emotion and ponder on it for a bit, it will manifest. However if after reading, you lower your vibration by becoming more negative, you will block such manifestation.
You may know people that live in a dream world, as some may describe them, hoping to meet their dream partners and live in amazing conditions. If they retain exactly the same mood in the reality as when they read positive books, their reality must reflect how they feel.
You may have noticed that such people are always getting what they desire, they are considered ‘lucky’ and everything they want comes their way.
This happens because they are closely aligned to who they really are. Such people always achieve what they want because by being positive they allow the universe to bring everything they like into their experience.
How to nurture your soul
You might think that it is almost impossible to nurture your soul because it is so intangible. But there are a few things you can do that will feed your soul.
Souls appreciate beauty and they crave for it constantly. When you are very disconnected from who you really are, you seem not to need to see beauty. People who enjoy violent movies are a perfect example of such disconnection.
They enjoy negative things because they are so away from who they are that they cannot hear the needs of their soul and they only feed their addictive ego.
When you become more in tune to who you really are you start realising that you constantly seek for beauty. This way your soul is telling you that it appreciates beauty.
There are many ways to nurture your soul through beauty. Going to art galleries, looking at nature, drawing, singing, listening to people singing, being very nice to someone, making people happy are all forms of beauty.
When you express or look at beauty you may feel relief inside you. This is the sign that your soul is appreciating the beauty.
When you really appreciate beauty and are immersed in it, you feel like at home. Different people have different beauty preferences. Some feel at home when they listen to the music, some – when they appreciate art.
I personally feel completely at home when looking at historical paintings, archaeological findings and all the aspects of ancient civilisations. They seem to give me such a relief and so much energy. I always feel like at home in such places. I am a frequent visitor of The British Museum for this reason.
You should try to find some form of beauty that makes you feel like at home – completely in tune with who you are. Such feeling will benefit you immensely.
Conclusion
Some people are so involved in their daily struggles and the need to get ahead that they completely disconnect from all the aspects of who they are.
This produces various forms of diseases, unhappiness and complete disempowerment. Their connection to all the aspects of them becomes week and they do not know how to balance it. Therefore it is important to consciously restore the balance between your body, mind and soul.
When you nurture all three aspects of you equally, you get a perfect balance between each of them. This gives you great health, pure positivity and happiness. You feel free and secure, you lose fear and you get into the flow of life – everything you desire comes into your experience easily.
To balance your body, mind and soul equally only requires to pay attention to each of them and not place any particular emphasis on any of them. Nourishing these aspects of you will give you numerous benefits and you will get closely connected to the true you.
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