Tag Archive for peace of mind

The Power of Self-Belief

December 10, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Self-belief makes you unstoppable. Don’t believe it?

Allow GenuLines to offer you a little reminder of how this works.

The Power of Self-Belief

You’ve heard it before. If you believe in yourself, there’s little to stop you in whatever your pursuits.

It gives you the power to push forward and to defy the odds. You’ll be able to handle any roadblocks that come your way.

And you’ll brush off the naysayers.

It gives you peace of mind when you stick to your self-belief. To keep that self-belief strong, you need to define your goals.

You wouldn’t expect a general to fight a war without a map. You too need a map to guide you on how to proceed.

Too many people skip this step and wonder why they aren’t getting anywhere. Goals are your guidance, but carrying through with them is only done when you believe that it’s possible.

This belief is the energy you need to take action.

It helps you to focus on getting your tasks completed. You’ll also build confidence when you have self-belief.

It’s a powerful tool that will attract others to your confidence.

They’ll follow your lead, and you’ll help show them what is possible. When you run into any stumbling blocks (and you will), that confidence will help you see them through.

You’ll know how to take alternative action when necessary. The people following you will respect that as well. Several forces will try to beat you down.

You may even find yourself letting it happen.

You need to get centered on why you started your journey in the first place. Use affirmations to reinforce your message.

Be consistent with your affirmations

Unfortunately, many of the negative forces are going to be from your family and friends. They will see it as helping you avoid mistakes.

Many people will succumb to this negative pressure and give up. One way to prevent this is to join groups of like-minded individuals.

These can be connections to your business. Or they can be groups that focus on self-help.

These organizations exist to try and push the negative forces out. It’s great to go to meetings and get encouragement from the group.

These associations can lead to friendships that help you encourage each other. You may even form business partnerships from these friendships.

It’s good to know that you have this kind of support. They understand when everyone else around you doesn’t.

Your self-belief will get a shot in the arm, too.

JohnK 12-10-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit”

~E. E. Cummings

Article Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Make a List of Everything You Are Grateful For

December 3, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Business magnate Richard Branson says he’s “passionate about lists.” What’s on your lists?

GenuLines suggests making a list that proclaims your gratitude.

Make a List of Everything You Are Grateful For

You may forget the little things that you’re grateful for in your life. But, if you keep them in plain sight, it can help you reinforce your gratitude.

So why not write them down, and keep them close by?

If you find yourself overwhelmed by negative feelings, refer to your list. It can serve as a way to reset your negativity.

Think of all the things you’re grateful for and start listing them. If you get stuck, think about the people in your life.

Who gives you happy thoughts?

List the aspects of what those people do to make you happy. If you love the way your spouse smiles at you, write that down.

It can be something simple, such as reading the newspaper on the train. The point is, no item is too small to add to the list.

Do you love the jokes that the server tells you when you get your cup of coffee and your muffin? That goes on the list, too.

Your list should never be complete as you will find new experiences and people to add to it. Each day, there is potential for people to make a small difference in your life.

But, remember that you make differences in other peoples’ lives as well.

Try to make those experiences more positive than negative. If people around you bring you down either avoid them or try to help them to be more positive.

If you are the one bringing people down, you need to try and reverse this.

The list will be a big factor in helping you. Negative and bitter feelings stem from not appreciating your life and all the things in it.

That’s one reason why keeping a list is so important.

You can choose to write this list on a piece of paper, or keep it on an electronic device. It doesn’t matter how you store it, but you want it to be accessible.

Commit to reading it and make regular updates to it. Add to it as you find more things that you are grateful for in your life.

Maintaining this list could be the basis for a book that you write about appreciating your life. By publishing your list, you may help others do the same.

Reading your ideas might spark them to be grateful, too.

JohnK 12-3-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Lists today are a way of trying to get through the day because we are losing a sense of time”

~David Viscott

Article Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Learn the Facts Before Passing Judgment

November 26, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Mark Twain once said, “facts are stubborn things.” And GenuLines knows that not checking the facts can kick you like a stubborn mule!

Learn the Facts Before Passing Judgment

Adversity often occurs when people react without having all the facts. Sometimes, they’ll think they have the facts but they’ve learned the wrong information.

Avoiding these situations is a matter of getting the facts and making sure they”re correct.

When you have the facts on your side, you can present your argument.

Further, you will be less likely to make a judgment about a situation because the facts back it up. This will prevent you from getting yourself and others into any trouble.

The internet offers us a vast pool of information. But people tend to be too willing to trust any information they find.

They get a false sense of security, believing that the first search engine results are the best. That’s not always the case.

Search engine results change with time. You can get different results from one search to the next on the same search engine.

Look for a variety of sources that you believe carry authority.

For instance, when you look for medical advice, don’t stop at a site such as WebMD.com and call it quits. While this website may have qualified advice, it’s not the only source.

Another could be the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) website.

When you find other websites, look for sources that the articles cite.

Are they valid sources?

Check to make sure they’re from authoritative people.

Watch for red flags. Like blogs that make claims but don’t cite sources.

Anyone can create a blog, and have it published in minutes. They’re free to publish whatever they like.

That’s why readers must be critical of every source they treat as fact.

There’s nothing wrong with a blogger posting an obvious opinion piece. But, don’t accept the post as fact.

Treat it as a good starting point for your research.

You’ll hear people cite Wikipedia.org as a source for their facts. While that resource has gotten better at fact-checking, don’t lose sight that anyone can add and make changes to it.

Still, it does have some uses. At the end of most articles, there’s a wealth of resources and links that authors often include.

Use them for further research.

JohnK 11-26-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”

~Arthur Conan Doyle (The Boscombe Valley Mystery)

Post image by Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Does Your To-Do List Work For You?

November 19, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

A to-do list can help keep order in your life. But does your list make the grade?

This GenuLines overview will help you get up to speed.

Does Your To-Do List Work For You?

The to-do list is a helpful tool. Something is satisfying about checking off an item when completed.

It can also be a reference when a boss wants to know employees’ progress. But, are you doing the right tasks to meet your longer-term goals?

That can leave you feeling as though you aren’t progressing.

Worse, you’ll be going through the motions of “doing something.” This will make the process of not getting anywhere that much more frustrating.

To-do lists are a good idea. But, you need to make sure they’re in-line with your goals.

You should consider taking a top-down approach to your tasks rather than bottom-up.

Start with your long-term goals

Where do you see yourself in a few years from now? If you can’t answer that question, you need to do some soul-searching.

Find what you want to accomplish at a high-level. Then, you can use that to break it down into granular tasks.

Finally, you use the mid-level tasks to help define the to-do list that you use daily. People put off setting long-term goals because the time frame seems so far in the future.

How can you be expected to know what’s going to happen five to ten years from now? It’s much easier to choose the shorter-term time frames.

You can measure what happens two weeks from now as it’s going to happen soon.

Commitment

Some people believe that declaring a long term goal and chiseling it in stone commits them to it. Remember that circumstances can change, and goal adjusting may be called for.

Don’t be afraid to commit to your goals. You may want to create a few long-term goals.

As you’re working on what it will take to reach those goals, you can decide which path makes the most sense. You can take into account both feasibility and costs.

Some goals become unattainable for one reason or another, so prepare to change course. In fact, if you can project these possibilities, you can put them on your list of goals.

Set your goals and break them down into sub-tasks. Creating your to-do lists will become easier.

And, they’ll get you closer to accomplishing your goals.

JohnK 11-19-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “The best cure for a sluggish mind is to disturb its routine”

~William H. Danforth

Trust Your Choices To Work For You

November 12, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

You trust others, but in yourself, you’re not so sure. Are you in this camp?

Today GenuLines offers some ideas to help you turn this around.

Trust Your Choices To Work For You

You may have a difficult time trusting yourself. If so, you’re not alone.

Often, when you lose trust in others, you start to lose trust in yourself.

To help you overcome this problem, you need to focus on key aspects of trust. The first is to be mindful of your accomplishments.

Pass off your accomplishments as unimportant and they won’t be there to draw on when you need them. That’s sure to interrupt the process of trusting yourself.

Trust your instincts

This feeling will put you on target if it comes from the deepest part of you. An instinct is something you feel strongly about and does not come only from experiences.

It comes from something internal that defies explanation. It’s part of that inner voice that is telling you what to do.

You need only listen. How many times have you said to yourself that you should have listened to your instincts?

Opening up to others

A funny thing happens when you let others into your life. You find that you become more trusting of yourself.

Don’t be afraid to need other people.

Draw from the strength of others to supplement what you know. It’ll unburden you from feeling as though you have to do everything yourself.

And it will open you to the possibilities of trusting yourself.

Filter out negative information

You’re bombarded with negativity throughout your life. You get it every day in the news, at work, and too often, at home.

The more you learn to focus on positivity in your life, the easier it will be to trust yourself. A good first step towards this goal is to avoid negative people.

Trusting yourself sometimes requires a leap of faith. Take some chances.

Risk

Sure, you want to take calculated risks. But you don’t want to over-analyze every decision you make.

That will only cause you to stagnate.

It’s true that not everything will work out the way you plan. But you’ll never know unless you try.

The good news is that when you’re ready to try, many of your decisions will work for you.

JohnK 11-12-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”

~Ernest Hemingway

Article image by skeeze from Pixabay

Adversity And Life Coaches: Should You Buy In?

October 22, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

At certain times in your life, you find yourself weighed down by adversity. You wouldn’t mind having another “hand on the wheel.”

GenuLines looks at life coaches and whether one is right for you.

Adversity And Life Coaches: Should You Buy In?

Good life coaches work to help you with various aspects of your life. They can show you the parts that are holding you back.

They can also help you when you face adversity. And they can give you the guidance you need to help you pick up the pieces and get back on track.

They may start by teaching you to be positive. Techniques can include affirmations to retrain your brain to think positive thoughts.

That’s one of the biggest means to deal with adverse situations. Positivity won’t shield you from hard times, but it will help you focus on what’s important.

You need to practice these affirmations for them to be effective. It’s not a casual exercise that you do whenever the mood strikes.

Make it a daily habit. Your mentor will know if you’re not practicing them.

Prepare for the truth

The truth hurts, but it may be what you need to get through your situation. You’ll hear it when you get caught up in blaming others and not taking responsibility.

A good coach will present it in such a way that you’ll come to the conclusions yourself. And that makes it easier for you to accept and counter the action.

Don’t be quick to blame the life coach if things don’t work out (This assumes you chose a qualified coach)

It’s not difficult to find a good coach if you take the right steps. Check the internet.

Do a bit of digging to learn about each coach’s background. Coaches are going to encourage you to step outside your comfort zone.

Most coaches will use this to help clients break away from bad habits and form new ones.

It’s called a comfort zone for a reason. It will be awkward, and at times, you may get angry at their suggestions.

One thing to keep in mind. If your adversity was born out of trauma a life coach may not be a good idea.

If this is the case, seek out a qualified professional.

Your life coach is still an option for working with with other aspects of your development.

JohnK 10-22-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “There is no education like adversity”

~Benjamin Disraeli

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

disclaimer to help you through adversity

Teaching Kids About Routine Through Chores

September 10, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Chances are you don’t think much about your daily routine. Your kids probably don’t think much about routine, either.

But in this article, GenuLines looks at teaching about routine while getting some things done around the house!

Teaching Kids About Routine Through Chores

Give kids their chores and you can expect to hear some moaning and groaning. Even if you tie the chores to an allowance.

They’ll be happy on payday, but not thrilled to know they have to work for the bucks.

But, giving your kids chores teaches them much more than work for pay. Often there are considerations that go with the chores.

For instance, they’ll have to check the oil before using the lawnmower. They’ll have to make sure the mower has enough gas.

And, of course, they’ve got to know how to start it.

If weed-whacking is part of the job they’ll need to learn that that comes first. Kids will also learn they have to do their chores on a regular basis.

This routine instills in them the idea of a work ethic. Sticking with the mowing example, the kids will most likely have to do this once per week.

Easy does it

Even tasks that seem easy and don’t need a routine will have some sort of process. For instance, before kids load and run the dishwasher they’ll have to rinse some of the dishes.

They’ll have to load the machine in a way that none of the wash load breaks. Then, they load the soap dispenser and turn on the machine.

It’s a process much like any other.

You may not have thought about this but video games can teach kids about how to use routines to their benefit. Many of the games go through sequences and steps for advancing to the next round.

Knowing these steps keeps the game fun and interesting.

School sports for kids mean coaches and drills. These drills teach them the techniques needed to win games.

You can think of those as routines.

They’re meant to help the kids use the skills when they’re playing the game. The more they do the drills, the less they’ll need to think about what to do when they start playing.

The routines kids learn from their chores will carry through to their adult life. When they start their working life, they’ll be well versed in processes and routines.

JohnK 9-10-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.”

~W. H. Auden

Get “There’s An Old Saying” Here

Photo Image by LaterJay Photography from Pixabay

How to Use Failure to Strengthen Belief in Yourself

August 27, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Does the thought of failure fill you with dread? You’re not alone.

Read on as GenuLines looks at some ideas to help you believe in yourself and to loosen failure’s grip.

How to Use Failure to Strengthen Belief in Yourself

One of the best tools for dealing with failure is failure itself. You can examine it to figure out what went wrong.

You can look back on the steps you took and try to find the exact point of failure. Then you’ll be able to choose alternative steps based on this information.

You do need to be honest in your assessment of why the failure happened.

If you blame others for your failures, you’ll mask the causes, and you’ll never move on. It’s easier to blame others rather than admit mistakes.

But you aren’t doing yourself any favors when you do this.

Recognizing your failure is important, but don’t be hypercritical. Putting yourself down because you failed won’t help your cause.

Know that failure happens and embrace it. Then, you can take a step back and figure out your next move.

Learning from others

You can get inspiration from the failure of others. People write about their trials and tribulations in books.

They record videos about their setbacks. Their experiences can help you by giving you tips on how to avoid the mistakes they made.

Using this approach can help you turn things around at a much faster rate. If you’re not doing this yet, give it some thought.

Drawing from the experiences of others also shows you that you aren’t alone. Many of the most successful people overcame obstacles.

Their stories can help you feel better about your own slip-ups.

In other words, if they did it, so can you. That too is a powerful benefit of using failure to your advantage.

If you’re repeating the same mistakes over and over, it’s time to take a hard look at what you’re doing. If you’re struggling to break that cycle, you may want to find a coach who can help you.

Sometimes, that extra push can be all that you need to get you to break out of the pattern.

JohnK 8-27-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Failure is success if we learn from it”

~Malcolm Forbes

Photo #1 by David Kovalenko on Unsplash

Photo #2 by Woodsy on RGBstockcom

How to Handle Being Laid Off

July 9, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Being laid off sucks! As a broadcaster for many years, I experienced this over and over again.

Read on for the GenuLines look at ways to deal with layoffs.

How to Handle Being Laid Off

You wake up every day and think about what you’ll need to do when you get to work. Once you get there you feel overwhelmed, but you know it’s good to have a job that pays the bills.

This time, your boss calls you and several other coworkers into a conference room. A Human Resources person is at the meeting, too.

Then, your boss gives you the news that you’re losing your job.

Image by www_slon_pics from Pixabay

Your first thoughts are how are you going to pay the bills? Do you have enough money to cover your expenses for the next several months?

Where will I find a new job?

Even when you find something, it could take months before you end up starting it.

Don’t panic

Losing your job is a blow. But, it’s not the end of the world.

You’ll find something.

Or you may feel the urge to start an online business. It’s never been easier or cheaper to get something going.

Of course, taking that route isn’t an instant path to riches. It still takes work.

Don’t spend too much time on what happened with your job. Instead, focus on how you’re going to rectify the situation.

That focuses your energy and lessens the chance of having gaps in your work history.

Avoid crutches

Getting fired moves some people toward drugs and alcohol. It’s easy to get hooked, and once you do, it’s challenging to overcome the situation.

It could lead to you postponing your job search. Worse, you will likely alienate your family and friends.

Contrary to popular belief, alcohol is a depressant. If you’re pessimistic about your situation, it’ll drag you down even more.

Cut back on spending. Don’t rack up credit card balances that can reach unmanageable levels.

If you’ve saved some money for emergencies, use it instead of hitting up the credit.

If you find yourself strapped for cash, make sure you pay your mortgage or rent before other bills. You don’t want the bank hounding you or foreclosing on your property.

You can negotiate the payment terms on other bills.

JohnK 7-9-2019

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “Keep doing some kind of work, that the devil may always find you employed”

~St. Jerome

Knowledge, Trust and Being a Know-It-All

June 25, 2019 John Uncategorized No comments

Question: When is knowledge not a good thing?

Answer: when it goes to your head!

This GenuLines offering is aimed at keeping you grounded while acquiring and using your knowledge.

(Image by Tumisu from Pixabay)

Knowledge, Trust and Being a Know-It-All

It’s said that knowledge is power. It gives you the power to make decisions and even keeps you from making the wrong ones.

But, trouble comes into play when you get to the place where you believe you know everything. That can hurt your ability to make those decisions.

At that point, you’ll lose trust in your abilities.

You’re one smart cookie. After all, you went to a respected college.

You landed a great job after graduation.

But once you start working, you come to believe that you know everything there is to know. That’s when you’re in danger of losing your edge.

You’ll start to make bad decisions which could end up costing you a job or two.

It’s important to trust yourself with the knowledge you’ve learned. Just remember, times and technologies change, and you need to be ready for those changes.

Too many people get left behind by getting comfortable in their current positions.

Companies have been trying to help by offering training or tuition reimbursement. It’s a step in the right direction.

But without appropriate corporate or college training it’s a waste of money.

There’s another danger with companies that offer internal training. They can blame employees when those employees don’t learn from the offerings.

Even if employees learn their knowledge may not boost the bottom line.

These companies don’t rate the effectiveness of their programs.

What’s worse are broad claims that their training makes them leading-edge firms.

There are some great training programs online. These include websites such as Udemy.com, SkillShare.com, and others.

Keep in mind, though, that anyone can submit training modules. This can make your selection process hit or miss.

There are good offerings with these programs. But, you’ll want to get feedback from others.

Expired knowledge

No matter where you find training there’s a chance it will be out-of-date.

And sometimes courses get high ratings based on the fact that they’re well-presented. That gives you a false sense of security.

Be selective when choosing training for the current work environment. Be critical, but don’t let it stop you from seeking training.

Good training exists. Ask people you know for suggestions.

Stay in learning mode, no matter where you went to school or how much knowledge you think you have. In a world that keeps on changing, you’ll be way ahead of the curve.

And you’ll have the tools you need to trust your decisions.

JohnK 6-25-2019

chiforyourself.com home