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.
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.
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.
Is it worth it to work with a mentor or life coach? There are differing opinions. Today
GenuLines looks at some considerations if you choose to go in this direction.
Can A Mentor Be A Positive Force In Your Life?
You’re going to get beaten down at certain points in your life. The negativity and competitiveness you encounter can be brutal.
If nothing seems to be working for you, it may be time for a mentor.
Mentors view your life from an outsider’s perspective. They can suggest changes to make while encouraging you for what you’re doing right.
A good mentor can (and should) be sensitive to how he or she presents your critique. They can also give you the encouragement that helps restore your self-belief.
The intention is to reignite the spark that has been missing in your life. When you get that back, there’ll be no stopping you.
Choosing your mentor
You want to be selective in choosing your potential candidates. Ask good questions.
Get critiques from anyone who’s used the mentors you are considering. Get the terms of the agreement in writing.
And make sure you include accountability on the part of the mentor you choose.
Of course, you need to be accountable to the mentor, as well. It’s great to have a mentor give you advice.
But, if you don’t take it, you’re wasting your time and money.
Be aware that the help he or she provides is likely to put you outside your comfort zone. You’ll be doing tasks that you never imagined you would.
You’ll find this both scary and exciting. And your results may surprise you.
If it doesn’t work
Then again you may not get the results the mentor suggested you would. This is where holding them accountable comes into play.
If you’re meeting your end of the deal, you should be critical when you aren’t making progress. Your agreement should come with milestones, and you deliver payment based on them.
If you pay everything up front, you lose the accountability factor. A good mentor would be willing to accept payment based on milestones.
They know they can deliver.
You can use a mentor for more than guiding your career. It can be for personal reasons as well.
Life coaching is a growing field, though some question its effectiveness.
Our guest on the next Chi For Yourself is Dr. Stuart Eisendrath, author of WHEN ANTIDEPRESSANTS AREN’T ENOUGH: Harnessing The Power of Mindfulness to Alleviate Depression.
You can listen in today as I record the show, but it won’t be available on the ChiForYourself.com Start Page.
Instead, we’re going to use the Chi For Yourself Facebook Community page. Join us today at 1 pm Eastern, 10 am Pacific time at the Chi For Yourself Facebook Community page.
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.
If your 9-5 routine is getting the best of you it may be time to look at time management software. GenuLines puts forth some points to consider so you can get the upper hand.
Ready For Routine Time Management Software?
Struggling to keep up with the demands of life? Maybe it’s time to consider a software program to organize your tasks.
The program can be as simple as alerting you when a certain task needs starting or when one is due. Most email packages will let you do this.
If your email doesn’t help, you can find free scheduling or calendar packages online. If all else fails, Google has a calendar package that you can use for this purpose.
To boost your productivity you may want a more robust solution. For this time management software might do the trick.
These programs track your activity down to the minute, and even to the second.
Many let you set up your tasks ahead of time. The time slots you block out will infer the amount of time you estimated for each task.
When you complete a task, you mark it as complete on the program.
And these time management programs feature reports. These will show you how well you did with your estimations for your tasks.
They will alert you when you did not complete the task in the time allotted. This information can help you refine your estimates for future schedules.
Some people freak out over sophisticated programs and figure they can’t use them. They feel the programs track at too granular a level.
They also feel that their company managers could use these programs against them. Employees feel pressured to get their work completed in the estimated time.
This is especially stressful if the managers are the ones setting the estimates.
Not just a routine decision
If you decide to use a time management program, you need to make sure you update it when you complete the tasks. This is something that could take a bit of time to get used to doing.
You also need to account for activities that pop up that you didn’t allow for and weren’t on your schedule. The better packages will be able to cope with those problems.
Check online for the term “time management” and use the results to see what’s available. Consider the price against your budget, and try to find software that allows you to try before you buy.
You say you don’t trust yourself? Did you know that the same feelings can filter down to your kids too?
Your Children May Not Trust Themselves
Lack of self-trust is far from uncommon. It’s possible that you developed this tendency while you were growing up.
You can pick it up as a kid and carry it into your adult life. You pass it on to your kids, and they do the same to theirs.
Your actions and exchanges may be subtle. Your kids will hear what you and your spouse talk about as well as discussions by, or with, other family members.
You may well do things that you’re not even aware of, but your kids will pick up on those, too.
It’s a difficult situation because you want your kids to be safe. But you don’t want to suggest that they give a pass to everyone without question.
A delicate balance
Trusting yourself requires trusting others. That’s where the difficulty can creep in.
You’ve likely been burned by a few people enough times to warrant your caution. But, these experiences can also resonate with your children.
Aim for a balance. You want them to trust certain people while remaining mindful through the process.
Of course, you want to teach your kids always to be trustworthy themselves, even if others don’t respond in kind.
Minus that, self-trust will be near impossible.
If they let others down, they won’t have any reason to develop an internal trust. So you and your partner will want to doublecheck your own trustworthiness.
You may be trustworthy toward kids but not to other people. That can send the wrong signals to kids if you tell them they should be trustworthy to others.
It will leave them confused and unsure of what to do. In the long run, they’ll be untrustworthy, and they won’t develop self-trust.
Be sure to talk to your kids to help them develop the balance between caution and trust. If they have questions, be open to answering them.
Try not to take offense if they say you’re sending mixed signals with regards to trust. Find a balance and your kids will likely find it too.
Your family will have the necessary means to trust each other and yourselves. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth the effort.
When you believe in yourself, good things happen. GenuLines reminds you that the benefits extend to your business success.
Read on to find out more.
Believe In Yourself, Believe In Your Business
So you’ve started a new business, and you’re excited. No more working for someone else.
You’re on your own. You’re the boss.
Your spouse is excited knowing that you’re doing something you’ve wanted to do. Then, a few months pass, and you haven’t made a dime in your business.
Suddenly, you feel the stress of business ownership.
Suppliers are calling asking for their money. You’ve already sent a lot of of your savings into setting up your business.
Your spouse becomes less confident, and your friends are all telling you to throw in the towel.
They’re saying that you gave it your best shot, but it’s time to find a regular job.
Many would follow this advice and let the business fold.
But, people who make it in business stick it out for one reason – they believe in what they’re doing.
They know that in time the concept will work. They just need to stick it out.
It’s this resolve that allows them to succeed.
Of course, just putting in the time and doing busy work is not going to advance your business. You need to have a solid foundation at the start.
You could set up a roadmap or business plan. This will answer questions about how you will make your business work.
Treat this process as though you’re going to raise venture capital funds, even if you aren’t.
Try to put yourself in the position of a venture capital entrepreneur. Ask tough questions of yourself for your business.
Your Plan B
Consider making an alternate plan in case your main plan falls short of your goals. You might fail for any number of reasons and having a backup plan is a wise move to counter any problems.
Once your foundation is in place, you only need to take a leap of faith and believe that you can make it work.
You may face challenges. They’ll come from any and all directions- spouse, friends, family.
But you’ll have the conviction to see it through because you believe in yourself.
Now, there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed. What’s guaranteed is that you won’t succeed if you give up too soon.
Often, success is right around the corner for those who have that conviction. And for those willing to continue despite all the challenges they face.
You can be one of the few who makes it if you choose to take this route.