Personal Development and Self Improvement» Personal Development

7 Ways to Discover Your Life Purpose

blogadmin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:06:05 +0000

Photo by Denis Collette…!!!There are many avenues to explore when it comes to discovering your life purpose. Unfortunately, though, nobody else can find it for you. Since your life purpose is unique from anyone else’s, it’s a mission that you – and only you – can complete.

In your quest for passion, concentrate on enjoying the journey itself. Sometimes when you stop stressing about your life’s purpose, it falls into your lap!

Here are some ways you can discover your life purpose:

Write about how you feel. Try journaling with a pen and paper, or grab your laptop and just start writing. Write about how you truly feel and what you want out of life. Remember that no one is going to read this other than you, so don’t be afraid to express your thoughts.
- Go back and reread your entries every so often. Many times this process can bring you new realizations that you didn’t think of when you were writing it in the first place.
Pursue your passions. If you’re passionate about a certain subject, maybe you can make a career or hobby out of it so that you can engage in activities that are personally meaningful to you. This way, each day of your life will feel like it matters and you will have a life purpose.
Consider your talents. Think about the areas in which you naturally excel and see if you can turn these skills into something meaningful for you.
- Many people are drawn to a life purpose that makes them feel like they’re making a true difference in the lives of other people. You may find it fulfilling to be using something you’re good at to help others that are in need.
- For example, if you find that you’re good at comforting people, perhaps you can consider a career as a counselor.
Converse with inspiring people. Strike up a conversation with someone who inspires you. While you might not be interested in the same things, you can talk about how they discovered their life purpose. Their triumphs and struggles will make good lessons for you in your journey to your purpose.
What brings you joy? Reflect on the moments in your life when you’re most happy. What are you doing at these times? You can start the quest for your life purpose by using what already makes you happy.
- Maybe you’re most happy when you’re just sitting at home with your family. That’s a wonderful gift!
- Remember that you’re not necessarily searching for something exotic! After all, your life purpose may already be under your nose.
Embrace change. Sometimes the thing that holds you back from self-discovery is a fear of change. There’s comfort and safety in not taking risks, but you also may never discover your life’s true purpose. Learn to embrace change because life is constantly changing around you.
Uphold your values. Everyone has a set of values that they tend to adhere to in life. You can use your values as a starting point to discovering you life purpose. Make a list of your values with your most important ones at the top. Think about what you can do to honor those values in life every day and you may find your purpose.

Finding your purpose in life may not be as hard as you think. Use these strategies on your journey and one day soon you’ll realize that you’ve found the one feature of your life that makes everything worthwhile.

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You ARE Worth It!

blogadmin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:48 +0000

A Guide to Healthy Self-Esteem

Photo by Coast Guard BMA healthy self-esteem is a starting point for a happy life. Unfortunately, when you lack self-esteem, you also lack the ability to reach your true potential. Why? Because your thoughts are truly powerful!

It All Starts With Your Beliefs

Most people have heard the statement, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” but few people actually take it to heart. For some reason big goals seem unattainable and an “I can’t” mentality takes over.

While everyone experiences negative thoughts from time to time, you may need to make an extra effort to get through these challenges. Positive thoughts must be victorious in the end!

Tips For Developing Self-Esteem

Developing a healthy self-esteem doesn’t need to be a difficult task. There are small changes you can make to get yourself on the right track.

Try following these strategies to help you develop a healthy self-esteem:

Ignore negativity from others. For some reason, many people get into the habit of putting others down. You know you shouldn’t listen to these people, but sometimes you take what they’re saying to heart. It’s especially hurtful when it’s coming from someone you love.
- Some people will even steer you in the wrong direction because they think they’re doing the right thing. When it comes down to it, you’re the only one that knows yourself and your dreams. You simply can’t let anyone stand in the way!
Learn to accept compliments. You might toss off compliments as lies because some people may have ulterior motives. While this might be true, in most cases people are being genuine. After all, most people won’t go out of their way to give you a false compliment.
- Accepting compliments will help you discover what you’re good at and strengthen your self-confidence.
Get a life coach. Life coaches are in the business of helping you live your life to its fullest potential. You don’t need to be scared or embarrassed to seek one out. If a life coach doesn’t seem feasible for you, you can look into getting some self-help guides.
- Go online or to a local bookstore to find some relevant workbooks and resources.
Use affirmations. Affirmations are great self-esteem boosters because they show your brain what you already know you can achieve. They bring positive energy into the present moment.
- You can read affirmations on the subjects of your choice or you can get into the habit of writing your own affirmations. Nothing can be more targeted to your true feelings than your own words!
Avoid comparing yourself to others. It’s easy to get into the habit of comparing yourself negatively to other people. Remind yourself that everyone is unique. You’re equipped with your own set of strengths and weaknesses, so the best thing you can do for yourself is concentrate on developing your own strengths.

Follow Your Dreams

Once you’ve worked on your initial feelings about self worth, it’s time to take a step in the right direction. A part of a healthy self-esteem is having the drive to take action toward your goals.

Have a plan and follow through. If you feel that you’ve improved your self-esteem but then fail to take action towards your dream, it will only be a matter of time before your self-esteem begins to wane again.

When you’re faced with challenges, actively seek solutions. When you do, you’ll soon notice what a positive role your healthy self-esteem plays in your life!

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Guide to Discovering Your Purpose

blogadmin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:21:12 +0000

What Is The Meaning of Life? A Guide to Discovering Your Purpose

Photo by Jari SchroderusThe meaning of life is one of those sought after quests that can never truly be answered. There are just too many opinions and personal definitions for any one meaning to be true for everyone.

Also, there are certain topics in life that can simply never be fully described with mere words, such as true love and true self.

Some will say that discovering the meaning behind true love and your true self is the meaning of life. What do you think?

Discovering Your Purpose

While you might feel a bit confused, you can start to find meaning in your life by discovering your true purpose. For some, this comes easily but for others it may take some deep soul searching. Your true purpose is not necessarily a job or something concrete, although it could be. There are no rules to follow, just the rules set out by your heart.

Try some of the following activities when searching for your true purpose:

Brainstorm. Find a time and place where you can have some quiet self-reflection. Just start writing down ideas on what you think your true purpose might be. You may not arrive at it at first, but you’ll eventually come across something that hits the nail on the head.
Activities and hobbies. Reflect on your favorite activities and hobbies. Can you turn any of them into a life’s purpose? Some people feel that if they take their hobbies further it’ll start to feel like any old job. This won’t be the case if you’ve truly found your purpose.
Skills and intelligence. If there are certain skills and abilities that you’re good at, perhaps you should try pursuing those, even if you didn’t think you wanted to before.
- Also, you might want to look into a theory called Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner. Gardner describes how everyone has a type of intelligence and it might not always be what is typically accepted as intelligence, such as a high IQ.
Happiness. Ask yourself whether or not you’re happy in your current life situation. If you are, perhaps you’ve already found your life’s purpose or you’re on the correct path to it. If you’re unhappy, see if you can isolate the reasons why. Once you know why, you can take action to correct the imbalance.
Regrets. Make an effort to let go of your regrets. These never serve a positive purpose in your life. However, if you identify your regrets, perhaps you can use them to help you discover your purpose. Perhaps there’s something you regret that you can correct. Often times, it’s not too late to make a positive change!
- For example, if you’re in your 50s and you always wanted to go to college, you shouldn’t let anything stand in the way between you and your dream.
Religion. If you’re a religious person, it’s likely that your religion discusses life and meaning. Search through religious books or seek out a spiritual advisor to learn more about the meaning of life.

Follow Your Bliss

To put it quite simply, if you’re following your bliss, you’re on the road to discovering your true purpose. You’ll also be discovering your personal definition for the meaning of life.

Remember, you’ll always have outside influences when it comes to finding life’s meaning, but following your heart is the only true answer.

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How to Think Positively in Tough Times

blogadmin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:57:03 +0000

Sometimes it’s hard to look on the bright side even when things are going fairly well. When you’re going through tough times, gaining the “glass is half full” mentality can be a feat in itself!

Don’t Get Overwhelmed

When you’re in the middle of a stressful situation, it’s important to disallow over-anxious and over-analyzed thoughts. You really don’t want to overwhelm yourself with an over-stimulated mind because the added stress will only strain your mind further and you’ll find it nearly impossible to think positively.

Ways To Look On The Bright Side

How you go about transforming difficult situations into positive outcomes will differ each time. Your goal should be to discover a set of strategies that works well for you. It might take some experimenting, but that’s okay!

Consider the following ways to achieve a positive mindset:

Avoid feeling sorry for yourself. Feeling sorry for yourself only wastes precious brainpower and it’s not going to help you out in the long run. Instead, strive to gain the wisdom to accept your situation and focus on solutions, instead of sorrow or worry. Everyone has to travel through tough times at some point; it’s just a part of life!
Find the life lesson. It may be hard to find the silver lining, but it’s almost always hiding somewhere. All of your experiences – both good and bad – contribute to your life’s knowledge. Be thankful for what you know!
- Reflect on the fact that you’ve gained wisdom and knowledge that may help you make better decisions and cope well in the future.
Start small. Take some time to reflect on the difficult situation. If you’re having trouble finding a positive manner of thinking, just start by smiling at yourself in the mirror. You might not feel happy right away, but it sure will be hard not to feel happy when you see a beautiful smiling face staring back at you!
- You can also consider the use of positive affirmations to help you through tough times. The more frequently you repeat your affirmations, the sooner you’ll ingrain the positive beliefs into your subconscious.
Stop worrying. When you’re going through a tough situation, sometimes your worries can overtake you. The future might seem scary and bleak and you’re not sure what you should do. As you know, worrying isn’t going to help the situation in the least. Instead, the moment worry creeps in, redirect your mind onto something positive or reassuring.
- Stay calm and start brainstorming some practical solutions.
Be brave about change. Change is inevitable and most often you don’t even notice that it’s happening. During tough times, however, you’re likely more sensitive to the changes that are taking place.
- Think about change as an exciting adventure. You’ll never know what you can discover and learn until you’re open to change.

Help From Others

When you’re going through a tough time, your instincts might be to pull inward. Perhaps you don’t want people to see you in a vulnerable state or you want to solve your problems all on your own. However, you must resist this urge to shut people out! Remember, you’re never alone. Your family and loved ones are always there to help you get through any challenging situation, but only if you allow them to!

Of course, your loved ones may not be able to solve your problem outright, but they can provide you with a fantastic support system and help you brainstorm different avenues for problem solving.

As hard as it may seem now, it is possible for you to think positively when you’re enduring tough times. Use these simple positive thinking strategies to help you change your mindset quicker than you ever thought possible!

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From Where Does Personal Development Begin?

blogadmin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:11:32 +0000

Jacklyn Ker & Stuart Tan

First the heart

Where does personal development begin in a person? It begins first in the heart, then in the mind. It begins with a desire in the heart. My friend Jacklyn Ker was a lupus patient for many years. Her condition had worsened and developed into many complications to a point that she needed dialysis. In her despair, she attempted suicide several times. One day when Jacklyn woke up on the hospital bed, she determined in her heart that she would improve on her attitude. She decided to snap out of her despair. Instead of being a burden on her family, she began supporting herself by becoming a cab driver. Her cheerful and positive attitude eventually caused a miracle to take place in her body. Today she is a healthy person, financially independent and a Jade Ambassador of a network marketing company.

Personal Development is meant to be personal

I used to snuff at personal development, particularly when it was shoved down my throat. How do you like having people come to you and say, “Do this! Follow these seven steps and be a better person. Write down your goals and action plans and show it to me. From now on, you are to commit yourself to achieving these goals.” Everyday at work, your boss set departmental goals. You are asked to set your personal goals and action plans. List down the courses you plan to attend. Clock up a hundred hours worth of courses in a year. At the end of the year, neither you nor your department achieved its goals. Work review is nothing more than a fault finding session and you are threatened to work harder than you should.

Jacklyn Ker

The problem here is that these goals are not mine to begin with. I have absolutely no desire to achieve them. You can dream up any goals, write them down, pin it up on your bedroom walls and stare at them everyday and it is not going to change a thing. If you examine deep down inside yourself, are you serious about it? Do you really want it? Unless you want it, you are not going to achieve it because you are absolutely not going to do anything towards achieving it. Unless you desire it, you are not going to have it.

Then the mind

After you have desired it in your heart, the transformation will next take place in your mind – your thinking. The world’s number one bestseller is the Bible. The number two bestseller is an old book written by a man called Napoleon Hill. The book is entitled “Think and Grow Rich”. Years ago when I read the title, “Think and Grow Rich”, I thought the author meant that I should start imagining that I am rich and then I will become rich. That was why I held a certain cynical attitude towards the book even before I read it because I thought that the idea was silly. But with more understanding today, I have now realized that the word “Think” in the title of the book refers to changing your thinking. A man with a poverty mindset cannot become rich but remain poor. To become rich, you must think differently. Warren Buffet thinks differently from most of the stock market investors. He buys when others sell and sells when others buy.

You cannot change until your thinking change. You do not take action because of your fear of taking risk and you like the comfort of being where you are even if you are feeling miserable. At least it is familiar evil that you are comfortable with. But when your thinking changes, you will begin moving forward and do what you usually would not have. And your future and destiny will also change.

So begin today by looking down in your heart where your desire resides and change a whole new mindset up in your head. Just as what Johnny Wimbrey says, “Are you willing to do today what others don’t to have tomorrow what others won’t.

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