I’m glad last week’s post was thought-provoking for many of you and generated quite a bit of response. 

When you delve deeply to determine the underlying reason you hesitate rather than forge ahead to achieve a goal, it can be disconcerting.

Here are two underlying reasons you shared with me:

“I’ll be a failure.”
“I’ll be all alone.”

Good work!  Getting to the heart of the matter is not the most enjoyable task, so BRAVO!  It’s imperative, however, in order to help you shift that negative thinking and move forward!

So what now? 

Take some deep breaths.  Pat yourself on the back for your success in uncovering what you have.  And repeat the title quote above to yourself as often as possible.

Because it’s true!  You are capable of so much more than that negative voice in your head gives you credit for!  PLEASE don’t let it stop you in your tracks!

This week ~ Say it and say it often: YOU UNDERESTIMATE YOURSELF!

You’re on an amazing journey, and you have unlimited potential.  Keep on going!

To your brilliance,

“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s that simple” (Earl Nightingale, 1921-1989, “Dean of Personal Development”).

Step #1 — Set a goal.
Step #2 — Avoid talking yourself out of it.

As I’m sure you’ve discovered, Step #2 is tougher.

And one of the biggest culprits is that negative voice in your head.  It can chatter away incessantly, convincing you of all the reasons you can’t achieve what you want.

This week ~ give this strategy a try:

Think of a goal you’ve been striving to achieve. What negative message have you been getting around it?  Write it down.  Then ask yourself, “So what does that mean?”  Write your answer down.  Now question the answer you just wrote down by again asking, “So what does that mean?” Write that answer down.

Keep going until you get to the ultimate issue beneath the surface.  (It usually takes 5 – 10 rounds.)

That final answer — that issue beneath the surface — is ultimately what’s holding you back.  If you don’t alter that negative perception, you won’t move forward in the energized way that will bring you the success you desire.

Play out that “worst case scenario” and do some quiet, deep breathing around it.  You’ll realize it’s simply not as bad as your negative voice has been leading you to believe.

Try it…wait ’til you feel how your energy shifts!

To your brilliance,

“Out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing there is a field. Come. Meet me there” (Rumi).

 It’s incredibly empowering — and a great relief — to free yourself of the need to stand in judgment of others or to allow yourself to be a victim of others’ judging you.  Without playing into these hindrances, you stand in your own power to just BE.  To be the loving, caring, intelligent person you are.

This week ~ try catching yourself whenever you’re tempted to judge another or to view yourself as victim.  (Interestingly, you may find you are actually your own harshest critic.) 

Go a week without judging yourself, and you’ll already feel tremendously empowered.  Add to that not judging others nor seeing yourself as a victim, and you’ll regularly experience the joy that radiates naturally from your beautiful heart. THAT is a priceless — and motivating — feeling.

To your brilliance,

“The purpose of life is to amount to something and have it make some difference that you lived at all” (Pauline Friedman Phillips aka Abigail Van Buren, 1918-2013).

Pauline was famous for sharing many pearls of wisdom over the years in her popular advice column, “Dear Abby.”  After she passed away recently, I was reading about her life, and this quote in particular struck me.

It doesn’t need to be an intimidating perspective on our lives and our purpose here.  Rather, as we strive to achieve goals we’ve set for ourselves — and to make our dreams come true — “Abby’s” words can help us stay the course.

Sometimes we struggle and wonder if we can get through it all.  But it helps us keep going when we remember that by doing our personal best we are doing our part to “amount to something.”

YOU are leaving a footprint that is uniquely yours.  Please keep in mind that “personal best” doesn’t mean being perfect; it means not giving up.  Thank you for your perseverance.  Thank you for mustering up the motivation despite struggles.  You are helping make the world a better place.

To your brilliance,

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

Love is such a powerful force.  It’s beautiful and gratifying and contagious.  It’s a healer.  And it begins within for each of us.  In order to reap love’s miraculous benefits, we must really and truly love ourselves.

(Take a deep breath…and exhale.)

This week ~ every time you look in the mirror, tell yourself: “I love you.”  Look yourself in the eyes and say it with conviction.  It may feel odd at first, but just do it anyway.  It’ll get easier.

You are so deserving of love.  You are.  And when you truly love yourself, you feel elevated.  You become much more tolerant of and happier with all the people in your life.  Go ahead…find a mirror.

To your brilliance,

“Take pride in how far you’ve come.  Have faith in how far you can go.  But don’t forget to enjoy the journey” (Michael Josephson).

As we continue to gear up to make the most of this New Year 2013, this quote is an important one.  In fact, I urge you to print it out and keep it somewhere you’ll see it every day.

Confidence and optimism are what will enable you to achieve your goals, to get what you want.  And two excellent ways to keep those positive forces alive and well in your life are to ~

1)  Regularly consider and applaud yourself for what you’ve already achieved

2)  Remind yourself that your journey should (and can) be enjoyable!

So — this week — allow yourself to lighten up.  It’s your life, and you’re going to achieve those goals!  Pat yourself on the back; don’t get daunted when you encounter obstacles, and enjoy the ride. One step at at time….

To your brilliance,

“Few people take objectives really seriously.  They put average effort into too many things, rather than superior thought and effort into a few important things.  People who achieve the most are selective as well as determined” (Richard Koch, Author).

What a perfect time of year to consider this quote.  Last week when I suggested you think of one or two goals that excite you, I really meant just one or two.  Choosing goals that really light you up is important.  So is keeping the number of goals low.  They may be overarching goals that require a number of steps; that’s fine.  Take the steps one at a time. 

But this week as you continue to tweak your 2013 goals, keep in mind that if you spread yourself too thin, you won’t be as productive.  You may lose your focus.  Having one or two well thought out goals allows you to be laser focused on achieving them as well as open minded to recognizing opportunities that arise to help you make them happen.

To your brilliance,

“In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it” (Robert Heinlein).

…And — WOW! — our daily lives are jam-packed with responsibilities.  But everything we do in a day — big or small –  springs to life when we remain mindful of our overarching goals! 

Now is the perfect time to think about your big picture.  As you enjoy this final day of 2012, why not identify one or two goals you have for the New Year 2013?  If they light you up with excitement when you think about them, then you’re on the right track!  Keep tweaking those goals during the week ahead.  Then get READY to forge ahead and make 2013 an extraordinary year!

To your brilliance,

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless“ (Mother Teresa, 1910 – 1997).

This is a week to be kind.  Kinder than usual.  To your friends, to strangers, and especially to family.  This is a week to hug loved ones…a little tighter and a little longer than usual.  Life is tough at times.  I’m not going to sugar coat it.  Kindness, however, makes a difference.  It “echoes.” And, ultimately, it’s what will help light to prevail over darkness.

Sending you special blessings this week.

To your brilliance,

“Making a decision usually means taking one of two roads.  One is doing the right thing.  To take the other road, you have to sit back and spin a story around the decision or action are you taking.  If you find yourself thinking up an elaborate justification for what you are doing, you are not doing the right thing”  (Wayne Sales, Top Canadian CEO).

And to get a bit more specific here: if you find yourself coming up with an elaborate justification, you are not doing the right thing FOR YOU.  Intuitively, you already know what you want, what is right for you in your life.  When you move forward on a natural course towards achieving it, you’re on a pretty straightforward road.  

This week ~ do the right thing for you.  It might mean saying “no” to someone else.  It might mean taking a simpler road than you’re used to.  But it will also be what in your heart you know is the right decision.  You deserve this treatment.

To your brilliance,