Why is Self-Awareness So Important?

Self-Awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Self-Awareness allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your responses to them in the moment.

We might quickly assume that we are self-aware, but it is helpful to have a relative scale for awareness. If you have ever been in an auto accident you may have experienced everything happening in slow motion and noticed details of your thought process and the event. This is a state of heightened awareness. With practice we can learn to engage these types of heightened states and see new opportunities for interpretations in our thoughts, emotions, and conversations. Having awareness creates the opportunity to make changes in behavior and beliefs.

Why Develop Self Awareness?

As you develop self-awareness you are able to make changes in the thoughts and interpretations you make in your mind. Changing the interpretations in your mind allows you to change your emotions. Self-awareness is one of the attributes of Emotional Intelligence and an important factor in achieving success.

Self-awareness is the first step in creating what you want and mastering your life. Where you focus your attention, your emotions, reactions, personality and behavior determine where you go in life. Having self-awareness allows you to see where your thoughts and emotions are taking you. It also allows you to take control of your emotions, behavior, and personality so you can make changes you want. Until you are aware in the moment of your thoughts, emotions, words, and behavior, you will have difficulty making changes in the direction of your life.


Self-Awareness in Relationships

Relationships are easy until there is emotional turmoil. This is the same whether you are at work or in your personal life. When you can change the interpretation in your mind of what you think you can change your emotions and shift the emotional quality of your relationships. When you can change the emotions in your relationships you open up entirely new possibilities in your life.

Having a clear understanding of your thought and, behavior patterns helps you understand other people. This ability to empathize facilitates better personal and professional relationships.

How to Develop Self Awareness

Self-awareness is developed through practices in focusing your attention on the details of your personality and behavior. It isn’t learned from reading a book. When you read a book you are focusing your attention on the conceptual ideas in the book. You can develop an intellectual understanding of the ideas of self-awareness from a book, but this is not the same. With your attention in a book you are practicing not paying attention to your own behavior, emotions and personality.

Think of learning to be mindful and self-aware as learning to dance. When learning to dance we have to pay attention to how and where our feet move, our hands and body motion, what our partner is doing, music, beat, floor space, and other dancers. Dancing isn’t learned from books and Self- Awareness isn’t either. A dancer needs awareness of their body movements. Self-awareness is what you develop when you pay attention to your expressions of thought, emotions, and behavior. In my years of study and working with clients I have discovered many useful techniques that accelerate this learning.

In the process of these sessions I am not telling anybody what to believe, how they should think, or what they should do. I am basically sharing with people exercises in raising their self-awareness. When you become more self-aware you instinctively begin to see aspects of your personality and behavior that you didn’t notice before.

If you have an emotional reaction of anger or frustration, you notice many of the thoughts and small triggers that build up towards those emotions. You also notice moments when you can change the interpretations in your mind, or not believe what you are thinking. In this heightened awareness you instinctively make better choices in your thought process long before an emotional reaction or destructive behavior.

Making changes in your behavior is much easier to do when you catch them early in the dynamic, before the momentum of thought and emotion has gathered steam. The changes in your mind and behavior become simple and easy steps when you develop self-awareness.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in your professional and personal life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach to achieve your full potential. Book a Complimentary Coaching Session at http://www.denisedema.com

Develop Patience and Live Your Best Life!

Patience is the ability to tolerate waiting, delay, or frustration without becoming agitated or upset. It's the ability to be able to control your emotions or impulses and proceed calmly when faced with difficulties.

It comes from the Latin word pati which means to suffer, to endure, to bear. Needless to say, patience does not come easily to most of us and it's probably harder now to be patient than historically it has ever been. 

In today's world of 'instant everything', technological advancements and readily available credit have allowed us to obtain, experience, and consume practically anything we want - almost immediately. Do we even need to be patient anymore?

Well, if we want to reach our goals, have successful relationships and achieve personal peace, the answer is a resounding yes!

Anything worthwhile and of importance cannot take place right away. It takes time, dedication and effort to achieve; so even in this day and age, patience is a virtue.
 

The Benefits of Developing Patience

1. Reduces stress levels and makes you a happier, healthier person. When you learn and practice patience you don't get as angry, stressed or overwhelmed. You are more in control of your emotions and in a better position to deal with difficult situations with ease and poise.This promotes longevity and makes you a happier, healthier person.


2. Results in better decision-making.  When you're patient you take the time to assess the situation, see the big picture, and weigh any pros and cons. The chances of making a big mistake lessen because you avoid making it in haste. Taking the time to problem solve requires patience and deliberation.


3. Helps develop understanding, empathy and compassion. You are automatically more understanding and compassionate with others when you yourself are patient. Patient people take the time to process what they go through and are able to determine what it takes to overcome obstacles so they are more understanding of others. This results in better, more fulfilling relationships with spouses, friends, children and bosses.


4. Helps you understand and appreciate the process of growth. As mentioned earlier anything worthwhile takes time and effort to achieve. As the old saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day." Planning, growth, evaluation and measurement all take time, and taking time takes patience.

Tips on How to Develop Patience

• Take a day where you make patience your goal for the entire day. Make a concerted effort to take your time and think about everything you do, be mindful and live in the moment. At the end of the day, observe all the ways in which you've made smarter decisions, got along better with others and actually understood what took place. Learn to do it on a daily basis. Developing patience is much like physical exercise because it requires persistence and effort.


• Slow down. If you have the tendency to rush around and try to hurry things up, want things done immediately and can't wait for things to take their natural course, STOP. Take several deep breaths before you act or make a move. For example, if you're in a long lineup at the grocery store or in heavy traffic, make the decision to pause and not get worked up. Do some isometrics, listen to the radio, or just enjoy the view. Getting impatient won't make things move along any faster, so why get worked up for nothing?


• Practice delaying gratification. When you want to reach for that dessert, second drink, or buying your tenth pair of red shoes, stop and think about it first. Maybe you don't need or want any of them that badly after all. You can save yourself some money or added calories.


• Practice thinking before you speak. At times we blurt out the first thought that comes into our heads without considering the consequences. If we're patient, pause and go over what we want to say, we can avoid hurting or offending others.

Patience is definitely a valuable character trait to develop. It may appear to be passive, however it is an active, purposeful and necessary form of self-discipline. Without patience many of our actions would be counter-productive and ultimately much time and energy would be wasted spinning our wheels. Surely, patience is a time-tested virtue.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with the tools to help you excel in life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach and book a complimentary session today at www.denisedema.com.

Source: Z. Hereford

Unlock the Power of Your Mind

When your brain is working at peak performance, it allows you to be your best because it controls the rest. Take care to feed and stimulate your brain and you will expand your mind. The two are inextricably connected. We need to see the human brain and mind with wonder, awe and inspiration.

The brain is the equivalent of a human supercomputer. It is more complicated than any computer mankind has ever made, and maximizing its ability is essential to becoming the success you want to be—because it controls who you are. It is the command center involved in and controlling absolutely everything you do, determining how you think, feel and act.

There are some basic influences on the brain that shape how it functions and how far it develops, including genes, self-talk, life experiences, stress, and study. Although these things influence the brain, they do not determine how far you can go or what you can learn. In other words, you have the incredible opportunity to go as far as you desire.

So with such a tremendous tool at our disposal, what keeps so many people from experiencing the possibilities that it can bring? There are some simple barriers that have the potential to wreak havoc on your learning if you allow them to, but you can overcome them. The key to breaking through these barriers is to do the opposite…

Change your beliefs.
Many people do not believe that they can learn, master knowledge or become "smart." These are deeply held beliefs for many, and ultimately, if we do not believe it, we will not achieve it.

So change your beliefs. It is up to you to do the work of changing your beliefs. And when you do, you will be opening up new worlds—literally! Feed your mind with information that will change your belief. The truth is that you have an amazing mind with a capacity for learning that is beyond your comprehension. You must believe this. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind.

Get the right knowledge.
What keeps some people from learning is that they choose not to access or do not have access to knowledge. Knowledge comes from experiences, books, people and other "knowledge dispensers." We must tap into that knowledge.

So get the right knowledge. Words if they are not true are meaningless. I hear children say, "I read it in a book." But is it true? Just because someone says it or writes it, doesn't mean it is true. As a learner, you want to get the right knowledge, not just information or opinions. It is your job to seek out information and knowledge and then test it and run it through your mind to see if it is true, and if it can be rightfully applied to your life in order to make it better and help you succeed. You need to weigh and measure what you learn in order to gain the right knowledge. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind.

Become passionate about learning.
Some people simply do not have the desire to learn. They may be lazy, or they may not see the positive impact that learning would have on them. They have no passion inside that drives them to learn.

So become passionate about learning. This will take some work, but the only way to do it is to begin learning about things that have an immediate impact in your life. When you learn about a new financial concept that helps you earn money or get out of debt, that will get you fired up. When you learn about how to interact with your family in a healthy way and your relationships get better, that will inspire you. Become passionate about learning. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind.

Discipline yourself through the hard work of study.
Gaining knowledge is hard work and takes a lifetime to master. It is an ongoing discipline that is never complete.

So discipline yourself through the hard work of study. Learning will take work. Until someone comes up with modules that can plug into your mind and give you instant access to knowledge, you are on your own, and that takes work. The process of learning is a long one. Yes, we can speed it up, but it is still a process of reading, listening, reviewing, repetition, applying the knowledge, experiencing the outcomes, readjusting, etc. Simply put, that takes time. Slowly but surely, when you discipline yourself, you gain knowledge and learn. And when you do, you will be unlocking the potential of your mind.

Learning is possible, no matter what your age. You are never too young or too old. Your mind was created to learn and has a huge capacity to do so. This week, make a commitment to unlocking the potential of your mind!

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach to achieve your full potential today! Book a complimentary session at www.denisedema.com

Source: Jim Rohn

Master A Successful Mindset

Whats the biggest difference between those who succeed and those who don't? Mindset!! Its a small thing that makes a big difference and is the primary catalyst driving your feelings of self-worth, competence and confidence. 

Make no mistake, the most successful people have it. And if you intend to ascend to those coveted ranks, you’re going to need it, too. Are you willing to do the work and elevate your mindset to achieve uncommon success?

Consider the following these elements to help you develop a successful mindset:

1. Self-Talk

Ever think the only conversations that matter are the ones you have with someone else? Not quite. The conversations you have with yourself are the most important ones you will ever have. To be clear, we talk to ourselves all day, every day. Eventually, all that robust data adds up to create our individual self-concepts. Be careful what you say to yourself. Plant seeds of positivity and inspiration, rather than criticism and doubt.

2. Intentions

Your intentions set the tone for how skillfully you navigate personal and professional success. Have you set yours high enough to challenge the status quo? If not, think bigger and push past your comfort zone. Get comfortable being uncomfortable, because that’s where the real growth happens. Setting your sights high and believing in the most remarkable outcomes you can attain changes the way you show up in the world. Believe me, no one has ever regretted embracing the power to think big.

3. Grit

When it comes to success, world-renowned psychologist Angela Duckworth says, “Talent counts, but effort counts twice.” Got grit? If not, know this: Both passion and perseverance are vital to your long-term success. Experiencing initial excitement when deciding to pursue a New Year’s resolution is quite common. Less common and far more difficult is the sustained focus and drive—throughout long periods of time—needed to achieve it. Grit helps us push past the desire to give up, especially when things get rough. Fortunately, it can be learned and continually developed over time.

4. Strategy

Declaring a goal, without more, will do little to ensure its success. Only substance and structure will successfully ignite and move it forward. Begin by chunking your goal into smaller segments to organize it, making it more manageable. Then create a strategic plan with scheduled activities and outcomes that will help to assure its success. Notice what works and be proactive about tweaking key elements where necessary. Be open to feedback and embrace innovation along the way.

5. Execution

Creating a strategy is one thing, but executing it is another. Decide in advance that taking strong action will be the litmus test for your success. Sure, there will be days when you won’t feel like working or perhaps even be discouraged. No matter. Your goal is to take bite-sized pieces of the apple until it is finally consumed. Whether making a phone call, sending an email or physically maneuvering to achieve the next steps, dig deep and take action. Execution helps you build trust in yourself, as well as reflects successful past performance, bringing you one step closer to your desired outcome.

Are you ready to stack the odds in your favor by mastering a successful mindset? Work with a Business and Life Management Coach to achieve your full potential. Book a complimentary session at www.denisedema.com

Source: Success.com

Have a Healthy Start To The New Year!

There’s something inspiring about the start of a new year. It’s when you promise yourself you’ll eat better, exercise more and watch less TV. But when reality sets in, it can be difficult to break less-desirable habits and embrace newer, more constructive ones.

Practice deep breathing twice a day for five minutes.

Stress is the greatest ager. Deep breathing and behavioral modification can control your reaction to stressful events.

Break the vicious cycle of stress with a productive response to any kind of stressful event: breath in deeply through your nose and out through your mouth. Place a finger on your belly button and concentrate on your finger moving in as you breathe in and out as you exhale. Deep breaths like this can act as a mini meditation.Shifting to slower breathing in times of tension can help calm you and allow you to perform better mentally and physically.

Honor sleep.

When you’re busy, it’s easy to say the thing you want to sacrifice is sleep. But you need sleep for many reasons, and one of the biggies is that it conditions your brain for optimal learning, problem-solving and memory. Shoot for 6.5 to 8.5 hours per night.

Walk 10,000 steps a day.

The sweet spot for getting the maximal health benefit for minimal work is 10,000 steps a day. Research shows it’s the number of steps that can help people lose weight and gain control of diabetes.

Try these indoor exercises when the temperature is too cold outside.

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk a few laps around your office or home each hour.
• Do lunges or jumping jacks while you’re standing at the stove or the washing machine.

Choose your food wisely.

Pan-seared salmon. A sun-ripened pear. Stick to foods like these that you and your body love.

In a fascinating new study, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston examined the eating habits and health records of almost 55,000 women over about 26 years. Those who ate the most produce, good fats, and lean proteins—and who steered clear of things like sugary drinks, trans fat and too much alcohol—were 13 percent more likely to stay mobile and independent compared to those whose diets were less healthy.

That’s big news. More mobility means more freedom to live the life you want. It also keeps your body and mind younger while cutting your risk for heart disease, diabetes and depression.

A pro tip for healthy eating: Buy a good cooking knife.

If you invest in a high-quality knife and learn how to use it, your time savings in meal preparation will be enormous, and your desire and willingness to make delicious meals will increase exponentially.

Know your health numbers.

Keep the following in mind throughout the year:

• 120/80 or lower: A normal blood pressure reading
• 35 or less (for women) or 39 or less (for men): A healthy waist circumference measured at the belly button
• 2: The number of times weekly to build and preserve muscle with strength training.

Give your brain a workout.

We’re huge fans of puzzles that stimulate the brain. Try out sites like BrainHQ.com for stimulation designed to keep you sharp, or stick with old standbys like the daily crossword, Sudoku or a big jigsaw puzzle.

Focus on personal development.

Personal growth is one of the keys to feeling happy. Focus on self-improvement daily, whether it’s taking better care of your health, doing things that give you confidence or journaling to understand yourself better.

A recent study of newly graduated college students proved focusing on happiness matters. Young adults who spent their first two years out of school pursuing materialistic goals (wealth, looks and fame) were far less happy than students who achieved more intrinsic personal goals, like getting involved in their communities or nurturing close friendships.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach to achieve your full potential today! Book a complimentary session at www.denisedema.com

Simple Guide To Make Your Life The Best It Can Be!

An honest guide to help you make your life the best it can be!

1. Identify where you are stuck in your life. Take steps toward getting unstuck, even if it means pushing well beyond your comfort zone. Action is the only remedy for fear.

2. Develop your observing ego by stepping outside yourself and seeing who you are during the day. How do you come across to others? Do you like what you see? If you don't, modify your behavior.

3. Identify your biggest strengths and make sure you use those strengths in your profession. If you do, it's likely you have found your passion.

4. Scared to speak up? Preparation and practice can help you pull off the perfect speech. Oh, and don't forget to give yourself a positive pep talk. You can do it!

5. Get a good night's sleep. Not only will eight hours keep you mentally sharp, but a full night's rest can keep your appetite in check too. Experts recommend eight hours for everyone.

6. Is the Web site for your business representing your company in the best light possible? If not, spruce it up.

7. Set benchmarks for the progress of your business. Are you holding yourself accountable for meeting them? You should be.

8. Write to achieve. Write down your goals and dreams to declare yourself in the game. It's like holding up an "Open for Business" sign for your life.

9. Keep a notebook with you at all times. If you wake up at 3 a.m. with a brilliant idea, write it down. A blank notebook becomes a suggestion box for your brain, opening you up to new ideas.

10. Think of a favorite memory. When your mind is on overload, recalling a great memory can relax your mind. And it just might make you smile too.

11. Don't compromise when you feel strongly about something.

12. Develop a love for learning.

13. Write a handwritten note to the people in your life you want to connect with the most.

14. Round up your friends and family. Regularly inviting others to do something fun like ice skating, shopping or meeting for coffee can improve your relationships.

15. Become a student of your chosen career.

16. Commit to your dreams. Don't be afraid or too proud to make short-term sacrifices to achieve your goals.

17. Listen to mentors. Take advice from a trusted source in your industry.

18. Set deadlines. Define a specific time frame for your goals and take small action steps to meet them.

19. Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic.

20. Visualize by beginning with the end in mind.

21. Wake up to music and not an alarm.

22. Throughout the day frequently ask yourself: Is this activity moving me forward to achieve my most important lifetime goals?

23. Limit your television viewing to a few hours per week.

24. Plan your day the day before and plan your week the week before.

25. Realize failures bring about success. Risk is all about trying, getting in the game. You can't succeed if you aren't in the game.

26. Have confidence. Decide you are confident and have a more playful, less serious attitude about life. Most successful people do.

27. Write your own mission statement.

28. Get your priorities straight. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, to your community and to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

29. Let yourself experience emotion. Know what love, grief and pain are.

30. Live every day like it's your last. Be prepared for the end. Ask yourself: Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach to achieve your full potential today! Book a complimentary session at www.denisedema.com

Source: Success Magazine

Kindness

4 Secrets of Insanely Successful People

4 Secrets of Insanely Successful People

Learn The Art Of Saying NO!

Simple Ways to Say "No" ...even when your "yes' button gets pushed.

         

1. Just Say No. Thanks, but I'll have to pass on that. Say it, then shut up. You don't want to ruin the effect.

2. The Gracious No. I really appreciate your asking me, but my time is already committed. This is a gentle way to say no.

3. The "I'm sorry" No. I wish I could, but it's just not convenient. The real masters of the "I'm Sorry" No somehow get the other person to apologize for even asking. Amazing.

4. The "It's Someone Else's Decision" No. I promised my coach I wouldn't take on any more projects without discussing them with her first. This postpones the decision and allows you to decide if you really want to say no. Only use when you're not sure if you want to say yes.

5. The "My Family is the Reason" No. Thank you very much for the invitation. That's the day of my son's soccer game, and I never miss those. Great reasons also include birthdays, anniversaries, graduations...just be sure you're not making it up. Tell the truth. You may think this is the easiest no to say, but it's not. How often have you said no to your family in order to work? My point exactly.

6. The "I Know Someone Else" No. I just don't have the time to help you, but let me recommend someone else I know. A great way to say no while still helping the person by giving another option. It's often easiest to say no when you can offer another solution.

7. The "I'm Already Booked" No. I appreciate your thinking of me, but I'm afraid I'm already booked that day. Use this one especially if you've blocked out time for yourself. It's horrible to break a date with someone else -- even worse if you break the date with yourself.

And one more thing. Never, ever say maybe. Maybe is only a way of postponing a decision. When you want to say no, say no. Otherwise, you're not playing fair with yourself -- or with others. And saying "maybe next time" makes it harder and harder to say no the next time. Don't fall into this trap.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach to achieve your full potential today! Book a complimentary session at www.denisedema.com.

The Power of Choice

Rohn: Change Begins with Choice... 

If you don't like how things are, change it! Any day we wish, we can discipline ourselves to make important changes in our lives. Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish, we can start a new activity. Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause.

As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our current circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth.

They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth. We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life: If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life—and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in your professional and personal life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach and Book a Complimentary Coaching Session at http://www.denisedema.com