How To Stop Negativity And Start Thinking Creatively

One of the things that can get in the way of creativity is the practice of negative thinking. Some people just naturally tend to think more negatively than others. It doesn't matter, though; you can turn off your negative inclinations and learn to be more positive.

Negative Thinking Is Limiting

Right now, think of some negative things for about 30 seconds. Now you're likely finding it hard to even read this because you're thinking about how the dishes aren't put away, or you don't have enough to pay that medical bill, and other things about your daily life. Plus, now that you're thinking negatively, you're likely not looking for solutions because eventually, the negativity turns into giving up.

Acknowledge Your Negative Thinking

The first thing to do is realize and accept that almost everyone thinks negatively sometimes. It's okay to have a bad day. But it's not okay to let any negative thing that happens to you inform your entire life.

Combat Negativity with Facts

When a negative thought comes to your mind, combat it with facts. There is always someone who has it worse so if you can cite those facts convincingly to yourself, you're going to feel better - at least for yourself.

Keep a Gratitude Journal

Before you go to bed each night, write down at least three things in your life that you are grateful for today. If you're not sure what to be grateful for today, be more general such as, "I'm glad that today I managed to get through the day without going to jail."

Surround Yourself with Positive People

The more people you can find that are generally positive and don't focus on the negative, the more positive you'll become. First, you'll feel silly always trying to be negative to positive people who will point out the positives to you because that's how they think. Secondly, their positivity rubs off onto you.

Smile More

This might seem like a condescending thing to say but the truth is that when we smile with our mouths, eyes and face, it releases endorphins that make us feel better. Anytime you feel negative, think of something that makes you smile.

Take Care of Your Health

It's hard to be positive if you're not healthy. Even if you have health issues, taking the best care of yourself can make you feel better inside and out. Eat right, exercise, take your vitamins, and drink plenty of water and you're going to have the energy to be more positive. This is going to almost automatically make you more creative.

A 'Success Mindset' means that when you have challenges, you'll be able to work through them with confidence and clarity. It means that when you are presented with an opportunity you'll be able to set fears aside and take advantage of the opportunity. To help you embrace a success mindset to improve your business, and your life, download my free checklist, Cultivating a Success Mindset, at https://jonallo.com/mindset

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jon_Allo/1079948

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Daily Practices for Focus, Peace & Joy

I know sometimes I must sound like a broken record. I repeat myself again and again to my clients, my students, my friends, my family. And I'll say it again. Self-care is not an option if you want to live a happy, peaceful life. Especially if you're a sensitive, empathic, person.

Self-care, of course, includes the obvious elements, such as a nutrient-rich-plant-rich-diet, plenty of exercise, and good hygiene. None are optional if you want to maintain good health.

To maintain happiness and inner-peace, self-care must include emotional, spiritual practices as well. My daily practices, which I share below, help me stay centered, focused, optimistic, connected, creative, productive, peaceful, and happy.

These are the tools and techniques that work for me. With most, I mix and match, depending upon the day, the amount of time available, and my emotional/spiritual needs. Some practices, such as Meditation and Gratitude, are non-negotiable, and I do them every day.

Most days I usually do at least 4 or 5 of these techniques. Some days I do only 2. Other days I might do them all! Some are so quick, or so easy to fit in my day, that they don't take 'extra time.' And, truth be told, when I don't do anything, which does happen once in a while, I feel completely off, out of focus, and anxious. That's why I use a checklist to track my progress. I've learned the hard way, it's not worth falling off track.

Create your own plan. Take any of the following techniques that work for you, add in your own, and tuck them into pockets throughout your day. Choose at least one activity, such as meditation, to do each day, no matter what. None of the activities need to take a lot of time. And, as long as you're peppering them throughout the day, you'll be optimizing your energy.

Meditation I practice some form of meditation, each day, from 10 to 60 minutes. Some days I do two or more shorter meditations. Insight Timer is a fantastic, free, app that I use to time my meditations. It comes with an extensive library of sounds, bells, meditations, and music.

Abundance Meditation For this meditation, I use The Abundance Book, by John Randolph Price. It's a little green book with 10 principle statements. I meditate on one principle a day for 15 minutes, for 40 days or more. This helps keep me in an abundant, spiritual, frame of mind.

Gratitude Meditation Closing my eyes, I meditate for 5 minutes on something for which I am grateful. It can be something that I already have, or that I would like to have. This sense of gratitude feels truly authentic, and really, really good.

Goals I hand-write write my goals, in present tense, expressing my gratitude for reaching them. This feels good, and it helps me keep on top of my goals. I write my goals nearly every day. This takes about 10 minutes.

Morning Pages Originated by Author Julia Cameron, morning pages are 3 hand-written free-flow pages each morning. They're invaluable for clearing the mind, and sparking creative flow.

Yoga or ExerciseExercising in the morning invigorates me for the rest of the day. Movement is crucial for efficient energy flow, lymph flow, strength, anxiety release, and more.

Heart Breath I add the Heart Breath in whenever I feel stuck in my head. The Heart Breath helps me drop out of a busy, over-worked mind, into the peace and calm of my heart. It's a great tool for reducing anxiety. 1 minute, or longer.

Uplifting Reading Somewhere during my day, I find time to read. Sometimes it's work-related, but it's always uplifting.

Uplifting Listening This includes music, podcasts, Hayhouse Radio, audio courses, and more. I like to listen when I make dinner. This helps keep me in a positive, optimistic, frame of mind.

EFT Tapping This is an any-time-of-the-day, as-needed, practice. EFT Tapping is perfect for releasing anxiety, tension, fear, sadness, or any other unwanted feelings that might creep in.

More Gratitude Gratitude is something that can be expressed in many ways throughout the day. In addition to my 5-minute gratitude meditation, I enjoy spontaneous moments of gratitude, or write a gratitude list, or a thank you note, or simply say thank you, thank you, thank you as I do something that brings me joy. Gratitude helps me feel more connected to the spiritual world. And, the more grateful I am, the more I have to be grateful for.

Nature Walk Nothing better for pleasing the senses and soothing the soul.

Enjoy! And reach out -- let me know what works for you!

In Courage,

Marian

Hello! I'm Marian Buck-Murray, Certified Practitioner in both EFT Tapping and Matrix Reimprinting. I specialize in helping sensitive people boost courage, confidence and self-love. To schedule a FREE 30 Minute Call, where I'll help you get clear on your best strategy to honor your sensitivity, and give you a tool to turn it into a superpower, go to http://marianbuckmurray.com/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marian_Buck_Murray/897704

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10007669

Daily Practices for Focus, Peace & Joy

I know sometimes I must sound like a broken record. I repeat myself again and again to my clients, my students, my friends, my family. And I'll say it again. Self-care is not an option if you want to live a happy, peaceful life. Especially if you're a sensitive, empathic, person.

Self-care, of course, includes the obvious elements, such as a nutrient-rich-plant-rich-diet, plenty of exercise, and good hygiene. None are optional if you want to maintain good health.

To maintain happiness and inner-peace, self-care must include emotional, spiritual practices as well. My daily practices, which I share below, help me stay centered, focused, optimistic, connected, creative, productive, peaceful, and happy.

These are the tools and techniques that work for me. With most, I mix and match, depending upon the day, the amount of time available, and my emotional/spiritual needs. Some practices, such as Meditation and Gratitude, are non-negotiable, and I do them every day.

Most days I usually do at least 4 or 5 of these techniques. Some days I do only 2. Other days I might do them all! Some are so quick, or so easy to fit in my day, that they don't take 'extra time.' And, truth be told, when I don't do anything, which does happen once in a while, I feel completely off, out of focus, and anxious. That's why I use a checklist to track my progress. I've learned the hard way, it's not worth falling off track.

Create your own plan. Take any of the following techniques that work for you, add in your own, and tuck them into pockets throughout your day. Choose at least one activity, such as meditation, to do each day, no matter what. None of the activities need to take a lot of time. And, as long as you're peppering them throughout the day, you'll be optimizing your energy.

Meditation I practice some form of meditation, each day, from 10 to 60 minutes. Some days I do two or more shorter meditations. Insight Timer is a fantastic, free, app that I use to time my meditations. It comes with an extensive library of sounds, bells, meditations, and music.

Abundance Meditation For this meditation, I use The Abundance Book, by John Randolph Price. It's a little green book with 10 principle statements. I meditate on one principle a day for 15 minutes, for 40 days or more. This helps keep me in an abundant, spiritual, frame of mind.

Gratitude Meditation Closing my eyes, I meditate for 5 minutes on something for which I am grateful. It can be something that I already have, or that I would like to have. This sense of gratitude feels truly authentic, and really, really good.

Goals I hand-write write my goals, in present tense, expressing my gratitude for reaching them. This feels good, and it helps me keep on top of my goals. I write my goals nearly every day. This takes about 10 minutes.

Morning Pages Originated by Author Julia Cameron, morning pages are 3 hand-written free-flow pages each morning. They're invaluable for clearing the mind, and sparking creative flow.

Yoga or ExerciseExercising in the morning invigorates me for the rest of the day. Movement is crucial for efficient energy flow, lymph flow, strength, anxiety release, and more.

Heart Breath I add the Heart Breath in whenever I feel stuck in my head. The Heart Breath helps me drop out of a busy, over-worked mind, into the peace and calm of my heart. It's a great tool for reducing anxiety. 1 minute, or longer.

Uplifting Reading Somewhere during my day, I find time to read. Sometimes it's work-related, but it's always uplifting.

Uplifting Listening This includes music, podcasts, Hayhouse Radio, audio courses, and more. I like to listen when I make dinner. This helps keep me in a positive, optimistic, frame of mind.

EFT Tapping This is an any-time-of-the-day, as-needed, practice. EFT Tapping is perfect for releasing anxiety, tension, fear, sadness, or any other unwanted feelings that might creep in.

More Gratitude Gratitude is something that can be expressed in many ways throughout the day. In addition to my 5-minute gratitude meditation, I enjoy spontaneous moments of gratitude, or write a gratitude list, or a thank you note, or simply say thank you, thank you, thank you as I do something that brings me joy. Gratitude helps me feel more connected to the spiritual world. And, the more grateful I am, the more I have to be grateful for.

Nature Walk Nothing better for pleasing the senses and soothing the soul.

Enjoy! And reach out -- let me know what works for you!

In Courage,

Marian

Hello! I'm Marian Buck-Murray, Certified Practitioner in both EFT Tapping and Matrix Reimprinting. I specialize in helping sensitive people boost courage, confidence and self-love. To schedule a FREE 30 Minute Call, where I'll help you get clear on your best strategy to honor your sensitivity, and give you a tool to turn it into a superpower, go to http://marianbuckmurray.com/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Marian_Buck_Murray/897704

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10007669

Watch Oprah’s Uplifting Speech on Our Empowerment Stage | 2016 ESSENCE Festival

The 30-Day Challenge to Use Affirmations and Visualization for Good Luck

There has been a lot of hype and media coverage about the Law of Attraction in recent years, especially after the release of the movie, The Secret. There seems to be a lot of emotion around this subject, both for and against. This is no surprise, given that we have changed as a society to have much less patience and a reduced attention span. I will delve deeper into all of this in a future article.

The tools associated with the Law of Attraction do work, and they work well. Most of the misunderstanding about these tools is due to people not really taking the time to give them a whirl.

So here's the 30-day challenge, should you choose to accept it

Take 30 days to use affirmations and visualization to improve your luck. This will not be likely to make you win the lottery, but should manifest as better luck in the smaller things in life. After 30 days, review how your luck has changed for the better.

When you do this, and it works will for you, keep doing it and start using some of the other tools available to improve your life dramatically.

Affirmations for Good Luck

You can use an affirmation such as "I always have great luck" or something similar that works best for you. Keep it short and easy to remember and repeat. It should be in the present-tense, in the "now." Repeat this affirmation first thing in the morning, even before you rise out of bed, when you're having a bath or shower, driving, while you're falling asleep and any time your mind isn't focused on a specific task.

Pay attention to what happens around you. Are you starting to make it through green lights, finding better parking spaces? Look for little things such as those. Whenever you notice a good luck event, say something like "Wow! I DO have the greatest luck" to reinforce the event both in your own mind and the universal energy.

Visualization for Good Luck

Visualization is a technique in which you "see" something happening in your mind's eye. With practice, it becomes easier and the things you visualize become more clear and detailed. It is somewhat akin to daydreaming, but done intentionally and directed by you. To visualize, close your eyes and start imagining yourself experiencing events that have been brought on by good luck (Please do not use this while driving or operating heavy equipment). As with the traffic light example above, you would see yourself easily making it to your destination with light traffic and every single traffic light being green. Another fun one is to see yourself finding a dime or quarter on the ground as you walk along. Be creative in your imagination!

Results?

Do your affirmations and visualization exercises for 30 days and be observant throughout the process. If you wish, take notes and review them at the end of the 30 days. Think about how your luck was before this and the differences you have observed. Good Luck!

Find more information about making your own luck and the Law of Attraction at https://ness-numerology.com/

Ness Numerology is unique in that it combines the Law of Attraction and Numerology to provide a more holistic view into one's personality and how to succeed in all areas of life.

~ Wil.M | Numerologist, Geek and Person who Loves to Help People

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wil_M/2672538

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