self help

Beyond the Box by Judith Rich, Ph.D.

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Do you ever feel like your life is stuck in a rut?  If so, this book is for you.  The author provides tips on how to improve your life and thought patterns.  Here are a few examples:

  1. Develop your courage muscles by doing something everyday that scares the heck out of you.
  2. Consider your available options, and choose one that stretches and empowers you.
  3. Take action based on making the choice that empowers and inspires you to move forward.
  4. Mistakes are where learning happens, so don’t be afraid of making them.

Bad Habits No More

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This is an excellent book and I learned a lot that will help me overcome my own bad habits.  For example:

  • Failure in the past doesn’t mean you will fail in the future.
  • Plan for the resistance you will experience alone the way.
  • Focus on changing one habit at a time.
  • Identify the triggers that make you want to do the bad habit.
  • The best long-term results come from making gradual changes in your life.
  • Substitute a bad habit with a new routine.
  • Forgive yourself when you succumb to temptation.

The Art of Public Speaking

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This is an excellent book and full of wonderful tips to improve your public speaking skills.  My favorite quotes from the book are listed below.

  • Face an audience as frequently as you can, and you will stop shying.
  • Have the first few sentences worked out completely so that you may not be troubled in the beginning to find words.  Know your subject better than your hearers know it, and you have nothing to fear.

Average Is Extraordinary

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You may be an average person with average abilities, but your life can be extraordinary.  According to Kirsten Wreggitt:

  • Most of us are average, but we fight against it everyday.
  • Embrace your average life and see it as extraordinary.
  • Use your gifts and talents to shift an average life to extraordinary.
  • Look at your accomplishments in the context of your own life.
  • Define your own success in all its originality or in all its commonness.
  • Never tire of following your curiosity.  An average life is extraordinary in those moments of wonder and amazement.

 

I’m Sorry – A Hard Thing to Say

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Apologizing is not always easy.  You have to be willing to admit to doing wrong, to being ignorant, or to hurting someone.  It takes strength and personal courage to apologize.

When delivering an apology be real and be willing to admit you were wrong.  We all make mistakes.  How you handle those mistakes is a demonstration of your personal character.

 

 

Human Spirit Strong

You are stronger than you think, because you are a human being.

Mankind has overcome natural disasters, wars, tyranny, atrocities done by our own kind, and a massive list of other obstacles or difficulties.  However, the human spirit refused to surrender.  Humans continue surviving, regardless of the circumstances.

Don’t underestimate yourself or your power as a human being.  You are stronger than you think.

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Thoughts on Forgiveness

People will wrong you in life.  It may have been done by accident or the person may have done something to deliberately take advantage of you or harm you.

A willingness to forgive the wrong doer, can help you heal from the emotional harm done by the perpetrator.

However, forgiving is not the same as forgetting.

Once someone has deliberately deceived you or harmed you, do not trust them in the future.  To do so would only invite further deception.

Forgiveness may be freely given, but trust and respect must be earned.

Forgivness is also not an automatic pardon.  Forgiving someone does not take away the need for punishment or restitution, especially if a crime was committed.

Forgiveness is more about helping yourself heal, then it is about helping the other person.

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