Motorcycle Safety Column “Arrive Alive” By Britt
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (0)
Keep tabs on my motorcycle safety column here.
Britt @ August 6, 2010
New Book
Posted in: General News, Your Mental Health | Comments (0)
There’s a new book soon to be released, designed for women entrepreneurs, professionals and dreamers. Find out how to build the strongest foundation for success! Visit http://www.TheThreeStrategies.com to find out more about the three strategies of the unstoppable woman…
Britt @ May 6, 2010
It would appear…
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (1)
that this site has become a spammer’s delight. Just nuked several hundred marketing and p-o-r-n comments and links. To bad. I’m going stop posting for a while. Any suggestions on how to prevent this pollution is welcome!!!
Britt @ November 26, 2009
Mastering Self Discipline
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (1)
Since we talked about bad habits yesterday, it only makes sense to follow this up with an article on self-discipline! Self-discipline is a powerful attribute to have, yet challenging to obtain.
Self-discipline is the ability to do whatever it takes to overcome obstacles and reach your goals, even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable. It may involve saying: “no” to things you want or saying: “yes” to things you hate, but with the power of self-discipline, it becomes easier to stand up for yourself.
Most individuals would love to be more self-disciplined, yet very few people actually take action to acquire it.
Perhaps you start your day with good intentions, but veer off as the day progresses due to challenging issues, stresses, or distractions. Thankfully, there are some strategies you can incorporate into your daily life so you can become a master of self-discipline and stay on task.
Follow these techniques to strengthen your self-discipline:
1. Be committed to the cause. Are you truly unhappy being undisciplined? Is this something that you’re committed to improving? Many times people claim they want to be more self- disciplined, but the truth is, they honestly don’t mind being the way they are.
- Be honest with yourself. If this is something that you definitely want to improve in your life, it may take a bit of time and effort, but it can be done.
- The only way you’ll succeed is by staying committed to the cause.
2. Write it down. The process of writing your ideas and goals helps you clarify the thoughts in your mind so you can come up with an action plan that you can stick to.
- Write down all the areas that you wish to improve – your finances, relationships, career, or anything in between. Include what changes you would like to see and how you believe will be the best way to make it happen.
3. Enlist the help of others. It’s absolutely wonderful that you’ve committed to make a positive change in your life, but don’t keep it under wraps. Tell others that you want to make a change and boost your self-discipline.
- Don’t be ashamed that you weren’t more self-disciplined from the beginning. The important thing is that you’re now taking positive action! Those who love you will be there to support you and help you celebrate your successes.
- Your support group can also help you get through the bad days and put you back on track to achieve your goals.
4. Believe in yourself. Have faith in yourself and know that if you can master your self-discipline, you can do anything! There will be both good and bad days, but as long as you remain focused and committed, you’ll be successful in strengthening your self-discipline.
- Remember to focus on the big picture and concentrate on how your body, mind, and energy will change for the better when you stay committed.
Many people admire those who are self-disciplined. These people can stay on a schedule and never seem to lose focus on what they need to accomplish. They make more wise decisions, take action when they need to, and achieve their goals with relative ease.
Implement these strategies into your daily life and they’ll soon become habits. Self-discipline can become your way of life – if you want it!
Britt @ September 15, 2009
Ditch the Bad Habits
Posted in: Healthy Living | Comments (0)
Do you smoke? bite your nails? overeat? In truth, we can all let go of a bad habit or two. With these five following tips, it may be easier to quit than you imagine.
Here they are:
1. Commitment. Make sure this is something you truly want to accomplish. It’s wonderful to “talk the talk,” but you’ll need to back that up by “walking the walk” as well. Be honest with yourself. Do you truly believe that this is the right time to kick your bad habit? Remember, it has to be done for the right reasons.
- Don’t let yourself be pressured by others. Search your soul and be certain you’re doing this for only one person – you! It’s your time and energy you’ll be using to make your goal a reality, so make your decision carefully.
2. Start a journal. Jot down every time you practice your bad habit. This isn’t to be used as a punishment, but to give you more of an idea when your undesired behavior is occurring, so that you can better devise ways to break it.
- Include your thoughts and feelings that precede or accompany the behavior. This can give you an idea if you’re doing this when you’re under stress, bored, tired, and so on. Though it may seem time consuming at first, recording these thoughts and actions can be a wonderful tool to speed up your success in breaking the habit.
3. Choose an alternative behavior. This behavior can either remind you of your desire to quit or be a permanent replacement of your bad behavior with a desirable one instead.
- For example, a friend of mine once put a rubber band on her wrist when she was quitting smoking. Each time she had the urge to light up a cigarette, she would snap the rubber band on her wrist instead. Naturally, this was only temporary to remind her not to smoke.
- Some more ideas are to take a walk, read a book, sing a song, or cook. Any activity can be used as an alternative behavior. Of course, you don’t want to replace one bad habit with another one, but anything that can redirect your focus works well.
4. Start a replacement schedule right away. Start immediately replacing your bad habit with your alternative, but a gradual shift may work better for you than a complete change.
- You may want to start with once a week, then maybe twice week, then three times, until you’re consistently practicing your alternative behavior instead of the bad habit.
- Remember, this won’t happen overnight, so please practice patience. People learn different behaviors at a different pace. Don’t be discouraged if your best friend stopped smoking in three weeks and you’re on your fifth week and still craving a cigarette.
5. Don’t keep this a secret. If you’ve made the decision to break a habit, tell others. This is the time when you need the support of your family and friends to help you be successful.
- Whether you succeed or not, you’ve taken a major leap in a positive direction. That’s why it’s so important to share what you hope to accomplish with family and friends. Those who love you will be there to encourage you, offer support, and help you wherever they can.
Breaking a bad habit can be difficult, but it isn’t impossible. Use these techniques to make your journey easier, then celebrate your accomplishment when you’ve succeeded – you deserve it!
Britt @ September 14, 2009
Critical Thinking is a Skill Every Business Owner Needs
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (0)
Do you perceive “Critical thinking” as necessarily scientific or analytical?
Actually, the bottom line on critical thinking is that it is a way of thinking that will help you form more knowledgeable opinions and make better business and personal-life decisions.
That certainly seems like a beneficial skill to have, but how do you develop the ability to think critically? Critical thinking doesn’t equal higher intelligence. In layman’s terms, it’s just a more logical way to think about solutions from all angles.
Some of us may have stronger critical thinking skills than others, but we can all learn how to improve and develop our mind.
Here are some suggestions that can help you strengthen your critical thinking skills:
1. Clarify. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve. You won’t be able to reasonably analyze a situation and locate a solution if you’re not completely clear on what you’re trying to accomplish!
- It’s also important that you place your own feelings about the situation aside. You cannot get a clear understanding of the issue if you have prejudiced opinions and biases about it.
2. Attempt to find a solution. Take some time with a pen and paper to define all possibilities. At this time you’ll also want to map out how you’ll be able to reach each of these solutions.
- Include the benefits and challenges of each solution. To learn how to improve and develop your critical thinking skills, you must be open to new ideas, so try and incorporate as much as you can into your list.
3. Information. Next, gather as much information as possible to support all the solutions you’re considering, as well as information you need to refute them.
- Considering your solutions from all angles will keep you from making a haphazard decision, which would not be classified in the realm of critical thinking.
4. Learn how to analyze. Now you have a problem, a list of solutions, and all the information you need to support or refute each of those decisions. So what do you do with it all?
- You’ll need time to analyze everything. Take everything into consideration and don’t assume anything. Make sure you have irrefutable evidence to back everything up. The more you practice this, the better you’ll ultimately get at it, so keep plugging away.
5. Conclude. Make an intelligent conclusion to your original problem. Make sure you have the documentation to back up and prove your decision. Always make sure this is a reasonable conclusion that is relatively simple to put into action.
- If you’ve put the time and effort into analyzing the problem and gathering the information, your conclusion should be able to support itself.
Final Thoughts on Critical Thinking
By following the steps explained here, you have just used your critical thinking skills! Though it may seem unnatural at first, as with everything, as you continue to practice these strategies, your critical thinking skills will continue to improve and develop.
Thinking critically can help you with many aspects in your life. Keep practicing these skills on a regular basis and soon you’ll enjoy the benefits of better decisions and superior choices!
Britt @ September 13, 2009
Finding Peace amidst Chaos
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (0)
Do you live a stressful and hectic life? Is balancing your home and business life the equivalent of burning a candle at both ends?
You’re not alone on feeling that way.
It seems that we’re busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never have enough time to accomplish what we need to. Whether it’s your boss demanding overtime, your children needing your constant focus, or your spouse requesting your attention, every day seems like a whirlwind.
You love your family and need your job, but chances are, you tend to neglect yourself in the interim. It’s extremely important that you don’t let this happen. Put aside some time each and every day to make YOU a priority.
With a bit of creative thinking and time management, there are ways to find peace in your daily chaos. When you turn off the outside chaos, it gives you a chance to revel in all that is good and right with your world. And when you do this, you emerge with renewed energy and a fresh new attitude!
Follow these tips to enjoy more peace in your life:
1. Read a good book. If you’re one of many who enjoy reading, this may be just what you need. You can spend some time immersed in a different place or time, which will help you regain your calm. If you have a hard time focusing for long periods of time, try an audio book instead.
2. Listen to uplifting music. Music has always had wonderful and mysterious powers. It’s used to calm children, the elderly, and even animals during times of stress and angst. Play music that appeals to you. Dance, sing along, or just sit back and listen to its beautiful melody.
3. Reflect and meditate. Focus on everything that’s good and right with your life. Think of those you love and what you hope for them in the future. Think about your own future as well and what you hope to achieve in your lifetime.
- Close your eyes, sit in a comfortable chair, or lie down on your bed. Block out all sources of stress and think only positive thoughts. I’m currently practicing a very simple form of meditation, where you breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, and focus ONLY on the breath moving past the base of your nose.
4. Enjoy some family time. Spending time with those you love is often a great stress reliever. Choose a fun activity that you can all enjoy. You may want to play a board game or pop some popcorn and watch a movie together.
- It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as you can have some fun and relax together.
5. Get some assistance from the experts. Many noted authors have written invaluable books on the topics of de-stressing and de-cluttering your life. You can even purchase these books in an audio format and listen to them during your commute.
- When you’re stuck in traffic, rather than getting upset, why not put in an audio book and learn while you wait? My car is now a travelling university, and that’s pretty well all I do when I’m driving (unless I have my daughter with me, and then it’s either Hannah Montana or The Backyardigans).
6. Slow down. Take your time, stop and smell the roses, and listen to the birds chirp. Everything you need so desperately to accomplish will still be there waiting for you five minutes later. It’s a beautiful world out there! Do everything you can to make sure you enjoy every minute of it.
Use these tips every day to help you discover all the beautiful and wondrous things in your life and you’ll also find peace in your chaos!
Britt @ September 12, 2009
What You Focus on Expands
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (0)
What you focus on expands. Ideally, you want to focus on moving your business forward. Losing focus is all too easy.
We all have a tendency to become side tracked. We may want to complete an important task, yet many distractions poke and prod us away from our goals. How can we keep our focus on the task as hand?
Distractions may be hard to ignore, especially when it’s a chatty coworker, a ringing phone, a demanding spouse (not all that common I’m sure–grin), or many other things. Thankfully, there are some tried and true strategies we can use to put the distractions on hold and place an intense focus on our task.
Try these techniques to develop an intense focus:
1. Remove distractions. You can’t focus if you’re constantly checking your email, Facebook, or other time-stealers! You’ll get more done if you allow your mind to get in the groove with some peace and quiet.
- Turn off your email, close your web browsers, shut off your phone off or forward it to voicemail, and put on headphones to avoid loud noises. You’ll be glad you did!
2. Remain committed. You know that you have something you should finish, but are you one hundred percent committed to seeing it through to completion? This is where you need to be honest with yourself.
- If you’re not fully committed to your task, you’re more likely to allow distractions to overtake your mind. More often than not, you’ll use distractions to create excuses and exceptions that try to justify your lack of focus.
- If you are committed, it will be easier to ignore distractions and keep your focus. This is something only you can decide.
3. Set a time limit. Even if the task itself doesn’t have a time limit, assign one anyway. If you have a deadline, you’ll be more apt to complete your task in a timely manner.
- Rather than giving in to the surrounding distractions, you’ll be competing against the clock to get things done on time.
4. Take frequent breaks. This may sound contradictory, but it actually makes a world of difference for the workaholic. If we work too long at one time, not only do we become physically tired, but our minds tire as well. This makes us more susceptible to distractions and shatters our concentration.
- Work intently for an hour and then allow yourself a 10-minute break. When you return from the break, you’ll be more focused, your mind will be clearer, and you’ll be more likely to work for another hour without losing focus.
- This strategy allows you to get more work done in a shorter time.
5. Use a list. Lists are wonderful tools that help you accomplish your work quicker and easier. Before beginning, write down everything you need to accomplish and then cross out each task as you complete it.
- The process of crossing things off your list is a great motivator to keep you working without distractions, plus it helps to build the momentum to get everything done.
6. Reward yourself for a job well done. When you’re able to stay focused on an important task, reward yourself! Just keep thinking about the big picture and your reward once you’re finished with the task at hand.
- This will keep you on target and you’ll finish as quickly as you possibly can. Everyone loves a treat for a job well done!
Remember, you’re human, too. Losing your focus is easy in an existence that’s filled with daily distractions and annoyances. However, you’ll find that you can keep an intense focus on something if you practice these techniques. Make them a habit and enjoy your rewards!
Britt @ September 10, 2009
Your Shining Beauty
Posted in: Confidence and Self Esteem | Comments (0)
Have you watched TV lately? Flipped through a magazine? Gazed upon a billboard? It seems that every where you look these days almost everyone is focused on physical beauty. Someone’s intelligence, personality, or status is all perceived by their outward appearance. So where does inner beauty fit in?
We all have inner beauty, however, whether or not we’re aware of it or utilize it is up to us. Inner beauty is something that’s profoundly more important than physical beauty. It’s something that you must nurture and cherish.
When you develop your inner beauty, your physical beauty seems to miraculously improve as well!
Here are some strategies that can help you discover and develop your inner beauty:
1. Make an “I Love Me” list. This is a powerful tool to help you discover your inner beauty. Write down all of your good qualities that don’t relate to something physical. Are you sweet? Sincere? Love animals and children? All these attributes and a host of others relate to your inner beauty.
- The process of writing out your strengths gives you tangible evidence of your great inner qualities that you might not have even been aware of.
2. Surround yourself with those whose inner qualities you admire. Of course, they may also have physical beauty, but the reason you’re drawn to them is because they’re caring, loving, gentle, or otherwise admirable because of their inner qualities.
- When you surround yourself with these kinds of people, your own inner beauty tends to shine through also. They may even point out your inner beauty to you. People like this look beyond the outer shell and focus on what’s important inside.
3. Practice and cultivate your inner beauty. Most of us know how to take care of our physical beauty: we get our nails and hair done, we stay in shape, buy new clothes, and so on.
- Remember, when you discover and improve your inner beauty, physical beauty follows. Surely you’ve met someone and weren’t attracted to their physical beauty at first glance, but once you got to know them and saw their inner beauty, they began to be more physically attractive as well.
- What can you do to bring out your inner beauty? It’s simple: Be you! Show beautiful qualities like compassion, love, and patience, and practice them daily.
4. Avoid negative talk. Gossip and negative comments about others breeds more negativity within you. Instead, focus on the good in people. Rather than saying an off-color comment about someone’s appearance, put a positive spin and focus on a point of his or her inner beauty.
- This will help you cultivate and develop your own inner beauty, too. Focusing on the positive qualities of others brings out the best in you, too! You’ll also find that you’ll attract people because they enjoy being around you. Attracting loving and caring friends is just icing on the cake!
Final Thoughts on Your Inner Beauty
Your inner beauty is unique to you. Unfortunately though, many of us don’t know how to celebrate and honor it. Unleash your inner beauty to the world! Don’t be afraid of it.
Use these tips to show everyone your inner beauty and you’ll gain an amazing and unshakeable self-confidence!
Britt @ September 9, 2009
Without Words
Posted in: communication | Comments (0)
What is the secret language of the body? What is behind the words being spoken? One way to decipher their code is to learn the meaning of body language.
Whether you’re following up on a new prospect or trying to find out if that first date went well, body language can provide you with a secret edge.
Be careful, though, because body language can be easily misconstrued. Sometimes people have certain actions or posture habits that disguise what they’re really saying. But by remaining alert and observant you’ll fair better than most!
Here are a few things to keep an eye out for that will give you some additional insights:
1. Be aware of how they’re speaking. Positive ways of communication include speaking at the same tone and the same rate of speech that you’re using. It’s also a positive sign when someone can share a laugh with you and truly have a sincere and inviting sound to their voice.
- On the flipside, negative ways of speaking include speaking a lot louder, softer, faster, or slower than you. If their voice sounds unsteady or quivering, they might not mean exactly what they’re saying to you aloud.
2. Notice what they’re wearing. People who are truly interested do their best to make a long lasting and positive impression. Their clothing will usually be neat and tidy and their hair will be groomed as well.
- Someone who isn’t interested will often appear unkempt because they don’t really care about the impression they’ll leave behind with you.
- The old saying, “Dress for success,” is a simple way to remember that people do judge others by their appearance. Whether it’s right or wrong, it happens. If you were hiring a salesperson for your company, would you want the person who’s friendly and dressed in a suit or someone who looks like he just rolled out of bed?
3. Are they interacting with you in a positive way? When people relate positively with you, they may express body language signals that show it. They may look at your eyes while speaking, lean towards you, or touch you gently to accentuate a point.
4. Do they appear uninterested or distracted? Negative signals include looking away when they should be listening, crossing their arms, constant fidgeting or tapping their foot, clearing their throat, or yawning. This may be a sign of distrust, anger, frustration, boredom, or a lack of self-confidence.
5. Practice people watching. The best way to learn more about body language is to spend some time observing people. By becoming more aware of the way others react to certain situations, you’ll be better equipped to communicate effectively.
- All people have their own quiet signals they display during different times. A great way to become more in tune with these signals is to take the time to make people watching a hobby.
- Become observant. Whether in the supermarket, church, or at the mall, watch the way people display their secret signals. It will greatly help you in deciphering body language in your own personal situations.
Reading body language is an important way to figure out what people are truly saying. It can also help you build positive and long-lasting relationships. Use these tips often to help you discover the secret meaning behind body language and become a master of communication with others.
Britt @ September 8, 2009
