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The Book
Your Life,Unlimited- A Guided Journal, is a tool for those who realize the healing benefits of journaling but are uninspired by the blank page or simply can’t get past chronicling the events of their day.
This journal was brought to life by my clients who had those very problems, but found that they were able to journal deeply when given questions to ponder at the end of our coaching sessions. The Guided Journal is full of provocative questions intended to make you think a little bit deeper and get to know yourself better. It is complimented with motivating quotes to encourage you to dream big dreams. Click here to read the Top Ten Miraculous Benefits of keeping a Journal.
The Column
Time is on my side... or is it?
Funny how little snippets of incidents from years gone by can stick in your head forever. I remember driving for our daughter’s car pool and one little girl commented, with a heavy sigh, on my daughter's new raincoat: she wished she could get a new raincoat too.
When asked her why she couldn’t, I thought she would say they couldn’t afford it, but what she said stuck with me to this day. She said: “My mommy doesn’t have time to take me to the store.”
Her response stopped me in my tracks and right there I decided I never wanted my kids, or anyone I loved, to think I didn’t have time for them.
I believe we have time for our highest valued activities, all of them. We just need to figure out what those are and start living our lives accordingly. Yes, time goes by fast. Yes, there is too much to do. And yes, you can take control over the time monster. Each moment we are given holds the capacity to deliver a feeling of stress or peace. Choose peace. Here’s how:
1. Consider time your friend, not your nemesis. Shift the way you look at time and it will be much easier to find time.
2. Watch your words. Eliminate “I’m late,” “I’ll never get finished,” “I’m always rushing” and “I don’t have time.” These phrases feed your subconscious with the idea of having no time.
3. Program new thoughts: “There is exactly enough time to do what I have to do.” Believe it and go!
4. Set a deadline. I will work on this project until 11:30. I will go to bed at 10:30 three nights a week. I will do my chores until 15 minutes past the hour. Remarkably our work expands to fit the amount of time we give it. Set a limit and stick to it, this will also help with procrastination!
5. Relax. When it seems time is getting the best of you, take two minutes to breath consciously, two minutes to close your eyes, two minutes to stretch or move your body, two minutes to reframe the present situation and change the way you are thinking about time and you will change the way you feel about time.
In the end, we all have the same 1,440 minutes in our day. Those minutes will never be enough time to do everything we think we should do, but they are exactly the right number of minutes to do what we choose to do. So let’s work on updating our relationship with time, so that our loved ones will never feel we haven’t enough time for them and we won’t feel we don’t have enough time for ourselves.
Time–it is on our side, it is our friend, it is the greatest gift we can give in 2010.
Stephanie Staples is a proud Winnipeg woman with a knack for lifting attitudes and shifting perspectives in workplaces all around North America. For more tips on better living, to have her speak at your next event, or to share your "timely tips," visit www.yourlifeunlimited.ca.
Mary Ann Masesar is the winner of a one night stay and a brunch for two at the Fort Garry Hotel for her contribution to making Winnipeg the most positive city in Canada. She loves and believes in our city and moved back to realize her dreams here, she writes, "Enjoying life in Winnipeg can truly be unlimited!" Yeah! If you have a great Winnipeg idea or story to share, send it to
\n Stephanie@YourLifeUnlimited.ca
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for a chance to win a free Green Science Facial at First Impressions Hair & Skin Team.
The Top 10 Miraculous Benefits of Keeping a Personal Journal
In earlier generations it was common to keep a diary or personal journal. Today few people do it, and very few recognize the value and astonishing power of keeping a journal. If you can read and write, you have access to the most amazing source of personal power and magic! Try it for 30 days and watch it dramatically alter your life! Clients periodically tell me they couldn't possibly find the time. I ask them to try it for 30 days. Then clients often tell me they couldn't possibly live without the power of their journals. The following are my top ten reasons to keep a journal.
1. A journal will clarify your goals.
As you write a few thoughts each day, your ideas about what is important, what is worthy of your life and your time will become much clearer. You'll automatically discover what you really want in life.
2. A journal will simplify your life.
Spending as little as 10 minutes with pen and paper describing your values, noting your achievements and giving thanks for the joys of life, will make you less tolerant of life's distractions. Things become much simpler when you write them down.
3. A journal will strengthen your relationships.
It will give you time and the words to express your feelings, it will help you understand and be patient with your loved one's peccadilloes, and it will teach you to love more powerfully.
4. A journal will make you more attractive.
Socrates said, "Know thyself." Keeping a journal will help you know yourself and express yourself more clearly, and that is amazingly attractive!
5. A journal will empower you.
Thinking with pen and paper forces you to eliminate fuzzy or confusing images and "laser" in on precisely the right word, the most powerful image to express yourself. Keeping a journal will make you a better communicator, and that can make you rich!
6. A journal will eliminate temptation.
Some ideas sound great in our imagination, but when written on paper they just aren't the same! It's easy to blurt out "I hate my job!", but writing about what it means to quit, change careers and start over will quickly result in one of two things: The temptation will go away, or you'll start generating actual plans to make your life better. Either way, you win!
7. A journal affirms the reality of your life.
Writing about life adds meaning and power. Journal your child's first steps or first tooth, starting school, her first date and high school graduation adds substance to these things. A friend of mine just became a grandfather for the first time and gave his son, the proud father, a fat 3-ring binder of notes he'd written as he'd watched his baby boy grow 25 years ago. Together they cried and laughed at the reality that life is a sacred, wonderful thing.
8. A journal helps you be quiet.
Journaling has been called a form of meditation. It has a similar power to quiet the mind and focus your thoughts. It even has the power to turn off the TV! It can heal anxiety, change your breathing and make you smile. What more could you ask?
9. A journal helps you speak out.
Many of my articles, letters to the local paper, and letters to friends began as notes in my journal. A journal helps ideas become words, and it provides a nursery for words to grow into sentences and paragraphs, until finally they need a stage on which to express themselves. Sometimes that "stage" is a candle-lit dinner, other times it's a protest sign or a letter to an old friend. Whatever form it takes, many of those messages would never have been born without the safety of a journal in which to grow.
10. Finally, a journal just feels good!
Using quality paper and a fountain pen or other a beautiful instrument with just the right "heft" and feel is a wonderfully sensuous, delightful experience. It will cheer you up, reduce your stress, make you smile and add to your life. Who knows, it may even improve your sex life or make you more patient with the kids! (Well, it could!)
About the Submitter:
Dr Humbert is a Psychologist, author, speaker and Professional Coach, who can be reached at Coach@philiphumbert.com, or visited on the web.
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