"Up for a game?"
That was the subject line of an email that I recently received. The person that sent it to me is a friend, mentor and business partner:
Barbara Van Deinse, EverBetter Coaching
This was the rest of her email:
I've been reading this book called "Excuse me, your life is waiting" and one of the key concepts that I like talks about how much of our day is spent in negative (or even neutral) thought and how difficult it is to be in a positive state.
To demonstrate, the author encourages you to notice how many times in one single day you catch yourself even just thinking or perhaps saying out loud what it is you DO NOT like, or DO NOT want, or DO NOT have, or criticizing yourself or others, even if in jest.
I consider myself to be a very positive person and yet I when I took this on for one single day, I was stunned! Until you make yourself conscious of it, you really have NO idea!
So, I took her suggestion and every time I caught myself in a "don't want" "don't like" or "don't have" state of mind, any time even the mildest complaint about myself or others crossed my mind, I replaced it with something I appreciate about myself. The key is that you have to PRE-decide; start each day with one thing - no matter how big or how small - that you will use for the appreciation. And you have to use that same thing all day long. If you don't decide on it first thing in the morning, it is hard to think of something on the spot when you need it. You want to have an automatic switch ready.
It's been so much fun that I thought you might want to try it with me. Are you up for a 30 day challenge?
If nothing else, you'll definitely feel more positive about yourself at the end, and maybe you'll have some surprising new results as well (that's what I'm hoping for anyway!). I think it would be fun to send each other an email each morning saying what our appreciation switch for the day is and then an email at the end of the day to say what happened when we made the switch, what we noticed about things. Are you in?
I'm taking it beyond the 30 days myself but I think 30 days is a good test. In two days, I've come up with a list of 184 things - I only have 181 more to go for a full year of ME appreciation ideas! Yeah, I know you think I ought to have no problem coming up with 365 things... don't worry, "MY EGO" is already on my list!
Let me know what you think.
Babs
I, Kathy Howe, have participated in this game for the past two days and I.AM.HOOKED.
In two days I have noticed a distinct difference in how I deal with things.
Here are my APPRECIATIONS from yesterday and today:
I have created for myself a tremendous circle of friends – bright, funny, intelligent and supportive – there is no shortage of big hearts and brilliant minds in my world.
I appreciate my independent spirit. It has given me the courage to make my own path both personally and professionally and freed me from feeling as though I had to/ought to follow the ‘norm’.
Today I went so far as to actually write the words "independent spirit" on a piece of paper and tack it up next to my computer where it would never really be out of sight. I can't tell you how many times that focusing on the power of my independent spirit absolutely LIFTED me from a state of negativity or indifference.
Every day for the next 30 days I intend to post two things here to Kathzoofus and I would be THRILLED if you decided to join me in this game - online or off. I hope you will give this a try.
1. I will be posting each morning my daily appreciation. One thing about myself that I appreciate.
2. Each evening I will post one example of how that appreciation benefited me by removing me from a state of negative or indifferent thinking.
The fun starts Tuesday morning. See you soon!
That was the subject line of an email that I recently received. The person that sent it to me is a friend, mentor and business partner:
Barbara Van Deinse, EverBetter Coaching
This was the rest of her email:
I've been reading this book called "Excuse me, your life is waiting" and one of the key concepts that I like talks about how much of our day is spent in negative (or even neutral) thought and how difficult it is to be in a positive state.
To demonstrate, the author encourages you to notice how many times in one single day you catch yourself even just thinking or perhaps saying out loud what it is you DO NOT like, or DO NOT want, or DO NOT have, or criticizing yourself or others, even if in jest.
I consider myself to be a very positive person and yet I when I took this on for one single day, I was stunned! Until you make yourself conscious of it, you really have NO idea!
So, I took her suggestion and every time I caught myself in a "don't want" "don't like" or "don't have" state of mind, any time even the mildest complaint about myself or others crossed my mind, I replaced it with something I appreciate about myself. The key is that you have to PRE-decide; start each day with one thing - no matter how big or how small - that you will use for the appreciation. And you have to use that same thing all day long. If you don't decide on it first thing in the morning, it is hard to think of something on the spot when you need it. You want to have an automatic switch ready.
It's been so much fun that I thought you might want to try it with me. Are you up for a 30 day challenge?
If nothing else, you'll definitely feel more positive about yourself at the end, and maybe you'll have some surprising new results as well (that's what I'm hoping for anyway!). I think it would be fun to send each other an email each morning saying what our appreciation switch for the day is and then an email at the end of the day to say what happened when we made the switch, what we noticed about things. Are you in?
I'm taking it beyond the 30 days myself but I think 30 days is a good test. In two days, I've come up with a list of 184 things - I only have 181 more to go for a full year of ME appreciation ideas! Yeah, I know you think I ought to have no problem coming up with 365 things... don't worry, "MY EGO" is already on my list!
Let me know what you think.
Babs
I, Kathy Howe, have participated in this game for the past two days and I.AM.HOOKED.
In two days I have noticed a distinct difference in how I deal with things.
Here are my APPRECIATIONS from yesterday and today:
I have created for myself a tremendous circle of friends – bright, funny, intelligent and supportive – there is no shortage of big hearts and brilliant minds in my world.
I appreciate my independent spirit. It has given me the courage to make my own path both personally and professionally and freed me from feeling as though I had to/ought to follow the ‘norm’.
Today I went so far as to actually write the words "independent spirit" on a piece of paper and tack it up next to my computer where it would never really be out of sight. I can't tell you how many times that focusing on the power of my independent spirit absolutely LIFTED me from a state of negativity or indifference.
Every day for the next 30 days I intend to post two things here to Kathzoofus and I would be THRILLED if you decided to join me in this game - online or off. I hope you will give this a try.
1. I will be posting each morning my daily appreciation. One thing about myself that I appreciate.
2. Each evening I will post one example of how that appreciation benefited me by removing me from a state of negative or indifferent thinking.
The fun starts Tuesday morning. See you soon!
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