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Articles by Jodi Chapman

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By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Affirmations

I first learned about saying affirmations many years ago after reading Louise Hay's books. She is an expert on them, and they were a huge part of her recovery from cancer. They can be both powerful and life changing. If you haven't said affirmations before, it might feel a bit strange at first. Especially when what you are saying doesn't feel real yet. For example, say your affirmation is, "I live a calm, balanced life." You created this affirmation because this is what you want for yourself - this is how your ideal life looks.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,821 views★ 3.7 (6)

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Share the Love

It feels so good to know that we are appreciated. It is a wonderful feeling to learn that our actions have inspired someone. And while we all are constantly inspired by others and admire the amazing work that our mentors are doing, how often do we stop and let them know how much they mean to us? How often do we thank them for making our world so much brighter with their actions, words, art, and love? How often do we tell them how much their inspiration has impacted our own lives in such a positive way?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,324 views★ 3.3 (6)

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Creating a Vision Board

Do you have a vision board? A place where you put up pictures and words that best represent your dreams and goals that you would like to attract into your life? The idea behind the vision board is to get you THERE. To put yourself into your ideal life and actually FEEL what it's like to be there. Your mind truly doesn't know the difference between actuality and feeling. And the way the law of attraction works is to manifest everything you want in your life by feeling as though you already have it. This is where the vision board can be so helpful.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

3,319 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Pushing Through the Obstacles

Sometimes we are on a roll in our lives where everything feels like it's going really well and flowing effortlessly. And then we add something new - something that is out of the norm from our every day life. We stretch a little bit out of our comfort zone and expect things to continue flowing. And sometimes they do. But sometimes we come across obstacles where we didn't expect them to be. Sometimes we even come across road blocks that seem to be right in the way of reaching our dreams.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

3,275 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

We're All Just Doing the Best We Can

I was watching Oprah last night, and she had Nadya Suleman as a guest. She had octuplets a couple of years ago and, as you might imagine, was feeling extremely overwhelmed and worried about how she was going to continue to care for her family. In this show, Oprah talked about how our society is addicted to judging others. Nadya has been put through the wringer in the press and judged very harshly by the public. And while her situation is extreme - we can all relate to her in some way. We have all had days when we just felt like we couldn't do it anymore.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

2,862 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

The Choices We Make

Take a look at your life right now. Look at where you live, who you spend time with, how you support yourself financially, your level of stress, your state of mind, your health – all of it. Is this the life that you want to be living? Is this a life that you consciously created or is this a life that you created on autopilot?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

2,322 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

An Interview with Marilyn Tam

I am excited to introduce you to an amazing woman today. Marilyn Tam has such a strong spirit, and even the toughest challenges couldn’t stop her from fulfilling her life purpose: to make a positive difference in the world. To say that Marilyn’s childhood was far from ideal is an understatement. She was born in Hong Kong to parents that needed to be reminded to pick her up from the hospital after she was born. She was the second daughter born in her family, and because of that, she wasn’t seen as important.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

2,115 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

How to Avert and Full-Blown Pity Party

We’ve all had moments where nothing seems to be going our way. Your day just isn’t working out the way you had hoped it would. In fact, when you really start to think about it, you realize that it’s not just that your day or week or year that isn’t working out: your life isn’t working out. And in realizing this, you begin to spiral downward into the deepest despair. You are quickly entering a place where nothing ever works, no one is ever on your side, you are never good enough, no one understands you, things never fall into place, and disaster strikes at any given moment.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

2,027 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

An Authentic Life

Are you living an authentic life? When you look at yourself in the mirror, do you know and like who you see? Is there anything that you aren't being truly honest about with yourself or others? Is the "you" that you represent to the world the "you" that you really are? I thought it was interesting the other day when a friend posted on Facebook that they sure hoped they could live up to their profile there. In one of his stand-up routines, Chris Rock talks about dating and how we tend to send our representative to make a great impression.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,832 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Can You Push Through?

At some point in your life, you will realize that it’s time to start pushing. You will realize that your dreams are just on the other side of your fear and trepidation and insecurity and all of that gunk that you really don’t want to deal with and just wish would go away. At some point in your life, you will have had enough. You will stare all of these barriers straight in the face and with more determination than you have ever felt, you will break through them one by one. Insecurity – gone. Fear – gone. Anxiety – gone. Hesitation – gone. Uncertainty – gone.r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,674 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

How Committed Are You?

This post is a continuation of my previous article, Making Room for Your Dream, where I wrote about making room for your dream. (If you haven’t read it yet, I would definitely recommend reading it before reading on.) Now that we have each taken some time and visualized our dream, sat with it, felt it, and cleared some space for it – it’s time to take action. It’s time for each of us to begin living our dream – bringing it to life – and melding our actual life and our dream life into one.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,658 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Letting Go of the Dream

Sometimes we want something so badly, and we work so hard to get it. We struggle and sweat and pour our entire beings into it until it happens, it's reality, and it's part of our world. And sometimes it's completely worth it, and it's exactly what we hoped it would be. If it's a job we fought hard to get - we saw ourselves in this position, and now that we are here we see that it's even better than we hoped it would be. If it's a relationship that we yearned for - we met that special someone and are living in happily ever after every day.r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,654 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Your Higher Self

Have you ever gotten out of the driver’s seat and allowed your higher self to take over? Have you ever gotten out of your own way and surrendered to your own higher power? Have you ever let go of your lower self – your human self – your ego – your conscious mind and allowed your higher self – your soul – your divine spirit to take the reins? If so – how did it feel? What was different? When I sit down to write each day, I never know what is going to come out.r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,643 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Choosing to Wake Up

One day I woke up. On this day, I realized that I had been asleep for a very long time – years, actually. Somewhere in my late teens, I decided that life was too scary and difficult to handle, and so I flipped my life switch to auto pilot and crawled back into bed. Every once in awhile, I would groggily awaken, but often it was just for brief moments. Every once in awhile, my spirit would get into the driver’s seat and shake me until I woke up.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,636 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

The Power of Labels

Have you ever had a moment where you wanted to change in some way, but you didn't because it seemed too crazy, too out of the box, too "not you"? The labels we give ourselves are really powerful.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,626 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

So How Come My Life Isn't Perfect?

I watched The Secret several years ago, and (like so many of you) immediately wanted to learn more about the Law of Attraction. I was fired up and inspired knowing that we have the power to create our ideal lives simply by changing our thoughts. Wow. Amazing. An aha moment for sure. I immediately began focusing on my thoughts and being more aware of whether they were the types of thoughts that I wanted to be having. Would I be thinking these thoughts in my ideal life? And if not, I would concentrate on creating them – happy, positive, loving, inspired thoughts.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,584 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

You're Already There

Have you ever wanted to be there – wherever that was? The only requirement for there is that it is far from here. There is a place where things just seem to work out. A place you have long dreamed of going to. A place where the puzzle pieces of your life somehow fit together. There is a place where faith rules over fear. A place where positivity and gratitude are far more powerful than negativity and anxiety. There is a place where everything is in abundance – love, money, time, self worth, laughter, joy. You always have more than enough.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,572 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

A Love Note to Yourself

I started writing a post about organization. And in it I talked about how in my ideal life everything flowed beautifully and life was magical. And then I started talking about my actual life and how things truly weren’t running as seamlessly as I would like them to. I talked about the endless list of to-dos and the piles upon piles of folders and projects and orders and call backs and write tos that needed to be finished.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,569 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Clarity Through Contrast

In order to find out what your true calling is - what life path you are meant to be on, you can tune in to your inner voice. You can sit still, breathe, and listen to what your wisdom deep inside wants you to know. Another way to find this out is by gaining clarity through contrast. Have you ever done something that seemed so far away from what you knew deep inside you were meant to do? Many people feel this way about their jobs. They realize exactly what they want in a new job by recognizing what they don't want in their current job.r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,563 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

What Are You Thinking?

Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions. - Einstein This is one of my favorite quotes because it's so true. We all have active imaginations, and we are all thinking a million thoughts each day - many of which we aren't even aware of. Have you ever had someone ask you what you were thinking and realized that it was hard to put it into words because either 1.) you were thinking many different things at the same time or 2) you are so used to being on auto pilot that you had absolutely no idea.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,560 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

If It's Not Working, Change It

There is something very empowering about realizing that we control our own life. When we recognize that our thoughts become our reality, we also recognize that we have the power to create the exact life that we want. This can be a wonderful feeling - and it can also be a scary feeling.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,547 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Push Out of Your Comfort Zone

Have you ever pushed yourself way beyond your comfort zone and taken yourself to a place you never thought you could go? Have you ever felt so strongly about a path you were meant to be on that you took a huge leap of faith knowing that it would all work out? Have you ever listened to your intuition and went with your gut instead of your mind? Have you ever gone against what you knew in order to experience what you felt you truly needed in your life? Have you ever pushed fear out of the driver's seat and replaced it with faith and hope?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,540 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Are You Willing to Toot Your Own Horn?

Why is it so hard to step into our own power? Why do so many of us have such a hard time claiming our talents and shouting them from the rooftops? We have no problem tooting our loved ones’ horns, yet when it comes to tooting our own, we suddenly become mute.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,536 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Don't You Think It's Time?

I’ve noticed lately more than ever that giving is considered virtuous. The more you give, the better you are. So guess what we all do? We give and give and give even more. I am certainly guilty of this. I love to give. I love working with others who also have generous spirits. It feels good to give, right? We feel good about ourselves when we make someone feel better. And all of this is good. Except for one thing. What happens when we are so busy giving and giving and giving to others and making their lives better and happier and fuller that we forget to give to ourselves?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,524 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

It's Okay to Feel Afraid

Oftentimes, when we take a leap and step into the life that we feel we are meant to live, we feel afraid and unsure and unsettled. We wonder if we have made the right choice. We look around us, and it seems that everyone else is confident and entirely sure of themselves and their choices. And this causes us to feel alone and isolated in our frightened state of mind. We worry that something must be wrong with us – why can’t we just take the leap, be okay with it, and get on with our lives?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,511 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Keep Dreaming!

Do you ever wake up from a dream that felt so vivid, so real, and so powerful? Do you ever feel like it was trying to tell you something - a message from your soul? Have you ever experienced a dream that turned out to be a premonition? There are all kinds of dreams - some are merely a processing of the previous day's events - strewn together in a fun way that only our subconscious can do. And some are more meaningful - these are the ones that you can't seem to shake from your mind when you wake up. They are so vivid and keep coming back to you throughout the day.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,486 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Reconnecting with Your Soul

I write a lot about the soul – getting to know your soul, reconnecting with your soul, loving your soul, etc. Because of this, you might think that I’ve had a wonderful relationship with my soul for my entire life. Would you be surprised if I told you that it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve been in touch with my soul?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,484 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Do you believe in signs and synchronicity – messages from the universe? Certain events have occurred over the past year that have made me a believer.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,475 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Your Soul is Calling

Have you ever felt called to a higher level of existence, but you resisted because you were afraid to take that leap of faith? Have you ever had a dream that conveyed a message – a powerful message that you knew needed to be listened to and acted upon? Did you answer the call and act on it? Or did you push it aside and continue living your comfortable life? When I am being called to change (even if it is a change that I know will help me live my best life), I have a tendency to run in the opposite direction. Change can be scary and the known is comfortable – even if it isn’t ideal.r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,458 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Saying Goodbye So You Can Say Hello

Sometimes in life we have to make tough choices if we want to grow and live the life we know we are meant to live. We may have to give up a part of ourselves that we have grown comfortable with, even if we know that it isn't the self we want to bring on our journey.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,445 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Do You Like Me?

We all want to be loved. We all want to be liked. We all want to fit in. We all want to be understood. We just do. We are social beings. We thrive in groups. We live in tribes. We have leaders and followers and pecking orders and those at the top and those at the bottom. And because of this innate dynamic, we tend to look to each other for support. We frequently look to each other for approval. This is completely normal and completely okay. We’re not supposed to go it alone on our journey. It’s good to have your tribe surrounding you and supporting you.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,428 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Perfectly Imperfect

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to do your best. But what happens when wanting to do your best keeps you from living your best life?r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,424 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Be Your Own Biggest Cheerleader

It is wonderful to surround yourself with loving friends and family who cheer you on and support you in everything you do. I feel blessed that I have a great support system. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and boosts me up no matter what I do. I have a loving mom who has always been there for me and allowed me to always be myself. And I also have supportive friends who love me and honor me. Their love means the world to me. And it's easy to sometimes rely on their support rather than look within and be my own cheerleader.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,403 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

If At First You Don't Succeed, Try Try Again

Why is it so hard to slow down – to take ourselves off of the treadmill of our busy lives and just be still? Why are we not welcoming stillness and peace and serenity? Why are we instead choosing chaos and imbalance and busyness? I had planned on taking a day off this weekend. I had big plans to relax and unwind – to treat myself to a day on the couch where my only task was to chill out, watch a miniseries, snack all day, play games, read, and take lots of naps. It didn’t quite go as planned.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,400 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Another Perspective

Have you ever wondered how others see you? Have you ever stepped back from your life and looked at it as though you were an objective bystander? Have you ever felt stuck and asked a loved one to offer guidance and perspective? A few months ago, Dan and I were on a call with a wonderful life coach, and she asked us how we defined success. At the time, we were in the mindset of “when this happens – we’ll feel truly successful.” We quickly listed off many things that needed to happen in our lives for us to feel like we were successful. Our list went something like this:

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,397 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Pushing Distractions Aside

One of my favorite times of the day is when I sit down to write my blog post. I have some breakfast and sit in front of my computer until a topic comes to me. And then I write. And sometimes it goes smoothly and effortlessly.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,392 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Coming Full Circle

Do you ever think about what were you like as a child? What did you like to do for fun? Did you like playing indoors or outdoors? Did you have a lot of friends or just a few close friends? What did you spend your time thinking about? What did you want to be when you were all grown up? Sometimes the responsibilities of being an adult can lead us away from our path - we take the safe, secure road, which isn't always our true calling.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,385 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Hearing Fear Out

Have you ever embarked on a wonderful new adventure that you were super excited about, and just when you really started to get into it with both feet in - fear stepped up and started listing all of the reasons why it's probably not a good idea for you to do this after all and tries to get you to see how much safer it would be for you to just step back into your comfort zone? When this happens, what if we took some time to listen to what fear has to say? It's there to protect you - it doesn't want you to get hurt or fail or be disappointed.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,382 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

What Do You Deserve?

What you deserve and what you think you deserve sometimes have completely different answers. It all comes down to our thoughts, our beliefs about ourselves, and our self worth. To give an example - imagine you are looking for a life partner. All you have ever wanted in life is to find someone who loves you for you - who appreciates you - who cares about you - and who would give anything to be with you. You know you deserve this. And yet...the partners you actually end up with are afraid of commitment, treat you horribly, don't appreciate you, and don't care about you.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,381 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

A Day Just for You

Let's schedule an entire day where we pamper ourselves and do exactly what we want. Let's spend the day replenishing our energy and nourishing our soul. Let's declare it to our loved ones. Let's let them know ahead of time that this is our day. On this day, let's wake up when we want, eat what we want, and do exactly what we want. Let's get creative in what this means for us - let's talk about the specifics. Let's spend some time planning it out. Write down when you want this day to take place.r

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,371 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

You Be You. And I'll Be Me.

I’m never going to be like you. I could try and try with every ounce of my being, but I still would be a lesser version of you than you already are. I could put all of my focus into acting like you, talking like you, writing like you, being like you – and you would still be better at being you tha I ever could.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,369 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Asking for Help

I wouldn’t consider myself a team player. I have always been the type of person who would rather just do something myself than have someone else assist me. I thought that bringing in another person with their own set of expectations about how things should be done complicated things, and I found that it was just easier to work alone. So I created an entire life based on the premise that I didn’t need anyone’s guidance. I believed that I was fine (even better off) without anyone’s help.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,364 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Your Inner Circle

Who do you allow into your inner circle? A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about our happiness levels being the average of how happy our top few friends were. This is so interesting to me, and it really brought home the fact that we are all so sensitive to the energy around us. (You can read more about this here.) Because we are like sponges and tend to take on other people's moods and emotions, I think it's a good idea to be careful about who we let into our inner circle.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,358 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

We Can Only Change Ourselves

The only person we can truly change is ourselves. What a hard lesson this is to learn, right?

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,350 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

What's Your Story?

I was watching Oprah’s Lifeclass the other night and author and speaker Iyanla Vanzant was talking about changing the stories that we tell ourselves.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,337 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Letting A Good Idea Incubate

I was playing Pictionary the other night with my husband and picked the word, incubate. I drew test tubes, a beaker, and a thermometer to show the heat. While weren't able to guess it before the time ran out, it did get us thinking about the other meanings of the word. The meaning that stuck with me and is still here days later is, to develop, grow, take form. I love thinking about this definition in terms of a plan, goal, or idea. There is something very satisfying to me about sitting on it for awhile rather than immediately acting on it.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,324 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Grateful for an Act of Grace

Have you ever gone down a path in life that didn’t feel quite right on a soul level, but it felt comfortable and secure on an ego level? For instance, what if you always knew that you wanted to be a writer, but you had been told so often that writing would never pay your bills: you would have to work at a 9-5 job and then write at night and on the weekends. And so you went to school and got a degree in something practical: technical editing.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,322 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Are You Running Away from Your Dream?

I am in the process of writing a book. It’s a different kind of book than the Soulful Jou als that my husband, Dan, and I have written. It’s a full-length book about pushing through fear to live the life of our dreams. It really gets to the heart of who I am – my soul has begun to emerge throughout the journey of writing it. This has been both a great experience and a real learning lesson at the same time.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,321 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Unplugging Your Circuits

I woke up this morning thinking about the many unfinished projects I needed to do, emails I wanted to send, and the seemingly endless pile of papers that needed to be filed. Not always the best way to wake up. I immediately felt tired and overwhelmed. But then I remembered a wonderful cd that I listened to several years ago that talked about how we store energy in our bodies. It was called Energy Anatomy by Caroline Myss.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,318 views

By Jodi ChapmanRecently published1 topic

Making Room for Your Dream

We all have dreams. They start with a simple idea and soon grow into a possibility. And as time goes on, they begin to feel more and more real. We even start to believe that they could actually happen. We really begin to see ourselves living our dreams. We can almost taste them they seem so real. Our dreams are our passions met with action. We take all of our talents that are swirling around inside of us, and we map out a plan of how we can put these talents to good use.

Primary topic: Self Realization

Self Realization

1,315 views

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