Browse Personal Development

Have you ever wondered why certain other people seem to you to be so confident, personable and successful! They seem to receive an inordinate share of attention, approval and love. Some of them are beautiful, some are not; some are easy going, some are not. You may even wonder what secret they have for life.confident It may even bother you as to why some people are preferred to others. We all want to be “liked,” “loved”, but what is it that gets others to like and love you?

Being mentally tough is not that difficult to achieve. Your mind loves to be put to use and the more you stimulate your mind and thoughts, the more your attitude changes. All of these changes combined can really help improve your mental toughness. It is important to stimulate your mind on a regular basis, but you definitely don't want to over tax it. Always be open to taking on a new challenge, but don't take on too many at once. Meditation is another fantastic way to impro

You hear about it all the time. Writer’s Block – that awful moment you find yourself staring at the blank page and realize you have no idea how to begin and a deadline fast approaching. Oh, you have ideas, wonderful flights of fancy that have you finishing your report ahead of time, writing a best selling novel or having your fabulous article published in the latest, greatest magazine. But the words just won’t come. The ones that do show up somehow don’t seem to fit together

Negativity can really affect your life. It can lead to depression, cause health issues, and destroy your connections with others. Here are a few tips to help you eliminate the negativity in your life. 1. First, figure out what is triggering the negativity. Before you can eliminate it, you have to identify it. You will probably find that much of your negativity comes from those self-tapes you play in your head. You need to find ways to change those tapes from negative to posi

Giving up — even once — makes it easier and more acceptable to “just give up” again. When you give up, you damage your self-respect. You heart doesn’t listen to the excuses for quitting which are created by your mind. Your heart knows that when you quit — when you give up — a little piece of your self-esteem dies each time until eventually, there is nothing left. When you want something and go after it, even if you don’t get it, you will at least know you made the effort and

By Judi Moreo Taking on a coach can be one of the quickest ways to speed up development. If you are looking to improve your self-image, perhaps hiring a coach is the right way to go. But before you sign on the dotted line, use these tips to find the right person for the job. Ask About the Coaching Process People who claim to be coaches often have an air about them that defies getting asked questions. People seem to automatically assume that because they hold the title of c

Feeling empty is often a product of missing something you need. When you experience emptiness, it often follows an event where you lose something or someone that was very important to you. Sometimes, feeling empty happens when you realize you need something more or different in your life to feel complete again. Regardless of what your missing needs are, understanding them so you can successfully fulfill them is important for healing your inner emptiness. What can cause a pe

When the warmer weather approaches, advertising for diet and exercise explodes onto the scene. You see beautiful people along with the before and after shots. All too often, these commercials will try to make you believe that you can accomplish the same results within weeks or even days. This sets us up for unhealthy expectations about what can actually be accomplished. There will be the few people that can trim down their waist size in a short period of time. For everyone e

A vision board is a simple yet powerful visualization tool that activates the universal law of attraction to begin manifesting your dreams into reality. The concept of the vision board (also known as a goal board, goal map, or treasure map) has been around for generations, but it’s gained a renewed interest and popularity after success expert John Assaraf related his story of using vision boards to achieve his dreams in the best-selling DVD documentary The Secret.[1] WHAT'S A VISION BOARD?

Internationally renowned business philosopher Jim Rohn says, “We want to set the goals that our heart conceives, that our mind believes and that our bodies will carry out.” We are intelligent beings and as intelligent beings we need to have SMART goals. The acronym S.M.A.R.T. outlines the set ...

Words are powerful because they shape our thoughts, determine our actions, and chart the course of our lives.

The path to inner peace is not simple or short. You cannot just wake up one day and decide you are going to have inner peace from that point forward. It is a process, a journey that needs to be appreciated every step of the way. You need to be willing to let go and accept your full spectrum of emotions. You need to be ready to step outside the box you have allowed yourself to be put into and start from scratch, getting to know yourself all over again and be willing to make mistakes.

An excerpt from Your Ultimate Life Plan: How to Deeply Transform Your Everyday Experience and Create Changes That Last, by Dr. Jennifer Howard. One realizes that all of existence is a manifestation of conscious¬ness; that ultimately everything is made out of consciousness. —A.H. Almaas

No matter how much we enjoy what we are doing in our life and in our business, there are times when we all find ourselves in need of a creativity jump-start. As many of you know, I'm working on a book to be released this Fall. I greatly enjoy the topic and the writing process, however there are days that I find myself, simply put, feeling stuck. The other day I shared with you how bringing your uniqueness into everything you do can help you get "unstuck." Here is a list of other tactics that you can use when you simply need a little creative jump-start.

Personal development is all about being willing to change. This willingness to be curious and grow, allows us to reach more possibilities. Personal development is an over arching term that includes many different approaches to self-improvement. BE VERY TRUTHFUL WITH YOURSELF Personal development in its largest context could encompass anything that involves personal growth on all levels, meaning physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Exploring personal development takes a willingness to look at ourselves with extreme honesty and examine ways we want to change and improve.

Is it possible that your life is not the joyful, effortless, successful, happy and carefree promenade that your heart desires because, in fact, you haven’t really got the first clue what your heart truly desires at all? I’ve been working with personal development or self improvement clients since the beginning of 1996. In my experience, almost nobody has ever given any thought to what they actually want out of life.

A client asked me recently “What would you have left to talk about if you took gossip out of the conversation?” A very good question, because most of us spend a large part of our time gossiping. It might be about little “harmless” things, like the neighbours’ behaviour, how someone down the road was caught with someone else’s wife, how the guy next door was caught drink-driving. Or how one of our children’s friends got drunk (and sick on the school bus). Most of us, to a greater or lesser extent, delight in gossip – particularly if it involves someone else falling on their face. Of course,

I wanted to share with you today one of the most inspiring pieces of writing I've ever heard.

I have long been of the view that “normal” behaviour is bizarre. After all, the Universities of Chicago and Milan calculate that so-called “normal” people use just 1% of their mental capacity to do what they’re doing in the here and now. The rest of their mental energy is wasted on looking forward, worrying but, most destructively of all, looking backwards – because that is where the subconscious mind lives. And this subconscious, focused in our formative years, automatically creates our daily reactions – and our daily behaviours. Just by way of example, I recently mentione

We were talking about the importance of learning to say “No” effectively in part one. But now how do you go about it? I enjoy helping my clients with their limits and boundaries involving their bosses, parents, children, husbands/wives or other people or situations. Often I start with what they would really like to say and then work with processing the statement. This means diving into the thoughts and feelings entangled in the difficulty. That leads to either softening the intensity of the answer or being more grounded and truthful.

Ever found yourself really wanting to say “No” but saying “Yes” instead? For some of us saying "No" can be difficult. However, learning how to effectively say "No" in an assertive manner rather than not at all or in an aggressive style is an important skill that is freeing and empowering. There are many situations we all find ourselves in that call for us to respond with either a “No” or a “Yes.” Many people seem to struggle with not being able to say “No” effectively when “No” is what they really want to say. Not Saying "No" Has Negative Consequences

Do you bristle when someone refers to you as shy – or offers to “fix” your little lack-of-a-social life problem? Have someone in your life you’re conce ed about because he or she spends just a little too much time alone? Read on!

The law of attraction remains a mystery to many people, in spite of the recent wave of movies and books that claim to be about this ancient principle. This mystery surrounding the law of attraction is what makes boatloads of money for the so-called ‘gurus’... and it can also keep you from reaching your own dreams.

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most recognizable and respected women in the media. She has been identified as "arguably the world's most powerful woma " by CNN and Time.com, and her influence is incredibly powerful. In fact, her endorsement has such a profound impact on the public that is has led to the coining of the t

From the word go, we’re programmed to believe that we need to better ourselves. If we’ve grown up in the Christian tradition, we have learned that he are damaged goods in need of repentance – that’s not, in fact, at the core of the Christian message – in fact, we are actually told that we are the children of God. In addition, as a result of society’s need for us to conform, we are encouraged to better ourselves by getting a good education.

I am forever being contacted by clients recommending a variety of self-help books. And, yet, a client recently mentioned to me that he had been on a workshop where another participant told him to "Stop reading the books - and start living it!" The truth is, that you will only find true wisdom within. You will only find your true potential within.

I’ve been running Personal Development Seminars now for over fifteen years and still, after all these years practicing what I preach, I wake up some mornings plagued with useless thoughts – or the little rascals come after me during the day when I least expect it. But, of course, I should expect them because, sad as it may seem, the adult human appears to be hell-bent on destroying our best efforts in the course of our everyday lives.

The normal mind is anaesthetized. I’ve come across people who do things they know they shouldn’t be doing but they appear not to be able to help it. I know people who insist on reading every single email the moment it arrives even though they’re supposed to be in the middle of something important and they know that the majority of the emails that they read are a complete and utter waste of time. Indeed, recent research tells us that the average response time to an email is a mere six seconds. I’ve also recently been told that the average distance an email is sent is two hundred metres!

Ask and you shall receive! The concept of so-called “cosmic ordering” apparently works along these lines – definitions of cosmic ordering suggest that you write out your wish list (which is somehow cast out into the cosmos) and wait for it to happen (wait for the cosmos to respond).

In order to live a happy and successful life, making the right career choice is of utmost importance. In fact, we spend almost 80% of our time at work and if we are not happy in our job, it will be reflected in the other areas of our life. If on the other hand, we make the right career choice right from the beginning and we do what we really love, our job will be fun and when we are happy, we will emit positive vibrations and we will as a result attract more positive things in our life. Most of the time, we don’t really know what we want to do as job.

I am wondering if nature has something to teach us about what it means to be female. One of the most fascinating aspects of the natural world is the manner in which males earn the right to mate with females. Whether it’s a battle of strength or intelligence, only the best male wins the opportunity to embrace her. Nature instinctively works through her selective process to ensure a stronger next generation. If all of nature holds a deep reverence for the female’s ability to choose, then it appears human beings have it a bit backwards when it comes to their mating rituals.

1. A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. There is nothing more satisfying than that sense of being completely "at home" in your own skin. When you achieve that as a natural state of "being", then you can finally look beyond yourself and fully contribute all your talents to the world. 2. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. So many look to eradicate fear from their lives, when that is an impossible task.

One of the most important elements of ongoing business success is gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. Lots of businesses talk about it, lots of businesses strive for it, but very few businesses really understand it. Put simply, competitive advantage means being different – not just different from your competitors, but being noticeably different as perceived by your target market – and the difference has to be substantive, not cosmetic. And it is in substantive real competitive advantage that most businesses simply fail.

There really is no secret when it comes to learning how to apply the law of attraction (LOA) in your life. You can begin making changes in ANY area of your life as soon as you want. There is nothing holding you back! You don't have to wait until you are an expert. Start transforming your life by following the three steps outlined below and you will have the power to manifest anything you desire. It is important to be sure that you have a good grasp of each step of this LOA process before moving onto the next.

One of my clients, a well-known solicitor, recently introduced me to her partners by saying “Willie is living the dream!” She was referring to my living in high the French Alps, where myself and my wife moved five years ago with our three children – a better quality of life, skiing in winter, boating in summer, food, wine, the list is endless. But “living the dream” has nothing to do with location, it’s simply a state of mind. It’s the clear state of mind in which you find yourself every so often – when you’re “all there”, when so much gets done with such little effo

Time is finite. You get twenty-four hours per day, 365 days per year. Once a minute or an hour has passed, it’s gone forever. Establishing a sense of richness in your life requires that you acknowledge this limitation, and that you begin to consciously decide how you’re going to invest each moment you’ve been given. In my work as a professional coach, I’ve found that most people are not conscious of the non-renewable nature of time. As a result, they commit their calendar according to what is urgent, to other people’s demands, or in response to what they believe is expected of them.

Facebook is such a fantastic community for making inspiring connections with others.. There are so many in the community who desire to make a difference to the lives of others and themselves. acquaintances who I've had minimal conversations with regularly now take a minute out of theirhectic lives to give me some positive praise and encouragement.

We all have the ability to recognize – someone we already know, a difficult situation when we see one, an opportunity that’s staring us in the face or a problem that needs our attention. However, our psychological ability to recognise is just as much a curse as it is a blessing. We take in raw data through our body’s five senses – a psychologist would term this “bottom up” data – through the process of cognition. At this point, the data, of itself is meaningless – we need to interpret it. This is done by adding our “stored knowledge” or “top down information” to the

Cast your mind back to when you were a child – maybe eight or nine years old. Remember those long, sunny, summer holiday days that seemed to go on forever? Remember how you had no idea of time – what time it was, the way time was passing – it was like everything was effortlessly enjoyed in a timeless daze. And, remember, even though you might have had lots of those long, timeless, sunny, summer holiday days, the school holidays seemed to be over almost as soon as they’d started – time flew when you were having fun. When we were children, we lived in timeless state of mind. We were open-minded,

Like many things we don’t fully understand, it would be easy to dismiss the power of affirmations, but enough respected and highly successful people use them that, they deserve investigation. Regrettably, many of us grow up with a set of beliefs about ourselves that are less than empowering. As we grow up we begin to put ourselves down for any slight failure, whether real or imagined. Our parents, teachers and other influential adults can inadvertently create a diminished self image and install a number of limiting beliefs.

Have you ever driven a familiar route, only to arrive with no real recollection of how you got there? Scary when you think about it isn’t it? Yet when we were learning to drive, it took all our powers of concentration to coordinate our hands and feet, not to mention negotiate a busy junction. All the things we do on a daily basis without even thinking about are stored in the subconscious part of our minds. These include the way we brush our teeth, the way we tie our shoes, the way we drive and so on.

I’m writing this article on a Friday morning. A couple of years back, I did a breakfast seminar – a short discussion on effective personal development – for a large organization in Dublin.

Delegation is one of the most powerful tools for effective time management, and it's also the most psychologically loaded. Relying on others can bring up deep-seated issues of dependency and trust. Many people, from managers at work to adults at home with a family, often fall into the trap of ‘doing everything.' You may think that you can do the task better, or faster, than anyone else can. Or you may simply not want to impose on anyone by asking for help. You may even do everything yourself because you feel guilty if you're not busy all the time!

Today, more and more people in all the different parts of the world are looking for the right partner with whom they can “live happily ever after”. Many people succeed and many others find it difficult to find the right person. But who is the right person?

Where was God in Haiti? By Kris Timpert This quote in bold print "Where was God in Haiti?" took up an entire page of a newspaper I saw this morning. The article went on to discuss the suffering of the religious people in the world. All those people who have been waiting for a savior. “Where is the savior?” exclaimed the author. Here you have these poor people in Haiti, destitute, abandoned, hungry, injured and crying for help. Imagine the prayers rising up to the heavens. What do we expect to happen here on Earth when such a disaster happens?

There has been a lot of talk about inflation, depression and recession lately. There are only two ways to really “shield” yourself from the dire news that are flooding the media left and right; one is to move to a remote cave in the Himalayas. The second (and easier) option is... to transform your current “prosperity vibration”. And how do you know that you’re NOT vibrating in a negative frequency regarding money and prosperity? EASY. I have a quick quiz to all my personal coaching clients who face money challenges.

Worry is corrosive form of useless thought – that is all worry is. Yet, it turns mole hills into mountains, conjures up imaginary crises and transforms the small puddles that we have to inevitably step over in life into raging impassable rivers. Instead of looking at life’s little hand grenades for what they really are, our sad little minds turn them into weapons of mass self-destruction. Worry is not just a waste of your energy – worry, at best, is stifling the life out of you – at worst, it is the cancer that is eating you from the inside out.

You find you are in the middle of a dissatisfying life. You are consistently feeling betrayed. You are attracting chaos to yourself and cannot figure out why…. There are pieces of you that screaming for attention and to be healed. The messages are louder and louder and are showing up in the form of vast self sabotaging actions. These actions are reverberating out in to your relationships at the speed of light. One relationship after another is not working out. Life is lacking in passion. Embitterment is beginning to become a regular state of being.

Sensitivity and kindness go a long way to building strong relationships. For a leader, that means building relationships with suppliers, customers, team members and others in your organization. A leader who is all business and treats people in an impersonal, calculated way won't inspire much cooperation or commitment from others.

Whether it comes in the form of a pile of unpaid bills, a contentious argument with your spouse, a worrisome health problem, or a traffic jam, stress is a part of everyday life. While some stress is inevitable, when your body repeatedly encounters a set of physiological changes dubbed the stress response, trouble can brew. Stress may contribute to or exacerbate various health problems, including these: high blood pressure, suppression of the immune system, headaches, insomnia and depression. The good news is it is possible to dismantle negative stress cycles.

Mindfulness allows you to relate to and deal directly with whatever is happening in your life. Instead of struggling to escape, suppress or avoid distressing thoughts and feelings, mindfulness helps you approach whatever is going on in your life, in your thoughts, and with your emotions, without becoming overwhelmed. When you start being more mindful and start living in the present moment, you'll experience your life more fully, and become more in touch with yourself, who you

The vast majority of people raising children are ill equipped for the job. Now, we all know the general comments like “How come they don’t teach you about this at school?” or “Why is there no training to be a parent?” But that’s not what I’m talking about. Those of us who are parents know that nothing, but nothing, actually prepares you for the day you bring your first child home from the hospital. But that’s not even what I’m talking about – I’m talking about something a lot more fundamental – and something that is ruining the next generations’ lives. Decades

"When you repeatedly see an image in a way that activates a positive emotional charge, you become more likely to move towards it (even if it seems like a long shot). In action things happen. You talk to others, resources multiply, and your eyes open to opportunities. Suddenly you disce it was ...

If the path of one’s life is already predetermined and our choices cannot change the outcome, doesn’t that cause you to feel disempowered? I have to offer gratitude to my friend for asking me this very question. It is an excellent question. Can we really be disempowered to know that our destination has already been set? Is it disempowering to know that a highway exists betwee New Jersey and Califo ia and that driving your car west will eventually take you there?

1. All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible. This is something I often repeat, however I cannot stress highly enough the need to know what you want, and to define a singular, overriding goal for your life. We do not need to know how we will accomplish that, we just need to be mindful that the things we do, move forward this singular purpose. 2.

There are so many reasons to become a coach I hesitate to write about just seven. As a Coach and Coach Trainer I see dreams made real on a daily basis and this is just the start. Here are my top 7 reasons to become a coach: 1. Personal Development: Through the process of becoming a coach you have an opportunity to develop yourself beyond your wildest imagination. Many students graduate from coach training completely rejuvenated with a new zest for life. 2.

Whether you are feeling overextended, overcommitted and overwhelmed, or just ready to free more time for summer, the following tips can help you take the first steps toward conquering your time crunched lifestyle find more time for "off the clock" fun. "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." ~ Peter F. Drucker

By any standard, growing a small business is a balancing act. The clearer you are about your goals and the more organized you become with your marketing and sales efforts, the greater your chance for success. I hope this checklist will serve to inspire and support your efforts. 1) Never let a day pass without engaging in at least one marketing activity. 2) Keep an “inspiration” file where you can easily drop in clippings or ideas for later reference. 3) Carry business cards with you every day, ALL day. (They don’t any good in the box!)

I Googled "dating" this morning - Google came up with 268m results. Whether it's online dating, speed dating, lunch dating or singles holidays, events for singles... actually I Google gave me even more results for singles - 288m. Lots of people are looking for something that's missing in their lives - whether it's companionship, friendship or love. But there's a problem. Almost everyone who's out there "looking for love" is normal.

We’ve all learned from first hand experience that stepping into the unknown can be both exciting and scary at the same time. The human spirit is born to explore and discover, while our ego and subconscious may suggest we play it safe based on past events. So, how do we know when to act and when to pass? I’ll make this as easy and straight forward as I can. Don’t analyze the decision with your head, feel how it feels in your gut. Of course you want to do your research and homework but at the end of the day, how do you feel about your idea or plan?

"I have an everyday religion that works for me. Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line." --Lucile Ball, 1911-1989, Comedienne and Actress We all heard the saying a million times before---“When you take care of yourself first, you will then be better able to take care of, and give your best to the people you care most about”. How many of us follow this prescription? For me, I am now becoming more conscious of this wonderful truth. I was always so busy worrying about everyone else’s needs first, that I put my needs and thoughts to the sideline.

Are you constantly feeling tired and lacking in energy? Do you feel drained at the thought of the things on your to do list? Are you looking for a way to overcome tiredness and loss of energy? What are your first thoughts of the day when the alarm goes off? Do you smile and bounce out of bed? Or do you groan and wish you could have a few more hours under the duvet? Do you feel so overwhelmed that its easier to slumping front of the TV instead of taking action ? How many times do you put something off until tomorrow and tomorrow never comes?

I've been thinking lately of how I could put together a list of success principles based on my travel achievements. I've lived a pretty adventurous, courageous and successful life travelling the globe. You don't do that unless you possess certain qualities and character traits. I wanted to put together something as to how anyone could apply these same principles to other aspects of their life and achieve the same success. Success principles work no matter what avenue you use them for. I sat down to think about it and put some ideas together when I reached a blank.

We all have times in our lives when we are feeling sad or down about something for one reason or another. One may walk around feeling totally drained, numb and basically not in tune with the best life has to offer.

When we are having difficulty in adult relationships it is often because we are approaching them from the perspective of the ‘hurt child.’ This is someone who is always looking for love and approval, and is hypersensitive to criticism. If a person comes from an environment of deep criticism, that person will develop a hyper intuitiveness, and a hypervigilance around other people… constantly wondering what others are thinking and feeling. Their tentacles are out “feeling” the situation, sensing the danger, or the OK to proceed. This can result in a deep lack of spontaneity.

Most life coach training courses encourage you to choose a niche such as Divorce Recovery Coaching or Career Coaching. Within each of these niches lie endless opportunities. As a Coach and Coach Trainer I know that most six-figure income coaches ultimately end up tapping into multiple streams of income. Here are 8 ideas for areas within which you might obtain coach training. Training in these areas is included in the programs at www.WorldCoachInstitute.com. 1.

In this hotly competitive marketplace, more companies are turning to image consultants as a cost-effective tool to differentiate their products and services from others in the marketplace.

Even though the effects of depression might be all too real in your life, depression is not real. If you’re suffering from depression, you’re only imagining it because depression is the direct result of your subconscious mind’s obsession with useless thoughts that were impressed upon it during your formative years. I know that this may seem completely unreasonable to anyone who is trapped in the dark by depression – or, indeed, to anyone whose life is deeply affected because a loved one or family member suffers from depression. But it is a psychological fact.

If you are considering life coach training, career coach training or any other type of coach training you probably have found a number of options out there and may be feeling overwhelmed. I understand. I was there once too! A good coach training program like the programs you will find at www.WorldCoachInstitute.com will encompass several key qualities: 1. Coach Training Hours.

Do positive self-affirmations actually work? The short answer is ‘No’ – unless you have a few years to spare and a heavy-duty supply of perseverance. The problem is that self-affirmation is directed at the conscious mind and, unfortunately, your conscious mind has absolutely nothing to do with the way you behave, how you react to people and in situations, how you view the world or, most importantly, the view that you take of yourself.

All of us carry wounds from the past. We may or may not be conscious of them. Either way, they inhibit our ability to embrace life. If we want more of life’s blessings, we need to heal our wounds – our repressed emotions and old patterns and limiting beliefs. How do we identify these wounds? We can dig deep into our memory banks in an effort to uncover the experiences that first brought us pain and trauma. Or we can address our pain when it surfaces in daily living.

The key to improving your memory is to exercise your imagination and get as many of your senses involved as possible while encoding the information that you want to remember. The better your imagination, the better your memory and your ability to memorize a list. The following exercise will help you to better understand what I mean. I want you to take no more than 60 seconds to memorize the following list in order: * juicern * cheesern * oatmealrn * muffinrn * sausagern * pud

We’re in our eighth great year living in the French Alps. When we upped and left Ireland in 2002, many friends and clients remarked that we were taking a courageous decision – after all, our children were thirteen, eleven and eight years old at the time and were establishing their own little lives. Similarly, I walked away from a big job in banking in 1996 to set up my practice as a consultant and mentor – what I’m still doing today. Once again, at the time, many people told me that I was brave and courageous to do that.

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to better yourself and being constantly beaten backwards. Embarking on the adventure of personal development can sometimes seem similar to trying to scale Mount Everest and finding that, every time you make a little progress, you suddenly start sliding down the mountain all the way back to base camp. You’ve done the training, got the right equipment and tools but you just don’t seem to be getting anywhere – and fast!

What is the secret formula to being happy? It seems most of us, no matter how hard we try are always coming up short. Why is it we work so hard at trying to be happy but find what actually comes our way is stressful, painful or disappointing? For me, I believe happiness is learning how to be a good Gardener. We are taught many things as small children but no one ever tells us how to be truly happy.

Spend a few moments glancing at the websites of any of the major international news services - it is little wonder that so many of my clients have been emailing me to tell me just how difficult it is to stay positive at present. And these are people that I've been working with for some time - sometimes for years - they should know better. Actually, they do know better - but with so much bad news around, they're finding that it takes less effort to simply follow the herd and slip into the same weird and "wonderful" world that most so-called normal people are drowning in at present.

Perhaps you’re stressed out – or you’ve had enough of your awful boss. Maybe you’re overweight and simply haven’t had the staying power to shed those pounds. Maybe you’re lonely – looking for friendship or a relationship but you freeze every time you’re in company. Perhaps you almost collapse every time you have to stand up in front of an audience to make a presentation – or are getting more and more frustrated by the way you shout at your children when you know that you don’t mean to.

Most people experience self-doubt on a regular basis and I am not immune. I have spent entirely too much of my life trying to accept myself as I am. While easy for me to see how wonderful and special you are, it was a challenge for many years to see myself in the same light. It’s no wonder that my first book focuses on “self-discovery and acceptance.” And it’s no wonder that my journey led me into psychiatric nursing and success coaching not only to work on my own personal development, but to assist others in their personal leadership development as well.

I have read the other day an article about judging the quality of a diamond and it remembered me about the goal of becoming a diamond in a very important network marketing company. How about this perspective about your goals? How about thinking about your goals as diamonds and rate them the same? First, let’s find out how you check a diamond's value. When it comes to judge a diamond’s value, everything it is reduced to 4 C’s:rn- Color - Clarity - Carat weight - Cutr

Judi Moreo is one of the most recognized personal growth trainers and coaches in the world. She is the author of 11 books including 2 international bestsellers, an online program for building your self-confidence, communication, and leadership skills.