Playing a role in our own rescue is the ultimate key. Sometimes it's as simple as having access to reminders.
I was able to succeed at work while going through a divorce and raising a wonderful boy and my friend felt that my story would inspire other women to realize their potential if they just went after it.
Once I decided to make the book my priority, all of my excuses disappeared.
When it came time to execute, I faced a difference set of challenges. I was completely overwhelmed because the task felt massive. The first thing I did was watch an online tutorial on how to write a book.
Opening up was difficult. Many times since I've started writing, I've thought about what the haters were going to say. As with so many things in life, facing fear is the real challenge. The fear of what others will think or say. The fear of hurting those close to me. The fear of failure.
I hope that you find something in this book that can help you as much as the experience helped me. If I can teach just one person how to build their confidence and realize they are not alone when struggling through life, then this was all worth it. I wish you all the best of luck.
Author Heather Monahan
Confidence Creator: ISBN 9781544500737 in Paperback and 9781544500744 in Ebook.
After working with women for over 40 years, Algeania Warren Freeman, Ph.D. noticed that too often women feel unworthy, not good enough, and less than able to accomplish their life desires. Dr. Freeman felt compelled to write, "Step Up Sister"to encourage women to never give up, no matter how tough life's challenges may be.
"Step Up Sister" is a workbook with a personal journal for women who no longer want to be stymied by limitations in life as it reminds them of who they are and shares tips for how they can make positive life changes. Along with biblical scripture, the book provides exercises that women can put into practice, which encourages self-love and self-realization.
In answering the question of "Who are You?" women must start to search their inner beings. It is far better to answer the question to accentuating the positive rather than speaking the negative. In life, if a woman does not speak, think, perceive or believe that she is special, who will be able to convince her of her unique qualities?
“By understanding myself, to understand others: I want to be all that I am capable of becoming.” Katherine Mansfield
Let’s face it: you are the most interesting and important subject in the entire world. You will always be at or near the center of your world. It’s a comfortable place to be! So, one of the most exciting—and, often, one of the most intimidating—experiences lies in gaining a fuller understanding of just who you are.
Life is a perpetual process of becoming. To truly understand ourselves, we need to understand how we view ourselves, how others view us, and how we truly interact with others, not how we think we interact. Self-understanding means knowing what we need and how we desire to grow. It starts with two simple questions:
Do I like who I am?
Am I happy with the person I am becoming?
To answer honestly, we need to have crystal-clear insight into the person who bears our name and Social Security number.
We consciously as well as unconsciously create our own reality through our thoughts (what we tell ourselves), our emotions (how we feel), and our behaviors (how we act). If we are to become self-aware, we must be able to understand our thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Our ability to live the life we desire will depend on our level of self awareness, the thoughts we think, the choices we make, and the behavior we display.
Sociologists tell us that human beings see two ways: First, with our eyesight; secondly, with our minds (this is called insight). We know what we see in the mirror. Insight is a little more challenging. Insight takes into consideration what makes us unique. If we are truly courageous, we will do a little research and take a good look at how our attitudes and actions are perceived by others.
Remember, attitude is always reflected in our behavior toward others. We won’t be remembered by others for our determination or our dedication. We will be remembered by the way we made other people feel about themselves.
Since our entire lives are controlled by our attitudes, we must recognize the fact that our perceptions are involved in everything we think and do. A person cannot think negatively about another person and then feel good about their relationship. So, if we want successful relationships and successful lives, it is our responsibility to control what goes on in our minds. We need to monitor our “mind chatter” and alter our internal storytelling when it’s necessary. Napoleon Hill was right when he said, “Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want.”
Self-awareness requires us to recognize our personal energy fluctuations because they determine how we respond physically and mentally. Some of us tend to get shrill and whine when we’re tired. Others shut down and withdraw into silence. We each have different patterns, so we each need to recognize our own individual responses. Although subtle, managing our energy peaks and lows is a creative way to become more effective. Others will know if we face a situation that is difficult or irritating, and they will reward or condemn us for our response. For instance:
One writer we know took her daughter to the mall at the end of a very long and frustrating day. The clerks were struggling to fix the cash machine and the check-out line grew longer and longer, the clock seemed to tick faster and faster, and our friend’s patience grew very thin. When she finally reached the counter, only to discover the machine had broken down once again, she opened her mouth to say something withering. Fortunately, before she had a chance to unload her frustration, the clerk asked her if she was an author. She looked surprised and nodded.
“You were so nice—you signed six of your books for my kids,” the clerk said, smiling. “They love your books.”
Our friend smiled back and left the store vowing never to get irritable or short-tempered in public again. “You never know where you’ll meet someone who will recognize you,” she pointed out when she confessed that story. “I’m fifty years old and I’m still learning valuable lessons about life.”
It’s important to remind ourselves that we will be judged, for good or ill, based on our behavior. One simple way to make things easier for us is to plan our schedule so we interact with others when we are at our peak in energy—our writer friend probably should have scheduled a shopping trip with her daughter on another day.
Therein lies one important secret to maintaining successful relationships: energy management.
Energy management means playing to our strengths, recognizing when we’re capable of doing our best, and using those times productively. We need to learn and abide by a vital lesson: Don’t allow unimportant activities to swallow up our best working hours—we need to budget them, allocate them, and dedicate them for the important things.
Most of us spend our high-energy times dealing with the things that might be urgent, but may not be important. We finish the easy things on our “To Do” list because it feels good to cross off a long line of items. But the things we’re crossing off may not be the things that will help us achieve our goals. We need to keep those goals in mind constantly. When we allow interruptions during our peak times and when we procrastinate—leaving the big jobs until we are under a time crunch—we are showing the classic signs of poor time management. And when that happens, it’s almost guaranteed that unexpected events will pop up and wreak havoc with our schedule and our stress levels.
Many of us have suffered from a chronic case of under-planning and over-scheduling at one time or another.
Some of us are experts at it! Despite our optimism and experience, “To Do” list items almost always take longer to complete than we anticipate. So, if we wait too long to tackle the important jobs, we find ourselves burning the midnight oil, neglecting a pleasurable activity we’d been anticipating, or losing time with a friend or family member. And then we wonder why we feel stressed!
The solution is simple. We need to study our peak performance periods and make the best use of them.
These blocks of time need to be set aside for our biggest and most important tasks. This is the time when we feel energetic and refreshed, most capable of focusing on those things that are most important or require our undivided attention. Most of us will have at least two of these peak periods during the day. Many of us know if we’re morning people or night people, but sometimes we don’t stop to identify our two (or three!) most productive high-energy times.
We also need to identify our low-performance or less-than-peak- performance periods. These are the blocks of time when we plan to do activities that don’t require much focus or energy such as answering emails, returning phone calls, scheduling routine meetings, talking about staff issues, etc.
In order to perform at our best, we all need to re-energize and re-charge our batteries on a regular basis, not just during vacations and national holidays. Many people use early mornings, late afternoons, or early evenings to catch their breath, take a break, meditate, pray, think, or otherwise plan. These are also ideal times to spend with the family, reading, listening to music, watching TV, or enjoying exercise or a hobby.
Travel days offer golden opportunities to re-energize. Don’t waste the hours waiting in an airport lobby or driving a car. Use those times to think, plan, jot down ideas, read a good book, or catch up with someone or something. When we do, we find ourselves feeling prepared, fit, and rested for the meeting or event that arrives at the end of the trip. Often we can do our best creative thinking when we capture “loose” time and tame it.
Did you know: >> Only 38% of married women think their hubby is sexy, while 57% of husbands say the same about their wives.
To conduct the NationalToday.com Spouses Day Survey, the pollsters at National Today [www.nationaltoday.com] — America's favorite online destination to celebrate quirky and fun holidays — asked 1,035 married Americans to dish on their spouses.
(survey of 1,035 Americans, conducted Jan. 23, 2017)
>> TOP 5 THINGS THAT ANNOY US ABOUT OUR SPOUSES #1: My spouse has selective listening (40%) #2: My spouse snores (39%) #3: My spouse can be a control freak sometimes (26%) #4: My spouse is not as financially responsible as I am (20%) #5: My spouse has bodily quirks (e.g. nose picking, farting, burping, etc.) (19%)
>> TOP 5 REASONS AMERICANS APPRECIATE THEIR SPOUSES
#1: My spouse is a hard worker (60%) #2: I can be myself around my spouse (56%) #3: My spouse makes me laugh (56%) #4: My spouse is smart (52%) #5: My spouse is supportive of my goals and desires (48%)
TOP 5 MOST SURPRISING SPOUSE INSIGHTS
#1: I love my spouse, but sometimes I wish I were single so I could experience dating again (10%)
#2: My spouse gets on my nerves sometimes (44%) #3: I wear the pants in the relationship with my spouse (13%) #4: Between the two of us, I'm better-looking than my spouse (9%) #5: My spouse is a slob (e.g. doesn't wash dishes, leaves dirty clothes on floor, etc.) (17%)
>> HUSBANDS THINK THEY'RE MORE HELPFUL THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE While 44% of husbands say they evenly split the household chores with their wives, only 26% of wives say the same. Whose version of reality is true?!
Perhaps, you know of women, where you work or within your personal network, that are ready to start doing things slightly different in order to achieve the success and happiness they deserve.
Girls and career women are faced with many new challenges today, from the pressure to fit in at school or work to being included and "liked" on social media and in the cyber world.
The "Total Package Girl" is a new interactive book for every girl living through the challenges of growing up in the 21st century.
"This is a guide to help girls and women love themselves be positive, steer clear of negative influences, feel powerful and live a fit, healthy and fun life," author Kristi Hoffman said. "It helps girls build confidence, knowledge and trust in themselves, develop strong communication skills, and create a master plan for living their dreams."
The Total Package Girl has an aura, an essence, a charisma. She seems amazing in a friendly yet irresistible sort of way. Before you get to know her, you observe that everyone likes her and enjoys being near her in a "want to be around her because she is awesome" way.
A stressful divorce. A painful death of a beloved husband. And suddenly, you're on your own again.
Your children have moved out, your parents are aging fast, your friends' lives continue onward, seemingly unchanged. Being suddenly single can be terrifying, but eventually it can also be liberating.
Deep down you crave attention, pampering, and the attention of family and close friends to get you through and back to the land of functioning.
Rebuilding and filling your internal well was something you had to focus on now. Being on your own for the first time, and possibly forever, required the need to craft a new life, as a single person that was meaningful for the rest of your life.
Was I now considered a social pariah? Were female friends nervous I'd steal their husbands? Where did I fit in?
The reality was still the need to be reminded frequently of your status when people asked, "How are you doing on your own? It must be hard. Are you going to stay in your home? Are you dating? What do you do on weekends, especially Saturday nights?
It was as if all single women--widowed, divorced, or never married--were part of some special social cult. "Stick with your own kind," they seemed to imply.
In the new book, "Suddenly Single After 50"addresses what life's really like when it's suddenly shaped as single. It helps readers understand the grief, frustration, and sadness alongside reawakening into the world. Anyone who finds themselves suddenly single in middle age and beyond--or knows someone who is--will find both advice and reflection, support and a way forward.
"This Way Up" is not your standard self-help book. It begins with the beautifully--written and engrossing allegorical tale of 50-something Kat, a widow and a recent empty-nester. The second half of the book is a satisfying and practical workbook that includes 12 weeks' worth of daily journaling exercises, thought-provoking questions and reader support.
"This Way Up will appeal to any woman who is seeking a life filled with enthusiasm, creativity and joy. It's a fun book to read and the workbook is engaging and can be life changing," says author Patti Clark
All of us at some point or another have probably questioned, “Why am I here?” Although it may not always be obvious, you have a very specific and unique mission in life: your spiritual purpose.
Your heart is your compass that points you in the direction of your life purpose. As you meditate on the heart over time, your sensitivity will increase and you will hear your guidance more clearly.
Oftentimes, our fear prevents us from connecting with what we really love. Your imagination is an amazing tool because you can suspend all fear and judgement and just tune into your heart.
The still small voice of the heart is always with you.
When you’re in love, and the brain releases an abundance of feel-good chemicals and hormones, all seems right with the world.
However, it’s what comes next that is most challenging. In the ensuring phase, it’s important that after the initial excitement of falling in love, the relationship needs a balance of what is essential for long-term happiness.
Michael Gabriel, author of THE BALANCED RELATIONSHIP BAROMETER, applies his innovative business insights to the challenge of sustaining loving and successful relationships.
Loving someone usually isn’t enough. For love to endure, and long-term happiness and fulfillment to thrive, relationships and individuals need to evolve and adapt to find the proper balance. That means having each of your significant needs met without having to sacrifice more than you can tolerate.
Some of the things that will help you better identify what you need for a fulfilling relationship include:
Not just accepting what your friends or society say you need
THE BALANCED RELATIONSHIP BAROMETER is filled with helpful guidelines, personal stories and anecdotes. It focuses on helping people learn to know themselves and what will make them totally fulfilled in their romantic relationships based on building awareness and seeing trends of personal needs through experience.
Every now and then a person runs across a great book that really helps improve the quality of life. This is such a book! Written by top coaches of executive women, Barb McEwen and John Agno, the goal ofWhen Doing It All Won’t Dois to develop solutions and strategies to help women’s lives be easier, richer, happier, and saner.
It’s based on the premise that doing it all won’t do. If you are a woman who is weary and stressed and taking on too much and struggling to juggle it all, this book is dedicated to helping you find the enjoyment and satisfaction you expected with your success.
Well-organized with real solutions and a helpful workbook section, this book focuses on developing your signature talents to do what you do best, developing a formula for success, and prioritizing your values and goals. A great read!
Despite our best intentions to work on the right things, we don’t, for countless reasons. All these reasons involve either how you spend your time, attention, or energy.
Normally, you don’t have as much time, energy, or attention as you would like. When you take the time to observe how your energy fluctuates over the course of the day, you can work on your highest-impact tasks during your prime time—when you are able to bring the most energy and focus to them.
THE PRODUCTIVITY PROJECT’S main takeaways, include: The art of doing one thing at a time and other “attention muscle” challenges. Among the many counterintuitive insights the author discovered, the following had the biggest impact on productivity: shrinking or eliminating the unimportant; slowing down to work more deliberately; the rule of three; striving for imperfection; scheduling less time for important tasks; the 20 second rule to distract yourself from distractions; and the concept of productive procrastination.
You are encouraged to chart your own course to productivity beginning with baseline style assessments and coming up with an accurate picture of your natural energy peaks and dips throughout the course of the day. By realizing our own energy flow, we can time our toughest tasks to our highest-energy moments, and push our low-impact work to our more energy deprived periods.
Every now and then a person runs across a great book that really helps improve the quality of life. This is such a book! Written by top coaches of executive women, Barb McEwen and John Agno, the goal of When Doing It All Won’t Dois to develop solutions and strategies to help women’s lives be easier, richer, happier, and saner.
It’s based on the premise that doing it all won’t do. If you are a woman who is weary and stressed and taking on too much and struggling to juggle it all, this book is dedicated to helping you find the enjoyment and satisfaction you expected with your success.
Well-organized with real solutions and a helpful workbook section, this book focuses on developing your signature talents to do what you do best, developing a formula for success, and prioritizing your values and goals. A great read!
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