Live A Better Life Newsletter – Tips and Tools for Intentional Living
Flush Your Positive Attitude (and Embrace a Tirade)
Volume 1 Issue 6, February 9, 2009
In This Issue:
Greetings!
Flush Your Positive Attitude
Recommended Resources
Contact Me
About this Newsletter
We have a winner! Thanks to inspiration from newsletter subscriber Tina Paraventi, the newsletter has a name: “Live a Better Life, Tips and Tools for Intentional Living.” Many thanks to everyone for your suggestions.
February is a time when winter burnout can set in. We grow weary. Doubts begin to form. This month’s feature article reveals a fun way to leverage the negative thoughts and turn them to your advantage.
Sincerely,
Lori Howard
Life, Career, and Business Coach
Your Coach for a Better Life!
Flush Your Positive Attitude (and Embrace a Tirade)
Coach for a Better Life newsletters to date have concentrated on how to look for the positive: focus on your strengths, your blessings, and your goals, on how to empower your positive side. Odds are you also have a darker side. Some coaches name this your Gremlin, your Inner Critic, or possibly your Shadow Self. Whatever you call it, it’s that part of you that fills you with fears and negative attitude. This is the side that dooms you to failure. The one that tells you all the reasons you can’t achieve your goals, or have your dreams. The side that has its argument all worked out, and typically, it’s a good one.
Don’t be fooled; everyone has a darker side. I have been dealing with mine for years, and have found countless tools for taming or even partnering with this darker, and let’s face it, disruptive side. I want to share with you what I learned from Barbara Sher in Wishcraft, Chapter 5. I learned how to use that negative energy to my advantage. The premise is this, there’s more energy in negativity than in depression, so let’s harness it and use it. Ride the wave. The key is this, don’t fight the freak-out. Embrace it.
I was skeptical when I first tried this; but now, I’m a believer. I’m adding this to my own arsenal of dealing with the obstacles, without having to figure out how to change my attitude. In the past, when I’d enter this fear-based freak out state, I could be paralyzed for weeks. Now, I roll with it, use it to my advantage. I am back on task in short order. And my positive attitude? It comes back on its own, and I don’t have to fight to hold onto it.
So, when you feel the panic and fears swelling, and batting them back or arguing with them isn’t getting you anywhere. Don’t just walk, run with it. Really freak out. Do it out loud or in your journal, say it all. (If you do it out loud, be sure to warn others who might be within earshot.) Get really carried away, focus on crying out about how this time you WILL fail because you are not that smart, not that pretty, and no one will ever want to read what you write EVER. Exaggerate. See how far you can take it. Then take it further. Use your imagination for ill for a change. Just go for it.
Typically, you’ll last between 5 and 15 minutes before you run out of things to say (note how much quicker this is than fighting it). And then, you may even find yourself laughing at some of the silly things you’ve come up with. You’ll also find that you have energy, and can now take that energy and apply it to the next tiny action toward your goals.
Add this to your arsenal. And do tell me how it goes.
I’d love to hear from you, post your thoughts below!
I recommended this book last month. And since it’s the inspiration for this month’s feature article, I’m recommending it again. You can get buy it, or you can pick it up for free online. It’s Wishcraft by Barbara Sher. Get it online at http://www.wishcraft.com. I’m a huge fan of Barbara Sher’s work, and this is one of my favorites. This book helps you figure what you really want next in life, and develop a plan to get it.
Looking for some inspiration to live a life of greatness? Check out the book Wide Awake by Erwin Raphael McManus. He claims we are all destined for greatness (not necessarily fame and fortune), and offers inspiration and guidance to truly living a full and fulfilling life.
Are you ready to set goals that will excite and inspire you? Goals that move you to action. Rather than drain you, they energize you! Go to my web site www.CoachforaBetterLife.com and download my free report: Five Days to Goals That Inspire You (in the section: “A Gift for You”) and you will not only set the goals, you will also create a daily action plan to achieve them!
I welcome your feedback, comments and questions. Also, if you’re interested in contributing to this Newsletter, email me your submissions.
Tell me what you think about this newsletter by posting a comment below.
website: www.CoachforaBetterLife.com
blog: CoachforaBetterLife.wordpress.com
email: Lori@CoachforaBetterLife.com
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© 2009 Lori Howard. All rights reserved.
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