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Archive for the ‘Self Improvement’ Category

Simply stated, time management is to handle time with a degree of skill. Skills are not innate but can be learned. By following the five simple steps below, you can learn to skillfully handle your time both efficiently and effectively.

STEP 1: Inventory your time. Before you can begin to learn how to manage your time wisely, you must first determine where you are spending it. Taking an inventory of your time can do just that.

There are certain things that all of us must do daily, weekly, or even monthly. Make a list of basic activities on which you spend your time, such as, sleeping, eating, working, leisure activities, family, finances, household, etc. Keep a time diary for a month, noting approximately how much time you spend on each of these activities per day, per week, or per month.

STEP 2: Identify time wasters. Often times, we are unaware of just how much time is lost during our day because of time wasters. By taking an inventory of your time, you will be able to identify those things that are less important than others but seem to constantly take priority.

In addition to the activity categories suggested in Step 1, you may want to include an extra category called *time wasters.* Make a note in your time diary of those things that take up a good chunk of your time but are not really necessary, such as surfing the Internet for hours, too much television, or excessive socializing at work.

STEP 3: Keep a TO DO list. In order to be able to determine priority of certain tasks, and to avoid becoming a constant victim of time wasters, a TO DO list can be extremely helpful.

I like to categorize mine, instead of simply writing down a list of things to do and numbering them randomly. Category A is for vital things, such as paying the bills on payday. Category B is for important activities but those may not have a particular date associated with them, such as grocery shopping. Finally, I have Category C for low-priority items that I would like to get to eventually, such as cleaning out the garage.

Regardless of how you decide to structure your TO DO list, keeping the list and making sure it stays up-to-date can assist you greatly in managing your time efficiently.

STEP 4: Budget your time. Budgeting your time goes hand-in-hand with the TO DO list and the time inventory, and it helps you establish priorities.

Develop a budget of your time similar to how you would budget your finances by creating a chart based on the same activity categories you used for your time inventory. Determine how many hours you should be spending on each activity by reviewing the actual hours spent per task that you recorded in your time diary. Based on your actual hours, decide what is reasonable, and note that on your time budget.

STEP 5: Plan your calendar. To pull it all together, the final step is to plan your calendar. Keep it realistic by not overloading yourself with too many activities and events in one day, or even one week. This can be accomplished by comparing your TO DO list with your time budget. Recognizing that there will be the occasional time waster that will find its way into your day, be sure to keep an hour or two open for those and for unexpected interruptions.

These 5 steps are not a cure-all to an overloaded calendar or numerous time wasters, but they can get you headed in the right direction to solving your time management ills.

Contact the author to receive your Time Management Toolkit.

By: Lynn Jacobs

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Lynn Jacobs is a Christian life coach, writer, and speaker. She offers practical life coaching from a Christian perspective, and her coaching sessions are conducted conveniently by telephone or Skype. Schedule a FREE consultation by contacting Lynn via telephone (615-429-2078) or email (lj@newjourneychristianlifecoaching.com).

What is my purpose in this lifetime? How do I achieve all of my desires in life?

Two very important questions for anyone seeking more satisfaction and abundance in life.

Fame, success, and monetary gains can all be rewarding, but until we truly discover our purpose in life, there will always seem to be something missing.

Once we begin to discover our purpose and start to work towards achieving our purpose and goals, then life truly becomes an adventure of constant new discoveries and personal growth. In many ways, it is the journey into personal development and discovery of our spirituality that make achieving our purpose more satisfying in the end.

During this journey of discovering our purpose and working towards its achievement, we will encounter many tools and ways of thought that will assist us along the way. Some of these valuable tools and techniques include:

1. Discovering and achieving our purpose is best accomplished by carefully considering our goals…and putting together a plan for attaining these goals.

2. True success is the result of positive thoughts concerning our goals…and learning how to minimize our negative thoughts.

3. Learning how to develop our creative abilities is vital in the journey towards achieving our purpose…and is probably one of the sole reasons for our existence.

4. Learning how to use our imagination and dreams to help create the reality we desire is very important for achievement of our purpose in life.

5. Much wisdom and success in today’s world can be obtained by studying many of the ancient philosophies and success methods of great achievers of the past.

6. Acquiring the ability to look inside ourselves through some form of personal meditation is vital for both discovering our purpose and accomplishing our goals.

Planning for the successful accomplishment of our goals is a vital first step in achieving any purpose we desire

While the planning methods used by each individual may vary, research indicates that those who incorporate some type of formal plan are generally more successful at achieving their goals.

At a minimum, adequate time should be allowed for each individual to fully contemplate their goals and desires…and start to formulate a plan in their minds for achieving these goals and desires. Because most of us have so much going on in our daily lives, it is also very important that our goals be written down so they can be referred to often..to keep them fresh in our minds.

While writing down our goals on a simple piece of paper is all that is really necessary, there are also many other resources available for developing and implementing our goals…It really comes down to personal preference.

While goal setting is a vital component in taking the actions to achieving our purpose in life, we should also allow our goals to be flexible enough to change as we develop and learn throughout our lifetime.

As we pursue our life’s purpose, there will be both times of ups and downs. For successful achievement of our goals, it is very important that we learn to develop positive thought patterns for a majority of the time.

As we journey towards our goals, obstacles will appear from time to time to hinder our efforts towards achieving our goals. If we allow ourselves to develop negative thoughts, these obstacles can cause our forward momentum to come to a halt.

While no one likes problems, it is very important that we continue to try and develop a positive attitude so that these "problems" become just minor challenges to overcome rather than insurmountable obstacles to achieving our life’s purpose.

As we continue to develop more and more positive thought habits, it actually becomes easier to take on life’s challenges when they crop up. In truth, much of our reality is shaped by our thoughts…so creating a positive reality is really about creating positive thought patterns.

As we pursue our life’s purpose, there will be many opportunities to overcome challenges and devise new ways of solving problems for both ourselves and others. Therefore, it becomes vital that we learn how to develop our creativity.

In truth, it can be argued that using our creativity is one of the main reasons for our existence. Advancements in society have always been the result of individuals who have looked beyond the accepted norm of the time and searched for creative ways to do something better.

Many individuals feel that "true creativity" is only achievable by a select few, but the reality is that we all possess incredible amounts of creativity when our minds are focused on obtaining a specific goal. While some individuals are what might be considered "naturally creative", true creativity is available for anyone willing to develop it.

In our quest to become more creative, there are actually many techniques and methods to help us retrain our conscious and unconscious minds for optimum creative development…which can help us reach our goals that much faster. Research has also shown that we can even tap into valuable information beyond even ourselves through what has been called our superconscious minds.

Due to the fact that we all possess a powerful inner creativity, time should definitely be devoted to learning how to develop a more creative mind as we pursue our life’s purpose and goals.

Purpose is necessary for a life that is truly ‘on fire’ and full of abundance and wonder

Once again, to truly achieve a life full of abundance and wonder, it is imperative that we take the necessary steps needed to discover what our true purpose in life is. It can be argued that until we truly discover our life’s purpose, we are only partially living our lives.

When we are actively pursuing our life’s goals and purpose, each day becomes an adventure full of meaning. Instead a dreading another day of drudgery, we will look forward to each day…and how each step in our pursuits will bring us a little closer to our life’s purpose and desires.

In a future article, we will look at the last 3 vital steps for Discovering Our Purpose…and Achieving All Ouir Life’s Goals…Till then, good luck on your own Abundant Life Journey!

By: James Noyes

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James Noyes is a researcher, writer, entrepreneur, and developer of www.abundantlifeplan.com‘>The Abundant LifePlan website. Visit this valuable website to – Discover the Secrets for: Attracting Immense Wealth into Your Life..Tapping into Your Natural Creativity and Genius Potential..and Utilizing Your Innate Healing Powers. Come visit us at The Abundant LifePlan website to learn about these powerful "Secrets" and much, much more!

Using Self Hypnosis To Achieve Your Goals

The power of self hypnosis is undeniable. You can change almost any aspect of yourself with self hypnosis. You can use self hypnosis to create new beliefs, generate positive feelings and even diffuse negative memories. So why do some people not get the results they desire form using self hypnosis?

For the most part it is because they are not using self hypnosis in the right way!

In order to get the most from any self hypnosis session you have to know why you are using it. You must have an intention prior to trying self hypnosis or the only thing you will gain from it is deep relaxation. Set a self hypnosis goal!

You should have a clear understanding of what you want to gain from using self hypnosis. Write down a statement that encapsulates your intention. This will become the goal you will use during your self hypnosis sessions.

Once you are clear on your self hypnosis goal word it positively. Do not state what you do not want or state the things that you are trying to get rid of! For self hypnosis you must state your intention in only positive terms. For example, writing “I don’t get embarrassed when speaking in public” is not the way to word a goal. It keeps you focused on what you don’t want. “I am confident and at ease speaking in public” is much more positive and keeps you focused on what you do want.

The mind thinks in pictures! When using a self hypnosis program always remember this! You can check this statement out for yourself by thinking of your bedroom. What colour are the walls? Where is your bed positioned? Do you have a radio, TV or stereo equipment in it?

In order to answer these questions you must form pictures in your mind.

As the mind works in pictures you must only include the things you want in your statement. By including things you do not want you are forcing your mind to create a picture of it! Create your statements in positive ways like “I have an abundance of disposable income” instead of “I no longer have unpaid bills”.

In this way you are focused on what you do want and your mind will naturally formulate a mental picture of what you want! When you use self hypnosis to program this into your mind you are telling your subconscious only to include the positives!

Now that you have your written statement that outlines what you want from your self hypnosis sessions you can get more specific. By creating a specific, detailed, image of what you want you can re-program your mind using it during a self hypnosis session.

To do this simple read out your statement and allow your mind to form a picture of what you are saying. Note how imagining that makes you feel. Now play with the picture a little. Change details of it until you are aware of your feelings becoming more intense. Try to form a picture that evokes strong positive emotion. If this is something that you really want then creating pictures that evoke strong positive emotions should be hard.

The written statement and mental picture along with the positive emotions becomes your blueprint for success that you will program into your mind during self hypnosis.

Now you have your intention and visualization it is easy to find the appropriate self hypnosis product for your needs. Should you decide to try self hypnosis without the aid of a recording you will need to familiarize yourself with the self hypnosis steps outlines below.

Self Hypnosis Script:

Find a comfortable spot either sitting on lying down before you start your self hypnosis session. Ensure you will not be disturbed as this will weaken your self hypnosis. Take a deep breath, in through your nose out through your mouth. This will relax your body.

As you begin the self hypnosis keep your head and neck straight. Focus on a spot in front of you but that is slightly higher than your line of sight so you have to look up without moving your head.

Now tense your toes for several seconds and then release the tension allowing them to relax. This lets you notice the difference between tension and relaxation. Next tense you lower legs and release, then your upper legs and release. Do this for all the muscle groups of your body until you have even relaxed your face and scalp.

Before long you will find your eyes are beginning to strain and you may wish to close them. This is natural in the self hypnosis process and is due to how you are using your eyes. Close your eyes and mentally count down from 10 to 1. Breathe deeply and imagine that there is an escalator in front of you and get on. Once you reach the bottom mentally count down from 5 to 1.

Enjoy this self hypnosis feeling of relaxation for a few seconds before you imagine a long winding set of stairs. Walk down them and then count back from 5 to 1 again. You are now in a state of trance.

Now that you’re in a state of self hypnosis you should recall the mental image you created earlier. Watch it like you would watch a film. Be a witness of the scene and watch yourself in that situation. Feel the positive emotions associated with the scene. Once you feel good step into the body of that other you. Feel what they are feeling, see what they are seeing and enjoy the experience.

Stay in this visualization for as long as you are enjoying it. Once you are finished you can leave the state of self hypnosis by mentally counting from 1 to 10. Begin slowly and as the numbers progress count faster. Tell yourself that you are becoming more awake and start to change your focus to your current surroundings. You will come out of the self hypnosis feeling exhilarated and positive towards your goal.

Everyday, for about 30 days, practise this simple self hypnosis technique. You will be amazed at the results!

By: Michael A. McGrath

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Further Self Hypnosis Reading: Self Hypnosis & Hypnosis are product review sites. They offer free reviews of tests carried out on the best products from the web.