Send to KindleAsk for what you want and be prepared to get it! ~Maya Angelou
Many of us go through life believing that if we just do what’s right, be grateful and work hard, sooner or later everything we want will just come to us.
Sounds simple enough; but reality is that if you don’t stand up for yourself and ASK for what you want, need and deserve in life … there’s a pretty good chance you won’t get it.
So why don’t more of us ask for what we want? While some people believe having to ask for what they want is demeaning, more often than not the primary reason is simply fear. We fear rejection or we fear that we’ll be forever indebted if we accept help, or we fear asking in a way that will leave us feeling vulnerable or stupid.
The principle isn’t complicated: You don’t ask, you don’t get.
- You want a raise at work, ask for it.
- You want that piece of business, ask for it.
- You want that job you just interviewed for, ask for it.
- You want something more from your relationship, ask for it.
- You need help, ask for it!
Asking someone for something you want can be scary the first few times, but it’s a lot better than waiting and hoping for something to happen. With a few tips and a little practice, you can learn to overcome the discomfort and fear of asking for what you want. read more…
Send to KindleSend to KindleA life passion grounded by purpose is the quintessential expression of our most loving, evolved, and authentic selves. ~Barrie Davenport
Finding your true passion in life is such a heady thought isn’t it? Being able to lose yourself in something you truly love, something that energizes and drives you into exciting new activities and directions in your life!
Unfortunately most people can probably count on their fingers the number of times they have actually experienced a real passion for something, much less having actually done something about it. Which is why I am so pleased to introduce our very special guest today – Barrie Davenport, author of The 52-Week Life Passion Project.
So get comfortable and spend a few minutes with us, because this is going to be really good … and please be sure to take a moment to enter the contest to win one of 2 sets of The 52-Week Life Passion Project and the companion workbook!
Q. We’re so pleased to have you here Barrie! Please tell us a little about yourself and what lead you to focus on helping people find their passion.
A. I am a certified life passion coach and an online entrepreneur with two top-ranked personal development sites. BarrieDavenport.com is devoted specifically to helping people uncover and live their life passions. My other site, Live Bold and Bloom, is a general personal development site focused on a variety of topics helping people stretch themselves and live their best lives. Prior to my work online and as a coach, I was a public relations executive and consultant for over 20 years.
In the years just prior to becoming a coach, I was focused on raising my three children. My oldest daughter was an aspiring professional ballet dancer, and I spent several years supporting her dream by driving her to her ballet studio, a 60 mile round trip twice a day. Once she left home, I tried to refocus my energy on my public relations consultancy. But I had completely lost my enthusiasm for it. It felt empty and meaningless to me. That’s when I began my own search for a life passion. It was really scary for me, as I was in my 40’s at the time and thought my only skills were related to my public relations work. But my restlessness kept urging me to find that “something” that would make me come alive again with a sense of enthusiasm and purpose. I took assessments and courses and met with a coach, and eventually decided to pursue a coaching certification.
Once I started my coaching practice, I created a basic blog to market my business and discovered how much I love blogging, writing, and connecting with people on the internet. This has blossomed into another passion. All of the work I did helping people in my PR work, through my own passion journey, and as a coach, has allowed me to create a formula for uncovering your passion step-by-step. I love helping people follow this process and work toward changing their lives to live passionately. read more…
Send to KindleSend to KindleEverything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. You can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. ~Steve Jobs
Have you bought into that age old fallacy that the ability to be creative is reserved for the select few? If so, then prepare for a shift in mindset, because the truth is you were born with the potential for limitless creative thinking.
Take a moment to consider what creativity really means … to produce something that is both original and worthwhile. By definition, this can mean anything from a work of art; to an innovative idea for a product or new business; to new ways of solving problems … in other words creative thinking opens our minds to all the possibilities of life and is a skill worth mastering.
Creativity can be cultivated and strengthened over time, but keep in mind creativity is dynamic. Think of it as a muscle that needs to be used regularly to keep it flexible and strong. If somewhere along the line you’ve convinced yourself that you are not creative, then to some extent that has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and to reverse that you’ll need to become intentional about strengthening your creative thinking muscles.
Consider the Benefits of Creative Thinking
Creative thinkers:
- Achieve more goals, faster
- Are confident decision-makers
- Are optimistic and open to challenges
- Are focused, less likely to experience stress
- Are open to new experiences
- Look at obstacles as opportunities
If you’re ready to boost your creative thinking skills, the following strategies will help to get you started. But please remember, mastering any new skill begins with your mindset. You must accept that you are by nature a creative being and that what you are setting out to do is stretch and strengthen your existing creative thinking muscles … one day, one action at a time. read more…
Send to KindleSend to KindleWith ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable. ~Thomas Foxwell Buxton
Could it be that talent is overrated? We tend to take for granted that those who seem to be able to “naturally” do things so much better than the rest of us – play music, paint, play golf, etc. – succeed as a result of their genetic gift. But research indicates there’s much more to it. In fact, if you read the stories of most of the “naturally” talented people in history, they pretty much all have one thing in common. They not only practiced to develop their talent, they practiced deliberately and with fierce determination.
In other words, as nice as it may be to be born with a particular talent, to make the most of that gift – to actually succeed – takes deliberate effort. The question that begs to be answered then is why are some people so much more willing to make the effort – and what factors influence just how hard they are willing to work?
According to Angela Lee Duckworth in her short but captivating TEDx Talk the answer is grit.
Someone who has “grit” is said to have a passion for long-term goals, does not require immediate positive feedback, and is able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods – despite experiences with failure and adversity. Essentially, the person with grit is focused on winning the marathon, not the sprint.
At the University of Pennsylvania, Angela Lee Duckworth studies intangible concepts such as self-control and grit to determine how they might predict both academic and professional success. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success. read more…
Send to KindleSend to KindleThe path to achievement doesn’t always follow a straight line; sometimes it requires a little ingenuity …
As we rapidly approach the midway point for this year, most of us likely fall into one of three camps when it comes to the subject of our goals. We either get energized talking about them because we’re on track to succeed, or we hate talking about them because we’ve made little progress … in fact a few of us may not even remember what our goals are at this point. And finally there are those who have defected from this process all together and have found freedom in no longer having any goals at all.
If you happen to fall into that second group, but still – even on some remote level – cling to the dream that spawned your goals, then this post is for you because my mission here is to encourage you to consider that with a little ingenuity, you may be surprised at what you can achieve in the months remaining in this year. In fact, the answer to getting back on track may be as simple as rethinking your strategy.
4 Steps to Rethink Your Goal Strategy
Evaluate Your Progress Without Blame
Too often when faced with falling short on a goal we waste time and energy beating ourselves up with a case of the “shoulds” … we should have predicted the stumbling blocks, we should have had better resources, or we simply should have done better. Many will decide they should just give up on the goal all together until “next time;” which is why some goals become regulars on our annual list of New Years Resolutions. read more…
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