Inspiration Archives

Recognizing Your Breakthrough Moments

There are times in life when if fortunate we experience a moment of utter clarity. We feel wide awake and connected and balanced: everything makes sense, we know exactly who we are, what we want, and why we're here. In that moment, be it one blink or a thousand, our effectiveness is maximal. And yet our actions seem minimal, effortless even, and the experience is consummately satisfying. These are breakthrough moments. These are moments of shibumi. Shibumi is a Japanese word, the meaning of which is reserved for just these kinds of experiences. With roots in the Zen aesthetic ideals…

Read more

The 5 Mind and Energetic Mistakes That Cost You Thousands!

Our minds are the greatest tool we have and without the proper use of our mental energy, mental creativity and right mindset opportunities for mistakes arise. Those mistakes or missed opportunities lead to thousands of dollars in lost revenue and hundreds of hours of lost time. Here are the mindset mistakes we make: Allowing others to steal your vision and your energy. Being overwhelmed because too many projects press on you that all seem important. Keeping the employee or contractor that is the least productive and who takes the greatest amount of your time. Refusal to delegate. Not asking for…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: Perspective

Your outlook on life and overall well-being can be linked to your perspective. It goes back to the old question, Is the glass half full or half empty? What lens am I going to look at my life through? Will I choose the lens where I see the positive and cope with the negative to the best of my ability or the lens where I see the negative and can’t find the positive in my life? In his talk The Last Lecture, Professor Randy Pausch talked about perspective and how to look at situations in life by introducing the Tigger…

Read more

How to Be More Loving In This Moment

By Gail Lynne Goodwin. At the end of our path when we look back on life, we won't remember the worry over the bills, the disappointment over not receiving the promotion, or the things that we might have judged as a "failure" in our life. What we will remember, are the moments that we loved, for love is truly the meaning of life. At the core of every religion is one thing- love. When it comes down to it, love is the only thing that really matters. So, if we want to live a life that really matters, the most…

Read more

How Much Is Your Energy Really Worth?

By Sheevaun Moran. As you walk through life it is often wondered how I fit in, what is my mission, what is my purpose, and how can I earn more money. These thoughts get bantered around our heads a lot. Mostly when we are feeling low, down, or just plain stuck. Being stuck is truly a sign of how little value we place on ourselves, our ideas, our options, and our abundance that we already have. Settling is just a bad habit that has been trained into our psyche and is an excuse to stay in a situation that doesn’t…

Read more

Meeting the Challenge

Why has it taken me three months to respond to Kristan's lovely invitation, overcome my fear, and become a blogger here? Fear of technology. Fear of glitches. Fear of the unknown. I love technology, but it scares me. Change scares me. The unknown scares me. Glitches with no solution scare me. And beneath all that, the fear of looking like a fool scares me. I'm working on overcoming all of this. Machines always seem to have a mind of their own. I don’t control them. I can’t even ask them what’s wrong, what they need, or why they won’t cooperate.…

Read more

Love in 21 Days!

In January of 2007, after being divorced for 7 years, I made a conscious choice to find love. Being an impatient person, I wanted a great relationship - and I wanted it now, so I entered the world of internet dating. I started by creating a vision board, that had a lot of little things and 4 main items-  a home in the mountains of Colorado, a black X-5 BMW, a handsome dark haired man and, figuring that if you're going to dream, you might as well dream BIG... I included a photo of a Gulfstream airplane, because I love to fly.…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: What Happy Really Stands For!

By Lisa Cypers Kamen Here's what Happy really stands for. H - Hopeful. Be hopeful that your dreams can and will come true. That each day will bring you something to look forward to. A - Adventurous. Never be afraid to do something new. Don’t let negative thoughts hold you back or produce fear in trying something you haven’t tried before. P - Positive. Be positive whenever possible. Positive things produce positive people – it’s contagious! P - People. Surround yourself with people who make you happy. Also with those who are generally positive. Remember that we can all help each other.…

Read more

No More Procrastination

By Sheevaun Moran. One of the most energy sapping things you can do is procrastinate. But how to stop is the real issue. Here are some surefire ways to end that nagging issue of procrastinating. Past – Avoiding things works because doing something may cause fear, anxiety and make us just feel bad. Many people feel, "I’m not doing something right" or "I won’t do it right anyway" so I’ll avoid doing it at all. Solution – Anxiety is just fight or flight and fear is something I can push through and have a victory on the other side. —–…

Read more

Decreasing Your Family’s Tension by Changing Your Tone

By Kathy Slattengren. When you walk into an office, a store or someone's home, you immediately get a sense for that place. It might be warm and welcoming or cold and filled with tension. You automatically use all your senses to develop a feeling for a place.If you are a parent, you are a leader in your family. You have the primarily responsibility for setting the tone in your home. How does your home feel? Is it a warm, welcoming place for everyone in your family? A Home Filled with Tension One mom told me about all the stress in…

Read more

Keeping New Year’s Resolutions Simple

Now is the time when we all want to start our New Year's resolutions. I agree that making positive changes and setting goals is a very good thing to do; however, it is important to do this all year round. We become these excited little souls and we make big lists of the positive things we are going to change about ourselves in the New Year. First thing I want to share about this is, YOU are already perfect the way you are and if you feel like making a few adjustments in areas of your life that is wonderful……

Read more

Today’s Brilliance from Adarsha Shivakumar

All of us trip and fall at points in our lives. Some of us stay down, too scared from the pain to get up, or just too unwilling to work to get up. Some of us get up, but we are hesitant to go forward, and just stay where we are. Some of us get up and move forward, slowly, but never with the pace and confidence that we earlier had in our stride. But there are a few of us who get up, dust ourselves off, and go forward stronger, learning from our mistakes and ready to take on…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: Self Reflection

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Every once in a while we all need to take the time to do some self-reflection and evaluating in our lives. Maybe you aren’t as happy as you used to be or just can’t find that happy moment in your life that used to be there. You might ask yourself: How can I find happiness? Try looking at the little things- the first word from your child, a beautiful sunset or something else that while seeming to be small can bring a smile to your face even for just a minute. Am I looking for the…

Read more

Begin the New Year on an Energy High

Most people tend to get run down from all the holiday festivities. This time of year is when the body and mind are exhausted and ready for winter rest. Rather than tax your system even more, take this opportunity after the holiday rush to relax a bit and allow the energy that you’ve sent out to family, friends, loved ones create a tone of positive and sharing energy for the following year. Here are some tips to keep your energy high and healthy after the holiday festivities: Take daily baths with salt and a favorite essential oil (lavender, rose, or…

Read more

Finding Hope and Dreams Amidst Adversity

There is a special invitation that whispers to us from the midst of our greatest challenges. It is an invitation to honor our spirit as we keep hope alive for ourselves and others. The truth of this brilliance was brought before me the other day when a friend wrote a note distilling the lessons learned over the past year as he and his wife battled and beat back cancer. In sharing what helped them make it through the nights of doubt, pain and uncertainty, they turned to ancient words recorded more than 1,800 years ago... 'It is my bad luck…

Read more

How Wanting Kids to Be Happy Can Lead to Raising Self-Centered, Unhappy Children

By Kathy Slattengren. Desiring happiness for their children is a goal shared by most parents. However, when parents focus too much energy on ensuring their children's happiness, they can unintentionally produce the exact opposite results. How can this possibly happen? What the Research Shows Although it seems that children who have their basic needs met plus enjoy many extras would certainly be happy, this appears to not be the case. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed over 14,000 students in grades 9-12 in 2007. They reported "During the 12 months before the survey, 28.5% of students…

Read more

Harvesting Happiness: Keeping Resolutions Part 2

With the new year just beginning, here are some tips to keeping the resolution you made for the New Year and how to be happy. Be specific. Instead of saying that you will “make friends” resolve to remember friends’ birthdays and anniversaries or friends’ kid’s birthdays. It will make things a lot easier for you. Write it down. Make sure it is somewhere where you will see it often – this will remind you of the resolution you’ve made. To go along with this… Review your resolution constantly. If your resolution is buzzing through your head, it’s easier to stick…

Read more

Improving Your Children’s Motivation

By Kathy Slattengren. Do you ever wish your children were more motivated in school, sports or playing an instrument? Many parents try hard to motivate their kids by giving rewards to encourage certain behavior or threatening punishments. Rewards and punishments involve external motivation which children often rebel against leaving parents feeling frustrated. Understanding Internal Motivation Ideas about motivation are changing as new research teases out some of the key elements. According to Daniel Pink’s latest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, trying to motivate children using external rewards and punishment is a mistake. The secret for motivating…

Read more