You know you need to make some changes to your organizational habits if you see piles of papers, files, or junk in every nook, corner, and crevice.  Once clutter takes over your workspace it’s time to fight back with some clutter-free organizational tips!

Creating Your Clutter-Free Office

A clutter-free office starts with the desire to get rid of the clutter. Every morning make it a goal to put away (or toss) ten things that are not in the right place.  You can use this strategy anywhere – at home, in the car, or at work – and you’ll notice a huge difference on a day-to-day basis. If you’re rather motivated, try removing 20 or more pieces of clutter. Think of how many pieces of clutter you could eliminate if you spent half an hour to the problem!

You also need to come up with a filing system for papers.  Paper is often the worst clutter culprit, and if you come up with a way to deal with all of the paperwork, you’ll find your office to be much easier to work in. This is often as simple as having “in”, “out”, and “to be filed” boxes.  Getting the paperwork off the desk will change the whole look and feel of your space.

Empty your garbage bin at least once a day. You probably already do this if you have a cleaning service at work, but if not, make sure you do it regularly. You also need to make sure that you have an adequate-sized wastebasket. If you don’t, you will find trash all over the place. Not only would this be distracting, but you’ll have a bigger job on your hands than if you had just emptied the bin to begin with!

Computer De-Clutter Tips

Make sure that your computer is clutter-free, too! It’s easy to store everything on your computer, but it still counts as clutter, even though it’s virtual.  Remove any unused icons from your desktop, empty your recycle bin, and make sure you check for viruses and spyware to ensure your computer is running smoothly.  Having virtual clutter on your computer will slow you down and distract you just as much as having real clutter in your office.

A clutter-free office really is a more productive office.  You need to make sure you implement one or all of these strategies so you can maintain a clutter-free office, day in and day out.  It may take some time and effort to get rid of the clutter and keep it that way, but the work will be well worth it because you’ll feel better, find things faster, and get a whole lot more done in less time.

Everyone has these feelings from time to time, but you can learn to calm your mind. A calm mind is a more attentive and proactive mind, and in learning to remove anxious thoughts, you can learn to enjoy your life far more than you already do!

How to Achieve Peace Within

When you have a mind that will not stop, you usually are hard-pressed to find inner peace. The more your mind races, the more anxious and frustrated you may become, and this can lead to unproductive days, weeks, and even months. You don’t have to continue to live this way. There are many ways to calm your overactive mind and you really can learn how to live a more calm and peaceful life.

If your mind starts running a million miles a minute and you’re not sure which way to turn next, try to pause and repeat a positive affirmation. When you use the power of positive self-talk, you will program your mind to work in a new and different way.

When things seem as if they are getting out of hand, you can use an affirmation such as, “I trust my ability to relax. I am calm and peaceful.” Although this may not be the case at the moment, if you repeat this constantly you will start to believe it. This will help you change your inner dialogue in those moments when you are tempted to succumb to the craziness surrounding you.

Positive affirmations are important because they give you permission to turn off the negative dialogue in your mind and replace it with positive thoughts. The negative dialogue feeds the feelings of turmoil, and when you replace them with peaceful affirmations, you change your life, one positive statement at a time. 

If you have a hard time believing that this strategy will work for you, give it a try with an open heart and mind. It really does work!  In no time at all, you’ll feel more peaceful and reap the benefits in every area of your life.

Many of us feel like we cannot do anything about the crazy lives we lead and the inner discontent we feel. I can assure you that this is not true! When you use positive affirmations, you can reprogram your brain so that there is only room for positive thoughts. You will be surprised to find how quickly a positive affirmation such as, “I trust that there is a plan for my life, even if it has yet to be revealed to me” can work for you.

If you feel like your life has gotten off course and you don’t think it’s possible to lead a calm life, why not give a peaceful affirmation a chance?  If you repeat affirmations often enough, you’ll soon begin to believe them, and you’ll turn a seemingly simple statement into reality.

How to “Unlearn Your Pain”   By

 There are literally millions of people currently suffering with chronic pain.  My work with people with chronic pain has shown me what a devastating impact pain can have on one’s life.  Every day, someone tells me that pain has “ruined their life,” or that they have become a “professional pain patient.”  Since I started the Unlearn Your Pain program in 2003, I have learned a great deal about pain and I am thrilled to report that we have seen amazing results in the majority of people who enter this program.  In fact, a recent follow up study showed that people who entered the 4-week program at Providence Hospital in Southfield, MI had the following results.  67% had at least a 30% reduction in pain at a 6 month follow up evaluation and 54% had at least a 50% reduction in pain.  These are remarkable results, given that the average duration of pain was about 9 years!

There are several steps to Unlearning Your Pain and the complete program for healing can be found in my book.  In this article, I will offer a synopsis of the steps that I have found helpful in reversing chronic pain.

First, it is critical to understand what is causing the pain.  This might seem easy, but often it is more difficult than one might imagine.  Those with chronic pain that is caused by cancer often require strong pain medications.  I do not work with pain caused by cancer, fractures, or infections/inflammation.  However, the majority of people with chronic pain have pain that is diagnosed as fibromyalgia, migraine or tension headaches, or irritable bowel syndrome.  The pain in those disorders is just as real as the pain caused by cancer, fractures or infections.  However, that pain is not caused by a structural disease process in the body.  It is caused by learned nerve pathways.  Learned nerve pathways are simply connections between the brain and body that produce actions in the body.  If you learned to ride a bicycle as a child, that develops a learned nerve pathway.  That pathway will always exist and you’ll be able to ride a bike later in life.  Signing a name, eating, walking, and reacting to every day events are all caused by learned nerve pathways.  Cutting edge neuroscience has shown that pain pathways can be learned and can persist for year in the absence of a disease process in the body.  This is the cause of most chronic pain, including most back and neck pain.  (Please see my website or my book for a detailed description of how back and neck pains are typically caused by these pathways.)

Once you have determined that your pain is caused by learned nerve pathways (this is also known as Tension Myositis Syndrome, a term coined by Dr. John Sarno in The Mindbody Prescription, or Mind Body Syndrome, as described in Unlearn Your Pain), the next step is to figure out what has led to the development of these pain pathways.  There is a detailed process for doing this in Unlearn Your Pain.  Briefly, a careful review of life events is usually sufficient to find connections between stressful life events and the onset of these pain syndromes.  Here are a couple of examples that illustrate how stressful life events can trigger severe and chronic pain. 

A 45 year old woman was abused both physically and sexually for much of her childhood. She developed anxiety in childhood which was manifest by fear of being alone and the need to connect as much as possible to the people in her life, including her abusers. This is a common reaction to abuse; with the other common reaction being fear and inability to connect to anyone and the inability to feel emotions. She also blamed herself for the abuse and develop the belief that she was unworthy of love and self-esteem. As she grew up, she experienced other events which caused fear and anxiety, such as the loss of a boyfriend (who spread false rumors about her), the death of a parent, a divorce after her husband “cheated” on her and the loss of a job (after being harassed by a boss). Each of these stressors in later life caused the onset of a new symptom. Initially irritable bowel syndrome, then severe headaches, then TMJ pain, then pelvic pain, and finally widespread pain, diagnosed as fibromyalgia.

A 47 year old woman presented with head pain for 17 years. She had seen over 20 physicians, including several headache clinics and had even had facial surgery to try to alleviate the pain. She had also been on over 20 different medications without relief. Her mother was described as “being in her own world” and her father was described as being “bipolar.” When her father was in a bad mood, he would grab her by her collar and scream at her: “You idiot; you jerk; what’s wrong with you?; can’t you do anything right?” These events recurred on a regular basis during her childhood. She developed no symptoms until she was 30 years old. One day, she obtained a new pair of glasses and immediately upon putting them on, she developed pain on the left side of her head which lasted for 17 years. When asked about the stressors in her life when she got her new glasses, she realized that she has just gotten a new boss, who was a “mean and nasty woman” who used to yell and scream at her.

The third step in the process of healing is to recognize that the pain is caused by learned nerve pathways, that there is no serious physical or structural problem in your body, and that you can actually get better!  This is a powerful and important step that activates healing and serves to reduce pain.

Finally, I suggest a process to reverse the pain.  In the program I’ve developed, it consists of a 4-week course of exercises designed to better understand and cope with stress and emotional distress.  The program is contained in Unlearn Your Pain and consists of therapeutic writing exercises, meditative exercises, sets of affirmations, and learning to make necessary changes to promote contentment and well-being.  It is truly amazing to see people take on the challenge of changing their lives in order to reverse their pain.  Some people get better quite quickly as they learn to let go of anger, guilt, or fear from prior stressful events.  Others need to make significant changes in their lives in order to free themselves from stressful situations that are ongoing.  Some people gradually work on taking control and stopping their pain over time.  The key to resolving chronic pain is understanding what is causing it.  If you suffer from chronic pain and haven’t been helped by the traditional medical or alternative health methods, you might be suffering from a condition (learned nerve pathways) that can be reversed.  And it might not be that difficult to accomplish.

Unlearn Your Pain is available from http://www.amazon.com/or from www.unlearnyourpain.com

Awareness of mental health problems is constantly rising, making it easier for people to recognize the signs and know what help is available.  Counselling is regarded as an effective form of treatment for many mental health issues.

The initial decision to take the plunge and accept help is undoubtedly one of the hardest parts of the whole process. However after this decision had been taken, a whole new set of questions can arise with regards to actually finding the counselor.

There are numerous issues to consider – practical and otherwise. What about, for example, location? Despite counsellors’ assured complete confidentiality people may prefer to see a counsellor that is perhaps outside their local area, but still in surroundings they are comfortable in.

And what guarantees that the counsellor is the real deal? There are no laws in the UK that govern counselling, so what’s to stop anyone setting up shop to listen to people’s problems? There are qualifications and professional bodies, but these can often be confusing and over-whelming.

Counselling can take many different approaches – from person-based to psychoanalytic, and it’s important to choose a counsellor with an approach the person will be comfortable with and respond to well.

Counselling Directory was set up to provide a simple, easy, and most importantly un-daunting way of connecting people that need help with the people that provide it. A comprehensive searching tool, the site allows postcode, town and country searches, and produces a list of counsellors registered in this area. Each counsellor has a profile, listing a bit about themselves, their approaches, what areas they deal with, and all their training, qualification and experience and fees.

The site shows which counsellors are registered/accredited with a professional body, and full profiles are only displayed after insurance and qualification documents are checked or membership with a professional body has been verified.

The site has also become a huge information bank – there are articles written by the counsellors, as well as comprehensive information on all kinds of distress – from depression to eating disorders to abuse, to help people identify their problems and become informed, not scared.

http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk

 
Do you know this woman of persistence?  Is she your sister, your mother, your friend or that woman whose reflection you see in the mirror?

I know her well.  With some work and dedication I’ve learned to love, respect and care about her.  That was not an easy process.  I thought she was weak and afraid but have come to realized she has strength beyond measure and refuses to give up.

Let me share with you a little about her life.

• When she’s running late she finds a way to get there just in the lick of time.
• When there isn’t enough time for herself she makes time for others.
• When she’s short on money she finds a way to make ends meet.  And provides everything her family needs.
• When she’s sad she finds a way to smile and bring joy into the lives of the people she cares about.
• When she needs loves she finds enough love in her to give away to others.
• When she feels sick for she finds a way to care for others.
• When she’s hungry she will feed her family.
• When she feels fragile she discovers her strength
• When she feels afraid she courageously takes the next step.
• When she feels life if hard she declares it to be easy.
• When she feels like eating chocolate late at night she finds a way to eat carrots instead.
• When she feels vulnerable she finds a way to fight the battle.
• When she feels tired she finds the fortitude to keep going
• When she feels like surrendering  she refuses to give up.
• When she feels old she finds her youthful spirit.
• When she feels like giving up she finds the courage to keep going.
• When life made her feel like a failure she affirmed success, happiness and prosperity is  just around the corner. 
• When she feels weak she finds the strength and determination
• The woman of persistence and perseverance knows how to play the game of life.  Just like a card game she may lose the hand but still win the game. Being persistent will change your life.

Persistent in life is probably the most important quality necessary to achieve success.   Persistent starts with a goal, an idea of what you want to do.  Being persistent means being determined, unrelenting, and enduring through the tough times, and then making a plan on how you want to accomplish your goal as it will no doubt help you achieve your life purpose.

Persistence bring tears
Persistence brings rejection
Persistence may even bring angers

But if your persistent
It will bring you happiness
It will bring you laughter
It will bring you good health
It will bring you financial freedom
Believe in the power of persistent women, and with their knowledge, which sees beyond the way things are, to the way things are in the eyes of God.
She and I are working together building a business and a life.  I listen to this strong powerful woman.  She knows how to direct me to the right path.  She’s willing to share her knowledge and passion.

Never underestimate the power of a persistent woman.   A woman of extraordinary power and passion. 
The message is clear—there is no power on earth equal to that of a persistent woman.

Can you name the most persistent woman you’ve met.
So my sisters (and brothers) what are you persistent about?

The first step to eliminating fear is identifying the cause. Self talk is ineffective unless you understand the root of the problem. When fear overrules your life it effects both your   mind and body.

We talk to ourselves all day every day.  Except most of the time we say negative things to ourselves.
“Nobody likes me”
“I can’t get anything right”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me”
“I’m so dumb”
Does any of this sound familiar?
Self-talk is more then just positive thinking and positive talk.  Thinking about something and never taking action is just thinking.  Yes you’ll feel better but it will have a limited impact on your life unless you take that thinking and add a quotient of action.

So when you look at it that way, self-talk at least effective self-talk, is action talk.  You can say to yourself all day everyday for a year “I’m successful”  but if there’s no action behind the words it’s pretty meaningless.

Do not let fear control your life. Self-talk will help you to do anything you want when your use positive thinking. Some people are afraid to climb over a fence. To overcome this fear of going over the fence, tell yourself you can do it. Face it and force yourself to go over the fence to the other side. Overcoming a fear systematically and self-talk your way through each step will help you to accomplish this fear. Think positive you can and will do it to succeed.

The key is to talk small steps every day.  When a negative thought comes into your mind reverse it with something positive.  And most importantly take an action step to reinforce the positive self-talk.

You are in control of your own desitiny, by the actions you take each and every day.  Be self-aware, and  self-confident to improve your self-esteem.

What one person finds pleasurable could sound like nails on the chalkboard to another. The best thing about music is that there is something for everyone. From hard rock to instrumental and everything in between, music is enjoyed by young and the young at heart.

We often attach memories to music—the first time we fall in love, our first dance, or a happy holiday. Music surrounds our life and listening to tunes that conjure up pleasant memories tends to relax us. If you don’t believe me, listen to some music that was popular when you were growing up.

Some people aren’t much for exercise as a stress reliever so you can dance instead. No need to think of it as exercise. Hopping around for ten minutes to your favorite song will get that heart rate up and keep you in shape.

Stop stress from ruining your day and your health. Use music and dancing to release yourself from the grip of stress and take back control of your life.

Are you letting fear control your life?   Self-talk will help you to do anything you want when your use positive thinking, on the other hand, negative thinking can prevent you from doing anything you want.  The choice is yours.  Overcome fear systematically with  self-talk.  Once you realize what is causing your fear, you can move to self-talk  techniques to change the situation..

First let me share what self-talk is not.  It’s not some mumble jumble.  We do it all the time but we just don’t know it.  Unfortunately, most of our natural self-talk is negative.  Most of us believe in positive thinking, and that’s good.  But deciding to only think positively for the rest of your life won’t work.  After all we’re all humans and bound to slip up every now and again.   But positive thinking can work if your negative thoughts are immediately replaced with positive one.  Wanting to be a positive thinker isn’t enough, having a positive attitude isn’t enough. You need the positive words to go along with it.  What I’ve learned about self-talk is it’s not hypnosis or subliminal but a repletion of the positive ideas concepts and affirmations that you say, or listen to over a period of time.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Instead of getting out of bed in the morning and saying “I wish I didn’t have to get up,” with your new self-talk say “it’s a great day to be alive”.  Or for those of us that have  to make cold calls instead of saying “I’d really don’t feel like making calls today,”  with your new self-talk try saying  “I excited to make these calls because I know I will make a great new connection today”.  Remember your rephrasing your old self-talk with new ones.  One more example so I know you get the picture.  Instead of saying “I’m so tired today I feel like going to bed”,  with your new self-talk say “I have a lot of energy today”.

Now the changes won’t happen immediately or overnight.  This will take some practice and skill to change your thinking and mindset.  When your with another person you might want to use self-speak silently, when alone you can feel free say it out loud or even have a conversation with yourself.  But remember when you find yourself getting off track by negative thoughts creeping in regroup and get right back on path.

Use positive thinking and self-talk to reprogram your mind to think positive. Don’t let your conscious and subconscious mind tell you that something can’t be done. If you use self-talk, you’ll soon learn that you can do anything you want and succeed by being positive.   Use positive thinking and self-talk to stay in control. Tell yourself that when you master confidence and self-esteem you can master anything.

If this was helpful let me know.  Add a comment in the comment area below this  sentence.  Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to know about self-talk.

Most people don’t discover what they want in life sometime until it’s almost too late.  Some never discover their life’s mission and joy. – and that’s a shame.

If your anything like me you’ve probably spent years watching television or doing things that didn’t move your toward any goal if you even had a goal. Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying “Many people die at twenty five and aren’t buried until they are seventy five.” A sad truism.

Is your life all that you want it to be

If you’re struggling to answer this question be assured that’s not unusual.  But to your advantage unlike most people you’re actually looking for an answer.  This places you light years ahead.  When asked about goals most people have spent more time planning a party then they have their life goals.  Mostly because they think that life just happens and never realize their power to control what happens.  People without definite goals are letting time pass them by. Are you one of these people?

If you are undecided about what you want out of life, don’t worry.  There are ways of discovering your purpose in life.

Often times, people are ruled by logic.  People live by what they think they should be or even worse by what others think of them or would like them to be.  To discover what you want in life, try looking deep into your heart.  If you sit quietly and listen to your heart desires you can hear the whispers of your authentic self,  the real you.

You will totally enjoy doing things that are passionate about.  Setbacks, difficulties, and obstacles will make it more challenging, but will not deter you from pursuing your goals.  Remember this: the universe supports people who are pursuing their passion and those who are pursuing their destiny.

There’s only one  thing to remember: Every person, to live truly and greatly, must define how she wants to live and what her brightest life will look like.  Listen to your instincts and follow your heart’s desire.

As I’ve grown older the  only regrets I have are those when I  have done what others or society thinks I should have done and not followed my hearts desires.

If  you’ve found this article helpful. Let me know by leaving a comment.  See the comment link underneath this sentence.

There are two types of stress that psychologists call Eustress and Stress. These are as different as two sides of the same coin. One is actually useful while the other is harmful to your body.
Eustress is healthy for you. It keeps you excited about life. It is basically a desirable form of stress which is healthful and gives a feeling of contentment.

Some of the examples of Eustress are:

1. Thrill experienced while watching a horror movie
2. Excitement of winning a race
3. Accomplishing a challenge
4. Joy experienced on a roller-coaster ride
5. Happiness felt on the birth of a baby
6. Excitement while getting wedded
7. A man’s shaking hand as he produces an engagement ring
8. Buying a new car and many more

Stress, on the other hand, is anxiety, fear, frustration and an overcoming sense of dread.

Job burnout is the result of working too long in a stressful environment. Continual exposure to stressful situations and people whose demands become stressful to you results in negative stress.

There’s nothing useful about stress. It’s the warm-up act for a heart attack, stroke and emotional breakdown.  If you say you “work better under stress,” you haven’t asked your immune system how it feels.

Stress is also referred to as distress,  anxiety, severe strain or mental suffering resulting from exhaustion or an accident.

Some of the events that lead to distress are:

1. Death of near-ones
2. Too much workload
3. Discontent in relationships
4. Financial tension
5. Unfulfilled desires

Living under stressful conditions for long periods of time is damaging to your immune system. Ever noticed how you’re more inclined to catch the office cold when you’re overworked than when you aren’t?

That’s a perfect example of how your immune system can’t deal with your stress load and have enough left over to fight a bug.  Stop and analyze your stress in a mood journal by writing down specific answers to these questions:

1. What causes you to feel stress?
2. Where are you when you feel the most stress?
3. Who is with you?
4. What are you doing?
5. Has anything changed recently in this situation?

By seeing your stress patterns, you can look at ways to change either your involvement with stress or your response to it. Is what you’re feeling really harmful stress?

If it’s actually eustress, then you can change what you say from, “I’m so stressed out over the party” to, “I’m so excited about this party!” It’s amazing how your body responds differently to each type of stress.  Sometimes your reaction is a choice.

Choose carefully and wisely.