Guest Post

Guest Post: 5 Steps to Ending Procrastination

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I am so excited to share Carrie Greene’s wise words with you – they remind me the importance of visibility and holding yourself accountable! Carrie’s blunt words and helpful ideas help make her an industry leader! She is a speaker, trainer, coach and author of Chaos to Cash: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Eliminating Chaos, Overwhelm and Procrastination So You Can Create Ultimate Profit! Carrie helps entrepreneurs cut through the confusion and chaos surrounding them so they make decisions, set priorities, stop procrastinating and make more money. Free resources at http://www.CarrieThru.com. Carrie’s book is available at http://www.ChaosToCashBook.com/excerpt.

5 Steps to Ending Procrastination

By Carrie Greene – Author, Speaker, Coach

I was at a party recently and ran into a woman I’ve known for years. She is a friend and a former client. She confessed to me that despite the work we had done together, she still procrastinates. I replied…”Yeah, me too.” She looked at me, shocked and said, “I can’t believe it. You do so much! There’s NO WAY, you procrastinate.”

So here’s the cold hard truth. Yes, I procrastinate. In fact I’m a master procrastinator and I’m not alone. According to studies 95% of all people procrastinate. My personal belief is that the other 5% of the population are lying. Oh and according to those same studies, 25% of us are chronic procrastinators.

Just because everyone procrastinates does not mean it is okay. Procrastination is bad for business, bad for profits and bad for you.

It’s kind of obvious that procrastination costs us time, energy and money but there are two things that are even worse that we usually don’t realize.

  1. You’re being selfish. The people who we are “supposed” to be helping don’t get the help that they need. If you’ve been meaning to write a book, the person who needs to read it can’t. If you don’t get around to following up with the person you met about your program they won’t get the support they need to move forward.
  2. Procrastination kills your self esteem. Every time we put something on our to-do list and “put it off until later” we disappoint ourselves. When you wrote “write chapter 1?, “call Joe to follow up” or “layout plan for new program” on your to-do list you created a contract with yourself. When you don’t follow through on your own contracts with yourself how can you trust yourself to do follow through with others? Your belief in yourself effects every conversation you have and frankly everything you do in both your personal and professional life?

OUCH!

What’s cool is that despite being a master procrastinator I’ve more than doubled my business this past year, written a book, created, marketed and ran three new programs, attended six live events, presented my own one day live event and so much more.
Here’s my secret…I have worked with coaches (that I’ve paid for) since I started my business back in 2003 who have helped me see things that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. AND ( here’s my true confession) simply having a coach increases my productivity dramatically. It seems that I often get more done in the hour before I speak with my coach than between our conversations.

My coach helps me but it’s not everything, so whether or not you chose to work with a coach privately or as part of a group program, here are FIVE additional strategies I use in my day-to-day business to keep me moving.

  1. Make sure that the tasks you are putting on your to-do list are specific tasks and not projects. For instance “Work on Website” is not specific and is a project. Instead write “Spend 30-minutes writing the ‘About Me’ section for my website”.
  2. Make sure the tasks you put on your to-do list are really the next steps you need to take. Looking at that website example again, even if you had written “Write about me section for website” ask yourself if that really the next step? Do you need to review other websites first? Do you need other information? Or can you go ahead and open up a new document on your computer and start to type?
  3. Set a specific amount of time and set an appointment with yourself to actually do the work. The more specific you are the better. For instance, Tuesday from 1 – 1:30 review other website’s “About Me” section in order to get a better understanding of what I want to do.
  4. When choosing when you are going to work on something make sure that your calendar is really clear. Don’t just pick a time randomly, is it a time of day when you are able to focus or do you typically get interrupted at that time?
  5. Find someone to be accountable to. Like I said, I frequently use my coach, but there have been many occasions, especially for the smaller, day-to-day type things, that I rely on my network of friends and colleagues. Don’t try to go it alone!

It’s important to remember that we are all unique and that we all have strategies up our sleeves that work for us. Share your favorite “get yourself moving” strategies.

Up-Level Your Project with Affiliates

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I am so thrilled to introduce Erika Watson to the Soulful Coaching community! While spending nearly four years behind the scenes developing and managing 6 figure affiliate launches for coaching industry leaders, Erika became the go-to authority for their coaching clients, partners, and their partners’ team members for Joint Venture and affiliate marketing consulting. In December of 2011, she launched her first Affiliate Partnerships 2.0 program and has been helping entrepreneurs just like YOU own their value and authentic message, connect powerfully with ideal partners, and reach more people for deeper impact and financial abundance. For more information on creating a sacred alliances and affiliate partnerships, visit Erika here. You can also connect with Erika on Facebook.

Up-Level Your Project with Affiliates

Erika Watson

Erika Watson

I love seeing women (and men) step more fully into their purpose, create an online business, and serve hundreds and thousands of people. For many online marketers, this can create a fury of insecurity, competition, and fear. However, these “competitors” actually become our most valuable resource when we learn how to create sacred strategic alliances that allow us to:

  • reach thousands of our ideal clients overnight with their promotions; leveraging our time for deeper impact and freedom
  • create more money for everyone, a 30% higher ROI over other marketing strategies
  • stay in your zone of genius, while supporting your clients by connecting them to partners who excel in other areas of expertise.

It’s a Triple WIN!!

Partnership positions your mastery with credible testimonials that connect you to your potential clients with a higher level of trust, warming cold leads! As you build greater partnerships of influence, you are able to connect with thousands of potential clients overnight, filling your programs with much more ease. With time freed up, you can focus on providing incredible value, new partnerships, and living your lifestyle by design!
If you are in the beginning phases of your business, this strategy not only increases your sales conversions, but also costs less money up front! Having the right structure in place allows you to incentivize your partners on the back end and is the perfect solution for the entrepreneur who is just beginning to build their list and generate sales.
Living an empowered life of choice, also means having the freedom to choose who you work with or don’t. Having an affiliate structure in place that clearly defines your core values, your ideal tribe, and your terms and agreements will help attract the right partnerships to you so you can experience greater fulfillment and less stress and struggle in growing your business.

If you are ready to create fulfilling relationships to support your message, impact, and financial goals you’ll want to begin with the following inquiry.

  1. What am I creating this year in my business to make a bigger impact? Begin to list the different projects, events, programs etc. that you desire support on.
  2. What are my goals for partnership? This could be seeking contributors with expertise outside of your genius zone to add value to the project or simply promotional goals.
  3. What are my core values? Seek partners who share similar qualities and energies to create harmonious passionate and long term relationships.
  4. What business practices (or established levels of excellence) need to be met in order to support the work? Seek partners that have a solid business foundation to match or elevate your success.

Don’t be afraid to create boundaries or say NO.
As you enter the world of partnership you will become approached by many invitations. Make sure to stay connected to your vision and goals for your business and only accept offers that will allow you to accomplish these goals, feel expansive in growth, and are in alignment with your principles.

Guest Post – Lessons of Gratitude

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rebecca_picYesterday, I announced that we still have some inspiration posts on the topic of gratitude. Why should November get all the glory? We’re grateful in December, too! Rebecca Ramirez is a blogger at Everything Goes With Pink. She is a stay-at-home-mother to 3 daughters and is expecting her 4th daughter in January. She’s an educated mother who has a passion for writing about family life, her varied interests, and the occasional intellectual topics ranging from philosophy to social consciousness – it’s a good thing she’s a freelance writer! Rebecca is determined to raise her 4 daughters with all the care and dedication that they deserve, and is focused on helping them to be the best individuals they can be. Learn more about Rebecca by joining her on Facebook, Twitter , and her blog, Everything Goes With Pink.

Lessons of Gratitude
by Rebecca Ramirez
In this hectic, fast-paced life, it is easy to get lost in the inexorable negative experiences we will face. No person will escape some form of suffering in their life, and many people will continually experience suffering and hardships on what seems like a never-ending basis. Although we cannot always avoid these potentially personally devastating occurrences, what we can do however, is find it within ourselves to harness the power and wisdom to allow ourselves to experience gratitude, despite the situation in which we find ourselves.

While it also takes wisdom to find gratitude in many of life’s positive experiences, finding the silver lining of one’s raincloud can be quite the liberating experience. We do, in fact, already possess within ourselves the mental capacity to choose whether we will allow a certain situation to invoke a paralyzing sense of victim-hood, or whether we use the energy and convert it into a more favorable experience, be it on a psychological, emotional, or a spiritual basis.

One may not be able to avoid the platforms from which suffering presents itself, such as personal illnesses, detrimental acts of others, or the daily hassles of life, but this should not equate to our lack of control when it comes to how we respond to these events.

There is a lesson of gratitude to be found in all suffering.

While it may not always offer the immediate comfort one would hope for, there is still always room for finding a way to experience some form of gratitude. For the mother who has lost her child, no amount of gratitude can erase the pain, but in this experience, she can still look to the lesson of suffering and be thankful for the love she was able to experience that only a mother could understand. For the individual who is forced to deal with illness, it is in these moments of sometimes agonizing pain that we most appreciate the delicate frailty of life and the peace of mind that comes with good health. Should this individual persevere through their bout with a physical affliction, it is highly doubtful that much in life will be taken for granted.

It is through a lesson of suffering that we can grow to appreciate and have gratitude for the most important things in life. This wisdom of gratitude can transform our thinking on a daily basis, and we can grow to appreciate much more of the simple beauty that life has to offer us all.

Guest Post – Gratitude for the Little Things

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africas_blogThe Gratitude Project may be completed but I still have some very inspirational stories left to share! I love getting the chance to showcase new voices on my blog and I am so excited to introduce you to Debbie Mc Loughlin. She is the owner of Africa’s Blog, which can be found at www.africasblog.com. She’s a 30-something Soul African exPat living in Minnesota who enjoys blogging about life and whatever comes her way! As a permanent American resident, she has a unique view on life. Debbie is also a hockey player, hockey referee, CPA, CMA, MBA student, blogger, mommy to 2 fur babies (min pins) and is happily leaving in the mid-west with her partner. You can connect with Debbie through Facebook and Twitter!

Gratitude for the Little Things
by Debbie Mc Loughlin
As I’ve aged, and yes I’m only 31 but still, I’ve realized that in life there are so many things to hold dear, so many things to cherish and so many things for which one should show their gratitude. I’ve definitely learned that this gratitude thing should not only be thought of once a year during Thanksgiving week, but that we should really value all that we have on a daily basis.

I think we often sit and think of the things for which we should be grateful and we default to our families, our life partners, our children, etc. What I have started to do is to let these “big picture” individuals know that I am extremely grateful they are in my life, and for all they do or have done for me, as often as I can.

However, I now also take time out of my day to think of the “little things” I have in my life to show gratitude for. There are so many things and without daily (I try to do it daily) reflection time I wouldn’t remember to be grateful that I have remained injury free with regards to my playing/officiating hockey, that although my little dogs barking is annoying it means that they are healthy and love me enough to want to protect me, and that after a long hard day in the office, a friendly chat with a stranger on my way to the car can really brighten up the evening!!

These are just examples of the “little things” in my life, but I really do feel that our lives are much happier when we take time out of our busy lives to truly reflect on all that we in our lives that we really should be showing gratitude for.

Guest Post – Gratitude on Life’s Terms

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alisa_starkweatherToday I want to introduce you to one of my dearest friends and mentors, ALisa Starkweather. She is the founder of the Red Tent Temple Movement, Daughters of the Earth Gathering, Priestess Path Apprenticeship, the Women’s Belly and Womb Conferences and co-founders of Women in Power; Initiating Ourselves to the Predator Within. She is a contributor in the newly published anthology, Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership; Where Grace Meets Power and is working on launching her new internet show, She Loves Life. She is featured in the upcoming documentary, Things We Don’t Talk About. This springtime ALisa is hosting a teleseminar among the wisdomkeepers to bring women and men together in a global dialogue of “It’s Time for a New Story”. According to ALisa, I am one of her “most beloved and treasured sisters on the path of life.” What a HUGE compliment! I’m so excited for her to share her wisdom today. To connect with ALisa, follow her on Facebook. You can also follow the Red Tent Temple Movement on Facebook. You can experience ALisa’s programs by visiting www.alisastarkweather.com.

Gratitude on Life’s Terms
By ALisa Starkweather

Life, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…

As a young teen I once read that if I woke up every morning and began to say thank you until sleep it would never be enough time to count my blessings. Now that was a gratitude lesson into wide-awake consciousness. Why? Because a couple of things dawned on me pretty quickly; the likelihood of following through with this practice of a chorus of thank yous echoing in my mind as a backdrop to my senses seemed a remote possibility. Also I did the math and realized that with my present viewpoint, I would run out of good things to say pretty quickly. That is, unless I changed my perspective on what I was appreciating about life. This pivotal moment however woke me up as a teenager to what we likely take for granted when we are not noticing the dawn, our ability to breathe, our constant beating heart, the vibrant colors or the things in my lifetime that I would not yet know were ephemeral like the abundance of songbirds, the honeybees, and with the birds and the bees, the ending of my virginity. By seventeen I became the single-parent mother giving birth to this magnificent gift of life while being on my own to discover where one finds good when life turns into hardships.

Yes as you can imagine, poverty, lack of continuing education, low self-esteem, depression became the internal dumping grounds in my psyche where my dreams were trashed. Did that ever happen to you too I wonder in some way? I would go there and pick over little chards of who I once was or wanted to be and bring them home again with a deeper sense now of what it means to find treasures in life in the most forgotten places inside. Gratitude was no longer a good idea for a spiritual practice or a learned courtesy of “hey thanks” but an actual means of survival where one remembers that no matter how hard things become to live at all, to breathe at all, to be part of this mad horrific beauty is everything…. everything. Unlike the generations to come, my life then was not about stuff that I materially desired but rather a simpler ground of do I have the courage and the faith and the will to live this day? Each moment of “thank you for this life and all the beauty, all the miracles, all the tiny triumphs” gifted me with the next ability to face hardship graciously and strengthened my resolve to live into the wisdom that would become my bedrock as the mature woman in my fifties today.

Little did I know then that by walking that path, anchoring to the wisdom of gratitude I would later be a teacher for women’s empowerment and on the path of the ecstatic wild woman where sleeping on the floor of a cave with dripping waters flowing off rock walls is a phenomenal experience that I say wholeheartedly, “Wow. Thank you. What an unforgettable night!”. Or dealing with whom many might consider a difficult personality in my work has me exclaim sincerely, “What a great woman. What a teacher for me to examine my own vulnerabilities!” I admit that sometimes I am like the baby of life who wants to spit out the mouthful of food that it spoonfeeds me while saying that it is yummy. I am not going to lie to you because you know as well as I do that it doesn’t all taste good. What is remarkable however that with choice, with finding our ground for digesting life on its terms, we have the opportunity to take the energy life gives us and do some amazing turn-arounds if we choose to.

Thank you for my mother’s criticism and shaming remarks that helped me to learn the importance of kindness and how to create safe containers for people to know unconditional love. Thank you for my father’s rage that taught me the importance of patience, tolerance and how not to blame or project on others when one is innocent. Thank you for disempowerment and the feminization of poverty that brought me to my work with women so that I could lift them up and ask them to believe in their power and their worth. Thank you for the places I have been violated as a woman because I found my compassion for others, my leadership, my strength, my courage and resolve to stand up and to fight for women and children around the world. Thank you for the ones I have loved and lost through cancer and illness because it has taught me to value every second that I have with anyone I have ever loved. Thank you biased media for the altering the reputations of brave global citizens who fight for their families and children because you taught me to discern for myself the goodness of who you diminish. Thank you for my broken heart and betrayals in past relationships that brought me to experience the truest of loves. Thank you for my son who is my master teacher of how to persevere. Thank you for living now at a time in human history when we are faced with our own extinction because it helps us all collectively to wake up and not take anything, even our tomorrows, for granted. Thank you, thank you, thank you…

Blog Summit – Day 8 – Gratitude, Thankfulness, and Grace

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We’re nearing the end of the Gratitude Project Blog Summit but we’re SO much closer to the BIG day! Are you taking part in tomorrow’s revolutionary call-in? There’s still plenty of time to register! Even if you only have a few minutes at the start of each hour, I urge you to spend it with the Soulful Coaching community as we exercise and practice these powerful gratitude rituals! Take a few moments to look at the agenda for tomorrow by clicking here.

danielle_bishopDanielle Bishop is new to the Soulful Coaching community and I’m really excited to introduce you to her because she has a really great story to tell on gratitude. Danielle is a blogger over at We Have It All – she’s married and a great mom to five kids with another on the way! By day she’s a childcare provider and by night she’s a freelance writer! She’s a Christian mama who enjoys writing about parenting, family life, and even has time for some amazing product reviews! She’s doing her best to stay sane in a world of chaos and she’s grateful for that ability! Keep up with Danielle by following her on Facebook, Twitter, and even WhatToExpect.com!

Gratitude, Thankfulness, and Grace
by Danielle Bishop

When I think of the word “gratitude” the word “thankful” comes to mind. The word “grace” follows.

What am I thankful for?

I could fill up a notebook, line by line, with the little things like a cup of coffee before bed, the quilts laying in every room of my house, a shower *alone*, open windows throughout the house on beautiful days, all of the neighborhood kids playing in my backyard… and the list could go on until the end of eternity. Or I could list the big things like the love of my amazing husband and 5 fantastic kids, our health, having both of my parents still, having a roof over my head and food on the table… and again, this list could also go on and on.

But in reality, these things are are not things that have just ‘fallen’ in my path. These things are all provided by God.

Ever since my kids were little and we prayed together, I’ve always taught them to begin their conversation with God by thanking Him. Thank Him for what He has blessed you with. If it were not for Him, where would we be?

And I’ve often thought to myself,

“If tomorrow came and you woke up with only what you had thanked God for today, what would you be left with?”

So what am I really thankful for?

God’s Grace and Love.

God’s unmerited favor that I do not deserve. I could nothing to ‘earn’ His love and His Hand on mine guiding me along through my valleys and struggles.

There have been days in my past when I did not know what I was going to feed my kids that night for dinner. Those same days where an acquaintance would show up at my door and say, “We won’t eat this stuff, but I was hoping you and your kids will”.

There have been days in my past where I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel… but then out of the darkness appeared His light. His hand outstretched telling me, “Grab on to my hand and I will lead you”

I have done none of this within myself. Of course I have always tried my best to do what was right but ultimately I have done nothing without God.

Romans 7:18 says, “I know that nothing good lives in me – I mean, nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them”.

It was always God by my side.

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.”

It was always God. It was Him that has had our lives in the palm of His hands. And I am so thankful for His love and mercy and grace.

Look at what he has blessed me with:

bishop_family

Life, Love and Heath.

I can not look at this photo and not see what God has done for us.

I have so much to thank Him for.

Blog Summit – Day 8 – Gratitude Integrated

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The BIG day is almost here –  have you registered? The Gratitude Project is going to be revolutionary and I hope you’ll take part in it! Imagine how much better your life, your business, and your soul would be if you took a few minutes every day to be grateful. For the past week, we’ve read posts from people of all walks of life – everyone has a different view on gratitude. What’s yours?

shelley_hawkinsMy good friend, Shelley Hawkins, MS, has another perspective on gratitude. As a Teacher, Author and Intuitive, Shelley coaches professional men and women who are ready to break through the inner obstacles that hold them back and keep them repeating the same frustrating patterns–in relationships, business, work, health, wealth and in who they are being—to create their soul-driven lives intentionally and LIVE their radical selves. To apply for Private Coaching with Shelley at The Self Connection™, click here. Subscribe to The Self Connection™ award winning Ezine and Monday Wisdoms™ for F.R.E.E. energy transformation and inspiration to support you in your soul-driven, intentional life. Coming soon, The Self Connection™ Live Yourself™ Breakthrough Experience. To connect with Shelley, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Gratitude Integrated©
by Shelley Hawkins, MS
One of the paradoxes of transformation is that gratitude for both what you love and the presence of what you don’t love are both a way of saying, “Yes”, to Life. The paradox being that acceptance, like forgiveness, is not condoning the condition; it is a way of evolving through it.

Gratitude is like driving your stake deep in the ground and saying, “this is where I stand”. You are validating your very existence, your cosmic necessity to and with the whole, and your ability to create with it. Your gratitude says, “Yes, I’m willing to participate with Life with my unique genius from what I know and where I am right now in the giving and receiving of Life.” It becomes the attraction for all that you desire and the transformation of what you do not.

That is not where I started with gratitude. Like most, I suppose, I knew to count my blessings, which evolved into disciplined thankfulness and the power of a positive attitude. A few years later came energy, gratitude lists to build my gratitude muscles, and other tools and disciplines to keep it flowing.

But it became most fun when it penetrated the surface, went beyond what I wanted to create, beyond politeness, beyond my disciplines, beyond avoiding “negative” emotion, and became an integrated way of being—not perfection, mind you—being.

Rachel Naomi Remen said, “Those who nurture the hidden wholeness in those around them become the architects of a new world.” The integration of gratitude acknowledges that wholeness, the invisible—or not so invisible—connections between all that is. Gratitude integrated as a way of being then becomes your path of authenticity, of creative intention, and of wholeness for yourself and a new world.

©2011 Shelley Hawkins, The Self Connection™, All Rights Reserved

Blog Summit – Day 7 – How to Be Grateful When Things Piss You Off

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Can you believe it’s already Day 7?! That means the Gratitude Project is almost here! I can’t wait to spend the top of each hour with you learn, teaching, and crafting a new way to be grateful! Want to spread the word? I’d love the help! Still on the fence? Take a look at the schedule I’ve set up to help us all experience different waves of gratitude here! I hope to hear you on the call!

jen_zwiebel_small_headshotOur first guest writer today is one of my favorite advocates of joy, Jennifer Zwiebel. She is an Intuitive Organizer, author, speaker and founder of A Place of Joy™: Inspired Organizing and Business Strategies for Creative Entrepreneurs. Jennifer guides clients to clear out both their inner and outer space, release chaos, and design systems that bring ease, joy and prosperity to their businesses and lives. Join the Place of Joy™ community at www.aplaceofjoy.com, and get started on your own path to clarity and joy with Jennifer’s powerful gift to you at www.aplaceofjoy.com/10minutemiracle. You can also connect with Jennifer via Facebook and Twitter!

How to Be Grateful When Things Piss You Off
by Jennifer Zwiebel
I’ve been consciously practicing gratitude for the last few years and I can see the difference in the way I feel, what I focus on and what I attract. I now walk down the street grateful for the shining sun, for the fact that I get to walk my son to school, for the miraculous baby I hold in my arms. I start my mornings being grateful for the gift of the day that lies ahead of me and end my day listing at least three things for which I am thankful.

This is not to say that there aren’t plenty of things for which I am not so grateful. There are the dirty dishes, the piles of paper, the loads of laundry… I’ve discovered, however, that while it’s less easy to appreciate the things that make you cranky, scared, or pissed off, that’s where the gratitude actually gets more rewarding.

You see, your mind can’t do two things at the same time. Your first instinct may be to get frustrated when something pisses you off, but when you choose to find a reason to be grateful instead, you refocus your mind and veer off in a new direction.

Let me give you an example. One morning I pulled aside the shower curtain and discovered that our bathtub was carpeted in hair. My husband had given himself a haircut and neglected to clean the tub. My first thought was, “Ewwww!” My second thought was, “Why didn’t he clean it up?? Did he not SEE the hair???”

I realized I was quickly heading into a morning full of frustration, and decided to redirect my thoughts. I latched onto the first one that came into my head: “I’m grateful he still has hair.” That worked for about 60 seconds, but then I started cleaning the tub and got all pissed off again.

So I worked harder to pull my mind back onto another track, and this time started thinking about how grateful I was that he’d stayed up the night before with our son who’d developed a fever. This led me to be grateful that he was such a good father, that I had him as a partner, that we were working together to raise our children in a loving, respectful way. By now the thoughts were flowing naturally, and both my mind and heart were in a grounded, grateful place.

This didn’t mean that I forgot about the hair in the tub, but it meant that I could (1) get past the anger and do what needed to be done so I could move forward, (2) tell my husband what I didn’t like and what I needed in the future in a calm way that enabled him to hear me, and (3) regain perspective and spend time being amazed at my real good fortune.

This practice may feel forced in the beginning, and your mind will likely revert quickly back to the initial not-so-grateful feeling. But if you’re willing to keep searching for something else to be grateful for, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your mind expands and fills with reasons to rejoice.

Blog Summit – Day 6 – Gratitude: How This Simple Feeling Improves Health

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In just two days, we embark on an amazing journey – are you ready for the Gratitude Project? I am beyond excited for this day of gratitude and I hope you’ll join me! All it takes is 10 minutes at the start of each hour to phone in and practice important exercises that will really help you feel more gracious and grateful! Take a chance and sign up!

lynn-compressedThis afternoon’s guest writer is none other than Lynn Smith! As a health guru, she has a unique spin on gratitude – and it’s one that will help your health! Lynn is a women’s weight loss expert, providing weight loss programs that work to shift a woman’s beliefs about what is possible for herself. To receive tips for weight loss, articles and guidance, subscribe to her newsletter “Vibrant Living for Women” at www.healthcoachteam.com.

Gratitude: How This Simple Feeling Improves Health
By Lynn Smith
What if there was a simple way to improve your health that didn’t require dieting or exercise? Would you do it? There is and that simple way is expressing gratitude.

New research is showing that there is scientific evidence that gratitude produces health benefits. Two foremost researchers in the field of gratitude are psychologists Robert Emmons at the University of California at Davis, and Michael McCullough, at the University of Miami.

Emmons and his colleagues at the University of California at Davis are among the pioneers in research on gratitude, which is part of a larger movement called positive psychology. Positive psychology studies health-promoting behavior and the pleasurable parts of life rather than focusing on illness and emotional problems.

They found that people who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded difficulties or neutral life events.

Those who kept gratitude lists were also more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals. Young adults who practice daily gratitude had higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy compared to the group that focused on difficulties. The research keeps adding to the list of benefits that come from practicing gratitude.
The reason for this is because when we think about someone or something we really appreciate, and experience the feeling that goes with the thought, the parasympathetic—the calming-branch of the autonomic nervous system— gets triggered. The electromagnetic heart patterns of volunteers tested became more coherent and ordered when they activated feelings of appreciation.

Another study at the University of Connecticut found that gratitude can have a protective effect against heart attacks. While studying people who already had one heart attack researchers found that those patients who saw benefits and gains from their heart attack, such as becoming more appreciative of life, experienced a lower risk of having another heart attack.

There is evidence that when we practice bringing attention to what we appreciate in our lives, more positive emotions emerge, thus causing alterations in heart rate variability. This may not only relieve hypertension but reduce the risk of sudden death from coronary artery disease. According to Emmons, those who practice grateful thinking “reap emotional, physical and interpersonal benefits.”

How can you put this to use in your life?

It can be as simple as a “Thank you” to someone who did something for you. But if you truly want to harness this power in your life make a daily habit of writing down things you are grateful for. Emmons says the act of writing “allows you to see the meaning of events going on around you and create meaning in your own life.”

Set aside some time, maybe at the end of your day, to reflect and record. You may even want to buy a special journal to use.

Create a space and make this a daily ritual.

Blog Summit – Day 6 – Make a List and Check it Twice

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Have you ever thought about what this world would be like if people were a little more patient and a bit more grateful? I’ve envisioned that world and so have all of our guest writers! This experience has been phenomenal so far and it’s making me really excited for the Gratitude Project on November 18th! Have you signed up yet?!

yolanda_hairstonI want you to meet my new friend, Yolanda Michelle Hairston! While she currently lives in the Holy Land, Yolanda spends much of her time experiencing the world through travel! I’m excited to introduce you to her today because she has some very good points on how to be grateful in a meaningful way.

Make A List and Check and Check It Twice
Yolanda Michelle Hairston
When I was a young child, I loved to sing along to children’s songs by Hap Palmer. One holiday album had a song for Thanksgiving, and I used to sing it every day. Once, I even “surprised” my Mom by calling her to my room to see something, which was me, singing along to the instrumental version, with lyrics changed slightly to express my gratitude towards her for being such a terrific mother. Her tears of joy and gratitude touched me, and that amazing feeling of expressing gratitude and receiving it reverberate in my soul to this day.

Thirty-something years later, I don’t remember the lyrics verbatim, but they went a little something like this:
There are many things I am thankful for
And I know I’m not alone.
There are many things I am thankful for,
I can name them on my own:
I’m thankful for the earth,
I’m thankful for the sea,
I’m thankful for the friends I have,
And I’m thankful to be me.
That was my first introduction to the powerful experience of listing the things I have for which to be grateful. I love to make lists, as I find they help me not only focus, but they also prevent me from forgetting.

There are times in life when we feel insecure, sad, lonely, and frustrated, and like Mary J. Blige sang, “all [we] really want is to be happy.” If happiness begets happiness, how do we pull ourselves from underneath the dark cloud that sometimes hangs over us? Make a list and check it twice. List the many things you are thankful for, whether large or narrow in scope. Feeling lonely? List all of your friends and the nice people in your life, or the different ways you can go out and make new friends. Feeling insecure? List all of the good things about yourself, your accomplishments, compliments you have received. Feeling like your life sucks? List all of the ways in which it does not. Do not limit yourself or your lists; include the fact that you are able to write or to type if you are stuck, and branch out from there. Our working bodies are miracles that we take for granted, so be thankful and grateful for your body and all of its intricate mechanisms that keep you alive.

On one particularly horrible day, when I felt so down and blue, I made a list of all of my blessings for which I am grateful, and I ran out of paper. Such profundity in that exercise– the length of the list, the range of simple to grand things on the list, and the increase in joy and happiness I felt once I had completed it. I checked it twice, smiling along the way, and my soul felt that things were not so bad after all if I had so much goodness in my life. The gratitude list changed my outlook and my focus, and the sun shone a little brighter the next day.

What if you could only be granted tomorrow what you are grateful for today? Make a list and check it twice.