SHIFTING FROM STRESS TO SERENITY BY KIM SOMERS EGELSEE

Tips and Tools to Shift Stress into Serenity and Success

by Kim Somers Egelsee

As we experience our daily lives,  the days can be filled with phone calls, work and driving all over the place. It can get a bit crazy and demanding and we think we have to be Super heroes. Many of us aspire to be perfect. The perfect mom, wife, husband, dad,friend and business person. Then, when we mess up or do not follow through we often feel bad about ourselves, which puts us in a negative and disempowered state of mind.

It is important to forgive ourselves and do the best that we can. Rewarding ourselves and celebrating our successes helps us to stay motivated. Remember that

a bad mood  is just a low energy state and we have the power to shift out of it. Here are some ways we can change the energy from negative to positive.

1. Give!  Hug our spouses, significant others, friends or kids. Blow kisses more often. Do volunteer work, go help out a friend, smile at a child, call a family member. Giving helps you forget your troubles and feel great.

2. Go do something fun and exciting that you loved to do as a child, either alone, on a date or with your own kids. Build a sand castle, hula hoop, eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, take a day trip to Disneyland. Embrace your inner child and remember who you truly are.

3. Read an uplifting and inspirational book. Talk to an encouraging person,choose a mentor to regularly learn from,watch a motivating or funny  DVD. Smile more. Shout in the car empowering words such as " I am powerful."

4. Write in a journal what you are grateful for, what you have celebrated in your life and what you love about yourself. Go into a quiet spot and take time to reflect as you do this. Use your intuition and let the thoughts flow.

5. You need to remember self care; go get a massage , your hair cut, a new shirt. Feel good about you so you can be of service to others, an example to your children  and live more fulfilled.

6. Music is healing. Play an instrument, listen to your favorite tunes, go to a concert.

7. Take a step toward your passions and dreams. Start with a small step and then celebrate that you did it.

8. Pet a dog, hold a baby or hug a loved one. This releases endorphins.

9. Exercise. Work out at the gym, go do a yoga class, hike, swim.

10. Go out in nature and breathe.

Now, go out and see how quickly this shifts and elevates your mood and state. Try these often to uplift your life and experience a lot more joy so that you can meet your goals and resolutions and experience exciting adventures.

Kim Somers Egelsee is a best selling author and award winning speaker. Find her at www.kimlifecoach.com

Balance In Your Life by Lynn Singharaj, Lourdes Macias and Patricia Bohan

Message body

Balance In Your Life

Emotional and mental wellness are critical and conducive aspects to lead a balanced life. 
 If our emotional or mental states are not in proper alignment our entire being is thrown off.  
Our emotional stability allows us to love the self, have true confidence in who we are, 
and be comfortable in our own skin.  We must be freely giving and receiving of ourselves 
and doing it with a genuine heart.  Without happiness in your heart and balance in your 
mind you cannot be at east and at peace.  It helps us to express to others who we really are, 
our Authentic Self.  

Every individual’s life should be filled with purpose and an enormous compassion for others. 
 Many think that in order to be successful you must be “rich” but what many don’t realize that 
to be successful you must first find balance within your life.  You must first change your old 
self-defeating habits.  Habits may not seem like such a big issue, but these are the things 
that you do everyday that are stopping you from achieving your true potential.  Reflect
 on who you are, your life and where you are at.  Finding out where you are and where
 you want to be will tell you what changes need to be made within your own life.

When being our Authentic Self we are more credible and relatable to others.  Being in this 
state allows us to be more open to possibilities and to laugh at our flaws.  To be able to 
embrace your own deficiencies helps to heal past emotional wounds that may have
 hindered you in the past.  It allows you to be the best you without striving for perfection
 in a world that is far from perfect.  Always be you and accept your flaws.  Without
 accepting your flaws you can never have peace within yourself.  We are our own 
worst critic and need to give ourselves more positive feedback.

Being aware of our thoughts and the impact our thoughts have on our actions and on our
 lives may force the need for a positive change.  So much negative self talk goes on 
and impacts daily life hindering many individuals in being their Authentic Self and 
not allowing their true self to shine through.  Having more self awareness allows us 
to see things and situations in their true light.  We will be more accepting of others, l
ess in denial, less judgmental, and find it easier to grasp the realities of life.  

What are the top five ways you can find balance in your life:

1. Get organized!  De-clutter your life not only of physical surroundings,
 but toxic relationships, and emotional baggage.  Balance comes with
 organization. 

2. Find peace in your surroundings.  Keep things around you that will 
make you feel calm and remind you of who you are striving to be.  
Set aside time to disconnect from electronics and be in peace.

3. Keep a calendar.  Managing your time effectively will make you
 more careful with how you spend your time.  Your time is valuable don’t 
waste it, balance is about being organized and keeping a schedule.

4. Say NO!  If you do not want to do something say no.  You should only
 do things in your life that you want to do 100% if it’s not 100% really 
think about why you are doing it, is it out of love or obligation?

5. Focus on you.  Make sure you are eating right, getting enough sleep, 
minimizing stress, and are interacting with others who are supportive 
of you.  Take time to take care of yourself and treat yourself to remind 
yourself of how important you are to you!

Being emotionally and mentally well helps us to have peace of mind, even during
 the most extreme dark and challenging phases of our life.  We will come out of
 challenging times seeing the lessons we learned, and being able to let go of 
the negative thoughts from the mind.  Whether it be personal, social, or work 
related, developing this wonderful balance of wellness is attainable and is
 manifested by having inner confidence and compassion for the wellness of 
others, and most importantly having self love.

CONFIDENT AND BOLD LIVING, THINKING AND BEHAVING

Confident and Bold Living, Thinking and Behaving 

Thinking outside the box is more than just a business cliché. It means approaching problems in new, innovative ways; conceptualizing problems differently; and understanding your position in relation to any particular situation in a way you’d never thought of before. Ironically, its a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in ways that aren’t clichéd, embracing and letting out your unique qualities unapologetically.

Ways to think outside the box:

1. Ask a child: or several

2. Draw!!! 

3. Read something new: new class, new seminar 

4. Grab a bunch of various magazines for ideas

5. Search power words and items on the Internet w a journal 

6. Journal freestyle 

7. Change your location, space, routine.example:Writer Toni Morrison watched the sun come up in the morning before she would begin writing. She felt that this enabled her to access her creativity.

8. Brainstorm The brainstorming stage isn't about what is or isn't feasible. Avoid limiting yourself when you're brainstorming. This is the time when all ideas are welcome, no matter how silly or unworkable they sound. If you start limiting yourself during this stage of the thinking game, you aren't going to progress very far.

9. Mastermind or accountability partner 

10. Imagine 

There are always opportunities daily in everything

Look for them always

Disappointed? Look for the gift or opportunity 

1. Decide what opportunities would make your passion, purpose, project pursuit or profession soar, succeed or move forward in big ways.

Make a list now of two

2. Self Promotion; have 10-30 things you love about you as the foundation in your mind. Which 4 resonate w what you're doing here most?  Next, for one week, write to or connect with three people each day to ask for advice, guidance or ideas on these, ask for opportunities, and possibly even strategic partners. Make sure to add these qualities about yourself, and get comfortable mentioning them on paper and in person. 

3. Next, think of ways that you can create these opportunities on your own. Think bold, outside of the box. 

Take time to brainstorm a list of ideas all over your journal... Crazy ideas, fun ideas, wild ideas.

4. Ask yourself, who else does what I want to do. How did they get there?

Research this to gather even more ideas. Go to some specific  networking events that match  to connect w people. Keep learning so you become the guru of this and truly can own what you do.

5. Meet w an accountability partner at least once every week by phone or in person to review, gather ideas, feedback and assistance. 

6. Create plans of action.

Prioritize all of the ideas. Which are the 100% ideas that feel exciting, amazing and powerful?Take the top idea and begin with that. Break it into small steps and create a schedule and time frame for moving forward. 

7. Make sure to take steps right away. Action will fuel you and show you results. 

8. As soon as one of your self created opportunities is stepped into by you, celebrate and keep going!

9. Journal the results, connections, credibility,success, own it

10. Be ready when the bigger opportunities come as a result of this... Imagine, visualize, see the $ flowing in.