The importance of living in the present

A good friend of mine said something to me that really struck a chord. We were talking about the nature of reality, and about how we create our own realities through the ways we perceive the world around us. The statement she made was, “I believe all time and reality exists in the moment.” I thought, “Wow…” When you really think about it, the only real existence is what is around us at any given moment in time. It is the “right now.”

The past does not really “exist” because it is in the past. The future cannot “exist” because it has not yet formed. So the only thing, the only reality, we are left with is in the now. Read more..

Every behavior has a positive intention

by Dianne Lowther of Brilliant Minds (www.brilliantminds.co.uk)

It’s one of the NLP Presuppositions – ‘Every behaviour has a positive intention’ but what does it actually mean? At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking that it’s implying that everything anyone does is intended to do good. But that isn’t what it means. (And I’m sure that you can think of some behaviours that certainly don’t do good to others.) The NLP Presuppositions are filters. They’re ways of looking at the world that can create more constructive results if we choose to use them. You don’t have to believe that a presupposition is absolutely true in order to practice using it and get the benefit of it. Read more..

Finding your own voice

One of the most challenging and rewarding accomplishments we can achieve is finding our own voice, or finding our own identity. We are constantly bombarded by the expectations of others, whether they are through cultural conditioning, family expectations, peer pressure, or the even the media.

We are expected to be a certain way, to adopt certain values, to view the world from a particular perspective, etc. etc. etc. And to make things even more challenging, these expectations are often contradictory. For instance, our society places value on individualism, yet we are encouraged to be team players at work. We say that we value progress, but we fight hard against change. We claim to value diversity, yet we generally socialize and interact with those that are most like ourselves. Read more..

What is reality?

You may not realize it, but you are on a journey right now. The journey is your life and you are navigating this journey using a map. That map represents your reality. It is created as you move along your life’s journey based on your experiences. As you experience different things, you form beliefs and values, and learn to perceive your world in particular ways, thus creating the map that you follow. And the way you perceive your world creates your reality. Read more..

Living as a purposeful being

What does it mean to live a purposeful life? Carl Rogers, a pioneer in the humanistic approach to psychotherapy, suggests that living a purposeful life is about being the person you truly are. But what if you don’t even know who you truly are? I mean, most of us do not know, otherwise we would be living purposefully, right?

Fortunately, Mr. Rogers provides some further insights into how we may move towards being the person we truly are. He contends that by moving away from the expectations of society and other individuals and towards self direction and self definition we may find who we truly are, and thereby live purposeful lives. Read more..

Well-formed outcomes

How can you get what you want unless you know what it is? Many of us think we know what we want. We know we want a nice house on the beach, or a new car, or more time to spend with friends and family.

However, while we may have an idea about what we want in life sometimes we haven’t really given thought to how to get what we want, what the real costs will be when we get it, or even if getting what we want is aligned with our values and life’s purpose.

Without thinking seriously about these aspects, getting what we want may be impossible, or in the end turn out to be not at all like what we thought it would be. Read more..

What is “success?”

What is “success?”  How do you define it?  For some people “success” is making six figures.  For others, “success” is having the time to do what they want.  Many people are driven by the need to take care of their families.  “Success” to these people may also come in many different forms, like providing a large house, or a nurturing environment, or a good education, etc.

Everybody has a different idea of what “success” is.  And sometimes that definition changes as we grow and develop.

My own definition of “success” has certainly changed over time.  Read more..