When you are trying to keep up with the daily grind, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the fact that you reap what you sow in your personal relationships. If it is intimacy you desire, you must first be able to inspire it. If you desire friendship, you must first be able to bestow it. If you seek equality and fairness, then those qualities must work both ways.

Relationships are like flowers. They need sunshine and tending. They need to be looked after. They need attention. Without these things, the relationship will grow stale and wither away, like a flower dying on a vine.

As a relationship blooms, it becomes the priority in each person’s life. Both people put in the effort to make time for each other, to pay attention to each other, and to constantly let the other person know how much they care. There is tremendous happiness in each others’ company, and the relationship brings a great sense of fulfillment.

But as the relationship matures, the struggles of day to day life gradually creep back in, like weeds growing in the garden. At first they may not even be noticeable, but if left unattended, they can slowly take over and choke out the flower.

1. Take the Time for a Loving Gesture Read Post

Sometimes in our haste to get things done, we forget to take our time and make sure they are done well. Trying to hurry through a project without giving much thought to the consequences is likely to result in shoddy work and a large number of errors. Not only does your reputation as a professional suffer from such work, but in the end it could end up costing you precious time as well. You may find yourself revisiting old projects, trying to undo or repair mistakes that were made the first time through.

Rather than put yourself in this position and risk tarnishing your reputation in the process, slow down and take the time to ensure your projects are completed right the first time around. The added time it takes to be thorough is a small price to pay in comparison to the price shoddy work can cost you in the long run. This could be of particular concern if you work as an independent contractor, and are able to charge higher rates due to the high quality of your work. Performing rushed jobs could cause your quality to slip, which could result in fewer sales or the need to reduce your prices so they are more in alignment with your local competition. Read Post

How many times have you had a goal in life, but were halted in your progress towards attaining it by the little voice in your head telling you that you were not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, or fast enough? Those little gremlins living within you are your own personal demons, guarding the road to success by turning you away. In order to reach your goals and realize your dreams, you need to learn how to kill those demons dead in their tracks.

Those gremlins are the voice of your insecurities, and many of them are very deeply rooted. Some are instilled in you during childhood, when parents teach you the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Unfortunately as times change, what may have been deemed unacceptable as a child may now be absolutely necessary to succeed. Even so, the voice will remain as a reminder that the behavior is improper.

There are many other sources for such discouraging voices, and another big one is school. We are very impressionable during our earlier school years, and the voices of teachers and school kids go a long ways towards us forming our own image of ourselves. Much of what we believe about ourselves can be traced back to these early, formative years. Beliefs we acquire during that period tend to remain with us throughout our lives.

You may find yourself having to overcome many little voices inside your head in order to succeed – in business, in sports, or in relationships. With a little effort, though, you can muzzle those little demons, rendering them quiet once and for all.

How? Read Post

Click HERE for details.

It is only natural to encounter conflict or to have confrontations in relationships. As people become more familiar with each other, they also become less tolerant of quirks and odd habits. Add to those things the stresses of daily life, which can add up over time.

As stress in a relationship accumulates, it is only natural to encounter conflict. When approached sensibly and with compassion, conflict resolution can lead to greater emotional fulfillment and closer bonds with your partner. However, many people do not take the time to deal with stress or conflict in a productive manner, and instead begin to snipe at their partner out of frustration.

Rather than engage in a rational discussion regarding the issue at hand, they begin to make personal attacks against their partner’s looks, habits, ideas, and abilities. Not only does acting out in such a manner cause a great amount of emotional harm to the other person, but it erodes trust in the relationship and erects a barrier of suspicion between both partners. When this continues over time it can cause serious, and even permanent damage to the relationship.

Fortunately there are some steps you can take to ensure you continue to receive fulfillment from your relationship and prevent you from sinking into the harmful habit of waging psychological warfare against your partner. Read Post

In ancient Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped and held captive in Hades, the early Greek version of hell. She was eventually rescued, but only on the condition she would take the King of Hades who bore the same name as her husband, and agree to live part of the year in the Underworld. Each year Persephone would escape to sunshine and life, only to be cast back into the depths of Hades in order to fulfill her agreement.

Life is very much like the cycles of Persephone’s life. We experience periods of great joy and fulfillment, only to suffer a loss and be cast into the depths of hell. The important thing to remember is that the human spirit is resilient and strong, and when it appears that all hope has vanished, there really is a light shining at the end of the tunnel. All you have to do is open your eyes to it, and you will emerge stronger and wiser.

1. Everyone has Visited the Darkness

Think back to the most difficult time in your life. Remember that you are not alone in your experience, and everyone walking this planet has endured their darkest days. Most likely, something was learned from the experience, even if only the knowledge that you are strong in mind and spirit. Life gives us trials in order to teach us lessons we cannot learn otherwise. We are also given no cross to bear that is too great for us to handle, even if it seems so at the time. Read Post

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Do you have a personal plan for success?

Most people today are completely overwhelmed by everything that life throws at them on a daily basis. Because the boundaries between work and personal life have become so blurred, we become lost, confused and derailed from our goals.

Personal success is attained in gradual increments by setting and achieving goals.

At SlowDownFast.com, we have developed a comprehensive, customizable and highly flexible program which addresses such a need: The Slow Down Fast Intensive Empowerment System (IES).

The Slow Down FAST Intensive Empowerment System helps individuals achieve their goals.

Here’s how you can benefit from this program:

• You’ll realign yourself with your purpose.
• You’ll once again connect with your values and talents - and this will ignite your passion and drive to succeed.
• You will leverage your own, unique learning style for quicker retention and more rapid advancement.
• You will be empowered in your personal life, which in turn fuels you professionally and brings you greater commitment and dedication on the job.

For one time only, I’m offering the Intensive Empowerment System workshop FR.EE Read Post

Many people go through life in pursuit of happiness and fulfillment, without ever having a clear picture of what those things mean to them. Each person has unique ideas regarding what constitutes happiness, based largely on that person’s individual values and past experiences. In order to be truly happy, you must first determine what it is that makes you content, fulfilled, and satisfied. Only then can you take steps to achieve your own personal state of happiness.

In order to determine what you want out of life to give you a sense of fulfillment or contentment, try the following exercises.

1. Find out Where You are Stuck

Ask yourself what aspects of your life make you feel like you are in a rut or that you feel need to be changed. In doing so, try to determine how long you have felt you were stuck in these particular habits, and ask yourself why you have not yet changed them. Read Post

Technology. The word itself is enough to strike fear into the hearts of those of us old enough to remember when a three-day turn around on postal mail was considered speedy communication, especially after spending some time with today’s young technological savants. But when you think about it, it wasn’t that long ago that we were going nuts about the latest and greatest gadget and our own parents were shaking their heads at all those “new-fangled gizmos.”

True, technology is changing at an ever-increasing pace, and it can be hard to keep up. But whether we like it or not, our civilization is built on technology and that’s one thing that’s not likely to change anytime soon. (At least, I hope not - I don’t know about you, but I’m not eager to return to plowing fields with wooden sticks and huddling around dung fires for warmth in the winter.) Maybe it’s time we took a few cues from the younger generation and learned to embrace technology the way they have.

So, what can kids teach us about technology? Read Post

Have you ever caught yourself daydreaming about the good times you’ve had in the past or the events you have planned for the future?

Many of us live most of our lives in the past or future, missing out entirely on the present moment. Remembering how good you felt or what fun you had in some past experience often eases the aches of current disappointments. Projecting into the future how you would like your life to be or onto some upcoming plans, offers hope and reassurance if your present is not meeting your satisfaction.

However, if you’ve ever studied the mind and the aspects of time, you would know that the present moment is all that is real, all that actually exists. The past and future only exist in the mind, while the present exists in real time. It’s true the mind is very powerful and can play tricks on us. It can pull up a memory that seems so vivid, you actually experience it through your senses and can even feel an emotional response. Similarly, you may get all excited thinking about the vacation you will be taking next summer, and almost smell the suntan lotion.

Yet, living anywhere but the present can be a form of escape or denial. It’s sticking your head in the sand instead of facing the truth–your life today sucks and you better do something about it if you want it to get better.

What are some ways you can stop time traveling and learn to enjoy living in the moment? Read Post