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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

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

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

Your subjective well-being is a measure of how you personally feel about your own levels of happiness, satisfaction and emotional health - in short, your own evaluation of your quality of life. Having a high SWB means that you are happy with your life; you experience your life as being predominately positive and unpleasant feelings are uncommon and generally situational and temporary in nature. On the other hand, someone with a low SWB rates their life as dreary, stagnant or unpleasant, and considers happiness, joy and pleasure to be uncommon and mostly transient sensations.

According to Ed Diener, et al, in their paper “Recent Findings on Subjective Well-Being” (http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~ediener/hottopic/paper1.html), there are three components to subjective well-being: Satisfaction, pleasant affect, and low levels of unpleasant affect. Satisfaction is a measure of how satisfied you are with your life. Pleasant affect refers to pleasant or positive emotions - joy, happiness, pleasure, love, pride, etc. And unpleasant affect refers to unpleasant emotions - guilt, anger, unhappiness, helplessness, etc. The sum of these factors, as you see them, makes up your overall perception of you subjective well-being.

Having a high SWB contributes immensely to your state of mental and physical health, you’re ability to cope with change and crisis, and your enjoyment of life in general. Here are a few ways you can boost your own personal happiness, and improve your chances of enjoying a long, happy life. Read Post

I’m presenting tomorrow at the Biz Tech Expo in Milwaukee. Topic: Personal Development in a Professional World.

Here are the details:

From my article Beating Procrastination is Easy – Once You Get Moving at Dumb Little Man:

“One of the biggest difficulties for most people to overcome is procrastination. We all have things we dread doing, and it is so much easier to come up with excuses not to do those things, or find other more pressing things to take care of, all as a means of avoidance. Then we look at all the time that has been wasted putting off the dreaded task, only to find that it is still sitting there, staring us squarely in the face. Not only did we lose precious time trying to ignore the unpleasant task, but it has since grown even more ominous.

An important aspect of any self improvement program is learning to overcome the fine art of procrastination. Some people are able to casually avoid an unpleasant or difficult chore, while others go to extreme lengths devising outlandish mechanisms for escaping their responsibilities. In many cases, the effort spent avoiding the task far exceeds the amount of effort required to complete it.

As you progress along your path towards self improvement, keep the following things in mind:”

Read the rest of Beating Procrastination is Easy – Once You Get Moving.

For some people, aging is not a positive experience. I remember hearing one senior saying, “Aging is not for cowards!” Yet, for some, aging is a rewarding experience. For those are people who have learned to age with dignity.

No matter how we look at it, aging is inevitable. Look at the alternative–not being around to age. So if it’s going to happen to us anyway, why not make the most of it.

In the next few years, the baby boomers will be reaching senior status in record numbers. Yet, who’s to say what’s a senior? Does it begin at 50, when you can join AARP? Or is it 60 when you can get a senior discount at the movies? Or do you become a senior at 70 when you can start collecting the full value of social security benefits?

We often hear, “You’re only as old as you feel.” I agree with that statement. Age is more a state of mind than a state of body. Yes, the body does start to wear down, but you’ll find lots of “seniors” doing things their younger counterparts can’t. In other words, how you age is up to you. I know an 89-year-old who hits the dance floor at least three times a week, while many people his age are waiting to die in nursing homes. And some people half his age are complaining about this pain and the other and haven’t danced in years.

So is there a secret to aging with dignity? Read Post

We hear a lot of talk about accountability–it seems to be the new buzz word in the personal growth industry. What exactly does it mean?

In my coaching practice, I refer to myself as an accountability partner for my clients. Most people who seek out a life or business coach do so from a need to report to as well as obtain guidance direction, and ongoing encouragement from another person.

In my own life, I equate being accountable with being responsible for my actions. However, even more than that it means keeping my word, keeping my commitments.

It’s fairly easy to set goals, not as easy to plan action steps to reach those goals, and even more challenging to follow through on those steps. That’s where accountability comes in. Read Post

It’s at once the simplest and the hardest question you can ask someone: What do you want? On the surface, it seems easy. We all know what we want, right? At least we feel we do. But when asked to articulate those wants, few of us can be clear and specific about our goals, our dreams and our desires. But if you can’t be specific and clear about what you want, how do you know if you’re doing what you need to do to get it? The answer is, you can’t.

Being able to clearly, specifically and definitively articulate what you want out of life is the first step to achieving those desires. Without that, everything else you do is simply hit or miss, trial and error. Sure, you could actually end up getting some or even all of the things you want. But if you do, it will almost certainly be a matter of pure luck and serendipity, an accomplishment that is neither repeatable nor predictable.

Give yourself the best chance you have to get what you want out of life by asking yourself the following simple questions:

“What does what I want look like in action?” Read Post