Practicing the 10th Agreement - Walk With Courage

Today, Is the last installment in the series, "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

•Agreement # 1: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.
•Agreement # 2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent.
•Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process.
•Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.
•Agreement #5: I agree to stop self judging behavior and replace it with self assessment.
•Agreement #6 - I agree to share my gifts and talents with everyone I meet.
•Agreement #7 - I agree to not make apologies for or bad mouth who I am, how I'm created, or how I think.
•Agreement #8 - I agree to admit to what I don't know and learn it only if necessary.

•Agreement #9 I agree to remember that there is no true success without synergy.

Agreement #10- I agree to walk with the courage needed to make a positive difference on this planet, in my community, and in my very own life.

Years ago I altered the traditional approach to setting new year's resolutions and began to select a single word as my focus word for improvement for the year. One year it was joy, another year it was finances and this year it was courage. Actually, it's been courage for the past two years. I know what next years is, but I'm holding that under my hat until January 1st!

Anywho, Agreement #10 is the quintessential agreement because the truth of the matter is that to some degree we must activate our courage if we're going to attempt to do anything in life. Therapist and philosopher Rollo May has a great definition of courage that I use for myself and teach to my students: "courage is not the absence of fear, but going forward despite fear or doubt. Many of my former students have written to me years later and shared with me how life changing the teaching on courage and the courage of creativity has been for their lives.
Striving to make a difference in our very own lives, the community and on this planet, to some, might seem to be a rather lofty goal. Yet, it's something that we must do. Creating a life of value and positive impact in the world ought to become our most important creed. I'm certainly making it mine.

As we end this journey of discovery through the 10 Agreements for living the life you truly desire, I want to thank you for joining me. Your comments have deeply enriched my life and the lives of others. Leave a comment and let me know how you're doing with implementing the 10 Agreements. Once you start, your life will never be the same again!

Remember, time is short. Do your happy dance. Enjoy life!

Practicing the 9th Agreement - Synergy Equals Succes

Today, I'll be continuing the series "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

•Agreement # 1: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.
•Agreement # 2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent.
•Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process.
•Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.
•Agreement #5: I agree to stop self judging behavior and replace it with self assessment.
•Agreement #6 - I agree to share my gifts and talents with everyone I meet.
•Agreement #7 - I agree to not make apologies for or bad mouth who I am, how I'm created, or how I think.
•Agreement #8 - I agree to admit to what I don't know and learn it only if necessary.

To read all 8 previous agreements click here.

Agreement #9 - I agree to remember that there is no true success without synergy.

Agreement #9 focuses on the combined or cooperative force of action, or just plain old working together. Actually this agreement folds nicely back into Agreement #1 - I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.

I've been working on agreements 1 and 9 for the past several weeks and have met with consistent success. I've done quite a bit of volunteering over the past couple of weeks to the point that I'm cutting back some. I've made a concerted effort to help others by creating groups on facebook designed to help other artists and creatives to find out about jobs and auditions. In my coaching practice I share resources with other coaches to help them get things started and get things done with efficiency and professionalism.

I've also partnered with Dali Burgadi of Secrets to Web Success (www.secretestowebsuccess.com) to teach the Jump Start Your Coaching Practice 5 day course (www.jumpstartyourcoaching.com) and the Women who Rock Wordpress tele-summit coming this fall. Creating synergy is such a positive thing, not only for you and those around you but for the universe as a whole.

How are you creating synergy in your world?

Remember, time is short. Do your happy dance. Enjoy life!

Practicing the 8th Agreement - Learn What's Essential

Today, I'll be continuing the series "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

•Agreement # 1: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.
•Agreement # 2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent.
•Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process.
•Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.
•Agreement #5: I agree to stop self judging behavior and replace it with self assessment.
•Agreement #6 - I agree to share my gifts and talents with everyone I meet.
•Agreement #7 - I agree to not make apologies for or bad mouth who I am, how I'm created, or how I think.

Agreement #8 - I agree to admit to what I don't know and learn it only if necessary.

This agreement is all about making peace with what you do know and what you don't know and not folding to live up to other people's intellectual standards. In our busy and fast paced world and with nifty friend the internet at our fingertips it's possible for us to take in an awful lot of information. But as we all know, to much of anything can put us into overload and have our brains sparking and sputtering like a faulty electrical wire ready to explode. We don't have to succumb to the pressure of becoming a know-it-all.

I've really been putting this agreement into practice. I'm a college professor, so I of course believe in learning, but I don't believe you should learn something just because it will make you look more important or gain you cache in a given circle. I love history, and a few years ago I was being very heavily persuaded by members of my academic circle to pursue a doctorial degree in History. I succumbed, but didn't last long because my heart wasn't in it. I was going against Agreement #8 so I quit.

The other day I was on Twitter having a conversation with one of my fellow twitterer's and she asked me if it was silly of her to ask me about how to get a domain name to link to a blog. I replied that of course it wasn't silly, especially since she's interested in setting up a blog and having her own domain name. We went on to have a pretty robust conversation where I shared what I do know about blogging and setting things up. Now I'm no expert on setting up blogs (I leave that to my friend Jamila the EcommerceDiva!), but I have learned enough to make my life easier and so I was able to pass that info on to my fellow twitterer. For me, this is a good example of only learning something if it's necessary.

Also, in my role as a professor I've learned to not be afraid to admit to my students that I don't know something. It's a very liberating mind set. One time I told my class that I didn't know the answer to a question, but that I'd research it and get back to them, which I did. A student from that class shared with me how surprised she was that I actually said I didn't know and then actually found the answer and brought it back to the class. She said most teachers would have faked it and pretended like they knew the answer.

Agreement #8 speaks to our integrity. I encourage you to become an advocate of only learning what's essential, freeing up our minds to be available for our highest creativity to thrive. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Remember, time is short. Do your happy dance. Enjoy life!

Practicing the 7th Agreement - Esteem Yourself Today and Always

Today, I'll be continuing the series "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

•Agreement # 1: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.
•Agreement # 2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent.
•Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process.
•Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.
•Agreement #5: I agree to stop self judging behavior and replace it with self assessment.
•Agreement #6 - I agree to share my gifts and talents with everyone I meet.
To read all 6 previous agreements click here.

Agreement #7 - I agree to not make apologies for or bad mouth who I am, how I'm created, or how I think.

At the on line encyclopedia Wikipedia, Self Esteem is defined as: reflecting a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his own worth. If it hadn't clicked before, hopefully this definition clarified things, that aagreement #7 is all about self esteem. In this sometimes cut throat world your self esteem is your backbone and you must protect and maintain it, creating the kinds of boundaries that keep it from harms way; starting with your first line of defense, You.
When I was a kid, we used to sing a little ditty: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." Now, I don't know who came up with this false little sing-song, but we knew even as we sung it that it wasn't true. Name calling hurts. Bad mouthing someone can hurt them or why else would people do it? Certainly when any one of us takes the lead and begins to bad mouth or improperly label ourselves we do the work of eroding our self esteem long before the outside world gets a chance.

So why do we do what we sometimes do? The reasons why are many, but what's more important is sometimes the answer to that question doesn't have to matter. What matters most in some situations is that we recognize that we're doing something harmful and to stop doing it, now. If you've been on a streak of devaluing your self with negative self talk, I'm asking you to please stop. I've been down that street before myself and I'd like to keep it "the road less traveled,' because it does nothing but breed more negativity in my life. Bad mouthing yourself is like a bad infection, it only makes things worse. The answer is to begin to affirm who you truly are or even who you want to become. If you can't think of an affirmation of your own, try this: "I am a beautiful, talented and creative person moving diligently on the path leading to my goals."

Agree starting right now, to not make apologies for or bad mouth who you are, how you're created or how you think. Be you, continue to grow and protect your self esteem, because nobody else will protect it like you can.

I'd love to hear what affirmations do you use to combat negative self talk? Share in the comments section below.

Remember, time is short. Do your happy dance. Enjoy life!

Practicing the 6th Agreement - Be You and Nothing Else

Today, I'll be continuing the series "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

•Agreement # 1: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.
•Agreement # 2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent.
•Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process.
•Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.
•Agreement #5: I agree to stop self judging behavior and replace it with self assessment. (to read all 5 previous agreements click here)
Agreement #6: I agree to share my gifts and talents with everyone I meet.

Have you ever knowingly turned down you wattage because you believed that would make others feel more comfortable? If you have or still do I'd really like you to stop. Being less than who you truly are is harmful to your spirit and the outcomes of your life.

I once heard a prominent preacher (okay it was T.D.Jakes) say that women ought to turn it down some. He went on to say that a man can't hardly walk in a room full of women anymore because they're doing so much. Buying houses, gettin jobs, etc. (you know regular life stuff). Anyway, the context of his conversation was not about being arrogant, it was about being a good helpmate to a man. I couldn't believe what he was suggesting - turn down your wattage so others can be present? My stepmother even once said that I might have better luck with getting a mate if I didn't tell my dates all of my accomplishments and interests (which are varied) right away. Hello people?! Pump the breaks and let's all read part of the great quote from Marianne Williamson:

"Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do."

In your quest to live the life you truly desire, share your gifts and talents with everyone you meet. On the one hand I am referring to your unique gifts, talents & capabilities; but on the other hand this means be you all the time. Don't hide yourself (gifts & talents) under a rock or play them down or act like you don't have any. You deserve to live a full, rich abundant life experience. Everyone does. You can't control how others respond to you, but you can control your reaction. Be you and nothing less.

Remember, time is short. Do your happy dance. Enjoy life!

Practicing the 5th Agreement - Beware of Self Judgement

Today, I'll be continuing the series "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

Agreement # 1 is: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire.

Agreement # 2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent.

Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process.

Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.

Agreement #5: I agree to stop self judging behavior and replace it with self assessment.

I have been a teacher and coach for over 20 years. During this time I've seen and learned a lot about what motivates people to pursue their dreams and to live the lives they truly desire. One thing I have consistently observed is the propensity for people to undermine their creativity and life possibility with self judgment.

Several years ago I coined a phrase that speaks directly to Agreement #5: "Self judgment is the death of creativity while self assessment opens you up to unlimited possibility." Whenever I share this quote with students and clients most of them nod their heads in silent agreement. They intuitively understand and have experienced the harm of self judgement. The heart of the quote strikes them with its truth and the light bulb of responsibility illuminates their minds.

Many of us have learned to judge ourselves (usually harshly) but not to make honest and conscientious assessments of ourselves. Judgments usually are experienced as negative chatter. False statements that tear you down and immobilize your creativity and ability to execute the steps to move you toward your goals. Assessment invites you to evaluate the effectiveness of your performance and determine what kinds of adjustments you need to make. Practicing and developing the skill of assessemnt will help you figure out what you need to do next to make your goals and your life a shared reality. I know it works, because it works for me.

Agreement #5 is probably the most critical agreement you'll need to implement to clear the way for you to live the life you truly desire. Please share your comments and successes below.

Remember, time is short. Do your happy dance. Enjoy life!

Fun Friday! Meet the Team

In honor of Administrative Professionals Week, we would like to take a moment to acknowledge all of those who help to make Her Journey what it is.

An extra special thank you goes out to Tracey, who is the Her Journey right hand woman. She jumped right in from day one. Bringing her creativity, a unique voice and love of travel, she continues to be a tremendous asset to the team.

Each bringing their own voice of expertise, the other contributors have been a pleasure to work with and have added so much to the Her Journey blog:

Special thanks is due to Andrew of Straight Design for showing of his design genius with every issue.

We also want to send a Thank You to all of our guest contributors.
And of course to all of you readers!

This has been an amazing journey and we look forward to continuing on a journey to somewhere even greater.


Image found here

Practicing the 4th Agreement - Laughter is Really the Best Medicine

Today, I'll be continuing the series "The 10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire." I invite you to participate in the conversation as we explore the power of living a well lived life.

I came up with the "10 Agreements for Living the Life you Truly Desire" to help myself and other women identify those areas that would give us the direction we need to live our lives with fulfillment, purpose and joy.

Agreement #1: I agree to help others in their quest to live the life they truly desire. (Click here to recap)

Agreement #2: I agree to discover how to develop myself to the fullest extent. (Click here to recap)

Agreement #3: I agree to remember that there is no perfection, only process. (Click here to recap)

Agreement #4: I agree to take life serious enough to remember to laugh with the good times and some of the sad ones.

Over at Science Daily, noted researcher Melissa B. Wanzer, professor of communication studies at Canisius College has found that a humor-oriented work environment causes employees to report higher job satisfaction. Also, making fun of oneself is reported to be a very effective way to make connections with people if done appropriately.

I'm a firm believer that evoking laughter really is the best medicine. I use humor every day when I'm teaching my classes and even when I meet people. I find that humor tends to put people at ease. I've learned that keeping my sense of humor intact has helped me to make it through many challenging and difficult situations. Yes, our lives are serious, but the art of seeing the funny side apparently has heart healthy benefits. At the University of Maryland a research team recently reported that people who had heart disease and heart attacks tended to laugh less frequently even in positive situations and they had more anger and hostility. So be forewarned, laugh long and loud it might just save your life.

The main thing that can be said about laughter is it keeps us balanced and positive. It invites us to participate non-judgmentally inthe inevitable mishaps and foibles of life. We recognize and relate positively to our humanity through laughter. Laughing with the good times and through the sad times is a sure recipe for moving forward as you live the life you truly desire.

Move Beyond Fear - Take 3 Steps

Welcome to the Motivation Mojo Solution of the Week

This weeks solution is Take 3 Steps to Move Beyond Fear: small, then larger, then bolder. Just take 3 steps.

Babies are born with only two instinctive fears. Fear of loud noises and fear of falling. All other fears are ones that we learn by association. By the time we become adults most of us no longer fear loud noises or falling, but we also have learned to fear many things that we need to do to move forward in our lives.

This Solution is designed to help strengthen your courage so that you can move beyond those fears that we embrace because of social conditioning. When you are facing something that makes you apprehensive or even fearful I want you to just take one small step in the direction you want to go. After you have become comfortable with that small step and your confidence is increased, take a larger step and then lastly a bolder step.

I'm certain that taking 3 steps will move you beyond whatever is holding you back from actualizing your dreams.

Denise
The Motivated Mindset Coach!

Using a Vision Board to Achieve your Goals & Dreams

The New Year, the new year, the nw yr. No, the last spelling of the New Year is not a mistake. It's intentional.

You see, I've noticed over the years that if you don't set strong intentional energy for yourself at the beginning of the year, you can end up with something missing in your life as the months fly by. (Feel familiar?) Well, if it does even just a little bit, that's where using a Vision Board comes into play. What's a vision board you might ask. Well, I'm glad you're asking because I'm in the mood to let you in on the secrets to using a really cool manifesting tool. People like Lisa Nichols, Jack Canfield and yours truly (me) use vision boards to achieve our goals and dreams.

If you don't know what a vision board is, you're not alone, because when I recently surveyed my clients one of the things that was a repeated request was how to use a vision board.

A vision board is a powerful transformation tool that has been used by many successful people throughout the ages. It helps you to create more of the positive energy centered on very specific goals you have for your life and/or your business. I've used them for years and at the University where I'm a professor. I teach this powerful tool to my students, and they still use it years later. Several of them commented on my Facebook page on 12/28 that they had to get their vision board done. How cool is that!

Some people mistakenly think that a vision board is just a large collage with pictures on it. Yes it is that, but it ought to be so much more. That's where the intentional part comes in. You must set specific intentions for your vision board in 4 areas:

1. What kind of board you're going to create

2. What you need to gain from the experience (both inner and outer goals)

3. How often are you going to interact with the board

4. When you will make changes to your board

If you have a desire to create your own vision board you can get really clear directions in this insructional report I've put together that: explains how to create and how to use a vision board to live your personal best.

Click the link to purchase your report and you'll have all the step by step instructions for how to create and effectively use a vision board! http://tinyurl.com/yzz8l35 There's an extra special DISCOUNT for Her Journey readers. Get 50% off when you use the purchase code: Her Journey.

Here's to your continued happiness, success and joy all year long,

Denise J. Hart
The Motivated Mindset Coach!

Motivational Monday- Keep your Mojo Flow in 2010!

Happy New Year!

The New Year is upon us and time is quickly doing its thing. We're already 11 days into the year and if your life is anything like mine, things have taken off with a bang!

Welcome to Motivational Mondays here on the Her Journey Blog. These posts are here to help and support you on the highways and byways of your life experience.

I'm Denise J. Hart, The Motivated Mindset Coach! and I'll be chiming in every other Monday to share simple and practical tips you can use to stay Mindset Healthy and Moti-Fabulous in 2010!

Here's just a little about me: I'm a mom, a blogger a tenured college professor and a coach who trains and coaches women, other coaches and entrepreneurs to Get Things Started & Get Things Done for more profits and more satisfaction in life. I have a pretty cool gift: I can see the BIG picture and know how to break things down to the bare nuts and bolts; you know, I've got the right brain-left brain mix going on!

Here's a little motivated mindset mojo to help get you through the second week of the year:

Never Practice Positive Thinking Without...

Never practice positive thinking without the positive action of application. So many people get Positive thinking confused. Recently everyone has been on the Law of Attraction band wagon. They've started thinking more positively so they can attract what they want more of into their lives. However, I have coached and trained many people who were completely confused about how to actually use the Law of Attraction.

Just the other day I was guiding one of my clients through the Get Things Started & Get Things Done system and she said she didn't think she should say no she wouldn't be able to achieve one of her goals because she wanted to leave room for the Universe to bring it to her. I pretty much said "Pump your brakes my dear," and repeated my quote from above: never practice positive thinking without the positive action of application. She got the message quickly and we moved away from airy fairy thinking and got practical with the application of a powerful tool to improve our lives.

As you are mindful to follow this rule you are less likely to end up in the negative energy of self sabotage so many experience when they are merely practicing positive thinking and then get bummed out when they don't see magical results.

Well, that's it for this week.

As always I encourage each of you to: Live Well By Design!

Denise, The Motivated Mindset Coach!

P.S. If you'd like to really stay Moti-Fabulous in 2010 join me and a group of other women in The 2010 Mind Spa Success Series starting in Feb. Check out all the goodies here: http://www.yourmindspaonline.com/