Tag: secret2anamazinglife.com

HOW YOU SHOULD END IT☕️

This is not a post about breaking up with a lover. It is not a post about quitting your job or any other act of finality. It is about an act that we all do at least once, sometimes several times a day. Changing how we end this act can have a very positive impact on our life and those we share it with. Today we will be learning how to end this act so that both parties leave with a smile and a desire to get together again. Doesn’t this sound like something that could be useful in your own life? This ending we are speaking about is the end of a conversation.

This is something we often give little or no thought to. Most of the time, we just let conversations end themselves. Here is a somewhat morbid, but never-the-less true statement. At some point, the conversation you are going to have with someone will be the last. What would you say and how would you like them to feel if that were the case? It might not be this week, it might not be today, but then again…it might be. That is part of the craziness of the world; we never know.

While you are keeping that sobering thought in mind, I encourage you to ask yourself a question as well. This may seem like a lot of work, but stick with me. Not only will this pay off with both better conversations as well as better relationships. Ask yourself, “How do I want this person to feel when they leave me?” Have you ever encountered people who after you are done talking with them you want to take a shower to wash off the negativity? I have. Have you also left someone and just felt inspired and like their company was a real breath of fresh air? I think it would be safe to say we have all had our share of both of those situations. Now, think of how many times you have consciously acted to affect a conversation you are having? You have that power!

I would love to give you a personal example. The other day my mother and I met for coffee. Both of our schedules are usually pretty busy and walks or coffee are welcome escapes. They always come with great conversation. On this evening as our time together was drawing to a close, we found ourselves discussing the somewhat absurd nature of political ads. The fact that they spend great amounts of money to tell you how terrible their opponent is without actually telling you what they will do for you or any solution they may have. If you don’t believe me, feel free to check your mail or turn on the television. As with any conversation to do with politics, this started to leave us feeling drained and frustrated. The thought occurred to me, “Is this how I want us to go home feeling?” The obvious answer was “No”. I began to make a conscious effort to steer the conversation to a more inspiring and positive tone.

We all have the power to do this. Even with people that enjoy each other’s company, such as my mother and I in the example above, the conversation can take an occasional downturn. The more we make an effort to keep our conversations uplifting and encouraging, the more people will want to have them with us. That is not to say we should be ignorant or fake, but to find ways to see the positive side of even the darkest subjects we discuss. We should also make a point to end our conversations in such a way that both parties leave with joy in their hearts and a smile on their face. How do you end your conversation to make sure everyone leaves with a smile?

HOW DO I DO IT?🤔

My schedule is one that is quite full. I spend roughly 46 hours commuting and working at my day job at the post office. On top of that, I spend about one to two hours at the gym three days a week. I record three podcast episodes a week. I am currently working on my fourth book. People are always asking me, “How can you still spend time doing blogs everyday?” This is compounded by the fact that they bring me very little, if any, financial gain. The picture above can help us answer that question. It is a partial list of countries that had logged on to read my blog during a particular week.

The last country on the list is Ukraine. This country is facing one of the toughest times in its history. People are being forced from their homes. If they are staying, they often have to do so without power, running water and under the threat of violence and destruction. To know that a person in this country took the time to log on to secret2anamazinglife.com, is not only a great honor, but a great responsibility. How many of us have thought to ourselves, “I sure wish I could say something encouraging to all of the people in the Ukraine.”? In this case, I get that chance. When you are living in a country that is at war, you need all of the inspiration you can get. It is difficult to keep your head above water, not to mention deal with all of the death and destruction. A voice of inspiration, encouragement and motivation from afar could be, at the very least, a welcome escape.

If you look a little further up on the list, you will see Puerto Rico. This view happened shortly after the island was devastated by a hurricane. There was almost no power on the entire island. Yet, someone still managed to log on to this blog to read what was written here. Very likely, their valuables were washed away. It is probable that their house was damaged in some form. They may have even lost some loved ones. These people came to read what I have written. Again, quite an honor, but an even greater responsibility. What could I possibly say to someone in that situation?

It does not have to be people in countries who are both ravaged by war and natural disasters. Take a look at any of the other countries. Any one of the people in Ecuador or Ethiopia could be facing one of the darkest days of their lives. Maybe they have lost a job. They could be experiencing the grief of losing a loved one. It is thoughts like this that are in my mind as I write these words. How can I write these blogs? To me the question is more accurately, “How could I not write these blogs?” If my words could improve the life of a neighbor down the street, or halfway across the globe, I owe it to them to share both the knowledge I know, as well as the love in my heart with them.

You may be thinking to yourself, “That is great Neil, but I don’t have a blog.” It is not just the online community that needs our love and encouragement. In todays social media world, where many people can forget the power of their words, we must remember what a positive impact ours can have. It could be someone who is in our social media network. It could also be a coworker or even the guy sitting at Starbucks with no shoes on. That last one is a personal observation I made while writing this. Any of those people could be facing some of the challenges we mentioned earlier. You may never know the impact your positive words or actions may have, but know they do make a difference.

CEMENT BEAR – PODCAST

Hear the funny tale of why this drinking fountain scared me and the life lesson I took from it. An amusing story with a great meaning. Click on the link to hear all about it!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE CEMENT BEAR 🐻 PODCAST

STARFISH STORY ⭐️

Listen to an inspirational story that helped me when I felt I wasn’t making a difference. It may help you realize what an important effect you have in the lives of others.

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THIS INSPIRATIONAL STORY 👏

GRATITUDE IN YOUR POCKET- PODCAST

Learn the secret that almost didn’t make it into my first book! It has went on to be one of my most popular tools at seminars and book signings. Click on the link below to hear this episode.

CLICK HERE TO ENJOY THIS EPISODE 😊

THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL – PODCAST

Here is my podcast episode explaining the most powerful tool to improve your life. You will also hear a section from my book A Happy Life for Busy People. Click on the link below to listen.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN THIS POWERFUL SECRET

TRY NOT TO FREAK OUT😮

I have heard a lot of people expressing how crazy the world seems lately. I put that word in italics for a great reason. A lot of our world is based on our perception. We have all heard the cliché ‘Perception is reality’ The reason that it is a cliché, is because there is a great deal of truth to it. The world does seem to be filled with dramatic and rapid change. The same was probably true during the industrial revolution. Also during the dark ages, when any day you could be killed if your neighbor said you were a witch. That must have been some stress to live under. I honestly believe that the amount of stress doesn’t change, just the name and form of stress.

Whatever form stress may take, there is one thing we can say about being stressed out – it sucks. Feeling overwhelmed or out of control of our own life never feels good. There are a lot of new tools to help us deal with this stress. There are meditation apps. I even saw an app where celebrities can read you bed time stories. These are great, but I believe there is a tool that has been around for centuries that can do a better job. In addition to helping us get a handle on our stress, it can do so much more. It can give us a greater sense of mental clarity. It can also give us a great insight into our thinking patterns, acting as a cheap and readily accessible therapist. That way when life is getting at you, or like our poor chap in the picture above, you get a bad phone call, you can use this tool and help avoid overwhelm and burn out.

You might think a tool that can do all of this would be expensive. You will be pleased to know you can get this tool as cheap as a couple of dollars. I wrote about this tool in my first book, A Happy Life for Busy People. I also wrote about it a total of three times on this blog in 2013. Oddly enough, we haven’t spoken about it since then. I think it is long overdue that we bring up the topic again. This amazing tool is the journal. Before you are tempted to dismiss this idea because of its simplicity, let me caution you against doing so.

I am going to share with you some of the reasons this tool is so effective. First of all, a handwritten journal forces us to slow down and record our thoughts. Second, we are…umm… well…recording our thoughts. Trying to keep all of our thoughts in our head can be equated to plugging more and more things into an outlet. Eventually, the circuit will blow. This could be a feeling of anxiety, a panic attack or a full-blown nervous breakdown. These are expensive physically, mentally and with the cost of healthcare, financially as well. The cost of a journal can be as cheap as a pen and a spiral notebook. This takes some of the load off that circuit. It also gives us a record to thoughts we have and what may trigger them. Often, when we write down how we are feeling and read it back later, we can feel a little foolish for how we may have reacted to a certain situation. It is good to have that record.

A journal can be a safe place to share our feelings, even if it is only with the paper. It can be a place of emotional release. A journal can be the cheapest therapist we can hire. Beautiful thing is, this therapist doesn’t have office hours and is always available. In order to keep life from becoming overwhelming for you, might I suggest picking up a journal and just begin recording your day. Getting things out will take the burden off of your mind and will help you from having a melt down, or just blowing a circuit. I would love to hear your stories about how journaling helped you. If you want to learn more about journaling, feel free to check out my book, A Happy Life for Busy People, available on Amazon or wherever fine books are sold. You can also go back and read the posts from 2013 or listen to the episode on my podcast at the link below. Whatever you choose, I would love your feedback!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE AMAZING CONTENT ON MY PODCAST 😀

HOW TO FEEL GOOD EVERYDAY 😀

Two thoughts came to my mind when I read this quote. The first thought was, “Why on earth do we not do this more often?” Sure, when someone comes to you with some bit of good news, we do say “Hey, that’s great. Congratulations.” How often do we really go all out and celebrate? We do not have to wait for the big events either. How fun would it be to have a great time and maybe lunch to celebrate your friend getting a new set of tires on their car? How about offering to take your spouse out for dinner after making it through a tough day at work? I am sure they would love that.

The second thought that came to my mind shortly after the first was “If we did this enough, we would be living in a state of celebration!” No matter who we are, we have enough friends and enough reasons to be celebrating every single day! Your friend just completed their first marathon? Doesn’t matter if you can’t even run to the bathroom, go ahead and celebrate with them. There is also an endless stream of ways to celebrate. You can take them out for lunch or dinner as we already discussed. You can also send a card. Send a fun email. Post something lavish on their social media. Pick up a small token of celebration or even offer to do a small service. I am sure you can think of more and I would love to hear about them!

Today, begin to think about and look for people and things you can celebrate. Not only will you feel good and have fun, but by showing how important others accomplishments are, you will strengthen your relationships. Your friends, coworkers and spouses will feel more important than they have in a while and you will feel good because your actions have made them happy. Everyone wins! Who can you celebrate today?

WANT MORE GREAT CONTENT? CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY PODCAST!😀

VISUALIZATION SECRET 🤫

There is plenty of talk about visualization these days. For good reason. It is one of the greatest tools you can use to help you reach and accomplish your goals. I know to a lot of you this may seem a little too “New Age”, but there is plenty of science behind it. In the simplest terms, if your brain is used to seeing certain items, people or situations, it is more likely to notice them when they happen in real life. Think about when you were going to buy a certain car and suddenly it seemed you saw them everywhere. Did everyone run out and buy one because you were thinking of getting one? As awesome as you are, I think we can all agree that is not a very likely scenario. Especially, because many of the people you did not even know.

There are some examples that we really can’t 100% explain with science, although quantum physics seems to be getting close. For example, when you are thinking of a friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time and suddenly that friend calls you. How does that happen? Some science behind that in terms of thoughts being waves of energy and traveling, but what we are going to talk about is a simple secret to get past one of the greatest hurdles in being able to put the power of visualization to work in your own life.

One of the greatest powers that visualization puts to work in your life is the power of your mind. Unfortunately, one of the greatest obstacles to this power working miracles in your life is the power of your mind. This can be explained by realizing there are two very distinct parts to the mind. There is the subconscious mind, which controls roughly 95% of what we do on a daily basis. It controls our bodily functions, our habits and our habitual thinking. Then there is the conscious or reasoning mind. This is the part that we have direct control over, although the degree in which we use this control varies from person to person. The only way we can communicate with our subconscious mind is indirectly, through the conscious mind. We can do this through tools such as repeating mantras or affirmations. One of the more powerful ways we can influence the subconscious is through visualization.

Here is where things get a little tricky. At least they used to for me. As great as my imagination and self-discipline are, I kept running into the same challenge. That obstacle was my conscious mind. See if this sounds familiar. I would have a mantra of “I am a wealthy best-selling author” and repeat that over and over. Maybe I would even visualize talking about one of my books on Oprah or seeing my name on top of the best-seller list. As soon as the words left my lips or the image came to mind, I would hear a voice say something like, “Not so!” or “That is a bunch of B.S.” This upset me. Who would have the nerve to shoot down my quest at influencing my subconscious mind? I was ready to correct that person until I realized it was me! My conscious and reasoning mind would object to any belief that was not yet supported by the five senses.

After years of frustration, I came across a solution in a book by Neville Goddard. I am going to share it with you in case any of you are facing the same challenge I was. Even if you are not, this can make visualization a lot easier and enjoyable. Instead of telling yourself “I am wealthy.” or “I am healthy.” Ask yourself how that would feel. This way, you still visualize yourself in the end result and your conscious mind does not object. In fact, it may go so far as to help you imagine. Asking yourself “How would it feel to have a million dollars in my bank account?” Brings up that situation. You can start to engage all of your senses. You can imagine how you would act. Where would you go and what would you be doing? You can make a game of it.

Next time you find yourself having difficulty visualizing an outcome you desire, simply ask yourself what it would feel like if that outcome was realized. Your mind will not object and will begin to go to work to find you an answer.

FOR MORE INSIGHT, CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY PODCAST!😀

AN EVENING OF GRATITUDE 🥰

This past Friday, I celebrated the release of my third book, The Beat Goes On, which is also available on Amazon. I was fortunate enough to host this event at an amazing place called Urbal Tea. The owner, Nick, was kind enough to offer me the space. There was enough room for everyone in a very pleasant atmosphere. As you can see, I had all three of my books available and was able to share and meet many new friends.

In addition to all of the new friends that I met, there were plenty of familiar faces. I had friends, family and coworkers. Margie made cupcakes that were so delicious, I think a few people came just for them. I am hoping this new book will help people understand the importance of self-improvement. By reading it, you will be able to witness how it affected one of the scariest and intense moments of my life. In this book it shows the tools and strategies that I personally used and that worked for me. There are moments of laughter, drama, tears and triumph.

I can’t thank everyone who came to share this amazing evening with me enough. There was so much to be thankful for and I hope I did my part to serve those who attended. In a world that can so often seem crazy, it is great to have an evening like this to look back and be grateful for.