One of the most interesting areas of Life Coaching for me is the subject of limiting beliefs. These are beliefs that are formed by an immature, childhood mind and they shape and affect your behaviour in ways that you are conciously unaware.

Some common examples are: You have to work hard for money, rich people are not nice people, I’m stupid - I just don’t understand things, I don’t make a good first impression, etc.

These beliefs do not serve you well in your life, however it is very difficult to change them on your own as they can be hard to spot.

The mind of a child tries to define, understand and predict the world it lives in. As it doesn’t have much experience to draw on, it takes its cues from the people around it: parents, guardians, teachers, siblings and other people your childhood mind respects and admires. Some of the time you receive the limiting beliefs of these people, which you as a child will pick up and call your own.

As an adult, and with the help of a Life Coach or other practitioner, you can take on the responsibility of these beliefs and replace them with positive beliefs that will serve you better.

If you are finding that there are obstacles to the realisation of your goals, then it is likely that you have a hidden limiting belief or beliefs.

Find someone who can help you deal with your limiting beliefs - of course, you can contact me and my company at http://www.aquariuscoaching.co.uk or phone on our freephone number 0800-0431471.

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Technorati Tags: Beliefs, Change, Coaching, responsibility

Although I am unable to remember the first time I encountered the idea that it is possible to choose how you feel in any given moment, the effects of this realisation have been immense. I have certainly encountered the idea in many books and personal development courses since.

If this is a new idea to you, then to explain as simply as possible: In any given moment, it is possible to choose how you feel. In fact all your emotions are your own choice and responsibility. Although at times, an emotional response seems to be triggered by an event, the choice of emotion is your own to make.

If this is the first time you have encountered this idea, it can be hard to swallow. There are many benefits to this way of thinking, however, and when you are under pressure, it can serve to help you remain calm and think clearly at a time when others cannot.

This is really another of those “habits” that requires development and practice. It is also fair to say that there are occasions when it all gets forgotten and an automatic response or feeling occurs. This is an emotional response you have been practising for many years and will take time to un-learn.

With awareness comes responsibility… Once you become aware of your ability to choose your emotion or emotional response, your next step is to take responsibility and begin to change your old habits.

If you decide to take steps, then congratulations, you are on the road to reduced stress and increased effectiveness in everything you do.

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Technorati Tags: Change, Choice, feelings, reduce stress, responsibility, self-improvement

One of the more common challenges that people face is determining what it is that they want. Some people are really good at it and have long lists of things that they strive to achieve, create and buy. Other people have difficulty even determining one or two things that really motivate them to be, do or have anything.

This can be disconcerting and if you find yourself in this position, there is a high likelihood that you will not achieve very much. To use an oft quoted adage, it’s like shooting a gun with no target to aim for - you have no idea what you are going to hit.

So what do people in this position do? People in this position tend to pick up or adopt the ideas, goals and aspirations of the people around them; often those people who they admire most or respect for one reason or another. This is ok, however given that we live in a world where choices are limitless and anything we can think of, we can achieve, this situation is far from ideal.

The likelihood of chancing on something that really spurs you to action is very low indeed. So what can be done? Well, talking to someone is a great first step. Certainly a Life Coach can help with this challenge, as can a great number of personal development tapes, books, cds, courses and other media. You can visit our company site for ideas and information on this.

What else can be done? Well for some it can be as simple as making a conscious decision to become more aware of their positive emotions. By this, I mean becoming more aware when you are excited, happy, positive and other nice feelings. These are your clues and cues as to what it is that you like to do, what you like to have, where you like to be etc. It’s one of those habits that with a little practice can become automatic and give you all sorts of insights into what, deep down, you really want.

This simple little decision to become more aware of your positive emotions is useful even if you have a long list of goals. It can help you hone your goal list and ensure that only the things that most excite you get to qualify.

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Technorati Tags: Awareness, Choice, Coaching, feelings, Goals

I’ve always been one for high-tech toys, the fascination started many years ago now. Lately I’ve been playing with a PDA device that I have had for a few months now. I’m only just understanding how powerful these things can be to structure and organise your life.

Over the last couple of days I’ve started using it to log my tasks - you can assign yourself things to do and check them off when they’re finished. It’s possible to add deadlines, mark things with different priorities etc. I’m sure anyone who has used Microsoft Outlook has played with these tools.

It struck me today that I am quite excited about these task lists and first I wondered if this was due to the new toy I am playing with. The more I thought about it though, the more I realised that my excitement is proportional to my desire and enjoyment in the tasks. It boiled down to this: When you have a to-do list that only contains things that you really want to do, you can’t help but be excited about it.

So all that there is to an effective, organised life, is to do what you love doing and do lots of it.

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Technorati Tags: happiness, organise, to-do list

Here’s a great exercise that you can do throughout your day. It’s an exercise I often set for clients when they find they are just ambling along and would like to get more out of their lives. It is very simple really, you carry a question around with you through your day.

The question is “What do I intend in this moment?” Use it whenever you remember, the most obvious times at first will be things like:

You have a business meeting or important call to make. Before the meeting or call starts, you think “What do I intend from this meeting/call?” This gives you the opportunity to intend a positive outcome from the meeting or call. Even this simple application will see huge differences in your outcomes to these type of activities.

One of my personal favourites is when I have free time with my family, I like to intend an outcome to maximise the time I spend with them. I find this helps me to focus on what I am doing, without having other thoughts, like work or things I have to do, taking up some of my attention.

The exercise is simple in application, however it can take time for it to begin to be an automatic process in your life. There will be times where you forget to ask the question, however it doesn’t mean that you won’t get a positive outcome. So just remember to use it whenever you can and see your effectiveness and enjoyment of life improve.

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Technorati Tags: focus, Goals, positive thinking, receiving