Mind Over Matter

"Mental discipline is the learned skill of keeping your mind centered on productive thoughts, even when turbulent, distracting thoughts are swirling in your vicinity.  This requires continuous upward progress.  And as you know by now, mental discipline precedes emotional discipline.  With high levels of mental discipline, you reach your goals faster, experience more joy and become a lot more fun to be around.  Virtually any meaningful goal is within reach when you become mentally disciplined."


- from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry 

Kind Words

"Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit- you choose"


Proverbs 18:21

The Joy of Conquering Mountains

"It may take a little practice, but it is possible to retain your joy even in the midst of life's inevitable hardships. And with more poise and calm, you will do a much better job at responding to the difficulty, whatever it may be.  Character is built by adversity, but strong character is not the inevitable result of adversity.  It all depends on how we choose to respond to the circumstances of life.  Setbacks and struggles can shape us into something exceptional or something entirely unremarkable.  It's how we respond to the difficulty and what we learn from it that upgrades our character."


- excerpt from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry   

Surround Yourself with Positive!

Surround yourself with positive people, books, shows... we are sponges and absorb everything in our environment... make yours positive!

Ask to Receive

When you woke up this morning, what did you ASK for?  Did you ASK to have a brilliant day, to laugh a lot, to feel really good?  Did you ASK for more money, a better job, your perfect partner, a plane ticket, those shoes you love?  Did you ASK to be slimmer, wiser, to see better, feel better?  When you woke this morning did you ASK for all the things you want?  To RECEIVE, you have to ASK.  Those who receive a lot ASK for a lot every single day.  Make a list of everything you want, big and small; when you wake in the morning read your list and ASK, ASK, ASK for those things every single day.  ASKING is using the power of your thoughts deliberately.  ASKING is creating your life the way you want it!  Whenever you think of something - just ASK!


-  edited from Rhonda Byrne The Secret

Small Steps to Success

"Make clear, doable goals.  If you want to change your sleeping habits, for example, instead of saying you'll go to bed earlier-- which is too broad and ambiguous-- make a specific plan: I'll turn out the light at 10:30 or I'll take a relaxing bath before bed, so I'll fall asleep faster.  Also smart: Make one tweak a week, suggests neuroscientist Joseph Dispenza, D.C.  The first week, it might be eating a salad every day; the next week, maybe it's not eating after 7p.m.  The key is to take simple, achievable steps because success is like a snowball: it builds on itself."



-from Woman's World

Think Happy Thoughts!

"The secret to living an exceptional life tomorrow is thinking strong, joyful thoughts today.  What you persistently think sooner or later crystalizes into the words you speak, then the things you do, and ultimately, the circumstances you help bring about."


- from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life

Practice Journaling!

Just writing in a journal for 15 minutes a day for four days straight can make you 47% likelier to stay healthy for an entire month, studies show.  The key: jotting down any frustrations.  "There's such a powerful connection between your mind and body, venting about things that are troubling you actually signals your immune system to produce more healthy, active white blood cells," explains James W. Pennebaker, PhD., professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.


article source Woman's World

a positive spin to problems!

Start each day reading your goals!

"What do you feed yourself mentally and spiritually after awaking?  I have witnessed more positive progress from helping my clients fine-tune their early morning routines than from any other single lifestyle adjustment. What you do first thing in the morning sets the emotional tone for the entire rest of the day."


- from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life
photo from Milly Modern

choose laughter!

It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time.  Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.  -  Wayne Dyer

create a Desire Map!

Make three columns:

1. Relationships
2. Livelihood 
3. Wellness

says expert Danielle LaPorte.  Under each column, decide what you most want to feel, anything from 'connected' to 'free' to 'energized'.  Now, choose one little thing to do today to feel that way. If you want to feel more connected in your relationships, maybe that means calling your grandma today. Approaching change from how you want to feel, instead of, say, the figure you want to earn, ups your odds of success because your drive is coming from within you, instead of from outside pressures, explains LaPorte.


- from Woman's World magazine

Gratitude!

"Gratitude is a choice.  It is a conscious and deliberate decision to focus on life's blessings rather than its shortcomings.  Life will always have shortcomings, and it will always have virtues.  When you focus on your blessings, your life feels abundant.  When you focus on what's missing, life feels incomplete.  Where you point the spotlight of your attention is purely a matter of choice.

The power of gratitude is undeniably immense.  Without a doubt, a perpetual spirit of thankfulness is the central ingredient in the recipe for a joy-filled life.  You are going to draw more joy out of your business, out of your marriage, out of your family, and out of all the other aspects of your existence when you make a commitment to become an openly and overtly grateful person.

Gratitude is also an effective antidote to most negative emotions.  You cannot experience gratitude and hostility at the same time; you have to make a choice.  Which one is it going to be?  The more things you appreciate today, the more things you will notice tomorrow to be grateful for.  On the flip side, the less appreciative you are today, the fewer blessings you will tend to acknowledge tomorrow.  The Greek philosopher Epictetus said, "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not but rejoices for those which he has."


- excerpt from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry

Joy!

"Joy is the result of something strikingly simple, though not necessarily easy: consistently thinking joy-producing thoughts."


- from 40 Days to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry

Feel Good!

From, "The Secret"

"Do whatever you can to feel good, because when you feel good, life will be good.  The better you feel, the better life will get!  Think about, talk about, and focus on the areas of your life that make you feel good.  When you do this one simple thing, everything in your life will get better, whether that's better relationships, health, money, or better circumstances with your job.  Nothing in your life can improve until you feel better, and when you feel better, everything will improve.  Make feeling better your number one priority for 2014, and it will be the best year of your life!"