A part of knowing who you are is knowing your triggers. Triggers can cause us to recall a traumatic experience or event. In order to remain calm, its important to know and have a plan for managing triggers before they arise.

A part of knowing who you are is knowing your triggers. Triggers can be brought on by past experiences (e.g., a reminder of past anxieties or traumas), challenged beliefs or they may be brought on by something that is inconsistent with your values. Slowing down to reflect, instead of acting on emotional requires time and effort. And it gives you peace of mind.

To identify your triggers

• Think of a situation where you were “set off” inappropriately.
• Visualize the situation. What happened right before you got upset? How did you feel?
• Finally, create potential solutions that would help you manage your triggers.

Here are some keys to help you reflect on your triggers, before you are triggered.

1. Determine what happened. Reflect. Determine what caused your trigger. 
2. What did you sense? What did you feel, observe, or communicate?   What were your emotions? Where did you feel the emotion in your body? Notice what you said to yourself and others. Were there key phrases?
3. What is your story? Why did this cause an emotional/physical reaction?
4. What can be done differently? Create a strategy to help eliminate or limit the trigger. Determine what you can do differently? Is there a new direction to take?

Click here to learn more about our books and journals to help you activate your best self.

     There are many factors that impact our current way of looking at things, and how we view the world.  People may form unhealthy thoughts and beliefs about themselves as a result of perceptions of inadequacies triggered by personal tragedies, physical or emotional abuse, unattractive physical appearance, lack of education, etc.

     This information is categorized and people form beliefs about it.  Your beliefs impact the way you view things, create assumptions, and put yourself in situations.  Here are some examples of beliefs people create about themselves such as power, value, goodness and love.

Beliefs lead to forming intentions.  Intention is a feeling of what you want to experience and leads to behavior.  If one of your core beliefs is a feeling of powerlessness, you can attract people and situations that perpetuate this belief through your sub-conscious mind.

     Due to forming unhealthy beliefs about something, a person may (through intention):

• engage in unhealthy habits such as such as substance abuse, physical and emotional abuse (being a victim or being abusive to others)
• engage in sexual promiscuity
• constantly brag about themselves, and be extremely self-oriented when they communicate with others
• develop unrealistic expectations
• over-consume food or alcoholic beverages

When this occurs, individuals are essentially looking for love and trying to validate themselves through intentions.  When a person’s mind and heart is filled with fear, anger and sadness, they limit blessings and opportunities that may exist for them, simply through their thoughts.

Here are 3 questions to ask yourself to identify and re-create a belief.

1.What is a limiting belief that is keeping you stuck?

2. How does the belief make you feel? What thoughts do you have about yourself and others? When did you first become aware of this belief? What experiences shaped it?

3. What type of reality do you want to create and who can help you create it (if anyone)?

Remember, beliefs are like magnets – they attract what makes them stronger. So, make sure your beliefs are aligned to who your true, authentic self.

Click here to learn more about our books and journals to help you activate your best self,

What beliefs do you have about yourself? How are these beliefs impacting your success or the way you think and live your life?

Experiencing life and taking on all types of information, can lead to developing healthy as well as unhealthy assumptions and beliefs. 

Let’s review a summary of a model I created that shows how thinking leads to experiences.

The experiences you have in life lead to developing knowledge, skill, and values.  Once you have experiences, you form thoughts about it and form positive or negative feelings (like an attitude). As a result of intense feelings, you then form beliefs about the feelings.

Your beliefs can impact your interactions with others, how you care for your physical body, your level of focus and how you potentially engage in your passions. Once you form a belief, whether conscious or unconscious, you then create a visual image—an intention— of this belief —which leads to how you act or respond to certain situations.

Thus, your intentions create your experiences. So, get to the root of the problem by identifying your core beliefs. By clarifying your core beliefs, and change what’s not working, you can alter your intention – which can quickly change your experiences.

Click here to learn more about our books and journals to help you activate your best self?

In our next article, we will review steps to take to remove unwanted beliefs.

People are living in a state of transition.  Things are changing and they are changing rapidly.  Within the past few years, people have been challenged by changes in how we work and communicate with each other, personal and political values, family and cultural dynamics and more. How can we react wisely to change?

Research has shown that people who can interpret their actions, feelings and thoughts are better communicators and they make better decisions.

When coping with change and interacting with others, it is important to know and act on our highest power and our highest potential. This can simply be done through introspection and self-discovery: Discovering and re-discovering your best state by raising our personal power in a rapidly changing world. Self Discovery is having a clear understanding of yourself and your individual journey. Here are some questions to ask yourself in your quest to gain a clear understanding of your SELF.

• Do you see yourself and feel love for yourself and others or is your heart filled with scorn and resentment?
• Do you see yourself as a beautiful human being? Or are you restricted by past wounds and ailments?
• Are your thoughts reflective of who you are and aim to be or directed by fear and resentment?
• Do you feel that you communicate a sense of truth and responsibility to yourself and others or do you feel as if you are living your life as a lie, not communicating your true self to others?
• Can you look at your physical body in adoration or do you feel disappointed by how you have let your weight go?
• Are you living a life focused on your purpose and passion or are you focused on your fears?

By going through a process of self-discovery and awareness, you will feel empowered to live life to your highest potential by positioning yourself on a path to see, be, and surround yourself with the loving energies that exist in the universe.  It helps you become committed to enduring life with patience, while enjoying the good and the chronicles of life.

Going through the process of self-discovery is for people of all ages – as we continue to grow, learn and change. I challenge you to take time to identify and clarify your strengths, areas of growth and true passions, on a regular basis. Learn and relearn things about yourself as you continue to grow and develop.

Once you clarify who you are and your aims, take specific action to improve in an area, get better at something, or simply activate your true purpose.

Click here to learn more about our books and journals to help you activate your best self.

Are you back at work and stress already? Are you having time focusing? This video discusses three strategies that will help you relax and stay calm on a regular basis: deep breathing, mindfulness and gratitude.

As a result of new technologies, global changes, and local and global crisis – more than ever, people want to form connections with others. As we learn about ourselves, our families, and communities, we may ask ourselves, who do I connect with and why?

In the workbook Discover Yourself, I created a model, social circles of influence, to help people clarify their social connections. Reflecting on our social circles helps us determine who we need to connect with more frequently or less frequently.

Learn more in our workbook, Discover Yourself.

Before you begin writing in your journal, it is important to reflect on what’s important to you.

Purpose and Values. What are your key values?  What is your personal mission statement–what excites you the most about life?  By clarifying this, you will gain clarity about your life’s purpose, and you will know what is tremendously important to you.

Morning, Mid-day, and Evening Activities. Determine specific activities/rituals you will complete daily. These activities will help you relax, center yourself and keep you on the right track. Make sure you estimate the time you will start and stop your activities (some examples of morning and evening activities are meditation, juicing, exercise, reading, and deep breathing exercises).

For mid-day activities, you can set your alarm at a certain time, in the middle of the day, and take a minute or two to get relaxed and acknowledge the present moment. This is also a great time to monitor your thoughts; are you focused on your true desires or something else? Take time to center yourself and enjoy the moment.

By engaging in these activities, daily, you will form habits that will help you create positive results.

Today we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King.  Martin Luther King devoted much of his life to implementing justice and equality for all. He also invoked a spirit of courage, when he stood up for what he believed in, without giving control of his thoughts to the consequences. On this day, we celebrate his life as well as what he brought forth to our entire nation.

Since Martin Luther King sparked a great energy of courage, let’s define courage today. 

Courage allows us to test out our true beliefs. Imagine if Martin Luther King did not have courage to face the atrocities that existed in front of him? Where would we all be now?

As a result of his courage and faith in a higher source, he was able stand up for what he believed in and helped people not only in America, but across the world because he stood up veraciously for what he thought was right which was justice and equal rights for all people.

Having courage is about having the tenacity to stand up for what you know is right and take steps in a certain direction, no matter what the perceived outcome. Courage takes patience and willingness.

In life, there are times when there will be upsets or hardships. During these times, it is important to foster a spirit of courage to endure and move forward with whatever situation you are in. You are your path, which is full of changes, adventures, hardships, and mysteries; so, it is important to experience these obstacles with love, helping you to endure tough times.

Having faith and an inner space of love gives one courage to endure tough times and stand up to whatever challenges one may be facing. Once you have courage, you can stand up for what you believe in or what you feel is right.

Take this day to reflect on how you can be more courageous in your life, like a great leader, Martin Luther King. What can you do to be more courageous? What can you learn from people who are courageous?

Courage is one of the principles in the book, Discover Yourself a Personal Development Workbook.  Click here to learn more about our workbooks and journals.

_{Creating SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) goals and following through is the cornerstone of your success.}

Brian Tracy

Have you thought about what you want to accomplish in 2023? Changes you want to make in how you feel or what you do? Are you stuck and haven’t started creating your goals for 2023?

Planning out your specific goals and following through is key to your success and reaching your desired goals. When people don’t plan or take action, goals do not get accomplished, and they often go by the waist side.

Successful people have and follow through on specific goals. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. Setting goals enables you to organize your time and your resources so you can achieve what you truly desire in life.

This video reveals the different sections in our Best Self Journal. Click here to learn more about our workbooks and journals.

2020 and 2021 have been challenging years for many people. Many people experienced grief, anxiety or stress as a result of a global pandemic.

During times like this, we do grieve and have feelings of uncertainty at times. However, on the other hand, these times cause us to rethink who we are? What are our contributions to the world? How can we be more grateful? it is an opportunity to come together with those near and far to value our uniqueness and communities.

This time of year is a great opportunity for us to identify things that have occurred over the past year that we are grateful for. We can examine our gratitude habits. How do we practice gratitude? Do we spend more time focusing on lack and limitations? Essentially, we can identify ways to be more gratitude focused at work and at home.

For those of you in America, I wish you a great holiday season full of love, fun and gratitude.

Click here to learn more about our gratitude journals that will lead you on the path of success.