Inspirational Speaking… and All That Jazz!

So yesterday I joined 6 other entrepreneurs who were all speaking at City College Norwich to a group of 100+ students, as part of the ‘Positive Image‘ campaign, created by Sarah Harding to help empower young people.

We each had a 30 minute slot to speak and in total over 550 students attended talks during the day and gave fantastic feedback afterwards.

So what did I speak about?

Well I shared with my journey from teendom through to where I am today, including lots of the good and bad times that got me here. I then went on to speak about values and how important it is to live your life in line with your values, those instinctive ideas that tell you what is good, bad, right or wrong in your life and the essence of who we are. These are pretty much hard-wired into us and if you’re not working in line with them you’re going to end up pretty miserable!

Then I went on to speak about beliefs and how we create so many beliefs all the time that we think are true. That we believe are part of who we are. That in reality are nothing but generalisations about experiences that we’ve had, that we’ve chosen to make into a belief (consciously or unconsciously).

I gave an example of being bitten by a dog as a small child and how that child might then create a belief that all dogs are bad and carry this belief through their whole life. This belief then may morph into a strong phobia of dogs that has a huge impact on their life, until death.

Now, most of us know, rationally, that the majority of dogs are lovely and it’s just a few you need to be careful of. Yet fear and phobias don’t work on a rational level and if we create a negative belief and we then build on that it can have far reaching consequences.

Then we flipped it and looked at positive beliefs and how we are in control of what we believe, whether we believe it or not! That we have the power to pick up or let go of beliefs as and when we choose. We just need to make that choice and take action towards achieving it (i.e. see an NLP/life coach/hypnotherapist etc or make small stepping stone changes daily yourself).

So how great would it be to choose positive beliefs instead of negative ones?

How great would it feel if you truly loved yourself and whenever you were faced with a decision, you chose the positive belief over the negative?

Just imagine how such positive choices could affect your life and not only your own life, but the lives of the people around you too.

So what can you choose to believe today that is positive?

After beliefs I spoke about Law of Attraction (LOA) and that by giving off positivity we attract it back to us.

Now I was pretty amazed when I asked the room who had heard of LOA and not one hand went up. So this was potentially the first time the these 100+ students had heard about this powerful mindset.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a great believer in LOA and have seen it in action time and time again. So I was in my element explaining how it can be used to benefit life.

I gave a few hints and tips about choosing to be nice to people. To compliment instead of insult. To remember that you do not have any idea what is going on in someone else’s’ life or mind and that your words might have a massive impact on their day, week, month, year, or even life! It is that important. Your snide remark may stay with that person for their whole life (see beliefs above!). You just don’t know. The world has enough problems and we need to be empowering others, not dragging them down. So choose your words carefully and empower rather than degrade whenever you can.

Remember:

Is it true?
Is it helpful?
Is it inspiring?
Is it necessary?
Is it kind?

If it is none of the above then why say it? Think what your agenda is by saying something that could hurt. What is happening inside you that makes you want to make others feel pain?

They say that perception is projection, in other words, what we see in others is what we dislike/want to change about ourselves. Perhaps next time you feel the urge to say something less than positive, take the time to ask yourself what it is in you that makes you feel that way about the person you are speaking to. It can be very enlightening, if a little uncomfortable at times!

And it didn’t end there (yes they were still engaged with me, for which I am hugely thankful).

I then moved on to goals and goal setting. One of the teachers said they had ‘tasks’ they were used to setting but not SMART goals.

I wanted them to think outside of the school box and look at long term goals that were in line with their values – and of course a little Law of Attraction doesn’t go amiss in this potent mix either!

So we looked at powerful goal setting:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = As if now
R = Realistic / Relevant / Responsible
T = Timed

and how they could use this for when they’re job hunting, planning grades etc.

Of course I had to mention that it’s all very well using these techniques and thinking, for example, I’ve set a goal to get a great job, and then doing nothing and thinking it will manifest. With the best will in the world that just ain’t gonna work! Or at least the likelihood of it is greatly reduced.

If you set a goal you then have to take MASSIVE action towards achieving it. You want that great job? Set your goal and then get out there. Network, send off applications, get on LinkedIn, JobHop and other online agencies. Take action and you will active your goal. I’ve seen it happen many times and it is always an amazing feeling when you get it!

So we had to wrap it up at this point and I kept thinking on the way home how many things I could’ve, should’ve said but there just wasn’t time – I spoke for 35 minutes in the end and it’s amazing how short a time that really is.

It was so lovely to have some of the students come up to me afterwards and say that they found it inspiring (what is a better compliment than that from a 16-18 year old!). We even had a lull between me and the next speaker and a few said I could continue as they were enjoying it – it’s so nice to be wanted! 😉

There is something quite magical about working to empower other people, especially the next generation. If we can empower them when they’re still young, just think what they could achieve!

Life is too short to be riddled with negative beliefs and surrounding yourself with negative people.

Get out there and LIVE!

Be around people who support and empower you and you you can in return support and empower them too.

Enjoy life – it’s there to be lived and enjoyed.

Climb out of the box and inject some serious positivity into your life – you just never know where it may lead you!

I could get used to this inspirational speaker malarkey!

You can find out more about the Positive Image campaign here: http://www.timetolookbeyondthemirror.co.uk/

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Author: Sophie Jewry
http://www.theholisticdirectory.co.uk

The Simplicity of being a Child

Simplicity of being a child……….a thought that has often crossed my mind especially in the last few days. As I observed my 2-year-old nephew, I came to realize even more poignantly the faith…the absolute Faith that a child never seems to be without. Whether they are in a room or outside or in a moving car……..they just Believe that there will always be someone to hold them if there were to be a likely fall. Even after a fall, a child will never get scared to walk again or run or go out to play. No matter how vicious the fight, the next morning a Child again goes looking out for that friend; after getting scolded by a parent, a child still loves them. No matter how little or how much they have….they share because if they want to and this desire is not fuelled by duty or righteousness……………..it is just their heart’s desire. They believe in Fairies and Angels, in beautiful worlds filled with absolutely gorgeous realities, they wonder how a bud turns into a flower, they believe in the man on the moon.

They don’t know how to hold a grudge or how to stop smiling. They are the epitome of unconditional love….they just will avoid a person if they don’t feel uncomfortable….they do not slander a person if they don’t somehow gel with them. They just trust their instincts and allow their bodies to tell them when to expect what. They are so open about what they like and do not like….they just don’t have the understanding of Judgement…..hence they are completely themselves where-ever they are. The curiosity and inquisitiveness which is so innate to them is what propels them to try new things without fear, they do not have even an inkling of what is it to suppress. They don’t get scared of being labeled as dumb or foolish if they don’t know something. They are just Pure Beings of Love and happy to BE.

Why is it then that we destroy this beauty and innocence of a child to turn them into people who are competitive yet never satisfied….want to earn more yet never have the time to enjoy that………..want to love yet somehow forget how………..want to cry yet get scared of the labels…..want to learn new things and explore new places yet suppress these feelings……want to play yet don’t have the time………want to call their friend yet think too much about losing the fight………judge people basis what they can do for them……stop listening to the voice of their souls…………..lose their Faith….and ultimately forget how to be happy…..and thus starts their journey to look within themselves and to go looking for Happiness….something they were born with.

The good news is that today more people than ever before are working towards ensuring that the kid in us….stays there…happy and healthy. It ain’t wrong to grow up and learn what we are meant to learn on our journey on this planet, I mean after all we choose to be born to learn lessons and progress on our soul journey but who says we cannot keep the child within us to help us on this journey and trust me it is possible….we might get hurt or disappointed on this journey but we will always have the child in us to help us smile, get up and walk again or may be Run….who knows….after all then we will have our Faith in Miracles right where it should be…………in our hearts 🙂

If you are looking for inspiration, look at some of your baby photographs because all you need you will find there………….you will find the True You….Fearless and Free….ready to just BE.

Article supplied by: Rumpa Das – Celestine Rhythm
The Rhythm of my Divine Consciousness
http://celestinerhythm.com/

Beautiful Words

The Four Reliances:

First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words;
Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher;
Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation;
And Fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions.

It is better to conquer yourself Than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, Not by angels or by demons, Heaven or hell.

With gentleness overcome anger. With generosity overcome meanness. With truth overcome deceit.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

Article supplied by: Rumpa Das – Celestine Rhythm
The Rhythm of my Divine Consciousness
http://celestinerhythm.com/