When you walk into a room, do you see someone who stands out from the crowd?
You may have not spoken to that person, but you watch as people are drawn to his or her positive energy.

The way you feel about yourself, as opposed to how you try to look, sends silent signals to others before a word is even uttered. It tells people how you want to be treated. This unseen dialogue, known as “sizing one another up,” reflects how you want people to treat you.

Without even realizing it sometimes, we sabotage new relationships by thinking negatively. Our self-doubt steals our potentially loaded brilliant ideas and partnerships before we even give them a chance to succeed.

The secret to success is learning from our experiences, good and bad.

You deserve success… try this:

Bring the best of yourself. There is no reason to inflate your self-image by trying to turn self-doubt into a strength by joking about your weaknesses or covering them up. Those ‘little jokes’ WILL hurt you in the long run and lowers your self-esteem. Your conviction to your goals – (TO YOUR LIFE) – and your confidence to ask for help is all people you meet really expect.

Have a positive internal self-talk. Avoid saying things like “It will be too much work” or “Someone else can do it better.” When you attempt something new, release your past failures and as you uncover any negative thoughts, acknowledge them and then release them. You can’t predict the future, so how do you know what you can and cannot accomplish? I can assure you of this… You can predict your current action.

Be your positive self. You don’t need anyone’s approval to achieve your dreams. Only you control the state of mind you want to live in.

Take action even if you are confused. Catch yourself when you are about to act from weakness. If you feel vulnerable, accept it as a natural part of being human. Embrace that vulnerability and allow yourself to feel free as a bird knowing that the wind will take you in its gentle course because you have chosen to live your fullest life… nothing holding you back… not even the fear of success. Remember that the “but what ifs” you place on the end of your thought processes will dampen your secret enthusiasm, even without you realizing it. Live in the moment and allow reality to throw obstacles your way, this in turn will give you the opportunity to resolve and discover the steps to overcome them.

Keep silent, then speak. When in conversation with others, conduct a quick internal check before speaking. Does the remark you are about to make empower or debilitate the conversation? If not, try this: keep silent. Silence is often stronger than words.

Recognize that you are in control. You may be able to blame others, the true courage is when you choose not to. Remember you are the master artist of your life, your existence is the magic spark that adds color to the canvass.

If there were two apples on the table… a rotten one and a fresh beautiful red apple… which one would you chose? So, why would you give anyone a rotten apple… be the best apple you can be!

Daisy Says: Become inspired by your hidden potential.

It does not seize to surprise me when people demand so much out of life and yet they themselves fail to give back to life what it demands of them. There are those individuals in my quiet observation that just can’t go by their day without complaining about something wrong with everything in their world but themselves… they are doing everything right (from eating right, exercising, sharing goodwill, going above and beyond their job description at work, being a good son/daughter – father-mother-wife-husband, giving back to their community) — I mean… gosh if you talk to them … you would assume you are talking to the most perfect human being on earth!

Yet, when you have the opportunity to REALLY enter into their space – they have bad eating habits, they lack discipline, their homes a mess, their relationships are lacking, they have poor work ethics, they gossip as they walk out of their religious house, their cars a mess and even their pets are ungroomed — and on and on.

I’m not much of a theosophist yet I have enjoyed the many parables found in the Good Book. A particular story of interest is in Luke 12:36-48, where Jesus tells a parable of servants who are waiting for their master’s return. Many lessons have been drawn from this parable; the lesson I extract from this reading is that those endowed with a gift – be it artistic, intellectual or circumstantial – should cultivate that gift and use it as a vehicle for excellence in life.

Many may confuse the parable to refer to those that are given much financial awards… while financial success is the world’s yardstick, it must not become ours.

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

‘God doesn’t give us more than we can handle’ – often used when people are suffering, yet this can be applied to: spiritual blessings, material possessions, and our personal characteristics. Within our core being we should strive for excellence… to Give more than is expected, to BE more than is expected, to LOVE more than is expected – You are the gift… do not be an unopened gift box.

Dig deep within yourself today and find out what areas of YOU that you keep hidden and ask yourself WHY?
Why not share that part of you, why have you not given more? Are you simply afraid that MORE will be expected… and you JUST want to get by? Don’t expect others to give your their best! and Don’t expect the world to give you its best. Before you open your mouth to spew your negative web… gauge your words and see if you yourself measure up.

Am I perfect? HEck no! I share this with you because, striving to be a better human is not easy…it is an EVERY DAY event… as well as a worthwhile cause.

If you are not getting more out of life and your relationships ask yourself why, and before you put the blame on anything outside of you seek within and weed your garden first.

Daisy Says: Share the BEST of yourself with the world..

Courage can be explained as knowing that something could be more important than one’s fear.

Some believe that those with courage act because they are not afraid. Yet… the easiest thing is to take action when you are not afraid. At the same time if you hold back and do nothing because you’re afraid, well that’s easy too!

To embrace the fear and take action despite of it, that takes courage!

Sometimes there are circumstances in our lives that test our courage. As if Life were testing us for a promotion and overcoming those challenges would merit moving up to the next level. That next level could be many things: more responsibility, handle more income, intense relationships etc etc.

What we must be willing to do is, embrace the opportunity to overcome the fear; to summon the courage that is naturally in us… because when opportunity comes to test us… it strikes when we least expect it.

This last year has offered me many opportunities to embrace my fears and step forward with courage. Many times I questioned myself if I had the strength to lead people now that they needed me the most. I found the courage to understand that it is in the doing that I will grow the most. The biggest fear for me is to have missed on living the best life for fear of not believing in myself.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said: Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

Daisy Says: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone!

Believe and have Faith in yourself and in life.

The Way It Is
by William Stafford

There is a thread you follow
It goes among things that change,
but it does not change.

People wonder what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread,
but it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it, you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen,
people get hurt,
or die,
And you suffer and get old.

Nothing you can do can stop time
unfolding.

But You don’t ever let go of the thread.

Daisy Says: You are Special!

For the most part employers are always seeking top producers, they seek people that:

– Accept personal responsibility for their actions and results.
– See themselves as being able to affect the world around them, instead of having a “victim” mentality.
– Are driven to learn and develop themselves.
– see problems as an opportunity to learn and grow.
– see “failures” as stepping stones towards success.
– are results focused and have an optimistic outlook on the future.

If you are looking for other business partners who would you like to spend your time with? Someone that you have to prod along the way or someone that sees opportunity in every adventure?

Motivating unmotivated people can be one of the lowest Return On Investment activities to get involved with. Convincing others why they should do something is counter-productive.

Convincing someone why they should join your company, attend a training session, or why they should do more than their job description or find ways to become better at their trade is tiresome. And that’s because for most of these people it wasn’t their idea from the beginning, it was yours.

Now here comes the twist, most people chase after friendship and love in a very similar haphazard way.

People will be who they’ve been and will do what they’ve done — I suppose understanding this is the first step, and re-directing the focus would be next.

What if each one of us focused on self investment and began to:

– accept personal responsibility for our emotions
– seeing ourselves as someone that can affect the world around us, rather than looking for happiness from others
– continue to improve our mind, body and soul
– see relationships as an opportunity to grow
– focus on the positive attributes that others bring into your life

When you invest in yourself you will begin to attract others in that same journey, the quality of your life will improve. As you take on this personal quest you will be amazed at the wonderful people that are on the same journey with you. You will meet people with an incredible Zest for life and simply love what they do and strive to be the best they possibly can.

Daisy Says: Return on your investment starts with You.