THAT Stirring

Ever read or hear a message then felt something jump inside of you so much tears came into your eyes? Yes? That feeling, that stirring means you were supposed to read or hear those words at that point in time. It means those words were meant just for you, even if you are sitting in a vast audience.

The other day, I was idly going through my emails and opened an email update of a blog I subscribe to. The title of the blog post was catchy because I was feeling that way. I started to read the post. And something jumped deep inside of me,

Why You Shouldn't Be Perfect

As I write this, I am thinking perfectionism fits perfectly here right after the topic of achieving personal goals since the two can be intertwined.  I am the type of person who starts something brand new on Monday and expects to be perfect at it by Friday (of the same week).  Yes, I am a closet perfectionist. (I guess since I am writing this, I am no longer in the closet!)  And I had been frustrated a lot of times in my life.

I learned a valuable lesson about perfectionism from my granddaughter. When she was learning to talk, oftentimes her speech would be grammatically incorrect. We would correct her, she would repeat it and go merrily along her way.  No uncomfortableness, no shame in her game. It suddenly  dawned on me one day I wanted to be perfect at everything I did because

It Ain't All About Achieving The Goal

Set a personal goal, write it down, break down the goal into do-able steps, add a completion date and you will achieve it.  You will live happily ever after!  Sound familiar?  It should.  We've all heard this at one time or another.  And since I wanted to live happily ever after, I went through the process of writing down goals with a completion date.  Some I accomplished and some I didn't.  For the goals I didn't accomplish, I would do the process again....and again...and again.   But when I saw I wasn't accomplishing a goal again and again, I stopped writing it down, and as you expect, the goal got lost in life.  To me, a goal was the "be all and the end all".  If I wasn't "being all" then why bother.  I lived like this for years.

What I didn't realize is, although achieving a goal is important, there is more going on than meets the eye.  The realization hit last year when

Procrastination: It's A Mind Thing

I am a procrastinator.  I said this all the time and freely used it as an excuse to myself for why only eight out of 15 tasks on my daily To Do lists got done.  I procrastinate - it was my mantra.  I owned it totally.  It was me.  And I felt bad about undone tasks.  I felt like an underachiever.

Then one day, I started to think....why am I a procrastinator?  Was the root the traditional reasons experts give (you know - fear, lack of focus, task so big you don't know where to begin so you don't, poor time management skills, TV)?  But, I had tried the experts' traditional fixes for these, but they didn't work for long. So was the root something else? 

Some words I read years ago began to echo in my head:

The Joke's on Me

I read The Purpose Driven® Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren a couple of years ago. I am writing about it here because, while the whole book was excellent, one chapter had, and still has, a profound effect on me, shaping my thinking and actions.

Chapter 2 is called "You Are Not An Accident".  At the end of the chapter, the reader is given this question to consider the following question: "I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?"  Well, I no problem whatsoever with that question!!  This is what I wrote:

Words of Wisdom

The other day I was thinking (yes, I still think) about some of the "words of wisdom" I have read or heard that I find continuously and positively influence me.  I remember these things when the road in my life gets rocky and when situations don't work out the way I thought.  I really lean on them when I start to second guess myself and feel I should "conform to the norm" and not do what's right for me. 

I don't remember where I read or heard all of these "words of wisdom".  But for the ones I do, I will let you know. Here goes:

• "Why do you think other people know better than you what is best for you and your family?"
• "You need to graduate from MSU- University of Making Stuff Up."   Play to Win!, Larry Wilson
• "I am not where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be; I'm OK, and I'm on my way!"  How to Succeed at Being Yourself, Joyce Meyer
• "To be successful, double your failure rate" Darren Hardy, Publisher, SUCCESS magazine
• "If you buy someone else's opinion, you buy their livestyle." Orin Solomon, SVP, ACN
• "No one has the right to define you but you!"  Steadman Graham
• "....Faith without works is dead." The Bible, James 2:26 (NKJV)
• "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose."  The Bible, Romans 8:28 (NKJV) 
• "One reason we don't attain our goals is we often focus on how far we are from feeling satisfaction, rather than on how far we have already come."  Fred Pryor

I am learning that after others pass judgment on my life, they leave and don't look back.  I am the one left with me and the consequences of any decisions I make.  Therefore, I must to remain true to me.  I have written these "words of wisdom" and lots of others in my daily planner.  That way, they are always with me and keep me going forward.