positive thinking

Creating A Life Full Of Passion, Purpose, Fun, And Fulfillment

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

This article describes one way in which to create a life full of passion, purpose, fun, and fulfillment: Beginning with the end in mind. That’s right. Imagine that you are at the end of your life looking back. What life would you have wanted to live? What person would you have wanted to become? What influences would you have wanted to have? What contributions would you have wanted to make? What experiences would you have wanted to have? What relationships would you have wanted to share? What world would you have wanted to create and leave behind? Yes. The important life questions become much more apparent when you begin with the end in mind. Reflecting on your life in this fashion can influence you to initiate the changes needed, starting from where you are today, in order to realize some of these other aspects over time. You may not be able to do them all, but by balancing your greatest desires with the amount of time and effort it might potentially take to achieve each of these a sense of priority can become more apparent.

Some people prefer to contribute in the more micro sense via their personal relationships, families, friends, and local communities. Some people prefer to contribute in the more macro sense via humanity, nature, and the world. Some people prefer to contribute in a combined sense by doing a little of each. For example, in the micro sense, you might strongly desire having a family and nurturing the growth of your children. If this is the case, then you might contribute more to the current relationship that you have if it’s going well or, if you are single, then you might perform activities which are more social in nature, date more regularly, and/or create opportunities for performing the interests that you have in more social environments to create greater opportunities to meet that special someone. In the macro sense, you might decide to work towards a career which directly supports the macro aspects that you greatly desire to support, start performing volunteer work, and/or support various causes. In the combined sense, you might decide to perform a little of each of these aspects and/or focus on becoming the person you most desire to become in support of your most desired micro and/or macro life contributions. For each of these cases keep in mind, however, that your desires can change over time so it’s helpful to repeat your “end of life” evaluation from time to time and to make adjustments accordingly. For example, someone might strongly desire to contribute to the growth and development of his or her children during one stage of life, but once the children have gotten older or left home, strongly desire to contribute in other ways.

By reflecting on these “end of life contribution” desires and creating a life in accordance with these you will avoid the emptiness you might feel later in life should you ask yourself the haunting question: “What did I do with my life?” I’ve thought about such questions often in my life. Questions which have influenced me to: (1) write and publish poetry earlier in my life, (2) develop the books, training seminars, and articles that I currently develop as well as the life coaching services that I regularly perform, and (3) live ever mindfully out of kindness and respect for all living and breathing beings both in the world of today and in the world of tomorrow. Some of my “end of life” desires include offering inspiration, hope, joy, optimism, comfort, and confidence to others such that they live happier lives. Hopefully, the work that I am presently performing offer these aspects to you and to others in your life. Writing is probably my most preferred form of communication, because written works have frequently continued to offer such contributions long after a life has ended. So many books that I have read from departed authors have still influenced me today.

You can create and experience a wonderful life filled with all of the passion, purpose, fun, and fulfillment you can possibly imagine by putting more of your energy towards creating a life which reflects your greatest desires and less energy towards those aspects which do not. So try doing this for yourself if you can. And if you need any assistance with this you know who to ask.

This article describes one way in which create a life of passion, purpose, fun, and fulfillment, by starting with the end in mind, such that you put more energy towards creating a life which reflects your greatest desires and less energy towards those aspects which do not. I hope that some of you will find this article to be helpful. To date I’ve written several articles related to creating and living a happier life. Click on “Personal Improvement, Development, and Growth Related Posts” on the sidebar to the right or below (depending upon which device you are using) if you would like to read some of these other articles for helpful tips on how to create greater peace, happiness, and progress in life if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the first area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in personal and professional improvement, development, and growth, rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the financial planning, management, and investing area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

 

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

Achieve Greater Peace and Happiness Through Improved Self Esteem

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Self esteem is one of the more significant factors which contribute to the levels of happiness – or unhappiness for that matter – that people experience throughout their entire lives. So, anything we do to improve in this regard can be helpful for not only ourselves but also others who surround us.

One of the primary reasons people suffer from low self-esteem is because they treat themselves unkindly. The first step for improving in this regard involves becoming more mindfully aware of when you are treating yourself unkindly instead of mindlessly continuing to engage in these activities. Often, self-esteem issues result from mindlessly and repeatedly treating ourselves unkindly via thoughts, words, and actions. So, a good way to challenge this tendency is becoming more mindfully aware of when we are treating ourselves unkindly – at least for part of the time (step 1 of the process).

You might tell yourself something like, “There it is… I did it again…”, when catching yourself and remind yourself something like, “I’m not doing this to myself anymore… I am now treating myself more kindly”, and then release the original negative thought. Every time you are successful in doing this, you will break the negative cycle. Every time you break the negative cycle, you will improve the way you feel. Eventually, you will get to the point that, in addition to performing step 1 of this process, you will reconsider the original self-directed negative thought and transform it into something more positive (step 2 of the process).

Often, people with low self-esteem use negative labels and generalizations against themselves such as “stupid”, “failure”, “loser”, etc. So, someone might innocently forget where he placed his keys and tell himself something like, “I’m so stupid”, but after performing step 1 of this process become aware that, in that moment, he is treating himself unkindly and then gently release the negative thought. Ideally, he would then perform step 2 of the process and reconsider the thought, “I am so stupid” , and upon further reflection realize, “Wait a minute, I’m not stupid. I just misplaced my keys. Sometimes, I get a little sidetracked but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” Transforming the original self-directed negative thought into something more positive.

I have frequently met people who seemingly, jokingly use negative words against themselves such as “stupid” or “loser”. When I encounter such situations, I often gently try to guide them away from the use of such words with the realization that the self-directed negative words expressed verbally are probably a very small subset of all of such self-directed negative words they routinely engaged in internally. Even if these words are used – on some occasions – truly in a joking manner, often people begin to believe the things they tell themselves over time. Especially, if they happen in a repetitive fashion. So, I always try to help people gain this awareness so they at least have the opportunity to break the negative cycle if they choose to.

Every time you become more mindfully aware and break the negative cycle, you will feel better about yourself. And this MINDFUL AWARENESS => BREAK THE NEGATIVE CYCLE process can continue from hour-to-hour to week-to-week to month-to-month. If you keep going through this process, you will eventually get to the point where you will treat yourself kindly – instead of unkindly – for much of the time. And this will allow you to love yourself more. And this will make you feel wonderful. And this will create greater joy both within yourself and within your surroundings. How much joy can you stand? You will soon find out once you begin to improve your self-esteem. So, do this for yourself if you can.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

 

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

Optimism and the Power of Positive Thinking

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

Over the past week or so I caught my first flu in about ten years or so, but I did not mind, because, if nothing else, it provided me with the splendid opportunity to write this article on optimism and the power of positive thinking. Now, many people I know who get ill agonize over their symptoms, go to the doctor, take several medications, and spend much of their time complaining about how horrible they feel or how much they are not getting done or missing out on. However, what I tend to do is to look forward to the end result: I look at illness as the way the body sheds itself of its weakest cells, cleanses itself, and revitalizes itself with new, fresh cells. I look at illness as a short term pain for a long term gain in terms of greater health. The only medications I took over this past week was some aspirin for the occasional headache and some Flonase for my cold like symptoms. I then proceeded to appreciate how wonderful it was that I had a nice, cozy, comfortable bed to crawl into, fresh filtered water available at my fingertips, and pampered myself by making a variety of Amy’s vegan soups and making toast covered in olive oil which I used to dip into these soups (my favorite food when I am ill – so wonderful!). I didn’t worry about chores or timelines or schedules or anything else. If I felt like sleeping or just lying around in bed I did just that. If I felt like watching a show or a movie I did that. And it I felt like listening to music I did that. And every time that I did something I smiled and reminded myself of how fortunate I was to have all of this available to me while patiently waiting for my body to recover. Because so many others do not have these things so readily available to them. And each and every day I started feeling a little better.

Now, I’m not suggesting that people should not see doctors or take medications. In fact, I might have done both if things continued progressing in a negative direction by the end of the week. I just like to give the body ample time to cleanse itself naturally before resorting to such measures, and if, after that period of time passes, things do not improve then I consider these other options. But, this is all beside the point. Through optimism and positive thinking not only did I suffer less throughout my period of illness, but it is likely that I recovered more quickly than someone who might have been less positive and optimistic. This particular example is about illness, however, this is also true for other aspects of life as well. People that tend to be optimistic and positive minded in nature perform better and make greater progress in life even when faced with significant challenges.

Most people who know me know that I tend to be very positive minded and optimistic in nature and perhaps even a bit overly optimistic at times. I embrace these aspects, because positive thinking can have a profound effect on your life. Every year for new years I generally tell people that we are going to have the “best year ever!”. Now, why do I do that? Because it really doesn’t matter. Things will usually play out the way that they do in life no matter how we feel so why not choose to feel good? Not only will you feel happier, but you will suffer less from stress and anxiety, you will create warmer surroundings for both you and others to enjoy, others will enjoy being in your presence and feel more at ease, and life will continue to be a wonderful, beautiful adventure. In addition,the more positive and optimistic you are, and the better you feel, the more resilient you become in dealing with life’s difficulties. Things just do not seem to be so bad and you have a greater confidence and belief in your abilities to overcome these challenges. Furthermore, you will view these difficulties as being more temporary in nature. So always try to think positive, and to be optimistic, for the benefit of yourself and for the benefit of those who surround you. Because it truly doesn’t matter… Or perhaps, more importantly, it does!

I hope this article helps some of you out there who struggle with similar challenges and I wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with all of the love, joy, and warmth you can possibly imagine!

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

This article describes one way in which to become more optimistic and positive minded in nature such that you can experience greater peace and happiness. I encourage you to make it your goal to become more optimistic and positive minded in your own life; not only for the benefit of yourself, but for the benefit of others who surround you. It truly works wonders for me. To date I’ve written several articles related to creating and living a happier life. Click on “Personal Improvement, Development, and Growth Related Posts” on the sidebar to the right or below (depending upon which device you are using) if you would like to read some of these other articles for helpful tips on how to create greater peace, happiness, and progress in life if you think they might be helpful to you or to others in your life.

For those that do not know, I perform life coaching and training services in two primary areas: 1) Personal and Professional Improvement, Development, and Growth, and 2) Financial Planning, Management, and Investing. As such, I generally alternate the articles that I write via my blogs between these two topic areas. This particular article is associated with the first area that I life coach in. So if you don’t have much interest in personal and professional improvement, development, and growth, rest assured that soon I will write an article which will be in the area that you might have greater interest in; the financial planning, management, and investing area. You can also follow me on Twitter if you like at: Joseph M Brennan Jr @ BrighterDaysLC

Please contact me if you, or someone else in your life, could use some assistance with either of the two primary areas that I actively perform life coaching in. You can learn more about each of these areas by clicking on the menu, footer, and sidebar items.

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

6-27-2013BrennanPhotos-Main1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life

 

Achieve Greater Happiness By Prioritizing Life Activities

Posted on by Joseph M. Brennan Jr.

One of the keys to happiness involves mindfully and intentionally ensuring the activities you perform on a day-to-day basis contribute, or add value, to your life in some fashion. I always tell people to make it a regular practice to evaluate the activities they perform on a day-to-day basis to make this determination and continue those activities which do contribute, or add value, to their lives while eliminating or reducing their participation in those which do not. By mindfully and intentionally living in this fashion, you will begin to remove the “clutter” from your life and achieve greater peace, happiness, and balance throughout the days, weeks, months, and years of your life.

In my own life, I performed such an evaluation and came to realize I spent a significant amount of time on social media, obsessively reading everyone’s posts, without realizing how much time it consumed. I am glad that I broke that “addiction” and encourage some of you to give it a try if you experience similar compulsions. I’ve been so much more productive and made so much more progress since letting this go. So, make it a regular practice to mindfully and intentionally evaluate the activities you perform, prioritize these, and make adjustments accordingly.

This and other happiness and self-improvement related tips are provided throughout my self-help oriented books: https://brighterdayslifecoaching.com/published-books-and-life-coaching-services/ 

#selfimprovement #selfhelp #selfdevelopment #intention #fulfillment #success #inspiration #happiness

Joseph M. Brennan Jr.
CEO/Life Coach – Brighter Days Life Coaching
“Your Brighter Days Life Coach for Life”

Brighter Days 1
Make a Bad Day Better
Make a Good Day Better
Create a Brighter Life