A Boomer's Footprint

Tag: beliefs

  • Then and Now – using our past to shape our future

    I’m re-committing to posting a blog every Thursday.  I’ve been slacking.  Mainly because my analytical brain had a hard time choosing a topic at random. I work best with a list, an outline.

    So I’m happy with this next series. 10 -15 posts following the theme – Then and Now.

    Topics which represent our attitudes, beliefs and commitment to change, to do things “My Way” from the 1960’s and 1970’s.

    What happened then, what did we learn, and how can we use these experience now to live our best lives?

    I’m also changing the tone and wording of my posts.  I’ll be using more conversational language.

    My posts can be humorous, insightful, opinionated, thought provoking, educational and/or challenging. Most will be short reads as I know our time is limited.  However, longer ebooks on many topics are in the works.

    I’ll do my best to be accurate with facts and use correct grammar and spelling.  Please excuse the occasional error.

    The first in the series – My Way will arrive next Thursday.

    Good luck on your life’s journey,
    Dorothy Kelly

  • Planning a big life change

    In review, the blog posts so far have covered:

    20 weeks – discovering our biggest dreams which fulfill our passions, bring us joy and happiness and are fueled by the
    self beliefs and positive thinking that we can have a life we desire.

    15 weeks – overcoming various obstacles which stand in our way. Some topics included: negative self-talk, facing our fears, time management, non-working relationships, procrastination, and cleaning up various messes around us.

    While we may not be absolutely ready, willing and able, with the confidence and belief to make all of our dreams can come true, this next series of posts – from September 5th through December 31st is a challenge to choose one of the dreams on our list and make it happen.

    We will be making a plan to create a big change in life.

    But don’t panic – along the way we will strengthen our belief systems and work on overcoming obstacles still getting in the way.

    Often, I will suggest that you look at your calendar and realistically pick a goal or task which fits into your schedule, BUT for these next 15 weeks, I am challenging you to complete:

    one goal which will bring you the most joy, happiness, pride and satisfaction

    OR

    one goal which you may have been procrastinating about for awhile

    OR

    one goal which will fulfill a big life dream

    OR 

    one goal which will help you overcome a fear

    OR

    one goal which you decide is most important for you

    To get started each day take a few moments and day dream about what will make you happiest and jot down some notes in your journal.

  • Create a vision board

    Today’s lessons includes an activity – to create a vision board.

    Fifteen weeks ago, we completed an exercise to write down the biggest dream we desired. This was a hard task for some of us.

    First –to find the time and energy to sit down and write out the specific details describing the best life we can imagine.

    Second – the task may have been difficult if we did not have a system  which supported our belief that we could make our dreams come true. But we have since begun to develop a positive mind set and belief system.

    We identified 15+ aspects in our lives to include in our dream statement:
    – Life’s purpose, Passions, Personal accomplishments,
    – Family, Friend / relationships, Community, Fun, joy, hobbies,
    – Adventures, Experiences, Recreation, Health / Fitness,
    – Service, Career, Abundance, Financial plan, Other

    This week we will create a visual representation of our biggest dream imaginable.  A dream or vision board is simply a graphic detail of what we want to have, be and accomplish in life – our big dream.  If you choose you can internet search dream or vision board on life. There are many versions and samples available.

    Pull out your writer dream plan for reference – using any size, color or style of paper, card board or poster board – search through magazines, books, internet, photos, pictures, words and saying to include on your board.  Cut and paste.  Yes, it can be that simple.

    Here is the board I created last month.

    vision board

    Display your board in a prominent place which you can look at on a regular basis.  As you look at it, keep a positive outlook and beliefs that you can make all of your visions come true.

  • Lessons from Failures

    Our beliefs and past experiences have shaped who we are and what we do in the world.

    Some of beliefs are limiting or simply not true for us any longer. Yet we may still cling to them, acting on them, and hoping for a different outcome in the end.

    Our past experiences created results, which may not always be what we desired.

    In either case, we may have encountered failures from our beliefs and actions.

    Past failures are not an indication of what successes we can achieve now. Let’s look at our failures as learning experiences.

    We know there are lessons to be learned from failures and until we learn them we will continue to repeat the actions over and over again with the same result. Only when we get the lesson can we achieve a different outcome.

    We all have experiences we keep repeating in relationship, our spending habits, our health choices.

    Try this exercise to learn a new lesson from a failure:

    Step 1 – write down specifically what was your goal

    Step 2 – list the action steps you took to achieve the goal

    Step 3 – list the actions steps which were successful
    –what did you learn from them

    Step 4 – list the actions steps which were not successful

    Step 5 – list why these actions did not help you reach success

    Step 5 – brainstorm – write down several alternative actions you could try next time.

  • Beliefs and our emotions

    I think of our beliefs, thoughts and emotions as a chicken and egg scenario. Now I’m sure there are scientific theories, which explain the relationship between them but I struggle with the concept.

    There is a connection between our beliefs, our thinking and our feelings, which can have the power to change our actions and behavior, to help us make our dreams come true.

    Beliefs – We have some beliefs which are very old – some are true,  others are false.  Some of these beliefs, direct our thoughts.

    Thoughts – Every day we are bombarded with so much stimuli. This constant input can affect our thinking. Over time, new information can become powerful enough to dispel older beliefs or to create new beliefs. Sometimes, however, our beliefs are so strong that regardless of new information learned we refuse to change them.

    Emotions – Our feelings or emotions are indications of how we are thinking and what we believe. For me, an emotion is a good barometer to determine if what I think and believe is true.

    “Beliefs can lead to feelings and feelings make thing happen.”

    We believe in ways we are supposed to feel and react to life:
    If we feel angry, we belief we are wronged
    If we feel sad, we believe we caused ourselves pain
    If we feel happy, we feel it will not last
    If we feel frustrated, we believe we can never accomplish our goal and so on…

    Be aware of your feelings. When you experience an emotion good or bad, take a moment and analyze your thoughts and beliefs you are attaching to the emotion to decide if they are all aligned to help you achieve your dreams.

  • Thoughts and our beliefs

    As we identify our goals and dreams, and we create our action plan, we must align our beliefs system to achieve success.

    “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become words, your words become actions, your actions become habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.”
    -Ghandi

    Our beliefs formulate how we think about ourselves and our lives. What we believe, we bring into our lives. We are what we believe and think.

    A belief is a thought that we make real or accept as fact. We must believe we deserve to have our dreams come true.

    We may be stuck with beliefs we developed at an early age, even ones  that are no longer  true for us. The wrong beliefs can limit our ability to reach for our biggest dreams.

    For instance, if you believe that are intelligent, you may believe you deserve a good job or career. If you believe you are not smart,
    you may believe that you can never advance in your chosen profession.

    Our beliefs are thoughts we keep thinking until they become our reality.

    So the next time you have a negative thought beginning with — I can’t, I shouldn’t, I couldn’t, I won’t, I wouldn’t, etc. — stop and replace the thought with a positive statement….

    Remember, “If we think we can, we can, if we think we can’t we can’t.”

  • Our self beliefs

    The topic for these next five blogs post is self-belief.

    We will look at our belief systems:
    -how they were created and developed over time
    – which beliefs are true, which beliefs are false
    – how are beliefs drive our thoughts
    – how they are connected with our feelings
    – how our beliefs direct our actions.

    According to the merriam–webster dictionary: A belief is a state of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in a person or thing.

    With a self belief the trust or confidence is placed within us.

    We must trust that our skills, abilities, knowledge, and confidence will enable us to decide on and live a lifestyle filled with joy and meaning.

    Wikipedia states: Belief is a psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.

    Our beliefs system began developing as children. First, through our family structure, we had expectations and behaviors we were taught and were are expected to follow.

    So before we could even walk or talk our belief system was forming. Did we hear laughter, singing, praise, cooing, soft, sweet words or anger, disapproval and yelling at home?

    “We tend to internalize the beliefs of the people around us during childhood.”
    -Wikipedia

    We continued to develop our beliefs through the acceptance of what we observed and were told by experts, authorities, role models, movies, television, entertainers and athletes, parents, teachers, religious leaders and even politicians and of course, our education, our own life experiences.

    So we can see that our beliefs develop over a very long time period and can change as new information becomes available.  What we believed as children, young adults, parents, workers, partners may not be true for us any longer.

    This month, let’s take time to observe our beliefs. Are they based on our truth? Are they empowering to us live the life of our dreams?