My Job is Stressing Me Out. Is that true? | Byron Katie

An honest inquiry into the source of stress in your life will yield some surprising results. If you're mindful, present, and inquiring, you won't be able to fool yourself, says Byron Katie.

Katie's latest book is "A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are".

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How to Create a Master Plan for Your Life | Jim Rohn

Everything you do is a link in the chain of events that will lead you to your final destination.

Wouldn’t you prefer a life of productivity rather than a life of endless tasks with little accomplishment? Of course! When you carefully set your goals and keep them at the forefront of your mind, you can work smarter instead of longer. You’ll know that a life worth living comes from a life of balance.

In order to maintain that balance, here’s a key technique you can use in your life to help keep you on the right track: “visual chain thinking.”

Ambitious people know that each step toward their goals is not a singular step. Each discipline is not a singular discipline. Each project is not a singular project. They see everything they do—and every discipline they adhere to—as a link in the chain of events and actions that will lead them to their final destination. Every action and every discipline achieved today is a link in the chain. Every action and every discipline achieved tomorrow is a link. And every action and every discipline achieved in the more distant future is also a link.

Your direction, activities and disciplines all make up crucial links in your chain of success. When you can see that one thing affects everything else, when you come to realize that every discipline affects every discipline, when you look at your future as a chain that needs strong links all along the way… then you’ll build a reservoir of strength and courage that will serve you well during the down times.

When you can see that every link in the chain will eventually lead you to the things you want most out of life and to the person you want to become, then you won’t grow discouraged, fearful or impatient with today. When you can see where you’re going through visual chain thinking, even on the toughest days, you’ll keep moving toward your goals because you know where you’re going.

Building your visual chain of thought begins when you have well-defined plans for your career, your family activities, your investments and your health. Your plans and goals are your visual chain. You know where you’re going before you get there.

It’s ironic how we all understand the importance of mapping out a strategy for a football game or a basketball game. Not one professional team in the world begins a game without a game plan. But few of us take the time to map out such a strategy for our lives.

It’s so important to make this sort of plan. Here’s the first rule for your game plan of life: Don’t begin the activities of your day until you know exactly what you plan to accomplish. Don’t start your day until you have it planned. Do this every day. I know all this writing takes time and a disciplined effort. Remember, however, that reaching your goals is the fruitful result of discipline, not merely hope.

Once you’ve mastered the art of planning your day, you’re ready for the next level. Don’t begin the activities of your week until you know exactly what you plan to accomplish. Don’t start your week until you have it planned.

Just imagine what life would be like if you took time out every Sunday to plan your week. Come Friday, you wouldn’t be saying, “Boy, did this week fly by. Where did it go? What did I do?” No, if you plan your week before you start it, you’ll know exactly what you want to do, what you want to accomplish and what you need to work on. If you learn to plan your days as part of your overall game plan for the week, the parts will fit much better. Your days will be better. You will be more effective. You’ll be working smarter, not harder.

And when you’ve learned to plan your week, guess what? You’ve got to plan your month! Don’t start your month until you’ve mapped out your game plan.

By developing and following your game plan, your days, weeks and months all become part of a larger plan, a bigger design you develop, a long-term view of your life, a visual chain. You’ll start gaining a greater perspective of it all… because you are planning.

If visually seeing your future is new to you, if you’ve never developed a game plan before, let me offer a few tips. There are two things you need to understand before you create a game plan.

1. A game plan, a visual chain of your future, is like a spreadsheet. Instead of listing numbers, list activities. It’s like a to-do list
2. The technique of developing a game plan can be used for a single day, a single project or a variety of projects that are happening simultaneously.

Here’s how you do it. Game plans work best on graph paper. Take a sheet of graph paper and make vertical columns corresponding to the number of days this plan is to cover. Then on the left-hand side of the paper, write the heading “Activities.” Under this heading, list all the activities to be accomplished within your time frame.

For example, you’ve got one week to finalize a marketing plan. It’s an overwhelming amount of work to complete, but it’s got to be done. So break it down piece by piece. The best way to start is by listing all of the individual components on the left-hand side of the page. Some of these things will need to be completed before others can be started. You need to obtain your market research results before you can determine your target market. You need to know your target market before you can develop your marketing strategy. You need to have your marketing strategy before you can create a budget for collateral materials, and so on.

When you break down the project piece by piece and deadline by deadline, you can be more effective in putting together the appropriate parts of the puzzle—and in doing your own work while delegating the rest.

The final result of developing your game plan is a clear visual presentation of the tasks before you. This method is used quite often in business to coordinate and develop projects of any length. It’s the only way to see the entire project on paper and manage its progress.
Admittedly, game plans are frustrating to create. They’re frustrating because it’s difficult to completely prioritize your life and all your projects. You might go through several sheets of graph paper before you produce the perfect format. But as soon as you develop your first one, you’ll see the value in this discipline.

Keep your game plan in plain sight. Put it up in your office where you can easily look at it. Have a copy of it at home and tape it to the bathroom mirror. Keep a copy in your journal for quick reference. Your game plan will serve as a constant reminder of all you need to do to get where you want to go.

If you’re doing all you’re scheduled to do, game plans are very rewarding. Day by day, week by week, month by month, you’ll see the magic of your dreams and plans turning into reality. You will have an incredible feeling of being in charge of your life, your surroundings and your future. It’s like creating a work of art on the biggest canvas imaginable. It’s creative. It’s beautiful.

This is powerful stuff. To dream a dream, plan for the dream, and then watch your dream turn into reality. Here’s what’s really powerful about creating game plans: You can see your future right before your eyes. So on those days when your energy isn’t up to par, your enthusiasm is a little low, your ambition isn’t pushing you forward and your attitude isn’t on the positive side, use your game plan to see how far you’ve come. Take the time to visualize exactly where you’re headed. On those days, it’s your discipline and visual chain of the future that will push you ahead. People and circumstances might try to set you back, but your visual chain will propel you toward your goals.

Adapted from Leading an Inspired Life

Isn't this amazing?  Let me know what you think below.

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How to Silence Voices in Your Head | Eckhart Tolle with Oprah

When they announced on Facebook that Eckhart Tolle and Oprah were sitting down once again, questions for Eckhart began pouring in. Watch as he answers two of your most burning questions: 

 - How do you calm the voice in your head, and 

 - How can you clear your mind of bad memories? 

For more on #supersoulsunday, visit http://bit.ly/1pqTI5s 

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Who Controls Your Mind? | Remez Sasson

Few people are aware of the thoughts that pass through their minds, since most thinking is done in an automatic manner.

The mind is sometimes, like small child, who accepts, and takes for granted, whatever it sees or hears, without judgment and without considering the consequences. If you let your mind behave in this manner, giving it complete freedom to jump from one thought to another, you lose your freedom.

We are constantly flooded with thoughts, ideas and information coming through the five senses, other people, the newspapers and TV. These thoughts, ideas and information penetrate the mind, whether we are aware of this process or not.

This flow of thoughts affects our behavior and reactions. It influences the way we think, our preferences, likes and dislikes. Usually, we automatically accept these thoughts, letting them shape our life. This actually means that we lose our mental freedom.

Most people think and believe that their thoughts originate from them, but have you ever stopped and considered whether your thoughts, desires, likes and dislikes are really yours? Did it occur to you that maybe they came from the outside, from other people, and you have unconsciously accepted them as your own?

If you do not filter the thoughts that enter your mind you stop to be a free person, and allow every thought to control your life.

You may object, and say that the thoughts that pass through your mind are yours, but are they? Have you deliberately and attentively created every thought that entered your mind?

• Why let outside influences control your mind and life?
• Why let other people's thoughts control your life and mind?
• Do you want to make your mind free or do you prefer to enslave it to other people's opinions and thoughts?

If you leave your mind open to every thought that passes by, you put your life in other people's hands, and without realizing it, you accept their thoughts and act in accordance with them.

Every person is differently affected by external thoughts. Certain thoughts and ideas we ignore, and others spur us to immediate action. Usually, thoughts concerning subjects we love have more power on us than other thoughts, but even thoughts and ideas that we don't care about, if we are frequently exposed to them, eventually sink into the subconscious mind and affect us.

Everyone has desires, ambitions and dreams that he or she may foster from childhood. However, it is possible that they are the thoughts of parents, teachers and friends, which have lodged into their mind, and were carried throughout their lives.

Are these thoughts necessary? Do we need all this excessive baggage?

In order to reduce the power of outside influences and thoughts on your life, you need to be aware of the thoughts and desires that enter your mind, and ask yourself, whether you really like them, and if you are willing to accept them into your life.

You do not have to accept each and every thought that enters your mind.

Find out whether it is your own thought, or someone else's thought. Also, decide whether the thought is useful for you, and if it is for your own good to follow. This will lead to more control over your thinking process.

It might not be so easy do at first, because your mind will probably revolt against this control. However, if you want to be the master of your mind and life, you should not let other people's thoughts rule your life, unless you consciously choose so.

Do you want to master your thoughts? Read How to Focus Your Mind

So what do you think?  Please let me know below!

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