Four or five years ago I began to fall into the trap that many women fall into as employees, mothers and wives. I began to eat, sleep and breath for my family, my business… basically everything and everyone except, yep- you guessed it, myself. You always see these women on Oprah or Good Morning America talking about how they’ve raised kids, worked and taken care of everyone but themselves for over 20-30 years. It’s usually some sort of make-over Mom show celebrating the selflessness of amazing women. I think it’s wonderful to be selfless. Yet, completely unnecessary to ignore your own self 100% of the time, as many women do. Your kids have clubs and sports. Your husband has golf and football. So why can’t you have something that’s just all about you? That makes you feel alive and amazing!

Back to my story. For me, I began to notice that the things I did simply for enjoyment were becoming less and less. The things that I used to do to decompress, unwind or get inspired became few and happened less often. At my husbands urge, I decided to do a Dream Line. For those that follow my husband Rob and the 4 Hour Work Week, you’ve heard of this before. So, I grabbed a glass of wine, a blank piece of paper and began to think about the things that I truly LOVE to do. I asked myself one questions. If I had all the time and money in the world, what would I do? I wrote of all the things that light me up inside. At first this exercise was not easy. I couldn’t write anything that was not business related, relationship related or related to raising my daughter. This needed to be about what is inside of me, independently. After a second glass of vino, I had a pretty amazing list. I found out that I wanted to write, to dance and to explore the cultures of the world endlessly. There were just so many things I had always wanted to do, some I just forgot about or talked myself out of because I was ‘too old to take dance classes’ or ‘I didn’t have the time to write’. It’s crazy how the day-to-day chaos of life can actually make you forget about your dreams and passions.

This exercise in ‘dreaming’ inspired me to commit to doing at least one thing for myself. Something that would light me up and get me excited! Thankfully I have an incredibly supportive husband that was encouraging me to be ‘selfish’. That day, after I expressed my desire to dance. We searched and found an adult-only dance studio with drop in classes. I signed up, bought new dance shoes and grabbed a schedule. I was like a kid in a candy store. Hip-hop, jazz, funk… it was all here. That one ‘selfish’ hour per week, that one hour just about me and my passion, reinvigorated me. It gave me a break from my day-to-day life and allowed me to get in touch with myself. So what impact did my ‘selfishness’ have on my family? Only positive. I was a more balanced and inspired- therefore became a more loving wife, focus business woman and caring mother.

Over the last few years, I continued to take a weekly dance class. And, I’ve added a few more ‘selfish’ things to my life. The first is a monthly massage, which is actually courtesy of my husband and daughter for my last S’Mothers Day. The second is that I began competing in fitness competitions again. This is something that has been a passion for me since the late 90′s. But I abandoned when I met my husband. Again, this was something that my husband actually encouraged me to get back into. Fast forward one year and my husband has now jumped on the bandwagon and has found his own love for fitness and our daughter is quietly stalking doing a junior fitness competition. Just to think, my selfish action has inspired my family to stay in shape in a fun and healthy way!

Okay- so here’s where the ‘art’ comes in. Once you find one, two or three things that light you up and make your life complete, you’ve got to learn how to balance them. When you have things in your life that you enjoy and fill you up, you want more and more. Sometimes it feels like spinning 20 plates. It honestly takes organization and support from your family. There are days when I have to rush to my dance class after breakfast, so my husband does the dishes. Yes ladies and gents I said my husband does the dishes. What can I say, he’s amazing! Then there are days when he does ‘his selfish thing’ and I handle the household stuff so he can be free. Yes, it’s a balancing act, but a worthwhile one to accomplish.

So- now it’s your turn.

Step One: Choose what activity or hobby you want to add to your lifestyle. Is it a weekly French class? Is it horse back riding lessons? Join a book club? Make sure it’s something that lights you up!

Step Two: Set a date or a schedule.If you don’t make this new activity a priority, then everything else in your life will skip ahead of it and it’ll go right back to the back-burner. Don’t let that happen. Move mountains to make this happen! You are worth it!

Step Three: Get your family on board. Explain what you’d like to do and why. Let them know that you’re excited about your new adventure. Maybe you’ll inspire them to try something new or find what lights them up!

That’s it! You are officially selfish. Okay, not really.

First part to decide if something is needed to change is taking a look at yourself – is your life how you would want it to be? Do you feel you get energy from it or it is rather draining energy? The first step is to be sure of what already is – and if it is good or bad to you. If you truly feel it is good, then I am happy for you, and you probably do not even need to read the rest of this article. For others, this is the launching pad for the next steps. So let us move on.

The second part in this sequence is that you take a look into the future, future, where you decide not to make any changes to how you usually behave. How does your life seem like 1 year from now, 5 years from now or 10 years from now? Do you like that picture? What parts do you like? What parts are not that good?

The third part is to look in the future where you have eliminated all the not so good signs, and replaced them with how you would like to see them. This helps you paint a picture of you where everything is how you want. I believe that every thought will become a reality. There is nothing you can not achieve. In fact, world is looking for changes and new things.

The final part is most important, because this is the part that actually will make the difference. First, do this same exercise once or twice a day, every day, for 10 minutes – this will reprogram your subconscious mind. Second, act as if everything you imagine already is a reality. This is your life, no one else can make the difference unless you want to. You can be handed a piece of gold on a plate, but if you look at it from below, you do not see the gold.

So be responsible over your life, take risks, keep an open mind, and everything is possible.

I wish you all a good imaginary pictures that you will start moving towards and remember – change is good.

Tauno Kubri

We favour some things often beyond even our own known reason. We want others to know this joy that we’ve experienced – not thinking they’re different to us; confused are we when they wonder why we brought ‘this’ to them.

So much do we elevate these passions of ours at times and we truly wonder what’s wrong with people that they don’t feel the at least similarly – that they can’t hear a song with the same wonder we do, or get the same significance out of a quote or piece of news that just captured our attention.

Checking Our Passions

God gives us our very own identity such that others don’t have to agree with us in our passionate understanding of a thing. This is good for them and for us. There’s no pressure to conform. For ourselves, then, we’re blessed and privileged with a very personal view of the world that requires not one single other person’s agreement or approval.

The very fact that we can and do have our passions and we’re free to have them and express them however we like – within bounds of the law and morality – is an enormous liberty for all of us.

Sometimes, however, our passions go beyond where they should and they bend too far. We stand to lose our credibility and even friendships because our passion reaches an extreme level. Sometimes it gets beyond a joke and seriousness suddenly enters the equation.

Bringing in Some Needed Balance

None of us can subsist in life without much needed balance. When we’ve seriously lost our balance in one aspect of life and it surrounds a particular passion we’re commended for taking some time out to reflect.

Reflecting on balance is the exercise of wisdom and discernment over our lives. It’s helping us to determine where we’re at right now, based on the ‘evidence,’ and it’s also helping us navigate to safer, less conspicuous ground. None of us it would seem likes negative attention – not deep down.

At last this comes down firstly to awareness – being honest with ourselves – and then having the courage to act, which again will require the honesty of accountability to follow through on what we’ve agreed with ourselves.

Positive Passions

When we’re passionate about things in positive ways they lead us to inspirational ends; both for ourselves and others. These are passions that make a difference in our world, like the admirable passion or developing a skill that is finely honed.

It seems these passions can be ‘bent’ a long way and they still do not appear out of place. They just accentuate the candour of people’s admiration.

It is true insight to know the difference between those passions that impassion only us versus those that impassion the entire world.

Copyright (c) 2010 S. J. Wickham.

Controlling your mind can be achieved with a great deal of practice. Similar to your physical health, you need constant exercise to attain your optimum weight. This can not be achieved overnight. You need a change of outlook on life and a readjustment of your personality.When an unwanted thought comes into your mind try to instantly replace it with a positive one. Your mind can only process one thought at a time so by doing this you will slowly reprogramme your pattern of thought and consequently your actions.

To help switch your pattern of thought you may find watching television or reading a book helps especially if you need to stop it immediately. Some people believe that tiring yourself by thinking about an unwanted thought can help in breaking the habit. This entails penalising yourself every single time you do anything opposite to your ultimate goal.

Try this, next time you feel yourself thinking about anything unpleasant, make a mark on a piece of paper. Mount the paper so that every time you break your word you can go to it and make another mark. Following this procedure, you will soon discover the inconvenience of having to get up and make another mark. Although this is not an easy exercise, it will give you an extra boost from having to make an effort.

Remember, your problems will only last as long as you allow them to. There is no doubt, ridding yourself of negative thoughts requires a great deal of patience, but if you can make an attempt to alter your way of thinking, it won’t be long before you find yourself master of your thoughts and emotions.. Many successful people have achieved their success by doing this and by maintaining their focus on the goal they set themselves.

So take control of your mind and start ignoring any problems and pain inflicted by others.Don’t allow them to have the control over you, but maintain a singularity of purpose. Acknowledge where you are at this moment in time and love yourself above all else. You will not be able to love others, or to attract the love of others without first loving yourself. If you ignore past influences and look to the future you will be able to make a positive future for yourself.

Once you realize that your future is what you make of it, as long as you approach life with a positive thought in your mind, your future will turn out to be the way you want it to be. You are who you think you are and you will be who you will yourself to be. Think about it!

Self hypnosis and brain wave entrainment have helped many people to take control of their mind and sometimes this is all the support required to make the required change in consciousness to make important changes. Using these techniques your brain can be easily reprogrammed to achieve anything you desire. Sometimes a small nudge in the right direction has proved to be the turning point that has created a success out of an apparently stagnant situation. You may find this is all you need to make important changes to take back control of your own future.

* eat healthy food; such as organic, non-GMO?
* get more rest?
* exercise or exercise more?
* maintain healthy body weight?
* quit smoking?
* create peace of mind?
* change a habit that is counter productive?
* eliminate emotional baggage?
* have more fun?

St. Francis said, “Lord, make me an instrument…” You are interrelated with the Universe, as such you are an instrument of the Universe. The Universal Laws are founded on the understanding that everything is energy, including humans, and energy moves in a circular fashion. At the microscopic level, we are a whirling mass of electrons and energy atoms spinning around rapidly.

Your thoughts, feelings words, and actions are forms of energy. What you think, feel, say and do in each second comes back to you to create your reality and a universal reality. Since energy moves in a circle, what goes around comes around. Your combined thoughts, feelings, words and actions with everyone on the planet and The Universe, create the world you see and experience.

For any instrument to work well, it needs to be cared for. It needs to be tuned and protected. It needs to be in tune with the Universal Laws. In order to be in tune, it is essential that you learn to control your thought and feelings. Understanding the Universals Laws helps you to do this.

Pause this moment. Ask yourself the question, ‘How could I, become a more fit instrument? It is an honor to be an instrument of the Universe and to make myself more fit in every way.’

Have a wonderful experience fine tuning your instrument.

This exercise brings along a lot of benefits not only to the practitioners but also to basically everyone. A manager can meditate to clear his mind from the daily pressures of work. A mom can meditate to calm herself down when she’s faced with rowdy children. A student can also do so in order to make herself feel relaxed prior to an examination.

However, one should not expect that meditation can work all the time. One of the leading factors for failure to meditate will be concentration.

When you’re meditating, you’re almost shutting yourself off from the rest of the world-from the noise, people, and sights-and focus yourself on the here and now, the present moment. That is something not everyone can accomplish as their minds always drift off to their everyday responsibilities.

Nevertheless, you can increase the chances of having a successful meditation and reap the benefits that go along with it. You can begin with the following:?

1. Determine a good time to meditate. It will definitely help you a lot if you can meditate at a time when you’re least distracted. Usually, this is before bedtime. After all there’s nothing else to do than to sleep. It’s also much easier for you to meditate since you have already pre-programmed your conscious mind that you will relax soon after.?

Nevertheless, you can meditate also in the morning. This may be ideal if you’re facing a very hectic schedule. You can meditate to clear your mind of your goals and focus on the most important tasks.

2. Couple it with subliminal messages. Subliminal messages are usually given in terms of affirmations or positive statements. You can have general subliminal messages such as “I feel good today” or “I look forward to this day” or you can customize them to reflect your challenges. For example, if you are battling low self-esteem, your subliminal messages can be “I am confident of myself” or “I have the power to rise above my insecurities.”?

You can write your own subliminal messages, or you can simply play CDs or mp3s with them. The good thing about having subliminal messages while meditating is you can focus on the statements. Moreover, meditation also helps you access your subconscious, where you need to place these messages.

3. Focus on your breath. When a lot of things disturb you and you cannot immediately block them off your mind, you can just concentrate on your breaths. This means feeling the air going in and out of your body, as well as the movements of your diaphragm and lungs. You can take very slow deep breaths. It would not take a while before you can find yourself getting rid of the clutter and just concentrated on the present moment.

There are 2 main motions to perform in order to strengthen the rotators of the shoulder, and those 2 motions are internal rotation and external rotation. Internal rotation refers to turning the shoulder inwards towards the center of the body, and external rotation refers to turning the shoulder outwards away from the center of the body.

In addition to 2 main motions, there are 2 main positions you can strengthen the rotator cuff in. You can perform internal and external rotation from a neutral position or from an abducted position. The neutral position is when the arm is right next to your side and the abducted position is when your arm is out to the side at 90 degrees. There is less pressure on the shoulder in the neutral position, but it is important to progress to the abducted position once you’ve mastered the neutral position.

With 2 directions and 2 positions you can use resistance bands to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles with 4 simple exercises. The first exercise is neutral position external rotation. With a resistance band secured around a stable service at waist level, simply rotate your arm out to the side away from your body. The second exercise is neutral position internal rotation. Perform 10-15 repetitions rotating your shoulder inwards toward the center of your body.

The third and fourth exercises are done from the abducted position and these can be tougher to master. For external rotation, you can stand on the resistance band, and start with your arm out to the side at 90 degrees. Then, from that position, rotate your arm up towards the ceiling. For internal rotation, you have to secure a resistance band over your head, and then you would rotate your arm down towards the floor.

If you want to strengthen your rotator cuff, you can use resistance bands. Work on both directions and try to exercise your shoulder in different positions also. These simple exercises can help to strengthen your shoulder and prevent injury.

Many people seem to struggle with their arm workout in the gym for one reason or another. I can see this as not only are they performing poor exercises, they may also be performing them using the incorrect form, and as a result, they seem to make no gains week after week. Some people have even flat out come and asked me how I’ve managed to get my arms so big. In this article I’d like to suggest the best ways in which to workout your arms, so as to get the best gains possible, naturally.

Firstly, I wish to state that unless you have a good clean diet, and adequate rest, you won’t gain muscle mass on your arms easily. I won’t be going into these two issues too much, but suffice to say you should aim for roughly 8 hours of sleep each night, and try and have a protein rich diet. These two issues aren’t what this article is about, so I suggest you research into these two issues if you require a better understanding.

The exercises I use in which to gain enormous success with my arm workouts are bicep curls using dumbbells, tricep pull downs and dips, that’s it. Seriously, the number of people I see doing a large variety of arm exercises is scary, it’s simply not needed. As long as you do these three exercises with good form and with enough intensity, you will experience phenomenal growth.

I aim to do 10 reps of every exercise, and I do 5 sets of each. The first thing you need to do is to discover what a good starting weight is for you. For example, with the dumbbell bicep curls, you should be able to do 10 reps with ease on each arm. Once you’ve done this initial 10 reps, we’ll then increase the weight, I normally increase it by 2KG, so if for example my first set was 10 reps of 20KG’s for each arm, my second set will be 10 reps of 22KG for each arm.

We’ll increase the weight with each set, so for my workout, my first set maybe 20KG, my second 22KG, my third 24KG, fourth 26KG, and my final set it 28KG. It’s important to work each arm independently, hence be recommended dumbbell curls over barbell curls, as we won’t to work each arm to full exertion. When bicep curling, you want to keep your back as vertical as possible, we want little movement in the back when lifting and lowering the weight. All movement is in the arms only. It’s amazing how many people swing forward and backwards when bicep curling, this is very poor form, and it’s no wonder there arms are the same size wee after week. When bicep curling, we want to raise the weight slowly, and lower it slowly, everything must be in a controlled motion.

With tricep curls, it’s the same principle as when bicep curling. We’ll be doing 5 sets of 10 reps, and each set has an increase in weight. Again, we want to keep the back as horizontal as possible, no forward or backwards motion to compensate. The only movement should be in your arms, you should really feel your triceps’s burning during this exercise when done correctly. Again, this is to be done in a slow, controlled motion. Some people prefer to keep their legs side by side when performing this exercise, but I find I can get a better depth of the lowering motion if I stand in a stance with one leg in front of the other.

Finally, with dips, again, you want this to be in a controlled motion, but this time, not necessarily slow. I don’t want you to shoot up and down, but it doesn’t have to be as slow as mentioned previously with the bicep curls or tricep pull downs. You can do 3 sets of this exercise, reason being, we’re going till failure with each set. What this means is that for the first set, we’ll do our dips for as many as we can. There is no pre-determined stopping point. If you can only do 15, fine. If you can do 40, fine. Whatever you can do, make sure you’re pushing yourself as much as you can, and that you can’t physically do any more dips during that set. Once the set is finished, we’ll have a 30 second breather, and being the next set where we’ll be going till failure again. Once this set is done, another 30 second rest, before we being the final set where we’ll once again be going till failure.

The three exercises mentioned in this article are a great way to really gain muscle on your arms, as long as their performed in the steps mentioned above, and as long as you have your diet and sleep arrangement in check. I hope you’ve found this article of use, and that it helps you to achieve your goals in the gym.