Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - January 28th

In the process of letting go, you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself. - Deepak Chopra

Your past does not equal your future. - Anthony Robbins

The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday. - Steve Maraboli

You are not defined by your past. You are prepared by your past. -

Joel Osteen

Throughout our lives, we all encounter people that provide their opinions of us.  They may speak positive things or negative things over us.  According to “The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships” by Professor Clifford Nass, the brain handles positive and negative thoughts/emotions differently.  Negative thoughts/emotions have a stronger impact on people because the statements are replayed in our minds over and over again, analyzed and then processed.  As we continually review them, it becomes ingrained in our thinking.  For positive thoughts, we may smile, say thank you and forget the encouraging words someone said in less than a minute.

It is imperative that we do not allow the past to define us.  We must take what was spoken to us, process it in our minds and determine if what was said is true.  If it is something we need to work on, then we need to develop a plan to change.  If the statement was false, we must reprogram our minds to know that it is not true.  It is not simply saying to ourselves, “That was wrong.”  We must replace the thoughts and emotions with positive uplifting statements.  Remember that we believe what we say about ourselves more than we believe what other people say about us.  Reprogramming our minds can be done for something that was said today or something that was stated to us 10 years ago. 

When we find those negative feelings, we must forgive the individual. 

Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. - Lewis B. Smedes.

By forgiving, we are letting go of the past and providing an opportunity to move forward in life and progress closer to our goals and dreams. 

CHALLENGE: If` there are any painful or hurtful memories from the past, forgive the person and reprogram your mind with positive statements.    

Resource

https://healthylivinghowto.com/we-believe-what-we-tell-ourselves/

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - January 21st

I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done. - Lucille Ball

Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience. -  Victoria Holt

Don’t regret knowing the people who came into your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad ones give you experience. The worst ones give you lessons and the best people give you memories. - Anonymous

Last week, the author worked very long hours (between 9-10 hours per day) and then went to hang out with friends Monday through Thursday nights.  After working a very long day on Friday, the author ate dinner about 7pm, laid on the couch and was not able to move for an hour or so.  Climbing into bed, she slept 9 hours and then woke up later than her normal time on Saturday and was delayed accomplishing tasks.  For a very organized and goal-oriented individual, this could have been a major setback for the author.  Instead, the author remembered her goals for the year, which include spending time with friends and being present with them.  Additionally, her goals include doing activities with these friends and Thursday night the author experienced Restaurant Week in Washington, D.C.  The author is not a “foodie”, but the friends she was with are and everyone had a great time. 

The author does not regret the crazy week she had and the Saturday she spent on her couch recuperating.  According to a HuffPost article titled “10 Ways to Live Life With No Regrets”, we need to life our lives each day with no regrets knowing that it may be our last.  As the author compared her week to the list of 10 ways to live with no regrets, she discovered that she accomplished a number of the ideas on the list including: follow your dreams, take risks, take life less seriously, be yourself and practice kindness.

Last week could have been considered a bad week because the author did not read to help push her closer to her reading goal and the weekend not relaxing because there were so many tasks to complete.  However, the week was great because the author lived with no regrets, was present with friends, laughed and lived life to the fullest.  

CHALLENGE: How can you live life this week with no regrets?

Resource

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10-ways-to-live-life-with-no-regrets_b_8650168

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/top-5-regrets-of-the-dying_n_3640593?guccounter=1

https://www.ramw.org/restaurantweek

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - January 14th

Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t. – Steve Maraboli

...wanting change is step one, but step two is taking it. ― Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies

As we are fruitful individuals pursuing our dreams, we need to regularly review what we are doing in life to determine if the activities/tasks are moving us closer to our dreams.   

Through the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast titled “Six Steps to Your Best Year of Leadership”, the author was challenged by this statement in the leadership guide:

In order to accomplish more, you must do less. This seems counterintuitive, but the key is not simply doing more. The key is doing more of what matters. You only have so much time, energy, and resources. Consider what you need to have the courage to stop, both personally and organizationally.

This may seem trivial to some people, but the author decided to cut back on her exercise routine.  At the end of 2019, the author was lifting weights and running 2.5 miles.  In 2020, the author will continue weight lifting; however, she is now running only 1.5 miles.  This is minor, but for the author this is huge.  Each morning, this gives back 10 minutes to the author to either sleep or accomplish other activities/tasks she needs to complete.  As the author mentioned, 2020 is already crazy with work and that time can be used elsewhere. 

From this change, the author has not seen any changes in her physical physique and by not burning as many calories she is not as hungry throughout the day and retains the energy she would have burned off during that extra mile in her morning run.  Furthermore, the author has worked on her thinking to know that it is ok not to work out as much and that she would not gain weight from this small change.  The author increased the speed on the treadmill and still gets a great workout every day. 

It is mental slavery to cling to things that have stopped serving its purpose in your life. – Chinonye J. Chidolue

CHALLENGE: What do you need to change or stop doing in 2020?

Resource

https://api-assets.life.church/uploads/message/1235/podcast_show_notes/six-steps-to-your-best-year-of-leadership-part-1.pdf

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week -- January 7, 2020

This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything. - Scott Reed

Intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you. - Andy Andrews

2020 is here and the author is determined to dream bigger than ever!  She wants this decade to be the best of her life.  At the end of 2019 when the author reflected on the previous 10 years, she thought about everything that happened.  The author knows that if that much could happen in the last 10 years she is ecstatic to see what will happen in the next 10 years.

Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years. - Bill Gates

2020 GOALS

In the December 17, 2019 and December 24, 2019 Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week, the author talked about how she changed her perspective when writing her goals.  As the author stated, her job keeps her extremely busy and her boss recently told her that 2020 was going to be crazier than the two months they worked together in 2019.  Based on the facts, the author incorporated different goals and put more emphasis on other areas as she will explain below.    

When the author wrote her goals, she focused on the 6 F’s (faith, family, friends, finances, future and fitness) in goal setting like she has for many years now.  Here is an explanation on a few of the author’s goals:

Friends – 2019 taught the author a lot about friendships.  As someone posted on the author’s Facebook page in early 2019, the author desires to focus on doing more acts of kindness for her friends in 2020 to help brighten their days: 

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. - Maya Angelou

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Future – Goals that will help catapult the author toward accomplishing her dreams is where the biggest change came for her.  This year, the author knows she will not have time to read like she has in previous years.  The author desires to continue learning and knows that listening to podcasts and books are more realistic for her to accomplish based on her schedule and is best for her learning style.  Additionally, the author challenged herself to daily track the knowledge she gains by typing in an excel spreadsheet one thing she learned that day.  The author experimented with this in December 2019 and decided that she liked the goal because it forced her to synthesis the information she was hearing and track it.  Also, the author learned that some days she may not have 1 thing she learned that she can type up.  Her goal became on average to learn 1 new thing a day.  Some days she learns more than others.

Lastly, the author created the goal of developing and growing in her job.  The author did not like this goal because it will be very subjective at the end of 2020.  However, the author is daily learning about government, education and leadership.  Each of these topics will help her as she moves closer to accomplishing her dreams. 

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now. - Napoleon Hill

It is important to remember that setting goals is crucial in accomplishing dreams and it is also important to consider circumstances the reader foresees encountering in 2020.  We must stretch ourselves when creating goals, but they also must be realistic.  

CHALLENGE: Write your 2020 goals.