Showing posts with label self help. Show all posts

How to Quickly Stop People from Holding you Back

Relationships, business, work, health, mind, ever wanted to change or improve something in your life but somebody is in the way? Someone is stopping you or annoying you or not letting you do what you want to do?

Do you ever utter the words, if only my boss would give me that promotion then I could get the new car I want. I wish my boyfriend would stop putting me down then I would be so happy.  If only my parents would give me more pocket money then I could go on that holiday with my friends?

What if I told you that there is a solution to your problem, that there is an answer to that person or situation 'getting in your way'?

3 years ago I wouldn't have believed you. I would blame others for where I was in my life, that I was unhappy or didn't have enough money or time and wasn't living the dream I'd hoped for. Until a situation forced me to look at myself at the choices I had made.


What I realised was that I was where I was because of me, myself! Nobody held a gun to my head and said I must be in that relationship or be working with this person or doing that job.I realised the choice was mine.

"The degree to which you accept responsibility for everything in your life is 
precisely the degree of personal power you have to change or create anything in your life" 
- Hal Elrod

By not making my own decisions and desires clear to myself and others, I was unconsciously choosing to let others lead me and let them make decisions for me, which in the long run I wasn't happy with, so how could I blame those people?

I want to tell you this so that you don't make the same mistakes that I did.

Whatever situation we are in is actually of our own making. At first I was so scared of this revelation, it meant I had to look at myself, that I was responsible for me and my own happiness.

After sometime sitting with this I got very excited and began to feel empowered. I am in control!!! I decide my future, just like you do!!

We have the power to change anything we aren't happy with!! A great book that helped me with this is 'how to get from where you are to where you want to be' by jack Canfield.  I highly recommend it, especially if you are looking to take control of your life or are in a situation be is work, relationship, living situation that you are not happy with.

Please don't spend time moaning about others, what they are or aren't doing for you or how they are treating you, when you have the power to change any situation you aren't happy with!




















A friend of mine was always complaining about Facebook and how there were people on her timeline venting about their relationships or work and it made her so frustrated!  We spoke about it at length and she realised she had the option to change her frustration, she could either leave Facebook or delete/unfollow the people whom frustrated her.  Right then and there she unfollowed all the people whose comments frustrated her and she stopped moaning!! She changed from frustrated to empowered in an instant! Simple as that!

I hope you found this useful, please share any revelations you have had recently or any advice you have to help shift from an unhappy situation in to a positive place :-)

Love Ashly x

Gratitude.. BS or truly revolutionary?


Gratitude (thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.) 

Have you heard of it before? It seems like all of a sudden it is everywhere.  Party due to the book 'The Secret, by Rhona Byrne' becoming so popular (if you haven't read it, check it out).

I have practiced it for quite a few years now.  However, I have to admit in the first few years I didn't truly understand it and I wasn't truly grateful for a lot of the stuff I was trying to force myself to believe I was grateful for.  When I look back now I realise it wasn't working for me, how can you be grateful for a job you hate? Or for a relationship you are in which is making you unhappy? No matter how hard you try to be thankful for these situations in your heart, you are not.  Ever have that feeling when you say 'I really do not like my job' and someone reply's 'you should be grateful you have one, many people don't' (The world should in my opinion is horrid but thats another story)... Do you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach? You feel guilt for not being grateful for this job which you hate.  This creates all sorts of negative feelings toward yourself and sometimes others.  So how can this gratutude work if that is the case?

Now I am in a much happier place, life is very good! So I am truly thankful for many of the blessings I have. I now understand gratitude, how and why it works, This is what I am going to share with you today because I know it can help many of you to lead happier, more fulfilled lives.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude has two components, it's an affirmation of the goodness in the world. Of positivity and benefits we have received.  Not ignoring all the bad but seeing an overall picture that some things are good (this is the part I didn't understand)

The second part is realising where your goodness comes from. Figuring out what you love and like, who and what makes you happy.


The Results speak for themselves

A study done by the university of California were 1000 participants simply wrote in a gratitude journey consistently for just 3 weeks showed astounding results...

Stronger immune systems,lower blood pressure, more joy and pleasure, more forgiving, more outgoing, feeling less lonely and isolated.

According to the university of California gratitude has 5 key benefits...

1. Gratitude allows us to celebrate the present. It magnifies your positive emotions. 
Research on emotion shows that positive emotions wear off quickly. Our emotional systems like newness. They like novelty. They like change. We adapt to positive life circumstances so that before too long, the new car, the new spouse, the new house—they don’t feel so new and exciting anymore. 
But gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something, and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more benefits from it; we’re less likely to take it for granted. 
2. Gratitude blocks toxic, negative emotions, such as envy, resentment, regret—emotions that can destroy our happiness. 
You cannot feel envious and grateful at the same time. If you’re grateful, you can’t resent someone for having something that you don’t.
There’s even recent evidence, including a 2008 study by psychologist Alex Wood in the Journal of Research in Personality, showing that gratitude can reduce the frequency and duration of episodes of depression. 
Research has also suggested people who have high levels of gratitude have low levels of resentment and envy.

3. Grateful people are more stress resistant
There’s a number of studies showing that in the face of serious trauma, adversity, and suffering, if people have a grateful disposition, they’ll recover more quickly.
4. Grateful people have a higher sense of self-worth
When you’re grateful, you feel that the world is plotting to do you good. Often gratutude is aimed towards a particular person or kind act that person has done for you... the sense that someone else is looking out for you.  You notice relationships, past and present, of people who are responsible for helping you get to where you are right now.

So is gratitude just hocus pocus or is it truly something magical that practicing will make you happier?

Why not try it! For 3 weeks every morning write down or say out loud 5 things or people you are grateful for.

What have you got to loose?
Do you already practice gratitude? How have you found it has helped you?

Ashly xxx