Self Improvement and Success

The world offers many different ways to improve yourself. You can improve your body by making it look younger, thinner or more fit. You can improve your mind through education, reading, and sharing in others' knowledge. You can improve your lifestyle by getting a different job, earning more money or buying successively bigger homes and cars and purchasing more material goods. All of these things can make your life appear to be better on the outside. But the outside is not what is important.
The focus on continuously improving yourself on the outside implies that you are not already perfect. And it ignores the fact that the outside is merely a reflection of what is happening on the inside.

You exist in perfection in every part of your life, at every moment in your life.Everything in your life is there to fulfill the purpose that you established for it.

The constant drive for self improvement that exists on a material level serves as a distraction to remind you that you could be better if you were different.

What is wrong with the way you are right now? Will you be happier if you are thinner more educated or drive a new car? Happiness is derived from the inner you, no matter what the outer you looks like.

You can use outside sources to change or improve your life but the mindset that created it is still there. The Self cannot be improved upon because it exists in perfection, as do you.

What you can improve on is the beliefs that you have used to
create your reality and focus on inner self improvement. Once you have accomplished the inner work, the results will be manifested in the outer you. Energy moves from within you to the outside world. Improving yourself on the outside to make the inside feel better is a never-ending cycle that will not lead to happiness or fulfillment.

Finding what brings you joy is the first step to self improvement. Doing what you love and are passionate about will remove the focus from what is 'wrong' with you and your life to creating what you want in your reality. Once you see yourself as perfect on the inside, the outside reality will change accordingly. And the effects will be permanent and long lasting and then you can pursue external self improvement with activities that bring you joy instead of trying to fix what is 'wrong' with you.

This week, consider what you are doing to improve yourself on the outside.

What could you be doing on the inside to make that happen more easily? Remember that you are already perfect exactly as you are and your goal is to bring heaven with its joy, peace and unconditional love into your life. Do that on the inside and it will manifest on the outside.

Jennifer Hoffman

Visit http://www.selfimprovement-and-success.com for other measures of Self Improvement.

Jim Kelley

Here are 7 ways for your consideration, to help set your goals in motion...TODAY!

1. Stop seeking approval from people.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to fulfill your dream. Trust yourself and give yourself permission to succeed. Having support from people whose opinion you value is a wonderful thing but it should not be the criterion for whether you begin acting on fulfilling your goals or not

If you really desire to turn your idea into reality, constantly floating it around and seeking the approval of people will waste your time and kill your dream. What will happen to your idea if you don’t get the approval of those whose permission you so desperately need? Nothing!

2. Don’t wait for perfection.

Waiting for a time when everything is perfect and in place will cause you to lose your enthusiasm and abandon your goal. Conditions may never be as perfect as you desire. You may never have all the money, time, or knowledge you desire to begin working on your goals.

You must take risks, learn and improve as you go along and then watch as everything begins to fall in place. If you have to wait for the perfect time to begin working on your goals you will be waiting a long time!

3. Create time for the goal.

Many people have dreams, ideas or goals, which remain unfulfilled because they are too busy doing everything else but work on the goal! If you have a goal to accomplish, you must be ready to invest your time, and resources to ensure that it succeeds.

Making excuses about lacking the time to work on goals that are important to you is a procrastination tactic, which will kill your dream before it has a chance to see the light of day. There is always time to work on what we love and consider important. Create that time and see your dreams begin to unfold!

4. Decide once and for all!

The process of goal accomplishment, like most things in life begins with a decision. You decide what you want to achieve and then you plan how you intend to achieve it.

If accomplishing your goal is important to you, your inability to make crucial decisions about what you should do, how you should do it and when you should do it, will waste your time and choke your dream. Make up your mind and stop second-guessing yourself. When your mind is made up nothing can stop you from making progress with fulfilling your goals.

5. Be bold and take the initiative.

Be bold! You are the one in charge of turning your dreams to reality. You need to be proactive and actively involved in the process of working on your goals to ensure you achieve them.

Just because you have shared your ideas with others does not necessarily mean that you are no longer responsible for turning them to reality. Don’t sit around waiting for others to make suggestions and guide your idea to reality. Don’t leave your dream entirely in the hands of others. Nobody cares about your dream like you do.

6. Invest in your dream.

No idea is self-funding. Don’t be deceived into thinking that people will invest or finance your idea just because it is brilliant. If you are lucky, someone may invest in it, but if you are not, you will have to invest your time, energy and finances towards activities that will fortify and fulfill your dream.

You may have to invest in the acquisition of knowledge or expertise that will help you achieve your goals. It would be a good idea to keep some money stashed away to finance your goal.

7. Do one thing at a time.

Commit yourself only to projects and activities which are connected to your main goal. Whatever you do should directly or indirectly add up to a move toward your main goal. Failure to do this will confuse, overwhelm, sidetrack, and drain your energy.

To get started on achieving your goals, you need to plan for it and make it a priority. If you keep crowding and cluttering your life with what does not matter, you many never, ever accomplish your goals.

Remember that you can’t do all things, but you can do one thing!

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Jim

LIFE IN THE 1500's

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

These are interesting...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence, the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and
men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then, the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying . It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.
That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get
slippery in the winter when wet,so they spread thresh(straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on,they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way.
Hence the saying a threshhold..

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to
the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.
Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon..
They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning
death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf,the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along
the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the
bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would
have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer..

And that's the truth?
Now, whoever said History was boring?

Not sure whether any of these are true or not true, but it does make for an interesting read, don't you think?

Jim

My latest YouTube Video....

Get Motivated - Stay Motivated.

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Jim

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