Don't Settle For the Same Old, Same Old

By: Joan Kennedy

We are all creatures of habit.  

It’s just so much easier to wake up every morning at the same time and look forward to a day of routine and schedules, than to get up earlier and do something different.  What would that be like to do something different? 

I woke up one morning this week and thought nothing very exciting is going to happen today. I knew that.  First of all, I don’t drive anymore.  So I usually just wait for someone to call and say, “Do you want to go shopping tomorrow?” or, “How about lunch on Thursday?” And, second of all, it’s what I had gotten used to. 

Of course, I’m always ready to go, but I’m also always waiting for someone to call.

It occurred to me if I want something to happen in my life I have to make it happen.  It’s taken me a long time to figure that one out. 

Why wait for other people? Someone once said, “In doubtful matters boldness is everything.” So, I decided to be bold. 

Okay, but how? Instead of waiting for someone to invite me to lunch, I would invite someone to lunch. The person I ended up inviting was thrilled that I had asked her. Who knew? Here I was waiting for something to happen and all I had to do was ask.

Then I had another bright thought:  

I will have control of my life, when I decide what I want. 

So, what do I want?  I enjoy people; why not surround myself with interesting people?  

Here’s where my inner naysayers popped-up and said, but your apartment is small.

So then I said big deal. You don’t need to invite twenty people. Invite four. Plan a dinner. Have something easy. How about Pot Roast? Everybody likes Pot Roast, don’t they? Everything will be in one pot. I’ll serve crusty bread, and a bottle of wine to top it off. That sounds good to me. Naysayers shut down!

Now it's time to make other things happen in my life.  

How about you? What could you do differently to make things happen in your life?

Decisions, Decisions.

By Joan Kennedy (with Amy Kennedy)

Hey, guess what? In every major decision you are in conflict with yourself. That's right.
To act or not to act, fights it out all the time--maybe you don't even realize it, indecision can become habitual and stop you from making all kinds of decisions:
Maybe it won't work
Maybe I'll fail
Maybe I'll never get what I want

Maybe is the key word. Maybe you won't...but maybe you will. And guess what else...you'll never know until you try.

There may be a decision before you now that calls for action and but you hem and haw between one way or another. Or maybe you know instinctively what the right decision is, yet you let others influence you. There are people who insist on looking for problems and negative outcomes. In either of these scenarios you are either dealing with an inside or an outside Naysayer. Banish those Naysayers.

The next time you have to make a decision, don't worry about what someone else thinks or what someone else would do. Make the decision quickly, according to how you feel and how it looks to you. If you do, your self-confidence will increase with each decision you make.

Here are 4 things you can do to defeat hesitation and naysayers:

• Trust your instincts. Don't doubt your decision.
• Once your decision is made pop any of those doubt bubbles about the decision,  replace them with positive bubbles (thoughts and statements)
• Meet problems and obstacles as (and if) they arise, not in your head beforehand
• Act promptly on your decision. You've made your decision, now go and  do.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Do the thing and you will have the power."

Pretty cool words, and hey, if they were good enough for Emerson...