Makes 1-1/2 cups
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a Food Processor
Photo credit, myveggiekitchen
Acknowledge and Appreciate Yourself TODAY!
by Jack Canfield
With the year coming to a close, it’s time to acknowledge and appreciate yourself for everything you’ve accomplished today, throughout the year, and in life.
How many times have you succeeded in the past month? Are you able to recall your successes as well as your failures and missteps?
Many people under-appreciate the little things they accomplish every day. And yet they can recall in detail all the times they have failed or made mistakes. That’s because the brain remembers events more easily when they’re accompanied by strong emotions.
You might recall graduation, losing 10 pounds, winning an award, or landing a highly sought after position.
But do you include in your successes how you had a really great talk with your spouse, how you spent quality time with your teen, how you got all your list of things done for the day, how you learned to change your own oil, or got your fussy child to take a nap?
If you don’t acknowledge your successes the same way you acknowledge your mistakes, you’re sure to have a memory full of blunders.
Toot your own horn and don’t wait for anyone else to praise you!
If you only remember the mistakes and failures, you won’t be as ready to take risks that will lead to your successes. Build your self-esteem by recalling ALL the ways you have succeeded and your brain will be filled with images of you making your achievements happen again and again.
The more you acknowledge your past successes, the more confident you become in taking on and successfully accomplishing new ones.
Take time to write your achievements down.
To really convince yourself that you’re a succcessful person who can continue to achieve great things, I’d like to challenge you to list 100 or more of your life successes.
Start when you were very young and think of all your achievements since then. Don’t just pick the big things, write down all the things you take for granted. Thinks like, learning to ride a bike, singing solo at church, getting your first job, or leading a fund-raising campaign.
You should also begin to create a Victory Log of your daily successes and review it anytime you are faced with a new challenge. By writing it down everyday, you’re securing it in your long-term memory, which enhances your self-esteem and builds your confidence.
Surround yourself with reminders of your success.
We know from research that what you see in your environment has a psychological impact on your moods, your attitudes, and your behavior. Your environment has a great deal of influence over you. And here’s an even more important fact: You have almost total control over your immediate environment.
Put up pictures, articles, trophies, awards and other symbols of your past achievements that remind you about your past successes. Make a special place – a special shelf, wall or section of your home or office that you pass by every day and fill it with your success symbols.
This will have a powerful effect on your subconscious mind and will subtly remind you that you are someone who has consistent success in life!
This is also a great thing to do for your children. Proudly display their success symbols as well.
People like to be around those who have a healthy self-esteem and who are achieving their goals. Commit to acknowledging your achievements and your brain will begin to tell you the truth… that you can do ANYTHING!
Taking just 30 minutes to complete this activity will become your positive springboard into 2010 for even more successes.
© 2009 Jack Canfield
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Send me your most pressing question about this topic, then join me for our monthly
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Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Can field now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com
Will Holiday Habits Set You Back in 2010?
By Jack Canfield
You are an accumulation of your habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you shop for food and eat meals, how you exercise, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you are living out your habits.
Habits are necessary. Because they typically come naturally and automatically (“through habit”), they free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don’t have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the lookout for danger while you are driving. You don’t have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you’re going.
Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success.
This is especially true during stressful periods, like holidays. This is when it’s far too easy to let bad habits take over and multiply with every holiday symbol that you see.
So, what’s the secret to surviving this holiday season, bring in the new year feeling fantastic—physically and emotionally—and have more confidence in the future?
You will need to drop those bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live. This will help you to get through the holidays cheerfully and embrace 2010 with high hopes. People don’t suddenly appear in the life they want to live, habits determine their outcome!
So ask yourself, what are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals? Which ones seem to become magnified during the end of the year, setting you up for feeling behind and lousy come January 1st?
Really be honest with yourself. Are you always running late? Do you make promises you can’t keep? Do you get enough sleep? Do you make excuses for not eating well and scheduling exercise? Do you plan out your day?
Imagine what your life would be like if all those habits were their productive counterparts.
What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep? What if you saved money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything? What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began networking with people in your field? Would your life be different? I bet it would!
So, my suggested action step for you is to write down some productive habits you could adopt and visualize in your life. Step two is to “act as if” you were living these new habits right now!
I know, you thought you wouldn’t have to do this until New Year’s, but I’d like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits today, so you’re already in motion when 2010 lands.
I’d recommend you plan on developing four of your new success habits each year, one for each quarter. That means right this instant you can map out which four you intend to adopt in 2010, and then create a method that will support your new habits.
Here are some ideas:
You could write it down on a card that you keep with you and read several times a day. You could make it a part of your daily visualization.
You could also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits to change.
It’s important to make a 100% commitment to each of your new habits, so be specific about the steps that you’re willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one.
Don’t be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.
Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with your vision. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective is shifting and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren’t serving you anymore.
Get ready for 2010 today! Focus on habits that will launch you forward, not back.
Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!
I’ll be back in two weeks with another edition of Success Strategies. Until then, see how you can discover ways to immediately implement what you learned from today’s message!
© 2009 Jack Canfield
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If you missed previous issues of Success Strategies,
I keep an archive of past issues you can always refer to.
Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Can field now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com