Positive Energy - Top Tips For Happiness

March 2008

Dear Anne

The Easter holidays and the prospect of summer are fast upon us, so this month it’s time for some positive thoughts about ourselves.

Many people attending my courses are dissatisfied about aspects of their personal or working life. There’s never a ‘one size fits all’ solution, but in many cases a boost of self-esteem will go a long way towards tackling the problem. That’s why this month I’m going to share my top ten tips for happiness with you.

In the last two years the number of Positive Energy readers has more than doubled. That’s a fantastic success, so thank you for passing the newsletter on to your friends and colleagues. I really enjoy sharing my thoughts, tips and exercises with you and it’s great to know from your feedback that you find it useful. Keep those comments coming! You can email me or call me on 01697 747 821.

Best wishes,

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Do you ever feel under pressure to be someone you’re not? We might not live under the same constraints as earlier generations, but society still puts a tremendous amount of pressure on us. Just look at the expectations, standards and impossible role models that the media throws at us every day. We’re constantly surrounded by images of the car we should be driving, the clothes we should be wearing, the lives we should be living!

It’s all too easy to lose sight of who you are, what you really want and what you believe in. Many of us waste far too much time worrying about what other people think of us. The simple truth is, people will always form an opinion, but unless they spend time really getting to know you, then it’s unlikely that they’ll make a fair assessment. So it’s time to stop fretting and wasting energy. Judge your successes and merits by your own standards.

The way you feel about yourself has a huge impact on your health, your happiness and your relationships with others. When your self-esteem is high you’re more likely to succeed. The good news is there are many ways to boost your self-esteem and reinforce who you are, what you want and what you believe in.

Here are 10 simple ways to boost your self-esteem. I challenge you to take action on each of these. A lot of them may seem obvious, so why aren’t you doing them already? Print them out and stick them somewhere you’ll see them regularly.

Spend time with people who like you and care about you
Stay away from people who make you feel bad or drain your energy
Do things that you enjoy and which make you feel good
Do the things you are good at more often
Reward yourself for your successes, however small they are
Take the time to develop all your talents
Make good choices for yourself and don’t let others make choices for you
Always do what you believe is right
Take responsibility for yourself, your choices and your actions
Set yourself goals, write them down and work hard to achieve them by taking small steps and staying focused

The great things that happened in history did so when someone believed in something and had the confidence and determination to take action. You create your own history. It’s never too late to make sure it’s one that you can be incredibly proud of.

Gill from Ealing spring cleaned her relationships

Gill really enjoyed her job writing policies, but she found some of her colleagues incredibly negative. Their attitude dragged her down and she felt that she had to defend her work unnecessarily. During her Spring Forward programme she made a list of all those people who were draining her energy. Then she spoke to her manager and rearranged her desk location to give her closer contact with her more supportive team members. As a result she felt more confident about her abilities and took on a bigger piece of work which gained the office a best practice award.

Positively Happy by Noel Edmonds - Best selling cosmic advice to use every day.

The Positive Woman by Gael Lindenfield - Practical advice and positive strategies to overcome self doubt.

The Confidence to be Yourself by Brian Roet - An inspiring guide to help you build confidence and get more out of life.

JFDI by Nicholas Bate - If you want to make things happen just get on and do it, you’ll notice your self esteem rising on the way.

The revised and rewritten new edition of the superb Springboard workbook has just been published. It’s now in a handy smaller size with new profiles, revised and updated information sections and book lists, new exercises and a refreshing new layout. And it’s purple! If you have attended Springboard before and want to revisit it by treating yourself to a new workbook you can get one from us for just Ł30 plus postage.

We are using the new workbook on all of our courses but still have several copies of the old workbook in stock. At just Ł15 plus postage, these are a bargain-buy present for a friend or colleague who could benefit from the lively style and practical exercises. We don’t have many though so it’s first come first served.

Email me if you’d like a copy of either workbook.

“Thank you for the email newsletter, before I even read it I have drifted off into a fantasy of those dreams underneath my life. What a wonderful start to the day.

“It is opportune that it arrived today as I wanted to share with you how I very much enjoyed the session you ran at YSJ last week, I left with good intentions of reviewing what was covered but with the knowledge from past experience that 'Hey Ho' that would be where it remained good intentions! I have surprised myself or perhaps you have empowered me, I have the work book on my desk and turn to what may be an appropriate page each day, it is incredible how there is always something that fits perfectly, I am actually learning and changing!!!!”

Jill Wickham

Head of Physiotherapy, York St John University

I’m still writing regular blogs in my BlogPositive to keep you thinking positively until the next newsletter. Click here to read the latest instalment.

To get every new blog posting as it is published just enter your email address into the box at the top of the blog page. It couldn’t be simpler and you’ll then get every new entry emailed to you as it’s written.

In next month’s newsletter we’ll put your self-esteem to good use and look at how you can channel it to make things happen.

Milecastle Consultancy Ltd
Tel: 01697 747 821 Email: sue.hewitt@milecastle.co.uk Website: www.milecastle.co.uk
Milecastle Consultancy Ltd, 1 Rose Cottages, Gilsland, Brampton, Cumbria CA8 7AP