Last week we discussed affirmations. A colleague of mine, professional speaker, who does a great job with affirmations is Boaz Rauschwerger, www.boazpower.com. Each week he sends out a FREE ezine that gives ideas for living from his point of view. Good stuff.

This past Saturday I attended a meeting in LA of the National Speakers Association, Greater Los Angeles Chapter, NSA/GLAC, www.nsaglac.org and had the pleasure of hearing Lou Heckler, www.louheckler.com, again. He is a master of saying things well. His background is journalism and broadcasting.

We are approaching the holidays and many of us use this time to THINK about where we have been over the last ten months. Then we usually start to review our ideas and plans for the new year. I would like to suggest that the way you “say” who you are and the way you “say” what your goals are is very important.

“Your goal should be to define exactly who and what you are so that it can be ultimately represented by one word. This word will be your brand. It will represent the core attributes of your organization, product or service. A few examples from large companies will be helpful: Intel, Nike, Levi’s, McDonald’s, and Coors.” This quote is from one of my articles on your right, “Becoming a Brand.”

Have a wonderful holiday season and “Take time to reflect.” Who are you, are your taking enough risks, are you doing what you really care about? We are not involved in a dress rehearsal for living life, this is our last shot. Make it count, make it significant.

Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.

I feel healthy, I feel happy, I feel terrific.

I visualize myself having an ideal positive mental attitude, then I practice being that kind of person.

Yes, these are three of my favorite affirmations. We all talk to ourselves all the time. Some call it self talk. Some call it daydreaming. And some deny that they do it - that’s just the same type of thing only with a negative orientation as opposed to a positive orientation.

An affirmation is nothing more than a statement we make about ourselves in the first person. Ideally it should be in the present tense, be totally personal and have an emotional impact. What is amazing is that if we keep repeating an affirmation to ourselves, in time, we will believe it. First we have thoughts, then pictures in our mind and words, and finally it becomes a reality. This works either positively or negatively. You choose.

“As a man thinketh, so is he.” That’s what it says in the Bible. But what about science? What about other peoples influence? Why not be realistic?

My dear friends, science has now made and is continuing to make great progress in the study of the mind, memory, emotion and energy. One of my favorite and best received presentations is: “How to Manage Emotional Intelligence.”

Our mind is the only part of our body that can grow and improve through the years. It is continually changing. That change can either be in growth mode or it can be in the form of deterioration. The old adage, “Use it or lose it” really applies in the case of your mind.

Scientists are discovering that memory is resident in several parts of the body, not just the brain. The way you feel has a lot to do with what you allow yourself to think about. Most of us think about things that we have some knowledge about from our past experience, memory. That means that based on our past experience, we have a tendency to establish our thoughts and then our feelings. Good positive past experiences have a tendency to produce good positive thoughts in our current situations.

By the same token, if we think about a bad past experience, we will probably focus on the possible negative aspect of our current situation. What is absolutely EXCITING is that we have a CHOICE to think positively or negatively. By using affirmations, we are controlling our minds to focus on positive thoughts. That will help us to get positve outcomes.

Take that small action of repeating a positive affirmation. Repeat it until it becomes a habit. Then that habit will start to influence your attitude which will then change your feelings. Try it, you’ll like it.

Over the years I have learned that there are usually two areas of fundamental problems in most companies and in most personal relationships. The first is “communication” and the second is “money.”

Effective communication requires more than talent. It involves trust, respect, understanding, empathy and resolution. It is an art.

As time goes by there will be continual information on this blog as to how to deal effectively with communication issues, money issues as well as many more topics and it will all be in the context of creating and appreciating an artistic approach to handling life.