Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

The Art of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a critical element in becoming self actualized and fully loving. Forgiving is the process by which you let go of feeling victimized or having wronged others. It allows you to climb out of the dark well of anger, bitterness, or guilt into which you can easily fall. In a busy life, you are frequently confronted with opportunities to forgive others as well as yourself. With others, . . .

The Art of Selfishness

Mature selfishness is the cornerstone of effectively living with passion and purpose. A commitment to self- interest is practical and efficient since you are better able to meet your needs than hope that someone else does. It is the basis for the laws of natural selection and "survival of the fittest." Unfortunately, society has given mature selfishness a bad name. Parents are well intended whe. . .

Is The Apprentice Bad For Your Health?

If you know who I mean when I say Kwame, Bill and Troy, you’re probably a fan of The Apprentice. I admit I’m not a fan myself; I don’t watch much television and that particular show didn’t grab my interest enough to be “appointment” watching. I have, however, followed its popularity with interest, for various reasons. The main reason I’m so interested in The Apprentice is that it gives me insig. . .

I Need to Accomplish Something

Do you have trouble taking a day off? Boy, I do. When I take a day off I lie around all day, read novels, eat whatever I want, take a nap, and generally do whatever I want. It’s awful. I get depressed, I don’t feel well, I don’t accomplish anything.Did you catch that last phrase? “I don’t accomplish anything.” Well, of course not, it’s a DAY OFF. But do you ever feel that way? That you should b. . .

The Magic of Hearing

I’m working on a coach training certification, and one of the “proficiencies” I’m expected to have mastered is “engages in provocative conversations.” Now, that really got me thinking. What’s a provocative conversation?Well, the word “provocative” means that the conversation provokes something—hopefully a reaction from the client which helps take them to another level. The ideal response to the. . .

Letting Go of Clutter In Your Office

Some people would say I’m the last person in the world to be writing about clearing out clutter; I seem to accumulate so much of it. But I also get rid of it, when it reaches the point of bothering me. That’s the first thing about clearing out clutter. Everyone has a threshold at which the clutter starts to bother them. My husband’s threshold is much lower than mine, and when he starts clearing. . .

What's The Truth Behind Your Finances?

Between 15 - 20% of people in our country (UK) own there own businesses. This statistic is on the rise thanks to the incredible invention of the Internet. The staggering truth is that of these only 5% are genuinely financially free! You may well see lots of expensive cars driving on our roads and big houses inhabited by the seemingly wealthy, but these houses and cars are not yet paid for. Neve. . .

The Secret to Staying Centered and Happy in a Troubled World

Many of us are probably so used to crisis in the world that it has become a natural part of our mental scenery. We’ve grown accustomed to living in a world where acts of bitter conflict, unrest, and inhumanity are everyday things, and their constant contradiction with our essential values almost seems normal.But are we really aware of the effect that these daily messages have on our minds and a. . .

Release Your Agression In Your DIARY OF EMOTIONS

In order for you to make positive ground daily you need an avenue of escapism that allows you to shed the emotional baggage that we all carry around with us. The largest and indeed the most dangerous aspect of failure is your emotional status.There are always going to be people who you dislike or disagree with over some issue that is important to you. It may well be your boss that you hold a pr. . .

How To Create Your Very Own DREAMWALL!

A great way of attuning yourself daily to what your deepest dreams and wants are is to create yourself a DREAM WALL.Use books and magazines or search online for images of the things that you want in your life. These should be images of the materialistic achievements you wish to experience in reality in the not to distant future. Once you have located these pictures cut them out and place them i. . .

Going Beyond Life Coaching

In Corrogue the air is chill and the frost is on the ground.On these autumn mornings the spider’s webs are glistening like each was arrayed with diamonds. The red berries of the holly stand out against the dark green of their shining leaves. It is a time simply to look and be glad at the wonder of this creativity. It is a time simply to stand and stare.Like many people I receive unsolicited mai. . .

10 Ways to Keep Your Expectations From Making You Crazy T...

Christmas is a wonderful time! Everyone is full of good cheer, the milk of human kindness and 20 pounds of candy. All gifts are given with love, are exactly the right size, are exactly the right color, or exactly the right thing for exactly the price you could afford. Right? Well, if YOUR Christmas seems to fall short every year, here are some ways to keep your sanity and enjoy the unexpected j. . .

A prison cell?

Do you have a goal? A focus in life? Have you invested a great deal of time, effort, money to achieve and yet feel you haven’t made it yet? For all your effort do you still feel that there is something missing in your life? It is obviously very important to set goals in your life. It gives you a focus a way forward a mechanism for making decisions when faced with a number of options. However, i. . .

The Victims of Fame

We all have the capacity to fall for the allures of fame and fortune. Elevated from the innocent hopes of the “American Dream” stands the illusion of immortality which accompanies the lofty aspirations for money, power and fame. Unfortunately, fame can play a devastating role in relationships. At first, the American sucker feels the beginning euphoric effects stemming from a little bit of n. . .

How Clear is Your Vision?

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that there is a way to get what you want? Whether it’s in business or your personal life, this article will clearly show you the steps you need to take to achieve your goals. I heard it said once that vision without action is only a dream, but action without vision is a nightmare. In my first article, The Road To Success - A.C.T.I.O.N., I discussed action. So today, . . .

We're Good at the Things We Like

Read that again. It doesn’t say “We like the things we’re good at,” though that’s true as well. No, it says we’re good at the things we like. That statement was made to me just today in reference to something I hate to do and am not very good at. I just nodded, thinking I’d heard it the other way around, or that my sister had said it backwards. Then she repeated it and said, “It works the other. . .

Success at Work : Techniques : Computer Literacy

It's hard to believe that there are people in today's workforce who don't know how to use a computer. In today's society, being computer illiterate is equivalent to being functionally illiterate. Obviously no one reading this article is computer illiterate, but maybe you know someone who thinks they can avoid computers and still be successful at work. Let me tell you a story about a good friend. . .

What Being Vs Doing Really Means

So often we hear about “being” rather than “doing.” Often it’s given as advice when we are overwhelmed, overworked and overstressed. “You should just ‘be.’ You’re doing too much.” Well, yes, obviously, but what does that MEAN? How do we just be?I happen to think the people saying this don’t even really know what it means and are just giving it as a platitude, trying to help, but it doesn’t help. . .

What Balance Looks Like For You

Recently, in an online group, we talked about “balance” and an article one member had read decrying the demise of balance altogether. We all had different ideas about what balance is and how to reach it, and I realized, after a number of posts, that we were all right.I believe it is possible to “achieve balance in our lives.” What I don’t believe is that the way you create balance is going to m. . .

What Does SUCCESS Look Like To You?

So many of us want success, but how many of us really know what we mean when we say it? And please….. don’t blurt out some superficial “bling and glam” definition like VH1 defines it on “The Fabulous Life of ……” The expensive cars, the safe full of jewelry and the massive homes on every continent are only fruits of success, not success itself. Rather, Success is the realization and accomplishme. . .

Get Your Priorites Right!

I have been with this marketing business for a few months now, and before that I was reading motivational books and listening to tapes and talking to people and inhaling all this knowledge like oxygen. During this time I started a habit of setting goals for myself; goals like buying a house in 12 months time, being financially free in ten years time, I'm sure you all know the sort of goals I'm. . .

Leadership Development and Jumping Out of Airships

A German silent film melodrama depicts an airship bombing London during World War I. Lit up by searchlights and strafed by fighters, the crippled airship loses altitude as the captain frantically jettisons dispensable gear to lighten weight. Eventually, the only weight left is human. So the captain orders members of the crew overboard. A grisly scene unfolds as the airmen, one by one, witho. . .

How to Feel Satisfied in Your Career

Many people turn a beloved hobby into a vocation. They have a gift, a talent screaming for expression. It means doing something that they love. At last, they feel empowered.However, this newfound empowerment is inside the person, not in the changing of careers. How can you feel empowered if you are already successful in your work but feel discontent? You must recognize and feel the value within. . .

Keeping A Marriage Romantic

My belief is that most relationship problems should be given less attention ... how much do you want to stir up the bottom muck? A couple will be happier if they pay attention to good things instead of being concerned with problems.A romantic relationship happens because of the hopes and dreams a couple has for a happy life together. The relationship will be pleasant and rewarding as long as yo. . .

Top Ten Ways to Live Authentically

1. Know your purposeAre you wandering through life with little direction – hoping that you’ll find happiness, health and prosperity? Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your truth north every time.2. Know your valuesWhat do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values. Some examples are security, freedom, family. . .

Nostalgia: What Are We Really Looking For?

Have you ever noticed what an amazing editing job we do when we think about the past? Those summers at the lake have become positively halcyon: gone are the sunburn and mosquitoes, the rainy days, the continuous fights with siblings and/or bunkmates. Mom’s cooking has improved considerably with time and distance, and we remember exclusively the birthday when we got that first two-wheeler . . .

Still Wondering About Coaching?

A friend called me the other day from Lower Alabama. He has followed my career as a coach with enthusiasm, and continually refers clients to me, and I’m sure has done his part for making coaching known in his neck of the woods. “Coaching has arrived,” he said. “I just heard an ad for a coach on my local radio station.”I still speak to audiences on cruises, however, where no one has heard of . . .

Where You Can Find Sympathy

Ask any of my kids and they’ll tell you immediately that you’ll find it in the dictionary between “sh—“ and “syphilis”. Wasn’t that absolutely cruel and unkind of me to instill in them a nearly total distain for the concept of “sympathy”? With so many individuals in the world suffering in so many ways, how could I possibly be so heartless? I am without a doubt, an uncaring, evil SOB!Well, ma. . .

Discover the Key to Self-confidence

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation" - Arthur Ashe Self-confidence is necessary for successAs Arthur Ashe says preparation is an important key to self-confidence. And preparation can be achieved by using the goal setting tool of questions. Asking questions, that is, doing research, can enable you to become proficient in whatever s. . .

7 Key Steps to Unshakable Confidence

Do you remember that day? Perhaps it was your first job interview. Perhaps you were speaking to a group for the first time. Maybe you were starting a challenging new career or meeting a special person for the first time. Your throat became dry and your knees wanted to shake.You were about to leave a place of mental and emotional safety. You were putting your skills on the line and taking a risk. . .

Accessing Your Spiritual Guidance

For the last 35 years, I have been working with individuals, couples and families, as well as business relationships. I have 8 published books on relationships and healing, some of them best-sellers. In the first half of my career, I worked as a traditional psychotherapist, and was not happy with the results. In the last 18 years I have worked with a process called Inner Bonding, which is a pow. . .

Every Passing Minute Is A Chance To Turn It All Around

Every passing minute.When I first heard this line, in the movie Vanilla Sky, it struck a powerful chord in me. Sure, it’s a sentiment I’d heard countless times before, that at any given moment you could set changes in motion that would alter the course of your life. But something about the phrasing. Every passing minute. It’s immediate, it’s powerful, it’s cruc. . .

What's Your Aging in American IQ? Take the Quiz and Find ...

Curious how long you may live? Use the Life Expectancy Calculator: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/interactivearea/living_100.shtml. (Be prepared to know your weight in stones!)TRUE or FALSE1. Older adults have more mental health problems than younger adults. FALSE. Overall prevalence of mental disorder in older adults is less than in any other age group, and general life satisfaction is as good as. . .

How To Make A Strong First Impression: Seven Tips That Re...

We have all heard this warning: You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Also, human behavior specialists caution that we only have from seven to seventeen seconds of interacting with strangers before they form an opinion of us. With this widely acknowledged pressure to make our case instantly, here are my seven tips for making your first impression strongly positive. ONE:. . .

Making Excuses

I edited and re-edited my article. I had to make sure it was just so. Then I procrastinated on writing the query letter to get my article published. The house needed cleaning, I ran out of stamps, the letter wasn't quite right. Delivering the query letter to the mailbox took another week what with family, meetings and such. I had good excuses why I wasn't actively trying to get published. But, . . .

Is America Losing Its Religion?

Has America known its finest hour? Are we losing our religion and sanity as well? What is wrong with our society anyway? These are baffling questions that are frequently being asked by more and more people, even the media. From environmental pollution to spiritual pollution, from artificial food to artificial joy - these are the side effects of the pursuit of materialism (a by-product of the Am. . .

By Now, I'm a Expert at Memory Loss

I sat down to write my weekly humor column, but I just could not remember what I wanted to write about. This seems to be an increasingly more common affliction, ever since I turned 40. For instance, like most people over 40, I often can't remember my age. In fact, I am quite certain I am not yet 40. How do I know? Well, I can't remember turning 40, for starters.But memory loss is nothing ne. . .

Are You Thinking About Moving to a Small Town?

One of the fun things about midlife is we often have the opportunity to move for the first time in a long time. Maybe the kids have finally left home, or you’re retiring from a job or career, or planning to start your own Internet business so can finally live ‘anywhere.’Whatever your reasons for longing for a small town, here are some assumptions to check out before you make the big move:IT'S . . .

Let’s Say You’re a Dog. Are You So Competitive You’d Eat...

Seems like a gal always learns something out on the farm! Yes, it’s a farm tale and I’m going to change the names of the animals to protect the guilty!I spent last weekend down in Lower Alabama where my friend from high school owns a farm. On the neighboring property there lives a donkey we’ll call “Jake.” On my friend’s property there lives a dog – his dog – we’ll call “Spot.”Okay, not too. . .

24 Time Management Tips

Where does your time go? We all know we are busy, yet we feel behind and don’t get to do the things we really want to do.Planning is the best time saver there is. At the beginning of the week jot down your goals that you want to accomplish, fun things you want to do, work that needs to be done, and appointments to keep. Then write out a loose schedule for the week ahead, balancing it out betwee. . .

True Love - Part 2

Okay, so why would one person feel strongly about the other and the other hardly misses a beat? In my last article, I said that one of the reasons is that the ‘despised’ one probably isn’t the one in the first place. But let’s leave the ‘despiser’ for now and focus on the ‘despisee’. What is the ‘despisee’ feeling? Why does he/she care so, almost to the point of ridicule? Again, a myriad of rea. . .

Hard Times Can Be Your Best Time

Do you have a dream, but are waiting for "just the right time" to start working toward fulfilling it? Will you feel comfortable pursuing your dream only when everything in your life is working? Consider this:The apostle Paul did his best work while he was a prisoner.Buckminster Fuller was bankrupt and suicidal when he envisioned the design for the geodesic dome.Victor Frankl developed the phi. . .

The Bouncer (Turning Defeat into Victory)

From Spider’s Night on the BoomGary Andersonwww.abciowa.comI'm a pretty competitive guy, though I try to keep it in perspective. But there are times, often when I least expect it, when life teaches me lessons about the true nature of competition. One of those lessons came on a warm spring day several years ago, in a small town outside Portland, Oregon.I used to love to watch the high school tra. . .

Guilt By Association & Wealth By It Too!

"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art." - Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616) Spanish novelist. Growing up I often heard my best friend's father Nick say, "Show me who your friends are and I'll tell you what you are!" Well, that was usually followed by a long speech about why his son Frank should not have hung out with certain people. I was like a second son to Nick . . .

One Step at a Time in the Job Search

What is the first step to take in a job search? Let's start with "Who Am I?" If the job seeker can answer that question easily, then the rest of what to do, comes easily. It is often the hardest thing to do in a job quest, or anything else in life. Answering this question cannot be answered by a recitation of job roles. Job roles are what a person did in a job; the tasks performed. The "Who . . .

Are You At The Point Of No Return?

There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back. Life’s point of no return.”Dag HammarskjoldThere comes a time in your life when the resolve to act on your ideas is so compelling that you can no longer afford to be complacent. It is at this time that you decide to overcome every obstacle. . .

7 Effective Ways To 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 notIf you really desire to turn your idea into reality, constantly floating it ar. . .

How to get rid of inaction paralysis!

How many times have you come up with a brilliant idea only to find yourself paralyzed with inaction and wondering/regretting why you never pursued it? How many times have you allowed those unfounded fears to stand in the way of your progress? How many times will you keep allowing inaction paralysis to rob you of the life you want? Whether you want to start a business, write a book or are lookin. . .

Are you an ex-career woman living in a new country?

Were you once a successful, professional woman who had a significant status level and received adequate remuneration for your work? Have you re-located to a new country where the educational degree you worked so hard to achieve is neither recognized nor considered valid? As a result, have you now settled for a job for which you are overqualified and living paycheck to paycheck? If you once had . . .

Achievement and Happiness the 80/20 Way

If there was ever a principle that was responsible for the most happiness and achievement in the world, it would be the 80/20 Principle. The 80/20 Principle or Pareto Principle was discovered in 1897 by an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto while he was searching for patterns of wealth and income in England.What he found was that 80 percent of the wealth was enjoyed by only 20 percent of the pop. . .