Making the impossible possible

They said it could never be done. Running a mile in under 4 minutes. Yet 60 years ago today, Roger Bannister did it.  He set himself a vision until he achieved it. And since then, many others have done it too. Was that possibly because they then 'believed' it was possible?

Setting a vision and persevering is the key for many. Overcoming the limiting beliefs which get in your way is crucial as they can stop you from achieving what is possible. Often we don't try as we don't believe it's possible but if you can just break through those barriers and ask yourself what if it were possible, then just think of what you could do. The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. So whilst this journey at first may seem daunting, each step gets us closer to the end.

Now obviously there are some things in life which are impossible for example 'Becoming invisible!' or 'Flying to the moon without the correct equipment'! But even those examples can become possible with the right props!

When you set a goal and take it a step at a time, just look at what you can achieve. That's exactly what Roger Bannister did. He had a vision and then he broke it down bit by bit until he achieved it. He needed to believe it was possible in order to even try!

The power of the mind and the determination to succeed made his dream come true. Then when other people realised it actually was possible, they too did it!

What areas in your life could you apply this to. What gets in your way and how can you overcome those obstacles bit by bit, one step at a time? When you start doing it gradually, before you know it, you've achieved it!  Good Luck and don't forget I'm here if you need a little bit of a helping hand!

With love and best wishes.

Nicolina 

How to raise your happiness by 42%

42% is a pretty impressive figure to improve your happiness by. Believe it or not, we are actually happier giving to others than when we receive ourselves. 

According to a famous study by Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky (who is a Professor devoted to studying human happiness),  people who were engaged in 5 random acts of kindness a week for a 6 week period were reported to have shown an increase in happiness of 42%. What's equally impressive, is that the recipients often paid the kind acts forward too. Just think if we could affect the whole world by passing on random acts of kindness!

We often think "We will be happy when ……" when actually happiness is an internal feeling which can be experienced within us and can be accessed at any time.  We just need to make sure we are in the right frame of mind for it and by doing things for others, we can put ourselves in that right frame of mind.

When setting goals, I encourage my clients to enjoy the journey along the way as often we can forget about living in the present moment. It's great to have goals as they give us a purpose and focus but chances are if we don't enjoy them as we are doing them, we probably won't be happy when we've achieved the goal either.  Plus you are much more likely to carry out your tasks if you make them enjoyable rather than a chore.

I do think it's important to 'not give to receive' but to give because we enjoy giving. Even a simple smile can brighten up someone's day! If you read my previous blog, you will see that a very kind anonymous person posted a beautiful uplifting letter through my letterbox - this uplifted me for the whole day and has inspired me to do the same for somebody else.

So why not set yourself a mini goal today and give 5 random acts of kindness a week for a 6 week period and see if you are 42% happier!

Wishing you love and happiness!

#spreadthelove

I got an anonymous handwritten, hand-delivered letter through my letterbox this morning and it has made my day so much that I thought I would share it with more people hoping to inspire them to do the same thing for somebody else.

The letter says:

The beauty of life is flashing brightly all around you today. You feel the joy of life with every step and every conversation. You are blessed. ♡

I can't believe somebody has take time out of their day to write that note for me! I am so overwhelmed and full of joy that I can not even express in words how lovely this has made me feel! Every thing I do today feels wonderful.  Even doing chores has been uplifting!

There are some amazingly, wonderful people in this world who do such beautiful things like this to make others feel special and loved!

I am hoping that this anonymous person gets to read this so they know how much it meant to me and I also hope that you feel inspired to do this for somebody as it will really brighten up their day in a way that words can't express!

#spreadthelove

Why should you set New Year's Resolutions?

Now I know there are mixed feelings about setting New Year's Resolutions. Some people swear by them, others refuse to make them and others try to keep them to the best of their ability. I, personally have been all 3 at different stages in my life! Maybe you have too! But I have come to the conclusion that they are a great thing to do!

I'm not really one for saying what you 'should' or 'shouldn't' do - that's down to freedom of choice.

I'm guessing some people would actually like to make them but don't incase they will be disappointed if they don't go well. If that's you, then this article is definitely for you! Others prefer to just go along with the flow and if that's their secret recipe to a happy, fulfilling life then great. But if they go along with the flow and don't have a happy and fulfilling life, then considering setting resolutions could be good for them.

What is a resolution?

So first of all, let's look at the definition of a resolution.  It's simply 'a firm decision to do or not do something'. So this would indicate a 'determination'.  Unfortunately, many resolutions are set without a determination to succeed - hence the reason why so many can fail. Now failure is another word which is misconstrued! Failure is 'not achieving the desired result' but I believe there's a word missing. That word is "Yet".  Failure is one of life's important lessons but unfortunately, many of us are afraid of it. By failing, that's how we learn to do things differently. When babies are trying to learn to walk, they don't think they are failures! They work out what to do differently and they keep trying! Thomas Edison's quote "I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways which won't work" sums it up nicely.

So if we've established that a good resolution is to be determined to achieve something and that we learn from our mistakes along the way, that's a great start to setting resolutions.

So why do we need resolutions?

Without resolutions, we can just drift along in our day to day life a bit like a ship in the sea without a compass! When you know where you are going, you have focus. By having focus, you can go to many places rather than drifting!

Rather than just setting wishy-washy resolutions without focus, there are ways you can set them to keep you focused and motivated. If you'd like to find out what these are, I have a free report which you can download here:

http://nicolinazarola.wix.com/freereport

One final word …

Resolutions aren't only restricted to being set in the New Year! You can set them any time of the year. In fact, they are even better if they are reviewed regularly throughout the year. This helps to keep you focused, determined & motivated and you can tweak them if necessary. 

Good luck! I hope you make some resolutions if you haven't already and I hope you achieve them. I also hope you grow and learn along your way! You learn so much about yourself when you set resolutions. That's a reason in itself to set them!