Some of my favorite quotes have to do with believing in yourself. There are many people who have said it in many different ways – but the bottom line is “whatever you think about yourself, however you see yourself in your own mind, is what you are”.

How do you see yourself? Do you see mistakes you’ve made in the past? Do you see yourself as a failure – tried so many things that didn’t work out for you? Do you see yourself as someone who has trouble with relationships?

Or do you assume that you’ve reached as far as you can in your life? Do you think that you’ll never be successful or do anything meaningful in your life?

Well, all of the above is correct – UNLESS you are willing to change your thinking and start believing in yourself and for something bigger in your life!

Remember the Bible verse “You can’t put new wine into old wine skins”? What this means is that you can’t have the larger life that you want if you have old, bad, restricted attitudes.

You need to start today to change your thinking. Start seeing yourself as successful – as the person you want to be. Start taking little steps to change your attitude and to change the way you see yourself.

If you don’t believe in yourself – if you don’t love yourself – how do you expect others to?

Get rid of those old negative, defeating mind-sets and attitudes. Start thinking bigger and better! It’s never too late to be the person you want to be! And, to be happy and successful!

Charlie Chaplin said that “A day without laughter is a day wasted”. I’m a firm believer in the magic of laughter. I’ve been blessed with being able to see a humorous side of almost any situation – and hopefully make others laugh, also.

Laughter also has been found to have stress management benefits. Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones and increases health enhancing hormones. What this means is fewer physical effects of stress.

Have you ever “laughed until you cried”? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release for you. It also takes your mind off of anger, stress and other negative emotions.

Studies have also been done on our responses to stressful events. Our responses to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a ‘threat’ or a ‘challenge’. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as ‘challenges’, thereby making them less threatening and more positive.

And remember, laughter is contagious. If you bring more laughter in your life, chances are you can help those around you laugh more. This will make the mood around you better – and make you stay in a much more positive place.

What better way to stay positive and motivated. Make it a point to laugh every day! I know I do! Many times, I’m laughing at myself – but it’s better than staying frustrated and negative.

So, go out and have a good laugh everyday! It’s actually good for you – and those around you!

Sometimes staying motivated in reaching your goals is hard.  It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, the drive, energy, enthusiasm, interest and passion just drain out. The problem is, most of the times we are not calling the shots. We have to move with the rhythm of our environment which always asks us to stay ready and up and moving. So what do you do in times when you just don’t feel like doing anything? Or when too much needs to be done and all you ever want is to quit? Try the following.

Imagine the consequences.

Worst comes to worst, you will lose the opportunities you are trying to pursue or lose your sense of enjoyment in life. When lacking in motivation, think of the worst case scenario that may happen because of it. Then, maybe, just maybe, you’ll be in the mood to get off your butt.

Just begin.

Quit the mental chatter. Quit the debate in your head. Quit the inner dialogues that push and pull you from doing whatever it is that you need to do. Realize that hesitation doesn’t do you any good, it wastes your time at best. So why do it?

Stick with the plan.

Given that you have already started going for your goal, the next problem you’ll be encountering is sticking with it. It is never easy to stick with the plan because the temptation to give up or give in to the lures of rest, relaxation or slacking is too strong. No matter what happens though, just stick with it. Never, for one second, turn your back on your goals. Keep your eyes on them

Crave it.

Be passionate about what you are doing, even if it’s the most boring, tedious job in the world.

Do it for compelling reasons.

This is actually pretty much like the tip above, but it’s worth repeating. Do it for a compelling cause. Do it because you are burning with passion for it. Do it because it really excites you. If it doesn’t, then make it interesting. Motivation jumps out the nearest window if you don’t have an iota of interest in what you are doing.

Be careful when listening to that tiny voice.

The worst battles often happen inside the head, not during the act. What limits us in most cases is the self talk that convinces us of the negative sides of goal, of our self, or of our dreams. Shut this voice out and you will find it is easier to be motivated.

The Law of Attraction simply states that you will attract into your life whatever you think about. Are you attracting what you truly want?

Do you know people who are always talking about the bad things that happen to them? Is it that they just have bad luck? No, in my opinion, they keep talking and thinking about the bad things and bad things keep happening.

You’ve got to get up each morning with the thought in your head that “it’s going to be a great day”. Even say it out loud. Get the positive thoughts flowing early!

If you are having financial/debt problems, don’t go around thinking about how much debt you’re in. This is only attracting more debt. If you are having troubles with your business or career, don’t dwell on them. Find something positive to focus on.

All of us have made mistakes in our past. The important thing is not to keep thinking about them. They’re in the past – you can’t do a thing about them. Get over it – and use them as life lessons. Think about how to do things differently next time for the situation to have a positive outcome.

A great habit to get into is to write down all the positive things that happen to you during the day. I’m sure there’s more than you think. Be thankful for even the little things. Remember – we want to attract positive things. So, keep the positive items foremost in your mind.

Be the person you want to be around. Do you really like hanging around people who are always bitter and negative? Or would you rather be around positive and happy people? I know who I’d rather hang around with!

Be positive, be happy! See how it positively affects your business!

For many people, this is definitely a problem. You’ve been around them – no matter what happens to them – they can turn anything into a negative situation. I bet if they won a million dollars in the lottery – the first thing they would say is – “look at the taxes I have to pay.”

Contentment starts in your own attitude. It’s all in how you look at things. You need to have a grateful attitude about everything in your life. You may hate your job – but you need to be grateful you have one. Your spouse may drive you crazy at times – but you need to be grateful – look how many lonely people are out there. You may drive a clunker – but be happy you even have a car. Look how many people have to take the bus or walk everywhere.

You may be going through a learning curve with your business, whether it is Internet Marketing or something else. But, you need to be thankful that you can even pursue such a career. And, I’m sure you’re farther along than others that are learning. Be grateful for what you’ve already learned. Look at where you were a month ago, 6 months ago.

People look at the negative in every situation and then wonder why they’re not happy. They wonder why they don’t enjoy life. If they would only be grateful for what they do have – they’d be surprised how their situation would change.

No matter how bad you think things are – I guarantee you that there are many people out there who are much worse off than you. Always be thankful and grateful or what you do have.

Live your life with a grateful attitude about everything. You’ll be surprised how it will make a difference and how things will turn around for you!

Affirmations are defined as something declared to be true; a positive statement or judgment.

Affirmations are powerful if you are feeding your mind positive statements. Make sure you are not entering negative thoughts into your mind. Often, people repeat negative thoughts – “I’m lazy”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’ll never get out of debt”, “I’ll never have a successful relationship”. If you keep these thoughts center-most in your mind – that’s what you’re going to attract.

Instead you want to continually think positive and make (and I do this out loud) statements of where you want to be. You also want to make these statements as if it has already happened, not waiting for it to happen.

Some examples of positive affirmations are:

1. I am healthy and happy.

2. I am living in the house of my dreams.

3. I live in a beautiful ocean-front house.

4. I am out of debt and all my needs are met.

5. My business is successful and I am living the life of my dreams.

6. I have a wonderful, loving relationship with my wife/husband/significant other.

7. I am successful in everything I do.

8. I attract wealth and abundance.

9. I radiate love and happiness.

10. I have loads of energy.

Write out affirmations that relate to you personally and professionally. Read them in the morning and in the evening. See what effect this process will have on you.

You attract what you think. So, why not think and speak positive, powerful, successful thoughts?

You are influenced more than you think by the people that you surround yourself with. Look around – are those around you a positive force in your life – or are they a negative influence?

Do your friends uplift you – or are they always a “downer”? Do they support whatever you are doing – or do they tell you that whatever you are involved with will never work?

The people that you hang out with can have a definite influence on you. You need to make sure that your friends and associates are of a positive and enthusiastic mindset. Always surround yourself with positive “can do” people.

You also need to make sure that you are limiting time with those that are negative. Psychologists have proven that continued association with critical, complaining people can be enough to sabotage all your opportunities for success.

That can be hard. You may be living with someone like that – or a close friend may be. So, you really can’t just not talk to your spouse – but you can talk to them and let them know what a negative influence that they are on you. They may not even know it. And, look at it this way – if you stay positive and enthusiastic about life – maybe you can be a positive influence on them!

But, if they are just acquaintances that are always negative, the best thing to do is to limit the time that you spend with them. You want to associate yourself with people with positive energy, those going somewhere in their lives and, basically those that you would like to be with.

The funny thing is, once you become a totally positive and enthusiastic person – you’ll attract like-minded people to you!

As like most people, I wear many hats – Wife, Internet Marketer, Restaurant Owner, mother of our kitty, etc. Between shipping, marketing, paying bills (household and business), other work at the restaurant and just general keeping up the house – life gets interesting – and busy! I’m also an avid runner – and will always make time to do that.

Working from home is great – and I highly recommend it for everyone! But, sometimes I feel like I’m here at my work place – I need to be working. It’s easy to think that you need to be working all your waking hours.

I used to feel guilty about taking time out to run – even though it is what keeps me sane. And some of my best ideas, answers to problems, etc, have come from my running time. But, I still felt that there were so many things I needed to be doing. Listening to webinar trainings was one of them.

Webinars that I need to listen to can be a challenge with my schedule. Thanks goodness for the recorded replays! I download these to my iPod and listen to them on the run. When I’m doing an hour+ run, webinars make the time fly by. I’m working out my body and my mind. I’m sure they don’t know it – but every day I’m running with Connie Ragen Green or Denise Wakeman.

This has been great for me. I can take time out to do my longer runs – and no longer feel guilty about it. I’m learning at the same time.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

One of the keys to being truly happy is to find your passion in your work. A recent survey showed that 75% of people do not even know what their true passion is. I find that disturbing, because it is a wonderful feeling to be able to make a living doing something that you love. And, it’s sad that so many people live out their lives doing things that they hate to do.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to possibly help you in finding your passion:

1. What excites you? What makes you smile?

2. What are you good at? What do people ask your opinion about?

3. What do you read about? What magazines do you buy?

4. What comes easy to you?

5. What do you like to talk about?

6. What do you regret never attempting?

7. What would you do for free?

Take some time and truly think about each of these questions. Take a piece of paper and write down your answers to each question. Is there anything that pops up on more than one list? Is there anything that shows up on all of the lists?

This exercise may take you some time – and some major soul-searching to complete. But, it will be time well spent. Isn’t worth finding what will make you jump out of bed each day excited about life?

Remember, we only go through this life once – be happy and enjoy!

Working from home is a dream for many people!  And a dream that can come true – and which has for so many.  But, if you are wanting to work from home – you need to get the training necessary to be successful.

And, sometimes that means getting out of your comfort zone and going to live events.  And, the best of the best is coming up very soon!  I first attended NAMS (Niche Affiliate Marketing System) last year and it was life-changing for me!  I learned so many things that has helped me to get my business going in the right direction.  Also, networking with the wonderful people that you’ll need is something that will do wonders for you.

Now, if you’ve been trying to get a home business on the Internet started – I know exactly what you’re going though.    I’ve been there – and still am there.  You get so many emails and read so many things that you just get so confused.  It’s called “Bright Shiny Object Syndrome”!  And, we’ve all been there!

You don’t think what you’re doing is working – then you hear about this wonderful program, product, etc. that will make you millions…..blah, blah, blah.  I’ve bought in to many of these.  I’ve got more programs and products on my hard drive than I care to admit. You need to get with some people who can help you get moving in the right direction and cut through the BS.

NAMS is held in Atlanta – and is February 10 – 13.  There are 4 different levels of instruction so no matter where you are in your business – there’s a place for you.  3 full days of training and 25 instructors.  And, the instructors are top-notch and have been where you are now.  Don’t you want to learn from someone who has been in your shoes?

I could go on and on – but take time to read about it for yourself.  You can at http://budurl.com/NAMS2012

Now the time is close – but there is still enough time to make plans.  If you are serious about wanting to work from home, you need to be there.  It’s a life changing experience!