The Soul's Inspiration

For more information:
Hueina Su, Beyond Horizon Coaching: http://www.hueinasu.com<http://www.hueinasu.com/>
Linda Langsam, Positive Intentions: http://www.positiveintentionsnj.com/
Dorothy George, The Soul's Inspiration: http://thesoulsinspiration.com/

A new year is a chance to resolve to make life improvements but they don’t often come easy.

According to life coaches Hueina Su, Dorothy George and Linda Langsam, if genuine and lasting change is desired, there are at least five approaches that promise greater success.

For Hueina Su, author, international speaker and life coach, her five essentials for conscious change are: clarity, courage, confidence, commitment, and self-love.

Su, proprietor of Beyond Horizon Coaching in Denville, said changing oneself requires first and foremost developing clarity around what you want in your life and why you want it. She said the first step toward significant change is to take stock and review what is and is not working and then make a conscious choice about what needs to change.

“A great deal of self-reflection is involved,” Su said. “Sometimes we make vows and promises to do things that in truth – really don’t matter to us. You must really think about what it is you believe you want and why you want it.”

She offered the example of someone who has a goal of acquiring a bigger home. Upon further reflection one might consider how much more time, energy and work may be required to purchase and maintain a larger home. According to Su, one might ask -- do I really want what I think I want?

“The trouble is when we make half-hearted promises to do something and we fail – that tends to lower our self-esteem. So when we embark on achieving a goal, we should make certain that our goal is really important to us,” Su said.

Linda Langsam agrees. She is a clinical hypnotherapist, life coach, and the proprietor of Positive Intentions based in Hackettstown. She said that we all have positive intentions for everything we do, but they may not be serving us upon further examination.

“In order to make effective and lasting change, it is valuable to deeply explore our intentions and motives behind our behaviors. For example, if someone wants to eat less, they may need to first understand the positive intention behind over-eating. Is it socialization? Is it comfort? Does eating certain foods remind you of loved ones from your past?” she said.

Langsam said the same is true with examining anger.

“Does getting angry make others more easily comply with your expectations, or give you the attention you need? Perhaps anger may hide your true feelings of fear and emotional pain, and may even make you feel stronger and more together,” she said.

Langsam said additional steps should include: visualizing yourself as successful, staying present, seeing the good intentions in yourself and in others, and observing your thinking.

Determining what you will and won't accept in your life

Dorothy George also agrees that self-reflection is paramount when seeking to change one’s life, but instead of using the term goals, George prefers to call them “set points.”

George is the proprietor of the Soul’s Inspiration located in Morristown. She earned an associates degree in psychology and is a certified meditation instructor and “an intuitive guide.” She believes the first step is to fully examine one’s desires and then establish a new bottom line.

“For me the term ‘goal’ implies something out there, unattainable. Establishing a new ‘set point’ involves declaring what one will or will not accept in one’s life,” she said.

George said change requires a shift in attitude.

“So for instance I will say I am worth a certain amount now so I will begin to work toward establishing a new set point based on that belief and I will then work to bring it about,” George said.

George also recommends becoming conscious of your surroundings and environment, taking care of the environment, and nurturing your self.

She said it’s important to be aware of how your environment makes you feel. Is it uplifting and inspiring? Or does it make you feel out of control, distracted and ill at ease?

“You may decide to reorganize or include flowers and lavender or soft music to create the kind of sanctuary that you need to live a calm and peaceful life," she said.

George said taking steps toward protecting the environment is also vital to our happiness and well-being because the health of the earth supports our health as well and she agrees with Su that nurturing one’s self is critical to our happiness and well-being.

Su said she believes self love is important because you can’t give away what you don’t have. For George, if you want to be the best you can be, and help others, you have to take care of yourself first.

“Nurture yourself every day in some way. If you want to be the best you can be, you must take care of yourself. Women forget to do this for themselves generally. They are always giving to everyone else in their lives and their wants and needs come last,” she said.

George and Langsam agree that visualizing and seeing yourself as successful in your endeavor is extremely important to achieving the desired change.

“Take the time to visualize yourself successful. Ten minutes a day can transform you,” Langsam said.

She said brain research shows that the unconscious mind believes in the images one creates in his or her mind.

“If you see yourself as overcoming your realistic challenges, your mind will begin to believe in your confidence. This is similar to when your mind believes the reality of a movie, which is why you may scream at the scary parts,” she said.

“Your unconscious mind cannot always tell reality from what you imagine. Be careful what you imagine about yourself,” Langsam said.

George agrees, but emphasizes that one must truly imagine what it feels like to have achieved success in a given area.

“Think about what it feels like to have arrived. There is a definite energy vibration that you give off when you change your inner perspective and people all around you pick up on it,” she said.

And, as the Lion in “The Wizard of Oz” had to learn, one must develop courage.

“It takes courage to really pursue what you want instead of what other people think you should want. It’s not easy, but if you find yourself becoming fearful and focusing on the risks involved, you can increase your courage by focusing on love and faith,” Su said.

She said having a strong enough reason for reaching your goal will instill courage and if you find yourself losing confidence, she suggests reflecting on past achievements and obstacles that you have overcome.