Daily Natural Highs

The following is a list of "Natural Highs", or thing that perk up the soul and give us a burst of warm energy.

Take a moment out of your hectic schedule to think about at least one of the following list of Natural Highs.

Picture one at a time in vivid detail, don't be afraid to let your imagination run wild before going on to the next one.

* * * W A R N I N G * * *

Thinking about these will make you feel good so be careful, you might not be used to supporting yourself with warm positive energy.

DAILY NATURAL HIGHS

1. Falling in love.

2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.

3. A hot shower.

4. No lines at the supermarket.

5. A special glance.

6. Getting mail.

7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.

8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.

9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.

10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.

11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry ).

12. A bubble bath.

13. Giggling.

14. A good conversation.

15. The beach.

16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.

17. Laughing at yourself.

18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you

19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.

20. Running through sprinklers.

21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.

23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS

24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.

25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.

26. Your first kiss (the very first).

27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.

28. Playing with a new puppy.

29. Having someone play with your hair.

30. Sweet dreams.

31. Hot chocolate.

32. Road trips with friends.

33. Swinging on swings.

34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.

35. Making chocolate chip cookies.

36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.

37. Holding hands with someone you care about.

38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.

39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.

40. Watching the sunrise.

41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.

42. Knowing that somebody misses you.

43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.

44. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think!

Sleep Less... Have More Energy?

The following is a copy of a post made on 43things.com

See what other people are doing or check the progress on this at: become a morning person.

Hello all,

Thanks again for taking a moment to read about my success story.

It was almost 10 years ago when I had a case of reverse-insomnia. The number of hours in my daily sleep was limited by eating and bathroom breaks.

I went from hating to get up to waking up at just after 6:00am every day and am more productive and am accomplishing more than ever. I tackle the thing I dislike the most doing first thing in the morning and the rest of the day is a bonus!

If you are looking to change from sleeping all day to making the most of your day, the Success Sensei offers the following advice to turn the tide of nappy time to your terms.

1. Get a comfy bed.
– If you aren’t getting quality sleep then it won’t matter how much sleep you get, it won’t ever feel enough.

2. Eliminate distractions.
– Why not take the time and/or money to fix that leaky tap instead of listening to it all night long and then complaining about it the day after. Does your significant other snore… well then get earplugs. Don’t take or make excuses.

3. Wake Up Your Way.
– I haven’t met anyone who enjoyed the tormenting blast of a buzzer first thing in the morning so why do most of us choose to wake up by it? How much calmer and happy would you be if you started off your day with your favorite song? Buy a CD alarm clock or find another way to make this happen.

4. Treat Your Feet.
– If you’re floor is cold and you hate touching your bare feet against it in the morning then why not adjust your thermostat to heat up earlier in the am before you get up? Don’t have an auto thermostat? Improvise by buying comfy slippers that you can keep warm under the sheets overnight until you’re ready to use them.

5. Incentive For The Bathroom
– No this isn’t a reward system for going potty, what this means is that you need to create something exciting in your bathroom so that you are enticed to get right out of bed and get right to it in the bathroom in the morning. It doesn’t matter what you use it could be soap, shampoo, shaving cream, great perfume or cologne or whatever. The test for knowing whether or not its a good incentive? The thought of using this item compels you enough to get out of bed.

6. Incentive for Life
– Last but deinitely not least is the most important piece of the puzzle. One of the strongest supporting factors in my own ability to get up was building a strong enough reason to. Wayne Dyer so that the biggest reason why people don’t want to get out of bed is because they don’t have any reason to. Find your reason and you will find yourself getting out of bed in the morning.

As always, the Success Sensei is open to your feedback, questions, or any ideas on how I can support you through your journey to greatness.

This Moments Thought

Good day to you,

Thank you for joining me on another day full of the potential to create anything you want.

Here is This Moments Thought brought to you by the Buddha himself.

Whoever makes love grow boundless, and sets his mind for seeing the end of birth, his fetters are worn thin. If he loves even a single being, Good will follow. But the Noble One with compassionate heart for all mankind, generates abounding good. - Buddha...

The Success Sensei Says:

I challenge you to take the next few moments after reading these words and reflect on how you can be more compassionate towards others.

Forward Towards Success

Quit Quitting Until You're Ready To Quit

See more progress on: Quit Smoking

The date: June 15, 1999
The hope: Quit Smoking
The tool: Scratching My Record

It was June 4th 1999 and rumors of Y2k were putting most people in a panic mode. At the time, my girlfriend was working out of the province and I took a month leave of absence from my work to join her.

The day before I boarded the plane my mother suggested that I try a stop smoking cessation product and try to quit smoking cigarettes while I was away. Without thinking about all the implications, the apparent hassle it might be to give up this habit, or even considering why she was offering me this information I went to the Doctor’s and got my prescription.

At this time I had been a smoker for over 9 years and hadn’t planned to quit smoking anytime soon. I tried quitting once in high school for a week or two but after almost ruining all my friendships due to a case of the crankiness I soon realized that quitting before I was ready was futile. But I did know that “one-day” would come that I would quit, so I continued to enjoy my addiction until then.

Well needless to say the trip was a success in that I quit smoking on June 15th, and surprisingly lost the seemingly constant urge to smoke. What helped me along the process was in retrospect the following 3 reasons:

1. I always knew deep inside that one day I would quit. Henry Ford put this best when he said “Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right.”

2. I tricked my mind into getting help by not thinking about the future when I went to the doctor to get the prescription. As long as I didn’t tell my mind what I was doing, it wouldn’t have the opportunity to give me all the reasons why I shouldn’t.

3. I changed my environment or settings. Being around friends and family that smoked didn’t contribute to the willpower that would allow me to quit. So not being around them for the month allowed me the time to instill a newly desired and healthy habit.

People always state how quitting smoking is hard but I find this information to be delusional to the fact.

Quitting smoking is a ONE-STEP process.

1. Stop doing it. That’s it and that’s all. Easy, you don’t have to do anything else because you’re already not doing it.

BUT

To continue smoking one has to:

1. Find the money they could be spending on other things they want.
2. Go to the store and purchase the cigarettes. Perhaps get ID’d from the clerk.
3. Buy, borrow, or carry around a lighter to light the cigarette.
4. Find a smoking area (in a land of increasing non-smoking areas) to smoke in.
5. Smoke it without trying to get it in your eyes.
6. Smoke it without trying to get the smell on your clothes.
7. Smoke it without trying to get the smell in your hair.
8. Smoke it without trying to get the nicotine smell on your fingers.
9. Find an ashtray to butt out the cigarette when finished.
10. Find some perfume or cologne to combat the “smokers” breath.
11. Find some toothpaste to brush your teeth and combat the “smokers” breath.
12. Find some mouth wash to rinse your mouth and combat the “smokers” breath.
13. Find some hand wash to keep your fingers from turning yellow.
14. Worry about what others think about you.
15. Worry about the time it takes you away of your everyday activities to smoke.
16. Beat yourself up about the unhealthy habit you are giving into.
17. Listen to friends, family, and loved ones tell you how much you should quit.
18. Obsess over when you’ll smoke next, making sure all the above conditions are favorable.

You can start by adding up these differences in your own words and use your own examples.

This will give power to the truth and take away power from the false beliefs the mind has erected to keep you in your comfort zone.

Believe that you will quit smoking soon and appreciate that you won’t do it one single minute before your ready.

I believe in you and if there is a way that I can support you please drop me a line.

Forward Towards Success

Ending Depression, Stopping Medications and Starting To Live Again

The following is a copy of the post made on 43things.com

See what people are doing or check the progress at: overcome depression and anxiety

Good Day All,

I am honored that you are reading these very words as I know the connection that we share in this moment is NO coincidence.

The fact that you are reading this right now means that you are either well on the way to overcoming your battle with depression, or are interested in helping someone close to you do triumph.

Please allow me to briefly share my experience with depression in hopes that it might resonate with you coming from another person who’s battled back from darkness of despair to now breathe light and love.

Depression and anxiety are both sides of the same ugly coin. Each face would like to have us believe that we are less than perfect beings, less than whole souls, and not worthy of living in abundance and greatness.

The specifics of my battle with depression are not pertinent other than I was diagnosed and prescribed with anti-depressants for a few years. The day I started my medications I knew something was wrong when one of the side effects listed was “suicide”. It was at this time that I knew I was looking outside for an answer to solve something that resided within inside me all along.

With just a glimmer of hope inside I continued with my medications, feeling the heavy effects on my conscious thought, the startling side effects on my body and brain, and the tenacious torment on my soul, all along knowing deep inside that the answer (or cure) was only a matter of the right information.

Depression is like being lost in a maze of madness and despair, where the walls seem to get taller each day and the options for getting out seem to be more restricted each moment.

Despite being tired, lonely and lost, I chose to believe that at any time of any day I could stumble across “the map” towards a way out.

It was almost 3 years later that I found that piece of information that solved the riddle for me, the map to gave me peace to navigate myself out of the maze.

It was that day upon finding “my inner map” that I stopped my medications cold turkey, which I’ve since learned is not recommended to do. But because I didn’t think, know, or believe in any limits at the time, and I only had a belief inside that I could return to wholeness, my world began to once again reflect wholeness and in doing so, I released my need to have a solution soaking in side-effects be my only hope.

It was in those dark moments that I received the greatest gift of my life, the ability to tell this story and connect with people like yourself and give them hope.

It was in those dark moments that the seeds for helping others was planted and it was through nurturing my return to wholeness that the Success Sensei was born.

And it is my hope that you take advantage of this moment where we share a connection through the words you just read and contact me with any questions, concerns, or thoughts on how I could be a part of your return to greatness. The Success Sensei is passionate about taking a look at all the wonderful self-help options available and using my intuition, empathy, and personal experiences to help find the tools and techniques that will help your breakthrough your burden of bad and bogus beliefs.

I know you’re out there and you don’t have to be alone. Lets get better together!

Forward Towards Success