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If you want a happier, more fulfilling life, let go of unhealthy relationships

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 7:15 am

Have you ever felt drained after being around a certain person? Maybe you feel like you’re walking on eggshells trying to cater to their ever-changing mood. Or for the most part, you have to go out of your way to explain your actions to them so they can understand your good intentions. Maybe they say they understand how you feel, but yet, their actions are contradicting. Whether or not their behavior is deliberate, bottom line is: you feel drained when you have to deal with them. Could it be that this relationship requires more care and maintenance than you’re prepared to give?

People with whom you surround yourself can make you, or break you. You may have been led to believe that the longer the friendship, the better the friend. Yet, that’s not always the case. Yes, some friendships can be like fine wine—growing in richness with time—but some, just aren’t meant to have a very long shelf life.

Recognize that regardless of how long you’ve been together, if it’s an unhealthy relationship, it can be a kind of toxic in your life; it can be a roadblock in your life preventing you from moving ahead to where you want to go. And if you allow it to continue, your mood will suffer in a way that not only sacrifices your own well-being, but also the well-being of others around you.

It can be hard to part ways with a friend or a partner, even when their behavior warrants it. While betrayal or seemingly deliberate attempts to be hurtful are clear signals that it’s time to move on, sometimes the signal of the end of a relationship isn’t that obvious. Furthermore, sometimes an unhealthy relationship can brew from two people who truly want to be kind to one another, but somehow along the way, they ended up on different pages; they don’t agree with each other, and tension rises. This can be just as unhealthy. So what do you do? I guess this is where you have to use your better judgement.

If after a fair amount of consideration, you feel strongly about maintaining a relationship with this person, then be assertive and communicate honestly with them about what is working and not working for you in the relationship. Give it your all and kindly speak your truth, and allow them to do the same. And after this, if you still don’t see any progress, at least you know you did your best and you wouldn’t have left much room for regrets with “I should have” or “I could have.”

Leaving behind an unhealthy relationship is one of the best things you can do for your well-being, as you make room for more positive, nurturing people to enter your life. As they say: When one door closes, only then can another door open.

In life, we’ll all inevitably experience unhealthy relationships that challenge our minds and hearts so we can learn and grow. So learn from it, grow from it. But recognize when it is time to say goodbye. As you move forward in life, continue to give that which you seek. If you want relationships that enhance your life, help you to be your best, and encourage your dreams, then, offer this kind of friendship to another person. You’ll get out of life what you put into it…always.

From her columns to her blog, Penny continues to capture the hearts of her readers with exhilarating insight and inspiring wisdom. Her blog offers tips, advice and inspiration on everything to do with relationships. Let this site be a place you go to for some insight to inspire healthier, happier relationships in your life. http://www.relationshipadvicefrompenny.com

Article Source: If you want a happier, more fulfilling life, let go of unhealthy relationships

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How To Break Out of the Comfort Zone

  • Posted on July 1, 2009 at 7:56 pm

This fear of failure is the single biggest “affliction” in society. The comfort zone and a fear of failure paralyze people from making the steps they need to in order to improve their situation. If you look at anyone in a low paying, dead-end job or who stays in an unhealthy relationship you are seeing a person who is in a comfort zone.

Incessant planning and contemplation as opposed to action are a means of maintaining ones place in the comfort zone and can be your own worse enemy.

With the Fire, Ready, Aim strategy, you take your big goals and break them down into smaller, more accessible goals. That’s why we use the belt system in the martial arts. The goal for all of my students is black belt. While I have accelerated courses that can get you to black belt in as little as six-months, it takes most students 3-5 years of classes. That is a long time, so we break that time frame with short-term goals represented by belt colors.

In most schools, the darker the belt, the closer to black belt you get. So in my school, you would start with white belt. The white represented that you didn’t know anything about martial arts or very little. Within six-weeks, you would earn your gold belt and then in eight to twelve week increments, you would go to orange, green, blue, red, 4th degree brown, 3rd degree brown, 2nd degree brown, 1st degree brown and then black.

Each belt was earned through an examination process. With each belt earned the students felt a sense of progress. These acted as mini-victories that motivated them to continue classes. It was important for student retention that the every eligible student take their exams. We knew from tracking our statistics that students who did not take exams were our highest drop out risks. Progress creates motivation. Fire-Ready-Aim creates progress which creates momentum and motivation.

To be clear, Fire-Ready-Aim can create some challenges and set-backs that could have been avoided with more preparation, but in my experience, and this book is only my perspective on this things, the results far outweigh the risks.

Despite what all of the business books say, I’ve never written a business plan nor have I ever used on. I’ve never written a marketing plan either. For small businesses like mine, I don’t see the need to outline and prepare for every contingency. For large businesses, I can see how having plans can help keep everyone’s ladder on the same wall. But for small business with just a few employees, I think that’s less necessary. I would rather spend that time attacking my next project.

Fire-Ready-Aim can create some problems of its own that you may avoid with more planning but the key word is “may.” You may encounter the same problem with planning, who knows? Who cares, just get on with it. I believe that if you pull the trigger you will get the feedback you need to adjust from the market rather than a theory. I guess another way of looking at this to “Make the mess and clean it up later.”

John Graden is the author of The Impostor Syndrome. The Impostor Syndrome is the feeling you’re not as smart, talented, or skilled as others think you are. It’s the feeling you’ve been faking it and are about to be found out. Learn more about the book at:

http://www.theimpostorsyndrome.com

http:www.johngraden.com

Article Source: How To Break Out of the Comfort Zone

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