Be happy

Wow, what crazy times we are experiencing. For those of us in Christchurch, we thought we had experienced enough once in a lifetime events with earthquakes and March 15, 2019. Just as well we can't see into the future.

This year I made it one of my goals to read a motivational, inspirational or self-help book at least once a month. I have picked up some great motivation to help keep me on track. Little did I know that I would need to really start putting everything I have been learning into practice…and very quickly.

With the announcement on Monday that we would be at level 4 lockdown by midnight Wednesday, I decided as a business we could do two things...

Option 1

Shut shop immediately go home and drown in our sorrows.

Option 2

Be positive, work out a strategy on how to best deal with the situation.

We choose option 2.

Monday afternoon Tyler (our salon assistant) and I got on the phones, calling all clients we had booked in for the next two weeks offering to do their hair and beauty services within the next two days before we went into lockdown. We got a great response.

We then reinforced all the sanitisation procedures we had in place in the salon to make it as safe as possible for clients to visit.

sanitisation procedures

We sent a brief message out to our database and videos on social media to let people know we were open. We are very grateful also for the support, in a small business, Covid 19 virus can make business trading extremely challenging.

I got all my team on board and asked them to come in on their days off and work all day Tuesday and Wednesday to service our clients and anyone in the community that needed our services. I am so proud of Georgina, Kumar, Daniel, Pam, Gokul, Fiko and Ankita who have all worked tirelessly for the last two days looking after our clients. A haircut, colour or beauty treatment can make you feel so good and is great for your self-esteem and mental health.

We could not have done all this without thesupport of our wonderful clients, it is truly appreciated, and we have added toour income to pay our staff while closed for the next four weeks.

Here are some tips-facts-suggestions that I have picked up while reading the self-help books. I thought it quite timely to share these with you as we go into isolation lockdown for 4 weeks.

Love compassion and kindness

Positive Mental Attitude

Positive mentalattitude (PMA) is a concept first developed and introduced in1937 by Napoleon Hill in the book Think and Grow Rich. ... Positive mentalattitude is the philosophy that having an optimistic disposition in everysituation in one's life attracts positive changes and increasesachievement.

Why is a positive mental attitude important?

A positiveattitude helps you cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. Itbrings optimism into your life and makes it easier to avoid worries andnegative thinking. If you adopt it as a way of life, it will bring constructivechanges into your life, and makes them happier, brighter and more successful.

Does positive mental attitude work?

Taking a positive attitude toward life makes you a happier person all around, and one that other people in your life look up to and want to spend time with. There's even evidence that having a positive attitude can help lower stress levels and improve your health.

What is positive attitude example?

Individuals who have a positiveattitude will pay attention to the good, rather than bad in people,situations, events. A simple example of a positive attitude;when you are having a very bad run of luck, but you still say, “Good Morning”rather than “What's so good about this morning”.

This has been a focus of mine for 2020, if you havebeen reading my previous blogs you will have seen the books, I have beenreading this year. I have picked up many great tips ideas and knowledge throughreading these books.

Practice Daily Gratitude

Practice Daily Gratitude

The benefits of practising gratitude are nearly endless. People who regularly practise gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they're thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems. Be grateful and show gratitude.

Whatever lessons you learn from life and from others, you can pass them on to others in society. You can choose to help those who are facing similar situations to those you have faced and overcome. This way, you contribute positive energy to society. Giving back is rewarding in so many ways.

I have invested in “The Key Planner” in this book I have

  • Set my short and long-term goals.
  • Each night I write in my daily gratitude.
  • It has charts so you can track any of your goals like exercise, weight, savings, whatever you wish to focus on.
  • There are many more sections, just google key planner if you want to know more.

I have found this to be sucha positive exercise. Even on days when things haven’t gone so great, I stillwrite in what has been “good and positive” about each day and things I amthankful for. This really does help to switch your focus to being positive.

The Key Planner

Surround yourself with positive uplifting people, seek a different perspective.

You become like the people you spend the most time with, so spend time with positive people. This will help you stay in the positive energy zone and thereby help you stay focused on your goals and achieve better results in everything you do. Avoid negative people who bad mouth, envy, or complain about others. Their negative energy is infectious and can cause you a lot of stress, which, in turn, has a negative impact on your personal development. Sometimes, looking at life from a different viewpoint can help you take control of your thoughts. It will not just help you explore different aspects of yourself, but it will also help you discover your hidden talents and strengths.

Spend time with friends and family

Family time is an essentialfactor that helps to create strong bonds, love, connections, and relationshipamong the family members. Spending quality time withfamily does help in coping with challenges, instil a feeling of security,inculcate family values, fill kids with confidence, and much more.

I am lucky to have two great boyswhom I love spending time with.

Vicki and kids

Create awareness of your thoughts

Put a rubber band on your wrist as a reminder to notice your thoughts and reactions. Learn to accept what has happened. Many a time, things don’t turn out as we expect them to. Instead of brooding over how they should have gone or what you could have done differently, it is better to accept that some things are outside your control.

This will preventnegative energy from paralyzing your life. By learning to accept the limits ofyour influence, you can move on with a positive mental attitude.

Don’t mistake thiswith being a victim of circumstance. You very much do have a say in how yourlife pans out. You are not merely a passenger, but neither do you always have aclear idea of where a road will take you. When you are filled with negativity,it leads to frustration and then to anger. A slight trigger like someonecutting you off at a traffic signal can make you angry. But you know what? Theworld is full of such people, and every time you react like this, it affectsyour mental and emotional well-being. Although showing anger might make it feellike you won, ultimately you are the loser because the stress caused by thewhole episode will negatively impact you in more than one way. Hence, if youcan train your mind to stay calm whatever happens, you will be more able toretain your positive mindset.

Choose humanity

Master your emotions

Emotions help us to make judgments about the past and present and allow us to gauge what might happen in the future. Positive thoughts are rewarding as they bring positive emotions such as joy, hope, inspiration, and motivation.

Negative thoughts, on the other hand, can be devastating and can lead to anxiety, despair, resentment, confusion, and guilt.

These negative emotions can be taxing and leave you drained. Judgment and perception are the main tools used to master your emotions because these determine whether we accept the situation positively or negatively. Having a handle on your emotions – or rather the effect your emotions have on your thoughts – allows you to gauge whether an emotion will be beneficial to your situation.

How to master your emotions

Meditate

Meditation does to the mind what exercise does to the body. How it unravels the mind is amazing. Initially, it may be difficult to bring the mind under control, but soon you will start feeling all the positive energy opening inside you. Meditation helps you discover yourself and, in the process, heals you from within. It allows you to better understand what is and is not important in life.

Meditiate

Love and be kind to thyself

People may say a hundred things about you for good or ill. So what? They are entitled to their opinion, but you do not have to believe all that they say. It is important that you discover a love for yourself. That way, what others think or say about you can have no lasting effect on your mindset. Self-love feeds positivity and helps to dissolve limiting beliefs. When you feel good about yourself, you do not need to compare yourself with others. Love turns to confidence which allows you to move mountains and realize your goals.

be kind to yourself

Seek Help When You Need It

If you feel like you are losing control of your life and stress is taking over, you can always ask for help.

A good life coachcan help you assess your current situation and guide you toward achieving yourgoal. For your personal development, they can help you integrate your mind andemotions with your body and spirit so that you can rediscover yourself and takehold of your life.

Seek help
Vicki quote Be positive