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Maria Connolly, LPC Facebook Facebook Facebook

Category: Life Skills

Learn how to focus on the soft skills, the people skills like good communication, effective leadership, positive motivation, and managing your emotions.

Focus on Competence: Strive for Excellence Not Perfection

Striving for excellence not perfection is like an analog clock.“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” ~ Dr. Harriet Braiker

Kathy (my client, not her real name) had an all-or-nothing attitude that was keeping her frustrated and angry. She thought in terms of extremes, in black and white. If she didn’t accomplish something perfectly, she viewed herself as a failure. And if others didn’t live up to her expectations, it was a relationship-breaker. Do you know someone like Kathy? Can you relate? It took a lot of work for her to grasp the pure magic that results when you strive for excellence not perfection. 

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Trust Yourself — 7 Ways to Listen to Your Gut Instinct & Intuition

Learn to trust yourself and kick self-doubt to the curb.

If you often fail to trust yourself, second-guessing and doubting your gut or intuition, here are 7 ways to regain an unshakeable trust in yourself.“The intuitive mind is where our genius resides.” ~ A. Artemis

Has anyone ever chided you for making decisions based on gut instinct? In today’s technological world, isn’t it an asset to be more logical, more analytical? Perhaps you feel stuck at times between following your head or your heart, because you don’t trust yourself to make the right decision. Actually, I don’t think success is dependent on being one way or the other. As complex humans, we use both! They complement each other. Never would you want to silence one of your greatest strengths – your inner voice, your sixth sense, your gut, your intuition.

While many people think intuition is only the result of the brain drawing on past experiences and external cues to make a decision on an unconscious level, there’s more going on than that. There are neurotransmitters in your actual gut that send signals to your brain. They respond to real-time environmental stimuli and emotions. When those neurotransmitters fire you feel sensations of uneasiness. Scientists are calling the gut our second brain. You can know something, without knowing how you know it. You just have to learn to trust yourself!

We often speak of women’s intuition, but men can be powerfully intuitive too. Everyone can increase their intuition or gut instinct.

Here are seven ways you can learn to trust yourself by mindfully enhancing your logical side with your intuitive side…

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How to Have a Happy Life Even When Things Are Falling Apart

How can we have a happy life when we’re experiencing so much hardship right now?

Learn five mindfulness practices that help you create a happy life by seeing the good around you, appreciating each moment and controlling your reactions.“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” Omar Khayyam

Life takes us on an emotional ride, doesn’t it? One minute you’re on the top of the world, the next, you’re crashing down. Since happiness depends on your emotional response to life’s changing tide, it’s no wonder our happiness is taking a major hit right now. But the good news is that there’s something you can do to elevate your happiness, even during stressful times. 

When you know a surprisingly simple technique, your highs and lows of life won’t be so drastic. You’ll be able to maintain an even keel despite life’s storms. After all, a happy life is created from within.

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How to Live In Your Body — A Centering Practice Calms Emotional Chaos

How to live in your body more fully, through a centering practice…

Learn to live in your body through a centering practice that helps you gain peace, clarity and focus.“If you are centered, you can move freely.” ~  Morihei Ueshiba

Do you really live in your body? Or are you so busy with life that you forget to connect with your senses and sensations? To cultivate more calm and presence, why not try a centering practice to reconnect with your body wisdom — to think, speak and act from your body, instead of reacting impulsively from mental chaos or confusion? Here’s what I mean…

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How Complaining Rewires Your Brain for Negativity…Promote Positivity Instead!

Learn how complaining rewires your brain for negativity and how you can use this process to promote positivity in yourself and others.“It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.” ~ Confucius

You know THAT person, the one who opens her mouth and out tumbles complaint after complaint. Chronic complainers are draining and irritating. But could someone be saying that about you? It’s possible we’re complaining and not even recognizing it!

Of course, we all complain to vent and blow off steam. And that’s a good thing, right? It’s not hurting anyone. Um…yes it might be. Not only could it be hurting your relationships, it might be modifying your brain. For a starter, let’s examine how complaining rewires your brain for negativity…

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How to Step Forward to a Future You've Created

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