Category Archives: Motivation and Inspiration

Does Your Body Rule?

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In the previous article we discussed how the Body, Environment and Time can hijack our goals and leave our outcomes to chance, circumstance, and fate. So, let’s delve further into the Body.

Is is so easy to get distracted these days with 24 hour news cycles, hundreds of channels of live or programmed content, info on demand with a voice request, and smart gadgets on our arms, body or walls. That’s why it is so easy to get hijacked even before we begin our day.  The smart alarm while waking you up also tells you the headlines, many of which are negative. We must be vigilant, because, it is the start of our day, that we have the greatest chance to take control of.

1. Are You Betting on Your Body?

headache_pain_800_clr_3364.pngMany check in with their body to see what it wants and needs when they first wake up. We check to see if anything hurts, or is it hungry? Does it need to go to the bathroom or have other hygienic or biological needs or requests? Or, perhaps the body wants coffee, food, sugar, or an even worse habitual stimulants like cigarettes, alcohol, pills, or drugs.  Now, of course I am not saying to ignore the body, but realize that it is biologically programmed to alert us of any serious problems. What I am saying is to not let it rule and dictate our first thoughts and daily trajectory because energy goes where attention flows.

The body has memorized all your habits (good and bad) and uninterrupted will play the program over and over again. It is designed to conserve energy and it does that by not having to make you think.

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Most of our mornings  routines are robotic, habitual, and automatic. We do the same things. We wear the same few outfits, eat the same few meals, park in the same spots if possible, sit in the same seats, hang with the same few people, and if we drive, take the same routes. The body wants us to be comfortable and any change even the changes that are good for us are uncomfortable. Be clear, if the body rules, we are being reactive and living according to a past program, not the present.

Be Mindful of Your Physical State

With that said, the mind and body are partners and the body must be taken care of and be physically fit in order to make the most of our day. Having a physical routine that synchronizes with our mind and heart is a great way to begin our day. Yoga, a brisk walk in fresh air, and exercise are great ways to jump start your day and improve your health and well-being.

In our next post, we will discuss the impact of environment.

578239_10150981208185649_1604504171_n.jpgMy passion is in connecting hearts, to help people see our oneness and common humanity, and to teach people strategies for handling the individual, family, societal, and workplace stresses that zap our energy, enjoyment of life, productivity, and well-being. I have been training adult audiences for over 40 years.

I work with people at all levels, but especially with top leadership in organizations with a focus on employee engagement, dysfunctional teams, communication challenges, culture, implicit bias, change management, and rebuilding trust. I am a keynote speaker and also train nationally for businesses, associations, colleges, community groups, and government organizations.

My focus over the past decade has focused neuroscience of well-being, positive psychology, strengths-based leadership, generative change, emotional resilience and Appreciative Inquiry. My current or recent contracts have been working with leadership in high stress organization: correctional facilities, emergency communication centers, and high stress government agencies. I am a wife, mother of six, and entrepreneur and also an author of six books.

 

BET- What Are You Betting Your Day On Chance or Choice?

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rotating_custom_dice_12396.gif

What primes your day, your body, the environment or time?

Like priming a pump, our first thoughts in the morning and throughout our days must be intentional, positive, and proactive, otherwise we have no choice but to be reactive to what our Body, Environment, or Time dictates to our emotions.

The will of the collective mind, body, and spirit as partners in achieving our life’s mission should start our days, but unfortunately, three powerful hijackers, body, environment, and time can stress us, redirect our energies and set our day in motion and in a direction that we did not choose. This is because each of these powerful protagonists can control what we feel, think, and ultimately do or not do.

Each of these influences also has a powerful impact on our daily outcomes because over 90% of our decisions are controlled by our emotions. Clearly our reactions to and the importance we place on our body, environment, and time affect our feelings, how we start our day, and influences how we feel and act throughout our day.

Chance Is The Default

rotating_custom_dice_12396 (1).gifWe each have the power of creation in our heads, hearts, and hands and yet most of us BET our days on chance. Now, we don’t intentionally bet our precious lives on circumstance, but chance is the default if we do not proactively choose the kind of day we want and channel our creative energies (thoughts, emotions, behaviors) towards those intentional goals. Conscious intention, not fate, gives us the best chance to create the life we desire. If we convince ourselves that fate is the only power and we have no control over our lives, we are doomed to accept whatever life offers.

Put it this way, if we do not consciously and intentionally create our days, we will have to accept what fate, chance, and circumstances offer us.  Any one of these powerful hijackers, body, environment, and time can set our day in motion and in a specific direction because each of these can control what we feel, feel, and do. So, what are you betting on?  In the next post, I discuss each. 

578239_10150981208185649_1604504171_n.jpgMy passion is in connecting hearts, to help people see our oneness and common humanity, and to teach people strategies for handling the individual, family, societal, and workplace stresses that zap our energy, enjoyment of life, productivity, and well-being. I have been training adult audiences for over 40 years. I work with people at all levels, but especially with top leadership in organizations with a focus on employee engagement, dysfunctional teams, communication challenges, culture, implicit bias, change management, and rebuilding trust. I am a keynote speaker and also train nationally for businesses, associations, colleges, community groups, and government organizations. My focus over the past decade has focused neuroscience of well-being, positive psychology, strengths-based leadership, generative change, emotional resilience and Appreciative Inquiry. My current or recent contracts have been working with leadership in high stress organization: correctional facilities, emergency communication centers, and high stress government agencies. I am a wife, mother of six, and entrepreneur and also an author of six books.

 

 

Why African Americans Need to Learn Strategies for Building Wealth?

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This is Black History Month, so I’m focusing this article on African Americans but the knowledge contained herein can benefit anyone.  The wealth gap is widening and African Americans need to learn new strategies for building wealth. “Median black household income was 59% of median white household income in 2011, up modestly from 55% in 1967; as recently as 2007, black income was 63% of white income.” [Source: PEW] It is often said that African Americans are a nation of consumers instead of creators. However, our survival depends on us changing from primarily being consumers to being the suppliers and creators of the products and services we consume.

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African Americans have a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 2015. That’s a lot of dough to be distributed. Wealth is not a dirty or evil word reserved for those who are lucky, greedy, or lazy and seeking to take advantage of others!  Wealth is a vital birthright that offers the freedom to make choices that allow us to live joyful and fulfilling lives. Everyone has the right to life in dignity and to pursue their dreams.  

Watching my stepmother get denied medical services at age 85, and watching her toes blacken and almost rot off as she screamed in pain, taught me a very valuable lesson. Poverty is not pretty, spiritual, or dignified. She could not afford the care she desperately needed to live in dignity and I was powerless to help her. It takes money to help those you love, to choose the medical care of your choice, to buy the materials, training, and resources we need to excel in our crafts, to invest in our businesses, to give to charity, to tithe generously, to eat healthily, to travel, to vacation, to be there mentally for our families, or to live in safe and beautiful neighborhoods.

Growing up, I had only been trained how to trade time for dollars, which rarely if ever, builds wealth. At times my father was an entrepreneur, and during those times we worked even harder. I realized that if I kept following that old paradigm I would be destined to end up like those written about in a recent Forbes article, The Greatest Retirement Crisis in American History, which dismally projects that 75%  of those now approaching retirement have less than $30,000 in savings. And, that paltry amount won’t last that long, with the average nursing home stay (God forbid) being around $248.00 a day or $90,000 a year. So for that reason,  as well as, the dollar declining since 1972, and the cost of living projected to double over the next decade, the vast majority of people today are forced to delay their retirement. I did not grow up around wealth nor did my parents talk about wealth or teach me about it. They taught me to work hard, so I know how to do that. They worked hard their entire lives and still only barely eked out a living and died practically penniless.  They could not teach me what they did not know.  They did not know that the only way to build wealth was to have money work for you or people work for you.  That explains why the majority of small black entrepreneurs fail to build wealth either. They are primarily sole proprietors and thus still trading time for money.  To continue to part two, click here.

Warren Buffet advises aspiring wealth builders to have multiple streams of income.  Speaking, authorship, and training is my passion work.  I love doing it! But, I’ve learned that if I stop speaking or training, the income also stops.  I too want the freedom that comes with wealth, to be able to work with populations who can’t afford me, to be able to help my children and grandchildren, and to not have to worry about retirement after raising six children and working over 50 years already. 

Email me for more information about how to bring me in to speak to your group, OR train your employees. Luck has very little to do with wealth, but timing has everything to do with it. What if you had been able to be part of the beginning of Google, Facebook, and Microsoft?  How would your life be different now? You missed them but you haven’t missed them all. Email me to learn more about Talkfusion, a disruptive technology poised to be the next billion dollar brand. I’ll direct you to an on-line presentation that explains it all.

Barbara Talley
To your wealth
barbara.talley@gmail.com

Dr. King’s Message of Hope

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By Dick DeMarsico, World Telegram staff photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, but his birthday is celebrated on the 3rd Monday in January. Dr. King’s life was dedicated to uplifting his fellow-man, the downtrodden, the poor, the hopeless, and the forgotten.  In Trumpet of Conscience, Dr. King reflected on hope:

“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose the courage to be, the quality that helps you to go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”

We’ve got to do what we can to “keep hope alive” for the jobless, homeless, and hopeless.  Reflect on the time in which Dr. King lived and how he responded to difficulties.  In spite of everything he endured, the hoses and attack dogs, his home bombed, being spit on, jailed, ridiculed, and threatened with death, he still had hope and faith.  To read about my second favorite Dr. King quotes on Justice, click here… http://wp.me/ppImQ-e8

Barbara Talley is a keynote speaker, author, poet, and trainer who can be reached at www.thepoetspeaks.com.  Still looking for a keynote speaker for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, or Administrative Professional Day, phone Barbara at 301-428-4831.

Seven Life Lessons from Priming the Pump

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hand pump fountainDo you remember the  60’s show, Green Acres with Eddie Albert and Zsa Zsa Gabor?  He wanted the farm life and she wanted the city life. I’ve tried both, and I prefer the suburbs!  I  grew up in the country, pumping water, chopping wood, making fires, and with all sorts of  chores. I’d like to say that, “Those were the good ole days, but they were not.”  Times were hard and we worked even harder. Now of course there are few things I miss. First are the people in life back then that are no longer with me anymore, a mother, father, brothers, friends.  Next was the weeping willow tree that I would lie under and dream. Those days did however teach me to work hard.  They also taught me the value of indoor plumbing and furnace heat. (LOL!) Looking back, it makes me appreciate even more what I have now.

I will also always have the memories of “priming the pump” to remind of the value of saving a little, working hard, having the willingness to sacrifice now for the bigger goal in the future, and to remember to take time out to enjoy what I’ve worked for.  The lessons I learned are:

    1. Always Have Faith and Certitude. Smart people rarely go after a goal that they don’t believe in.  We understand that we can’t (or won’t) run towards a goal that we have no faith that we can reach.  If we do, our steps are tentative and unsure. Luckily, we did not doubt as children.  We were showed how to pump and told to do it, and we did, time after time.  We believed; even though we could not see the water underground, we believed that the water was always there. All we had to do was work for it.  You too must also have complete faith and certitude that you have greatness within you and in the goal you are pursuing.  Faith is the key to starting, persevering, and finishing.
    2. Don’t Allow Yourself to Get Empty. We learned to always save a little water to prime the pump for the next time.  We never used our last bit of water, before re-filling our containers.  This relates to our goals in this way. Take care of yourself. It’s okay to help and serve others, but don’t deplete every ounce of your energy.  When you are worn-out, you are subject to all sorts of mental, physical, and spiritual illnesses. My sister would always say, “Stay prayed up!” You’ve got to protect yourself.  If you allow yourself to get too run down or too sick, or too hopeless, it becomes harder (and in some cases) almost impossible to regain your strength, your faith,  or to reach your goals.
    3. You Have to Put Something In Before You Get Anything Out. All of the lessons are important, but this one is the deal breaker. We knew that we had to sacrifice in advance to get something better later.  We had to sacrifice our water, our time, and our energy before we could expect something in return. There is a lesson in this for you too. You don’t get something for nothing. There is no credit in the well of life, meaning “Give me now and I’ll pay later.”  You must pay the piper first. Now the interesting thing was, sometimes if we hadn’t planned well, we’d have to use our last bit of water.  We’d pour the last bit we had into the pump in order to get more.  We were willing to make that sacrifice. The lesson was simple. If we weren’t willing to give it up our water, we would not be able to tap into the unlimited!
    4. You Must Be Ready; No Procrastination Allowed.  Now imagine this, once you’ve poured your limited (or last) supply of water into the pump, then you have to start pumping vigorously.  If you don’t start pumping (and pumping hard), you not only risk not getting any new water, but you will have just lost what little you had of the old.  Once we made the decision to prime the pump, we had to be ready. No procrastination was allowed. There was no time to do something else, make an excuse, or think about it. You had to see it through.
    5. Don’t Stop Until You Reach Your Goal.  Persevering with the pumping was the most critical stage. It didn’t matter how tired you were, how hot or cold it was outside, how you felt, how people felt about you, or anything at that point. You had to focus on pumping and persevere until you saw the results you sought. Sometimes we were lucky, we’d pump a little and waters would start flowing immediately.  Other times, we would pump and pump and not seem to get any results.  Sometimes we would have to add a little more water, some times we had to pump even harder, and other times you just have to pump longer.  The key is that we do what we had to do.  Excuses and quitting were never options.
    6. Give Back! We also learned to keep a certain jug set aside just for priming and we’d fill it before we would habitually fill the other containers so we wouldn’t forget.  The lesson, always give back and save a little.
    7. Enjoy Your Spoils.  Once the water starts flowing, it’s hard to stop it!  Victory is sweet! You have tapped into an unlimited underground reservoir. The fresh water under the ground was always so cold and refreshing especially on a very hot day.  On the cold days, that’s a whole different story.  It just meant that you got to go inside in the warmth and make some hot cocoa or something. Either way, we’d met our goal and that felt good!

That’s it!  Now go prime your own pump and reap your own rewards.

Barbara