How are You Making a New History?

I met a woman recently who started a conversation with me about history...African history specifically.  She mentioned that African Americans are not taught enough about or not interested enough in their history. I have always believed that it's important to know our history. However,  because I work to stay positive and focus on the power of now, I hardly think about history. 

Growing up in school, most of the events I learned about in history were not necessarily positive.

Especially African American history.  In the process of being taught about just a handful of African Americans who made a positive difference, I learned a whole lot about the abuse and violent treatment of my ancestors. What I learned, made me feel angry and upset.  Regarding anger, the only thing I, and I'm sure many others, really learned about anger was that when it was expressed, it was a bad thing.

I have since learned that even if you are angry about something from the past or the present, you can learn how to express it in positive ways.

There are many African American leaders in history who used their anger to take action in positive ways and create a positive difference in the world. There may have been many events in history that were horrible however, it teaches us to learn from our mistakes and make better choices not to have them repeated.

Knowing your history is definitely important. Focus on history in a positive way! Let it inspire you, help you to grow and cause you to create a happy and successful life for yourself and others.

"Don't let your history interfere with your Destiny." -- Dr. Steve Maraboli

"Live out your imagination, not your history." -- Stephen Covey

"If, after all, men cannot always make history have a meaning, they can always act so that their own lives have one." -- Albert Camus

"Everyday create your history, every path you take you're leaving your legacy." -- Michael Jackson

JoAnn Youngblood King, CTA Certified Success Coach, Author, Speaker and Owner of Live Your Potential is a member of Coach Training Alliance, and The International Association of Coaches. She specializes in working with mom entrepreneurs to find the time needed to start their business or take their existing business to the next level. To reach your immediate goals get strategic steps by subscribing to her newsletter to the right. For ways of achieving goals with your faith, JoAnn's new book is released, Live Your Potential and Let Your Faith Lead You to Success available on Amazon

Stay Positive

Have you ever felt that it is taking too long to accomplish your goal? Have you said to yourself, "Why didn't I accomplish that goal? If so, It's possible that you may have  sabotaged yourself without knowing it.

My friend and I were talking recently about the benefit of speaking positively. We are both expecting positive outcomes regarding proposals we recently submitted. While we were talking we noticed that for both of us, for some reason, there is a small tug from within to talk about the possible reasons why the outcome would not be in our favor. Why do we feel the need to speak about what we do not want? Or, why does it seem easier to speak that way.

We've all done it. You go on an interview and before a decision is made you think or talk about why you may not get selected;  You speak to an investor about your new product and after you've made your pitch, and before you receive a decision,  you think about what you should or shouldn't have said. Why do we most often entertain what we don't want?

Have you noticed when someone asks "How are you?", the positive responses are usually short and sweet. For example,  "Great!, "I'm well," "Wonderful!," or "I'm fine." However, if the response is not so great, there is usually a reason or a story behind it. Very interesting, isn't it?

My friend and I realized that in order to have the positive outcome we wanted, we needed to constantly think and speak positively and take positive action towards our desired outcome. That's it. Anything else would be moving away from our desired result.

If you feel that your dreams and goals are taking to long or just not happening, please pay close attention to your thoughts,  words and actions and make sure they are positive.

"An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality." - Brian Tracy

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought." - Peace Pilgrim

"Affirm the positive, visualize the positive and expect the positive, and your life will change accordingly." - Remez Sasson

JoAnn Youngblood King, CTA Certified Success Coach, Author, Speaker and Owner of Live Your Potential is a member of Coach Training Alliance, and The International Association of Coaches. She specializes in working with mom entrepreneurs to find the time needed to start their business or take their existing business to the next level. To reach your immediate goals get strategic steps by subscribing to her newsletter to the right. For ways of achieving goals with your faith, JoAnn's new book is released, Live Your Potential and Let Your Faith Lead You to Success available on Amazon

Your Potential to Create

Are you getting closer to your goals? Are you talking about what it is you want? Are you thinking about what your life will be like once your goal is accomplished? Are you taking consistent action towards what it is you want?

You are a creative person; creative in every way. When a person is referred to as creative, it's usually because we see something they have done. However, the creative process is not just about what a person does. It includes what they think and talk about as well. We all create with our thoughts, words and actions!

Think about it, the very chair you're sitting on or computer you're using, were first created in the mind. After that, I'm sure there was some discussion about it. Then it was built. This is the creative process at work.

In order to accomplish your goals and dreams, it's imperative to pay close attention to your thoughts, words and actions. If you have an idea to do something, realize that you will be able to do it if you consistently think about it, talk about it and take the necessary actions to make it become a reality.

While on your success path, make sure you are positive in your creative process. If you want to start a certain type of business and think and talk more about the obstacles in doing so, you will most likely talk yourself out of it.

Always keep in mind that you are a creative person and you have the potential to create the life of your dreams.

“Thoughts do more. Words do much. Actions do much more.” ― Israelmor Ayivor

"The creative process is not controlled by a switch you can simply turn on or off; it's with you all the time." - Alvin Ailey

"Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, can start changing the world. "  - Paulo Coelho

JoAnn Youngblood King, CTA Certified Success Coach, Author, Speaker and Owner of Live Your Potential is a member of Coach Training Alliance, and The International Association of Coaches. She specializes in working with mom entrepreneurs to find the time needed to start their business or take their existing business to the next level. To reach your immediate goals get strategic steps by subscribing to her newsletter to the right. For ways of achieving goals with your faith, JoAnn's new book is released, Live Your Potential and Let Your Faith Lead You to Success available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Moving from Freeze to Forward

Are you tired of being stuck in trying to grow your own business? Or wondering how to get out of a job that now feels more like a trap than a career? You're not alone. Just about every business person hits a plateau or sticking point at one time or another, if not several times, over the years.

When this happens it is our sign that it is time for a change. In life sometimes, we feel like we will just work a job temporarily, then life happens. We create families, life’s unexpected situations happen and all the while, time continues to go on. Now we are many years past our intended time to be living the life of our dreams and we feel stagnant. We think about that goal or dream we used to have but now feel lost on how to get there.

In this freeze mode we listen to motivational and spiritual teachers that inspire us in that moment. However, the moment often translates into more confusion on how to accomplish our dream or fizzles under the fear of uprooting the life we have built and not meeting our responsibilities.
In this mental place we may just give up, feel too old or think that the time has passed for us to experience our dreams. Here, is where we stop and don’t take action. However we still feel the desire. Know that having that desire, no matter how small, is enough. You can start taking action right now based on that small desire.

In this moment what you need is something like a personal fitness trainer that knows and understands your current condition then guides you along. All it takes is the willingness to look – seek and ye shall find….”knock and the door will be open.” One way to start knocking is to start researching. The same way you focus your search efforts for that gift your children want or that item you saw on TV that you’ve been wanting for a while, that’s the way you should search when it comes to your dreams and goals. In this age of the Internet we can find ANYTHING with the right keywords, focus and time. Look for information to learn more about what you want to accomplish.

This is a gentle way to start moving toward your dreams. This process doesn’t threaten your current stable life. You are only looking for examples. Want to be a singer and you are not twenty? Look up the singers that made it to the television program "The Voice." Many of them are well over twenty and living their dreams. Find out their story, where are they performing, or what motivates them. Maybe you want to be a painter? What are the artists in your area doing? Where are they hanging out? Where are they showing their work? Doing research helps to move you forward in the right direction.

ANY dream you have, there is a way to accomplish it that is right for you. Get started today researching and writing down anything that sounds interesting. This is the first step. When you have an idea, you first move your energy and place your attention on that idea. This practice brings you more ways to find what you are looking for and get you closer to your dreams.

JoAnn Youngblood King, CTA Certified Success Coach, Author, Speaker and Owner of Live Your Potential is a member of Coach Training Alliance, and The International Association of Coaches. She specializes in working with mom entrepreneurs to find the time needed to start their business or take their existing business to the next level. To reach your immediate goals get strategic steps by subscribing to her newsletter to the right. For ways of achieving goals with your faith, JoAnn's new book is released, Live Your Potential and Let Your Faith Lead You to Success available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

How to Have Faith in Yourself

Here it is, many years later since I realized my mission was to help people to realize the potential that exists with their own life to succeed and I, myself, have only scratched a tiny surface of my own potential. Potential is something that is unseen, just as your God self, your Buddha nature, or your spirit. Whatever, you choose to call that pure place inside yourself. Do you have faith in yourself? I asked that question because I know I would not have been able to accomplish all I have so far without it. However, there have been times where I seem to unconsciously put a limit on the faith I have in myself.

Years ago, I learned that even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed, you could move a mountain and nothing will be impossible for you." This means that nothing is impossible if you have faith even if it’s small. Knowing this helps to "grin and bear it" because if you have just a little faith things will get better.

What about those big things that happen in life or those big goals you are working on achieving? Nothing is impossible if you have at least a little faith, however, you also have, and will be required to exhibit big strong faith in some situations. It seems kind of weird to measure faith however, when I think about certain goals I have, I’m not sure I really believed, initially, that I had the faith to accomplish them.

What I have come to understand is that you must first have the faith, no matter how small, to get you to take the initial action! Then trust that your faith will give you the self-esteem, courage and confidence to get through any situation and help you to accomplish your goals. Remember you have everything you need inside of you to be as successful as you want to be! Never give up on your dreams. It’s possible!

Faith is not something you get. It is something you already have. You might just be using it in reverse gear by believing in the things you fear. ~ Napoleon Hill

Faith is to fear nothing, to stand unswayed, the power to surmount whatever the obstacle. ~ Daisaku Ikeda

JoAnn Youngblood King, CTA Certified Success Coach, Author, Speaker and Owner of Live Your Potential is a member of Coach Training Alliance, and The International Association of Coaches. She specializes in working with mom entrepreneurs to find the time needed to start their business or take their existing business to the next level. To reach your immediate goals get strategic steps by subscribing to her newsletter to the right.

For ways of achieving goals with your faith, JoAnn's new book is released, Live Your Potential and Let Your Faith Lead You to Success available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Love, Acceptance and Respect

We all want to be loved, accepted and respected for the choices we make.  Because of those desires, it's necessary to be aware of laws and principles like, the Law of Cause and Effect or What You Sow, You Will Reap. When you give love, acceptance and respect to others, it will come back to you.

Everything starts on the inside first. Do you love yourself? I sure hope so! At your core you are love! Even though it may not seem that way at times, the love is there. Understanding and knowing this is extremely important. When you are aware that everyone is love, you're able to deal with people in a much more positive way. 

When you accept yourself for the wonderful, beautiful and talented person you are, every person, who comes into your life, has no choice but to follow your lead and accept you for the same reasons.

Self-respect is absolutely necessary when on the path to success. We've seen many examples of those who lack self-respect from the employee who gets dumped on by her boss every day to the entrepreneur who listens to the advice of family members when they tell him he is wasting his time trying to build a business.  When you know who you are and respect yourself, you will not let anyone devalue or degrade you.

At times, we let what is happening outside of us cause us to forget about what is happening on the inside. Focus your attention on what is inside of you. There you will find, your power to make the choices that will benefit you and others; the will to persevere when you have to do a task you are not particularly fond of; the wisdom to make the right decisions concerning a sick loved one; the faith you need to succeed in any endeavor. You will find your potential for greatness and success.

Striving to have the successful life of your dreams may not be as easy as you may want it to be, however it is definitely possible. It all starts with realizing the potential you already have inside to make it so.


JoAnn Youngblood King, CTA Certified Success Coach, Author, Speaker and Owner of Live Your Potential is a member of Coach Training Alliance, and The International Association of Coaches. She specializes in working with mom entrepreneurs to find the time needed to start their business or take their existing business to the next level. To reach your immediate goals get strategic steps by subscribing to her newsletter to the right.

For ways of achieving goals with your faith, JoAnn's new book is released, Live Your Potential and Let Your Faith Lead You to Success available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Now is the time to Dream Big!

How big are the dreams for your life?  You might think that you can only dream for things that you can see yourself attaining.  Well, I've learned that we should dream big no matter what! I recently heard director and screenwriter, Tyler Perry mention that what he learned 10 years ago, from the entertainment legends, was that he needed to dream bigger and dream more.  Well, it would seem that he went on to take action based on what he learned seeing that he is now one of the wealthiest men in Hollywood.

How often do you dream about your future?  Do you dream about being a successful speaker, world renowned chef or wealthy real estate agent?  I know you have big dreams inside of you. I also know that you have the potential inside to make those dreams become a reality.

When you talk about the dreams you have for your future, make sure you state it in a positive manner. For example, be mindful not to say "If I can get through the loads of paperwork, maybe I can get my art store open.” Instead say "My art store will be open soon and it will be a success!"  Once you start talking about your dreams in a positive way, make sure your dreams are big. Visualize having more. Instead of having one art store, see yourself owning several. See yourself going to each of your stores to pick up the weekly revenue to take to the bank. Make sure to do dream visualization exercises every day.

Once you are dreaming big and dreaming more, you must get busy making it happen. In his poem, "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes, he questions what happened to a dream that is put off or not acted on.  Are you taking action towards your dreams or have your dreams been deferred?

An important activity you should engage in daily is feeding your mind with positivity while working towards your dreams. You can definitely achieve your dreams! You will achieve what you think and believe you can achieve, so dream big and dream more.
 

“You have the courage and power to live your dreams.” – Les Brown

“Go confidently in the direction of your Dreams. Live the life you've imagined!” – Henry David Thoreau

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney