Take Back Your Life!

Hey fabulous folks!

I’m sure you’re all aware (or will be shortly) of the two main voices in your head, the nasty negative one that shouts stuff at you in the second person like, “You can’t do that” or “They’ll laugh at you if you get up and speak” and the powerful positive one, “You can bike up that big hill,” or “You are soooo funny!”

For many years, I had a terrible time with the negative voice. She showed me little mercy, speaking to me in a tone  I wouldn’t use on my worst enemy. The positive voice couldn’t get a good word in edgewise. And without the positive voice cheering me on I couldn’t get any life traction. I couldn’t go where I wanted to go.

That is until the day back in the 90’s I decided to make my karaoke debut.

The negative she-voice kicked in saying, “You’ll sound terrible. No one will listen to you.”

For some reason, I flat out refused to believe her and said, “You’re lying. I’m going no matter what you say.” All that day and into the evening, I kept challenging what she said. This allowed my positive she-voice to build me up. “You sound just like Bobby Gentry!”

Well, my first karaoke night turned out wonderfully! I had a few women come up to me in the ladies room and say, “I love your voice” as well as a guy who kept asking me to sing more songs. My beau at the time also cheered me on.

From that point onward, I began talking to myself more and more like a cherished friend. It’s made all the difference.

Want to join my “talk good to yourself” experiment? Please leave a comment congratulating yourself for something fabulous you’ve done recently!

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey readers who like to do things differently,

I just got done reading the winning unconventional essay over at Chris Guillebeau’s Art of Non-Conformity. Allan Bacon wrote a great piece called, Moving to Paris Without Quitting My day Job: A Lesson in Becoming a Non-conformist. What intrigued me the most was when he went back down the corporate ladder. Now that’s gutsy!

I’ve seen people go up the corporate ladder and take on tons of stress, but I rarely hear of anyone coming back down it – at least while they are still alive and kicking. I had been taught in school & work that we need to move forward in a straight line going in the direction believed to be up. But maybe up isn’t straight. Maybe up is different for everyone and one person’s up is down or to the left or to the right or in a zig zag or even off the plane completely.

Life was not meant to be lived in a straight line. So, get out your life direction pencil and start scribbling (and erasing if need be) …

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey rebellious wishcasters!

I took a six-week listening course about 18 years ago that helped me realize I’d been hearing what people said but not listening. In fact, very few people learn to listen because it’s an active skill that takes practice and concentration. Ever since that ear-opening class I’ve tried to listen more deeply, to stop talking over people, to paraphrase what the person has said, to minimize being “on-deck” worrying what I’m going to say instead of paying attention to the human being in front of me.

Yet, I wish on this Wednesday to take my listening abilities down another layer, to start to listen as if my life depended on it. In a few posts before this one, I talk about people wanting to feel appreciated. I also believe people want to feel like they’ve been ‘heard.’ The way to do that is to listen with intent, to make every conversation an adventure in learning from another person.

There are no boring people on the planet. Just boring listeners.

What are your thoughts on listening?

Muse thx,

Giulietta