Self Help Portal 4 U

When you’re feeling unsure of yourself or your capabilities, your options in life can seem few and far between.  Not only do you have trouble recognizing opportunities to improve your life, you also resist taking action and end up feeling stuck and defeated much of the time. Empowering yourself is a simple matter of switching [...]

When you think of personal empowerment, you probably think of qualities like strength, confidence, courage and tenacity – but did you know that self-love is also an important aspect of empowerment? When you truly love yourself . . . • You treat yourself with respect and kindness.  You set firm boundaries in your life, you devote [...]

Part of being an empowered person is having intimate knowledge and awareness of yourself as an individual, including your strengths, talents, weaknesses, capabilities and limitations. How well do you know yourself?  You’d be surprised how many people don’t know themselves at all!  If you’ve spent the majority of your time focusing on the people around [...]

Living your life as an empowered person often requires the placement of boundaries – invisible “lines” across which you will not allow people or events to infringe upon your time or resources. When you have clear inner boundaries in place, you know where you stand and you’re able to make decisions that support and nurture [...]

One stumbling block that can prevent you from feeling empowered is the inability to forgive – both others and yourself. Disempowerment often contributes to a self-image of weakness and powerlessness, which makes it difficult to forgive others for hurting or betraying you – or forgiving yourself for allowing it – because you believe that forgiveness [...]

When it comes to making decisions, a chronic sense of disempowerment often results in feelings of helplessness or hopelessness that can affect the choices you make and determine your quality of life. When you live your life as a disempowered person, you often feel like the majority of your life experiences are out of your [...]

Personal empowerment often plays a big role in the quality of your relationships because of the beliefs and behaviors you express in your interactions with others.  If you’ve ever expected a relationship to somehow “complete” you or make you feel strong or whole, you probably experienced disappointment and frustration as it seemed to cause bigger [...]

Do you ever allow fearful thoughts to erode your confidence and diminish your sense of empowerment?  It’s a common trend for many people, and when you’re stuck in the midst of fear and uncertainty it can seem like an impossible task to pull yourself out of it. However, fear and empowerment are actually like two [...]

The way you speak to yourself mentally and verbally has a powerful impact on your self-image.  Berating or belittling yourself, minimizing your achievements or doubting your capabilities will most definitely create a sense of disempowerment, limiting your potential in virtually every aspect of your life. On the other hand, positive and encouraging self-talk will contribute [...]

When it comes to personal empowerment, feeling strong and grounded is crucial.  Without a perception of yourself as strong and resilient, you’ll find yourself cowering in the face of challenges; feeling intimidated by other people, and weighed down by your own fears and insecurities. A strong person, on the other hand, knows that he or [...]

Creative visualization is the process of generating images in your mind, and is often used as a tool for self-improvement and stress relief. Athletes, celebrities and successful people from all walks of life have touted visualization as an effective way to improve performance, enhance skills and boost confidence. As far fetched as it may seem, [...]

If you’ve ever felt stuck and unsure what to do to improve your life, you’re familiar with the challenge of being short on possibilities!  Most often when this happens you’re not really short on possibilities, but rather your mind isn’t open to seeing the possibilities that exist all around you. Creative visualization is one helpful [...]

Do you ever feel uncertain about your purpose in life, or wonder if there’s something more you should be doing?  Feelings like this are common, and many people aren’t sure how to handle them.  They can search for years for a sense of purpose and meaning – or worse, live their lives forever feeling dissatisfied [...]

It’s easy to overlook the power of limiting beliefs and spend years wondering why you can’t seem to move forward and make lasting changes in your life.  Though you might have grand dreams of living a better life, limiting beliefs will keep prodding you to act in ways that are counterproductive to those dreams. Everything [...]

Visualization can be a powerful tool to help you improve your life circumstances, but it can also serve as a handy technique for transforming stress and anxiety into peace, happiness and confidence! Stress and anxiety can quickly become a vicious cycle that keep you feeling powerless and frightened.  The more stressed you get, the more [...]

Your intuition can be a powerful guide in any situation, helping you to avoid dangerous and detrimental experiences – or even leading you to the best opportunities to improve your life. However, as with any skill, the strength and intensity of your intuition will fade with disuse.  If you are not accustomed to consulting your [...]

Visualization can be a powerful tool to help you improve your current circumstances, but it can also help you to be more purposeful about moving toward a brighter future.  This can be especially effective if you often feel nervous, anxious or doubtful about your ability to improve your life. To begin, find a quiet place [...]

Have you ever felt stuck in a bad mood and couldn’t seem to let it go no matter what you did?  At times like this it seems like everything around you just keeps going wrong, exacerbating your negative focus and keeping you stuck. There are many ways to improve your mood in this type of [...]

Lack of confidence has the power to cause great problems in your life, not only because it makes you feel powerless and out of control, but also because it triggers you to act in ways that are usually counterproductive to what you want to accomplish.  You’ll find yourself shying away from challenges, procrastinating on goals [...]

Visualization can be used for a wide range of purposes, but one of the most beneficial is making yourself feel prosperous and attract more money into your life.  You may wonder how seeing simple images in your mind can help attract anything – but when you think about it, a consistent focus on lack causes [...]

You may be familiar with the concept that everything you do has a payoff, and procrastination is no different!  Though it may not seem likely that such a problematic habit could have a payoff, when you start exploring the possibilities you realize that you are indeed gaining something by procrastinating. Take a look at these [...]

Procrastination can be a sticky problem to overcome because you avoid taking action at all costs, which leaves you feeling even more frightened or intimidated – which causes you to procrastinate even more!  Eventually you find yourself caught in a vicious circle; wanting to make changes but feeling powerless to do so. The good news [...]

Have you ever found yourself putting things off without knowing why?  Everyone does this to a certain degree, but it can be frustrating when you keep doing it without a clear reason.  Ignoring the problem will only make matters worse because it becomes more and more difficult to move forward. There are many causes of [...]

Scattered and confused thoughts are common contributors to procrastination because it’s difficult to stay on track when you don’t have a clear focus.  You end up either wasting time with untargeted actions or simply stalling because you’re not sure how to proceed!  Even worse is the way mental confusion can drain your physical energy and [...]

A strong habit of procrastination can leave a lot of destruction in its wake, so it can be helpful to be firm and unyielding with the techniques you use to conquer it.  When it comes right down to it, you can analyze the reasons why you procrastinate as much as you like – but you [...]

Most of us are used to thinking of procrastination as a negative thing, but did you know that there are sometimes benefits to procrastination?  It’s true!  Procrastination can be used constructively if you do it in a conscious manner. Below are a few ideas for how to do so in your own life: • Procrastination provides [...]

Procrastination can quickly create a logjam of unfinished business in all areas of your life, including financial crises, relationship problems, chronic underachievement, physical illness and more. There are many ways to deal with procrastination, but one of the most effective is simple – yet powerful:  starting! Getting started is often the hardest part of any [...]

Procrastination can often grow to monstrous proportions in your life, but sometimes it can be much more subtle too.  Perhaps you don’t have huge, messy snarls in all areas of your life due to procrastination, but is it possible that you procrastinate just enough to limit your potential? If you’ve had some big dreams and [...]

Have you ever noticed how sneaky procrastination can be?  It’s incredibly easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we’re being productive, but at the end of the day we find we’ve gotten precious little done. Have you ever found yourself using avoidance activities like surfing the internet, watching television, doing housework or laundry, or running [...]

One damaging aspect of procrastination is the way it tends to snowball and build a chronic sense of stagnation and inertia in your life.  It usually starts innocently enough: you try to avoid doing one thing that feels intimidating or unpleasant, and before you know it you’re avoiding even things you want to do but [...]

When you think of being happy, you probably think about external factors in your life, such as having a comfortable place to live, money to fund your lifestyle, and more.  While those things can certainly contribute to a greater sense of well-being and contentment, they rarely create happiness on their own. Rather, genuine happiness is [...]

When it comes to feeling happy and content, your attitude plays an important role.  A negative attitude keeps you focused on the negative side of your situation.  You spend more time thinking about what you don’t have; the opportunities you missed out on, the terrible things that have happened to you in the past, and [...]

In our ongoing quest for happiness and contentment, we often find ourselves accumulating ever increasing piles of “stuff.”  However, the more “stuff” we accumulate, the more we begin to realize that we don’t feel happier at all; we feel overwhelmed, crowded and scattered. How easy it is to forget that when it comes to happiness, [...]

Are you yearning for a greater sense of happiness in your life but feel weighed down by problems?  If so, try adopting an attitude of lightheartedness and watch how quickly it can inject an element of fun and whimsy into your life. Here are three simple ways to do it: 1) Play. Most of us tend [...]

There are many ways to create a greater sense of happiness in your life, but one of the simplest and most powerful is by giving to others.  Why does giving to others make you feel happier? • You minimize your own troubles. Focusing on what you can do for people in need is a great way [...]

When you’re striving to create a greater sense of happiness in your life, paying attention to your spiritual practice may be beneficial because it’s often been purported that spiritual people are generally happier than people without a defined spiritual practice.  You may find that hard to believe if you don’t consider yourself to be a [...]

A daily practice of gratitude can help keep you feeling happy more often, simply because gratitude smoothes the rough edges in your life and keeps you focused on the good stuff, rather than obsessing about things that might detract from your sense of happiness. Below you’ll find three simple ways to use gratitude to be [...]

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by worry, you know how difficult it is to feel happy at the same time.  Worry and happiness are by nature complete opposites; they cannot co-exist.  When you worry, you’re focusing more on the negative side of a situation – wondering what might happen that will challenge your ability to [...]

When striving to create a greater sense of happiness in your life, the power of living a balanced life should not be overlooked.  An unbalanced, chaotic lifestyle is one sure way to create stress, fear and dissatisfaction in all areas of your life, and ultimately contribute to an overwhelming sense of unhappiness. Nowadays we are [...]

When you think of being happy with your life, you probably imagine specific circumstances that will make you feel content and satisfied.  You might see yourself with a better job, more money, a committed relationship, or any number of other possibilities.  But do those things guarantee happiness? You can probably think of people who already [...]

When you think of success, do you immediately picture monetary wealth, luxury homes, and fancy cars?  Do you think of the respect and prestige you’ll receive when you’ve made your mark on the world?  Or perhaps you imagine the sense of pride you’ll feel when you accomplish your objectives? As great as those benefits can [...]

One reason many people struggle to become successful is because they don’t have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish.  They may have vague ideas of the benefits they’d like to gain, like more money or a bigger house – but they have no idea how they’ll achieve them.  They may try a [...]

When you first set a goal it’s pretty easy to stay on track.  You’ve got a plan, you’re working the plan and your motivation is strong. As time goes on, however, there exists the possibility of losing steam and getting off-track.  In order to develop the momentum and stamina required to achieve your goals, there [...]

Have you ever noticed a theme with successful people?  Nine times out of ten, there was a risk involved and the person needed to take a chance in order to succeed. Risk-taking is scary for most of us.  We’ve been taught to be careful and take baby steps toward our dreams.  There’s nothing wrong with [...]

Do you expect to be successful?  Or do you spend much of your time worrying and obsessing about the possibility of failure? One thing you’ll eventually learn on your journey to success is that your expectations hold great power!  Whatever you expect to see and experience is usually what you’ll get.  There are many ways [...]

Many people dream about becoming successful, but few people think about preparing for success ahead of time.  When you consider that “success” is really an inner process of growth and self-mastery, you realize that it’s not just about achieving a goal or becoming better at what you do. Success actually changes who you are on [...]

Have you often wondered if you’re missing the obvious when it comes to being successful?  If you’re still trying to achieve the level of success you desire (and most people are), ask yourself if you have been leaving out one vital ingredient:  doing something you truly love. Success can come from nearly anything you do, [...]

You’ve probably heard it said that you are what you think about the most, and being successful is no exception.  There are other important facets of success too, like planning and preparing carefully, taking consistent action, and fine-tuning your plans as you go along.  But your attitude is especially important because it determines so much [...]

Are you struggling to stay motivated on your journey to success?  Have your goals lost some of the shine they had when you first set them?  If so, you might consider whether they are big enough to keep your interest. You may have thought so at one time but if they’re not what you really [...]

When working toward goals or striving for success in any endeavor, self-discipline is one vital quality you need to have.  Most of us cringe at the thought because it brings to mind instant visions of sacrifice, difficulty and strain. However, discipline doesn’t have to be so hard.  The problem occurs when you try to go [...]

Have you ever noticed that every challenge also contains a blessing in disguise?  If not, you may not have been looking closely enough!  It’s true that challenges often seem like inconveniences when they get in the way of something you want.  When you’re working toward goals that are important to you, the last thing you [...]

A lack of motivation can often seem to be caused by laziness or procrastination at first glance, but looks can often be deceiving!  If you’re struggling to stay motivated about working on your goals or any other endeavor, a little introspection can be just the thing you need to provide clarity and insight about what’s [...]

There are few things more maddening than running into obstacles and blockages while you’re working toward your goals!  You’ll be moving along nicely, feeling great about the progress you’re making, when all of a sudden – boom; you’re stuck.  You’ve encountered an obstacle that you have no idea how to get around. What you do [...]

Have you ever hesitated to take action and gotten stuck in a rut of inertia?  Most often when this happens, you’re waiting for some internal or external clue that tells you it’s okay to move forward.  You’re waiting until you feel more confident, or until obstacles dissolve and your goals are easier to achieve. The [...]

Have you ever noticed that a lack of motivation leaves you feeling sluggish and uninspired?  One great way to turn that mind-set around is by consciously getting joyful!  Joyful about what, exactly?  Well, anything will do, but here are a few good ideas to get you started. Probably one of the best things to get [...]

Have you ever wondered what you would do with your life if you truly couldn’t fail at anything?  How would such an insight change your life?  Would you move toward your goals with stronger purpose and relentless determination?  Would you laugh at obstacles and challenges?  Would you ignore negative comments from other people in your [...]

When you’re having trouble staying motivated it can often seem like an impossible task to pull yourself out of the slump.  Most likely you either sit immobile with a blank look of boredom on your face or you find other non-essential activities to distract you.  Of course, these two choices don’t help you get anything [...]

Are negative thoughts and beliefs preventing you from moving forward with your goals and dreams?  If so, detox your mind! Detoxification most often refers to the process of removing toxins from the body to achieve better health and well-being, but most people don’t realize that their minds can become incredibly toxic too. How do you [...]

Have you ever allowed fear to sap your motivation?  If so, you are probably familiar with the heavy sense of frustration that inevitably results in the abandonment of goals and dreams – no matter how badly you may want to achieve them. However, you don’t have to allow fear to hinder your actions and destroy [...]

When you’re feeling unmotivated about your goals or any other endeavor, it can be difficult to keep the bigger picture in mind and remember what you’re working so hard for.  When the initial excitement of your goals or project begins to wear off and you find yourself losing focus and determination, it can be helpful [...]