From Lisa’s Chair

The journey I have been on over the last five years is something most people, me included, only read about or see in the movies.  It has been a journey of highs, lows, laughter, tears and mostly of survival and self discovery.  A journey of developing into the person I have become today.  From the lows of lying in a Spinal unit to the highs of seeing the sparkling lights of the famous “Las Vegas Strip”.

It all began this time 5 years ago with a slight nagging pain in my upper arm.  I came home from my working day and commented to my partner that my upper arm was sore.  This progressed quite quickly to a pain that affected my daily routine, stopping me from working, sleeping and socialising.  I found myself at the emergency department of our major hospital, to be given the diagnosis of a massive bulging disc on my C5/C6.  After trying so many lotions and potions I was advised  by my doctor that the only option was surgery.  I was then booked to see a “Very well known and experienced” Neurosurgeon.  I was excited to be seeing this person who would take away my pain and give me my life back.  He assured me it was a very simple operation, and I would have more hope of being hit by a bus when he discharged me, than of anything going wrong.  I was so full of hope and could hardly wait until this wonderful person was going to give me my life back, 9th February 2005.  I could never had known how his words would ring in my ears for the rest of my life………3 to 5 days, you will be back home, pain free.  Those words started me on a journey of self development into the stronger person I have become today.

Hope you enjoy my story….

Kind Regards
Lisa Monaghan

Out with the Old In with the New

9^th February, 2005, a day forever in my memory, a day I was so looking forward to. Arriving bright and early keen to get the process going, I could never have imagined how devastated my family and I would feel by late this afternoon. I really don’t think there are any words that could describe my mortal fear when I realized that I could no longer move, I was so happy as I waved to my mother at 10am that morning as they wheeled me away smiling, to the operating theatre.

 Somewhere, somehow during my operation something had happened that would change everything in every aspect of my life. My body, mind and soul were no longer as I had always known them to be. My first realisation that all was not well was saying I felt pain in my arm, I just kept repeating that something was wrong. My family were downstairs unsure of what was going on as I was due out of theatre three hours earlier.

I remember waking seeing my Son, Daughter, Mother and Partner standing there smiling, huge bunches of flowers in hand, happy to see me at last. They had no idea of the horror we were all about to face. I was so sure that this was going away and all was going to be good again. Why wouldn’t it be-I was getting a new car and had a planned holiday to the Reef. Just a day or two should see all of this go away, after all the awful pain I felt was gone. I will be home again in 3 to 5 days, the Surgeon had assured me of that.

Never could I have imaged the journey I was about to undertake, a journey of digging deep and finding survival tactics I never knew existed. It is amazing the inner strength you can find when you are faced with adversity. Look out Lisa, out with the old and in with the new……….

07/02/10

As you can see by the date on my column today it has been some time since I last wrote and things have come to light of which I could never have imagined, but for now back to my hospital stay.  My three day visit lasted for nine long agonizing months, agonizing for me, my children, my parents, family and friends.  To see the pain and helplessness on their face day after day is really hard and sad.  To see their glee is also sad, their glee because you can now hold a pen or a cup or you can brush your hair, they feign excitement but really their heart is just as broken as yours, but they have to be as happy as they can be for your sake.  You do have your happy moments of course when funny things happen and you can even laugh at yourself and as time goes on you learn to do this more and more.  As much as you don’t like being in hospital it almost becomes a safe haven or another family and leaving it, even for just a few hours can be quite traumatic.  

My first trip out of the hospital was amazing and I almost felt like an alien!  Allan, my partner at the time, had asked me to marry him and he wanted to take me for a champagne to celebrate.  I had been practicing for a few weeks with my physiotherapist, Josh, how to transfer in and out of a car, so here was my opportunity.  It was slow, difficult and painful, but with the help of my Physio’s and Allan I was in the front seat of the car, the same car that had dropped me off a few months ago to start this painful journey.  Oh how excited I felt, it felt so weird to be in a car, yet I had been driving since I was 17.  We drove off leaving the hospital behind, so excited at something so seemingly small, I immediately called my mother and said excitedly “You will never guess where I am Mum, I am in the car with Allan”, such a big moment, we were so happy.  We stopped and picked up some piccolos of champagne and went and parked down by the river and drank to our excitement, to getting engaged, to being alone together, to being back in the real world, sitting in the car like a ‘Normal’ person, life just didn’t get any better.

Unfortunately, reality has a way of biting you when you least expect it, after we had finished drinking our champagne, it was time for me to remember that I had to go back to the Spinal Unit, Allan had told me something that had broken my heart and the Physios gave us a scolding as in our haste to get away from the hospital we had forgotten to take my wheelchair.  It seems my spinal injury was going to be with me wherever I went for the rest of my life……..how could I deal with that?

Kind Regards

Lisa Monaghan

Tags: anxiety, attitude, change, coping with change, fear, happiness, inspiration, Love, personal development, sadness, Self Esteem and Confidence, self improvement

Fear of Failure or fear of success can stop you in your tracks in accomplishing your goals and becoming a success.

Fear of failure will lead many people into inertia – the inability to make decisions or take action in case they receive rejection or negative outcomes. This mental state is fairly easy to identify and there are many tools in the personal development industry to help combat this plague and reprogram the mind for success.

However, the fear of success is much more subtle, harder to spot and also harder to eradicate.

It is well documented that many people fail to achieve their goals in life due to the phenomenon known as “fear of failure” but are you aware that a major factor that is often overlooked, is a state known as “fear of success“?

This is the Science of Success – Click Here!

Perhaps you have this tendency in your life. Here are some indications of a fear of success mentality.

You settle for less than you feel you deserve or are capable of achieving.

Studying and trying to implement self improvement techniques and/or personal development tools but your life does not improve or may even get worse.

You expect things to go wrong no matter how well the situation appears to be at the moment.

You start new projects full of enthusiasm and optimism but wane in your efforts or stop short before you have completed them.

Can you identify your own patterns in the any of the above statements?

The fear of success can also make you behave in ways that hold you back. Look at the list below. These are the symptoms of the fear of success.

Procrastination is a ‘success killer’! How can you expect to reach your destination if you do not take steps towards it? Strive to do little things each day that will bring you small steps closer to your goal.

Procrastination.

Putting off what needs to be done or not doing what you know will bring you closer to your desired result. Everyone suffers from this inner ‘demon’ at some point in their lives (although some of us suffer from it more than others!).

This is why having a personal development plan is an essential ingredient in the fight against procrastination. Take action! Any action! Refine your steps as you go along but do not sit and do nothing. Taking action is one of the key aspects in personal development.

Thinking that the time is not right – have you ever waited until the timing was perfect before starting a venture? Have you ever waited until you had more information on a better plan?

Again ACTION is the key to the door to success. Taking small steps forward are better than taking none or waiting to see if your foot is landing on the right spot! Even if your actions take you away from your goal you have at least gained insight and knowledge about what does not work!

Can’t see the forest for the trees!

This is almost the opposite of procrastination but has the same effect on your personal development. The aforementioned saying is well known but have you ever given it real consideration?

Don’t get caught up in your plan believing that it is more important than the materialised goal! For many years I got caught in this trap. I started to think and act as though my plan was more important than my end result and thus missed many opportunities to alter my path and reach my goals more quickly! Let go of your ego and allow the Universe to show you a quicker route to your goal. Remain flexible.

Seeing only problems.

How do you use your focus? Do you constantly see only and alll the problems involved? If you are this way inclined it is pointless trying to change overnight! However, you can use this mindset to your advantage while you strive in your personal development to acquire an opportunistic frame of mind instead.

“How can you use seeing only problems to my advantage?” you say. “Easily”, is my reply! Look at the problems and prepare a plan to deal with them. Everytime you overcome one congratulate yourself. Use them as a gauge for your achievements.

If you keep seeing more problems remind yourself of how well you dealt with the others. Look at how far you have come! If you see a problem ask yourself, “how best can I overcome this challenge?” or “how quickly can I rectify this situation?”.

The quality of your questions are important. Use the problems as fact finders. Is there a real problem now? If so then deal with it. Is it a potential problem? If so then create a contingency plan in case it does occur but don’t get caught up in it just be prepared.

Being a Perfectionist.

This is similar to the point above and has the same effect, namely, that you never really move forward. No matter how good a job is when its finished it can always be improved! I have heard many great musicians tell how they hate listening to their own songs because they can find a million things that need improved. Yet, we still enjoy them. I think a classic example of this is “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Paul Simon. This song is hauntingly beautiful yet Mr. Simon does not think its good enough!

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Enjoy the journey, follow the above guidelines and you will achieve success. Eventually your fear of success or fear of failure will dissipate and you will have moved a long way forward in your self improvement and personal development.

Don’t be scared to succeed! Success is Great! Really

Tags: fear of failure, fear of success, personal development, self improvement, Success

Self Improvement – How to Live an Abundant Life

Im always giving you self improvement tips and today is no different!
Lets talk about how to live an abundant life!

Maybe, just maybe….. our hectic lives confuse or distract us from achieving a life of abundance. But the power of our thoughts can transform our lives for the better – if we know how to use it.

What’s keeping you from reaching your full potential? Learn to break through and find lasting success.

A life filled with physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial abundance is truly a gift. Everyone should have security, peace of mind, love, and overall joyfulness. But how can something that should be second nature be so difficult to attain?

Self Improvement most often means changing the way you think!

Do you think Wealth is Good? Well it is!

We all have to build wealth in our lives, but before we can build wealth, we have to understand that everyone’s definition of wealth is different. It doesn’t have to mean making millions of dollars and flying a private jet to one of your 10 estate homes (although that would be nice…lol)

Out with old excuses. In with new goals. Click Here.

Wealth can simply mean having a steady, full-time job where you earn enough money to give your family a safe place to sleep with quality food on the table and nice clothes to wear. It may also mean you are fulfilled spiritually and emotionally.

Don’t fool yourself by saying you don’t care about material things and, therefore, you don’t need to care too much about building wealth. Remember that wealth does not necessarily mean material wealth. Just because you desire wealth, it doesn’t mean you have to be attached to money like a Scrooge.

You can be emotionally wealthy because of the positive relationships you foster. You can be spiritually wealthy because of your faith. You can be physically wealthy because of your vibrant health. And you can be financially wealthy because of the money you have earned. Wealth simply isn’t a monetary figure!

But……Wealth is Not Just About Money!

As mentioned, the term wealth doesn’t just describe how much money you have. You can also use the word to describe the people in your life and your satisfaction with your life in general.

* If you have a close relationship to your family, you are wealthy.

* If you love waking up in the morning and get satisfaction out of your job everyday, you are wealthy.

* If you have friends who love you as their own family, you are wealthy.


* If you have a fervent faith, you are wealthy.

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Living an abundant life simply means being happy in all aspects of your life and having the resources to care for your family. Obviously you won’t be happy every minute of every day, but if you are usually well taken care of, then you already have an abundant life.

So, lets see how to How to Build Wealth……

You need carry a positive mindset in life if you wish to build the wealth you want and deserve. You must believe that what you want can be attained, that you have the power to attain it, and that it will be delivered to you in your lifetime. Without this mindset, you’re more likely to give up when times get tough.

Tools to Make Money in Tough Economic Times

We can’t change the world unless we start by changing ourselves. But if we change ourselves, we can change the whole world. And if we change ourselves for the better, there’s no reason why we can’t or shouldn’t live an abundant life.

Loving yourself is also of great importance. You have to love yourself first if you want to receive love from others. If you don’t have love from others, you won’t lead the life you desire.

If you are new to this way of thinking – try it!
As I said earlier – self improvement is about changing negative thoughts and producing positive actions!

See how you go…..use these tips on how to live an abundant life and have a great day!

Tags: How to Live an Abundant Life, live an abundant life, self improvement

One of my main passions is self development!

I believe that those who choose to actively acknowledge their issues and seek to improve their situations are the only ones who really succeed in life (makes sense?)

Self improvement is not for everyone though – there always has to be the whingers amongst us!

But somewhere, someday, somehow we all must take responsibility for ourselves and stand up and be counted! We must take responsibility to improve ourselves and make it a top priority in our lives!

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Most people have had bad situations in their life or childhood that can make for a really good excuse, to not make the most out of life. I could easily list several things that have happened to me that would make for great reasons why I couldn’t possibly be successful – but I choose not to!

I choose to get on with it and be a success at everything I do! – You can too!
I will be posting my self improvement articles regularly – so check back often for a good read or make it easy on yourself and subscribe to the feed (you’ll find this under the comments bit!)

Today…….I want to start by exploring the unreal word that is – FAILURE!

Have you ever baulked on something because you were afraid of failure? I know I have in the past!As a matter of fact – most people have at some time in their life! I know it and you know it – no one likes to fail. Can anyone put their hand up and say they are happy to feel like they’re ineffective, inefficient, weak or lacking in any way? not me! thats for sure!

Think about this – failure doesn’t exist – not until YOU say it does, anyway! Get out your dictionary, and find numerous definitions of the word Failure. You will find some of these: a state of inability to perform a normal function adequately, a failing to do or perform, a lack of success, a fracturing or giving way under stress.

Check out these definitions – do you see what they have in common if you consider goal acheivement: failure is merely a PERCEPTION.

If you believe you have failed, then you most certainly have!
If you believe you don’t have the ability to succeed, then you don’t. and you won’t!
If you believe you can’t handle the pressure of achieving your goals, surely you wont reach them!
If you believe you’re not or can’t be successful, you’re not and you won’t be!
Failure only really exists in your own mind! The moment you decide to give up or stop working toward your goals, failure is born and it is real.

Lets say that you never do that though? You never say this sort of negative stuff and instead, you strive to reach your goals, bit by bit, baby step by baby step – there’s no failure then, is there?

Click here to take control of your life and learn ways to thrive, not just survive.

This little snippet of info should be particularly encouraging if you’ve been working hard towards your goals but are not yet seeing many or any positive results yet. All you need to do is keep going and you cannot fail!
Now this is self improvement and self development at the roots!
Improve your mindset! – You CAN do it! You WILL do it! You ARE doing it!

Here are three tips to improve yourself and keep your mind strong and focused on your goals:

1) Never allow yourself an easy way out. Heaps of people do this without even knowing they are doing it! They are happy to work hard on their goals until the going gets too tough or its not as easy as they thought and then they give up. Don’t do that! Commit yourself to making your goals happen, no matter what! Never quit, never admit failure, never lose your determination.

2) Don’t set yourself up by putting unrealistic timeframes on your goals! It’s okay to set a general timeframe, but surely you have to know that circumstances are not always in your control (crap happens!) so you can’t be totally sure when your goal will actually be achieved. If you set a day or date that you must achieve your goal by, to feel that you have succeeded – you’re just setting yourself up for failure! Don’t do that!
Instead, get a general idea of when you’d like your goal to be completed, but then take it a day at a time and focus on making progress towards you goal, not on reaching the finish line in as little time as possible. (sensible? – I think so!)

3) Finally, are you one of these people that see obstacles and setbacks as failures?
The two are completely different. An obstacle, setback or delay means only one thing: it’s not time for your goal to be achieved yet. That’s it! It doesn’t mean you failed; it simply means you’re not done yet. You’ve got to keep moving forward and find a way around the problem.

Want More in Life? Get Life-Changing Strategies Here.

Engaging in Self development strategies and Self improvementtechniques should be a daily mission for everybody who really wants to succeed in life.
My current way of improving myself on a daily basis is through Success University!

If you are looking for a new way to practice self improvement or self development strategies and make your life better – check out Success University and signup for a 14 day FREE Trial – I love it! (There is also a great income opportunity attached to Success University, if you are that way inclined!)

Dont forget to drop back often for the latest top tips, articles or affirmations on self development and self improvement and enjoy your day! – Kym

Tags: self development, self improvement, self improvement strategies