Moving Past Criticisim

This has been a crazy week for me. I have gotten a lot of negative and positive feedback. Of course everyone loves when the response is positive, but how do we deal with negative criticism.

 

I recently helped put together a workbook for clients at my job on how to find employment.  One of the sections that I researched was how to deal with criticism. While creating a plan for dealing with criticism, I never thought I had an issue with taking constructive criticism.  Now that I have received a lot of it this week, I am beginning to really take a deeper look at some of those steps. A big one that is starting to stick out for me is to see what the motive behind the criticism is. Is it meant to help or to hurt. Sometimes criticism that seems harsh is actually there to help us grow as a person but all criticism is reflective of the other person's point of view. We have to take into consideration the other person's life experiences and where they are in their lives. It can at times be hard for others to be happy for our success when they do not feel like they are successful in their own actions.

 

So how do we let the feedback in without letting it discourage us from moving forward in our goal. Well one thing that I do is keep a support circle around me that is going to give me honest feedback, geared toward helping me advance. The opinions of these people are what is most important to me and I make sure to incorporate their feedback and learn from them. Another thing that I am learning is to avoid making it personal, which I admit can be hard.  All criticism will not be positive or constructive but even the negative criticism teaches you how to deal with situations. I am learning to take a deeper look at people's underlying circumstances and above all move past negativity and practice forgiveness and love.

Keeping up the Pace

Last week I was so busy, preparing for my workshop, meeting new people, and feeling like there was always something that I needed to get done. Now that the workshop is over I have some time to relax. But is relaxation really what I want?

Although I'm happy not to feel like there is always something that needs to be done, I want to make sure that I keep up that same momentum of accomplishing small goals towards my overall vision. I have had a habit at times of working really hard for a few months and then slowly down to a near crawl. Now that I've gotten my pace up I have to keep in step.

I think the best way to do this is to maintain a list of smaller weekly goals. When I go to my day job at the non-profit, I know there are things that I need to accomplish each week. I want to set those same weekly to do's for myself.

And bigger yet I think I need to start preparing for my next workshop. I know that the excitement that I feel about my workshops and being able to inspire others through art will allow me to get my weekly tasks done, while still staying motivated and having tons of fun.

Spring Clearing: Clearing the Path To the Life You Want

Spring Clearing: Clearing the Path to the Life You Want

Creative Expression Workshop

Use creative expression to clear the path for manifesting the life of your dreams.

Become clear on the fears and stumbling blocks that have stood in your way in the past and begin to let them go!

Use movement, journaling and collage to create a road map for your vision.

Honoring your past while moving into  a joyous and prosperous present.

• Participate in a ritual that honors past life lessons
• Take a deeper look at how your thoughts have influenced your outcomes
• Design a vision for personal life and career

Come prepared to move, have fun, and shake  up your creative spirit

Workshop includes complimentary

Lunch and Journals

Saturday, April 14, 2012

11am - 3pm

The Renaissance

130 Malcolm X Blvd.

Community Room

New York, NY

Earl Bird Special!

Register by April 1st for $30

Register at http://www.jasminebriggs.com/ 

Tickets are $40 after April 1st

Belief and Clarity

This week I have been thinking a lot about what I believe is possible for my business and my life. I am reading Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich and also listening to seminar's regarding starting socially conscious businesses.  I realized that the goals I was setting for my business were small and undefined. I began to see that if I didn't believe that I could achieve big goals now then I wasn't putting the right energy into the universe.

For me success was something that would be achieved at a later date, either when I was older or when I had more experience. These habits of always putting things off into the future were blocking me from reaching success now.  Today my focus is on knowing that anything is possible in this moment because belief is the first and most important step. We all know that how we think about a situation affects how we relate to it, the energy we give it, and the people and circumstances we attract.

Once we believe that we can have everything that we desire, it is also important to become clear about what it is  that we desire. Through this business seminar I realized that I need be clearer about what my business looks like. I am truly thankful for the success I have had so far but I know that more clarity will bring bigger results. It will allow me to shape the future of my company and bring my mission statement into fruition.

Within any aspect of our life I am seeing that clarity and belief are key ingredients for success. But for me it's not just about knowing but about doing the work. So this week I invite you to get clear about your vision for life, whether it be in areas of family, career or love. We never know what's available to us once we believe that all things are possible.

How To Create Transformation Through Collage

Great news!! I'm having another workshop in New York City and you're all invited. 

 

How to Create Transformation Through Collage workshop on Thursday February 2, 2012 from 7pm -9pm has been creating quite the buzz and if you haven't attended yet this is a perfect opportunity to tap into your creative intelligence and create exciting new goals that will support you throughout the year.

 

During this 2 hour workshop you will use

• Collage
• Guided meditation
• and Journaling

to set and re-commit to your goals, figure out what may be blocking you from accomplishing them in the past and begin strategizing on how to make your goals a reality.  These workshops are tons of fun and give you the opportunity to use markers, crayons and writing to take big steps in your career and personal lives.  For more information and to register please check out Skillshare at http://skl.sh/rbhaAV or my website http://www.jasminebriggs.com/

 

Giving

I have begun reading Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. I am only on the first chapter but what has already stuck out to me are these 6 steps. Decide how much money you want, when you want it by, what you are wiling to give, devise a plan, start immediately and read the answers to these questions twice a day. I love the affirmation aspect. Reading my plan and feeling and imagining like it has already happened.  Now what has me stumped is what am I willing to give. When I first read it, I thought I read decide what I am willing to give up and I began to think that I had to sacrifice something to get what I want. When I read it again and realized it said what am I willing to give, I was still at a lost. I thought well I am willing to give time, focus and energy to make my dream a reality. Is that enough, I don't know but I figure it’s a good start.

I asked my boyfriend what he was willing to give for his business and his first response was money. He then added work and time but he definitely thinks that money is a part of the process. And who's to say he's  not right. We have all heard "takes money to make money” or my new favorite by Meek Mills "scared money don't make no money." The book has yet to say anything about what to give simply that you must be willing to give something.

A concept that at first  baffled me now makes a lot of sense. It  made me take a look at my own attitude toward the term "give" and how I so easily saw give up. I want to shift my relationship to the word give. Some definitions of the word give that spoke to me were to contribute, to be warm and open in relationship with others. These definitions are the energy that I want to give when I give my focus, energy and time to my mission of growing my coaching and workshop practice and work.  These will not just be things that I do to reach an end but I will know that I am contributing to the world and relating to others in a way that is warm and open.

The Journey

For me this is a time to get real clear about what I would like to manifest this year, and work hard to enjoy every moment. Because as a lot of us will soon realize, 2013 will be here before you know it.

 

More important than just knowing what we want to accomplish in the new year, we also need to begin thinking about our action plan. In my own life, I have seen that the more time and energy I give something the faster the results. Yes hard work breeds results but more than that I believe that it is our energy and focus that gives our hard work that extra push. How we relate to the work is key.

 

For me a plan of action changes how I relate to a goal. Small accomplishments and a schedule make any goal seem manageable and within reach.What a lot of us tend to forget is that life is about the journey, not just the final destination.  So I propose that in the new year, we celebrate the small accomplishments and sticking to our schedule. Every task completed is another chance for us to pat ourselves on the back and re-commit to our goals.

 

There are tons of ways we can stay focused and dedicated on our journey. I love charts and I've also recently discovered Wunderlist, which is an online task management tool that also has apps for your phone and other devices.  I have used it to create tons of to-do lists, focusing on various business and personal goals. But for me it's more than about just checking tasks off as complete, it's about the positive energy and good vibes I give off when I know I've completed a task. And as I said before it's all about our energy.

 

So in 2012 let's get that good energy out there in the universe. That sense of accomplishment and  inner knowing will propel us forward in manifesting our dreams and help make 2012 a fabulous year.