Living a succulent life means being connected to your heart, standing strong in the woman you were born to be, and experiencing yourself and your life as the rare and divine treasures they are.

1. Approve of yourself now and always.

2. Passionately love yourself; create radical self-love and your entire life will reflect your positive change.

3. Own and claim your inner greatness; anything less won’t work for living the life you want.

4. Eat dark chocolate – not in fear of being not enough, but to celebrate being more than enough.

5. Set your juicy intentions daily. Focus on what you desire.

6. Share your brilliance with the world in a much bigger way.

7. Do away with dismissing, hiding and disregarding yourself and your needs.

8. Add color to your life where it has been dark.

9. Speak your truth and set yourself free.

10. Completely and deeply acknowledge your greatness daily.

11. Commit to ending self-sabotage and take action to empower yourself.

12. Get comfortable in your skin. Eat watermelon naked.

13. Dress yourself in a way that feels really, really good to you.

14. Do more of what you want to do and leave the rest behind.

15. Develop an attitude of gratitude.

16. Break free from captivity and outdated self-images.

17. Love your body, your curves and stretch marks; see your body as divine.

18. Create your own rules.

19. Always say yes to your wonderful self; be delicious!

20. Exercise daily and connect to sources that inspire you.

21. Lighten up and have more fun.

22. Do what scares you the most. You will expand and grow for sure!

23. Nourish and honor your body’s needs and desires.

24. Find your true tribe.

25. Do what you think you cannot do.

You are so worthy of re-creating your life to be the way you desire. You deserve to invest in yourself and your growth, have supportive people in your life, and reach the level of success that you crave.

Give yourself the permission to embrace all of you; there is no better time than now. Then, get ready for all the wonderful people, opportunities and surprises that are coming into your life as a result.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert, and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

In the past, this voice of doubt – The How Dare You Voice – stopped her dead in her tracks. When she listened to it she felt awful, began to question herself, and felt ashamed and embarrassed for thinking she would dare to.

The How Dare You Voice keeps you living small and settling for mediocre. When you listen to it, it creates a complete bummer vibe. The How Dare You Voice keeps you from enjoying the process of relaxing or indulging in yourself, it keeps you from taking bigger leaps forward, keeps you from saying no to toxic people and situations, and totally distracts you from taking action towards what you really want. Why? When The How Dare You Voice speaks it creates instant doubt and disconnects from your spirit.

Do you have The How Dare You Voice in your head? If you do, you know because when it speaks you fully feel the doubt. You may feel sick to your stomach, that you’re doomed for failure, or like someone just told you to shut up and stay small. You often feel embarrassed that you even thought to try in the first place.

I remember watching Oprah when she said that every time she wanted to go further in her career, the first voice she heard asked, “How dare you?”

Imagine if Oprah listened to The How Dare You Voice. How different would her life, and the lives of her fans and viewers, be?

I will tell you that every time I’ve moved toward the next level in my own life and career, I have heard The How Dare You Voice. I especially heard it when it was time for me to rest and replenish my mind, body and soul. There was no enjoying relaxation because I kept hearing, “How dare you rest?”

The How Dare You Voice shuts you down and keeps you down. It gets you to believe that you are defected in some way or perhaps just crazy for thinking that you could possibly achieve and do all that you want. (FYI: The How Dare You Voice = a bunch of BS.)

I know and coach a lot of women who hear The How Dare You Voice when they take a step up into the biggest version of themselves or when they take time to honor their body and relax. I have made it my mission to shut down The How Dare You Voice once and for all.

So, the next time you hear The How Dare You Voice, the next time it jumps up in your head or gets all in your face, here’s what you do:

Ask back: “How dare I not do it?”

• HOW DARE I NOT honor my body and rest?
• HOW DARE I NOT follow my dreams?
• HOW DARE I NOT go bigger in my life?
• HOW DARE I NOT show my brilliant gifts to the world?

Here’s the real deal: When you honor yourself by listening to the other voice inside you, the one that says, “Go, be, do or have anything you want,” you instantly create more success, are more effective and productive, and are naturally a whole lot happier. You start to spend more time feeling blissful instead of doubting your capabilities.

For my client Loren, The How Dare You Voice was a thought program passed down from her mother that she had carried her entire life. I coached her through the process of detaching and recreating her truth in an authentic and powerful way. I showed Loren that The How Dare You Voice didn’t reflect her inner truth or capabilities – not even close.

If you suffer from the repercussions of The How Dare You Voice, take a moment and reflect: where does this voice come from and is it rational? Are you willing to detach from The How Dare You Voice and let your How Dare I Not Voice take over your inner thoughts? It’s time for you to go, be, do, have and create everything you want.

I dare you.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert, and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

Here is my guidance (from one Bold Woman to another): It is time to STOP CONSUMING and START CREATING.

It is time to stop consuming the next best thing and get creating the next best thing!

Your soul will thank you. You will feel freedom and true joy.

Your heart truly craves some bold-ass creation. When you’ve realized you have consumed way too much information but are still spinning your wheels it means only one thing: it is time to take BOLD action and CREATE.

You already have everything within that you need to take action. Are you ready to see this for yourself?

You have a choice to doubt or believe in yourself. What I know for sure is that doubting is painful and believing is hopeful and inspirational.

My sense is that you’re going with the option to be confident in your brilliant self. You see, there is no way to know if what we create will work, but the alternative is to doubt and not take action, thereby fully guaranteeing it will never work. I know this isn’t what you want for yourself. You’re a brilliant, bold woman who knows there is more inside of YOU waiting to come out.

Are you willing to go on a hiatus of consuming? My daughter has committed to doing this and I can already see a change. She has decided that for the next two months, there will be no more Forever 21 (a clothing store teen girls go nuts for). Instead she is taking time to sit by the gardens and paint; her confidence has flourished by doing so. I love her smile when she shows me what she has created … it is light, love and joy! And, the best part is that it feels so good to her.

Now it’s your turn. It’s time to start CREATING.

• Clear your schedule and create.
• Go outside to your favorite place and create.
• Honor your brilliance and create.
• Create. No excuses.
• Believe.
• Talk about the last truly awesome thing you created.
• Breathe and listen to your soul. Let it guide you.
• Close your eyes and imagine all that you are capable of creating. What do you see?
• What does it taste, feel, sound, smell like when you are creating? Imagine it then do it.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert, and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

How can you truly be creative and access your unique abilities when you’re in an indecisive space?

This week a client of mine put off responding to a potential new client’s inquiry because she was afraid to make the wrong decision. This kept her blocked from doing what she really wants – spending the majority of her time doing what she LOVES – because she was afraid of making the wrong decision. Another client kept dialogue going with someone she knew she was never going to do business with. She focused on thoughts of, “I need to tell him” and worried about how and when to do it – all of which blocked her from pursuing the things she is really passionate about (enjoying life).

In both of these cases, my clients allowed fear to create indecisiveness and it kept them from taking positive steps toward their goals. They both knew with 100% certainty that simply making their decision would make them feel better, but they didn’t trust that the correct answers were within them. If they had fully decided and responded, they would have been less stressed; less distracted and felt a whole lot better (this is what it’s all about spending more time doing what you love and feeling great)!

Being indecisive leads to procrastination, self-doubt, and distraction. The energy drain of being stagnant while thinking about making a decision only drives you further away from the success you want. Decision-making always feels better, connects you to your personal power, clears the way for new opportunities, and propels you towards deliciousness in your life.

Being an empowered woman means being the leader in your life. One of the most empowering skills a leader has is the ability to make a good decision.

So how do you move away from the fear of making the wrong decision?

1. Know that it is absolutely impossible to make a wrong decision.

   For every decision you make, you gain experience and knowledge for the future, and open up new opportunities. The fear you feel when worrying about making the wrong choice is your ego trying to keep you small and stuck. Who needs that?

2. Step into your BEST SELF.

   When you are in a feel-good place you will be more decisive and make quicker decisions. Connect to your best self through meditating, journaling, exercise, etc.

3. Visualize your best self-making decisions that need to be made.

   Imagine exactly how your best self feels and what she thinks. Then, when it’s time to make decisions in life, ask how your best self would handle the situation. Would she procrastinate or take action?

Trust your intuition and go with it without question, otherwise things get confusing and unnecessarily complicated. Your answer is already within you; it’s just a matter of accessing your confidence. Believe that your first choice is always the best. If you feel a little unsure about a specific decision, put a timeframe on it. Tell yourself that within 24 hours you will make a decision and then do it.

One thing I know for sure is that avoiding decisions only brings you more of what you don’t want. Making choices can be easy and lead to a whole lot of freedom when you do it from a place of calm. You are completely capable of accessing your freewill and personal strength as a bold, empowered woman … all you have to do make the decision.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert , and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

My answer? “Simple.”

Increasing self-confidence is much easier than you think. Really, it is. It’s about creating a deep belief in yourself and owning all of who you are – NOW. Self-confidence is about believing in YOU no matter what. It’s SO much harder to live a life not believing in yourself. Actually, it’s freaking painful and a true esteem destroyer.

If you decide to reject yourself rather than believing in YOU, you will always struggle with confidence issues.

Self-confidence is created from within simply by completely believing in you no matter what. (I know I said this twice, but I really want to imprint it in your mind.) It is so essential to build a strong foundation of self-confidence. This way, no matter what happens on the outside – what someone says, what someone does or doesn’t do, what your bank account reflects – it won’t knock you down.

When you have healthy self-esteem, you feel good, are more attractive, make decisions quickly, take actions that align with your goals, have more fun, enjoy greater success and have opportunities show up in ways you never imagined possible.

You deserve to feel great from within – always! Here are some simple suggestions for you to begin to use today to increase your confidence now.

1. Decide today to believe in YOU – no matter what.

   Your confidence will not increase if you are cracking the whip on yourself saying you have to do more or be better. You can’t take meaningful action if you focus on your flaws, past mistakes or worry about the future, and surely you will be so distracted to pay attention to the wonderful things about you that will enhance your self-esteem. Self-confidence will not increase if you are looking for evidence and ways to validate your thoughts of, “I am not good enough,” “I can never get it right,” or “I have no clue what I want.”

   If your friend, daughter, or niece were trash talking herself this way, you would tell her to STOP. And, you’d be a mirror back to her to reflect the truth of how great she really is. Do this for yourself starting today (no excuses). Reflect the truth back to you. I promise you will instantly feel better.

2. Embrace all of your greatness.

   When you receive a compliment, smile, say “thank you” and fully receive it. Pay attention to the part of you that wants to reject the compliment and dismiss it. When your artwork or writing is published in a magazine, or you receive amazing feedback through email, open it, look at it, breathe it in deeply and receive all of your greatness.

   When you walk by the mirror, look at yourself and acknowledge YOU – FREE of criticism and FREE of judgment. Start to acknowledge the cool, smart and attractive woman staring back at you!

3. DECIDE & TAKE ACTION!

   Many women who doubt themselves have a tough time making decisions and taking action. As a result they become stuck, overwhelmed, highly frustrated and have lower self-esteem. I had a client who came to be because her confidence was low and she was SO STUCK and unsure of what to do, she actually dreaded getting out of bed in the morning. We worked together and eventually she made the decision to believe in herself. I recently got a letter from her and I’d like to share it with you.

Karen,
Let me start by saying that 2010 has been amazing! Move forward? I’ve done it! I have been more consistently happy this year than in, well … years! No more waking up dreading the day or breaking down crying. I have more positive energy and forward momentum. One of the best things I did was take responsibility and control, and learn to decide and act. Thank you again for helping change my life and giving me the tools to do so.

I am so HAPPY for her – another amazing woman FREE from suffering. Woo-hoo!

One of the best ways to increase your self-confidence is by deciding and taking action. Make a decision and don’t worry whether it’s right or wrong. You can always decide again. One of best things in life is that your choices are unlimited.

If you have bigger decisions to make in your life and want someone to champion you, seek a mentor or coach. Having a trusted person to reflect back to you what you sometimes do not see for yourself is one of the quickest ways to improve your confidence and feel better NOW.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert , and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

This week, I wanted to share some easy tips to help you become more aware of your negative emotional triggers. These triggers can leave you in the background of your life where you feel stuck, frustrated and blah. Mastering your emotional triggers will keep you connected to your personal power and allow you to create a bigger space for peace, change, creativity and happiness.

Read this week’s blog and learn to master your emotional triggers!

“Master Your Emotional Triggers”

Emotional triggers can happen just like that! One minute you’re feeling great, the next you’re down in the dumps. Have you ever experienced this? You read something, have a conversation with someone, see a colleague who’s doing something that you wish you were, see a couple laughing or a woman dressed really nicely, and all of a sudden your energy and joy decreases.

You may not even realize you’ve been triggered. But you know you feel off and out of alignment. Perhaps you become anxious, jealous, fearful or simply shut down.

It is really not about the other person, what you read or what you saw. Triggers take you back to an unpleasant event in your past, which is what stirs up the unpleasant feelings. However, being triggered is a great opportunity to heal, learn, grow and fully become more YOU.

One negative emotional trigger can lead you down a painful path to feeling powerless if you don’t know what’s going on. That’s why it’s so important to become fully aware of the things that trigger you.

Negative triggers can have the following manifestations:

• Physical: You are depleted of energy, eat more junk food, and become sleepy.
• Emotional: You lack motivation and feel helpless, overwhelmed, angry, anxious or depressed.
• Mental: You are less aware; you procrastinate, and have repeated self-defeating thoughts.
• Spiritual: You have no connection to purpose, creativity or inspiration.

Everyone has emotional triggers. Here are some ways in which you can learn to master them.

1. Make a List of Your Emotional Triggers
   Understanding what your emotional triggers are raises your awareness so that you can create a plan for self-care, be well and not suffer when they arise. Also, it is important to recognize that when we are fatigued, we are much more susceptible to our negative emotional triggers.
2. Be Present to How You Feel.
   Remind yourself that you’re being triggered because of a connection to a past event and detach from the old story. Release it. Decide to not give your power and energy away to someone or something that is not serving you. The only way to move on is to empower yourself to let go. When you’re empowered and in alignment, you feel energized, happy and great. Stay connected to how you feel throughout the day.
3. Get Out of Reactive Mode
   You can learn a lot from emotional triggers – and growing from them takes you to a higher level in your life. Understanding our triggers teaches us valuable lessons about who we are and what brings us peace. From here, we get to create new options for ourselves rather than staying in reactive mode.

The next time you find that you are experiencing negative repercussions from a trigger, stop and realize that you have a choice in whether you react. If you know your buttons are being pushed, breathe and choose calm. Think, “What is the big lesson for me to learn here?” Asking questions like

• Do I want to react or grow?
• Is relinquishing my power to someone else in alignment with my desires?
• What do I know to be true today?

will help you move through the negativity and learn the lesson you are being taught by the experience. Learn to choose calm over chaos.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert , and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

1. They are fully aware they are doing it.
2. They are painfully unhappy.
3. They are desperately afraid that if they keep diminishing themselves, they will miss amazing opportunities.

In order to help these women and others like them understand how to stop the pain and start fully experiencing their lives, I created 5 Irresistible Reasons to STOP Diminishing Yourself.

1. It’s hard to live BIG when you’re diminishing yourself.

Living BIG is about openness and the expansion of your soul’s desires. When you diminish yourself you constrict, get really small, and most often find yourself in a place of isolation. Simply said, when you diminish, you hide. How are you hiding from yourself and avoiding your fullest potential.

You were born to live on purpose! Say YES to your heart’s desires.

2.    When we diminish ourselves we create CHAOS.

Diminishing yourself is a complete distraction from what you really want and it stops you from taking productive action. That’s CHAOS. When we diminish ourselves, we are in a state of constant worry about what others are thinking, and a state of panic about trying to be perfect. We judge others and ourselves.

Creating chaos instantly disempowers us from living authentically and taking authentic action.

3.    Diminishing yourself distorts your perspective.

When you are in a diminished state of being you disconnect from your inner guidance and your perspective drastically changes. When you go to that small place, your view is distorted. You begin to think that people are lying when they give you positive feedback like saying that you’re a great writer, pointing out how nice you look or saying that they’d like to collaborate with you. Diminishing yourself makes you think that when others compliment you, there is something is wrong with them.

Diminishing yourself creates a perspective that only sees and hears all that you don’t want, making you unable to receive.

4.    Refusing your greatness is a big energy drainer.

When we feel “less than” and refuse our greatness, our emotional energy becomes drained. Our energy levels become depleted from being constricted, living in chaos, constantly worrying about what others think, and judging ourselves.

This energy drain cuts off your creative life force.

5.    Diminishing yourself makes you painfully unhappy.

Not once have I ever met a woman who is happy about diminishing herself. It is very much the opposite. A woman who diminishes herself is afraid to stay in a small place because she fears she will miss amazing opportunities for love, travel, career and personal growth.

When we deny who we really are, we suffer.

ASSIGNMENT:

This Week’s Exercise:
Move Beyond Diminished

1. Identify how you diminish and dismiss yourself.  List the ways that you do this.
2. Make a list of what you get out of diminished living.
3. What would your life be like if you empowered yourself and stepped into the biggest version of you?

How would you feel?

Who would support you?

Why wouldn’t you want to live like this?

Start today to expand and embrace your best self from the most loving place. Give yourself compliments and accept positive praise from the people who see your greatness, even when you struggle to see it yourself. Make a sacred contract with yourself to allow your beautiful inner light shine no matter what!

If you’re frustrated with boundaries and feel ready to expand your life, I encourage you to identify your self-imposed limits. Once you know what they are, you can free yourself from restrictions.

Self-imposed limits feel constricting and depressing. They often sound like the following

• I should stay in this career since this is what I earned my degree for.
• I am too old to even try now.
• I shouldn’t risk it; it could take too long and be too much work.
• I’ll never earn much money. No one in my family has ever made over $75,000 per year.
• I don’t have the time to “just do it.” I am too busy.
• I can’t publish a book; I am not a professional writer.

Self-imposed limits are false restrictions we place upon ourselves that stop us from taking further action and turning our dreams into reality. Imagine fully believing in your true potential rather than holding back because of self-imposed limitations.

This week, prepare yourself to jump out of the box and start creating your life from a much bigger space.

1. Make a List of the Limits You Place on Yourself.

Once you bring your awareness to the boundaries you’ve built, you can decide to make different decisions that align with what you really want. You no longer need to tell yourself “I can’t.”

Become inspired and open to all possibilities for recreating your life.

2. Change Your Beliefs.

Ask yourself whether you are truly limited in the way you previously thought. Why would you believe you are limited? What could you do without these limits?

Replace your negative, false beliefs with true and empowering ones.

3. Improve Your Self-Image.

Start seeing yourself as the highest and best version of you. Ask your highest self for daily guidance and listen to your intuition. By listening to your highest self, you start to develop a higher level of confidence.

What would your best and most confident self say to those limitations?

4. Have a Positive Expectation.

Expect the best with complete certainty. When you free yourself of limitations, you create space to fully see and believe in all that you’re capable of. Positively expect amazing outcomes. When you let go of self-imposed limits, you naturally release worry and need for perfection. You become present in the moment.

You were born to succeed and that is the beautiful truth. Now, fully expect it with certainty.

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert , and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

One of the most liberating and empowering things one can do is to stop living in a state of fear.

Fear is:

False
Evidence
Appearing as a
Reality.

The fact is that fear is an illusion. Fear depletes your energy, clouds your self value and further keeps you from living the life you truly desire. Besides, being afraid only attracts more of what you’re afraid of. The fear of poverty creates more poverty, the fear of failure creates more failure, and so on.
Really the only thing good that comes from fear is personal growth and learning to align yourself with your personal power to move through it.

Here is a list of thoughts and actions to move you beyond your fear:

1. Realize that fear is an illusion based on your past or future thinking. Fear is not real.
2. Decide to stop running away.
3. Face your fears boldly; only good will come from doing this.
4. Understand that existing in a state of fear is nothing but a distraction that keeps you from living our best life.
5. Acknowledge your fear and continue to take action forward no matter what.
6. Ask yourself whether your fear is rational or irrational.
7. Understand that what you resist persists.
8. Do what scares you most.
9. Shine a light on the places that frighten you.
10. Develop an attitude of absolute certainty.
11. Connect to your faith – always.
12. Learn how to be a deliberate creator and you will no longer be paralyzed by fear.
13. Create your best state of being; claim happiness, wealth and abundance now. You need nothing external to do this – it comes from within.
14. Learn how to observe your thoughts and change them to create a better feeling state.
15. Shut down the negative talk.
16. Do not give precious energy to fear.
17. Accept your truth and commit to end self-denial.
18. Always encourage yourself, even when the picture isn’t fully clear.
19. Celebrate your inner fierceness.
20. Believe you will conquer.
21. Be consistent with your thoughts, beliefs, words and actions.
22. Connect daily to sources that inspire you.
23. Practice meditation.
24. Create amazing images of abundance in your mind.
25. Embrace and accept change.
26. Do things that increase your level of self-confidence.
27. Be daring.
28. Take some risks.
29. Take bold action even if you’re fearful.
30. Indecision and procrastination are fear in disguise; make a decision. Now.
31. Surround yourself with like-minded people.
32. Get in touch with how you feel upon waking up.
33. Your feelings are the best indicator of the day you will create.
34. Practice personal responsibility no matter how fearful you are.
35. Journal daily about your true desires and fully feel them as if they were already met.
36. Be accountable to yourself; have a mentor to hold you in high regard.
37. Hug your partner, children and friends.
38. Get out of your environment; have a change of scenery.
39. Do yoga or pottery.
40. Belly breathe.
41. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
42. Feel good in your skin.
43. Practice self-love; love yourself no matter what.
44. Love yourself some more.
45. Create a positive environment around you.
46. Do not participate in lack thinking.
47. Refrain from sugar and self-medication of any sort.
48. Turn your television off.
49. Stop telling yourself you’ll try. JUST DO IT.
50. Do not curl up into a fetal position and withdraw.
51. Act as if you already have it.
52. Seek guidance from a coach or mentor.
53. Listen to inspirational music.
54. Read about people who moved beyond fear.
55. Relax and get some rest to recharge your energy levels.
56. Empower yourself through moving your body.
57. Choose empowerment over disempowerment.
58. Write in your gratitude journal.
59. Remind yourself that moving beyond fear is expansion for your soul and leads to greater success.
60. Be present and live in the now.
61. Practice self-care always.
62. Do that one thing you resist.
63. Talk to someone you trust who will reflect your best back to you.
64. Do things that bring out your best.
65. Exercise.
66. Be willing to see your personal value.
67. Wake up each day with a “one day at a time” attitude.
68. Choose love.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Empowerment Expert , and Master Certified Coach Karen Fagan publishes her “Live in Your Brilliance” weekly ezine. If you want special tips to live bold, brilliant and rich in your life and business, you can sign up for a FREE subscription to Live in Your Brilliance at www.karenfagan.com. Want to see more secret tips? see Karen’s blog at Karen http://www.karenfagan.com/blog/

I wasn’t empowered to make the decisions that would move me toward living my authentic life. I disconnected myself from my inner truth because what I found there scared me. At the time, it seemed easier to hide out in the relationship I was unsatisfied with and try to convince myself that my career was just fine. And, I suffered some major consequences. When you settle for less than you want and deserve, you are acting from a place of fear. What I learned from my experience is that in all things, we must act from a place of love.

When you choose to be driven by love, you will begin to believe that life can be exactly how you want it to be. When you choose to become conscious of your truth, you will realize that the power of choice is available to you.

Ask yourself, “Why are you settling?”

We influence our life’s experience through the choices we make. And I’m talking, all of the choices we make. If you think about it, there is no such thing as a small choice. Every decision we make — choosing to eat or not eat, to say or not say, to listen to your inner voice or not listen — has a consequence. Whether it’s short or long term, with good or less than desirable results, each choice has an effect. Our power and influence over our lives comes from our ability to make choices. When we settle, we lose sight of that power – knowing somewhere in our heart that our inner truth has been compromised.

Examples of settling for less:

• I guess this is as good as it gets.
• It doesn’t really matter to me if I get married or have children.
• As long as I have 6-8 clients, that’s better than nothing.
• I can do this by myself. I don’t need any support.
• It’s better to have these friends than no friends.
• I can live on $2000 a month, so that’ll be good enough.
• At least I have a job, even if it’s one I hate.
• I’ll never lose these last 20 pounds, so why even try?

Ignoring your inner truth inevitably leads to self-sabotaging behavior – overeating, procrastination, a lack of personal responsibility – and ultimately, pain. Feelings of anger, boredom, frustration, loneliness and hopelessness take over and lead to chaos in our lives. The only reason we deny ourselves our inner truth is because our conscious self is too frightened to take bold steps, so we make less than authentic choices.

Take a look at where you are settling for less. Is it in your career, your relationship, your well-being? Make a list of those areas and describe how you’re settling.

Examples:

• I don’t like the way my hair stylist does my hair, but I keep going back.
• I buy and eat cheap, un-nutritious food.
• I continue to work with clients who submit late payments.

Now, make a list of the consequences you have endured as the result of settling.

Examples:

• I never feel cute and I resent paying for a haircut I don’t like.
• My food isn’t providing the nutrients that my body needs for proper health.
• I can’t pay my bills on time.

Ask yourself again. Why are you settling? Usually, we settle out of fear. We fear that we won’t have enough, that we’re taking too big of a risk, or we’re better off staying put rather than taking a chance. Take a good look at the underlying fear that leads to you settling for less. Is that fear rational? Why are you allowing it to hold you back?

Honor Your Power of Choice

Every choice you make has the power to shift your life direction. Intuitively you know that you desire more. Choose to end the chaos created by settling for less and begin to get clear about what you authentically want in your life. Change can be very uncomfortable; it’s time to get comfortable with it. Now, if you’re ready to commit to continuous growth and expansion, pay attention to what I just told you. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Never once have I heard any woman regret making the decision to no longer settle in her life. In fact, the reaction is always the opposite. “Look at the new abundant path I’m on! I can’t believe I settled for so long!” Getting comfortable being uncomfortable will lead you to take action and create the life you want and deserve. Empower your inner truth and honor your power of choice.

Stop settling for less.