Welcome to Judi Moreo’s monthly e-zine, developed specifically for people who want to be the best they can be and enjoy much success in their lives! Please feel free to forward this to associates, friends, and family!
In This Issue:
- The Power of Optimism
- Mind Workout: Creativity Killers
- Affirmation
- What Judi's Customers Are Saying
- Email Preferences
Hello Everyone,
I’m in the state of Washington right now and it is absolutely beautiful up here. The leaves are turning. What a magnificent sight! Living in Las Vegas doesn’t give us much of a chance to see the incredible autumn colors. At least not near to the size and quantity of this. I love it! It’s the perfect setting for Halloween. And speaking of Halloween! The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats was something my brother and I often did as children. Last year, I was invited to a costume party and dressed up again. My handsome escort went to the party as Zorro and I dressed in a black lace outfit complete with mantilla, peineta, and red roses. We had such a really fun time, we’ve decided to do it again this year! He thinks he’s going to be the “Lone Ranger,” but we don’t know if the Lone Ranger had a girlfriend and if so, what type of woman was she? So, should I go as Tonto? Or get someone else to share a costume with me and be “Silver?” If so, I think I should definitely be the front half of the horse. And for those of you who know me well, don’t you dare write and say I should be the back half. You won’t get forgiven for that! Lol.
My trip to Kansas earlier this month was awesome. Great to see old friends and to make new friends. I was disappointed that I didn’t have the time to drive down to Humboldt, Kansas where I went to high school. I would have loved to have seen some of my classmates and to have attended the Biblesta Parade. I haven’t done that since high school either. Our senior class President was in Kansas City and took me out in his new Thunderbird convertible to an awesome little restaurant that felt exactly like we might be in Greenwich Village in New York.
The radio show is going well. I’m so excited about it. We are picking up more and more listeners from around the world every day. That’s what’s so fantastic about the internet. Even my friends in other countries are now able to listen to the show and talk directly to me. I hope you are tuning in. If you aren’t available during live show times, you can still listen to the archived version at your own convenience. Let me know what you think! www.blogtalkradio.com/judimoreo Looking forward to hearing from you. And if you have a subject near and dear to your heart that you think should be discussed on the show, let me know. Maybe you’ll even be a guest!
And our fall issue of Choices magazine is online now. Go to www.choicesonlinemedia.com to read and/or download a copy.
Have a fun Halloween, don’t make yourself sick eating the kids treats and always remember, you are more than enough,
Judi
The Power of Optimism
Have you ever been really excited about something and told someone else about it only to have them stomp all over your excitement? The negative person to whom you told your dream pointed out why you shouldn’t be excited and how what you are excited about will never work. That person is a pessimist. He, she, and/or they…are the people that see a glass with something in it and say, “That glass is half empty.” They complain even when there’s nothing to complain about.
Many years ago, I decided to stay away from negative, pessimistic people and you should, too. Instead, surround yourself with people who are optimists. These are people who are glad to have something in the glass. They are the people who find a reason for things…even bad things that happen. They know something positive will come out of situations. And, for them, it does.
Optimists make plans and do preparation. Business owners know it requires plans to be successful and optimists know that we, as individuals, also need to make plans for our lives. To my way of thinking, this is the only life we have. This is our one chance to get it right. This is our only shot at creating the life we want. So, we need an effective and realistic way to make our dreams become reality.
Don’t you want to live your life so you don’t look back with regrets? If so, then start examining all the possible ways you can make things work. What steps can you take? Use a technique called Brainstorming.
Dr. Alex Osborn, the originator of the Brainstorming Technique, and co-founder of what was one of the world’s largest advertising agencies in the 1960’s as well as the founder of the Creative Education Foundation, described this method of thinking as “organized ideation.” He believed that when you drive for new ideas, you shouldn’t drive with your brakes on. His method proved to be so effective that many top companies and organizations around the world still use it today. If it’s good enough for them, I certainly believe it’s good enough for us. Whether you choose to use this technique by yourself or with other people, there are some rules to follow.
Write down ideas, lots of ideas, about what you think you would or could love to do, have, or be in your life. The more ideas we have, the better our chances of finding what we want.
All ideas are welcome. No idea is too outrageous. In this step, you are looking for possibilities. It doesn’t matter what you put down as long as you think you might really love to do it, become it, or have it. It’s okay to be a bit “out there” in your wants and dreams.
When you have all the options you can possibly think of, ask yourself some creativity questions and write your answers on a separate piece of paper. Apply these questions to every possibility you have listed:
- What activities or goals can I combine to get a better outcome?
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How can I rearrange my schedule? Or my finances?
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Can I do more of something? Less of something?
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What can I adapt, modify, or do differently?
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What if I gave up something or added something?
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Can I do the opposite of what I’ve been doing?
Again, remember, don’t make judgments. Just write down your ideas. Many of your ideas will be wild and crazy and maybe even things you can’t use. That’s okay. Somewhere in there will be a great idea that you can use.
Criticism is negative and kills ideas. Creating the idea and evaluating the idea are two different things. At this stage, you must be an optimist. You are simply creating as many ideas as possible. Don’t say anything negative to yourself or to others when you are using this technique. Stop anyone who begins to evaluate, is negative, or critical. Explain you are not in the evaluation stage yet.
Once you have a lot of ideas, look them over, think about them and then you can move into the evaluation stage. Ask yourself, “Is this workable? Practical? Financially feasible? If your answers are “No,” then ask, “Could it be made to be workable or practical?
Is there a less expensive way to do it?” Now, you can eliminate any options you are absolutely positive won’t work.
After you have decided which ideas you are going to keep, rewrite them on a sheet of paper. Put the new list away and think about your ideas for a couple of days.
When you take the list out again, write the positives and negatives of each idea listed. Some of your ideas will have so many negatives, they will practically eliminate themselves. What you’ll have left are a couple of good ideas which have been thoroughly evaluated. You can now make a safe, sound decision as to which of these ideas to use or how to combine them to get the results you want.
If you use this technique, you will find more possibilities than you ever imagined and your ultimate decision will be much more exciting and effective than if you had just gone with your first option.
You see, the secret to getting what you want is to believe it is possible. Be an optimist! Optimists know that no matter how dreary the future looks, if you have a plan, your dreams can and will come true. I am an optimist. I know without a shadow of a doubt that no matter how bleak things look right now, your optimism or lack of it will affect your life. Choose to be an optimist and you will never look back with regret.
Mind Workout: Creativity Killers
Being creative and innovative means eliminating creativity killers which can become rampant and have an adverse effect. Routines, habits, ruts! They are all brain deadening. Fear can strip you of your creativity, mental dexterity, and your ability to make decisions. Fear of being humiliated can discourage you from expressing who you are and giving your opinion and point of view. The fear of being rejected or criticized and the fear of the unknown may keep you in your comfort zone and cramp your creativity.
Make a list of at least three ways you can step out of your comfort zone and do things differently. Write out the benefits to you when you take action on these steps.
You have so much to gain by developing your creative thinking skills. Eliminate the creativity killers now.
Affirmation
"My life has endless possibilities. I allow myself the freedom to explore my options. All things are possible with planning, purpose, and passion. I am more than enough."
What Judi's Customers Are Saying:
"All of the fifth grade students and teachers would like to thank you for speaking to us during our Career Week and allowing us to see your enthusiasm for what you do. We truly enjoyed meeting you, hearing about your career and thank you for giving our classrooms your books."
Jack Dailey Elementary School
And from some of the students:
"Thanks for coming to our school. I love your books. When you came, you looked beautiful."
Arturo
"Thanks for coming to our class. You were awesome. I loved your stories."
Maalik
"Thank you for the answers to our questions. It will help us a lot in our future."
Vanessa
"Thank you for going in and showing us what you do and maybe I might be that."
Jamal
"You did an excellent job presenting in our class. You have a fun exciting job, but any way, thank you for taking your time and telling us about it. I learned so much from it. So again. Thank you."
Christopher
"Thank you for coming to our class. I think that your journal is so amazing because it can help other people be confident. "
Jasmine
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