Donna L Brogan.com

How do you start your day? I found by writing everything down the night before that I want to accomplish the next day gets my day off to a great start. It also seems to prompt my subconscious to work on my plans and goals while I sleep, thus being able to visualize my dreams.  Because every action has consequences, good or bad, I try to decide what’s most important for me to do and write them down in order of significance.

Putting your daily plans on paper will make your goals more concrete and give you a much greater assurance of completing them. Also, when you go to bed try visualizing yourself doing what you want to get done the next day. Visualization will help to train your subconscious to focus on completing the list. When you wake up, you will feel much more inclined to tackle the tasks you have written down.

The only thing standing between you and what you want to achieve is you! That is right, you are the bottleneck that determines how quickly you can reach your goal. Remember you want to succeed, and preparation will go a long way toward helping you to achieve that goal. So why not get started and do what you need to do the night before.

“It’s important to want to win, but it’s more important to prepare to win” By Daniel Graham

Why do we need goals?  Well not having goals is similar to sailing a ship across the ocean without a map. Goals, like maps, will help you get to your destination much faster than sailing through life aimlessly. Goals will give you direction in all areas of your life, personal, career, and spiritual. Goals will give you a purpose in life; a reason to get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night.  Goals will put drive and passion into your life.

So how do you set goals?  First you must dream! You need to dream like you did when you were a child, as if there are no limits, keeping in mind, the purpose of goals is to focus your attention on your future.  And remember, your present circumstances do not determine where you can go, they merely determine your starting place. Write your ideas down on paper and decide which ones are the most important. Also, your goals need to be grand enough to be challenging. Remembering to truly be successful, and reach your true potential, you must constantly push yourself and move outside of your “comfort zone”.

On a fresh piece of paper, write down one goal at a time and beside the goal, write down a deadline for achieving that goal. Be sure that the deadline is realistic. Write down all the reasons why you are committed to attaining your goal.  What  if you were to attain all your goals in a year? How would that make you feel?  Bring your goals to life, feel the emotion, passion and drive stir up inside of you! Do something right now that will help you to achieve your goals.  There is no time like the present to get the ball rolling.  Each step you take will bring you one step closer to the life you want.

“Your life’s direction and power to accomplish anything becomes a reality when you have a goal.”  By Daniel Graham

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Put Your Life On Track By Setting Goals

Everyone wants success and I hope to show you how to get there.  I think it is interesting that so many people talk about setting goals, but so few people ever seem to actually set them.  This is one of, if not the most, important part of setting your life on the right path. I used to be one of those people. It seems that I have read every book on goal setting that I have been told about or seen advertised.

I thought I knew everything there was to know about setting goals, but I just never set any. I knew that goals worked, but I just was never willing to put them into my schedule. Then one night as I was trying to get to sleep, I was dreaming about “the good life” I would have if only I could make my wishes come true.  You know, like in a fairy tale.  In a fairy tale you could always count on someone to be there to help, but this was the real world, and there was only me. That thought, however, stayed with me for a long time! What if I really could count on myself? That might not be so bad!  What if I could determine exactly what I wanted from life and then make it happen?  What if setting a goal was as easy as just making a wish?

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Stress symptoms may be affecting your health, even though you are not aware of it.  In your mind, that headache, forgetting things more often, or not being able to do the things today that you used to be able to do are not necessarily due to getting older or illness.  Yes, stress symptoms can affect your body, your feelings, your thoughts and even your behavior.  If you recognize these common stress symptoms, you MUST take steps to manage them.

Other potentially serious health problems can be to blame for these stress symptoms too.  If you have taken steps to control this stress, but the symptoms still don’t go away, see your doctor right away.

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As promised here is Part IV of my 5-part series on stress.  I hope you enjoy my post and will leave a comment with any other ideas or advice you may have.  Thank you and enjoy your day.

Have you ever walked into the next room to get something, and then wondered what you came to get? Or maybe you have forgotten a certain word you use all the time  -  you can picture it in your head, but you just can’t think of it.  Researchers and scientists are conducting studies that say this kind of memory loss, and even Alzheimer’s, is due  to poor nutrition.  Are you able to control the stress in your life, because this is so important to the health and well-being of your life.

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Hi this is Donna Brogan back with you, as promised with Part III of my series on stress.  I really hope you are receiving some meaningful help from these posts. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know any ideas you may have.

What Stress Means to You

Stress is something that is in everyone’s day-to-day life.  Dealing with it is the harder part of your day.  You can reduce stress by taking your day one step at a time, not making too much of the things that happen.  Relax, breathe deeply, smile – these are things that can make your problems seem less intense.

If not avoided, stress can lead to health risks and even mental illness.  It can affect your relationships with family and friends and can even create a risk to yourself.  It must be taken care of immediately. Thinking positive will reduce the risk of being stressed out. Worrying about things we can do nothing about is also a leading cause of stress.

Stress is preventable and manageable.  It  is the number one health problem for most people. Although stress itself is not a  cause of death, the side effects from it can be.  So many things cause stress in daily life.  It can appear in the body in many ways and in many forms.  Stress is brought on differently in every person and for some people it is a debilitating disease that can ruin an entire life.

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I hope you enjoyed Part I of my 5 part series on stress.  Here is Part II.  Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.  I would love to know what stress you may be dealing with and how you handle it.

So many people have stress-related illnesses.  How can anyone not have stress with all that goes on in the world today.  We constantly are dealing with something, whether it be with our job, home or family member.

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STRESS  that is!  Can you handle what comes your way or do you need to seek help?  I would like to share a 5-part study of stress with you.  I hope you will benefit from this series, either for yourself or maybe for a family member or friend.   Please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think and how stress has affected you.

Exactly what is stress?

That is a very hard question to answer because there are so many kinds of stress and the entire body and mind can be affected  in so many different ways.

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It seems that the real Christmas meaning has been lost these days, “the reason for the season” in one way, is to have more time to rush from store to store, spending all your pay! Shouldn’t it be ‘Tis the season to be thankful and grateful for all we have and to think about those who don’t?  To share with others and pray for those who can’t?

Then I thought, “What is it about the Christmas Season that brings out the worst, causing us to lose all, rhyme and reason?”  It begins the day after Thanksgiving when someone grabs the last sale item from the shelf, knocking down several people without even knowing it . The very day after they were sitting at their table saying how thankful they were for all they had. And yet, they were all out the very next day grabbing for more.  What happened to that thankfulness?  That story was told more than once this week, but the beauty of the Season, not once did they speak.

Then I thought of my childhood days when the season was filled with mirth, and how we planned together to celebrate the Birth.  Credit cards were a luxury only the rich could afford, and there were no Wal-Marts and shopping centers galore.

My mother would sometimes spend months crocheting a shawl, or knitting and sewing gifts for us all.  I would have that beautiful new dress I wanted to wear my first day back to school after the holiday.  My dad would work long hours for extra pay so we could have one special gift under the tree on that special day.  My mother would stuff my Dad’s big socks with nuts, fruit and some candy for each of us.  We were so grateful and happy for that toy and sock.  We were a big family that shared a lot, but there was always room for one more potato in the pot. And it seemed that there was always an extra person or two at our table to share that potato.

On Christmas Eve the only pushing and shoving I can retrace, was to see who could get the closest to the warmth of the fire.  In those days we had one car that was for us all, and there were no cell phones to interrupt with a call.  We had one pair of shoes to do for the week, and a special pair for Sunday that made us feel sheik.  The same was true of our coveralls, while mother cut our hair, and at times left us bald.  No hair salons for us.

While today, our hi-tech hustle and bustle leaves us in a whirl and many have forgotten the One that came to save the world.  Celebrate with me right now, “the reason for the season;” lift up a prayer and praise to God for that baby that was born, and our Savior that was raised.

Let’s say that extra prayer that peace will abound in the world and our servicemen and women will be safe away from their families and know just how much they are loved and admired, not only by their loved ones but by all of us who are free today because of the legacy that has been left by all men and women of all branches of the services,  who have faithfully served our country in all wars.

Thank you God for this beautiful world and the people in it,  from all walks of life.  Let us continue to prosper and help others.  We are not worthy of your greatness  God, but we will spend all eternity trying to be.  In Jesus name, we pray o’ Lord.  Amen.

You know, habits are like clothes, you wear them and they fit your personality and self-image. Some clothes make you feel like a million dollars while others make you feel dull. So  we often wear the same clothes over and over again just because we’re used to them. The same can be said for habits. Habits which include thoughts and reactions are learned. Therefore, whenever a situation arises we tend to interpret and react according to emotional responses we have previously learned.

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