January 27, 2015 by Maggie Currie

Why We Must Care for Ourselves

So many of us focus so much on caring for others that we forget all about caring for ourselves. But when we don’t take the time to care for ourselves it can be extremely damaging to our health. It is often instilled into us as we grow up, we are conditioned, that we should care for others first and ourselves last and that it is selfish to think of yourself. But I think this belief is wrong and it is not selfish to look after ourselves first, it is absolutely vital.

Giving too much can hurt us. It is important that we learn to care for ourselves too. It doesn’t make us unkind or selfish. We’re not caring less for those who depend upon us. We’re not saying, “I matter more than you.’ We are simply caring for our own needs too, looking after our own health, so that we have more to give in future.

There is a story that really hits home with me and affects me every time I read it, and it says that a mother was taking a flight on a plane with her twin daughters who were aged 5. There was an emergency and the oxygen masks came down and the mother, although she had listened to the safety announcements and knew what to do with her mask did not put her mask on first. Instead she tried to get masks on her twin daughters to no avail. Because she had not put her mask on she soon could not breathe, became unconscious and couldn’t help herself or her daughters. All of them died. Now, if she had put her mask on first she would have been able to calmly fit the masks on her daughters and they would probably all have survived. So no, it is not selfish to look after yourself first, it is vital.

A study of carers carried out in 2004 highlighted how caring for others too much can hurt us. Examining a group of carers who looked after chronically ill children, scientists at the University of California in San Francisco analysed samples of the carers’ DNA.They measured the length of their ‘telomeres’, which are essentially the end caps on DNA, the nearest I can come to describing these is something like the plastic end caps on shoelaces. As we age, our telomeres gradually shorten just like the end caps on shoelaces get worn away. Interestingly measuring the length of telomeres is one of the most accurate ways of measuring the age of the body.

Studying the telomeres of 39 women who cared for chronically ill children and 19 women who were mothers to healthy children, they found that the telomeres of the most stressed carers were 15% shorter than those of the least stressed women. The scientists concluded that this degree of shortening was equivalent to at least ten years of extra aging.

In 2007 a study of carers of Alzheimer’s patients found something similar. University of Ohio scientists studied the telomeres of 41 caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients and compared them with the telomeres of non-caregivers, once again finding that the caregivers had much shorter telomeres.

For people who give too much and are feeling tired and/or stressed, the question I always ask is, ‘If it was a friend or loved one who was in your position, what would you advise them?’ We know what to do but how often do we do what we know?

One way to think of it is like blowing up a balloon. We give a full breath and the balloon begins to inflate. But what do we do next? We take in a large breath to enable us to put more air in the balloon. Kindness to ourselves is like taking a breath. It replenishes us so that we can give even more. If we forget to take a breath we eventually have nothing more to give, and the balloon is left to deflate.

We help others more when we also care for ourselves. Kindness can make the world a better place. But we must not forget to add ourselves to the list of those who need kindness, and make sure we give ourselves the kindness we deserve.

Do you feel like you could be getting more out of your life? Are you looking to make changes to improve your life but don’t know where to start?

Would you like to be happier, more confident, more relaxed and have time to care for yourself?

Good news! You’ve come to the right place and I know I can help… Get in touch today.

Maggie Currie

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January 5, 2015 by Maggie Currie

Have you lost your identity?

Have you lost your identity? This may seem a ridiculous question to ask, but frequently we can forget who we really are. For instance it is often the case that you think of yourself, or other people think of you, as someone’s parent or partner, someone’s sibling or relative, someone’s carer or employee, someone’s companion or employer, someone’s nurse or gardener. The list can be endless. It is possible that frequently you are not seen as yourself but as an extension of someone else.

This very common state is generally brought about because your self-esteem has dropped to an all time low and ultimately you have lost what little confidence you had. You may not be aware of this lack of self-esteem initially as you have been viewed in this light for so long that you have got used to it. It has become your norm.

I know exactly how that feels. I was brought up by my adoptive parents to be who they thought I ought to be. I was frequently told as a child that I should be seen and not heard, and that I had no opinion of any value. This led to me go through life in a daze, trying to be who I thought I ought to be.

I spent thirty years of my life looking after everyone else’s needs and forgot all about my own needs and what made me happy. The one very special person I neglected was me!

Did I change this situation? When I woke up to the fact that this was not the norm – you bet I did, and it took some very hard work, beginning with changing how I thought about myself and my life.

Is there a solution for you too? Yes there is. And the action you need to take is this:

Break the old habits and thinking patterns that have prevented you from living your life to the full and realizing your potential.
Create new habits, new patterns, new beliefs that will empower you and set you free!
Accept and love yourself just as you are. This is the key to your ‘inner life’ makeover; and ultimately ‘outer life’ results will follow naturally! When you begin to feel great on the inside you will begin to exude confidence. Your circumstances will begin to change and develop as the inner happy you begins to shine out!
Listen to your intuition. It is there to help and protect you.
Be kinder to yourself – verbally, emotionally and physically.

I know how it feels to really want to make changes in your life, and not knowing where to start. My fears dominated me, my self-belief was in shreds and I had forgotten what makes me happy because I hadn’t been happy for so long, although I hadn’t realized it until I ‘woke up’. I had become a shadow of who I really was.

With the help of life coaching I began to change the way that I see myself and began to think strong positive thoughts about my life. I started to be grateful for the life I am living and to notice the abundance that surrounds me. Everything started to change for the better.

Learning to love yourself is tough to begin with, but with help and practice each day, you will succeed.

If you need help and are ready to start breaking those old habits, contact me today.

Maggie Currie

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December 30, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Do you really know what will it take to make you happy?

Think about it and see if you can discover, or if you know, what it will take for you to be happy?

Will being in a relationship, or with the right boyfriend/girlfriend make you happy?
Will being married make you happy?
Will having a million pounds make you happy?
Will being successful make you happy?
Will having better health make you happy?
Will getting a new job make you happy?
Will having a great career make you happy?

If you think the answer is yes to any or all of the above questions, you’ll never find happiness!

Surprised? Well don’t be. The truth is nothing can make you happy. Happiness is something we feel, not something we can find.

Being happy doesn’t depend on a particular outcome or something happening to you. There isn’t somewhere you can go and find happiness sitting there waiting for you.

Advertising of all sorts is designed to make you think that a new car, a particular skin cream, a new outfit, some new shoes, a drink or a new diet will make you happy, but that is simply not true. Nothing can make you happy because happiness is a feeling. Happiness is something you experience.

If you want to be happy, then be happy. Most people don’t choose to be happy because they spend most of their time focusing on what they perceive is wrong with their life.

Think about it, you can’t be happy doing something that you don’t like. If you don’t believe me try it. Try doing something you despise and see if you can be happy at the same time. Trust me, you won’t be happy doing something you don’t enjoy!

You also can’t do something you really enjoy and be sad or angry. Don’t believe me? Try it. See what happens. Go and try doing something you really enjoy and see if you’re angry or miserable at the same time. That really doesn’t work.

Unfortunately, people believe they can be happy when they achieve a particular goal and make the mistake of chasing that goal in order to be happy. It’s really not achieving the goal that makes them happy. It’s the feeling of achieving the goal that provides another feeling, satisfaction perhaps, that is mistaken for happiness.

This mistake is quite common, because it’s not security or peace of mind that makes you happy. You experience happiness when you do what you enjoy and when you focus on the positive things taking place in your life. If you’re not doing that then you can never be happy. Don’t think that you can be happy just by having something.

You can experience happiness by achieving your particular goal, by doing what you enjoy, having fun while achieving your goals and choosing the right goals, the kind that allow you to be happy all the time. Focus on what you want.

Start doing the things that you enjoy. Look at the positive things that are going on in your life. Direct your mind and subconscious mind to help you experience happiness every day. This will start once you begin to appreciate the good things in your life.

Okay so how can you begin to be happy? It’s really quite simple, all you have to do is shift your focus.

Instead of looking at all that is wrong with your life, instead of looking at what you don’t like about yourself or your life; constantly criticising; change your focus. Start appreciating all that is good in your life. You will probably find there are many things you appreciate.

Make a list if you want and write out all of the positive things in your life. Usually someone will say: “Maggie, I can’t think of anything positive or good in my life. I just want to be happy.” That’s only because you are not seeing all the positive things in your life. And so you’ll never be happy.

Every day there are wonderful things taking place in your life, yet you fail to observe and recognise them. You tend to take them for granted. This can be anything – a hot meal, a wonderful spouse, family, a beautiful flower, lambs playing in a field – If you have a roof over your head, that’s a positive aspect of your life.

Start looking at all of the great and terrific things that are going on in your life and you’ll begin to experience happiness on a deeper level. You can begin to improve or change the areas that you are not happy with but at the same time you should acknowledge the good things that are going on in your life.

Your mind is used to only paying attention to what is going wrong and in the process it directs the subconscious mind to continue creating more of those things that are going wrong. You actually create more of what makes you unhappy.

Why?

Because your subconscious creates what you regularly think about. So if you don’t regularly focus on the positive things you won’t create positive situations in your life.

And here’s where it gets worse. When you constantly focus on what is wrong with your life, when you only think about and see what is wrong in your life your subconscious begins to create more of what is wrong or more of what you don’t want because it thinks that you want more.

Now you know why it can be so difficult for some people to truly experience happiness, it’s because they’re used to focusing on the negative aspects of life and in the end continue to create more of what they don’t want.

In order to change all of this you have to begin training the mind and re-directing the subconscious mind to begin creating what you want in life and to focus on the good things that are taking place in your life.

Begin experiencing happiness by changing your focus. Every day think of the positive things that are going on in your life. Make a list of all the wonderful things that are taking place in your life.

Think of at least 3 great things that happened to you, they can be small or large – but just appreciate 3 good things that happened during the day. Focus on the positive. Direct your mind and subconscious mind by changing your perspective so you experience happiness everyday

Too often I hear from people who simply want to be happy but when I ask them what they do for fun they say: “Nothing.” No wonder you’re not happy. How can you be happy if you’re never having fun in life?

If you want to experience happiness then start doing things that you enjoy. You may like gardening; you may like hang gliding, you may like riding your bike, you may enjoy going for long walks, you may enjoy acting like a 5-year old – whatever it is start doing it and see how great you feel.

But there is one catch when you’re doing what you enjoy, you can only focus on that and not think about anything else that may be bothering you. That’s the only way you’ll truly enjoy the activity and begin to experience happiness.

As adults we get bogged down with the everyday tasks that force us to be serious. We have jobs where we’re serious, bills to pay, food to prepare, children to look after, it’s all too serious and it is necessary. I’m not suggesting you ignore your responsibilities – but take some time just to have some fun.

Now you can’t just have fun once a week or once a month. You have to do this every day. It can be for just 5 minutes a day if you like. That means every day you have to find something fun to do, and only then will you get comfortable and used to the process to the point where you regularly experience happiness. Once you start doing this you’ll enjoy it so much you’ll wonder why you never did this to begin with.

If you don’t feel you have the time to have fun and enjoy your life then you’re really saying that your happiness is not important enough. Only when you decide to be happy will you truly begin to experience happiness. You can work with the techniques I’ve outlined – they will help you get started. But you will need to train your mind and subconscious mind to begin seeing and living in a different way.

Maggie Currie

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© Maggie Currie and Maggie Currie Coaching, 2011-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Maggie Currie and MaggieCurrie.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

December 16, 2014 by Maggie Currie

Fast forward 1 year – what do you see for yourself?

How would you like to see yourself in a year’s time? Would it be the same as now, or with slight changes or a whole new look?

Currently my life is:

My relationship with myself looks pretty good at the moment. I treat myself with respect and gratitude and take notice of the good thoughts, I acknowledge the not so good thoughts and endeavour to take no notice them beyond that.
My thoughts are generally positive but occasionally a negative thought will creep in. This is normal for everyone.
My relationship with my husband is fantastic, we love and respect each other and make each other laugh.
My relationship with my mother is good, we see each other fairly regularly, my father passed away some years ago, but is always in my heart and mind.
My relationship with two of my children is virtually non-existent (their choice which I respect) and with the third it is quite long distance and variable.
My physical health is pretty good, I am slightly overweight and making an effort to change this and I currently feel great.
My finances are reasonably okay, but could of course be a lot better. Bank account is in the black and the cash flow is restricted.
My business world consists of coaching, I am self-employed and an entrepreneur. I am the business.
I am peaceful in my life, asking the Universe for what I want, although I could ask more often. I don’t meditate.
For fun I work at pop festivals and trade by offering Indian head massage to all the punters at the festivals.
I take time for myself every day, even if it is only 5 minutes.

In a year’s time I see for me:

An even better relationship with myself.
Fewer negative thoughts creeping in.
A continuing fantastic relationship with my husband.
A great relationship with my mother.
A better relationship with my daughter.
Better health, less overweight.
Fabulous finances.
Business booming.
Peaceful in life and asking and receiving more from the Universe.
Still enjoying pop festivals.
My third book published.
Taking more time for myself every day.

Take a few moments to think about your future. Is there anything you would like to see differently? What are you prepared to do to bring about those changes?

If you need help get in touch today and we can get a date in the diary for a chat.

Maggie Currie

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© Maggie Currie and Maggie Currie Coaching, 2011-2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Maggie Currie and maggiecurrie.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

November 30, 2014 by Maggie Currie

What are your perceptions and beliefs?

Whether you realise it or not, you are constantly in the process of creating and changing your reality.

You are not truly aware of what someone else’s reality really looks like, and they are not truly aware of what your reality looks like. You are only aware of your own reality and how it looks to you.

Don’t believe me? Take a simple scenario. A road traffic accident, where nobody is hurt, fortunately, when one car hits another car. There are three witnesses. A policeman will ask each witness what he or she saw. There will be three completely different perceptions of the same incident.

For instance, one person might state that they saw the first car brake suddenly, so the driver of the car behind (being far too close in their perception) braked really hard but the car was going too fast and ran into the car in front with a loud bang.

The second person saw the second car approaching the car in front too fast and the driver didn’t appear to even see the car in front and ran straight into it without braking.

The third person witnessed the first car slow down too much so the driver of the car behind (which wasn’t going too fast) couldn’t quite stop in time (though they tried) and hit the car in front really hard.

Three different perceptions of the same accident – each quite ‘real’ to those witnesses – but significantly dissimilar.

How you perceive your life and everything around you will differ dramatically from other people’s perceptions. Your reality is totally unique to you.

How you think about your life, how you see yourself in the mirror, and what you believe is happening to you at any given moment, will be the reality that exists for you.

You’d better believe it!
So what are your beliefs? They are your views, judgments, guiding principles and decisions about yourself, family and friends, communities, organisations, employers and everything else you come into contact with.

Your beliefs filter everything you see, hear and feel around you and, as a result, determine the meaning you attach to any event. Your beliefs act as self-fulfilling prophecies. If you think that you can’t do something and then find it extremely difficult to do and give up trying, you have successfully fulfilled your belief that you can’t do it. What would have happened if you had believed that you could do it? Would your reality have been different?

Your beliefs, whether they be limiting or empowering, determine your actions, and your actions in turn verify your beliefs. Over time, as you collect more evidence to prove your beliefs, your beliefs become your reality.

Your beliefs operate in your subconscious mind and influence your conscious mind, as I mentioned in the previous chapter; they affect your thoughts and behaviour. Whilst you are aware of many of your beliefs, in general, your most influential beliefs are stored away in your subconscious mind.

There are some beliefs you view as absolute truths and never question – that is just the way the world is! A change in your beliefs can have a major impact on how you live your life and the behaviours you manifest.

Once you believe in something, you tend to ignore opposite examples and accept only those events that reinforce that belief.

As Henry Ford, industrialist, said:‘Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are probably right.’

How right he was.

Henry Ford

Do you currently have beliefs that keep your reality comfortable and safe and that prevent you from exploring your true potential? Do you choose to acknowledge only the reality that is predicted by your limiting beliefs and then use these observations as proof that your current reality is indeed true?

Is it time to step out of your comfort zone and set sail into the unknown? To push the boundaries of what you think you know and discover new lands and opportunities – to challenge yourself to create your new reality?

This is an excerpt from my book ‘What you believe creates your reality‘. If anything resonates with you, please buy it, read it, take action………………….change your life.

Maggie Currie

Email: hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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November 15, 2014 by Maggie Currie

How to change your behaviours

Your behaviour develops your character. OK, you have learned where your beliefs come from, and you are now aware that you can change your attitudes. You have realised that your perception of life is totally unique. You have discovered that your subconscious mind is ruling the roost. And you have found out that you are living each day by the habits built up in the subconscious mind and that you weren’t even aware of it.

All this sounds pretty negative, doesn’t it? Well it really isn’t. Knowing all this is positive as it now means that you have the power to change things, and you can now be well on the way to making your reality what you want it to be, instead of what your subconscious thinks you want it to be.

Now you know how to change your attitude to someone or something you can begin to change your behaviour as well.

Same old same old
Let me explain. It may be that your typical weekday is made up of a regular pattern of behaviour that you have been following for some years. It could be that you get up at 7a.m., complete your morning ablutions, go to the kitchen, turn on the television, put the kettle on, make tea/coffee, eat your cereal and toast while getting dressed. Leave for work at 7.45a.m. and it is all a bit of a rush. You go outside and get in your car and drive to work and you always get caught in a traffic jam and, more often than not, you arrive at work just in time to sit at your desk before the boss comes in at 9a.m., and you are all flustered.

The working day goes on and at lunchtime you always go to XYZ sandwich bar and have a sandwich with exactly the same filling, and you always order exactly the same drink. You bring them back to your desk and eat while carrying on with your work. Invariably you have indigestion and you don’t feel that you have had a lunch break.

At 5p.m. you set off for home and you get caught in a traffic jam again and you arrive home at 6.15p.m. feeling stressed and exhausted. You turn on the television, start to prepare your evening meal and sit and eat it in front of the television, but you don’t really enjoy it. The television programmes float past. You have become a victim of your own habits.

Then comes the washing up, all the usual chores of washing or ironing. Friday is shopping night and that is such a chore and you go around the supermarket and buy anything and everything that you perceive will make your life easier, because it doesn’t need cooking or preparing or whatever.

Then at 10p.m. you go to bed to go to sleep. You perhaps don’t sleep well. This pattern repeats every day, every week, every month.

Weekends are taken up with housework, more washing and ironing, gardening (if you have a garden) and perhaps Sunday lunch with your parents or relatives, whether you really want to see them or not.

The next week is exactly the same, and the next, and the next and so on. This is your current reality.

All that repetition in your behaviour creates habits. The habits feel comfortable to you and they can get far too comfortable. They can get so comfortable that they appear to be the only safe way to proceed. You have created a ‘safe place’, something like a really comfy armchair that hugs you all around, with some lovely comfy slippers, and your television has beautiful stars all around it because it is so warm and inviting to you.

Breaking the habit
But has it got so safe and so comfy that you become really scared to change anything? After all, life has carried on like this for years without change, why change anything now when you are feeling so safe? Even though you know you are not satisfied with this life of ritual and habit.

What would happen if you changed just one thing about your day? Would the world come abruptly to an end? Would the sky fall down? Would your friends all run away?

No, none of those things would happen. If you were to change just one of those patterns of behaviour, your life would begin to be more interesting and less exhausting.

Don’t believe me?

Give this a try. It is not a major change to your daily behaviour, it is a very tiny change, but it is one that will make a huge difference to you.

Every day you have gone to XYZ sandwich bar and bought the same type of sandwich and drink and taken them back to your desk and worked through your lunch. Make the decision that today, instead, you are going to make a tiny change to your routine and go to ABC café instead. Find a café that looks nice and welcoming to you and that you think you will feel comfortable in. Try out a few over the next few days if you prefer until you find just the right one for you.

Then go to ABC café, by all means have the same sandwich as usual. Buy a drink, it can be the one you usually buy. But, instead of taking these back to your desk, stay in the café, sit and enjoy your lunch, relax, watch the people all around you. Take your time and really enjoy your lunch. Then take a stroll back to your office and begin your afternoon feeling rested and refreshed.

Notice the difference it makes to you and to your day. Notice that the world has not ended.

Just one little change in your behaviour can make a huge difference to your working day.

Now your reality will look totally different. Instead of being tired and exhausted, you will be refreshed and raring to go. Your colleagues will notice the difference in you too.

Once you have achieved that small change, take a look at the other patterns of behaviour in your daily life. What other small changes can you make that will make huge differences to your reality? Could you have something different in your sandwich?

What about the time you get up and go out in the morning? Could that be changed to make it less likely that you will catch the traffic jams?

Is there an evening class, reading group or a dance class you could join that would get you out of that comfy armchair and meeting people and helping you to enjoy your life more?

Can you change your reality so that you are really happy and doing what you want rather than what your subconscious thinks you want?

Make a note of some small changes you can make to your everyday life to change your reality.

Your brain craves change, but it is also terrified of change and therefore it will happily let you think that by doing the same things over and over again you are safe and that doing something different is scary.

But if you were to go to a different café for your lunch what would happen? Would the world come to an abrupt end? No. Would XYZ sandwich bar go out of business? No. Would you still go to bed at night, sleep and get up the next morning? Yes of course you would, the world wouldn’t end. But your reality would change and you would feel so much better for it.

I am sure you can change just one or two little things and make a huge difference to your life and create a new reality for yourself.

What if you were to get up just fifteen minutes earlier and left for work just fifteen minutes earlier. Would you miss the traffic jams? Would you arrive at work less stressed? Would you be able to start your day on a more positive note? Yes you probably would.

Our primary relationship in life is with our selves. No one else goes through every experience in life with us. We are our one permanent companion, yet we are often our worst critic.

Maggie Currie

Email: hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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