Sunday 29 January 2017

Forthcoming Posts (updated 29th January 2017)

Forthcoming Posts (Updated 29th January)

A very good day from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Sunday the 29th January 2017 and after a fantastic weekend.  I thought it would be useful to give everyone an indication of when I will be posting new topics on here and what each one will be called.

So here is the programme for the next 4 weeks

Wednesday 1 February - "Overcoming Shyness"

Wednesday 8 February - "Make A Positive Impact"

Wednesday 15 February - "It May Not Be Our Fault........y 

Wednesday 22 February - "I Am Flawed ......a misconception"

Wednesday 01 March - "25 Things An Adult Can't Do (But a child can!)

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to post these things?   So let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject.  I am a member of Associated Stress Consultants.  I hold a diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and am currently studying towards a qualification in Mindfulness.

Furthermore I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If this has made you think about how you act, or if it has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- thedavebaxter@mail.com

About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

LINKS


If you would like to follow this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of followers.

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!
DAve x

PS I send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase These are delivered free of charge to your mailbox and if you would like me to include you then please opt in by sending your email address to  moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quoting "add me" as the subject line. 

Wednesday 25 January 2017

Responsibility, Forgiveness, Gratitude and Action

Welcome to this new post on the Real Dave Baxter Blog.  Before we get into the Nitty Gritty of the post I would like to say that because of my affinity with the world of Performing Arts I wholeheartely support the campaign to Save The North Devon Theatres that were placed in administration on Monday 23rd January 2017
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The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe
Photograph: wytchwynd photography

Responsibility, Forgiveness, Gratitude and Action…..4 major steps to a better life.
Most of us know what we want in life and if the majority of us were asked the question our answers would probably contain at least one of the following three statements
a)     more money
b)     better health
c)     improved love life
In fact we all want to be happy, living a long life and being happy in that lifetime.  However it a sad fact that most people do not know how to be happy, we look for it in the wrong places.  It is actually true that money, health and love can, and often do, add to our unhappiness, but the do not create happiness.
In every person’s life there are negative times and positive times and which one of these we focus on has a huge bearing on how happy we feel in our lives.  Someone with a negative out look on life will not only make their own life “difficult” they will also affect the people they are around, thus making their lives less than they should be.  However we can become the agents of change and help ourselves and others turn our lives around.
Accept Responsibility
There are things that happen that are out of our control. However, most of us could do a lot more to improve our own situation.
When we accept that our life is the way it is because of the choices we have made and we “see it for what it is” we set ourselves free to make better choices in the future. This is not going to be easy and at times it will feel extremely uncomfortable. But if you push yourself through the pain point and accept this as a fact, it is often very liberating. Accepting responsibility can see us building better relationships and achieving better results in our lives.

Forgiveness

We must learn the quality of forgiveness. If we continue to be angry with someone we do ourselves no favours – it does us no good whatsoever. Remaining angry with someone can have a detrimental effect on our lives and can in fact cause us hurt.
It is a know fact that anger causes stress that in turn can lead to health problems. Hating other people does not hurt them in any way.  The person who is the object of this hate is more than likely not even thinking about you. They are going about their daily life. To use an analogy here hating is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
You need to let go of the situation, forgive and move on, Remember, you are the only person who is truly in control of your emotions and feelings.
Gratitude
Gratitude is an important part of the improvement process it is in fact a huge part of solution.
So many of us focus on things we wish we had and if we get stuck in the mindset of always wanting more, we find that we are never satisfied.
Irrespective of what someone achieves eventually they will find other things that they want!
There is nothing wrong with dreaming of things we would like but it can create  problems if we focus on what we want and forget about what we already have. Once we learn to be grateful for the things that we do have in our lives, we find ourselves becoming much more content. We start to experience Inner Peace.

Taking Action

You need to be proactive with your life. You need to know what you want and what steps you need to take to get it and then you need to take those steps. Don’t wait for Lady Luck or fate to bring you the things that you want. The only person who can achieve your goals is you.   You will never achieve them if you wait for other people to do them for you.   Be on the lookout for opportunities and be ready to take action. Take steps every day towards achieving your goals.
Small steps are better than no steps at all!
1)     Make a list of the three most important things you value.
2)     What have you done to achieve or develop those things in your life to date?
3)     Could you have done more?
Being proactive about your life will result in constant improvements.

If this has made you think about how you act, or if it has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- thedavebaxter@mail.com


About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

LINKS


If you would like to follow this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of followers.

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power
And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!
DAve x


PS if you would like to receive a new Inspirational Phrase delivered free of charge to your mailbox every day please send your email address to moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quote "add me" in the subject line

Monday 23 January 2017

Forthcoming Posts updated January 23rd

A very good day from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Monday the 23rd January 2017 and after a fantastic weekend with friends and family I thought it would be useful to give everyone an indication of when I will be posting new topics on here and what each one will be called.

So here is the programme for the next 4 weeks

Wednesday 25 January - "Responsibility, Forgiveness, Gratitude and Action"

Wednesday 1 February - "Overcoming Shyness"

Wednesday 8 February - "Make A Positive Impact"

Wednesday 15 February - "It May Not Be Our Fault........y 

Wednesday 22 February - "I Am Flawed ......a misconception"

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to post these things?   So let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject.  I am a member of Associated Stress Consultants.  I hold a diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and am currently studying towards a qualification in Mindfulness.

Furthermore I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If this has made you think or it has prompted any questions please feel free to leave a comment in the box below,

I hope that you will join in and read the coming posts and tell your friends about this blog.  You can also follow me on Twitter as @realdavebaxter

To check out my website at www.moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/bluesky
Visit my Pinterest board The Blue Sky Company

If you would like to follow this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of followers.

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x


PS if you would like to receive a new Inspirational Phrase delivered free of charge to your mailbox every day please send your email address to moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quote "add me" in the subject line

Wednesday 18 January 2017

It's All A Question Of Balance

Photograph by: Wytchwynd Photography

It’s All A Question Of Balance

As human beings we need to lead balanced lives if we are to get the best out of our time on earth and as the Moody Blues say “just open you eyes and realise the way it has always been”  

Yin does not exist without the Yang, Male does not exist without the Female, Day does not exist without Night nor does light exist without dark.

So here we have several tips that will help us all keep ourselves in balance as we move on our journey through this thing we know as life on earth.

Spending
Are you spending too much? Most people do! Take a good look at your monthly outgoings and trim where you can. But, don’t be so cheap that you’re cutting out birthday gifts or being rude at occasions. Remember, we are cannot take our money with us!

Time
This is not always easy and even the best of us work too much and many times we don’t stop and smell the roses. Unfortunately, and not wishing to be morbid, time is a limited resource. Seek balance! 

Diet
No breakfast and a big dinner – that’s the way a lot of people eat and the opposite is usually a lot better for you! A big breakfast and a small dinner provides a much better balance for most of us. 

Cheque Book
Small deliberate actions really do add up (pardon the pun) when it comes to mastering your personal finances. Does your cheque book match what your bank account says? 

Children
Make certain that your children are balanced people and that they give and take, study and enjoy, watch TV and read. 

Meals
Are you eating too many carbohydrates and not enough healthy fats, or conversely too much fat and not enough carbohydrates? There is really nothing wrong with a little junk food once in a while, but there is definitely something wrong with junk food all the time. 

Your Net Worth
This is your financial balance sheet: Your Assets – Your Liabilities = Your Net Worth
The formula always balances out, but it should be calculated from time to time. Ideally, you should see an increase in your net worth each year. 

Relationships
Do your friends drain you? Do you drain them? Good friendships are balanced, thought provoking, informative, enjoyable and often a little challenging. 

The Tyres On Your Car!
Far too many people miss this one! It can save you many, many Pounds (or your normal currency) in fuel over the course of your life and make you a quite a lot safer on the roads as well. 

Goals
Should not be too hard and impossible, but they should be challenging enough to excite and stretch you. 

Education and Action
Too much action without education can lead to major mistakes and pitfalls. Not enough action on things we learn can be lost education. You either use it, or lose it, when it comes to education. 

Positives and Negatives
Too much positive feedback can kill us, we need some negative feedback too (constructive analysis/criticism). If you are not getting negative feedback, ask more people to critique your work. 

Portfolio
Building
a healthy balance between shares, stocks and bonds, and then re-balancing as you age is a must for meeting your life long financial goals. 

If this post has made you think or it has prompted any questions please feel free to leave a comment in the box below.

To check out my website at www.moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/bluesky
Visit my Pinterest board The Blue Sky Company

If you would like to follow this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of followers.

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x

PS if you would like to receive a new Inspirational Phrase delivered free of charge to your mailbox every day please send your email address to moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quote "add me" in the subject line

Monday 16 January 2017

Forthcoming Posts (updated)

A very good day from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Monday the 16th January 2017 and after a very busy weekend with friends and family I thought it would be useful to give everyone an indication of what and when I will be posting new topics on here.

So here is the programme for the next 4 weeks

Wednesday 25 January - "Responsibility, Forgiveness, Gratitude and Action"

Wednesday 1 February - "Overcoming Shyness"

Wednesday 8 February - "Make A Positive Impact"

Wednesday 15 February - "It May Not Be Our Fault........y 

Wednesday 22 February - "I Am Flawed ......a misconception"

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to post these things?   So let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject.  I am a member of Associated Stress Consultants.  I hold a diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and am currently studying towards a qualification in Mindfulness.

Furthermore I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If this has made you think or it has prompted any questions please feel free to leave a comment in the box below,

I hope that you will join in and read the coming posts and tell your friends about this blog.  You can also follow me on Twitter as @realdavebaxter

To check out my website at www.moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/bluesky
Visit my Pinterest board The Blue Sky Company

If you would like to follow this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of followers.

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x


PS if you would like to receive a new Inspirational Phrase delivered free of charge to your mailbox every day please send your email address to moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quote "add me" in the subject line


Thursday 12 January 2017

The Glass Ceiling Effect

Photo by: Wytchwynd Photography
The Glass Ceiling Effect

The term "The Glass Ceiling" is often used to describe a situation that applies to women in the workplace.

It is argued that women progress along their career path until they reach a specific point and then suddenly they reach a stop and no matter what they do in an attempt to move higher, they can go no farther, it seems that the point where their career development ceases has been reached.

In 2000 (at the age of 51), Lorraine Heggessey, became the first female controller of BBC1.  At the time of writing the original version of this article she was the Chief Executive of TalkbackTHAMES, one of the United Kingdom's largest TV production companies. Lorraine who lived in West London with her husband and two teenage daughters is quoted as saying:

"Yes - the glass ceiling does exist. But my advice is this: it's a transparent construct, so look through it and act as though it's not there".

Ruth Badger, 30, was the runner-up on the second series of “The Apprentice”. Helped turn failing companies into successes on Sky One's “Badger Or Bust”, and at the time of writing the original piece (in 2010) had her own consultancy firm based in Didsbury, Manchester, where she lives. She said

"No one could put a ceiling above me that I wouldn't smash through. Successful women don't acknowledge barriers, whether you believe they exist for other women".

I believe that it is easy to see The Glass Ceiling Effect at work in our own lives, and I also feel that all too often we put it there ourselves.   We repeatedly fail to realise that it is but a creation of our own making.

For example - How many times have you decided that you want something, you can see it, you can almost touch it, but no matter how hard you seem to try you cannot quite reach out and grab it?

Finally after several failed attempts you give up.... The Glass Ceiling has triumphed and as a result you tell yourself that it is not going to happen, that you are destined not to have the thing that you seek.

I believe that to think in this way does you absolutely no favours!

Therefore I feel justified in saying to any client of mine who presents this situation . ”If you want something enough it will not matter how many false starts you make or how many times you hit The Glass Ceiling

You will need to return to the beginning and look at a different way to approach the situation.....(a cautionary note here - if you go back to the beginning and repeat past actions then guess what? You WILL hit the ceiling again!)”

It is important to recognise that changes will happen.  Such changes are inevitable - we all get older, our hair often turns grey etc.  We cannot stop these things from happening but to really alter things in our lives we must make PROGRESS.

Therefore, progress comes from understanding (and actually knowing) that if doing a certain thing has not given  the expected result then we must learn from it and move on to the next attempt and if that does not work then we must keep moving onwards until we do get to our desired result.

Please feel free to leave a comment in the box below, to check out my website at www.moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/bluesky or to visit my board The Blue Sky Company on Pinterest.

I would love to have you follow this blog so if you go over to the right of the page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow” you will be added to the list.

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all


Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!


PS if you would like to receive a new Inspirational Phrase delivered free of charge to your mailbox every day please send your email address to moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quote "add me" in the subject line

Tuesday 10 January 2017

Small branding update



Photograph by: Wytchwynd Photography

Over the past few days I have been wrestling with ideas for the structure of this blog and how to achieve a coherent branding - I think that now I have finally achieved this and so going forwards

contact email address is:- thedavebaxter@mail.com

Twitter contact is:- @realdavebaxter

To follow this blog please click the blue button marked follow on the right of this page.

DAve

Thursday 5 January 2017

What Are Emotions?

Hi everyone and I hope that you have all recovered from the (potential) excesses of the Yule / Christmas / New Year period.

So I thought that I would start 2017 with a repost of something that I put on my old (long retired) coaching blog.  The post is called "What Are Emotions" and this may possibly resonate with my female friends although it does not only apply to women.

I had intended to revive the old blog post but sadly that was not "doable" so I decided it would be simpler to amend the old post and then maybe add all the coaching posts at some future point.



So here is the earlier article

What Are Emotions?

Emotions are a call to action! 

It is often said that emotions can be positive or negative. 

Positive emotions help you to feel good about yourself and your life, whereas, negative emotions have a tendency to create doubts, worry, fear, discomfort etc.

We can sum up negative emotions in the following way, “they are pointers to change” or  as a teacher of mine once said - Emotional Signposts

Here I would like to ask you a question and I would like you to answer truthfully






How do you deal with your negative emotions at present?

Your answer will probably fall into one of the following categories

a)         avoidance
b)         endurance or denial
c)         competition
d)         learn and utilise

After saying that I feel it necessary to say something that I know a lot of people who are watching this video will find difficult to believe -

“You ARE 100% responsible for your reaction to your circumstances (your emotions!)” 

Nothing at any time MAKES you feel anything. 

How you feel is the result of the meaning that you attach to a situation, the logical conclusion to this is that there are no such things as negative emotions.  There are simply emotions - positive or negative labels are simply down to your interpretation of the events that have brought about the emotion .

So let us take a moment to try a short exercise

I want you to imagine something specific that you would like to own

Now I want you to spend a few moments hoping that you will get it.

How does it feel?
How are you standing?
How are you breathing?

Now take a few moments being absolutely certain that you are going get it (whatever it is) –
How does that feel?
How are you standing?
How are you breathing?

Now compare those two sets of feelings – is the way you felt when you were hoping very much different from how you felt when you were certain that it was going to happen?

I'll bet it is!

So now let us think about the process that you went through – does the actual thing exist? 

No!  It does not exist right here and right now and yet I know that the feelings in you were as genuine as if you were experiencing this expectation for real.

This experiment has just proven that you don't need the actual thing to make you feel the emotion and that you can change your feelings and emotions at will. (from hope to certainty in an instant)

Earlier we concluded that Negative Emotions are pointers to change (Emotional Signposts).

For example the emotion of Fear = get prepared, cope with or deal with.

6 steps to help you deal with these emotions when they arise -

            1          Identify the emotion
            2          Appreciate the message (see below, The Action Signals)
            3          How can you use it
            4          Feel reassured
            5          See release as a tool of empowerment
            6          Take action to improve the situation


10 basic messages of change (The Action Signals)

            1          Uncomfortable – boredom, impatience
            2          Fear – worry, apprehension
            3          Hurt – loss
            4          Anger – irritated, annoyed
            5          Frustration – held back
            6          Disappointment
            7          Guilt – regret
            8          Inadequacy – less than perfect
            9          Overloaded – hopeless, depressed, more than you can deal with
            10        Loneliness


The Mastery Steps

The following steps are designed to help you take control of your emotional situation

1 -        Identify the signal then

            a) change your state  b) clarify what you want  c) take action in that direction

            Change your perception or your procedure.

2 -        Appreciate the message

3 -        Get Curious – how do you want to feel.  What would you need to believe to feel this way
What would you be willing to do to handle this emotion.  What can you learn from this.

4 -        Get Confident – remember when you have felt this before and got over it.  What did you do?

5 -        Get Certain – identify 3 or 4 ways of dealing with the emotion

6 -        Get ExcitedTake MASSIVE Action. - Kill the monster while it is little!!!

And finally ….....

Here are 10 emotions to cultivate seeds of greatness, to make life work.

1          Love and warmth

2          Appreciation and Gratitude

3          Curiosity (wonder)

4          Excitement and Passion

5          Determination

6          Flexibility

7          Confidence

8          Cheerfulness

9          Health

10        Contribution

I hope that in some way the points raised in this post on Emotions have helped you to understand that they are your responsibility and belong to no-one else.

Remember – there is not one person alive today who can make you feel anything (despite what you may believe) you are responsible for EACH and EVERY feeling you experience.

If you have found this piece interesting I would love to get some feedback from you so please leave a comment in the box.

It would be great if you would click the follow button over there on the right of the page and that way you won't miss out on anything.

You can also take a look at my coaching website (still under construction) at moonshadowmedia.wixsite.com/bluesky

and recently I have created a presence on Pinterest 


So now in closing let me wish you the best things that life can give -

Live a life of Power and Purpose and remember


Don't Predict the Future – CREATE IT!

DAve

PS if you would like to receive a new Inspirational Phrase delivered free of charge to your mailbox every day please send your email address to moonshadowmedia@mail.com and quote "add me" in the subject line

Sunday 1 January 2017

New Year update

Hi and thanks for joining me on the last update of 2016.  I really look forward to sharing the journey into the New Year with you all.



Here's to a fantastic 2016 for all of us


15/11/23 Making My Way Back…….

  Hello and Merry Meet After what seems to be an absolute eternity I feel that I am now getting into a position where I can begin to reboot ...