It’s one of the most dangerous diseases one can catch and it affects everyone on the planet. It does not discriminate although women are twice as likely to suffer from it during their lifetime and often times it is missed at your annual check up with your family physician until it’s already damaging the quality of your life. At that point you will start to see some very noticeable symptoms but most likely not even realize it. Your relationships will begin to suffer and you may start to distance your friends, family, or even partners, you may exhibit more mood swings, it may cause professional turmoil, lead to eating disorders, long term anxiety or depression, and has been directly related to drug and alcohol addictions. It can take your life like most diseases and spin it upside down into a downward spiral. It is resilient to most medications and those that seem to help may only mask it’s symptoms until they sneak back up on you like a bad horror movie when they stop working. You may have some points of remission but still yearn for a long term solution, finding yourself consistently asking why this is happening to you? What’s wrong with you?

When in fact, this lethal disease is YOU.

We have all heard people tell us we are our own worst critics and sometimes that’s true. But typically only after being conditioned to judge ourselves so intensely and this is commonly learned at a very young age or after being involved in an emotionally, physically, or financially abusive relationship with someone. I was one of these people and have made it my mission to teach others how to fight against this contagious disease and take their lives back!

As I type this article I am in our nation’s capital preparing to compete for the role of Ms. United States. I have had ample opportunities that I could critique myself along this journey so far or to focus on what others may think are my imperfections. I had a mini stroke at the end of last year, so I haven’t been able to work out as often as I used to, I have had a heart monitor on the last few weeks and have some scarring on my skin from where the four electrodes are placed (that may not look good during swimsuit), or the fact that I am nearly 10 years older than some of our other beautiful delegates. Having low self-esteem and self-worth, would not only throw the opportunity I have been given to represent my home state as Ms. Wisconsin United States in this competition but again, truly does cause all of the outcomes I have listed above. Maybe you even related to some of them as I listed them for you?

 

Regardless of who we are, all of us have moments of insecurity. These moments, if exceptions to the rule not and not the general rule of your life, can be a healthy driving force to inspire you to improve, grow, or take your life to the next level. But only if you are consciously aware of how to limit them or overcome them to ensure they remain positive. YOU are your best doctor to combat this highly contagious and dangerous disease. In my upcoming book and my current seminars I teach tangible life tools and skills around the country using the congruence between colors, language, and physiology to empower others to build their own self-confidence, so they can easily take more actions, and achieve the ultimate results. For now I wanted to share just a few quick reminders to keep you on the right track or to give yourself a checkup. This is a checkup that should be done daily not just weekly or monthly and especially not annually.

9 Easy Steps To Prosper Your Mind, Body, and Soul:

1) Protect and guard your mind as you do your body. If you are not protecting your body as carefully as you should, start NOW.
2) Live a life of appreciation not expectation. As much as we would like to think others can read our minds, people don’t read minds and if you are always creating an expectation without communication or action on your part to gain that result, you will slow your own positive momentum and set yourself up for dangerous disappointment. Life IS all about the little things, so look for them daily and appreciate them!
3) I strongly live with the philosophy that life happens for me, not to me. This is easier said than done and takes practice but instead of asking why this happens to you, ask yourself why it is happening for you. If you want better answers, ask yourself better questions. An opportunity may have been created for you and now it is your responsibility to seize it.
4) Focus on strengths. If you focus on a weakness, that weakness itself only becomes stronger. The mind is extremely powerful, it empowers you to live daily without you thinking about it. So now make it a conscious muscle and put its focus to work.
5) Beauty is not about perfection, it is about leadership and leadership comes in all sizes, shapes, colors, and personalities. Live life proud of each decision you make for yourself. It is not about making others proud of you, YOU live with your choices not them. Make decisions you will be proud of.
6) Imperfections are perfection themselves. Embrace yourself and all the things you may think are imperfect. I find it is my imperfections that inspire others when I embrace them and if I can inspire just one person daily, I am fulfilled.
7) Live with a life of gratitude. Psychologically the mind can not process negative and positive at the same time, so if you are again focusing on the negative, find something to be grateful for. When you start to practice this, you will find so many people, places, and things that surround you on a daily basis that makes it easy to live a life of gratitude.
8) Change doesn’t have to be difficult. If you haven’t read the book, “The 2 Degree Difference” by Dr. John Trent, I highly recommend it. It is a quick, easy read and reinforces to take small steps. Going back to step #1, if you want to change your body, start with 1 salad a day, 1 bottle of water, and taking 1 walk or using the stairs 1 time versus the elevator. Eventually that will become easier and you can increase it.
9) Laugh. Laughter remains to be one of the best medicines and I’m a firm believer in it. Instead of time outs for my children when they were younger, I would tease them that I would either ‘kiss them up’ or tickle them to get their ‘crabby’ attitudes out of them.