Blog – Page 3

Jul

2017

Create Your Best Life From the Big Perspective

If you want to create your best life, do it from the big perspective. Get in touch with who you truly are, and then create from there.

Now, more than ever it’s important to be in touch with who you are – your authentic self. The part of you that has all the answers to what’s right for you. This is the part of you that brings you to life and fills you with passion for life.

Life becomes an adventure. You begin to trust in the process of living, growing and learning. This sense of trust grows and you aren’t as overwhelmed by life in general.

What blocks this connection?

What then blocks this connection to self? A few of the things that get in the way are:

Lack of time – not making this a priority in your life
Overwhelm – being too busy to slow down and settle into yourself
Not believing it’s possible
Not believing it’s worth doing
Not believing in yourself – that you don’t have much to offer
Fear – fear of “Who would I be?”, or “What would I have to do, if I did this?” In other words, fear of the unknown.
Fear of other people’s reactions

All of these are valid reasons. But are you really willing to let any of then get in the way of you creating the life you were meant to be living? Or block what you can contribute to the world? The “world” can just be the people around you. You don’t have to have large expectations. You can, but it’s not necessary to make a big difference. If you just impact the people around you in positives ways, you’ve done a lot. Remember, it’s a ripple effect. You impact them – they impact the other people in their lives and it ripples out into the world.

Be willing to look at the reasons you hold back or stop yourself from fully being you

To let go of any blocks you have from expressing yourself in an authentic way, you need to be willing to look at what fears or doubts you have. This is the only way to dismantle them and get rid of them. I love using EFT with clients, because it’s simple to learn and highly effective. But whatever method works for you. Just do it. You won’t be sorry.

When you connect to your authentic self – you create from a place of power

When you have the courage to really drop into who you are and what drives you, you’re energized, inspired, and you create from a place of power. You have more answers on a direction to take, your decisions come easier, and your overall energy level and enthusiasm rise.

Take a chance on slowing down, connecting in, and then living from that place of being.

Book a complimentary call to learn discuss ways to release any blocks that stand in your way.

Contact Info:
sumi@sumijones.com
(805) 265-9063
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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Jun

2017

Connect to Your Inner Wisdom to Live Your Most Powerful Existence

Connect to your own inner wisdom to live your most powerful life.

We’re all given an inner guide that lets us know what’s right for us, and what’s not. Learn to trust this “gut instinct”. Instead of looking outside of yourself, learn to trust what’s right for you. It will never lead you in the wrong direction.

By connecting with who you are, who you truly are, the reserves you have are limitless. You have access to your inner wisdom and guidance for what’s perfect for you. When you’re connected to your true self, you’re tapping into your well of inner strength and inner wisdom.

What if you knew that by connecting you were getting the absolute best guidance for your life?

You are your own best expert on what’s right for you – what steps you should be taking, and the decisions you need to make. No one else. It doesn’t matter how learned a person is or how experienced they are, they don’t know what’s right for you. They might have great advice or knowledge to give you. Once you’ve heard them out, it’s up to you to make the decision that feels right for you.

If you’re not in connection with the part of you that possesses this knowledge, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Your ability to make the best decisions is compromised. If you knew that by connecting you were getting the absolute best information or guidance for your life, why wouldn’t you do it?

Life is busy, but make time for yourself

Life is busy. We’re all busy. If you want access to all parts of you and your inner wisdom, you have to slow down. You have to make the commitment of giving yourself what you need to connect to the silence within. This means making it a habit to spend time with yourself without any outside distractions. By just spending even a few minutes a day slowing down the internal chatter, breathing into your being, and dropping into your truth, you’re giving yourself the best support you can.

What holds you back?

What if you’d like to do this, but you find it hard to commit to it? If you can’t commit, ask yourself why? When you connect with the part that has all the answers, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to create your best possible life. If you find it difficult to make this a priority, ask yourself what’s getting in the way?

Sometimes limiting beliefs get in the way. “It won’t work for me”, “I’m not good enough”, “I can’t put myself first, or “I have too many other things to do before I can do this” are all examples of limiting beliefs. “Not deserving” is another belief that gets in the way for many people.

When you know what the beliefs are that are standing in your way, you have the chance to collapse those beliefs so you’re able to move into alignment with your true self. If you take the time to work through these beliefs, you’ll find you come from a much stronger place and can make big strides in your life.

Book a complimentary call to learn discuss ways to release any blocks that stand in your way.

Contact Info:
sumi@sumijones.com
(805) 265-9063
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

If you’d like to receive notifications of events, discounts, and future blogs, sign up below

Jun

2017

Set yourself Up for Success by Taking Small Steps

If you want change of any kind, start gently. Don’t overwhelm yourself and sabotage your success by trying to take on too much. Or by trying to take too big of a step.

Sometimes you’re ready to take a big step and that’s great. Go for it, full force. But sometimes you’re just trying to get started on a project, a career change, doing something new, or just trying to get out of a slump. And other times, you hit a standstill in your progress and you’re looking to jump start your momentum. If any of these scenarios are where you’re at, start with steps that are doable. Doable for you.

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself with someone else. This is about you and what you need. And don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to what you’ve done in the past. This is about now. The past is over and you can’t change it. Don’t waste your time thinking back. If you do, you’re taking your focus off of what you can work on now. Deal with where you’re at, in this moment.

Sometimes it’s hard to let go of comparing yourself to either past successes, or past failures. If you do, using EFT is a great way to let go of the memories or emotions associated with those past experiences. You can use EFT to collapse the hold they have over you and your present life.

Set yourself up for success- the process of small steps

What if you just can’t get the motivation to even begin? Start there. Wherever you are, that’s where you start. If you’re lacking motivation, look at what keeps you from beginning. What are you afraid of? Yes, it’s fear that causes lack of motivation, procrastination, and overwhelm – that habit of taking on way too many projects so you just don’t have the time or energy to do what it is you say you want to do.

Don’t judge yourself over this. Just recognize it’s your body and mind protecting you from a perceived threat.

What keeps you from action?

What keeps anyone from action? Good old fashioned fear. It’s our survival mechanism jumping in when we feel threatened. And taking action or making changes can feel threatening. It doesn’t matter if you’re excited about doing something or feel compelled to do it.

When we start to change something, fears can pop up. “What if I fail? What if I’m not good enough, smart enough, or have enough backing to do it?” “What if I make a fool of myself? What if the people around me react negatively about it?” These are all genuine fears.

We’re part of the human race – challenges come with the territory

We’re alive. We’ve lived through difficult experiences. It’s part of being human. Another part of being human is our minds making decisions about these past events so we don’t have to experience anything similar to them again. But many of those decisions aren’t relevant to what you’re going after. They’re holdovers from when you were little.

Have the willingness to look at the fear. Examine if it’s relevant to what you’re attempting to do now, and then learn to move through it. When you have the tools to deal with fear, it becomes easier to release.

No worries – fear can be dealt with

Fear. Not pleasant, and not fun. But…it’s what drives us to protect ourselves. It helps us survive. All good when it’s appropriate. But if it holds you back, it’s not serving it’s purpose. Instead of avoiding fear, see what you can learn from it, and then let it go.

Identify what the possible fear, or “downside” is to what you’re striving to do. Then tap through it with EFT. When you collapse what’s behind your fear, you rid yourself of what’s blocking your success.

Sometimes there’s more than one layer

There might be several layers or different aspects of what’s holding you back. Many times, this is the case. Just address each one as they come up. You might also find that as you come closer to achieving success, or your goal, new fears crop up. You might suddenly find yourself sabotaging the success you’ve achieved as you move forward. Sabotage can be anything from missing a deadline, not returning a call, or just plain procrastinating. That’s ok. Deal with the fears as they come up.

Peel back and examine each layer until you’re fully on your way to success. Don’t lose your enthusiasm if you have to work through several layers. Instead, recognize that you’re moving forward and remember to “tap in” the progress you’ve made.

By tapping in the positives, you’ll be more willing to keep going until you reach your goal. If you focus too much on “what’s wrong”, working on yourself can become a drag. Do yourself the favor of tapping in what’s going right for you and the progress you are making.

If you want to explore what’s holding you back and ways to release the hold it has over you, book a complimentary call. We can discuss your goals and see if we’re a mutual fit.

Contact Info:
sumi@sumijones.com
(805) 265-9063
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

If you’d like to receive notifications of events, discounts, and future blogs, sign up below

Jun

2017

What Makes You Come Alive? Find It and Live It.

Have you ever wondered what makes you come alive? Have you felt as if there’s something missing from your life – that you feel only half-alive, or as if you’re just moving through life without any real passion or purpose? When you discover what it is that makes you come alive, you know exactly what you’re meant to do in life, and you take action.

Being in touch with who you truly are, is what makes you come alive

Too often we try to fit in. We don’t want to stick out and we’re afraid to shine. It can feel too vulnerable, scary, or just a little too risky. But….it also clamps down on your energy level and the spark inside you that really lights you up. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t play it safe and expect to be fully dialed into who you are and what brings real meaning to your life. You won’t feel fully alive. If you want to feel energized, joyful, and with a real purpose in life, you have to step fully into who you are.

I know I did my fair share of not really honoring who I was, or putting myself out there. When I changed careers, I thought I’d be “too weird“, or my work wouldn’t be accepted. But when I realized I was robbing the people I was meant to help, I knew I had to let go of any my fears and just do it. This meant letting go of past experiences I’d been through that were keeping me from doing my work in a committed way. I realized that my love of helping people was too strong of a pull for me to ignore it just because I was trying to avoid stepping into who I really was.

What if they won’t accept me, and other fears?

What are some of the reasons people are afraid to shine or really tap into who they are? It all boils down to fear, or the need to protect ourselves. Some of those fears are:

Other people’s reactions – someone will criticize you, make fun of you, or won’t accept you
Not fitting in – “My family/friends won’t like who I am anymore. I won’t fit in.”
Making a mistake, a fool of yourself, or being humiliated
Afraid you don’t have what it takes to do what it is you want
Having to actually take action on a big goal if you step into your power, gifts, or inner strengths. Once you know what really makes you come alive, you feel driven to do it – a good way. But knowing you have to take action, can cause you to procrastinate. It brings up other underlying fears to look at.

These are only a few. But they’re very real. These fears keep people from stepping into who they really are and what brings them joy. In an effort to stay safe, they’ll procrastinate or sabotage themselves or their efforts.

Fear of failure is one aspect – Fear of success is another

We fear failure, but many times, we also fear success. Ask yourself, “If I were to shine, and then succeed as a result, what would change in my life? What would I have to give up?” Because sometimes, it’s also the fear of what we’d lose or have to give up as a result of putting ourselves out there and succeeding.

Is it a loss of time? A loss of identity? When you let go of what holds you back, it can sometimes feel as if you’re changing your very identity – who you are. “Who will I be if I do this?” We relate to who we are, right here, right now. It’s our current identity. When we change something, even in good ways, it feels like we’re changing our very identity. But, it’s not changing who you are. It’s letting go of any habits that keep you from being exactly who you are.

We’ll do anything to survive

Our fears stem from feeling threatened, which translates to the primitive brain’s need to survive. Depending on what the particular reason you have behind the fear, and how traumatic or challenging it was, you’ll do anything to play it safe and not stick out. It could be any reason – from having been embarrassed at school, being made fun of by someone when you were younger, or having someone expect too much from you when you did put yourself out there. It could even be, “What if I have to give up too much of my free time, if I really step into what I’m supposed to be doing?” Whatever the reason, it’s important you work through these fears or emotions because the world needs what you have to offer.

There’s only one you

There’s only one you, and what you have to offer is unique. It could be in the same field as another person, but what you bring to the table and how you do it, is uniquely yours. Ask yourself the following questions:

Am I really willing to dummy down who I am, just to feel comfortable and safe?
If I don’t do it now, looking ahead, 3 years, where will I be? Am I happy seeing myself in the same situation, not fully expressing who I am?
What will it take for me to be willing to step into who I am and fully come alive?

If you continue playing it safe, somehow life, your soul, or the Universe finds a way to make it a little too uncomfortable to stay hidden. I’ve seen people drop into depression when they weren’t honoring their truth and who they really were. Or other people who’s lives just got tougher and tougher until they finally surrendered and said, “Ok, I’ll do it!” Interestingly enough, once they did let go of their fears and stepped up to being themselves, their lives turned around, dramatically. Life flowed easier and they found real happiness and fulfillment.

My hope is you’ll use the courage it takes to find the truth of who you are, and then express it to the world. We certainly need it. Now more than ever.

If you want to explore what emotions are holding you back and ways to release the hold they have on you, book a complimentary call. We can discuss your goals and see if we’re a mutual fit.

Contact Info:
sumi@sumijones.com
(805) 265-9063
Santa Fe, NM 87506

If you’d like to receive notifications of events, discounts, and future blogs, sign up below

May

2017

Whatever You’re Thinking About Doing – Just Start!

Do you have a goal, a dream, or a new idea? Whatever you’re thinking about, considering, or even dreaming about, take action now! Take one small step. By doing this, you set it in motion.

You learn and succeed by taking a chance

If you don’t take a chance, you’ll never know if it’s something that could be successful. You need to have the willingness to take a chance. Build that willingness by letting go of any doubts or fears and then start somewhere. Take that important first step.

If you don’t start, you’ll never know. You won’t know if it’s right or wrong. If it’s worth doing, or if it might need some tweaks along the way. If you keep it safely tucked away in your imagination or in your thoughts, you’ll never know if this was the one thing that would’ve made a difference for you or for someone else.

It can be anything – Just do it

It can be a big project, or a small one. A conversation you’ve been meaning to have with someone. A new idea or career change. If you feel a pull to do it, or it’s something that keeps coming back around for you to look at, do it. When you have those pulls, you’re meant to follow them. This is the Universe, or your own internal wisdom, giving you the nudge to try something new – something that will lead you in a new and interesting direction.

Whatever it is, if you’re not doing it, you’re robbing not only yourself, but anyone else who could benefit from what you have to offer. Are you really willing to rob yourself and anyone else of this chance just because you’re not sure it’s a good idea?

Take a step – Even a small one matters

When you take a step, you set everything into motion. Your mind starts working and opening up to possibilities. You become more aware of ideas or opportunities that would assists you in doing it. And somehow, once you start taking those steps, life just seems to send you exactly what you need to support your dream or project.

But…….. “What if?”

If you’re stalling or procrastinating on following through with something, take a look at what the “benefit” is in your not doing it. If you’re not doing it, there’s some kind of hidden benefit for you. Under your procrastination, hesitation, doubt, or over overwhelm, is a fear. It could be anything from

“fear of failing”
“fear of embarrassment”
or even “fear of not being accepted”.

Under the fears, is the hidden benefit. What is this keeping you safe from? The list is endless of what we’re afraid to experience. It’s just part of being human and the “need to survive”. The idea of “what if this happens” is real for us. Our minds can come up with all kinds of scenarios of what might happen if we do what we want to do. The best way to let go of the “what ifs?”, is to find out what they are and then collapse the hold they have over you.

We all have fears – learn what they are and let them go

We all have fears. We grew up, went through some challenges and they formed our sense of what’s “safe” and what’s not – what it is that represents a “danger” to us. With the survival instinct alive in all of us, we find ways to stay safe or not feel threatened. But, those “ideas” of safety aren’t always appropriate since they were formed while we were in the stage of development which is ruled by the Primitive Brain. At that point in our lives, we didn’t have the logical brain online to help discern if something was a real threat or not.

But we’re adults now and we have the capacity to change the messages our brain tells us. We can let go of any fears that keep us from taking a chance and from succeeding. If you feel stuck, find yourself procrastinating on an idea, project, or conversation, then there are underlying fears to address. Work on those and you’ll find yourself moving forward easily and with excitement.

Keep taking steps and deal with any internal objections as you go

If you just keep taking one step after another, you’ll get to where you want to go. It’s the little steps, all added together that make it easier to keep moving forward. These small steps, all strung together, are what bring about success.

As you go, if any other fears or objections crop up, deal with them. Notice them, acknowledge them and work through them. They’re just information for you on what stands in the way of where you want to go. At some point in your life, they were helpful. But they aren’t anymore. Decide to move them out now.

Go for it – The time is now.

If you want to see what keeps you from following through on a dream or goal, book a complimentary call.

Contact Info:
sumi@sumijones.com
(805) 265-9063
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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May

2017

How Burying Emotions Derails Your Happiness & Success

When you deny how you feel about something, or you tell yourself you’re “over it”, but you haven’t fully worked through the emotions, those emotions end up buried inside you where they eventually come out in one way or another. The habit of burying emotions is pretty much the norm with people.

We’ve been taught to just get on with life and not acknowledge how we feel. But doing this takes a big toll.

Buried emotions create inner turmoil or worse

Emotions that are buried and not dealt with have been linked to:

Anxiety
Depression
Insomnia
Poor self-esteem
Teeth grinding or TMJ
Poor relationships
Chronic Fatigue
A feeling of emptiness
Angry outbursts

The list goes on. Stuffing emotions has also been linked to poor immune and health issues. With the stress it causes, it damages your body’s ability to heal or remain healthy.

The benefits of opening to your feelings

When you learn to allow your feelings in, not only do you feel great relief, but you’re also in touch with your personal truth – what it is that inspires you and makes you come alive. You also feel less stuck. You have a more positive feeling inside of you. When you’re in touch with your feelings, you also have an easier time expressing yourself. All great benefits to supporting a fulfilling life.

The process of uncovering buried emotions

When you start looking at what emotions or past experiences you might have buried, it’s best to do it in a way that helps you feel secure and supported. Our subconscious is designed to keep us safe, so anything that looks like a threat will only shut you down and hide difficult emotions or events even further from your conscious mind.

Think about it. Why would you be willing to uncover uncomfortable emotions if they’re only going to feel threatening or be extremely hard to unravel? You wouldn’t. This is where EFT works well. They allow a person to look at what’s holding them back. As you work with EFT, the subconscious brings up memories or events that it feels safe to look at. And events that you’re ready to let go of. As you move through these events or past experiences and you see how much relief you gain from it, you become more encouraged to keep doing it.

Healing, growing, and creating the life you want is a process. It’s something we do for the rest of our lives, if we want a fully experienced life. If your desire is to have joy, contentment or fulfillment in your life, the way to insure that is to keep learning and growing.

A great book on getting in touch with emotions, why you’d want to, and ways to do it is Living Like You Mean It – Use the power and wisdom of your emotions to get the life you really want. What I love about this book is the author is someone who understands, personally, the cost of not being open to your own emotions. He lived like this for a good part of his life until he learned to experience his emotions in an easy way. The book addresses why most people are afraid to feel their emotions to one degree or another, and takes the reader through steps to change this.

If you want to explore any emotions that could be holding you back, book a complimentary call. I’m happy to answer any questions you have and we’ll see if we’re a mutual fit.

Contact Info:
sumi@sumijones.com
(805) 265-9063
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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