Archive for the ‘Confidence’ Category

Are You a Reject?

June 1st, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Goals and Obstacles

Are You a Reject?

Do you ever hold yourself back because you are afraid of rejection from other people? Maybe you are afraid no one will buy your product or service so you don’t offer it, or you don’t take up swing dancing because you fear someone may laugh at or make fun of you. The fear of being rejected can paralyze you from doing what you want to do in life.

What you may not realize, though, is that by letting the fear of rejection from others stand in your way, you are being rejected by yourself (and that’s the worst kind of rejection).

When you choose to hold yourself back from achieving your goals you are rejecting yourself. You are saying NO to you. You aren’t even giving yourself the opportunity to be rejected by anyone else because you are telling yourself NO.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be the one to reject myself!

Not only are you rejecting yourself, but you are rejecting the people on the planet that you are here to serve and help. Those people do not include anyone who would laugh at you, make fun of you, or reject you. By holding yourself back you are saying no to you and no to the people who need your help.

Don’t let the fear of what a tiny amount of people might say or do control you and stand in the way of saying YES to you and YES to the many, many, people you are here to serve!

Have you been rejecting yourself? Let me know below!

YOU GROW GIRL!
Brandi Hamrick
http://www.yougrowgirl.net

Be Your Own Valentine!

February 11th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, dating

Whether you have a significant other or not this year, you need to remember your best and most trusted Valentine of all: yourself!

You are strong, smart, and are always there for yourself. The hands, brain, soul, and body you have can accomplish great things in your lifetime.

Do yourself a favor this V-day and buy yourself something special, treat yourself to a spa day, watch your favorite movie, or vow to start achieving other health or personal goals. Also take a few minutes to write down all of your accomplishments and the reasons you love yourself!

Much Love,
Brandi Hamrick
“The Queen B Coach”
www.thequeenbcoach.com

The Power is Within You

February 4th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Goals and Obstacles

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” –Marianne Williamson

This ultra-powerful and inspirational quote is one of my favorites because it is so true.

What is it that you want to do in life? What are your biggest dreams? These things have probably been your deepest desires since you were a child and are a part of your core. They are who you are, they are your being. God gives you desires and dreams that are absolutely achievable and positively you.

The fear of failure is only the surface fear of achieving your dreams. What lies beneath is the fear of the truth that you could absolutely live out your greatest desires. But… what then? What if you succeeded? Could you handle all that responsibility? What if people looked up to you and you were a role model? What then? Could you handle the pressure?

You can handle anything that comes your way. You are a strong, confident, brilliant human being with the ability to think, create, and live the life of your dreams. You are not at a disadvantage. No one is better than you or has more power than you, we are created equal. Nothing is different between someone who achieves their goals and someone who doesn’t accept the achiever took opportunities that came their way. We are all given opportunities needed to live the life of our dreams. What are you waiting for? Accept the power within you and decide to step out of your comfort zone and take the opportunities that come your way.

Brandi Hamrick
“The Queen B Coach”

What Do You Have to Lose?

January 29th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Goals and Obstacles, Stress

“Ever notice that ‘what the hell’ is always the right decision?” -Marilyn Monroe

Do you ever long to get out of your comfort zone, try new things, or really go for your dreams? What if you were confident enough to try for even the most out of reach goals?

Obviously, Marilyn Monroe had enough guts to go for her dreams, otherwise she wouldn’t be the icon we all know today. This quote from her displays her attitude on trying new things. When you step out of your comfort zone, doors are opened for you that you never could imagine in your own thoughts. You allow destiny to take course and let God align things in your favor.


I believe that we each have our own destiny but we have to get off the couch and take action sometimes to claim it!

What are you afraid of? Sometimes this simple question helps me overcome fear. We tend to worry about things too much on the path to achieving our dreams, and that can interfere with our success significantly.

Remember, having ‘concern’ can be beneficial because it can help you plan for obstacles that may pop up. Then you can easily hurdle over them and achieve your goals in record time. ‘Worry,’ on the other hand, is concern combined with fear, and that is not okay. Fear can petrify you and hold you back.

The next time you catch yourself ‘worrying’ about something ask yourself, “is this a genuine concern, or does this come from a place of fear?” If it is a genuine concern you will be able to come up with solutions for the potential problem before it even comes up and it won’t hold you back!


Concern=okay
Concern+Fear=Worry (not okay)

Much Love,
Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.brandihamrick.com

“Don’t THINK Positive… BE Positive!”

January 12th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Stress

Everywhere you turn these days you hear and read about ways to think more positively. Thinking positive is a great way to start changing your thinking habits for the better, but this week I will challenge you to take your thinking up a notch. Instead of merely thinking positive, I want you to actually be positive about situations you are faced with.

The difference in actually being positive and just thinking positive is GINORMOUS! Allow me to explain.

Let’s say a problem pops up into your day. To make it more concrete, let’s use the the example of losing your job. Imagine for a second that you lose your job. You immediately are upset, confused, and start worrying about the future. These are all very normal, valid reactions and I am not in any way saying that you should not allow yourself to feel those emotions if you need to. In all of your worry, anger, doubt, and confusion you try to break yourself out of it. You start saying to yourself, “self, you need to thinking positive about this situation.” You may recall some exercises that have helped you in the past and you start writing down good things that may come from your situation: I will get to spend more time with my family, I will get to go back to school, I will get to explore new career opportunities.

This is a very healthy way to view the situation, no doubt. In fact, if most people could view that particular situation in that manner, they world would be a better place. But, that is still only thinking positive about losing your job. You will probably have to work hard to snap yourself out of worrying. There is still an even better way to handle a disappointment.

Now imagine hearing the news that you lost your job, and although you are shocked, you are at peace with your situation right from the start. You don’t drain yourself by going through all the motions of being upset. You KNOW that everything will work out okay. You KNOW that when one door closes another (usually better) door opens. You KNOW that God is in control and that there may be lessons and experiences you need in order to become the person that you are supposed to be. You KNOW that you and your family will be okay. In your heart there is no pressure or weight of a thousand bricks pressing on you.

Doesn’t the second example sound like a better response to any bad situation? So what makes the second response of actually being positive so much better?

The second response is a better response because the faster that you are at peace with a situation, the faster you will be able to productively move on. The person in example number 2 is likely to be able to pull themselves together faster and see opportunities that the first person may miss because. The first person is also much more likely to be in his/her own head a lot and reacting from the ego. This may consist of replaying the event over and over in their head, still feeling bitter or angry, or worrying. If the person could clear their head and be at peace with the situation, they would have a clear channel of receiving ideas and have a constant flow of creativity. This is a much more productive way to spend the brain’s energy and thoughts. It is also likely to get the person out of the situation faster.

So how do you go from thinking positive to being positive?
Thinking positive requires the knowledge and awareness that thinking positive has benefits over thinking negatively. This is a much better situation by far than thinking negatively, giving up, and being defeated. But, if you want to go from just thinking positive to being positive, you must back your positive thoughts up with FAITH. Faith is the missing ingredient of people who have to constantly remind themselves of why they should think positive that people who are positive have.

If you can’t seem to be positive about a situation, keep thinking positive. It’s okay to have to force faith and positivity at first. If you pull yourself out of enough situations by thinking positive, it will condition you to eventually be positive. One day a situation, that would have at one time, really shaken you up and caused worry won’t affect you at all. Then you will truly be positive.

In the meantime, simply be aware that there is a step above merely thinking positive and challenge yourself to get there.

Being positive and having faith are what creates that characteristic we often find and admire in centurions called resilience. If you live long enough you are inevitably going to experience bad situations in your days. It’s how you handle those situations that will predict the outcome.

What is my favorite way to transition into a place of faith?
This question: “If you truly believe in a loving, caring God, that put you here for a reason, what would you ever have to worry about?”

I find that the faster I can go from a state of worry to a state of productivity, the faster the situation is just a tiny little speed bump in my rear view mirror!


Here’s to Faith!
Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.brandihamrick.com

What to Do When You are Dreading Seeing Someone This Holiday Season

December 16th, 2009 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Goals and Obstacles, Stress

In recent discussions with clients, friends, and associates, I have noticed a common theme about the Holidays. While most people are excited to spend time with loved ones and catch up (especially during hard times when we are able to put the important things back into perspective), most people have at least 2 or 3 people that they are really dreading running into.

Sound familiar? Are you dreading seeing anyone this Holiday season? Are you stockpiling ammunition in the form of prepared explanations, justifications, and comebacks for judgmental family members? Maybe you are dreading what your grandma will have to say about your divorce, your cousin will say about your appearance, or your mom will have to say about the store-bought apple pie you are bringing for dessert.

Whatever your specific situation, we all have certain people that we’d rather not deal with at all or that we feel judge us. Here are some tips to deal with those situations without having to skip your get together:


“No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
This is one of my favorite quotes of all time and is oh-so true! Whenever you feel a need to justify or defend yourself, stop. You are the captain of the ship that is your life and you owe no one an explanation of decisions you have made for yourself. When someone starts criticizing you, remember that it stems from a problem they have within themselves and has nothing to do with you.


People in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones
Do you have an overweight Aunt that makes comments about those who go back for seconds? Have a bankrupt cousin criticizing your career? Maybe you are engaged, and your thrice divorced future mother-in-law makes comments about the fact this isn’t your first marriage. Comments from people who have absolutely no room to talk about a certain area of life are especially annoying, so don’t listen to them. Easier said than done, but the fact is, no one is perfect. If we all swept off our own porches before criticizing how dirty others porches are, we would realize we have no room to talk. The problem is, most people don’t do that. Even if someone is successful in one area of life (let’s say marriage), they may not be successful in an area that you are (let’s say career).

The perpetual judge.
When you have a particular family member that criticizes you, it’s easier to deal with it when you only see them for a few hours once or twice a year. You can avoid one-on one conversations with them, have a trusted partner watching your back to change the subject when the conversation goes sour, or just deal with it knowing it will all be over soon. But, what about when it’s a close family member like a sibling or parent that you have to see on a regular basis? Let’s say that your sister is a stay-at-home mom and you work a full-time job. Both are great options, but you simply made different choices for your lives. She constantly criticizes you for not cooking and has a snarky comment when you bring a store-bought dessert. You can say with a smile, “sis, I don’t criticize you for not working, so don’t criticize me for not cooking.” Most of the time this will do the trick. In this situation it is probable that she is actually jealous of that fact you have a career and she doesn’t, so she feels she is inferior to you in that regard, and tries to make up for it in homemaking.

Remember to keep your head up this Holiday Season and don’t let the 1 or 2 people you dread seeing keep you from enjoying the time you have with loved ones.

And, if you are reading this thinking, “There is no one I dread seeing this Christmas,” consider yourself lucky ;)

Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.brandihamrick.com

Love Yourself the Way You are Right Now!

October 10th, 2009 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Lifestyle

It seems like all we hear these days is how we should lose weight, exercise, and get a little “work” done. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for improving your self-image. You should be able to do whatever makes you feel good about yourself. Having a healthy self-image boosts your confidence and can help you achieve all of your goals, but let’s keep it in perspective. We should exercise and eat right because it makes us feel great and keeps us healthy. Wouldn’t it be easier to just love ourselves the way we are? It would save us a lot of time, money and heartache.

Here are 5 reasons you should love yourself just the way you are!

1. Your body is such a powerful machine. Think about it. It keeps you living, breathing, thinking, and your heart pumping all day long. That deserves some credit!

2. We all think it’s so much easier for our bodies to gain weight than it is to lose it. This couldn’t be more wrong! The fact is that your body processes calories all the same. It may be easier for “us” to gain weight because it’s more enjoyable to eat the foods we love than to be on a diet, but it’s just as easy for our bodies to lose, so give your body a break.

3. Think about all the great things your body can do. It can run, dance, jump, and swim! It could also react fast and quickly if you ever needed it to.

4. Wrinkles get such a bad rap these days. Why is that? Shouldn’t wrinkles be a good thing? After all, we earn them by smiling, laughing, and having fun! When you see wrinkles, don’t think of aging as a bad thing. Think of your wrinkles as a right of passage, memories, and more great times to come!

5. Do you have a certain part of your body that you hate? Maybe you think your legs or arms are too heavy. Try going a day without using that part of your body, and I will bet you will be thankful you have it!

Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
http://www.brandihamrick.com/

Are You Selfish Enough?

October 10th, 2009 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Goals and Obstacles, Lifestyle, Organization, Stress, Time Management, health

Chances are if you are a wife and or/mom or even if you are just a female, you often put too much on your plate. Who knows if we are born with the desire to do things for other people or if society just makes us that way? The bottom line is that if we really want to help people, we need to learn to be more selfish ourselves. The next time you are about to have a nervous breakdown because you are so busy doing so much for everyone but yourself, remember it is okay to say no. Here are 5 ways being selfish actually helps other people

1. Getting enough sleep

One of the biggest complaints I hear from women is that they don’t have enough time to sleep. Sleep is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves because it is our body’s way of recharging itself. All sorts of health problems are attributed to not getting enough rest, so you really can’t afford NOT to get enough sleep. If you are properly rested you have more energy and are more efficient at doing things during the day. In this way you actually get MORE done when you get sleep than when you tire yourself out staying up a couple extra hours a night. This will help your family, spouse, and co-workers out because you will be more proficient throughout the day. It could also potentially add years to your life by warding off stress related illness, so you will be around for them much longer.

Obviously when you have small children and babies you may not be able to get the sleep you deserve, but if you are able, set strict schedules at your household. Put children to bed early and let older kids know that YOU have your bedtime. Also make it clear to everyone that if your help is needed on an assignment or decision you will be available up until a certain time (maybe 8 o’clock), and otherwise they will have to wait until the next day. If you have trouble sleeping go to your doctor. Click here to check out my blog on tips for sleeping.

2. Saying no at work

Women typically want to please everyone around them, their boss included. Females are much less likely than men to say no to an assignment or project. In fact, some bosses report that the reason they often call on women is because they do what is asked without complaining (to them, we all know we still complain to our family and friends, right?). It’s perfectly fine to want to be a great employee and have that added sense of job security, but you must know when to say no.

When you are working several hours overtime with no additional pay on a regular basis just to complete what is expected of you, it is likely you have taken on too much extra work. This is especially true when other co-workers are not having the same issue as you. All jobs require a certain amount of sacrificing to get the job completed at one time or another, especially when a big deadline is approaching, but you shouldn’t be overworked on a regular basis.

Know that even though you might think saying yes will help your boss and your company, it really isn’t. When you take on too much work you get less productive each additional hour you are working, and the quality of your work may not be where it should be at that time. You will also probably harbor a bit of resentment for your company and boss when you are overworked and that trickles down into the services, products, and eventually the customers. The fact is that most reputable companies want their employees to be happy and taken care of. Employees are the bread and butter of the business. When your boss asks you if you have time to complete a task, he may really want to know. Don’t be afraid to tell him that you wouldn’t be able to do the quality of work deserved in that length of time. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help.

3. Taking time for yourself

Taking time for ourselves is something we rarely get to do, but it is so crucial to having balance in your life. Ladies think that they are being selfish if they take time away from their families to read, start a business, or take on a hobby. What they don’t realize is that by exploring those passions they are creating a great way of channeling stress and will be a better mom, wife, and friend because of it. Do you ever feel overwhelmingly happy and productive after you have let yourself do something you really enjoy?

4. Health, Nutrition, and Fitness

Being healthy is similar to sleep in that it can add years to your life and keep you around for your family much longer. It will also keep you from being a burden to your children when you age, and isn’t that the most selfless thing you could do for them? Take time to eat right, exercise, and see your doctors. These things all take time, but pay off big time in the long run.

I started a breast cancer foundation with my mom (a breast cancer survivor) and we went to visit a volunteer of ours in the hospital who was having a double mastectomy. We were sitting by her oldest sister who had taken over the mom role of the family and who did everything for everybody. We asked her if she made sure to get her mammograms and to my surprise she said she hadn’t had one in 9 years! We asked why and she said that she didn’t have the time because she was always doing so much for other people. Even with her little sister having breast cancer she still had not taken the time to get herself checked.

Most health problems are easily fixed when we find them early enough, but when you put them off until they become a big problem you run the risk of leaving your family sooner than you have to. Spending a little time being healthy now will keep you around in years to come for your family.

5. Saying No at Home

It amazes me at some of the things I hear that moms still do for their older children. They think they are being a good mom and spouse because they do everything for their family. It is crucial that the people around you are self-sufficient. Don’t let your own desires of wanting to feel depended on get in the way of teaching those you love to be self-sufficient.

Take a look around your home and you will probably find dozens of tasks that people could be doing for themselves. Don’t be afraid to delegate. We all know the saying about teaching someone to fish rather than giving them a fish. Teach your family to do things for themselves and they will be more productive and you will have more time to put into your health, sleep, and hobbies so that you can be a part of their lives for a long, long time!

It may feel strange at first when you start saying no and asking people to do things for themselves. Taking the time to work on yourself and explore your own passions may seem even more foreign to you. Just keep it up and in time you and everyone around you will notice how much easier things flow. When you keep yourself in tip-top shape and those around you are self-sufficient, it will make for a much better atmosphere for everyone!

Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
http://www.brandihamrick.com/