Stevie Puckett

Tag: personal power

  • The WHY Behind My Work

    I study self-development because I love the idea of maximizing human potential. To me, the best ideas are ideas for people, not just ideas for idea’s sake. That doesn’t turn me on nearly as much though it is fun to brainstorm on any given topic from time to time.

    I read the book The Miracle of a Definite Chief Aim a couple of weeks ago and formulated mine like this…to further personal growth knowledge.

    I am very, very interested in all things personal growth. I also want to record what I learn and share it.

    Sometimes I feel like I am actually journaling things for myself, to remind myself, but somehow sharing what I learn is an integral part of my motivation. It’s almost like I want to leave a record for others to discover or even as a legacy for my family.

    One thing I’m certain of, all this studying is for nothing if I don’t document it somehow and I dearly love the process. So I move forward with no other clear aim but that and I take one small step after the other following the inspiration.

  • The Bliss Or Bust Formula

    The Bliss or Bust Formula is a process that will help you experience what you want in life. Learn to apply it, and you will perceive the world differently. The next step becomes so easy and the feeling of overwhelm vanishes. Try it and watch the magic happen.

    Step #1: How do you want to feel?

    There are so many emotions to experience. It’s wonderful to feel happy, joyful, youthful, energetic, sexy, athletic, beautiful, funny, calm, confident, connected, creative. We could go on and on. This is the juice of life! The reason any of us want anything is because of how having it will make us feel good. The trick is to identify what you want to feel more of and then intentionally practice and notice that feeling. Use your imagination. Plan in advance to notice and enjoy the feelings you want.

    For example, if you know that you love to feel serene, you can easily have more of that feeling. Begin by planning to feel serene. Tell yourself, “I look forward to feeling serene more and more. It’s going to be so nice. I love to feel serene.”

    Take notice of all the serene things around you as you go through the next several hours. Now that you have clarity that what you want is to feel serene, be still and listen for it…feel for it. You will find yourself spontaneously feeling good several times a day. Take a second or two to spotlight that feeling when it comes around.

    Step #2: Feel it.

    Say to yourself, “Ah! I’m feeling so good right now. I love to feel good. I love to feel serene. I love this feeling right now, and I look forward to feeling this way more and more.”

    Anytime you think of it, intentionally feel serene. You can look forward to feeling serene more and more. Imagine and observe serene insects and animals as often as possible if only for a few seconds at a time. Smile at them. They are here to remind you that what you really want is to feel serene.

    Step #3: Take action when inspired.

    Learn to notice the feeling of inspiration. Recognizing inspiration to act will help you complete the next step easily and with perfect timing. Contrast that with pushing yourself forward with the brute force of discipline only and you can easily recognize the difference.

    There is a distinction to be made here between the feeling of inspiration which feels like a complete idea and subtle momentum to move versus inner dialog which feels worrisome and urgent. Inspiration is a subtle, calm, and fearless vibe. While inner dialog is a loud, urgent, and worrisome vibe.

    Be brave and begin listening more and more for the subtle voice. Move with inspiration. When you are tuned in to inspiration, there is no second guessing or devil’s advocate argument going on in your mind. You just know it and you feel the impulse to take action.

    When you move forward with inspiration on your side, things that once seemed overwhelming now become very flowing and easy. You can plan ahead to feel inspired too. Be it about what you need to get done in a day or a certain problem you want to solve (see step #1).

    #4 Only positive thoughts in your mind.

    Spend less and less time shaming yourself, feeling guilty, feeling sorry for yourself, worrying what others think, and/or generally looking at the negative side of things. Recognize those thoughts for the worthless mind clutter that they are and let them go. Get quicker and quicker at shutting those thoughts down by dropping them. Don’t fight them. Just give them a nod, smile, and let them go.

    There are many different things you can try to stop the energy-draining, resistance-building, mind clutter of negative thought. Following are some ideas to experiment with:

    • Ask your Higher Self to remove anxiety and worry from you, or simply to fill you with bliss or love or joy (which all trump negativity every time if you can allow them).
    • Have a phrase at the ready to release yourself from the struggle. Say to yourself, “Baby, you don’t need it” or “Easy does it.”
    • Listen to your favorite songs and turn them up. Let the music heal you.
    • Find a good place to sing, cry, or yell it out.
    • Exert your body with exercise or divert your mind with games.
    • Do a micro-meditation. Close your eyes and call for what you want to feel. For example, “I want to feel my patience right now,” or “I want to feel my love right now.” Then breathe and feel for it.

    #5 Only positive words from your mouth.

    Choose which words you say and what stories you tell and repeat wisely. Speak more and more about what you look forward to and what you enjoy. You spread bliss like this! Others may hear your words and feel the freedom and flow of inspiration too. But, no big deal if they don’t. Your main concern needs to be thinking and speaking about what you want and what you enjoy. It’s a habit that will enhance your life. It just happens to make you a force for good too.

  • Personal Power Tips

    There are many ways to define personal power. Here are some to consider.

    • Personal power is being in control of your life.
    • Personal power is the ability to achieve what you want.
    • Personal power equals the control of resources.
    • Powerful people are focused on their goals.
    • Powerful people take impactful action.
    • Personal power is the ability to influence others.
    • Personal power is freedom.

    ON A SCALE FROM WEAKEST TO STRONGEST

    Now, of course, power can be used positively or negatively. It has been said that being forceful is the weakest power of all. Brute strength often only yields negativity and resentment; and only short term gain. A much stronger use of power is to use charm and positive influence to help others build their power. This is a much longer-lasting strategy with easily seen benefits including increasing the power of the initial charmer.

    TUNE IN

    Be an observer of yourself throughout your days. Take periodic attitude checks. Begin to recognize when you feel apathy, negativity, or just generally stuck. Use those feelings as a signal to alert you that you have lost touch with your personal power. Once you are able to recognize what it feels like when your power is depleted, then you can start to experiment and find what works to make you feel powerful again. At that point, you will be cued into a key cycle that you can use to manage yourself to success.

    FOR A POWER BOOST

    • ­Think about a time when you had power and let your body and your mind feel it.­
    • ­Practice non-reaction. Don’t let others goad you. Instead pause. Respond calmly when thoughtful and ready.
    • ­Use positive self-talk.
    • ­Assume goodwill.
    • Take action.

  • Bliss Or Bust Book

    I’m happy to announce the release of my new audiobook, Bliss Or Bust: Uplifting Thoughts. I wrote the book because I was inspired to share my personal philosophy in an easy to read yet inspirational way. These ideas helped me realize my own creative power and understand the importance of my emotions. I hope it helps some others realize the importance of feeling good too. In the book, I seek to answer the question of why to bother with disciplining your mental focus. I also wanted to encourage everyone in the development of their intuition and the benefits of doing so.

    book cover for the audio book

  • Informational Interviewing: A Career Research Technique

    Choosing a career direction is a complex process involving many steps, including exploring your interests, skills, values, and personality type, plus lots of time to learn and strategize a career development plan. After the beginning steps of self-assessment, you choose a few of the career fields that seem to have the most promise and do more intense research.

    Researching career fields begins with looking at the Occupational Outlook Handbook and the O*Net to learn more about specific career fields. If a particular career field is still being considered, it is time to go out into the field to learn more. One of the most important aspects of choosing a career path is to get out in the real world and study real people, people who are doing the kind of job that you might want to do someday. One way to do this is through informational interviewing.

    Typically, the informational interview process looks like this:

    • find people in the career of interest to talk to
    • schedule a time to meet with them for 30 minutes or so
    • ask questions about their career, and then
    • send a thank you note.

    There are several ways to find people for an informational interview. The best method is to use your network of contacts to find people in the line of work that you want to learn more about. Begin asking family members, friends, and other people who they know working in the career. For example, you might approach your aunt and ask her, “Who do you know who works as a civil engineer?” Once a member of your network knows someone to refer you to, ask for that person’s name and phone number. You will be surprised how many people your contacts know and how easy it is to find people to talk to about all kinds of careers.

    Next, call the new contact. Please give your name and how you know about them. Tell them that you are interested in learning more about their career field and hoping they could help. Ask if you can schedule a time to speak with them for 30 minutes because you would like to ask them how they got into the field and their recommendations for people considering entering the profession.

    Following are some questions typically asked in an informational interview. Remember, you most likely will not ask them all since you want to keep the talk to only 30 minutes. Be sure to take a pen and paper for quick notes and recommendations and to assist you with writing a thank you note the following day. Be sure to note the correct spelling of their name and their address by asking them the information and writing it down in your notes or checking their business card.

    SAMPLE INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

    • How did you develop your career path?
    • How did you get into this job?
    • What are your duties as a ____?
    • How long have you been in this position?
    • What do you like best about this career?
    • What do you like least about this career?
    • How would your strategy change if you were starting over in this field knowing what you know?
    • What are the educational requirements of this field?
    • What is the typical salary range for this career field?
    • Can you recommend some professional associations for this career field?
    • What do you read to stay up-to-date?
    • What further education do you like and recommend?
    • What are the advancement opportunities in this field?
    • What do you see as the future of this career field?
    • What is your career goal for the future?
    • What is happening in this industry?
    • What kinds of companies make up this industry?
    • Where has growth taken place in this field recently?
    • Who are your customers or clients?
    • How do you promote your products and services?
    • Who are some of your competitors?
    • What has helped to make companies successful in this industry?
    • What recommendations do you have for a person interested in this field?
    • Do you know others I should speak to about this career field?