Habits

Your habits can be helpful

But they can hurt you, too

While they help you to multi-task

They can hurt by limiting you

If you’re not where you want to be

In the life you’re living now

It’s important to look at your habits

And identify exactly how

…They may be holding you back

- Keeping you in a “comfort zone”

But if you want something you’ve never had

You must do something you’ve never known

Your habits determine your outcomes

They’ve gotten you where you are

And creating more successful habits

Will certainly take you far

So you might consider adjusting

Several new habits right away

…This often happens in the New Year

But rarely lasts more than a few days

The key to breaking habits

That are not helping you achieve

Is to replace them, one by one

With successful habits you believe

…Will get you to where you want to go

Though, of course, it will take time

As you change your habits one by one

And keep moving down the line

Along the way you may find

There’s always room to improve

But appreciate how far you’ve come

And how much you’ve been able to move

Toward your goals and dreams in life

…Which are always worth working for

Because no matter how long it takes

You deserve that – and more

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Transcend Your Limiting Beliefs

Your unconscious mind is powerful
But it does not argue with you
It accepts what you say or believe
And works to make it true

So when you say you’re unhappy
It conjures up the pain
And if you believe you are broke
It can create financial strain

Such words and thoughts, they are obstacles
And there are many more we believe
Such as “I can’t do anything right”
And “My dreams, I’ll never achieve”

These limiting beliefs
Were often learned long ago
…in your childhood
By people who didn’t know

That when they told you something
You’d search to find what it means
And instead of generating empowering thoughts
You damaged your self-esteem

But because your mind is powerful
You can change the dialogue inside
…Turn those limiting beliefs
Into empowering thoughts that guide

You simply look at what you say
And how it limits you
Then decide how you’d rather be
And create a statement to make it true

Repeat this statement to yourself
Whenever the old thoughts come back
As well as several times each day
To keep your mind on track

The repetition can help
To finally influence your beliefs
…Turn the limiting into empowering
That offers liberating relief

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Inner Critic

That little voice inside you
Has so much to say
And it can help or hurt you
Depending on the way

…The message is delivered
And, of course, by your reaction
Where you can either stop yourself
Or get moving and take action

What you think inside your mind
Has the power to affect you
And though the automatic thoughts are negative
They are really meant to protect you

You often hear the anger
In what your thoughts convey
But do you continue to listen
Or do you hide or run away?

The truth behind your inner thoughts
Is that they really want what’s best
But when the first response is critical
It’s hard to listen to the rest

Especially if you simply agree
With what your critic has said
It’s important to question why
And determine what you can learn instead

Get your mind to go beyond
The anger it first expressed
Then move past the fear it feels
And on to the request

Where finally you will experience
The love of your inner voice
Who only wants what’s best for you
So now it’s entirely your choice…

To listen to your inner critic
Tell you all that you’ve done wrong
Or turn that critic into your coach
By asking it to help you along

Question the negative thoughts
Entering your mind each day
Ask them what they are there to teach
And let them show you the way

To achieve what it is you want
Or how it is you can improve…knowing
When your critic becomes your coach
You’ll be continually growing

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Embrace Change

I love when things change
For it means that I am growing
And change is a constant
I can always count on knowing

Change continually happens
And when change can be embraced
The rewards and benefits are experienced
But if resisted, they can be erased

Don’t think of change as hard
Because what we think persists
And when difficulty is the response
There is so much we resist

We resist the opportunity
The potential that comes with change
For changes have so much to offer
Even though it might seem strange

It’s important to embrace change
But only we can choose
To welcome it with open arms
Or let it pass us by…and lose

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Face What Isn’t Working

Face what isn’t working
Recognize that something’s wrong
And decide to take action
Instead of simply carrying on

When you see something’s not working
You can decide to make a change
…Though you may find it difficult
…Perhaps even strange

For if you’ve allowed the situation
You’ve been living in denial
Maybe only for a little bit
But often…it’s been awhile

Denial comes when you feel fear
…Afraid of something worse
Or perhaps afraid there’s something better
That shows you’ve been living a curse

The curse of denial is dangerous
It can keep you stuck in a rut
Pretending you’ve already got what you want
Instead of listening & following your gut

And if you’re so mired into
Your current reality
That you can’t see beyond your nose
Ask your friends what they see

Then face up to it
Take responsibility…and decide
To take action and get what you want
And remember to enjoy the ride

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Total Truth

There comes a time to face the truth
When you’re ready to let go of the past
So you can fully embrace your future
And make the present moments last

In order to let go of the past
You have to honestly complete it
And you may have to truly forgive
Before you give up, give in, or quit

The freedom you’ll achieve
When you finally face what’s true
Will come from fully letting go
Of what’s been hampering you

There is a process to help you
Through all the emotions you feel
So you can have completion
From the things you’ve allowed to steal

…Your time, your energy, your freedom & love
And so much more as well
…Things others can no longer steal
When it finally comes time to tell

The total truth in its six stages
- Express your feelings with paper and pen
Or out loud into the air
- Talk about what you were feeling when…

It often begins with anger
- Where you may be full of rage
And then comes the hurt
…That is the second stage

Fear soon follows
And then comes regret
Next you should express your wants
…Say what it is you hope to get

The last step encompasses
Love and understanding
As well as compassion and appreciation
And forgiveness…without demanding

Because forgiveness is for you
…To give up the grudge, the hate
So you can move on with freedom
…And know it’s never too late

When you tell the total truth
You start in anger & end in peace
And all the emotions in between
Will totally release

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Completion

When you leave things incomplete
They can drag you down
And so can any messes
You leave lying around

It’s important to take the time
To finish what you start
So the incompletion won’t be
Weighing down your head or heart

But if you’ve got a stack of things
That still need to be finished
You can use the four D’s of completion
Until the pile is diminished

You pick things up, one by one
And decide what you will do –
Do it, dump it, delegate or delay
Until everything has been gone through

It’s important to get completion
On the things most important to you
It not only brings you pride,
It makes room for something new

Those incompletes no longer
Taking up your attention…
Freeing you to do more things
Or re-focus your intention

And live the life you want to live…
Deciding, doing and completing
Instead of living overwhelmed
…Your energy depleting

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Eye on the Prize

Maintain your positive focus

Concentrate on what you’ve achieved

Don’t let the distractions hinder you

Or lead you to believe…

That you can’t have what you want

Because you can fulfill your goals

If you take confident action

And cultivate your soul…

Take time at the end of each day

To acknowledge what you have done

And envision your future success

…All your goals and dreams are won

Write down at least five successes

And why they’re important to you

Then lay out plans to continue

…What actions will you do?

This creates a cycle of success

To get you where you want to go

And at night your mind can dream

How to make it so…

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Acknowledge

We’re not trained to acknowledge ourselves
We’re told not to toot our own horn
It’s something we’re taught
Almost from the day we were born

It’s important to acknowledge
All the successes you have had
Yet we’re taught not to be sore losers
And that boastful winning is bad

It’s easy to remember our failures
They’re surrounded by emotion
Most oftentimes painful and negative
And filled with lots of commotion

But often our successes
We downgrade to expectations
Therefore, they are not celebrated
Which leads to complications

We underestimate how successful we’ve been
And we don’t appreciate all that we achieve
We tend to focus on the failures
Which leads us to believe…

…That we’ll never be successful
And we almost certainly will not
For if we continue doing what we’ve always done
We’ll keep getting what we always got

So acknowledge yourself daily
Appreciate yourself for all you’ve done
Reward yourself when you have success
And your mind will know you’ve won

Copyright © Cybil Smith

Surround Yourself…

Surround yourself with successful people

And positive people, too

For they’ll be there to support you

Until all your dreams come true

Surround yourself with truth tellers

Who won’t just say what you want to hear

But instead will tell you like it is

And help you wipe away any tears

Surround yourself with love

And anytime you don’t feel it

Remember to love yourself first

…It’s the best kind you can get

Surround yourself with people

Who are where you want to go

They can help you get there, too

By sharing what they know

Surround yourself with happiness,

Gratitude and appreciation, too

Focus on those things you want

And they’ll be attracted to you

        Copyright © Cybil Smith