Category Archives: A – Z Challenge

2016 A-Z Challenge Reflections

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Time for A-Z Challenge Reflections. I think this was my fifth year participating in A-Z. I’ll briefly discuss what I liked about the challenge, then I’ll look at some things where I could do better.

There’s a lot to like about this challenge:

  • Increased blog traffic — this is more noticeable in the first weeks of the challenge
  • I have fun putting together my posts each year and seeing who shows up
  • Each year the organizers get better at making things easier for us participants
  • I love the T-shirts
  • I think I did a better job of keeping my posts shorter this year
  • I enjoy visiting new blogs, learning about all the things people can discuss at length, and their creativity for doing so

 

To  do better, I need to do a better job of getting around to other blogs. I did a better job this year of visiting my neighbors on the list, and I think I visited everyone who commented on my blog and left a comment.

Thank you organizers and the rest of the team for coordinating everything.

 

Z: Zest

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Participating in the Master Keys Mastermind Alliance has given me a renewed sense of zest for life. I’ve always felt I had some control over my destiny, but I’ve managed it imperfectly. Now I understand why, and, frankly, it was a little frightening sometimes, because I immediately began to see how my negative thoughts were manifesting in my life. I knew I needed tools to deal with some things in my future that were approaching, but I didn’t know how to deal with them. Throughout my life, I always looked eagerly to the future — too often at the expense of the present. I’d reached a point where I feared the future. This program immediately taught me how to eradicate that fear — it’s gone. More than that, it taught me how I can live for today and be better prepared for what the future brings. With that, comes the renewed zest.

You, too, can find that zest. Some of you may be wondering how this fits with your belief system. I think you’ll find it integrates quite well. In my case, my believe system is founded in Christianity. For me, this course showed me how to apply what I’d always been taught in church and Sunday School in ways the church never seemed able to do. I found this to be an incredibly positive and uplifting thing, and my spiritual life is much richer as a result. You may be in a different place in your life. I’m sharing where I was. But if there’s a nagging dissatisfaction somewhere, something that doesn’t feel quite right for you, I believe this course will help you find it and the solution. Everyone who participates does so with a Pay-It-Forward scholarship, so you have nothing to lose by giving it a look and much, much more to gain. Maybe a little more zest for your life?

Thank you for reading this month! I’m thankful for your visits. You don’t want to miss early notification for the next class. Please sign up for this email list which will provide several weeks of preliminary related materials to the Master Keys course and also put you on the early notification list for when the course opens in September. Signing up to the list earns you a free copy of the 7 Day Mental Diet. Please believe me when I say there is Nothing Like It.

Y: Yahoo

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Who’s this yahoo in a Hawaiian shirt blathering on about Hawaii? Who cares about Hawaii? Now, Jean, I remind myself, Hawaii was their dream. It doesn’t have to be yours. They are talking about their dreams and how they came true using the information in this program. I reminded myself to think about MY dreams and how I could use this program to achieve them. Once I did that, I realized I was being presented with a tremendous opportunity to resolve serious issues in my life. And that yahoo in the Hawaiian shirt? He kinda grew on me, and he seems like a decent guy.

We’re in for a fun ride this month, and it’s almost over. You can only stop in for a day? Afraid you won’t find your way back during the challenge? Then please sign up for this email list now which will provide several weeks of preliminary related materials to the Master Keys course and also put you on the early notification list for when the course opens up in September. Signing up to the list earns you a free copy of the 7 Day Mental Diet. Please believe me when I say there is Nothing Like It.

X: Xanthin

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Xanthin is another word for yellow. Yellow is also a personality type, as characterized by advocates of the Color Code Personality Science people. Several similar systems are out there, but this one categorizes people into one of four colors, Red, Blue, White, and Yellow. I came out as a primary Blue with a White secondary (it was nearly a tie between Red and White as my secondary colors, but White was just a couple percentage points more). According to this science, I am primarily motivated by Intimacy. Whites are motivated by Peace (absolutely, I can relate to that). Red’s driving core motives are Power, and Yellow’s driving core motives are Fun.
I didn’t really see the intimacy thing for me, but when I read more information, I could see where it was coming from. Or, as someone said when we were talking about this, and she asked how long I’d been married. When I said 22 years, she paused before saying, “I’d say that having a primary relationship is kind of an important thing in your life.” Put in perspective that way, I can kind of see that.

I’ve been more familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); however, the Color Code (and I know there are several variants out there), also works to educate people to the various gifts each person brings to a team. And I do find those things interesting about different people.

What color or type are you? I consistently test in the INTJ range for MBTI.

We’re in for a fun ride this month. You can only stop in for a day? Afraid you won’t find your way back during the challenge? Then please sign up for this email list now which will provide several weeks of preliminary related materials to the Master Keys course and also put you on the early notification list for when the course opens up in September. Signing up to the list earns you a free copy of the 7 Day Mental Diet. Please believe me when I say there is Nothing Like It.

W: Webinar

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The course is conducted via webinar. Each session is recorded, so if you are unable to attend a few webinars live, you’ll be able to “make up” the session. Or, if you want to reinforce what was covered in the webinar, the replay helps tremendously. Jot down the approximate time … Continue reading →

V: Visualize

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Yesterday, we talked briefly about the Universal Mind and the Sit. Visualization is a key component of the Sit. In addition to training ourselves to sit perfectly still for fifteen minutes or more, we teach our self to focus our thoughts through various exercises. At all times, we focus on … Continue reading →

U: Universal Mind

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Ah, the Universal Mind. “Thought impregnated with love becomes invincible…The Universal Mind is not only intelligence, but it is substance, and this substance is the attractive force which brings electrons together by the law of attraction so they form atoms; the atoms in turn are brought together by the same … Continue reading →

T: Twitter

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Are you familiar with Twitter? If not, you’ll have the opportunity to become familiar with Twitter as part of the Master Keys course. Twitter is not about “posting what you eat for breakfast,” and I think most people have gotten beyond that stereotype. Yes, you can post what you eat … Continue reading →

S: Service

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One must be of service. To oneself and to others. In the Master Keys program, you’ll be given a handy tool to help you keep your eye on service. One service a week which does not involve any money. This teaches subby you can do it. It builds a pattern … Continue reading →

R: Reflection

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Let’s talk a little about reflection. Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. You have control of your inner world — your thoughts. We all have the power of thought. Nobody can take this away from us. Your ability to think is infinite, and what you think … Continue reading →