Susan Biali

Do you worry that you'll never find your life's purpose? Are you afraid that the turns and twists your life has taken have been little more than wasted time? The answer might be just around the corner - or right under your nose.

Learn how to give each unique aspect of you room to breathe - by reading the first post of my new PsychologyToday.com blog:  www.tinyurl.com/kjea7w 

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I love Twitter - not so much for tweeting mundane things about what I'm doing with my time, but for the wealth of information that tweets across my "home page" through the course of the day.  Yesterday @cheergiver tweeted a link to the following article from U.S. News & World Report: "10 Secrets to Finding Happiness During the Recession."  (By the way, I'd love to "meet" you on twitter - you can find me and follow me at www.twitter.com/drsusanbiali and be sure to say hello!)

I'll give you the link to the article in a moment, but first wanted to summarize and comment on the ten "secrets" for you.

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If you haven’t seen this YouTube clip from Britain’s Got Talent, you have to now:  click here to view  . A friend emailed it to me yesterday, and I watched it over and over - it made me cry more, every time. 

Susan Boyle represents everything that I try to get others to believe in.  A 47-year-old woman from a small village in Scotland, she dreamed of a career as a singer since she was 12 years old.  I’ve read more about her since I saw her video, and apparently, because of the way that she was treated by others in her life (as demonstrated by Simon’s expressions on-screen), she’d essentially given up, and had even stopped singing in her church choir.  She lived alone, with her cat, her immense gift and message of hope hidden from the world, until finally something inside her made her take the big leap: the dream that she dreamed, that never died.

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As you know, I’ve been working for almost a year as the wellness expert for the national television program The Daily with Mark & Laura-Lynn (www.thedailytv.ca).  Host Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and I have become great friends, and yesterday had an amazing conversation – both off, and on-camera (at the Fashion vs. Rock Juno Awards After-Party).  We talked about our struggles with self-doubt, and how so many people get in their own way, and block themselves, instead of realizing/recognizing everything that they already are, and everything they could be.

Imagine if you could truly see, for a moment: all of your strengths, all of your wonderful qualities, all of your potential, everything that you have inside you to share with the world around you, if you just give it a chance to come out and shine.  What if, in that moment, you couldn’t have any doubts, or insecurity, or think a single negative thought about yourself and your worth in the world?  What would that feel like?  Can you feel it for a moment?

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Hello from Los Cabos, Mexico – I’m here to do a flamenco show and also to pick up our adopted “rescue” dog, Faro (if you’d like to adopt your own, check out www.humanesocietycabo.com ).  I’ve spoken on the radio several times this week about the gifts that can be found in crisis, and how this financial situation, though terrifying for many, actually helps us place more value and focus on the things that count most,.  Thankfully, these things that are most important we can always count on, or create, in our lives  – things like love, friendship, family, and spiritual faith.  After years of negativity I'm now a relentless optimist.  Thank goodness, because studies show that optimism results in better physical health and life success, no matter what’s going on around you.  You can learn to be more optimistic; read my article about optimism by clicking here.

Anyway, this morning I got an email from a friend forwarding me Robin Sharma’s newsletter, titled “Develop a lust for crisis”.  I thought you might find it interesting and uplifting.

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I borrowed that question from Dr. Phil – I just came across his list of ten questions to ask yourself in 2009, in the January issue of O magazine ( which I’ve finally gotten around to reading).  I found myself really impressed by the way his questions were making me reflect on my life.  I'm a life coach and think about these things all the time, so it's not often that something comes along that surprises me, especially if it's so simple on the surface.

His question about relaxing sounds pretty general, but the specifics that he mentioned pushed some buttons in me –

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What!?  Couldn’t I pick a more realistic topic, you might ask?  That title isn’t mine, actually – it was created by Arizona’s “fearless soul” coach Carey Powell (www.fearlesscoaching.net), who invited me to be one of the seven women that she interviewed for her new “Fearless Living” Audio Series.  Last night we did a teleconference, in which we talked about the different aspects of living a fearless life.  So many people called in that the lines jammed and there were all kinds of technical difficulties – further proof that there are so many people out there right now who are terrified by what’s happening in their lives, or the world around them, and want to find a way to live fearlessly, in the midst of all.

So is it possible to maintain a fearless attitude?  Would that just be denial?

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A friend mentioned to me the other day that someone had brought my name up, in conversation, and had commented that I was a “powerful” woman.  When she told me that, it caught me off guard.  I really didn’t know what to say.  I laughed and made a quick joke, but sat thinking about it, afterwards. Powerful?  Inspirational, or “powerfully candid” maybe (I’ve gotten used to those), but I’ve never really considered myself to be powerful. 

I was still thinking about it, yesterday, when someone from Power Women Magazine invited  me to connect with them on Linked In (FYI I’m totally open to invitations on Linked In – if you’re not in my network already, I’d love it if you would invite me into yours! You can find my profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/susanbiali).  Intrigued by the coincidence, I checked out their website, www.thepowerwomenmagazine.co.cc, and discovered a fabulous article which perfectly and powerfully described eight essential qualities (and behaviors) which will give a woman her greatest power.

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When it comes to losing weight, most people find it hard to change the eating (and exercise) behaviors that got them into trouble in the first place. 

Did you know that the amount that you sleep can have a direct effect on whether you're a healthy weight, or significantly overweight?  Do you know the miminum hours of sleep that you need to give yourself the best chance at succeeding with your (ideally healthy and enjoyable, please!) weight loss program?

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Last night on TV, I saw a very successful speaker, who regularly talks to groups of women of 10,000 or more, say that she’s disturbed by how much depression she sees around her, these days.  Those of you who already know me know that I struggled with it for years.  It rarely happens to me at all, anymore, because I’ve learned how to protect myself from that dark place, and I’ve also learned how to “pull myself out of a funk”.  We don’t all necessarily get clinically depressed (thank God), but most people do go through times, particularly in the winter, when they don’t feel as good about life, and themselves, as they’d like to.

Today, I’m going to share with you my tips for lifting your mind, and body, out of a funky mood.  You can either use these to:  1) protect a positive mental state, and prevent yourself from sliding into negative mood states; or 2) use them to pull yourself out of a bad mood when you’re already there.

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