Articles
Browse every published article connected to Joyce Shafer, Book Doctor, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Joyce Shafer, Book Doctor, or search within this exact expert archive.
Twice in the last two weeks, I’ve come across information that says many people no longer want (or believe in) magic-bullet solutions. This will set many people free and keep others trapped. There’s lots of terrific information available that does help you to shift beliefs and patterns. The ...
If you ever feel overwhelmed, pause for a moment and look around you. More than likely, there’s clutter in your physical (outer) space, which means there’s clutter in your inner space. A funny thing happens when you get rid of clutter in your physical space: you see your life. You lighten up in ...
Whether you’ve retired voluntarily or not, do you have a plan about how to make the most of your life experience? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do, a little flame inside that begs you to let it glow? Maybe you were able to demonstrate your unique qualities, talents, skills, and ...
You agreed to a situation or event, but it’s not going as you expected. In fact, it seems out of your control at times. Do you fight or surrender? A misconception exists about managing our lives, especially if we use spiritual tools. The misconception is that everything should go ...
Bill Bullard said, “Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge…is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.” Our society seems to admire highly ...
Whatever you were writing, you’ve completed it. Are you really, actually, finally done? Not if you haven’t done this. When I interact with new writers, they often have the misconception that because they’ve created something with a beginning, middle, and ending they’re done. They’re ready to ...
In four days, I’ve watched “The Secret” four times, though definitely not my first viewing. I mentioned this to a friend who responded, “I heard the secret is never actually revealed.” I think the reason some people feel the secret isn’t blatant has to do with the fact our brains don’t respond ...
Stephanie Chandler wrote in her book, “From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur” that a survey indicated nearly 80 percent of Americans would like to write a book. That’s a stunning number of potential writers. There are a variety of reasons why some do what’s needed to become a writer and why others ...
The Law of Attraction states that whatever we hold our focus, specifically, our emotionally-charged feelings on is what we get more of even if it’s not what we desire. It’s easy to relate this to a better job, more money, and all the improvements we typically seek to expand into our lives. If ...
Like any emotion, stress is an individual, personal experience. But there’s one KEY stressor we’d benefit from knowing more and doing something about.
Some of these simple tips may be familiar to you, and some may not. They can make or break your ability to be considered a serious writer by an agent, editor, or publication. See if you practice these tips consistently. If not, choose to begin to. • Use spell-check but don’t rely ...
Before “What the Bleep” . . . before “The Secret” and any other similar movie since . . . there was a film that provided The Key. And, it was so subtle (yet obvious, now) I only just got it nearly two decades later. And, just when I needed it. If you’re not ...
What does tighten your writing mean? What Blaise Pascal wrote gives you an idea: “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.” Though Pascal was a mathematician and physicist turned religious philosopher, his point benefits every ...
The actual line is from a novel by P.D., James: “...preserving always the same look of puzzled acceptance of a life which had to be endured rather than possessed.” Every day, each of us endures something even if it’s an inconvenience of lesser magnitude. Some people endure much more than most ...
Anytime you decide to write anything, whether it’s an article or a manuscript, you should congratulate yourself. Some people find writing easy, while others feel less sure about the process or their skills. Either type of writer is courageous. You know that when you write, especially if you ...
This title is a line of dialogue from a movie I recently watched. I shared it with a friend who emailed back, “What does THAT mean?” I suppose it could mean we wish the opposite of what we’re afraid of were true instead. If we fear instability in some area of our lives, perhaps we wish ...
Maybe you’re like me and you’ve been diligent about letting go of limitations in an area or areas of your life. You’ve experienced and continue to experience the shift as a result of your focused thoughts, words, feelings, and actions. Though I’ve been working with this for years (okay, ...
Two days before I realized the New York City marathon is this weekend, I re-visited a technique I used back around the late 1980s, where I’d write or type questions and wait for answers to flow through my fingers. Neale Donald Walsch had the idea to share his use of this technique, and the rest ...
I don’t want to make a unilateral statement, but in my life, solutions are not always obvious. I recently read a parable many of you probably read a long while back called, “The Prisoner in the Dark Cave.” A man sentenced to death is placed in a dark cave. He’s told there is a way out and if he ...
“He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers.” Cameroon Proverb My friend and I talked about what’s next for him. His story is, indeed, part of history. Years ago, he easily earned a million a year in the entertainment industry. Then his head and heart alignment about his work went out of ...
In the universe, matter and anti-matter exist. In equal amounts, they cancel each other out. If there’s a greater quantity of one than the other, that’s the one that “wins.” Though there are pockets of anti-matter in space, there are more elements of matter or nothing would exist. A parallel ...
Do you ever wonder if or wish there was an On-Off switch when it comes to negative thinking? Maybe if you know what causes it, you can find the switch and flip it.
You’re in the driver’s seat, cruising on the highway, headed to your next destination. The rules of safe driving recommend you occasionally glance at your rearview and side-view mirrors so you know what’s going on around you, but your primary focus is on what’s in front of you. It’s obvious you ...
Ask someone to walk to the moon and you’ll hear, “Not realistic,” as a response. They wouldn’t have a problem giving that answer. Ask some people to be perfect and you can almost hear the inner and outer dialogue start — “You have no idea how hard I try to be just that.” This person might even ...
Ah...to live a dog’s life. While in the park, I saw a young girl walking her miniature dog. Something caught its eye that I couldn’t see yet because shrubs blocked my view. The dog would surge forward, barking non-stop at the top of its miniature voice, and the leash would pull it back. I ...
All of us have moments when we find ourselves at a crossroads and we’re not positively certain which path to take.. We may turn to family or friends for their thoughts and ideas. This is good if what you’re doing is looking for something akin to brainstorming for things to consider. Some who are ...
Are you a peach attempting to grow in a banana field instead of an orchard? On a whim, I placed one of the extra copies of my book, “I Don’t Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say,” in the laundry room of my building. A woman I speak with every time we meet up was who found it, and ...
Part of my ritual is to write the same I Am statement 20 times in order to focus on what’s intended, claim it, and do so until it’s the result that’s lived. Rather than doing this by rote, I allow my mind to engage with what’s taking place. I listen to what’s happening at the inner level as I ...
Musing about why people sometimes settle for less in their lives, I wondered if one cause might be because they (we) feel unprepared, unable, or afraid, for some reason, to give more? Those who fit into the category of over-givers (usually poor receivers) might mutter at me as they read this, ...
You can choose joy as easily as you can choose any emotion. But you won’t enjoy your life as much as you could unless you include one key ingredient. Do you enjoy what you have: your key relationships, material items, spiritual awareness and connection to Source, personal traits and characteristics? If you can’t enjoy who you are and what you have now, how will you enjoy even more? This may seem contradictory but it isn’t. It reminds me of two thought streams: “Wherever you go there you are” and “I’ll be happy when…”
I learned about a great bumper sticker: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” The same day I saw the bumper sticker phrase, I got an email from a friend telling me about how life is not working and the reasons why. I didn’t find one “can” in there or “I intend.” ...
The first step towards a balanced life is to become clear on what it is that you really want. If you’re like most people, you tend to think that what you want is a thing like a house or car, a relationship, a particular job, or—fill in the blank. You may believe if you have the thing(s) you ...
“A crisis only becomes a breaking point when we fail to use it as a turning point,” wrote Guy Finley recently. His words, words of others, and inspirational and funny videos that began to fill my in-box were responses to a silent request I made the other day when I came face-to-face with an ...
When you feel disempowered, you engage in struggle. What’s the way back to personal strength and power when this happens? Based on how you feel in your life right now, you know if it’s effort or struggle you’re engaging at this time. Here’s a bit more information to help you gain greater understanding about this.
Where do you experience most of your life? Is the majority of activity outside of you or inside your mind?
You may use some of the usual ways to increase energy like rest, diet, supplements, etc., but finding a way to remove or shift this energy zapper will make a huge difference in every area of your life. It’s so commonly practiced that we hardly see it for what it is.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to point at and click a Delete button at what clutters your inner space? Our days would be so different if we could.
There are two types of overwhelm: the type that’s triggered by exte al events and the type you self-impose. Both can be managed with the same technique. “I’m overwhelmed,” was my client’s first comment. You’ve been in that state of mind, and so have I. And, that’s what’s important to understand—overwhelm is a state of mind, not an actual event.
The article title asks an important question. The one you focus on has everything to do with not only your outcome but your experience reaching it.
Self-sabotage is not about lack of willpower; so, you can stop beating yourself up about that one. What it is about may surprise you… and empower you. Self-sabotage happens when you confront the need to move out of your comfort zone to improve your life experience or make a dream or goal happen. This is one reason willpower doesn’t work. A few words about willpower…
If you find you don’t like a movie, you don’t yell at the screen to change. But, is that what you do about your life? I’d decided to use the Ho’oponopono method to work on old program tapes that run in my subconscious. If you’re going to aim at a target so you can hit it consistently, you need to practice and more than just a few times.
It seems a minority of people feel genuinely at home in their skin, know who they are and how to go after what they want, and live as their authentic selves. Why is this? Let’s look at where things go off track for the others. We have a perplexing set-up as human beings: We come into our lives to be individualized expressions of our unique selves AND are completely dependent on others to meet our basic needs, for a period of time; and hopefully they meet more than just the basics. After a certain age, we still need others to fulfill the various aspects of our lives.
Can a simple statement really get you motivated to start, do, or improve something you’re putting off? Let’s find out. Think of something you desire to be different, or feel challenged about following through on. See or feel it in your mind’s eye. Really connect with it. Now, say to yourself, gently and truthfully: “I can do better than this.” First things first—remove any critical self-judgment from the picture right now. It isn’t useful.
You’ve completed the first draft of your novel. Now you’re supposed to follow that pesky rule that requires you do something called a revision—more than once. How can you make this easier?
It happens to all of us when we desire to fix, change, or shift something: we push when we could ride. What’s that really about? Years back, the guy cutting my hair told me about a conversation he’d had with a co-worker. She had complained that her father had used the push lawnmower on their acreage when he could have used the riding mower. He told her, “That’s how you live your life.”