Find Your Unique Communication Style

Take The Quiz!

Hidden Messages | Sensitive Communication Tips

Hi there, this is Grace, and welcome to Sensitive Communication Tips.

So today’s topic is about hidden messages. And you might understand what I mean by hidden messages, depending upon your culture, your background, how your family communicated. So in my family, which happens to be Chinese, we use a lot of hidden messages.

So what do I mean by that? Well, someone might make a statement. But there is a hidden message behind that statement. Here is an example. My cousin, she is a year older than me. And so we went to the middle school and high school together, but she was a year ahead of me in classes. And so my aunt would ask my mom, so how is Grace doing in this class, because my cousin had went through it before. And my mom would say, oh, Grace is doing well with it, you know, and my aunt will make a statement and say, Oh, it was so hard, you know, I hear the teacher’s really difficult, but, you know, Nancy really excelled. And so she was making a statement, but the hidden messages, like, I’m sure Grace is doing well, but probably not as better as my daughter. Um, so you know, because in my culture, there’s also a lot of competition.

So, even though my aunt wouldn’t have straight out and said, you know, look, I think my daughter is better than your daughter academic wise. Um, and there is that hidden message where my aunt makes certain statements to my mom. And my mom understands it, you know, because my mom is also using these hidden statements as a reply. So sometimes what you hear may not necessarily be the straight out statement, there might be some hidden meaning behind those statements.

So how can you tell? Or how do you read these hidden messages? One is that you can look at the rationale, what is the rationale for the question, or the statement being made? You know, in the example, my cousin and myself, um, the rationale was that, you know, my aunt was trying to compete, and you know, trying to say, you know, I think my daughter’s better, in academics than your daughter, and my mom was like, you know, what, her reply was, you know, I don’t mind your daughter being better, I’m not in this competition with you.

So there was this sort of hidden messages going back and forth with what was being said, the other thing to look out is, you know, eye contact and body language. Now, in Asian culture, Chinese, Japanese, you know, it, it’s not polite to just straight out and do eye contact, right? But here in the US, from my schooling, and you know, from social skills with my peers, and everything, you know, they stress that it’s important to make eye contact, right? So you can also look at how they’re making eye contact, you know, is it kind of like a sly look? Or is it straight to your face type of look, so you can kind of tell some of their hidden messages by how the person is looking at you, the way their body posture, so the body language part of it.

And then the third is also look at the tone of voice. You know, when my aunt made some of her comments, her tone of voice was a little bit– not what her normal talking voice would be. So, you know, she might say, you know, instead of like, today is Thursday, she might say, Oh, my daughter, you know, and had this same teacher that, you know, Grace had, and, you know, from what I hear, so her tone of voice was a little bit different, when she was trying to make that little bit of a hidden message there. And so to combat, if you’re in that situation of hidden messages, and you just don’t want to engage in it, because it can be quite exhausting, you know, trying to go back and forth and trying to figure out what this person really means and what’s their motive and all this other stuff.

One of the best ways to combat that is just to keep it simple and short, use the KISS method. And that’s what I’ve noticed with my mom, if she didn’t really want to engage in that slide competition or something, she would just keep it short and simple. She’ll just say, Yes, Grace has that teacher. Grace is doing well. And so there was nothing more than she would add. So after a while my aunt then would drop it because obviously she could tell from what my mom’s reply is, and everything that, my mom wasn’t going to engage in that hidden message type of situation with my aunt. So, um, so sometimes you might encounter people that are not so direct, you know, they don’t really mean what they say, right? They might have some hidden messages in that statement that they are sharing, or there’s a hidden message to– as to why they’re asking those questions. So again, you can just tell perhaps by thinking about the rationale for it, their eye contact, body language, how it might change when they’re doing that hidden message, and also their tone of voice. And then if you just want to not be part of that hidden message, because it can be exhausting, then keep it simple and short, use the KISS method.

Alright, I hope you found these tips to be helpful in understanding about hidden messages and communication. If you found the tips to be helpful, please visit my website at GraceSOULutions.com. That’s gracesoulutions.com To learn more about me and what I do to help sensitive, introverted conflict phobic women, to be able to communicate their thoughts, feelings and desires so that they are seen, heard and recognized. So if that sounds like you, please visit my website to see how I can help you develop more effective and effortless communication. I look forward to seeing you here again next time at Sensitive Communication Tips. Thank you for being here. Take care. See you next time. Bye!

If you are driven to communicate with confidence, have your messages, be heard and understood, and repair any communication breakdown in your personal communication relationship, then Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Communication Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu believes there is a solution to every problem including communication and conversation problems. Everyone can find the solution they seek by using the guidance of grace that is in you, with the grace of spiritual support, and Grace –me– as your Communication Navigator and support system.

My passion is to help sensitive, conflict-phobic, and introverted women have effective communication so they feel valued and heard in any conversation.

Through studying and observations, I’ve realized why communication breakdown occurs and the solutions to solving those problems. I’ve presented these solutions so that communicative partners can achieve effective communication!

Deep Dive On The THINK Technique | Sensitive Communication Tips

Hi there, Gracie CW Liu here and welcome to Sensitive Communication Tips!

In my previous video I talked about the THINK technique. It is to help those of you who are afraid to share your opinions because you are afraid of perhaps of creating conflict or disagreement that the THINK technique might actually help you to share your opinions.

Now in this video, I would like to do a deep dive into the THINK technique. Some of the questions that were used in the THINK technique are pretty self-explanatory. So, what I like to do is go through each of the questions and the ones that perhaps need a little bit more of a deep dive on, that is what I will do.

So starting with the letter T – is it TRUE? Now, I talked about having some facts, some truth to backup your opinion, and just realize that the other person will also have some truth and facts to back up his or her opinion, as well. So look at both sides of the facts, and therefore it will help to open up more of a dialogue. And know that there are always facts on both sides.

H – is it HELPFUL? Now, I am sure the reason you are sharing your opinion is because you want it to be helpful to the person you are talking to, or to the group of people you’re talking to when you’re sharing your opinions. So– and also does that person or those group of people want your help and want to hear your opinions? So would it help them? So that’s my take on is it helpful?

I – is it INSPIRING? I think most of us would like to inspire each other. So I don’t believe any person who is sharing their opinions, don’t want it to be inspiring, but perhaps how it might inspire that person. And that was what I kind of talked about in my previous video was about how we might inspire the person or the group of people to take a certain action.

And then we have N – is it NECESSARY? So this is the one that I would like to kind of talk about is it necessary? Perhaps you might find that, it is necessary for you to share your opinion. And the other person or group might not think so. But the question is, why is it necessary for you to share your opinion? in what way will it be important for you to share your opinion with the other person or with a group of people? So again, the question is, why is it necessary for you to share your opinion with the person or a group of people that might disagree with you? And is it perhaps necessary to have this dialogue? You know, we might disagree. And you might disagree with a person. But sometimes, it’s not just– it’s not enough just to say, “Well, I have an opinion about this.” And just have, you know, a group of people that share a common opinions. Sometimes in order to learn and to grow and to be a better version of ourselves, it’s important to have an open dialogue. And sometimes the way to have that open dialog is the necessity of sharing differing opinions. So I think the question why is it necessary? Might be the most important question to ask when sharing, you know, when we ask, is it necessary to us, we might say yes, it is. But why? And then that might change a little bit of how we want to address the differing opinions. That’s my take on is it necessary? And then

K – is it KIND? And again, that’s pretty self explanatory. We, and I don’t know about you, but I know I tend to accept other people’s opinions a little bit that I might not agree but I will be willing to listen if it was done in a kind, pleasant, calm manner. So that’s my take on is it kind of you know, using kind words calm voice even with differing opinions or disagreements. There is really no reason why there can’t be any civility. While we can’t be civil towards one another, when there might be some differing opinions, or disagreements.

So those are my take on the word think and the questions that are used to kind of help guide whether or not to share opinions. So if you found the strategies to be helpful, or perhaps you have your strategies that you use to help you to decide whether or not to share your opinions, I would love for you to share. If you do, please, I only ask that you please be respectful, supportive and kind.

And if you found my strategies or the techniques today to be helpful, please visit my website at GraceSOULutions.com. That’s G R A C E S O U L U T I O N S .com to see how you can book a FREE Communication Breakthrough Session with me. Thank you for being here. I look forward to seeing you here again next time. Take care. Bye for now!

If you are driven to communicate with confidence, have your messages, be heard and understood, and repair any communication breakdown in your personal communication relationship, then Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Communication Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu believes there is a solution to every problem including communication and conversation problems. Everyone can find the solution they seek by using the guidance of grace that is in you, with the grace of spiritual support, and Grace –me– as your Communication Navigator and support system.

My passion is to help sensitive, conflict-phobic, and introverted women have effective communication so they feel valued and heard in any conversation.

Through studying and observations, I’ve realized why communication breakdown occurs and the solutions to solving those problems. I’ve presented these solutions so that communicative partners can achieve effective communication!

The THINK Technique | Sensitive Communication Tips

Hi there, Gracie CW Liu here, and welcome to Sensitive Communication Tips!

So first of all, I have a question for you. How comfortable are you with sharing your opinions with others who might disagree with your opinion? Some of you might find it very easy to share your opinions. And some of you might find it very difficult. And the reason you might find it difficult is because you don’t like having conflicts, you try to avoid having conflicts or disagreements as much as possible.

So, I would like to share with you what I call the THINK technique. Now understand, this did not come from me, I actually saw this on a poster. And I thought this might actually be quite useful for people who might be afraid of sharing their opinions. So, what the THINK technique is, they took each of the letters in the word think, and next to it, they put a question that matched with the letter in the word THINK. So, in the word think we have t, h, i, n, k.

So we’re going to start with a letter T – is it TRUE? So perhaps you have an opinion about a situation or topic, and it might be easier for you to back up your opinion, if you had some facts to it. So is it true?

H – is it HELPFUL? Is the opinion that you are sharing going to help the other person or the group of people you are talking to or addressing? And how is it helpful to them? Or to that person?

I – is it INSPIRING? So, you know, is your opinion that you are sharing, going to inspire that other person or the group of people to take a certain action? And what action might that be?

N – is it NECESSARY? Is the opinion that you have is it necessary for you to share it with that person or with a group of people?

And K – is it KIND? Is the way that you are sharing your opinion, kind? A lot of the times people may not be accepting of your opinion, because of the way you deliver it. You know, if you are being aggressive, or you’re using some languages that may not be comfortable with the person you are sharing with, they may then not want to accept it. However, if you use, maybe, perhaps a kind, calm voice while sharing your opinion, they might be more willing just to listen, they may not agree, but at least they might be willing to listen.

So next time you want to share your opinion and you’re not sure, perhaps this THINK technique might just help you.

And if you found this to be helpful, please feel free to visit my website, GraceSOULutions.com That’s G R AC E S O U L U T I O N S .com and see how you can book a FREE Communication Breakthrough Session with me. Thank you for being here, and I look forward to sharing more tips with you next time here at Sensitive Communication Tips. Thanks again. Bye for now.

If you are driven to communicate with confidence, have your messages, be heard and understood, and repair any communication breakdown in your personal communication relationship, then Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Communication Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu believes there is a solution to every problem including communication and conversation problems. Everyone can find the solution they seek by using the guidance of grace that is in you, with the grace of spiritual support, and Grace –me– as your Communication Navigator and support system.

My passion is to help sensitive, conflict-phobic, and introverted women have effective communication so they feel valued and heard in any conversation.

Through studying and observations, I’ve realized why communication breakdown occurs and the solutions to solving those problems. I’ve presented these solutions so that communicative partners can achieve effective communication!

Deep Dive on Speak Clearly | Sensitive Communication Tips

Hi there, Grace CW Liu here, and welcome to Sensitive Communication Tips!

So first of all, I will just like to clarify what I mean by sensitive communications. When I say the word sensitive, what I mean is that either you are a sensitive person, in other words, you can walk into a room and you can have a sense of what the room is like, or when you’re talking to the person, you can already sense the mood of that person that you’re speaking to. Or the other way is to say you are a sensitive person, and that you are aware of your communication so that you try to make the conversation in a constructive way. So when you’re speaking to someone, you want to make sure that the communication that you’re having with that person is constructive. So that’s what I mean by sensitive communication.

Now, in the previous video, I shared with you three tips to communicate with confidence tip number one, smile. Tip number two was to stand with confidence or stand up straight. And number three is speak clearly. Now in this video, I want just to deep dive just a little bit more on tip number three, speak clearly.

Now in the previous video, I did talk about the rate of speech. Some people are fast talkers. Some people are a little bit slow. But again, we just want to make sure we allow the time for the person to process what we are saying. And as long as we’re speaking at a rate that is comfortable to us, we will already somehow exude that confidence. But I want to speak also about speak clearly in a couple of other ways. You know, we have slang or idioms or figurative language, we have a lot of different other means for communicating. And we also need to make sure that the words we say or the slang that we use, or the figurative language that we use is also clear to the person that we are speaking to.

Classic example: English is not my mom’s first language, right? So you know, my mom emigrated to the US when she was about 18-19 years old. So she-she’s not familiar with the slang. And to this day, she still has some difficulties with that. And I remember that we got news that one of my cousin’s got accepted to one of the universities and everything. And I was just saying to my mom, oh, that’s so cool. And my mom was like, like, it’s 80 degrees weather here. How is it cool? How are you cold? How are you? And I was like, No, mom cool means like, that’s great. So they she looks at me, she goes, Well, why didn’t you just say that? Say that it was great. Um, so I realized that with my mom, you know, that I have to make sure that I used words that she understands, otherwise, we’re going to have this conflict.

So speaking clearly means that you’re using words, you’re using the vocabulary words that is familiar to the person and the person is not familiar with the use of that word in a slang or other means, then try to avoid it. So the other part of speak clearly was, you know, sometimes we speak fast, or because of some generation, we also make up words.

And a classic example is when I was in college, we made up the word “flustrated.” No, it wasn’t flustered, nor was it frustrated, it was “flustrated.” And our professors kind of looked at us and then figured it out that we– what we had done was we had combined the word flustered and frustrated together, to convey how we were feeling during our test or with the finals. But to this day, I have never heard of the word “flustrated.” Only when I was on campus did I hear that word but that didn’t– that word has not carried over to other places. So if I was to say the word “flustrated” now, most likely people are going to correct me and say, Oh, do you mean flustered? Or do you mean frustrated? Because I have not heard like I say outside of my college years, the word “flustrated” again. However, if I was to say that word I am sure I would be corrected with the word flustered or frustrated, so speak clearly also means to make sure that you are using words that are clear to people.

I know a lot of times we sometimes make up words. And as long as it’s in a context that people– other people can understand, that is fine. But however, if you– if there are made up words and people don’t understand, it’s gonna create some misunderstanding. And you know, you have to explain it and everything. And that can just sometimes decrease your feeling of confidence.

So speaking clearly, part of it in the previous video, I mentioned, is about the rate of speech and allowing the person to process. The second part is making sure you use words, phrases, etc. that is familiar to the person, you know, if you’re going to use some slang words, or figurative language or metaphors, whatever it is, that the person that is receiving those messages, understand those words and how it’s being used. And the other part is, you know, if you tend to make up words, and sometimes we do do that, just make sure that the person understands what the meaning of that word is, right? So that way again, as long as the person understands what you are saying, that is going to boost the confidence.

So I hope these tips helped you today. And if you did find the deep dive lesson or the deep dive explanation of speak clearly has helped you then please visit my website gracesoulutions.com. That’s gracesoulutions.com to book a free communication breakthrough session with me. If you would like to make any comments about this video, please feel free to do so I only ask that if you do that it’d be respectful, kind and supportive. And thank you for being here today at Sensitive Communication Tips.

I look forward to seeing you here again next time. Have a great day. Thank you. Bye for now!

If you are driven to communicate with confidence, have your messages, be heard and understood, and repair any communication breakdown in your personal communication relationship, then Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Communication Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu believes there is a solution to every problem including communication and conversation problems. Everyone can find the solution they seek by using the guidance of grace that is in you, with the grace of spiritual support, and Grace –me– as your Communication Navigator and support system.

My passion is to help sensitive, conflict-phobic, and introverted women have effective communication so they feel valued and heard in any conversation.

Through studying and observations, I’ve realized why communication breakdown occurs and the solutions to solving those problems. I’ve presented these solutions so that communicative partners can achieve effective communication!

Communicating With Confidence | Sensitive Communication Tips

Hi, Grace here, and welcome to Sensitive Communication Tips.

So, each of the videos, we’ll start off with one of the letters to do with the word communicates. So we’re going to start with the letter C, in the word communicates. And so what does the letter C stand for? Communicate with confidence. So here are some tips to help you to communicate with confidence.

Tip number one smile. So when we are nervous or shy, sometimes we forget to smile, our face actually tightens up. However, when we smile, we not only brighten up the person’s day, the room, we also brighten ourselves up. And when we brighten ourselves up, we naturally will feel confidence. So remember, no matter if you’re shy, or if you’re nervous, just smile. Because when you smile, you brighten up the day, you brighten up the person’s day, the room, and you. So tip number one, smile.

Tip number two, stand with confidence. So what do we mean by that stand up straight, not only does standing up straight help with the posture, and I’m sure you have heard somebody during your lifetime “stand up straight!” So again, it’s not only good for the posture, but when you stand up straight, you also will gain confidence, I stand at five feet two inches tall, but when I stand up straight, I feel just as tall as the person I’m talking to. And sometimes the people I talk to are six feet two inches tall. So when I stand up straight, I feel just as tall as the six feet two inches per tall person that I’m speaking to. So stand up straight, because that will boost up your confidence.

And tip number three, speak clearly. So I know some of you are fast talkers. And definitely there’s nothing wrong with being a fast talker. As long as you’re speaking clearly. However, just be aware that not everybody has a very fast processing speed. So while you might be talking fast, and you know what you’re talking about, the person that’s listening to you has to process what you are saying and they may not be able to process it fast enough. And sometimes that can cause some confusion or some misunderstanding. Having said that, you don’t want to speak too slow either. Because then again, that might bore the person. So it’s finding the right speed, finding the right comfort rate– comfortable rate for you to speak at. So as long as you’re comfortable with the speaking rate that you are communicating, then that will help to boost your confidence because then you’re going at your own comfortable rate. And when you do that, naturally, you’ll probably just feel confident.

So those are the three tips. Tip one smile, tip two stand up straight, and tip three, speak clearly. So I hope you found these tips to be helpful. And if you did, you can always feel free to visit my website GraceSOULutions.com That’s GraceSOULutions.com to book a free communication breakthrough session with me on how you can improve your personal communication, no matter who you are communicating with or the situation you are communicating in.

Thank you for being here. I look forward to seeing you here next time. Bye for now!

April HOOP With Grace

Do you think you are good at multi-tasking? Do you feel like you are one of those people who can master multi-tasking, and say “you don’t know what you’re talking about” to those who challenge you on your ability to multi-task?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then I beg to differ.

You can certainly switch from one task to another and you may be able to do two tasks at the same time (depending on what the tasks are), but you cannot multi-task.

You can’t focus your attention on multiple tasks. You can only focus on one task at a time.

You might say “Well I can do two things at once!”

You can point to something like “I listen to music while I drive.” That might be true, but if a situation jumps out in front of you such as a child chasing a ball into the street running right in front of your car, how fast do you think you would react if you weren’t distracted by music?

In this scenario you would either have a delayed reaction or wouldn’t remember the song you were listening to. It depends on what you were paying attention to. If you paid attention to the song, it would delay your reaction. If you paid attention to your driving, then likely you wouldn’t remember the song you were listening to.

When you pay attention to too many things at once you can end up feeling like this…

Rather than completing multiple things, you end up completing nothing because none of the tasks end up fully completed, and you also end up feeling overwhelmed.

You likely have many projects started, but none of them that are fully completed which can leave you feeling baffled.

I get it because I did that too. I would start on so many projects that I ended up not knowing which one needed to be finished, and then none of it got finished! That left me feeling overwhelmed because now I had so many projects that needed to get done with nothing yet completed.

It got so bad, that I would walk away, and try to avoid my dilemma. The more I didn’t face it, the more I procrastinated, the worse I was making the situation. I felt like I was on a runaway train that couldn’t be stopped and would only end up in disaster.

What I learned was…

Focus and complete one task at a time.

You might be able to complete two tasks at once such as you see here in this picture…

You might be thinking, “Wait, I thought you said you can’t multi-task.”

You’re right… don’t let this picture fool you.

I might be able to hoop and talk at the same time, but I am not able to do other hooping tricks or learn to do new hooping tricks with the phone in my hand.

Depending upon the importance of the phone call I can easily miss out on important details because I am not giving my full attention.

It might look like I can do both activities at the same time, but the reality is that it’s much better to focus on one activity at a time to reduce the time to complete an activity and reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Usually the overwhelmed feeling leads to procrastination.

The moral of this story is…

You can switch from one activity to another activity but focus on one activity at a time to reduce feeling of being overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed can lead to procrastination. When you focus on one task at a time you achieve better results in completing a task, and you won’t miss out on details that may be important.

I may be able to hoop and talk on the phone at the same time, but I definitely get a better result when I do one or the other and not both at the same time.

Remember:

You can only truly pay attention and focus on one thing/task/activity at a time. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can and are good at multi-tasking.

If you are driven to taking care of you and to being heard, then

Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Transition Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu is an expert Transition Navigator who will help you to navigate through your biggest challenges about yourself when going through your career, relationship, health, or other life transitions.

Through my programs: WORRY Eliminator, Color Code Personality, and Discover Your Sacred Gifts, I teach you how to deliberately use and navigate the program that will get you to live more of your Soul’s purpose.

As a Transition Navigator, I will help you to design, navigate, and manifest the results you want in your life with peace, happiness, ease, and grace. Together we solve your problems so that you create a whole new way of looking at life.

May HOOP With Grace

Have you ever felt out of balance? Have you ever felt that your mind, body, spirit, home, or work is out of balance, and that one misstep may tip you over and make you fall? What do you do when you feel this way? What do you do to bring balance back into your life and make everything feel alright again?

We have all felt out of balance one way or another.

We have so many responsibilities and so many things we want to accomplish that it can be difficult to manage.

Sometimes it can feel like we are spinning plates on a stick and we have to constantly keep our eye on everything to make sure that all the plates keep spinning to prevent them from falling.

If we have too many plates spinning and we start to get tired to the point where we can no longer keep up, then the likelihood is that one, a few, or all of the plates will fall.

When we feel we can’t keep up, we’re out of breath, and we’re exhausted from trying so hard, that is the feeling of being out of balance.

We we’re usually already out of balance way before we start to feel it without even realizing it.

When we are out of balance, we feel like we’re tilting, and constantly trying to regain our balance. But we know that at any given time we may fall if we don’t tilt the right way to gain our balance back.

The question you might be asking yourself is, “What does balance have to do with a hoop?”

While I may use a hula hoop as a tool to help me to balance (like physically during my tree pose in yoga), I have also learned more about the meaning of the word balance.

When I feel that I am balanced I feel that the activities that I am doing are more manageable, and there is a feeling of ease and flow.

You might feel the same way; that when you are balanced you feel that activities are manageable, easy, and there is a comfortable flow that moves you along from task to task.

What can we do when we feel out of balance?

We can exercise when we feel our energy is low to bring it back up. We can journal and write down our thoughts and feelings when we feel emotionally low to empty out all of the negative thoughts and feelings to allow positive thoughts and feelings to enter. We can take time to rest such as unplugging from the devices or taking a nap. We can listen to music to uplift our spirits. These activities may help temporarily or long-term depending upon your mood and situation.

Most of the time we are out of balance because we have too many things to do that need to be completed here, there, and everywhere. We try to give our focus, time, and energy to everything and we try to make sure that it is equal throughout. We try to focus the same amount of time and energy to home, work, community, projects, etc. that we end up feeling more out of balance rather than maintaining good balance.

One of the things we can do is to focus on a fewer activities. There might be a lot of things we have to or want to get done, but focusing on a few items at a time will make things seem more manageable.

Another is to avoid thinking too far ahead. As you start to work and complete one of the tasks, don’t think too far ahead to all the other tasks that still need to be completed. It may make you feel like you’re never going to keep up.

Prioritize to do tasks so you can easily focus on one task, and complete complete it then move on to the next task that you want to complete and so on.

Sometimes focusing on the outcome or result that will be achieved may also help. You might not enjoy an activity and it might feel like a chore. This may make you feel out of balance or out of alignment. When you focus on the outcome or result that will make your heart sing it may help to bring balance and alignment back to you.

There might be some activities you want to do, but might feel too tired to complete. So don’t beat yourself up if you don’t complete a task or skip an activity because you’re not up to doing it.

Sometimes we need to get out of our head and follow our heart as to what activities we want to complete or we might want to skip for today.

Give yourself permission to not complete or to skip an activity.

So, after sharing all of this…you’re probably still wondering “what does this have to do with a hula hoop?”

As I mentioned earlier I can use my hula hoop to help me to balance as part of my physical exercise. Sometimes I am so busy that I don’t have time to hula hoop.

I might want to hula hoop, but after doing some of my other important tasks I am just too tired and don’t feel like hula hooping.

When the hula hoop is not going to make my heart sing that day I give myself permission to skip it and not to overthink it so I can be in my place of balance.

What I learned was…

Stop overthinking. One of the best ways to obtain balance is to follow your heart. Choose a few tasks (no more than three) you want to do. Focus on what you want to do and complete those tasks. Allow breaks when you feel you need it.

By choosing the tasks you are following your heart. When you do tasks because you are obligated to do them, then you are being led by your brain which can lead to imbalance due to overthinking.

When you do activities led by your heart you will feel more at balance.

The moral of this story is…

Balance comes from within by following your heart. Choose a few activities (no more than three at a time) to focus on that which comes from your heart and not your head. Give yourself permission to take breaks. Allow yourself to skip activities if it feels it is led by your head and not your heart. When something comes from your heart it won’t feel like a chore, but rather it will give off energy, flow, and the feeling of balance.

I enjoy hooping, but I give myself permission to skip it when my heart isn’t in it. I have gone days without hooping and when I feel guilty about it, I know the guilt is coming from my head and not from the heart. When I hoop with my heart, I can feel the balance and flow of my hula hooping. When I hula hoop because I should, I don’t feel the flow and I end up feeling more frustrated and imbalance with my hoop.

Remember:

Follow your heart and get out of the head. Stop overthinking and follow your heart to allow the flow and balance to occur.

If you are driven to taking care of you and to being heard, then

Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Transition Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu is an expert Transition Navigator who will help you to navigate through your biggest challenges about yourself when going through your career, relationship, health, or other life transitions.

Through my programs: WORRY Eliminator, Color Code Personality, and Discover Your Sacred Gifts, I teach you how to deliberately use and navigate the program that will get you to live more of your Soul’s purpose.

As a Transition Navigator, I will help you to design, navigate, and manifest the results you want in your life with peace, happiness, ease, and grace. Together we solve your problems so that you create a whole new way of looking at life.

June HOOP With Grace

Do you like having fun? Do you find it easier to learn, retain information, or complete challenging or mundane tasks when you’re having fun?

We all love having fun!

Tasks appear to be easier to learn and complete when we’re having fun. The opposite is true when we aren’t. I get it. I’m all for having fun! Everything seems easier when you’re having fun.

There is a quote,

“Sadness is all work, no play.”

This is so true when learning to hula hoop.

When I am not having fun, it’s hard to be motivated to learn a new hooping trick.

This clearly looks like someone who is not having fun.

Sometimes when we’re not having fun and the tasks or activities feel more like a chore, i’s also when most of us feel like giving up or quitting altogether.

I have certainly felt that way many times when practicing a hooping trick. Especially when the trick felt more like a chore than just having fun.

I have certainly felt that way in many areas in my life apart from hooping too.

The trick I learned from practicing my hooping trick is to have fun.

Another great quote is

“Laughter is the best medicine.”

Laughter helps to release tension, so it’s okay to laugh at yourself and at your mistakes!

Sometimes I stop what I’m doing, stop my practice, and jump through the hoop as if it were a jump rope.

Sometimes I just start dancing with my hoop in any (crazy) style because it makes me smile and laugh when I’m just jumping or dancing with my hoop.

Learning and completing tasks or whatever the activities might be is always easier when you’re having fun and have a sense of enjoyment.

That is why we enjoy vacations so much and I don’t think anyone ever complained about a vacation where they had fun.

People complain about vacations when they didn’t have fun. Like if the vacation felt more like a chore because there was one big challenge after another, or it felt like work and  therefore unrelaxing.

The moral of this story is…

Have fun! When we have fun, the challenging activities or mundane tasks won’t feel like such hard work.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I laugh at myself all the time. I can see the humor in most situations even when things don’t work out or when I make mistakes. Laughter is my stress reliever. It reminds me to have fun, and realize not everything is all bad or doom and gloom.

Remember:

Laugh often. Learning, completing challenges, or finishing mundane tasks goes by faster when you’re having fun. Another quote for you before I go, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” All tasks get done before you know it when you’re having fun.

Time sure flew while I wrote this blog story. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog story as much as I enjoyed and had fun writing it!

If you are driven to taking care of you and to being heard, then

Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Transition Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu is an expert Transition Navigator who will help you to navigate through your biggest challenges about yourself when going through your career, relationship, health, or other life transitions.

Through my programs: WORRY Eliminator, Color Code Personality, and Discover Your Sacred Gifts, I teach you how to deliberately use and navigate the program that will get you to live more of your Soul’s purpose.

As a Transition Navigator, I will help you to design, navigate, and manifest the results you want in your life with peace, happiness, ease, and grace. Together we solve your problems so that you create a whole new way of looking at life.

July HOOP With Grace

What does it meant to be a warrior when you don’t feel like one? What does it take to be a warrior? How can you become a warrior?

One of the yoga poses is called the Warrior Pose. This got me thinking, “What does it means to be a warrior?”

What does the word “warrior” mean to you?

Who do you think of when you hear the word “warrior”? Is it a superhero? A regular person who stood up for their beliefs? A person who stood up for you? Are you the ‘warrior’?

And what does a hoop have to do with being a warrior, you might ask? Good question!

There are times that as much as I try to maneuver my body and hoop (which is known as “HoopYoga”) that I don’t feel much like a warrior.

There are times that, no matter how much I try, things just don’t seem to work out. And rather than feeling like a warrior I feel more like this…

I felt like giving up. I felt defeated and say “I quit. That’s it, I’m done.”

Maybe you have felt that way as well.

The question is, how do we keep going when we want to quit and we feel so defeated?

Some people might cheer you on or you cheer yourself on, “Keep going, that’s it, you can do it!”
Some people might bully you or you bully yourself, “Come on, you can do it!”
Some people might sympathize, “I know it’s hard, but you can do it!”
Some people might say or internalize, “Keep your eyes on your prize (your dream)” to help you keep your motivation going and keep you moving forward.

Sometimes the cheering, bullying, or sympathizing may help, but it doesn’t always work.

Another question is, what stops us from feeling like, or even becoming the “warrior” that we’re meant to be?
Usually it’s fear that stops us from becoming warriors.
Which fear is it? Is it the fear of failure? Is it the fear of standing out? Standing up for up for ourselves? Is it the fear of being made fun of? Fear of conflict? Guilt? Or blame?
For some it might be just one of these fears, for some it can be a few or all of these, and for others it might be a completely different fear.

The final question, is how do we befriend our fear so we can become a warrior?
That’s a very good question.

Some people suggest befriending your fear through gratitude. When you focus on what you are grateful for you are mindful of all the good things in life and distract yourself away from your fears.

Others suggest thinking of fear as false evidence appearing to be real. Realize that fear is all in our mind and that it is not real. Fear is an illusion.

Some say turn your fear into stepping stone. Taking one small step at a time towards your dream.
Some people use this mantra to help them to take the small step, “Let your faith be bigger than your fear” which means feed your faith and starve your fear.

The moral of this story is…

It’s not easy to be a warrior, and yet there is a warrior in all of us when we choose to be the one. We choose to be the warrior when we choose to befriend our fear and let our faith to be bigger than our fear.

We have all felt like quitting or have felt defeated at one time or another. I certainly have. There are times when fear may have gotten the better of us. (Fear has certainly gotten the better of me on numerous occasions!) And yet we’ve found some way to keep going and doing what was needed to achieve our goals and dreams. I am still on my path and continuing on…

Remember:

Befriend your fear when it shows up. Believe you are a warrior, and your warrior self will show up.

Here is a picture of me in my warrior pose with my hoop.

If you are driven to taking care of you and to being heard, then

Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Transition Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu is an expert Transition Navigator who will help you to navigate through your biggest challenges about yourself when going through your career, relationship, health, or other life transitions.

Through my programs: WORRY Eliminator, Color Code Personality, and Discover Your Sacred Gifts, I teach you how to deliberately use and navigate the program that will get you to live more of your Soul’s purpose.

As a Transition Navigator, I will help you to design, navigate, and manifest the results you want in your life with peace, happiness, ease, and grace. Together we solve your problems so that you create a whole new way of looking at life.

August HOOP With Grace

What do you do to celebrate yourself? How often do you celebrate you? Do you celebrate yourself for every good thing you do, or for your accomplishments?

I am all about celebrating this month because it is my birthday month! Woo hoo!
I am a year older, and a year wiser.

I am all for wisdom!

Being that this month is my birthday month, it got me thinking about celebrations.
We celebrate on special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc.

How many of us celebrate every day? Do you celebrate every day?

There are plenty of things to celebrate that we do every day. The celebrations don’t have to be big or elaborate. We can all celebrate just by doing small things to treat ourselves.
I think sometimes we become so busy that we forget to celebrate us.

You’re probably wondering what does hula hooping have to do with celebrations anyway?!

Here is a picture of me not in a celebrating mood and totally ignoring my beautiful hoop even though it is clearly there.

You are doing the same thing with you.

Think about all the activities and tasks you did, and you ignored how hard or what wonderful work you did for that day. It’s as if you ignored yourself and your accomplishments that you made on that day

Focus on the activities or tasks that you got done rather than thinking about the activities and tasks that you didn’t finish, or all the mistakes you made. When you focus on all the activities and tasks that you got done on that day, you realize there are plenty of things you can celebrate.

The other part is also celebrate all you (and I mean all of you). The good, bad, and ugly. We all have the good, bad, and ugly, and that includes me. It makes up who we are, and all of these parts can be transmuted depending on the situation.

The good can be transmuted to the bad and ugly, and the bad and ugly can be transmuted to good depending on the situation and what we do to transmute these parts.

Here is an example of this: Nurturing is usually good, but too much of it can feel like smothering to another person. Aggression is bad, but with the right tone and words it can feel more like being assertive which is not a bad thing. Losing your temper can be ugly, but when you learn from it and learn how to be more patient, then you have transmuted it to become a good thing.

Coming to a full hooping circle… It’s all about celebrating you (all of you) every day because life is short, so why not celebrate you for all you have accomplished on that day because no two days are ever exactly alike.

Here is a picture of me celebrating me with my hoop!

One of the ways I celebrate me, and my day is hoop dancing, baby!

You have heard the saying, “Time flies; it flies never to be regained.”

Enjoy every moment because the moment will never repeat itself. The moments may appear similar at times, but it is never the same.

The moral of this story is…

Celebrate you every day. Small simple celebrations are all that is needed such as giving yourself a pat on the back, buying yourself a small inexpensive gift, or shouting out loud, “You rock!”

The fact is we don’t live forever, so it’s time to celebrate our lives every single day that we are living. Even on bad days, there is a little something to celebrate such as the fact you survived your bad day, and tomorrow will be better.

Remember:

This day will pass, you wake up to a new day, and each day is different in its own way. Take time to celebrate you each day because you deserve it.

I am sing along to the song “Celebration” by Lionel Richie and the Commodores.

All this talk and singing about celebrating got me going so I am taking off to do some celebrating of my own!

If you are driven to taking care of you and to being heard, then

Contact me here and I’ll get you started on the right path.

Warm regards,
Grace CW Liu
Transition Navigator
W: GraceSOULutions.com

ABOUT GRACE

Grace CW Liu is an expert Transition Navigator who will help you to navigate through your biggest challenges about yourself when going through your career, relationship, health, or other life transitions.

Through my programs: WORRY Eliminator, Color Code Personality, and Discover Your Sacred Gifts, I teach you how to deliberately use and navigate the program that will get you to live more of your Soul’s purpose.

As a Transition Navigator, I will help you to design, navigate, and manifest the results you want in your life with peace, happiness, ease, and grace. Together we solve your problems so that you create a whole new way of looking at life.

Facebook Linkedin Vimeo Youtube

GraceSOULutions. Copyright 2024.

All Rights Reserved.

Resources