Military & Veterans InTransition News

Fear, insecurity, self-doubt and the like can be the biggest obstacles many of us face in life. In order to overcome that negativity, many people turn to unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating or alcohol abuse.

“Compulsive or addictive behavior may temporarily numb that negativity, but it won’t put you on a healthy and wholesome path,” says Darlene Hunter, a renowned speaker and author of “Win-Ability, Navigating through Life’s Challenges with a Winning Attitude,” (www. darlenehunter.com).

“While some people buy very expensive things to feel more confident, there’s an affordable way to yield the same result – positive thinking.”

The power of positive think- ing has been well publicized. Recently, the Dove beauty ex- periment, in which women wore a “beauty patch,” yielded mul- tiple positive behaviors. Positive thinking gained scientific cred- ibility in 1985 when Michael F. Scheier and Charles S. Carver published their seminal study, “Optimism, Coping, and Health: Assessment and Implications of Generalized Outcome Expec- tancies.” Since then, hundreds of academic papers have been published in support of positive thinking.

“Confidence starts with your attitude; expensive purchases aren’t required,” says Hunter, who maps a path supporting the living-with-confidence life- style.

• Do what you love doing. What is that thing that you love doing? At the end of the day,

would you miss doing it if you could never do it again?

You get a great sense of ac- complishment and joy when you do what you love doing or, as some say, what you were born to do. It could be baking, cooking, taking care of children, writing, drawing, dancing, anything at

all that makes you happy as you travel through your life.

• Pursue your passion. Your passion is what you will do even if you do not get paid for it. Following your passion allows you to gain skills in areas that you are already strong in, and will push you to become better. You will gain a great sense of

accomplishment, satisfaction and joy in doing what you love and doing what you were born to do. Once you discover what you are passionate about, it generally connects with your purpose.

• Be true to yourself. Do not set your career path in a certain direction based on what your friends or family members want for you. If you dream it, you can live it. Do not let fear turn you around. It is also important for you to be honest about your re- sources, skills and abilities, what you have and what is needed to help you move forward. Do not think that you have all of the answers. Be open to suggestions and advice from others who are already doing what you are try- ing to do.

• Stay the course; be resilient; never give up. No matter what you might be facing at the cur- rent time or the challenges that are ahead of you, as you move forward in your quest to accom- plish your goals and dreams, you must stay the course. As you set

forth to achieve your goals and your dreams, you cannot be thin- skinned. You must be durable, strong with a determination that you will get to where you want to go. Quitting is not an option and failure is not a word that you should use when you are seeking to reach your goals and dreams.

About Darlene Hunter
Darlene Hunter, (www.dar- lenehunter.com), is president of Darlene Hunter & Associates, LLC, a motivational / inspira- tional speaker, author, life and business coach, and award-win- ning radio talk show host. Her new book, “Win-Ability, Navi- gating through Life’s Challenges with a Winning Attitude,” is her fourth on the theme of persever- ance. She is the host of “The Darlene Hunter Show”, winner of the Fishbowl Radio Network 2013 Distance Show Of The Year Award. Hunter has been a top performer in management for more than 30 years.