Only you can become an expert at valuing yourself! What practices help you become your own personal best?

Valuing yourself is a process and requires practice. Earning it may not give you applause and acknowledgement from outsiders, but having healthy self-worth will provide you with the strong foundation to perform in other arenas.

You are special in your own right. Not for being your job title or for a role you play in your life, you are worthy for being YOU! You without the mask, without the titles, without the applause.

Music speaks to my heart. It also unites people and helps you ride life's waves.

One particular memory stands out as a highlight of my trip to Great Britain and Ireland this past summer with one of my sisters(the same sister who introduces me to new music).  We had a special and uplifting experience one night on vacation in Killarney, Ireland.  Our tour group consisted of more than forty adults of different age groups from around the world.  This night in particular, we went to watch an outdoor concert that was happening near our hotel. The band was playing songs we all knew, so we sang out from the top of our lungs.

Claire Carver-Dias is an Olympic medallist in synchronized swimming, freelance writer and business coach (www.impactconsultinginc.com). She has a B.A. from the University of Toronto and a M.A. from McGill University. She is currently working on her PhD in English. Recently, Claire put the final touches on her debut novel, a literary thriller called "The Games" (www.thegamesnovel.com) which is now available for purchase.  Click here to find out more! Claire aspires to write more books and eat more baguettes (preferably while lounging in a Parisian cafe). She lives with her husband and three children in Oakville, Ontario.

If you asked Jacqueline, “What is the most important goal in your life?” She would answer, “To follow my heart every step of the way.” Her heart has taken her to some pretty phenomenal places, including living in China for 3 years, one of them in rural Hunan when she didn’t speak the language, to working on a ranch in Montana, to San Francisco, in the midst of a recession, and to many others. 

Nearly 3 years ago, she began writing a blog called 6 Months to Live, which started out as a life experiment and turned into a life philosophy. Jacqueline’s vision is to create a community of people who support and inspire each other in choosing meaningful and authentic lives. Life is waiting. Will you join her?

I am very honoured to be nominated for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by a fellow blogger and one of my loyal contributors, Anne Sikes (My Like Uncut....Almost).  Thank you Anne for the nomination! It means so much to me.  If you haven't check out Anne's interview on perseverance on my blog, you should check it out here.  If you have not visited her blog, you need to do so. She is such a beautiful person! I'm blessed that she reached out and contacted me.  I love hearing from my readers :)

Do you ever feel like you are mentally swimming in quicksand? Well, you have two choices: you can sink, or you can keep swimming.

I often struggle with a fear of failure when it comes to achievement, but I persevere. I try to stop negative thoughts dead in their tracks. The importance of squelching negative thoughts fast was brought home to me recently after admitting to my family and close friends that I had been dealing with feelings of failure.

What does this term “being a failure” mean? I have two university degrees – one undergraduate, one graduate - and I’m on my way to a wonderful career. How could I possibly believe for a second that I could be “a failure”?

We live in a society where accessing information has become easy and fast.  If you want something, you can get it almost immediately online.

This instantaneous access has made individuals impatient if they have to wait for something.  Some aspects of life can’t be rushed.

If you want to achieve greatness, you will have to put in the hard work to get there.  This time and effort can’t be rushed.

When I was a child, I was interviewed for the local television news.  I was asked on air: "What my favourite activity was to do with my mom."  I responded: "Cleaning my room."One of my personal goals for the coming year and beyond is to keep my bedroom clean.  Perhaps "clean" is not the right word - I would prefer if it was tidy and organized.  My New Year's resolution was to clear out the clutter.  I know that is a general goal which needs to be made into a SMART goal. Therefore, I am breaking down my room into several ways I can tidy up my bedroom.   I learned these from one of my best friends when she came to visit for my birthday; one of the gifts she gave me was to help organize my bedroom.  She is the queen of organization, and we spent the day after my birthday planning, shopping, and organizing my room. Six of my biggest organizational weaknesses are:

Happy New Year!!!! Welcome to 2012

I hope you all had a wonderful time of renewal, celebrating with your family and friends.

For my part, I had a really great time but must confess that the holidays went by far too quickly.  It is a week-and-a-half of hanging out with family and friends and eating way too much.  It is hard to see everyone, and I missed seeing some close friends this holiday.  However, I had a lot of fun over the holidays and made plans for the new year.

I love reading magazines and thought, “Why not create my own version of a magazine?”   It will be kind of like my own version of a book club with ideas to make you think. Written responses and feedback are encouraged; if you feel inspired to write, share with the rest of us.

I remember thinking this when I watched the University men’s soccer teams play in the national championships in Victoria, BC, recently.

Picture this: it is the semi-finals round of a major national sports tournament.  There are two teams in this round of the competition.  Both teams have worked really hard to get here. Both have practised hard and won their important games.  The players have most likely been playing for many years and have practiced daily.  Each team has also grown really tight as a unit.  But, watching the teams recently, I was reminded that it doesn’t matter how well you have played in the past or how much you practice; in the semi-finals, it is about this moment. Each player must be totally “present” in the game.

I went to watch this Improv music class at the beginning of the week with a friend of mine.  A new friend was teaching the class, so he invited us to attend.  The class had five students, who each played different instruments in this fourth-year class.

I was expecting to be blown away by their music and they did really well. The thing is, I wasn’t blown away by their performances.  All the students were amazing musicians but they weren’t excellent.  My definition of an excellent performer is someone who has the abilities but also has the mental drive to shine and take risks.  It felt they were staying in the safe zone and not taking any risks.

One of the students even said they were insecure.