Guest Blogger, Tinisha Nicole Johnson

Please join me in welcoming author Tinisha Nicole Johnson as the special guest blogger here today at Thoughts in Progress.
 
Tinisha makes a stop here on her Virtual Blog Tour highlighting her book, “Lessons Learned: Loving Yourself as a Black Woman.” She will be dropping back by during the day to answer any questions you might have and respond to your comments.

Here’s a brief synopsis of her book: “Lessons Learned: Loving Yourself as a Black Woman discusses many of the issues and concerns women in their twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties face in their personal and professional life from sexism, racism, hair, balancing family, relationships, and much more. The book highlights ten life lessons that are of top priority when it comes to a black woman’s emotions, personal perceptions, and life in general. The book is written to inspire women of all ages, and invite them to realize that real happiness begins from the inside out. Although written specifically with the black woman in mind, many of the concepts in the book would benefit any woman."

Tinisha, in Lesson 4 you talk about setting goals and exercising your mind and body while practicing better decision making. In today’s busy world when women are balancing career, family among other things how can one take any time to set goals or exercise the mind? What would you advise to get them started?

First off, I’d say, if you have time to eat, write a check to pay a bill, or even plan a yearly vacation, you have time to set a goal. This is your life, not anyone else’s. Human beings are funny in the sense that we make time for the things that we want to make time for.

Answer this question: What do you want out of your life? Figure out the answer. It’s alright to have many wants. These wants are goals. Number them. They can be small or big. One day on your lunch break at work, while you’re eating, get out a pen and pad, and write down one goal. Take a few minutes and think about the goal, while you’re chewing your food. 

The following are examples of goals: I want a closer relationship with my child within the next four months. (How you measure that is up to you.) I want to lose 10 pounds in one month. I want to learn to play the piano, by setting up piano lessons within the next month. The key is to be specific and place a timeline on it.

Exercising the mind simply means being more conscious of your thoughts, and replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Studies have been done on the brain waves. Researchers say people have an average of 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. That’s a lot of thoughts. Pay attention to some of things you say to yourself. Remember: Thoughts turn into action.

Tinisha, thanks so much for guest blogging today. You make a very important point, thoughts do turn into action. Some days I think I have very few thoughts and other days I can believe the 70,000 figure.

Tinisha is an author, writer and poet. She resides in Denver, CO, with her two children. Besides writing, Tinisha also hosts political and sports teleconferences as a profession. To date, Tinisha has written five books. She is also co-founder of Authors Supporting Authors (ASA), a non-profit group that provides support to other authors and promotes literacy. For more information on Tinisha, visit her website at www.tinishanicolejohnson.com

Watch her book video.

Have you exercised your mind today by setting a goal? Are you replacing negative thoughts with more positives thoughts?