IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD! The Power of Positive Thinking

Sick and tired of all the shallow gossip and worthless drama the news has had to offer, I've found myself nose-deep in a lot of good books and online articles lately.   One of my reads, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, has taught me that I need to be proactive as opposed to reactive.  To be proactive is to take the situation you are given, and act in a postitive manner to achieve a goal.  It's a sense of being instead of having.  For example, instead of wishing you had a better job, you should be a better employee.  Reactive people blame the outside world or current circumstances for their hardships, proactive people take what they are given and make the most of it.  They bring the proverbial sugar to lemons of life...they are the lemonade-makers.   I've been trying to wrap my head around this concept.  It seems if I could actually make my self think proactively all the time, it would be impossible to feel defeated.  Bliss.  

So when I stumbled across another article, Top 10 highest Paying Degrees, I gave my proactive thinking a go.  According to this article 7 of the top 10 highest paying degrees are in Engineering.  The other three are Physics, Computer Science, and Applied Mathmatics.  (read article here: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/08/22/10-highest-paying-degrees/)   Seeing that I majored in the Fine Arts, these statistics do not bode well for me. 

Now, a reactive person would think, "If only I had majored in Engineering, I would be better off," or "When I get that degree..."  They would let this get them down, and accept the "fact" that they could never be successful.   However, since I am now a proactive thinker, I will simply take what I've learned and sprinkle a little sugar on it.  Since the top paid jobs are in engineering, I need to be an engineer.  Boom. Done.  I have changed my title from "Photographer" to "Image Engineer."  Now, as an engineer, I have determined that I will be more successful. Time to watch the dollars roll in.  Behold the power of postive thinking.   ^_^

Seriously, though, instead of always wishing, needing, and expecting...what if we started being, encouraging, and living.  What would happen?   Maybe we could live our lives instead of being lived by our lives.   Your circumstances do not define you.  BE the SUGAR and your life will sweeten.  :)
CHOOSE happiness.
Just a little positive mojo for you.  LOVE you all!
Em

...back to the editing board...lots of beautiful images to engineer today! 

Follow along to find out more about being an average gal in Arkansas who's taken a dream and made it a reality. I'm a wife, a mom, a daughter, a successful photographer, designer, and business-owner. It's not been easy, in fact sometimes it's straight-up tough, but everyday is a new opportunity to make a change. I'll keep you posted on all things eM as they unfold. Please join me! www.emilymcarthur.com

I know my four letters....do you know YOURS?

January is a month of reprieve for me after the adrenaline-rush of the holiday season. I book less sessions, and allow myself to rest, regroup, research, and plan for the coming year. It's a great time for reflection and setting new goals. This year, I've been true to form: I've researched, watched webinars, attended workshops and read, read, read. Everyday I've been glued to the computer, or had my nose in a book, constantly looking for new ideas to increase my productivity, profits, and overall happiness and well-being. While most of my searching has been along the lines of business, marketing and photography, I've also taken the time to do a little soul searching and work on "Me." Thus...the test.    

Have you ever taken a personality test? Maybe I'm a bit of a dork, but I LOVE them! It's fun to answer a series of generalized questions in some survey and then find out into what "category" I've been placed.  Usually I think they're entertaining at best, and rarely provide true insight. However, sometimes I find one that proves legitimately useful. A while back, my friend Bri and I were having a discussion about our personal anxieties, hopes and fears, and the Myers-Briggs test came up...

When I was in college, all the Fine Art students had to take the Myers Briggs Personality Indicator test. It's recognized as the "standardized" test for distinguishing personality types. (Not like the ones you find in Cosmopolitan or Glamour to tell you what kind of "shoe" best represents "you.") I'm not sure if they were just trying to see why we were all so weird, or if they were honestly trying to help us get some sort of insight as to how we may (or may not) function in the real world, but per the requirement, I took it. Once officially, and then (Just to make sure I got it right) three times online. No matter how I changed my answers, the results were always came out the same: INFP. Freaky. Today, I was curious to see if I was still the same, so I took a "knockoff" MyersBriggs test online. (It was free, and I was being cheap)

Today: INFJ. I went ahead and took it twice, taking the opportunity to switch some of the answers I struggled with...same final results. The first three letters didn't budge from my college results...which makes me think there's definitely some credibility to this little exam, even if its not the "official" Myers Briggs. I know my paradigm has shifted somewhat, but I don't think I've had a total personality overhaul in the past 10 years.

So, I wonder, what HAS changed in my personality since college? Has getting out into the real world, having a job, paying bills and raising a child transformed my abstract/perceptual "P" view of the world to a more feeling/concrete judging "J?" Maybe so. I definitely tend follow rules a little more diligently than before. Deadlines are no longer "relative" to me...they are deadlines. You know, "Bills due = pay up."    Ahh--responsibility & obligations...guess they'll change a gal.  :) 

*disclaimer*  I am in no way implying that people with the INFP personality profile are irresponsible or tend to be rule breakers.  The above are simply just examples of changes I have noticed in myself and my decision making process since I last took the test.   So please...no hate mail! :)

For those of you who are curious, here's a link which explains more about the wondrous INFJ profile: http://www.personalitypage.com/INFJ.html

Want to see where you fit? Take the test here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Leave me a comment on your results.   What did you think:  Legit or Bogus? 

Have FUN! 
eM


Follow along to find out more about being an average gal in Arkansas who's taken a dream and made it a reality. I'm a wife, a mom, a daughter, a successful photographer, designer, and business-owner. It's not been easy, in fact sometimes it's straight-up tough, but everyday is a new opportunity to make a change. I'll keep you posted on all things eM as they unfold. Please join me!

My first official blog...ever.

That's right.  I feel like I've hit the big-time as far as social media is concerned.  I have a blog.  I've dragged myself into the blogosphere kicking and screaming, but I've made it!  Next on the list: twitter. By the end of the week, I will be a status-updating, blogging, tweeting, linkd-in, media kingpin.  Yes. A true force to reckoned with.   (giggle)

Now for my first online confession:  I am terrified of this. 
I don't know why posting on the web gives me the weeblies, but it does.  No exaggeration, my facebook status updates take me 10 minutes.  I will probably draft and re-read this blog post at least six times before I have the guts to post it live.  How lame it that?!  Anyone who knows me knows that I have no problems talking to people on a large or small scale.  So what gives?  I guess there's just something about those words being OUT THERE and not being able to take it back that really gets my nerves.  Not to mention, people can comment, and call me out on all my shortcomings.  Ack!   My mind races with each post: "What if my grammar is poor?  What if I misspell something?  What if someone takes it the wrong way? Will people realize I'm human, and that I make mistakes?"     Maybe it's because I grew up in a time when you had to wait by the home phone if you were expecting a phone call.  There was no texting, no cell phones, no instant uploads.  Three-way calling became popular when I was in jr. high, and it was a scandal!   So there was a sense of privacy and an understanding that communication required time.   Today, everything is instant...and people live their lives so much more transparently.
Wow.  I sound old.  I'm not that old.  Am I?  (please don't answer that)

Regardless, I've stepped into the new millenium, albeit a few years behind.  I suppose if everybody's doin' it, it can't be so bad.  Right? 

I seriously feel as if I've stuck my head in the lion's mouth and survived.  First blog: check.  done.   
*exhales*

Follow along to find out more about being an average gal in Arkansas who's taken a dream and made it a reality. I'm a wife, a mom, a daughter, a successful photographer, designer, and business-owner. It's not been easy, in fact sometimes it's straight-up tough, but everyday is a new opportunity to make a change. I'll keep you posted on all things eM as they unfold. Please join me!