by Manpreet Dhillon | Feb 6, 2015 | Previous Content
SELF LOVE – Why do people keep talking about it??
The month of February is all about L – O – V – E. People are either prepping for Valentines or they are dreading or these days they are planning how they will express self-love during this month. The dread comes from the reminder of being single (by choice or not) as it is a perfect reminder of what a single person does not have in their life.
February is a beautiful month though. We see the color red and pink everywhere, people seem to be in a more of a romantic mode and there is a lightness in the air that represents hope, excitement and the awe for the marvel in their life.
This article today we talk about self-love. It is something that we experience within ourselves, when we have that awe and marvel within our own lives. Self-love is when we smile as acknowledge all the wonderful things that happening for us. Self-love is looking at ourselves in the mirror and acknowledging the beauty that was created, which is us, in our wholeness.
It doesn’t matter if you are single or in a relationship, it is all about having self-love first. The more you love yourself, the more others can love you. Our heart expands with the love for ourselves.
So how can you expand your heart to have more self-love and how will it impact your life?
Expansion in Self-love
Here are 3 ways that I teach expansion in self-love:
1. Journaling – this is so utterly important. It allows you to connect to your heart, your thoughts and your feelings. This connection will allow you to be in more self-acceptance.
2. Look at yourself in the mirror, really look at yourself. Allow yourself to stand in front of the mirror and look into your own eyes. Experience the love that you have for yourself. This exercise is quite difficult for some, so please have compassion for yourself as you do this exercise.
3. Self-care. At least once a week for 2 hours, do an activity which nurtures your soul and your being. This can be acupuncture to a bubble bath to painting. Whatever it may be for you, please schedule this time in.
How will this self-love impact your life?
This self-love will allow you to be more in alignment with what you want out of your life. This self-love will allow you to be more present to your desires and your needs. This self-love will allow you to attract all that you want in your life.
As you are reading about self-love and you are thinking to yourself, this is an area I need extra support on or you want to create something more in your life, check out the Wonder Women section below:)
Be the Wonder Woman that you are!
In the 3-hours, we can focus on whatever topic you need to be most supported on right now. Whether it be:
- your new business
- your career
- releasing ex-relationships
- opening your heart to a new relationship
- re-imagining your relationship with your body
- creating a game plan for the future.
It is time for you to take action.
This will help propel you forward to the next level.
This isn’t for you,
- if you just want to complain and not get to the core issue
- if you will not take any of the steps that you decide you want to take for yourself
- if you are attached to being a victim.
This is for you if you have been feeling:
- the need to do something different in your life
- feel satisfied but aren’t quite where you want to be
- know you are on the right path but need that one issue dealt with
- are ready to jump into the next stage
Become that Wonder Women that you are:)
The 3 hour strategy session is now $397 (valued at $700).
Email client@manpreetdhillon.com to get yourself booked.
This offer is only valid to be used in February. This special offer is for new, current and old clients. It can be used in addition to your current coaching program.
by Manpreet Dhillon | Oct 29, 2014 | Previous Content
In the past few weeks, I have been on the highest of highs. The last two months allowed me to really see how I can change the world! (Yes, I set lofty goals for myself like changing the world).
I am feeling good about myself, my contributions, how I am showing up and it was all wonderful!
Until the last big event finished, then I realized, I wasn’t feeling happy.
I was feeling tired, cranky and stressed.
I was puzzled as to what was missing.
Upon reflection, I realized I didn’t take care of my body as I hadn’t planned my meals or my workouts.
I also realized that the last two months, I worried about what’s next instead of having fun in the moment.
I missed out on a lot of fun.
Then I started calculating how much fun I missed out over the last few years.
I had a choice, I could be angry with myself or I could have compassion for myself.
I choose compassion.
I did what I thought was right at that moment each time. I also had fun in the way that I knew how. Now my definition of fun has changed.
Where do you need to choose compassion for yourself? Where has your definition of something changed that you haven’t realized yet?
My new definition of fun allows me to have fun in any moment where I have a smile on my face. My new definition of fun allows me to have fun when I feel connected. Before I could only have fun when I was laughing really loud and I was out and about. Those are strict rules to have fun.
What rules do you need to change for yourself?
Choose an area where you want to change your rules, make life easier to enjoy for yourself.
I invite you to sign up for the newsletter on the right side to stay connected with articles, tips and events.
![Sacrificing your life for your parents?]()
by Manpreet Dhillon | Sep 16, 2014 | Previous Content
Many conversations these days have been about how women feel like they are stuck or are putting everyone else’s needs before their own.
Take a deep breath.
It is a place many women have been to especially as they are trying to manage family responsibilities, feeling guilty for taking time out for themselves or even spending money on themselves.
As we grow older so do our parents. Some parents have been able to be self-sufficient in this country while others needed someone to interpret for them or drive them places. There comes a time when the parents need more of our support than ever before.
We have tried so hard to make them happy. We get the good jobs, make good money, get married, have kids, drive the nice cars, live in the nice house but this life doesn’t feel like it is totally our life. It kind of feels like the life they wanted for themselves. It feels like we are living their dream life, not our own.
Is this something you or someone you know can relate to?
So now that you are aware that you may be living your one of your parent’s life, how can you gain control of your life? How can you start to live the life that you want to live?
It is really important to check in with yourself as to:
1. What do you want your life to look like in all areas of your life?
2. What are three things that you have always wanted to do but have been waiting for the right time, more money or when you are… (fill in the blank)?
3. What is one action you can take towards the life that you want? Who do you need to call? What do you need to research? What trip do you need to plan?
I dare you, double dare you. Take that step now toward your dream life.
If you are clear with the type of life you want, then you will have it.
Yes your parents will need you but put your needs first and build in quality time with them into your schedule so you are always practicing self-first while having the most joyful and loving relationship with them.
Don’t you think you will be happier if you put yourself first?
Join me at the monthly relationship circles to be supported in all the relationships in your life.
by Manpreet Dhillon | Dec 10, 2013 | Previous Content
The basic needs that people have are being loved, accepted and feeling a sense of belonging. That is all that any of us really want at a core level.
Growing up, we have built in support networks while we are at home or school. At school, we are forced to interact and be a part of groups whether it be in class or extracurricular activities. Then after high school, either we stick with our friends in high school or have a completely new batch of friends that show up in our life.
As we grow older, we stick with the same people or have to find brand new friends for a variety of reasons. I personally always find myself empathetic with people who have moved from other cities or their friends have moved away. Depending on your personality, it may be difficult to meet people you connect with or even develop a friendship with. Then we you do meet the people we want to get to know more, the problem is meeting up with different schedules and a possible personal resistance to making your vulnerable to having someone new get to know you which can be possibly frightening.
You may be desiring:
-new friends,
-people you can relate to,
-good conversations with and
-have some laughs with,
but the question lies how do you move from being comfortable where you are to a place of uncomfortableness and newness?
So developing new friends is like dating. There is mutual interest and both of you are wanting to explore if you want the friendship. Here are few strategies to try to create new friendships:
1. Create time in your schedule. I know you are busy, but it must be done. In the beginning try for once a month, where you will make time for a new friend. It could be a lunch or dinner date.
2. Once you have hung out, text or call them. Check in how they are doing, follow up on something they told you or to make follow up plans.
3. If it easier for you, hang out in a group. This will be easier, less vulnerable and allows for others to take over the conversation.
4. If you hang out in a group, do follow up with a text or a call. Then ask to hang out again.
5. Another idea is to do an activity of mutual interest. This will be fun for both parties and requires less talking.
6. Be open to developing a regular hang out time with them. Physical time spent together is the best way to get to know someone.
It is possible to make new friends at any age, there just needs to be an openness to it. Hope these strategies help in developing those key friendships that we all need in our lives.
by Manpreet Dhillon | Nov 3, 2013 | Previous Content
Human Nature and Grieving (and my own pet peeves)
Over the last few months I have been observing human behavior and how people react to someone grieving, and the creation/unfolding of relationships. I have actually found the whole process quite interesting. It could be because I love understanding how humans function based upon their programming of how their families were, cultures are especially tied in with their personalities.
I have seen the formation and breakdown of quite a few relationships in the past few months. The formation of relationships were based on the fact some people wanted to have myself and my parents a part of their family because they were close to my brother while others were formed because individuals had gone through the same thing while there were others out of sympathy. Some were formed as it became apparent that our friendship meant more to us than what we had originally thought.
The breakdown of relationships occurred all based on assumptions. People who I considered close family and friends, assumed I needed to be left alone when they didn’t realize how alone one feels when they lose a loved one already. They didn’t realize it is times like this that those meaningless conversations mean the most as they are your sanity, they didn’t realize sitting there together but not talking meant more than any words. A lot of these assumptions were based on how people thought they would deal with the situation but it became very clear that communication and asking what people need from a relationship is so important. I personally have started to work towards communicating more of what people mean to me, how I see them in my life and asking them how they need me to show up.
I am very cautious when you see the sympathy in someone’s eyes for you. I wonder are they around because of sympathy or they want to. I am cautious that I do not want new relationships to form out of guilt or me being a replacement for my brother. This highlighted to me, the general mistrust of intentions that I guess have always lurked there but now along with all my other facets have been brought to surface.
In the last few months, I started exercising a lot of boundaries as to the conversations I wanted to have and with who. I found quite early on in this journey that other people’s time and agenda takes over the grieving families agendas. Why is it that as Indians, is it frowned upon to have scheduled “condolence” times? How is it fair to the family that for the first two months, you are constantly bombarded when people wanting to come over (sometimes unexpectedly) to give their condolences. If you haven’t come over in the first three weeks, you probably weren’t that close – just come for a visit and hang out with the family if you really care that much. We took a healing trip to India, and it amazing that we are still having to experience all of the raw emotions as these people have not seen us yet. Really, at this point, maybe let the family try to create their new “normal” instead of constantly reminding them of the pain and sadness they are feeling.
Then it is the awkward conversation of answering the question – “what have you been up to the last few month?” I personally have been very up front and mentioned that we are dealing with loss but it all depends on the circumstance. I lost out on some contracts because of the lack of follow-up on my end during the critical time, I thought was it awkward I mentioned why I didn’t follow-up but then I thought to myself – “Why do we avoid the conversation about death and grieving?”
Why is it considered taboo to talk about death and grieving without falling into sympathy? Can we as a society, realize it is a part of life? I have to be aware of ensuring that I do not bring up if I am having a bad day on special occasions so it does not look like I am taking away from their happiness. I am also aware of what is going on in other people’s lives even before I go into what is going on with me. In the last few weeks, I have been fortunate to spend time with a friend who allowed me the space to move through the emotions even if we were getting ready for a night out. We were dancing, I started crying at a song, we hugged and started dancing again. It was actually very relieving and beautiful to be able to experience this emotion and still have an evening that showed me again that the happiness is within me.
A few take-aways for those reading this:
1) Honor your emotions everyday. Do what you want to do when you want to do it. This permission should not be reserved for when you are grieving.
2) Allow others to experience what they are going through as if they experience it, they will move through it.
3) Communication is key. Ask the other person of what they need instead of assuming based on your own experience
4) Have compassion that the grieving person will act erratically and be unstable with their emotion. Try to understand that they are seeking a new identity and a new norm.
5) Just be yourself around those grieving. They need the normalcy.
6) If you haven’t been there for the person when they are grieving, be okay that they probably won’t have space for you in their lives either. It is those who are their at the toughest times that the good times should be celebrated with.
7) Use social media as a celebration of the person’s life. It is okay to admit you miss the person but not all status updates need to be about that. That is what the memorial page is for. For those who don’t want to see the reminders, are free to “unlike” the page.
8) Fun, happiness and celebration of life is what we should all focus on.
My purpose in this post is in hopes that death, grieving and dying become easier for everyone to deal with.
by Manpreet Dhillon | Sep 20, 2013 | Previous Content
Recently I had a realization that I am not a “fun” messenger. No, not messenger in the way of olden days like msn, a page or courier but a messenger in terms of texting, emailing, Facebooking, Tweeting, etc.
Me, being me, I started to have a complex and started to ask others if “I really wasn’t a fun texter?” I was answered with “well, you are funnier on the phone or in person,” and “yes, you aren’t funny when you text.”
I started to think about why am I am not a fun messenger. There could be a variety of reasons but a few may be:
*I just don’t care to be funny
*I rather just type and get it done
*I like human interactions that include voice, tone and emotion
*I use messaging for getting in touch for a purpose not to maintain relationships
*maybe I don’t have anything funny to say
*Maybe I am just not funny in writing.
These were the top few before I started getting a headache of trying to figure out a reason why.
I didn’t come to a conclusion of why I am not a funny messenger but I did come to the conclusion that to me relationships that mean something to me, I need the personal touch. I need to hear the voice, tone and emotion. When I am out, I try not to be on my phone as I realized I want to be present with the people who I am with. This is something I am still working on but I realize when I spend a lot of time on my phone, I am avoiding intimacy with who I am with. Is there anything more important than who is sitting in front of me at that moment? No, so why am I am making them feel that way?
I also realized that I personally would rather have a 5 minute conversation rather than text someone for days on end. The 5 minute conversation will allow us to truly connect instead of hiding behind technology. Yes, texting/messaging has it’s place. It is a great way to keep in touch when you are busy, or you just want to quickly touch base but it is not the way to maintain the important relationships in my life.
As much as I enjoy the days of text messaging conversations, I would much rather have a short phone call to really connect.
To my friends and families, I apologize that I am not a fun messenger. If you want the fun me, just call me or see each other in person as I know I will be fun then.
Ishu Kler is a photographer and Social Media Manager at Veza Global. She currently owns and operates a freelance photography company called Ishu Kler Creative where she specializes in branding, portrait and event photography. Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C., her love and passion for photography led Ishu to travel and live in New Delhi, India, where she obtained her Diploma in Photography. She also travelled to Costa Rica in 2015, where she obtained her Certificate in Documentary Photography from Photographers Without Borders.
Kelsey is a passionate Multimedia Designer & Communications Specialist with a diploma in Multimedia Production and over nine years of diverse design experience in different areas of the world including roles within multinational in-house marketing teams Microsoft and Technetix, marketing agencies and freelance. These experiences have led her to develop strong use of design principles, skills in Adobe Creative Cloud, knowledge in motion graphics and video editing, and knowledge in creating effective communication for a wide range of audiences and cultures.
