A few weeks ago, as you may know, I had the opportunity to appear on The Dr. Oz Show. We talked about how to live a life in harmony. It’s the thesis of my book, All the Right Reasons: 12 Timeless Principles for Living a Life in Harmony.

As Dr. Oz says in his introduction, “We all face challenges in our life.” (you can view the full segment below this post).

I believe it’s how we deal with those challenges and create “harmony” in our lives that make us who we are.

First, if you’re not sure what “living a life in harmony” means, here’s my definition:

A life in harmony is having the courage to stay true to the principles that are at the foundation of who you are, despite the circumstances. For me, that is to make a positive difference in the lives of other people.

Living a Life in Harmony

I’d like to share the two principles I talked about on the show, with the hope that they might help you in your own life.

Nothing is More Important Than Relationships.

A big issue for many in today’s world is we’re not connected to people nearly as much as we’re connected to our electronic devices. I believe human interaction is so important.

There’s a story I share in All the Right Reasons — it’s the story of Dorothy, a cleaning woman at a college. A few weeks into the semester, a professor gave a pop quiz. The last question was: What is the name of the woman who cleans this building?”

One student, who had breezed through the quiz until this question, wondered if that final question was a joke. He’d seen the cleaning woman several times during those first weeks of school, quietly going about her business cleaning the halls and classrooms.

But he hadn’t paid much attention to her otherwise.

It turns out, that cleaning woman’s name was Dorothy and it illustrated the professor’s point:

“In your careers, your paths will cross with many people. They all matter and deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile, say hello, and learn their first name. Few things are more important to people than being called by their first name.”

Eliminate Negative Self-Talk

We all have an “inner voice,” the little voice inside our heads that is constantly talking to us, providing a running monologue for every second we’re awake.

Psychologists call it “self-talk.” It can be useful to help us process and interpret our life’s experiences. Unfortunately, a lot of us are prone to negative self-talk. That is, “I can’t do anything right,” or “I’m not good enough,” or “I don’t have enough time.”

We start to believe that voice inside our heads. We have to flip that switch that turns the self-talk from negative to positive. Positive self-talk is even more powerful than negative self-talk, and learning how to channel and elevate the voice in your head can change your life.

On The Dr. Oz Show, I shared a story of how negative self-talk almost ruined a lifelong dream of mine — to perform at The Grand Ole Opry. I stood backstage, guitar in hand waiting to go on and I actually started having a panic attack. I’m thinking: “Why are you here? You shouldn’t be on this stage. You’re not good enough to play.”

Luckily, I had learned a breathing technique that helped snap me out of those moments of negative self-talk. I calmed myself down and went out to perform. But it’s amazing how crippling those few moments were. And what could have happened had I not eliminated the negative self-talk.

In the book, I share several other principles to live a life in harmony. It can be purchased now. I’d love for you to pick up a copy and let me know what you think.