Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love, Volume 12

This is Volume 12 of the Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love series.

This series will be published weekly and will be comprised of links to quality blog posts that have proven to be extraordinary in their ability to assist, inform, or empower the reader. Enjoy!

1) Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul - In the very appropriate context of "keeping it simple," Hueina Su brings on guest blogger Kevin Gianni who teaches us the 10 Commandments of the Best Exercise and Weight Loss Programs.

2) LifeHack - Adrian Savage has a great post called Has Your Fire Burned Low? which includes some great tips on bringing our desires back to a roaring flame, as well as a great bit at the end of the post that you don't want to miss about what happens with fire.

3) Abundance Journal - Still having trouble deciding if the whole Law of Attraction thing works? Belle's great post "It's Not Working!" does a very effective job of addressing the common pitfalls that people experience, and what to do about them.

4) Optimist Lab - Cardin Routh has an incredible post called Keeping Your Precious Things Precious. She discusses how our feelings always tell us if we are on the right track or not, and also how we can achieve maximum success by listening to our own inner voice, rather than what other people tell us. Great wisdom!

5) Life Optimizer - Having trouble getting the job done? Donald Latumahina's post What is the Key to Productivity? brings up the very real fact that many of us are too focused on things that are not mission critical - thus causing us to not always accomplish the mission!

6) Inspiring and Empowering Lives - Do you find yourself thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side? Take a peek at Jacklyn's post Why Is It Important To Improve Your Self? and follow her great advice to stop saying, "If only…"

7) Coffee2Code - Not a personal development site, but if you use WordPress for your blog, make sure to grab the Customizable Post Listings plug-in. See that section down below that says "Random Great Posts from the Past"? That is the Customizable Post Listings plug-in in action!

Blogs that have recently featured Today is that Day

MUCH gratitude to all of the following bloggers who shared the Link Love by telling others about posts here at Today is that Day!

Christy's Coffee Break - I am truly grateful to Christy for picking Today is that Day for this edition of her Best of the Blogs positive blog review series. You rock, Christy!

Something Good - Lorna referenced the Today is that Day blog in a GREAT post that she put together called Creating and Using Affirmations. Awesome stuff, Lorna - and thanks!

Debra Moorehead - In her post Your Magic Wand, Debra packs a lot of information into a small space, including a list of motivational, educational, and inspirational sites that includes the Today is that Day blog. Thanks, Debra!

Abundance Tips - The web links section of the Abundance Tips site is a great (and growing) list of powerful places to visit on the web, and they were kind enough to list Today is that Day among the other click-worthy entries. Thanks a bunch for the Link Love as well as the great format of the list!

Live the Power - Karen has put together a very cool feature called Joy Links, and she referenced the recent Today is that Day post about affirmations. Ironically, I also mentioned her site in that post. Reciprocation of reciprocation? I love the blogosphere! Thanks a million, Karen! Love the Joy Links concept!

Blog Carnivals that have recently included Today is that Day posts:

Personal Development Carnivals - The Urban Monk showed the post 'The Agony of Victory: Personal Development Breaking Point', and Balanced Life Center included 'Personal Development Roadblock: Are you Specializing too Soon?'.

Law of Attraction Carnival - Edward at Evolving Times put out another great edition, and he featured the Today is that Day post 'The Death of the Law of Attraction'.

Carnival of Powerful Living - Another information-packed edition hosted over at Verve Coaching which featured the post 'You're about to get hit.'.

Positive Mindset and Wealth Creation - The Women Internet Marketers site put together a huge list of posts about staying positive, making money, and achieving success! The Today is that Day post 'No Rocket Science Required: Self Improvement Starts Now!' was piled in with the rest of the quality knowledge included in that blog carnival.

That's it for this week, and if that list doesn't keep you busy learning and growing, then I don't know what will! Thanks as always to the many bloggers who contributed their time, knowledge, and their generosity!

Random great posts from the past:

Naked pictures of Antonella Barba Kill Captain America!

How was your Day?

Do You Deserve it, or are You Mistaken?

Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love, Volume 8

Self Improvement Task: Affirmations that really Work

Insert Your Mental Reprogramming System of Choice Here: Affirmations, Visualization, Hypnosis, Meditation, Self-talk, Brain-wave Synchronization, and on and on the list goes…

There are so many ways to reprogram your mind these days that I'm beginning to wonder if we're all just running around in a brain-wash induced state of self-imposed denial.

OUCH! That came out a bit more harshly than I had intended! However, in truth, there is a slight grain of irritation here, because, much like the Law of Attraction, there is so much confusion about how to use some of these tools that their meaning is starting to get lost in the shuffle. This post is my attempt at setting the record straight on one of the most popular systems: Affirmations.

To cut right to the heart of the matter, the question on the table is "Do affirmations work"? The answer to the question is "Yes, if your affirmations really work". Confused yet? Allow me to clear the fog a bit.

As Karen Lynch points out in her post "Words," the end result that you are after with an affirmation is a feeling. That's it. That's all you get.

You can't manifest a new house or a new car with affirmations. You can't bring forth a huge pile of money with affirmations. You can't conjure up a rewarding career, nor magically create a loving and loyal romantic interest.

Affirmations, do not do any of those things. In fact, affirmations don't "do" anything - not in the 3-dimensional world anyway. The job of an affirmation is not to conjure up the things that we want to have in our lives, but rather to conjure up the feeling that having those things will create in our lives.

Then, once you have that feeling, you Law of Attraction junkies will recognize that the feeling will then create the vibrations which will speed the house, the car, the job, the money, the mate - whatever - directly to you at a rate that is proportionate to your level of allowing and belief.

However, for those of you who aren't so sure about the whole LOA thing, don't despair! You can use affirmations just as effectively to generate feelings of happiness and success.

You see, by feeling what it will be like to attain your goal, what you are doing is building something.

Oh yes, Grasshopper, you are building something truly wonderful. You are building something as large as the tallest building, as far-reaching as the infinite dreamscape, and as real to you as anything ever possibly could be.

You are building Belief.

By constantly creating the feeling of having something that is not (yet) physically in your life, you are creating a new belief system from scratch. This belief system will allow you to "know" what it is like to have the things that you desire because - in your mind - you already have them.

By continually reaffirming the feeling of having the things that you want, you will find ways to bring those things into your 3-dimensional existence. This may be through a burst of inspiration, a sustained motivation to take action, or it may happen by you actually coming across the method needed to bring you what you want.

So, the question of whether or not affirmations actually work, and if so, how to create affirmations that really work for you, is answered simply by asking yourself the following question:

"What can I tell myself that will create the feeling of having {insert the thing that you are affirming for here}?"

Here are a few examples from my own life, and I use them to reaffirm whenever something actually happens, so that the feeling that the thing generates is clear and present in that moment in time:

"Money comes to me easily and frequently." - Stolen from 'The Secret', I say this every single time I get money in any amount. Since I "work" on the Internet, I receive revenue from many different sources, and every time I get a check or a deposit into my PayPal account, I say this affirmation - no matter what the sum of money is.

"I am so grateful for…" - Gratitude is one the keys to success, and I practice it all day, everyday. From saying "I am so grateful that I don't have to get out of bed yet" to saying "I am so grateful that today was a good day with my family," not a day goes by that I don't actually say some rendition of a gratitude affirmation several times throughout the day.

"Since I live …" - One of my primary life goals is to own a house on the beach in St. Augustine, FL. I live in northeast Florida already, so anytime anything "beach-like" crosses my mind - even in a visualization - I reaffirm it. "Since I live on the beach, I can spend my upcoming day off there." "Since I live on the beach, I can run along the shore as the sun is rising." "Since I live on the beach, I can hear the surf from my window as I am working in my home office".

These are just examples, and are obviously specific to my lifestyle, but that is also why they work! If I ran around all day affirming things that had nothing to do with me, or that were so far out of my belief system that it would not be possible for me to take my affirmations seriously, then those affirmations wouldn't do me much good.

If you try to affirm "wild and crazy" success into your life with off the wall affirmations, the only feeling that you will be creating is one of disbelief, and that will get you nowhere.

So, if you want affirmations that really work, think of affirmations that work for you. Once you have done that, it is just a matter of repeating them as often as you want to feel that feeling of success!

Random great posts from the past:

Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love, Volume 4

Shortcut to Success using the “Easy Button”

The Consistent Inconsistency of Self Improvement

Law of Attraction Naysayers and Rampant Capitalism