Discount Personal Development products for Thanksgiving
A Thanksgiving opportunity to get some serious discounts on personal development products and services! Link to Full Story
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
November 19, 2007
August 14, 2007
8 Tips on How to Get Out of Bed even When You Don’t Want To
This is a great list of motivating factors that will help you to get out of bed even when you don't want to! Link to Full Story
July 30, 2007
5 Free Personal Development Ideas for Keeping your Mental Pool Clean!
The way that you act in public needs to match the way that you act in private if you truly want to create success in your life! Link to Full Story
July 11, 2007
How to Handle Negative Changes
When our lives change in a way that we perceive to be negative, it can be rough. However, it IS possible to get through these times, and this outline will help you to do exactly that. Link to Full Story
June 10, 2007
Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love, Volume 18
This week's Link Love edition features several powerful truths that can change your life, but that can be read and internalized in under 5 minutes. Doesn't get much easier than that, right? Link to Full Story
April 28, 2007
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
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:
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.
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:
April 13, 2007
And then it all came crashing down…
Apocalypse: any universal or widespread destruction or disaster: i.e. - the apocalypse of nuclear war.
Skipping the non-biblical references (for the purpose of universal agreement on the term), the above definition of the word apocalypse should illustrate for you - dear reader - just what we are talking about here.
Or, to be more specific, we are talking about the end of all things here in the blogosphere:
What would you do if the concept of "blogging" was about to suddenly and completely go away forever? Would you shed a bitter tear? Would it matter to you at all?
More importantly, would you have succeeded in getting your message across to the people who needed to hear it??
These are the kinds of questions that have been asked by The Urban Monk in a group blogging project for charity that he has coined 'The Blog Apocalypse'.
Having started my own project called Simply Successful Secrets, and then also partnering with Alex Shalman for Gotta Get Goals, I was originally not very excited about the idea of running through this again.
However, The Blog Apocalypse has the potential to truly open up some hearts and minds about why people do what they do in the blogosphere, and more importantly - if you should even care!
So, with no further introduction, I invite you to check out The Urban Monk's instructions, and I implore you to see this as a chance to really learn something not just about bloggers, but about why you read what they write, and the Urban Monk will make a donation to charity just for you making the effort.
Also, if you see the value in this project as I have, you can participate by putting together your own apocalyptic blog scenario and sharing it with your readers! Here we go.
The end of the Blogosphere
Well, Grasshopper, it looks like you are finally going to be on your own.
I started this blog when I realized that blogging was the best way to consistently and easily share knowledge with you that would one day allow you to become empowered and self-reliant, and to embrace a true excitement about your life.
I have worked at attaining those goals by holding absolutely nothing back when I have written to you, and it is my sincere desire that you have recognized that fact as you have read my words.
When I taught you about the Law of Attraction, I gave you workable strategies for using that amazing belief system, but I kept it all grounded at the same time by maintaining an objective point of view whenever possible.
When I taught you the unlimited power of Gratitude, my own heartfelt gratitude should have jumped from the pages as you read those words, because I am truly grateful for you, for me, and for this existence as a whole.
When I taught you ways to consciously create your life, or to get rid of your self-limiting beliefs, it was my sincerest desire that you actually practice the methods that I taught you, and not just continue to cruise through your life without making the positive changes I knew you were capable of.
When I taught you about positive thinking, personal development, and self improvement, I truly gave you every bit of knowledge that I had, hoping that just one more word, or one more moment of clarity would help you to finally leap the barriers that you had put around yourself, and allow you to finally become the person that I always knew that you could be.
But, alas, our time has come to an end, Grasshopper, and you must now stand upon your own two feet, as my teachings will no longer be available to you.
As the blogosphere comes to an end, so to does my means of continuing to be a guiding force in your life. However, I walk away from this teaching post with neither a regret, a concern, nor even a tear, for I know that you have been taught well!
I know that this tome of knowledge - this "blog" - contains all of the answers that you will ever need in order to literally do whatever it is that you want to do with your life.
You can have, do, or be anything - and the knowledge of how to make that happen is indeed contained in the very pages that are before you at this moment.
So I will end my final message to you, Grasshopper, not with a final bit of a advice, one last nugget of wisdom, nor even a parting vote of confidence.
Those trinkets are unnecessary, because, you see, the power that is inside of you right now - the very knowledge that fuels your existence - has always been there.
My words simply helped you to awaken it.
Remember to seek not the advice of others, but to realize that your answers are - and always have been - right there inside of you.
It is up to you to let them out, Grasshopper.
I will not say Goodbye at this time, for we are all one, and I will most certainly see you "out there".
Create Life in Your Image!
April 6, 2007
Wonder Twin Powers - ACTIVATE!
Okay, I know I am dating myself by even posting that title, but if you know what it means, then you can consider yourself dated as well!
However, for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, here is a brief primer, to be followed by how modern society can use this power for our own benefit.
Back in the {ahem} late 70's, one of the most popular cartoons that featured Superman was called The All-New SuperFriends Hour. It was a remake of the original SuperFriends, and it featured a few new characters, including Zan and Jayna, also known as The Wonder Twins.
It was all very exciting and entertaining, and the takeaway that I want you to remember is that they could only use their powers if they worked together!
Individually, they were just aliens with a pet monkey called Gleek.
So, why is that relevant to anyone who reads this blog seeking self improvement or personal development?
Simple - not only can everyone get help by also helping others, but by referring to the usage of the Law of Attraction, the more people who focus on something, the more powerful the affect becomes.
A now famous doctor named Masaru Emoto realized that large groups of people - working together - who focused on various bodies of water at the same time could effect actual vibrational change on that water by offering feelings of gratitude and love towards it.
Check out details of the on-going experiments in that area at the Love and Thanks to Water website.
The human body is comprised almost exclusively of water. Hmmmm…that brings up possibilities, doesn't it?
Now, whether or not you choose to believe in the large-scale effect that human emotions can have on the world around us, there is no denying that this process exists on a smaller scale.
Consider the following:
1) If there is disharmony in your household, and both parents decide that they are going to stop yelling, start being more patient, and start being more understanding, the tension and stress-level in that household goes down almost immediately.
Compare that to what happens if those parents agree to that course of action, but only one of them follows through on the intention.
2) Think of what happens in the workplace when a team of 8 or 10 project workers all get together and decide that they are going clean up their customer service practices, start showing a positive attitude in all aspects of their job, and begin to put focus exclusively on the "greater good".
Compare that to an empowering and uplifting company meeting that leaves everyone ecstatic to even work there, but then a week later each of those employees has gone back to the exact same daily practices and attitudes that they had used previously.
3) Think of a night out on the town when you and 5 of your friends decide that you are going to go out and have fun no matter what, and you are all simply joyous and grateful to be out together taking some well-deserved time off.
Compare that to what happens on that same night on the town when half of your group does nothing but moan and complain about how much they hate their job, how their spouse is being a jerk, and how their kids can't ever seem to stay out of trouble.
In each of these examples (and any other example you can imagine), when each of the participants made an honest, heart-felt, and consistent effort to focus on the positive, then positive results came to all of them on a massive scale, including all of the people who interacted with them.
Coincidence? Hardly.
Feelings are the key to this process, so if you can't muster up the actual emotions of whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish, you might as well not even bother trying.
Saying that you are going to focus on a positive home atmosphere doesn't do a bit of good unless you actually create the feelings - on a consistent basis - of positivity, patience, and understanding.
Saying that you are going to create a positive working environment where the customers, the company, and the employees all benefit will do nothing unless you consistently feel positive and act from a positive mental point of view.
Saying that you and your friends are going to have fun, but then failing to feel stress-free, joyous, and happy to be there will fail to create a stress-free, joyous, and happy environment.
Although it is 100% true that you are only responsible for your own feelings at any single moment in time, it is just as true that if one person feels good, and then another, and another, and another, the effect will multiply exponentially.
So, if you want to sit inside a self-imposed shell of "it's all about ME," you do have the power to be ecstatically happy inside that one little shell.
However, why not break out of the shell and share your ability to consciously create joy and gratitude with others who also choose to exercise that ability?
What have you got to lose?
March 17, 2007
Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love, Volume 6
This is Volume 6 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) Practical Personal Development - Alex Shalman at Practical Personal Development (a blog about self help and personal growth is hosting a Donation Contest in which you press a button and he donates a dollar. Alex is a stand up guy, and I definitely recommend that you check out his cool effort for charity.
2) Success from the Nest - Tony Clark's post Make Envy Your Friend explains how our reaction to things that happen can be used as fuel for our own success.
3) The Positivity Blog - Henrik Edberg's post One Simple Way to Get a Good Idea is valuable not just for writers or people in business, but for people struggling to find solutions for personal issues as well.
4) Scott H. Young - Double Your Reading Rate is an excellent piece that includes several different levels of consideration for ways to get the most out your reading time.
5) Steve Olson - Leave it to a quality individual like Steve to come up with something positive out of what most consider to be a bad thing. Read his take on What Death Teaches Us About Life.
6) Live the Power - In No Matter What, Karen does an excellent job of pointing out why some people get what they want with the Law of Attraction, while others don't. Even more importantly, she teaches about following your passion!
7) Achieve-IT - Brad Isaac has a great post called Advantages Of Acting Over Being Careful in which he puts forth the obvious as well as the not so obvious benefits of taking action to achieve your dreams.
8) Brian Kim - In his post Why The Underdog Team Pulls Off The Upset, Brian not only breaks down a real-world truth of existence, but he also explains why some people tend to ignore this obvious, but simple concept.
9) Breathing Prosperity - Shauna has a great post entitled Law of Attraction: You Are Who You Hang Out With where she explains that if you want to move forward in life, you must be prepared to hear and deal with the implications of the phrase "You've changed".
10) Random Cool Sites - Item #10 this week includes a couple of websites that I think are worth a few minutes of your time, even though {gasp!} they aren't blogs!
MyGratitudeRocks.com - Cool tools to remind us all that the power of Gratitude is one of our greatest assets.
Don't Click It - Think you can kick the habit? Try out this new concept on web design - No clicks allowed!
That's it for this week! As always, much appreciation to our contributors for their time and their insights!
March 3, 2007
Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love, Volume 4
This is Volume 4 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) Success Consciousness - Instant or Gradual Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth? - EXCELLENT riff on the truth of how it all works! In light of some of the latest media, this is a timely yet quick to read piece that lays it down like it truly is.
2) Evolving Times - The debate regarding the Law of Attraction in the media lately is likely causing more confusion than is even remotely necessary. It’s really not that difficult, and Edward at Evolving Times hosts probably the best resource on the LOA that exists on the Internet today. Check out his Law of Attraction Blog Carnival, and also be sure to see this blog featured in the latest edition, The Law of Attraction And Physical Health.
3) Practical Personal Development - Alex Shalman has started a great series of posts, and if this edition, ‘Becoming An Outstanding Person | Temperance‘, is any indication, this will be a series worth tracking.
4) Christine Kane - I am always so amazed at Christine’s insightful, yet easy to understand take on how things really work in the world. One of her latest works You Teach People How to Treat You is absolute gold!
5) Breathing Prosperity - I have to say that when I first found Breathing Prosperity, I had also just found about 99 other blogs, and I added it to my RSS reader thinking I would just check in once in awhile. Well, that has turned into a daily check in, and it is always time well spent. A new series going on there is called ‘Personal Development:21 Days and 22 Exercises Towards a Wealthier Mindset’, and I LOVE what was written on Day 3 about Today vs. 5 Years from now.
6) Success from the Nest - Tony Clark just wrote an excellent piece called Finding Your Passion Amid the Hate and if you have ever wondered if you are doing the right thing with your career, then check out Tony’s great insight and advice.
7) The Happiness Project - In her post Don’t let the PERFECT be the enemy of the GOOD, Gretchen does an oh-so-wonderful job of showing that just because you can’t do it perfect doesn’t mean that you can’t do SOMETHING!
8) Live the Power - Karen’s post The Secret is Out addresses the very real fact that the Law of Attraction is far from being a “secret,” and that it has been practiced and endorsed by an amazing list of influential people throughout history, including the formidable list of those individuals that is included with her post.
9) Brian Kim - The Power in Serving Others is an excellent post that shows the difference between helping others for your own good, or helping others while expecting nothing in return. Ironically enough, not expecting anything in return is the best way to GET something in return!
10) Shards of Consciousness - Rick has put together a great resource in his Happiness, Emotion, and Fulfillment series. In Part II of that series, he points out that happiness is not dictated by external events, and then goes on to put together an awesome list of ways that you can keep your internal happiness level exactly where it needs to be.
WOW!
This link love series is always the best of the best, but this week was amazing. I had to turn away a few links I had bookmarked because there were so many!
I truly hope that you take the time to read through the content provided by these excellent bloggers, and more importantly, that you make some positive changes to your life with what you learn!
See you again for Volume 5 in about a week!
January 16, 2007
The Birthday Day
Are you one of those people who says that you stopped having birthdays after a certain point? Are you the kind who has turned 30 like 15 or 20 times?
Or are you the opposite? Do you celebrate your birthday with gusto? Do you think that ALL the world should sing, just because its your birthday?
I am more of a "gusto" kind of person myself, and since my birthday was this past Sunday, I thought I would share some thoughts on the whole "birthday thing" and also toss out a few pictures from the celebration, starting with this one of yours truly, hanging out with some of my friends who showed up for the party:
Apparently some of my REAL friends decided that we needed some more bodies at the party! :)
Now, as far as whether or not you should celebrate your birthday is - in my humble opinion - a no-brainer for anyone who who practices positive thinking and the deliberate and conscious creation of their life.
Whether you have been exposed to teachings about conscious creation1, the Law of Attraction, and the like, or if you are just a firm believer in positive thinking, then you should be familiar with the concept of treating every moment as a gift.
Every single moment of our time is a glorious gift that we can do whatever we want to do with, and that attitude should permeate your life. By actually living your life that way, you automatically attract things worth living for.
Have you ever known anyone who celebrated their life with a passion, yet had nothing but horrible things continue to happen to them? I know that I never have!
Every single person that I've ever met who truly enjoyed every moment of their life and who were grateful for the opportunity that each of those moments represented was also repeatedly given reasons to continue to be happy and grateful!
Much like these people who showed up at the bar where we were having the birthday celebration:
Apparently these Amish folks were on vacation and decided to enjoy some of the spoils of modern civilization
You see, the secret to being successful is feeling good about your life and having FUN! If you are happy and confident that you are walking the path that truly resonates with you as an individual, then the people and situations that are needed for you to realize success will simply come to you, almost unbidden.
Or, if you are one of those people who just thinks that you are getting old, that you waited too long to get started on a successful career, health, or relationship path, and that birthdays are "just another day," then that is exactly what you will attract. More days in your life that are "just another day."
So, if every moment is a gift (and it is), and you can create success and happiness by cherishing and celebrating every moment (which you can), then imagine what you can accomplish by taking one day - your birthday - and making it extra special!
For me, although I work very hard at the many things that I do in the self improvement community, and although I frequently work 10 to 12 hour days, I also realize the need for balance. Just working hard will not bring you happiness unless you also take the time to enjoy your life in the process. Kind of like these girls, most of whom were part of the birthday bash:
Your birthday is a wonderful opportunity for you to take some extra time to focus on the wonderful people that you have in your life. Whether your circle of influence is huge, or if it only consists of a few very special people, the people that you deem to be a quality part of your life are most definitely something that you should feel gratitude for on a regular basis.
In my case, I am well aware of the fact that the people in my life are a very large part of why I smile so often, and even if I don't call or email as often as I maybe should, the feelings of gratitude that I have because those people are in my life are something that I feel on a daily basis.
In fact, sometimes you'll even put on a dorky hat and let people laugh at you all day long - just because the friends and family asked you to. My wife is no stranger to me looking like a dork, but SHE was the one who remembered to bring the hat that I tried to "accidentally" leave in the car:
So, the answer to the question of whether or not to celebrate your birthday as if you were happy simply to be here on this earth is a resounding YES!
Every day of your life has been and will continue to be a wonderful gift to you. Celebrate your very existence by celebrating each and every birthday - whether you are 9 years old, or 90!
Oh, and if your view through the camera lens looks like this by the end of the night...
...go to bed! :)
Footnotes:
1 - Energy Harmonics
January 12, 2007
How was your Day?
As you are sitting here reading this post at whatever time it is for your place in the world, ask yourself the following question, and give yourself a brutally honest answer - not the answer that you WANT to believe:
“Did I spend the last 24-hour period being happy with my life, motivated about the future, and excited and grateful just to have the opportunity to take the next steps in my life?”
If you honestly can answer that question with a resounding “YES“, then kudos to you. Your life is on track for monumental success - don’t change a thing.
Most people, however, cannot honestly answer that question with a Yes. Sure, they may have had a few bright spots, maybe even some moments when “all was well in the world.” However, as a general rule, very few people are able to consistently maintain the proper state of mind to ensure success for even a single 24-hour period, let alone over the long-term.
I was inspired to write this post after yet another bit of wisdom from Seth Godin’s blog1 where he talks about the failure of some politicians in his town. Turns out that in the very small town that he describes, some of the local politicians had a chance to win some votes and some support by using quality face-to-face time with the locals, but the politicians dropped the ball in a big way.
They missed a big chance whenever you think about it, because in that particular instance, they weren’t even being called upon to make a consistent effort on behalf of their supporters, but rather just to put on a good show for a small amount of time, and they couldn’t even do that.
Now, discussions about politics aside (can’t we all just get along?), the situation described by Seth is the same situation that we all find ourselves in day after day. We have a chance to consistently do things that will take us in the direction of our goals, or a chance to consistently drop the ball and let our lives keep on going in the same manner that has gotten us to wherever we are right now.
We tend to think of positive changes in our lives as something that can only be accomplished by some huge effort on our part, and that anything less than a massive accomplishment isn’t worth our time.
For that reason, whenever we fail to see massive success on a day-to-day basis, we tend to fall back into “default mode” and we then simply attract the energies into our lives that will keep us exactly where we already are.
Life, however, is made up of moments, not massive successes. Your moments can - and will - lead to every success that you could possibly imagine, but only if you consistently stay in the right frame of mind that will allow you to consciously create your life, rather than attracting “stagnation” by default.
People who are really successful continually remind themselves of their goals so that they can consistently say, do, and feel the things that will lead them to the success that they want.
Just knowing about a self improvement concept such as positive thinking, the law of attraction, goal setting, etc., will not do you any good unless you consistently apply that knowledge to as many moments of your life as possible.
Every single day you are presently with 86,400 seconds in order to be happy, to be grateful for what you have - thus attracting more of it - and to say, do, and feel the things that will take your life to where you want it to be.
So, whether you are a politician with a golden opportunity to shake hands and kiss babies, or if you are simply needing to keep a genuine smile on your face in order to keep your own stagnant attitude from reasserting itself, remember that you have 86,400 opportunities each and every day to do exactly that.
Then, looking once again at this question…
“Did I spend the last 24-hour period being happy with my life, motivated about the future, and excited and grateful just to have the opportunity to take the next steps in my life?”
…you can answer it with a resounding “YES,” and then you will truly be on the fast-track to success!
Footnotes:
January 10, 2007
50 First Dates...
I just got done watching the movie ‘50 First Dates’ with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, and I saw a great opportunity to share a lesson with my readers!
The premise of the movie is that Drew Barrymore’s character gets a head injury that causes her to only be able to remember one day of her life at a time. Each morning when she wakes up, she thinks that her life is exactly as it was before her head injury - same date, same job, same things to do that day, etc.
Adam Sandler meets her at a cafe in Hawaii and is immediately smitten with her. They agree to have breakfast at the same cafe the next day, but unfortunately for Sandler’s character, Drew doesn’t remember who he is!
So, the movie goes on with all of these hilarious and heart-warming examples of how he tries to get her to fall in love with him every day. Eventually it gets to the point where they find ways to remind her every morning about her situation, and she realizes that she only has until she falls asleep that night in order to live her life to the fullest. By the next morning she will not remember anything that happened the day before.
A very cute and pretty funny movie, but it is the message that really struck me, and I immediately saw how others could benefit from that message.
Imagine what it would be like to wake up every day, and realize that you only had that one day to enjoy your life. To realize that when you went to bed that night, anything that you wanted to enjoy in the world had to have been enjoyed that very day, because you wouldn’t remember anything the next morning, and you would have to start all over again.
Do you think that you might work harder than you presently do to enjoy each moment of your life?
Do you think that you might spend more time with your family, or your loved ones?
Do you think that you might put forth more effort at having fun, and less effort at working?
Do you think you that you might enjoy that day simply for the sake of enjoying it, rather than because you might be worried about what tomorrow is going to bring?
As human beings doing our time here on planet Earth, we tend to define ourselves in two ways:
1) What we did in the past
2) What we plan to do in the future
When you think about it, that is pretty sad, considering that the only moment that we can totally control is this moment - the moment that we are living in right now.
The past is completely chiseled in stone and can never be changed. Whether you are talking about what happened 60 seconds ago or 60 years ago - it’s done, and there is nothing that you can do about it.
The future, although more in our control than the past, is still in the future, and given the fragility of the human condition, the future may never come at all.
The only period of our lives that is completely, 100% in our control is the NOW.
Do yourself a favor, and consider this:
If you lost the ability to judge yourself on the mistakes that you made in the past, and you knew for a fact that you weren’t going to remember any mistakes that you make today, what would you do today?
I sincerely hope that you answered with nothing less than “I would live my life to the fullest, for these moments will never come again!”
Start living your life with that attitude right now, and you will be amazed at how quickly life starts giving you everything that you need to keep right on doing exactly that.
December 12, 2006
Do You Ho'oponopono?
At this point in the game, the word "Ho 'oponopono" is not nearly as well known as it will be within the next 6 to 12 months, so I am putting forth this basic description of Ho 'oponopono so that you can decide for yourself if you would like to engage in some further study.
Based on what I know, I would recommend that you DO spend more time learning about and practicing Ho 'oponopono, and if you take that advice, Dr. Joe Vitale is the man who you want to learn about it from. Dr. Vitale's passion on this subject is amazing, and as of this date (November 7, 2006) he already has a book in the works on this very subject.
The basic idea behind Ho 'oponopono stems from the meaning of the word, given to us by the Hawaiian culture. Loosely translated, Ho 'oponopono means "to set things right", or, in simpler terms, to fix stuff!
Everyone has things that they want to have fixed, and Ho 'oponopono is not only a powerful way to fix literally everything that you can imagine, but it is so ridiculously simple to use that there is really no reason to not take advantage of this powerful technique.
The basic concept behind Ho 'oponopono is going to first require you to realize the immutable fact that your entire existence comes from within, not from outside of yourself.
John Assaraf does a great job of vocalizing this concept during part of his teachings in the movie 'The Secret'. John says "There is no 'out there' and 'in here'", and that is the very truth of our Universal existence.
We are all one with all things at all times. That may be tough to grasp for some, but it's true. We are all simply extensions of "source energy", which is the very "stuff" that the entire Universe is made out of.
So, if we are made out of this source energy - which we are, and based on Quantum Mechanics, we are all creators of our own existence (which we are), then one very simple truth rears it's head for all to see, and it is quite undeniable:
Everything is your Creation!
Everything that you see, hear, feel, smell, touch, think, remember, or emotionally react to - these are all things that YOU have created. And yes, that includes the good, as well as the bad. Each of these things exists because on some level you want them to exist, which takes us back to Ho 'oponopono.
If everything that you perceive in the world exists BECAUSE you perceive it, can you guess what amazing and God-like power you have at your very fingertips?
That's right. You can either make more of it, or you can make it go away!
No, I'm not talking about creating thousand dollar bills out of thin air, or wishing away annoying in-laws. However, it is indeed possible for you to create your life so that you HAVE thousand dollars bills, or that your in-laws are no longer an annoyance to you.
That tip alone is probably worth the price of admission, right? :)
How is all of this done via Ho 'oponopono? By simply accepting responsibility.
When you truly grasp and get your head around the fact that you are literally creating every single piece of your existence - from the smallest molecule up through the tallest skyscraper, from the most heart-felt Love to the most gut-wrenching hatred - then you realize that you can effect change over each and every one of those things because you are responsible for them being there to begin with.
You do this simply by showing Gratitude for the things in your life that you are thankful for and that you want to grow and flourish, and by showing Forgiveness for the things that you want to go away or diminish.
Now, let's see if you have been paying attention:
If you are responsible for all things in your existence - the good as well as the bad - and you have the power to diminish or to allow those things to grow simply by showing Gratitude or Forgiveness, who are you showing Gratitude and Forgiveness TO?
......
......
......
Okay, time's up. It's YOU! If you created something that is wonderful, you are thanking yourself for doing so, thus ensuring future occurrences of that same positive behavior. If you created something terrible, then you are forgiving yourself for doing it, thus making sure that it doesn't happen again in the future.
Here is where it gets tough to swallow, but these concepts are just as true on a "microcosm" level as they are on a "macrocosm" level:
You are responsible for everything that is part of your existence. I always like the bad news first, so I'll share that courtesy with you (thus creating more courtesy for myself, if you've been paying attention):
Terrorism is your fault. Murder is your fault. Famine and disease are your fault. School shootings are your fault. Taxes are your fault.
OUCH! That hurts, doesn't it? You bet it does. But here's the good news:
Love is your fault. Childbirth is your fault. Families are your fault. Friends are your fault. Medical miracles are your fault. Firemen are your fault. Pets are your fault. A child's curiosity is your fault. Unadulterated JOY is all YOUR fault!
Are you starting to see your power now? You can do it all. In fact, you ARE doing it all. Right now, at this very moment as you read this. You are both creating and destroying your world, because it is all YOU.
When you go to bed tonight and you can't sleep, you created that. When you pass out face down on your pillow and get the best night's sleep of your life, you created that, too.
When you get out of bed in the morning and it's raining so hard that you can't even see your car in your own driveway, that is your creation. When you get up in the morning and you are greeted by a dawn that could literally be the dawning of Time itself (and it is), that is also your creation.
It's all you. All the Good, all the Bad, and everything in between. And you can control these things by learning to control your Gratitude and your Forgiveness reactions to them with Ho 'oponopono.
Different practioners have different methods of invoking the power of Ho 'oponopono, but since I believe in Dr. Joe Vitale (after all, he is MY creation), I am utilizing his methods of invoking Ho 'oponopono, which can be summed up in the 4 phrases that he uses whenever he wants to invoke Ho 'oponopono, which is also called "cleaning":
"I Love You"
"I'm Sorry"
"Please Forgive Me"
"Thank You"
That's it! By creating a mantra of saying those 4 things pretty much as often as you can day after day and week after week, you will quickly come to the realization that by Loving yourself, by Apologizing to yourself when you have done something wrong, by Forgiving yourself for that wrong-doing, and by Thanking yourself for the opportunity to create Good, as well as to stop creating Bad, that you can create your life to be "right".
Remember that the loose definition of Ho 'oponopono is "to set things right". Since you are the sole creator of your entire existence, you have the power to create whatever "right" world that you want to live in, and you can do it by simply saying and believing those 4 simple phrases.
I know that for some of you, all of this may seem incredibly hard to believe. You refuse to grasp the fact that you are literally the very creator of the entire existence that you live, and that you can easily manipulate that existence with 4 sets of words.
So here is one more test for you:
If you don't believe any of this, who created that disbelief?
Think about it.
And yes, I Forgive You.
Visualization toys at Tabblo
One of the most powerful ways to bring the things that you want into your life is to use the amazing power of our imagination in order to visualize the success that we desire.
Some people call this "positive thinking", but truly effective visualization goes way beyond simply holding an image in your head. However, that being said, the easier that it is for you to hold an image in your head, the easier it will be for you to practice the other visualization techniques as well.
The gratitude filled folks over at Tabblo have come up with a very cool (and free) new way to bring together the images of your life into a format that works best for you, and that is very simple to share with other people.
A "tabblo" is basically a blank canvas that you can easily add images and/or text to using several different design templates that they offer, or you can manually create your own.
Think of a collage of pictures, only online, and completely customizable, and you'll start to grasp the idea. Also, all of the tabblo's can be printed in any number of different formats, even in a book!
To see what I'm talking about, click below to go to the tabblo that I created which I have entitled 'Shopping with the Law of Attraction':
Also, for another great example of the type of things that you can do with Tabblo - including the hilarious picture below - click the picture to be taken to this person's tabblo:
The possibilities are endless, and I want to encourage you to use these types of tools in order to make your visualizations effective!
I mean, if putting together an entire book of your desires and then putting it on your coffee table doesn't frequently remind you to deliberately create your life, I don't know what will.
Also, I have put together a Law of Attraction group there on the Tabblo site that you are welcome and encouraged to join.
The basic idea is that everyone who is using the power of visualization in order to manifest their desires can share visual concepts by keeping all of our tabblo's in one spot. By seeing how other people are visualizing, you make get inspired to manifest new or different things into your life, or you may just be inspired by someone else's pictures, text, or visualization concepts. If nothing else, you'll be entertained for a few minutes, so check it out!
One More Thing
When visualizing, practice the following concepts to make your visualizations powerful and effective!
1. Always feel as if what you are visualizing already exists for you. If you think "I am going to have this someday", then it will always be "someday away". Visualize in the NOW, and your goals will manifest in your life.
2. Never NEED the things that you are visualizing. If you are desperately needing the things that you are asking for, then all you are doing is sending out a "I wish I had this" vibration and all you will manifest is continuing to wish that you had it. Want the things that you are visualizing, Believe that you already have them, and Feel the joy that having those things brings to your life. The Universe will deliver!
3. Visualize as often as you like - the more you do it, the faster you'll get what you want. Also, take advantage of the time right before you go to sleep and right after you wake up to practice visualization. Your subconscious mind is most receptive to programming during those times, and you will get the most out of your efforts when you get your conscious AND your subconscious mind working together.
Okay, that's it, that's all. Now go out there and create the world that you want by finding ways to hold the images of that world in your head. Next thing you know, you'll be living in it.
Remember:
"Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!" - Mike Dooley and TUT 's Adventure Club
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