“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
Paul Valery, French Poet

“My life sucks.”

“I’m a statistic.  I grew up in the inner city and everyone expects me to be on welfare or in jail.  Why should I disappoint them?”

“There’s nothing I can do; that’s just the way life is.  The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

“I’m stuck.  This is the career I chose when I graduated from college and it’s all I know how to do.  If my company goes under, I’m sunk as well.”

“The economy is all that is wrong with my business.  Once the government fixes it, things will pick up again – it’d better!”
———
“I am the creator of my life experience.”

“I am the luckiest person alive.  I grew up in the inner city as one of five children.  I received a scholarship because of my race and now I’m a respected professional.  My grandmother raised me and I will not disappoint her.”

“I have so many ideas they blow my mind on a good day!  I have so many options as to what to do with my life that sometimes, I get frazzled trying to implement everything I’m capable of doing.  When I’m not making money, I’m gaining knowledge and experience.  Life just keeps getting better and better.”

“Looking back, I can see now that getting laid off from my job was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I hated fighting traffic every morning to commute to a job that made me feel like a mindless drone.  I’ve started my own business, risky – for sure, but well worth it.  Even though I’m not making as much money right now, I can see the potential for an even greater income that what I had.  Other people have done it, and I can, too.”

“I don’t know where all this media hype is coming from about a bad economy.  My small business continues to grow in customers and revenue.  I’m so glad I made the investment in marketing and public relations – I definitely dodged a bullet on this one.  My company stands on it’s own – no government bailout required here – thank goodness!”
———

I truly am the luckiest person alive:  I am surrounded daily by people who have attitudes in the second set of quotes.  Now, to a certain extent, that is by design; I choose very carefully who I converse with on a regular basis.  I can always tell when I’ve spent too much time with people in the first group – my attitude begins to suffer.  If you’re the most positive person in your group, find a new group.  I’m not saying abandon the others altogether, but remember that in order to lead, you must first learn, and then lead yourself.

Any situation that you’re in right now you have created.  The moment that we call, “now,” is nothing more than a jumping off point for the future.  Everyone talks about “enjoying the now – be here now – etc.”  Today, I want to take that a little further.

If you’re living an experience that you truly enjoy, then, yes, enjoy your now.  Be present in the moment.  You’ve created every aspect of your life as you’re living it now – so enjoy it, relish it, and you’ll get more of it.

However, if what you’re currently living is not exactly to your liking, then now is the time to do something about it.  Now is where your power is.  Now is when you can do something about it.  You can’t do anything in the future because once you get to that future point, it becomes what we call “now.”  This is why personal strategic planning is so important.

I see too many people who want to live in a fantasy world – dreaming their dreams.  Visualizing their life as they want it to be.  Yes – I teach that, too.  But at some point, you have to wake up.  Stop dreaming and start acting.  Now.   I hear stories and read emails everyday from people who fail to act on inspired action.  Why?  Sometimes it’s fear, but most of the time, they chose to stay in the dream world.  It’s easy in dream land.  When you dream of things as you want them to be, you feel wonderful.  In reality, it’s easier to just blame the economy, the government, your boss – whatever.

But the power is yours and your greatest point of power is NOW.

My challenge for you today is to wake up and do something that will change your future.  You can’t do anything in the future – you’re not there and you never will be.  So stop putting it off, do it now.

Until next time,
Live Joyfully!

Posted under Conscious Creation, Inspiration, Law of Attraction, Leadership, Motivation, Success

While everyone is screaming about the economy, I prefer to help people find ways of feeling better.  Interestingly, I do this all the time, it’s just that now that “times are tough,” I seem to have a larger audience.  Here are 21 ways to enjoy your time this weekend that won’t cost anything.

1. Sleep late, and enjoy it (instead of feeling guilty.)
2. Meditate.
3. Give each pet, child, spouse, sibling, parent, and other significant persons in your life one hour of your complete, undivided attention.  Play with them; ask them about their day/life, and really listen.
4. Read a motivational book.
5. Read something just for fun – your favorite prose.  Or catch up on that pile of magazines.  Enjoy the time, realizing that it is your intent to spend this time this way.
6. Create a list of things you love.  (The way you feel afterward will explain why I’ve included it here.)
7. Take a nice, long, warm bath or shower.
8. Dance to your favorite music for one hour – pretend it’s a marathon.
9. Work on or create your Personal Strategic Plan.
10. Think about something in your life you would like to change, trusting that there is an answer.  Now take a nap and let your subconscious work on a solution.
11. Pretend that for now you work for yourself - you are self-employed.  You have complete control over your time, effort and energy.  What do you want to create right this minute?
12. De-clutter.
13. Organize an area of your home.
14. Plan your meals for the next week.  Perhaps there is a certain diet you’d like to try, or you’d like to start cooking more from scratch.  You have all those cookbooks and diet plans – put them to use!
15. Create a list of all the good things in your life right now.
16. Catch up on all your laundry and ironing.
17. Give the house a good cleaning and airing out.
18. Spend time getting to know one of your neighbors.
19. Visualize your life as you would like it to be.  Write it out.
20. Work out.  You don’t have to join a gym.  Go for a vigorous walk, jog, play a game of basketball, dance, whatever you love to do – just give your body the motion it craves.
21. Rest.  Work hard, play hard, and you will rest well.  Get organized and in control and you will have peace of mind that will allow your mind to rest as well.  Try it; you’ll be glad you did!

Until next time,
Live joyfully!

Remember - I’ve added a special value to one of my upcoming presentations: everyone who signs up for my “Eliminate Clutter and Organize Your Life” webinar through TheSelfHelpSchool.com will receive a free copy of the e-book. Use the ad below and register today!

Posted under Inspiration, Motivation, Weight Loss