Have you ever changed your mind?  Of course you have – we all do.  Why is that?  Because things change.  Circumstances change, things happen, we get new information, we receive more or less money that we had expected from a project and that causes us to change a decision.

If you’ve been reading this blog for very long, you know that I’m a big planner.  I like to plan everything.  I wasn’t always this way, I’ve developed the habit over the past 25 or so years, and it gets stronger all the time.  Why is that?

The reason I like planning so much is because it gives me such a thrill.  Why is that?

As someone who believes in living in the moment and listening to the call of source, and as someone who knows the power of listening to your instincts and that feeling of inspiration, I still whole-heartedly believe in planning.   Here’s how I see it.

Planning is an exercise that makes me use my imagination.  I use planning as a tool to pre-pave my future with my current intentions which makes me think about and utilize the resources I have at my disposal right now.  In many cases, especially when planning a long-term goal, I know that there will be many intermediate steps along the way that I can in no way fill in right now while I’m planning.

However, the important concept to consider is, what am I doing in my now to make my dreams a reality in the future?  Since my only power is in the now, if I don’t do something now toward accomplishing my goals, they will stay forever in my future.

A lot of people confuse planning with procrastination.  You can’t allow a lack of planning to keep you from taking the next logical step, and vice versa.  When you feel inspired to do something, do it.  Don’t over-analyze it.

When you don’t feel inspired, just start planning your future reality and see if anything comes to mind.  You might be surprised – and delighted!

Until next time,
Live Joyfully!

Posted under Conscious Creation, Inspiration, Motivation, Success

An enthusiastic attitude is one of the most important aspects to a successful life.  Yet, enthusiasm is really an art – it must be practiced in order to be performed well, and enjoyed on a regular basis.

I have two friends right now who are new mothers, working full time, and starting online courses in January.  One of them came to me the other day asking for advice.  ‘”I’m beginning to wonder how I’m going to do all of this.  I know you’re a positive thinker, can you give me any words of wisdom?”

My first thought was, “how much time do you have?”   I’m a motivational speaker – I can give you weeks’ worth of profound wisdom and advice!

But since this was a close, personal, friend whom I’ve come to know very well, I decided to just give her the truth about what I see.  I didn’t come right out and say it, but I had been wondering how she was going to do it all as well.  From my observation of people throughout the past 20 years, the ones who accomplish the most and are the happiest are the ones who embrace and develop enthusiasm.  Successful and happy people, the ones I know personally, are high-energy, positive thinking, very focused, and just generally upbeat people.  They always have strong faith, (although no particular denomination stands out), and usually will readily deject or at the very least get away from negative thinking and negative people.  They have boundless energy and are always smiling.

My friend, despite her good intentions and determination, does not have these qualities.  But then, I don’t know of many of us who do have them naturally.  You have to want to be enthusiastic, and then you have to focus on that desire long enough to develop habits that support it.  What I want to share with you today, are some ways I have found to develop enthusiasm.

1. Don’t sleep too much, and don’t worry about insomnia.  An enthusiastic person is a high-energy person and I’ve never met a high-energy person who sleeps a lot.  Now, we all have different requirements when it comes to sleep, so I’m not going to give you a number.  You know what your number is.  If you’re taking sleep aids to help you sleep and caffeine to help you stay awake, your sleep habits are off balance.  If you’re working on a project that you’re excited about, you can probably get by on as little as 4 hours a night for awhile.  Once the project is completed, you’ll likely go quickly back to your normal hours.  Instead of worrying about not sleeping, use that time to channel your energy into something positive.  Work if you want, relax and watch TV, read a book – use that time to chill out.  The advantage to working is that it just might help your mind relax so that you can go to sleep.  I usually look at my next day’s schedule, do a few little tasks, and then relax knowing that everything else will get done tomorrow.  Sometimes, just staying up an extra hour helps me unwind and then get a good night’s rest.
2. Work out – get on the treadmill.  Do something to get your body going.  Your body is the housing, the casing, if you will, for your mind and is the robot of your spirit.  It needs to be in good working order.  Don’t exercise to lose weight, just do it to feel good.  In time, you’ll likely look good, too, but at first, just focus on how good it makes you feel now.
3. Read more. Knowledge about what you’re doing, getting ready to do, or would like to do, is very empowering.  Empowered people are enthusiastic people.  There is nothing that builds self-esteem faster than going to work, going to class, or going to a social event and knowing that you’re going to get it right.  You have the latest information and you know it cold.  When you approach your work, school, and life with enthusiasm, learning will not feel like a chore, it will feel like passion.
4. Focus your thoughts on what you want – what will it look like and how will it feel once you’ve achieved your accomplishment?  It’s okay if you don’t know exactly, just how to you think your life will be when you’ve achieved your goal?  Don’t get too caught up in the details.  Set your thoughts on what you want and define only as many details as you can and still feel good.  Don’t get caught up in being too specific on how your desires will come to you.  The universe will take care of that.  Listen for inspiration and follow it when it comes.
5. Demonstrate the enthusiastic attitude that you’d like to create.  Pretend.  Fake it until you make it.  I know a lot of people this has worked for.  You can get a vision of who you want to become so vividly, and then play the part so well, that before long, even you believe you are that person.  Why is that?  Because your actions define you are and will become.
6. Appreciate where you are now.  Right now on a sheet of paper or word processor, list 5 things you’ve accomplished in the past week.  Look at all you’ve done and how far you’ve come.  Yes, you will always want more.  But even when you accomplish that, you’ll still want more.  That’s how we grow and become more – by wanting more.  Being satisfied with where you are while enthusiastically expecting more is the fastest way to creating anything you want.
7. Stop complaining. Stop finding fault.  Stop speaking your discord.  Eventually, as you stop saying negative things, you’ll stop thinking negative things.  Once you start speaking and thinking positively on a regular basis, your experience will get better and better.  But don’t take my word for it – try it and see for yourself.
8. Train your brain to find the positive aspects of every situation.  Do you believe that within every adversity is a blessing?  It’s true.  Every obstacle is an opportunity to discover something about yourself and become better.  See every problem from that perspective and you will never have a bad day every again.  In reality, there are no bad days, there are just some days when you grow more than others!  (Stop and think about that one for a moment.)
9. Smile.  Greet people cheerfully and genuinely.  This is the first sign I get that a person is truly enthusiastic and either is or is going to be successful in life.  When I meet someone and they divert their eyes, are distracted constantly, or have to force a smile and cheerful greeting, I know they either don’t want to be there, or are miserable on the inside in some way.  The good news is that by smiling and focusing on the other person, you will momentarily forget whatever it is that is bothering you.  This is called relief and it can have a huge impact on your thought processes.  Various studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins much the same as exercising.  Try it.  Let me know how it works for you.
10. Plan.  There’s just something soothing and energetic about a well-laid-out plan.  Now, you don’t have to stay rigidly adhered to a long-term plan.  I’m a believer in going with your gut, listening to your inner being and taking what feels like the next logical step.  But for me and many other successful people that I talk with, having a plan to start with is energizing and helps keep you motivated because it keeps you on track and helps you notice those serendipitous opportunities when they come along.
11. Get organized and simplify.  What do you really want?  Pick two or three things for now and put everything else on the back burner – you’ll get to it one day.  (If it’s meant to be.)  What’s important to you now – right now – this very moment?  One idea I shared with my friend was to focus on just the roles she’s bound to already:  Mother, wife, employee, and student.  Housekeeper, gourmet chef, landscape artist, part-time blogger, and other things that are stressing her out need to go on the back burner for now.  In the future, if she finds herself bored, she can pick back up with any of those.
12. Dale Carnegie had the best advice of all:  Stop Worrying and Start Living.  Enthusiastic people have trained themselves to focus on solutions and finding them quickly, instead of dwelling on the problems.  When something happens in your life that displeases you, make your mind go immediately to “how can I fix this?”  or “What is it that I do want? And how can I get that?”  If the answer doesn’t come immediately, go for a jog.  Clear your head.  Go dancing.  You’ve experienced situations when you dwelled on an issue for hours on end and came up with nothing.  Finally you gave up and a few hours later what happened?  The solution “came” to you.  You were probably either in the shower or taking a nap or doing something else completely unrelated.  We’ve all had that experience.  People who are successful – and by that I mean happy and satisfied with their life, but eager for more – have trained themselves to not worry about anything, but instead think about solutions using all three parts of their being - body, mind, and spirit.  In our Western culture, we tend to put all of the emphasis on our mind, leave our spirit out of things, and let our bodies suffer.  My friends, the sooner you embrace the connection of your spirit to what your mind is thinking and your body is doing, the sooner you will find the success, inner peace, and happiness that you seek.  How can you tell when you’re on the right path?  You’re enthusiastic about it.

Your assignment for today is to follow the calling of your inner being.  While reading this article, you have felt inspired to do something.  Do it.  Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!

Related Articles:
My Intuition Saves a Child’s Life
7 Ways in Increase Your Enthusiasm
The Power of Momentum
The Power of a Smile

Until next time,
Live Joyfully!

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