Why would I even ask that question? Well, let’s think about the differences between the two for a minute. A caterpillar crawls from leaf to leaf, eating, sleeping, and crawling. He does the same thing, day in and day out, not realizing that anything else is possible. A butterfly, on the other hand, goes where it wants to go, and drinks nectar from the choicest flowers. Some butterflies travel thousands of miles to spend the winter in a warm, sunny climate.

Clearly, the difference between the two is extraordinary. What is even more extraordinary is the fact that the butterfly was once an ordinary caterpillar.

Programmed by instinct

The caterpillar has no idea that, hidden in his genetic structure is the potential to become a beautiful butterfly. After all, he was born a caterpillar and that’s all he has ever known. Even if a butterfly lands right next to him on a leaf, the caterpillar simply cannot grasp the difference. It’s outside of his frame of reference.

When instinct finally moves him to build a cocoon around himself and begin a transformation that will forever change his life, he still doesn’t know what is going on. That is because everything he does is according to instinct. He does what he is programmed to do.  Unlike you and me, the caterpillar does not have a choice.

In the absence of instinct

In our case, instinct is not usually enough to bring about a complete life transformation. Fortunately we have something more than instinct. Unlike that caterpillar, we have freedom of choice. We also have the ability to comprehend that more is possible. Even if we have never lived the life we truly desire, we still recognize that such a life is possible.

Somewhere inside of us, we are all convinced that a life of true fulfillment and satisfaction is our birthright. So, for us, the question is not so much, “is it possible,” but rather, “how is it possible?” How do we go about transforming our current existence into the life of our dreams?

Never mind the odds, they’re irrelevant

If everybody around us was living a happy and satisfying life, it would seem like a much more realistic goal. But that’s not the case, is it? In fact, most people’s lives more closely resemble that of the caterpillar, rather than the butterfly.

Don’t let the lack of obvious examples lead you to believe that living the life of your dreams is not possible. The choices that other people make have nothing to do with what is possible for you to achieve. If you make different choices, you can achieve different results. So then, odds have absolutely nothing to do with it. In reality, it all comes down to personal choice. Of course, when we make a choice, we need the knowledge to back it up. I could choose to be a molecular biologist, but my choice would never become a reality if I did not acquire the right knowledge.

What kind of knowledge?

When it comes to transforming your life, certain uncommon skills are required. So, we usually need to acquire the right kind of knowledge and then apply what we learn to develop these uncommon skills. As you know, I call them advanced life skills.

Most of us have been denied this knowledge, and as a result, most are lacking in these skills. That doesn’t mean that these skills are difficult, it just means that through the normal course of our life we have never had the opportunity to learn them.

What would you do if you were given the opportunity?

The funny thing about opportunity is that it only has value if we take advantage of it. How many missed opportunities can you look back on? I think we’ve all missed our share for one reason or another.

If you were given the opportunity to break through your current obstacles and radically alter the quality of your life, would you take advantage of it? I am convinced that you would because everyone who reads this blog and subscribes to my newsletter is actively seeking ways to improve their lives.

Your choice, caterpillar or butterfly!

It’s my job to provide you with opportunities to gain the knowledge and develop those uncommon life skills for accelerated personal growth. It’s your job to choose what you want to do with those opportunities. At some point we all have to make a choice.

Do you want to go on searching or hoping as life passes you by? Do you want to continue gathering bits and pieces of useful information, and trying to put them all together for yourself? Or, are you finally ready to make a personal breakthrough?

Personally, I think you are ready!
What do you think?
The lines are open!

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Because life is such a multifaceted experience, achieving balance can be an extremely difficult challenge. Let’s face it, there is a lot to do and only so much time and energy to go around.

I’ve often thought that it would be nice to have an extra day in the week. Not just a normal day, but one that wasn’t counted and didn’t show on the calendar. Imagine, a totally free day to use however you wanted. What would you do with your extra day? Here’s something else to think about…

Why does the “free day” concept sound so good?

Isn’t it because there never seems to be enough time for everything? And why is that? It’s because we let work expand to fill the time available. This is why we convince ourselves that more time would solve the apparent shortage and allow us to get everything done. But is that really what would happen?

I don’t think so!

You see, if we only had six days in a week, then we would say the same thing about the possibility of having seven. Oh, if I only had an extra day so I could get everything done. It wouldn’t matter if we had 8, 9, or even 10 days in the week, we would still let work expand to fill the time available. That’s because…

Productive people always have a backlog of things they want to get done. That’s a good thing, unless we try to squeeze them into our schedule too tightly. When we do that it changes the dynamic of everything. You can only pack so many “to do things ” into your day before something has to give.

Compression always creates a rise in pressure

Doing more, more, more is not the answer. In fact, neither is continually operating at maximum capacity. There’s a name for that approach. Maybe you’ve heard it, it’s called STRESSED OUT! And it is often followed by a close cousin named BURNED OUT.

Have you been down that road? If so, then you probably realize that stressed out is not a very productive state, and burned out is actually counterproductive. Oh, you can probably function under increasing stress for a while, but sooner or later it will bite you. What happens when you try to do 15 hours worth of work into an 8 hour work day? Unavoidably, the pressure (stress) goes up, it’s the law of compression. Adding an extra day won’t change things because…

It’s not about time, it’s about balance!

Balance means that we portion our time and energy in a way that benefits our whole life. We get out of balance when one aspect of our life is stealing time and energy from the others.

To be balanced, we need to give sufficient attention to all of life’s important areas, including our physical, emotional and spiritual well being. We need to be creative, as well as productive. We need to care about what is going on in the lives of those around us instead of just focusing on the task at hand. Balance means that work is just a part of the picture, not the whole panorama.

You need to make a choice

Let’s face it, you can do quantity or you can do quality. If you want to do both, then you need to hire some good people. Otherwise, it’s one or the other, that’s just the way it is. To raise the quality of your life in all of the important areas requires you to set certain limits.

If you have a family, a business, and a few other obligations, then you have more than enough to do. Not only do you need to balance your time and energy in those areas, but you also need to avoid adding to the mix. Life is about choices, and sometimes that means being able to say no.

A universal truth

Quality always takes longer, it can’t be rushed. To have a quality family life you have to be willing to invest your time and energy. The same applies to your business. Do you want to maintain optimal health? That takes time as well. Everything done well takes time and time is something you only have so much of. So here’s what I suggest…

Do less, but do it better

This is the only reasonable approach to a life that is both high quality and balanced. Limit the number of commitments, so you can feel good about being deeply involved in the areas of your life that really matter. You will experience fewer distractions and feel less hurried. This will automatically bring a greater sense of joy and meaning to everything you do.

Learning to filter out the activities that don’t really matter is a great way to create more time and energy for the things that are truly important.

Here are a few simple guidelines for incorporating balance into your life.

1) Set priorities. Make a list of everything that you do with your time and energy, and then figure out your top priorities. Be realistic as you assign a value to each activity. Ask yourself, “Does this really contribute to the quality of my life?” If there is any doubt, toss it out.

2) The highest priorities get the majority of your time. Don’t allow incidental activities to consume large amounts of time. If it is a low priority, that means it gets a very limited ration of time and energy. If you don’t put limits in place, you will waste valuable time on things that don‘t really matter.

3) Make a plan and stick to it. If you have scheduled family time, don’t let the predictable “something unexpected came up at work” change your plan. In your heart you already know how valuable your family is to you. Make sure that your life reflects those feelings!

4) Use your time efficiently. Always look for ways to accomplish more in less time and with less effort. Don’t think in terms of “hours of work.” Get away from the concept of making so much per hour. If your occupation allows for it, think in terms of making so much per project. Then look for ways to accomplish your projects in less time. If you do work by the hour, figure out how to make yourself significantly more valuable to your employer so he can justify paying you a much higher salary.

5) Take time to focus on others. This might sound strange, but spending some part of your day focused on other people will expose you to new, creative ways of thinking. Answers and solutions often appear when our attention is elsewhere. You can create opportunities for this to happen by purposely shifting your focus. Paying attention to others also builds the quality of your relationships on several levels. Remember, we’re all in it together.

6) Eat healthy foods and get regular exercise. Feeling good makes life better. Without your health, nothing else really matters. Don’t ride when you can walk. Choose nutritious food instead of fast food. Value your body and show your appreciation by treating it with respect. Not only will you feel better, but the quality of your whole life will improve.

7) Schedule some time to decompress. Don’t be a slave to productivity. A balanced life includes time to relax and enjoy a change of pace. When you take time out for yourself, you establish a more balanced perspective of everything else. Balance makes life seem easier and more rewarding, because that is exactly what it is.

What helps you stay balanced when things get crazy?
Have something you would like to add to the list?
The lines are open!

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What is it that prevents you from doing all the things you really want to do?  Is fear involved?  Fear is such a powerful emotion that it can literally put a stranglehold on our lives. That’s often true, even when our logical mind says, “you can do it.”

This is because our emotions are more powerful than our logic.  In a battle between our minds and our emotions, guess who is going to win?  You’ve probably experienced this in your own life.  Have you ever been presented with a great opportunity and logically concluded that you should take advantage of it? Was it fear that stopped you?

The fear factor

Fear comes in all shapes and sizes.  For example, fear of failure creates doubt and anxiety, which can paralyze us from taking action.  Even if we are 97% sure that something will work out favorably, that 3% fear factor can stop us in our tracks.

Then there’s fear of ridicule or of displeasing someone whose approval is
important to us.  Emotionally, approval represents pleasure and it’s something we all long for. On the other hand, ridicule and disapproval represent pain and the strongest human tendency is to move away from pain.

So even when our mind is 97% sure that acting on this opportunity will result in pleasure, the 3% possibility of pain can be very persuasive.  This is especially true under challenging circumstances.  For example: the current economic squeeze that is being felt by just about everyone. It’s much easier to muster up the confidence to try something new when our life feels stable and under control.

Economic influences

The current economic situation however, is chipping away at people’s sense of stability and security.  Things that they felt they could count on, such as jobs and investments, are suddenly gone.  This can create a massive sense of fear and insecurity.  When you’re unsure of the things that you thought you could count on, how are you supposed to feel confident about trying something else?

Many times it’s our perception of circumstance that will determine how they affect us emotionally.  Is the glass half full or half empty?  Has the economy just dealt a fatal blow, or has it opened up a new opportunity?  It’s all about perception.

It’s much easier to maintain an optimistic point of view when we’ve got all our bases covered, or at least most of them.  It’s difficult though, to adjust to challenges when they come suddenly and unexpectedly.  When you’ve invested years in a company, a business or a financial plan, the tendency to adopt a negative viewpoint can be very strong when these assets are threatened.

Advanced life skills

Learning to control how we perceive the events and circumstances going on around us can feel very challenging, if not impossible. Logically, you may reason that such control is possible, but how do you feel about it emotionally?

Once again we see that fear can create doubt, which in turn prevents us from taking action.  So any program that attempts to teach you how to exercise control over your perception would also need to show you how to change the way you channel negative, fearful energy.  I use the term channel because energy is energy, it can be used for good or bad.  It can serve us, or limit us.

Having someone tell you that you need to view some event as an opportunity instead of a catastrophe doesn’t really help much, does it?  Being told that you are in control of your own emotions, including fear, is a lot different than being shown how to exercise that control.

Learning Advanced life skills

All too often, those who are looking for real help only receive bits and pieces.  It’s a challenging prospect to transform the quality of your life.  But for those willing to put forth the effort, I honestly feel that you deserve more than the partial information and abstract concepts so common these days.

My goal in writing TRUE SELF was to give you a practical, down to earth, step-by-step guide that was easy to follow, and that would successfully walk you through the complete transformation process. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, I also wanted to refine it down to a manageable size so it would not be overwhelming. I am very pleased with the results, and I think you will be also. Why not have a look at the reviews and see how much this book has helped others to make empowering changes in their lives?

Has fear been getting in your way lately?
Do you feel like there are fewer opportunities available to you?
The lines are open!

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My book TRUE SELF is the fastest inexpensive way (coaching is the fastest) to make positive life changes very quickly. Do you want to discover your core passions, dismantle your hidden, limiting beliefs, and realize your most desired goals? TRUE SELF will guide you smoothly through the process.

Photography is an amazing way to learn about focus. This is because the very act of viewing life through the lens of a camera can help to us to develop a truly empowering skill. We call that skill focus, and learning to use it properly can transform our perception of the world around us.

3 things photography can teach us about focus

1. The higher the magnification, the narrower the field of vision. This principle is what allows you to use a telephoto lens to pick out a single face in a very large crowd. As you focus in on that one subject, the rest of the crowd disappears from view. Why does that happen? Because your field of vision narrows until the entire frame is filled with that one face.

When you take the picture, the crowd is excluded. It doesn’t mean that there is no crowd. It simply means that you don’t see them in the picture because that is not what you were focused on.

Application: Your perception is determined by what you focus on. This means that we can use our ability to focus our attention in a way that causes an empowering shift in our perception. It doesn’t matter whether we are looking at a person, situation, or an experience. We can control what our picture looks like by controlling what we choose to focus on.

If you focus intently on the positive aspects of any person, place, or thing, the negative aspects will fade into the background. They will still exist, but they will be outside of your field of concentration, and will have little or no influence on the picture you see.

2. Lighting has a huge influence on how you see things, and your ability to focus. If you set your camera on a tripod and focus it on a single object, the lighting will determine how you see that object.

Imagine that you have decided to photograph a magnificent tree that is standing alone on the top of a hill. If your camera remained stationary, and you took one picture every hour from sunup till sundown, what would you have? You would have twelve (or so) completely different photographs. Why? Even though the subject remained the same, the variation in lighting changed its appearance.

Application: The degree of value we choose to assign to anything we focus on can be compared to lighting. If it is something of great importance, we put a spotlight on it so we can see every detail. If it is relatively insignificant, we dial down the light so it doesn’t distract from the things that really matter.

If we assign too much value to (shine a spotlight on) things of little importance, they will overshadow the more valuable aspects of our life.

By assigning increased value to thing like gratitude, relationships, health, and honesty, we bring those things front and center in our life. This means that they move higher on our list of priorities and capture more of our attention. As a result, less empowering aspects of life will be relegated to a lower priority and receive less attention.

3. Shutter speed affects the quality and clarity of any photograph. Under glaring conditions, exposure time needs to be reduced to avoid overexposing the picture. When the lighting is poor, a slower shutter speed allows enough time for the available light to properly expose the image.

If you use a fast shutter speed in a low light situation, the image will not register. Your picture will be underexposed and worthless as a result. Using a slower shutter speed when trying to capture an action shot will give you a blurry picture devoid of details, also worthless.

Exposure time needs to change to fit the requirements of each situation. If it doesn’t, then quality and clarity are compromised.

Application: In life, we need to make choices about what we are willing to expose ourselves to, and for how long. We only have so many hours in a day. Learning to manage the time available is really a process of deciding how much time we spend on each activity.

If you stay too long at unimportant activities (overexpose yourself), you will end up underexposing yourself to the really important ones. Once again, exposure time needs to change to fit the requirements of each situation. We also need to acknowledge that some things are not worth exposing ourselves to at all.

Making positive changes in the quality of our life requires that we assign meaningful amounts of time to meaningful pursuits. If we don’t control our time, mundane activities will expand to fill the time available. By managing your time and adjusting your exposure, you will be able to give greater focus to activities that make a solid contribution to the quality of your life.

Auto focus, is it good or bad?

For most of us, photography is a point and shoot process. Automatic cameras require very little skill to produce fairly nice pictures. Truly exceptional photographs however, still require a skilled photographer to manually control the focus and shutter speed, and to recognize or create the perfect lighting.

High quality photos are still produced by those with enough skill to make the best use of the tools available. They want above average results, and they consider it worth their time and effort to develop the necessary skills.

What Kind of results do you want?

For a lot of people, life is just an average experience, it’s a point and shoot affair. Generally, this is not because they don’t want an exceptional life. It may be because they haven’t taken the time to develop the life skills required to produce exceptional results. Or perhaps, they never had an opportunity to learn those life skills in the first place. Whatever the reason, the skills are available for anyone desiring to live a truly exceptional life.

How about you, is average good enough, or do you want exceptional? When you look at your life, what kind of picture do you want to see?

Do you find it difficult to control your focus?
How much influence do you think focus has on perception?
The lines are open!

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My book TRUE SELF is the fastest inexpensive way (coaching is the fastest) to make positive life changes very quickly. Do you want to discover your core passions, dismantle your hidden, limiting beliefs, and realize your most desired goals? TRUE SELF will guide you smoothly through the process.

The only constant in life is change. Sounds like an oxymoron but it really is true. Here’s how it works: A trend starts, picks up momentum and blows right past the point of balance. What happens next?

It turns around and does the same thing in the opposite direction. Like a pendulum swinging from side to side, life is always in a state of motion and changes direction frequently.

Can we achieve stability in motion?

True stability is not the absence of change!  Rather, stability is the ability to maintain balance in a changing world. As individuals, our challenge is to develop a strong, inner sense of balance that is not easily disrupted by changing external influences.

When we feel balanced in our own life, our sense of identity is not threatened just because circumstances have changed. This means that we are both adaptable and stable at the same time.

Developing your inner gyroscope

Inner stability requires a degree of internal fortitude. We can begin to develop this fortitude by recognizing and appreciating our own unique set of resources, strengths, values, and abilities. We need to spend some time figuring out who we are as a person and learn to connect with that person.

Sadly, most of us have lost touch with our creative self. We have allowed the roles we play to define who we are as a person when it should be the other way around. From this perspective the winds of change can easily throw us off balance.

4 Powerful outside influences

1) Jobs and friends. If we get our identity from what we do, then the loss of a job can trigger a full-blown identity crisis. If your identity is based on who you know, the loss of a friend might cause you to question who you really are.

2) Advertisers. We would all like to think that we make up our own minds about most things.  In reality we are constantly being conditioned by our environment to link certain things with pain or pleasure.  Advertisers study human behavior in an effort to link their products to our emotions.  Their advertising campaigns are designed to create subconscious, emotional associations designed to influence the choices we make.

3) Associates. The attitude of our close associates also has a powerful influence on our personal paradigms.  Their opinions can actually precondition us to view things the way that they do.  We may value someone else’s opinion so much, that we subconsciously adopt their viewpoint without any personal experience.

4) Crowds. Groups can also shape our preferences.  In such cases, acceptance often hinges on our ability to conform to group opinion.

Internal verses external

Your life and its many pursuits should be an expression of your most cherished dreams and values.  Not the ones dictated to you by advertisers, friends, or group opinions.

Most people choose a life course that is based on external criteria.  They end up following a path that leads away from the expression of their true self. Consequently, with each step they actually distance themselves from the life they truly long for.

Know yourself

Circumstances and friends have a way of changing.  Sometimes they support our dreams and passions while at other times they provide a challenge.  The ability to keep your dreams alive in the face of challenging circumstances is one of the greatest attributes of a successful person.

To accomplish this requires that you actually know who you really are and what you really want. Once you are in touch with your true self, the changes around you become much less influential. Instead of your identity being anchored to external forces, it remains safe and secure no matter which way the winds of change decide to blow.

How’s your inner sense of balance holding up?
Do you have a stability strategy you want to share?
The lines are open!

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My book TRUE SELF is the fastest inexpensive way (coaching is the fastest) to make positive life changes very quickly. From discovering and dismantling your limiting beliefs, to aligning with and realizing your most cherished goals – and everything in between. TRUE SELF will guide you through the process.

There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to the difference between having goals and plain, old, wishful thinking.  I often hear people talking about their personal goals and find their enthusiasm to be very encouraging.  Everyone should have goals.

When I ask these same people about their strategies for reaching those goals, it’s not uncommon to hear the phrase “I’m going to try.”   I know their intentions are good, but the simple truth is that trying is not a strategy.  In fact, it’s usually a combination of wishful thinking topped with a token amount of effort.

What does this accomplish?

Most of the time simply trying will result in little or no progress.  Even if some initial progress is experienced, the results will likely be very short lived. This creates a negative feedback loop that can actually hinder our willingness to set personal goals. After all, if they never succeed in producing their intended result, then, what’s the point of trying again?

Think about that for a moment. Not only do halfhearted efforts lead to disappointing results, they also stifle a person’s enthusiasm toward future goals. If this pattern continues, it can easily result in limiting beliefs about what that person is or is not capable of.  And, just think, it all started with the best of intentions.

Intentions are not enough!

People who are successful at setting and reaching their personal goals understand that there is a process involved, and that this process can be duplicated.  They recognize that reaching goals involves several stages and that success comes by carefully following the process from one stage to the next. If we skip one of the necessary steps, the process falls apart.

Wishful thinking, on the other hand, involves a desired outcome but lacks a sound strategy for achieving that outcome.  There is a huge difference between wanting something to happen and following a systematic approach for making it happen.

We are not born with life skills, they need to be learned

The process involved in successfully setting and accomplishing goals is one that anyone can learn.  If your efforts to reach your personal goals in the past did not produce the results you were hoping for, chances are, you did not fully understand the process.  So please, don’t fall into the trap of believing that you simply don’t have what it takes.

Instead of taking it personally, recognize that most of us simply have never been taught effective strategies for reaching our goals.  The good news is, once you acquire the necessary information and put it to use, you can expect to experience dramatically improved results.

How do we learn these skills?

There are a number of ways to learn the skills we need for goal setting, or any other area of personal development. Let’s look at a few choices.

1) Imitate success. One of the best ways we can learn to be successful in any area is to find people who are already producing good results and then imitate them.  Do you know somebody who is successful at reaching their goals? Why not spend some time with that person?  If you learn to think the way they think, and take action in the same way that they do, you should be able to produce similar results.

2) Trial and error. Like it or not, much of life is a process of trial and error. No matter how much we try to piece together the necessary information, success will still require that we make some adjustments. Gathering partial information here and there and then using what we learn to create a personal strategy can be very rewarding.  Nevertheless, we will still need to put our ideas to the test before we know whether they will work or not. This is the most common approach to personal development and it has a substantial learning curve.

3) Get a blueprint. If we can find a reliable, step-by-step blueprint that outlines the skills we need without leaving out vital information, we can simply follow the instructions. This is getting to be a very popular learning alternative. The problem is, very few affordable, blueprint type programs are actually complete enough to teach you the whole process. Also, since we are all different, a good personal success blueprint should be fully customizable to your particular needs. That is precisely why I wrote TRUE SELF. For less than the cost of a large pizza you can get a stand alone, step-by-step, totally customizable guide for personal success.

4) Personal coaching. I know it seems like an expensive alternative, but of all the ways to learn effective, customized strategies for achieving your personal goals in life, this is the clear leader. An experienced life or business coach can save you literally years of frustration over trying to cut and paste your way to personal success. There is nothing quite like the personalized attention of someone with both the experience and knowledge you are seeking. In the long run, hiring the right coach may be the least expensive way to quickly learn the right skills for reaching your goals in record time. Remember, cost is relative and your time is valuable.

Set your personal goals and follow through

Regardless of the approach you choose, the important thing is that you do more than just try to reach your goals. Any goal worth setting deserves to be acted on, and your course of action needs to include a systematic plan for producing your intended results.

Always keep in mind that learning to effectively set and achieve your goals is a life skill, and skills are something we acquire over time. Like any other skill, the more experienced you become at following through on your goals, the easier it will be to produce meaningful results.

Do you have a proven strategy for achieving your goals?
Where do you go for help with your life skills?
If you could have 3 free sessions with a life coach,
what subjects would you want to cover?

The entire process of transforming your personal goals into reality is detailed in sections 3 and 4 of my book TRUE SELF. These sections, Intended Outcome  and Designing Success, include eight chapters devoted to helping you fully harness your internal vision and path connection.

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Do we receive in proportion to our contributions, or do we receive in proportion to our capacity to receive?  I promise you, this question worthy of your consideration. The major difference between these two different schools of thought regarding how we “receive” is that one is conditional and one is not.

Why does this matter? There was a time when my own emotions were wrapped around the idea of receiving in proportion to my contributions. In other words, according to what I thought I deserved. Oddly, this was true even though, in my mind, I accepted the idea of receiving in proportion to my capacity to receive.

Are you confused yet?

Let me walk you through the thinking process that helped me sort this out.  As I thought about it, this is what I came to realize.

1) If we receive only in proportion to what we give, then some part of us is convinced that we must earn what we get.  The subconscious mind reasons something like this: “ I did something, so now I deserve my reward because I earned it.”

2) If I can only receive what I think I deserve then it’s actually linked to ‘wanting’ approval. How so? Somewhere deep inside of me, I was holding the belief that receiving was my just compensation for doing my part.

3) This meant that I needed to approve of my own efforts before I would allow myself to receive that compensation. (Read that again so it soaks in)

Getting what I deserve is conditional receiving

This is essentially the mentality of a wage earner, and in the world of employers and employees that’s exactly how it works.  The thing is, I am not my own employee and my inner sense of approval should be based on who I am, not on what I do or how much I give.

As long as I live in harmony with my true self I will already have my own approval and therefore won’t be “wanting” for it. The approval we all want is from within. When we don’t have that, then we go searching for an external source.

I was obstructing the flow

Everything in life is a flow, energy flows to us and through us.  It doesn’t need our approval. All we really need to do is open the gates and get out of the way. But in this case I was actually in my own way. How?

Putting a condition on my ability to receive meant that I was closing the gate and only allowing energy to flow in after I felt that a sufficient amount had flowed out. That’s not how abundance works. When you’re filled to overflowing, the flow continues.

Every time we internalize any sort of problem in life, we disrupt the energy flow.  To restore the flow we need to release the problem.  There are two ways to do this. We can either release every little problem that comes along or we can identify and release the emotion behind the problem.  Get rid of the unhealthy emotion and you get rid of every single problem attached to it, automatically.

Taking it to the next level

If you can identify the emotional category where those “problem” feelings come from, you can actually eliminate the unwanted emotions and all the problems that go with them – all at once.  So, now you actually have three choices. You can clear out one little problem (limiting emotional anchor) at a time, one small group of problems at a time, or you can dump the whole category all at once.

Every unwanted emotion originates with one of the three “wants.”  It is either a want of approval, a want of security, or a want of control.  In my case I discovered that it was a want of approval.  Whose approval did I want?  My own of course!  Once I got rid of the “want,” what I had left was – approval!  That’s because wanting is a state of lacking and to “have” you must release the want.

Stop trying to earn abundance

This is a difficult concept to explain in such a short article, but I hope I have at least piqued your interest. I hope you will take some time to have a closer look at your beliefs about receiving. Try to free your mind of the idea that you can only receive what you think you deserve. That is a limiting mindset.

The bottom line is this: You have an unlimited capacity to receive. Don’t limit that capacity by making it conditional. It is more than okay to receive abundantly. The goal here is to remove any self-imposed resistance that might be interfering with the flow of positive, abundant energy into your life.

What is your criteria for receiving?
The lines are open!

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“The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum.”  -Tony Robbins

Have you ever hesitated to take action and ended up stuck in a rut not knowing what to do? There are some common reasons why this happens.  Sometimes we are waiting for some kind of sign to indicate that it’s okay to move forward. We might be waiting until we feel more confident because we don’t really feel up to the challenge. Or, we could be thinking that if we just wait awhile those obstacles will disappear and our goals will be easier to achieve.

Okay, I admit that in some cases it’s entirely possible that one of these strategies is legitimate, or at least it feels like it is. But how often do we use those reasons as excuses to avoid leaving our comfort zone? Let’s face it, if we are looking to justify procrastination there is no shortage of reasonable sounding excuses. If the ones I’ve mentioned don’t resonate with you check out 7 Common Procrastination Excuses by Sid Savara.

Procrastination is the equivalent of going nowhere!

The longer we wait to take action, the harder it is to get started. Circumstances will never be perfect and waiting until they are is the same as going nowhere. The truth is, it will probably never get any easier to move forward and every moment that we hold back will just make things worse.

“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”   -Wayne Gretzky

When we avoid taking action it’s often because we have created resistance in our own mind. We have convinced ourselves that what we want to do is exceedingly difficult. But is that really true or is it just an avoidance technique?

Create momentum, create confidence

Momentum is one of those rare, self-perpetuation phenomenon. That’s what makes it so powerful. The perfect example of momentum is a snowball rolling down a snow covered bank. What happens? It grows and picks up speed along the way, right? How does this apply to achieving our goals and living our dreams?

Instead of getting bogged down by excuses, we need to create some momentum as soon as possible. And really, this is not something that is all that difficult to do. That giant, fast moving snowball started out small and slow. The reason it grew was because it kept moving. We don’t always need to launch into action like a rocket, but we do need to start moving and to keep moving so we can build some momentum.

Taking consistent action toward your goals is the best way to build momentum. That means that taking action will get easier and easier as you go along. Eventually the actions you take will require much less effort.  You’ll begin to enjoy your activities because you’ll feel more empowered and confident and you’ll have momentum on your side.

3 Ways to build momentum

1) Commit to taking the necessary action steps first. That’s what you really need to focus on. One of the things that can prevent us from reaching our goals is making only a very limited commitment to taking the actions that will get us there. Early on, action needs to be our main concern. Obviously, we want to keep our goal in sight, but the majority of our attention should go toward taking consistent and purposeful action. That’s how we build momentum!

2) Break the process down into baby steps. Taking small, consistent steps toward a goal is generally much more effective than large, sporadic actions. Plus, it’s easier to get ourselves to act on smaller tasks. Even tiny actions will eventually begin to build momentum and produce results, as long as we are consistent.  Making it your primary mission to move forward consistently will make it much easier to overcome obstacles because with each step your confidence will grow.

3) Don’t shift your focus toward results too early.  Many a goal has been abandoned because people take an action, wait to see what the results are, and quit when they don’t see the results they expected.  Don’t get so obsessed with results that you allow yourself to get discouraged.  In other words, focus only on keeping the ball rolling, even if you’re not yet seeing the results you want just yet. If you get discouraged and quit, you’re guaranteed not to see results. Focus on building momentum.

Use momentum to overcome procrastination

Taking action leaves procrastination in the dust. If you do something every day that moves you toward your goals, you’ll be too busy to think about making excuses. Dale Carnegie made this point nicely when he said:

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

Do you ever struggle with procrastination?
What helps you to keep taking action toward your goals?
The lines are open!

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