Bring it to you

Has anyone ever taught you that you attract into your life opportunities, people, events and circumsatnces based on your plans and thoughts? If not, you're in luck! Your view can change.

If you don't understand this concept, you may think like David Shirmer used to think.  He used to get piles of bills in the mail every day.  He asked himself how he could change this into more appealing conditions.  Since he realized the law of attraction influences how he thinks and what he experiences, he decided to concentrate his thoughts on what he felt he could receive instead.  He decided to begin visualizing that he was receiving cheques via the post.  He kept doing this.  Now within one month of similar, consistent thoughts, his life began to change for the better.  He is still astonished that even today, he still gets more cheques in the mail than bills.  Have you tried it yet? If you haven't, isn't it time you did?

Actor-comedian Jim Carey struggled for years as an aspiring actor. He became very discouraged.  Then, it all changed when he decided to write himself a cheque for 10 million dollars. He made it out to himself and signed it.  Then, he put that into his wallet and carried it everywhere.  After that, whenever he began to feel down, he disciplined himself to take out the cheque and remind himself what he really thought he was worth.  This repeated exercise boosted his confidence and enabled him to attract opportunities and other wealth into his life. Of course, the success he has come to know also relates to attitude. He learned confidence is an asset we can develop in ourselves and being other positive experiences into our lives. 

Where to begin?

Someone asked me today, how should he approach goal-setting? Where should he start? He's not the first person to ask such a question and he likely won't be the last. What about your views?

1) Orient yourself: before anything else, it's vital to consider a destination. Brainstorm where you would like to go or what you would like to do. You'll likely be more motivated if you choose things you like or better still, you're driven by an inner passion. Think about a trip you will take and what you'll need. Before Tony and Maureen Wheeler founded the now famous Lonely Planet travel book publishers in Melbourne, Australia, they traveled through unusual places from England into Asian-Pacific. During their monumental journey, they found they needed maps. When they didn't find what they needed, they were unafraid to develop and draw their own.

2) Categorize ideas: I would break your ideas of destinations down further into areas of your life such as your personal, professional, financial, emotional, spiritual and pursuits in order to focus your energy later. Part of effective goal-setting requires you develop a sense of balance and priorities among your chosen categories. As you learn what is important to you, you'll develop the abilities to discern and intuit in order to multiply opportunities. Consider Jack Canfield, the co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He admits having established goals at different phases of his life which covered different categories, including family and work, health and education, spirituality and other areas. He learned to focus on one thing at a time. It was determination that led him to realize significant milestones. He now shares lessons he learned.

3) Admit the truth: zero in on dimensions of who you really are and what you wish to become. Analyze your previous efforts, where you sense your strengths and weaknesses are. Admitting where you could improve and which benefits you foresee is a valuable way to generate success. It's believed that poet and playwright William Shakespeare wrote far more than he published. He wasn't always satisfied with his efforts. He didn't start out as a writer since he didn't believe in himself and writing didn't initially pay his bills. Yet, his diligence and commitment to what he really wished to do led him to be true to his soul and evolve into a popular writer during his life. His works are translated into key languages, and his plays are still performed worldwide.

4) Review your attitude: how you perceive yourself and what is possible will influence how far you are willing to go to achieve what you set out for yourself. This will reveal courage, judgment, and how you react to opinions of your goals. Louis Pasteur was a French microbiologist who made valuable discoveries in part because he wasn't easily discouraged by what people around him were saying or doing. His research and experiments confirmed how germs cause disease. He also discovered the rabies vaccine. Pasteur is also known to the West for a process he created called pasteurization. This prevents milk and wine from going sour. He thought he could and he did. How often do you encounter opposition? Be bold and nourish your self-esteem.

5) Write and attract positive energy : do all you can to visualize what you wish to feel, who you wish to meet, which mountains you wish to climb. You are preparing yourself for something. You're moving toward places you've never been. Writing and taking other steps to reinforce the power you hold to make them happen. New Zealand aviator Jean Batten flew solo from England to New Zealand in 1934 and became known for other record-breaking flights that followed. Similarly, Anne Morrow Lindbergh was also a pioneering aviator in her era. Both women became known for the books they wrote to give life to their adventures, thoughts and feelings in ways which engaged the public in surprising ways. They teach show goals can be emotionally-charged.

7 habits of greater effectiveness

Abundance can emerge in the form of affluence and prosperity, as well as in the form of knowledge and opportunities that could benefit your business. The key to wealth is to find ways to continue learning by challenging ourselves to redefine good fortune. You may start a new business, take a course, or take other steps to somehow better yourself and share your assets so others may benefit from your lessons.

In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey suggests how each of us can develop the tools needed to create wealth and fulfillment in our lives.

Habit #1: Be Proactive: these people do more than take initiatives.  They recognize they're responsible for their own choices and have the freedom to choose based on princles and values rather than on moods and conditions. These individuals are agents of change.

Habit #2: Begin with the end in Mind: these people shape their own future by creating a mental vision and purpose for individual projects.  They identify and commit themselves to relationships, principles and purposes that matter most to them.

Habit #3: Put First Things First: these people effectively organize and execute priorities. Come what may, they're driven by their principles and undeterred by changing external circumstances. They roll with the punches.

Habit #4: Think Win-Win: these people seek mutual benefit and mutual respect in all interactions. They think in terms of abundance, opportunity and collective "we" not ego. The aim to continually build more trusting relationships orients their emotional investments.

Habit #5: Seek First to Understand, then be Understood: these people use courage and consideration to listen with intent. They aim to get to know their market, audience, or other focus of their energies so their effort is well-targeted and people benefit. They seek first to be attentive and absorb and later reply openly to build effective exchanges. They aren't afraid to ask questions and prioritize views.

Habit #6:Synergize: these people seek to negotiate and compromise. They're willing to sacrifice part of their position in creative ways in order to respect or value another person's differences.

Habit #7: Sharpen the Saw: these people constantly improve themselves in physical, social-emotional, mental and spiritual areas of their lives. They aim to be well-rounded and promote balance as an example. This increases all habits of effectiveness.

Tap into your potential

You are the key to your own achievements.  You are a bubbling source of infinite ideas that is within your control.  You emit the frequency of energy you need to clarify your next project.  Whenever you receive anything, from a grade on a test, to the assistance of a friend, recognize that you brought it all on yourself.  Who you were is less important than who you choose to become.  Focus energy on what you want and those undesireables will move out of your life.

Goal-setting is a systematic way of motivating yourself to overcome obstacles.  Do it for yourself.  As you intentionally identify something to work toward, the biggest thing to do is just start.  Your attitude can act as your compass.  You will chart out a course to follow.  You are the captain of your own ship.   As you take one step at-a-time, you can learn to overcome self-defeating thoughts, destructive patterns and beliefs outside yourself that hold you back.

Identify the nature of your goal.  Does it concern your personal life? Your job? Your spiritual pursuits? Your leisure activities? Put a realistic timeframe on what you aim to accomplish. You may wish to reach out for advice or assistance to help get you on your way.  Talking about your plans makes you more likely to realize them.  Other people who know can also encourage you.  With perseverence and focus, you will commit to make it happen.

Try these affirmations (and feel free to add your own):

I will accomplish my task before that approaching deadline.

I am building the stamina and endurance to finish the annual marathon.

I believe that external problem will resolve itself if I focus more on my inner growth.

I trust that studying hard will result in good scores on my tests.

I plan to achieve that weightloss milestone before my next birthday.

I diligently invest money to save for my retirement.

Fact & faith

If deepening human values is intrinsic to our human quest for happiness, then it would be in our interest to develop a more holistic and integrated way of learning about the world.  What if it became manditory to explore both the seen and unseen?  To reflect on what is perceptible and imperceptible? To ponder equal rationale for fact and faith? What if spirituality and science were both used as accepted and complimentary means of investigating human existence and survival? 

As it stands, people often take a scientific view or a spiritual view rather than consider them together.  Historical, socio-economic and policial reasons aim to convince us they must be separate. We're led to believe scientific facts are meant to disprove the logic of faith, mysteries and uncertainty.  While the significance and influence of modern Science redefine our motive for curiosity, Science is not the only basis for all that is known and that is also yet to be discovered.

Science definitely has implications for how we understand our world. What we consider to be acceptable or unacceptable behavior in ourselves and in leaders is influenced by perceived morals of scientists.  How susceptible are we to the influence of views around us?  Science develops and draws information from repeatable experiments and empircal data. We choose to believe the discovered limits of gravity, relativity, light, water and other physical laws or face the predicted consequences. 

At times, challenging limits leads us to fascinating new discoveries.  Consider the Earth was once considered to be flat and it used to be assumed we couldn't prove travel was possible beyond the understood speed of light.  These limits were shattered because humans questioned elements of Science.  If humans were to suddenly take everything as is currently understood to be true, then we would cease learning.

Spiritual views remind us that it would not be in the interest of Humanity if we simply act to facilitate scientific progress at the expense of everything else which offers insight about our world.  To recognize that other valuable ways of perceiving and understanding exist reminds us our motives for using Science should include heart and mind.  We also benefit from recognizing that Science is not well-equipped to answer philosophical questions, such as the meaning of life, which go beyond calculations and predictions of probability.   Human existence isn't limited to the facts that Science offers to provide.  To look beyond supposed facts, we must take a leap of faith.