Honor past events

Stepping stones

To explore the present

While designing

Probable futures

All things happen now

Of the many mind powers we possess, INTENT is one that we tend to put on autopilot most of the time. Intent gets us to move from here to there. Without intent, we would be stuck in one place.

We have a job. We set our intent to get up, eat, clean up, dress up, and go to work at certain times. We look in the refrigerator and see we need certain foods, so the intent is set to go to the store and get these foods.

Our intended meal times, play times, sleep times, vacation times often fall into a very familiar pattern. We scarcely recognize exercising our intent to do these things since they are so familiar to us.

We are living in a time of extraordinary change. We are constantly being exposed to new energies that our changing our life dynamics, our time sense, our DNA structures, our capabilities. The operative word here is ‘new’. New indicates change. This change allows us to open up to more and more of our angelic-soul energies.

However, we can only open up to more and more of our angelic-soul powers if we intend to. This intent to open up to the new energies carries with it the necessity of letting go of old habit patterns. The new and the old can not exist together. As the saying goes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.

The choice is yours. The choice is always yours.

LOVE YOURSELF ALWAYS! Love is the cornerstone of your being.

Al Bouchard is President of Angels of Light Fellowship in Sylva, North Carolina. He has over thirty years experience with meditation, auric energies, and metaphysical concepts. He publishes MYSTIC MEANINGS in his Auric Expressions website where his Whispers can also be found. Al publishes two blogs about spirituality and dreams and their meanings. At the Angels of Light Fellowship web site, he offers free online Meditation Lessons he wrote. Go to auriclight.com/dreams/ auriclight.com/dreams/ to visit his web page with links to his works.

The right to riches belongs to every child of the universe. You have to
take action to get what you want. The riches can come in many forms,
Good health, wealth, harmony, progress, prosperity, protection, peace
of mind and many more. Success in life is becoming what you want to
be. It all starts with your mental image. We must take the first step to
form a clear mental picture of our wants. Visualisation is a very powerful tool.
A story board with pictures of your wants will help you keep track of your progress. An
old saying go like this “A ship without a sail will harbour at the port of
nowhere. The story board must always be visible to ones eye as this
will remind our sub-conscious there is a focus to where we are going to.
Take time to contemplate on your various aspirations. Your social goals, spiritual goals, financial goals, health goals and family goals.

We can do this at anytime and this will re-enforce
our thoughts which will create a reason to pursue the purpose. This
desire will help us overcome mental laziness.

Once we have clearly formed our vision. This whole process is now in the receiving end. You will now start to visualize from this moment on you must receive in your mind what you have asked for. Having good health, living in a good home, travel to many places, wearing the best clothes, having a great relationship with your family, having financial freedom. As we keep on working on this sooner or later we will have all that we wanted. Your thoughts make all things work to bring you what you want. Your activities must be such that you can rightly receive what you want, when it reaches you.

You should put your faith on today and not the future as today’s action
will bring result for now and not in some distant future. Hold on to the
one vision now and act now. Remember not to think of yesterdays
vision.

Never allow yourself to think negative, always be positive, believe that
You will be receiving all the good thing you visualize in your mind
and you are the star in your universe ready to receive all the good
things you have conceived and be prepared to receive when it come
in great abundance.

Always be thankful to the universe for giving all the good things you
have asked for. For you are the star of the universe and abundance will
come to you when you are ready to receive it. Success is not a destination,
it is a journey. Instead of achieving or performing to impress the
world or your peers, your inner thoughts will become your creator for
all the good things in your life, but remember a good nights sleep is also
important.

Unni is the owner of PersonalGrowthTip.com PersonalGrowthTip.com Its belief includes people of the world having their individual right to the
law of attraction which would create all the riches in the world.
Grab your free Law of Attraction Report Today —> personalgrowthtip.com/rights personalgrowthtip.com/rights

When we were young, changes seemed exciting, such as moving into a new house, or going to a new school or even wearing a new dress. The curiosity to explore and discover and finding anything new was understandable.

But as we grow up, whatever image we have created in the mind remains fixed. When there is a change and the image begins to shake, the insecurity prevents us from accepting these changes. We refuse to shirk off the images already created in our mind.

Some changes are most welcome like marriages, when a dating couple decide to get married or a baby born in the family. Some changes are upsetting like when there are separations in the family, or loss of a life in the family. Whatever changes they may be, very few have the mindset of accepting these challenging changes.

Why are changes so scary? It is because of the chaos in the mind to accept the new and discard the old image, which we have already created in the mind. It is the transition zone when important decisions have to be made. This is the stage when most people quit, or revert back to old thinking refusing to accept the challenges, which one has to face during these changes.

Sometimes we are fed up of monotony and want changes. We create expectations only to realize that we may be back to square one. This defeat stops us from facing changes in future.
When we are on a job or own a company, we may have to face the stagnancy at one stage. The aggressive competition forces us to bring about changes, which might involve risks. Setting off in new directions is not an option but a must. In a quest for consistency, we automatically opt for these risky changes.
Some might be planners who are ready to accept these changes as they already foresee what they have to face in future and get ready for it while some might be people who act first and think later.

Whatever may be the situations, we should accept that changes in life are inevitable and with life posing so many untoward situations, we have to face these changes with extreme confidence in order to grab the opportunities boldly and with confidence.

Changes aren’t cheap, seamless or risk-free. Indeed, some changes inevitably will fail, forcing some degree of retrenchment. It’s equally obvious, though, that change must happen!

Then what is the correct response to change? Understand that in reality nothing in life is fixed. All things change and everything in life passes! Being able to identify and understand the many experiences involved in change can make it less intimidating and make us face them boldly.

“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.” Marvin Gaye”How can I find peace?” we ask. Marvin Gaye is correct – if you don’t find it within, you won’t find it without. Peace is a calm confidence. Spiritual peace can be freedom from conflict and contention or comfort given by the Spirit of God which brings assurance and serenity. The dictionary definition states that peace is a state of tranquility or quiet, freedom from disquieting thoughts or emotions, and harmony in personal relations. There several are ways to obtain peace now. One is in simplifying your life. The less you have about you the easier it is to live an unencumbered life. There is less to worry over and keep track of and clean. Your space will feel more open and you will find it easier to think. When I am in a clean open space, my spirit is lifted. It is harder to create a clean open space when you have a lot of unnecessary things. We do not need everything we want. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a huge library of more than just books. Often when we see something new what we really want is just to try it out and play with it for awhile. For now, the closest thing is to borrow and lend between friends. You can also ask for perishable goods when people want to give gifts, like flowers. These enhance your home, but don’t require permanent space and they can be given again and again.

Since peace has a lot to do with freedom, eliminating debt is another piece to obtaining it. Pay off everything you can so you are not indebted to someone. Interest never sleeps and debt is a type of bondage. It can control you and ruin your life. Some debt cannot be avoided – such as a mortgage or in some cases student loans. The key is to avoid unnecessary debt. Simplifying your wants and your way of living will help you here. Being free of dept gives you a lot of peace. Use those credit cards for emergencies only.

A third path to peace involves being prepared. “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” (Doctrines and Covenants 38:30) Save enough money so you can survive for at least 3 months should you become unemployed. Create a food storage to last as long. Secure your home against whatever natural calamities are common in your area. Have a plan for what to do in an emergency – who to call, where to go, what to take. Something to start with in this area would be a 72 hour kit – a backpack with all necessities (including some comfort food and activities) to last 72 hours. Then keep it in your car and keep your gas tank half full.

Finally, get in touch with God. He can give you a peace to surpass all others. No matter what trial you face, no matter what confronts you, if you build a strong relationship with Him and keep his commandments no evil can prevail against you: “let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.” (Doctrines and Covenants 6:34, see also Helaman 5:12)

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Carolyn Frances is a coach, mentor, and guide for single women seeking to stretch their wings and soar, making a difference in this world. She has personally experienced and risen above diagnosis of Bi-Polar, ADD, Anxiety, and Depression. She invites everyone to unwrap their spiritual gifts and dare to soar. ClaimingGreatness.cc ClaimingGreatness.cc

7 Ways to communicate effectively

According to Dale Carnegie, author of the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, 85% of success on the job is due to one’s ability to lead people and personality. Only 15% of success is due to one’s technical knowledge (18). Therefore, the ability to communicate with people is vital from engineering to business, and is essential in increasing your success tremendously. For this reason, having proper communication skills is not something you should leave to chance in your business career, as well as in your personal life. So following are seven ways/tips that will help you to succeed in communicating with others.

1. Have self-worth

It’s impossible to communicate effectively unless you feel valuable yourself. With self-worth you can move mountains. Without self-worth you’ll be trudging between the valleys. If you don’t feel good about yourself and about what you’re doing, or if you don’t have self-confidence, then how could one make someone else feel good and confident about themselves?

2. Get interested in other people

I know this ‘way’ may sound like a paradox but it’s not. You would think that you have to be interested in other people in order to want to talk to them. However, most people when they speak are plainly interested in themselves and in what they have to say.

The only reason to have a conversation should be to have some sort of exchange. Although we’re not talking money all the time, there should be an exchange such as love, friendship, caring, companionship, etc. The main reason most people don’t communicate effectively and don’t get anything out of their conversations is that they overly-concentrate on the getting and not the giving.

3. Open up a person’s heart

This can be done in five ways. (1) Ask probing open-ended questions. What made you get into the field you’re currently in? What do you like to do? What’s on your mind? How was your week? How was your day? These are all questions you should ask. Don’t just ask obvious questions, ask less obvious personal questions, that really will get them thinking and relating to you. The more, you open up their heart and yours, the more they’ll want to be with you, help you, buy products from you, etc. Warning: Don’t just ask questions. Interject some of your own comments, opinions and especially life experiences. If you don’t interject some of your own comments, they will feel annoyed as they’ll think you’re interviewing them.

(2) Compliment them. Tell them things like you look great. You do a great job; you’re a great writer, composer, pianist, waiter, waitress, etc. (3) Remember a person’s name and say it often. A person’s name is one of the first words a baby hears. Therefore, a person’s name is magic to his or her ears. (4) Smile. (5) Use humor.

4. Listen at least two times more than you talk

You were given two ears and one mouth for a reason. You should be listening twice as much as long as you speak. Part of listening effectively means asking follow-up questions. Asking follow up questions shows the other person that you’re listening effectively. For instance, if a person tells you they’re in a band, you can ask them what instrument they play, where they play, how often they play, how they like it, etc. A lot of times, we are so much in our own heads, thinking about what to say next, when the next question is right in front of us – if we only listen.

5. Diversify yourself

Try doing different things such as sports, dancing, volunteer work, reading, etc. This will give you subjects to talk about with people as well as chances to meet people, sans reading, but you can join a reading group. Being diversified will overall make you more charming. Lastly, being diversified also gives you a form of status. People generally like people who are active, not someone who just sits on his couch all day.

6. Understand that your worth never changes

If I had a million dollar check and I were to crumble it up, you would still want it. If I were to then put it on the floor put grease on it and proceed to step on it, you would still want it. My friend, you are worth much more than a million dollars.

Whenever you go into a conversation, you are worth over a million dollars. When you step out of the conversation, out of the date, or out of the sale whether won or lost, you are still worth over a million dollars. Your internal worth never changes. Therefore, never be afraid to take risks, and work outside of your comfort zone as far as engaging in conversations is concerned. No matter what, your own internal $1,000,000 worth never changes.

7. Follow the step-ladder to success

You can read this article and theorize all day with friends about proper communications, but until you get up ‘on bat’ or initiate a conversation, you’re not progressing. Think of a heavyweight boxer, before challenging the champ, he’s got to beat the contenders. The contenders or low-rank fighters, give a boxer the experience and self-confidence he needs to face the champion. The same thing goes with communications, in order to talk to that top-level executive, or get that perfect date, you have to have the experience and self-confidence which comes from talking to your second choice of date, or low-level manager. Of course, if you don’t try at all, you won’t go anywhere either, so you must have the attitude of try, try, try, and not succumb to fear.

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Word of warning, with this knowledge you must not tell people what to do. Doing this will ultimately alienate people from you. Instead, be humble with this knowledge, don’t let people know you know it, but like Benjamin Franklin would, practice these virtues or ‘ways’ daily. The key word here is practice. You can theorize all day but until you practice these skills, you will not see any results or grow any bigger as a person. Like in school, you had textbook classes and laboratory classes. You better get out of the textbook and apply these ideas in the lab, in this case, in this laboratory called life.

Carnegie, Dale. (1981). How to Win Friends and Influence People. United States. Simon and Schuster.

Pablo Golub is the author of the book It’s All a Damn Game which can be purchased at 7-Ways.com 7-Ways.com In it you will find out how to succeed in life, money, and happiness. Testimonial: this empowering book will teach, inspire and coach you to break the habits of self-doubt and low self-esteem, to realize a new vision to attain genuine contentment; Jamie Piper, BS, Residential Specialist.

1. Change the lens you use for seeing the unknown. Do you see the unknown something to be feared, challenged, dealt with, managed or overcome? Or is it something to be navigated, explored, embraced, cultivated, or expressed? If you think of facing the unknown in your work what thoughts and emotions come to mind? What metaphor? A beast to be tamed, a wave to be surfed, a game to be played? How we perceive the concept of this unfolding future we call the unknown determines how easily we navigate it.

2. Consciously engage uncertainty. Whether we like it or not the unknown has now become our working partner. By actively engaging the unknown in small ways at first — such as with a low-risk/high-ambiguity project — you develop the essential skills to work with it in larger high-risk/high-ambiguity arenas. What would it take for you to go deeper into situations, pushing past what you currently know, before going forward? It feels counterproductive in our fast-paced culture, but by taking the up front time to go deep and explore multiple dimensions, next-level solutions begin to reveal themselves.

3. Allow the process to be messy. When we start consciously exploring unknown, there is a period of time where logic, order, and organization are put on hold as we get into the unearthing of new information. It can seem illogical, nonsensical, and even foreign-sounding as it emerges. Like all births, new directions are not necessarily tidied up and pretty as they enter the world. Similar to a baby being born, the ideas, structures and systems that emerge from the unknown space can look unrecognizable at first. The task it to continue to draw whatever shows up forth, amidst it messiness, until the new order emerges. There is a natural, self-organizing system at play in every emergent situation. How much time and space do you give to ideas to go formulate?

4. Actively leave the familiar. Just because something worked for one group in one situation doesn’t mean it is necessarily repeatable. Look back to the past for what is relevant to the new situation and bring it with you. Leave the rest behind. It is in our nature to seek the shelter of the familiar even if we know it is no longer serving us. Leaving what is comfortable and not working to dip into the “empty space” to draw forth the new is challenging. Do you have compassion for yourself (or others) when you are frustrated, overwhelmed and feel like you hit a wall?

5. Use multidimensional creative approaches. By using a variety of creativity tools, techniques and approaches you can engage more of your brain and more of your senses. The human habit is to approach uncertain situations with the same set of analytical tools each time. No matter how focused and capable your thought process, unless you do something different to activate new parts of the brain, the information will still travel down your same neural pathways in the same way and you will come up with the same types of solutions. If you purposefully integrate alternative methods, whole brain thinking and multi-sensory stimulation, awareness is heightened and you become more responsive and resilient. What are some ways you can intentionally do this?

6. Be the Beginner. Probably the most significant, yet challenging aspect of navigating the unknown is the willingness to enter the beginner mind. We live in a knowledge based society. We are educated to have the right answers. The more we know, the more intelligent, capable, and competent we are considered. We are rewarded and recognized for that which we know, not for that which we don’t know. Yet, in a world where the word innovation is showing up in exponentially more mission and vision statements, this is often exactly what is needed to move forward. It’s not about abandoning what you know, but bringing it to the table to sit side by side with what you do not know.

7. Accept the human paradox. Within the paradox of human nature, being what it is, the unknown is both dangerous and exciting, a threat to be feared and a mystery to be revealed. We are mystery seekers. There is a multi-billion dollar mystery industry — books, movies, adventure tours, Internet games, and haunted houses. There is something about walking around the corner and not knowing what will pop out that is inherently exciting and alive to us. Uncovering and discovering are in our nature — just look at a child exploring the environment, looking behind every crack and crevice for what’s next.

While a part of us may love the mystery, we have another part of us, in our reptilian primal brain, that has been hard wired to fear what is around the corner. Our ancestors knew well knowledge of our surroundings gave us control of a dangerous world. There was a real danger in leaving the safety of the cave. This is still true today. When we perceive threats to survival, we like to know what is next. Ironically, the same world that makes people want to retreat to their caves to hide from the “predators” is this same world that is requiring new levels of innovation to adapt and thrive. When is change exciting and when is it threatening to you?

The more you work with the unknown as a co-creative partner, the easier it is to stay grounded in the winds of change. It takes more than just deciding to embrace uncertainty to be able to do it. It takes understanding where you are in relationship to the unknown now, and then consciously choosing to be with the discomfort, and perhaps excitement, of exploring new territory. Underneath business buzz words, mission statements and strategic goals, there is an unsure human facing a new world. It takes practice. As with mastering any new skill, navigating the unknown is an ongoing process.

©2007 Michelle James

For the past 12 years, creativity expert Michelle James has worked with individuals, entrepreneurs, leaders and organizations to help them unlock and focus their creativity to develop their “signature” processes, models, frameworks and approaches and become an effective, creative working culture. Using the principles of emergence with creativity, she developed the whole-brain, whole-systems Creative Emergence Process®. It’s used for drawing out new ideas, solutions, directions, strategies, services, products, and processes. As CEO of The Center for Creative Emergence, Michelle does this through consulting, facilitating, and creative emergence coaching. Michelle’s background includes organizational development, marketing communications and the media. She is an abstract painting artist, a performer of improvised plays with Precipice Improv, and a CoreSomatics® Movement and Bodywork Master Practitioner. She recently established Quantum Leap Business Improv–business improv theater for leaps in thinking, being, and innovating. She founded the Capitol Creativity Network in Washington, DC.

What can an essay look like? It can be just about anything you choose.

This article is entirely based on Procrastination. it is an essay on Procrastination – what causes Procrastination? Some would have you believe that it is a natural phenomenon, after all everyone does a little of Procrastination. But Procrastination is a result of cultivated habit. It wasn’t entrusted to you when you were born neither has it been mentioned anywhere that Procrastination is a must for all mankind.

It’s true everyone does a measure of Procrastination in his lifetime. But not all continues to Procrastinate. Not all permit it to control and dictate the course of their life to them. Procrastination can cost you too much. These are just a few effects of Procrastination.

Imagine a world without light – how it would be like if Thomas Edison had procrastinated on discovering a light bulb; if Henry Ford or Eiji Toyota had procrastinated on developing a motor vehicle; how communication would have fared if Graham Bell had procrastinated on giving the world the telephone set. The list can never be exhausted. Imagine a world void of these few things I have just mentioned. In fact, this medium of data transference (the Internet) would have been completely impossible! So you wouldn’t have actually been able to read this piece of information if someone somewhere had procrastinated in something. Now it is human nature to think that other alternatives would surface. Think of the numerous persons that conceived the idea of discovering and producing such things (I do understand that an idea is not peculiar to one man on the planet at the same time. There are pockets of sparsely distributed ideas to different persons in different location at the same time) and were not able to. Procrastination is the driving force, the destructive catalyst that empowers such unproductive returns. The cost and effect of procrastination can be extremely grave in all spheres of life – the personal, spiritual, psychological, professional etc Now pause for a minute to think of the lost relationship as a result of he few contacts you refused to act upon immediately. The latter you push off keeping contacts both in business and personally, the easier it is to loose important customers and people.

Think of the disputes you never got settled because of the constant delay – “I will call him and get over with it tomorrow”. And a new today keeps bringing in a new tomorrow till it becomes too late. The effect of procrastination can cost you too much in business – the lost opportunities to cash in on , think of the cost of not being proactive, of not being the market leader – nobody ever wants to be associated with the second best – even you! Lost opportunities definitely will cost you money. Now, you wouldn’t tell me you do not know how it feels not to have money on you or at least in the bank. You are as good as dead friend. You’ll definitely be angry all the time. It gets a lot easier to be infuriated once you don’t have money. This all compound to instigate dispute in the family. Your spouse or children suddenly become the cause of your trouble. Your mental health starts to deteriorate as stress sets in, so is low self-esteem and confidence guilt and feelings of inadequacy. Whatever causes Procrastination, I strongly believe that it should never be a pretext to give your life a sudden death. An unproductive life is dead. You’re unproductive when you procrastinate. Chronic Procrastination is worse off. You’re as good as dead.

What’s the point having to live when you cannot make an impact. These tips will aid in your quest to rid Procrastination out immediately.

Do unpleasant task first and forget about them.If a task seems mighty or not inviting, the truth is that you’ve got to do them and avert some problems in the future – break them down into small steps and tackle them bit by bit. Get a deadline for all your projects. Make them realistic so you do not get frustrated when you cannot meet too ambitious goals. There is a kind of urgency attached with a task when a deadline is added. Delegate tasks if you have to. Nobody told you that the most successful individuals did it all by themselves. Disregard protocols – sometimes, you just have to get started on something – you can start anyhow so you gather enough momentum to continue, when you feel motivated, you can follow orders. Change your perception, change our attitude! Because you can easily lie to your subconscious and can deceive it, you become your own worst enemy. Whatever you tell your subconscious is what it acts. You can tell a wrong perception about a task to your subconscious and it will say – yes boss, that’s exactly what it is. So why not tell it some good, change your attitude and your thinking about that task – tell it to your subconscious and watch it say – yes boss, that’s what it is and we can do it now! Now, consider the effects of putting off a task, of not being responsible, of not being in total control, of not making that call, of not checking on the dentist or the doctor, of not trying to loose some weight, quit smoking, being the market leader, being the best you can be. If you are a perfectionist like I used to be, you’d have to understand that first, human nature is imperfect. I actually put off starting a web business two years ago because I wanted to get it right the first time. Now all around the web, I see my ideas littering without a dent of perfection.

Please start this minute. I am on my knees for you. I cannot wait for you to launch that million dollar idea for the benefit of mankind, to reconcile with that old friend, to save yourself ten more years if you quit smoking now, to look sexier if you fight obesity now, to check on your tooth with your doctor or whatever. There are hundreds, thousands and even millions of excuses you may give to procrastinate on whatever task you have to do, well its definitely to your personal detriment, excuses will always be there. Get started now! And save your future, your spouse, your children, your job, your health, your life!

That’s it on essay on Procrastination, for more on a complete idiot guide to overcoming procrastination, see procrastinationstop.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank www.procrastinationstop.blogspot.com

Achi will help you in your fight against self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. Visit procrastinationstop.blogspot.com procrastinationstop.blogspot.com for a complete take me by the hand guide to overcoming procrastination fast!

Questions are one of the most powerful tools we have available to us. A great open-ended question can be the key to unlocking a whole undiscovered thread of ideas, reaching a fresh new insight on an old familiar issue, and understanding some part of ourselves and our creativity in a different way.

Here are 5 “Power Questions” to ask yourself to illuminate the inner workings of your creativity, and as a result give you a new level of awareness and surge of motivation.

Each question is followed by some further similar questions you can use around the same area to gain even more insight.

First, find some time and a quiet place to yourself, where you won’t be interrupted.

Before you start, pick a particular creative medium or form that really love working in and be specific in describing it. For example you might use “writing short romantic stories” rather than just “writing” or “photographing woodland wildlife” rather than simply “photography”.

Get a pencil and paper and write out the answers and ideas that come to you, prompted by the questions below.

To get the most from this exercise, be open and honest with yourself throughout. Also don’t worry about writing grammatically perfect logical sentences, just go with the thoughts that are presented and see what new insights you discover…

The 5 Power Questions

1. What do you really enjoy about creating? What in particular makes it such a pleasure? Is it the way it makes you feel, the environment you work in, the materials you use, the physical aspect, the mental aspect, the way you’re seeking to communicate with others, the sense of freedom and release? Write as descriptively as you can and get to the fine detail of what exactly it is you love about creating in this way.

2. What would you tell other people was the greatest benefit about creating? What does it do for you more than anything else, how does it enhance your life? What does creating and being creative give you that nothing else in the world can fulfil or replace?

3. Who would you be if you didn’t create? How would your life be different? How would your personality be different? As a percentage, how large a part of everything you do is directly connected with your using your creativity? This questions really gets to the crux of how fundamental a part of your identity and make-up is about being an actively creative person.

4. How would you feel if you were never able to create in this way again? If you were to suddenly lose all ability and opportunity to create in the ways you love, what effect would it have on your life, your outlook, and your personality? Ask this as you are now, knowing all the benefits creativity brings you, and then it being taken away, rather than try to imagine you’d never known at all what it’s like to be creative.

5. What’s your biggest motivational secret? What compels you to reach for the pen, the paints, the camera? What’s the one thing that always inspires you to create? If you could sum up why you create in one sentence what would it be? We all have deep motivations to create and recognising and tapping into them helps us create more freely and easily.

These power questions can be used for different parts of your creativity or different media you create in. We can have different attitudes and relations to different forms we work in.

Experiment with them, get to know which really push a button or unlock a vital new awareness. Then ask yourself you can use this to enhance and increase your creativity even further.

© Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin

Want more great creativity articles, tips and exercises? Sign up to “Create Create!” – Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin’s free twice monthly ezine – today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Just head over to CoachCreative.com CoachCreative.com

How is it that Mary, a teen-age virgin, was expecting to give birth to a child? If you were Mary, would you be thankful and joyful or would you be anxious and troubled? How in the world would the answers to these questions have any relevance in todays fast-paced business world?

Mary, as you may know, was pledged to Joseph as his wife. And suddenly, an angel of God, Gabriel, tells her that she’s pregnant. Not only that, she is pregnant with the Son of God, who will save this world? Come on, Mary, who’s going to believe you?

It’s hard enough for some to accept a teenage single mother, but who would accept a far-fetched story like that? What would your fiancé do? What are the chances that Joseph would marry you now? She’s carrying someone else’s baby.

If that’s not difficult enough, Mary had no input about the child in her womb. She had no opportunity to name him or to dream about influencing her son to be doctor or an engineer. Instead, she had to name him, Jesus, which means “save.” After all, his purpose in life is to provide salvation to sinful people through his own death.

Now, Mary didn’t know all this in advance, but she knew that instead of a wedding celebration she is getting morning sickness and instead of a honeymoon she has the stigma of an unwed mother. Yet, Mary not only accepted the challenge, she was joyful. We see her joy expressed in her song recorded in Luke 1: 46-55.

But why was Mary filled with joy? Mary was filled with joy for the same reason that we can be filled with joy, no matter what our situation is in life. Mary held three expectations that brought her joy. These same expectations can also bring us joy. Let’s look together at what she expected.

First, Mary expected to have God’s favor. If we want joy in our lives, we must expect to have God’s favor also. Luke 1 26-33.

In verse 28, Gabriel greeted Mary with the assurance of God’s favor. And when Mary was still troubled, Gabriel again in verse 30 reassured her that she had favor with God. To have God’s favor is to have the benefits of God’s approval and assistance in life.

Sometimes, we don’t feel good about ourselves not because we don’t think highly of ourselves, but because those who are important to us don’t think highly of us. We never feel joy in our accomplishments or joy in our career or joy in our family, because our parents, our in-laws or whoever is important to us have expressed disapproval or disappointment in these areas of our lives.

If disapproval from people can rob us of joy, how much more the disapproval from God? Many people are feeling condemned because of something they’ve done in their past, and they have not experienced the forgiveness and subsequent approval by God.

There are people who have cheated in their business and in their marriage that are waiting for God to punish them. They have no joy in life because they expect condemnation and punishment rather than forgiveness and favor from God.

Yet from the beginning of the Bible God teaches us to expect His favor. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, we expect God to punish them. Instead, God covers their shame. Then God sends Adam and Eve away, so that they recognize rebellion against God is not okay. God was not a permissive parent. God taught consequences.

Throughout the rest of the Bible, God initiates and renews relationships with untrustworthy and ungrateful human beings. If we read the Bible correctly, we would expect favor and not punishment from God. God assures us repeatedly.

Again, Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord [GOD], “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
James 1:17 reminds us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Many Christians have quoted Jeremiah 29:11 and James 1:17 but they still live with negative and false expectancy about God. Romans 8:31-32 explains how the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is our assurance of God’s favor: “If God is for us, who can be against us? [God] who did not spare his own Son [Jesus Christ], but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

For those of you in the corporate world, how do you respond when you are warned about the uncertainty of your job? Instead of being anxious, are you assured that God would provide for you and your family? Do YOU expect to have favor with God? The Bible calls us to this biblical expectancy.

Expect to have favor with God, and you can expect joy to fill your life.

Second, Mary expected God to do the impossible. If we want joy in our lives, we must expect that God can do the impossible also. Verses 34-37

Many people live as victims of human circumstances or limitations. We are satisfied with will power instead of God’s power. We limit ourselves to what science has discovered instead of believing that God can do the impossible.

Let me encourage you to expect that God can do the impossible. NO sinful habit so entrenched, no financial problem so big, no relational strain so difficult, that God cannot help us overcome.

More and more, I wake up expecting there is nothing that God and I cannot handle. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” And each one of you can have this same biblical expectation of God.

Hudson Taylor, a great missionary to China, said that God’s work is done in three steps: Impossible; difficult; done. Pray to the God who can do the impossible. Plan to overcome the difficult. Persevere to get the job done.

By prayer, planning and perseverance. I simply expect that God can do the impossible.

Nothing is impossible with God. God can change our stubborn and unforgiving attitudes. God can change our impure and selfish motives. God can change our fearful and lazy habits. God can change our impatient and angry reactions.

Expect that God can do the impossible, and you can expect joy to be in your life.

Third, Mary expected God’s words to come true. If we want joy in our lives, we must expect God’s words to come true also. Verse 38.

Christians who expect to have favor with God and expect that God can do the impossible are not presumptuous, but confident in God. We are confident that God can and will do what He says He can and will do. Confidence without arrogance.

We can have the same kind of expectancy from God’s word. If God said it in His Word, the Bible, we can be sure He will keep His promise. God cannot and will not lie.
Expect God’s words to come true, and you can expect to have joy forevermore.

Expectancy is something you can choose intentionally. If what you expect for each day and for your future is biblical, you will have joy every day of life, from now on into eternity. Pray to the God who can do the impossible. Plan to overcome the difficult. Persevere to get the job done.
By prayer, planning and perseverance. I simply expect that God can do the impossible.

Have a blessed Christmas!

called2succeed.com www.called2succeed.com

Are the results in your bank account a direct result of the richness or poorness of your thinking? Most of the analysis points to yes. Oh here we go with this positive thinking rah-rah crap again. Well I suppose you could discount it as such and miss the biggest opportunity to change your wealth situation that has ever crossed your path. The choice as always is up to you to go one of two directions

1. Be arrogant and ignorant to the fact that the solutions to your problems will never be solved at the same level of thinking that you created them.
2. This is the choice most people who are successful or on their way to being so choose. If we are not where we want to be in life, be it finances, health, our body, relationships, or passion, the solution always starts with an open mind.

What is your mission when it comes to wealth building? Are you making ends meet? Are you saving for a rainy day? Do you feel as if there is an abundance of wealth for everyone, or do you think there are limited resources? Do you feel when someone else succeeds that they just took from you piece of pie? Do you believe the harder you work the more you will make? Do you believe that you should work smarter and not harder? Do you think that it is honorable or spiritual to be struggling for money? Do you believe that if you do enough good that God will bless you?
I am positive that I struck a nerve in someone with all of those questions. O.K. Jason, what’s the point? The point is that in order to improve, we need to know what we currently thinking. Remember our thoughts lead to action and the consistent action we take in our lives produces the current reality we are living. You tell me what the differences might be between someone whose belief is there is an abundance of wealth and the person who believes there are limited resources. The answer is glaring in it’s obviousness.

Pause here for a moment and ponder what we just said. It is obvious what the difference would be. The smallest admission that there is a difference proves the title to be true. Our finances are simply an outward expression of what we believe about ourselves. We won’t go into the actual science of this here because there is not enough room. Those of you who are fact junkies like me please visit www.SeekersManifesto.com for the facts. The question should then become how do I change my thoughts, instead of poor me, or I guess I’m doomed to being broke.
The answer to how we change our thoughts has been the subject of thousands of books, studies, and discussions. I can only tell you what I have experienced myself and what I have witnessed in many of my coaching clients.

1. Recognition of a character trait or thought process that needs to be changed for the betterment of self and society.
2. Choosing of a new outcome or direction for your life.
3. Knowing exactly why you want to change.
4. Visualizing in detail what the new you and the new life looks like.
5. Finding new peers that support your new path and also new a new circle of influence that will push you and encourage you to become the best you can be.
6. Tie this new behavior to a higher purpose than you. I.e. giving you time or money to a charity for abandoned children, or taking care of your aging parents in a way that suits them better than a government sponsored retirement center.
7. Repeat the new thought as many times per day with as much passion and belief as you have doubted for all those years. Put your new thoughts onto a 3×5 card and carry it around with you so that when you feel old patterns kicking in you can catch them and reward yourself with a great freeing new pattern.

The alternative is to continue to do the same things day after day and expect to get a different result. Someone once told me that this is the true definition of insanity! Armed with these new tools and a opportunity to learn much more, get excited about the amount of income you will be enjoying in the future!

“In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential… It’s no different in the financial realm.” Suze Orman

Jason Sisneros is an entrepreneur and a highly sought after motivational speaker, personal coach, and corporate trainer. He has battled back from gang involvement, drug and alcohol abuse, and massive depression to bring you his passion for life. His driving purpose is to be a light to those who are in darkness and to be a hand up for those seeking the next level. Let his tireless pursuit of truth help you now! For more of his life changing information and a special free book preview rush to SeekersManifesto.com SeekersManifesto.com