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Where Do I Start?
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, or are a subscriber to my ezine, it’s quite likely that you’re an advancing person. That is, you’re always moving towards ‘more life’ in everything you do.
You want to live the richest, fullest, happiest, most deeply satisfying life you can imagine.
You have beautiful, life-expanding dreams for yourself, and you want those dreams to come true.
But it’s also possible that you’re feeling SO overwhelmed by everything that you want to do. In fact, you’re not even sure where to start… so you don’t. (Start, that is.)
So, would you like a little coaching advice about where to start?
Well, my first piece of advice is to listen to your intuition. Give yourself a good half-hour to clear your mind, and then sit and think, and FEEL. Consider your preferences and then listen to what your ‘gut’ tells you. Having a pencil and large notepad with you is a very good idea.
But if you’re overworked, stressed, tired and foggy headed (or feel as though you’re going around the bend from ‘overthinking’), it could be that even doing the above seems too difficult.
In which case, I’d recommend carving out some PROPER time in your diary – like a whole day, at the least – to devote fully to getting crystal clear on what you want, to brainstorm ideas, to prioritise, and to create an action plan.
You can do this yourself, but doing it with the help of a trusted friend or a coach can give you much-needed perspective and encouragement. I’ll soon be making myself available for VIP Days, where I’ll help you get clear on what it is that you really want, start eliminating limiting beliefs, and create a very do-able, exciting action plan to start bringing those dreams of yours into the real world.
(To be one of the first to know about these amazing VIP Days, head here and leave your details. And, listen – I know goal-setting can be a big turn-off for some people because the process can feel forced and very ‘masculine’, but in our day together it’s all about YOU and what YOU want out of life, not what society or your peers or family say you should want. You’ll have time to think, and breeeaaathe, and dream, and create a plan that’s perfect for you…)
Then, you can start going through a conscious creation process, starting with visualisation – if you’d love help with this, check out the beautiful Your House of Abundance process.
However, if you’re feeling too exhausted (and perhaps even sick) to contemplate lofty or even not-so-lofty dreams, then I advise that your first focus be your health.
Fabulous health is at the core of a great life. It underpins everything. And we often don’t realise how valuable our health is until we become unwell or injured.
So if that’s you – make your health an absolute priority. You’ll then be able to think clearly, and will have the energy to take action on your other dreams.
By the way, sometimes people get ‘put off’ the idea of becoming healthier, because they think it takes a lot of money to do so. If you’re switching from eating cheap processed food to buying organic fruits and veggies, and supplements, then, yes, it can cost a bit more than you’re now paying for food. And if you join a gym then there are fees, and personal health coaching can be a substantial investment.
But if money is tight for you right now, and you know getting healthy is a top priority so that you can start heading for your dreams, you can make free or low-cost health changes now.
These include:
- going for walks (even if just around your back garden, or briskly around your house);
- planting a few organic vegetable seeds;
- purchasing (and using!) a book such as Raw Foods on a Budget;
- generally cutting back on unhealthy foods (even if they’re cheap); and
- asking an ‘advancing’ friend to be your ‘accountability buddy’ when it comes to simple health goals you set for yourself.
Once your health starts to improve, you’ll have more energy to create the money you want, which means you can then invest more in organics and superfoods, personal trainers or coaches, if that feels right for you.
So you now have some guidance as to ‘where to start’. But you know deep in your soul what’s needed. I just hope my advice has helped clear some of the fog, and has helped put you on the road towards creating and living a life you truly, truly love.
Do You Love What You Do?
Love is in the air this month because of that special, somewhat schmaltzy, celebration known as Valentine’s Day.
I LOVE that there’s a day dedicated just to love. Do you, too?
Here’s a thought! Why don’t we use the Valentine month as a reminder? Not just about the importance of loving people, but of loving what we do in this world?
Do YOU love what you do? Really?
Do you love your work? The food you eat? The places you go? The sports you play? The hobbies you have?
Or are you just going through the motions, doing activities that you may once have loved, but now leave you feeling a little flat?
I probably don’t need to tell you that the universe responds to our vibration, and when our vibration is high (that is, we’re doing what we love and we therefore feel great), we receive experiences that match that vibration.
Maybe you could use this beautiful month of love to check in with yourself? To question how you feel about the activities that make up your days?
How do you feel about your job, for instance? Is it still fun? (Or was it ever fun?) Do you feel that you’re using your talents, and the skills that come easily to you?
I had an office job in my early 20s, and after the initial fun of starting something new, I began to feel as though I was dying on the inside. I was drifting, having deferred a university journalism degree. I thought that this job, which was in the finance industry, might be interesting and secure (and well paid).
Boy, was I wrong. I tried all sorts of things to gain a promotion (well, not EVERYTHING), but it just never happened. My colleagues were heaps of fun, but the work itself was sapping the life out of me.
I’d been planning to take a year off to go overseas with my then-boyfriend (now husband) Darren, and to come back to that job when we returned. But I remember the day when I decided that, instead, I’d go back to university after our trip. I remember sitting at my desk and feeling absolutely elated, and with such a sense of purpose, clarity and certainty. I knew I was back on the right path, and that I’d be studying something that I loved.
Thank goodness I didn’t ever receive a promotion in that office job, because otherwise I might never have taken the time to think about what I LOVED. Now I get to do work that I love, every day!
I still keep letting myself be pulled towards things that I love. I believe that our intuition – that ‘knowing feeling’ – guides us beautifully. If we listen to it.
Look, it’s OK to outgrow something. You don’t need to love the same job, food or places your entire life. Don’t hang on to an activity just because you’ve ‘always done it’.
Letting go leaves room for the things you really want to do.
So, on 14 February, why not instigate a new Valentine’s ritual, and do a ruthless ‘love review’ of your life’s activities?
This could just be a Valentine’s you’ll never forget…
PS I’d love for you to tell me what you’d love to do! Leave a comment below, or email me at joanne@richradiantreal.com. Just putting it ‘out there’ will show the universe you’re serious about doing what you love.
Doing Good, Feeling Great!
I received an amazing book for Christmas: Screw Business as Usual by Richard Branson.
Now, I’m not usually one for cussing, so the title turned me off a little.
I’m also not a huge fan of the use of women in marketing the Virgin airlines brand.
But I still like Richard Branson. He’s big on social responsibility, and on helping others to help themselves, and this book has revealed to me the full extent of his philanthropical work and his passion for helping others. Now I like him even more!
He believes that it’s up to entrepreneurs to ‘do good’. If we’re to get this planet back in shape, and to finally get on top of the dire poverty and hunger that’s rife around the world, businesses need to take action. Governments just aren’t up to the job.
‘Business as usual’ refers to the fact that, for many years, the only focus of many companies has been on the size of their bottom line. However, as we move into a new age, business is not all about profit, but it’s also not about making a token gesture and giving handouts. It truly is about empowerment. And when a business does good, Richard has discovered that the bottom line flourishes, too. Win-win.
So, if you’re a business owner, is this something you think about? Is the work that you do (the product or service that you provide) bettering the world as well as bringing you personal income?
Or if you’re an employee, do you feel that you work for an ethical company that’s attempting to make the world a better place? Does it treat its staff well? Does it look beyond profit?
In your personal purchases, do you support forward-thinking companies by purchasing their products or services? Be it soap powders, make-up, organic or locally produced food, or services offered by people such as stay-at-home mums who want to make extra income for their families from home?
It’s not easy for every business to ensure their whole production line is environmentally sustainable, but they can make big strides towards that goal, and part of their mission can also be to help people help themselves (wherever possible).
Richard believes that people are basically good, and that, given the chance, they really want to do good. And we all know that doing good also feels good. In my opinion, we’re all connected, so when we help others, we really do help ourselves!
Since reading Screw Business as Usual, I’ve reflected on my own path, and have realised that as my awareness has grown over the years, I’m now more conscious about ‘doing good’. I love personal development, and I love helping other people realise that they have control over their destiny. How wonderful that I can make such an impact on people’s lives, now that I’m a life coach!
In earlier years, I worked as an editor for Lonely Planet travel guides, a company dedicated to helping raise awareness of different cultures, giving to worthy grassroots organisations, and maintaining editorial independence. I LOVED the culture of that company. Since then I’ve written three recipe books for children, encouraging kids to choose organic produce and to practice skills that empower and equip them for life.
I know there’s so much more I can do, and I’m so glad that my radar is now tuned in to a very conscious way of living. I know that I’m in a privileged position of being born in a first-world country that has access to so many resources, and I know that I have a responsibility to ‘do good’. Not just because it’s the ‘right thing to do’, because I really do want to help.
As you set about planning a phenomenal 2012, I invite you to think about the type of world you want to live in. Consider making ‘doing good’ a tangible, meaningful goal that flows through any other goals you create… and be prepared to reap rich rewards!
PS Head here to discover more about Richard’s work, and the amazing work of other entrepreneurs from around the world. I may not agree with some of Richard’s marketing philosophies, but I do respect that he uses his name, influence and money to effect hugely positive change in the world.
PPS I love the work of microfinancing organisation Opportunity International. It gives loans to people in developing countries who want to create or grow their own businesses!
Your Personal Environment – It Matters!
If a seed is grown in optimal conditions, it will grow to its full potential, and flourish. A sight to behold!
Now, imagine that you are a seed. If you plant yourself in suboptimal conditions, you simply won’t reach the potential that is latent within you.
And that would be a shame.
We may not have been responsible for the conditions in which we were raised (when we were ‘seedlings’, so to speak!), but as adults we are now responsible for our personal environment and for our growth. Completely and utterly.
This is liberating and empowering, but it’s potentially scary, too.
So, what’s your environment like? Are you nurturing yourself and your dreams? Is your environment set up to support you?
Or do you feel overwhelmed and negative a lot of the time?
You don’t need me to tell you that in order for the law of attraction to bring wonderful stuff into your life, you need to be sending out a positive vibration. Honey, it’s universal law.
So, if your personal environment could do with a little love, here are five fabulous ways to create a nurturing environment that supports and inspires you.
Read
Become a sponge for personal development information. Have life-transforming books as your bedside reading. (Catch a glimpse of some of my recent bedtime reading here.)
Affirm
Listen to affirmations audios while you exercise or do jobs around the house (by the way, I’m in the process of creating a fabulous audio of rich, radiant, real affirmations – keep an eye on your inbox for details!). Also, write down your favourite affirmations and have them in easy view throughout your day. Let’s build fresh neural pathways that affirm beliefs we’d like to have!
Go Mobile
Create a mobile personal development library by playing positive audios and CDs in your car (why not load Rich Radiant Real teleseminars onto your MP3 player, and connect it to your car’s stereo?).
Get Coached
Even if you aren’t yet ready to invest in personal, one-on-one coaching, I’d advise being part of a group-coaching program. Get yourself coached in any way that you can, but remember that you’ll get the very best from coaching when you invest money in it – if you receive free coaching, you’re not as likely to give it all that you’ve got. Sometimes you’ve just got to invest, in order to reap the harvest.
Connect with Your Tribe
Your family and current friends don’t understand why you’re changing or why you’re trying to ‘think positive’ all the time? Then shore yourself up by connecting regularly with people who share your values and beliefs. You can do this in many ways, but a highly accessible way is to participate in online forums with positive people – for example, see my recent blog post about Jack Canfield’s Inner Circle membership club, where you can connect with like-minded people in the club’s forum.
So, there you have it. Five high-quality ways to support yourself in creating a life you love!
Remember, we all have the chance to ‘bloom where we’re planted’. As an adult, you get to choose your thoughts, your beliefs and the influences you allow into your life.
Are you going to allow yourself to bloom into your full magnificence? (I believe in you. I know you can do it, with the right environment!)
It Really Does Pay to Make a Decision
Have you ever had trouble making a decision?
Yeah, me too.
Those of us with perfectionist tendencies often experience pain when faced with a decision that needs to made.
The thing that paralyses us is ‘what if I make the WRONG decision’?
So we hem and haw and go back and forth. We meditate, ruminate and vacillate.
We put ourselves through pain, and when we finally force ourselves to make a decision, we worry about it, and sometimes backtrack and undo the decision.
Living with indecision means that we live in a constant state of uncertainty.
And, really, that’s just not pleasant, is it?
Well, what if there was no such thing as a wrong decision?
What if every decision you took was ‘right’, for where you are right now? Even if ‘the worst’ happened, and everything blew up, backfired and bit you on the bum?
I’m here to tell you that you’d still be OK. You’d get through it. And you’d come out the other side with some valuable information, a life lesson that would help guide you further along your path.
The universe loves clarity. It responds well to clarity. It follows strong, bold, powerful energy, and when you make a firm decision, the universe responds and starts drawing to you what you need.
It’s also important to remember that if you get too emotional when making a decision, and you create a lot of angst, the law of attraction works to bring you more of the same.
A good approach to making a decision is to be thoroughly proactive, to be in your power. To be strong, and bold, but smart.
Step 1
Gather information and really think about the pros and cons of each decision you could make (but don’t agonise).
Step 2
Give yourself a little ‘chewing time’, if you need it, but don’t let that process drag on.
Step 3
Hold your hand on your heart and ask for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, paying attention to what your stomach feels like. Intuition often reveals itself as a ‘gut instinct’.
This ‘head + heart’ process works for me. Would you like to try it? Be warned that your subconscious will try to hold you back, to keep you safe (that’s it’s job, so thank it for trying to look after you!), but if decision-making is a problem for you, then you need to start being very bold, to start overriding your subconscious programming, and to start thinking of yourself as a good decision-maker.
Once you’ve made a decision, stick with it, unless evidence overwhelmingly shows you that you should make another decision – but give it time. Sometimes you just need to ‘take a deep breath and jump’, to make a decision, to see how it plays out.
But don’t ever think of your original decision as being ‘wrong’. It was just a stepping stone to get you where you needed to go, to give you feedback.
You know, I often find that people who have trouble making decisions also have trouble with clutter. This makes sense, when you think about it, because you have to make decisions about what to keep, and where to keep it. If you don’t make decisions with your ‘stuff’, then everything builds up, overwhelm kicks in, and nothing gets dealt with. You see the piles of clutter lying around and you feel worse, and your home starts to gather negative, stagnant energy around that clutter.
So, I’d like to invite you to be part of a very special program I’m running this month. It’s all about decluttering, so you’ll be getting to practice your new decision-making skills and get rid of your clutter at the same time!
If this highly supportive program ‘speaks’ to you, then I’d encourage you to make a decision about whether to join us.
To discover more about this program, which is called The Living Rich Declutter, simply head here…
Wishing you clarity and decisiveness, and all ‘the good stuff’ that is naturally attracted to you when you live this way.
Becoming the Powerful Pilot of Your Life
Last week, I watched a fascinating documentary on the ABC TV channel here in Australia.
It was called The Young Ones – it’s a BBC TV documentary. I think we were watching the final episode?
Anyway, I found it absolutely fascinating. It looked at ageing, and how we can stop ourselves falling into the usual patterns of behaviour that often come with it.
It showed that our attitude and belief in ourselves plays a HUGE part in what we can actually do!
‘Yeah, yeah,’ I hear you saying, ‘we all know that’. Well, yes, we do know it intellectually, but do we really apply it?
There were heaps of fascinating studies in this documentary, but one interesting test that really stood out for me was when they took a group of people and gave them an eye test (without telling them why they were testing them). Then, they dressed them as pilots and told them that they were now pilots – and then each ‘piloted’ a plane via a flight simulator.
The participants were given the eye tests again, and in nearly all cases, they recorded markedly better results in the second eye test. The researchers concluded that the participants ‘saw’ themselves differently when they were pilots; that is, they had more belief in themselves because they’d taken on the persona of a pilot and had succeeded in ‘being’ a pilot.
That reaffirmed for me just how important self-belief really is. If we think we can do something, we stand a fantastic chance of really doing it! If we think we can’t , then, of course, we can’t.
Has this caused a mindshift or ‘a-ha’ moment for you? What would happen if you saw yourself as absolutely able to do something that you’re a bit (or a lot) afraid of doing? Has there been something you’ve been thinking about doing, but keep putting off because, deep down, you don’t think you could pull it off?
This documentary has opened the door for me, revealing a few areas in which I now realise I’ve been holding myself back (and here I was thinking I had everything ‘handled’). What a gift to have seen this show!
The power of our beliefs is truly incredible – they create the vibration that we emit, and they start the creation process in the universal field.
So why not decide that you really are capable, despite any past evidence to the contrary? Do you feel that swell of courage, conviction and exhilaration rising in your chest?
The sky (and your self-belief) really is the limit, my friend. Are you ready to take the controls, to fly your own life’s plane?
Wahooooooo!
How to Attract Golden Opportunities
This is going to sound a little too easy, but if you really want to attract opportunities to help create the life of your dreams, you need to notice, take and make opportunities.
Err, hang on. What does that mean? Read on, dear friend.
OK, so you’ve decided you want your life to change, to get better. Right?
You’ve also defined, even if in a vague way, what ‘change’ means to you (what life will look like once it’s better).
Great – now what?
Well, here’s the fab part. The good old law of attraction now comes into play, and starts lining up opportunities left, right and centre – opportunities that will lead you, even if in a roundabout sort of way, to the better life of which you dream.
Thing is, you need to notice these opportunities, and then ACT on them. I know, not many people like the thought of having to take action – but it’s critical. How else will the universe be able to test you with your life lessons, and then give you the rewards for being courageous?
If it doesn’t seem as though opportunities are coming, then start to make opportunities. Make that phone call. Tell other people what you want. Start planning the steps to get you where you want to go. It’s part of the ‘taking action’ requirement, and you’ll soon be given guidance as to whether you’re on the right track.
To make this real for you, let me tell you about Australian TV host Chrissie Swan. A few years ago, Chrissie was working as a successful advertising copywriter, but she knew she wanted more, to do something different.
She saw an ad for the TV show Big Brother and thought it looked like fun, so she applied for an audition – and landed a spot on the show! Being on that show led to other opportunities (which she took), such as hosting popular breakfast radio programs, and now being a co-host on an Australian national TV talk show called The Circle.
What an amazing ride! All because Chrissie listened to her intuition, and then noticed and took opportunities that came her way.
Her first step was to listen to the call of her soul, to the discontent she felt. She then let herself notice potential opportunities. Then, because it felt right, she grabbed an opportunity when it was offered– even though she didn’t know where it would take her. That’s called stepping out in faith. Yup, it takes courage, but did you really come here for a safe life?
As for myself, I took the opportunity of becoming an author when I was asked by The Five Mile Press to write a recipe book for children – and when I couldn’t find a raw-food recipe book for my children, I took up an opportunity offered by Tera Warner of The Raw Divas to write and co-publish such a book. This led to the publication of a third book (an organic gardening-recipe book for families). Who’d have thought?
I also had the inspired idea to create a blog to bring joy to the world, so I made that happen and now have even more fantastic opportunities landing in my lap. I love living in a universe of abundant creation, where unexpected opportunities continue to delight and amaze.
So let me assure you – opportunities really will keep appearing in your life, for the rest of your life. All you need to do is notice them, check your intuition to see if they ‘feel right’ (even they don’t seem to take you on a direct path to your dreams) and then have the courage to take them up, to just DO IT!
My coaching dare to you for the next 30 days is to keep an eye out for opportunities that come your way. Why not tell the universe you’re open to attracting and noticing fabulous opportunities, and then have the courage to ‘take a deep breath and jump’?
The rewards are just waiting for you.
Joanne's coaching was exactly what I needed to help me focus my precious time and money on finding work and making money! What I like most about Joanne’s coaching is that it's gentle, supportive and empathetic, rather than pushy and 'ra-ra-ra'”
...if there’s something that you’ve been putting off doing, because it’s so big and overwhelming, then by coaching with Joanne you'll definitely find a way to do it, to finally reach your goal.”
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