Vision

 

A Great Life Starts in Your Imagination

by Christen Murphy Resmo 

Are you living a life that is meaningful to you and beneficial to others?

If you answered, “Yes!” fabulous, now raise the bar. What’s next for you? What would be even more exciting? To love what you do and feel that it matters is a wonderful way to live your life.

Writing from the perspective of a former cardiac nurse, I can certainly say that no one at the end of their life ever said to me, “I wish I would have stayed working in that job I was unhappy with, or that I had spent less time with the people I care about.” I’m sure you can imagine that quite often I was told the very opposite. As a young nurse just out of college, still in braces and a ponytail, I got a lot of advice even when I didn’t really ask for it. But I did love to listen!  And what I heard was:

“Do what you love.”
“Don’t worry so much.”
“Go out and make some mistakes; it is okay.”
And most importantly, “Live your life to the fullest and don’t give up on your dreams.”

I’m grateful for the many gifts of perspective those years have given me as I helped people through some of their most telling moments. Live as though today is a gift – the gift of Time to get started.

Here are two important questions that I ask my coaching clients and that I’m now asking you because I think they’re so valuable: 

Do you love what you do?

If you had plenty of money and there were no signs of it running out,
would you still be doing what you’re doing?

Those two questions are easy for me to ask but the long-term solution could still be eluding you, especially if your answer is ‘No’. It can be more complicated than simply saying, “No, I don’t really love what I do and I’m quitting soon,” unless you’re absolutely sure about where you’re going next.

Years ago, when I realized it was time for me to examine those questions, I felt pretty sure that I didn’t want to be an ICU nurse forever, but I had no idea about what was next for me. I had no clue, actually, and I sat in the middle of that dilemma for several years before a new direction crystallized in my mind. And while I was waiting for lightening to strike and illuminate my next move, genuine clarity snuck up on me gradually. I slowly gained insight into a new career path as I allowed myself to play with new ideas again. Once I began to envision what I really wanted and gave myself permission to consider different alternatives, I also began to see that it was possible to make a big change. In other words, once I started to see what my life could be, I also understood that I could get there.

Before then, I didn’t know with absolute certainty that a total career change was truly possible for me. You see, I had worked very hard to get to where I was, and even though I was growing dissatisfied, I wasn’t entirely convinced that I should give it up so easily. I used to tell myself, “Try to be happier Christen. You’ve paid for the schooling to earn your degree, so maybe this job is all there is for you.” Part of me believed that my path was already chosen and another part rebelled, believing I could do something else, something that would better fit the person I was becoming.

And this is what I want for you too: That you either love and embrace what you do or become clear about what you’d rather be doing instead. Even if it feels too late for you, you can still change if you want to.  If I can do it, you can do it too!

If you’re ready to transform your life in either small ways or into something entirely different, I encourage you to start with the first step of visualization. You too will experience a powerful shift once you envision yourself in that new, exciting place. And as you begin to create a clear, descriptive vision of what you really want, you can then begin to build it.  

Success Begins Within You

You are the only one who has your best answers. This has always been the case and it means you must trust your own judgment and good sense as to what’s right for you. If you’re not living the life you truly want, don’t worrying about how far you’ve gone down a previously chosen path. You can turn around or change direction once you  construct a more fitting picture for where you want to go from here instead. You say things are pretty good already?  I say they can get even better!

Success begins within you, first as an idea in your mind that meets with a good feeling in your heart. Some of your greatest future accomplishments might start out as a note on a napkin that originated from an inspired thought. I’ve heard it said that if you can dream it, you can have it; and you would not be given a dream without also having the means to make it come true.

If you’re finding it hard to determine what you want to do next in your life, my advice is to start listening to your heart more closely. This doesn’t need to be difficult, but it can be, especially if you’re not in the habit of tuning in.

Step One: Follow Your Heart

It was Carl Jung who said:

“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. He who looks outside, dreams. He, who looks inside, awakens.”

My interpretation of what Dr. Jung meant is that I don’t have to go very far to find my best answers and neither do you. A genius lives inside of me. And in you too, to be quite clear! We all have our own inner compass calibrated in perfect alignment with our highest good. Your inner compass is meant to guide only you.

How often do you take the time you need to reflect on what matters most? Do you slow down and ask the important questions, and then remain silent long enough to hear the message?

Another big question that I ask every client is this:

“What do you really want?”

This is where we begin. This is the only question that needs answering right now because everything else stems from here. What’s happening in the best possible picture of your life?  Imagine and describe the scenario in specific detail. Once you start to get a handle on your answer, then explore why you want it. When you connect with the reason you really want something, you ignite an inner flame that becomes nearly impossible to snuff out. Choose a dream or goal that you have a burning desire for and settle for nothing less. You’ll then experience plenty of enjoyment while you’re creating it, and you’ll persist through challenges because you’ve chosen something that matters. So again, what do you really want? If you find it difficult to answer this question because you don’t know or you’re unclear, take heart. Simply trust that as you keep asking this question, you’ll gain more clarity each time you return to it. When you say, “I don’t know,” it doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t know. It could mean that you haven’t given yourself permission to look in a while and you’re simply out of practice.

Step Two: Don’t Let Fear Cloud Your Vision

You might be thinking, “If I have my own best answers, why is it so hard to follow this guidance? Sometimes it’s hard enough to know which voice is my heart’s true voice, let alone know what it’s guiding me to do!” That’s a legitimate thought. Your answer is in there but your fear could be interfering with the message. Maybe you fear making a fool of yourself because you must be wrong somehow. Maybe you know your own creative ideas are considered non-conformist or out of the normal paradigms of society. Maybe you fear criticism from others. These are the kinds of conversations that cause us to stop looking inside or to stuff the message; and these are the normal and typical fears that cause us to abandon our ideas altogether. You wouldn’t be the first person who was afraid of being singled out or worried about what other people might think if you failed. So, what would happen if you did fail? Yes, going after your big dreams will present some challenges, but if you don’t try or don’t rock the boat, you might give up way too soon and rob yourself of invaluable life experiences.

I encourage you to dream up the full idea first, before you give a lot of energy to your perceived barriers and road-blocks! Have you ever initiated a new idea but then stopped because you didn’t know how to make everything happen? My advice is that you first figure out WHAT you want before you worry about HOW you’re going to get there. You see, you’re not privy to all of where your life is going. Sometimes you’ll have just a little bit of information to go on. This means it’s okay to start moving on your goals even if the full ‘how-to’ picture is not yet complete. As you continually hold a clear vision of your desired end result, you’ll figure out the details along the way. In other words, you don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step. 

Step Three: Ignite Your Inner Vision and Go Big

Put the principle of Vision to work by seeing yourself doing or having something that you would greatly look forward to achieving. You deserve a great life so dream big! Choose at least one big accomplishment because the bigger the gap between where you are right now and where you want to be, the greater the pulling power. And the more personal energy you put into it, the more quickly life will respond in kind.  When you can see what you want in your mind, you’ll attract the energy, passion, people, events, and circumstances that will help you manifest this desire.

You are on your way to success when you first connect with your biggest and brightest dreams and then begin deliberately moving toward them. By envisioning your desired outcome, the perfect action is always inspired.

Consider This

Howard Thurman, Philosopher and Theologian said,

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs – ask yourself what makes
you come alive, and then go do it.  Because what the world needs is
people who have come alive.”

Coaching Tip:  Get Clear on What You Really Want

Find something that will give you energy and make you feel alive. Do what you really want versus worry about what everybody else thinks you should do!  Let yourself dream bigger than you’ve ever allowed yourself to dream before. Once you identify your goals and fill in the details, you’ll marvel at how things fall into place and how new, creative ideas continually come to you.

Coaching Questions for Vision

• What do I really want?
• Do my current goals energize and excite me? If not, what would?
• This is what is happening in the best possible picture of my life …
• What are my top five priorities this year?
• What significant objective, when accomplished, would feel really good to me?
• Where do I want to be three, six or nine months from now?

Coaching Action Challenge

Take the time you need to write down the specific things you desire in your ideal life. Include everything you can think of and let your imagination play. What kind of career, home, friends, and relationships do you have? Who are you surrounded by? Who are you being? It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past. Your answers to these questions set the course for where you’re heading, starting now! Trust that your inner wisdom will guide you to the right place and help you construct a vision that’s right for you. 

Then, spend 5 minutes a day this week relaxing in a quiet place with your eyes closed. Envision yourself living in the scenario you’ve created on paper; see yourself as if you’re already living this life and enjoying everything in it. Imagine what every detail looks and feels like as though you’re experiencing them now. This will help you come up with the right action steps as well as draw to you those perfect opportunities needed to achieve these desires.

Core Concepts

• It’s never to late to reinvent your life
• Connect with your burning desire and choose a goal that is worthy of you
• Your best answers are not outside of you, but within
• You are only limited by the limits you place on yourself
• When you picture yourself doing and having what you really want, you begin the process of actually being there

Vision Success Formula: 

I can see it = I can have it

Vision Bottom Line: You can do, be and have anything you set your mind to.

Decision

 Harnessing the Power of Deliberate Intent

By Christen Murphy Resmo

Why would you not make your journey through as exciting and amazing as possible?

If there’s a conversation I’ve had with myself a hundred times it’s this one, “I don’t want to sit down and write because I’m afraid I won’t come up with anything good.” I worry that my words won’t impress the feelings I’m trying to convey or that people might criticize me, so why even start? I hate to see my failure in front of me and I wish I wasn’t such a perfectionist. Before I know it, I feel indecisive and find many creative ways to avoid getting to work. Suddenly, I have to walk my dogs again this morning or it becomes urgent to find where the missing penny went on my bank statement. I’d rather explore my food pantry than explore my new ideas and I can loaf around with the best of them. Or I’ll write with no enthusiasm, then rewrite, then delete my revisions and begin all over again.

Here’s what I’ve discovered though: my decision is as mighty as my fear is weak. The decision to pick up my writing again, even half-heartedly, is so awesomely powerful that this tiny bit of willingness gets me back on track. “Just show up,” an inner voice guides me. “The littlest effort matters and your best is enough.” So sometimes I sit at my computer, however sluggishly, and simply go through the motions. Decision is such a bold and potent inner force that even small amounts of it help me overcome fear and triumph on any given day. In time, I remember how much I love to coach and write, and wonder what I was ever feeling so indecisive over.

What about you?
Which voice do you listen to?

Decision Says ‘Yes’ Fear Almost Always Says ‘No’

Is there a decision you know you need to make, but you’ve been putting off making it? The common conversation we all face is, “Can I do this?” “Is it REALLY okay for me to try something new or is too late for me to change?” The voice of fear almost always says “No, I can’t do that! I’ll look foolish or seriously mess it up this time,” or “What if I fall flat on my face and everyone laughs at me?” But there is another voice, a much more powerful voice which says, “I can do this and I will.” This is the strong voice of decision which reminds you that you can be, do or have anything that you want; so as convincing your fear-filled thinking is, listen to this wisdom and encouragement instead.

It’s okay to feel your fear and acknowledge it. You’re human after all. But don’t let that tricky, critical voice of fear make your most important decisions for you. If you let it, your fear will successfully prevent you from moving forward with your most exciting life adventures or talk you out of what you really want. Fear is cunning and crafty. It will creep in and take over even before you realize it. But Decision is the universal force that shakes up your hidden resistance, overpowers your fear and gets your internal gears moving again. So not to worry, you’ll quickly course correct if you remember to ask yourself from time to time:

Am I the one making the decisions around here? Or am I letting my fear decide?

Doing What You ‘Should Do’

Whenever you feel a sense of inner turmoil or a growing sense of conflicting feelings, chances are pretty good that you do need to make a decision about something. You might be questioning what the best course of action is and that could be what’s holding you back. We ask ourselves, “Should I, or shouldn’t I?” Despite this familiar back and forth game of tug-of-war, if you decide to follow through with what you really want (in your heart of hearts) and with what’s best for you, the turmoil and conflict drop away and disappear. These feelings might instantly be replaced by others, like nervous excitement, guilt or even panic but the conflict over what to do is gone. And even when you’re scared about a decision, if you know it’s the right one, that same decision will see you through. Just keep stepping forward and sticking with it.

Here’s the catch. If you decide to go with what you should do, versus doing what you really want to do, your heart will rebel and that sense of turmoil will continue to mount. Stuffing your own desires won’t serve you in the long run. Are you in the habit of pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? If so, your own personal challenge might be to investigate what’s best for you and learn to follow your own inner guidance. It’s a matter of listening to your intuition, or gut instincts, and then practice making your decisions from that place.

Deciding to Leave Something Behind

Have you ever had a failure turn out to be a blessing in disguise? I have, and I’ve experienced some crushing letdowns in my life. I once walked away from an exciting and lucrative business opportunity because I had lost my love and passion for it and I didn’t share the same vision with the other people involved. Try as I did, I failed to create consensus and I felt so totally frustrated, unsupported and misunderstood. I’ve since learned that some things aren’t meant to work out. Sometimes ‘No’ is the right answer. My only choice was to move on with my life and leave that opportunity behind.

To leave something behind is also a decision. These decisions are often the hardest ones to make. Today, years later, I can honestly say that I’m glad I closed that particular door. The decision to honor my own values changed me for the better and changed my life for the better. Even though the lessons were painful, I needed to learn what only that experience could teach me and I still draw from those lessons today. In the end, my decision to be involved was a good one, for a time; and my decision to leave was also a good one, for the long run. Is it time for you to remove your energy from a situation or leave something behind entirely?

Deciding to Go For Something Better

It was Elbert Hubbard who said:

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually fear you will make one.”

Perhaps our most critical mistake is to fear that we’ll make a mistake. One of our biggest barriers to deciding to go for a big goal is the fear that we must be wrong somehow. What if we make the wrong decision and it ends up not being worth it? Because we’re human, of course we fear pain and hurt. Whenever we risk our security and safety for the pursuit of something better, there is always a chance that we’ll end up in worse shape than ever before. At least it appears that way for a little while. We fear drowning in a sea of debt, embarrassment, rejection and lost dreams while our friends are successfully moving up the ladder of success and getting further ahead in life. And what if the grass really isn’t greener over there? These objections are something real and valid to look at. Nevertheless, if your life is not where you want it to be, the greater risk lies in staying where you are. Perhaps there is less to lose in finding out how green the grass really is on the other side of positive change. For example, if you decide to leave a relationship that is not good for you, you are taking a risk. But if you don’t, how will you ever have room for a healthy partner? If you decide to give up your steady paycheck to start your own business, you are risking yourself. But what if the business ends up being a huge success?

And do you know what else? Even if you did totally and completely fail and everyone could potentially judge you, it really would be okay. It might feel like you’re in much worse shape at that moment, but would you really be? You would still be the same wonderful and capable person. You’ll probably become a better person because of it.
Are you ready to risk a relationship that is not healthy for you to seek a happier life on your own? Are you ready to give up a secure paycheck, benefits and holidays off for the sake of starting your own, way more fulfilling adventure? If you are unhappy in love or in your job, then yes, maybe you are.

How Decision is Working for My Dream

One of my own personal dreams is to be a writer and speaker as well as a professional coach. The only way I can realize this dream is to write and speak. I have to keep plugging away at both even when I don’t write anything good or deliver my best performance. You see, I’ve had some earlier conditioning to overcome. When I was studying to become a nurse, I excelled in advanced science but fell short in every basic speech and writing class that was required of me to graduate. My speech class terrified me. I stood shaking behind the podium and read my notes word for word. I wouldn’t look up from the page because I was afraid I would lose my place, blunder and turn bright red. And my writing professor was very critical of me. She told me that I couldn’t write in proper English so it was a good thing that I was in the nursing program.

I’ve come a long way since then and I’m grateful that I decided to write anyway. It’s also okay that I’m not the best writer out there. I’m glad I decided to not listen to my college professor because I’m now a published author; I’ve also come out from behind the podium and have earned awards for my presentations. At one time I wouldn’t have believed that last sentence. I would have denied this could be my life. And it’s important that I share how this particular dream is coming true with you because it hasn’t come easily or naturally to me. This dream has taken a lot of willingness and personal energy on my part. I’m absolutely convinced that I would have quit a long time ago if I didn’t have my decision working for me.

A Dream Remains a Wish Until You Decide to Go For It

The first step in the Your Abundant Life™ program is Vision. I encouraged you to play with your imagination and envision your life as if you’ve already accomplished a significant dream. Yet visualizing the dream is one thing, deciding to live it or intending to have it is something else altogether. A want remains a wish until you claim it for yourself and say, “Yes, I’m in! That’s the way for me, I will go after my desires and settle for nothing less!”

If you have a dream but find this dream eluding you, you might be making it harder to reach because you haven’t decided on it yet. Your lack of a clear intention prevents your desires from unfolding in your life. So once you picture yourself enjoying the achievement of a goal and feel what it’s going to be like to have it, you must then make the decision to go for it! This is no light step, but it is the crucial next step for achieving a life of better health, improved relationships and greater career success.

Whenever you make a decision…

• The muddy water becomes clear. A decision will help you determine and clarify your direction, plans and priorities
• Your power is instantly harnessed and re-directed in a laser-like fashion. Yes, there’s work ahead of you, but because you’re now clear, you can focus. Whenever intend to achieve a goal, you’ll close some doors but that’s good, because you’ll open the right doors and put yourself straight on course for successfully reaching the desired goal
• You begin to build momentum. With clarity and focus, you can begin to move forward, building speed and momentum as you go. You’ll feel it the moment you decide to go for a goal because you become instantly energized. Clarity will do that. Most successful people can trace their greatest accomplishments back to the very moment they decided to make those specific goals a reality. Everything shifted within them and they could feel the tide turning in their favor. You might also find yourself amazed at the many coincidences and helpful opportunities that show up just in time to help you move to the next level

Step One: Decide to Live the Life You Dream Of

There comes a time when we all must make our own decisions about the best direction for our lives. I encourage you to do what you really want and what makes your heart sing. Take a chance on your biggest dreams and don’t settle for anything less than your highest good. It’s okay if your decisions are unpopular; trust yourself to choose what’s best for you and then decide to go for it. In order to achieve anything great, you must determine that you will.

Step Two: Let Your Challenges Make You Stronger

The only time you won’t experience challenges or growing pains is when you’ve allowed your life to stagnate. And the greater the goal, the greater the challenge it seems. Those who shoot for less might have fewer obstacles to overcome and perhaps life is safer and more comfortable for them, but it’s not the most fulfilling or exhilarating way to live.
Challenges and obstacles are both inevitable parts of going for a goal. These roadblocks provide you with opportunities to test your resolve and will ultimately help you become a more resourceful and savvy person. Some challenges provide the missing puzzle piece or help you learn a necessary skill such that you ultimately do succeed. And when you finally reach your goals, you’ll have earned the confidence and character strength needed to hold on to them. Difficult times are also your greatest teachers, designed to help you grow true and strong. So if you stop short and decide to give up too soon, you won’t learn how capable and competent you really are.

Step Three: Live With Decision Every Day

While it’s important to decide on the big things like our major goals and priorities, I have found decision to be an every day kind of practice for how to live a powerful life. Day by day we decide to show up and be involved in our ambitions, bit by bit and step by step. What do you think would happen if you chose to participate and engage in your dreams each day? I’ll tell you what I think would happen: all of those small decisions would have a compound interest effect indeed. The seemingly tiny results bring huge gain in the long-term. So even when the excitement around a big future goal seems to elude you and it’s hard to stay interested or invested on any given day, just take a small step, because baby steps work like magic too.

If you say you want to be a writer, write. If you want to be a painter, paint. If you want to be a dancer, dance. If you want to be fit and healthy, be fit and healthy. Decide to do it everyday, even if you’re like me and sludge through the motions sometimes. Don’t wait until everything is in perfect order before you get started. If you wait until your life is perfect or problem-free before you begin, you never will. Decide to live your dream life now!

Consider This

Jim Rohn, one of today’s top motivational speakers, has said,

“It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.”

Coaching Tip: Don’t Let Fear Stop You from Acting on Your Decisions

Fear means ‘Go’! Having cold feet is a good indicator that you’re stepping up and stretching beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone. You’re simply on that outer edge of what feels safe and known and that’s why you’re feeling resistant. Worry and anxiety are often good signs that you’re onto something good, and that you’re just about to take a big leap forward, so don’t stop now. Keep on moving instead. You will only be held back if you mistake fear as a sign to stop.

Coaching Questions for Decision

• What is my most exciting immediate goal?
• Am I ready to fix my attention on it?
• Have I decided to go for it?

Coaching Action Challenge

Move out of the ‘wishing’ phase and into the ‘having’ phase of your goal and decide what you’re ready to go for now. You can start in any area, personal or professional, and if you’re ready for a bigger challenge, choose a bigger goal. Give yourself permission to choose one dream to pursue now. It’s as simple as claiming your highest good and intending on making it happen.

Core Concepts

• Fear will use delay tactics that cause you to avoid making decision
• Avoidance and indecisiveness will keep you stuck
• A small decision can overcome great fear
• Decision gives you that little bit of willingness needed to make giant strides forward
• Decision create instant clarity, focus and momentum

Decision Success Formula:

I want + I will = deliberate intention that creates momentum and manifests results

Decision Bottom Line: You could live a lesser life, but why? Decision is the inner force that harnesses your inborn ability to do, be or have anything you want.

Belief

 If You Believe It, You Will Achieve It

By Christen Murphy Resmo 

Is it really true that you can’t achieve your heart’s desires? Or has your inner critic been telling you lies, that up until now, you have chosen to believe?

Years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties, I took up the sport of rock-climbing in the mountains of my Colorado home. I clearly remember a moment when I was asked to work with the power of my belief. I was moving up a steep, exposed rock face with very few reliable hand and foot holds and was inching toward a foreboding overhang. I was also up against the limits of my physical ability and was shaking uncontrollably from fatigue. My very competent climbing partner had me securely roped-in and was keeping a watchful eye on me from a safe place below, and while I never felt my life was in danger, I was still extremely anxious. I called down, “I don’t see my next move and I’m tired.” My partner called up to me in a firm tone, “Tell yourself you can do it.”  I again called out, “No I can’t! I’m nervous! Let me down now.” He replied, “Your mind can hear you, so change it.” Clearly, he wasn’t going to let me off that easily. So I did hang in there, telling myself with each tiny movement upward, “I can do this, I can do this.” And it worked! I successfully inched my way over the top and was so exhilarated once I finally got there. I felt the kind of exhilaration which comes only after I do something that I didn’t always know I could.

What I remember even more vividly is what my partner said to me later, “I won’t climb with you Christen if you say, ‘I can’t’. This is a fun sport, but it’s a dangerous one too and the fun isn’t worth the fall.” He challenged me to understand how my mind responds when I say, “I’m going to fall” and to reverse my thinking by believing I can do anything I set my mind to. He taught me not to risk my life, or risk anything for that matter, by faltering in my belief. 

You Will Only Go As Far As You Believe You Will

The second step in the Your Abundant Life™ program is Decision. I encouraged you to turn a wish into a reality by intentionally deciding to go for it. I asked you to choose at least one thing, big or small, that you’re ready to claim by saying, “Yes, I’m in! That’s the way for me. I will go after this goal and settle for nothing less!” 

Your Vision and Decision have set your course. Now, do you really believe that you’ll reach your desired destination? If not, you could seriously hamper your progress and cause numerous and unnecessary delays. Without Belief, you might even abandon your goal at the first sign of hardship. You’ve got to believe! You see, you’ll only go as far as your level of believe allows. This means, the size of your success is equivalent to the size of your belief and you are only limited by the scope of your belief. If you set a goal that you don’t really buy into, you might as well scrap it and start over. This is not because you don’t deserve it. You do deserve it but you must believe that it’s possible to reach your goal such that you actually do so successfully.

So, you have set a goal! Do you really believe that you will get there?

Belief Keeps You Moving Forward

No matter how clear your vision is or how solid you’re decision is, your belief is what allows you to stay engaged in the dream. Your belief will help you get through those hard days when you don’t know what’s around the next corner, and you don’t know if you have enough strength to get there to find out. Nothing else will help you like belief when the going gets tough and everything appears to be working against you. Belief is that inner character strength which fortifies you during the worst of times. Without it, you might find it to be too easy to quit on yourself before you fully realize your dream or experience all of who you really are.

Vision determines your direction, Decision is the spark that jump-starts action, and Belief is the powerful force that keeps you actively moving forward despite the challenges and the unexpected. The faith and belief you infuse into your goal will help sustain you on the journey, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to its improbability. With belief and consistent participation in the goal, what once seemed impossible begins to look probable until one day the dream suddenly appears before you, becoming an absolute certainty.

We Become Who We Believe We Are
Everyone has the exact same access to success and happiness but that doesn’t mean every person experiences success and happiness. Why is this so? One reason is that successful, happy people operate from a totally different set of core beliefs than those who harbor severely negative ones or who have closed their minds to new ideas. Core beliefs are what allow one woman to rise to the top of her field while another equally capable woman is afraid to ask for even a dollar an hour pay raise for fear of losing her job, which she doesn’t like anyway; but in her mind there is nothing better out there.

You see, we get out of life what we believe we’ll get out of life. And you will become the person you believe you are. You’ll even get from yourself what you expect to get. If you’re already enjoying great success, these results are clear indicators that your predominant, core beliefs are positive and self-empowering. And the parts of your life where you’ve been the most successful say a lot about how you see yourself too. For example, if you believe you’re great with people, chance are you have a lot of meaningful relationships. If you believe your good with numbers, chances are your checkbook is perfectly balanced or you chose to work with numbers and figures in your career. On the flip side, if you believe that you’re a terrible speaker or that nobody cares what you have to say, chances are you would be completely terrified if you were asked to stand up and speak in public.

Be Willing to Re-think Your Assumptions about Yourself

Most of us fall into the habit of thinking we already know all there is to know about ourselves. But do we? On top of that, some of our deeply-held convictions can be so confining that they only serve to get in our way. Are we questioning them enough? We also allow other people, who are operating from their own set of limiting beliefs, to influence us. Even exceptional, loving and well-meaning people in our families, schools and churches tell us who we should be, or what we should do. Some ask that we follow along with the crowd or stick to the ‘right’ path because they honestly think it’s best for us. But what if they’re wrong? If we’re not vigilant, we could so easily find ourselves boxed-in by other people’s expectations and then wonder why we’re unhappy or unfulfilled.

What if everybody, including you, is way off the mark and hasn’t even come close to knowing all of who you can be?
I’ve asked myself these questions too.

Questions like:

• What if I don’t know everything there is to know about me?
• What would my life be like if I released all the opinions and expectations that other people have of me?
• What would happen if I let go of that old version of myself, the one that is not a true reflection of me?

The first step to building a strong belief is to be honest with yourself about how you hold yourself back. What beliefs have become old, worn-out and tired? While some of your beliefs are empowering, admit it, you’ve been holding onto others that don’t honor you. Have you noticed how belittling some of your automatic internal conversations are? As you become aware of beliefs that don’t serve you, you can then change them or release them entirely by no longer accept them as true for you. Be on guard and remain ever diligent such that you quickly say ‘no’ to false beliefs and replace those thoughts with far better ones. Entertain new ideas about your greatness because greatness is your one true nature. One very helpful thing you can affirm is this, “There are wondrous things about myself that I don’t know or fully understand, and I’m willing to change my mind about me.” With this attitude, “I can’t” becomes “I can”. “I’m not good enough” becomes “I deserve more than this.” “I’m never going to amount to much” becomes “I will achieve great love, great success and great happiness!”

Ready to go further?  Then just change your mind!

Thinking poorly about yourself is a simple matter of conditioning. This means your thinking can be undone through the willingness to change your mind. Stop agreeing with a lower picture of who you are. Maybe you’ve been too hard on yourself and it’s time to accept the fact that you’re a lot more amazing than you’ve given yourself credit for.

Starting today, you can talk to yourself more encouragingly. This is a skill that you might have to relearn but don’t worry. With each and every earnest effort, you’ll eventually master it until you routinely accept and know your true self. We are all in the process of waking up to who we truly are. This is the ultimate goal because a fabulous life stems from a solid belief in, and a clear understanding of, our true nature.

The Irony of Belief

Belva Davis, broadcast journalist and one of the first female African American TV reporters said,
 
“Don’t be afraid of the space between your dream and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so. “

Belief is the principle that asks you to go ahead with your plans while having absolutely no proof that things will work out the way you want them to. In most cases, there will be no hard evidence that you’ll succeed initially. Almost every journey begins at the place of uncertainty, but uncertainty doesn’t have to stop you because belief is the attitude that creates certainty. When I was climbing up that rock face I told you about, my belief was the only thing I had left in me to rely on.  I had to know with certainty that I could make it to the top even though I had never experienced doing so.

Ironically, while there are no guarantees of success, the more you believe that you will succeed, the more you’ll find yourself actually succeeding. And the more that you believe in the mysterious forces of life as a reliable source of support, then miraculously, the more those surprising and happy coincidences occur to help you. This bolsters more belief. As you continue to trust that everything will turn out okay and that the right people will show up to lend a hand, then right you are. Strangely, helpful circumstances, people and events do come around exactly when you need them to. The power of your belief opens the doors of opportunity and allows good things to flow readily into your reality. But belief must come before your proof. Belief is what brings your proof. That’s the irony of belief. You have to believe and expect that good things are in store for you, and that everything will work out for the best, even before you’ve experienced it.

Your certainty of success seems to call upon serendipity, which orchestrates life in such a way that your results will come together favorably and in perfect timing. Only then will you begin to understand how right you were to believe. So even if it doesn’t feel natural at first, you must trust in yourself and in your abilities before you can fully understand how trustworthy and capable you are. And you must trust that your life will line up to support you too. As you do this, I suggest you prepare yourself for flood of good things; because when you work with the awesome power of unquestioning belief, you will have many fateful days when you’ll stand amazed and astonished at how life co-operates with you effortlessly and miraculously.

Leap and Trust the Net Will Appear

Sometimes you’ll have to put it on the line for something that you truly desire because it’s the only way you’re going to make progress. Sometimes you’re asked to have the faith to jump without knowing how things will happen, trusting that the net will appear. Are you there now? If so, you must let go and let God; and let the mysterious process of your life unfold. This can be so incredibly difficult, to relinquish the belief that you don’t have to do it all and that help is on the way, especially when there is no aid in site. And it can be hard to put your trust in others, to give up control and accept the help when it does come – and it will come in many forms. You also don’t have to control everything and the reality is you won’t. It can be a big relief when you come to understand that it’s not all up to you and it doesn’t have to be.

Do you have the faith, the knowingness, that the assistance you need is on the way to help you succeed?

We’ve all had times in our lives when our belief gets tested, when we’re called upon to take a leap of faith. My ultimate tests of belief was when I left my nursing career which was safe and secure to venture into a profession that most people had never even heard of. At that time, professional coaching was a very new and relatively untested field. On top of that, I was a well trained and specialized cardiac RN and that made it even harder for me to break free. I had myself SO defined! In my entire first two years of business I felt like I was in a total free-fall and that was scary. But I also believed that the net would eventually appear. And it always did. I then began to take much greater risks and sometimes it looked like I was just inches away from hitting the ground hard and fast. Even then, the net always appeared and gratefully, it continues to show up and catch me to this very day. So even when your belief gets tested, you must remember that you wouldn’t have the ability to come up with a dream without also having the ability to make it come true.

When was the last time you took a leap of faith?
Is now the time to take another?

Step One: Create from a Place of Worthiness
Most of us still need to work on our own feelings of worthiness. The bottom line for everyone to some extent is that we don’t feel very worthy. And when we create from that place, we don’t shoot high enough. That’s why our results are so small. We forget that our worth is beyond measure and that we truly deserve anything we want. You don’t have to do anything to earn that worth. You are completely worthy and fully deserving just because you’re here. This is true even if you don’t believe it. But what would happen in your life if you did believe it?  No matter how far you’ve come on this journey toward wholeness and self-worth, I ask you to put even more energy into your belief about being totally deserving. Dare to shoot higher and ask for nothing but the best. 

What perceived limits and ceilings have you imposed upon yourself?

Step Two: Change Your Mind about Who You Believe You Are
What if all of the negative and limiting assumptions you have about yourself are wrong? Nevertheless, because you go on believing these self-imposed boundaries, you give these false ideas power over you. I’ll go out on a limb and boldly tell you that almost ALL of the confining and restrictive things you think about yourself aren’t true! You just believe they are which in turn helps perpetuate those experiences in your life. As depressing as that might sound, this is good news because you can change your mind at any time.

Step Three: Tame Your Inner Critic

Each one of us tends to be our own worst critic. You own inner critic will immediately negate a good idea the very instant it pops into your awareness. Like the devil on your shoulder, your inner critic strives to talk you out of doing what you really want and will attempt to keep you well within the boundaries of your comfort zone. It’s the ego talking which will gladly provide you with the hammer that you can beat yourself up with.

The inner critic is on a fault-finding mission and it does this so well. So be on guard. The moment you decide to go for a goal, your inner critic starts in with the negative commentaries and will cause you to doubt your abilities or question your worth. It will predict your failure and warn you about how bad you’re going to look to other people. It will tell you that you’re stupid or that you should be embarrassed or ashamed. And while it might sound convincing, it speaks of nothing but lies about why you can’t do something and why you shouldn’t even try. Don’t believe it! Choose not give it any additional energy because if you do listen, you might give up way too soon or before you even start.

Because you’re human, you will feel fear and doubt. It’s okay if you cave into the inner critic from time to time. But catch yourself so that you can consciously unplug from those habitual and conditioned messages. If you keep agreeing with that critical voice, you’ll continue to reinforce the self-sabotaging beliefs that keep you stuck or that turn up less than desirable results. Yes, that inner critic might jabber away, but you don’t have to buy into the belittling and misleading messages about how small you are. We all have an inner critic yes, but successful people have learned to override it’s messages by building strong, positive beliefs that simply outweigh them.

Consider This

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt told us,
 
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their own dreams.”

And ‘The Little Engine That Could’ chugged away,

“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!”

Coaching Tip: Set a Goal You Believe You Can Reach

There is no sense in setting a goal you believe is unattainable because when you do this, you instantaneously move the goal out of your realm of possibilities. Set a specific and attainable goal. Have it be just out of reach but not unreachable in your mind. Your mind is your most powerful tool in manifesting success. It will readily support you in reaching what you believe is attainable and help you fail in whatever ambition you believe is not.  Many well-intentioned people don’t attain their goals because they’re missing the mighty, manifesting power of belief! If you set a goal, but deep inside you don’t believe you can have or do it, you’ll set yourself up for disappointment. Start with something believable to you. As you reach this goal, you’ll build more belief such that you can set bigger goals.

Coaching Questions

• What limiting things do you tell yourself?
• How have you been holding yourself back?
• Do you push your boundaries or do you stop at the first sign of hardship?
• Do you trust that life will line up to support you after you decide upon your goals?

Coaching Action Challenge

Every time you say something negative about yourself, you are reinforcing a belief that will turn up in your results.  Become aware of your negative inner dialogue this week. Catch yourself and make corrections when you put yourself down. It helps to say “Stop” or “Cancel that” or “No, that isn’t true for me anymore.”

This is perhaps the hardest challenge I’ve given you so far because you’re being asked to re-think what has become your automatic fallback position. But it’s worth trying because whatever you focus on grows. At first, it might seem a little weird to talk nicely to yourself, especially if you’re used to a lot of self-criticism. But think about it. If some of your friends talked to you the way you sometimes talk to yourself, would you continue to hang around with them? Take some time every day this week and practice reinforcing empowering ideas, which will gradually  turn into hard core beliefs. And when that inner critic pipes in and tells you that you’re being a fool and that this won’t work, choose not to listen. Here are some examples:
 
“I know I can do it!  My dream will come true”
“I am capable.” “I am resourceful.” “Everything that needs to happen will happen such that I achieve my goal.”
“It doesn’t matter what other people are thinking and doing, I know that I CAN and will succeed!”

Core Concepts

• Belief opens the doors of miraculous opportunity and happy coincidences
• Belief keeps you moving forward when you need it most
• What you focus on grows so focus on the positive
• You will only go as far as your beliefs allow
• Be willing to reexamine your assumptions about who you think you are
• You can change your mind about yourself at any time
• There is no one ‘out there’ stopping you from living the life you truly want. Only your limited beliefs will stop you

Belief Success Formula:

Vision + Decision + Belief = Attracting the abundant possibilities needed to achieve your desires

Belief Bottom Line: If you believe it, you can achieve it

Action

 Living in Alignment with Your Desires

By Christen Murphy Resmo 

 

 

  At the start of this program, I asked you to shoot for something of significance that you truly want, in your heart of hearts. What are you doing to make that dream come true?

I grew up 45 miles to the south of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Anyone from the Midwest knows that Wisconsin has a culture that revolves around beer, brats, cheese and football! Under Coach Vince Lombardi’s direction, the Green Bay Packers collected 6 division titles, 5 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowl wins. Lombardi knew a lot about winning and he understood that football is a game of inches. 

 Winning in your life is all about inches too. It means going small distances successfully and then continuing to advance, one step at a time. And winners seldom win by a landslide. Instead, most people win by a matter of inches. A champion goes as far as she possibly can, taps into every ounce of her inner strength and then takes another step to go even further. The people that succeed in life take responsibility for their own happiness and simply take the consistent, repetitive steps that are needed to arrive at their final, desired destination. And successful people are willing to roll up their sleeves and dive into some pretty hefty work when needed. In fact, they appoint themselves to this hard work to go farther still. Successful people choose to turn their labor into their joy because they don’t confuse serious work with drudgery. They know how fun and rewarding hard work can be!

Is there something that you really want to do in your life but haven’t started yet?

Begin Today

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Poet, Novelist and Scientist has said, 

“Each indecision brings its own delays and days are lost lamenting over lost days…Whatever you think you can do begin it. For boldness has magic, power and genius in it.”

If you’re not happy with the quality of your life or wish you could be somewhere else, you really can begin to make a change today. You deserve a wonderful life. To settle for anything less than a satisfying and fulfilling life is to not honor your self — so don’t throw yourself in the back-seat any longer! Do not remain blind or bleary-eyed to the truth that you want something greater and do not continue to procrastinate. You are worthy of so much more than a life that feels half-fulfilled. Raise your personal standards considerably higher today and don’t give into the fear that you can’t handle it. When you’re honest with yourself about what you really want, you infuse your Self with the power to make great changes.  If you want to experience more success than you’ve ever had before but you’re nervous about acting on a new idea, get started anyway. Begin moving toward that end result now. Even baby-steps will do just fine because once you decide to take a chance on something truly wonderful, and continue to take action, you’ll eventually reach those dreams that used to seem totally out of reach. 

 

Is there another place that you’d rather be in your career, in your relationships or with your pysical health? If so, only action will guarantee results. That’s it! There is no other way.

 

Step by Step and Day by Day 

 

Big goals require big action, and big goals may need a mammoth effort on your part. But you don’t have to do it all at once. You can break even the biggest goal down into smaller, more immediate and attainable ones. Then all you have to do is move forward goal by goal and step by step.  

You Can’t Sit Back and Wait

Many people think they should postpone new action until the right situation or the right set of circumstances shows up. But this attitude blocks the flow of abundance. You can’t make a wish and then sit back and wait for things to happen. You must act upon your desire to better your life because the situation won’t miraculously change on its own. It needs your input. So if you’re bored, dissatisfied or unhappy with any part of your experience, you can improve your situation through action today. Like the ripple effect, even the smallest effort can travel a great distance. This means that you can’t possibly foresee how far one positive action will reach into the future and significantly transform your world.   

Action Attracts New Opportunities  

While your thoughts activate the creative forces within your subconscious mind and set the Universe into motion to support you, you can’t rely on your thoughts alone to manifest results and prosperity. Your most inspired ideas won’t take shape without you so don’t assume that you’re making progress because you’re doing a lot of great thinking. Without appropriate action, your wishes may be delayed. Why? Because your actions demonstrate that you’re prepared to receive your desires. The Universe will not deliver on your vision and desire until you also act as though you’re ready for more. And your aligned action clearly states that you are indeed equipped to handle the routine appearance of more fortuitous events. Aligned action is action that matches and compliments your wishes.

So if you’re dissatisfied with your job and want to move on, you can’t wait for the CEO of a great company to call up one day and hire you on the spot. You must embark on the search for something more suitable. And like I’ve said before, if you want to be a writer, write. If you want to be a speaker, get out there and speak. If you want to be a paid musician, practice your craft and then find places where you can play your music.   In essence, your actions are a cue to the world that you are intent on living your dream. And while your vision begins to pull new resources to you, your actions advance you towards those opportunities much more quickly as well as stimulate the flow of abundance into your experience. Action puts you in harmony with (or in allowance with) the steady stream of good that is waiting to pour forth with effortless ease. The only thing that blocks this natural flow is your decision to sit down and remain idle. This will immobilize all forms of progress and keep your life  at a standstill.

Abundance is a co-creative process that you must participate with if you want results. This means that when you move, everything moves. As soon as you make a move toward your intended goal, you mobilize vast unseen forces that will aid in your progress. Sometimes good old-fashioned hard work will get the job done and sometimes even the smallest of steps will set great things into motion.   It is not up to you to figure out how each piece of the whole puzzle is going to fall into place or how everything is going to come together. And you don’t need to worry about how you will be provided for. Help is always available to you and more is on the way! You are only responsible for a few things but they play a major role in your success. These habits are also pretty simple but simple doesn’t mean they’ll come easily or naturally at first: 

1.      First you must hold a clear vision of what you truly desire. Have faith and maintain a positive expectation that all is working together, under the surface, for your highest good. Practice a deeper knowing that more opportunities will show up at the right time.

2.      Be grateful for the help that comes to you because your state of appreciation opens infinite avenues for more good things to come and to then further appreciate. True feelings of gratitude activate the cyclical process of ever-expanding abundance.

3.      Then, allow yourself to feel what it’s like to be there — as though you’re there already — such that you perpetuate the development of this picture in your life. Give your dream plenty of love and passion. The more intense your feelings are, the faster the Universe brings your desires to you. 

4.      Finally, you must demonstrate your intention to achieve these wishes through aligned and specific action. Only action will complete the cycle of manifestation. 

  

Don’t Worry About Getting Your Ducks in a Row 

You don’t have to have all of your ducks in a row before you take action. And you can’t wait until everything is figured out before you act because you could be waiting for a very long time. While planning and preparation are needed, the reality is, you won’t know the entire plan at the beginning of any venture. But that’s okay. You can start right now even without the perfect plan. Just get the ball rolling by taking one step forward, even if it’s just an inch.   

Walking the Talk = Living in Alignment

Being in integrity with your desires means that you actually do what you say you’re going to do; and maybe more importantly, go after what you really want. Being in alignment with your desires means that you do what is needed on your part to make them happen. In other words, your actions match your vision and passion. The feelings in your heart are reflected in the things you involve yourself with. The ideas that you get most excited and passionate about are reflected in your daily activities. Alignment is a lot like having a strong team of horses pulling a cart in the same direction. You can move forward with greater swiftness and with lesser resistance because all of the aspects that make up who you are (your thoughts, feelings, words and actions) share the same aim.  

You Can Have Anything You Are Committed To 

I have revised the statement ‘You can have anything you want’ to ‘You can have anything you are committed to’. This is because you can not have anything you want, but you can have anything that you’re willing to work for and act upon. As I’ve mentioned before, you have to more than want something, you have to commit yourself to having it. And you must be disciplined and specific in your actions. 

 Being Committed is Worth the Rewards  

Abundance is not just about financial gain; abundance is also about enjoying genuine feelings of contribution and accomplishment. A life well lead is an abundant life. And you are the only person who can define what your successful and abundant life will look like.  If you want a particular college degree, you can have it. If you want financial freedom, you can create it. If you want a deeply loving and healthy relationship, you can manifest one. And if you want vibrant physical health, you can attain it. But such things require a willingness on your part to fully engage in the undertaking. You must ready yourself to endure those sometimes difficult tasks that are needed to achieve such meaningful pursuits. You might have to study harder than you ever have before. You may have to open your heart to heal past hurts or sacrifice that late night snack for more significant long-term personal gains. But you surely CAN do it! You have the power to do any of these things. And think about it. Doesn’t it feel good to accomplish something which demanded that you rise to the challenge? Those richly deserved feelings of exhilaration and satisfaction come only after you’ve done something that required an honest effort on your part.  

Why it is So Hard in the Beginning? 

My best answer for that question is this, “Because it’s the beginning.” It’s always the hardest at the start of any goal or project, even when you’re excited about it because you still have the most amount of work ahead of you. The beginning is when your learning curve is the steepest and when you have the least amount of experience under your belt. There’s a lot to learn and even more to do and many of the rewards come later; sometimes much later and that can be frustrating. But just like you can’t wait for your fear to subside before you start, you can’t wait for the beginning phase to get easier before you start either.  You might feel awkward or unsure of yourself in the beginning but you won’t feel this way forever so don’t let yourself become disheartened; then after a while, you’re not in the beginning anymore. In fact, the more action you take, the further from the beginning you’ll be. Through undiscouraged action, you’ll become stronger and more confident as you go, and only later will you look back and thank yourself for sticking with it when the going got tough. 

Momentum Builds over Time 

In the case of your grandest goals, it might feel a lot like rolling a boulder up a hill at first. It could take every ounce of your strength and energy to get that boulder rolling. But that doesn’t mean your efforts aren’t worthwhile because sooner or later you’ll get to the top. And when that happens, the boulder then tips downward on the other side of the slope and you won’t be able to stop that boulder from rolling and picking up speed if you tried. In addition, that boulder behaves like a giant snowball that keeps increasing in size as it rolls along. At that point, exponential growth and momentum take over and then all you have to do is enjoy the ride.  Here’s another way to look at momentum.

Just like you were attracted to your goal because you fell in love with the idea of it, your desire turns you into a powerful magnet that attracts your goal to you in return! With each action taken, your goal keeps moving toward you. The faster you move toward that goal, the greater the speed in which your goal comes racing in as well. Don’t believe me? Here’s an extra challenge: try just 90 days of ramped up, super-charged action before you discount what I’m telling you. I am absolutely convinced that if you took focused, goal-oriented action for the next 90 days without fail, you will be telling ME about all of the magical things that you’re creating, attracting and manifesting. So it’s okay if this sounds too simplified or too good to be true right now. Have fun with my challenge and see how it works for you. For extra motivation, I suggest you plan a fun vacation at the end of these 90 days to reward yourself for a job well done.  

 Don’t Wait to Feel Confident First

 I have told my clients, “You can’t wait to feel confident before you take action. Confidence is the prize you earn after you do something that you didn’t always know you could, and only then.” Courageous action must come before you feel 100% confident. All of your efforts will pay off in the form of greater confidence later. Think of it like this, many of your untapped and undiscovered talents are hidden beneath the surface of your awareness, and they will remain unseen until you take action on the scary things. As soon as you successfully accomplish something out of the realm of your comfort zone, a newfound sense of confidence emerges beyond what you’ve previously known and experienced. Some of my clients equate this rising confidence to the feeling of being ‘bullet-proof’. The events that used to send them sideways or throw them into a tailspin don’t even register as a disturbance anymore because they’ve become so solid and certain about who they are and where they’re going. Maybe you’re there already, standing on the top of your own personal mountain. If so, you might have surprised even yourself with how strong and sure of a person you’ve become in your efforts to reach this place.  

Learn to Focus Your Energy  

Do your goals require immediate action? If so, rather than flounder with unlimited options and possibilities, choose one idea that you think might work and act on it. Make action a goal in itself. Don’t fool yourself by staying preoccupied with busy work. Instead, focus your energy and stick with your high-payoff activities every day. Make yourself sit in that chair, pick up that phone or lock yourself in your office. Don’t let yourself out until you are done with your to-do list. Or stop hiding behind your desk and boot yourself out of that chair.

Go out into the world and let people know what you’re up to! Without focused action you might not produce your desired results within your preferred timeframe. This can cause you to easily lose interest around even your deepest desires because nothing exciting is being generated. Then it becomes almost too easy to put the dream on the shelf to sit another day.  You might have to drive away your inner distractions, excuses and creative avoidance or push past your own inner obstacles to get some momentum going. You might have to fight through your negative self-talk or simply choose not to listen to it.

It’s absolutely essential that you get this initial bit of inertia out of your way. It becomes easier to stay in motion after that. As sluggish as this inertia can seem to be, action is what immediately lifts the mood and allows you to make progress quickly. 

Step One:  Expect Good Things. Action is a great declaration of positive expectation. When you act upon your desires, you clearly demonstrate your belief that good things will happen as a result. Because you’ll get what you are seeking, if you’re expecting to find good things, you will. 

Step Two:  Take the First Step.  If there’s something you really want but you haven’t started because you don’t know how to make it all happen, start anyway. You’ll gather insight and experience as you go. Even if you can’t see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Then all you have to do is keep stepping.

Step Three:  Act as If the Goal is On the Way. Remember that genie in your subconscious mind? As we’ve previously discussed, whatever message you send it, the genie accepts without judgment or argument. Action is often the MISSING SIGNAL that is needed to alert your mind to your true intention. Therefore, nothing can replace action. Without it, your request is incomplete. The genie will keep everything in a holding pattern until you send a clearer indication of what you want, and your action is the strongest declaration of desire. So the moment you ACT AS IF you know the goal is on the way and that you really do want it, your mind accepts your intention and goes to work in an effort to support you.   

Consider This

This  Akin A. Awolaja told us, 

“Where you find yourself tomorrow is a function of the positive decisions and actions you take today.”

And Dianne Houston said,

“Only some people get what they want. Those are the people who show up to get it.”

 

Coaching Tip:  When Opportunity Knocks, Show Up! 

With regards to your desires, all you have to do now is stay focused on them, seeing and feeling them as being already manifested. Trust and believe that your asking is answered and know that your requests are being handled. With this awareness you can relaxing into your belief that all is working together for your highest good and you can simply act as though you know it’s coming. Be a joyful participant. The dream will unfold as you engage yourself and continue to take action. Through action, opportunities will continue to present themselves and when opportunity knocks, show up! 

Coaching Questions 

·         What action would make the biggest impact on my most important goal?

·         What step have I been avoiding that I’m ready to take action on this week?

·         What can I do today, specifically, to forward my vision and desire?

Coaching Action Challenge  

Choose ONE GOAL that you want to see results with now. Then write down 5 clearly defined action steps you will take this week. Choose high-payoff, results producing activities. Simply follow your list and don’t settle for anything less than 100% follow through. The challenge is to remain willing to take total, complete, no-nonsense action and that you keep moving forward no matter what.   

Core Concepts 

·         Worry is draining and action is exhilarating

·         Fear is crippling but action builds confidence and belief

·         Indecision keeps you stuck and action creates momentum

·         Action alerts the Universe of your willingness to participate in the dream which advances the goal toward you and attracts the right opportunities and resources

Action Success Formulas:  

Taking Action = Taking Responsibility for Your Happiness

Massive Action = Massive Results 

Action Bottom Line:  Only action will guarantee results and catapult you forward 

Persistence

 

Fortune Favors the Bold

 

by Christen Murphy Resmo

 Is there a problem in your life that could be beaten or overcome with persistence? Is there a dream in your heart that persistence would help you finally and fully realize? 

I invite you to consider that special time in your life when you accomplished something meaningful and valuable to you. When was that time — when you overcame all obstacles and made it through to the end, even if the odds were stacked against you? Isn’t it true that your sense of pride and exhilaration came only AFTER you achieved something that you didn’t always know you could?  

What caused you to persist? Dogged determination? Passion and love for your goal?  Was it sheer stubbornness to prove that you could indeed do it? Or were you simply too far along to turn back? Whatever it was, ultimately what was most important is that you did persist. Persistence is about consistent action and a willingness to get up everyday and honor your dreams and decisions. There is enormous power in that. And your own inner quality of persistence has already served you well, even if it’s been somewhat dormant lately. Your persistence has helped you weather the storms of disappointment, rejection and temporary set-backs such that you’ve picked yourself up, dusted yourself off and kept going forward in your life. So can you count on yourself to be persistent now? Of course you can. 

Persistence is the inner strength of character that allows one person to succeed while another doesn’t. One person “just about” starts a project and the persistent person starts it. One person “almost” gets the job done and the persistent person finishes the job. While one person sees a chance opportunity, the persistent person acts on it. The question is, “Which person do you want to be today?”   

Sir Edmund Hillary, famous mountaineer, has said, 

“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.”  

Let’s consider Sir Edmund Hillary for a moment. This beekeeper from Auckland, New Zealand was by many accounts an ordinary chap. Yet he earned world-renowned celebrity when in 1953 he became the first to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest, the highest point on the planet, and return home alive. What most people don’t know is that Hillary and his native guide, Tensing Norgay, did this after failing on two frustrating prior attempts. And in 1953, an undertaking such as Everest was phenomenal. The modern day technology and support that is readily available to climbers today was not accessible to these two men. Not even close. Hillary and Norgay were completely on their own as they moved into uncharted territory. There were no helicopters to fly them and their gear into base camp, for there was no such place. There was no extra oxygen stashed at strategic locations and no radios to call for help or rescue. In addition, the trek to the base of Everest alone took a substantial effort and was considered by most to be a near impossible feat in itself. It took several weeks for them to traverse across some of the world’s most remote terrain just to get to the foot of the mountain.  

Both Hillary and Norgay possessed an obvious attribute that carried them to the top of this extraordinary place. And that quality is Persistence. Without it, all their planning and conditioning would have meant NOT attaining Everest, a long sought after ambition of theirs. The proper planning combined with persistence and fierce determination enabled these men to scale the world’s tallest mountain on that legendary day. 

 Persistence is the same character trait that we all need to carry us to the top of our own personal mountain. We are each confronted with obstacles every day as we strive to accomplish something that really matters to us. And yet, most of us don’t give ourselves enough credit. We don’t automatically equate ourselves to people like Hillary, thinking he is unique or somehow different from us. Therefore, we diminish our own abilities and don’t see the truth about who we are and what we’re truly capable of. But you are no different. You can keep climbing to the top of your own personal mountains too if you choose. All it takes is just a little more willingness and motivation than the ordinary chap. 

Persisting through Delays and Setbacks

Have you ever noticed when the moment you commit yourself to a goal, the challenges seem to arise almost as quickly? And the bigger the goal, the bigger the challenges look to be too! It’s as though everything that stands between you and this goal is suddenly revealed and clamoring for your attention. Why is this so? Why do frustrating problems surface just when we start to actively pursue a goal? 

Sometimes you’re supposed to be delayed or taken off course because there are areas of your life that need your attention first. This means that your current delays and setback are not definitive signs that you should stop pursuing your passion or give up trying. You’re not really going backwards even though it might feel that way. Instead, this is your opportunity to clear out the old and bring in the new. This is your chance to make room in your life for real improvements. Yes, better things are in store for you; but in order for more of this good to unfold, you need to address the unhealthy habits or relationships that are standing in the way. Even those problems that don’t have any relation or connection to your specific goal — like clutter, a bad attitude or lack of support — can disrupt your life so much that it’s hard to focus on much else. So it’s time to tidy up!

You didn’t sign up for easy street when you committed yourself to your personal growth. It is not painless to live the big life you were born to live. The path to true personal power is a wonderful, magical and meaningful path, but it is NOT the easy road. Embrace and appreciate your inner struggles for they will prove to be your most helpful teachers.

The painful or aggravating parts of your life — the ones that are really in your face right now — are here to tell you something. Pay attention. What messages are trying to get through? If you recognize the issues, you can ultimately change them. If you’ve ever said, “Why is this happening to me?” Take heart. Perhaps it happened for your betterment and highest good. So rather than stay down or defeated, take this opportunity to recognize and clear away those things that are hampering your overall progress and happiness. Keep persisting toward your heart’s desires and adding the new while you continually release the baggage that’s weighing you down.

Success Comes After Many Failures

Successful people experience more failures than the average person because they’re always striving to accomplish more. Such people dare to live the life they dream of and they don’t let the upset of failure stand in the way of their dreams permanently. Neither should you.   Some successful people live on the leading edge of thought and innovation where the learning curve is steep; therefore, temporary failure is inevitable. My example of such as person is Thomas Edison who taught us how to look at failure in a new light. Edison told us that we should expect to fail many times in our lives and should invite failure as a necessary part of achieving our ultimate goal. When failing to create electricity after over 10,000 attempts, Edison was asked by a reporter how he felt about his failure. His reply was this, “I did not fail. I now know the 10,000 ways not to do it!” Thomas Edison wouldn’t be defeated because he knew he was at least 10,000 steps closer to his goal of creating the electric light bulb. Ordinary people do extraordinary things all of the time simply because they think there is a way and they get to work! They cure diseases, fly people to the moon, and figure out clever and innovative ways to improve the lives of us all. There are many people in the world that you’ve never heard of (and who will never be famous) who are making your life better right now because they’ve chosen to persist! They help to make your cars and roadways safer, your Internet run faster and your children smarter and healthier. Many of their successes have come after multiple disappointments but these people finally succeeded because they chose to move beyond their short-term failures.  

Persistence Pays  

Basketball marvel, Michael Jordan has said,   

“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot…and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” 

Even when we’re told that mistakes are a part of being human, we don’t ever want to make such mistakes and come up short. But so what if we do? Perhaps we believe that making a mistake says something bad about ourselves. And yet, intellectually we know that both our mistakes and failures play an important role in our success.

Prosperous people tell us that their mistakes were necessary for their greatest success story to come true. It’s inevitable that you’ll make mistakes so be patient with yourself and allow your mistakes to be okay. You will only fail for good if you fail to learn from them. In fact, I encourage you to see your most recent mistake as quite possibly the best thing that has happened in the pursuit of your goal thus far. That might sound silly or counterproductive, but what if it were true? What if like Hillary, Jordan and Edison, you’re actually making progress in the long run? It doesn’t matter that you’re bumbling a little a long they way. It matters that you’re actively engaged in the goal versus sitting-out-safe on the sidelines looking in. Learn from your mistakes and failures and then get back in the game of life. Losers never win because they never really play. And winners lose all of the time and that is also why they win. 

What Stops Us from Persisting? 

Here are my theories… 

1.     We think successful people are different from us  

Yet success is not that elusive or reserved for ‘special’ people only. Special people only got that way because they choose to persist above the level of the ordinary. Success requires pretty much the same qualities from all of us. Persistence is one such quality. We are all confronted with mountains every day when we strive to accomplish our goals. And yet, like Sir Edmund Hillary, you can keep climbing too, to where the view get more and more spectacular with every step you take.  

2. There are times when quitting would be easier 

For me, training to become a long-distance runner in high school comes to mind. During those moments when I wanted to quit running because it felt too painful, I had to tell myself “Keep going. You can’t quit now, you’ve come too far and you’ve worked too hard!” Persistence alone has been the solution to many of our human endeavors throughout history and it could be the sole strength of character needed now to overcome your own personal trials. And your persistence will help you bust through your inner resistance to proceed when the going gets tough. 

3.     We confuse persistence with added stress 

Persisting after a goal doesn’t require you to continually strain yourself. That’s the beauty of persistence. As you persist, you know that you’ll reach your goal eventually. This means that you can rest when you need to. In fact, rest is essential. There is a natural cycle in all things. Think of the mighty oak tree that grows in spurts and then rests. It draws nourishment from deep within the earth and then takes its time to begin growing upward again. Like the oak tree, it’s important for you to regain your strength too. Periods of rest will help you to maintain energy and a healthy perspective. Nothing will squelch your motivation like being tired and mentally drained so give yourself whatever you need to sustain yourself. Only then will you be able to travel the distance.  

Pace Yourself 

Persistence doesn’t mean going at a breakneck speed necessarily; it just means that you don’t give up. You don’t have to exhaust yourself in the pursuit of your goal, which could defeat the purpose of having a joyful goal in the first place. So don’t confuse the quality of persistence with monumental, super-hero-type action. Rather, look at persistence as the ability to take a series of small steps consistently until you see the goal through to the end. You can be persistent and choose a good pace that works for you. I don’t recommend such a slow pace that nothing exciting is being generated or such a frantic pace that your activities become draining and joyless. Racing through life so that you can check things off your to-do list is not the point of persistence. Instead, progress forward with purpose and calm certainty. Be assured that you’re perseverance alone is enough to bring about desired results in the exact perfect timing.   

  Step One:   Be in Action Every Day  Most projects are fun and exciting in the beginning. But even with the best intentions it can be hard to keep going once the excitement wears off and the pursuit of your goal gets challenging. But you CAN get there. Never doubt this. The person who wishes hard for something won’t stand a chance against you, the person who takes action when the fun is at a lull and the real work begins. But, here’s the magic in it, being in action generates more fun and enthusiasm all over again.   Be in action every day. There is nothing especially glamorous about this approach but it’s the only one that has been proven to work time and time again. This is a growth process to be sure. And, when you finally reach your desired goal, you will have grown into it and then have what it takes to hold on to it. Beyond that, you’ll feel that special pride and satisfaction that is reserved only for those who earn it.   

 

Risk

  With Risk Comes Reward

by Christen Murphy Resmo

You could live a lesser life…but why?Are you ready to take the risk that you’ve been contemplating lately?  

 

At the start of this program I encouraged you to hit the pause button for a while and take a much closer look inside of yourself. I asked you to consider following your heart’s desires and suggested that you can do anything that you can also visualize and see yourself doing. Are you still a little worried about being a failure or about the hard work involved? Has your caution turned into paralysis or are you finding the courage to move through your inner resistance?  

In a simple and well-expressed manner, it was Will Rogers who said:  

“You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes because that is where the fruit is.” 

This means that many fruitful rewards are out there and ready for the taking. And these wonderful prizes might be a little out of reach so the only way to attain them is to risk stepping out on a limb. In saying this, it’s also important to understand that risk taking is not about foolishly throwing caution to the wind or carelessly cheering yourself on to your own demise. No, successful and effective risk taking is not at all synonymous with folly, recklessness and damaging self-sabotage. And following your bliss is not about chasing after pie-in-the sky imaginings or gambling all your chips with one hand either. For example, risk taking is not to be confused with turning a blind eye to your financial situation with a “no worries” attitude until you eventually bankrupt yourself or having “no fear” such that you push your body beyond its physical limits and therefore injure yourself by trying something well past your capabilities.

 Taking risks from a coach’s perspective is about taking a responsible stand for your life and about being accountable to what matters most to you. In a sense, Risk is about answering the call to your greatness with an enthusiastic willingness to stretch yourself — but in a levelheaded way. This means that you’ll happily go out on a limb when it’s needed, remaining tied by a rope to the tree when it’s prudent to do so.  

Sometimes taking a risk means speaking up for yourself even though you might be ridiculed, or leaving a harmful and unhealthy situation behind you now — one that you feared leaving in the past because you didn’t want to be alone. Sometimes taking a risk means trying something new and scary like speaking in public because you hope to develop a new skill or advance in your career. In the end, risk taking is a very real and essential part of going for a bigger goal. 

While I don’t recommend that you exuberantly run headlong into anything totally unsubstantiated, I also don’t suggest that you overanalyze things either. If you are a methodical person, make sure that you’re not confusing great thinking with great results. If you do, you could easily get stuck in the examination and study phase and find yourself epitomizing the condition of analysis-paralysis, which boils down to too much contemplation followed by very little to no action. 

Get Off the Fence 

The mind of the seasoned risk-taker is always open. It is an empty vessel eagerly waiting to be filled with new knowledge. This well traveled veteran knows that any experience, pleasant or unpleasant, contains life wisdom that is important for his learning. In addition, this person does not sit on the fence and wait for life to come to him. Instead, he leaps off and takes the first few steps himself. He also trusts that as he does this, he instantly causes a positive ripple effect in the future.  As I prepared this topic for you, I also understood that it can be difficult to set new goals and change course mid-way through life. Why is this? I think it’s because we’re human and humans are creatures of habit and comfort. We play out our well-known patterns and routines because they’re familiar to us. In a sense, we play it safe because we get used to living life in a certain way. And that’s perfectly understandable. Let’s face it; the simple act of living can be risky enough at times without adding more challenges. And yet, staying perched safely on the fence can feel a lot like settling for less.   New York Times Columnist, Maureen Dowd, reminds us:  

“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.” 

When you take an honest inventory of your present-day situation, there may indeed be an area where your comfort has turned into your cozy little rut. So if you remain confused or sleepy with procrastination, your own life takes a back-seat. In a sense, you suffer a kind of secondary treatment.  

Are you playing it safe when you really want to take a risk? 

You too can become a seasoned risk-taker! You can balance careful research and analysis with an openness to learning as you go along. You can temper your sheer passion and youthful zest for the goal with an attitude of awareness and strategy. With this approach, you really can rest easy because you’re working in a healthy state of internal equilibrium. 

If you’re on the fence with a situation that really matters to you, maybe it’s time to hop off now. Are you sitting there because you still have some viable options to consider or are you simply stalling? If you are stalling, raise your personal standards considerably on this day and risk leaping off that fence! Quit letting fear or a lower standard stop you now. Your conditions will not become so chaotic that you can’t handle them. You can handle them and you can take a risk. Start small if you have to. You can even keep a hand on the fencepost if you must, but do risk jumping off to one side or the other. It’s time to live. 

Risk Listening to Your Inner Guide  

Each one of us has an internal emotional guidance system designed to direct us to our own individual answers. We can call upon it at anytime provided we have the courage to really listen. Your intuition, or heart-centered self, is your real self trying to work its way through the wall of resistance that you’ve built up over time. More often than not, your intuitive self will ask that you take risks because it wants more for you. But don’t’ worry; you’ll never get more guidance than you can handle at one time. Instead, your inner voice whispers with simple encouragement, “You can do it. Just take the next step and I’ll remind you of the one after that.” Your authentic self is a natural born risk-taker because it’s brave and fearless to the core and it knows what is best for you.  

Fear of the unknown, fear of pain and rejection or fear of loneliness are just a few of the reasons why we choose to ignore our intuitive inner guide. Therefore, we end up spinning our wheels or remain stuck in situations that are far from fulfilling. But your conscious self must learn to trust your intuitive self! In order to create more happiness, you must also develop the ability to silence the noise of your conscious fears so that your inner guide can openly communicate with you.

Allow your mind to be still and silent. And when the answers do come, risk listening to them! Yes, you might be encouraged to speak up on your own behalf, quit a job, sell your house, go back to school, invest money in a business, step away from a friendship that is not supportive or take any number of other risks that I haven’t mentioned. But it really is okay. In fact, it’s good. There’s so much personal growth in store for you. The more you learn to drop your resistance and trust your intuitive guide, the more aligned you will become with your true desires and this authentic self. Pay attention! What message has been trying to break through the surface of your conscious mind? Are you ready to risk listening to it? 

The Easy Road Isn’t Always the Right Road

So often we prefer to take the easy road and remain in our safety zone only to realize later that we’ve gotten no closer to achieving our heart’s desires. For example, many of us have been tempted to ignore the writing on the wall and stay in unfulfilling relationships — even when we’re grossly unhappy and know we should leave. Some of us have remained in dead end jobs that bring no satisfaction or a poor income.  

Have you ever lingered in an unfulfilling situation despite your better judgment? 

I have. I’ve stayed in relationships and jobs for far too long even when I knew that it was time to move on. I simply needed to find the courage to leave. I think a certain comfort comes from staying with the devil we know versus venturing into the unknown, until it gets too intolerable to stay that is. Whenever I get stuck, I find that it helps to ponder this question: Is staying here, in this unhappy place, even more risky than moving on to a potentially much happier one? While the answer has usually been an obviously “yes”, sometimes I find it hard to muster up the courage to take the first few steps. This has been true even when my intuition was practically shouting at me to do so. And when I finally did listen and therefore risked, things really did work out for the best. What about you? When was the last time you went against your intuition only to later say, “I knew I should have listened to myself!”?  

Go Ahead and Do It Scared  

To make great progress is to take great risks. So, in order to make progress, you might have to risk looking like a fool for the love of your goal. But you can do it. You can risk people laughing at you for following your heart and you can leave the safe road behind to risk a path that feels more adventurous or rewarding to you. Yes risk may cause fear but there’s nothing wrong with being scared. Everyone feels fear, even those who don’t take risks so you may as well go ahead with the life you dream of. Go ahead and do it scared. Your fear doesn’t have to stop you or control your actions. In regards to the risk that you’re contemplating now, just remember this: you can accomplish whatever you believe you can, whatever you decide to act upon and whatever you can envision for yourself. It really is okay to make some waves and face some criticism.

It’s okay if you’re loved ones throw out negative comments and roadblocks. This won’t last forever. It’s quite possible (if not certain) that you’ll eventually receive the admiration and appreciation of your loved ones as you dare to live your best life. In fact, you will fail them if you fail to be yourself. Everyone benefits when you find the nerve and confidence to step forward despite your fears and despite the temporary resistance presented to you. 

 Confidence is Something You Earn 

Don’t wait to feel confident before you take the risk that you’ve been considering lately. And don’t expect for your fear to subside beforehand either. Most certainly, don’t hang around until the world agrees with your decisions and above all, don’t hope to reach consensus with everyone in your life before you make a move. Take a risk! Do it for the love of your goal!

And don’t worry. Confidence, personal growth, self-reliance, support and the ability to manage fear will all come later. These are just some of the great prizes that you’ll earn after a risk is taken. I encourage to live according to your own plans first. Then, the rewards will readily flow toward you.  

If They Can Do It, You Can Do It Too 

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “If they can do it, I can do it too?” Well, it’s true! You were right about that. You are no different or any less capable than the person or people that you’re comparing yourself to. If you’re still telling yourself that you can’t, stop it. Can’t is a word that has been held in your mind for far too long now. When you say “I can’t”, you hold your mind into a negative thinking pattern. And you give yourself permission to give up. Then, you’ll start to find all kinds of logical and practical reasons for why you aren’t able to go after what you really want. And while these excuses might sound reasonable, they’re really just creative ways to avoid your fear or justify playing it safe. “I can’t” does NOT serve your growth. It only serves to keep you stuck or support you in sliding backward. But when you focus on the polar opposite and say “I CAN” you open yourself up to a wellspring of ideas and inspiration.

“I CAN” helps you call upon the inner daring that has been inside of you all along. Your “I CAN” attitude is more important than your IQ or your knowledge, background and expertise all wrapped up in one package. You don’t necessarily have to be smart to achieve your goals, but you do have to be willing. Willing to learn, change, grow and stretch yourself.

With Risk Comes Reward  

And here is why: 

1) Your greatest feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment follows your greatest risk.  No one gets very excited about accomplishing something easy. It’s fun to be challenged and to feel that special satisfaction of a tough job done well. 

2) Your real pleasure will come from your labor not from you leisure time You might have to risk yourself to live a life of purpose and meaning. Your choice might not be a popular one but when you make up your mind to do what counts, you’ll also experience the rewards of making a difference in this world.  

3) You will experience dynamic personal growth when you take a risk. Vibrant and lasting inner change occurs when you risk yourself in the face of resistance and challenges because you’ll understand more deeply what you are made of. When you look fear directly in the face and courageously take a step forward anyway, you’ll come out a winner for the simple reason that you took that step. 

4) You exponentially increase your odds of success.  When you risk yourself, you do expose yourself to a chance of losing, but you also expose yourself to the chance of winning.

Step One:   Acknowledge How Far You Have Come  

You already know how to take risks. This is because you’ve taken thousands of them, big and small, to get to where you are right now. Perhaps you are an accomplished athlete or a talented musician. Perhaps you are a skilled professional, a gifted parent or an expert practitioner. What has been your biggest risk in life up to this point? How did it turn out for you? Chances are, you grew a lot from that experience and attained more than just money or position or prestige. Are you ready to put those same risk-taking skills to use, to move up to the next level of success? You CAN do it. You’ve already done it. And you have the strength to do it again.

 Step Two: Develop Into Someone Great  

The key to an abundant life lies in risking yourself to live fully, expressively and authentically. It’s okay if you look foolish to some. A great life is often preceded by great risks. When you engage in pursuits that have purpose and meaning to you personally, you develop into someone truly great. So step outside of your cozy (yet terribly confining) comfort zone and experience yourself in a whole new way. Go ahead and have fun with it. Go find out what you’re really made of. You may just surprise and delight yourself.  

Step Three:  Remain Willing to Grow 

There is always more to discover and understand. Success is found in your willingness to risk change and try new things. If you’ve ever harbored regrets and thought, “I should have done more with my life and I should be further along by now,” it’s not really the past that you’re struggling with, it’s your present. You want things to be different now; but to achieve a different result, you must risk trying a different approach. So focus on what you want to change and trust that change is already happening. We know that nothing grows without our love and attention and nothing remains the same when we give it our energy. Risk yourself for the things that matter. Commit yourself to your own personal development and an entire lifetime of learning and growing.

  Consider This  Orison Swett Marden, Founder of Success Magazine, said: 

“Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.” 

John Ruskin, Artist and Author said: 

“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” 

Coaching Tip:  No matter how quickly you’re moving toward your goal, I’d like to gently remind you that you are not a failure if you experience failure along the way. You’re only fail for good if you quit on yourself or give up what matters most to you. And even then you can change your mind and risk again. As you allow your true self to be expressed, you will grow into someone truly beautiful. In fact, you will shine.  

Coaching Questions 

• What risk am I ready to take now, even if I am a little nervous?
• What would I have to risk to advance my personal growth?
• What risk has been calling out to me? Will I actually listen and then go for it?
• What risk would help me achieve my goal more quickly?
• If I displayed 100% confidence, what BIG risk would I take? 

Coaching Action Challenge  

Your coaching action challenge is to consider actually taking that risk you’ve been contemplating lately. How hard would it be to go for it for real? Are you telling yourself, “I can’t” or “Now is not the time, it won’t work” or “Maybe I’ll get to it later”? Or are you saying, “I think I can, why not; maybe I really could get started”? Well I say, Go ahead and take that risk. If not now, then when? See what happens even if you are a little scared.

Core Concepts 

·         Risk taking is not synonymous with gambling 

·         Risk is a necessary ingredient in going for a bigger goal

·         Personal growth happens as you step beyond your comfort zone

·         As you risk, you’ll discover new and hidden capabilities

·         It doesn’t matter what happened in the past; focus on the future and take the required risks needed to get there

·         Highly successful people are no different from you, they simply take many risks  

 Risk Success Formula:  

“I CAN” + Willingness to take Risks = Rewarding Tangible Results  

Risk Bottom Line:  Taking risks is a very real and essential part of creating a fulfilling and Abundant Life, one that reflects your true desires and who you really are