Tag Archives: focus

Exercise to Create REAL Holiday Cheer!

Hello!

Have you noticed that this time of the year brings up as many gremlins as it does elves and hosts of angels?

As we get closer to the holidays, some of us will start to rush and hurry in preparation—becoming frazzled and overwhelmed, others will get anxious about expected time with relatives kept at a distance the rest of the year, and some of us will fret over finances as we spend more than we think we should.

While we were kids, many of us learned not to set our expectations high at Christmas – so our expectations wouldn’t get dashed and our feelings hurt. We may have taken this message into our internal, unconscious beliefs we operate from as adults, all year long—not just at the holidays!

Thinking about this I began to ponder how something full of potential awe and wonder often becomes downright hard for so many of us. And I realized that the story most of us learned as we got older was that the “grown up story” was nothing like the “pretend” fairy tale we believed as children. In order to “grow up,” we were told to put away these childish whims, any magical thinking and be realistic!

Yet, so much of what I have been studying tells me that my imagination and my expectations are dictating my experience. Whoa there! You mean to tell me that maybe I had it closer to the truth when I was a kid, before I allowed the beliefs of the adults around me to help me “grow up?”

Before you dismiss what I am studying as “new age” or some other label, let me give you some quotes of people you might give greater weight to.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Does a firm persuasion that a thing is so, make it so?… And in the ages of imagination this firm persuasion removed mountains; but many are not capable of a firm persuasion of anything.”  ~ William Blake

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” ~ Thomas Edison

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” ~ Mark Twain

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go no where.”  ~ Carl Sagan

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

“I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.” ~ Walt Disney

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

“You can’t do it unless you imagine it.” ~ George Lucas

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” ~ Stephen Covey

“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” ~ Gloria Steinem

“The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” ~ Napoleon Hill

“America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” ~ Harry S. Truman

“All the works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to depreciate imagination.” ~ Carl Jung

“The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“Imagination rules the world.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

OK, so I think you get the picture. The top scientists, politicians, artists and thinkers of the world ALL agree that our imagination creates our world; yet the way we were raised taught us to put away imagination when we grew up.

Maybe if we brought our imagination back, we could create a holiday—for ourselves and those around us—truly filled with joy and good cheer, not just an imitation of it. We have just over a week to let our imagination take over. So try this simple exercise.

Write down everything about the holidays you do not enjoy and are dreading—financial issues, a certain relative, whatever it is for you. Then take another piece of paper and IMAGINE with lots of detail what it would look like if it were the exact opposite of what you wrote on that other sheet. Really put in tons of detail. Pretend you are Walt Disney creating something magical; add all the pieces in to make this vision  feel real. What would it FEEL like if it was real? When you have written about your desired holiday, burn the paper with the “old reality.”

Now send a blessing to each person you will be involved with this holiday season. Bless the money you do have in your wallet and bank account and the sources that it comes through to you.

Read your imagined holiday each night before bed imagining what it would feel like if it were real, and send blessings, too. See what magic you can create…with a little childlike imagination!

I wish for you a magical and joy filled holiday season.

All my best,

Amy

What makes a successful entrepreneur?

In a September 3, 2014 Forbes article, Checklist Of Traits Of A Successful Entrepreneur, Jenny Q. Ta points out some really important traits of successful entrepreneurs.

But she misses the key ingredient. ALL successful entrepreneurs have a burning desire to create something very specific. In other words, anyone who achieves noteworthy success always has a definite goal — one they can visualize in great detail. And because they know deeply what the goal is they create plans and take actions to accomplish it, which are driven by a very strong desire to see it through.

With a goal they deeply desire in their heart and mind, they THEN use the traits Jenny speaks of—self confidence, self-motivation, tenacity, honesty about their own limitations, healthy disrespect for rules, and willingness to fail—to go after their goal no matter what others say, no matter if they succeed at first…no matter what!

Many entrepreneurs fail before they get very far because at the first sign of obstacles they lack the burning desire to make their idea happen, no matter what. It is this goal deeply imbedded in their mind in bold color and detail that makes other entrepreneurs succeed against apparently overwhelming odds. I love the story about Fanny Hurst in Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich, where Hill describes Hurst getting 36 rejections from the Saturday Evening Post before getting them to publish her first story. He goes on to state that most writers, or people in most any profession, would have quit at the first “No”. Hill is right, most do. And the secret to becoming successful at whatever you do is having a burning desire to see your goal happen. When you have this burning desire you will learn, do and be whatever it takes.

So I challenge you to find a goal that is truly worthy of your time,  attention and  life. Then you will have the passion it takes to be a self-made Female Millionaire. If you need help finding your passion, or creating a business that creates wealth pursing what you love, I can help you.

What are you excited about?

“What are you most excited about right now?”  What a great conversation starter!  This article by Kate Northrup really highlights my mantra–do what you love, be passionate about what you do, find goals that inspire you and every thing else will fall into place.

Give yourself permission to create a beautiful vegetable garden feeling as good about it as running a multi-million dollar business. And give other women permission to do the same every opportunity you get.  Reminding each other that we are valuable in the small things we do, not just in our public successes helps us stay out of overwhelmed and under-inspired lives. My favorite thing Kate wrote is:

“THE ACT OF PASSIONATE CREATION ITSELF IS WHAT GIVES AN ENDEAVOR MERIT — NOT ITS VALUE IN THE MARKETPLACE.”

We women have been running the race to prove we are worthy of equal pay, equal opportunities and equal respect for so long we have forgotten to check in with ourselves and make sure we are doing what we love.

Really take in what this says.  “The act of passionate creation…”  When was the last time you did this?  The more often you create with passion, the more alive you will feel.  Guaranteed.  “…is what gives an endeavor merit”  Not what other people think.  Not how much you get paid for it. Not whether anyone else acknowledges it at all.  Nothing in the outer world can give value to or take value away from your passionate creations.  They have intrinsic value because you created them with passion.

What are you excited about, today?