Gratitude in Adversity

When things go badly, it is a human tendency to see our lives being controlled by our circumstances. The reality is that our lives are not controlled by our circumstances. Our lives are empowered or destroyed by our attitude.

Jack Canfield, author of the prolific Chicken Soup series, offers this equation. E+R=O. Event + Response = Outcome. In other words, events do not have power over our lives. It is our response to those events that determine the path we take. There is no more powerful response to the adversities of life than gratitude. Adversity, when faced with honesty, faith, and courage can make us better, stronger, wiser people. But what about tragedy?

I am not saying we should be grateful for terrible tragedies in our lives. But when we can find the strength to find reason for gratitude even in the midst of tragedy, we will discover a powerful path to healing.

Terry Thomas enjoyed a storybook romance and a fairy tale wedding. He and his bride were en route to the airport for a flight to Nassau for their honeymoon when a tragic car accident took the life of his wife of only a few hours. In a remarkable tale of faith, he discovered healing through gratitude, shared in his book, "At Least We Were Married".

When I was a protestant minister, my first sermon told the story of Josiah. He was a little known Israelite king. Overshadowed by the personages of David and Solomon, the Bible records that Josiah was the greatest king Israel ever had. When Israel was attacked by an alliance of other nations who greatly outnumbered the small Israelite kingdom, Josiah went to war with an attitude of gratitude. He placed the choir in the front column of the army and marched into battle singing, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His mercy endures forever." The enemy was astonished, confused and fled in terror.

Life seems full of adversities, even tragedies. Faith, patience, perseverance, and endurance all help to bring us through. But gratitude turns the table. We are no longer the victim being threatened by our circumstances. We are the victors, rejoicing in our triumph over adversity.

Tapping Your Subconscious

Your conscious mind is small and unable to enter into your subconscious. However, there is a point of intersection. To enter your subconscious, you must relax and focus through either through hypnosis or meditation.

Zen Buddhists focus on what they call the hara. Most practitioners will tell you it is the center of your being, physically located 2 inches below your navel. Actually, it is really nothing at all. Claudio Naranjo describes it in his essays on the Psychology of Meditation. It is not "nothing", but "no-thing". It is the complete emptying of your conscious mind so that your subconscious can speak to you.

Communication can go either way. Like Edison, you can listen to your subconscious and discover the solution that has been evading you.

Alternatively, you can input something into your subconscious, to create a new "normal" for you. That is what the Soviet athletes were doing. They were visualizing or meditating on the perfect performance to create a new "normal" for them and elevate their actual performance.

When you connect with your subconscious through meditation, you release much more mental power than you do with just your conscious mind. Your conscious mind works verbally and focuses on one issue at a time. Even when multi-tasking, you conscious mind only deals with one issue at a time. It just moves from one to another and back again. Multi-tasking with your conscious mind is like a juggling act. That is why numerous studies have indicated it is dangerous to multi-task when driving.

Your subconscious mind works with powerful images, symbols, and processes and is capable of handling numerous tasks simultaneously. Just think of how your subconscious handles your bodily functions without ever a conscious thought. Heart beat, respiration, digestion, muscle control, and cell reproduction are all going on at the same time without your conscious awareness. Yet your brain is busy controlling them all. Your subconscious is busy recording numerous stimuli including emotions you can't quite put into words.

Your subconscious is much smarter than your conscious mind. Connecting with your subconscious mind through meditation will open entire new worlds of insights and intuitions as you will be able to process much more information in images and symbols than you could possible address with your conscious mind - and at lightning speed.

Continue to mediate or probe more deeply into the subconscious and you will discover yet another doorway, this time into the noosphere. Once you have connected to the noosphere, you can access thoughts and understandings that are beyond your personal experience. Carl Jung espoused a similar concept that he termed the "collective unconscious", where powerful archetypal images provide the basis for our conscious symbols and imagery.

Continue past that, and you can touch God.

The point is that you can choose to live in your conscious life, or you can begin to explore yourself and your universe and discover wonderful things you probably never dreamt were there. Your ticket for that journey is meditation.

Be sure to follow the blog so you don't miss Meditation Part 5.

The Doorway into Your Subconscious

Working with your brain

Your brain is the central control unit of your life. It weighs just over 3 pounds, but consumes 1/5th of the oxygen you breathe, 1/4th of your blood flow, and 1/3rd of your water intake. Those are not just meaningless trivia. Oxygen, blood flow and water fuel your brain, and you can actually improve brain function by increasing oxygen, blood flow and water. (See my Jan 10 post on "Feed Your Brain".)

Your Personal Super-Computer

Your brain contains about 100,000 miles of blood vessels and ten billion neurons. Each neuron is connected to other neurons through 10,000 synapses making the brain capable of multiple parallel computations. This is what gives the brain its great advantage over a computer with processors that must conduct each computation one at a time. The brain consumes 15 - 30 watts of energy, about the same as a personal computer but is capable of conducting quadrillions of computations each second.

With such a super computer inside of us, we should all be geniuses, but we only use a small portion of our brains for memory and cognitive thought. Most of your brain is devoted to subconscious functions such as keeping your heart beating. In fact, your conscious mind only controls a small fraction of your perception and behavior. Your subconscious mind controls the vast majority of the way you view your world and make your decisions.

You may meet a person and immediately distrust them. There is nothing you can put your finger on, but subtle clues can trigger a warning in your subconscious. Conversely, you may meet someone new and feel like you are old friends. Again, subtle clues trigger an emotional response. Your conscious mind is too busy making conversation to notice them, but your subconscious mind is sending you signals through what you might call intuition.

You have an intuition about yourself as well. This can work for you or against you. No wonder, if you see yourself as a failure, you will make one decision after another that leads from one failure to another. However, if your subconscious mind sees you as successful, you will make one decision after another that leads you from success to success.

Your conscious mind thinks verbally in logical patterns and divides time into past, present and future. However, you subconscious mind thinks in terms of images and emotions and sees all events as in the present. That is why when you think of a great event in your life like the birth of a child, you can feel that sense of elation and pride. Conversely, if you happen to remember a particularly embarrassing moment, even one that happened 20-30 years ago, your stomach starts to flip and your palms may even start to sweat.

The subconscious is incredibly powerful. Meditation is the doorway through which you can enter your subconscious and communicate with your it.

Be sure to follow the blog so you don't miss Meditation Part 4.

Meditation for Success Part 2

The Chardinian Noosphere and Chicken Salad

We used to operate a small coffee and sandwich shop. We offered nine different kinds of sandwiches, all of which are roughly equally popular. One day my daughter reported to me that is seemed everyone who came in ordered a chicken salad sandwich. Why did on this one day chicken salad more than triple in popularity? The common vernacular answer is “There is something in the air.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit priest and philosopher, might say, “Yes, there is something in the air, and it is the collective consciousness.”
Chardin's theory was that there is a collective consciousness emanating from the interaction of human minds. This collective consciousness, he called the noosphere (from the Greek word for mind, nous). The noosphere is evolving and integrating with conscious human though until it reaches total integration which he called the Omega point.

This may seem like pretty far out stuff, but why is it that sometimes everyone seems to get the same idea? Is the collective consciousness whispering in people’s ears, “Eat chicken salad today.”?

Attitude is Contagious

Have you ever been in a room with friends, having a pleasant discussion, when in walks a newcomer? Sometimes the newcomer is ridiculously happy and excited. Perhaps everyone laughs at first, but as the newcomer shares his excitement, soon the spirits of everyone in the room are lifted. At other times the newcomer may be despondent and depressed. Soon people begin to leave because of the uneasiness everyone is feeling. There is a collective consciousness of everyone in the room. The introduction of a newcomer can affect that consciousness either positively or negatively. Either way, soon everyone is feeling it.

Collective Consciousness on a National Scale

The history of America is the history of dissenters. From the Federalist Papers to Henry David Thoreau to John Reed, America has prided herself in her dissenters. These dissenters usually develop a following, but are generally forgotten except in the halls of academia. But in 1968 America was reshaped by the voice of dissention.

The early 60’s were as American as apple pie. Popular music was dominated by folk songs sung by clean cut young men like the Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four. But in 1968 everything changed. Why did previous dissenters have to settle for a small following, while in 1968 there were so many dissenting voices that it became a chorus of dissent that changed the direction of the country forever. It was something in the air.

Prayer, meditation and visualization are ways of putting something into the air. It joins the noosphere of collective consciousness and rejoins the world of tangible reality, sometimes in very dramatic ways.

Several business leaders are discovering the power of meditation to enhance imagination and focus in business decisions. Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, requires that his executives meditate three times a day. Thomas Edison, perhaps the greatest inventor of the previous century, had developed a very advanced meditation technique. He was known to say that when he was faced with a particularly difficult and complex problem, he would put himself into a form of trance - and stay there until the solution presented itself.

What he was doing was getting his conscious mind out of the way, and allowing his subconscious mind to work on the problem.

Be sure to follow the blog so you don't miss Meditation Part 3.

Meditation

This is the first post in a new series about meditation. If you follow this blog, you will be emailed about future posts on the subject.

Meditation has long been the domain of religion and spirituality. Every religion practices its own form of meditation. Catholics use the rosary as a meditation guide to help them focus on events in the life of Christ. Zen Buddhist monks practice zazen which is a meditation on the unity of body, breath and mind - and ultimately of all things. Protestants meditate on the Bible reciting Bible verses several times, each time emphasizing a different word allowing the full meaning of the text to sink in. Sometimes religious groups believe they have discovered the right way to meditate. In my opinion, there is no wrong way to meditate. In fact, meditation has left the confines of sanctuary and monastery and found its way into sports and even business.

I define meditation very broadly as any mental exercise that incorporates breathing, relaxation, and focus. This practice has made its way into sports under the term, visualization. Visualization is a type of meditation that incorporates relaxation and focus on such visual concepts as the perfect golf swing, the perfect swim stroke, or just plain winning. Many Olympic athletes take time each day to relax and focus on receiving the gold medal. Does it work?

The 1980 Soviet Olympic Team

In 1980, the Soviets conducted a visualization experiment. They divided the athletes into four groups. The first group practiced as usual. The second group devoted 25% of their practice time to visualization. The third group devoted 50% of their practice time to visualization. The fourth group devoted 75% of their practice time to visualization. At the 1980 Olympics, the group that spent 75% of their time practicing physically and devoted 25% of their practice time to visualization won the most medals.

The moral to that story is simple. Visualization works, but it is no substitute for practice. Visualization can enhance and empower practice sessions, but not replace them.

The DC Experiment

John Hagelin hypothesized that if enough people meditated in a city, they could measurably reduce the crime rate. In 1993, an experiment was conducted in the nation’s capital. About 500 people gathered in Washington DC and began meditating toward the specific purpose of reducing the crime rate in the city. At the end of 4 weeks, the crime rate had dropped about 2%. Then there was a marked increase in the number of individuals meditating. By the end of the eighth week, there were almost 4,000 people gathering and mediating. By the end of the 2 month experiment, the crime rate had dropped 23 %.

Clinical Trials

There have been a few clinical trials on the effects of intercessory prayer (a form of meditation) in the treatment of disease. In 1988 the Southern Medical Journal reported a significant better recovery of heart patients that received intercessory prayer as part of their therapy. A similar study with rheumatoid arthritis patients was published in 2000 in the same journal. Again, patients who received in person intercessory prayer had significantly improved recoveries.

To some, measurable results from prayer, meditation and visualization seems spooky and mysterious. There is really nothing mysterious about it. Mind, body and spirit are interconnected. We have all experienced how strengthening the body gives strength to the mind and spirit. Illness that affects the body, can also affect the mind and spirit. Why must we start with the body? Doesn’t it stand to reason that if we strengthen the spirit, the body and mind will follow?

More to come later. Don't forget to follow the blog.

Feed Your Brain

I don't know if you think about your brain very often, but you should. Your brain is very important to you. It is, after all, responsible for making the decision about whether or not to make an investment, start a new business, or marry someone you care about. Ultimately, your brain is going to determine whether you succeed or fail in life. That being said, perhaps you should consider how to take better care of it.

Your brain is the central control unit of your life. It weighs just over 3 pounds, but consumes 1/5th of the oxygen you breathe, 1/4th of your blood flow, and 1/3rd of your water intake. Those are not just meaningless trivia. Oxygen, blood flow and water fuel your brain, and you can actually improve brain function by increasing oxygen, blood flow and water.

1 - Improve hydration of your brain by drinking enough water.

Most people do not have adequate fluid intake. According to the Mayo Clinic recommended water intake varies according to a number of factors including general health, gender, activity level, etc. However, on average a female requires about nine 8-ounce glasses of water a day. The average male requires about thirteen 8-ounce glasses each day. Other fluids count towards total fluid intake. However, diuretics, like coffee, count for less than a full cup.

You may have never noticed subtle improvements in your thought processes on days you are fully hydrated, but you have probably noticed the inverse. If someone is acting stupid, people often say, "They must have been in the sun too long." If you have ever spent a good deal of time out of doors in the sun without proper hydration you have probably experienced headaches and deterioration of clear thought. The same can happen indoors in a dry environment, but it generally takes longer.

2 - Increase blood flow to your brain with aerobic exercise.

Research has shown that regular exercise improves blood flow to the brain. It has long been known that exercise improves attitude and promotes emotional stability. This is due to the increase of endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and other neuro chemicals. Studies in the US and Europe have clearly established that the same exercise that is good for your heart also improves motor function, auditory attention, and memory. One study of students demonstrated that aerobic exercise was related to scholastic success in reading and math.

Everyone who can move should perform 30 minutes of aerobic exercise each day. Start where you are. Build slowly. You don't have to run a marathon, just get your heart pumping and your blood flowing. You will not only start to think better, you will live longer - not a bad side benefit.

3 - Increase oxygen flow to your brain with regular deep breathing.

Deep breathing exercise is a fundamental part of many religions as well as exercise programs. Navy Seals, chess masters, and the Blue Angels have all developed specialized breathing techniques to improve brain oxygen levels in high stress environments.

I practice deep breathing in conjunction with meditation each morning as I plan my day. I alternate between upper breathing, which improves imagination and creativity, and lower breathing, which improves peacefulness and well being.
Your life is a series of decisions made in your brain. Feed your brain so you will be equipped to make good ones.

My Faith Musings

For anyone interested in my personal blog on my faith journey, you can visit:
http://myfaithmusings.wordpress.com/

Learning from the Success of Others

One great way to pursue success is to learn from the success of others. Biographies of many successful people in business, politics and faith are available. Here is a great website where you can read short success stories about The Entrepreneur Next Door.

Where is Your Passion

Has anyone ever made a lot of money doing what they hate? Sure. All the time. But has anyone ever been truly successful doing what they hate? Only if your definition of success does not include personal happiness. We live in a society where there are lots of options. We can choose to go to college or tech school. We can choose to be an entrepreneur or an employee. We can choose to work for a venture capitalist or a non-profit. Whatever your choice, your level of success will greatly depend on choosing options that support your core values and allow you to do things you are truly passionate about. That is because to do a job well requires a great deal of time, effort and personal commitment. It is going to be very hard to devote yourself to something that you are not passionate about.

It is alluring to go find a job in an industry that you heard was easy or profitable. You can certainly be successful at it, if what you want is a 9-5 job, home in the evenings and on weekends, reaching middle management, and retiring on social security plus a modest 401k. There is nothing wrong with that model. Just be sure that is truly what you want from life.
Several people work at whatever job they can get and then seek personal fulfillment from relationships and hobbies. The risk is that relationships can change, and you may not be able to perform your hobbies anymore. There often comes a time when people begin feeling empty and start searching for meaning in what they do.

Let's Get Serious About Your Goals

This is where you change the direction of your life. Once you outline a new set of goals and begin pursuing them, your life will forever change. Whether it changes for the better or for the worse, depends on the goals you set for yourself.

Your goals are the roadmap to your future. At this point in the process, you should be starting to get a picture of what you really want out of life. Now let's get those wants on paper. Make them tangible. Make them real.

Don't set unreachable goals. That will just frustrate you. But don't sell yourself short either. If you want to be President of the United States, that is a realistic goal - unless you were born in Canada. You would have to change the Constitution to become President, and that would probably make that goal unrealistic. If you want to be a professional basketball player, that is a realistic goal - unless you are 60 years old and 5 foot 2. The rule of thumb is, unless there is a physical or legal limitation preventing you from reaching your goal, go for it.

If you are like most people, up until today, other people have been setting your goals for you - your parents, your teachers, your religious leaders, your boss, your spouse. Everything changes today. Today is the day you take control of your life and map your own future.

You are one decision away from changing your life forever.

New Website

Websites seem to be driving the economy, even the way we think. Here is my latest website. Dallas Franchises

Low Cost Businesses

We are entering the new decade of the entrepreneur. The past decade showed us all the futility of big corporations and mega banks. We are returning to a time where the local shop owner will be honored for helping create the local economy. For many former managers and executives who have found themselves outside of corporate America, low cost franchises and licensed brands can give them the opportunity to enjoy the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, but still provide structure and a systematic approach to their chosen business model.

Profit From New Economic Data
By: Ed Wills

The new economic report is good news for small business.

The National Association for Business Economics released a new report indicating that America's economic is continuing to recover. This is great news, especially considering recent uncertainties.

Here are the basic numbers.

- 31% of businesses increased their number of workers in the past quarter.
- 39% of businesses plan to increase workers over the next 2 quarters.
- 50% fewer companies reported layoffs during the past quarter compared with the same period a year ago.
- 52% of companies reported increased demand for goods and services resulting in improved sales.

But not all the news is good.

- The stock market continues to be unstable as it absorbs and interprets new regulations.
- The housing market and real estate in general continue to be sluggish.

This information is not just academic. There are clues here indicating how to best invest you time and money to take advantage of changes in the economic climate.

First, the stock market is a poor place for your money. This is no surprise to anyone who has lost half of their retirement investment in stocks or mutual funds. Unless you are a very adept trader who can capitalize on market volatility, the stock market should be avoided. But don't confuse the ups and downs of the market as an indicator of how the economy is doing. The stock market is largely driven by emotion and speculation. Economic data may fuel the emotion, but the market will almost always over react, then over correct. So if the market falls 2000 points, it is not an indicator that the economy has collapsed any more than its 2000 point climb late last year indicated that the economy was completely healed.

Second, real estate is not where you should invest - yet. Some apparent relief earlier this year was largely due to government programs that have expired. Now, foreclosures are continuing to climb, and there are fewer new home starts. Real estate will likely bottom out in a year or two, but recovery is likely to be slow as the huge foreclosure inventory is absorbed by the marketplace.

So where is the right place to invest? Consider new business investment. As the economy strengthens, companies will be hiring employees and contracting new service agreements. The technology and business services sectors are likely to recover at a faster rate than the overall economy.

Express Employment, a franchised employment services company, reported an all-time record for weekly sales volume in June.

Intel reported increased sales for server chips, an indicator that US businesses are spending money on improved technology. They are also predicting a 20% improvement in PC sales, largely driven by companies increasing workers.

The BNZ index, an index of the business services industry, rose 2.2 points in May (most recent data available). This indicates continued expansion in the business services industry.

So if you are considering starting a new business, or just looking for a place to invest your money, business services is worth a close look. Besides employment services and technology, consider starting a business that focuses on consulting, marketing, supply management, sales training, and facilities management and maintenance.

If you are nervous about venturing into entrepreneurism, there are franchises that will assist you in setting up your own business in each of these sectors. A franchise will also provide your new startup with an established name and 50 year reputation. These are big plusses when approaching businesses for new business. Also, each franchise has developed a proven success formula that can be verified by you during your investigation and validation period.

However you approach your investment, it is time to quit worrying about the future and start creating your future. The tide is rising. Catch the wave.

Ed Wills is a franchise and small business startup consultant with WFA Franchise Consultants. He specializes in helping people identify business opportunities that will help them reach their personal and financial goals. He writes, speaks and coaches on a variety of business and success topics. You can learn more about his services or request a free consultation at www.WFAFranchiseConsultants.com.

Article Source: Profit From New Economic Data

Franchise Business Course

If you have not already signed up for my free franchise business course, now is the time.

In this course you will learn:

- The three basic business models and each model’s probability of success
- How to select which model is right for you
- How to choose an industry
- How to use a consultant in business selection
- How to translate your interests, skills and goals into profits
- How to finance your new business
- How to manage your new business

This course is absolutely free and will be emailed directly to you from info@WFAFranchiseConsultants.com.

Request Free Franchise Business Course.

Climb the Buyer Ladder

Climb the Buyer Ladder
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Ed_Wills]Ed Wills

Where does your product or service fit on the buyer ladder? Could moving your product or service up a rung on the ladder increase sales and improve your core business? Absolutely.

First, let's take a look at the ladder.

High Emotion - Significant Uniqueness

Low Emotion - Significant Uniqueness

High Emotion - Little Uniqueness

Low Emotion - Little Uniqueness

Luxury products such as Harley Davidson motorcycles, fine wines and diamond jewelry tend to fit on the top rung of the ladder. These products tend to carry a good deal of status and a high price tag. Purchasers will spend a good deal of time considering the purchase and making sure they are buying pleased with it. Everyday "brandless" products tend to fall on the bottom rung of the ladder. For example, what brand of paper clips are in your desk? Purchasers tend to spend little time considering the purchase and will probably just buy the cheapest one or the most convenient.

The key to a marketer is to raise your product or service up a rung on the ladder. Major corporations do this all the time. Look at the high emotional content of a Charmin toilet tissue ad. Do we really need an emotional attachment to our toilet paper? Marketers also attempt to increase uniqueness. Kleenex and Puffs go head to head with designer packaging, added lotions and pastel colors. That's a lot of hype for something you are going to blow your nose with and throw away. So whatever your product or service, there is probably a way to increase its emotional involvement or perceived uniqueness.

Automotive repair shops can email digital photos of customer's cars during the day to show progress of the repair. This will increase consumer involvement in the process and elevate emotional attachment as well as provide a unique attribute of your shop compared to other shops that do not provide that service. Customer surveys are great tools for increasing a consumer's "ownership" in your business. Community involvement including sponsoring juvenile sports, high school drama clubs, and public charitable assistance are great ways to increase a community's sense that your shop belongs to the community and not some absentee corporate entity. There is no greater coup for a marketer than to get customers to refer to a shop or service provider as "my coffee shop", "my book store" or "my mechanic".

If you are part of a franchise, your franchisor's marketing support has probably already done the leg work for you, developing ad campaigns that involve emotional attachment and create a sense of uniqueness. If you are an independent entrepreneur, the cost of bringing in a marketing consultant might seem daunting, but could be worth the expense. Another option is to spend some time surveying your existing customers. Find out their likes and dislikes. Why do they do business with you? Find their emotional attachment and use it to market to others.

So invest some time and effort in finding ways to increase emotional attachment or perceived uniqueness of your product or service. You will be pleased with the long term benefits.

Ed Wills is a franchise and small business startup consultant with WFA Franchise Consultants. He specializes in helping people identify business opportunities that will help them reach their personal and financial goals. He writes, speaks and coaches on a variety of business and success topics. You can learn more about his services or request a free consultation at [http://www.WFAFranchiseConsultants.com]http://www.WFAFranchiseConsultants.com.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Climb-the-Buyer-Ladder&id=4668956] Climb the Buyer Ladder

Identify And Overcome Emotional Blocks To Success

What is holding you back from fulfilling the vision you just wrote?
Has it ever occurred to you that what is preventing you from enjoying success is not the actions and attitudes of your parents, or the lack of opportunities, or just plain bad luck, but your own feelings and attitudes about yourself?
Many people work hard for success, but never seem to achieve it. Something always stops them before they can accomplish their goals and achieve their personal dreams and aspirations. In most cases, what is holding them back is that they don’t feel they deserve success. At some point in their lives they became saddled with the belief that they do not deserve good things in life.
Our strongest beliefs about ourselves become ingrained at a very early age, usually, when we are completely unable to make reasonable judgments about ourselves or our surroundings.
A small child sees something very bright and shiny. It looks so beautiful, so desirable. The child sets an infantile goal. “Put that bright shiny thing in my mouth.” He reaches for it. Suddenly, a parent snatches it away. “No! Bad!” The parent tosses the piece of broken glass into a big can and puts a lid on it. The child internalizes, “My parents will take my goal away from me because I am bad.”
An impressionable pre-teen sits in Church and hears a sermon from a pastor he has been taught to have complete confidence in. The pastor is preaching about how people who live for the love of money, instead of focusing their life on loving relationships with their family and friends will lead empty, unfulfilled lives. The youth internalizes, “I’m not going to make money, but make everyone like me.”
In both cases, the parent and the pastor are trying to communicate good, positive messages. But the recipient of the messages lacks sufficient understanding, and internalizes limiting emotions. It has happened to all of us. Often, those who find their way to success are so brash and self-confident that they have simply learned to ignore negative input and feelings and press ahead. But, there is a more gentle and enjoyable path to success. Change your internal feelings and attitudes about success so they support you rather than limit you.

Step One: Self Acceptance
The first step on the path to emotional freedom is self acceptance. If you want to grow, you need to be able to look squarely at your mistakes, large and small, and say to yourself, “I blew it, but I love and accept myself just the way I am.” Success is not about avoiding mistakes, but moving past them. If you continue to beat yourself up over past errors in judgment, they will dominate your thoughts and emotions preventing you from learning from them and moving on.

Step Two: Forgiveness
From a place of self-acceptance, you can truly forgive anyone who provided negative influences that helped form limiting and sometimes self-destructive behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. It is easy to rationalize that these individuals weren’t trying to harm you and therefore don’t’ need forgiveness. They may not need forgiveness, but you need to forgive. Only after you forgive, can you let go and find freedom.
In some cases forgiveness seems undeserved. This is often the case in abuse or divorce. But holding onto unforgiveness never hurts those who wronged you. It only hurts you. In fact, unforgiveness gives the one who wronged you a type of control over you. By holding on to unforgiveness, you are allowing the injury to last a lifetime. Choosing to truly forgive can start a chain reaction of healing that will open a doorway to a joyful and productive life.
The most important person to forgive is yourself. Embarrassments and disappointments create deeply rooted resentments. Unfortunately, many people resent themselves. This creates a sense of disqualification, as if one feels disqualified to enjoy success because of something they did in their past.
Often what we believe disqualifies us was not even an action. It may have been a belief we held, or an emotion we experienced.
Once you have chosen to love and accept yourself just the way you are, and broken the chains of unforgiveness that have been holding you back, you can begin to move forward to become the person you truly want to be.

Step Three: Realize you Deserve to Succeed
If you grew up in a guilt culture, you may not feel you deserve many good things to happen to you. Guilt, often injected into our psyche by our parents, teachers or ministers, can create a strong sense of unworthiness. I grew up in an East Texas evangelical tradition. “I am unworthy” is a mantra of Southern evangelicalism. To succeed, you must first change that mantra to “I deserve to be successful.” “I deserve to have good things.” “I deserve to enjoy life.” I deserve to be rich” “I deserve to have people look up to me.”

WFA Franchise Consultants

Big Goals Require a Big Vision

The bigger your goal, the bigger your vision needs to be to motivate you to accomplish it. If your goal is to become a manager at the place where you work, what is it about being a manager that will motivate you to do what it takes to become a manager? Is your goal to become the top sales person in your organization? The question is, “Why bother?” Is it for the money? The prestige? The recognition? There is no wrong answer here. It is important to know what motivates you, so you can keep yourself motivated to prospect the new customer, learn all you can about the new products, make the extra sales and go the extra mile.
What do you really want?
Most people have financial goals, but what they really want is not money. They really want something else that having money provides for them. It may be a bigger house. Better education for the kids. The freedom to travel. Or perhaps they are motivated by intangibles like security, confidence, recognition or freedom from worrying about money.
Zig Ziglar is famous for saying, “Every year thousands of people go out and buy ¼ inch drill bits, but not one of them wanted a ¼ inch drill bit. They all wanted ¼ inch holes.”
What is it that you really want? What will motivate you to do what it takes to get it?
Put Your Vision In Writing
Write out your life vision. Include a description of what your ideal day is like. Talk about your feelings having accomplished your goals. Take time every day to read your vision and imagine yourself as having accomplished your goals.
Jack was a college student who wanted to graduate valedictorian of his class. He asked his mother to sew a wall hanging with a big “V” on it. Every day for four years he looked at that wall hanging and took a moment to think about what it would feel like to be named valedictorian of his graduating class. He thought about what he would say in his speech. He imagined the applause. Then, he went to class focused on making the grades necessary to be valedictorian. Sure enough, when his class graduated, Jack was named valedictorian. Only then did he tell all his friends what the wall hanging was all about. For four years they had questioned him. Now they all understood.
Detailed Description Makes Your Vision Real
You don’t have to be a novelist to write a detailed description of something you hold deeply in your heart. As you picture you life after you have achieved your goals, ask yourself, “What do I see?” “What do I hear” “What do I smell?” “What do I feel?” If your goal is to make enough money to put your children through the best education available, imagine yourself sitting in the audience other parents at an Ivy League college. Feel the enthusiasm. Hear the applause. Note the pride swelling up inside of you.
Emotion Gives Your Vision Power
Several studies have shown that memory is closely linked to emotion. If you experience deep emotion during an event, you will remember it forever. If you are a parent, you probably remember in vivid detail the events and surroundings related to the birth of your children. You can probably describe in detail the room you were in and what you were doing when you heard about the terrorist attacks of 9-11. When describing your vision, create a memory in advance. Describe what you feel when you realize the accomplishment of your goals.
Put Your Vision In Writing
Write out your life vision. Include a description of what your ideal day is like. Talk about your feelings having accomplished your goals. Take time every day to read your vision and imagine yourself as having accomplished your goals.
Jack was a college student who wanted to graduate valedictorian of his class. He asked his mother to sew a wall hanging with a big “V” on it. Every day for four years he looked at that wall hanging and took a moment to think about what it would feel like to be named valedictorian of his graduating class. He thought about what he would say in his speech. He imagined the applause. Then, he went to class focused on making the grades necessary to be valedictorian. Sure enough, when his class graduated, Jack was named valedictorian. Only then did he tell all his friends what the wall hanging was all about. For four years they had questioned him. Now they all understood.
Create a sensory map.
Take a moment to think of the most exciting and joyful experience of your life. You will probably begin feeling the same emotions all over again. You may begin to smile or laugh. Now mentally attach those feelings to your ultimate vision. You may need to repeat this exercise the first few times you read your vision. Soon you will discover that the emotions will come naturally and quickly.
Read Your Vision Every Day
It is important to keep your vision in front of you. This is the key to your motivation. So take time each day to imagine what it is you are working towards.
Set aside time, preferably at the beginning and end of each day, to:
• Read your vision.
• Create a mental picture of your life after you have reached your goals.
• Imagine the sights, smells and other sensory input.
• Feel the emotions of joy and elation that come from achieving your goals.
• Make your future yours today.
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Why Visualizing Your Way to Success Works

There is a lot of hype in the self help genre about meditation and visualization. There is also a lot of skepticism by business professionals. That is because the case for meditation and visualization, often associated with the law of attraction, has been grossly overstated. Yes, visualization works. You can bring about amazing things through meditation and visualization. But it isn’t magic.

Let me state now, it isn’t dangerous. You didn’t attract the car accident by having negative thoughts. You may have attracted it by being tired or distracted, but not by having bad self talk or a bad visualization model. I grew up in the East Texas Bible belt where there was always someone telling me if I had the right kind of faith, good things would happen to me. If bad things happened, I just didn’t have enough faith. That is a bunch of baloney. A lot of what I hear about self talk, meditation, visualization and the law of attraction is the same snake oil with a new label.

I have also heard the law of attraction touted as the key to success in business. If you want to succeed in business, you need a good business plan, dynamite marketing, great customer service and a lot of hard work. Meditation and visualization have their place; one could even argue they are essential. But they are no substitute.

Now that I have begun this chapter with an overdone caveat, let’s talk about what is real and practical about mediation and visualization.

The DC Experiment
John Hagelin hypothesized that if enough people meditated in a city, they could measurably reduce the crime rate. In 1993, an experiment was conducted in the nation’s capital. About 500 people gathered in Washington DC and began meditating toward the specific purpose of reducing the crime rate in the city. At the end of 4 weeks, the crime rate had dropped about 2%. Then there was a marked increase in the number of individuals meditating. By the end of the eighth week, there were almost 4,000 people gathering and mediating. By the end of the 2 month experiment, the crime rate had dropped 23 %.

Clinical Trials
There have been a few clinical trials on the effects of intercessory prayer (a form of meditation) in the treatment of disease. In 1988 the Southern Medical Journal reported a significant better recovery of heart patients that received intercessory prayer as part of their therapy. A similar study with rheumatoid arthritis patients was published in 2000 in the same journal. Again, patients who received in person intercessory prayer had significantly improved recoveries.

To some, measurable results from prayer, meditation and visualization seems spooky and mysterious. There is really nothing mysterious about it. Mind, body and spirit are interconnected. We have all experienced how strengthening the body gives strength to the mind and spirit. Illness that affects the body, can also affect the mind and spirit. Why must we start with the body? Doesn’t it stand to reason that if we strengthen the spirit, the body and mind will follow?

The Chardinian Noosphere and Chicken Salad
We operate a small coffee and sandwich shop. We offer nine different kinds of sandwiches, all of which are roughly equally popular. The other day my daughter reported to me that is seemed everyone who came in ordered a chicken salad sandwich. Why did on this one day chicken salad more than double in popularity? The common vernacular answer is “There is something in the air.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit priest and philosopher, might say, “Yes, there is something in the air, and it is the collective consciousness.” His theory was that there is a collective consciousness emanating from the interaction of human minds. This collective consciousness, he called the noosphere (from the Greek word for mind, nous). The noosphere is evolving and integrating with conscious human though until it reaches total integration which he called the Omega point.
This may seem like pretty far out stuff, but why is it that sometimes everyone seems to get the same idea? Is the collective consciousness whispering in people’s ears, “Eat chicken salad today.”?

Attitude is Contagious
Have you ever been in a room with friends, having a pleasant discussion, when in walks a newcomer? Sometimes the newcomer is ridiculously happy and excited. Perhaps everyone laughs at first, but as the newcomer shares his excitement, soon the spirits of everyone in the room are lifted. At other times the newcomer may be despondent and depressed. Soon people begin to leave because of the uneasiness everyone is feeling. There is a collective consciousness of everyone in the room. The introduction of a newcomer can affect that consciousness either positively or negatively. Either way, soon everyone is feeling it.

Collective Consciousness on a National Scale
The history of America is the history of dissenters. From the Federalist Papers to Henry David Thoreau to John Reed, America has prided herself in her dissenters. These dissenters usually develop a following, but are generally forgotten except in the halls of academia. But in 1968 America was reshaped by the voice of dissention.
The early 60’s were as American as apple pie. Popular music was dominated by folk songs sung by clean cut young men like the Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four. But in 1968 everything changed. Why did previous dissenters have to settle for a small following, while in 1968 there were so many dissenting voices that it became a chorus of dissent that changed the direction of the country forever. It was something in the air.

Prayer, meditation and visualization are ways of putting something into the air. It joins the noosphere of collective consciousness and rejoins the world of tangible reality, sometimes in very dramatic ways.

The 1980 Soviet Olympic Team
In 1980, the Soviets conducted a visualization experiment. They divided the athletes into four groups. The first group practiced as usual. The second group devoted 25% of their practice time to visualization. The third group devoted 50% of their practice time to visualization. The fourth group devoted 75% of their practice time to visualization. At the 1980 Olympics, the group that spent 75% of their time practicing physically and devoted 25% of their practice time to visualization won the most medals.

John Asaraf’s House
John Asaraf tells the story in his book, The Answer, of how, when he was a young realtor in Indiana, he had a vision board of things he wanted to achieve. Among other things, he cut a picture of a house out of a magazine and glued it to his vision board. It was a big beautiful house, and he considered this his dream home. Five years later, he decided to move to California. When unpacking, he found his old dream boards. Looking over them he realized that without conscious awareness, he had purchased the exact house he had glued to his vision board five years earlier.

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A Compelling Vision

A compelling vision will attract people and resources to help you get there. The more vivid and compelling the vision, the more people and resources will line up to propel you to your goal.
Mother Theresa had a vision to help the poorest of the poor. She took a vow of poverty and lived among the poor of Calcutta, India. She gave herself to the sick, the penniless and the dying. Her vision was so compelling that thousands lined up to help her fulfill her vision. At the time of her death, over sisters of charity were devoted to fulfilling her vision, and her order controlled over $40,000,000, mostly in real estate, for the purpose of caring for the poorest of the poor. Not bad for someone who personally never owned more than 2 saris and a bucket to wash them in. Her mustard seed was her compelling vision.
What makes a vision compelling to others?
First, for your vision to compel others to join your cause, it must be clearly stated. People will not follow a vague proposition. They need to understand where your vision is leading and how it will benefit them.
Second, for your vision to compel others it must be identifiable. People need to identify with your vision. They will follow a vision that they feel is theirs as well as yours.
Third, your vision must offer hope. Your greatest gift to those who would follow you is hope. Stir hope in the hearts of those who would follow your vision. You will not lack for support in fulfilling your goals.
Ed Wills
WFA Franchise Consultants

You Were Created To Create

Each of us was created in the image of the creator. Creating is what comes most naturally to us.
Normally when we think of creating, we think of artistic endeavors - prose, poetry, music, art. Those are high forms of creating, but even in the day to day, we can’t help but create.
We look at someone across the room and we create interest. We deal with a daily problem and create a solution. We fall asleep and create vivid dreams arising from our imagination.
What if we could create our future? You not only can, you will.
If you choose to let it happen on its own, you have created a future that is very much like today. But if you choose to consciously employ vision, goal setting, affirmations and careful planning to create your future, then you can create the future of your dreams.
An organization that is committed to creative collaboration will ride the wave of the future. They will go beyond the realm of assumptive thinking and welcome the dawn of innovation...because there is nothing more empowering than an idea whose time has come.
Ed Wills
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You Were Created To Succeed

You Were Created To Succeed
A Guided Mediation
First, let's start with relaxation. Sit in a comfortable position where you are fully supported.
Take a deep breath inhaling through your nose and exhaling out through your mouth. Focus on your breath. Shut out all other thoughts and feel your breath pass in through your nose and out through your mouth.
With each breath imagine, you are breathing in peace. As you exhale through your mouth imagine you are exhaling tension , anxiety and worry. Say to yourself:
"Breath in peace. Breath our tension"
"Breath in peace. Breath out fear."
"Breath in peace. Breath out worry."
Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth in the beginning will help you focus on your breath, but it is not necessary to continue to breath that way throughout the meditation.
Focus on your head. Notice any tension, and tell yourself to relax. Relax your scalp. Relax your face. Relax your jaw..Your jaw may drop slightly. Your mouth may open that is okay but not necessary.
Focus on your neck and shoulders. Tell your neck and shoulders to relax. feel the tension peel away from your neck and shoulders. Continue to breathe deeply and naturally.
Now focus on your chest and diaphragm. Relax your chest and diaphragm. Relax your stomach and mid section. As you relax, you should feel your stomach move in and out with each breath. That is because you are breathing deeply and naturally. Each breath continues to inhale peace and exhale tension, anxiety and worry.
Now focus on your hips and thighs. Completely relax your hips and thighs. Don't worry, you will not fall over because you are perfectly centered and balanced.
Focus on your calves and feet. Completely relax your calves and feet. Feel all tension drain out of your feet. You are now completely relaxed.
In your mind's eye, picture yourself walking down a forest trail. All around you is green. The earth is soft beneath your feet. The overhead canopy casts a greenish glow all around you.
You walk out of the trail onto a beach. There is warm sand beneath your feet. Before you is a large body of water. But it is unlike any other lake or river or ocean you have ever seen . It is so big and vast that you cannot see the other side. but the water is crystal clear like a spring fed pool. You see no rocks, only white sand leading gently down into the water. You hear the gentle lapping of barely perceptible waves. You hear a bird chirping. There is cleanness to the air. You expect to smell salt, as if you were at the ocean, but instead all you smell is a fresh cleanness, as if this water were cleansing all it touched, even the air that passed above it.
You are now engulfed in bright sunlight. You feel the warmth of the sun on your face. You are all alone so you strip off your clothing until you are naked, feeling the sun warm your skin.
You slowly begin to walk into the water. You find the water refreshingly cool. You feel the sand and water surround your feet and notice even more tension drain away from you. You slowly walk into the water feeling its refreshing coolness engulf your ankles and calves. The water is refreshing and renewing as it continues to surround your thighs and hips. You continue to walk into the water. You have a sensation of being cleansed as it continues to rise to your stomach and chest. As the water reaches your shoulders, you lean back and begin to float effortlessly.
You relax and breath easily, deeply and naturally. With your ears beneath the surface of the water you are engulfed in silence. There is no sound. And in that complete silence you hear a gentle voice speaking to you softly as if in a whisper. You recognize it as the voice of God. You recognize it because you knew that voice as a young child, before worries and fears and the noise of other's expectations drowned it out. The voice of God speaks three things to you.
"I created your to prosper."
"I created you to succeed."
"I created you to enjoy my goodness."
As you float effortlessly in this cleansing pool, you meditate on what those three words mean in your relationship with your family and friends.
"I created your to prosper."
"I created you to succeed."
"I created you to enjoy my goodness."
As you relax in complete peace, you reflect on what those three words mean in your vocation, job or business.
"I created your to prosper."
"I created you to succeed."
"I created you to enjoy my goodness."
As all pain and disappointment of your past are washed away by the purity of this pond, you visualize what those three words mean for your future.
"I created your to prosper."
"I created you to succeed."
"I created you to enjoy my goodness."
It is time to leave the water. You stand up and feel the soft sand beneath your feet. As you walk back towards the beach, you feel the water drain away from your body. Beginning with your head and shoulders, then draining from your chest, stomach, hips, legs and feet. As the water drains from your body, you feel renewed as if all fear and self-doubt are being removed from you, washed away by the pure spring.
You stand again on the beach, warmed by the sun. You feel new. You are empowered with a new life and a new vision. You are filled with a new strength. You are ready to step back into the activities of your daily life, but with a new hope and a new joy.

To your success,
Ed Wills
Inter-Networking.net
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