The Road Less Travelled ~ Wealth and Well Being.

What is prosperity? Is it the prosperity of the your soul? Your body? Your surroundings or environment? Your emotions? Your financial status? Or all of the above? Many people think of prosperity,  however they tend only to think of financial wealth, income, possessions or lifestyle. There are many types of prosperity in this world.

I have discovered that as many people get older – and often wiser (these two don’t always go together) – they tend to see prosperity more as a spiritual issue than as a financial one. The same can be said for abundance. (more…)

Desire and action

Do you know someone who seemed to know what they wanted but still never seemed to get what they want? Maybe they set some goals but still couldn’t attract what they wanted. If you know what it’s like to do the same thing yourself with no results, then it’s time try something new.

Even if you know what you want you still might not get what you want for a couple of reasons and the result all depends on those reasons. First, you have to come up with a good plan to work towards your goal and of course you have to set the goal.

Third you need to break that goal down into small manageable goals that will all go together to create the whole picture. Forth and fifth are most important to you and your goals, they are desire and action and if you don’t have strong enough desire you can forget it altogether.

Sixth, you need a reason. A reason for wanting to achieve or get that goal, that reason is what will fuel your desire. It will see that you get it no matter how long it takes or if you get knocked down or not, but make no assumptions you have to take action.

So it is that without a goal and the desire to get it along with inspired action to take you are still no place at all. That right there is the reason why you may not be getting what you want, however there is still the other reasons why you may not be getting what you want.

Those reasons are; one you might not align with it on a thought and feeling/desire level. Two the time might not be right or there is something you need to do or learn first. Some times people don’t see their desire manifest for a couple of years and that is for various reasons.

Lets say you want something that you’ve never had before or haven’t had in some time, an example of that is a house wife. I know house wives who don’t make a lot of money and while they want it really bad, get use to having food, the bills paid and a roof over their head.

If you get use to it you may not have a desire to get the thing you lack so while you may want it the want of it isn’t enough. So you have a reason that is strong enough to give you a burning desire to get it no matter what.

It works like this; first, Know what you want.

Second, Make sure you have a strong reason and desire for wanting it.

Third, create a plan to get it and break it down into small steps to get it.

Forth, take inspired action on your plan/ work towards your goal(s)

Fifth, be confident and believe in yourself and believe without a doubt that you will get it.

If you are not 100% sure about what you want how can you get it? The universe can not manifest it if you don’t know what it is. Say you want to be in a relationship but are not sure what you want that person to be like.

What interests do you want to share with someone? What values do you hold that someone must have? What kind of personality do you want that person to have? What one thing is most important that your ideal man/woman share with you?

That is a good example of knowing 100% what you want, say that you are working on the above example of wanting a relationship. Or maybe you want to be rich, either way you still need to answer what is the reason that drives you to get what you want?

You have to have a strong because without it you are unlikely to get it, once you have a strong reason. You need a good plan to get it and break it down into smaller steps and take at least one step towards it everyday.

Note: it’s very important that the steps you take towards your goal everyday make you feel a sense of accomplishment. When you feel a sense of accomplishment it puts you in the right feeling state and aligns you with what you want.

That alone should work to make you feel confident belief in self and in getting what you want, accomplishment is good in that way. One last important thing to remember is in learning all you can because it brings you enlightenment which leads to inspired action.

So once again I’ll run over them real quick.
1. Know what you want.
2. Have a strong reason for wanting what it.
3. Create a plan and break it down into small steps.
4. Take inspired action every day and accomplishment something because it puts you in the right state of feeling.
5. Be confident and believe in yourself and what you want.

Living tomorrow’s abundance

Yesterday it was raining and everything that could have go wrong, did, now the sun is shining and it’s all past. There’s new opportunity and everything that seemed to go wrong yesterday turned out to be a blessing instead, but if yesterday didn’t go right forget it if it’s not useful.

Today is great and tomorrow seems to hold so much promise that you can hardly even believe that things went so wrong yesterday. Ever had a day where something goes so wrong and later figure out it actually worked better then you could have imagined?

I’ve had many days that where something turned out to be a blessing in disguise, usually something only appears to be bad. How you look at something makes it what it is to you when it is something else to another and life has a way of changing in the blink of an eye.

From experience things can seem so bad that you can not find any positive in it,  you can usually see the good in hindsight. The best way to change the way it looks to you is to change the way you look at it by affirming that it’s happened for your highest good even if you can not yet see it.

If you were to look for one thing good in everything that appeared to be bad you would make a positive habit of it. Then everything that might have seemed to be bad would no longer appear that way and thus transform your life so you can design it how you want it to be.

Do you design your life or just live it? from where you stand right now how does your future look? If it doesn’t look like you want it to look only you can change it. Only you can design it the way you want it be.

Start with how you want it to look, what you want in it, how you want to live and what do you want to drive. What do you want your house to look like? How do you want to make money? How much do you want to make?

Where do you want to be in a year from now? two years or even five years time from now? Have you drawn up a blueprint of the life you want and everything you want in it? If not you had best get busy and put in everything you have ever wanted in it.

Make it as big and bright as you can possibly imagine! Go all out and don’t leave anything out and be as detailed as you can. If you have it all written down reread it to yourself and see how everything makes you feel.

Emotion is important in manifesting anything and if the things you have wrote it down and it doesn’t make you feel excited, change it. Work on the list until it feels right to you and makes you feel good every time you look at it, only then you know it’s perfect.

After you have completed to your satisfaction a blueprint of your dream life, the next step is to determine what you need to become. Usually we change as our life changes so you will likely have to make changes with you.
So if you want better things in your life it means change and the best and most important place to start is with yourself. So what about do you feel needs some improvement to be/become who you want to be to live the life of your dreams?

Get creative remember it means getting you the life you have always dreamed of living. So the more you work towards it in any way you can the faster you will be able to live the life you want to be living.

For an example let’s say that you want to be a public speaker, what do you have to do to become that? One thing every public speaker has is high confidence, do you have that? If not building it is your first step in the right direction.

Also think about how you would walk talk and act if you where living your dream life right now, what about you would change? Everyday I want you to think about your dream life and bring more to life and living color in your mind a little more everyday.

Not only that but I want you to act and think as if you are already living your dream life right now.  Again it is important that you walk, talk, act and feel that you already have it and every day put yourself in the frame of mind living it.

Think about this you have a great job you love, you work with great people and the teamwork is unbelievable. You make more then enough money and have enough time to spend with your family and have time to do the things you like to do.

You have the car you have always wanted, you live in a beautiful two story home with five bedrooms and three bath. You have a four car garage, you have your own boat and take the family to the lake whenever you want.

You stand straight and walk with your head held high with a strong air of self confidence and have a magnetic personality. People are naturally drawn to you because of your upbeat winning personality and caring attitude.

You act and feel life the whole world is on your side helping you at every turn. Now maybe that’s not quite the life or lifestyle you want but if you work with it you can come up exactly what you want and what is the best fit for you.

One thing’s for sure if you know what you want you can design it and start living it through your thoughts and actions. That way you can project yourself into the life you want to live next week, next month or even next year.

You can do it just by acting like you would if you already have it, by doing this you will be drawing your dream to you. With thoughts, emotions and actions because without action you have nothing more then an un-lived dream.

Let’s face it without thoughts you have no vision and without feelings / desire you have a vision without a want for it. Combine them and you have something to work with but you still wont get very far until you combine them with action because until then you still wont get there.

You just have a dream and a desire and nothing to make it happen until and/or unless you take action and Make it happen! You can make it happen a little bit everyday through your thoughts and actions.

Remember you are crating tomorrow today through your thoughts and actions today so make sure that they are the best. Because when they are you know what they are creating.

Your last  step is to be present. Be present in the moment by asking yourself “where am I? and/or what am I doing right now?

You will shift your focus to what you are doing and pay better attention to the present rather having your attention divided.

Releasing Core Beliefs

Releasing Core Beliefs

Many of us have a “Core Belief” that we’re not good enough.  Where and when this belief first showed itself differs for some, but its roots are usually way back from our childhood.  At some point we perceived something we were told or shown, either by our parents, a teacher or other authority figure,  to mean that we just weren’t good enough.

Core beliefs are deeply embedded within our psyche and can be challenging to change because we trusted the people who told us we were not good enough, or not deserving.   If you were told by a parent something you did was not good enough,” that parent may have said those words in a moment of frustration or emotion, but the impact can live on in your subconscious mind for many years, if not your entire life, if not challenged.

As we grow and learn, we realize people do and say many things that can be perceived as hurtful.  Sometimes they mean what they say but most times they are projecting their emotions and feelings.  To allow someone’s momentary, often emotionally driven outburst of negativity, to affect the rest of your life is an atrocity, but it happens every day.  Most of us can remember something hurtful that was said to us, even decades later and more times than not, the person expressing their emotion has no recollection at all, but their words or actions may have left a deep wound on our own emotional  balance.

So how do we change and heal these negative Core Beliefs?   The answer is simple and I know you may scoff at it because of its simplicity,  therefore I will explain it further.  The answer is Love Yourself!

By going within, quieting yourself, opening your heart and connecting to the Love that is deep within your Being, yes, deep within each and every one of us, you allow yourself to connect to the truest form of healing possible.  The Core Belief was created by an act that was “unloving” and it can be healed by regaining the balance…by replacing the unloving words or deed with Love.  That Love doesn’t have to come from the person who hurt you.  It can come from you, yourself.

You have enough Love inside of you to heal every wound that could ever be inflicted, dispel any negative thought, word or deed, and heal a thousand sorrows .  You have so much Love inside of you, it oozes out.  Sometimes you don’t recognize this Love for what it is.  You may just think you’re sentimental or caring, or conscious of the environment, animals and children, but this is all a part of the Love that is so prevalent inside of you,  it escapes without any intention behind it at all.  Imagine what you can do when you have intention, when you set your mind to sharing and healing with that Love.

Love is the ultimate healer and you have everything you need to heal any wound, hurt or Core Belief you’ve carried, no matter how long you’ve held it for.  You can Love yourself enough to put that belief down and set it free.

Love yourself the way you always wanted to be Loved.  Think of yourself as the beautiful, innocent, child you once were, still are … inside, and give that wonderful child the Love and praise she/he always desired.  Tell that child, “It doesn’t matter what other people do or say, I love you exactly as you are. You are perfect just as you are. ”

What other people do and say is a reflection of what’s going on with them and has little to nothing to do with you.  Once you understand this fact, you can let go of “their business,” and tend to you own.  Your business is Loving yourself and taking good care of You!  You deserve it!! You always have and you always will!  You are worth it and you are Loveable and you are perfect just as you are!  You are Love!

Have a beautiful day!!

Love and Blessings,

Kathy Almond

Teachings Of Money: Personal Power

My street name is “the Money Lady.” That’s what strangers say when they stop me: “Look, it’s the Money Lady!” Emphasis on money. Early in my career, they seemed to be commenting primarily on the fact that I was always popping up somewhere giving financial advice. But as the years have gone by, I’ve sensed that the people I meet are referring to my success—and that I am powerful in their eyes because I’ve made money.

They’ve got it all wrong. Money didn’t make me powerful. And if it weren’t for the fact that I’m usually standing in a crosswalk when people stop me, I’d tell them that when I first had a lot of money, it served the purpose of showing me exactly how powerless I was. In fact, money has taught me a great many lessons. Let me share them with you:

1. Power comes from who you are, not what you have

Society has programmed all of us to think that external achievement is what gives us power. But that’s only perceived power, and it can be fleeting. I can’t tell you how many times my grandfather would say, “Suze, they can take your house, they can take your job, they can take your money, they can even take your mind, but they can’t take your heart. So you have to grow up valuing your own heart, who you are.”

My grandfather understood the difference between external and internal power. It was something that took me years—and a number of painful experiences—to comprehend.

2. Money has no power of its own

You alone are the power source. You are the one who makes the choices to spend money, to save money, to borrow money. That’s why I say money is such an amazing teacher: What you choose to do with your money shows whether you are truly powerful or powerless.

When I started to make serious money in my 30s, I was exhibit A for external power. I drove a fancy car, had a closetful of expensive clothes, wore a watch that cost the equivalent (at that time) of a 25 percent down payment on a house. Why did I have all those things? Because I was dating someone who was seriously wealthy, and felt I needed to keep up with the rich crowd I found myself in. I, Suze Orman, took money out of my 401(k) to pay for that pricey Cartier watch. And when I ran through all my money, I started using the bank’s: I eventually had more than $60,000 in credit card debt. How could that be?

I’d done the work—made the choice—to earn money, but then I made another choice: to use the money not to build personal wealth or move toward financial security but to try to impress people. Money didn’t make me powerful. It just showed me how sadly powerless I was.

3. Self-worth builds net worth

I realized that until I started acting honestly, I would be broke and unhappy. It was my own aha moment: I realized we spend more than when we feel less than. I felt less than because I could not afford what all those rich people could. But look where that got me—in debt and miserable. It was right then that I started to use money as my guide. I began watching how I was using money and how I was feeling when I made money choices. When I learned to give myself—and my money—the love and respect we both deserved, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted. I was no longer racing to keep up; I was so happy being right where I was. Being me. I stopped spending money I didn’t have and started living within my means. I had found my power. I was clear on who I was, what I wanted, and what I thought. No more letting the external world define me—I defined me. And it was only when that happened that I was able to dig out of debt and build the lasting net worth I now have.

If you have credit card debt and no savings, and you feel miserable, don’t attribute your woes to not having enough money; instead see the lessons your money is trying to teach you. Is it possible you have yet to find your self-worth?

4. Do what’s right, not what’s easy

Believe me, I know how easy it is to run up credit card debt. I have 60,000 memories of what happens when you act without conscience, doing whatever you want rather than pulling yourself back and considering whether it is right. If I had stopped to have that talk with myself, I would have seen my powerlessness earlier. That would have saved me money and gotten me to happy a lot faster.

To know whether something is right or just easy, I turn to my three gatekeeper questions: Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it true? And I make sure I can answer yes to all three. Is it kind—to me? Is it necessary—for me? Is it true—for me?

I see so many women fail the gatekeeper test when it comes to dealing with loved ones. When a sister asks for a loan to pay off her credit card or a child asks you to cosign a loan for a new car, you jump in and say yes without a moment’s hesitation. It is imprinted in your DNA to always give, no questions asked. But if you were to ask yourself the gatekeeper questions, you would often see that what is easy to do is not necessarily right. If you lend money to someone, are you really solving their problem or just getting them off the hook? My experience is that people who are bailed out of trouble often end up back in trouble. How is that help really kind to them? And if you are lending money that depletes your emergency savings, or prevents you from working toward your own financial goals, is that kind or true to yourself? Repeat after me: Say no out of love rather than yes out of fear.

5. Ignorance is not bliss where money is concerned.

We all take in financial information from outside sources, whether it’s friends and family, professionals we hire, the magazines and blogs we read, or the television we watch. Gathering that information is important, but at the end of the day you must depend on yourself to synthesize it and make your own informed decisions. Seeking out opinions is smart; blindly following those opinions without thinking through whether they make sense to you—and for you—will leave you drowning in a pool of powerlessness. When I was a struggling waitress and some amazing customers raised $50,000 to help me open my own restaurant, I blindly “gave” the money to a stockbroker without knowing how he was investing it. Within a few months, my account was worth zero. Zero! Was it the broker’s fault? Sure. But it was mine, too. That was the moment I learned how my powerlessness had cost me a fortune. That was when I vowed to never trust anyone else to care about my money more than I do.

6. How you respect your possessions says a lot about how you respect yourself.

My closets are temples of organization. But they have been a work in progress. When I was just starting to make money as a stockbroker, I would come home after a long day and throw my clothes on the floor; by the weekend I had a pile of disheveled items that I schlepped off to the dry cleaner. I spent a lot of money having clothes cleaned and pressed because I was too lazy to hang them up at the end of the day. Sound trivial? I don’t think so. It was symptomatic of my lack of respect for the money I had worked so hard to earn.

Cars are another dead giveaway. I once knew a woman who had serious external power and a super-impressive career. But her car was a disgusting mess: fast food wrappers all over the place and a trunk that was a mini-dump. One day she was driving us somewhere and asked me to pull her wallet out of her purse; my hand came back smeared in lipstick. Ick. No surprise, her financial life was a mess, too. I was at her house once when someone from the utility company came by to turn off her service because of lack of payment. Do you really think this was a happy woman? When you can’t manage to keep the power turned on, exactly how much are you in control of your destiny?

And buying what you can’t afford, regardless of how well you take care of it, is flat-out disrespectful of yourself. Purchasing a home with a crazy mortgage just because you think it is your right to be a homeowner—and then not being able to keep up with the payments—is not being true to your circumstances. Leasing a fancy car to keep up appearances when you have to borrow from your 401(k) to make the payments, or don’t have enough to fund your Roth IRA? Tell me what that is all about!

If you don’t respect what money can buy, you don’t respect money. If you don’t respect your financial obligations—paying your bills on time, buying only what you actually have the money for, saving for your future—then you don’t respect money. And if you don’t respect money itself, that is a sign you are not respecting yourself. It takes hours, weeks, and months working at a job to earn the money you then spend. To turn around and use that money in a wasteful or powerless way is just heartbreaking to me. You deserve better.

I want you to measure your power right now by walking through your home. First, open every closet and every drawer, and take a serious look in the garage, including the interior of the car. Are things organized or a mess? Next, pull out everything that still has a sales tag attached or is in unopened packaging. Why did you buy it? More important, when did you buy it? Perhaps when you were feeling less than? Every possession you bought is waiting to tell you a story. Take the time to learn the lessons that your money can teach you, and you will be on the path to building lasting and gratifying internal power. I’ll bet all my money on it.

Suze Orman’s most recent book is her 2009 Action Plan: Keeping Your Money Safe & Sound (Spiegel & Grau).

“I was well and truly amazed to read this article from The Money LadySuze Orman. Suze has been very forthcoming here in this article not only to share her deep secrets but to teach the lessons that she learn’t from the everyday common mistakes that each and every one of us makes. I truly beleive and agree with Suze that Money has Personal Power as Money is energy like all energy patterns around us. If anyone has every used money they will resonate with this article to the core of their being. It is Sightful and taught me heaps. Thanks Suze.

- Jeasy”

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