Dream Beyond The Common Order Of Things

May 3, 2013 by Thea Westra

I heard that line – dream beyond the common order of things – in an advertisement for tea, of all places. Yet the words jumped out at me like a vivid memory. I know that I have had many times in my life when I have created things bigger than I thought I knew how to achieve, and personally produced results that even left me in a state of bewilderment about what was possible for my life.

Have you ever experienced those moments? They are well worth revisiting and building on. They are your key to producing such results again, if you still have some more big dreams to accomplish. If you have achieved something in your past, it means that you can achieve it (or something similar), again in the future. You now have the tools you need, and cellular memory of what it takes to create anything outside of yourself.

This article lists a few of the thoughts that came up for me as I recalled a few monumental achievements in my own life, and I write them here with the intention of making a difference to the life of somebody else, who may read these words. These pointers, about living out your dreams, are not in any particular priority order. They are simply a collection of random thoughts that I know to be true, about accomplishing large goals.

If you have a massive goal and you are continually procrastinating, perhaps this is indicative of a misalignment somewhere in your life. Is there something that is not in integrity with who you believe yourself to be, or is there something for which you haven’t forgiven yourself. Those are the areas that must first be cleared up, to enable forward movement.

At some stage, when you notice that the goal you have created is not for you, then at very least do it for others. Create a purpose outside of yourself, if your own is not yet strong enough. You will build the muscles you need as you step forward. Collect all the crutches you can until you have generated some personal momentum. Soon the goal will again be yours and will no longer feel foreign to you.

Build in structures and systems that keep the dream alive over extended periods of time. Add props like quotes, images and posters in your daily surrounds. Have pop up messages on your computer, use the screensaver area on your screens, and add material to inspire you. Include supportive friends who know about your intentions, so they will ask you about it each time you speak. Ask for lots and lots of help with all the things about which you do not yet have enough knowledge. Hear the voices of experience around you.

Dreams need wheels, foundations, and time lines. Begin incorporating daily actions and habits to move you forward. Set up files, folders, calendars and other structures for being able to immediately collect material and information that you need for your projects. Set short and long-term timelines for specific phases, and for specific completion points. Then live your days toward those dates of completion, and targets that are easily measured.

Have big reasons for wanting to achieve the results you declare. Make these reasons large enough and truly heartfelt, so that they ignite passion and strong emotion behind your dreams. You need to always be able to instantly get in touch with wonderfully powerful feelings about your dream goals. Those emotions will inspire consistent action and will inspire others around you. You will need those inspired friends on the days you feel a bit too flat for taking action.

Reach for those stars, there is no mud up there. Keep your eyes focused on the end prize, in fact, a little way beyond where you say you want to be by a particular time. If you shoot a bit beyond the desired end result, then you are sure to arrive at your intended destination.

Decisions must be made. A real decision is measured by the fact that you have taken a new action. If there is no action, then you really have not decided. Check in with yourself. Have you honestly made a decision regarding your dream? If not, then make one. Either completely drop the goal or get on ahead full-steam with it.

Never use time as your excuse. Wedge dream projects into your current lifestyle, and commitments. Even if you crawl forward at ten minutes each day, do something every day toward that end goal. When you go to sleep each day, rest yourself in the knowledge that you have done something that day, to move you closer to your dream. At some time during every day, put one foot in front of the other toward that dream. Slow is better than never.

Build on positive results, and create some wins for yourself. Each time you win a little victory over yourself, you create impetus for moving forward even more. It helps you to grow, and become the person you must become for having that dream live for you. There will be changes, this is inevitable when working toward a big dream and when growing into the person who is to fit such a large dream. Allow, accept and actively encourage that level of personal growth.

All the points listed above are by no means a comprehensive collection, or a complete formula for success. They are purely a few things to consider and check in with, if you are up to some big things in your life. Throughout them all is the common thread of managing yourself. Watch the language you use, and how you speak with yourself. Live with awareness and recognize the many faces of fear. Continue to build harmony in your every day living. Never lose touch with the miracle and dream life that you already live. Inhale gratitude with every breath. You have today as a gift, now go spend it!

© Thea Westra lives in Perth, Australia. She publishes a wealth of material for increased life power, self improvement, inspiration, personal success, online business, and internet know-how. Enjoy her many self-improvement resources at http://www.myforwardsteps.com

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Finding Happiness and Success in Life – G is for Gratitude

Apr 12, 2013 by Windy Davis

Always remember that being grateful for where you are forges the path to where you want to be.

If you focus on gratitude and begin speaking gratitude over your life happiness and success will soon follow.

Here are a few gratitude statements that will help you start making gratitude a part of your life today.

• I make a conscious effort to give thanks for all good things in my life. The more I show my gratitude, the more good things I receive to be thankful for!

• When I awake in the morning, I give thanks for the new day. The good feelings I generate start my day in a perfect way, and I find that one good thing leads to another. This positive boost helps me fly through my daily tasks with energy and momentum.

• I thank my spouse for the things he does for me. This makes him feel loved and appreciated and he goes out of his way to do even more good things for me. It’s a never-ending cycle of love!

• I find things to thank my children for every day. When they do a good job on anything, I thank them for their effort, motivating them to continue. My happiness is even greater when I see them, too, discovering the joys of gratitude and telling others, “Thank you.”

• As my day goes on, I thank my co-workers for their efforts and my clients for their business. In return, I receive their loyalty and friendship.

• I thank my friends for being there for me. They’re always there to lend a helping hand and cheer me on.

• I realize that even the challenges of my day arise for good reason and I’m grateful for the lessons I learn from these obstacles. Invariably, my challenges bring me closer to my goals, in one way or another, as I seek solutions.

• Today, I strive to feel gratitude, enjoy it, and let it show in how I treat others.

 

Self-Reflection Questions:

1. Do I let myself feel and enjoy gratitude and its benefits?
2. How has showing someone my gratitude brought me something good in return?
3. How can I show my gratitude more often?

 

Don’t forget to grab my free, no strings attached, ebook “The Power of Gratitude” -> Click Here

 

To Your Happiness and Success,

Windy

 

P.S. – Thank YOU for stopping by.  I appreciate your support and if there is anything I can do for you please let me know!

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Finding Happiness and Success in Life – F is for Faith

Mar 28, 2013 by Windy Davis

If you don’t already have faith or understand faith it would be difficult to describe.

I’m sure you know that faith is a state of mind in which you fully believe or trust, it is defined as a complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

If you are able to maintain constant faith in yourself, your beliefs and your dreams I really believe that you will find your path to happiness and success fairly easily.

Taped up right here next to my desk I have an old fortune cookie slip that says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”  It’s my reminder to keep the faith no matter what obstacles arise.

What is Faith?

 

Faith can be many things to many people.  Many of us have faith in God and that he is watching over us and helping guide our lives.  We can have faith in our spouses that they will be our partner and always looking out for us as well.

I can even have faith in my dog that she will let me know if there is anything strange going on outside.  Unfortunately she lets me know when anything is going on outside so this isn’t always effective but you get the idea.

Faith can mean so much in so many ways.

 

Where are we really without faith?

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How To Be Successful in Life – E is for Expectations

Feb 26, 2013 by Windy Davis

“An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.”
― Brian Tracy

How you think about life and what your expectations are is one of the most important factors that determines whether or not you will have a happy and successful life.

So, if you want a happier more successful life it is essential that you develop positive expectations.

However, many of us are naturally inclined to expect the worst or at a minimum nothing quite wonderful.

We’re told things like “you should be happy with what you have” or “life is always hard.”  Our thoughts and expectations are focused on despair.

No wonder we have such a difficult time expecting good things to happen to us! You may have even been taught that successful people are crooks or liars or cheats and that is the only way they get ahead.

As long as you hold on to negative thoughts and low expectations, you will never create the happiness or success that you deserve.

To change your expectations, you must change your mindset.

 

Take for example Mondays.  I would say most of us dread Mondays and don’t expect great things.  We expect things like computers not working, customers complaining, the boss being demanding.  And more often than not we generally get what we expect.

My daughter’s teacher recently told the class that Monday is her favorite day of the week.  This just amazed me.

Now whether she really meant it or not I don’t know but I thought to myself…. that is a really good attitude.  I told my daughter that we should all adopt this “Monday is the best day of the week” attitude and see if it helps our Monday’s improve.

Ideally we should choose our attitude every morning and say to ourselves, “This is going to be a great day!”.

 

We should expect miracles…. every single day.

 

Miracles happen around us all the time.  Why would we expect that they wouldn’t happen for us?

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How to Be Successful in Life – D is for Dreams

Feb 13, 2013 by Windy Davis

 

It’s kind of odd that today is the day that I planned to sit down to write about dreams.  I say it’s odd because I had some really weird dreams last night.

You know the kind of dreams that even when you wake up, and know that it was just a dream, you are still left with a strange feeling that you just can’t shake.

Today it is affecting my attitude and I still feel a bit stressed out to the point where I can actually feel the tension in my body.

I didn’t sit down to write about actual nighttime dreams but there is a real comparison to learn from here.

 

Understanding Your Vibrations

 

Even though I know my dream wasn’t real I am still sitting here in an unsettled vibration.

If you’ve ever studied Bob Proctor or The Secret you know that we are all in a constant state of vibration and attracting like things into our lives.

Your vibration is essentially your thoughts and emotions causing a vibratory reaction within your body.  For example, when you feel nervous or scared, you can feel your body actually reacting to your emotions.

Well, I’m sure this current state of vibration I am in is not beneficial to me and I am doing my best to shake it.   All the while it is reminding me how important it is to really understand how I feel and control it, the best I can, at all times.

 

Using Your Imagination

 

Imagine for a minute sitting on the beach in the Bahamas, you can see the waves crashing, your family is having a dolphin encounter, your toes are in the soft sand, you feel the warm breeze blowing through your hair.  What a nice relaxing vibration you are in, correct?

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How to Be Successful in Life – C is for Choices

Feb 1, 2013 by Windy Davis

As I look at the many options for words starting with “C” that relate to success I am surprised how torn I am about which to choose… Confidence? Contentment? Clarity?… Then it occurs to me, it’s a big CHOICE!

 

C is for Choices

 

Doesn’t that really sum up so much? I sometimes feel that all I do is make decisions… or choices.. for myself, for work, for my family, constantly!  Do I let my daughter wear those mismatched socks to school?  Should I call the dentist about her tooth?  And the ever constant daily decision.  Ugh.  What’s for dinner?!?!?

 

Choices are Easier to Make if You Have Goals

 

Well even if you don’t have “goals”, if you have an idea of what your desired outcome is or what is best for all concerned it is much easier to make those decisions.

For me, my happiness list works pretty darn well.  For example, now if my Mom calls and invites me to lunch but I have a million household chores to do I think to myself, “Well, Windy, let’s see…What would make you happier?”

Duh! Lunch with my Mom would.  Spending time with my family just so happens to be at the top of my happiness list!  I did go to lunch with my Mom that day and it was such a blessing and brought me so much more joy than folding towels or socks ever will.  Plus I’ll just have my daughter help me with that later.  Talk about win, win, for me!

So I could have chosen to skip lunch and get the chores done, be sad about missing lunch with my Mom but that would have been MY decision.

My happiness is my choice and I vow to make better choices this year while focusing on what makes me happy.

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