Wednesday, August 30, 2006

But They Mean Well

You’re in the middle of a huge project at work, a family dinner, or some much deserved alone time, when the phone rings, a relative barges in, or a co-worker pops in. You’re annoyed, but reluctant to say anything because you like your open-door policy, you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, or you don’t want anyone upset with you.

2006 is a much different world than it was a generation ago. Back then, people were more polite, most offices had doors and were not cubicles, and people did not take it for granted that they were not interrupting you, but automatically assumed that they were. What’s changed? Technology has paved the way for this erosion of boundaries with pagers, e-mail, and cell phones accessibility has come to be expected. Unfortunately people have also come to stop respecting boundaries.

Belinda had just walked in the house when her cell phone rang. It was her sister asking her to fill in for her at her catering job. Belinda had filled in for Sue previously so she knew the work, but she was tired, having just completed her twelve hour shift at the hospital. She tried to convey this to her sister, but Sue being Sue, just assumed that the answer would be yes, and just continued with the details without waiting for an answer. Belinda was hurt and rather angry at Sue, but she hid her feelings and let out a rather long sigh as she went upstairs to change her clothes for her second work shift of the day. Toby was sitting in his living room watching the game when Fred burst in. He looked up a bit startled at the interruption, but when he saw who it was he was unsurprised at the intrusion. He and Fred had been friends since they were three years old, so Fred had been walking into his house ever since he could remember. He was very happy that Suzie wasn’t home because she looked at Fred’s familiarity as rude and it was often the cause of some of their rare arguments. Toby could see her point, but he didn’t have the heart to start making changes that could ruffle his nearly life-long friendship.

What do Belinda and Toby share? They both have people in their lives, close people, who do not respect them. Their needs, wants, and concerns are not being considered by Sue or Fred. However, while it would be nice for Sue and Fred to automatically consider their feelings, it is up to Belinda and Toby to voice their dissatisfaction with the situation. Realistically, no one can be expected to change a situation that has been working for them. Why should Sue think that Belinda would not cover her shift for her, since she’d always done so in the past? Why would Fred stop walking into Toby’s house when Toby had never told him not to? While it may seem like an issue of common courtesy, perhaps an oversight, or even a bit of stubbornness, the fact still remains that Belinda and Toby are responsible for setting boundaries and insisting that the people in their lives respect them.

Establishing boundaries to correct an action is not an easy thing to accomplish, just ask any parent. It takes time, patience, and practice. As difficult as it is for children to learn, it’s much harder for adults – think “old dog new tricks.” But boundaries must be established in order to protect one’s existence. There are many things in life that one does not have complete control over, but finding a way to protect the things that are important, is paramount to a peaceful, joyous, passion-filled existence. Everyone deserves the right to choose how their time is spent, how they want to be treated, how they want their life to operate, and if those choices are not being met, the light to the soul is being blocked, and changes should be made.

When performed in advance, boundary setting is a preventative measure, but proactively or reactively it is necessary in many different types of situations. Sit the person down for a talk, put it on paper, or make a phone call. Take a lesson from Belinda and Toby. Don’t be shy, take your stance and let your needs be heard. Reclaim your life, your choices, your space, and your soul.

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to eva@coacheva.com.

Monday, August 28, 2006

Doing MY Thing, Minding MY Own Business

Does worrying about what others think of you, or what you are doing cause you anxiety and sleepless nights? Do you tailor your actions or behavior to the opinions of others? If so, then have I found a book title for you! I have not read the book by Terry Cole Whitaker, but when I saw it, it really struck a chord. The title is "What You Think of Me is None of My Business". How cool is that?! Doesn't it make you go, "hmmm"?

Imagine how liberating it would be to adopt this title as your personal motto and put it into practice. Envision yourself looking at the captions on a magazine cover and not caring what the latest expert says is acceptable, fashionable, or tolerable. How about being able to attend this year's holiday parties without caring what colleagues, acquaintances, relatives or friends are thinking about you? Can you feel the self-confidence and positive energy that radiates when you make the decision to let someone else take ownership of their beliefs, ideas, or negativity? Phyllis, Julie and Trevor had to experience it first hand to feel it.

Phyllis, Julie, and Trevor have been friends since childhood. They have mutual friends and work for the same company. They have also all experienced the phenomena of letting someone else's hang-ups become their own. They were not looking forward to the holiday season because they knew what kinds of comments typically awaited them. This year they got together at Thanksgiving and decided that they were tired of being victims. They prepared for the holiday festivities with excitement knowing that THEY were going to seize control, and that they had each other for support.
When Phyllis arrived at the company Christmas party alone and immediately ran into a very happily married co-worker, instead of letting her co-worker's snide comment about being dateless bother her, she replied that she welcomed the opportunity to meet other people, and had intentionally come solo. She felt great as she walked away and left her co-worker fumbling for a retort. How good it felt to not worry about what someone else thought for a change. She felt in control and intended to thoroughly enjoy her evening.

When Julie left the dance floor looking for a cool drink, her ex-husband walked up to her and remarked that she looked good despite the extra pounds that she had put on. Instead of getting self-conscious, Julie told him that she was glad he thought so, and that she hadn't felt so good in years. Just as he was about to say something, someone walked up to her and asked her to dance. Julie felt great as she danced off. She stood in HER truth and the outcome was fantastic.

Trevor stood back and observed the crowd. He had seen the exchanges that the girls had, and he was impressed. He hoped that he could follow through too. He knew that his co-workers joked about the fact that he still lived at home at his age, and he knew that the word had leaked into the neighboring office where Shelby worked. He wanted to ask her out, but was not sure how receptive she would be. After all, most men over 30 do not live at home. As he turned to find Phyllis to ask for advice, he bumped right into Shelby and had to grab her to keep her from falling! He immediately apologized and was amazed when she said that she was looking for him. He asked her to dance and while they were dancing she told him that she still lived at home too! Trevor was so pleased that he did not revert to his "old ways". Had he paid attention to what his co-workers thought of him, he never would have asked her to dance.

The next day, when the three friends got together to reminisce, they had all learned a great deal from their "Coming Out". They learned that being true to themselves was incredibly rewarding. They had not pay attention to the shoulds and ought to's that typically surround them and decided to let the people with the beliefs worry about them, while they enjoyed their night. They were happy and had much higher self-esteem the next day. They knew that they were going to continue living their lives with the new motto firmly in place.

Are you being authentic and standing in your truth? Where are you letting others' beliefs and expectations dictate your life? Are you minding someone else's business? If so, isn't it time to start doing your own thing and mind your own business? It's their hang-up, not yours! My challenge to you is to release worrying about what others think of you and be willing to be your true, authentic self. The quality of your life will improve radically!

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to eva@coacheva.com.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Choose Your Friends Wisely

As individuals concerned about quality of life and the environment, I am sure that you frequently consider how the environment affects your well-being. Asking questions about what is being spewed into the air that is breathed, dumped into the water what is drunk, or absorbed into the food that is eaten has become commonplace. What about your social environment? It has just as much of an impact on your life, and in most cases the effects are more readily felt than those of what we consider to be the outside environment.

The people that interact with you on a daily basis - friends, colleagues, significant others and family members all play principal roles in your life. While it is impossible to choose who all of your colleagues are (even if you own your own business), and you definitely cannot choose your family members (as much as we may wish on occasion), you CAN choose your friends and significant others (as they typically start out as friends first). Take a look at those people that you consider to be friends. Do you honestly feel like you have built a community of supportive fulfilling relationships? Or does your list of friends resemble a patchwork quilt, because the relationships just developed and were not nurtured or deliberately created.

Now, I hear you thinking "I like my friends. Why would I want to deliberately look for friends, anyway?" The answer is, because the type of people that you spend time with is a direct reflection of who you are, what you feel and what you do. If you hang out with people that are always broke, never happy or satisfied, constantly complaining, or always playing the victim, their situations will affect you. How can their situations be reflected in your life? If you are a true friend you will at least feel sad for your friend and it will make you sad. In other situations, you can actually find their emotions, beliefs, and actions being reflected in YOUR life as well. Tim can illustrate this point nicely.

Tim has had the same group of three friends since high school. They are all twenty-five years old, but Tim is currently the only one of them that is employed. He is an Assistant Manager at a sporting goods store. He often hears his friends complain about the lack of opportunity because of the state of the economy, how unfair life is because you cannot get ahead without a college education, but that with one, the job market is still saturated, and how they can never find decent dates. Tim had been considering returning to college but changed his mind right before the start of the new semester. His girlfriend was so upset that she broke up with him and told him that he was never going to get ahead if he continued to associate with his "loser" friends. Tim now has the chance to become Manager of his store. Want to bet that his friends will find some way to put a negative spin on it for him? Tim is clearly being affected by the attitudes and beliefs of his friends. In fact, they are the epitome of negativity and have adversely impacted his life.

If Tim had put careful thought and emphasis in choosing his friends, his scenario may actually look more like this. Tim and his girlfriend meet his friends after work. He tells them that he is being considered for a promotion, but that he has a problem because he is also attending school. They brainstorm a bit, realizing that this is a fantastic opportunity for him and come up with a brilliant plan. They suggest that Tim contact the school and see if his work experience could be applied towards college credit and then meet with his regional manager to determine if he would be willing to mentor Tim as a Co-Op student. What a difference! The type of people that Tim considers as friends has dramatically changed the course of his life with a single interaction. Imagine the affect that this could have over a number of years!

So how does one build a community of fulfilling relationships? Begin by looking for people that share things in common with you, or possess those qualities that you would like to nurture within yourself. People that have similar interests, hobbies, lifestyles, goals, or personalities are a great place to start. Once you begin meeting people, evaluate how they react to their environment. If you react similarly, or you find their reaction positive - I dare say you might have a winner. If you do this a few times, you will find yourself surrounded with like-minded people that you will feel truly connected with.

There is nothing wrong with looking to maximize the number of positive interactions that can occur each day. If you and your friends can nurture each other and improve the quality of each others lives, only good things can come of this. How many times during childhood and adolescence did you hear that you should, "choose your friends wisely"? Imagine That! The adults ACTUALLY knew what they were talking about after all!

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to eva@coacheva.com.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Can You Hear Them Now?


What happens when you get the overwhelming urge to act on an idea? Do you pay attention when the same scenario keeps presenting itself? Do you make leaps when all indications are pointed to the fact that it is the right time? If not, perhaps it's time to listen to the signs of the universe. Do you hear them? Most importantly, do they make you act? Those signs are nudges by the universe, designed to keep you on path and steer you towards your goals.

Hope was sick of her job and longed for a way out. She had just learned of an online program that catered to graphic design and it piqued her interest. She liked the idea of learning at home as her schedule allowed. So Hope signed up for the course and waited for the materials to come. She waited, and waited, and waited but they did not come. Totally exasperated she called and cancelled the course. Hope decided that it wasn't meant to be and stuck it out with her day job. Ten months later she ran across an advertisement for the course again. She figured that it had worked out for the best the last time, but decided to give it another try. So she signed up again, or so she thought. About two days later she was contacted and told her credit card had not gone through. She tried two different cards, and none of them worked despite the fact that they were working for her everywhere else. So again Hope decided to put it on the back burner. About six months ago Hope decided that it was time to start making some positive changes in her life. The following week while in the midst of a full-fledged cleaning spree, she uncovered the graphic design course information. She hoped that the third time would indeed be a charm, so she placed her order, waited three days and her course materials actually arrived. Three days earlier than expected. Hope is half-way through her course and loves it. She intuitively knew that was the right time to pursue her dream. She wasn't near ready the first time. The second time she was almost ready, but not one hundred percent ready to commit. This last time she was totally amped up to succeed.

Would you have reacted the same way as Hope? She may not have known that the universe was working overtime to get her enrolled in her course, but she did intuitively know when to be persistent. If Hope has succeeded in registering the first time she probably would not have completed the course. She was busy at work, her home office as in a state of chaos, and she was physically exhausted. Hope listened and decided to back off. What if the signs kept showing up, seemingly in conflict? Hope figured that it was this course that she needed to take because the same one was recommended to her by several different people. But when she tried to register the second time, the universe would not allow her credit card to be processed, thus she couldn't pay for it. It was lucky for Hope that she didn't commit to the course then, because about 3 months later her car died and she needed to pay for the repairs using the funds that she would have doled out for the course. Conflicting signs? Yup! But for whatever reason it was clear that she was not to take the course at that time.

Learn to look for the signs that show up, and listen to their plan. Contrary to popular belief we juggle way too much, and being able to simply act when we are prompted to do so takes an incredible load off. Answers to problems that we may or may not already be aware of, fall into our laps everyday. Can you remember the last time that happened? Here's a fun exercise. Write down all of the instances that the universe gave you a nudge in the last week. Don't groan, it's just one week. If you do not recall any nudges try getting in a quiet place, closing your eyes, and really meditating on last week. When something seemingly unexpected popped into the forefront and said "Here I am!" Then write it down. Once you get started momentum will take over. Thinking about these moments and writing them down serves three primary purposes. First it gets you in the habit of learning to recognize these nudges for what they are. Then you can begin to take full advantage of them when they initially occur. Second, it allows you the opportunity to dwell on just how wonderfully the universe is working for you, allowing you the chance to show gratitude. Lastly, reflection allows you to remember the vibrations that were being sent out at the time that the universe responded to you. If what showed up was not what you wanted, this is the prime opportunity to start tweaking the messages that you are transmitting. It's a powerful exercise. Those of you who journal and/or keep gratitude journals will have a heads-up, but it will be just as intense an exercise for you as well.

With a practice and persistence you and the universe will be on the same wavelength. You will be alleviating stress by letting go of problems and you will find that more and more time is being spent on enjoyable tasks. Even things that would have formerly been considered major obstacles will be solved so effortlessly, that you will enjoy the process of putting the solutions in place. No longer will anyone be asking you "can you hear them now?" Your life will be proof-positive that you have eliminated the static, and are receiving messages with such incredible clarity that Verizon will have nothing on you!

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to eva@coacheva.com.

"© Photographer: Daniel Vineyard | Agency: Dreamstime.com"

Friday, August 11, 2006

Jeanna and I are ready to have a DAILY BLAST TO BLISS AND ABUNDANCE -- and we're inviting you to join us!

If you were on our 30-Day Experiment, you're going to really love this. And if you weren't it's not too late to join the next one that launches Tuesday, August 29th! Check it out!

In our DAILY BLAST we're amping everything up to a whole new level. This is truly a Feel Good class with Feel Good results.

Each week, we're going to hold two 30-minute lazer-focused sessions to raise your emotional set point to a NEW level -- a level that goes higher and higher and doesn't take a dip.

Twice each week you're going to get an Energy Charge that will put your 'rear in gear' and give you lightning fast results to abundance.

IT'S A PROVEN FACT

When you change your focus, you change your life!

This means if you want to enjoy bliss and abundance in your life, you need to change your focus. And that's what the Daily Blast is all about.

We're going to show you how to ...

• Focus on what's happening in your head and then align it with what you want in your heart.
• Shift your emotional alignment so you can reach your goals easier and faster.
• Get your belief level up to make things happen.
• Experience less obstacles and more peace.
• Ride the rapids to bliss and abundance!

Too many times, people go after a desire before they truly believe it's possible ... before they are emotionally aligned ... and then they wonder why they bombed out.

In these twice-weekly sessions, you're going to learn how to reach those desires! We're going to take you to new and exciting belief levels. You're going to have a Green Light all the way to abundance.

Classes begin Tuesday, Sept. 5th and will be held every Tuesday and Thursday for 11 consecutive weeks.

Cost is only $97 a month for two sessions a week with Jeanna and Eva.

We hope you'll join us as we REALLY amp up the energy of Bliss and Abundance!

FIND OUT MORE HERE

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Reprogramming Thoughts For Instant Success

Take a guess at the following question. How much time do you spend thinking about positive things versus negative things? Also consider the amount of time spent discussing days that are less than perfect, spouses who are less than perfect, and co-workers who are never perfect. Does it seem like 50-50, 20-80, or 80-20? Did it make you go hmm? The average person spends a substantial amount of time discussing and pondering the negatives that have occurred over the positives. Can you see the danger that results from participating in this pastime? Doubt, fears, negative beliefs, and undermining are a few to start with. If you’ve been a victim of negative focus don’t be alarmed, there is hope through reprogramming.

Manuel and Brooke had known each other for years. They met just after college when they shared a minuscule cubicle at their first job, and thus it began. It seemed that they spent a great deal of their time together complaining about the size (or lack there of) of their office, bad hair days, bad relationships, crazy commutes, and atrocious vacations. In fact, it almost became a game to them to try and best each other with the most pitiful saga. When Brooke was about to celebrate her thirtieth birthday she called Manuel and made a date for dinner and DVD’s, as was their customary birthday ritual. Over an excellent meal cooked by Manuel, a wonderful wine, and a seemingly endless supply of DVD’s, the two discussed the next decade of their lives. A little tipsy, Brooke asked Manuel why it was that they were still single while just about all of their friends had found mates. Manuel shrugged. During the next movie she pondered the fact that each of them had never found a job that they truly enjoyed, nor had they ever stuck with a company for more than a year or two. Manuel simply replied that they’d been hard pressed to find any jobs, not to mention their “dream jobs.” But, Brooke had gotten Manuel thinking too. He asked her why it was that they were always stressed and seemed fatigued and unhappy, despite decent paychecks, quite a few really good friends, and numerous dates. Brooke simply shrugged.

Despite the numerous glasses of wine, when Brooke woke up she felt invigorated. She had dreamed her life and things were much different than the one she was living. She was upbeat, successful, married, and was even a mother in her dream. More surprising was that Manuel was also in her dream, as her husband and was the father of her children! When she called him to meet her after work she told him about her dream. He laughed and was about to shrug it off, but she was not to be put off. She had had a glimpse of a vastly different life, one that she was anxious to embrace and claim as her own. She sat down with Manuel and told him that she wanted to de-stress and shed some of the negativity that was weighing her down, and asked him to help her. As her best friend, she asked him to do the same for a one month period and they would re-evaluate at that time. When one of them slipped and fell back into old habits they were to place five dollars into a kitty, which would go towards their annual vacation. After a few weeks Manuel and Brooke got into the habit of meeting more regularly and doing many more new things. They met less for dinner and drinks and started being active during their meetings. They found that activity kept them from resorting to the old habit of focusing on the negative. They also found that they really had a good time together and spent a great deal of it laughing. The stress that plagued them both seemed to start abating and things began to gel for them. At the end of the first month they decided to continue on for six months. They both loved the changes that they were seeing, and were not surprised that their friends and families were also noticing the differences in each of them. They began living the life that Brooke had envisioned in her dream, and neither was ready to give it up. They had even made a bit of headway towards their next vacation, but the frequency of monetary inputs was beginning to seriously decline.

Brooke and Manuel are just one example of people caught in a rut, the rut of expending energy on the wrong thing. Energy drains, time wasters, and poor planning are all time wasters, but none of them hold a candle to negativity. Negativity can seep into every aspect of life and take it over. Brooke and Manuel finally recognized this, but it took them over a decade to figure it out. Don’t let this happen, and if it has don’t let it go on for another minute. Revamp the thinking process. Focus on the positive, change your scenery, change your friends, and be prepared to make whatever changes are necessary to move you a full one-hundred and eighty degrees.

By eliminating negative thoughts, focus, and living from your life it allows you to reclaim and remold your present. Imagine more stress-free time to spend with your family, the self-confidence to get out and meet new people, or the money that could come from a new promotion. One’s attitude is one’s calling card. It’s so much easier to achieve success when one is approachable. So if you deem it necessary, why not make a clean sweep of your life and revamp your outlook even if on a trial basis. Give positive actions, positive thoughts, and positive companions, your undivided attention for just a one month period and I bet that you will be able to tally more positive occurrences than negative ones. Please keep a list. As great things happen, mark them down, and review your list frequently. My guess is that you’ll soon become addicted to the success that begins flooding your way. By all means—open those positive floodgates.

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to eva@coacheva.com.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

We Just Need To Have FUN!



Do you have fun everyday? The kind of fun that Cyndi Lauper knew that girls wanted to have, although she chose to ignore the poor guys! The fun that makes you run out on a sunny day and play in the park, with or without children? Or that makes you crank up the stereo and go dancing through the house bellowing at the top of your lungs, despite the fact that dogs are howling outside? If you don’t do this on occasion you’re really missing out! In fact, you could be self-sabotaging your everyday goals by not incorporating fun into your daily existence. Yes, you read correctly, I did say daily!

I’m sure that you’ve heard the old adage about it taking three times the number of facial muscles to frown than to laugh, right? If you haven’t, it does take 43 muscles to frown and 17 muscles to laugh, but here are a few other facts about fun and laughter.

• Fun resulting in laughter activates the immune system
• Laughter boosts the number and activity level of killer cells. Those that attack viral infections and some cancer and tumor cells
• Laughter decreases stress hormones
• Laughter decreases epinephrine levels and decrease dopamine levels which are associated with high blood pressure
• Laughter relaxes muscles

The most startling tidbit is that we’re born with a sense of fun. Did you know that the average preschooler laughs or smiles about 400 times per day? By the time he or she grows up, the number decreases to a mere 15 times per day! That’s awful! Amazing how we allow ourselves to take something that comes naturally and suppress it due to daily environment, outside influences, or preconceptions. Just because preschoolers grow up into adults does not mean the fun has to disappear on the journey. Fun can and should, mature as well.

John and Raquel are parents of two very active preschoolers. They both work, him from home and her as an accountant outside of the home. They love their children, but one night when they got together with a neighboring family, they realized how serious their lives had become. They did their work, did the grocery shopping, took the kids to daycare, picked them up, did things together as a family, ate together, and had a nighttime ritual, but they did not really have F-U-N together. When John and Raquel witnessed how much laughter was present and how much less discord there was, they were intrigued. So they decided to get back to some of the fun things they used to do as a couple, to incorporate the family into what they could, and to find some things that the kids like. To start they began bike riding with the children, began making weekly outings to fun, but educational spots, started going dancing again, and began walking the neighborhood in the evenings for the exercise and the family time. The results were pretty dramatic, right from the start. They laughed and smiled more, bickered less, the children talked more (perhaps not a plus when you have two preschoolers), John and Raquel reconnected as a couple, and they reconnected as a family of four. The biggest surprise they found was mood elevation, and the positive affect their moods had on their careers. They vowed to keep fun in their lives and to keep it growing with the children.

John and Raquel learned firsthand how much of a positive affect fun had on both their family and work environments. Whether you have a family or not, the next time someone interrupts your workflow with a joke, or you’re in a supreme funk, just allow some humor and fun into your day. Despite the fact that you may feel like you’re goofing off, in reality you’re merely taking steps towards success from the inside out. You’ll be nurturing your body, mind, and spirit with a natural high that does so much to promote great health and good feelings. And the best part…It’s even FREE!

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to eva@coacheva.com.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Tune Out and Tune In

Why is it that a person is willing to listen to the author of a self-help book, yet discounts their own thoughts, feelings, and intuition? What makes one person’s insight more correct than another’s? Perhaps the answer lies in one’s belief that they really can find the solution to a question. If so, then how does one achieve this level of confidence? How about, through practice? Exercise, if you’d prefer to look at it that way. Trusting in intuition is learned. It is developed through repeated instances of success.

What does your heart tell you when it speaks to you? What about your “gut?” Do you actually listen to it? Thoughts, feelings, health clues, etc. are ignored daily; often to the detriment of the person being oblivious, or simply unsure of which course to take. It’s time to tune out the extraneous interference and concentrate on the inner melody.

So how does one let their intuition guide them to success? First and foremost, by “tuning in.” With so much going on each day, the typical person barely has time to breathe, let alone sit down to unwind and think. That needs to change. It’s impossible to get in touch with your feelings if you’re clueless about what they are. Tuning in can be done a number of ways: through guiding meditation or relaxation techniques, yoga, a long bubble bath, or a turn in the steam room. Whatever you choose, or wherever you are so long as it helps you relax can get you tuned into what you are feeling.

Second, it helps immensely to record your thoughts and feelings in a journal. Especially when you are working on something big that requires multiple sessions. In addition, a journal allows you to keep track of the things you want to accomplish and lets you glimpse your thoughts in that exact moment, so that you can see how everything unfolds. A journal is your way of recording life scene by scene. It helps to write things out when you need to see how they fit together, and make sure that what you thought at 3:00 am was really as good as what you thought at 9:00 am. The plus side is that you are sure to remember what you were thinking.

Lastly, your plan to trust your intuition needs to be put into play. A well thought out plan is simply a well thought out plan unless it is put into motion. If you have a history of not trusting your instincts, why not start small. Try selecting what you “feel” is a good restaurant, a good book, etc. in order to build your confidence level. Follow it up with increasingly bigger events. Each success will bring you closer to comfortably following your instincts, and soon it will become second nature.

Remember, listening to yourself with your full attention is the precursor to positive, successful attraction. You cannot attract what you want if you are not in command of the kinds of vibes you are shooting out into the universe. So enjoy this process of becoming in tune with your actions, thoughts, and feelings. The results will be well worth the effort when you let our intuition be your guide.

Eva Gregory, master coach, speaker and author of The Feel Good Guide To Prosperity has instructed thousands on the Laws of Attraction in person, on the radio and in dozens of teleconference training seminars and programs. She is the author of several books and e-books and has co-developed several telephone-based and internet-based training courses on the Laws of Attraction. Her most popular program to date is her Leading Edge Living One Year Success Program. Eva is regularly featured on radio and in the media and is a recognized authority on the Laws of Attraction. To learn more about her products and services, visit Leading Edge Coaching.

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