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It’s the middle of the summer, it’s blazing hot outside, the kids are out of school and the long, hot days of summer tend to lull us into vacation mode.

Now, if you’re on vacation, by all means chill out, relax and enjoy your down time. But if you are still working towards completing your goals for this quarter or this year, then don’t get sucked down and lose your focus. Snap out of it! (Do I have your attention now?)

A great way to snap out of an unmotivated rut is to start a challenge. Take one of your goals and turn it into a challenge to make it fun to complete it. Recruit some partners or supporters to either join you in taking up the challenge, or to cheer you on and encourage you and hold you accountable to your goals.

Post your goal up on a bulletin board in your workspace where you can see it, and depending on how you are counting progress, make a chart where you can tick off  ‘to-do’ items and see your progress.

One of my goals for this year is to improve this blog’s performance. In my business I have been doing quite a few blog setups lately, so  lot of my energy has been going towards setting up new blogs for my clients.

I decided it was time to kick this goal into high gear, so I’ve joined the “Secret to Success is Support” womens blogging community as they are taking on Darren Rowse’s ’31 Days to Build a Better Blog’ challenge. Of course I’ll be blogging about my progress here, but if you’d like to join me and the rest of these power blogging women, feel free to do so.

My challenge to you is to create a challenge for yourself.  Make it a realistic goal so that you are more likely to accomplish it, but not so easy that it doesn’t get your juices flowing. Where attention goes energy flows, so give your project your consistent attention each day and you will get there.

Keep on coming back here for motivation and encouragement, and feel free to contact me if you’re feeling stuck and need some inspiration or advice.

One of my favorite personal development authors, Anthony Robbins, says that you should never leave the scene of having set a goal without taking an initial step in making it become a reality. Yes writing the goal down is a first step, but what can you do to kick your goal-achievement into high gear despite the ‘lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer?’

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When you have set a goal or stated an intention for something that you plan to manifest or accomplish, there is always a bit of lag time in between the moment that you make your intention or desire known to the Universe, and the moment that your intention is manifested in your experience in the form of matter or a particular circumstance in your life.

You may have heard the old adage, “God helps those who help themselves,” and this is true. You can state your desires but then you must show up and take the necessary action required to manifest it. Now, this is not to say that this must be ‘nose-to-the-grindstone, break out in a sweat kind of action. But you must take whatever step is necessary to manifest your desires–inspired action.

Simply writing down your goals and intentions begins the process of moving something from thought to existence. Taking that inspired action and not giving up is what transforms your visions into reality.

Sometimes when we are already vibrating at a high level and we are in perfect alignment with what we desire it can come very quickly and from quite unexpected sources. However, there will be those occasions when we experience resistance and we are not vibrating at the level of our desires making the lag time a bit longer.

The questions I am posing here are, “How do you hang in there and remain committed to your goals when it’s just not fun anymore? How do you get through the meantime and see your project or your vision through to its completion?”

Well, to begin with, you’ll have to learn to embrace the concept of delayed gratification. The idea that you do what you must do in order to be able to do what you want to do. It’s also the idea that the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. Staying with it and putting in the work not only builds character, but allows you to appreciate what you receive that much more.

One of my favorite spiritual business success coaches, Khama Anku, says, “You don’t have to love every minute of it,” and this is so true. You must be willing to put in the work required that will transform you from who you are today and what you have right now into the person you will become that will be ready to receive what it is that you desire.

You’ve got to keep your eyes on the prize and stay positive. As you create your daily ‘to-do’ lists and mark off your accomplishments no matter how small, understand that this is sacred work that you are doing. You are growing your spirit, and raising your vibration and by doing so expanding the Universe of what is possible.

Nelson Mandela went into prison a hot-blooded, angry, militant young man. The 27 years he spent in prison, many of those years on Robben Island, refined him and prepared and transformed him into the statesman, diplomat and peacemaker that emerged and changed his country and the world.

Exercise discipline and commitment as you work towards your goals. Work your faith. The Book of Romans 4:17 reminds us that we should, “Call those things that be not as though they were.” Speak positively about your life and your circumstances. Believe that you have everything that you need within you already to accomplish everything that you desire. You would not have received the inspiration if you were not also given the means with which to bring it to fruition.

The Universe, in her infinite wisdom, does not give us a magic wand that we can wave to get what we want instantly. Sometimes it’s the process– the in-between time–that refines us and prepares us to walk in the life that we dream of. The only way to get there is to never, never, never give up.

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If you have ever had any interest in personal development than you already understand that you are an infinite being with infinite potential and that you create your own reality every day. But there is one thing that directs all of your co-creation and manifestation. This one thing is the seat of your power to achieve and that one thing is your attention.

Your attention is you directing your mind to focus on a particular thing. Your attention is a powerful force because where attention goes energy flows. Part of your evolution as a spiritual being having a human experience is to choose carefully where you focus your attention because whatever you focus your attention on expands.

Attention is a form of currency. When you ‘pay’ attention to something you take it in and it begins to shape your thinking. Advertisers pay dearly to grab just the smallest amount of your attention to try to persuade you to purchase their products. What you have been paying attention to lately will be evident in what has been showing up in your experience.

So, in order to move from where you are to where you would like to be in life, you must be diligent about where you place your attention. Learn to pay attention to what you want and ignore what you don’t want. What do you want more of? Focus your attention on that and feel good about it. As an infinite being it is within your power to do and be and have whatever you desire. But, so many of us get caught in the trap of giving all of our attention to the status quo rather than focusing on making our dreams and intentions a reality.

Here’s how to use your attention to your advantage:

•Your attention directs your powerful, creative energy and life force so use it to your best advantage. Take out that list of goals and dust it off.

•Pick just one thing that if you devoted your attention to it and accomplished it, your life would be closer to what you want it to be.

•Choose an end-date when that goal will be accomplished.

•Open your calendar and schedule in the tasks along with how much time it will take to complete each task on your calendar. If your calendar syncs with your cell phone, program in audible, daily reminders to give your attention to your goal.

•Celebrate when you achieve milestones whether they are major or minor as long as they are moving you forward.

Focus, discipline and diligence are the best weapons against overwhelm and analysis paralysis. Imperfect action is far better than perfect inaction, and failing early on teaches you valuable lessons that you can incorporate as you pick yourself up and keep moving forward. A helpful mnemonic is: FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Successful.

Your consistent, unrelenting attention and action will ensure that you successfully achieve any goal you set for yourself.

The benefits of developing the discipline to focus your attention will begin to show up in all areas of your life. Whether you want to get a better job, start your own business, go back to school and finish your degree or finish a big project around the house, your attention and your action is what will transform your vision and idea into its physical manifestation. So, pay attention!

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I can quite easily be described as a personal development ‘junkie.’ I discovered self-help books when I was in my late teens. Already a complete perfectionist, I think that my initial motivation for reading all of those books, listening to countless hours of tapes, and watching videos of motivational speakers talk about how great your life can be, was to learn how to be the best person I could be.

But at the heart of it–my basic belief was that I flawed and I was looking to these programs and to religiousness, to somehow ‘fix’ me where I was broken and show me how to be a powerhouse of success and achievement. Somehow, despite having read all of those hundreds of books and following teacher after teacher, my life was not improving, I was still working at a dead-end job that I hated and my relationships were a classic, dysfunctional mess.

Then I met Angela Bear on Facebook. I had been meeting several spiritual teachers and life coaches on Facebook and other places on the Internet. They all had a similar message related to the Law of Attraction and focusing on being positive–wonderful messages, but I was looking for something deeper.

I joined one of Angela’s free calls where she was introducing a private, three session class where a small group could work with her personally to get support for our business or personal issues and questions. What I learned by working with Angela during that class and in the private session I had with her transformed my life in a deeper, more profound way than any other book or course I had participated in.

Angela is an intuitive who reads energy, so she can cut through all of the crap, and tell you exactly what is going on. She does not want to hear your ‘story,’ she simply reads your energy and gives you some powerful questions to work with that help to get to the heart of whatever you perceive to be holding you back. By giving you the tools to eliminate those limiting beliefs that create the proverbial ‘glass ceiling’ on your growth, it gives you a new perspective on the contextual reality that we happen to find ourselves in at this time.

Angela helps you to remember that you are an infinite being with absolutely infinite potential to realize your dreams and goals.

The Ultimate Dream Project is a membership program that Angela has created to provide a place where she can meet and interact with her clients and members can interact with each other to learn and grow and express their infinite potential. As you know, life is not all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes when you are on a path of growth you will meet periods of resistance when you feel blocked and you wonder why you even waste your time trying to grow yourself. When I get into those funky places of resistance, Angela always has a way of snapping me out of it by asking me, “What creation of this energy am I using to validate other people’s realities?”

I cherish working with Angela because she reminds me that there is nothing about me that needs to be ‘fixed.’ I am confident now that I am an infinite being with infinite potential. Now that I have let go of closely examining the wrongness of me, I can put more energy on expanding the Universe, and modeling what she is teaching me and what I am learning for my children.

My business is now thriving, my relationships have been transformed and I feel so much more personal freedom now that I have stopped trying to ‘fix’ myself. I now have the confidence to pursue my dreams and desires because I know that everything I want is on the other side of my fears and limiting beliefs.

So, if you are ready to step away from the need for another ‘hit’ from motivational, self-help gurus who pump you up and get you excited about going for your dreams, but subconsciously, your limiting beliefs are holding up a ‘Stop’ sign on your progress, visit Angela Bear’s website, http://www.ultimatedreamproject.com, and sign up for her email list. You’ll receive a ‘taster packet,’ or what I call little mini-appetizers that will give you a feel for what it’s like to work with Angela.

You are an infinite being and when you are ready embrace the fabulousness of who you are, Angela is eager to support you in your discovery process.

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“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

I have been giving a lot of thought about exactly what it takes to forge ahead despite the adversities that appear in the path to block us from our intended goals. I’ve also been thinking a lot about my comfort zone and about how it is more accurately called a rut. But guess what? The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions.

It occurred to me that the only way to keep moving forward–to keep taking the massive action that leads to massive results–it would become necessary to completely destroy my comfort zone. It would require me to have nothing to fall back on so that I can move ahead fearlessly. It does not, however, mean making brash, foolish mistakes or plunging headlong into disaster for the sake of taking action.

What it does mean is letting go of that infantile urge to procrastinate. The time for pondering, planning, researching, and making priority lists has come to an abrupt end.

“Do,” as our wise friend Yoda said, “. . . or do not. There is no try.” I have a particular fondness for an expression that my mom used once or twice during heated exchanges with my Dad, which is “Sh*t or get off the pot.” Enough said.

So, how do you destroy your comfort zone in 2 easy steps?

Step 1. Do it

Step 2. Keep moving

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” -Anais Nin

I invite you to join me by choosing to embrace the greatness of who you are as you destroy your comfort zone every chance you get.

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As a spiritually-minded home business woman I am aware that we create our own reality and that everything that we see in the material world had its genesis first in the mind as a thought. I understand that intellectually, but lately I have been going back and forth with a client of mine who is a spiritual teacher about getting things done. She is an intuitive who reads energy with startling accuracy. Her approach to life and business is that she only wants to do those things that are all ease, joy and glory for her.

Conversely, I come from a long line of nose-to-the-grindstone, hard working, high-achieving women. I have so many ideas, I’ve got a ton of energy and enthusiasm and I enjoy my work. Because I work at home, lately the lines between work and home life have become blurred and I admit to have been overdoing it a bit in the work department.

So she and I have been going back and forth essentially about doing verses being. She revels in being the space and channeling source energy and all of that ‘woo woo’ stuff, while I figure if I sit around all day in the lotus position being the space they will come and take my car and my furniture away!

But there is a happy medium, and it’s called taking inspired action. Inspired action flows from an open, receptive mind that is centered and grounded and tuned in to Source energy. Inspired action flows from a mind that is open to all of the infinite possibilities.

When you are taking inspired action you feel good–almost orgasmic and you get into ‘the zone’ or you feel like you’re in ‘the flow’ of life and your true greatness is really able to shine through.

Inspired action is not plowing ahead, to-do list in hand, with a furrowed brow and sleeves rolled up. It’s not doing what you think you should do, have to do, or need to do. Many of those things are simply things that we have been trained into believing that we should do in order to get results. Well, don’t ‘should’ on yourself any longer.

Working hard, plowing ahead and burning the midnight oil puts you in a place of stress and gives you a knot in the pit of your tummy. Success does not come at the price of ulcers and exhaustion.

Now I am learning to lighten up. I have discovered that taking time out to meditate in the middle of the day actually gives me more energy and brings clarity to my day. Being open and remaining in question about all of the infinite possibilities available to me on a given day helps to keep my perspective as broad as possible.

When I see what’s ahead with my ego-centered, finite eyes, my instinct is to attack the obstacles that stand between where I am and where I want to be with an axe. But when I take a moment and open myself up to the infinite possibilities, the Universe, which sees all, can guide me and inspire me to maybe make one phone call or respond to one email that will crumble those obstacles with minimal effort.

I am a control-freak perfectionist, so the thought of not marching forth to “git ‘er done,” each day makes me break out in hives, but I am learning now to slow it down, breathe and be open to the infinite possibilities. You should try it. Inspired action feels absolutely yummy, and you’ll accomplish far more almost effortlessly.

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Today we have a guest blog appearance by Mrs. Robin Tramble, ‘The Empowerment Diva.’ I am on Robin’s email list and she is just a fountain of good news, positive energy, wisdom and inspiration. I thought I’d re-publish this article so that you can get a taste of her style. Please enjoy.

Developing the Social Skills for Self Empowerment

I’m sure you have been influenced by an individual that was so naturally friendly that when put in a room of strangers, they’ll be friends with almost everyone in no time.

This person is referred to as a people-person, someone unbelievably nice and charismatic that he can charm anyone into doing anything.

A socially-empowered person achieves so much greatness, basically because of the people that catapult him to success. He earns the trust and all-out support of the people, whom he had helped before. He never runs out of help. He can do anything with the plethora of people behind him. All because he knows he maximizes his social potential!

Knowing your social skills and making use of them will allow you to reach self-empowerment.
Self-empowerment is making a general overhaul in your life and turning yourself into a happier and more successful person. The key is knowing where to start. Below you will find a few keys.

1. Be genuine.

Hypocrisy will just bring you all the way down. Be genuinely nice and interested to people. Once they perceive that you are Mr. Hypocrite with selfish intentions, you might as well say goodbye to self-empowerment.

2. Actively listen

To earn the love and trust of the people, listen to their problems and empathize with them. Do not just hear them out, listen to them with your heart. Make eye contact when the person talks to you. Listen as if every word matters, and it does. Brownie points when they find out that there is a confidante in you.

3. Have a sense of humor

Be authentic. Don’t force yourself to laugh for every joke cracked by someone, albeit you do not find it funny at all.This means finding humor in things and not being too serious. A person oozing with an awesome sense of humor attracts crowds and eventually, attracts success.

4. Don’t forget the importance of self care

In the process of fluttering around like a social butterfly, you might forget yourself, allowing everyone to push you over. Remember, love and value yourself before anyone else. If you deem yourself respectable and worthy of affection, people will flock to you and not trample on you.

5. Do random acts of kindness.

You don’t have to do a John Rockefeller and blow your savings to charity. Little acts of kindness matters the most, and this can be as simple as giving someone a surprise you-take-care card or helping an elderly cross the street. When we were kindergarten students, kindness was taught to us and greatly practiced. Now is the time to revive the good deeds and this time, let them stay for good.

6. Restore healthy old relationships

Sad how some friendships are destined to goodbye, but thanks to technology, you can do something about it. Relive the good old days by flipping your yearbook and look for the great people whom you want to communicate with again. Adding these old friends to your roster of support peers will surely make you feel good all over.

7. Develop your personality.

Are you grouchy, grumpy and generally morose? Whoa, you can’t go through life with those. Get rid of the bad traits and habits that perpetually hamper your growth. And really, who wants a grouchy friend anyway?

8. Be confident.

Be able to stride to the other corner of the room and introduce yourself to people with that winning smile of yours. Just remember: be confident, not arrogant.

9. Manage your temperament

When angry, don’t snap at anyone. Never throw a tantrum. Stay calm and collected. Be adult enough to take control of situation and transform your anger into something more productive and passive. As soon as people think your anger goes to volcanic proportions easily, they will find it hard to come to you.

10. Continue to nurture and cherish your relationships.

Your relationship with your family, friends and significant others is too precious that you must not neglect it whatever happens. Go out and have fun with them. Do things together. Happiness will never fly from your side as long as the people who matter the most are close to you.

In the end, using people for self-empowerment means becoming a better and more lovable person. It’s a win-win situation: the people know they can turn to you anytime and vice versa.

God in you = Empowerment!

Robin Tramble

Request your fre.e access to my ezine for savvy entrepreneurial women “Highlights of Empowerment and Total Wellness.”
http://budurl.com/qqwt. Robin Tramble a Life/Marriage Empowerment Mentor/Trainer/Coach is passionate about empowering women to live their best empowered life “Spirit, Soul and Body.”

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