Have you ever heard the expression, "When one door closes, another one opens?" Or maybe you've heard this one, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade?" Either one you choose, something good always comes from something bad.
I am a firm believer in this saying; although I did not come to be a believer easily. When you're stuck in the middle of something hard, you're feeling depressed and sad with apparently no light at the end of the tunnel. Well let me tell you something about this feeling; it will pass and there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes you have to work hard, even very hard to get to the light.
Oops, did I say that dirty little four-letter word?
Yes, I said, "Work."
Time to get to it. Or, should I say, time to look at things a little differently, from a different perspective. Many times we, or I, have a hard time seeing the other perspective. I often times used to see only my point of view, until one day, there was no more to see. I felt like I had lost my way. I was conducting business and talking with people, but wasn't really moving forward. I felt surrounded by things out of my control. As one who likes to be in control, this was hard to deal with.
Help! What do I do?!
After much self-loathing and pondering the why and how could I be feeling this way, a cloud was lifted. I started to feel like myself again. I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With this one ounce of light, hope, positive perspective, I was ready to go to work.
That was it - perspective. Looking at things from a different point of view, from the other person's vantage. Maybe their perspectives were subconscious; they didn't know what their point of view actually was.
A week has gone by since I first had my perspective changed. In the past, I would feel defeated by what I heard. Instead, I felt growth and armed with new knowledge that I am not stuck with my self-loathing and depression. I could now use this knowledge to grow more and more every day in my pursuit of happiness. And today, I used this 'weapon' of perspective to gain the upper hand again. At least the upper hand in my perspective, which is all I need to move forward to the light of success and happiness.
Not only has another door opened for me in this rather dark time, but a couple of windows are opening too. I encourage you to find your next door and crack open a window too.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Life Multiplies Itself
It has been many days since I last wrote. It has been an interesting and trying few weeks. I have shied away from writing, fearing what I really wanted to convey would not come through in my words. However, as is life, there comes a time when one knows that it is time to press on; time to get out of our comfort zone. In order to proceed to the next level, get uncomfortable. Once the journey into the unknown begins, the creative juices start flowing and a new comfort zone is discovered. We grow to the next level of our being.
Each of us has the sixth sense to know exactly what we need to do. Choosing to listen to our own senses is uncommon. When I feel the sense to move to a greater project or a new venture, there is sometimes a hesitation to move. It is this hesitation that prevents me from achieving great success faster. I used to feel bad about this. Now I realize the hesitation is allowing me the time to tap into my sixth sense - the sense to know that what I am doing is the right move.
What happens when I am stuck?
I can't meditate. I can't seem to get out of my rut. There is enormous stress from every angle, every aspect of life. I keep pushing through the pain and the suffering. All the while knowing exactly where I want to ultimately end up, yet not making the moves and taking the risks to get going on getting there.
The time is now. If not now, when? I am tired of being sick and tired. I am tired of business as usual.
There are more than enough resources available to get me to my goal. The motives just need to be big enough to get us on the path to achieving our successes. Wallace Wattles states that there are three motives for which we live; we live for the body, we live for the mind, we live for the soul.
The motives are simple, not easy; unless you do things in a certain way. I am hereby professing to do just that.
"The universe is a great Living Presence, always moving inherently toward more life and fuller functioning."
Believing in the great Living Presence gives me great courage to continue on my path. There are, of course, a few kinks to be ironed out. By changing my thinking about these so-called obstacles, I know that regardless of what appears to be, I can change the appearance and the outcome by changing my thinking. To think what I want to think is to think the truth.
My reality is health and abundance. There may be times when I 'appear' unwell or poor, but a change in my thinking releases my doubts and fears about remaining as such. I therefore recreate what I want to be - healthy, wealthy and abundant.
Life multiplies itself. By always becoming more, I continue to create more for others. If I want health for myself, I inherently create more health for others around me. It is my purpose to harmonize with the purpose in All. I desire to perform every function - physically, mentally, and spiritually - to the capacity of which I am able without any excess. I do not wish to take away from others but to inspire and help others grow.
I believe so strongly in achieving my goals that I must overcome the laziness that prevents me from stepping out of my comfort zone and into unknown territory. I proclaim to not take to the easy way but make the tools go to work for me. Instead of recreating the wheel, I am going to let the wheel propel me forward toward success. I have an unwavering faith that my goals are already achieved. I just have to let life multiply enough times to take me there physically.
I am attending the 'University of Freedom' studying to get a degree in Wealth, Health and Happiness.
To be continued.
Each of us has the sixth sense to know exactly what we need to do. Choosing to listen to our own senses is uncommon. When I feel the sense to move to a greater project or a new venture, there is sometimes a hesitation to move. It is this hesitation that prevents me from achieving great success faster. I used to feel bad about this. Now I realize the hesitation is allowing me the time to tap into my sixth sense - the sense to know that what I am doing is the right move.
What happens when I am stuck?
I can't meditate. I can't seem to get out of my rut. There is enormous stress from every angle, every aspect of life. I keep pushing through the pain and the suffering. All the while knowing exactly where I want to ultimately end up, yet not making the moves and taking the risks to get going on getting there.
The time is now. If not now, when? I am tired of being sick and tired. I am tired of business as usual.
There are more than enough resources available to get me to my goal. The motives just need to be big enough to get us on the path to achieving our successes. Wallace Wattles states that there are three motives for which we live; we live for the body, we live for the mind, we live for the soul.
The motives are simple, not easy; unless you do things in a certain way. I am hereby professing to do just that.
"The universe is a great Living Presence, always moving inherently toward more life and fuller functioning."
Believing in the great Living Presence gives me great courage to continue on my path. There are, of course, a few kinks to be ironed out. By changing my thinking about these so-called obstacles, I know that regardless of what appears to be, I can change the appearance and the outcome by changing my thinking. To think what I want to think is to think the truth.
My reality is health and abundance. There may be times when I 'appear' unwell or poor, but a change in my thinking releases my doubts and fears about remaining as such. I therefore recreate what I want to be - healthy, wealthy and abundant.
Life multiplies itself. By always becoming more, I continue to create more for others. If I want health for myself, I inherently create more health for others around me. It is my purpose to harmonize with the purpose in All. I desire to perform every function - physically, mentally, and spiritually - to the capacity of which I am able without any excess. I do not wish to take away from others but to inspire and help others grow.
I believe so strongly in achieving my goals that I must overcome the laziness that prevents me from stepping out of my comfort zone and into unknown territory. I proclaim to not take to the easy way but make the tools go to work for me. Instead of recreating the wheel, I am going to let the wheel propel me forward toward success. I have an unwavering faith that my goals are already achieved. I just have to let life multiply enough times to take me there physically.
I am attending the 'University of Freedom' studying to get a degree in Wealth, Health and Happiness.
To be continued.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
16 Weeks to Success
Six weeks ago, I began a journey to success.
Many successful entrepreneurs do not become 'overnight' successes over night. It is the journey that really creates the success. After many frustrating nights of 'not making it', I decided to take a new approach in my journey.
I ran my first marathon at age 30 and have run 2 to 3 marathons since then; that's 7 marathons in 3 years. An amazing feat some would say. It's actually pretty amazing to me, too. I mean that's at least 24 weeks of training, and last year, it was 33 weeks of training. Ugh! My body was beaten, broken and tired by the last marathon. But the point is, I did it. After completing those three marathons last year, I decided that I would complete a business marathon.
I started this 'business marathon' at the beginning of 2011. I guess it's a kind of New Year's resolution. This resolution is my training, and I am going to complete it, just like I would complete the training for any one of my marathons. Okay, so how do I begin? Good question!
Because I am not at the point I want to be at in business, I decided to take something that I know and translate it into business. I know how to train for marathons. So I thought, why don't I take what I already know about marathon training and track my progress like I would my marathons.
First step, write out a 16-week 'training' schedule. Writing down my goals is key to acquiring the success I want to achieve. And to keep me on track, I coined the training as "16 Weeks to Success: In Health, Fitness and Business." I wrote down my top 3 goals in each of these categories - health, fitness, business - and then broke it down by what I needed to do in each of the 16 weeks.
Second step, I knew I had to track my results. So, I decided to track my goals and actual results in a journal and share my successes and failures with my coaches and business partners.
Thirdly, I have realized that this is not much different than my marathon training. Every Sunday I sit down with my journal and write the goals for each week that I had set at the beginning of the year. In successive weeks, I sit down and write down the results from the previous week and my goals for the upcoming week. This is such an important task - I started thinking of this Sunday night task as a CEO meeting to get me started for the upcoming week.
Just like in marathon training, there are peaks and valleys in this business marathon training. For instance, at the end of week five, I did not sit down and write down my results for week five and my goals for week six. Instead of going into week six with a firm grasp of what I needed to do, I was heading into the week without any goals written down. I had to hunker down and try to hit my goals (whatever they might be) for the week. This created confusion; yet the desire to succeed was greater than ever.
The results at the end of week six were outstanding. Without going into details, I will say that I powered through the week and completed my journal entries on Sunday. On the fitness side, I completed a 10-mile run on Saturday. More than half-way through the run, I wanted to quit. I started telling my coach how much pain I was in and that I was not enjoying myself. Then, I started thinking about my success journey - 16 Weeks to Success. And I remembered that this is typical in marathon training. In the middle of the training schedule, I almost always feel the need - aka want - to give up, and it usually hits in the weeks four to six. I knew that once I could make it through these tough weeks, I would make it to the end of the 16 weeks.
So, here I go. I made it through week six. And I am excited about my upcoming success. I am even more excited about the journey and sharing it with others.
Many successful entrepreneurs do not become 'overnight' successes over night. It is the journey that really creates the success. After many frustrating nights of 'not making it', I decided to take a new approach in my journey.
I ran my first marathon at age 30 and have run 2 to 3 marathons since then; that's 7 marathons in 3 years. An amazing feat some would say. It's actually pretty amazing to me, too. I mean that's at least 24 weeks of training, and last year, it was 33 weeks of training. Ugh! My body was beaten, broken and tired by the last marathon. But the point is, I did it. After completing those three marathons last year, I decided that I would complete a business marathon.
I started this 'business marathon' at the beginning of 2011. I guess it's a kind of New Year's resolution. This resolution is my training, and I am going to complete it, just like I would complete the training for any one of my marathons. Okay, so how do I begin? Good question!
Because I am not at the point I want to be at in business, I decided to take something that I know and translate it into business. I know how to train for marathons. So I thought, why don't I take what I already know about marathon training and track my progress like I would my marathons.
First step, write out a 16-week 'training' schedule. Writing down my goals is key to acquiring the success I want to achieve. And to keep me on track, I coined the training as "16 Weeks to Success: In Health, Fitness and Business." I wrote down my top 3 goals in each of these categories - health, fitness, business - and then broke it down by what I needed to do in each of the 16 weeks.
Second step, I knew I had to track my results. So, I decided to track my goals and actual results in a journal and share my successes and failures with my coaches and business partners.
Thirdly, I have realized that this is not much different than my marathon training. Every Sunday I sit down with my journal and write the goals for each week that I had set at the beginning of the year. In successive weeks, I sit down and write down the results from the previous week and my goals for the upcoming week. This is such an important task - I started thinking of this Sunday night task as a CEO meeting to get me started for the upcoming week.
Just like in marathon training, there are peaks and valleys in this business marathon training. For instance, at the end of week five, I did not sit down and write down my results for week five and my goals for week six. Instead of going into week six with a firm grasp of what I needed to do, I was heading into the week without any goals written down. I had to hunker down and try to hit my goals (whatever they might be) for the week. This created confusion; yet the desire to succeed was greater than ever.
The results at the end of week six were outstanding. Without going into details, I will say that I powered through the week and completed my journal entries on Sunday. On the fitness side, I completed a 10-mile run on Saturday. More than half-way through the run, I wanted to quit. I started telling my coach how much pain I was in and that I was not enjoying myself. Then, I started thinking about my success journey - 16 Weeks to Success. And I remembered that this is typical in marathon training. In the middle of the training schedule, I almost always feel the need - aka want - to give up, and it usually hits in the weeks four to six. I knew that once I could make it through these tough weeks, I would make it to the end of the 16 weeks.
So, here I go. I made it through week six. And I am excited about my upcoming success. I am even more excited about the journey and sharing it with others.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Shotguns and Rodeos
This past week has taught me a lot about life, my family and shotguns.
Last week, I lost my grandfather - who lost his long battle with cancer. He was a prominent physician in the area; so prominent that very few didn't know him personally or know of him. He was a great man.
His death brought the entire family together for a week's worth of activities. Some of these family members I see so infrequently that it was a blessing to see them and spend time with them, despite the exhaustion that came with all the visits. One of these visits included a trip to my aunt and uncle's ranch south of town near Butte Community College - to shoot clay pigeons.
I have never shot a shotgun before and hadn't the slightest clue about what I was doing. Fear ran through my veins as shotgun ammo was placed by my teacher in the pockets of my sweatshirt, but only briefly. I knew I would be faced with the question, "Sara, you ready?"
So, I stepped up and said, "Yes! Let's do it." But I needed a lesson from my teacher. Nick had taught me how to climb a rock wall before, so I knew he could help me with this next venture.
After a short lesson from a great teacher, I grabbed the shotgun and called out, "Pull." I honestly don't remember if I hit the first pigeon. Pretty sure I missed. But it didn't matter. I did it. I shot the shotgun.
"Pull," I sang out again. This time it was a hit.
Several rounds and close to 200 clay pigeons later, we called it and headed into the house for some turkey chili and family visiting.
The next day would bring the last day of this hectic and emotional week of hanging with the crazy family. It was rodeo time.
In our family, we have a resident rodeo star. There is nothing this 15-year-old can't do, especially when it comes to goat-tying; she is the international goat-tying champion.
Three of us made the drive to Cottonwood to watch Courtney ride three different horses and claim her spot to Challenge - not knowing much about rodeo, this is a big deal. The couple of hours we spent at the rodeo, I was reminded of gymnastics and track meets when I was in high school. Suddenly, I felt very old.
So what did I take home from the crazy family induced week full of visiting, food, drink, shotguns and rodeo?
I learned that life is too short not to take risks and chances. It may be exhausting, but the results are worth the effort expended. All I need to do is remind myself to breathe, eat well and keep pushing to that point just beyond my comfort level. Keep reminding myself, "Pain is in the vicinity of victory." Just like in running; the finish line seems just too many steps away.
I have never not finished a race, and I don't plan to quit now. I am forging a new path to victory to create a legacy that may be worthy of my late grandpa and even my younger rodeo queen cousin.
Last week, I lost my grandfather - who lost his long battle with cancer. He was a prominent physician in the area; so prominent that very few didn't know him personally or know of him. He was a great man.
His death brought the entire family together for a week's worth of activities. Some of these family members I see so infrequently that it was a blessing to see them and spend time with them, despite the exhaustion that came with all the visits. One of these visits included a trip to my aunt and uncle's ranch south of town near Butte Community College - to shoot clay pigeons.
I have never shot a shotgun before and hadn't the slightest clue about what I was doing. Fear ran through my veins as shotgun ammo was placed by my teacher in the pockets of my sweatshirt, but only briefly. I knew I would be faced with the question, "Sara, you ready?"
So, I stepped up and said, "Yes! Let's do it." But I needed a lesson from my teacher. Nick had taught me how to climb a rock wall before, so I knew he could help me with this next venture.
After a short lesson from a great teacher, I grabbed the shotgun and called out, "Pull." I honestly don't remember if I hit the first pigeon. Pretty sure I missed. But it didn't matter. I did it. I shot the shotgun.
"Pull," I sang out again. This time it was a hit.
Several rounds and close to 200 clay pigeons later, we called it and headed into the house for some turkey chili and family visiting.
The next day would bring the last day of this hectic and emotional week of hanging with the crazy family. It was rodeo time.
In our family, we have a resident rodeo star. There is nothing this 15-year-old can't do, especially when it comes to goat-tying; she is the international goat-tying champion.
Three of us made the drive to Cottonwood to watch Courtney ride three different horses and claim her spot to Challenge - not knowing much about rodeo, this is a big deal. The couple of hours we spent at the rodeo, I was reminded of gymnastics and track meets when I was in high school. Suddenly, I felt very old.
So what did I take home from the crazy family induced week full of visiting, food, drink, shotguns and rodeo?
I learned that life is too short not to take risks and chances. It may be exhausting, but the results are worth the effort expended. All I need to do is remind myself to breathe, eat well and keep pushing to that point just beyond my comfort level. Keep reminding myself, "Pain is in the vicinity of victory." Just like in running; the finish line seems just too many steps away.
I have never not finished a race, and I don't plan to quit now. I am forging a new path to victory to create a legacy that may be worthy of my late grandpa and even my younger rodeo queen cousin.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Fear of Success
What is your greatest fear? For some, it's death. For many others, the fear of standing up and talking in front of others is far greater than death itself. How about the fear of starting something new? Fear of failure? Fear of success?
It is this last fear that drives me to this venture - posting my comments, my vision and my progress for all to see. For me, it is a fear that lay dormant until I come face to face with my success. I enjoy success; it brings me happiness and joy. Success puts food on the table and keeps the electric on for another day. Although with success also comes the pressure - the pressure to continue that success. I am now viewed differently because I have done it once before; therefore, I am expected to continue succeeding. Sometimes the pressure is just too much! I am face to face with my fear again.
And I retreat. I am too scared to continue.
All this fear is creating more fear and more barriers to take down later down my road to ultimate success - the place where I've said, "I made it!" So, how do I conquer the fear of success? By continuing to succeed.
I once heard a speaker say from stage, "Pain is in the vicinity of victory." In other words, in order to obtain victory, I have to endure pain. Nobody likes pain; why would I be any different? I am scared of the pain I will endure on the road to victory.
Because ultimately, I like victory. I want to be number one. I want people to say, "Look that's her, that's the famous woman."
Work is involved in any victory. Nobody climbed to the top of any endeavor without putting in the effort and making sacrifices. Overnight successes are not made over night. There is work involved, hard strenuous and painful work. But I don't like pain, and I am unfortunately 'ambitiously lazy'. I fear the pain again. Help!
It's time to get over it! It's time to embrace success, time to massage it, time to make it my own. So, here I go. There's plenty of room at the top, and I intend to take my rightful place.
Pain - here I come. Victory - you are mine! I put aside my fears by working through, around and over my obstacles.
"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." - Mohandas Karamchand Gandi
I am young, strong, powerful and successful.
It is this last fear that drives me to this venture - posting my comments, my vision and my progress for all to see. For me, it is a fear that lay dormant until I come face to face with my success. I enjoy success; it brings me happiness and joy. Success puts food on the table and keeps the electric on for another day. Although with success also comes the pressure - the pressure to continue that success. I am now viewed differently because I have done it once before; therefore, I am expected to continue succeeding. Sometimes the pressure is just too much! I am face to face with my fear again.
And I retreat. I am too scared to continue.
All this fear is creating more fear and more barriers to take down later down my road to ultimate success - the place where I've said, "I made it!" So, how do I conquer the fear of success? By continuing to succeed.
I once heard a speaker say from stage, "Pain is in the vicinity of victory." In other words, in order to obtain victory, I have to endure pain. Nobody likes pain; why would I be any different? I am scared of the pain I will endure on the road to victory.
Because ultimately, I like victory. I want to be number one. I want people to say, "Look that's her, that's the famous woman."
Work is involved in any victory. Nobody climbed to the top of any endeavor without putting in the effort and making sacrifices. Overnight successes are not made over night. There is work involved, hard strenuous and painful work. But I don't like pain, and I am unfortunately 'ambitiously lazy'. I fear the pain again. Help!
It's time to get over it! It's time to embrace success, time to massage it, time to make it my own. So, here I go. There's plenty of room at the top, and I intend to take my rightful place.
Pain - here I come. Victory - you are mine! I put aside my fears by working through, around and over my obstacles.
"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." - Mohandas Karamchand Gandi
I am young, strong, powerful and successful.
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