Create the Life You Love

‘Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life, actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value in your life’. – Christiane Northrup

The Law of Attraction

I am assuming that you have already heard of ‘The Secret’, a book and movie by Rhonda Byrne and that you have probably read it or watched it. This ‘Secret’ was focussed on ‘The Law of Attraction’ and how it is the most powerful law in the Universe.  However, I believe that there is more to attracting what you want than just the Law of Attraction. Now, whilst I love the Law of Attraction and I absolutely know that it works, this law is only a part of the equation. Sitting around on a mountain top meditating and waiting for great wealth, health, prosperity and happiness to fall into your lap is not going to happen.  Mastering the Law of Attraction, you really can become a magical manifestor, but it really is only part of the equation and putting into place practical steps is another part.

The law of attraction works the same in all areas of your life. What you focus on, what you think about, where you put your energy, your vibration or your frequency, is exactly what you get back again.

The way to become a magnet to money or a magnet to anything you desire – health, wealth, prosperity or happiness –is to learn how to place your energy, your frequency, your vibration in a place where you are attracting the things that you desire, instead of the things that you don’t want. Something that you can do on a regular basis to really help you to get into that place where you are naturally beginning to attract the things that make your heart sing is to show GRATITUDE.

Attitude of Gratitude

In today’s busy lifestyle it’s so easy to get caught up with living day-to-day, that we don’t take any time to really appreciate the things that we already have in our lives. It is perfectly fine to want more, desire bigger and dream grander – but remember to take the time to recognise how wonderful your life already is. Even if your entire life isn’t wonderful, think about how wonderful certain aspects of your life already are. There are billions of people throughout the world that would swap their life for yours in an instant, as your life is greater than their wildest dreams – a roof over their head, a bed to sleep in, fresh food, clean water.

Sarah Ban Breathnach, in her book Simple Abundance says, “ You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: The more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given to you”.

As you focus on gratitude and think, speak and feel gratitude, you are transforming your energy, frequency, vibration into one of the most powerful and highest frequencies of all. Gratitude attracts absolute abundance. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, gratitude can dissolve all negativity in your life, no matter what has happened in the past. Something as simple as gratitude can completely transform your life.

‘Gratitude is absolutely the way to bring more into your life.’ – Marci Shimoff

Gratitude Journal

Having your own Gratitude Journal is the first step on the path to creating more abundance in your life, as it is a way that you can consciously call attention to the things for which you are thankful for each day.  Order, joy, beauty and simplicity – all the other principles that can transform your life with will not thrive and blossom without gratitude. By expressing gratitude on a daily basis you will become aware of those things and thus create a shift in your thinking to the positive.

Something wonderful begins to happen as you use a gratitude journal.

The following suggestions can help you start a gratitude journal and a whole new outlook on life.

1. Choose a journal or blank notebook (decorate it if you like) to write in every night. Keep your Gratitude journal and a pen next to your bed.

2. During the day look for things for which you are grateful and make mental notes. As you start to feel those feelings of gratitude on a more consistent basis notice how your focus shifts to a more positive outlook.

3. At the end of every day, just before you go to sleep, reflect on your day. Take the time to write down at least five things that have occurred or you have seen, that you can be grateful for, however small or large – “I am so happy and truly grateful for the friendly smile I received from a stranger as I was walking through the park”; or, “I am so happy and truly grateful for the $2 I found on the ground”; or, “ I am so happy and truly grateful for the smell of freshly cut grass on a warm Spring day.”

4. Look everyday for positive situations and opportunities to give thanks. Use positive energy as a magnet to attract even more positive energy into your life.

5. Personalise your journal with photos, quotes, pictures or anything that makes you feel happy and grateful.

    

Life isn’t always going to be perfect or go your way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working and what you can be grateful for can help you not only survive, but overcome all obstacles and create the Life You Love.

‘Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.’ -Melody Beattie

Now go and get your own Gratitude Journal and start writing.

To happiness, success & living the life of YOUR dreams

About The Author:

Dee Britton is a Success & Happiness Coach for busy mumpreneurs at http://www.FeelingFabulousForever.com. Dee understands that busy mumpreneurs find it hard to juggle business and family and often run out of time to get everything done. If this sounds like you, then get your free copy of Dee's new e-book 'How To Get More Time To Do The Things You Really Love' at http://www.feelingfabulousforever.com

Developing a clear direction is necessary and we do this by setting goals.

As individuals we actually set goals all the time such as:

• I have 1 hour to do the grocery shopping

• Today I will get the washing done

• Today I will do the ironing

• I will go for a 5 km walk

• I will eat 3 pieces of fruit

But we want to set goals that give us long term direction, focus and motivation to keep going, move forward, and persevere.

Once you have established your goals the next action to successful goals setting is working out how to achieve your goal. A great place to start is to make notes on paper, drawing a road map to your success.

If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else.
Yogi Berra

Focus On What Matters

Our brain is programmed to take notice of things that are important to us.  Its job is to filter the mass of information that is brought to our attention every day, so that we can pay attention to the information that’s important. When we set goals, our brain is programmed to watch for information related to that goal.

We established a goal to go on a holiday to Italy. Suddenly I noticed television programs on Italy, discussions on the radio about holidaying in Italy, articles in newspapers and magazines about Italy, people around me were talking about their holiday to Italy. What occurred I though was strange, bazaar and a coincidence but as it turns out it’s not.

It’s known as “Reticular Activating System” [RAS]. The RAS is a tiny network of brain cells attached to the brain stem. It’s the part of the brain which alerts us to information or screens out information based on what we want to pay attention to.

The logic behind this is that once you have a clear goal, your sub-conscious is always alert and looking for information and opportunities relevant to your goal. This is where your sub-conscious finds things you may never have noticed if you only had a vague idea of what you were looking for.

A goal properly set is halfway reached.

Abraham Lincoln

Taking ACTION [Know your priorities]

Knowing your goal and making it positive and SMART are very important steps however a goal is not achieved unless you take ACTION. One of the easiest ways to take action is to actually figure out the steps that will get to you where you want to be. What is the first thing you have to do to achieve that goal? What comes next? And so on and so on. In other words we are developing the process to achieve your goal.

At any one stage there are a number of things we could be doing but knowing our goals gives us focus and direction.

About The Author:

LifeStyle Refocus are serious about helping you create a better life by managing your TIME. We work with businesses to increase their staff’s productivity or individuals to help them gain control. We deliver workshops on “Managing your Time” and “DeClutter and Take Back Control. Refer to our website for free resources and regular newsletter. www.lifestylerefocus.com.au

The car is often the second biggest cost after the home. Unfortunately, the car is a real money pit. The Five Ways to Save tips to help drive your dollars further are:

1. Buy what you need, not what you want

Cars have a high emotional and a strong status symbol attachment which makes them a real sucker for your hard earned savings. When planning to buy a new motor vehicle, consider what you really need and not get tempted by the flash advertising or trying to be one up on your neighbour. When you know what you need, set about seeking the best deal.

Remember the problem of depreciation. A car will generally lose half its value after three years. Therefore the more expensive the car is, the more you are likely to lose even when it is parked up going nowhere.

2. Avoid finance costs if you can

If you can, buy with cash. This means you are spending what you can afford and you’ll avoid high interest costs on the finance. Insurance will be easier and you can always haggle for a better deal by being in a position to drive away the car.

If you must finance the car, consider all options. Can you sell down investments like shares and use that cash to help support the deal. Can you get a simple loan from the bank that will give you more flexibility than a finance deal at the car yard? Will your employer help you via a leasing arrangement?

3. Keep it serviced and at the same workshop

Cars have a habit of breaking down and when they do they cost a minor fortune to fix them up. A regular service will minimise the chance of an unexpected break down and it may also save you money in the event of a police check who could fine you for that bald tyre or non working brake light.

Having it serviced by the same workshop will allow the mechanics to really know your car and will help with the resale value whereby the future buyer can see all the services have been documented.

4. Drive safely and be vigilant

There are so many safety cameras (speed and red light cameras); it’s very easy to get caught out. The fines are bad enough but losing your licence can take the costs to a whole new level as it could mean the loss of work and future opportunities.

Driving safely also has other benefits; a smooth driver will have far less wear and tear and better fuel economy than an erratic driver, who can normally be spotted as always the first one away at the lights.

5. Do you really need a car?

Many city dwellers these days rarely take the car out except for weekends. Have a good long hard look at the need for a car as opposed to alternatives. These days, you can catch a cab easily and quickly for those short trips. The cost to hire a car is also very cheap especially on weekends. When you consider the financing cost, fuel, servicing, insurances and the biggie deprecation; cabs and hiring a car for the weekend could be much more flexible and help you save some more cash.

About The Author:

Colin’s career in wealth management spans 25 years. His professional experience and qualifications cover the critical areas of financial planning. Colin commenced as a financial adviser and progressed to hold senior and general management positions for large financial institutions.

Colin has now commenced his own business, The Humble Investor.  The weblog www.humblesavers.com  has been recently launched whereby Colin uses his inside knowledge of the wealth management industry  to provide simple, very effective money saving tips to a community of ‘savers’. Humble savers can also be found on facebook http://www.facebook.com/humblesavers  and twitter @humblesavers. Colin’s personal twitter account (musings and wealth management insights) is @ColinTWilliams

We are all creatures of habits; the trick is to develop good habits. These ‘Five Daily Saving Tips’ will help you to save just a little more each day and this will make a big difference to your savings account at the end of the year.

Leave the car at home

A car is extraordinarily expensive. Most people only measure the cost as they fill it up with fuel. But wear and tear adds significantly to deprecation which is the biggest killer (se also Five Ways to Save - Car). Use public transport, walk a bit or share a lift. These three things are not only better on the pocket but also better for the environment and will keep you a little fitter!

Take your lunch to work

Yes, you knew this would be here. Daily lunches and the daily coffee might be small luxuries but they eat into your savings (no pun intended). If lunch and coffee/drink cost $10.00 per day and  work say 230 days of the year, that comes to a yearly cost of $2,300.00 You can have a great holiday on that or update the home entertainment system. So, make sure you have last night’s left overs tucked into your work bag.

Educate yourself

Knowledge is power and now that you are not driving to work, sit back and relax by reading books or surf the web. Better still, start a course that will help you get that new job.  Better education brings more rewards and creates discipline, so what's stopping you, get studying!

Switch the lights off!

Power bills are going through the roof and they’re not coming back down any time soon. Okay, being told to switch the lights off will bring back memories of your parents screaming at you, but the action will also trigger other ideas. Switch power equipment off at the plug, make sure the dishwasher and the washing machines are full before washing, use appliances during off peak times. There’s lots of ways to now save on power so make a start.. switch the lights off!

Spend time with your partner, kids, relatives and friends

It is so easy to fall into the trap of avoiding time with the loved ones.  We have all heard of the saying ‘Time is money’; well putting time into your relationships is like putting money in the bank. Strong relationships will reward you many times over.

About The Author:

Colin Williams career in wealth management spans 25 years. His professional experience and qualifications cover the critical areas of financial planning. Colin commenced as a financial adviser and progressed to hold senior and general management positions for large financial institutions.

Colin has now commenced his own business, The Humble Investor.  The weblog www.humblesavers.com  has been recently launched whereby Colin uses his inside knowledge of the wealth management industry  to provide simple, very effective money saving tips to a community of ‘savers’. Colin’s personal twitter account (musings and wealth management insights) is @ColinTWilliams