Ever wonder what kind baker started adding an extra cookie for every dozen that his customers bought? I doubt we will ever know, but what an amazing legacy he or she has created!
The Prosperity Paradigm, by Steve D'Annunzio, talks about finding your Soul Purpose, which when lived, creates a personal legacy for others to benefit from long after you are gone. The story of the baker is mentioned to illustrate the impact that one person can have on the world when he or she lives their Soul Purpose.
The thing that I have gathered so far from the book is that you create the most value when you do things out of LOVE. Doing things you love for people you love who love what you do has got to be one of the greatest, most joyful feelings in the world! Not to mention it is a very prosperous way to live!
I am going through my own path to discover my own Soul Purpose and what I can do to create a legacy. It might seem like a grand objective, but I believe it is a pursuit that will benefit me and my family for years to come. The idea that I could actually live this way seems overwhelming at times, but I have decided that like the baker, it starts with seemingly small actions, created out of love, that accumulate into a lifetime of happiness and a legacy that extends beyond the grave.
Your Soul Purpose involves your natural talents and abilities, which probably seem quite common to you, but if you were to look at yourself from an outsider's point of view, you would be quite amazed at how unique your talents and abilities actually are!
What will your baker's dozen be?
I invite you to join me on this quest of self-discovery, which is anything but selfish, because the more people who live their Soul Purpose, the more value and joy there is created for everyone! Feel free to share your own experiences of joy as you operate in your Soul Purpose!
For any of you who would like some reading materials on discovering your unique ability to create value, I highly recommend The Prosperity Paradigm by Steve D'Annunzio and Unique Ability: Creating the Life that You Want by Catherine Nomura, Julie Waller, and Shannon Waller. (I don't get anything out of this besides creating more smiles on more people's faces, so give it a try!)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Increase the Joy Inside You
When you increase your own happiness, there is more to overflow on to others.
One way to do this is to start acknowledging every thing and person you are grateful for. The neat thing is, once you get started, it is easy for your brain to think of more and more things that bring you joy. I think when you start on this path of gratitude, something inside your brain literally changes.
Your brain is just a computer, really, so it does what you tell it to do. If you constantly tell it to look for the good in your life and the people in it, that's what your brain will habitually focus on. Eventually those positive neural pathways will become so deeply entrenched that it will be automatic for you to think in a grateful, positive manner.
It will be only natural to share those joyful feelings with the people who matter in your life. The ripple you start has an unlimited potential for good in the world!
One way to do this is to start acknowledging every thing and person you are grateful for. The neat thing is, once you get started, it is easy for your brain to think of more and more things that bring you joy. I think when you start on this path of gratitude, something inside your brain literally changes.
Your brain is just a computer, really, so it does what you tell it to do. If you constantly tell it to look for the good in your life and the people in it, that's what your brain will habitually focus on. Eventually those positive neural pathways will become so deeply entrenched that it will be automatic for you to think in a grateful, positive manner.
It will be only natural to share those joyful feelings with the people who matter in your life. The ripple you start has an unlimited potential for good in the world!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Change your life in 15 minutes?
I read this great email today from FlyLady about getting your house clean in 15-minute increments. By the way, if you haven't heard of FlyLady, I highly recommend her website, flylady.com. After I read the email, I started thinking, what else can I do in 15 minutes?
Well, let's see...
I can call a friend and chat
I can read an inspiring thought and share it with a friend
I can go for a walk with a friend
I can send someone a nice thank-you note
I can make a list of people I love and mail them each a card
(Ask me how I do that in 15 minutes!)
Basically, you can change your life in just 15 minutes! Imagine how happy and positive your life would be if you spent just 15 minutes every day making someone smile!
I recently made the commitment to send an unexpected card to someone I care about every day. Even though I forget to do this sometimes, it has been very gratifying to see the smiles on my loved ones' faces or hear their happy voices just because I took a few moments to say hello and tell each person how much I appreciate him or her. I have also noticed that since I made this commitment, I have started to search for people who might be in especial need of a smile and I have made new friends in the process.
People love to be appreciated and recognized, and the more lives you touch, the more blessed your own life will be. Try it and see what I mean! Listen to your heart and you will be guided to the people who will benefit the most from your kind words and deeds. Make someone smile today!
Your precious time is yours and yours alone. What will YOU do with 15 minutes?
Well, let's see...
I can call a friend and chat
I can read an inspiring thought and share it with a friend
I can go for a walk with a friend
I can send someone a nice thank-you note
I can make a list of people I love and mail them each a card
(Ask me how I do that in 15 minutes!)
Basically, you can change your life in just 15 minutes! Imagine how happy and positive your life would be if you spent just 15 minutes every day making someone smile!
I recently made the commitment to send an unexpected card to someone I care about every day. Even though I forget to do this sometimes, it has been very gratifying to see the smiles on my loved ones' faces or hear their happy voices just because I took a few moments to say hello and tell each person how much I appreciate him or her. I have also noticed that since I made this commitment, I have started to search for people who might be in especial need of a smile and I have made new friends in the process.
People love to be appreciated and recognized, and the more lives you touch, the more blessed your own life will be. Try it and see what I mean! Listen to your heart and you will be guided to the people who will benefit the most from your kind words and deeds. Make someone smile today!
Your precious time is yours and yours alone. What will YOU do with 15 minutes?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Choose Every Day
I have been reading Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad over the weekend and something he said really struck me. Towards the end of the book, he gives 10 steps to prosperity. #1 was to find a "REASON GREATER THAN REALITY" and #2 was to "CHOOSE DAILY."
I have pondering what those two steps to prosperity mean and how they relate.
Our history books are full of inspirational leaders like Jesus, George Washington, and Mother Teresa. (Those happen to be some of my heroes; yours may be different.) One thing they all had in common was a higher purpose. They sacrificed greatly not because someone made them do it, but because they chose to. They believed in something great and it made them great. As a physchologist friend of mine is fond of saying, they thought of the ultimate consequences of their actions and brought those thoughts to the present to guide their actions. We can do the same.
What is your higher reason? What do you ultimately want?
Once you have a picture in your mind and in your heart of what you truly want to become, the next task is to choose daily. The power of choice is the power of thoughts. I don't know how many times I have started diets or resolved to have a cleaner house only to balk when I got tired or stressed. I was forgetting the higher purpose, which was to have a happier, healthier me.
Once you have decided on your higher purpose, you must keep that purpose in your mind every day. Put a picture on your wall, write yourself a letter, ask your friends to help you--whatever it takes to remember. But you have to choose daily.
My higher goal is to be able to stay at home and take care of my family. Eventually I would like to get my husband free of his job as well. My job right now is to choose daily to be a good steward over my resources--my time, my talents, my relationships...my everything--and then hopefully God will bless me with the ability to handle more.
Here's wishing you much success and the courage to choose daily the kind of life you truly want.
I have pondering what those two steps to prosperity mean and how they relate.
Our history books are full of inspirational leaders like Jesus, George Washington, and Mother Teresa. (Those happen to be some of my heroes; yours may be different.) One thing they all had in common was a higher purpose. They sacrificed greatly not because someone made them do it, but because they chose to. They believed in something great and it made them great. As a physchologist friend of mine is fond of saying, they thought of the ultimate consequences of their actions and brought those thoughts to the present to guide their actions. We can do the same.
What is your higher reason? What do you ultimately want?
Once you have a picture in your mind and in your heart of what you truly want to become, the next task is to choose daily. The power of choice is the power of thoughts. I don't know how many times I have started diets or resolved to have a cleaner house only to balk when I got tired or stressed. I was forgetting the higher purpose, which was to have a happier, healthier me.
Once you have decided on your higher purpose, you must keep that purpose in your mind every day. Put a picture on your wall, write yourself a letter, ask your friends to help you--whatever it takes to remember. But you have to choose daily.
My higher goal is to be able to stay at home and take care of my family. Eventually I would like to get my husband free of his job as well. My job right now is to choose daily to be a good steward over my resources--my time, my talents, my relationships...my everything--and then hopefully God will bless me with the ability to handle more.
Here's wishing you much success and the courage to choose daily the kind of life you truly want.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
What a Difference a Day Makes!
What a difference a day makes!
One of the mantras I live by is Perspective Determines Action. Yet how often I get in a rut of habits. Today, I broke the normal day's activities by taking a day off work.
And you know what? Just by changing my surroundings, I changed my WHOLE point of view! Even though I was kinda sick and worried about the hole in the floor that my dog dug, I was really enjoying my day, because I was doing things I WANTED to do, not necessarily things I HAD to do.
Two things I learned today:
1. I got a taste of how WONDERFUL it will be when I don't have to chase a paycheck just to 'get by' and can focus on the things and people that matter MOST to me.
2. How AMAZING it is that I can change my whole point of view in an instant, just by changing the scenery.
3. How HAPPY I am when I do something nice for someone else.
Ok right, that's three. The bonus lesson was an afterthought, but it is going to be the focus of this blog. When you do something that creates joy for someone else, it gets returned to you 10-fold. Pretty cool, huh?
Sooooo....If you want to be happy, prosperous, and free, do something nice for a loved one today!
What a difference a day makes!
One of the mantras I live by is Perspective Determines Action. Yet how often I get in a rut of habits. Today, I broke the normal day's activities by taking a day off work.
And you know what? Just by changing my surroundings, I changed my WHOLE point of view! Even though I was kinda sick and worried about the hole in the floor that my dog dug, I was really enjoying my day, because I was doing things I WANTED to do, not necessarily things I HAD to do.
Two things I learned today:
1. I got a taste of how WONDERFUL it will be when I don't have to chase a paycheck just to 'get by' and can focus on the things and people that matter MOST to me.
2. How AMAZING it is that I can change my whole point of view in an instant, just by changing the scenery.
3. How HAPPY I am when I do something nice for someone else.
Ok right, that's three. The bonus lesson was an afterthought, but it is going to be the focus of this blog. When you do something that creates joy for someone else, it gets returned to you 10-fold. Pretty cool, huh?
Sooooo....If you want to be happy, prosperous, and free, do something nice for a loved one today!
What a difference a day makes!
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