Cultivating Your Internal Coach

You've heard over and over again - you need to make a change if you want to experience a change of any kind. We all have a lot of practice listening to the negative internal mind chatter. This chatter is never about brilliance or glory; it is about playing it safe and staying in your comfort zone.

Your Monkey Mind might say that you are average. It convinces you not to take a risk. It causes you to doubt your dreams and your abilities. And you listen. And you believe. And you begin to feel average. And you feel like you are nothing special.

You need to cultivate a voice that counters that negative internal mind chatter. You need to listen to the coach inside that reminds you to look up. And here is what the coach inside will tell you.

• Stamp a mental picture on your mind of you succeeding.
• Whenever a negative thought comes into your mind concerning your own personal power, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out.
• Do not be awestruck by other people - comparing yourself with another minimizes the awesomeness of who you are.
• Make an estimate of your own abilities, then raise it by 25% - you are your own worst critic and forget the power of God is within.
• Get a good friend, a coach, or a mentor who will hold you as powerful and courageous and help you keep your vision ABOVE the bar.

AMAZING ACTION PLAN: For the next 24 hours, speak only in positive terms about everything in your life. Speak positively about your job, your health, your relationships, your marriage, and your future. Go out of your way to speak optimistically about everything. The negative and pessimistic way doesn't work-it NEVER did.

After 24 hours, see if you can do this for an entire week. See if you can make a new habit and change to a positive interior. Let me know how it goes.

Traveling the Dream Highway

In the book, Ask and It Is Given, Jerry and Esther Hicks give a wonderful metaphor for how some of us relate to spiritual Principle, which I'm going to paraphrase. When you get in your car and head towards your destination, you know your starting place as well as your ending place. You accept the fact you can't get there instantaneously and allow yourself the time it takes to drive there, knowing that you will ultimately arrive at your destination.

You may feel excitement or even become impatient to get there, however, you don't get so discouraged that you turn around and head home halfway there. And you don't get so afraid that you drive in circles between your starting point and the halfway point until you are so tired and frustrated that you collapse. Nor do you announce to the world your inability to accomplish your journey. You simply accept the distance between your starting place and your destination and you continue to move forward. You understand what is required and you do it.

Yet, when it comes to our lives, we often do those things that seem so silly in the travel metaphor. We have a dream or desire and if the journey takes awhile, we start to get impatient or fearful and head backwards. And we can be very vocal about our inadequacy and our inability to get to our destination and perhaps even blame our history. When we do this, we are not operating in alignment with spiritual Principle.

Even if you are traveling slower than you want, at least you are traveling forward. Celebrate that and move into your own perfect possibilities in a powerful way.

What Are You Passing On?

I was reading an email this week from a woman named Pamela Bruner who does EFT Tapping (Pamela's Website). She flew into Orlando and after she got off the plane and boarded the shuttle to the terminal, a woman sat down next to her and began to cry. Pamela asked if she needed some help and the woman replied, "My son's come back from Afghanistan for a visit, but I can't go see him! He's in California, and I couldn't get on the plane."

After more conversation, Pamela had uncovered that the woman next to her was afraid to fly so she couldn't get on ANY plane. Pamela explained she had helped lots of people with phobias and may be able to help her so she could get on a plane and see her son. After a few more minutes of conversation, the woman said something that shocked Pamela; she said, "Thank you, but I think I'll pass."

The answer to her prayers was there; it was within reach. The transformation she needed was right in front of her, and yet she said no. How many times do we say 'no?' What's stopping you from your dreams? What will it take to say "yes" to creating your amazing life? What will it take for you to say "yes" to living a life of power, passion, prosperity, and purpose?

There are people all around us who can help us to emerge from fear, worry, doubt, and unhappiness; we need to be open. Maybe the next time someone offers to help or support you, accept the offer and don't pass it up.

Spread Love

We aren't meant to hide out and play it safe in our cocoon of complacency, we are meant to live fully with passion and enthusiasm. We are mighty and magnificent spiritual beings and we must reach beyond our self-imposed limitations, believe in ourselves, and allow ourselves to be a blessing to the people in our world.

Mother Teresa said, "Spread love everywhere you go. First of all, in your own house, give love to your children, yourspouse, and your next door neighbor. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness-kindness in your eyes, your face, your smile, and your warm greeting."

It is our relationship with the Divine Presence that shows up as love and underscores our relationship with ourselves and with others. When we allow our true essence, which is Love, to shine through then we bring light and warmth to every interaction. In this way we can make a major difference in the lives of others and in our world.

Over the Wall

What do you want to do? What do you want to become? It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed, how many times you haven’t succeeded, how many times you’ve been sick, or how many times you’ve met with impenetrable walls of your own limitation. With God’s power working through you, you can either climb over that wall or simply walk around it. New ideas constantly held and felt can help you over the wall. Faith in the Infinite Power for Good that is everywhere present can help you over the wall.

Wayne Dyer wrote, “Regardless of the circumstances of your life, you are the writer, director, and producer of your mental images. You will always act out those pictures. Your circumstances do not determine what your life will be; they reveal what kind of images you have chosen up until now. From the quality of your physical appearance, to your level of nutritional health, to the state of your financial holdings, to the quality of your relationships and everything else that requires an action by you, you are acting on images. Your mind stores away all of the images that you elect, and you daily carry out the assignment of those thoughts.”

If you want to be a deliberate creator, you need to first look to your thoughts, because your thoughts create your emotions, which sets up the energy you are expending and the circumstances you are attracting. Choose new thoughts today and put that wall of doubt, fear, and limitation behind you.

Lab Tests With a Different Score

I was having some blood work done the other day when the lab tech excused herself to help with another patient in the next room. It was an 8 year-old boy who was getting his blood drawn. He was crying...a lot. His mother and his little sister were also in the room with him. I could hear the lab tech saying, "don't move so much or it will hurt more." She said this over and over again. Obviously, it wasn't working.

And then it happened. Shrieking! Loud, fearful screaming. I knew it was at that point when the little boy saw the needle. Why didn't anyone tell him to close his eyes? At this point, I was getting tense and nervous. I was actually allowing this boy's fear to have an effect on me (and I don't mind getting blood drawn.)

And then it was quiet. The very thing he was trying to get away from, the thing he was hoping his screams would prevent was now at hand - and it wasn't so bad. I wondered if he asked himself why he made such a big deal over it, but he was probably just glad he was alive.

How many times are we like that little boy? We worry and fret; we think this will be the worst day of our lives; we create dragons and monsters in our minds. No one tells us to close our eyes or think of something else. And after all of our fear and worry, we realize it wasn't so bad after all.

Even if we don't always realize it, we are free to choose thoughts of joy, happiness, security, and love and we don't have to keep revisiting the dungeon of fear.

Waxing Poweretic

I've been attending "spiritual boot camp" for the past 14 weeks. I go online and view the class Mondays and Thursdays and we have weekly assignments. Each day, however, we are given the directive to journal (morning and evening) and meditate daily. Although I started out with a bang, I seem to be finishing with a whisper. Of course, this brings up lots of things for me to look at (or not).

Let me back track a bit. January, 2011. Something came over me. Now, I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions, but I had a physical nagging within me that this year would NOT be business as usual. I thought this "spiritual boot camp" was scheduled for January and I was raring to go. I had even read the first chapter of the book and gotten my word, which was POWER!

However, class was postponed until March, and I wasn't as enthusiastic in March as I was in January, but I enrolled anyway. I know I needed some external prodding to awaken something new in me; I needed some connection with others who are interested in doing the work and living the results. In March, I changed my word to PRESENCE since I was a little more calm and wanted to experience the presence and didn't quite feel my power as much.

So, 14 weeks later, I'd have to assess myself as only being mediocre in my commitment to "not doing business as usual." And, I'm living mediocre results. Duh! Of course this brings out my patterns of self-criticism - and we are in "no judgment week" currently. I'm not judging, really - - I'm just observing (how often have I heard that?)! We have such a variety of ways we can fool ourselves; yet are we ever really fooling ourselves? I think not.

Nearing the end of 16 weeks, I see my word actually should have stayed POWER. I think I'm afraid of owning my power. I'm afraid of being too confident. I'm afraid of living to my potential. Instead, I seem to be "flirting with life" and not engaging fully. That looks like business as usual to me. However, this idea, won't let go - and 2011 is not quite halfway over, so there is still time.

Prior to "spiritual boot camp" last Thursday, I was in my own meditative state and I was overtaken by a poem. It is a love poem from God and I'm calling it Beyond This Moment.

Between my words, you came to me.

Like a blast of heat

from the furnace of fire.

Overtaking me.

beyond words

beyond feelings.

Just an overwhelming urge -

A desire to merge

To shine

To be

To exist