You are what you say you are.
This is the power of the spoken word – both what we speak out loud, and what we say to ourselves.
authentic purpose
Why am I here?
I have done a lot of thinking, refining, meditating, and brainstorming on this question over the years. All of which has led me here, to Love Your Life. Your life purpose is not generally something that can be worked out quickly – or is it?
If you cant figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you straight to your purpose.
– T.D.Jakes
my vision
I had some great me-time last week. I took my old life vision, pulled it apart and fleshed it out. I got clear on the details. It felt so real, I could almost taste it. It was so refreshing!
I get so much inspiration from doing this. It gives me clarity, excitement and a sense of drive that I’ve chosen that life, I get to create it.
what do you want?
What do you want?
A better question, first of all.
Sometimes this question can be too vague to produce a meaningful and actionable answer. To take the confusion and guesswork out of it, we need to rephrase the question, to get specific about what we want in our life.
Most people focus on the things they don’t want in life, and it comes in the form of complaint – about jobs, relationships or health/appearance. But when you ask people what they do want often all we receive is a blank stare or a vague response. We have become so used to thinking about all the things we don’t want, that it’s clouding our ability to envision what we do want.
“Life pretty much gives you what you ask from it. Most people want to feel better, have more energy or live with greater satisfaction. Yet, when you ask them to tell you precisely what it is they want, they have no answer. You change your life the moment you set your goals and start to seek out your Dharma.” – Robin Sharma
If you aren’t clear on what you want, how do you know where to start, or when you have achieved it? Without setting the goal posts, scoring is near impossible.
Focus on where you want to go in life and success will follow.
One of my favourite teachers is Susanne Conrad. She created an exercise based on the law of attraction, and it’s designed to get you clear on what you want in your life. It has been a valuable exercise for me personally, and one that I continue to use in my coaching.
It’s a great starting point before beginning to create your Vision and Goals. A way to get you clear on whats authentically important to you. I want to share it with you here so you can complete it in the comfort of your own home.
So put the kettle on, grab a notebook and get comfy. Let’s get started on creating your dream life!
The Power Of Knowing What You Want
Prep:
- Put away all distractions.
- Sit comfortably, close your eyes and take a couple of slow deep breaths down into your belly.
- I want you to think ahead to the future.
- Anything is possible.
- There are no constraints of time, money or knowledge.
- You can be, do and have anything your heart desires.
Try that for me. Really try to free your mind from the restraints of past experiences, failures, judgement. Clear any self-limiting beliefs you are holding onto. Let your imagination grow with the power of possibility. . .
Method:
- Draw a big circle on a blank page
- Inside the circle write the word ‘WANT’, outside the circle write the words ‘DON’T WANT’
- Inside the circle write everything you want in your life, and outside the circle you write everything you don’t want.
- They can be tangible things like – ‘a house in the mountains’ or ‘CEO of a company’, but also things that are intrinsic such as – how you want to feel, your character, your peace of mind. They can be big things such as ‘to cure cancer’, or as small as ‘to have my own veggie patch’. Include all of the things you want, leave nothing out.
- Brainstorm as many words as you can, just let them flow out onto the page.
- *Note – be weary of writing the word ‘happy’. We all want to be happy, but what brings you happiness? Focus on the specific activities, people, actions etc that are the cause of your happiness.
“Anyone who wishes to improve the quality of their inner as well as their outer worlds would do well to take out a piece of paper and start writing out their life aims. At the very moment that this is done, natural forces will come into play that start to transform these dreams into reality.” – Robin Sharma
- Acknowledge the words outside of the circle, and then let them slowly melt away. Feel their grip over you lessen. Feel the weight lifted and freedom created by letting go of your fears and worries.
- Now focus all your attention inside the circle.
- These are the things, feelings, activities and relationships you need to focus on now.
Keep your bubble of goodness somewhere you can see daily.
Look at it first thing when you wake up to remind yourself of what you’re committed to.
What can you do today to bring something inside your bubble to life?
“By writing out your desires and goals on a pice of paper, you send a red flag to your subconscious mind that these thoughts are far more important than the remaining 59,999 other ones. Your mind will then start to seek out all opportunities to realise your destiny like a guided missile. It is really a very scientific process. Most of us are simply not aware of it.” – Robin Sharma
how to create a vision board
Got a picture of your life in 10 years time?
No? Well here’s how!
Following on from my last post visualise your best life – below are some easy steps to create your very own Vision Board.
By focusing our attention on what we want, as opposed to what we don’t want – the power and possibilities that open up for us are limitless.
“Where we place our attention is what we will create for ourselves.”
My Vision Board is made up of images and words that represent the future I want to create for myself. It’s something that makes my heart smile, and gives me inspiration to go about the work that will get me there.
my vision board
Vision Boards are the ultimate in manifestation. Our vision creates our legacy. It serves as a tool to keep you inspired, keep you on track, and keep you motivated. It also utilises the Law Of Attraction – a Vision Board is an awesome way to communicate with the Universe about what you would like to collaborate on in your life. Plus, they are fun to make!
HOW TO CREATE A VISION BOARD
1) Imagine.
Make time for yourself. Put away all distractions. Find a quiet place to sit or lie, where you will be able to seek enough solace to get your daydream on. Close your eyes and spend some time with your thoughts. Allow your mind to wander into the most inspired future you can visualise for yourself.
Imagine your ideal life in 10 years time. You are unlimited. You can be and do anything in the world! Ask yourself these questions:
- Where do you live?
- Who is there with you?
- What does a day in your ideal life look like?
- What are your core values?
- What do you do for work?
- Do you travel? Where to?
- What type of lifestyle do you have?
- How do you take care of yourself? Physically, mentally and spiritually.
- What are you grateful for?
- What makes you excited?
- What do you really want to have?
- Who do you really want to be?
2) Seek.
Find the images, words, quotes and affirmations that remind you of all of the things you see in your future. All of the people you want to meet and be around, the places you want to live in and visit, the events you want to experience, the accomplishments you want to reach, the feelings you want to emulate, and the emotions you want to fill your cells with. Use Google Images, Flickr, or Pinterest to find images online. Or, just flick through magazines, brochures and newspapers.
3) Create.
This is the fun part – you get to channel your inner-child and have a good old craft party! Arrange the pieces of your vision board into a beautiful collage, then get to sticking. Mine was made with a big piece of cardboard that I then laminated. But you can pin yours to a cork board, or create an online vision board as a screen saver, or through pintrest. Your options are only limited to your imagination.
Why not spread the love and invite your mates around for a Vision Board party?
I’m doing exactly that! This Friday is the Love Your Life Vision Creation Station! It’s fun, free and fabulous!
Check out the event page, or facebook for more details. We look forward to seeing you there!
Happy vision boarding everyone 🙂
xxx
visualise your best life
What does your life look like ten years from now?
It’s a pretty scary thought for some of us.
Most people tend to have a vague idea of what their life will look like down the road, but there is a HUGE difference between living a life that’s probable, to creating a life that’s possible. When we stand in a place of possibility, we let go of constraints that have held us back, and the world truly becomes our oyster.
“To liberate the potential of your mind, body and soul, you must first expand your imagination. You see, things are always created twice; first in the workshop of the mind and then, and only then, in reality. Anything that you create in your outer world began as a simple blueprint in your inner world, on the lush picture screen of your mind.” – Robin Sharma
I remember the first time I did a vision meditation. I closed my eyes and thought about my life in ten years time – where I was living, what I was doing, who I was with. I envisaged every detail of my perfect life. I let my imagination go wild, and saw colourful images of my future life flash before my eyes. My best life literally appeared before my eyes, and it was so beautiful and exciting. I felt empowered and inspired by my own imagination, as Einstein once said “Your imagination is your preview to life’s coming attractions.”
What an amazing experience. All of a sudden I went from having never thought about my life in ten years, to being able to see it in clear, specific detail. For the first time I had a picture in my mind of my best life. I got excited about creating this dream life that lay ahead of me. This exercise helped me switch from a mind frame of ‘life happening to me’, to one of control and empowerment. I realised I can create my world. It’s all up to me.
You get to design your life.
You are the author of your own story.
My vision became the basis for all my goal-setting. Over the years, some of my goals have changed, but my vision has remained constant. It’s still a grounding force in my life that keeps me inspired and gives me direction.
I love to write, so for me writing my vision is really powerful – but it’s only one half of the recipe. When we transfer our words into images, the process means that our whole brains are being utilised, not just half of them. Vision boards work really powerfully to activate the right-brain hemisphere and activate creativity, imagination and visualisation. Collate all the pictures, words and images that speak to you. They will help you affirm your intention and mobilise your energies towards achieving your goals.
“The mind works through pictures. Pictures affect your self-image and your self-image affects the way you feel, act and achieve. When you run inpsiring, imaginative pictures through the movie screen of your mind, wonderful things start to happen in your life.” – Robin Sharma
Having a vision board also means that we can see our ideal future at a glance – a picture really does tell a thousand words! Put your vision board somewhere prominent- on your fridge, above your desk at work, on your bedroom wall – anywhere you will see it numerous times a day. It helps you stay focused on your goals through visual cues in your environment that remind you of what’s meaningful to you.
The most important thing is to make your vision board YOURS, and no one else’s. “The problem is that these boards can reflect an unrealistic, commercially motivated vision of what people think their life ‘should’ look like. Not only is this unproductive, but it can have a negative effect on our future.” – Shawn Achor. This exercise is for you, and for you alone. Your vision board should represent your own unique values, wants and desires – not what society, friends, family or partners expect of you.
Creating a vision for your life draws it into existence through the law of attraction. “What we focus on becomes our reality, which is why it’s so important for our brains to focus on real, meaningful, and positive goals. No matter what your goal is, visualising what success would look like will help you steer you the the beach instead of the rocks.” Shawn Achor
“It is quite amazing what a powerful effect the simple act of positive visualisation can have on our reality. . . Of course, visualisation doesn’t take the place of action. Visualisation is not the means to your goals. It is the accelerant that gets you on the right trajectory towards those goals.” – Shawn Achor
The next step is to visualise yourself living your dream life, and experiencing the good feelings associated with your success. Start to believe that you have already achieved your goals. This is a marvellous trick on our sub-conscious minds, and makes our brain believe it’s achievable. “I want to be clear here. It’s not some magical process where the universe sprinkles fairy dust on you because you think pretty thoughts. Im talking about the power you mobilise within yourself, consciously and subconsciously, when you make the effort to clarify your goals and visualise them as being achieved, while doing the required legwork.” – Christine Comaford-Lynch. So start envisioning your dream life, building it until it’s real and vivid.
“When you learn to take control of your thoughts and vividly imagine all that you desire from this worldly existence in a state of total expectancy, dormant forces will awaken inside you. You will begin to unlock the true potential of your mind to create the kind of magical life that you deserve. From tonight onwards, forget about the past. Dare to dream that you are more than the sum of your current circumstances. Expect the best. You will be astonished at the results.” – Robin Sharma
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
– Albert Einstein.
WISH IT. DREAM IT. DO IT.
PSSSTT!! Love Your Life is hosting a vision board workshop this Friday 29th November – the Vision Creation Station!
Check out the event page, or facebook for more details.
We look forward to seeing you there!
10 steps to rock your life
Want to increase your quality of your life?
Achieve some really big goals?
Check out these rad ideas by Christine Comaford-Lynch. . .
10 STEPS TO BUILD YOUR MOMENTUM
1. Rock responsibility. Say bye bye to blaming others because your life isn’t working or you don’t have what you want. Ditto for complaining, which is blame disguised. You’re no ones victim. Everything in our lives, good or bad, is the result of our actions or thoughts. When we take 100% responsibility for our lives were acknowledging this, which then enables us to improve our situation. Responsibility is an active pursuit.
2. Get visual. Visualise your goals being achieved and act on making them happen. Your goals should include what you want to achieve, and a by-when date. Keep track of how you’re progressing. It will work wonders in focusing yourself and keeping you on track.
3. Solicit superb support. A supportive tribe is necessary to getting stuff done. Two ways are a) an accountability partner, or b) a master mind group. An accountability partner is a friend or colleague who will help you stay accountable to your commitments. A mastermind group is a group of like mined people who help further one another’s goals on a group basis.
4. Toss toxicity. You probably have some toxic people in your life right now. They’re the folks who seem to want to hold you back or bring you down. Know anyone who actively hampers your ability to advance? They’re deflators, energy vampires. You can choose to ignore them or let their negativity bounce off you. If you’re not sure if someone is toxic, just monitor how you feel after spending time with them. Feel furious? Exhausted? Despondent? You’ve got a life one: get out of the isolation suit!
5. Pump up the positive. Use only positives when you talk to yourself about your goals. Negative self talk fosters a negative self image, which results in negative behaviours. We sabotage ourselves far more than anyone sabotages us, (‘see? I knew they wouldn’t hire me/ask me out/give me the award.’). List your strengths. Don’t list your shortcomings; instead, reframe them as strengths you want to develop. Another way to accentuate the positive is to read inspiring books, listen to uplifting motivating CD’s or podcasts. Surround yourself with upbeat energy.
6. Log onto the Law Of Attraction. You’ve heard the saying ‘what you focus on, you become’ – thats the idea of the law of attraction. When you develop a clear idea of what you want, focus on it, and feel good about it, your mind will consider your wishes to be marching orders. The universe will conspire to help to make your dreams come true. This is why you have to know what you want, look at images of what you want, imagine yourself already having it, and do the work required to make your dreams come true. As Norman Vincent Peale put it, “formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture.“
7. Persevere. You’re probably going to have a healthy number of so-called failures and rejection your career and life. The key is how you view them and whether you let them hold you back. I think of failures as ‘learning adventures’ to reduce their negative impact. As Henry Ford said, ‘Failure gives us the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Its ok to be afraid, and its certainly okay to fail, and everybody gets rejected. Prepare for these inevitable knocks.
8. Pay attention. One of the fundamental attitudes you need to cultivate is constantly paying attention to whats going on around you. That may seem obvious, but its not just about focusing closely on what you’re doing. Sometimes when your concentrating on what you’re doing, you miss the important stuff. While you’re concentrating on the cracks in the sidewalk, you miss the rainbow. We are all oblivious at times, but the more you increase your attention to life, the more present you are, the more you’ll notice opportunities. Cultivate the ability to laser focus and scan your surroundings.
9. Continuously course-correct. We all make mistakes. The more honest we are, the more likely well avoid mistakes or recognise them immediately and be able to clean them up quickly. The more we clean up our messes, the less guilt, regret, or baggage we have, the lighter our load is, and the easier it becomes to rise above petty issues and see more clearly. Clearer vision results in better decisions.
10. Celebrate success. You took the risks, now celebrate the reward. What’s a compelling way to reward yourself? That’s your motivation. Celebration will make the work worth it.
power from passion
I am high on life.
It sounds corny I know, but it’s true.
I feel alive. My heart feels bigger and is brimming with gratitude.
All because I truly LOVE what I do.
I have just finished a group vision and goal coaching session. This is one of my biggest passions, and when expressed, a powerful energy flows through me. I feel like I can accomplish anything! (To read my post on living your passion click here)
I haven’t always felt this way. In fact, this is probably the first time in my life. And it’s solely the result of consistently focusing on what I love:
communication. inspiration. personal growth.
By focusing on these things, I have brought more of what I love into my life. It’s the law of attraction working.
For me, the barrier between work and play has been removed. I don’t live for the weekends, I no longer dread Monday or celebrate Friday. I have a true balance in my life. My time ebbs and flows effortlessly between my personal, professional and social lives.
To tell the truth, I never really believed it was possible to feel this way. A few years ago I thought that stress, anxiety and the pressure of the daily grind were just part of life. Nope, turns out it was just part of the wrong life for me.
I yearned for something more. I made some big changes. And with those changes opened up new possibilities.
I now know my purpose.
I know what I was put on this earth to do. I have found my happiness through teaching happiness.
Its taken many years for me to stand in this place, and I’m forever grateful for the winding journey. I dedicated a lot of time towards self exploration and enquiry. It was frustrating at times, wanting to know all the answers right NOW! I tried to remain patient, as I knew that with time what I was searching for would come organically.
I now know more about myself, and as a result feel more connected to who I truly am. To what’s authentically me.
So my advice to you – get out of your head, and listen to what your heart is saying.
Listen again . . . listen harder.
Your body intrinsically knows what it truly desires.
What do you LOVE to do? The more you pay attention to your heart – to your passions, to what excites you – the clearer the message will become.
It will become so loud that you can no longer ignore it, or push it aside for a rainy day.
It will force you to act upon it, and your life will never be the same again.
dream day recipe
You know the days when you’re floating on cloud 9?
Everything just falls into place and your day is full of all your favourite things. You have a lightness in your heart and a smile permanently planted on your face.
I’m so grateful for those days. For me, those days are what life is all about.
Maybe they are so special because of their rarity. But have you ever stopped to think that every day could be that way?
Next time you experience a dream day ask yourself – What made today so special? What activities did I do? Who was I with? What was my frame of mind?
With this precious information, you can make the recipe for a dream day any day!
My dream day recipe
1 handful of loved ones
lashings of outdoor adventures
2 cups of contribution
1 sweet sweat session
1 sprinkling of food shared together
1 gallon of laughter.
My best days are always spent connecting with people I love, getting outside the house and into nature, doing any kind of sweat date (yoga, hiking, a bike ride, or a swim in the ocean) and wrapping up the day sharing food and laughter together.
What things do you love? What’s authentically important to you? What are the things that bring a smile to your face?
With that in mind – What do you now need to make time for? What do you need to schedule? Who do you need to enrol?
Get to planning your days, weeks and even months – full of all of these things. Start to plant the seeds for many abundant dream day harvests!
Don’t leave your happiness to chance, to the whim of others, or to circumstance.
Make your happiness a priority. Today.
What is your dream day recipe?
Use your recipe to float on cloud 9 all weekend 🙂
law of attraction
What do you put your energy into?
What do you think about?
What do you tell yourself?
Choose them wisely, as whatever we direct our energy, attention and focus towards, we inevitably bring into our lives. Whether it’s good or bad, negative or positive.
If this sounds too ‘new age’ for you, stick with me for a minute . . .
The Law Of Attraction is the science of attracting more of what you want, and less of what you don’t want in your life.
“The law of attraction is the name given to the belief that “like attracts like” and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive or negative results. This belief is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from pure energy, and the belief that like energy attracts like energy.”
Everything is made up of energy, everything vibrates, and at every moment we are sending out positive or negative vibrations. The universe doesn’t know whether you want that or not, whether it’s good or bad for you, and it doesn’t care! All it picks up on is the vibration you emit, and it sends back a direct match.
How the law of attraction works:
words -> thoughts -> feelings/vibrations -> results
Based on this law, your results in life are a direct outcome of your choice of language.
Words begin in our mind first, long before we speak them – it’s that little voice in your head. You know the one. “What voice?” you may be thinking – THAT ONE!
When our words change, our thoughts, vibes and results change.
You can only ever omit one vibration at a time. It’s not physically possible to think two thoughts at once. Which means we have the power of choice.
Do you have people in your life that are constantly in a state of complaint? You know the drill ‘I hate my job’, ‘my partner just doesn’t get it’, ‘I have no money’. They tell the story of what they don’t want in their lives, yet rarely focus on what they do want.
The universe cannot work with what you don’t want in your life.
If you are dissatisfied with something, then focus on what you do want to happen. What does the desired result look like? How does it feel? What’s changed? Now those are things that the universe can work in your favour.
So if our language creates our reality, here are 3 words to eliminate from your vocabulary:
- “Don’t”
- “Not”
- “No”
The average person says these 150 times before noon!
We also have the power to push the reset button at any moment.
We can retrace backwards from the desired result to make it happen. Ask yourself – what is the desired result? Then work backwards from that – so what do I need to feel? What do I need to think? What do I need to say?
What vibrations will you choose to send out to the universe today?
Start today to tell yourself a better story. And believe it.
