If you haven't noticed, I'm huge fan of Abraham Hicks, and I recently stumbled across a video titled "How to Identify Your Talent." (Click here to watch the video.) The woman in the hot seat asked, "How do I begin to identify which God-given talent I should focus on in order to fulfill my purpose here."
Abraham Hicks: "Follow the fun trail."
And if you have multiple fun trails... "Follow the funnest trail."
There is less resistance and more momentum when you are surrounded by what you enjoy. And that general sense of joy will help deliver more of what you want. Most importantly, you will experience more fun and happiness along the way. The actual receiving of what we want occurs in such small proportions in relation to our time spent on the journey to get there that it is essential that we learn to love our journeys to get the most of out of life!
We hear all the time that we should follow our passions. Do what you love. And there is absolute truth in this. If we do what we love, then our work is not work; it is a playful journey of experiences. Yet there is something more to this, and I challenge you to take ownership of this from both ends.
I do believe we are at our best when we are doing what we love. And I also suggest that we need to learn to love where we are RIGHT NOW to help us get what we want. If we chase whatever it is that we want without changing our attitudes and beliefs about where we are right now, we are setting ourselves up to have a life that won't be entirely satisfying until we attain our goals. That perfect job that you are madly in love with...the dream home...the loving sensitive spouse...they are all components of life that are OUT THERE.. that which you do not have now. If you can learn to create happiness where you are now, then not only will you have more enjoyment in your life immediately, you will also have less resistance and you will be aligned with your "bigger dream" of where you want to go.
For example:
In 2008, I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace seminar. We had to write our #1 goal in the top of our notebook. At the time I was living in Knoxville, TN and was in graduate school while working as a manager for a fitness company. My goal was "own a house on the cliffs of Malibu." It still is. I have had many love affairs with my Malibu house, and have worked so hard to manifest it (too much efforting, perhaps!). I have made vision boards, searched online for listings, wrote about how the house feels, had dreams about it, found local restaurants I love, and recently started a Sunday dinner routine by the beach in Malibu (I now live in southern California!). And yet despite doing all of these tasks, I still did not feel like I was truly any closer to my house. I recently got a hit (my lingo for an inspired action) to start designing the interior of the house, so I reached out to a family friend who is an interior designer and asked him what his process is with clients before they start renovating homes. He said, "start scrapbooking any images you like." And so that is exactly what I did. And yesterday, while scrapbooking for the second time, I got another hit: make your apartment feel like your Malibu beach home."
And then I got it.
I've been studying happiness and positive psychology for a large majority of my life in different ways, and recently I've consistently come across research that states that the quickest path to happiness is finding love, enjoyment, appreciation and gratitude in where we are RIGHT NOW. And this is a very specific example of what the Universe was telling me. "Amy, do not think that you will feel better when you get your house in Malibu. Feel better RIGHT NOW." I looked around my apartment and realized that many of the types of furnishings that are in my clippings are actually sitting in my living space RIGHT NOW. They need some straightening up, rearranging, and perhaps I can add a few other items to finish my look. But the truth is, the feeling of that relaxing, comfy, family-oriented home is RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW. And if I live in that satisfaction and savor the good feelings, Law of Attraction states that more of it will come.
Aha! Well done, Universe.
And the same goes for finding a dream job. Manifesting what you want requires you to feel good (so get happy anyway you can), and it also requires inspired action. I think many of us get stuck because we feel really excited about a particular direction or dream job, but we haven't the faintest idea of what action to take toward making it happen. So instead we stay where we are, feeling stuck and unhappy.
Go back to the basics. Find enjoyment where you are. One of the best steps you can take when you don't know where to go is to find happiness exactly where you are. There is certainly something that you like about your current job, and it is your responsibility to find and remember that. Focus on that and only that. Be determined to make your experience with your job the best one you possibly can, and go after that mission day in and day out until your momentum shifts. And I promise you, it will. Beliefs are just thoughts that you think over and over again, so if you have a belief that your job is terrible, you can change that. It takes practice and patience, but you can absolutely create a different belief that your job is wonderful and satisfying by seeking positive thoughts and reinforcing them throughout the day. Remember with Law of Attraction, like attracts like. So if you can create happiness and job satisfaction where you are, then more of it will come. Little doors will begin to open up and you will be met with inspiration to take the smallest of steps to move you in the direction you want to go. You may run into a new contact in the field that you'd like to change careers. You may run across a job posting and find you know someone in that company. Or you may have a moment of clarity in which you suddenly know what you want to do and have an exciting step to take. The opportunities are endless.
So in sum, do what you love, and love where you are. You will create happiness where you are immediately, and will develop momentum to take you in the direction that you want to head.
Cheers,
Amy
Monday, July 28, 2014
Saturday, July 19, 2014
4 Lessons from NTC
What I learned from my two days on Nike campus:
1. Take care of your people, and they will take care of you. I have never felt so accommodated, appreciated and welcomed by any other organization in my life as I did this week by Nike at Nike Training Camp. When you experience great service, you cannot help but want to be of service to others. The energy and inspiration that I experienced at NTC was indescribable, and I will forever be changed by it.
2. When you have a goal, take a step of any size toward it. Linear paths to where we want to go are rare. Be comfortable taking two steps to the right, as long as they are accompanied by one step forward. Just keep moving. The path to your dream does not need to be a straight line, and it most certainly will never end up exactly how you planned it. Expect that, and embrace it. And remember that any step is a productive step. Taking no step leaves you exactly where you are, and no one ever won a race at the start line.
3. Knowing what you don't want clarifies what you do want. So those steps to the right---they help you figure out that you want to go forward next. Life is full of experiences that provide us feedback. So stop that silly talk about failures and successes. Every single experience has value and will take you toward your dream if you are willing to learn from it. Time well spent.
4. Always be yourself. You should be joyously celebrated throughout your life, and that starts each day when you look in the mirror. Know who you are, and be you without abandon. People crave and respond to authenticity, and there is a reason that there is only one of you in the world. Own it.
A huge thank you to Geralyn Coopersmith and her Nike team, Michol Dalcourt, Jason Brown and Julz Arney for sharing your thoughts and experiences that resonated with me. And to the stranger who sat next to me on the flight home--you inspired me to take action and believe in myself, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
xoxo,
ALL
1. Take care of your people, and they will take care of you. I have never felt so accommodated, appreciated and welcomed by any other organization in my life as I did this week by Nike at Nike Training Camp. When you experience great service, you cannot help but want to be of service to others. The energy and inspiration that I experienced at NTC was indescribable, and I will forever be changed by it.
2. When you have a goal, take a step of any size toward it. Linear paths to where we want to go are rare. Be comfortable taking two steps to the right, as long as they are accompanied by one step forward. Just keep moving. The path to your dream does not need to be a straight line, and it most certainly will never end up exactly how you planned it. Expect that, and embrace it. And remember that any step is a productive step. Taking no step leaves you exactly where you are, and no one ever won a race at the start line.
3. Knowing what you don't want clarifies what you do want. So those steps to the right---they help you figure out that you want to go forward next. Life is full of experiences that provide us feedback. So stop that silly talk about failures and successes. Every single experience has value and will take you toward your dream if you are willing to learn from it. Time well spent.
4. Always be yourself. You should be joyously celebrated throughout your life, and that starts each day when you look in the mirror. Know who you are, and be you without abandon. People crave and respond to authenticity, and there is a reason that there is only one of you in the world. Own it.
A huge thank you to Geralyn Coopersmith and her Nike team, Michol Dalcourt, Jason Brown and Julz Arney for sharing your thoughts and experiences that resonated with me. And to the stranger who sat next to me on the flight home--you inspired me to take action and believe in myself, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
xoxo,
ALL
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