I told my husband, “Garrett’s still passionate about this, and the work he’s done takes our message to a whole new level. He’s also got the energy to do the media appearances.  I don’t care what kind of recognition I get; what if we just put his name on The Jackrabbit Factor and let HIM be the one to get it out there?”

But after all three of us discussed it together, what ended up happening next was the LAST THING I expected…

Here’s the whole story:

If you didn’t already know, Portal to Genius is the sequel to The Jackrabbit Factor.

I learned so many things after releasing The Jackrabbit Factor in 2005 that if I was going to write Jackrabbit Factor over again, I’d change a few things – because my understanding of the laws of success and principles of prosperity had changed and expanded.

In fact, what I’ve learned leaves me 100% certain that I will never learn all there is to know in my lifetime – because just when I think I’ve got everything figured out, there’s inevitably something more for me to learn.

How exciting is that??

Nothing brings me greater joy than to learn, grow, live, and love more perfectly and completely – and each challenge I face reminds me that I still have a LONG way to go.

That’s good news – because it tells me that life will never need to be dull or boring.  What an adventure this is!!

So anyway, near the end of 2008, Trevan (my husband) and I visited with Garrett Gunderson at our home while he was in town on other business, and I was at a point in my life and business that I felt overwhelmed like I had simply taken on too much.  We knew that what Garrett had created in his business pretty much amounted to “Jackrabbit Factor 202″ – upper level training for those who embrace the foundational principles in our book.

As I struggled to juggle our business and raise our seven children, torn between the passion that drives me to share these principles as far and as wide as I possibly can, and the passion that drives me to shut the world out and just do something simple like clean a toilet, read a story to my pre-schooler, learn a new recipe, or organize our family photos… I searched for a way to effectively do both.

A Bit of Fun Trivia: When Bob Proctor mentored us in 2006, he emphatically said, “Leslie, you’re conflicted.  There’s conflict all over these goals of yours.”

“I know, I know!”  I replied, but I just didn’t know what to do about it.

To deal with my inner conflict, I ran in one direction until my attention was needed back in the other direction; and swinging one way and then the other, back and forth, back and forth, I made some progress.

Sharon Lechter (co-author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and my guest for an upcoming teleclass) put my mind at ease one evening when she essentially said that “balance is bunk”.  In other words, stop seeking perfect balance in your life, because just as when you are solidly balanced on both feet, you can get NOWHERE.  You’ve got to shift your balance back and forth, or you can never swing the other foot forward to advance in the journey!

That was a powerful visual for me.

So, back to Garrett… as he visited with us in our home, I was in a swing away from work and business.  As much as I loved what I was doing, I was burned out and needed to get back to greater focus on my family.

I was almost ready to say, “Garrett, you’re passionate about this stuff, and you’ve got the energy to do the media appearances, and the team to support the growth.  I don’t care what kind of recognition I get, what if we just put your name on The Jackrabbit Factor and let you be the one to get it out there?”

But what came out of that meeting was another idea.  Both Trevan and Garrett agreed it was time for a sequel.  I wasn’t sure I was ready to write another book – I always figured I’d wait until my two-year old was in college first.

But finally, (I’m not sure where I found the strength to agree to this, but…) we decided to team up and create the sequel together.  He knew I was overextended, so he encouraged me to utilize his team.  He even let me use his cabin to work on it – and his counsel and perspective was the most valuable piece of all.

So I took the lessons we were learning from Garrett and I set out to weave them into the sequel.  Garrett advised me on how the principles work and apply in the corporate world, and we both felt strongly that at every level, they really work best when you’re setting goals in alignment with your soul purpose: your combination of gifts, talents, and the unique contribution you were meant to make in this world.

I set an intention to complete the sequel before January 1, 2009 (less than 2 months later).  I did not relish the thought of spending two years like I did on the first book.  I’d give this one a solid two weeks in the middle of December where I would stay at my mother’s house and give it my complete focus.

Certainly, I thought, when a person is “in the flow”, ideas can come rapidly; and so long as I have any say in the matter, that’s how I plan it to go for me now.

Well, January 1st came and went.  I hit a major writer’s block.  Part of my frustration came because I knew I needed to write the book, but I had no clue how this one would end.  With The Jackrabbit Factor, I knew the end from the beginning.

But with this one, I had no ending in mind – I didn’t even know what would happen in the middle.  I just got started and then  opened my mind to see where it would take me.

Goal achievement is like that sometimes.  You may have a general idea of what you want to accomplish, but sometimes all you can do is get started, and have the faith that the way will reveal itself as you go.

At various intervals, I met with Garrett again to discuss the story and inevitably, when I was stuck, he saw with clarity what should happen next.  There were other times when he was assigned to work out the details of a certain chapter and he was the one to get stuck.

The unfolding of the story certainly didn’t come the way I originally planned.  But I learned it’s important to adapt and adjust according to the challenges and roadblocks that come.

At the time that I had writer’s block, in a quiet moment an impression hit me very clearly that said, “You cannot write the ending of this story, because you haven’t lived it yet.”

The impression took me by surprise, but I thought, “Okay, then.”  So I put the book aside and just lived.

There’s more I have to tell you about this, so I hope you’ll join us for our Virtual Book Tour with Alex Mandossian on March 10, 2010.

Get more info and sign up HERE

Some people call it a gut instinct thing, some people call it an inner voice, some call it the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of God.  Whatever you want to call it, it’s there for you, as you strive to live correct principles, and if you listen carefully, patiently, and especially if you’re willing to follow it when it comes.

The more you listen and follow, the more it will show up for you. It can take some practice recognizing it and trusting it, but it’s worth the effort.

If you’re experiencing information overload, it will be difficult to identify the right things to do, because all the “noise” will crowd out your own best adviser: that inner voice.

Need help sifting through all the information you don’t have time for, but which feels too important to put aside? Read my previous post called: Too Much Information?

One leader named Richard G. Scott has taught that those quiet thoughts often come when you are the most still, the most peaceful; so it’s important to keep a notepad and a pen next to your bed – because when the ideas come, they come quickly, quietly, and are just as quickly forgotten if you don’t write them down.

Here’s the story of the missionaries who followed his advice and received a strong impression to prepare, about 2-3 weeks before they experienced the 8.8 earthquake in Chile on February 27, 2010:

CLICK HERE to read about the missionaries in the Earthquake

If you’ve ever had an experience where you were glad payed attention to your “gut instinct,” share it below – we’d love to hear about it!

Be sure to sign up for the “Leslie Recommends…” newsletter.  When I spot a potentially profitable “rabbit”, I’ll let you know!  Then you can check it against your gut instinct to see if it’s the right next path for you.. or not.

These opportunities come through my friends or associates, and while I may believe in what they have to offer, it will be up to you to determine if it’s a good match for you.

Sign up using the form below:

(You may be required to CONFIRM YOUR REQUEST if you’re not already in my database – it will come from my address at “thoughtsalive.com”.)

To your success!

Leslie

PS. You’ll also receive the occasional ThoughtsAlive Ezine with counter-intuitive tips and tricks for thriving in today’s economy, but remember, it’s easy to cancel anytime. You can even cancel the “ThoughtsAlive Ezine” without affecting your subscription to the “Leslie Recommends…” newsletter, and vice versa.

"One Way"

Learning to consciously apply the Law of Attraction for a better life is just like learning a whole new language. At first, with every intention to communicate your desires perfectly, everyone makes mistakes. It’s happened to me: what was intended to communicate my desires clearly has often turned into something that I never intended at all.

But that’s okay… it’s part of the learning process. Think about it: Imagine going to a Spanish speaking country with nothing more than a rudimentary understanding of the Spanish language and an English/Spanish translation handbook. (I tell people all the time that I can speak Spanish: Ta-co Bell, Burrito, Chimichanga, Enchilada…)

So you arrive in the foreign country and climb into a taxicab. You open your book and intend to tell the driver, “I want to go someplace quiet and beautiful where I can feel the spirit of God.” So word by word, you search your translation guide and say, “Deseo ir en alguna parte tranquilidad y hermoso donde puedo sentir el alcohol del dios.”

The driver, who is a native of the country hears, “Desire to go beautiful tranquillity somewhere and where I can feel the alcohol of the God.”

Where do you think he will take you??

When you end up at a saloon, you might look at your book and throw it away saying, “This Spanish language doesn’t work!!!”

Do you know anyone who has been introduced to the principles of prosperity through “The Secret” or other tools, made an attempt to live according to the guidelines and then throw it all away because the “tool” didn’t work?

Maybe you’ve also thought about giving up.

Realize that the language of faith is just that: it is a language… of the spirit. It takes time to develop fluency. It takes time to understand the cause and effect of thinking, feeling, and acting in a certain way.

When things don’t go the way you expect them to go, accept the results and simply learn from them. Take the lessons that are available in every challenge and let them work in you so you can get closer to your goal the next time.

Don’t throw away the principles that you know deep down are true, even if the results you get aren’t what you intend them to be. When you end up at a saloon instead of a beautiful botanical garden, it wasn’t because the “book” or the “language” didn’t work! It actually worked perfectly.

Let me give you an example. For a long time I had a goal statement that said, “Money comes to me frequently and easily from multiple sources in increasing quantities on a continual basis. People want my products; God helps his children through me.”

After about a year of this I realized that the part, “People want my products” is exactly what I was getting. Thousands of people wanting something I have doesn’t exactly translate into revenue.

That’s when I changed my statement to more accurately reflect my true desire: “People buy my products; God helps his children through me.”

See the difference? It’s a language thing. We communicate our desires and receive what we ask for. “Ask and ye shall receive” is a true principle. But this language of faith that we are trying to learn comes from a culture that is part of our divine nature, but something we have temporarily forgotten. In God’s world, when we ask for increased faith, He doesn’t necessarily give us faith, but opportunity to excercise our faith. When we ask for financial freedom, He doesn’t give us piles of money but opportunity to develop a growing income.

The more fluent we become in His language of faith, the more peacefully we will grow toward accomplishing all we desire.

As explained in The Jackrabbit Factor, that is why a person who sets a goal to lose weight can very easily end up with more pounds than where they began. It is also why a person who focuses so much on getting out of debt may very well end up with more debt than they ever expected. (Read The Jackrabbit Factor for a deeper explanation on this topic.)

It’s all because we learn the language of intention one concept at a time.

I’m jumping the gun and risk looking foolish… but it’s brought us a few laughs and we’d like to share the fun.

(I’m just much too excited to get the Spanish version of Jackrabbit Factor out to a whole new group of people who couldn’t read it before!)

Please note: We’ve had the book professionally translated, but in order to give our Spanish readers a place to retrieve it, I had quickly create a special webpage just for them. Instead of waiting for the completion of the professional translation (which is in the works), I thought I’d just do what I could for NOW so that the site could be somewhat ready for visitors in time for THIS Ezine/Blog post.

Using the Altavista Babelfish online translation tool, I did my best. For those of you who know Spanish and would like to have a good laugh, come check it out! http://www.jackrabbitfactor.com/espanol.php

If you don’t speak Spanish, here’s an example of the lingual mess I created:

English: “Don’t worry, the book was translated professionally. We’re sorry for the translation errors on this webpage!”

Translated to: “No se preocupe, este libro fue traducido al español profesionalmente. ¡Estamos apesadumbrados para los errores de la traducción en este Web page!”

Which actually says something like: “One does not worry, this book was translated the Spanish professionally. We are grieved for the errors of the translation in this Web page!”

Even better than that, here are a few of my glowing testimonials. Wouldn’t these comments make YOU want to read my book? (LOL)

“Within a pair of weeks I received the promotion to the director and an important increase of the pay… To Harper”

“I tripled to my retired rent and my husband of its work of the day… To say the information is to change of the life would be an underestimation! Thanks! – Marnie”

“… we will double really to our rent the east next year. Thanks, Leslie, to share these principles… CREALMENTE WORK! What excites more to me, is than there is no limit to which we can reach in the future! Thanks again! It smooths H”

Alas, we are grieved for the “errors of the translation.” We believe they will be corrected within a day or two. Until then, feliz lectura! Please invite your Spanish-speaking friends to get a copy in their own language at no charge! http://www.jackrabbitfactor.com/espanol.php

Now, this whole experience has made me think about the principles of prosperity in a whole new light. Learning how to consciously utilize the Law of Attraction in my life has been like trying to learn a new language. An underdeveloped understanding of Spanish may be enough to get me to the bathroom in a Mexican restaurant south of the border, but it may not help me when I need to navigate my way through town in search of a post office.

An underdeveloped understanding of the Law of Attraction may help you accomplish something on one level, but a continued study of the “language” and practicing it often is what may be required to re-invent the most significant aspects of your life. Setting goals and applying the Laws of Success haphazardly can create confusion in the Universe, the same way an underdeveloped understanding of Spanish can get you unexpected or disappointing results with the taxi driver.

Keep learning, keep studying, and keep practicing!  You’ll get there!

What I’ve taken from those experiences has been amazing.  I’m grateful for every one of them, even though thinking right in the middle of it all was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life!

Now, before I doing the call, I told my subscribers:

I love the principles in Jackrabbit Factor.  They’ve helped me and thousands of people reach goals that were previously out of reach.

But I must confess – I’ve learned some hard lessons since I wrote the book, and I’m going to share them in a special teleclass.

Some of what you’ll hear has not been revealed anywhere else,  and I hope I don’t regret doing this.  I risk losing some credibility by choosing to be as transparent as I plan to be on this call.

However, if it helps YOU avoid some of the pain I’ve dealt with, then it will have been worth it.

So anyway, even though the date of this event has passed, I’ve made a recording of it available.

To listen to the recording, fill out the form below:

After you listen in, please give us your feedback below.  (It will help me know whether I should regret being that honest, or whether I should plan to do more of it in the future with other lessons we’ve learned!)

Nearly twenty years ago, my husband and I sat with a mentor who taught us many of the things that were integrated into The Jackrabbit Factor.  In fact, it was one simple analogy that eventually turned into the whole book and ultimately its sequel, Portal to Genius.

At the time he shared it with us, my husband and I were struggling to be entrepreneurs, and had difficulty explaining why we were doing what we were doing.  We kept odd hours, we raced here and there to get things done, which, at the time, weren’t really producing anything.  (Actually, that’s not entirely true… we could pretty well predict about $30/month in revenue, but it was costing us hundreds a month to produce it.)

But we did what we did because we could see a bigger picture.  We could see its long-term potential, and that vision of possibility is what kept us going.

His brief but profound analogy went something like this:

“Have you ever seen a dog chasing a rabbit?”

I didn’t think I ever had, but I was able to imagine it.

He continued, “What if you couldn’t see the rabbit?  What would you think of the dog?”

“I’d think he was crazy.”

“That’s right.  So when people think you’re crazy doing what you do, don’t let it get to you.  They just don’t see your rabbit.”

~~~~~

So to illustrate, I’d like to show you someone else chasing a rabbit.  See if YOU think he’s crazy:

The following pictures were taken by Hans van de Vorst from the Netherlands at the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer in the photos is unknown.

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary rock in the Grand Canyon. The canyon’s depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe. Watching this guy on his thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself 3 questions:

1. How did he climb that rock?

2. Why not take that sunset picture from that rock to the right, which is perfectly safe?

3. How will he get back?

After the sun set behind the canyon’s horizon he packed his things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself for the jump. This took about 2 minutes. At that point he had the full attention of the crowd.

This is the point of no return. After that, he jumped on his thong sandals… The canyon’s depth is 900 meters (3,000 feet) here.

Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.

We’ve come to the end of this story. Look carefully at the photographer. He has a camera, a tripod and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand. Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem. He lands low on his flip flops, both his right hand and right foot slip away…. At that moment I take this shot. He pushes his body against the rock. He waits for a few seconds, throws his stuff on the rock, climbs and walks away. Presumably to a bathroom to change his shorts.

We may never know why this photographer did what he did.  I’d like to see the picture of the view he valued that much.

Likewise, people around you may never understand why you do what you do.  But it doesn’t matter – don’t let it bother you.  They just don’t see your rabbit.

Follow-up to this post:

One of my subscribers knew more about this scenario than I did (thanks, Monique!) and pointed out that this crazy rabbit-hunter had more knowledge than we do as onlookers.  There is always another way to look at something – and our perspective or paradigms will influence the way we feel about it.

If you are the rabbit-chaser, you have more knowledge about what you’re doing than those who watch you, and you’ll naturally feel differently than they do about it.

Avid rabbit-chaser regularly do things that have a greater perceived danger than is actually present.

View the final picture in this story HERE.

…And it STILL isn’t open.  Here’s why:

I created the curriculum and have been managing additions to it, while my husband (who, in his previous life worked in the IT department for Universal Studios) has been heading up the site structure and development.

Many times, over the past six months, the developers asked how certain pieces should be handled; and not only did I answer with vague generalities; but (to everyone’s dismay), I also quite often changed my mind.

Even worse, sometimes my answer was, “Oh, whatever you think is best.”

Well, six months later – having spent tens of thousands of dollars more than expected – we are looking back on this project, and see that we’re still not ready to open because our developers have been required to work on a moving target.

Putting the original June 2009 date to the goal was ineffective, because the target had not been clearly and perfectly identified.

During those months since June, the site became intricately developed; but every time we thought it was nearly done, we’d see that it wasn’t quite right and needed to be reworked.

My problem was that I didn’t know well enough – right from the beginning – what I wanted.  I didn’t know how it SHOULD be.  All I had was a general idea; and I guess I just took it for granted that the developers would just figure it all out for me.

(I probably assumed they could just read my mind and see the vision I had without my spelling it out in detail.)

Ultimately, after going in circles one too many times, the developers finally INSISTED we give them a fully-developed ’spec’.

A “spec” is a document that specifies in absolute detail, every single aspect of what the site needs to be able to do, and precisely how it’s supposed to look and behave under every possible user action.  It’s the blueprint for the website.

After spending more than a year creating the curriculum, I was frustrated that I’d have to help create a ’spec’.  I wanted to say, “I already created the materials; can’t you all just figure it out?”

But with only vague directions, and different perceptions and approaches between the developers, problems kept cropping up.  Beta testers were losing data, new registrants were finding themselves trapped in frustrating loops, and just this week we finally realized that the whole system had been built in the wrong environment, causing many of the problems.

So here’s the point of my confession.  We’ve been teaching people for years the importance of putting goals in writing, with detail.

And to be honest, I have successfully achieved many goals without going to the trouble.  It’s tedious work to put it in writing, and I don’t enjoy taking the time.  But this experience taught me how much more quickly, and more smoothly (and less expensively) goals can be achieved if you do take the time to create a ’spec’.

There’s no question we’ll get the school opened eventually.  We’ll muscle it through, one way or another; but we’ll be more efficient, and our developers will be better utilized if we don’t leave so many variables up to chance.

So what about you and your goals?

• Are you vague, or are you perfectly clear about what you’re pursuing right now?
• Do you change your mind often?
• Do you sit back undecided and say, “Oh, whatever is best“?

The truth is, that what’s best is that you choose excellence.  Excellence doesn’t happen TO YOU.  You’ve got to step forward and initiate the change you keep wishing for.  Life provides hardships and challenges so that you’ll wake up and start doing the uncomfortable things that help you become your best self.  That’s why the hardships are a gift.  The painful site delays and setbacks have been a gift, to teach us this important lesson.

So, if you care about the outcome of your goal, and if you care about how quickly and inexpensively it is realized, then take  responsibility for your life and write a ’spec’.  Write your goals in detail, as though you were describing exactly how the finished project (your life) will look when it’s done.

Imagine you have a ‘developer’ somewhere who is busily working for you, arranging the right people and opportunities for every one of your objectives.  But every time you change your mind, he has to drop everything and start all over.  If you’re unclear, then even if you don’t change your mind, it’s almost guaranteed that what shows up will be different than what you really meant.

I can say that from personal experience!

(By the way, I’ve never physically met the developers we’ve been working with recently; so in many ways, they are like the ‘unseen help’ that comes to your aid when you set a goal.)

So, create that well-documented ’spec’.  Or if you’re not a techie, maybe it’s easier to imagine that you have some kind of an angelic ‘foreman’ waiting for your blueprint.

Sure, I believe you could still achieve almost any kind of goal without a blueprint or a ’spec’; but the time, energy, and money lost from meandering and course-correcting can easily set you back so far that you may run out of steam entirely before the dream is realized. 

That’s the risk you take when you do not put in writing the things you need and want with detail.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that God and the Universe will ‘figure it all out’ for you.  In that case, you may end up meandering and course-correcting a lot more than necessary, because you’ve been given free agency to choose the good causes in which you choose to be anxiously engaged.  Heavenly ‘help’ is available to you as soon as you’re ready to enlist it.  But it won’t impose upon you.

Decide what you want, and then ask clearly and in faith for the assistance you need.

Don’t be paralyzed by waiting to know exactly what your goals ’should’ be.  If you think about what you want, and make a decision firmly and resolutely to go for it without hesitation, then if for some reason it’s wrong, you’ll find out soon enough and have sufficient momentum to make the proper course correction in time.

Now, join me in the 12-week FTMF home study program, where I’ll help you create a powerful goal statement and show you step-by-step how to make sure the ‘unseen help’ is activated on your behalf.  Our inventory is dwindling, and when this edition runs out, the new edition will NOT include my personal assistance at the mid-term.  So if you want my personal attention on YOUR goal, be sure to get one of the versions we have in stock before they’re all gone!

For more information, visit www.prosperyourfamily.com

Are you:

Someone who loves working with children – and wants to make a difference in their lives?

Are you a good singer or dancer? (Acting experience is a plus… but not the defining attribute of a successful director)

Talent Team performs in Ireland

Have you had teaching experience of some sort – and like to teach?

Do you want to teach a program that has a proven success ‘method’ and be part of a team? Are you teachable (so you can learn the system) and do you want to make money?

Talent Team performs in New York

The directors who follow the program should be able to make $2,000 – $8,000 per month (not gross but net) part time!

The business opportunity requires an investment to get started – but you should be able to pay yourself back within the first semester – if not by then – definitely by the second semester (depends on how many students you have, how many days you teach etc).

Talent Team performs in California

It also requires a minimum of a 5 year commitment to your business.

If you are interested, contact Nancy Genys at ngenys @ gmail.com (no spaces) with your name and email for more information.

Talent Team performs in England

With nine people in the household, that is no small task – especially when (at the time) the laundry room had no folding tables, and no floor space unless you stepped on the piles of clothing waiting to be processed.

(We just remodeled to remedy the problem, but I thought you should have a visual of what my son was up against.)

While he was at school, and realizing that he was too busy to keep up on all of it, I helped fold and put things away.  Occasionally, I’d notice an article of clothing that didn’t look quite right.  There were swirly designs on certain shirts, and faded spots on certain pants.

I asked him, “Honey, are you using bleach on the colors?”

“No, mom; I’m only using detergent.”

I thought, “That’s really strange.  Maybe our washer is acting up again; maybe it’s holding bleach from previous white loads and releasing it into the colored loads.”

Finally on the last day of his assignment, he pulled out one of his favorite shirts.  It was navy, but the sleeves were now light brown.

“What is going on?!  That was one of my favorite shirts!”

“Are you sure you’re not using bleach?”

He pulled me into the laundry room and showed me the detergent.  Or, at least what he thought was detergent.  Sure enough, it was bleach.

He thought the loads would run better if he used the liquid detergent instead of the powder.  However, as he finally realized to his horror: it was not liquid detergent after all.

He had washed an entire week’s worth of laundry for nine people in nothing but bleach!

(No wonder they didn’t have that springtime-fresh smell!)

Here’s what I gained from that experience – besides a few new items of clothing – I noticed that his blunder didn’t get his attention until something meaningful to HIM was affected.

The same goes for our lives and the laws of success.

We might go around violating certain principles, possibly even unintentionally causing pain for those around us, but until our blunders affect something meaningful to US, we may not care or pay any attention.

However, life has a way of getting our attention, and putting us in a position to where we start asking the right questions.

But how much better would it be to remain in learning mode – discovering ALL the principles of prosperity, and practice living by them, even when things are going pretty well, so that we might avoid personal catastrophes meant to teach us the lessons we may be unknowingly disregarding?

Pay attention when that inner voice speaks up and suggests there may be something more to learn.

If it comes and you disregard it, God just may allow you to lose your shirt, so that he can get your attention and so you’ll start asking the right questions.  Sometimes that’s what it takes in order for you to be receptive to the simple adjustment He hopes you’ll make, so that you can live life a little more abundantly.

I think we’re given hints first, like when I asked my son if he was doing something wrong.  If we don’t pick up on the hints life sends our way, then we’re on a collision course with an experience that will really get our attention – like when my son finally ruined one of his own favorite shirts.

Keep learning – stay open.  I’d like to help you avoid unnecessary pain!

http://www.prosperyourfamily.com

There are a lot of success gurus out there, and I have to admit I don’t really see myself as one of them. I consider myself an ordinary person who tries her best to do the right things, but still makes mistakes just like anyone else. Perhaps one difference between me and other people is that I publicly share the lessons I’ve learned (and have yet to learn) along the way.

(Thank you for coming along on my journey through life… it’s nice to have your company!)

So what’s the difference between me and the other “gurus”?

Well, one difference has to do with my perspective on human empowerment.

While some gurus teach that you are the ultimate master of your own life, and that you can have, do, and be whatever you want, and that you deserve to have everything life has to offer… my take on it is similar, but different enough that I think it’s worth bringing up.

Some gurus will tell you that you deserve it all.

That’s reasonable, but realize this: They tell you that so you’ll overcome the common mindset that you don’t deserve abundance.

In that light, it’s a good philosophy. But it’s incomplete.

Yes, we must overcome the feeling that we are unworthy or undeserving of success… but the flip side of that is NOT that we are entitled to it, or automatically deserving of anything.

The antidote for feeling unworthy or undeserving (from my perspective) is to believe that the gap between who I am, and my potential, can be bridged when I lean on the power of my Creator.

Frankly, I “deserve” nothing because I fall so short of living the principles perfectly. But gratefully, I’ve also learned that I don’t have to be perfect to enjoy the blessings, I just need to recognize my shortcomings, acknowledge them, and rely on God to make up the difference.

Think about it: if we’re really talking about Universal Law, and if it’s as absolute as the term “law” would indicate, then you would have to maintain a perfectly positive, expectant attitude ALL the time or the law of attraction wouldn’t work. Period.

Yet, while nobody keeps their thoughts perfectly (and I mean perfectly) positive at all times, goals are still achieved; victories are still won.

How do you explain that?

I explain it this way: God has provided a way for the demands of the law to be satisfied, but it requires honest effort to be obedient to the law, while I do my best to bounce back into right thinking as soon as I can, and having humility – humility which is demonstrated by acknowledging the role of, and my need for, a higher power in the delivery process, and hoping that God will make up the difference where I fall short when I trust him.

It takes faith to believe that my Creator can and will help – but that’s the price I pay… The price is not to achieve perfect, unfailing obedience to all the laws of success every moment of every day. The price I pay is to do my best, and have faith in God that he’ll line things up for me, anyway.

The key is unwavering faith. Not unwavering faith in oneself, not unwavering faith in the laws (because that would mean nothing but predictable failure, from imperfect obedience to an absolute law), but rather: unwavering faith in God.

So, do you subscribe to the philosophy that you ALONE are powerful enough to make your life the way you want it? It IS a better philosophy than believing that you are powerless to change anything…

But faith in yourself alone can only get you so far. Faith in a divine Creator takes you the rest of the way. In many ways it can be harder to do, but when you get into the groove of it, it’s definitely the easier of the two options.

Some gurus will tell you that you’re the creator of ALL that comes to you. I see myself as a CO-creator with God. It’s a partnership. Yes, I am capable of original thought, and I am even capable of creating circumstances in my life with some independence.

But I’ve also learned (the hard way) that when I take the independent approach, and get what I want, I find out that it may not have been the wisest thing to ask for.

(Be careful what you pray for, as they say, because you might just get it.)

Yes, I’ve seen astonishing results from applying the laws of success and utilizing the power of intention. But I’ve seen even better results when I first make the effort to determine whether my desire is in alignment with God’s divine plan. When I know with certainty that I am in alignment, it’s infinitely easier to have the faith required while I wait for the necessary elements to line up.

You might wonder, “What if what God wants for me is less wonderful than what I want for myself?”

I feel assured that we cannot possibly imagine the unbelievable rewards that are available for us; rewards that are beyond our comprehension.

We’re like the child who wants nothing more than the plastic toy in the store window, while our parents know that the joy will be short lived, and that life has much deeper joys to be experienced.

So it is with us. Trust that the object of your desire may be, relatively speaking, childish in comparison to the rewards that are available to us. Check with the parent to see, “Is this something that will bring me all the happiness I’m capable of experiencing?”

True, you can use the laws of success to get what you want, apparently without God, sometimes with amazing ease. And using the laws in alignment with God’s purposes often puts you first through tougher challenges than by going independent…

That’s because He’s a good parent. He’s smart enough to let you first grow into the person capable of appreciating the reward when it finally comes.

Don’t begrudge the challenge that shows up when you set a goal. Embrace it with gratitude because it’s there to shape you into the person who will be able to fully appreciate the reward you seek.

Haven’t you heard that you don’t attract what you want, you attract what you are? How else do you think you change who you ARE, without opportunities to grow through opposition?

Yes, I am the captain of my soul; I am a creative being, capable of original thought, and able to build a better life for myself… no matter who I am, or where I come from.

But without God I am nothing.

Before you get all up in arms about that, think about it: I don’t dictate whether I have the breath of life in me today or not; it could literally be gone in an instant. (Try attracting another breath with your positive attitude when God shuts off the power fueling your life.)

You may not already have everything you want, but you HAVE been granted another breath, at least. How much say did you have in that matter?

It’s a gift worth acknowledging. I look at all I receive as a gift, even when I’ve worked my tail off for it.

So in summary, I am constantly reminded by my weaknesses how dependent I am on that higher power for strength. I rely on unseen help for the guidance I need, which leads me to the necessary resources to accomplish the goals I have. Call it the law of attraction, call it guidance, call it your subconscious, call it whatever you want. The point is, there’s something bigger than all of us that helps us along.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been successful at achieving a goal with an attitude that I “deserved” it or was “entitled” to it. I think this is the reason why:

Sometimes when one of my own children comes to me with a request, and s/he approaches me with an entitlement mentality, I am more inclined to deny the request. (What makes me think a cocky expectation of a goal achieved is what will impress my Creator?)

But when my child comes to me with gratitude for what they already have, and make the request for something additional, sometimes I’ll test them with, “What if I say no?”

If their response is, “That would be okay…” then I usually freely deliver.

When their response is anything resembling a tantrum, I hold it back. I can’t reward the ingratitude. Even if I want them to have it, I can’t deliver, lest they conclude it was their tantrum that did the trick.

It’s all just food for thought:

How are YOU asking Life for what you want? With an entitlement mentality, a tantrum, or with gratitude?

Are you going to be okay if it never comes? I think you’ll find that sometimes it only finally arrives after you’ve learned to live in genuine peace and happiness without it.  My newest book, Portal to Genius helps you understand this better in a story form.

Wow, that post was longer than I intended. Sorry about that.

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