Life Choices - What would You do Different?

Looking back over my life with all of the different experiences I've had and the choices I've made, I ask myself: "Is there anything I would have done differently?" Is there anything I would like to change?"

My answer - Absolutely not!

Every choice I made - every experience I've had has made me the person I am today. And I like me.

By no means was my life a piece of cake. I did not live a sheltered life where everything was all rosie. I've had my share of what most would consider "bad" decisions and experiences regarding relationships, finances and I'm sure many other areas that just aren't coming to my mind right now.

With each "bad" experience came growth - I learned something new or learned something again. So looking back there were no "bad" experiences - it was a opportunity for me to grow and learn (even though it didn't feel very good at the time).

Looking back at your own life do you see that you are not the same person you were 5, 10, or 20 years ago?
Do you see your growth, the lessons you've learned?

There are no mistakes so bad that they cannot be fixed.
There are no problems so bad that they cannot be solved.
There are no bad experiences - It's all about growing and learning

Image of God - What does that mean to me?

I don't know about you but I really never understood the concept of being made in the Image of God until recently. I started asking myself some questions about who I am and who God is. I learned a lot about God in church but I didn't believe everything I heard there. Some things just didn't feel right to me - which I believe caused some confusion with in me. In order to understand who I am, I needed to understand who God is - and I needed to know at a deeper level.

What I know about God
God is Omnipresence - present everywhere and in everything.
God is Omniscience - all knowing, knows everything.
God is Omnipotence - all powerful, capable of doing absolutely anything, without limits.

Would you agree with this view of God? Would you consider this as a accurate picture of who God is? Now doesn't it stand to reason that if you and I were made in the Image of God, that this is also who you are, who I am?

If you don't agree that's ok. I don't expect anyone to believe just because someone says so. Everyone need to seek their own truth. Ask and you shall receive.

Who are you, really? Dig deep and find your truth.

Power With In

You have more power with in you than you could ever imagine. You are always creating and growing even when you do not realize you are doing so.

What is this Power With In?
It is the power of your thoughts. It is what you think about yourself and the world you live in. What you are thinking you are getting - always. This power you have has two parts; one part is what you think and the other part are the emotions. You cannot separate the two - there is always a emotion that you associate with any given thought you think.

Using the Power With In
You can have a positive fulfilling life - just "think" it the way you want it. If you do not like something you are experiencing then change what you are thing about it or think about something that you do like. Always look for the positive - something that makes you happy.

Use your Power With In wisely - choose your thoughts carefully.

Sylvia Browne - Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Minnesota

I am very excited because Pete and I will be at the Sylvia Browne event this Sunday at Treasure Island Resort and Casino here in Minnesota.

I've wanted to see Sylvia Browne in person since seeing her on the Monte Williams Show. She has such a down to earth way of speaking which I love - blunt and to the point. So when Pete told me she was in town we got tickets right away.

Ask and you shall receive!!

Qualities of a Best Friend - The Basics for Marriage?

I mentioned in my previous post that my husband Pete is my best friend. That got me thinking about how others would answer. If you were asked the question, "Who is your best friend?" What would you say? What would your answer be?

I have a feeling that not many people would say that it was their spouse or significant other. But why wouldn't you? Why didn't you? Wouldn't the person that you chose to spend the rest of your life with be your best friend?

What is it about your best friend that is different? What qualities do they have that has brought them to that special place in you life? They now hold that special title of "Best Friend", that you so graciously have given to them.

Maybe you don't have a best friend - but if you did, what would you want them to be like? Think about this for a moment, ponder it for a while.

If I was making a list of some requirements I wanted in a best friend it would look something like this:

• Someone I can trust
• Someone who is honest
• Someone I can speak to freely
• Have similar interests
• Makes me laugh
• Encourages me

 These are just a few qualities I wanted in my best friend. What are your requirements? What do you want in your best friend? What ever they are I'm thinking that these should also be your basic requirements in all your relationships - especially in a long term relationship. After all, if your planning on spending the rest of your life with someone you should be happy in every area of that relationship.

I'll ask you again:
"Who is your Best Friend?"

Best Friends

I have the perfect best friend in all of the world!

He listens to me every time I need to vent and blow off steam.

I share my most intimate thoughts and ideas with him and he is always encouraging and supportive.

We have the most entertaining and deep conversations - we may not always agree with each other, but that's ok.

He has never tried to change me - he likes me just the way I am.

I enjoy being around him every moment of every day - I am never bored.

We laugh and dance.

Oh and by the way, my best friends name is Pete and we've been married for 12 years.
And when I look into his eyes and see his smile I know that he loves me - just the way I am.

Financial Freedom through Cost per Action Marketing

With the current state of the economy, its not surprising that more and more people are turning to the internet in hopes of finding something that would help ease their financial burden and perhaps provide them with the financial freedom that they so desire. There are many opportunities available online through which you can earn some extra cash. In fact, there are some that’s lucrative enough to provide a person with a steady income. Among the most popular ways of making money online is affiliate marketing. A lot of people have tried it and a good number of those people actually became successful with it. Now, there are different types of affiliate marketing to choose from and in this article, Ill discuss cost per action and how it can provide you with a steady stream of income to help lessen the burden of the bills you have to pay and perhaps help you build a business that would hopefully provide you with the financial freedom you want in the future. Now, most affiliate marketing programs would require you to generate a lead and subsequently get that “lead” to purchase something from your affiliate business. For some, this can be done easily but this isn’t always the case. Especially right now since most people have gotten very careful about the way they spend their money. It’s quite hard to get them to part with their hard earned cash. Good news is that with CPA or cost per action marketing, you need not worry about this.

Why? Because with CPA, all you have to do is generate leads and instead of getting them to buy something, you would only have to get them to submit their email address or fill out a form or answer a survey. All that’s required of them is some kind of information. Of course, with a little nudge from you and some good recommendation, this is much easier to do. Information is much easier to give out than money; it’s a very simple logic. Now, there are a variety of CPA marketing programs from which you can choose. You can take your pick from various health products, makeup, wellness products and so on. Just choose the ones that prefer and that you have some kind of knowledge about. This would make writing about it much easier, trust me.

As for the payout, don’t belittle the few dollars that you’ll probably earn your first time in the “game”. Rates can be anywhere from $1-$25 and above. The rates just get higher according to the amount of information the company needs. Basically, the more info they need, the higher your payout would be. So, would I recommend that you try this program out if you are looking for financial freedom? Yes, I do. It’s simple, easy to understand and is lucrative enough to provide you with an extra source of income. Remember that the more effort you put in, the more you’ll earn. After all, financial freedom doesn’t just drop from the heavens and onto your lap. It’s something that you work towards and what better way to do that than to take advantage of the many CPA opportunities available? Do give it a try today.

CPA – Make Money Online

I’m sure you’ve already heard about the different opportunities available to you when it comes to making money online. If you have heard or perhaps even tried affiliate marketing then I’m quite sure that you have also heard about CPA or cost per action programs. In a way, CPA is really the easiest and fastest way to earn money online. Typically when one talks about affiliate marketing the first thing that comes to mind would be the commission that you can earn by leading people to your affiliate business’ website and subsequently convincing them to purchase something from them. This sounds like an easy enough process, right? There is, however, a much easier way to generate profits online and that is through cost per action programs. But before we delve deeper into how cost per action program functions, let’s talk about what it is exactly. I’m sure you’re familiar with the most common kind of affiliate marketing which is pay per sell where you basically receive commission for every sale you make for your affiliate business. Cost per action works in a similar fashion except for the fact that instead of getting commissions for sales, you get paid for every person you can get to submit their email address or fill out a form or survey.

Now, let’s talk about CPA networks. These are basically directory of various services and products currently offered by companies who are looking for people to generate leads for them. Joining a cost per action network would provide you with access to these offers and you can then choose according to your preferences. The best bit about joining one of these networks is that you can be sure that you get paid for the leads that you are able to generate for the company behind the program. You can also choose between a variety of different programs which can be anything from health related products, clothing surveys, newsletters and so on. As for the payment itself, the company might choose to pay per visit or for every unique lead you are able to generate. The rates can go from $1-$25 or even higher depending on the amount of information the company would require from a certain lead.

Now, what makes CPA the easier way to make money online when compared to other forms of affiliate marketing? Well, for starters, it doesn’t require any sort of purchase in order for you to make money. Unlike commissions which you receive whenever you get someone to purchase something from your affiliate’s website. Let’s face it, people are more careful about the way they spend their money these days and getting them to part with their hard earned cash can be very, very tricky even with the promise of a discount or some kind of freebie when they do decide to purchase something. On the other hand, getting people to provide information such as their email addresses or answers to a survey is a much easier task to achieve. Once they provided everything that the affiliate company need’s you get your payout. It’s that simple. So do give it a try and who knows, you just might make a killing with it.

Affiliate Marketing – Cost Per Action Programs 411

These days, more and more people are looking for ways to earn extra money. I suppose I can assume that you are among these people since you are reading this article. Well, I’ll make it worth your time and let you in on something that just might give you that extra source of income that you need. When it comes to making money online, there are plenty of choices. However, there is one that’ slowly climbing up the ladder and proving itself to be one of the easiest and fastest ways to make a profit online. What am I talking about? Well, I’m talking about the various affiliate marketing programs that are part of the cost per action network which you’ll be able to find online. Affiliate marketing, as I’m sure you are already aware of is one of the most popular ways of generating an income online but not many people know about cost per action programs. Cost per action is basically a vehicle for advertising by which a business can create simple offers which only require very little from the user or the person reading it. This could be anything from something as simple as submitting their email addresses in exchange for a discount or providing answers to a survey in exchange for a free sample and so on. How does this relate to affiliate marketing? Well, affiliates would make a commission for every lead or sign up that they get from a user.

Still don’t get it? Here’s a scenario to help you understand better. Imagine that you are an advertiser and you want to generate quick and efficient leads for your business. You can achieve this by hiring a CPA or cost per action network that would then do all the work for you. This network would then pay various affiliates to generate the leads that you want. Your business receives the leads and you basically pay the network to do that. Of course, you only pay whenever someone submits their email, fills out a simple form or basically does whatever it is that you require. What makes this a great way to make money online is the fact that you need not convince a person to purchase anything which is significantly harder than getting them to submit their email or fill out a form. This is exactly like your typical affiliate marketing program sans the need for people to actually buy something before you make a commission.

As for the pay out, this can range from $1-$25 depending on the advertiser’s requirements. There are plenty of CPA networks out there which you can join. Their offers can be anything from free ring tones, credit cards, health related products, government grants and so on. These companies could either pay by visitor or for every unique lead that you generate for them. Of course, for you to make any money from it, the person you have led to their main site must provide all the necessary information otherwise your efforts would prove to be pointless. So if you’re looking to try something new and perhaps earn some money along the way, do give this a go.

Work from Home – CPA Marketing

These days, more and more people are starting to understand that they can actually work from home and still earn enough money to cover all their payables. But of course, as with any other kind of work or business, this too involves effort and time before you get into a level where you do earn enough for your everyday expenses. As for the options available to those who want to work from home, there are plenty! But if you are looking for something simple then I suggest you begin with affiliate marketing. Now, there are different types of affiliate marketing which you can try. The easiest would be CPA or cost per action marketing. Cost per action marketing programs are the easiest because you will make money through it without even having to make a sale. Unlike pay per sale programs wherein you would have to generate a lead and then get that “lead” to purchase something from the affiliate business’ website in order to receive your commission. Getting someone to purchase something, in these tough times, can be a very difficult thing to achieve. Let’s face it, people are more careful about the way they spend their money and as such, despite having generated a good amount of lead you cannot depend on each and every one of them to purchase something. In fact, you might not make one sale at all. Sad but true.

But with cost per action marketing programs all you have to do is get them to submit their email address or subscribe to a newsletter. Other times, they might need to fill out a form or answer a survey but the bottom line is that they don’t have to purchase anything for you to make money. All you need to do is get them to give the information that the company needs and when they’re done, you get paid. It’s that simple. Giving out information will not cost them a dime and as such more people would be willing to do it. It would be more effective if you do offer some kind of incentive like a free mp3 or a discount but even without it, you can still be successful. These programs come in different varieties. From various newsletters about all sorts of things such as fashion, book clubs, health and so on. It could also be a survey being done by a company that’s about to launch a new product and need people’s opinions. It could also be a business looking to build an email group. Needless to say, people who want to work from home have plenty of options.

As for the rates, every lead and successful sign up you make can generate anywhere from $1-$25 and above in terms of payout. The rate depends upon the amount of information the company requires. For example, email addresses usually amount to $1-$5. Surveys or forms that require a lot of info can be $25 and above. The idea is that the more information the person gives, the more you earn. So would I recommend this program for people who want to work from home? Yes, definitely. So you should consider looking into it if you want to learn more about the ways by which you can generate extra income for your household.

Cost Per Action – What You Need to Know

Looking for a way to earn extra income online? Well, you’ve stumbled upon the right article. Have you ever heard of cost per action? Well, if you are participating in the various affiliate marketing programs then I’m sure that you must’ve read or heard about it at some point. Otherwise known as CPA, cost per action is quickly becoming one of the most lucrative, simplest and fastest ways to earn money online. In a way, compared to all other types of affiliate marketing, CPA is indeed easier to do. After all, unlike programs wherein you have to be able to sell something for a company in order to earn your commission, CPA only requires you to get someone to fill out a form or submit their email address to your main affiliate. It is significantly simpler and not to mention the fact that it is much easier to convince people to submit their email address or fill out a form than to get them to purchase something. How do you get paid? Well, for every lead or sign up that you generate, you get a certain amount of pay out which could be anywhere from $1-$25 or higher depending on the amount of information needed by your main affiliate. Typically, $1-$5 is given when you get people to submit their emails or fill up a short form.

Wondering about how cost per action actually works? Imagine this scenario. Think of yourself as an advertiser and of course the one thing that you want is to generate leads for your business quickly and efficiently. Now, if you were to do this yourself, the process would be tedious and would eat up a lot of your free time. So the next best step would be to hire a CPA network to do all of the work for you. These CPA networks would then deal with the affiliates who would generate the leads for you. After you receive the leads that you need, you simply pay the CPA network and they, in turn, would pay the affiliates who did the work. It’s a win-win situation for all three, actually.

What makes cost per action programs the best way to make money online? Well, if you really think about it, it’s the ease of the process that really trumps all others. When you depend upon your ability to sell a product in order to earn commission this basically means that you would have to work hard in convincing a person to part with their hard earned money and purchase something from your affiliate business’ website. This is no easy feat. After all, times are tough and people are more careful with how they spend their money. On the other hand, getting them to answer a few questions or submit their emails is relatively easier. Add a little bonus a freebie or a discount at some online shop and I’m sure you can easily get people to give the information your affiliate business needs. Do consider giving it a try if you’re already in the affiliate marketing business. Even if you aren’t, consider it because you never know how it can help your income.

Finding the Best Opportunity

My main goal at this time in my life is to make at least the same amount of money online that I do at my "job".  I never wanted to work out side of the home - however - I do like money!

I've been looking for an opportunity (or perhaps more than one) for...well, too long. I've come across many that I thought would "be the one".  They were all good businesses, however once I was involved (and put some cash into them)  I found that it really was not what I was looking for and lost interest after awhile.  This is why it is so important to really figure out what you want before you "go for it".  If  I only had done this from the beginning I would have saved myself some time and money...but then I would not have learned any lessons.


Here's what I was looking for:

• Easy and simple to do
• Can take it with me where ever I go
• No employees
• Potential to earn more that I desire
• Freedom 

Now there are a lot of money making opportunities out there and you can find so many of them on the internet.  Not all of them are legit.  So it's best to figure out what you want before you start looking around.  If the only thing you know is that you want to make a lot of money - Then ask yourself this, "What is the Best way for me to earn ($$$) per month?"  You fill in what ever dollar amount you like.  Then keep your eyes and ears open.  Start looking around and keep asking yourself that question until you get your answer.

As I said before - I've looked at many money making opportunities and it doesn't hurt to read and research the ones that interest you.

Here is one that interests me ZeroFrictionMarketingFreedom.  Check it out now and see if it's the right one for you.  If not, keep looking and find the one that is right for you.

Getting What you Want

Our lives are full of experiences and each of our experiences can be listed under different categories like love, family, jobs, etc. Under each category we have learned something which helps us to better define what we are really looking for or what we would prefer to have or experience in each of those situations.

Many people think of a experience as being either good or bad.  I believe there are no such thing as bad experiences - it's really an opportunity to fine tune what you would prefer to have happen.

Let's look at making money as a example.  If you are not happy in the job you are currently in then you need to figure out why.  Why don't you like this particular experience.  The best way I've found to do this, and can be applied to any area of you life, is to make a list of the things you like and don't like.  Yes it involves a bit of work on your part :-)

Writing a list helps you to see the good that you have and helps you to clearly recognized what you want. Now take a look at the things you don't like.  Maybe your not making enough money or you don't like the hours you work.

Ask yourself this "what do I want?"

Let's say that one of your statements is "I don't like my hourly pay". Your first answer would probably be I want more money.  Good answer.  But how much money do you want?  The best answers are when you break it down and get into specifics.  Be reasonable with your answers.  You need to believe that what you want is possible for you to get.  So jumping from a current pay of $9/per hour to $20/per hour may not be believable to you but maybe you would believe that $12/per hour is perfect.  It has to feel right.

So now what?  What do you do after you've figured out what you really want?  How do you figure out what will get you what you want?

It's time to put your mind to work.  I'm a strong believer that we have the best answers within ourselves, if we would only ask the right questions and keep our desires up front and in our face as much as possible.  Our minds love to solve problems - and it won't solve anything unless we ask the question.

So in order to solve the problem of how am I going to get the $12/per hour - you would write the ultimate question.  I would write the ultimate question like this:

"What is the Best way for me to Now earn $12 per hour and enjoy it?"

Like I said previously, you need to keep it in your face, you need to keep it in your mind as often as you can. You can do this in different ways like posting the question on the frig, in the car, on the mirror, next to the computer.  Just be sure to read it several times a day. Just before sleep is a great time too.

You will amaze yourself with the ideas and opportunities that start showing up - you'll always get the best answers when you ask yourself the ultimate questions.

How do You Pray?

First off I want to say that prayer or meditation is one in the same. It really doesn’t matter what you call it because they both are for the same purpose – to ask for something and then to allow God or the Universe to bring the situation to its perfect conclusion. For the sake of this article I will be using the words prayer and God.

Unfortunately most people don’t know how to pray. We tend to complicate it by thinking we have to beg….”Oh, please God, please…” or “Why God, why…”

We have rituals… “Get down on your knees…” or “Lie face down” (on the carpet that you have no idea of when it was last washed). Or my other favorite…”thanking God in a restaurant, out loud, making a spectacle of myself”.

Now if you want to pray like this, by all means do so – it’s your choice. If you are comfortable with it, that’s fine. For me it’s a personal thing, not a public display.

The focus of this article is not regarding public prayer, there is a time and place for that. It’s about what we want on a personal level for ourselves and others.

How can we pray more effectively? What is it that we do or don’t do that causes our prayers to seem to go unanswered?

Two of the most common mistakes I’ve seen (and done) are begging and controlling.

We Beg

Don’t do it. You are not a little child who has to beg and cry to get their way. You are a mature individual who has been blessed to be made in the image of God; who by the way is the perfect creator – and has all power – and all knowledge. Now don’t you think that if we are made in his image that we also, already, have the same qualities He has?
Get a grip – then use the knowledge.

We Control

Sometimes things happen that we feel we need to control, and usually its about other people and their circumstances. “We” think it should happen this way, exactly the way “I think” it should be…ah – no! The only thing you will get out of trying to tell God how to do His job is frustration; and the thought that God doesn’t listen. Oh but he does listen. He’s just waiting for you to shut-up. It’s like telling someone how to raise their kids, but you have never had kids – thus, no experience. God has been at this prayer answering business a lot longer than you’ve been praying.
Let it go. You want a perfect solution? Then let him do his job.

Praying Effectively – Simple is best

First of all think about what you are asking for. I think about the situation, all the individuals that may be involved, and then I write a simple prayer. Such as this example:

Joes mind is clear and calm,

He is now filled with unconditional love and understanding,

He is now listening to his heart.

All is perfect – all is well.

I close my eyes and picture the person in my mind; I see a breeze flowing around and through him. At the same time in my mind I repeat my prayer. I will continue to do this until I feel that “All is perfect-all is well”. Sometimes it only takes one time; on other occasions it could take a few days or weeks.

Notice that not once did I mention the situation in my prayer or how I wanted it resolved. Because you are not begging or trying to control the out come of the situation you are allowing it to be resolved in the perfect way which will benefit all persons involved. By trusting in God to do His job in the most perfect way we allow the perfect solution. This is what trusting God is all about. This is when prayers are answered.

Ah, a life with less stress – keep it simple.

Fun with Money

Recently I was playing a game called The Prosperity Game. I found it in the book “Ask and It is Given” by Ester and Jerry Hicks. The purpose of the game is number one – to have fun. The other benefits are to help you focus on the things you desire and to broaden your thinking of having more wealth than you already have. By having fun with this game you put yourself in a positive mood.

Here’s how I play the game:

• First I open up the Excel check register I have saved on my computer.
• I make a pretend deposit of $1,000.
• I write out pretend checks making detailed descriptions of what I want.
• Now here is the key: Spend the $1,000 right away on anything your little heart desires.
  

That’s the end of the first day. Easy, right?

Now for day 2.

Do the same as above but this time deposit $2,000, day 3 deposit $3,000, etc. As time goes by you really start reaching for more and more ideas of what to spend that money on. I found that for each new day I would list all of the previous things I had listed from the day before and then add to it.

Because you are focusing your attention while playing this game, and because you’re having fun thinking of all those things you would love to have, those things that you want actually start showing up. I’ve already had a few things show up like clothes, a printer. Also you start noticing that the things from your game are being advertised on T.V. or you get a advertisement in the mail – it’s the little things like that which tell me that “someone” is listening to my requests.

Please note that this is not a game to play to try and force things to happen – It’s all in the FUN that makes it work.

Recently I tried this game a little different. I thought it might be fun to try to spend One Million Dollars in one day – Does anyone have any ideas on the $422,700.00 I have left to spend?

Up-date: Money

I Thought I would up-date everyone on what has been happening since I first blogged about focusing on the appreciation of money.

In 2007 I wrote about how Steve Pavlina had inspired me to create focus areas for the year instead of New Years resolutions. As a result, the following has come to me by staying focused and being positive. You can read about it here.

• April of 2007 I started working through a temporary service.
• September of 2007 I was hired as a permanent employee making more per hour than I ever had before (with no prior experience in this job field).
• Unexpected money flowing into ours lives (some in nice chunks).
• April 2008 - work is picking up for our company and my husband will be handling a huge project that will require less travel time.
  

The interesting thing is that I never planned to work for another company - but I do recognized that this is where I am suppose to be at the moment.

Something else that has recently come to me in one of my "a-ha" moments is accepting that fact that it is good to "receive". It is good and very good. More to come on this subject later.

Who's Relationship is it Anyway?

It's called a "personal relationship" with God/Creator - then why do we feel the need to "verbally" stick our noses into someone else's relationship with God/Creator? Shouldn't we be more concerned about our own personal relationship. Making sure that our own relationship with God/Creator is growing. After all, if we are not growing how on earth do you expect to help anyone else?

If we truly wish to help others to grow spiritually then we need to physically shut-up and instead open up our prayers/meditations for those we love - prayer/meditation has power.

Not to say we should not encourage or inspire others with our words - but not out of our own heads or our own rationalizations - we should be lead of the spirit to say those words of wisdom that will make much more of an impact on those we love - more than anything we could ever think of on our own.

Are you a person that continues to tell others what they should or shouldn't be doing in regards to their relationship with God/Creator - are you truly trying to help them? One way to decide for yourself if you are really trying to help or if you are merely trying to control them is to notice how you feel when they do not do as you ask. Do you get angry or upset? If you do, then you are trying to control their relationship, and you probably don't even realize that you are doing so. We all are growing spiritually in our own time - forcing an issue only causes resistance.

If you really trust God/Creator then you know that what ever you ask will be given. So lead by example and trust what you ask for in prayer will be given.

In the meantime.....just Shut-up.

Shut Up!

Control is an amazing thing - not control of others but the freedom of controlling ourselves. Recently I was thinking of when I first started self control. One of the first thinks that I remember learning was how to control my mouth. Which is one of the hardest things, in my book, to try to do. Sometimes it seemed as though my mouth actually had a mind of it's own. It would ramble off information thinking that everyone wanted to listen. It's been about 20 years since I first started to control my spoken words, and "why" you ask would I want to. After all isn't it better to say what's on your mind and get everything out in the open? Or be able to share your knowledge with others or guide, help others through discussions of life issues. Well, yes it is, if what you are saying is actually helping or guiding, teaching or releasing. Most of the time however our responses are automated - we respond to what we think others want to hear or what point we are trying to make. We don't take the time to stop and think of what we are saying. The words just free fall from our mouths and what ends up happening a lot of the time is the conversation turns into a bitch session and nothing really gets resolved.

So what did I do to try to have more control over my speech, my words.....I just SHUT UP! When I wanted to reply or make a statement - I didn't. I just kept quiet. It wasn't easy, I am a fiery redhead with the attitude to match (at least I was, ok - sometimes I still am) and 99% of the time I would tell you exactly what I thought-no holds barred. However this was not helping others and definitely was not benefiting me any either. So I started to make it a point to "not" give my opinion - not to say that what I had to say wasn't important, however importance wasn't the issue. I wanted more self-control, I wanted to stop and think before the words came spilling out - and I wanted what I had to say make a real difference in my life and the lives of those around me.

Here are some things that have improved since that first day 20 years ago.

My benefits of SHUTTING UP:

It has helped me to be a better listener.
It has helped me to have better control of my mouth.
I think about what words I want to use before I say them.
It has helped me to not respond automatically in anger or frustration.
It has shown me that having better control of self first allows me to help others better.

There is a lot of power in the words we speak - What are you saying (or not saying) today?

To Do List

Ok, everyone that has a "To Do" list raise your hand.

Almost every one has written one at least once in their life and there are a lot of people who use them every day. I usually have one written once a week. Although I know I would get more done if I wrote one every day.

I asked myself why I didn't use one on a more regular basis. The answer that came to me was that people do not like being told what to do - we don't even like telling ourselves what to do! So what would or could I do to make a "To Do" list more appealing? (Both to me and others.)

I thought about it for a while. After all what is a "To Do" list anyways... it's made up of things we want to get done or must get done. These are usually smaller scale items that need to be taken care of in our day to day lives. They are our daily goals (hmm, a clue).

Such a nice word "goal". It definitely has more appeal and some how inspires to "want to" do it rather than the "have to" do it. It feels like I have accomplished my item(s) - I have achieved my goal(s) for the day.

I no longer have a "To Do" list. I now have "Today's Goals" list. Sometimes just changing the wording can make all the difference in the world.

Focus - Staying Positive

Since January 2007 I have steadily been working on my 3 focus areas. The questions I asked myself was "How am I going to stay focused?" and "Where would be the best place to start?" I figured the best place to start would be to stay positive; I needed to have a more positive out look on my life as it is now. I needed a more focused, more thankful, more appreciative view of what I already had. So for the first few months this is what I have been working on the most...

Staying Positive

This can be very challenging - particularly when it comes to finances. Finances seem to be a "In your face" type of situation. What I mean by "in your face" is that just about everything we want or need has to do with the all mighty dollar. And everyone seems to want you to give them their share; which is fine - when you're not feeling stressed about money. So how can I/we get to our "happy place"?

I've always been a pretty positive sort of person, always looking for the good in situations and people - but I wanted something that would focus my attention more. I thought...

• "What is positive?" Positive equals good.
• "What does good mean?" Good means appreciating or being happy.
• "How can I focus more on being happy/appreciative?" Write it down.

Hmm, what a interesting thought.

So I got myself a notebook and wrote on the front cover, "Appreciation". I've dedicated the book only to writing about what I am thankful for. On the top of the first page I wrote, "What do I appreciate today?", "What am I thankful for?" I write everything and anything that comes to my mind - people, places, things; I write about it all!

At this time I do most of my appreciation in the mornings because this is when I have the most quiet time - I sit up in bed with my cup of coffee ( this is one of those things I appreciate) and write. However, you can do this any time during the day that you can spend about 15-20 minutes without any major interruptions.

In the beginning I wrote everyday. Sometimes I ended up with a very long list and other days it may have been just a few items. The point is, that I made it a point to create a habit of being thankful everyday. I was focusing my attention. If I wasn't writing, I was reading what I had already wrote.

Here are some of the benefits that I have noticed:

• Increase in ability to focus
• Increased happiness (everyone wants to be happy!)
• Appreciation brings more of the same into your life (Law of Attraction)

I have had some very good results from focusing my attention and being thankful in this way. Unexpected cash flow (into, not out of, my life), my writing has increased, and my request for a stronger connection spiritually has also improved.

You probably have areas in your own life that you would like to improve; write them down. Then focus your attention by appreciating everything and anything you can think of. The focus is in the writing and the ability to stay positive.