Daily Affirmations

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Thank you thank you thank you for my healing body. Thank you for the luxury to take it easy. Thank you for Amy--her questions forced me to clarify to myself exactly what I was talking about! Thank you thank you thank you for standards!!!! Thank you for Lyn's messy room and the crystal clarity it has brought to my life. Thank you for this incredible life--my amazing family, my amazing home, my friends, my business associates, my understanding, my body, yes, my stuff, too. Thank you for my mom--I know she tries. Thank you for LTA. Thank you for Robert Kiyosaki. Thank you for everything I am continuing to learn. Life is AWESOME!!! :o)

Lesson 16: Accessing the Subconscious

This lesson points out that accessing the wisdom of our subconscious often requires us to relax and take a break from "thinking."

And I know it's true--I have experienced it over and over and over in my life. When something is lost, sometimes I have to stop looking for it. That's when I find it. When I'm trying to think of a solution, I find the answer when I take a break and do something else.

The great thing is that this lesson not only points out that this happens, but teaches that we should seek more opportunities to communicate with our subconscious--that was the kicker for me. I have always been somewhat of a busybody--looking down my nose at people who I considered lazy. And, of course, that need to always be doing and juggling, is part of what landed me in the hospital.

But the more we consciously do things that access the wisdom of our subconscious, the more enlightened, wise, and knowledgeable we will be.

For years I would beat myself up whenever I took a nap in the afternoon. What a waste of time! There was so much I could be doing instead! No wonder I'm so behind in everything!!!! I kept setting goals that involved NOT taking a nap during the day--and even wrote in this blog about my "promise to myself" that for one week I would go without taking a nap.

But then I realized that there are times when a nap is NECESSARY for me--especially when I have a problem I am trying to sort through. Those moments right before I fall asleep are precious. It's like the twilight--not quite day, not quite night--a golden time of communication between both sides of my brain. And the great thing is that I can tap into that at ANY time.

One of the great things about Beyond Freedom and my association with the community is that they have given me permission to enjoy life. They have taught me that not only is it OK to relax, but it's actually beneficial.

Wow. What a great place to be. :o)

Daily Gratitude

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Thank you thank you thank you for PAY DIRT! Thank you for my wonderful, miraculous body that knows precisely what to do to heal itself. Thank you for our new school and new teachers. Thank you for the understanding that my children, too, attract into their lives exactly what they need/want. Thank you for Dan, and the wisdom he had to buy this incredible home when he did. Thank you for clarity, wisdom, insight, and conviction! Thank you for understanding--finally understanding. Thank you for my affirmation--it really is all that! Thank you for my incredible life. Every day, in every way, it gets better and better.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Lesson 15: We are All Connected

This lesson talks about how our energy and our actions affect everyone around us and how the things that show up in our life experience can be a direct reflection of what we have given (in the way of energy and action) to others.

While this is true in all aspects of life, nowhere is it more perfectly demonstrable than in the home. I have seen this with my husband and my children over and over and over again.

You've heard the phrase, "When Mom is happy, everyone's happy?" It is so true!!! And the opposite is true, too...

Sometimes I feel a burden from this truth--why does everyone else's happiness depend on me? When I'm in a bad mood, when I'm grumpy, when I'm tired, why do they have to be, too? Why can't they just ignore me and go on with their day? Why do I have to be so powerful?

But then I realize how important it is that I am happy, that I am stress-free, that I am filled with joy, that I am filled with love, that I am filled with gratitude, so that they can feel and be those things, too. I realize what a blessing it is to have my family be the mirror and keep me in this good, positive, happy place, which is where I should be all the time anyway.

Exercise: The Great Bank of the Universe

In this exercise, we take a look at our day and put imaginary money into our bank account each time we did something positive, and take money out each time we do something negative. What is the balance?

I had a pretty good day yesterday, so let's run down what I did and see how it adds up:

• I slept in until 9:45!  Oh, but it was delicious.  We had had such an amazing time at the baseball game--we were out late and it was quite tiring.  So I slept and slept and when I woke up I was still basking in the glow of the night before--grateful and smiling:  $5
• I got up, put my exercise clothes on, and went for a quick run.  When I first started running/exercising a year ago, I was a genuine couch potato and so out of shape.  Look how far I've come!  $5
• After the run, I got on my affirmation call, then followed that up with the community call--the BEST way to start my day!  :o)  $5
• Next, I wrote my gratitude and did my Beyond Freedom lesson:  $5
• Then I worked on some marketing.  I was a little frustrated that I couldn't get my printer to do what I wanted, but I got it all worked out and now it looks great.  Printed out 20 cards and got ready to go to the pool:  $5
• On the way to the pool, I stopped at Radio Shack to get a car charger for my phone--when I got the phone, they were sold out.  They didn't have any, and the guy looked up other Radio Shacks in the area to see if they had it--no one did!  I was pissed off that they would sell me a phone and not sell the charger to go with it.  I let them know how how angry I was!  -$5
• Got the pool with the intention of putting my cards on the cars there, but FEAR overtook me!  -$5!
• Had a great time at the pool, though it was cloudy and cold.  I enjoyed soaking up the last bit of time I will be able to spend with my kids before school starts:  $5
• Went to the restaurant where we were going to be meeting my husband for dinner.  We got there a little early, so while we were waiting, I went through a magazine and cut out words and pictures for my vision book:  $5
• I had planned to go put out more cards after dinner, but my son got sick and we had to go straight home.  I thought that I just wouldn't be able to put them out, but then I though, "No, gosh darn it, I said I was going to put out 20 cards, and I'm going to put out 20 cards!!!"  So I changed out of my PJs, got in my car, and went out to distribute them:  $5
• When I got back, I had a great marketing master mind conversation with my husband, who never has much interest in those types of things:  $5
• I went to bed completely happy and with complete satisfaction that I had taken "sufficient action toward my goals" (a phrase from my affirmation--woo hoo!):  $5

So...

Total deposits:  $50
Total withdrawals:  $10
Balance total:  $40

Pretty good!  :o)

This post is my thoughts on a lesson from the Beyond Freedom home study course for personal growth and life achievement. This course has been instrumental in transforming my life from stress-full to stress-FREE. Order your own copy today at: http://www.LibertyLeague.com/margieremmers And transform YOUR life from where you are now, to where you want to be.

Daily Gratitude

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Oh wow. Thank you thank you thank you for courage and conviction, and FINALLY getting off of my butt! Thank you for getting the labels to work. Thank you for Dan! For cleaning up the kitchen, doing laundry, and putting the groceries away. What a gem! Thank you for my strong, healthy body. Thank you for more than enough money, more than enough energy, and more than enough time to take care of all my needs and wants. Thank you for clarity. Thank you for friendship. Thank you for technology. Thank you for all of the knowledge to actually create all that I desire. Thank you for all my dreams--thank you the opportunity to watch them become reality. Thank you for my life! Thank you for this very day! Thank you thank you thank you!!! :o)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Lesson 14: Positive and Negative Energy

This is a great lesson about choosing to be positive (or negative!) throughout your day and, consequently, throughout your life, and reminds me of the chapter in my book when I talk about choosing to be stress-free no matter what!

First, we are asked to describe the qualities of certain types of people. I wrote:

Of people overflowing with positive energy:

1. Happy
2. Enthusiastic
3. Full of Life

Of super negative people:

1. Angry
2. Complaining
3. Self-centered

Then we do an exercise called:

Positive Energy Activator

In this exercise, we're asked to write a Thank You note to someone and to continue to do it 3 times per week.

As usual, this was the perfect timing for me for this lesson. There were lots of people I knew I needed to write to--especially the people who supported me in my triathlon, as well as my Melaleuca customers who have not heard from me in ages. But I just hadn't "gotten around to it."

Not only that, but I recently included in my daily affirmation that I write a daily expression of gratitude. When I wrote this (and continue to affirm it), I thought of not only the Daily Gratitudes that I write in this blog, but also of sending one person a thank you note each day.

Well, I have been writing in the blog, but this lesson was just the kick in the butt I needed to start doing the other piece, too.

So I added a little Google Gadget to my iGoogle page (I LOVE my iGoogle page!), and started a list of all the people that I will be writing to--every day, not just 3 days a week.

Awesome! Have I mentioned how much I love my Beyond Freedom? ;o)

This post is my thoughts on a lesson from the Beyond Freedom home study course for personal growth and life achievement. This course has been instrumental in transforming my life from stress-full to stress-FREE. Order your own copy today at: http://www.LibertyLeague.com/margieremmers And transform YOUR life from where you are now, to where you want to be.

Daily Gratitude

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Man oh man oh man. Life ROCKS! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for finally "getting" it! Thank you for Doug and an incredible, awesome, amazing wealth-affirming evening! Thank you for Aisza and Linea--someone to share these incredible experiences with and bask in the glow of theirs as well. Thank you for the MONEY!!! Thank you for Beyond Freedom and the community and the clarity. Thank you for the understanding and the vibration. Thank you for technology. Thank you for the pool! Thank you for my life, my family, and everything that I have attracted into my life. Life ROCKS!!!! :o)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Root, Root, Root for the Home Team!!!

Wow. I just got back from an incredible, amazing, fantastic, incredible (did I say that already?) evening out with my family.

My brother-in-law gave us Lexus Presidents Seat tickets to the the Dodgers vs. the Nationals, and it was AMAZING! I tell ya', I will never go to a baseball game again without presidential seating!

We were pampered and taken care of at every turn, beginning with our premium parking space. Our gourmet dinner included lots of yummy vegetarian options (I sent my compliments to the chef!) and an incredible dessert bar. Then we headed out to the stadium, where we had our fill of popcorn, peanuts, chips, Cracker Jacks, ice cream, and an assortment of beverages. We could also have (though we didn't), ordered in-seat food.

Our seats were just behind and to the left of home plate (section A, see picture below), THREE ROWS from the field.



All in all we had an incredible (I keep using that word!), amazing, fantastic, wonderful time. The game was great (the home team won!), the weather was perfect, and we got to spend a whole evening basking in wealth and abundance.

I am so thrilled!!!!!!!!!!! :o)

Lesson 13: Subconscious Mind

This is such a powerful lesson. Unlike most others, it doesn't have an exercise with it and is more like a lecture, but it is so powerful.

It wasn't until I started working on personal development that I understood the power of the subconscious mind.  Sure, I understood that it is what drives you.  Sure, I understood that it controls all those things you don't have to think about--like breathing and digestion.  What I didn't understand is that you can control it.

I mean, I always thought it just was.  I thought that whatever was there was there and that you just had to deal with it.

But no.  Oh no!

As the lesson says, the subconscious is the soil and you get to decide what is planted there.  And anything you don't like, you can just rip out like a weed.

All this recently came home to me when I started my affirmation group.  We started it after reading Joseph Murphy's The Power of the Subconscious Mind.  My friend and I were doing a book group and she said, "Margie, we're reading all this stuff and we're not applying it."  So we decided to "experiment" with Joseph Murphy's suggestion, and we discovered to our delight that our lives were absolutely transformed.

I have now come to the conclusion that anything you want in life--anything--can come about simply by writing it down and repeating it out loud over and over.  All you have to do is get past the conscious "gate"--that part of you that says "no, I can't"--and plant the seed in your subconscious mind.  Once it's firmly planted there, heaven and earth move to make it happen.

This post is my thoughts on a lesson from the Beyond Freedom home study course for personal growth and life achievement. This course has been instrumental in transforming my life from stress-full to stress-FREE. Order your own copy today at: http://www.LibertyLeague.com/margieremmers And transform YOUR life from where you are now, to where you want to be.

This post is my thoughts on a lesson from the Beyond Freedom home study course for personal growth and life achievement. This course has been instrumental in transforming my life from stress-full to stress-FREE. Order your own copy today at: http://www.LibertyLeague.com/margieremmers And transform YOUR life from where you are now, to where you want to be.

Daily Gratitude

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Thank you for Joseph Murphy, Aisza, and my incredible affirmation. It gets better and better every day. Thank you for focus. Thank you for tech support! Thank you for Mark. Thank you for Sally Shields. Thank you for my entire board of directors! Thank you for summer vacation, and thank you for school starting again. Thank you for focus, vision, and clarity. Thank you again for JUST the kick in the pants I needed. Thank you for my incredible, beautiful, wonderful, home. What I used to only complain about, now I glory in and get excited about. Thank you for my wonderfully supportive husband. Thank you for my beautiful, adorable children. Thank you for the human body and it's amazing power to heal itself. Thank you for peace and industry and thank you for all the people that have made both possible. More and more I feel overwhelming gratitude for the network of people and situations that work together to fill my amazing life. Thank you thank you thank you! :o)

Today's Wake Up Call

The week's topic: The most valuable commodity on the planet. It's not gold, it's not silver, it's not oil, it's...

BEING THE LEADER

Just like everything in life, being the leader is a CHOICE.

And you don't need followers to be a leader. You must be a leader before anyone shows up.

What does being a leader mean?

Confidence
Not second guessing yourself. Know where you're going and be confident in your ability to be there.

Courage
In order to have something you've never had, you've got to do something you're never done. Assess the risks and do it anyway.

Self-Reliance
Take ownership of your own results. Not being immobilized by adversity. Moving with purpose and power. Not scattering around with urgency, but moving on purpose and being unstoppable.

Get out of the employee mentality, wandering around and thinking that someone else is going to take care of you.

Go forward even if no one else is.

---

This is how we start each day in our community! To find out more, visit www.YouCanHaveWhatYouWant.com

Daily Gratitude

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Thank you for Cecile, Debbie, and Tom. Thank you for just the kick in the butt I needed! Thank you for Dan--I shudder to think where I would be without him. Thank you for technology--it brings me so much joy. Thank you for Nichole. Thank you for finally understanding. Thank you for this place of motivation, inspiration, and empowerment. Thank you for the community, especially Aisza and Linea. Thank you so many who have gone before and blazed a trail. Thank you for my home--for Dan's foresight and courage. Thank you for my beautiful, wonderful, amazing children. Thank you for my body. Thank you for all the raw materials that are everywhere in my life and that I get to use to build whatever brings me joy. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

9 Years Old & Caked With Dirt

Perry Marshall, THE guru when it comes to advertising on Google, sent me the following this morning. It captures the spirit of what it is like to be an entrepreneur so well that I wanted to put it in here so I could read it over and over:

Margie,

When I was a kid, I would play all day at the creek, riding my bike through mud puddles and jumping it off the edges of the ravine. Always came home filthy.

Mom would make me take a bath. When I was done she'd say, "Now Perry, doesn't it feel so GOOD to be clean?"

"Actually, mom, I like being dirty better."

Oh yes, I sure did. Dirty feels so.... natural. Moms don't always understand that, but... dads remember.

This week I took my 9 year old boy, Cuyler, to camp. A father-son gig, just the two of us. He's in the prime of boyhood, wrestling with other boys, proclaiming himself king of carpet ball, eating French toast sticks for breakfast, and.... playing in the dirt.

Oh, and does he. Likes to literally roll around in that dirt pile. You pat him on the back and there's a big puff of fine brown dust that flies up in the air and slowly settles down on everything. His pillow case has a big dirty brown patch right in the center.

The morning we went home, I told him to take a shower. A few minutes later I see him headed over there and ask him, "Where are your clothes?"

"I'm wearing them."

Meaning, he put on his clean clothes over his dirty body before he headed to the shower. Then he put 'em back on.

I'm reminded of the conversation with mom 30 years ago when I was nine. Oh yeah, dirty was so much better then.

And you know what? It still is.

It's a different kind of dirty... it's the rough-and-tumble grit of the actual business world. The "is" world, which should not be confused with the "should be" world. What I often call the Laboratory Of Reality.

Today I'm locked away in a private mastermind meeting at an undisclosed location in Virginia. It's where I go to play in the dirt. Me and 13 other guys, we get together in a conference room and the gloves come off. A motley crew this is... banker, surgeon, real estate developer, founder of a franchise company, a consultant from the UK, a platform sales person... iron sharpens iron.

The situations are as varied as the careers. And as you can expect in any room full of entrepreneurs, a spectrum of tales to tell. A couple of these guys handily pull down a couple million dollars a year, after expenses. One member lost everything last year, including 32 houses. Got left holding the bag in a deal that wasn't quite sewn up right. But he's a scrapper and he's making a comeback.

Some prefer the textbook version of the world, but to others of us, the call of the wild takes us to the front lines. It's risky, it's dangerous, yet a true player cannot rest on the side. Better to get beat up every now and then, than to sit idle and dream.

Next time you see an entrepreneur who's up to his eyeballs in alligators, bravely fighting them and taking back ground, just remember - decades ago he was "just" a grimy kid with a baseball cap and a shirt that says "I didn't do it" and fistfulls of dirt pounded into his clothes.

Until mom rings the dinner bell and it's time to come home, he's racing his bike, he's charging across the field as fast as he can, he's pounding that soccer ball into the net, he's jousting and shooting guns and calling out to his friends. He's lost in his youth and adventure.

Sometimes mom doesn't understand, but dad knows.... number one son was made to play the game.

Copyright Perry Marshall
For more information on Perry and his services, visit: www.PerryMarshall.com

I Get It, I Get It, I GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited I could hardly sleep last night.

Have you ever been taught the same thing over and over, but then one day--BAM--it really sinks in? Like it took hearing it from several different sources and put in many different ways for you to finally "get" it?

Well that's what happened to me.

Though I have learned this lesson before (Beyond Freedom, T. Harv Eker, Tony, and so many others), finally, this weekend, it sunk in. I mean really sunk in. My life will never be the same.

So what lesson am referring to? The difference between having a standard and having an ideal.

Last Thursday I had HAD it with my daughter's room. She was having a birthday party on Saturday, and it was important that she get her room clean, so I set her to the task while I went and made some phone calls. I told her that if it was not done when I came back, I would clean her room, and she wouldn't be happy with the result (i.e. I would throw away all of her possessions!).

Well, I came back, and it wasn't done, so I got out the shovel. I literally went through every corner and gathered armfuls of trash, broken toys, dirty clothes, books, art projects, jewelry, hair stuff, scattered shoes--it was really disgusting. And the whole time I was kicking myself for being a bad mother and letting her let it get this bad.

I have always felt like the kids' rooms were their domain and that they should be responsible for how they live there. I make them clean the rest of the house (so it's not like they don't know how to clean!), and I guess I was just hoping the lessons would spill over into their rooms. Not so with my daughter! I was mad at her and disappointed that she would let it get this bad--until I realized it was actually my fault for not teaching her correct principles. I never taught her how to care for her room--how could I expect her to know what to do?  She is only 8 years old.

So when we were done, she and I sat down and I wrote out a list of standards for her room. The list included things like:

• Clothes belong in the closet, the hamper, or the drawer.
• Shoes belong in the closet.
• Toys only go on the floor when someone is playing with them.
• Unless you are sleeping in it, the bed should be made.
• etc.

After that, I made two checklists--one for morning and one for bedtime--to get her in the habit of checking the state of her room against the standards (checklists are nothing new in our house--we use them all the time and love them! :o).

Finally, I made her an accountability chart, which she has to sign each morning and bedtime, to indicate that she followed the checklist and her room is up to spec.

It has been four days so far, and it has worked beautifully!

This experience got me to thinking about the power of standards. I thought, "Good grief, I need to write up standards for everything in my life!" I felt I needed to develop a measuring stick that says, "This is the minimum I expect in this area."

I started making a list of all the rooms in my house, and my mind started churning about how they should look. Then I started expanding my ideas beyond the house and into things like my physical appearance, my relationships, my daily life, my energy level, my financial condition...I was on fire!

And then it hit me...

Suddenly I realized the motivating power of a standard--a power far stronger than an ideal.

Like I said, this was not the first time I have learned this. T. Harv Eker calls this principle your "thermostat." The temperature in a room is determined by the thermostat--the setting of what the temperature should be--and it is so powerful that even when conditions temporarily change (a blast of cold air or sweltering heat), it will work to bring the temperature in the room back to the setting on the thermostat. The only way to make permanent change, he says, is to change the setting.

Harv uses this analogy when referring to finances and having a "millionaire mindset"--that is, an expectation of being a millionaire, being financially free, etc.

Liberty League and many other home-based businesses teach their associates to have this same expectation.  "Expect success and you will get it," you will often hear the gurus say.

But I never "got" that concept.  I had a hard time believing it because I could point to example after example of times when something turned out differently than I expected.

I think what made it click for me now is simply applying a new word to the same concept:  standard.

A standard is something that is usual, normal, average, common.  The standard is the natural state of things.

What made this concept really sink in, though, was when I compared it to a word I had been using instead:  ideal.

An ideal is something you work toward but never really get.  In fact, dictionary.com goes as far as saying an ideal is "something that exists only in the imagination."

So all this time, all my affirmations, all my personal development, all my house cleaning, all my working out, all my financial decisions were based on something that could never happen!

My reality was, in fact, my standard.

Look at it this way.  Every single aspect of your life is governed by the standards you set for yourself.  If you are in a relationship that you're unhappy with, and you remain in that relationship, it's because the relationship meets your minimum standards.  Even victims of abuse will use this logic: "Well, at least he doesn't beat me" or "Well, at least he only beats me and not the kids."  The very fact that they use the words at least is an indication of where they draw the line.

If you're in a house you don't like, if the house you live in is not as clean as you'd like, if your kids are not behaving the way you'd like, if you don't make as much money as you'd like, if your body does not look the way you'd like it to--it's simply because your current state is somehow "acceptable" or "good enough" for right now.  Once you raise your standards and your current state is no longer acceptable to you, all the force of the Universe will conspire to deliver what you desire!

This is why studies have shown that the number one factor of success is the expectation of success.  This is why kids who grow up with money end up making a lot of money.  This is why the only thing required to succeed is the decision to do so!!!

Whew!  OK.  Wow.  I said I was on fire!  I am just bursting with gratitude and excitement about the future.  This powerful realization just happened over the weekend and already I can see a tangible difference in my life, my attitude, my family, and my surroundings.

Suddenly I feel I can accomplish anything!  Suddenly I my dreams feel like reality!  Suddenly the burdens and "overwhelment" of my life have vanished! 

I get it, I get it, I GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!  :o) 

Daily Gratitude

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19)

Thank you for Dan.  He makes my life complete.  I would never have been able to accomplish all that I have without him.  Thank you thank you thank you.  Thank you for palankas, and Gary's suggestion that we write them.  Thank you for a beautiful morning and a beautiful bike ride.  Thank you for getting me all riled up so I didn't go back to sleep this morning!  Thank you for the lists.  Thank you for the knowledge, inspiration, and clarity.  Thank you for Carla.  Thank you for Lyn's decision.  Thank you for Matt.  Thank you for guidance.  Thank you for Paul and the beautiful waterfront.  Thank you for my strong legs.  Thank you for my beautiful home.  Thank you for my hearing, my singing, and my love of music.  Thank you for light and beauty.  Thank you for my incredible children--so much love!  So much joy!  Thank you for time.  Thank you for Tony.  There is success and abundance all around!  Thank you thank you thank you!  :o)