I have had more than one successful person tell me that they attribute their good fortune to following a hunch. After they did all the research, gathered the data, and discussed the options with professional business strategists, they made their final decision based on a hunch – a feeling of what was best.
 
Following a hunch may seem totally illogical. It seems more like a whim, something based more on feelings than facts. However, your feelings are connected to your intuition, and your intuition in turn connects to the right choices for YOU.
 
We have all been given the power to know and to know that we know. It is part of our inheritance from God. But just like any skill, we either use it or lose it. Part of the problem is that we often get the proper answer to a question, but it seems so illogical that we ignore it.
In other words, the answer takes us into territory that we have not explored before.
 
How do you develop your intuition?

• Get quiet
• Ask yourself a question and then listen for a feeling that seems to say "Yes." If you get no answer, consider it a "No"
• Keep a diary of how accurate you are. The more you practice this discipline, the more accurate you will become.

 
In this way you let your intuition know that you want it to play an important role in your life. This is yet another step toward learning how to become a Conscious Creator.

I wrote this back in 2003 and had it printed front and back on a bookmark. It's a handy reminder that can keep you on track with your life.

7 Ways To Fire Up Your Life!

1. STOKE YOUR FURNACE!
Wood must be added to a fire for it to continue to burn. If your life resembles a dying fire, find some positive idea, person, or interest on which to focus your attention.
2. EXPLOIT YOUR WEAKNESSES
Weak muscles in your body respond to exercise and become stronger. Weak parts of your psychology are no different.
3. ANSWER THE QUESTION:  What would I do if nothing stood in my way?
Once you answer yourself, you can begin the process of eliminating the limiting ideas you've placed in the road ahead of you. See possibilities, not barriers.
4. BREAK YOUR PATTERNS
Years of conditioning box you in. Use the scissors of your mind - your imagination - to cut through the bonds which hold you there.
5. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR FEELINGS
Make sure you know whether your feelings originate inside or outside the box of your conditioning. Does your feeling seem terribly familiar? If so, ask yourself where responding to that feeling will take you.
6. STEP OUT INTO THE UNKNOWN
Your imagination and your feelings guide your will or your ability to step out. So, proclaim your intent - muck up your courage - and turn your terror into triumph!
7. LIVE FOR YOURSELF!
Does a stream set out to nurture the environment through which it flows? No. It sets out to fulfill its purpose - to flow toward a larger body of water. The good it does is a by-product. You are the same. You can only influence those around you in a positive way by being true to yourself and moving toward greater spiritual evolvement.
©2003 Dannye Williamsen
 
7 Sure-Fire Ways To Lose Everything!

This was the other half of yesterday's post on 7 Ways To Fire Up Your Life. To those of you who match the score at the end, the conclusion may sound a bit negative, but it is true. 
Do you have trouble achieving your goals? Do you feel like you have to stay on red alert just to maintain what you have? Then you need to take this quiz...
1. YES or NO  - When your dream starts to spit and sputter like a choked up carburetor, do you give up? Do you assume it's a sign? Do you start thinking of reasons why no one else is willing to support your dream?
2. YES or NO  - Have you decided that someone else will have to handle the part of the process involved in making your dream come true that requires you to do something you hate? Do you think that your dream will happen regardless of your fear?
3. YES or NO  - Do you alter your dream based on what others tell you is "the way it's done?" Do you scale down your goal to escape the possibility of being disappointed? Do you make sure that your goals do not exceed your definition of reachable?
4. YES or NO  - Do you feel that the methods you have used in the past when you tried to reach a goal are the best ones? Do you believe that the only problem in the past is that you failed to use the method correctly?
5. YES or NO  - If your feelings tell you that something is wrong, do you assume it's fear and try to will yourself to carry on? Do you react to your feelings without questioning their source?
6. YES or NO  - Do you always walk carefully toward your goal? That is, do you make sure that you know ALL the possible results before you try any new idea?
7. YES or NO  - Do you believe that giving to others is more important than giving to yourself? Do you believe that nurturing your own spirit is selfish? That "me first," no matter what the reasons, is wrong?
SCORE:  If you answered YES to all of the above questions or even to 4 of them...CONGRATULATIONS! You are definitely on your way to losing everything you are dreaming about! What manifests will not even come close to your original desire!

Ways To Change

Tip #1:  Consider the questions to which you answered "Yes" and see if you can turn your attitudes around.
Tip #2:  Put Ways To Fire Up Your Life into action. :-)
 
©2003 Dannye Williamsen
 
 

“Many of us are blinded by the evil of man. We can be helped by…stressing man’s capacities rather than his limitations, man’s hopes rather than his fears, man’s dreams rather than his failures, and man’s fulfillment rather than his frustration.”  Frederick Mayer

In terms of our ability to make choices, today is no different than any other time. However, our choices today may have the potential to make a greater impact than at any other time in history. So let each of us focus on our potential, our hopes, our dreams, and our fulfillment. Together we can change the world!

Do you remember the author of Simple Abundance? Her name is Sarah Ban Breathnach. She was on "Oprah" eleven times and sold 7 million copies of her book. She quickly began spending the money like it was a never-ending fountain, buying lavish homes and other extravagances. One day she awoke, literally and figuratively, to discover that she was in so much debt that creditors were threatening to expose her to Oprah if she didn't pay up. On top of all this, it turned out her second husband was a gold-digger. Everybody wanted a piece of her. Finally, she was forced to flee England and landed at her sister's house in California.
 
Is this a tale of woe? Financially? Yeah! In the ways that really count? Not at all! This whirlwind ride forced her to face her personal demons. It was even more poignant because the reason for her rise to wealth was a book about self-nurturing and appreciating life in all its forms to create peace and harmony in one's life. It's bad enough facing your demons, but when it's on a public stage, it can be devastating. However, it seems that Ms. Breathnach is working to turn her life around: she wrote a newer book called Peace and Plenty, which may reflect a greater understanding of gratitude. She is no longer seeking wealth: she is seeking peace.
 
Peace is an inner condition. Wealth is an outer manifestation. If we do not have that inner peace, that inner confidence, we can still force wealth into our life experience; however, what we have to fight to get, we have to fight to keep. With inner peace, our prosperity is drawn to us through the things we do. I am trying everyday to be aware of my inner demons, those parts of me that don't believe in the potential that exists for me. I try to keep them at bay when necessary and talk them into the fold when I can.
 
So I see Breathnach's tale as a blessing in so many ways. She may prefer the abundance of money in her life, but now she is building a stronger foundation to support that prosperity when it comes.

In the fall nature releases its attachment to the fruits of its last growing season. Flowers wilt, and leaves fall. Rather than an ending, it is the necessary preparation for new growth. During winter, the outer visible parts of the plant appear dormant, but beneath the surface, the plant is developing the root system and nourishment for manifesting a new level of growth. In the spring the budding flowers and unfurling leaves spark a joyful remembrance of the beauty and wonder the new season holds in store. When summer comes, there is time to enjoy the fruits of those seasons of preparation.

The seasons of your soul mirror these cycles of nature, and just like in nature, you do not get to linger forever in the sweetness of summer. You must let go of your attachments to where you are and prepare to move onward. These are the cycles of your spiritual growth.

If you're interested in reading my poetic diary, ranging from fourteen years of age until culminating at fifty years of age with my poem titled "The Seasons of My Soul," click on the book image. It is available in both paperback and Kindle.