Keeping a Gratitude/Evidence Journal

This is a great new technique I recently came up with, although I certainly can’t take all the credit for it. It’s a combination of a few popular techniques which I’ve heard about from different sources over the years, and I’ve simply combined them into a fun and easy tool to assist you in raising your overall vibration and quickly manifesting your desires.

You’ve probably heard of gratitude journals (you might even keep one!), in which you list things in your journal every day that you are grateful for in your life. Oprah made these popular awhile back when she admitted that keeping a gratitude journal was the single biggest practice that changed her life. You may have also heard of positive evidence journals, which are popular in law of attraction circles, and used to track evidence that something you are desiring to manifest is on its way to you now.

Rather than keeping two separate journals, I decided to combine the two! I've been doing this for about two weeks now and am really noticing a difference.

Here are the instructions:

First, think of a goal or desire you'd like to try this process on. It's best to start with one desire, and once you begin getting results you can introduce new desires into the mix. Your goal or desire can either be something you’ve been trying to manifest for awhile now, or a more recent desire. It can be large or small, or something that means a lot to you or not so much (for example, the love of your life or parking spots close to your office).

Then, every night before bed (or another similar time), take out a journal you’re going to dedicate to this practice and list five things in your life that you are grateful for and that are evidence that your particular manifestation is on its way to you now. Therefore, if you’re trying to manifest more abundance in your life, you could list such things like:

• “I found a ten-dollar bill in the laundry today.”
• “My boss bought me lunch today.”
• “I received a coupon in the mail for a restaurant I have been wanting to go to.”

Once you’ve done that part of the exercise, then list five things you are grateful for IN ADVANCE of your manifestation coming true. This is where you get to use your creativity and imagination to go to the future and think about things you would like to come true with respect to the particular desire you are focusing on for this exercise. So if your manifestation had already happened, what would you be grateful for? Returning to the example of manifesting more abundance, you might list things like:

• “My boss told me I'm getting a raise! (Even though this hasn't happened yet in your reality, it is something you hope to create.)
• "My husband got an expected bonus at work!"
• "My ebook is selling hundreds of copies per month!"

This exercise is extremely powerful and its potential is huge, so don’t underestimate its simplicity. By focusing on evidence you have noticed in your life, no matter how large or small, you are focusing on the fact that your dream or desire IS in fact on its way to you. This is particularly helpful on those days when you begin to doubt that what you want will ever come true,and will help keep you focused on what you want to attract.

Furthermore, by being grateful for things in advance, you are not only raising your overall vibration, but you are actually setting the stage for those things to come to pass in your life. What you focus on consistently becomes your reality, so the more you focus on what you want to create, the quicker and easier those things can come to you. Finally, gratitude or appreciation are some of the highest vibrations you can flow.

Doing the above will already go a long way in helping you manifest your goal or desire, but to *really* add some juice to this exercise, mix up the two categories when you list them rather than listing the two categories separately. This means that instead of listing five things you're grateful for now, and then five things you're grateful for in your future manifestation, mix them up in one list so there's no division between the two. This actually tricks your subconscious into thinking every single thing on your list has already come true, and as a result your subconscious gets busy creating results in your life ASAP. Once you start doing this on a regular basis, your goal or desire is practically a done deal!

I have been doing this exercise for a few weeks now, and have been getting so much out of it I've decided to do it permanently. I hope you'll join me and report back to me on the fabulous results you're getting!

Allowing Miracles

If you saw my last blog post, then you know I was recently in South Africa for work. I headed over there for two weeks to visit our South Africa office, and assist with a particular project that was falling behind schedule. However, the couple who runs the office was out of town for their anniversary and had no access to phones or email. Therefore, they had no idea I was coming, and more importantly, I had no idea if anyone would be there to pick me up at the airport or if I would even have a hotel room when I arrived!

Needless to say, as I prepared for my trip, several people around me were very anxious and asking a lot of questions:

• Where would I stay?
• What city in particular was I going to?
• How would I get around?
• What about security issues?
• Would I have a security guard?
• Would I get to visit any of the national parks?

I didn’t know the answers to these questions, and quite frankly I didn’t care. I was super excited, packed my bags, and got ready for a grand adventure! I literally boarded the plane not knowing which specific city I was going to in South Africa, or if anyone would be at the airport on the other end to pick me up.

When I arrived, after a long 15-hour flight, I was thrilled to find that not only were there people at the airport to pick me up, but they were absolutely delightful and what ensued was two wonderful weeks that I will never forget. They were great people to work with on a daily basis, and they truly treated me as part of their family. I know I will be life-long friends with them.

In addition to feeling so loved by them, they showed me all around their city, treated me to outdoor barbeques to sample all the local food, and even took me on an all-day safari on their dime, where we had the pleasure of seeing an elephant up close as he walked down the road directly in front of our jeep for a good thirty minutes (that's him above!). Not to mention, they drove me around every day, made sure I had everything I needed, and even taught me a few key phrases in Afrikaans.

I tell this story because before I left, I honestly had no idea what to expect. I’d never been to South Africa before, but more importantly, I wasn’t really provided a lot of information about my trip. No one from my office had ever been, so in all fairness no one had much information to give me. It was just expected that I would get over there and figure it all out!

However, and this is important, I TRUSTED that all would work out for me. And it did! There is not a single thing I would change about my trip. I had a fabulous time, met some great people, and have memories to last a lifetime. I was open to experiencing miracles, and I did! Unfortunately, this is a quality I notice is missing in a lot of people who are not currently living lives they love or are very excited about.

So many people spend the majority of their days worried or scared, about money, their boss, their job, their parents, their kids, their next vacation, and on and on and on. And yes, there are of course several things in our world and our lives that could go wrong on a daily basis. There are, however, also several things that could go RIGHT in our world and our lives on a daily basis, if we would just open ourselves up to them. Opportunities and miracles are everywhere, if we just allow them!

I had no idea what to expect when I agreed to go to South Africa. In fact, the reason the trip was offered to me in the first place was because the person who was originally supposed to go backed out at the last minute. Rather than being scared about my trip and overly worried about the details, though, I trusted in the Universe and myself to make things work out for the best. I always expect things to work out for me in the best possible way, and they usually do! I expect to always be provided with enough money at the right time, and I am!

Some might call this luck, but it’s really not luck at all. Our thoughts create our realities, and the more you focus on positive thoughts and expectations, the more positive experiences you will create in your life. This is not to say that sometimes you don’t have to exercise caution or common sense. However, in my world I would rather have a positive expectation that things will work out and deal with any issues that arise, versus always being on the lookout for things that could wrong. What about you?

If you read my last post, you’ll see that on my way home from South Africa I had planned to stop over in Paris for three days and take a bit of a vacation. Due to the volcano in Iceland, this turned into eight days! That’s an entire story in itself so I won’t go into the details here, but needless to say I had another chance to trust in the Universe and expect that everything would work out for me. And it did, just like magic! ;)

Creating a Life You Love!

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been the past month or so, there's been a lot going on! I took a last minute two-week business trip to South Africa, and then ended up having an "extended" vacation in Paris due to the volcano in Iceland. During my almost month-long sabbatical from my regular life, I learned many very important and beneficial life lessons and will be posting several blogs in the upcoming weeks about what I learned. Keep your eyes on this space if you’re interested. Above all, I learned that LIFE IS GOOD and just keeps getting better!

To make a long story short, I was returning to the States from South Africa and was planning on spending three days in Paris on the way home. Three days turned into eight days due to the volcano that closed down virtually all airports in Western Europe! After adjusting to the shock that I was literally “stuck” in Paris, I spent an additional five days creating an absolutely magical vacation. What better way to turn an absolutely absurd situation into an excuse for loving myself and creating my ideal life!

I *LOVE* Paris, absolutely love it. I'm a real Francophile and always have been. I lived there for two years following college and when I'm there things just fall into place for me like you would not believe. (More details in my ebook if you're interested). I feel more connected to who I really am while in Paris, and part of me secretly wonders if I was French in a former life!

However, I also noticed something interesting the other week while I was there. In addition to feeling extremely fulfilled every time I'm in Paris, I also go out of my way to create a life I love when I'm there. I'm out of my hotel super early every morning and don't come home until super late. I spend the days going to outdoor cafes, browsing in shops I love, dining at my favorite restaurants, journaling and relaxing in parks and gardens, taking pictures of the blooming flowers, etc. Everything I do in Paris is a *sensory* experience, from eating my favorite foods, to visiting museums and admiring the artwork, to sitting on the side of the Seine and really soaking in the atmosphere. I make every minute count, and the same was true when I lived there, not just when I’m there on vacation.

It got me thinking about my current life in Washington, DC. Just because I live in DC and not Paris, there’s no reason I can’t create a life I love here in DC just like I do when I’m in Paris! In many ways Washington is very similar to Paris, especially the particular neighborhood I live in. There are cafes, shops, bars, restaurants, outdoor markets, museums, giant cathedrals, parks, beautiful flowers, etc. However, I don't currently spend a lot of time actually enjoying these things and taking advantage of them like I do when I'm in Paris. That's when it hit me: it's time I stop wishing I lived in Paris and start revelling in my life here, right now!

Let me ask you this: How many of you are actively creating a life you love on a daily basis, versus feeling sorry for yourself because you’re not currently experiencing your ideal career, or relationship, or living situation, or weight, etc? That’s no excuse to not be creating your ideal life! There are things you could be doing right now to enhance your enjoyment of life, even before that thing or situation you are wanting arrives. So start doing those things! Sure, it might not be *exactly* the same as if you were truly already living your ideal life, but it’s a start… a great start, in fact!

The law of attraction brings you more of whatever you spend the majority of your time focusing on and feeling. Therefore, the more time you spend in delicious feelings of happiness and fulfillment while entertaining thoughts about how much you love your life, the more the Universe will bring to you to match these thoughts and emotions, including your ideal job, weight, financial situation, relationship, etc. Isn't this great news?!

So I invite you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and start creating a life you love, right this very minute! Especially with summer right around the corner, now's a great time to commit to creating a life you're absolutely ecstatic about. Why not take the next few months to concentrate on doing activities that bring you joy and fill you with a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment, every single day? I'll definitely be doing this, and I encourage you to do the same!

And be sure to check out my ebook, Secrets to Creating Your Ideal Life, to learn more about how I manifested my ideal life in Paris for two years straight out of college. It's all I could think about the other week when I was there!

Practicing Meaningful Habits

I’ll be honest, there are times when I don’t want to write a blog post. Actually, it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t think of anything in particular that’s inspiring me to write an entire post.

I always try to write about something that’s relevant to my life and hopefully to yours, and some days (or weeks!) I’m really just not feeling it. But (and this is a big BUT), I know that if I don’t write a post I will ultimately end up feeling worse than if I had just dug a little deeper to find an interesting topic to write about. Here, let me explain!

Expressing myself creatively and speaking/writing about topics relating to creating your ideal life are true passions of mine. They jazz me up and fill me with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. Also, connecting with other like-minded souls (like the people who read my blog) is very essential to my overall happiness. I don’t get a lot of one-on-one interaction in my “real” life with people who are as into these topics as I am, so connecting with people on-line is especially important to me. And during those weeks when I don’t publish a blog post or get a newsletter out I can really feel a difference! I just feel off, a little sluggish, and less in-tune with my authentic self and overall purpose.

So I’d like to use this opportunity to ask you: What are the things you do in your life that fill you up, inspire you, and allow you to express who you really are? First and foremost, do you have things like that in your life? If not, get busy discovering some! And more importantly, are you making these things an integral part of your life?

Sure, we all lead super busy lives and situations pop up constantly that demand our time and attention. That’s a given. But the thing separates those who are merely surviving on a day-to-day basis from those who are really thriving on a daily basis is a commitment to doing things that really fill you up and give you a sense of joy!

Take working out, for example. Anyone who works out knows that there are days when you just do NOT feel like exercising. Maybe you’re tired from a long day at the office, or you don’t want to get sweaty, or your energy is just really low. We’ve all been there. From years of experience, though, I know that if I give into my exhaustion and skip my workouts too many times in a row I will ultimately end up feeling worse than if I just exerted a little extra effort and did the workout. I do yoga 2-3 times a week these days, and even though there are days when I would honestly rather stay home and lounge on the couch, I know that I'll feel better after I do yoga than I would if I just stayed home and relaxed.

The point of this blog post is to point out that yes, often in life there are things we don’t feel like doing. It would be so much easier to expend less energy and take the easy way out. But ask yourself how fulfilled you are living that way. I have a full-time job in addition to running my website and blog, and there are definitely times when it all gets to feel like too much. I also know, however, that I feel the most alive and fulfilled when I work on my website and blog. When I let that go I can tell a huge difference in my energy levels, happiness, and overall satisfaction with life.

If you are truly committed to living your ideal life (and I know you are since you are visiting my blog!), then you’ll want to find a way to include meaningful activities in your life that give you a sense of purpose, no matter how difficult you think that might be. If you have to reprioritize your schedule or cut certain activities out of your day all together, then go ahead and do that. If you have to let go of old friendships that are no longer adding anything to your growth and expansion, then that might be the path to take. Maybe you can start reading uplifting books on your subway commute to work in the morning, or for ten minutes every night before you go to bed. The point is, find a way to include things in your life that fill you up and give you a sense of aliveness. It make take a little more schedule juggling on your part, but you will be so glad you did!

Finding the Hidden Benefits

This post is for those of you who’ve been trying to create something in your life for awhile now, but just can’t seem to make it happen. Rather than staying stuck in a place of sheer frustration, this post will show you how to take responsibility for the circumstances you've been experiencing and move out of them once and for all!

I'm going to be honest with you and cut to the chase: If there’s something you’ve been wanting for a long time but nothing has changed in your life, it’s possible that some part of you doesn’t really want that thing or situation you’re trying to create! Obviously, this assumes that you’ve actually been expending energy and effort trying to get this thing to work, otherwise your lack of effort is the reason behind why you’re not succeeding.

But if you’ve been making an honest attempt at trying to lose those last five lbs., or trying to make more money on-line from your website, or deepening your relationship with your spouse or children, or attracting new like-minded individuals into your life, etc., and still nothing is budging, then that usually means that something inside of you is not entirely on-board with whatever it is you think you’re wanting.

I know what you’re thinking! You're convinced there’s no possible way this is true. After all, you want this thing or situation SO badly, so it can’t possibly be true that part of you *doesn’t* want it. However, while this is not necessarily a case of self-sabotage, it is likely that there’s a hidden subconscious reason why you’re not making as much progress with your particular goal as you'd like. So let's take a closer look at these subconscious motivations and bring conscious awareness to why you might be staying stuck in an experience you thought you so desperately wanted out of!

Even though I get asked out regularly on my fair share of dates, I’ve been single (not in a serious relationship) for awhile now. And even though it would be pretty easy to blame this on the fact that I’m just not getting asked out by the “right” guys, I’m also not doing a whole heck of a lot to put myself out there to meet my match! Ultimately I do think I would like to be married and have a family, but I also wonder if there’s some part of me that isn’t entirely committed to being in a long-term relationship. Otherwise, I would probably already be in one!

Can you relate to this? Maybe it’s not in the area of relationships, but in some area of your life where you think you’re committed to one thing but the results seem to show otherwise?

So, what to do when this happens? Hint: beating yourself up is not the answer!

Instead, spend some time investigating whether there are any hidden benefits to your situation being the way it is now. Take out your journal or a piece of paper and at the top write, “Benefits of My Current Situation.” Next, list as many benefits (at least 5) as you can come up with regarding your situation as it is right now. You might have to stretch your mind a little at first and look at your situation in a whole new light, but go ahead and do that! Not only will doing this exercise help you uncover (possible) hidden motives behind your desires, but it will also help release any resistance you may be flowing around this particular area of your life.

For example, in my case it might look like:

Benefits of My Current Situation:

• I have complete freedom to spend my time however I want
• I don’t have to check in with anyone
• I don’t have to worry about anyone but myself

Oftentimes just uncovering the hidden motivations are enough to clear up the issue. By bringing them to light, you are able to see things you weren't previously aware of.

If this exercise doesn't clear things up, however, you'll want to find a way to reconcile what you are ultimately trying to create with the benefits you are experiencing from your current situation. For example, in my situation I am enjoying being single because it allows me to experience freedom, but that doesn't mean I have to forego relationships all together! It just means I would be well-served to find a relationship that provides me with a great deal of freedom, as well as closeness.

If you've been trying to lose weight but uncover some hidden benefits of staying your current size (maybe you don't want to have to buy all new clothes to fit your new size!), then you'll want to find a way to reconcile your overall desire to lose weight with your desire to not have to buy a whole new wardrobe. For example, maybe your sister is the same size as your desired size and you can take over some of her old clothes. Be creative and find ways to reconcile your two desires!

Whether we want to admit it or not, there is always some reason why we are in the situations we are in, and it's usually not because the Universe is against us! Even if our motivations are subconscious and hidden from us, they are always there, driving our behavior. If you're finding that the actions you're taking are not lining up with the results you had hoped to achieve, do the exercise above to see if you have any hidden benefits to your current situation that might be preventing you from moving forward. You might be surprised by what you find!

Scripting Your Ideal Life

For the past few weeks I’ve been leading weekly scripting calls over at my new favorite hangout on the web, Good Vibe University. Scripting is the practice of speaking about something you’d like to manifest as if it’s already happened, i.e. that thing or situation is already a part of your life.

At first this can seem a bit awkward, because when most of us talk about things we want, we talk about them from a place of lack. These things haven't made an appearance in our realities yet, and therefore we're still in a vibe of wanting them. Scripting is a fantastic exercise to activate the vibration of having something, which speeds up its attraction to you. Remember, the law of attraction states that "like attracts like." By scripting and talking about things as if they’ve already happened, you're invoking the energy that is needed to make your dreams come true.

The good news is, you don’t have to join a scripting call to get benefits from this sort of exercise. In fact, you can start scripting in your mind right this very second!

Think about a particular goal or desire you’d like to see come to fruition in the next few months. It could be anything: weight loss, improved finances, a new relationship, more energy, etc. Next, think about how you would speak about this goal to others if it had already come true. What would you tell your friends and family, now that this thing is a part of your life? Would you talk about it more or less? Would the tone of your voice change, or the energy behind the words you speak?

You can also call to mind someone who already has success in that area that you’re trying to replicate. It could be someone you know, or even a character in your favorite movie or television show. Think about how this person talks about what you're trying to manifest, and even how they talk to themselves about this particular thing. They may not even talk about it very much at all because it’s already a part of their life! Is there a particular body language associated with how they talk about it?

You know the next step. Start using those same words, self-talk, behavior, etc. in order to manifest that thing or situation into your life! In some circumstances it might not be feasible to script out loud, but you can certainly script in your mind at all times. Talk to yourself as if your desire is already a reality in your world. How does that change the way you talk to yourself in this particular area?

If this feels too awkward for you at first, try imagining that you’re an actor in a play or movie and that you’re playing the role of someone who is living your ideal life. Really get into the character and feel the emotions that this person would have. Even if you’ve been playing the role of someone who's not successful in a particular area up until now, you can change the role you’ve been playing in your life at any time you choose!

Here's an example: Say you’ve been thinking about taking up yoga, but you’re typically a wallflower or homebody and not very comfortable meeting new people. As much as you’d like to start a weekly yoga practice, the thought of joining a studio where you won’t know anyone is just not appealing to you. Instead of allowing this to hamper you and hold you back, try some of the methods I described above.

You can start scripting to your friends about how excited you are to join the new yoga studio (even if inside you feel completely the opposite). Next you can actually go to the studio to sign up, and assume the role of someone who is confident, outgoing, and open to new situations and people. Rather than falling into your old pattern of keeping to yourself, try striking up a conversation with the person behind the front desk or even one of the yogis at the studio. I’m not saying these changes are going to happen overnight, and it might require a little willpower on your part, but it is possible and it can be done!

I'd love to hear your experience with any of the above techniques! By using them on a consistent basis, you will begin to feel more comfortable actually having your desires as part of your life and it won’t feel so foreign to you. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time before those things seem to magically show up in your reality!

For more details on scripting and additional exercises to create your ideal life, be sure to check out my ebook, Secrets to Creating Your Ideal Life! (That's it in the top left corner of this page).

Playing the What If Game

Sometimes things tend to get a little serious on the path of self improvement and personal growth. We focus on all that hasn't happened yet in our lives, and all the changes we still have to implement. So I thought I'd use this post to bring things back to a fun vibe, and introduce you to a game!

The What If game is a game that’s popular in law of attraction circles, but anyone can do it and I highly recommend it. Not only is it a ton of fun, but it instantly puts you in a better mood and is very effective in helping you create the life of your dreams.

The What If game is simple. Basically, the premise is this: Most of us, when we think of a goal we’d like to accomplish or a dream we’d like to manifest, or even something as simple as going to a cocktail party, we ask ourselves a series of questions that focus on the negative, i.e. “What if my business fails and I go bankrupt?” “What if I never lose this weight and stay like this forever?” “What if I go to this party and no one talks to me?” By asking ourselves questions like this from a standpoint of assuming the worst, we might think we’re preparing ourselves and preventing those things from happening. In actuality, however, we’re just taking ourselves further and further away from our desired scenario!

For example, say you’re at a cocktail party and want to go up to someone, but the only thoughts running through your mind are: “What if I say something stupid and embarrass myself?” or “What if I spill my drink on me?” If this is the case, not only are you going to be much less likely to actually take action and go up to someone new, but if you do go talk to them chances are you’ll be so nervous that you may actually spill your drink on yourself!

So to play the What If game, you begin asking yourself questions from a positive standpoint, i.e. that focus on what you WANT to happen. Using the same example from above, you could interrupt yourself from asking negative questions in your head and instead consciously replace them with questions like, “What if I tell a great joke and everything thinks I’m really funny?” or “What if this person knows someone who can help me find my ideal job/life partner?” Obviously, there’s no guarantee that any of the questions you’re asking will come true, but that’s not the point!

The point is to get your mind moving in a new direction, whereby you’re focusing on things from a more positive standpoint. You want to focus on the best-case scenario coming true rather than assuming the worst. If you read my post on Afformations, then you know the importance of asking your mind questions that focus on what you want to create rather than what you want to avoid. Whenever you ask yourself a question, your mind immediately goes off in search of the answer. By asking a question from the standpoint of what you want to attract, this directs your mind to focus on what you want to create. And we all know that whatever we consistently focus on becomes true in our lives.

Here’s another example: Say I want to manifest my ideal home, but I have no idea how that’s going to happen because I don’t have the money right now. Rather than getting frustrated and automatically giving up on my desire, I can ask myself:

• What if the sellers of my dream home drop the price drastically and I can now afford it?
• What if my dream home goes into foreclosure and I can buy it from the bank for a ridiculously cheap price?
• What if I win the lottery tomorrow and never have to worry about money again?

Get the idea?

Use whatever questions you like, and sometimes the more “out there” they are, the better! The purpose of this game is not to find answers to the questions, but rather to get in a place of thinking about your desires coming true. We get so attached to how our dreams our going to be delivered to us, and oftentimes we prevent things from making their way to us because we think they can only come through one single channel. This game helps you release your attachment to outcomes, and expand the possibilities in your mind of all the different ways your dreams can come true!

If the words “What if” don’t fully resonate with you, you can also use the words “Wouldn’t it be nice if…?” For example, “Wouldn’t it be nice if I win the lottery?” or “Wouldn’t it be nice if I lose ten lbs. overnight?” For even more fun, try playing this out loud with a partner or group of friends!

For additional resources on playing the What If game, check out the What If Up Club website, www.whatifup.com.