Inspiration Archives

3 Important Lessons For Your Financial Life

Not long after I started my financial planning firm in 1995, I discovered something that was never taught to me in business school. It's the notion that every person has their own unique and personal relationship with money. I consistently saw how my clients' emotions were responsible for how they made money, how they kept it, or conversely, how they accumulated debt. Therefore, I've made it my mission, and have built a successful practice, on delving into the emotion and psychology behind my clients' monetary issues. I've found that by digging deep and really understanding my clients, I am able…

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- The trick to growing through adversity is not “becoming a victim” by looking for reasons “why,” but by looking for the benefits in the situation.
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Find Your Inner Whistle

Okay, okay, I'm going to make a bold statement. I admit it - I'm over 50 now, yes I am. It is a hard pill to swallow. But I'm getting there and am starting to get comfortable with it. I used to hate walking down a street and getting whistles from the men around me. Now, there were never hundreds, but I got my share. BUT... and again I hate to admit it but... when the whistles started disappearing and finally stopped altogether, I missed them. I missed them... I really, really missed them. So I looked in the mirror…

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- The Holy Grail of life is not something you can buy, sell or hold contrary to whatever Wall Street or Madison Avenue would have you believe. It is something you feel.
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Your #1 Principle for Balance, Peace of Mind, and Trust

The ultimate secret to balance, connection, and peace of mind is also the most important key to building trust instantly with everyone you touch. The secret centers around the simple, yet immeasurably profound principle of being fully present. Perhaps the most powerful way to understand this principle of being present is to look clearly at what it is not. Several years ago when I was the vice-president of a large training company, I became painfully aware of what it means to not be present. I had fallen into the habit of reaching the office by 5:00 a.m. and not returning…

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- Challenges are common… Suffering is optional.
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How I Became Aware

One of my first really big insights came when I read Fritz Perls' little gem of a book, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. He wrote that simple awareness can often be curative. What a brilliant perspective on life: if only I could become more aware, I might be able to solve a whole lot of my "problems." Shortly thereafter, I heard Eric Hoffer say, "You can never get enough of what you don't really need to make you happy." That one got me thinking about all the "things" I had been focused on and how little they actually mattered once I had created…

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- When you do what you love and love what you do – you’ll have success, your whole life through.
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It’s Your Choice

"You'll keep getting what you're getting as long as you keep doing what you're doing!" "The insanity principle is doing the same thing but expecting different results!" "If nothing changes, nothing changes!" These statements all pertain to personal power reinventing oneself and change. More importantly, they all pertain to choice. You have to choose to change YOU. Throughout my life, from childhood through college, corporate career to business owner, wedding day to divorce court, I've encountered people who were in situations they loathed but, for whatever reason, chose not to change how they responded to or viewed the situation. In…

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- Every step we take on our own unique path is a new meeting with ourselves, which will open up to even more freedom within and a greater connection with the surrounding world.
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Searching for the Meaning of Success? Love Life

My success continually astonishes me. I feel very blessed in my life. So I ask myself, what does success mean to me? What does it look like, feel like, and especially, how does it feed me and those I influence. To be in love with life itself: that is success to me. I feel successful when I am in the state of thoroughly relishing all that the menu screen of life reveals to me. I feel successful when I can laugh at the crazy dishes that life presents. A key to being in love with life itself is to live…

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- Our love is the most valuable gift we can offer to those around us.
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10 Pithy Tips for Empowered Living

I would share these ten tips. 1. Being broke is not the same as being broken, losing money is not the same as being lost, and finding your balance is not something you can do on a balance sheet. 2. Don't confuse having less with being less, having more with being more, or what you have with who you are. 3. Slow down. What you're chasing may be trying to catch you. 4. Prayer is a path where there is none. 5. Put your faith and not your fears in charge. 6. God only gave you two arms. If you're…

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- The greatest gift we give ourselves or anyone else is the quality of our attention.
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Small Steps Today, Big Steps For Your Future

I was always inspired by the hippie saying, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life...." Though I had been trained to believe that I had a limited world and that I'd better adapt to it, I knew deep inside that at all times I (and others) had the ability to change my mind. By the pure grace of God (because believe me, I was not looking for it!), I discovered consciousness-raising programs with amazing exercises and learned that if I change my beliefs, it changes my mindset/attitude, and most importantly, it changes my results. I decided to…

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- What really matters to me is that we are all capable of living spectacular lives- we don’t need to be limited by our pasts or our circumstances, there is greatness in all of us.
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Cranky Feedback

As a professional writer, counselor, and musician, I’ve received all kinds of feedback about my work. Most of the feedback I get is positive and supportive, and that’s part of the reason I continue to do what I do. But some of the feedback is, let’s just say, “cranky.” Cranky feedback is especially interesting to me, because I usually know where it’s coming from, and can see myself in it. I’ll explain. There was a time when I was quite unhappy, generally angry with life. During that period I felt it was my job to enlighten people about what I…

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- A dream fueled by purpose, fired by passion and followed with persistence will definitely change the world.
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Stopping the War Against Yourself

On a daily basis, I pause, put my hand on my chest and whisper, “I will not make war against my own heart.” I have many opportunities to practice, as I make many mistakes. Each time, I want to jump on myself. Each time, I choose: do I judge myself or let it go? This is an act of courage for me, as it goes against ingrained habits of beating myself up. It’s an opening, an embracing of all of life; an embracing of all of me. It is unconditional love. It’s not easy. The mind loves to judge. To…

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- Feel your way to success by following your yes’s.
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Call on Your Imagination and Inspiration for Guidance

What inspires you? Have you thought about that lately? What inspires you? Who inspires you? Where do you go to recharge your batteries? How do you stay centered and grounded during the type of economic upheaval we're living through? Are you able to keep your thoughts positive and your outlook for you and your loved ones optimistic? Do you feel confident about the future or do you feel uneasy and concerned? As a financial planner, being an optimist is pretty much non-negotiable. Fortunately for me, that's easy as I was born with the glass is half full mentality. Yet being…

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