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Greatest Tip for Success!

According to French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery: a goal without a plan is just a wish. As someone who is a natural born dreamer, this little piece of wisdom is golden. Yet, as important as a plan is, there is something I have found to be even more crucial to fulfilling your dreams and following through on a commitment to yourself.

Of course there is loads of valuable and valid advice written about achieving a goal or a resolution. In fact, you’ve probably heard them all: write your goals down and review them daily, be consistent, make it a part of your routine, hold yourself accountable, work toward your goal with a friend or within a like-minded community, break it into smaller steps, be flexible and willing to revise your plan as life happens, don’t give up when you make a mistake or have a bad day, reward yourself and celebrate along the way. All of these suggestions (and more), along with devising a plan of action and following it, are definite musts for achieving a goal.

However, whether your goal is a personal, health, business, financial, spiritual, or relationship goal, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to achieve it just by following these suggestions. Or, if you do, the change either won’t last or it won’t bring you the joy and fulfillment that you hoped.

So what’s missing? What’s the thing more crucial to a resolution than a plan and action steps? Simply put, the greatest tip for success in achieving your goals that I can share with you, the thing that is absolutely essential to creating fulfilling and lasting change in your life, is…drum roll please…desire, true heart-felt desire. If you don’t really want this goal, if you are just going after it because it is something society, or your parents, or your friends, or your partner, or your co-workers, have told you that should want, but it’s not what is in your heart, then achieving it won’t bring you joy – and more than likely, you won’t even come close to achieving it. To really follow a dream, to stick to your commitments and your plan, to reach for that next level, you have to want it. But not just want it, you have to long for it, feel its call in your heart, hear it in your mind, and sing it in your soul.

Now that may sound dramatic if your goal is to de-clutter your living room, and yet, it’s still true. You have to want to get rid of the clutter and you have to want to do it for yourself. If you don’t, you won’t be willing to take on the responsibility and to make the sacrifices that come along with making a life change, and you won’t be able to get back up when you fall down in the process, which inevitably you will.

So, before you even start writing down your goals for the New Year, or even for the week, ask yourself why you want it. Ask yourself if the thought of achieving that goal brings more joy to your heart? Does it bring more peace and ease to your life? Does it feel heavy and constrictive, or expansive and light? Choose to chase the dreams that truly are a longing of your own. Choose to go after those goals that are calling you from within and you’ll succeed every time.

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The Power of Fire

A source of light and a beacon in the dark, protection from critters in the great outdoors, warmth for our homes or bodies, and heat for cooking our food; these are all positive aspects of fire that we most commonly think of, while the negative is destruction. We can use fire in war to damage our “enemies” and, in the dry summers, we can see it rage in it’s wildness, burning through neighborhoods, forests, and prairies alike.

Yet even in it’s destruction, fire offers us the chance for renewal. Think of the forest fire. As it burns through existing trees and undergrowth, it makes room for new life to grow and returns nutrients to the soil to feed that new life. It awakens the seeds lying dormant and buried in the ground.

Now think about your own life and well-being. What seeds are lying dormant and buried within you? Are there parts of your life that have grown stagnant and are ready to be released or transformed? Where do you feel the need for renewal inside of yourself?

Take a few minutes to make a list of these things – what you are ready to let go of in your life, what you would like to heal and change for the better, as well as what you would like to create and what dreams you are ready to give life to. Write down the first things that come to mind and then read this list out loud to yourself or to a loved one. Then, when you’re ready, throw the list into a fireplace, your backyard pit, or summer campfire, while asking for a blessing from above.

This is a symbolic act. With positive intention and the energy of your faith and action steps behind it, you are allowing the fire to metaphorically consume that which is no longer serving you, and to make room within in your life for the new. The ashes of the old will serve as fuel for the new. This act opens the energetic doorway for positive change and renewal within yourself and your life.

Pay attention to your own inner voice and guidance over the next few days. You’ll likely realize what action steps you need to take, what support you may need to seek out, and what changes you may need to make inside yourself in order to create the change that you desire and, to not only wake up the heart-felt dreams and passions within you, but to make them a reality within your life.

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Worrying Is Like Praying for What You Don’t Want

Be aware of what energy you are drawing to you and what you are creating through your thoughts, words and deeds. Worrying not only takes away our time, energy, and ability to problem solve, but constricts our views and keeps us stuck where we are. Worrying can be an addictive behavior that takes us out of the present moment and distracts us from living our lives.

When you find yourself struggling with worry or anxiety, remember to breathe. Breathe, be present, and ask yourself if there is anything you can do about the situation that’s bringing up the stress and fear. If the answer is yes, then simply go do it. If the answer is no, then let go of the worry and change your focus to your desired outcome. Focusing on that which we desire amplifies the energy of it and helps bring it into being, while expanding our own energy and opening the doorway for new perspectives and solutions to appear.

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