What is success?

The dictionary defines success as “the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.”

So you must decide for yourself what success is, depending on what you seek in your life, your relationships and your career. If you’re an athlete, success can mean obtaining that gold medal. If you identify yourself as a parent, success can mean raising children with good moral values. For a doctor, success can mean relieving pain or saving a life. To many of us success means a job promotion or acquiring wealth. It depends on your perspective and how you perceive yourself and your life.

You are the only one who can judge your success. If you try to achieve success according to someone else’s standards or society’s standards, you will never be satisfied that you have achieved it.

Yet even when we know that we define our own success, we often seem to fail. We feel dissatisfied, empty, tense. Our minds are not at rest, not peaceful, not harmonious. Our thoughts are full of “if onlys.” You know what they’re like: “If only I had more money, I would be happy.” “If only I could lose 20 pounds, my life would be perfect.”

What’s the difficulty? Are we setting unrealistic goals? Maybe, but that’s not really the problem. Are we not trying hard enough? Usually that’s not a factor either. What is it? Us! We are our own worst enemy. “We have met the enemy and he is us,” as Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo, famously wrote.

How do we sabotage our success, undermine our goals, subvert our desires? Through the largely unconscious programming of our minds. That’s the whole answer in a nutshell. It’s our thoughts, the thoughts we allow to parade through our heads and invade our subconscious. When we can learn to change our thoughts, then our success is assured.

Your mind didn’t come with an instruction manual. You were given a lot of instruction by your parents, your teachers, your friends, by books, movies, TV. But did any of it tell you how to control your thoughts? Did it tell you how to program your mind?

You do have the power to change your life if you want to. You do have the power to achieve the goals you set for yourself. But you won’t succeed if you don’t learn to control your mind first.

The seat of power in your life is your unconscious mind, the mind that works 24/7 on whatever program you have set for it. You set these programs by empowering your thoughts with vision, expectation, belief and desire. Before anything that you wish for can happen, you must envision it clearly, desire it, believe deeply that it will happen, and expect confidently that it will happen.

The unconscious mind will act based on your ability to program it. You constantly send your unconscious information and messages, whether you think so or not, but many of the messages tend to be negative (“if only”). When you think “if only” you tell your unconscious that you are not a success, that you are in a state of lack and limitation.

So be very careful of your thoughts, beliefs and actions. If you worry about not having enough money, you are programming your mind for lack. If you worry that you can’t accomplish your goals, you are programming your mind for failure. If you believe you haven’t the opportunities you need to get ahead, you are programming yourself not to recognize them when they appear.

Why? The unconscious mind is constantly working on the information that you have sent, and negative information yields negative reality. As the computer geeks say, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

You can have success; you can change your life. But you must change your mind first.

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The question people often ask me is-when their self-development work and personal growth finally “takes,” is this when will they stop having negative thoughts-I wish I knew. Although I’m afraid the answer could be never.

I play CDs with positive subliminal messages while I sleep each night. I start each day by reading something positive, and end each night the same way. I have many positive, success-oriented people in my life. I feast regularly on positive books, tapes and other programs. But I have an embarrassing confession to make . . .

I’ve had lots of negative thoughts. Sometimes ten a day. As rich, successful, healthy and happy as I’ve become, I have often still had fear-based thoughts. Looking back now, I see a lot of things I did, thinking they were prosperous, but I see now they were fear-based.

When I bought a bike, I bought a titanium professional race bike for $3,000. I remember thinking then that if things got bad, I could always sell it for some quick cash.

Well I bought three Vipers at the same time, I felt secure, knowing I could always sell one or two and scrape together a hundred grand.

Coming from the place I did, I always felt like I was somehow cheating destiny. That God, or the universe, or someone was going to wake up one day and discover that I had acquired wealth by mistake. I still had that niggling thought in the back of my mind-the defensive, better-prepare-for-the-really-bad-scenario, and have my options covered-just in case. And not get my hopes up too high-because then I was setting myself up for a great disappointment.

And like I told you, I’ve had those kinds of thoughts recently, as many as ten a day. But here’s the difference . . .

I notice every one of them now. Immediately. And I often laugh about how silly they are. Best of all, I see the progression of my mindset.

First, I had hundreds of negative thoughts a day, and noticed none of them.

Then I graduated to the point that I had lots of negative thoughts a day and noticed some of them.

From there I got to the point that I had less negative thoughts a day and I noticed a lot of them.

And gradually over time, I started having less and less of them. Some days I have none. And now when I do have them, I catch myself right away.

I used to wear a rubber band on my wrist, and snap it when I had a lack thought. Now I no longer need to do that. I just tap my fingers on my forehead. That’s the signal to my mind, and I instantly reject that thought, and replace it with another one. And once that happens. The world changes.

So when do the negative thoughts end? I doubt they ever do. The sheer enormity of how much negative and lack programming you will be assaulted with over the course of a lifetime makes that seem unlikely. (But let’s not affirm that.)

In any event, if you keep counter-programming-you will win the fight. Because once you control the programming-you control the mindset. And once you control the mindset-you control your destiny!

Start a life journal and track your negative lack and limitation thoughts and tally them. At the end of each day, spend some time thinking about this subject.

When you really analyze the day and think about this regularly-you will start to notice these thoughts. And once you do that, they lose most of their power.

And your mindset starts to change . . .

You change your core fundamental beliefs. You believe you are supposed to be healthy, happy and prosperous. You believe you are worthy. And when you are confronted with dozens of situations each day, most minor, some bigger, and even some that are major-you expect good things to happen to you!

And because you expect good things to happen to you-you approach life differently. You approach it expecting to end up on top. And because you believe it-that’s exactly what happens! Ain’t it great?

* Excerpted from Randy Gage’s BreakthroughU.com Daily Awakening

Grow your prosperity consciousness and start living a life of true abundance.

You are meant to be healthy, happy and prosperous. Once you recognize and accept this, it is simply a case of learning the principles that abundance is based on. In this insightful book series, you will move from lack consciousness to living in the light of true abundance.
Get The Prosperity Series by Randy Gage!

For more than 15 years, Randy Gage has been helping people transform self-limiting beliefs into self-fulfilling breakthroughs to achieve their dreams. Randy Gage is a modern day explorer in the field of body-mind development and personal growth. He is the author of the best-selling albums, Dynamic Development and Prosperity and director of www.BreakthroughU.com . For more resources and to subscribe to Randy’s free ezine newsletters visit his web site.

Kasia is a talented landscape designer who speaks several languages, and when she jokes about being a "Polish princess" it’s because she actually has the pedigree to support that claim.

That’s not why she’s amazing. What’s remarkable about Kasia is her ability to play with words in a creative way.

You don’t have to speak five languages in order to play with words, but I’m guessing that playing with words is pretty helpful when you’re trying to learn five languages! So, let’s take a page from Kasia’s multilingual notebook and see how she plays with one particular word in English.

The word? Money.

Now, Kasia could rattle off the appropriate word for "money" in more than five languages if asked, but what she focuses on is tweaking that word so that it loses whatever negativity, scariness, or other baggage it might have for her.

So, whenever she hears or says the word "money" she substitutes it in her own head with the word "monkeys"–and watches how that completely shifts the tone.

Think about it. What if whenever you said, "I don’t have enough money for that" you instead said, "I don’t have enough monkeys for that"?

Or how about this: "counting money" or "saving money" becomes "counting monkeys" or "saving monkeys" instead.

Suddenly, those retirement plans and college savings programs don’t seem so scary. In fact, they start to sound kind of fun and interesting.

Now, I’m not saying you can give up on the concept of money altogether and just joke around about the idea of financial security.

No, no, no. I’m saying that you can use this quirky little mindfulness technique to help you lighten up about an area that may cause a great deal of stress or frustration for you.

Money can be a pretty malleable concept, and depending on how we were raised (and a whole bunch of other factors), we develop our own sense of its value, importance, purpose, and possibilities.

Substituting the word "monkey" for "money" allows us to become more aware of the number of times per day we hear, see, or say that word, and it helps us zero in on the physical and psychological responses we may have as it triggers our own particular reaction.

Listen as you and others say the following phrases:

"If only I had enough monkeys for that!"

"I’m saving my monkeys to buy _____."

"I need to make more monkeys."

"When I have enough monkeys, I’ll live the life of my dreams."

"It seems like I’m constantly running out of monkeys."

"My husband and I are always fighting about monkeys."

and my personal favorite:

"Monkeys don’t grow on trees, you know."

I once spent a winter studying primates at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. I stood outside in the snow for hours making little notes about the Japanese snow monkeys I was observing. I became quite attached to them by simply watching them interact with each other.

They had their grouchy days, just like humans, but overall, they were lighthearted and playful even in their old age. And their demeanor could shift dramatically when one of them would initiate play–suddenly, there was much chasing and chattering before they all settled down again for a group grooming session.

In other words, things were unpredictable, but even during chaotic moments, they seemed to recognize that soon enough, they’d be hunkered down together quite calmly.

Money can be like that. You try hard to control it, but whether you invest in the stock market, real estate, college tuition, or orthodontia, there are times when you wonder why you bother at all. Just when you think things are going smoothly, something comes along and zaps a huge chunk out of your bank account.

Start viewing money management as monkey management, and you’ll begin to feel lighter about the whole process of saving and spending. There are benefits to controlling your finances, no doubt about it. But there are also advantages to seeing money as an unpredictable and even amusing character that sparks greater mindfulness and helps us see what matters most.

Try a little monkey mindfulness whenever you write checks or make a deposit. Picture them having a swingin’ good time in your bank account, and grin a little even as they leave the compound.

There will be others climbing in soon enough.

(C) Copyright 2005, Maya Talisman Frost

Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention.  Her playful and powerful eyes-wide-open approach to mindfulness has been featured in over 100 publications.  She is currently living in Old Mazatlan, Mexico, where she is having a swingin’ good time watching her monkeys.  To read her free special report, "The Dirty Little Secret About Meditation," please visit www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com.

When you hear the words “abundance” and “prosperity”, what immediately comes to mind?Is it money, fulfilling relationships, a lovely house to live in, peace of mind, a career/vocation that expresses your gifts?

It may be all or none of those things. It may mean something else to you. But if you want to attract more prosperity and abundance into your life, no matter how you define them, then this articles outlines 5 key ways to do so.

1. Understand Attraction Law

This is better known as the Law of Attraction, as defined by Abraham Hicks, states that “you attract whatever you give your attention and energy to, whether wanted or unwanted”.

So, if you’re curious about what youre putting out there, look at what you are attracting, the visible results in your life. Knowing about and working with the the Law of Attraction will help you in manifesting, creating and attracting more abundance and prosperity in your life. Once you understand it, theres no turning back.

2. You get what you focus on

One of the key concepts in the Law of Attraction is that you get what you focus on, whether that be money, relationships, employment etc). So when you focus on having less, that is the experience you create for yourself.

Saying that “I hate my job” will just draw even more attention to the aspects of the job that you dont like. Even if you look for another job, itll be with that negative energy.

Just wanting something isnt enough, because you will still continue to think about what you dont have. Always focusing on what you lack means that you dont see the present and future opportunities, or begin to realise your true desires. Youre getting in your own way!

3. Clear your head

……….to allow you to focus more effectively. Our minds are full of “stuff”; old, tired and limiting beliefs, which dont reflect who we are now, or who we want to become.

Set aside quiet time for yourself on a regular basis to get real clear about what you really want to attract in your life.

Use this opportunity to ask yourself questions. Ask yourself: “how can I create more prosperity and abundance in my life?”.

Once your head is clear, you will allow the answers to come to you. Meditation is a great way to start clearing the mind.

4. Appreciate lifes abundance

Appreciating lifes abundance is another way to opening yourself up to accept more abundance and prosperity in your life. When you fully appreciate what you have in your life, the Universe has a way of giving you more.

Keep a gratitude journal and at the end of each day, write down everything that you appreciate in your life. Youll begin to change your energy and vibration and become more internally aligned with what you want to create in your life.

5. Use prosperity affirmations

As you write your gratitude journal, it is an opportunity to write down prosperity affirmations as well. Affirmations are statements of acceptance that you use to manifest your destiny or what you want to create in your life. They are powerful, positive thoughts and words sent out to the universe.

If you want to use affirmations to create positive changes in your life, then you must first BELIEVE that this is possible. It shouldnt be a half hearted “well, Ill give this a go and see what happens”.

To make affirmations more effective, put as much positive energy in writing and saying them as possible. Visualise what you want to create and let this inform your prosperity affirmations.

When you cease operating from a position of lack, you start to create the fertile conditions to make more informed decisions, identify greater opportunities and attract more abundance and prosperity into your life.

Julie Plenty is a Personal and Business Coach who helps self employed creative professionals develop a strong personal foundation and therefore increase the success of their business. For more self growth articles, resources and free ecards, visit: http://www.self-help-personal-development.com

Is it possible for someone to fear abundance? Who would not want to live the abundant life?

Polarity is a universal law. The law of polarity contends that everything has its polar opposite. The scales of life assures the existence of polar opposites. In conjunction with the Law of Rhythm, everything returns where it begins. Like a pendulum swinging, this is life. Meaning those things that begin with great expectations manifest greatness. Those things that begin with the purpose for serving humanity and the greater good manifest as beacons of light.

Everyone who researches the field of human potential, human development, personal development, religion, philosophy…at some point crosses the concept of a human emotion often called fear. It is comfortable for us to talk about the fear of poverty, however, we ignore our fear of abundance.

The reality is, if you fear poverty, then you fear its polar opposite–abundance. If you fear poverty you fear wealth and abundance. All these fears congest our lives and we are literally paralyzed.

Fear impacts our expectations. The principle of Expectations is linked to the Law of Abundance hence, “so a man thinketh so he is.” The principle of Expectations contends that energy follows thought. If you fear poverty, then somewhere inside, you believe you will live in poverty. Consequently, energy has followed this thought and in due time, your expectation of poverty actualizes.

Now the connection between the fear of poverty and the fear of abundance. Lets just end this debate right now. No one wants to live in poverty. Poverty means you have very limited options, and no assets. When you live in poverty, you struggle and have limited options. Moreover, poverty means your basic needs are at threat, limited, or diminished. Even those who take a vow of poverty for religious or spiritual purposes have there basic needs met.

So why would anyone have a fear of abundance? Some people believe that abundance and wealth would only lead to corruption and destruction of the human spirit. Not one person who is corrupted or on the path of destruction is living the abundant life. NOT ONE. Abundance is not just about material wealth, however, it does not exclude material wealth!

Abundance is about living healthy, vibrant, with purpose, resources, meaningful relationships, and a strong sense of our true self. Material wealth is a manifestation of mental and spiritual wealth that lies within the individual. We should not concern ourselves with the fear that material wealth will corrupt us. Material wealth, including money, will only make you more of what you already are.

Therefore, if you are kind, giving, loving, and creative, you will be even more kind, giving, loving, and creative while enjoying a life of abundance. If you are insecure, selfish, hoarding, and deceitful, you will be even more insecure, selfish, hoarding, and deceitful while living a life of discontent, sadness, and self-destruction.

There is yet another group of people who fear abundance. Some individuals fear abundance because they believe that abundance will require hours and hours of hard work. The principle of Economy of Force or the Principle of Least Resistance contends that this is just not true.

To many of us are spending 16 hour days at working hoping and praying that soon all our “money” troubles will be over and we can retire in the Bahamas when we are 60 years old. Hah! Dont mean to burst anyones bubble but it just aint so.

We are not suppose to work hard. What? Thats right. We are suppose to work creatively. Thats what the human Spirit desires. During times of stillness and quiet, the Universe whispers plans, inventions, and ideas. These witty plans, inventions, and ideas are a part of the creative energies of the Universe waiting for our higher consciousness to receive it.

By stilling the mind in meditation, we discover this knowledge and wisdom. When we act on it. We create wealth. We create freedom. For each of these plans, inventions, ideas are serve a purpose and that purpose in to help humanity in some form. Therefore, it is already a demand for it. There are millions of people wanting it. All you need is the faith and courage to execute.

Your execution will seem effortless when you take the time to meditate and determine how each step should be carried out. Before long, you have tapped into the field of infinite possibilities where anything that is possible is possible. You have opened the flood gates to wealth and success and you are living the abundant life.

Now what is so fearful about that?

While this group would be classified as a fear of success, there are those who have a fear of abundance because they just know they will fail. Again, the Principle of Expectations contends that energy follows thoughts. Therefore, keep thinking it and it will happen. Heres a novel thought. Practice the Law of Detachment. In this law, you go through the process doing all you can while the Universe handle the details.

All you do is what you know how to do. You stay in meditation. Asking the Universe to show you what you should do next. After you have done it. You step back and let the Universe handle the rest. If the Universe says write a book. Learn what you need to learn to write it. Then, write it. You dont worry about “how many copies will I sell or if the audience will like it or maybe it wont sell and Ill have to file bankruptcy.”

Simply do what you know how to do. Meditate. Remain detached. Expect the best. Gain wisdom in what you are doing. Take each step expecting the best and the best will come. Thats abundance in action.

You can learn more about abundant living at: http://universalclass.com/i/crn/14056.htm

Carmellita Brown is Wellness and Success Coach. She is the instructor of the Online course entitled: “Abundance Training 101: The Universal Law of Abundance” available at: http://universalclass.com/i/crn/14056.htm and the online Course entitled “Lose Weight While Becoming a Wellness Coach” available at http://universalclass.com/i/crn/9478.htm.

Many of us do not consider the underlying belief system about money to be of any importance. You think it does not matter because what matters is what you do now—right at one level but not complete.

All ideas that we have learned about money in the past are coloring our actions today.
These are ideas that you are unconsciously following because you are not aware of them.

It may be: "money is bad," "there is never enough money," "money does not grow on trees," etc. The list is long and painful to read when you realize that this is actually a part of you.

I was thinking: How come these beliefs are so strong? Why am I blocking myself from financial freedom? I have been working on myself for six years now, and the beliefs are still there!

So, I went looking for answers in self-help books, personal development books, New Age books, and financial freedom articles, etc.
I have also done psychokineseology and past life sessions, and I have been talking to a lot of people.

The answer that I come up with so far is that the underlying beliefs are coming in as all other conditioning: from our early years.

Some people also suggest that past life experiences can have an influence. Our childhood conditioning mainly comes from our parents as well as from the rest of our family and the environment around us.

If the idea in the place you grew up is that money is scarce, you can be sure that this idea sneaked into your mind somewhere along the line, and it is probably stuck there without you knowing it.

You are just wondering why there never seems to be enough money around.
So, if you can now grasp the idea of negative thinking patterns about money, I will tell you to move on.

If it is difficult for you to accept this idea and you are now thinking that this does not count for you because you have learned positive thinking, that is great!

But look at the reality and do a little checkup: Is my positive thinking really working?

I am asking you to do this because my experience is that positive thinking and a YES! mentality is not always enough.

The negative thought patterns I am talking about are deep; you can call them "root thought" or "sponsoring thought"; they are thoughts that are lying underneath and behind your conscious thoughts that you are thinking on an everyday basis.

They are very strong&emdash;and strong enough to sabotage your new way of thinking that may be very positive and good.

I point this out very strongly because it is important that you are willing to look at your own thoughts and to work on them to change them into healthy sponsoring thoughts that are healthy for you and will bring you abundance and wealth instead of struggle and suffering.

To change these thoughts, you have to be persistent; you will need a burning desire to train your mind into thinking differently.

You will have to do a little brainwash and afterwards a lot of relearning with your new and healthy thoughts. To train your mind, I will explain to you the concept "Act as if."

"Act as if" works the other way around of the normal creation process, which goes like this: thought, word, deed (action). An idea comes into your mind as a thought and takes shape and becomes clear. That is the first step in creating.

Then comes the next step, which is the word. In the gospel of Saint John in the Bible: "In the beginning was only the word," there is a great truth&emdash;only that in the very, very beginning, there was also a thought; an idea.

The word is spoken or written and makes the idea more strong; more solid. This is already a big accomplishment in the creation process, but the idea is still not physical reality.

This comes in the third step, "deed"&emdash;or the action that you do&emdash;to give your idea physical form. Take a look at this practical example: I had an idea a long time ago that it would be great to have a practical how-to guide on how to create financial freedom; initially, I had the idea because many of my friends and people I met were complaining about the lack of money to do what they want.

As I talked with them, it seemed that the reasons for these problems often were similar, and I had a feeling that there had to be a solution for this. I wanted to find the solutions (step one: ideas and thoughts); write them down and make them clear as well as easy to understand when spoken in a seminar or written down (step two: word); and then in the end to create this article and make it available for everyone who would be interested (step three: deed and action).

As you are now reading this article, you can see the practical result of the thought-word-deed process unfolding straight in front of you! Going back to where we started, with the concept of "Act as if," we have to look at why and how to do it.

Why? It is because the process of creation does not only work with the conscious thoughts you have but also with your subconscious beliefs. So, if your underlying belief system always tells you that there is not enough money, then that is the reality you create.

To train your subconscious to think differently, you first have to become aware of when these beliefs kick in. For me, it works like this: There is a Salvation Army officer standing in the street, giving out a magazine, and collecting money.

When I see him, I immediately shrink and think: I hope he does not see me.
Now, of course, he sees me and gives me a smile, and I think, okay, I’ll give him some money.

After all I know that this makes me feel good. Then, for the same reason that I tried to avoid him, I also start having second thoughts about giving him the small donation.

The thought goes like this: I don’t want to give away the money because if I do, then I will have less, and I do not have much at all. How can I just give away the little that I have (the root thought is that it is never enough money)?

In the short term, I will have less money if I give some of it away. In the longer term, this is not as true.

What I do when I walk pass the Salvation Army officer without giving any money is to reaffirm to myself the idea that I cannot afford to give him money because there is never enough.

So, what I can do to change this root thought is to first give him the money I thought of, I know it is going to make me feel good and then think to myself: WOW!

I can afford to give him money, I know that there is more where it is coming from, and I trust that this will end up in my pocket and on my bank account, so I can happily share it with more people.

This action will then affirm your new thought: There is always enough money! Now you may think, this is a lie, but then take the new thought you have learned by "acting as if" and look again on the thought-word-deed process.

You may think this is extremely difficult and everything inside of you says NO! But still, try it out.
You do not have to give away all your money; that is not the point.

The point is that you give yourself the feeling of abundance and that you can share. If you have very little money, you can give according to that. It is important that you get the feeling so you can start believing in your new thought.

When you say to yourself that you always have enough money for everything you want and need, you will protest and say: "This is not true; fact is this and that and blah blah blah." You are right! Fact may be this or that, but if you want to change, you better start here&emdash;right at the root cause of your money problems.

This is a little bit of "Fake it until you make it." You can make it easier for yourself by thinking thoughts that you can accept, such as: "I know there is more money out there, and right now, I am figuring out how to get it to flow into my bank account."

Then, you give yourself a feeling of security and that it is actually true: There is enough money! When you get your head around this one, you are a giant leap ahead on the road to financial freedom.

Copyright (c) 2005 www.financial-freedom-made-simple.com

About the author:

Oyvind Hennum runs the web site:

http://www.financial-freedom-made-simple.com

Your prosperity is directly related to the flow of energy in your environment. Clutter creates stagnant energy flow and prevents abundance from flowing to you.

Clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated or disorganized. Clutter is emotional constipation!

Letting go of something that no longer makes your heart sing, can mean letting go of a person, or something no longer relevant in your life. It can be part of a process of grieving, enabling you to move into your present and future.

Everyone has their own patterns of attracting abundance and blocking it. Do you recognize any of these?

1. Physical Clutter – Clutter is dead, stagnant energy and will block the flow of energy in your life. The energy that flows around your home and office is like a river, bringing abundance and fortunate blessings in all areas of your life. When it comes across a pile or something you are tolerating it will get bogged down.

Ask yourself: Do I love it? Do I use it? Does it make my heart sing?

2. Purchasing clutter – If you make purchases when feeling angry, sad, stressed, fearful etc. youre spending money to to suppress those feelings rather than feeling them and letting them go. This means emotional energy will attach itself to the item and you will experience its vibration, even on an unconscious level whenever you look at, wear or use the item.

These items will not make your heart sing and will not support your prosperity.

Are you ready to let them go? Are you ready to become a conscious shopper?

3. Growth creates clutter – As you make changes within yourself, more of your belongings will fit the definition of clutter. Having the urge to discard things in your home or office is a sign of you stepping more fully into yourself and your abundance.

If you dont address the clutter, it will hold you where you were. If you are growing and changing you are continually creating clutter!

4. Unconscious clutter – Do you have beliefs that create conflict? Do you think you cant be wealthy AND care about people? Do you think you cant be successful working 4 days a week? These beliefs will be affecting your prosperity. Take time to re-examine them.

5. Clutter Vibration – everything has a vibration. If you have a feeling of not enough time, money or love in your life, it sets up a vibration that will block abundance. And, focusing on the fear of not having enough time or money draws more of that to you. On the other hand, the vibration of gratitude is the same as the vibration of abundance.

Create an attitude of gratitude. Keep a gratitude journal and each night before you go to sleep write down 5 things you are grateful for today. Focusing on gratitude rather than lack is one of the most powerful things you can do to attract the abundance vibration.

6. Language Clutter – The word want means to desire without having! When you say you want something you are resonating with the vibration of lack, rather than flowing with the vibration of abundance. You are also complaining, at a subtle level. The Universe responds to requests, not complaints. Try using the words choose or desire – they may sound strange at first, but its worth it to create a flow of energy.

7. Does your prosperity area feel abundant? Ask yourself, what do I currently own that represents abundance to me now? Once you have cleaned and cleared the clutter from your prosperity area, place this object there to create the vibration you choose to attract.

To discover where the prosperity area of your home or a room is, See http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/BaguaMap.html

8. Try this game. Place a bowl or container you love in the prosperity area of your home or a room. Each day, take a coin, give thanks for the abundance you already have, and the abundance coming to you and place the coin in the bowl. The increasing coins represent your increasing abundance.

At some point when it feels right and the bowl is nearing full, make a decision about what to do with that money and start over. This will work best once you have cleared the clutter and cleaned the area. And remember, what you focus on expands.

Clearing clutter is an important part of Feng Shui. Before you can create something new you need to make space for it. The changes you make in your environment are mirrored in your life and support you in making emotional shifts. Feng Shui can provide a welcome boost in living the life you want.

© 2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course “Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge” at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/