Maria Duval - Increasing Prosperity With Positive Thinking

Increasing Prosperity With Positive Thinking
Increasing prosperity in our lives can be accomplished by having the right frame of mind. The truth is, our thoughts are very powerful. They are capable of influencing every aspect of our daily lives, from our physical health to our social behaviors. I'm sure you've heard the adage, "As you think, so shall you be."

If we want to improve our lives, we must first improve our thoughts. Harnessing the power of thought in a positive way has the ability to create great change in our lives, including our financial well-being and prosperity. But how? How do we take something as intangible as thoughts, and manifest them into a physical reality?

We must first understand that being prosperous is more than having a lot of money. Prosperity is a mindset, a way of interacting in our lives, and a way of thinking. Mastering this train of thought is not easy, but it is simple enough if we keep working on it consistently.

Following are some ideas to help you improve your thoughts, and ultimately attract more prosperity into your life:

Be grateful for the blessings in your life right now. Take a few minutes each day to express heartfelt gratitude for the good things in your life. Even more powerful, write a few of these blessings down each day. This helps to put your focus in the right direction -- on abundance, not lack.

Use positive affirmations to begin training yourself to think positively. Use "I am" statements such as "I am worthy of all that is good." Write the statements down and repeat them nightly before bed. Over time, this will implant these thoughts into your subconscious mind, and you will begin to naturally believe them.

Creative visualization can help you achieve prosperity by determining what it is you wish to achieve, and then thoroughly creating that image in your mind. This works in the same way affirmations do. Our subconscious will fill with images of prosperity, and eventually these subconscious "truths" will manifest in the physical. "See" yourself as being prosperous, and you will become so.

Encourage yourself with the belief that you can achieve great things. This could also be one of your affirmations, but expand on it. If you know you can earn a certain salary, tell yourself you can earn more. Allow yourself to believe all things are possible, and you will gain the confidence needed to reach higher than you ever imagined you could. If you believe you can do it, you are more likely to take the risks associated with people who are highly successful. Prosperity and success go hand in hand, so take risks and aim higher.

Start a savings account. As strange as it sounds, think about this: Like Attracts Like. Even if you can only afford to put a few dollars into your account every month, it will begin to build up and attract more money.

Finally, believe you are already wealthy. The creative ability of our thoughts is such that we lend more power and energy to whatever we consistently focus on. Focusing on lack will create more lack. Focusing on wealth and prosperity will create . . . guess what?

Remember that this is a process. You likely won't change your circumstances in one day. But over time, with consistent focus, your thoughts will begin to attract what you want. Once you master this power of thought, there are truly no limits to what you can create!

Wendy Betterini is a freelance writer who strives to motivate, uplift, and inspire you to make your dreams a reality. Visit her website, http://www.WingsForTheHeart.com for more positive thoughts to help you on your journey.

Become The Star, Director, And Writer Of Your Future.
One of the secrets of success is to not work so hard with your physical body; instead, use your mind to work out the details of how to be the person you want to be. Are you motivated to spend 10 minutes a day envisioning the future you want to create for yourself?

By deliberately mentally rehearsing the experience of success in your mind, you can turn aspirations into realities. See yourself free from the old negative habits that have wasted your time, energy, and money. Forget willpower for now and imagine yourself with positive behaviors. See yourself handling any challenging situation that normally triggers your old habits and see yourself using new strategies and doing it with
ease.

Success experts say your imagination is your own personal workshop of the mind. This is particularly true when you want to program yourself towards new habits of success.

Visualize Yourself as the Person You Want to Be with Mental Rehearsal.

Mental rehearsal is the most powerful way to tap into your creative process and overcome old behavior patterns. Mental rehearsal can be used in all areas of your life, from seeing yourself as a non smoker, seeing yourself as the weight and size you want to be, and even seeing yourself as calm during challenging times.

Mental rehearsal is a tool that can help you reduce the effects of stressful situations. Now you will be more resourceful, reducing the possibility of reverting to your old habits. All areas in your life can benefit from imagery. It doesn?t matter what level your goals are on: physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual.

Use visualization to improve your abilities. Because the body follows the mind, if you start seeing yourself in a different light, then your body will follow suit ? maybe by not craving the things that hurt you, or by motivating you to exercise more. It?s up to you to experiment. Who knows what miracles you can create in your life by using this
powerful tool?

Counselors and therapists who recommend using mental rehearsal say it is the true key to tap your potential. Their research reveals that all of our skills are learned through the image-making process, whether it?s driving a car, reading a book, or changing a habit.

You use your mind to picture the activity before you actually perform it. Think of it like this: Your mind works like a movie projector, screening an endless reel of memories and scenes of situations both real and imagined. You have the power to direct your movie projector (your mind) to reach your desired goals. Once you imagine something new for yourself, you begin to be flooded with ideas about how to realize that image. All of this will come about when you have allowed yourself to break through your own worst limitation, what you believe are your capabilities.

Seth Francis is the owner of http://www.breakyourhabits.com. Learn the true steps needed to Break any Habit in only 21 days. With the help of Personal coach Lee Milteer, Seth is able to bring you a comprehensive program to help you dig deep into your inner self and release your habits from with in, while reprogramming your mind. Copyright 2006

Intelligent Optimism Wins In Today's World
The reality of today's world seems to leave little room for optimism. Almost every news story can lead because it does bleed. We hear of critical food shortages in Africa, daily gang deaths on city streets, the profiteering from child pornography, and the climatic disasters prompted by global warming. Health care costs move up faster than a hummingbird in flight and more children now spout profanities as a regular part of speech. With such negativity, no wonder a 2004 U.S. government survey found that depression afflicts one in 10 adults 14 days a month or more.

You probably get depressed just reading the opening paragraph. But wait! There is hope. Not the cock-eyed optimism that became fodder for a song from the musical South Pacific, but rather what psychologists in France are calling "intelligent optimism." Such optimism does not deny the reality of today's world, but rather seeks to LEARN how to fashion a life amid such difficulties. Martin Seligman, the psychologist who had made optimism and happiness his life's work, would agree with the French: optimism can be taught.

Consider these basic steps:

(1) Focus on what you can control. Don't get carried away by circumstances you cannot change. You might not change global warming but you can control your energy consumption. You can't stop the downsizing in your company but you can arm yourself with marketable skills.

(2) Reframe the event so that you are not a victim. There is always another way to view a situation. The flight cancellation that caused me to miss (and forfeit) a major engagement was not "planned" to "get" me. It just was. My choice is to figure out what I can do to help the current client and what I will put in the place of the cancelled work.

(3) Think "enough". When we concentrate on what we don't have, we miss all the many things we do have. The truth of the matter is that if you are reading this article, you do have enough computer power. You do have enough intelligence. You do have enough time.

(4) Cultivate optimistic responses. Like a farmer tending a field, optimism will never grow unless it is watered, fed, weeded and nourished. We all have days in which negativity can take over. And, sometimes, that is a WISE response because it keeps us grounded in reality. Just make sure it is reality and not the imagination making extraordinary leaps into conjecture. Weed out that conjecture. Ask what you can DO to see a result that gives you a sense of power. If we don't cultivate such intelligent optimism, be aware of reality and willing to find options, then we might do what Alexander Graham Bell warned. "Stare so long at the closed door we fail to see the one that is opening."

(5) Remember the power of generations. Children of depressed parents are more prone to depression. Children of optimists are more prone to be optimists. What do you choose to pass along? Even if your parents were negative, you can break the cycle with stopping, freeze-framing a situation, listening to the negative self talk, and then literally giving yourself a different message. Yes, this takes practice but you can make it a habit if you work it over time.

Ultimately, intelligent optimists understand that change and chaos are given. They know that "this too shall pass". In the meantime, they CHOOSE to take whatever action they can within their own sphere of influence and then settle back. It is enough.

(c) 2005, McDargh Communications. Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.

Named by Executive Excellence Magazine as one of the top 100 thought leaders in business, Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE authored one of the first books on work/life balance. Numerous books and articles later, Eileen serves the meetings industry as a popular international keynoter and on the Board of Directors of the National Speakers Association. You can find products and services offered by Eileen at http://www.EileenMcDargh.com