WEEK 8 – Writing a Blog Post: a “struggle” or “easy, effortless”

This week was transformational for me as far as my attitude towards writing is concerned. For as long as I can remember, I have resisted writing. I love to read and even as a child I remember having a high level of admiration for writers. Even sometimes wishing I was a writer. But I always had it in my head that whatever I would write, no one would want to read.

So when I applied for the MKMMA program and found out I would be writing a weekly blog post, my body and mind immediately went into “resistance”. I knew that it was part of the assignments and decided I would do it but considered it a “necessary evil” thinking that not many people would read it anyway. Then I found out that we are to read each other’s blogs and even share them on Social Media! I almost quit.

I realized this week, that every time I talked about the MKMMA program, I was saying that I really enjoyed the reading and the webinars. I was learning a lot, but I was “struggling” with writing, whether it was the blogs, my Press Release or even commenting on the Alliances.

Wow! What was I telling others? What was I telling my subconscious? How could I ever expect my writing to be anything other than a “struggle” if that is what I was thinking it was each time I sat down to write or even when I would think about having to write.

The Law of Substitution (which Haanel talks about in sentence 4 this week) says that we cannot think two things at the same time. I realized that I needed to tell myself a different story. Saying that writing comes easily and effortlessly to me was too big of a jump. So I have been telling myself that it may not come that easily now, BUT the more I do it, the easier it will get and the better I will get at writing. The Law of Practice.

Something else I became aware of this week is how stressed out I have been because of my thoughts. Forget about getting very far with the “Mental Diet”!  And from reading I have done, I know that stress causes blood flow to the brain to decrease. So by getting myself so stressed out each time I starting writing, I was actually making sure that it was going to be a struggle!

Sentence 8 of this week’s lesson says: “Imagination is the light by which we can penetrate new worlds of thought and experience.” Could I use my imagination to actually visualize myself writing easily and effortlessly? Could I change my thoughts and maybe do something to decrease the stress in my body? Could I imagine myself writing a blog that could actually benefit someone who might read it?

I love sentence 15. “Constructive imagination means mental labor, by some considered to be the hardest kind of labor, but, if so, it yields the greatest returns, for all the great things in life have come to men and women who had the capacity to think, to imagine, and to make their dreams come true.”

This sentence inspired me to spend some extra time in a “sit” imagining myself in my office, sitting at my computer, and writing my blog.

In case anyone reading this is also having difficulty with the writing, here is what came to me during my “sit” and what I decided to put into practice.

• In the background, I have some baroque music playing. (helps lower stress)
• I have a candle lit.
• I have some Orange Essential oil in my diffuser (great stress reliever)
• I have water to keep my brain hydrated.
• I have a cup of white tea and some freshly baked gluten free Snickerdoodles on a beautiful tray to celebrate when I finish.
• Before I started writing, I had a clear intention in mind, gathered my materials, asked for guidance (figured I could use all the help I could get), did some relaxing breathing, got myself in a state of gratitude, and starting typing.

Last week, I sat here for hours trying to write. All I could do was cry and think to myself that I just I couldn’t do it. That I was crazy to think I could.

This week, with the changes in my thinking (and maybe the reward of the cookies in front of me), I have written this in one hour. No struggle! No tears! No stressing out! Easy and effortless? Easier and much less effort than earlier blogs.

I will continue each week. Even after this course ends. Next on my agenda is writing my Press Release!

“I can be what I will to be” – even a blogger!

So can you. If any of this has been of any benefit to you, please let me know.

Thanks so much for reading this! Have a beautiful day with lots of happy thoughts!

 

WEEK 6 – LOVE IN MY HEART

This week we started reading Scroll 2 of Og Mandino’s “The Greatest Salesman In The World”.  The first sentence “I will greet this day with love in my heart” is a sentence I am choosing to say to myself every morning as soon as I wake up and to use as a mantra throughout the day.

This scroll is only 4 pages long, but the message it has is very powerful. Og Mandino goes on to say in the first paragraph that greeting our day with love in our heart is the greatest secret of success.

This “success” goes way beyond success in the workplace. It extends to all areas of our lives.

When we greet each day with love in our hearts, we will love our day no matter what is happening in our outer world. The more that we practice this, the more we will see the “good” in our lives.

When we have love in our hearts, we will treat everyone we meet throughout our day with love. No more gossiping or criticizing. No angry words or thoughts. Instead, we will look for reasons to applaud and praise others. Success in our relationships will be the result.

This love is not to be reserved for certain people in our lives; it is to be extended to everyone. Even toward those who may seem to be our enemies. Og likens love to a shield that protects and uplifts us.

When we greet others, say silently “I love you” and it will change the way you appear to others and they will respond favorably to your positive energy.

This love is to be extended to ourselves also. When we love ourselves, we are careful and mindful of how we treat our bodies and minds. Our physical and mental health improves.  We feed our soul with prayer and meditation and find peace and joy in our life.

Og goes on to say, “Henceforth will I love mankind. From this moment all hate is let from my veins for I have not time to hate, only time to love.” “If I have no other qualities I can succeed with love alone. Without it I will fail though I possess all the knowledge and skills of the world.” And, “I will greet this day with love, and I will succeed.”

So simple. Yet difficult. But a practice that over time will positively affect our lives and those we come in contact with each day.

I greet this day with love in my heart!

Thank you for reading my blog. Enjoy your day!

WEEK 4 – HABIT

Habit-  n. an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

Og Mandino, in” The Greatest Salesman in the World” says that the only difference between those who succeed and those who fail is the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success.

He also says that when an act becomes easy through constantly repeating it, it becomes a pleasure to perform and that if it is a pleasure to perform it is our nature to perform it often, and it then becomes a habit.

I am finding the morning reading and sitting to be something that I look forward to every morning. It has become a habit that I really enjoy and sets the tone for my day. The reading before bedtime has also become a habit I look forward to as an ideal way to end the day. So now I am setting the intention of being more consistent with the afternoon reading so that it also becomes a habit.

Haanel in this week’s Master Key reading in sentence 12, talks about forming the ‘habit of failure’. This sentence helped me to realize that I have formed a ‘habit of failure’ by setting resolutions, intentions, making promises to myself and others, etc. and then failing to follow through. So just as good habits become easy through repetition, so do bad habits.

Now I see the importance of taking ‘baby steps’, just setting a small intention, and once that intention becomes a habit, then add to that until you find yourself succeeding, whether it is weight loss, physical fitness, or building a business.

Instead of a long “to do” list, write down the two most important items to be completed. Once you get those done, then it is simple to add another.

Thank you for reading my blog. Have an awesome day!

WEEK 3 – FEAR!

Fear  – noun.  1. A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Fear is an emotion that has been a part of my blueprint for most of my life and is still something I struggle with. Knowing that our blogs would be read by other MKMMA participants was scary for me, and then to find out that our blogs may be read by others caused me to experience even more fear. So much so, that I almost quit this week, telling myself I am not ready and it would be better to wait until next year. Here it is, late Friday night, and I am writing.

In our Master Key lesson this week, Haanel talked about the Solar Plexus and how it is likened to the sun of the body; it radiates life, energy and vitality to our body and out to people and our environment. The stronger this energy is, the more expanded it is, the faster our lives can change.

Our thoughts can expand or contract this energy. Thoughts of courage, hope, power, and confidence are expansive thoughts.  Negative thoughts are restrictive. The worst of all the negative thoughts is FEAR.

Haanel says “14.…the one arch enemy of the Solar Plexus which must be absolutely destroyed before there is any possibility of letting any light shine is fear. This enemy must be completely destroyed; he must be eliminated; he must be expelled forever; he is the cloud which hides the sun; which causes a perpetual gloom.”

15.” It is this personal devil which makes men fear the past, the present and the future; fear themselves, their friends and their enemies; fear everything and everybody. When fear is effectually and completely destroyed, your light will shine, the clouds will disperse and you will have found the source of power, energy and life.”

18. But the man who knows that he has a Solar Plexus will not fear criticism or anything else; he will be too busy radiating courage, confidence, and power; he will anticipate success by his mental attitude; he will pound barriers to pieces, and leap over the chasm of doubt and hesitation which fear places in his path.
19. A knowledge of our ability to consciously radiate health, strength and harmony will bring us into a realization that there is nothing to fear because we are in touch with Infinite Strength.

So instead of feeling the emotion of fear, I am choosing to say to myself: “I radiate courage, confidence and power.” I know that by changing my thoughts and doing the MKMMA assignments, I will be able to eliminate the fears and replace them with courage and confidence.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Week 2 – Overwhelm

In our workbook for Week 2, ‘overwhelm’ is discussed. This is what it says:

The feeling of overwhelm is your subconscious telling you to quit…over-rule it! It is telling you that you do not have the time and that this stuff is too hard.

There are only 2 types of people who have started this process:

• The type who knows this is great material and these are great ideas and will observe their subconscious mind telling them to quit and over-rule it…
• And the type who knows this is great material and these are great ideas, but will not observe the subconscious blueprint that quits new and unfamiliar things, – and will quit.

Overwhelm is something I have experienced many times in my life when I have decided to make changes I felt would be beneficial. When in the state of feeling overwhelmed in the past, many times I gave in to it thinking that maybe I was taking on too much, or I was requiring too much of myself. Thoughts of ‘not good enough’ or ‘who do I think I am to imagine I could possible do this!” would run around in my head and I would give in to them.

It never occurred to me that it was my subconscious mind encouraging me to keep on doing what I had always been doing.

This happened to me this week. The reading and the sitting come relatively easy to me. Where I am experiencing overwhelm is in the writing. Writing the DMP, writing the ‘About Me’ on my blog, writing the blog, and something I haven’t even done yet, commenting on others posts or writing my own posts in the MKMMA discussion groups.

Doing the writing and even just thinking about writing has made me very emotional.  But I am choosing to be the first type of person. I will not quit! I am determined to overrule my subconscious and work through this. I am looking forward to growing and even enjoying this part of my MKMMA journey.

Wishing you much joy, bliss and happiness!

Week 1 Master Key

A quote I have on my wall says: “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream” – C.S. Lewis

Over the years, I have had a lot of dreams and set many goals. Many of my smaller goals and dreams were achieved, but the large ones, the really big ones, have just remained in the back of my mind. When I put the quote by C.S. Lewis on my wall, I only half believed that it was true for me, but something inside me kept telling me that I could still dream big and not only dream, but actually achieve my dreams.

From the reading I have done, I knew that I needed to make internal changes, change my thoughts and my beliefs. And I would start working on it, but not follow through. Being in the Master Key Master Mind Alliance, and having support, connecting with a community of others who are experiencing similar situations, is  a dream come true. Watching my outer life change as I change my inner life is something that I am really looking forward to!

I have always been an avid reader, and I have read “The Master Key”, “Think and Grow Rich” and “The Greatest Salesman”, but I read fast and then am on to a new book, not taking the time to really absorb the material. The MKMMA is ideal for me, because it is forcing me to focus on a small part of the material for a period of time so that I am absorbing the information and it is becoming a part of me, in my conscious brain and my subconscious.

Committing to this six month program is a big step for me but one I am determined to follow through with. It is my intention to achieve my dreams of (1) internalizing a deep feeling of joy, bliss and happiness (2) achieving financial freedom with my Direct Sales Business (which will bring my other material dreams into fruition and (3) discovering who I am, what my strengths, talents and abilities are and the best way I can use them to benefit others.

In the past, I resisted writing anything that would be posted online, whether it was in Facebook or commenting on forums, etc. I never believed I could ever blog! This is a HUGE step for me, but one I am happy to embrace and learn how to do so hopefully I can be an inspiration to others.

Back again next week! Wishing anyone who reads this a beautiful day!