Gratitude And The Power Of Asking – Online Gratitude Journal #3

(Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

Asking for what I want – politely and clearly

I think there is a huge myth about asking. That asking is not appropriate, or even rude. I think that is a very self-righteous way of thinking. If you don’t want to help others, of course you’d feel bad when you have to ask for help, so you rationalize that asking for help is bad. The truth, however, is we are all connected and inter-dependent. I can’t be an isolated island, nor do I wish to be.

I like helping people, and I get a lot of help from people. The people who help me out are not necessarily the people I helped. Reciprocity is a fair idea, but there are more to life than strict reciprocity.

Really, this blog, Yes to Me, is based on this idea of helping one another. Why do you think busy business owners like Laura Bennett, Tony Lawrence, and Naomi Dunford spared time to do interview with me? (I just named the last three guests – to see the list of all interviews, please check here) Because I asked, and they felt for the idea of “Entrepreneurs helping aspiring entrepreneurs”

Everyone can benefit from the art of asking, but especially for entrepreneurs, this is a critical skill. Even if you are self-employed, your business relies on a lot of people – your business outsources, strategic partners, suppliers and venders. . . So learn how to ask – politely and clearly.

I asked Guy Kawasaki to add Yes to Me

Yes to Me has been on Alltop in Life section for a few months now. But this is a blog of “Life Purpose, Entrepreneurship, and Spiritual Growth” so I emailed him to please add Yes to Me in Entrepreneurship section as well. He responded immediately. Nice guy (He is cute, too, by the way. Check this out.) We even had a few additional email exchanges about how to improve Alltop.

Thank you, Guy. Thank you, all my readers and fellow bloggers.

And if you know successful entrepreneurs who want to be interviewed, please let me know. (Please check this post about my definition of “successful entrepreneur”) I also ask you to please support this blog and the Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series by talking about it in your blog and in social media. Thank you!

Business ideas? What business ideas?

Some of you may be wondering why I don’t discuss business ideas. Isn’t this an entrepreneurship blog, and don’t all entrepreneurship blogs talk about business ideas?

Because ideas come from within. An excellent business idea for me may not work for you, and vice versa. So one of the best advice I can give you is to see what you call “problems” with entrepreneur’s eyes. You can build a business for the problem of “big vet bill”, for instance. Check the aforementioned interviews to see what specific problem each entrepreneur is solving.

The problem can be your own. Cath Lawson just wrote a great post about this. Maybe I can add yet another line of service – there must be plenty of things I suck at, both ones I know and I don’t – and now I’m encouraged to turn them into business. Thank you, Cath.

The Law of Attraction and my dream money project

This week, I wrote a post on how to utilize the Law of Attraction, especially to attract money. And now my own dream money project, week 2. (Please see my last week’s post about how this project works.)

Week 2, How I use my $200
I want an iPod nano. Green one. I like working on the elliptical machine in the fitness room, but I get bored as I work for 25 minutes on it. With iPod and a cute band clip or wrist band to wear it, I can listen to music while I exercise. I guess I can use the change to download music. I will try something new – any suggestions?

I like looking good and do my best to eat healthy and exercise. I think this iPod adds a bit of fun in my effort. Thank you.

And I’m grateful for the sunshine. Living in Oregon, it’s hard not to become a sun worshipper. I love the cool mild climate here.

Law Of Attraction, Million Dollar Check, And Business Growth

(Photo by Cougar-Studio)

Do you want to attract $1M check?

Really? Are you really comfortable to have that chunk of money out of nowhere?

I’d rather have steady business growth. Sorry, I don’t mean to be boring, but it’s my real feeling.

This article examines why I think some people mistrust the Law of Attraction. They say the Law of Attraction doesn’t work because they haven’t been able to attract what they want, such as a lot of money. Well, the LOA has, and is, working for me, and I would like to help you use it well for your growth as a person and as an entrepreneur.

The disasters of winning the lottery

First, let’s see what happens when you actually get huge amount of money all of a sudden, like by winning a lottery. Various studies have been published about this topic (like this and this). According to these studies, many lottery winners lose friends and eventually move to another state to start over. They lose the money they won (and some more) sooner or later and often file for bankruptcy. Some are physically attacked by their relatives or practically kill themselves with tons of drinks or drugs.

It is horrible to receive the amount of money that is not in your current comfort zone, the kind of money you don’t know how to handle. Luckily, God (or Universe or whatever you want to call) spare us this kind of disasters most of the time.

Further, healthy conscious people don’t go after this kind of out-of-the-context wishes. As I stated in the beginning, I’m really not comfortable with this kind of money and would not use the Law of Attraction to get it.

My current comfort zone of money is up to five digits. Six digit money makes me nervous, and seven digit is hard to image. So I use the Law of Attraction within this comfort zone while working on expanding my comfort zone. Check my new project here how I am working to expand my money consciousness.

The scarcity thought behind the million dollar check

When we really question ourselves why we want the big fat check, we notice it is based on fear. We are afraid we would never make enough money to pay off debt and buy the things we want. We are afraid something bad that would cause financial havoc happen. We are afraid we may not be “good enough” without the money and what money can buy. . .

There are two problems with this fear, the fear based on scarcity thoughts. One, we end up attracting scarcity. We may think we want money, badly for that matter, but our real message is the belief in scarcity so that is what we attract. (And people blame the Law of Attraction for not working for them, when in fact it is working perfectly.) Two, well, it’s just not the natural way of the Universe, so we drift away from the Creator.

The Universe doesn’t understand scarcity thoughts. What I see in the nature is that the Universe provides steadily in a flow. There are fluctuations, yes. But it doesn’t work in a way like “Okay, let’s provide plenty of rain at a time to last for the next 10 years.” No, it seems the Universe provides in each given moment and it doesn’t ensure things into the future.

If you are an investor, think of it this way – which is better, capital gain or dividend income? Both would be nice, and there are times we need to go for capital gain to raise funds, but between the two, the steady ongoing flow of dividends is better, isn’t it? We want to create income flow of dividends. Asking for the big check and to be done with the financial efforts is analogous to going for one-time capital gain alone.

How to attract money

In order to utilize the Law of Attraction well, to attract the money rather than the lack of it, we need to base our thoughts on abundance. I have plenty and there are plenty more out there for me and for everyone. No need for the million dollar check to ensure financial bliss (which it won’t anyway). Further, I use the Law of Attraction in a way I can handle.

So I want my business to grow. I help people coaching and doing Akashic Record Reading, and I get paid. Money goes to saving and investment accounts, and they grow. . And I want my business to grow at a manageable pace. These are meaningful and abundance based wishes.

Additional thoughts on the Law of Attraction

When I talked about the Law of Attraction in this article, Tom reminded us that too many people seem to be using the Law of Attraction for monetary gains. Why not use it for world peace? I think it is perfectly okay to use it for money, and it is also good to use for other things. Just be sure it is something about you. The Law of Attraction works through each person’s thoughts and feelings. For instance, I can work on peace in my life, and I hope that will expand to bigger context, but I can’t think and feel as a representative of the “world” to attract world peace.

There is also a myth about the Law of Attraction that all you have to do is to think, feel, maybe visualize. No, you need to take inspired actions – most of the time. The gift may or may not come as a direct result of the action, however, and this is the magic of the Law of Attraction.

Also a myth – or some kind of confusion – is the name “Law of Attraction.” Words have only so much meaning as we give. I’m using the term “Law of Attraction” because it is how we most often call it. Call it for something else if you have issue with the term. The energetic working doesn’t care how it’s called. Nor does it care how it is marketed.

Finally, there are people – quite many actually – who are not in charge of their own thoughts and feelings. I see them all the time in my Akashic Record Reading service. Of course, you think what you are thinking and feeling are your own thoughts and feelings, but if you observe carefully, you might notice some thoughts and feelings are out of the stream of thoughts and feelings of your own. Because the Law of Attraction works with one’s thoughts and feelings, this condition brings haphazard results.

I feel for these people (this is why I do the Akashic Record Reading service) but at the same time, I must say please don’t blame the Law of Attraction for attracting mixed results. It’s working – it’s just not working the way you want it to work.

Do you utilize the Law of Attraction in your life?
What are your real thoughts and feelings about money?

Thanks to Carnival of Money Stories for including this post.

Gratitude And The Exponential Function – Online Gratitude Journal #2

(Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

Gratitude to my friends

I feel so lucky to have great friends. Blogging (and my conscious efforts in networking) have brought me so many wonderful friends all over the world. They encourage me, inspire me, and keep me updated.

For instance, Barbara let us know about this neat little plugin that installs favicon without messing up with codes. Look at the little Yes in the address line. Doesn’t the Y look like a person raising arms in joy? I hope you are saying “Yes!” now. Thank you, Barbara.

And Aaron over at Today is that Day announced his bold new life change. I’m grateful for the various possibilities in life. Sometimes they come directly to me, and sometimes they reveal in my friends’ lives and I see them as my reminders.

Alex is a solid contributor to the personal development corner of the blogosphere, hosting the Personal Development Carnival, and his wife Mary Beth just wrote a sweet post about why she loves him. It’s so refreshing to read about wonderful real life relationship – thank you.

Gratitude and the Law of Attraction, continued

Further, Millionaire Mommy Next Door (I had a guest post there a while ago) started this terrific project that showcases the Law of Attraction. When I wrote about the Law of Attraction last week, the responses were so strong that I knew I needed to follow up. So I’m in the project – with minor modification in timing.

What I will do is to give myself $100 to spend this first week, write what I use it for, expressing my joy, excitement and gratitude. Gratitude is not only for what it is – I am also grateful for what it can be. Next week, I double my spending allowance to $200. Every week, my dream money doubles, stimulating me to expand my mindset for greater energy flow.

If you think doubling the amount weekly is not such a big deal, think again. Exponential function is indeed a big deal. Within three months, I will be talking about six digits, and from there, it grows ever so close to infinity (which is mathematically infinity) really quickly. So I’ll just keep doing this as long as I can keep up with it. At this time, I have no predetermined idea how much money I can accept

MMND is doing this by the day, so you see how ambitious she is. Check it out and join us. Also, Steve at Brip Blap wrote a nice post on utilizing the power of gratitude with a simple practical approach.

This is how I use my gratitude $100

I want to drive to Oregon coast and have a lunch at a nice seafood restaurant there. I drive a Civic, so even with the high gas price, I can do this with $100, I believe. It’s been many years since I walked on the seaside, feeling the salty breeze. Mmmmm. . . this feels so good!

Finally, I’m grateful for the lavender body scrub. I love doing home spa.

What are you grateful for now?

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