My Online Gratitude Journal One Year Anniversary Edition # 23

Yes to Me is one year old!  So this is a special celebration edition of my gratitude report.  Thank you my readers, thank you my subscribers, and thank you my fellow bloggers.  (Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

My Spiritual Make Money Scheme

My business is doing pretty well, and I started writing what I believe to be the secret of my success so that you can learn from it and make money yourself.  And I typed and typed and . . . realize it’s really worth to be published as another independent post.  So here, let me just quickly share my business’ January financial record to give you an idea of how my 9 month old service is doing.

I wanted to insert the screenshot of my Paypal statement, but I can’t figure out how to, so you just have to trust me.  Here is the breakdown:

Gross revenue: $6205
Paypal fee: $214
Expense paid through Paypal: $193
Revenue: $5798

This is before tax and overhead.  The expense I paid through Paypal last month includes donation and web design work.  So these are not ongoing overhead.  My ongoing overhead is very low – they are internet and phone connection, web hosting, e-junkie seller account fee – well under $100 per month.  I may have incurred some other expenses (I haven’t really worked out the numbers yet), but you get the idea.

Pretty good for a new business, huh?  (Did anyone say recession?)

And here is a preview of my next post on abundance and spirituality:
The shortcut to abundance is to develop your spirituality so that you see abundance instead of lack.

Do you see lack?  Are you afraid your needs may not be met?  Or are you enjoying abundance?

Yes to Me blog growth

Here is a quick summary of this blog’s journey of this past year:

First post on February 4, 2008:  Why I Couldn’t Become An Entrepreneur Earlier
I started Yes to Me to share my adventures as a new entrepreneur.  With me as an author, however, it couldn’t avoid the spiritual flavor . . .

First post of Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series with Christine O’Kelly
Like likes the like.  She may not realize how spiritual she is, but her interview nonetheless emphasizing the inner working of entrepreneurship . . .

Dodging The Many Forms Of Psychological Manipulation
This is one of the most popular posts, drawing traffic from SEO even now, 10 months after its publication.  Wish all my posts performed this well!

Soul Shifting And The Light Ascension Of Maybe 2012
By far the most commented, perhaps most controversial post so far . . . There have been so many questions that I had to give up responding to each of them individually and wrote another Q&A post.  And I wasn’t even attempting to be controversial – I was trying to help some people.
The second most commented post is Living Your Life Purpose

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

My anniversary gift to my readers

I wrote an eBook titled Stop Craving Sugar! Despite the title that reads like a headline of a women’s magazine, this is not only about nutrition, not only about emotional eating –  it addresses the issue from all four levels of our existence, physiological, emotional, mental, and spiritual.  Yeah, spiritual, too.  Everything we do is spiritual, including eating.

I asked some of my friends to read the eBook and here is one of the reviews:

“As a registered holistic nutritionist, I can truthfully say that Akemi has done a fantastic job of putting this eBook together. It is a yummy work for the body, the mind and the spirit. You will explore the truth about what you are feeding your body, what you are feeding your mind and how these influence each other. After reading this eBook you will realize that you have the ability to stop fighting sugar cravings and start living well.”

– Davina Haisell, RHN, Vancouver, Canada

I will be building the sales website and finalizing all the sales details this coming week.  But the book is ready, and I’d be happy to give away the copy to five commenters of this post.  Please write your comment below by Monday and if there are more than five commenters, I will do the drawing and contact the winners by email. (The eBook will be selling for $29.)

And today I am grateful for the sunlight, for the trees that I sense to be waking up soon, and for my wonderful spirit guides.  Hope you have a great weekend!

Gratitude For Who I Am Now, Online Gratitude Journal #15

There is a pitfall in personal development

You are motivated to improve yourself and your life. You read personal development books and blogs and try new techniques eagerly. The visualization of success to utilize the law of attraction. New meditation technique. Maybe a new skill in time management. All is good, right? (Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

Yes. As long as it starts with the appropriate starting point every time you adopt the new approach. And that is the acceptance of who you are as you are here and now.

You see how tricky it is? It’s so easy to forget this self acceptance part and jump to the improvement part. But when we do so, we start skidding. All the great techniques start to pressure you and push you further, not closer, from the love and joy you ultimately desire.

The horrible week I just went through

Now acceptance is easy to say. Let me tell you just a little bit about the little ding-dong I live with (that is, me). Things turned un-nice last Friday. I was invited to a dinner at a friend’s place. I was looking forward to this a lot – she is nice and it was also going to be a great opportunity for me to get to know some other people in this area. That afternoon, I went to the supermarket to get some salad greens and cheese to make the salad I was to bring. As I was driving, I suddenly noticed I had a headache. Of course, I ignored it.

I came home and thought I might take a bit nap – that would surely help me feel better. Well, no. The pain got worse and worse, accompanied with terrible stomachache. By 5:30, I had to admit to myself I wouldn’t be able to make it to the dinner. I called her and apologized. I felt bad for making her dinner salad-less and disappointing her.

I suffered over the weekend and started recovering earlier this week. I was working fine Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday evening, I had a phone session scheduled for my Akashic Record Reading. I felt a bit distracted that afternoon – things like the marketing of this blog weren’t working the way I want, etc. And – when I noticed, it was more than one hour after the scheduled time!

Embarrassed would be an understatement for the way I felt. I take pride in offering excellent service, and that includes being punctual. I had never missed a business occasion like this.

So . . . do I have to accept myself like this? Do I accept myself?

. . . yes. For the second blunder, of course I need to learn how to manage my schedule better, but still, that needs to start with seeing myself as I am and accepting her.

I was going to write more shortcomings about myself, like how terrible I am at finding directions when I drive or that greed that distracted me that Wednesday, but I think it’s getting too long. I trust you got the point.

And really – Akemi is not such a horrible person. Just a bit ding-dong (or whatever you call). I’m grateful for the person she is.

Link Love

Extend the love for who I am – extend it to all beings for who they are – right here and now. As if everyone and everything just came into existence here and now. No reasoning for the love, no attached “stories” for things are not. I think that is what Andrea talks about in her post Attachment and Manifesting What We Want.

Do you love quotes? It looks like Hunter Nuttall had the love and lots of time in his college days. Check out his 1,000,001 Things I Wish I Had Said First. I just wish it’s categorized so that I can find good quotes that fits well in my writing, but even as it is, it’s so much fun to read any part of it. I think this may be one of the great example of how to make money doing what you love.

Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler. — Albert Einstein

My Law of Attraction Dream Money Project, Week 14, $819,200

I want to review this Dream Money Project< before it hits the million dollar mark. This is a fun way to expand your wealth consciousness. I started with $100 of dream money that I can use on anything I like. The money doubles every time I write this Gratitude Friday series. It’s quite challenging to come up with creative ways to use the money.

The way I see it is the dream spending must be something that resonates with myself, something I want to get or do really if I had that money. Here are the ways I’ve spent the money so far:

Week 1, $100 for a drive to the coast (Done!)

Week 2, $200 for an iPod nano and music download

Week 3, $400 for strawberries and gorgeous lingerie (Sounds sexier than it was, huh?)

Week 4, $800 for donation to good cause

Week 5, $1,600 for antique furniture

Week 6, $3,200 for trip to Italy and Spain

Week 7, $6,400 for arts I like

Week 8, $12,800 for trading up to Prius

Week 9, $25,600 for down payment of my new townhouse

Week 10, $51,200 for a community garden with a little gazebo

Week 11, $102,400 for free-for-all day at the local art museum with lunch reception

Week 12, $204,800 for foundation to explore soul-mind-body relationship

Week 13, $409,600 for my secret beach house, purchased by cash

(Sorry there is a discrepancy between the week of this Dream Money Project and the Gratitude Friday. It’s because I started the Dream Money Project on week 2 of Gratitude Friday.)

So what do I want to do with this week’s $819,200? I can buy an apartment house and become a landlord. That will bring a nice chunk of passive income. Or maybe I can buy a yacht for my beach house. I love the ocean so that will be nice (although I have no idea how to operate it. . .)

One of the comment to my post Spiritual Money Practice To Eliminate Poverty got my attention. Abundance starts from within, but how can someone surrounded by poverty perceive abundance? I know it’s difficult but I think it’s possible. And that can bring huge change.

Think about India. Just several decades ago, it was one of the poorest country in the world. Now the economy is booming and they can’t find enough people to fill positions. On the other hand, most countries in Africa stay in poverty. I know, I know, there are many factors like the wars in Africa, but still, it’s an interesting contrast.

I think the difference originated in their mindset. India remembers its past glory and has kept their abundance mindset even during the challenging times. That, with their commitment to education, has made the difference.

I want to donate books to schools in Africa to help them see the big picture and start cultivating their abundance mindset. Let’s see, with the budget of $500 per school, $819,200 can cover 1638 schools. If I can get some publishers to help, $500 can buy quite a few books. Along with books for basic education of reading (I encourage them to learn English – it can open a lot of doors) and math, I want books like The Secret and Ask And It Is Given.

I’m grateful for the beautiful autumn leaves, new crop of apples of so many varieties, and matsutake and other mushrooms (yummy!). I heard we can go matsutake hunting in Oregon mountains. . .

Next week, I’ll resume the Inside Out Approach To Entrepreneurship. Have a great weekend!

Gratitude And Abundance – Online Gratitude Journal #10

(Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

This post will be short – Oregon is having another heat wave, and my little portable air conditioner can’t handle it well. It hit the breaker twice last night, and I figure that, with the PC running, I have to temporarily turn off the air when I go bathroom . . . (. . . you guessed right. I ended up in dark bathroom twice last night.)

My Law of Attraction Dream Money Project, Week 9

A little review of this Dream Money Project. It was inspired by the project Millionaire Mommy Jen was doing at her blog. Her project consists of three parts:

Part One: Abundant Life Spending Spree
Part Two: Supportive Action
Part Three: Gratitude Journal

When I started mine, I already had this Gratitude Friday series, so Part Three was a done deal. And as a new entrepreneur, I expected the money to come through my business, and so I haven’t been writing about my actions specifically . . .

“Expected”? Well, at this point, I have a new thought. Of course, my business is still the source of my income. But I’m starting to think abundance can come in other ways also.

Work is about service. And there are many, many ways abundance (including money) can come along.

Check out Cath Lawson’s comment for my last week’s post – a nice new Prius is on her way. (It’s for her husband and for his work, but I doubt if he worked specifically for Prius.) I’ve got some surprise present, too. (Yeah, yeah, I’ll think of ways to scale up . . . but I really love lavender.)

It doesn’t mean action, and effort behind it, is unnecessary. It’s just – there is a bigger power involved. And it can deliver abundance through numerous, often surprising ways. Crazy idea? Hmm, I’m willing to hold it dear to see how it works . . .

So this is how I want to use my dream money for this week, $25,600

Down payment for my new townhouse. Or I can do creative financing, like taking over the existing mortgage, in which case I don’t even need this much of money! Hey, I just noticed how easy it can be!!

At this time in my life, I think I like townhouse better than a single family home – let someone else do the yard and maintenance work! Two bedroom with den (one bedroom will be my office), attached two car garage. With central heat and air, of course. I want nice modern kitchen, with granite countertop, track lighting, and hardwood flooring. A nice view from the living room will be good – a big river or lake. I love the area I live now, so somewhere close, in a nice quiet neighborhood.

I’m grateful for my imagination. Jen says this is the key to abundance. Let’s review what my imagination has brought me in this project:
Week 1, $100 A drive to the coast (Done!)
Week 2, $200 iPod nano and music download
Week 3, $400 Strawberries and gorgeous lingerie (I’ve got myself strawberries . . .)
Week 4, $800 Donation to good cause
Week 5, $1,600 Antique furniture (tansu chest)
Week 6, $3,200 Trip to Italy and Spain
Week 7, $6,400 Arts I like
Week 8, $12,800 Trading up to Prius

Today I’m grateful for the Oregon Rain soap I got for myself. It’s made of real rain water. We in Oregon love rain. I didn’t understand this when I first came here last fall because it rains every day from November to well into spring. But now it’s hot and we haven’t had rain for more than a week, we crave for rain! The flavor of my soap is Energizing Peppermint, but they even make flavor called Rain. Think about the smell of rain . . .

Further reading: I know I’ve already sent two link loves to Jen, but she just posted a brilliant article on the relationship of abundance and personal attitude, and how to stay in high vibration with gratitude.

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