Let Your Dreams Create Your Budget- Money Does Not Determine Your Destiny!

It does not take a bank full of money to live an Empowered life.  It takes a spirit that yearns to express its passion and the courage to embody the fullness of your existence.  Finding something that propels you to overcome financial obstacles is a great indication you found your passion. 

I heard the inspirational story of Dani Johnson yesterday.  She was a homeless teen that started a business out of the trunk of her car.  She demonstrated that her dream was bigger than her bank account.  Tyler Perry is another person that overcame homelessness and allowed his dream to direct his course.  He invested his life savings only to lose it.  This unfortunate tragedy still did not deter his yearning to produce plays.  These examples illustrate how the ignited momentum of a dream can overcome the limitations of an empty bank account.

How many of you have stopped dreaming because you allowed cash flow to dictate your destiny?  It is not cash that makes your dream, it is your dream that makes the cash!  When a person has a made up mind to win, no obstacle seems too impossible. 

Each person with breath in their lungs has something special to share.  Including you!  The constraints of limited funds can make you believe your dream is done, but the reality is, a limited budget can fuel your movement towards success.  Bad credit does not have to deter you either!  If you have a solid plan, many people will be willing to invest in your future.

It is important to change your perspective and use situations like limited or no funds work for you!  Here are some things to think about.

1. Focus on where you want to be, not on where you are at.  If your attention is on the glory of your dreams, you are more likely to make decisions today, to get you there tomorrow.  
2. Write a plan!  Putting your hopes and dreams in writing seals them in reality.  You will have a tendency to realign your life towards your goals.  You will become creative and think of innovative ways to make your dreams happen.
3. Get serious!  The things you nurture in life become the biggest things in your life.  For example, if you nurture your bad luck, by thinking and talking about it all the time, you are more likely to have bad luck.  Begin to think about, see and act upon opportunities.  They are all around you!  Yes, even you!
4. How much will it cost?  Begin to write down how much it will cost you to achieve your dream.  What are the things you need to reach your goal?  When you have an active knowledge of where you are going and what it will cost, miraculous things happen.  You begin to make better decisions and find resourceful ways to make money.  Suddenly waiting tables is not humiliating when there is a clear determined end.
5. Be patient!  As you begin to work towards your dream, be patient.  Getting a clear idea, plan and way to finance your endeavor can take time.  If you have to get there before the end of the day you will give up before the real work begins.  Every person that has made it from nothing, made it on patience.
6. Use your imagination wisely.  Set aside some time to visualize your dream.  Every person that has made it to a great goal, spent a lot of time day dreaming!  They pictured how the future would be when their dream was fulfilled.  They thought about the people they would meet and the words they would say.  The saw the clothes they would wear and they solved problems in their fantasies.  God gave us an imagination, use it for good.

I believe dreams can come true and I believe your dreams are only as real as you make them.  Re-kindle your fading expectations and watch your bank account follow!  

"Working on Moday" Part 4- Raw Determination!

"Working on Monday" is not just about finding a job, it is about living your dream.  It takes courage to pursue what seems impossible.  It takes a raw determination to reach above the expectations of others and be true to yourself.  This is the core concept of Empowered Peace.  Honoring the creation God crafted and made you.

A reminder from last week, we are not going to have any new action plans this week.  This will be a week to complete and refine the tasks of the last three weeks.  As you approach these steps pay attention to your thoughts.  Immediately replace thoughts of defeat with positive affirmations.  You will have enough opposition, so be your own best friend!

This week I am going to talk about one of the driving forces you need to pursue your dreams, Determination.  Many great lives have been built with determination. The following clip is of Chris Gardner.  His inspirational story was captured in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, intentionally spelled incorrectly.  Mr. Gardner states the 'y' is for you and your dreams.  Listen to the following clip.

This video tells me we are doing the right thing at the right time.  It does not matter how crazy people think you are, it does not matter who does or does not believe in you and it does not matter who tries to sabotage your plans.  What does matter is the dream.  It is the time to make your dreams a reality.  It took gritty, raw determination for Chris Gardner to get his brokerage license while being homeless.  He had an unstoppable attitude that shaped his pristine work ethic.  You do not have any excuses not to succeed, only excuses to hold you in a life of crumbled yesterdays. 

Chris Gardner has some other advice to help you reach your goals.

1. "The Calvary isn't coming!" (words of wisdom from his mother)
2. "Baby steps count too!" (Rev. Cecil Williams, Founder of Glide, the homeless shelter where Chris Gardner stayed with his son)

As you complete and refine your goals know that you are not alone.  Your dream is your purpose, your career and the key to "Working on Monday."
photo via google images 

Low Self-Esteem, Kiss My @$$!

I listen to my readers.  This article was written because a reader requested the topic:
What is self-esteem?  This is how Webster defines it: 1. a confidence and satisfaction in oneself: self-respect. 

Let's take a look at what this definition is trying to convey.  A certainty in one's being, a faith and enjoyment in yourself or maybe a more tangible way to understand this concept is a form of measurement.  Self-esteem is the term used to communicate to others how you feel about yourself or how others describe your value of self.  In other words if someone says to you "Dominic has a lot of self-esteem" you now have a piece of information about Dominic.  How do you think of people described with low or high self-esteem?

Here is the problem with self-esteem, it does not have the credence many people invest in its worth.  Self-esteem is not the determining factor that guarantees a successful life.  The strongest correlation they discovered between self-esteem and quality of life, was happiness (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger and Vohs 2003).  This is not to say self-esteem is not important, it is very important.  Happiness is important as well, but self-esteem and happiness are end results.  Chicken, asparagus and rice make an excellent dinner, but they must be prepared.  The chicken has to be seasoned and baked, the asparagus steamed and the rice cooked for supper to be satisfying.  Now let's go back to Self-esteem!  There are many ingredients that lead to good self-esteem, without them the end result lacks its full flavor. 

What does this mean for you?  It means that examining more factors than self-esteem provides you with a realistic idea of how to improve your quality of life.  Self-esteem is a quantitative measure and many times you compare yourself to others and determine you are somehow insufficient.  The deceptive answer to your comparison is normally based on your over assessment of someone else's happiness.  You think about how your mother raised three kids and maintained a clean house, when comparing your children and home to hers they always fall short.  You think about your best friend and how wonderful her husband treats her, then you compare your husband to him, and he falls short.  What about glamorous Hollywood stars, or the dad's that seem to be better fathers because they provide more entertainment and clothes.  These constant comparisons are a set up for failure.

To understand your self value and begin to make changes for a better quality of life, get to know yourself.  You do this by spending time with yourself and determining what you want to change, improve, keep and completely remove from your life.  A Christ-centered assessment used by some Christian counselors looks at these areas of life: behavior, emotions, cognition (what do you think about), health, religion, idols and false beliefs (the things you place above God), substances (prescribed and illicit drugs), teachable (how willing are you to change), law and ethics (are you in danger of self or others), interpersonal relationships, knowledge (do you have the correct information to change) and environment (Clinton and Ohlschlager 2002).  This list can be overwhelming, but taking one area at a time will allow you to know you.  Spend a week to two on each area and journal your findings.  If you find you need more time take it. 

This sounds like a lot of time and work, but you do have a choice.  You can float through life lost and confused or go through life with purpose and intention.  Learning who you are and then doing what you were created for is self-esteem to the third power!

One last thought I'd like to leave you with, you are okay.  All of us are on a journey and none of us is perfect!  As a matter of fact, none of us will ever reach perfection.  Accepting yourself for who you are and where you are is the beginning of Empowered Peace! 

References

Baumeister, R., Campbell, J., Krueger, J., & Vohs, K. (2003). Does High Self-Esteem Cause Better Performance, Interpersonal Success, Happiness, or Healthier Lifestyles?. Psychological Science in the Public Interest (Wiley-Blackwell), 4(1), 1-44. doi:10.1111/1529-1006.01431.

Clinton, Timothy and George Ohlschlager. (2002). Competent Christian Counseling, Volume One, Foundations and Practice of Compassionate Soul Care; Colorado Springs, Colorado: WaterBrook Press. 

Resources

The Path to Unconditional Self-Acceptance (insightful article)

Never Good Enough (insightful article)

Divine Caroline (excellent website with valuable self-help information)

Daily Affirmations: Science of Mind

Daily Affirmations (various categories of affirmations i.e. career, weight loss, etc.)

SelfGrowth.com

Self-Esteem (an article at Livestrong.com with excellent resources)

Additional Resources: