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Gratitude is a wonderful thing.  It is such a wonderful, powerful thing, in fact, that it gets so much lip service that we think we know what it is.  I’m here to tell you that if we knew what gratitude really is, and if we were practicing it the way the experts tell us, then we would already HAVE everything we want.  We would be living the ultimate definition of success.

But for most of us, we still have plenty of things we’d like to change about our lives. Thus, there’s still space for the power of gratitude in our lives. So let’s not come at gratitude as if we already know what it is or how to use it.  Choose to see yourself as a novice to its power, and you will invite a rush of opportunities to fill your life.

What is gratitude?  Simply, it is LOVE for a situation or condition in your life.

I invite you to stretch into gratitude beyond the things you already appreciate in your life, to the things that you don’t like and wish did not exist. The practice of gratitude allows you to see the universe working on your behalf – even with the seemingly unpleasant circumstances in your life.  Gratitude will allow you to see that even the unpleasant is a gift.  Even the unwanted is offering you opportunity.

For example, you might face moments of fear if in your business - you make the effort to reach out to new partners or prospects in a way you haven’t before.  Using the practice of gratitude, you would seek out appreciation for your fear.  Gratitude might help you see that your fear is simply god’s opening into your life.  It’s a signal that Spirit is looking for a new way to operate, and by stepping into that fear, you are becoming more divine.  That’s something to be grateful for.

Simply ask yourself, “What is this situation trying to teach me?  What is this asking me to become?”

As Albert Einstein says, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” This is how I invite you to look at your current circumstances – especially the ones that you dislike.  – The ones you perceive with lack.  See them, not just as something you can will yourself to tolerate - but as a miracle.

Who would you have to become to see your enemies, your pain, and your failures as miracles??

Gratitude is a method of alchemy that turns something of lower value into something of higher value.  Stand in the space of knowing that everything at this moment – and every moment – is an opportunity for you to step into greatness.  To live at your highest.  Everything.  Especially the things you dislike.  Gratitude helps you transmute pain into healing and lack into wealth.

Another brilliant thought by Einstein: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Gratitude, when applied to our unwanted circumstances, enables us to turn negative into positive, because it comes at our troubles with a totally different energy.  Rather than asking “How can I fix this problem?” gratitude asks, “What is there to love and appreciate about this situation?” Feel the radically different energy of these questions.  Notice what a different result you will find.

As you start applying gratitude to the things you abhor, watch as you blow through your fears, resentments, blames, and limitations. And simultaneously, notice how you systematically transform every unwanted situation into a sacredly revered mine of gold.  These mines of gold together create an entirely new pattern in your life capable of creating completely new results.

Consider the wisdom of Helen Keller when she said, “I thank God for my handicaps for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.”

Without thinking too much, quickly write down your answers to these seven questions:
1.    What are three things in your current situation you feel incredibly grateful for?
2.    Who are three people you deeply appreciate and value?
3.    What are three things you wish would change in your life?
4.    What are three of your worst fears?
5.    What are three things you feel great shame?
6.    What are your three biggest regrets?
7.    Who are three people you wish you would never have to deal with again?

Throughout the next 21 days, spend one day on each of the items you listed.  Spend a full day inviting gratitude into your heart for each item you listed above.  At the end of the 21 day exercise, take notice at what has changed in your life.
Expect success.  Even better. Expect miracles.

It’s been said time and again that “hope is NOT a strategy,” and while I agree that holding on idly and wishing things would get better without taking action to build your business, I do believe that the proposition of hope can add a profound affect on you and your business.

In fact, our recent present-elect, Barack Obama won the ticket using a strategy of hope.  So what does that look like? And how can this apply to your business?

First off, let’s look at the architecture of success.

Success is a funny thing.  It’s not predictable in the ways we’d like it.  It’s not a cake whose recipe you can follow - and “voila!” - success is made.  You can’t just follow the prescription of someone else and expect to see the same result.  Of course we’d all like it to be that simple, but no, success is a whole other animal.

True success - the kind that lives both in your bank account, as well as in a full heart (as well as the kind that finally elects an African American to the highest seat of our land)  - requires you to change and become someone bigger, brighter, more divinely aligned.  To manifest the potential within you and receive the success you long for, you must be willing to become your “Higher Self.” - The Higher Self that acts out of wisdom and hope, and not out of fear and pain.

Here’s how a Strategy of Hope works:

1. You come to a challenge in business - be it a seeming lack of customers, lack of cash flow, or lack of opportunity - and you ask yourself, “How am I going to overcome this challenge?”
2. Next, you have a choice.  The choice you have to make is this:  Where am I going to look for answers?” Well, the old self, the lower-case self, starts searching for answers, and generally the search begins by looking to others.  The lower-case self turns to books, experts, and programs that offer advice on how to overcome the current problem they face. But the Higher Self looks elsewhere.  The Higher Self, for every challenge, looks within for inner wisdom and divine guidance.  Only the rare few have the faith to look within.  Those who take this path take the first step on a profound journey of true success.  Let’s see what happens next for those rare few…
3. Now it’s time to be open and receive. Should you choose to consult inner wisdom, now is the time to ask a clear question and await a wise response.  Journal. Meditate.  Walk in nature.  Dance.  Whatever connects you to your soul.  And just see what comes. I promise, if you’re listening it will come.
4. Now it’s time to act.  And this is where the true test comes in.  It’s the rare few who even consider consulting inner wisdom.  But is the truly exceptional few, who actually take that wisdom and brazenly, courageously, and sometimes illogically — follow through on what wisdom tells you to do.

While it sounds simple (and it is), it requires the ultimate presence of HOPE.  This strategy requires you to believe that you and your wisdom are plenty.  It requires you to take leaps into the unknown.  It requires you to believe, even if only for a moment, in yourself.

It doesn’t mean you won’t be scared.  It doesn’t mean there’ll be no doubt. No, not at all.  In fact, when you start to listen to the wisdom in your heart, it will lead you in places you’ve never been, and it will ask you to stretch and grow in ways you might never have considered.  But hope gives you the light you need to stand in fear and doubt.  Hope makes it possible for you to have fear, but do it anyway.

Hope is essential for your true success.

When you make every choice in your business this way, you infuse your business with hope.  Hope becomes your strategy.  It becomes your direction.  Hope is the candle that illuminates you path to success.

Take time today to consult your inner wisdom.  Ask it for guidance.  And then, have the sheer audacity to faithfully do whatever it tells you.  Live from the hopeful knowing that you have all the answers.

If you’d like support hearing what your wisdom is saying, go to www.WisdomSession.com, and find out how you can know exactly what’s next in your strategy of hope.

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Please join us Tuesday for
Defining Success with Dr. Shawn Byler
In this week’s CoachCast, Dr. Shawn Byler will teach listeners to easily organize and prioritize their life!
You will learn how to:
-Have more time and energy
-Clearly define success and reach it
-Reduce stress and overwhelm
-Become joyful and peaceful!