Posted on February 18, 2010
Do you know your way to attracting all kinds of good fortune into your life? No, it’s really not about your marketing, although good marketing is important. It absolutely has something to do with your mindset, although that’s not the full answer either. What’s MORE powerful than marketing and mindset? Your instincts. Are your trusting yours?
It’s important that you do because your gut instincts are always giving you directions regarding your next steps. In fact, if you hit the pause button right now and got really still within yourself and asked to be guided to your next steps you would get an answer. I’m sure of it.
But sometimes I know it feels like you’re not getting nudges, answers, information or any other form of divine intelligence that shows you the way. Why does this happen and what can you do?
Here’s a look at gut instincts and tips for hearing yours.
Gut Instincts: What are they?
I think of gut instincts as your intuition and how you sense yours is unique to you. Some of us feel things, others know things. Some of you may even see or hear things. However your instincts “speak” to you is perfect for you!
The key to remember is your intuition or gut speaks to you through your body. Your intuition is something you feel inside yourself. It may come as a voice that feels like it’s whispering in your ear, or it may even be similar to a thought you’re thinking but with one distinct difference: that thought is often quick, simple and rather quiet. In other words, your intuition does not make your mind race.
I access my intuition through my body and it rises through me as a “knowing”. Other times I may hear things and know immediately it’s my gut speaking to me.
How do you access your gut instincts?
A great way is to ask questions! For example, if you’re curious about the next step you could take in your business all you have to do is ask for the next steps to be revealed to you!
Once you ask your job is to listen or feel for the answer. That means you’ve got to get quiet.
Your gut speaks to you in whispers so you’ve got to pay attention! If you’re busy running around, always doing, doing, doing, you’re going to have a hard time picking up on what your instincts are trying to tell you.
So, take a time out, get quiet within yourself and listen. You can also journal, if that helps.
Then what?
So, you asked the question and now you’re ready to hear and receive an answer. But are you?
Often times when we ask for guidance we don’t hear the message right away. I personally don’t think this is because it isn’t given, I think it’s because we’re not able to hear it or we’re not trusting what we hear.
In a perfect situation (and I know that’s a stretch) you would ask your question, get quiet and listen and receive your answer. If that actually occurs your next step would be to take action on what your gut is nudging you to do!
And that’s where it gets challenging!
Here’s why:
Your gut instincts/intuition is your direct link to divine intelligence/The Universe/God…
And because of that this information you’re receiving is always…ALWAYS…for your highest good.
But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be EASY and that is why it is so often hard for us to hear our gut instincts because we know when we hear what our gut’s been trying to tell us we’re going to have to make some changes…and that’s something many of us don’t want to do.
This works in many different ways. Here are a few examples to help you understand what I’m saying.
• You want to grow your business so you ask your intuition for your next steps and the answer is “get your food under control”. (This really happened to a good friend of mine!)
• You declare you’re ready to thrive and ask to be shown what steps support that and immediately get a nudge to hire a new coach, even though you have no idea how you’re going to afford it.
• You want to land a big account and keep asking for the way to be revealed to you and you keep hearing you need to leave your spouse.
OK, I know these are all very dramatic examples but they illustrate why it can be so hard to listen to and trust your instincts! After all, what does getting food under control have to do with growing your business?
You see, logically these answers may not make sense, but on a much deeper level they make perfect sense. But in order to see why they make so much sense you’ve got to be willing to take action on them and this is hard for a lot of us.
(BTW, my friend who got the nudge to get his food under control listened, lost 97 pounds and is now thriving in his business! Magical, don’t you think?)
The road to abundance:
Why listen to your instincts? Because they are always pointing you toward your highest good and away from things that no longer serve you. Your instincts will lead the way to more life, more abundance, more fun, more happiness.
But here’s the thing: it’s not always easy to listen to and trust your own instincts so be sure to surround yourself with people that will acknowledge your wisdom for being sound, or provide a sounding board for you to sort through the information you’re receiving.
Trusting your own instincts is the ultimate way for you to take personal responsibility for your success.
Posted on November 15, 2009
Question for you:
In this moment how alive do you feel? And by alive I mean, how joy-filled/blissful/happy do you feel?
Why do I ask?
Because…
How alive you feel in any given moment is a good indicator of how on track you really are.
You may have heard this said many times but it’s worth repeating, your emotions are always a sign as to whether you are on track or off track. Feelings like joy, despair, sadness, peace, happy, angry, held-back, inspired, etc. indicate immediately how aligned you are with the core of who you really are. These feelings mean something and what they mean has absolutely nothing to do with what’s happening outside yourself!
For example:
A woman is spending a day with friends when one of them announces her plans to quit her job and start her own business. Suddenly, in her mind, she starts judging her friend for her choice and she notices herself feeling very uneasy. At first thoughts like “who does she think she is” and “that’s the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard” run through her mind. She thinks her friend must be the most foolish person she’s ever met.
Then she starts noticing how uncomfortable her body is feeling. She feels agitated and notices she starts to withdraw from her group of friends.
So what’s really going on? Well for sure her inner judge came to the surface, and along with the judge came a deep feeling of envy.
You see, secretly this woman has dreamt many times of starting her own business. She knows exactly what she’d do and how she’d do it. But she doesn’t see HOW she could do such a thing! Isn’t it irresponsible? Selfish? Naïve?
But instead of turning her attention inward, she focuses her attention outward. She puts her focus on what her friend is doing because that’s the only way she has of not putting her attention on where it should be…herself.
She’s not giving herself something she really wants at a deep, core level of her being…the experience of leading and creating her own life by following what makes her feel deliciously alive! Because she hasn’t said YES to what she really wants she feels uncomfortable and even envious of people who DO give themselves what they want. Her inner being…her spirit…knows how it wants to be expressed, but because she’s not allowing herself the experience she wants she is out of alignment with the core of who she really is and that makes her unhappy.
We’ve all known someone like that…and at some point in our own lives we have been like this.
When have you felt angry, jealous, frustrated, sad, worried, etc. etc. but instead of taking ownership of how you’re feeling you’ve blamed someONE or someTHING else for your feelings? How have your judge and critic defense mechanisms jumped in to stop you from feeling your true feelings?
I guess you could say it’s human nature to do so but doing so too much will keep you from living the life you were born to live.
So what’s the answer?
To start you can ask yourself a simple question whenever you feel a negative emotion arise:
What, in this moment, am I not giving myself?
You see, negative emotions are always an indicator you aren’t giving to yourself something your heart and soul needs and wants to feel the most alive. And as hard as you try to get it from something or someone outside yourself you’ll always be left wanting more because getting anything anywhere but within yourself is simply a band aid.
If you ever wonder how on track your life and business really are just check in with yourself. How alive, in this moment, do you really feel? If you feel good deep inside, great, you’re being, doing or having something in this moment that is aligned with your authentic self and your deepest burning desires. But if you feel “bad” then ask yourself what needs to change, and then give yourself the gift of changing what’s not working for you.
Posted on October 19, 2009
You know you’re saying NO to your dream when:
-You say “no” to something you’ve wanted for a long time and that decision haunts you.
-When opportunities appear you often have an excuse why you can’t.
-You know deep in your heart what you want, but feel afraid of taking the leaps you need to have what you want.
-You worry about what others think.
-You find fault with those around you or the world.
-You blame others for your unhappiness.
-You use words like don’t, can’t and won’t regularly.
-You judge those that are following their dreams.
-You are unwilling to make a sacrifice for your dream.
-You have an escape plan.
-You skimp when it comes to spending money on your own personal growth.
-You feel a dullness to your life.
-You feel stuck.
-You focus on drama more than dreaming.
-You say NO.
You know you’re saying YES to your dream when:
-Good fortune flows your way.
-Drama finds a new home.
-You feel a deep sense of SELF.
-You look forward, not back.
-You feel like you’re riding an amazing wave and you like it!
-Life and business FEELS easier.
-You love what you do, who you are, and what you have.
-You feel at peace and experience joy on a regular basis.
-You look for how you can “serve” others vs. serve yourself.
-You wake-up every morning excited to start your day.
-You invest in yourself on a regular basis because you believe in yourself.
-You feel the fear and do it anyway.
-You have no “plan B” and are willing to do whatever it takes.
-You let go of what you need to let go of to have what you want.
-You say YES.
