Imagine If!

Imagine If!

Before I embarked on this journey, my mind produced a million reasons why "it" wasn't happening for me. I didn't have enough money. I didn't enjoy the support at home. I had made too many mistakes. I didn't possess the experience necessary for that kind of success. My picture of success was drawn by someone else's experience, which was whatever they had that I didn't have helped me understand what I would want.

Today I am heading towards everything I have ever wanted. I am no longer at the starting gate, wondering when the gun will go off. I am not on the track, running a race that I don't want to run. I am in this experience and it is the experience that I want to have. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I didn't win the lottery. I have no more or less support than I ever did. In fact, I think that I misread the level of support that I did have. I have a bit more experience due to my efforts, but no degree or brilliant moment that I thought I would need to before beginning the journey. My mistakes continue to pile up as that is the state of the human condition.

Nothing is really different except for one thing. I am using my imagination. Human beings are the only beings that have this ability, this gift of imagination. We can utilize other people's experiences, our own experiences, the images gifted us in books and movies and television shows and we can conjure up the possibilities as if they are happening right now.

What do you imagine? Is it a life that has a very small possibility of the success that you want? Is your imagination hamstrung with a bevy or rules of can nots and will nots and mayby nots? Or do you imagine the life that you want. Do you utilize your mind's eye to bring forward the colors and feelings and even smells of what it will be when you reach the reality of the vision that you desire?

Take some time to imagine what you want. If you don't have the experiences to draw on to support your vision, then ask others who stand in the place you desire. Read and watch and ask for any information that can support your imagination and use that ability to create a scene for the future to bring the future closer to today.

Once I stepped out in faith and began to do what I was meant to do, the future transformed from a distant mirage into moments that I can see and feel and touch. What was once just in my head, I wanted to be a speaker, I wanted to be an influencer, I wanted to be an inspirer, is now my daily existence. Instead of wishing that I could have something that doesn't feel attainable, I am now charged with figuring out how to keep the momentum going.

So today I want you to imagine. Imagine it all in vivid color. Keep imagining and keep asking. You might be suprised and what leaps to life.

Let Liz Nead inspire you further. Purchase her CD's- the 1440 Principle, Finding Your Game, Creating Your Vision and Building a Rockstar Network on http://www.neadinspiration.com/.

Vision Board #3: My Best Work Yet!

Vision Board #3: My Best Work Yet!

I created my third vision board today. I can't wait to see what happens next.

The first one was created to disprove the process of creating vision on a silly posterboard with ridiculous pictures. I slapped up pictures of things I never thought would happen. Then I was knocked off the throne of skeptism as each picture miraculously came to life.

The second time, I created a vision board based on what I thought I should want. Things that would look good for a speaker who preaches about vision.

The third one is the best. It has my heart. Everything I could ever want or need from the deepest part of who I am. This time it's different. Although my experience with vision boards Disparate from anything I have ever experienced.

• The Truth: As I said, Vision Board #3 is my heart. It is coming from a place of yearning and wanting. I know that I will be heartbroken if some of these things don't come to pass. Yet, as I thought about the pictures and what I wanted, how to write it out and let the images speak for my heart, I asked my self one thing. Why would I want to depict anything else? If ever there was a place to inject my heart, this would be it.


• No Spectators Allowed: I'm a speaker, so I tend to view life from a stage. What do I look like? Who will see me? How will this be perceived? These are all very insightful questions in developing a career, but this insight is the great ravager of vision. Vision Board #3 is just for me. In fact, I might be a bit embarrased for you to have such a clear view into me. As I placed phrases and images on my board, I put aside the thoughts of you. If it is to work the way I want it, it had to be for me.


• Feelings First, Logic Second: It felt a bit ridiculous, cutting out pictures and using tape and glue to arrange them around the board. My husband came up to visit me during the process and did his best to be encouraging. Imagine the thoughts that flooded my mind as I created. Why you? What makes you think that is going to happen? Who are you kidding? My answer to my brain: This is what I want. I can't help it if it doesn't make sense. I can't help it if I don't deserve it. I can't stop wanting this. So it is going on the board. Vision Board #3.

I went there this time. A picture of Oprah reading my book. My face smiling from a television screen. A key unlocking the best part of my brain. Out of the box. Renew your spirit. Everything that I really want. I can see it from where I type. And I am smiling.

Five minutes after I placed Vision Board #3 on the wall, at the foot of my bed where I will see it many times in the day, my phone buzzes. More e-mails. I check the messages and find a request. I was chosen to be in a commercial. I look up at my vision board and smile.

My face on a television screen. It's already started.

Drama Free- Living! Get off the stage!

Drama Free Living! Get Off the Stage!


Drama!

I've been talking about drama lately. Have you heard this one? "Drama follows me! I don't want this! It seems to find me!"

I've got something to say about this. NO IT DOESN'T. It can't find you. But you, quite consistently and clearly, can create the same kind of drama, over and over.

Lest you think I am being judgmental, (this is one of the "dramatic" accusations I receive on a regular basis), I want you to know that I too, have this drama problem. I find myself in the darndest situations. This person is mad at me, that person doesn't understand me, I don't feel like I can tell someone else the truth. I find myself rescuing this type of person, my bank account never seems to be the right "amount," relationships that always go behind my back. The list goes on and on.

It was not about me. I was sure of it. No matter how nice I was, people were mad. No matter how hard I tried to listen, they didn't feel heard. No matter how much I divulged, they couldn't see me for who I was. No matter how hard I tried to rescue, they accused me of drowning them. I spent on what I thought was right but couldn't get it right. I protected secrets and felt exposed. How could this be? How could I give such lovely gifts to the universe and be returned such an out of balance response?

I finally had to look the mirror and admit, I invited the reponse. Drama was what I asked for and drama is what I got. I didn't wan to be normal. I didn't want every day to be the same. I liked the feeling of pent of adrenaline that comes with a problem which requires solving and I liked the moment of relive that comes with a solution even more. I felt loved when someone came to my rescue. I felt smart when I "MacGyver'ed" my way out of the situation, and I felt sane when I was around insanity.

Better than Shakespeare, is the real-life drama. It has all the makings of Academy Award, situations that MAKE you feel a certain way. The problem is, the drama will eventually get the best of you and you will become tired of it. Then, as with any good addiction, you forget about he consequences and begin to think about the chemicals that accompany drama. It's tiring, it's confusing and it's pointless.

If you don't like the drama, GET OUT OF THE PLAY! Resign as the lead! Let someone else take the stage! You don't need the drama. You need real life.

Relationships: Your core relationships, personal or professional, should be based on one primary element, Respect. If you can't be yourself, if you can't say what you need to say, if you don't remember why you are friends, then you are inviting drama. Remember the ultimate anti-drama antidote for relationships, respect.

Resources: Your resources, whether it is professional or personal capital or the money in the bank, it is only replenished by you. It can be developed only by your nurturing care. Yes, you may win the "lottery" in some way, but waiting for the lottery will only create more drama.

YOU: The most amazing component of who you are is not your hair, your athletic ability, even your intelligence. It's your SOUL. Your instincts tell you what is wrong or right, and only then can your intellect ferret out the inconsistencies. Your heart will tell you to speak and your mind will come up with some words to explain what is in the depths of who you are. Don't expect your soul to change for your circumstances or you will again create more drama.

My question to you: What kind of life do you want to live? A life that looks great on the stage, but a bit sad without the lighting and scripting of a drama? Or an existence that is marked by integrity, honesty and the joy of another day on the planet? I choose the latter. I hope you do too.