If you're like me there have been times in your life when you really wanted things, people, places, or circumstances to change. You felt stuck in a rut and in most cases waiting for something to come along that would bump you out of that rut. The funny thing is we are creatures of habit and mental programming. We always tend towards the mean or the status quo, most of the time we do this unconsciously, just going back to our old way of thinking, being, behaving and reacting. Even if we take a seminar or a self help course or read a book how long is the lasting change? Unless something significant happens at that course or during the event or the book really hits you over the head, my thoughts are that the change is like a hot bath and doesn't last very long. So the question is what do you need to do to get out of the rut or rock the boat?

You need to do something out of the ordinary. You need to do something you wouldn't normally do. Break the routine. This is the idea behind practicing random disciplines. At one seminar that I took we were asked to bow every time we entered in and out of a room. The idea behind this simple act was to shake your mind up. In your daily life chances are you don't bow as you enter or exit a room. So if one day to deicide to make this one of your random discipline it would shake you up, mentally, physically, perhaps even emotionally. This makes your mind and body awaken from the status quo. It makes you more alert and makes space for you to take on a new idea.  It is a simple act and subtle change that could make all the difference. The only question is: What are you going to do today to rock your proverbial boat?

The worlds most powerful word....is it abracadabra? No it's ...

FREE

Yesterday was my husbands birthday and we decided we would see how much FREE "stuff" we could get for his birthday. I found a great site "Mr Cheap" who had a list of items, mostly FREE birthday meals, that you could claim. Of course it does mean you have to sign up for a mailing list, but we threw caution to the wind and used an e-mail address that we don't use a lot and went to work. By lunch time, we had a Free meal at Noodle and Company, a free ice cream at Cold Stone and a free drink at Caribou Coffee. Yummy it was time for lunch....all told we saved about $16 and spent about $12, not to bad.

By the time we came home there was another free meal offer at a pub called the Fox & Hound, great let's go have dinner! Jon enjoyed a steak while I had Salmon, we saved $18 and spent about $32 with drinks. It was a fun way to spend his birthday, there was an excitement in getting things for FREE and to see how many things we could get for FREE.

By this morning we had emails for a free pizza, more free steaks, free spaghetti, free stir fry, free fondue, multiple appetizers and the list goes on....we got a lot of free meals to eat in the next 15-30 days.

While many businesses do it, I thought it was a great way to attract business and give people value, after all these days it's all about value. While we got free "stuff" we also spent money with those establishments and in some cases where the items were good, we would go back again.

In business nothing happens until someone buys something, ask yourself, what are you doing to entice someone to open their wallet and spend with you? Can you offer something of value for free? Free is the most powerful word to generate traffic, but the free item must have value for the customer to buy. Remember, to get a customer and retain a customer, offer great value and great customer service and you will succeed. It goes back to the beginning of time "Ask and it is given" "Give and you shall receive" and "free is always good".

Does your vision board limit you?

First let me explain what a vision board is in case you don't know. If you have seen the movie "The Secret" John Assaraf explains that he put pictures on a board and hung it up on his wall as a way to attract things to him. He goes on to explain how he attracted his dream house using this concept. I myself have one of these boards in my bedroom. However, after reading Joe Vitale's book Zero Limits, I posed this question to myself "what if my vision board limited my point of attraction". The question got stimulated because of two ideas: 1) The idea came from the notion that there is some great divine plan for us out there. 2) that the Law of Attraction (LOA) it constantly bringing things to us. The idea is you ask and you receive.

Well, what if "things" were not being attracted to you because of your vision board, not the items on your board, but other great things that could be better than what's on your vision board. Every time you ask for something you put a plan in motion and your life goes in that direction, but what if it took you off course from something better? It was something I never considered before, that maybe I would get something better if I didn't ask for a particular item. I began to really think about it and some of the other books I had read. I have done multiple things to attract "things" into my life, I have attracted a car, workshops and other items. Not everything I've asked for has come about and it doesn't mean that it isn't on it's way. Perhaps I keep changing course? It's possible, I really don't have the answer.

What struck me was that many people don't think LOA works. Here is why I think people run into problems and this is what got me really thinking, "If you are trying to attract a parking spot close to the shop and you didn't get it, perhaps the divine just wanted to you walk more." This made sense, perhaps all of the "things" I'd asked for were not mean for me in that moment. Perhaps I was supposed to get more exercise and have better health, because after all I ask for that too. Which one does the universe supply when posed with both requests? Good health or parking spot? humm....

Just an idea to ponder, I am contemplating taking my vision board down for a while and seeing what happens. I will let you know if I discover anything profound.

This is a very good question.  I always say your NET WORTH will never out grow your NETWORK and I still believe that and I am going to expand on that, as I believe the quality, not just the size, of the network is important too.

The first time I heard that your salary/income is the average of the people you hang out with, I really took a hard look at who I was hanging out with - did I want their salary/income? Think about the 6 people you hang out with the most - do you want their income/salary? Chances are you're saying NO.

In business, who you hang out with, who you network with is so important. Everything you need you will get from other people. I have been involved with real estate investing in some form or fashion for over 17 years and I quickly realized that networking was vitally important to my success. Over the years I met and talked with literally hundreds of people all over the country and the world. Of course as the internet and social networking become more a part of our lives, networking becomes easier. Some of the greatest deals I have done have been because of someone I knew in my network knew someone who could get the deal done and "boom" the deal was forged.

So how do you improve your network? You must get out there an talk to people. Networking events, Business events and seminars are great starting points. Also, social networking sites and the internet are becoming great ways to meet a wide variety of people; however, with the internet it is easy to hide who you are so beware of charlatans. Once you start building a network, look at who is in it, is there someone you want to follow or emulate? If so hang out with that person, some of what they have will be your average. If there are some millionaires in your network you may definitely want to consider hanging out with them if they have time, as that could boost your average considerably. Remember don't be a secret agent when networking, tell people what you do as you never know when a referral could be the ticket to the best deal you have ever done.

So get out there and network, take someone to coffee who you want to emulate, it may be the best coffee you ever had.

There are times in one's life that you sit down and say, "What do I need to do to make things change?". Perhaps it doesn't matter what you do things just don't seem to be getting better. You aren't making enough money, your relationships are strained, your not as healthy as you'd like to be and you are feeling frazzled. This means your teacup is overflowing. If this is the case pouring more tea doesn't help, in other words doing more of the same or working harder hoping for a change isn't getting you where you want to be. So what do we do with an overflowing teacup? We must empty it first to get different tea. Many times our proverbial overflowing teacup is our limiting beliefs. It is the tape in our head that says, " You can't do that!" "Your not worthy" "Or you don't have enough money to do that" whatever that fear or limiting belief is in your head, you have to let go of it first and create some space to be filled up with better more fulfilling thoughts (Tea).

I know you have heard it before "let go and let god" "surrender" "go with the flow", but what does that really mean? It means coming to the recognition that what holds you back is not your circumstances it's in your fear. What are you holding on to, what are you not giving up, because of a belief or some idea of security. For me I often made choices to keep doing things or keep working on projects because I didn't want to "let others down", I didn't want them to "think badly of me". All the time though I wasn't being true to myself. I had to let go of these thoughts so something better could come into my life. Now the question is what do YOU have to release, what do you have to stop thinking or believing? It is the only way you will see success. You must empty your teacup before you can have any more or something different than what you have now. Look to your inner knowing, it is speaking to you right now, even if it is a whisper. Trust me, the moment you let go there is an awesome sense of freedom and that freedom opens the door to possibility.

Over the past few days I have been reflecting on the fact that the world is more amazing than ever, yet as a whole people are very unhappy right now. You could point to the economy, job loss, high prices etc as the reasons why people are so unhappy. However, I think there is a deeper issue at hand. The economy has imposed artificial/psychological limits on us. What do I mean by this? Everyday we are being fed story after story of disaster about falling stocks, banks going under, lay offs by the 1000's and this makes us withdraw and get anxious. Maybe for good reason and maybe not. Then because of the anxiety we start to put limits on ourselves, what we can and can't do, what's possible and what is not possible. Rather than withdrawing you need to think about what opportunity could be open to you for the future. An example: The challenge you observe, "Banks aren't lending". What's the possible solution? Start a company to help people secure money for small businesses or projects. We have seen ways to literally manifest money, if you believe it is possible, because there is plenty of money to go around. What problems are you observing? What solutions could you provide? There is a saying (I don't really remember how it goes and here it goes anyway) ~ "Within every challenge there is your opportunity". Ask yourself how you can serve others today by creating a solution for them, it may just answer your prayers.