Upwards and Onwards

Its the end of the year and time to reflect on what has been achieved and to look forward to what is to be. 

Chances are in looking back most of us will encounter a little disappointment and regret at what has not yet been done, gained or mastered. All those goals that were set with anticipation and eagerness that we now feel a trifle sheepish for not having fulfilled. I know I have those feelings. 

But just as they start to bubble up in my throat, I quickly remind myself of what I do already have and am grateful for. 

Number one is good health and there is no price that can be paid for that. Wealth beyond comparison. My home circumstances are fine, my belly is usually full enough, my home is as secure as anything can be, I live in green surroundings and so far I’m hanging on to my job which is OK for the time being. Plus plenty plenty more. Yes there is a lot to be thankful for. 

Which is funny as my mastermind group is about to meet to reflect on our successes this year and to set new goals, and I was registering a flutter of frustration and disappointment that I wouldn’t have much more to contribute on that front because some of my big goals from last year this time have not moved forward very much. 

It has after all been one hell of a year world wide, and its left many people scared about the now and the coming months. We are bombarded every day with stories of the doom and gloom of the economy. 

Will it get any worse economically? Most certainly for some people. it will. It is my belief that we have not yet even begun to uncover the might of the economic downturn and it would be very easy to get into a spiral of self defeating talk and despair. 

But frankly, we can chose not to buy into that kind of thinking. So now to counter that, I want to make sure that I remember what I have to celebrate and acknowledge all the little achievements that could so easily be overlooked. And that is something I can share with my group. 

We get what we focus on. This is something that’s been very prominent on my mind this last year. And if what I’ve been focussing on hasn’t happened to me this year, well, I’ll just add a ‘yet’ to it and keep my focus strong. 

Forgive me if I seem a little airy-fairy but I will also be telling myself that the universe wants what is good for me and there is something even better for me ahead. That thought really shifts the disappointments and regrets. 

Is this avoiding the reality and trying to see the world through rose coloured spectacles? I have in my journal, repeating over and over - ‘Believe in your dreams’. I choose to take inspiration from all those giants before me on whose shoulders I can stand who did just that. So many come to mind just now as I write and one that stand out is Martin Luther King. “I have a dream that one day….” Yes I know Obama has an awful lot to live up to now, but haven’t we come a long way though the road was never smooth? That’s life. 

Yes believe in your dream. 

Who knows how long the road may be? How do I keep my motivation going so that I can achieve what I want to? 

Part of that of course comes from my own will and self determination but there is no denying the strength to be gained from working with others who will provide that little bit of extra support and push and challenge I need. And I believe that I can do all that for others too. Its been good to write this because its diluted that little bit of trepidation about my next mastermind meeting. Upwards and onwards.

Blessings for Today

1. I have enjoyed my son's company today. We've had a laugh and a good feeling between us.

2. I have been home and had some quiet time for myself and I value that enormously.

3. I have eaten well and healthily. Zimbabwe flashes through my mind. Its just a reminder about how fragile is some people's existence in this world and that I have not had to suffer their fate and that makes me very privileged and blessed.

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A Change in the Air

Its hard to be unaffected by the spirit of hope and optimism Barak Obama has brought to bear across the world recently, and with times getting leaner and meaner for many people, we all want to believe that change is possible and life as a result will improve in some way.

And, do you know, that if that happens in the wider political arena, we want to know that it will also impact in our personal lives and that we can sustain the change.

Some of my fellow masterminders have sought to support each other’s efforts in decluttering their home and office environments and to have daily accounting for the tasks we had set ourselves.

Well, this wasn’t just in order to create a better environment to be in but to also achieve other even more profound changes in our lives be it in the area of relationship, career, money or business.

There was the general feeling that living with the degree of clutter most of us do, there was a definite block on our physical and emotional energies that prevented us achieving their wider goals.

That daily email connection gave us the spur to do what we had to do and kept up the motivation wonderfully because we were nudging and encouraging each other, challenging when someone wasn’t checking in, inspiring each other with our efforts in doing the best we could, and adding the belief in ourselves that we could achieve what we set out to do.

Then life throws a spanner in the works – as it does some times. Some people got sick bugs and their efforts fell away. And in the words of one person, ‘My mojo’s gone’.

She needs the mastermind group to help bring new levels of enthusiasm and motivation to her efforts.

In fact she’s done brilliantly. It may not sound like much but she can walk around her apartment now without having to move things out of her way. She’s saving money because she can find paperwork relating to payments. She’s systematizing her paperwork slowly and because its going to take her a long time – months I’m told –she needs the support of others who can assure her she can do it and keep the momentum going.

Can we do it? Yes, we can! That’s what we’re there for. And so can she. And why? Because as Napoleon Hill tells us in Think and Grow Rich, two or more minds working in harmony, produce a synergistic energy that create many more possibilities through our united vision and sense of purpose. And from the little acorns we plant now, change’s gonna come as we help each other reach for our best.

Gratitudes for the day

1. I had news that a course I was hesitating over doing had  been reduced in price because of some drop outs by about two thirds and I hesitated no longer. What a blessing for the day!

2. Son in great mood. He 'aced' his math test. I am grateful for his determination to succeed and to work hard towards it.

3. I can't get Mon Coer s'ouvre a ta voix out of my head and I've been singing all day, over and over. Its made me feel connected again to some part of me that's been dormant, and thats a good feeling. A blessing indeed.

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A Greater Mastermind

The experience of spending a month nudging and supporting each other daily through our decluttering experience has left a strong positive impact on my mastermind group. In fact, its really gelled us better than before and increased the level of trust in the group.

 You know what? As seemingly mundane and undramatic as the tasks were, most of us were experiencing how by having a common vision, and by holding ourselves accountable to each other, we could advance our goals.

Let’s face it, life’s never plain sailing, is it? And some people got thrown off course by events, circumstances, illness or lack of energy. No, we didn’t all end the month on a glorious high, a rush of new found energy from having let the energy flow freely through now totally clutter free homes and work environments.

 Yet funnily enough, even before the assigned month was over, members were asking, if having a common vision on which we all focus daily works so well, what else could we work together to achieve in this way?

 Well, simply stated, the next challenge centred on using the power of manifestation. Our common purpose here is to improve the quality of our lives in some way and that will inevitably be different for each of us.

Here’s the deal. Our decision this month was to tap into a higher consciousness, a ‘Third Mastermind’ or source of universal power, and using the Law of Attraction, begin a process of manifestation of the changes we wanted in our lives through a structured exercise.

 And we would continue to do this as a daily exercise, connecting firstly with the Greater Mastermind and secondly with each other. And as with the daily decluttering, we would support each other in an exercise of manifestation.

 This involves writing in a four step sequence of:

• asking clearly for what we want and attaching our feelings of having gained those things already
• making it known that we support ourselves in achieving our goals and are thankful for what we have been given
• creating a picture as if we have already achieved out goals, talking about what it feels like to already have them, what we can see, hear, feel, smell, taste now we have what we want and to really get comfortable with creating this scene in our minds
• expressing gratitude again for what we now have.

 Believe it or not, one member already reports the magic has started for her and we are only into day 4. Is this a kind or craziness? The bottom line I think, is a matter of belief. What else can we achieve if we can conceive and believe, and work together to keep the spirit of the mastermind alive in all of us? Yes, get that pen out and keep scratching away.

 I am grateful to Deena Douglas in Seven Steps Into The MasterMind Consciousness for these affirmations that I now share with my mastermind group.

‘I lovingly and gratefully accept that the Master Mind supplies me with an abundance of all things necessary to fulfill my desire. I know that the miracle working power of the Master Mind has responded to my every need. I assume the same feeling I would have if my requests were already fulfilled.’

 And

 ‘I affirm this covenant with the Master Mind and I go forth into my life with a spirit of enthusiasm, excitement and expectancy. I am at peace.’

 I am at peace.

Gratitudes of the day

1. We have been so blessed these last couple of days with great autumn sunshine and a gentle warmth. When the world news continues to be so depressing, it just feels good to still be able to catch the occasional sunshine on my skin and to see how the emerging colours of autumn are enhanced by it. Good to look at, great to feel.

2.  I open my purse and there's still money in it. An economic 'crisis' such as we are having could be the difference between life and death for many people in the world so I am indeed blessed by not having to face the harshest decisions of being completely without funds in the world.

3. My 16 year old swings in his moods but today he has his sense of humour and his continued determination to succeed at his work and we've been able to laugh together and feel proud of him together.

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Cleaning up, clearing out

We've just had a new member join our mastermind group and one of the gifts she brings to the group is a new sense of purpose infusing through us all. She admitted that it was difficult to see her way through to achieving her goals because she lives in a constant state of personal clutter permeating her home and I dare say, work environment.

Then it all came out of the woodwork. Who else was feeling stuck, unable to move forward, feeling drained of energy, not achieving all they wanted to? Well, no prize for guessing that pretty much nearly everyone of us to some degree or other are living with a decease common to an awful lot of people in the developed world. Lets call it Clutteritis. 

And what this seems to do is to keep us hanging on to our possessions for dear life till we seem to need more storage space, bigger houses, more shelves, cupboards and outhouses to contain all the detritus of our lives. Well yes I know one person's junk is another's treasures, but honestly, have things not just got out of hand? And what does it cost us to be over our heads with 'more stuff'?

And how did my friend's admittance become a gift to us? Well firstly we had to look at what living in a state of clutter did to us and why it might contribute to us not getting what we want, and then we had to agree to do something about it.

So we have pledged to spend the next month in a solid commitment to ourselves and to the others in the group actively removing some of the junk on a daily basis. With more space to live and breathe,  we have cleared the way for the things we really want to manifest into our lives whether that is an intimate relationship, financial, business or career success or any of the other goals we have actively been working on.

And just for this month, every day we are committed to emailing each other with our daily progress report, and along the way to support each other's efforts, to encourage, to 'kick ass' if we haven't heard from someone, holding each other accountable for what we said we would do, to challenge and to inspire. Its much easier to stay in line when someone else is saying "Well done, keep going. You can do it. Or, what's going on, why didn't you contact us? How are you  doing with your tasks?"

The feedback I am getting is that it is working and some people who would have caved in a long time ago or been 'too tired' after a hard day at work are motivated to persist. The best part of it is, it feels great and has such a transforming impact on how we feel about ourselves and our environment. 

The energy is moving and flows through us. I can't wait for the final progress report at the next meeting. This way we can be models for each other, share ideas and inspiring quotes, make suggestions and be ready to receive ideas from others. And here's the thing. If we can achieve this apparently 'simple' yet demanding task we have set ourselves and demonstrated how powerfully we can support, encourage and challenge each other to achieving our goals, what else can we do with the combined energy of the whole group?

For some of us its been very liberating. Some are finding money, energy, people, a new intimate relationship are being drawn to them. Others have a new sense of renewal and expectancy of fulfilling their ambitions.

No, it isn't easy. Some days, especially if you've been out on long all day seminar sessions as I have been for 3 days, it was very hard to return home and find enough energy to start clearing files and cupboards. But the pledge to do it is very strong when there are others looking over your shoulder and also needing your help to remain focussed on task.

It was interesting to me that we coincided exactly with the start of Ramadan which although there are no Muslims in the group, was very apt for us only in the sense of requiring self discipline and focussed goals, and perhaps achieving a cleansing at least of the soul.

This for me is a very palpable benefit of the mastermind group. Napoleon Hill  in Think and Grow Rich said  " Success in this world is always a matter of individual effort, yet you will be deceiving yourself if you believe that you can succeed without the co-operation of other people."

Blessings of the day

1 I was glad to be able to be there for an elderly neighbour who needed to talk today. Although my initial reaction when I heard the doorbell was "no, not today. I have a mountain of work to do", nevertheless, I felt useful and capable listening to and helping her and was glad to be able to listen. I am grateful for good neighbourly relations.

2. The weather was kind and gentle today. I have relations who are struggling with the impact of hurricanes and I know that many people in various parts of the world have been killed , left homeless, injured or otherwise had their lives turned inside out. I am thankful to be safe and to still; be able to enjoy being outside at this time.

3. I got to rub noses again with my son. This is great when for some time now he has been very, well, 16 year oldish. Is rubbing noses a blessing? You bet!

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May The Force Be With You

Having introduced Deena Douglas’ The Seven Steps Into The Mastermind Consciousness to my mastermind group, I confess to taking a step back from really using it to enhance the success of what we were all individually trying to achieve.

Number five of the Seven Steps which is about asking for what you want, states “Knowing that I am in conscious contact with Infinite Intelligence and my Master Mind partners, I now ask for, and accept help and guidance in the area of ….”

Why feel self conscious about saying this as a group? Well it got heard but no one else was showing any enthusiasm for a group response that required us to say “ (name) I know that the Mastermind/Spirit hears your request and it is already yours”. 

Yes, OK I felt a little foolish even though many of the participants are very familiar with the idea of asking for what you want from a higher power. We are mostly familiar with the idea of manifestation, have seen films like The Secret or What the Bleep Do We Know, have mostly attempted in our own ways to connect with a higher spirit.

But you know what? Is it just me or does it feel ever so slightly cultish to respond as a group when each individual has expressed their goals? Maybe everyone else felt a little sheepish too about saying this out aloud.

Number six, which is about receiving, states “I lovingly and gratefully accept that the Master Mind supplies me with an abundance of all things necessary to fulfil my desire. I know that the miracle working power of the Master Mind has responded to my every need. I assume the feeling I would have if my requests were already fulfilled.”

 I guess this had me thinking that I was assuming all along that this source of power was outside myself. Some Higher Being. And that could be valid too. But I would also like to entertain the idea that there is power in the collective spirit when several minds are banded together to achieve some greater good than can be achieved by one person alone.

 So I was quite interested to come across Mary Robinson Reynolds’ own Seven Steps to the Mastermind Connection.

One of her steps states “I SURRENDER ordinary thinking. I recognize and accept that I desire to add to my own inherent power the sum and substance of the intelligence, experience, knowledge and spirituality of my MasterMind partners to provide amazing ideas and affirmative language to assist me in generating new results now.”

 Isn’t that neat? Here I must acknowledge my own power and add to that the strength and resources I gain from others in my group as well as some other universal energy that moves amongst us. Indeed, may the Force be with you. And I will definitely share this again with my mastermind group.

Blessings for today.

1. The heavens have opened up pretty much consistently for the last couple of days and we are asking ourselves where the summer went as its been largely cool and grey. The upside of this has been less need to be watering the plants in the garden thus saving time and the continued growth and lush green of the plants themselves which is a joy to behold.
2. My 16 year old is mad with me at the moment for requiring him to contribute to household chores. That’s not so good. However even if he is grudging about it, he is at least doing the chores so far asked of him. Isn’t that a blessing?
3. I am grateful for the time I get to spend on my own when I can just get on with my own things as I see fit. This is precious indeed.

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Reflecting on Change in the Mastermind Group

My mastermind group has been in a process of change recently. 

One member had simply drifted away and couldn't be contacted and the remaining male was uncomfortable both with what he felt he could bring to the group and about being the only male. This group has been going for about a year now and in many ways feels like its still working at finding itself. So I've been keen to look at how long does it takes for a mastermind group to feel established (how long is a piece of string?) and what elements determine the strength and success of the group.

What's needed for the success of this group?

Similar interests?  - Well we are a 'money mastermind group' and while our focus was financial we were mostly on very different paths. It feels like it shouldn't matter as long as we could ask the right questions of each other, support, challenge, encourage and hold each other accountable for what we said we would do. Yet it's a bit of a divide when for example a solicitor and an engineer are trying to understand each other's world. 

Similar levels of success? - That clearly is not the case for us as there are many different levels of financial aspirations and success amongst us. What is clear and understood by us however is that financial success is nothing without other aspects of our personal development being in alignment. And that is something of a level playing field.

A shared desire to achieve success? Its extraordinary how capable we are of saying one thing and meaning another! I mean, some of us may intend success at one level but find that we sabotage clearly our efforts. Its  as though we are saying to the universe 'Yes I want success' while at the same time negating it in our thoughts and by our actions. 

Fear of success can be an disempowering as fear of failure. And of course it sends out mixed messages to the universe. So I'd say a real desire to grow and to strive for your goals was fairly important then to the results people get from the mastermind group.

Awareness of others? Are members willing to really listen to others, make space for them, truely desire to put self aside for a while and go with the experiences that others bring? One member of our group struggled with not being able to bring in personal stories that detracted from the work and time belonging to another member of the group. Its a fine line from being supportive and sharing your expertise in a way that empowers the other person.

Well where that leaves us is that we are now looking for one or two new members to join this group. And what's going to work are people who able to support others, share their experience, talents and skills, have a vision of what they want to achieve and a willingness to strive for it, who will accept support and challenging from others in order to really fan the flames of their own success and who accept the general masterminding principles. It could work beautifully.

Blessings for today

 1.  The learning and experience that I gained from others thats excited my interests and increased my motivations.

2. My son is mostly coming towards the end of his exams - just about 4/5 more to go. I'll just be glad for him and for me that the end is in sight. What's been good is to see his growing confidence in what he has been able to achieve and that keeps his spirits up which can only be a good thing for me too of course.

3. A couple of days have felt like real summer this week  and thats been so much longed for over the many months past. Its wonderful to feel and see and hear and experience summertime.

Personal Development and Success

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An Inspiration

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.” Swami Vivekananda

 My boy ran in the London marathon today and I'm so proud of him. He ran for his borough in the Adidas mini marathon coming in second for his borough and beating his own set time.

And he deserved his victory. He trained so hard. Even when we begged him to scale back. He found the training sometimes very boring but nothing would stop him carrying on and setting his own  schedule.

While all the time staying well focussed on his school studies for his coming GCSE exams, putting in 6/8 hours of revision. 

There's a lesson in there for me..

“Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” Zig Ziglar

He's's set his own schedule and timetable and I'm lucky I don't have to do any cajoling/nagging/persuading that parents often have to do. His own inner determination and keen spirit keeps him going.

And he is such an inspiration to me. Frankly  he puts me to shame when I consider my own wasted hours. I can't turn back the clock but I wish I'd had what he has within him when I was his age.

I know if he'd fallen over flat on his face I'd still be so very proud of him and still look up to him as an inspiration because I know he'd have got up and carried right on to the end of the road.

My role model! My son!

You go boy!

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Colin Powell

Blessings for today

1. My son is the biggest blessing in my life - even when he's being a bit of a pain which naturally he can be from time to time.

2 We've been hearing about an increasing threat in the world - that the basic cost of food is spirally and that there is great shortage all around the world. We've always known that food distribution worldwide has always been unequal but a new horror sits with us. What on earth is all this about? Is this some more hideous man made shortage? What does it mean for millions when they start being rationed for a once staple food item like rice that has kept so many from starvation? What does this have to do with blessings? Well, I and my family are the lucky ones living in a country our gripes are about the high petrol prices, what the government is or isn't doing, and so on. But we do not starve. In fact, we have more than enough for our needs. We are indeed well fed. What a blessing it is to be so when millions will worry tonight about where their next meal is coming from.

3. My family have all had dreadful coughs and colds and yet I have remained bug free. It is a blessing to be healthy and to feel it too.

Personal Development and Success

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