By Success Books Writer Denise Turney @ (www.chistell.com)

New beginnings are disguised as challenges, setbacks, hardships and, surprisingly, boredom. Feeling bored with the routines in your life? You could be ready to make a change. Does life feel like one hardship, setback or challenge after another?

Somewhere within yourself there could be an ongoing request for you to make a life shift. Sounds great. If only it were easy. One way to make shifting into new beginnings easier is to do the work to get clear about what you truly want.

Do You Really Know What You Want?

Here are a few steps that could help you discover what you really want. Try taking these steps at the same time each day, as this could help you to spot consistency in your thinking. Taking these steps at the same time each day can also help to reveal when and how slight routine changes (i.e., getting out of bed earlier or later, working three extra hours in a single day, hiking for the first time in 10 years) impact your overall convictions, mood, insights and desires.

• Sit still for three to five minutes when you wake. Pay attention to the first thoughts that enter your awareness.
• Write your early thoughts in a journal. Another option is to type your early thoughts in a spreadsheet. This technique can make it easy to spot consistencies and shifts in thoughts that cross your mind.
• Talk with a licensed counselor or a trustworthy friend about areas of your life that concern you. After a month of conversation ask the counselor or friend to tell you about trends in your day-to-day life that they’ve noticed based on what you shared.
• Should you be experiencing an emotion predominantly (i.e., sadness, anger, excitement, fear, hope, peace), sit with a blank journal and ask yourself why this emotion keeps surfacing, sticking to you like glue. Don’t worry. It’s possible to work through any emotion. For now, find out why your mind is functioning the way that it is.
• Before you retire to bed, draw two pictures – one that describes your day and the other that describes how you feel about the day. At the end of the month, look at the pictures with an open mind. Again, see if you spot consistent patterns. Also, take note of changes in the pictures.

How to See Beneath the Surface to Enter New Beginnings

Meditating may prove effective when it comes to surfacing thoughts and beliefs buried in your subconscious. Regardless of the action you choose the biggest investment you will make is time. When it comes to discovering what you truly want, it’s a wise investment.

Give yourself a month. See what you find. As a tip, you might unbury core erroneous beliefs if you practice two or more steps a day.

Another tip is to seek professional support should you feel or think that you need it. Each person is different, and you might need deep subconscious work, the type of work that you need a professionally licensed and experienced therapist to work through.

After you discover what you’re focusing on daily, which emotions are currently dominant in your life and why these emotions keep showing up in your life, it’s time to consider exactly what you want now. Play, becoming a student who’s learning for the first time, and exploration can work wonders with this.

Steps to Shift into New Beginnings

For starters, give yourself 10 minutes a day to play. That’s right. Even adults can play. Pay attention to what you gravitate toward. These following explorative activities could also help you discover what you want:

• Look through different types of magazines (i.e., arts, music, home and garden, fishing, archeology, cooking, education). See if you can spot magazine articles or pictures that capture your attention. Set these pictures and articles aside with journal writings, pictures you drew in the daily practices, etc. Together they could provide strong clues to what you most want to do now.
• Search college course catalogs and see if you’re drawn to a specific course. No need to enroll in a course; for now, you’re simply exploring.
• Ask yourself what you would do if you could do anything that you wanted, considering that the goal is to find work that pays a good income and work that causes you to feel happiness.
• Attend several networking group events, asking attendees what they do and how they enjoy it. Something someone shares might give you insight into what you want to do now.

Stay Open – More New Beginnings are Coming

Throughout the process, keep an open mind. Be open to trying different things too. Keep exploring until you make your life’s new big discovery – surfacing what you most want to do now.

Believe it or not, exploration, asking questions, talking with other people, etc. is how you got to where you currently are. In other words, you’ve already done what you’re trying to do. Because of that, you know you can do it again.

Be patient with yourself. After all, you’re the best friend you have. Make sure you’re a real good friend to yourself. Care enough about yourself to get clear about what you want to do now, to discover how you want your life to change, move and flow.

It might not look like it, but what you’re going through is ongoing. Why? Life in this world is constant motion above and below the surface. Things are always changing in this world.

Ways to Stay Motivated as You Fulfill New Starts

Motivate yourself by celebrating each daily practice, each explorative step, and each action you take to step into new beginnings. Fortunately, there are many ways to celebrate stepping into new beginnings. For example, you could:

• Leave work an hour early, with your manager’s approval if you work for an employer, to celebrate a significant career move, starting a healthy exercise routine, leaving an abusive relationship or seeking help to end an addiction.
• Spend a Saturday simply relaxing, doing no chores – nothing you don’t want to do
• Sleep an hour later the day after you make a change
• Treat yourself to a bowl of fresh fruit or a delicious vegetable smoothie
• Take an out-of-town trip to a town you’ve wanted to visit for months, perhaps years

The list goes on. In fact, for fun – see how many additional ways to celebrate stepping into new beginnings you can add to the list.

Continue until you step all the way inside newness. Journal writings, spreadsheets and other documents you use to record your progress may prove profoundly helpful when you face your next life shift. So, consider keeping those documents. And treasure the change you’re moving through. Stay positive and expect the best.

By African American Books Author Denise Turney @ (www.chistell.com)

Put healthy laughter on your list of life goals. Commit to laughing at least once a day. Looking for reasons to laugh is a great way to exercise creativity. For starters, you could laugh at how you look when you yawn in the morning. Or you could laugh if your hair pops up like Alfalfa’s hair did on Our Gang Comedy.

Time To Be Silly Laughing!

Catch yourself being silly? Greet the experience with a hearty laugh. Nieces, nephews, grandkids and, of course, your kids, offer countless opportunities to laugh each day. Kids are so free! They haven’t learned to put weight on how someone perceives them. So, they say the first thing that pops into their minds. And they do what they want, without regard to how what they do will be received.

A lot of what kids say and do is downright funny. Facial expressions kids make can be hilarious. Can’t count the times I outright laughed at something my son said or did when he was a kid. There are also times when I covered my mouth and turned my back so my son wouldn’t see me about to burst out laughing at something he’d said or did that I didn’t want him to say or do.

So, be careful when laughing at kids and adults. Ensure you’re encouraging good behavior. Also, avoid using laughter to avoid facing tough life situations. All shared, if you’re like me, you probably toss aside way too many chances to enjoy a good laugh.

So Many Reasons To Laugh

Looking for more reasons to laugh? Recall funny things you did when you were a kid. More paths to laughter include:

• Watching a comedy, a movie that cracks you up!
• Reading a funny book
• Dancing to a lighthearted song
• Getting creative and drawing a funny picture
• Attending a comedy show
• Listening to good-hearted jokes

Did you ever crack yourself up, sending yourself into bouts of laughter, the kind of laughing that shakes her whole body? When’s the last time you had a good laugh like that?

Pets and neighborhood animals, including birds, squirrels, and ducks, do funny things too. I’ve laughed watching two small birds try to pester a larger bird until the larger bird flew off a tree limb, electrical wire or housetop. Instant by instant, a myriad of activities, sights and sounds occur that give reason to laugh.

Great Opportunities For Fun

Start taking advantage of those opportunities! Why?

Check out these benefits associated with laughter. How many of these benefits did you already know about? Which ones are new for you?

• Laughing gives the immune system a boost, making it stronger.
• Shifts your focus upwards. After a hearty laugh, did your thoughts shift from paying bills, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, cooking a large meal, completing a work project, etc. – something that you didn’t want to deal with — to a lighter topic? It might seem odd, but laughing has a way of shifting focus upwards, into better places.
• A good laugh boosts your mood. Ever felt like “blah” then started laughing? Even if you didn’t go from feeling deep in the dumps to soaring emotionally, bet you felt better after a good laugh.
• Laughter lowers anxiety. This links to how laughter helps shift focus and works as a mood booster. It may take consistent effort (but light effort). Try it! Next time you catch yourself worrying, start laughing. While laughing, read a funny or positive saying. Do this throughout the day when you catch yourself worrying. See if you can turn “making lightness of life” into a habit.
• Stress reduction comes through laughing. If you’re already in a stressful state, search for lighthearted thoughts, the types of thoughts that cause you to smile and laugh.
• Oxygen in your body loves being treated to laughter. According to Cleveland Clinic, laughing can “bring in heaps of extra oxygen, which decreases your heart rate and stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system.”¹

How Your Body Loves Laughter

More oxygen in the body, especially while you’re laughing, is good for your heart. In addition to increasing blood flow, “laughter can decrease stress hormones, reduce artery inflammation and increase HDL, the “good” cholesterol.”¹

Social connections might expand and strengthen as you laugh more as well. Similar to yawning, laughing is contagious. Once you start laughing, don’t be surprised if other people don’t at least start smiling. Keep laughing and it would be a shock if a few people didn’t start chuckling or laughing too.

When you laugh hard, it attracts attention. Deep down, maybe we want to laugh more. That could explain why we turn and search for who’s laughing and the cause of their laughter. It’s no secret that we love being around people who make us laugh.

Just as you have trained your mind to search for things to criticize, compete over, feel jealous about and worry about, consider training your mind to find healthy, love-based experiences, sights, and sounds, to laugh about. You did it when you were a kid. Certainly, you can do it again and benefit from laughter just as much!

Here’s to a day filled with laughter, appreciation, joy, and peace!

Resources:

4 Health Benefits of Laughing (clevelandclinic.org)

By African American Books Author Denise Turney

Yesterday has a tricky way of filling up the only time that truly matters – this instant. Without realizing it, you will be convinced that what’s happening in front of you is fresh and new. Yet, if you consider the experiences you’re having, you may see that, as nuanced as these experiences seem, they have happened before.

Could Comfort Be Holding You Back?

Depending on your age, the experiences might have occurred so many times that you feel bored. And you might have ceased to notice the marvel of life, expecting the familiar to show up again. On the one hand, it brings you comfort to live with the certainty that you know what’s coming next.

Then, on the other hand, a part of you is begging for change. If you would only trust enough to say good-bye to yesterday!

Even if it takes years and several more experiences to realize it, holding onto the past is keeping you bound. Holding onto the past causes you to relive old experiences. To move forward, you must let go. But first, you need a reason to release familiarity. Noticing the costs (or symptoms) of living in the past is a key reason.

What Holding in Yesterday is Costing You

See which of these “living in the past” symptoms you’re dealing with:

• You haven’t heard birds singing in months.
• Ten years have passed since you made a friend.
• While traveling, you always take the same route.
• If you were hurt in your last relationship, you’ve committed to never date or enter a relationship again – and you’ve kept that commitment for two or more years.
• Regardless of what do, you expect life to stay the same.
• Eating and/or drinking an unhealthy diet seems impossible to shake, in part, because you think that your health will be the way it always has been, regardless of what you put into your body.
• Whenever someone close to you tells you about a significant change (i.e., moving to a different country or state, taking on a new job, buying or selling property) they are going to make, you do your best to talk them out of accepting the change.

How Do  You Know You’re Not Stuck?

Whichever way you turn, you face proof that you believe that this present instant will be no different than the past. Your perceptions are stuck and, whether you see it now or not, this familiarity is causing you pain.

There’s only one way to get unstuck, setting yourself free of internal bondage. That’s right! You have to say good-bye to yesterday, releasing the past. This means that you let go of experiences that made you feel excited, hopeful, and happy as well as experiences that made you feel sad, hopeless, and angry.

After all, it’s letting go that opens you up to more joy, more peace – more goodness!

Open Up to the Sweetest Change

Sounds simple, but you know it’s not. Habits can hold a tight grip, making it challenging to free yourself. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t shift your thoughts and break free. In fact, here are actions you could take to enter freedom:

• Try one new activity today – Yes! Today!
• Brush your teeth in the kitchen sink.
• Exercise at a different time of day.
• Call a friend you haven’t spoken with in a year or longer.
• Learn how to play an instrument you haven’t played before.
• Strike up a conversation with a trustworthy colleague or neighbor you don’t normally chat with.
• Take a bath instead of a shower for a week or vice versa.
• Cook food from a different culture for a week.
• Take an online course and learn to speak another language.

Letting go of the past doesn’t happen at once. It’s a good-bye that occurs step-by-step. Similar to how it took you months, more likely years, to develop your current life patterns and routines, it might take weeks or months to completely relinquish the past and enter new, exciting and more rewarding ways of living.

Simple Actions Make a Huge Difference

Commit to completing three or more of the above actions within 24 hours. Add to the list of activities, taking on a new activity a day. This helps you to prove to yourself that change won’t hurt. To reinforce your trust in change, particularly that you are safe as you undergo life shifts, consider:

• Writing in a journal, focusing on repetitive thoughts and emotions that you’re feeling
• Drawing pictures that depict how you feel each time you engage in a new, rewarding activity
• Singing about the specific changes you engage in
• Reading stories about people whose life changed significantly (for the better) after they made a number of life changes

Trusting yourself is key to releasing the past. The more you open up and honestly record thoughts and emotions that surface as you move further away from familiarity, the more you may trust the process. Fortunately, you hold the keys during this “change” process.

Practice Awareness

Should you feel overwhelmed, reduce the number of changes from two or three a day to one a day. If you still feel overwhelmed, reduce the number of changes to two a month. Avoid aiming to feel the way you’ve always felt. The goal is to avoid being overwhelmed, not to always feel comfortable.

Continue the process. Soon change may generate fewer sharp emotions. In other words, you might go through change while hardly noticing that you’re evolving.

Also, if you practice awareness, you’ll start to feel when change starts to occur early in the process. It’s this awareness that can help you avoid shock. Practicing awareness allows you to start accepting shifts you undergo before the shifts manifest in big ways.

Let this happen three to four times and not only will you start to trust that you will be safe going through change, entering newness, and living in the present, you will start to trust that your true Self knows what is coming. Soon you may see early change as the way that your true Self prepares you to say good-bye to yesterday so that you can enter increasing fullness, instant-by-instant.

By Books Author Denise Turney

Live now! Stop deceiving yourself with the belief that tomorrow is real. It isn’t. In fact, describe one specific incident when you were fully awake and living in a tomorrow. Did you sit on a chair, lean against a counter, or lay on a bed without having the sensation that you were falling?

Tell Us About the Time You Spent in Tomorrow

Who was with you while you were living in tomorrow?  How did you shift and return to today? Why did you leave tomorrow and return to today? Do you feel bored now that you’ve already experienced what you’re going to live through when you get to tomorrow again?

As tempting as the idea of tomorrow might be, the only thing closest to reality is now – right now. Not five seconds from now. And not five minutes from now – right now.

That’s a reason why nothing in your life changes until you change. Fortunately, you don’t have to go out and purchase a new outfit. You don’t have to buy a new vehicle or get another job. What you must do is change the way that you think.

Life in the Now is New

Perceptions and beliefs you hold about the world, relationships, life itself and who and what you are must shift if you’re eager to experience rewarding change that you’ll maintain. This point brings up the scripture that shares, “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” – Mark 2:22 (New International Version)

Real change takes place at every level. In other words, you must change inside and out. In fact, shifting inwardly causes outward changes to appear. Admittedly, this isn’t always easy to learn. Yet, that doesn’t mean that you can’t master creating internal shifts that manifest in the “outer” world.

Try it.

It certainly beats merely existing to work a job you know you don’t want to go to just so you can come up with enough money to pay your bills. Another situation it beats is staying in relationships that have long since passed their expiration date, feeling bored, dissatisfied, empty and like a fraud.

You’re Life is Happening Right Now

Commit to live in the present. Avoid imagining what your life will be like in the future. Also, bid farewell to the past. A similar directive is discovered in Isaiah 43:18-19 where it says, “Remember yet not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (King James Version)

Be fully here. If you’re sitting in your living room, be fully in that room. Notice the lighting. How does the furniture you’re sitting on feel? What color are the walls? If there are plants in the room, what color are each of the blooms, leaves and roots in the plants? Really be in the room.

Is there anything in the living room that you would miss if it wasn’t there? Let each item in the room appear to you as if they each are born of a miracle.

How does being in the room feel now?

Why Appreciation is a Life Changer

Should you feel better (regardless of how you felt before), you just experienced an element that often shows up before good, rewarding change does, and that element is appreciation. When you think about it, doesn’t it make sense?

If you’re where you are now, with the people who are now in your life, experiencing the specific events you’re experiencing because of thoughts, beliefs and actions you took in another “right now” that is now completely gone, appreciating what you have is akin to patting yourself on the back. By appreciating you tell yourself “well done” for what you’ve made of your life so far.

Furthermore, it’s a sign that you trust yourself.

Actions that Could Help Create the Life You Want

To live now, creating experiences you want to enjoy, add these below actions to appreciation. Practice these actions daily, including paying attention to the results that they yield:

• Set a clear goal of what you want to experience. This is what I did in November 2022. After years of working to increase my book sales, I set a clear goal to sell 100 copies of my books a month. Setting that simple goal created a shift that surprised me at first. Something on the inside of me shifted when I set that intention causing the “outer” world to mirror my intention.
• Really want to experience what you say you want to experience. Back to the example of setting an intention to sell more copies of my books, deep down (and I do mean deep down) I really wanted what I said I did.
• Become a student. Study what you want to experience. Take courses, watch webinars and speak with people who’ve already experienced what you want to.
• Perceive those who’ve already experienced what you want to experience in loving light. After all, the fact that they have already experienced what you want is clear proof that it’s possible to fulfill your intention. Their life is evidence that can strengthen your faith, sharpen your vision and encourage smart actions.
• Take smart actions. In other words, act on guidance that you receive from your higher Self, your true Self.

Don’t Wait! Live Now!

Perhaps above all, actually see yourself experiencing the life you want right now. See and feel yourself doing what you want to do, living where you want to live, feeling the way you want to feel and fully experiencing what you want to experience.

It might help to write in a journal. However, don’t just write. While journaling, write as if you are actually experiencing what you want right now. For example, if you want to climb a mountain, you could write, “Being outside, a quarter way up the mountain, feels exhilarating. Pitched a tent less than two hundred yards from the lake. Can hear the faint sound of small animals playing in the water. The wind is brisk, yet warm. The sun is hanging in the sky like a big orange melon. What a beautiful, glorious day.”

To repeat, practice the above actions daily. After you practice the actions, let go. Yes. Let go each day after you complete the actions.

Trust and Appreciate and Heal

Trust plays a pivotal role in manifesting. Fortunately, there are millions of people who have already manifested experiences they desired. Allow their lives to encourage, motivate and empower you. Also, remember that regardless of how long it takes, you can enjoy good, love-based experiences you want.

Keep going. Just keep going.

Continue to believe, appreciate and awaken. Should you encounter internal roadblocks of erroneous thoughts (particularly thoughts that have built into strong beliefs), open up to healing. Give yourself permission to heal so you can start to remember who and what you truly are — amazing, eternal and created to be like the Creator.

By Books Author Denise Turney

The earlier you recognize that you are stuck, the sooner you can break free. However, noticing that you are jammed isn’t always a cinch. Furthermore, and at a minimum, you could get stuck in one primary area.

Are You Stuck in These Areas?

For instance, you could get stuck in a relationship, a career or physical state. Examples of this include continuing to work a job you haven’t felt excited about in more than three years, carrying 20 or more extra pounds for two years or longer and staying in a relationship that leaves you feeling flat.

Settle for living a life that’s stuck and the experience could spread like contagion. At first you might feel flat in a relationship only to start to feel angry and unfulfilled at your job. Next, you might start questioning whether you made the right choice when you moved into your home.

Over time, more parts of your life might feel stagnant and stale. Forget living in appreciation. Everywhere you look, you might perceive little to be thankful for. This lack of appreciation affects your energy, potentially blocking you from perceiving and receiving the good you want, the very good that can get you unstuck.

Ways to Break Free from Being Stuck

To break free, first you must recognize what is happening. If you’ve slipped into the habit of lying to yourself, commit to being honest with yourself. The worse that might seem to happen is your own thoughts might reprimand, challenge or threaten you by telling you something bad will happen if you don’t return to the habit of lying to yourself.

Set aside time in the morning or evening, whenever you tend to feel more inwardly available, to think about how and why you got stuck. For example, did you stay at a job longer than you wanted because you were afraid that you couldn’t find a job that excited you and paid more (or the same amount) than what you’re current job pays?

Did you choose to stay in a dead-end relationship because you convinced yourself that no one else would want you? There’s a reason why you keep choosing to stay in a situation that you’ve outgrown.

Why You’re Staying in the Situation

Figure out what the reason is. The answer could provide clues to specific ways of thinking and actions you can take to get free and start to celebrate newness. Answers to why you keep doing what you know isn’t serving you also open your eyes, helping you to avoid falling into the same trap again.

Writing in a journal could help. Just start writing about how you feel about your relationships, work, physical health, responsibilities, etc. Focus on spotting fears that lie to you, telling you that you couldn’t possibly do better than you’re currently doing.

Put pen to paper and answer why you believe these lies. Avoid looking for someone to blame. The goal is to start to recognize how your mind is currently working. Getting free involves rewiring your mind.

Honesty is Key to Getting Unstuck

After you finish writing about why and how you got stuck, write about things you appreciate. Get specific. Don’t rush. Take your time, even if the process expands across one to two weeks.

The aim is to get comfortable being honest with yourself. Absent self-honesty, you might not break free. Next, pull out a spreadsheet or blank sheet of paper. Record what your ideal life looks and feels like.

Touch on specific areas of your life during this exercise. Also, think about what you want your life to look and feel like overall. The next steps require you to make decisions and get out and take smart actions.

Tips to Break Free

Create a column in the spreadsheet to record the specific actions you will take to get from where you are now to where you want to be. As an example, one entry might show as follows:

Keep yourself honest by recording specific actions you take. Also, record the outcomes from your actions. Getting unstuck, celebrating newness and staying free requires honesty.

Recording actions you take and when and the results or outcomes from those actions is important. It helps you to see what is working. And it helps you to see areas that need tweaking or a big change in your approach.

Review Actions to Get Unstuck

As you do this work, continue to write in your journal about how you feel and thoughts and ideas that surface. Once a week, review what you have written in your journal. Look at your spreadsheet once a week as well.

Should you get tempted to give up, especially if you don’t see the results you want as quickly as you’d like, remind yourself that a change in choices and actions will eventually produce a noticeable result. Motivate yourself daily by reading empowering messages like motivational questions and short empowering writings.

Prove You Love Yourself to Break Free

Show yourself that you love you. There are countless ways you can do this. For starters, you could:

• Write yourself a love note once a week. Place the note inside a card that you open on a Monday morning.
• See your connectivity to all that lives. Let the appreciation you have for pets, friends, colleagues, etc. expand until it includes you.
• Track loving thoughts and actions that you take toward yourself and others.
• Bless yourself with the gift of silence by sitting still once a day.
• Breathe deeply daily.
• Explore nature, allowing yourself to rest, be curious and recharge.
• Engage in creative arts that make your heart sing and jump with joy.
• Hug yourself.
• Look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I love you!”

Getting Out of a Stuck State is Healing

The more evidence you have that you really do love yourself, the more you might start to trust yourself. Valuing and trusting yourself can lift your confidence and stir up your courage, empowering you to take the actions you need to take to live free!

Open up to newness by celebrating good change that shows up in your life, even if the good change is a surprise, not something you were aiming for or expecting. Taking steps to get unstuck is a way to heal. Believe it or not, there’s a place within you that knows just what you should do and when to heal, break free and live in the wonder of newness! Open up to that place within you, listening to and following its guidance.

By Books Writer Denise Turney

Do you want to turn your passion into a career? You could do it, but you’ll need more than desire to pull it off. This article covers several ways you might be able to turn your passion into a rewarding career, one that pays all your bills and more.

Yet, let’s pause.

Before you take steps to work your passion, take a healthy dose of truth serum. It’s been said that doing what you love protects you from ever having to “really” work. Although this sounds good, simply doing what you love is generally not (if ever) enough to earn a full-time income.

Get to the Heart of Your Passion Career

Therefore, before you spend money on what you’re passionate about, ask yourself a few questions. First, ask yourself if you’re serious about this goal, not mildly so but intensely serious. Here are other important questions to ask yourself:

• How much time are you willing to invest in your goal?
• What have you used your passion to create so far?
• On a scale of 0-10, how much do you love working in your passion for 5 or more hours a day?
• Are you looking to work a full-time schedule in this career or are you hoping to strike it rich quickly so you don’t have to work?
• Is the motivation to turn passion into a full-time career rooted in the wish to run away from something (i.e., a demanding manager, difficult colleague)?
• Did someone you admire earn a full-time income working in their passion field and you’re now trying to emulate that person?
• In what ways have you exercised courage, resilience and persistence?
• Do you know someone who presently works in your passion field? Have you spoken with them, getting the details on what’s involved in achieving success in the field?

Work Goal Specifics

Passion is one of the hot emotions. The internal mental temperature is turned way up with passion, so much that it’s easy to slip into delusion once you start zoning in on what you love to do. To increase your chances of fulfilling your goal and to avoid deluding yourself, take your time answering the above questions. Really think about them. Go slow pondering your answers.

After you’re certain that you’re ready to move forward, it’s time to focus on resources. The specifics of your goal have a direct impact on required resources. For example, if you want to be a freelance writer, a graphics designer, a career coach, a virtual assistant or a customer service representative, a reliable computer, certain certifications, a printer and dependable Internet access could be sufficient.

Passion Career Resources

Other passions require more resources. So, to begin, identify how your passion aligns with careers that interest you. This will help reveal needed resources. As a tip, consider turning to reputable research material to understand what’s generally used in the career you want to enter. An example of this research material is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If you plan to work your passion from home, there are basic resources you’ll need. Included among these basic resources are:

• A work desk and chair (get a desk and chair that fit your height)
• Computer and printer (as previously shared)
• Light source that promotes good eyesight
• Sit-stand desk if you want to avoid sitting for hours a day
• Filing cabinet
• Shredder (especially if you work with confidential information)
• Office supplies (i.e., copy paper, envelopes, postage stamps)
• Licenses and certifications (these are required for certain roles)

Money as a Primary Career Resource

Money is often a primary resource needed to operate a business, whether you’re a solopreneur or whether you work at home or in an office. This raises an important point. Even if you generate significant income from your passion early-on, you’ll likely need startup finances to turn your passion into a consistent revenue generating gig.

Where will those startup finances come from? Below are several places where you could find funds:

• Savings account
• Income gained from a second job
• Rental income you get on a second property
• Bonus check from work
• By paying off a recurring bill (i.e., car note, cable bill) and using that money to fund the startup
• Selling a vehicle you no longer use

Now that you’ve identified a career that aligns with your passions, gotten clear about needed resources and pinpointed where your startup finances are, it’s time to discover what you’ll need to start generating revenue. For instance, do you need to land paying clients, develop a product, register or patent a product or find a platform to start selling products and services on?

Way to Generate Revenue from Passion Career

Below are some ways you could start to generate revenue. Do your homework and research each option until you select the option that works best for what you’ll be doing.

• Attend networking events and develop relationships with prospects, eventually bringing them on as paying clients
• Set up mall pop-up booths and showcase your products and/or services
• Register to attend conferences and conventions, distributing business cards, flyers, product catalogs, etc. Regularly follow-up with the right contacts you make at these events.
• Build a website to sell your products and services on
• Offer a free giveaway to customers to buy one or more of your primary products
• Start a subscription service that has a direct link to your products or services
• Participate in affiliate sales programs
• Provide paid advertising for other companies on your website and social media accounts
• Run a sale to attract buyers
• Sell products on large, established sites like Amazon, Walmart and Target

Marketing and Promotion Tools

Generating ongoing revenue may take effort. Marketing and promoting are like friends when it comes to generating sustainable revenue. Here are platforms and marketing and promotion tools that might prove effective:

• Large online platforms like Walmart, Target and Amazon.com
• RangeMe (if you sell products in military stores)
• Social media (choose the platform that best attracts your products or services’ target audience)
• Press release distributors
• Ads in local newspapers (again media outlets that attract your target audience)
• Radio stations (think – target audience)
• Reputable product and service review sites
• Direct mail (i.e., postcards, flyers, effectively written letters)
• Festivals, conventions, conferences, etc.
• Public speaking opportunities

Ways to Care for Yourself While Growing Your Career

This next tip might surprise you. Just as it takes action, focus, intent and yes – passion – to find a way to turn your passion into a full-time career, it takes rest, awareness and self-care to keep that passion alive and strong. Definitely, avoid slipping into workaholism or basing your value on how hard or how long you work. Incorporating these and other relaxation and self-awareness techniques into your day could ensure you rest, relax and recharge regularly:

• Get sufficient deep sleep each night
• Sit still for 5 to 10 minutes in the morning and again for 5 to 10 minutes at night
• Read one to three positive quotes a day
• Exercise outdoors for 45 minutes to an hour a day
• Talk with a friend or relative several times a week
• Do three things you enjoy every day (i.e., listen to music you love, soak in a warm bubble bath)
• Treat yourself to a day at the spa
• Read books you love
• Go swimming
• Relax on the porch on weekends
• Turn off technology (i.e., tablets, laptops) two hours before you head to bed
• Avoid eating heavy meals four hours before heading to bed
• Count your blessings
• Practice awareness and take breaks when you feel
• Seek support as needed
• Pray
• Meditate
• Be flexible and open minded
• Eat a healthy diet

Sustaining Passion as a Career

Fantasizing and daydreaming about what you want to do is easy. Doing what you love is also easy. Turning passion into a sustainable, full-time career is another story.

There will be twists and turns. Surprises, starts, stops, successes and market and industry shifts. Each of these (and more) will be part of your journey, especially if you work your passion for a decade or longer. Long term success depends on your commitment to your career.

Similar to how rest, self-awareness and self-care can keep you from slipping into workaholism which can, in turn, guard you from burnout and overwhelm, celebrating your successes fuels your ongoing efforts. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend money to acknowledge and celebrate your forward steps.

Celebrate Successes Linking Your Passion and Career

Playing music that you love and dancing to your heart’s delight as you focus on a recent success is one way to celebrate. Treating yourself to a delicious home-cooked meal, an afternoon at the theater or an outdoor bike ride are other ways to acknowledge and celebrate what you have done. You could also send yourself flowers or buy yourself a small gift, something that will last and remind you of the achievement.

In addition to celebrating successes, keep learning. Take online courses, attend webinars, go to conferences and offline seminars. Read books that focus on your career. Network with people who share your passion to learn about new product development, marketing, promotion, etc. resources and growth opportunities.

By Books Writer Denise Turney

A loving family and faith in good outcomes are an effective combination when it comes to facing and overcoming breast cancer. The stronger your support system, the better. Yet, even with a strong support system, there are days when you may feel exhausted and worried. Expressing concerns with your oncologist and family practitioner can help.

Catching Breast Cancer

Catching the disease early is also key. Regardless of the stage of recovery, it can help to speak with other women and men who’ve experienced breast cancer. Open dialogue with people who are experiencing a similar challenge can protect you from believing that you’re isolated, alone or without options. Communicating and sharing with others who are going through what you are is also a great way to learn of strategies to deal with treatment recovery, inability to connect with colleagues in-person and financial strain.

Having a loving family and faith could give you the courage to inform loved ones about the disease and how it is impacting you. Even more, you would have one or more relatives you could discuss current events with, placing them lovingly against the backdrop of a challenge you experienced as kids and overcame. Being open and honest with someone who you’ve known since childhood can offer strength and comfort.

You Are Loved

It can also assure you that, regardless of what happens during treatment, recovery and beyond, you are always loved for who you are. And this raises an important point. Your background, health level, financial situation, home life circumstances, what you experience day to day – nothing – changes what you were created to be.

You are beyond words, beyond explanation, past any type of perception – an absolutely amazing eternal being.

A disease cannot take away your ability to care, be kind, trustworthy or courageous. Breast cancer also cannot take away your ability to love. Depending on what your passions are, you might also be able to continue to pursue your passions. For instance, if you love to paint, write, build crafts, sing or create architectural designs, you could continue to engage in those passions.

Connecting with Family and Friends During Breast Cancer Treatments

Should you find yourself feeling isolated and alone, on days you’re feeling better, you could call a relative or a friend and volunteer at a local charity event. Also, rather than to stay at home, you could spend a few hours a week hanging out with your sister, a brother or another relative-friend.

Joining a book club and attending book club meetings, preferably in-person, gives you the power of a shared passion. Engaging in discussions around your love for reading books in one or more genres, gives your mind a break from focusing on breast cancer. Furthermore, it allows you to laugh out loud, look at specific scenarios and celebrate big events that occur in the books with like minded book readers.

It’s these people who share your passion, as well as friends, including family members and childhood friends, who can help you tap into your inner power. These loving people can encourage you to keep going. They might tell you something like, “While you’re receiving treatments and pulling back on the hectic schedule you once worked at the office, let’s get involved in a charity.” Or they might suggest, “Instead of staying home all weekend, why don’t we go see that new comedy movie and grab salad and pasta from that great Italian restaurant near the mall.”

Shift Focus Away from Breast Cancer

Suggestions like these, especially if you take family and friends up on the suggestions, keep you from getting isolated and from feeling alone, even if you’re the only person you know who’s dealing with breast cancer. Each time you take loved ones up on an invitation to be social, you also help your focus to shift away from challenge.

Who knows? While you shift focus, you might stumble upon a new passion, something you get involved with that brings you joy for decades. For example, you might discover that you have a passion for creating gorgeous floral arrangements, quilting, ceramics, fishing, boating or teaching.

Family and friends can also help you to use food to treat and strengthen your body. To motivate you to invest in a healthy diet, family members might start eating healthier themselves. Additionally, family and faith in good can reduce worry and stress which, in turn, can help you to sleep better at night.

Breast Cancer Recovery

Blessings that a loving family and faith in good bring to your life extends across years, well beyond recovery from breast cancer. The love and support you gain from reaching out to family and friends and keeping faith in good can empower you even as breast cancer research discovers new ways to reduce deaths and symptoms associated with the disease. And fortunately, researchers continue to seek a cure.

In fact, breast cancer research continues to give women and men diagnosed with the disease hope. This hope and cure effort expands decades. For instance, six decades ago, in the 1960s, being told you had breast cancer could send a message that your life would be short.¹ That’s not so today.

The National Library of Medicine shares that, “Much of the progress in breast cancer was the result of the development of adjuvant chemotherapy. Fisher and Bonadonna showed in the mid-1970s that the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to definitive surgery improved disease-free and overall survival in primary breast cancer.”²

Forward Strides

Fortunately, the number of deaths caused by breast cancer have declined. In fact, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares that, “Deaths from breast cancer have declined over time, but breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death among women overall and the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women.”³

Yes. Strides have been made, but there’s a good deal of work yet to be done. Reducing breast cancer deaths among Hispanic women and lowering the breast cancer death rate among African American women are two areas to focus on gaining good ground in.

Fundraisers, charity walks, ongoing efforts and attention on finding a cure and better treatments, especially treatments that produce fewer side effects, are wins. So too is connecting with loving family and good friends, allowing yourself to be loved and cared for. In this spirit, may Portia’s fictional story offer hope, empowerment and inspiration.

Resources:

1. https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.3322/canjclin.20.1.10
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4879690/#:~:text=Much%20of%20the%20progress%20in,survival%20in%20primary%20breast%20cancer.
3. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/index.htm#:~:text=Each%20year%20in%20the%20United,cancer%20than%20all%20other%20women.

By Books Writer – Denise Turney

Technology has busted open the door to the entrepreneurial life. More than a few people are taking advantage of this shift. In fact, Nasdaq reports that, in the United States alone, 1 in 3 people have a side hustle.1 More money, flexibility, opportunity to work your way into a new career, lifelong learning and the chance to slowly launch your own company are reasons why you might want to consider a side hustle.

So Many Benefits Working a Side Hustle

Because you could work a side hustle from home or even while out on the road, you could work a second gig from anywhere. You could even tap into income that you receive from your full-time job to fund a startup. Another thing that you could do is to use money from your full-time gig to pay for marketing, office supplies and other resources that you need to keep your side hustle going.

Thinking about starting a gig on the side? Check out these additional benefits associated with having a side hustle:

• Pay off credit cards and loans
• Set aside more money for retirement
• Build a savings to travel, pay for home repairs or put your kids through college
• Explore new careers
• Invest more money in real estate, stocks and bonds
• Work your way into better financial health to eliminate money worries

Are Your Organized for a Job Side Hustle?

There are plenty of benefits to be gained from working a side hustle. That’s for sure. However, even if you love the second gig, taking on additional work is going to chew into your time. If you have strong organizational skills, you might enter a smooth flow while working your second job.

On the other hand, if “being organized” is not your strength, you could still make it work. To realize success while working a side hustle, consider why you want to work another job. Knowing the why behind the move can definitely help you realize when you’re on track.

For example, if you want to work another gig to pay off a high interest credit card, write that down in a notebook. Then, pay a certain amount extra on your credit card until it’s paid off. Believe it or not, you do not have to keep a credit card balance. You can actually live very good without one.

Set Yourself Up for Job Success

Here are more ways to yield successful results after you take on a side hustle. As a tip, the number one thing is to take on a side hustle in a field that you’re passionate about. This is a part-time job, project, freelance work or consulting work that you absolutely love.

Now, for the ways to increase your chances of experiencing side hustle success:

• Set days and times when you’ll work your side hustle. The last thing that you want is to keep taking on more work until you end up having to manage two full-time gigs. So pay attention to when and how much time you’re investing in your side hustle.
• Determine how much money you’re going to pour into this new job. For instance, if you’re writing books as a side hustle, get clear about how much money you’re going to spend on book marketing, attending book festivals and promotions.
• Keep your side gig separate from your full-time job. This might take some discipline. In other words, focus on your full-time job while you’re there and on your side gig at other times.
• Delegate and grow. Reach out to the “experts” when you need to complete work that you’re less experienced with. In this case, you might hire someone on Fiverr, Upwork, etc. to design logos, write and distribute press releases or design a website.
• Keep clear records. You’ll really appreciate this one when you file taxes. Also, educate yourself on quarterly taxes or any self-employed taxes (and deductions) that you might deal with.

And, network. Just as you can benefit from networking at your full-time job, you can continue to move forward by networking with people in your side hustle field. Who knows? One day soon, your side hustle could become so successful that it becomes your main source of income, earning you a lot more than you ever made working a traditional gig.

Resources:

1. Nasdaq:  https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/1-in-3-americans-have-a-side-hustle.-here-are-the-benefits-to-having-one-2021-07-24

By Books Author Denise Turney

What do you think about this? On average, you have anywhere from 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day.¹ That’s a lot of thinking! If you’ve recalled your dreams, you’ve experienced your mind thinking while you’re sleeping, which brings up an important fact.

What Never Stops Thinking

Your mind never stops! Even more, what you think creates situations. Continual thoughts influence how you feel and what you think about yourself and your environment. Your thoughts are powerful!

During a day, you might think about a project you’re working on, a community event you’re interested in attending, how your body looks or feels, a relationship, your finances and what you’re going to do over the weekend. Furthermore and although you might not consider it, there’s something you think about a lot and it’s having a huge impact.

Can you guess what it is?

It’s YOU!

How Long Have You Been Wrongly Judged?

Many of the thoughts you have regard YOU at some level, in some way. This means that what you think about yourself is absolutely critical. It impacts everything you feel, do, talk yourself in or out of, believe and more.

If you’ve spent years striving to achieve a goal only to consistently face a seemingly impenetrable wall, your perceptions about YOU could be what’s actually creating the wall. How you see yourself can empower you or rob you of goodness.

Here’s a test. Take a few minutes to reflect on situations and people who you feel happy, safe and loved around. Could be a loving parent, a trustworthy friend, a pet, a certain holiday or a favorite vacation spot.

Is The Thought Door Opening or Closing You to Good?

Are there certain words or phrases that spring to mind when you reflect on these people and situations? For instance, do these descriptors pop up:

• She’s such a good friend
• I can always rely on him
• That’s got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth
• It’s so much fun attending those events
• As long as I’ve had my pet dog, she’s been loyal and so loving

Regardless of how busy your schedule or how fatigued you are, there probably isn’t much resistance when it comes to thinking about being in those situations or with those people or pets. The door is always open.

Do the opposite. Reflect on people and situations that you experience fear-based emotions (i.e. anger, disappointment, anxiety, frustration) when you are around them. Again, this could be a neighboring bully, supervisor who enjoys criticizing you, violent ex-partner, a house that keeps breaking down or a computer that regularly stalls, causing you to lose valuable data.

Linking Thoughts and Emotions

Which descriptors automatically surface in your mind when you’re around these people or are in these situations? Are any of these familiar:

• Never should have bought this house. It’s nothing but trouble.
• This is the last time I’m eating at this restaurant. The service and the food are bad.
• She can’t stand me. Being mean to me brings her joy.
• He’s so unpredictable; he scares me.
• If I had the money, I’d swap this computer out for another one.

Focusing on the above phrases and descriptors, how do you feel? Do you feel like you can trust these people and situations? Furthermore, does life feel good and open to you when you simply think about these people and these situations?

Uncovering Hidden Sabotaging Thoughts

Believe it or not, you’ve probably felt and thought a range of both about yourself. Hiding judgments and perceptions about yourself doesn’t clear out the perceptions and judgments. It just pushes them down, out of conscious mind, and far enough away so you get lost as it regards knowing why you feel the way you do and why you stop yourself from living fully.

To live more fully, pay attention to what you think about YOU.

Simply notice what you think about yourself. Easy ways to do this are to:

• Write in a journal (do this daily or 3 to 5 times a week)
• Type the first thought that pops into your mind in to a spreadsheet when you waken (you’ll start to notice repetitive thoughts and might start to see how those thoughts link to your emotions)
• Sit still in the morning and before you go to bed and just watch thoughts pass like clouds across your mind

Promise Yourself

Beyond noticing what you think about yourself, commit to love yourself. Back to a good friend and situations that cause you to feel joy, peace and safe — start talking to and about yourself in ways that empower you, that help you open to more good. Be a good friend to YOU!

Why is this important?

What you think about yourself builds your self-identity. A strong, love-based self-identity offers the courage to go after what you really want. Additionally, a strong, love-based self-identity lets you know you can overcome challenges, get through trying situations while walking in peace and shift into higher levels of living.

Forbes shares that, “Having a solid sense of self is essential to your overall well-being, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health – fueling your recognition of your worth.”² The periodical goes on to say, “Lacking a strong sense of self can make it hard to know what you want – forging feelings of uncertainty or indecisiveness for important decisions.”

Thoughts and Your Self-Identity

Self-identity keeps you stuck or it can set you free. For example, if you see yourself as an impatient truck driver who should be thankful to simply have a job that pays the bills, you might never become a patient, caring chiropractor, even if that’s what you truly want to do.

The way you see yourself (what you think about YOU) determines what you achieve. Whether you live the life you came here to live or not is truly up to you.

It’s been said that nothing changes in your world until you change (on the inside). In fact, there’s a school of thought that the “outer world” is merely a reflection of your inner world. Neville Goddard, Alan Watts, Lisa Nichols, Tony Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer and others have shared these truths for years.

Healing Starts with YOU!

Knowing this, the greatest thing you can pull off is to love yourself. See and feel yourself living the life you want. Actually, see yourself doing and being in situations you want to be in now – not seeing yourself more patient, more loving, more courageous, more insightful, etc. in the future, but seeing yourself that way right now.

Sure. It might take a few days, but you should start to feel and see shifts happening on the inside and outside. Keep at it. Seek support through open discussions with trustworthy people who love you, therapy, books, etc.

Loving yourself is very powerful. It’s also the only way to heal.

Resources:

1. https://tlexmindmatters.com/#:~:text=It%20was%20found%20that%20the,thoughts%20as%20the%20day%20before.
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/womensmedia/2022/06/16/heres-how-your-personal-identity-and-sense-of-self-affect-your-growth/?sh=14198feb69bf

By Book Author Denise Turney

The pull you feel – that inner tug moving you toward success may never fully go away. Why? You were born for success. Depending on your childhood, it might have felt natural to approach new tasks as if you were going to succeed.

 As a kid, you might have believed and felt that you’d never fail at anything. That’s why you explored so much, learned as much as you did and flexed your creative muscles. Within six years, you may have learned to roll over, stand on your own, talk, walk, read, run, climb, ride a bike, do a somersault and more. Learning was fun because you just knew that you were going to succeed.

Make Learning Fun Again

Now learning might not be as fun. You’re older and you’ve experienced setbacks, disappointments and, the sting of – failure. What you might not notice is that you’ve likely had more successes, maybe even a lot more successes, than failures, which leads to the first point.

To see how easily it is to open to success, get a sheet of paper or open up a spreadsheet. List successes that you have been a part of over the last year. Let your mind go. Recall as many successes you were involved with as you can. Take your time.

This exercise can help you prove to yourself that success does come easily for you. Stay free of judging the successes, categorizing them as simple or hard. Simply list the successes. If you find the exercise particularly enjoyable, go back two years – revisiting prior achievements.

Come On, Get Curious

Next, step away from the past and get curious about a major success you’d love to achieve – a goal you’d love to manifest in the approaching days. Consider the purpose that’s linked to this specific success. In other words, get clear about why you want to succeed at the goal.

For instance, will achieving the goal help you fulfill a promise you made to your younger self? Will achieving the goal help you strengthen people who are now experiencing a challenge you’ve overcome?

Finding out the purpose (or the why) that’s associated with your goal can prove to be incredibly empowering and motivating. Additionally, it could remove mental barriers you have about you being successful.

Linking Success to Greater Gains

As a start, if you think you don’t deserve to have the success you want, linking the achievement with how it benefits others could send you above the self-judgement barrier. Depending on what you’re aiming to do, you could help military veterans heal from mental injuries. Or you could stop human trafficking in the town where you live.

Regardless of the goal, people are watching you. In tangible and intangible ways, your success will inspire others. In fact, you may never know everyone who your wins will impact.

See if you can think of 50 ways that others would benefit if you achieved the success you want. This short exercise will help you to see how big the impact of your goal is. As you continue doing this exercise, you might increasingly start to see and feel how much good is linked to your success.

Start Taking Action

To recap, remind yourself of how much success you’ve already been a part of. Then, discover the purpose that’s linked to a current goal you have. And see how many ways fulfilling the goal will benefit others.

After this, it’s time to take action. Research what you want to do, looking for shortcuts, ways to save time, money and energy. Also, identify step-by-step actions that you’re going to take to get from where you are now to where you want to be. Write down necessary resources too. These resources might include grants and other funding tools, administrative staff, marketing tools, etc.

After you list the actions and resources you need, take at least one action that you listed. Don’t wait. Take action. Just thinking about what you need to do does not count. Keep at it, action-by-action, until you complete all steps required to fulfill your goal.

Measure the results of each action, identifying where you need to make changes. Stay focused. Steer clear of magical thinking. To stay empowered and motivated as you do the work that gets you closer to your goal, read books, articles and research material about your goal and how your beliefs about your ability to succeed affect outcomes.