Lamisha Serf-Walls

Gratitude: Dreaming And Achieving

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If you would have told me 10 years, 5 years, or even a year ago that I would be taking a leap into the unknown of starting my own business, I would think you were nuts.  The old me would never have thought that I would have the ability, fortitude, and inspiration to start my own business and yet here I am.

While I am still in the very early stages of my business (and really client-wise nothing has changed since yesterday), I feel different.  I feel a sense of peace, excitement, and overall joy for what I have created and what is to come.  I am not worried about where my clients will come from or the amount of money I will make from my new venture.  In fact I feel the exact opposite.

Instead of worry, I am filled with faith.  Faith that those people who are meant to work with me will find me and as long as I follow my inspiration and intuition everything will fall into place. 

Today, I am grateful, proud, and excited to say that what was once a dream for me is now reality and I can’t wait to help others make their thoughts, visions, and inspirations materialize. 

I now know that no matter how big your dreams may seem or how difficult you perceive the path to be, nothing is impossible.  In fact, the process of creating the life of your dreams doesn’t even have to be hard!  It can be fun, exhilarating, and enjoyable no matter what it is.  

Believe me when I say, if I can do it, you can too!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and spend some time envisioning the life of your dreams and believing it can happen!

Visualization: A Tool For Manifestating Your Dreams

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When it comes to living the life of our dreams most of us ideally know exactly what we want.  We have said on more than one occasion, “If only _____ would happen, then I could finally be happy!”, but how many of us really know what we want?  Sure we may have a general idea of the life we want to live…money, partnership, love, and happiness, but thing is those things are different for each of us.  My version of the life of my dreams won’t necessarily match yours and vice versa.

So how can we figure out what that life looks like?

One way is to use visualization.  When was the last time you took a few minutes to visualize the ideal situation?  Maybe you have a big meeting coming up that you want to go really well or an appointment that you want a certain outcome?  Have you ever thought of visualizing it before it happens?

My guess is that many of us tend to use visualization in a much less productive way.  For instance I know some people (myself included) that have the tendency to visualize the worst possible outcome as a way of convincing themselves that if the worst happens, it’s not so bad.  They are often times met with a similar situation and may think to themselves, “See, it happened and I was prepared.” But is that what it really means?  Couldn’t it also mean that you put out the vibe for negative situation to occur?  Maybe.  So what if you did the exact opposite?

Let’s say you have a situation coming up that you would traditionally worry about, maybe you are selling your house, moving to a new location, or starting a new business.  The logical part of you says to plan, plan, plan for the worst case scenario.  So, you begin thinking of all the things that could go wrong and the ways you could combat it.  Maybe you save some extra money, find alternative places to live, or start looking for a part-time gig as you venture down the logical road.  But what if instead of thinking through all the terrible things that could happen, you begin thinking of how you would like it to unfold.

For instance, if you are selling your house you could imagine putting it on the market for the exact amount of money you wish to sell it for and within 2 weeks have a contract.  If you want to take it a step further, you might imagine what type of person or family would enjoy living in your house.  Or if you are planning on moving to a new area, think of the ideal situation.  Do you want to rent or buy?  What type of area would you ideally like to live in?  Can you see it, feel it, and experience it in your mind’s eye?

The key is to stop worrying and fretting about what might go wrong or what the worst case scenario is because chances are the more you focus on the worst case, the more likely it will come true.

About 7 years ago I was moving out-of-state without having a job already lined up.  I had never done something like this before and while I had a little bit of money saved, I didn’t have enough to last me for a long time, so I needed to find a job rather quickly.  When asked what my plan was my answer was always the same…”I’ll look when I get there, but worst case scenario if I can’t find something I’ll just get a job at Starbucks or something.”  A few months went by and my thinking remained the same and I still had no job and was losing faith in myself.  The first job I got while living in the new city was…you guessed it, working at Starbucks!

The process works the same way if you can visualize the ideal situation.  Before my partner and I moved to where we live now, we had planned on using our previous home as a rental property.  We made all of our arrangements prior to leaving and all the while we kept thinking that the ideal situation would be to have someone sign a lease shortly after we left.  We didn’t have a lot of worry or concern about the situation because we had so much going on with the move and coordinating the purchase of our new home and found out within 2 days of leaving that we had a renter for our home.  Our ideal situation was playing out before our eyes and we were so grateful!

The point is this…

If you have a choice to worry about a situation or to visualize the ideal, why waste your energy thinking of what disaster may come?  Why not make the best of it and think of the most amazing and beautiful outcome possible?

The same thing applies to your dreams…

Instead of thinking of all the ways you can fail or thinking of the most logical path to your dreams, think of the ideal situation.  Feel the excitement and inspiration for your ideal situation and watch as your dreams begin to manifest before your eyes, sometimes in ways you never imagined could happen.

Use the power of your imagination for good and the next time you find yourself worrying over the worst case scenario of a situation, turn it around and visualize the ideal.

Still not convinced it works?  Experiment with it and see what happens for you.  I promise you won’t be disappointed as long as you believe it can come true.

The Importance of Owning Your Dream

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How many of you have had a dream, but you wouldn’t dare share it with anyone else for fear they may laugh or dismiss the possibility of it coming to fruition.  Maybe you have some doubts about making your dream a reality and would just as much forget the whole thing altogether.

Many of us have been there before as we wonder if we can really live the life of our dreams.  We think about it very timidly because we don’t want to get our hopes up too much and be disappointed in the long run, but in order for your dreams to become reality, you have to own them.

Why?

Because by simply setting your intention and focus on that which you desire, you automatically begin flowing energy toward it. 

It is almost like setting a specific goal.  Say you want to run a marathon and it has been something you have thought about for a while, but never really declared to yourself that you would do it.  Instead of beginning your training, this idea is nothing more than a whim that comes and goes without much energy or inspiration behind it.

But, when you say I intend to run a marathon, it becomes more real.  And the more you focus on it, the more you think about it.  The more you think about it, the more inspirational nuggets you find along your journey that will lead you to completing the marathon.

Dreams are the same way.  You have to own them and make them real to yourself.  Instead of saying “I would love to writ a book, eventually…”, declare it.  Set the intention that you will do it.  That doesn’t mean shouting it from the rooftops and sharing your dream with any person that will listen.  That can actually cause your dream to fizzle out before your fire get’s going.  (More on that in a later post.)

Declare your dream.  Visualize it.  Feel it.  See it.  Imagine it.  Feel the amazing delicious energy that stems from it and milk that feeling for as long as it lasts.

Well all have dreams, but if we don’t own up to them, they are nothing more than passing thought that may never come to be.  Take the first step and declare that you will achieve the life of your dreams.  Only you have the power to make that happen, so why not start now?

Setting The Date For Action

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I have written a lot on my blog about flowing with the current of life and being in the moment because these are two things I personally need to practice daily.  And while I believe them to be key components to living a happy and fulfilling life, I also know a good dose of action is important as well.  The key is balance.  So as a piggy back to my post about revisiting resolutions, I am setting a bit of a plan for one of my resolutions.

I decided in 2012 that I really wanted to take my writing to a new level and accomplish my dream of writing a book.  I came up with a non-fiction book idea for adults, but have since decided to get my feet wet first with writing a series of children’s books.  In January I made some progress by inquiring about prices for editing and incidentally made a contact for a possible illustrator for the books that have yet to be written.  In the excitement of finding not only an editor, but also a potential illustrator, I decided I wanted a book deal by the end of 2013.  (Insert face of surprise and butterflies).

The idea that I would be a real life, published children’s author is far beyond my wildest dreams and somewhere in my mind, I wondered if it were possible.  Can I do this?  Can I really write a book that will be successful etc?  Those questions and so many more have led me to put it off and find many excuses for why I haven’t begun.  The ideas are floating around in my head, but nothing has made it to paper…yet.

I have since decided it is time for me to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and let my ideas come to life.  The book isn’t going to write itself and we are already 3 months into the year, so if I want a book deal for not just one book, but for the entire series, I better get moving.  So, here I am setting the date for when I will begin working on my first book of the series (March 20th if not before).  The loose plan is to have the book written and ready for the editor in a month and off to the illustrator shortly after that.

I realize I am diving into uncharted waters now and there is a certain amount of fear that is natural, but the bigger part of me is excited for what I am doing.  I dreamed this dream for a reason and am so excited to get the ball rolling.  December will be here before you know it and I can’t wait to share with you the good news of my book contract, because I know without a shadow of a doubt it will happen.  🙂

So tell me, have you set a date to begin any of your goals/dreams for this year?  What are you waiting for?  Don’t let fear stop you from moving forward even if it is just a teeny, tiny step.