I don’t know what is the more sensitive subject matter, money, religion or politics. Have you ever wondered why people get upset about money when they spend a full one-third (at least) of their life pursuing it?

Also, while I often hear people make negative assumptions about people with money, people who they never met and do not know, while at the same time putting celebrities on a pedestal.  If money is so bad, why do we chase after it and all too often feel inferior to those with it?

What an incongruent disconnect. Even those who profess that it is the root of all evil will not be found getting rid of theirs. No, quite the contrary. They can be very stingy, actually. This is why most people struggle with money all of their lives. On the one had they want it, and on the other they either feel it is bad, or they themselves are not worthy.

Money is neutral.

It is whatever we send it out into the world to accomplish. It can be used for good or destruction. And if you want to have business success, you had better get clear about the role you want to play with money.

If you make it a villain, it will not likely be a part of your life. If you think it is your source of security, you will probably never feel enough is enough. Security can only come from knowing the true source of life and living from an authentic place in your own soul.

Externals are forever changing. It will take courage to change your limiting money beliefs, because many of those around you are so out of touch with where they place their own self-worth and value around money, that if you start to expose their fears, they are not likely to be happy with you.

So, do you want to have a prosperous business? Or are you so stuck in your fears that you struggle with finding the confidence and courage to create a new reality around money? Before you spend several hundred dollars on the next marketing tool magic bullet, you may want to figure this out or will be virtually guaranteed to have less money in the bank with nothing to show for it.

It would be nice if just having information would solve our entire problem around business, relationships and health. Truth be told, the real issue is learning how to change the way that we automatically think, feel and act by realizing that there are lots of ways to switch the wiring within our own brain and mind so that we can consciously drop the limiting money beliefs and create a more prosperous business as well as an abundant, whole life!

Do you think that all of our money woes are the fault of the economy? Or could there be issues that we just don’t see? (As in blind spots?)

And why can’t we see that even if we temporarily feel better by getting what we want outside of ourselves that it is a shaky proposition at best? Well, it’s wired into our brains and body. Since memory is held in the body at a cellular level, it is not going anywhere until we learn how to change it.

Here’s a key: memory is a story that you create. Yes, facts happen, events happen, but it is the MEANING that you assign makes all of the difference. And you will assign your meaning primarily based upon your own self-image.

If you feel powerless and insecure you will view how someone reacted to you differently than someone who loves themselves and “knows that they know” that what they do is NOT who they are – two very different things.

When I have my identity wrapped up in my activity, roles and appearance, I will be very vulnerable to change. When I realize that my essence is separate and apart from what others think about me, I can make a conscious decision to respond with confidence and power rather than being knocked over by the opinion of someone who at the end of the day will not expand my life in any way.

We can’t have peace of mind until we change the thoughts about life that keep us chasing this elusive state of being. I grew up on many beliefs that were held as “common sense”. They may be common but they make no sense if you want to live an empowered, abundant and happy life. What are some of these beliefs?

1. “No pain, no gain” – Who says? Since I stopped expecting pain, I’m gaining more inner peace, joy and abundance than I’ve ever experienced before.

2. “I have to work hard to be successful” – No, you may have to be persistent, disciplined and do a good job, but you do not have to wear yourself out to get things done – this is purely a mindset issue.

3. “I should face reality” – Whose reality? True, you need to live up to your obligations but to keep your focus on what is going on in your world that you do not like will only keep it in place. Use your imagination to take you to where you want to go to get unstuck.

4. “What I do is who I am” – Oh really? Than this explains why so many people feel lost and go through an identity crisis when they lose their jobs. Your work is what the real “YOU” is experiencing, it does not change the essence of who you are.

5. “I will be happy when tomorrow (event/person/possession) comes” – only tomorrow never arrives as when it does it is called “today”. And chances are, the “happiness” is short-lived and fragile. In the meantime, we are forever chasing happiness in the next thing that is on its way – supposedly.

Hopefully you understand that I’m not saying that we cannot desire “things” or that having titles or roles are a “bad” thing. No, I’m just saying that inner peace is the starting point if you want to build a life that is strong and can weather the storms of life.

Life will have storms; it is a matter of “when” not “if”. I’m not talking airy-fairy or woo-woo here. I’m talking practical matters of just learning how to manage your own brain and mind. Learning how to make friends with change and emotions, which are two things you are guaranteed to experience as long as you have life in your body.

So instead of making your journey one of fear and suffering, why not examine what you believe and update the ones that no longer serve you? Remember, YOU are not your thoughts and beliefs, but your thoughts and beliefs will determine your peace of mind and experience on the stage of life! What do you believe about beliefs?

In fact, since stress is such a killer, if we are chronically overwhelmed and ill at ease, we will not live a long life and at best, certainly if we do our life will not be of a high quality.

So, since I highly value peace of mind and good health, I made it my business to get to the root of my dis-ease. I started to notice that I had this companion hanging around my life that did not support me, that put me down and seemed to cause me to miss opportunities that could have created more abundance and adventure in my life.

It seemed to follow me wherever I went, and though it felt familiar, it did not seem to have my best interest at heart. Why would you ask, did I allow such a companion to hang out with me? Good question. As soon as I started to realize this, I began to make it my business to cut the ties and figure out how to get rid of it.

Who or what was this companion? It is fear. We can get so attached to fear that it becomes our familiar way of traveling through life. Fear, or Fictitious Evidence Creating Reality, it is the story that we wire into our brains that life is unsafe, full of suffering and lack and that is just “the way it is”.

Notice I say “fictitious”; we are making it all up.

Can life have physical threat and dangers? Of course, events happen. But this is not the general rule or else you would probably not be alive to read these words. I assume you are more than 5 years old.

The average man or woman lives around 75 years or so. How is it that we use up those years suffering and afraid to get out of our box? The main reason is that we do not know how our brain and minds work, and we take in the outdated beliefs of those who arrived here before us and we think that these beliefs are the Truth of the entire Universe.

Actually, there is so much disagreement in the world because everyone chooses or hangs on to their given set of beliefs. So, apparently there are an awful lot of different “Truths” out here. Fear, which is just based in ignorance, can ruin your hopes, dreams and aspirations.

The more you deny your feelings of fear the less likely you will be able to breakthrough them and drop the drama in your life. Also, others will be able to manipulate you easier when you come from a place of insufficiency.

It can be challenging to dump fear, as it is what most people are use to feeling. Your subconscious is trying to keep you in your familiar zone because you programmed it with the thoughts and feelings that you were taught.

Want better relationships, more money, and better health? Life does not have to be full of self-doubt and suffering. The way out is through the door of rewriting the fictitious evidence affecting your reality – fear. Are you interested in re-writing the story line of your life?

Time is something that I’ve noticed people talk about frequently. I often hear “I don’t have enough time”, “I’m sooooo busy”, and “Time is moving so fast”…these are only a few thoughts that do not empower you. They can in fact create a sense of powerlessness.

I’ve tried many “time management” tricks in the past, none of which really worked for me as they were all about changing my behavior. In fact, that is where most “change agents” focus their attention. They give you new behaviors to perform without really addressing what is driving your behavior in the first place.

Since I started working with the root cause of behavior, my life has drastically shifted for the better. What’s the root cause of behavior, you may ask? It’s thought and feeling, which forms your belief. Fundamentally, it is energy.

The belief will then cause us to take action and create the story of our life. It is simple; yet it is easy only if you convince your self that you CAN change your life, enjoy your life even, without struggle and “hard work”. What I’m saying here is that we are making up our life experiences, and what they MEAN to us as we go.

So, one of the most empowering things that has happened to me is to become aware of certain key elements that determine the quality of our life experience and begin to consciously deal with them. Getting back to time – did you know that time is not “real”? Even Einstein talked about time and the “theory of relativity”.

Essentially this is the theory that space and time are relative concepts rather than absolute concepts. We use a machine called a “clock” to tell us the time. We need to be on the same page to run society and keep appointments, but the Universe is not paying attention to our clocks to run the galaxies, seasons or anything else.

What happens is, we focus on time and determine what it means to us based on our perception. I use to believe that life was hard; that struggle and hard work was required for “success” and that being busy gave me significance and self-worth.

Well, what do you think I created in my life? If you said all of the above, you are correct! It seemed the less “time” I had, the harder life became and the more “real” my belief that life is tough, hard, competitive and struggle became! No matter how short I made my “to-do” list, I still never seemed to grasp inner peace and enough time to relax and play!

I just kept focusing on and talking about that “fact” that I did not have enough time, that I was so busy, etc, etc. This was my story, and this was my constant result. The problem actually stems from the fact that your brain and mind is a missile-seeking machine to prove you right.

When we come to believe something, we ignore or reject information that contradicts what we believe (you may be doing that even as you read this) and instead we zero in on “proof” to validate what we already believe to be true.

Well, consider this: a belief is just a thought that you keep thinking and feeling long enough that it becomes a part of your cellular memory, it goes into your subconscious. This is nature’s way of making life easier for you so that you don’t have to walk around trying to remember everything that you chose to believe.

It’s like a command that you save to your hard-drive. The good news is, you can learn how to change it, and the more aware you are of the process and how to bring the beliefs that no longer work for you into your awareness, the faster you can “dump the junk”, the outdated software, and rewire the beliefs that increase your feelings of self-acceptance, inner peace and yes, sense of having even more time!

You need not become aware of all of your beliefs, as some are supported by others, and when the core beliefs shift, often the associated beliefs just fall away.  Also, learning how to raise your energy “vibration” will shift you out of negative belief patterns as well.

The more I practice this, the more I can accomplish in less time and with less effort. I no longer believe that I have to struggle and work hard to succeed. Yes, I have to be persistent, diligent, clear about where I want to go and disciplined, but it does not have to be “hard”. You can get your tasks done without knocking yourself out and living in worry and fear.

This old, heavy, “hard” way is just one way to do it. It’s time to retrain your brain and rewrite your story about time. When we empower ourselves with this new paradigm of time management, we get ourselves into the present moment and we can let go of feeling powerless to manage our time. I’m continuing to convince myself that I have enough time to do what I want to do, and I’m noticing that my nervous system is now looking for ways to continue to make me “right”.

What do you think about time? Is it about time that we live a happy, healthy and prosperous life?

Essentially it is an emotional dis-ease. It is a chronic feeling of overwhelm, insecurity and feeling out of control in some way. It is a perception based in danger or threat. And the good news is, it is by far psychological. I say “good” in that if you learn how to change your mindset, you can change your level of stress.

I know from first hand experience. It’s not even how much you do, as it is how you are thinking ABOUT what you are doing. It is generally not due to a real physical threat, only one in your imagination.

If you set your intention to change, and find someone, like me, who understands how to consciously calm down your brain, and reframe the way you perceive life, you can shift your reality from one based in fear, dread and unhappiness to one that is expansive, abundant and out right peaceful. Does it take effort?

Yes, and probably not as much as you think. However I will say, if you think you can change your life without any determination or commitment, you are just going to continue to stress yourself out.

Eliminating stress is really an inside job. Once you change your inner reality, the outer will just line up – it’s magical how that happens.

We have been taught almost everything that leads to empowerment in a backwards order. We are taught to look outside of ourselves for our security, love and self-esteem and then we wonder why enough is never enough and why our happiness feels so unstable.

If you have to find your happiness in the weather, your job (see what’s going on now?), or the opinions of flaky acting people, is it any wonder that life feels like a rollercoaster ride? Since you need to start somewhere, for now, you can help yourself if you would just start taking your attention away from the following five things that you cannot control – except by choosing to think and feel differently and learning how to do it.

Just by becoming aware to take your focus off of what you don’t want, and instead looking for something – anything – to be grateful for, you can lower your sense of stress and overwhelm. Here are five common things people do that can raise their stress levels:

1. Listen to and focus on negative news online or off

2. Ruminating about the past

3. Worrying about your job or future

4. Multitasking an overloaded “To-Do” lists

5. Worrying about what others say about you

As a bonus, a variant of number 5, negative self-talk, will also send your stress levels through the roof and help to worsen your self-esteem on top of it. There are studies that show how this works. Look at the list.

All items can be changed when you learn to change your mindset. The past is just the way you choose to remember the event; you ascribe the meaning and significance to it. You can learn how to re-write these unproductive stories and release the emotional charge from the cellular memory in your body.

Empowering yourself will help you to stress less and be your best – from the inside out! Have you ever thought about how you can stress less?

That’s right – there have been studies that show that low self-esteem is bad for our health.

One way it works is that negative self-talk and that queasy feeling you get when you worry about what others are thinking of you actually triggers the stress response in the body.

A chronic stress response will weaken you immune system, raise your blood pressure, damage your heart and arteries, kill off your brain cells and stiffen your muscles and joints. All of this because you are living under the illusion that you are not good enough, not worthy or the crazy belief that something is “wrong with you”.

Boy, did I know that one. I used to have “delusions of inferiority”. Thank goodness I finally woke up and realized that I was making it all up. All the world is a stage all right and it is empowering to know that I can change my role I am playing at will when I know how – and you can too.

I think it is silly how some psychologist actually promote putting yourself down as if “thinking too highly of yourself” is a bad thing. Now, I’m not talking about narcissism, which is actually a form of insecurity and ego-based comparison. Narcisstic people don’t come from a place of inner peace either.

I’m referring to “core” confidence, which comes from your spirit, your heart. In fact, the word “courage” comes the French word “cour” which means “heart”. Courage is strength of heart. It does take courage to look at your fears, worries and negative self-talk in the face and boldly DECIDE to change.

Yes, it is a decision, a choice.

When you take the time to learn how to let go of the conditioned fears and small mindsets that are passed on to us, we can change from the inside out and let go, empower up and play a bigger game. I’ve done it and I continue to grow.

It is not about fake outer changes, such as getting another degree, buying a bigger car or having plastic surgery. Those things are all fine if you want to do that, but at the end of the day, you will have to learn how to love yourself if you are ever going to have the peace of mind and abundance that you are seeking.

Peace of mind translates to peace of body. When we nurture our spirits, and listen to our hearts, our health will improve and we can let go of those chronic ailments, including depression, which is just a form of negative emotions turned against yourself.

Also, an added benefit is that you will be better able, and more successful at navigating these changing times. One thing you can count on is change. So why not learn how to get to the core of the matter and learn how to raise your confidence and self-esteem from the inside out?  What do you think about the connection between health and self-esteem?

What it feels like to me is that society is like the caterpillar that is undergoing change and in that transition of going from the less than gracefully caterpillar to the butterfly there is a struggle. With change comes turmoil often because most people resist it and react instead of responding from a place of power.

We all want a better health care system, yet just look at all of the resistance going on in Washington. We want prosperity, yet our system breed debt and Wall Street and the markets are a mess. Then there’s the issue of relationships. Depression and dysfunction is at an all time high, yet, most people resist personal change until they hit the proverbial brick wall.

Why wait?

Change is going to come either way. We can resist kicking and screaming or adapt and learn how to get into the flow. We can proactively release our old baggage and wounded emotional patterns by learning new ways of shifting using our awareness and working with the energy of life, or we can stuff our feelings and continue to experience more chronic disease and lack of peace within ourselves and with others.

Fear, suffering and misery can be dealt with if we would simply make a conscious decision to make friends with the inevitable. As long as you are in this human body, you WILL have to contend with change and emotion. Mark it down. So, what I’ve found is, going the route of cooperation is the way to go.

Since I have learned, using a combination of science, intuition/spirituality and psychology, how to proactively manage my thoughts, feelings and emotion, I see and experience life in a whole new way. I see a whole new world. We don’t see life the way it is; we see it as we are wired on the inside.

The world is but a reflection of our inner beliefs. Since I have learned how to make friends with change, I am far less reactive to the monkey wrenches that get thrown into my day. I really like and love who I am, which for me would have seemed impossible a decade ago. I have better relationships, I’m in excellent health, and I expect the best so I no longer fear disappointment.

If I don’t get what I want, then I choose again. We are taught to live in fear of disappointment and to run from “negative” (I say inharmonious instead) feelings. There are reasons for this, and it is not rocket science to understand. It just takes a willingness to open our minds and to learn some new ideas and paradigms.

It is simple, maybe not always easy, but if you want to have an abundant whole life, you must learn to make peace, make friends which change and emotions, the two power brokers that determine if you live empowered or victimized. What do you think?

Emotion is something that is in your best interest to get acquainted with and stop fearing. Considering that emotions carries 5,000 times more magnetic energy than thought alone (visit HeartMath.org for more info), it is nothing to play around with and ignore if you want to optimize your health – mentally as well as physically.

Emotions play a major role in the state of your health. For example, hypertension is “life under pressure” or high tension. Stress, which is attributed to be the underlying reason for 75-90% of all primary care visits, is an emotional disease. When you feel stress, you are triggering the fear response in your body and it is typically psychological, as we don’t often have physical threat on a daily basis.

Today it snowed again in Chicago, and I could either whine and complain about it, and feel helpless to change it, or I could intend to find the beauty in it, which is what I consciously choose to do. This is always a choice. The challenge is slowing down enough to become aware of your thought pattern and then reset your default dial.

If you have a habit of focusing on what you do not like, you will raise your risk of all sorts of chronic disease. This is also why I choose not to believe in a “cold and flu season”. What is that? Last I checked there were only four seasons, winter spring, summer and fall. Every since I stopped believing in and expecting a season to catch cold, I very rarely even have one.

When I sneeze, I assume something it just irritating my nose and my reaction is just getting rid of it. I never think, “I’m catchin’ a cold”. Perhaps that is why I don’t. If I run myself down and weaken my immune system, granted, I will be more susceptible, but even then there is no guarantee.

Our bodies are amazing at self-healing, especially when we cooperate with them by directing our minds and feelings on things to appreciate and be grateful for. Feel your body the next time you are complaining and resisting what you cannot change. Then take a deep breath and relax, and focus on something that makes you smile, that is beautiful or that you appreciate and see how you feel.

The relaxation response goes a long way toward healing and health. Make emotions your friend and learn how to manage them. Your body will love you for it! Have you ever thought about the connection between how you feel and how you heal? Or your health?

Is that the absolute “Truth”? How do you know? Who told you this? Why do you accept it as true? These are some of the questions I eventually asked myself, as I broke free from the fear of “thinking outside of the box”.

Granted, at one time in our social history we were highly likely to die if the “tribe” kicked us out of the group, but nowadays, with so many options available, you can always find a new “tribe”.

I know that there are feelings involved, however, I’ve come to the conclusion that if someone does not care enough about my well-being to support what is dear and near to my heart (they don’t have to agree, but they don’t have to reject me over it), then it’s just time for me to get over it and move on.

The more comfortable I am in my own skin, the easier it is to move on. After all, I have to live with me; I have no choice (I don’t a have desire to check out of my body). I just say, “there’s only you and me so let’s just disagree” and move on if we cannot work it out – no harm done. Anyway, as far as forming our self-esteem, what we believe about our selves come from a variety of sources when we are not aware of what belief is and how it rules our world.

It comes from genetic tendencies, (karma for some), environmental factors (religion, schools, society) and childhood stories that we innocently make up about ourselves. Children believe that everything is their fault in general, and typically blame themselves for everything that upsets them. All of these things create the story of who you think you are. In fact there is an area of the brain known as the area that records your “autobiographical memory”.

Folks, we are making it up as we go. Our self-worth is the story of our self-esteem that we believe. Confidence comes with taking action in a conscious manner despite some feelings of fear. We selectively remember events based on their emotional memory and we interpret these events according to our own individual perception. Perception is based on thoughts, feelings and emotions, how you “see” the world.

The more fear-based you are, the more challenging the story. If you tend to perceive the good in self and others, the more pleasant your perceptions will tend to be. The fear-based stories about “how life is” that are typical of where most people live their lives are nothing but “Fictitious Evidence Affecting Reality”.

Especially when it comes to thoughts about who you think YOU are as a person. Yes, reality is relative. It is based on how you perceive the world, what you notice and stay focused on. This world is full of dramas of every kind and where you find yourself ultimately is related to what you believe and expect to find. Our brains look for what we’ve programmed in, and tends to ignore what we don’t expect.

Belief is ultimately something that you have accepted as true and now identify with, so you keep looking for it and unconsciously noticing it in the world around you. Think people are mean and envious? Be it unto you, as you believe. Think people are kind and supportive? Be it unto you, as you believe. I’ve been on both sides of this belief and I can tell you that I found what I was looking for in either case.

It just depends where my own dominant vibration is as to what I attract and experience. I am now more and more disciplined about focusing on where I am going, what I want instead of where I have been and what I don’t want. So since I want more love in my life, and a healthy sense of confidence and self-esteem, I choose my thoughts wisely and examine the nonsense that does not take me there.

I am no longer accepting as true beliefs that are really just opinions of others about what they may think about themselves or me, but that is none of my business. We raise our confidence and self-esteem by re-wiring our brains, creating new stories, and our bodies will naturally start moving in the direction of where we want to go.

Confidence and self-esteem starts with changing your script to a more productive way of imaging (imagining) yourself. What are your thoughts about this?

“I can’t hear what you say because what you do speaks so loudly”

If someone is playing the lottery or working multiple jobs, they have a value placed on obtaining more money for whatever the reason. Considering the level of consumerism and debt in this country, for many people, it is not just to survive that they are working and getting in debt.

Now here is the conflict. Whatever the dominant belief or “vibe” that you put out to the universe will be reflected back to you. The stronger vibration wins. What I mean is, once you realize that your situation and circumstances are reflecting what you feel or believe instead of what you “think” you want, you can begin to see what is really going on. It all boils down again to learning how to manage your own thoughts and feelings, which like anything else, becomes easier once you take the time to learn how to do it.

Now take for example, this issue of focus. You may be an entrepreneur or professional and you want financial success. If you keep talking about how bad things are, or regretting previous decisions, or focusing on your debt, you are giving your energy and attention to this and this will stick like glue to you until you stop it.

Or, if you think that money is bad, or rich people are evil, or that money and spirituality don’t mix and you consider yourself “spiritual”, then you will have inner turmoil over having money. Then there are beliefs such as what could have been passed down through religion or those around you.

For example, I had a friend who said that she use to hear from one of her relatives “I may not have a lot of money, but I can sleep at night”, which implied that money and sleep were mutually exclusive. I don’t know about you, but I have met people who don’t have money and they REALLY can’t sleep at night for fear of losing the shirt off their back.

So, where are you putting your focus, on lack or wealth? If you have debt, are you focusing on it, or what you want, which is to be financially free? In this case, get clear about what financial freedom looks and feels like and get clarity in your mind’s eye. Stop talking about the debt and just ignore it as much as possible.

Yes, pay the payment and give gratitude to be able to have the money to keep up with it, but start expecting for the way to show up for increasing income or changing your situation. Keep your attention on where you want to go, not on yesterday’s choices. Affirm that you have plenty of money, or are open to receive new ideas and opportunities to maintain a zero balance on your credit cards every month.

Do you have business goals? What do they look like in your imagination? If you are not clear about where you are going, you will easily be distracted by whatever has already taken form and shown up in your life. As Einstein said:

“Your imagination is the preview to your life’s coming attractions”

Use your imagination consciously and on purpose to see what you want and stop filling your mind and heart with the current drama. Only use words and mental pictures based on what you want. Period. You will either ignore what is, or your focus will help to continue to create, “what is”.

Mindset rules, so why not learn how to set your mind to a place that helps you to win at life, from the inside out. What do you think about the idea that thought and feelings create action, and ultimately the outcome that you find yourself in?