For me there’s no other day quite so excellent and free of … well … free of all things unpleasant as the first day of a New Year.

Or maybe it’s this New Year.

As is my typical m.o. … there’s plenty on the ‘ol plate

And yet somehow I’m feeling completely relaxed and confident that everything will unfold perfectly.

Plus this morning, while Skyping with my friend Mark, I had an inspired moment that is well suited to a New Years resolution.

Now, I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions - it’s always seemed kind of silly to me to wait around a whole year to refresh, revisit and renew again.

Why not do it every month?

Or every week?

Or every day?

After all, every day’s a new day isn’t it??

And if you think about it - that’s just ’cause our planet spins the way it spins - basically an equally random indicator of when to start fresh.

That said - I have a New Year’s resolution and it’s kind of nice and tidy to start on the first day of the year and commit to going right on through the end.

I’ve long been envious of people who have a year of daily something under their belt.

There’s the crockpot lady who loves her crockpot so much she decided to cook everyday for a year with it.

Nice idea, but I neither own a crockpot nor love cooking in one… cooking in general just isn’t a first choice activity for me.

And another cooking every day for a year story - I just watched “Julie and Julia” …

Really enjoyed it especially the part where Julia is trying to find her own niche - her calling. I laughed out loud when Meryl Streep said something on the order of - ‘What do I love? I love to eat.’

Now THAT I can relate to.

But I’ve never quite known what it was I might be able to do every day for 365 days in a row - well nothing that’s not involuntary anyway - lol.

What would keep my interest day in and day out?

What would I not blow off?

And this morning - on Skype - it came out of the tips of my fingers and into the chat without even really thinking about it and I knew it was exactly the right idea for me.

Starting today - and for the next 364 days (this isn’t a leap year is it?) - I’ll be sending out appreciation and acknowledgment by sending out a greeting card everyday.

Just because I can.

And without any concern for what might come back to me.

I want to do this so it becomes a ritual.

One that my children can be a witness to - and maybe embrace for themselves. (I already have one card sender among the three of them - she’s writing some amazing stuff … a 7yo sending her love out across the Internet and into people’s hearts)

The act of physically sending out appreciation every day.

What a cool habit to develop.

Though I don’t ‘expect’ anything, I already know that the Universe will return in kind.

And the momentum will be simply amazing.

What sort of New Years resolutions did you make this year?

Would love to hear

I appreciate you!

Andrea

As always (for me) Abraham - even when picked apart and interpreted by Jerry and Esther is a little too much in the philosophical (and not-clearly actionable) zone.

But now and again - one of their daily messages catches my attention … this one sure did.

Consider these two subjects. Which way do you pass your days thinking?

The subject of money is really two subjects: (1) money, plenty of money, and (2) absence of money, not nearly enough money. Often people assume that because they are speaking the words “I want more money,” they are speaking positively about money. When you are feeling fear or discomfort as you speak, you are not speaking of the subject of money, you are speaking of the subject of not enough money. And the difference is very important, because the first statement brings money and the second holds it away.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the book “Money and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Health, Wealth and Happiness” #282

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

And what do you suppose are the action steps to switching gears over to the abundant side?

This isn’t some trick question - I’m asking here …

I feel like I am on the gnats edge of rock-solid abundance thinking … but it’s not like you can be “some” abundant thinking.

To me it feels more like a light switch that’s just waiting there patiently for me to get my whole mindset whipped into shape so it can turn on already.

Kinda like I’m living well within the possibility zone, but just not quite there yet.

Does that make any sense?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

In appreciation,

Andrea

I’ve always found it tough to bridge the gap between the way I think and the way people who think things happen to them think.

It’s like we’re speaking two completely different languages … which I guess we really are.

Or maybe it’s more like same language different interpretations. No doubt everyone sees the world through their own lens.

Today this came - often I find Abraham a little outside my comprehension zone - too abstract or something … but not today:

Whatever you’re thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you’re worrying, you are planning. When you’re appreciating you are planning… What are you planning?

— Abraham

Wow - could it get much clearer than that?

Thinkin’ not.

I appreciate you (even writing it here is planning, eh?),
Andrea

Where to begin - well we’ll start at a blog video that I recently watched on Jonathan Budd’s blog that really had a good take away for me.

It was all about getting in touch with your ‘Inner Teacher’ and looking inward for answers rather than outward for the answers … stuff like that. Now I have a tough time getting (intentionally) too terribly deep and introspective but there was still a HUGE take-away for me.

The upshot of it was this:

“You haven’t helped anyone until you’ve helped them not need your help”

Now some people might hear that and scoff - ’cause  it sounds then like the goal is to always be working your way out of a job. And I guess that sort of fear might creep in IF you were either bad at attracting new people or unwilling to reinvent the value you bring.

And actually, that’s by far the easiest way to bring continuous value - be willing to always be learning and also share it enthusiastically.

YES we should become good at both sourcing new traffic to our marketing funnels and always expanding our value to others …  but we already know that it’s WAY easier to re-serve an existing customer than it is to source a new one. That’s why listbuilding is such a critical part of any marketer’s equation and bottom line.

Adding value is what makes that list relationships last.

So, I had a new twitter friend ask me yesterday about how to go about “constantly creating value” and I thought I’d address that here by sharing three rock solid ways you can begin today:

–> Way to Add Value #1 - Share something you learned yesterday.

Sometimes I think we fail to realize just HOW much we take in and how completely people appreciate it when others short cut the learning curve for them. Could be something as simple as how to reply on twitter or come up with an article topic. This is a case of ‘little things’ really can mean a lot.

–> Way to Add Value #2 - Make ‘em laugh.

There are very few people who don’t like a honest to goodness belly laugh.  But like anything else - searching for funny stuff is no where near as satisfying as hitting just the good things. Consider becoming a dependable source of things that really really make you grin.

–> Way to Add Value #3 - Send them to other great resources.

Yep that’s right - you can be valuable by just being an info ‘aggregator’ of sorts. Become known as the go-to person for all things “(name-your-topic)” and people who are also interested in that topic will be drawn to you automatically as word spreads.

So I guess my point it this - adding value works (and causes you to stand out) because it’s not about you - it’s about the wants and needs of others.  Ask yourself this - will someone be able to take what I put out there and readily share it with others?

• If it’s nothing but an ill disguised link to your opp - highly doubt it.

• If it’s all about you and not about them - chances are slim to none.

• If you’re talking at them (rather than to them) and are way off their radar topic-wise (bible thumping door knockers and dinner-time telemarketers come to mind for me here) … you’re clearly not targeting your market right.

Help Them Not Need Your Help

Give them what they want - you’ll be golden - you’ll see

Andrea

A funny thing happened along the path to make my first video (ever :-o).

See, I got to the “I wanna add a little music” part; you know - at the beginning and the end during the credits (my first round with Windows Movie maker has opened Pandoras box btw - LOVE it) … and it turns out that audio is a whole lot harder to find for free online than images.

I did find a site I’d sorta taken notice of awhile ago that has very affordable music clips as well as graphics and other cool stuff available to purchase direct from the creators. I’ll probably go back there and pick something as my ‘theme’.

(When I told my 15yo that I’m gonna have a jingle - she laughed - LOL)

I did get pointed to a site whose name would lead you to believe that their music is free, but when I read the fine print, their stuff is only free for personal family type work shared by email (for example) - and NO uploading to websites without paying an annual license fee.

Oop, that was the whole object of the exercise. Which is a shame ’cause I’d already picked something really cool and added it to my video.

(Needless to say I had to replace it with something else.)

But here’s where the surprise comes in.

Call me naive but I felt certain the person who sent me to that site couldn’t have known that the music doesn’t have a free license for use on websites - but when I PMed her about it - she “shrugged”.

Hmm…

Well, so I did what I felt was “the right thing” for my waiting video but at the same time I kinda questioned … “could this be one of those ‘it’s easier to beg forgiveness later’ kinda things?” - was I just being TOO straight laced?

The next day the answer came.

A loud and extremely clear message (okay it was a rant) from Larry Winget by way of Michel Fortin’s blog.

The upshot of it? (and I should have been able to be clear on this myself being an artist from birth - guess we all need reinforcement now and again, eh?) - it reinforced a simple truth…

The use of intellectual property without consent is stealing.

Doesn’t matter if you “haven’t had any issues with that yet”

That is still one of the 10 commandments, yeah?

Pretty sure
Andrea

Okay maybe not quite babes - my new friend Omar is 20 - grin - but still to have the clarity that he does at an age that offers DECADES of growth … wowie zowie!

This is from a forum discussion on our Mastermind Community that comes with the MLM Mastermind System we both use.

He started like this:

“You gotta first focus on just learning the stuff and not only the strategies and skills, but developing your mindset.

Maybe that sounds confusing maybe you already know what I’m talking about. But you have to first just concentrate all your energy on growing and building your value.”

OMG did he just nail it on the head or what??

And it got me to thinking …

Why is something so simple as “become valuable” such a hard thing for people to wrap their brains around?

It seems like people often fall into one of three groups:

1. the first group - well, they are completely self absorbed and just want to get what they want - they’re takers … in the realm of marketing, they’re called “interruption marketers” … and they represent the majority of people out there pimping their “opp”. Not their fault really - they’ve just never been taught any different.
2. the second group - they don’t believe they have anything to offer - or worse - they can’t imagine that they could ever be valued by other people - these are the folks who (sadly) don’t take action. Their pre-programmed self talk has them beat before they ever get started - they are not true entrepreneurs (yet).  To quote Jonathan Budd, “The real entrepreneur is a juggernaut that can not be stopped.” - so true so true.
3. the third group - now this is the group I LOVE … they are creative, they are introspective, they are transparent, they are always learning, they KNOW deep in their soul that what they’re up to will be interesting and valuable to someone some where and that it’s their job to -
   

   
   A.) find those people and plop down in their path where they can begin to build know like and trust and

B.) continue to expand and grow themselves so that they always will have more value to offer.

Then friend Omar said (oh and BTW - you should add him on Facebook - watch him grow into an unstoppable force … and take the ride if it feels right)

He said:

“Just realize that it’s going to take time. Don’t worry about the traffic, or the money, or signing people up. Just grow as an entrepreneur and build as many relationships as you can while helping those people and adding value to their lives. It’s a journey, it will take time. But you will get to where you wanna go if you just follow that formula.”

Holy COW! Knocked it clean outta the park that time LOL.

You go Omar!

I Appreciate You,

Andrea

Here’s what started this:

“When all basic needs are met true self development stands a chance of abundance of the spiritual kind.”

That was waiting for me on my facebook wall this morning …

And it’s not an uncommon way of thinking.

My friend John, for example, is the King of “If I hadda” and “Yeah but” - he’s gotten way better about this over the years, but it was always amazing how many different ways he could put obstacles in his own path - and have most of them be basically in his own head.

• If I hadda certain tool, then I could get the job done.
• Yeah but even if I did have that tool, I still need the free time to do it properly.
• If I hadda chance to do the things I want to do, I would be happier.
• Yeah but good things never happen to guys like me “they” won’t let it.
• If I hadda bank roll I could get the things that I want/need.
• Yeah but I’m not built like that - I can’t get a break to save my life.
• If I hadda different life, wouldn’t things be just peachy

Yeah but - I’m skeptical …

I believe that if he were handed everything that he wants/needs there are two ways it could go.

1. First, if it weren’t strictly controlled by outside arrangements, it would be squandered in a very short matter of time.
2. Second, he’d still be discontent. Unable to appreciate the things he does have (to me) says that no matter what he has, that appreciation factor will still be missing.

So back to the statement on my Facebook wall this morning:

“When all basic needs are met true self development stands a chance of abundance of the spiritual kind.”

See I think that’s almost a catch 22 in a way - it can be that when personal development happens, the physical wants and needs get met and then some.

And on the other hand, I know an awful lot of ’starving’ artists and deep thinkers - so there has to be more to abundant financial/material flow than just “inside work”, yeah?

Seems like the real puzzle piece is being of value to others AND being able to take action to package yourself in a way that others recognize that value - and second part to that is being a willing participant in the material ebb and flow (which is a point where A LOT of people have fear and stuck points, eh??)

Which takes me to this - (probably why I’m working on a personal branding project and have been invited to offer up my coaching efforts to another…) - where we can help people is with the packaging and presentation (ie. the branding and the marketing ) and though we can present and expose them to the personal development that will bring the lasting growth, that’s all that can be done.

The rest has to come from inside.

THEY have to weigh how much they want change to happen and then they have to take action to do the inside work to get there. What’re you willing to do today …

It’s the old “We’re only given as much as we can handle” in action - so when we can handle more, we never seem to fail to get it … funny how that works.

Don’t ya’ think?

Appreciate you!

Andrea

No this isn’t some “Being John Malcovich” moment I’m having - lol.

For about a week, I tossed around and chewed on an email that @Mike Morgan sent me (well, not me - his list - grin) promoting John Carlton’s freelance course (appreciate it enough to use his affiliate link here - wow that’s something huh??)

I was torn. Really torn.

It was partly the price (even though it’s an amazing value for the money) -’cause I don’t yet have $600 just to toss around. That shouldn’t be the measure of whether I invest in something anyway. ROI should.

So I thought about it some more.

There are some who make it their business to inspire people all day everyday.

I’m still learning

Tony Robbins lifestyles inspiration.

This morning he twittered this video - “Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy”

Sure pays to put real world perspective on the life we have available to us and take a little time (maybe a lot of time) to really appreciate the opportunities we have T-O-D-A-Y.

The only limitations are in how we think about the world around us.

So … question is … what will you do different today to create the tomorrow you’ve been wanting?
Andrea

Another unlikely source of inspiration for me …

I discovered I really dig Harvey MacKay about 6 years ago when I first read his book, “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty - The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need“.

That was one of those moments in time that a concept clicked with me - I mean really clicked. The gist  for me was that I’d clearly not been taught from birth some of the things that wealthy people are (in this case, how to ‘lifestyle and leverage’  networking).

And yes in spite of all his unfamiliar parables (many involving sports analogies - lol) I was totally able to see what I was lacking and at the same time see very clearly that I wasn’t a lost cause - these things could be learned.

There was hope for me yet!

There are a whole lotta quotes in this world that inspire me - and some come from the most unusual of places - (for a NYC raised, multi-racial,  art & craft lovin’, thinkin’ I got it all figured out kinda girl like me - anyway).

Henry Ford immediately comes to mind

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the man who though his vehicle was - well - vehicles, is someone who I am proud to be more like than different:

For his recent launch of infomillionaire.com, Frank Kern made a video that I believe was a tipping point for me personally.

Truly – no lie. It’s that big of a deal.

I’ve watched it with rapt attention 3 times already and I’ll probably watch it again just as many. Could be just a flash in the pan “student was ready moment” – but I don’t think so. Little something for everyone in there.

There were lots of points about it that struck me and left a permanent mark.

While this is a new blog, this is also the realization of a ‘getting clear on me’ moment.

Love love the idea of giving and receiving “The Gift of Inspiration” as a lifestyle choice. How awesome to have that be the intention of each and every day when I wake up.

Inspiration is from where all ideas and new thoughts flow … and being a person with a ton of new ideas - basically all the time - I’m especially appreciative that there are others who can receive some of them - even partner with me  - ’cause I feel I would surely burst without the possibility of “sharing the wealth” so to speak.