WE LIVE IN A HECTIC TIME. Ours is an instant gratification society. We want it now. Yet as we reflect on the best things in our lives, we often find the truly important things (like relationships, love and peace) took time to develop.

The "always on" nature of the tools we use in business can all too easily trap us into believing that we can function as machines too. But we're not machines, we're human beings. Is there a way to achieve peak performance and happiness in life too? Of course.

"The music of the Universe consistently plays in the key of joy - your joy."
~Eva

Here are five factors which, when practiced consistently in your life, will help you tap into the giant creativity reservoir you have within.

Be consistent. The more often you keep your creativity appointments, the more you will find that you have the "aha!" moments during your day, when solutions to problems just pop into your mind.

Expand the appointments to include a half-day a month and you will unleash even more creativity. Soon, you will hunger for these times because you will find it is while doing nothing at all that something very good gets done.

Your creativity is a very powerful force - one that helps you to achieve amazing things. Your imagination is equally powerful! Dreams cannot harm you. Instead, they can help you immensely. Not the ones you have when you're sleeping, but the ones you hold in your heart - your fondest desires. Those dreams can shape your reality if you take the time to give them life and to visualize them. Do you ever wonder about the self-confidence that successful people always seem to have? It's that self-confidence that got them where they wanted to be. They focused on the goal - their big dream - and the mind and body made it happen.

"You move fastest through transition when you don't try to rush it. There is great learning at every stage."
~Eva

Do you ever play "what if?" Sometimes playing "what if?" can be very effective if it puts you into a state of feeling good. However, sometimes it can cause you to spiral downward. So, instead of playing "what if," why not play "I am."

How does one play? It all comes back to "being." You can be what you want if you can picture yourself being it, living it and experiencing it. Close your eyes, relax and imagine you have a wonderful life. You are able to relax and enjoy life to the fullest. You are content and all of your worries are gone. Use all five of your senses.

Elaborate from this initial "I am" picture. What kind of house do you live in? Where is it located? Is this your summer home? What does the air smell like when you arrive at your home? Is it by the sea? Is it in the country?

Can you see it clearly? How does it make you feel? Do you feel like it is really yours? Do you feel as though you've earned it, that you deserve all that you are visualizing? This, too, is part of the process. When your feelings are one with your thoughts and beliefs and they are focused on the positive goals that you have set, the picture you are holding in your mind's eye will begin manifesting. In essence, you've used your thoughts to attract the people, ideas, situations and events that will bring you the vision you are holding of yourself, thus creating your reality.

Bridget was feeling exceptionally low when a friend suggested she schedule a session with a personal coach. She was hesitant and skeptical, thinking there was not anything her coach could tell her she hadn't already thought of, envisioned or dreamed of herself. She found she was both right and wrong in her assumptions. When she met Dora she was impressed by how grounded she was and by how much they had in common. She also found out a couple of years before Dora discovered coaching, she was feeling adrift and had a business that was floundering. Bridget readily identified with this because her gift shop had been doing so poorly lately that she had a number of creditors calling looking for payment. Dora told her she used visualization to obtain her goals. Bridget scoffed at the idea. But when Dora explained that someone told her if she could not visualize herself as a success she would never be a success, it began to make sense. Bridget didn't think she thought of herself as a failure, but realized she also did not think of herself as a success.

"When you begin focusing on how you are feeling,
rather than what you are thinking,
you begin to attract what you want.
The Universe is responding to how you feel."
~Eva

Bridget spent fifteen minutes twice a day visualizing herself running a successful business, living in the house of her dreams and living a debt-free life. After a few weeks, she noticed the change in the level of confidence she had in her abilities. She approached her business dealings with more self-confidence, which in turn began to increase her bottom line. Her increase in confidence made her much more attentive to her customers which produced larger sales. With Dora as her coach, Bridget used her dreams to obtain her reality. She visualized, imagined, spoke about and wrote down her goals to support her state of being. She refused to back down and allow limiting thoughts to tarnish her future.

Coach's Corner
If Bridget could do it, so can you! Let go of the limiting thoughts and begin by embracing the life you want, desire and deserve. Let the picture you see in your mind support your goals and you will help them materialize that much faster. Let your dreams be the guide to your future and the road to your success. You just have to close your eyes and ... dream. Try this for fifteen minutes twice each day, and see how you begin feeling about yourself and your ability to attract what you want.



© Eva Gregory, Leading Edge Publishers, 2005.