What Star Will You Follow This Year?

Did you know that the soap opera The Guiding Light is listed in the Guinness Book of World’s Records as the longest running scripted drama in TV AND Radio history? Beginning as a radio show in 1937, it transitioned to Television in 1952 and will continue at least through September 2009 which will put it into its 72nd year! Now that’s pretty amazing. Useless perhaps, but amazing nonetheless.

Light has always been both a metaphoric and an actual guide. We often seek the “light at the end of the tunnel.” For millennia, sailors have used the stars to guide them to faraway places and back home again. The North Star has led many lost hikers home.

And no matter how far we travel from our physical home, we are all travelers on a journey of discovery through this life. And just as travelers on the road or over the seas require guidance, we need guidance for our travels through life. We need a light to show us the way.

It is easy to take the light for granted when it is all around us. During the day, in the heat of the summer, when light surrounds us, we often dismiss beauty and power of the sun. In fact, I often hear people cursing the sun and its heat.

But when the dark comes, when night falls, and when the cold darkness of winter descends upon our world, we seek the light, we crave the warmth of the sun and we yearn for the guidance that the light offers.

We have just moved through the deepest darkness, the longest night. This is such a rich, fertile time: A time of healing and integration, a time of introspection and gestation, a time to restore and renew our bodies, minds and spirits.

At this time of year we celebrate the light - even as we honor the power of the darkness. Throughout human history, many cultures have celebrated the coming of the light of bringing light into this deep darkness. Chanukah is the festival of light. The Winter Solstice celebrates the returning of the light. Persian, Native American, Celtic, Germanic, Japanese, Chinese, and many other cultures have festivals and celebrations recognizing the return of the sun.

And on Thursday we celebrated the birth of a great master and the awakening of a brilliant light in the world.

Whatever you believe about Jesus and whatever faith you follow, his life, like those of all the great masters, is filled with many lessons for all of us. His life provides us with an example of what is possible. He is a light in our sky, a light that can guide us home.

And just as there are many stars in the night sky to guide sailors home, there are many masters in our past, many lights in the “sky” of our human history: Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, St Francis, Gandhi, Black Elk, Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama and many more who have lived and some who live now upon this planet… and they all can help us find our way home. They can guide us back to our Source.

Because, no matter what philosophy these masters taught, no matter where they lived, no matter how altered their teachings have become over the course of the years, each of them had this in common: They lived in alignment with the light of guidance.

We are all connected to that guidance, that light. But most of us ignore it, deny it, block it, resist it, and push it away. The masters of this world have all embraced that light. They have surrendered to that light. And, ultimately, they have embraced that light, becoming one with it. And in that state of surrender and oneness, they no longer needed to look to the skies for guidance. They no longer needed to look outside of themselves for answers or directions. They became the light. They were the guidance.

And what they did, you can do also. They were special, yes. They were gifted. Yes. They were blessed. Yes.

But so are you!

And what they achieved, you can too!

We all can learn from their examples. We can grow and become better by following them. Not blindly, or without thought. But with intention: The intention to become better, to become more fully awakened to our beauty and to our greatness!

As we walk in their footsteps and follow their light, our light shines more brightly in the world. And as our light shines, we become a beacon for others!

We all need guidance. We all need support in our journey of growth and evolution. And when we actively seek that guidance, we automatically offer that guidance to others.

How were the Wise Men led to Jesus? How did they know that a great master was born?

It was a light in the sky. They followed that light. But why were there only three of them? Why did not more people see that light and follow it? Was it an actual light in the sky? Or was that a metaphor for an inner light, an inner knowing that led these three wise men to the place of his birth?

We’ll never know. And it really doesn’t matter. But what is important is to recognize that we all can see that light. Just as those wise men saw the light, just as the great masters have embraced and ultimately become that light, you have that same light guiding you.

We are all connected to that guidance but sometimes we forget that connection. Sometimes we see that light but deny it. Sometimes we hear that guidance but attempt to outsmart it thinking that we know a better way, a faster way, a more efficient way.

We don’t!

I know I don’t! And believe me I have tried to outsmart that guidance many times! It has never worked.

Now, as we sit in this time of darkness but feel the movement into the light, we have the opportunity to say yes to that guidance.

A New Year is coming. The days are growing longer. And so, our attention returns to the outer world and to our place in the world.

This is a good time to decide what light you will follow in 2009.

What light will guide you on your journey into this New Year?

Will you be guided by the light of Love? Or will it be fear?

Will you surrender to the light of Source? Or will it be “I can do it on my own?”

Will you be led by the light of God? Or will it be good enough?

You have the choice.

I have made mine. I choose Love, Source, God as my light and my guidance in 2009.

Will you join me?

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth 

Have You Seen This Gift Yet?

Speaking of Gratitude - my Thanksgiving post, and this post were both about gratitude - the folks at Mind Movies are offering 75% off of the digital version of their Video Vision Board creation kit. If you have not yet seen this offer, you’ll want to check it out now because it ends this Friday!

There is no better way to head into the New Year than with a shiny new vision board. And a video vision board that you can play each time you start up your computer is even better!

I know I’ll be starting 2009 off with a brand new video vision board. And now you can too. And fyi, they’ve also got about $700 worth of bonuses included in the offer.

So go check out the Mind Movies Creation Kit.

And just to be clear, this is the digital-only version of the creation kit. There is no physical product with this version. But still, you get all of the material included in the full version at an amazing price.

Oh, and if you do create a video vision board and post it online, I’d love to see it. Leave a comment below, or use the contact form to let me know where to view it.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth 

Don’t Leave Your Gratitude Behind

Here in the US, the Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone. If you celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope your day was filled with gratitude, joy, love, and, oh yeah, lots of great food!

You could say that Thanksgiving is the holiday of Deliberate Creators. Gratitude is one of the most potent vibrations for attracting your desires. Unfortunately, for many people, Thanksgiving is the beginning and end of their connection with gratitude.

As the Deliberate Creator of your life you cannot leave your gratitude behind with the Thanksgiving holiday. In order to create the life you desire gratitude must be one of your dominant thoughts at all times.

The Native Americans, for whom the Thanksgiving holiday holds mixed messages, lived in a state of gratitude. For them, giving thanks was, and for many, still is, a way of life, a moment-by-moment attitude.

Just imagine, for a moment, that instead of needing a holiday to remind us to be grateful, that gratitude was our natural state. Imagine that with every breath we felt grateful for the air around us, with every step we gave thanks for the ground upon which we walked, with every bite of food we ate, we offered appreciation to the plants and animals who gave their lives so that we might continue to live and grow.

Just imagine how you would feel. Imagine how your life would be different.

Let Thanksgiving be a reminder a life of Deliberate Creation is meant to be lived in a state of gratitude. Gratitude is not a one-time event. It is a way of being.

The master of attraction lives in a state of appreciation at all times and for all things in her life. Yes, ALL things. The Buddha said:

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.

And the master of attraction also holds in gratitude those things not yet in his life which he desires. The master of attraction says “thank you” for his desires rather than “please.”

Fill your desires with gratitude. Know that they are already created, even if you cannot yet see them in your life. Your gratitude will draw them to you as surely as a feeder in winter draws birds.

So don’t leave your gratitude behind. Practice the art of appreciation every day. Begin and end your day with gratitude. Share your gratitude with the people in your life. Stop throughout your day and offer gratitude for the breath you take.

Let your appreciation flow and watch your desires grow!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth 

Give Thanks for EVERYTHING In Your Life

Thanksgiving red corn

As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US I find myself in an interesting space with lots of opportunity for personal growth. This is the first Thanksgiving since my wife and I separated. So my daughter, Ella, and I will be hosting a small gathering at our house. We’ll be with some wonderful friends celebrating and offering our gratitude for the blessing in our lives.

But, even knowing this, as Ella and I spent time yesterday preparing for the holiday - shopping, cleaning, etc., - I felt a deep sadness threatening to overwhelm me: For the first time in 8 years I will not be celebrating the holiday with Melissa. And for the first time in at least 3 years, we will not be traveling east to join in the celebration with my parents, siblings and other family members.

While the holidays are “marketed” as a time of joy and love, they can also catalyze emotions at the other end of the emotional spectrum including sadness, grief, depression, anger and more. When these “darker” emotions show up, especially around the holidays, there can be a tendency to push them away. After all this is a time of giving thanks, a time for celebrating and appreciating family and friends. This is not the time to be grappling with sadness.

At least that’s what the prevailing “wisdom” says.

Yesterday, I found myself listening to that wisdom and attempting to deny the sadness. It was easy to justify the pushing away: I’ve already done plenty of grieving over the dissolution of our family. There’s no need for more. Especially not at this time of giving thanks.

I should be focusing on all of the blessings in my life, right?

Yes. Absolutely.

Of course the trap that most of us fall into is to give thanks for the things that we like while avoiding, denying or suppressing that which we don’t enjoy quite so much.

Perhaps we are thankful for the new car you have, but don’t feel quite so grateful each time we write the check to pay the car loan each month.

Maybe we give thanks for the way our partner holds us while we’re falling asleep, but don’t feel quite so grateful when he or she leaves dirty dishes in the sink.

Or perhaps, like me, you are grateful for the joy the holiday season brings, but not so willing to embrace the feelings of sadness that may also arrive.

Yesterday I got to watch myself turning my back on the sadness, attempting to push it back down into the shadows. I observed myself eating when I wasn’t hungry. I watched myself go shopping for Thanksgiving dinner and buy way more food than we needed. I saw myself calling friends, seeking the solace of connection.

And in all of these activities I was aware of my desire to fill the deep sadness and emptiness I felt inside.

It was not until late last night, after Ella was asleep, that I was able to let go of the resistance and allow myself to fully embrace that sadness.

The key for me was to stop running from the sadness, and to acknowledge it, appreciate it and allow it to flow, unrestricted, through me. And the interesting, though not surprising, thing is that as soon as I released my resistance, the intensity of the experience immediately decreased.

Once my resistance was gone, and the sadness could flow through me, unencumbered, there was no more pressure building up inside of me. Just like a river that encounters a fallen log on its journey to the ocean, my sadness encountered resistance in its path and had no choice but to push against it.

If you’ve ever seen a river smashing up against an obstacle you’ve seen how powerful that force can be. And if you have ever attempted to cross a river with a decent current you have actually felt that power.

Emotion is an equally powerful force.

It can be helpful to think of emotion as E - Motion or Energy in Motion. When you attempt to block or resist the emotional flow of energy it is like building a damn of logs and rocks in a very strong river: It might last for awhile, but eventually the force of the current is going to go over, around or through that resistance.

And when that happens, there’s going to be a big mess downstream as all of those rocks and logs start bashing into things as they get pushed along by that initial blast. And the longer you have been building that dam, the bigger the explosion will be.

Been there, done that!

In the past, I have been very good at resisting emotions. I became an expert at building dams and shoring them up as the pressure builds: Piling on more and more logs and boulders to hold that Energy in Motion back. And I have experienced the explosive destruction that happens when that dam finally breaks. When that happens there is nothing to do except hold on and hope you can ride out the wave without getting pounded by the tumbling rocks and logs!

Yesterday, when I realized what I was doing, I consciously chose to move the resistance out of the way and let the sadness continue on its journey. The beautiful thing is that when you take conscious control of the process, you can choose, to a certain extent, how much of that E-motion you want to flow.

There is, without a doubt, some unpredictability to emotion, but when you stop resisting it, and start acknowledging and appreciating it, you can choose to open up the flow bit by bit rather than all at once.

One of the keys, along with acknowledgment, is appreciation. When you appreciate your emotions, yes, all of them, you immediately dissolve the resistance. Resistance and appreciation cannot coexist.

Now you might wonder why you would want to appreciate sadness. After all, sadness doesn’t feel good. Right?

Wrong.

It’s not the sadness that feels bad, it’s the resistance to the sadness that feels bad.

Release the resistance and the E-Motion can move again. And any time emotions are flowing - the energy is in motion - it feels good. Yes, even sadness!

The strange thing I’ve discovered is that when I release my resistance and allow myself to really dive into the sadness, it actually feels good. Often, I find that the tears of sadness lead seamlessly into tears of joy. At some point, as the tears flow, I realize they have shifted from sadness to joy.

Not always. Sometimes it is just sadness that needs to flow. And that is all right as well. Because when the resistance is gone and the energy of sadness can be in motion, it does not get stuck anywhere. No pressure builds up and that movement of energy is awakening.

So my encouragement for you on this Thanksgiving is to appreciate everything in your life. Along with all of your obvious blessings, look to appreciate the blessings that come to you in “disguise.”

Appreciate the mess you have to clean up to get your house ready for the family. Appreciate the mess they leave after Thanksgiving dinner. Appreciate all the ways your family manages to get under your skin. Appreciate the arguments and the hugs, the bickering and the banter. Appreciate it all.

Yes, even appreciate any sadness or anger that comes up. Appreciation is the process that dissolves resistance. Appreciation removes those logs and boulders and allows your energy to flow - ALL of your energy.

And the amazing thing is that when you appreciate everything in your life, you begin to find more and more people, experiences, emotions, thoughts and things coming into your life to appreciate.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth 

Learn to Balance Your Chakras

Everything is energy.

I’m sure, by now, you’ve heard that phrase. This is not just some new age, woo woo platitude: Scientists have shown us that, at the atomic level, everything that appears solid is mostly empty space, or energy. In fact, your body is over 99.9999% empty space.

And because everything is energy, it just makes sense that awareness of that energy is a critical component of your success as the Deliberate Creator of your life. That is why I created the Energetics of Attraction Digital Learning Course. It provides you with powerful knowledge and practical tools for integrating the Human Energy Systems into the framework of the Law of Attraction.

But because it is a foundational level course, I provide only a basic overview of the chakra system. I do have a full chakra course planned for early next year. But what can you do if you’re ready to jump in and learn more about the chakras now?

Sonia Choquette - Chakra BalancingWell, the DailyOm has an opportunity to learn from one of the best in the business. Sonia Choquette is a unique and extraordinary spiritual teacher, intuitive guide and masterful catalyst whose special gift is to energetically activate the highest vibration and free the authentic Spirit in everyone she meets. She is a NY Times bestselling Author and #1 Amazon.com bestseller and has also been a personal Intuitive advisor to such New Age Leaders as Louise Hay, Julia Cameron, Caroline Myss, Dr. Wayne Dyer, pop icon Billy Corgan and consultant to international business leaders.

The DailyOm is offering Sonia’s 10-week Chakra Balancing course for just $39.

When your chakras are healthy and clear, your life flows smoothly. When any one of them is sluggish, shut down, or its vibration is weak, the imbalance can show up as a physical symptom affecting a particular area of your body, or as an emotional or psychological symptom affecting your outlook.

And when one or more of your chakras are out of balance, your ability to attract and manifest your desires dramatically decreases.

With the Balancing Your Chakras on-line course, you will first come to understand the nature of each chakra. Second, you will learn how to tell if any of your chakras are in need of attention, and third, the course will show you simple behaviors you can do to work with each chakra to bring your life back into harmonious and healthy flow. The result is that you will start to feel more confident, energized, and peaceful-at every moment in any situation.

Some of the topics covered in this course include:

  • Detailed information about each of the 7 chakras
  • How to determine which chakras are need of help
  • How to work with each chakra to bring your life back into harmonious and healthy flow
  • How to balance your chakras
  • Healing mudras for each chakra
  • Corresponding colors and tones for each chakra
  • Real life challenges we all face and how to use chakras to help
  • How to read chakras
  • Chakra exercises and visualizations
  • 22 video clips that give you practical and in depth information how to work with your chakras

If you are ready to amp up your ability to attract your desires, this chakra balancing class is a great resource. Go check it out.

And if you’re interested in more specific information on how to integrate energetic awareness into the Law of Attraction, go sign up for the Energetics of Attraction Digital Learning Course. I’ve got a Recession Busting 1/2 off sale happening right now!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Energetics, Healing, Personal Growth 

Release the Money Madness and Unleash YOUR Money Magic

After last week’s election, there seems to be a lot more hopefulness, at least around here. However, the mainstream media didn’t skip a beat - well maybe one little beat - before jumping right back into the negativity and fear mongering.

Here are a few of the headlines from this week’s financial news sources:

CNN wrote: Recession fear batters Wall Street: Stocks retreat on worries about corporate health amid the global economic slowdown.

ABC wrote: DHL Stamps Out 9500 jobs.

And here are the last three weekly “Vital Signs” headlines from Business Week:

  • Weak Economy Weighs on Profits
  • Employment Outlook Gets Gloomier
  • Business Activity Shows a Deepening Recession

I think you get the picture.

Yes, there is a glimmer of hope. There is some light. But the vast majority of people are still focusing on what? …

That’s right: Negativity. Gloom and doom. Fear, doubt, and uncertainty.

As a Deliberate Creator, you have an unprecedented opportunity, right now, to take advantage of this environment.

Most people are focused on lack. And guess what are they experiencing in their lives?

Exactly. Lack, scarcity. They are watching money flow out of their lives. And as money flows out of their lives they focus on it, which amplifies the energy of lack and so more money flows out. It’s a vicious cycle.

But there is always balance in the universe. There has to be. And the money that is flowing out of people’s lives now - and there is a LOT of it - has to be going somewhere. That money doesn’t just vanish!

And the Deliberate Creators who are able to pull their attention out of the fear, doubt, confusion and chaos that is swirling around, and shift it to the abundance that is available will reap bountiful rewards in this turbulent time.

It happened during the Great Depression and it’s going to happen now. Except that now there are many more high vibration, highly conscious people with the potential to bring that higher level of consciousness to the process.

I recently released an audio program called: Release the Money Madness and Unleash YOUR Money Magic.

There is no cost for you to download Part 1 of the program. And when you do, you’ll discover exactly why this time of financial turbulence provides such an amazing opportunity for financial growth.

You’ll learn how the exclusion of Spirit from our financial interactions has a profound impact on all of our lives and the well-being of our planet.

You’ll learn why this time of crisis is an especially ripe moment for re-injecting sacredness into our relationship with money and why doing so will help take you to the next level of financial abundance.

You’ll learn how to leverage the knowledge that money is energy (you may have heard that statement, but have you ever been shown how to use that knowledge to enhance your financial situation? If not, you’ll definitely want to listen to this program).

And much more.

As I said, there is no cost for Part 1. Here’s why.

I’m using this program to try out the Pay it Forward model.

Basically, I am paying your way into part 1 of this audio program. I feel so strongly that everyone can benefit from this information, that I don’t want there to be anything in your way.

So go download Part 1 of Release the Money Madness and Unleash YOUR Money Magic right now:

Once you have listened to Part 1 you’ll have the opportunity to Pay it Forward. In the recording I tell you more about that opportunity, and why Paying it Forward is such an amazing tool for enhancing your own prosperity!

But for now, go get Part 1, listen to it and be inspired to THRIVE in this environment.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth 

Some Questions Cannot Be Answered

Last week I attended the funeral for the nephew of a friend. Franco was just 4 ½ when he left this world after many months of battling an inoperable brain tumor.

The thought that my daughter is just 6-months older than Franco kept poking up into my mind while I sat on the hard bench of the Catholic church waiting for the service to begin.

Questions came up: What if this happened to Ella? How would I react? What would I feel right now if it was Ella in that tiny casket? Could I handle it with the dignity and grace that Franco’s family was bringing? Why did Franco have to die? Why did a beautiful 4 ½ year old boy who brought such joy to his family and to the world have to die?

As if reading my mind – and probably the minds of many people in that church – the priest began his service in a surprising manner. He said that he didn’t have the answer. He said that he could stand up there at the service of the 95 year old grandmother and say that she had lived a “good, full, long” life. Why is her death “right” but not Franco’s?

But he couldn’t tell us “why” Franco had died.

Are there answers to that question? Of course there are.

You could say, “There is a reason for everything,” or “It was his time,” or “His death opened the possibility for those he left behind to grow and evolve,” or “Death is the natural flow out of life.” Or, as the priest said, “He is with God in heaven now.”

All of those may be true. But they are not The Truth. We just don’t know why a four year old has to die.

We just don’t know why thousands of people had to die during the attacks of 9/11.

We don’t know why babies are killed in wars.

We don’t know why anyone is killed in wars.

We don’t know why people are murdered.

We don’t know. We can’t know.

In the days following Franco’s funeral, I sat with the thought of Franco’s death and the priest’s acknowledgment that there are some questions that cannot be answered. And I began to play with the idea of letting go of the need for answers.

What if Franco just died and there is no reason, no answer? What if we are just meant to be with the experience and release the need for an answer?

I felt a huge surge of energy as that thought moved through me.

You see, we all have unanswerable questions about our own lives: Questions that occupy far too much of our time and energy.

For me, as an adopted child, the question that I have asked throughout my life is, “Why did my mother give me up for adoption.” And when I have been in a less positive space that question has been, “Why did my mother abandon me.” Or, “Why didn’t she love me.”

For the first 23 years of my life I sought the answer on my own. I would find an answer that felt “right” for a while, only to discover some new twist or hidden place inside of me that did not fit into that answer.

When I met my biological mother over 20-years ago, I began probing for information that could help me find THE answer. The question was no longer hypothetical. There was an actual person to ask and I was able to hear her answers. I could ask, “Why did YOU give me up for adoption?”

And in these last 20-years we have talked and cried and done healing work together, including rituals of forgiveness. And while her answers make “sense” to my mind, they can never satisfy the questioning of the wounded part within me.

That part of me, the wounded part within, will never hear THE answer because there is no answer that will satisfy that part of me.

The question itself is unanswerable.

How much time and energy have I have spent seeking that answer, the answer that does not exist? I could never even begin to measure how much of my life has been spent (wasted?) seeking that answer.

You could say that the answer to that question has been my holy grail. And now, with the help of a Catholic priest and a beautiful 4 year old boy, I see that the only way to find the grail is to release the question.

And I believe we all have a question like that.

You have a question that is unanswerable, a question that takes your time, saps your strength, and drains your energy.

Your question may be:

“Why did my father leave me?”

“Why was I abused?”

“Why didn’t my mother love me as much as my sister?”

“Why did my parents wish I was a boy?”

“Why did my brother have to die?”

You know your unanswerable question. You know the question that drives you, that directs your life. Are you willing to accept that this question cannot be answered?

To leave the question unanswered does not mean that you are denying what happened. It does not mean that you are denying the pain of the experience.

No. In fact, just the opposite. When you let go of the question, when you accept that the question can never be answered, you allow yourself to embrace the experience fully. You allow yourself to feel it fully. And in doing so, you open the doorway to the possibility of releasing the charge that this question and this past experience holds over you.

How much energy would you gain if you could release your unanswerable question?

As I move more fully into accepting that I can never answer the question, “Why did my mother give me up for adoption,” I feel more and more energy flowing into and through me. The energy I have been using to seek that answer, both consciously and unconsciously, is now available for other pursuits. Now, I can focus that energy in new and powerful ways.

So what is your unanswerable question?

And is it possible that the time has come for you to accept that this question can never be answered?

I hope so.

And I wonder, could it be possible that Franco died so that those of us left behind might begin to understand that some questions have no answers?

Or is that just another attempt to put an answer on what is essentially unanswerable?

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Death & Dying, Personal Growth 

Kaizen: Continuous Improvement For Personal Growth

Lately I’ve been touting the benefits of small, incremental, but continuous improvements to my coaching clients, course participants and in my own life.

You see, I’ve spent a long time being a personal growth junkie. For many years I felt that if I wasn’t in the midst of some massive, Earth-shattering, mind-blowing, intensive growth phase I must be doing something wrong.

The problem with that approach to personal growth, as I’ve slowly but surely come to realize, is that it doesn’t leave you with a whole lot of energy to function effectively in the “real” world. And that just doesn’t work.

I started exploring the idea of continuous improvement a couple of years ago with this article on Split Testing for Personal Growth.

And if you’ve listened to my new audio program, Release the Money Madness and Unleash Your Money Magic, you know that I encourage you to choose just one or two personal growth tools and focus on them for two to three weeks before tackling the next one.

Well now I just got an email from Mark Joyner, the creator of Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want, which I highly recommend, by the way, that validates this idea of continuous improvement!

Mark has just released a new program called the Kaizen Club. If you don’t know what Kaizen means, Wikipedia says that:

Kaizen (改善, Japanese for “continuous improvement”) is a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life.

I was first introduced to the concept of Kaizen in the mid-80s when the financial services company I was working for decided to implement a Total Quality Management program and shoot for the Malcolm Baldridge Award.

We didn’t win, and the program was scrapped within 2-years after a cost of several million dollars! The culture in that company was just not open to the key ideas of Total Quality Management and Kaizen.

But even back then, through all my twenty-something angst and cynicism, I could tell that there was a hidden power in the seemingly simple concept of Continuous Improvement. I could sense there was a key to success, both in business and in life - although it would take me almost two decades to begin applying the concept in my own life and business.

Now Mark’s Kaizen Club makes it simple to apply the concept of Continuous Improvement in your life. I just wish he had created this program 20-years ago!

I’m going over there right now to sign up - the program just launched a couple of hours ago. I’m going to give it a try for the next week - there’s a 7-day trial. I’ll write up a full review then and let you know what I think. However, you might want to go sign up for the trial now because there are a couple of amazing bonuses that he may pull out of the bonus package.

And even if you don’t sign up for the Kaizen Club, consider how you can begin implementing the concept of continuous improvement in your life. What one small change can you make in your life that will, over the course of your lifetime have a significant impact?

Think about it and leave a comment below letting us know.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Personal Growth, Productivity, Simpleology, life hacks 

Obama, Hope And A New Beginning

We made history last night. No matter what side of the aisle you sit on, no matter who you voted for, whether you live here in America or watched the results from elsewhere, you know that change is in the air.

Something is different today.

This morning we woke up to hope.

This morning we woke up to a real sense of possibility and potential.

This morning we woke up knowing that real change is possible.

And this morning we know that each of us has the power to create that change.

Our votes and our voices were heard and counted. And our long desire for positive change has now begun to manifest.

Last night we, as a collective voice, voted for hope. We said yes to the positive change that is possible.
But our work, as Deliberate Creators, is just beginning!

In this election we have shown the world and proven to ourselves that we can remain focused on our desires.
In the previous elections our collective attention was fixated on what we did NOT want. In this election we had a true leader who inspired us to stay focused on what we DO want.

Now, our work is to continue to focus on our desires. Continue to focus on the possibilities and the positive change we want to see in our own lives and in the world.

Last night we took a huge step in the direction of positive change. And we must not fritter away the momentum that step has generated.

We now have a leader, a true leader, to inspire us. But he is just one person. He helped to rally us and focus our attention. But each and every one of us played a part in this historic event. And each and every one of us must continue to play a part.

Take a moment to feel the hope. And even if you did not vote for Obama, I encourage you to drop your guard for a moment and feel into that hope. It is there, for all of us. And it’s here, not because of Obama.

The hope is here because of you, and me, and each and every person who said “yes” to the dream of a more positive future.

Over 45 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of a dream. He had the dream “that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Last night we took a big step towards making that dream come true.

But it is not the color of Obama’s skin that is most important or most remarkable. No, as Deliberate Creators, what is most important is the hope he has inspired in this country.

Feel that hope. Breathe it in. What does it feel like to look forward to the future, to have positive expectations of where we can go, what we can achieve, who we can become?

For too long we have been mired in the despair of hopelessness, seeing no light at the end of the tunnel. For too long we have been focused on all that was “wrong.”

Now there is a bright light calling to us.

But remember, no matter what happens, that light is not out there, in the world. No, that light is within you.
You are the light. You are the hope.

Last night you became the change you wished to see in the world!

Continue to be that light. Shine that light on the world. And watch, with amazement as your world, your life, reflects the change you are becoming.

So here is to hope. Here is to joy and light and positive expectation.
And here, most of all, is to the awakening and unfolding of YOUR greatness!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Inspiration, Personal Growth 

Learn Practical Energy Tools That Can Help You Thrive In This Environment

Last Thursday, I offered a gift to you: The free teleclass, 3 Simple Energy Tools to Help You Step out of the Fear and into the Fun. On the call, I shared three very simple, but powerful tools to help you stay out of the energy of fear that is swirling all around us now.

Over 80 people registered for the live call, and the recording has been downloaded many more times since Thursday. If you have not listened to it, you can download the MP3 recording here.

During the call, I mentioned the upcoming 6-week Energetics of Attraction Live Course. This 6-week teleseminar series will provide you with simple yet extremely powerful tools for navigating the turbulent waters we’re in right now.

This course is a totally revised version of the original Energetics of Attraction live course and the Digital Learning Course. The curriculum has been updated to reflect the chaos, confusion and fear that is swirling around us right now. The lessons and the tools have been modified to help you apply them in this environment.

And because I don’t want that fear to get in the way of you signing up for this course, I have lowered the tuition by $100! It’s my way to bite back at this economic meltdown!

And if you read this in time, by Tuesday, November 5th, you’ll have the opportunity to save even more. I’ve taken another $100 off the tuition through Tuesday. (It was meant to be a 24-hour Halloween special, but I forgot to send out the email on Friday. D’oh! My trick, your treat.)

The bottom line is that I don’t want money, or the fear surrounding money to be the reason you say no to this life changing opportunity.

And, as with all of my online events, the course comes with my no-questions-asked guarantee. If you don’t feel you’ve received incredible value from the course, just ask for a refund and you’ll get your money back with no questions asked.

My intention with this course is to arm you with a set of powerful energetic tools that have real world, practical, applications. After all, energy tools are great, but if they don’t help you thrive in the “real” world, they’re not very useful.

So over the next 6-weeks I will be sharing these tools with you in a way that will allow you to immediately put them into use in your “real” life. You will learn how to use these techniques to get out of the fear, confusion and doubt and stay out of it. And once you’re out of it, you can use these tools to dramatically accelerate the creation of a truly awesome life.

I sure hope to see you on the first call this Thursday.

You can get all the details about the course and register for the Energetics of Attraction Live Course here:

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Energetics, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth, Upcoming Events, Workshops