It is International Women’s Day today.

And I have been thinking of all the wonderful women in my life I am grateful for.

I am also grateful for the many opportunities available to women in business today and I would like to congratulate the women included on the Smartcompany list of female entrepreneurs, published last week to commemorate International Women’s Day.  I am honoured to have been included on that list in the company of such inspiring women

Maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” is a powerful force, capable of completely transforming my state of mind in an instant.

Waking up in a positive state

A discipline I have used at various times of my life is to wake up and think about all the things I am grateful for.

21-Day Challenge

Set yourself the challenge for 21 days to spend a few minutes and ask yourself what you are grateful for.  In fact, write 5 things down in the morning each and every day and notice how this sets the tone for the day for you. I guarantee you will feel happy and train your mind to automatically focus on what’s great about your life.

We get what we focus on so remember to focus on what you want.

As my good friend, Chris Howard, says “what you appreciate, appreciates”

For more information on the Smartcompany review of Australian businesswomen to commemorate International Women’s Day, visit http://bit.ly/9ef5Nd

One of our speakers and trainers, Andrew Barnett, author of the best-seller “The 7 Minute Workday Escape 9-5 Forever”, tells a powerful story about Elephants.

No one will argue that an Elephant is the most powerful land animal we have on earth and is capable of huge physical force and feats of strength.

Observe an Elephant in the wild and you will see it has the ability to push down massive trees, just to get the berries from a branch out of its reach.

Yet anyone who has been to a circus or a zoo will notice that Adult Elephants are tied down with a simple rope from their leg to a stake in the ground.

To the observer this makes no sense. How can a simple rope hold down one of the world’s most powerful and majestic animals?

The fact is, it does this very successfully. The rope keeps the Elephant’s enormous strength under total control at all times.

How is this so? Wouldn’t the rope simply break or the peg leave the ground the instant the elephant applied even the smallest amount of force?

The answer is yes, it would absolutely break with little effort.

However, this would only happen if the Elephant was able to break, not the rope, but its years of training and the way it was taught to think: It’s mental rope.

You see, these Elephants have been trained since they were very small that they cannot break free. To start with, the trainers use very strong chains attached to stakes dug deep into the ground.  Over the years the young Elephant begins to realise pulling and trying to escape the chain and stake is impossible.

As the Elephant grows and gets used to the idea that the stake and chain is unbreakable, the trainer can attach just about any old flimsy rope to the Elephant’s foot and tie it to a stake of limited strength (compared to the Elephant’s abilities), and the Elephant will believe it is trapped.

Now, this is a practice I personally do not condone.  The reason for me re-telling this story is that it’s not just Elephants who forget they can dance.  From a young age, many of us are conditioned to believe ideas that keep us chained to lives that are not what we dreamed.

What are the mental ropes that are keeping you tied down?

Like the Elephant, you are a powerful being.  Many of the things we believe are holding us back can be broken through with the smallest amount of effort, once we know how.  And we can be left wondering how we let it keep us trapped for so long.

Don’t you think it is time to dance?

My personal aim, and the purpose of Universal Events, is to provide tools, training and inspiration to help you break through those ties and to step into the life you have always envisioned for yourself.

For more information on our programs, visit: http://www.universalevents.com.au/events

To learn more specifically about how you can see Andrew Barnett LIVE at his “7 Minute Workday” Seminar (and secure your complimentary tickets) visit:  http://www.wealthfromtrading.com.au/

I’m loving Chris Howard’s new book Instant Wealth: Wake Up Rich.

In it he talks about 5 different types of dichotomies that we have all been caught in from time to time, which keep us from having what we really want in life.

Chris explains a dichotomy as that “either-or” kind of thinking… when we start to believe if we have or do one thing, we can’t have or do something else.

Here’s the 5 major dichotomous ways of thinking that Chris outlines in his book as the major contributors towards the “social hypnosis” that keeps many people from living their ideal life.

Dreams Vs Obligations
Ever felt you had to choose between your dreams and your obligations?  Many of us get stuck believing we have to fulfil all our obligations before we can start living our dreams.

Here’s what Chris says, “The truth is that your biggest obligation to the people you love is to show them how to live a truly inspired life.”

Spirituality Vs Materialism
Who says you either have to focus on being spiritually enlightened or focus your efforts solely on making money?  And yet, I know this is a real issue we’ve all struggled with.  And it can lead to feelings of guilt or the idea that we have to somehow sacrifice our spirituality to pursue our financial goals.

Here’s what Chris says, “The key to enlightened Instant Wealth is to channel your spiritual energies into the pursuit of all your goals. When you wake up to this realization, life becomes truly rich.”

Passion Vs Money
This dichotomy has you believing you either need to be a starving artist doing what you love, or you have to “sell out” to make money.

Here’s what Chris says, “What assisted me in breaking through this dichotomy was the inspiration I received from other super-wealthy, super-successful entrepreneurs who were making money by waking up to what they loved.”

Social Vs Money
This is the illusion that you either focus on making money or you focus on making a social contribution.

Here’s what Chris says,  “Those goals are not mutually exclusive. In this book you’ll meet many people who have given so much of their great wealth to support wonderful and inspiring causes around the world.”

Social Vs Passion
Here, our black and white thinking can have us believe we can either focus on being a good person and making a contribution to society, or we can follow our own personal dreams.

Here’s what Chris says, “I was lost between these two concepts until I learned that we contribute directly to the world through self-expression. By shining brightly, you give others permission to shine the same.”

Chris Howard’s book, Instant Wealth: Wake Up Rich is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller.  To purchase his book on Amazon, click here.

To attend a LIVE Christopher Howard Training click here for upcoming event dates.

I have just spent the weekend with my good friend, Chris Howard, at the first-ever Wealth Propulsion event in Sydney.

It was an inspiring two and a half days and it has really got me thinking about this idea Chris put forward of each of us having our own personal Wealth Propulsion System.According to the guys at NASA, the word Propulsion comes from two Latin words: pro meaning before or forwards and pellere meaning to drive.  Which makes sense when you consider that Propulsion means to push forward or drive an object forward.  Interestingly, a propulsion system is a machine that produces the thrust to push an object forward.

What Chris was giving us this past weekend was an insight into the “machine” that produces the thrust forward in our own lives – our mindset.

That machine can be hampered by our social hypnosis and fear, or it can be fine-tuned through education and awareness to catapult us forward to live our passions and grow our wealth.

Once we get the machine working, forward movement becomes inevitable.  So many times we are doing the actions we think are needed for forward motion, but we are still operating under our old limiting beliefs and being driven by limiting values and motivations… and not getting anywhere!

The importance of investing in ourselves; in our mindset – the machine that produces the thrust forward in our lives, is not to be underestimated.

According to Chris, “a massive learning machine is a massive earning machine” and I believe that to be true.