As someone who was born painfully shy, with little self-esteem, I made friends with the “act as if” method (also known as “fake it ‘till you make it”) in high school. I went from a quiet sophomore to a confident, wildly-dressed junior, all thanks to my drama club and one very empowering exercise.

See, my drama teacher didn’t call it “acting as if.” But for a variety of circumstances, we had to write our own play that year, and it was based on characters that we all created one day. She had simply said, “Choose a character that’s a complete stretch for you — someone so far removed from yourself that you’ll have a tough time playing it.”

What she didn’t tell us was that we would be playing that character in the school play, not just for that day’s club meeting.

I chose a punk rocker, and they brought in a real punker to make sure my makeup and hair was authentic. She put me in extensive black eye makeup, black lip liner around bright red lips, and a pink faux-hawk. When I saw the girl in the mirror — the one that looked nothing like me — I was almost instantly transformed.

While in costume I met a guy who would become a good friend, and he showed me that I could access that confidence anytime. Suddenly I was spiking and bleaching my hair, wearing tight jeans and spiked belts. I wasn’t dressing like a punk anymore, but I was a full-out new waver (this was in the ‘80s, as you might be able to tell).

So I acted as if I was a confident, trendy chick instead of a shy, awkward mouse, and became that…

>>> CONTINUE READING Act As If You Have What You Want…

Do you feel any uncertainty in your life? My friend and colleague, Michelle Casto, is a Life, Career and Soul Coach who promises to be able to help you live your life with passion and power.

I interviewed Michelle about her views on manifestation and passionate living, and here’s an excerpt on what she had to say, including an exercise on how to Discover Your Soul Goals:

Heather:  What is that process of manifestation as you teach it?

Michelle:  For me it’s really just focusing your attention in the forms of thoughts, feelings, and words in the direction of your dreams or the goal that you have in mind. When you do that you have a miracle of manifesting.

There are, of course, a few stages in that. We’ll talk about that. But each of the stages has specific things that I teach; what to do. As well, within each of those stages, there is a Universal law that goes along with each of the stages.

Heather:  Okay, so let’s walk through what the different stages are…

>>> CONTINUE READING Accelerate Your Soul Purpose…

One of our favorite slogans around here is “Adapt, Overcome and Improvise.” Barry started saying it years ago, and together we’ve made it into a Goss family motto.

For what it means, and how it can help you like it’s helped the Marines, job seekers and us, read my latest article on Life As A Human: Adapt, Overcome and Improvise.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

Last week I posted a personal development riddle and promised to give the answer today — along with some tips for making it work for you instead of against you.

I must say, all the answers were great, and could certainly apply (as I’ll explain in a minute).

But the answer that the author of the riddle had in mind is “habit”.

Habits can be good, or habits can be bad. They can empower you, or they can bring you down. As one commenter said: “First, you make your habits. Then, they make you.”

Two people got that answer: Tara Needham and Mark Kemp. Because of that, I decided to give an unannounced prize of a little plug for each of them.

I’ve actually used Tara’s services; she’s a transcriptionist, and an excellent one at that. I’ve used a lot of transcriptionists for interviews, and I’ve been frustrated with the inaccuracies from many of them.

Tara has a great attention to detail, so if you do interviews or other audios for teleseminars, podcasts, webinars, or info products, and want to increase the value of your offering by including transcripts (or making it into a book), see what Transcription Team can do for you.

I’d never met or heard of Mark before, but his website sells unique gifts: recordings of messages from loved ones, burned onto CD, for a special occasion (wedding, birthday, anniversary, graduation, or whatever you want to commemorate).

I remember a few years ago a marketing brethren was hospitalized with a brain aneurysm, and some of us did something similar in a makeshift way; apparently hearing all our voices helped his spirits and memory. So this could be pretty powerful: check out Priceless Memories to record friends’ and family members’ voices for presentation and posterity.

Now, about those other answers, and some tips for making habit your friend…

>>> CONTINUE READING The Answer: Who Your Constant Companion Is…

Barry passed this little gem of a riddle onto me about the constant companion we all have, who can be good or bad to hang around with.

I’ve seen it hold people back far too many times… but as the riddle tells you, this companion can also propel you forward:

GUESS WHO I AM….

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.

I am completely at your command.

Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed — you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great people and, alas, of all failures, as well.

Those who are great, I have made great.

Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a person. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin — it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

I’ll reveal the answer on this blog in a week… along with some tips on making it work for you instead of blocking your progress.

In the meantime, submit your guess as a comment on this post by clicking here.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

“I don’t have the time!”

Well, if you don’t, in theory, neither do I. You see, time is the one constant that all us human beings have. After all, we each have the same 86,400 seconds per day to do what we need, want, and have to do.

Somebody once said that life gives us only two things: opportunity and time. Now, when you think about the old adage, time is money, can you see how that really means that life gives us money?

If you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth, that might not seem right, but it really is. See, whenever you do something, or get something, you use up one or more of three resources: time, money or energy.

And really, since everything in the Universe is made up of energy at a quantum level, all three of those are energy. So let’s take energy out of the equation and say that you either use (spend) time or money. Always. Every second of the day. All 86,4000 of them.

In return, you get a certain level of value back (another form of energy). You can trade time for sleep (value), trade money for food (value), trade time and money for a date with someone special (value), and on and on.

Now, you know from high school physics class that energy can not be created or destroyed; it can only change forms. So when we say we “make money” or “make time” for something, what it really means is that we’ve effectively turned one into the other… or another type of value into one… or one into more of the same.

Huh? If that’s about as clear as mud, just stick with me for a minute (see, I’m asking you to give me some of your time… and I’ll give you value in return, in the form of some thought-provoking information).

>>> CONTINUE READING Why do you keep telling people this…?…

Something came across Barry’s desk this morning, that he passed along to me. It kind of makes us shake our heads and wonder what some teachers are thinking.

It was an email promoting an upcoming weekend seminar called “Turning Passion Into Profit” where five mentors are promising to teach you how to run a hugely successful business in ANY economy… by using your mind energy (your attitudes, beliefs, and so forth).

Okay, look… I admire people’s ability to marry inner-world and outer-world teachings. Like we always say, you need to have a bit of both to be a bigger success in whatever you do.

But in the spirit of one of our previous posts, Wealth is NOT an Inside Job, I have to tell you… your mindset is not the most important part of creating a successful business during a recession (or, from a real-world financial perspective, a very possible near-term future depression)…

>>> CONTINUE READING “Minding” Your “Business” The Right Way…

They say we should all teach what we need to know, rather than just what we already know.

And, like everything “they say”, it can be empowering or detrimental, to yourself and others, depending on how literally you take it.

For instance… the concept of “acting as if”, or “fake it till you make it” can be very powerful. If you “be” what you want, and “do” what it takes to get there, you can “have” whatever it is that much quicker.

This be-do-have principle says that if you want to be a singer, you tell the world you’re a singer, and then you sing your little butt off as you practice every day, and then you become a talented singer who can carry a tune across the country and back, smiling every step of the way as you entertain everyone you meet.

And from a journalistic perspective, it also makes perfect sense. If you enjoy investigating and learning what you need to know, and then passing those gems of knowledge on to others by publishing or producing something they can benefit from, you’re empowering yourself and your audience.

For instance, I’ve been writing a lot of parenting articles lately, as you can see from my portfolio. But I’m not claiming to be a parenting expert… I’ve only been a parent for 10 months! What I am claiming to be is a writer who is passionate about researching and discovering new things that can help me on this parenting journey, and sharing that treasure with others in the same boat.

Yes, it’s “teaching”… but I’m not really the “teacher”.

>>> CONTINUE READING Are You a Visionary or a Fraud?…

We almost take brainstorming for granted sometimes, but for kids it’s brand new. Beyond that, it’s an effective way to look beyond the obvious and find creative solutions.

This year as school begins, give your child another tool for success; discover How To Jumpstart Your Child’s Mind with Brainstorming in my article on Education.com

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

About a month or so back, Barry and I watched this entire video and got some great tips to revamp certain aspects of our business.

See, with the economy the way it is, people aren’t so attracted to “buying” something anymore… but they sure do appreciate something of value for free!

So, do you think you can give away some free CDs or DVDs?

Cool!

Do you think you can make money at it?

If you’re not sure… you need to watch this video now.

But be sure to set aside some time, because it’s all content and it’s almost an hour long.

Trust me, though, it’s worth it.

You’ll also want to see Video #2 which you can get on the next page, but I’d recommend watching Video #1 first for the meat, and then Video #2 for some inspiration.

And don’t forget to look for your chance to get a free pre-loaded MP3 (seriously! It’s at the end of the report that goes with Video #2), or win a free course just by leaving a blog comment.

It’s all right here, right now.

Keep Unwrapping Your Success!

P.S. I know the best way for doing this whole thing easily with one integrated system — it’s the one we have, and the same system Russell himself uses — and I’ll tell you about it in a day or two.