Tag Archives: hope

Grateful for… Everything?

Positive Thinking Tip: When facing setbacks or obstacles, find a way to feel good about them. it activates the laws of success in your favor.

Question: How can I feel grateful for everything?

Answer: Through increased awareness of what’s really happening.

Now, I’m about to throw some heavy philosophical stuff at you. Ready for this? Read these next lines really carefully, one at a time…

Courage does not eliminate fear… but the right kind of knowledge does every time.

An awareness of truth in spite of appearances is the power behind faith, and faith can move mountains.

Lack of awareness is like darkness, which is merely the absence of light. A dark room can be illuminated with just a tiny light… it doesn’t take much to make a significant difference in a dark room. Likewise, knowledge has the same effect.

Are you smothered in the darkness of fear and uncertainty? Add just a spark of new knowledge and awareness to your mind, and the fear shrinks away like darkness in an illuminated room.

When you change how you feel, the nature of your surroundings begin to shift ever so slightly as well. People begin to respond to you differently. Someone who may not have had two words for you before may suddenly feel compelled to talk with you, and perhaps be the connection you need to help you reach your goal.

Or, maybe your altered mood will cause you to go somewhere you didn’t feel like going before… and what you need to reach your goal may be found there.

How the achievement of a goal all comes together for you will likely be a mystery until after it’s all said and done. In the meantime, all you can control is how you allow yourself to feel about what’s going on, and based on how you feel, you’ll either make choices that take you closer to your goal, or choices that keep you from achieving the success you desire.

Faith is a feeling of “hope” and “expectation,” both of which are necessary for success. So you might be wondering, “How can I have faith and feel good about all the bad stuff I have to deal with?”

It’s learning to believe in something that can’t be seen. It’s gaining additional knowledge that illuminates your mind causing the darkness of despair to shrink away. The truth is, there is a Law of Polarity that promises a potential blessing to compensate for every hardship.

I like to think of the story shared by Corrie Ten Boom who suffered many difficulties in the German Concentration Camps. At one time, she and her sister argued about whether they must express gratitude to God for even the fleas that infested their quarters. They were women of faith, but this was a tough thing to do. As it turned out, many of the prisoners were regularly troubled by the guards, but Corrie and her sister were left alone alone because of those horrible fleas.

In truth, as Napoleon Hill so eloquently stated, “Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” So yes, we can be grateful for even the fleas, and even the hardships we face today. In truth, all things can work out for our good if we expect them to, looking forward to the understanding that will eventually come, and then allowing the good to emerge through the tragedy like a gleaming sunrise after the coldest, darkest night. Remember, it’s always darkest just before the dawn.

As M. Catherine Thomas said it in her book, Light in the Wilderness, “…if you wish to feel the most penetrating power of the Spirit, try the experiment of giving thanks in the moment of disappointment, of tragedy, of the specter of ruin. When you are able to do it consistently, you will feel as though you have discovered and united with the mystery of life.”

Read the entertaining short story that has given NEW hope and an “I-can’t-believe-I-didn’t-know-this-before” awareness to people all over the world since 2005: The Jackrabbit Factor.

(Don’t worry; it’s FREE!)

When Things Look Bleak

Positive Thinking Tip: Reflect with gratitude on your current blessings and previous victories.

I remember being in a real slump a few years back… on the verge of some pretty exciting things, but attacked by some new thoughts of concern.

I had set some lofty goals some time previously, and as the target date was approaching, and as things appeared to be bleak, it took all my energy to continually push aside doubtful thoughts.

For several days in a row I was plagued by questions such as:

  • “What if it doesn’t work out?”
  • “What if you miss your goals?”
  • “What will you do if the resources you need don’t come through?”

Each time an anxious thought came into my head, I rejected it. But just rejecting it wasn’t enough to leave me with burning faith, either. I was losing sight of my objectives, and felt weak in my ability to apply the very principles of prosperity I teach.

“Oh, give yourself a break, Leslie… you’re just pregnant.” I’m acutely aware of my emotional state when hormones are all wacky, and I learned to trust in God’s mercy in spite of myself. I believe He can bless me even when I’m not perfect (thank heavens)… and I’ve learned that because I choose that way of thinking over the more typical “I’m not worthy of His blessings” mentality, He is then able to send the blessings, by law…

Still, even though I have, in the past, been able to believe in my goals in spite of myself, that particular week was especially tough. Hope was fading, and I struggled not to just give up.

So I turned to two of my closest friends for support, and to help me fix my thinking. I knew that it was my thinking that needed fixing, even more than the circumstances around me (the lack of evidence that I would succeed). It was my thinking that needed fixing, because my success depended on it.

Let me share with you what they told me:

Marnie’s advice – “Dig into gratitude for what you have and what you know is coming. Also… depression isn’t such a bad thing because it makes you willing to change, helps you see contrast…also the whole [law of] rhythm thing… something great’s around the corner …refocus spiritually… Doctrine and Covenants 6:33-37 really helped me get through [a similar slump]“

(The reference she was talking about reads: “Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail… Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”)

My husband’s comment: “God hasn’t brought us this far to fail now…”

That struck me like a ton of bricks. It made me think back to all of the miracles He has performed for us, and it would be absurd to think that He would bring us this far, only for us to give up on our dreams and fail to accomplish the worthy things we’ve set out to do.

Suddenly, the struggle seemed like a waste of time and energy. No longer did I feel like I was IN the struggle; I felt like I had just set it aside as something I chose to have nothing to do with.

I found a quiet place and took Marnie’s advice to think on all the things I have to be grateful for. And you know what? It wasn’t just a nice exercise, it was literally an action step taken to get me back on track. Because I have a growing understanding of the laws of success, I knew that to take a half hour or an hour to allow myself to feel gratitude to God for all He has done, maybe even to the point of tears, was to put myself in harmony with Him again, and prepare myself to receive the very blessings He wants to send me.

No matter how far we come in learning these principles, we will be challenged our entire life to continue exercising those “muscles”. They can atrophy if we let them. Once again, I became excited about my dreams.

It’s true: we can make of our life anything we want it to be!

Above all, the only things that really needs fixing when things look bleak are your thoughts.

Get your thinking right, and everything else falls into place.

Download a free copy of The Jackrabbit Factor and I’ll help you make the transformation, one step at a time.

Prosper on!

Leslie Householder

Funny Story – Someone Should Have Called the Cops on ME

Positive Thinking Tip: when you don’t achieve the results you expect, “check the address”.

Some time ago I was in Utah with my husband and two of my kids for a conference, and while we were there, I needed to pick up some books from Garrett Gunderson, my co-author for Portal to Genius.  I love telling people about his book, Killing Sacred Cows, and needed some more to have on hand for my local events.

(Both books are very much worth reading, by the way…)

I texted Garrett while I was there, and since it was on a weekend and nobody was in his office, my only other option on short notice was to pick some of the books up from his home.

He responded, “I’m out of town, so just go get some from the garage in the back of my house. We have some friends staying there in an RV out front – just tell them why you’re there if they ask.”

I rounded the corner to his home and pulled up in front.  “I’ll just be a minute, kids.”

The house was dark, and so was the RV, so I just went to the gate, followed his instructions on how to get in, and made my way to the back garage.  The door was ajar, so I let myself in.

A quick scan of the area produced nothing – I couldn’t find any books – so I texted Garrett again for better instructions.  He didn’t answer, so I called my husband.  “Can you try to get a hold of Garrett and ask him where in the garage are the books?”

A few minutes later, he came back with, “You were supposed to do this tricky latch thing with the gate…”

“Yeah, I did that; I’m already in the garage – where are the books?”

“He said they’re in the back garage…”

“Yeah, I know; I AM in the back garage. Where in the garage are these books supposed to be?”

“He just said it would be obvious.  There’s 5,000 books in there.”

I was stumped.  I looked around, and I saw nothing but 3 cars and some tools, and a few large RubberMaid-style plastic bins – not the best for book storage, and no way there would be room inside those bins for 5,000 anyway.  I checked the rafters above me. I prowled between all three of the cars, scanning every square inch, thinking I must be blind.

Why don’t his directions make any sense? Why aren’t they producing the results that he promised?

I came out of the garage and walked out to the front again.  I turned around and retraced the same steps, following the directions perfectly. I prowled around the darkly lit back yard a bit, double-checking to make sure there wasn’t another back garage somewhere, and ended up back in the same garage with no greater insight than I had before.

I called Trevan again. “Honey, there are NO books in here – and nowhere to hide 5,000 of them anyway.  I’m sure if this pile of books was a snake it would’ve already bit me… but I’m stumped.  Will you call Garrett again?”

Trevan ended up calling Garrett two or three times. He told Garrett, “She can’t find them.”

Garrett responded, “I don’t know how she could miss them! Is she in the back garage?”"

“She says she’s in there, and she’s not seeing them.”

To be perfectly truthful, I was getting REALLY frustrated with Garrett for not being more specific, and for not taking my frustration seriously enough to give me some useful instructions.  I felt like he was ignoring my question, leaving me to figure it all out on my own, and I was already late for an appointment and increasingly annoyed at my predicament.  Why won’t he just tell me something more specific like, “The books are in the north-west corner next to the white SUV” or something like that?

Finally, after going in and out three times and scouring the place, I came back to my car and took a deep breath.  Glancing up, I noticed there was another RV parked out front of the neighbor’s house next door, too.

Then it dawned on me.

I was in the wrong house altogether.  I had been prowling inside a stranger’s home; trespassing, combing their property for something that didn’t exist. Once I put myself in the right location, the instructions finally worked.  I met Garrett’s house guest, did the tricky latch thing, found the back garage, and retrieved the books.

Now for the lesson. (Of course, you knew I’d find an object lesson in this, didn’t you?)

Here it goes:

How often do you take advice on how to get what you want out of life, only to find that those instructions don’t produce the promised results?

Garrett promised there were thousands of books waiting for me – an abundance of what I wanted – and his instructions were perfectly accurate.  The fact that I could not receive them was not his fault.  The blame rested squarely upon my own shoulders for not making sure I was first oriented to the location that was supposed to be the starting point.

Perhaps you’ve found hope through various books, audios, or events from me or other teachers of success principles, but are having trouble experiencing the promised results.  If that’s the case, then let’s take a step back and find out if you’re in the right starting point for utilizing those instructions, shall we?

The FTMF (Family Time & Money Freedom) Program can help.  It opens wide its arms to gather in all who struggle to see results, and brings them first to square ONE.  If you’ll allow me to bring you to square ONE, then from there, the FTMF program will walk you step-by-step through an experience where you will get a taste of intentional success with something small, and then gives you the courage and confidence to apply the process to bigger and better things.  In fact, once you’ve experienced intentional success in spite of the obstacles once, and your brain has developed those new neuro-pathways for success, doing it again for bigger life-goals is a whole lot easier.

We have countless participants who get through the program and then repeat it again, the next time for something bigger and even more amazing.

Read what the FTMF participants are saying HERE – see what’s happened to them!

No matter where you are now, after you let me guide you to square ONE, the FTMF course takes you to the next level and beyond.

Get started today.  We have a physical version and an online version of the program so you can choose the right one to suit your learning style. I look forward to assisting you!

http://www.ProsperTheFamily.com

Leslie

Hope Like a Balloon

Positive Thinking Tip: buoyant thoughts do more than just help you feel good; they lift you above adversity like helium in a balloon.

Balloon BoyDo you remember how magical your first helium balloon was?  When you were a child, were you astounded at its buoyancy?  Everything you knew fell downward… except that beautiful, shiny ball in the air.

As you got older, maybe you were like me and allowed it to be a commonplace phenomenon.

Still, every time I stop to think about it, my spirits are lifted as I watch its pull in the opposite direction of everything else around it.

All it is, is a rubber container full of a gas that happens to be lighter than the oxygen/carbon dioxide mixture in the air.

When the balloon is full of that lighter gas, it naturally rises above its surroundings.

Our thoughts, kept buoyant by focusing on the positive side of things, also have the ability to pull us up and out of our downer circumstances.

Every time you consciously choose a solution-oriented, hopeful, enthusiastically-expectant-of-good-things kind of thought, you fill your mind with stuff that is lighter in nature than the common thoughts of negativity and discouragement.

Fill your mind with enough light-thinking, and in time, you’ll very naturally rise above the gunk.  The stuff that pulls you down will fall out of your life like ballast out of a hot air balloon.

For a tank full of helium of the mind, I strongly recommend the Jackrabbit Factor.

I’ll help you keep your thoughts buoyant.  I’ll fill your mind with the stuff you need to rise above your challenges, no matter what they are.  To your success!