Make 2016 a Year full of Gifts for You and Loved Ones!

“I want so much, but I’m afraid,” my client Miranda said.
“Afraid of what?” I asked.
“Afraid that this year won’t be different than last year. That it will be more of the same pain,” she said.

We talked some more then I said, “This reminds me of a recent visit I had at a friend’s house. While I was in the restroom, they set up dinner. I arrived at the table and the mother, father and daughter were eating pizza. I took a bite of the pizza. The take-out pizza was burnt. I stopped eating.

“I saw the father scrape off some cardboard from the pizza box on his slice of pizza. He told himself, “It’s okay.” And he kept eating.

“I do have hope for this family because, with my support, the daughter called the pizza restaurant and reported the burnt pizza.

“All she had to do was ASK. Her family had paid for the pizza. The pizza restaurant employee immediately said, ‘We’ll make you two new pizzas.’ So she got in the car and got the replacement pizzas. What do you get from my story, Miranda?”

“All you have to do is ask,” Miranda replied.

“Yes. And you don’t have to eat burnt pizza. Do you see how this has bearing on how you will make this New Year a better year than before?”

To make your New Year better, learn to take Inspired Action. We’ll use the A.I.M. process:

A – assess “Love or Fear”
I – inquire
M – make your heart-response loud

1. Assess “Love or Fear”

For some of us the idea “love or fear” seems vague or strange.

We can try questions:

• Am I doing this because I’m afraid something will happen? (fear)
• Am I doing this because I hope something will happen and I think it will help someone? (love)

When I talk about “Inspired Action,” I’m referring to taking action that arises from inspiration from your own Higher Self—and for those of us who focus on the spiritual—from inspiration from Higher Power.

In over 14 years of teaching college level Comparative Religion (from an online course that I wrote), I’ve observed that many spiritual paths emphasize “approach life with love.”

By the way, to get the replacement pizza (for the burnt pizzas), the daughter talked with love: That is, she simply mentioned the burnt pizza in a calm tone. She made a space for the pizza restaurant employees to improve the situation.

Now it’s your turn.
Can you direct your efforts in ways to help others? Can you be kind to yourself (that’s a loving approach)? Where is the “burnt pizza” in your life? What can you do to drop “burnt pizza” from your life and make room for new blessings? Is your approach one of kindness and compassion?

2. Inquire

It’s true that at various times, we don’t know what’s the best thing to do next.

Focus on this idea: Inquire. Ask questions.

Stephen, one of my clients, said, “I know I should set up an online course but I don’t know which topic I should choose. I could work hard and hire a tech person—and no one may sign up for a course I wrote. I’d just lose money.”

“I hear you,” I said. “It helps to ‘inquire.’ You can ask people through social media: ‘Which of these 3 topics would you sign up for a free conference call?’ From the responses you might be guided to create an online course on one of the three topics. Or none of them. Then you try something else.”

I invited Stephen to notice his own responses to the feedback he received. If he got excited that people were responding to a particular topic, this might demonstrate that his Inspired Action would be to pursue making an online course on that particular topic.

Now it’s your turn.
Are you inquiring/asking questions in your daily life? Or are you “flying blind?” If you serve customers, it helps to find out what they prefer. How do you know? Ask.
For taking Inspired Action, ask yourself: How can I transform what I do to focus in the following Three Areas?
* the kind thing to do
* the healthy thing to do
* the holy thing (spiritual/kind/compassionate/what Higher Power would ask for) to do.

3. Make your heart-response loud

I remember a line of dialogue from a STAR TREK feature film.

Captain Kirk wanted to use a starship to travel to two planets in efforts to restore his friend Spock to life. He asked the officials if he could do that.

He returned from the meeting, and Lieutenant Sulu asked: “The word, sir? “

Captain Kirk replied, “The word . . . is no. I am therefore going anyway.”

The movie theater audience cheered. I admit it: I cheered, too.

To take Inspired Action is NOT about waiting for approval or agreement. What counts MORE is your “heart-response.”

The idea here is your heart-response is more important than any advice you might be given.

As an Executive Coach, I speak on Discover Your Enchanted Prosperity because I do more than help people solve problems. I help them transform their lives. This involves getting access to intuition and one’s heart-response.

Now it’s your turn.
What does YOUR heart want? How can you quiet down the distractions in your life so you can hear your own heart-response?
Who is telling you “no”? How can you go around them? How can you take an appropriate risk? How can you take Inspired Action?

When you implement the approach of love, you calmly, pleasantly ask for what you want. To improve this year, make warm connections. In a friendly tone, ask for referrals or sales (if you run a business).

With friends and family, in a compassionate tone, ask to develop agreements. This is better than building up resentments by holding only expectations about other people.

This New Year is full of positive potential.
The universe asks that you take Inspired Action.

Warmly,

Tom

Tom Marcoux
CEO (leading teams in United Kingdom, India and USA)