A Bittersweet Goodbye
Article by Jack Canfield

Every summer I hold my Breakthrough to Success training and I've had over 5,000 people graduate from the program and literally transform their lives.  During the past 30 years, I've guided high achievers through the time-proven system participants learn during Breakthrough to Success and it has been some of the most rewarding work I've ever done! However, after careful contemplation - and with 2012 being a year of massive transformation and change - I've decided that the time is right to move forward with my plans to retire this 7-day training program.

This will be such a bittersweet goodbye for me as Breakthrough to Success is hands-down my favorite week of the year, because I get to help hundreds of high achievers break through their limitations and finally get to where they want to be in life.

I am busy actively working on many new projects for 2013 (it's just the training that's "retiring," not me personally) but if you’ve ever wanted my personal guidance and attention for 7 full days, I invite you to attend the grand finale for this one-of-a-kind program.

During this life-changing 7-day retreat, we'll work together to:

• Discover and Fine-Tune your vision
• Align your goals with your purpose (a key to achieving success effortlessly)
• Create a plan for bringing your dreams to life
• Get the tools, strategies and confidence to secure the resources you need
• Create a life you're truly excited to wake up to each day
• And so much more!

You'll walk out laser-focused, bursting with confidence, armed with a detailed plan of what to do each step of the way, and supported by a new family of like-minded people  to cheer you on.  

Since this summer’s Breakthrough To Success will be our final 7-day training, we are going all out, making this a celebration of huge proportions, and a very special training for participants.  I'm excited to see that over a quarter of the seats have already been filled and I just know it will be best BTS yet.

August 12th can’t come soon enough...I hope you'll make the decision to share this experience with me!

Breakthrough To Success, August 12-18, 2012
Click here to learn more about the training

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now here.

Ben Stein said, "The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is to decide what you want."

How many of us go through our days being busy most of the time, but not really paying attention to why we're doing what we're doing and not knowing what results we are looking for?

According to Jack Canfield, only about 5% of Americans set clear measurable goals. Many of us are living our lives according to someone else's idea of what we should be doing, wanting or being. Alot of us put off doing what we love in exchange for making a living ... and before we know it, we've spent years doing work we don't love and discover that we aren't any closer to what we really want.

Here's a start to deciding what you want out of life and getting a clear picture of what it looks like so we can begin to create it with the Law of Attraction.

Activity 1

To get your creative juices flowing, make a list of 25 things you love to do. Things that make you happy, bring you joy.

Look at each item on the list, one at a time, and come up with things you could do to make money doing whatever it is you wrote down. This is a brainstorm activity ... no judgment, no limits, no idea is deemed silly or impossible.

Be open minded and creative. Perhaps you wrote down that you love to hang out and talk with people, but don't see how you could make a living doing that. Hmmmm ... Oprah did ... and she had to start somewhere. My guess is she set some goals around her purpose and took action to get herself where she is now.

I recently had a conversation with a mom who is frustrated with her teen. All he wants to do is talk about and ride 4 wheelers. She came to me for help. My suggestion was to let him go with it. Let him explore all the ways he could make a living with 4 wheelers, as making a lot of money is one of his goals. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he most likely won't make a living riding 4 wheelers, but maybe he could write about the sport and get paid for his writing. That decision prompted him to explore another interest of his ... writing. The truth is it doesn't matter. It is the act of exploring possibilities and identifying action steps that builds entrepreneurial muscle and the skills that will eventually lead him to success built on passion and purpose.

Finally, take a look at your list and be sure you do at least one of the things on your list every single day ... and preferably more!

Activity 2

This activity is designed to help you clarify your vision. Although you could do this as a mental exercise, I strongly encourage you write down your answers so you can refer back to them later.

1) Focus on the financial area of your life. What is your desired annual income? What does your cash flow look like? What does your life look like assuming that your financial goals have already been met?

Close your eyes and visualize what your home, your car, your life looks like. Fill in the details. Don't worry about how you'll get what you're visualizing. Just put yourself in the place of feeling the way you would feel is you already reached your financial goal.

2) Next, visualize your ideal job or career. Where are you working? With whom? What are you doing? Is it your own business? Again, focus on the details.

3) Next, focus on your free time/recreational time. What hobbies are you pursuing? Who are you spending time with? What do you do for fun? Where do you go on vacation?

4) Next, focus on your ideal vision for your body and your health. What does it look like? How do you maintain it? What types of activities are you participating in?

5) Next move on to your idea vision of your relationships with a partner, family and friends.

6) What about your personal goals around learning something new, healing an old hurt, working with a coach, growing spiritually, running a marathon or taking an art class?

7) Finally, focus on the community you choose to live in. Where are you living? What does it look like when it's operating perfectly? How do you serve your community? Who are you helping?

Review your vision for each of these areas every day and visualize the details. Ideally twice a day; in the morning just as you wake up and just before you fall asleep. This will keep both your conscious and subconscious mind focused on your vision and engage the reticular activating system of your brain to go out and find it for you.

As you continue to apply more of the Success Principles and add planned and inspired action and accountability to the process, you will begin to manifest the different aspects of your vision and will see the Law of Attraction in action.

Activities 1 and 2 excerpted with permission from The Canfield Training Group from The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield.

In additiont to being my teacher, coach and mentor, Jack is America's #1 Success Coach, founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success.

Here is a summary of the Law of Attraction as outlined by my teacher and mentor, Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and The Success Principles:
 
Decide what you want.

Believe you can have it.

Believe you deserve it and believe it's possible for you.

Visualize already having what you want, feeling the feelings of already having it.

Come out of that and focus on what you're grateful for already, and really enjoy it.

Go into your day and release it to the Universe and trust that the Universe will figure out how to manifest it.

And I'll add, when you get an intuitive hit that suggests inspired action ... go with it and watch the miracles unfold!

 I'm planning to teach a class on the practical application of the Law of Attraction the way Jack taught it to me. The goal of the class will be to identify exactly what you want, practice the steps to create it and provided some specific techniques to help release liming beliefs that block progress on your path to success. Email me if you're interested in the details!

“There are two great days in a person’s life; the day we were born and the day we discover why.” ~William Barclay

Did you ever have a day that was chock full of activity; chores to do, tasks to complete,  people to connect with, calls to make, emails to return, not to mention the time and effort involved in the basics of life like getting up and ready in the morning, eating, and whatever it is we do to support ourselves. By the time the day was done, you were exhausted and wondered what you had really accomplished in all the “busy-ness”.  Perhaps you even heard yourself asking, “What am I doing?” or “Why am I doing this?” or “What’s the point of it all?”

Imagine, for a minute, a life in which every action, interaction and activity was for a purpose. More specifically, what if each and every day of your life was by design and according to your purpose for being on the planet? Imagine that your purpose took into consideration your skills, talents, desires, dreams and preferences and provided you with a foundation for all your actions and the fuel to keep moving towards its fulfillment?

The reality is that most people don’t slow down long enough to think about what they’re here to do, what they’re passionate about, what makes their life worth living or what they want to accomplish in life. Too often, by the time kids get into school, their hopes and dreams are pushed aside and have been reduced to ideas like, “that’s not possible” or “that’s just crazy” or “get your head out of the clouds”!

And so we do. We put aside the clues to our passion and purpose and quickly find ourselves filling up our days with tasks and chores and activities that have little meaning or connection to our purpose. The older we get and the more responsibilities we have, the more our life becomes about making a living versus truly living our lives.

That is a depressing thought, but I’m not going there today.  It’s spring! A time for rejuvenation, new beginnings, fresh starts and new growth!

So take a few minutes right now to begin to explore your purpose for being here in this life.

This may sound huge … perhaps too big to tackle in just a few minutes, but I encourage you to start the process right now.

I further encourage you to begin to shift the way you start your days. Spend a couple of minutes each morning thinking about your purpose. Do it again at night as you fall asleep. Your purpose doesn’t have to be perfect, nor does it have to be huge … just start where you are and look within and look forward.

I had an amazing experience two years ago when I turned down the volume and decreased the speed of my life for a bit and began to explore my reason for being on the planet. At the time I was busy but I was bored, unhappy, unfulfilled and frustrated!

My first attempts to uncover my purpose felt awkward and confusing, but quickly, I felt a shift in my energy which continues to expand today!  My purpose was fuzzy at first. It took a lot of tweaking to get clear… and I’ll bet I’ll tweak it yet again as I learn and change and grow.

My purpose is not perfect, but today, my purpose does need to be part of my daily routine. I am happier, more energetic, more focused and more successful than I have ever been. I have made a lot of changes in my life now that I am living on purpose … new people, new work, new attitudes, new focus. Taking some time to explore my life purpose has been the most important thing I have done to improve my life and put me on an exciting and meaningful path.

Let’s get started! Get a notebook and pen or a blank computer screen.

Activity 1

1) Make a list of 101 things you want to be, do, see or have before you die. You may want to take some time to watch the movie, “The Bucket List” to get in the groove of creating your own bucket list.

Try to brainstorm as many things as possible in one sitting to help the subconscious mind get engaged in the process and bring unconscious desires into the conscious mind and onto the page.

While you’re creating your list, think in terms of unlimited possibilities, i.e. anything is possible!

Look for trends and themes in your list that may give you clues about what is meaningful to you.

Consider sharing your list with others. It can be a pretty powerful experience! You never know who is listening, who or what resources they are connected to and how they can help you reach your goals. The truth is, it is inherent in our nature to want to help each other succeed.

I recently received a huge sum of money that was way beyond my means to support a project that is on my bucket list. The money came after I shared my dream with a group of people I was teaching. Apparently, my benefactor had it on her bucket list to donate some money to help at risk teens and decided that I was the person she wanted to help.

Activity 2

~To zero in on your purpose, start with a list of the times in your life when you felt most happy, passionate and alive. What were you doing? Who were you with? Where were you?

~What did the experiences you listed above have in common with each other?

~Can you imagine a way to make a living doing these things?

Read more about creating your life purpose statement in Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.

Consider hiring a one on one coach or participating in a coaching group program or study group to get more support.

 

I've recently been inspired to create a blog series. The inspiration comes on the heels of several conversations I've had with 18 to 20-something year old young adults who are living unfulfilled lives and not really sure what to do about it. The vision is a series of posts targeed to young adults, but which adults in transition will also find beneficial.

The series is based on the question, "What would my life be like if I ...?" 

With each post I will fill in the " ..." part by introducing a principle of success,followed by a simple activity, action step or tips that have the potential to cause a shift in your life, uplevel your work, improve your relationships, discover new income streams, clarify your purpose, dream and vision and help you discover your reason for being on the planet!

I'll post about 3 times a week for the next 8 weeks. My guess is that if you follow along, you will notice a shift in your thinking, acting and being as well as the results you are experiencing in your life!

So let's get started!

What Would My Life Be Like If I ...

Take 100% responsibility for for my life with E + R = O ?

Jim Rohn says, “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.”

Are you happy with your life? Your work? Your relationships? Your financial situation? Your living environment? Most of us have some things about our life that we’re not happy with. Often we fall into the trap of blaming external causes for why we’re not happy and successful.

I am surrounded by adults who aren’t satisfied with their jobs while blaming the economy for forcing them to stay, or their bosses for their work environment when, in fact, they are choosing to stay and aren’t doing anything to make their work environment more pleasant.

Many women I know aren’t happy in their relationships, yet would rather blame their partners for their unhappiness then take action to change what needs to be changed.

I work with teenagers around pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, substance use and academic success. Teens have blamed the clinic for buying a "bad" kind of condoms, the condom company for making a cheap product or their partner for not using them when they get news of an unintended pregnancy or for giving them an STD. One teen even blamed her situation on her parents, stating that they wouldn’t  let her go on birth control so that’s why she got pregnant.
 
I once had a student tell me it was my fault he couldn’t graduate despite the fact that he chose to reject every opportunity his teachers and I (the school principal) gave him to make up his assignments and missed classes.

Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series and The Success Principles, refers to blaming and complaining as “having a reference point of something we prefer that we are not willing to risk creating”. He goes on to suggest we consider the following formula:

E + R = O

E stands for all the “Events” in our lives.

R stands for our “Responses” to those events.

O stands for the “ Outcomes” we experience.

He teaches that the outcomes we are experiencing in our lives are the result of our responses to the events that are occurring. He further suggests that we don’t have control over the circumstances and events that show up in our lives, nor can we control the behavior of the people in our lives. For example, we can’t control our bosses, our spouses, and the economy.

However, we do have control over ourselves and the thoughts and choices we make and the actions we take in response to the events. In fact, our “R’s” are really the only thing we can control.

Okay, so let’s be honest, taking 100% responsibility for everything in our lives can be difficult and feel overwhelming, especially to start. So how about taking 5% more responsibility to start?

Activity

1) Get pen and paper or power up your laptop and complete each of the following statements:

“If I were to take 5% more responsibility for my life and well-being, I would …”

“If I were to take 5% more responsibility for living my passion, I would … “

“If I were to take 5% more responsibility for the attainment of my goals, I would …”

“If I would take 5% more responsibility for the success of my relationships, I would …”

2) For each statement, list one action step you can take in the next week towards taking 5% more responsibility.

3) On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to follow through with the listed action? If your ranking is below 8, consider that there may be something getting in your way that needs further exploration.

If you really want to make lasting changes, improve your self-esteem, explore your life purpose and increase success in your life, hiring a coach, getting an accountability partner or partiipating in a coaching group are all great ways to jumpstart your process, remove the blocks that have been standing in your way on your road to success and move into action!