In the spring of 2010, I was restless, confused and uninspired. Through a series of synchronicities and a leap of faith that launched me into inspired action, I found myself sitting in the training room with Jack Canfield at his signature Breakthrough to Success event.

Three years later, I am clear about my purpose, travelling along an intentional path toward my dreams with an exciting vision for my future. My life is magical and every day is filled with inspiration. I am supported by people who believe in me and my dreams while I help others to connect with their unique purpose and discover their own magic. 

Perhaps 2014 is your year to thrive ... to uncover your dream ... to get back on the path towards your heart's desire? See what Jack has to say ... and stay tuned for an exciting announcement coming later this week about how I can help you can get started! 

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Life is a Laboratory
by Jack Canfield

Everyone has a dream.

Many of us simply lose sight of it or let it go because of some earlier disappointment, rejection, or lack of progress.  The natural tendency is to protect ourselves from getting hurt again, so we deny our dream, afraid to reach out for the people, resources, and opportunities that could support it.

I want to share a quick story about my friend Catherine Lanigan.  She had earned a college scholarship on her strengths as a gifted writer. Catherine’s Harvard professor gave her an F on her first short story and convinced her she had no talent. She wrote nothing more for 13 years.

Then one day in her small Texas town Catherine visited a movie set. When she expressed her desire to be a writer, one of the scriptwriters shot back, "B.S.! If you wanted to be a writer, you would have written."

When Catherine explained how her professor discouraged her, the scriptwriter replied, "An academic guy? What does he know? I write for a living. Tell you what. You go home and write something and send it to me, and I’ll tell you if I think you have any talent in the real world of commercial literature."

A year later, Catherine finished her novel and sent it to the scriptwriter, who loved it and sent it to his agent in New York. The agent also loved it and asked to represent her work. Catherine’s first novel was followed by numerous others including Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile, which became a major motion picture.

Is there a dream buried deep within you? If so, you owe it to yourself—and the world—to fully express it.

First you need to get in touch with your dream. When you get in touch with the essence of who you are and what it is that really wants to come through you, it propels you forward, allowing you to overcome any obstacle, no matter how big.

Secondly, gather feedback from many people (but don’t let someone else’s opinion bury your dream as Catherine did for so long). Whether you’re venturing into a new career, proposing a project in your community, or developing a computer application, get as much feedback as you can. Weigh it; then follow your own instincts.

Finally, try things you’ve never tried before to see what works. When we were kids, we’d try anything, but now? Today a child having a computer problem will hit every button to get it to work. Many adults fear touching the wrong button will break it.

Embrace a spirit of curiosity and playfulness in your pursuit. If one thing doesn’t work, try another. If that doesn’t work, try something else. This can be great fun. Imagine life as one big laboratory—and keep experimenting until your dream yields the results you want.

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 at:www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

You can also join Jack live on his FREE monthly Ask Jack strategy calls.

Make 2014 your year to live your dreams!

This morning, as part of my "power hour", which consists of 20 minutes of meditation, 20 minutes of inspirational reading and 20 minutes of physical activity (I'm working on this part!), I read a summary of The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. The premise of the book is that our success in life and in reaching our goals and dreams is all about myelin and where and how we choose to build it up.

Myelin. I remember learning about myelin in pharmacy school. It's an essential part of our nervous system. The coating, if you will, of the neuronal pathways that make our bodies do what we do ... think, feel, act, perform, process information, act, react to impulses and stimulii, etc. The best way I know to describe myelin (see diagram below) is to use a coated wire as an example. On the outside, the rubber serves a coating or insulation to keep the inside wires together and to keep the electricity from leaking out, thus the wires allow electricity to flow through them and provide power to whatever they are connected to.

It is the same in our nervous system, with a slight difference. We have the power in our physiology to generate our own myelin. The more we perform a task, think a thought or accomplish a complex set of movements, the more myelin is formed and the thicker it gets.

The good news is that the thicker the myelin, the more accomplished we are at whatever it is we are doing. As Daniel Coyne points out, practice makes perfect because myelin gets thicker and thicker along the neuronal pathway towards mastering a task, making the neurons work with more precision, efficiency and speed.

Unfortunately, it is just as easy to build myelin along pathways that do not serve us as it is to build myelin over the pathways that, with persistent practice, will lead us to mastery.

This weekend I spent alot of time with family. I was amazed to observe the result of  what I learned this morning was thickly myelinized fear pathways and negative thought patterns. Unfortunately, my family of origin was raised on fear ... and, for a long time, I made my choices within the deep core of fear-based pathways surrounded by the thick myelin linings that I had inadvertently created. 

Fear is our natural response to an environment that threatens our survival, however, in this day in age, our fears, more often than not, no longer serve us in moving forward in the direction of our dreams and goals.

I was struck by the quote cited above

"It's all about deep practice, 
ignited by a vision of what is possible,
fueled by passion and supported by strong teachers 
that enables us to rewire our brain with myelin in all the right places." 
~Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code

I am grateful that I have been able to break free of most of the subconscious, limiting fear patterns of my past. Today, when they show up, I can observe them and reframe them using my vision, passion, positive thought patterns and new skills I've developed as fuel, with the help of my teachers coaches and support network.

Today I am learning to build myelin around the pathways to my goals, hopes and dreams. When i find myself on the fear pathway, it isn't long that my construction crew helps reroute me to my own personal Myelin Highway as I continue on the road to  creating the life of my dreams!

How about you?  

Do you have a support team to help you reroute fear? Have you identified  your unique vision, passion and purpose? Are you traveling your own Myelin Highway to success, consciously reframing old fear patterns? Or do you find yourself struggling to break through old patterns of thinking, believing and acting that limit your possibilities?

Falll is coming and now is a wonderful time to get resdy to repave your Myelin Highway! 

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To learn more about Philosopher's Notes, a wonderful way for busy people to glean pearls of wisdom from a collection of amazing books that will enhance your life, visit
http://www.entheos.com/philosophersnotes/trisharx

I just got the final proof of my book in the mail! The book launch is well under way and set to go live on June 12th!

I am beyond excited ... and a little bit scared!

Where does that fear come from? Despite all the time, energy and effort I've spent learning how to break through and push fear aside, out of nowhere it still creeps in every once in awhile.

Fear of failure? Fear of success? Fear of something I can't even put into words sometimes? It doesn't really matter ... it is what it is. And I must walk through it to get to the other side. It's part of the human experience that comes along with the joy, I suppose. All I can do is do my best to stay grounded, stay connected to my heart and continue to take the next right step!

In August of 2010, I sat in Jack Canfield's Breakthrough to Success workshop and set a goal to write a book. I had no idea what it would be about; however deep down inside I knew I had a book in me. Maybe more than one. Perhaps a series. I let the ideas flow but it wasn't until a year later that the inspiration for my first book came. It happened while I was sharing a cup of tea with my neighbors and a young woman I've been pretty connected to since she was 12 years old. The experience was profound and from there the story unfolded. 

It came over me like a wave and woke me up many a night to write the next chapter or with a new idea for the cover design. Over a three week period, the words flowed and the book wrote me. The wrting part was easy. The hard part was taking the steps necessary to publish the book. And the hardest part ... summoning up the courage to share the story.

It's a story of struggle, romance and transformation with a paranormal twist that will intrigue believers and skeptics alike.

Through the process, I have learned alot about myself, my fears, my blocks, my passion and my purpose. I have developed profound connections with amazing people and have had some mystically wonderful experiences. And, yes,  I've been afraid.

It is my hope that the story touches you, helps you transcend fear, opens you up to possibilities and somehow supports and inspires you to be the best you can be!