Wow ... what a whirlwind this past month has been! I've spent alot of time standing fully present in the magic of the moments ... looking back in order to move ahead to what's next. Exciting times for sure!

I published my first book and, with the help of my teachers, mentors and coaches,  launched it into best seller status. My own transformational story is now out there and my past is serving as inspiration to my readers to take new steps towards discovering their own magic. The feedback I am getting from family, friends and new followers is amazing. You can check it out here.

I am getting requests for media interviews, to teach live classes and to do personal coaching. I am even being encouraged and led to explore the possibility of turning my book into a movie to further expand my message.

 As I look back on the process of publishing  my story, I can now see clearly into the future of possibilities that I couldn't see when I was living it. Such a cool perspective!

Looking back to move ahead ...

After the launch, I traveled to Long Beach, California for another phenomenal week in the training room with Jack Canfield at his Success Principles Train the Trainer event; witnessing, experiencing and helping to facilitate the training of the next generation of human potential leaders. I was so excited to hear Jack and Patty, President of The Canfield Training Group, announce their commitment to train ONE MILLION people with Jack's Success Principles work so the trained could, in turn, train even more people. Based on my experience with Jack's work, the commitment to this goal would, indeed, create a ripple effect that has the potential to transform the planet!

As they made the announcement, I found myself back in the room at my first Jack Canfield event, Breakthrough to Success in 2010, when I knew that I needed to bring what I was learning to the teens and young adults I was working with. Since that day in 2010, I have further expanded my own breakthrough goal and taken steps to develop and pilot curriculum in several target groups. The results have been amazing and it is clear there is more work to be done to further spread the magic of this work.

I have a call with Jack's company to talk about how I can help train teachers and youth service workers to help bring this amazing work to young 

Looking back to move ahead ...

And finally, I spent the July 4th holiday in the midst of the festivities, conversations and connections with the people and places where my story began and unfolded. I was able to gain even more resolution of my past, get more clear on the direction for my future and fully embrace what I need in order to support my day to day connection to the source of my inspiration.

Looking back to move ahead ... helping people find their magic!

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.

“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.