Do your goals come with excess baggage?

What are the first thoughts in your mind when you read these statements:

I want to travel the world
I want to own the car of my dreams
I want own an apartment of my own

Do you hear a little voice in your mind that whispers something along the lines of:

I need to have the money first
How in the world I’m going to finance these dreams of mine?
Who in their right mind would give me what I want just like that?

Uh-oh, be careful.

Perhaps you would start to belief that you will need money first before you could achieve your wants or goals. That’s the sign that you’re picking up excess baggage on your journey towards your goals. And boy, would it be a gruelling journey dragging that weight around.

Especially after The Secret boom, many have tried to manifest their dreams and goals but to little or no visible results until much later. Some might have given up along the way.

It is not that LOA doesn’t work. The Universe just gets confused on what you really want to manifest sometimes. For example:

One moment you want to own that BMW, then the other second you want money because you want to be able to purchase the car.

See the Universe as a waiter taking your order. If you keep changing your orders, how can the waiter deliver what you want?

Check your thoughts. Be clear with what you want and leave the rest to the Universe. The Universe always knows the best way to lead you towards your goals or wants.

How do we chuck those excess baggage away?

As we progress through our lives, our belief system is programmed based on each experience we go through which then affect our thinking, actions and beliefs.

A few tools that help us focus on our goals rather than the baggage that comes with it are:

Vision board:
A vision board is a board where you put a collage of pictures, words or notes that reflects your wants or goals.

Put it at a place that you will see it often such as on the wall in front of your workdesk, next to your mirror or any other places that you are able to see it as often as possible. This tool can help you to stay focus on the goal, conditioning your mind on the outcome rather than the ‘how’s.

Prayer:
Another way you can do it is through prayer. Regardless of what religious background you come from, a little prayer can bring you a long way. Or if it feels more comfortable to you, offer a little request to the Universe for some help. (For more on the power of prayer with a scientific twist, my recommended read is “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Dr. Joseph Murphy)

Repeat your prayer whenever you feel down or negative about your goals. Say your prayer in the morning when you get out of bed and just before you sleep. This will help you set your subconscious mind towards your goals. This acts as a boost towards manifesting your goals. :)

Hope these 2 tips are able to help you focus on your goals and reduce your baggage or beliefs that come along with your goals.

Other methods that I highly recommend to release those baggages are (click for more info):

• The Work by Katie Byron
• Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

(Photo credit: wiseacre photo)

Break free from your baggage and run free towards your goals!

The Work

For the past few entries I've mentioned about turning around your thoughts to focus on the positive. Turning your thoughts around is something I believe can change everyone's perception positively to cultivate a better environment for the world and I would like to thank Katie Byron for coming up with this method which is also known as The Work.

More about The Work...
So what is it? How can turning my thoughts around help me and is it that simple?

According to it's official website:

The Work is a simple yet powerful process of inquiry that teaches you to identify and question thoughts that cause all the suffering in the world. It's a way to understand what's hurting you, and to address your problems with clarity.

People who do The Work as an ongoing practice report life-changing results.

Alleviation of depression:
Find resolution, and even happiness, in situations that were once debilitating.

Decreased stress:
Learn how to live with less anxiety or fear.

Improved relationships:
Experience deeper connection and intimacy with your partner, your parents, your children, your friends, and yourself.

Reduced anger:
Understand what makes you angry and resentful, and become less reactive, less often, with less intensity.

Increased mental clarity:
Live and work more intelligently and effectively, with integrity.

More energy:
Experience a new sense of ongoing vigor and well-being.

More peace:
Discover how to become "a lover of what is."





Who's the face behind The Work?

BYRON KATIE: became severely depressed in her early thirties. For almost a decade she spiraled down into depression, rage, self-loathing, and constant thoughts of suicide; for the last two years she was often unable to leave her bedroom.

Then one morning in February 1986, she experienced a life-changing realization. There are various names for an experience like this. Katie calls it "waking up to reality."
In that instant of no-time, she says,

I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn’t believe them, I didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always.

She realized that what had been causing her depression was not the world around her, but the beliefs she'd had about the world. Instead of hopelessly trying to change the world to match her thoughts about how it should be, she could question these thoughts and, by meeting reality as it is, experience unimaginable freedom and joy. As a result, a bedridden, suicidal woman was instantly filled with love for everything life brings.

Katie's process of self-inquiry, called The Work, didn't develop from this experience; she says that it woke up with her, as her, that February morning in 1986. The first people who did The Work reported that it had transformed their lives, and she soon began receiving invitations to teach the process publicly.

Since 1986, she has brought The Work to hundreds of thousands of people across the world, at free public events, in prisons, hospitals, churches, corporations, universities, schools, at weekend workshops, and at her amazing nine-day School for The Work.

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I recommend The Work to those who seeks for peace and optimism in their lives. It is a method that I'm implementing in my live and I hope that you can benefit from this too.

What do you think about The Work? Do share your thoughts and even your queries. :)

Thank you for reading this article! Do share your thoughts, stories or comments. Feedback is highly valued here at The Present Gift. Feel free to drop a comment or e-mail me – just click on the Contact tab at the top of the page for my details.