Are Your Relationships Holding You Back?

John Lee

Dr Robert Anthony was apparently one of the first people invited to appear in the hit movie, ‘The Secret’, which probably brought self-help and the much-discussed ‘Law of Attraction’ to more people around the world than ever before. Yet he turned down the offer, with no regrets.

He’s spent 30 years unravelling the mysteries of the human mind, earning a Ph.D. in behavioural psychology and working as a psychotherapist, NLP practitioner, master hypnotist and personal performance trainer.

He’s also created some of the finest personal development products on the market, in my opinion, including the ‘Self Confidence Creator’, ‘Deliberate Creation Instant Self Hypnosis’ and ‘The Secret Of Deliberate Creation’.

But what I really like about Robert Anthony is that he regularly offers eye-opening insights and information – without expecting anything in return – through regular emails that come past customers such as me.

And I just wanted to share one that recently dropped into my inbox on the subject of who you spend your time with and how they – quite innocently – affect your thoughts, behaviours and success in whatever you may be aiming for. So I’ll simply repeat the email here and hope you find it useful:

“Here is something that I find holds most people back from achieving the riches they deserve, but it is one of the most difficult things to change. It concerns relationships.

As you expand and grow, so will your relationships. When you choose to become great, people around you will line up in force to convince you to stay where you are and keep you stuck. Not because they are bad. They're not. It's because they value security and dislike uncertainty.

If your objective is to vibrate at a higher level and attract higher and higher results in your life, you will find it difficult, if not impossible to do so, if everything around you is reinforcing the contrary.
If you look at the people you are close to and they are not going in the same direction, or at least not supporting you in the direction you are going, then they are most likely not thinking the things you are thinking or doing the things you are doing. They will hold you back, plain and simple. If you want to grow you must surround yourself with like-minded people.

Are you spending time with people who support you and are helping you move toward your intentions? Or, are you investing your time and energy with people who are holding you back?

This was a hard lesson for me to learn. At one point in my life I tried to "ration lies" in my mind that I could still surround myself with the same people that I had outgrown. I tried to make it work, but in my heart I knew they were bringing me down to a level where I was no longer comfortable.

I decided I no longer wanted to spend high quality time with people I didn't want to be around. It wasn't easy, but I have never regretted it. I started spending time with people who aspired to values, traits and accomplishments similar to mine. It wasn't long before I had new friends who supported who I was becoming and where I was going. It is without a doubt one of the most empowering things I have done.

Just accept that when you choose to pursue your greatness that your peer group doesn't possess, they will try to stop you or slow you down. Surround yourself with people who share the vibrations that you are giving to the universe and you will find that you will achieve your dreams and desires much faster and much easier.

Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation that you are making progress - IF YOU LOOK FOR IT! No matter how large or small, please record it in your Evidence Journal. It will only take a few moments and will AUTOMATICALLY put you in the Flow.

Truly Caring for Your Success!

Dr. Robert Anthony"

Four Valuable Lessons We Can Learn From Mercedes-Benz

By Reg Scheepers

I'm a great fan of the German cars, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, but in particular, Mercedes-Benz. Since childhood I believed that Henry Ford invented the motor car, and then I learned that Karl Benz actually did, way back in 1886 when Henry Ford was still playing with Lego. Not to get down on Henry, he did conceive the production line which sped up production of all cars.

I can't remember when I started adoring and respecting Mercedes-Benz above all others, but I can tell you why...

They have put a couple of principles into practice and taken some decisions that I really respect and that I think we can learn from:

1. They are pioneers

Mercedes-Benz has pioneered more automotive technology than any other car maker. Often times on the car forums, people will bash Merc and insist they're copying others in design or in technology. I always respond that even if that was true, they have every right to do so - they invented the car, so all car makers, simply by the act of producing cars, are copying them.

That's just some light hearted kidding around, but the point is, Mercedes have been pioneers. They developed the engine ignition system so you don't have to start the engine with a wrench, developed the first supercharged car, pioneered crumple zones, created ABS for cars, were the first to introduce airbags in Europe, developed the collapsible steering column and Electronic Stability Program (ESP), which was later introduced in other cars by many other names like DSC, and this is just a very short list.

Pioneering has its price, but its worth it. Mercedes spends more than any other manufacturer on research and development (these days it's around R90 million per day! In 2006 they spent R140 million every day on research and development), so they walk away with less profit, but in the minds of the majority of the world's population, they have a name of prestige, respect and admiration right up there with Bentley and Rolls Royce.

When people need to refer to a benchmark, you'll only hear one of two things: They are the Rolls Royce of their field, or they are the Mercedes Benz of their field.

As a testament to Mercedes' pioneering spirit, see how much technology present in Bentley and Rolls Royce was conceived and developed by Mercedes-Benz. You'll note that this distinction doesn't apply the other way around. Another testament is that roughly 9 out of 10 royals and statesmen (presidents, diplomats, rulers, ministers, kings, queens, chancellors) drive or are driven in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or Maybach.

2. They are not selfish and greedy

The thing about Mercedes that I respect and admire more than anything else, something which no other car maker to my knowledge has ever done, is that they licensed their safety technology for use by their competitors.

That meant that other car makers could use Mercedes' safety technology in their own cars without paying royalties to Merc. And that means that countless people are alive today, countless children of those people are able to be here today, because of Mercedes' pioneering technology present in Volvo, BMW, Audi etc etc etc.

OK, corporate greed is everywhere and I'm not going to say Mercedes don't try and maximise their profits like any other car maker, or for that matter, anything maker. But licensing your safety technology to others, which you spent millions upon millions developing, is not something a company with greed at its core does.

3. It's vital to choose your mentors and leaders extremely carefully

Mercedes-Benz went through the ugliest period in their history between 1995 and 2005. Unfortunately, the wrong person was chosen to head the company, someone who didn't understand the principles of excellence. He decided that Mercedes should cut expenses to increase their profit. Mercedes dropped in the customer satisfaction ranks until they were second from the bottom. It's an amazing testimony to Mercedes' established reputation that they managed to go through that period with minimal damage.

Then a new CEO took over - a man who understands excellence very, very clearly, and Mercedes has never made better cars before in their history, despite the fact that with computers and electronics, it's harder than ever to do so because there are many times more chances for faults and bugs to occur.

The most recent technological development by Mercedes as of this writing is PRE-SAFE, a system that goes beyond protecting you in a crash, it actually predicts the crash and prepares the seating position and airbags, closes the windows and sunroof, and fires the seatbelt pre-tensioners BEFORE the crash happens. If the crash doesn't happen, the systems all reset to normal.

The materials and engineering are again top class, and the decade before is now just a bad memory.

4. They value family

Couples often lose the passion and spark in their marriage because they don't have a common goal and vision for their lives. Then one day they say things like, "I just don't love her/him anymore" or "We just drifted apart over time"! Um, yes, so don't let it happen. Make your family part of your story. Don't see your wife/husband as a separate entity to your purpose in life. We are called to do this thing together.

If you look at the Mercedes-Benz story, you can see a family theme throughout. Bertha Benz drove Karl's car over a long distance in a well publicised tour. At the time people didn't understand the gasoline engine and thought the thing must be driven by demons. They were very superstitious.

Bertha Benz's trip, made without her husband's knowledge, made people more comfortable with the idea of the automobile and curiosity was peaked setting the stage for success.

Other family references in the amazing history of Mercedes Benz include its very name. Mercedes Jellinek was the daughter of Emil Jellinek. Emil Jellinek was a wealthy man who drove early Daimler engine developments because he raced their cars and required more and more speed.

Gottlieb Daimler worked on an automobile design around the same time as Karl Benz, but since his was a converted horse carriage, instead of a purpose designed chassis like Karl Benz's, Karl Benz was credited as the father of the automobile.

One of the Daimler engines was named after Emil Jellinek's daughter Mercedes. Eventually Emil Jellinek named his racing team Mercedes. He clearly adored his daughter. Eventually, Karl Benz merged his company with Daimler's to form Daimler-Benz.

I don't know about you, but family is very important to me and so this element of the Mercedes-Benz heritage puts them head and shoulders above the rest in my book. To me, Ferrari and Mercedes have the most reason to be proud and have the richest heritage of all car companies, but even Ferrari can't claim to have invented the automobile ;)

This entrepreneur and author shows you How to Become a Make-It-Happen Person by relating lessons learnt while doing everything from training with an Israeli Special Forces slash Mossad agent to practicing exotic, sensual Salsa Dancing.

Visit http://www.RegScheepers.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Reg_Scheepers

Is It Worthwhile to Imagine Your Preferred Future?

By Joel Bruce Wallach

...Given all the challenges in the world?

Recently, I have noticed increasing fragmentation, and a somewhat stunned or overwhelmed vibration in many people's auras. This seems to result from reading too much news, and taking it in too deeply. Some so-called realists insist that their emotional and mental condition must be defined by the news.

However, the news is a collection of pictures, words, and feelings that have been packaged to tell a powerful story. You might prefer to tell the story in a different way. When you let the newsmaker's typically narrow and gloomy story into the interior world of your own heart, mind, and soul, you are giving your power away. When you begin to choose your own thoughts about yourself and your reality, you take your power back.

But why choose your own reality, amidst a world that seems to be presenting only problems and offering many limitations? You can think of your consciously made choices as vibrations. Why vibrations? Because everything in the universe follows the laws of resonance.

You're familiar with how a struck tuning fork, held near a piano, causes the corresponding string that has the same note as the tuning fork to spontaneously make a sound. That's resonance, and it is the basic principle that affects everything in the universe. And that includes you, your thoughts, and your reality.

Why should the nay-sayers define your future, when they have no understanding of resonance? If they believe that the outside world is forcing them into a limited future, they are entitled to believe that. Maybe it's ok for them to be stuck in a narrow world, but you have the right to align with the energy of your preferred vibration.

When you understand resonance, you realize that it is not naive at all to choose your thoughts, to choose your future, and to choose your state of consciousness. But wouldn't making such choices be a denial of reality?

It may look naive when you actively choose to align with a reality, and you move towards that reality, at least from the point of view of others who lack an understanding of resonance. They assume, from what they believe is a reasonable point of view, that everything outside of them is making them be a certain way. They see you making new choices, and they assume that you just don't understand, or that you are denying reality, or that you are hopelessly naive. And in a curious way, you are all these things, but not in the way that they suppose.

When you choose your state of consciousness, and choose where to focus your attention, you are following a higher principle. Not higher in the sense of better, but higher in the sense of following the essential method utilized by the creator of the universe. When you are guided by your intuitive mind and by your soul, you are using a more divinely aligned form of resonance. This is because your intuitive mind and your soul essence are living expressions of the creative force that actually created the universe. And so your willingness to create and choose your reality expresses a cosmic principle that is closer to universal truth.

But then, if you are using the example of the creator and the creation, wouldn't it be just as natural to let yourself be brought into a lower condition by world conditions and beliefs? Wouldn't that be a natural example of resonance, too?

Perhaps it would be, if you were a pebble on the side of the road, because a pebble is not capable of the creative thought that you are capable of. Pebbles have been given a lesser capacity than you, and so you don't have to be guided by their example. Unless, of course, you are learning about stillness, and this is a perfect example of when it actually would be wise to be inspired by the example of a pebble.

The person who does not make conscious choices, but who meekly accepts that the outer world must define their reality, is not guided by their higher divine aspects of self. They are stuck in a lower quality expression of resonance, because they passively fall into resonance with the narrow options presented by news and by well-meaning, but similarly limited friends.

Many well-intentioned people are afraid to create their life based on their own chosen state of consciousness. They have been led to believe that it would be uncompassionate to follow their own higher inspiration. Or, they may fear that if they let the media's version of reality go, they will find themselves adrift, as if floating outside of the comforting solidity of the well-accepted, victim-oriented world view.

So what can you do about a feeling of fragmentation or confusion? Isn't that a natural response to modern situations of this modern world?

Fragmentation and confusion represent instinctive responses to overwhelming stimuli. So don't blame yourself if you find yourself in these unpleasant states. Do know, however, that you do have choice about whether you get stuck there, because you can choose to use your consciousness in a more effective way. This higher way is the conscious choice response. Examine how this works, because this is something you can do...

When you took the news into your heart and mind, did you realize that you could release it from your heart and mind as well? Did you think that you had to keep the energy of that news story in your personal space?

When you release the energy that you took in from the news, you are simply releasing the emotions and pictures from your body and aura that have been holding you in a helpless condition. This sounds strange at first, because the idea that you can release the energy of something that influenced you sounds either mystical or silly, but here's how to do it...

Understand that everything is basically energy. This is the key to understanding much of metaphysics and spiritual healing. Look at the news stories, and the popular beliefs that you allowed into your personal space. You allowed their energy into your body, heart, mind, and soul. This practice of observing what you've let in helps you separate the content of the news, the story, from its basic existence -- as energy. When you know that you let some energy into your personal space, you can more easily choose to let it out again. Here are the steps to releasing the energy...

Imagine -- just pretend -- that the energy of the news that you allowed into your heart and mind is now wafting out of you like a wispy cloud. Why a wispy cloud? You know that clouds are light, and they change their shape easily. You've seen how clouds flow gracefully across the sky, and eventually dissolve into nothingness. And that is what you want, because you want to be able to change the shape of a thought or an energy that you let into yourself. You want to be able to let it shift easily, and dissolve easily.

Ah, but the realists say, just because you dissolved that energy from yourself, that doesn't make it vanish from the world. Quite true. But you've released the lower vibration influence from one person, and that person happens to be you.

And here you see how the law of resonance comes into this, because when you have released a bit of negativity, or the so-called news that is no longer in your personal space, you have created a clearer personal environment. That clarity lets you more easily create the world that you prefer. Why are these distinctions so important?

The world that you choose to manifest is likely a better world than the gloomy energy that you had let into yourself. However, even this idea of releasing vibrations perturbs some people, because they still insist that by releasing the energy of disturbing news, you are failing to have compassion for the world, and are failing to recognize problems. Here is where they are misguided...

When you are able to access the vibration of your preferred reality, you are creating a better world, starting with the level of pure vibrations. And when you do this, you are no longer a victim, but an empowered being who is making a difference -- for yourself, and for everyone.

This happens because when you clear your heart and mind of external chaos, you are holding positive resonance for the kind of balanced and healthy world that you seek. And whether people who regard themselves as realists understand this or not, you are truly making a difference through that higher quality resonance, and through the good that such higher quality vibrations tend to cultivate.

This inner energy shift may look like a subtle shift. And it is. But subtle is still real. And real shifts accumulate. So it's ok for you to release energy, and to consciously choose where your attention is focused. Whatever anyone else may think about it, you are utilizing higher principles of resonance for a positive purpose that creates good for yourself and others.

And in spite of whatever the news presents as "what is happening," your positive resonance may be one of the more healthy things that you can do to lift the world into a better condition. You won't lose your mind, and you won't lose your connection with reality, but your higher resonance will make it easier for everyone to function more easily and effectively. Know that your choice in these matters is helping to co-create heaven on earth, by resonating it into being in this very moment.

Many Blessings,

Joel Bruce Wallach
Founder, Cosmic Living teleclasses for spiritual empowerment

Do you have a strong desire to align with your spiritual essence? Are you wondering how you can activate your divine potential? Experienced practical mystic and teacher Joel Bruce Wallach helps you learn practical self-healing and inspiring metaphysical teachings in a centered, guided, sacred space. Live teleseminars, self-paced learning via mp3s, and inspiring articles and the transformational tips blog are available now.

I'm Joel Bruce Wallach, and I look forward to sharing step-by-step methods and insights with you, so that you can develop practical cosmic awareness, and experience your higher potential with ease and grace. Listen to mp3 samples of the teleclasses here:
http://cosmic-living.com/group-sessions-archive/

Activating your cosmic consciousness is easier than you had realized, when you know how to place your awareness, and have steps to guide you. Spiritual realizations and energy healing are within your capacity, because the power is already within you. In this amazingly accelerated modern age of spiritual empowerment, self-paced learning is the key to realizing your potential. I am honored to share these step-by-step teachings with you.

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