What is Your Purpose?
By: May McCarthy

I had a chance recently to be with a group of travelers overseas for a week.  It was very clear to me that many of these travelers were quite comfortable with themselves and confident about living their purpose in life.  Everything that they did had this underlying current of joy and meaning and they appeared to me to have a lot more fun on the trip. There are a number of famous people and organizations who clearly define their purpose and have something to advise the rest of us about identifying our purpose.  Some of my favorite examples include:

• Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.  - Dalai Lama

Turning Wishes into Goals!
By: May McCarthy

One of my favorite sayings from an Unknown Author is: “Write it down. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant’s into cans; dreams into plans; and plans into reality. Don’t just think it – ink it!” I agree! I’ve noticed that a lot of people have trouble attaining their goals. Many people create wishes as vague descriptions of their goals. Turning a wish into an achieved goal requires that we get more specific and commit to a consistent  daily practice as part of the process. Follow these three simple steps to help you to achieve more of what you want in life: 1. Write your goals down daily and be specific in describing the outcome that you want.

As you spend time each day describing your goals as though they have already been realized, your subconscious is going to work with you to make those statements true.   To illustrate this, I’m sure that you’ve heard someone say “Everyone at the office (or at my kids’ school) has been sick with the flu.  I sure hope that I don’t get sick.” And, what happened? Right, they got sick. Life will reflect back to us what we “think into” it more times than not. 

The Value of Commitment!
By: May McCarthy

In the past month, the topic of commitment has come up in a number of different settings and I thought that would be a great focus for this month’s newsletter. 

Some of my Angel Investor friends often ask business owners who are looking for investors, “How committed are you to the success of your business?” At my church, pastors have posed the question to the congregation, “Can you commit to a daily practice that connects you with the Divine?” I’ve heard parents advise their children, “Since you’ve signed up to play on the team, you have to honor your commitment and play the rest of the season even if you don’t feel like it.”  And one businessman told me of his conversation with a valued customer, “I know that my product didn’t arrive to you on time and I feel obligated to abide by the commitment I made to you. Please accept the shipment for free because of our mistake.”

As you can see from these examples, commitment can have a number of meanings.  In the dictionary, commitment is defined as “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.” It can also mean “a pledge or undertaking.”  Commitments can mean “an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.”

One of my favorite sayings from an unknown author is: “There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

I agree! Commitment is a choice to follow through and accept no excuses, only results. But, in order to do this, you have to have an idea of the results that you want to realize and commit to reviewing them daily. 

To help you with this, follow these three simple steps as your daily commitment to the results that you want to achieve:

1. Describe in detail the results that you want for your life.

Give Forth to Make Room for More Good!
By: May McCarthy

In traveling the country as part of the promotion for my book, The Path to Wealth, I’ve noticed that most everyone that I meet wants to achieve more goals and experience more of the good things that they desire in life. Some people, however, haven’t made room enough to receive what they want.  Imagine that you are a vessel to hold things like a box.  If you’ve filled the box to the brim, you can’t add anything more to it. You have to remove the things that aren’t useful to make room for the things that you want.  To do this, you need to use a process of giving-forth or forgiveness. In addition to making room for more good things, forgiveness has other benefits as well.

In the study, Neuroimaging of Forgivability, Dr. Tom Farrow, a clinical psychologist at the University of Sheffield, and his colleagues, used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to study the effects of forgiveness on the brain. It turns out when a person is in the process of forgiving, the scanned images show that activity in the frontal lobe of the brain increases. The frontal lobe is involved in problem-solving and complex thought and complex functions of thinking and reasoning. Based on this research, is it possible that forgiving someone may actually make you smarter?

Repetition Reaps Rewards!
By: May McCarthy

    I am a big believer in the value of repetition.  Athletes, musicians, surgeons, and others who have excelled in their professions can point to repetition as a tool for their success.  I agree!  That’s why I include the repetitive practice of creating, speaking, and imagining goal achievement statements in the daily practice that is outlined in my book The Path to Wealth. I believe that it is important to revisit your goals daily so that your subconscious and intuition can show up more often in more obvious ways to help point you towards attaining your goals. 

    Another benefit is that you will change your beliefs so that you can welcome your goals to arrive sooner. Muhammad Ali, one of the world’s greatest boxers said; “It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” And, Earl Nightingale, a respected author and motivational speaker, said “Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” Repetition changes your beliefs and once that happens, your goals will be achieved sooner and the results will last longer.