Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Your Personal Book of Success- A Powerful Practice

I sat down and asked God/the Universe what lesson He’d like for me to share today and the response was, “The lesson of not all of a sudden forgetting how far you have come when you find yourself in a down moment or a down cycle.”

When you are going through a down moment, a fearful moment, a moment of doubt or even a melancholy moment, how easy is it to forget your previous triumphs and successes? Like the one from last week?? Or even the one from this morning? How quickly we forget sometimes…… Sometimes one thing goes wrong and suddenly you forget about everything that had just gone right and how well things are going and how much progress you’ve made in the last year….six months….week….

This is why I wanted to share this extremely useful exercise with you all in hopes that some of you will incorporate it into your daily lives and that it becomes a life-long powerful practice for you.


Exercise: Creating Your Own Private Book of Successes

1. Go buy an interesting notebook that appeals to you.

2. On the front cover write in big, bold letters, “MY BOOK OF SUCCESS.” Yes, you can write it on the inside cover if you are worried others might see it.

3. Every time you have a triumph or success write it down in this notebook along with the time and date. EVERY TIME! EVERY TIME the Universe comes through for you, write it down. Doesn’t matter how small or how big as long as it feels like a triumph to you.

4. You don’t have to write much more than the event, time, and date. It doesn’t matter if you only write one line. This is a BOOK OF RECORDS, not a book of stories. Of course you’re welcomed to write out as much as you like, but you’re more likely to stick to making this exercise part of your routine and to actually doing it for years if you keep it short and simple.

5. DEFINITELY write down any situation where you aren’t sure something is going to go your way and then it DOES go your way (ex. “I was able to pay my phone bill even though I wasn’t sure how that was going to happen”). Write down anytime something ISN’T supposed to go your way and then it DOES go your way. Write down anytime you aren’t sure you can do something and then you do it. Write down anytime you REALLY want something and then it comes to you/you get it. Write down any “miracles” you experience. Basically, as I said above, write down any time the Universe comes through for you or that YOU come through for you.

6. Every time you are experiencing a negative moment or are in a down cycle, pull out your notebook and read through it. Hey, you might see something from THIS MORNING that you already forgot about as other people’s clouds of gloom surrounded you and drowned you throughout the day! Anytime you start feeling self-doubt, fear, lack of confidence, not enoughness, anything like that, pull out your "Book of Success" and look at how many times the Universe has come through for you! This is a great way to not only get the big picture, gain confidence, lift your mood, and keep you moving forward, but it’s also a great exercise for building trust. Trust in the Universe/God and trust in yourself. It also helps shift you into more positive expectations.

7. Range of Successes:
This is a personal book and you can go with whatever feels right for you. You might prefer to stick solely to “bigger” successes like:

“I finally got over so and so.”
“I received clarity as to this and this situation.”
“I got into med school.”
“I was chosen for this high-paying job out of hundreds of applicants.”
“I lost those 50 lbs.”
“I beat cancer.”
“I survived that car accident.”
“I graduated from college.”
"I found a husband I love."
“I got to travel to ______”
“I didn’t lose my temper when so and so happened as I normally do.”
“I finally forgave so and so."

On top of these being triumphs to remind you of how far you've come and how many things HAVE gone your way, how great will it be to see sentences like the ones above the next time you think you'll never be able to get over the new so and so? Or the next time you are experiencing confusion and praying for clarity? Some of your recorded triumphs will serve as a quick jolt reminder to your brain that, "Oh, I've done this before. And everything worked out just fine. I can do it again."

It’s also fun and useful to include the “smaller” triumphs in life. The little things that are supposed to make you feel good and do make you feel good until you later go on and forget about them. Keeping records of these things will help remind you later on.

Things like:

“I won this raffle.” (Hey, when you're feeling unlucky, it will remind you that you HAVE been lucky!)
“Three people in a row told me I looked beautiful this morning.”
“I got the afternoon off and did exactly what I wanted with it.”
“My co-worker bought me lunch today.”
“I received this really sweet e-mail saying _____.”
“I found the perfect shoes.”
“My mom told me she loved me this morning.”

Go with whatever feels right for you. And trust me, even if you decide to only record the “bigger” successes, you’ll fill up your book and need a new one faster than you think!


8. To “soup up” this exercise, you can also add a sentence expressing gratitude with every success you record. This way you are also embedding your gratitude practice into this exercise.

9. When you get your notebook, definitely fill it in with older events that happened before you had your notebook. It’s okay if you don’t remember the exact date. If it’s a success, it should be in your Book of Success. Anytime an old success comes to mind, write it down. Become an excellent record-keeper and historian of your own successes!

10. START TODAY. KEEP IT FOREVER.


Sending you all lots of love and light!
J

1 comment:

  1. SUCH a great idea. i gain so much EVERYTIME i read your blog. please continue to post what the Father lays on your heart and mind.
    Jenay, Florida

    ReplyDelete