MaXIMIze - Eating the Elephant in the Room

Another two months gone since I last posted...this has been a very fallow year for my writing, which is okay. We all have peaks and valleys and elephants that appear who need to be eaten...

What is your elephant in the room?

One of mine is that I'm tired of renting and want my own home again, one that I can decorate any way I want and where I can plant a garden and not worry about having too much stuff to move when it comes time to do so.

The bigger one, and the one that I can do something about right here, right now, is that I've lost my creative drive somewhere - I have all these great ideas to pursue, books with my blog posts on certain topics in them, books of fairytales with talismans, fetishes if you like, touchstones even, to reinvigorate one's belief in oneself, one's knowledge, one's intuition - I know I should just suck it up, buttercup, and start putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving down the path instead of taking one small, shaking step and halting.

It's like the hiking we just did - one step in front of the other until you reach your destination and see what it is you came to see.

Sometimes I feel like I've taken too long of a break to ever start again, and then I read something and CLICK - I can begin again and move forward from right where I am.

So, what steps are you taking to begin again and move forward with your dreams and ideas?

Until next time, Namaste!

MaXIMIze - Relationships - Addressing the Elephant

Yes, I skipped blogging last week - the summer doldrums hit just ahead of the heat here in California. That happens sometimes. I have learned through the years if I want to avoid burnout, rather than powering through the doldrums, the still space, I need to instead sit in that still space until the wind and wave come again to carry me to the next spot on my journey. Floating in the still space also allows me to gain energy so I can work with the wind and wave when they come, and I can land further up my path then they can carry me alone.

The theme of this month's postings is Relationships. The most important relationship you have in life is the one you have with yourself. When you really know yourself, you can better craft a response to the action of another or to a particular situation rather than just having a reaction to them.

A lesson learned from my readings this summer is that you have to address the elephant in order to get it out of the room. Sometimes that elephant is external - another person or a particular situation. Other times it is internal - your reaction to a particular situation or another person.

When you know yourself on a deep level, you can determine which type of elephant you are dealing with. And once you've done that, you can address the elephant and encourage it to leave the room so you can deal with the heart of the matter at hand.

So, what elephants are you dealing with? How are you going to address them so they will exit the room and leave you able to to deal with the true matter at hand?

Until next time, Namaste!

MaXIMIze - True Wealth

Today, I'm going to share some of what I've learned from Mark T. Rafter's book, The Wealth Manifesto.

Mark starts off strong from the get-go. In his introduction, he lays out these three steps to achieving your goals:

1. Creating/refining your intention. Once you have what true wealth and financial freedom means to you crystal clear in your mind, then you can move on to the next step…

2. Which is declaring your intention. Write down what true wealth and financial freedom means to you. Also, lay out your major goals in this area AND the steps you need to take to get to those goals. Which means the last step is…

3. Taking action. Begin taking the steps you need to take to reach the goals you've laid out.

Remember - how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

It is up to you to take those first steps toward true wealth and financial freedom.

In his book, Mark lays out what he calls "The Articles of the Wealth Manifesto." There are 14 articles in total, reminding us that wealth, true wealth, has to do with the quality of our lives as they relate to our personal values. Money is just a tool to use in garnering true wealth.

When we hone down to what our core values are in life, and live our lives in sync with those values, we tend to be happier and more content with ourselves and our lives, which equates to coming from a place of abundance rather than a place of lack.

Also, when we are living our lives in sync with our personal values, we are building our lives on a solid foundation rather then the shifting sands of society's values and mores.

In order to determine what your core values and principles are, you can go through the exercise laid out in this post from January 2014.

When we are sure of our footing, of our foundation, we can truly begin to grow, stretching ourselves to reach whatever goals we have set for ourselves.

True wealth begins by taking the first step - what step can you take right now toward living your best life now?

Until next time, Namaste!