The Secret to Success Revealed! (Did Abraham Lincoln have days like this?)

It appears something interesting is happening in my life.

First, the man of my dreams showed up… and when I least expected him.  I had just reached a place when I was enjoying being single and was determined to live that experience to the fullest, when I met the perfect guy for me.  I knew immediately that something significant was happening.  The universe was saying…  in no uncertain terms… “This is the one!”

8 weeks later, I was married to this amazing man and started experiencing a relationship unlike anything I had experienced before.  He is truly my best friend and my soul mate.  He and I fit together perfectly… he is my other half (I never understood that before) but I do now and it is wonderful.

But I didn’t ask for this.

For weeks, I kept looking to the sky and asking, “Right now you send him?”

“Really?”

Apparently God and the universe knew better than I… when the time was right.

So how did this perfectly timed experience show up?  Did I attract it?  Did an all knowing God send it because I’ve been a good girl?  Was it just luck?  Why was I blessed with this experience when so many others, who want it, can’t seem to find it?

The Secret (book and movie) would say because last year I put in writing some details about the life I wanted, which included my soul mate and my dream job… I am now manifesting those things into my life.  It would say I have the power to create whatever I want in my life and good things are coming to me because I wished for them.

Being a person of faith, I have some problems with that.

I believe that God and the universe have some plans for my life too.

Having said that, I also believe that most of the things I desire, are in my heart because they are what I am meant to desire.  God and the universe know me and who I am meant to be.  This truth about who I am meant to be, is also inside of me and drives me toward both what I want and what God and the universe want for me.

They are the same thing, after all, whether I consciously realize it or not.

So all three of us (God, the universe and me) are working together, in perfect unison, to shape my life.  God and the universe  know who I am and who I will be.  They know what experiences I need in order to become this person.  So as I make choices and experience different ups and downs in my life, I can trust that all – is always well.  I am always choosing right, and my journey is perfect, even when things get rough – and they will get rough.

There will be some hard times in life, when I won’t get what I wished for. I can imagine and believe all day long and I still won’t get it.  (Sorry Secret fans!)  God and the universe are working with my subconscious mind to attract the experiences I need – not necessarily the ones I want.

Sometimes life will be difficult, really difficult, but I can trust that there is purpose in the difficult times.

Have you ever seen a baby bird struggling to hatch itself out of an egg?  You may have been tempted to help the little guy out.  For a while, it seems like he won’t make it on his own.  But if you help him… he won’t live.  That divine struggle to break out of his shell is vital to his developing the strength to survive.  If you rob him of that experience, he will not become who he is meant to be.

I have, in my life, often felt just like that little bird.   It feels like I have broken a small hole in my egg and I’m calling out to God and the universe… “How bout a little help down here!  I’m stuck!”

But help doesn’t always come.  I can’t count the number of times I have prayed for relief and help… and have not received it.  Every time that has happened to me though… I knew that fighting my way out of this, was exactly where I was meant to be – there was purpose to my struggles.  I also knew that I could do it or I, God and the universe wouldn’t have placed me here.

If I subscribed to the theory of the Law of Attraction, it would say that I attracted this struggle because I didn’t properly use “The Secret.”   It would say that I didn’t ask the universe properly for what I wanted and that somehow I asked for this.  If I don’t want this struggle I need to learn to ask for what I want.

That is partly true.  I do agree that I attract the challenges I need next into my life, but I do this subconsciously because that is how the divine process of life (the universe) works.

Through my free agency and listening to my inner truth, I make choices which are always the perfect choices to bring about what I need next in my life, even when those perfect experiences aren’t fun.  But I trust in the process of my life – that it is always the perfect life for me.

Does that make sense?

I asked for every experience.  I didn’t ask wrong or for the wrong things.  I asked for exactly what I needed next and whether I like the experience or not… the process of my life (the universe) is always perfect.

But if that is true… Does it do me any good to believe that good things will happen for me?

Does it make a difference to have faith and stay optimistic?

Should I keep believing that I’m going to get the job on Good Morning America?

Absolutely!

Living in a state of optimism and trust (without fear) means living life in an attractive energy.

This is the real Law of Attraction!

Living with a trusting mindset means loving God, myself, other people and life in general.  It is about choosing to feel safe in the process of life. It is about choosing to trust that good things are coming your way.   It is about loving, living and learning and approaching life with hope and optimism – and this is a very attractive way to live.

When you live like this, people are more attracted to you and good situations will come your way as a natural consequence of that.  So I wholeheartedly recommend having faith that good things are coming your way.

Just don’t forget that sometimes you may not get what you wanted… and you have to trust that those experiences are perfect too.  If I don’t get the job, I have to trust that it’s perfect.

You also need to remember that the universe might surprise you… because it knows you and who you are meant to be better than your own conscious mind does!  Sometimes it delivers the perfect thing when you didn’t even know you were ready for it.

I didn’t know that the time was right to meet my soul mate.

I didn’t consciously ask for him at that time but God and the universe (the process of life) knew the time was right and so he showed up.  I made the choice to accept the date though and  I did this because a little voice inside me (my inner truth) was guiding me.  I knew the right choice (I had the free agency to make it either way) but God, the universe and my inner truth are always on the same page, whether I realize it or not.

I made the decision to apply for the job with GMA.  But was there some divine guidance involved too?

Absolutely.

I can’t forget my business partners who told me about the contest.  Somehow the universe prompted them to tell me about it and I felt guided to fill it out.  (I never really expected to win though!)  Isn’t life an amazing process!!!

Does this all make sense?

The Secret or “The Law of Attraction” is true, but there is more to it.

God and the universe are also in play in your life.  It’s not all about you and your power!

There are also other laws in play.  The Law of Karma is equally important to understand.  It says… If you give nothing, you will get nothing. What you give… will always come back to you.

If you sit around your apartment wishing and believing that you will get your dream job…but take no action to find it, don’t expect the universe to deliver.

You must take action toward creating what you want.  Then trust that good things are coming your way – they will – but they will because you are working in harmony with the universe and all it’s laws.

Visualization can be a powerful tool but it can also be a fatal waste of time.  Many people believe if they sit at home imaging themselves as a successful speaker on stage in front of thousands of people, the phone will ring, and their dream job will appear.

That is not how it works.

If you want to be a professional speaker get out there and offer to speak for free to anyone who will let you, make phone calls, meet people and offer to give your gift to the world.  Then use visualization to practice each speech in your mind.  Imagine yourself on the stage and run through what you will say until you feel confident about giving it.  Stay in a place of trust that good opportunities will show up for you.  Have faith not fear.  Then get out there and give your gift to the universe… then the universe will deliver.

Work on being the person you want to become.  Take responsibility for that process.

If you are taking more responsibility for your life, taking action, getting things done, feeling positive about your life and where you are headed… good things will happen to you.  People will like you, opportunities will show up and you will be ready to take them on.

But God and the universe will never give you something you’re not ready for.  So if you are not taking responsibility for your life now… it’s never going to give you more.  If fact, you will know subconsciously that you aren’t ready for more and the fear of success will keep you from even trying.

If you are stuck… this might be part of the problem.

So, do you want to know the real secret of success?

Do you want to know why I think this big opportunity with Good Morning America showed up for me?

I focused on being the best me and giving my gifts to the world.  I actually sat down and figured out who I wanted to be (using my imagination and some inspiration.)  I also decided what it felt like to be that me – and chose to start feeling it.  I also felt in my heart that God and the universe wanted me to be that person too.  I chose to trust them that the right opportunities would show up if I trusted life, put myself out there and worked hard.

(So I showed the universe that I was ready to handle more good things by taking responsibility for what I had now.)

Then I looked for every opportunity I could find, to give my gifts to the world.

I chose a positive attitude and assumed good things would happen to me.

Good things did start to happen… because my positive outlook was literally attractive. People wanted to work with me.

So the secret to success formula looks like this…   Figure out who you want to be + take responsibility for your life + be positive and trusting + give your gifts to the world = good things happen to you!

I wrote this article, today, because I needed to get centered on these principles again myself.  This whole Good Morning America thing has been hard to get my head around.

I find myself on a roller coaster of emotion because I want this so much, but I don’t want to get my hopes too high and be disappointed. I am actually struggling a little bit to stay positive.

I am usually really good at staying positive which is surprising when you look at how many losses I have experienced in my life.  This pattern started at a young age when I ran for school officer (repeatedly) and always lost.  I tried out for cheerleader and lost.  I tried out for dance company and lost.  My dad started calling me Abraham Lincoln because I lost so many elections.

Each time I got my heart set on something it didn’t happen.  Later in life I experienced financial loss, health problems, marriage problems and finally divorce.  By now, Dad was calling me Job because my life has been rife with losses.

But I still consider myself lucky.

Good things happen to me all the time.

(And in the end Abraham Lincoln came out on top too!)

All those losses also shaped who I am today and there have been countless blessings in spite of all the troubles.  But there is still a little voice, in the back of my head, saying… “you’re gonna lose again.”

“There is no way you’re really going to get your dream job!”

“This doesn’t really happen!”

Some days, I am having to fight against that voice.

“I am worthy and ready for this responsibility.”

“I am a person who fit’s on national television giving advice to the world.”

That’s why I am here.

The fact of the matter is, I already beat the odds.

What are the chances that my little application would even get noticed in a field of 15,000 people!

I am one of only 20 finalists!

I could actually get a job with Good Morning America!

So I am going to chose to follow the formula:

Figure out who you want to be + take responsibility for your life + be positive and trusting + give your gifts to the world = good things happen to you!

You can’t control the world and what other people choose to do.  But you can change what is inside of you.

You can change your attitude, your perceptions, your focus, your emotions and your actions.

That is really all you can do.

I will let you know what happens next.

Could I be the next Dear Abby on ABC?

It sounds so crazy I still can’t believe it’s really happening. A month ago a friend told me Good Morning America was holding a nation wide search for an on air advice guru. They thought, because of my experience as a life coach, I ought to apply.

So I did. I took my time and thought of clever responses to their advice based questions and wrote a killer essay about why I should get the job and sent it all off to ABC in NewYork.

After the application submission deadline pasted they announced that over 15000 people had applied. I realized, at that point, the odds of making it were so low – I might as well forget it. A couple weeks went by and I had forgotten all about the whole thing.

Then Saturday afternoon I checked my messages and said, “Patrick who would call me from New York? I don’t know anyone there.” (I truly had forgotten since I never thought in a million years my little essay would stand out against 15000 others). But apparently it had.

It was Matt from GMA and they liked my essay and wanted to talk to me!!!!

Patrick and I both about fainted!

Matt was out of the office until Tuesday so it was the three longest days of my life! But Tuesday finally came and I had a phone interview with a producer from the show. He explained to me that they had read all 15000 applications and had narrowed it down to 50 people of which I was one. Now they were going to do phone interviews and cut that number in half I thought my interview went okay but I didn’t dare believe I’d done well enough to make the cut.

Then Friday morning I got a call from another producer at GMA. I had made the cut and they now wanted a video from me. They sent me an email with instructions to answer three questions and just film a close up of my face. And they needed it in two days!

Luckily my good friend Rick Egan is a professional photographer for the Tribune and he offered to help me. I was up till midnight the night before writing the most clever interesting responses I could come up with. It took us about two hours to shoot 2 minutes of video and then hours to cut it down to the 1minute 20 seconds they wanted.

This morning we sent it all off, along with a current resume to Maureen at ABC. Now we cross our fingers and pray! I also started looking up Dear Abby and Ann Landers articles to read. If I make the next cut there will be on air advice giving next!!

While looking up Dear Abby articles I found these questions which never made the paper. They cracked me up so I had to share…

Dear Abby,
A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is
a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker
in her mid twenties. These two women go everywhere
together and I’ve never seen a man go into or leave their
apartment. Do you think they could be Lebanese?

Dear Abby,
What can I do about all the sex, nudity, fowl language and
violence on my VCR?

Dear Abby,
I have a man I can’t trust. He cheats so much, I’m
not even sure the baby I’m carrying is his.

Dear Abby,
I am a twenty-three year old liberated woman who has
been on the pill for two years. It’s getting expensive and
I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I
don’t know him well enough to discuss money with him.

Dear Abby,
I’ve suspected that my husband has been fooling around,
and when confronted with the evidence, he denied
everything and said it would never happen again.

Dear Abby,
Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who
was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own?

Dear Abby,
I joined the Navy to see the world. I’ve seen it.
Now how do I get out?

Dear Abby,
I was married to Bill for three months and I didn’t
know he drank until one night he came home sober.

Dear Abby,
My mother is mean and short tempered.
I think she is going through mental pause.

Dear Abby,
You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest
in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my husband lost all
interest in sex and he is a doctor. Now what do I do?

Remember these people can vote . . . and drive cars!

I’ll let you know what happens next!