My Favorite Self-Help Stuff

How do you manifest what you want in your life? Well… Has anyone ever told you to “just allow”?

Did this drive you nuts? If you said Yes, I have to admit: Me too! What do they mean, “just allow”? I used to find this quite difficult, but I’ve gotten clearer on what this is supposed to mean, and I’ve gotten a lot better at allowing too. Still room for improvement, of course, but really, things are going so much better than they used to. BTW, mediation works nicely, and it doesn’t have to be long either. 10 minutes of being still and focusing on breathing will do the trick.

I just got back (yeah, in the middle of the night) from UnSeminar5, which was PHENOMENAL! Seriously. I totally recommend it to anyone who wants to make a living (a very good one) online. It was the BEST seminar I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to lots and lots of them, though admittedly most of them not in Internet Marketing, but still. I do know conferences and seminars, and this one really rocked.

And not only that, but it felt like I was manifesting my wildest expectations about who I’d be able to talk with and meet. Even people who weren’t even on the program who I wanted to meet were there and I got to have actual conversations with them.

No, I’m not going to launch into a name-dropping fest. Let’s just say, I was astonished. Also at what I learned. And at the huge leap my confidence has taken over the last few days. I know that the Law of Attraction must have something to do with it.

More on the conference later. As you can see from the title, this is more on the Law of Attraction. I just came across this really cool book on how to actually make the law of attraction work for you, more effectively and more quickly than you ever thought possible, and I really wanted to tell you about it before I get side-tracked.

I’ll write a more detailed review on it later, once I’ve gotten some sleep, but for now, just in case you want to check it out for yourself, you can find it at www.HowToAllow.com

One small gripe: The author keeps talking about “man” — hey, women want to manifest too! And yes, of course the techniques he teaches work for anyone. And it’s in nice step-by-step instructions too.

So I’m wishing all of us Happy Manifesting, or, in other words: Let’s miraculate in 2008!

Elisabeth

www.HowToAllow.com

If you travel frequently or even just every now and then, especially across lots of time zones, here’s a tip that’ll save you some grief:

I learned it the hard way (very hard) years ago when flying back and forth to Germany and discovering stopovers in Iceland (courtesy of Iceland Air):

It seemed like a good idea at the time to stop in Iceland on the way to Germany, but I’ll never do that again. Why? Compounded jet lag and sleep deprivation:

I left in the evening from Baltimore (meaning I left MUCH earlier in Richmond, got to Iceland at something like 5 a.m., and then had a whole day of “fun” in Iceland ahead of me. Problem: I can’t sleep on airplanes and I don’t function on no sleep.

So really, I was sleepwalking through Reykjavik for hours, waiting for my hotel to allow me to check in. I did take a nap when it let me in at long last (so this is what I spent my stopover doing, mostly), then went back out etc. What with the time difference and me being a night person anyway, I went to sleep very late, only to have to get up again at 4 a.m.!

Needless to say, I felt horrible for several days once I arrived in Germany, much worse than usual (and I don’t do too well going that way to start with).

The conclusion I drew from that experience: if I ever stop over again in Reykjavik, I’ll do so on the way BACK! I’ll get there in the afternoon, and leave in the afternoon the next day. Full value from the hotel and a good night’s sleep, and I’ll arrive well-rested back home.

Fast forward a few years and to flying in the other direction — to New Zealand. It seemed like a good idea at the time to stop in San Francisco for a couple of days each time I came through. I could buy two sets of tickets, didn’t have to shell out the whole amount all at once, and I got to spend time with my friends in San Francisco, which also happens to be one of my favorite cities.

Well… I didn’t feel too good when I got back home last year after doing that particular routine. But I was too busy to really think about it (started teaching the VERY next morning), so I did it AGAIN.

This time, as I mentioned in my last entry, I was still recovering from the flu. Well… Here’s compounded jet lag and how it works going from NZ to Richmond:

Leaving in the afternoon in Wellington.  Leaving in the evening in Auckland.  No sleep on plane (12 hours or so) (though I did doze off a little a couple of times), arriving in San Francisco around lunchtime.

I totally crashed the first night, but the second one I was kept awake by non-stop hacking cough. And THEN, I had to get up early to catch the plane to Richmond (short night), and got stranded in Chicago (little sleep due to no luggage and no ear plugs AND due to having to get up at 6 to catch next plane). I got really sick all over again once I made it home.

I’m only now starting to feel better. And I have definitely learned another lesson:

When doing stop-overs on the way to New Zealand, do them going West the next time, and NOT going East. Same lesson as from the Iceland Air experience: Going East, go direct, going West, stops work great.

Maybe I’m a bit fussy when it comes to quality of sleep, but so what? Sleep is important, and I don’t think even I take it seriously enough, or this sort of thing wouldn’t have happened. I know I feel better, stay healthier, and function a heck of a lot better when I get enough of it and at the right time too.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section

Elisabeth

I was all ready to get back home and resume my “normal” life, and then, when I looked up my connecting flight at O’Hare, there it was: “cancelled”!

I went to the customer service desk, tried to get them to put me on a different flight, but the agent told me that my chances were very slim to basically non-existent (overbooked by 6 and a waiting list of 20 for a flight on a plane so small that half the passengers had to fail to show up in order for me to get on), so I took her up on her offer to put me up in a nearby hotel.

The part that bothered me most: My suitcases were going to arrive at their destination without me! There was room for THEM on the only other flight to my destination, but not for ME! What a bummer.

Here I had a great opportunity to either blow a fuse and create a stress fest, or take it easy! Obviously, the second was a much better option. Stressing wouldn’t have gotten me on a plane, and it might well have alienated the agent.

So since I couldn’t change things, I decided to make the best of them and enjoy my detour. At first, I thought of going into town to enjoy some blues, but considering my still pretty bad cough, I thought that maybe the blues would have to wait for another time.

Instead, I used my meal voucher for getting the fanciest of the dinner salads with dessert from my favorite gourmet take-out at O’Hare (La Tapenade), and went to the hotel.

As it turned out, a Target was only two parking lots away, so I went there and got the few things I wish I had packed in my carry-on, and then proceeded to enjoy my dinner and the hotel’s not quite free but very good wireless connection. And essentially a free evening that allowed me to relax and give myself a break before I have to face my “real” life again.

After eyeing the various bottles of spring water that sat attractively arranged all over my hotel room with a bit of suspicion (sometimes they turn out to cost $5 each), I finally called the front desk. No, the very friendly customer service person said, those were all complimentary! Nice!

And yes, the shuttle is free too. So now I’m going to enjoy the hotel’s amenities (including their very deliciously scented shampoo) and then catch some zzzzs. I’m sure that’ll help my cough and also ensure I’ll be ready to catch my plane first thing tomorrow morning.

Next time though, I’ll be sure to pack a few essentials I don’t want to sleep without into my carry-on.

Meanwhile, I feel a sense of gratitude: after all, the airline didn’t attempt to fly with a mechanically compromised plane, so I appreciate their thoughtfulness and their integrity in valuing everybody’s safety over their on-time arrival scores!

Want to know my favorite secret flu fighting weapon. The thing that has finally unclogged my sinuses, barely in time for my next round of flights tomorrow morning?

Several rounds of one of my favorite flu remedies: Tom Kha Gai (sp?), also known as Thai Coconut Chicken Soup. It’s chicken soup on steroids. Buy it by the bucket, and repeat. It works wonders!

If you don’t have a Thai restaurant nearby and don’t feel like recreating the recipe, use any kind of chicken soup and add some finely chopped ginger and garlic and if you can handle it, a bit of cayenne pepper or chile.

Another one: horseradish and/or wasabi. In a word: Sushi, heavy on the wasabi. That too helps. Have some miso soup with it. I think the warm liquids are really an important ingredient.

Of course, I hope you won’t need this advice. And now that I’m back in the Northern hemisphere, I guess this is not particularly seasonal. But it will be before you know it. And of course if you’re from down under, you can put it right to use

I often wish my life had more balance. But no — it’s way out of whack. Which makes me feel like I’m failing somehow. Yet I don’t think I am. Balance is not really possible anymore in this era of more, more, more and total everything overload. And the only way to cope? Alternating priorities. Can’t do it all at once!

I had to think of that when I looked at my woefully neglected blog and realized I hadn’t posted anything in OVER A MONTH! Eeeek!

Sorry about that. What happened? My priorities shifted a bit: I got ready and then went on that trip to New Zealand I’ve been writing about. There, among other things, I had a conference to get ready for (prepare presentation) and participate in (it was GREAT and well worth the time I put in).

What I mean is this: New Zealand was great! Seeing my friend again was great. And the conference was just fantastic. Better than any of the previous editions of that particular conference that I’ve been to. In part, that was due to the conference organizers who did an amazing job. The people who where there. The great papers. But also to me. I think I’m less shy and less easily intimidated than I used to be years ago, and so I enjoyed things a whole lot more, connected with lots of people, new ones, as well as people I had known for years and years.

Wellington was windy, like it always is this time of the year, but also gorgeous. And the view from the apartment where I stayed was just phenomenal. I’ll post a few pictures in an upcoming blog post.

And then I caught the NZ flu or something. I’ve been overdosing on a range of flu meds for more than a week now. And I’m still coughing up a storm.

Also, it did a real number on my poor ears on the flight back (right now I’m in San Francisco, typing this in an internet cafe). A piece of advice: avoid flying with stuffed-up sinuses at all cost. It hurts!

So about that balance thing: The idea is that if we do things right, we can really have balance in our lives. Poppycock. Most of us have way to much stuff in there to balance it all and still sleep.

So what to do? Have those things take turns. So while I was in NZ I focused mostly on NZ things, my friend there, the conference, the gorgeous scenery. And now that I’m on my way back home, I’ll get back to where I left off with my other endeavors.

I’m also working on a new project (more about that soon — for now it’s strictly under wraps).

And the most important bit: don’t feel guilty if you can’t do it all, all of the time. Cycle through your priorities, giving each one a turn at the top of the list so stuff gets done, and then have it slide to the back burner while other items take the top spot — for a little while.

It’s the only way. We are human, and we forget that there are limits in how much we can do. Our minds can conjure up fantastic goals and plans, but our bodies have limitations. And the more we respect and honor our bodies, the better our chances to reach our goals.

Like Abraham says, the most important thing is that we feel good. If that sounds selfish to you, just think about it for a minute. What will you be able to do if you don’t take care of yourself first?

Having been on quite a few plane trips recently, watching that safety video over and over, I can see it vividly in front of me:

“Be sure to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting other passengers!”

I know you’ve seen it too. What’s the message here? In order to be of any use to anyone else, we need to take care of ourselves first.

More soon. And yes, I’m baaack! I’ll be posting here at least once or twice a week, if not even more often.

Have a great day! And give yourself a break