Think and Grow Rich

‘Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.’

-Napoleon Hill –

WOW. This is literally one of the most fantastic books I have ever read, and I’m among good company as it has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. There is was too much to say about how brilliant the contents of this book is, so first and fore-mostly I will say, if you haven’t read this book yet, I can highly recommend it.

Secondly, I will attempt to summarise why it is indeed so fantastic.

This book will give you the secret to making money and being abundantly successful in life. It will give you practical advice, steps and tools to follow and it will give you real life examples of people who have followed the success principles that Napoleon Hill outlines to achieve financial abundance in their lives.

He also explains how powerful our thoughts are, and when used correctly and positively can be used to manifest incredible things in our life (including money). And he explains the importance of working with (as Napoleon refers to it) Universal Intelligence in order to manifest our hearts desires.

This book is the bible when it comes to making money. And when the guidelines given are received, accepted, believed and acted upon, to the letter, only good will come to the people who read it. Literally anything is possible in life.

And in the book, he outlines 13 Steps to follow in order to achieve riches in life:

1. Desire: The Starting Point of all Achievement
2. Faith: Visualizing and Believing in the Attainment of Desire
3. Autosuggestion: The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind
4. Specialized KnowledgeL Personal Experience or Observations
5. Imagination: The Workshop of the Mind
6. Organized Planning: The Crystallization of Desire into Action
7. Decision: The Mastery of Procrastination
8. Persistence: The Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith
9. Power of the Master Mind: The Driving Force
10. The Myster of Sex Transmutation
11. The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting Link
12. The Brain: A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought
13. The Sixth Sense: The Door to the Temple of Wisdom

I was interviewed at an event last weekend in Sydney run by the beautiful people at Soul Sessions called ‘Think Feel & Grow Rich‘ alongside the very wonderful Justine Ruszczyk, where we discussed in more detail how people can apply the principles that Napoleon discusses in his book in real life.

I spoke in detail about the importance of having a definite chief aim and how, what I do through my company Thought Cloud, can help people get very clear on this in relation to their brand. When you are clear on your values, your mission, your vision, what you do, why you do it and who you do it for, its much easier to manifest and create a business that you love and that brings abundance back to you in equal measure to what you offer to the world.

Justine spoke at length and in detail about the neuroscience, quantum physics and epigenetics that is now available to us, that supports the principles he discusses in his book. And the fact that our thoughts really do create our reality, and that we all have the ability to take control of our mind and have it work for us in a positive manner, rather than it controlling us and out lives.

Justine has studied under world renowned neuroscientist and author, Dr Joe Dispenza and is responsible for bringing his work to Australia, and there is a really great interview between Soul Session founder Eloise King and Joe which you might enjoy.

He is also about to release a fantastic new book on Self Healing entitled ‘You Are The Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter‘ which is due for release on 29 April.

And for those of you who want to get involved with Napoleon Hills work right away, before even reading the book, there is a great 2 hour long video on You Tube that you will enjoy.

 

So, in conclusion, if you haven’t bought or read this book yet, and you’re wanting to create more wealth and abundance in your life, take the fact that you’re reading this blog post as a sign and run out and get a hold of the book. I promise you from the bottom of my heart, you won’t regret it.

Sending you love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Learn more

Buy Think & Grow Rich at the book depository or the Kindle Edition.

Buy Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose your Mind and Create a New One at the book depository or via the Kindle Edition.

Watch What the Bleep Do We Know? 

 

Visit  Dr Joe Dispenza’s website

 

 

Choose to be who you know you are

‘Make a commitment to you, to be yourself.’

– Bashar –

Today, I have been watching a fair amount of Bashar. I was first introduced to him about a year ago, by a beautiful friend of mine, Miss Bridget. When I first encountered some of his videos on You Tube I thought he was odd, very shouty and slightly off of his rocker. Now, 12 months later, I am listening to his words of wisdom with a greater understanding and knowing of the truth that he speaks.

The theme of the videos that I have watched today, has been that of how to manifest and create the life you really want.

The clip that has really hit home, is the one that I will share with you in this blog entitled ‘Burn Those Bridges and Never Look Back.’ In essence, he is talking about how, as we’re being provided with challenges and lessons in life, from which to learn, once we have moved through each one, we are given a choice as to whether we want to repeat the lesson or pattern, or whether we want to move past it.

The analogy that he gives is of a bridge. As we move through the challenge we walk across the bridge to the other side. We then have the choice to keep the bridge there and be able to move back to the previous way of living or lower vibration, or instead, burn the bridge behind us, so we can never return.

The analogies that I tend to use in my life are of Neo choosing to take the red pill in The Matrix, or Alice deciding to follow the White Rabbit in the direction of Wonderland. The moment that you take that decision, in essence, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to return or retrace your steps.

There is a wonderful quote that pops up from time to time in my Facebook feed that reinforces this.

A teacher of mine (Mr Robert Kirby) recently reinforced this during a training of his that I attended. He talked about how, when we have moved through a challenge or interrupted a pattern that might have been holding us back or limiting us in life in some way, we are tested one last time by the Universe. Or to use Bashar’s analogy of the bridge, we are invited to walk back across the bridge to where we once were.

And in that moment we have a choice. We can walk back across the bridge, and repeat the same negative experience or outcome, or we can burn it.

To bring context to this, I’ll use a recent experience for me as an example.

As I mentioned in my 4 post blog mini series ‘Everything will be OK Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4‘ this year has been particularly challenging for me with regards to my finances and my relationship with money.

At the beginning of 2013 I set the intention to improve that area of my life, and what transpired was the fact that I didn’t make any money for 7 months and received financial help and support from my boyfriend for the duration of that time. Very lucky.

My old pattern with money was that I had a ‘break-even consciousness’ as Robert refers to it. In that the money that came into my account, was equal to the money that went out. I didn’t really save and I didn’t have a financial cushion to speak of.

I made a promise to myself, in the midst of me having no money, that as soon as the money started to come back into my account, I would ensure that I managed it much better, saved some of it, gave some of it to good causes and spent less than I earned.

Sure enough, the money started to flow eventually. I also contribute this to the fact that I did 2 months of intensive energy healing work with Robert, which was nothing short of miraculous.

However, as the money started to flow back into my life, I was managing it in a very different way, and allocating it into different pots, some of which involved saving.

So, what is the relevance of this with regards to this blog post? I was given the opportunity to burn a bridge just a week or so ago.

My beautiful friend invited me to come up to Woodford Folk Festival near Brisbane in Australia. From reading about it, the line up looked awesome (Matt Corby and Gotye to name but a few) and it seemed to be almost like a Aussie Glastonbury (one of my favourite festivals and indeed places on the planet). It was going to cost around $500 for a ticket and another $500 for a flight and spending money to get up there. So, not a cheap trip. But it would be SO MUCH FUN! And such a wonderful way to end the year and see in 2014.

However, I was also saving for a deposit and rent up front to move into my own flat in a couple of months time. The money was there in my savings. Old me would have just thrown caution to the wind, spent the money and worried about it later. But new me, having learnt what I have learned this year, decided to make a different decision. A decision that involved not spending beyond my means and also leaving my savings be, rather than acting on a whim.

And this was the Universe testing me. Have I really learnt my lesson? Do I want to burn the bridge? And the answer was yes. Even though it would have been great fun and enjoyable, there will be other festivals I can attend. I am having lots of fun with my staycation in the Northern Beaches and I am indeed playing the long ball, in that it is more important for me to save and be able to move into my own place in a couple of months, than go to a festival on a whim and put my savings back a few months.

So in short, don’t be afraid to burn the bridges. Don’t be afraid to constantly be raising your vibrations. Don’t be afraid to take the red pill and follow the white rabbit.

Don’t be afraid to choose to be who you know you are.

Sending you love and light,

Kat x x x

To listen to more of Bashar’s truth and wisdom, check out these awesome clips

Don’t try and figure it out

How to create the life that you really want

Three levels you need to know about

Time to really love yourself

‘Rather than condemning yourself for your mistakes and failures, you can use the experience of suffering to soften your heart.’

– Kristin Neff, Self-Compassion –

Affirmation of the day – I LOVE AND ACCEPT MYSELF EXACTLY AS I AM.

So, the one and only gift that I decided to buy this year was a book, for myself, entitled, Self-Compassion. It was recommended to me, by a very beautiful friend, considering the slightly tricky time that I have been going through recently. So I decided to take his advice.

The opening quote in the book goes like this:

“This kind of compulsive concern with, ‘I, me, and mine’ isn’t the same as loving ourselves. Loving ourselves points us to capacities of resilience, compassion and understanding within that are simply part of being alive.” – Sharon Salzberg, The Force of Kindness

And I have a feeling that the theme of self-compassion is going to be something that will run through my blog posts over the next couple of weeks as I read the book, share my thoughts, feelings and learnings with you and really start to love myself, truly and deeply.

2013 has been an interesting one. I can’t complain, especially considering that at the beginning of the year I set the intention to improve my relationship with money and get a better handle on my finances.

Little did I know that the Universe had a pretty monumental way of teaching me the things that I needed to learn, coming in the form of me not earning anything from my business for the best part of 7 months, and me needing to allow my beautiful boyfriend to financially support me for the duration of that time.

However, I wouldn’t change a thing, as I feel as though I have learnt an incredible amount with regards to money and my relationship with it, and despite the fact that it will take me a little while to pay off my debt and get myself back on to an even keel, I’m much better off than where I started the year.

So, why the importance of self-compassion? I have definitely heard the voices in my head quite recently wanting to beat myself up for the fact that my business was a financial failure for the predominance of the year. And that same voice has been wanting to kick the sh1t out of me for having to be financially supported by my boyfriend, which has also left him in a less than ideal financial position. The voice that wants to blame me, that wishes I’d never had to ask for help. The voice that tells me that I’m weak and unsuccessful. The voice, that in actual fact, not really telling the truth.

Because the truth of the matter is, everything happens for a reason. And also, I asked for this. I wanted to improve my relationship with money, therefore I needed to be open to whichever way the lessons I needed to learn would show up. This is how the Universe works.

If I’m wanting to live a life of true abundance, I’m not going to be able to manifest things, money, people, businesses, customers, clients, opportunities etc. if I’m not open to receiving them, or if I don’t know what to do with them, once I have them.

So, now is not the time to beat myself up internally or berate myself. Now is the time to be kind and compassionate to myself. To be unconditionally loving and allow whatever feelings and emotions to come up that need to surface. To feel any pain, disappointment or sadness that I need to feel. But then not to be mean to myself because I’m feeling these things. Instead choose to comfort myself, just as I would a friend who would be going through the same thing. In short, to be the best friend that I could possibly be to myself.

In her book Self Compassion, Kristin Neff starts the book by clearly stating how we can be more compassionate to ourselves,

‘To stop judging and evaluating ourselves altogether. To stop trying to label ourselves as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and simply accept ourselves with an open heart. To treat ourselves with the same kindness, caring and compassion we would show a good friend, or even a stranger for that matter. Sadly, however, there’s almost no one whom we treat as badly as ourselves.’

And it is my mission and promise to myself to treat myself with the same level of love, kindness and compassion that I show to all of the beautiful people in my life. And I have a feeling that this will become the theme for 2014 for me. SELF COMPASSION and time to really start loving myself, truly, madly and deeply.

If you’d like to start this too, I can highly recommend writing a love letter to yourself. I did this yesterday, and it was definitely a very lovely experience. I also came across this beautiful video on finerminds.com this morning and it really inspired me and compliments the sentiment of my post today perfectly.

It’s rare that we sit down and write a letter to ourselves outlining all of the things that we love about ourselves, but I feel as though now is as good a time as any. There isn’t really anything to lose.

I’m really looking forward to seeing through the last remaining days of 2013, savouring every last one and preparing myself for an even bigger and better 2014. One filled with unconditional love for myself and others, and a life of effortless flow filled with abundance in all areas, business, relationships, love, health, finances, emotions and spirituality.

Sending you love and light,

Kat x x x

To learn more

Read 88 ways to love yourself from viendamaria.com

Buy Self Compassion – stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind by Kristin Neff

Download Self Compassion for your Kindle.

Image gratitude – http://www.viendamaria.com/2012/12/88-ways-love-yourself/#sthash.UwpJMIJX.dpbs

What we see, is what we look for

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

– Charles R. Swindoll –

I have two of my beautiful friends to thank for the inspiration for my blog post today. Firstly, Sasha for sharing such an inspirational post on Facebook this morning, which is sitting just above these few sentences.

And my wonderful friend Pia, for sharing the video that you can watch below. It has just the most lovely sentiment and sweetly and succinctly communicates a very simple message, and one that I live by, every day.

What we see, is what we look for.

‘Finding Love’ by Hailey Bartholomew from You Can’t Be Serious.

I spent a lot of my life in a very cynical space. I sometimes struggled to see the good in people, things and situations. Sometimes I was fearful that something bad was going to happen or someone was going to screw me over. Of course, I wasn’t always in this space, and when I wasn’t, I was occupied by how fantastic life was, and how brilliant and amazing people are.

In the last 12 months though, I have decided that I want to occupy my time, thoughts, feelings and energy on the positives in life. I have decided to see the good in everything in everyone, and that change has needed to start with myself and come from within.

When we learn to stop judging ourselves, we can stop judging others. When we understand that there is no right or wrong, nor good or bad, we can allow things just to simply be. When we decide to concern ourselves with living our own lives from a place of love and truth, it no longer matters what other people think or say.

So, my question for you today is, what would you like to experience more of in your life, and therefore what do you need to start to look for more of?

For me? I choose peace, love, truth, wisdom and abundance.

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

My beautiful friend Sasha

My beautiful friend Pia

‘Finding Love’ video by Hailey Bartholomew from You Can’t Be Serious.

An abundant mind = an abundant life

“The moment you concentrate the focus of your mind on a singular purpose, extraordinary gifts will appear within your life.”

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – Robin S. Sharma

I’m reading a couple of really great books at the moment and there is a common theme that is coming through both of them. If you seek abundance in life, it starts on the inside, and with your mind.

I have known for a while that your thoughts create your reality, and what you think, you become. This is why, I now know that it is so very important to think positive thoughts and focus on the things that you would like to have happen in your life, rather than thinking in the opposite way.

In T. Harv Eker’s book ‘Secrets of the Millionaire Mind – Think Rich to Get Rich‘ he talks about the fact that ‘your inner world reflects your outer world’ and ‘what you focus on expands’. And therefore if you want to get rich you need to focus on making, keeping and investing your money. If you place daily attention on your objective of becoming financially abundant and free, it is much easier for the Universe to help you achieve this. Of course, there are lots of other things that need to be in place for your to be able to manifest money, one important piece of the puzzle is being able to receive. However, it remains that if you want an abundant life, you need to have an abundant mind and abundant thoughts.

This sentiment is echoed in ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ by Robin S. Sharma, another fantastic book that I’m reading at the moment. In the story, a character called Julian Mantel (a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance-life) shares the wisdom and lessons that he has learnt from spending time with a group of Sages in the Himalayas.

He talks about how ‘mind management is the essence of life management’ and that ‘the way you think stems from habit.’ He explains that ‘most people don’t realise the enormous power of their minds’ and that ‘your mind is nature’s greatest gift.’

He goes on to say that ‘mental mastery comes through conditioning and when you dedicate yourself to transforming your inner world, your life quickly shifts from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary.’

And this is something I am definitely experiencing in my life at the moment. The more control I am gaining over my conscious mind, the more I’m connecting with my intuition, the more I’m learning to turn the volume down on any negative thoughts or feelings and replace them with those that are positive, optimistic and helpful, the more amazing things are happening to me in my life.

The biggest project that I have on my plate at the moment is a trip to LA at the beginning of August. I have no idea why, but the feeling of needing to go to LA has been coming to me for a few weeks now. I recently started to take action and put my feelers out to friends who have connections there and live there, and I’m getting a lot of positive feedback that I should go. So, despite the fact that at this stage I’m not entirely sure why I’m going, what will happen when I’m there, where I will be staying, where I will find the money for the flight. One thing I know is certain, I will be in LA between 5th and 15th August, to talk to people about my company Thought Cloud and the book I’m writing at the moment on Conscious Branding (A Brand New World – 25 ways conscious brands are changing the world for good).

And I’m trusting that the Universe will help and support me along the way and give me all of the things, people and resources I will need to make the trip a success.

And so on that note, what would you like to create in your life to make it more abundant? And what beliefs might you need to let go of, or flip on their heads in order to think more abundantly? After all, an abundant mind = an abundant life. What we think we become. 

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

Secrets of the Millionnaire Mind  – Think Rich to Get Rick – T. Harv Eker

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams And Reaching Your Destiny – Robin S. Sharma