Jeannette Maw
Q&A: How to Get Happy & Shiny?
Posted by at 23rd June, 2010
Since you all inspired this question from this sweet soul, I thought you would be best suited to reply to this reader’s question:
The Situation:
“I work at a job that I loathe. I dislike my boss, and I am unmotivated. I get headaches quite often when I’m here. I dread getting up in the mornings, and I feel out of alignment with my life’s passions.
“I read the comments on your blog and I see these ‘happy, shiny people.’ I want to be a ‘happy, shiny person’ and pursue my dreams. I know what I want out of life, all I need is a better paying job where I am happy. And also, some more money would be handy.
“I read your blogs, and they’re wonderful, but I feel so ‘disconnected.’ I do affirmations and it feels like everything gets worse and it overwhelms me. I think there may be self sabotage programming at play.
“I feel like my spirit is telling me to resign, but I am afraid that I won’t have the money. Also, there is nobody that I can ask for cash.”
The Question:
How to support this tired spirit?
In fact, who here used to live like this, and transformed their experience to be “happy & shiny”? What thoughts, resources or actions served you best to get you from out of alignment and into happy days?
Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom for this searching spirit.
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LOA Lottery Insanity
Posted by at 20th June, 2010
There’s a girlfriend I haven’t stayed in touch with who used to believe that once she had the right man in her life, everything would be as it should.
She believed once she had her right guy that her future would be secure, her children would behave better, her day job would become optional, someone else would mow the lawn, and her happiness level would go through the roof.
So she divorced her current husband to make room for a better one (certain that her current husband was her biggest problem in life), and eventually found a dream come true guy.
From what I can tell, this guy is fabulous: devoted, faithful, romantic, gorgeous, makes great money at a good job, treats her (and her family) like gold, was thrilled to marry her …
… and yet, this girlfriend is anything but the deliriously happy version of herself she imagined she’d be once Mr. Right showed up.
No surprise to us creators, right?
We know the fallacy of falling for the belief that something or someone will make us feel better.
(At least – on our good days, we remember.)
We know that responsibility for how we feel is strictly ours.
We’ve all seen what happens when someone hitches their wagon to the “circumstance” they think will bring them a “happily ever after” … either they spend their lives chasing the elusive dream that they never get lined up with – OR – they get it and are disappointed it’s not all it was supposed to be.
(Can you tell I’ve been there, done that? I know whereof I speak.)
But we don’t have to have lived this already to understand it. We know nothing happens that we’re not energetically lined up for, and that we are in charge of how we feel – it’s not dictated by our life circumstances.
Which is why I get a little irked every time I hear a deliberate creator talk about how excited they’ll be to win the lottery.
Before your feathers ruffle, let me clarify.
I have nothing against money. Especially big easy money.
I am, in fact, a huge fan of big easy money.
But I am not a fan of seeing powerful creators attach themselves to an outcome that can’t possibly happen when they think a winning ticket will “save their day.”
If you think your day needs saving, and you think the lottery can do that for you, you are forgetting how this all works.
The same way my girlfriend was nuts to think a different guy could change her life happiness, we are insane to believe that a windfall of cash will make us feel better.
It doesn’t.
It can’t.
Only YOU can make yourself feel better.
And when you feel better, guess what? You don’t care about winning the lottery!
Now, I have lots of colleagues and friends (including my fabulous Dad – Happy Father’s Day, Dad!) who play the lottery for fun.
I’m not talking about you guys.
I’m talking about the folks who pin their hopes and dreams on using the law of attraction to win the lottery and change their life forever the better.
The Universe can’t deliver what you’re not lined up for. So whatever you think a lotto win will do for you – you might want to bring that responsibility back home.
Because the lottery can’t make you happy, secure, free, or even rich. (And despite popular opinion, you don’t have to hear too many real life stories about lottery winners to know that.)
I’m also not saying winning the lotto is always an unhappy ending.
I’m just saying lotto money will do for you whatever you’re already flowing. (Which is why my girlfriend is her same old unhappy self with her fabulous new guy.)
Like Alexander Green quotes in The Secret of Shelter Island, “Money doesn’t change who you are, it magnifies who you are.”
So instead of intending to win the lottery, how about instead we intend to be happy? Since that’s all we want anyway!
How about instead of dreaming up winning numbers, let’s take a few moments to count how we’ve already won the lottery? (I got to be born here now! On a planet where the skies are blue and there are over 300 brands of chocolate! At a time where we have fabulously adventurous contrast to explore with the most amazing friends for the journey! I could go on, but soapboxes probably aren’t the best vibe …)
My point being that if you think the lottery can change your life for the better, you are mistaken. Only you can do that. And when you do do that (change your life for the better), you won’t be so attached to lottery tickets.
Yes, Dad, I know – unless you’re buying them for fun. I get it.
And the first person who posts here asking for tips on how to use law of attraction to win the lottery, I swear to God, I will make you read Money Mojo Magic or some other suitable reminder to get your money vibe straightened out once and for all.
(Although it is always fun to hear Abraham on this topic.)
While I am feeling feisty here, I am also totally open to seeing how I’ve got this wrong, if you care to share. Or if you think I haven’t stated the point clearly or strongly enough.
Your thoughts?
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Achieving the Impossible, Alice in Wonderland Style
Posted by at 13th June, 2010
Alice is standing next to Mad Hatter on Frabjous day, the day it’s been written that Alice slays the Jabberwocky. Doing so ends the Red Queen’s terrible reign and restores power to the beneficent White Queen.
It’s a big deal.
But when Alice sees the enormously intimidating Jabberwocky, she says, “This is impossible.”
Mad Hatter replies, “Only if you believe it is.”
Alice then recalls that sometimes she “believes in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” (A habit she learned from dad.)
Hatter replies, “That is an excellent practice.” And suggests it’s time to focus on the Jabberwocky!
As the ferocious creature approaches, Alice lifts her sword and begins a recitation that deliberate creators would do well to note.
She says out loud to herself, eyes fixed on her impossible goal ahead:
“Six impossible things. Count them, Alice.
“One. There’s a potion that can make you shrink.
“Two. A cake that can make you grow.
“Three. Animals can talk.”
Jabberwocky slams Alice to the ground with a slice of its enormous tail.
Undeterred, Alice continues her recital as she picks herself off the ground.
“Four. Cats can disappear.
“Five. There’s a place called Wonderland.
* * * Spoiler alert! If you haven’t already seen this delightfully dark show, come back later. * * *
Alice finishes her powerful impossible recital with:
“Six. I can slay the jabberwocky.”
Which is exactly what she does.
Alice draws from the impossible things she’s already known to be true, in order to accomplish the next impossible thing required of her.
I have a couple of heroes who achieved the impossible in their day (Florence Scovel-Shinn, Beatrix Potter, Pollyanna, Ellen Ripley, Joan Jett, etc.).
But Tim Burton’s Alice from Wonderland is my newest role model.
When everyone is telling her what must happen, Alice says with conviction, “This is my dream. I’ll decide where it goes from here. I make the path.”
She returns to her old world to make the difficult decisions and do the impossible things in her real life: saying no to the marriage proposal she was supposed to say yes to, speaking her mind to a couple of ornery relatives, and leaving the party she had no desire to be at.
Like all good happy endings, Alice’s forthright attitude catches the attention of the successful businessman who funds her adventurous trading trip to China.
Here’s to all of us being just as deliberate and brave as Alice when it comes to achieving our own impossible things.
(And you know I want to hear what your “impossible made possible” things are! Share below if you want to play along.)
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The Art of Overcoming the Choke
Posted by at 8th June, 2010
It’s not unusual for high pressure moments to get the best of us, watching our performance wither in the face of challenge. Here’s one close-to-home story about overcoming the choke:
Saturday night my sweetie* came home from the first day of a weekend golf tournament feeling anxious.
Not because his game sucked that day, but because it was just the opposite.
He played well enough to be in the hunt for the win, and thus knew it was shaping up to play out like every other high pressure tournament of his where:
He does great in the beginning; and the better he does, the more he chokes.
Case in point is last month’s spring tournament, where he handed over a two stroke lead due to his complete and pure choking the last two holes of the game.
For those international readers not familiar with this slang term, choking is defined as: “to become too tense or nervous to perform well.”
The term may have originated from when women accused as witches were forced to swallow a communion wafer as a test. To choke on the wafer (which, considering the stakes, wouldn’t be surprising) was to fail the test.
Here’s an entertaining list of famous chokes which I don’t recommend reading.
Anyway, Russ recounted several recent stories of his typical “fade out.” In unconscious rehearsal for another one.
He said his golf god and mentor, Rick G., told him he needed to get his head straight if he expected to take home the titles he was capable of winning.
I agreed!
And even knowing he treats my suggestions as a joke (I can still hear him laughing about “making friends with the tree” and rolling his eyes at the “I am a good putter!” mantra I advised) – despite that, I wasn’t deterred in sharing my tip for bringing home this win.
Since it was the pressure of being so close to winning that was messing up his game, I asked when he played his best golf.
He thought for a second and quickly responded, “At work.”
(Yes, he gets to play golf at work. Rough life, I know.)
They have a work league and the other day someone introduced him as “the best golfer in our league.”
Which is probably accurate, much because playing with these guys doesn’t matter all that much. There are no sought after titles or shiny trophies or big pots at stake. But there is some fun competition for bragging rights. No big deal.
So I suggested he pretend he’s just golfing for work, while he was playing the second day at this tournament.
“When you feel pressure creeping in just say to yourself, ‘It’s just another day at work. No one cares. It’s just the work league.’”
He was polite enough not to roll his eyes.
To bring the point home, I told him my stories about:
- when I have a big audience on a call I pretend it’s a small one to not get freaked out.
- I shared about how when one of the animals is at the vet getting a serious test and I’m anxious about the results, I pretend the vet’s already called saying, “Everything’s fine.”
- and how when I’m on a date with a totally hot guy I pretend it’s already a given that he wants to see me again. (Okay, I didn’t tell him about that one, but I thought it.)
It makes a difference in the vibe to play this pretending game. Even though it’s totally made up.
So without making too much fun of me off he went to play day two, positioned in fifth place after first day standings.
It would require some good golf to pull off that win.
Which is exactly what he did!
He came home with a lovely trophy and a big smile, shooting a 69 to win three strokes ahead of the runner up.
He talked about how on the fourth hole where he duck-hooked it the first day to miss the green by 20 yards – this time he “stuck it three feet.” From bogey on Saturday to birdie on Sunday. (Whatever all that means. All I understood was that it was a nice comeback.)
I asked what made the difference.
He said he slowed his game down and repeated to himself over and over when he started feeling tense, “work league, work league, work league.” He laughed as he told me about it.
I was incredulous. My sweetie?! Listened and applied?! Woo Hoo!!
That’s the true miracle here in this story - don’t give up on our stubborn sweeties. 
But the real reason I share this story – besides that Nancy suggested it would make a good blog post after she read about it at GVU – is to point out how simple it can be to turn things around.
In the words of my sweetie (from an email to his son):
I had a completely different mindset on Sunday and tried to relax and think of it as just another work match, where I am considered the best player in the league. It worked – credit goes to Jeannette who gave me the idea on the new thought process. I also slowed everything and tried to be more patient.
Ahhhh.
My work here is done. 
And it’s also where Nancy and Laura’s work begins.
Starting Monday June 14th these two amazing LOA coaches are spending six full weeks at Good Vibe University leading Shift Happens: Consciously Creating New Thought Patterns.
They’re drawing on work by Max Maltz and Dan Kennedy to cover:
- How your self-image dictates what you attract into your life
- De-hypnotizing yourself from beliefs that hold you back
- Why willpower fails and how to use relaxation to succeed
- How to give your subconscious mind instructions to overcome obstacles to your desires
- Awakening the automatic success mechanism within you
- The role of imagination in manifesting success
- How to acquire the habit of happiness
- and how to avoid accidentally activating your automatic failure mechanism
The 6 week Shift Happens: Consciously Creating New Thought Patterns class with Laura Gevanter and Nancy Barry-Jansson includes access to live weekly Skype calls, recordings, class materials and a private forum for $199.
Unless you’re an annual member of Good Vibe U, in which case you get in free. How’s that for membership having its benefits?!
But they do have limited seats for this (23 to be exact), so if you’re interested visit Nancy’s page for details on joining.
* – and for those who are scratching their head in confusion because you thought I was boyfriend-less after the breakup in March, you’re right. Russ is my most recent ex-boyfriend with whom I am having more fun than ever, after committing to a breakup in the vortex. It really does just get better and better.
Anyway, I’ll see 22 of you at GVU next Monday for Nancy and Laura’s launch of Shift Happens!
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Creating Multiple Revenue Streams??
Posted by at 5th June, 2010
Next weekend is the Martha Beck coach convention in Keystone, Colorado, which I won’t be speaking at for reasons worthy of an LOA discussion.
You regular readers know that deliberate creation is my professional passion.
It’s what gets me excited about “work” and leveraging the law of attraction is how I’ve created success: by paying attention to how things feel and learning to manage energy in a way that lines me up for what I want.
So when Martha’s group asked me to speak on how coaches can create multiple revenue streams, I was thrilled! Who wouldn’t want multiple income streams?!
(Indeed, it was a topic I suggested they cover, since I see many coaches struggling as they rely solely on private client coaching income.)
But a potential scheduling conflict prevented me from confirming right away that I was available.
As I thought about it more, I realized I couldn’t deliver the presentation they wanted.
Because what they wanted wasn’t anything I knew how to do. At least, not in the way most people think about it.
Meaning, I couldn’t instruct people on what actions to take to make multiple income streams happen for their business.
I don’t know what those actions are! And even if I did, I’m smart enough to know it’s not the actions that make the difference.
Even though I have several revenue sources, I don’t know how people who don’t use LOA make that happen. I’ve no clue!
My experience in creating multiple money in-flows is this simple: “Do what feels good.”
And Martha Beck didn’t ask me for an LOA presentation on creating multiple income streams. Yet there isn’t any other way I could talk about it.
Because that’s exactly how it came together for me: feeling good along with an intention for big fat fun easy cash is how Universe hooked me up with all of it.
“Go have fun, let Universe connect the dots.” I don’t know how well that would land with a non-LOA audience. hee hee
Here’s what I did:
- I leveraged law of attraction to draw in perfect clients for one-on-one coaching income;
- a client practically insisted on publishing pray rain journaling for me to create my first product income (I’m still in huge love with him for that);
- every single corporate gig I got was from them approaching me (either they read my newsletter or blog, heard about me from a friend, or saw me present at another gig);
- each and every speaking presentation I’ve had was from simply saying yes when someone asked if I was willing;
- it was at one of those speaking gigs that the editor of one of the most sought after publications in town asked if I wanted to write for them (you mean I would get paid to write about LOA for you?! Uh … yes!!!)
- those folks whose products I was already recommending sent me completely unexpected money for it (getting checks from “out of the blue” from Mike Dooley is super cool);
- my own readers were recommending my stuff to their friends long before I had a formal affiliate program in place.
I didn’t “make any of that happen.” I don’t know where normal people go to get corporate coaching gigs - I went to Universe.
I don’t know how to properly run or participate in an affiliate program – I just do what feels good and money comes from it.
How do you get paid speaking gigs? Don’t ask me, I just said “yes” when asked. How did I get Catalyst to publish my stuff? Simple answer: I turned it in after they asked for it.
I just did my thing, purposely having a good time, paying attention to (and following) what felt good, and it all came together.
That’s my presentation on how to grow multiple income streams. Decide you want it, do what feels good and follow inspiration. Don’t sweat the “hows” or get caught up in figuring it out yourself.
It’s a short talk. And a highly effective practice.
You can apply it to anything you want, in fact. Relationships, jobs, new places to live, whatever else you can think of that you want.
Action is highly overrated for making things happen to get what we want. The more effective approach is vibration management.
And I’ll give that talk any day.
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