Success...One Day At A Time

The Answer To Taking Prosperity For Granted

My apologies for not following up with the 'answer' to the "Your Prosperity Key Is In This Paragraph" entry that I wrote almost 3 weeks ago now.

If you haven't already done so - I would recommend that you read that entry first - as well as the amazing comments from some very 'clued-up' people about the difference between 'poverty' and 'prosperity'.

Anyway...

One of the reasons I haven't written for some time is baby Skye.

She's certainly a handful...and a reminder that being a 'work-at-home-dad' means that I can't have any excuses for not doing my fair share of feeds, early mornings, and screams!

Here's Skye two days ago (at just over 3 months old)...

Not only that...her nine-year-old sister Katie is getting more like her mother every day! (temper included!)

Anyway...back to last time...where I mentioned that the single most important Prosperity key was in this paragraph from Napoleon Hill's The Law of Success In Sixteen Lessons...

"Form the habit of thinking and talking of prosperity and abundance, and very soon material evidence of these will begin to manifest itself in the nature of wider opportunity and new and unexpected opportunity."

So...what do you think?

Well...I mentioned in the last entry that, although I was doing all the 'right' things where prosperity was concerned - continued 'success' at it was eluding me (to a degree).

Well...

Since I 'got it' - by the end of this month - my income would have surpassed that of the ENTIRE year last year.

And...more importantly...

Without any impact on my family life, my stress levels, my health, or the amount of 'work' that I actually do.

Sure...what I am 'working on' is based on new ways of doing things...and ideas that I am implementing based on them (ie looking for and taking ACTION on the opprtunities that come my way or are created by me.)

But...

I've acted in the past.
I've progressed through ideas in the past.
I've looked for opportunities in the past.
I've remained focused and positive in the past.

Yet - not ALL the prosperity 'boxes' were ticked in my life until these last few months or so.

The difference?

I changed my HABITS.

Even though I THOUGHT I was focusing 100% on prosperity - I wasn't also thinking and acting in a way that supported that.

I expect that you've had the feeling...

"Why should I pay 'x' for a nicer loaf of bread when I can buy a cheaper one for 'y'"

or

"That meal seemed expensive"

or

"I can't really afford to..."

Of course...I'm now not just throwing my money away - nor buying things for the sake of it - far from it.

Nope.

I've just realized (finally) that prosperity is down to events that are beyond our direct control - but only once we MAINTAIN control of the destiny we want for ourselves.

(Read it again - it DOES make sense!)

In other words...as long as...

I make it a HABIT of BEING and FEELING prosperous...

AND...

as long as I open myself up to OPPORTUNITIES that come my way...

both directly from 'me'...

AND...

from what I observe from other people...

only THEN...

will 'The Universe' go to work on my behalf

AND...

start fulfilling my 'requests' for more prosperity in my life.

We are almost hard-wired to try to work out the EXACT way that prosperity will come into our lives when really the MOST important part of all this is forgetting about HOW it will happen...

And just taking it for granted that you cannot 'fail' to be prosperous if every part of you is acting and thinking that way.

By turning prosperity into a HABIT.

Your Prosperity Key Is In This Paragraph...

Every once in a while I like to just let randomness take me places...

In this case - I just took my often used and dog-eared copy of my favorite self-help book of all time - "The Law of Success In Sixteen Lessons" by Napoleon Hill - and just focused on the first paragraph that caught my eye.

As it turned out - this paragraph from page 9 of Lesson Four - "The Habit of Saving" decided to jump in front of my vision...a timely reminder that the world moves in ways we will never understand...

"Form the habit of thinking and talking of prosperity and abundance, and very soon material evidence of these will begin to manifest itself in the nature of wider opportunity and new and unexpected opportunity."

Guess what?

It DOES!

But it only took me until recently to understand why.

There is one single thing in that paragraph that, if you don't do it...then ALL of the rest will NEVER fall into place.

Now...read the paragraph again with a little more focus...and see if you can spot it. (it's OK...I'll wait)...

"Form the habit of thinking and talking of prosperity and abundance, and very soon material evidence of these will begin to manifest itself in the nature of wider opportunity and new and unexpected opportunity."

Got it?

I've written many times before about it - but, even though I THOUGHT that I put it into practice - looking back - I see that I hadn't.

Sure...I was THINKING about prosperity and abundance.

Of course...I was TALKING about prosperity and abundance.

I most certainly was...LOOKING for wider, new, and unexpected, opportunities to come my way.

(And...I was certainly ACTING on a few of them, too!)

Yet still...even though on many levels I was 'there' - I wasn't QUITE there (if you get my meaning!).

All this thinking, talking, and looking WAS getting me SOMEWHERE that was for certain.

But...

I was still not hitting the target consistently. (there's a clue for you right there!)

And I'll tell you WHY...next time!

But in the meantime - what do YOU think?