I started writing this book in 2002, 12 years ago! It has been a journey. I am ready now to finish it.
Foreword
We are all unique. We created what we have and will have. Our thoughts create the results in our lives. Our actions make things happen, and yet we must believe something is possible before we are willing to take action.
Are you aware of your thoughts? Do you notice how you talk to yourself internally? Are your thoughts bringing you satisfying results or things you want to change?
Our beliefs, attitudes, and thoughts shape the reality we create and perceive. There is a lot of research to demonstrate this. If you want to read more about this subject, I suggest books like Ask and It Is Given or The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks, or Wayne Dyer’s You’ll See it When You Believe It, or Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life. Other good books are The Passion Test by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood, The One Command by Asara Lovejoy, You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay. I think the reason we see many books now on this topic is that the timing is right for people to evolve and receive all the good that is meant for us. There is much dissatisfaction in the world. What used to work no longer seems to work for most people.
A friend suggested I read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I was interested in Robert’s comment that most people believe that we should get a good education, a good job, work hard and retire. This was good advice years ago. Today this strategy is not as effective.
How many people do you know who are being laid off, or having trouble finding a job? I was a teacher in the 1970’s and they closed my school because of loss of enrollment. They laid off many qualified and well educated teachers. I got a job at the phone company as a computer programmer, analyst and manager. In the 1980’s they had several waves of incentive programs to reduce staff, and eventually they laid people off.
I decided to take early retirement in 1987 to start my own business. I am glad I did, because it no longer seems realistic to have a job with one company or organization for twenty-five years and then comfortably retire. Times are changing. I am glad I had a head start in shifting my attitudes and finding ways to generate money without depending on an organization to give me a job.
Do you know how your beliefs developed? Are you aware of the messages you received as a child?
Have you heard the messages:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
“Another day, another dollar.”
“I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.”
“Life is a struggle and then you die.”
“You can’t win for losing.”
“Money is evil.”
It helps to search for what we believe, and to find better ways to think and do things. We need to test our new ways in the world to get what I like to call ‘feed forward’. I have experimented and made changes in my life. I want to share my discoveries, and support you in discovering important things in your life.
Do you have a vague sense that what you have been doing is not ‘enough’ or what you came here to do? Do you wonder “Is this all there is?” Would you like to create a different life than you have today? Can you see the possibilities for being more satisfied, more passionate about work and life in general? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then this book is for you.
I tend to ask lots of questions. It helps clarify my ideas and beliefs, and focus on what is important. In this book, there are many questions, and I hope you are the type of person who finds this stimulating and useful.
Here are some questions that I have found useful:
Do you wish you could do what you love and be rich?
What would your life be like if you were able to ‘have it all’, to have everything that was of value to you?
Do you believe that work must be a struggle, that work and play must be separated, that people who enjoy their work probably don’t earn much money?
Do you believe that ‘dreamers’ are not successful in making money or implementing anything?
What does prosperity mean to you — money, harmonious relationships, security, a lovely home, freedom to travel?
Have you discovered your passion and purpose in life?
To what are you committed?
I ask myself these questions, and over time the answers change. For instance, I used to believe that work was a struggle, and if I was doing something I really enjoyed it seemed wrong to be paid for it. I used to believe that people who really follow their passion and joy do not make much money. I chose to shift some of my beliefs. I still have some old beliefs that I think no longer serve me, and I am working on shifting them to beliefs that will serve me better.
Bonnie Best
