The Seven Steps to Abundance (from 'Steps to Success, Prosperity and Happiness')

Article Title: The Seven Steps to Abundance (from 'Steps to Success, Prosperity and Happiness')
Author: Craig Lock
Category/Subject: Spiritual, Inspiration, Empowerment, Success, Success Principles, Personal Growth, Self Help, Motivation, Mind, Mind Control, Mindpower, books, self help books, (enough there now, craig)
Web Sites: www.lulu.com/craiglock and http://www.creativekiwis.com/books.html#craig
The submitter's blog (with extracts from his various writings: articles, books and new manuscripts) is at http://en.search.wordpress.com/?q=%22craig+lock%22 and http://craiglock.wordpress.com

Other Articles are available at: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles.html
(Personal growth, self help, writing, internet marketing, spiritual, 'spiritual writings' (how 'airey-fairey'), words of inspiration and money management, how boring now, craig!)

Publishing Guidelines:
We hope that the following new article (an extract from Chapter Two of one of Craig's first manuscripts ("rather wacky") titled 'STEPS TO SUCCESS, PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS' written "many many moons ago" may be informative and helpful to your ezine readers, or on your web site. If it helps others "out there" on the pathway to success (and most importantly, happiness), then we're very happy. This article (as with all his articles) may be freely published, electronically or in print.

."We share what we know, so that we all may grow."

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THE SEVEN STEPS TO ABUNDANCE

"Do not follow the well-beaten track of others towards success - like the rainbow, it is often an illusion always just beyond our reach. Make your own path and let your spirit blaze a brilliant trail towards the pot of gold, the prize for the gift - one that is uniquely you and YOUR magical and successful journey down the river of life."

- Craig Lock

"Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."

- Maxwell Maltz

Here are my thoughts and steps on how to to "design a life"...instead of been blown about by the winds of life (like a paper bag), or the currents, like a jelly-fish. Enough similes.

1. Find the VISION, the plan for your life. Unless you know where you're going, you are unlikely to get there. Any place where you are is
a good place to start.

Ask yourself:

What activities have you most enjoyed in the last 10 years?

What is fun? What do you treasure?

What do you most want to be doing in the next 10 years?

I'd love to write, help, encourage and hopefully even
inspire others.

2. Which of your strengths and weaknesses are a joy to you?

What do people say you are good at?

What is special about you?

List ideally what would you be doing? Living at the beach, writing and travelling...and be financially secure, of course!

Ideally what would you want to be? When I started out writing seventeen years ago, a successful author was my original goal.
Now I want to be the very best writer/author I can be, whose words make a difference in the world by encouraging and hopefully even "inspiring" people around the globe.

What motivates you? What "drives" you? What is your "hot button"?

Ask WHY do you need those things? What are those status symbols for?

Define your vision. Write it down in less than 10 words. It took me most of my life to discover what I believe
Does this involve other people?

What do I most want to be doing? Why?

What do I most care about? Why?

What steps can I take to move me closer to doing what I really want to do with my life?

Find your niche - your unique skills and natural gifts?

Think about WHO will pay you to enjoy yourself. Instead of worrying about being sacked, think who will pay you to have fun? How can you best use your gifts and talents?

Where do you want to work? With whom, in what sort of company? Look for a picture of your ideal environment: home, as well as work.

3. PLAN ahead carefully. Doing this reduces false starts and wrong directions. Most people spend more time planning their annual holiday than they do their "blueprint for life".

Put it all down in writing. Doing that focusses your mind,
your consciousness. My advice: "Think big, but start small".

The prominent American psychologist, Carl Rogers said:
"The only real security is the preparedness to embrace insecurity". Be the YOU you most intend to be? Take stock, review your plan and prioritize your life goals.

4. Make the COMMITMENT. Stop saying you're going to do it and actually DO IT. Put in the work and write out the cheques. This involves going past the point of no return. Make commitments: to yourself, to your loved ones in terms of time, energy and money. Then stick to it and take full responsibility for the outcome.

5. Spell out the details of the PLAN. Think it all through and concentrate hard. What are you going to do? How are you going to do it, step by step? What needs to be done and in what order of priority? What resources do you have at your disposal? What are your expenditure needs?
Reaffirm your commitment through a personal budget. Be flexible in your thinking, as circumstances usually change...and we can't foresee the future. And most importantly, THINK BIG.

6. Develop a network of people to help you achieve your goals (and you can help them achieve their goals at the same time). First, you must be aware of them. It's a "win-win" situation. Be enthusiastic at all times, because enthusiasm is catching.

7. Take ACTION, that vital first step...then the next will follow naturally ...and far more easily. Nothing can stop you now. "Roll up the sleeves" and get down to work. I believe the first prerequisite for success is loving what you do. I love writing, although it's very lonely (and probably the
world's most solitary occupation). Always remember, life is not a 100 metres sprint - it's a marathon. So rest when you feel you need to and don't feel guilty about it (something I have to learn!). Have fun along the journey. Perservere and persist in your quest.

Take responsibility for your own abundance and your learning throughout the 'game of life'. Appreciate your abundance and prosperity daily by giving thanks to God, the Universe for what you do have. Live with "an attitude of gratitude", instead of focussing on what you lack.

Have faith in yourself - believe deeply in yourself, but even more deeply in Life, The Universe, Supreme Being, a Power far Greater than yourself, Infinite Intelligence/Wisdom... who loves you and wants what's best for you. The spiritual journey may take far longer than you thought, so be patient.

NB:

Always remember,

The measure of success is not money, but learning and growth - just trying to be the best person you can possibly be each and every day.

Measure success in learning and growth - nothing else is important. Work is a place each of us creates in order to grow. It is the laboratory for experimenting with our potential.

When working for yourself, this is a time of unprecedented change in your life. Work allows you to put into place skills and knowledge acquired through education. It is a time to experiment with our potential and the various demands made upon us. Initially we learn to work in teams, working towards a common objective. Then gradually in our working careers we learn to take on
more and more responsibility.

BELIEVE, really believe you DESERVE to be abundant - though not more than others. It's a matter of finding a balance between your ambitions and your responsibilities. Be accountable and socially responsible, by thinking of other people.

"As we know the universe will always provide when we put our positive and unobstructive energy to what we want in life. I believe in life that if we are given access to the knowledge, then we have the choice of being capable of whatever we want to achieve. Anything one does with passion and belief will manifest. We are all energy and that which we put out into the Universe is energy, therefore whatever we believe in comes back to us."
- Kate Conroy (a "cyber-friend" and talented young writer)

Wise words and beautifully expressed - thanks for sharing, Kate.

You can't force people to change. Listen to your intuition, truth and love. That is the "voice" of God, The Divine, Higher Power, the Higher Self, Spirit, the Ultimate Source speaking to you.

We are all spiritual beings living in the physical world. So wherever you are,
what better time to start on your spiritual journey to abundance...
than NOW!

Live, love and be happy

Craig Lock ("Information and Inspiration Distributer, Incorrigible Encourager and People-builder")

* "luck", as they say, is where preparedness (is there such
a word?) meets opportunity

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."

"Believe in yourself and in your dream,
Though impossible things may seem
Someday, somehow you'll get through
To the goal you have in view.
Mountains fall and seas divide,
Before the one who in his stride
Takes a hard road by day
Sweeping obstacles away
Believe in yourself and in your plan
Say not -I cannot -I can
The prizes of life we fail to win
Because we doubt the power within..."
- anon

P.S: Robert Kiyosak (author of the "Rich Man, Poor Man"
series) once said that "the definition of success is having the
freedom to be yourself". I think that pretty much sums up the way I
feel about success as well. Thanks for sharing that great
thought, Robert.

"Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to
follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."
-- Erica Jong

'Without legends, dreams die."

"When dreams die, there is no opportunity for greatness.
Greatness is a measure in one's spirit, not in the results
of one's rank in human affairs."

"To dream anything that you want to dream,
that is the beauty of the human mind.
To do anything that you want to do,
that is the strength of the human will.
To trust yourself, to test your limits,
that is the courage to succeed."
- Bernard Edmonds, American Writer

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"If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined,
one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
- Henry David Thoreau

"If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed.

If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed.
If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it,
he has gloriously succeeded and has a
satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know."
- Thomas Wolfe

"The person born with a talent they are meant to use will
find their greatest happiness in using it."

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"We make a living by what we get...but we make a life by what we give."
- Norman MacEwan
"Together, one mind at a time, let's see how many people we can impact, empower, uplift, encourage and perhaps even inspire to reach their fullest potentials.

"Let the light of your BEING shine brightly; so revealing Who You Really Are.
Be a Bringer of the Light, which emanates from our soul, God, our Creator,
the Source (and Ground of our very Being). Therefore, it can do more than
illuminate your own path. YOUR unique spirit will help makes the lives of others
easier by illuminating others paths. For this light is our humanity, the spirit
of God, truth, beauty and especially love...and it lies within each one of us.
Through your actions and your being, let your light, YOUR spirit truly shine
brightly on the world, like the radiance emitted by a candle at midnight."
- craig (as inspired by the words of Neale Donald Walsh in 'Çonversations with God' Book Two)

PPS
Don''t worry about the world ending today...
its already tomorrow in little scenic and tranquil New Zealand