Wings of Change – Change Your Life Articles

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Have you ever felt like you don’t belong, you don’t fit in? Does your life constantly bang against the wall of conformity and crash against the common perception of life? This is what the authors of Wings of Change, Jim and Katharina Murdoch, were facing when their lives were turned upside down by unexpected events. How could life be any worse? Religion wasn’t meeting their needs, jobs weren’t meeting their needs, and to top it all along came a force which threatened to tear their family apart.

But they survived, not what could be said about their belief systems. “Our beliefs took a knock, a big knock,” says Jim. “One day we thought all our beliefs about God, life and the world were in order, then they were all turned on their head. Nothing has been the same since.” This was the turning point in their lives as they began to pursue the answers which had been avoiding them until now. And thus began a journey of discovery.

Their discoveries, uncovered independently as they each walked distinct paths, were complimentary and served to bind them together against all odds in spite of the forces threatening to pull them apart. Amazingly, their separate paths were uncovering the same truths and they found themselves agreeing more and more as they learned about God, the universe and consciousness.

The lessons they learned on their journey serve as an inspiration to the reader. You will read how they grew in awareness of who and what they are, how they learned to let go of old ways and paradigms and how to listen to their inner voice for guidance. The reader will benefit from their lessons of overcoming obstacles, daring to experiment with new ideas, realizing their purpose and acting on their new found truth to live the life they desire.

To help tell their story, Jim & Katharina have been inspired to adapt a parable to highlight each chapter. Using a family of geese they intriguingly blend in their life’s experiences into the geese’s life and their pursuit of happiness in learning the V formation and daring to fly south.

Katharina sums it up, “The readers will have fun. It’s inspiring and they will learn something for life. There is hope for anyone. No matter how bad a situation may be there is wonderful hope.”

Wings of Change – Discover a New Formation to Success will inspire you to take a new look at life and dare to be different.

Everyone wants freedom. You want freedom, I want freedom. But very few of us actually have freedom and very few of us can actually define freedom. What I am talking about here is personal freedom, your ability to make the choices you want and which benefit you. The problem is you don’t have personal freedom and there are four good reasons why you don’t.

In fact it all boils down to only one big reason. Here are the four reasons why you don’t have personal freedom:

1. You do not choose how healthy you are. You are allowing the doctors, the nutrition experts, the common fads to make your choices for you. How often do you choose what foods to eat, what supplements to take, what exercises to do. It’s difficult isn’t it? There are so many opinions and differing diets and fitness theories that in the end most people resort back to another form of allowing others to choose, doing what everyone else does. But what are your choices? What do you want?
2. Do you go to religious meetings? Why? Because you woke up one day and decided to go? Not likely. You go because you have been given a set of beliefs which you accept. Did you ever think where those came from? Have you ever thought why you do certain things in certain ways? Like get education, get a job and have a pension plan. Have you ever thought if thee was another way, another path, and path which would actually be beneficial and lead you to your dreams? Perhaps there is. He who seeks will find!
3. What have you done this week which was your choice and your time? Not much, eh! Apart from working for an employer to earn your money, how much time have you spent doing stuff for others? Have you taken time for yourself lately? I am not saying you should neglect others and especially loved ones, but it is important to get a balance and to reserve time for you and your desires.
4. And what about that money you work so hard to get? Are you in control of that? Are you making your own choices when it comes to spending that money, or are you subject to the advertisements and fancy store displays and what your friends say you must have? Or how much food do you throw away simply because you run for the sales and specials and end up with much too much? Do you choose how to spend your money on the things you want? I don’t recommend spending less as much as spending wisely.

So are you free? Who is making your choices? Why are you doing the things you do? Why do you believe the things you believe? Why do you buy the things you buy? Why do you eat and exercise the way you do? We all have a built in sensory system to help us make better choices. It is called intuition. Learn to listen to the gut feeling and you will begin to make better choices and move into your own personal freedom.

There are three things you need to know in order to be successful. Without these three things you will never know what success is. The three things you need to know are:

1. What you want
2. What’s stopping you from getting what you want
3. And how to get what you want.

If you know these three things you will be well on your way to fulfilling your dreams. Allow me to take a few minutes to explain each of these. You will finish reading armed with knowledge and inspired by new ideas which you know will be your own expression of life.

1. The first thing you need to know is what you want. That might sound simple enough but how many really know what they want? What is your goal in life? To work hard and retire at 65 and then enjoy life? Maybe you never thought of it that way, but that is exactly how many live their lives. They think that by working hard and paying into a pension fund and maybe retiring a few years early is living a life. I say, get a life! And I mean that literally. Get your own life! Decide what you want to have, do or be. Many people know what they would like, but never believe they could actually have it. They lack the faith in life itself to deliver their dream.

I want to let you know that “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney said that and he is right. You can have whatever you want, you can do whatever you want, and you can be whatever you want.

• The first step towards achieving that is to write it down. Get a piece of paper and write it down. Write as if it already is now, give it colour, give it sound, give it lots of detail. What is it like to have what you want now, how does it feel, what does it look like, what people do you have around you? Get as much detail into your description as you can imagine.
• Once you have your written dream now spend time living it. Experience the feelings in having your dream. Get in the vibration of having it now – and hold onto that feeling and hold onto your vision. Doing this will begin to attract it to you. Believe me. Things will begin to happen and ideas will begin to flow. Pay attention to these, these are the answers to your unspoken question: “How am I going to get there?”

2. The next thing you need to know to be successful and achieve your dreams is what is stopping you. What is holding you back? Why haven’t you got there already? Even if you have a written description what is it which is blocking you from moving forward and achieving that which you desire? I am going to suggest two things which are most likely responsible for stopping you getting what you want:

• The first is Mind Sets – Paradigms. Mind sets such as “I am going to work hard and retire at 65 and live a good life.” I say this with a robot voice because this is nothing other than a programmed thought in your sub-conscious mind. You have many such mind sets, like “I can never do that”, “I can never be successful”, “I can never achieve greatness”, “Such things are only for the elite and privileged and multi-talented.” Dear friend, may I divulge a secret? You are multi-talented and you are among the privileged and you can achieve whatever you dream of.
• The second thing stopping you from achieving your dreams is FEAR. Fear is actually another mind set, but I mention it because this is perhaps the single most restricting mind-set of all. Fear stops more people from being successful than any other thing. This can be fear of people, fear of failure – that’s a big one, fear of change. So much fear stops people even wanting to be successful so they never dare to even dream. One should be content they say. Not everyone can be successful they say. But deep down it is fear which holds them back.

If you have identified fear as that which is stopping you from doing what you want then pay attention to the third thing you should know to be successful.

3. The third thing to know to be successful is how to get what you want. OK, you have described your goal, and you identified the blockages. What now? How do you move forward to get what you want?

• The first step you already know – Visualize it. This is very important in order to get into the feeling of success, and visualization should be ongoing and never stop.
• After this, you need to determine the first three things you need to do to get you closer to your goal. Write down these three activities and decide when you are going to do them, and then put them into your calendar. The next step is of course to take action and carry out those three activities. Then when those three are completed write down the next three actions which will take you closer yet to your goal.

This third point may also seem very simple and commonsensical, but it’s exactly here where many people fail. They fail to take action. Dreams come and go but only those taking action actually fulfill their dreams.

This is where coaches come in. A coach can help you in all three of these areas, helping you identify and describe your deepest desire and life goals, uncover and eliminate those mind sets and fears which are holding you back, and motivate and monitor you as you determine your action steps and put them into practice.

You know what it is that you want. You may know what is holding you back, and you may even know what to do to get there, but you lack the motivation and knowledge to move into the realm of the successful achievers. Get a coach to guide you towards your dreams and celebrate your successes with you.

You may have been advised to spend more time in the “present moment,” but what does this really mean? Present moment thinking has been the concentration of eastern religions for thousands of years.

Religion And Philosophy

Some people are tempted to turn away immediately when Eastern philosophy is brought up just because they think it might threaten their core religious beliefs. There are no religious impositions though; the present moment is available to everyone in every moment no matter who you are. In fact, most religions, in one way or another, agree with the belief of living in the moment, not in the past or future.

Eastern Religions And The Present Moment

There are many different divisions of religion in the East, just like the West. Many of them differ with certain beliefs and philosophies, but many agree on the importance of the present moment.

In recent decades, the West has been picking up on these ancient philosophies and many people use these lessons to help cope with modern problems. It works and it proves that the human condition has always been the same.

The Present Moment Defined

The present moment can be defined as your attention being solely on what you’re doing right now. It’s when you’re not thinking of “other things.” If you’re washing the dishes, your mind is fully aware when you start the faucet, grip the sponge, and wipe the plates clean. There are no other thoughts in your mind other than what it is you’re doing in the moment.

While staying in the present moment may seem boring at times, you’ve probably already felt its true power without really knowing it.

Have you ever been outside enjoying nature and a feeling of peace flooded over you? Have you ever stared up at the sky and stars and contemplated the meaning behind them? The past and future wash away, and the only thing that’s important in that moment is the “now.”

Staying in the Present Moment

The process of staying in the present moment may take some practice. If you try for any length of time to stay fully present, your mind will likely try to bring you out of it. This is because thoughts about the past and future are constantly creeping up.

This can be a source of frustration, but you must fight the urge to judge yourself since that negative emotion would defeat the purpose.

Be aware that your mind will reach for the past and future; yet be ready to let go of those thoughts when they come up. The more you practice remaining present, the easier it’ll become.

Practicing Meditation

Meditation is an art that’s not only reserved for Eastern religions. It’s a method of bringing yourself into the present that’s available to you at all times.

Here are some tips to follow when beginning meditation:

• Choose a time of day when you can relax and be alone.
• Sit in a position that gives you good posture.
• Concentrate on your breathing.
• Take deep breaths in and out and focus only on your breath.
• Try to meditate for at least 30 minutes each day.
• Fight the urge to fall asleep.

You’ll find that you get better at meditation with practice. Don’t give up on yourself! Every session may not feel as good as the last, but it’s important to stick with it.

Meditation will enable you to get to know your mind and body better. You’ll maintain awareness for when your mind is in an agitated state, and you’ll be able to place better focus on fixing your problems and moving toward your goals.

All in all, developing a present moment mindset can bring you more peace and fulfillment in your life. Isn’t that worth a little practice?

Sometimes it’s hard to look on the bright side even when things are going fairly well. When you’re going through tough times, gaining the “glass is half full” mentality can be a feat in itself!

Don’t Get Overwhelmed

When you’re in the middle of a stressful situation, it’s important to disallow over-anxious and over-analyzed thoughts. You really don’t want to overwhelm yourself with an over-stimulated mind because the added stress will only strain your mind further and you’ll find it nearly impossible to think positively.

Ways To Look On The Bright Side

How you go about transforming difficult situations into positive outcomes will differ each time. Your goal should be to discover a set of strategies that works well for you. It might take some experimenting, but that’s okay!

Consider the following ways to achieve a positive mindset:

1. Avoid feeling sorry for yourself. Feeling sorry for yourself only wastes precious brainpower and it’s not going to help you out in the long run. Instead, strive to gain the wisdom to accept your situation and focus on solutions, instead of sorrow or worry. Everyone has to travel through tough times at some point; it’s just a part of life!
2. Find the life lesson. It may be hard to find the silver lining, but it’s almost always hiding somewhere. All of your experiences – both good and bad – contribute to your life’s knowledge. Be thankful for what you know!
   • Reflect on the fact that you’ve gained wisdom and knowledge that may help you make better decisions and cope well in the future.
3. Start small. Take some time to reflect on the difficult situation. If you’re having trouble finding a positive manner of thinking, just start by smiling at yourself in the mirror. You might not feel happy right away, but it sure will be hard not to feel happy when you see a beautiful smiling face staring back at you!
   • You can also consider the use of positive affirmations to help you through tough times. The more frequently you repeat your affirmations, the sooner you’ll ingrain the positive beliefs into your subconscious.
4. Stop worrying. When you’re going through a tough situation, sometimes your worries can overtake you. The future might seem scary and bleak and you’re not sure what you should do. As you know, worrying isn’t going to help the situation in the least. Instead, the moment worry creeps in, redirect your mind onto something positive or reassuring.
   • Stay calm and start brainstorming some practical solutions.
5. Be brave about change. Change is inevitable and most often you don’t even notice that it’s happening. During tough times, however, you’re likely more sensitive to the changes that are taking place.
   • Think about change as an exciting adventure. You’ll never know what you can discover and learn until you’re open to change.

Help From Others

When you’re going through a tough time, your instincts might be to pull inward. Perhaps you don’t want people to see you in a vulnerable state or you want to solve your problems all on your own. However, you must resist this urge to shut people out! Remember, you’re never alone. Your family and loved ones are always there to help you get through any challenging situation, but only if you allow them to!

Of course, your loved ones may not be able to solve your problem outright, but they can provide you with a fantastic support system and help you brainstorm different avenues for problem solving.

As hard as it may seem now, it is possible for you to think positively when you’re enduring tough times. Use these simple positive thinking strategies to help you change your mindset quicker than you ever thought possible!

Life can get pretty chaotic. No matter how much you accomplish, it always seems like there’s something else you should be doing or something more you should achieve. In these moments, you have to take a step back to find the peace.

If you don’t find peace within the chaos, you’ll soon be leading a stressful and unfulfilling life. While you may want to achieve as much as you can, you surely don’t want to lose yourself or your sanity in the process.

Tips For Finding The Peace

Follow these tips to reduce the stress in your life so you can find some peace:

1. Trim your schedule. If you find that you’re taking on too much, it’s time to go over your schedule and drop what needs to go. It’s hard to admit that you don’t have superpowers sometimes, so you must concentrate on giving yourself a manageable schedule.
2. Get organized. When your life feels chaotic, it’s probably disorganized. You’ll feel out of whack and as if you don’t even know which end is up. You can combat this feeling by staying organized, keeping lists, and valuing your time. You can still take on a lot, but only if you’ve got an organized plan in place!
3. Plan an escape. Whether you need to get away from an ongoing busy life, or one chaotic situation, you have to give yourself an escape from time to time.
   • Plan a mini vacation or give yourself an evening if you’re short of time. The point is that you need to make some time for yourself.
   • Read a book or play a video game, but do something that allows you to unwind.
4. Pace yourself. One way to manage chaos in a healthy way is to properly pace yourself. You need to preserve your energy so you can make it through the day. Doing so allows you to keep a clear head and rejuvenate your mind.
5. Practice a peaceful activity. One easy way to maintain some peace is to take up a peaceful and relaxing activity. Consider going to a yoga class or trying meditation. These acts are not only relaxing, but they also allow you to adapt your thinking so you can regularly achieve a peaceful mindset.
6. Accept your situation. A chaotic life can be overwhelming or even depressing at times. Instead of promising yourself a better life in the future once the chaos is gone, you can give yourself one right now. Accept that your life is in a chaotic state, but take the big step toward finding peace.

Find What Works For You

Most importantly, focus on slowing down, simplifying your life, and allowing yourself the chance to fix the imbalance you might be experiencing.

Even a small effort can help you in a big way. If you’re taking the time to find peace, you can also create your personal definition of that peace. That might be finding a person who can help you unload your problems, or perhaps you might enjoy journaling or reading inspirational books.

Whatever is peaceful for you, do it on a regular basis – for you and for those you love.

Dr. Joe Vitale, motivational speaker and author, often says: “the fastest way to get where you want is to be happy with where you are.” Believe it or not, this mindset works! It may take some changes and soul searching on your part, but in the end, it’ll be more than worth it to adopt this positive mentality.

While you should strive to make your dreams come true, concentrate, also, on yourself and your journey. When you spend less time wishing things were different and more time accepting what you’ve got, you’ve already found a sense of peace and happiness right there.

Here are some tips that can help you become who you want to be right now:

1. Feel gratitude. When you concentrate on the big picture, it’s easier to exhibit feelings of gratitude. When you’re grateful, you remain positive and appreciative of every joyful moment in life.
   • Sometimes people get too caught up in a sense of entitlement, which leads to negative feelings. Concentrating on gratitude, instead, will get you where you desire.
     
2. Be optimistic. Some say that life is all about optimism. And it’s true! An optimistic attitude is one of the few things you need to succeed.
   • If you’re trying to achieve a concrete goal, optimism will help you accomplish it.
   • If you’re trying to change your mindset, optimism will make the task easier.
   • Optimism can be the driving force that keeps you going.
     
3. Exhibit the traits you desire. It was Gandhi who said that you should be the change you want to see in the world. With these wise words in mind, you can replace wanting with some bold action. With some persistence and perseverance, you can make it happen.
   
4. Adopt a prosperous mindset. Take a moment to determine what prosperity means to you. Are you hoping for money, a fulfilling career, or a relationship that lasts a lifetime? Know what you want, then adopt the right mindset. Once you do, you’ve then set yourself in the right direction toward your goals.
   
5. Find the silver lining. As you go through life, you will no doubt realize that things are not always going to go your way. But even in tough times you need to keep your chin up. Instead of allowing negativity to consume your life, seek out the silver lining. This fresh attitude can be the difference between being held hostage and achieving your goals.
   
6. Take small steps. When the place you’re going seems far away and unachievable, it’s important to break it down into small steps. Give yourself an achievable goal with a realistic time frame. Break that one down into smaller goals.
   • When you avoid getting overwhelmed, you’ll gain the confidence to persevere.

You’re Already There

It’s a good idea to practice one of these tips at a time until you’ve incorporated them into your life. Perhaps you can spend a week perfecting one strategy and, then the next week, add another one to your repertoire while continuing with the first one. Soon enough, you’ll be a natural at all of them!

Once you choose a powerful and positive mindset, you’ll find that you’ve already achieved much of what you want. Just remember: You already have the traits, mindset, and lifestyle you desire, and you know that success is inevitable, but only when you have the will to break through the obstacles in your mind!

If you don’t already have a prosperity mindset, it might be a hard thing to imagine. There are certain ways you can chase your dreams while keeping wealth and prosperity in mind at the same time.

A prosperity mindset encourages you to take action each day to improve your life on numerous levels, such as health, wealth, love or anything else you deem important.

Study The Actions Of Successful People

Perhaps this is the most important suggestion. Learn by example. Find someone successful whom you admire and do what they do. These individuals serve as proof that your dreams can come true.

• Find someone who has had the same kind of success that you desire.
• Study what they’ve done right as well as their mistakes.

It’s always easier when we have an example to follow. Find a way to ask successful people questions. You might be surprised to know that successful people love to inspire others to find success as well. They know that there’s plenty of success to go around. That’s the prosperity mindset in action!

It’s All About Being Positive

If you believe in yourself, you can achieve your dreams. The moment you think you can’t do something, you can’t. You know that negative feelings arise from time to time and that’s okay. However, you need to keep a positive image of the big picture in your mind at all times.

• Picture yourself reaching your goals and imagine how it feels.
• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Write prosperity affirmations.
• Be an open person.

When you open up to new opportunities, you open up to prosperity. Stay motivated and don’t be afraid of change.

Setting Goals And Action Plans

You can dream all day about where you’d like your life to go, but without a goal or an action plan nothing will happen. Take time to think about the big picture and then draw in the lines of how you’re going to get there.

• Break down your goals into smaller steps.
• Set manageable and achievable goals.
• Stick to your plan whenever possible.

Don’t Give Up

You have to have the dedicated motivation and drive to tell yourself that you’ll stop at nothing before you reach success. When you talk to or study the actions of someone who is successful, they’ll likely tell you tales of their many failures. There were probably times when they felt like giving up, but they were able to push through defeat.

• Realize that everyone feels like giving up, but we can’t give in to these feelings.
• Keep the image of your goal in your mind.
• Make changes if you need to, but continue taking action toward your goal.

Get A Life Coach

People with prosperity mindsets are all different. They have different approaches to getting what they want and they have different definitions of what prosperity is for them.

There are certain things they do have in common though. They all have a hungry enthusiasm for life and a positive attitude that they’ll continue to use on the journey forward.

If you feel that you lack any of the core beliefs and are still unsure about whether or not you can adopt a prosperity mindset, you could always look into getting advice from a life coach. They’ll be able to break down your problems and concerns and tailor a plan that will work for you personally.

When you implement these strategies, you’ll gain a renewed prosperity mindset that will help you on your life journey.