Stress Overload? Take Action Now

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Pat Heydlauff

Betty, a working mother, says, “I have so much stuff cluttering the countertops, I can’t squeeze one more thing onto that space and can’t stand the thought of preparing another meal.” Bill, a busy entrepreneur, says, “I can’t find the top of my desk now, how can I find time for all the extras expected of me with such a reduced workforce?” Both are worried and feel the burden of stress.

Have you ever felt like this? Are you on overload before you begin your day? No one seems to escape the ever-growing stress epidemic. While some daily stress is the norm, the added pressures of world chaos, financial concerns, increased job expectations and hectic scheduling magnifies the intense feelings of helplessness.

Compounding the usual stressors tenfold is the financial crisis facing so many. A FreeScore.com’s 2010 year-end survey found that the average American in debt spends 99 hours monthly worrying about debt and only 2.6 hours on financial planning and budgeting. Carrie Coghill, director of consumer education for FreeScore.com indicated that many Americans in debt are frozen in their tracks when it comes to managing finances …they are concerned but take little action. The report summary showed that on average, consumers spent 3.3 hours a day, or roughly 14% of a full day, worrying/thinking about debt.

If one is spending more than three hours per day worrying about finances, how many more hours are spent worrying about the hundreds of others things that can go wrong in a day? It’s no wonder there is a stress epidemic facing society today.

To learn how to stop worrying and take action click here and see the Well-Being and Stress Reduction category of my article library. If you’d like to visit and “like” my strictly business Facebook page click here.

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Purchasing a Foreclosed or Underwater Home? Use Feng Shui Guidelines to Ensure Prosperity

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Pat Heydlauff

Mortgage rates are at historically low levels, with low home values creating record levels of housing affordability. Is now the time to invest in a home, a home that is currently underwater or foreclosed upon? Will the bad luck that has befallen the current owner of that property be transferred to you, the new owner?

According to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, foreclosure re-sales made up 19.1 percent of all sales, up from 17.4 percent in September, 2011 and home values decreased another 4.7 percent annually. Their year-end numbers further showed that a staggering 28.6 percent of U.S. homes were underwater.

Buying a distressed property can be somewhat of a concern when you consider the Feng Shui principles of prosperity and abundance are so closely linked to your home. Under normal circumstances this would not be the ideal way to buy a home as it is filled with the flow of a negative financial disaster. But with so many bargain home-buying opportunities available, you may not want to pass this up. Here are ways to successfully purchase a foreclosed or underwater home without negatively affecting your own prosperity.

Things to Avoid When Purchasing a Distressed House

When buying any home always begin your evaluation outside. It’s not just about curb appeal of the house but the neighborhood, too. With so many distressed houses on the market, it is possible that a whole neighborhood might be distressed – not just one out of every seven homes. The more houses under distress, the more careful you need to be when evaluating.

Check to see if other owners continue to maintain their properties. If yes, this is an encouraging sign for you to further explore houses in that neighborhood. The better maintained the other homes are, the better the prosperity energy is for everyone on the street.

The front entrance is critical to future prosperity. Take a good look at the way the property lines up with the street. Avoid property that is at the end of a cul-de-sac or a T street intersection. Is it constantly bombarded with the negative energy of on-coming traffic day and night which can cause financial loss, poor health and divert prosperity? This can be remedied by planting a hedge or trees in the front of the house but with so many properties on the market, it’s better to purchase a house with fewer or no such negatives.

Is the landscaping leading up to the front door in good condition or can it be remedied with new or revived plants? Doing so can bring good luck and new life into the home. The front door should also be in good repair and when you open it, check to see if a large window or an exterior door is directly opposite. Either can provide prosperity draining energy but can also be remedied. For example, if prosperity energy can fly directly out the back of the house, the placement of furniture, a round rug or a ceiling light fixture with a hanging crystal can keep positive energy flowing throughout.

Avoid houses with missing sections and frequent owners. Feng Shui principles provide special values to various sections of a home. If it is missing either the northwest (helpful people father energy that supports a family), south (good luck) or southeast (income, prosperity and wealth) section beware. For example, if an L-shaped house with the front door on the bottom of the “L” is facing north, it will be missing areas in the south, southwest and west. In this case, it is missing all the good luck and good fortune energy a home needs to be financially prosperous. This is a more difficult prosperity handicap to overcome.

If the house has fallen victim to frequent or serial ownership as the result of health issues, financial problems, family breakups, or bankruptcy, it’s best to pass on such properties.

Things to Do After Purchasing a Distressed Property 

Renovate on the inside. Save enough money when purchasing to renovate the property to create a new flow of prosperity energy. The more you can renovate the better the shift of the energy from the old stagnant underwater or foreclosed energy to the new prosperity energy you desire. Apply fresh paint throughout, and if possible, update the kitchen or bathroom or lay new flooring, all go a long way to counter any residue problems from a distressed property.

Invigorate outside. It is very important to get the fresh new energy from the outside of your home to reach and enter through your front door so it can invigorate your prosperity. Eliminate any dead or overgrown plantings to bring fresh new life into your home. Carefully choose colorful new plantings that bring life to the front of your home, creating that desirable curb appeal that encourages prosperity energy.  Also eliminate or severely prune overgrown plantings and trees so that fresh sunshine and light can enter your home.

Whether you are a first-time homebuyer taking advantage of distressed value housing or a veteran of many purchases, the rules are the same. Purchasing decisions should never be based just on price but rather the prosperity value the home provides you. 

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2012

Save and read Purchasing a Foreclosed or Underwater Home? Use Feng Shui Guidelines to Ensure Proserity at your own leisure in PDF format.

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Control Your Destiny: How to Bring Luck and Prosperity into Your Life

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Administrator

Control Your Destiny: How to Bring Luck and Prosperity into Your Life

How many times have you heard or thought, “Some people have all the luck”? Do you believe that? Is it true?

The answer is no. It’s all about attitude and attracting what you want — including luck. Attracting or creating what you want is the foundation of a Feng Shui lifestyle and the premise behind the “law of attraction.” When you apply Feng Shui principles to your surroundings and thinking, you open the floodgates to attracting the prosperity and good luck you desire.

Oprah Winfrey once said, “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.” In other words, your thoughts become your feelings and then actions. If you dwell on being grateful for what you have and look forward to a better tomorrow that is exactly what your subconscious mind will get busy creating. If you dwell on the negatives of what you don’t have, can’t do or won’t get, that’s exactly what your subconscious mind will create.

Henry Ford got it right when he said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Your thoughts and actions create your future. When you clear or unclutter your surroundings and your thinking you create a flow of new energy that helps you create new ideas, prosperity and your own good luck.

Turn your luck around today by using Feng Shui principles to create prosperity; it’s as simple as preparing your home and your thinking now to create your own good luck.

Begin at Home
Prosperity and good luck begin at home. It doesn’t matter whether your financial well-being comes from an office, workstation, cubicle or the corner of the spare bedroom; prosperity and good luck start exactly where you start your day – at home.

Feng Shui is the use of positive energy to create desired results. When applied you receive the good things you focus on internally (your thoughts) and externally (your surroundings). If you focus on negative thoughts like “There’s never enough money” then you are energizing not having enough money — instead of having more than enough money. What you receive more of is “not enough money.”

If you are not lucky at work or in relationships, look around your home to see where the negative energy is blocking what you want. For example if income is not flowing in, evaluate the east area of your bedroom, living room and office for clutter and unwanted or un-needed “stuff.” For better relationships check the southwest area of your living room and bedroom. Unclutter those specific areas so you can create a positive energy flow to attract more income or better relationships and good luck.

Create Prosperity Thoughts
Do you have a constant loop of negative thoughts running through your mind? Listen carefully to those words — your words and thoughts are what create your future. Every positive thought, wish or whim has the potential to move you toward prosperity; if the thoughts are negative, they will keep you exactly where you are or make it worse.

What you have thought and energized in your surroundings in the past three to five years is what you have today. What you focus on today is what you will have in the future.

Put an end to the negative thinking – Anytime a negative thought pops into your head, just say “no negative thoughts allowed,” and send the thought away or “delete it.” Mentally shred it. Do whatever it takes to get rid of negative thinking and keep it gone for good. This makes room for positive thoughts that attract prosperity and good luck.

Make a list of positive thoughts. Use them to create a new loop of prosperous good luck thoughts so you can create your own prosperity. If you want to increase your sales, your thought might be “I am grateful for the steady growth in my sales If you are hoping for good luck, don’t think “I never win anything.” Instead focus on being grateful for all the things that do go well on a daily basis.

Create variations of your loop thinking so you can use them as positive reinforcement whenever self-sabotaging negative thoughts try to sneak in. Write them on slips of paper and put them everywhere, if necessary, to shift your thinking process.

Energize Prosperity and Good Luck
After you unclutter your surroundings and shift your negative thoughts to positive prosperity thinking, it is time energize your surroundings to bring them into alignment with your intentions.

Income/Wealth: energize the southeast area of your living/family room and office with something wooden, green or a healthy, such as an upward-reaching plant or small tree. If you have no green thumb, high quality silk plants and trees also work. This would also be a good area to put a wooden money pot with seven coins to further energize your prosperity – U.S. gold or silver dollar coins work great.

Helpful People: energize the northwest area of your living/family room and office with the metal element using silver. You can use an inspirational poster of someone like Michael Phelps and his Gold Medal swim team framed in silver or you with your own winning sales team. A silver trophy you’ve received or a picture of a parent who was particularly helpful framed in silver also works well. It’s about teamwork and the people that have and will help you create and find the prosperity you seek.

Good Luck and Good Fortune: energize good fortune and luck in the south area of your living room and office with something from the fire element like a candle, the color red, a picture of mountains or triangles framed in red or even a red vase that narrows as it shoots energy upward,.

Don’t be a victim of circumstance! Get rid of your negative thinking, unclutter the areas most relevant to your prosperity and good luck and then energize them to support your intentions. You can create the prosperity you desire.

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2012

Save and read Control Your Destiny: How to Bring Luck and Prosperity into Your Life at your own leisure in PDF format.

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Sync Home and Office Energy to Increase Prosperity

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Pat Heydlauff

People have a tendency to segregate their lives: home vs. office, personal vs. professional and physical vs. spiritual. However, when you observe closely you will find that there is no separation to the movement of energy as it flows from one location, duty or emotional need to the next.

 

For example, Jim a very savvy IT guy supplements his income with a part-time job. As an IT person working from a home office, everything was in its place and could be accessed at a moment’s notice. The surroundings in his house reflected the same need for no clutter, organization and ample open space to relax and meditate. In fact, he used the principles of Feng Shui to create his calm productive nurturing setting in his home.

 

Unfortunately his part-time job was just the opposite. Overflowing with boxes of unfiled paperwork and minutiae surrounding his desk, the walls were still painted a dreary green from the 80s. There was no uncluttered space anywhere to allow his mind to rest so he could just stop and think to get focused.

 

Unknown to Jim, this great imbalance was causing him stress and reducing his productivity both with his personal IT clients as well as with his part-time job. He would get up in the morning and dreaded leaving his home to go to his part-time job and was more inefficient while there. When returning at the day’s end he was so mentally exhausted that he could no longer focus and properly attend to his clients’ IT needs.

 

Balanced Work/life Energy Flow Should Inspire and Motivate

 

Who you become and how balanced and productive your life will be this year is primarily determined by the people and things you surround yourself with. Jim did a great job with his personal surroundings at home and in his home office but did not consider the effect his part-time job’s surroundings would impose on his life.

 

There is a natural flow to energy in your life which needs to be consistent both at home and in the workplace for you to be most productive, happy and prosperous. If your home and work energy flow is vastly different, they will constantly be waging a war – with you in the middle – causing stress and reduced productivity, leading to less prosperity.  When the energy in both locations flows harmoniously, stress will be reduced leaving you inspired and motivated.

 

Coordinate Home and Work Energy to Maximize Prosperity

 

Synchronize the flow of energy. Begin in the exact same place whether at home of the office – the entrance. If you control the entrance of your home and your workplace, make sure the entrance is visible, clean and inviting. Prune any overgrown shrubbery and remove any plantings that are dead or look unhealthy. If positive energy cannot find your entrance, neither can clients and new prosperity.

 

If the entrance is in the control of others such as a landlord or boss then use the same principle just inside your home’s front door and workplace space. The flow of energy needs to move freely and feel welcome in both places to maintain harmony and balance.

 

Eliminate clutter to eliminate chaos. Clutter is every bit as much of a problem in a business as it is in a home. It is the transition from clutter and chaos to calm that causes great discomfort and distraction. When you unclutter at home do the same at work. If you cannot do much about your surroundings in your workspace, at least take control of your immediate space and desk area by uncluttering and organizing to improve productivity and reduce stress.

 

Get rid of things at home that are broken or no longer needed. In your workspace, if there are stacks of paper everywhere and none are in use, file them and shred the rest. Old inventory, stacks of empty boxes, broken and outdated items create negative energy and do not allow for new business ideas, new clients and new revenue streams to manifest. The old energy is standing in the way, taking up space and not allowing the new energy to enter.

 

If possible, make sure the color of the workplace walls surrounding you are conducive to productivity and focused on prosperity. A pastel green with a touch of blue for calm is a great color for productivity and focus, and is also a great transition color for a home office.

 

Evaluate Eliminate and Energize. Evaluate all areas of your life and surroundings. Eliminate what is not working and accept what you cannot change because this reduces stress and energizes the natural flow of prosperity into your life. Sometimes you will discover that eliminating means gently removing people from your life who create stress or are not looking out for your best interests.

 

Other times it means taking a closer look at your lifestyle, as in Jim’s case. He finally realized that in his haste to find additional income he did not take into consideration the workplace environment of his part-time job and the effect it would have on his health. It was slowly driving him to distraction, creating stress and dramatically reducing his productivity and prosperity. His solution was to look for different ways to increase his IT work as quickly as possible, and permanently give up his part-time job. Once he did, his productivity and spirits soared.

 

You, too, can create home and workplace environments that are conducive of a calmer and more prosperous life. To read more succes articles by Pat click here.

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2012 Rules of Engagement

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Pat Heydlauff

Many people have a tendency to attract exactly what they don’t want in life but often what they need most in order to learn necessary lessons which, if acted upon will lead to self-empowerment, self-improvement and a balanced prosperous life.

This is the “law of attraction” put forth in the popular book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. In other words, what you focus on is what you get. Life Echoes Back What You Transmit.

A tech savvy usually efficient and productive computer whiz, Sharon was financially at her wits end and rapidly running out of money when she decided to take a second job to make ends meet. Little did she realize that she had just jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

She loved her computer work; it gave her a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction but unfortunately it did not generate the kind of income she needed due to her business model. Her third try at a second job took no advantage of her computer skills, imposed long work hours standing on her feet and rapidly turned into excruciating fatigue preventing her from servicing her existing computer clients in a timely fashion. Sharon’s part-time boss was unkind and relentless, imposing unrealistic expectations beginning day one which further depleted Sharon’s self-confidence and eroded her productivity.

Sharon was attracting everything she didn’t want. Her part time job and boss were echoing back her lack of goal setting and clarity in choosing her second job, the amount of time she could devote to a low-paying long-hours job and the toll it would take on her relationships with existing clients and her health.

Transmit Wisely

 

The solution – clarity and balance in all areas of your life. When balance is the objective it is nearly impossible to jump from the frying pan into the fire unless your goal is to go out of balance and get burned. Organize your life using the guidelines below to help you achieve balance and transmit only what you want echoed back.

Goals – Keep focused on your goals for 2012. Have them clearly defined. Have them so clearly defined that you can create a visual image, smell them, instantly think, touch and feel them.

  • Use a yellow tablet and make as many goal categories as needed; income, relationships, health, moving to a new home, expanding your business etc.
  • Once you have the categories, make a page for each and write all the things you’d like to accomplish in each category – using health as an example, you could write, lose weight, workout, walk two miles per day and so on
  • Then, number the items in each category by importance with No. 1 being the most important

 

Focus – Unleash the power of your focus. You can either focus on a thousand things at once and get nothing done or focus on No. 1 in two or three categories and ensure success.

  • Chose no more than three categories to focus on at any given time and then determine which of those is most important
  • Spend 80% of your time on the No. 1 item in the most important category – this will yield guaranteed success
  • Spend the remaining 20% of your time on only two other items until you have either accomplished your goals or feel confident about adding one more

 

Action – Accomplishment and success mandates focused action. No matter how much you wish for something better to happen, it won’t happen unless you take action. When you transmit information to others about your goals, are you transmitting what you want or what you don’t have? What you are transmitting is what you will receive.

You can complain to all your friends and family about not finding a job, your inability to lose weight, finding only inappropriate relationships or not earning enough money all of which only reinforces what you don’t have. Unless you actually do something to change your thinking, get crystal clear on your goals and take action you will continue to go jobless, lose clients, have inappropriate relationships or lack money.

In Sharon’s case, she is clarifying her goals now so she can focus on what she wants, not what she doesn’t have. She is evaluating what changes she needs to make in her business model as well as clarifying the type of second job that best meets her needs financially and time wise with the least amount of physical demands. Once she takes action and spends 80% of her time on her most important item which is increased income, she will be successful and the world will echo back what she transmitted matching what she wants not what she doesn’t have.

You too can create the life you want by transmitting what you want not what you don’t have. For more success artlcles click here.

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Atlanta Gift Show Busy and Inspiring

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Pat Heydlauff

I just returned from the Atlanta Gift Show which was filled with lots of new fresh bold colors designed to cheer everyone up. The 2012 colors are: Tangerine Tango, Solar Power (yellow), Bellflower (red violet) Cabaret (red), Sodalite Blue (almost navy) Margarita (light lime green) Sweet Lilac (pinkish lavender) and Cockatoo (light teal). They are gorgeous on their own in a palette but a little will go a long way if you are looking to use these on walls instead of as accents.

There is a noticeable return of what was called Shabby Chic only now it is grayer and shabbier. Things seem to also be in extremes. For example in the Christmas area either decorations were very formal and done in silver, white and green (Noel Elégence) or very outdoorsy with pine trees, deer and bear (the  wild kind not the Teddy type). It was called Wintry Woods. A kind of side line look was extremely folk arty and almost funky humorous. Floral décor had lots of vines and branches woven throughout with ornaments or balls made of seeds intermingled with the greens. Ribbons were almost non-existent. And bird houses with little faux birds were everywhere with the woodsy look. Dark furniture is back “in” with clean lean lines, even overstuffed furniture has become leaner.

The good news from the show – store owners were buying and there were lots of them shopping. This is an encouraging sign as the Gift Show was much slower paced the last two years. As for me, I always come back motivated and inspired so I can better serve my clients and readers.

Let me know if you have attended any of the gift shows around the country and what you thought of the trends, colors and attendance. Wishing each of you a more colorful and prosperous month, Pat For inspiring and motivating articles click here.

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Feng Shui Improves Work/life Balance

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Pat Heydlauff

Feng Shui is easy fun and one of the greatest stress relievers in the world. It can be your best friend if you are trying to develop a new lifestyle that reduces anxiety and stress while creating a calm more peaceful and prosperous life.

Basic Feng Shui principles are easy to learn and apply. While it really is a vast and sometimes complex subject based on the number of schools or philosophies being taught, there are some basic principles that never change. And, when applied to your life will help you find balance and prosperity.

Feng Shui is about the natural flow of energy in your surroundings and how you focus on what you want so you can attract it, not attract it or even send it away. It really is a very simple principle. Unclutter your surroundings, your thinking and your actions so you can make room for a flow of new good things to come to you. You cannot change your life and be more balance and prosperous unless you change yourself, your surroundings and thinking first.

The Compass school of Feng Shui is based on the natural flow of energy on planet earth. It respects not only the north-south polar and east-west rotational energy flow but also generally speaking the eight major directional points on the compass.

Each of the eight directions in Compass School Feng Shui is assigned appropriate life categories, values, elements, seasons of the year and events. Using the directions makes it very easy to understand how to improve your life. It also takes away much of the confusion created by the various schools of thought.

How the Eight Compass Directions Help You

The chart below gives you the category, the direction and number associated with the category and some of the things you can use to improve the flow of energy and balance in that category such as the rooms to focus on, the element to use and color. For example, if you are feeling down on your luck or not experiencing good fortune, find the south area of your living room and/or office and add something red, burn a candle regularly or put the number nine there or a collection of nine things.

Career, Life’s Journey, Spirituality (1)    N

                                                                      Living room, Office

                                                                      Water, black/blue

Knowledge, education (8)                          NE

                                                                      Living room, bedroom*, office

                                                                      Earth/Hills/caves, blue green

Health, birth, growth, new (3)                  E

                                                                      Living room, bedroom*, kitchen

                                                                      Large wood, green

Wealth, prosperity (4)                               SE

                                                                      Living room, Office

                                                                      Small wood, light green/purple

Fame, fortune, luck (9)                              S

                                                                      Living room, office

                                                                      Fire, red

Relationships (2)                                         SW

                                                                      Living room, bedroom*

                                                                      Earth, earth tones, terra cotta

Creativity, children (7)                              W

                                                                      Living room, office, bedroom*

                                                                      Metal, gold

Helpful people, travel (6)                          NW

                                                                      Living room, office

                                                                      Metal, silver/white

* only bedroom of person needing the enhancement

Yes, Feng Shui is a vast subject and can be studied for a lifetime without knowing it all. But working with a few basic principles such as uncluttering your surroundings and thinking and then applying the information above takes much of the confusion out of the process and allows you to focus on what is really important; creating balance and increasing prosperity.

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2012

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How to Attract Calm Amid Holiday Chaos

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Pat Heydlauff

When it comes to the holidays, you get what you attract. If you are attracting chaos, exhaustion and turmoil, you will get chaos, exhaustion and turmoil. If you’ve set your intentions for experiencing holiday joy, calm amid the chaos and quiet enjoyment then you will reap those rewards and receive holiday joy, calm and quiet enjoyment.

The holidays can be a bit of a stretch for a lot of people. There are the issues of over spending, over committing and simply over consumption that can cause even the strongest willed some discomfort. Added to that is the stress created by the want-to-be picture perfect images of what a family celebration should look like, the consumption of the perfect meal and presents piled high.

If these are the nightmare images of your sugar plums dancing in your head take heart because you can create a holiday experience where you are in control and peace and calm abide.

It’s the Thought That Counts

Look carefully at your thinking. Everyone is constantly talking to themselves. The question is, “what are you regularly saying to yourself”. Are you telling yourself that you are a great person, can find peace and enjoyment this holiday season where you are and with what you have or can do anything you put your mind to? Or, are you constantly putting yourself down, sabotaging your holidays with negative can’t and won’t thoughts?

It is critical to observe carefully just what you are telling yourself because you can talk yourself right into having lousy holidays because your family is coming or isn’t coming, you don’t have enough money, you might catch a cold or lose your job. On the other hand, you can make an effort to build yourself up by regularly using encouraging positive thinking. It is very easy to put yourself down and deplete your much needed energy. Be determined to lift yourself up so you build good energy within.

Create a mantra for yourself that is encouraging such as “My holidays are a joy because they are calm and peace-filled.” Create your own version of this and say up immediately upon arising and then again at bedtime everyday throughout the holiday season. If you say it and own it you will create it, even amid chaos.

Limit Your Activities to Want To Not Have To

Look at all of the activities you participate in over the weeks and months throughout the year. Do they energize you or nurture you in some way? Are you volunteering your time or creating activities to energize or nurture others? Helping others is always energizing as long as you don’t overdo and become unbalanced.

How many activities do you participate in that are energy drainers? Evaluate each activity and every organization you belong to or every event you support with your time and/or money. If you do not receive an appropriate amount of positive energy in return for the time you invest then evaluate whether your participation is still important to you.

Make a list of all of those time and energy devouring activities – also include time spent with unsupportive so-called friends. Using a scale of one to ten with one being the most important and ten being the least important, give each of your activities a number. If the number is greater than four, consider eliminating it from your permanent activities’ list. Eliminate those constantly negative friends too, they are draining your energy and filling you with discouragement and despair. Focus most of your energy on those things you really love to participate in and they will energize you as much as you energize them. This is especially true during the holiday season.

These concepts are all based on the Feng Shui principle of creating a balanced life. Feng Shui is all about taking control of yourself and your surroundings so that you can attract calm and peace amid chaos and indeed live life to its fullest. Feng Shui is the use of positive energy to bring about desired good or improved results in your life. You can change for the better hectic chaotic holidays and attract the calm peace-filled holidays you desire by controlling your thinking and actions so they are in balance with your desires. To read more work/life balance and prosperity articles click here.

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2011

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Prevent the Holiday Grinch from Stealing Your Joy

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Pat Heydlauff

“He stared down at Who-ville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all! He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: ‘How could it be so?’ ‘It came without packages, boxes or bags!’ And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!’”

This incredible message from How The Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Suess is such a great statement on understanding how to approach the holidays. Christmas, Hanukkah and the holiday season are coming whether you are physically, emotionally and financially prepared or not. Accepting the fact that you have only so many resources, so many days left before the celebrations and only so much time for shopping and traveling will help you rein in stress and take control of what you can control. Let go of everything else so you can enjoy the season.

Create Your Own Joy-filled Who-ville

Learn to proceed peacefully through the holiday season using Feng Shui principles as your guide? While the holiday season is busy it does not need to be hectic, harried or harassing. Enjoy the hustle and bustle while being in complete control of your world and your surroundings by eliminating the annoyed, aggravated and stressed out emotions.

STEP 1 – Do the most important things first! Stop procrastinating, worrying and fretting: begin now! Organize your thinking, develop your plans and get the process rolling. Temporarily put aside all things that can wait until after the holidays so they don’t silently distract your focus while you are busy doing those things necessary for you to have a happy, successful holiday season. The larger the number of people counting on, the more carefully you need to plan and organize. Do it now.

STEP 2 – Get in the mood! Play the music of the season. The holidays are filled with some of the most joyful uplifting and encouraging music ever composed yet it is relegated to a short few 30 days in our calendar year. Play it while making your lists, uncluttering your home, wrapping gifts, calling friends, entertaining and preparing special foods. Allow these wonderful sounds to permeate your heart and soul. Stress is nowhere to be found when the heart is joyful – and the music acts like the spoonful of sugar in Mary Poppins as she helps the medicine go down. The music clears the emotional and physical paths to creativity and productivity and delivers sweetness to the heart and soul.

 

STEP 3 – Decorate, Decorate, Decorate! Unclutter your home now so there is ample room for holiday flowers, garland and decorations. Get rid of all of the stacks of stuff you’ve accumulated over the last 6 to 12 months – don’t just move it but actually look at it and either file it, store it or get rid of it. If you haven’t used it in 12 months do you really need to keep it? The more clutter free your home is the more stress-free, enjoyable and calm your holidays will be.

 

STEP 4 – Make lists and check them twice! Make your list gift list today and carry it with you at all times so you can refer to it at a moment’s notice and purchase items as you see them or find them online. You will save time. You will also save money because you will reduce impulse shopping which is costly. As you check off each purchase you will smile and continue to eliminate stress. Make a food list too and buy those extra things that are not perishable over the next several weeks. Place perishables on a “buy as needed” list that includes the date an item is needed.

 

The world is filled with Grinch-like people, places and things that will distract you. How many of you have checked your text messaging or answered a call while reading this article? Stay focused. Focus isn’t just for the corporate corner office. Others are counting on you as much as you are counting on them so maximize focus to reduce stress.

No one lives in the perfect world of Who-ville, so controlling your stress-Grinch during such a busy time of the year is the best gift you can give yourself. Everyone is in a hurry and tends to have a short fuse when so busy including family members, friends and your boss – go that extra mile to communicate, stay connected and smile.

“‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps…means a little bit more!’” Grinch-proof your holidays to find joy.  To find additional personal performance and Feng Shui based article click here.

 © Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2011

Posted in Christmas, Feng Shui, Holidays, Personal Happiness, Self Empowerment, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Gratitude Creates a Rich Life

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Pat Heydlauff

Increase in your personal energy and uplift your spirits by acknowledging or giving thanks for something or someone good in your life. Gratitude for even the smallest of things sets a positive mood for your entire day.

When you regularly express thankfulness or appreciation, you are surrounding yourself with positive energy on the outside along with great positive thinking on the inside. Gratitude equals positive energy, a better tomorrow for you and a richer fuller life.

A fledgling Salvation Army Lieutenant was in charge of his first post along with his wife and two young children. Being Thanksgiving, he was grateful for his post, responsibilities and family but was most anxious to help as many underprivileged families as possible by providing them a good Thanksgiving Day meal.

He and his very pregnant wife personally chose a family on the list to help that resembled their own family. With their rather limited financial resources, they shopped for the largest turkey they could find plus all the trimmings and baked pies and cookies for dessert. They were so happy when they packaged the huge meal into several boxes and drove to the family’s home.

When the Lt. and his wife knocked on the door, the family met them with tears and hearts filled with gratitude – but, there was a problem! They only had a two burner hot plate for meal preparation and a very small refrigerator already filled with baby formula and milk. There was no oven to roast the turkey, little space for cooking the trimmings and no space in the refrigerator to store the large raw turkey and the fresh produce.

The Lt. and his wife promptly picked up the boxes of fresh foods needing preparation plus the turkey, took them home and spent the remainder of the day before Thanksgiving preparing a complete dinner for a family in need, delivering it Thanksgiving morning. They went back home both exhausted and exhilarated to start all over again to prepare their own family meal. They were filled with:

  • Gratitude for being able to help another family in need
  • Gratitude  for the realization that so many have so much less than most
  • Gratitude for what they had.

 

It was at times like these that this young Lieutenant realized how grateful he was for being part of the Corps with its motto “Doing the Most Good” and how blessed he and his family was with their modest surroundings. 

Find Gratitude Where You Are

Sometimes, in difficult times it is hard to be grateful for the small things in life when the needs seem so great. Do some of the following to maintain positive gratitude energy:

  • Place an item that is symbolic of gratitude for you in the center area of the room you spend most of your time. Items such as a gift from a treasured friend, a small framed hand written note of appreciation or a picture of someone who is always there for you will provide you great gratitude energy.
  • Place a candle in a safe container in the middle of your home in fall or earth tone colors lighting it weekly with the intent of expressing appreciation and gratitude for what you have.
  • Create a gratitude journal and add something to it every day, even if you have to begin with a seemingly endless list of the mundane such as a refrigerator, food in your cupboard, a chair to sit on when eating or resting at the end of a busy day. Your list will grow and so will your joy and well-being. Be sure to go back periodically and read some of your earlier entries to life you spirits and see how you’ve grown.
  • Make a point to look at or use your symbolic gratitude reminder on a daily basis. It will not only bring a smile to your face but you will also be reminded to think of something right at that moment to be thankful for.

 

“Gratitude creates great attitude,” a much richer personal life and should be a mantra for everyone and every day, not just one day a year. The rewards for being grateful for even the smallest things are encouraging, can help you emotionally thrive on even the worst of days and are uplifting so you can soar with the eagle on the great days. To find additional personal performance and Feng Shui based article click here.

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2011

 

Pat Heydlauff speaks from experience. She works with organizations that want to create an environment where employees are engaged, encouraged and involved, and with people who want to be in control, anxiety-free and confident. She is the author of Feng Shui, So Easy a Child Can Do It and can be reached at 561-799-3443 or www.energy-by-design.com. – for Feng Shui music for meditation, relaxation and energizing http://www.energy-by-design.com/HealingMusic.html. Visit her strictly business site by clicking here www.engagetolead.com.

Posted in Feng Shui, Gratitude, Salvation Army, Thanksgiving | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments