Secrets of Mind and Reality

By Ann – Founder of Let Your Life Speak
 
My story begins in the fall of 1988. At the time, my husband and I were a few years out of graduate school and living in the Washington D.C. area. Upon graduation, we were optimistic that our future, including our financial future, would be bright and prosperous. However, we were unprepared for the high cost of living in the DC area. That, along with our new student loan payment, and the usual expenses of a young family of 4 nearly put us under. To put it bluntly, we were dying financially! If we needed new tires for our car, or had to make a car insurance payment, it all went on the credit card. New furniture and new clothes were unheard of.

After 7 years of marriage, we still couldn’t afford to go on a “date”. Instead, we had friends over to play games and enjoy a treat. Nothing wrong with that, until one time it all came to a head. Our friends wanted a drink of milk with the brownies we had offered them; they came into the kitchen and poured themselves one glass, then another glass, and another, until finally the whole gallon was gone. It wasn’t until they were gone, that I broke down in sobs, knowing we didn’t have enough money to purchase another gallon until the next week. Things had to change! I desperately began trying to make money-at-home. I tried several different things, from network marketing to piano lessons, but never made more than $300 in any business adventure I pursued.
 
One day my father called and offered to buy airline tickets for the whole family to come home at Christmas. He said he had 2 new ideas that were so exciting they “kept him up at night” and he wanted to share those when we came home for Christmas. I begged him to tell me then, but he wouldn’t relent, saying I had to wait until Christmas.
 
Finally, upon arriving at my parents home, I dropped my suitcase in the doorway and said “TELL ME!”. My dad began in a very animated and rambling way, telling how he had hired a “life coach”, created a “Creed” and continued jabbering about how all of his goals were coming to fruition. I’m sure the blank stare on my face told him “I’m not getting this!!!” My only comment was “Dad, you’re too old to play sports!”. After rolling his eyes, he started from the beginning and told me how he had hired Leo Weidner, a former student of Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich to be his “life coach”. Leo was assisting him in writing down all of his goals from all areas of his life in a method that I had never heard of before. (Remember, this was the 80’s! and affirmations were just on their way “in”.) This “creed” was a little like a personal mission statement but written in first person, present tense as if it had already happened! My dad went on to tell me that he had had an incredible experience so far and was accomplished his dreams much faster than he had anticipated. Still, I wasn’t really “getting” what he was saying, and so he resorted to handing me a booklet, that he said would explain it all!
 
His second “revelation” was a new business idea that a mutual friend had had much success with. When he mentioned this friend had made $30,000 in the month of November, I was all ears! It turned out the business was selling a “Wassail” mix (a hot orange, lemon and spice drink) at craft shows. The mix was packaged in a cute Christmas plaid bag, tied with a bow, gift card and cinnamon stick. They sold for about $5 each and my dad anticipated that I could sell hundreds. Then he made a powerful suggestion that kept me up all night. He said “Why don’t you use this new goal setting method that I’m trying and put into your own “creed” that you are financially stable and that you make lots of money from your wassail-selling business”. Because I came from a goal-oriented family and New Years was quickly approaching, it was just natural that I would be setting my own 1989 goals very shortly. I decided that I would in fact “TRY” this new totally-off-the-wall Creed!
 
And so I began. I followed the details in the booklet, writing down my goals in each section of life (spiritual, physical, relationships, emotion, personal development and financial) “as if” I had already accomplished them. It was strange at first, but I quickly got the hang of it. When I got to the financial section, I wrote: “I have a wassail business! In December 1989, I make $20,000. I do this by selling 2000 bags of wassail at 6 craft shows. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 1-3 p.m. in the afternoon, I make the necessary phone calls and preparations to accomplish this task.” Interestingly, at the time I wrote this, I had no idea what was involved in having a “wassail-business”, because it was a brand-new idea to me.
 
After finishing up with the writing of my creed on a typewriter (no computer!), I was a little taken back that I was instructed in the booklet to record my written creed onto a cassette tape with Baroque music playing in the background! While still shaking my head at this crazy idea, I checked out Baroque music from the library, got our Fisher Price tape recorder and while my two little girls were playing in the other room, I began the task of recording my first-ever LifeVision!. What a nightmare! I was almost finished with the entire recording and the phone rang (so the “ringing sound” was on my recording)….so I turned off the phone and started again. This time I was almost done when one daughter came into the room crying about how her sister had hit her. So I locked the door and started at the beginning once again. This time it was banging on the door about how the sister had hit her again…… all on my recording! It took me approximately 2 hours to record a short 10 minute recording! But finally I had my recorded creed on tape.
 
It wasn’t many days later that I began to doubt myself. I remember feelings like “Get real Ann, your husband only makes $25,000 and you think you’re going to make $20,000 in a single month! And besides….look at your track record!!!”
 
These thoughts plagued me for a few days when finally I knew I had to change that single word in my creed from $20,000 to $5,000. But the thoughts of having to go through that nightmare for one word didn’t make sense. So I came up with the perfect solution! I would say “$5,000” over the top of my recording each and every time I listened to it. This was being “realistic” without the headache of having to re-record the entire thing. This worked for about 2 weeks. One day I was driving to the grocery store , supposedly listening to my creed, but I got to the end of the tape and realized that I hadn’t paid any attention to it. I had been day-dreaming and hadn’t focuses on it at all! (I’m sure I was making a mental grocery list instead). I was discouraged and scared, wondering how this would all work if I couldn’t focus on my goals! I found my dad’s booklet and in the back was Leo Weidner’s phone number. I called him and said something like the following: “Hi Leo, you don’t know me from Adam, but my dad is a client, and on my own, I’ve written a creed. After listening to it for several weeks, I’m having trouble focusing and usually become distracted while listening. Do you have any suggestions?”
 
Leo asked me if I had followed the instruction of recording it to Baroque music in the background. I said that I had. He said…”Good, it doesn’t matter if you’re focusing or not because the super-learning music helps to take it to the subconscious by putting you in the meditative state of Alpha.” (WAY too deep for me!) He assured me that it would work even if I daydreamed! PHEW!
 
Needless to say, it wasn’t too many days before I stopped saying “$5000” over my $20,000 recorded goal. I continued to ) for the next 10 monthsJlisten to my recording daily (at least subconsciously  and crazily enough, I made $19,800 in the month of November !!!! Can I just say how thankful I am that I was too lazy to re-record my creed (thereafter to be called a LifeVision).
 
After this experience, I had to ask myself… “Why did this happen? “What made it work”? I will admit that I didn’t spend the time researching the answer to these questions and the principles behind them. I was just thrilled it had worked and so I spent my time creating bigger and more powerful LifeVisions. I knew it worked, and I wasn’t too concerned at the time of “Why” it worked. The results were enough for me.
 
The next season, with a year’s experience under my belt, I was determined to create a much bigger business out of my little “Wassail business”. I began the year by creating a new LifeVision that included the financial figure of $100,000. (My husband Scott wanted me to “just add another zero, to the end of last years number”….but $200,000 was a little ambitious for a girl who was still reeling from the $20,000 experience.) Once again, I listened daily to the affirmation of $100,000 ~15,000+ bags of wassail to back up that figure. But the Universe had other plans….we got into the wholesale business which threw that figure into the tens of thousands of bags! We became a staple at the Gift Markets and Gourmet Food Shows, selling to over 2,000 stores nationwide. Wow! A simple idea that eventually became a million-dollar idea for our family. Now, 17 years later, we still own and run Old World Specialties, maker of fine gourmet food mixes.

All of your thoughts and beliefs form what may be called an “attitude” that you project out into the world. This “attitude” can be very powerful both in the physical sense (how you relate to others) and in the energy level (the thought energy that you project into the universe). For example, the Travel Channel recently had a “special” titled: The Top Ten Ways to Win in Vegas. #3 on the list was “Have a Winning Attitude.”
 
They performed an experiment where the host of the show was told to walk into a casino and play black-jack doing only one thing; he must exude a completely confident, winning attitude. He was given $200 to play with so he had nothing to lose, and he went in and played “as if he was a winner.” He was confident, boisterous, and played with no fear or worries. Well guess what? He won, and won, and won! He even started attracting other people around him who were mesmerized by his confidence, charisma, and his winning.
 
The host admitted he was amazed at how this “winning attitude” attracted success and people to him. He said that he just went for it and even “hammed it up” a bit, which made it work even better. He also played other games and won as well. The experts said that in a physical sense, he played like he should have, with no fears or concerns. And in an “energy sense,” he turned on his magnetic force and began moving the universe toward his favor.
 
The previous example shows just how powerful your attitude, or more specifically, the thoughts that make up your attitude, really are. If you put your attention on what you desire (attracting the opposite sex, being irresistible, being the ultimate romantic, winning, etc..) and not on what you fear (being shy, embarrassed, awkward, uncomfortable, losing, etc..), then your attitude shifts, which produces not only physical changes in you (you carry yourself with more confidence and charisma), but it also puts the “thought energy” out there which attracts people and situations that support your desires. It’s very much a “win/win” opportunity for you.
 
Write out how you want to be and what you want to attract. Then, focus your attention on these statements and thoughts and do not entertain any ideas to the contrary. When thoughts enter your mind that make you doubt your attracting ability, acknowledge them, then cast them out like the trash. Bring your thoughts back to these truths that you have written. You are literally rewriting, rethinking yourself into a new person, with new attitudes, and a new attracting force that will prove irresistible in this sometimes negative, fear filled world.
 
You will stand out like other charismatic people because you refuse to be run by thoughts of fear and inadequacy. Instead, you are driven by thoughts of beauty, romance, confidence, and desire which attracts people and situations to support you. You are building a new attitude, a new self-esteem that will draw others to you like gravity. It is simply a matter of choice. Choose to think of yourself as an attracting force, and you will attract. Know what you want to attract and focus on that, and you will attract what you desire into your life. Have that “winning attitude” about life, and you’ll be a winner all your life.
 
Is it really that simple? Yes, if you can keep your thoughts on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Decide what you want, focus on these people and things as if you already have them, don’t let thoughts to the contrary enter in, and you’ll have the life you’ve always wanted.

- The Greatest Secret

Plastic Surgery Alters The Course Of Your Life

By Julie Cox

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  (Actually, it is 1,627 words, but who’s counting).  What happens if you change some part of the picture? It changes the meaning and it alters your perception. A face is no different. According to the principles of face reading, every feature on your face correlates with and describes a different part of your personality. Each feature on the face is an accurate reflection of your personality, your strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, behaviors, stress level, health issues and more. Changing your appearance in the slightest way can have a profound affect on your personality, and it will change the course of your life.

With the recent popularity of aesthetic surgery among virtually all demographics, it is important to clarify exactly what happens when someone alters a feature on their face. The consequences could be positive or it could have dramatic negative effects on your life.  There is no shortage of case studies for face readers with the rising popularity of shows such as Extreme Makeover and the constant parade of celebrity makeovers on the covers of magazines. There are two reasons for aesthetic surgery—internal or external pressures. An example of an external motivation could be the need to please others. This comes from a belief that a change in the outward appearance will save a marriage or a career. This is rarely the case. An internal motivation may be described as negative feelings about personal deficiencies and a corresponding desire to effect a change.

All people read faces to a certain degree. They make judgments about personalities just by the way a person’s face looks. (Ever watch a movie where the villain didn’t look like a bad guy and the character didn’t work?) When people change a facial feature, people are going to consider them differently, reinforcing the internal feelings being felt by the person who had the surgery. This change manifests in their outward behavior and when they act different, their life changes.

Consider this. One common procedure will change the shape of the mouth. A few injections could change the meaning of your mouth in an instant. Recently, a popular celebrity who was known to be optimistic and carefree changed her lips. The new shape of her lips  caused her to be seen as pessimistic and mistrusting. Since that time, her relationships have failed and her movie flopped. If you change your face—you will change your life. This is not to say that change is wrong, change can be good. The challenge is to ensure that the change will affect you positively.

Eyes reveal our mental and emotional outlook. In the case of an eye lift, a surgeon will ‘lift’ the outside corners of the eyes on a patient. When the outside corners of the eyes are higher than the inside (the eyes appear to ‘slant up’), this indicates someone who sees the cup as half full. They will try things other would not even consider, because they have a never-say-fail attitude. It has been proven that people who have had this surgery are more optimistic and positive than they were prior to the change. One reason for this is that they naturally feel better about themselves. People see them as more positive and treat them accordingly, which reinforces the behavior.  They change the course of their life because they will now attempt to do things that they would not have considered before the procedure.

A more prominent example of a life changing feature is the nose. Noses reflect our attitudes towards work and money, our generosity levels, energy and ego. If you have a desire to be less combative, you may choose to have the arch removed from just below the bridge of the nose. In extreme cases, a person can actually “cut off their nose to spite their face”. If one changes the feature to something much less than what they began with, they will sabotage their abilities in their work life and their efforts to make money. In cases of severe rhinoplasty, where the feature is altered beyond recognition, this person has a feeling of unworthiness. They demonstrate this by cutting off their “profit center “ (the nose). They take for granted the income will always be there or they do not care. Either way, the fact that the nose is small and slender has now changed the way they behave towards money and work. This means they have to work twice ashard to barely make what they did in the past. In dealing with males, surgeons are advised to take a conservative approach in rhinoplasty. That is because noses reflect our ego and surgeons have learned that drastic changes in the nose will often result in negative effects in personality and behavior.

When you change the face, the corresponding personality trait will change as well. People will treat you differently and your life will change. A person who is considering plastic surgery should consult with a professional face reader as well as the surgeon to give close consideration to the personality changes that will result from aesthetic surgery.

- Face Reading Academy