5 Tips to catapult in new directions

Every moment, you can clarify or reshape what you have to offer the world. You can boost your self- confidence or encourage others, boost your public profile, boost or reshape the image you wish to present to the world.  This may involve shifts and transitions where it helps to have some extra insight or support. Amidst life change, you choose to be angry or arrogant, a seeker or avid explorer of choices, until everything feels like smooth sailing.  Not feeling like that yet? Consider 5 tips to catapult yourself in new directions;  

1. Idenitfy a focus

Pinpoint what makes you unique.  This involves self-reflection, soul searching about what makes you feel good and what it is you would like to share with or offer others.  This could be things like creative ways to use time , share expertise or mentoring, developing and marketing a product or service. Listen to the heart.

2. Nurture self-discipline

In order to feel like you make progress,  you must be willing to channel energy and attention into your own process.  This translates making a priority and recognizing what distracts you so you do not procrastinate.  Its helpful to be aware of when you mind is wandering away from the task at hand or when you shift away for other reasons. 

3.Brainstorm

You can begin with a skeleton-like focus, but you also need to add detail to run with the idea.  Where would you like this life boost to take you? It is a specific geographic location?  A particular community or professional evironment, or would you like to transplant yourself where you are in more frequent contact with like -minded people?  Whatever it is, write it down.  Draw or create a vision board.  Shre your reflections with others if it feels right. Allow details to fall into place so that this process feels more real.

4. Connect

Draft a list of who you feel would benefit from what you have to offer and how you can connect with them.  Where can you go to interact with people of similar interests, who share your passion or who could benefit from your experience? Draft a one sentence explanation of what you do. Write letters or emails. Use technology for initial contact yet strive to arrange in-person dialogue and meetings to strengthen connections and make a difference in people's lives.

4. Speak

Whether its finding confidence to speak up at a social gathering or, to contact people about doing talks about your area of expertise, the important thing is to find your words and use them aloud to make a lasting impression. Make a video, teach a skillshare course.

5. Show integrity

When you say you are ging to be somehwere at a certain time, be punctual.  If you offer to speak to a group of people on a topic of mutual interest, coem through.   Your behaviour is always painting a picture.

Interview with Raana Zia

As life experience guides us from one synchronicity to another, it is a delight to connect with Raana Zia and have the privilege of reading her book, Your Hidden Light:  A Practical Guide to Creating Your Desired Life.

After reading it, I felt I could relate to so much she had written that I intuitively asked her to participate in this interview to share it with Dreambuilders Australia readers. I am absolutely delighted to share this exchange with her which I honestly feel raises the vibration of those who vicariously share parts of her journey.

Thanks Raana for making yourself available for this interview and for contributing in your own way to lighting up the world. 

Being a person who loves joining the dots and empowering others to do the same, I am curious how you heard about me and why you so recently chose to offer me your book.  

I discovered your blog through The Clearing blog in an article written by Kris de Leon.  I read more about you and felt very connected to your messages.  I too have recently experienced similar awareness and understanding of the power of following your heart, intuition, inner guidance.  From what I read in your blogs, much of what you say resonates as truth to me and is aligned with what I talk about in my book.  I so appreciate that you took the time to read my book.

Contrary to what many believe, like attracts like.  That is, everything and everyone is a mirror inviting us to get a message we are not yet consciously seeing and integrating. Please share a bit about yourself and your process. What prompted you to write this book?

I am a corporate executive/CFO turned spiritual self-help author of the book Your Hidden Light:  A Personal Guide to Creating Your Desired Life.  I had been in corporate finance for 20+ years successfully climbing the corporate ladder.  In 2012, while I achieved my goal of becoming a CFO of a billion-dollar company, I felt a strong internal pull in my heart telling me I needed to be doing something else in my life.  I had no idea what I was supposed to do, but the feeling was so strong that I knew I needed to find out.  I spent the next five years reading self-help books, going to seminars, talking to personal coaches, etc., searching for my purpose and building a belief I could do something different.  The more I searched, the more curious I became on how the world worked and how I was able to manifest the good things in my life (career, family, home, vacations, etc).  I was drawn to this subject matter of “manifesting your desires”, and I was determined to make sense of it all in a way that I could easily understand and apply. 

In 2015, I thought that maybe I needed to write a book to synthesize all that I was discovering.  I was getting pieces of wisdom that were life changing and profound from many different sources, but there wasn’t one book that brought it all together in a way that was direct and easy to understand. However, the thought of writing a book was surprising to me since I was never a writer, nor did I ever dream to write a book.  I built my career on finance and analytics, so this new creative urge to write was unfamiliar to me.  Despite my initial uncertainty, I knew I needed to follow my inner guidance, but I needed the right moment of courage to begin. 

In October of 2016, I lost my CFO job due to a corporate restructuring, and at that moment I knew it was time to follow my heart.  I was given the opportunity of time to do what I really desired to do.  However, I was scared because I did not know what I was doing or how to write a book.  My family assumed I would immediately start looking for another job since they had no idea what I was thinking and feeling on the inside.  I remained paralyzed in fear for about six weeks until I finally had the courage to believe that I was a writer and I was supposed to write this book despite what people close to me thought.  The moment I finally believed in myself, was the moment the words started to flow out of me.  The chapter titles and page count came into my head immediately.  I then began writing the content, and I did not stop until the book was completed.  It took me two months to write this book.

The writing process was incredible.  I loved writing the book because I felt a powerful energy with me throughout the process. I felt supported and aligned with what I was supposed to be doing for the first time in my life.  The words I was writing helped me through my own uncertainty of losing my high-level job and all the fears associated with that.  Writing the book helped me through a major transition in my life and career because I was constantly reminded by the words I was writing to stay disciplined and focused on what I really wanted in my heart, and to not let fear (fear of poverty, failure, etc.) or doubt stop me. 

All this feels like something beyond you took over.  Over and above what you share already, how has your outer life prompted and directed your attention to an inner shift?  

In the one year, it took to write and publish the book, I went through my own personal transformation.  I went from being in a state of fear and depression (from losing my job) to a place of happiness, peace, and fulfilment for the first time in as long as I can remember.  By taking the guidance of Your Hidden Light seriously and developing a disciplined practice of consciously aligning my inner thoughts, feelings, and beliefs daily, I became more relaxed, confident in my creative abilities, and truly happy.  This new way of being, improved my family life dramatically, and allowed me to achieve all my milestones to getting the book published easily and without stress or strain.  I have become an even stronger believer that it is only though changing your own inner thoughts, feeling, and beliefs, that you can most easily and effectively change the world around you.

After the book was published in November 2017, a professor at the business school at Suffolk University in Boston told me he was adding Your Hidden Light to his syllabus for his course – Happiness:  How to Get It for the Spring 2018 semester.    I am looking forward to the concepts of this book being taught to our future business leaders.

You incorporate quotes from a number of people and books in this work.  Let us know why you are drawn to these particular references?                                                                                          

I quote several people in the book from ancient philosophers, scientists, spiritual teachers, religious/spiritual texts, business people, entertainers, etc. who have all inspired me by their view of the world and the messages they gave to remind us that we are more powerful than we think we are.  All the quotes I use are inspirational, empowering, and relay powerful wisdom.  Your Hidden Light makes this wisdom easily understood and applicable in people’s everyday life.

Very cool.  Many people are unaware that anyone who inspires you is actually a mirror inviting you to allow qualities you admire in others to shine from inside you more consciously in a similar way. As part of your transformation process, are you noticing any shifts in sensory perception?                         

Since 2012,I have become more aware of the energy around me and more attune to my own inner guidance.  Prior to 2012, I never noticed or felt the energy of people or places, the way I do now.  I also feel very connected to the world around me and much more aware that my external reality is a reflection of what is inside of me.  Through my greater awareness, I regularly notice when I am receiving signs or guidance from the Universe. 

Your Hidden Light is meant to awaken you to your most powerful self, what I call your soul self or spiritual self, in order to most effectively create the life you desire.  When I became more in tune to this part of myself, I began to see the world in a different way.  I realized that everything I desired in the physical world came from the unseen spiritual world, which I could only access by going within myself.  The more I regularly turned inward through meditation, the stronger my intuition became.  In addition, I became a more powerful creator of my reality because I learned how to more effectively direct my energy.

Why would readers of Dreambuilders Australia like your book? How could they benefit from it?

Your Hidden Light is a go-to handbook for how you can reclaim the greatest power that has been lost to you – the power to create your own reality.  The purpose of the book is to awaken you to your spiritual nature and the powers you already possess to fulfill what is in your heart.  Your Hidden Light easily synthesizes ancient spiritual wisdom into practical application today.  You will learn the 4-step process to create your desired life with practical tips to help you along the way. You will walk away feeling empowered to live the life you want, and create the world you want to live in.  In addition, you will feel inspired to take at least one step towards making a positive change in your life. 

You offer man ymeaningful insights in your book. What advice would you offer people who feel stuck?

Regardless of the situation, feeling stuck does not feel good.  You feel frustrated, disappointed, dissatisfied, etc.  However, realize the “feeling” of being stuck is telling you what you don’t want.  You don’t want to be in that situation.  The most important step to take when you are feeling stuck is to consciously decide what it is you really want.  This is the first step in the 4-step process to creating what you desire. 

1)      Create your positive thought, desire, or intention. Write it down.  Get it clear in your head as to what you truly want.  Most people feel stuck because they don’t yet know what they want.  Take the time to create the vision for your life.  Some strategies to help you:         

•          Create a vision board – pull images from internet or magazines re: what you want to experience
•          Take a trip for inspiration
•          Talk to a friend, coach, mentor
•          Meditate – go inward and ask yourself what would make you happy

Once you have done the work of creating a strong, heartfelt, positive desire that you believe in then you are ready for change!

2)      Feel gratitude as if you have already received it

3)      Detach from your desire – know it’s coming

4)      Take actions that are aligned with your desire – you will know what actions to take by going inward and following your inner guidance.  When your actions are aligned with your inner guidance, it will not feel like work.

This is the 4-step process to creating your desires.  I found this to be the shortest and most effective route for getting unstuck.  You will find more details and strategies for each step in Your Hidden Light to help you master this process in your life.

What a gem! Short, concise steps or tips often trigger our own inner light bulbs and remind us we have to illuminate (or en-lighten) from within. Speaking of which, how does your view of time, love and money change as part of this book project?     

The process of writing this book and practicing the disciplines presented in the book, has opened me to the spiritual nature of the world I live in and my connection to the energy that connects everything.  As a result, my view and understanding on love has expanded beyond what I thought I knew was love, to an awareness of the unconditional nature of love.  I am finally beginning to understand what people mean when they say that “love is all there is”.  I now believe that love is how the Universe works – it is unconditional and gives you whatever is a match to what you are thinking and feeling.  I also view love as a frequency that is balanced, accepting, unconditional, and empowering.

I view money as energy like everything else now.  In order to attract money, you cannot feel   fear or a lack of money.  You need to align your inner being to the positive energy of what you want to attract.  This is something I consciously had to do when I decided to leave my high paying career to pursue what was in my heart.

I also have a relaxed sense of time now.  By understanding and practicing the 4-step creation process presented in the book, I began to realize that the Universe supports me, and things always happen at the right time, when I am ready.

Funny, its common for me to be in book stores, libraries or other places and have books literallly fall off the shelf in front me.  The universe has a fabulous sense of humor! Books also end up in my lap or cross my radar in a variety of ways to capture my attention. To me, this is always a sign from the universe the answer to some pending question or, something I need is to be found in or between the lines of the book. I would love to know your view on coincidence and synchronicity? 

I believe that the world we live in is intelligent, and there is a logic and process by which everything happens.  I believe that we are connected to everyone and everything including the Ultimate Creator (also referred to as God, Source Energy, Cosmic Consciousness, the Universe, etc) at a deeper unseen level.  As a result, what we call coincidence and synchronicity are actually connections.  For example, have you ever thought of anyone you haven’t seen or talked to in a while, and then a short time later, that person either calls or texts you?  That was not a coincidence, it was a connection.  Your thoughts get directed to that person, and through our connected energetic nature, the other personal receives the signal and connects with you unknowingly.  Coincidence and synchronicities, because they grab our attention, are reminders that we are all connected at a deeper level.

Everything you discuss is pointing to the humor in the shared experience of selective awareness.  How many times do we overlook what is always right here? It can seem so obvious from another vantage point. How is your sense of purpose during this lifetime shifting? 

My sense of purpose in this lifetime has shifted dramatically in the last year.  I was never clear on what I was supposed to be doing, until I went in search of it.  By writing this book, living and sharing its principles, and experiencing a new sense of happiness and freedom, I know my purpose is to inspire others to find their own power, truth, and joy.   

Another sticking point for many people is fear and how to manage it. Gaining insight into the experience of others can offer valuable insight or inspiration. What is your greatest fear before writing the book and what is your greatest fear? 

My greatest fear was what people would think, especially those who knew me.  Everyone knew me as a corporate finance business woman, not a spiritual self-help author. Now, I can honestly say, I have moved through my biggest fears.  I do not feel fear right now.  However, when I do feel fear, I know it is a barrier I need to move though in order to achieve what I really desire.

Share anything else you feel would benefit Dreambuilder Australia readers.

I realized that before I wrote this book, while I was a successful finance professional, I was hiding who I truly was.  I was hiding my light.  Why do we feel like we have to hide?  I wanted to find what truly lit me up.  Your Hidden Light reflects my journey and understanding and is helping me to shine my light.  My desire for you is that you find what lights you up in your life.  Your Hidden Light:  A Practical Guide to Creating Your Desired Life will provide you with the wisdom, tools, and tips you need to make the change you desire in your life in order for you to become the person you are meant to be.

Thanks Raana for being so genuine and offering the world a glimpse into the nature and details of your personal journey. I invite visitors here to include your book in their own path to deeper fulfillment. 

Your Hidden Light:  A Practical Guide to Creating Your Desired Life is available on Amazon.com and iBooks.  To learn more please visit www.yourhiddenlight.com I especially love how you list such inspirational resources.  I'm familliar with many but not all. Appreciate your guidance. Reading offers subtle or not-so-subtle reminders of what we are ready for right now. Love the revelations we trigger within ourselves when we are open and receptive. Much love and joy to you in your endeavours! May your life continue to be enriched and worries be few.

12 Signs a move is in the cards

For many of us, its increasingly obvious that change is on the horizon.  In some ways, you may feel like change never stops.  What you may not realize is how your life is shaken up is preparing you for something. 

In another way, whatever is happening is nudging you in new directions.  You do not always get exactly  what you want but you always create exactly what you need. Consider 10 signs a move is in the cards:

1. Night dreams repeat

Repeated dreams are a sign of the intensity of your focus. They may urge you to take a closer look at what you are resisting or not yet dealing with.  Other repeat dreams highlight the inevitable. Something within knows repeatedly seeing yourself in a new place is more than deja-vu. Intuition sniffs out its a premonition. Ever feel like you are in the process of catching up with a version of yourself that already exists in different situation/ place?  All of your dominant thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are creating and impacting your reality, even in your sleep!

2. Daydreaming replaces real life

When you spend more time daydreaming being somewhere other than where you think you physically are, you know the new reality is getting the better of you.  The more you focus on something, the more you are reshaping your perception, and the quicker you are manifesting new experience (provided emotions and other behaviours do not undermine or block the process).

3. You no longer keep it to yourself 

When you shift from reflecting about something to speaking about to others (not just yourself), this echoes growing confidence in your own ability to allow details to fall into place. Expressing ideas and/or feelings in words, and making them heard, breathes life into your vision.  When you start asking people if they could imagine you living in the place that reonates or appeals or, take this up a notch and tell people you feel you are moving soon, the vision is taking on a life (or timeline) of its own.  You are consciously focusing more energy to make it real.

4. The vision takes physical form

Another shift happens as you go from speaking about something to creating a tangible expression of the vision.  As you find travel brochures or stumble across magazine images and relevant social media stories, the urge arises to create vision boards.  Imagining being in this place and setting the intention makes it that much more real. You feel it in your fingertips, bones, every part of your being. 

5. Your horoscope  & numerology align

Some people use horoscopes and numerology to guide them in light of confusion directions.  Yet as you focus enough energy on a particular thought, the external world mirrors it back or gives you opportunities to add more meat to the bones of your vision. Horoscopes and numerology may simply echo to you that a big move is coming, something your heart alrady knows when you read the signs.

6. A job transfer beckons

This might seem like the geographic move is obvious but you still have the final say.  It is one of the more obvious nudges you are giving yourself that a move would be a good thing. Entrepreneurship may have crossed your mind before or gives you flexibility for where you live anyway. Your boss may suggest a change of scenery in a branch office or assignments suited to a remote contact. It may hit you your relationship to work is changing and no longer seems connected to a geographic place.

7.  You outgrow the local energy

Maybe you are growing aware you have less in common with friends and communities in your current area. It is said that the 5 people you spend the most time with are the people who's traits or abilities are emerging and manifesting through you.  The more you outgrow friends and activities where you are, the more liekly you are ripe for the energy of a new setting. If you are a forest dweller, perhaps the beach feels inviting. If you live in the city, it could be farm life that grabs you.  Feeling the energy of yoru environment is key. 

8.  The universe gets physical

You start to get it when huge tree branches the height of your house literally fall into your front yard, repeatedly knock down power lines or lightning hits your house.  The universe is always giving you messages through earth, air, fire and water as well as the action of vegetation.  Its up to you to decode them, resist what you are telling yourself or, go with the flow of the wind.

9. Impulse grows to declutter

This goes above and beyond the annual impulse to spring clean or put out items on the curb for community clean up.  You may be going through parents' stuff or boxes from deceased relatives you have been stashing in closets.  What about clothes you no longer wear, or furniture that no longer appeals? Suddenly, you have this feeling that the moment is ripe to have a garage sale, post items on ebay, drop items off at op shops or donate to causes. There is a method to what looks like madness.

10. Real estate agents approach you

If you keep getting letters in your mailbox from property agents looking to represent your property or invitations to local community real estate marketing events, this is another sign. The flip side happens when you sign up to be notified of new properties coming on the market to rent or buy in your area of interest.  All of a sudden, you are getting emails and photos of places that echo you are well on your way!

11. The housing market is hot

When more people are searching for houses in your area than available rentals and properties can satisfy, this is another hint that suggests its time for a move or to sell (if you own). 

12. You get here

The what (vision) always comes before the how (steps to make it real).  Something within you may buy a ticket to visit the area on yoru mind to do reconnaissance, check the place out, get a feel for it with more than the physical senses. You may check out available rentals, land for sale, even property to buy. You may even already intuit the inside scoop the where and what and why. 

5 Tips to strengthen yourself

Regardless of what is arising or facing in your life at this stage, the moment is ripe to review and on these five tips to strengthen yourself:

1. Eat more alkaline foods

Benefits of eating more alkaline diet can include better heart health, stronger bones, decreased pain and the reversal of nutrient deficiencies. Foods highlighted as part of an alkaline diet include; whole fruits, legumes, vegetables, raw foods, green juices, beans, and nuts.

2. Take cold showers

Cold showers actually increase alertness, lucidity (clarity), refine hair and skin and also jumpstart the immune system and circulation. The cold water in a shower is even known to reduce stress and speed up recovery of sore muscles.  If your mood is a bit down or depression crosses your radar, the cold temp can help raise your spirits too. 

3. Hydrate more often

You need to be drinking half your body weight in pure water or healthy fluids every day and few people actually drink before they feel thirsty.  The latter indicates the onset of mild dehydration.  Anytime you feel stress arising, drink a glass of water to assist your body to recalibrate.

4.  Immerse in Nature

Getting back to Nature or spending time in natural environments is like getting in touch with yourself. Taking in the sounds and smells during a walk, hike or other nature adventure, allows you to relax, reflect, recalibrate, in ways you may not yet even realize.

5.  Listen to the heart (intuition/ Soul)

Listening to the heart is about knowing you always act (or not) for more than one reason. There is that which is conscious and that which is unconscious.  The ultimate purpose involves making the unconscious conscious and facing your shadows to accpt and integrate all of your fractured parts.  Listening to the heart is about feeling your way through life, taking action spotaneously and learning to trust yourself more.  The more your love yourself, the more you trust yourself for conditional love and trust are one in the same. 

4 Tips to transform relationships

If you desire to change soething about your relationships, its helpful to realize you must begin with yourself.  Reflect on these 4 tips to transform your relationships by shifting your point of attention inward:

1. Notice relationships mirror beliefs: 

Your beliefs about relationships, men, women, children, pets, love and anything emerge as relationships. The beliefs each person holds prompt us to react and act  to support our growth and conscious awakening.  In order to experience anything or anyone you must first relate to it. For instance, the nature of relationships reflects what you are choosing to vibrate. Even if your partner is being faithful, if you vibrate distrust you will look for reasons to prove otherwise and you experience an echo of this.  Beliefs that govern your experiences and relationships point to subconscious core beliefs.  Since your relationships are based on them, you perpetuate a vicious circle until they are made conscious and healed.

2. Be accountable for all your qualities: 

Every quality you see in your partner, is your mirror. The more you dislike a certain quality, the more it is showing you a part of your consciousness that you are not acknowledging. For instance, if you dislike your partner's jealous nature, you will find that you too are jealous perhaps not of him or her but of others. If your partner's or child's competitiveness annoys you, this reveals you do not see competitiveness in yourself. If your partner's negativity or insecurities get you down, this reveals the same about you. The only reason that these qualities are annoying you is because they are also yours. As long as you do not acknowledge them as your own they will continue to frustrate you, while owning up to them allows you to grow.   You may find that even some positive qualities annoy you. For example, if your partner's overly kind and giving nature frustrates you, it reveals you want to be more generous but resist. Alternatively, your partners' ability to forgive may make you uneasy. See it as an opportunity to forgive. 

3. Own what frustrates you in others:

When your partner acts in ways that upset you, you too act in the same way, most likely not towards him or her but towards yourself and probably others. The more some behaviour frustrates you, the more it reflects a part of you that you are not owning. If your partner treats you with disrespect, look within yourself and see who you treat with similar disrespect, whether it be a friend, a family member or yourself. If your partner criticises you, you will find that you are critical of yourself and others. If your partner ignores your needs, you will find that you too ignore your own needs or those of others. Ultimately, you teach others how to treat you by how you treat yourself.

You may find that the quality you see in your partner appears to be the opposite of your own quality, but in fact it is the same quality expressed in a different way. It is still your mirror. For example, the introvert attracts the extrovert, the weak attracts the strong, the giving attracts the taking. Such seemingly opposite partners attract each other so that they can learn from each other and bring their own extreme quality into balance. In order to attract your opposite, you yourself have to be at the other end of the spectrum and so are unbalanced as far as that quality is concerned. Simply put, opposites attract in search of balance. When none of your qualities are at either extreme of the spectrum, then you can no longer attract its opposite.

4. Face the truth of all relationships: 

Emotionally and physically abusive relationships mirror qualities/ core beliefs like any other relationship. At the root of abusive relationships is a deep lack of self-worth in the abused partner. The only way to rise above such relationships is through the power of self-love.  The more you love yourself, the less you put up with any lesser behaviour toward you from others, the more you invite a mirror of self loving treatment.