Simple Prosperity

I don't usually recommend books before I finish reading them, but this one is too timely not to let everyone know about it. Written in 2007, the book is dedicated "to all who are ready and able to open their hearts and minds to a new era." The author, David Wann, writes clearly and compellingly about ways each of us can find "real wealth in a sustainable lifestyle."

Whether your particular interest lies in saving time, better using your money, improving your health, really enjoying your work, improving your social capital or the benefits of right-sizing, this book is for you. Each chapter can stand alone for someone interested in just one topic. But I guarantee that you won't stop at a single topic because his writing style, an interesting combination of research, facts, stories and personal insights, encourages you to read this little gem from cover to cover.

Beliefs and behaviors

Beliefs and behaviors...are yours compatible? So much has been written these past couple of years about the power of beliefs. Yet, without behaviors to back up beliefs, ideas often remain in the realm of thought, not action.

For example, a person creates a belief such as "I am going to double my income this year." Every morning, s/he stands in front of a mirror and affirms this belief twenty times. Then, s/he goes off to work and doesn't do anything differently than s/he has been doing for the past year. How likely is it that income will increase?

In my experience, not very likely. Don't get me wrong - I am a firm believer in the power of beliefs but only as the first step in achieving goals. Once you have created a belief, such as doubling your income, and you affirm this belief regularly so that your mind is truly focused on doubling your income, you have done the first step to achieving your dreams. But it is only the first step.

What's next? Changing your behaviors to match that belief. For example, if last week, you made ten cold calls, then this week you would need to double that to twenty. If last month, you sold ten books or coached ten clients, then this month you need to double that to twenty. Then your new behaviors are in alignment with your new beliefs and you are on your way to achieving your goals.

Don't cut back; be creative

It seems as though everyone is worried about money these days and talking about "cutting back". This doesn't sound like fun, does it? I'd rather use the term "being creative". This gets my mind excited about ways to do things that can have the same result as "cutting back" - but things that enrich my spirit instead of making me feel deprived.

We just finished celebrating Columbus Day weekend and here, in New England, the weather was perfect for outdoor activities. I live in an area surrounded by farms and cranberry bogs, all of which seemed to have some kind of harvest festival this weekend. Fortunately for us, the one closest to us, where we go every year with our kids and grandkids, had the lowest price and the best activities. What's more fun than watching the young ones wander through a corn maze, sit on the pumpkins and crawl through hay bales, emerging with huge smiles?

These huge smiles emerged again when we came home and Grampy led the kids through a path in the forest behind our house to the "Bears' Hideaway". Imagine their surprise to find that the bears had left them candy kisses in the woods!

And imagine my surprise the next day when my husband and I went for a walk in a local bog and saw seven wild turkeys, two giant white swans - and a beautiful fox. He was too quick for a picture...but I love the picture of the unusual mushroom we encountered.

In the words of a popular ad, our creative holiday weekend was truly priceless!

Let's Celebrate Halloween First

Few things annoy me as quickly as seeing Christmas decorations in the store before the children even get to celebrate Halloween. Of course, I'm not thrilled seeing Halloween candy in the stores in August either. I can only imagine the patience that parents of young children must have to deal with the commercialism of every holiday.

Now I know that there is no way I can change the retail business. I can do my own protesting and refuse to buy into the early promotions. Lots of times, I can even avoid going into the stores. And I try not to bring my young grandchildren any place that promotes Christmas so early. What more can I do?

I can help people find ways to thrive in the coming holiday season by offering a free teleclass called "It's Not About the Money". The purpose of this call is to present ways that we can all think about celebrating without spending a lot of money, to create the kind of holidays that we really want in our lives.

This teleclass is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15th at 8:00 PM. I know...it's before Halloween. I was going to do it in November until some of my clients suggested that doing it earlier was important. The feeling was that if we are going to make changes, we need to prepare people and the more time for that the better. And maybe we can even make some changes in the way we use our resources to celebrate Halloween.

So, if you find the idea of staging your own protest to the commercialism of the holidays appealing, email me. I will send you the call number, the access codes, and the class materials.

Fall Fun at the Farm

Fall is here and so is the opportunity to get outside and play! Yesterday, my husband and I took our two youngest grandchildren (ages 5 and 3) to Flax Pond Farm in Carver (MA). We all love cranberries and this is the main product this farm produces. It was the first day of harvesting and we were treated to a tour of the bogs and a demonstration of processing cranberries for sale.

Then we went to their shop to have some fresh cranberry juice and look at all the products they sell that use these delightful berries. The kids loved the dried cranberries and we bought some of these and some of the locally-produced cranberry honey.

Why am I writing about this fall adventure on a joy and prosperity blog? Several reasons. First, it was a truly joyful day for all of us and reminded me how many fall activities offer similar pleasures. Second, it didn't cost us a thing - except for what we bought. Third, I really enjoyed spending time with the woman owner who has lived all her life within a mile of this bog - and has been cranberry farming for 33 years. We are big fans of buying local and this was a good opportunity to do so.

Finally, I wanted to share a picture and two facts with you. I always thought the farmers loaded the berries onto trucks to bring them to the processing areas. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this farm uses helicopters to pick up the cranberries and deliver them to Ocean Spray. I was even more surprised that Ocean Spray gets its cranberries from a cooperative of many, small farms like Flax Pond. As a supporter of local produce, this helps assuage my conscience when I do resort to buying cranberries at the supermarket.

My challenge for you this week is to go online, seek out some fall activity in your area, and go out and play!

A Month Without Credit Cards

On August first, I put away my three credit cards and began a journey to see what living life without them would be like. I have never had a problem using credit cards. I don't pay any fees and do pay them in full each month so why did I decide to do this?

For two reasons. First, I am co-facilitating a financial course in my church starting next week and living without credit cards is a basic principle of this program. Thought I would try to do so before I encouraged others on this path. Second, I knew that we all spend more money when using credit rather than cash. Dun and Bradstreet says the average person spends between 12% and 18% more this way.

One thing I had to do immediately was dig out my unused debit card and find out its limits. I do much of my shopping online and I don't like to carry cash, so this was important. I also had to get a debit card for business expenses since I didn't have one. My local bank was helpful in both cases.

A major lesson I learned this month is how unaware I had been about spending. When I only had cash (or its debit card equivalent), I really thought about purchasing things, whether basics like food or extras like books. I became much more aware of the cost of any food we wasted. I also only purchased one book this month... a first for me!

Many more lessons came my way on this journey and my Blog this month will share them with you. I'd love to hear your reaction to this credit-card free path. Try it...you might like it!

Almost in my Own Backyard

I've been following my own advice and found great ways to celebrate the final weeks of summer. One warm day, my husband and I drove 10 minutes to a park in a neighboring town. My nephew had been a lifeguard at the beach there for years and told us what a great place it was. Somehow we were still surprised to find a beautiful, clean pond with a sandy beach. And, lots of trees and grass - important for me since I don't like spending too much time in the sun. The water was warm and the swimming great fun. I just can't believe this is the first time we've been there. It certainly won't be the last.

Yesterday we went back to the same town for its annual Waterfront Festival which we had attended in other years. But this year, we were with the grandkids and got to watch the Duck races and see them delight riding the race cars and the horses on the carousel. We perused the numerous booths, but I had more fun watching the boats in the harbor. Each year this festival provides us with different things to do.

We ended the day by going to an intriguing, new ice cream shop. It was in another nearby town and had just opened this summer. The people who own it have created a fascinating place to sit and eat their yummy ice cream. On the deck are an abundance of flowers, plants, and lime green tables and chairs. More seating places in the yard, ranging from colorful Adirondack chairs, to old-fashioned stools, white cast iron tables and chairs, to a life sized cow you can sit on. The shop is called "The Whole Scoop" but I call it "The Perfect Ice Cream Experience".

There is still one week left of summer and we plan to find new places to enjoy. Join us and get every moment of enjoyment this week and let me know what surprises you find in or near your own backyard.

Summer Sunset

I took this picture last week while we were in Maine. My husband and I were watching this gorgeous sunset and were surprised at how quickly the sun actually appears to go down.

This is the way I am feeling about the summer. Labor Day is only two weeks from today. How can that be? I have enjoyed this summer and yet there are so many things I thought I would do that I haven't.

For example, we took two of the grandchildren to the beach one day in June and I lamented the fact I didn't have a beach umbrella. I bought one - and haven't used it yet. The days and weeks have passed by without another trip to the beach. We have been on vacation with the family and it was wonderful. Yet that was one week out of ten. What happened to the other nine?

I just checked the weather forecast and it predicts sunny, warm days from Wednesday on. No more excuses. It's time for another trip to the beach. And this weekend is the annual Waterfront Festival in our area. I won't miss that.

What have you planned to do this summer and haven't done yet? Make plans, put them in writing on your calendar, and go for it. Don't let the sun set on your summer with regret for what you didn't do.

Are You Clear about How You Spend Your Money?

After talking about a fall vacation in the Adirondacks for months, my husband and I sat down at the computer to finalize the plan. We had agreed on a budget, the date, the general area and the fact we wanted to stay in a traditional Adirondack Lodge. "This is going to be easy", I thought. Two hours later, we had decided not to do this vacation - and both of us were happy about the decision.

It was an interesting process of getting really clear about what we wanted from this trip for each of us. We agreed on almost everything, but there were two differences. To him, it was important that we stay in a lodge that offered dinners on site. I didn't care about this so much as I really wanted the room to feel like my idea of "Adirondack lodge".

After much surfing and many phone calls, we realized that the number of lodges that offered dinner in the fall was limited. We did find one, but the only rooms available looked like those at a standard motel. We found another lodge with wonderful rooms, but it offered only breakfast. My first instinct was to go with the one that offered dinner. But then I realized that spending so much money for a week in a room that looked like a standard motel room didn't feel good. Just as staying in the perfect room but not having dinner in the lodge didn't feel good to Sandy.

So we decided not to go to the Adirondacks this September and both of us are comfortable with this decision. We still want to go some time, but it will be when we plan far enough ahead and find a time when more lodges serve meals every day and there are more rooms available that meet my standards. We both are happy that we decided to save our money for a vacation that will be everything that we both want it to be.

I learned two lessons from this experience. First, being really clear, even when it means disagreeing with someone close to you, is an important communication tool. Second, knowing that I am spending money on that which I really want is important to me.

I think we made a great decision to delay our vacation. What do you think?

The Joys of Friendship - Part Two

An old saying tells us that "New friends are silver but old friends are gold." If you read yesterday's post, you know how much I value old friends. New friends to me are equally valuable. In fact, I'd put any and all good friends in the platinum category.

Last week my husband and I stayed in this lovely lake front home in Maine - a generous gift from Elaine, a new friend. She called it "house sitting" but I know she only said that so we would be comfortable taking her up on such a generous offer.

I met Elaine through my brother a couple of years ago. They were in the area and stopped by my home for lunch. Soon, the guys were forgotten as we began to talk...and talk... and talk. We are about the same age and share many common interests. We started an email friendship. I love getting her emails. She has a real gift for narrative and a great sense of humor. Our friendship expanded this winter when she was dealing with a serious medical challenge with her young granddaughter who had been attacked by a poisonous jelly fish and I was facing life changes due to my husband's illness.

We don't see each other often, but I know that she will be there if I need her...and I will be there for her, too. Isn't that what friendship's all about?

So, no matter your age or the busyness of your life, be on the look out for a new friend. Like love and joy, one can never have too many good friends.

The joy of friendships - Part One

When I look at this picture and see my friend Kathy reading to my youngest grandchild, memory brings me back more than 50 years. I was entering the 4th grade in a new school and so was she. Kathy had just moved into my neighborhood and soon we became friends, riding bikes, swimming, complaining about school, and starting our own "Polly Pigtails Club".

Who would have believed that more than five decades later, my old playmate would be reading to my grandson? Over the years, we went our separate ways, got married, had families, jobs, and lots of responsibilities. Every few years, we would reconnect and get together for lunch with some other childhood friends. We had such fun remembering old times and bringing each other up to date on our present lives.

This year Kathy was diagnosed with breast cancer. After years of participating in "Relay for Life" to support other cancer survivors and remember those who had passed on, Kathy was determined to participate again. And she did, with her husband, her adult children and grandchild and her sisters by her side. She has now had her last round of chemo and is doing surprisingly well.

I shouldn't say "surprisingly". Given the spirituality and joy with which she leads her life, I am not surprised at all. I am simply grateful...for her healing and for the times we have had together these past two months. It's too bad that it took a health challenge to remind me of the importance of spending time with friends. Now, the hour drive to her home seems so short and the time together so precious that I am committed to continue our adventures in friendship for many decades to come.

Is there an old friend in your life that you could like to connect with? Don't waste another minute. Pick up the phone now. If you don't have the phone number, go online and locate him or her today. No matter your age or stage in life, the value of old friends can never be underestimated.

An affordable alternative to a gym membership?

Good health, a key component of prosperity for me, requires regular exercise. I created a walking/hiking program that worked for me - until an old foot injury made me realize I needed to do something non-weight bearing for awhile. Swimming was the first thought so I went to price a membership at a local gym with a great pool. It was somewhat affordable, but I hesitated because I don't have a good history of actually using a gym once I join.

Following my own policy of not buying on impulse, I invoked my 48 hour rule (wait for two days to see if I really want to purchase something). In the meanwhile, I found a DVD I had purchased last summer called "Sit Down and Tone Up" from the Chair Dancing Series. I did the program which is more challenging than it first appeared. At the end were promotional blurbs for others in this series. I discovered that I could buy an aerobic one and a Yoga one - none of which required weight bearing.

So here's what I did (after 48 hours, of course). I purchased two new DVD's so I will have access to aerobic exercise, yoga and strength training without any impact of my foot. Together they cost far less than a month at the gym. I plan to use these for the month of August and, if I feel that they provide the exercise I want, skip the gym. If not, then I'll pay the membership fee to the gym and start swimming. Given that I don't want to commit to a monthly expenditure plus the fee, I have great motivation to make the DVD's work for me!

Keep checking back and I'll update you on my progress.

My baby step to health

After posting a suggestion yesterday to take one baby step to start you on your path to prosperity, I took my own advice. I went to a chiropractor using a gift certificate given to me by An Apple a Day Wellness. Being healthy is a big part of prosperity and I had been challenged recently with problems interfering with my daily walking.

I had a brief moment of non-joy when the doctor suggested that I stop my walking program for awhile and only do non-weight bearing exercise. Monkey mind (you know that little monster that sits on your shoulder and tells you all the reasons why something isn't going to work?) took over when Dr. John suggested swimming and aqua exercises. "I don't have a pool.' "I can't afford a gym membership." "It's takes too long." Chatter...chatter...chatter.

Fortunately, I tossed that monkey back to the jungle and stopped at a local gym on my way home. It has a great pool, lots of aqua classes, and is fairly affordable. I took their materials and will join when I return from Maine. Since we are vacationing at a home right on Lake Sebago (thanks to a generous friend), I can swim there every day.

My baby step appears to be leading me in a different direction than I intended and that can be a good thing. Tomorrow I'll share another solution I just found to keep up my exercise routine.

If you haven't taken that baby step to prosperity (however you define it), do it today and let me know what happens.

When people ask me about my business, they want to know about my use of the term prosperous. Catherine Ponder, a Unity minister and one of my favorite inspirational authors, defines this term exactly the way I use it:

" You've heard much in recent years about positive thinking. Out of the recessions and lean years, another term has been born ; 'prosperous thinking'. The word 'prosper' means 'to flourish, succeed, thrive, to experience favorable results.'
You are prosperous to the degree that you are experiencing peace, health and plenty in your world. While prosperous thinking means many things to many people, basically it gives you the power to make your dreams come true, whether those dreams are concerned with better health, increased financial success, a happier personal life, more education and travel, or a deeper spiritual life."

This is a fitting quote for the economic times we are seeing in 2008. What makes it even more interesting is that it was written in the 1960's!

Take five minutes out of your busy day today and think about which one of the areas of prosperity you would like to work on. Then take one baby step to start your journey to a more prosperous life.

A Roundtable: One Path to Joy and Prosperity

One of the challenges of being an entrepreneur/small business owner can be the lack of a support team to help you have faith in your big dreams - and achieve your goals. More than two years ago, I joined a Roundtable (some call them Mastermind Groups) and discovered the power of a small group of women meeting monthly to focus on their businesses. We get together for coffee and conversation focusing on a specific topic that we all agree is important. We begin with a brief update of what's been happening the past month, focus on the topic, then conclude with each member committing to a specific goal (or goals) to achieve before our next meeting.

Read what some of our members have to say about being in this Roundtable:

"It has been a respectful, safe and friendly group with a variety of experiences and expertise that has helped me round out my business acumen. "

"The meetings force me to look at what I have accomplished and what more I can do. Without this time to reflect on your businesses, you can easily go months without looking at the bigger picture."

" I know if I needed input on something quickly, I could and would feel comfortable sending an email to this group. I have built some great relationships because of this Roundtable."

"Being in a Roundtable is wonderful, with great people, fabulous ideas, good camaraderie, intelligent critiques, new insights - like having best friends and business partners all at the same time, for those of us who work alone!"

For me, being in this Roundtable is a perfect example of joy and prosperity in action - and it doesn't cost a penny! If you want more joy and prosperity in your life by creating a Roundtable, simply reply to this post and I will send you the basic format we used to create ours.

The wisdom of wishes

I can remember the joy as a child wishing as I blew out the candles on my birthday cake. I don't remember the wishes....but I do remember how I felt and I loved that feeling. I also smile as I think of one of my mother's favorite sayings "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." Obvioulsy, Mom didn't believe in the power of wishing!

I do - and something happened this morning to reconfirm this belief. I start each day with a brief prayer/meditation practice part of which is to write down five things that I will be grateful for this day. As I was flipping through the pages of my journal, I came across a Wish List that I wrote on April 3rd. There were eleven wishes - and, to my amazement, seven of them had come true. These included a grant for a group that I volunteer with, healing for a friend's granddaughter, finding the perfect business coach, and purchasing a particular item (more on this in another post). Of the ones that have not yet come true, all but one are long-term wishes and seem to be on their way to reality.

Somehow, putting my wants out there for the universe to see helped my wishes come true. Many business authors affirm the idea that one must write down goals to achieve them. Maybe this is also true of wishes. I know that I immediately added ten new wishes to my list. I'll let you know in three months how many of these come true!

The Surprising Value of a Vision Board

Even before The Secret was published, many people had waxed enthusiastic about the value of creating a vision board to help you achieve your dreams. There seemed to be as many ways to do this as people had dreams and it all seemed like nonsense to me. How could creating a poster with words and pictures make anything happen?

Well, it can, but not in the way that most people seem to talk about it. One of the problems I had with all the hype surrounding The Secret was that it seemed to me to be an oversimplification. Maybe the authors never meant that all you had to do was hold the vision in your mind, but that's what I heard.

What made me change my mind? Once I really understood that the vision was just the first step towards achieving a dream, that I would need to take action to make my dreams come true, then I was willing to create a vision board as a first step. And the real key for me was to be clear about the life's intention that my goal would support.

Okay, enough jargon. One of my prime life's intention is to be physically fit and healthy. One way to do this is to become more active and creating a goal worth playing for made it more likely I would do this. So, the first thing I put on my vision board was the statement "I will explore ten new trails at least 30 minutes in length by September 15th." This gave me six months to achieve this goal. Then I decorated the board, left spaces to fill in for each trail, and put it where I would see it each morning on arising.

And something amazing happened. Once I did the first walk and filled in the board, I began to get excited about the next one. Each morning I was reminded of my goal, and this focused my intention. I'd see the board when I went to bed each night and dream about wooded trails. I kept a trail guide right where I could see it and was constantly finding new places to explore.

It didn't take me six months; I finished in less than three months and all of the walks exceeded the minimum time. I had explored ten new places, increased my energy, felt better, and decided to create another board to support my new goal of going on ten interesting walks of at least 45 minutes in length by September 15th.

I did the first one last week, in spite of the bugs and the heat, and felt a great sense of accomplishment. One down...nine to go and I can't wait!

The Journey Continues

Good morning, everyone. The past six months have been a journey of challenges and new (not necessarily wanted) experiences that caused me to put this blog on hold. If I had to choose the biggest lesson I've learned in 2008 (so far), it would come down to one word: priorities.

Many of you know that my husband was diagnosed with advanced liver disease in January and that we have spent the ensuing months traveling into Boston doing what needed to be done to get him on the liver transplant list. With strong support from family, friends and colleagues, we've learned much, laughed and cried a lot, and simply take one step on this journey each day.

In January, my priority was getting my new business started (www.thejoypath.com). In February, this was no longer a priority so I chose to put the business on the back burner to focus my time and attention to being with my husband as we traveled this new life path together. He became my priority and we both breathed a sigh of relief in May when he was put on the transplant list.

Now one of my priorities is doing everything I can to help him maintain his health until the time for the transplant comes. Most of this, for me, involves totally redoing how I prepare meals, from changing cookware, eliminating the microwave, and shopping frequently so that our food is really fresh. Another priority is to take the time to walk with him as often as possible, and do other activities that are healthy for both of us. And a third priority is to make sure we spend as much time with our children and grandchildren as possible.

In another post, I will detail the many blessings we have received throughout this journey. For now, let me just say one of the biggest ones is the affirming of my belief that we live in an abundant universe that provides for us each day.

May your day be filled with laugh and laughter.