Value Your Gifts

Hi guys, last week was this most festive season in Indonesia. We celebrated the Eid Mubarak like there's no other holiday throughout the year, so last week was my time off from writing also :)

Today I'm writing about some money myths that are 'haunting' service-based businesses and heart-centered entrepreneurs. I got this from Pamela Bruner in The Tapping World Summit 2013. You can check more of Pamela's work here.

So here they are, the famous money myths that we all are familiar with:

1. These are my gifts, I should give them away
You're saying: I love doing these things, they're so easy and fun for me to do. I don't want to charge people so much for these! But actually, it's your fear's saying: I'll be seen as greedy or not thankful for my gifts if I charge more or charge a fair amount for them.
You can re-frame it to this: 
If you believe that God or the universe is really abundant, maybe the easiest way to shower you with abundance is through your gifts. Use them and be rewarded for them. (Definitely an aha! moment for me).

2. Cheaper is better
Yep, the society keeps on repeating that the cheaper is the better.
Here is the re-frame to that: 
People value what they paid for. They put attention and intention to it. So by raising your rates you're saying that this is important, this is something to put your attention to. And for your clients, you're so worth investing in :) 

3. I can't increase my rates, no one would pay for it
Again, it's your fear speaking :p
Do this re-frame instead of giving in to your fear: 
Everyone has different money set point, so when for example A says $100 is expensive, maybe B would say that $100 is a fair amount, and so on. So you should target to people with higher money set point and people who are more willing to invest in themselves through you :)

More over, you can make several programs to reach both people with higher and lower money set points. So then you can even serve more people. Cool, isn't it? :)    

Many blessings, peace and love, 
-angel apprentice-

About Giving

I told you before that I used to ask the wrong questions to the universe, questions such as: why am I so broke, why do these bills keep on coming, and so on. So, you guess it right, at the time I was really broke and had all the bills piling up. Because that sense of lack, I was holding on so tight to my money, not wanting to lose even a dime. 

I remember one time when I attended my friend's funeral, I asked my other friend that was coming with me, "Should we give money?" 
(Here in Indonesia we have a custom to give  money to the deceased's family to show our condolences. I don't know whether you guys have the same thing or not in your country, but here we're provided with a box, so we can put our condolences money inside the box). 
My friend looked at me and said sharply, "Well yeah we should." And I still continued, "I mean he was our good dear friend, if he were still alive I doubt he would take money from us."  I looked up and my friend kinda gave me this shocked look on her face, so I managed to pull out my purse and donated some money anyways :D  What a cheapskate I was hahaha.... shame on me, I know.

Well, I'm glad (and proud) to tell you that my cheapskate time has ended, because I just learned how to GIVE. I almost can hear you ask me right now, you just learned to give? Where have you been all this time? And my answer would be: just don't ask :) 

To tell you the truth I didn't change from this person who held on to her money so tightly to this person who's able to give in just a second. It just happened that every teachings, every books, every teachers, every guru.... they were suggesting the same thing, that is to give. So I thought, maybe I should really try this (yea people, I have a head made of stone.. or was it of steel? :P )
 
Here are some of those teachings that somehow found their way to stick in my stone head:

• You don't have to bargain so much for something, for the universe is abundant, nobody is taking anything from you, and you're not taking anything from anybody (from Wallace D. Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich). 
• You are the gift you give to the world (Christie Marie Sheldon). 
• This whole life's journey is not always about you, it's about you finding your way to serve others; and, 
• Giving and receiving are two sides of a coin. It's like yin and yang, hot and cold, left or right. Without left, there won't be any right (T. Harv Eker). 

Robert Kiyosaki said that every time a paycheck arrives, you should pay yourself first, which means that you must put aside 10% for tithing (charity or community donation), 10% for investing, and 10% for saving. Only after that you may pay your bills, pay for rent, food, clothes, etc. (You can find Mr. Kiyosaki's great books here).

So I've been doing this for some time now, but it's more like around 5-7% for me. I think what Robert taught was more than just about the money, it's actually to appreciate yourself and be thankful for all this wonderful stuff that comes to your life, including your income. Before I read one of Mr. Kiyosaki's books I was putting myself at the very last in the list, so I would pay everything first, then had the leftovers (which was not so much) for myself. What if after I pay myself, there won't be any left to pay the bills? Robert said then it will push you to look for more income :)  What a great idea!

Well you know what, after doing some giving to the community, I felt really good and fulfilled! And not that I'm telling you to expect any return when you give, but it does return to you exponentially. It's just the law of our nature that the more we give, the more we will receive. When we give so much, there shouldn't be any worries about from where we would receive, because it can come literally from anywhere! So just take it from me, from one cheapskate to a reluctant giver... now I'm trying to get used to give as often as I could :) 

Many blessings, peace and love,
-angel apprentice-

A Declaration

I have never considered myself as a motivational book person. Over the years novels were my very best friends, so I have literally tons of romance novels which I collected since junior high. So how did all these motivational readings and teachings fall on to my lap, I really should 'blame' it to the universe or the divine :) It's really the answer to my questions of how to be more of who I am, and how be more of service to others.

Anyways, to really put the teachings into practice in my daily life is another story. Although I'm pretty sure that I'm committed to success, often I still find myself procrastinate a lot, and fall to the same old habits of over spending. The results of these are already showing in my life, I just lost a really good chance of house investment because I was too afraid to call the guy who owned the property and made an offer. 

I was doing this game of thinking a lot (and I mean A LOT), like whether it was a good decision to make, or would this investment drain my savings. I was thinking what if this guy rejected my offer, or what if he said yes, what would i do? Then I began to ask for advice from my friends, and considered all the advice I got again. It was like this circle over and over again in my head! 

I was hesitating so much and put sooooo many considerations, that at some point a new awareness began to emerge in my mind: oh wow, it turned out to be that I had all this fear inside me. I think it was Robert Kiyosaki that said to beat our fear is just to DO what it is that we're so frightened about. Just do it, because everything has no meaning unless you put the meaning to it. So I decided to look fear in the eye and called the owner of the house. And yes, the house was already taken by somebody else :(

I really got the point of what they say: just ACT! I knew deep down inside that it was a very good investment to make, yet I hesitated because I fear so much. Even now when I look back to all my what if's I feel ridiculous. I really need to fix this so it won't happen again in the future.

So be my witness, for I'm making a declaration to myself, just like what T. Harv Eker taught in his book Secrets of The Millionaire Mind which you can find here. He said that a declaration is a positive statement you say out loud emphatically, to make it vibrate throughout every cells of your body. It sends the message to the universe and to your unconscious mind as well. A declaration is not stating that it's already true right now (like affirmation does), but it's stating that this is true in the future. 

So here's my declaration: 
(put my hands on my heart) I choose to adopt new thinking that support my happiness and success. (Then put my index finger on my forehead): I have a millionaire mind.

Do this for 30 days in the morning and evening, and hopefully you'll be ready to rock your world! :)

Many blessings, peace and love,
-angel apprentice-

Do What You Love

Many times I listened to interviews with financial planners and spiritual teachers... and all of them suggested that you should find your life's PASSION. Do what it is that you love the most, and income will follow. To tell you the truth, at that moment I didn't know what my passion was hehehe... So I began to put a list inside my head (mostly I listened to these interviews while I was driving), of all the things I enjoyed doing so far. I wasn't sure how these stuffs can help making income coming to my pocket, but I listed them anyways. So here's my list:

• I love reading books
• I love to sing (I actually sang in church choirs)
• I love music
• I love writing (my obsession since teenager was to publish a romance novel) :p

So, is it really possible to make income flowing from your dreams, your hobbies, or the things that you love to do? Yes, it is certainly possible :) Have I done it yet? Mmm... that depends, many times I got this 'thank you money' after I sang in a wedding at church... that kinda counts, right? :p 

Anyways, here are some important tips from Marcia Wieder of the things you should do to monetize your dreams and hobbies:

• Do what you love
• Value your gifts
• Charge what you're worth
• Have a powerful enrollment conversation
• Repeat these steps often 

How is it to have a powerful enrollment conversation?
Develop the ability to talk to anyone, any time, any place about your dreams, vision, project, service or business in a way that will inspire them to hire you, even potentially invest in you. 

In a enrollment conversation, you should:

• explore all possibilities --> don't say that this person is not suitable to help you/to invest in your business until you ASK them. And if they say no, have the courage to ask them why. 
• be highly intentional
• let every conversation counts

Marcia actually has this wonderful weekly show which is broadcasted live on the internet. You might want to watch her show sometime, it's really awesome because she's giving different tips to different people with different problems, so it's really a must-see. Visit Marcia Wieder's site here, and you can get THREE wonderful, free e-books about becoming a dreamer and fulfilling your dreams :) 

Many blessings, peace and love,
-angel apprentice-

Did You Know?

When we are doing yoga, we salute everybody in the class with saying "Namaste".
But did you know what is the meaning of Namaste? 
Before I listened to an interview with Deepak Chopra, I thought it was only a saying similar to "Hello" or "Hi" or the more sophisticated "I salute you" :)

But actually, the meaning is "I bow to the Divinity inside you"

Oh wow. Awesome. Talking about wisdom. Speechless :)


Many blessings, peace and love,
-angel apprentice-

Self Sabotage

Hi guys,
Yesterday at church, the priest was asking a question about which one would you choose, earthly possession, or heavenly possession. I said in whisper to my hubby sitting next to me, of course earthly possession, because we live here and now on earth, and I never heard any dead people still need any possession ha ha ha...

I remembered not so long ago I felt really reluctant to admit that I wanted to be more successful, that I want to be rich in every aspects in my life. It seemed that it's a sin to want more money, more success... it seemed that I was being greedy, and not thankful for what I already had. Now those thoughts are beginning to shift, thanks to all the books and great life coaches out there :)

In spite of all the wishes to be successful, sometimes I still find myself sabotaging my own success. You might never think that you're sabotaging your own success. You might be thinking, why in the world do I sabotage my own success? 

Well, have you ever:

• Procrastinate --> you avoid doing things to avoid being criticized
• Played it small --> that you think you're being humble, or you're saying that you don't want any promotion, or no I can't do that, that's not for me.... but actually you're being self protective
• Blew opportunities --> e.g. by not doing your best at that presentation, or at that job interview, etc.
• Not wanted to rock the boat --> you don't want to leave your convenient spot, you don't want any change. It's frightening to ever change!
• Over did stuff --> you over spent your money so your credit card bills are piling up, you over drank, or even being a workaholic that would exhaust yourself and your health.

All the above are examples of how we often self sabotage ourselves. You might want to ask, if I'm sabotaging myself, I must be so afraid of something. I wonder what is it that I'm so afraid of? 

What is it the down side of completing my website? (for example). Well... maybe I'm afraid that somebody would criticize me.
What is the up side of staying where I am right now? Why does it feel safer not to rock the boat and want to change?

Well guys, really ask yourselves all those questions, and when the answer comes to your mind, I surely hope that you're ready to take action to clear your path to success!
I learned this wonderful teaching of success and self sabotage from Carol Look in The Tapping World Summit 2013. Hope this little posting is useful to you :)

Many blessings, peace and love,
-angel apprentice-

Ask and It Is Given

Often times I heard myself throwing these questions to the universe:

• Why does all of my friends get to stay abroad and have a fabulous life?
• Why does everyone’s salary goes up so quickly, while I’m stuck with no career?
• Why does it so hard to pay my credit card bills?
• Why am I so fat?
• Am I even a good parent to my children?
• And so on, and so on.

These questions, I found out later on, are the wrong kinds of questions :) 

You see, once you ask a question, it’s like you’re setting the universe (and your mind) in motion to give you the answer. When you ask yourself a negative question, your mind will focus on the negative in that question, so you will most likely get a negative answer! (I hope I hear you say: aha! right here).

So what you need to do is to ask the right questions. Just simply turn a negative question into a positive one!  That way we empower ourselves with that question. I got this powerful mind opener from Noah St. John in Hay House World Summit 2013. He calls this The Afformations. You might want to check his book here.

What you need to do:

• Ask yourself what you really want.
• Form a question that assumes what you really want is already true, already a reality.
• Accept, and give yourself to the question by reading, writing, listening, and saying the question over and over again.
• Act as if it’s already true.

I’d like to quote Christie Marie Sheldon (I’ll post about Christie’s wonderful work later), that asking a question is like opening the doors (and even windows) of the universe. So if you haven’t achieved your goals, or not getting the results of your dreams, you might want to try to turn things around by reducing all the negativity in your life. 

For a start, try asking yourselves empowering questions that will get you positive results such as: why am I so lucky? Or, why is it so easy for me to make money? Or, why is it so easy for me to lose weight? :D

See how easy that is? It’s so easy that you can even teach your children about this powerful stuff! If you notice, it also feels good inside after you ask yourself a positive question. 

So remember: ask, and it is given to you. That’s how abundant our universe is.

Many blessings, peace and love
-angel apprentice-