To accomplish anything, I visualize my goals, do affirmations and then “send out ships,” which is my euphemism for taking action. It’s easier to think of sending out a ship than making a sales call or going to a networking meeting.

There have been times when I have done all the shipping I can think of in hopes of achieving my goals: building ships, sending out ships, dredging ships up from the bottom of the sea, rebuilding the ships, or hiring new crews. All to no avail. None of the ships came in loaded with treasures.

I try to decipher whether I should keep trying or know “when to fold ’em.” Is this goal not for me after all? Am I supposed to give this one up? How am I to know?

For months, my agent Lisa and I searched for a publisher for my book. Many rejections and several almost-deals later, I still didn’t have one. Meanwhile, a friend from my writers’ group had the most glorious success. She prepared her proposal, met with nine publishers, her book went up for auction, and she got a six-figure advance! 

I was truly happy for her and celebrated her success. But I couldn’t help asking God, “Hey, what about me?”

I was willing to do whatever it took get a publisher. Lisa told me that most of the publishers disliked the original page-a-day structure.

So I revised the proposal and rewrote the book as an eight chapter narrative. I changed the packaging and paid to have a matching cover design for my audio and video tapes. The new packages went out to publishers, and once again, Lisa and I waited.

Meanwhile, I had a conversation with God. I asked God for a Sign. I told Him I have done everything I knew how to do, and now I needed Him to clearly show me if this goal, this book, was meant for me or not.

I let Him know that I was here to do His work and that I was willing to get my poor human ego out of the way and give this up, if that was what He wanted me to do. But I needed a clear Sign whether or not to keep trying.

Exactly two days later, an editor at Sourcebooks called to say she was interested in my book. We discussed the narrative version and then she asked, “What’s this page-a-day book that your agent told me about? She says everyone in her office uses it.”

After I described it to her, she said, “I want to see that book.” It wasn’t long before I got another call from her: “I just got out of an acquisitions meeting, and we would love to publish your book!”

And you know what? They bought the original page-a-day version! 

God’s on duty 24/7. He’s just waiting for you to ask.

Today’s Affirmation: “Thank you, God, for giving me perfect time, money, love, luck, and health at all times now.” 

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell

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When I was young, my sisters and I would sometimes run home to Mother, crying over some tragedy that had just befallen us. We would be heartbroken because the boy we liked didn’t ask us to the prom, or we lost the election, or didn’t get the part we wanted in the school play.

Whatever the problem was, Mom would always hold us and murmur sympathetically, letting us know she was sorry for our hurt—for about five minutes. Tops.

Then she would say, “Well, let’s play the Glad Game!”

I think she got this from the movie Pollyanna. She would brighten up, smile, and get us to think about all the things we had that were positive, that we were grateful for or glad about. It wouldn’t be long before we were happy again, having learned to move on from the bad things and to reconnect with all that was good in our lives.

This became a life-long habit for me. Whenever something bad happens, I cry about it for a while, have my little pity party, and then focus on what’s still good in my life. It lifts my spirits immediately.

For example, one Sunday afternoon, after visiting an art affair with friends, I walked back to my car and tried to start the engine. Nothing happened—it was dead as a doornail.

“Rats!” I fumed (or words to that effect). “Why did this have to happen?” I spent a few minutes being angry about it, then called the Auto Club to come get me.

That started my grateful list: “I’m glad I belong to the Auto Club. I’m glad I have a cell phone to call the Auto Club. I’m glad it’s daylight and I’m in Beverly Hills and not some bad neighborhood in the middle of the night…”

You see how it works? I got my attitude back to gratitude: there are a lot of good things in life, and I have a lot of them. The cup is half full, thank you.

A car that won’t start is a small thing. But playing the Glad Game works with big events, too. I used it to get me back to positive thinking after my divorce, after losing a $300,000 per year account, after losing a friend to cancer.

It takes more time, but the process is the same. I mourn my losses, and then I refocus on my abundance. It is a coping strategy that keeps me in a state of happiness and well-being most of the time. Thanks, Mom!

Today’s Affirmation: “My attitude of gratitude creates more and more blessings in my life.”

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell

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Every so often, as I worked with my chosen monthly budget, I would think of something I wanted to have that wasn’t on my budget. (Does that ever happen to you?? Lol)

It could be something I had forgotten to plan for by putting it on my “irregular expenses” list like new stationery, additional advertising specialty items like coffee mugs or pens, or a new piece of computer equipment.

Or it could be something fun or extravagant that I wanted to create more money for, like new clothes, new office furniture, a vacation trip, or a piece of jewelry.

Whenever I thought of something, I wrote it down on a piece of paper at the back of my time management calendar on my desk. I labeled it my “Magic Money Wish List,” because I knew I had to create extra, magic money, above and beyond my budget, in order to have the things on this list.

Without paying much attention to it, I started regularly receiving extra money. In fact, the amounts I received almost always totaled what I needed!

One day, I had gotten a surprise bill for $800 that I had not planned for. I wrote this amount on my list and started doing “magic money” affirmations, because I didn’t want to take $800 out of my savings.

Three weeks later, I got a check in the mail from a real estate transaction that had closed three years before. Some accountant in the lender’s office had done an audit and discovered a discrepancy—I had not been paid the full amount I was due, so they were sending me a check to take care of the balance due me.

The check enclosed was for $806.32!

When that happened, I suddenly became conscious of what I was doing.

I was naming a goal, writing it down, and telling my subconscious and the Universe to create it for me. Whenever I bought one of the items, I crossed it off the list by highlighting it in green.

A couple of years later, I had several pages of nice things highlighted in green—this was working!

What would you like to have “magic money” for? Write out your wish list today!

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell

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How big is the dream you have? Who’s to say it’s impossible?

For most of recorded history, people had lists of things that were impossible—flight, space travel, talking long distance, seeing long distance, replacing limbs or organs. Bit by bit we’ve done all these things. Nothing seems impossible anymore—we just acknowledge that we haven’t invented the technology yet.

My dad was an aerospace engineer, and I grew up watching all the rocket liftoffs at 5:00 am with the family. I loved reading his science fiction magazines and novels, which spoke of space flight to other worlds, robots to do our bidding, new technological inventions like virtual reality or hand-held computers.

Science fiction authors invented many things in common use today. Lunar exploration was mentioned as early as 1634 by Johann Kepler. Jules Verne foresaw scuba diving in 1870; Edward Ballamy wrote about credit cards in 1888; and H. G. Wells described a flat surface with moving pictures in 1899, which we now know as a tablet computer.

In 1932 genetic engineering was introduced by Aldous Huxley, satellites were mentioned by Isaac Asimov in 1945, and Mark Twain wrote about a global communication device like the internet in 1904.

I remember watching Star Trek and all the kids thought how cool it was that they had “communicators” which they could flip open and talk with each other. Now, cell phones are an everyday reality.

They had to take out the House of the Future at Disneyland when everything in it became widely used in everyday life. Science fiction becomes science fact on a regular basis. If you can believe it, you can achieve it.

“To boldly go where no one has gone before”…that’s what all creative artists do. No matter what cost or outcome.

I thank God and my lucky stars for all the people who follow theirs and create this rich life I enjoy. I’m grateful for all those who turn their dreams into reality and invent personal computers, heart transplants, eyeglasses, microwave ovens, washing machines, and televisions.

My dad said the real miracle wasn’t that a man landed on the moon, but that we watched him land on the moon!

Audrey Hepburn said, “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”

What do you want to invent? What star are you following? “Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning.”

Go. Boldly!

From From Worry to Wealthy by Chellie Campbell

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What is your reaction to the word budget?

A sinking, depressed, deprived feeling? You are not alone. Many people audibly groan at the mention of the word.

For the vast majority, “it”budget” connotes scarcity, lack, and limitation—none of which are very pleasurable concepts.

When people talk about budgeting, they usually mean cutting the fun, frivolity, entertainment, and spontaneity out of your life and creating a bare-bones, austere, nothing-but-the-basics spending plan—something you do when you’re stressed about not having enough money.

That is NOT my idea of budgeting. I have reframed it as: Baby U Deserve Getting Every Thing!

It means designing a spending plan to achieve your priorities and get all those things you really want. A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. This can and should be a very enjoyable process and not the bitter, restrictive pill you fear.

I think we should each have three budgets. I have complicated names for them: Low, Medium and High. Medium is the budget you’re on right now, Low is the bare-bones-budget you’d go on if things got tough, and High is your goal budget. Each budget is just for one month.

People hate budgeting because they’re afraid of Low Budget. They think that’s the only budget there is and that they’ll be stuck with it forever. Who’d want that?

But Low Budget is never forever, it’s just for now. Anyone can go on Low Budget for a month! And when you’re on it, stay light-hearted about it and double up on your prosperity affirmations. Make it a game! See how much money you can avoid spending each day. Look for opportunities to create more income.

It won’t be long before you’ve moved up to Medium Budget. Time to celebrate! Investigate how to make more money and improve your circumstances. Each day you succeed in conserving your cash with creative ideas, congratulate yourself on your wisdom and money mastery.

If you’re following Mike’s program, you are visualizing and affirming your goals, so now write out your High Budget. What’s your future budget going to be when you achieve them? How much money will you make? What will you be paying for your home, car, parties, clothes, food, and vacations?

Imagine yourself living the High Life. Where will you dine out? Where will you go on vacation? Paris? Rome? Tokyo? Bali? Where will you shop for clothes? What kind of car will you drive? How much money is required for that? Get pictures of everything and put them on your vision board. How much fun will you be having on that budget?!

Your budget is a scorecard that tells you how well you’re doing at visualizing, positive thinking and sending out ships. The more you do that, the more money you make!

Today’s Affirmation: “I spend money wisely and happily, blessing myself and others.”

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Cambell

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Visualizing and affirming your fabulous future is your first step to creating it. But how many affirmations do you think you would have to say in front of a piano before you could play Mozart?

You get the picture. You have to get into action and take “baby steps,” as Mike says. I think of this as “sending out ships.”

In the nineteenth century, the merchants in London built grand, tall-masted sailing ships. Then they would hire a crew, outfit the ship, and store provisions for the long sea voyage.

One fine day, the ship would weigh anchor, hoist her sails, and sail out of London harbor on her way to visit foreign ports and trade for gold, jewels, silks, and spices.

The trip would take many months—often years—and there were no communication lines open then: no ship-to-shore radio, no telegraph, no cell phones.

Once the ship had sailed, the merchant could do nothing more; only wait for that future day when the ship would return, sailing into London harbor laden with treasure. On that day, the merchant’s fortune was made! And that’s where the expression “I’m waiting for my ship to come in,” comes from.

But some people are going down to the dock, waiting for their ship to come in—but they didn’t send any out!

Not only that, but you had better send out more than one, because stuff happens to ships. Remember Pirates of the Caribbean, Mutiny on the Bounty, and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”? And we all know what happened to the Titanic!

Once you send the ship out, it’s out of your control. You are only in charge of sending it out, not when it comes in.

When you get into the habit of sending ships out, even if you know some ships aren’t going to make it back home, you are still confident and optimistic because you know you have a whole fleet sailing out there.

It creates a positive expectation that ships are going to be sailing in, docking at your pier, and unloading riches for you any minute. That reinforces your visualizations and affirmations.

Positive energy shines from you. You feel good about yourself because you’ve been doing what it takes to succeed.

Think positive and send out ships every day. It won’t be long until you’re unloading your treasures!

Today’s Affirmation: “Today is a big money day!”

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell

The post Sending Out Ships: Doing What It Takes to Succeed appeared first on TUT.

“I don’t care who else wants it, I am winning that basket!” Heather Moreno declared at the networking dinner.

A blond, brown-eyed dynamo of a fitness instructor, Heather avowed her intention in no uncertain terms. The gift basket that would be given to a lucky winner that evening was filled with gifts, coupons, and cash worth over six hundred dollars in goods and services.

Sitting next to Heather, I looked over at the basket and said, “Well, I want to win it, too!”

She looked at me calmly and declared again, “That’s nice, Chellie, but that basket is mine!”

I chuckled and recognized that my intention and commitment to having that prize was not as strong as Heather’s. She was clear as a bell about having that basket and she told everyone at our table that it was hers. In fact, she told everyone at the meeting.

The moment arrived, and Linda Soto, who designed the basket, drew a business card from the bowl. Her eyebrows raised in surprise, she announced, “The winner is—Heather Moreno!”

Heather gleefully ran to the podium to collect her prize.

In recent months, I have given a cash prize at the end of my speaking engagements. The last two were won by people who declared out loud to the room that they were going to win.

Once I asked a man to draw the winning ticket and as he walked up to the front of the room he said, “You know I’m going to pick my own name and win the money!” And he did.

Have you had this experience? Have you known people who declared the door prize was theirs before the drawing and then actually won it?

Watch these people! Look how they do it. See the determination, the confidence, the winning attitude that succeeds. They just know they are going to win.

Winning a door prize is just practice. Like anything else, you learn to create winning experiences in your life by starting small. As the German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”

Don’t start with trying to win the lottery; start with winning the next door prize. Declare your abundance and success before they draw the ticket.

Visualize getting the job before you go on the next interview, instead of focusing on the fear of being rejected.

Confidence sells—fear repels.

Today’s Affirmation: “I am a winner! I win often, and I win big!”

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell

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You’re wearing your thinking.

You wear your thoughts like you wear clothes. Your thinking shows up on your face and in your body language and in your energy. You are projecting joy, success, and prosperity, or you are projecting misery, failure, and poverty. And all points in between.

People can see it and they can feel it. They respond, consciously and unconsciously, to the thoughts you project.

I explained this once on a radio show in Billings, Montanta, when my book The Wealthy Spirit was first released. The interviewer was Tommy B, and the call letters of the radio station were KBUL.

I pictured him as a skeptical guy in a cowboy hat and boots and didn’t think he was going to be wildly enthusiastic about practicing positive thinking.

I was right. The first thing Tommy said after he introduced me was, “I have to tell you I am a skeptic. You aren’t going to tell me that saying some silly positive phrases is going to make me more money, are you?”

“Well, yes, Tommy, I am,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, sounding perfectly delighted to have some controversy. “You are going to have to explain how that works.”

“It’s really quite logical,” I explained. “For example, let’s say a friend of yours walks into your house and he’s really angry about something. Can you tell he’s angry before he says so?”

“Yes,” replied Tommy. 

“Yes—because you’re wearing your thinking. Your emotional state is reflected in your body language and on your face.”

“I guess that’s true,” said Tommy. “But how is that going to make me more money?”

“Wait and I’ll explain,” I said. “Do you network in the community to promote your radio show? Do you go to Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, and other business or trade associations meetings?”

“Oh, sure,” he replied. “I go to things like that all the time.”

“When you’re there, do you notice that some people look happy and successful and other people look angry and complaining?”

“Yes,” chuckled Tommy.

“And, in addition to promoting yourself, do you sometimes hire the people you meet to provide products or services for you? To design or print your business cards, or sell you stationery supplies, or provide your insurance?”

“Yes.”

“So do you hire the people who look happy and successful, or do you hire the people who look angry and complaining?

“I hire the people who look happy and successful,” he replied.

“Why?”

“Because if they look happy and successful, I expect they will do a good job. It will be a pleasure working with them, and there won’t be any problems.”

“Exactly,” I said. “That is why positive thinking works. You repeat positive statements to yourself in order to talk yourself into a happy, successful feeling. That feeling is going to show on your face and in your body language.

 “People will look at your smiling face, hear the smile in your voice, and see you as successful. Whether you are or not! In show business they say fake it ‘til you make it.

“Positive thinkers are using that principle in daily life. Act joyful and successful every day, and more people will hire you and be willing to pay you top dollar. Soon you’ll find you aren’t acting anymore. You’ll actually be successful. And happy. And rich.”

 “Oh,” exclaimed Tommy. “I never thought about it like that.” 

We’re all wearing our thinking, and other people can tell what it is. So do you want to be wearing prosperity or poverty?

From Zero to Zillionaire by Chellie Cambell

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The waitress has worked here since time began. Ageless and calm, her eyes see through to the end of the world.

She smacks her gum, gives the customer a lopsided grin, and smoothly asks in her professional voice, “May I take your order now?”

She stands there expectantly, pencil poised to write on her order pad.

“I don’t know exactly what I’m hungry for. I can’t make a mistake. I’m really sorry this is taking so long—I’m so stupid!”

In discomfort and confusion, the customer gropes for the right words and the right order.

“One don’t, one can’t, and a side order of shame!” the waitress hollers to the cook.

He stands behind the counter, ready to serve up another batch of cold reality. He’s heard this order before. In a second, the plate is prepared.

“I really want to help people. I don’t care about the money,” the customer explains.

“Hold the money!” the waitress hollers.

The cook silently removes the money from the plate.

A new customer bursts into the diner: “I’ll have the talent, drive, and determination to be a top caliber professional writer. I write a book that helps many people and easily makes me rich and famous!”

The waitress laughs and gives the order to the cook: “One successful bestseller smothered in money and a side order of fame!”

“It’s already been delivered,” smiles the cook.

This is Earth’s Universal Diner, where you always get exactly what you ask for. Would you like to change your order?

Today’s Affirmation: “I always get exactly what I want!”

From The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell

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