Has anyone ever asked you that annoying question? And if they did, did you think to yourself - is that all you’re willing to pay me for my thoughts?  What a silly request… I have no idea where that little idiom came from, but it is a good subject for discussion related to thoughts and money.

In all of the studies, movies, and research about the science of wealth, success, and creating it, there is one very common theme. This theme was explicitly discussed in the famous book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill, written back in the 1920’s during the Great Depression. Napolean interviewed the wealthiest people in the world (about 500 of them I think) to find out what made them different than the rest of the country’s population that was experiencing one of the most difficult financial times in history.

He discovered that all successful people had a consciousness installed within their brain - conscious and unconscious - about wealth and success. These people were immersed in the thought or idea or expression of wealth or success - whether they were either born into it surrounding them, or, created this experience through conditioning their mind to think those thoughts intentionally. These people had an unshakeable knowing that they would achieve the goals they set out to achieve, or had a level of confidence in their existing prosperity that the “thought” of being poor just never entered their consciousness.

Now, if you were or are one of those lucky people to be born into a family that is already surrounded by wealth, then, your work is easy. The consciousness, the thoughts that are installed into your developing brain as a child were placed there naturally. 

We also hear frequently the expression that “The Rich Keep Getting Richer” and “The Poor Keep Getting Poorer”.  That makes sense, when we understand that when you are surrounded by the thoughts of others, which translates to actions and results around wealth, you will produce more of that. So if you are surrounded in poverty, most likely you have very little chance to move out of that condition unless you’re able to feed your brain constantly with different ideas and thoughts. Likewise, if you are surrounded by wealth, live that lifestyle, you are less likely to go backwards and become poor, unless you are a complete idiot, make alot of mistakes in your life, or attempt to pursue wealth through greed and self interest, or you invested heavily in the stockmarket!!! (Tee Hee)

We know that there are only less than 500 individuals in this country who hold the most wealth (meaning assets, equity, investments, etc.).  The rest of us, unfortunately, were not born into wealth, nor have we been surrounded by it. And sadly, when someone offers to hand us a penny for our thoughts, we may believe that a penny is all our little thoughts are worth. And that is why most people will continue to stay at their current level of wealth, because they do not attach enough value to their thoughts, or understand the power of them. 

Let’s take a look at the value of a thought shall we? Let’s take a look at Walt Disney. Walt was a struggling artist. At the time he created Mickey Mouse, he was very young, living in a tenament apartment, having attempted several business ventures that ended in bankruptcy. He was known to draw and sketch whatever was around him since childhood, and it was around this time in his life that one day he thought, hmmm.. I might as well draw the rats that surround me, since they are the only subjects to draw at the moment.  And so was born Mickey, and Minney..

“Who would of thought” (another interesting saying) that Walt’s little idea, thought, in the midst of poverty, bankruptcy, and little hope, would be born one of the biggest entertainment empires in the world. That Walt Disney World would become a symbol of believing in dreams and miracles, and magic. That because of that one thought that one day that one man had, the entire world has been inspired to dream, and children and families have been delighted by the continued legacy of his ”thought” that day. Not to mention that his little idea certainly has generated ALOT of WEALTH in the world.

Now, I don’t know if Walt Disney was selling his sketches of Mickey and Minney back then. And I don’t know exactly how Walt Disney World came to be.  However, I bet at that time Walt sold his sketches for very little money, if it meant he could eat that day.

How many of you would right now accept a penny for your “little” thoughts or ideas? How many of you have an inspired idea, a thought, a desire, that you don’t act on because you can’t project out to see the value it may have for you, someone you love, or the world - right at this very moment?

If you are one of these people - the good news is - you are not alone. And, it’s not your fault. Your mind is simply the collection of data and experiences since childhood and it is operating on old programs about money.  You can, at this very moment, learn to install “new programs”, and create the consciousness of wealth and abundance simply by beginning to focus on new ideas and thoughts that immerse you in it. And, you don’t have to physically “have” the money and wealth to generate it. Only the idea, or the thought, with attached positive emotion around it, is necessary.

Your mind doesn’t know the difference between “reality” and just “images”. That’s why you react to a suspenseful movie physically sometimes by jumping or biting your nails. The brain processes what is fed to it, and the body reacts - whether it is an image, or the “real thing”.

We are at a very exciting time in our history - once again. And if you haven’t read the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill, I suggest you pick up a copy of it, to understand what Napolean Hill discovered at a very similar time in our history almost 100 years ago.

In any situation, we have free will to choose what we will “think”. We can participate in the current financial economic crisis by fueling the anger, the despair, the thoughts of lack and loss. OR, we can choose to use the power of our own minds to generate wealth for ourselves. Platinum One Destinations is one such vehicle that I personally recommend.

It all starts with you, and how and what you choose to focus your attention to in this moment. I suggest that you participate on solutions. That you “think” prosperous thoughts. These thoughts will lead to ideas, words, and actions, that will steer you to new avenues that can and will generate the kind of life you desire.

If Walt Disney could look at a RAT and generate billions of wealth with a simple thought, than I know that you too, have thoughts that are worth much more than a “penny”. And NOW is the time to act on them.

Your Partner in Prosperity,

Carol Ann Martin
Founder, Synergy Prosperity Alliance
Certified Platinum Executive Leader & Instructor
Synergy Marketing Group & Platinum One Destinations
Learn more about Platinum One Destinations

 Have you ever had one of these kind of days like this poor guy? You have every intention of making it a GREAT day…  You read your goals, say your affirmations or whatever you do to get pumped for the day - and then bam… You find yourself completely out of control of MAKING IT HAPPEN the way you planned and the way your coach or direct sales sponsor tells you to do.. Events that are out of your control begin affecting you and your plans. Almost like someone or something is doing this to you intentionally and laughing all the way..

I got an interesting tip from a law of attraction/spiritual coach and mentor I’ve been seeing for the past year or so.. He told me that I need to see powerlessness as an asset.. I looked at him like he had 3 heads and was speaking Alien… WHAT?? How can powerlessness EVER be an asset?  Now, guys, he knows I have tendencies to be a control freak. He knows I’m an overachiever, dooer, goal getter kinda gal.. So he was purposefully stretching me..

So, I sat with that one for about a week. Powerlessness? Powerlessness? Powerlessness?? I kept saying it over and over again with different tonation thinking that it might come to me if I kept saying the same word differently.. It didn’t..

But, then, I decided to entertain this idea and said, ”O.K.. If I just allowed for a moment this statement to be true for me, just for a tiny little milisecond, what would it mean?”  And then I started to think about times in my life when I felt powerless. REALLY wanting something to happen or somebody to do something that I couldn’t control in the moment - and how frustrated I felt during those times.

But then I thought about how later on - maybe it was within an hour, a day, or even a year.. And in every circumstance or situation, I can honestly say that I’m glad that things turned out the way they did. There was something about the experience that I learned from, grew from, or that was actually in my or someone else’s best interest in the end but I just couldn’t see it in the moment.

I thought about my past relationships, my past jobs, my past misstakes. I thought about the people I’ve wanted to have join my Platinum One Destinations business that never did, about the people who I knew had so much potential and quit before they even got started. There is nothing more frustrating to me than seeing people with potential and desire for their lives bail out on themselves…

But in the end, every time, I’ve been able to see the gift. And how cool it is to have an understanding that we are all one. That everything that operates in this universe is controlled by divine intelligence.  Just take a minute and look closely at a flower sometime. It truly is amazing isn’t it? How incredibly intelligent and perfect it is? How it knows exactly what it needs to do to live, blossom and grow?

And it is not up to me to judge this intelligence in everything and everyone. I have no other choice but to cooperate with it. I can choose to struggle with it - but that’s pointless and useless - as I would never win that battle.  Everyone has their own lessons to learn. And in every experience we have - we are part of a bigger plan that is SO MUCH bigger than our human brains can even understand. 

There is always a reason we have a certain experience. We may not like it, and it may not feel good. But if we can begin to acknowledge & respect the intelligence in all living things, and have comfort in knowing there is a reason for it all - whether it is for ourselves or someone else’s plan for growth or learning in this lifetime, than we can just CHILL OUT.  We can start to cooperate with this power. And when we begin to acknowledge it, respect it, welcome it, recognize it in the MOMENT, we begin to harness a power that is so much greater than human beingness can imagine.

So, if you are currently struggling with circumstances, situations, relationships in your life, in your business, take a moment and recognize that you are powerless. Once you do that, you can begin to shift your focus off the things and people you can’t control, and tap into the true power that is available to you and working through you at all times… And that is the awareness and faith and trust and acknowlegment that you have everything you need in the moment to make the right choices for the highest good for yourself and others. Always, and in All ways..

Your Partner in Prosperity,

Carol Ann Martin
Founder, Synergy Prosperity Alliance
Synergy Certified, Platinum Executive Leader & Instructor
Platinum One Destinations and Synergy Marketing Group
Learn more about Platinum One Destinations 

 Ahhhh…. Being a baby. When was the last time you felt as safe and secure as the baby in this picture? Resting all wrapped up in a blankie, stomach full, with every need satisfied, no worries or concerns as to how you would be fed, clothed, loved, cared for. Completely resting in the knowing and trusting that all of your needs are met and will be met?

There was a time, that probably none of us can remember, when we felt that way.  Babies don’t know HOW to concern themselves with the matters of the world or how to analyze how their bottle will arrive. They have no other choice but to trust that everything they need will be provided.  BUT, they INSTINCTIVELY KNOW how to get what they want. It’s called SCREAMING UNTIL THEY DO…  Ha Ha..

As we grow up in our culture, our society, we are conditioned and trained to “unlearn” what our natural intelligence as babies knows to be comfort. Along the way in our education and entry into the culture as growing adults, we learn that money DOES make the world go around. And we begin to believe that somehow, if we have alot of little green pieces of paper in our bank accounts, that we are “comfortable” and feel secure.

But here’s an interesting statistic. In a recent survey done by US Private Banks of people with a net worth of $38 million dollars or more, 65% admitted that they felt “financially insecure.” Can you imagine? EVEN if you got to the point that you had $38 million dollars in your bank account or in liquid assets or equity in real estate, the majority of you would feel “insecure”?????  WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

It’s because money is an illusion. If you stop and think about money. What is it?? It is simply a piece of paper. We have put a random value on little pieces of paper with numbers on them, and everyone else in the world buys into that idea.

And so, the game is on. Everyone spending their entire lives trying to “hoard” as many little pieces of paper they can, doing whatever they can to get as much as they can in their own bank accounts.  For what? To feel secure? To feel powerful? To allow them to keep up with the Jones’ next door who have the new car, new home, vacations every year to exotic places?

The truth is, what we all long for deep down is the feeling we felt as babies. Unconditional acceptance and love. We all crave that feeling of ultimate clarity of just being - an uncluttered mind that trusts that everything we need will be provided. It’s NOT the money.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have no judgment about money. I LIKE having it. As it allows me to DO things I choose to do.  But, I don’t buy into the idea that having it is the source of my comfort.

So many people say they are afraid to do things because they don’t like to step outside their “comfort zone”. I talk to people every day who say they are interested in starting their own home based business in Platinum One Destinations.  Many of them tell me they see the potential, they love to travel, but they just don’t feel “comfortable” taking the leap.

Here’s the thing, though… Is it “comfortable” right now for most people in this economy? Is it comfortable to drop your newborn baby off at daycare every day to play the “money” game? Do you feel comfortable as the bills are pouring into your mailbox and you are trading more TIME for DOLLARS to keep up? Are you comfortable when you go to bed at night - totally secure in knowing that your job will be there next week?

Can you honestly say that on a daily basis you achieve that level of serene peacefulness that you at one time felt as a baby - even for 5 minutes out of your day??

So, what is a comfort zone anyway?? It’s really just another term for a certain level of tolerance for mediocrity, anxiety, worry, and stress. It’s another term for denial of what your heart is calling for you to do, if money were not an issue. It’s basically an EXCUSE to live out a life of quiet desperation, fooling yourself and everyone else that you are truly happy.

In order to attain or achieve or BE the things we have never had or been, we have to be willing to do things we have never done. And yes, anything we do that is new or different, we may feel “uncomfortable”. We may doubt our abiliites, we may feel awkward or clumsy. We may worry about what other people may think, because so many other people are “buying in” to this illusion of comfort that the minute you step outside the status quo, you may very well be labeled as a freak, as crazy, as a wishful thinker. 

DON’T BUY INTO THE ILLUSION  

If you don’t step outside your comfort zone NOW… If you feel that you do not have the financial success you wish to have NOW, where will you be 10, 20, 30 years from now? Would you not agree that if you don’t make changes in your life right now that will contribute to better health, a better relationship, a better financial situation for yourself or your family, that you will just be “uncomfortable” later in life?

There is really no such thing as COMFORT.  The only sure thing is CHANGE. Whether you like it or not, whether you think that having money or things are going to make you feel better - your body is changing every moment at the microcosmic level.  The world is constantly changing - and so are you. You cannot stop or control change.  The only thing you can do is to wake up from the illusion, realize that change is inevitable, and start to COOPERATE with it. 

It’s kinda funny when you think about it. We start off in life with very little hair, and completely dependent on other people and the universe to provide for our well being. And as we reach the last decade or so of our very short lives - we end up back in diapers, with very little hair, and EXACTLY where we were in our first few years of life.

In the end, you are going to arrive in the very same place you started, whether you like it or not. The key is to realize that there is no such thing as “comfort”.  And when you get comfortable with being “uncomfortable” you will begin to trust yourself, your passions, your desires. NOT your bank account. You will begin to allow your heart, rather than your head, be your guide to know how to bring it into your life - just like a baby knows instinctively, and what you at one time knew too.

All that you need and REALLY want is already right there. It always has been. You have just forgotten what it is. Trust in yourself, and DO the things that make you the MOST uncomfortable. And I promise you that those things are the keys that will unlock the doors to your GREATEST life.

Your Partner in Prosperity,

Carol Ann Martin
Founder, Synergy Prosperity Alliance
Synergy Certified, Platinum Executive Leader & Instructor
Platinum One Destinations, Synergy Marketing Group
Learn more about Platinum One Destinations 

 I’m sure you don’t think of yourself as a cheater, or someone who would ever rob someone.. No person of integrity would ever consider themselves as someone who would do that.

But here’s the thing in our line of work in direct sales - network marketing - people developing…

Every time that you don’t tell people about what you do - about your business, about an opportunity that may change their life - you are cheating them. Every time you fail to share what cards you hold in your hand - that you could give to someone else - you are robbing them. And you know what, I do it sometimes. And I would venture to say that if you are in direct sales - there has been AT LEAST one time that you’ve thought about striking up a conversation with someone, but you didn’t because of all kinds of reasons that are all about YOU alone and your uncomfortableness, what YOU think they are going to think about YOU.. And that, my friend, is selfish. Yes, it is..

Let me tell you about why I am discussing this right now.  I am venturing now to build a local team in my area in Tampa Bay, Florida.  I am organizing a team of fabulous, committed people already in Platinum One Destinations in my area and we are committing to hold weekly live meetings and to bring people from the local area to learn about our amazing business.

I’m doing this because I know that live events just work more effectively than any other method to provide people with the comfort, validation, and belief in our company, our products, our training, our integrity. I also have to admit that I love to train, and so I’m creating an environment where I can get up in front of people and share my enthusiasm and passion for motivating others and Platinum One.

BUT - I have built my very successful business completely online even to this day. I have team members that have joined from around the GLOBE - right from my little home office with my telephone and computer. That’s how successful our systems and training are. I’ve never had to step outside my home to make thousands of dollars per month.  And I’ll tell ya - there is nothing like the freedom to opt not to take a shower for a day or two if I choose….. But don’t worry - I do shower daily! LOL.. It’s just great to know I can choose not to if I don’t feel like it!

Now, I am putting myself and this local team, in a situation where we will all be doing something we are all not necessarily comfortable in doing - because we don’t HAVE TO - reaching out to people we’ve never met on the street, sharing our business, inviting them to our meetings,  etc.  It’s requiring us to get beyond our own selfish thinking about ourselves and our uncomfortableness, and proactively reaching out to others in person - rather than having the comfort and distance of the phone line and computer.

But - the way I see it - Who am I to cheat others of what is meant for their lives? Who am I to assume that I know what is best for someone else? That is arrogant.  The truth is, we never know what is best for another person. But, when we have information and tools that we know works for us, and others, don’t you think it would be our DUTY to share it with them?  Does it even really matter whether they would be interested or not? Whether they may reject the information? Whether they decide to join or not? NO!! What matters is YOU. What matters is that you get out there and SHARE information that may benefit others. And if you’ve read my last post, we know that the more we GIVE, especially without an expectation of a return, the more we actually RECEIVE… It’s a natural law.

So, my suggestion is that you get out of your own and other’s way and start giving to others by sharing your business and the potential you know is there for others. There is nothing more fulfilling in life than knowing that you had even a MINOR positive contribution in someone else’s prosperity. Even if it is as small as seeing someone OPEN UP to the possibilities in their lives when they don’t believe there are any when you are prospecting.  That is a win for you and them.

Take the risk and show your hand to others in this game called life.  The great thing about direct sales is that when you help others get what they want, you get what you want - and you BOTH get to share the JACKPOT!! 

Your Partner in Prosperity,

Carol Ann Martin
Founder, Synergy Prosperity Alliance
Synergy Certified, Platinum Executive Leader & Instructor
Platinum One Destinations & Synergy Marketing Group
Learn more about Platinum One Destinations