Small is good. Start small.

I etched this reminder in my mind. I know I am on the right track.

Since setting my goal for this year, I’ve been working on little projects to accomplish it.

It can get quite challenging since I’ve got a real job to attend to and a family to take care of. Sometimes I get frustrated with the little progress I am making. I have to admit I tend to spend more time studying than doing which I’ve been trying to change.

The thing about frustration is it can snowball into an excuse just to give up the whole thing altogether. But no one ever succeeded by giving up.

Last Sunday, I was feeling this kind of frustration bordering on surrender. I was thinking of giving up until a realization hit me during the church service.

At one point during the sermon, the pastor stopped and told ushers to distribute mini ziplocs containing mustard seeds.

I’ve read the parable of the mustard seed over and over. But I haven’t seen a mustard seed, not even in photos. So when I finally held the bag of seeds in my palm, I was amazed. I never realized it was that tiny.

The church started small. Every big dream started small.

I knew then that the only way I can reach my goal is if I hold on to it and to take steps toward it, no matter how small.

It’s okay to start small as long as you keep going, you keep building, and you keep doing things to make it big.

Suddenly, I felt relieved and encouraged. I felt grateful for the little progress I’d been making. I saw significance in the little breakthroughs I’ve been having.

All these little things will add up and be big one day.

In time, this small mustard seed of a dream will grow into a lush tree.

Big dreams seem impossible. But if you break them down into small goals, the dream becomes something doable.

Everything becomes possible.

What’s your big dream?

Her story kept ringing in my head.

She had just come from an operation and her doctor made her promise one thing: “Promise me, you’ll avoid stress.”

Her doctor went on to say that she has a number of patients who are now suffering from stress-induced cancer. Some of them are 27 – 28 years old.

I can’t imagine women the same age as I am going through cancer. Doesn’t cancer only happen to older people? Apparently, it doesn’t. And stress could be a cancer trigger.

I suddenly examined my lifestyle for the past months. Have I been under a lot of stress?

Thankfully, life is wonderful. God is always good. I am so happy, grateful and content.

I’ve got the most loving husband and the most wonderful kids who make my life so blessed beyond words.

I have an awesome job where I can hone my creativity. I’ve got a great boss who appreciates my abilities. We earn enough to live a comfortable life.

Life is not always sunshine and rainbows but I always look for that crack in the clouds that lets out a ray of light. And there always is.

Sometimes I still get antsy. There are so many ideas bursting in my head. There are so many things I want to do. I’ve got so many dreams I want to fulfill both for me and my family. Sometimes, time doesn’t seem enough.

But I refuse to let worry and pressure ruin my head. I choose to avoid stress. I’ve got a lifetime commitment to love my husband and my kids. And stress might make me break that promise.

Whoever believed that stressful equals successful might be unknowingly committing suicide. Killing himself slowly but surely with all those toxins that debilitate both the mind and body.

So I will take this one at a time.

At a peaceful and relaxed pace.

I love myself too much to be stressed.

I’ve got an amazing life ahead of me and I intend to enjoy every moment of it.

AFFLUENCE.

This is my word of the year. My goal for 2010 is to experience financial freedom for our family. This is something I’ve always wanted but now is the only time I’m really focusing on it.

One thing I’ve been working on is changing my beliefs and attitudes toward money because I think those are vital factors in determining how much money you’ll have.

Remember how people used to say:

Money doesn’t grow on trees.
Money is the root of all evil.
You have to work HARD to earn money.
People who have a lot of money all end up UNHAPPY.

I bet those who firmly believe in this are still stuck at being poor.

Here’s what I choose to believe:

“Money DOES grow on trees.”

You won’t have money if you sleep all day, dream about having a lot of it and wait for a tree of money to grow beside you. BUT if you have faith that GOD made an abundant Universe with more than enough riches to go around for everybody, when you believe that HE will provide for all your needs (and wants too) then you’ll find that money comes to you.

Suddenly, you get a raise, you are offered opportunities to earn more money or you receive money from unexpected sources. These are all trees that grew from the seed of your faith. And money is right there on the branches waiting to be picked.

But here’s an important thing to remember: you need to pick the money. Even if the money falls from the tree, you still need to catch it if you want to get it. Some may define this as hard work. But I like to call it: TAKING INSPIRED ACTION.

When you get a raise, you need to work efficiently to retain it. When you get offered an opportunity to earn more money, seek God’s guidance (or your intuition and good judgment) then grab the opportunity and work it to the hilt. When you receive unexpected money, spend some but save more and make your money grow. This doesn’t have to be hard. This could be easy. Which brings me to my next belief:

“You can earn money EFFORTLESSLY.”

Years ago, I was working as a TV producer for different shows. I loved the work and it was fun. It felt like an adventure. But then when I got married and I became a mom, my priorities changed and I felt that my work was really work. I was on call most of the time, I didn’t have weekends all to myself and I didn’t have work benefits that I need for my family.

Right about this time, I got offered a regular job (Ting! Did a light bulb just pop over your head?) to build blogs and write content for TV shows. Back then, I was already enjoying blogging and surfing the waves of the web so that job was effortless for me. Later on, my job evolved to being a Lifestyle writer for our news website — a job which I do enjoy — so it’s still effortless for me.

When I say effortless, it doesn’t mean that I don’t do anything or I don’t get physically or mentally exhausted. My definition of effortless is work that doesn’t feel like work because I enjoy doing it. So even if I’m physically or mentally exhausted sometimes, I see that as part of the job. But my job is still enjoyable for me.

I earn money doing something I enjoy.

What if I’m in a job that I don’t enjoy? I hear you. That used to be my excuse / complaint too.

Here’s the thing: I always believe you have a choice in everything you do. Either you leave and find a better job or you stay and change your attitude.

If you choose to leave and find a better job, congratulations! You’ve made a tough choice but if you find what you’re looking for, you’ll be more profitable in the long run.

If you choose to stay, then throw those complaints away. Change your attitude about your work, your colleagues, and your boss. See, enjoyment is a subjective thing. No one can enjoy your job for you. It’s something you have to do yourself. Find reasons to be grateful about your job. Look at your colleagues and your boss as people who are helping you to prosper. Don’t be surprised if, after adopting a more positive attitude, everyone treats you better and everything goes more smoothly for you. Try it and see.

“Money is neutral. Money is GOOD if you use it for GOOD.”

If you love money, money will love you back. Loving money is good. I can hear the battling voices in your head, “But that’s greed. That’s bad, that’s a mortal sin.”

Well then, let’s review what greed means:

Greed : a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed. (Merriam – Webster)

Notice the word selfish in the definition? My take on greed is “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed” and fulfilling that desire at the expense of other people. That’s plain greed.

But love for money is different. Because when you love money, you seek good ways to earn it, you use it bring happiness to your loved ones and you share it to as many people as you possibly can. When you do these, then you’ll be living proof of my next belief.

“People who have a lot of money and A LOT OF LOVE in their life are always HAPPY.”

In fact, even if you don’t have a lot of money but if you have a lot of love in your life, you’ll always be happy. I’ve read somewhere that money acts like a magnifying glass, it just enlarges what you already are or how you already live your life.

If you’re a loving and generous person even now, you’ll become more of that. If you like taking out your wife and kids to simple dates at the mall, you’ll do more of that — maybe in different malls all over the world.

But if you’re a miserable person who constantly finds negative things about life and laments about your poor conditions, well…. you know the answer. Don’t be surprised if you stay poor or even if you suddenly get a lot of money, you’re still unhappy or you end up poor anyway.

These are my beliefs. I know that these beliefs coupled with my inspired actions will make me really, really affluent.

I like the word affluence because its etymology means to flow. Flowing abundance. Flowing wealth. That sounds really good, doesn’t it?

You have the power to choose your own beliefs about money and about everything else in your life. Choose beliefs that empower you and bring you good.

Every morning, I see the birds out our window flying from tree to tree, presumably looking for breakfast and singing while they’re at it. Just think, if God cares for and provides for these little birds’ daily needs, don’t you think He will care more and provide more for you?

Trust Him. Thank Him for what you already have now. Believe that He is sending you more wealth and prosperity in the days to come. And watch the miracles flowing into your life.

It all starts with faith that money grows on trees.

Meditate.
Visualize.
Journal.
Thank God.

For the past days, I’ve been practicing this daily morning ritual beginning at 4am. It’s great how I am able to overcome the challenge of waking up early and I’m getting more disciplined about it day after day.

I am growing to love meditating. It brings me an incredible sense of peace. It’s so priceless. Now I understand why it’s so beneficial to do it so early in the morning. My body is calm and my mind is receptive since I’ve just woken up. My surroundings are quiet except for the rhythmic whirring of the fan and the occasional stirrings of my darling babies.

I still need some practice in visualizing but I’m getting better at it. It feels so good to see and experience the things in my vision journal and it reinforces my belief that big dreams do come true.

Writing in my gratitude journal will always be part of my morning ritual. It always makes me happy to feel and realize that I am so blessed in so many ways. As I told some young ones during my talk a few nights ago, always be grateful and you’ll be happy every day of your life.

The wonderful thing about having this morning ritual is it sets the tone for my day and everything goes right.

What’s your morning ritual?

What is you dream life?

This is mine.

Traveling to different beaches with my laptop in tow. Just logging in every now and then on the internet to see how much millions I’ve earned for the day. Then going back to leisure traveling with my family.

But of course, that’s just for certain months of the year.

Other months, I’d be managing my self-development business, traveling all over the country to conduct seminars and workshops and shooting for my own TV show.

Dream on, the skeptics would say.

Yes, I will dream on.

And I will continue building my dream life too.

After all, we can only go as far as our mind and ambition reaches.

It’s better to dream big and aim our efforts on big things rather than settling for small dreams that seem easier and less risky to fulfill.

What would your dream life be like?

If I were given the chance to live my dream life, I would want a life that:

• allows me to pursue my passions anytime I want to.
• gives me not just financial stability but absolute abundance to satisfy both my needs and my wants.
• enables me to give away millions to help other people.
• empowers me to achieve anything I dream of.

Is it possible to live your dream life?

I believe so.

But dreaming is only the first part.

You’ve got to be doing something about it too.

And I guess that’s the hard part that often scares us away from fulfilling our dream lives and makes us stay safe and sheltered in our comfort zones.

Doing something means we would have to take risks.

And more often than not, a little voice inside us whispers: “You can’t do it. Do you want to fail? Just stick with your life/job now, that’s the practical thing to do.”

And the sad thing is, we often believe that little voice more than we believe ourselves. And it becomes harder for us to see that the dream life is indeed possible.

So how do you silence that discouraging voice?

Do something!

1. Think about what your dream life is like.
2. List down the steps you need to take to achieve your dream life.
3. Tackle the steps, one at a time.
4. When you encounter obstacles, just keep going.
5. Be willing to learn and expand your self.
6. When something doesn’t go your way, be flexible and open yourself up to the numerous possibilities.

Sounds easy to say but seems hard to do?

It all depends on your attitude toward it.

If you begin with an attitude that says “This is so hard, I don’t think I will make it.” I’ll bet you won’t.

But if your attitude says, “This seems a bit challenging, but I sure would do my best and try.” Chances are you’re on your way to success.

Now, I’m throwing the questions back at you:

• What is your dream life?
• How are you achieving / going to achieve it?

I’d sure love to learn from your experiences.

I could feel the vile words starting to rush out of my mouth.

But I snuffed them out before they could even fire up.

My chest was beginning to tighten and I could feel the tears of frustration welling at the corners of my eyes.

Is it even worth it?

I stepped outside, took a walk and tried to breathe.

Slowly.

I looked up at the sky trying to imbibe it’s lightness.

I started to feel better and the tightness in my chest suddenly disappeared.

What do you do with sudden rushes of negative emotions?

1. Walk.

2. Breathe slowly.

3. Look up at the sky.

4. Imagine you’re in a beautiful and happy place.

5. Smile.

But the most important thing of all:

Remember that none of this will matter ten years from now. And no matter what happens, everything always turns out all right.