" Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things." ~ Eric Butterworth

Perhaps many of you are evaluating and re-evaluating your financial situation. This is a great time to re-evaluate how we are living, thinking and dreaming; a good time to look at the limiting themes that may have repeated themselves in your life. A good time for new beginnings and the perfect time to decide that prosperity and abundance should be at the core of your life.

Do you really believe that you can create the financial life you want to live this year? Fall completely and deeply in love? Receive a big promotion or find your dream job? Or have you put a lid on your dreams , blocked your hopes and allowed yourself to become resigned to settling for less.

One of the most pivotal steps in improving your life from the inside out is the ability to open your channels of desire and to clearly define what it is that you most want. For many people this is an uncomfortable process. But this process can be made much easier with something we call Smart Goals.

Smart Goals are:
S Specific and simple
M Measurable and meaningful to you
A As if now, achievable and in all areas of life
R Realistic and responsible
T Timed in the present and moving toward what you want (rather than away from what you don’t want).

With a Smart Goal, you can take something and literally put it into your future, breath life it and into your dreams so that you are virtually compelled to live them.

Understanding that obstacles will come up and that’s okay because you can and will deal with them. Picture yourself setting a very simple goal, like walking across a room to open a window. As you head toward the window, things come up, perhaps a piece of furniture is in your way or a pet might run across your path or someone might stop you to talk for a moment, or maybe the phone rings.
That doesn’t stop you from reaching your goal, you make adjustments, go around the furniture, stop to talk, answer the phone, do whatever is needed but you keep the goal in view constantly making minor adjustments and you reach it.

I know this sounds very basic, and it is very basic. Those people who reach their goals keep adjusting their course until the goal is reached.

And think about this, stuff really does need to come up or else everything would become rather pointless. If there is no challenge then why would any of us ever strive for anything? If we could manifest everything instantly it would be a very boring and predictable world.The real truth, the reality of this world we live in is that desire is the life force of energy streaming through us. It is our desires that keep us alive and magnetic. People without strong desires slowly wither away, living only shadow lives of whom they were and who they were meant to be. The more we allow the energy of desire to flow through us, the more vibrant and alive we become, the more connected we feel, and life just gets better and better.

But that energy cannot flow through us when we are carrying around excess baggage and old negative emotions of anger, hurt, fear and guilt. You need to release these negatives emotions that stem from an early event or situation and you need to leave them behind. You need to burn them away. They aren’t something you need or want to take with you into your future.

As children we were free to play, pretend and let our imaginations soar. But, as we grew older, we were told to leave those dreams behind. We were told to grow up, stop playing games and to keep our focus on the real world, the world of “adults”. Limit your expectations to things that are realistically possible, keep them small and that way you won’t be disappointed.

As a result of being told this over and over or watching our parents, friends and lovers live this kind of life, many of us both consciously and subconsciously came to the conclusion that, in order to be an adult, have a reasonably happy life, and grow up, we are better off not wanting too much, repressing our imaginations and our fantasies, and most definitely we’d better not play.

We became experts at repressing our desires and burying our dreams. We grew afraid of disappointment and embraced fear and limitation. But remember this: “If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one.” ~John Galsworthy

So, set those goals, dream those dreams, imagine, fantasize and allow desire to flow through every aspect of your life. The universe is listening and will respond if your motives are pure; your goals are clear and you trust and believe that it will.

Author's Bio: 

Linda Simmon, C.Ht., is a highly sought after consultant, hypnotherapist, life coach, speaker and a graduate of The Hypnosis Motivation Institute, the first nationally accredited school for hypnotherapy in the United States.
She is the founder and creator of “New Beginnings”, dedicated to helping people everywhere get a new beginning by helping them break through barriers that are holding them back and helping them transform their lives.
For more information on Linda, her CDs, articles, telephone and downloadable sessions, E-Book (“Realize Your Full Potential” now available on Kindle at this link: http://tinyurl.com/778ypvd ) and workshops, visit www.newhypnotherapy.com .