What a powerful word, don’t you think?

What is Faith?

According to the dictionary it is a…

…confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

or a

strong or unshakeable belief in something, especially without proof or evidence.

Descriptions of Faith also include:

a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny;
(as in: “he lost his faith but not his morality”)

A belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

Loyalty or even allegiance to a person, dogma, principle, cause or thing.

secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will

a set of principles or beliefs

the body of dogma of a religion

How Faith works

Keep the Faith

Believe in yourself no matter what it willl take
You can be a winner but you got to keep the Faith!

Popular examples for an external universal trusted sources are God, Jesus, Mary, Allah, Buddha, Mohammed, Odin, Zeus, Grace, …
Their main characteristic is that they would know everybody’s purpose or answers to each person’s questions about life.

An external personal source could be a deceased loved one or a personal angel who is specifically assigned to you and only knows and cares about your purpose, no one else’s.

an internal source is something that you see as being a part of your self (but NOT your unconscious mind). It is an aspect of your psyche that can provide the answers you are looking for in terms of your purpose or other important aspects of your life.

There are three criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to define a trusted source:

You need to believe that

• it exists
• it already knows your purpose
• you can communicate with each other

You can learn more about trusted source and 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make in Tim Kelley’ book True Purpose.

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. – Earl Nightingale

A definition by Earl Nightingale

(Excerpt from “The Strangest Secret“):

…The only person who succeeds is the person who is progressively realising a worthy ideal. It’s the person who says “I’m going to become this” and then begins to work toward that goal. I tell you who successful people are:

A success is the school teacher, because that’s what he or she wants to do.
A success is a woman who’s a wife and mother, because she wanted to become a wife and mother and is doing a good job of it.
A success is the man who runs the corner gas station because that was his dream, that’s what he wanted to do.
A success is the successful salesman who wants to become a top notch salesman and grow and build up this organisation.

A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a predetermined job, because that’s what he decided to do deliberately.

Your turn:

What does success mean to you?
How do you know that you are successful?
How do you measure your success/what are your KPI (Key Performance Indicators)?

S – Specific and Simple

Make it simple and specific. “I don’t want to be alone” is a simple statement, but it is far from being specific. With goal setting it is important to say what you want, not what you don’t want.

Have you ever heard the expression “What you focus on is what you get”? That’s what Specific and Simple is about: Say not what you don’t want, but what you want. Focus on the positive.

How would you like not to be alone? Do you want a partner, a lover, children, grand children, a friend, be part of a club or the community? What do you want, specifically?

M – Measurable

This one goes hand in hand with the one above. “I want more money” is simple, positive and more or less specific, but it is not measurable. How much is more? Is it one dollar or 10, 100 or thousands?

Make sure there is a number involved. In case it can’t be measured by numbers, imagine a scale from 1-10, where 10 is where you want to be. What are the criteria that need to be fulfilled for you to be at a 10? Write them down as a tick-off list.

A – Achievable and Attainable by you, As if now

Again, make it your goal, one that you can achieve by yourself. It is not about your partner, family, child or the world, it is not someone else’s goal, it is yours!

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present. – Babatunde Olatunji

Some languages haven’t even got grammar for future or past. They totally live in the here and now. Use present tense when you write down your goal. “I am…, I have…” are the most powerful words on earth, in any language.

R – Realistic

If you have set goals before and not achieved them, maybe they have been set too high. Making a million in a year could be a bit challenging if you are earning 50.000 a year and have no savings and no plan.

On the other side, if you have always achieved your goals without effort, it may be time to challenge your self. Stretch a little further than comfortable, you will grow into it.

T – Time frame

Give your goal a time frame, have a date involved. “By December 31st 2010 …” or “the 15th of May2015…” will make your goal even more measurable, specific and easy to plan for.

I – Inspirational

Often money comes up in goal setting. But is it really about the money? I don’t think so. Generally it is about what you can or want to do with the money. What is it that inspires you to get up? What motivates you to persevere when times get tough?

When a goal is not about money but what really inspires you, you may suddenly find other ways to achieve it.

Be open and allow the universe or God to provide for you in whatever way they may think is appropriate. Extend your opportunities by making your goal inspirational.

E – Evidence and Endstep

What is the final thing that needs to happen for you to know that you have achieved your goal? What is the picture that you see, what do you hear or tell yourself, how do you feel?

What is the evidence that proofs you have made it? For example when do you know you have lost enough weight? Is it when you see a certain number standing on your scale? When you fit in your favourite dress or pants? When you have achieved a certain fat percentage? Or when the tape measure shows a specific number?

Make your Evidence and Endstep very clear and involve as many senses as possible: see, hear, feel, smell or taste your success.

When we are little, we adopt our parents’ values as our own, before we become influenced by our friends, their parents, religion, culture and other social groups and communities.

At times, our values may change and what we held true as children is no longer valid. This is often an unconscious process that only gets realised when some of our values either conflict with each other or with what we (have to or choose to) do, for example at work.

A values alignment gives you clarity about the values that you have currently and the ones you wish or need to have (for example if you start a business or need to get out of a relationship), brings them into the most appropriate order and helps you to make your values strong and supportive in order to achieve your goal(s).

What does I Ging mean?
The “I” means “changes in the flow of life energy (“Chi”) and “Ching” is the word for classic.  The I Ging is often referred to as the “Book of Changes”, and the philosophical backbone to Chinese medicine, astrology and architecture as well as physical education like T’ai Chi Chuan or Qi Gong and the principles of Feng Shui.

Where does the I Ging come from?
I Ging is the essence of 6000 years of ancient wisdom, which initially has been passed on verbally before it was eventually written down, still being polished, adjusted and refined over time.

It consists of 64 sacred hexagrams, each of them a different combination of six solid and broken lines.

Examples:

hexagram 30-fire

hexagram 47-affliction

hexagram 61-inner truth

What does it mean?

Each line has a symbolic meaning (from top to bottom):

1. Spirit (religion, tao, the end or ‘beyond’ things)
2. Structure (organising, leading, ideals)
3. Choice (decisions, finding solutions or the road)
4. Emotions (exploration and evaluation)
5. Connection (with people, finding a place in the world, environment)
6. Reality (action, matter, the way one stands on the earth, beginnings)

Using the I Ging
The I Ging can be used as an oracle, a suggestion or a guide, depending on your preferences. Working with the I Ging has become an art. In the beginning there was only a Yes or No answer, then the system has become more and more complex by broadening the possibilities for interpretation. Adding imagination again has lifted the interpretation process to another level.

Because of its complexity, it may take several attempts until the I Ging reveals the information you are looking for.

What can you  expect?
As always, what you put in is what you get out. The quality of the questions you are asking the I Ging will determine the answer you get. At the same time, a question/problem well stated is a problem half solved.

The I Ging can help find answers to questions that expect a complex answer, allow to balance two outcomes, focus on special times, ask for clarification, describe a state or situation or simply asks for a comment.

At least, the I Ging offers an opportunity for self reflection, which is always a good thing.

Examples of meta-programs are:

Reason-Filters (Focus on possibility – “I can..” vs necessity – “I must…”)
Action-Filters (Active, Reflective, both, Inactive)
Attention Direction (Self, Others)
Primary Interest Filter (people, places, things, activity, information)
Chunk Size Filters (specific, global)

Neuro Linguistic Programming – neuro refers to our nervous system, the neuro pathways in our brain, linguistic to the language and other non-verbal communication system we use through which our neural representations are coded, ordered and given meaning and programming relates to the ability to program our brain, like we can program software for a computer.

NLP is the study of human excellence and communication and provides us with the tools to run our own brain and manage our states, emotions and our behaviours. Studying NLP means finding out how we use the language of the mind to consistently achieve our specific and desired outcomes.

In coaching NLP is for example used to get quick results, to dissolve phobia, elicit values conflicts and resolve them, to change patterns and behaviour or to get rid of limiting beliefs.

The responsibility of a coach is not to be n.i.c.e, but to assist you to find the truth. This includes asking unpleasant questions, holding you accountable to agreed-upon actions and provoking thought, change or new beliefs that help you to move towards your desired outcome.

It is definitely easier to play safe and be nice, and that is exactly the reason why just reading a book or talking to a friend most often do not get the results you are looking for.

A book is not holding you accountable and a friend very rarely is strong, courageous, emotionally unaffected and experienced enough to guide you through all the necessary steps a coached is trained to lead you through, so you can come up with what is the right answer for you.

Thanks to my Accountability Coach Shiona Long from “Authentic Success” I had my values elicited again today. (18th of May 2009) There have been significant changes on my list since I had done the values work last time, with some surprises and ‘aha’-moments.

What have values got to do with who we are?
Well, short and simple: everything.

Let me explain:
Values are principles or qualities that we value (or want to value) most. Our core values drive the experiences and things we are passionate about and that we desire in life, our guiding principles. Values are “the story” how we want our life to be, what is most important to us.

Examples of values are: Achievement, Balance, Commitment, Connection,Independence, Loyalty, Service (Contribution), or Spirituality (Clarity of Purpose).
Other values are: Generosity, Safety, Authenticity (Walking the Talk)

If we live in alignment with our values, we feel fulfilled, on purpose, in integrity and true to ourselves. Our values drive our thoughts. Our thoughts drive our actions as well as our non-actions. Our actions drive our behaviour, which then become our character. And finally this all together writes the story of our lives, our destiny.

Whether you have fulfilling relationships – or not, whether you are wealthy and healthy – or not, whether you are successful – or not – it all lies in your values.

But as always: awareness is the first step to change.

On my values list we found principles that do not longer belong there and that had to leave, because they were stopping me from achieving my goals. Others had to be included for better results and in order to make my life more complete.

What are your values? Do you live in alignment with your core principles? Have you allowed some values that hinder you from moving forward? Which ones are missing on your list? Are they in the right order? What would be the right order?

How would your life look like if you knew your values and lived in alignment with them? What could you achieve if your values supported your dream?

An individual values alignment gives you the foundation for building, maintaining and growing a strong business or choosing a new career path, creating fulfilling relationships, living authentically and as a result reduce stress and increase your overall wellbeing.

Register your interest now to get more information on how you too can benefit from the power of being in alignment with your values by calling 07 4774 8146 or send an e-mail with ‘Values Alignment’ in the subject line to info@transitionguidance.com today.