"Don't Worry Be Happy"

Is it really any body's fault but our own if we have a bad day?

Some of us may instinctively say "yes". With all the outside influences we come across on a daily basis it is hard to take full responsibility for our thoughts and feelings. A lot of times blaming outside influences is easier but it is a rarity when easier equals better.

Did you know that it has been proven that the simple acts of smiling and standing up straight can actually make people feel better? It is true, try it. I dare you. Make a pledge to smile at every person you see for just one day. And make a conscious effort to stand up straight with your shoulders back. I guarantee that by the end of the day you feel happier and better about yourself. You will even have more energy than you usually do.

It is simple little steps like this that can put you on the road to success. When you stand up tall and smile you start to feel better about yourself, in return others start feeling better about you too. It is an endless cycle of positive energy. You feel better about yourself, so others feel better about you, you attract more positive people and things into your life, you feel even better about yourself, people begin to feel even better about you, and so on....

Do you know that it actually takes much more energy to be angry than it does to be happy. Think back to the last time you had a bad day. Maybe someone cut you off while driving or maybe someone took "your" parking spot. They made you so mad that the thought of getting back at them just consumed you. The next thing you know your stubbing your toe, you drop your lunch on the floor, and by the end of the day you have 2 paper cuts. By the time you get home all you have is complaints to tell your spouse. Your irritability causes an argument and you end up going to bed with heartburn. And although you are exhausted by the terrible day you just had, for some reason you can't seem to fall asleep. This lack of sleep is setting you up for an even worse day tomorrow.

Does this scenario sound vaguely familiar to anyone? Of course it does, we have all had days like this. The key to success and happiness is to not let a small incident ruin your whole day.


You are the boss of yourself. You are the only one who can tell yourself how to think, feel, and act. You must make a conscious decision and choose to be happy. It may take some effort at first but I promise it will get easier with practice.

Lets review the above scenario to see where we could have stopped the negative chain of events.

Lets start with the very first event, getting cut off while driving. Chances are the person whom cuts you off has no clue who you are. It probably was an accident or maybe they are just a bad driver, but I seriously doubt they were waiting for you to come along just so they could get in front of you. Maybe their daughter is having a baby. Maybe they have to use the bathroom. Or maybe they are just running late. Whatever the reason, it has nothing to do with you, so let it role off your back and say a prayer that they get where they are going safely.


The parking spot swiper is a common mood breaker. It happens to people everyday. Like the bad driver, the parking spot swiper probably has no clue who you are. It is possible that they didn't even see you or maybe they truly believe the spot should be theirs. Either way it is no big deal. In fact, all of us could use a little exercise. I actually make it a habit to locate the cart return that is farthest from the store and I park as close to it as possible. This almost always ensures that I get the spot that I want. I get a little exercise getting to and from the store. There is less congestion that far from the store, so I don't have to worry about someone waiting for me to load up the car and leave so they can get my spot, and I am conveniently located near the cart return so I can easily put my cart away.

Things like stubbing your toe, dropping your lunch on the floor, and getting a paper cut are just accidents and for the most part they are out of your control. Although you may have noticed things like this happen more frequently when you are already in a bad mood. This is because when you are aggravated and irritable you are unfocused and clumsy which in turn causes more accidents.

I think you get the point. One thing leads to another. You can start a cycle of negativity or you can start the cycle of positive energy flowing around you. If you let the little things get to you they will consume you until they ruin your day, your week, your month, and eventually your year. Make your mind up and start being happy. When you feel there is nothing to be happy about, just remember happiness is a state of mind and it is okay to be happy for no reason at all. It will benefit yourself and everyone around you.

It is your responsibility to choose. Take a step in the right direction by choosing to smile, stand up tall, and be happy. By doing this you can do your part to make this world a better place.

How to Make Your Vision Statement Work Faster

My last topic about vision statements and maybe the most important.....HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK FASTER?



I can't stress it enough. Make them vivid. Make them feel real. Make them invigorating. Get your emotions going and have a burning desire. I know I am starting to sound like a broken record, but would I keep saying it if it wasn't so important? No way!



I know for a fact that some of you have your vision statements written. Now what I want you to do is print out about 5 copies. One for the nightstand, one for the car, one for the bathroom, one for the coffee table, and one to keep in your purse or wallet. You should have access to it at all times. You are going to read it out loud at least once per day. And you are going to read it silently at least twice per day. The more times you read it, the more times you will tell it to your subconscious mind, and the quicker your subconscious mind can start working on it for you. Like running up that flight of stairs (reference "Why Vision Statements Work"). When you read it out loud you are stimulating your senses visually, mentally, and audibly. The more stimulation you have, the more real it becomes to the subconscious.

My two year old son loves for me to read my vision statement out loud to him, he sits there with a big grin on his face and says "read more mama, read more!" There are times when he actually brings my vision statement to me and asks me to read it to him. On some days I may read my statement out loud 9 or 10 times.

One of my great stock market trading instructors had told me, well the whole class, to stand in front of the mirror every morning and repeat 3 times "I am a great trader". We all laughed at the thought at first and then we realized he wasn't joking. He said if we said it enough we would start believing it and we would trade better, smarter, and more relaxed. The "key" as he put it was to say it out loud. Boy, if he only knew how powerful that lesson really was.

It has been brought to my attention that some of you are trying to post comments and they are not appearing on the blog. When posting a comment click on "comments" not the envelope symbol. If you are doing it correctly you will be asked to type a few "mystery letters" that are shown in a box, this is to cut down on spam comments.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Quote of the Day

"As you move higher and higher in the world of success, more and more of your job becomes personal development"
~David J Schwartz, Ph.D.

Why Vision Statements Work

Well, hopefully some of you have been inspired to start writing your own vision statements. If you're still just thinking about it, I promise the first 4 sentences are the hardest and from there it just flows. It is like turning on an old rusty water spicket. The first few turns are real hard and then the water just starts coming out quickly.


What I want to talk about today is "why" vision statements work.


WHY?




It's widely known that any thought continually impressed upon the subconscious mind long enough becomes fixed and habitual. The simple act of writing a vision statement and reading it everyday will continually impress your vision upon your subconscious. Your subconscious mind can not tell the difference between truth and imagination, it just takes the images and feelings it recieves and processes it all as truth.

Put another way, whatever thought or image you give your subconscious mind to work on it will diligently work on it as if it is true and make it a reality. Eventually, your actions will change. You will begin to make choices that support you vision. And this will all happen subconsciously. Meaning, when you make these decsions they will come naturally. Kind of like how we subconsciously move every muscle in our body when we run up a flight of stairs. It all happens very naturally, you don't tell each muscle to move individually. The subconscious mind just tells the body what to do to get the job done.

The Key to Writing a Powerful Vision Statement

I want you to take some time and figure out what your life would look like if it were perfect......

What would you wear?
What would you drive?
Where would you live?
What would your house look like?
What would your furniture look like?
What would you do during the day?
How many kids would you have?
Who are your friends?
What type of food do you eat?
What do you do for fun?
Who do you want to be?

If there were no limits at all, what would you want to be your truth? Think about it and then write it down. It doesn't have to be organized thoughts at first, just start somewhere. Make a list of five or ten things that would make your day perfect and go from there. Once you have your ideas down on paper it will be easier to sort them out and write your vision statement.

When writing your vision statement you must write in the here and now. Write as if everything you are saying/thinking is true at this very moment. Use the words "I am" not "I will be". For instance, when I place a trade I am not buying 1000 contracts of SPY, depending on how close to expiration Friday we are that would cost me $300,000 - $550,000. I would need $1,000,000 in my trading account before I would even think about placing a trade like that. But I wrote it as if I was doing it yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Figure out what you want and write as if you already have it.

The next key to writing a powerful vision statement is to make sure it gets your emotions going. What is the root word of emotion? It's motion. Emotion induces motion. Sounds weird, I know, but it is true. When you are emotionally involved with an idea or thought, little sparks (more ideas) go off that trigger you to take certain actions. This whole process subconsciously leads you in the right direction to accomplish your vision. You may end up taking steps and doing things that you would have never imagined (like running a marathon). They are all means to get to the end results you are looking for.

Once you have finished writing your vision statement, you should read it and get excited. It should "turn you on" and make you feel happy, excited, and grateful. If it doesn't, rip it up and start over. If there is no emotion, there is no sense in wasting your time. Get your emotions going, find out what your burning desire is and go after it.

The final key ingredient to a powerful vision statement is vision. This should come as no surprise, hence the name vision statement. As you are reading your vision statement you should be running the picture through your mind like a movie. See your movie as if you are living it. This is where it gets tricky, don't see yourself living it, see yourself as if you are living it. For instance, when I read my vision statement I don't see myself sitting on the stairs putting my shoes on like a ghost hanging over my own shoulder. I am actually me in my movie and I see my feet as I tie my shoes. Don't watch yourself in the third person, be yourself. Live your vision as you read your vision statement. Like I said, this is the tricky part, if anybody needs better clarification or has a question, just post it and we will discuss it more.

"The Perfect Day of Work"

I have decided to share with you my vision statement for the perfect day of work. I figured it may motivate some of you to write and share your own vision statements.

The Perfect Day of Work

I wake up peacefully just before the alarm goes off. My husband is still lying quietly and I watch him as he sleeps for a few moments before getting out of bed. It is 6AM eastern time. As I get out of bed I go to our master suite bathroom and brush my teeth, pull my hair back, and put on my running clothes. As I leave the bathroom, I go into the children's rooms and kiss them each on the forehead and whisper "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH" as I stare only for a moment at their sweet faces. As I go downstairs I get my Ipod ready and grab my sneakers. I sit on the bottom step to tie my shoes and out the door I go. I love to run in the morning. It clears my mind and gets me mentally focused for the day. It is so silent and peaceful, I am the only person in the world at this moment. I run 3 miles in just under 20 minutes and then I head back to the house.

It is now 6:45 AM and I get into the shower. Our shower is my favorite thing in the whole house. It has multiple spraying jets and 2 shower heads, the walls are stone and there is a wood sitting bench in there, the shower doubles as a sauna for after those long hard work outs. It is perfect, its the shower I had dreamed of for years. Just before I am ready to get out of the shower, Rod gets in. Yes we still take a shower together every morning. Before he gets into the shower he wakes up the kids and they are getting ready for school; showering, dressing, and getting their backpacks ready for the school day.

We all end up downstairs at the same time and the 4 of us sit at the breakfast bar and talk as we are eating our breakfast and packing our lunches. We talk about our plans for the weekend and the kids fill us in on the gossip at school. When we are finished with breakfast Rod and I both take the kids to school. We all ride together in our pearl white Escalade. As we pull up to the school we both get two kisses, one from each of the kids and then they are off to learn at school. Rod drives me back to the house. I work out of the upstairs office. We do not use it for leisure, its strictly business. We have an office downstairs for leisure use of the computer. My office is great. I have a nice big window, the desk is large, and somehow I have managed to figure out how to be organized. At one point I did not think it was possible. But I have everything in its place and even the file cabinet is in order.

When I am in my office I am fully dressed with my hair and make-up done. This is a place of business, not a place to hang out. I have 4 computer monitors linked together with a Matrox video card, one mouse controls all 4 monitors. This makes trading much easier. I can watch the $SPX 5d 5min chart, the S&P advancers/decliners, have my broker acct open, and have one monitor freed up for other things all at the same time. I have a 42 inch plasma hanging on the wall so I can keep an eye on the news and a comfy couch in there as well. There is a refrigerator and a bathroom. Yes, I bring my lunch upstairs with me. A trip downstairs to the fridge could mean disaster for me and my mindset (focus).

It is just about 9:30AM and I am anxiously awaiting the markets open. I am so greatful. I have worked out all the kinks in my trading rules and I am making consistently profitable trades. I watch the first 60 minutes of the trading day to see what the market sentiment is. I use my support & resistance, MACD, candlesticks, S&P adv/decline, and Fibonacci retracements. I wait for the perfect entry and boom bam there it is, perfect entry. I slide into the market with 1000 contracts or so, I place my limit order to exit with a .50 profit, and just like that I am out. Nobody even knew I was there. I turn off the computer with a $50,000 profit for the day.

Now the day is still young, I still have hours left to run errands, read, listen to an audio, or just visit with one of the neighbors. I try to learn something new everyday. I have to otherwise I get bored. Rod owns a shoe store where he sells retro Jordans and Reebok pumps, he will be home soon. The store stays open for a few hours after he leaves, he has 4 very trustworthy employees that take care of things while he is gone.

School has been out for just about an hour now, the kids are at practice (soccer, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, karate, whatever). We will be heading over to the school to pick them up very shortly. We go together and always get there a few minutes before practice ends and we chat with the coaches. We like to stay on top of things and make sure the kids are focused and getting the most out of life.

On the way home we discuss dinner plans. We each have a night of the week where we decide what we have for dinner. The only rule is no fast food. We stop at Publix and pick up the meat and veggies fresh. When we get home Rod and I cook while the kids wash up, relax for a minute, and start their homework. On most nights homework is finished by the time dinner is done. We all sit at the table together as we eat, laugh, joke, and tell stories about the day. When we have all finished eating we scrape our plates and rinse them off. The kids finish whatever homework is left and Rod and I clean up the kitchen. Within an hour we are all back together again.

We have a huge Olympic style pool in the back yard. We all love to swim and this is the best time of day jump in. Depending on the day we usually swim for 30-60 minutes and then its time to wind down for a restful evening. We all get into our comfy jammies, the kids talk on the phone, use the computer, study, or watch a little tv. And then off to bed they go. Of course they are still our babies so we go to their rooms to tuck them in and tell them we love them. Now Rod and I have an hour or so of quiet time where we can just relax together. Sometimes we just curl up on the couch and watch tv and sometimes we read in the bedroom, either way it is a perfect ending to a perfect day of work.

Alright, now you get the idea. This is actually a revised version of my original vision statement. The original version had 3 children in it. After I got pregnant with Madison so soon after I had Xavier I figured I better rewrite my vision before I ended up with twins or something. I'm telling ya this stuff work quickly!! When I wrote this I had no desire to run a marathon, but as you can see once again things fall into place to make your vision come true....now I have to run!!!

The Day That Turned My Life Around

Everybody has one of those "light bulb moments" on occasion. I remember the day clearly. I was in Chicago for a 3 day stock market trading conference and one of my instructors hit a nerve. He had just given us a list of books he wanted us to read and a "homework assignment". Then he said "I can almost guarantee that more than half of you will not follow through with the work I just gave you." And then he said something to the effect of "that is what separates the winners from the losers."

Well you better believe what he said hit a nerve with me, I didn't want to be a "loser". I started thinking about the assignment, which he gave us a week to finish and email to him. I thought about it the whole flight home and made the the conscious decision to follow through.

First thing Monday morning I logged onto amazon and ordered every book that he suggested (some trading related and a few personal development related). Then I sat on the couch for a good 30 minutes thinking about the assignment some more. He had challenged us to write 2 vision statements: "The Perfect Day of Work" and "The Perfect Day of Play". Sounds easy enough, right? Well once I got my vision focused and was able to pin point exactly what would make "the perfect day of work/play" it was easy. The first 3 or 4 sentences were the hardest and the rest just flowed. Once I got in the zone it was hard to stop.

The second part of the assignment was to actually read them over and over again, he recommended every morning and every night. I found myself getting excited every time I read my vision statements and eventually feeling like they were real life. The trick was to write in the present tense as if I was writing about my life at that very moment.

I will be 100% honest with you and tell you I kind of got freaked out when I started believing what I wrote to be true. My actions and routines actually started to change. I began getting better results and life became happier, healthier, and more abundant.

Many books later, I now know that the sub-conscious mind can not differentiate between the truths and the tales that the conscious mind tells it. The sub-conscious mind just takes all the information and processes it all as reality. What a great thing to know. If you want to change your reality, all you have to do is change your thinking !! Why didn't I learn this in school? I can only imagine where I would be now if someone would have explained this to me when i was 10 yrs old. It is like a magical power that we all have and most of don't even know about it.

I challenge you to go ahead and put your vision statements on paper or even post it here. And read it twice a day, morning and night, for 30 days. You will be truly amazed. I promise.