A father is taking his two young sons for a walk around the barn. They come upon a huge pile of doo-doo. "Yuck!, one son cries. This stinks! How awful! Let's get out of here!" The other son, however, yells with glee "Woo-Hoo!" and dives into the rotten pile of poo. "With all this doo-doo there has to be a pony in here somewhere!", he exclaims. Where one boy saw nothing but gloom and doom, another saw and opportunity for a great gift.

This lesson is the secret to empowerment. Every experience comes with gifts in the lessons that can be learned. If you have a rotten stinky experience look for the pony instead of running away or blaming others, look for the pony! It's in there somewhere. And when you find it, ride that pony out of the stench and onto greener, cleaner, brighter pastures.

Learn how to find your pony at http://www.InnerWizard.com. Get free mini-book, "Discover Your Inner Wizard", your intuition and inspiration. Tame your Inner Critic (doubt and fear)

You have a lot of personal and professional relationships in your life. Some relationships are loving, satisfying, uplifting, supportive and enrich your life experience. You love spending time with these people. They motivate and inspire you. Other relationships are tense, adversarial, problematic, strained, and exhausting. You don't like, or avoid, spending time with the people who drain the life energy right out of you. The funny thing is that all of your relationships, good and bad, are a mirrored reflection of you!

You love the good relationships that you have because these people reflect what you like about yourself. You dislike the people you have difficulty with because they reflect the parts of you that you don't like.

Pay attention to the people who bother you, get under your skin, for no apparent reason. These people reflect something in you that you don't want to see.

Examine your relationships with the people in your life. What can they teach you about you?

The difference between a winner and an 'also ran' isn't extra ordinary skills. People who are at the top of their field excel at their game. The difference is mindset. There are 2 champions who share one unprecedented skill, a titan mindset for greatness, Muhammad Ali and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger and Ali came from nowhere to win titles. Both were great physical specimens, but later became known for their humanity, not merely for their brawn. And both men became known as two of the greatest icons of their time. They had strong competition and were able to overcome where others had failed. There was one simple explanation for their tremendous success in their sport and in life: it never occurred to them that they were not champions. They knew, at their deepest core, and at an early age that they were champions. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the world knew it too.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." - Albert Einstein

The intuitive mind is the Inner Wizard. It is the voice of your intuition and inspiration. The rational mind is that of the Inner Critic - the voice of your self-doubt and fear. The Inner Wizard makes choices and takes action based on gut instinct and creative inspiration. The Inner Critic makes choices and takes action based on fear of moving beyond current comfort zones, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of humiliation, etc.

Inner Wizard decisions will always, without exception, result in good outcomes. Inner Critic decisions will always, without exception, result in unwanted outcomes.

Examine the decisions you've made in your life. Were they based on inspiration or fear? What were the results?

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." - Albert Einstein

Use your imagination to create your 2009! What would you like to experience? Spend some time each with imagining the experiences you want to enjoy this year. To give this vibration a little extra oomph, write what you imagine in your journal -- and make your dreams even bigger!

Love and laughter,
valery

A lot of people seem to be getting the post-holiday blues. There's all this activity leading up to the holidays and Jan. 2nd the momentum rug is pulled out from under and some people land on their butts. A butt-landing often happens right after those New Year's resolutions are announced. Your Inner Wizard charts the course for the new year and your Inner Critic gets scared and works hard to pull you back into old familiar comfort zones. You may not like the zone but it's what you know. Just knowing that it's your Inner Critic freaking out help take away some of its power. Let your Inner Critic take a back seat and empower your Inner Wizard to lead your success in 2009!

There's a fun movie starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, "What About Bob". Murray is Bob, a neurotic man who clings onto his therapists. Bob's regular doctor pawns Bob off on (Dreyfuss) Dr. Marvin who just published a book, "Baby Steps" about emotional disorders. The last thing Marvin wants is Bob. He's about to go vacation. Bob is determined to attach himself to Marvin. Reading Marvin's book, Bob baby steps his way into Marvin's life! Hilarity ensues.

Any journey begins with a single step. If you want to accomplish anything you have to take the first step, however small. And then another. Forward. Life can be hectic. Some people become overwhelmed and don't get anywhere. All that's required are a couple of baby steps in one direction. Before you know it, you've accomplished your goal!

Baby step your way to a rich delicious life!

I spent the holidays with my niece age "I'm almost 10!". It was a joy to watch her open her gifts. All she wanted was books and more books. The reason she wants books is because she gets absorbed in the characters. She loves to take on the different personalities of the characters she reads about and 'be' that person for a day, or two. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she will answer "an actress" without hesitation. She can't think of anything more fun to do than play those roles.

Truth is, she was born an actress. She already spends much of her life doing what she loves, what she is here to express, and what will create her abundance.

When clients say "I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up" or "I have a good life, yet something is missing" I ask them who they admired when they were a child and why. You are who you aspire to be.

"The moment that any life, however good, stifles you, you can be sure it is not your real life." - A.C. Benson.

Empowering Question of the Year

As you slow down the pace, rest and relax over the holidays, have some fun with your Inner Wizard. As you look towards 2009 ask your Inner Wizard the following question:

For 2009:

What would I do if there were no expectations, money was no object, whether or not I had the skills was irrelevant, no one would judge me and I knew I could not fail - what would I do, who would I be, and what would I have?

Once you have your answer you have your intention for 2009. Empower your Inner Wizard to guide you, give all of your energy, attention and focus to that intention, and turn that dream into a reality!

May 2009 bring you love, empowerment and laughter.

valery

Meet Bubba - also known as Howard T. Bell. Before, Howard a deep feeling that he was "missing the boat", Old feelings of self-doubt and frustration followed his every move. Then Bubba appeared ‘out of the blue’ in one of those unexpected a-Ha moments in life. Suddenly, Howard knew that his task was to “BE Bubba”. To Howard, Bubba is the name that represents the higher aspects of himself at his full potential - confidant, outgoing and assertive. Bubba has a strong sense of self and a powerful love for life and all of its challenges. From that moment on, Howard’s old familiar self-misgivings gave way to something new, something powerful, something full of life and possibility. Howard became Bubba . Howard discovered his Inner Wizard!