The Power of Gratitude

Get 'Er Done

I've been reading through our experts' blogs and found some gems that I thought you'd enjoy. All of them have to do with getting things done.

Brenda Cote's  It’s About Time: Urgent vs Important  is a great place to start because she helps you prioritize your list of things to do by how important or urgent they are. Sometimes we only think something is important when it comes right down to it, it isn't. She gives the following tip for deciding how important something really is.

"In moments of doubt, ask yourself the following questions to determine what is truly important to you:

• Will what I am about to do add significant value to my life or the lives of my loved ones?
• Is it vital that I find a solution to this conflict or can someone else be entrusted with the responsibility?
• Does the way I handle my day-to-day activities achieve balance in my life or am I feeling overwhelmed?"

I recommend reading Brenda's full post at It’s About Time: Urgent vs Important

What if you're overwhelmed?  Michele PW gives this tip in her blog entry 3 Ways to Overcome Marketing Overwhelm:

"Start small. This is what I did in my own business. You’ll notice I have a lot of marketing tasks going on right now — I have my newsletter, I blog, I podcast, I’m on social networking sites, I’m doing direct mail. I didn’t wake up one morning and say “I’m going to start everything today.” No, I did things one at a time. I started with my newsletter, then I added blogging, then podcasting, then social networking, etc. After I mastered one task, I went on to add another. So my marketing wouldn’t seem so overwhelming to me. But remember, the biggest thing is to actually DO something. Start taking some action in your marketing, and the rest of the pieces should start to fall into place." Read Michele's full blog post at 3 Ways to Overcome Marketing Overwhelm .

Ok, so you're off on your path. you're starting small and moving in the right direction. What do you do when obstacles get in the way?

Prosperity Expert, Leslie Householder suggests, "When you've got something to do, you just can't get stopped when everything isn't 'just so.' You do the best you can and let it go." Btw, her blog entry at What my Daughter Taught Me about Prosperity is one of the most inspiring stories I've ever read. It's about Leslie's unstoppable 9-year-old. If a little girl can reach lofty goals, you can too!

Getting things done starts with the right thoughts and the right words. Sometimes we sabotage our own efforts. As Dr. Neill Neill says in Committed to Change? How to Avoid a Major Self-Sabotage Trap: "When you want personal change, talking about the past as if it is the present is a huge form of self sabotage."

For example, let's say you have a problem meeting your financial obligations. You might find yourself saying:

"Every time I make a little extra money, something comes along to take it away. I just can't seem to hang onto the money I earn. It always gets sucked away on a bill. I can't seem to save anything. I'm just not a good money manager."

Notice how this statement makes the problems of the past the problems of the present. Instead you might say:

"In the past when I made some extra money, something came along and took it away. Before, it was hard to hang onto money and I didn't save."

Notice the different feeling? Money issues are a problem of the past in the 2nd example. From this point forward you can choose to do something differently. You are not your problem. You can choose any path from this point forward.

Watch your thoughts and words because they control your actions. And then do as Leslie Householder says, "Decide, first, what you want to accomplish, and then get behind it 100%. Give it all you've got, and envision God helping you as a loving parent who can no longer ignore your requests because you're a determined, persistent, willing and teachable child. Don't hold back. Throw your heart into it, trust God to provide and watch the results be grander than you've ever seen them be."

Car Buying Expert and Christian Coach Join IdeaMarketers

Please welcome our newest experts at IdeaMarketers.com:

Official Car Buying Expert - Peter Robinson
Peter W. Robinson is the founder of Movinmetal, a family-owned car buying and consulting service located in Escondido, Ca., just north of San Diego. He is the creator of CAR FU: Self-Defense for Car Buyers, a low-impact/high-yield system for car buyers. http://car-fu.com

Your Official Christian Coach is David Evans
David Evans is an Innovation Coach, who specializes in helping Christians find those breakthroughs of the Spirit that can lead them to a deeper life of faith. Are you looking for an innovation breakthrough in some area of your life? Find out more at DavidEvansCommunications.com

Gratitude Transforms Challenges Into Blessings

Gratitude is a key ingredient to happiness. It is the antidote for pride. Have you ever seen a proud person who is grateful? I haven't! It's the catalyst for joy. It's pretty tough to be grateful and miserable at the same time, isn't it?

When we look around us, there is always something for which to be grateful. We don't even have to "own" anything to be grateful. We can be grateful for the clear blue sky on a winter's afternoon, or the sunlight streaming through the clouds. We can be grateful for the colors in a sunset or the blessing of a new day at sunrise. None of this costs us a dime. As we connect to God through gratitude, we connect to the Source of all that is good. Gratitude brings us in harmony with this Source and blessings naturally flow as a result.

I have found in my business that gratitude is critical. When I am grumpy or depressed, my business suffers. When I am grateful and looking for the good, things flow toward me. Michele PW our online marketing expert wrote a great article entitled, "Small Business Success - 3 Ways Gratitude Can Grow Your Business." In it she gives 3 tips for using gratitude to boost your business. Her first tip is: "Feelings are important. It’s not enough to just think about being grateful, you have to feel grateful as well. When you think about all the things you’re grateful for, really feel that gratitude throughout your body. Focus on it, and feel it radiate everywhere, from your fingers to your toes. Another tip is to imagine you have a dial in front of you, and when you turn up that dial you’re amplifying that emotion. It only takes a few moments to do, but the results are amazing. Try it and see if you don’t feel so much better afterwards." To read the full blog entry, go to 3 Ways Gratitude Can Grow Your Business.

Another aspect of gratitude that few people think about is being grateful for your obstacles! There are so many times in my life when I thought something was a horrible challenge, but in hindsight I see it as a precious blessing. My husband losing his job back in 1990 set me on a path to building my own business that now completely supports our family. My husband and I can both be home with our kids. Had we never gone through those initial hard years, we wouldn't be where we are today.

Had I not received severe criticism for one of my novels about 3 years ago, I wouldn't have sought out an editor. Had I not gotten the editor, I wouldn't have learned important writing rules that almost immediately opened publishing doors for me. I have learned to look at every customer complaint, every seemingly "negative" experience as a possibility for learning, growth and priceless treasures. I can't count how many web site innovations have come because a customer complained or had a question about something.

To learn more about this concept of being grateful for your challenges, read Leslie Householder's "Prosperity Disguised: My Favorite Rejection." . While you're at it, get your free electronic copy of Leslie's book, "The JackRabbit Factor:Why You Can!" Back in 2000-2001 Leslie mentored me in these principles and they totally transformed my life. Through the power of gratitude and other principles she teaches, one of the worst financial calamities to befall our family morphed into my greatest blessing... because it brought me this knowledge. Be sure to dig around on Leslie's site and learn all you can from her. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Prosperity, Financial Freedom and Wealth Building Blog Carnival

I'm starting a blog carnival on living an abundant life of prosperity, financial freedom and wealth. I'll be spotlighting exceptional blog entries that relate to these topics. Specifically our financial experts at IdeaMarketers and their blog posts will be featured. For example, a few of my favorite prosperity blogs this week are:

Leslie Householder's "Fall Forward into Prosperity." She explains a truth which has been one of my most important secrets to success. She writes, "Your prosperous ideas are so fragile. They are quiet, powerful packages containing unlimited opportunity.

A single opportunity, the smallest thought… the decision you make on what to do with the thought can either take you closer to your goal or leave you drifting further from it.

The idea pops into your head and can change your life, or it can be discarded, or rejected in a fraction of a second.

Each moment you exist is a moment of choice. The next time an idea pops into your head, care for it like a newborn. Protect it. Nourish it. Don’t reject it just because it doesn’t become an adult in a day." For the full blog, go here.

Brenda Cote, our wealth-building expert talked about a very common trap that I've fallen into myself when it comes to achieving success. She writes, "One day, I called four of them into my office to talk about their dwindling sales. I asked each of them to paint me a picture of their ideal life. Every detail offered related to the relief of their immediate hardships. When I asked what they would do after resolving their pressing financial matters, all they could muster were generic, detached descriptions of a future that was so far in the distance it didn’t even exist. I realized at that moment that I had invested my time, energy and emotions to support these hopeful sales people in their quest to get ahead without first inviting them to define what “getting ahead” meant for them. How would this [success] materialize, what would it bring them and when would they arrive? These were important questions no one asked. Their visions were clouded by the circumstances of their present existence. They could not see a way of living beyond their immediate moment. They had no clarity."

In her blog Do You Need to Have Your Eyes Checked, she gives 7 Ways to See More Clearly

Media Room at MarniePehrson.com

I've added a full media room to MarniePehrson.com. It contains my bio and story, potential interview questions, possible story angles, book excerpts, my syndicated columns, speaking information and videos from workshops. There's also media mentions, audio clips from radio interviews, articles, and more. I hope you find the media room interesting and informative.

The Meaning of Life

When it's all been said and done, life isn't about accolades or accomplishments. It's about who you are, what you stand for and how it shines through in all you say or do. It's the core values that influence your relationships and impact others. This journey we call life is about who we become along the way and how "who" we are lifts the world. A friend once gave me a plaque that says it best, "So many people come into our lives then leave the way they came. But there are those precious few who touch our hearts so deeply we will never be the same."

Of all the people who have traveled this planet in my lifetime, there is one man who modeled this better than any other. His name was Gordon B. Hinckley. He stood for hope; he stood for truth; he stood for optimism, humility and hard work. He was a shining beacon that said no matter how bad this world gets, "things will work out."

Most of all, he stood for Jesus Christ, and it influenced everything he did, everything he accomplished and impacted all who had the pleasure of hearing him speak, reading his words, or knowing him in any way.

Thank you President Hinckley for standing for something.

Savannah Nights Released Today

Savannah Nights
by Marnie L. Pehrson
Latest Release: in Granite Publishing's Love Note Series (#8)

Samantha Reynolds set off for college, leaving her best friend Sean Cooper behind just when their friendship had started to blossom into something more. Sean leaves on a basketball scholarship at a major university while Samantha sets her sails for culinary school in Atlanta.

Over the years they lose touch until ten years later when Samantha is a prominent chef in an Atlanta restaurant. When her mother's untimely death shocks her world, Samantha heads home to Savannah, Georgia where she hopes to lead a calmer life. Instead, she ends up entangled in a mystery her mother was trying to solve.

In order to piece together the puzzle Marjorie Reynolds left behind, Samantha turns to her old friend Sean, now a city alderman in whom her mother confided. Together they must learn what Marjorie discovered before Samantha ends up sharing her mother's fate.

The book is available through the Distractions Ink site. I hope you enjoy it!