Belief is a truth held in the mind. Faith is a fire held in the heart. Joseph Newton.

On the journey of life, being aware of whom you are and what you’re really all about – living on purpose, if you will, is what can set you on fire, if only you will pay attention.

More often than not, most of us have created a habit of moving through our days too quickly, too distracted to stop and just reflect on our own humanity and our place in the greater scheme. We’re so obsessed with taking action, designing our lives, doing instead of being, so focused on things rather than on people that we are outrageously unaware of the energy we are radiating – much of it negative in nature.

This can create a toxic cocktail of uncertainty, doubt and mistrust. Many of us are plagued with constant worries and fear. We have a tendency to lower our expectations in a what-if scenario, instead of expecting the best. Often, as a result, relationships in personal and in our professional lives are often strained and tenuous, things can go wrong and abundance eludes us.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not if we don’t want it to be. External circumstances do not determine our emotional state and energy. We do. Our lives are not meant to always be filled struggle, hardship and heaviness. Rather they were meant to be filled with joy, light and ease.

What is your dominant perspective?  Pause for a moment and think about it. Are you an optimistic or a pessimist? What expectations and beliefs do you hold? Are they big or small? Do they indicate faith and trust or fear and doubt?

As you travel through the years, you get to decide to how you will respond to the circumstances and events in your lives. This freedom to choose is always available to you, even when it feels impossible to find a new perspective, one that radiates positive energy.

The future is not predicated on the past. It’s your choice and how you decide impacts on every aspect of your lives. But here’s the thing. That kind of energy – the flame that sets your soul on fire can only come within and only you hold the match to ignite it.

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Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden.

While many of the larger companies are experiencing sales and profit growth, in our global economy, many smaller and medium size businesses and individual entrepreneurs are still having a difficult time. Many are not sharing in the wealth, despite their efforts.

Individually and collectively, the winners, always hopeful by nature, are those having the courage to change – to adopt new views and ideas and to look beyond the current horizon for new possibilities.

That means moving out of your comfort zone if you have to: Being honest, throwing out what doesn’t work anymore and focusing on what you can do, rather than on what you can’t.

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It seems obvious, but it is surprising how often many entrepreneurs – particularly when business is tight and markets are in flux – will continue to fish in the same pond – hoping that the fish will be there long after they have moved on, searching for a richer feeding ground.

Successful sales people never do that. They sell to a specific, targeted group, people who are both willing to listen to the offer and are able to pay the asking price. They stay tightly focused. And they prospect to a group that shares his or hers worldview.

Whatever the bait or the kind of fishing rod you are using, it is important to always remember that prospecting is – time consuming so it is important to make sure you are doing all the right things – starting with a pond that is well stocked.

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Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once! Woody Allen.

Leave it to Woody to put a funny spin on a serious subject. How many times have you caught yourself saying, “I can’t believe how fast time is going.”

In these, the dog days of August, that familiar refrain seems especially poignant, for we’re only a couple of weeks away from September and the last holiday of summer – Labour Day Weekend. Then it will back to work – en force.

Time does appear to be in short supply. Weren’t you singing Auld Lang Syne just yesterday?

Of all our possessions, time is the most precious. When it’s gone, it’s gone. The demands of work and your personal lives are ceaseless. Everyone wants some of your time so you need to do all you can to protect and make the best use of it.

The secret of managing time is managing yourself. There are 168 hours in the week. How wisely are you using them? Are there ways you could better spend them? Here are three helpful tips:

No. 1. Learn to say “no.” It’s difficult, but not impossible. If someone asks you for your time, check out your calendar before you commit… and try to work out a time that is better for you, or at least, time shared equally. If they can’t wait, immediately decline. Usually another time can be arranged. Could you text, phone or email instead?

No. 2. Don’t be a slave to the Internet and Social Media.

No. 3. Review and constantly update your to do list. Keep asking yourself, “Is what I have scheduled to do moving me away from or towards my objectives(s)? If the answer is no, cancel or reschedule it at a less pressing time.

“Time,” said Carl Sandberg, “is the coin of your life.. be careful lest you let others spend it for you.”

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The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is nothing we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds. R.D. Laing

Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life. Marcus Aurelius

Addicted to our smart phones, tablets and notebooks, we’re living in an age of faster, cheaper, better. Burdened with information overload, our to-do lists never seem to get done. Multi tasking is the norm. We’re ‘on’ 24/7. Caught up in a continual state of busyiness there never seems to be enough time.

Few of us live in the present. With an eye always on the past, remembering what has gone, we are forever anticipating the future, never living in the present – and never relaxing in the immediate state of what is happening here and now.

So, how you may ask, can we change all of this and live a little more sanely?

Well, for starters, you can start by practicing mindfulness.

Mindfulness, or mindful living, is a focused awareness of the present moment, a state in which you are fully aware of the people and events going on around you and of the impact of your actions.

When you are being mindful you are:

1. Fully present – when in a conversation with a someone, you are truly present, right there. In a ‘bubble’ as it were. Your phone is off or on mute; you are not glancing at your computer, looking for the next email. You are actually listening, participating in the conversation. Two people, but one-on-one.
2. Considerate and intentional with your life decisions – Rather than always in an reactive mode, you are proactive, fully engaged in what you are doing and whom you are being.
3. Balancing your personal and work life – as best as you can recognizing that ‘balance’ is something is something you actively have to work at to achieve. The closer you are to your life’s work, the more the ‘balance.’
4. Always asking why – i.e. why am I doing this? Why am I producing it this way? Why am I doing business in a particular location? Asking ‘why’ encourages you to go deeper, to truly think about your direction and to consider what’s really important.
5. Aware of your consuming habits – the media you watch, the food you eat, the products you purchase. Before buying, consider the impact.

Attaining a state of mindfulness doesn’t come overnight, though. Beginning in the remote corners of your consciousness, over time, ever so slowly, with work and patience, from the smallest of seeds it blossoms into a new way of thinking and seeing the world that helps you to be more attentive, more loving – and more intentional when you are choosing the priorities and actions that best fit your life mission.

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