Gratitude And Abundance – Online Gratitude Journal #10
August 15, 2008 by Akemi · 7 Comments
This post will be short – Oregon is having another heat wave, and my little portable air conditioner can’t handle it well. It hit the breaker twice last night, and I figure that, with the PC running, I have to temporarily turn off the air when I go bathroom . . . (. . . you guessed right. I ended up in dark bathroom twice last night.)
My Law of Attraction Dream Money Project, Week 9
A little review of this Dream Money Project. It was inspired by the project Millionaire Mommy Jen was doing at her blog. Her project consists of three parts:
Part One: Abundant Life Spending Spree
Part Two: Supportive Action
Part Three: Gratitude Journal
When I started mine, I already had this Gratitude Friday series, so Part Three was a done deal. And as a new entrepreneur, I expected the money to come through my business, and so I haven’t been writing about my actions specifically . . .
“Expected”? Well, at this point, I have a new thought. Of course, my business is still the source of my income. But I’m starting to think abundance can come in other ways also.
Work is about service. And there are many, many ways abundance (including money) can come along.
Check out Cath Lawson’s comment for my last week’s post – a nice new Prius is on her way. (It’s for her husband and for his work, but I doubt if he worked specifically for Prius.) I’ve got some surprise present, too. (Yeah, yeah, I’ll think of ways to scale up . . . but I really love lavender.)
It doesn’t mean action, and effort behind it, is unnecessary. It’s just – there is a bigger power involved. And it can deliver abundance through numerous, often surprising ways. Crazy idea? Hmm, I’m willing to hold it dear to see how it works . . .
So this is how I want to use my dream money for this week, $25,600
Down payment for my new townhouse. Or I can do creative financing, like taking over the existing mortgage, in which case I don’t even need this much of money! Hey, I just noticed how easy it can be!!
At this time in my life, I think I like townhouse better than a single family home – let someone else do the yard and maintenance work! Two bedroom with den (one bedroom will be my office), attached two car garage. With central heat and air, of course. I want nice modern kitchen, with granite countertop, track lighting, and hardwood flooring. A nice view from the living room will be good – a big river or lake. I love the area I live now, so somewhere close, in a nice quiet neighborhood.
I’m grateful for my imagination. Jen says this is the key to abundance. Let’s review what my imagination has brought me in this project:
Week 1, $100 A drive to the coast (Done!)
Week 2, $200 iPod nano and music download
Week 3, $400 Strawberries and gorgeous lingerie (I’ve got myself strawberries . . .)
Week 4, $800 Donation to good cause
Week 5, $1,600 Antique furniture (tansu chest)
Week 6, $3,200 Trip to Italy and Spain
Week 7, $6,400 Arts I like
Week 8, $12,800 Trading up to Prius
Today I’m grateful for the Oregon Rain soap I got for myself. It’s made of real rain water. We in Oregon love rain. I didn’t understand this when I first came here last fall because it rains every day from November to well into spring. But now it’s hot and we haven’t had rain for more than a week, we crave for rain! The flavor of my soap is Energizing Peppermint, but they even make flavor called Rain. Think about the smell of rain . . .
Further reading: I know I’ve already sent two link loves to Jen, but she just posted a brilliant article on the relationship of abundance and personal attitude, and how to stay in high vibration with gratitude.
Paving The Way For Online Entrepreneurs: Darren Rowse
August 11, 2008 by Akemi · 15 Comments
Today’s guest for the Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series needs no introduction to bloggers and online entrepreneurs. Darren Rowse, the ProBlogger, has been offering advise to bloggers for years. Check how a true geek (of course this is a compliment) developed his business in an organic way.
1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.
Over the last 6 years I’ve taken blogging from something that was purely a hobby into something that is now quite a large business.
I run two personal blogs (ProBlogger.net and Digital-Photography-School.com), have written a book on blogging (probloggerbook.com) and co-founded a blog network by the name of b5media (b5media.com).
As I said above – blogging started out as a hobby for me and it was something that gradually grew into a part time job and then a full time business (and beyond). I didn’t set out to make money from blogging – in many ways it just happened.
2. What were the three biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?
There have been many challenges along the way but here are the first three that come to mind:
First of all – as I didn’t set out to do anything entrepreneurial (it was very much an accidental thing) I guess the first challenge for me was simply to recognize the opportunity to take what I was doing as a hobby into something beyond that.
Secondly I found (and still find) it challenging to work out the business side of things. My first love with my business is that I’m a communicator, I’m a creative thinker and I’m a bit of a dreamer. These things certainly help to grow a business but to take it to the next level you also need to be an administrator, strategic thinker and good negotiator. I’m learning these skills but they don’t come naturally for me.
Thirdly, I work in a ‘virtual’ world where I rarely get to meet face to face with most of the people that I work closely with. At b5media it took over a year after starting our business for us to meet as founders as we were living in different parts of the world. Communication, team building, strategic planning etc are all difficult when you’re in different time zones and far away from one another.
3. And how did you work through these challenges?
A lot of it comes down to persistence. Over time I managed to see the opportunity with blogging the more that I did it – as I’ve forced myself to do the things I don’t necessarily have experience in I’ve learned new skills and in time we’ve managed to work out systems and define roles at b5 that don’t need face to face interaction.
4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?
There’s a real freedom in working for yourself and setting the course for your own work. I love this aspect of what I do.
5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?
Three things:
1. Find something that you’d happily do for free and invest into that. That way if it doesn’t turn out at least you’ve been doing something that is meaningful to you.
2. Stick at it and work hard. I’m yet to meet a successful entrepreneur who had everything fall into their lap.
3. Baby steps first – I know some people are wildly successful by giving up everything else to build up a new business but I found that having a backup plan (I worked other jobs while starting out) and other things to fall back on enabled me to take my time and build something of quality over time. Don’t throw everything away when you start out – but build upon what you already have and let it grow naturally.
My takeaway
As a business owner whose clients come mostly through the internet, I just can’t thank enough for the advance of technology – a totally technologically challenged person like myself can have multiple websites and take clients worldwide! Amazing, and quite unimaginable just 15 or even 10 years ago.
The ability to recognize the opportunities is critical. I’m guessing so many people just sleep on their gold mine. As some other interview guests have indicated (like Jason and Laura), realizing your gift and taking it seriously takes courage. Seeing the problems as business opportunities takes proactive thinking. I think Darren’s case is yet another proof for this!
I also want to point out — if you haven’t read the About page of ProBlogger, go check it out. He is spiritual. I’m sure this has been his source of power.
Thank you, Darren.
If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download
Gratitude And The Miracle Of Water – Online Gratitude Journal #9
August 8, 2008 by Akemi · 27 Comments
Dr. Masaru Emoto maintains the water molecule changes forms according to the message we send.
The Japanese love water. The country enjoys abundant rainfall, which allowed the early adoption of agriculture and therefore rich cultural evolution. I think it is very fit for a Japanese scientist to study the mystery of water. (Yes, I am being partial here because I’m Japanese, too.)
Dr Masaru Emoto has written several books on the topic, including The Miracle of Water
But he is not the only one who advocates the mysterious power of water. This week, I was reading a Japanese magazine and saw an article by Seikan Kobayashi. He says he started saying “Thank you for restoring me to youth.” every time he drank water and other fluids when he was forty-nine. That was ten years ago, and his hair was turning gray. Within a month, he says, his hair recovered color and it is still youthful dark hair now.
I was intrigued. I have a few gray streaks, so maybe I can try for myself! So I started talking to water. It feels very good and “right” to say gratitude to the water I’m drinking. I find it hard to remember doing this, though – new habit is hard to adopt properly. It’s sad how so often I’m in a hurry and eating and drinking without paying attention to the foods and drinks I’m taking in. I’d like to be more in the now, and this gratitude to the water – and beyond – helps me.
Link Love
When Tom wrote about past lives, I just had to comment because reading people’s soul records is what I do to help them and myself. We don’t always remember our past lives, and usually that is a good thing – we can start a new life with fresh mind when we come to this world. On the other hand, it is empowering to learn our past strengths and the mistakes we made – provided that the information comes in a way that is clearly intended to improve the current life, not just to satisfy the curiosity.
What do you think? I used to be a complete non-believer of past life, so I totally understand if you are suspicious about this topic. Please share your thoughts without reservation 
Jenny at Heal Pain Naturally celebrates her first anniversary by listing her blogger friends. What a great way to celebrate! And I see so many of my favorite bloggers there – we are all interconnected 
My Law of Attraction Dream Money Project, Week 8, $12,800
Wow, this is like several months living expenses for me. How much precious metals can I get with this? (Of course, I’m talking about the rising price of gold, silver, copper, platinum, etc.)
This is more than enough to trade my Civic to Prius. The light green one. In addition to being environment-friendly (now the Prius is coming with plug-in option, too, I heard), it’s just a very cute car. Nothing wrong with Civic, it’s just I’m ready to step up when the time comes.
Okay, everyone, enjoy the rest of the summer! Next week, Yes to Me will have another great Interview With Successful Entrepreneur – with ProBlogger Darren Rowes. Stay tuned!
