I have times that I notice that I am very close to spiralling into a negative feeling state just by little things happening. This could be my kids fighting over toys, or simply by hitting my little toe really hard .

So I thought about simple yet effective things I can do to create a really powerful day, and came up with a few suggestions that I will share with you over the next few weeks. I hope they will help you too to make each day count!

The first suggestion is as follows: at the start of each day, even before you get out of bed, consciously CHOOSE to create a fantastic, magical day. Then finish the following statement for yourself:

“Today is going to be my best day ever, because……”

Come up with as many reasons why this will be a TOP day. For instance: Today is going to be my best day ever, because I am going to take extra care of my appearance, I finally will be finishing that report, I am going to spend some wonderful time with my family, and I will be going to the gym and will have the best workout I can! By starting your day like this, you will be very present to the actions YOU can take to make your day special. This will get you excited about your day, you will be consciously working on making it extraordinary and therefore chances are… you WILL have a fantastic day!

I challenge you to do this every day in order to make it a habit. Next week I will be sharing another suggestion which you can then add to this action to empower you even more! I will also share my own experiences with starting each day with this exercise.

Have a great week!

Linda Boertjens

A few weeks ago, I received a wonderful email from C.J. Wilhelmi, I thought I’d share it with you (with her permission) as I think it will be of inspiration to you. Thank you C.J. for sharing it with us!

Dear Linda,

I have found that when I manifest something, and I have two options for the outcome I desire, I say, “I now have … and / or …” I always get both! They may come
separately or combined! For example, I was desiring a full-time college teaching position. I also knew that I would enjoy a public relations job. So I said, “I now have a full-time college teaching position and / or a wonderful public relations job!” What manifested was my full-time college teaching position, and part of that job was teaching public relations!

Several weeks ago someone stole my beloved tennis racket. I searched with the help of many people. Eventually through a number of events, it was returned
to me. After my racket was stolen, I began manifesting its return, by saying, “My stolen tennis racket is now returned to me, and /or I now receive a brand-new tennis racket, of equal or greater value, at zero dollars cost to me.” At our next tennis club meeting, I won a new racket, that was, indeed, of slightly greater value than
the one that was stolen, and in colors that I had silently adored (black, yellow-green and white). It’s now mine, the grip size is a perfect fit, and I like it even better than the one that had been stolen – but I’m keeping them both!

Keep dreaming big, then dream even bigger!

I read once somewhere, “try to do one impossible thing every day”. For some reason this stuck in my mind. You should always be open to challenge yourself and to continue to achieve.

For the past week we have been on holiday on a dairy farm. The kids got their first experience with milking cows, riding horses and making friends with other kids staying there. Glorious weather and a relaxed atmosphere, just what we needed.

Many enduro-riders take their families to the farm to combine family time with ripping up decent pastures with their trail-bikes. The farm is criss-crossed by an array of bike tracks, up near-vertical hills down into ravines and crossing muddy rivers. I took the opportunity to try something new. I learned to ride a dirt-bike.

I was a bit hesitant about learning to ride a bike as I am not naturally a petrol head. However, it was great and scary and on more than one occasion I had to put common-sense aside and trust in the bike and my reflexes in order to complete a tricky (read dangerous) part of the track. Conquering self-limiting beliefs and achieving some new goal is immensely rewarding and provides so much self-confidence that then spills over into other activities.

Now we are back home with batteries recharged and ready to make the most of the new year.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

In this very last Splash of Inspiration for the year, I would like to thank you for your support and input in 2009. I entrust that one way or the other, our emails will have inspired you on your life journey.

These last few days of the year offer a good opportunity to create the year ahead. So make sure to spend some time thinking about what you would like to create in 2010. What goals do you want to achieve, what things on your Vision Board attracted in your life? If you haven’ t already, this is an excellent time to update your Vision Board and powerfully visualize the life you desire. make a clear list of goals and desires, truly see and FEEL how 2010 will unfold for you and get excited about the achievement of this vision. You will start the year empowered and ready to go!

The team at OrangePeel Systems hereby wishes you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010 full of love, success and laughter. May all you envision become a reality in your life!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Linda Boertjens

Christmas time seems to be a time of reflection on one’s life. At the end of yet another year, we tend to look back and review the year we had. What did we like, what do we rather forget as soon as possible. One thing I recommend you to do, is answer the following question for yourself:

“What am I proud of doing, achieving or being this year?”

Have a good look at your year and write down as many things as possible. I am sure it will empower you and make you realize how far you have come since last year  Christmas. You deserve to honor yourself and be proud!

In addition, you can expand on this and ask: WHO can I be proud of, and why? Make sure to share this with the person involved!

Have a great week and for those of you who celebrate it: Merry Christmas!

Linda Boertjens

Do you have a vision, a clear idea of where you want your business to be in five years time? Do you know and understand the personality of your business. If you have employees or colleagues do they share that vision and knowledge of the company? Are you sure?

Why is it that companies operating in the same industry and often serving the same customers are not all equal in their success? Often it will come down to solid core-values and a clear vision and direction with all involved aligned to the same purpose. Core values and clear vision should live inside each member of the organization.

Successful companies keep a clear picture of an ambitious future ever before their people. Each person must grasp the importance of this vision and embrace it as their own. It is the challenge of leadership to mentor each member of their team so everyone sees how their performance contributes to the realization of the vision.

Creating a clear and direction is not an easy task but if you have gone through the process then you can reap the benefits. A clear vision provides:
- a focus for the members of the organization
- something to measure relative success against
- alignment of personal goals towards a single destiny

A company that does not have clearly defined core-values and does not foster and push a single vision leaves personnel within the organization to determine how to react, what to work towards and what to strive for by themselves. Lack of strong direction and vision can lead to a climate of mediocrity where individuals are satisfied with achieving minimum work requirement. Managers will be satisfied with adequate work rather than encourage their staff to strive for greater performance.

The VBS is a powerful tool that you can use to focus and magnify the efforts of everyone in your business to align them to a common purpose. VBS allows you to communicate your company vision in an effective and dynamic way. By creating a number of vision boards that reflect aspects of the company and having these installed on computers in the office is a powerful yet simple way to ensure everyone is confronted with the vision of the company on a daily basis. With VBS your company is able to live and breathe the vision.

With the VBS it is possible to create specialized vision boards. For example, a common board for company core values. Each value is represented by an image that expresses that concept. Other vision boards may deal with the horizon, the vision of where the company could be in five years time. Or the rewards of achieving short term goals, e.g., Christmas party of a yacht in the harbor. Finally encouraging staff to create their own boards expressing their views of how they fit into the picture is a powerful and simple way to align individuals to a common goal and values.

In future posts I would like to explore the creation of business visions board in more depth. See you next time.

Wow, Christmas is nearly here! I so vividly remember last year around this time, it seems like yesterday. I thought I’d repeat a Splash I wrote last year around this time, as the message in it is dear to my heart. Here it is!

Christmas can be a wonderful a time of love, fun, appreciation and spending a wonderful time with your family and friends. Unfortunately, for some people this seems to be overshadowed these days by spending a lot of energy on trivial things, really. The weeks leading up to Christmas can turn into a very stressful time, worrying about finances, buying people expensive gifts, getting things done before the end of the year, arranging table settings, etc. By the time it actually is Christmas many people are exhausted and frustrated! Did you know that Christmas is one of the busiest time for women refugee centers? And that violence in the house reaches a peak during this time of year…? Pretty scary, right?

If you have been receiving this email for a while you are aware that when you FEEL somewhat negative and stressed and when you have a negative emotions towards Christmas, guess what…. you will attract exactly the Christmas you are dreading! If you expect it to be stressful, it will be. If you are afraid the result is that you will have a confrontation with your mother, changes are … you will! If you expect your uncle to be annoying… changes are he will be (from your point of view at least!) The Law of Attraction always works, also at Christmas time !

The good news is: instead, you can also work on on a positive, truly magical Christmas by visualizing exactly how your ideal Christmas will be! With this Splash of Inspiration I hope to inspire you to start NOW to visualize and create a really wonderful Christmas, focused on what is truly important: a blissful time of relaxation, appreciation and loving bonding with family and friends.

Just think about it: what do you most remember from Christmas 10 years ago? Was it the food, the presents, the cutlery….. or the laughter, love and connection you felt with your family?

Make sure to create all the positive feelings around this special time of year, and visualize the exact Christmas you dream about. Create affirmations that add power to this visualization. For instance “I am so grateful that we have a peaceful and loving Christmas with the whole family, everyone is getting along and is in appreciation of each other”. Most of all, keep in mind what is really important, and don’t sweat the small stuff!

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

Calling for contributors!

Write an article for VisionLounge and get rewarded with a VBS 2010,

read on if you wish to be one of the lucky recipients!

One of the reasons why the VisionLounge was created was to provide a fantastic resource for all people who are working on setting and achieving goals. VisionLounge is here to inspire those of you with big dreams and finding ways to stay motivated. These goals and dreams may be business related, personal, health related, spiritual or very practical; we want to be an empowering partner in achieving them all!

A great way to fire people up and go that extra mile is to read and see the success and ideas of other like-minded people. This is where you come in…your stories are very valuable to share, so we would love to hear from you!!!

Here is a great way you can contribute to a buzzing Visionlounge and receive a free VBS 2010:

Write an article for Visionlounge

Share your story of personal success or explain how you overcame hurdles to achieve what you desired. You can choose the topic, just keep in mind that the purpose of the article is to inspire others, so make it appeal to members of the VisionLounge.

If your article is accepted for publication on Visionlounge we will give you a free copy of the new VBS 2010, worth $97, as a big thank you for your time and effort. The new VBS is not for sale until February 2010 so this is your chance to get hold of it now!!

(To be eligible, articles must be between 500 and 2000 words. Images and other media can be considered. Applications must be the author’s own work and not published elsewhere. To be accepted we require a photo/avatar of the author.)