The Universe is a wonderful place. Don’t you think?

In 2006 I took the entire year off from private coaching so that I could focus on my live events and product creation. As 2008 began, I realized that I missed the private coaching and that it might be time to do open up a few coaching spaces again.

Within a week of that thought, but before I had moved forward with any plans, my friend Wendy Piersall of Emomsathome.com, called me up to tell me about a new blog she is launching over there. It’s going to be called Ask the Coach and will be a place where her readers can submit questions to a Life Coach and get feedback via the blog. And she asked me if I want to be one of the coaches.

Well I’ve been working with the Law of Attraction and following my Inner Guidance long enough to know when the Universe is responding to a desire. So beginning in February, I’ll be answering Life Coaching questions over at the new Emoms Ask the Coach blog.

The primary coaching area I’ll be focused on will the Law of Attraction and its practical applications in finance, business, relationships, and parenting. But I will also field questions on conscious business practices, how to thrive in an “alternative” career, and more.

If you’ve got a question, give me a try. If it doesn’t fit, I’ll pass it along to one of the other coaches.

Now, since I’m pretty sure that once Wendy launches this site, there will quickly be a backlog of questions from her readers, I wanted to give all of you regular Evolving Times readers a chance to get your Law of Attraction Coaching questions in first. Shh. Don’t tell Wendy!

Here’s how it will work. For now, until Wendy gets the new site up and running, submit your question directly to me at: info at edwardmills dot com. In your email, let me know how you want your name to appear and if you want a link to your blog or website included in the post.

I can’t guarantee that every question will be answered, but submitting your question now will certainly increase the chances!

Here are some guidelines for submitting your question:

Be concise: What is the exact question, block, concern, issue that you have? Often, just getting clear on the question will lead you to your own answer.
Give enough information: Unlike in a live coaching environment, I will not be able to ask you follow up questions. So it’s up to you to provide me with the pertinent information. I don’t need your life story, but I do need enough information to determine if there’s anything going on under the surface. (There usually is!)
Let me know what you’ve already done to try and solve the problem or move through the block: I don’t want to answer your question by suggesting something you’ve already tried. So let me know what you’ve tried and why it has not worked.

Here’s a simple question submission format you can use:

Clearly state your question/problem/obstacle: (One or two sentences should be plenty for this).

Provide pertinent background information: (Patterns you’ve noticed, beliefs you hold, emotions you experience in this situation, etc.)

How have you already tried to solve this problem? If so, how and why has it not worked?

How would you like your name to be displayed in the blog post and would you like a link to your website?

If you have any questions about the process leave a comment below.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Law of Attraction, Life Coaching, Personal Growth

A Beautiful Reason To Wake Up Early

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I’m the morning person in our family. So I was the only one who got to see this incredible sunrise. Sometimes it really does pay to wake up at 5:00am!

Sunrise

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Inspiration, Personal Growth

Use this classical vocal technique to accelerate your Law of Attraction work

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Luciano Pavarotti In your work with the Law of Attraction, do you ever find that your ability to attract your desires is a bit “flat?”

Well when I was studying classical voice (yes, opera!) I learned a technique that I have recently been applying, with great success, to my Law of Attraction work.

When I began my vocal training, I had the annoying tendency of starting a note slightly flat and then sliding up to the correct pitch once I could “hear” myself singing it. During one of my early lessons, my instructor said, “Hear the pitch you want to sing as you breathe in and then sing it out on the exhale.” In other words, as I was inhaling, I was already thinking, hearing and feeling the note I wanted to sing before I actually made a sound. It was a very powerful technique that helped fix my pitch slide.

As a Deliberate Creator, you can use this exact process to empower your intentions. Breathe in what you want and then breathe it out into reality. Obviously it does not – usually – work as instantly as it does when singing a certain note. But it most definitely works.

Just as a singer breathes in the exact pitch they want to sing, hearing and feeling it resonating inside of them before singing it out into the world, we breathe in our desires by seeing, hearing and feeling them resonating inside of us before we breathe them out into physical form.

When my instructor first shared this technique with me, it didn’t seem to make a difference. I was thinking the correct note, but I was still sliding up to pitch once I starting singing. But one day my instructor had me hum the pitch very softly as I was breathing in. That soft hum made the note come alive for me. And soon after that I no longer needed to hum the note to truly “hear” and feel it inside of me before actually singing it out into the world.

And the more I practiced this technique of breathing in the pitch before breathing it out, the better I became at it. My pitch became quite accurate and I almost completely eliminated that annoying pitch slide.

And likewise, the better we become at breathing in our desires – seeing them, hearing them and feeling them clearly inside us – before breathing them out, the better we become at the process of attraction.

So if you are finding that what you are attracting is slightly “off pitch,” or that you are “sliding” into your desires rather than hitting them right on, consider using this technique to empower your attraction. Breathe in the desire, see it and feel it resonating inside of you and then breathe that desire out into physical form.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth

Vision Board Contest Winners

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Well the 2008 Vision Board Invitational is officially over. If you didn’t get your vision board done by yesterday, you’ll have another opportunity to participate next year.

If you haven’t checked out the entries yet, please take some time to go look at the awesome vision boards that were submitted. I know that I always get inspired seeing other people’s vision boards. I get ideas and new desires.

No, it’s not stealing! Go ahead; let yourself be inspired. There is no copyright on dreams!

And now onto the best part… the winners!

First, a huge thank you to everyone who participated. It was great fun and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Everyone who submitted a link to their vision board receives the online version of my CD Introduction to Brainwave Entrainment Technology for Personal Growth and Success. Congratulations.

Three of the participants are going to get a hard copy of that CD along with a copy of the inspiring and award winning anthology Healing the Heart of the World. which includes my essay, The Evolutionary Warrior.

All the winners were chosen at random using a random number generator.

And those three winners are:

Alex Dimmond

Summer

Richard Lemmon

Congratulations!

And the grand prize winner receives an amazing package of online learning tools that will truly help you achieve your desires.

Simpleology 101: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want (This one is free and on its own can dramatically increase your effectiveness at achieving your intentions. So go sign up now).

Simpleology 102: The Simple Science of Money

Simpleology 103: The Simple Science of Personal Energy

And…

Mark Joyner’s 7-Day Business Turnaround (which I have used with great success!)

This incredible grand prize package goes to Jennifer Manion.

Congratulations Jenny!

And again, congratulations to all the participants and to all of you who created a vision board for 2008.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to attracting those visions through focused, inspired action. So watch for more articles on sustaining and attaining your visions in coming weeks!

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Desires, Dreams, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth

A Sweet Synchronicity: Vision Boards And Martin Luther King

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Last week, when I extended the deadline for the 2008 Vision Board Invitational, I did not realize that the end of the contest would coincide with Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the US. What a sweet synchronicity!

Martin Luther King had a vision and a dream. His dream is so real to us now (although not completely fulfilled) that imagining what his vision board would have looked like is easy.

But the real lesson from Martin Luther King for Deliberate Creators lies in the faith with which he held onto his dream. For more on this, be sure to check out my post from last year on Martin Luther King and the Law of Attraction.

A Vision Board is a great start, but what truly draws your dreams and visions into your physical reality is the kind of unwavering faith that Martin Luther King held onto regardless of the thoughts, beliefs and actions of anyone else.

So if you created a vision board for 2008, congratulations, you are off to a great start! But now the question is, how will you draw those dreams into your reality? Watch for more on this in the coming weeks.

And also watch for the updated list of Vision Board Invitational participants as well as the winners of the contest, including the grand prize Simpleology Package winner, tomorrow.

And if you used the contact form to send me the link to your vision board, there is a good chance I did not receive it as my contact form plugin seems to be broken. So please include a comment on the original Vision Board Invitational post.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Dreams, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth

Top 10 Life Lessons I’ve Learned From My Daughter (So Far)

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Father and Daughter on beach Children bring a great amount of wisdom with them when they join us here in this world. I have known this for many years and have always loved being around children. But it was not until I became a father, a bit more than four years ago, that I discovered just how wise these little beings really are.

From the moment of my daughter’s birth (and even before that) fatherhood has been a truly transformative experience. It’s rare that a day goes by without learning something about life from my Ella. And in many ways I really do see her as one of my most effective teachers.

So I thought it would be fun to share some of the personal growth lessons I have learned from Ella over the past four years. If you have children you will most likely recognize many of these. If you do not have children, you may find some of these corny or silly. Trust me, they are not. Every one of these lessons has had a significant impact on my life.

So here, then, are the top 10 Life Lessons I’ve Learned From My Daughter… so far!

1. Tomorrow’s Gonna Be a New Day.
When Ella was younger she would ask me, “Is tomorrow gonna be a new day?” I assured her that, yes, indeed, tomorrow would be a new day. Now that she’s reached the ripe old age of four, she gets it. And now she reminds me: “Don’t worry Dadda. Tomorrow’s gonna be a new day!” It’s good to remember that!

I the only one hearing a refrain from Little Orphan Annie in the background? “The sun’ll come out tomorrow…” Sure it’s cheesy, but there is a lot of power in recognizing that, no matter how difficult today is, tommorrow’s gonna be a new day.

2. Sometimes it’s Better to Make Up Your Own Rules
I already wrote about this one in the post Life Lessons from Candyland. But it’s an important one so I included it in this list.

Bottom line: Sometimes it’s best to throw away the rule book and make up your own!

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Show Your Enthusiasm.
Ella is not shy when it comes to showing her enthusiasm. If someone makes a suggestion that she likes she responds in a number of different ways depending upon her level of excitement. If she likes the idea, she’ll say something like, “That’s gonna be a great idea, Dada!” If she really likes the idea, she’ll nod her head vigorously and let out a loud, “Uh huh!” And if she really, really likes an idea, she starts jumping and galloping around, shouting, “Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh.” over and over and over and over…

My favorite part is when we’re at the dinner table and we make a suggestion (like for instance on a hot summer night when we, very rarely, suggest walking down to the ice cream shop in town) Ella will get so excited that she actually has to climb down off her chair so that she can run back and forth yelling “uh huh, uh huh, uh huh!” Sometimes her excitement is so powerful I’m afraid she’s going to fall off the chair!

Do you ever curb your enthusiasm? I know I do. Somewhere along the line most of us learned that stuff we really wanted or were really excited about could be taken away in an instant. Often the very things that were most exciting to us were used to get us to do or not do certain things: “Get dressed now or you can’t ride your bike today!” Or, “Stop saying that word or you’ll be grounded for a week.”

No wonder we’ve learned to hide our enthusiasm! We don’t want the good stuff taken away from us so we don’t let anyone know what we think is good! How messed up is that.

Well it sure is refreshing to watch Ella express her enthusiasm with no hesitation. Enthusiasm is contagious. People want a taste of enthusiasm. They want to know that it is safe to be happy about something.

So give it a try. The next time you discover something you really like, do a little happy dance and see what happens.

4. Feel your emotions fully.
Ella isn’t always happy. Like all kids she has moments of frustration and sadness. We’ve done our best to encourage her to fully feel those emotions and express them when they’re happening. It’s amazing to watch how Ella has learned to deal with these moments.

If something happens that causes Ella to feel frustrated or angry she’ll go into her room, close the door, lie down on the floor or on her bed and scream or cry for a minute or two. Then she opens the door, comes back out and says, “All better.” And usually she is. The frustration that was moving through her just needed to be let out.

How often have you held onto sadness, frustration, anger or grief? I know I’ve held onto stuff for a long time! And the longer I hold onto those emotions, the more powerful they become.

Much better to just let them out in the moment and let yourself be “all better!”

5. Walk On Walls Whenever Your Have The Chance
toddler on wall When was the last time you walked on a wall? Whenever I’m out walking with Ella and we pass a wall, whether it’s a curb or a retaining wall, Ella wants to walk on it. And now she gets me to walk on them with her: “Come on, Dada!” And I must say, if you haven’t walked on a wall in a while, give it a try. It’s a lot of fun!

The life lesson here is that we adult types tend to pass by opportunities for joy and exploration without even noticing them. These opportunities are all around us all the time. We just have to open our eyes and expand our perception. Hanging around kids (even if you don’t have your own) is a great way to do that.

6. Sometimes you have to do it alone (even if there’s someone right there who could help you).
I often feel a strong temptation to reach out to help Ella put her shoes on or put a puzzle piece in the right place. Simple tasks that I take for granted are a challenge for Ella, as they are for any child. If I were to constantly jump in and say, “Let me do that for you,” it would take her a lot longer to figure out how to do it.

It’s especially tempting to help her when she reaches that frustration point. But I’ve learned that if I let her go a little bit longer, just past that moment of frustration is when she succeeds.

In those moments I sometimes think of the scene in the movie, Ray, after Ray Charles has gone blind and his mother pretends she’s not in the room as he’s calling out for her help. In that moment, he discovers that he’s not as helpless as he thought.

It’s been a powerful lesson for me as a father and in my own life.

7. Know When to Ask For Help.
Now, while this one seems to contradict the previous lesson, they really work hand in hand. Let’s face it; there are some things that a four year old just can’t do yet. Ella is pretty good about trying to do things. And she is also pretty good about asking for help when she has reached the end of her patience: “Please help me, Dada.” Or if she’s tired or frustrated she might say, “I can’t do it, Dada.”

Her willingness to ask for help is a powerful lesson for someone like me: a die-hard do it yourselfer. Countless hours have been spent figuring out something that I could have easily asked or paid someone else to do.

Knowing when, and how, to ask for help is an important life skill to master. And I am learning from a master.

8. Don’t be attached to what you painted yesterday (or 2-seconds ago).
Ella is a prolific artist. She cranks out paintings and drawings faster than the fastest graffiti artist. And the beautiful thing about her creativity is that once she’s done, she’s done. There is no attachment to the painting she just created. She puts her piles of artwork into the recycling bin as easily as the Tibetan monks sweep their intricate sand mandalas back into dust. http://www.artnetwork.com/Mandala/gallery.html

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time letting go of stuff I created 10-years ago! Ella’s willingness to let go of her creations leaves her open to the flow of creativity. She is not attached to what she painted yesterday. She does not compare what she is doing today with what came before. She is free to be open and just let it flow.

9. Singing Makes Everything Better.
No matter how traumatic a situation might be, whether it’s an overtired and cranky before bed tooth brushing meltdown or a big boo-boo, singing makes it better. Ella and I sing together on our way to preschool. We sing the silly tooth-brushing song we made up together. We sing the pee-pee song. We sing our favorite bedtime songs. Just about anything that you can say can be sung (hey, didn’t the Beatles write something about that?).

Singing is fun. Singing makes you smile. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s research showing that singing releases endorphins. And most of us adult types tend to sing far too little. The 7-Dwarves knew what they were talking about when they whistled while they worked! So try adding a bit more singing into your daily diet.

10. Dance like no one’s watching (even when you’ve made sure that everyone is!)
Like most houses with young ones, the phrases, “Watch Dada. Watch Mama. Watch everybody!” are heard on a regular basis. Ella loves to dance. And when she does, she lets it all hang out. She makes up new dance moves on a regular basis: There’s the running back and forth dance, the sneaky dance, the jumping up and down dance, the spin around until you fall down dance, and of course Ella’s famous Jiggy-Jiggy dance!

Somewhere along the way, most of us lose that uninhibited ability to express ourselves. The voices of self-doubt come in and we become self-conscious of our performance. Watching Ella dance with all her heart, whether she’s alone or in front of a crowd, is a great reminder of the innocence and joy that we all have inside of us. Isn’t it time we start letting a little more of it out?

So there are the top 10 life lessons that Ella has helped me learn… so far. What lessons have your children taught you? I’d love to hear. Leave a comment below and share your lessons and stories.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Inspiration, Parenting, Personal Growth, life hacks

Some Awesome Vision Boards And A Second Chance

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Well the official submission deadline for the 2008 Vision Board Invitational has passed. And we’ve got some truly incredible submissions to the contest. Many thanks to all of you who participated in this inspiring event.

What do you think? Should we do it again next year?

It was interesting to note that there were people who left comments or sent an email saying they would submit a vision board for the contest and then there were the people who left comments with a link to their completed vision board.

A few months ago I heard a great recording on accountability with T. Harv Ecker, creator of the Secrets of The Millionaire Mind. He pointed out that every time you say you’re going to do something and don’t, you’re training yourself to fail. Even if you don’t think it’s a big deal, your mind does.

This was a big lesson for me, and one that I’m admittedly still working on. I have huge desires and in the past, my eyes have tended to be larger than my tummy when it comes to making commitments. But when I heard Harv explain this piece of accountability - the inner piece - I got it. And I’ve been slowly changing that pattern and working on under-promising and over-delivering, to others and to myself.

So for those of you who said you were going to submit a Vision Board (either in a comment, an email or even if you just made a promise to yourself) and have not yet done so, I’m extending the submission deadline through this weekend.

You’ll still be eligible to participate in the prize drawing. But more importantly you’ll set yourself up for success in 2008 by completing something you have said you would. For many of you, this will be the start of breaking a long self-sabotaging pattern. So I encourage you to take advantage of this second chance!

Now, for those of you who did already submit a Vision Board, there is a benefit to your on-time submission. You’ll receive two slots in the drawing so your chances of winning will be double those who submit their boards from this point on.

And there’s something even more powerful than any prize I could ever give you: You have set up a pattern of completion, follow through and success in your life. And this pattern will lead you to a great year in 2008!

So congratulations.

And now, here’s the first round of submissions (posted in random order). If these are posted on a blog, be sure to stop by to congratulate them on their successful vision board creation.

(If the image was easily linkable and was not larger than 450 pixels wide, I’ve included the actual image. Otherwise, you’ll have to click on the Vision Board link to see the image).

Alex Dimond at BrightMe has this vision board:

Brian Wu at Live Meliora has this vision board:

Brian Wu Vision Board

Summer at Wired for Noise has this Vision Board

Lorraine Cohen at Powerfull Living has this Vision Board post and this vision board.

Adam Kayce at Monk at Work has a wonderful Video Vision Board.

Jennifer Manion at Heal Pain Naturally has this vision board:

Louise Aspden at Attract More Joy has this Vision Board:

Richard Lemon at MindPlunge has another beautiful video vision board.

Shelly Fitzsimmons has this vision board:

Diana Samour has this vision board:

Jasmine Gold of Spirit Gold has this Vision Board.

Sterling Hoffman of The Art of Sterling Hoffman has this Vision Board:

[Update]

Aaron Potts of Today is That Day completed this vision board just in time!

[End update]

There they are! Let’s give them a rousing virtual round of applause. Great going everyone.

And if you made a commitment to submit a vision board but “didn’t get to it” you now have a few more days.

Think about it; if you can’t “get to” your vision board, how does that reflect on your ability to “get to” your vision?

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Deliberate Creation, Desires, Dreams, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth

Last Day To Submit Your Vision Boards!

Personal Growth Resource Roundup #10

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Welcome to the 10th edition of the Personal Growth Resource Roundup here at Evolving Times. This is the first edition of 2008 and to celebrate the Vision Board 2008 Invitational, I’ve found some wonderful Vision Board Resources.

If you have not yet submitted a link to your vision board for the contest, you have until Monday to do so. Just leave a comment with the link on the announcement post. And remember, the grand prize is a complete Simpleology package. And I can’t think of a more powerful tool for helping you attract the intentions you place on your vision board.

Here then, are a few excellent resources to help you finish up your vision board by Monday!

Christine Kane has a wonderful post all about Vision Boards. If you’re looking for a clear, step by step, guide for creating your board, look no further than this post from Christine.

Ellese at Goal Setting College has an entire series of posts on her Vision Board experiment. Reading through them is like watching a living laboratory in action. A good place to start is with her Vision Board Experiment update.

And finally, Alex Shalman has this post on a Practical Approach to Vision Boards.

There are many more Vision Board resources out there. But I’d much prefer you spend your time actually creating your vision board! Take a look at these three posts for some background information and then start creating!

And don’t forget to leave a comment with a link to your vision board by Monday!

Happy Creation.

Posted by Edward Mills | Filed Under Desires, Dreams, Law of Attraction, Personal Growth, Simpleology

Contact Form and Subscribe to Comments Have Not Been Working

Submit Your Law of Attraction Coaching Questions For The Ask The Coach Blog

A Beautiful Reason To Wake Up Early

Use this classical vocal technique to accelerate your Law of Attraction work

Vision Board Contest Winners

A Sweet Synchronicity: Vision Boards And Martin Luther King

Top 10 Life Lessons I’ve Learned From My Daughter (So Far)

Some Awesome Vision Boards And A Second Chance

Last Day To Submit Your Vision Boards!

Personal Growth Resource Roundup #10

Personal Growth Resources

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