Love Yourself First

The most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself. Yet, how often have you heard yourself say, "I am my own worst enemy"? If your goals involve raising your confidence, ending depression, moving beyond diets or overeating behaviors, or just plain wanting to live a happier, fulfilled life, you have to know what self-love looks like. Learn how to define self-love and then how to bring it into your own life!

Oscar Wilde once stated, "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance." Love is a mystery and not easily definable. However, it does have certain characteristics. Self-love is a consuming passion for your own happiness. It is an ongoing choice you make to be glad to alive, here on Earth, in your own body.

Self-love occurs when you decide who you are and what you want is important. It is an inner state of being which develops as you decide it is all right to build a kind, sensuous, and meaningful partnership with your self. Self-love involves deciding to connect with your dreams and then supporting yourself with encouraging thoughts and empowering self-supportive actions.

Defining Self-LoveSelf-love is not so much a feeling as it is a decrease of self-doubt and self-disapproval. It involves an ever-growing sense of balance and belonging. Respect, responsibility for self, and feeling good are important values. Self-love means that your well-being matters to yourself unconditionally and in practical terms. The following are some characteristics of self-loving people:

• Self-loving people focus on feeling good.
• Self-loving people allow themselves to be happy and to share this with others.
• Self-loving people tend to treat themselves well.
• They see enjoyment of life as a primary goal most of the time.
• They do not remain in mistreatment by others.
• They are caring towards others. (Because it feels good to do so).
• They put themselves first. Even those they love are a "close second."
• They find a thought that feels good, and practice it.
• They let themselves succeed.


Basic Principles of Self Love
• Who you are is more important than what you are.
• You are valuable. Nothing can change that.
• What you want always matters.


How to Develop and Nurture LoveIncreasing your love of self involves an intention to become more self-loving and then following up this intention with reinforcing actions. An intention involves a conscious decision to be happier and more fulfilled in your own life. You make a new decision to be alive . . . and then accept personal responsibility to make your life a better, more enjoyable experience. It may take considerable effort to pry yourself out of a life that feels less than joyful, but it is entirely possible to have the kind of life you want for yourself. Below are some practical ideas of how to begin expanding your love of self:

• Acknowledge and verbally praise yourself.
• Have fun more often.
• Learn new ways to relax and release tension.
• Practice conscious, deep, full-bodied breathing several times each day.
• Think inspiring thoughts.
• Instead of always focusing on the problem, decide to focus on desired outcomes.
• Fill your life with beauty, such as times of silence, beautiful music, flowers.
• Raise your confidence by taking daily small, achievable actions steps that support your goal.
• Acknowledge your efforts and your successes.
• Reward yourself daily.
• Listen to your intuition and then follow it.
• Let yourself succeed.
• Nurture yourself by imagining desired outcomes to life's situations.
• Offer yourself affection in many, many different ways.
• Choose to think thoughts that bring inner peace (rather than worry).
• Remember and feel gratitude.


Love may be a mystery. The good news is that the art of increasing self-love is not so mysterious. In fact, it is something you can learn through knowledge and practice. Imagine your self-love as a seed inside of you. Even if it is just a tiny, unnourished, seed right now, you have the ability to grow that seed into something spectacular. The growth of your self-love is not going to happen overnight. However, by taking certain actions, your seed will most assuredly grow. Today, make a commitment to yourself to nurture your inner seed of love. Ask yourself, "How can I be more loving to myself today?" Use your imagination and come up with several possibilities. Then, follow through with your thoughts and put them into action. Do this every day, and watch as you begin to create the loving life you deserve.

James Boehm

Give and You Shall Receive

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
- Winston Churchill

Are you the kind of person that loves to give something to each person you meet?

By “something” I don’t necessarily mean a material gift. You may give them a compliment, bless them with a prayer, or wish them well.

If so, then I’m assuming you’re someone who receives much of the same in return, and you’re living a life of true abundance.

Dynamic Exchange

At all levels of life, we can observe the process of giving and receiving. It’s a dynamic exchange that must exist in order for life to perpetuate itself. Everything at the most basic level is engaged in giving and receiving. Energy is given, energy is received. When studying the human body we see this dynamic exchange in action once again. One type of cell may require the assistance of another type of cell in our body, and in turn the helped cell will provide a different service back to the cell that just helped it out. This is a critical process, and without it, life would cease to exist.

If giving and receiving is such a fundamental part of life itself, then the same law must also apply to our interpersonal interaction. If we wish to receive, we must first give to others. The more we give, the more we will receive.

If you’re someone who doesn’t have the financial means to give a lot, don’t freak and start thinking you’re doomed for the rest of your life. Giving doesn’t require you to shower everyone you meet with material gifts; it just requires that you give from your heart with sincerity. The next time you go over to a friend’s house, or run into someone while walking down the street, pay him or her a sincere compliment. If that’s too much, silently wish him or her will in your mind.

In order to reap the benefits of giving and receiving, you must enjoy the act of giving. If you give for the sake of receiving, that’s no good. You must take pleasure in the act of giving itself. Sincerity is the key catalyst in this dynamic exchange.

Giving Creates Abundance

Abundance begins with the proper mindset. When you give, what you’re telling your subconscious mind is, “I am experiencing abundance; so much so that I can give something to every single person I meet.” By communicating this message repeatedly to your subconscious mind, you subtly transform into a new human being. Your thoughts, choices, and actions will be influenced by this new mindset of abundance. It’s only a matter of time before you start attracting your deepest desires into your reality.

Nature abhors a vacuum. I’ve heard this phrase from many different self-development gurus, and I’m coming to understand what they mean by it. There’s no better way to communicate your faith in abundance to the universe than to give away that which you no longer need. Whenever you give away something, you make space for something new. Nature quickly fills this gap with something bigger and better than you had before. Don’t believe me? Try emptying out your closet. It won’t be long before all of the clothes you gave away are replaced with new clothes you will enjoy and use for a long time.

By giving something to each person you meet, you are creating a significant amount of good karma in your life. The law of karma states that the actions you take in each moment add up to your results in the future. If you’re constantly giving on a daily basis, you can be sure the life you’re creating for yourself in the future is a great one.

How to Receive

Remember, we’re talking about giving and receiving here. One can’t exist without the other. When you give, it’s absolutely critical that you allow yourself to receive also. When it’s your time to receive, receive with open arms. Accept the material gifts, prayers, and blessings people send your way cheerfully and gratefully. Understand that you are receiving because you have been sincerely giving. You deserve it!

I know many people who give willingly, but have a huge problem with receiving. I think it’s because they’ve been programmed to believe that receiving is a bad thing. If you’re one of these people, realize that giving and receiving must go together. It’s a dynamic exchange, a flow if you will, where both parts must exist in order for the process to work. If you cut off either end of the process, you begin to constrict the flow of good things into your life and into the lives of others. Don’t let this happen. Choose to receive with open arms, and be grateful for everything that comes your way. By doing so, you keep the dynamic flow in motion.

Where You Can Begin

There are many places you can immediately put the Law of Giving into practice. A great starting place is your family. Think about how much your mother and father have given you over the course of your lifetime. You have received many benefits, but how much have you given back? If you’ve been taking these blessings for granted, it’s time to make some drastic changes. Perhaps you can begin by learning how to express true gratitude, and in time you will be able to reciprocate all that you have received from your family.

Your friendships are another great place where you can begin to put the Law of Giving into action. By putting this law into action, over time you will enjoy much stronger relationships.

Start Right Away

Make a conscious effort to give something to everyone and anyone you meet. It’s not what you give, but how you give it. You can give the person a flower, a compliment, or a blessing. These things don’t cost money, but they are significant as long as they are given from the heart. Remember, giving should always be an enjoyable experience. If you feel as though you’ve lost something in the process, then it’s not true giving.

If this article has made you aware of the fact that you’re not much of a giver, then you’ve got something to work on! Start giving right away, and get this powerful law working for you in your life. The more you give, the more you will receive. When it’s your turn to receive, choose to be grateful for everything coming your way, and accept it with open arms. By giving and receiving, you perpetuate the dynamic flow of good things into your life, and into the lives of everyone you come into contact with. The natural result is true abundance.

Every Month A Million and the Daily Dose Of Good

Relationship Building Is the Key to Your Network Marketing Success

Many of us get into the network marketing business because of a dream. The dream is defined a little differently from person to person. But each of us has a dream.

The dream not only draws us in but it is the incentive that helps us through the difficult times. In fact if we get discouraged we are often told that our dream just isn't big enough and we need to spend a night dream building.

My guess is your dream is big enough. The size of your dream is not the problem.

The problem is your dream is...

All about you.

Of course it is. That's how most dreams are. But instead of gritting your teach and holding on to a dream, try taking an about face. Take yourself out of the equation.

Think for a moment about the type of people that attract you. They are usually pleasant - of course. But they are more. They are generous people who are always giving. When you have a problem they are the type of people who help you solve your problems.

Now think of how you normally look for prospects. You think something like...

How can I get my friend to sign up?

Or...

What can I say to that person about my opportunity?

I'll bet you can come up with more. But each of these thoughts has the same annoying factor. It is all about you. But the problem is nobody out there cares.

What do you think your prospect is thinking? She is thinking...

What is in this for me?

It is time to do a 180. Instead of asking your prospects to conform to what you want them to do, think of how you can...

Give Your Prospects Everything They Need. That is exactly what we do at
Every Month a Million.

Contrary to what you may have been told, not everyone is your prospect. But there are many thousands of people who could be your prospects if you would completely change the way you approach business.

How do you do this?

By giving people what they need whether they are your prospects or not.

All of us have needs. We have problems. What we want more than anything is solutions to these problems. Therefore to be successful in network marketing become the leader that helps people solve their problems.

People are looking for leaders who will help them navigate this digital age. They want to have practical solutions to their business problems.

They need YOU.

They need someone who understands marketing and has the leadership they can lean on.

Teach people how they can be successful whether or not they are ever part of your business. Give them your expertise... your solutions to their problems. Be a faithful consultant to them and you will have prospects beating down your door to be a part of what you are doing.
　
Relationship Building Is the Key to Your Network Marketing Success

Every Month a Million is different

"You Don't have to change. You Don't have to get out there and sell. You Don't have to become this other person that you aren't right now.

"The truth is, YOU are perfect just like you are. Everybody on your team is perfect just like they are. They don't need to change. They don't need to become a pushy, aggressive salesperson.

Ninety-two per-cent of the world's population is sales resistant.

That Is NOT How To Build Your Business!

My belief is, just target the market and find people who already are looking for the business, people who already believe in network marketing. Don't go out and try to build them a dream to get them in the business.

Just go talk to the ones who already believe! Talk to the people who already believe, and are looking. Those people are warriors. Those people are ready to take action. Those people will build an empire. They will build a legacy income for you.

Those are the people you want. Build relationships with those people. Get them into your business, and never, never, never quit building the relationship with them!

Are You Landscaping with Love

Today Lori started by sharing a quote: She did change one of the words to make it more appropriate content for the call, the quote is..

Mud in a box, no matter how pretty the paper, or how big the bow…will never be more than mud.

And that quote was by Anthony Craig Darnell…Her Brother

Then she went on to tell us about her Easter ......

Yesterday my Brother and I spent the afternoon with Granny, we planted her a flower bed, now let me say this in our minds it was a flower bed, her birdbath, and 5 roses surrounded by some stones, when we got there we told her “Granny we’re going to build you a flower bed for Easter”…Two hours into the project Granny declared that a miracle had happened in her life, that she woke up this morning with the same old yard but she was going to bed with a rose garden. When love is the landscaper a flower bed, can become a rose garden, the only real miracle that happened yesterday is that Granny was there to see her Rose Garden.

When we finished our project we sat on the porch with Granny to enjoy a glass of tea and admire our handiwork, a friend of my Brothers stopped by and the topic turned to relationships, based on the fact that love turned a flower bed into a rose garden.

My Brother made a very valuable assessment when he said I wish I knew what happened to the days when people brought more to a relationship than their opinion. Anymore it seems like people have nothing more to offer, nothing to give of themselves just their opinion. He said sometimes I want to say when did your opinion become all you feel you have to offer of yourself? Followed by the quote.

Mud in a box, no matter how pretty the paper, or how big the bow…will never be more than mud.

Then he said take my sister for example, by comparison you could say she’s a brown bag of confetti never concerned about the presentation, always concerned about the content, and she never fails to make you feel good about something.

We all had a good laugh, but I really put some thought into this, when comparing the two one is no more valuable than the other, mud and confetti would have to be very similar in actual value, but the effect regardless of the presentation is completely different a box of mud might evoke a “what the??” Response and I can’t imagine that the response would be favorable; where as the brown bag of confetti…would put a smile on anyone’s face. That would kind of be like a party in a bag.

I think it’s important that we ask ourselves are we a box of mud in our relationships or a brown bag of confetti?

Without a doubt communication is the key to effective and lasting change in our relationships. I believe that my Brother is right, not only have we become people, who bring nothing more than our opinions to our relationships, but we are also allowing ourselves to be surrounded by people who bring nothing more than their opinion into our relationship, I believe this happened under the radar because I hadn’t even considered it until now.

Quality conversation which is the basis for good quality relationships is undeniably the biggest challenge we face, too often we are poised with our opinion rather than poised to bring love, compassion and understanding into the relationship…or confetti.

One thing we know for sure is there is only one way to change our relationship with other people, and that is to change ourselves. Changing ourselves is the only thing we can ever do. When I look back on the most explosive disagreements I ever had with my husband or my children, I can see now that they were a direct result of me coming forward with my opinion, I can see how I met with resistance, see I think a lot of times when someone offers their opinion in our minds were thinking that we didn’t ask for it. Which reminds us of that saying if I wanted your opinion I would have asked for it, there is probably a select group of people in our lives that we would actually say this too…most we would not.

So why if we feel that way would we expect anyone to accept our opinions when we throw them out there? We should expect the same result, should we not?

What can we expect to see if we change ourselves, if we replace our opinions with confetti which represents Love, compassion, and understanding, would we meet with less rejection? I believe so.

Change always starts with us; this is true in every aspect of our lives and every aspect of our relationships, not just the areas of our choosing…we change in order to create change.

Making a change in regard to how we approach our relationships is the only way to create the response in others that we desire. We should learn to love our way into conversation rather than opinion our way in.

When given the choice of bringing our opinions to a relationship, a box of mud, or bringing confetti I think we would evoke a more positive response with confetti. It is a choice we make.The bottom line is we all have value and substance to bring to our relationships I think the key to change in our relationships lies in the presentation. Which is what we choose it to be, a beautifully wrapped package of mud, or the brown bag special? Change begins with us, and ends with the manifestation of change in others.

We create quality relationships through our actions first, the pace at which our relationships grow is based on our approach as well, and how often we can remember that we have more, so much more than our opinions to offer.