last week I read a quote in the book “The Secret” that inspired me in particular, as it reinforced a challenge I have been addressing for the past few months.

It was this quote from James Ray:

“Most people look at their current state of affairs and they say “this is who I am”. That is not who you are. That is who you were. Let’s say for instance that you don’t have enough money in your bank account, or you don’t have the relationship that you want, or your health and fitness aren’t up to par. That is not who you are; that is the residual outcome of your past thoughts and actions. So we’re constantly living in this residual, if you will, of the thoughts and actions we have taken in the past. When you look at your current state of affairs and define yourself by that, then you doom yourself to have nothing more than the same in the future”.

You might primarily focus on your current reality as well, thinking: “How can I ever change this? I hardly have any money, live in a small apartment and have no idea how to get ahead in life. How can I expect to become really wealthy?”
However, our current circumstances have nothing to do with what we can become and in fact are becoming! It is crucial to know that in order to change our circumstances and manifest our goals, we must constantly focus on our future instead of focusing on our current situation. So don’t waste your energy and thoughts on worrying about any challenges you are dealing with right now. Instead, focus your energy and time on visualizing yourself in your future life. And we need to visualize with so much passion and belief, that we really feel as if we have already achieved our dreams. This is what will attract these dreams into your life. You might have heard the saying “If you know the WHY, the HOW will follow!”

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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when you visualize your goals and dreams, how do you feel? Do you kind of go through the motions and look at your dream images because you know this is important to do, or …

do you really FEEL your dreams?

It is the feeling that creates the attraction, not just the picture or the thought. I got really present to this difference yesterday. Something excited happened: we found the house of our dreams on a website. It is exactly the house I have visualized in my mind over the past few weeks. “Somehow” images came into my head and I envisioned a bedroom with open doors to a deck with a nice view, an open plan living area with lounge on the left and the kitchen on the right and a wonderful flow to a sun drenched garden. I also had to be a specific type of house, close to the beach in a particular area and of course it had to appeal to my husband as well… This house has it all! So of course I put an image of it straight into my Vision Board.

Over the past two days, I have been imagining how it will be when we live there, how I will decorate the house and how we will allocate the rooms. I really FEEL as if I already live there. What I noticed is that this process of creating that “feeling as if” I already live there really enhances the power of my Vision Board. Whenever I see the image of my dream house floating by, it triggers that “feeling as if” and makes me feel so grateful to own and live in that house.

So when you select images for your Vision Board, make sure to create that feeling as if for each image. Sit down, close your eyes and really envision yourself with that particular house, car, family, relationship, health etc. Try to anchor this feeling to your chosen image, so that every time you see the image, that feeling gets triggered straight away. Use affirmations to create even more clarity on your goal, for instance “i am so happy now that I am living in my dream house”.

This makes your Visualization even more effective and will help to attract your dreams into your reality. As Denis Waitley states so well “If you have been there in the mind, you will go there in the body”.

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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Sometime ago, I went shopping and I saw a skirt I really liked. It was very different from what I normally wear, so I immediately thought “I like it, but it is not really “me”. It doesn’t really fit within the self image I have of myself”.
So I got insecure about whether it would look good on me. But then I thought “But that is so silly! I really like it, and I would actually like to be someone that wears something like that”. So I bought the skirt, and you know what?! It has been one of my favorite items to wear and I received a lot of compliments as well !

This really got me thinking about the boundaries we so often seem to create for ourselves. Clothes we don’t buy, activities we don’t start, dreams we don’t make a reality… just because it doesn’t fit in with “who we think we are”. How often do you choose not do something because it isn’t “you”? Because it might not seem compatible with what you think “fits” you? For instance, would you really like to start a business but are stopped because this is something for “other kinds of people”? Who decides who you are anyway….? The beliefs you have about yourself are all self created!

How powerful would it be to just go for the things we (secretly) wish to do or have? Without having to consider whether it is a fit with the image we and the people around us have of ourselves? This week, I challenge you to consider this when making choices in your life. Forget about the restrictions you have created for yourself in everyday situations. Go to a concert of a genre completely different from your “normal” choices. Eat something you have never eaten before, just because you can. Buy clothes in a color you normally think is “not you” even though you like it. Talk to someone you have been meaning to talk to but never dared to do. Start a hobby you have thought about starting for years but never dared to pursue. Dare to stretch yourself! By doing new things you normally wouldn’t, you change the beliefs you have about yourself, which then creates a “new” you.

TIP: Keep reinforcing that new “You” by created a matching affirmation, like “I am a successful and confident business woman”.

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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You are a winner!

Did you know that? Are you aware of the magnificence of YOU? So often we criticize ourselves and tell ourselves things like “I am not good enough”, “I can’t do that” or “I am just not that kind of person”. While we are actually doing a lot of things really well and are working on getting better in the areas we could improve on. So why are we so hard on ourselves?

I think it is time to give ourselves a bit of a break. Let’s look at the powerful person we actually are and grow from a space of appreciation for ourselves rather than from dis empowering self criticism. By acknowledging our personal power and feeling good and accepting about ourselves, we act from an empowering space and will therefore create many more good things in our lives and grow as a result.

So this week, I have a fun challenge for you: (it may feel weird in the beginning, but hey just go for it .. ) every time you see yourself in a mirror, say to yourself in a powerful and excited voice…

I am a winner and I am doing great! Everyday, in every way I get better and better.

Or any other sentence that makes you feel empowered. Feel and act from that view point of “I am a winner” and I know your week will be truly amazing!

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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If you are using a Vision Board to visualize your goals and dreams, what kind of images are you putting on this board. Are they generic images of the things you would like to be, do or have? For instance, a happy couple on a holiday, representing your desire to go on a tropical get-a-way with your partner? How do these pictures make you feel?

I ask this because I got very present again this week to the power of selecting the right images for my own personal Vision Board. I realized it is really effective to …

…be very specific and personal in your visualization!

You see, for quite some time one of my goals was to spend more time with my family back home in The Netherlands. For this reason I had put a picture of me and my family on my Vision Board. I then looked at my Vision Board every day with intent, imagining being there, right beside them. I felt great just feeling as if I had already achieved this goal. And you know what? Just over the past few months, my husband, my son and I were able to go to The Netherlands for 2 1/2 months. We were able to create a situation where we could actually stay a long time and spend some amazing quality time with family and friends.

I just came back last week and noticed my printed Vision Board again in my office with that family picture on it. I realized it had worked exactly the way I intended, and that the effect of a really personal image is surprisingly strong! Having an image showing both my parents, myself, my husband and my son all smiling and happy together had created a very powerful feeling of desire to achieve this goal and really inspired me a lot to take my daily actions. By visualizing my goal this way, my “feeling as if” it has already happened was very strong which eventually attracted this goal into my reality.

As you know, it is the feeling you have when looking at your dream images that eventually will attract your goals into your life.

So my advice to you this week: check out your Vision Board. Are the images specific enough and is the feeling they create powerful? You might have an image of your dream car on your Vision Board. More powerful will be to use an image of YOU IN THE CAR. So go to the dealer and ask for a test drive (excellent visualization on its own…) and take a picture with you behind the wheel. Use that on your Vision Board, and add an affirmation like “I am so happy that I now drive my dream car”. For business success, use an image of you achieving certain success in your business or career, that makes you feel proud and successful. Be creative and mostly: be specific and personal!

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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The following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about Success may be familiar to you. I came across it again this week and it really inspired me. I hope it is a Splash of Inspiration to you too! Here it is:

Success

To laugh often and much

To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children

To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition

To know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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A new, exciting week lies ahead of you! This week, I suggest to have a ponder about the following “thought of the week”. I shared it with some of you in the beginning of the year, and thought it would be a valuable one to repeat. Especially around this time of the year! Here it is….

Instead of comparing yourself with others, simply be grateful for who YOU are!

Think about it for a moment. Why do we keep comparing ourselves with others, all the time, everywhere, with everything we do? It might make us feel good sometimes (when you come out “better” in your view…) but it doesn’t make any difference whatsoever to our life. It only creates more “chaos” and “scattering” in our head! Each of our life situations is unique so when comparing with others we compare apples with pears… always. Actually, in most cases we don’t even know whether it is a pear at all! We just think we know the other persons situation and create our own story around it.

When comparing, there seem to be only 2 possible outcomes:

1. In your view you come out “better” than the other which might make you feel happy. You fool yourself that you are fine and at least better off than the other person. Which creates a false sense of safety and might keep you from taking enough action. It also creates negative vibrations towards the other person.

2. In your view you come out “worst” which makes you feel unhappy. You feel like you are failing and not good enough…. Creating additional feelings of jealousy, anger or frustration. So also in this case, you create negative vibrations towards the other person AND yourself.

The key is though that whatever the outcome: it doesn’t change anything to the situation or achievement itself. You did what you did, it is just so and not good or bad. That’s it. So why not…

Keep your focus on being the best YOU can be!

Live your own life and find your unique path. Focus your energy on creating your own journey and destiny and be happy with every step towards it. Know that the universe is leading you and that things are unfolding exactly the way they are supposed to. Feel grateful and peaceful just in the process of it. Be the best YOU can be and be proud of it! Remember: you are a winner!

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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As you may know, the second step in the Attraction Process (after “Ask”) is “Believe”. After you have put your intention out into the Universe, you need to TRUST (believe) that it will come to you in the best possible way. So this step is all about “Allowing” the Law of Attraction to work and having no doubt what so ever that your intention will be manifested into your life. You see, when you trust, you are sending positive vibrations of expectancy and gratitude, where as when you are doubtful, it creates a negative vibration. So….

How much do you TRUST the Law of Attraction to work?

Personally, I must admit that this step is quite challenging for me sometimes, as I tend to get “arrogant” about how and when it should happen . I think I know best as to how the Universe should “do his job” and by when… pretty hilarious when you think about it! Because time and time again, it is proven to me, that the Universe delivers in a way more perfect and profound then I ever could have imagined or created myself.

“Imagine being in a restaurant and you are placing your order with the waiter. After a while you get a bit impatient and ask the waiter: “is my order coming soon and are you sure you placed it?”, and the waiter says: “yes, it just takes a bit longer to make sure your meat is tender and to make sure all the vegetables are fresh”.
What if you get so suspicious you run into the kitchen, check up on your order and start advising the cook how to prepare your meal, trying to make sure you get your dinner the way YOU think it should be? He would probably start rushing your order and deliver a much lower quality meal than he would normally do, had you just been a bit more patient and trusting in him.”

What if instead you would place your order and then just relax, sit back and enjoy the view and the company of a friend or loved one. You fully expect your order to arrive at the right time, whenever your food is ready. You are happily anticipating enjoying a wonderful meal, while also enjoying yourself in the mean time. After a certain amount of time, your meal arrives on a beautiful plate full of amazing, tasty food. And it tastes and looks so much better than you had ever expected when you ordered it!”

You know, the same goes for “placing your order” with the Universe. After “Asking” for it, just believe the Universe will deliver it to you in the perfect way, at the perfect time and under the perfect circumstances. Don’t run after the waiter, just let them do their job !

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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Someone send me this inspiring message a while back and I remember it moved me to tears. I came across it again when reorganizing my desk. I thought I’d share it with you as it -again- left me touched and empowered after reading it so I hope it will make a difference to your week too! This is the message…

Saint Theresa’s prayer

May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways, meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love. She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses. May everyone who received this message be blessed.

Have a powerful week!

Linda Boertjens

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