The CORE Approach®

The CORE of Really Being Alive - Responsibility
So, you've heard about making the Choices that will allow you to achieve your dreams. And you've heard about the Opportunities you need to seek to begin to see your dreams materialize. Hopefully, you've begun to use these strategies to make some changes in your life, and live a more deliberate and purposeful life. If you have, great! Of not, then go back and re-read the articles, or check out the website and sign up for the CORE three day seminar. The articles are listed on the Newsletter page of the website, and the CORE three day and single day seminars are listed under the Service Offerings.

Enough of the commercial...back to the article. Choices-you need to make them consciously. All the time, not just once in a while. Set goals, decide what you want and what it will take to achieve those goals. Then what? Seek out those Opportunities, remember? Sure you do! Who have you talked to lately about your new goals? What doors have presented themselves for you to open? Have you been paying attention to what's going on around you?

My husband and I recently saw the movie Bruce Almighty. Although a comedy, there are some very real lessons in that movie. There's a scene where Jim Carrey, as Bruce, is driving down a street, furious about his life, screaming at God to show him a sign. He's following a truck full of street signs that say "Wrong Way" and "Do Not Enter" and the like. Ignoring this, he speeds around the truck and ends up in an auto accident. Like the movie, we often fail to heed the very signs we ask for, because they seems too mundane or obvious. Look around. Pay attention.

OK, enough review, on to Responsibility. We all have responsibilities in our lives. Some of us take them more seriously than others, but we all have them. Responsibility, as it relates to the CORE strategy, has to do with being responsible about what we achieve and what we do with the abundance we begin to see through use of these strategies. If you make solid, educated choices about your goals, and create opportunities to make things happen, you WILL begin to have more abundance in your life. Responsibility is about how you handle it.

First, give back. As you realize how different your life can be, tell people what is happening in your life. You need to be a witness to others that they, too, can make the positive changes they so desperately desire in their lives. Giving isn't always about dollars and cents. It's also about idea-sharing, giving hope and encouragement, and sharing your confidence that positive change is possible. Many people don't believe that it is possible for them. I can tell you that it is possible for every person who truly desires change and takes the steps to make those changes. But that last phrase is the key. YOU have to take the steps to make the changes. YOU have to STOP letting life just happen.

I said giving isn't always about dollars and cents. However, although it's not always about that, it is sometimes about dollars and cents. Give to others. No matter what you believe, I'm here to tell you that the more you help others, the more abundance finds you.

Have you ever been really down, and felt terrible, and then someone who also felt really down called you to talk, and you listened to their troubles? As you listen, and you try to help them, you forget about your own issues and actually begin to feel better because you are helping someone else. If you haven't ever had this experience, try it. Next time you feel down, see who's around that you can help with something. As you help them, your difficulties seem to lessen and you feel better.

The same holds true with money. As you begin to better your financial circumstances through these strategies, you need to make sure that you are giving as well as receiving. Perhaps there's a church, synagogue or mosque you attend regularly, or are a member. Tithes are a good way to give. It doesn't have to be 10% of everything you make, it just has to be a standard amount that you give consistently. And it should feel at least a little like a sacrifice! Think about it...what would you do with that $10 anyway? Stop at Wendy's on the way home? Give it away, and then go home and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

You can also give of yourself in terms of volunteering, fund-raising or charitable contributions to a cause or causes in which you believe. It doesn't matter what you give or who you give to, as long as it's a conscious choice and an opportunity you have sought to give something to someone.

As you change your life, you have a responsibility to be a positive example to others. I'm not asking you to be an evangelist. I am asking you to share yourself - whether it be your ideas, your time, your money, or your services. As you do, you will be pleasantly surprised by how much you continue to receive. You will be greatly rewarded beyond your imagination!