Author: Teresa

This is the first in a new series called Success Stories. Venus graciously agreed to be the first interviewed. Thank you, Venus! In speaking with her, I found she has a vast knowledge base from her two degrees covering cellular biology, microbiology, molecular biology, physiology and applied mathematics. After years of academic study, her “passion is now helping people heal in an applied method rather than in academics.” Her enthusiasm for her subject is unparalleled which is why she fits perfectly into my idea of someone generating the Energy of Success!

My biggest success was when I became awake and found who I really am. Or to say getting past what I was taught and remembering who I really am. It was a process that started about four years ago.

In 2005, I found myself with all this education but with health problems. It became unbearable, so I had to change something. I thought, what is the point of all this education if I’m not using it! Our bodies absorb all of the products we use, many of which are synthetic. The body is organic, not synthetic. There are different names for different diseases, but there is only one disease – toxemia. You cannot throw toxins into yourself while raising your vibration. These toxins lower your vibration.

I had become aware, but was not living the knowledge. The biggest gap in our lives is between what we know and what we do. We have the real truth in us, but we ignore it. We look outside, not inside for answers.

I started a long search for personal care products with healthy ingredients. All day every day for two and half months, I read every label of every product in the stores. Many had ingredients that were not really good. Some were making false claims. Then my search went online. Finally, I decided if I don’t find it I’ll make it. It was time to create this line of products I couldn’t find.

I had in sight very early one morning in March 2006. ‘Try one more time on the computer.’ It was then I found a company and read all about it. It was exactly what I wanted. I turned the computer off and turned it on again to make sure it was real!

I am expert on probiotics and superfoods. I had researched products in the past and had been very disappointed. I was looking for personal care products and found the other! An amazing journey began in which I started to awaken.

Very quickly, from using these products, all of my physical problems went away. My body had been malnourished. My eczema was gone in a week. In two and half weeks everything was gone including a growth I had had on my neck all my life. It disappeared.

My mind started to awaken. We are mind, body, and spirit. Once the body works right the others follow. Literally it was in every part of my life that I awakened. Everything changed from that moment on. My life purpose became to help people, to teach and inspire, to bring forth my boldness for the reason that others see that they have this same power to see who they are and bring it out in themselves. Obviously this feels very important to me.

Venus describes her 6 steps to success

Step 1
Start where you are. The most important thing is to start! Look at yourself. Is there any resistance? Acknowledge those things, even if you don’t know what to do. Accept it. Low energy might be fear, worry, unforgiving, blame, judgment. Don’t deny, suppress, or fight; they make it worse. Accept and acknowledge, then let it go. Release it. Visualize putting them on a cloud and see it going away from you.

Step 2
Set a clear intent. What is it that you want? Want is the desire? Don’t focus on what you don’t want. The universe doesn’t accept negation. It will only bring you more of what you’re thinking about. Sit down and write it. The intent is what starts the creation. All creation starts from the inside out.

Step 3
You have to make a decision. I want this or something better (in case you might be limiting yourself). Be precise, visualize the details. The more precise the description, the faster is can manifest. Don’t put down a smaller desire because you subconsciously think the other might not be possible. It doesn’t help to put down the smaller because it’s not actually a true desire. It’s important to realize that everything is possible for the universe. In a restaurant, you order and they bring you what you want. They don’t bring you something else. You must have that decision made about what you want. As soon as you have a clear decision, this is the moment the energy starts attracting it too you.

Step 4
Visualize what you want. Feel and imagine it as if it is already manifested. I could go into a long explanation of why the brain works using visualization. To make it short, the subconscious does not have the ability to reject ideas and images. It can object, but not reject. It then checks to see if the new idea is perfectly aligned with all previous experience. If not, the subconscious objects and creates fear. Visualization helps because the subconscious does not have the ability to determine what is real and what is imaginary. Using the best and deepest detail and feeling as good as you will feel when this is already accomplished, the subconscious mind takes it as real. Instead of trying to scare you, it becomes the #1 supporter to prove the idea is true. Now when it checks, it finds a positive experience to align with and can allow any further positive experiences without trying to scare you. This is why it’s so important to do step 1 and release all of the negative. The subconscious cannot build over the negative with positive. It has to be removed first.

Step 5
Affirm with absolute faith. Use positive affirmations in the present tense: Perfect health and prosperous abundance are mind right now. No negations should be included. There are two ways to get new programming into the subconscious – sudden shock or conscious repetition. The first is hard to do for yourself, but you can control the repetition. The key here is repetition. You start believing it, and you start living it. It starts to flow with you.

Step 6
Give thanks. Again in the present tense, I am grateful for perfect health and prosperous abundance. Have a constant attitude of gratitude. All of these 6 steps are a matter of practice and habit.

If you or someone you know has any Success Stories to share, send an email to successstories@teresaivory.com.

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We all reach a crossroads, usually many times, in our lives. Decisions have to be made, directions have to be chosen. We all have our favorite method whether it’s logic, intuition or heart based.

My experience with logic is that it’s great if you have all the facts, lousy when you don’t, and even worse when you think you do but you don’t. Intuition is priceless when you don’t have all the facts. It fills in the gaps where your knowledge is lacking and helps you make a better “educated guess.”

Where does the heart come in? Heart based decisions happen when you have an emotional stake in the outcome, and not always, but usually stem from fear. Fear, often called by some of its other names (worry, stress, anxiety, shyness) is so common in our lives we often don’t recognize it for what it is.

What about decisions stemming from love? Hmm…that’s a tough one. Too many times I’ve seen “love” act to cover another emotion like. Control and insecurity are the two most common reasons.

One example: You love your children and don’t want them to get hurt so you make a decision that seems based on love but it’s really based on controlling the situation and your feelings of insecurity that they won’t make the right decision themselves. I’m not saying stop parenting and leave your children to flounder through life on their own. But stop and consider with thoughts like these: At this age, how much of this decision can my children participate in? Will my child experience more personal growth from my help or am I hindering their personal growth? Sometimes we have to step in and take action to protect our children – that’s part of our job as a parent. But often we can find ways to help them grow if we let them share in the process.

Another example: You love your job and you love the people you work with – hey, it does happen! – but you’ve been offered a different opportunity. Your “heart” seems to be telling you to stay, but you’d better check to make sure it’s not your insecurity clinging to the known factors of your current job before you turn down the offer.

So should you listen to your heart in making decisions?

That’s one of those “Yes, but…” kind of answers. Yes you should, but…take the time to figure out what your heart is trying to tell you. When you listen to your heart, you’re open to discovering some of your biggest opportunities for personal growth and awareness.

Let’s look at some possible results from the examples above.

You become aware that you haven’t trained your children to make their own age-appropriate decisions and take steps to improve your parenting skills. You and your children both benefit. Or you bring your child into the decision making process and discover that they’re wiser than you thought.

For that opportunity that was offered? You might sit down to evaluate the situation your current job and discover you’ve been trading growth for comfort and have become stagnant. You can then make a decision about taking the current offer or finding ways within your current job to grow and develop your skills. Either way, your heart has helped open your eyes.

Wrapping up: Remember that even though you have a favorite decision making method, don’t neglect the others. Take advantage of logic, intuition and your heart in making your decisions and you’ll get results that take you where you want to go faster and on a path that is designed just for you.

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Remember that song, “What have you done for me lately?” by Janet Jackson. My take on that is “What have you done for yourself lately?”

It’s all about personal responsibility when it boils down to it. Don’t get me wrong. I love it that my husband spoils me rotten, calls and texts me a dozen times a day, and supports me 100% in everything I do. But always looking outside of ourselves for what we need in life leads to disappointment. It’s important to nurture our own dreams and take care of our own needs on some level.

I can guarantee you that I’d have that angry look on my face like Janet Jackson does in the video if my husband started ignoring me, but the core of my world would not collapse. Personal responsibility builds personal resiliency. And we all need personal resiliency to get us through the tough times whether in a relationship, business downturn, or just a bad mood.

So what have I done for myself lately? This weekend I pulled out one of my old manuscripts and decided to get serious about it. Bet you didn’t know that I’m a closet fiction writer! Yep! I’ve had all the well-known reasons for ignoring my hobby for years. Busy raising kids, two jobs, poor health…I could go on, but that’s not my point.

It’s a sad thing when you let a busy life bury your fun. And that IS my point. You have to take that responsibility to fit time in for what you love to do. I’m still very busy, but I shifted things a bit to include a few minutes of writing every day.

Here’s how my old thinking worked. I’m so tired…I have too much to do for the family…I’ll never finish much less publish it…why waste the time…

Here’s how my thinking has shifted as I’ve taken more responsibility for my own happiness. I feel more energetic when I write…you can make your own sandwich, honey…finishing is not the goal, enjoying the writing is the goal…taking time for my version of fun is an essential way to spend my time…

Take the time to look at some of those hobbies or dreams you’ve put aside. Adding them back into your life just might create the energy you need for other successes in your life.

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How do you deal with distractions? When they are as cute as this one, I just go with the flow and play more than I usually do. You see, I’m grandma to this one so I don’t have to clean up after him – or feed him – or take him on walks. My son does all that. I have all the grandma privileges – spoil him rotten – buy new toys – play for awhile then give him back. New puppies are soooo much fun when someone else does all the work!

But he is quite a distraction! He’s been here only a few days, and the amount of work I’ve gotten done is probably about 25% of normal. Naturally when it came time to write a post, my inspiration focused directly on those moments of distraction when I just have to get up and go see what Rush is doing. Here are a few tips you can use for your own distractions. I will definitely be using them for the next few weeks to get back on track.

1. Give in! That sounds crazy and seems to be missing the point, but if you use this one sparingly it works wonders. Let’s say there’s a cute puppy in the other room, and you can’t get your mind off of how much fun he is. Give in to urge to play for 5 or 10 minutes then get back to work. You need a break once in awhile, don’t you?

2. Use the distraction as a reward. Set a time – I use 1.5 hours – and then spend 5 to 10 minutes with the puppy (or your own distraction!)

3. List your distractions. My piano instructor in college taught me this one. Keep a notepad handy and write down anything you think about that needs to be done or handled later – play with Rush, buy a new chew toy. The reminder list frees you up to focus on the current task without being afraid of forgetting something. (Like I’m going to forget to play with the puppy!)

4. Track your distractions. This is one I developed after using #3 for a few months. When I make a tick mark for each time my mind wanders off onto something else – maybe something like a puppy – it helps me refocus. The fact that I’m seeing all those tick marks add up helps me realize I’m wasting time and motivates me to stay on task.

I hope this helps when you’re dealing with distractions. I’d probably have more to say on the subject, but I really have to go. There’s a puppy waiting for me and…

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I need your help. I’m looking for success stories. You see, it’s my theory that success is contagious. If you read about, hear about, talk to, rub shoulders with, or study successful people, you’re sure to gain some extra insight or inspiration you even closer to your own version of success.

What kind of success am I looking for?

Big success is built on a series of little successes! I want to give people an opportunity to shine at any level of success.

If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time you’ve probably read about “Gary” and his success. That kind of success stirs up our souls and makes us believe we can achieve anything we want. But there are plenty of other ways to succeed: I made my first $1,000 online! I found enough courage to get on stage and dance! I ran to the top of the steps just like Rocky!

Here’s my other motivation

Years ago I worked on a county newspaper as a staff writer. My favorite part of the job was the chance to do interviews for the People Pages. Interesting jobs, amazing hobbies, contests won, community service recognized…I loved it! Loved talking to the people, loved finding about their lives and what they loved, loved the energy they glowed with as they talked about what they loved. Wow! Lot of love in there. But newspaper work doesn’t pay all that well. Not enough to support a growing family, so I moved on to other things.

I still miss it! And want to recapture the fun of talking to people about what inspires them to achieve!

Again, I need your help. Please, recommend yourself, your friends, or even someone you’ve only heard about for an interview here on my blog. Everyone knows someone who is doing something interesting! Thank you so much!

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Loose ends, unfinished business, procrastinated must dos, they all drain the energy you need for success. Today’s post is a follow up to My Missing Gravatar where mentioned why I hadn’t responded to posts for way too long. It wasn’t until last night, I remembered that I’d never gone back to the comments! Too much excitement over finally accomplishing a successful photo shoot, I thought.

My Reality Radar set off an alarm one second after that idea popped into my head. Yes, it’s always exciting to overcome something that’s been giving you a problem, but no, it wasn’t the truth this time. I’ve been working on knowing the depths of my soul too long not to recognize another bout of procrastination trying to set in.

The REAL me

I hate tying up loose ends! I love new, fun, fresh adventure. Tying up loose ends – especially when I’ve delayed for any reason which then leaves me feeling lousy like I haven’t met my own or someone else’s expectations – just isn’t fun.

Solution? I decided take a look at the energy.

I’d better explain for those of you who aren’t my students. When I began studying energy work, I realized I could see the energy that was causing someone’s health problems. I could then check to see what their energy would look like if it was performing optimally and make the shifts needed to get it there. It was just as easy – once I actually thought about it – to see the energy of any situation or relationship, see how it was affecting the energy of everyone involved, and understand the action needed to create an optimal environment.

A quick look at the energy of the unanswered comments looked like bright cords anchored on their end and waving around like they were looking for something on my end. Just as quickly I switched to optimal energy view and saw those loose ends linked to me. Oh, duh! They were the same energy cords we create when we interact with anyone else. Hello! – it made perfect sense that I simply hadn’t finished making the connections. Then, of course I felt terrible about the missed opportunities to connect with the great people who have been reading and supporting my blog.

Corrective action in progress!!

I am spending every bit of time necessary this week to respond to all of the unanswered comments on this blog. I will also be looking around the house and through my relationships for any other loose ends I need to tie up.

What effect do loose ends have on your life? And what actions do you take to tie them up? Please share in a comment so we can all grow!

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Last week in a workshop on intuition someone asked, “How can you speak with such confidence on these things?” His voice carried just a touch of frustration, and it was clear from his many questions that using intuition the way I teach it was a newer concept for him.

My first response was to thank him for the compliment. After all, it is a HUGE compliment to be recognized as having great confidence in yourself and what you’re talking about. But understanding that he had little prior experience with the concept as well as no knowledge of my life or business, I told the class about my first memory of using intuition.

Here’s my story

When I was in elementary school, I said something to my dad. I don’t even remember what it was, but he looked at me with unusual focus and asked, “How did you know that?” All I could do was shrug my shoulders. He pointed his finger at me and said, “That’s your women’s intuition.” I nodded my head – my usual response meaning lesson learned – and my dad turned to other things.

That simple and brief interchange was one of the most significant things of my life. As a child I remember logging intuition away as 1) a fact and 2) something I was capable of. From that day forward, I never doubted that my intuition was real or that I was competent with it – hey, Daddy said so! That makes it real to any kid. But then over time, experience proved my dad right.

The other important part of that moment with my dad was that he caught me in “act” of intuition. How I felt – what intuition feels like – was brought to my attention with such force that I never again had to wonder whether a feeling was my intuition or not. I knew. I recognized it instantly and flawlessly whenever it showed up after that.

Over the years – okay I’ll admit it – over the decades, I’ve come to wonder just how different my life would have been without that precious gift of recognition from my dad.

(I can’t go on without mentioning that men have just as much intuition as women. We just call it by more manly terms – a gut feeling, good instincts…)

Building confidence has followed pretty much the same pattern for everything in my life. Recognition of something I can do (by someone else or my through own insight) followed by practice and experience.

How does confidence look from your perspective? How do you gain confidence in general – especially with a new skill? Please share your thoughts.

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Last week Beth Hewitt shared some tips on setting up your gravatar in her post Gravatars and Signatures – ABC of Building Your Brand and used my site in her training video. My first thought was – “Oh no! I’m going to be so embarrassed. Everyone will see my site where I don’t even have my own gravatar!” Of course, Beth is not like that. Go watch how graciously she avoided it and focused simply on the how tos. (And thanks, Beth, for using my site as your example!)

So I guess I have to embarrass myself

Beth’s post got me thinking about why I didn’t have a gravatar. I looked back and thought – “Oh my word! It’s been so long since I even responded to comments!” Why? (I know you’re wondering) Because someone told me that the gravatar doesn’t show up unless it’s in place when you post the comment or respond. So I decided to wait a couple of days to respond and get my gravatar set up.

Watch how the procrastination bug slipped in

So one week went by. I’ll get it next week. Then another week slipped by…and another…until the gravatar and the responses were a thought pushed to the back of my mind. Alright Teresa – time to apply what you teach to your own life.

Self evaluation at work

I took a look inside to figure things out. The response delay was easy. It was relatively new and fresh in my mind why I had procrastinated. But the gravatar – what was up with that…

First – the technology. It seemed so hard  – thinking about going to a new site, figuring out the steps. Aaugh! Horror! Trauma! Seems I was being pretty silly with that, doesn’t it? But sometimes the unknown looks bigger than it really is. (Big hint here for you when you’re looking at anything holding you back.) Beth’s video solved that problem, and I felt like a complete idiot because she makes it all look so simple in her video.

Second – the photo. Why had I never gotten around to making a new one that I liked? (Really big hint here. Check out that last part ‘that I liked’ which I already knew about myself.) Here’s where I had to search a little deeper for the answer. Why didn’t I like most of the photos of myself? I pulled out a few that I do like trying to understand this. Take a look.

This one was taken last weekend when I went to visit my husband in Philly. He was transferred there a couple of months ago, and it was the first time we’d gotten together. Key things to note: I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours – too excited to sleep the night before. My eyes are red from happy tears – I cried when he hugged me at the airport. My hair – what? Did I leave my comb in Vegas or was I just too tired to remember my hair before Ed snapped the shot? (The hint is in the last sentence there.)

Aaah – a vacation shot in Victoria, BC. We stopped there for the weekend after a long week of little sleep and busy preparation for an absolutely beautiful wedding for one of the girls. See how relaxed I look. Trust me – it was closer to a coma of exhaustion.

This last one was over 20 years ago (in case the pouffy, 80s hairstyle didn’t give it away). This photo shoot had gone on for over two hours including three changes of clothes and three hairstyles changes. This is about shot number 74. I was getting bored and getting tired of trying to smile and look nice. How do professional models do that all day long?

So did you pick up on all the clues?

Here’s your last hint – when I was a kid my mom talked a lot about how she wasn’t very photogenic – “I never take good pictures!” Can’t tell you how many times she said that every time a camera showed up on the scene. I guess I picked it up. I realized through this little evaluation I am overly self-conscious about how I will look in any picture.

My answer for my gravatar!!

In all of the pictures I’ve shared I was too tired or bored to care what I looked like. So – I’m going to work really hard for a week on a big project, stay up for at least 24 hours and then take 75 pictures. One of them will have to be okay! Don’t ya think?!

No seriously – just realizing that I need to relax and let go of the result is a huge step. I’ve got it on my schedule this week to set up the tripod and snap a few self portraits. You’ll be seeing one of them soon as my new gravatar.

My goal with this post was to give you three insights:

1. If you’re procrastinating or generally not moving forward in something you want to do – there’s a reason. And it’s not lack of self-discipline!

2. A little self-evaluation can go a long way. Look back at where you were successful (in my case, photos I liked) for clues.

3. Take a look at old beliefs and feelings you have about yourself. They’re not always serving you well. This one can be a little harder. Ask someone to help – a friend or a professional.

Hope this helps! Let me know what you think in a comment.

Update 04/23/10: Found my gravatar! One of my daughters called while I was taking pictures, and I just kept shooting.  She was distracting me from too much focus on  myself and making me laugh. Besides I was getting tired of taking pictures and wanted to focus on talking to her. This was the last one I took and the one my son liked best. Maybe there really is something to that being tired and bored.

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Today’s post was inspired by Lori Roberston’s How To Find Happiness Within Yourself. Lori points out that happiness starts with recognizing the things you can “appreciate and be grateful for” that are already inside of you. At the end of the post, she asks for comments on what her readers do to “keep yourself in a state of happiness and close to the true YOU!” I knew my answer without having to think.

It’s my Gratitude Journal

A few years back, I decided I spent too much time asking and not enough time expressing gratitude. So what did I do? I asked again – but this time for help thinking of a way to be more consciously grateful.

The first thing that came to me was to say thank you when I ask. This sets in motion the assumption that you’ll receive what you’ve asked for. Whether you operate off of the Law of Attraction or the Principles of Faith, it works the same way. And it’s just plain old polite to say thank you.

The second idea was to record the things I asked for, so I started a Gratitude Journal. I log the things I ask for along with the date and regularly go back over them and check off the requests that have been fulfilled.

Not too long after starting the Gratitude Journal, I realized what a priceless treasure it is. The happiness that Lori talks about in her post simply became a part of my everyday thinking. How could it not – now that I had a written record of all the wonderful things that were happening to me just for the asking. Personal goals, things I wanted to improve about myself, good things for my children…

The Journal also helped me to see just how often I asked for something and then forgot about it. Here’s an example.

When my youngest was about 7 or 8, we had some troublemaker kids in the neighborhood. Three brothers. They threw rocks and sticks, constantly tried to pick fights and generally made it hard for the other kids to have any fun or even go outside without expecting an injury. Talking to the boys about playing nicely didn’t work. Talking to their parents didn’t help either. One day after months of everyone’s suffering, my son ran in the house. “Hey, Mom,” he shouted, “You know those kids who throw rocks. They moved!”

“That’s nice,” I said, trying not to sound too ecstatic that the rotten, little cretins were gone. But after my son ran back out to play, that little intuitive nudge hit me. Hadn’t I asked for that? I checked my Gratitude Journal and sure enough there it was in black and white – Please let the mean kids move away.

I can tell you I spent days expressing my gratitude for that one!

Try a Gratitude Journal of your own. And please – leave your thoughts in a comment below. I’d love to keep the inspiration that Lori started going round and round. That way we never run out and can help each other remember where our true happiness lies.

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In a recent class on self healing, I told my students that I was offering private lessons for $10 during the month of April. My intuition had been prompting me to give a huge discount for a week or so prior to the class. And I always follow my intuition…even if it seems crazy.

Maybe you’re thinking – “$10!!!! That’s barely above minimum wage!!” After all – why would I accept only $10 when I usually earn either $80 or $90 for the same amount of time. The answer – intuition.

Naturally the response was very positive which made me very happy. Then my mind wandered off arm in arm with my intuition, and they got to talking. By the time they came back, they had agreed to offer this reduced price for a longer time than I originally planned with a number of time slots set aside for a range of prices $90, $50, $30 and $10 with a waiting list as each one fills up.

Here are some responses I got from friends and family on this.

Why would you do that!?!
What if people can afford more but only pay you the $10.
I recently raised my rates!

But when something feels right to me, I ignore everyone and do it anyway.

So why would my intuition lead me in this ‘crazy’ direction?

hmmm…I find myself thinking about someone that I’ll be able to help in a few months…that wouldn’t be able to get this kind of help otherwise…or maybe they’d never hear about it if one of their friends didn’t grab the $10 rate and then tell them about it…

Who knows. But when I feel these kinds of thoughts about something or someone headed by way, it’s always happens. And has brought me to some wonderful surprises and a great deal of contentment in my heart.

Besides – it won’t be forever – just until I find that person.

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