Forward Steps Blog

This is a blog at which I have not been very active for the past couple of months. This being due to all the changes that I have made, and that I am still in process of making to Forward Steps.

The Forward Steps home site at forwardsteps.com.au now reflects many of the changes. Pretty well all of my work is now done at myforwardsteps.com which is the new Member site that hosts all my past and current content and information for you.

2009 is also the year that I finally finished that elusive book! I am so pleased with it, and Time For My Life: 365 Stepping Stones is the perfect book for kicking off 2010. I use my copy every day and I’m so happy with what it provides for me each day. If you’re still looking for a belated holiday gift for a friend and you want to give them THE motivational book that will last them all year around, then you’ll definitely want to take a look for yourself.

The best thing about it all is that anyone who buys the book receives a free Membership into My Forward Steps, and vice versa, anyone who decides to join me at My Forward Steps receives Time For My Life (as a download version, getting a segment each month and getting the full download copy at the end of 12-months).

I do still offer some things for free such as Time Abundance and 179 Forward Steps When you subscribe to one, then you’re automatically subscribed to the other – you get both. So visitors will only need to add themselves to one email series. I am in process of creating many more free gifts.

These are also great promotional tools for visitors who want to join my affiliate opportunity, who get to give those away for free to their readers. The bonus is that their own affiliate links are branded into those free books.

I created a similar effect for the videos that I’ll be publishing. I have three videos completed already. Those are Time For My Life, My forward Steps Version 1 and My Forward Steps Version 2. You can find out all about that at a recent post I wrote for helping out my affiliates “Videos Embedded with your own Affiliate Link!“.

Those three videos are fairly product specific. Next, I will be creating videos that are pure content only and provide inspiration or life lessons. I have a few ideas laid out and ready to start. So more good video productions are on the way.

OK, so the next job for me is to connect with website owners or bloggers who really love my new book Time For My Life and see the value of my membership site at My Forward Steps (or even just one of these alone), and to invite those people to take up my Forward Steps affiliate opportunity.

The rewards I offer to my affiliate partners are generous and I give lots of surprises to them along the way. For example, just recently I upgraded one affiliate to receive 75% continuity commission for the friends they brought to My Forward Steps, another affiliate was just upgraded from free Membership to paid Membership at My Forward Steps. I like surprising people!

My three wishes for 2010 are…

-to grow the My Forward Steps Membership to 500 vibrant Members who love engaging with each other, with me and with all the resources I am providing there,

-to have 1,000 of the site visitors to Time For My Life buy a copy for themselves and use it each day, then write to me at the end of 12-months with their shared experiences,

-to have made a tangible difference to the lives of more than 500 families through my participation within the Forward Steps Team at Kiva.org I have already made a start at my personal Kiva Lender page, and my future contributions will now be added to that Forward Steps Team page.

So, there you have it. My latest news plus my reasons for not having attended to this blog with great diligence!

What’s next with this blog, and my other blogs? I’ll be removing a lot of past content and packaging it for the Member site. Each blog will have it’s own purpose, to just give a lead-in to new content at the My Forward Steps Member site and to write a few lines that provide teasers for the Time For My Life book.

My Forward Steps blogs will also be the place where I make new announcements and where I can reciprocate with content from online friends, to surprise them with a feature! They will also be a great place to highlight material from the My Forward Steps Members so that they receive yet more added benefit for being a Member. I like to get creative with all that and definitely I love being generous, giving way more than I receive.

These couple of quotations reflect some of my personal, firmly held beliefs related to generosity in business and in life…

Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower ~ Buddha

A rising tide raises all boats ~ John F. Kennedy

If you would spend 80% of your ad money making your existing customers feel like kings, you could get one customer to bring you another customer just like them, by word-of-mouth advertising. That would double your business and keep your customers loyal – what a concept! ~ Jeffrey Gitomer

Thank you for reading and for sharing this exciting journey with me. I wish you and your families the best holiday season ever and a fantabulous 2010 – here is my Forward Steps Seasons Greeting to you all, there are three little gifts in the P.S. section!

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No one achieves success without the help and support of other people. The book “Personal Development Kaleidoscope”, is a demonstration of the power of connection in action. The Kaleidoscope Relationships List began with only a list of the authors and their web-sites. These authors were eached asked to publish the list on their site, and to add 5-10 people who they feel use or have used the principles taught in this book effectively.

If you are not on the list, but would like to be – email Priscilla at relationships@priscillamcintire.com to express your interest and start a connection with us. Please include your name, the name of your Web Site, and the site URL.

Finally, use this list to connect with each other! After all that is the whole point of the Kaleidoscope Relationships List. If you need information about how to post this list to your site easily please read Easily Post a List With Active Links.

To the authors, I am personally adding Patricia Schiavone, Christopher Westra, Jim Randel, Robert Scheinfeld, Andy Andrews, Elan Sun Star, Alicia Castillo Holley

Abu Aremu Positive Self Talk Guide

Adam Kayce  Monk at Work

Adebola Oni  Naija Motivation

Al Ramsey 7pproductions.com

Alex Shalman Practical Personal Development

Alik Levin PracticeThis.com

Angela Lord at  Angelalord.com

Armen Shirvanian  Timeless Information

Arswino  Inspiration & Motivation Blog

Arthur Hung & Jason Fonceca   Spiritentient

Bunny  BunnyGotBlog

Cheryl Ragsdale   That Girl Is Funny

Chris Cade  Think without the box

Chris Marshall Martial Development

CK Reyes  My Coaching Works

Cinderella S Kelley Kroh  The Krohs Nest

Cindie Wilding  Answers From Within

Corrinne Edward Personal Growth with Corinne Edwards

Craig Harper Motivational Speaker – Craig Harper

Crystal Silver CrystalSilver.com

Daniel Sitter Idea Sellers

Daphne  Joyful Days

David Rogers  How to Have Great Self Confidence

David Zinger  David Zinger Associates

Dawn Edwards  Second Hand Roses

Dawna Jones  Management-Issues

Diane Brandon  Diane Brandon.com and Diane Brandon.net

Dr. Susan R. Meyer, Ed. D.  Life Work Cafe

Dr. Venerina Conti  VenerinaConti.com

Dragos Roua  dragosroua.com

El Baugher at  Thesmilingspirit.com

Ellie Walsh at  Living the Law of Attraction

Frank Butterfield  Life Unfolding Beautifully and 68 Second Videos and Re/Transformation

Gamy Rachel  Mind Think Success

Gary Evans  Good To Feel Good

Gleb Reys  Personal Development Ideas

Gordie Rogers  Lifestyle Design 4U

Gregory Allen Butler  holistic-personal-development.com

Heather Beste  a little bit of me time

Henrik Edberg The Positivity Blog

Ian  Quantum Learning

Isabella Mori  MoriTherapy

Jacklyn Ker  Inspiring and Empowing Lives

Jeanette Maw Good Vibe Coaching

Jeanne May  Goals and Aspirations

Jeff ‘Yoopersmith’ Smith  Shift-Your-Consciousness

Jennifer Mannion   JennyMannion.com

John Sadler   Bitesize Marketing NLP

Jonathan Fields  Awake At the Wheel

Jonathan Wells  Advanced Life Skills

Jordan Rosenfeld  Make a Scene

Judy Kinney  Dream and Flourish

Judy Martin  The Work/Life Monitor

Justin Wolsey Riggs  Easier Method

Kaya Singer Awakening Business

Karen Putz  A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

Lance  Jungle of Life

Lexi Sundell  Energies of Creation

Liz Strauss  Successful Blog

Lori Painter at  Inspire2act

Lorraine Cohen Powerfull Living

Lyman Reed  Free Personal Development Material

Lynn Solarczyk  Livingloa

Luciano Passuello  Litemind.com

M. Farouk Radwan  2knowmyself

Mel Kaye  Monday Morning Power

Melissa Goerke  Melissa Thinks Out Loud

Marelisa Fábrega  Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online

Meryl K. Evans   Meryl.net

Michele Woodward   Lifeframeworks.com

Michelle Vandepas   Conscious Destiny

Mike King Learn This

Mohammad Shafi’e   Ultimate Secrets of Success

Neil Sattin  NeilSattin.com and Natural Dog Blog

Patricia Schiavone Thriving Together, AtoZEdit.com and Attracting The Best

Patricia Singleton Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker

Phil Gerbyshak PhilGerbyshak.com

Priscilla McIntire at Personal Development Demands Success

Rachel Rofe at Rachelrofe.com

Rahul Bhambhani  Take-20.com

Robert Henru  Reason4Smile

Robert Higginson Robert Higginson

Robin Skeen Robin?s Reflections

Rod Smith   Difficult Relationships

Sam Kotadia MindSportLive.com

Scott Ginsberg  Hello, My Name Is Blog

Scott H Young  Scotthyoung.com

Sharani Robins  Sharani Girl on a Road

Sherri Joubert   Being The Change I Wish To see

Shauna Arthurs  Follow Your Path and Breathing Prosperity

Slade Roberson  Shift Your Spirits

Sonia Simone   Remarkable Communication

Steve Borgman Success Factors

Stephen Balanced Existence

Stephen Rat Race Trap

Steven Aitchison  Change Your Thoughts

Sugandi Iyer  Life Business Creations

Thea Westra   MyForwardsteps.com and TimeForMyLife.com

Tina Su   Think Simple Now

Todd Goldfarb  We The Change

Vincent Tan  Health Money Success

Vivienne Quek  Versa Creations

Zorka Hereford  Essential Life Skills

Zubli Zainordin  Your Wisdom of Total Happiness

It’s Thea Westra from Forward Steps, with some very exciting news!

A short while ago I promised to let you know when my book is ready to buy.

My book is now ready and available to you.

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“Time For My Life: 365 Stepping Stones” www.timeformylife.com

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Can you even begin to imagine, how 2,843 actions, options, ideas, inspirations, tasks, and thoughts could transform your life if you took up each of them, over the course of a full year?

Try it out! Go ahead and order my 420-pages of daily momentum, at… www.timeformylife.com

I am so thrilled to finally have this wonderful resource ready for you. It has taken 18-months, and I calculated that I built it at the rate of 1.3 pages every day, all 7-days per week, for all those 18-months.

Now those are some Forward Steps!

Celebrate with me and take a look at this gift, from me to you.

ENTER INTO to the largest treasure trove of Forward Steps resources, free gifts, inspiring content, motivational messages, internet tools/ideas, videos, audios, programs, self improvement exercises, and so much more!

What is delivered to you goes WAY BEYOND the very low US$4.95 monthly My Forward Steps Membership. Don’t let that crazy, low price fool you! Plus, there is no fixed term, it’s pay by the month, and cancel anytime.

I have more than seven years of fantastic resources related to Increased Life Power, Self Improvement, Your Personal Success, Plus Online Business And Internet Know-How Tips.

You will have the SUPER ADVANTAGE of receiving all my years of gathered and personally created resources, as well as the benefit of my years of online experience, years of my own personal development discoveries/adventures, and years of internet knowledge.

You get all of this, and so much more, all by way of a slow release “Content Responder”.

At your own leisure, you get to delve into every inch, of ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that I have ever put out since 2002.

SOON, My Forward Steps will be the only place at which you will be able to get your hands on my personal collections.

See you inside!

Thea

P.S. Remember, all the content at all my blogs and all the pages, books, resources I have ever created will gradually diappear behind the screen of the My Forward Steps Member site.

I hope that you are having a great day…

I have something very special that I want to share with you….. something so powerful that hundreds of people are finding new hope in their lives.

Sam Crowley’s “Every Day is Saturday” is inspiring people across the globe. His message is fresh and straight forward and literally changing lives.

He recently gave away a free report entitled “Seize Your Power” you can grab your copy here… and if you have already received a copy read on because he is giving away more!

The response has from people who have downloaded and read that report has been nothing short of inspiring….. check out just some of these remarks…

“Thank you for the hope you have given to me – l thought l was past it at 63years but l don’t want to take my Saturday dreams to the graveyard!!!”
-Nadean”

.. and

“Your message hit me like an atomic bomb” For once I have received a message that didn’t first focus on what I was doing wrong, and then looking for a pay-out at the bottom of a very long, boring email!!!!

I downloaded your “Seize your Saturday Power” and actually read it Most of them . . . I just download and close the file before even glancing at them. Your story is inspiring because you talked about “your experience”.

The most powerful line that jumped off the page was:

“Here I was with a message that was being muted.” -Irma, New York

Then Sam released one of his power-point presentations from an Intense 2 Day Boot Camp he conducted in Orlando Florida along with his World Famous Every Day is Saturday CD….. which is simply Fantastic!

You have got to get a hold of this

This is all free and just goes to show how Sam is truly different from all of the other noise out there.

I really wish I could share more of the testimonials for you… but this blog post would turn into a book…..

Check out what thousands of people have said is the freshest, most inspirational and motivating message they have ever heard.

Wishing you all the best.

Eat an ‘elephant’ one piece at a time.

With the work load I have, I noticed I was dropping physical exercise from my days. I considered how I could incorporate some, regardless of the time constraint. So, I decide that in my 5 minute breaks, and during larger breaks, I’d do step ups onto an outdoor step. I calculated that, just this small daily action, adds 3 hours of exercise to my week. My legs are feeling it already, and my weight is coming down. What in your life could you tackle in a small way like that example?

Creating wealth from scratch is extremely tough for the majority of people, in fact if you look at the statistics of wealth in the world only 1% of the worlds population have true wealth and 99% of the population are suffering from a lack of wealth.

To start creating wealth you must have a wealth mindset and what I mean by this is you must be able to think the right way to accept wealth to come into your life.

This is why 99% of the population struggle as they are constantly bombarded by media and politicians that the world is in chaos and this sends out messages to the “normal” person they should struggle.

Do politicians and bankers struggle?

Can they pay their bills and claim expenses?

Yes of course they can because they know the secret, if you can call it a secret to be able to have the power to control their own destiny.

To be able to control your own life and finances can be easy by altering your habitual thinking and stop following the herd and start to lead your life in the direction of becoming wealthy and succesful.

Every millionaire, multi-millionaire and most importantly billionaire have this way of thinking and of course to start getting the opportunities to become wealthy you must start doing the same.

Your habitual way of thinking, feeling and focus determines your lifes path and dominates if you can start creating wealth from scratch.

Start focusing on the good and positive and mix this with a feeling of strong and exciting emotion where you want to see your life heading.

Visualise your own success and totally commit to making your goals happen.

Creating wealth from scratch doesn’t have to be difficult but you must be able to deal with the setbacks, all self made millionaires who have created wealth have all had failures but the secret is to never give up.

You can do this too.

This article was brought you by Edward James who is a consultant for online/offline companies and helps the everyday man and woman become more wealthy and successful.
At the next link, you can get Edward’s free eBook “The Secret Of Becoming Rich!”

A Problem
It’s interesting when you consider the balance we attempt every time we have a conversation. For example: A person is trying to communicate an idea to you by speaking. You in turn, are listening (supposed to be anyway) that is why they’re speaking of course. And so now, the dilemma is exposed when the person is finished speaking; we need something wonderful to say.

Most of us tend to listen selectively, hearing what we want to hear, and filtering everything else out. At this point we begin to postulate our own “Genius” ideas, even while the other person is still talking! Of course “we” would never do anything like this, I’m talking about other people. Now, if we’re thinking of what to say, while they’re still talking, is it possible then to still “really” listen? Hint: The correct answer would be No.

An Answer
In this example, the effective way to communicate would be to, listen intently to the ideas they’re communicating. It’s ok to form a basic idea of how you’re going to respond, just don’t let it consume your thoughts to the point where you can’t hear what they’re saying. When they’re finished speaking, take a pause if you need to and figure out what you’re going to say, then let ‘er rip. *Note* It’s ok to pause and have a moment of silence…..it really doesn’t have to be awkward EVERY time.

A Few Tips

1. Voice Inflection and Body Language: Words create emotions; every time you speak, a positive or negative emotion is created within the other person. We’ve all heard: “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” Use voice inflection to illustrate your points more effectively. This includes: Tone, Pitch, Volume, and Rhythm. Become aware of your body language when speaking. It’s said that 55% of communication comes from body language, 38% from tone of voice and 7% from the actual content. People understand that words are cheap and this is why they subconsciously look for other signals to decode the information you’re transmitting.

2. Listen Intently: Listening alone accounts for 50% of communication; If you can listen well, you can communicate well. Normally, when someone speaks, the other person subconsciously decides they either, aren’t worth listening to and filter out most of what’s said or they’re so consumed with how they’re going to respond, that they don’t listen carefully.

Many problems arise due to miscommunication; this happens because the correct message either wasn’t transmitted or received correctly, resulting in frustration and/or confusion. If we could only learn to communicate well, imagine the frustrations that could be avoided in our daily lives. Another technique that’s simple to use, is to become just as involved in what the person is saying as they are. This creates an immediate connection, because enthusiasm and sincerity are sensed by the person communicating.

3. Eye Contact: What’s the proper amount of eye contact in a conversation? There’s a concept called matching, you simply mirror the other persons level of eye contact. If they’re giving you solid eye contact, say 85% and glancing away briefly before returning, then you do the same. It’s important to understand that a person’s ability to look you in the eye, is directly related to that person’s confidence in themselves. By improving your confidence and self esteem, you can become a better communicator. This takes some work and dedication, but is sure to pay off in more ways than one.

4. Speak With Authority, Conviction and Passion: Often, someone speaks just to fill dead space and they don’t really know what they’re talking about. This is a Mistake. Instead, when you speak, you want to do so with Authority, Conviction and Passion. Speak from your diaphragm, to get a deeper sound. In this manner, you cause people to want to listen, making your words more effective.

A Conclusion
Many mistakes are made when communicating, we’ve only attempted to cover a few key issues here today. When someone is speaking, do your best to really listen to what they’re saying before formulating a response. Vary your voice inflection to increase the attention span of your listener. Understand that Body Language is a large part of Communicating and learn to match the other persons level of eye contact for a comfortable exchange of words. Learn to speak with Authority, Conviction and Passion and you’ll increase the effectiveness of your words. Communicating effectively is a difficult task, but if you have the will to learn and apply these principals, you too, can become a better communicator.

Guest Article by Adam Curren:
Adam Curren has been writing and editing since April 2008 and he specializes in Personal Development/Educational Articles. Adam’s goal is to improve the quality of life for his reader through the written word. Please feel free to view more of Adam’s work through the following links: charactergrowth.com www.ehow.com www.christianmagazine.org www.lifeoptimizer.org

Feeling overwhelmed with responsibility, bored with the same tired routine, or frustrated about how to create meaning in your life? Then snippets of time, well spent every day, can lead to extraordinary changes.

The contents on the pages of this book, are guideposts to which you can return throughout the day, providing energy, motivation, ideas, options, personal choices and inspiration when you want them most.

Time For My Life: 365 Stepping Stones is a daily call to action helping us take consistent, energized action. There is, of course, also an abundance of no-fluff, feel-good material, on each one of its pages!

When the content of this book gets you to move even just one centimeter towards the fulfillment of your desires then it is doing its job. The role of Time For My Life: 365 Stepping Stones is to stir you into action and change your life, habit by habit.

Here is something else to keep in mind…
Apparently the average person talks to himself or herself about 50,000 times a day and its said that these personal conversations of ours are negative 80% of the time. Visitors to www.forwardsteps.com.au and www.ask-thea.about.com often ask me how to remove those negative thoughts.

Let me share a secret with you…
Thoughts are not something to be removed. They can only be replaced, just as as it is when we’re replacing habits that do not serve us. Use the pages from Time For My Life: 365 Stepping Stones as your daily point of focus, before the gremlins begin to take hold!

Visit the site today and find out more about this terrific book… www.timeformylife.com

The Global Coherence Initiative is one of many care and compassion initiatives taking place on the planet. Each year, an increasing number of groups and online communities are radiating compassion and care to the planet in these times of need. We and others feel that these collective heart-based initiatives, rather than being a trend, represent the proactive consciousness platform of the future, in which individuals and communities take responsibility for shaping a new world by increasing love, care and compassion for the global whole.

Many people recognize that their meditations, prayers, affirmations and intentions can and do affect the world. Researchers suggest that these activities can have even more transformative and lasting impact by adding heart coherence to the process. Heart coherence is a distinct mode of synchronized psycho-physical functioning associated with sustained positive emotion. It is a state of energetic alignment and cooperation between heart, mind, body and spirit. In coherence, energy is accumulated, not wasted, leaving you more energy to manifest intention and harmonious outcomes.

Adding heart coherence to meditation, prayer and intention practices is an important aspect of the Global Coherence Initiative. It adds order and increased effectiveness to whatever form of practice you are doing.

The Global Coherence Initiative offers education and technology on how to increase individual heart coherence. As groups of people in the Global Coherence community intentionally send coherent love and care to the world, a more powerful heart-filled environment is created. This helps to build a reservoir of positive energy that benefits the planet. This reservoir can then be utilized to help bring balance and stabilization to people, thereby making it easier to find solutions to problems like climate change, the destruction of the rain forests, poverty, war, hunger and other global issues. In addition, by sending coherent heart energy to the planet, you benefit personally. Practicing coherence has a carryover effect that helps to cushion you through stressors and challenges that occur day to day.

As well, Doc Childre, founder of HeartMath, a leading stress research institute, has written a free booklet De-Stress Kit for the Changing Times that provides a few simple practices to help people intercept and manage stress during this period of challenge and uncertainty.