Are you a Savvy Spender? If not, tune in Wednesday LIVE...

Many of us have tried it in the past. Who has been successful at it? Not me! Budgets! Why don't they work like they should?

Rosalyn Cronin is joining me on Wednesday at 11 am EST on Real Life Radio to help us figure out why budgets don't work. What's more is she is going to help us figure out what we can do to become Savvy Spenders instead.

Tune in to learn this vital skill for our financial health and well-being.

RealLifeChanges.com makes some changes

We are happy to announce a whole new look to our web site. In addition to our traditional daily inspirations, we have added some great new services to help you on your journey of change.

Actively Creating Your Life is a booster life coaching program to help kick-start your goals into action. Using proven goal setting and follow-up tools, we will set the change machine in motion and help you get what you really, really want — now!

Real Life Radio is now LIVE every Wednesday at 2pm EST on BlogTalkRadio.com. Tune in to listen to the experts in Money, Mind, Body, and Soul explain their views on topics that make a difference in your life.

And our community forum is up for all to share. We need to reach out to each other and hold out a virtual supportive hand whenever we can. So take a look and see if there is something you can comment on or put up your own question for others to help out with.

Looking forward to seeing you in our growing online community!

Seeing it makes it more believable, and attainable

"You must understand that seeing is believing, but also know that believing is seeing." — Denis Waitley

You've heard this saying before: "Seeing is believing". We find it easier to believe what we see with our own eyes. And the same holds true for mental "seeing". Visualizing a scene or action in your mind tends to make it more real. And therefore as you "see" it, you come to believe in the reality of the image that you have created in your mind's eye.

This has actually been tested and proven in hospital settings. Two patients both unable to get up to walk, their muscles beginning to atrophy are compared. One is told to visualize himself exercising his muscles every day. At the end of the test period, they are both measured and the one who "saw" himself exercising maintained more muscle tissue, as if he had actually been exercising. His mind didn't know the difference and therefore his brain sent the messages that he was working out. Amazing!

At first visualization of a goal may seem forced and unnatural. Repeated visualizations, slowly create the belief that the desired goal is possible, then probable, then, finally, a fact.

And once a goal has become real in your mind, once you believe it, it starts to become real in your life. And then you can ACT on it because you have already convinced every cell in your body that this goal is attainable.

Value Yourself

“You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being -- not because anybody says so, not because you're successful, not because you make a lot of money -- but because you decide to believe it and for no other reason.” — Wayne Dyer

What if today you lost your job or your possessions. Would you be worthless? What if someone walked up to you and told you that you were stupid, would you believe them?

Base your self-worth on who you are at your source. You are not what you do, you are not what you have, you are not what others think of you (both positive or negative).

Believe you are of value because that is the reality for every single person in the world no matter what they do or don't do, what they have or don't have, and what others think of them or don't think of them.

Does it improve on the silence?

"Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence?" — Sai Baba

I feel the above quote to be so well stated that it is hard for me to add anything to it that could clarify on its wisdom. So this shall be short and brief. When tempted to fill the silence with words, please consider the question above carefully before you speak. Make sure what you are saying is kind. Be certain that it is something that absolutely needs to be said. Verify that what you are about to say is in fact true and not just a hasty judgment or ego-driven opinion. And finally, assure yourself that it will improve the situation or be helpful to someone or something.

Detach Yourself from the Outcome

"The greater the emphasis upon perfection, the further it recedes." —Haridas Chaudhur

Do you find yourself wishing for a certain outcome to a problem or challenge that you are facing? Are you focusing with all your intent on that one and only result? Sometimes you might find that the more you put your thoughts and energies into a single pre-determined outcome, the more it seems to escape you.

Instead, open yourself up to all the possibilities the universe may send your way. There is nothing wrong with putting your energy into achieving the best outcome for you, but you might not know what is best for you yet.

Understand your challenge, put it out to the universe for answers, have faith that the best answers will come your way (if you are open to receiving them), and then get out of your own way! You will be surprised at how wonderfully creative the universe can be when it comes to solving our problems.

Icing on the cake

"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen." —Frank Lloyd Wright (1869 - 1959)

When you have a deep, resonating belief in something—good or bad—you are putting your energy into creating exactly what you believe in. As an example, if you believe you are not going to be successful in life—I mean deep down you do not have faith in yourself—this is the cake that you are baking. You could add whatever type of tasty icing you want on that cake—such as a great, new, expensive outfit, but you are just covering up the cake. When you bite down into it, you will taste the truth of your beliefs.

When you are wanting to create change in your life, you have to start right in the heart of it all. You can lose weight, but if you don't like what's inside, you will still not be happy with yourself. You can have a new house, new job, new relationship, but if these are just the icings on your cake, it will not change your world the way you are hoping for it to change.

Start looking at the beliefs that resonate in you. Look to see what type of emotions you have about yourself. Are you loving yourself? Do you believe that you deserve abundance? Change the belief and you will also start to change your life.

Take over your fears

"The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges." — Martin Luther King Jr.

Many people experienced intense, sometimes challenging times in this past year. And even if it is not easy to believe or understand, these times are sometimes necessary to go through for our spiritual growth.

New beautiful things can come into our lives when we make the conscious decision to let go of the past – it is an important step for transformation and healing. This usually requires a very big leap of faith that all will be well if you allow it to happen.

Empower yourself for the New Year and take over your fears by remembering the wise words of Theordore Vail when he said, "Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable."

New Year's Steps

“What's really important in life? Sitting on a beach? Looking at television eight hours a day? I think we have to appreciate that we're alive for only a limited period of time, and we'll spend most of our lives working. That being the case, I believe one of the most important priorities is to do whatever we do as well as we can. We should take pride in that.” —Victor Kiam

What a wonderful time! A new year. A fresh start. Now, what are we going to do with this gift? Let’s give our days meaningful purpose by establishing or reordering our priorities. Figure out what are the deeply personal things that are important to you and your life. Realize that priorities are not written in stone, so you will need to be flexible and change them as needed.

As our lives grow more hurried and busy, we need to allow ourselves a little more time everyday to organize our thoughts and make our plans. Do not dwell on goals that were not accomplished in the past. Focus only on the here and now and your most important priorities that will make your life more fulfilled and complete from this day on.