You can transform your potential into a new reality. By tapping into your divine inspiration, you can discover the skills you need to create the life you desire and deserve. If you’re like most people, you will awake one morning and ask yourself the big question of life: “What am I to be in this world?” If you feel that your life is not what it was intended to be, or that it’s just not all that you dream it could be, you have the capacity to change that. By discovering your own inner guidance, greatness and potential, you can live a life of purpose, fulfillment, and joy. Leon Beaton has spent more than thirty years helping young adults realize what makes them unique, powerful, and valuable. Now he shares the best of his experience with you in Desire: Connecting with Your Divine Inspiration. Once you learn how to connect with your divine inspiration, you’ll discover the skills to live the life you were destined to live. Desire: What is it that you really want to do with your life? Energy: Discover how to access the inner energy you require to achieve your desire. Success: What is success and how do you define it for yourself? Intuition: Discover how to activate your own internal guidance system. Result: Discover how to achieve the results you’re destined to create in your life. Evolve: Discover how to trust, follow and appreciate your evolving life journey. Your body intuitively knows what you are to be in your life. Now you can learn to consciously tune in to it for guidance and follow your intuition.
Desire
Connecting with Your Divine InspirationBy LEON BEATONBalboa Press
Copyright © 2012 Leon Beaton
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4525-0578-7Contents
Preface.................................ixIntroduction............................xiAbout the Author........................xiiiChapter 1 Desire........................1Chapter 2 Energy........................21Chapter 3 Success.......................33Chapter 4 Intuition.....................51Chapter 5 Results.......................61Chapter 6 Evolve........................87Afterword...............................109Acknowledgments.........................111
Chapter One
Desire
To change your life, you must change the concept of who you are.
For any change to take place in your life, first you must change the concept of who you are. Until you can imagine and create an image in your mind, of what you desire, change will not take place in your life. All changes take place first in your subconscious mind. Your concept of yourself, your assumptions about who you are, whether true or false, determines what manifests in your life. What you believe to be true is true for you. It is your reality until you change your concept of who you are.
What is your attitude towards yourself? What you affirm to be true for you is what your life will be.
I have witnessed many young people who don't believe they are capable of achieving something in their life, and they live out the belief. On the other hand, I have witnessed many young people who have changed their belief about themselves and achieved amazing results. Until you can image yourself experiencing what it is that you aspire to, you will not achieve your desire.
Once you accept the assumption that you are who you wish to be or achieve, your life starts to change. You start your climb up the mountain, your mountain, your adventure, as opposed to someone else's mountain or adventure. Every person's mountain or adventure is unique to them. You may choose the same mountain, but your path will be different. Until you accept the image of yourself as being something other than who you are at this present moment, you will always remain as you are. The false image of yourself, as someone unable to achieve or be what you truly desire, will persist.
Change your concept of who you are.
Once you have changed your concept of who you perceive yourself to be, changes start to take place in your life.
I have trained many young people to run the 400 metres in athletic competition. Over and over again, I am fascinated by those who start out being reluctant to compete because they do not believe in their ability. Their concept of themselves is not that of a successful 400 metre runner. In their first year they compete because I ask them to. As they witness their own results, their confidence grows. Their concept of themselves changes from one of "I am not a good 400 metre runner", to one of "I can do this." In their second year, they run with a different concept of themselves, and by the third year these young people see themselves as athletes who can compete successfully at the highest level.
To begin with, the only person who believes in them as runners is me. By the third year, they believe in themselves as runners. As they experience life as a successful 400 metre runner they grow into the person they were always capable of being.
Many people have no idea what they are capable of; what their true potential is. Until you make a choice about what you wish to desire and assume the feeling of that desire having been fulfilled in your life, very little changes. You drift from day to day which soon becomes years, and for some people, a life-time. This is not how your life was meant to be lived.
I run a program with colleagues called High Challenge that involves a high ropes course. Confronted by the prospect, we always have a number of students who declare they are scared of heights and will not participate. But as they watch other students completing the course, their concept of themselves changes. Suddenly, they want to participate. And not just try, but do. While my colleagues and I play a role in encouraging and supporting them to participate, ultimately, it is not us who makes the difference in having students give up their reluctance. It is the student themself. The student consciously changes their concept of themself from "I refuse to do this" to "I want to do this", from "I can't do this" to "I can do this". The student's internal world changes, and as a result of taking action their external world changes also. Once they affirm they will do the high ropes, reality changes for them.
Until you change the concept of yourself to what you desire it to be, nothing will change.
I often speak to students, young people and ex-students who have no idea what they would like to do in life. Many have been working for a number of years, not enjoying what they are doing, but don't know how to change their situation or work out what they really want to do with their life. One question I often ask is, "Can you imagine yourself doing something else?" Often the answer is "No" or "I don't know what else I can do." Until you can imagine a different version of yourself, nothing will change. Your imagination is the gateway to a different reality, a different life, a different way of living. Your imagination is the only way you can create a different world for yourself. It all starts in your imagination. Once you accept you are responsible for your life and nobody else, you can start the journey up your mountain towards your desired outcome.
If you are struggling to know what it is you want to do or achieve in your life, realize there are infinite possibilities for you to select from to achieve a desired outcome. There is a smorgasbord of choices that are available to you, but you must make a choice. Until you choose, your energy is spread too thinly. It's like trying to commit to playing basketball, dancing and playing football all at the same time. One, if not all of the activities you choose to participate in will usually suffer. With all the choices, you must decide. By deciding you cut off all other options and become crystal clear about what you want. Th ere is no wavering, you commit to the one thing you most desire. Most of the pain and agony comes from the time leading up to making your decision. Once you have made the decision, the other options fall away and you are free to focus all your energy on the desire you have chosen.
I remember a student who agonized about whether to complete his final year of schooling or to enter the workforce. For weeks I could see the pain in his face until he finally decided that school life wasn't for him and focused all his energy on obtaining a job. For this young man, his life as a student had no meaning; the choice to stay at school was meaningless and pointless. By his own admission, he was causing trouble by being there because schooling was not high in his value system. Within two weeks he left school to start a new direction in his life. In doing so, he brought his head and heart into alignment and thereby gained the power and energy he needed to move forward.
By leaving school, he exercised his freedom to choose a different way of life; to choose a different identify for himself and to follow a different path. I respect this young man for choosing a different path, a path more meaningful to him, instead of staying stuck in an inner world of pain and meaninglessness.
Almost twelve months later I saw him on his way to work. What a transformation! He was driving a ute and wearing a huge smile on his face. He told me he was an apprentice tiler. Everything he said he wanted a year ago he had achieved.
Just as that young man had his own path to find, you too have yours. Your path has your lessons, lessons that are just for you. Other people have their lessons. They may share their experiences with you, but yours will be different.
When I look back on my school years I remember asking myself, "What am I going to do with my life? What do I want to be?" I had no idea.
I was raised on a sheep farm, but as much as I enjoyed the lifestyle I could not see myself being a farmer for the rest of my life. Even though farming was in my blood, it wasn't in my heart. An older farmer said, "What a waste! A big strong man like you not working on a farm." But I knew it wasn't for me.
Difference between a strength and a weakness
I reflected on my school years and recalled what I was good at. Sport was both my greatest love and my strongest talent, but how could I make a living out of it? My school results showed I had talent in accountancy so it's where I began my career. Just six months into the accountancy course, however, I knew this too wasn't for me. What I didn't yet understand was the difference between a strength and a weakness. Just because I was good at accountancy didn't mean it was a strength. In fact, it may well have been a weakness.
Marcus Buckingham defines a strength as follows:
1. You look forward to doing the activity. I always looked forward to being involved in sport, irrespective of the type of sport;
2. While doing the activity time flies by. At the end of the activity you cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. I specifically remember when I was at College being in the dark room developing my photographs. Twelve hours just flew by. I didn't need to go to the toilet and I had to force myself to leave the dark room for a break to have something to eat. I just loved doing what I was doing and felt great while I was doing it.
3. When the activity is finished you feel fulfilled and complete. In fact, you usually want to do more of the activity. When I was doing my photography, even after the twelve hour stint, I wanted to continue. Only a prior engagement ended it.
The opposite of a strength is a weakness. In the area of accountancy I had a natural gift. I enjoyed working with numbers, and the fact everything was logical and always had to balance made it enjoyable to me. But that is where it ended.
At school, I didn't look forward to accountancy with the same passion I did sport. When the bell rang for the end of the period, I was pleased to be able to leave and go to the next subject, and I didn't feel energised and refreshed.
It's important to distinguish talents from strengths and weaknesses. Most probably you've been told you have a talent in a certain area, but is it a strength or a weakness? To have a career that is exciting and nourishing, consider that talent and strength need to coincide. If you are dissatisfied with your career, it's likely you have the talent for your tasks, but they are not your strengths.
Whatever you desire in your life can be compared to a garden bed. My mother had a magnificent vegetable garden, as well as flower beds that attracted birds from far and wide. On the one hand, no matter what she did or didn't do in the garden, weeds always appeared. On the other hand, flowers or vegetables didn't just appear; they had to be planted. Until you plant your own flowers or vegetables in the garden of your mind you will always produce weeds.
We all have strengths and weakness. For every strength, there is an opposite weakness. What is important is that you identify both your strengths and your weakness and chose a career that utilizes your strengths. Does your desire tap into your strengths or does it highlight your weakness? It's only when you start to experience life and reflect on what you have experienced that you can start to identify your strengths and weakness. Do you want to be part of the 80% of people who do not enjoy their career? Or part of the 20% who do?
As a human being you are able to create whatever you desire, but you have to choose. Human beings are the only species on the planet that possess free will. You have the ability to choose to create but you have to exercise free will. It is only when you choose to create that you expand and start to discover who you truly are. The marvellous thing is that you continue to discover who you truly are as you keep creating and expanding.
The difficulty for some young people is that they don't desire anything that expands their vision of what life could offer them or they are prepared to continue living a life that is unfulfilled and meaningless.
Until you exercise your free will, nothing changes.
Dream BIG and visualise
Whatever you desire, desire BIG. Until you start to dream about what you desire, the Universe cannot possibly deliver it for you. So dream BIG. It's only when you dream big and desire plenty from life that it can deliver it for you. I like the words of Louise Hay, "When you reach out to Life, Life always seems to reach back." Many young people do have big dreams, but they are just that: dreams. Often, when I ask students about their desires, I find they are not prepared to do what is necessary to achieve it.
Everything has a price and some people aren't prepared to pay that price. Ask yourself, "What do I really really desire? Then ask yourself, "Can I visualise myself accomplishing it, see myself enjoying it?" Followed by "Can I project myself sometime into the future being that person I intend to be, having obtained my desire? Finally, ask yourself, "Is it natural for me to be that person or achieve that desire?"
If it is natural for you to see yourself in your desired state, are you prepared do what is necessary to bring about what you desire? If the answer is yes, then you have a much greater chance of success because your desire is no longer a wish or a dream, but something to aspire to.
Robert is a young man who loves music. A few years ago, he realised his strongest desire was to play music for others so he auditioned for, and won a spot on the TV talent quest program called The X Factor. As a result of his participation he received coaching from the best musicians in the industry, and though he didn't make the final twelve, the experience and contacts he gained propelled him towards his goal. What set Robert apart from many other young people was his willingness to do whatever it took to accomplish his desire.
His action has inspired many other young people to step up and do what needs to be done to change a dream into a definite desire. Robert even inspired me to continue with my writing. Check out Robert's work at http://www.facebook.com/stateofmind619
Commitment
What is the difference between those people who achieve their desire and those who don't? I have already explained the difference between a dream and a desire. Many people have dreams, but don't turn them into a true desire. Why? Because they aren't prepared to pay the price; it isn't high enough up on their value list to spend the time and energy necessary to make their desire real. This is perfectly fine. You may proceed along the path to your intended desire, and as you experience the challenges realise the desire is not for you. You start your search again, only this time with more experience of life.
People achieve their desire for one reason, and one reason only; because they are committed to their desire. Some years ago, I advertised for people who wanted to join a football team. Many were interested, but when the season started the numbers committed to playing had reduced. If you wish to achieve your desire, you must be committed, not merely interested. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe summed it up perfectly in the words, "The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.... unforeseen incidents, meeting and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."
I saw a television show in which they interviewed successful people who were near the end of their life. Each of them was asked, "What would you do diff erently if you had your time over again?" and almost everyone responded, "Dreamed bigger."
They didn't dream big enough. You don't know what your creative mind is capable of imagining. It is only when you start with small desires, achieving them, which enables you to grow in confidence are you willing to pursue bigger ideas. You wouldn't have had the idea in the first place unless you were capable of achieving it. So please desire BIG, dream BIG, you owe it to yourself and to the world. You have no idea what you are capable of achieving and how your contribution to the world will affect other people. What are you waiting for? Take out a pen and piece of paper and let your imagination be free to suggest what things you desire to do. Once you understand how to stimulate your creative mind, you will realise you have more desires than you can ever achieve in this life time. I will explain how to achieve what you desire in the chapter called results.
I want to expand on the idea, "You wouldn't have had that idea in the first place unless you were capable of achieving it." Hundreds of ideas come and go through your mind every day. Many of these ideas are just ideas or dreams, while others call to some capacity deep inside yourself that you recognise as uniquely yours.
There is a deep inner knowing that the idea is different; it's not just one of those ideas that comes and goes. Th is idea connects with you; connects with who you are. It is as if this idea will not go away and keeps calling to you to pay it attention. Do what it asks. Pay attention!
If you share this idea with friends and family, it's likely many will say, "Don't be silly; you can't do that."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Desireby LEON BEATON Copyright © 2012 by Leon Beaton. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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