Slay the Dragon

It’s that time of year again when you set a goal, make a plan to commit and hope this coming New Year will be more productive than last year.  So what’s the problem?  You keep making the same resolution year after year because each year produces the same fruitless results-failure to launch means failure to succeed.  What’s going to make 2012 different?  I’m going to share my secret that launched me out of perpetual failure; the same deadly trap that kept me motionless, unable to execute my goals or even greater, my heart’s desires.

Typical New Year’s Resolutions:  Lose weight, exercise, make more money, and find love… well I hate to break it to you, but it’s not going to happen just like it didn’t happen last year and the year before that.  But Wait!  Don’t lose hope-there is a solution to the problem! 

Be prepared to put on your armor because the only way to the road of success is battle.  Ladies and gentlemen, “It’s time to SLAY THE DRAGON!”

Slaying the dragon is essentially confronting your fears.  Before I was able to publish my first book, I had to slay the dragon and my fears were not necessarily assumptive.  I believed in my book, and I believed it was worth publishing-that wasn’t the problem.  I even knew deep down inside that it would get published-can you believe it?  I wasn’t afraid of failure, I was afraid of success!  The journey towards success meant a substantial amount of growth such as confidence, commitment, perseverance, social interactions…that I did not want to confront (the no turning back kind).  Sometimes just the idea of “people” scares me, which means book signings, promoting… really having to prove myself to the world. 

You see, sometimes what we think we fear, isn’t what we really fear at all.  We’re not afraid of what we’ll accomplish.  We’re afraid of the responsibility that comes with the commitment and the perseverance through the trials, not so much the trials themselves.  The road to success means work, and work means failure.  You can’t succeed unless you fail, that’s how you discover what works!  Tears, sweat, and confronting fears is scary. It’s just as scary as having to slay a dragon, but I guarantee you, if you don’t slay the dragon it will enslave you.

When you look in the mirror, and you think and feel like an ugly fat blob, you are actually contributing to the problem.  The law of attraction tells us that you are in control of your destiny.  If you constantly tell yourself, nobody listens to me, guess what… nobody will because you’re sending a message to the universe that you are not worth listening to (even if the voice is only in your head).  The laws of attraction are a simple yet complex dynamic of negative and positive analogous reactions of information transferred from one source to another.   “Like” attracts “Like”.  If I focus my mind and energy on what I want, then I will attract it.

You have a choice:  Endure the sweat and pain to lose weight, eat healthier to have energy to exercise, find a way to move past your dead end job to pursue your dreams and make more money, improve your self-esteem and self-worth to find someone equally healthy or just simply face the fact that you don’t want to leave your comfort zone and would rather continue to plummet into desolation. 

What made me finally decide to slay the dragon?  I got tired of being miserable, abused, and wasting my life.  Instead of allowing abuse to dictate my life, I woke up and realized I am God’s child created with a gift that is not being used-only to leave behind a legacy of defeat?  I don’t think so.  Once I believed that I had self-worth and I felt it, people could no longer use me as a doormat.  Once I began to imagine the benefits of being successful, having more money and fulfilling my dream, my fears began to shrink in comparison and my dreams began to become my reality.  Some fears, I have completely wiped off the spectrum. 

This is how I know the law of attraction works.  I  submitted my manuscript to agent after agent, thinking maybe I’ll get accepted maybe I won’t because deep down I wasn’t sure if I really wanted it because I was afraid.  Once that mentality was exposed to faith, and I submitted my manuscript with confidence in myself, my dream, in God’s ultimate will and through hard work, my contract came in the mail shortly after two weeks.  Another example: I remember my first acting gig.  I had no film experience under my belt, I didn’t show up with a resume or headshot but I spent nights dreaming about how much I wanted it.  When I showed up on set as an extra, I was pulled out of the crowd and cast as the Hostess including added scenes with the main actress!  Positive thinking will give you what you need for positive results.

Instead of looking in the mirror and telling yourself you’re an out of shape fat ugly blob, imagine what you want.  Now take it a step further and believe that you have it now not in the future.  Whether it’s to lose 100 lbs., get a tight butt or step out into the realm of possibilities, focus on what you want not what you don’t have.  That is the key to your armor, to success.

Now you’re geared up, you have your protective shield of armor and you’re ready to slay the dragon.  Remind yourself where you’ve come from, how far you’ve already come, and how much you want to move forward.

Make 2012 the year that you faced your fears and changed the course of your destiny.  A life that was lifeless will now have meaning.  You won’t be the only one to reap the awards, people and your family around you will too and you’ll probably be the motivation for them to kick it up a notch.

Be prepared for pitfalls.  All great accomplishments are tested, but will be found strong if you keep your armor intact (positive focus), your priorities in check (God, family, dream) and never look back, stay focused.  I have fears every day that I have to deal with.  What keeps me from defeat and regression is the fact that I keep my eye on the prize not the obstacle. 

Baggage is like an anchor on a moving ship. It will only slow you down and prevent you from achieving success-the kind of success that money can’t buy.  Bitterness, unforgiveness and a lack of gratitude do not coincide with a positive focus so deal with your baggage so you can sail your ship!

Good luck, I know you can do it!  Just don’t attempt to step out on blind faith (or make a new resolution) until you slay that dragon!  Confront your fears and the lies in your head and contribute to the law of attraction and our beautiful universe created by God with positive thinking, confidence and belief.   

Happy New Year!

P.S.  For the ultimate experience that will prevent relapse read this:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power…Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:10-18

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.  Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?  Psalm 27:1

And there was war in heaven.  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.  He was hurled to the earth, and his angles with him.  Then I heard a loud voice say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God, and the authority of his Christ.  For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.  Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!  But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!  He is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short.”  Revelation 12:7-12

…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:12-14