Every day, your life is speaking to you, telling you exactly where you should be going. Are you listening? You could be in for a great change!

Life coach Cheryl Richardson is here to help you examine your own life. Let these success stories help you recognize the signs in your own life.
Lessons for Listening to Your Life
Lesson #1: Take Responsibility for Your Life.
  • Responsibility Exercises
  • Tyler Perry: Four years ago, he was an unsuccessful playwright and homeless—his life turned around when he forgave the past and took responsibility for his future.
Lesson #2: Live in the Moment.
Lesson #3: Follow Your Intuition.
Where to Look for Signs
Can you open your heart and mind to listen? Our lives communicate with us in many ways. Learn where to look.
In order to direct the course of your life, you must take full responsibility for everything that happens. No more blaming or waiting for someone to save you.

Life coach Cheryl Richardson is here to help you examine your own life. Let these success stories help you recognize the signs in your own life.

Responsibility Exercise
  • I have no control over _____ in my life.
  • I have no choice about _____.
  • I feel powerless over _____.
The answers to these sentences will provide clues to those places where you may need to take back your power, accept the reality of your situation, or surrender and move on.

Story: Tyler Perry
Four years ago, Tyler was unsuccessful and homeless—then he learned to forgive and took responsibility...now he's a hit playwright!
 
"I can't find words to express what it has meant for me to understand that taking responsibility is key to changing your life."
— Tyler Perry

Playwright Tyler Perry once blamed his lack of success on his parents and others—as a result, he was homeless and living in his car just four years ago. Now his sold-out shows are getting rave reviews across the country. How did Tyler transform his life? He took responsibility.

After years of intense anger and deep resentment, Tyler experienced an awakening. One day while Tyler was watching The Oprah Winfrey Show, he took some timeless advice—it can be cathartic to put feelings down on paper. So Tyler started writing letters to deal with his painful childhood—letters that eventually turned into his plays.

When his shows failed at the box office and he was left penniless, Tyler blamed everyone else—a habit he had acquired from his past. Tyler found that because he had allowed so much anger from his turbulent past to build inside of him, he always found a way to self-sabotage his ventures.

"Although I was angry, bitter, and blaming everyone in life, I had to take responsibility for [sabotaging myself]." — Tyler

Tyler took back his power by confronting his abusers and taking responsibility for his failures. His perception of his own writing changed, and he came to terms with his past.

Now Tyler's plays are successful and seen by 20,000 to 30,000 people a week. He listens to what his life has to say!
When You Live in the Moment, You Will:
  • Hear the messages your life gives you each day
  • Respond better to these messages
  • Feel more gratitude
  • Connect more deeply with others
  • Stay connected to your feelings on a more regular basis
How to Develop "Present Moment Awareness"
  • Breathe deeply—Focus your attention on your breath
  • Focus on your body. Use simply daily tasks like brushing your teeth or taking a shower to bring your attention to your body and focus your awareness on what you're doing in the moment.
  • Meditate for briefs periods of time each day. Start out with five minutes of silence and stillness and build from there. You might even practice the pleasure of being still two or three times a day!
The Story: Sue Hendrickson
This real life "Indiana Jones" says her intuition led her to an important discovery—buried for over 67 million years.
 
"When I'm doing my work, I'm truly living in the moment. There are absolutely no distractions. I'm in ecstasy." — Sue Hendrickson

Hardly the career you'd expect of someone who dropped out of school because of boredom at 17 years old, Sue Hendrickson has uncovered some of the most startling scientific discoveries of the last 20 years by trusting her intuition. Sue says, "I've always followed my instincts, even when people expected other things of me."

Not sure whether to call it an instinct or a sixth sense, Sue knows there's something that compels her to venture off the beaten path. "I just feel like I have to stop and look, or go to a certain area...and a number of times, I've found something very important."

Cheryl Richardson says Sue's story is a great example of what happens when you "hyper-focus" on the present moment—you can almost hear what your inner voice is telling you. Sue's dedication to listening to her life has led her to big payoffs.

While on a dig in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Sue had felt magnetically drawn to one spot, but didn't have time to investigate. As her group was leaving, a flat tire gave her the excuse she needed. Sue walked seven miles to a particular cliff with her dog, Gypsy, and saw six bones sticking out of the rock—they turned out to be the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found! Sue says, "It's as if the dinosaur cried out to me."
 
When you trust and act on your intuition, you increase your self-esteem, build trust in yourself, and experience a profound sense of security that no relationship or amount of money will ever give you.

How to Listen to Your Intuition
  • Rev up your intuition by starting to use it for less important decision-making choices such as the right meal to eat or the best movie to see.
  • When making important decisions, get quiet and ask yourself for guidance. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and focus on a question. Notice any images, thoughts, sounds or feelings that occur to you.
  • Be willing to make mistakes in order to strengthen your relationship with your inner guidance system. As you learn to act on your intuition, act on the wisdom you receive, even if you're not sure whether or not it's the right direction.
  • Don't worry about making the "perfect" decision!
The Story: Eileen Fisher
This successful fashion designer connected with her inner voice and followed her dream to start her own business—with only $350 in her bank account!
 
"Your inner voice teaches you about yourself and puts you on the right path. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today." — Eileen Fisher

As a little girl, fashion designer Eileen Fisher was taught to put the feelings of others before her own; she learned to ignore her inner voice. In her 20's, she worked as a waitress and in interior and graphic design to make ends meet—but always dreamt of her own clothing line.

People called her a dreamer and said she'd never make it. "It made me doubt myself," says Eileen. "I was so confused that I couldn't hear the voices inside telling me what to do or how to go about it."

Eileen began to write and sketch in a journal to clarify her inner vision. Reading the journal helped her to see herself more clearly and realize negative energy was holding her back.

When Eileen surrounded herself with supportive people, she was able to put aside her childhood inhibitions and start her own business—with only $350 in her bank account! "It was like I was on a path. And the ideas and energy began to flow." Today, Eileen Fisher's clothing company is worth over one hundred million dollars!

"I believe that every minute we're awake our life is sending us messages about what we should be doing, where we should be headed." — Eileen Fisher
 
Can you open your heart and mind to listen? Learn to keep an open mind about where you'll get these messages—they can come from many places:

People. By paying close attention to conversations with friends, family members or coworkers, you may hear important information.

Journaling. Use your journal to dialogue with your "Wise Self" by asking a question, getting quiet, and then writing whatever comes to mind. This is a great way to train yourself to look inside for answers first.

TV and Radio. By paying attention to what occurs around you, you might even find that information or next steps come to you in the most unusual ways. You may get an answer while watching a favorite TV program or tap into a specific memory or feeling while listening to the radio.

Dream Messages. Find out how to tap in to your dreams—they can give you insight into your life.
 
John, a car salesman, was once a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was asked to help a woman overcome her insecurities by negotiating for a car. But John got a lot more than he bargained for...a burning desire to discover his passion!

Two days after the show taping, John gave notice at the dealership. John said he hadn't been listening to his life—he felt he was doing what was expected of him.

Another step John took was to get rid of the toxic relationships in his life—"friends" he realized were superficial. Now he only surrounds himself with supportive people.

"From a spiritual standpoint, it's amazing to actually be yourself, and not to have to put on that mask." — John
If you're not listening to the messages your life is sending you throughout the day, there's hope— you're likely to get messages while you sleep!

Dreaming Possibilities
sYour dreams can give you great direction in your life. Here's life coach Cheryl Richardson's insight into the importance of your dreams:
  • Recurring dreams may be messages from your subconscious about a situation that needs your attention.
  • You can dream solutions to problems.
  • Your dreams can contain important messages about your body and your health.
Tap into Your Dream Messages
  • Keep a journal by your bed. Write in it when you awake in the morning in your online journal. If you wake up in the middle of the night and have had a dream, write it down! You may not remember it in the morning.
  • If you have trouble remembering your dreams (which many people do), start by writing fragments or even vague memories of dreams you may have had. Pretty soon your subconscious will get the message that you're paying attention, and you'll remember more and more of your dreams.
  • Try writing down a question before you go to bed. Often, you'll get the answer in a dream.
 

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