I purchased a book, Getting to Maybe by Westley, Zimmerman and Patton, that got my attention with a quote in the front of the book. The quote indicated that I NEED to read this wonderful book, which is all about engaging in change and transformation, and making the impossible happen personally, socially, community-wide, or world-wide.

The quote is from another book, A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson, and it shook up my world of invisibility:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?…Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do…It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates other.

I am guilty of routinely shrinking away from my power, brilliance and fabulosity (yes, I made up that word!). I have this deep sense that I can make a significant contribution to the world. I won’t even have to try hard - I just need to do it, live it, and be it (”it” being my power, brilliance, and fabulosity). Stop resisting. Stop getting in my own way. Just embrace it and allow it. It’s so simple.

Yet, as I continue to grapple with my own recovery from invisibility, I struggle to claim my essence, my purpose, my life. What I am absolutely certain of is this: a deep level of satisfaction and fulfillment will emerge as I embrace WHO I AM and WHAT I AM ALL ABOUT, as I claim and live my power, brilliance, and fabulosity.

What will you do to claim your power? What will you do to claim your brilliance? What will you do to claim your fabulosity?

Why not start by checking out these two top-notch resources for making profound transformation happen:

• Getting to Maybe by Westley, Zimmerman, and Patton
• youPlus - an incredible new company that will coach you to live your power, brilliance, and fabulosity!*

* I am an independent Coach for youPlus. If you are ready to know more about coaching, visit www.youplus.com or call 1-877-875-8744. You can request to have me coach you or you can be assigned by youPlus to work with another incredible coach. youPlus’s coaching programs are affordable and effective. If you are unsure, try the very low-cost Eye Opener, which is a live sample coaching session…with no obligation.

I came across a wonderful article from The Simple Dollar blog about money deception. The author paints a clear portrait of what it is to lie to yourself about money (although his lies centered around money, you could easily substitute money with many other things, such as relationships, health, food, exercise, career, alcohol, etc.).

As he weaves together his own experience with money deception, he offers tangible advice for bringing the lies to the surface and making your relationship with money more visible. Take a look at his article, “Overcoming a Habit of Lying to Yourself About Money,” and check out the rest of his blog. I also encourage you to subscribe.

I also recommend reading Conscious Finance by Rick Kahler and Kathleen Fox. It’s an insightful and practical guide for becoming more aware of your unconscious money beliefs and breaking the habits that keep you unconscious. Enjoy!

I recently immersed myself in a book, You Are What You Say, by Matthew Budd, M.D., that describes the impact of language on our bodies, our minds, our emotions, and our health. I was struck by how often the author described issues related to invisibility, and I soaked up his message about how we can transform illness into wellness.

Dr. Budd describes what he calls The Ten Linguistic Viruses. Eight of the ten are listed below, along with questions that might spark how each plays a role in your life.

Eight of the Ten Linguistic Viruses:

1. Not making requests. How often do you really want or need something from someone else, but you avoid making the request?
2. Living with uncommunicated expectations. How often do you hold back expressing your expectations of others?
3. Making unclear requests. How often do you make a request that ends up creating confusion or conflict?
4. Not observing the mood of requesting. How often do others experience your requests as demands or as begging?
5. Promising even when you aren’t clear what was requested. How often do you make a commitment, but you have a nagging feeling or come to discover that you did not ask some key questions.
6. Not declining requests. How often do you feel resentful or kick yourself for not saying “no” to what others request?
7. Breaking promises without taking care: undermining trust. How often do you agree to something, but back out, disappear from sight, or avoid doing it?
8. Treating [your] assessments [or assumptions] as the truth or…facts. How often do you assume that you are absolutely, positively right about an assumption you’ve made, but you don’t check it out from other perspectives?

As a professional life coach, I have noticed patterns in my clients’ use of language and in their sabotaging self-talk. I have witnessed the impact of negative language on their happiness, and I have taken great pleasure in helping them discover new, empowering language.

Get a copy of Dr. Budd’s book for a more thorough explanation of the impact of language on your life, and/or read this online article that summarizes Dr. Budd’s message. Let’s create visibility (and wellness) one word at a time.

www.invisiblelives.com

Check out DevYou for an article I wrote on transforming limiting beliefs into empowering beliefs. It’s a simple and powerful process for addressing beliefs that underlie many of the things that limit us, including issues related to invisibility. The article is 6 Questions That Will Change Your Life.

While you’re there, check out the rest of DevYou. Brian Tanaka, the site’s author, writes about a variety of issues that you may appreciate, including self-development, writing, technology, and productivity. Brian is a freelance writer, programmer and web developer, book author, and an all-around awesome person.

www.invisiblelives.com

My friend, colleague, web designer, and fellow blogger, Brian (check out his personal development blog, DevYou), shared a wonderful quote with me recently that relates directly to the theme of this site. Brian introduced the quote with these words: It was said by John Barlow about Spalding Gray during the period of grieving immediately following Spalding’s suicide:

“Among the beliefs that he and I shared was a conviction that making public the intimately personal is a revolutionary act in an atomized society where many feel compelled to play so close to the chest that they can’t read their own cards. Being emotionally naked before strangers extends to them a permission for self-revelation they badly need if they are to loosen the shackles of their own quiet desperations. It is a blow against the pursuit of loneliness.”

Thank you, Brian.