In a recent call with my writing coach he said to me,

Monique you bring hope and that’s what the world needs. Tears filled my eyes and I told him thank you. In light of several high profile suicides I have been thinking about how do I make a Difference in the world? What lifts me up? What blesses my family? What brings good to those around me?

Here are three ways to make a difference in the world that anyone can do.

Love Deeply ~ I am 100% convinced that everything good flows from self Love. When I love and appreciate myself, I feel good. When I feel good, I do good. When I am loving to others everything clicks.

I recently had a sales call with a woman who I knew of, but had never spoken to. I was looking forward to our call and at the appointed time I was the only one sitting on Zoom. I looked up her contact information and tried calling her on Skype. Nothing. I closed my laptop and said, I love that I have new appointments with new people who can’t wait to work with me. I know when she’s free she will contact me. What can I do with this unexpected gift of time? I went and found my boys and distracted myself in silliness.

A couple days later I received a message from the same woman apologizing for what had happened and she informed me that she wanted to sign up for a VIP Weekend. I send her the link and she immediately paid. I smiled to myself because I knew everything worked out because I didn’t need her to do anything in order for me to love myself and feel good about myself and my work.

Self love, self validation, self appreciation, these are all life altering practices and without them achievement means so little and is so hard to come by. Start by noticing what you love about your personality, your looks, your heart, your characteristics, and your values. When you can focus on what you love about yourself, you’ll find that there’s little room to be critical of yourself and when you’re not critical of yourself, you have no desire to be critical of others.

Live In A Constant State of Gratitude ~ Learning to live in a way that constantly praises your life and those in it ensures that there will always be plenty to praise.

I’m regularly reminding my boys to say thank you. It’s what parents teach children early on because it is right and good to do so. What I have become aware of is how sweet is it when I hear thank you and how beautiful it must be when life hears us say thank you.

You might be thinking, live in a constant state of gratitude, I’ve got things to do! Yes, and what I have noticed is that many people live in a constant state of ingratitude and never seem to be concerned if there will be time to get their to-do list accomplished. Complaining is a decision to find fault with life rather than to focus on what is good right now.

The best way to shift in a lifestyle of gratitude and appreciation is to choose certain times of day to focus on it until it flows into every minute of your day. For example, when I first wake up and right before I fall asleep I think through my day and remember every sweet moment. Maybe a kiss from Grant, or a giggle with Sam, a sweet juicy peach, a cool breeze at the beach, a compliment from a client, a hug from Derek, finding my favorite tea…I think about each one and re-live it and experience the joy of it for as long as I can possibly milk it.

I also have a habit of mentally or verbally saying thank you in each segment of my day. For example when I first wake up I’m with the boys until about 9 a.m. I say thank you for sweet sleep, thank you for this comfortable bed, thank you for Apple TV so the boys get to watch cartoons in any language, thank you for hot tea, thank you for the sun shining and the birds chirping, thank you for this kitchen to make meals in, thank you for this washing machine to do laundry in. For each segment of my day I make it my aim to find at least 10 things to praise. In the words of Abraham Hicks, the better it gets, the better it gets!

Be Enthusiastic  ~ I recently read a post on Facebook where the lady was sharing a beautiful photo of a blooming plant in the desert. Her friend commented on how absolutely ridiculous it was to be so excited about a flower, but she just loved it so much and it made her happy. I read the comment several times and wondered at what age is enthusiasm no longer a wonderful thing? Why is there anything ridiculous about experiencing intense enjoyment from a flower or anything in life?

Every day we have the ability to choose awe or apathy. Optimism or pessimism. We can be holehearted or disinterested.

I’m Enthusiastic about rose oil, fresh raspberries, walnut gelato, cute hats, fresh pedicures, neighborhood adventures and you wanna know why I am deliberate about it? Because it fuels everything for me. It’s my energy source. I run on enthusiasm.

When was the last time you allowed yourself to be enthusiastic and show it? I highly recommend surrounding yourself with enthusiastic people because it’s contagious and and infectious. No matter who you are or what you do when you’re enthusiastic you will attract the best people and experiences, guaranteed.

Life is actually incredibly simple when we allow it to be.

Want to make a beautiful difference in the world?
What to leave a lasting legacy?

Love yourself.
Say thank you.
Enjoy it all!