by desing | Faith & Purpose
We all may struggle with some sort of fear in our lives. Fear can be such a torment if you allow it to be and it can come disguised in so many ways. In order to truly defeat the fear that may show up in your life, you have to first understand what fear is.
This is the definition of fear – an impending threat of danger, evil or pain whether the threat is real or imagined. There are actually two types of fear that we deal with in life; one is external fear and the other is internal fear.
External fear is that fear that you feel when your outside circumstances are being threatened. For example, if you are home alone at night and you wake up to hear someone lurking around in your kitchen. Your outside, physical circumstances are being threatened and the fear you experience at that moment is valid.
Internal fears are those fears that play out in your mind which are the imagined threats that are indicated in the definition of fear above. Internal fears are fueled in our thought life and those fears will influence our words, actions, character and destiny. These fears that I am referring to are things like the fear of rejection, the fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of being alone, the fear of financial lack, the fear of the future, the fear of never overcoming your circumstances etc.
The tricky part about fear is that if you do not recognize it or deal with it at it’s root, then you will find yourself always speaking and acting out of fear which will ultimately undermine your potential and God’s power in your life. Scary but true.
So how do you deal with the fear once and for all?
The only way to fight fear is with a plan.
Let’s say that you are going on a really important road trip and since you have never been there before and you have no idea of how to get there, you may fear getting lost along the way. So in order to assure that you do not get lost, you choose to prepare for the trip by packing a map, printing out directions, using your navigation system and assuring that you have your phone charger for your car along with a full tank of gas. You fought your fear of getting lost with a plan.
This is the same way that you have to fight those internal fears in your life. Get your plan in order. I am a believer in God and His Almighty power so my plan of fighting fear includes prayer, worship, spending alone time with God, studying His word and speaking His promises out loud throughout my day. We may not have the same spiritual beliefs, but you have to get your plan in order and do what works best for you.
I begin every morning speaking and declaring what I want for my day. I begin every day in prayer. I focus my attention on God doing what only He can and trusting Him for everything each and every time a thought of fear arises. What I am doing is strengthening my faith and weakening the fear.
Whatever you choose to focus on, you empower to grow in your life. It’s so easy for me to tell you to live by faith and not by fear, but too often we say that and have no clue as to how go about doing that. Faith is the confidence for what we hope for and the evidence of things that are not seen. I highly recommend that in your plan to combat any fear in your life is that you choose to focus on what you hope for and not what you fear.
Also, write out your plan to combat your fear. What is one thing that you can begin to do differently tomorrow to deal with any fear in your life? Write it down, look at it every morning and do what it says. There comes a time where we have to stand our ground and say that enough is enough!
Declare today that fear will no longer have power over you, your future or even your loved ones. Tap into the power that lives inside of you and create your plan to defeat fear in your life once and for all.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
Photo Used License – (license)
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Our Media, Services
If you’ve read my book, Take the Limits Off Your Legacy: A Woman’s Guide to Unlock Purpose and Vision then you know that I am on a mission to empower you to remove any and all limits in achieving your heart’s desires. Whatever the vision is that you have for your life, please understand that it is VERY possible but the possibility begins in your mind first.
We put so many limits on our thoughts, happiness, impact, potential, capacity, God’s power and your future and I’ve noticed that many of those limits are self-imposed and they manifest in our minds.
I am always saying that you will attract what you believe which is a proven universal law that has stood the test of time. I believe in God and His Almighty power. In the book of Proverbs, it states that as a man thinks in his heart so is he. (Proverbs 23:7).
That’s pretty intense and proves that what you think has the power to change the course of your destiny.
I want to help you transform your mind because your thoughts will dictate the words that you speak, your words will dictate your actions, and your actions will dictate your character and destiny.
So I thought it would be great for us to come together to say “No More Limits!” I want you to take the limits off yourself, your potential, your dreams, your future, your happiness, your legacy and God’s love for you. God wants us to prosper and succeed in all we do but He asks us to believe it first (which I know can be hard to do) but you have to look at your life with the eyes of faith and not of fear.
Therefore, I want YOU to join my #NoMoreLimits campaign. The overall goal is to create worldwide conversation, inspiration and a community with the purpose of encouraging women and girls to surpass perceived limits of achieving your legacy and boldly declare a life that embodies having no more limits on the possibilities of your future success. I want women and girls to make a public declaration of what limit they are saying “no” to!
This is how you join the campaign –
1. I want you to think about what limit you have been holding onto or allowing you to hinder or distract your success?
2. Make a decision right now to say “No More!” to that perceived limit by stating out loud, “I am saying No More Limits to…”
3. Take a selfie stating “I am saying #NoMoreLimits to…”
4. Share that image with us on Instagram, use hashtag #NoMoreLimits and tag @embraceherlegacy
5. We’ll be re-posting some of our faves and you just might see your image included in our viral campaign!
Here are a few examples below –
My hope is that you do this with the intention of breaking barriers in your life and enter into your season of victory. Remember that you will attract what you believe and I want you to believe for #NoMoreLimits!
Feel free to keep up with me on Facebook, Instagram (@embraceherlegacy), or Twitter and let me know how your life with No More Limits is working for you.
Until then.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
www.embraceherlegacy.com
by desing | Faith & Purpose
In order to experience the benefits of success then you must be committed to the process. Although that process is rewarding, it will definitely be filled with challenges. Some of those challenges will be miniscule but others will test your faith like never before. Those grueling tests of faith can become giants in our lives because they are huge, intimidating, frightening and outright scary.
Nevertheless, in order to win the victory, you have to learn to face your giants and understand that they are a part of the process.
There isn’t a woman in this world who doesn’t expect to go through labor pains when giving birth because she understands that she will have to continue pushing in order to birth to her child. This is the same way you should look at the challenges you face while on the journey of success – you have to keep pushing!
The first step in defeating your giants is to make a decision to push through your seasons of difficulty while looking at it as just that – a season. Life is filled with ebbs and flows and seasons always change, after winter always comes spring.
Victory begins in your mind, not when the victory has physically manifested. Your thoughts will determine your words which will determine your character and your destiny. Therefore, it is vital to picture your victory in your mind first. The Bible states that “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.”(Proverbs 23:7) If you believe that you will never get over this hump then you won’t. You have to make a commitment to envision your victory and speak words of victory.
Just because you “feel” something does not mean that you have to speak it. There is death and life in the power of your tongue. Do not allow any words of defeat to come out of your mouth. Our feelings cannot be trusted because they are constantly changing.
Understand that in order to grow, you are going to have to experience some level of difficulty because your capacity is being stretched and part of you is being strengthened. It is in your crisis that your character will be revealed to you and oftentimes our “giants” develop those character traits that will help us fulfill our purpose. Unfortunately, when we need to learn patience we do not receive some magic dose of patience, what happens is that we begin to encounter circumstances that require patience.
Of course tapping into muscles that have never been used will hurt but this is where you must learn to trust your process. Success is not a sprint but more of a marathon that requires your resilience, persistence and tenacity.
Commit to facing your giants with style and grace!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
The other day I was listening to someone have a conversation with a friend about upcoming plans for the fall in regards to moving into a new apartment.
“All I can really afford is maybe a studio apartment, I don’t think I’ll be able to even afford a one bedroom.” He stated and continued on with this –
“All I can really save is…”
I was mortified because I wanted to grab the phone out of his hand and force his mouth shut! All I kept thinking was that he we was speaking death and lack over his own life.
Our words create our world and they are influenced by our thoughts. The words you speak have MAJOR power and they have the power to either speak life, abundance and success or lack, death and negativity.
This stems from the ancient Proverb that there is death and life in the power of your tongue. Oftentimes our circumstances are a result of thoughts we mediated on and more importantly words that we have spoken.
As you have heard me say before, just because you feel it does not mean that you have to speak it. Our emotions can run ramped and drive us crazy if we allow them to and until you learn to manage your thoughts, emotions and the words that you choose to speak then you will never be able to experience the full promises of achieving your dreams and embracing your success.
I do not care what it may look like in your life; I want you to start seeing circumstances with the eyes of faith and not fear. It’s time for you to choose to speak life and not death.
If you keep saying that “All you can afford is a studio apartment” then guess what will happen? All you will be able to afford is a studio apartment. If you keep saying that you’ll never find a good man then guess what? You will keep running into men who are not good for you.
God spoke the world into existence and He spoke it out of nowhere. Many of the miracles portrayed in the Bible are God speaking His Word. Jesus simply spoke miracles into existence which including raising the dead! He literally spoke life over the dead – how incredible is that?
You may not believe in God or in Jesus Christ and I am in no way trying to force my beliefs on you but this universal law has proved that what you speak has the power to change your circumstance. An abundance of extremely successful people have applied this principle to see their success manifest including Jim Carrey, Bruce Lee, Jack Canfield, Oprah Winfrey, and Jim Rohn – just to name a few.
I encourage you to watch the words you speak and make a commitment to speak life over yourself, your family, your finances, your health, your career, your businesses, your relationships and your future. If you want to know where you will be in the next five years, then take a good look at the words you are speaking.
God responds to your faith. God can do what you cannot and He can do it an instant. You are not alone and He wants to see you win and prosper but He wants you to go past what you can see and trust Him. Start focus on what He can do and not what you can do in your own strength – trust God as your source and not your bank account.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
It has been said that those who do not have a vision for their future will eventually return to their past. I know how scary it can be to dream big. When we have big dreams, trying to find out where to start can be so overwhelming and intimidating that we may choose to not even start at all.
This is actually the natural reaction as it is human nature to seek the path of least resistance.
However, there is a key to unlock the secrets of not only starting to work towards your dreams but also to actually finishing what you start.
The secret is to have goals!
I cannot stress how necessary it is to have goals. In my years of researching successful people and success principles, I have notice several common denominators and one of those is that every successful person has goals that are written down.
I know you’re probably thinking, “So all I need to do to start birthing my vision is to have some goals?”
In a nutshell is yes, but you have to know how to make your goals work for you so that you actually achieve your goals.
The first thing is that you have to take the time to think about what it is that you want and get specific about it. If you want financial increase, then I suggest that you get specific on the exact number that you want. A financial increase can mean $5 more on your paycheck if you are not specific, so I want you to start getting specific about what you want to achieve. Remember that vague goals produce vague results.
After you have taken the time to think about it, I want you to set your goals for the month of June. Today is the top of the month and I HIGHLY suggest that you set your goals for this month. Ask yourself what you will achieve this month towards the specific vision that you have and write them down with a pen and paper. I believe there is power when we actually write something down as opposed to typing it on a device.
When writing your goals, make sure that you begin each statement with the words “I will.” One of my goals for the month is “I will work out five times a week every week this month.” Using “I will” gives it power and makes it a declarative statement instead of some sort of wish list. I could have written “Get in shape” but how can I measure that? Goals help us measure our progress so that is why I stress that your goals be both specific and measurable.
Once you have written your goals for the month, I want you to think of all the resources that you have access to help you achieve your goals and make your plans to pursue those resources. If your goal for the month is to lose 5 lbs then maybe you can set up a few sessions with your colleague who is also a personal trainer. If your goal is to find a new job, then maybe you can set up a meeting with someone in your network who can help you.
Make sure that every week you are working towards your goals by writing down your action steps for the week which is what you will do this week to help you achieve your goals. I suggest writing down your action steps every Sunday because it is the top of the week and you can enter your week prepared.
Finally, every morning that you wake up read and declare your goals out loud and thank God in advance for doing what you cannot do. Be grateful for every step that you take forward, I don’t care how small or how large it is because it is one step closer to realizing your dreams.
I pray that this could be a blessing to you and I am deliberately sending this today because it’s the first of the month and although that usually means bills, bills and more bills you have the power to switch your thinking and live in anticipation for what this month will hold for you – it’s time to live on purpose and with intention!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
If you and I were having a conversation about life and all that comes with it and I asked you, “Are you happy?” What would your response be?
Will it be a resounding “Yes”?
Or will the answer be “I’ll be happy when…”
The infamous lie of “I’ll be happy when…” is a trap that intertwines and deceives us to believe that we will finally obtain that happiness that we’ve been looking for when that something we’ve been desiring finally happens.
That something that we are hoping for varies for each of us. For someone it may be finally meeting “the one” and getting married, for someone else it may be finally getting that promotion into the corner office, for another it may be winning the lottery or moving into their dream home. For me, it’s been everything from “I’ll be happy when I leave this job” to “I’ll be happy when I get a book publisher.”
Until I figured out this little secret that I want to share with you.
You will be just as happy as you are now as when you receive whatever it is that you are striving towards. Your happiness is a choice that you can make. You will be just as happy as you are now as you are when you get that new job, new contract or new man. Happiness is ultimately a choice. When you wake up in the morning, you can choose to be miserable and feel sorry for yourself or you can choose to be happy in spite of what your current circumstances may be.
If you are waiting for something to make you happy or better yet, waiting on someone else to make you happy then that something or someone also has the power to make you unhappy.
That is simply too much power to give away when the power actually lies within yourself.
Oh, and please know this very fact…
There will always be something else that you are going to be striving for even after you’ve reached your current “I’ll be happen when…” mark. So you may be telling yourself that you will finally be happy when you marry the one, well the next thing may be that you will finally be happy when you have children. You have the children and the next thing is that you will finally be happy when they leave for college.
That is a long time to wait on being happy.
You might currently be yearning for that promotion at your job. Let’s say that in a year you receive the promotion and the hefty raise you’ve been hoping for. Well after you get the promotion, you have a ton of new responsibilities that are overwhelming you and the position is not what you anticipated it to be. You convince yourself that you will be happy when you move onto a new company within another year.
Again, a long while until you can finally be happy. And I’m almost certain that when you get to that new company, sooner or later there will be something else to strive towards.
Take back the power of happiness that lies within you. If you are not happy now, then I want you to find out why and make a decision that no matter what is happening or not happening in your life that you will choose to be happy instead of waiting to be happy when…
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
P.S. Pre-orders of my book, Take the Limits Off Your Legacy: A Woman’s Guide to Unlock Purpose and Vision are now available. Pre-order your copy here.
