Why the Real Motive Behind Your Success?

by desing | Faith & Purpose

It’s no secret that you want to become successful but what’s your “why?” Why do you want to be successful? What’s the motivation behind your success?

Do you want to be become wealthy to help your family? Do you want to become a doctor so that you can help the sick? Do you want to start that non-profit organization helping young girls so that you can create change in your community?

These are all noble reasons to want to achieve your dreams and it’s only a matter of time, dedication, and faith and I’m sure you will see your vision realized.

Now there are other reasons some of us want to be successful. You may be chasing success for the wrong reasons which is the reason why your dreams are delayed. I’m not telling you that it won’t happen but if your motives are not in the right place then you may be experiencing resistance for the right reasons.

Here’s what I mean. Maybe the real reason you want to gain 100,000 followers on Instagram is because you’re seeking validation and meaning in the followers because you’re struggling with self-worth. Or you want to make millions of dollars to compete with your sister who is a successful attorney because you’re carrying envy or resentment towards her. Maybe you came from very humble beginnings and you were teased as a child so now you want to gain fame and fortune to prove to those who have hurt you that you are worthy.

The deceiving part of these motives is that they are attached to your worth, meaning or identity which means that you will be giving your success way to much power. You’ll let your success get to your head and your failures get to your spirit. God loves you too much to give you that success when He knows that it’s rooted in shallow motives.

It will be a great feeling when you achieve that success but if your motives are in the wrong place then what you’re chasing will never be enough. You can get 100,000 followers but sooner or later you’ll need to have more in order to continue to feel validated. You might have the millions of dollars while living your life like it’s golden but you’ll still feel empty inside.

I know this far too well as this was a major lesson that I had to learn while on my own journey. I had to realize that my worth and identity was not in what I do or my accomplishments. You are not what you do and you don’t need to be super successful in order to validate your existence. You are enough just the way you are.

If you chase money then you’ll never have enough of it and it will become your God as you give it power over you. If you chase your meaning in a relationship, your financial status, achievements, things, followers or anything else outside of yourself then you’ll never be permanently secure.

When I learned that my identity, meaning and approval came from my relationship with God (who is the only constant in my life) then I started to experience a profound joy that I’ve never experienced in my life! It’s like God allowed me to fail so that I could recognize Him and His love for me. Sometimes it takes a mountain that you can’t fix on your own to learn to trust and believe.

The seasons in your life are guaranteed to change and I don’t want you to allow your meaning to be in what you’re achieving because that may change overnight. You are complete, whole and powerful!

So I challenge you to be honest with yourself and discover your true motives for success. If you identify shallow reasons then find out why. It may be time to heal and restore those parts of you and soon you’ll experience personal success which is preceded by an abundance of  outward success.

Know your “why” in everything that you do.

XOXO,

Maria I. Melendez

@embraceherlegacy

Embraceherlegacy.com

P.S. Get my latest class, Goal Slaying 101: 7 Steps to Achieve Your Goals here:

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The Main Ingredient to Your Success

by desing | Faith & Purpose

You and I both know that success is not an overnight project. There are too many different ingredients that when combined together, make a sweet recipe that you’re ready to get a taste of.

The main ingredient of the recipe will vary from person to person depending on who you ask. Some may say the main ingredient is perseverance, hard work or education but there is one missing link that is far too often overlooked and can be the cause of delay in your success if you don’t include it in your recipe.

And that’s being specific.

In order to achieve any goal, or realize any dream you must be clear and specific on what you want. If you’re vague about it, then you will produce vague, hazy results. It’s kind of like getting dressed up with nowhere to go.

Everyone wants to be successful, everyone wants to realize their dreams while living a fulfilled life. However, if you cannot define what that means for you then you will lack focus. Furthermore, creating a plan to go somewhere without a clear destination is going to be a waste of time and energy.

So you want to make more money? Well, if your goal is to make more money then don’t be surprised if you make $10 more next week because it is more money right? But I’m sure that you mean more than that when you have a goal of making more money. Well, it’s up to you to get specific about how much more money you want to make. Setting a goal of making 20% more than your current income or $70,000 per year or $10,000 per month in sales for your business is way more specific (and exciting) than make more money.

Once your goals are specific, you can begin to set action steps that are clear to help you achieve your goal. So exactly what do you need to do in order to realize your new goal for your income? Get a certification? Further your education? Increase marketing strategies for your business? Update your resume, references and start the new job hunt?

As you are intentional about being specific about your goals, you will also remain focused, manage your time better and eliminate options that are not in line with what your goal is. If your goal is to save 15% of your income every month then you know that you should start making plans to pack your lunch at least 3x a week instead of spending $15 every day on food.

Don’t be lazy about your dreams and goals, get specific with what you want. If you want to start a business, then what type of business will it be? If you want to get out of debt, then call your creditors to find out exactly how much you owe and develop your plan pay it off. If you want to get a new job, then get clear on what type of job you want.

Most people just let life happen to them instead of pursuing clear goals to make life happen for them. You don’t want to be another person on the hamster wheel of life…moving but going nowhere fast.

As you become specific with what you want, you will enhance the power that works for you in realizing your dreams. Instead of praying simple, bland prayers to enlist God’s help, you can begin to ask God for your specific requests. Now I’m not telling you to tell Him how to do it, but how can you know God answers prayer if you’re not specific about it. You may want to get married soon, well get specific about what you want in your man and start asking God about it! Yes, this is how powerful specificity is because your activating spiritual laws of faith to manifest the desires of your heart.

Do you know how encouraging it is when you begin to see exactly what you want happening to you? I suggest to take it a step further and gather images representing your specific goals and requests. Get a picture of your dream house, cut out a picture of your bank statement and write in the numbers you want to see.

And if you need a little help to identify how to figure out what you want or your action plan to make it happen, then I want you to download my Goal Slaying 101 audio lesson. I give you several strategies to help you discover what you want and I also provide a step-by-step framework to help you achieve each goal.

Get it here:

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Don’t wait until January to start planning 2017, start today!

XOXO,

Maria I. Melendez

@embraceherlegacy

Embraceherlegacy.com

Drop It, Leave It Go, Let It Go

by desing | Faith & Purpose

So the past few days I’ve found myself meditating on things of my past. Of course, when we do this, we never think about the good. It’s seems like it’s almost human nature to rehearse the pain, failures, hurts or regrets.

After feeling this way for a few days (and feeling this way for more than a day is way too long), I woke up this morning and asked God to help me let it all go.

I proceeded to my normal, morning routine of working out while listening to something that will empower my spirit. I turned on my television to hear spiritual leader, Joel Osteen, talking about dropping it, leaving it and letting it go. I immediately knew this was God answering my prayer. It was only five minutes into it that I decided to drop it, leave it and let it go.

What do I mean by this?

Well, you can’t expect to effectively move forward to receive the best that your future has to offer you if you’re still holding onto the pain,  regrets, betrayals or failures of your past. If you’re still mad at that ex-boyfriend who cheated, or you’re still regretting a mistake you made, or you’re still harboring the pain of your parents divorce or you can’t get over the failed business. Then it’s time to drop it, leave it and let it go.

You are holding onto way too many bags that you were not designed to carry. You’re holding onto to a dusty backpack when God wants to put a new Chanel in your hands.

During the broadcast, Joel Osteen said something that I’ve had to say to myself a hundred times. “If God allowed it, then it must have a purpose in the end.” I understand that there are certain disappointments that are so painful that there is no way you can understand why that would happen to you. Unfortunately, we love in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people and trying to understand why will only frustrate you and delay your healing.

Any person who has experienced disappointment, hurt or failure but who resiliently thrives over the obstacle makes a conscious decision to let it go and move forward. As a woman of faith, I’ve learned to trust God to heal me, vindicate me and give me back double for all the troubles I’ve suffered. I’ve learned to maximize God’s love for me instead of focusing on the past. Why not try doing the same?

You will become what you behold. Therefore, if you keep looking behind you then you’re allowing your past to hold your future captive. All things can be made new in your life. You may be mad at the ex of yours but just around the bend is your husband who will treat like the Queen that you are but if you keep harboring that pain, you are limiting what God can do in your future because you may end up sabotaging it. You may be pissed off at your former boss who unjustly fired you out of the blue and you endured extreme financial struggles but the job of your dreams making 5x as much as you did before is on its way. Your first business may have failed but there is a new, multi million dollar deal for a new business coming that will help you and your family achieve prosperity for generations to come.

The reason you have to “leave it” is because once you drop it, you’ll be tempted to pick it back up. Make a decision not to pick it back up. Stop talking about it (unless you need to seek professional help), stop rehearsing it, stop hanging out with the people who reinforce it, and leave it where it belongs, in your past.

Accept your past as part of your story and trust that those trials will turn into triumphs! Everything that happened to you is happening for you in order to fulfill your life’s assignment.

Write out the vision that you have for your future and surround yourself with images that represent where you want to go, not where you been. Create a new vision board representing the new things that you are expecting to have manifested in  your life. Grab hold in faith of every promise that God has made over your life! This is not your end, this is very beginning if you will drop it, leave it and let it go.

XOXO,

Maria I. Melendez

@embraceherlegacy

People Who Don’t Understand Your Vision

by desing | Faith & Purpose

So you’ve got this big dream and you decided to share your new idea with someone close to you expecting their encouragement only to be disappointed when they tell you every reason why you can’t make it happen.

Or better yet you start dating this guy that you think could be your husband and your girlfriend tells you that “all men are dogs so don’t get your hopes up”.

Sound familiar to you?

I’m pretty sure that you’ve experienced an encounter similar to this one.

This is why it’s important for you to use discernment over who you share your vision with and even when you choose to tell them. I’m your “midwife” as my role is to inspire you to birth the dream that is growing inside of you. I like to consider us all as being “pregnant with a dream.”

But if you tell people about your dreams in its infancy or early development phase then their negative words have the power to influence you to abort your mission. There is a difference between seeking wise counsel and going to people for validation or approval of your vision. Not everyone needs to know all of your goals all of them time.

You might be expecting someone to think big like you but they may simply may not have the capacity to do so right now. If someone has never met with or come in contact with success-minded people then how can you expect them to think otherwise? If they have a “9 to 5” mentality and you have the mind of an entrepreneur then of course there will be conflict. If she believes that “all men are dogs” because she’s been hurt, hasn’t healed yet and has only been surrounded by broken relationships then how can you expect for her to be happy for you?

Are you getting mad at your turtles expecting them to be like a giraffe? As you’ve heard me share this with you before, “When you are a giraffe and you receive criticism from turtles they are reporting the view from the level that they’re on.” In essence, you cannot expect for someone who only has the limited view of a turtle to see your view as the giraffe.

Because of this, learn to have compassion for people who don’t get it instead of getting pissed off trying to explain it to them. Allow your vision to speak for itself and when the time comes those very same people will be lining up to ask you how you did it.

Sadly, the “turtles” in our lives who have the power to hurt us the most are usually loved ones in close proximity like family, friends, and even partners. I’ve dealt with this too so you’re not alone. But again, this is why I simply stopped talking and started doing.

People will impose their own hurt and insecurities onto you. Because they don’t have the courage to pursue their goals or believe for good things, they will impose that fear on you or tell you how you can’t do it because they never been exposed to someone who has. Accept people for who they are and most importantly for who they’re not.

The energy that you put out trying to get the validation and approval from others could be channeled into you realizing your top goals. That’s why I created my new audio lesson, Goal Slaying 101: 7 Steps to Achieve Your Goals. Take some time to invest into your vision and stop playing around LOL!

You will begin to feel so proud of yourself when you start taking action towards fulfilling your goals. A year ago, I had a desire of having my own podcast but it wasn’t a goal until I transformed into one. Your desires will stay desires until you create an action plan.

Well, in a few  weeks, you’ll be tuning into my very first podcast episode! When I sat down to record each episode, I felt so damn proud of myself because this was one of my top goals and I took the very same steps that I teach in the class. But in full transparency, I thought I couldn’t do it because I lacked the experience until I met with my “tribe of giraffe-minded women” who encouraged me to just start and do it. And that’s exactly what I did!

For this reason, I encourage you to tune into the class so that a year from now you too can be well on your way to showing the people who doubted you, just what you’re made of.

What do you got to lose?

Get the audio lesson below:

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Until next time, keep shining!

XOXO,

Maria I. Melendez

@embraceherlegacy

Embraceherlegacy.com

Keep Doing The Right Thing

by desing | Faith & Purpose

Doing what’s right isn’t always easy, especially when you feel like no one is taking notice and you feel like you’re long overdue for a breakthrough in your circumstances.

You might be killing it at work and you’ve been passed over for that promotion not once but twice! Not only that but no one seems to thank you for your hard work. You might be looking for a new job and you’re crushing every interview but no call backs. You might be giving your business all you got and your sales are still weak while other entrepreneurs you know are vacationing in Dubai.

At this point, you can be super tempted to feel like no one is appreciating your hard work so you want to give in, give up and walk out because what’s the sense to keep doing what right when nothing is coming from it, right?

Wrong!

Someone is always watching and your hard work will always pay off.

How do I know?

Well, when I was in college, I landed an internship at Atlantic Records. I was super excited to be pursuing my childhood dream of working in the music business to become a top female music mogul (obviously God had other plans for me). Nevertheless, I ended up interning in a department for managerial level women who I thought would look out for me because we were all women, from similar  backgrounds and we were all women of color.

Boy was I mistaken! These women were catty, cutthroat, condescending and weren’t really interested in moving my career from intern to employee. I was killing it as an intern as I was committed to excellence. I worked my tail off and focused on giving my internship everything I had. Soon people started to take notice.

Unbeknownst to me, I had a job lined up for me immediately after graduation. The job came from a major senior executive who heard about me through his assistant. He made one call and in an instant my new life began.

He had more leverage and power than the women that I was working for so although they tried to keep me down, there was nothing they could do.

What if I would have allowed their negative behavior to deter me from striving towards excellence? What if I would had a bad attitude, stop giving it my all and let my work ethic take a hit?

I would have missed out on one of my greatest breakthroughs! I wasn’t getting paid for my internship either and I was literally down to my last in my bank account so I had every reason to quit but I knew in my gut that if I kept on pushing that I would get a breakthrough and I did.

Someone is always looking even when you may not think so. But it’s up to you commit to excellence and keep doing what’s right. You never know when or where your next opportunity will come from. You might be mad because your business isn’t growing but you might be one phone call away from the biggest client in your life. A better promotion is on its way instead of the one you got passed up for.

When you wait for God to open doors for you and for good things to come to you then you’ll experience opportunities greater and bigger than your mind can imagine.

I know how it feels to feel unnoticed but don’t be fooled! You are doing such a fantastic job and you should be proud of yourself. Every time you do the right thing, you are planting little seeds of goodness. Those good seeds are going to harvest into so many good breaks for you. Don’t give up on yourself or your dreams! Don’t stress about it anymore, sit back and let the show begin.

Your time is now.

XOXO,

Maria I. Melendez

@embraceherlegacy