012: ClickFunnels Integration with ConvertKit (Step 3 of 4)

Al'right, moving into step 3 of integrating ConvertKit with ClickFunnels. We covered Step 1 here and Step 2 here. 

(If you are using ClickFunnels to host your landing page or opt-in pages or webinar registration page, you can follow along these four videos and set up everything. What this will do is send the information about all the subscribers into your ConvertKit account.)

There are four steps involved in this. 

Video 010: Step 1 - Prep CK account Try ConvertKit 30 days for free*

Video 011: Step 2 - Prep CF account Try ClickFunnels 14 days for free*

Video 012: Step 3 - Integrate CK with CF 

Video 013: Step 4 - Test it all out 

* These are affiliate links. I highly recommend these tools as I find them very useful myself.

Now on to Step 3: Integrating ClickFunnels with Convertkit

We are almost done. Follow along to Step 4 here that shows you how to test out that your integration is working correctly.

As always, let me know what other tutorials I can make for you to help you on your profitable online business journey! 

Much love,

Sophia

011: ClickFunnels Integration with ConvertKit (Step 2 of 4)

Al'right, moving into Step 2 of integrating ConvertKit with ClickFunnels. We covered Step 1 in Video 010 ClickFunnels Integration with ConvertKit (Step 1 of 4)

(If you are using ClickFunnels to host your landing page or opt-in pages or webinar registration page, you can follow along these four videos and set up everything. What this will do is send the information about all the subscribers into your ConvertKit account.)

There are four steps involved in this. 

Video 010: Step 1 - Prep CK account Try ConvertKit 30 days for free*

Video 011: Step 2 - Prep CF account Try ClickFunnels 14 days for free*

Video 012: Step 3 - Integrate CK with CF 

Video 013: Step 4 - Test it all out 

* These are affiliate links. I highly recommend these tools as I find them very useful myself.

Now on to Step 2 Preparing Your ClickFunnels Account:

If you'd like to learn more on how to use ConvertKit, just drop me a line in the comments below and let me know. I also have a free tutorial request button on the right where you make a request for a video tutorial on anything related to ConvertKit, Squarespace and email marketing. So just look for the green/teal button on the sidebar on the right!

Wishing you love and peace,

Sophia

010: ClickFunnels Integration with ConvertKit (Step 1 of 4)

I've been asked on several occasions on a step-by-step guide for integrating ClickFunnels with ConvertKit. So finally I put aside some time to create this video guide for you. 

If you are using ClickFunnels to host your landing page or opt-in pages or webinar registration page, you can follow along these four videos and set up everything. What this will do is send the information about all the subscribers into your ConvertKit account.

There are four steps involved in this. 

Video 010: Step 1 - Prep CK account Try ConvertKit 30 days for free* 

Video 011: Step 2 - Prep CF account Try ClickFunnels 14 days for free*

Video 012: Step 3 - Integrate CK with CF 

Video 013: Step 4 - Test it all out 

* These are affiliate links. I highly recommend these tools as I find them very useful myself.
Let's begin with Step 1: Preparing Your ConvertKit Account:

Videos 011, 012 and 013 will be released Feb 10, Feb 13 and Feb 14th. So look out for it here!

If you'd like to learn more on how to use ConvertKit, just drop me a line in the comments below and let me know. I also have a free tutorial request button on the right where you make a request for a video tutorial on anything related to ConvertKit, Squarespace and email marketing. So just look for the green/teal button on the sidebar on the right!

Wishing you love and peace,

Sophia

009: Why do I Need to Get My New ConvertKit Account Approved?

You've just signed up to your new ConvertKit Account. You've begun playing around with some of the features - maybe you set up your first form, uploaded your CSV file of subscriber info from your former email marketing service provider.

Then, boom...

Suddenly, you see a pop-up message inside your ConvertKit account that your account needs to get approved. In some cases, you may even receive an email message saying that ConvertKit is on spam-alert and your account was suspended. Instead of breaking a sweat and worrying about what went wrong - just know this:

That's normal!

This may happen especially in the beginning phase when you are setting up a new CK account because ConvertKit's team is über-careful about security measures and protecting their current customers. There can be and have been situations when bots on the inter-webs open up new account and try to overload the systems - maliciously or due to a technical error  or what I do not know. What I do know is that you don't have to get concerned. Instead do this:

Just send an email to the CK support team and let them know who you are, what your domain name is and how large of a list you are importing (if at all importing a list). You will need to do this in order to send emails and use the account moving forward. So follow their instructions that they email you back and the team will approve your account. See - nothing to worry! Easy peasy :)

In the video below, I show you what that message may look like inside your ConvertKit account.

Also, if you want to know more, you can read this quick official note from CK on the topic.

Hope this quick video allays your concerns - especially when starting out with ConvertKit!

All the best!
Sophia

PS: Let me know by writing in the comments what other tutorials on ConvertKit and Squarespace or on email marketing you'd like to see and I'd be happy to create videos that will help you achieve it.

008: How to Delete a Tag in ConvertKit

In Blog 006 and 007, I showed you how to create a new tag and rename a tag, respectively. Now what if you just wanted to delete a tag altogether? That's quick too. Take a look at this video to see how.

Al'right, take care of all your tags now with these three easy quick videos to help you streamline your CK account!

Blog 006: How to Create a New Tag in ConvertKit
Blog 007: How to Rename A Tag in ConvertKit

Cheers!
Sophia

PS: Let me know by writing in the comments what other tutorials on ConvertKit and Squarespace you'd like to see and I'd be happy to create videos that will help you achieve it.

007: How to Rename a Tag in ConvertKit

May you have been working with tags already but now you want to take the time to create a streamlined, simplified order in your ConvertKit tags. Or simply you made a typo and want to correct the tag name. You can do this by renaming your existing tag. It is quick and simple. Watch this video to see how:

Al'right, now that's fast!

Also, watch the other two videos in the series on tags:

Blog 006: How to Create a New Tag in ConvertKit
Blog 008: How to Delete a Tag in ConvertKit

Cheers!
Sophia

PS: Let me know by writing in the comments what other tutorials on ConvertKit and Squarespace you'd like to see and I'd be happy to create videos that will help you achieve it.

006: How to Create a New Tag in ConvertKit

To make email marketing targeted to the specific behavior and preferences of your subscribers, tags come in very very handy. It is very quick and easy to create a new Tag inside your ConvertKit, watch this super-quick video to see how you can begin making tags inside ConvertKit.

Al'right, that's it.

Cheers!
Sophia

PS: Let me know in the comments what other tutorials on ConvertKit and Squarespace you'd like to see and I'd be happy to create videos that will help you achieve it.

005: How to Add a Banner or Logo in your ConvertKit Emails?

If you are using ConvertKit for sending out emails you know how awesome it is to have a clean, minimalist design that helps your emails land in inboxes. But you may be thinking, "How about adding a banner image to add that brand recognition!" Well, you can add a banner or a logo for that matter to the top of your emails as a header and you do this by following these steps.

1. Create a Tag called "Test"

Now you are wondering why do I start with a tag? You will find out in a moment, so hold your horses!

2. Create your Banner Image

You can create a banner using any of the free design tools out there such as Canva, Picmonkey or Easil. Or you can have it designed by a graphic designer on Upwork or other freelancer sites. 
The important thing is the size. Make the banner to be 600px in width and about 125px in height. This proportion looks quite nice on CK emails. You can try 600px x 200px and see if you like that better but I think 600px x 125px works just fine.

Here's the link to the video training on How to Create An Email Banner in Less Than 5 minutes.

3. Create a Custom Template From Scratch

Start by grabbing the code in one of the three default templates. Then click on create new template and paste it there. Name it and click save.

4. Then come over to the blog and grab the header code:

<div class="header">
<p><img src="Add the html code of the banner here"  alt="Sophia Ojha"></p>
</div>

Note: the text you see in bold will be replaced. See instructions in step 5.

5. Upload the banner into Convertkit via Broadcasts

Go into Broadcasts and create a new broadcast. Under recipients make sure you are selecting the test tag...you see now why we created this in the first place? :-) Next, upload the banner by clicking on the photo icon in the tool bar. Finally, click the html code icon and grab the code for the image. (Place it in header code you grabbed in Step No. 4).

6. Preview and Click Save.

7. Test the Template under Sequences or Broadcasts

Make any tweaks you may need so it looks like you want it. One way to do this is by going into Sequence, creating a test sequence and sending yourself a preview by email. This is a really good way to see how your email template will look like in the inbox. You can also do this by going into broadcasts and sending yourself a test email. 

Take a look at the video below to see it all play out in action:

Al'right that it. Let me know how it works out for you. I'd love to what you create so make a screenshot and share it in the comments! 

Cheers!
Sophia

PS: Let me know what other tutorials on ConvertKit and Squarespace you'd like to see and I'd be happy to create videos that will help you achieve it.

004: How to Create An Email Banner/Header Image in less than 5 minutes?

Let's say you want to create a banner image from scratch for your email templates in ConvertKit. Can it be done without hiring a designer and without fancy complicated design software? The answer is yes. 

And it can be done in less than 5 minutes! Watch this quick tutorial as I walk you through the steps.

Note that you can do this using any of the free tools available out there such as Canva, Picmonkey, Easil and so on. In this video, I am using Canva.com

But of course, after you've created your banner image, you'll want to know how to embed it into your custom email template inside ConvertKit. To help you with that step too, I have created a tutorial to guide you through each action step.

Watch that tutorial here: 005: How to Add a Banner or Logo in your ConvertKit Emails?

Now take a look at the video training on how to create an Email Banner Image here:

Once you've created your banner image, go on over to the next training video to embed it inside a custom email template within ConvertKit.

Here's the training: 

How to Add a Banner or Logo in your ConvertKit Emails?

Al'right, there you have it! Now go on create your header and share your results with me in the comments! I'd be delighted to see your work and may be even do a follow-up email featuring all the banner images!

003: How to change colors of your links in your emails on ConvertKit?

Hey'all! Here is a quick tutorial for customizing your emails within ConvertKit. Specifically, changing colors of your links within your emails.

 In this video, I will show you:

1. how to change the link color in your emails

2. how you can have two different colors for the text and for the link underneath. (Example: Orange text but green underline color)

3. how to remove the underline all together.

And

4.  how to have two different colors for your link phrase. For example: Link A is Orange and Link B is Purple.

Take a look at the video here:

Changing Colors of Your Links within your emails

Why would you want to do that? Well, the default link color on CK emails looks like this:

But I want it to look like this:

So that's what I will show you how to do in the video and step-by-step list below.

But first, why change the colors?

Now, whenever you can add a branded look to your work, it helps in creating a sense of continuity. This is a concept I learnt in film school, interestingly. Continuity, basically, means you want things to look the same from scene to scene. So let's say there's a restaurant scene of Girl and Boy meeting for the first time. The time of day is morning. When you make a close-up of the girl speaking, there's got to be a sense of seamlessness. In other words, she cannot be wearing a different color top than the first scene, the lighting cannot be that of a mid-day sun, the people sitting on the table in the background cannot suddenly change to be different people.

Well, it is something like that for your audience as well. When they come to your website and see a certain look, then your emails can create a sense of continuity by carrying over some elements. This creates a sense of trust and comfort in knowing that things are familiar when you communicate with them via another channel. Does that convince you? I hope so and now here's how to do it.

Steps for Changing Your Links

Step 1: Make sure you already have done the creation of a custom email template (a tutorial coming up on that).

Step 2: Assuming you have already a custom template, all you need then is this piece of code:

.message-content a { color: #16bbb3; text-decoration: underline;}

Step 3: Replace the hexcode #16bbb3 to the color that corresponds to your site.

#16bbb3 is a hexcode that gives a teal/green color. So of course, you will need to replace #16bbb3 to be the hexcode of your links on your website.

Tip: Don't know your hexcode?  use this free tool to see what color a specific hex code is or this free tool to find out what hexcode you are using currently on your site.

Step 4: Test it out by clicking preview in your emails. (Make sure that the specific custom email template is selected).

That's it.

If you want to do some other cool things like removing the underlining, have different color for the text and different for the underlining or have two text links with two colors, then go watch the video above.

To sum up, in the video I showed you all of these:

- how to change the link color in your emails

- how you can have two different colors for the text and for the link underneath. (Example: Orange text but green underline color)

- how to remove the underline all together AND

- how to have two different colors for your link phrase. For example: Link A is Orange and Link B is Purple.

Al'right. That's it. Let me know in the comments what tutorials you need.

Peace,

Sophia

PS: Also see this related blog on removing the double underlines: 
https://www.sophiaojha.com/blog/037-how-to-remove-underline-from-links-in-convertkit
 

002: How to Add Social Media Links to Your Convertkit Email Template

ConvertKit's unique selling proposition is that their emails are simple, to the point and focus on the message. This style of clean emails also makes ConvertKit the email marketing platform of choice for many successful entrepreneurs as it is more likely to make it into your subscribers' inboxes rather than ending up in the spam folder. (Emails with lots of design and images are more likely to be looked upon as spam).

Having said that, you may still want to add a bit of design, especially when it comes to adding quick links to your social media presence. So how do you do that? Well, follow these quick steps to create those quick links! It involves a bit of code but if you can copy and paste, you can do this! :-)

Adding Social Media Links into your ConvertKit Emails

So here are all the steps in summary:

1. Create a custom template
2. Copy and paste the basic code for styling text.
3. Copy and paste the social media code into your custom template.
4. Paste the code from Step 3 right above the unsubscribe link code.
5. Add the closing bit of code for the unsubscribe link code.
6 Add your specific social media urls.
7. Hit Preview and Voila, you are done!

Watch the Video Tutorial

Watch the video tutorial here or go below to follow the step by step description.

---

Step 1: Create A Custom Template

You go into your Account. Click Email Template. Then click the blue button on the upper right hand that says, "New Email Template".

Step 2: Copy and Paste the Basic Code for Text Styling

This piece of code instructs Convertkit on the look of your email as in font size, margin width and so on. You cannot save a custom template without this piece of code. So this is muy importante!

Grab the code from your within the "Text Only Template" of Convertkit. I have already done this for you here, so just copy the following code.

<style>
  .message-content { max-width: 600px; }
  .message-content div { padding-bottom: 10px; }
  .message-content img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; }
  p {
    margin-bottom: 1em;
  }
</style>
<div class='message-content'>
  {{ message_content }}
  <br>
  <br>
  <small>
    {{ unsubscribe_link }} | {{ address }}
    <br>
  </small>
</div>

Step 3. Copy and paste the following social media code into your custom template.

Copy the following piece of code. In Step 4, I will show you exactly where to paste it.

<div class="social-links"> 

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/facebook.png" alt="Facebook" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a> 

<a href="https://twitter.com/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/twitter.png" alt="Twitter" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a>

<a href="https://instagram.com/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/instagram.png" alt="Instagram" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a>

<a href="https://www.pinterest.com/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/pinterest.png" alt="Pinterest" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a>

<a href="https://plus.google.com/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/google-plus.png" alt="Google Plus" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a>

<a href="http://youtube.com"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/youtube_alt.png" alt="YouTube" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a>

<a href="http://convertkit.com"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/website.png" alt="Website" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"> </a>

</div>

Step 4. Paste the code from Step 3 right above the unsubscribe link code.

So you see the code in Step 2, right? Well, the final section is all about the unsubscribe link that is mandatory in all emails so that subscribers have a chance to unsubscribe if they like.

Right above that bit of code is where you would paste the social media link code that you see in Step 3. (Watch the video for more clarity).

So that's right above this bit:

<small>
    {{ unsubscribe_link }} | {{ address }}
    <br>
  </small>

Step 5. Add the closing bit of code

Now you must add this bit before and after the unsubscribe code.

Before:

<div>

After:

</div>

So this is how it should look like in the end:

<div>
 <small>
    {{ unsubscribe_link }} | {{ address }}
    <br>
  </small>
</div>

Step 6: Add your specific social media url

You now must grab all your social media urls and place them in their respective spots.

So let's take an example. My social media link for facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/EmailMarketingSpecialistSophia/

Where I see the facebook url, I shall now add my specific url.

So instead of this:

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/facebook.png" alt="Facebook" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a> 

It should say: 

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/EmailMarketingSpecialistSophia/"> <img src="http://convertkit.com/images/social-icons/facebook.png" alt="Facebook" width="48" style="text-decoration: none; width: 48px;"></a> 

Basically, I am adding my Facebook link between the quotes right after <a href=

Go on and do this for all your social media links. Remove any platforms you are not using or don't want to add.

Step 7. Hit Preview and Voila, you are done!

That's it. You are done.
 

Let me know in the comments if this was useful and if you need anything else to get your social media links implanted within ConvertKit.

Let's make it happen!

Sophia with love

001: What Are Link Triggers in ConvertKit?

Al'right! Now one of the things that makes email marketing fun is that you can see how your efforts are faring. When you write your emails, you can see if someone is opening them or if they are clicking on your links.

There is a way to track who in your list is interested in what you are saying and clicking on the links that you share.

ConvertKit makes that super duper easy with something called Link Triggers. And in this blog I will show you step-by-step how to do it.

Quick Step-by-Step Video:

Link Triggers In a Nutshell

Link Triggers are a way to track who is clicking on your links within your emails. Follow the steps below to create your very own link trigger. Just do it even if you do not know what you will do with that info. Try it for the sake of getting used to the idea.

8 Quick Steps:

1. Create or identify the URL link that you want people to click on.

2. Copy it.

3. Create a Tag so you can track it. Ex: "Clicked Tutorial Link for Link Triggers"

4. Go to Automations under your Convertkit Account.

5. Set up the Trigger-Action there

6. Open your email draft that you are working with.

7. Highlight the text you want to be a Link Trigger

8. Select the link trigger that you have already added

9. DONE.

That's it. Here it is in a video so you can follow along.

That's it y'all!

Cheers, Sophia!

Let me know if you used this for creating your link trigger. If you like for fun, send me 2 screenshots (of your automation and of your email inside Convertkit) and tell me what you wanted to track with this link trigger. And we could do a follow up blog on this featuring you and other bloggers!

Also, write me below in the comments any questions or challenges you have with link triggers, ConvertKit or with email marketing on the whole!

Thank you to all the kind words you have said to me and Reflection Pond!

I am grateful for your kind words and testimonials!

Thank you this made a great difference for us ! - Eric Schwan

Really awesome! Helping with little manifestations and now going for big. - Lisseth Wertz viewer on youtube.

The most effective visualization meditation I've done thus far. - F. F. viewer on youtube.

Just wanted to let you know...once again, how much I enjoyed reading your last piece on "creating happiness". You are so good at motivating people to take action in improving their lives. Keep up the great work you do...using your god-given gift in helping people. It's invaluable to this world. - V.

Very good! Thank you! I had not expected this kind of experience. I am working with a counsellor on mindfulness, and this fit with it very well. - Peter S.

My experience was very similar to watching Yellow Submarine. I started with a migraine and ended with peace. - LS

I come to Sophia for the vivid imagery of her guided meditations.  The insights, the surreal beauty, and deep relaxation are rejuvenating.  When I have personal issues to deal with she is an open vessel that listens and empathizes before her gentle guidance ripples back an insightful response.  She always helps me get to that next level. - Rachael S.

Fantastic!!  Love it! - Kim Smith

Hello Reflection Pond! I wanted to send my gratitude to you on the first day of the new year. I just re-listened to dream manifestation and it was really perfect. Thank you for being such a blessing in 2012 and I look forward to future journeys. :) Namaste - Leah Kuhlman

How clever life is – I so needed this type of meditiation this morning. and there is was. It has helped me and will continue to help me as I struggle with a number of issues at this time. I am going to make myself a beautiful golden globe with colourful ribbons attached and suspend it over my desk. It will be the manifestation of all that this meditation has meant, and will mean for me in the future. - Bev.

As we went into the visualization the imagery and travel was like Alice in Wonderland, going down a rabbit hole, opening up into a flower garden, and eventually I found myself at my place. It was where I belonged, my true self, my high self. I've never forgotten that place or the imagery and it continues to affect me to this day. I know where I am going and I know that everything I do is towards my goal because I can feel that same feeling of arrival and accomplishment. My life has clear direction and purpose towards my future which feels as simple and tangible as a memory. - Rachael Shores, Asheville, NC

Thank you for bringing this into my life. When I got my first mail from Sophia I recognized that writing down things is really important for clarification! For me, it is essential to take the time and bring my objectives into focus. I enjoy getting clear about my intentions and to empower them during the I.M. process. Every meditation session provides an enrichment of my life and is a great experience for me. - Peter, 29, Germany

Focus is so powerful. The I.M. program is a key pillar to keep me focused and give me the confidence that what I focus on, for me, is the right thing to do. - Alex, USA

When I meditate in the morning, it really sets the mood for the day. Any obstacles that are thrown in my direction are easier to overcome with a clear mind. - Joy Kirk, Asheville, NC

I would really let problems and stress effect me. I have learned that all we need to do, as humans, is breathe. Just saying that to myself...really lets me relax and be happy. - Eric Barker,  Asheville, NC

Really enjoyed your Visualization for Manifesting Your Intention you posted on YouTube. It was just what I needed today. Thanks! - Celeste Clevenger

Thank you universe! I really needed this meditation today! - Michelle Snovak

Thank you for the beautiful gathering! - burnthesun, music band from Asheville, NC

Ah, I miss listening to your voice.  I'm so glad you made these recordings. - Rachael S.

Thank you so much for sending me the CD!! It came out great!!! I´m listening to it with my girlfriend right now, it´s so nice and calming listening to you and the wonderful music. What a great job of you guys. - Manuel M.

This is an excellent manifestation meditation! Thank you very much! - Ahawellness

What a touching video you have created once again. It is lovely and inspiring! You brought tears to my eyes with your sweetness and your sincerity and your message of hope and intention. Your workshop in December looks great. Go for it! Nice invitation to join in the event." -Paul Steinkoenig, Washington D.C. 

I loved the Sunday reflection for following the heart.  This was exactly what I needed to hear and this is exactly the message I want everyone I know to hear.  I want to put this some place where I can read it every day. Thanks for a great reminder. -Rachael Shores, Asheville, North Carolina

Vielen Dank fuer diese wunderbaren Worte und die Hommage zum Muttertag, liebe Sophia. Das tut gut.- Martina Lehner, Sardinia, Italy

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I really enjoyed reading your newsletter "follow your heart"...really inspiring and so very true...thanks for bringing such wonderful insights into my life! Also, just wanted to let you know that as usual, I've enjoyed reading your recent newsletter "mighty flame". Thank you for sharing such insights! I'm going to keep telling myself that whenever I encounter a problem, I should see it as an opportunity for growth and for my own personal learning." - Asmita Barua, New York City

Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift with the world! - The Wilhelm Brothers, Asheville, North Carolina

---

Embrace introspection as way to deepen your inner-peace and happiness

I am all about training our mind to become an ally in our life because a trained, calm mind is a powerful thing. This may be the single most important skill that I have been introduced to in my life. And this skill is best refined through a meditation practice. But there's also something else for us.

You see, I consider myself a beginner in my meditation practice. So, while I am making progress in the meditative practice which strengthens my mind, calms it and builds equanimity (calm-balanced mind in the face of good and bad), I realize that I can also do other thought-cleansing activities. 

And that's introspection. Merriam-Webster's definition goes like this:

introspection

noun  in·tro·spec·tion \ˌin-trə-ˈspek-shən\

:  a reflective looking inward
:  an examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

I do not see this word very often in our everyday conversations. I love this word and the idea that it stands for, and hopefully, we can become more of an introspective society that reflects inward and examines itself more closely with compassion and self-love. To me, introspection means becoming aware of my inner-world, especially as it reacts and responds to the outside world. With introspection, we can find solutions to our every day life challenges, because the answers are already within us.

Each one of us has to make our own decisions based on the inner-strength and understanding we have developed. No matter how much an answer is provided ready-made and pre-designed by others, it will only have a real impact in our lives if we live it, embrace it and make it our own. The process of introspection helps us with that.

Introspection - a stepping stone to a deeper meditative experience

Introspection may help us in our everyday life, with solutions for relationships and work and our community. But that's only the beginning. That's still working on the external level - meaning the physical world that we live in that includes people, places, situations, relationships, objects, environment, events and processes of change in nature, and so on. We are just playing in the world of external physical things.

Beyond the external, physical world, there's an entire universe within our inner-world that remains for us to explore. It is full of high potentiality for us as human beings evolving at this time in our history. Within this inner-world lies not only the answers to our current "problems" but also immense transcendental treasures that I cannot even begin to speak about because I have not fully explored them myself.  However, I've read that many mystics, saints, shamans and noble beings have. And they have left for us clues along the path.

How to take the first steps to sipping the transcendental experience?

But the question remains, how can we even begin to get there (non-physical, transcendental inner-world of treasures), if we do not take even the first steps? The first steps include introspection activities and meditation. And taking first steps means consciously investing and blocking of time for such activities daily. If we cannot invest time to do this in our worldly activities, then the fruits within our inner-reservoir will remain illusive. We can only dream about experiencing that which we do not know exists for us within us to explore. We must begin to take the first steps.

And this has to be daily; not weekly, monthly or once in a while. Daily! Just like we shower and eat our meals daily! It has to become a daily practice because the effect of continuity is more powerful than sporadic engagement in something. Whenever we do something consistently, day-in and day-out, we begin to see real progress, real results. You know this yourself from any project you have been involved in. When left alone for a while, the project takes much more effort to get back into in and then move forward, than if you were to consistently work on it, isn't it? That's been my experience and I can personally feel into this idea and see how the consistency transfers over to meditation and introspective efforts.

So how would a daily introspective and meditative practice look like?

Before I go into an example, I must say that having huge goals for me have been very powerful. My school teacher back in Mumbai used to quote, "Reach for the stars. Even if you don't reach it, at least you won't be in the mud either." And I think to have an ideal to work towards is a good thing (especially, if we don't let ourselves be overwhelmed by it).

It is simple:

“Introspection:
15 minutes over lunch

Mediation:
60 minutes in the morning.
60 minutes in the evening.”

The formula:

Introspection: 15 minutes over lunch
Meditation: 60 minutes in the morning. 60 minutes in the evening.

(Just to be clear by meditation I am referring to silent meditation. No music. No words. Just observing your breath as it is without changing it or altering how you breath. Just observing with non-judgment.)

Because I am suggesting this formula doesn't mean that I am a master of it. Here's a little backstory (below) of my new meditative life that started in January of this year (2016). And you'll see that what I am sharing here (Daily Introspection + Meditation) is a big goal for me.

My meditation backstory for the purpose of inspiring you

I began working to establish a daily habit right after I returned from a 10-day mediation retreat in January of 2016 (by the way, if you want to begin a new meditation practice for the new year, go to a retreat in December. You will be helped by the new year energy of new beginnings to move you forward). Since January of 2016, I have been working to cultivate this habit. I ran into several roadblocks and speed bumps and even potholes along the way. I then went to my second 10 day retreat in May of 2016 and found that that experience turbocharged my efforts to meditate daily. By September 3rd 2016, I have more or less cultivated a one-hour-a-day practice (60 minutes in the evening). I meditated for 105 consecutive days and then ran into more challenges to keep up the practice. 

There are still lots of loose rocks on my path right now that I need to overcome. So, I am getting better at keeping the habit daily but not yet perfectly consistent with it. My vision and aim is that by December 31st, 2016, I'll be established in the two-times-a-day-hourly-meditation habit.

Why do we need introspection, then, if we have meditation?

So why do I speak of introspection after having put so much emphasis on meditation in this article so far?

The reason for this is: I've not yet achieved that big goal of meditating twice a day for two hours, which I know is so important for making huge inroads in compassion, self-love, equanimity, focus, perseverance and overall peace and happiness. And many of us are not there yet. So to help me move forward on this path, I rely on introspection. It is an "easier" thing to do which also serves as a stepping stone for greater and deeper inner-work (such as meditation).

With introspection activities, you are able to look closely at your thoughts and emotions, yourself. You are not discussing them with others. Perhaps, you have a journal to help you or a book that has introspective questions. Or you've downloaded one of my free PDFs (see Happiness Forecast blog posts) that has introspective exercises. But it is all you. You are alone with yourself. You get to know yourself. And you learn a ton!

Introspection exercises are important because they help pull out the essence within you. You gain clarity about your life and renewed energy for living, for serving, for following your drams. It is very powerful.

What is an example of introspective exercise?

There are some questions that I ask myself every few months and definitely at the end of each year during an annual introspection period (I'll talk more in detail about this in another blog, remind me if I forget).

An introspective exercise is a process of asking an open-ended question to yourself. Then you either write down what comes as an answer. Or you let that question simmer within you for a few hours or a few days.  

Below are some examples. Notice that they may look similar but it is included here because how a question is phrased will draw you to it in a certain way. So in this way you'll pick a particular version of a question that stirs you deeply.

What is important to me right now?

What makes me really happy?

What is the most essential in my life? If I could have only the most essential things what would they be?  

What are the three key things in my life?
("Things" refers to more than just objects, but you could feel that!)
 

Those are some good questions. Here are a few others that you can let simmer within you:

What do I want to do before I die?

What if I knew I would die in six months, what would I do first?

What would you do today if you knew you will die tomorrow?

And some more:

What does your soul look like? (I got this one from Oprah)

If there is one problem in the world you could solve right now (Aladdin's Genie grants you this wish), then what big global issue would you solve?

If you had no self-doubt and you were fully confident in yourself and your ability to succeed, what project or business idea would you invest yourself in?

And these two are classic questions in the personal development field:

If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?

If you had all the money, time and resources in the world, what would you do with your life?

An introspective exercise is a process of asking an open-ended question to yourself. Then you either write down what comes as an answer. Or you let that question simmer within you for a few hours or a few days.

The idea is to take one question and start contemplating it. You may journal answers to it without censoring yourself. I like to pick a question and take it with me on my walks to the forest. You can also ask yourself a single question daily and each time more and more clarity can emerge.

I think this would be a good time to pick a question that pops-up for you and go play with it. So take a look at the list above and pick one. There is, of course, no one correct answer or wrong answer- it's just an introspective process to get deeper in touch with ourselves and perhaps, to shed away some things that we no longer need or want.

Let me know how it turns out for you in the comments. I'd L.O.V.E to know! :-)

Love,
Sophia

PS: Have you checked our my free ecourse: 5 Days to a Happier Life? It has daily action-steps that you can easily implement to cultivate deeper happiness in your life. Click here to sign up to this free email course.

 Photo credit and big heartfelt thanks for the beautiful images used in this post goes to Teddy Kelley and Ben Duchac, respectively.Thank you both for your beautiful creations! 

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About Sophia Ojha

Hey there! I am so happy you found us or are revisiting us here on the blog. 
Welcome! So that's me in the photo and I blog and make videos on the topic of happiness and inner-peace. Click here to learn more about me. Enjoy your stay here at reflectionpond.com!

Love, Sophia

My Top 5 Uplifting Books

Hello there!

I first learnt about this idea from Jack Canfield. He suggested that for setting the right tone to our day and in fact to our life, we must begin with a power hour in the morning. Essentially, a power hour includes:

20 minutes of exercise, 
20 minutes of meditation and
20 minutes of reading (uplifting materials).

In one of my Happiness Forecast episodes I recommended adding an hour of power to your day as part of the daily practices that cultivate happiness. There are more suggestions in that post including ten of my happiness boosting activities. 

Back to the hour of power and the reading part of it! So what exactly should we read in the morning? I would say read any piece of positive material that you gravitate towards. Ideally, they must be books so you can read it before turning on any of your devices. So here are my favorite uplifting materials:

1. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra 

2. Turning the mind into an ally by Sakyong Mipham

3. The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (or any of his books)

4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

5. Ask and it is given by Abraham Hicks

There are tons of wonderful writers that I could list here but these are among the 5 books that I have read repeatedly and so they make the cut to be among my top 5. But I will add a bonus # 6 below just for fun because I have read this book several times as well and each time it has filled me up with positive thinking and the light of new possibilities.

6. Write it down and make it happen by Henriette Anne Klauser.

I love to start my day with some uplifting reads. I hope you find this quick list of my top 5 helpful to start off your day on the right tone because the first hour of your day can set the mood for the rest of the day; it's that powerful! 

Enjoy your reads and do share in the comments below your favorite reads!

With love,

Sophia

Do You Know Your Personal Velocity?

Do you know what your personal velocity is?

Your personal velocity — your pace of how you do things, how you live your life that feels just right for you.

It seems that in our fast-paced, hyperactive world, there is this unspoken pressure to do things with great speed. What if we are doing things so fast that our entire life passes us by like a fast-forward motion in a movie and we are unable to take a deep breath and experience it all fully?

This is something that may or may not be happening to you but I urge you to reflect upon your individual pace of life — your own pace of doing things. Not only do we need to know our personal pace but we also need to embrace ourselves and accept whatever that pace happens to be.

This is important if we want to live our lives in alignment with our inner-pace and feel the inner-peace that comes out of being in harmony with it.

Watch this video below that I shot with a message on personal velocity in the beautiful Black Forest area of Southern Germany.

So if you find yourself rushing because of an external pressure to speed up. Just recognize this. Become aware, take a deep breath or two and just focus on your inner-self for a moment.

As we turn the page and welcome a brand new year, I thank you deeply for staying with Reflection Pond and reading my messages and watching my videos. I am eager to see you again in 2016 and serve you with further reflections and personal tools for cultivating happiness and inner-peace. May you have a blessed holiday time and a very happy, prosperous and peaceful new year!

With lots of love,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

Success Strategy: Just Show Up

What if despite all that you bring to the table, your original plan does not pan out?

Recently, I had such an experience where I had to reframe what success meant to me. As someone who has ever embarked on completing a project, you may resonate with my story. I put together a short video in which I share a recent "failure" that actually became a success as soon as I reframed it and then, amazingly, this actually led to the desired result I was originally going for. And all it took was: Showing up for the day.

Watch the video below to hear the full story:

I share a lot on this blog about detachment from end-results, letting go of negative emotions and sowing better seeds to reap the virtuous life we want to create. And even though from studying these principles from success literature, Buddhist philosophy and Western mysticism, I am gaining a deeper understanding, actually put these practices is far from easy.

Obstacles On the Path

So this is what happened:

For this month's video installment, I set about my plans to create a video presentation on Deepak Chopra's Law of Karma (part of a book review and interpretation series you can find here). As I began filming in my backyard, I first realized that my camera battery was dying. This was puzzling because I had done the pre-shoot prep the night before and charged all batteries. "Very well", I said and brought out my other battery that was indeed fully charged and ready to go.

Next, as I started to record the video, I saw that my sound recorder (the beautiful H4N) was full in capacity - even though, I had formatted the disk the night before! It turned out that I had not done it correctly (inspite of having used this thing for several years, I still stumbled upon the novice error of deleting the content on the harddrive and not the real thing!) Well, I took a deep breath, formatted the disk and continued.

Then, as I began presenting the content, my lovely young friends (neighbors' kids ranging from 4 to 12 years in age) came hopping along excitedly to see what fun I was up to. Seeing the camera, tripod and my set-up generally excites them as they are all budding artists. And so, I found myself getting distracted, or shall I say rather drawn by their curiosity and fascination with the film process!

Soon, they were gone and I was ready to do the shoot. But now, I fumbled on my words and struggled to find the flow and inspiration. I referred to my notes but nothing! I took some deep breaths after which I began to find my eloquence.

It was not going to be that easy, was it? Because just as I started to speak with ease and rhythm, it started to rain. I quickly brought my equipment into dryland and began moping about! I felt like my day was a total wasted, filled with distractions, technical inconveniences, lack of inspiration and a creative struggle for completion.

The Wise Man Speaks

Thankfully, my wise husband was in the house when all of this was happening. He asked me, "What's going on?" I shared with him the day's experience. He simply smiled and said, "You showed up. That is what matters."

You know how some women are dissatisfied when their partners are "men of few words"? Well, in my case, I am just so blessed. In just a few words, my husband had shed crystal clear light on the message of the day.

You see, on my path of self-discovery and happiness, I have stumbled many times. And often it was because I didn't have the courage to show up. Excuses would mar my progress towards my beloved goals and dreams. Resistance would have an upper hand and self-pity would blurr my vision.

But today, I had showed up to my day, to my life, to my goals and dreams. I had done the preparation. I had set the intention. And I had gotten out of bed one more time to fulfill my dreams. Yes, the video did not get done in the way I had planned. But I did all I could to make it happen. I did what I said I would, put all my effort into the creative process and I showed up. This alone had to be enough. No, I didn't change the world. But once I realized that my success was in showing up, I had accepted what is. I had accepted the present moment. Most importantly, I was happy about it.

This attitude helped me to focus all my attention on what I can do versus what the outcome should be. It helped me to be detached about the outcomes while being more present with the present moment.

This is where detachment flowers into peace of mind. This is where "mistakes" become gifts to share.

I, then, made the above video to share all that transpired during the day and what I had learnt from my experience. That felt good. I had reframed the situation to align with a higher mode of thinking. And I was freed from judgments of success. I was freed from expectations and from results. I was free. And that sense of freedom brought me happiness.

The Goal Achieved Afterall

It so happens that sharing my experience put me in a heightened state of well-being and right after I made the above video, I recorded the video about Deepak's Law of Karma! In the end, I did complete what I set out to do. But it only happened after I had let go of expectations, judgments and attachments!

What an amazing difference it makes to change the way we look at the events of our lives!

I would love to know:

How have you dealt with situations when things do not go as planned and what precious lessons did you bring into your awareness? Share your insights in the comments below because it could be exactly what someone needs and wants to hear. You can make a difference by sharing from your life.

By the way, I send my gratitude to Alberto Restifo for the outstanding landscape image that I used in the thumbnail of this video.

Wishing you oceans of deep mental and emotional peace and prosperity,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: In recording this video, I found the inspiration to complete my project - which goes to show that sharing what you learned from your "mistakes" can be the recipe for your healing/success you are seeking.

I am really grateful that you took the time to read this message. Thank you for being part of our Happiness Lovers Family. And if you are not yet a Happiness Lover, join our family now by going here.

How to Break Karmic Patterns: The Law of Karma

How to Break Karmic Patterns: The Law of Karma

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We continue in our series of blogs that look in-depth at the philosophy and practical advice laid out in Deepak Chopra's book, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. This edition is about the Third Law, The Law of Karma.

The word Karma has sometimes been understood in a way that scares a lot of people. Does Karma mean I will be punished for my "wrong" actions? I myself have thought: Do I have to think of all the consequences of my actions all the time so I don't experience the "wrath of Karma"?

Growing up in India, I heard the word Karma all the time. It was often referred to in casual talk and was as normal as talking about the weather. But in my experience it was not something we would go deep into, hence, the fear and misunderstandings around the whole concept. In the rest of the world, this misunderstanding and fear found a new dimension to it, even though the word itself has found itself a cozy spot in our English language lexicon. With the help of Deepak Chopra, I am going to share some ideas that will make the concept of Karma, a practical resource, something you and I can use in our lives to make our lives richer, happier and peaceful in every sense possible.

So let's dive in.

What is Karma?

Karma comes from the Sanskrit language which literally translates to "action". The Law of Karma as Deepak states in his book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, is:

“Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind...what we sow is what we reap. And when we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.”

— The Third Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

So that's it in a nutshell. Whatever action we take (cause), we will experience a result (effect) that corresponds to that action. So in that sense, karma is neutral to the person. There is no such thing as "the wrath of karma". It just is. Like rain. Like sunlight. It is a structural element of life and even though it comes from spiritual traditions, like sunshine, the phenomenon itself doesn't belong to a single school of thought.

So the question to ask ourselves is: What do I want to create in my life? If I want to create a peaceful life with harmony in my relationships, I must sow peaceful seeds. If I want to create a life of happiness, I must sow seeds of happiness.

Understanding how our choices influence karma

Deepak Chopra shares with us that the best way to understand and maximize the use of karmic law is to become aware, consciously aware of each and every choice we make. Our life is literally a series of choices; some conscious, some unconscious. The more awareness we can bring to our choices, the more conscious we become of how we decide and take action, the more we can influence the karmic law to create what we want in our lives. Then, we can make conscious choices that lead to the result we are looking for.

Choices are key because everything that is happening in your life right now is a result of a previous choice you made. The past choices take shape in your life as present circumstances and result in how you experience your body, your physical environment, how you perceive your relationships with others and how the world appears to you. Sometimes we are surprised at how the present looks and we feel we did not consciously choose this result.

We feel that way because those choices that caused the unpleasant present were unconscious choices, decisions we made under the influence of ego (automatic trigger-reactions to people and situations), pride, unawareness of your higher self, disconnection from nature and the cycle of life; being under the influence of toxic foods such as fried, overcooked, extremely sweet, excessive food, and non-sacred/ non-ethical consumption of meat, alcohol and other intoxicants. (My definition of non-sacred/non-ethical consumption of meat is eating other living beings without asking their permission, without asking for their forgiveness, eating abused and mistreated animals, wasting meat and a few other specific criteria. Being a Vegan practitioner myself, I think of how the native people around the world used to consume meat with sacred ritual, love and respect for the animal species as exemplary of ethical consumption of meat.) Many unconscious choices we make are without a thorough understanding of what we are doing and these unconscious choices result in alienation with family and friends, physical illness and emotional pain and sadness and a life that is without peace, harmony and joy.

Free Online Live Event >>>

On April 21st, I will be hosting a live event and sharing how you can recognize the karmic pattern in your life and take steps to break out of them. Join me and bring your questions for a live Q&A.

Sign up by clicking the image on the right>>

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Karma as a useful tool to break the cycle

This is where the law of karma becomes a tool, a useful resource to positively affect our life situation no matter how young or old we are, no matter how unconsciously we have led our life so far. Because karma is not restricted by time or space, you can influence your life path even on the last day of your life. This is the unlimited power of karma which we can use to completely transform our life and to transcend any karmic past stemming from unconscious actions. This is very encouraging - the sweet spot of the law of karma!

It all begins by becoming more conscious of our choices. So how do we go about doing that? This is what Deepak Chopra has to say:

“If you step back for a moment and witness the choices you are making as you make those choices, then in just this act of witnessing, you take the whole process from the unconscious realm into the conscious realm. This procedure of conscious choice-making and witnessing is very empowering.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

Spontaneous Right Action that brings peace

Just by witnessing ourselves as we make a choice, we are changing the game. That's the first step. Then we need to ask ourselves two questions:

1. What are the consequences of this choice? and
2. Will this choice that I'm making now bring happiness to me and to those around me?

There is only one choice out of an infinite number of choices that will lead to happiness both for you and for the people in your life. And when this choice is made, it comes from what Deepak calls, Spontaneous Right Action, which is essentially the right action at the right time. I often have an experience of knowing the right action at the right time and my term for it is, Inspired Action. Basically, as Deepak says, "it's the action that nourishes you and everyone else who is influenced by that action."

Body Clues to Spontaneous Right Action

But how do we know what is the right action to take? Well, there is a mechanism that the Universe uses to help us make these spontaneous right actions. It is the sensation of comfort or discomfort in our body. So when you are consciously making a choice, pay close attention to what your body is feeling.

“Only the heart knows the correct answer.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

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Find in your body a sensation that feels good or doesn't feel good. This sensation can be felt in the solar plexus (just above your belly button and under the rib cage) or you may feel it in your heart or center of your chest. Then consciously bring your attention to your heart and ask your heart what to do. Then, simply wait and listen to the response which you will get in the form of a sensation in the body.

“The heart is intuitive; it’s holistic; it’s contextual, it’s relational. It taps into the cosmic computer - the field of pure potentiality, pure knowledge, and infinite organizing power - and takes everything into account. At times it may not even seem rational, but the heart has a computing ability that is far more accurate and far more precise than anything within the limits of rational thought.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

The Simple Formula for using The Law of Karma

We can use the law of karma to manifest anything our heart desires: material abundance in the form of money and things, spiritual abundance in the form of inner-peace, harmony in our relationships and in our world and true inner-happiness.

The formula for using the law of karma is simple. First, you must become more and more conscious of your actions. You need to become aware that your future is a result of the choices you are making in every moment of your life. Just with this awareness, you will be shifting some energetic patterns in your life.

Second, as you become more and more aware of your choices, you will make more and more spontaneously right actions which will bring peace and happiness to you and to those around you. The more you do this, the more you will reap the benefits of the Karmic Law.

How to Resolve the Debt of Past Karma?

So, now you are focused on creating a better future by paying close attention to your present. But what about the results that are yet to come because of the past karmic actions which were potentially unconscious? Do not be afraid of past karma. Because Deepak shows us how we can diffuse the effects of old unconscious, negative actions.

When we do nothing about our past karma, it results in the form of karmic debt that needs to be repaid. When we are unconscious or unaware of how karma works, karmic law still works and we pay back for our actions sometimes in the form of great suffering. It essentially is a form of an energetic exchange.

But, there are two powerful things we can do about past karma.

Breaking the cycle by seeing the seed of opportunity

First, you can transmute or transform your karma to a more desirable experience. In other words, let us say you are experiencing something negative or unpleasant in your life. Somehow, either consciously or unconsciously, you caused this experience into your life. The past actions are done and now you are in karmic debt repayment phase. It is causing you mental anguish, emotional pain, physical illness or some other form of discomfort or suffering. This is how you are paying back the debt of your past actions. But this does not mean you are breaking out of it. You may do the same actions again unconsciously because you do not know which actions are causing these unwanted results; and not realize that you are sowing seeds for future suffering. So you need to break this karmic pattern.

To do that, while you are going through a difficult time in your life, Deepak suggests you ask yourself:

1. What can I learn from this experience?
2. Why is this happening and what is the message that the universe is giving to me?
3. How can I make this experience useful to my fellow human beings?

By doing this, essentially, you are looking for the opportunity in that situation. And then you tie this opportunity with your Life Purpose or dharma. (More on the Law of Dharma in this post). So what was a painful episode in your life now becomes the source of something positive that helps you and other people because of your very experience of that painful episode. You need to find a way that your life experience can in some way inspire or help other people

Get One-to-One Guidance for Breaking Karmic Patterns

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This doesn't get rid of your karma, but you do create a new positive karma out of it.

An example he gives is of somebody breaking their leg while playing sports. They can then ask the three questions above to learn from it. The message they might need is to, perhaps, slow down and be more mindful. Or they need to write about their experiences and help others play sports safely. This way, they take what happened to them and transform it to help somebody else and create a benefit for humanity.

Transcending Old Karmic Patterns

The second way to deal with karma is to transcend it using practices of meditation. By doing this, by transcending karma, we become independent of karma and break its hold on us. By quieting our mind and experiencing the silence between thoughts, we can clear out old karmic patterns.

“The way to transcend karma is to keep experiencing the gap, the Self and the Spirit. ”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

I would like to add to this discussion another way of cleaning the influence of old karma that comes from Buddhist philosophy. Geshe Michael Roach, in his book The Karma of Love, writes about cleaning the affect of old karma. He describes it in these steps:

1. We need to understand the concept of seeds. That everything is a result of seeds or actions we have taken.

2. We need to make the intention and the decision to stop the action that caused this karma. One way of doing this is to decide to not do the action that causes this situation for the next 24 hours. It is important to not break this decision because breaking promises to ourselves sows more bad seeds and creates negative Karma.

3. We need to take some positive action, sow positive seed as payment for the karma.

To learn more details, check out his book, The Karma of Love, which is written like a novel and is really fun to read, very practical and you can really use the information and apply it right away in your life.

So, in conclusion, all actions are karmic episodes, meaning every action generate karma. By becoming conscious of your actions, you consciously influence your reality.

“By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you and for those that are around you. And that’s all you need to do. As long as the karma is evolutionary - for both the Self and everyone affected by the Self - then the fruit of karma will be happiness and success.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

The Three Commitments

As in each chapter, Deepak Chopra offers us three commitments we can choose to make in order to put the law into effect. Here are the three commitments for The Law of Karma:

1. Today, I will witness the choices I make in each moment. And in the mere witnessing of these choices, I will bring them to my conscious awareness. I will know that the best way to prepare for any moment in the future is to be fully conscious in the present.

2. Whenever I make a choice, I will ask myself two questions: "What are the consequences of this choice that I'm making?" and "Will this choice bring fulfillment and happiness to me and also to those who are affect by this choice?"

3. I will then ask my heart for guidance and be guided by its message of comfort of discomfort. If the choice feels comfortable, I will plunge ahead with abandon. If the choice feels uncomfortable, I will pause and see the consequences of my action with my inner vision. This guidance will enable me to make spontaneously correct choices for myself and for all those around me.

Onwards

I hope that this presentation of the Law of Karma according to Deepak Chopra's book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, was useful to you. What I take most from this law is the simplicity of it. We can make it complicated if we want to but the simple message for me is that the more conscious I become of my actions, the better I can act, and the more conscious actions I take, the more flourishing and abundant my life situation will be. So all I need to do is to become conscious and aware in the moment. It is not that scary after all. And no, I do not need to fear the "wrath of Karma", as there is no such thing. There is karmic debt which can be painful but it needn't become a suffering. Pain and suffering are two very different things and suffering is entirely up to us. Even a karmic debt can be a source of something positive and useful for our fellow humans and animals and our planet. We can break free from old unconscious actions by helping others and by meditating. The Law of Karma really is a very practical tool in our every day life for creating peace, abundance and harmony.

Do share in the comments: how has Deepak's presentation of the Law of Karma now changed how you view karma?

Wishing you lots of love, peace and Karmic freedom,

Sophia
 

PS: I do not have a video version for you as I am working on a project that is taking my complete focus - a project which you will hear and learn about soon if you are on our Happiness Lovers Family Email List. (Exciting!) If you would like to join the HL Family and receive free emails along with the exciting new announcement, click here. I am happy to have you join us!!
 

How to Live With Ease: The Law of Least Effort

The Law of Least Effort

Do you want to live a life of ease?

I am guessing your answer to that question is, "Yes". We all want to be living a life of ease, with ease and flow like everything in Nature seems to be doing.

What would your life look like if it was filled with ease?

Sometimes we have not even taken a moment to reflect on this. So I invite you to think for your life: what would it mean to be in flow, to live with ease? You will amazed at how just reflecting on this question clears up the muddy waters of our lives.

A R D is the way
Our German members of the Happiness Lovers Family may think of ARD, the television broadcasting company. :-) But I am referring to something altogether different! ARD stands for Acceptance, Responsibility and Defenselessness. These are the three principles that make up the Fourth Spiritual Law of Success from the book, "Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" by  Deepak Chopra. And this is a simple way of creating ease in our lives.

I have prepared a 14 minute video for you outlining the main insights from it in this video on the Fourth Law of Least Effort and I think you will get something useful out of it.

Some of the Key Insights that I share in this Video:
- how the act of acceptance can be a launching point for conscious emotion-free action
- the difference between responsibility and blame (and knowing that is so empowering!)
- how defenseless as a way of being makes life easier

I am so happy you are a Joy Person in our Happiness Lovers Family. Thank you for your time and for being uniquely YOU.

Love and harmony,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: This edition is part of my seven part series on The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. If you would like to see the previous three laws just click older post below.

Reach Any Heights: The Law of Intention & Desire

3 Lessons From Deepak Chopra: The Law of Intention & Desire

Here is a question for you to think of. Answer it quickly without thinking much or censoring because whatever comes as a response is fine. 

What is it that you really want in your life?

Take a moment to acknowledge the response that emerges for you.

For me, what I really want is to create a life out of my own design where I can navigate the ocean of life with ease and joy, have plenty of time to do all that I want, feel fulfilled with my contribution to our world, work from anywhere I want and have plenty of time with my husband and cat (and future fur babies) while living comfortably by the beach.

Tell me, in the comments below, your answer to this question because I really want to know what your heart is yearning to create.

Reach Any Heights
Now, what if I told you that inside this desire of yours is everything that you need to make it happen. Because you have that specific desire, you are also equipped with the exact skills, wisdom, strength and any other quality you need to experience that desire in reality. It is already here, within you.

Amazing, right?

Too often, we think struggling and stressing and going crazy over getting things done is the way to make things happen. If a new deal falls through, if a promotion is passed on to someone else, if something happens that is not what we want, we think, "Ah, I will just put 100 more hours into the week where I am already working a 100 hours and that should do it." Or, we think of some other scheme to get what we want or we drop into the stressing-over-it-mode that simply doesn't feel right but we think we have to do it or else....or else we will never get to where we are going. Or so we think.

But does it have to be that way?

Changing the Energy Field
Deepak Chopra in the chapter on the Fifth Law of his book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, says otherwise. It is called The Law of Intention and Desire and he writes:

"You can consciously change the energy and informational content of your own quantum mechanical body, and therefore influence the energy and informational content of your extended body — your environment, your world — and cause things to manifest in it."

This is a very different way of getting things done than the old struggling and stressing! It is all about understanding how our world is structured and how to wisely use that understanding to create what we want, and do it with ease and joy. If you want to know more about how to activate this "way of being", you will love this video on the Fifth Law of Intention and Desire.

Creating Our Desires With Ease
You will love it because in this video, I go deep into the Fifth Law and share a powerful yet simple 5 Step Process for using the Law of Intention and Desire to create what we desire. Of course, we still have to do things out in the world and take actions, but this process helps us to make our lives simpler and helps us manifest what we want with a sense of ease that is very freeing. And I am all about simplicity, ease and joy, so I love that!!

Key insights that I share in this video:
- the quantum nature of our world and what separates human beings from trees (!)
- how we can use the structure of the universe to influence it
- why time is a key element in manifesting our intentions and how understanding the nature of time can give you enormous bolts of energy
- how the quality of our intentions influences the results
- the fast way to dissolve 90% of the obstacles we face (and how we bring present can dissolve the remaining 10%)
- what "accepting things as it is" doesn't mean and what it does
- Deepak's 5 Step Process to manifesting our intentions

So do take a look yourself and watch the video.

And I am looking forward to reading about what you really want to create in your life in the comments below. By doing this, you will already be done with the first step in the 5 Step Process for using the Law of Intentions and Desire.

Thank you for your time and for reading all the way down here and for watching the video. I am happy to have you part of our Happiness Lovers family.

Love and harmony,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life