Every prayer - every thought, every statement, every feeling -is creative. To the degree that it is fervently held as truth, to that degree will it be made manifest in your experience.

-Neale Donald Walsch

In your business and in your personal life, if your mind was a huge, blank sheet of paper, what would you fill the space with? Would you use it to create positive or negative thoughts?

Using your mind as a blank sheet of paper gives you the chance to create new goals, and to reach for new heights. A blank page gives you an important guide that pushes you toward self motivation and inspiration.

You can change your blank page at any time. Your God given imagination is there for your to use to create the business and personal life you want. You can create a new beginning. Its your choice and not anyone elses. You can use it to erase any negative thoughts, feelings, or opinions.

When someone tells you you cant do something, can you separate the fact of their statement from their opinion? Use your imagination to create a better, more useful outcome. Understanding that there is a great distinction between the two may decide your success or failure.

How valuable is their opinion? What is the truth behind the statement? Being able to determine the difference between facts and opinions when you hear them is important. Always consider the cost of having someone elses opinion prevent you from doing something that is not based on facts. Do the facts out-weigh the opinions? Or, are the opinions more important than your desire to be the self you want?

This is like knowing that just because its raining outside, it doesnt have to be a bad day. One is fact; the other is an opinion. Use this guidance whenever you find yourself hesitating to make a decision in your business or in your personal life.

When someone gives you a negative opinion, you can accomplish more by not getting discouraged. Knowing that an opinion is nothing more than a comment of what, or how, a person feels and believes, is also important. Most of the time, it is not what they know to be true.

Where does imagination come from when you need it? Imagination plays a big part in creating your self-confidence. Try filling your mind with thoughts of not letting other people=s negative voices affect your self-confidence. Develop an attitude of not letting their negative opinions or actions destroy your self-esteem.

Another good defense mechanism would be to build up a series of little successes. Even small successes will build the confidence and self esteem that you need for bigger and better successes in your business and your personal life. Then you=re more armed to deflect the negative opinions that come your way.

Imagine yourself succeeding. With the little successes that you accomplish, remember to give yourself credit to feel good about them. Prepare your mind for the bigger successes. Then, build on the confidence and the strength that comes from succeeding.

Use your imagination to succeed and to create the self you want. After all, imagination is the power of the mind to form images - good, bad, or indifferent; positive, loving, or negative; funny, sad, or happy. Which ones do you choose?

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Gerri D Smith

Gerri D Smith combines apparel fashion design and creative writing into a successful and growing mini-business known as Distinctive Impressions. For more then ten years, Gerri seeks to inspire thousands of others to realize their goals, to look and feel ?distinctive? in the way they dress, and to improve their professional image.

With a deep passion for creating women's fashions and accessories for day and evening wear, her clients include professionals whom she has named "VIW's" (Very Important Women), as well as other small, medium, and large sized women . Her other interests include organizing, producing, and participating in promotional fashion shows, fashion contests, art and craft sales, as well as coordinating and participating in fund-raising events that show off both her fashion and small business/entrepreneur skills.

Gerri?s apparel and accessory designs are promoted and marketed both online and offline around the Bay Area, and are sold to private clients. As a free-lance designer, many of her designs are one-of-a-kind and by special-order.

Her love of writing is portrayed in her ongoing self-improvement and motivational articles, an inspirational non-fiction book, and a modern contemporary, and inspirational romance novel. Gerri?s published books are marketed nationwide through the world wide web and offline to business women and romance novel readers.

Gerri is host and publisher of an inspirational newsletter that encourages, motivates, and supports individuals, small business owners, and women entrepreneurs to go for their dreams. The newsletter is an internet resource creating multiple ways for subscribers to unlock the doors to success and improvement. And it is Free. Now, being able to share two of her deepest passions - creative fashion designing and creative inspirational writing with others is her greatest pleasure.

In addition to producing her fashions, accessories, and her creative writing to inspire and encourage others, in her spare time Gerri also finds great pleasure in researching, studying and learning new skills. She hopes to broaden her expertise with public speaking on business leadership and personal improvement. Her two self-published books, one a full length contemporary romance fiction novel, titled ?A Challenge of Love,? and an inspirational non-fiction book titled, ?31 Cups of Inspiration,? are modern classics and will inspire others for a long, long time.