Do you ever have these types of thoughts?

• I wish I didn’t have so many challenging customers.
• Why can’t I find higher-end clients?
• My customers don’t spend that kind of money.
• The market is really slow right now.

Remember… “What you focus on… expands.”

When you instead start feeling gratitude for the business you NOW have, you will start to attract more of those things you are grateful for.

Do you have clients who pay you (even if it seems like a small amount)? Be grateful for them.

Are you able to arrange your schedule to have a little quality time with your loved ones? Feel gratitude for this blessing.

Are you doing what you love for a living? Remember to feel thankful everyday for this opportunity.

“The daily practice of gratitude is one of the conduits by which your wealth will come to you.”
- Wallace Wattles,
author of The Science of Getting Rich

Last year, I created a Gratitude Experiment for my clients and ezine readers. For seven days, participants wrote down 5 things they felt grateful for. After just a few days, we got comments like:

“It’s amazing how well it works and how much inspiration there is in this simple exercise.”

“This exercise has taught me to be appreciative of all things, regardless of how small they may seem.”

“I feel a warm fuzzy and think this is a great way to end the day or begin it!”

“This is the best exercise, I am feeling so happy! Let’s not stop.”

***Well, after seeing how powerful Twitter is for bringing conscious, happy, helpful people together, I decided I should bring this Gratitude Experiment to my tweeps. If you want to see some miracles occur in your life, join in. Just post what you are grateful for at least once a day, using the hash #gratX.

Looking forward to sharing in your happiness, appreciation, and gratitude.

I’m grateful for you!

span style=”font-size:130%;”Can you personally affect this economy in a positive way? Absolutely! Don’t think for a moment that one person can’t make a big difference. emAnd it doesn’t take a lot of hard work or time./em/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”I have been studying what makes some designers successful – wildly successful, despite what the outside world / media / friends are saying about the economy. Many of them have doubled or tripled profits this year. They are enjoying the dream businesses that they’ve worked for, and feeling fulfilled and happy./spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”And the best part about being successful is that you actually make more people successful – emjust by being successful!/em/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”strongWhat do I mean?/strong/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Think about it. Designers and decorators who are complaining about the economy, talking about how they don’t have enough business, and reacting to their worries and concerns are affecting the economy in a negative way. Negative talk leads to more people worrying and reacting – and spending less! Which, of course, leads to more worry, more complaining, and LESS spending. A vicious cycle./spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”The opposite is also true. Designers who have made the strongdecision/strong to think positively and focus on what is good about their businesses (okay, I know I’m sounding a bit Pollyanna here, but just go with me), are noticing that they are NOT being affected by the so-called slow economy. They are investing more time and energy into improving their businesses in creative ways, which leads to more publicity and more clients, leading to more positive energy, more profits, more improving, etc./spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”I have designer clients who have worked with me over the past year on improving their businesses – emstarting with their mindsets/em – who say to me,” I don’t get what everyone is saying. My business is doing better than ever.” /spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Imagine if we could recruit more designers to start thinking more positively? At some point we would reach what is called “strongThe Tipping Point/strong.”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Then:/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”- more people would feel positive and optimistic, /spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”- people would relax and release their worries,/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”- more money would be spent, /spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”- the economy would improve!/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”emCan you imagine?/em I know I want to be a part of that! Join me, won’t you?/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”If you want to have more success, model the designers who are having wild success right now. The most important thing to do first is focus on the positive. What are you most grateful for? Now, I am NOT saying to bury your head in the sand. No, you should not ignore what is going on in the world. You NEED to keep current with business and design trends. Which leads me to the emsecond/em thing you must do…/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”The second thing you must do is learn how to run your business strongin the most effective way to create prosperity in current times/strong. Creating success in business is a emlearned/em skill. Learn a few techniques, put them into action, and you WILL see improvement./spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”If you know anyone who needs a boost -in their mindset or in their pocketbook, please let them know about the upcoming a href=”http://www.interiordesignsummit.com/”Interior Design Summit/a. This Summit is designed to help designers in both areas – emattitude/em and emprofits/em! The more designers who attend, strongthe quicker we will see an upswing in the economy/strong. /spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”You can make a difference. Let’s do it together!/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Join me next week, and invite everyone you know:/spanbr /a onmousedown=”‘UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this),” href=”http://www.interiordesignsummit.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”span style=”font-size:130%;”http://www.InteriorDesignSummit.com/span/abr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”To your easy success,/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Nika/span

span style=”font-size:130%;color:#cc0000;”strongMoney Talk and The Business of Home Fashions Design/strong/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”New Designer Success Teleclass:/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Thursday, September 4, 8:00 PM Eastern/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /emspan style=”font-size:130%;”Are your attitudes around money making you rich…/span/embr /emspan style=”font-size:130%;”or keeping you stuck?/span/embr /emspan style=”font-size:130%;”/span/embr /span style=”font-size:130%;”You’ve learned a little about the law of attraction. You know that your thoughts create your reality. You want to manifest your dream business. But you need more specifics on how to create your ideal life./spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”SPEAK the New Language of Wild Success!/spanbr /a href=”http://www.mcssl.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=4D3AFD05-781F-44E8-B89C-40D4EF3C0B65amp;pid=9eb9e4b2a0ada3d4108f738d526378d9amp;bn=1″span style=”font-size:130%;”Register for Money-tudes/span/abr /span style=”font-size:130%;”/spanbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”In this new class, you will:/spanbr /ullispan style=”font-size:130%;”See how the power of your thoughts and your beliefs about money affect your business bottom line /span/lilispan style=”font-size:130%;”Discover the ROOT of your wrong money thinking (and learn how to break free once and for all!) /span/lilispan style=”font-size:130%;”Create a new “money awareness” that will propel your life and boost your business, both immediately and in the future/span/li/ulpbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”With your new thinking, your design business will make money for you. You will gain the clients who WANT to pay you for your offerings. You will develop new strategies to grow financially, and embrace new thoughts that will serve to improve your life in every area./span/ppspan style=”font-size:130%;”Say goodbye to the old mentality and embrace a new, exciting, and abounding way of thinking and believing. /span/ppspan style=”font-size:130%;”This class is an INVESTMENT in yourself. A must if you want to make more money!br //spana href=”http://www.mcssl.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=4D3AFD05-781F-44E8-B89C-40D4EF3C0B65amp;pid=9eb9e4b2a0ada3d4108f738d526378d9amp;bn=1″span style=”font-size:130%;”click to register now for $29/span/aspan style=”font-size:130%;” /span/p

pspan style=”font-size:130%;”I struggle with getting everything done, just like everyone else. All my life I’ve tried to cram too much into each day. Then I had a baby, and – well, those of you who have kids know that’s like adding 3 more full-times jobs to your schedule.br //span/ppspan style=”font-size:130%;”So when people ask me how I get so much done, I try to think about what I’m doing that many others aren’t. /span/ppbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”One thing I’ve learned to do is delegate. I’m not perfect at this – I’m still learning to give things away. But each week that goes by, I let a little more go. If a task doesn’t require emme personally/em to get it done, strongit should be done by someone else./strong /span/ppbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”strongBut delegating isn’t my biggest secret./strong Of course, that really isn’t even a secret. Most of us know that we should delegate more. We just have to start doing it. /span/ppbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”My best secret for getting more done is a quote from marketing guru, Dan Kennedy:br /strongspan style=”color:#663366;”"Good enough is good enough”/span/strong /span/ppbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”This phrase usually horrifies perfectionists (which I know most of you are). But being emabsolutely perfect about everything/em is also strongsomething we need to let go./strong /span/ppbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”Just think about /spana href=”http://www.superstardesigner.com/index.htm”span style=”font-size:130%;”this weekly newsletter/span/aspan style=”font-size:130%;”. When I first started doing newsletters, I spent days putting each one together. I’d take a few hours to write an article. Then I’d edit it, re-write it, and edit it again. Then I would send it to a few friends to get their opinion. “Make sure you find any typos and grammar mistakes,” I’d say. After correcting it a few more times, I had to send it to myself to proof it yet again. It was a miracle that I got emeven one newsletter out each month. /em/span/pempbr //emspan style=”font-size:130%;”I did the same with all my promotional materials – which meant emI never had anything done!/em I was afraid to put up a website or send out flyers because they weren’t perfect yet. emWhat if there was a mistake? What if some people didn’t like it?/em strongWhat a waste of my time! /strong/span/pstrongpbr //strongspan style=”font-size:130%;”As you probably see now – I am not so worried about being perfect. There are often mistakes in my articles, and my grammar isn’t perfect. I just try to write from my heart, and then I SEND IT OUT. /span/ppbr /span style=”font-size:130%;”strongAnd I get so much more done!/strong Can you do the same? While there are certainly things that should still require your perfectionist attitude, there are many things that do not. For these tasks, you must remember:/span/ppspan style=”font-size:130%;”strongspan style=”color:#663366;”Good enough is good enough./span/strong /span/pp align=”center”br /emspan style=”font-size:130%;”Wow – I wrote this article in less than an hour.br //span/emspan style=”font-size:130%;”emI’d invite you to find all my goofs, but that would be a waste of your time.br /Go do something constructive!/embr //span/p