3 Keys For Automatic Success

 Moving forward requires three things: preparation, dedication and revelation. To succeed, you must depend upon God for direction daily. - Thomas Dexter Jakes

If there's anything that guarantees you automatic success in life, it's these three things. You may not naturally have joy and peace all the time, but if anything will make you successful on your journey and get you back to them it's your preparation, dedication, and revelation.

Who's Dream Are You Living? 

God created each of us and gave us purpose. Within purpose, there are dreams, goals, and aspirations. It's easy to see the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and think that's something to aspire to, but is it right for you? The blueprint and the details for our unique situations are directly tied to our Divine revelation.

The main way for us to know what's right for us as individuals is to acknowledge and connect with the Most High Creator. 

Daily time spent to pray and communicate with God increases the chances that we'll do that which were created for. It's in the diligence.

Prayer is the best thing to do regularly, it also builds a habit of consistency in other areas. The things that drive us, what we go after, and why we go after them will affect what we produce as well as the outcome we receive.

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."(Psa. 127.1)

When we intentionally seek God first and go about our day in the spirit we reap all that comes with it. The manifestation of our divine dream is promising. Often we fail to realize that the spiritual world is even more real than the physical one we see.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6.33) 

"All these things" include abundance on a greater level than we can imagine, even greater than the selfish desires we may envision. God's dream for us is better than any dream we could ever imagine by ourselves, and when we stand behind that vision it becomes the motivating force that empowers and keeps pushing us to achieve them. 

It's faith that makes our "in the meantime" moments so powerful.

Christ said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10.10) yes this likely includes financial wealth, but having emotional intelligence, peace, and personal G.P.S for our soul is a type of bag that's unmatched.

It's putting God first that helps us stay motivated. Living The dream is not the one the world has in mind. It's a vision by the Master of creation. There's no road map to life, but there is a guide to living "the real dream". Scripture which is God breathed helps the chosen tap into our destiny, daily. 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer. 29.11)

Iyanla Vanzant's Meditation Tracks are EVERYTHING!

If you haven't already come across Iyanla Vanzant's meditation page on soundcloud, it's pretty amazing! You can check it out HERE.  My current favorite and clearly the favorite of a lot of other people based on the amount of listens is the White Light Meditation. 

I'm looking forward to digging into these meditations. One word of advice, maybe don't listen laying in bed right before you go to sleep. Before I knew it I was definitely out like a "light" lol. I don't think that's the goal, although it may be an option if you're overly anxious and can't sleep.

Stay connected with us @BOLDJournal for the latest inspiration and updates.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Designed

Yesterday I was walking through the grocery store and I saw some corn puffs, I don't usually buy corn puffs, but there was something special about this bag. They were shaped like cheetah paws. 

The image immediately brought back memories of my childhood because I always bought the corn puffs that were shaped like paws. I picked up the bag immediately just because of the fact.

When I got to the car I thought it was kinda silly to buy some corn puffs just because of their shape, but as I reflected I thought "Somebody took the time out to make that shape, and to carry it through to be shared in stores." There had to be some special technology to get those cheetah paws and differentiate them from regular ol' corn puffs.

At that very moment it crossed my mind that GOD took his time out to make each and everyone of us with a "special shape". I suddenly appreciated the paws a little bit more and had gratitude for the amazing GOD that created the universe.

The psalmist in Psalm 139:14 declares: 

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

This is the feeling I had when I left the store with my cheetah shaped corn puffs. A feeling of thankfulness and gratitude that each of us are different, and all of us matter. Let this be your reminder that you are uniquely and Wonderfully made by the most dynamic GOD.

Iyanla Vanzant says it like this: "You matter"!

[Video] 5 Life Lessons From Iyanla Vanzant On Leveling Up

Iyanla Vanzant once again lit up the stage with wisdom at the 2018 Essence Empowerment Experience in New Orleans, during the Essence Festival. Breath Of Life Daily was grateful to be apart of the experience and catch a few highlights from her powerful session. The full video can be found at Breath Of Life Daily on YouTube. Check out a few gems we gleaned from her session:

Seek To Evolve In Peace
Iyanla began with an empowering story of what it looks like to do the inner work of healing without interference. Get centered. Aim to be in a place without distractions or energy that weighs you down. Focus promotes fertility. "What you need is IN you."

Be Willing To Get Up. Do The Work
Elevate your Position, Posture, and Perspective, to better serve GOD'S Purpose for you.
Once we change our posture we'll change our position. Take an idea and stop talking about it. Iyanla is an advocate for people "doing the inner work" to become your best self. It's necessary. Her acronym for PAIN: Pay. Attention. Inward. Now

Be Fully Present
How are you standing up in your life? What is your posture some of us need to change our posture. Sometimes things fall apart, so they can fall in line with divine assignment. The struggles we experience help shape our character. We should utilize our trials like sandpaper to bring about something good. Honestly "Who would you be without your hard times, who would you be had you not learned how to make it on very little?"

Be Willing, Honest, Open
Your W.H.O is your H.O.W! If we wanna know how to get through, how to overcome, we have to be willing to take a look inside ourselves and be open to GOD's will for us completely. Who - Willingness Honesty, Openess. "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? - Matthew 16:25-26

Give every thought OVER 
Observation. Examination. Validation. Refrain. Be aware of what feelings and thoughts you come across but make sure to test the validity in them. "Validate what you're thinking. If you feel bad and you have that thought, feel bad, just don't dwell in it." "If you have a negative thought or heavy thought, tell somebody."

If you're on the other side of the conversation and somebody is telling you about their pain.
"Just be present with them." It's not our job to try to fix or change anything. Sometimes it's good to just listen.

Iyanla charges each of us to work with ourselves in a more genttle, kind, and loving way and encourages us that we can do it wherever we are.

5 Signs You're Settling For Less Than You Deserve

by: Iyanla Vanzant

Some years ago, I was shopping and came upon a beautiful red dress. The color, style and length were perfect. But the store didn't have it in my size. It did, however, have the same dress in navy, which I wasn't crazy about. Then I noticed a pair of blue shoes nearby that complemented that blue dress. (I didn't love those, either.) So what did I do? I bought both. I was afraid I wouldn't find anything else, so I settled. (It won't surprise you to learn that I've never worn the dress or the shoes.)

You've probably heard the saying "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." Here's a question: Why put up with any devil? Why not give ourselves only good things? When we believe we cannot have what we desire—when we lack faith in ourselves and in the goodness of life—we settle for less. We decide that whatever is in front of us is better than nothing. But believe me when I tell you that better than nothing isn't good enough.

I often see people settle for less than they deserve in personal relationships: accepting bad behavior, excusing broken promises, accommodating people who take more than they give. Why? Because doing things we've grown accustomed to is familiar, comfortable.

Which is why sometimes it can be tough to gauge whether we're settling: When we tell ourselves that things are fine, we soon forget that they could be better. Here's how to know whether you're putting up with less than you deserve:

• When you have to work yourself into a state of excitement rather than naturally experiencing joy and passion, you're probably settling.

• When you bargain with yourself about what you can do without rather than feeling gratitude for what you already have, you're probably settling.

• When your focus is on the time and energy you've invested in an endeavor rather than the love, joy and gratification you've gained, you're probably settling.

• When you're making excuses about why you should stay put rather than going for what you truly want, you're probably settling.

• When you spend more time complaining about what you have than appreciating it, you're definitely settling.

But there is a lesson to be learned in everything. When we realize we've been settling, we discover what we actually believe. We learn that we perhaps think ourselves undeserving of happiness and find how susceptible we are to outside influences—because often we settle when others convince us it's the right thing to do. Most important, we learn that we are not standing fully in our truth. Armed with this information, we can make new choices that support our desires—by beginning to believe that we can have what we really want.


Iyanla Vanzant is the host of OWN's Iyanla: Fix My Life and the author of  Peace from Broken Pieces.

This post was originally published on Oprah.com