Changing Your Life and Getting Unstuck Begins with One Simple Step

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu states, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This quote has also been attributed to Confucius. It's likely that both wise men used these words and lived by this philosophy -- along with many successful people before and after them.

Often, when we look at our desired result or ultimate goal, it seems unattainable, far away, or simply too big to tackle. But there's certainly one small thing you can do each day to bring you one step closer to your desired result. Let's take a look at some examples.

If your goal is to exercise five times, an hour a day, in order to be healthier and lose weight, begin with just a 15-minute walk TODAY.

Likewise, if your goal is weight loss through a healthy diet, replace just one glass of soda with a glass of water, or one unhealthy snack with a piece of fruit or fresh vegetables.

If you have the ultimate goal of switching careers in order to better fulfill your true life purpose, take the step of looking into college classes, phone a career coach, or search for jobs and send out a resume in the field you desire.

If your goal is to become more organized and clear the clutter from your life, begin with just one drawer. This post talks about how to declutter an entire room in a single sweep, but if that feels intimidating, start with a single closet shelf or drawer.

These are just a few ideas of how to start your journey with a single step, but it can apply to any situation.

Please share your thoughts below: What one thing can you do today to take one step closer to achieving your ultimate goal?

Who's Holding You Accountable?

In his book Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits Wayne Dyer talks about overcoming avoidance by doing what you make excuses not to do. He writes: “I have a free will, and there is nothing I need to avoid. I will refrain from using any excuses to justify my avoidance behavior.”

Sometimes, it's enough to tell yourself you will do something, and then do it. Other times, although we want to overcome our blocks and procrastination, we make it harder than it has to be. We promise ourselves we'll do something, but it never gets done.

At these times, a close friend, coach or mentor can encourage us and hold us accountable. Tell someone you trust what you intend to do. Even if you find it hard to remain true to yourself, you won't want to break your word to this other person.

Make sure this person is someone you trust to keep your idea to themselves and someone you know will encourage you to stay true to your word. We all need a hand, sometimes, on our life's journey.

If you want to attract an accountability partner into your life, you can use Feng Shui to help. Take a look at the section of your home that corresponds to “travel and helpful people” in the bagua. You can activate or strengthen this section with metal objects such as windchimes or brass lamps.

Find a Mentor to Advance Your Career and Increase Your Income

Do you always get the help you need, when you need it? Do co-workers jump in at the 11th hour to make sure you meet that important deadline? Do influential people offer advice that can help you advance in your career? Do you have wise people in your life who are helping you in your spiritual development? What does your social network (both online and in real life) look like -- is it filled with people who can help you achieve your own financial, personal or spiritual goals?

If you answered all these questions with a resounding “Yes!”, you can stop reading and continue on your path to fulfillment. If not (and I'm guessing you answered “sometimes” to most of them), you can use Feng Shui to attract more helpful people and mentors into your life.

Why Seek Out Mentors?
The quantity and quality of mentors we have in our lives will greatly impact the wealth we can earn in our career. A working mother who knows she can find good child care will have better focus, leading to greater success at work. An intern with a supportive supervisor will advance quickly in his chosen career. A husband with a wife who encourages him in his business (or vice versa) will do well.

It Begins with the Bagua
We can increase our wealth by enhancing the helpful people/travel (chyan) section of the bagua. You can apply these tips to your home's overall floor plan, your office, or a single room.

The chyan position of the bagua corresponds with the element of metal. If your kitchen is located in the chyan position of your home, hang those stainless steel pots and pans proudly from the walls or ceiling.

If your living room is situated in this segment of the bagua, introduce metal windchimes, a mirror, brass lamps, or shiny trophies representing your achievements. Photos of your favorite people, family and friends -- or people you would like to have as mentors -- in metal picture frames will activate this corner of your living room, office or study, too. Since gray is the color associated with metal, black and white pictures work best.

Since fire “melts” metal, avoid the color red or anything associated with fire (including a fireplace) in this segment of your home or office.

Focus on Travel
If your business involves travel -- or if you'd like to travel more -- you can also store your luggage in this section of your home or office. In addition to photos of helpful people, you can add postcards of your favorite places, vacation souvenirs, and anything that reminds you of traveling.

One woman, planning a trip to France, placed a metal replica of the Eiffel tower in the “helpful people” corner of her desk. She's packing her bags for her getaway now.

Invite Helpful People into Your Home
Once you've activated the helpful people segment of your home or office, you'll find that help comes to you when you need it. However, don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it, even if you have to pay for it.

Consider hiring a maid. Coming home to a clean house will lift your energy, so you can focus on your career and pursuing your passion. All the best managers learn how to delegate tasks -- paying an extra $30 to $50 a week to have a sparkling clean home where the chi flows freely is a wise investment.

To Find a Mentor, Be a Mentor
After you've used Feng Shui to strengthen the helpful people section of your home, you may feel more inclined to help others, as well. Look for opportunities to support others in their career, to help family and friends, and reach out as a mentor yourself.

This combination of the “mundane” and the “transcendental” will yield the best results when it comes to attracting helpful people into your life. 

Need additional assistance? Take a look at these options.

Three Easy Ways to Stay More Focused at Work

Bestselling author Tony Schwartz, in an interview with the Globe and Mail, recommended people work for no longer than 90 minutes at a time.

Work 90 minutes, take a break and recharge your batteries. When you begin working again, you'll be refreshed and renewed. The longer we work, fighting against our body's natural rhythms, we begin to reach a point of diminishing returns. By working in “sprints,” we can be more productive with our time.

Here are three more easy suggestions you can use to stay more focused when you're working.

1. Meditate. Take a quick meditation break in between your 90-minute work sprints. You can do breathing exercise, yoga moves, or just take time to reflect on your true purpose and why your work has meaning.

2. Focus on feel-good items. Include Feng Shui elements -- such as a water fountain, fresh-cut flowers or bamboo plants -- on your desk. When you take a break, focus on these items and take time to enjoy them.

3. Wear black and green. According to Feng Shui principles, these colors are designed to enhance our mental acuity and improve our focus.

Have a big project ahead? Pull on your favorite black shirt, break the task into 90-minute intervals, and see how fast you can achieve your goal.

What do you do that helps you keep focused at work?

Ways To Turn Heads and Get Noticed

Looking to get noticed on a date, at a party or during a job interview?

Red is one of the most powerful colors of the rainbow, symbolizing good luck, success, or a fiery personality, full of passion. For entrepreneurs attending networking events, red will catch people's eyes. Incorporating a fun pin or accessory that invites comments will also help you catch people's attention so you can find out how you can help them in their pursuits.

However, if you're going on a job interview, red may signal combativeness. Blue, which represents loyalty and trustworthiness, is far better for this purpose. A clean, bright blue shirt will get you noticed for your credibility.

Green is also an attractive color for people with many different kinds of chi. Representing hope, new ideas, and good luck, green is sure to lift your energy and inspire those around you.

Multicolored floral patterns are also auspicious for social engagements. When you wear clothes featuring many different colors, you'll appeal to people of many different personalities. Different chi is represented -- and strengthened -- by different colors. Regardless of what type of elemental chi a person possesses, multicolored clothes will draw them in and raise their chi. Bright floral patterns are fun, feel-good clothes.

Why not celebrate the unofficial start of summer with a wardrobe makeover and bring out the bright-colored clothes.

Best Colors For Your Career

Are you following your passion with a career you love? The adage, “Do what you love and the money will follow rings very true.” However, if you are positive you love your career -- whether you are an entrepreneur or working for someone else -- but still haven't achieved the success you would like, you may be dressing for the wrong calling.

In Feng Shui, certain colors fit certain career paths best. If you match your career to the bagua color wheel, where different colors correspond with different elements and sections of a space, you can activate your personal chi for greater career success.

Here are a few examples of common careers and the colors people in these industries should wear to promote success.

Banker/Investor - One key to this job is helping people feel secure when they entrust you with their money. The color blue is comforting and confidence-inspiring. Because the wealth area of the bagua sits between wood and fire (blue/green and red, respectively), pink, red, blue, green and purple are all auspicious accent colors.

College professor - Black or dark brown promote an air of seriousness. Be careful, though, not to stock your wardrobe with entirely drab colors. Brighten your outfit with lively complimentary colors or you may risk depression. Red encourages rationality and lively thinking in your students and is a good counterpart to more somber colors.

Health care worker - Hospitals have it right when they dress doctors and nurses in light shades of blue and green. These colors encourage hopefulness while inspiring confidence. White is also good to encourage -- and exude -- an air of cleanliness, while red accents symbolize a warm heart and good bedside manner.

Real Estate Agent - White will encourage your speaking ability while also letting the home “speak for itself,” creating the proverbial blank slate so you don't distract from the house's interior decorating. Red will bring out rationality in your buyers, while pink will warm up your customers. Also, if you haven't had a chance to meet your prospective buyers or sellers or have a number of appointments scheduled for the day, employing multicolored clothing can help any salesperson achieve their objective and will do the same for real estate professionals.

School teacher - Green, blue and pink inspires confidence and “warms up” students. Red will encourage rational thinking. In contrast to college professors, who want a serious, attentive class, primary school teachers who wear dark, somber colors may find it hard to excite young students about the subject matter.

Therapist/Psychologist - The best colors for this job may depend upon the patients you are meeting that day. White will help you maintain your own peace of mind in the presence of patients who may not be stable. Green will give you energy and enthusiasm. Black can give you an air of seriousness, but be careful -- too much black in your wardrobe will depress your chi, especially after listening to other people's problems all day. Multicolored clothing may work well for mentally unstable patients.

Graphic designers/writers/creative careers - Graphic designers work well when dressed in multi-colored clothing, or outfits of a single primary color -- except black or white, which don't promote creativity. Writers and editors can enhance their personal chi and creativity with multi-colored clothing, as well.

All-black outfits for people in creative professions, including publishing and advertising, may work on deadline weeks or days, when calm attentiveness is required. Red or green are great for brainstorming sessions, as they promote new ideas.

What Can I Expect During a Feng Shui Consultation?

If you're having problems related to your career, finances, romantic relationships or overall mood, a Feng Shui consultation might help. By altering your environment and surroundings under the watchful guidance of a professional, you'll be able to see positive changes take place in your life.

When a Black Sect Feng Shui consultant visits your home for a consultation, expect an interactive experience. Black Sect Feng Shui employs both transcendental (spiritual) and mundane (connected to everyday life) methods to improve the flow of chi (energy) through your home.

The Feng Shui Ba Gua in Your Home
Black Sect Feng Shui does not use a compass to determine the trigram positions or the direction in which to overlay the ba gua over a space. Instead, the Feng Shui consultant will determine the position by which chi enters your home (usually through a front door, but sometimes through another door), and lay the ba gua over the space with the front door in one of three front sectors of the ba gua.

He will also find the central palace (tai chi position) of your home, and assess the placement of important rooms (including the kitchen, bathroom and master bedroom) in relation to the central line and central palace.

After completing a site survey, in which he uses his knowledge of Feng Shui, observational skills, intuition and other techniques to assess the chi in the space, he will assess your Feng Shui needs in relation to your personal chi and the dynamics of your home.

Working with your Feng Shui Consultant
At the start of the consultation, the Feng Shui consultant will discuss with you the areas of your life you feel need help, where your priorities lie, and what your future goals are.

Be prepared to think -- and speak -- in depth about the areas of life covered by the eight Trigrams and the tai chi position (the central palace). You'll want to consider strong and weak areas of your life, and how your surroundings may affect these areas. It's a good idea to brainstorm your goals in regard to these eight areas. It may help to ask yourself the following questions:

- What role does money play in my life? Do I have enough? Do I spend it (or lose it) as quickly as it comes in? Is increasing my wealth a major goal right now?

- What are my goals in regard to children? Do I want to conceive right now? Do I desire better control as a parent?

- Do I feel creativity lacking in my life?

- What is my reputation at work and in my community? Is it important to me that I'm highly regarded amongst my peers?

- Am I stuck in my career or advancing quickly? What aspects of my business life would I like to improve?

- Am I looking to further my education or take part in career development? Is this a priority right now? How are my children doing in school?

- How is my love life and my relationship with my partner? Or am I seeking a romantic relationship?

- How are my relationships with others in general? Do people help me when I need it? Do my friendships have a fair amount of give and take?

- What is my overall health? Do I have any illnesses or ailments? Do I have a lot of energy everyday? Do I sleep well at night?  

- What is my overall mood? Am I typically in good spirits?

Intention in Feng Shui
Since intention plays such a large role in Feng Shui, it's important to visualize the improvements you'd like to make in your life, and to know that the Feng Shui cures an expert implements will help you to realize these positive changes.

Learn more about working with a Feng Shui consultant to experience your full potential.

Is Your Commute Hurting Your Career?

Feng Shui is about much more than the place we live. While our house or apartment, back yard and front yard, as well as our place of business, are all important factors in Feng Shui, the principles of Black Sect Feng Shui encompass our entire environment. This includes:

- the houses and buildings around us
- our street
- our neighborhood
- our commute to work, school, or anywhere we travel frequently

These external influences affect our success in life, as well as the way we feel everyday. If you lack energy, feel depressed and dread going to work (or coming home) it could be due to the environment you notice on the way.

Better Commute, Better Career Opportunities
Chances are, even if you don't notice your environment during your commute, it's affecting the tone of your work day. Pay attention to the scenery on your way to work. If the way is dry, dirty, or through run-down areas, can you find a different route? Passing through graveyards, or even dead vegetation, may cause you to subconsciously dwell on death -- your own or that of close friends. You may lose your drive to succeed.

If you encounter heavy traffic on your way to work, you may feel blocked, as if something is stopping you in your pursuit of greater wealth and recognition.

On the other hand, if your daily commute takes you past trees and healthy vegetation, or places of inspiration and growth -- such as schools, universities and prosperous businesses -- you'll arrive at work rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to shine.

What does your commute look like? How do you feel when you arrive at work? Could they be related?

How To Add Stability to Your Life with Heavy Objects

Do you often feel flighty, changing jobs or even careers frequently? When you go to bed at night, do you have an overwhelming fear your significant other may leave you?

Do you fear:
- being alone?
- job loss?
- unexpected moves or foreclosure?
- instability?
- negative change in your life?

Adding heavy objects -- or symbolically heavy objects such as a small Chinese inkpot with stones in the bottom, called a yu -- to a space can add stability to your life, marriage or finances.

We use heavy objects in black sect Feng Shui to:
- slow the flow of chi
- stabilize a specific situation (such as your career)
- help chi roll back up from a downward slope

Example: Placing boulders at the bottom of a hill on your property can direct the flow of chi back up the hill.

Using Heavy Objects Indoors in Feng Shui
Placing a paperweight or yu in the corner of your desk that represents the wealth corner will encourage steady income. A heavy object in your bedroom in the relationship corner can add a sense of stability to your marriage, providing your bed is already in the command position and has a solid, one-piece headboard.

Using Statues in Feng Shui
You can use statues indoors or out as heavy objects. In addition to have tangible weight, statues personify images, often of admirable beings or deities. A statue of Buddha or the Virgin Mary, depending on your religion, can be both emotionally uplifting and help raise the chi in an area with its spirituality. Placed in a particular trigram, it also stabilizes the chi in that space -- positively affecting that area of your life.

How to Use Wind Chimes in Feng Shui for Career Advancement and More

In Black Sect Feng Shui, we use wind chimes for a number of cures. The right sounds can effectively adjust the chi of a space, promoting positive attention and improving our mood. You can affect different areas of your life -- including your career and your reputation -- by hanging wind chimes in different rooms or different areas of the ba gua.

Additionally, wind chimes hung between a front door and a staircase, which may result in money rapidly leaving a home, can slow the flow of chi and improve your finances.

Any wind chimes you select to hang for a Feng Shui cure should:
- have metal tubes that produce a clean, sweet, clear sound
- use five tubes to represent the Five Elements
- be pleasing for you to look at and not out of place with your home's decor.

Let's look at how wind chimes can help you improve the different areas of your life, including your:
- Career
- Fame & Reputation
- Energy
- Income
- Wisdom
- Relationships

Fame: Wind chimes hung in the fame and recognition area of the ba gua can help enhance your reputation and promote career growth by calling attention to the gifts you have to offer the world.

Wisdom: Wind chimes hung in the wisdom and learning portion of the trigram (when you lay the ba gua over a single room or your whole house) can promote clear thinking and improve your intellect.

Career: If you lack energy, even after waking up from a full night's sleep, and have already ensured your bed is in the command position of the room, hang wind chimes in the center of your bedroom. This can help fight depression and give you the energy to pursue your goals.

Relationships with others: A view of your stove from the front door creates dangerous chi that could provoke fights, arguments, accidents and also negatively affect your family's health. Place wind chimes at the front door or over the stove -- or anywhere between the door and the stove -- to counteract these negative affects.

As you can see, since all areas of our lives are tied together, hanging wind chimes in certain areas of your home can enhance your career, fame, reputation, relationships with others, and even increase your income.

Other Sounds to Adjust the Chi in Your Home: You can also introduce other sounds into your home to adjust the chi.
- Bells
- Singing
- Playing music (different types according to your mood)
- Whistling
- Hosting friends for a karaoke party enlivens a space