Nichols - No matter what! : 9 steps to living the life you love

NEW YORK BOSTON

I dedicate this book to my grandmother Bernice.

Thank you for being Gods example of unconditional love, His expression of unwavering faith, and my first model of living in authenticity.

You taught me how to stand and to loveno matter what.

Please continue to watch me from heaven.

I feel your presence.

In my thirty-three years as a success coach, Ive helped a lot of people make the often challenging journey from where they are in life to where they want to be. So I was thrilled to discover this book, which is pure rocket fuel for that crucial trip. I believe that in these pages, youll find the wisdom, knowledge, and inspiration to get you on track fastand take you all the way to your final destination.

My colleague and dear friend Lisa Nichols is a living example of what it takes to overcome the inevitable obstacles in your path and come out the other side strong, graceful, and loving the life youve created for yourself. Her story is a testimony to the fact that anyone, no matter how difficult their circumstances or how challenging their setbacks, can rise above anything. How? By being determined, by developing certain skills, and by adopting useful attitudesin short, by building what Lisa calls the muscles of character, which she outlines in the pages of this life-changing book.

When I first met Lisa, she was working primarily with teens, and I was deeply impressed with her ability to transform their lives through a magical combination of inspiration, profound insights, effective life strategies, and tough love. A few years later, I founded an organization called the Transformational Leadership Council (TLC), consisting of the top leaders in the human potential movement who own training companies. I instantly knew that Lisa had to be one of the people invited to the first meeting, as I felt certain that she would be a great asset to the organization.

My intuition was proven right at our next gathering, which took place at John Grays ranch in northern California. During the course of the three-day conference, Lisa conducted a two-hour workshop with the group. At the time, Lisa wasnt as well known as she is now; in fact, many in the room had never even heard of her before.

In the workshop, she taught us a technique for dealing with negative self-talk (a technique she has wisely included in this book). There I was, sitting with sixty people from around the world who were titans in the work of personal transformation, and we were all identifying and discussing our negative self-talk. I was shocked by two things: (1) how much negative self-talk we all still had, even though wed done so much work on ourselves, and (2) that Lisas simple yet powerful technique truly helped all of us put a stop to it.

By the end of the three days, we all agreed that her session was, by far, the most powerful session at the gathering. Lisa simply blew us all away! She got us out of our heads and into our feelings. Many of the participants said, This is the most open, vulnerable, and empowered Ive felt in ages. It was very clear that Lisas ability to transform lives wasnt limited to young adults. Lisa is indeed a master teacher, a master facilitator, and a master speaker.

When Rhonda Byrne, the creator of the hit film and book The Secret, came to one of our TLC meetings to film some of our members for her movie, she also immediately recognized Lisas brilliance and invited her to appear in the film. And so Lisa, one of the least well known among usthe one whom Id often referred to as the human potential movements best-kept secretbecame one of the major stars of The Secret.

After the film was released, Lisa and I both spoke at a conference in Canada, along with two other teachers from The Secret. During a break in which the conference attendees could buy books and have them signed, I wasnt the least bit surprised to see that the line at Lisas table was twice as long as anyone elses. She connected so easily and naturally with everyone, and she had a gift for moving people beyond the abstract theory of the Law of Attraction and providing practical and grounded steps for them to apply the law in their lives. Thats Lisas talent in a nutshell: she takes universal concepts and shows people how to apply them on a personal leveland she models how to do that by being utterly and totally herself!

Recently, I had the opportunity to experience Lisas tremendous gifts closer to home. When we discovered that my teenage son was going through a difficult time emotionally, my wife and I signed him up to attend one of Lisas workshops. Within two days, he achieved a major transformation. It was astounding to see the sudden reemergence of the young adult we knew was there insidethe one with a sense of humor and a willingness to cooperate and be vulnerable, and to share his painful feelings and deal with them in a constructive and healthy way.

So when Lisa told me she was writing a book, I was thrilled that she would be bringing these ideas and techniques, as well as her own inspiring life story, to the general public. But I wondered if shed be able to transmit the incredible power that Id experienced in her workshops through the pages of a book. To my amazement, she has definitely succeeded. Lisas remarkable voice comes through on every pageand with it, her rare ability to combine motivation, humor, and gutsy truth-telling while giving you practical tools for growth and success that you can use every single day.

This means that as you read this phenomenal book, youll have the same opportunity that Ive had, that my family has had, and that millions of others have had to transform yourself and your life. Youll be able to confront your fears, overcome your feelings of victimhood, reclaim your power, and, as Lisa says so often, step into your greatness. Because, as shes shown us, whatever youve been through, that greatness is still there inside you, just waiting for you to claim it. With the help of this book, Im convinced youll be able to soar to successno matter what!

Jack Canfield

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi

Ask for what you wanteven at the risk of getting it.

Anonymous

I T WAS EVERY MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS DREAM. ID BEEN INVITED to appear on a wildly popular, nationally televised talk show and had accepted eagerly.

In my first phone conference with one of the shows producers, she asked me, Can you tell me more about your life? How has it changed now that youve had a measure of success in your career?

I replied, In order for me to tell you how good my life is now, I have to tell you how much of a mess it was before. Its the only way you could adequately understand the miracle of my journey.

The two of us clicked; she seemed genuinely interested as I revealed the raw truth of my past. She ended the call by asking, Would you be willing to share these kinds of details about yourself on the show if we asked you to?

Yes jumped out of my mouth before I really thought it through.

Immediately, my mind screamed, Lisa, what have you done? Although my spirit was all for it, the rest of me had to catch up. This really hit home when the producer asked me to package up the vision board Id described to her, a collection of images that spoke to my most personal dreams and goals, and send it to her for the show. Talk about feeling exposed!