Seed. Time. Harvest.

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Self Care, Success by Dr. Carmen April

Seed. Time. Harvest.

Seed. Time. Harvest is a pretty cool concept to use when talking about FAITH……FAITH that our dreams and desires will manifest for us!

❐ When you are making a request for something you desire to the Universe/God/Spiritual Guide you must 1st get very clear on what you want and then confidently asking for it – You are planting your SEED.

❐ The 2nd step is undoubtedly the hardest because it is a period of waiting/TIME/being patient. It’s a period of time that is out of our control. Albert Einstein once said that “time is but an illusion.”

You see, we operate on Chronos time. Chronos is where the word “Chronological Time” is derived. Ex – 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. 365 days per year. However, our Spirit Guide operates in Kairos time which is very different. Kairos time refers to an appointed time, an opportune moment, or a due season. Kairos time occurs irrespective of Chronos time but is always “right on time”!

We tend to be impatient and human nature desires that we have what we want when we want it….which is usually right now! However, mastering patience and continuing to stay positive during the “time” part of this algorithm is the key to having a positive outlook on manifesting your dreams and desires.

A phrase that I’ve heard my mom say from time to time is this …..”just keep living and you’ll learn to trust Him!” There are going to be plenty of these “Seed. Time. Harvest.” opportunities you will experience over the course of your lifetime. Even though the “Time” aspect is usually never comfortable, it is necessary for the processes.

You can’t plant an apple seed one day and expect a fully grown tree bearing fruit the next day. It doesn’t happen like that. The seed must undergo a process of maturing under just the right conditions to eventually form a thriving Apple Tree – this takes time. The more you learn to trust the “Time” processes, the happier you will be!

❐ The 3rd step is Harvest! This is the part we all try to fast-forward to – receiving that thing/those things we have asked for! This is the stuff dreams and desires are made of – the actualization of them coming true!

This is the process and there is no way around it. Another way that this phrase has been stated is –> Ask. Believe. Receive. Different words – same concept!

My advice – become REALLY, REALLY dedicated to praying and meditating your way through the “Time/Believe” part of it and leave the “How” your dreams and Desires will manifest up to the Supreme Authority who knows how to best deliver it to you at the perfect time. Spirit Guide can figure it out much better than you can any day of the week!

Be Blessed!

Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Young Leader Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter. She’s a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center in the Nashville, TN area. She’s also the creator/owner of “Design Your Story Coaching & Consulting” and is available for speaking engagements on Small Business Entrepreneurship.

11Aug2015

Stay Open to Love

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Motivation, Success, Theme For 2015 by Dr. Carmen April

Stay Open to Love

Love is our highest Power! It is limitless and we can freely give it to everyone and everything we see, encounter and think about! We have the power to sprinkle everything we see and think of on a daily basis with love…….and we will never run out of having more love to give! I LOVE that 🙂 !!!!!

Love is positive energy that, when shared with others, comes back to us Multiplied!! Miracles will , no doubt, manifest when we choose to follow this great principle.

The more we give, the more we receive!

29Jul2015

Fantasize!

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Motivation, Self Care, Success, Uncategorized by Dr. Carmen April

Fantasize!

When I was a kid, I fantasized all the time about what I would be when I grew up, I fantasized that my baby dolls were members of my family and we would go on amazing adventures together, and about going on trips to Paris, London and imaginary places such as Portebello Road as in one of my favorite movies, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks!!!

**Note: I always fantasized about being a doctor when I “grew up” and treated my stuffed animals….and my younger brother and sister (LOL)…..like my patients! This is one of the many dreams I fantasized about as a child that came true!!! 🙂

When we talk about manifesting things in our lives, it’s important that we get in the right mindset and on the right energy vibration through positive thinking to attract those things we want into our lives. A really important component of manifesting your dreams and desires is imagining them and feeling them happening at the PRESENT time…as if they were so, right now! A great way to do this is to FANTASIZE about those dreams and desires and imagine them happening in your present reality!

I recently got engaged to my totally awesome fiance, Lionel! For so long I have prayed for my husband every day (since I was 20 years old), but it wasn’t until I got very, very clear about about the true desires of my heart and started imagining myself being married, that my fiance showed up into my life and soon after asked me to be his wife!!! ***Note: Our love story gives me butterflies every time I think about it and I will share that soon in another post 🙂

Note that I said that I imagined myself BEING MARRIED, not dating, not “playing house”, not having a friend to hang out with, not a man to be an emotional space and time filler, but having a HUSBAND and being MARRIED. In my mind, I imagined, fantasized and dreamed of myself as the perfect wife to my husband before I even knew who he was. You see – my audacious faith attracted him into my life. My positive vibes of LOVE on a consistent basis attracted him into my life. My daily affirmation of “My Dreams and Desires are met today” attracted him into my life! Not only did my fiance show up, but he showed up as every desire of my heart that I specifically wrote down in letter to God prior to the beginning of our relationship!

Always dreamed of taking a trip to Paris?? Purchase a poster of the Eiffel Tower and place it on your fridge or wall in your home. Imagine that you are there standing right in front of the Eiffel Tower. Imagine the sounds of people speaking French in the background, the smell of fresh croissants floating down the street from the corner cafe. Get the picture?? Fantasize. Fantasize. Fantasize about it until your vision becomes reality! (Can you tell that this is one of the trips I’m working on manifesting one day soon? lol)

Fantasize as much as you need to in order to conjure up the feeling of having what you want right now!

Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader Award (NELA) Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter. She’s a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center in the Nashville, TN area. She’s also the creator/owner of “Design Your Story Coaching & Consulting” and is available for speaking engagements on Small Business Entrepreneurship.

14Jul2015

Let’s Start Thinking Positively!

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation, Self Care, Success, Uncategorized by Dr. Carmen April

Let’s Start Thinking Positively!

On my first post for 2015, I mentioned that a huge part of being a leader in career and community is first learning how to be a leader over our own lives and affairs – taking charge of our thoughts, feelings, actions and the words we speak. It involves creating a positive playground for our thoughts. It’s important to train our minds to #ThinkPositive thoughts because our thoughts become or words and our actions. Our actions become our habits. Our habits become our destiny!

When we think positive thoughts and really practice FEELING positivity, our life reflects it! The opposite is true for those people who always think negative, speak negatively, complain non-stop and look at most situations in a negative way. Word to the wise —-> You can not expect to live a prosperous, positive life if you are always thinking negatively!

We become what we consistently think about and feel about! Trust me on this…..It’s The Law of Attraction.

If you pour out positivity into the universe, more positivity will return to you – multiplied! If you constantly pour out negativity into the universe, more negativity will return to you – multiplied!

I’m attracted to positivity! It makes me light up….it feels good! Before I even step foot out of bed every morning, I meditate and tell myself how great of a day I plan to have and I declare it to be so! This practice of meditation was not always the case for me. About a year ago, I really started to notice the energy shift I would experience from being bombarded by the negativity on the television news and negativity on social media (Some people on Facebook and Twitter make me have to go to my prayer closet after seeing their posts of criticism and negativity every day lol!!! I’ve removed a lot of folks from my Facebook news feed or deleted them from Facebook and Twitter all together because of this.)

You may be wondering, “Isn’t everyone attracted to positivity?”. No, not exactly. There is a psychology concept called “Negativity Bias” which states that we processes negative data more quickly than positive data. We have a natural tendency to lean toward the negative than the positive. Emotionally, we go to greater lengths to avoid a bad mood than experience a good one. Negative events are contagious. There is countless amounts of research done on this phenomenon and books thicker than the largest textbook you read in school on this subject so I’m obviously not going to dive too deep into it here. I state it here to drive home the point that even though negative thoughts don’t feel good, it’s really easy to drift into that mind space.

However, we can train our minds to seek positivity over the negativity, positivity over the fear, positivity over the anxiety, positivity over the judgement.

For the untrained mind, it actually takes a lot of energy to think positively. However, I want to encourage you to start training your mind TODAY to see the positive more than the negative. When you think, feel and speak positively more than you do negatively, you have tipped the scales in your favor to allow more positivity to flow into your life!

Since I’ve deleted a lot of the ‘negativity carriers’ off of my social media accounts, I love to go to Facebook and Twitter first thing in the morning and flood my soul with positive quotes and affirmations from people who like to share positivity as much as I do!

I invite you to come here everyday for a dose of positivity in the form of some quotes and concepts that I use to encourage myself daily!

Enjoy!

Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader Award (NELA) Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter. She’s a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center in the Nashville, TN area. She’s also the creator/owner of “Design Your Story Coaching & Consulting” and is available for speaking engagements on Small Business Entrepreneurship.

7Jul2015

Rejoice Always

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Self Care, Success, Uncategorized by Dr. Carmen April

Rejoice Always!

A practice that I’ve been working on lately is to wrap all circumstances with blessings, appreciation and love – even if they initially appear “bad” or “undesirable”. It’s part of me being Mindful and taking the time every evening to analyze my day. Even when a particular situation may not have gone the way I initially wanted it to, that situation or relationship was presented to me for a reason…. for me to learn something from it. Every situation, every relationship, every call for a decision presents itself in my life to push me further along my soul’s journey.

When you develop the practice of calling all situations Blessed even if some of them may not feel that way in the physical, you take away any negative energy it creates within you.

Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a 2014 Nashville Emerging Leader (NELA) Award Winner, a 2013 Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient and is a 2014 Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter. She’s a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center in the Nashville, TN area. She’s also the creator/owner of “Design Your Story Coaching & Consulting” and is available for speaking engagements on Small Business Entrepreneurship.

9Jun2015

Take Risks

Posted in Failure, Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Motivation, Success, Uncategorized by Dr. Carmen April

Take Risks!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I was speaking to a group of students recently and was asked a question about some of the characteristics that entrepreneurs have that make them successful. One of the first things that came to my mind was that entrepreneurs like myself are not afraid to take risks even when we know failure is a potential outcome. By its very nature entrepreneurship is very risky. The majority of small business fail in the first year or two of operation. You can’t really play it safe when you’re an entrepreneur because you must constantly evaluate what your customers/clients need, what you can deliver and how to find your way of doing that in a unique way in your industry.

Some of the risks I have taken as an entrepreneur have turned about better than others, but I would never know the success of any of those risks had I never taken them in the first place!

I frequently read business and entrepreneurial stories and one of the best parts about any success story is learning about the risks individuals take at the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey. Those risks are usually the ones that become total game changers for them!

Simply stated, the main reason people are afraid to take risks is because they become consumed with the monkey-chatter in their heads telling them that they may fail. Sure, you may fail, but you may also succeed. What is guaranteed, however, is that you will never know unless you try.

A little note about failure: Failure isn’t always a bad thing. Remove the negative energy you give to the concept of failure. Instead of looking at it as a bad thing, realize that failures are nothing more than learning opportunities and a chance to begin again with a new perspective!!

1Jun2015

Eat. Pray. Dream. in Puerto Rico

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Success, Theme For 2015 by Dr. Carmen April

Eat. Pray. DREAM. In Puerto Rico

I recently took an impromptu trip to one of the most fabulous places I’ve ever been – San Juan, Puerto Rico!! Puerto Rico is pure Paradise! The island, the people, the food, the music, the air, the ocean, the beaches, everything there is beautiful!!

At the end of 2014, as I was preparing to develop my “Theme for 2015”, I declared that I would go someplace out of the country that I’ve never been before. I’ve long desired to visit Puerto Rico (for the past 10+) years but between school, residency, and starting my own medical practice I simply could not find the time to take the trip. However, I needed a vacation and was determined to take it one way or another!!

I was talking with a good friend one day and mentioned to her that I wanted to vacation in a place I’ve never visited before. When she told me she could use a vacation too we both agreed on Puerto Rico and it was GAME ON lol! It’s was less than a month’s time from when I bought my plane ticket and booked the hotel till’ I had my feet in the sand on the beach in San Juan!

See, those are my feet in the sand (lol)……….

This was such an awesome vacation because there was no over-thinking it. There was no agenda, no itinerary. We didn’t decide what we would do or where we would go each day until the morning of. I had no intention of packing so much into my vacation that I needed a vacation from my vacation once I got back to Nashville!

The whole purpose of this vacation was to relax my mind, body, and soul………

I also spent an entire day at the Ritz Carlton spa relaxing, meditating and dreaming 🙂

I declared this trip to be an Eat. Pray. DREAM. Vacation

I’ve been practicing Mindfulness Meditation for about a year now and it has changed my life! Purposefully taking the time out each and every day to clear my mind of all the clutter and chatter has brought more peace and serenity into my life than I’ve ever had. Water and the sounds of the ocean and the beach are extremely calming to me as well. I use an iPhone app called “Calm” when I’m doing my Mindfulness Meditation and it allows me to set a timer within the app and listen to sounds of the ocean, rain drops falling on leaves, etc. I simply focus on being calm and happy and feeling Love within my being. This is the 1st part of my meditation and I aim for at least 20-30 minutes of this per day.

The 2nd part of my meditation is to draw into my psyche those core desires of my heart. I literally DREAM – creating images and scenes in my mind of those things I desire most in my life!

I’ve said it here on my blog before and I’ll say it again THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS!!!!!!

I repeat: Thoughts Become Things!

Those things we consistently hold as images in our minds become our reality!! This applies to both positive and negative images/thoughts so be very careful of the things you allow to take up residence in your mind!

The 3rd part of my daily Mindfulness Meditation involves GRATITUDE! Gratitude is a very special key that unlocks the door to unlimited blessings in our lives! The more we are grateful for the things we currently have and enjoy, the more things, opportunities and experiences The Creator gives us to be grateful for! This part of the meditation is actually something I do during a set time AND continuously throughout the day, thanking God for everything from the water I use to brush my teeth when I first get up in the morning, to my feet that get me everywhere I need to go, to being grateful for all of the important people in my life. I literally say “Thank you Lord for _______ (fill in the black) and concentrate on the feeling of gratitude for whatever it is.

So on this trip to Puerto Rico, my plan was to:

Eat great food

Pray

Dream

Every morning I would lay in the bed listening to the sounds of the ocean outside my window and thank God for the ocean and the water and the beach and the people on the beach and the sun and the clouds and the comfortable hotel I was staying in and the ability to live and move and have my being……….

I would get up and get dressed and head outside to the hotel patio overlooking the ocean and let the sounds of the ocean clear my mind of any chatter. I would thank God for life and LOVE and I would DREAM! I literally closed my eyes and day-dreamed about things and opportunities I clearly wanted to manifest in my life. There are things I have been praying about for a long time and fulling trusting God to bring to pass in my life. I was determined to use this opportunity in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to get very clear about those things and manifest them into existence!

Raise your virtual hand if you were a chronic “day-dreamer” growing up? I WAS!!!! Were you ever told in school to stop day-dreaming in class and pay attention to the teacher? I’m guilty again lol

I’ve always been a dreamer, but didn’t realize the enormous power of literally taking the time to intentionally dream until a couple of years ago. This came about through a self-assessment when I realized that every good thing I’ve ever dreamed about and really desired to have in my life, I have obtained or achieved! My parents were right when they told me as a young girl that I can do anything I put my mind to. As a kid I believed it (good thing I did), but as an adult I really realize the pure power in that statement!!!!

My life as changed in immeasurable ways since this Eat. Pray. DREAM. Vacation and I will talk more about some of those things in more detail in an upcoming blog post. What I will say is that the MAIN thing I intended to manifest through my daily meditations on this trip came to fruition!!

So, this is just the first of many Eat. Pray. DREAM. trips for me!! There are ideas brewing in my head on how to include others in on these adventures in the future. I’ve had quite a few people asking me to start hosting and teaching workshops on the subjects of Mindfulness Meditation and Manifesting desires. It’s simply an idea and vision in my head right now, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while so it’s bound to become reality sooner than later lol! I know how much this daily Mindfulness Meditation practice as helped me and how this Eat. Pray. DREAM. trip changed my life and I would love to share that knowledge with others!

Until next time……Eat. Pray. DREAM!

19May2015

Speak From Your Heart and Let Go Of The Outcome

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Success by Dr. Carmen April

Speak From Your Heart And Let Go Of The Outcome

Much of the anxiety the average person experiences on a daily basis comes from projecting into the future instead of being in the moment. ☚Think about that for a second and let it marinate.

When you become anxious for any reason, it is because you are imagining that something in your future is not going to turn out the way you want.

However, you can train yourself to break that habit of projecting into the future in a way that causes anxiety. Speak to the Universe from your heart and let go of the outcome. Speak the desires of your heart and trust the positive powerful power of the Universe (God – Good Orderly Direction) to handle “how” things will turn out for your good in the future.

If I could give my younger-self a piece of advice as it relates to this topic it would be this “Relax, things will work themselves out. They always do!”

5May2015

Tell The Universe What You Want

Posted in Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Success by Dr. Carmen April

Tell The Universe What You Want!

You can’t sit back thinking you are going to be just a spectator in this life and have the personal and professional success that you dream of!! If you pray small, limited prayers and have little faith that God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can ask or think, then that is EXACTLY what you are going to receive in return – little results!!

On the other hand, bold confessions of faith, gratitude and a constant awareness of everyday miracles, shows God (Good Orderly Direction/Uni-verse, that you expect happiness, peace, joy, financial prosperity, success, love and an overflow of all good things into your life! In this case, you are sending out positive energy…………… which will return to you positively!

Don’t take a teaspoon to the ocean, take a bucket! Super-size your faith, pour positivity into the Uni-verse by the words you speak, the company you keep and the opportunities you seek! Then, boldly expect an abundant overflow of all things great!!!

28Apr2015

Money Is Spiritual

Posted in Gratitude, Inspiration, Leadership, Manifesting, Mindfulness, Motivation, Self Care, Success, Uncategorized by Dr. Carmen April

Money Is Spiritual

This post is actually a continuation of sorts of my last post regarding wrapping my bills in positivity to take away the negative connotation I was associating with them (Click here to see that post).

Here is a little excerpt from that post that leads into this one:

Money is Spiritual. I know…you may have never thought of it that way! When I talk about money being spiritual with people for the first time I often get “You know, I never thought of it that way!” comments or the opposite, blank stares (lol) until I explain what I think about it further!

You block the flow of money when you approach it from a place of lack and scarcity. You increase the flow of money when you appreciate the money you already have (even if it’s not as much as you want or think you need) and become a good steward over it. You want to know why??? Check this out:

Because Little Becomes Much in God’s Hands!!!!

I know God to be a God of Increase…….and when I say increase I don’t just mean increase by addition, I mean increase by MULTIPLICATION!

When I took the limits off of God when it comes to my finances, my finances completely turned around! What I mean by this is that I abandoned the idea that bills are bad – that idea was coming from a place of scarcity, lack and fear. I am an heir to God’s inheritance and changed my mindset to reflect that truth!

I can guarantee you that the majority of the wealthiest people in the world truly believe that they are and can be as wealthy they want to be and that there is no shortage of money available to them – it’s all in your mindset!

Change your mindset to change you life and start TODAY!