How do you go from convenience store employee to an executive producer for the most popular show on TV?
Author Sheri Salata manifested this remarkable career transformation, from 7-11 employee to Oprah producer! And on this week’s Desire Factor Podcast, she illuminates her path to achieving it. What will surprise you is that her journey was not one of hard work, sacrifice, or meticulous planning. Instead, she harnessed the universal principles of alignment and surrender and watched as the path unfolded beneath her feet.
Here are some of the key points that we discussed in detail on the show.
First, recognize there’s a limit to what hard work can achieve.
Most of us were brought up in an outdated “no pain, no gain” mentality. We were taught to buckle down and suck it up because achieving our goals takes hard work and planning. Of course, action is an important component of any creation. But there is a limit to how much we can create through hard work alone.
Think of the people you know who genuinely seem happy and fulfilled. You know, those who have vitality and clarity; who have plenty of money, creative self-expression, and loving and supportive relationships. What you’ll discover is that they aren’t forcing those things into their experience. They’re attracting them by bringing themselves into an internal state of alignment.
Alignment opens doors that can’t be opened by force.
What does it mean to be in alignment?
Alignment is a state of being in which our hearts and minds are in perfect sync with our divine nature. And when our energy is aligned, we are at our most creative, resourceful, and productive. In the state of alignment, our actions are inspired rather than contrived, and far more effective because they’re backed up by our full spiritual power. There is an unobstructed flow between the physical and nonphysical aspects of us. And this connection yields far greater results than anything we can accomplish from a disconnected state.
Energetic alignment is always accompanied by a sense of ease and grace; of going with the flow rather than striving to make things happen. We unexpectedly find ourselves in the right place at the right time. We feel guided, sourced, and blessed. And – because our actions are infused with energy and intention – we accomplish more with less effort.
Working too hard is actually counter-productive because it takes you out of your natural state of alignment.
Think back to a time you forced yourself to take an action you really didn’t want to take. What you’ll realize is that in such moments, you were seeing the world through a lens of scarcity or lack. Maybe an important deadline was looming, or an event triggered some primal survival urge. In those moments, our thoughts race, our bodies register anxiety, and we become misaligned to the very outcomes we desire.
When we’re out of alignment, the next step is not clear, but we feel compelled to act anyway. And so we act without clarity, and without any aligned energy behind our actions. In that state, everything is hit-and-miss, like throwing mud at a wall and hoping some of it will stick. We expend a ton of energy but we’re running in circles, not getting anywhere.
It’s important to understand that this type of action is actually counter-productive to achieving our desires. Yes, we’re building momentum, but it’s leading to more frenetic energy, not more ease and joy. So in those moments, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, the most beneficial thing we can do is pull back.
Whenever you feel like the momentum of a situation is moving against you, your best course of action is to step away from it. And if you can’t step back physically, do your best to withdraw and reclaim your mental energy. In those moments, regaining your alignment and softening your internal struggle is your highest possible priority. Do your best to surrender any urge to control the situation, and focus on becoming receptive to solutions.
Surrendering allows your perfect next steps to unfold.
Is it possible to receive something when your hand is clenched tightly into a fist? No. To receive, our hand has to be open. And what is true of our physical body is also true of our energy body. To receive all the blessings that life has to offer, we have to be open to receive them.
As Sheri describes in the podcast, a sequence of doors began to open as soon as she surrendered her need to control. New opportunities naturally come into view when we stop trying to force things to happen.
Do your best to surrender your need to know when, where, and how your desires will manifest. Trust that in this universe of infinite possibilities, what you want is available to you. Your only work is to align yourself in your heart, mind, and belly to the essence of what you desire. The infinite resources of the universe will take care of the rest.
This is the real joy in life: To go with the flow of abundance rather than swimming against the current, trusting that the universe has our back.
Christy Whitman is an energy healer, Master Certified Law of Attraction Coach, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Having It All: A Woman’s Guide to Unlimited Abundance. Her latest book, The Desire Factor: How to Embrace Your Materialistic Nature to Reclaim Your Full Spiritual Power is on sale now at www.thedesirefactor.com. Christy communicates with, and for, The Quantum Council, a collection of non-physical ascended masters who desire to help humanity understand that we are divinely designed for well-being, abundance, success, and loving relationships. You can take the first step in alignment and creating your desires by a free 30-day program called Watch Your Words by going here: www.watchyourwords.com.
