The energy that surges through us when we feel we can achieve our goals or reach our dreams is so powerful it feels invigorating.

It’s amazing to me how empowered we feel when we are in alignment with our goals and our greatest desires. We feel full and ready to burst much like a flower just before it opens. Imagine feeling this way all the time. Of course we would then become quite burned out, but if we felt this way more often we would have the energy needed to continue the path of manifesting our dreams.

How often have you thought about and or dreamt of a particular goal? What feeling comes on the heels of that dream? Is it the feeling of “How will I ever do this?” or disbelief that you can actually achieve it? Both of these feelings disempower us and leave us feeling drained, discouraged and without energy. Who can achieve their goals feeling like this? So how do we keep the buoyed, excited energy to do the daily work of creating our dreams? How do we find that confidence; that sense of trust – that we have what it takes to reach our goals?

I’ve been told over and over to pay attention to my “inner game.” Our “inner game” is the words, beliefs, fears, response patterns and thoughts that then create our world.

“When you understand that you can control the way you feel because you can control the downstream direction of your thoughts. …now you consistently feel good. You come back into your own power, your power of influence is tremendous, and you thrive all around.” – Esther and Jerry Hicks

Knowing our inner game gives us clear information about how we are creating our world:  knowing where our strengths and talents lie, being aware of the words we use, looking inside to see where our insecurities are and facing them head on. Understanding our “inner game” takes times and a bit of work. Some people work with healers or counselors, others are able to do the work themselves through journaling, meditating and being very present to their thoughts, responses and words. Either way, looking within is the road to confidence and continued energy.

Finding nuggets of energy can come in another way. Pay attention to what people are saying to you. I am willing to bet you hear all the criticisms and what you do wrong but never hear the compliments. Hearing and owning compliments is a great way to keep that positive feeling going. Throughout the day we hear those around us telling us how great we are at something. Do we hear these compliments? Do we take in the energy of this praise? Usually not, as our inner critic jumps in so quickly with an immediate response “Not me! I’m not that good.” She/he jumps in so fast we never really get a chance to think about the lovely compliment.

I have found that very few people offer compliments that they don’t mean. Most compliments are genuine. But we are taught to brush them off so we don’t get “full of ourselves” This my friends, is the most disempowering pattern that we have been ever been taught. I am sure you know how it feels to have a compliment brushed off. You tell someone they look great and they say “oh no, I look a mess” then you say “but you look great.” And again they say “no”. It is quite a dance to give a compliment and have the person actually continue to brush it off. You both go round and round “You look great.” “No, I don’t” “But you do!” “No, really, I don’t.”  It can be quite exhausting!!   How would it feel to have a person say thank you to your compliment and mean it? Try saying thank you and really feel the honor that a person is offering you with their words. I bet both of you will walk away feeling good instead of wondering why bother to compliment at all.

This may seem like an insignificant exercise, but it holds a tremendous amount of power. Watch for and listen to the compliments people say to you. Let that nice feeling roll around in your head for a while. If you take the time to do this you will find so many nuggets of empowerment. You can then use them to energize yourself. Take it a step further and record that compliment in a small pocket journal (or for you techies in the notes section of your smart phone), so that you have a list to go to on the days you’re feeling down or unmotivated. When we feel good about ourselves we feel confident and buoyed. This energy helps us to do wondrous things – like achieving our dreams and goals.

How many compliments have you received today? How did you react?