Many people think that they need to know their mentor personally. That is not necessarily true. I´ve met Ellie Drake but I have never met Joyce Meyers or Ali Brown personally. However, I still look to them as mentors.

How does that work? As I watch how people run their businesses, do something I want to emulate or have a style that I particularly like, I will choose them as a mentor. I may then get to know them through their books, workshops, teleclasses or newsletters. I watch Joyce on her website as she speaks to large audiences and learn from how she teaches. I am attending the RISE event with Ellie October 2/3 where I am sure I will learn alot about how Ellie came into the US as an immigrant and became a millionaire through network marketing. I read their materials and study their habits. Even though I haven´t met many of my mentors, they can still have a positive impact on my life.

Pick someone who you really admire for one or more reasons. Then learn more about them through the internet, their course materials or through their newsletters. Start to apply what they are doing to create their amazing life in your life. It´s really that simple. However, it is very, very effective!

The other day I asked a client to journal about what she really wanted in her life. I encouraged her to write about what kind of home she wanted, where she wanted to travel and what she really wanted to do in her life. When we looked at her homework, incredibly enough, she had written about all the reasons why she couldn´t have the kind of life that I had achieved! We were both a little stunned as she became aware of what she had done.

Robert Schuller said, “the only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking.” No truer words have been spoken. So much is possible, until you decide that it´s not.

I have coached many people through this process and it is interesting how negative they can be about what they want. They say something like, “I´d really like to be free to travel the world, but……. and then they proceed to tell me exactly why they can´t have what they want.

One of my dearest friends, Monique MacDonald, says constantly in her Discover Your Sacred Gifts workshop that everything after the “but” is crap. The lesson: Say what you want without the excuses. I want to travel the world. I want to be a millionaire. I want to have a beautiful home in Costa Rica on the beach, overlooking the ocean. I want to have a wonderful relationship. Period. Nothing else needed.

The “but” that usually follows sentences like these is your cop-out, your concern that you will disappoint yourself or you won´t get what you really want. Stop making excuses. Stop copping out on what you really want in life.

Get serious and committed to what you really want. Watch your “buts” in your life. Notice how often you use the word “but” to minimize or discount what you really, really want as you create your amazing life.

Remember, dreams are possible if you allow them to flourish and be nourished. Creating your amazing life is simply getting clear on what you want and then going after it like a dog after a cat. We´ll talk more about this subject, but today is a good place to start watching your buts.

Pretty good for only $10!

Saturday morning found Greg and I in Puerto Vallarta with a long list of things we needed to buy and what we wanted to do. As Greg headed into the ATM machine as we got off the local bus, he realized that he had brought his credit card, not his debit card and he didn´t know the pin for his credit card. As we counted all the money we had on us, less bus fare to get home, it was a whopping $12!

Our plans for doing anything we had planned were very quickly dashed and for a moment we both felt the emotion of disappointment wash over us. Greg offered to go all the way back to Bucerias to get the right card and let me camp out on the beach with the $12 but we chose differently. We decided to take a disaster and make it fun. We made it into an adventure – a game. After carefully putting aside the money to get home on the bus, we looked at our 120 pesos like gold. What fun! People do this kind of budgeting all the time out of necessity and don´t find it much fun. However, Saturday we made it fun.

After doing some comparison shopping on an artist´s work that I want to bring back to Canada when I leave, we headed to The Cheeky Monkey. Famous in Puerto Vallarta for it´s cheap Margaritas and magnificent view, we parked ourselves at the best table in the house and ordered two Margaritas and a plate of Veggie Nachos. The plate arrived laden with black olives, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and nachos. We feasted like a king and queen, while sipping our Margaritas overlooking the ocean. Having brought dice and my Yahtzee score sheets, we played a few games of Yahtzee as we enjoyed our time.

The bill was $10 including tip. We still had $2 left to spend! We headed along the boardwalk and enjoyed the magnificent weather, people watching and scenery. It really is absolutely splendid. Then I popped into a corner store, picked up a cold beer for just under a $1 and we caught the bus home with $1 to spare. We were thrilled with our day and genuinely had a blast.

On Sunday we headed back into town and had a fabulous day at the beach before heading to do our shopping. My whole weekend of fun, food and drinks cost me $25. Don´t tell me you need to be rich to have fun. It´s all in the attitude and the desire to have fun. You may be using no money as an excuse to not have fun in your life but it may be just that – an excuse.

You do not need to be a millionaire to have fun. You can have fun for free or very close to it. What´s stopping you from having more fun in your life? It´s certainly not money.