Are You Sabotaging Your Financial Well-Being? -By Maria Gamb, "The Anti-Sabotage Expert"

Recently I was asked what the number one concern was amongst clients. Invariably, in just about every session I give the question of money comes up. The context varies from person to person. However what I’ve observed is that there seems to be a general anxiety about money; where to get it, how to increase it, how to secure more for the future and how to manage it.

Rather than talking about how, what & where to invest – I will leave that to an Investment Expert – let's back up a bit. What do you think about money? Is it delightful or a pain to have to deal with? Do you enjoy others success or do you resent them? Do you spend that bounty the minute it hits your hand (or even before it does)? The answer to all these questions goes back directly to how you think about money.

What does Money have to do with your thoughts? No matter how passive you think thoughts are, there really are no passive thoughts. What’s in your head, is what you speak. And from those thoughts and words you are creating your circumstance. It’s your choice to decide the kind of financial reality you want to live in. What do you *really* think you deserve? You can choose a life of disappointment and lack where your thoughts will sabotage your attempts at financial independence. Or you can look at the sabotaging patterns that may be occurring and make a conscious decision to change them. If I were you I would choose CHANGE! : )

My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds.
My harvest will be either flower or weeds.

-Mel Weldon

There are MANY limiting beliefs (thoughts) relating to money. I will touch briefly on one set of common limiting beliefs that sabotage many female entrepreneurs and highly-motivated professionals.

Money is Hard to Manage:

Common Statements that Support this Thought:

• I’m not smart enough to know how to handle money
• If I had money I would probably blow it all in a minute
• If I make a lot of money I would have to invest in the stock market & I have no clue how to andle that. You know how everyone loses money doing that!

These statements are most common in women. This is purely my experience. Most women, even today, still bear the thought that they are incapable of handling their own money and making wise investment decisions.

One of the most interesting examples of this was a client I worked with who told me through tears that she was “too stupid” to know how to handle money. “Women don’t handle money, men do” she told me, then added, “Men are the powerful ones, men take care of the money.” I was actually quite surprised by these statements, as she was merely a woman in her early 40’s.

My intuition kicked in and I asked her what she did for a living. Her reply? She sells insurance & does financial planning for families. All at once we both began laughing. She trusted herself to deal with others financial planning but not her own.

Immediately she realized the insanity of her thinking. This was how she had been sabotaging her own financial freedom. She needed to get unstuck by changing her thoughts and actually own her financial intelligence.

How are YOU sabotaging your financial well being?
Wishing you abundance & success!

ABOUT THE GUEST AUTHOR:
Maria Gamb, a.k.a. “The Anti-Sabotage Expert,” coaches female entrepreneurs and other highly motivated professionals to overcome self-sabotaging limiting beliefs about money, relationships and success allowing them to live abundant & successful lives without boundaries. Join FR*EE [No More Sabotage!] TODAY & receive the FR*EE Special Report “The Top 5 Reasons Your Financial Flow May be Stunted…and how to correct them” go here: http://www.iwisdomconsulting.com/SpecialReport.htm

Read more...

I'm Scared... What Are YOU Scared Of?

Yes, I'm scared. Not all the time, but usually every day. Sometimes the fear is acute and sometimes it just shows up in casual clothing as "anxiety."

What do I get afraid of? Oh, let's see: Signing a contract with a hotel for a workshop and then wondering, "Will they really show up?" Giving someone a piece of my mind and then wondering, "Should I have said that? Maybe that was a bit strong." Other fears include: raising my rates, lifting a heavier barbell at the gym than I did previously, and trying to figure out what to keep in my business plan and what to toss out (wouldn't want to be left out or overlook anything, right?!).

My usual m.o. is to not show fear. I prefer to project confidence and calm. Most of the time, that internal security is real. What I fear is that if I show fear, I will be ridiculed or rejected - which is what ALL the fear is about in my case. Everyone has fear but their fear is driven by different things. What makes you scared?

Fear is part of our journey through life. Our natural instinct when we feel fear is to stop - quite literally - in our tracks. What I am learning is that I need to hold my "tall poppy" self in one hand and my fearful self in the other, and proceed toward my goals holding both realities. Allowing for my fear and my goals simultaneously enables me to feel my authentic feelings and move on towards the target without creating emotional baggage. I'm choosing to stand tall, even if my knees are shaking!

Here's the "Tall Poppy Testimonial" of the week from Ali Brown, The Ezine Queen:

“Having a hand analysis session with Beth is a real eye-opener. While I’m very successful in my business, Beth showed me a path to even greater success. If you’d like to find out EXACTLY what your Life Purpose is, what your biz niche is, who your target audience is and how to increase profitability while still honoring your soul, Beth is your gal. She’s worth every penny. If you’ve ever wondered why you’re here or what’s next for you, Beth will give you the internal clarity, authority and permission to reach for BIGGER, BOLDER goals.” -- Alexandria Brown, “The Ezine Queen” and Million Dollar Marketing Coach, www.AlexandriaBrown.com

Read more...

Does Rejection Motivate You Or Paralyze You?

Rejection is no fun. However, the FEAR of rejection is more paralyzing than real rejection. If you're are REALLY getting rejected, it means you are actually attempting something - a new job, project, relationship, presentation. If you sit around fearing the rejection, nothing happens. As time passes, you can get paralyzed.

However, if you're out there, taking action and rejection does occur, you KNOW you are taking action. Seeing "rejection" as evidence for taking action can be extremely motivating. You may be experiencing rejection because you need more information or more practice. The rejection may signal that people are envious of you or that you are so cutting edge and original, you really MUST continue down the road you are taking.

The reasons for the rejection are useful, but what's more important is that you RISK rejection to achieve your goals. It's been my experience that actual rejection happens far less than anticipated AND people who regularly risk ridicule, ostracism, criticism and rotten vegetable lashings have much, much higher levels of success than those who risk nothing and hide out.

What are you doing - risking or hiding out?

Read more...

Victimization vs. Victory

Something unpleasant happens to you and you feel ashamed. But since shame is practically an unbearable emotion, you go numb instead. Over time, as more things happen that cause shame, you shut down, losing touch with your desires.

If you don't know what you want, you can't effectively access your personal power. Without personal power, not only are you numb to your desires, but your boundaries are AWOL. And you're getting absolutely no respect. You are angry. You are ready to scream... or worse.

Been there? Done that? At one time or another, most of us have violated our own intuition and boundaries out of fear, shame and numbness. BUT could it be that this very painful teacher is the doorway to enlightenment?

Found out how the "shame that binds you" (as author Bradshaw would say), can also set you free to name your desires, stand your ground and live your passions, full out, no excuses, no matter what!

If you want to get paid what you're worth, do work that inspires flames of passion in your heart and soul, and be the ripple on the water that changes since shame is practically an unbearable emotion, you go numb instead. Over time, as more things happen that cause shame, you shut down, losing touch with your desires.

Read more...

What Is Emotional Authenticity?

Whenever I really want to understand a phrase, I like to look up the words in a dictionary. (A side benefit of my word obsession is that I'm a HOT scrabble player. :-)) So before we get into the practical experience and applications of emotional authenticity in your business, let's look at what it MEANS.

According to the Farlex Free Online Dictionary, "authenticity" is a noun meaning:

the quality or condition of being authentic, trustworthy, or genuine.

Here are two relevant definitions for "authentic:"

1. conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief;

2. having a claimed and verifiable origin or authorship; not counterfeit or copied.

"Emotional" is an adjective meaning:

1. Of or relating to emotion: an emotional illness; emotional crises.

2. Readily affected with or stirred by emotion: an emotional person who often weeps.

3. Arousing or intended to arouse the emotions: an emotional appeal.

4. Marked by or exhibiting emotion: an emotional farewell.

Taken together, "emotional authenticity" could be described as the genuine exhibition of emotion. Emotional authenticity is a common Life Lesson that shows up in people's fingerprints when I do hand analysis sessions. It also happens to be my Life Lesson. As a result, when I sometimes attempt to describe the lesson, my mind goes a bit fuzzy, even blank, since this issue affects me at my core.

Emotional authenticity is the foundation for unconditional love of one's self. If we judge any part of our emotional experience, those emotions get stuck, creating emotional baggage. You then get to haul the emotional baggage around with you. Emotional baggage is heavy and it's exhausting for you and the people around you.

Ideally, emotional authenticity works like this:

1. You have an experience that triggers an emotional response

2. You ask yourself, "What am I feeling?"

3. You acknowledge the feeling with FEELING words: sad, angry, happy, joyful, guilty, anxious

4. You express the feeling by:

• expressing it to the person you felt triggered by: "George, I feel anxious when..."
• expressing it fully and completely
• expressing it appropriately (You learn what "appropriate" is ONLY by practicing emotional authenticity.)
• doing it AGAIN if you don't succeed the first time
  

However, what happens for most of us when we're in the "lesson" experience of emotional authenticity is that we don't feel the original authentic emotion but default to another emotion that is an imposter emotion - a mask - for our real feelings. For example, let's say you're afraid people won't like the new product you're rolling out for your business. You fear that if your customers don't like it, they won't buy it. If they don't buy it, you'll go out of business. That's how fear works... right down the rabbit hole to the worst-case scenario.

So, instead of feeling your fear, you get anxious instead. You're not sure why. Maybe you find you're not sleeping well at night or you're obsessively going over the details again and again with your partner - effectively driving them and yourself crazy. Maybe you find yourself wrapped up in activities that have little or nothing to do with your primary work goals ("procrastination") or you're blaming someone for your anxiety. "If so and so hadn't said such and such, I wouldn't be feeling this way. It's their fault I'm feeling this way..." Uh-huh.

NOW... if you'd like to get back to that yummy, scrumptious, at-one-with-yourself feeling called unconditional love, you're going to have to feel the yicky, yucky, gross feelings. You cannot bypass them. I repeat: YOU CANNOT BYPASS YOUR AUTHENTIC FEELINGS.

If you do bypass your authentic feelings, you are apt to do so in the following ways:

1. Stuff 'em (I'll just hold this in and pretend "I'm fine.")

2. Deny 'em (Anxiety? What anxiety? I just feel like working all night tonight, okay???!!!)

3. Blame yourself or someone else for 'em (If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't be feeling this!)

4. Hide out from 'em (I'll just wait 'til this blows over. Nap anyone?)

5. Rationalize, justify and explain 'em (You see, the reason I'm feeling this way is that my mother and father spent too much time correcting me in my youth and blah, blah, blah...)

6. Take responsibility for someone else's feelings (Oh, I wish I hadn't said that. Now George is upset. If only I'd kept my mouth shut.)

How does this apply to your business? Just yesterday, a client emailed me. He was upset. He'd misunderstood our verbal agreement on a proposal. No formal work had been contracted for. At first, I got upset in response to his upset. But when I took a step back, and really felt my feelings of fear and anxiety, it was readily apparent that my client was having a rough day and that his anger had very little to do with our verbal work agreement. When I called him and simply said, "Hey, how are you doing?" He said, "Ah, I'm going through a lot right now." And we worked out the agreement in about three minutes. I didn't take responsibility for his feelings, nor did I blame myself for his upset. My feelings are my feelings and only I am responsible for them.

My client said to me later that day, "I was really impressed by your emotional sensitivity. Your reaction surprised me. You didn't blame me or get upset in response." By honoring MY feelings and expressing appropriately - in this case, realizing I was getting upset over something that had nothing to do with me, I was able to find a calm space to communicate with my client. That calm space held the energy of unconditional love.

What would unconditionally loving yourself and your clients do for your business???

The reason emotional authenticity is a LIFE lesson is that the people who own this lesson,at their core, fear that if they are truly, 100% themselves and "out there" with their feelings, they will be judged, corrected, rejected or at the very worst, found "unlovable." Since that's "unbearable," the hamster wheel spins and spins as the person attempts to outrun their authentic feelings and dives into smokescreen feelings to hide from the source of their emotional unrest.

Here's my Coach's Challenge for you this week:

The next time something or someone causes a strong emotional reaction in you - positive or negative - ask yourself, "What am I really feeling RIGHT NOW?" See if you can stay with your authentic emotions before getting sidetracked into more comfortable modes of behavior.

Read more...

Are You In YOUR Throne or Hiding Behind the Curtain?

People both crave power and hide from it. Why? With power comes responsibility. If things go wrong, well, you only have yourself to blame, right? And if you don't accept the error, someone will gladly hand it to you on a plastic cafeteria tray.

The other BIG issue with power is that most of us have seen it misused - against ourselves, animals, children, and innocent populations - and so we fear using it wrongly. The challenge this creates is that while some people are running drunk with power, many others are cowering in fear of being run over.

This dichotomy is affectionately referred to as the master/slave, victimizer/victim, bully/doormat dynamic. And it's no picnic.

However, there is ANOTHER perspective. TRUE power empowers you and others. True power leads, inspires and provides vision. The goal of a gifted leader is to hold a vision and enroll others to help carry out that vision. That's power. Now you know why the eagle symbolizes power. She with the eagle eye sees all - she sees the BIG PICTURE.

There is a gift marking that sometimes appears in the palm called the Jupiter star. The Jupiter star reveals extraordinary leadership ability, ambition and the quest for achievement and recognition. People with Jupiter stars have BIG visions. The question is: are you in YOUR throne or hiding out behind the curtain, making someone else the king or queen? Because "if it's in your hands, it's in your life!"

Read more...

3 Steps To Resolve Your Intimacy Issues

Love. I receive as many questions about love in your hands as I do about mo'ney.

But you do REALLY understand why you might be lonely? Or why you want to change/control/manage your husband, wife, partner (at least sometimes) - and what to do about it? Are you wanting more connection, more love, more "intimacy?"

Intimacy, according to Webster's Dictionary, means "revealing your innermost self to another." We do this (or don't do this) with our body language, our spoken and written words, our listening skills (or lack thereof) and our ability to tune into our inner voice. Our ability to be intimate with others is in direct proportion to our ability to be intimate with ourselves.

But what does that mean exactly? And how do you do it?

Find out - on my next Hand Analysis Master Mind Tele-Class, where, with the help of your left little finger, we'll explore:

* The root causes of intimacy issues* How to communicate even when you'd rather bury your head in the sand
* 3 ways to access your inner guidance (a KEY to intimacy!)
* Why you keep dating the "same" person over and over again - and how
to break the pattern
* Why raising your standards in love doesn't mean you're too picky or a snob
* And how lowering your expectations can make for marvelous romance

Read more...

Finding Your INNER TRUMP By Mastering The ‘Loser’ Lesson

When I first heard my hand analysis mentor, Richard Unger, call a Life Lesson “the loser lesson,” I gasped. What an awful thing – to call someone, to call one’s self – even worse, what a difficult thing to FEEL.

Some of you reading this are very familiar with this lesson as you have it in your fingerprints. Some of you have only parts of this lesson. It involves the fingerprints on right thumb (failure/frustration), right index finger (powerlessness/overwhelm) and right middle finger (money/business/time/integrity issues). Imagine for a moment that when you get stuck in life, you find yourself trapped in a situation you don’t like, feeling overwhelmed, broke and frustrated.

Well, whether or not this is your lesson, you can probably relate to pieces of it. Taken together,feeling like a powerless, broke failure pretty much provokes a “loser” sensation.

Here’s the GOOD NEWS: when you complete tasks (success!), assert your boundaries (power),and ask to be paid (mo^ney), you activate the Big Shot Business Owner or your “Inner Trump” – as in ‘Donald Trump.’ This isn’t about whether or not you resonate with the actual Donald Trump, rather, it’s about claiming your own definition of success, standing clear in your powerful vision and refusing to give away your time without compensation.

You might experience only pieces of this lesson – feeling powerless one day, broke or running out of time on another day. The opportunity here is to remember that a “lesson” is really a blind spot. My dear friend, Jennifer Urezzio, who studied hands with me years ago, has dispensed with the word “lesson” altogether and simply calls Life Lessons “Skill Builders.”

Your Life Lesson, whatever it is, shows you the gaps in your knowledge and experience. By acknowledging these gaps, you can build your skills and achieve what is most important to you.

So, what’s it going to be? Feeling like a “loser” or claiming your Inner Trump?The choice, as always, is yours.



The Palm Pilot’s Coaching Questions To Consider:

• What is YOUR definition of success?
• Where do you get into power struggles with people?
• What triggers your defensiveness?
• What is your WORLD VISION? (Everyone has one… really.)
• Do you ASK to be PA^ID and charge what you are worth?

Read more...

Are You a SPIRITUAL TEACHER?

Do you see the real truth behind ‘the truth?’ Do you simply ‘know’ what’s going on in the lives of others without them telling you a word? Do your friends, clients, or romantic partner approach you for guidance on their most pressing life challenges, knowing you will give them a suprising but clear answer?

If you have the gift of the Line of Clairvoyance you are able to see (“voyance”) clearly (“clair”). You understand not only the secret machinations happening behind the scenes, you see deeply into the illusions and possibilities in the soul of another. You offer a new, soulful perspective for someone seeking spiritual truth.

You understand many different spiritual principles and many different spiritual approaches to ‘the truth.’ Your vast mental and emotional warehouse of spirtual and religious teachings provides you with the ability to weave beautiful, engaging stories to illuminate the challenges in your clients’ lives as well as the steps they need to take to reclaim their path of authenticity.

The challenge of the Line of Clairvoyance is to ensure that you are using this talent in your everyday work. If you are not able to be a truth-sayer for others, then you are bound to feel stuck, stagnant and lost in the wrong work with the wrong tribe.

Read more...

The Hands of a Famous Personality: Leeza Gibbons

Leeza Gibbons burst onto the Hollywood scene as a host on Entertainment Tonight before going on to host her own Emmy-award-winning TV Show, “Leeza.” She is the host of the radio show, “Hollywood Confidential” and founder of The Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation, which is dedicated to providing inspiration and support for the sufferers of Alzheimer’s Disease and their families. Leeza created the foundation when her mother was stricken with the disease. Leeza was also a dancer on the 4th season of “Dancing With The Stars.”

Today, we’ll look at Leeza’s left hand. Here’s that picture again:

Today, we’ll look at Leeza’s left hand. Here’s that picture again:

Leeza’s hand shape indicates the energy of “fire.” A fire hand has a rounded palmwith fingers that are shorter than the palm. The angle of the photo doesn’t do justice, but looking at the print on my desk, Leeza is a classic “fire” person. She is charismatic, vivacious, and energetic. The challenges for a fire person include juggling too many projects at once, feeling overwhelmed or pressured by things not done, and staying focused on the goal.

Leeza’s Life Purpose from her fingerprints in “Success in the Community.” She is certainly living her Life Purpose. For example, she is greatly respected in the Hollywood community for her warmth, work ethic and quality work. In the service community, Leeza is a tireless champion for helping those who need an advocate and voice of empowerment.

The ‘success’ aspect of her Life Purpose helps counteract the fire energy’s tendency to get scattered; however, she will take on the work of three people and then feel behind if she can’t finish it all. While in the waiting room of her offices before our interview, the awards on the walls and shelves revealed Leeza’s incredible drive toward recognition, achievement and acknowledgment – hallmarks of the ‘Success’ Life Purpose. I thought to myself, before even seeing her hands, “This woman understands achievement and success. Imagine if every woman followed through on her dreams and went for the finish line? She has a lot to teach others about what it takes to truly succeed.”

Leeza’s Life Lessons are power issues and self-worth issues. This common combo is known as “Ms. Not Enough.” (Mr. Not Enough for a man.) Leeza being the open, willing Leeza she is – allowed me to read her hands ON AIR and discuss her Life Lesson with her listeners. With this Life Lesson, she may feel that what she does is not enough, so she then drives herself to do more. The challenge with this dynamic is that Leeza’s sense of worth and identity could get wrapped up in her latest success.

When is she ‘enough’ to take a break and acknowledge all that she’s already achieved? I suggested that when she starts to feel the pressure of all her commitments, she take a breather and remind herself of everything she’s already accomplished so she can see that SHE is the source of her success. This helps her pull the focus back into herself, rather than comparing or competing with everything around her. When I described this to her, she nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

What is your relationship to success? Do you avoid it, and avoid completing important tasks, or do you endlessly pursue achievement and rarely stop to acknowledge all that you’ve done? Success is about completing the tasks that allow us to live the life of our dreams, whether it’s a sparkling Hollywood star on the Walk of Fame or a cabin in the Colorado mountains. Maybe, like me, you want a some glitz and some getaway in your personal success design.

Read more...

Angelina Jolie’s Career Niche?

What can you tell from the hand of a star waving to her fans? A lot – if you know what you’re observing.

My ezine offers ‘hot tips’ for your specific career niche, so let’s dive into Angelina Jolie’s waving left hand to find out what her hand reveals about her career niche.

Your dominant hand is your career hand and your non-dominant hand is your personal-life hand. Angelina is a ‘south paw’ or ‘lefty’ so her career hand would be her left hand, which she shows in the picture. Answers.com describes a ‘south paw’ this way:

“A left-handed person, especially a left-handed baseball pitcher. [From the practice in baseball of arranging the diamond with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher facing west would therefore have his pitching arm toward the south of the diamond.]”

Let’s look at her dominant finger zones first for her career niche:

* Angelina needs a lot of personal space or ‘turf.’ She MUST have her personal freedom or she could revolt against anyone or anything trying to control her. (dominant lower zone of index finger)

* She cares about the environment and honoring her personal value system (dominant lower zone of middle finger)* She has tremendous charisma and is a great networker with a full ‘schmooze zone’ (dominant lower zone of ring finger)

* She is a gifted communicator with a special affinity for the media and using it to get her message out to a large audience. (dominant upper zone of little finger)

In a nutshell, Angelina’s career niche is to use the media and her charm to draw world attention to her causes. She will spurn anyone or anything, however, that attempts to limit her freedom.

Her most challenged zone is on her upper middle finger, indicating that she might get sloppy on her research or delegate important to details that she herself needs to complete; this could be potentially embarrassing or messy later. It’s vital that she dot her I’s and cross her T’s to keep her commitments in order. Her middle finger itself is relatively short compared with the norm. This indicates that Angelina is a rebel and maverick. A true rebel, Angelina desperately needs a cause to feel engaged. Otherwise, that rebellion can take the form of frivolous shock tactics and wasted outbursts to get attention. We saw much more of this when Angelina was younger. She seems to have tempered this energy.

The middle and ring fingers are leaning in toward each other, indicating that Angelina, at the time the photo was taken, was very concerned with certain outcomes in her life.

The little finger sits a distance from the other fingers, indicating a hint of loneliness and independence of thought. The little finger itself is long and straight, indicating that Angelina, rebel that she is, shoots straight from the hip and says EXACTLY what she wants to say. She typically DOES mean what she says and this is what can be most uncomfortable to those around her as she has little concern with pleasing others or fitting in. Because of her strong schmooze-ability, she does fit in easily and then shocks people with her truth-telling. Because she can charm her way into and out of most situations, people find they forgive her easily and want more of her company.

Angelina’s hands are water-shaped. The water hand is long with willowy fingers and a narrow palm. This indicates that, at her core, Angelina is deeply sensitive, empathic, nurturing and caring. This hand shape is the classic psychic hand. Angelina finds that she knows a lot about others, more than they might want her to know. Her hand color is a healthy pink, indicating vivaciousness, vitality and enthusiasm.

Angelina possesses a configuration that shows up frequently on the hands of celebrities. She has a long ring finger and a large mount of Venus. The mount of Venus is the fleshy part of the palm at the base of the thumb. This combination is the ‘starlet’ energy, indicating a career in the movies, a love of fashion and fine jewelry, and typically, indicates a very attractive person (This is how I know someone is beautiful if all I have is their hand image or print. The ‘starlet’ factor gives it away.) A large mount of Venus also indicates a love of beauty and fine things, a love of children and animals, and general joie de vivre. The spur of bone coming of the edge of this mount is called the ‘angle of rhythm,’ revealing that Angelina has a good sense of timing in music and dance.

Probably the most paradoxical thing of all about her hands is her ‘tactful thumb.’ When the thumb is large at the tip and then appears to have a ‘waist’ in the middle, it indicates tact. She can be tremendously diplomatic when circumstances call for it and then, in a single breath, shocking, over-the-top and scandalous. She is a complex woman with a very large array of skills available to her. It’s no surprise she is both a celebrity who loves to shock her audience and a premier diplomat who interacts with world leaders. She is able to do both with aplomb, primarily because she is beautiful, charming and very, very smart. Angelina is a wonderful model for living life on your own terms and ignoring what other’s have to say about you.

As one of my mentors once told me, “If they’re talking about you, it means you’re actually doing something. Nobody talks about people who don’t do anything.”

Read more...

How Nicole Kidman Finds Focus, Part 3

Notice the many lines and explosion of asterisk-shaped stars all over Nicole Kidman’s left palm. This type of line activity is the expression of “fire” energy in Nicole’s life. She is passionate, vivacious and self-directed (“me-ish”). She is driven to express her self publicly but can get overwhelmed by the many creative interests she holds.

Notice the large stars (*) in the moon area of Nicole’s palm. This is the area traveling up from the wrist toward the little finger.

Moon stars enhance the energy of the moon, which encompasses magic, mystery, intuition, illusion, fantasy and passive sexuality. These stars are considered gift markers. Nicole is profoundly intuitive - meaning that she experiences flashes of the truth in an instant. However, she could fall into illusion if she allows the power of her strong intellect to overrule her gut instincts.

Nicole had a long and straight head line cutting horizontally through the middle of her hand. It’s so long, in fact, that it’s another gift marker, indicating that she needs to use her mind to solve large, world-scale issues or she could create tangled webs in her personal life. Powerful minds crave powerful puzzles.

Without sufficient challenge, Nicole could get bored and create drama and problems to keep her mind entertained. While Nicole’s higher mind might not find the drama so amusing, her mind doesn’t care one way of the other. It WILL have its day – so best to give it a good problem to solve. Nicole’s service work with underprivileged kids probably helps to alleviate her monkey mind and keep her focused (that’s a BIG Hint right there for all of us about our purpose on the planet and how to stay calm and focused). Without this service work, she could be the ‘drama queen’ of her circle. Her drama is best left for the stage and screen.

The challenge for gifted intuitive is to trust their instincts and inner guidance and to ACT on that guidance. To fail to do so can result in feelings of alienation, stagnation and loneliness. This challenge, combined with her computer-brain’s challenge of creating drama when underemployed, could potentially create a situation where Nicole has lots of activity happening all around her, but she feels disconnected from the chaos. In order to stay true to her own heart’s desires, it’s essential that she heed her inner voice, lest she allow the manipulations and deceptions of others to con her into believing, at least superficially, that their agendas are more important than her own. Given Nicole’s career success, it appears that she has walked this razor’s edge with a fair amount of dignity and grace but may be painfully aware of moments when she allowed the drama of her personal life to distract her from her larger purpose. When she listens to her inner voice, she stays focused and “on purpose.”

Read more...

Nicole Kidman: Lonely At The Top, Part 2

In the last article, we explored the dynamics of two energies in Nicole’s hands – fire and water. Taken together, fire and water create “steam.” Nicole (who is naturally left-handed) is a “steamy chick” for the ages!

Today, let’s take a look at Nicole’s fingers to further explore this complex and talented artist. Notice her fingers emerging along the ridge of her palm. You can think of the upper palm ridge as the mountain top and the fingers as trees emerging along the mountain top. In Nicole’s left hand, the index/pointer finger sits higher along the ridge than the other fingers. A ‘high-set’ index finger reveals power, leadership, vision, and ambition with an interest in religious and political matters. Her little finger sits quite a bit lower than the other fingers. This can indicate a need for more closeness and affection. Typically, when someone is feeling this, they withdraw from intimate relationships, rather than engage – to protect their hearts. Of course, what gets Nicole out of this situation is to engage and open her heart.

This particular appearance of the fingers – high-set index finger, low-set little finger – is know as “lonely at the top.” (Note: Hands can change and her hands may appear differently now than they do in the photo.)

It may be that Nicole was feeling alone in her ambitions or that loneliness was the price she thought she had to pay for her immense public persona and influence. It’s quite common with these types of markers in the hands that a person is not consciously aware of their influence unless it is discussed openly. Perhaps it served Nicole to appear ‘alone’ at the top. Avoid too much scrutiny? Avoid paparazzi?

Let’s continuing weaving this story… (ALL hands tell a story). Notice that Nicole’s little finger is not only low-set, but is separated from the other fingers to a larger degree than the other fingers are separated from one another. This indicates that Nicole is an independent thinker (reinforced by her independent head line cutting diagonally across the center of her palm). Nicole could certainly hide her loneliness with her quixotic smile and quick wit (a hallmark of the independent thinker).

Notice, too, that the tip of her middle finger is leaning away from the thumb. This is a common indicator that I see often, revealing worries (usually unfounded) about the future. “What will my future look like? Is everything going to be okay? Will I ever find________? (Fill in the blank: true love, financial success, etc.) We can probably guess at what Nicole is worried about, given the other indicators we’ve discussed. She could be worried whether she’s single or in a relationship at the time of this photo.

So, could it be that the woman with everything is worried about love? Certainly makes her very human, doesn’t it? It only increases my respect and compassion for her that she comports herself in such a professional manner, even under severe scrutiny, given the matters weighing upon her versatile and deep-thinking mind (and passionate heart!).

Now, let’s look at her finger zones. I LOVE the finger zones for revealing a person’s business niche as well as their hobbies. As Nicole is left-handed, you can consider this her ‘career’ hand. Our dominant hand is our ‘in the world’ hand and our non-dominant hand is our ‘at-home’ hand. Dominant: yang, active, masculine self. Non-dominant: yin, passive, feminine self.

Before we explore her finger zones, here are some rules for understanding finger zones:

Length of the zone = how much time you spend in that zone of your life

Width of the zone = how much you display/reveal that zone of your life

Thickness of the zone = how much energy you have in that zone of your life

Here’s the rundown on some of Nicole’s zones:

Longest zones on each finger: lower index (turf), lower middle (environment/personal values), upper ring (artist’s eye), upper little (brainstorming/storytelling). So, in a nut shell, we instantly know that Nicole spends most of her time carving out her territory – she dominates Hollywood in the female actor category, engaging in world issues that speak to her personal values - she’s a representative for Unicef and Unifem, and putting forth her creative vision and sharing stories (through her acting roles).

Okay, how about the shortest zones on each of her fingers?:

Upper index (ideals), middle zone of middle finger (money in the bank), middle ring (practical creativity) and lower little finger (sex zone). What does this tell us? Nicole spends the least amount of her time concerned with living up to ideals, her finances, decorating her home or pursuing her sexual energies. It’s not that she’s ignoring these areas of her life – they just take up less of her time and attention than the previously mentioned areas. So, while I might have guessed Nicole spends a lot of time rearranging her furniture to get her home ‘just so,’ she would probably say that she’s got her routine down to a science and focuses the majority of her energy on her service activities and acting roles. Amazing how the hands can smash even my perceptions!

I know this article is getting long… so I’ll wrap it up. If you liked what I wrote about the zones, let me know and we’ll explore more. Here’s a yummy little tidbit about Nicole: the lower zone on her little finger (the sex zone) is the shortest zone on that finger but also the WIDEST. What does this say? While Nicole may ‘display’ to her public how sexy she is, when it comes to her personal life, she is likely very private when it comes to her own sexual expression. She is still a practicing Catholic after all! (This, of course, does not necessarily mean she is reserved sexually – just very PRIVATE.) The fingers reveal behaviors, the palms reveal motivations. She may display a sexy persona, but her fingers tell us it’s more for show than shock. (Unlike Angelina Jolie who not only displays but enjoys shocking as well! Angelina has the longest little finger I’ve ever seen – communication is her domain. Looks like another article idea is formulating!)

Read more...

Nicole Kidman: Caught Red-Handed Part 1

I found this image of Nicole’s left paw on the web site of a skin doctor. The diagnosis was the possibility of too much hand washing leading to irritation, and worst case, eczema. But I disagree.
Nicole Kidman has classic “steamy chick” hands – a phrase I first heard from my original hand analysis mentor, Terry-Linn. When you heat water to a certain point, you get steam. We refer to sexy movie scenes and charismatic actors as “steamy.” Steam makes you sweat.

Nicole’s hand shape, narrow and delicate, with long fingers, is the element of water. The red color of her palm and deep-cut lines going in many different directions represent the element of fire. Water seeks to emotionally connect and fire seeks to express its passions, preferably with an audience. When you put the two elements together in the hands of a woman, the steamy chick loves to dramatize her emotions (show, rather than explain or hide, how she is feeling), the skill for which Nicole receives millions of dollars.

What’s particularly interesting is the cool, elegant exterior of Nicole’s alabaster hands – visible as she holds them in the air - while her left palm indicates a fiery interior of passion, vivaciousness and desire. Your hand shape reveals the way you present yourself to the world as well as your fundamental personality structure, while the lines, especially if they are a different element type, add nuance and variation to your personality.

Nicole, on first glance, seems sensitive, caring, quiet, gentle, and somewhat introverted (her water hand shape in action) – all qualities that she possesses. But once you get to know her better, or her passions are sufficiently aroused (positively or negatively), she will SHOW you her pleasure, pain or displeasure spontaneously (the qualities of her fire element). When someone possesses a lot of fire energy, there is very little delay between the sensation of a feeling and its outward expression. Water, which is expressive of love and connection, and fire, which is expressive of passion and desire, taken together, provide Nicole with an extensive emotional range to draw upon; she is a veritable Georgia O’Keefe of emotional artistry.

Now let’s look more closely at some indicators on her hands.

Nicole’s Thumb

Nicole has a “high-set” thumb – meaning it emerges from the palm more than an inch up from her wrist. People with high-set thumbs typically have to work very hard and apply themselves intensely to achieve success. The good news is that hard work often pays off. The bad news is when hard work leads nowhere and the individual becomes dispirited by their frustrated attempts to achieve their goals.

Nicole’s Heart Line

Nicole’s left-hand heart line begins about a half-inch below her little finger and travels across her palm towards her index/pointer finger. However, it does something interesting. It appears to be heading toward her middle finger and then detours toward the index finger near the end of its journey. What this basically means is that her heart line, as it heads toward the base of the middle finger, “wants” to be FIRE (The Passionate) but she’s afraid of being too fiery (i.e. accused of being too selfish, too self-centered) so the line detours over toward the realm of WATER (the Big Heart). Fire heart lines are “me-ish” where as water heart lines are “you-ish.” The me-ish person ideally takes care of themselves first and then shows consideration for others whereas the you-ish person (ideally) cares for others but remembers to save a little bit (of time, money, self-care) for themselves.

If Nicole spends too much time acting like Mother Teresa (water chick) instead of Jennifer Lopez (fire chick), she can grow irritable and resentful from putting the needs of others before her own. I suspect her true happiness comes from having a balance of both connection and passionate expression in her life. Living in the spotlight, we have watched Nicole suffer personal disappointment in her love life. However, the deep sustenance and connection that she appears to be currently experiencing in her personal relationships with her partner and children actually provide a foundation for her creative work as an actor, giving her an abundance of energy and vitality to draw upon.

Read more...

“His Hands Will Make You Weak” feat. Blues Musician, Jonny Lang

Meet Jonny Lang, Grammy-award-winning blues guitarist, singer, and poet. Here are the lyrics (emphasis in bold is mine) from his powerful song about Life Purpose called One Person At A Time.

This one might not ever be a single

Just something on my heart I hadda sing ya

I hope they play this on the radio

Gimme a chance to let somebody know

That we can

Change the world, one boy, one girl,

One person at a time (in time)

Well, I know your station's got to pay the bills

And there's only so many slots to fill

But I'm just trying to bring 'em something real

And if FM won't, surely AM will (play)

Change the world, one boy, one girl,

One person at a time

Change the world, one boy, one girl,

One person at a time (in time)

Sure be nice to go triple platinum

There's no guarantee it's ever gonna ever happen

And if I can only reach one set of ears

I know that I've fulfilled my purpose here to

Change the world, one boy, one girl,

One person at a time

Change the world, one boy one girl

One person at a time (in time)

Now, let’s look at Jonny’s hands.

This is the best picture I could find of Jonny’s hands. I couldn’t find a single image of him waving to the crowd (if you do, will you let me know?) so we’ll make do with what we’ve got!

Jonny is a testament to someone pouring his entire being into developing and sharing his gifts. He has played on stage with Sting, The Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith, among others. He is internationally acclaimed for his extraordinary voice, which has been compared to that of a “40-year-old blues veteran.” [Source: Wikipedia] His hands are perfectly suited for the profession that spoke to him when he first heard the Bad Medicine Blues Band play at the age of 12.

Jonny’s hands are a combination of ‘earth’ and ‘air’ energy. Earth hands have square palms and a good deal of physical strength. Earth energy is loyal, dependable, orderly and private. Earthy folks need a lot of personal freedom; in other words, Jonny likely treasures his alone time for contemplating and creating his music, that is, when he’s not rehearsing with the band or playing on stage.

However, his fingers are longer than you would find on an average earth hand, lending him the energy of ‘air.’ Air is fair, compassionate, understanding, and seeks divine connection. This type of hybrid hand is IDEAL for playing the guitar – the combination of strength with long fingers helps with the technical aspects of holding down the strings and also playing with great speed. From a spiritual perspective, Jonny is able to ‘ground’ his ‘inspiration’ through music.

Jonny began playing the guitar at 12 and released his first album at 13. He went multi-platinum at age 15 with his soulful album Lie To Me.

The ‘air’ in his hands makes him thoughtful, romantic and caring. To wit – he’s been with the same woman, who is now his wife, Haylie, for 7 years. Jonny is now 27, born January 29, 1981.

Many people with strong doses of air energy in their hands speak of unique and powerful connections with the divine. In the moments after the death of Haylie’s father in 2002, Jonny describes having a life-altering experience where he felt the Holy Spirit enter his body through his chest, stopping him in his tracks. He had initially embraced, then rejected Christianity before this encounter. He speaks of the physical experience of Jesus coming to him as a shaking throughout his entire body. He knew in that moment that he was ready to accept God into his life and gave up years of heavy drinking and drug use. He says, “I knew it was Jesus immediately from the moment I started shaking. It was like he just came up and introduced himself to me. I remember him saying, ‘You don't have to have this if you don't want it.’ And I said, ‘No, I want it.’”

(You can read the full article about his experience at ChristianityToday.com. The author is Sara Groves, posted 9/25/06.)

Jonny also has long, tapering thumbs, indicating sensitivity and tact. Even in the small picture, his thumbs are large and well-formed, indicating extraordinary will power and the capacity to fulfill his ambitions. Within three months of learning to play the guitar, he was playing with a traveling band.

Read more...

Suri Cruise: Living in the Limelight

In celebration of summer, we will be exploring the hands of various celebrities.

Today, we begin with a young ‘un – Suri Cruise, the vibrant, beautiful daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Children’s hands quickly and accurately reveal the personality of the child.

In the picture above, she is holding up her right hand for all the world to see. “Showing your hand” – openly, freely – is thought to symbolize an open, trusting nature – a person with nothing to hide. Great spiritual leaders throughout history are often depicted holding up both their hands, palms facing outward.

If you look closely at her finger tips, you can see how they appear to have shiny, raised mounds of flesh. These little mounds are called sensitivity pads, indicating a sensitive, emotional nature.

Her heart line, which begins beneath her little finger and travels up to touch the base of her middle finger, is known as the “fire” or “passionate” heart line. Our heart lines reveal our emotional style – the way we process feelings. With a passionate heart line, Suri’s gift to others is her vivaciousness. When she feels something, we see it. There is very little delay between her inner emotional experience and her display of her feelings. Her ability to know what she wants, express her desires and get those desires met actually gives the people around her permission to know what they want. As a typical ‘passionate,’ Suri loves having fun, hates to be bored and can be challenged in staying focused.

Suri could experience challenges later in life with her ‘me-first’ attitude if people imply that she is self-centered or too demanding. (And good luck trying to control her – she will not take kindly to that!) Her challenge will be to know her own wants without losing consideration for the needs and desires of others.

Notice that the mounds of flesh at the base of her thumb and base of her fingers are raised and full. Her fingers are also fuller in the lower zones and taper upward toward the tips. This type of “fullness” indicates that Suri has a large appetite – for food, laughter, affection, excitement. She truly wants to eat life whole.

The mounds beneath her index finger (Jupiter) and ring finger (Apollo) particularly stand out, indicating a path of leadership in the spotlight. She is likely to be in the public eye and stay there for her lifetime – ‘living in the limelight.’

She also has a strong clear head line (beginning between the index finger and thumb and traveling across the hand), indicating ‘clear thinking.’ Her life line, surrounding the mound at the base of the thumb, is well-marked and unbroken, anchoring down toward the wrist, indicating a strong physical constitution and athletic nature. Our life lines don’t reveal the length of our life, but rather, how we manage our physical energy and our relationships with family. Suri has an abundant reserve of physical strength and can utilize this energy when her life requires great endurance or fortitude without taxing her nervous system. People may tell her that she has “nerves of steel.” She will likely experience family encouragement and support from her parents, relatives and friends throughout her life. People are drawn to Suri’s light and want to help her. As a result, she may manifest what she wants as if by magic.

As for any possible challenges, the tip of Suri’s thumb looks a bit flattened, indicating that she might actually feel ‘under pressure’ by the attention she constantly receives from the press and those in her immediate circle. The thumb is also tucked in close to her finger, indicating that her self-reliance has not fully engaged – not surprising for a toddler. (Notice also that her index and middle finger are pressed close together, indicating that she, currently, does not have great independence of action. If they were spread apart, it would indicate independence of action. She still depends greatly on others to get her needs met.)

The other irony I see is that the mound at the base of her thumb, the mound of Venus, indicating our level of joie de vivre, seems small relative to the mound of the moon on the opposite side of her hand and the relative size of the other mounds beneath her fingers. So for all her passion – in her fleshy hands and fingers and her passionate heart line – she might be holding back. Why this is or what is causing it, I can only guess at.

The great opportunity for this child is to keep her heart open, for she has the potential to be a great leader in the arts and politics, likely both. At times, she may find that her opinions clash with those of her family and friends and she will be challenged to engage that tip of her thumb – her will power – and take a stand for what she wants and what she believes.

If a fiery person begins to repress themselves for fear of appearing “too much” or “too selfish,” the consequences can be dramatic outbursts or passive-aggressive manipulation. Let’s say a prayer for this little girl that she is celebrated and encouraged to be fully herself, without apology, no excuses, no matter what!

Isn’t that what we all need to do for ourselves and each other?

Read more...

Gift Markings, Part 5: Are You READY For Fame + Fortune in the Arts?

If you’ve dreamt of the big time, the limelight, the spotlight, and the applause, approval and appreciation that go along with being famous (famous internationally, famous in your industry, or famous in your community). I’m here to tell you it’s not because you have a big ego or want to prove something. If the spotlight is indicated in your hands, it NEEDS to be in your life. (Remember, if it’s in your hands, it’s in your life!)

In fact, if you don’t PUT the spotlight into your regular routine, you will find other ways to get the attention – and it can get messy, or not to mention annoying. Better to save the drama for the stage, rather than your personal life!

There is a BETTER way to get your spotlight needs met. Find out HOW to step into the spotlight and claim your fame and fortune without feeling like a fool. If you KNOW you need to be in the spotlight and you’re not, there are a number of CORE REASONS for you to hide out.

Are you ready to give up the ghost and BE REAL – REALLY OUT THERE???

Find out where you stand with your FAME FACTOR on our NEXT Hand Analysis Master Mind where we’ll explore a gift marking in the hand called the "Apollo Star." This marking sometimes appears beneath the ring finger on the palm. It's known as “fame and fortune in the arts." The owner of this gift has special creative talents that seek expression in front of an audience.

How would Increased Visibility increase your business's Profit+Purpose?

Read more...

In All This DO-ing, I Forgot To "BE"

That's me with James Malinchak, the winning entrepreneur marketer of the 2008 Glazer-Kennedy SuperConference that just happened in Nashville, TN. The winner's baton gets passed from event to event! James walked around the stage in orange jailbird clothes as he expressed how his new-found marketing techniques helped "set him free" - and then he ripped off the jumpsuit. (Yes, he was dressed underneath!) Congratulations, James!

A sinus infection I caught the last day of the conference stopped me in my tracks. People came out of the woodwork with all sorts of remedies wanting to help me (I guess my funny voice gave it away) but when I get sick it's always a message, so I listen closely.

The message was: "slow down, you move too fast, you've got to make the moment last." When I got home, I opened up Eckhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth: Finding Your Life's Purpose," for some reminders to be in the moment and to be very aware of my ego's drive to get to the "next thing." I realized I've sometimes been addicted to pressure and doing, doing, doing - a hang over from my Puritan relatives, perhaps?

When I forget to just BE, nature has her way with me. The observer in me said, "Beth, savor each moment." My commitment is to ask each day for the highest outcome for all and bring my full focus to each moment. One of my top values is "PRESENCE," and I'm very aware of when I'm not...

In my quest to learn new things, sometimes I take on too much and then have to regroup to find my own footing. Everything has "timing and purpose." I'm great with the purpose part, but the timing part... oh, vey (time to create a new, better belief there)! My husband has joined my business as my CFO since he is a systems whiz... can you hear me breathing easier? My sinuses are so very happy! We've been shaking our heads lately and wondering why we didn't figure this out sooner. LOL!

Another great speaker I met briefly at the SuperConference was Gene Simmons of KISS fame. His wonderful presentation and his book, "Sex, Mo^ney, Kiss," were the inspiration for my blog article, "Is Marriage Good For Business?" You can read the article (and see the picture of Gene and me!) on my blog at www.handanalyst.com/blog.

Read more...