Book Excerpts

Overcoming odds, creating richness without a dime in my pocket! P159.
“What a Joy it Is to Discover That Your Life Has Been Waiting for You All this Time! Finally You Are Ready to Claim it and Begin to “Jump-Start Your Life’’ ®

Creating abundance in life by simply asking WHY? P. 38

When you stay in a job that you hate, is that self-love?
When you remain in an abusive relationship, is that self-love?
When you continue to put on weight, is that self-love?
When you deprive yourself of food, is that self-love?
When you continue a friendship that is harmful to your well-being, is that self-love?
When you smoke cigarettes, is that self-love?
When you drink alcohol excessively, is that self-love?
When you use narcotics, is that self-love?
When you neglect yourself, is that self-love?
When you knowingly choose wrong life partners, is that self-love?
When you abuse your children, is that self-love?
When you abuse animals, is that self-love?

Of course not! But do we ever stop long enough to think about them? or ask Why?”

P. 51 “What kind of world would it be if a majority of the population were using, say, 12%, 14% or 20% of their brain power? Would we have a more peaceful place to raise our children? Would there be less poverty? Would we inflict less abuse on one another? Would we need guns and military power to exert control or would we be able to harmoniously communicate, educate, understand and respect each other? Then, I ask again. Why don’t we try to use more of our brain power? Why do we settle for less then we deserve? Why do we stop asking, “Why” Or, “Why not?”

p. 190 “You will never know what you’re capable of doing until you decide what you wish to do. You’ll never know the amount of richness you can have if you don’t challenge your Mind to ask questions and look deep into your goldmine and utilize its treasures for the answers. Allow your Spirit to guide your thoughts and trust yourself enough to face your fear and abolish it from your everyday life. Look at obstacles as growth and not hindrances. Focus on your vision to create opportunities and adopt the attitude of the victor, not the victim, the “Already Have It” attitude. Keep the needs of mankind before you, not forgetting the need to protect animals, too.”

Self-Empowerment through Self-Knowledge! P. 143
“Get to know everything about yourself! Working through this Step is your turning point. It requires you to come to a conscious stop and face yourself once and for all. This precise Step is what will wake you up, heighten your awareness of your 4 Inner Tools, and empower you to “Jump-Start Your Life’’®

“As human beings we are often afraid to stop and take a good look at ourselves for fear of not liking what we see, because we might actually have to acknowledge that we’re not perfect. The good news is, we are not meant to be perfect! What would be the purpose of education and experience if we were all perfect to begin with?

I urge you to embrace this empowering Step. This is where you will discover your precious gems, your goldmine, your power!”

Stop living life as an Impostor! P. 20
“One day in 1994, while going through a stack of vacation photos taken on my friend Hattan’s yacht in the South of France, I was shocked at what I saw. I was looking at myself, but a stranger’s face stared back at me. I rummaged through older pictures with family and friends, and they, too, looked out of focus. I couldn’’t take my eyes off one photo of my parents and me, taken at their home in Sydney. The woman in all of these pictures couldn’t possibly be Silva! Yes, she was wearing my clothes and hairstyle, but she wasn’t me. Which one of us was the impostor, the one in the picture or the one looking at the picture? I felt paralyzed. Had my recent near-fatal accident anything to do with my numb astonishment?

As the awareness of being an impostor grew, I didn’t want any of my associates catching onto my charade. Not wanting to risk my credibility, I didn’t dare to discuss the matter with anyone, but went on with my everyday routine in the hope that one day the heavy fog and dazed feelings would simply disappear.”

Dating a prince without having to kiss frogs! Become Mr. Or Ms. Right before you set out to find Mr. Or Ms. Right. P. 92.
“Before you set out to ignite passion for someone else, it may be wise to first find out if you are Mr. or Ms. Right. Begin by igniting passion for yourself and your own life by simply getting to know who you are. Know every aspect of your being, your qualities, your abilities, your dreams and ambitions in life. This is what will ultimately give you the insight to recognize your Mr. or Ms. Right. This self-knowledge allows you to show the world the real you, and affords you the luxury of saying ‘no’ to dates instead of ‘yes’ in fear of spending Friday or Saturday night at home alone. It can save you gallons of tears, heartbreak and disappointment. Internally, it will guide you toward expanding your personal horizons to meet people of your own liking. Believing that your happiness will come only through another individual will have you living your own life as an impostor and actually hindering your chances of:

Finding Mr. or Ms. Right
Creating and participating in your own full life
Fulfilling your purpose

Steps to insure an empowering and passionate marriage! P. 94.
“When a man and woman fall in love, marry and begin to raise a family, an unconscious shift takes place, slowly separating and leading each one of you in a different direction. In the Sleep-Walking Mode, you allow your Minds to alter the labels of “man” and “woman” to “father” and “mother.” In most cases you suffocate the passion out of the marriage and the relationship, thus pushing yourself to other sources for fulfillment. This drift can create a chasm within the relationship, leading to resentment, unfaithfulness and even divorce, then the famous words are often heard, “We’ve grown apart,” or “The passion has gone out of our marriage,” indicating that you’ve turned away from each other and evolved separately.

Beneath the label of mother, wife, father, husband, successful businessman, businesswoman or world leader, you are still simply just a man and a woman who ultimately desire love, trust, nurturing and respect and are, at the same time, capable of giving the same. Remember what first brought you together and make time to revisit those emotions weekly. There is more to marriage than a license, home and children.”

Turning challenges, including abusive relationships into blessings. P. 10
“The violence was way out of proportion to the cause. No one had warned me about this part! He’d certainly never given any hint of such behavior before the wedding. Was this the normal way for a husband to get his message across to his wife? Put a fist in her mouth? I was stunned into submission. I had no idea how to react or what to think. This marriage was supposed to rescue me from my lonely, shameful life.

How could I tell anyone what had happened? They would blame me. They would say I must have provoked him or I must have done something wrong. But I had done nothing except plan to meet our friends for drinks! His actions were totally unfathomable.

That was the first time, but not the last. The violent behavior continued for about a year-and-a-half. The pattern was always the same; it didn’t matter what the conversation was about, if he didn’t agree with it, he ended it via a fist somewhere on my body. I hid the bumps and bruises, too ashamed to let anyone know why they were there.

His abuse became not only physical, but mental, verbal and emotional. Much later I learned that his parents had given him what they considered valuable advice prior to the wedding: “Put your wife in her place in the first year of marriage,” they told him, “so she knows who is boss in the family.” I wish I had known that before the ceremony!

P. 175. “Say “Thank you,” for all of your challenges. You have been blessed in your life. Look over your responses in Steps 1,2,4,5. Your blessings include every single experience, challenge, heartbreak, disappointment, divorce, breakup or accident. They also include all your talents, gifts, good and bad qualities, home, car, job, money, children, family, heritage, life partners, pets, physical appearance, etc. It doesn’t matter how little or how much you have. Whatever it is, you are blessed.

All of these are things to be grateful for, because they have created the person you are right now. They have given you strength, knowledge and experience, a job, money, a car, a home, your entire life up to now”

Success in a man’s world. Becoming a woman General Contractor: P.17-18.
“It wasn’t unusual for subcontractors to arrive at a project site for an estimate and ask, with impatient glances, “Is your boss coming?” or “Is your husband the contractor? When will he be here? Let’s wait for him.” Once they realized that I was the G.C., back came that look and a skeptical, “Um-hmm, okay.” Describing what I needed for the project, they often recommended an expensive solution, thus inflating the cost. However, once I suggested a less expensive version, they hemmed and hawed and reluctantly, often sarcastically, agreed, “Well, yes, I guess we could do it that way.”

The bane of many G.C.’s existence is that workers often don’t show up at the site on time. Sometimes they don’t show up at all. Being a female contractor and a homeowner, I respected the homeowner’s time and the need for privacy and respect for the property. Trying to convey this understanding to subcontractors was difficult. Their common response behind my back was, “What a bitch!” or “Who does she think she is? This business probably belongs to her husband and he lets her think she’s running it.” I chalked it up to their own insecurity and didn’t take these insults personally.”

Profit on fixer-upper homes with little money. P.13
Within twelve months after starting from scratch, I had earned enough money to buy my first major fixer-upper home in Beverly Hills, with no down payment. I had no guarantee how I was going to make the $2,000/month mortgage payment, but somehow, deep inside, I knew I’d manage it. Over time I bought and sold three other properties.”

Turn your rent into a mortgage with equity.

Turn your life around with an inexpensive makeover; including hair, clothes and shoes. P. 165.
“Now that I was in my 40s, physical changes were occurring. Some were visible, some not, but I could see the effects. My stamina and energy were not what they used to be, much as I hated to admit it. As the founder and CEO of my organization, I had to maintain certain professional standards. I chose a fashion style of casual elegance instead of the usual corporate office conservative look. I educated myself about vitamins and herbal remedies and focused more on healthy eating. Irelied heavily on my treadmill and the 20minute home workout to help maintain my thin appearance and fit posture. My hairdresser created a new style that was manageable.

Since makeover classes were a part of Passions & Dreams Funding workshops, I spent time learning to coordinate clothes in new ways and develop classic outfits that could be mixed and matched. Another trick was to add or delete buttons from various outfits or add fancy trimmings and flowers to change their look.

Altering the hem length on skirts and dresses and adding braiding and sequins updated the look of an outfit and made it seem fresh and new. I experimented with make-up application and mixing nail polishes together to create a new color. I also found inexpensive ways to re-style shoes. The important thing was to be open to creating a new look without spending lots of money.”

Find out why you were given a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th chance in life???P. 19.
“I had fallen asleep with the candle still lit. As it burned down, the perfume jar melted and nearby magazines had caught fire. Only the lack of oxygen kept the flames from igniting the corner of the sheet inches from my face!”

“All I could think about at this time was, “Why?” Only now, it was asked with gratitude. “Why was my life spared again?” This was the second time that I had come close to dying.”

P. 179. “Living through two near death experiences nudged my Mind toquestion my life and re-connected it with my Spirit in order to discover my purpose and mission. I was given another chance to change course and finally begin to live. My life was spared so I can be who I am and do what I do today.”

Overcoming fear. P.120.
“Upon close review of my choices, revisiting the reasons I selected one over another and putting aside all blame of others, I discovered that the true driving force, the distinct emotion that played the key role in my decision-making process most of the time, was fear. Fear of not having; fear of not belonging; fear of not pleasing; fear of not being the best, the smartest, the funniest or the prettiest. Fear of upsetting others, fear of what people might say, fear of being left out, fear of being alone and fear of not being married ever again. Fear of not having enough money, of not being chosen, of upstaging someone else, being too aggressive or not aggressive enough, too intimidating or not intimidating enough. Fear of being too much of a woman or not enough, of being too independent or not independent enough, of thinking too much or not thinking enough. The list was endless. With all this fear, how did I ever manage to do anything?” Why did I feel this way? Was this why I felt so lost and confused? Was I living in fear.”

Achieving success with no money. P. 12.
“Anger began to replace humiliation. I felt foolish for trusting someone else with the care of my life, a mistake I would not repeat again. I knew I had to make money very soon. I was determined to take complete control of my future. No one, I resolved, would ever have the power to humiliate me this way again! But now, having walked out of the marriage, alone, with no money, how was I going to live? Real estate sales operates on commission only, but I needed to make money fast. How hard would it be?”

P. 14. “The life I was living felt more like a dream than reality. I had come a very long way. It was only three years ago that I was sleeping on my brother’s couch and living off a single credit card. As a young Armenian woman, living in my own home in Beverly Hills and working in a dream career, I had created a successful life in what seemed an extraordinarily short period of time. How was this possible? It seemed like heaven on earth!”

A Sleep-Walking Parent is harmful to a child’s well being. P. XI
“The primary dream my parents had for me was no different from other parents’’ dreams for their daughters: to grow up in the same traditions as my parents, marry (in my case) an Armenian man and raise children within the embrace of both families. It was a good dream, but it was theirs, not mine. The universe had other plans for me.”