It was advertised as the Ultimate Job in the World. Six months travelling the globe testing out the most romantic and luxurious honeymoon destinations.
Irish travel company Runaway Bride and Groom knew it was an amazing competition but they were unprepared for the interest it would attract from all around the world. It was literally the prize of a lifetime and more than 30,000 people applied for the chance to travel the world for free.
Inspired by our own 3-week honeymoon and desperate to travel again, me and my husband Mark were just two of the hopefuls who submitted an application video for the Ultimate Job. Long story short, we got the job!
Most people can't believe it. "Wow, you're so lucky!" and then they ask, "Did you think you were going to win?". My answer to the first question is "I know!", but my answer to the second changes depending on how much I want to share my beliefs about the Law of Attraction and how positive thinking and goal setting has changed my life.
The real and completely honest answer is yes, from the moment I found out about the competition, I knew I was going to win it, and I shared my belief with many people in the lead-up to the final. I'm not some crazy competition person either, where I enter thousands of competitions each year and win a small percentage of them. I actually only entered three competitions this year and won them all (but that's another story).
A year before we left on the trip of a lifetime, my life coach and business mentor Karen Knowler asked me to describe my perfect day (a powerful goal setting and LoA technique). I described how I'd wake up in a gorgeous room by the sea in a sunny country, do yoga with Mark, check my laptop periodically during the day and get paid for writing and speaking about my passions.
There was silence. Everyone else in the room smiled, but I could hear them thinking, "Good luck with that!".
A year later, Mark and I were waking up in luxury hotels all around the world (in mostly very sunny countries). We started the day with yoga and fresh fruit and then we'd go exploring a new and beautiful city, checking our laptops every now and then, and getting paid to write and speak about travel and honeymoons.
Think it's a coincidence? Think again.
Keep reading in Part 2 how I manifested the trip by setting really specific goals...
Denise Duffield-Thomas is a life coach and author of The Inspired Life Formula. She helps women develop the mindset to create the personal and profession life of their dreams.
Download a free copy of her guide "The 7 Fabulous Ways to Manifest Your Wildest Dreams" at www.deniseduffieldthomas.com