Question: Why do I prosper for awhile, then relapse?

Answer: There could be many things getting in the way of your consistent prospering. If you’ve been using affirmations and getting results, see if you’ve eased up on their use.

It could be that you have some old idea about having to struggle or have challenges. Some idea you picked up in childhood could be responsible. Meditating on what old thought patterns are blocking you would be advisable.

I’ve done a lot of internal work myself on this issue. When I stay centered, and don’t get into fear, my prosperity flows. Also, remember to view the Universe as your Source of supply, not the channels it comes through. Considering the channels (such as your job) as the Source is a great way of blocking your prosperity.

I find that affirmations are a wonderful way of breaking through blocks. And affirmations are simply suggestions you give yourself while in a waking or meditative (hypnotic) state. Find some affirmations for prosperity that resonate with you, and repeat them aloud for fifteen minutes each and every day, even after you begin to see results.

Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

abundance · affirmation · beliefs · goals · prosperity · self-talk

Question: For how many days, and how many times a day, should you repeat an affirmation?

Answer: You should repeat an affirmation (preferably out loud) for at least five minutes every day, and preferably fifteen minutes a day, for it to begin to impress your subconscious mind. And you should also repeat it whenever you catch yourself thinking negatively about the situation.

You should continue until you see results. It may take as little as a week or as much as several months to change your old thinking. But you should also have faith that your affirmation is making the changes necessary to manifest your desire.

You may not be able to envision how it can happen, but have faith that the Universe and your subconscious have that information.

Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

affirmation · autosuggestion · beliefs · change · self-help · self-talk · subconscious

Question: While an affirmation is beginning to manifest, why is it that you’ll get some mis-messages or dead ends as if your creative mind is trying out different situations as it works to manifest what you want?

Answer: Many people think that if an affirmation doesn’t manifest completely, it means that something is wrong. That’s not necessarily true. Many times, you just have to keep on keeping on with the affirmation and stay focused.

If you change your desire, then it confuses the subconscious, which then has to focus its energy on the new idea. Or if you vacillate back and forth between two desires, the subconscious begins to feel like its in a ping-pong match.

Most people have done this, including me. Also, we tend to then criticize ourselves and the subconscious for not having “gotten it right” (At least, I have), which then tells the inner mind to not “get it right.”

I now call the part-manifestation “an indication.” To me, it indicates that the affirmation is working, but the subconscious just hasn’t gotten it quite right and needs a little more time, and maybe a little more direction or specificity.

affirmation · goals · Law of Attraction · spiritual · subconscious

Question: With all the self-development and personal growth methods available, are they all teaching something different?

Answer: Whether it’s yoga, est, reiki, hypnotherapy, EFT, affirmations or whatever, all spiritual development techniques have a similar goal in mind. That goal is to help you open yourself up to a greater flow of Spirit.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical, mental or emotional method, it’s designed to change your conception of yourself, your body or your world. That change helps to release resistance to allowing more of Universal good into your life.

They may go about it differently, and state it differently, but when you change your perspective, and have an intention to spiritually evolve, the result is more joy, peace and harmony.

Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

affirmation · beliefs · change · empowerment · intention · peace of mind · personal development · personal growth · self-help · self-hypnosis · self-improvement · spiritual

Question: Do you have any inspiration on how to deal with fears I’ve been encountering that have been around for a long time?

Answer: This may sound surface, but I love what the letters of FEAR spell out – “False Evidence/Education Appearing Real.” Because fear really is a false concept. Fear is simply the opposite side of faith. Fear means you’re confident that what you fear will happen.

But to deal with the old ones means you need to access them. Recognize that they served you in the past, but you’ve outgrown the need for them. It can be scary, because they’ve limited you for so long that they’ve gotten to be a comfortable, ratty old blanket. And they can give you the excuse not to move forward and risk.

What I’ve discovered is that when you face your fears, step out and begin to do what you fear, many times the fear evaporates because it realizes that you don’t need it anymore.

Sometimes, when I do begin to confront and go beyond the fear, it begins to fight back, because it thinks I still need it. In that case, I find out what the core issue is. Once, it was a belief that I had to struggle in life to avoid others’ criticisms.

What is it that you’re truly afraid of? Meditate on that, and see what might come up. You may find that it’s simply a hollow habititual way of thinking.

Also, you might meditate to find out how the fear is serving you now, in present day. For instance, my need to struggle kept me from fully expressing myself, and kept me safe. I may have been criticized, but as long as I was struggling, no one could complain I wasn’t working. And my results, which never happened, couldn’t be criticized.

Once I decided that it was safe to move on, and who cares if someone doesn’t like what I’m doing, the struggle issue let go.

Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

empowerment · meditation · personal development · personal growth · self-help · self-improvement

Question: I realize that we have to go through various experiences to grow and learn a particular lesson and then move on, but what happens if we do not know what the lesson was supposed to be?

Answer: It doesn’t matter if we consciously know what the lesson is or not. Subconsciously we do, and so does our Higher Mind. When you have a challenging experience, you do the best you can with it. (Hopefully you’ve also been able to stay in alignment with your principles.)

Most of the time, you’ll have the same lesson appear over and over again, in different aspects. It’s to “help” you explore different ways to deal with it, and/or to give you an opportunity to master it. In the mastery of it, you may get to experience all sorts of different sides of the issue.

For instance, a person might have a lot of critical people in his/her life. The challenge would be to deal with the criticism in a way that would emotionally support him/herself. But s/he might not know that. All s/he knows is that people are always picking at him/her.

Once s/he begins to stand up for him/herself, the critical people begin to either fade away or change their attitudes. One of his/her issues would be to realize that the critics are simply echoing what is already going on in his/her mind.

In AA, they say that if a partner of an alcoholic doesn’t heal what attracted the alcoholic in the first place, that the partner will continue to attract alcoholics, even if they leave the original one.

If you’re wondering what the lesson could be, assess how you felt during it. Think about other challenges in your life. Is there anything similar about the feelings, or the thoughts you had during it that you’ve had before? With life lessons, there will always be some sort of pattern. The situations may be different, but the feelings will likely be the same.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

attitude · beliefs · consciousness · expectation · personal development · personal growth · problem solving · self-help · subconscious

Question: If we are 100% responsible, then are miracles, as some Spiritual paths suggest, only a natural out picturing of Universal law when we really let go?

Answer: Miracles are the natural flow of the Universe. As someone once said (paraphrased) “If you aren’t experiencing them, you’re using your busy mind to create difficulties.”

God isn’t a white knight on a horse waiting to swoop down and save you from yourself. I sometimes wish it were so. When a person prays or affirms help or healing, they’re actually changing their own mind. Not God’s. God is always directing, guiding, inspiring, helping us. God is health, and healing is the process of allowing God as health in.

When a person prays or affirms, they’re acknowledging the truth of the situation. As soon as they convince themselves of it, then it manifests. It’s simple, but not easy.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

beliefs · change · expectation · spiritual

Question: How do we discern if a situation is the result of really deep subconscious negative thoughts/beliefs OR simply the ‘process’ we are in as the Universe brings us that which we have asked for?

Answer: Lots of things could be happening with it. If you’ve been doing a lot of intense releasing and inner work, your situation could be the subconscious clearing itself out. When a person transforms quickly, the subconscious tends to confront them with much of their old garbage, all at one time.

Imagine having a garage full of old stuff that you decide to clean out in a weekend. Lots of dust and chaos happens as you go through the process.

Another thing that could be happening is that you’re challenging a deeply held belief. It could be anything from “I deserve” to “Life flows easily.” Again, the old programming is unraveling and showing up very visibly in your life. You can pretty much tell if it’s either of these if the situation is similar to others in your life, but bigger.

Or if the condition is completely opposite to what you’ve been working on. For example, you’ve been affirming “I deserve,” and now people are coming out of the woodwork telling you how worthless you are. Just keep up with your inner work, and the outer will come into alignment.

Another reason this could be happening is that the Universe knows what you want, and is trying to move you out of a situation that you’ve outgrown and won’t leave willingly. So the Universe is making it so uncomfortable that you have to leave for something better.

No matter what, the situation is a result of old subconscious beliefs, either being released, fighting being changed, or having been outgrown and you haven’t let go of the outer experience yet.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

beliefs · change · personal development · self-improvement · subconscious

Question: How long does it take for an affirmation to take effect?

Answer: It depends on how long and how deeply ingrained the old conditioning is. If it’s been there for a long time, or it’s a deeply held belief, it may take a few months of constant affirmation to completely change it. You will likely notice small improvements along the way.

Think of it like tacking a boat. You have to make small incremental changes in the boat’s course to turn it around. If you try to change the course too fast from due west to due east, then you risk ending up in the water. Keep track of the improvements, and use them to encourage yourself.

I tell my clients that it takes thirty days to change a habit (mental or physical), another thirty days to create a new habit (which would be your new thought pattern), and another thirty days to make that new habit familiar.

Even after that, you may find that times of stress may tempt you back to the old way of thinking. That’s normal, because that way has been the most familiar to the subconscious. Just start declaring your affirmation again.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

affirmation · attitude · beliefs · believe · change · empowerment · self-improvement

Question: Can I do an affirmation on behalf of someone else?

Answer: You can affirm on behalf of someone else, as long as that person has asked for the affirmation. If they have not asked for it, you might be interfering with their choices and learning if you affirm something better for them.

I had a friend who affirmed that her husband would refrain from drinking. It worked, he stopped, until she realized that it wasn’t his choice to do so. When she stopped affirming that, he began drinking again. He had other things he needed to learn before he could make the decision himself to stop drinking.

It’s hard when you see someone you love in distress, and you want to help, but they’ve created the situation to learn from. What you can do is affirm for their Highest Good, or when you state a specific affirmation, include a statement such as “if they’re in mental agreement.”

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

affirmation · personal growth