change » Empowering Your Mind

How to Approach Change

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Aug 182021

Most people don’t like change. It triggers our fight-or-flight response and we resist it. This prevents us from being able to move forward or make good decisions. There’s one way you can shift from being a victim into taking control. This opens the door to new opportunities for you.

Transcript:

Most people don’t like to have change thrust on them. Change triggers our fight or flight response, because we feel like we’re going to lose something we value by moving forward. And sometimes, that’s true. And sometimes, that thing we value isn’t working for as well as it could.

When we’re in fight or flight, we resist the change, trying to keep our old, familiar ways. All of this prevents us from thinking clearly, and making good decisions that are for our benefit.

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision strategist coach. In over 30 years as a hypnotherapist, I’ve helped scores of people embrace change. I’d like to suggest a way to help you get out of the fight or flight response, become proactive and respond better to change. In other words, a better way to approach change.

Look for any positives that could come from the change. This may seem too simplistic or airy-fairy, but it’s effective. When you shift your attitude and reframe how you approach a situation, the outcome of the situation changes. You open doors for your subconscious mind to seek out, and find, opportunities for you. It may be a cliché, but look for the silver lining.

By adjusting your attitude to accepting the change and looking for advantages, you stop being a victim or feeling helpless. Instead of being in a boat being tossed about by the waves, you’ve set your sails to use the winds of change. Once you’ve taken control of your attitude, you can then make wise decisions and take positive action.

If this has been helpful, please like this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more tips to reach your goals and improve your life.

Thank you for watching. What positive can you find in the change you are dealing with?

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

If you’d like to achieve your goals with confidence and ease in 4 powerful steps, register for a FREE training video and accompanying action planning guide, Set Your Course to Success.

How to Cope with the Inevitability of Change

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Aug 052021

by Linda-Ann Stewart

The world is changing all the time. Sometimes, it sedately plods along, but other times, change explodes and disrupts the status quo in a major way. When this happens, it’s normal to resist change, especially because it’s imposed on you.

Whether your choice or not, change is threatening and scary. Nothing will ever be exactly the same as it was. You don’t know what you may lose, and no one likes to leave their comfort zone or feel out of control. But there are times when massive change happens whether you like it or not.

How Change Affects You

For instance, a deadly pandemic creates a major upheaval in everyone’s life. As a result, you could have to find another job, or you need to move to a new location, or a loved one may become chronically ill. Unwelcome and unexpected change brings uncertainty, which leads to stress and ultimately to anxiety.

The Universe often nudges you out of your comfort zone with unwelcome conditions. If you don’t take the hint, it pushes more forcefully. The Universe wants you to keep expanding and evolving, and you can’t do that by staying in your old habits. You’ll have to let go of what no longer serves you to flow with the Universe and adjust to the new situation.

When change is sudden and affects your personal life, your normal response is to go into shock. Shock gives you time to process the reality of what’s happened. When you begin to emerge from the numbness, you may get anxious because you don’t know what to do. Or you do know what to do, and it’s overwhelming.

How to Handle the Uncertainty

When you find ways to handle the uncertainty, you feel more in control. Here are four steps you can do to take charge of your life.

1. Accept the change. The more you resist or deny the change, the less energy, resourcefulness or time you have to adjust to it. If you can’t accept the change yet, acknowledge that it has affected you. This is your first step to coping with it and moving forward.

2. Grieve the loss. For every change, something has to be left behind. There can also be opportunities, but often they come later in the process. At this point, if you have a sense of loss of what you valued, allow yourself the space to mourn. Only after grieving can you seek how to extract some good from the situation.

3. Deal with the anxiety. What can you do in the moment to reduce your anxiety? Maybe it’s to learn a new skill, do some research, or go to a caregiving support group. Or maybe all you can do in the moment is take some deep breaths to ground yourself.

4. Make a plan. No matter how small the steps might be, or even one tiny step, make a plan. This will bring you a sense of control, lower your stress, and allow you to think more clearly. When you take one step, figure out what the next two might be, and take them. Keep doing this until you build up momentum.

When you become proactive, you take charge and begin to adjust to the change that’s affecting your life. As you chart your course through the troubled waters, you can find a way to survive and thrive with the changes that have happened.

Affirmation:

I acknowledge that change has altered the course of my life. The Universe will guide me in my direction and give me definite insight into what to do next. I take the actions I know to take, and the next step now appears. Everything is in Divine Order and works out in my best interests.

As a vision strategist, hypnotherapist, and speaker, Linda-Ann Stewart helps women entrepreneurs and small business owners who feel stuck, immobilized and overwhelmed to to get clear, focused and on the fast track to the next level of their business. To achieve a 90-day goal more easily, sign up for her FREE comprehensive Strategic Vision blueprint at www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/setyourcourse.html. You can contact her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com or 928-600-0452.

“Learn To Embrace Change”

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Aug 022021

by Linda-Ann Stewart

“There is nothing permanent except change,” said Heraclitus, the Greek philosoper. Nothing ever stays the same. If it did, you’d stagnate spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. Relationships would become boring, business would never grow, spiritual evolution would halt. Without some drive to progress, you’d still be getting around by horse and buggy.

When things are stable, you tend to get in a groove. It’s natural to want things to stay the same. However, if you don’t try new things, it’s the nature of Life to shake things up to get your to expand. You’d experience a difficult business climate (like now), economic upheaval, bumps in your relationships, challenges in your personal life. This is to make sure you don’t get into a rut, hoping you can just hang on to what you have.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. The Universe is like a river, with a strong current flowing, propelling you to advance. When you ride the current, cooperating with it, you can steer around the rocks and choose your destination. But, if you try to stay in one place, hanging onto a branch, eventually you’ll lose your grip and be dragged by the current. With no control, you’ll get banged up on the rocks and have to go wherever the river takes you.

I’ve heard many people say that, “I’m not going to participate in the recession,” which is a noble and optimistic attitude. However, economic transformations, as well as any other crisis, requires that you pay attention to their message. You need to recognize and acknowledge that your economy is changing, and decide how you’re going to adjust.

If you don’t, and keep on doing business the way you’ve always done, then you’re trying to stay in the same place while the rest of the world changes to meet the new needs. You have to discover fresh, new ways to stay ahead of the wave. Shakeups make you more creative. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and when it’s necessary to make changes, you dig deep within and engage more resources.

To take advantage of the opportunity that lies in any difficult time:

1. Be willing to let go of your old patterns, beliefs, attitudes and ways of being. They no longer serve you. Start asking yourself, “What do I need to change to triumph over this?”

2. Be willing to think positively about the challenge. Not resisting the change will give you more energy, creativity and resources to create something better from it. Ask yourself, “What is the message or lesson in this for me?”

3. Be open to the idea that this change will somehow be beneficial. This engages the resourcefulness of your subconscious mind to manifest something wonderful. Affirm “Something good is going to come out of this for me, even though I don’t know right now what it could be.”

When you willingly participate with the Universe when It forces change upon you, you receive a bounty of good from it. Many people look back and state, “It was the best thing that could have happened to me.” It may not be easy, comfortable or even gentle, but change is the nature of the Universe. Embrace change to find the blessing that it brings.

Affirmation

The Universe is change and I am willing to embrace it when it comes into my life. Even though I may not be able to see the benefit or advantage in changing, I know that the Universe has my best interests at heart. Everything takes place in Divine Order for my Highest Good. Only good can come from it for me, and I am guided in my decisions, and the best direction to go.

If you’d like to use this article in your ezine, blog, forum or website, please include this information with it:

“A nationally known hypnotherapist, writer, speaker and life coach, Linda-Ann Stewart helps people rediscover their power and sense of self-worth. For a copy of her free book, “Secrets To The Law Of Attraction,” visit www.Cedarfire.com/secretstoloa.shtml “

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation, inspiration

Sparks of Insight

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Mar 152021

“An affirmation is a strong, positive statement that something is already so.” – Shakti Gawain

Affirmations are dynamic statements that are designed to align your mindset with what is true at a spiritual level. If they were not real, then you could not have even considered the possibility. Affirmations don’t change the mind of the Universe to give you something you don’t already have. They work to change your mind to accept what the Universe has already given you.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Sparks of Insight

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Jan 202021

Have you gotten stuck in a comfort zone? If so, this doesn’t help you to evolve, progress or improve your life. If you’re completely comfortable where you are, you need to do something that pushes you. There’s an old saying, “If always do what always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Life is expansion, change and if you don’t choose it willingly, Life has a habit of thrusting it on you. Step out and do something that makes you uncomfortable, like asking for some help, take a class in something you’re interested in, make that extra phone call you’ve been dreading. By expanding your comfort zone by just a bit, you’re attracting more good to you.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Sparks of Insight

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Oct 262020

Some people vilify the subconscious, comparing it to the devil, because they feel it brings only bad things to them. What they don’t realize is that it’s also allowed all the good experiences that they’ve had. The subconscious only brings into their lives what they’ve programmed it to do by directed thoughts or the average of their ideas. The subconscious can’t initiate anything. It can only do what you tell it to do. So if you have something in your life that you don’t want, it’s because somehow you’ve conditioned your subconscious to create it. The good news is that you can change that thought. The bad news is that it takes determination, consistency and persistence to do so. But it can be done.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Book Review-Activate Your Brain

Guided Meditation to Adapt to Change

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May 182020

The pandemic and shut-down have created sudden change in our society and world. To be able to emerge from this situation in a better condition than when you entered it, the way you think about it must change. Here’s a short meditation to help you shift your attitude and look forward to a better future.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. I’d like to share a short guided meditation to help you emerge from this restrictive situation in a better condition than you were when you entered it. I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision strategist and hypnotherapist.

The pandemic and shut-down have created sudden change in our society and world. Many of these changes are going to be temporary and some are going to be permanent. Life is always changing, but usually it does so at a slightly slower pace. This one has happened almost overnight.

If you get stuck in fear or negativity, then it’s likely you not going to be able to respond in a productive way. When you can think differently about a situation, this causes you to make different decisions and act in a way that’s more beneficial for you. That’s what this guided meditation is designed to help you to do.

If you’d like, close your eyes. If not, just lean back, relax and listen.

Life is full of change. Any change is messy and uncomfortable to go through, but it generally leads to a better world. It’s human nature to resist change, but change happens anyway.

The sooner you can get to a level of acceptance of the change, the easier it will be for you to adapt to what’s happened. You accept the reality of change now, and make choices that improve your ability to adjust to the changes.

You shift into responding to the situation in a safe and positive way, taking care of your health and well being. You open up to new knowledge and understanding that helps propel you forward.

You have the ability to come through this situation stronger and better than before. Your inner resources find a way to create a wonderful, improved life for you.

Imagine that the situation is a transition to a new, and better reality for you. You may not understand how it could be better, but just imagine being in the future, and you feel wonderful.

Imagine looking back, into the past, and being satisfied that you have come through it happier, healthier and more whole. And now you look into the future that is brighter and better than you could ever have imagined.

Open your eyes.

A guided meditation such as this can help you keep your thoughts positive and open the way for a better life. Take the ideas from the meditation and use it every day to support you in your next steps to your future.

If you’d to achieve a 90-day goal more easily, download my free comprehensive Strategic Vision blueprint at www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/setyourcourse.html. You’ll receive the blueprint, as well as a video of that walks you through it with tips and directions to support you in you in accomplishing your goal.

Thank you for watching. Please, stay safe and stay well.

Read the accompanying article, How to Adjust to Change.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

How to Adjust to Change

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May 082020

by Linda-Ann Stewart

During the shutdown, many people felt unmoored, unsettled, anxious and depressed. Many over-achievers wandered from room to room, unable to focus on doing anything. Part of it was that their routine was destroyed, and they didn’t know what was coming next. And part of it was that they realized that life wasn’t going to go back to “normal.” There were going to be changes that they would have to adjust to. Without realizing it, they were grieving over what they’d lost, and trying to accept the changes that would become a permanent part of their lives.

Whenever there’s a change, whether good or bad, you mourn over what you’ve left behind. Grief isn’t just limited to the death of a loved one. For instance, you get a promotion, but there’s a part of you that’s yearning for the simpler responsibilities you once had. Even a smoker who quits generally grieves over giving up cigarettes, even though they’re thrilled to welcome their new found health and freedom.

With any change, there’s always a sacrifice. You gain something new while you let go of something old. The Universe always wants the best for you. But And when your new circumstances aren’t immediately better than the old ones, your feelings of grief increase. Those feelings can be addressed and understood.

The Stages of Grief

When you’re able to recognize what’s going on, then the feelings can begin to move through you. It helps to be able to identify the different stages of grief. You probably won’t go through these states in order, and may go through one of them more than once.

1. Denial or resistance. You feel shocked, refuse to believe that things have changed or resist the changes that are necessary.

2. Anger. You’re furious over what’s happened, even though you know it was no one’s fault.

3. Bargaining. You try to find ways to change the past or reduce the adjustments you must make.

4. Depression. You’re deeply sad, overwhelmed, and feel hopeless and helpless.

5. Acceptance. You come to terms with what’s happened and begin to put your life back together in a new way.

6. Meaning. You seek to find the lessons for you in what’s happened. This connects you to your inner and Higher Self, and opens you up to Universal good.

The Importance of Finding Meaning in Life’s Changes

There are always lessons to be learned from any challenge you face. When you look for what those lessons might be, you find purpose in what’s happened. That purpose can shift the situation from unhappy to manageable, and possibly even positive. You’re taking control of your thoughts about it and determining to make the best of it.

Some of the questions you can ask yourself are:

“What do I still have that I can use to rebuild my new life?”
“How has the situation changed me?”
“What do I appreciate that I have had or now have?”
“What have I learned from this that can help me moving forward?”
“What good has emerged from this?”

Finding meaning in what’s happened empowers you. It transforms the outcome of an awful situation from disabling to fulfilling. You decide how change is going to impact you and how it’s going to help you grow.

Affirmation:

The Universe always wants the best for me. When one thing leaves my life, something new enters. I allow myself to mourn what’s gone, while I welcome what’s new. As I uncover the meaning that the situation brings to me, I regain my power and purpose.

Watch the accompanying video, Guided Meditation to Adapt to Change.

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