Empowering Your Mind – Page 125 – Mindset, Motivation and Empowerment

“What’s the difference between an affirmation and a hypnotic suggestion?”

September 15, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: What’s the difference between an affirmation and a hypnotic suggestion?

Answer: Affirmations and suggestions are essentially the same thing. Only the terminology is different. Both suggestions and affirmations are statements that are designed to change old mental ideas in your subconscious mind.

Generally, affirmations are used while you are awake and alert, and during other activities. But they can also be used in meditation to help to elevate your consciousness.

In that case, they then become a suggestion. A suggestion is a statement designed to change a belief, attitude, habit, or effect a change on the body.

Both re-program your mind to release old thought patterns and condition it with the new ones that you choose.

Lon Safko and “The Social Media Bible”

September 15, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

At the monthly National Speaker’s Association – Arizona Chapter meeting in September, I got great inspiration from the speakers, Neil Dempster, Marnie Green, and Lon Safko.

Lon Safko is the author of “The Social Media Bible,” a comprehensive look at this modern phenomena. For over a year, I’ve been considering buying a book on this subject, to learn more about it and how to use it strategically.

After being blown away by some of the things he shared, I decided this was the book that I wanted. He autographed it for me and I had my photo taken with him. I look forward to digging into this weighty tome, and mining its treasures.

Lon Safko, Linda-Ann Stewart and

As usual, I got great value from the speaker’s and was able to re-connect with some of my friends. It was a long, but rewarding, day.

“It’s Your Choice”

September 9, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

Whether we’re aware of them or not, we’re always making choices. Some of them are made unconsciously, as habit, and without considering the long range consequences. But we can always become aware, choose wisely, or change our decision. It’s not easy to become that conscious and change, but the results for long term benefits are immeasurable.

It’s All About Choice

September 2, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda Ann Stewart

Every moment of every day, you are making choices, from the moment of awakening to the time you go to bed at night. Your strongest thought determines what you’ll do at any given time, whether it’s conscious or habitual. In the morning, do you get up when the alarm buzzes or hit the snooze button? Do you cook eggs or oatmeal for breakfast? Which route do you take to work? Every moment is a fork in the road, and you travel one way or the other.

Your attitudes and actions have been created by your past choices that have become automatic over time. As a youngster, you could either accept or reject your caregivers’ assessments of you. One person would believe it when a father accused them of being “worthless,” while another would consider the source and discard the label.

Sometimes, you don’t even realize that you have options. When you were young, other people made decisions for you. Or maybe you accepted the attitudes of those around you to be able to cope in your environment. After you grew up, you lived on autopilot without assessing those old ideas. This resulted in struggling through a life based on those outdated concepts.

There may have been times when you felt that you had no alternatives. That only meant that the other choices would have been harder to live with. A person in an awful job may feel they have to stay in it, no matter what. However, they could always find another job, even if it would be at a lower pay scale. Or even work two jobs to earn an equivalent income. Peace of mind and satisfaction may be worth having less or working more.

You choose what your thoughts are, even when they seem to be reflexive. If negative thoughts arise spontaneously, you can challenge them and change them. George Eliot said, “The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.” If a situation doesn’t end up like you want, you can always change your mind and go in a different direction.

The key lies in recognizing that you were always the one who made a choice. You’ve done so even when you don’t like the outcome or feel stuck. Making no decision is a decision in itself. Going along with what someone else wants is also under your control.

By realizing you’ve always chosen your thoughts, beliefs and actions, even if by default, eliminates the feeling of victimhood and hopelessness. This puts the sense of power back with you, where it belongs.

Be aware that every moment of every day, you’re making choices. If they are made automatically, without thought, then it might be time to evaluate them to see if they’re still valid. By switching from habitual decisions to making intentional ones, you transform from being unaware to being more conscious. When you become aware that there are other options, you can then select a better way.

When you recognize you have choice, even if the alternative doesn’t seem to be of equal benefit, then you open up a wide range of possibilities. It’s the difference between always looking down at your feet and raising your gaze to the horizon. Doing so takes your power back and allows your subconscious to discover better opportunities.

Affirmation

I always choose my thoughts, beliefs and actions. Even when I’m on autopilot, I decided my direction long ago. Now I bring those automatic ideas out of the shadows to assess whether they’re still useful. If I don’t like my current situation, I know that I can make a different choice and improve my life. Realizing that I always have a choice, I reclaim my power and set my subconscious to search for better opportunities.

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

We Have Control Of Today

August 31, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

This week, I was reminded that “We don’t have control of our past or our future. But we do have control of today.” The past is over and done with, and we can’t change it. We can change how we perceive it, and learn from it, but the events are over. And the future is yet to be. So right now is all we really have.

The future is created by the ideas, beliefs and attitudes we have today. If we want to see what our future will hold, just look at our current concepts. Planning for the future is one thing, as long as we work the plan one moment at a time.

Unexpected events could throw off the plan. A loved one dying, a company collapsing, war, these are out of our control. However, we have control over how we respond to what happens.

Viktor Frankel, psychiatrist and World War II concentration camp survivor, said, “The last of human freedoms – the ability to chose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.” We can resist or resent the situation, or we can find a way to learn and grow from it. It’s our choice.

Each moment, we have control over what we think, believe and do. Those moments add up and create the future. As long as we keep our focus on the positive possibilities in the present moment, then the future will take care of itself.

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development

People Don’t Like Givers

August 30, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

In some recent studies, researchers have found the people don’t like to work with others who are selfish. No surprise. But they also don’t like to work with people who are unselfish.

The control group, normal people, judge givers through their own filters and believe the altruistic ones have an ulterior motive. That somehow, the givers are doing so for some gain. Or that they broke the rules of everyone claiming the same reward, even if giving it up benefited the group.

The biggest complaint, however, were the unselfish people made them look bad. Their reputation somehow suffered because of the selflessness.

So it wasn’t so much about the unselfish ones, but was about how it affected the control group. They saw themselves as lacking in generosity, recognized how it made them look, and took it out on the people who were giving. Instead of using it as a model, they rejected the person who could make a true difference.

It’s a lesson that many creative, generous, compassionate people have learned all too well. We have to conform and hide our gifts or people will condemn and spurn us.

So we crater to survive, conform to what the average person does and avoid rocking the boat. Unfortunately, this means we won’t live up to our potential. It just bolsters the attitudes of the average person. We give them our power, and it means that the status quo thrives.

It’s interesting that in a society that teaches unselfishness, that very virtue is reviled. Our society may value it in theory, but in reality, it’s considered a vice. As children, we receive conflicting information about this issue. Is it any wonder that our culture is screwed up?

If we want to change our society, culture, or business, we can’t just cave into the people who are more invested in their egos than they are in progress or prosperity. “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

It takes courage to stand up to them and realize that their discomfort and accusations simply arise out of their own inadequacies. To fulfill our potential, we have to let our light shine and be authentic.

As more and more people have done this, it’s become more accepted and appreciated. The idea of practicing random acts of kindness has swelled in recent years. So, although the average person may shun the generous one, kindness has become popular.

To read about the studies, visit WSU Study Finds People Really Don’t Like Working with Unselfish Colleagues and Too good to live: People hate generosity as much as they hate mean-spiritedness.

And check out Random Acts of Kindness to see how it’s gained in popularity.

Book Review – “Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth”

August 27, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth
by Robert A. Johnson

The author is a Jungian psychologist and writes about how to use your personal images in dreams and active imagination to break through old barriers.

It’s one of the few books I’ve read that encourages a person to make their rituals or activities to ground the insights that they’ve gained. And it explains why that part is so necessary. Taking some action acknowledges to the subconscious that the person values the information.

This book has three sections. The first is an introduction to the subconscious (which he calls the unconscious) and its language.

The second part is devoted to dreams and dreamworking. This part gives some instructions on how to interpret your own dreams, then what to integrate the dream into your waking life. This is where the rituals come into play.

The third section addresses active imagination and how to do this on your own. Since imagery is the language of the subconscious, you allow the subconscious to dialogue with you in its own language.

I’ve used many of the processes from this book in my own life with great success. This is a wonderful book, and I wouldn’t let my copy out of my possession.

New study finds positive connection between yoga and mood

August 24, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

ScienceDaily (2010-08-23) — Researchers have found that yoga may be superior to other forms of exercise, including walking, in its positive effect on mood and anxiety. The findings are the first to demonstrate an association between yoga postures, increased GABA levels and decreased anxiety. Low GABA levels are associated with depression and other widespread anxiety disorders.

Read full story at Yoga Study.

“What’s the difference between the subconscious and unconscious minds?”

August 19, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: Would you please define the differences between the subconscious and unconscious minds?

Answer: The difference between the terms “subconscious” and “unconscious” is simply a difference of terminology. It’s essentially the same name for a part of our consciousness. It’s been called the unconscious, subconscious and subjective mind, but a rose is still a rose, whatever you call it.

I just prefer the term subconscious (or even subjective), because that part of the mind is beneath or subject to the conscious, rational mind. In other words, it takes direction from the conscious and must do so.

Even though the conscious mind is only about 10% of our consciousness, it is the authority or driver. Think of an iceberg, 10% is above the surface, and 90% is below the surface.

I don’t like the term “unconscious” referring to our consciousness, because it insinuates that that part of our consciousness isn’t aware. It’s always aware and processing information.

The only time I usually use “unconscious,” is when I’m referring to an action, because our subconscious often prompts us to act out without awareness of our actions. That’s where habits come from. We unconsciously follow our programming, whether it’s a physical, mental or emotional habit.

“Your Power To Say ‘No'”

August 18, 2010 Linda-Ann Stewart

You have the power and the choice whether to let someone else decide your fate, or to do so yourself. If someone makes demands on your time or energy, you have the right to decide if it’s appropriate for you or if it’s not. When you decline their invitation, you don’t have to explain why. By taking your power back, you’re letting your inner self know that its needs are important.