Empowering Your Mind – Page 39 – Mindset, Motivation and Empowerment

Set Yourself Up for Success

July 4, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Susan committed to eating a healthier diet and wanted to make sure she’d follow through on her goal. The first thing she did was go through her pantry and threw away chips and anything with sugar. At the grocery store, she bought fruits, vegetables and healthy proteins. She assembled healthy snacks ahead of time, so she’d grab them instead of looking for something inappropriate.

She used hypnotherapy to imagine staying on her plan, resisting temptation and enjoying her new treats. Through this mental rehearsal, she established a new habit and lifestyle, and easily avoided impulse snacking. Because she took control of her environment and developed strategies ahead of time, she created the conditions for success.

This same process can be used for any habit or situation you want to improve, personally or professionally. There’s an old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” If you leave the details to fate, hoping that you’ll take the right action in the moment, you probably won’t. Either someone else will decide for you, unexpected situations will get in the way, or inertia will keep you in place. And you’ll just fall back on what’s familiar and automatic.

The Problem with Willpower

Willpower will only take you so far. You need to have strong motivation to be able to get yourself moving in a new direction. Usually, your willpower flags if you get tired, stressed, bored or the results don’t live up to your expectations. Think of the last diet you were on. You probably stayed on it for a while and then began to slack off a little at a time. The slide began with Fettuccine Alfredo at the restaurant with your spouse, then birthday cake at your best friend’s party, and finally you gave up when you went on vacation.

Set Up the Conditions to Succeed

Instead of relying on willpower, set up the conditions ahead of time that will get and keep you on track. Do you want to lose weight, start to exercise or make follow up calls for your business? How can you design the situation to ensure you’ll fulfill your intention? For instance, to permanently lose weight, reframing the concept may help. Rather than thinking of being a diet, consider it a lifestyle change. Decide that you don’t eat certain foods or only a moderate amount of them, not only now, but from now on.

To begin an exercise program, get a buddy or schedule reminders in your phone. Set out your clothes or shoes so you almost trip over them. Start small, with a few minutes a day, and then increase the time as you get into the habit. Design the circumstances so that you know you’ll do it with very little effort.

How can you make sure you make those follow up calls? The night before you could decide on the list of people to call and put it on your computer. And you could reward yourself with something healthy, such as a break with your favorite book, when they’re done. Another solution would be to have an accountability partner that you’d call or email when you’ve completed your task.

Figure out how you can set up the situation so that you’ll behave the way you want. Formulate guard rails to keep yourself from drifting off course. Make as many decisions as you can ahead of time, so when a challenging situation arises, you’re prepared with a solution. The main item you need to develop is commitment to your vision, as Susan did. If you want it badly enough, you can create the conditions so that you’re successful.

AFFIRMATION:

The Universe wants the best for me and supports my quest to improve my life. I’m guided and inspired as to how to create the right conditions for me to thrive. Everything I need is already available from the Infinite. I simply need to look for and recognize it. I willingly accept my greater good.

Watch the accompanying video Planning for the Unexpected.

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Self-hypnosis and distractions

July 2, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: How is the best way to do self-hypnosis when I’m concerned about distractions, both internal and external?

Answer: It’s best to do self-hypnosis in a quiet room, with the phone, television, etc. turned off. If you have distracting thoughts, simply recognize that and bring your attention back to the goal of your session. Self-hypnosis is a normal state of mind that you’re in several times during the day, as when you’re daydreaming. It’s simply focusing the mind, and it takes training. As you continue to practice, you’ll get better at being able to focus on the goal of your self-hypnosis. As with anything else, practice makes perfect.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

As a vision strategist, speaker, coach, and hypnotherapist, Linda-Ann Stewart helps women entrepreneurs and businesswomen who feel stuck to get a clear vision, focus on strategies, and gain control so they’re able to accelerate to the next level of their business. Sign up for her FREE guide, Take Control of Your Day.

Sparks of Insight

July 1, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

Are you distracting yourself from your goal? This could be a way to make sure you never achieve it, due to some old thought pattern or fear. The distraction could be in the form of chores, chaos in your home or business life, trying to appease others by putting your goals on hold, fulfilling others’ expectations and much more. In a way, you’re making sure you can’t accomplish your goal because you may not feel it’s more important than what others want, or that you’re afraid it may not live up to your hopes. No matter what, you deserve to stand up for what you want. Take one step or action every day in the direction of your goal. This will help to convince you and your subconscious that your desire is right and appropriate.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

3 Exercises to Improve Your Self-Image

June 19, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

Your self-image is about how you view yourself, and changes every day. You can affect it by the things about yourself that you focus on. When you pay attention to what’s right about you, you start making different decisions that increases your positive view of yourself. Here are 3 short, easy exercises to do that will help to improve your self-image.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. I’m Linda-Ann Stewart of Heartvision Consulting. I’d like to talk a little bit about your self-image and give you 3 easy exercises to improve it.

Your self-image is about how you view yourself, the image you have of yourself. It’s like a reflection in a mirror, but it’s not just about your physical appearance. It’s about who you are and how you interact with your environment.

Unfortunately, when your perception of yourself leans towards the negative, it can hold you back and sabotage your goals. But you already know that, right? The good news is that your self-image is malleable. It changes every day with your thoughts, choices and actions.

My tip to improve it has to do with focusing on what it is you like and appreciate about yourself. When you pay attention to what’s right about you, you start making different decisions that then increases your positive view of yourself.

So here are the three easy exercises to do to get you started.

1. Find one thing you like about yourself. It could be your appearance or one aspect of your appearance, like your hair. It could be that you’re organized, prompt, creative or responsible. What is it for you?

2. Identify one skill or ability you possess. This could be that you’re a good listener, a great cook, or an artist. And then describe how it’s affected you and others. What’s your skill or ability?

3. Remember one achievement you’ve had or time when you were successful. Something that you’re proud of. It could be winning an award or just participating in a competition. It could a time when you were promoted or did a great job on a project. It doesn’t matter how big or small it might be in the scheme of things. What matters is how you feel about it. What have you accomplished that you’re proud of?

Write all of these in your phone, on an index card, or someplace where you see them often. Now, you can add items to each one, making a list to further boost your self-image, but I wanted to make it really easy to get you started.

When you begin to slip into a negative frame of mind about yourself, remember these three items. Your self-image will begin to improve because you’re paying more attention to what you appreciate about yourself than to what you don’t. And that can change your world.

If you’d like more tips on how to make your day flow more smoothly, download my free guide, Take Control of Your Day.

Thank you for watching. And remember to focus on what you appreciate about yourself. Take care.

Read the accompanying article, 5 Steps to Create a Greater Self-Image.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Sparks of Insight

June 17, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

“I now cast out of my mind any thought of fear or unworthiness. My mind is now fixed on the Indwelling Spirit, which is God. The Universe recognizes my worthiness and I am being guided and protected in every situation.”

Sometimes you need to recognize the negative to be able to release it, turn to the positive and let it in. As you deliberately turn to recognize that the Universal Spirit is within you, you open up to receive Its good. That includes understanding that you are worthy of all the good you can accept.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Sparks of Insight

June 11, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

I remember seeing a television show where a working wife and mother spent all weekend trying to keep her house as clean and perfect as her mother did. She was killing herself and alienating her family by her unrealistic expectations. There was no time for fun in her life. She was counseled to lower her standards so that she and her family could enjoy themselves. So what if her refrigerator wasn’t clean enough for an inspection? Her family needed some together time in a way that created happy memories. Where might you be holding yourself to unreasonable expectations, and how can you lower them so that you can have a life? Chores will always be there, but today won’t be.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

5 Steps to Create a Greater Self-Image

June 6, 2019 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Do you identify yourself as a procrastinator, leader or optimist? How you view yourself is a component of your self-image and it affects your decisions and actions. Without being aware of it, you’ll be congruent with how you characterize yourself. For instance, if you consider yourself to be a procrastinator, then your actions will support that belief. It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But your self-image isn’t set in stone. It can be changed. When it changes, then your actions and decisions change to agree with your new one. To achieve your goals and vision, personally or professionally, your self-image will have to shift. It will have to be in alignment with the person you need to be to accomplish your vision.

For instance, a procrastinator will not be tapped to be a manager, because they won’t have the necessary quality of being proactive. But if you start viewing yourself as proactive, and choosing those actions, you’ll be management material. You’re not lying to yourself in this new view; you’re choosing to behave in a new way.

Improve Your Self-Image

One way to expand your self-image is to imagine your ideal self. This is your vision of who you are in the future, the person you want to be. This is the same concept as having a vision for other parts of your life or your business. With your ideal self, you have a vision of the future you, so you can create strategies to achieve this goal.

This is the person you must be working towards before you can bring your greater vision for your life into being. You may have these ideal characteristics in some measure, but won’t have fully expressed them at this time. They’re qualities you’re aspiring to embody and are still striving to bring into reality. And your choice of traits may change over time.

Here are five steps to help you create the new, ideal you.

1. Select three to five words you want to use to describe yourself. They need to be reasonable and possible for you. These words are different from your values, but may have values inherent in them or made up of them. They’re concepts that reflect the way the Universe views you. And the ideas probably suggest traits of your most authentic self.

For instance, you could want to be:

Compassionate, imaginative, and motivated
Confident, proactive, and determined
Resourceful, trustworthy, and self-disciplined
Spiritual, present, and empathetic

2. Ascertain the qualities you need to develop for your words to be true. These will include attitudes, beliefs, habits, and skills that are cultivated and amplified as you work on your overall vision for yourself. What do you need to develop to fully bring these attributes into reality?

For instance, to be self-disciplined, you need to follow through on the decisions and promises you’ve made, even when they’re inconvenient. To be proactive, you take action to bring about specific results, addressing issues before they become a problem. In developing compassion, you choose to consciously seek the good in everyone and be nonjudgmental.

3. Write your words somewhere so you see them daily. This could be on your phone, tablet, computer or taped on the wall by your desk. They’ll remind you what you’re aspiring towards and that their qualities are important to you.

4. When you read these words, feel what they mean to you. This impresses the subconscious and it will take that as direction to become like them. Say to yourself, “This is who I’m choosing to be.” Identify with them because you tend to become what you identify with. Your subconscious wants you to be congruent with your belief about your identity.

5. Commit to acting on your new characteristics. For instance, to be more determined, persist when the going gets rough. If you want to be more optimistic, and you’ve had several setbacks, choose to believe the best possible outcome. Be consistent with the behaviors, qualities and traits that reflect your ideal you. Over time, they will feel more natural and it will become automatic.

What you’re doing is creating a vision of the best version of yourself. You’re molding your future you into the person you want to be. As you do, you’re becoming the person who accomplishes your goals and vision.

Affirmation:
The Universe approves of me, as I am, and also has an ideal concept of who I can be. It views me as my best self and knows that I can grow into that ideal. It supports me fully in my endeavor to be a better person. I make the choices that reflect my future, ideal self and act on them.

Watch the accompanying video, 3 Exercises to Improve Your Self-Image.

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