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Get Focused and into the State of Flow, Part 2

Get Focused and into the State of Flow, Part 2

by Linda-Ann Stewart

In part 1, we examined what the state of flow is and how it’s beneficial to your life. The more often you enter the flow state, the more you train your brain to enter it at will. This means that you’ll be able to induce it when you need to work on a project, or complete a task. It also means that your days will have less stress, even if there are setbacks. The Universe has more access to guide and inspire you.

Here are 9 ways to build focus and train yourself to get into the state of flow:

  1. Crafting or hobbies. Knitting, jewelry making, woodworking, or any craft or hobby will allow you to slip into the state of flow.
  2. Meditation. This practice strengthens the ability to focus, and promotes a sense of calm.  
  3. Affirmations or self-talk. By giving yourself positive reinforcement, you’re able to reduce anxiety and promote motivation.
  4. Relaxation practice. When you relax your body, your mind lets go as well, which allows it to enter the state of flow.
  5. Visualization. Imagining each part of your day going smoothly gives your subconscious mind the direction to begin to work out solutions to problems ahead of time.
  6. Mindfulness. Objectively paying attention to your breathing, scanning your body, being aware of your thoughts and emotions, and not judging them, helps you to be in the moment.
  7. Music. Listening to music, without words, engages the part of your mind that opens to flow.
  8. Reading. Just 10 minutes of reading can lower your heart rate, stress and boost relaxation.
  9. Exercise. A work out, even just walking, releases brain chemicals that counter depression and boosts mood.

Focus, and the state of flow, changes the brain, creating new pathways that improve your attitude and resilience. The more at ease and peaceful you are, the easier it is for you to handle bumps in life. As you enjoy the state of flow more, your life can also flow more smoothly. You’ll be more in tune with Universal Good. Just as water flows around obstacles and rocks, so will you.

Affirmation:

I dedicate myself to practicing the state of flow. Each time I slip into the state of focused awareness, I’m training myself to repeat it whenever I want. When I experience this state more often, my life flows more smoothly. I have all that I need to successfully handle any situation or circumstance that arises. I am more easily guided and directed by Universal Mind.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Personal Development Tools for Success

Personal Development Tools for Success

Personal development is crucial for your success, as it enhances your self-confidence, motivation and performance. There are many different ways you can improve your personal growth. This video shares 5 tactics that can help you attract more opportunities for success. Watch Personal Development Tools for Success.

Transcript:

Welcome. Did you know that personal development was crucial for your success? Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker said, “Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.” “… something you attract by the person you become.” That’s something to think about, isn’t it?

Personal development enhances self-confidence, motivation, and performance. This allows you to attract more success. In this video, I’d like to share some of the simple ways you can use to foster your personal growth.

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a focus mentor, writer and hypnotherapist. These videos are dedicated to empower you to focus and align your heart with your vision so you can achieve your goals.

Now, there are many, many ways to improve your personal growth. The following five ways are the simplest I know, and you probably know of them, too. They’re ones that will give you the greatest traction.

  1. Affirmations or self-talk or auto-suggestion. These are all very similar. I have used and taught them all to clients. Each of these techniques are ways to program your subconscious mind with the beliefs and motivation that will further your success in life.
  2. Visualization. This is another way to program your subconscious mind with your goals and aspirations.
  3. Read self-improvement books and articles, and watch self-help videos. But don’t just passively consume them, apply what they teach to your life.
  4. Keep a journal. This could be by journaling, which is a stream of consciousness writing for insight and inspiration. Or you could keep a gratitude or acknowledgement journal that celebrates your progress and accomplishments.
  5. Practice kindness and compassion. Open the door for someone, smile at the grocery clerk. Simple acts of kindness improve brain health, brain function, mood and satisfaction.

These are just a few of the ways you can grow within. It’s not difficult to find ways to improve yourself, but it does take some effort to apply the techniques. Doing so consistently will raise your self-esteem and well being, and you’ll attract more people and opportunities for success.

Thank you for watching. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. And if you’d like to be notified when I release more videos on mindset, motivation and empowerment, please like my channel and click on the bell. As always, stay focused.

Please read the accompanying article, Personal Growth Opens the Door to Success.

4 Steps to Transforming Your Thoughts through Self-Talk

4 Steps to Transforming Your Thoughts through Self-Talk

Linda-Ann Stewart

Your attitude determines your direction

Your thoughts become your beliefs.

Your beliefs trigger your feelings.

Your feelings create your attitudes.

Your attitudes promote your actions.

Your actions lead to success or frustration.

There is a direct line between your thoughts and how well you do in life. Unfortunately, most of the mental programming behind your thoughts is undermining and sabotaging your efforts. This is because between 65% and 80% of what you tell yourself is counterproductive. Your thoughts are habits, programmed in your past from other people.

Because you were too young to know better, you absorbed older authority’s ideas and assessments, and began acting as if they were true. Those opinions went directly into your subconscious mind. Over the years, you reinforced the negative programming as you repeated those beliefs to yourself. As a result, those detrimental thoughts being so familiar and reflexive went unnoticed.

You Can Direct Your Thoughts

When you do start to become aware of your old thoughts, you can change them into more supportive and productive ideas. Instead of letting your past concepts control you, you can direct your thoughts. You have the ability to transform what you tell yourself, so that your thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors support your goals and aspirations. You simply have to use the same process you’ve been using, but in a more constructive way. As you do, you give the Law of Attraction instructions of what you want.

But you first have to become aware of those thoughts. And that’s the hardest part. Those old ideas have been flying around under your mental radar for years. Once you identify what those beliefs are, then you can change them by deciding what you want to tell yourself. Instead of criticizing yourself, give yourself beneficial feedback that aligns with the vision for your life. The Universe completely supports you in whatever is for your Highest Good.

Steps to Transform Your Thoughts

First step – Awareness of the old thought.

You have to catch that old thought as it streams through the edges of your mind.

Begin to notice when you’re tense, upset, sad, depressed, overwhelmed, anxious, or angry when nothing in your environment is in upheaval. If nothing in your immediate situation seems to be causing those emotions, check what thoughts are running through your mind. Identify the one(s) that are promoting your distress. 

Second step – Assess that old thought.

Bring the old thought to the front of your mind and examine it. Ask yourself the following questions.

  • Is it accurate?
  • Who says it’s true? This could be some idea you accepted sometime earlier in life, without considering whether it was a fact.
  • How can you challenge that old thought? What are some facts that would neutralize it?

Third Step – Transform that old thought.

  • Shift to a new perspective with the following questions.
  • What other things can you tell yourself that would be more productive?
  • What do you aspire to in this area or circumstance?
  • Develop a statement that directs you to the new way you want to believe, feel or act.
  • Create an affirmation reflecting Universal wisdom about the situation. 

Fourth Step – Be consistent with the new thought.

To be successful with this method, you have to counteract the old thought with the new one whenever the old one surfaces.

  • Repeat your new statement over and over, whenever you think of it.
  • To give your new statement more power, repeat it out loud, in a forceful voice. If you’re alone, you can even shout it. The emotion will get the attention of your subconscious and it will respond more quickly.

The Power of Persistence

You may notice, as you begin to change, that the old idea may try to fight you. It may try to make you doubt yourself. That’s normal. The subconscious doesn’t like change. Just acknowledge the objection as an outdated concept, and continue repeating your new choice. Pretty soon, your subconscious will accept your direction and support it.

When you transform your thoughts, it also transforms your behaviors and decisions. You begin to take actions that lead to greater success and fulfillment in your life. Changing your thoughts really can change the course of your life.

Affirmation:

I become aware of the things I tell myself that are not helpful or constructive. Those thoughts were necessary when they were created, but they aren’t now. It’s safe for me to change those ideas, as my situation is completely different now. Everything I choose is already mine in Universal Mind. Old thoughts that undermined my health, harmony and happiness are vanishing. I’m claiming new thoughts and ideas that help me build the life I want. The Universe completely supports me in transforming my thoughts, as it wants the best for me.

Please watch the accompanying video, Don’t Believe Everything You Tell Yourself.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at https://www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Affirming Self-Love for Greater Self-Esteem and Well Being

Affirming Self-Love for Greater Self-Esteem and Well Being

We all have some negative self-talk that undermines our self-love and well being. If that negative programming isn’t counteracted, it can sabotage your self-esteem, motivation and goals. Fortunately, there are ways to reprogram your mind to support your appreciation of yourself. Learn a simple way to change your self-talk and how to do it most effectively. Watch Affirming Self-Love for Greater Self-Esteem and Well Being.

Transcript:

Welcome. Have you ever noticed the negative things you tell yourself? The demoralizing self-talk that drags you down and keeps you from doing your best? We all have that negative internal dialogue to some extent, and it chips away at your deep appreciation of yourself, which is what self-love is. If negative self-talk isn’t counteracted, it can undermine your motivation, goals and even your health.

One of the ways to counteract negative self-talk is to replace it with positive self-talk, also called affirmations or auto-suggestions. When you substitute positive ideas for the negative ones, it begins a shift within your subconscious mind. You reprogram your subconscious mind to support your love and appreciation of yourself. In this video, you’ll learn some simple positive affirmations you can use, and how to use them to be most effective.  

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a focus mentor, writer and hypnotherapist. These videos are dedicated to empower you to focus and align your heart with your vision so you can achieve your goals.

When you repeat statements to yourself, whether they’re positive or negative, you’re mentally programming yourself. You then tend to believe your statements and act on them. You know what I mean, right? If you’re criticizing yourself, you feel like a failure and don’t do your best. But if you’re encouraging yourself, you’re motivated to keep going and do better.

The negative programming can be reversed by consistently, and the key word here is consistently, using positive programming. Five of the positive affirmations or auto-suggestions I’ve used with my clients over the years to help improve their sense of self are the following:

  • I deserve love and to love myself.
  • I recognize my true worth.
  • I am worthy of the best that life has to give.
  • Right here and right now, I am enough.
  • I’m becoming the person I was meant to be.

I’ll put these in the description for you. For more affirmations for self-love, you can do internet searches. There are lots of them out there. The secret to being effective with affirmations is to say them out loud several times a day. It takes repetition to counteract the negative messages you’ve been giving yourself.

You can repeat positive statements about yourself while walking, exercising, in the car, getting ready for work, going to sleep or during meditation. Flood your mind with the positive messages, and you’ll notice an improvement in your self-esteem, motivation, and overall well being.  

What affirmation do you want to inspire yourself with today? Thank you for watching. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. And if you’d like to be notified when I release more videos on mindset, motivation and empowerment, please like my channel and click on the bell. As always, stay focused.

Read the accompanying article, Cultivate Self-Love to Flourish.

Improve Your Life As You Sleep

Improve Your Life As You Sleep

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Many years ago, a hypnotherapist told me that she would make a hypnosis tape of her goals to listen to as she went to sleep. When she mentioned this, I remembered that, years before, I’d made myself an affirmation tape to listen to as I drifted off, and the ideas on that tape had made a significant difference in my life. On many occasions since then, I’ve had a tape playing as I go to sleep. As with the affirmations, the goals and concepts on my tape tend to become realities in my life.

Many times, a client would come to me and tell me that the only time that they can listen to the reinforcement tape of their session was as they’re going to sleep. I told them, “That’s fine. As a person goes to sleep, they’re going through the same level of awareness that we use in hypnosis.” I went on to explain that it generally takes longer than thirty minutes to get into the deep level of sleep, and even then the subconscious is still hearing and listening to what’s being said. Have you ever been deeply asleep, and had a strange sound bring you wide-awake? That’s the subconscious mind monitoring your environment and recognizing when there’s something unusual or dangerous, and waking you to deal with it.

Using Affirmations as You Drift Off

But a person doesn’t need an audiotape to utilize this excellent time. Just repeating an affirmation as you go to sleep is a great way to imprint new concepts, goals and ideas. Joseph Murphy, author of many books on the subconscious, suggested repeating the word “Wealth,” rather than “I am wealthy” to avoid any resistance from the subconscious. “I am wealthy” might bring up arguments that “No, I’m not,” “I don’t have a cent to my name,” etc. Simply saying “Wealth” brings up the images and feelings of being well taken care of, which is what impresses the subconscious.

Many people use the time before sleep to think of a problem they have, and then affirm, “I’ll have the answer to it in the morning.” There is now research to support that sleep can be a creative time. If a person believes that their subconscious will be working on a solution, then they will awaken with the answer. A study has found that the person who “Sleeps on it” will be twice as likely to awaken with insights and solutions than the person who stays awake to think and worry about the problem.

Program Your Goals as You Sleep

One of my colleagues calls the time before sleep “My time.” When he has a particular goal, he uses his imagination to make it real for him. He visualizes how it would feel to have accomplished it, and lets his subconscious figure out the way to make it happen. By doing this, he went from having barely enough to live on to owning a beautiful house, investments, and retiring at an early age.

Decide on one area of your life that you want to improve. Then find a short affirmation or word that embodies your desire. Use your imagination to visualize your goal as if it were already accomplished. To reduce weight, imagine yourself at your perfect weight, exercising and enjoying the activity, leaving food on your plate, feeling slim and energetic. To stop smoking, imagine yourself saying, “No thank you” to a cigarette, being free of urges, and being able to breathe better. For prosperity, imagine your bank account at a particular amount by a certain date. If you want more appreciation at work, imagine being congratulated on a job well done, being promoted, feeling satisfied.

When I wake up in the middle of the night, I usually repeat the phrase “I open my mind to receive more Good” as I drift back off to sleep. It’s short and simple enough that I don’t have to work to remember it. Drifting off to sleep is one of the best times to impress new information into the subconscious mind. If you consistently use this time to program your mind with what you want, you’ll find that your life improves drastically in a very short time.

Affirmation:

As I drift off to sleep, I program my mind with the goal that is most important to me. I open my mind to receive more of the Good that Life wants to give me. I know that my subconscious mind is very creative, and has all the knowledge and resources it needs to find the solution. I am guided in the direction I need to go to make real my desire. Everything I need for the accomplishment of my goal is provided. I trust my subconscious mind to figure out how to bring about my desire.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women entrepreneurs and small business owners to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, wellbeing and prosperity.To boost productivity and reduce overwhelm, register for her FREE guide, Design Your Best Day, at Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html

Reprogram Your Negative Self-Chatter

Reprogram Your Negative Self-Chatter

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Thoughts in a head

Have you ever monitored what you say to yourself? Listened to the self-talk that chatters away without your being aware of it? Automatic phrases, such as “I can’t do this,” “I’m not worthy,” “I can’t handle this,” “I can’t afford it” and others. You may even find yourself saying them to the people in your life. These are beliefs that have been programmed into you, just like into a computer. Suppose the boss asks you to come into his office. Your first reaction may be “Uh, Oh. I’m in trouble,” even though he may want to praise you.

These ideas come from your past, but  they create a self-fulfilling feedback loop in your subconscious. Without your being aware of it, they provide background noise in your life. Is it any wonder that it’s hard to make any changes? They echo the words of parents, siblings, friends, teachers, anybody whose opinion you ever accepted, whether it was true or not. You were hypnotized into believing them, and you’ve stayed true to the conditioning.

How to Reprogram Negative Thoughts

An affirmation is a statement that confirms what you hold to be true, and though we generally use the term for positive declarations, these statements can be either positive or negative. When you tell yourself over and over that you’re not worthy , it convinces your subconscious that this is what you want, and your subconscious creates this reality.

The first step is to become aware of what you’re telling yourself. Write down these statements. Then formulate a sentence that counters what you’ve been believing all these years. Use it repetitively, because that’s how you were programmed in the first place. By hearing the same or similar things over and over.

Remain conscious of the background noise of your thoughts. And when the negative statement rises up, use your new phrase. Be patient. That original idea has been there a long time. It’ll take time, consistence, and persistence, but eventually you’ll change the thought to one that more truly reflects the Universe’s loving opinion of you.

Affirmation:

I monitor my self-talk and now become aware of what I’m telling myself. I realize that these negative ideas came from the past and have no relation to my present life. I recognize my own worth and the authority of my positive declarations. I am patient, consistent and persistent in reprogramming my mind, for I know that the changes are happening with every constructive affirmation that I state.

As a focus mentor, hypnotherapist, and writer, Linda-Ann Stewart motivates women to focus and transform their business through deliberate actions that break through distraction and overwhelm to greater success, freedom, wellbeing and prosperity. Register for her FREE Design Your Best Day guide and guided meditation video at www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/guide.html. You can contact her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com or 928-600-0452.

Will I be optimistic in 3 weeks?

Will I be optimistic in 3 weeks?

Question about affirmations

Question: If I say an affirmation for three weeks, will I see results and think only positive thoughts by then?

Answer: If you begin saying a positive affirmation, and say it consistently every day for three weeks, you’ll notice an improvement in your attitude. However, you’ll need to catch each negative thought and idea and change it to a positive for the results to be most effective.

And you won’t have a permanent change in your thoughts after just three weeks. You’ll need to keep up with the affirmation, and transforming your negative thoughts even after that. But the negative thoughts will be fewer and you’ll be more positive overall.

This isn’t something you can do for a few days, weeks or months and then stop doing. It’s a focused change of thinking that must continue. You won’t have to be as diligent later on, because you’ll be more aware of your negative thoughts and automatically change them to positives. Affirmations aren’t magic. You have to use them consistently for them to work.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart