intention – Page 8 – Empowering Your Mind

Am I sabotaging myself?

December 1, 2015 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: When I change my goals as one of my desires manifests, am I sabotaging myself or giving the Universe conflicting messages?

Answer: Most people have the dilemma you do. As you manifest your desires, your desires expand and change. That is the way of the Universe, to learn to accept more of it into your life. When you reach the top of one hill, you then see much more of the horizon.

However, if one day you say, “I’d like to have a Mercedes” and visualize that, and the next day say “I’d like a Land Rover” and visualize that, you’re giving conflicting messages to your subconscious mind. It won’t know what you want, therefore will give you your most dominant idea, which may be a Ford Escort.

This is why so many teachers tell us to write down our desires. That way, we can keep them straight, and stay focused on what we’ve written, rather than meandering all over the place. We give our subconscious a clear vision, and the subconscious will return it fulfilled.

For years, I didn’t believe that I needed to write down my desires, figuring that I had them in my head. Some came to pass, the ones I was the clearest on, and stayed true to. When I did begin to write them down, I found how often I’d change them, then change back. No wonder my desires didn’t manifest very often. I was giving my mind confusing information.

What’s the difference between a goal and a vision?

February 11, 2015 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: What’s the difference between a goal and a vision?

Answer: A goal is time limited. Once it’s accomplished, it’s done. Hopefully, you then move on to the next one. A vision is unlimited and has a broader scope. A goal is one task or achievement. It helps to build the vision as a step along the way. A vision gives focus to your goals, stringing them together so they move you in a specific direction.

A person can have a goal, but no vision of how it fits into their life. Once the goal is completed, they may backslide or hit a brick wall. The vision has to do with the reason or purpose you’re reaching the goal. It’s the motivating factor for working on the goal.

As a vision, it’s the long range view of how you ultimately want your life or business to be. Your vision is your inspiration for creating and achieving the goals that take you there.

Are Your Expectations Realistic?

December 16, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Many years ago, Julie came to me to use hypnotherapy for weight loss. As we talked about what she wanted, I discovered that she had unrealistic expectations about what hypnosis could do for her. She didn’t want to reduce the amount or kind of food she ate, or exercise. Instead, she expected hypnosis to magically speed up her metabolism so she could continue to eat the way she always had and still lose weight.

She went on to explain that she just wanted to eat normal portions. When I asked what she considered those to be, she said, “What you get in a restaurant.” Since restaurants serve hearty portions that would put weight on almost anyone, it was unrealistic that she’d be able to reduce weight if she continued to eat that way.

Are your goals realistic or are they fantasies that could only have a one in ten million chance of coming true? For instance, are you hoping you can dig yourself out of debt by winning the lottery? It happens occasionally, but it’s highly unlikely to happen to you.

Or do you want to attract customers without doing any marketing? Marketing enables your product or service to be visible and lets customers know what you offer. If they don’t know about you, they can’t become customers and you never make sales.

Do you expect people to treat you with respect when you don’t treat yourself that way? Life tends to treat us the way we treat ourselves. When you don’t value yourself, then others are going to take that as a cue to take advantage of you.

Would you expect to play piano without training or rehearsal? Or be a basketball superstar without practice? Except in rare savant or genius instances, you need to cultivate a talent, skill or ability. It doesn’t happen in a week or a month, but over time.

When you have a goal, first you need to decide how realistic it is. If you don’t honestly believe it’s credible, then your subconscious mind will ignore it. Your inner mind follows the lead of your conscious mind. Unless you actually believe you can reach your goal, then your subconscious won’t waste its energy on it.

The next thing you need to do is to commit yourself to whatever it takes to accomplish your desire. This level of intention gets the attention and cooperation of your subconscious mind. It realizes that you wouldn’t be this focused if you didn’t mean it.

Then, break your goal down into small steps. Make sure each one is believable and achievable. Divide it into even smaller components if you don’t think a step can be easily accomplished.

If you’re a couch potato, it’s within reason to conceive of walking five minutes a day and then increase the amount a little bit each week. But if you’d decided to go from the couch to training for a marathon, that would be overwhelming and you’d probably give up.

In the last stage, you dedicate yourself to take a step each day that helps you move in the direction of your goal. Again, taking action convinces the subconscious that you really do want your desire. This helps to dissolve any inner conflicts you may have.

When Julie discovered that she’d have to change her behaviors to reach her goal of weight reduction, she decided not to continue with hypnotherapy. She wasn’t dedicated enough to achieve her goal.

As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” A building needs plans, a foundation, walls, roof, wiring, plumbing, and so forth. Without any of these, the structure is unlivable and may collapse. And, in general, plans need to be done in a specific order. The same is true of any change you want in your life. You’ll need to work on it, realistic brick by brick, until you have the structure you want.

Affirmation

I now assess my desire to realize whether it’s realistic or not. If it’s not, I establish reasonable goals that I know I can accomplish. When I can believe that I can achieve a goal, then I can put my whole being towards creating it. Blocks and barriers fall as I take small steps each day towards my goal. The whole Universe supports me with everything I need to attain my goal as I commit myself to it.

Start the Journey to Changing Your Life

November 17, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

When you want to make a change in your life, the gap between where you are now and where you want to be probably seems insurmountable. But the longest journey begins with a single step. Learn how you can keep moving towards your goal until you finally achieve it.

Action Follows Attention

October 29, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Create a Ritual to Find Solutions

September 16, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

Rituals or routines help us by signaling to the subconscious that we’re closing one door and opening another. You can use this same process to program your subconscious to solve problems. Learn a valuable technique that trains your creative mind to work out solutions on command.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

As a speaker, personal and professional development coach and hypnotherapist, Linda-Ann Stewart empowers business and professional women who are stuck, immobilized or overwhelmed get focused, prioritize and break through so they generate more business and create consistent income. If you’d like some help to reach your goals, email her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com with “Complimentary Consultation” in the subject line.

What Habits Are You Cultivating?

August 26, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

Like everyone, you have habits that make your life run smoother. You don’t have to think about whether you put your right or left shoe on first. Brushing your teeth is part of your morning and evening ritual. When you drive to work, you follow the same route you’ve followed for years. Habits free your mind to attend to more important details, like planning your day, deciding on dinner and formulating that email to an important client.

But not all habits are helpful. These are ones that don’t give you the results you want. They may be physical habits, such as eating too much at a meal which causes you to gain weight. Or they might be mental habits of self-doubt that undermine your success. Some are outdated, formulated to help you when you were younger but no longer serve a purpose. Procrastination, perfectionism and seeking approval fall in this category.

Habits develop by what you pay attention to and repeatedly act on. You make small decisions each day, that compound over time. They create pathways in the brain, and you eventually operate on them automatically.

You can choose what your habits are, by consciously deciding on specific actions and following through on them. Or you can drift, and choose the easiest course. Taking the path of least resistance may be the simplest in the short run, but it will probably detour you from your desired goal. And this, too, may become a habit.

Just as you exercise your body to make it stronger, you have to repeatedly choose constructive actions and thoughts you want to make into habits if you want a better life.

Athletes train their reflexes and to build muscle-memory. This allows them to respond more quickly to specific situations, such as a starter pistol or ball coming at them. They perform in the way they’ve trained to achieve maximum results. They’ve drilled the reaction into their bodies. In a competition, they don’t have to think about how they’re going to respond, they just do it. Each movement was considered and implemented ahead of time to result in a specific outcome.

Are your habits positive or negative, beneficial or self-sabotaging? What routines have you created for yourself? Do they further your success or have they undermined it? What behaviors have you cultivated in your life? If you want to make a change in your life, practice different thoughts and actions. The Law of Attraction will then begin drawing better conditions to you.

Here are some tips to help you create new habits.

Decide on your outcome. Do you want to have a healthier lifestyle, more friends or greater success? What do you have to do to achieve that? Develop a series of steps that will take you in the direction of your goal.

What do you have to let go of? Whenever you invite a new idea into your life, you have to let go of something else. If you want to exercise more and be healthier, you have to leave the comfort of the sofa. To reduce weight, you have to reduce portions and avoid fast food. For greater prosperity, you have to release the belief in lack.

Compare each choice to your goal. Ask yourself, “Does this bring me closer to it or push me farther away?” It may be tempting to ease off if you’re overwhelmed, but you will ultimately pay the cost of a delayed or sabotaged achievement. Persist each day, one decision at a time. Those decisions build up to create the habits you want.

Be careful about what you say to yourself. The statements you make to yourself will either support and encourage you, or undermine your progress. Pay attention to what you’re saying to yourself about your intention, and make it positive. Habits are created by what we focus on, because action follows attention.

Ultimately, to create a new habit, you have to break the old one. Then you have to substitute the new decision in its place. When you’re consistent and persistent in your actions, you’ll develop your new habit within a short time.

It may not be easy, because your subconscious doesn’t like change. But your determination and resolve will persuade your inner mind to support you on your quest. Stay the course and soon you’ll have cultivated a habit that produces the results you’re seeking.

Affirmation
I create habits by what I pay attention to and act on. My decisions now align with the success that I deserve and create the habits that bring the outcomes I desire. I easily make the necessary shifts, knowing that the Universe is on my side. My thoughts, words and deeds now reflect the path I choose to take in creating the life I want.

As a speaker, personal and professional development coach and hypnotherapist, Linda-Ann Stewart empowers business and professional women who are stuck, immobilized or overwhelmed get focused, prioritize and break through so they generate more business and create consistent income. If you’d like some help in reaching your goals, email her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com with “Complimentary Consultation” in the subject line.

How do I stay focused on my goal?

June 4, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: How do I keep my conscious mind from trying to control how a goal comes to pass, while staying focused on that goal?

Answer: Your question is one many people have. We’re taught to try to control the result. The answer takes a lot of discipline and trust. To keep the desired result in your mind, write it down on a card and read it several times a day. This helps to keep your subconscious focused on what it is you want. Then trust that your subconscious knows how to bring that goal into reality, and remind yourself that it’s working on it.

Take any action toward the goal that you know to take. Follow through on any ideas you may have for it. The more actions you take, the more you’re convincing your subconscious that you really want that goal. Keep affirming that “My creative/subconscious mind knows how to bring this to me, and is doing so now” whenever you think of the goal. That gives the subconscious the power and direction of what to do.

It is the subconscious’ role to figure out how things get done, not the conscious mind’s. The conscious mind’s role is to keep the mind focused on the goal, and follow through on any opportunities. It sounds simple, but it’s not easy for most people to do this.

Empowering Your Mind

Mindset, Motivation and Empowerment

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