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Tag: personal development

Are We Losing Our Ability to Concentrate?

Are We Losing Our Ability to Concentrate?

According to Daniel Goleman’s book, Concentrating on Chess GameFocus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, due to our obsession with multitasking, the internet, social media and cell phones, we’re losing our ability to concentrate. When we constantly check our email, read tweets, or play an online game, we get a jolt of adrenaline. It feels good every time we do and it lights up our brain’s reward circuits. We can’t stay focused on one thing too long or we get itchy for another rush. But it also undermines the ability to focus for any length of time.

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence also says that the good news is that within a short time of slowing down and not jumping from one thing to another, we regain the ability to pay attention. Our focus and concentration improves within a couple of weeks. When we run from one activity to another, we train ourselves to do more of it. We’re training ourselves to be ADD. But the same is true when we let go of the obsessive need for stimulation. As we break the addiction, we train our minds to focus for longer periods of time.

To accomplish more, reduce stress, and be calmer, we need to reduce the number of times we check our email or cell phone. Within a couple of weeks, notice the difference. We’ll get more done, be healthier, feel better and be able to focus on a chess game or reading a book.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Are Your Expectations Realistic?

Are Your Expectations Realistic?

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 Step Through Woodsthat 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.

Copyright 2011, 2014 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Brian Tracy – 7 Steps to a Positive Personality

Brian Tracy – 7 Steps to a Positive Personality

In this video, bestselling author and speaker Brian Tracy describes how to develop a positive attitude. A positive personality will have more effect on your success and happiness than anything else. Although the video text asserts it will help you double your sales, his instructions apply to success in every aspect of life. He describes the ways to build yourself up and fill yourself with constructive ideas. Following these steps will attract success and create happiness in your life.



~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Success Begins With Your Mindset

Success Begins With Your Mindset

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Success is your natural state. You have the innate ability to accomplish anything you choose to do. As a child, you learned how to tie your shoes, use the alphabet and ride a bike. You learned how to reach your goal by moving toward it in small, incremental stages. When you missed your mark, you corrected your direction and tried again until you achieved it.

You didn’t question whether you’d accomplish it or not. You just kept working at it until you did. Only if you were told and believed that you couldn’t achieve it, would you fall short of your goal.

Whether you want to quit smoking, maintain an exercise program, make a sale, get ahead in life or fulfill your New Year’s Resolutions, your mindset will determine whether you succeed or fail. You have to believe that your goal is possible and achievable for you to be able to accomplish it.

If you don’t believe your goal is possible, then no matter how much effort you put into it you’re likely to be disappointed. Smokers who don’t believe they can quit will fail in their attempts. A salesperson who goes into a conversation with the idea they won’t make the sale will have his belief confirmed.

If you don’t believe that you can accomplish your goal, then you’re fighting an uphill battle against yourself. You want it, but you’ll unconsciously sabotage yourself to confirm your belief. When you serve a customer, they’ll sense your negative self-assessment and will say “No.” You’ll hold yourself back from committing your full drive, passion and determination to your desire.

It’s human nature to seek to be consistent with your beliefs. Do you dwell on your mistakes or difficulties and think it’ll never be different? If so, you’re setting yourself up to validate your idea. Even if you were handed success on a silver platter, if you haven’t conditioned your mind for it, success will seep away like sand through a sieve.

However, if you don’t succeed fully or immediately, it doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. You only fail when you give up. People who succeed aren’t defeated by setbacks. In each attempt, you learn something that you use to climb further up the ladder of accomplishment.

Before you can have success in the outer world, you have to accept it in your inner self. It’s like water rising to its own level. You’ll only have as much success as you can believe you can have. Studies have shown that a positive attitude is more important for success than education or skills, when it comes to getting a job and moving ahead.

The Universe created you to be a success, and you are the Universe in action in your life. Any block to it is your fearful mind believing in a lie. You were convinced of the impossibility when you were a child or when you were discouraged as an adult. The Universe is always a success, therefore success is your true nature.

Three ways to begin conditioning your mind for success:

1. Change your self-image so you identify with accomplishing your goal. Your self-image affects how successful you’ll be. Do you feel like a success or failure? Until a smoker can relate to being an “ex-smoker,” they’ll nearly always fall back into the old habit. Someone who has lost a lot of weight will have a hard time keeping it off until their self-image agrees with their new reality. A clerk will never be able to rise through the ranks until they’re able to view themselves as someone who could handle more responsibility. Discover and develop the qualities you need to be a success at what you want.

2. Picture some success you’ve had, no matter how small. Remember how you felt. When beginning a new project, associate that feeling of success with the first step you could take. Imagine it so vividly that it’s easy to put the steps into practice. Evoke a feeling of satisfaction when you think of your goal. Then make sure you begin to take action.

3. Don’t try to conceive of your final result as being inevitable. That may be too much a stretch for you at the beginning. Just open your mind to the idea that it’s possible. Imagine what the best outcome could be. By not trying to force it, you allow your subconscious to consider how it can begin to bring your ideas into reality. Turning it over in your mind allows you to visualize success without the pressure of fighting against conflicting ideas about it.

When you have the feeling that you’ll achieve your goal, you’ll uncover the resources and creative ideas needed to overcome whatever obstacles arise. Your mind will be ready for success, and will find the way to do what’s necessary to make your goal an accomplished fact. Establishing a positive and success mindset will carry over into all of your desires.

Affirmation:

I was created to be successful at whatever goal I chose. The Universe sees me as a success and operates through me. Success is my natural state. I now condition my mind for success by accepting that my goal is possible and achievable for me. Although I may not know how to accomplish it, the Universe and my creative mind know what to do and how to do it. I take the actions that I know to take and the next step now appears.

5 Things You Must Focus On To Achieve Your Goals

5 Things You Must Focus On To Achieve Your Goals

by Loretta Love-Huff

Goal-setting is an important activity for those who yearn to live an accomplished life. Yet, many people do not set goals and others who do, don’t set them well.

There was a purported study inaccurately attributed to Harvard or Yale about about the impact of setting goals. The ‘study’ concluded that 83%of the population didn’t have identified goals. It further showed that 14% had goals but only a mere 3% of the population had written theirs down. It went on to say that years later, the 3% with written goals had earned 10 times more than everyone else. (The statistics vary based on whose interpretation of the ‘study’ you read.) As it turns out, that study never happened.

‘Facts’ aside, it reinforces the concept of writing your goals down.

An actual study conducted later by Gail Matthews, PhD at Dominican University revealed 3 important conclusions:

1. Be clear on your goals and write them down.
2. Develop a plan on how you are going to achieve them.
3. Develop an accountability mechanism.

I haven’t conducted a study. However, I have been active in the performance improvement and performance enhancement field for a surprisingly long time (read, “decades”).

Here’s my take on the 5 critical components of what it takes to make magic happen.

1. Have a clear goal
OK, this is a pretty consistent first step across all platforms so I won’t spend a lot of time on it. Yet it is still one many people skip. Don’t be one of them. ‘Nuf said?

Know where your end destination is, whether its later today or later in life. Pick a specific, measurable ‘what’ you will accomplish and a ‘by when’ it will be done.

2. Know your “Why”
Knowing why you want to achieve the goal is at least as important a motivating factor as knowing what it is you want. Accomplishing goals, especially big, hairy ones, will likely take an inordinate amount of effort. You’ll probably NOT have smooth sailing along the way, so having a deep urge, a deep longing, an important reason to continue in the face of all of the crap on the road is critical.

3. Feel your success
Imagine how you’ll feel once your end goal is reached. Will you feel fulfilled, safe, secure, happy, proud, satisfied, excited, peaceful, powerful, confident? What ever the emotion, start ‘practicing’ feeling it NOW, even before you have the ‘thing’. Don’t wait until you get there, feeling that ‘future’ emotion now will make life more enjoyable, help support your motivation factor and actually help draw in the resources, ideas and connections to help you get there.

Time will pass more easily if you’re not waiting for the future to feel good. Be that feeling now.

4. Think about how you’ll make it happen
I was listening to Brian Tracy speak at the Arizona Chapter of the National Speakers Association earlier this month. He had conducted a study of high achievers. He said there were two factors that distinguished top performers from everyone else. First, they had big, clear goals. And, secondly, they thought constantly about how they could achieve them.

I would veer away from the idea of constantly thinking about ‘how’. I would say, constantly focus on the ‘what’ and the ‘feeling’, but allow for the creative process, for divine intervention, coincidence, providence, unexpected inspirations to light the path forward for you.

5. Be happy now
This is related, but slightly different that point 3. The tip here is to focus on things that RIGHT NOW are going well: things your grateful for, things you’re happy about TODAY.

I was listening to Marshall Sylver, host of the Million Dollar Television Network. He was also talking about focus and achieving goals. He said “You get what you focus on.” So instead of focusing on all of your problems, focus on what you want more of in your life.

Pharrel Williams also was definitely on to something with his inspired song, Happy. The words, energy and message resonated with people around the world. The song extols the virtues of being happy.

In one verse, he describes the feeling of letting things roll off his back. “…Here come bad news, talkin’ this and that. Give me all you got, don’t hold it back. I should probably warn you, I’ll be just fine. No offense to you, don’t waste your time. Because I’m happy!”

So, to quote another song from way back, “Don’t worry. Be happy.” Focus on what matters. Your goals, your dreams, your happy, grateful, positive feelings and what you want are what really matters.

Copyright 2014 Loretta Love-Huff
All Rights Reserved

Would you like to learn more simple ways business owners and career professionals can EXCEED their dreams: accomplish bigger goals, earn more money, and generally live a happier, more productive life? Check out my website www.EmeraldHarvest.com/destiny for free resources. Award-winning consultant, speaker, author and coach Loretta Love Huff, is “The Dream Leader for Business™.”

Get Motivated and Take a Step

Get Motivated and Take a Step

Sometimes it’s hard to get moving on a goal. You want it, but you can’t get motivated enough to take the first step. Learn some ways you can increase the intensity of your desire, and take your first steps.




~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Free MP3 to get you unstuck

Free MP3 to get you unstuck

I’m excited to announce a free audio that I’ve created. If you’re stuck, stalled, immobilized, bogged down, or sabotaging keyyourself, this 35 minute audio gives you direction on how to blast out of your rut.

You can have the success and abundance in your personal and professional life that you want. You’re creating your life every day by the things that you think, say and do. When you begin to change them, your life reflects that change.

In this MP3 recording, I describe the 6 keys I developed to get my life on track again after a devastating relationship shattered me. They also helped me locate my first office and start my hypnotherapy, mentoring and coaching business 23 years ago. These are the ones I’ve used to help my clients achieve their goals. They can do the same for you.

In “Keys to Recreating Your Life: Shatter Your Barriers to Success and Abundance” MP3, you’ll also learn the 5 steps I took to break through and break free. You can use these 5 simple steps to propel yourself forward and get moving again.

Following these 5 steps will put you ahead of 95% of the population and greatly increase your chances of success. They also include a step that will greatly accelerate your progress.

To receive this FREE MP3 recording, go to “Keys to Recreating Your Life.”

Isn’t it time for you to open up to greater success and abundance? My wish for you is that you breakthrough, break free and live the life of your dreams.

Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich” #13 – Habits

Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich” #13 – Habits

In this last of these rare videos, Napoleon Hill, author of “Think and Grow Rich,” discusses the law he calls “Cosmic Habit Force.” It has a positive and negative aspect. The negative one will attract what you don’t want. In its positive aspect, you draw to you the situations and circumstances you do want. He compares this law to Emerson’s idea of “Compensation.” Essentially, it’s a description of the current popular principle called the Law of Attraction.



~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Why do old, negative habits return when I’m under pressure?

Why do old, negative habits return when I’m under pressure?

Question: Why do old, negative habits return when I’m under pressure?

Answer: It’s natural for old habits, mental and physical, to return when a person has experienced stress or distress. The subconscious tends to use all its resources to deal with the current challenge, and has little energy left for a person’s new habits unless the person is very careful, aware, and disciplined. If you succumb to the old habits, once you realize it, you can re-dedicate yourself to your new, more positive habits.

Instead of wasting energy berating yourself, consider this a time when you’re strengthening your resolve and getting back on track. As a person reestablishes their new behaviors, those strategies tend to become stronger and more powerful.

I consider it more a practice than a relearning. You just forgot to practice what you know when the pressure got too great. We all do this from time to time. But each time we practice, it creates a deeper impression on the subconscious, and becomes easier to remember the next time the lesson comes around.

Copyright 2004, 2013 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Book Review- “Stop Walking In Circles”

Book Review- “Stop Walking In Circles”

Stop Walking In CirclesStop Walking In Circles
by Les Taylor

As the New Year approaches, many people are gearing up to make New Year’s Resolutions. Unfortunately, most of these resolutions will be broken within a few weeks because they haven’t been broken down into a series of achievable steps.

That’s where this book can help. Although it’s aimed at business, these ideas can be adjusted for any type of goal. Studies show that if a person doesn’t focus on a point on the horizon when they’re lost, they’ll simply walk in circles.

Les compares this to individuals, organizations and businesses that don’t have a plan in place to take them in the direction they want to go. Without goals or a map to show the next point on their path, they’ll just stay in their rut and never make any progress.

To remedy this issue, Les gives specific directions on how to set up and achieve goals through his simple performance plan. He’s formulated a blueprint to follow to create a vision of what you want, with the areas you need to address. Success doesn’t come from creating goals. Success comes from achieving them. This book gives all the elements to allow you to be closer to success than 95% of people.

I’ve followed his instructions and have set up a performance plan for myself. It’s made it easier for me to focus on the activities that I need to do to move my business forward and it keeps me organized.

If you create New Year’s Resolutions, this book is especially good for them. By creating a plan based on this book’s instructions, then working that plan, your resolutions will be significantly likelier to become a reality.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart