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Can you curse or manipulate another through thoughts or words?

Can you curse or manipulate another through thoughts or words?

Question: Can someone put a curse on another and manipulate them through the power of their thoughts or words?

Answer: Someone can only manipulate another through curses if the person being cursed believes it or is open to it. Someone who knows that they are Divinely protected cannot be harmed through any “magical” means. The power of thought and prayer pervades us all, and we’re all affected by this power. If it’s a negative thought from someone else, if we’re not solid in the belief of being protected, then it can influence us or our life.

I had a friend who had a former boyfriend who tried to manipulate her life through “psychic” means. At the time, this friend was learning not to let others take advantage of her. As she became stronger in saying “no” to others demeaning her, the former boyfriend’s influence became weaker and weaker. That’s what I meant by a person has to be open to it. She was open to being manipulated and belittled, so the former boyfriend’s thought was able to affect her. When she became stronger in her own worth, his thought no longer could harm her.

If someone says something with great emotion to a person he wishes to curse, the emotion will impress the subconscious mind of the person. Think of how it feels when someone says something nasty to you. Generally, you’ll feel bad. Words have power to hurt. But the stated curse can be reversed, because it’s all within the person’s own subconscious. It has very little to do with the person doing the cursing.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Book Review – “Higher Creativity”

Book Review – “Higher Creativity”

“Higher Creativity: Liberating the Unconscious for Breakthrough Insight”
by Willis Harman, Ph.D. and Howard Rheingold

This book describes the process of creativity. It gives an understanding of the different stages that a person’s mind goes through from the start of working through a problem to the end result of a solution.

The authors describe the conditions that are necessary to access creativity, as well as how the mind works through a challenge. They state that the subconscious is just waiting for you to tell it what to do, and it will follow your instructions.

In this book, there are many examples of people who have been able to foster creativity in their lives. The only thing preventing you from experiencing what the author’s call “breakthrough insight” is a disbelief in your own abilities in this area.

I believe this is true, not only for creativity, but for any area of life in which you need some direction or innovative idea. Doubt will short-circuit the connection to listen to and understand the inspiration you get.

This book helps to dispel those concerns, and gives a “toolkit” of ways to go about cultivating creativity in your life. If you have challenges in your business, personal, or creative life, the information contained in this book could give you the breakthrough you need.

7 Ways To Climb Out Of Your Slump

7 Ways To Climb Out Of Your Slump

by Linda-Ann Stewart

After a few unsuccessful plays, an athlete can sometimes get caught in a slump. They start performing far less than their potential. For instance, a basketball player wouldn’t be able to sink a ball even if he was standing over the net. By this time, he’s trying too hard and it interferes with his reflexes.

Yogi Berra said, “A full mind is an empty bat,” meaning that athletes who over think what they’ve been trained to do interrupt their muscle memory. They’re out of the groove and can’t get back into it.

Have you ever felt like that? Does it seem that everything is conspiring against you? After a few difficult or disappointing episodes, your thoughts spiral downwards and nothing works. Eventually, you can’t even hold onto a glass of water without spilling it. You might find yourself saying, “I knew it wasn’t going to work out,”  “Nothing ever goes my way,” or “I always get the short end of the stick.”

You’re tying up all your energy in focusing on the problem and trying not to screw up. And since that’s where your attention is, you have more trouble. Just like an athlete mentioned above, you’re giving yourself negative feedback, and that instructs the subconscious to create more of the same.

Break that cycle and climb out of your frustration using the following tips:

1. Realize that difficulties will happen, no matter what. The challenge is not to overreact to them. That just gives them more energy and more attention. It becomes a negative spiral into a self-fulfilling prophecy of disaster. Your slump may simply be due to the natural cycle of peak performance alternating with a period of recovery and regeneration. So relax and let nature take its course.

2. Check your overall stress level. Your underlying attention may be taken up with some difficulty in your life. Your mind has a limit in how many things it can focus on. Try and go beyond these limits and everything starts to fall apart. Your mind may be distracted by your other issues. Do some stress reduction practices like meditation, self-hypnosis, exercise, and others.

3. Step away from the problem. Relax. Take a walk, go to a movie, have a picnic. Let your subconscious work on it without your conscious mind trying to interfere and control the process. By shifting your attention onto something more pleasurable, it allows your subconscious to begin finding solutions.

4. Do something, anything, that makes you feel successful. If you don’t have any money coming in, get a job pushing a broom just to have the feeling of financial flow. Find a way to feel like you’ve accomplished something.

5. Write about your concerns. Studies show that doing this can reduce the anxiety felt just before a test, a meeting or starting a project. Journaling can also help your mind process the information differently and solve problems.

6. Instead of being discouraged or defeated by a challenge, reframe it so you perceive it to be a pleasant experience. Change your attitude towards it to be something to accomplish, not dread. Viewing it from a different perspective will also bring much more creative energy to bear.

7. Write a list of what you’re grateful for as a way of changing your mood. Studies show that gratitude is one of the best ways to form a positive frame of mind. It increases optimism and instructs your mind to begin looking for the good.

Athletes form rituals and superstitions to help get them out the negative frame of mind created by a slump. Instead of using that hit and miss method, use the more productive strategies listed above. They’re more helpful in the long run. Once you’ve been able to detach from and break the negative feedback loop, you can get back into the flow.

Affirmation

All of Life is for me and works for my best interests. When I encounter obstacles and disappointments, I remember that everything is conspiring for my Highest Good. Success is my natural state, and it is always at the core of whatever happens. I change my perspective to view any difficulties as temporary challenges that will ultimately further my success and well-being.

Copyright 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Your Beliefs Determine Your Actions

Your Beliefs Determine Your Actions

You tend to filter current situations through your beliefs. If you tend to believe that nothing good happens for you, you probably overlook opportunities that come your way. This means you don’t take action on them, because you don’t realize there’s any action to take. But you can change those beliefs and filters. Here’s an exercise to practice turning negative beliefs around in your daily life.



Copyright 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

“Personal Development Tips: Why It’s Good For Business”

“Personal Development Tips: Why It’s Good For Business”

By Stuart Tan

I took a trip to Japan recently and was all the rave about the culture and the people there. I’d been asking myself why there was such a difference between Japanese culture and other parts of the world. I’ve been to Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Australia and the US.

While many of my friends tend to complain about service in most of these countries, I was personally pleasantly surprised by the level of service  especially so in Japan. The level of patience and “wow” service was quite amazing. For example, since it was the first time my family and I were in Japan, we had to ask for directions at the train station. For a beginner, the train network was quite confusing, with multiple providers and multiple stations. We had kind of sorted out where to go, when the officer at the station told us there was a faster way, and promptly refunded all our money and pointed us in the right direction.

Yes, these were competing train line providers. Yet, the focus was on the convenience of the visitor. Did this train line (Tokyo subway) lose out to the JR line? Well, not really. They did provide a great impression and also they created a positive for Japan overall.

Let’s draw a lesson from this: sometimes, providing good service helps the overall industry to win, not just the company alone. It would be really sad that an industry is avoided simply because of the bad press of a few companies cutting and slashing at each other.

It boils back down to the leaders within the organizations involved to be able to develop their people to think a little broader, beyond just the immediate term solution. In fact, the main thing is if you are constantly focused on the next 5 minutes, you won’t be able to proceed to create wins in the broader scheme of things.

Interestingly enough, Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, was quoted yesterday as encouraging a middle path amid the looming foreign currency war as part of the  G20 Summit in Seoul. This takes into account the fact that economically stronger nations could support weaker economies by strengthening their currencies a little where they could afford. I think this was quite interesting because it not only demonstrates the ability to avoid the black and white thinking approach, but also create wins all around.

We all expect certain things to happen in our mental models of the world. So unless we are taught to take a different approach or a more creative stance, it is highly likely we will fall flat in our pursuit of excellence. In customer service, for example, we expect waiters to attend to us immediately. Brian Tracy goes on a fake tirade during his presentations and says “the reason why we are in the restaurant is because we’re hungry you assholes!”(and of course the audience responded with laughter) I’m certain the restaurant never gets the point because in many circumstances, they are a victim of their own success. The more popular they are, the more customers they get and the lower the quality of their food!

Once again, it points to the idea that we have to constantly upgrade and change in order to become better. Every level of success will present for itself an additional level of challenge.

Back to Japan, I had a surprise also when we walked into a tempura bar. This bar is the kind where they will cook your order when you place it right in front of you, and was quite a novel experience. They got us to hang our jackets (we were experiencing 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night) and take off our shoes, which we placed in a shoe rack before getting to the bar. I’d personally already forgotten that there was a shoe rack in the first place, because I was enjoying my dinner. So when it was time to foot the bill, something strange happened. The shoes had automatically appeared out of nowhere, laid out in front of us at the foot of the place where we had left them. Of course, I processed it and thought ‘shoes don’t move on their own’. It was the attendant who had memorized what shoes we were wearing, and laid it out for us when we were leaving. I’m sure they had a system for remembering or else they wouldn’t have been able to handle the dozens of customers who were in their restaurant that night. Another point scored for Japan.

No matter where you are: a Prime minister in a G20 summit, a train station officer, a restaurant attendant or a public speaker running an event, we all need to strive for surprise – the ability to find a path that is more innovative to engage their audience/customers/suppliers.

Finally, shopping for shoes. My sister-in-law has tiny feet, so it’s impossible to find shoes anywhere in the world for her other than custom-made shoes. The problem for her is that she has had hers made and many of the shoes may look pretty but are not comfortable at all. Lo and behold, we chanced upon a shop that had SS sized shoes – size 20.5 to 22 (cm). These are the kind of shoes that your young teenage daughter might have at the kid’s department store. the only difference was the shoes were comfortable and good looking. Problem – each of them were over $200 a pair, a far cry from the traditional $20 Charles and Keith shopping mall sales. But, she went in to see how well the shoes fit anyway. Pair after pair, the attendant patiently brought suitable selections, in spite of a problem with language. Eventually, after going through almost 40 pairs of shoes, my sister bought five pairs. To be honest, I think we didn’t pay for the shoes, really. 90% of the cost of the shoes would easily have been attributed to the pleasant natured lady who attended to her, and it was worth it. Strangely, this seems to be a culture in Japan. Yet, in Singapore, we’re just scratching the surface of this, praising people who have GEMS programs in their company for ‘going the extra mile’. Wow. And here in Japan, they don’t mind going the extra few hundred miles… with a smile.

I figure this: attitude is something that we can never tell someone to have. I couldn’t go to an employee and say “improve your attitude” and it magically happens. But what can be done is to empower the organizational culture so that such behaviors and attitudes continue to shine. It’s therefore imperative that businesses constantly focus on bringing out the best in their employees through any form of training, coaching and mentoring. After all, one employee in the above case, could spend just under an hour to help the company earn over $1000 in shoe sales. Go ahead and crunch the numbers. Is that not proof of a decent return on investment?

Copyright 2011 Stuart Tan
All Rights Reserved

Stuart Tan is a trainer of personal development and business process excellence. He has trained in various countries all over the world over the last 15 years and continues to impact people through his podcasts and articles. For more information about his training programs, visit him at Facebook.StuartTan.com.

“Life Doesn’t Have To Be A Struggle”

“Life Doesn’t Have To Be A Struggle”

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Recently, a belief surfaced for me that was an aspect of a deeper issue concerning the need to struggle. This specific belief stressed that I could only learn and grow through difficulty. It claimed that it was necessary for me to experience blocks and obstacles, since that was the only way to strengthen me.

It made me realize how pervasive this idea of struggle, suffering and difficulty is in our culture. From religion to business, we’re conditioned to believe that life has to be hard and that we’re born to suffer. Our society has made suffering and struggle a condition to aspire to. Not only is it condoned, it’s expected. Think of the things you’ve heard from childhood.

  • Life is hard
  • Money doesn’t grow on trees
  • You have to work hard to earn a living
  • Only by working hard can you get ahead
  • You have to learn from your own mistakes
  • You can only learn from challenges
  • What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
  • You’ll never learn from other peoples’ mistakes
  • If you haven’t struggled, then you don’t appreciate what you have
  • The only thing that teaches you is suffering
  • If things come easily to you, then you’re shallow because you haven’t struggled
  • You have to walk a mile in another person’s shoes to appreciate their suffering

People actually play a game of one-ups-man-ship about how hard their life is. “I worked more hours than anyone else in the department,” or “My life is harder/worse than anyone else’s.” They get perks from management with the first, and a jolt of power with the second (believe it or not).

If people like this try to draw you in, disregard them. No matter what you do, you can’t please these discontented people. If you engage in their game, they’ll keep upping the ante. When someone says something like that to me, my internal commentary is, “You win. I’d rather have an enjoyable life than a hard one.”

It’s true that suffering sometimes can encourage a person to grow. But more often than not, it just causes them to dig a deeper hole. Struggle may strengthen character, but it’s more likely to cause a person to implode and be self-destructive.

When this belief surfaced for me, I realized that, to a certain extent and in limited amounts, struggle and suffering could be beneficial. It can wake us up and cause us to aspire to something better. Too much of it, though, and it’s counter-productive. In large amounts, it doesn’t build a person up, it breaks them down.

It’s like stress. A little stress helps propel us to develop new ideas, new ways of doing things, and actually creates interest in life. What would life be without a little excitement? To build muscle, we stretch and stress them. But train too hard, and we strain or tear our muscles. Having too much stress for too long harms our health.

We can choose what to believe. Our beliefs create our reality. Since, in the past, I’d   successfully transformed a belief to be more constructive, I decided to do the same thing with this one.

I considered how I could turn the idea of struggle around to be more in alignment with the Universe. What if the solution appeared as soon as I hit a snag? What if I could learn lessons while things flowed easily for me?

It may take some time for me to integrate these ideas, but I know that when I do, my life will be enriched. Try it for yourself. You just might be surprised at how wonderful your life can be without believing you need to struggle.

Affirmation

There is no struggle, strife, stress or suffering in the Universal Spirit, which I am a part of. I now erase from my mind the belief that any of these limited ideas are necessary. My life can flow smoothly, while I learn and grow with ease. The answer to any challenge is already apparent as soon as the issue arises. Ideas and internal resources increase as I allow myself to be more open to the flow of the Universe.

Copyright 2011 Linda-Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Are You Ready For Greater Self-Esteem?

Are You Ready For Greater Self-Esteem?

Writer, speaker and hypnotherapist, Linda-Ann Stewart, will be offering an exciting free teleclass this month. In the highly educational, free one-hour teleclass, “Self-Esteem Isn’t Earned, It’s Learned.,” Linda-Ann will discuss whether self-esteem is earned by achievements, or a learned trait. She will also cover how people can improve low self-esteem, and develop the confidence to achieve what they want in life.

There are two critical questions you must ask yourself to achieve your life’s goals.

  1. How can I develop self-esteem that’s true and will see me through life’s trials?
  2. Can I earn it by doing more or learn it by taking some important actions?

Self-esteem is the all important gauge of how you feel about yourself. It gives you a sense of worthiness and feeling of being competent. High self-esteem allows you to feel appropriate and assured, as a person. It is the foundation inside yourself on which everything else is built. With good self-esteem, there’s nothing you can’t do.

Self-esteem is also necessary to feel a connection to God, Spirit or the Universe. If you don’t feel good enough for the world, or worthy enough for the good Life can offer, why would you feel like you are acceptable to God?

This one-hour conference call at 5:30 p.m. PDT, Thursday, March 24, 2011 will cover a variety of topics, including:

  • What self-esteem is
  • How self-esteem develops
  • What steps to take to gain a sense of self-worth
  • And more

There is no charge for the teleclass, except for normal long distance fees. Registration is limited. For more information, or to register now, visit www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/se-tlcls.html

This life-altering opportunity can open the gates to help people achieve all they want from life. Register today to improve your life.


“How to Stay Positive when You Know Your Life Sucks” from wikiHow

“How to Stay Positive when You Know Your Life Sucks” from wikiHow

How to Stay Positive when You Know Your Life Sucks
from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Thinking negative? Here are some strategies for how to start thinking positively and accomplish what you want in life.

Steps

  1. Ground Yourself. The most common reason why people think their lives suck is that they aren’t living their own lives. Look deeply into whether you are acting to please others – to please family, friends, and society. Realize that you need to get to know who you are and what your needs are, and make the choices to follow your own path. To know these things, a path of meditation and inner exploration is invaluable.
  2. Look on the inside. What are some qualities you have that you like about yourself? Are you funny? Are you intelligent? Are you sincere? Are you generous? What do you have pride in? Try focusing on the positive things in your life. You may be having a positive influence on others even when you think you’re useless.
  3. Prove those negative thoughts wrong. When you find yourself in a bad mood, you could think of the negative things such as, “I’m dumb and annoying”, “I’m better off dead”, “I’m ugly, I wish I looked different”, etc. Even though it’s not true. Change your mind. Look for your good features, think about the ones that you know love you, look on your greater side. Realize that nobody’s life is easy and that there will always be ups and downs, and moments of low self esteem. Don’t automatically assume that nobody cares. Every person matters to someone. You’re alive for a reason.
  4. Appreciate what you see. Look in the mirror. Find some beautiful things about yourself…. Do you have nice skin? nice nails? beautiful eyes? full lips? Find stuff that appeals to you. When you can’t change something, change your attitude towards it!
  5. It’s all how you look at it. Jealous of the people with ‘amazing’ lives? They chose to be that way! Remember, there are people living in mansions who are miserable and people living on the street who are perfectly happy. It’s all on how you look at it.
  6. Determine how your life could be better. What can you do to make your life better? What do you desire to do? How do you want to feel? Make a few reachable goals and your own strategies. The first step is usually the hardest – getting help or admitting you need it.
  7. Get motivated. What motivates you? What gives you energy to go on everyday? Music? Love? Family? A 1km run? God/Allah? Your attitude? Your pet? Friends? School? Give yourself a boost by focusing on what is important to you personally.
  8. Remember that some things can pass with time. There will be a tomorrow. There will be a next week. There will be a next month and perhaps by then, things will have changed for the better.
  9. Reminisce. Whenever you feel like the future is ‘hopeless’, think about happy memories. It will help make you feel better and remind you that in the future, there will be good things, too. Think about all the good things you’ve experienced, felt, and achieved, and consider how many more good things could be waiting ahead. There will be many great moments in your life – don’t let a few obstacles get in the way.
  10. Don’t stop yourself from feeling the joy. It’s okay to step back once in awhile and just enjoy the moment. Even in tough situations – it’s important to smile and laugh here and there. Don’t restrict yourself from doing things you love because they’re “not important” or because you think you’ll be criticized for doing them. Let yourself enjoy life even if you’re not at the best place you could be. You only live once – make the best of it.
  11. Develop a gratitude journal. It’s pretty simple. At the end of every day, write down five things that have made you happy or appreciative that day — not necessarily big things, even small ones count. For example: nice weather, being praised by my boss for getting an urgent errand done, my playful dog, kids and hubby kissing me goodbye before they went to school/work, a hilarious joke a mate shared, etc.
  12. If you feel persistently sad, unmotivated, anxious, hopeless or fearful, seek professional help. You may be suffering from a mood disorder or nutritional deficit which could be contributing to your situation. Remember there is always somebody there who wants to help you. You are valuable!

Tips

  • To “go for it,” simply get up and do it. There is a small voice inside saying “Get up!”, and you need to do what it says; just dive in! Turn off the computer, turn off the TV, and get going!
  • When you think positively, your whole views change about the world and you tend to look on the better, clearer side. It may sound stupid but being resentful is what really renders positive thinking useless. When you let down your walls (or hold out until they collapse…) really trying to “focus on the positives.”
  • If the above fails for you, take the Buddhist view: Life is difficult. The fallacious thought is that we can change that. In accepting that life indeed is difficult, we begin to make it less painful…not less difficult. Accept that life is full of difficulty and choose the religion, belief system, or substance to ingest to decrease the pain; that is after all what the rest of us do. Life can suck, deal with it.

Warnings

  • Don’t make the mistake of standing still rather than giving it a try.
  • Don’t get lost in self-pity. Remember you have the ability to change your outlook and your situation.
  • Resist the urge to act out moods on those around you. Instead, write, confide in a friend, draw, take a walk, etc. Do something creative or physically active, something you feel comfortable doing and that others don’t have the right to criticize.
  • Consult someone if you start having suicidal thoughts. Don’t keep it inside.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Stay Positive when You Know Your Life Sucks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Do You Resist Accepting More Good?

Do You Resist Accepting More Good?

Most of consciously would love more good in our lives. But some people unconsciously restrict it, based on fear of offending others. Here are a couple of reasons why you might avoid accepting good, and some new attitude possibilities to resolve them.

Copyright 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Use Gratitude Lists To Increase Your Optimism

Use Gratitude Lists To Increase Your Optimism

Remember how you were always told to count your blessings? It was to get you to focus on what positive things were in your life, rather that dwell on the negative.

Listing three or more things that you’re grateful for each day is one of the best ways to begin to become more positive and optimistic. It doesn’t make the difficulties go away, but by focusing your attention on better things, you feel better and are able to deal with challenges easier.

Studies are now finding that using this simple technique for just three weeks actually still affects a person positively six months later. The mind has been trained to look for good in the world. Not only does this increase happiness, but it also can help those with depression.

When things look darkest, look for some good in your life. Use it in your personal and professional life. Practice it when you feel down, stressed or pressured. You’ll be training your brain to work at more positive outcomes.

The original source for this article was Want to Boost Your Office Optimism? Try the Tetris Effect at Psychology Today.