positive thinking – Page 20 – Empowering Your Mind

Do You Passively Assume or Actively Believe? Part 2

June 14, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

A belief is like a garden. If you throw some seeds into fertile soil, some will take root, sprout and grow. But they need tending or they’ll wither away. You have to water them with new energy, and pluck out the weeds of negative thoughts and inertia. When you attend to your belief and cultivate it, your subconscious will respond with insight, ideas, and inspired action.

Where are you stuck in a past mindset that’s no longer serving you? What assumptions have you made that aren’t valid anymore? Are you coasting in some areas and not putting energy into your life? Start becoming aware of your passive beliefs. How can you shift them into a positive statement of intention and action?

Instead of continuing to smoke, you could say, “I choose to do what I need to that furthers my health,” and find a way to quit smoking. If you’re in debt, you might decide to cut down on expenses, formulate a budget, and work your plan, committed to get out of debt by a certain date. For increased business, believe that you can be successful by investigating new ways to be visible, market and sell.

Don’t allow the garden of your mind to wilt. Be dynamic and fertilize it with new purpose and action. Treat your belief like a living thing. Plant the seeds and make sure the environment is as favorable as possible to encourage them to grow. Nurture them, give them what they need to thrive. They’ll bloom in your life with all the beauty and success you could want.

Affirmation

The Universe wants the good for me that I want for myself: harmony, abundance, health, and joy. I let go of old assumptions that no longer serve me. Now, I cultivate my belief that all good is mine. Insight, ideas, and inspiration flood into my life. I am guided to take action in the direction of my desire. Whatever I need to have a more satisfying life is now provided.

Do You Passively Assume or Actively Believe? Part 1

June 12, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Casey never balanced her checkbook. She just assumed she’d have enough for her rent and monthly expenses each month. Although she never knew how much money she had, that didn’t stop her from going out to lunch every day, buying jewelry and going to the movies with her friends. She went through the month with blinders on, avoiding thinking about how she was going to pay for everything.

At the end of the month, she usually could pay her rent only if she didn’t buy groceries for the week. Her assumption that she had enough money wasn’t a strong enough belief to get her over her financial hump.

There’s a difference between an assumption that the best is coming to you and a conviction that it is. An assumption is passive, and doesn’t have much energy behind it. It’s mainly a hope that what you want will come to pass, without much resolution behind it.

On the other end of the spectrum, a conviction is active, a certain knowledge that what you desire will occur. It’s conscious, intentional, focused and supercharges the thought and will. A belief backed with power inspires. It stirs the subconscious to creatively solve problems and find new ways of getting things done.

Too many people float through life, assuming that everything will be the same. But the one constant in the Universe is change. As our environment and we change, we need to keep our beliefs in line with the present.

At the beginning of this century, many people comfortably believed that they would work for one company for their entire career. Shortly thereafter, many jobs were out-sourced and there was a recession. Suddenly, they faced a completely new set of circumstances, and spiraled into fear.

People who make statements like, “Smoking won’t affect my health,” “I’ll eventually be able to pay down my credit cards,” or “I don’t have to upgrade my supplies or my marketing. Customers will come back into stores soon,” aren’t being positive or optimistic. They’re living in denial, avoiding reality. They choose to stay in their comfort zone, even if it’s destroying them. If they recognized the facts, they’d have to be pro-active and change, which they don’t want to make the effort to do.

Many businesses and associations make a similar mistake. They coast on their past success until they run out of juice. Because they haven’t changed with the times, they don’t alter their strategies to find more business or new members. They’re tied to their old mindset, assuming that what used to work is going to continue to work in the same way. But times change, and they need to update the way they do business.

Book Review – Open Your Mind To Receive

May 21, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Open Your Mind To Receive
By Catherine Ponder

This is one of my favorite books by this author. It’s a small tome, but packed with great ideas. The whole premise is stated in the title. Most of us have closed ideas of the amount of good we can accept.

This book instructs the reader to open their mind to accept more of the goodness of the Universe. Though Ms. Ponder mainly addresses the issue of abundance or prosperity, these ideas can be used for other challenges as well.

It was in this book that she introduced me to the concept of of releasing a person as a way of forgiving them, since she states that the word “forgive” means to “give up.” This has helped me to let go of people that I haven’t been quite able to forgive.

She also addresses the idea of accepting “nothing but the best.” Most of us have settled for something less, so this concept is one that we need to envision for ourselves.

As is usual in her books, this one is filled with great affirmations and examples. It’s a wonderful, easy, interesting read, and I recommend it highly.

Changing Your Life With Affirmations, Self-Talk, and Autosuggestion

May 15, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

I’ve heard some people assert that affirmations don’t work for them, or that they don’t believe in them. Unfortunately, this attitude comes from a misunderstanding about what affirmations are, what they do and how to use them.

Affirmations aren’t a magic wand that will make things change in the blink of an eye. They’re simply a deliberate, constructive use of a process that you’re already using. You talk to yourself all the time, either giving yourself positive feedback or putting yourself down. It’s called self-talk. Affirmations are a way of reprogramming your self-talk.

These statements to yourself are also considered to be autosuggestions. You’re giving yourself hypnotic directives all the time by your self-talk. Napoleon Hill wrote about this concept in his book, “Think And Grow Rich.”

No matter what you call your inner statements, you’re instructing your subconscious mind on what you want. You either do it consciously or unconsciously, deliberately or habitually. The only way to change those directives, and their results, is to change what you say to yourself.

That’s why using affirmations in a specific and regular way makes changes in your life. But you have to use them consistently because that’s the only way to change the way you’ve been thinking.

If you were on a freeway, you wouldn’t expect to go in the opposite direction without braking, stopping, crossing to the opposite lanes, and then accelerating to merge with traffic. Any other action could be disastrous.

You’ve built up momentum going in one direction. And you have to slow down before you can change course. Committing to your decision is vital. If you make a sharp turn on the freeway, while driving at 75 mph, you’re inviting an accident.

It’s the same with autosuggestion. You have to work to slow your old thinking down (braking), and then turn it around to believe something different. As with driving, you move in the direction of your attention.

No matter whether you call it affirmation, positive self-talk, or autosuggestion, the process of changing the quality of your attention is the same. Consistently focus your mind on what you want. That will change your life.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Discover The Opportunity In The Midst Of Challenge

April 16, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

When you label a situation as “bad,” it tends to live up to your expectations. However, if you can change that attitude to one of looking for the best, it tends to work out for your benefit. Learn a powerful strategy that instructs your mind to seek for the opportunity in your challenges.

BlogTalkRadio Interview – Reduce Stress By Developing A Positive Mindset

March 23, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

I was honored to be interviewed by my friend and colleague Cathy Severson from Retirement Life Matters for her first BlogTalkRadio Show. We had a great time doing it.

Stress is a fact of life. Some stress is beneficial, but too much can be harmful. Much of the excess stress that people experience isn’t due to a situation, but how they interpret it. Changing what a person tells themselves about the experience to something more positive reduces the stress. When they’re able to develop a more positive outlook about life in general, their health and well being actually improves.

Listen to internet radio with Retirement Life Matters on Blog Talk Radio

Are You “Conceiving, Believing, Achieving” In The Future?

March 7, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve.” This is very true. What you imagine (good or bad) plants that idea in the subconscious.

Your subconscious can’t tell the difference between what you imagine and what’s really going on. So it begins to work on that idea to make it real.

The next step is believing you can have it. Belief is the power that drives the subconscious. So when you can wrap your mind around actually having it, the subconscious goes into overdrive.

But many times, when you’re working this concept, you keep the achievement in the future. That’s a signal to the subconscious not to accomplish it in the present.

It’s like the carrot on a stick being held in front of a donkey to keep him moving towards it. He keeps chasing it, but never gets to eat the carrot.

When you imagine your desire, you need to imagine that it’s happening now. If you imagine it’s happening in the future, even a moment ahead you’ll never achieve your goal.

Whether it’s to quit smoking, lose weight, get a better job, have more money, or be in a relationship, your subconscious needs to know you want it…NOW.

Your conscious mind may rebel, saying, “But it’s a lie, I don’t have it now!” It’s not about trying to trick your mind, the idea is to specifically instruct your subconscious about the goal you want and when you want it.

Bring the feeling and thought picture of having your desire into the present, as if it’s happening now. Whatever you can conceive of having, and believe you have in the present, you can achieve.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Understanding Fosters Forgiveness

January 18, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Forgiveness is a powerful process that brings you freedom and peace of mind. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. When you’re able to understand what prompted the person to hurt you, this can begin to heal your wound. Discover some different ways of looking at the situation that can give you valuable information and guidance to heal.

Book Review – “Your Infinite Power To Be Rich”

December 26, 2011 Linda-Ann Stewart

“Your Infinite Power To Be Rich: Use the Power of Your Subconscious Mind to Obtain the Prosperity You Deserve”
by Joseph Murphy

Joseph Murphy is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of my favorite books on prosperity. As with his other books, this one is full of affirmations and examples of how others have succeeded using mind principles. He describes a three step process of refusing to think negatively, affirming your goal throughout the day, and imagining it as you go to sleep at night.

Dr. Murphy addresses various issues, such as feeling worthy to be wealthy, how God wants you to be rich, how God is your employer, how to use your imagination positively, the law of gratitude, the power of your words, and explains many of the mental laws. His books are very easy and enjoyable to read, and I’ve learned something new from every one I’ve read. Over the years, I’ve used his affirmations to improve my life.

~ Linda-Ann

Book Review – “The Magic Of Believing”

December 21, 2011 Linda-Ann Stewart

“The Magic of Believing”
by Claude M. Bristol

When I first began my studies of mental science and metaphysics, I was urged to read this classic. I resisted doing so, believing that I’d been exposed to the ideas contained in this volume through other authors. I had learned much of what this book teaches through others, but this book goes so far beyond, and into much greater depth, than anything closely related.

This book explores the idea that thought is magnetic, and discusses various experiments that support the theory. The author refers to thought as “mind stuff,” and explains the functions of the subconscious and conscious minds, and how to manifest what we want.

In the chapter on suggestion, he describes how political leaders have deliberately used the power of suggestion for their own aims. We are always being influenced by suggestion, and he explains how to use it for our own purposes, to improve our lives, and how it can seem like magic.

Other chapters address visualization, the mirror technique to change the mind, projecting thoughts, and much more. This book is full of energy and inspiration. If you need a read to motivate you to take charge of your thinking, then pick up this one.