problem solving – Page 6 – Empowering Your Mind

Do I need to know the cause of a problem to resolve it?

May 28, 2015 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: Do I need to consciously know the original cause of a problem to resolve it?

Answer: Not necessarily. Many people want to know where a problem got started, and for some it’s helpful to know. But generally it isn’t imperative to understand what happened to release the issue. The subconscious mind knows where the problem got its start, and what might have reinforced it. And the subconscious mind knows what to do to release and resolve it.

You may not even consciously know what to do about it, but the subconscious mind knows how to accomplish it. But it has to be directed to do so, and you have to be willing to let go of the emotion associated with it. And the subconscious will only heal it if it feels it’s safe for you to do so.

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.

Behind The Curtain Of My Decisions…

February 5, 2014 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Kendall Summerhawk

Ready for a rant?

I recently watched a video of a guru in the self-help world, describing her recommended process for making a decision.

Okay, so I’m intrigued, as the topic of decision making is one I personally love since everything we do, have and are in our lives is the result of our decisions.

Back to our guru gal…I watched as she outlined her process, which centered on checking in with your energy about the decision and “choosing the option that felt light and easy.”

Seriously?

My jaw dropped. Expecting the right decision to be the light and easy one is a recipe for creating avoidance and denial, and cultivating what I call “low decision IQ”.

There is an abundance of situations in your life and business that require you to make decisions. Some will feel difficult or painful, yet are still authentic and honor your values, upleveling your spirit and your integrity in the process.

While I’m not saying that every decision has to be full of drama or take hours to research before coming to a conclusion, what I am saying is that taking the light and easy road will only lead you to decisions that keep you stuck in disempowerment and limit your ability to grow into the extraordinary woman you’re meant to be.

For example, recently I faced these decisions.

Situation #1: What do I do about the friend who has zero boundaries, keeps makes one bad choice after another (creating chaos and drama in her life) and disrespects my time?

On a scale of 1-10 in terms of difficulty (10 being the toughest) this situation rates a 10.5!

Situation #2: In meeting with my financial advisor I’m presented with the opportunity to move some of my savings nest egg — which is getting zero percent interest — over to a 3 year deposit account where I’ll get a nice return as long as I don’t touch a penny of the money for 3 years.

Okay, so using the same rating scale this one sounds like it should be less than 1 on the difficulty meter, but the idea of not being able to get to my money for the upcoming years without paying a penalty makes me a little squeamish and triggers old “but what if something happens??” feelings of potential doom lurking around the corner. (Irrational, I know, given the success of my business but I want to be perfectly transparent with you). So this one jumps up to a rating of 6.

Ready to take a closer look at where the “light and easy road” would lead me?

Situation #1: Remember my friend? The one with no boundaries and an utter disregard for other peoples’ time, including mine. Light and easy would be to skip addressing the problem, making the decision that “it will all work out somehow…I can just feel it”.

Situation #2: And the financial decision? Light and easy would be to do nothing, figuring “the money is fine where it is, and this way, I don’t have to fill out any of those annoying forms or worry that I might need the money in a pinch.”

Can you guess what I did instead? Let’s find out…

Situation #1: I decided to address the issues with my friend, letting her know that her choices where up to her, but they were impacting me, which I wasn’t comfortable with. When nothing changed I let her know that while I cared about her deeply, I could no longer have her chaos in my life and I ended the friendship.

While not a light and easy decision to make, it was a decision that honors my integrity. By standing up for my boundaries I strengthened my self-worth and deepened my connection to valuing myself.

Situation #2: Rather than ignoring a great opportunity I reminded myself that in an extreme emergency I could still get access to the money in the longer term investment. Plus, by moving the money from my regular savings account I was creating a ‘gap’ that I could get excited about filling with more savings. The decision made, I asked my financial advisor for help on filling out the forms, sent off a check and felt awesome about making a financial decision from a grown-up mindset.

Ladies, “light and easy” decisions are best left for deciding whether to have pizza or enchiladas for Friday night dinner.

The rest of the time? Make decisions based on what will help you achieve the results you want. Every decision you make from this place of clarity and integrity adds grace and ease to your life, which is the ultimate way of creating joy!

Would you like to learn simple ways you can brand, package and price your services, quickly move away from ‘dollars-for-hours work’ and create more money, time, and freedom in you business? Check out my web site, http://www.KendallSummerHawk.com, for free articles, resources and to sign up for my free audio mini-seminar “Money Blocks & Breakthroughs.”

Be Willing To Reprioritize When Life Surprises You

January 26, 2013 Linda-Ann Stewart

It happened to me again this week. I had my agenda all laid out, my goals selected, my action items scheduled. Then I had an unexpected problem raise its ugly head. There was a technical issue that had to be addressed immediately. If the issue wasn’t corrected, one part of my business would grind to a crawl. My original priorities had to be put on hold while I diverted my time and energy to this new issue.

Has this ever happened to you? You have your plans decided on, and something new pops up that needs to be taken care of immediately. It may be a project dropped in your lap at the last minute, a flat tire needing to be changed, or a computer crashing.

When life suddenly changes your priorities, you may wonder what’s happening. You already decided what was most important, but life had other plans. You may feel guilty when your priorities get shoved to the side because something unanticipated takes precedence. “Why didn’t I see this coming?” you may ask.

Your priorities are still important. It’s just that the unwelcome surprise is more immediate. It’s a crisis that needs to be dealt with before you can move forward with your original goals.

When you have something like this happen, be gentle with yourself. Take care of the unforeseen concern. And then re-prioritize the rest of your goals. Decide which is #1, #2, and #3 and so on. And instead of trying to work on them all, start on the first step of #1 and continue until #1 is complete.

This prevents a sense of overwhelm and gives you a feeling of accomplishment. While you cope with the immediate issue, you’re still addressing a priority, being true to your vision. Getting it done may simply take a little longer than you expected.

Do you need a plan or let the subconscious work out the best way?

June 19, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: I was wondering whether you need to have a plan to achieve a goal or whether you should let the subconscious mind work out the best way?

Answer: It is important to have a goal, and then steps to take on the way to the goal. But it’s also important to not “outline” how the goal is going to manifest. It’s a tightrope to walk. For instance, suppose you want a new job. You know the steps to take. You look at the job listings, you send out resumes, you go for interviews. The more action you take in the physical world helps the subconscious to know what it is that you want, and how committed you are to the goal.

If you focus on the new job coming from one of those that you investigated, that’s “outlining.” You’ve decided “how” it has to happen, instead of letting the subconscious mind figure out how. Or suppose you see a job that you really want, and set your heart on “that job.” Your new job may come when you feel led to go into a market and bump into a friend or former coworker who gives you a lead. You follow any inspiration you might have because that’s the inner mind directing you.

If you try to control the result or outcome, that’s when you run afoul of life. Having a plan lets the inner mind know what you want, but if you try to force the goal to manifest in the way you want to, you’ll not get very far. The inner mind knows so much more than you do about the situation. As you follow your plan, you stay aware of any nudges from the inner mind.

Your job is to remain focused on your goal, move in that direction, but let your inner mind power it. Just like driving a car. You keep your vision down the road, you steer the vehicle, but the motor is what moves the car. You don’t have to do a Fred Flintstone, and run or push the car.

Your Personal Efficient Biofeedback Instrument

May 29, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Are your shoulders ever tense? Do you ever clench your teeth? When you’re entering an uncomfortable situation, do you ever have butterflies in your abdomen? All of these just show that your body is an efficient biofeedback tool. It shows you what you’re thinking and feeling, even if you aren’t aware of it.

Whenever you’re stressed, your back muscles will tighten up in preparation to handle the threat. You may not even know that you’re stressed until you check in with your body.

Mentally or verbally rehearsing an argument after the fact may cause an upset stomach. It may not be happening in real life, but that doesn’t mean that your body doesn’t respond as if it’s happening now.

When you’re worried about something, you may unconsciously frown and furrow your forehead. You may even get a headache from tense neck muscles.

Your body shows you what you’re thinking about. Start listening to what it’s telling you. Check in with your body, and ask yourself, “What am I thinking about?” “What’s going on?” This will give you an indication of where your focus has been driving you.

Next, ask yourself, “What needs to change?” Stress, upset, anxiety, worry just keeps you immobilized. It cuts you off from creativity, inner resources and your problem solving abilities.

As soon as you redirect your attention to what you can do improve things, you instruct your subconscious mind to begin accessing those resources. Your subconscious mind will change its direction and begin seeking a solution. You can help it along by taking time to consciously relax. That will give it more energy to do its work.

The next time you feel out of sorts, reconnect with your body. It’ll give you all the guidance you need.

~ Linda-Ann

Stop Multitasking To Reduce Stress, Part 2

March 2, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

by Linda-Ann Stewart

However, when you’re able to focus on one thing at a time, it allows access to more mental and emotional resources. For example, driving the car without talking on the phone or texting is safer and less stressful than dealing with those distractions. Working on a project without interruptions means you’re able to bring all of your creativity to it.

Being fully engaged in a conversation means you’ll hear what the other person is saying and be able to respond appropriately. If you have to reply to an upsetting email, having the time and space to rationally choose what to say is better than reflexively shooting out a nasty response.

When you learn to be more mindful and more present in your life, you’re able to engage much more of the brain’s creativity, abilities, perspective, problem solving, and flexibility. You open up channels to the Universe and allow more of Its guidance and wisdom into your life.

Take some time to turn off all the technology in your life and shut out the distractions. Focus the light of your attention on one task. Immerse yourself in it.

If it’s washing the dishes, don’t watch TV at the same time or focus on hating the chore. Just do it without giving it much emotional energy or distraction. Consider it time for your mind to recharge without having to think ahead. Just be. The same technique can be used for a project at work, or a task at home.

Instead of tying up so much of your resources in your day-to-day scramble, learn to be more focused and mindful. This allows you to release more of the talents and creativity that are innate within you.

Affirmation

I commit myself to be in the present. The past is over, the future is yet to be. When I have a task, I focus on it and it alone. This gives me more mental, emotional and spiritual resources. It allows me to hear Divine Guidance more clearly and use it to make better choices. So I choose to shut out distractions and be right here, right now.

Read part 1 of Stop Multitasking to Reduce Stress.

Empowering Your Mind

Mindset, Motivation and Empowerment

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