Deciding to change a habit, attitude or personal situation does not automatically bring about the change desired. The decision to make the change is only the first step. Further action is required in order to effect a change in your subconscious self-image. You have learned that your goal is the mental picture of what you want. When you write down the goal, it becomes an affirmation.
The process of doing this is called “Imprinting”. Imprinting is the deliberate control of thoughts and pictures of the kind of changes we want to make. The imprinting occurs when our subconscious mind accepts the new visual image of the end result. Imprinting is a three-step process:
1. You affirm your goal.
2. You picture the end result.
3. You feel the emotion that goes along with accomplishing the goal.
Let's talk about each step so that we are absolutely clear on the procedure.
Step 1 - Affirm Your Goal
An affirmation is simply a statement of fact or belief that is written out in a personal, positive, present tense form as though the goal were already a reality. When you write out your affirmations, you deliberately control the programming of your subconscious by directing the visual picture to the end result you want.
Step 2 - Picture the End Result
Picture and experience in your mind the accomplishment of the end result. See yourself actively involved in the accomplishment. This is called constructive “synthetic visualization” or “virtual reality”. It works on the theory of displacement. You are displacing the old picture and old self-image with the new. Remember - you will move toward the goal that you picture.
Step 3 - Feel the Emotion That Goes Along with Accomplishment
The subconscious responds to feelings more than to words. It doesn’t respond any better to positive feelings than to negative feelings. It just responds to feelings. The more emotion or feeling we can put behind an idea, the faster it will manifest. So feeling and emotion are very important for impact. It can be said that our affirmation will manifest in direct proportion to the frequency with which we use picturing and emotional involvement. What you want to do is see to yourself accomplishing the end result while feeling the joy and satisfaction of the accomplishment.
All three steps are necessary for successful imprinting. If you just read your affirmations you can expect about a 10% success rate. If you read and visualize the end result, you can expect about a 55% success rate.
If you read your affirmations, picture the end result, and feel the emotion behind the accomplishment of what you are picturing, you can expect a 100 % success rate!
Friday, May 8, 2009
7 Steps to Reach Your Goals in 2009
There is something about "new" that keeps our thoughts occupied with new resolutions, new dreams, new hopes, new plans and new wishes. New Year gives a perfect starting point for opening the next chapter of our life and making it better and brighter than the previous one.
Unfortunately not all of our dreams and desires become reality. Keeping the initial enthusiasm and motivation over the long period of time is often tough. If you have made resolutions last year you probably know how difficult it is to stay committed to them.
The reason why so many people give up on their New Year’s resolutions almost as quickly as they make them is simple.
While resolutions for the New Year give us a wonderful sense of positive intent, they are extremely hard to stick with unless we turn them into clear, well-defined goals.
Here are some goal setting tips that will help you to stay on track with your resolutions and make the upcoming year unforgettable:
1. Get It Right The First Time
Before trying to formulate any actual long-term goal for the next year have a 'mind dump'. It’s a great and simple way of getting a lot of ideas out of your head, clear your mind and get a good view of your plans, decisions, and wishes.
Devote at least 20 minutes of your uninterrupted time to brainstorm. Sit down and relax. Take a piece of paper and write down whatever goals come to your mind. Don’t analyze anything. Just write it down. Big or small. Simple desires or life changes. Everything you wish you had gotten to, but didn’t. Anything you wanted for a long time, but never had enough time, courage, or persistence to follow through.
2. Pick Your Goal!
Take a look at the goals that you have written down… Are any of your resolutions unrealistic? What is the most important goal for you at the moment?
I’m sure that there are many goals that you would like to accomplish, but only few of them will have the biggest impact on your life this year.
Which goal is it? Is it something that can be achieved in one year? Or will it require more time? If it is a long term goal that will take several years to achieve, you might want to break it down into smaller goals that you can accomplish in less that a year. Otherwise, there is a high chance of losing motivation and initial momentum.
3. Concentrate Your Efforts On JUST ONE Goal
Don’t set a lot of different goals at the same time. Although it may seem like a good idea to divide your focus, time and energy between multiple goals, in reality it is counter-productive.
When you set a goal - you make a decision to stay committed to it. If you are pursuing a lot of goals at the same time, you aren’t committed to any of them. You’re just going with the flow, hoping that you’ll find time to squeeze everything into your already busy schedule. But what you do in reality is lose control of your time and let outside circumstances dictate your life.
One goal gives you clarity and focus. Ten goals create chaos and confusion.
If you want to succeed in achieving your goal next year, chose just one goal at a time and stick to it until it is 100% complete. Then pick the next one.
I know that we want to have everything right this moment. Most of us are impatient by nature. But think about this: It is much better to achieve one major goal than set 10 goals and fail to accomplish any of them!
4. Create Your Mantra
Once you’ve chosen your goal, turn it into a personal statement. And then turn it into something more than a statement - make it your own mantra or a verbal formula that is continuously repeated in your mind.
Make sure that you make your goal as detailed and clear as possible. There is a great way to check if your goal is stated correctly. Look at your goal “from the distance”. Forget that you have written these words just a few hours ago. Imagine that you see this statement for the first time, because your friend wants to know your opinion on it. Do you have any questions? Or maybe you would like to clarify a few things? If so, make adjustments to your goal, until it is 100% clear to everyone who reads it for the first time.
After that put copies of your goal on an index card, make it your desktop wallpaper, post it in the car or right next to your bathroom mirror or next to your computer at work.
Ensure that your goal is always at a forefront of your mind. Repeat it out loud every single day. Make your goal a center of your focus.
This will help you to keep your motivation and excitement high throughout the day.
5. Decide On An Action Plan
Many people fail to achieve their goals not because they lack desire or enthusiasm, but because they fail to plan their success out.
Goals are not simple items on your to-do list. They can’t be done overnight. Any worthwhile goal requires sustained effort and energy over the long period of time. Without a well-thought action plan it is almost impossible to carry big goals out.
If you want to noticeably improve your chances of success - plan specific actions that will lead you to the desired result. Your goal should be your compass that will point you into the right direction.
Your action plan is a detailed map that with the baby steps will take you to your destination point. Action plan also helps you to monitor your progress, while giving you a sense of accomplishment and making the whole process seem a lot easier.
6. Make Your Success Inevitable
Even if the goal that we have chosen sounds really appealing, it doesn’t mean that we will stick to it. When it comes to doing actual work, our motivation disappears with a speed of light.
Here is a quick example. Having a beautiful, toned and slim body is a very inspirational goal. We all want to be healthy and look great. However, getting up early in the morning to run 1 mile, denying ourselves things we love to eat, changing our lifestyle sounds much less appealing. At this point we have to consciously force ourselves into doing all these things to get the end result that we want.
Of course, if you have an iron will and unbending self-discipline, you will achieve your goal anyways. But if you are like me, you probably won’t torture yourself for a long period of time. Fortunately, there is a way how you can accomplish anything you desire, without having to force yourself into doing something.
All you have to do is set up the right conditions and let things happen for themselves.
For example, if you want to get more exercise, you can find a friend who wants to get back in shape and offer him/her to exercise together. Or set up an appointment with a personal trainer at the gym. He will stay by your side the whole time and you will more likely do your best. Or you can make a deal with your spouse that every workout that you’ll skip, you’ll give him/her $40.
Leave yourself no escape from achieving your goal. What conditions can you set up to make your success inevitable? With a little imagination and support of your friends and family you can accomplish any goal!
7. Build On Your Success
No matter what goal you have decided to pursue, there is only one way to achieve it - take a first step and build on your success gradually.
There is no way around it. You can’t become a multi-millionaire without making your first million. You can’t get in shape and have a gorgeous looking body, without doing the first workout. You can’t write a book, without writing the first chapter.
Whatever you want to accomplish you must do something every single day towards making your wish reality.
Even if you do just a little bit. Something that doesn’t require a lot of your time of effort, but you do it DAILY, you will achieve even your most daring goals.
Don’t let a single day go by without "incrementally" adding to an accomplishment of your goal. Consistency is the most important factor of success. Not motivation, not knowledge, not your skills - but consistency.
When we are first faced with everything we must do in order to achieve our goal it is easy to feel overwhelmed. When a goal seems too difficult to accomplish we often procrastinate, preferring to postpone hard work for later. The problem with it is that "later" may never come.
The only moment when you can change or do something is NOW. Don’t delude yourself with self-justifications that it is ok to skip today, if you do twice the work the next day. Deep down you know that it is just another story that you are telling yourself.
January 1st is a great starting point to change your life for the better. Make no excuses next year! Do something that will take you closer to your goal every single day. Even a tiny step towards your goal creates momentum and boosts motivation. And it is a step that you will never have to take again.
How to Become a Money Magnet
Like most people, you have probably been taught to see money as a tangible resource that resides in your wallet and bank account until you need to spend it. You use it to pay bills, buy products and services, and support worthwhile causes.
When you need more money, you probably do what most people would do: take physical action that will bring in more money, such as working extra hours, asking your boss for a raise, or even selling a few of your material possessions.
What you may not realize is that you can attract money into your life in much easier ways; simply by changing the way you think about money and abundance. It’s called the Law of Attraction, and getting it to work effectively for you can make the difference between a lifetime of lack and struggle, or abundance and ease.
This report is going to share 7 of the biggest mistakes that people make when attempting to use the Law of Attraction to attract more money into their lives; and offer helpful suggestions on how to turn them around if you find that you may be doing the same.
Law of Attraction Money Mistake #1
Holding a Mind-Set of Lack and Struggle
Based on your own life experiences, would you say that obtaining money on a regular basis is easy or difficult? In other words, do you have to work very hard to receive enough money to cover your monthly expenses, or does money seem to come to you effortlessly?
Take some time to think carefully about these questions because they reveal something very important: your overall mind-set regarding money and wealth. You can tell immediately whether you have a wealth mind-set or lack mind-set by looking at your life experiences.
Law of Attraction Think Rich Lesson #1
Your Mind-Set Creates Your Experiences
The Law of Attraction is activated by your mind-set – in other words, the things you think, believe and feel on a regular basis. Here’s how it works: Your thoughts trigger your emotions. Your emotional state emits a specific frequency of energy to the universe, and the universe returns events and experiences into your life, that correspond with your emotional frequency.
When you think and feel positively on a regular basis, everything in your life seems to flow more easily, including money. When your thoughts and emotions lean more toward the negative side on a regular basis, you experience more problems, setbacks and financial lack in your life. Also important are your beliefs. Your beliefs form the structure of what is possible for you. If you believe you have to work hard to have a lot of money, you’ll create exactly that experience for yourself. If you don’t believe you deserve more than a certain amount of money, you’ll block more from arriving. Whatever your beliefs are, they are your TRUTH, and you will subconsciously create evidence that supports that truth over and over again until you learn to do things differently.
Law of Attraction Money Mistake #2
Focusing on What You Don’t Have
Have you ever agonized over a shortage of money? Have you worried obsessively about not being able to pay your bills or buy something you wanted? Believe it or not, you were probably making the situation worse by doing so.
We know that lack is the condition of not having something you want – in other words, the absence of something. But the absence of exactly what may surprise you. Lack is not the absence of money, or health, or love. Those are just the symptoms of lack. At its core, lack is simply the blockage of ENERGY. When it comes right down to it, everything is energy. When you experience lack of any kind, it’s a sure sign that you are cutting off the natural flow of energy through your life.
Every time you worry about your financial situation, agonize over a shortage of money, or feel stressed about your bills, you attract more of the experience of lack into your life.
Law of Attraction Think Rich Lesson #2
Focus on What You DO Have and DO Want
It may sound incredibly difficult to focus on the positive when your life doesn’t look so rosy, but it is vital to find a way to do it. When you focus on the good things you already have and think about the things you want from an optimistic and hopeful state of mind, you cannot help but attract more of them into your life.
There are endless ways to begin focusing your thoughts on the things you do have and do want. Start a gratitude journal and jot down a few things each day that you are grateful for. (Hint: even if these things are not related to money, they can still get that positive energy flowing and attract more good things into your life; including more money.) You can also visualize having more money and imagine being able to pay your bills easily. The more you focus on things like this, the more they will begin to show up in your physical reality.
Law of Attraction Money Mistake #3
Attracting Lack with Negative Emotions
Focusing on lack and struggle is destructive enough, but it’s possible to make it even worse by infusing this focus with strong, negative emotions. Think of your emotions as the fuel that lends power to everything that manifests in your life. When it comes to money, do you often find yourself locked into negative emotions like these? Fear Anxiety Helplessness Hopelessness Pessimism Doubt Frustration Worry Jealousy Resentment
Every time you experience emotions like these, you are creating more lack. In order to turn lack into abundance, you have to avoid investing in these negative emotions.
Law of Attraction Think Rich Lesson #3
How to Prevent Negative Emotions from Creating More Lack
There are two things you can do to prevent these emotions from creating more lack in your life:
1) First, avoiding sinking into feelings like those described above is crucial. As soon as you notice yourself starting to feel stressed or worried about money, immediately shift your focus to something else. You can engage in a bit of self-talk if it helps; say something like, "There’s no point worrying about something I can’t control, so I’m going to focus on something that makes me feel good." Then spend time on unrelated activities, or find a way to feel better about your financial situation.
2) Secondly, begin directing more positive emotions toward your financial situation.
Even if you have to engage in a bit of fantasizing in order to do so, you need to get some positive emotions flowing to attract more abundance. There are many ways to do this, but one that works well is to keep affirming, "I always have more than enough money for everything I need." Just keep saying it over and over again, allowing yourself to feel confident and happy that your financial needs are being met.
You might receive an unexpected check in the mail, you might get a bonus or pay raise at work, or you may even notice you’re starting to receive unexpected gifts or discounts. These are great signs that it’s working! Keep replacing negative emotions with positive as often as possible and you’ll keep the good energy flowing – which will keep inspiring greater and greater change in your life.
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