Motivation
This a topic that I'll stress over and over again as we proceed through Total Recovery. The vital importance of setting goals and outlining a plan to carry them out. Undisputedly it is the most common characteristic of all truly successful people. All the great achievers in the history of man have had concrete dreams, visions goals to reach their desired destination. Very few individuals in our society ever set goals much less make plans for there success. If you truly have the desire to succeed, setting goals is a must. To achieve your goals making plans is a must. With this in mind I'm going to help you by giving you the motivation to help you succeed in anything you set out to accomplish.
There are three important factors you need to concentrate on when you set a goal. The first one is Desire; you must have a burning Desire in order to achieve the goal. The second is Belief; you must have an unshakable and concrete Belief that the goal is conceivably reachable. Third you must be determined and Expect to see results. So the three factors are, Desire, Belief and Expectancy. To lend credence to the idea of desire, belief and expectancy consider the placebo effect. It's a proven fact that placebos used in place of real medications (without awareness) can result in positive thought that will effect a positive reaction.
I can't remember where I first heard this comment "A good goal should scare you a little - and excite you a lot." but you can bet your life that it's true. . If your current goals don't both scare and excite you set goals that are a little more challenging. Set your goals high but be realistic and keep them within reach. This is what Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor, sportsman and a governor had to say about goals; "The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it - as long as you really believe it 100 percent."
Expectancy is the hardest factor to create but the exercise on creative visualization can help exceptionally well. Since your subconscious mind is unable to distinguish between real experiences and an imagined experiences frequently visualizing the end result you desire you can cause your subconscious to accept it as real. This causes the mind to draw that situation into your life.
Think of different important areas in your life Sobriety, Friends , Family, Spirituality, Finances, ...etc. Focus your attention on the most important. Make a list and rank each area in order of its importance. Using creative visualization, visualize where you want to be in the next 5 years in each of these areas. By visualizing where you want to be five from now you have planted a long term vision in your subconscious mind. Now make a plan to accomplish your vision. You can use a combination of techniques to achieve your goal, Affirmation and Visualization together make a powerful resource.
As we advance through Total Recovery I'll give you a number of exercises that you will find very effective to accomplish your goals and change your way of thinking. When you take that first step, no matter how small, you set the wheels in motion for your mind to go to work and make your dreams a reality.
It sure doesn't hurt to get a little motivation to make your tasks easier. Just hitting on the right thought might do the trick. What I want to accomplish in this section of Total Recovery is put together thoughts and ideas in no particular order that stimulate your desire to change your way of thinking. This section is only meant as comfort exercise that will hopefully stimulate your thoughts as well as your actions. What I'm trying is an experiment using thoughts and ideas that came to me while meditating.
What I want to do for you, and I will, if you let me, is stimulate your thought process and motivate your desires. Together will find the tools along the way. Getting started is the hardest part of any job. If you have the courage to start then with the proper motivation you will have the courage to finish.
Keep away from the people who want to belittle your ambitions, small people do that, but the really great make you feel like you to can be really great.
Don't let frustration caused by unresolved problems get you down. Life is full of problems that sometimes seem insurmountable. Nothing is impossible, you must stop, relax, and meditate then approach it from a different angle. If the answers don't come right away don't let it ruin your day, continue with your routine and come back later with a fresh outlook. Life is a process of finding solutions.
Each day a new door opens to all kinds of experiences and challenges. Meet the day with a smile and say to yourself that nothing no matter how big or how small will pass your attention. Meet all the challenges it brings head on and quench your thirst with its knowledge. Remind yourself that today will be a glorious day.
Here's a thought to carry with you today; To achieve success in anything you need to start with a dream. Know your dream. Know why you are doing what you are doing. Create the fire that's needed to connect you with your dream. Create the passion you need in your pursuit of success. Create a desire to reach your achievements. Success can be yours if you have the courage to try. May your wishes all come true and they can it's all up to you.
The reward is yours but first you must labor, plant your thoughts and ideas, harvest them and watch them grow, remember you will sow in tears before you reap with joy. You can put your thoughts and ideas down in black and white or whatever color you prefer. You'll find it fun and challenging and best of all easy. If you are like most the people I know you learn best by having some one show you the way. I won't tell you what to do, I'll show you how to do it and then it's up to you.
One of my favorite sayings is..."If it's to be, It's up to me." When you've decided what you want you've made the first and most important step on your journey to success.
Here is a poem I wrote about the power of words. I hope you find it motivating. I've always felt that by using the right words you could accomplish anything you put your mind to.
My Choice of Words
The right words used the right way
Could possibly save a life today.
By the same token words can leave a life broken
In the way that they're written or spoken.
Handle all powerful words with great care.
The very same words bring happiness or despair.
These are just a few words I use everyday.
I use these words to give meaning to what I say.
Love, compassion, understanding and care.
Peace, motivation, comfort, joy and prayer.
Smile, laughter, happiness and serenity.
I try my very best not to use profanity.
I use words that are simple and easy to say.
I try to make each word an impression in some way.
Sometimes without thinking I say the wrong thing.
My heart knows right away the hurt it will bring.
On this keyboard I type words for everyone to read.
I hope to give them meaning and some pleasure indeed.
I try to be careful in all that I say in my rhymes.
I want to touch your heart, activate and motivate your minds.
Songs, short stories, and poetry are my hobby you see.
They're not the best but they come from the heart of me
If I can paint a picture that you can plainly see.
Then I've made all my words go to work for me
If the words that I use are truly what you'd like to hear.
And if they bring you comfort make you laugh and give cheer.
Then behind my keyboard you'll find a man who is really content.
And I'll know that my careful choice of words was well spent.
Imagination
In this section I'm going to teach you the power of visualization and assertion to create Luck. It all starts with imagination it is the birth of creation. Using your imagination you have the power to create an image of anything that you want. Can you just imagine how wonderful it would be if your abusive problem would go away? Imagine if you will. a peaceful and financial free life. Your imagination can create all kinds of things and with the proper techniques you can make these things happen.
I'm sure you wonder what individuals do that give them the King Midas Touch? These people use this power in an unconscious manner in their everyday affairs. They are not aware that they are using some sort of power. They visualize their goals in a positive way and attain success. All successful people use it consciously or unconsciously. These people have tapped into a resource that makes luck happen and that is exactly what you and I are going do.
You can shape your reality; control your habits and gain control over the events that influence your life. It may sound incredible but believe me it's true, imagination can help heal your body, change your way of thinking and bring God into your life.
I'm going to teach you two techniques that I often use to anchor my control Affirmations and Visualization. I'll show you how to use these techniques to reprogram your mind and reshape your attitudes and behavior, in other words, change the way you think.
(A) Affirmations
The art of using thoughts, beliefs and attitudes of the happiest, most effective people on earth by burning their thoughts into your subconscious mind. To feel how they feel, and do what they do and get exactly the same results they get.
(B) Creative Visualization
Creative visualization is the ability to use the imagination to see images in our minds and make them come true. Through concentrating, feelings, and emotions it can become a great creative power that makes all these things happen. Used in the right way, visualization can make magical changes into our lives.
Now, almost like magic, in every single area of your life, you can literally erase fear, doubt & frustration and replace it with courage, confidence & willpower. In other words, your mind can spawn amazing coincidences to move you towards your goals. The coincidences could be things that were seemingly unconnected to you and beyond your control. However you do have control and it is my intention to show you how to us it.
Here is an affirmation that I'm sure you have heard, "everyday, in every way, I am getting better and better." but have you tried to place it in your unconscious mind. Repetition of thought will install this or any other affirmation.
Now I'm going to put you to the test and find out if you have been reading my book and using the steps that I have outlined. It's of prime importance to go over these steps, practice them and memorize them. From the day you first opened my book or visited my site all the steps that I've taught you have become a part of your life and will remain a part of your life for the rest of your life. Keep reviewing all of my material until it is embedded deep in your unconscious mind. When you think you have it down pat review, don't stop keep reviewing. You are here, at this place in time, to change your life and you will if you follow my instructions.
(1) Do the relaxation and deep breathing exercise.
(2) Now do the exercise that puts your mind in the Alpha State.
(3) STOP; (Brake Time) Do this exercise just before bed time. Choose a place that is quite where you won't be disturbed.
(4) START; Set up a timeline and place yourself in the present.
Past_______________Present________________Future
(5) Now put your mind back in the Alpha State. Visualize your timeline in a misty color. Look to the past and look to the future. See the color and hear the sounds of your different resource states. Anchor and move to the next step.
Note; We will use these affirmations A= I will always maintain a perfectly healthy body and mind. B= Positive thoughts, positive emotions, bring me all the benefits and advantages I desire. C= I am learning to use more of my mind and to use it in a better way.
You can also create your own affirmations:
Timeline. Past______________Present______________Future
(7) Walk slowly to the past, observing the states you have placed. Return to the present. Slowly turn around and observe your entire timeline in color and sound.
(8) Now walk slowly to the future observing all of the resource states in color and sound. Return to the present. Brake State and Re-Anchor
(9) Move one step to the right and place your first affirmation, move right one more step and place your second affirmation, move right one more step and place your third affirmation.
(10) Break, Test Anchor, Observe you affirmations in misty color and sound. Move five years into the future and stack your affirmations. Give them color and sound. Return to the present. Look into the future and observe all of the positive resource states. See them in misty color and sound. BRAKE STATE
(11) Anchor, Now walk your time line into the past and into the future observing all of your thoughts and affirmations. See the colors, hear the sounds, lock them into your subconscious. BRAKE.
(12) CONGRATULATE YOURSELF. You have just taken some powerful steps to change your way of thinking.
Visualization
Use your imagination for the visualization exercise. Close your eyes and visualize a movie screen six feet in front of you and four feet above the floor. Picture your mind as a projector that can project creative images on the screen. You can project anything that you want but make it something you wish for and desire.
Example: Let us say that your one great desire is to be a basketball star. Visualize yourself playing the game perfectly. See yourself making perfect moves and making every basket. Feel the joy of playing well and the excitement of winning. Project these images on the screen and mentally watch the game and marvel in you perfection.
If you have difficulty visualizing use a technique called streaming. In streaming you mentally describe what it is that you're seeing. Make the description as detailed as possible. For example if you're trying to visualize yourself in a luxury home mentally tell yourself, "I'm seeing a magnificent chandelier in my dining room with a highly polished solid oak floor. There is a light oak grand piano, just waiting to be played, sitting majestically in the south east corner. As you describe the image in detail you will find that the image also takes on more detail and your imagined image becomes more and more vivid.
You can combine your affirmations with your creative visualization to create a more powerful effect. As you're imagining your goal, simply repeat your affirmation mentally, as many times as you feel necessary. Don't be discouraged if you do not get immediate results. We are all at different levels of spiritual development and some of us have years of negative programming and negative belief systems to overcome. But overcome them you shall. Creative visualization can be such a powerful process when done at the Alpha level that just five minutes a day of practice can undo years of negative programming.
By now you have probably noticed how the exercises I use are all related. What I mean to say is they are all linked together and each new exercise introduces a new concept. For example I use the timeline to add resources , I use affirmation to burn the thoughts and ideas of other people into your subconscious mind, I use visualization to see images in our minds and make them come true, I use auto suggestion to change negative thoughts to positive thoughts and I use meditation to enhance new thoughts and ideas. All of these steps are used to change your way of thinking and I mix them as if I were making a hobo stew in a large cast iron pot. They are all powerful techniques when used alone but when used in combinations they become super powers. If I use them all together I have an exercise that delivers a massive explosion from our subconscious mind to our conscious mind.
This next exercise introduces a concept called Perceptual Positions. You've probably experienced this concept unconsciously but now you are going to learn how to use it consciously . I guarantee that it will increase your feeling of empowerment. Perceptual Positions is the ability to view experiences from different perspectives.
There are three definite Perceptual Positions. 1. Self Perspective: Seeing a situation through your own eyes and being aware of your own thoughts and feelings. 2. Perspective of Another: Seeing a situation through someone else's eyes and being aware of their thoughts and feelings. 3. Disassociated Perspective Position: Seeing yourself from outside yourself. Imagine you are looking at yourself and other people from a position out side of yourself, from over there or up there.
Here's the exercise; (1) Imagine a situation that makes you uncomfortable. (2) Paint a picture of that situation in your mind. Step outside the picture and look at yourself in the picture. (3) Move the picture further away and notice how your feelings change. You should feel more comfortable and at ease. By being outside the situation looking at the situation you will experience a new perspective. Your feelings will change from negative to positive. (4) Remember another uncomfortable situation, another and another and do the same procedure on all three memories. (5) Your unconscious mind will generalize this and do the same procedure automatically with future uncomfortable situations. (6) Congratulate yourself you've just disassociated yourself from an uncomfortable (negative) situation. (7) Now repeat the first six steps only this time deal with a positive situation. Imagine a wonderful experience.
Unless you have programmed your mind with prior exorcises this exercise my not work the first time. But don't give up eventually you will rewire and make your life more enjoyable.
