The little voice that says....

Hello to all! and happy Thanksgiving!! I hope all of you completed your 10 day challenge and have noticed a dramatic difference in the way you think and feel towards every day experiences. If we maintain a positive attitude during even the worst events we will always stay calm and our minds will search for solutions rather than focusing on the problems!

Todays blog I would like to talk about the little voice inside of your head that constantly says, "you can't do this or that!" and the bigger voice that yells, "your the man! or "your the

wo-man!" These two voices are traditionally linked to what outsiders, rather than yourself tell you day in and day out. Many people do not realize that our brains act as recording devices and or answer machines. We may do something, for instance - Dance, and our best friend may say, "your a terrible dancer." Our subconscious records this into our brain and whenever we go to dance again, we question whether we look stupid or not in our mind - we lose control of our concentration during the act, which ultimately causes our body language to portray us as lacking confidence and we never want to dance again. On the flip side we may dance and our friend may say, "thats great how did you learn to dance like that?!" this response instills confidence into our brains and we feel good whenever we repeat the action. This is common with anything we do whether it be; dancing, singing, testing our intelligence level, speaking, etc etc etc - the list is endless!! If we let the negative chitter chatter get to us we will not feel confident in our actions which will let the little voice dominate and control our experiences!

I am a big believer that we truly become what we think most often. If we tell ourselves that we are talented, smart, well spoken, etc. this is what we will become - it is that simple. Pay attention to the words that you use when describing yourself in various situations. also pay attention to how you see yourself in different situations. People who know they are good at certain tasks will ultimately perform better than those who feel that they are no good. To test this idea take something that you may feel not up to par in. Really believe that you are able to learn and perform the task at ease. Create an affirmation to say each morning and night that you are confident and competent. practice the task daily and over time you will begin to see that your your confidence levels will shoot up and you will be able to do this task. If it is a puzzle of some sort or an idea that you may have but cannot find a solution to, by believing in yourself and focusing on a solution as opposed to the problem, your brain will flood with new ideas and guide you in the right direction!

A great tool is Visualization - This is when you Visualize yourself performing an action and succeeding. if you do this enough you will feel confident in your ability to actually perform the task. Many great speakers do this prior to giving a speech as well as many great athletes prior to game time. here is a breakdown -

1. visualize yourself having completed the task in a successful manner

2. Rewind the Visual in your head and watch yourself, step by step doing and succeeding in whatever it is that you are choosing to do.

3. Actually perform the task and feel confident in yourself that the end result will match your vision.

This actually works and there have been many studies proving that creative visualization helps professional athletes, teachers, doctors, test takers, etc.

I hope all of you have learned a little bit about how our thinking can affect how successful we are in various aspects of our lives. I hope you apply the techniques and invest in yourself as much as some do on meaningless possessions and or ideas. There are some great audio books and or paperbacks out there and if you want some suggestions feel free to email me at ggoodm42@yahoo.com. I hope all of you have a great holiday and remember - ""Think big, dream big and act big. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale talked about the power of positive thinking and how positive thoughts push us towards positive action and positive outcomes. By thinking big, we push our expectations higher, and the higher our expectations, the higher our actual achievements. Once we have big thoughts, it is easier to take big actions and then our chances of big outcomes dramatically increases."

-- Edward W. Smith

- Geoff

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The art of Journaling

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend and is sticking to the 10 day challenge I posted a few days ago! I am testing this idea on a friend at work and have noticed a huge difference so far. Todays blog I want to focus on the art of Journaling. This is something you can do any where and any time. Many people associate journaling with keeping a diary of some sort, which for most men may make them feel weak and inferior, while for some women, may make them feel like a teenage girl. Journaling is done by some of the most successful entrepreneurial minded people all over the world. If you don't believe me type in any person you deem successful, along with the words journaling, and I guarantee he or she sticks to this practice.

To start a journal, simply go out and buy a spiral notebook(this doesn't have to be expensive). There are also journaling programs on computers that you can download in order to protect the privacy of your thoughts. The best time to Journal is in the morning when your mind is in its most creative state and you don't have the clutter from your days experience. Spend roughly 10-20 minutes just writing. (Put the date and the time at the top of the page).

If you don't know what to write about then write out, "what will I get out of doing this exercise" until your hand gets tired, you go clinically insane, or your timer goes off.

The art of Journaling is that you can write about whatever you feel - you can write down ideas that you have, future plans, people you'd like to call, places you'd like to see, etc. Some people simply spend this time to vent out their frustrations while others use it as a tool to document success. The whole idea is to use this form of therapy to dig deeper into your soul and become more aware of your needs, wants, fears, things that make you happy(things you'll want to pull closer to you), and things that make you sad(you'll want to avoid these things). If you continually stick to this practice you will notice a change in how you think and feel. Your thoughts will seem much clearer, you will become more creative in problem solving, and most importantly you will truly know yourself. Over time you may want to go back to old journal entries (a year later from the date usually works best) and see how your life has changed - it really is a magical thing to see yourself positively transform over time. If you need more clarification as always feel free to email me at ggoodm42@yahoo.com and or Google Journaling. I wish you all the best of luck!

Have a good one,

Geoff

post your ideas

I am looking to start a thread with people who have their own techniques that have helped them along the road of life. These are to be personal development tools that you have learned and have impacted you positive. If you want your ideas to be shared with readers of this blog please email me at ggoodm42@yahoo.com - let me know if you would like to be listed as anonymous or as your name.

thank you,

Geoff

10 day challenge

Aloha to all!

I am back in action with keeping up on the blog spot after a long hiatus. I have been doing more reading on personal development and want to share my knowledge to empower all of you!

Lets start with a 10 day challenge. Your challenge is to rid yourself of any negative thoughts. Wow this sounds hard doesn't it? most of us live in a chaotic little world where the smallest mistake and or "action" causes us to react with inner turmoil. If you stick to the plan, you will notice after a few days it gets easier! you will create a space in your mind that will always kick in when you engage in any negative thought process - Heres your action plan - Start Tomorrow! For 10 consecutive days you are to refuse any negative thoughts and or feelings about yourself or others around you. When you catch yourself acting negatively or thinking negatively shift your mindset to a positive question aka How can I learn from this person? How can I learn from this experience? what is great about this? (remember when asking a question make sure it is empowering). if you want to lose weight would you say - "I don't want to be fat anymore" or would you say, "How can I come up with a plan to sculpt my body into the shape that I desire most." Another rule to the game which is very important is to focus on the solution NOT the problem. If something arises and you get upset, please focus on a solution. if you dwell on the problem you will create a snowball effect of mini problems and become even more stressed. Our brain is a very powerful too and when we ask great questions based on finding solutions rather than focusing on "problems" our mind will find ways to come up with answers! If you find yourself caught up in negative thought give yourself a minute to shift your mindset, if you absolutely cannot do this start your 10 days over the following day.

This technique is proven to work and if you stick to the plan you will see amazing results. You will be able to think more positively about any given situation and wouldn't you agree that would make life just a bit easier?

"Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind" - zen proverb

Enjoy the evening,

Geoff