The mental attitude or the mindset you have can affect the outcome of just about everything you do. With even more certainty it can be said that the amount of effort you put into anything is in proportion to the mindset you bring to the task. As they say attitude is everything and it can either make things easier for you or put them out of your reach. Being successful is closely tied to what your attitude may be at any given point in time.

These mindsets that have such a great influence over our lives can either result from personal experiences or from conditioning. In other words your attitude can either be developed from an experience or be a belief passed along to you at an early age.

Today we are going to look at 5 common beliefs/attitudes held by many that may inhibit their being successful in many aspects of their lives. The question here will be the legitimacy of the ‘thought processes’ we are reviewing.

Being Lucky

It is all too often people consider the good fortune of others as being the result of pure luck. What a copout! Often times you make your own luck by seeing opportunities and then taking action. By having the mindset that luck is something that randomly falls out of the sky many people put limits on themselves as to what they can accomplish. Attitude is everything concerning identifying any available opportunities.

Long Hours + Hard Work = Success

A commonly accepted ‘notion’ is to be successful you MUST invest many hours along with many years. Nothing could be further from the truth when you consider that long hours over many years would typically wear people out and/or make them discontented. Is this being successful? Not the way I see it.

Success is many things to many people. Spending more time with family or friends may be one person’s idea of success even if it means just getting by. On the other hand it is not a mandatory requirement to invest hours and years to accumulate wealth. Countless instances demonstrate how ‘average Joe’s’ have been financial successes by pursuing their dreams resulting in their financial good fortunes.

The point here is that these people did NOT allow some common notion such as ‘long hours and many years’ be the norm that dictated their life patterns. They overcame that mindset and instead pursued a dream and proved it could be possible to succeed and on their OWN terms.

Associating Displeasure with Work

Many or maybe even most regard work as a nasty four letter word. The common assumption is that work has to be drudgery and unappealing. Think about how well you perform in an environment that is boring or unappealing to you. Not very well I would assume mainly because your heart is not into to it and your attitude therefore does not allow you to be at your most productive.

Now consider more pleasurable surroundings that involve activities you may like. Your attitude and energy level are at their best and your attention span is very keen since you are focusing on something you like.

The point here is that the work you do for the money you earn does NOT have to be something you detest. It is possible to love what you do and not mind putting in the time to do it. In the end you most likely will perform much better and as a result be compensated even more.

Education

We have all been raised to believe that a good education leads to being successful. Now this is true however it is the way many ‘interpret’ education that may mislead us.

The most common interpretation here is usually a ‘formal’ education but that is not always the type of education that will lead to being successful. Life experiences are a great way to learn and their importance should not be overlooked. So do not let the lack of a formal education hold you back since it really is NOT a viable excuse!

Self Imposed Limitations

Many have grown to believe they can not achieve success due to a variety reasons. In fact it often seems they put more effort into producing reasons as to why the can not succeed than others may invest into becoming successful.

The only limitations we face in our lives are the ones we place upon ourselves. If you are not willing to remove some of these limitations and at least try than it would seem you are content with where you are at in life. If you are not than change it by changing your attitude.

The mental attitude you have has the ability to make life as easy or as hard as you want it to be. Whoever coined the phrase ‘attitude is everything’ was right on target. It is therefore important to identify whether our attitude or perceptions are justified or perhaps just old ‘baggage’ we inherited. The 5 belief we discussed above we chosen as examples because they are common to everybody’s lives. By recognizing that some of our beliefs are therefore not legitimate will help to empower us to change them and in doing so change the very course of our own lives as we live them.

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
To learn more about the role of your Mental Attitude in your own success and to receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques visit:http://affiliatequickstart.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/5-ways-your-mental-attitude-affects-your-success-1626271.html

I want to now engage a very closely related subject to the ‘self-aware’ conscious fear. This is because the most limiting fears of all are the sub-conscious ones.

Most of my professional work has been in creating programs where people are provided the circumstances and are placed in an environment so that can experience, engage and overcome an irrational fear Yet, is it an “irrational fear” to be concerned and afraid of being killed or severely wounded in an actual military combat situation? No, it is not; in combat this is a rational fear.

But the larger and much more important question is ‘does that fear truly serve me’?

The answer is that it absolutely does not serve us if that fear dominates our actions and responses in combat. The fear itself may be quite rational, but we must learn to control and even use that fear rather than the other way around.

Much of our behavior occurs and originates from a non self-aware level of the mind. I will give you a very concrete example of this, one that you may have actually experienced yourself.

Have you ever taught someone to drive a car, your kid perhaps? You are thus sitting in the passenger seat of the car and of course there is no brake pedal on that side of the car. Your self-aware mind knows that too. But guess what? Your non self-aware mind does not know this.

Consequently when you perceive that the car is not stopping quickly enough for the upcoming stop sign your foot involuntarily begins stomping repeatedly and furiously and automatically on the non-existent brake pedal on the passenger side of the car!

Now obviously this action and motor response of stomping on the non-existent brake pedal is not originating or being ‘decided upon’ in your self-aware mind at all.

This motor response (stomping the ‘brake pedal’) is your involuntary reaction to seeing that you or another car might run the stop sign. Running a stop sign could be deadly so your body automatically discharges a bit of adrenaline into your blood stream. This occurs under the evolutionary developed “fight or flight’ mechanism.

But how did this stomping at the brake pedal response get programmed into you on a non self-aware level the first place? This is a mechanism that is a very key thing to understand. The action of your foot stomping on the brake pedal was created by your previous driving experience which elicited an adrenal discharge..

In the past you almost crashed or did crash, or you ran a stop sign or a red light or someone else did and when that occurred your body was flushed with adrenaline. As a result almost instantly there was created an ‘adrenal memory’ and an associated motor response.

Also, ‘incidental environmental triggers’ were established associated with this incident. These triggers were recorded into your sub-conscious mind. That motor response of hitting the brake from that point on in time now no longer requires the intervention of your conscious self-aware mind anymore. It happens automatically. Your foot reflexively hits the brake (whether there is a brake pedal there or not) when the threat of a ‘crash’ is ‘perceived’. And that is true whether the perception of the potential crash is real or not.

There are two extraordinarily significant things that are very illuminating to fully understand here about how the mind works. The first is that this biochemistry is the underlying mechanism for all forms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

The second thing is to realize that the ‘perceived danger’ does not have to actually exist to create or to elicit the adrenal dump or the associated motor response; it only has to be ‘perceived’ to exist by the ‘body’ physiologically and not even necessarily perceived by the self-aware mind.

The advantages of a combat training methodology based on these realities should be self-evident. But a therapeutic program for treating PTSD can also be realized by an appreciation of these biochemical phenomena.

I have been able establish more than one such therapy and also other effective training programs that turned on this ‘special way’ that neural nets are created when they are formed under adrenal stress. I have been successfully applying them for over twenty years now. It thus isn’t theory to me anymore; it is a practical tool that I use habitually and I will even say sometimes to a remarkable and positive effect.

But in a military training context for the most part the training methodology is almost forced to be ‘drill and repetition’ to take the self-aware mind out of the ‘action’ decision loop. This is because thousands have to be trained quickly. But the far more time efficient and effective training method is ‘adrenal stress conditioning through scenario-based training’. But this training methodology can only be employed with precision and its full and tremendously powerful effect with numerically smaller groups of persons.

Here is another example of how the adrenal release effects memory which once again you should be able to relate to through your own experience

When I am addressing a group on this subject. I will ask the audience “Who remembers where they were and exactly what they were doing when they heard the news that JFK was assassinated?”

Since some people were not yet born when JFK was assassinated I also ask ” Who can remember exactly where they were and in detail what they were doing when the heard the news that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded and crashed into the sea?”

Most every had is raised in the affirmative to one or both of these questions. But when I ask what they were doing twenty minutes earlier than that on that same day, very, very few have any recollection of what they were doing then with any detail at all.

Then picking a few people out of the audience I will ask them to explain in detail where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news of either tragedy. The amount of detail they recall is surprising to everyone there.

These people will recall things totally irrelevant to the historical event too. Some examples might be ‘The Talking Heads were on the radio’ or ‘I had just opened a Diet Coke and I remember holding it my hand and when it plopped out of the machine and I felt it and it was not as cold as I liked’.

They remember a great deal of vibrant detail at the moment of hearing the traumatic news story even though it occurred so many years ago, even nearly 50 years ago in regard to the JFK assassination.
The reason is that their hearing the tragic news created an adrenal memory for them. Adrenal memories are stored differently than non-adrenal memories and they are more detailed and more persistent memories too.

Adrenal memories are also closer to the organ in the brain called the amygdala. This is the ‘frog brain’ or “primitive, non ‘self-aware brain”. And that ‘reptile brain’ is ‘hard wired’ to your motor control centers. That is precisely why you can hit that brake so extraordinarily fast in a driving emergency! And this is also why ‘your foot’ tries to hit that pedal in such a ‘perceived emergency’ whether that brake pedal is actually there or not.

Memories created under the adrenal release are more permanent and have greater and a more detailed ‘mind’s eyes’ fidelity upon recall than any memory created under a non-adrenal state. When the people heard of either of these disasters, JFK’s assassination or the crash of the Space Shuttle, a mild adrenal release was affected and so the news they heard became an adrenal memory for them.

However, observe that the people also recall in detail the environmental or ‘incidental’ factors about them when they heard that adrenal electing news. These things might be, the smell of the air, the heat or cold or humidity, some sounds, or whatever was playing on the radio etc, when they heard this tragic news.

Once again we see all the elements of PTSD here. There is thus an environmental trigger for a PTSD episode too and it might be; ‘the smell of the air, the heat or cold or humidity, some sounds, or whatever was playing on the radio’. Any of the things that were present in the environment when the traumatic episode occurred (and released the adrenal complex) can later become the triggers for the PTSD episode.

Understand that the ‘adrenal trigger’ may not always reach the self-aware mind too. So the veteran that goes into that Butterfly Pavilion may suddenly feel sick and nauseous and yet have no idea as to why. He may almost involuntarily leave that environment at once and then once outside he begins to feel better. The PTSD incident may go thus go unexamined and remain as not being understood as being PTSD.

The survival value that this special biochemistry has provided us through our evolutionary development is reasonably obvious. Nature or Evolution is not directed toward any individual’s survival, let alone any individual’s mental well-being either. Nature is only works towards the survival of the species as a whole. PTSD episodes are not theoretical things to me personally either.

Human biochemistry underwrites a good deal of our behaviors and particularly the ones that we are not fully self-aware of. But this is also a case of where somehow the “Sum of the parts are Greater than the Whole” too. In the next article we will take a look at what is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of all of this biochemistry.

And that is the very same subject that the majority of all the world’s literature, music and art in any form has had as its subject and theme for centuries. And ‘cross culturally’ globally too. That’s subject is the arena of ‘love and romance’. And as some of you surely know, that arena can be a battlefield too.

www www.rmcat.com  www.peytonquinn.com  Author: Freedom From Fear: Taking Back Control, Of Your Life and Dissolving Depression (ISBN-10: 0975999605, ISBN-13: 978-0975999608, The Science & Art of love & Romance: A Strategy for Success a Program For Healing ISBN 978-1442177482.Black Belt Hall of FameArticle Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/true-selfimprovement-overcoming-fear-and-the-special-nature-of-adrenal-memories-and-its-relationship-to-understanding-ptsd-part-three-1626290.html

Anxiety attacks and panic attacks; chronic worrying and obsessive thoughts; compulsive behaviours; irrational fears and phobias, even severe depression – these
problems all involve heightened anxiety.
In overcoming them, the goal is not to get rid of anxiety, for to have anxiety is normal, it is a part of being human, helps ready us for action and is there for our survival.
The aim is to understand why it has become so strong, change what it means to us and know how to reduce it and prevent it spiralling out of control.

It is possible to experience anxiety without it leading to panic, obsessions, compulsions or despair – to experience it and yet still be calm. In fact many people do
experience anxiety like this frequently (job interviews / dating / performance situations – sports, social). They feel shaky on the inside but relatively calm on the
outside, this is normal, this is part of anxiety, this is how it feels.

 – On a popular TV quiz show, where the contestants answer questions and can double their winnings up to a million, the quizmaster has said to many contestants,
words to the effect – ‘you look remarkably calm’. In nearly every instance, the reply has been the same – ‘on the outside yes, but inside I’m shaking like a leaf ‘. –

To overcome anxiety disorders we have to change our beliefs.

If ten thousand people say you are good and you feel bad about yourself … you will believe you are bad. Conversely if ten thousand people say you are bad and you feel good about yourself … you will believe that you are good. Our reality is shaped by what we feel and believe:
 
– A man found an eagle’s egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them. All his life the eagle did
what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled and would thrash his
wings and fly a few feet into the air. Years passed and the eagle grew very old.
One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong
golden wings. The eagle looked up in awe. “Who’s that?” he asked.
“That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” said his neighbour. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth – we’re chickens.” So the eagle lived and died a chicken,
for that’s what he thought he was. (AWARENESS … Anthony de Mello) –

To change beliefs, we have to understand how and why they developed. We have to understand our experiences, the people involved and more importantly, the
conclusions we drew about our role in them, for it’s not the experiences themselves that do the lasting damage, it’s what we make of them. We have to understand how we learnt to think and behave because of our experiences.
 
Changing beliefs through insight and understanding is essential to overcoming anxiety problems. However, from shyness to depression, something else is equally
important … changing behaviour. We can’t just think our way out of these problems – to change behaviour we have to do the behaviour (it isn’t possible to learn to
ride a bike just by thinking about it!)
Of course, changing behaviour alone will not help if we still feel bad about ourselves or still have unanswered questions about the problem. Any force over which we
have little understanding and even less control will always hold power over us, for it is unpredictable and could harm us and as such remains frightening.
 
Therefore:- Successfully overcoming anxiety disorders requires BOTH insight and behaviour change.

We need to:-
Understand the problem (how it developed and it’s effects) to such an extent that the search for  reasons and answers can be given up
Reduce the automatic negative thoughts, images and behaviours
Develop more positive beliefs and behaviours

COURAGE is not the absence of fear. It is feeling afraid but keeping those feelings sufficiently under control to be able to act appropriately.
Once we begin to understand how anxiety disorders work – much of the fear of them is removed.  And when we couple insight and new beliefs to techniques that help reduce anxious thoughts and behaviours and develop new more positive ones … it is possible to truly overcome anxiety disorders.

By Terry Dixon, founder of www.help-for.com and author of EVOLVING SELF CONFIDENCE: How to
Become Free from Anxiety Disorders and Depression. Discover how to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http:cure” target=”_blank”>www.help-for.com/2esc.htm”>cure anxiety problems completely on the Help-For website.

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My husband pointed out to me just last night that I’m living my dream life. I’m doing the things that I always wanted to do. Yes, there are more things in life that I want, but he’s right, I’m pretty happy with my life. Have I achieved everything I wanted? Heavens no! It is an ongoing journey. If you get to the place that you’re done – well that’s about the time you step over to the other side. Me, I’m not done, I’m playing, and there are so many adventures still to be had. So what do I say when people ask me “is the Secret, the law of attraction real?” I say yes – and here’s 5 steps to make it work for you:

• Start with your focus – Martial artists often say energy flows where attention goes. What are you focusing on? You may think that having a thought or two about your desire is enough – but if what you are doing in your life or with your emotions is contradictory to your desire, it will be apparent that you need more focus in your life. Focus means to hone in on your desire. Be like a dog with a bone. Make a list of what you want in life.
• Tie each thing on your list to a feeling What is it that you want to experience – what do you want to feel – what would it feel like?
• Feel gratitude – show the universe you are thankful – When you walk in appreciation of what you have (and operate as if you already have what you want and you explore that feeling with gratitude) you are sending a HUGE vibration out to the universe that works like magic. Your mother was right – learn how to say thank you and mean it – even if what you want is not here yet.
• Detach from the results – If you are constantly looking for the results, then you’re not detached and you’re sending contradictory messages to the universe. Not being detached makes you compare where you are with where you want to be and makes you focus on what’s not showing up. This will guarantee more of what you don’t want showing up.
• Practice feeling what it would be like having what you want – Find a way to feel as if you have the abundance now, have the joy now, have the manifestation now. How do you do that – by recognizing all the good things in your life. Don’t focus on the negative aspects; focus on the positive. Life is such that you can’t have one without the other. Regardless of where you are in your desires, there are always two sides to the equation: what you want and what you don’t want. So, focus and feel the way you want to feel as if you already had what you want.

Don’t you remember as a little kid how you used to do this for hours on end? This is the way it still works. If you can approach the universe and life with the attitude of a child, not cynical, but open, and enjoy what you experience and have fun while you do it – you’re on your way.

My brother and I would play out in the dirt for hours, we’d smooth roadways, build little houses, make neighborhoods and play. Funny thing that, my brother became someone who worked on the highways – and both of us have built our own houses. If you can get into the feeling play of creative imagination and visualization – you’ll achieve a vibration that resonates with the universe and it can’t help but send you a match to that vibration.

Remember that the law of attraction is like the sun – it is always on even if it’s behind the clouds or on the other side of the earth. It is always on – it is always working.

Whether you like it or not, believe it or not, the secret, the law of attraction is working in your life right this minute. So what signal are you emitting? If it’s in line with your desires, then hold on, cause you’re in for some fun rides! Consciously using the law of attraction to create one’s life is like an E-ticket ride at Disneyland. But be aware that while you may be at the helm of your little boat — you’re not in charge of the Wind.

I know how confusing it can be – and a lot of people don’t believe this stuff. They think it’s all new age woowoo gobbledygook. I’m here to share with you that it isn’t. Everyone knows by now that everything is energy – everything from the sun to the moon and back around again – everything is energy. If you want to learn to attract what you desire using the secret, the law of attraction but don’t know the first thing to do, hop on over to: www.MasterYourLimitations.com

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Within everyone is the capacity to be a powerful center for change… vast sweeping change. Not by changing one self, but by stepping into one’s evolutionary potential to become change.

“We are not separate from our environment.” Everything, including us, in spiritual and physical form is simply a part of the universal evolving ecology. All that is needed for us to be in our potential is simply to come into step with evolution – to simply become what is happening and changing. By doing so we are able to flow peacefully within the river of the changing landscape and see clearly how to interact with life. This frees up enormous energy and vitality to be channeled into life purpose and meaning.

We have lived in an age of evolutionary contradiction in which everything has continued to evolve – yet humanity has invested their happiness and security into institutions for stability and predictability as if they were insulated from change. As long as these institutions have held, people have felt powerful and in control of their circumstances.

But these institutions; banking, religion, business, education, finance, government and marriage were built as permanent fixtures on the ever-shifting sands of evolution itself. Hence, they have become weathered and weakened like a crumbling sidewalk, causing people to feel unsettled and out of sync.

What is happening right now cannot be understood by the human mind – but one thing is clear: The rules we created to live our lives by are changing – even disintegrating. What used to work so well, does not any more – and may become obsolete in the near future. For evolution is about continued adaptation – and we must come into alignment with what wants to happen – rather than what we want to happen.

In a world that has enough technology, food, and money – and within an environment that is becoming increasingly fragile, evolution is simply responding in the only way it knows how. Evolution is quickening its pace and guiding us through a broad base transition to set aside our individual needs to become more compassionate to hold a higher, more inclusive vision for ourselves and therefore, the planet.

We are each being tapped on the shoulder – being asked to live with a new sense of awareness and interconnectedness. And it is time to start relying on our intuition and feelings in ways that we could not have done before. We are being asked to experience life through the heart and answer the call as we feel it deep inside for self-reliance, balance, and purposeful living.

The small reward is that we can quickly come into harmony with what wants to happen for our lives to be in our human potential. The larger reward is that we each become a powerful center for change that impacts the people around us as they tap into our evolutionary state and then their potential. This adds velocity and thrust to the global transition of becoming a more heart-centered, and therefore sustainable planet.

There are Seven Evolutionary Guidelines that facilitate the transition to becoming centered in the heart.

1) Allow Life To Come To You, And Act From Intuitive Feelings.

2) What You Need To Evolve Shows Up Perfectly As You Are In Step With Evolution

3) Be Light. Light Is Light. Lightness Spreads Light.

4) Be In The Silence. Silence Is The Doorway. Become A Noise Reducer.

5) Simplicity Frees Energy. Simplify Everything. So Purity Can Work With Purity.

6) Rapid Acceleration Occurs When People Get Into Evolutionary Flow Together.

7) Dive Into The Mystery. Into Not Knowing And Become What Wants To Happen

These evolutionary guidelines are just that – guidelines. They show us how to be in step with our evolution and therefore our potential. They hold no power over anyone. They are simply suggestions for where and how to interact with what is happening in a much more efficient and therefore self-reliant way. The immediate impact is that you can simply follow the guidelines to be in step with what is wanted for your life – saving valuable energy and vitality for creating what is really important to you and the people around you.

All of us are evolving – there is not anything we can do about that. However, when we come into step with evolution, we enter a slipstream of energy that fundamentally changes how we interact with life, moment-to-moment and day-to-day.

The result of being in step is a heightened state of awareness and the ability to be more centered and joyful regardless of our life circumstances. We gain the ability to channel our energy into life purpose and service effortlessly. We are connected to magic, flow and Grace. Being in step with evolution is like the difference between riding a steam locomotive and a bullet train. Both are heading in the same direction, but everyone who can, rides a speeding train.

E is an Evolutionary Guide. He shares Evolutionary Guidelines and heart-centering practices with those who desire to be in step with their highest potential. His next book, “The Evolutionary Guidebook” is scheduled for release in early 2010. http://lifeisheart.com/ http://lifeisheart.com/blog Sign up on the website for Life Is Heart Newsletters & Updates to learn more about the Evolutionary Guidelines and Life Is Heart events and retreats.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/your-evolutionary-potential-how-to-be-in-step-1622330.html

The question that has been on the mind of people all over the word, is that whether or not, it is really possible for people to actually self heal in most situations. We know that there has been a dependency of some sort, to the drug industry when it comes to the whole concept of hurt and disease, and because of the mutations of some of the things that we could have overcome a long time ago, what we need to know about now, is that whether or not our bodies have adapted to this and we are now more than able to actually internalise our own processes and of course, start to heal ourselves faster or in situations where we would not normally be able to.

Now there is a lot of literature on the fact of this, and I am sure we have heard many stories where people were able to miraculously heal themselves on demand, almost at a Wolverine like speed. One thing that we need to know about is how they achieve this and the one thing that we always get is that the process and the ability to actually do this already exists in the mind, and all we need to do to get to this is to actually unlock it. Now, how we are going to do this is something that is going to be really hard, because the key of this is in the whole subconscious mind, which is basically the mind that is not there and for some reason, we have no access to at all in our lives.

The one way that we have been able to do this for some time now, was recently a secret in the mental industry, and to this effect, we need to be able to understand it more. This technology is called the subliminal CD, and it has been around for a long time, and what it primarily does is that it has certain messages that has been embedded in sound waves, that can be used to pass messages and affirmative notes right into the subconscious mind, and what we know of this means that these messages will be permanently inscribed into the mind, and from there, we can affect almost any sort of improvement that we want to.

Now, we can use this application of theory and technology into the whole concept of the subliminal CD, and we can actually use these messages to tell the body that it needs to release the chemical triggers necessary to actually effect and begin the healing process. Now we can do this, simply by plugging the CD into the sound system that we have, put on our ear phones and from there, simply waft into the whole subliminal therapy experience. Now, we are more than able to improve ourselves and self healing and unlocking the internal power of the body is something that we can do quite easily from this day and age, all through the magic of the technology called the subliminal CD.

Click Here to get your Free ‘Ultimate Success Unleashed’ Subliminal Cd and supercharge your success. Greg Frost is an authority in the subliminal industry for many years and has helped thousands of individuals worldwide to attain their dreams and goals with his subliminal messaging cds.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/subliminal-message-cds-and-self-healing-1611057.html

To Fight Depression – Get Focused and Change What You Can

To fight depression…what do you do? Do you turn to harmful substances, habits, “stuff” or escape mechanisms? Are you tired of merely coping, and seriously want to fight depression, to change what you can, and move on with life?

I’m someone who has a lot of pressures to juggle. I have plenty of “triggers” and habits that have set me on a fight with my own depression, and I don’t use chemicals of any sort to deal with life. Mind you: I am not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or professional counselor. I only share with you, from a layman’s perspective, what I’ve learned.

In hindsight, I think my dad struggled with depression. I won’t add insult to his memory, but the gravity of a depressed father and husband pulls others quickly into a downward spiral and Tilt-a-Whirls of emotion. As I grew up, I realized I often struggle in the same way. What follows is what I’ve learned to practice to find hope and sometimes joy, despite circumstances.

My hope for you is that you’ll be able to use these tips to get out of your slump and re-take the helm. Steer your ship for calmer seas, head for hope, wherever that takes you. Hopefully it’s nowhere near a shipwreck. Without further ado, here’s my simple, general plan to fight depression, and change what you can.

• Identify the Triggers
• Listing them out, target what you can change
• Set the goal, work the plan
• Hit the next Trigger…

Let’s break those down:

1. Identify the Triggers Depression is caused by a trigger of some sort. There are a number of causes, too numerous to list here, but generally there are two main categories of triggers: trauma of one form or another, or stress. Another trigger that causes depression is a chemical imbalance, or psychiatric condition. If clinical depression runs in your family, stemming from a mental or psychiatric disorder or chemical imbalance, then I can tell you that this article will be of little help. You’ll need to speak with a counselor or psychologist, or other mental health professional.

I know what I’ve done to fight depression, but I don’t have a medical or family history, or a chemical imbalance of any sort. The depression I know to fight is caused by everyday, common triggers such as: financial duress, stress, a need to find my purpose in life, self-respect, a lack of goals and directions, disappointing circumstances…otherwise known as: life.

Whatever your triggers may be, the first step in fighting off depression is to identify the source(s) or trigger(s) of the depression.

2. Listing them out, target what you can change When you have a written list of what’s causing your depression, then you’re closer to a real solution.

Of all your triggers and sources of depression, break the list down into two categories. Be tough and honest here, as you break them down into what you can and what you cannot change. An example of what you can change: your income. This is practically, I want to say always, the case. This is an example of what I meant by “be tough and honest.” If you want to change what you can, don’t cheat yourself a solution by listing something you have control over as something you can’t change.

The point is: to change what you can, don’t hide behind the excuse that it’s too difficult. Change is by its very nature a challenge. Lasting, meaningful change will be difficult, and well worth the sweat.

Examples of what you can’t change: the past, your family or other people, the global or local economy, climate or the government (at least, not until elections!). Avoid dwelling on these sources of depression–you’ll just beat your forehead bloody, right into a brick wall. Move on.

Now, you can do something about your past: talk to a trusted counselor, friend or professional who can help you by listening with a sympathetic ear. You can get advice on how to cope with the past in healthy ways. You just can’t change the facts as they are. The old term was “kicking against the goads,” but what a goad is I’ll never know. Focus your energy on changing the one thing you can: you. Everything else will have to wait.

3. Set the goal, work the plan This is fairly simple, since this is still mostly on paper. You want to pick one target from the list of things you can control or change. You want to work what makes the most sense for you. For instance, you may have several small triggers that irritate you, but your depression is really caused by a shortage of income and high level of debt. Identifying the main culprit as an income problem, set the goal as getting out of debt, and make a plan. Now work the plan until the goal is achieved.

This is where the “get focused” part of the title comes in. Say the goal is that you want to lose 35 pounds by summer. Either you come up with the plan, or you can get advice, or buy a program or kit, or join a group of similarly-minded individuals headed the same direction as you, for that particular problem. Then you just stick with the plan. Stay focused.

Using my case as an example, I wanted for the longest time to discover what my purpose was, my calling if you will, in life. I knew I loved to write, I just couldn’t figure out how to make that translate into an income (silly, I know!). In any event, I had no idea how to make that work so I asked someone I trust, an entrepreneur I know who’s younger than me and in the six figures. From my perspective, he knows what he’s talking about in the business and financial realms. He amazed me with a flurry of potential solutions to my problem in an instant. I don’t think he batted an eyelash.

Not only did I have the “trigger” of wandering around aimlessly with low self confidence and habitual aimlessness, but I had the pressure of the economy crashing on my head and another child due soon. My friend the entrepreneur answered my two biggest concerns in one fell swoop with four different solutions. All I had to do was pick what I thought would work. Well, it’s working!

4. Hit the next Trigger… Once you have a bit of a victory in one area or two of your life, and you’re stable in those areas, then you can ease into identifying another trigger. Just “lather, rinse and repeat” so to speak.

That’s a very simplified version of what I’m doing in my life. Personally, I’ve gone from the nadir (low point) to the zenith (high point) in a matter of months. By tackling two of my biggest triggers–and yes, there are other areas of my life I need to watch so I don’t spiral into another depression–I can keep the moody blues away a day at a time. More than that, I’m hopeful for what’s to come, and you’ll often find me laughing out loud when I’m overcome by random joy. It may be overcast this winter, but this sunbeam’s shining where clouds can’t touch it.

That sunbeam’s a ray of hope.

If you get focused and follow these steps, I’m sure you’ll change what you can, one step at a time, to fight depression and do so successfully.

James M. Hussey loves what he does – he works the family business by day and web-publishes on their blogs at night, when he’s not freelance writing or editing on Elance as “JamestheJust.” His blogs include a site called Themes For Baby Shower, where you can find great ideas on gifts for baby shower parties and other topics like noahs ark baby shower theme ideas.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/to-fight-depression-get-focused-and-change-what-you-can-1612196.html

To self-hypnotize or not self-hypnotize? While hypnosis can create powerful, lasting change in people, can it create that change when it’s you doing the hypnotizing? A hypnotherapist might answer that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. While that’s true, it omits the fact that a licensed hypnotist can lead you places you would never think to go while performing self-hypnosis. So here are the pros and cons of performing self-hypnosis compared to seeing a professional.

At first glance, seeing a professional hypnotist seems like a no-brainer. With a true pro, you get something you could never get when doing self-hypnosis: years of experience. Most hypnotists certified by one of the major boards have docked hundreds of clinical hours. So they come well-prepared for anything your subconscious mind might throw at them during a session. Furthermore, most self-hypnosis methods are pretty simple. A pro can bring more sophisticated hypnotic techniques that you won’t find in a book. So you will achieve your desired outcomes more quickly.

Unfortunately, the cons of seeing a professional hypnotherapist are many. Setting aside the high cost of multiple sessions, there’s the problem that many people simply don’t live anywhere near a qualified hypnotherapist. Furthermore, no one organization exists to certify hypnosis professionals. So selecting the best one based on qualifications alone becomes a daunting task to say the least. You could ask around, if you didn’t mind explaining to everyone in town why you want to get hypnotized. Or you can use trial and error. Not the best ideas.

Compare the self-hypnotist. Usually, you’re working with ideas you found in a book, audio course, or video series. Many of these series are of extremely high quality (and they cost less than a few sessions on the couch). Still, they’re not a person with hundreds of clinical hours. Furthermore, most self-hypnosis systems limit their sessions to ten or fifteen minutes and a series of relatively simple suggestions. This helps the beginning hypnotist keep some perspective: it’s easier to take small steps before running a marathon, so to speak. Nonetheless, for programs of massive personal change, self-hypnosis might leave you wanting more.

However, there’s one huge benefit to self-hypnosis that even a professional can’t match. I began this article with the common claim that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Usually, people quote this to nervous subjects, to emphasize that hypnotists don’t wield any arcane power over their subjects. The statement works in another direction. Because it’s all self-hypnosis, you will discover a huge opportunity for self-determination. When you’re the hypnotist and the subject both, you get a double shot of personal power. If you rely on a hypnotist to cause change in you, you risk becoming dependent on the hypnotherapist. That’s no way to improve your life.

On the other hand, when you’re the hypnotist who causes the change in your life, you have a sudden boost in your personal power. Now you know how to change yourself. So not only will change come quickly– it will come whenever you want it to come. Seen in this light, a visit to the hypnotherapist looks like a visit to the doctor for a major surgery. Becoming your own hypnotist looks like a daily conditioning program you use to stay in perfect health– so you’ll never need to go to the doctor at all.

Self-hypnosis expert Teddy Maynard curates Hypnotize Yourself Today! It includes instructions for self-hypnosis, personal stories, and tips on making self-hypnosis audio. Teddy searches all over for the best hypnosis materials, breakthrough news, and chronicles them in his hypnosis blog.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-selfhypnosis-1605103.html

These days, not too many people feel they have the extra money to pay for counseling. Even those that do may still fell reluctant to pay. Until you’ve experienced it for yourself, it’s hard to know what you’re really paying for. Is it really that much better than talking to a friend or family member? Is it really worth sticking it our for those first few sessions often needed to lay the groundwork so that the real work can begin to take place?

There are five stages in the journey of change:

- precontemplation
- contemplation
- preparation
- action
- maintenance

It’s quite normal to find yourself cycling between the stages, or stuck in one of the first three. Making an appointment or a payment can feel like a big leap from the safety of contemplation and preparation into the unknowns of action. It’s easy to use money as a valid reason to put off making that leap. It is true, no one wants to waste their hard-earned money.

So exactly what are you paying for?

It is often said among helping professionals that it is the relationship that heals. Every counselor or therapist, regardless of school of thought or style, operates on three fundamental values: honesty, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard or non-judgemental acceptance. All helpers also aim to convey a sense of empathy, or full understanding of the issues and concerns their clients bring to their sessions.

The counseling relationship is unique because it is a relationship that is focused entirely on you. It’s a relationship where you need not worry that sharing your innermost thoughts and feelings will cause the listener to become scared, repulsed, disappointed, or made to feel guilty by you. Counselors know that all thoughts and feelings are deeply human and accept them as such.

Having your thoughts and feelings heard, understood and validated is extremely relieving and is an important first step in making room for change or to help with letting go. To further aid the process of understanding your situation, your counselor or therapist will take in all of the information you share and consider it in light of their entire knowledge of psychology. They will then select an approach that fits your history the best and that they believe will enable you to most easily create the results that you seek.

This combination of unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, and psychological expertise, creates a working relationship where blindspots can be identified, obstacles to goals can be overcome, and painful stories can be worked through, reframed, and set aside.

The counseling relationship also functions as a social microcosm. It is inevitable that the way you interact with the people in your life, will be the same way you interact with your counselor. This element of the relationship then becomes very helpful for those who have trouble relating well with others, and for those who have trouble creating and sustaining meaningful relationships.

This is only a general description of what therapy can provide. Psychologists, therapists, and counselors are curious and caring people who are committed to finding ways to better understand and improve human life. Specific problems can be helped in a variety of specific ways. There truly is help for anyone who is willing to make an investment in their lives and well-being. It’s a temporary investment of your time and money that will pay dividends for the rest of your life.

For more specific information on the counseling process, e-mail your questions to SusanRotella@4peaceofmind.ca.

To get the most out of counseling, consider reading the following books:

Therapy Demystified: An Insider’s Guide to Getting the Right Help (Without Going Broke) by Kate Scharaff

Make Every Session Count: Getting the Most Out of Your Brief Therapy by J. Preston, N. Varzos, and D. Liebert.

Susan Rotella is a Registered Professional Counselor (cand.). She offers professional and affordable counseling online at http://www.4peaceofmind.ca.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/why-pay-for-counseling-1602865.html

According to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – ACT – the best way to maintain your sense of well-being is to stay committed to your personal values.

There are many different areas in which you can identify your values:

? Marriage/couple/intimate relationships
? Parenting
? Family relations
? Friendship/social relations
? Career/employment
? Education/training/personal growth and development
? Recreation/leisure
? Spirituality
? Citizenship/contribution to society
? Health/physical well-being

During the holidays some areas will naturally take greater priority than others. It’s important to be clear, from the beginning, about what you would really like to value this season. It’s hard to do everything, and please everyone, so decide now what is important to you this season, and what you would really rather do without.

Take some time to really consider the above areas, and identify your highest priority values. These are the goals that will bring you the most joy and fulfillment this season. These are not things you do out of a sense of obligation, or for approval. These are the things that YOU want to do because they are important and worthwhile to you. They are things that will make you, and possibly but not necessarily others, happy in the process.

The holidays are a time when it’s easy to become burdened by a sense of obligation. The extra work of preparing, hosting, shopping, and socializing, in addition to the added financial strain, will easily leave you feeling exhausted and disillusioned about the whole season. This can distract you from your values, and bring you into a state of just going through the motions.

Not giving in to that sense of obligation that pulls you away from your values can easily lead to uncomfortable levels of guilt and even shame. Try to just see these feelings as an indication that you are a considerate and caring person, and let them be okay.

According to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy there are four processes that lead to psychological suffering. They can be summarized by the acronym FEAR:

Fusion with your thoughts – taking you thoughts too literally
Evaluation of experience – good/bad, negative/positive, acceptable/
unacceptable
Avoidance of your experience – unwillingness to have certain thoughts or
feel certain feelings
Reason giving for your behavior – believing that you cannot have or do certain
things until certain thoughts and feelings
arrive or go away

In the case of holiday guilt, this looks like:

Fusion – thinking that feeling guilt is a true indication that you’ve really done
something wrong, fearing anger or disappointment from others
means that these things will cause irreparable damage to your
relationships and truly need to be feared

Evaluation – not doing certain things makes you a “bad” or “selfish” person

Avoidance – doing things you really don’t want to do to avoid feeling guilt or
shame

Reason giving – believing that you really have no choice but to do things because
you feel bad

The solution to all of this is to practice mindfulness – staying in the present moment. As much as you can, notice that all of these guilt-inducing thoughts are just content of your mind. All of our minds have evolved this tendency to keep our lives safe, but it’s not very effective at making our lives happy or peaceful. Just thank your mind for all its hard work, tell yourself that everything will be fine if you do not do certain things because it will, and continue to pursue your own holiday values.

Simply remember to ACT:

ACCEPT the content of your mind (guilty thoughts) as no more or less than content of your mind.
CHOOSE a personally valued plan for the holidays.
TAKE ACTION and commit to your own plan based on your values.

To learn about how to apply Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Concepts to your day-to-day life, read the ACT self-help manual:

Get Out Of Your Mind & Into Your Life by Steven Hayes with Spencer Smith.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at SusanRotella@4peaceofmind.ca.

Susan Rotella is a Registered Professional Counselor (cand.). She offers professional and affordable counseling online at http://www.4peaceofmind.ca.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/an-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-approach-to-holiday-stress-1602874.html