Anthony Robbins…. Have you heard of him? If you’ve been into personal growth for very long it’s likely you have. He lives and thrives on improving the quality of people’s lives. I think that’s pretty noble. Robbins was the featured guest In the January 2009 Issue of Success magazine. There is an article about him in this issue followed by a question and answer session with him. It is from that question and answer session that this post is based upon. (Click here to read the full article and interview.)
“If you aim at nothing, you’re sure to hit it.” ~ Danny Hall
It has certainly been a while since I have written a post. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling, teaching and writing - just not in the form of blog posts. I’ve even done some speaking - something I thought I would never do - and I enjoyed it! I’ve had some great adventures.
It is always my goal to make people think when I write or teach - to cause people to live more consciously. I’ve been accused of doing just that many times over and I consider it a real compliment each time I hear it. For much of my life I didn’t do a lot of “thinking” and it was very detrimental to me. I’ve learned from personal experience that “thinking” - or living consciously makes me happier and helps me to have more peace so I enjoy sharing this gift with others.
The time has finally come. It’s been long in the making… and here it is….. the last of the thinking errors (see others in the list at the bottom of this post.) And what a great series it has been as I have learned so much from you my readers and I thank you for that. There are probably more thinking errors that you will notice as you go along this journey we call life, but most will fit into one of the categories we we have talked about here. If you notice others I would love for you to drop me a line and let me know. For now, let’s wrap up the last one on the list.
16. Should statements: using “shoulds”, “shouldn’ts”, “musts”, “oughts”, and “needs” to motivate yourself or others through guilt. Read More »
It has long been accepted that Napoleon Hill is the expert in personal development. I came across this video by Napoleon Hill himself. It is so profound that I wanted to share it with you. You might come to the conclusion that I’m saying that money is necessary for inner peace. If you watch the whole video I think you will discover something different. This video makes a great follow-up to my post on realities. Read More »
This week we will continue our series on thinking errors. If you haven’t yet read the post on labeling and jumping to conclusions then I encourage you to begin there. I thought it would be best to keep these thinking errors to two to three errors per post so that they would have the greatest impact. Learning about them is one thing, but knowing them intimately and mastering accurate thinking is the only way this information will make a difference in your life.
So let’s take a look at the next thinking errors:
3. Filtering out the positive in order to point out the negative
With this error people have a “filter” in their mind that only catches the negative. The positive slides right Read More »
Happy Fourth of July to all of my U.S. readers - and everyone else also! (Yes, I know it’s a couple of days early.)
I would like to introduce you to Arthur, someone I know personally. Arthur has a beautiful wife and three teenage children. Arthur just left last week for training so that he can soon be shipped overseas to protect and insure our freedoms. He is giving up everyone and everything he loves so that you and I personally can embrace freedom. You see that’s just it. Until we personally embrace this freedom can we really pay tribute to our troops???? Think about it for a minute.
U.S. troops die every day for you and me - to preserve the freedoms upon which this country was founded. Do you take that lightly? I know I have taken them for granted. I hear on the news “10 troops died today, 32 troops died today in battle on the….. ” Soon, a person becomes hardened to words.
I was thinking this afternoon…. these troops die every day for your freedom, for my freedom - for the peace we enjoy. The question is “What are you doing to embrace this freedom and make yourself, this country and world a better place?” You see, we watch them die, all to let the battle in our own minds continue and take over our lives and not even embrace the freedom that is right in front of us. Until we choose to win this battle we will never appreciate what our troops are doing for us.
2. Self limiting beliefs - “I can’t.” I’m not good enough.”
3. Trying to change everyone around you to fit your mold.
4. Trying to fit the mold of all those around you and fulfill the expectations that others have for you.
5. Bad attitudes and filling your mind with negative thoughts.
6. Victimizing yourself because of your circumstances.
7. Seeking revenge.
8. Beating yourself up.
9. Quarreling and fighting.
10. Do nothing.
Men and women are dying every day so that:
1. You can learn from past mistakes and look forward to better things.
2. “YOU can!”
3. You can make YOURSELF better.
4. You can set yourself apart
5. You can have so many blessings.
6. You can let go of everything that holds you back.
7. You can CHOOSE to forgive and love anyway.
8. You can think of all the reasons “you can” and DO it.
9. You can unite with others to do great things.
10. You can make yourself, this country and world a better place.
The troops are working to clear out any outside circumstances that might hold you back from your dreams and the peace that can be yours. It’s up to you to clear away the mental blocks so that you can help make this country and world a better place. Until you let go of all that is holding you back from peace and personal success you will never fully appreciate what your troops are doing for you and reach forward to great things. Will you rise to the challenge our troops have set for YOU? The freedoms are yours. Will YOU embrace them?
What are some other ways that you see people forfeit their freedom?
In our last post, we discussed the importance of discovering what holds us back from acheiving what we want or from being where we want to be.
With all we said last week, there are some things to keep in mind as you work to figure out what is holding you back. We had some great discussion that I would encourage you to read if you have not yet. A common theme that kept appearing in the discussion (which was already going to be a major point of this current post) was…
* Don’t obsess over or stay focused on what is holding you back. Work to figure these things out, but don’t obsess over the problem. Remember that what you focus on expands, as Andrea Hess noted in our comment section in the last post. Stay focused on moving forward when you do work to figure out what is holding you back. THE INTENTION SHOULD ALWAYS BE TO LEARN FROM WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK SO THAT YOU CAN MOVE FORWARD.
* It is common to have fear of self discovery. Don’t allow this to stop or cripple you. Remember the purpose is to make you a better person, not to wallow in self pity. I used to fear looking deep into my life. Now I want to look there so that I can grow from it and become better.
* Don’t get discouraged if you can’t figure it out immediately and don’t try too hard. Suggest to yourself that you will figure it out. Set aside some time to think about it, say 20 minutes. Pray that God will help reveal these things to you. But don’t try too hard. Sometimes the harder we try the more we are working against ourselves. You may simply let your mind wander and see where it takes you and then move on. If you haven’t figured anything out after this time, don’t fret about it. It will come to you. Just focus on moving forward and go on. Our continued discussion will serve to reveal these things to you so that you can learn and grow.
* Once you figure out something that is holding you back, say to yourself, “Great, now I know how to move forward!” Then write down what has been holding you back and what you are going to do to overcome it and act on it immediately. Do you really want one more wasted day? Knowledge alone will get you nowhere. It will take action - action that will get you where you want to be.
Okay, now that you are not stuck on the problems, let’s get specific. To stay with our theme, the focus will be on what holds you back from inner peace. Many of the same principles can apply to any goal you set.
Let’s take a look at some blockers and how to overcome them.
Lack of knowledge - Many people don’t have peace in their lives simply because they don’t know how to have peace in their lives. That is the purpose of this blog. I’m assuming that most of you are here because you want to know how to have that peace. Keep reading. Knowledge is key.
Fear of the unknownor letting go - Many people are in their comfort zone and are afraid of pushing forward to the peace that is on the other side. Fear of getting away from the things with which they are familiar is very frightening. If this describes you, rest assured that what is on the other side is well worth the effort. Write down somewhere, “I recognize that I am afraid, but I realize that what is on the other side is much better. It is worth letting go of the things with which I am familiar in order to have peace in my life. I resolve to let go of all of it.” Let your mind focus on that for a minute.
Lack of consciousness or awareness- Some people are stuck in autopilot without even the awareness that they do not have peace. They simply live their lives like they always have without a second thought, always doing what they have always done and not even knowing why. They do not know that they can change their lives by changing their thinking. They are just trying to get through the day instead of getting something from the day. If this is you, stay tuned to see how you can change your thoughts to change your life. Begin thinking about what you can do to get something out of the day. What can you do to brighten someone else’s day? Become aware of the negative thought patterns in your mind and begin replacing them with postive ones.
Lack of focus - Certainly focus is important. As we stated earlier, what you focus on expands. Do you want peace. Focus on peace. Is there chaos in your life? Are you focused on the chaos? Are you surrounded by problems. Are you focued on them? What if you asked yourself how you could turn these problems into peace? How would you do that? It takes intention. It takes focus - concentrated focus.
Are you focused on the right things? What are your priorities? If you don’t know, it’s time to think about them and write them down and number them. If you don’t know what your priorities are peace will never be possible in your life. Priorities are a must! Priorities allow you to focus.
More ways to move forward next time….
What are some more things that you have discovered that has held you back?
Have you ever wanted something so bad you just couldn’t stand it? Have you ever wondered why you just can’t achieve something or move forward? You want something or you set goals, but no matter how hard you try you just can’t get there? You’re not alone? There have been many times in my lifetime when I set goals and I could never seem to reach them. One goal after another and nothing, nothing. Very frustrating to say the least.
I have been thinking about a question related to this now for several weeks. It has pervaded my mind and I keep thinking about it. So I posed the question to my husband a week or so ago. Do you have to figure out what is holding you back from acheiving something in order to acheive it or can you simply make a goal and be so focused that you acheive it? My husband thought for a moment and then said, “I don’t know.” Later he said to me “Honey, I think you’re becoming a philosopher with some of the questions you ask me.” :) I certainly never thought of myself as a philosopher, but I do enjoy thinking and figuring things out now - something I never took the time to do earlier in my life.
My conclusion, from years of expereience, is that yes, you have to recognize and figure out what is holding you back from accomplishing something and work to process and remove that thing so that you can move forward. Everyone may not agree with me here, and I’d love to hear what you have to say if you don’t.
Do you want inner peace and happiness? Do you want success? Do you want to be the best at something important to you? Do you want to leave a legacy? What is stopping you? That is what I want us to discover.
* Look deep and ask the quesion, “Why?” Now there are two ways to ask the question, “Why?” One way says, “Why me?” or “Why is this happning to me? (or why did this happen to me?)” In other words, “poor pitiful me.” The other way to ask “why?” is to ask it in order to find the answers to what is holding you back and what you can learn from it. This could be in the form of “Why am I not reaching my goals? What is holding me back? How can I learn from it and change it so that peace can prevail or so that I can move forward to reach my goals?
* Realize that when you ask the question “Why?” that it is probably something deep burried in your subconscious mind. This is not always the case, but often it it. Nonetheless, it is something you are doing or not doing that is holding you back. It is your weaknesses that you are not aware of. Keep looking deeper and deeper and asking “why?” over and over again until you figure out the answer. In Jeffrey Liker’s book, The Toyota Way, he tells of how the Japanese in the Toyota company ask the question, “Why?” five times in order to find the source of a problem so they can improve upon it. What you will likely discover when you do this is that…
* Beliefs are usually the things that are holding you back. When you find these beliefs the next questions to ask are “Why?” (yes, again!) Why do I hold these beliefs? Where did they come from? Are these beliefs real or accuarate? Now that I see these beliefs what can I learn from them? How can I change my thinking in order to change my beliefs, in order to accomplish what I want? How can I use this information to help me have peace of mind and/or success at something?
* Understanding how beliefs work can go a long way. Beliefs form habits, habits that we are often not even aware of and these habits dictate your actions and your entire life without you even realizing it is happening. You see, no amount of positive talk can get you where you want to be if you have negative beliefs burried deep within you telling you the complete opposite. Uncover and remove the negative so that you can believe the positive. Once you believe it you can acheive it as Napolean Hill says in his time tested best seller book, Think and Grow Rich. If the voice burried deep within you says, “You’re no good. You’ll never accomplish anything. It’s not really possible for you to have peace” then it is right. You will not until you first recognize that voice, figure out where it came from and then replace it with an accurate thought and belief.
One of the reasons I like Dr. Nicole so much is because she uses the “why? approach to physical problems. She digs deep asking why, why, why til she gets to the root of the problem, exposes it and there finds the solution. She figures out what is holding people back from good health. This is evident in her post about McInflamation and Tell Me What’s in Your Shopping Cart and I’ll Tell You What Is Wrong with You.
* Often the beliefs burried deep within you that are holding you back are fears.Benny Greenberg is doing an excellent series on this topic of fear now which helps to reveal those fears that you may have hidden deep within you. Recognizing these fears and learning to replace them can go a long way towards helping you have the life that you want - that peace of mind we all want.
In the next few posts we will discuss some tips and some more things that hold us back along with the things that we can do to overcome them.
In the meantime, this is open for discussion. I would love to hear what you have to say about all of this. What are some things that you have figured out that has held you back?
, he tells of how the Japanese in the Toyota company ask the question, “Why?” five times in order to find the source of a problem so they can improve upon it. What you will likely discover when you do this is that…
If the voice burried deep within you says, “You’re no good. You’ll never accomplish anything. It’s not really possible for you to have peace” then it is right. You will not until you first recognize that voice, figure out where it came from and then replace it with an accurate thought and belief.
