Personal Change Is an Inside Job

Personal change is an inside job. Yep, it all starts from inside the brain/mind!

A number of years ago I read about a group of people who were moved out of a slum into a brand new apartment block. Their old building was run down and quite frankly a dump. There was a lot of unemployment, poor health and there was a lot of crime. It was believed that the move would bring about positive changes for them.

Well in time, the new apartment looked very much like the old slum they had come from. You see, the authorities had tried to change the people from the outside! They still carried their old beliefs and behaviours with them to the new building. So nothing really changed.

Oh some people took the opportunity an changed, but the majority didn’t.

To get the get the changes we want in our life, we must first change the image in our minds. Bring our desired changes to life in our minds with strong images and feelings.

These images start creating changes in the structure of the brain. In the neural connections within the brain. Slowly these changes in the brain start to change our mind and how we think and act. The more we engage in visualising the changes the stronger the new neural connections become.

This then starts to bring about changes in our outside world!

As Steven Covey has said – “Start with the end in mind!!” Start with the vision. Live the vision in your minds eye. Be a part of the movie you see on the screen of your mind. Then you will start to see the changes in your life!

Use self-hypnosis to help you create the vivid image and live it!

until next time

metta

Garth

 

Choose Better Words To Talk To Yourself With

In a previous post I talked about how the sub-conscious is always listening to what we say to ourselves (and to others). Words have power!!

We use different words in the different environments we live in each day. The environment of home, family, extended family, play, work, work colleagues, friends, money, social….the list goes on.

Each environment can be thought of a bubble. Individual bubbles or paradigms may intersect with another bubble or paradigm. That is, we may use a certain set of words in one environment and not in other, or we can use words in two or more environments.

The above sounds pretty complex, but what I am trying to convey is that we define ourselves and our abilities in each of those environments. Our definitions of ourselves is reflected in the words that we use.

Lets take the environment of work. We may define this environment with words like: “I’m no good at ….; or I can’t do that…; or I don’t know, I’m not sure, I’ve not done that before….”

These words show a reflection of our mindset and beliefs about ourselves.

When we continue to use these words, we continue to reinforce the neural pathways associated with that thinking and set of beliefs.

The beauty is that we can change and rewire our brains. By using better words. Words that are supportive and positive like: “I can do this! I don’t have the skills at the moment, but I am giving myself the time to develop them! I believe in myself!!”

The old adage – the pen is mightier than the sword – is very true!

Words can build us up or knock us down. And keep us down!!

What words are you going to choose to change to support a better tomorrow for yourself??

until next time

metta

Garth

You hold your future in your hands today!

If you knew that you held your future in your hands, right now, today, what would you do differently? What would you change in your life?

Well, stop for a moment and think about what I’ve just asked. You do in fact hold your future in your hands right now!!!

Scary thought isn’t it?

We don’t need a crystal ball to look into the future. Why not?

It’s quite simple really. “Because if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got!!”

We are where we are today as a result of our thinking. Our thinking is mainly based on our beliefs. We develop a lot of our beliefs at an early age and many are unconsciously added.

When was the last time that you questioned your beliefs? Which ones are supporting you? Which ones are holding you back?

So what are you going to do differently today? What are you going to do to have that better, brighter future?

You do hold your future in your hands today.

 

metta

Garth

Create new Supportive Habits

Many of us have mental habits that are negative and unsupportive in helping us to achieve in life. How do you develop new supportive habits?

Use self-hypnosis to help develop new mental habits to replace those that are negative or unsupportive. Review the new habits daily – morning & night to create and strengthen the new neural pathways.

Start with writing a script using positive life affirming statements. The review the script each day. First thing in the morning, either before you get out of bed, or just after you get up. This is when the brain is still in the Alpha state. Then again just before you go to sleep.

Remember to continue to do this for as long as it takes to instill the new habitual thinking. It takes time to create then strengthen new neural pathways in the brain. (Neurons the fire together, wire together).

The more you focus on the new positive, life affirming habits, then the old habits connections in your brain will start to weaken.

Get Out of My Way Conscious Mind!

I read an article recently

One of the first things that hypnosis does, is to distract the conscious mind. Why is this?

Well, the conscious mind acts as a bit of a controller, gate keeper and a filter on what we think.

The Plastic Brain & Self-Hypnosis

One of the most important discoveries of the brain in the last 50 years, is its plasticity. The ability of the brain to change and adapt, to grow new neural paths and connections and drop or atrophy unwanted connections.

This discovery has helped break the old beliefs that the brain, once past childhood, is fixed and not capable of change.

Hypnosis has used this ability of the brain to change, for many years. The research into brain plasticity is allowing us to understand, in part, why hypnosis is effective in creating change in ones life.

By using self-hypnotic suggestions and tools, one is able to begin and then sustain the desired change in their lives. To break free of the shackles of past limiting beliefs and to begin to achieve their true potential. To enhance their lives and to take control.

Using the power of hypnosis to directly influence the sub-conscious mind, allows for faster change. This change is bought about by creating new, supportive neural connections in the brain. Connections that are strengthen the more one uses a self-hypnotic program of the new belief or behaviour that they are seeking to embed in their lives.

until next time

metta

Garth

What has Learning to Paddle Board Got to Do With Self Hypnosis?

I suppose some of you are wondering what learning to Paddle Board has to do with self-hypnosis. Well quite a bit really!

You see, what we focus on and then talk ourselves into, (hypnotise ourselves), becomes our new reality.

I hypnotised myself to focus on staying on the paddle board for longer and longer periods of time. That became my reality. No matter that there were boat wakes and waves, I stayed on the paddle board the whole time I was out on the water.

Now if I’d allowed my brothers suggestion to take hold, I would have been falling off the board, rather than staying on it!!

If you lock your mind around a given idea, and you hold that idea to be true, it will be for you. For me, in this instance, it was staying on the paddle board. This became my truth and reality.

What idea are you locking your mind around? Is this idea positive and supportive and taking you in the direction you want to go, or is it negative and unsupportive and taking you in the opposite direction that you want to go?

until next time

metta

Garth

Staying on My Standup Paddle Board – Other Peoples Paradigms

I was talking to my bother the other month, telling him that I’d taken up paddle boarding. In our conversation I mentioned that I’d not spent much time falling off. In fact that I’d stayed on my board for that last 6 months after a couple of false starts in the beginning.

His response was interesting and worth sharing. He said the I wasn’t trying hard enough because I hadn’t fallen off enough!

My response was that my objective had been to challenge myself and stay on my board. AS the months have progressed, I have challenged myself to travel further. These days I am travelling about 8km and staying on my board for well over an hour.

This shows how we operate in different paradigms. My brothers paradigm of falling off to prove that you are trying. My paradigm is one of staying on my board.

Which one is right, or is there a right one?

For me, I far prefer my paradigm because it supports where I want to be! This doesn’t say that I am playing it safe and wont fall off. Rather that I am consciously working with my body and  board to adjust my balance dynamically with the changing water conditions.

What the study of Brain Plasticity tells us is that if we focus our attention on what we are doing, are motivated, having fun and apply energy to the task at hand we will change our brains.

I am using consciously using the elements of Brain Plasticity to improve my performance. To focus on what we are doing with intensity, joy and pleasure.  To make learning a game and enjoyment.

The outcome is that I am having fun and enjoying myself, while at the same time growing my capability on my board.

until next time

metta

Garth

Shush! Your Subconscious is Listening To Your Self-Talk

That’s right – your sub-conscious is listening to your self talk. Or to put it another way, what you say to yourself.

We all talk to ourselves. It may be that little voice in our heads that says either we can or we can’t, or a conversation that we have with ourselves on some topic.

The thing is, we are unaware that what we say to ourselves is also programming our sub-conscious. This is especially true when we apply a lot of emotion to that talk.

We repeat the same thoughts day after day, week after week. Pretty soon, they become part of our DNA, the way we think and act. The thoughts become automatic when we are in a trigger situation. Something that sets us off.

The trouble with most of these thoughts are that they are normally limiting or negative. Thoughts that hold us back from achieving our goals or working for our best behalf.

These repeated thoughts results in the brain being wired to reflect them. The connections between the neurons becomes thick and strong, and then become sub-conscious, part of our Mind.

How do we become aware of these thoughts and how do we break free?

First we need to to become aware that these thoughts are limiting us, are holding us back. Then become aware that we can change what we think about, change our self talk to better support us and reflect our true potential and capabilities.

Mindfulness of our thinking during the day is a good start to become aware of what we say to ourselves. Keep a journal of what you say to yourself. This will help you to become aware of your self talk and whether it is supporting you or holding you back.

The next step is to start replacing your old self-talk with positive, supportive, encouraging new self-talk.

Until next time

metta

Garth

Does It Take Longer to Change the Mind if You Are a Pessimist?

I was sitting having  a coffee this morning and reading come notes I made some months ago. As I was reading a question popped into my head – “Does being a pessimist impact the speed of change?”

An interesting question. I thought that I was an optimist until I did Martin Seligman’s test in his book – “Learned Optimism”.

Hmmm, more of a pessimist than an optimist! One bubble burst! So I started looking at the results I was getting in life and some of the self-hypnosis exercises I had been doing. The fatal thing we do is compare ourselves with what other people are doing, rather than looking at our own progress. When you read stories of people changing overnight and you are still seemingly on 1st base things get a little tense!

I stopped comparing my progress against others and looked at where I had come from. When I did that, I saw that I had come a long way.

When I applied my learning about the brain/mind with this progress and insight, I can now see that I had a lot of wiring that had strong connections. With that being the case, of course it will take some time to build new, positive, supportive connections.

As the old saying goes – ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day!’ Nor are new strong neural connections! Especially when you are starting from behind the 8 ball so to speak!

Persistence is the name of the game. Sticking to the program, day in & day out. Working in the positive and staying in the positive. Learning the new skills and thinking. Developing the new beliefs. Rebuilding the brains neural connections that support a new better you!

until next time

metta

Garth