Self Improvement Basics

The book, “Think and Grow Rich” published in 1938 by Napoleon Hill states, “… desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.”

Well, guess what - he was wrong. Let me explain! We have two basic divisions of the brain - conscious and nonconscious. The conscious brain thinks and reasons. It is the part through which we exercise free will. Conscious mind impulses travel at 120 to 140 miles per hour, process 2,000 bits of information per second and remember about 30 seconds. We set goals, judge results and design new beliefs here.

Nonconscious mind impulses, on the other hand, travel at speeds of over 100,000 miles per hour, process 400 billion bits per second and remember forever. It is here that we hold our beliefs!! There are no judgments of value or results. The conscious mind provides the goals that the nonconscious mind executes.

Now get this! One of the greatest discoveries of neurological research is the conscious brain controls only 2 to 4 percent of our actual perceptions and behaviours. 96 to 98 percent of our behaviours are automatic!!

Established beliefs are self-fulfilling because “synaptic tracks” are formed neurologically in our brains from our past thought habits. These habits are thousands of times stronger than our desires. That explains why we set goals and don’t reach them. The conscious mind sets them. Reaching them is a function of the nonconscious mind!

Having an obsessive mindset about attaining riches will work well - for a few minutes! But conscious thoughts are hard to sustain. To have the life you want, it will be necessary to change those habits and beliefs that interfere with your success. This will require imprinting the non-conscious mind. Our conscious mind power - our will and imagination -allows us to choose what we think. We must then focus and implement techniques to imprint on the non-conscious mind. From that imprint, we then form our habits of thought or beliefs. Making up our mind (both consciously and non-consciously) sets the inevitable in motion. As the song goes, “Nothing can stop us now!”

You control your destiny and your ability to achieve life success. If your goal is to achieve great wealth, you can have it. If you want to become a leader at your job, you can be it. If you just want to travel the world and not have to worry about making money, you can do that as well.

It is difficult to define life success because it varies from person to person. Only you can determine the value of a great accomplishment and whether or not you succeeded. Regardless what it is that you want to achieve, it is possible.

And that’s the first habit for producing great wealth and experiencing incredible success in your life. By believing in yourself and actually having 100 percent certainty that you will achieve your goals, you put yourself at a great advantage. When your belief is so strong, reaching your goals almost become effortless. That’s because you’ve already convinced your mind that you’ve achieved your goals. You’ve thought about what it will feel like and how your life has changed, and you prepare for that change. As a result, your manifest your own ability to succeed.

But without having our second habit to achieve life success - incredible desire - nothing will change. Think of it this way. How many people do you know that do not like their jobs? Of those people, how many of them constantly complain and remind you how much they dislike their jobs? Of those people, how many of them actually do something about it?

Without action, everything stays at rest. But when you have an irresistible desire to achieve your goal, there’s nothing that can get in your way. People can try to stop you, slow you down and prevent you from reaching your goal, but you’ll just run right over them. When your desire to achieve is so strong, even failure cannot stop you. It will just make you get right back up and try again.

Which brings us us to the third habit to achieve great wealth and success in your life. That is to respect failure. Sales professionals have this thing where they believe each “no” they hear is closer to a “yes.” Failure is the same way. Each time you fail, you learn something from that experience and you become better, stronger and faster. Everything comes with practice, and when you understand that failure is a crutch that can help you succeed, you’ll achieve more.