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!”

The following steps guide you to a successful goals setting process.

1. Write them down. Committing your goals to paper creates a road map for success. You begin to program them into your subconscious mind, which in turn begins to work towards their achievement.

2. Use your imagination and describe your goals as vividly as possible, as if they were already a reality. Describe them using your five senses and add heaps of emotion. Emotion adds tremendous power to your goals.

3. Be specific. The clearer you are about what you want in life, the more readily it will manifest itself. Social research has proven that specific and challenging goals result in better performance then vague foals, no goals, or people simply trying to “do their best.” 4. It is smart writing your goals in present time, as if you are living them already. Say “I am” not “I am going to”.

5. Be positive. The outcome depends on our focus: rather than avoiding negative outcomes focussing on striving toward positive outcomes and success will come. People setting ‘avoidance goals’ (such as ‘I will stop smoking’) tend to be less happy, less satisfied with life, and more anxious than others. Positive goals put us in a positive state of mind, and are mentally associated with positive memories and experiences, whereas avoidance goals are typically associated with memories of failures and accidents.

6. Be 100% committed to whatever you do, especially to your goals. As Napoleon famously said, “If you start to take Vienna - take Vienna .” Underachievement is often caused by lack of commitment and doubt about the worth of a goal. If you achieve your goals and decide that you want something else, then go for that!

7. Choose goals that stretch your abilities and yet are within what you believe is possible. People who set more modest goals tend to accomplish less then those who set challenging goals for themselves. As Emerson said, “We aim above the mark to hit the mark.” Tune In next week for the other 9 steps of goal setting.

Thoughts Of The Day Goal setting is like exercising- You start off light then as you get stronger you can handle more and more. The key is in starting - Remember- Any goal is better then none!

If you want to have more love, happiness, health and financial abundance in your life, coaching is the way to go. Start opening your mind and dream about what would all be possible in your life.