Category Archives: Conditioning

Celebration, Conditioning, Creating The Future, Habit Formation

How You Begin Your Day Can Determine How It Ends!

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“How you wake up in the morning is critical. What you do first is important to how the rest of your day unfolds. The most important thing you can do each day do is begin your morning positive. Having a good morning routine is the way to insure you wake up right.

Wake up. Declare. Make a declaration. ‘I love my life’. ‘Today something good is coming my way.’ ‘I find and create opportunities’. ‘My life is amazing’. ”I am magnificent’. Thanks for another great day!’ ‘Today, is going to be an incredible day’. Feel it and say it!

While in bed spend a few moments in gratitude. Be thankful for everything. Remember, to appreciate family, friends, yourself, opportunities, things you have, experiences, lessons learned, anything and everything. Celebrate. Delight.  Feel thankful.

How You Do Anything Is How You Do Anything

Expect great things to come your way. Set your intentions for the day. ‘Today, I intend to do X’ Take a moment to decide what you will do and how you will do it. ‘I will to make five sales calls’. I am going to think positive’ ‘I  will complete my report and turn it in by 2pm.’

Intentions are great. They help you live on purpose and set direction. You can set intentions for anything and everything. Get in the car, think, ‘I will to drive calmly and safely’. ‘I will be patient in the line at the coffee shop’. Set intentions and then make them happen.

Spend a few moments doing  your affirmations, visualization or Directed Questions™. Spend as much time as you can reading positive, uplifting inspirational material. Think about it. Study what you read. Reflect or meditate on it.

Since Habits Are Hard To Break It Is Wise To Create Good Habits

Consider how you will apply what you read and are learning. Your morning ritual routine that you want to make a habit could be 5, 10 20 or 30 minutes. It is up to you the time you invest in yourself. It is best to begin with a small amount and work your way up to more.

Do something physical. Stretch. Yoga, Walk, Rebound, Do a few minutes morning exercise to get going! Swim, water walk, skip,dance. Get moving. Get your body and your mind moving. Exercise is good for the body and the brain. Keep moving it!

Eat healthy.  Avoid sugars, grains, processed foods. Get some fiber, some fermented foods, some plain yogurt with no sugar. Organic eggs, raw grass fed organic whey protein is good. Organic veggies are good. Spend time eating without distractions. Chew slowly.

You Get What You Focus On – Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

Savor your meal. Be with your food. IT is your nourishment. It keeps you alive. It is your fuel. Choose it wisely. STOP rushing! Some people bless their food or ask their food to be blessed. Begin your day being grateful. Imagine it adding to your health and wellbeing.

Drink organic coffee or tea. Avoid sugar or fruit juices, especially commercial brands. Warm water and lemon is great to have on an empty stomach when you first wake. Try Kombucha tea hot or cold. You can drink your greens. When finished. Take care of the 3 Ss.

Do one small thing toward accomplishing your major goals. 1% movement toward your goal results in more than 300% improvement in a year. Make that call. Visit that client. Set that meeting. Submit that bill. Whatever it is.

Greet The Day With Enthusiasm – It Is Another Day Just For You

Set your morning ritual. Remember how you do one anything is how you do everything. Find some positive people to share the day with. Reduce the amount of time around energy vampires and negative people. Be respectful.  Keep moving forward.

Get a friend to be accountability partner. Hold each other to your routines. Sometimes it is easier to work out if you have a partner or a trainer. Get someone who will help inspire you to follow through on creating your positive morning routine.

Live on purpose with purpose. If you don’t master yourself, your thoughts, your feelings, your habits, your day, it means someone else is your master. Take charge from the moment you arise. After all it is your day. It is one more you get to enjoy or manage to make it through. Make  it enjoyable. One important way to create more delight is to celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Live today to the fullest!

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Photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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Beliefs, Conditioning, Habits, Mindset

This Is Just How It Works! Accept It Or Don’t

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“People are marionettes of their own making. They dance on strings;  the result of the conditioning process during their years growing up. They can be freed from this conditioning. They can be freed from habitual ways of doing things. They can learn to be free.

It is an unconscious learning process. That was and still is how we learn most everything. We learned to sit up, balance, crawl, walk and feed ourselves unconsciously. We learned from modeling others and experimenting. We didn’t read a book or talk our way through it.

We learned it all without much conscious effort, other than intent. We tried and continued until we succeeded. During this time and through our early childhood development we adopted other’s beliefs and values. We accepted other’s points of view.

It Is What It Is – Accept It – And Take Charge Of Your Life

Now we live from that conditioning. We made their beliefs our own without ever fully examining them to discover and decide whether we wanted them or not. We learned most of them unconsciously. Today, most of us don’t even know all that we believe inside us.

We operate habitually, subconsciously. We are unconsciously competent at being who we are. We don’t even have to think about it. Those beliefs are us. Well, not really, but they fit so well we don’t know where those beliefs start and end. We identify them as ‘mine’.

Those beliefs become ‘my beliefs’. They have to do with whether the world is a friendly or cruel place. Whether it is good or bad to be rich or poor. They determine whether or not we feel worthy or unworthy of money, love, success and possessions. We live from these beliefs.

You Were Born To Win – You Were Born For Greatness – Be It

We don’t even know how many we have. Beliefs tend to cluster as grapes do. They seem to come in bunches. Until challenged or provoked in some way, or until we attempt to do something outside our personal comfort zone, we don’t even realize they are operating.

When we consciously attempt to change  ourselves we encounter that habitual, unconsciously competent set of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. We encounter those well worn neural pathways. The electro-chemical firings of our beliefs scream ‘Whoa! No you don’t!’

Consciously we call it self sabotage or resistance.  It isn’t any such thing. It is self preservation mechanisms. It is homeostasis. It is the brain working perfectly as it does. The Amygdala, a part of the brain, works to keep everything the same and consistent. It is protective.

You Were Born To Be A Champion In Life – Accept It – Live It

It works to preserve the status quo. That is it’s job. If you want to stray out of your comfort zone your Amygdala rushes in to keep you from getting hurt. It fears for your life (metaphor) it wants you safe rather than sorry. It doesn’t know any better and it works perfectly.

It doesn’t know a penny from a million dollars and it doesn’t know an imaginary threat from a real one. It treats it all the same. You want to lose weight and it reacts by keeping you heavier. You want to make more money and it responds by having you spend more.

Status quo. It works as a thermostat does to keep the temperature the same as the set point it is at. It works to keep you in your comfort zone no matter how uncomfortable that may be. It works to maintain all your prior chronic, habitual, negative conditioning too.

If You Want To Be Better – Do Better – It’s All On You – Create It

Because we have learned to be who we are we can also deliberately decide to learn how to change who we are. We can learn to improve ourselves and operate from a new set of consciously chosen programming instead of the programming we did not get to choose.

This is incredible, fantastic news and it has been around since ancient times. Only more recently neuroscience has helped to validate what few have known for eons. Many hear it but few live it. Many are called but few are chosen. It is a secret out in the open.

We can change and we have been told how. Still, few actually bother to attempt it. Why? Because they are conditioned to not attempt it. Our own programming rises up and says, ‘it will be too hard’, ‘it’s not worth the effort’, ‘you could never do it’, ‘can’t teach and old dog…’.

Everything We Know We Learned From Someone Else

Still, the truth is you and I and anyone can change if we decide to. You, and I, and anyone can live it when we are ready to. This helps us understand the statement ‘the teacher appears when the student is ready’. When ready one accepts that one can change and begins.

Prior to ‘being ready’ one listens from one’s old, chronic, habitual conditioning. That conditioning, isn’t all bad. Some of it is supportive and some isn’t. Good taste or wisdom means you can determine which is which and let go of that which does not serve you.

You can create or learn and embrace that which does support you. It is simple to do but not always easy. Changing any habit can seem tough at first but if you decide to change it you can absolutely change it. Some don’t because they don’t believe they can.

Do Not Let Your Past Dictate Who You Are – But Learn From It

Nor do they give it enough time and effort to make the change. Again, the concepts are simple enough. Yet, most miss them. In practice one must believe and commit and see it through. Humans can make most any change they put their mind to. Truly!

They can become more positive and powerful than they presently think they can. They can get better results than they have gotten in the past when they focus on what it is they want. It isn’t airy fairy wishing! It is the art and science of getting what you want.

A champion athlete knows what is necessary to compete at that level. The same is required to create a champion mindset. It isn’t wishing and hoping. It is action and work. It can be difficult but it can also be fun and exciting. It means becoming aware and noticing.

Doubt Kills More Dreams Than Failure Ever Will – Believe

It means taking responsibility and control. It means managing your thinking and feeling. Whenever you discover you are thinking negatively you shift back to thinking positive. Not always easy but doable. You do it as often as you need to for as long as you need to.

Learning new habits means you correctly repeat the new behavior or new thinking of thoughts over and over again, for a long enough time, for new neural pathways to be laid down. You do it again and again, long enough, until it becomes the new habit. YOU do it.

You do it until you get so good at it you no longer do it consciously. It becomes automatic and habitual. It is just how one goes from playing scales on a piano to being a good pianist, a good baseball player, chess player, chef, seamstress, bicycle rider. We do until we ‘get it’!

The More You Take Responsibility For Your Past And Present …

Habits take time and energy to acquire. Most of yours you acquired growing up. NOW it means deliberately replacing the ones that don’t serve you with ones that do. The process needn’t be thought of  as difficult. It can be fun, exhilarating and exciting. It can be a blast.

Going from the old you to the new you can be an incredible journey. You will think and feel and see and tell yourself and others new things. You transform. It can be positively incredible. So don’t think of it as arduous just because it means replacing habits.

Getting good at any sport, swimming or golfing, can be enjoyable even though effort and commitment are involved. However, how you approach personal change may be from a tired old, negative mindset. Then it won’t seem much like fun and delight. But it can be.

… The More You Are Able To Create The Future You Seek

Change can take time. It can also be almost instantaneous. It can be many different things. It is many different things. Mostly it will conform to whatever you believe it is. So choose how you want to think about it. That can be your first lesson.

You decide whether it will or won’t be fun. Get it? THAT is how it works! YOU make it happen. You are doing it. Enjoy it or not. That is up to you. Easy or hard?  That is your call. When it is tough do you wimp out or love a challenge? Will you commit and be unstoppable?

Will you give up along the way? You decide. It is your journey. A great beginning point is to begin with gratitude. Feel thankful for what you already have and what you are able to do. Be grateful for everything. Live in appreciation! Delight in all of it. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Have an incredible day!

If you like these posts – subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW BLOG SITE LAUNCHES SOON – Do you get this blog emailed to you? You will have  to again subscribe to this blog, newsletter. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches. Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!

Awareness, Conditioning, Creating The Future, Getting Over The Past

What You Have Doesn’t Matter. It Is Who You Are That Means Everything!

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“My mission, in large part, is helping people positively change their lives. I want to assist others in transforming who they are. This is critical because it truly is not about what you have. It is all about who you are and who you become. Who you are is most important!

Who you are determines what you do and what you have.
The first order of business is to become all that you can be; to become your true and authentic self; to become a person who allows and accepts and lives in abundance and wealth and gratitude.

The goal is to become free. Be who you truly are and not your conditioned self. Your conditioned self is the chronic, habitual automatic thoughts, beliefs and values that were handed to you while you grew up.

Your Greatness Is Not What You Have But Who You Are

The self you know or that you don’t know is a mixture of thoughts co-opted from other people that you have accepted. It may be an accurate, or one of the truest statements, to say most of us don’t know who we are. We think we know ourselves but we don’t.

We know the conditioned mind but not who we are without that conditioning. It is so habitual and so ingrained we can’t tell the difference. That is why the injunction to ‘know thy self’ is so critical. It is critical! It takes awareness and courage to explore oneself.

I understand that some fear this; that if you’re truly yourself and happy and fulfilled and filled with gratitude then it doesn’t matter what you have and that scares most people. They conjure up of the image of a happy Buddha sitting in the mud with nothing.

Your Greatness Is Not Who You Are But What You Give

If you were that happy Buddha sitting in mud with nothing then you would be a happy Buddha and it wouldn’t matter what are you sitting in. You simply can’t conceive what you cannot conceive of. What you don’t know you do not know.

In order to behave in a new reality you must first be able to conceive of that new reality and you and I cannot conceive of our true selves from our conditioned mine.  We first must become aware of our conditioning so that we can let go of it and reveal our true nature.

For example: how many times have you heard of lottery winners winning fortunes only to go broke again shortly there after. It’s because the person didn’t change instead they just got things. They got new wealth. They got new wealth but didn’t change themselves.

Who You Become Is More Important Than What You Have

They don’t know how to hang onto wealth because they didn’t fundamentally change themselves to know how to manage it and keep it. They didn’t FIRST become the person who can accept handle and keep wealth. They were the same old chronic conditioned self.

They were the same old person with chronic old conditioned ‘poor’ habits who lucked into wealth. Instead of keeping it they returned to who they had been. A poor person. They had been and continued to be a poor person who got money and spent money. They lost it.

This is why the rich, if they lose money, will make it again. Their mindset is wealth. It is their conditioning. It is who they are. While it may not be their authentic self it demonstrates that who one is determines what one has. We are a product of our conditioning.

Upon Waking Let Your First Thought Be Thank You

Whereas the poor person is first and foremost a poor person because of their conditioning. They can change who they! To change who we are is the first order of business! Most people think it is having more, making more and doing more. It definitely is not.

This is why the rich maintain the belief if you give money to the poor it will all end up back in the hands of the wealthy anyway. So why bother? Since the poor won’t know how to invest it and hang onto it they will lose it it. Why give the poor any wealth to begin with?

It is not unreal, nor unreasonable to follow their logic. It’s sad and not very charitable. It may be greedy and selfish but this is why you must transform yourself first. Once you transform YOU then you can handle attaining and accomplishing and gaining things.

Nothing You Wear Is More Important Than Your Smile

You must become the person who is wealthy first then you can handle having things. The rule of law in this universe is not to have things first. This is critical and this is what most people miss. The rule is to become it first, be it. Then you will do right and have it.

Most people spend their life working for things. They try to figure out how to get more. They try to make things happen. They blame the outside world for what they do or don’t have; for what prevents them. They resent and blame others who have more.

They blame circumstances and events. They blame luck, their upbringing, their parents, their gene, whatever! None of the outer world matters. It is an inner transformation that matters! Stop trying to change the outer world.

Know Thyself – You Are Important – Know Thyself – Who Are You

Transform the inner world first and the outer world can and will change. As within so without. From the inner to the outer! That is the order things work at. Those who end up spinning their wheels are attempting to do it backwards. It will not work well that way.

They try to change the world without first transforming themselves and it fails. Become the person who IS the change you want to see in the world and everything else can be yours. This is the rule of law. Know yourself! Transform yourself! Then your world will change.

This is why gratitude is important. This is why attitude is important. This is why positivity is important. This is why affirmations and visualization are important. This is why filling your mind with positive thoughts and energy is important.

Who Are You Becoming

You become what you think about. What you focus on expand. You can become aware of your chronic, old conditioning and drop it. You can change your thinking and become powerfully positive. You can become the person of your dreams. You can discover your true self.

Do it. This is why ‘act as if’ is important. These things are important because they are tools to help you change your focus from the chronic old conditioning to new positive possibilities. Become the person first then everything else falls in place. Do it. And Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Invest in yourself today!

If you like these posts – subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW BLOG SITE LAUNCHES SOON – Do you get this blog emailed to you? You will have  to again subscribe to this blog, newsletter. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches. Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!

Choice, Conditioning, Creating The Future, Focus

Can We Correct What Is Wrong In The World?

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“My real world is filled with joy and peace and all good things. Blessing and love. I’m determined to create what I want by focusing on what is good and right; by correcting the wrong peacefully and positively. I believe in adding value to others and going further.

I think it important to go the extra mile and deliver more than you promise. I believe it best to help others when you can instead of judging others. We are humans and in many ways we have been conditioned to hate, to divide, to be intolerant and negative.

We can rise above our intolerance and our hate. We can stop tearing down and disenfranchising others who are not like us. We can learn to accept and to invite. We can welcome and include. We can help and assist. Why? Because I am for life not against it.

Go The Extra Mile – It Is Never Crowded – Make A Difference

I am for wealth not against it. I am for all people not against them. I am for love and creativity. I am for imagination and going beyond what is wrong. I am for god’s way, or the universe’s way above and beyond the human’s way. I am all for higher purpose and kindness.

We can do great things when we unite and work as a team. We can positively change the world for the better or we can fight and worry and fear and hate and kill each other. I opt for peace, love and positivity. I think we do more good when we create and include.

When we spend our time tearing down, resisting, fighting or opposing what we don’t want we are too focused on what we don’t want and not focused enough on what we would rather have. It is important to be clear about what we want. This is critical. We must!

You Can Start Right From Where You Are At

To build something better we need a blueprint. We need to know what we are going to build not just what we don’t want. However, knowing what we don’t like can help us get more specific about what we do want. Then we need to focus on that. I mean, really focus on it.

We all need to grow up a bit and stop complaining and whining about how things are. We need to realize when things are not to our liking we have an opportunity to create something different. We should think as creators and artists and enjoy the process.

We can make things better. How incredible is that? Instead of it being a burden it could be our joy. Let’s take responsibility for creating the world we want to inhabit instead of yelling at all the wrongdoers and wrong ideas. Let’s create with joy and delight.

No Act Of Kindness No Matter How Small Is Ever Wasted

Let’s find a way to be grateful for the ‘wrongs’ in the world because they help us know what we want. They allow us to focus and plan to make something better. They allow us to become creative and work together to improve the world. I say celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Have a beautiful day.

If you like these posts – subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW BLOG SITE LAUNCHES SOON – Do you get this blog emailed to you? You will have  to again subscribe to this blog, newsletter. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches. Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!

Conditioning, Creating The Future, Deliberate Creators, Intentional Thinking

United We Stand Divided We Fall. But Wait There Is More!

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“United we stand. Divided we fall. Consider the sources and topics and methods utilized to divide us. How about you and I consider not falling for it? It might be difficult to extract oneself from social conditioning that has been going on for decades, eons. but one can.

Perhaps, it is easier than one imagines. Consider attempting to do that. Consider letting go of social conditioning and uniting as a people. Imagine peace, harmony, goodwill and goodness all around. No division. Oneness. Congruent and aligned.

What an amazing world it could be. Not a utopia, but a world where we positively handle events and circumstances that arise.  Imagine a world not devoid of hardship but one where together we work to overcome difficulty more easily. Imagine a wonderful world.

If You Can Dream It You Can Do It – Believe You Can Do It

Instead of being distracted and divided we work together all in one accord. We pursue a greater, higher good that is available and beneficial for all. Wouldn’t this be marvelous? Is it a dream? Yes. Is it only a dream? Perhaps. We won’t ever know unless we attempt it.

Do you want a better life? Would you like more harmony in your relationships? Would you enjoy more free time to be with the people you love. Having more fun would be nice, wouldn’t it? Who wouldn’t like to have more money and be free of debt? Is it possible?

Do you believe it is? That makes THE difference. Henry Ford said, ‘whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you are right’. Napoleon Hill stated, ‘if you can conceive it and believe it you can achieve it. Thought leaders for centuries have said it is possible!

Repeat After Me I Can Do This – I Can Make This Happen

Do you believe it? After all, it is up to you. No one can do it for you but you. What we think about we can bring about. All human invention and progress first began as an idea. Whether it originated from need, to solve a problem, and overcome difficulty…

Or it originated as a desire, an innovation, to make things more wonderful, every human thing there is, we first thought up. We made it in our minds and then made it in reality. Creation begins with your thought, deciding it so and believing you can accomplish it.

Could we have a more wonderful society? Could we have an incredible world. Most certainly. Will we? That depends on each of us? Do you think it easy and possible or difficult or insurmountable. Your thinking about it does make the difference.

You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To And Persevere

Coaches know an athlete or team must play to win rather than play to lose. That is true for most everything we do. Aim for the prize, the finish line, and make sure you get it or get there. We can do it if we think we can and we work to do it. That is simple. BUT…

It is more than that. Divided we fall isn’t just about groups of people but about individuals. United, congruent, aligned and focused we stand. Conflicted, distracted, divided we fall. We need to have harmony within our own selves. We need to align our thoughts.

We need to discover and live our purpose positively. We need to think, feel and behave positively to get positive results. WE need to know where we are headed and head there. Sure, we may have to take alternate routes along the way,  but we keep heading to it.

You Have The Power To Determine How Your Story Goes And Ends

Our goal is to arrive at our destination safely in one piece. United we stand. Divided we fall begins with you and me. Unify your thoughts and actions and behaviors in order to manufacture the positive good you desire. See it, believe it and go get it. All one purpose.

Drop the accusations of others. Let go of the blaming, complaining, and whining. Let go of the reasons why you can’t, why we can’t. Drop them quickly. Discover the reasons why you can. Find out why we can. Create them, believe them and work at achieving them.

Drop the excuses and reasons why you can’t and start living as though you will. See it happen and make it happen. Put your energy into creating the good you want more of. Withdraw your energy from what you don’t want. Create and attract. Align and unite.

Stop Whining Start Winning – Stop Excusing And Start Living

While going for your dream don’t trample others or prevent them from getting theirs. Support and encourage. Delight and enjoy. Feel grateful. Evolve yourself. This is how we grow and progress. Work on oneself to be the best self one can be. Work on community too.

Whether small or large in scope we still can light one candle at a time. Make sure your light is bright and perhaps others will want to get lit up in positive fashion too. Spread goodwill by getting your own ‘house’ in order. Unite yourself and stand. Become an example.

Support others and allow them to support you. Work together. We can be better off! We can if we bother to! Aim our sights on it. We won’t if we think it too hard or impossible. Forget the reasons why not and think the reasons why you can and why we can. Also, celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

As you decide it will be it will be. Make your day marvelous!

If you like these posts – subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW BLOG SITE LAUNCHES SOON – Do you get this blog emailed to you? You will have  to again subscribe to this blog, newsletter. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches. Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!

Accelerated Learning, Affirmations, Conditioning, Responsibility

Ask Yourself This!!

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Today, I’d like you to ask yourself an important question. Take your time to really carefully answer. I mean it. Ready, here goes: What if you took all the time and energy you spent complaining, making excuses, blaming and talking yourself out of things…

… and instead talked yourself into getting things done and then actually did them?

Life would be different, wouldn’t it? It’d be okay, right, if that is true? It probably would be better than okay because all your energy and thought would be lined up to concentrate on your goal. Go ahead and start making it different. Start affirming you can instead of can’t. Start spending your time wisely. Celebrate everything? Rex Sikes

Become more fascinated today!

If you like these posts – subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW BLOG SITE LAUNCHES SOON – Do you get this blog emailed to you? You will have  to again subscribe to this blog, newsletter. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches. Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!

Awareness, Conditioning, Habit Formation, Learning

How To Finally Stop Being A Loser And Become A Winner

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“Some people feel they are losers. They don’t seem to win at anything. They are stuck in a job they don’t like. They haven’t won the money game; there is too little money at the end of the month. They haven’t won in romance, or in much of anything.

They feel stuck. The look at others enviously. They don’t think it is possible for them to make changes and have what they want. They believe others can do it but they can’t. The future is bleak. They just can’t seem to get ahead or even begin to imagine it getting better.

If this is you I have some good news for you.  I have some good news and some not as good news for you. The good news is you can absolutely change it. You can play and you can begin to win. You can free yourself from old conditioning and begin to live your dreams.

Everything In Life Teaches A Lesson You – Be Willing To Learn

The not so good news is this area you want to work on may take a little time. You can absolutely break through! You must be patient and stay committed. You don’t want to fall back into the old bad habits. If you commit you will win! Stay patient and you’ll win!

How do you make the changes? You begin right now, from where you are. You begin by taking baby steps. If the problem is you don’t feel or experience being a winner, or worse, you consider yourself an unlucky person or loser, then baby steps is what is needed.

Begin by taking note of the things you have successfully accomplished. ‘Wait’, you scream. ‘I haven’t and that is the difficulty!’ You have. You have learned and accomplished many things. The problem isn’t that you haven’t. The problem is you think you haven’t.

Perception Is Everything – We See Only What We Believe

Some people THINK they have never successfully accomplished anything. This is perception and a belief issue. Consider this: If you walk then you learned to and accomplished it. If you talk then you learned too and accomplished it. You feed yourself? You bathe?

You read and write? You work in a job? You cash checks? You spend money? Whatever you do you have learned to. Again, you cry, ‘Wait!’ I say ‘STOP’ right there! Remember, I said baby steps.’ If you don’t appreciate this about yourself it is time to start. This is critical!

Yes, you also learned to be lazy, afraid, angry and sad too. You have learned certain mindsets that support you and one’s that don’t support you. It is time to re-condition yourself and learn more of the mindsets that support you. This is one of them. Again, this IS critical!

It Is There You Just Haven’t Noticed It – Perception Is Everything

You have learned many useful things. You have learned some other things too. Everything can be useful depending on the context. In some contexts it won’t be. You have learned so much but you don’t validate it. It goes unrecognized by you. It is time to change this.

You’ve learned to argue and to make up. You’ve learned to listen to others and watch tv. You’ve learned to discount your successes. You’ve learned to think it is possible for others but not for yourself. You’ve learned to feel a victim of your thoughts and feelings.

Back up and take inventory of everything you have learned, because, truthfully, most of the things you think, feel, say and do in life you have learned. Very little is hard wired in by comparison. You need to review and validate those things you have learned to do.

Any Limitation Can Be A Blessing And A Skill You Determine If It Is

You and I, and all people, are learning machines. We’ve learned bad habits and supportive ones. It is time to begin to acknowledge this. Become aware of what you can do and accept it. Begin counting the tiniest things you do as wins. Take baby steps they pay off long term!

The baby steps you took as an infant lead to you walking as much as you have. Those early attempts and failures are what allows you to travel by foot today. Had you given up you might never have learned to be mobile. You learned by doing, not by reading how. You did it.

You did it all by trial and error. Because you persisted you developed the skill. You made it a habit so you don’t even ever have to think about it, as long as everything functions normally. If you can’t or never learned to walk there are other abilities you did learn.

Everything Is An Opportunity If You See It As Such – Believe

Take these baby steps. Re-frame, review, reflect on everything you do, supportive and unsupportive as a learned skill. They truly are! Recognize this fact and realize you learned to do everything you do. If you could learn these you can still learn anything. Apply yourself!

If you determine to do this and you do it CONGRATULATE yourself! Feel good about doing something for yourself. Act in your own best interests for you. Appreciate yourself. Feel good. Take inventory and feel great about it. You have succeeded in learning a great deal.

Our next baby steps will come next post. Meanwhile, celebrate yourself. Think about what you have accomplished in life and realize it is a great deal. Don’t compare yourself to others leave that alone for now. Just look at what YOU HAVE learned and accomplished.

Perception Is Everything – We Get What We Focus On

STOP, don’t look at things that didn’t work out. Look at things that did. Learn to have good taste. Learn to manage your thinking. Learn to develop concentration and focus. Learn to fixate your mind on the positive. You already spent enough time wallowing in the negative.

HEY YOU! You learned to wallow in the negative too! Get it? You have learned to be stuck. You have learned to feel certain less than glorious ways. You CAN absolutely change this! You CAN have the life of your dreams. You CAN learn to!  You can if you will! Do it!

The way you get back on track is once you become aware you are traveling in the wrong direction, that you have gotten off course, you STOP. You stop traveling in the wrong direction! Then begin to head in the correct direction. You turn, navigate, and get back on course.

We Become What We Think About Most – Believing Is Seeing

You must stop the old negative habits and start doing the new. You must repeat the new thoughts and behaviors enough until they become the new reliable, automatic habits. You develop new thought, feeling, speaking and behavior habits that support you.

This entire blog site is dedicated to this, My goal is to assist people to make the breakthroughs they want  in life. That means you, too! If you want it better it can and will be. Apply yourself. Take baby steps and you will inch at first, then crawl, then walk into success.

Become aware! Recognize and turn. Change direction. Recognize and validate your learning. Realize you did and can learn anything. Accept it. Decide now to learn supportive habits and commit to the process. Affirm it. Daily, affirm and apply yourself. Be patient. Do it.

Change May Not Always Be Easy – But It Is Always Possible

Soon you will notice the shifts occurring. You will notice the changes happening. Some tiny, some huge. The old habits will resist at first too. At times it will seem a struggle, get easy, then struggle again. Eventually, you will develop the new habit. It will have been worth it!

So accept, affirm and apply. Apply the new learning to yourself. The sequence is become aware of that you are a learning machine. Accept this about yourself. Validate it. Affirm it. Think: ‘I can learn to do anything I put my mind too’.  Apply yourself to changing,

Appreciate everything about your past and now. You have learned and you will learn. Appreciate the ease and the struggles. All of it helps you evolve to a higher, more positive productive level. You become comfortable being your higher self. All of you is perfect!

Focus Your Energy On Building The New Not Fighting The Old

Enjoy, delight. Have fun. Stay determined. Never quit. Challenges will come and go. Realize this. In your toughest challenge become aware and accept it. Affirm and apply yourself through it. Appreciate yourself and your challenge while encountering it and beyond. You will truly evolve beyond your wildest dreams when you celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Determine the kind of day you want to have and make it happen!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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Awareness, Choice, Conditioning, Gratitude

How To Become Aware Of What You Aren’t Aware Of And Why You Must!

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“Awareness is the first step in transformation.  Awareness can lead to change. So what is it we become aware of? Ideally, we become aware of our own conditioned mind. We become aware of the chronic ‘less than glorious’ thoughts we think and speak.

Hopefully, we become able to recognize that which limits us and holds us back from being, doing and having what we want. We realize what the prior ‘bad’ conditioning is so we can drop it, move beyond it or change it. What happens if we don’t become aware?

We stay as we are. We don’t know what we don’t know. How could we be aware of what we aren’t aware of? If we don’t realize there is a problem we wouldn’t do anything to make it different, would we? So awareness must be that which precedes changing.

Awareness Precedes Change – Acceptance Follows

This is a bit tricky. How do we become aware of what we aren’t aware of? Somehow, something comes to our attention. If and when it does it presents us the opportunity to examine it and potentially alter it. Just becoming aware of something first might alter it.

If you were in a dark room, no light, and didn’t know there were any doors and windows, but somehow you safely made it over to a wall, you could feel your way around the room until you discovered a door or window you might use to leave from. Right? Get it?

The discovery makes new choices available. Prior to this awareness you might not have any idea you could leave, even though you may have wanted to. Anything is possible and I could belabor this point but I hope I don’t have to. Once we become aware we have choice.

Become Aware Of The Space Between Your Thoughts

We have new choices. When we decide on one of the choices things may alter. When they do, how they do, what they do, prior to choosing is unknown to us. Once we make the choice and act we are accountable for what happens. After all, it was our choice. We acted.

We decided and whatever follows our decision, follows our decision. While we might want to know the consequences in advance of choosing, often we can not. We find out only after the choice is made. If we made the wrong choice we can choose again. Hopefully.

The mirror reflects what it is in front of it. It may not realize that it reflects anything. It misses that it reflects because it has reflected for so long. Reflection is what it automatically does. It is habit for the mirror. It is not conscious or aware that it reflects. It just reflects.

Become Aware Of The Silence Between Your Words

If it could become aware that it automatically reflects, then it might have a choice whether it wanted to continue or not. Does this make sense? It isn’t a perfect analogy, of course. Hopefully, you get where I am going with this. We project. Automatically, we project.

We automatically assign meaning or value or motive to other people’s words and actions. We project our narrative onto their statements and twist them to our ways of thinking without realizing we are doing it. We do this to ourselves as well. We project on us.

We assign reasons and motives to our thoughts, words and actions which, according to research, which I don’t have space to get into here, may not be accurate at all. Reference research and conclusions made in split-brain operations. See Michael Gazzagnia et al.

Become Aware Of The Space Between Musical Notes

We have a narrative that we unconsciously, habitually, automatically, use to assign meaning to our thoughts and behaviors. We may not even realize this. It is too close to us. It is so close! It is our thoughts and our self talk. We just ‘DO IT’ albeit without choice.

IT IS our conditioning AND we can’t see it. We don’t realize what our conditioning IS because we are using it to navigate the world. So we do it repeatedly day in and day out UNTIL that moment we become aware that we WERE and ARE conditioned to think and act in ways.

THEN, possibly, ONCE noticed, we can choose whether to continue or not. Either we drop it or we don’t. OR we attempt to drop it only to discover it isn’t as easy as we hoped because we find ourselves operating from that which we want to change again and again.

Focus On Your Breath – Be Aware When Your Mind Wanders

Get it? We attempt to drop it and break free but it is a deeper, more ingrained, issue than simply changing a shirt that got stained. We try to remove our programming only to find ourselves ‘doing’ our programming again and again. AHHHH the beginning of awareness!

That is what we become aware of. Those times we fall back into our habits and our conditioned patterns. After a while we begin to realize when we are doing ‘the old thing’ yet again. Time after time. It requires practice, this awareness, just as juggling does.

Over and over again we toss balls up. We get so far and then we drop one or more. Again we do it. Again we drop some. It is called practice. Eventually, we drop fewer times and keep balls up in the air longer. Eventually, we get better at it. Then even better and better.

Become Aware When Your Self Talk Is Negative And Stop It …

As long as we continue to practice correctly, we can continue to improve. If we practice the wrong things we won’t get as good of results as we hope for. We will practice and get the wrong things . If we quit at any time we won’t the results we want. We have stopped.

We can practice awareness. We can practice choice. We can get better at it the more experience we have with it. First, we must become aware. That is what we are MOST blind too. That is what we notice least, but when we do, opportunity abounds. It always does!

Opportunity is always there we just aren’t aware of it much of the time because of the blinders we wear. Our blinders ARE the conditioning we live from. Again, we don’t know what we don’t know. We can’t know it. PLUS, what we know may be wrong!

… Gently Change Your Self Talk Into Positive Self Talk

If we think it isn’t we are misguided. If it is correct and we think it isn’t we are also misguided! Accurate thinking is very difficult to achieve because few, if any of us, have been exposed to it, or taught it, or condition to it, growing up. Most of us were conditioned well.

Well, but poorly. We learned limitations and reasons why ‘we can’t’ over reason why we can. We learned to doubt, to fear and to be anxious. We learned to excuse, find reasons and blame ourselves, others and the world for why we aren’t enough. We learned wrong.

We got bad information, without realizing it was bad info, and we continue to live from it 10, 20, 50 years later. Many continue because they never become aware that they were well-programmed with bad info. It is like having a great computer with faulty software.

Notice When You Feel Less Thank Glorious And Change It

Unless, one realize the software is the issue the bugs, glitches or failures continue. The computer doesn’t know it is running faulty or bad software it just runs what it was provided to run. This is similar to most of us. We just run on and on and on the same programs.

Unless, or until we become aware that we don’t have to. Then, we can seek to change it. Perhaps, that moment, of awareness is explosive enough transformation and everything changes in an instant. Perhaps, it is only the beginning of a whole new way.

It may only be the beginning but it may be a powerful one. A small opening can be powerful. A small, tiny degree change in course, can lead to hundreds of thousands of miles difference over time and space. A baby step can lead to monumental change. Its an opening!

Stay Positive – Stay Gentle –  Nurture And Encourage

Become aware! How? That is the question. That is what we will continue to explore in these blog pages. As always, your comments and questions are welcome. Awareness is the beginning, the first step in change. If you want to change awareness is critical.

The second step is acceptance. Future posts will explore these key concepts. Meanwhile, become aware of the power of gratitude. How? Through practice! If it remains only a concept it will remain only a concept. Practice it and you can discover many new things.

Find more and more to be grateful about. Notice it. Notice why you appreciate people, places, things, activities and information in your life.  Write it down. It helps to write things out. List them. Do it daily. Scan you experience, past and present, and discover what is good and new you can feel grateful for. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Positively inspire each person you come in contact with today.

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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Affirmations, Choice, Conditioning, Focus

End The B S Here And Now!

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“Has anyone ever provided you with the wrong or false information? You didn’t realize that it was inaccurate of false so you acted on it as if it were true. Perhaps, it was directions to an address  you followed and ended up at the wrong place. Perhaps, you got the wrong name?

Someone told you something about another person you acted on or believed. Later, you learned it was completely untrue. It was a lie! We all have believed gossip at times, right? People have provided you falsehoods that you believed were reliable but they weren’t.

What did you do when you learned the ‘truth’? Besides being upset or getting even what did you do when you learned the correct information? Once the lie was exposed as a lie did you continue to believe it? Some will, perhaps. Did you? Did you change your mind?

Stupid Is Knowing And Seeing The Truth – Still Believing The Lies

Did you change your thinking about the person? Did you correct and go to the right address? Did you make a shift of some kind? Did you carry the lie around for years once you knew it was a lie or did you drop it? Perhaps, you vowed to never believe the person who lied.

Perhaps, you later learned THAT person also believed the lie and spread it. Believing it to be accurate or true they shared it, they repeated it. Perhaps, later they learned it was a mistake, too. Lies are lies after all. Sometimes difficult to tell. Silly, sometimes to blame.

Why then, do you continue to believe the lies told to you about the world, money, love, and you? My recent blog was about our early conditioning and learning to free ourselves up from the limitations we inadvertently grew up with. We adopted other’s beliefs.

Give Yourself The Chance To Discover Who You Really Are

If you don’t like it when others lie to you STOP lying to yourself. Stop perpetuating negative myths about yourself and the world. Stop it! Stop It ! Stop It! Get really tired of it and DROP IT! Quit. Say, ‘that is enough!’ and start living free of those lies. Stop believing limitations.

We co-opted other’s versions of what IS; of what is true. Much it is unreliable. Much of it is negative, can’t do it thinking. Much of it is how the world or you is broken somehow. Much of it is how conditions suck and are difficult and touch. There isn’t enough!

We are running out. Money is hard to earn. Only the greedy get rich. You must postpone happiness. It is better to do without than to live well.  Love is difficult to find. You aren’t good enough. The myriad of B.S. that surrounds us and fills us IS endless. (redundancy intact)

Life’s Challenges Are There To Help You Discover Yourself

Yet, we believe it. Some never realize they have been lied to. Albeit not always intentionally were we lied to but the result is the same. We grew up adopting the limited mindset of others. Others propagated the untruths purposefully or unintentionally.

Some won’t wake up or refuse to wake up to this. That is okay, let them sleep. Others realize they have been lied to and get angry but do nothing about it. Others rage against the world and the lie tellers and never get over the hurt. Others notice it, wake up and let it go.

Some tell themselves more positive, useful, lies that help them live the life they want. The bottom line is every statement of thought or belief is incomplete. The ultimate is unknown. You can’t know what you don’t know, yet. Forget ultimate truth and live from useful lies.

You Can Affirm The Positive Or The Negative – It Is Your Choice

Affirm those positive thoughts that move you further ahead in life and help bring you the people, activities and things you want. Believe those things that help you and help you help others. Believe those lies that free you up, make you nicer, kinder, and more loving.

Stop affirming the negative lies you believed for so long in the past. Start believing the world is a wonderful place and you are a wonderful person. Believe you can do anything when you learn how. You can learn anything because in your life you already have.

You learned to roll over, sit up, balance, crawl, walk, feed yourself, bathroom habits, walk, read and write, work with numbers, play games, tell lies, tell ‘truths’ communicate with others, work, love, hate, feel good, feel bad, you have learned so very much.

The Privilege Of A Lifetime Is To Become Who Your Truly Are

You are wired to learn. SO learn something new. Learn something useful. Learn how to make you life grand. Learn to think positive, feel wonderful, live joyously, succeed elegantly and do whatever good things you want. You can learn to do it. Give yourself permission.

If you must give yourself permission to do it. DO so! Allow yourself to succeed and make money. Allow yourself to be happy and rich. Allow yourself to have incredible family relationships, sexual relationships and friendships. Live to the fullest. You deserve to!

AND YOU CAN! You absolutely can learn how. You can learnt o stop the lies! Stop listening to the ones you have been telling yourself. Quit accepting those. Put them to rest. Drop the negativity, the excuses, the blaming, the winning, the ‘I can’t’ the ‘It’s too hard’ stuff.

Stop Believing Other’s Lies About You And About The World

End the ‘economy sucks’ thinking. Get with the program. Most of the really rich didn’t inherit it. They made it. You can too. Most of the happy people have lived through incredible hardship and pain. Life is whatever it is. Accept it. Determine to make your life what you want.

Stop buying into B.S. and start living your own truth. Affirm thoughts that make you powerful, positive, confident, loving, kind, cooperative, generous, supportive, committed, dedicated, playful, fun, honest, loyal, dynamic, charismatic, attractive, and more.

Live the good life because you can. For no other reason than that. Live large and enjoy life. Stop being petty and limiting yourself.Stop being stingy with life and good feelings. You deserve all the good things there are in existence. Tap into it. Free yourself up.

Life Isn’t About Finding Yourself – Life Is About Creating Yourself

Live in appreciation. Live with gratitude. Open the doors to blessings. Challenges only make you stronger if you realize everything is a blessing. Be thankful! Stop being a wimp. Start being a champion. Live, love, laugh and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

How many ways can you find  to fill your day with gratitude!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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Acceptance, Conditioning, Focus, Getting Over The Past

Don’t Believe A Single Word! Stop Believing The Lies!

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“What is it you think about yourself? Any reader here have some pretty negative personal self talk? Do you criticize and rag on yourself? Are you especially tough on you? I know I was. For most people we are harder on ourselves than on others.

That is a good thing. Probably why people can stand to be around us. Of course, sadly, some people are not. They are just as tough on others as they are on themselves. That causes more problems for certain. Hey, listen, lighten up, I am serious, lighten up.

Nearly everything, every negative, not supportive thing you tell yourself is based in prior past chronic ‘less than glorious’ conditioning you, and I, got from the time we were born. By seven  it was set, locked in.  We gonegative messages from others.

Be Careful Who You Pretend To Be You Might Forget Who You Are

The other day I heard a mother tell her young son that he asked stupid questions and was stupid. I was shocked yet I hear this come from others all the time. Sad! I don’t think she was trying to program him or make him feel bad but that came out of her mouth.

What do you suppose he felt? How many times do you think he has to hear this before he internalizes it? My guess is not too often AND he probably hears it a lot. Yes, we need to be careful what we say to kids. YES! We need to be careful what we say to anyone!

Just as important we need to recognize that much of our self criticism is learned or adopted from others and is not true about ourselves. It is misinformation. We have been misinformed about who we are and what we are capable of.  Put this crap to rest!

Stop Believing The Negative Lies You Tell Yourself – Stop Today

Recently, a dear friend told me something about me, many years ago, that made me feel incredibly good. This person whispered something to me. I instantly felt great! Wow, really I thought. Then I had a moment of, ‘gosh, I wish I had known this back then!’.

I wished I had believed it back then. I have been told this same thing a few times by others. Their perception of me ‘back then’ differed from my perception most of my ‘back then’ life. I wish I had grown up believing some version of what my friends shared with me.

Instead I believed a far less than glorious thought. I didn’t accept or think of myself anywhere close to what friends shared. How might my life have been different had I? OKAY no point crying over spilt milk. Right? What is IS. What was, WAS.  I just point it out.

Create Yourself – BePositive Affirm What You Want And Truly Are

Had my self talk been more positive things may have been different. I believed something about me others didn’t. I limited myself in ways I might not have. We all do this. We all have stories of who we are, what we are like, what we aren’t, what we can and can’t do.

Stop telling old tired, negative, non-supportive stories of why you are broken or can’t do it and start telling stories to yourself of how you are good enough and can do things. You do deserve the best as does everyone. I am not suggesting you become an egomaniac.

I am suggesting that much of your self criticism is just not true! Just as not everything others say about us is true. If is isn’t discard it. If it is useful, constructive, positive feedback take it under consideration. Don’t believe a word of the crap you tell yourself. Stop that now!

If You Know What You Want And Believe In Yourself You Can Do It

Learn to think and talk to yourself in positive terms. Learn to inspire and motivate yourself. Realize you are or you can be a good, even great person. You are resourceful in ways you might not yet recognize because you never believed this about yourself.

Start telling the story of the person you want to be. Start acting ‘as if’ and affirming it. Start believing positive thoughts about yourself. You ARE attractive. You ARE capable. You CAN learn to do anything  if and when you apply yourself. You CAN and YOU WILL be confident.

You are in the process of redefining and asserting yourself. You are dropping the past negativity. You are letting go of less than glorious conditioning. You are taking charge of your thoughts, feelings and actions to create supportive habits. You get positive great results.

Attitude Is Everything – Attitude Determines Your Altitude

Stop believing the lies and start discovering your own truths! Live free from the negative self talk we spend much of our lives suffering through. Drop it like a hot potato. Seek to live from a higher place, a positive, an accepting, loving, kind, encouraging place.

If you are going to be tough on yourself be tough as a champion is. Realize it is up to you to make things happen and that you can find away if only you will look and act. Don’t stop yourself from evolving into a better person or pursuing your dreams because of lies.

Stop believing those lies and free yourself up to become the awesome person you already are. Discover how cool you truly are! Become even more so by continuing to improve on it. We either are growing or dying just like a plant is. Keep growing. Evolve. Do it!

If You Hate It When Others Tell Lies Then Stop Lying To Yourself

Live, love, laugh and celebrate yourself. Tell yourself positive things. I am not suggesting you tell historical lies to others. I am suggestion you discover the positive truth about yourself and reinforce that to yourself and others. Appreciate yourself and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Today, recognize and believe in your greatness!

If you like these posts please subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW BLOG SITE LAUNCHES SOON – Do you get this blog emailed to you? You will have  to again subscribe to this blog, newsletter. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches. Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!