Category Archives: Intentional Thinking

Why You Must Learn Patience For Happiness And Success

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“You seem to be doing everything correct but it just isn’t happening fast enough, right? You have worked hard but you aren’t seeing the results you expected. Maybe you are wondering if you ever will.

Welcome to Part 8 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 7 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 9 tomorrow.

Change can happen in an instant. IT CAN and it does. Most often it requires some time. How much time you might wonder? That is a great question, but useless. How much time does anything require?

Almost everything requires some time. Even microwaving your beverage takes time. It takes an apple tree, to grow from seed to a fruit bearing tree, a good amount of time. Learn to wait well.

Patience Is Not The Ability To Wait …

Change and personal development take some time. Illumination can occur in an instant. You suddenly, ‘get it’, it gels and all comes together. You have a ‘satori’ moment of enlightenment. An ‘aha’!

Instantaneous! Then living from that new awareness and perfecting it requires time. The skills you learn from this blog, many of them, only take a few minutes to learn. Maybe, five minutes at most.

Still, it can take a lifetime to master them. ‘Getting it’, that moment when everything comes together is an exciting moment. Living it can be joyous too. Now you are living the process and that takes time.

… Patience Is How You Act While Waiting

That means you are back living in ‘real’ time. Be patient. Be patient with yourself; be patient in your struggles; be patient with the changes occurring, they will, in time; be patient with others; and life.

Learn to be patient and accept what is. If you ‘got it’ then nurture the awareness and learn to accept and enjoy the process. Time passes more quickly when you are having fun, if you hadn’t noticed.

The more you enjoy all of the journey the more there is to enjoy. Your neurology opens up and you discover more bliss, you allow for more insights and ‘satori’ moments. You get so much more in return.

It Takes 6 Months To Build A Rolls Royce … 

More time presents you with the opportunity to gain experience; to repeat successes and learn what works. From challenges you learn to develop your talents and abilities so that they grow strong.

Just as your muscles grow stronger from opposition and rest so does your ability to be in charge of your own mind. That after all is the goal, take back possession of your own mind so it serves you!

When you mind serves you, instead of it, you discover that all things truly do work together for good. So you are more relaxed while you create and make good things happen. You enjoy all of it. ALL of it.

… It Takes 13 Hours To Build A Toyota

Lighten yourself up. Stop carrying a load of concern about when and if. Give that a rest. Drop it altogether. If you planted seeds the seeds will grow, you will get, eventually, the bountiful harvest. Trust!

There is nothing like trust or faith. It means you hold to it even when there is no visible presence of it. You believe in the invisible. Don’t be mistaken, it isn’t trust in someone or something else. It is in you.

You trust that what is planted will come to fruition. It is your mindset and your attitude. Just as forgiveness isn’t about the person you forgive but about you letting go of the hurt or injustice for self.

Faith Is Taking The First Step When You Can’t See The Entire Way

Faith is for and about you. It is part of being able to control your thoughts and determine what you will think, instead of being plagued by random thoughts and thoughts of doubt and worry.

You decide what to think and feel. Your thinking and feeling becomes deliberate and intentional. As you learn this your life and results will increase positively in so many incredible ways.

It will delight you and surprise you. Ultimately, you will get used to it and it will become your ‘new normal’. You will live from more joy and positivity. You will have up-leveled yourself and your life.

Have Patience All Things Are Difficult Before They Are Easy

Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. You can attract fish using certain bait but you can’t make them bite. You just have to relax and let it happen. Let go of the result and enjoy the process. Relaxxxxxx.

If you dropped your line in the water that is all you can do. Take the analogy and realize if you have done your groundwork and planted seeds you will get back the kind of fruit from the seeds you planted.

If you plant corn you get corn. If you plant nightshade, a poison, you get nightshade. Whatever you plant determines what you get back. It will come about in the length of time it takes to manifest.

Just Because Something Doesn’t Seem To Be Happening Now …

A farmer knows when to plant, when to wait, when to add extra nourishment because environmental conditions change, and when to harvest. The farmer knows you can’t force anything.

Have faith. Trust and be patient. Your efforts will pay off. Enjoy the process. Gratitude is so important because you discover what there is right now to enjoy and appreciate. You can never be too grateful.

Continue with your daily diligence. Continue to gain mastery over your thinking and feeling. Remember, some things require a lifetime to master. Great artists are always improving their artistic talents.

… Doesn’t Mean It Never Will – It Will – Be Patient

They don’t get good and stop improving they continue as long as they live to master their art. The seek to grow and change and evolve. The same applies to learning how to change and transform.

The same applies to health, creating wealth and having happy and loving relationships. You don’t ‘do something’ once and then it is all taken care of. You live a healthy lifestyle in order to remain healthy.

You continue to invest and manage your money to remain wealthy. You continue to improve communication and loving behaviors to have long lasting satisfying relationships with family and lovers.

All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Keep heading in the same direction. Keep progressing you will get there. Trust it will happen and enjoy everything along the way. Make it a point to be completely involved and not miss any good thing.

You put your order in with the cosmic waitstaff now wait positively and patient. How you wait is important. How you wait is who you are. Spend your time productively. Enjoy all of life while waiting.

Don’t force. Allow. Do a little each day. Small repetitive action is quite powerful and can bring about great permanent change. Value what you do. Manage how you think and feel. Love life, be grateful and you will find more success and happiness coming your way. Smile more and have fun. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Be happy today for no reason at all. Just be happy!

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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!

Why Change Seems So Difficult And What You Can Do About It

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“Have you found it difficult to make personal or professional changes? Have you struggled to try to change habits? Have you come to the conclusion that making changes is hard?

Welcome to Part 7 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 6 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 8 tomorrow.

Perhaps, your attempted to get ‘The Secret’ or the ‘Law of Attraction’ to work but you are not satisfied. Have you found it difficult for you but know others for whom it is easy?

Guess what? If it is easy for some it could and should be easy for all. Change does not have to be hard. It does not have to be difficult. It can be anything. Anything at all. Change can be easy.

Standing Is Harder Than Moving

Change can be easy, fun, exciting, smooth and relaxing or it can be tough, terrifying, and require you stick it out for the long haul. Making changes can be and is all things.

You may not want to hear this. Whether change is difficult or easy is completely up to you and nothing else! Your mindset, your attitude, your beliefs determine what it is like and how you will go through it.

It can be all things!  Just know that. You aren’t failing if it is tough. You are simply approaching it as you have learned to do. There is nothing wrong in that. Nothing at all. You learned it was tough.

If You Don’t Like Something Change It

You accepted that for whatever reason, most likely, very early on. Since then, perhaps you have tried and quit, or maybe you avoid having to change much all together. Anything is possible.

If that is the case, the good news is, change can be easy and fun! You can learn to enjoy it too. However, if learning anything new for you is tough and you don’t like it that is what you first must work on.

Learn to like learning. If you don’t like learning new things, eating new foods, learning new games, communicating better with your partner or family, then you should start there.

That will be the subject of another post at another time.

Change is just whatever it is. Your reaction to it is makes all the difference in the world. Easy or hard  it is up to what you think and believe it will be. Expectations shape situations and behaviors.

If You Can’t Change It Change Your Attitude

If you think it will be too hard you are apt to quit. If you think it will be a snap you are likely to proceed without a issue. Your attitude determines what it will be like for you. It always has. IT always has!

If it is tough you need to change your attitude and beliefs about change. The good news is that you can do this. Will it be easy or tough? GUESS WHAT? That is up to you? Get it? DO you GET IT?

You make up your world. You decide what it will be like and how you go through it. You determine whether you attract good things or less than glorious things. It is always up to you! It always has been!

If Life Were Just Easy Where Would All The Adventures Be

It is cyclic. If you think it will be tough it will be thus proving you are right and it is tough. Next attempt you get more of the same. You can break the cycle BUT it may be tough at first. Get it? DO you?

You really need to understand this. AT first it may seem tough. That is what is familiar to you. That is your habitual way of going about things. That is what you have been getting. Get it?

To change it DO something else. Take smaller steps or bites. Do some thing you find enjoyable, easy to do and continue to do, first. Find a partner. Get someone who inspires you to go on.

Drop By Drop The Tub Gets Filled

If you always do what you always did you always get what you always got. Vary it, shake it up, add some fun into the mix. Do anything else that brings enjoyment and optimism to the process.

Decide to be gentle with yourself NO MATTER WHAT. If there are some things that are difficult resign yourself to that being okay for now and understand that will get easier as you move forward.

Think positive about it. Force yourself if you must or have fun chanting out loud positive mantras and affirmations that support you in this. Visualize yourself easily making and adopting change.

You Must Become The Master Of Your Own Thoughts

You can control your thoughts and that is your first most important step. Learn that this is possible. You can control your thoughts and your feelings. You can think and feel predominantly wonderful.

How you think and feel determines how you act and your thoughts, feelings and actions determine the results you get. These three factors determine how you handle life circumstances.

Life is whatever it is. How you respond to it is up to how you learned to in the first place. Everything you do is pretty much the result of what you learned from early age on. It is your conditioning. Habits.

I Can’t Change The Direction Of The Wind …

Because you learned it, you can unlearn it or learn to change it to serve you better. It doesn’t matter whether you remember learning it or not. You can learn most anything at all. You really, truly can!

You can teach an old dog new tricks. It seems harder because the old dog has been doing the old way for a long time and is comfortable with it even if the old dog doesn’t like it. Even if it causes pain.

We opt for the familiar and the comfortable most of the time. It is easier even when we don’t like it. It is usually only when we get really fed up that we then decide to change and be different.

… But I Can Adjust My Sails To Reach My Destination

Still, the old dog can learn new ways. Be loving, patient, understanding, forgiving and accepting and the old dog will do just fine. Treat the old dog with respect and it will learn new ways.

You can dictate how you handle circumstances and not be the victim of them. It is all up to you. The first order of change is controlling your thoughts instead of being a victim of them. This is a must do!

Once you gain mastery over your thinking process everything else tends to fall in line. Life still is what it is but your ability to respond resourcefully grows immeasurably. Seek mental control.

Have Patience All Things Are Difficult Before They Become Easy

Change becomes easier and more fun when you are in charge of your attitude and mindset. Life does as well. Circumstances fall under your control much more than the other way around.

Understand this next important concept well. Understand it and own it. If everything is easy you will never learn to be tough when necessary. There are times that require you to be firm and strong.

There are times when you must be steel willed and persist no matter what. These times, though hard, don’t have to be a problem. Your attitude determines whether these are mountains or mole hills.

Life Doesn’t Become Easier We Become Stronger

If everything  were always easy and it was never tough you might throw in the towel when faced with challenge. You wouldn’t know what to do or how to do it. Skill comes from doing.

By having different forms and sizes of obstacles with differing degrees of difficulty you grow stronger and better equipped to handle anything. Welcome tough times too.

Welcome challenges and you become a victor over them. Life at times is thrilling and ecstatic and delicious, other times not so much. Whatever you get is what is, accept it, celebrate it and keep growing.

The Educated Person Has Learned How To Learn And Change

Discover you can be the master of your fate and the captain of your soul. It begins by taking charge of your thinking. Even if you have never done it before you can succeed at this. Develop certainty.

Even if you tried and failed numerous times, you can succeed if you make it manageable from the beginning. Do little things first. Little things can bring about great change in ways that will surprise you.

Make it a point to be grateful. Find the silver lining, discover the good hidden in the not so good. This a an important ability you want to acquire. You acquire it only by repeatedly doing it correctly.

Simple Joys Make The Greatest Memories

There is always something you can find, though it may be well hidden, so you might have to dig, but DO dig for it!  Master being thankful for where you are and what you have right now.

You will go further faster. Learn to enjoy and delight in all things and you will change beyond belief. The little things add up to great big things SO celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

How delighted will you be today?

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!

One Big Reason Why People Keep Failing

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“Some things are tried and true. Sometimes, when you bake a cake you should just follow the recipe. Pioneers have blazed the trails for you to follow in their footsteps you don’t need to blaze another one.

Welcome to Part 6 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 5 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 7 tomorrow.

Sometimes, it is easiest to take the path of least resistance. Learn from the models who began where you are and have attained what you want because they know the pathway to that success. Listen.

Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Follow in the successful footsteps of others. Actually do what they tell you and take their advice. Listen and learn. Do and learn. Be glad if you have a successful mentor.

Learn To Listen Then Listen To Learn

It never fails to amaze me, especially in Hollywood. Someone will ask a famous writer or director to give them feedback on their script. ‘Please help me, tell me what I should do. What do you think?’

Instead of taking it, implementing it, and then coming back, thereby showing the mentor they could take advice, and that they are people of action and value the mentor’s input and time.

They say thanks and do nothing. They join the ranks of all those who ask and do nothing. Is it any wonder why ‘the big wigs’ get wary of helping others at times. They know few will do what they say.

Listen – Learn – Grow

The reason so many people fail is they don’t implement what already is proven to work. They try to do it their way. They want the faster route. They think they will find a short cut. They want it easier.

They will attempt to do it their way. I can’t tell you how many times I have been with someone who was asked ‘what should I do’ and when told, they respond with, ‘yeah, I think I’ll do it my way’.

Yup, they try to do it their way. They don’t listen or follow advice. They don’t listen or read instructions. They get some new fangled thingamajig and don’t look at the manuel to put it together.

Mentors Are Here To Guide Us To Their Best Knowledge

Are you one of these? Listen, Napoleon Hill modeled 520 of the most successful people on the planet in his day. Countless thousands have gone on to success following his discovered formula ever since.

It is as applicable today as it was then. However, some people who have never yet succeeded think THEY know what to do. They don’t and haven’t succeed. Thousands of others, read the book, and have.

However, most people never will. They just won’t do it. They will try it their way and give up. That is another part of why people don’t succeed, is they don’t follow through to completion. They quit.

Improve Your Life One Lesson At A Time

They do a little bit. If it gets tough or confusing they abandon it. They dabble they don’t actually do. They flit from one thing to another trying many things. They don’t commit to a plan of action that works.

To succeed you must be clear about what you specifically want to accomplish. You must feel passionate enough about it to keep going and not let anything stop you. You have to cross the finish line.

Of all the people who begin the race not everyone crosses that finish line. More than that won’t even enter the race. You have to start, you have to work smart, you have to follow through and complete it.

Winners Never Quit – Quitters Never Win

When it comes to success you must be headstrong in the right way. Being obstinate about doing what is tried and true, just because you feel like you want to, isn’t very wise. BUT go ahead if you must.

To succeed remain steadfast. See it through to the end. Be willing to listen to those who got there before you. If they started out as you have. If you have nothing, nor did they when they began, listen!

Chances are they know something you can benefit from. They blazed the trail. You know how you tell the pioneers from those who come later? The pioneers are face down with arrows in their backs.

You May See Me Struggle But You Will Never See Me Quit

They led the way through most of the hardship and they know the pitfalls. They know what might and might not work. Pay attention and learn. Don’t be gullible or stupid about it but listen up!

Remember, success leaves clues. Sometimes, just sometimes, the advice being given is worth more than its weight in gold. One idea at the right time can transform your entire life. Be open minded.

Study, learn and grow. To know and not to do is not to know. Information or knowledge is only power when it is correctly applied. Otherwise, it is interesting but not transformative.

To See Further – Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants

So stop spinning your wheels. Do what works. Apply it and keep applying it until you succeed. You will if you stick with it. It may or may not come easy but you must keep at it if you want to win.

Learn from mistakes. Celebrate and embrace all opportunity to grow and develop. Challenges make us stronger and wiser if we examine and learn from them. If you don’t, they just suck.

Inside ever challenge is the seed of opportunity but you must find it. Learn to learn. Learn to control your thoughts and feelings. Learn to take right action and get the results you intend to get. Act with intention.

Cultivate The Habit Of Being Grateful

Be grateful for the opportunities presented to you and that you can pursue your dreams. Many others can’t or don’t realize they can simply based on where they live in the world. If you can, then stop whining and start celebrating everything!” Rex Sikes

I wonder how many different ways you can feel delighted today?

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!

95% Of All People Won’t Do This But You Must To Succeed

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“From time to time, on numerous occasions, you will experience moments, hours, even days of doubts and fears. You may worry and feel anxiety and  want to quit.

Welcome to Part 2 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the 1st part valuable. I truly hope so.

If you did please like it or share it with others using the buttons below or your favorite means. Remember, I welcome questions and comments. Let’s continue. Then more in Part 3 tomorrow.

Doubt Kills More Dreams Than Failure Ever Will

It is natural. It is normal. When difficulties or disappointments arise you may want to throw in the towel. You may be afraid you won’t make it, you might doubt you will be successful.

When one joins the military that person knows up front basic will be tough. Even then some are not prepared for how tough. Those who make it through can go on and succeed.

The military doesn’t sell you on how tough it is but on what you accomplish by participating in the program. Most understand service may be incredibly demanding.

If You Are Going To Doubt Anything Doubt Your Limitations

The Military promotes the  end result. You will be disciplined, a patriot, you will help others, fight for freedom. They don’t tell you, although you know, you may loose limbs or life.

What do they want?  They want a few good men and women. Why, because that is all they will get. Better few of quality than many who aren’t. Few who begin any endeavor actually finish the endeavor.

Not everyone makes it through basic training. Still, many do. No matter how tough it is. They go all in. Either they feel they have no alternative but to succeed or it is worth it to them. So they do!

Most Things You Worry About Never Happen

If personal change and transformation is worth it to you you will continue the course no matter what. You will stick with it because you know the end is worth what it takes to get there.

Along the way you will doubt, have fears and worry. You will continue in spite of them. That is what the courageous do. It’s not that they aren’t afraid, they are, but they go on anyway.

Nothing will stop you. So it won’t be all rosy. You’d never learn to manage your worries, doubts and fears if you didn’t have them. That is precisely how you take control by facing them and overcoming.

Worrying Is Like Praying For What You Don’t Want

You prove to yourself you are bigger than your fears and problems. They do not prevent you from progressing and accomplishing your goals or dreams. You manage them and you control them.

Because you face them you become victorious over them. There is no other way. They will not magically disappear. The path will have pitfalls but you will navigate them and emerge the champion.

BUT only if you encounter what would have stopped you before and push through it. Don’t run away even though you may feel like it. If you do at first, come back. Keep going. By returning you will reign.

When You Doubt Your Power You Give Power To Your Doubt

The person who gets back on the horse after falling is the one who learns to ride. Keep coming back, keep going on. It will get easier and easier.

Life is never free from troubles. You get better at handling them. So remember this and determine to carry on no matter what. While you do notice your progress, validate your forward movement. Pat yourself on the back and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Enjoy and discover delight today!

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!

How To Change Your Limitations Into Opportunities

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“Why do people opt for the less than glorious? Why do the maintain their problems and limitations? Why do they make changing hard work that requires effort? Have you ever considered this?

One of the reasons for this is that people adopt notions, beliefs, frames of minds and attitude that include concepts such as, ‘without pain there is no gain’. Or ‘it isn’t real or worth it unless you work really hard and suffer’.

Or ‘happiness is being unrealistic’, OR ‘you can’t be happy all the time’.  There may be  many reasons or excuses why someone opts to feel bad instead of feeling good. They may not think it is possible or that they deserve it.

Success Is An Attitude A Mindset A Decision A Commitment

They may put all sorts of conditions and requirements on it. They may have an unrealistic view of what it means to be happy or to be a positive thinker. I could go on and on I am sure. If you are a person who embraces some of these you might wish to consider them as things you assume are true but which may not actually be true.

It gets a bit tricky. People tend to defend their beliefs very strongly. They don’t want to believe that they may not be true. We think they are. We cling to them and insist we know what is best and what is right. We each feel as if we have a monopoly on the truth.

Most of us certainly act as if we do.  We don’t BUT we think we do. We are prepared to argue the case strongly to prove others wrong and ourselves correct. Most likely, we already have numerous times. We defend our beliefs even if they border on the ridiculous.

You Can Have Anything If You Give Up The Belief You Can’t

We just hate to be wrong about things. In order to begin to be free and move more freely into a new way of being we have to be willing to allow some room for anything else to be possible. We need to be willing to explore some other options even just a little bit.

Before you get into bed at night you remove your clothing. Perhaps, you put on other bed clothes that are more comfortable. Still, you change. You take off, you remove your clothes. Consider all of your beliefs as articles of clothing. Use your imagination!

Imagine! You can remove your beliefs in the same way. Take them off, fold them up, or hang them up and try some other beliefs on for a time being. Yours are still there where you left them. Don’t worry. You can always get them back whenever you wish, if you must.

As You Believe So You Are

Relax, they are right there.  What is the worst that would happen if you tried on other beliefs? Really, what is the worst thing that could happen if you believed you could always be happy? What if you believed happiness is a choice you can make? What if you make it?

Imagine believing differently for just a little while. What if you could entertain the opposite of limiting beliefs? What if you imagined you can find love, be successful, have all the money you desire, be debt free, own a great car and a beautiful home? Imagine it is all possible.

What if instead of thinking ‘I couldn’t’ or ‘I can’t’, you thought, ‘I could’ or ‘I can’? How might your life be different in a positive way?What if you created space, actually gave yourself some space, to allow for other possibilities? How freeing would it be? Imagine.

Belief Creates The Actual Fact

Can you give yourself permission to belief things differently? What would life be like if you had all the love, health, wealth and success you could find in life? Would you allow it? What if you could be truly happy in spite of any difficulty? Imagine your life differently!

If you could be and believe anything you wanted what might that be? What if you believed the exact opposite of what you already hold to be true? Can you entertain this notion for a little while. What might your life look like, sound like and feel like if you believed things more positively and productively more of the time? Visualize it!

Some people wear their beliefs as tight, clingy clothing. They may be better served to wear a more relaxed, loose fit. If you don’t believe you can get good things without suffering look around and find examples of others who have plenty of good things. You can too!

Always Believe Something Wonderful Is About To Happen

What do you think? Do you think you could believe that? Could you do that? Could you easily replace your beliefs that you have held for a long time with other beliefs? Do you think it would be difficult to do or easy? Because what ever you think you are right.

How you answer, mostly stems from your mindset, your model, your beliefs and attitudes of what is and isn’t possible, what is or isn’t likely, what you can or can’t do easily. If you want your life to change you have to change some things in your life. Really, you must.

Play with this. Notice what it is like to entertain other possibilities. Do you prefer these? If so, adopt them. If not, let them go. Realize any time you try something new on you might not be immediately comfortable. It may take some time to get used to.

To Succeed We Must First Believe We Can

So don’t be too hasty. Sometime, getting comfortable takes a little time. It’s okay. Walk a mile in someone’s shoes. Why a mile? Because it takes some time to get used to. Some people have difficulty falling asleep in a hotel bed, or in a guest room because it isn’t their bed.

They aren’t used to it, it is foreign, unfamiliar and not comfortable. Sometimes, it takes a while to enjoy a new food or beverage. You don’t instantly enjoy it. However, the more you taste it the more it grows on you. Sometimes you need to do it more than once.

So give the new beliefs a little time to discover if they fit. Play with them, live from them. Find out if they serve you better. Enjoy the exploration. Have fun, be gentle and explore your limitations and what it is like to go beyond them into new areas. Do it! Really.

Endless Possibilities Exist Just Beyond Your Belief System

It can be glorious and it can be a little frightening. Whatever it is, is what it is. Whatever it is it is all okay. Celebrate it and you will discover many nuances you might not have otherwise noticed. Find nuances. In fact, celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Enjoy today – Look for good things!

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!

How To Use Negative Thinking To Be Happy And Successful

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“Today’s post is a response to a reader’s question. Ramesh asked, ‘You say that what you focus on expands. In EFT, one keeps repeating  “the pain ” and tapping the specific points.

While repeating the word pain aren’t we focusing on it more? Yet people are feeling better. This may not be your subject, yet I feel like taking your views is important for me’.

‘Thanks Ramesh. You raise an excellent question. What you focus on and give your energy to does expand. We become what we think about MOST of the time.

What You Focus On Expands

All of us have negative thoughts from time to time. It is human. All thoughts are human. What is it we are concentrated on most is the question? Are we predominantly positive or negative?

If we thought about pain constantly that is what we would get more of BECAUSE we are constantly focused on it. That is why sometimes while in pain it is difficult. It is hard to feel comfort thinking pain.

Our negative thoughts don’t need to be run from, but controlled. Our negative thoughts and feelings indicate that something may be amiss. It may be an area that requires our attention.

What You Think About You Bring About

For example, we may need to pay our bills. That is the reality. If we think, ‘I have to pay my bills, but I don’t have enough money’ that is what circumstances indicate.

If one stops there and continues to think, ‘I am broke, I have nothing, I will never get ahead, I will go bankrupt, the worse is coming’, then we are continuing to focus on the poverty of our circumstance.

Then it does expands. Energy put into it brings about more of the same. If instead, you think, ‘Okay, bills, money, how can I work to find more money? What positive things can I do to improve my situation, who can I call?’ You are proactively moving to positive.

What You Think About Most Often You Become

‘There is more than enough money in the universe how can I get some more? There is plenty and I can find it. I can be free. I am learning to become richer. What positive steps can I take.’

‘I’m going to do a job search and find something. I can succeed. I am a victor over circumstances. I can make good things happen. I always land on my feet. Good things come to me. I am a powerful creator. I can do this…’

One set of thoughts leads us to spiral down or stay stuck. The other leads to feeling better and positive action. Even the negative thoughts can be freeing. We can use them to move ahead. Consider:

Today You Are Where Your Thoughts Brought You

‘I have no money. I am broke and going to go bankrupt. This sucks. I hate this. I am going to make sure this never ever happens again. I am going to turn this around. Never again!’

‘I hate being without money so I am going to find some honest ways to make sure I will always have plenty. Others have a lot I can have a lot too. There is more than enough to go around…’

We can use the negative thoughts, and the negative feelings of anger or frustration to propel us from the negative stuck, broke place, into a more productive positive place.

Tomorrow You Will Be Where Your Thoughts Take You

BUT only if we don’t throw a pity party and wallow in ‘poor, me I am stuck and life is terrible’. We have to change our focus. Remove it from the less than glorious and focus on the positive, or glorious.

In EFT you focus on the pain while interrupting the pattern or energy flow by tapping . You look for the source of the discomfort and change the energy going to it. You break it up.

BUT first you have to identify what it is you want to break up and release. So you focus on it briefly while you change it. You do not stay focused on it.

You Cannot Escape The Power Of Your Thoughts

You evaluate too. Is this better or worse? You continue the procedure until relieved. Once relived you focus on feeling good. Generally, you may have positive thoughts accompany the taps.

You move your thinking and the statements you make from the pain to the relief you experience. You progress from the less than glorious to relief and then potentially feeling better. Consider:

You were walking and you noticed your foot hurts. You can keep walking and continue feeling the pain and thinking ‘ouch, ouch that hurts, it hurts’ and do nothing. Or you take a look.

What You Hold In Head You Can Some Day Hold In Your Hand

You discover a pebble in your shoe. Your remove it, your foot is a little sore but now that the pebble is gone. You notice as you walk it feels better. Eventually, you forget all about the pebble.

Because you noticed it you removed it. If you keep think about the pebble causing pain, now, it would be odd. It would be foolish and it wouldn’t serve you. Instead, you forget about it.

You walk more comfortably. With the source of discomfort removed all is fine. You can stop there. Or you can think. ‘I am glad I can walk easily. I love walking. I am grateful for my feet.’

Thoughts Lead To Feelings Lead To Actions Lead To Results

‘I am grateful for my body’s ability to signal me. I enjoy moving through the world. All these years my feet have carried me to various places I am so lucky. I am lucky to have healthy feet…’

You could promote more positive feelings. In fact, it is a great thing to do. When off course, or focused in the wrong direction, correct and think better thoughts moving in the right direction.

The trick is to notice what is amiss and correct it. If off course while walking, driving, boating or flying, once you correct and get back on course you no longer think about having been off course.

If You Don’t Like Your Results Change Your Thoughts

While off course it doesn’t serve you to keep thinking ‘I am off course’. It is better to think ‘I am moving back onto course. I am finding my destination and moving to it.’

‘What must I change in order to correct it?’ Then implement the change, get back on course, and focus on where you are headed. Keep your eyes on where you want to go.

We are lucky we have signals that let us know when we are off course. Our feelings indicate when our thinking is less than glorious. This is great! We have signals. Our thoughts determine our feelings.

You Go Where Your Thoughts Take You

Our feelings determine our actions. Our actions determine our results. We never need to fear our thoughts rather we should master them. Take control of your mind and enjoy it!

Make it a point to think positive most of the time. If you notice you aren’t, change it. Put a guard in front of your mind so you think positive thoughts and only speak and express positive thoughts.

Speak only to bless, heal and prosper yourself and others. Your self talk and your conversations with family, friends and strangers. This helps you move forward and get more of what you want.

Positivity May Not Guarantee Success But Negativity Never Does

Occasionally, you will have a negative thought, something triggers a thought from your previous negative conditioning or you have a random stray negative thought for some reason. We all do.

Or perhaps, someone else, or from TV or media you see or hear or brings up some negative thought or thoughts. Okay, that is what happened. Acknowledge it and say or think, ‘no thanks’.

Or ‘thanks, but I prefer to think this instead’ and shift back into positive thinking. The preponderance of your thought and energy is what makes the difference.

The More We Do The More We Are Able To Do

What we entertain further and promote determines how we feel. If we are positive 95% of the time, 80% of the time, 75% 60% 55% 51% we are better off.

At about 50-50% we are in a holding pattern. Not so good not so bad but probably not what we want. We aren’t really progressing and may be keeping tough times locked in, because we are wishy washy.

Equal parts negative and positive. For change to occur we need to move in the direction of mostly positive. For some people they need to get to 50-50 first because they are mostly negative.

Skill Comes From Doing

It is a conditioning process like exercise. The more you do the more you can do. They more focused on the positive the more positive you create and attract. Eventually they move up to 55% then 62%.

Then 75% and on. This is how they make progress in the right direction. Things get better and better. Life may still present difficulty or even very difficult challenges. That is life.

The more positive they become the more they can navigate the difficulty they encounter. The more control they exercise over their thoughts the more control they gain. The better they get at it.

Positive Thinking Like Exercise Is A Conditioning Process

Focus your energy on being mostly positive so you don’t get caught up in the negative. A ‘can do’ person finds solutions much easier and quickly than slipping into being a ‘can’t do’ person.

The more practice you get being ‘can do’ the easier it is to remain one when the going gets tough. I hope I have answered your question. If not please ask again and I will attempt to be more helpful.

You helped me. I thought what will my blog be about today? Then I saw your question. I don’t know how many subscribers ever see comments so I decided to answer your question for the blog today.

Correct Repetition Builds Skill

I have benefited too. Perhaps together, you and I, will have helped others benefit as well. All is good. Best wishes, stay in touch and I hope this helped bring more clarity! Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Make all your moments magical?

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If You Don’t Have This You Have Absolutely Nothing

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“Your career is important. Job satisfaction makes a big difference. The relationships in your life truly important. Personal and professional. Personal wealth, these days, is a topic of concern for lots of people. There may be many areas of your life and mine that deserve attention and improvement.

Consider this: without your health the other areas are harder to nurture and improve. We think perhaps, that our relationships at least will take care of themselves, those who love us always will. That probably is true but for them and for us to enjoy the connection having good health helps a lot.

When you are healthy hopefully you are easier to get along with. When your body and mind works well it is just simpler. Many people have immense challenges with health so an area we should focus on is our bodies and minds and do what we can to help them serve us, as best we can. Instead, many of us fill them with junk and abuse them.

Smile Often

Without our health, our job and career don’t mean much. Our cars, and boats and big homes mean even less. None of theses can we take with us. We travel away carrying nothing with us, except perhaps, the memories of the moments we cherish with loved ones and the quality of relationships and life we lived.

Take time to take care for yourself. What can be more important than that statement? Take care of yourself and help take care of others. Nurture yourself.  Nurture others whenever you can. Do whatever you can to insure you enjoy the best health you regardless of challenges. Make this a priority.

Attitude affects health and health affects attitude. However, if your attitude is wonderful you are more apt to be healthier, at least that is what research tends to demonstrate. Plus, if you have a champion attitude first, if you encounter a health challenge, you are far better equipped to handle it positively than if your attitude is poor to start.

Laugh A Lot

If you need a reason to develop a Positive Mental Attitude this is a powerful one. Get your mind in order and it influences the body. If anything happens to the body, or for that matter your relationships, your career, your job, or your things you are better equipped to navigate those challenges. Research indicates this is true.

Feed your mind and your body properly. Give each the appropriate exercise. Give each enough rest and clean water. Take care of both. This is the true meaning of invest in yourself. Without your mind and body health what do you have? How long will you enjoy it without health? Especially, in America where health care costs are insane.

Exercise: As you read this, or any of my blogs, what are your thoughts? Where do you agree and disagree? Notice what you are thinking. Does your thinking support you and encourage you to be your best or not? Do you feel more or less motivated? It isn’t about the blog post, or my words, it is what goes on inside you.

Realize How Blessed You Are

I am not looking for agreement, although I would like to think it is important. What I hope, is that you find your ‘happy place’ that place where you do what is right for you to live the best life you are able. My hope is you hear yourself when your self-talk does not support you AND you hear it when it does support you.

I don’t care so much if you think the post is brilliant or not, as long as you find your own brilliance. That is the purpose of writing these. I hope you will discover your talents, your resources, and will utilize the gifts of your being, mind and body and the gift of time, as best you are able. I hope you discover how wonderful you are.

I hope you have the most incredible life of positive, good health, loving relationships, a fulfilling purpose expressed in your work and your leisure. Life, while alive, never isn’t happening. Yes, an obvious statement but frequently we miss LIFE because we get caught up. We don’t have to but we haven’t learned how not to. Now it’s time.

Be Inspired By Love And Guided By Knowledge

If we can be more loving  and caring of ourselves to nourish ourselves in positive, gentle and  comforting ways we will benefit much. If we can lessen our stress and think and feel happier more of the time, more of life becomes available. We are less on the inside running old negative programs and more available to enjoy what is.

Whatever IS is. Whatever is going on you can handle positively or differently than you might ever think you can or allow yourself to. It can be marvelously different and wonderful much more of the time no matter what the circumstances are. Whether you believe this or not determines whether or not you find it true. Listen. Listen well.

This is when and why it is important to discover what you think. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t. Listen each moment during your day and become more aware. Are your thoughts supporting you or not? Are they helping you become healthier and happier on not? Notice and change as necessary.

Make The Rest Of Your Life The Best Of Your Life

One of the reasons gratitude for whatever we encounter is so important is it takes the stress out. No matter what happens if we can find some aspect to appreciate about it, and we focus on that, we can enjoy more of life every moment. Our attitude of gratitude changes everything for the better. It is important to condition our mind and body. Take care of your health! Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

What will you do to delight in this day?

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Want To Be Happy And Successful? Then You Must Learn This Habit!

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“To do what you have always done is easy. To do what is patterned, routine and habitual is both easy and efficient. That is how it is supposed to work.

Our brain makes habits of things so we don’t have to think through them consciously. Imagine having to relearn to drive every time you got in a car.

Instead, our brain makes habits. It lays down neural pathways. It streamlines. That is HOW our brains work. That is WHAT our brains work to do.

You Are Today Where Your Thoughts Have Brought You

That is why change can seem difficult. Because our lives are run mostly unconsciously. It is estimated we are 95-99 percent creatures of habit. We run most of the time on autopilot.

If we don’t like the results we are getting the good news is we can change our habits. We can create new ones to replace the old. We change, make new habits and overlay them on top of the old habits.

It takes a while to build the new habit. We  need to do it the same way we learned the original one through repetition over time. It takes getting used to the new programs.

Tomorrow You Will Be Where Your Thoughts Take You

Once we do they are as reliable as the old ones we replaced. Have you ever moved from one location to the other? For the first few days or weeks you’d discover yourself going the old way home.

That is what habit replacement is like. The old one, like the old home is still there. Sometimes you find yourself returning to the old way. One day, you no longer do. You simply go to the new address.

That is what it is like, because that IS what it is. You have laid the new habit over the old one and it takes the brain a bit to get used to doing the new one. Eventually it will. Eventually it does. Hooray!

You Cannot Escape The Results Of Your Thoughts

Once it does it is reliable and as automatic as the one it replaced. The issue for many people, what stops them from simply replacing old non-supportive habits for new supportive ones is imagination.

They, or you, can’t yet imagine living with the new habit. You don’t know what that life is like, yet, because you live from the only thing you have ever known. Guess what, that is?  Another habit.

How you think about and view your life. What you think is possible or not is habit for you. The only way to change it is to do what it takes to change it. Think differently, repeatedly, until it takes hold.

If You Always Do What You Always Did…

You must make thinking and imagining positively what you want the new habit. Then you will regularly begin to think the new positive, productive thoughts instead of the limiting old ones.

You do. In order to manifest what you want you must think about it habitually. That is how you have got everything you ever have got. Routine, habitual thinking. You made it happen that way.

So, if you haven’t liked the results you have been getting it means it is time for a change. It requires you to do things differently. You must get rid of the old thinking and think in new ways. That’s it!

…You Always Get What You Always Got

Do things differently, often enough, frequently enough until the new things become reliable, automated habit. It won’t always be easy, you will find yourself going to the old address a number of times.

If you stick with it and persist, no matter how seemingly difficult, you will succeed. With the new thoughts taking hold of what you want, in positive ways, you can begin to create the life you want.

Whenever you discover old, chronic negative thinking you replace it for positive new productive thinking you are taking control of your mind. You are directing your thoughts in a positive fashion.

Repetition Is The Mother Of Skill – Repeat Repeat Repeat

This means you can begin to target what you want, focus on it, and think the thoughts you need to think to make it happen. You think the thoughts of the desired good you want. Imagine it fully.

You think the thoughts needed for you to perform the right actions to make it happen. It won’t land in your lap because you think it, although with new thought, it can seem that way.

You do what is required to succeed. You take action steps because your thoughts and feelings align in such a way to produce new results. You do the thinking and the working. That’s how it works.

The More We Do The More We Can Do

The cool part is it feels really good. You feel yourself going after what you want and getting closer. It is like playing a fun game, you are doing really well and you know you are going to win.

Everything lines up! You do win. Why? Because you played well and eventually you could tell you were going to win. Also, you saw it through to the end and did not quit. You made it happen and enjoyed it.

The same is true of our goals and dreams. With new wonderful thinking , comes new feelings. With new wonderful feelings comes new actions. When these are all lined up come new wonderful results. Enjoy the process. Have fun. Be diligent and persistent.

What We Want To Do With Ease We Must First Do With Diligence

Keep going, don’t quit, see it through to the end. Commit to do this for yourself no matter what. Replace the old negative habits with positive new ones. While you are doing it live in appreciation.

Live in gratitude for being able to replace the old thoughts and make positive changes. Gratitude changes everything. Your energy, your thinking, your feelings are uplifted. You are lighter and at ease!

Begin to imagine the new life by truly enjoying everything about right now and about then. When you can enjoy everything, everything works for you. Live fully in the present and delight totally. The new life will be wonderful so celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Decide to have blessed and wonderful day, today and you will!

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!

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Are You Getting What You Don’t Want?

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“Ever have one of those moments when something happens in your life and you responded wildly by exclaiming, ‘I knew it! I knew it!’ Do you find yourself thinking, ‘Why do these things always happen to me?’ It could have been something marvelous or not so marvelous.

Are you familiar with the notion of self-fulfilling prophecy? Simply defined a self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true due to positive feedback between belief and behavior.

Put another way, the positive or negative expectations we hold about circumstances, events, or people, affect our behavior towards them in such a way that we unknowingly create situations in which those expectations are fulfilled.

You Go Where Our Thoughts Take You

In other words we cause something to happen by believing it will come true. As an educator and parent I know, the Principle Of Fulfilled Expectations, in the classroom or in life is, that people, students and children, tend to rise to the level of our expectations.

Hence, we should always believe the best about people. When we expect the best of someone they are more likely to do their best. If we expect the worst, then, don’t expect much from them. Our ‘prophecies’ have a way of coming true.

For example, the boss hires a new employee but expects the employee to be unproductive. The boss then treats the employee in a way to elicit that very response. The boss doesn’t do this consciously or on purpose. At some point the boss thinks, ‘I knew this wouldn’t work out’ and it doesn’t.

You Can’t Escape The Results Of Your Thinking

For each of us growing up, the result may be, we become something we were told we would become. For example, if you’re told you’re ignorant or stupid, poor with money and destined to fail you might grow up to be that way because you adopted those beliefs from others and you believed them.

If you don’t believe you are worthy or deserving of happiness or riches you may find that your life is always a struggle. You will prove it to stay congruent with your concept of self-worth. Your brain will do everything to keep you and life consistent with your self-image.

If deep inside, from your childhood experience or from childhood modeling and conditioning, you don’t feel deserving of everything good you will think, feel and behave in a manner consistent with that mental map or belief. Your life will reflect your inner reality.

Believing Is Seeing

Even though you may wish and want to be different you may find yourself reliving the same problems again and again. Our inner turf determines our outer turf much more the most people know or want to admit. We are responsible for everything in our lives.

Some date or marry the same partner repeatedly. It is a common issue for many. They get rid of one for a copy of the same and wonder why. ‘Why do I always date the same person’? Yes, it sucks if you have hidden agendas that hold you back from living a good life.

Consider the Law Of Attraction. You attract what you are. Perhaps, this helps put the LOA into a useful context for you and outside of the realm of airy fairy fantasy. It is scientific at its core. Our thoughts and feelings determine what we get back.

You Get What You Focus On

We live from our self-image or self-concept of our self-worth or deservedness. How could it ever be otherwise? We operate from mental maps, we co-opted as our own, from our early years and have spent our life time traveling those maps. We get good at them.

We have rehearsed them, practiced them, repeated them over and over an over again. We have thought the same negative thoughts and felt the same negative feelings wishing that we wouldn’t. Yet, we keep getting more of the same. We attract the same crap.

The good news is you can do some housecleaning and be free of limiting beliefs. You can change your self-image and self-worth and transform your life in incredible ways. You can free yourself from what has held you back and skyrocket into a fabulous future.

If  You Think You Can Or You Think You Can’t You Are Right

Awareness is the key. Turn the flashlight of your consciousness on your thoughts and verbal statements. Whenever you think or say anything less than glorious stop and change it. Gently notice when you express a limitation and rephrase it into something positive.

Replace the old habitual, chronic, negative beliefs and statements, you originally got from others anyway, when you were too helpless to do anything about it, with positive, powerful new ones. Then continuously reaffirm the new belief. Instead of ‘I can’t’ say ‘I can!’

The key to making permanent positive change is your emotions. Words have an effect but not nearly as much as our feelings. Feelings drive everything. We adopted the beliefs not so much because of the words but because of the feelings at the time.

It Isn’t Whether The Belief Is True Or Not That Is Important

Your parents or peers or teachers were angry or frustrated and you felt the same or scared when these messages were delivered. It was the fear or the frustration you felt that wired in the beliefs not simply the words. The concepts took hold because of how you felt.

When you affirm your new beliefs do them with lots of positive enthusiasm and strong emotion. Shout them, sing them, and say them enthusiastically with strong conviction. Believe them. Chant these mantras throughout the day as often as you.

Why  does repetition work?  A lie repeated enough is frequently substituted for the truth. You grow muscles by repeated exercise. You learned everything you have ever learned by repetition and  in making it habit. When you were little you heard things many times.

What Is Important – Is The Belief Supportive Of You Or Not 

You got messages about the world directly or modeled out for you, about yourself, your place in it, relationships, your worth, work, money, leisure time. Each time these were accompanied with similar emotions. The people expressing them had theirs and you had yours.

You came to believe you either are one of the people for whom anything was possible or part of those for whom it wasn’t. Some people may think good things happen but only to others, not for me. If you do, then it is time for a change. Make your life what you want!

You must be rigorous. There is a price to pay for freedom. You must use your will power and confront the negative demons but when you do you will be a victor as long as you persist. It is simple but not always easy.  Place a guard before your mind and your tongue.

Awareness Is The First Step To Permanent Positive Change

Commit! Watch your thoughts and your words. Speak only to bless heal and prosper. Be rigorous but gentle. Don’t criticize yourself when you discover less than glorious beliefs CELEBRATE you found another one you can change. Life gets better pretty quickly.

You will transform from within. It takes awareness and will power. Once aware of the limitation you must do something in order to be different. Continue to repeat the process again and  again and you will replace your negative thought habit with a new positive one.

Remember habits are reliable and automatic. Be vigilant. Be persistent. You will discover wonderful things beginning to happen when you exchange the old for the new. So get rid of what holds you back, celebrate the exchange, and enjoy the new. Be grateful.

For Life To Be Different You Must Believe And Act Differently

Be happy and hopeful and commit to being different and you will be. Once you have the new beliefs you will still engage in self-fulfilling prophecy. Only now it will be positive. Because you have improved your self-image things will work out better for you. It is so cool!

Your brain will work to keep you consistent with your new positive sense of worth and deserving. You will discover new possibilties. You will think, feel and behave in a way that attracts the right people, events and circumstances to you. That is how it works! Celebrate everything.” Rex Sikes

Have a wonderful today and inspire others!

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!

You Will Never Be Happy Or Succeed Without Self Control

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“We can exercise deliberate, intentional control of our thoughts, attitudes and feelings. This is wonderful news. Do you believe it? Hill’s philosophy of achievement is contingent on learning conscious control.

They same can be said of others thought leaders and ancient texts. If you don’t believe it is possible you will never come to know the power you could have because your thoughts prevent you. Get it?

Is that how you want to live? Prevented by a mental packet of energy? Thoughts are things. Whether true or not we take them seriously. We have feelings about them. We are stopped by them.

Either You Do Or You Don’t – There Is No In Between

They either inspire us and move us forward or we feel not so good, not so motivated or unable to do what we would like to. If we don’t believe it is possible or worth it we don’t do it. We stop ourselves.

Why on earth would we ever allow this to happen? Why don’t we choose better than we do?  Habit. Our habitual, chronic negative thinking keeps us stuck for as long as we don’t change it.

Our subconscious mind learns all sorts of things growing up. It neurologically wires in all of our behaviors, our beliefs and our attitudes. There is virtually nothing we didn’t learn from repetition.

Repetition Is The Mother Of Skill

We learned to roll over, sit, up, balance, crawl, walk, feed and dress ourselves through repeated trial and error. We weeded out extraneous movements that didn’t serve us and repeated those that did. We developed neural pathways. We wired the learning in!

We learned to speak listening to sounds over and over again. Then we babbled, repeatedly making attempts to talk until we did.  We learned our native language. We could have learned any language.

We learned our ABC’s by repetition. We learned printing and then cursive and then how to type on a computer through repetition. We learned to read by doing it over and over. Repetition builds skill.

Motivation Gets Us Started Commitment Keeps Us Going

We learned everything! We laid down pathways to become automatic so that today we walk and talk, dress ourselves, drive to work, write emails, checks, without having to even think about it.

We learned to think and act. We learned positive beliefs and attitudes. We learned negative beliefs and attitudes. Whether either are true or not we learned to have them. We believe many lies.

These were formed through input not whether or not they were right or wrong, true, false, correct or valid. It didn’t matter whether they were destructive or constructive. We learned them anyway.

It Is Not About Perfect It Is About Effort

We act from and live from old ways of thinking and behaving which may or may not be true at all. We adopted what we think we can do and what we think we can’t do from those around us while young.

We adopted the limitations from others. We learned a lot of negative, limited  thinking. We learned to habitually, chronically, automatically, in a friendly way, to carry those out. We live by them.

These are our thinking and feeling patterns, our beliefs, attitudes, actions, inaction, good and not so good habits. Our brain learned to do these things. It does them to help us run efficiently, automatically and to stay alive. It works for us on our behalf. It is awesome!

These things are the only things it knows to do.

It does not care whether the patterns or habits it learns are positive or negative, good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, rich or poor. It doesn’t judge anything. It doesn’t have that critical faculty.

When You Apply The Effort Every Day – Transformation Happens

Our conscious mind is the seat of judgement. When we say the subconscious is sabotaging us it really isn’t. It is being most helpful. It is doing what it learned to do. It is serving us. It is our friend.

Because we can assess and judge, and decide we want something else, we declare it is doing opposite.  So we label it as resistance or sabotaging. We criticize ourselves for what we learned.

In reality it is truly our friend. We just don’t like what it learned to do. If we re-train it, re-condition it, it will serve us positively in the same friendly, reliable, automatic, habitual way. AND we’ll enjoy it.

Your Past Does Not Have To Equal Your Future

Consider a wild stallion. It runs free in the wild. Grew up free and does its own thing. The horse person now wants to ‘break’ the stallion so it can be ridden and be a productive domesticated animal.

The horse doesn’t ever try to sabotage the rider. The horse only does what it learned to do. Once ‘broken’ means it learns to do other things and the rider then controls the horse and utilizes its power.

The conscious mind must control and direct the subconscious mind in order to get it to work as the conscious mind desires. This is why it is important to follow Hill’s philosophy. Follow the ancient’s wisdom.

Commitment Transforms A Promise Into Reality

You must know what you want and it must be absolutely worth it to you to get it. You must desire it because if it isn’t worth it to you neither will be your effort. You won’t persist when it gets tough.

You must believe you will ultimately get it. You must learn how to control your emotions, focus your thoughts and feelings, maintain a positive attitude because in all these you are learning control.

When you have control you can make your dreams come true.

You are teaching the horse how to behave. It will eventually co-operate if you are a good instructor, and never give up along the way. It will buck and kick, because that is what it learned to do.

In Order To Become Good You Must Practice And Repeat

If you are persistent and continually, repeatedly, communicate to it the way it understands, so that it gets your intentions and your messages, it will learn the new behaviors. Absolutely it will!

Once learned and conditioned it will serve you well. There is a cost. Nothing is free. It takes time, energy and dedication to help it learn these new things. It doesn’t happen over night but it will happen.

The reason you learn to condition your mind and maintain a positive attitude, is because it is more likely you will be successful by staying positive and moving forward than by being negative and staying stuck. To maintain, means to persist when the going gets tough.

Practice And Repeat Practice And Repeat Practice And Repeat

If you think defeatist thoughts and let them override your positivity and you feel bad as a result, you might not keep going. Heck, of course you won’t keep going. That is a given. You will quit.

If you are optimistic, feel like you are making progress, and enjoy the effort, you are more apt to see it through. THIS is why so much emphasis is placed on learning to control your thoughts and feelings.

Without that control the horse does what it wants. You must become the rider in charge. Then you can ride the horse wherever you want and it will continue to be faithful and serve you.

Secret To A Great Life: Think Positive – Feel Positive – Talk Positive

We all have negative thoughts. We were brought up in a culture where negativity is common. Messages we hear from media, parents, educators, peers are frequently very negative.

Bad news and gossip rule our day. Just because we have negative thoughts doesn’t mean we have to accept or entertain them. We can refuse to think them. Once aware we can let them go. We can!

You may not be able to change everything about your life. You might not be able to alter all of your circumstances but you can take charge of yourself. In fact, that is all you can really take charge of.

What Consumes Your Mind Controls Your Life

You can absolutely gain control over your thoughts, feelings, actions and behaviors and design for yourself the kind of person you want to be. You have choice. Choose to think positive. Be productive.

When you become aware of negative thinking.  Stop it. Interrupt it. Take a deep breath or do something to switch gears.  Say cancel or go away, or no thanks. Anything to break the thought pattern.

Then deliberately choose to focus on something positive. When you think about what you don’t want. Stop and switch your thinking to what you do want. Yes, it takes effort to train the horse/brain.

Success Is A State of Mind Start Thinking Of Yourself As A Success

The effort is worth it. You will discover if the rewards outweigh the price you pay to become a positive thinker by doing it. To not attempt do it, because it isn’t worth it, is another negative thought.

There is no middle ground. Either you think positive or negative. Either you are predominantly a positive thinker of a negative thinker. What other choices are there? There aren’t any.

It all boils down to choice. You either chose to think positive or you choose to think negative. You either choose to be the one in charge or you choose to be the one controlled. You decide! It is up to you!

You Are What You Decide

You either ride the horse or the horse takes you for a ride. Which is it? You either act or you don’t. You are either proactive or passive. You either make things happen or things happen to you.

If you aren’t the one in charge then you are the one at effect. So which will you be? Decide. Will you be at cause or at effect? If you do nothing you you will be and remain at effect.

You drift with however things go. Good or bad, up or down.

You can call the shots as you learn how. You can make things happen, as you take control. Life can be better than you ever imagined when you put yourself in charge. It will be!

The Power To Change Your Life Is In Your Decisions

Condition your subconscious mind, train it to do your bidding. It already knows how to do things, you just need to make it do what you want instead of what you don’t want.

You do that by concentrating and putting all your energy, you attention and focus on what you do want in a POSITIVE way. Keep doing it until it gets the message. Send it a crystal clear message!

The more enthused you are, the better you feel, the stronger your signal.  This is why you imagine what you want as if you already have it. This is why it is important to feel marvelous feelings strongly.

I’m Not A Product Of Circumstance I’m A Product Of My Decisions

The more clearly you tell your subconscious what you want in positive ways, vivid pictures, positive self-talk (and outer discussion) and strong positive feelings the quicker it gets the message.

Then it will it do what you trained, conditioned and programmed it to do. Hooray! No one can do this for you, but you. If you don’t, you won’t. Get up on the horse, if you fall off, get back on it.

Teach your brain, your subconscious mind, to do your bidding.

This is absolutely the one most powerful thing you can do for yourself. Learn how to control your thinking process instead of being a victim of it. Little by little you will gain immense control.

Life Isn’t What Happens To Me – Life Is What I Make Happen

Be patient, be tolerant. If you fall, don’t add to negative thinking by criticizing, instead re-aim your thoughts. Pat yourself on the back for recognizing and becoming aware of, and for changing your thoughts.

You don’t punish the toddler when the child falls while learning to walk. Don’t punish yourself either when learning new things. Be gentle, loving and accepting of yourself. Be patient and enjoy it all.

When you learn to take charge of your own mind and run it, instead of being run by it, then you have more power over events and circumstances. You understand more how to navigate them.

Either You Run The Day Or The Day Runs You

You no longer attempt to control others because you don’t need to. When you learn how to positively condition your mind for success and happiness you transform yourself for the better.

You can see more opportunities you would otherwise miss. You are more resourceful during difficulties. You resolve to make things happen and you get what you want. You understand commitment.

You can do more good, be helpful to others, and have more fun. You become more of the kind of person other people want to be around because you radiate good feelings and vibes.

I Am The Master Of My Fate –  I Am The Captain Of My Soul

You live in a new positive way, freed from much of you previous past negative conditioning. You unburden yourself so you can move forward. Now, you can continue to take positive steps toward making your goals and dreams reality. BECAUSE You know how.

You go beyond many of your previous limitations. By learning to do this you deliberately evolve yourself. Life becomes much more delightful. So take stock, keep track of your successes and that which you appreciate. Be grateful. Life is grand. Delight in it and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Live well today and encourage others!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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