Category Archives: Self Talk

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The 2 Most Powerful Ingredients For Happiness And Success!

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where u start not as important as where u finidh

“The ability to be happy and make your career and life successful boils down to two simple ingredients. When you successfully and consistently apply these principles there will be no stopping you.

While there are other factors that are important within the these two ingredients the bottom line IS  master and apply these and it will make all the difference in the world for you.

1. Time.

The amount of time you spend on your own personal happiness, success and development is critical. Some people want it fast because that is what we have become conditioned to in our society.

It may even be the ‘powers that be’ deceive us into valuing quickness at the expense of our overall satisfaction. Media pitches us speedy results everyday. Unfortunately, that is not the way of nature.

We become what we think about most of the time.

WHEN our thoughts and feelings are positive, and devoted to what we want and can make happen, most of the time each day, we then get and become what we think about. Where do you spend most of your time? How you spend your time is critical!

Are you thinking about your goal as already completed? Are you visualizing and speaking positively to yourself in your self-talk? Are you celebrating and feeling wonderful? Are your thoughts mostly about how incredible everything is and how thankful you are?

If not they need to be. Where you spend most of your time determines the results you get.

Are you spending time focused on making your dreams come true? OR are you distracted, scattered, thinking about day to day problems and issues? Are you whining and complaining about lack and circumstances? Is your focus mostly on what you don’t have or haven’t gotten yet OR on making your dreams come true?

Are you mostly positive or negative?

Where do you spend most of your time? What are you filling your mind with? Are you filled with media’s  daily disturbing news and gossip or are you filling your mind with inspiring, positive motivational thoughts, ideas and materials.

What are you reading and listening to?

This makes all the difference in the world! Successful people are devoted to their success. You have to be MOSTLY concentrating on success and happiness to get what you want. Whether it is money, career, fame, family, love, health, relationships or things what AND HOW are you focused is critical! Most people miss this.

You can’t spend 95% of your time worried, anxious and fearful, sad or feeling defeated and expect to be happy, healthy and whole. You must devote yourself to spending more and more of your time thinking positive and feeling wonderful. You need the preponderance of your time to be productively focused.

Some people think they are focused on what they want but they feel bad when they think about it. Two things are possible.  1. You are actually focused on what you DO NOT want. You are focused on what you want to avoid or get rid of and not what you actually want. You need to change this if this is what you are doing.

2. You are thinking about NOT HAVING what it is you want. Some people do not realize when they are focused on lack. They think they are focused on what they want but instead are thinking mostly about what they don’t yet have.

They notice the distance between where they are and their goal and they despair. You do not move uphill thinking down hill thoughts. You can’t want something and feel bad about not having it and expect to get it.

You can’t be looking at the gap and feeling great. You can’t be focused on how far you are from the finish line you need to focus on winning the prize and how great that feels. You have to excel and give you best.

Some people want to speed read books as many as possible to get all sorts of info. It is not about how fast you do something. It is not about how quick you get success. It is about HOW MUCH TIME YOU PUT INTO getting what you want. It is better to devote a half hour of concentrated focus on your goals than to be hasty.

The quality of the time spent will make all the difference in your ability to more readily and easily reach your goal. It takes time for seeds to sprout and plants to grow. It takes time to get what you want so the question is how are you spending your time IN the meantime.

A plant is either growing or dying. You are either mostly positive or mostly negative. In order to get what you want as soon as possible you need to be mostly positive most of the time. You can add in positive practices bit by bit. You can make it a point to begin and end each day well. I have given you some ideas for this in other posts.

I’ll share the 2nd ingredient in the next blog. This blog site is devoted to assisting anyone in making changes. There are powerful ideas and principles shared in each article. Re-read this blog and spend time filling your mind with positive ideas.

In my workshops we have an added advantage of trouble shooting and answering questions, providing immediate feedback and more that we don’t have here. So I am trying to be as thorough and complete as possible in each post to point you towards what you can do to make a real difference in your career and life.

If you want to be happy you need to begin by thinking happy thoughts. It doesn’t work the other way around. Thinking external things bring us happiness is one of the great lies. If you want happiness, health and success it begins on the inside.

You create it all within you and then in your outer world. The results you get are determined by your dominant thoughts and feelings. Think and feel the best most of the time and your life will be amazing! Truly, you can be, do and have anything you think you can!” Rex Sikes

Make your day marvelous!

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4 Reasons Why We Fail And What You Can Do To Succeed Part 2

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The-Moment-You-Take-Responsibility-350x206

“In these two posts and in previous ones I have been provided successful ways to counteract defeat. You don’t have to fail. Failure does not have to be an option. You can move forward into success when you keep certain principles in mind. For each of the reasons for failure listed there are means and methods to continue on and be successful.

People give up or fail because they fail to realize things take time. They haven’t learned to control their thoughts and feelings. They forget they are in a process and that defeat is momentary. They get distracted by current circumstances and lose their focus. They give in to negative thoughts, self-talk and doubt. They lose faith in their abilities. They have not yet developed the winning attitude.

The following is continued from previous post: Part  2.

It all works synergistically.  Maintain positive thoughts, feelings and behaviors and you get more from your effort. To LEARN to stay focused you must STAY focused. In the same way as if you want to learn to cook you have got to cook.

If you want to build a muscle you have to do the exercise. Consistent, repeated, correct action brings results. Focus on the powerful and positive. Focus on your definite chief aim, your goal and maintain your focus. Stay focused!

If you are wishy washy and go back and forth it takes longer. You have to understand, however, that is part of learning how to do something. We get off course, make mistakes and correct them. You bring your focus back each time you realize you have gone astray.

This is the correction process. As you continue to correct you educate yourself where to keep your attention and you make focusing a habit. You also make self-correction a habit. This is necessary. A rocket has a correction mechanism to keep it on course. So does a GPS. You hone your inner GPS for success.

Realize that you will be wishy washy for awhile as you learn to maintain your focus. Learning HOW to stay focused IS learning how to overcome the tendency to wander and to bring yourself back to what is important. The learning process includes making mistakes. Get over the notion it will only be easy and effortless. It will be whatever it will be so stick with it.

Understanding the game of life, the rules and how it is played is half the battle. Knowing in advance that there will be rough spots, corrections needed, times of doubt, loss of focus, as well as times of ease, exhilaration and celebration help us get through it all. When we have an idea of what we face we can persist no matter what.

While you are going though the process accept that you are in the process. Accept it will take some time. Celebrate that you are in the process and learning to make the changes you want. Celebrate and be grateful for each moment good and bad. Celebrate and learn from the hardships. The attitude to have is to celebrate everything! Your Attitude IS everything! It makes an incredible difference.

Through celebration and gratitude you will manage your images and self-talk and will move through the process more smoothly and quickly. It WILL be quicker and easier if you understand it and don’t fight it. The point is to think and  feel marvelous most of the time.

You will fight it anyway. REALIZE that you will resist. Realize what you resist persists. Eventually, you will let go and move through it! Much of the learning is learning how to get out of your own way. In time you will. All of this IS PART OF the process. There will be ups and downs.

That is our nature. Few of us can completely dive in and do it 100% BUT if you are persistent and consistent in dedication you will make it.  Manage yourself! Take 100% responsibility for everything. Control your thoughts and feelings and you will develop a winning attitude. This is crucial! Attitude IS everything! So are your good feelings!

Don’t succumb to the down times. They are only temporary. They may not seem as though they are but they will pass. It may seem difficult but as you get through it, each time you do, you develop the ability to move through trouble spots faster and easier. EVERYTHING is learning and you are learning to develop new habits or you are giving into the old ones. Either you are up or down.

Stay focused. People give up because they lose sight of their ultimate destination. They get distracted by current difficult circumstances. Keep you heart and mind set on your goal. Manage your mental movies and self-talk so you learn to remain powerful and positive. Keep your eye on the goal. Don’t get caught by current events.

See your goal as completed, AS IF YOU ALREADY MADE IT HAPPEN and feel the wonderful feelings. Keep your attention there. Visualize daily in your mental movie theater. Shout out loud and enthusiastically affirm the kind of person you are, what you are able to do and what you want and are going making happen each step along the way. The goal is to feel wonderful most of the time!

Celebrate and be thankful and you will get through the rough and the tough spots. Feel wonderful about it all! Be passionate! Be enthusiastic and joyful. Have fun through it all! Enjoy everything. Don’t gripe or complain or wallow for too long.

We get and we become what we think about most. Think and feel marvelous most of the time and you become it.  What we hold in our head we can someday hold in our hand. Expect to succeed. Have faith. Believe in your ability to learn to make changes. Passionately pursue your goals and dreams. Believe. Those who fail, ultimately don’t believe they will succeed, they only hope.

Remember, once you have set course to pursue what you want and you began practicing these principles you enter the conscious competence phase. THIS IS the phase when you most need to be in control of your thinking process. You need to stay focused and not get distracted by your situation.

You need to remain positive and believe you will get there. You must be patient and persistent even when it may appear hopeless. This is when you need to celebrate and keep going!

Keep your mind on what you want and know that you can do it! Stay focused, positive and filled with gratitude. Believe in yourself and live with passion. Enjoy and delight in the process every step along the way. After all, it is the journey to the destination where we spend most of our time so make it marvelous. Make it really, really marvelous! ” Rex Sikes

Have an incredible day!

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Accelerated Learning, Acceptance, Act As If, Affirmations, Attitude, Beliefs, Blessings, Creating The Future, Definite Chief Purpose, Expectations, Faith, Focus, Get Rich, Goals, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Happiness, Mental Movie Theater, Overcoming Difficulty, Persistence, Personal Development, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Rehearsal And Practice, Relaxation, Responsibility, Self Improvement, Self Talk, Success, Unlimited Power, Visualization

4 Reasons Why We Fail And What We Can Do To Succeed Part 1

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be faithful in small things

“‘Have you ever wondered why you don’t get things right away?’ OR Why some people give up on their goals? Have you thought, ‘Will I ever make it?’ You may have.  Most of all of us have wondered.

There are reasons why people give up on their goals or fail to get them. There are reasons why others succeed in making their dreams come true. Success of failure is up to each of us. Here are some of the reasons for failure and what to do to succeed.

We need to understand and accept that some things are just the way they are. Then stop complaining about it. It is the way things are. It is nature. How frequently do you complain about gravity being an issue. I bet almost never. We just accept it. Learn to accept what IS.

Understand this: Some things just take time. There is a season to harvest. Not everything is immediate. Some people just aren’t patient. They don’t get this concept; keep on going until you get there.  Stay with it. Be patient.  Relax on this it takes time.

You miss opportunity when you hurry. When you are rushed and stressed you don’t see or think clearly. You miss out and lose out. When you THINK you have to have it is a constraint. You are putting pressure on yourself for a deadline. You have to realize you can’t push a rope. Happiness and success don’t conform to the clock.

Most people  fail because they don’t manage their thoughts. They aren’t in control of their images and self talk so they talk themselves out of it. Success and happiness is 99% mental and 1% what we do. The inner world determines the results we get in the outer world and not the other way around.

We need to manage and control our minds so we are able to do the 1% efficiently and effectively otherwise we spin our wheels. We can struggle and work hard and not get very far if our thinking isn’t right to begin with. When it comes to our efforts it is not what we do but how we do it that is most important.

Hardship helps us! It is a part of life. Some people gripe and  think life should be easier. They give up when the going gets rough. There is a price to pay for everything. You have to endure and be strong. This is why mindset is so important. Weak thinking leads to poor results.

YOU are in the PROCESS of changing.  You aren’t at the end yet. You are somewhere along the way. You are in the Conscious Competence stage much of the time. This is the phase of mastery where you talk yourself through it and attempt to consciously manage all the components.

You aren’t done yet. You are on the way to making your new skills a habit but you aren’t there yet. So relax in the process don’t fight it. Understand it and work with it. You move through it faster when you assist it instead of resist it. Be patient. Pursue your dreams with a relaxed positive mindset. Remind yourself, you are IN the process!

Just as when you cook a beautiful meal you prepare it, season it, and cook it. It takes whatever time it takes. If you remove it from the oven early it won’t be the meal you anticipate. Give it the time it needs.

As you develop the habits of success you gain in momentum. Everything becomes easier and you handle difficulties better. It takes time and correct repetition over a period of time for a habit to be born. You are creating new neural pathways and behaviors.

New thoughts lead to new behaviors. This is actually an exciting time if you let it be. It can be a time of delight and wonderful enjoyment. You will learn and have many ‘ahas’ and insights that can thrill you and inspire you. You can be motivated and excited to incorporate your learnings.

When you recognize where you are in the process it becomes so much easier. It won’t magically make everything fantastic but when you understand a bit about what you are going through and what you may expect to encounter it takes the edge off. Once the edge is off you are free to feel as incredible as you will chose to. It is up to you!

This recognition and understanding allows you to remember to put your attention in areas that matter instead of going astray. You need to stay focused and not get distracted by circumstances, doubts, fear or worry. More about all this in the next blog post.  As a reminder I have discussed each of these issues in previous blog pages. Go back and review. It will help a great deal.

Know this! YOU can be the success you want. You can have happiness, love, wealth, health anything your heart desires when you take 100% responsibility for learning how to make these happen and then applying what you learned.

Knowledge is useless unless you use it.  Use what you are learning and make yourself and your life what you want them to be. Transform your mind and heart and you transform your life. You deserve to enjoy each and every moment. So go ahead and delight yourself! ” Rex Sikes

Have a wonderful day!

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Put An End To Performance Anxiety

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align yourself with mentors

“Performance anxiety was on the mind of a friend lately and he asked me how I, as an actor, overcome it. What follows is pretty much my response to his question. I added some audition and performance information at the end of my reply to him to further explore the concept.

‘Worry comes from what we think about and where we place our attention.  The trick is to put your attention where it is useful (on the performance, or on the pitch when pitching your idea) and not on others or in self critique. It is a knack and you get better at it with repeated trial and effort.

Meditation can benefit because it helps one relax, calm thoughts and feel centered. Energy goes where you place your attention. Positive thoughts can help because one learns to steer away from the less than glorious thinking to the useful and productive. It is simple to do and may require effort but it can definitely be mastered by anyone.

ANYONE can reduce stress and anxiety and feel positive and powerful by learning how to place their attention where it needs to be. Just as you learned to play your musical instrument it is a skill you develop. Nothing mysterious about it!

You get good at playing music or a sport or any ability through correct practice. You can readily make the change you want! You WILL have to apply yourself and KEEP with it until you get the changes you want. You can do it.

You will be able to do it! Simply take it bit by bit, step by step and you will surprise yourself. As we learn there is a phase when we have to talk ourself through it as we did when we learned to ride a bike or drive a car (actually any skill). There is a period of time when we are klutzy. Sometimes we do well and other times not so well.  Ultimately, the process streamlines and we become competent riders or drivers.

This occurs because our subconscious through repetition eventually makes it a habit. It becomes a reliable skill and we no longer have to think it or talk ourselves through it. We have acquired the skill. The same is true about getting over anxiety. You practice the new way and as you practice it won’t seem like magic, but as you stick with it, eventually it will work like magic because you develop the new skill set.

You just have to stick with it and get through the difficult or awkward phase. Learning to do this new thing is the same as learning to do anything else. It comes from doing the new thinking and behaving over and over again while making adjustments or corrections. You do it repeatedly. Enough times over a time period and you develop the skill as habit. Since you have learned many things you can learn this too.

You will do well as you move forward. At first, it seems more difficult, sometimes even scarier, than it actually is. Perception is everything. If we think of those who listen to our music, our pitch, or witness our performance as friends, who support us and enjoy what we do, we are much more comfortable. Mind set and attitude, is the key! See what you want in your mind’s eye. Visualize and rehearse inside your mind feeling and performing as you wish to. Create and rehearse that inner reality.

I encourage you to read and re-read my blog because I discuss these very things.  Meanwhile continue to celebrate and enjoy!  AND realize that when you want to change your life you have to make changes in your life. You can’t get different results doing the same things over again. You have to make changes that get you what you want to have.’

That is what I shared. There is much to be said about being realistic and staying in charge even when you are not in control of the outer circumstances. Here is what I mean.

I have had some incredible auditions lately and booked work. I have had some incredible auditions lately and did not book work. I even had one audition that I was mentally prepared for and eager about that I blew completely. I struck completely out and did nothing I had intended to do. That is just how it goes sometime.

In my previous incarnation I would have been preoccupied mostly with the auditions I didn’t book and the one I blew. That is where my focus would have been and it would have brought me down. I would have wallowed for months.

In this incarnation I learn what I can from what I did or did not do, get as much feed back as possible, apply the learning (because otherwise I really haven’t learned anything unless I use it) and move forward. I stop thinking about the fish I didn’t catch and focus on the ones caught and how to improve for the future.

Life is so much better and freer when we are able to let go and forget about what doesn’t work. Learn from it, extract the lessons, and maintain focus on what we do want and intend to create.  Sometimes we strike out.  If you play baseball you strike out more than you hit, and far more times than you get on base or a home run.

That is just how the game works. If you want to play the game you accept it and do not let it get you down. Keep your head up, your chin held high, think the best, feel the best, be grateful and move forward with positive anticipation for making your dreams come true. Never quit.  Adjust and keep moving forward.

This is how we get what we want. It has nothing to do with pie in the sky wishful thinking. It is about developing an unstoppable ‘I can do whatever I set out to do’ attitude. Defeats along the way do not stop us. They teach us and make us stronger and better. So keep going and make your dreams come true.” Rex Sikes

Have an incredible day!

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Emphasize What You Are Good At!

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gratitude is the attitude for abundance

“You may not be the best at everything. There may be some things you can’t do at all. Some things you may just not be good at. For today forget about those things. Let it all go! For today, relax and focus on your strong points. Reflect on what you are good at and accentuate your strengths. You waste time and energy worrying about weaknesses.

Focus on what you are good at. The things you are good at are where your potential to become great is. If you have talents in certain areas imagine what you could do and how far you might go if you developed those talents. Spend today thinking about your talent and abilities and appreciate what you are able to do. Pat yourself on the back. Enjoy your skills and accomplishments. Be thankful.” Rex Sikes

May your day be incredible!.

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Realize, Recognize, Remember and Awaken!

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dream it and do it

“People have thanked me and I appreciate that. People have subscribed to and shared these posts and, again, thanks so much. That really helps! Some people asked why I do it. Why have I blogged these 250 plus daily consecutive posts. The reason is we all need a little daily inspiration and some daily gratitude to start our day. I wanted to be able to contribute to others in this fashion.

I also wanted to help people to remember that they can be, do and have anything they want. It is true we can make the seemingly miraculous happen. So daily I write to help others and myself think about it and remember that we are capable of so many positive things when we take charge. Each day I hope more of us awaken to the realization that anything is possible when we put out mind to it.

There are ways of being and living joyously that many of us have not experienced because we have not tried it yet, or perhaps we didn’t even know it was possible given our past history. I write to encourage people to give it a try, to sample the good things life has to offer, and to enjoy more of life. When we can help each other move forward and be happier and healthier and wealthier we are improving our world by enriching our people. I feel so blessed I want to share it.

When we each take 100% responsibility for our life we can make our life whatever we want it to be. That means we take responsibility for all the bad and all the good. We can debate whether or not this concept is accurate or not but that misses the point. WHEN the buck stops with you and no one else you take a position of power and of leadership. You call the shots. You no longer are at the effects of the world but you are at cause.

From this position you determine where you want to end up and how you want to travel. You decide what to do and and how to feel if there are challenges or detours. It is up to you how you will face them, overcome them and persist to your destination. The decisions are all yours. When you are the person in charge life becomes more meaningful and more exciting. It becomes thrilling because you become aware of the incredible responsibility you have to make it wonderful for yourself AND others.

With  power comes great responsibility. When you have power you need to protect those who have less. They are in your care. We are can-do people and we help others do likewise. A million candles can light off of one candle. The only requirement is that first candle be lit. Light your candle. Take charge of your life. Inspire others to do the same.

Why do I do it? I write to help each of us realize, recognize, remember or awaken to who we are and to what we can accomplish when we believe that we can.” Rex Sikes

Have fun today! Discover!

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People You Need To Know Who Are Responsible For Your Success And Happiness!

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be the type of person you want to meet

“Some people think changing for the better is difficult. They don’t think they can get ahead. It is true for them because they don’t want to face the truth. They refuse to accept it. If you want to make pervasive, positive, big changes in your life you have to accept this fact and live totally from it. Then change becomes easier.

The  truth: there is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live. That person is you. You are 100% responsible for everything. Most people don’t want to hear this and deny it but it is accurate. It is all the result of what you are doing or not doing. You are successful or not because of YOUR thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviors.

Whether you have great relationships at home, with partners or friends, whether you have lots of money of little, whether you experience great or limited fitness and health it is up to you. Career, leisure, possessions are all up to you. You determine what you have or don’t have. You are either in control or you are not.

Most people want to blame others. They blame their parents, teachers and authority figures for what they did OR didn’t do. They blame their upbringing and personal history. They think events circumstances, and anything or anyone external to them has caused their problems. They put the cause outside of themselves instead of where it belongs. The cause resides in each of us.

Because they blame others and circumstances they remain stuck. You don’t become a victor living as a victim. You don’t move forward looking backwards. You don’t succeed pointing fingers. Those who get ahead know where they are headed and aim in that direction. They do whatever it takes to get there even when it means hardship and detours. They persist and prevail.

It is true bad things can happen. It is also true that some people may have begun with certain advantages, yet, people who started with nothing have triumphed powerfully. People have overcome incredible odds once or multiple times to make their dreams come true. Some have started off well, lost everything and gained it all back. Everyone responds to what life presents them. Either sink or swim.

Successful people, who are live the kind of lives they want, who have positive relationships, good health, lots of wealth in a variety of ways, take COMPLETE responsibility for the thoughts they think. They know that what we think about we become. They know they are in charge and no one else. They know that that create whatever predominantly occupies their mind.

They understand that what you focus on you get. They manage their visualizations, their self-talk and their feelings. They take full responsibility for their attitude and behavior and the results they get or don’t get. They know you can’t get uphill thinking downhill thoughts or feeling less than glorious. ‘Making it’ requires a vast amount of positive energy so they stay positive.

They don’t waste time criticizing, blaming and wallowing. The successful take feedback and learn from their efforts. They adjust their plans as needed to to get back on track and move forward. They understand if it is going to happen it is up to them and no one else. Successful people realize that in order to have the life they want to live they have to create it.

To enjoy success in career and life and overall happiness you have to take 100% responsibility for everything. You have to put yourself in charge of the results you get. You navigate the course. You put yourself in the driver’s seat and steer the vehicle to your ultimate destination. You determine how you enjoy the journey and how long it takes. You determine the outcome.

Get to know yourself as a can-do person. Become a person who does whatever you set your mind to do.  If you want your life to change you can’t continue doing what you have been doing all along. You have to make positive changes so you can get to where you want to go. It is all up to you! YOU are the person responsible for your success and happiness!” Rex Sikes

Celebrate this day! It is yours.

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Your Brain Is Like A Muscle. Use It Or Lose It!

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brain is like a muscle - carl sagan

“You can tip the odds in your favor and keep your brain healthy. There are simple things you can do. Eat right, avoid chemicals, pesticides and processed foods. Get enough sleep. Get fresh air and sunshine.

Exercise and move your body more than you sit or rest. We were designed to move not to sit in artificial light all day and night. Move more during your day. Take breaks, get up and walk.

Add novelty! Break up your patterns and routines. Try new things. Take different routes to school or work. Do things differently, use your other hand. Play games, work out math problems, put puzzles together.

Cross crawl, do your finger exercises as previously described. Write with paper and pen more. Writing by hand is marvelous for the brain! Keep active!

Improve your concentration. Gaze at a candle or dim light and keep your attention on the light. Whenever you become aware your attention wandered return to concentrating on the light. Do this in increasing time increments.

Start with five or ten  minutes and work your way up to thirty. Pretty soon you will be able to concentrate on what you want to concentrate on with fewer self distractions.

Focus on your breathing. Place your attention either at your nostrils or at your belly. Pay attention to the incoming and outgoing breaths. Relax and keep your attention on your breathing. As with the previous exercise whenever you notice you have wandered or drifted off bring your attention back. These exercises are for training and refining your concentration and awareness.

There is great reward in recognizing when we go astray and gently bringing our attention back to where we first placed it. We  ‘break the wild horse’ and tame it. We learn that we have the ability to determine what we think about rather than living as a victim of our thoughts or feelings. We become the person in charge!

You grow in any ability faster when you encourage and validate rather than criticize what you don’t do right. So whenever you notice your mind wandered or you aren’t doing what you intend to be doing stop, notice it and keep your self talk positive. “Hey, you noticed you were off, good for you!’ and pat yourself on the back. You will make changes much more swiftly when you are positive.

You can look over and reflect on your present life experiences and find all there is to be grateful about. Discover all that you feel truly thankful for. Make a list and enlarge it daily. Celebrate and feel the gratitude fully.

Immerse yourself in the positive wonderful feelings of appreciation. Feel joy! Feel incredible! The feelings are the most important part of this practice so feel them all FULLY!

Reflect on life experiences from the past or present and extract the positive lessons and opportunities. Look these over to find lessons you may have missed. Notice how and where the potential benefit was or is.

Learn from those times instead of feeling less than glorious. Re-code them in light of life lesson’s you can now use. You can re-frame anything!

Memorize something each day. Numbers, names, faces and places. Act, get in a play and memorize your lines. Memorize songs. Keep working your memory. Take dancing lessons. Read more and watch TV less.

Use your imagination to generate images instead of having them provided to you. Utilize all your five senses in imagination. Visualize lots! Consider all the good things you can think of.

Meditate. There are different definitions of mediation. Some approaches use concentration as when you repeat a mantra. Some methods are about aligning with frequencies and vibrations by generating or listening to sounds. Some stimulate the imagination as when you stare at a mandala. Try many different ways and enjoy each.

Some are physical as when you dance with such abandon you stop thinking. Some involve just being the activity you are doing. For example, just wash the dish and do nothing more in mind or body. Sit and gaze at the wall and do no more or no less. There is a wide variety of beneficial meditation approaches you can discover.

Another way is to be the watcher, the witness, the impartial observer. Sit or lie back relaxed and watch your thoughts. Whatever they are just notice. Don’t judge. Look as they come and go. Positive or not. Avoid getting hooked. As leaves float down a stream or river so do our thoughts. Let them float by on the screen of your mind.

Merely watch them flow by. Don’t engage with them. If you get caught up in judging or entertaining any thought when you notice what you are doing simply return to witnessing without criticizing yourself for having gone astray.

Everything is okay. Free yourself from the need to criticize or comment on how you are doing. Let it go and just do the process. Validate instead of negate!

We have the ability to manage our thoughts. We can chose what we want to think about.  This is positive thinking. Keep focused on positive thoughts and affirmations. Keep your self talk and mental images positive.

Whenever you notice yourself thinking less than positive thoughts stop and return to thinking positive. Train your brain to do what you want it to do. Your brain should be your servant! Validate yourself as you succeed in these exercises.

When you notice new things own your observations and awarenesses. Validate yourself for your positive insights and awareness. Learn from these. Keep at it, keep playing with new ways of being and doing.

The mind is like a muscle it grows with exercise. Our muscles grow from repeated regular exercise and so does our brain. AND so does your ability to change easily and do new things.

Many of our abilities fall into the ‘use it or lose it’ categories. So keep at it. Don’t let yourself get rusty. Keep healthy and facile in mind and body by daily devoting time to healthy practices.

The return on your investment of time is well worth it. If you want to enjoy greater health and over all well being then do the things that bring it about. Stay young and energetic!” Rex Sikes

Have a beautiful day!

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Acceptance, Act As If, Affirmations, Attitude, Beliefs, Blessings, Creating The Future, Expectations, Faith, Flow, Focus, Goals, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Happiness, Law Of Attraction, Mental Movie Theater, Personal Development, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Rehearsal And Practice, Self Improvement, Self Talk, Success, Visualization

You Are The CareTaker Of Your Dreams – So How’s It Going?

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dont-judge-each-day-by-the-harvest-you-reap-but-by-the-seeds-that-you-plant-8

“Gratitude and Receptivity open up doorways. It seems magical but it does work. Electricity works. Most of us use it without understanding how it works. Feeling grateful and receptive work at the subconscious level and we don’t need to know how in order to develop a winning unstoppable attitude. We do it and it works.

Imagine you plant a garden. It is your responsibility. You are the caretaker. You prepare the soil this is important. You plant the seeds that you want to cultivate later. You tend to them by making sure it they are nourished.

If it doesn’t rain you add water, you rid the garden of weeds and pests. You step back and let nature take its course. Somethings are not in your control. You don’t dig it up to make sure they grow. You don’t even grow them, they grow all on their own accord.

You don’t tell the seeds or the garden what to do or how to do it because you can’t.  You let go and trust. The caretaker knows this. The caretaker does what the caretake is supposed to do; plant seeds and maintain the healthy environment so they can grow. Then the caretake waits patiently and expectantly.

There are NO guarantees. There are only the laws of nature. You did what you could do. You did your part and then you let go. You expect to reap in given time. Nature takes care of all the rest. It works on it’s own. You cooperate and work with it. Then it will gift you with the results because that is what it does.

Harvest comes and you reap what you sowed. You get back more than you planted because each plant gives rise to more fruit. The harvest is bountiful. You enjoy the rewards of your efforts. You did what you could to make it happen. Nature took care of the rest. You can’t push nature. You don’t make it grow nature does that!

You can’t push receiving either. You can’t dictate how it ought to be. You only make yourself available. You do what you do each day. You celebrate! You appreciate! You think and feel your best! You develop positive habits and you persist in your practice without giving up or giving in to negativity. Do your part and nature does hers! Remember, YOU can’t push a rope!

Nature is your subconscious! You cooperate with your own mind, your subconscious. You plant the positive seeds through visualization and affirmations with strong feelings of  gratitude and celebration. You imagine the harvest as if you already received it and feel these incredible feelings each day, each time you think it.

Through daily repetition you care for these and help them grow. You do your part your subconscious will do the rest. You do the positive work and your subconscious will make it a great habit.You stay open to receiving the harvest in time and you will reap what you sowed.

You plant the images but you don’t dictate the manner in which your dreams come true. You remain open to any and all possibilities. This is what it means to be receptive. You allow whatever the positive results will be to develop without micromanaging. You did your part now let ‘nature’ do hers. Simply expect good and great results!

Manage your mental bank balance so it never goes into the negative. Your part is to manage your thoughts and feelings and maintain  a positive mental balance to keep this everything in YOUR favor. This is an important part of how it all works! You stay positive and repeat your practices daily while trusting you will get back the best.

Get out of your own way. Stop trying to make things happen or force results. Allow yourself to receive. Accept, appreciate, and become a good receiver. Do this and you enter the ‘zone’. You create FLOW. Good things flow to you and through you because of what you set in motion, maintain, and allow yourself to get back more of!” Rex Sikes

Continued in next blog post: Part 2

Make it a fabulous day!

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Acceptance, Act As If, Affirmations, Attitude, Autosuggestion, Beliefs, Blessings, Creating The Future, Definite Chief Purpose, Expectations, Faith, Flow, Focus, Goals, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Happiness, Law Of Attraction, Mental Movie Theater, Personal Development, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Rehearsal And Practice, Self Improvement, Self Talk, Unlimited Power, Visualization

Gratitude And Receptivity Paves The Way For Everything!

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someday is not a day of the week

“It is another glorious day! What can you do today to feel thankful and receptive? Both are important. Take inventory of everything you are grateful for and celebrate in your life. The people, places, activities, things, times in your life, anything and everything in your past and present are fair game.

Your health, wealth, relationships, you career, job, transportation, hobbies whatever they are, whatever their state or condition, it is important to be grateful for, whatever it is. Your money no matter how much or how little be thankful!

If you focus on lack or not having enough or troubling circumstances you get back what you are focused on. You open the doorway for more when you are happy with what you have! When you feel grateful you begin to change you being. You change yourself.

You keep your focus on gratitude in the present AND your goals. You imagine your abundant future as completed. You see it AS IF it is already in your possession. You visualize the future as already having manifested in your life. You feel that future AS IF it is your present. That is how you approach your goal. Someday never ever comes. Today is here and now!

Keep your visualization and affirmations in mind and think about them day and night each day. Feel great! Feel passionate and enthusiastic! Delight in it! Imagine already having what it is you desire and enjoy, savor the incredible feelings! What we focus on we get. What we think about we bring about! Remember this and do these things!

Gratitude launches everything! Develop a positive, powerful sense of gratitude. Appreciate and celebrate all! Start and end your day feeling thankful. This is a HUGE part of this formula for transformation. As you feel grateful allow yourself to open up to receive whatever good benefits are out there for you.

You don’t yet know what these are or how they will come about. BUT allow yourself to get excited and expectant about good things coming your way. Feel the anticipation! Live filled with positive gratitude and expectations! Be thrilled.

DO you understand what you are doing? You develop a mindset that creates the future AS YOUR PRESENT while you celebrate everything about your current situation. This way you are not divided. You are not thinking ‘I want this to happen but life sucks right now’. Instead you say, ‘Everything is wonderful!’ Everything is glorious, congruent and aligned. It is all about generating good feelings.

Your future is marvelous, your present is marvelous and you are able to feel marvelous about your past. Can you imagine how wonderful it is to live each day in this way? Can you imagine how powerful it is to live in celebration and anticipation, excitement, wonder and curiosity? Even in challenges you can see the silver linings.  When you think and feel positively you DO make things work out.

You don’t want to be split or divided in your thinking. You don’t want to think ‘my future is rich but I am poor’. You want to think ‘my future is rich and my present is rich and I am thankful for all. All good things come my way.’ You want your affirmations to be present focused. ‘I am rich’.

Feel how good it feels. Imagine and feel all good things coming your way. You can’t see these yet but believe they are coming. They will come IF you do this everyday and do it well. If you do it half way or only every once in a while you won’t get the benefits you desire. If you do get them they will come much slower. Remember, some day never comes.

You want it make these practices a reliable habit. The daily, moment to moment monitoring of your thoughts and feelings is what impresses your subconscious mind (Reticular Activating System) to find opportunities in current situations and to assist you in utilizing your inner resources to make things happen.

More energy goes into starting this process but as you do it it becomes easier. Soon it will become habit and you won’t have to consciously do as much. It is these habits you want to develop! That is when the subconscious has taken over.

Don’t concern yourself with how any of the changes will come about. Just imagine and affirm what you want repeatedly!  Feel awesome and believe they will come your way and they ultimately will. The transformation occurs within in. Think rich and you can be rich. Think poor and you will stay poor. Attitude is everything!

You will be delighted and surprised how quickly things begin happening when you genuinely engage in these life changing practices. Keep your focus on what you want because we become what we think about. When you are grateful and receptive you have a marvelous attitude. What you thank about you bring about!

Attitude determines how we approach the world and what others see in us. This is how we attract others to help us. We become so filled with life and energy they come to us magnetically. We become alerted to opportunities we might otherwise have missed. We open up to receive gifts of all sizes and kinds. Enjoy the process!”

Delight in this day!

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