The Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life has been used throughout time for measuring the quality of our lives. Look at the example below and imagine that each piece of the pie represented an area of your own life.  Imagine that each line is a spoke in a wheel, with the centre of the wheel representing 0% satisfaction and fulfillment in that area of your life and outside represents 100% satisfaction and fulfillment with that area of your life.

In figure 1, if this was your wheel of Life where would you currently be in each area of your life?

In this example, the person is at 60% of where they want to be in the area of Finances and her Family is only at 30%.

Now it's your turn. In figure 2, Take a few moments to draw a line in each piece of the pie representing where you believe you currently are in that areas of your life. When you've finished, shade in the areas to get a true sense of the shapes of each section.

And now...

If this was a wheel on a car called LIFE, how well would your are run? How would it run if you were  traveling at25 miles per hour? How would it run if you were traveling 50 miles per hour? What if you wanted to be a high achiever? Would the gaps cause you to stay on the road or would you be heading for the ditch?

If you're  like most people, you're  probably experiencing a certain level of discomfort with the quality of your ride! What about if you could find across the area that matter most to you? Imagine putting your energy focus and time into the areas that matter most to you... what would that feel like? How would your life look? What would be different?

Self Image

My self image was horrible. And I walked around everyday in work-out clothes, no make-up, hair pulled back.

It was so great to write down everything about myself that I wanted to be, and no becoming that person.

Part and parcel to out internal beliefs, is the confidence and self esteem we place in ourselves. Self image has achieved the status of catch phrase in modern society. Reams of magazine articles offer advice. Advertisers and produce pounce on our insecurities. Propping us up and linking our worst to everything from hair products to basketball shoes.

Even a lucrative, hybrid medical fields has sprung up, dispensing vanity operations that range from silicone implants to facial botulism  injections. But shed of its cache, self image boils down to the way we see ourselves, and the way we think others see us. Self image is merely that. An image of ourselves that we have formed in our own mind. Granted, it's based on experiences, events and ideas. But a poor self image isn't an entity unto its own that can't be approached or improved. It is a picture, imprinted in our subconscious minds, that we have painted. And don't look now, but you're holding the brush. You have the ability right now to change your self portrait to suit yourself.

Why is that some people will spend hours every week, primping their external image in the mirror, but completely ignore  the all important person inside. Imagine if you didn't shower, or care for yourself in any way for a month. You'd look pretty shabby. Well that's exactly what happens to our self image if we neglect it.

We are not going on some navel-gazing ego trip by reinforcing the many things that make you unique. You know, it's all right to like yourself. recognize that you  have options that can make you life an adventure. Take the time to pat yourself on the back. Enjoy being who you are. The ebb and flow of life can offer us a beating once in a while.

But when a hurricane hits that coast of Florida, they don't leave the plane in shambles, do they? Of course not. The rebuild. Sometimes better than new. When your self image takes a hit, don't leave it broke and battered. Fix it up with regular doses of inspiration, unconditional love, positive thoughts, nourishment of the soul. No Body will rush to the assistance of your self image. It's your responsibility.

Success is definitely a journey, not a destination. But I have been successful because I've taken my life to a different level. I've completely changed everything around me, and it's different now.

We understand together, that we can have everything. All we have to do is go get it.

So little is commonly understood about the subconscious. But we have definitely explored its unlimited power by learning to connect and care for the messages we imprint on our lives, by listening carefully to the feelings, intuition and guidance it provides, and honoring the connection between all living things, we can achieve the ultimate freedom for ourselves, and uphold our responsibility to make the world a better place.

New Beliefs

We all have beliefs. Those closely held assumptions that we are sure about. That we absolutely know are true. They feel like they reside deep within us, and they do. Beliefs are etched in our subconscious mind. And we won't let go easily.

Have you ever seen a conservative congressman debate a liberal? Neither is going to convince that other to change their views. They can disagree until they are blue in the face, with the most strategic and logical arguments. Each will come away only more convinced their views were right in the first place. It just goes to show that we were built to defend our defend our belief systems as a protection mechanism.

I'd have to say low self esteem in mt looks and my body.
Fear of rejection or non acceptance.
I don't think I'm as good a volley ball player as I was when I was in my 20's. It seems like there's always someone younger and faster.

You know, we will evaluate and scrutinize practically every but of information that passes in front of us. But our beliefs are held sacred. And that's a problem. Limiting beliefs are the genesis of almost every drawback or problem in our lives.

And many of our limiting beliefs were given t us as little presents when we were too young to know better. They often come from parents, friends or family. People who should know, right? And we seem to hang on to these limiting beliefs like slow acting time bombs that hold us back over the course of a life time.

Remember, the subconscious mind takes in what it's given, and accepts it as truth. Your mind will keep working to find evidence that support those truths. It works hard finding events and situations in the real evidence that support those truths. It works hard finding events and situations in the real world that will support your thoughts.

SO if you believe that the world is against you, then expect a series of misfortunes. Tyrannical bosses who just don't like you. Strangers who appear just long enough to mess you up. And dishonest people handling your money. You name it, it will somehow occur, and your belief that the world is against you will only be reinforced. Inside your subconscious mind will be beaming with a job well done. You know, if it could talk, it would be saying, 'he made it clear. This is what was important and true to him, so I made sure he got what he believed and focused on.

For me, the learning curve was delayed by my lack of belief, because I was afraid. Afraid to have success. When I started to really see the change in myself, it was because I was in front of people and people recognized me as someone who was making it happen. And that's when our business started to pick up momentum.

The good news is that you are in control. You are the problem, and you are the solution. No one is at the mercy of their past experiences unless they believe they are. The future is not preordained. Nor does it happen arbitrarily. By simple changing your limiting beliefs, you can rid yourself of the walls that have held you back. In fact, you can turn your beliefs from a ball and chain, into a pot of gold. But I'll remind you, beliefs are not easy to change. So start now.

It was always that thought of not moving forward. Holding myself back. But I definitely can tell you that over the next couple of years, it will go away.

By understanding the power and influence that belief's have on your life, the next step becomes a liberating and enjoyable exercise. You can literally change the beliefs that hold you back, and create dynamic, new beliefs that will give you new lease on life.

If you want a quality, act as if you all ready had it. - William James

Take a good long look at yourself and pinpoint where you're having the most trouble. Have you plagued by health problem? Make a laundry list to the deep seeded beliefs you have. Anything that could affect that area of your life. 

Look for the one or two most damaging beliefs, the ones that contribute to your hardships. Now, write a new belief that replaces and counteracts that old belief. 

Here's where the real work starts. To rewrite your brain, you will have to focus on a new belief every single day. Five minutes our of everyday is necessary to repeat and affirm the belief. Consider the ramifications and possibilities that the new belief offers. Make it real. Remember  it's not necessary at this point to even believe it's true. But you can be friendly. Your mind will still accept the new belief if you diligently and consistently etch the new concept into your subconscious.

You know, the mind is a creature of habit. So do a mental house cleaning. If you are a procrastinator, work consistently on a new image of yourself, officially organizing and completely your task. If you are uneasy speaking in front of people, since that time you embarrassed yourself in high school assembly, you can reprogram you mind to be comfortable and engaging before large groups. 

Why hang onto old, self defeating behavior or negative traits if you don't have to? Open the windows of your wind. Let in the fresh air. Let in the fresh air. You can literally redesign your self esteem. But remember, it's not easy. Your  mind won't just drop these beliefs. It takes steady and regular work for weeks, even months, to loosen up the tight grip your mind has on these old beliefs. 

Change & Acceptance

Change your thoughts, and you change your world. -  Norman Vincent Peale

These may seem like two very separate issues, but change and acceptance are actually tied together. There's  no way you can go back and change the past. You can only look to the past for guidance towards the changes you;d like to make. If your life is a mess, if you've lost a job, betrayed a trust or ruined a precious relationship. the best thing you can do yourself is simply accept it. You know, feeling sorry for yourself or blaming everyone else, it only keeps you in the past mistake. 

I wanted to blame everyone else, you know, because I had nothing to do with it. But I had everything to do with it. I was part of every single equation. You just realize it's all about how you think.

By Accepting your lot, you can clear the slate, and prepare yourself for change. It's enormous relief to start all over again with a blank canvas. But before you state painting, prepare yourself. Make every stroke count. 

I used to always accept everything outside, and I was never accepting things on the inside. When I really turned that around and started accepting myself, and surrendered to the fact that I am a great person, that's when  I actually was able to move forward. 

Would you take a risk that promised a great pay off? A career change, a move to a different state, or a new opportunity, if that risk meant giving up some of your security?

I would necessarily find any interest or attraction in taking an unnecessary risk?

What is security? Security is material things.

I personally, um see security as, sometimes as stagnation. 

I would absolutely give up stuff that I have, in order to better my life. 

You know, if you asked around, most people say they're willing to pay the price. So why is it that they don't take that first step? Well there's two reasons, actually. Number one, there is an enormous gap between knowing what to do, and actually doing it. And we talked about that in the first program. 

Number two, many of us do start to take the first step. We'll set out to achieve our goals. But after a few steps, or a few weeks, the trail and the determination go cold. Lack of preparation is what we're really attempting to overcome. You know, we get excited. We vow to take action. We jump in without a plan. We may even start to see results and then we let up a little. Next comes the distractions, which often pop up at the wrong time. Stuck in unfamiliar territory with no clear sense of directions, we naturally veer back towards safe ground. Toward what we know, 

'I didn't believe in anything. And I grew up very, very angry with no self esteem and no confidence. Not a fun way to grow up. I figure out that things are not working the way I'm doing it, so really the only thing left is to give this stuff a chance. When I finally decided, okay, let's try this and see what happens,  and I really gave it a chance and started putting to use some information, some personal development, I saw some immediate changes in my life. And I was blown away.'

You know, change isn't always as easy as it looks. We are creatures of habit. We tend to fall back into patterns. We gravitate to what is familiar and comfortable to us. Growth and change, they truly rattle our cages. Take us out of our comfort zone. 

'I think change is difficult. Imean, I think change has historically been a difficult thing for me.'

Another part of the problem is that we are seldom taught how to change. Want to quit smoking? Just resist the urge to light up. Like to lose some weight? Push away the plate. Trout out your trusty will power. Well, that's not a good thing. 

You see, will power is a temporary mental burst, and can rarely be sustained over long periods of time. Next thing you know, you're getting hungry. The will power wears off. That's only natural, And without a plan, you have no healthy food in the house. Not a good thing. Cookie jar, here you come. 

Will power can be very strong for a short period of time, but then it weakens. Lose focus and you slip into your old behavior patterns. We have all experienced this. And when we do, we say, "I didn't have enough will power to change."

Well change affects everybody differently. I think, a lot of people try to use their will power to go through it, when really they can just use the power of their subconscious mind to change the image that they have of themselves.

Again, we see how the best way to change our behavior is to first change our thought process. Don't resist the urge to eat, but begin to change the vision of ourselves from fat to thin. From junk food junky to healthy eater. You know, there's a normal lag time between belief change and the behavior change, but stick with it, and you'll find it to be a much more permanent solution. 

I've committed myself to that 100 percent, knowing that you can do anything you want. And, I didn't live that way before. 

It's so exciting to learn the correct way of changing your behavior patterns, because it is much easier that you think, and it takes no sustained use of your will power.  And best of all, you can actually expect results. Not hope for results. Remember, your really changes only after you've developed a new consciousness. Not before. The new consciousness must come first. 

The Price we Pay for Feeling Safe

Procrastination is a habit that stops people living the life of their dreams - it can be such a habit that it stops people even living a decent life! I spoke to someone today who would rather feel safe than change, because they perceived the pain of changing greater than the pain or disappointment of staying the same. They're in a job they don't like, but they would rather stay than risk the steps it would take to change this. The craziness is, they've been doing the same thing for five years! If nothing changes, nothing changes. Someone who procrastinates is trying to keep themselves safe from the disappointment of being let down, or safe from the fear of the responsibility that comes with change. Either way, they stay safe. People who procrastinate think that they will be happy if they stay safe. This simply isn't the case. The longer we stay still, the less happy we become. Almost as if the energy is just sucked out of us. To feel happy, we must be growing and contributing to our community (community includes family). If we don't grow or contribute, we wither. Yet, still some people hang onto staying still, as if by moving they will rock the boat too much and get wet. The ONLY way to feel good about ourselves is through action. No one got happy sitting and wishing things were better. Even if it's a little step each day, it's action. It counts. It stores credits in your self-esteem account, and you start to feel energised and positive about you. Little courageous steps towards a dream are empowering, uplifting and worthy of our praise. Too many people sit on the sidelines and critique the efforts of those who are having a go. If you see someone going for it, even if it's in little tiny steps, take your hat off to them - they are worthy of our praise. 

The Purpose of Life Isn't Clarity!

The purpose of life is not clarity. We are not here to "get it". We are not here to make sense of it all, or have little boxes in our minds about topics so we can feel safe because we understand. If you seek clarity, you don't seek all the other opportunities of what life has to offer. Clarity wants to avoid chaos, yet I know the greatest coaching moments can be experienced in moments of chaos, and where a client explores, perhaps for the first time, what it means to let go and let it go. Clarity is simply information gathering. It's another word for encyclopedia, unless we act as a result of our clarity. The world doesn't need more encyclopedias, it needs more people taking action, moving in the direction of their dreams and fighting for what they believe in. The world can always use more of that! 

NLP is growing in popularity

NLP - Neuro linguistic programming - is growing in popularity as more and more people come to realise its power and effectiveness as a personal development tool. Self-awareness, understanding and the ability to create rapid change becomes available with these skills. It takes a sense of humour, an ability to make connections, a willingness to challenge limits in people's experience to truly be a practitioner of NLP. It's not - psychology, a way of working out "why" someone does what they do, or a "one hat fits all" approach to change. It is - a structure for discovering how someone does something and how to change it if it doesn't get the results they want. It is - a way of thinking that increases the opportunity to improve our results. It is - a playful way to create change that counts. Defined as the study of subjective experience, it's one of the most advanced forms of coaching there is, along with giving its practitioners an amazing boost to their personal and professional growth. -