How to Change Your Perception-Direction to Rapidly Increase Your Success
We've all heard the phrase, "You get more of what you focus
on." In the Hawaiian shamanism system, known as Huna, they
teach the principle of blessing. For instance if you want to
become a more creative individual every time you come across
something that represents 'creativity' you would bless it.
Let's say you were walking down the street and you saw an
artist painting. You could verbally compliment him or you
could simply mentally bless his creativity with your
intention which could be something like, "This is
creativity, I bless him for it."
By doing this regularly you condition your mind to go in a
certain direction: "Look for examples of creativity in the
world that I can bless." An interesting effect of this
practice is that the more you focus on finding positive
qualities to bless, the more you discover!
In therapeutic settings clients often come along complaining
of behaviours they don't like and want to get rid of. Now if
the therapist were to have the focus of believing that the
clients behaviour was indeed unnecessary he may focus on
this aspect and have the client discover where this
behaviour started. Discovering why he has chosen to adopt
this behaviour and so on.
But what if the therapist had the focus of, "Every behaviour
has a positive intention behind it." Just with this shift in
direction could result in a much more pleasant and useful
change in the client. By discovering the positive intention
behind behaviours, adding in new behaviours, choices and
flexibility would more likely create a generative,
positively focused direction for the clients mind to go in.
This kind of generative change-work tends to create a more
pervasive shift in the clients model of the world because
they have made a change that has added more choice and
flexibility and so they think, "ahhh if I can add choices to
this area of my life, why not get more flexible in other
areas?!"
Another interesting point about directions is that it's more
powerful to setup a direction that is flowing, a process,
rather than a static change. Think about the following and
notice which statement is more powerful, "I am confident",
or "I am becoming more confident."
Because one of the minds natural functions is to go in a
direction, change-work becomes more powerful if you set up a
process as the direction. "I am confident" is static,
whereas, "I am becoming more confident" is a process that
re-enforces itself.
Knowing this 'master key' can make your use of change
technologies, such as the tools of Neuro-Linguistic
Programming (NLP) work all the more effectively.
So as you begin to think about the directions you want your
mind to go in, doesn't it just make sense to use tools that
re-program your mind to *automatically* go in the direction
you want to go in?
Author Bio:
Colin G Smith is a licensed Master Practitioner of Neuro-
Linguistic Programming (NLP) and author of 'The NLP
ToolBox', a personal development book that enables the
reader to master any area of their life with amazing speed.
Complete information on Colin G Smith's books are available
at his website, including a FREE personal development course.
http://www.NLPToolBox.com
Tarot Cards as Alternative Therapy
Whether we admit or not, most of us have quaint notions of what tarot cards are.
On the surface, they are merely a deck of illustrated cards used in predictions, while the tarot card reader is an eccentric person dressed in robes seated behind the fortune-telling booth in the town fair. This image of tarot cards is, of course, clichéd, and yet we'd rather feel comfortable with its familiarity than dig deeper. We resort to the more convenient explanation rather than actually investigate the sometimes unpleasant yet gratifying truth of tarot cards.
Perhaps, the most famous among the tarot cards is the Death Card, a card quite unfairly invested with too much negative meanings and energies behind it, so much so that we usually think of tarot cards as tools of the occult, vehicles of evil even. While we can't deny the fact that indeed tarot can be used for such purposes, tarot cards can also be perfectly well-intentioned and can be actually used for good causes.
As a matter of fact, the earliest use of tarot cards in fifteenth century Italy was as a game, much like a deck of regular playing cards but with the addition of trump cards. It wasn't until late 17th or 18th century that tarot cards began to take on a more serious role in divination.
Over the years, the pictures in the tarot cards, their rich symbolisms, procedures, purposes, and meanings evolved in such a way that the characters portrayed in them have come to mirror all our follies, fears, strengths, and hopes. By stringing them together into a tale, we are able to retell and uncover the past as we would have liked it unfold, as well as get a sense of a manageable future we can feel safe with.
A radical and inevitable shift indeed for tarot cards from a simple game to life-changing therapy.
Carl Jung, a world renowned psychologist has always considered tarot as an alternative psychotherapy. By utilising the rich imagery encapsulated in every tarot card, we are able to voice out our concerns, look into our past, and prepare for the future. In some cases, children who don't yet know how to speak can use the images and characters in the tarot deck to piece together their thoughts and tell their story. Tarot cards then offer an alternative language system through which we can bring our Unconscious up to the light.
Jung explains that tarot cards represent different archetypes of human personality and situations. The Death Card then is not just simplistically a dreary card foretelling iretractable death to the querent (person who asks questions in a tarot card reading). Rather, the death card can be seen as the death, an end of something inside us: a vice, long standing pain, bad habits, sorrow, signaling rebirth.
We do not just blindly pick out cards from the tarot deck. Every moment of our lives we are armed with choices, choices that spell out and define our fate. It's not just what you keep out from your life that matters; it's also what you allow to make a difference. Even if they're just a deck of tarot cards.
____Neoli Marcos writes for PsychicGuild: online provider of free daily horoscopes, dream interpretation and tarot card readings.
The Secret - How To Get Through Tough Times
Today turned out to be one of those textbook beautiful days. The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing softly and the temperature is just right -- the perfect day.Even with all the challenges I have to face, I still look up at the sky and smile as the clouds chase one another across a "picture-perfect", blue background.
But I know that all the days to come will not be as beautiful and comfortable as this day is. Yesterday was dark and dreary, pierced with giant streaks of lightning, which generated thunder that rattled the windows.
Yes, I know that all the days that follow today will not be as bright as this one, nor as dark as yesterday.Some days will be better than others.Some will be worse. And I do not know which ones will or won't.
But this one thing I know: There will be change. There will be ups and there will be downs.That's how life is -- there are good times and not so good times.The good times will not last forever. Every now and then, there will be rough times. But remember, even the worst times won't last either.
The trick is to enjoy the good times and make the most of them; to tolerate the rough times and know that they won't last forever. Generally, it appears that the good times seem to go so fast and the bad times seem to last forever, but this is not really so. It is our
experience of time that makes it seem that way.
Five minutes in my dentist's chair may feel like an eternity, whereas sixty minutes spent chatting with a friend may seem like just a few seconds. What we are dealing with here is a matter of focus. Let me explain.
Whenever we encounter difficult problems, the tendency is to focus so intensely in trying to arrive at a solution that we become all tense and tied up in knots. When that occurs, we tend to become frustrated, fearful and sometimes angry. The problem here is that we're trying to force a solution instead of allowing a solution.
Anger could be expected, but prolonged anger is harmful to body, mind and spirit. It was the great author and lecturer, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross who said, "Natural anger lasts for only about seventeen seconds". Anything beyond that is a reaction to circumstances or
remembered situations.
Fear is one of our deadliest enemies. The fear I refer to is the type that causes us to stay awake at night conjuring up all the terrible things that could happen because of the unsolved problems we're facing. This kind of fear is dangerous, self-defeating and downright
useless. It shakes our very foundations and needlessly drains us of energy.
And to be frustrated is natural. But let us not dwell on the frustration. It's like having a flat tire while driving in a thunderstorm and getting out of the car, becoming soaking wet and kicking the flat tire for being flat. It does no good.
So you ask me, "How then do I deal with my problems?" The first most important thing is to disconnect from the problem. By this, I don't mean that you pretend that the problem doesn't exist. It does exist, so get all the facts you can and then let it be. Break focus with it. This way, your subconscious mind will work towards a solution.
When we force our minds to be totally focussed on the problem, when we do not let it go, even for a short while, we deny the subconscious mechanism the power it has to help resolve the crisis. We must let it go. We must take a break from thinking about the problem.
Do whatever you can to break focus. Since all things have energy, even our problems are energy "things". If we focus on the problem too long, we energize it and make it stronger. By letting go and switching our focus, we shift our energy away from the problem and
are now "energizing" the solution.
Does it matter how big the problem is? Not really. The Higher Self knows the answer to every problem we could ever encounter. The size of the problem is not important. What is important is how we look at the problem. Withdraw your attention from it for a short while a number of times a day.
During those times, don't look at the facts. You've already done that. Just look away from the facts to something pleasant, maybe listen to some good music, watch a great movie, go for a walk, talk to a good friend, read a good book. Just break focus with the
problem for a short while.
If you do this, you will notice that the problem will appear to be less and less formidable. And somehow, in some way, you will get the guidance to do what's necessary to overcome the challenge. It may be that your car is being repossessed, the house is being foreclosed, a close friend or relative or even you yourself may be battling poor health. Doesn't matter what the problem is, break focus, allow calm, quiet and hope to flow through your mind.
As you practice doing this, almost magically, things will start to change; you will feel better, more hopeful, more empowered. And you will think more clearly. You will hear the "still small" voice within
giving you the guidance you need.
Don't take my word for it. Just try it and see for yourself. You have nothing to lose except your problems. And you have everything to gain.
Next time I'll reveal how to use various sources of inspiration to keep on going when it seems that the road has been too long and dark. Remember, Morning has been all night coming, but see how surely it comes.
Lecturer, entrepreneur and MBA business consultant, John Harricharan is the author of the award-winning book, "When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat." Spiritual SimplicityThe Real Secret
