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Daily affirmations can totally reprogram your thinking and behavior in a way that produces amazing new results. This article gives you the proven formula for creating your own killer set of affirmations.

Do positive daily affirmations work? Absolutely!

The people who make fun of this practice and claim it’s not worthwhile are just unhappy, bitter individuals who resent the idea of people they know getting happy and successful. Look more closely at the skeptics you know and see if I’m telling the truth.

The technology behind affirmations is very simple and rock-solid:

Through repetition you can reprogram your subconscious mind to believe pretty much anything you want to be believe. And once your deep, automatic beliefs have been altered in the desirable direction your habitual thinking and automatic actions will be working for you instead of against you.

The forces of belief and habit wield awesome power over a human being’s life. Most of the ruin and despair in the world are caused by negative beliefs and bad habits; and every amazing success story is built on positive beliefs and good habits.

The first and foremost rule in doing affirmations is to be consistent. Do your affirmations at least once a day and preferably twice daily. Get totally religious about this and let nothing (nothing!) stand in your way of stating your affirmations; this is the only way to produce the desired results.

Remember your goal here is to literally reprogram your mind. This takes a lot of repetition.

Here are my other rules in creating affirmations that will make you absolutely unstoppable:

Get Organized

Write your daily affirmations down on standard sized index cards. The simple act of writing them will help cement them into your mind.

But the main reason to do this is to help you remember the exact phrase. It’s important to use the winning format when stating your affirmations and if you write them down you’re guaranteed to say them right every time.

Affirm With Absolute Clarity

Write your affirmations with absolute clarity. Leave no room for doubt as to what you are trying to achieve with each statement, and capture any necessary details for proper reprogramming of the mind.

For example, don’t say things like “more money” or “weigh less”. Be extremely accurate in your statements, i.e. “$50,000″ and “{exact target weight}”.

Affirm With Present Tense Confidence

Always write/state your daily affirmations in the present tense, as if you have already accomplished the specific goal. And always put real authority and confidence into each affirmation.

For instance if you want to make $50,000 extra this year, you would state:

“I have easily created an additional $50,000 this year.”

Did you notice I threw in the word “easily”? Be sure to use adjectives freely when creating your daily affirmations. Say things like “happily” “joyously”, and so forth to really emphasize the appropriate emotion for the affirmation at hand.

Add Emotion And Sensory To Your Affirmations

Writing adjectives into your daily affirmation statements is good, but you need to take this one step further by really feeling these emotions. Put yourself in the state of bliss, victory, joy, health, or whatever is needed to fit the affirmation.

Really feel great about what you are stating as if is already achieved. The fact that you are affirming in the present tense makes this easier to do.

Also when reading your affirmations, be sure to engage your five senses as much as possible. By this, I mean you should really visualize/experience your state of being, having, or doing whatever you are affirming; see, hear, taste, feel, and deeply embody everything about your specific victory while stating the related daily affirmation.

Most Of All: Have Fun!

It’s great to have goals, especially big ones. But under no circumstances should you ever turn the process of setting goals and stating your affirmations into a J-O-B!

Don’t get all tenses and stressed out over this stuff. If it’s not really fun, hang it up and set new goals that you can actually enjoy.

The bottom line is if you can’t enjoy this process your results will not be optimal. So be in the moment, get thrilled by your impending victory, and have fun with your daily affirmations!

About the Author:
Learn how to use the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking to create exactly the life you want. Millions of people have changed their lives with these simple yet powerful techniques, and you too can have the amazing success you dream of. http://thoughtvibes.com/articles

Keyword tags: positive thinking, daily affirmations, self help, power of thought

“We lift ourselves by our thought. If you want to enlarge your life, you must first enlarge your thought of it and of yourself. Hold the ideal of yourself as you long to be, always everywhere.”
–Orison Sweet Marden, 1850-1924, Author and Founder of Success Magazine

How do you see yourself in your mind’s eye? When you think about yourself or get an image of yourself, do you value what you see?

IMAGE WHO YOU WANT TO BE

One powerful way of becoming who you want to be is to begin to image yourself as you want to be in many different life situations. For example:

• Who do you want to be when someone is attacking you or criticizing you? How do you want to respond?

• Who do you want to be when challenging events occur in your life? How do you want to respond?

• Who do you want to be regarding honesty and integrity?

• Who do you want to be regarding your management of time?

• Who do you want to be regarding the organization of your living and work environment?

• Who do you want to be regarding the health of your physical body – how you eat, how much you exercise, how much sleep you get?

• Who do you want to be regarding the way you treat other people, especially loved ones?

• Who do you want to be regarding how you think and feel in your everyday life?

• Who do you want to be regarding your spiritual life?

Holding an image of “the ideal of yourself as you long to be,” as Marden states in the above quote, is an important way of moving yourself toward your ideal. It is not enough to think of yourself in these ways – you need to actually image yourself as you want to be. Create little videos in your mind’s eye of these different situations in your life, seeing yourself as you want to be.

LOOK FOR ROLE MODELS

Think about the people in your life, or people you know about, or even film characters, whom you admire. It is important, in creating your inner images, that you find role models of people behaving in the ways you admire. Then put yourself into those images, seeing yourself behaving in these admirable ways. Thoughts and images are very powerful in changing feelings and behavior.

All of us have been programmed to respond to the challenging situations in our lives by our experiences as we were growing up. You will continue to respond with your automatic programmed responses unless you consciously decide to reprogram yourself. Consciously creating thoughts and images about who you want to be is a form of reprogramming. Since you have practiced your old programming your whole life, it takes an ongoing conscious effort to create new responses. This is why Marden, in the above quote, states that you must “Hold the ideal of yourself as you long to be, always everywhere.”

We each have the free will and the power to become who we long to be, but it will not happen without conscious and continuous effort. This kind of change does not just happen, nor does it happen quickly. If you decided to learn to play a musical instrument, you would know that you would need to practice, practice, practice in order to become proficient at it. Becoming who you want to be takes just as much, if not more, practice! Why not begin today creating the images of who you want to be and start practicing them?

About the Author:
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is a best-selling author of 8 books and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® healing process. Join the thousands who have healed their pain and discovered joy! Learn Inner Bonding now! FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com/welcome.Phone Sessions Available.

Keyword tags: self esteem,self help,self improvement,personal development,personal growth,confidence,self confidence,Margaret Paul,Inner Bonding

Way back in the 1830s, the world found itself in the predicament of having more technology than techies – if you can believe that.  The new industrial revolutionaries had underestimated the number of trained hands they would need to maintain, repair and manage the new “toys” of industry.
 
But serendipity came to the rescue.  An idea the English educator Sir Isaac Pitman began using to teach shorthand, a method used to fill a shortage of office workers, became an important component in solving the era’s shortage of technical workers.  The magic wand?  Correspondence courses.  Distance learning 1840s style!  
 
The movement grew out of off-campus lectures given by the Scottish educator James Stuart of the University of Cambridge in England, and expanded to the United States at Illinois Wesleyan University, which began a successful home-study program in 1870.  In 1883, a “Correspondence University” was established in Ithaca , New York .  Also during this time, the Chautauqua Institution’s seminal academic William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in promoting lifelong learning and establishing distance training programs, developed a correspondence program in New York.  He continued the method at the newly established University of Chicago, where he became its first president in 1891.  In the 1880s, Thomas J. Foster started home-study courses in mining safety using a newspaper to reach his students.  The enterprise eventually became the International Correspondence Schools.
 
A number of other measures and organizations further deployed the new distance education.  There was the United States Co-operative Agricultural Extension Act (Smith-Lever Act) in 1914, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) at Madison, Wisconsin in 1915 and, in 1926, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC, formerly known as the National Home Study Council) was established.  Among federal programs, the largest is the U.S. Air Force Institute for Advanced Distributed Learning, which offers some 350 correspondence, online, and broadcast programs to more than 300,000 Air Force members.  The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps also offer DETC-accredited instruction in military skills. 
 
More than 100 million Americans have enrolled in correspondence courses since the 19th century. 
 
The options for distance learning are diverse and extensive.  Home study courses are available in fields such as Bookkeeping, Writing, Art Studies, Business Management, Child Care, Web Design, Airline Training, Counseling, Event Management, Wedding Planning, Nail Manicure, Animal Care, Diet & Exercise, Forensic Science and How to Start Your Own Business.  In the mid-1960′s, the launch of what was then the largest classroom for physicians was set up through telephone networks in Wisconsin .
 
One study dedicated to distance learning (Connick, 1999; Schwitzer, Ancis, & Brown, 2001) found that this type of education not only works, but has a dynamic market at its disposal:
 
“The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived need for career planning and placement services by distance education program administrators and to explore what services are currently offered at four online degree-granting institutions in the United States.  The researcher assumed that distance learners are perceived to be grounded in an occupation or career path, and that they are involved in distance education for professional development.  While this may be true for some distance learners, it has been noted that many enroll in courses in an attempt to make a significant career change and/or advancement”.
 
In 2006, a report by the Sloan Consortium, an organization devoted to elevating the status of online education to that of four-year institutions, stipulated that almost all of the largest colleges and universities in America were offering online distance learning courses. “Well over 3 million students also took these courses during the previous year. These figures show an obvious rise in new interest by the general public in distance education, a trend that most schools around the world are beginning to tap into”.
 
Whether to improve their lives, increase their job prospects, or simply to study their hobbies, distance learning facilitated the educational needs of our ancestors by the tens of millions, allowing them to study at their own pace in the comfort of their own homes.  The method played an important role in increasing the literacy rate in the U.S. to the tune of 97% in 1903.  There was no debate over the credibility of distance learning to effectively teach people to read, write and spell.  In fact, some states did not allow you to attend kindergarten if you weren’t able to read at the time of enrollment.  Today, just about one third to one half of U.S. adults have some trouble with reading, writing, spelling and reading comprehension.  You’ve seen the stats.
 
It is not a stretch to argue that distance learning may be the perfect large scale tool used to replace all the retraining that is necessary – and costly – in today’s world.  This includes basics such as reading, writing and spelling skills, all three of which can be learned at a time and place that fits the demands of various lifestyles.  In the near future, you will readily be able – even expected – to handle that reading, writing or spelling problem first and then choose what you want to create for the world.  A distance learning course like the Literacy Pod http://literacypod.com is sure to play a pivotal role in making the realization of this goal a reality.
 
Given the crises of global markets, retraining as fast as possible can be the greatest way to succeed.  By training from a location dictated by the priorities in your life, you can enjoy the freedom of studying on your own time and at your own pace.  Huge benefits are there to be had for the workplace and home -lifestyle-friendly education. 
 
First, handle that pesky literacy situation.
 

About the Author:
For more on what you can do about illiteracy please visit http://literacypod.com

Keyword tags: Business, Prosperity, Self Directed Education,advice,education,self help,home study,

Vera sought out counseling with me because her doctor advised her to discover the emotional causes of her chronic fatigue. Vera, a successful stockbroker, was in a loving 18-year marriage. On the surface, everything in her life was fine. She had enough money, friends, and a good relationship. Yet Vera awoke each morning battling fatigue and depression.

David sought my help because of chronic feelings of inner emptiness. David is very successful in his manufacturing business, has a good marriage and two adult children. Like Vera, everything seemed fine. Yet the feelings of inner emptiness drove David to overeat, overspend, and indulge in porno on the Internet.

While both Vera and David were successful in their careers, neither loved their work. They worked to make money, but their work had little meaning for them. Yet when they looked inside, neither could discover what did have meaning for them. Both reported that they had never experienced a sense of meaning in their adult lives, and that the emptiness and depression had been with them since adolescence.

As I worked with Vera and David, it became evident that each had made a decision early in their lives to shut down their feelings to avoid the deep pain of unbearable loneliness. Vera shut down because she was unable to tolerate the loneliness of her mother’s behavior toward her. Her mother would say she loved Vera, but Vera never felt her love. Instead, she felt her mother energetically pulling at her, trying to suck the life out of her. As a very sensitive child, Vera could not tolerate this confusing experience, so she put her feelings in a box and decided to live out of her head instead of her gut.

David, also a very sensitive child, shut down because he was unable to tolerate the loneliness of being with two emotionally unavailable empty parents, and the loneliness of rejection from peers.

As adults, both Vera and David were still shut down from their feelings. They were still afraid of feeling the pain of loneliness – a feeling that is actually an everyday fact of life. Loneliness is present when your heart is closed or another’s heart is closed, or when there is no one with whom to share love. Loneliness is the primary feeling when we want to connect with another and the other is unavailable. If you were completely open to your feelings, you would feel moments of loneliness throughout the day. However, most people never feel this feeling and are completely unaware of it, because the moment there is a twinge of emotional pain, they move instantly to various addictions and addictive behaviors, such as substances, activities, thoughts, shame and blame. Yet when we shut out pain, we also shut out joy and a passionate sense of purpose.

Pain and joy are in the same box. Vera and David could not discover what has meaning for them and what brings them joy while keeping a lid on their feelings. And the very act of keeping a lid on their feelings was creating their depression and inner emptiness.

Imagine that your feelings are a child within. If you ignore this child – by ignoring your feelings – this child feels abandoned. Our refusal to feel and take responsibility for our own pain is an inner abandonment and results in anxiety, depression, and/or inner emptiness.

It is our child within – our feeling self – that has the blueprint for what has meaning for us, for our passion and purpose. Each of us comes to this planet with a deep purpose to express, and when we don’t express this purpose, we end up feeling empty and depressed. Yet we cannot discover this purpose when we keep a lid on our feelings.

Learning to manage the pain of loneliness is essential to discovering your passion and purpose. There is no way of managing loneliness without a deep and personal connection to a spiritual source of love and wisdom. We cannot manage loneliness from our mind alone.

You will find deep meaning in your life when you decide to open to and learn from your feelings of loneliness rather than continue to shut them down. And you will open to these feelings only when you do not feel alone inside due to experiencing the love and wisdom of your spiritual Guidance. Opening to Divine Love and opening to your feelings will bring you the fullness, joy, passion and purpose that are the yearnings of your soul.

About the Author:
Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is a best-selling author of 8 books and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® healing process. Click here for Your FREE Inner Bonding Course: http://www.innerbonding.com/welcome/step1core.html and visit our website at http://www.innerbonding.com

Keyword tags: self help, self improvement, personal growth, spiritual growth, passion and purpose, meaning of life

A Brief overview of Wicca:

When witchcraft is practiced as a religion, it is called by the Old English term for witch, Wicca. This term is used to counter all the negative stereotypes that society has given witchcraft. Wicca is primarily a religion that worships nature, and sees all creation as sacred. In fact, all Wiccan holy days follow the cycles of nature and the changes in the seasons. Wicca also worships both a male and female deity, a female Goddess and a male God, who had together created the world and everything in it.

Witchcraft is neither black nor white. Witchcraft is a religion that respects Mother Nature and She is neither completely positive or completely negative, this is the same for witches.

Spells are used by Wiccans, and are a series of rituals and prayers that are conducted in witchcraft to ask for divine help in a certain aspect of life. All spells must adhere to the witchcraft code of conduct, meaning that any spells used to harm another person is forbidden. In witchcraft, spells may also be changed or adapted to suit a Wiccan’s personality or specific wishes in casting the spell.

What exactly is witchcraft, spells, and magick?

Twenty years ago, I asked myself those same questions, and I’m still learning the answers. My journey started at 15 years of age, with a very understanding mother and a visit to New Age Shop. I remember entering the shop with a sense of awe, and instantly being put at ease by a wonderfully sweet aroma that hung over the bookcases. Yet, out of all the potions, oils, and books that filled the place, the one thing that stood out to me the most was the man behind the counter. He looked more like George Clooney than something out of Halloween Fairytales, and that was my first lesson. Witches look just like everyone else. Of course you may run into the occasional witch who looks more fiction than fact but other than those, most are just your average Joe, the majority tend to choose to blend in as much as possible. Why? Not everyone is armed with 21st century thinking, and in some cases, witches are put into the same category as Satanists, heathens, and just generally bad people.

I eventually took more interest in magick, oh and not my spelling of magick. Witches refer to spells and divine help as magick, not to be confused with magic, which we consider to be what you would see at a show, a magician sawing a woman in half, card tricks, etc.. Magick, however, is sacred to all Wiccans. Ah yes, back to my story, I eventually took more interest in magic and at the age of 35 purchased an old building in New Jersey and turned into one of the state’s only Wiccan Temples. I currently live at home with my two wonderful children and my familiar (husband as most people call it) enjoying life and being at one with nature. I currently make a living supporting my family by offering services at my temple and through my website http://www.witchcraftspellsnow.com.

About the Author:
My name is Tasha and I have been a witch for 20 years. I hope this article helps anyone who is curious about Wicca. Currently, I own Ill-Alli Temple in Northeastern USA and own a witchcraft spells site, http://www.witchcraftspellsnow.com.

Keyword tags: witchcraft, spells, magic, love spells, self help, wicca, religion, new age, occult, magic, witch

What holds you back from achieving your dreams—or even daring to take them seriously? The first step toward success is self-motivation. There are a number of ways to help support the journey toward its accomplishment.

It may not be easy to accept this, that we find otherwise quiet and retiring people jump from having nothing to experiencing abundance through the power of affirmations.

Affirmations open up your mind to possibilities. Anything that may have been previously out of your grasp, comes within touching distance. But first you need to believe it is possible. What an affirmation actually does is to change your own perceptions and attitude towards yourself. Instead of being a useless person you can become the most valued in your profession, family or neighbourhood.

Affirmations will unblock those previous barriers that have held you back. Brick walls become doors, high hurdles become small steps and huge ravines start to have their own bridges.

As a result of derogative and demeaning comments when we were children, these statements are sometimes carried through our life and subsequently they prevent us from achieving our dreams. If you can admit that this is true and such comments have being taken into adulthood then you must also see the flipside of that. Using affirmations lay those early comments to bed and allow the new ‘positive affirmations’ to take over and become more prominent in your mind.

5 Steps to Positively Affirm your Affirmations

1. Repetition is the first step in making affirmations work for you.

2. Getting More Involved in affirmations helps the dialogue in your sub-conscious mind to cement them with both affection and assurance.

3. Affirmations enpower… But you must take regular action to affirm your potential.

4. Believe… Belief is important as a ‘positive’ affirmation means more than a half hearted statement.

5. Resistance is natural. Affirmations can see results in hours, days, weeks and months. the more resistance to your affirmation the longer it will take to manifest Affirmations are also called self-talk, self-suggestions, attitude control, personal reminders, or simply talking to yourself. An affirmation is a statement that describes
a goal in its already completed state.

The word affirmation is redirected from a Latin word ‘affirmare’, which means ‘to assert.’ In layman terms, it means it is the declaration that assures something is true.

Replace the Negative with the Positive. The purpose of the affirmation is to repeatedly tap into the subconscious mind for eventual positive and sustained change to achieve one’s desired result.

Affirmations Will Change Your Thinking if you Allow… Opening up your mind will allow a new education. Keeping your mind closed will mean you carry on as normal. The fact that you are reading this means you are contemplating opening your mind.

Crafting good, effective affirmations is not rocket science.

When using affirmations, they should connect with as many of the senses as possible. In your mental experience and affirmation suggestions visit these senses one by one while repeating the same suggestion. Make sure your affirmation

references are made and refer to the present moment. In essence, affirmations should always be accompanied by a mental image or visualization of your desire to the extent possible.

Visualize and Repeat, Over and Over… That doesn’t mean every few seconds. That doesn’t mean get down to some ‘hard work’. It means allow it to come to mind and repeat as and when you so desire.

Positive affirmations are words that offer power to the subconscious mind … to read more please visit this site: http://www.GlobalTop5.com/affirmations.html

Mr. Andy Bolton
Senior Affirmation Advisor
For more information on ‘affirmations’ please visit this site:
Affirmations + Positive Mental Attitude + Self Development = Success

About the Author:
Mr. Andy Bolton Senior Affirmation Advisor For more information on ‘affirmations’ please visit this site: http://www.GlobalTop5.com/affirmations.html

Keyword tags: Positive affirmations, self esteem, self development, common sense, self help, affirmations,

Positive affirmations are powerful tools to help you manifest what you desire into your life. Everything that exists is made up of energy in the form of radiating wavelengths. The denser the form, a rock for example, the lower the energy levels, at the other end of the spectrum there exists things that have high levels of energy. These high energy level forms are things like light, colors, and thoughts.

Yes, thoughts!

Have you ever had a day off work and did a lot of thinking, and then found at the end of the day you was exhausted? On a day you hoped was for rest, it tired you out just by thinking.

So if you ever needed confirmation that thoughts were powerful, then they can tire you out. If we flipped that scenario slightly, if thoughts can reduce your energy, we must therefore have thoughts that can fill you with energy.

Expanding on that theory that thoughts give us energy, we must consider what out thoughts can project onto others. If we are sad for example and enter a room with happy people, we can sometimes see their happiness subside as my sadness energy over powers their happiness energy. That can also work the other way. Should I walk into a room bounding with happiness the other people’s energy may try to over power mine but invariably if the energy is positive, my happiness will flow through the room.

So if we can see first that thoughts alone are powerful, we can begin to understand where affirmations sit into this system of using energy to empower our life.

Thoughts, when focused on and combined with passion, in time, are manifested into reality. That is the power of positive affirmation, it is the repeated reading of a statement or thought that gets into the sub-conscious mind and radiates from us to attract the necessary means to bring forth that thought into reality.

Affirmations are simply statements that we make to ourselves; it’s our self-talk. You use affirmations all the time, whether you’re doing so intentionally or unintentionally.

Successful people think successful thoughts. They know that entertaining thoughts of failure and defeat is a waste of time. Successful people think of future possibilities, not of past set backs.

Many people think that the way you change your life is by changing your thinking. Many people instead think that once they get the success that they desire, then will be able to be positive and think thoughts of success.

Affirming positive thoughts using positive affirmations dramatically improves life outcomes. Think negative and your life will be negative. Think positive and your life will be a success.

Affirmations help to print within your sub-conscious mind that positive is better than negative.

This link between attitude and outcome is well supported by medical and scientific research. Affirmations are not just a fad, but supported by scientific research.

It does not matter which aspect of life you choose to examine, health, relationships, prosperity, a positive attitude is a key factor in success. “I have done great work today that will advance my career” – not “I hope I get something right today otherwise I’ll lose my job”

Positive affirmations are words that offer power to the subconscious mind … to read more please visit this site: http://www.GlobalTop5.com/affirmations.html

About the Author:
Mr. P. Booker Senior Affirmation Advisor For more information on ‘affirmations’ please visit this site: http://www.GlobalTop5.com/affirmations.html

Keyword tags: Positive affirmations, self esteem, self development, common sense, self help, affirmations, positiv

Maybe you heard the old joke. Two guys, Joe and Martin, are discussing a problem Martin is having. No matter what helpful thoughts Joe offers, as usual Martin’s got a negative response. Frustrated, Joe finally says, “You know what, Martin, you need to get yourself an optirectomy!” “What’s an optirectomy?” Martin wants to know. Joe explains. “It’s where they sever the nerve between your eyeballs and your rectum to cut out your shitty outlook on life.

Some people are like that. When they look at themselves or the world around them, the glass is always half empty. Painting life gray is such a deeply rooted habit that it happens to them automatically, without any thought being given to the possibility that things aren’t necessarily as bleak as they feel. It’s a shame too, because the habit of chronically interpreting things negatively cuts so much joy out of life.

Notice that I call negative thinking a habit. That’s exactly what it is. Nobody is born a negative thinker. It’s something a person learns to do, often from the people around them as they’re growing up, people who themselves think that way. Still, the fact that it’s a learned habit is good news. What was learned can be unlearned and a healthier, more realistic way to think can be put in its place.

Getting rid of a bad personal habit like chronic negative thinking is not unlike changing a physical habit, say correcting your golf or tennis swing. Or to take a more dramatic example from the physical world, imagine you just moved to England and need a car to get around. Brits drive on the opposite side of the road, and their driver’s seat is where our passenger seat is. Not only does everything feel backwards, you’re aware that your American driving habits could get you killed if you’re not ultra careful. As a matter of survival, you start out very self-conscious and hyper-vigilant, eyes glued to the road, mentally coaching yourself through each little step. With practice, the new ways sink in, boosting your confidence about driving in Britain. After a while it’s become so natural you can drive and listen to the radio or plan your day.

What you’ve done is force yourself to unlearn old driving habits as you step-by-step built new driving habits. Naturally you felt tense and vigilant in the beginning. But as the new habits grew stronger and your body began building muscle memory, you began relaxing and didn’t have to concentrate so hard on every little move. In time driving felt pretty much the same as back home.

Changing psychologically driven habits requires undergoing much the same process as changing physical habits. There is nothing magical about either one. You have to pinpoint the problem first. What is it that you have a habit of thinking or doing now that’s causing the trouble? Then you need a plan for how you’re going to fix the problem. Changing any habit requires time, a precise picture of what you are trying to accomplish, planning, systematically coaching yourself step by step in the new, more desirable way of responding and lots of practice. Both feel odd, unnatural, awkward, and sometimes even scary at first. So just like learning to drive in England, if you want to learn to think more positively about yourself and life, it will take time, practice, and a willingness to tolerate some uncomfortable feelings as you break old habits.

Below I’ve outlined a few common patterns of negative thinkers, along with some examples of more constructive ways to practice viewing things.

1. Going From A Single Negative Experience To Thinking The Worst About Your Whole Life

Dan, an A college student, gets a C on an exam. He concludes he is a total failure and was a fool to think he could ever go to graduate school. An example of a more realistic and helpful way for Dan to think about the situation is:

“This is only one exam. One exam won’t have any real impact on my future. I didn’t study enough because I was sick. Usually I do well. There’s absolutely no reason to think I won’t do well in the future.”

2. Locking Onto One Detail, Misinterpreting It, Then Coming To The Wrong Conclusion About The Entire Situation

Sheri is seeking a new romantic relationship. She recently began corresponding via e-mail with a man she met through eHarmony. He was supposed to phone her but instead e-mails that he misplaced her phone number and asks her to send it again. Sheri is furious. She doesn’t believe he lost it. She’s convinced he’s stalling because he doesn’t want to move the relationship forward. What’s more she’s insulted that he thinks he could fool her with such an obvious lie.

Sheri would be so much better off to say to herself:

“Wait a minute. Look at the big picture, Sheri. So far, this man Sam has been very nice. He hasn’t given me a single reason to think he’s a liar. Just because that my old boyfriend Ernie used to lie to me, don’t confuse Sam with Ernie.”

3. Discounting The Positive Things Others Say About You

Jesse has a low opinion of himself. When anybody pays him a compliment, Jesse thinks one of two things. Either they are just being nice but don’t really mean it, or, on the off chance that they do mean it, he’s fooled them.

A better way for Jesse to view things is:

“Could it be that there really are positive things about me that others like? Maybe so. People have no reason to lie to me. Most people have some good qualities. Why shouldn’t I believe that I do too?”

4. Automatically Taking Things Personally And Assuming The Worst

Janet’s husband looks unhappy when he gets home from work. Janet, who often puts herself down, concludes that he hates coming home. She thinks he’s probably sorry he married her. That starts her wondering if he’s been fooling around. Janet becomes silent and withdrawn.

Janet could benefit from stopping herself with more helpful and realistic thoughts like:

“Don’t let your mind race. Stop assuming things. Jim’s never given me any reason to think he’s fooling around. Ask him why he seems so down. It’s possible that it has nothing to do with me.”

5. Worrying About Something Bad Happening Even Though That Is Most Unlikely And Does Not Fit The Facts

Sy has done fine at his job. But when his boss sent back a report saying it needed revisions, he became very anxious that she might fire him. From there Sy’s mind raced to thoughts that he would never find another job, his wife would leave him, and he eventually would wind up a bagman! Sy needs to work on a new mental script that sounds more like:

“Hey man, weigh the facts. I have a more than satisfactory work record. My boss Jenny has never given the slightest indication she thinks of firing me. Even if she did, with my skills I could be on another job tomorrow.”

6. Believing Your Feelings Even Though The Facts Contradict The Feelings

Alicia feels guilty and thinks she is a bad person because she said something negative about her dead mother to her therapist.

Alicia’s corrected thinking is: “My mother had emotional problems and was very cruel to me. I feel guilty and like a bad person saying that about her, but what I said is true. And just because I feel guilty and bad, doesn’t mean I should be guilty and I am bad. Those are feelings, not facts, and I want to work on getting rid of them.”

7. Blaming Yourself For Things When You Were Not Responsible

The teacher wrote Leta that her daughter was not working well in class. Leta jumped to the conclusion that it was her fault and she was a bad mother. Here is some thinking that helped Leta:

“The teacher says my daughter needs a tutor and we arranged it. The problem has nothing to do with me as a mother. In fact I’m a good mother who supports my daughter’s efforts and gets her the help she needs. This isn’t about motherhood, it’s about me being so ready to blame myself even for problems that aren’t about me.”

If any of these thinking distortions sound like something you do, work at catching yourself in the act of doing it. It takes a little practice because this kind of thinking error often is such a well ingrained habit that it occurs automatically. But when you know what you’re looking for, with a little effort you’ll be able to tune in to it. Catching yourself in the act is step one in correcting distorted thinking.

Next, having spotted a piece of distorted thinking, ask yourself what a corrected way of thinking would be. What could you be telling yourself that is more accurate, more realistic, more helpful? Keep sorting through your thinking, correcting distortions, and drawing on the factual knowledge you have instead of drawing on your emotional fears. Keep plugging more and more sensible ideas into the equation. By doing that you’re teaching yourself to listen to your own common sense, instead of letting yourself be led around by unchallenged feelings and outdated ideas that hold you back. As you figure out what some corrected thinking might be and try it on for size, pat yourself on the back for being courageous enough to be open to new, healthier ways of thinking.

About the Author:
Marion K. Jacobs, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist in Laguna Beach, California, Adjunct Professor at UCLA and self-help expert. Her book and CD, Take-Charge Living: How to Recast Your Role in Life…One Scene At A Time offer a detailed plan for personal change. To learn more visit http://take-chargeliving.com.

Keyword tags: self help, inspiration, self worth, self growth, self awareness, personal change

Many people suffer from depression and it is one of the most difficult phases to through. There are several causes of depression such as failed relationship, career-related problems and school pressure. Depending on the intensity of the difficulty, depression can sometimes lead to serious medical conditions.

According to studies, depression is a condition that exists in the mind and many cases are psychological. People who are going through this situation can easily get out of it if they can realize that they are indeed in need of help. They must be open to the idea of treatment or lifestyle change. On the other hand, those who want to survive depression but do not wish to undergo extensive medical and psychological treatment must consider self-help tips about depression. Many books offer self-help tips on different subjects and if you are in need of one about depression, here are some self-help tips that will provide you the basic things to survive the condition.

You need to have hope. Be optimistic in life and do not let negative thoughts control you. It may seem difficult but you can ask help from family and friends for support.

Have time for exercise. Physical training tends to be an antidepressant, help in proper blood circulation, and increase the oxygen in the brain. Exercising can help you avoid thinking about bad things and stay away from depression. Keep yourself motivated and having any kind of exercise that makes you healthy and strong can be a very good therapy for depression. You can have discipline through doing exercises and discipline is known to be an important aspect in dealing with depression.

It is important to maintain a healthy diet. Having good nutrition is vital for the brain and body to be able to work well. A balance diet is necessary and it is advisable to consume organic food to prevent health problems caused by preservatives and chemicals.

Have a positive outlook and laugh as much as you can. Laughing can bring many benefits and helps in the production of body chemicals, which puts you in high spirits. Watching comedy films and television shows can help you feel better.

Learn breathing technique. Whenever you feel stressed, just close your eyes and breathe well. Slowly inhale through the nose and slowly exhale through the mouth. Do this technique five to ten times so that you will feel more relaxed.

You need to have enough time of rest. The quality is more important that the hours of sleep. It is necessary to have a habitual sleeping schedule and commit yourself with it. One of the signs of depression is not being able to sleep therefore; having proper sleeping patterns can be a good start to survive depression.

Be creative and make use of your right brain. You can attend creative schools such as cooking, painting or dancing classes. Focusing your attention to creative activities can give you the opportunity to meet new people and gain more friends. Keep yourself busy with different enjoyable activities and eventually, you can no longer think about depression that once controlled you.

About the Author:
http://www.healthmad.com/Mental-Health/Self-Help-Tips-on-Surviving-Depression.333737

Keyword tags: self help tips, self help, self improvement tips, self improvement

The happiest people are those who love themselves. You do not need to be perfect to be happy. What you can do is to love yourself more to have a better and more positive outlook in life. Self-improvement tips on loving yourself more are accessible anywhere and if you want to learn to love yourself, here are some insights to reflect on.

Complement on yourself. Give yourself good points whether physically emotionally. For instance, tell yourself that you look good on your new dress or you worked on the situation well. Complements tend to make your mood better. Try to focus on every positive side in any situation.

Do yourself a favor and have a makeover. Looking good can make you feel good. Make an effort to wear something attractive, put on a little makeup and go to a salon for a new hairstyle. This can give you confidence and realize that you can indeed look your best. It is a good idea to pay attention about your health and fitness. You do not need to have a supermodel image but keeping yourself fit by daily exercise can improve your health as well as your mood. Exercise can give you positive energy, which is very important with how you deal with people around you.

Treat yourself occasionally. Take time for yourself and go shopping, watch movies or eat in a nice restaurant. Pamper yourself with relaxing massage and go to health spa. Everybody needs a break after a long week of hard work and you deserve to have one. Traveling with family and friends can make a big difference in your perspective in life. Going to places that you have always wanted to go is a good way to reward yourself.

Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on your strengths and on how you can develop them. On the other hand, reflect on your weak points so that you will be able to know how to change them. This way, you can know more about yourself and love yourself even more.

Do an act of kindness everyday. Do something good to other people. Even how simple and small it is, the act can give you a good feeling and a sense of fulfillment for the whole day.

Be aware of what you can and cannot do. Try to evaluate yourself and be honest on your assessment. The way you see yourself is just the same way other people see you. If you think you are funny and lovable, chances are they think of you the same way.

Do not be too hard on yourself. Learn to forgive. Nobody is perfect and it is normal to make mistakes. Many things can attribute to your mistakes and being too tough on yourself will only give you reasons to have doubts and worries. Realize your mistakes and find out ways to prevent doing them again. Learn from your bad experiences and let them serve as lessons, which made you stronger in facing life’s challenges.

Value and love yourself more to be able to get love in return. People around you can surely benefit from the changes you make.

About the Author:
http://selfimprovement-101.blogspot.com/

Keyword tags: self help tips, self help, self improvement tips, self improvement