Jack Canfield Talks About Law of Attraction

Many of you will have heard of Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and self-improvement expert. Canfield is one of the featured experts on the DVD The Secret.

In this free audio Jack Canfield explains the Law of Attraction and how to put it into practice.

What is The Law of Attraction?
If you think you've heard it all before, it's probably because you have. The Law of Attraction is not a new theory. The idea that your beliefs influence your success and that focusing on what you want in your life and not on don’t want, is the basis of many self-help books.

One of the earliest proponents of the Law of Attraction was Napolean Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich. This was followed up with the book Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, which is co-written with W. Clement Stone. Before long the self-help industry had taken these ideas about having a positive mental attitude, a burning desire for success and employing visualisation and affirmations and spun them into a multi-billion dollar industry.

In addition, many self-help experts advocate the Biblical principles ‘You Reap What You Wow’ and ‘Ask and You Shall Receive’. One of the most popular books on the subject was Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking.

The same principles are expounded in the books of Catherine Ponder, a Minister in the Unity Church. Her book The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity is a monster of a tomb that takes several days to get through and leaves you in little doubt that you will become wealthy if you follow her advice. I can particularly remember Ponder recommending tithing; the idea that you should give money away in order to get it back tenfold.

She suggests that nature abhors a vacuum, and by giving away money and material possessions you’re clearing space for new ones to come, and that you should freely pay your bills in expectation of money coming in from as yet unknown sources to replenish your bank account. However, she cautions that if you can not let the money go and instead remain attached to it that you will not receive the abundance you desire. In other words, if you donate your old furniture to the Salvation Army, but spend the next week groaning and wishing you’d sold it or kept it for the bach, then you’re not a believer and you won’t receive.

About The Secret
In The Secret, producer Rhonda Byrnes is not providing new information so much as delivering the key tenets in an easily understandable form.
The three steps of the law of attraction are:

1. Ask for what you want
In essence you are encouraged to decide what is important to you and set this as a goal or goals. This can be likened to Napolean Hill’s principle that you must have a burning desire or a purpose. Hill advocated a single dominant purpose with sub-goals so you remain focused.

2. Believe that it will happen
You are told to have unshakable faith that your goals will be achieved and that abundance will be delivered, to visualise and affirm your desires on a regular basis using mental imagery as well as creating a dream board for your goals. You are further instructed to eliminate all doubt and to persist despite obstacles, and are told to use language that shows this positive expectancy by talking as if the goals have already been achieved or are a foregone conclusion.

3. Be ready to receive
Asking and believing is not enough. You have to show your willingness to receive by grabbing every opportunity that comes your way and taking action in accordance with your goals. This is a point that Jack Canfield emphasises in the free audio discussion. It’s not enough to think your way to wealth, you have to break the goals down into steps and take action in alignment with your dreams.

What if I can’t visualise?
Canfield makes an interesting point in the audio about visualisation. Hypnotist Paul McKenna says everyone can visualise, however I know from my own experiences that this isn’t true. I have never been able to visualise. I can think about something and experience the emotions of achieving success but I can not see it. Canfield explains that some people are able to use eidetic visualisation where they can see full pictures of their goals, and others have to think about the experience. He says that both methods are equally successful

Donate!
If you enjoy Jack Canfield's free audio, you are encouraged to donate to World Trust Foundation's project to feed starving children (the project is mentioned at the start of the audio as an example of using the Law of Attraction to achieve your goals). The audio is available for a limited time so you may like to download the files to your mp3 player.


We'd also appreciate it if you could show us some love by voting for Centre for Emotional Well-Being in the 2007 Weblog Awards.

Easy Goal Setting

Setting goals is simple. All you have to do is write a list of everything you’ve said you would do “one day” or thought you might like to do, but put on the backburner.

Dig up all those buried hopes and dreams and put them on paper. Write down everything that comes to mind no matter how outrageous or improbable it may seem. If the activity is legal and you want to do it, then write it on the list.

Here’s a sample list of goals to help you get started. I would like to...

• learn to play the piano, speak Russian, wallpaper, sail, sing in tune
• walk my dog every day
• paint the spare room
• declutter my desk
  
• backpack in Tibet
• buy a new house
• dine at the best restaurant in town
• write a novel

Now have fun creating your own goals. Get out a blank piece of paper and write down everything that comes to mind, no matter how trivial. Use the headings below as a guide to make sure that you haven’t missed out anything.

1. Physical (diet, exercise, fitness, sports, weight loss, etc.)
2. Career (education, training, job skills, change of job, etc.)
3. Money (savings, income, debt reduction, reduce spending, etc.)
4. Social (friends, outings, clubs, etc.)
5. Education (study, learn new skills, etc.)
6. Family (time together, outings, improve relationships, etc.)
7. Spiritual and personal growth (attend church, read, take time out, etc.)
8. Community (charities, volunteer work, etc.)
9. Indulgence (have a massage, dine at good restaurants, etc.)
10. Other (projects around the home, travel, hobbies, etc.)

Look at each of your goals and decide which goals would make the most positive impact on your life. Next, choose up to three goals for each of the ten categories and write them down on the blank lines.

From there you can take each goal and chunk it down into smaller subgoals, set time limits and a series of action items for completion. I always recommend picking one goal and taking immediate action within 24 hours to get you motivated. Planning is easy, taking action makes things happen!

Another way to motivate yourself is to start seeing yourself as successful, happy, relaxed and confident. You can do this by cutting out pictures of your dream lifestyle or daily visualisation or you could take a more tangible step such as taking your dram car for a test drive. I also recommend talking with other people that have achieved an aspect of your dream life and finding out how they achieved their goals.

Related posts:
The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make with New Year's Resolutions

CREATIVE BURNOUT - Prevention & Resolution Strategies

Most people are familiar with the concept of "burnout." Merriam-Webster defines burnout as, "exhaustion of physical or emotional strength usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration." This definition is most often applied to work situations. In the age of layoffs and re-organizations, most of us have experienced the burnout that can accompany work overload. But how does burnout affect creative people - artists, writers, musicians, etc.?

In my work as a psychotherapist, I often encourage my patients to find a creative outlet to deal with stress, anxiety and/or depression. But I have a personal interest in this topic because in addition to being a therapist and writer, I'm also an artist. So I asked some creative types about their experiences with creative burnout.


Recognizing Creative Burnout
Artist Luann Udell is a nationally-exhibited mixed media artist who creates fiber collage assemblages and polymer clay jewelry.

"For me, much of 'creative burnout' is more like 'selective depression' -
dead-ends we hit in our craft, and feeling overwhelmed by what it will take to
change that - overwhelmed to the point of inaction."

Because Udell's success depends on a receptive retail and wholesale buying public, often her creative decisions are in the hands of others. "We simply don't feel free to try something because of fear - fear it might not sell, it might not be perceived as 'good' or we don't want to fail."

Phoenix, Arizona writer Jeanne Cook has episodes that fit the classic definition of burnout. "My creative burnout tends to show up when I'm either emotionally and/or physically tired. I can spot the signs because I do anything BUT something creative - cleaning and straightening, as an example." Avoidance and procrastination are often stages of creative burnout. Writer/editor Kristen King describes similar symptoms of creative burnout. "When I just feel bored with everything and when I can't get interested in any of the projects on my desk, that's when I know I'm burned out. Even cleaning the bathroom is more appealing!"

Differential Diagnosis - When is it Depression?
Since many of the signs of burnout, such as disinterest, difficulty concentrating, etc., can also be indicators of depression, it's important to rule out depression as a cause. The NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health lists the following as symptoms of depression:

• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood
• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyable
• Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
• Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
• Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
• Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
• Restlessness, irritability
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic pain

(If you have been experiencing some of the symptoms above for more than two weeks, please see your family doctor or a licensed therapist.)

How to Re-Charge and/or Prevent Burnout
So you've identified the signs of creative burnout. What do you do to shake it and re-charge? Musician and Web site publisher Larry Hornung's experience is not so much creative burnout, but writer's block. His first step is to walk away. "I could and have forced myself to 'create,' but the results are usually less than stellar. The next step is to listen to as much new music and new musicians as possible. Hearing new musicians not only gives me confidence, but allows me to learn new approaches to the same old notes." Writer King gets away completely from her work niche. "I've found that taking a walk with my dogs or reading something that is completely non-work related is a great way to get charged up for my work."

"Creative" Solutions
Writer Cook has found one way to address her burnout through a writing "club." She has made a commitment to other writers to write at least 100 words per day for 100 days. She then must report in each week. "I force myself to sit down and write. I'll get more than 100 words, but I haven't noticed that the 100 words that are dragged out of me are any less 'good' than the ones flowing out when I'm all charged up." Artist Udell is working on taking back control of the art she makes."I just want to get back to it and let it grow and change on its own terms - not anyone else's terms, not anymore." King sees having more control over the work she accepts is also a solution for her. "The best thing I can do is to get enough sleep and decline to accept projects that (a) don't pay enough or (b) simply don't interest me. If I'm charged up about what I'm doing, it's easier to stay focused and on task, and to be excited about it."

Take these ideas and make your own list of "Creative Burnout Solutions." Practice prevention strategies that work for you - getting enough sleep, taking time to relax, etc.

Related stories:
How to get your life in balance without giving anything up
Meditation improves focus and performance

The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make with New Year's Resolutions

1. Making the same resolutions every year
Many people make the same resolutions on the first day of every year without assessing why they didn't achieve their goals the previous year. There's no point vowing to quit ciggies for the fifth year in a row, if you haven't asked yourself why you didn't succeed in previous years. What have you tried? What worked and what didn't work? Do you need to learn more about quitting smoking, see a doctor or a hypnotist? Maybe you need to buy patches to combat withdrawal.

2. Failing to make a plan to achieve your goals
So you want to lose 10kg (22lb)? Great! However, without a plan your chances of success diminish. You need to know how you are going to lose that weight. Will you count calories? Do more exercise? Have you set aside a specific time each day to do your exercise or prepare healthy meal?

3. Setting unrealistic goals
I'm all for setting goals that are a challenge and stretch you. If your New Year's Resolution doesn't force you to make changes then it's not going to help you move forward with your life, but is it realistic for a 60 year old to play basketball for the NBA? Chances are it's not. You need to set goals that are just slightly out of reach. If you achieve your goal in record time you can always add new goals to your list as the year rolls on.

4. Choosing goals you are not committed to
Doing something because you "should", because your boyfriend or mother thinks it's a good idea isn't going to work. Choose goals that are meaningful to you - if your heart's not in it then you won't enjoy the process or the results. There are many things we "should" do in our lives. If your smoking is causing cancer, or your weight puts you at risk of diabetes then you need to make changes, but you need to put your entire heart into the effort. Without that commitment you will falter at the first obstacle.

5. Failing to take any action to achieve your goals
So, 2007 is going to be your year. You're going to buy for your first home, get fit and take a course in flower arranging. Fantastic! But what are you doing about it? Setting goals is only the first step. If you want success you need to make a plan and take action.

6. Not preparing your environment to support you in your goals
There will always be obstacles when you are making changes. If you want to be successful you need to anticipate these obstacles and adjust your environment to help you in your goals. If you are planning to quit smoking, chocolate or alcohol then you should clear these things out of your home. If you want to start a new business, but are surrounded by people who fill your mind with doubts and negativity, then you need to move away from those unsupportive people or find ways to protect yourself. Look at the people around you and your physical environment and ensure it is compatible with your goals.

7. Lacking a powerful reason to make the necessary changes in your life
In a word your powerful reason for making change is your motivation. Without motivation it's hard to persevere, particularly if your goal involves hard work or deprivation. Maybe you've decided to launch yourself into an exercise program. Now ask yourself why? What is your powerful reason for change? What fires you up and gets you excited? Is it to lose weight or fit into some of those "skinny" clothes in the back of your wardrobe? Are you getting fit so you can learn dancing or go on a cycling tour in the south of France? Give yourself a reason to change, and remind yourself of this on a daily basis. Pin pictures on the wall of the places you'd like to visit and the things that you will be able to do with the extra energy you get from your new exercise program and you will assure yourself of success.

8. Not chunking your goals down
When you set large goals they can seem insurmountable, but when you break them down into smaller goals and tasks they become more achievable. You can set a goal for the year and then break it down into weekly or monthly goals. I think it's better to set small goals, or if you have a big goal to break it down into smaller goals. Imagine if we could add one new habit each month! In a year your life would be totally transformed. So, instead of thinking of one big goal for the year, consider 12 small goals that would transform your life at the end of the year.

9. Focusing on failure
Maybe, you planned to lose 20 kilos but only lost 10kg last year. Is that a failure? No. Partial achievement of goals is still a success. When you focus on falling short of your goal you lose your motivation and become discouraged from further action. By focusing on the things that you did right and the progress you have made you learn how to improve your life.

10. Not reviewing goals
You need to review your goals on a periodic basis. There are lots of benefits to these reviews. For one thing, it's easy to lose focus and 'forget' that you planned to change your saving habits or cut back on junk food. It's also easy to give up when your plan to transform yourself doesn't pan out. By reviewing your goals you can decide whether they need to be changed, or devise new strategies for achieving them.


For more information on achieving goals, check out this simple guide to setting goals and improving self-esteem.

Good luck with your goals for 2007!

Feeling Overwhelmed? Time Management may help reduce Stress

Learning to manage your time can help reduce stress. By establishing priorities and learning to say no to low priority commitments you can take control of your life and achieve your goals.

I know time management is boring - but it is a necessary evil!

Poor time management is a common source of stress. If you have trouble getting things done, it is worth investing in a time management course to help you prioritise tasks, eliminate unnecessary activities and plan your day effectively. Time management is an entire topic on its own, but here are some tips to get you started:

• Be clear about what you are trying to achieve in your life. Set personal, financial and career goals.


• Take time at the beginning or end of each day to plan.


• List everything you need to do and the date by which it needs to be completed.


• Number each item in order of priority. Your highest priority items will be the ones that help you achieve your long-term goals and ambitions.


• Delegate or lose tasks that do not help you achieve your goals and ambitions.


• Do one thing at a time, and see the task through to completion before starting something else. Switching between tasks can be a huge time waster.


• Attack the tough top priority jobs first. Most people have a tendency to do all the little tasks first so they can get them out of the way. It is more effective to start with the highest priority task. Ask yourself, "What one task if completed would have the greatest positive impact on achieving my goals?" Complete this task first.


• Handle incoming mail once (and this includes email). Don't keep putting it aside - make a decision and act on it immediately.


• Set time aside each day to work or study without interruption - close the door, turn on your voice mail - do whatever it takes to make sure you can work in peace and quiet.


• Don't take on more than you can handle. If you can't fit it in, say no.


• Plan your personal time, such as playing tennis or catching up with friends. People often think that leisure activities need to be spontaneous but this isn't true, it can be just as much fun to plan time out.

Find time each week to do something to nurture your soul - spend time with your children, dance, write in a journal or take some time. Scheduling time for relaxation will keep you motivated.

If you don't already have a diary, put this on your shopping list today. You can use it to record your goals, appointments and also to remind you to take part in regular exercise, hobbies, family and romantic time and last but not least - fun!

Food for Thought: Is your career predetermined?

Do you ever wonder what you might be doing if you had taken a different turn of the road?

In Melissa’s story she described the help she received to achieve a childhood dream to travel to Spain. Upon her return, Melissa changed her major to Spanish.

This got me thinking about choices and destiny.

I couldn’t help wondering… what if Melissa had not travelled to Spain? How would that experience have shaped her life? Would the disappointment of missing out on the trip have fuelled her determination to study Spanish? Or, is it possible that without that pivotal trip to the Canary Islands, Melissa’s life would have headed in another direction? Would she instead be a marine biologist as she once dreamed, or disaffected would she have joined the large proportion of the workforce (including moi) that change careers at least twice in their lives?

When do we know what we want to do with our lives?

As a child I participated in a variety of activities. I enjoyed algebra and calculus (go figure!) just as much as drama and debating. I loved reading and ploughed through hundreds of books each year. I danced, I ran and I played sports. I was happy alone. I was happy in groups. Come to think of it I was just plain happy.

I don’t think I’d given a lot of thought to choosing a career. My father had given it plenty of thought and like many parents envisaged a highly successful career for me. He hoped that I would complete multiple degrees, dreamed of a career in politics (Prime Minister no less!) but although I was ambitious, my high school dreams hadn’t progressed much beyond being Queen of my own castle complete with the proverbial Prince. Oh hey, that would make me a princess wouldn’t it? Hmmm I guess that just goes to prove that my dreams weren’t well formed. Heck I’m still embarrassed that Martina won the award for “most likely to succeed” at Primary School. In hindsight I put that down to confessing to wanting a career as an airline hostess. What was I thinking? Not to denigrate air hosties but you have to be NICE to passengers. I’m not cut out for “nice”.

Do we have an internal homing beacon that determines where we end up in our lives?

At about 15 years of age I hit on the idea that I might like to be a psychologist. I’d been reading a lot of books on psychology and about therapists who, after thoughtfully listening to people’s problems tell them what they need to do to fix their lives. I thought to myself. Yes! I can do that. I’m smart and intuitive; I can tell people how to fix their lives.

Unfortunately at that point I consulted the school’s career guidance counsellor who advised that I needed to go to med school.

Wrong.

I didn’t plan to be a doctor or a psychiatrist. I wasn’t having anything to do with blood or vomit, thank you very much. Disillusioned I left school and worked in a bank for several months before going to University to study business.

I don’t regret that decision. Although I can now see that the accounting and finance jobs that I worked in are anathema to a free-spirited personality that loathed structure and routine, I enjoyed the sense of achievement that came from mastering the roles and climbing the corporate ladder. The subsequent experience in high-level marketing, finance, strategic and marketing roles have given me a solid grounding enabling me to run my own business.

It took me a long time to get back to my early loves. For years I didn’t read any books at all and I all but forgot about my love of psychology. I never stopped wondering what made people tick, and from time to time I thought about studying psychology but every time I picked up a textbook my eyes glazed over at the mention of the amygdala and the central nervous system.

After many abortive attempts I finally got serious about psychology. I returned to my studies, I started reading everything I could find on psychology, health and self improvement. I put pen to paper and I hit the public speaking trail. At last I had found a way to indulge my passion for psychology.

Going back to my original questions I can’t help wondering what would happen if my visit to the career guidance counsellor had had a different outcome. What if I had followed his advice and become a psychiatrist? Would I still have ended up in the same place i.e. transitioning into writing books and researching issues in healthy psychology and emotional eating? Or would the business side of my personality have been unfulfilled. Perhaps I would now be retraining as an accountant?

This is part of the AW Blog Chain. Next in the series of articles Laurie writes about the route she took to becoming a writer.

Resources:

Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want
By Barbara Sher and Annie Gottlieb
This is one of my favourite books. It tells you how to find your "touchstone" to enable you to pursue the elements of your passion that are important to you. It also challenges you to think about the five different careers you might have liked to have. Very thought provoking and a wonderful resource.

The Celestine Prophecy: An Experiential Guide
By James Redfield and Carol Adrienne
Although it is based around the insights in The Celestine Prophecy this book includes psychology and science as well as the "woo woo" stuff on destiny, coincidences and life choices. There are some great exercises to help you identify patterns in your life. The book is not so much about career as the choices people make in their lives and how those choices help them find their life purpose. There is also some interesting discussion on control dramas including patterns from childhood and how we attempt to manipulate or are manipulated by others.

Absolute Write
Resources for writers. If you're interested in freelance writing, screenwriting, playwriting, writing novels, nonfiction, comic book writing, greeting cards, poetry, songwriting, etc etc then this is the place to go.

Participants in the AW Blog Chain #6
TaliaMana
Peregrinas
IndianRaj
Just a Small Town Girl
A View From the Waterfront
Southern Expressions
Mad Scientist Matt
Organized Chaos
At Home, Writing
Writing From Within
Pass the Torch
BCOM
Fireflies in the Cloud
Sounds of Serenity
Kappa no He
Infinite Vanity
Gillian Polack
Of Chapters and Reels
Curiouser and curiouser
The Road Less Traveled
Livien

awchain

How to have sweet dreams each night!

Sleep is characterised by four different stages during which heart rate, blood pressure and temperature drop and brain waves slow. These four stages are collectively known as non-REM or non rapid eye movement sleep stages.

A fifth stage is the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage during which the eyes move rapidly under the closed lids of the eyes. Throughout the REM stage the body’s voluntary muscles, such as arms and legs become paralysed but brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure and temperature increase. It is probably a good thing that the muscles are inhibited during REM as dreams occur predominantly during this stage of sleep. The paralysis prevents people from acting out the impulses that they experience during dreams.

If we wake during this REM stage of sleep then we are highly likely to remember our dreams, but if we wake during non-REM periods of sleep where dreams occur less frequently we are unlikely to recall our dreams. The content of dreams varies enormously, although they are often emotionally charged. During testing researchers have found that the limbic area of the brain, an area which affects emotional behaviour, is especially active. Parts of the brain that relate to logic and order tend to be less active during dreaming which may explain the often confusing and nonsensical nature of dreams.

Researchers are still learning about dreams. The exact purpose of dreams is not known, nor is it known why people have the types of dreams that they do. It is possible that dreams play some role in emotional regulation. One study has found that individuals who dream within the first hour of sleep are more likely to experience depression than those who dream in the second hour of sleep. Further many anti-depressants suppress REM sleep which suggests a further link between dreaming and mood.

Many dreams are rooted in past memories or relate to the dreamer’s life circumstances. Freud coined the term daytime residue to describe dreams which he believed to be the subconscious mind’s attempt to deal with events that have occurred during the last few days. He believed that dreams were an essential ingredient of the healing of the psyche, however later research suggests that this is not the case. Contrary to popular belief there are no proven adverse effects of suppressing dreams.

Most of the time our dreams have little impact on our lives, but nightmares or dreams involving negative emotions such as guilt, worry, anger or fear can deplete our resources and leave us waking feeling unrefreshed and agitated. In some cases the fear of nightmares can also interfere with the ability to fall asleep. Some sleeping tablets, beta blockers and other medications can result in disturbed sleep or nightmares which may reduce the benefit of taking these prescriptions. However you should not stop taking these medications without the guidance of a health professional.

You may feel that you have no control over your dreams, however researchers have discovered that it is possible to influence the content of dreams. Individuals who were asked to dream about a character trait they desired in themselves were able to manufacture dreams that included this character trait, hence it may be possible to reduce nightmares by focusing on positive activities prior to sleep. Other tips for improving the quality of dreams include avoiding drugs and alcohol, checking the side effects of medications and health supplements, and avoiding meals at least two hours prior to sleep.


Resources:
Sleeping problems? Join the discussion here

The Psychology of Success

The Psychology of Success, or How to Improve your Golf Swing

A keen golfer wrote to me with the following questions:

• Have you some thoughts on how to be positive in golf?
• What should I be thinking when I stand the ball ready to swing?

Set your goals

These seemingly simple questions raise a large number of issues related to the psychology of success. Whether in business or sport the principles of success remain the same.

So, what is the solution? First and foremost, in any undertaking you need to have a clear objective. Ask yourself, what do you want to achieve? It might be a speech free of umms and errs, a pay rise or a hole in one. In all cases the processes required are identical.

Rehearse

Before you pick up the golf club allow yourself time for mental rehearsal. This is a process whereby you visual yourself making the perfect shot (or speech or salary review discussion). You allow yourself to see and feel every little detail from the perfect swing to the flight of the ball and the gentle roll into the hole. This may sound corny but it is well supported by fact.

In Strategies of the Champions, Vicki Peterson outlines an experiment where NBA basketball players were split into three groups. The goal shooting accuracy of each group was tested. The players were then instructed to rest, to continue practising their shooting on the court or to mentally rehearse their shooting. The results? Those who rehearsed mentally, improved just as much as those that rehearsed in real life. The third group (that didn’t practice at all) showed no improvement.

This is only one of many stunning accounts of people who have used mental rehearsal to master skills and is an essential foundation step to making progress.

Focus and concentrate

The next step is to focus 100% on the current shot. Forget about the shot you bumbled on the previous hole, or the one you have to make on the next hole. Focusing all your attention on the current moment will remove distractions from your mind allowing you to give your best.

The difference between those who succeed and those who do not is mental resilience. If you give up when things go wrong or if you can’t tough it out when the going gets tough you will miss the shot for sure. Tell yourself you can do it. Positive statements and belief in your ability to make things happen can only help. But here comes the tricky part. Most people fall apart at the first sign of pressure. Have you ever watched game show contestants miss easy questions? You probably thought they weren’t too bright, but there is another explanation. When caught in the bright lights with the knowledge that a million or more people are watching them, many people freeze.

The same happens in everyday life. Your heart beats fast, your palms feel sweaty and you have butterflies in your stomach. Success comes when you feel those symptoms and perform despite your nerves. When you know that making the shot is the difference between winning $100,000 and $20,000 but can still focus and perform, you have the key to success.

Affirmations as a tool to achieving goals: Do they work?

Do affirmations work?

Affirmations are positive statements of intent. The theory is that daily repetition of affirmations can lead to changes in thinking and beliefs which will in turn lead to better outcomes and achievement of dreams and goals.

There are those that rubbish the idea, and the zealots who religiously repeat the affirmations like religious incantations. And of course there is the third group of people who sit on the fence. So who’s right? And how do we measure the results?

At the end of the day I think it boils down to outcomes. Before we look at affirmations, let’s consider what happens in science. Harking back to my high school years I can remember in the fifth form that if we wanted to find out if something was true, we would construct a hypothesis and then test it.

Let’s imagine we’re testing a new weight loss pill. In order to test the pill we would take a sample of people and give half of them the weight loss pill. The other half (control group) would receive a placebo that contains only sugar.

Does anyone know what happens in real life when we give people a placebo? If you guessed that some of the group show the same weight loss results as those on the real weight loss pills go to the top of the class!

The reality is that some people will experience the benefits of weight loss even when they’re taking the sugar pill because psychologically they have convinced themselves that the pill they’re taking is the real thing.

So what are the implications for affirmations and real life? Quite simply, if you can convince yourself of something then it can come true. It’s what you believe that matters. Repeating the words without emotion is unlikely to have impact, but if you’re prepared to actively visualise the positive results you desire, and act accordingly you can achieve incredible results. This is important…. You must believe, but you must also ACT!

Improve your Self-Esteem

Do you find yourself dragging your heels some days feeling you’re not good enough? Do you ever tell yourself you can’t do something – maybe a speech, a project, studies, a 10km run? If this is happening to you then the answer may be low self-esteem. You are not alone. There are very few people that can claim to have high self-esteem in all areas of life.

So, what’s the solution? A significant key is contained in the first paragraph: it is difficult to have high self-esteem in all areas of life. However you can make in-roads by building esteem in a single area of your life. By focusing on only one area, your chances of success are higher, and once your self-esteem improves in one area it will help you in others.

Before starting it’s a good idea to list any achievements you’ve already made. Grab a piece of paper and spend at least five minutes writing every success that comes to mind – and don’t think Mt Everest! Achievements don’t have to be world records or accompanied by trophies. Don’t stop until you have at least 20 items on your list.

Everyone has different goals and different values. What might be success to you may be unimportant to someone else. Here are examples of successes:

• bringing up children you are proud of
• learning to sew, play golf or some other hobby
• clearing out the shed, and getting the contents organised
• completing everything on your “to do” list
• getting your report done on time
• liking the way you look, or maybe just an aspect of how you look (e.g. hair, teeth, body, suntan)
• getting on well with people/being popular
• having pets/family/friends that love you
• being paid well
• doing work you enjoy
• increasing the amount of exercise you do (or other self care actions)

After completing the list, read it out loud. Don’t panic if you struggled to write a long list. Some people feel so out of control of their lives that they fail to see the accomplishments they have already made.

The next step is to pick a goal you think you can achieve – it can’t be a slam dunk (that’s cheating!) but it shouldn’t be a big stretch either. The goal can be in any area of your life, and it has to be something you want to achieve. Commit to it by writing it down, and include a date for completion.

Wishing and hoping won’t make it happen. To improve self-esteem you need to take action. You’ve selected your goal, now is the time to get moving and make it happen.
You’ve achieved the first goal. How are you feeling? Don’t be shy about congratulating yourself. It’s only a small step but a significant one.

Next, do the same goal setting exercise, but this time DOUBLE IT. That’s right, two goals that are achievable in the same area of your life. These goals need to be at least as difficult as the first one. Set definite dates for achievement and get started on making something happen. Make a phone call, book an appointment in your diary. Action creates momentum and even a small step will keep you motivated.

Continue building on the success of your accomplishments to date. In the last exercise the aim was two goals. Double it again. This time, work on four goals in the same area of your life. Continue by doing eight, and if necessary 16 goals. By this time you will have increased your self-esteem and made real progress in one area of your life.