40 Powerful Mental Strength Quotes for Personal Empowerment

Mental Strength, Personal Empowerment 2 Responses »

Sep 042010

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Quotes can be much then a source of inspiration and motivation. When used as a contemplation or affirmation they can be transforming!

With the Labor Day weekend here and most of us have a long weekend this would be a great time for some focused contemplation and affirmations….or as Tony Robbins says describes them “incantations.”

To give a brief overview of each so you’ll be able to experience the power of the below mental strength quotes here are the basics.

Contemplation – focusing on a single thought and asking questions about how this quote applies or can apply to your life. The contemplation should last 5 minutes and ONLY focus on a single quote and deeply think about it’s meaning, what it means to you, how you can use it, how it can help you. Keep creating deeper questions. If you can answer the question quickly go deeper. At some point you should “stump” yourself and have to wait for the answer. This is contemplation.

Affirmation/Incantations – Again, select one quote and repeat is out loud (to yourself) with emotion. This is not a simple memorization process; this is to create energy, passion and new belief. Also, select a different word to emphasize. Say that you select “Men’s best successes come after their disappointments.” For the first 5 times you say it out loud with energy on the entire phrase. Then emphasize the word “men’s”, for 5 times, then “best”, and so forth until you have repeated the entire phrase. I find this process very inspirational when I talk a walk.

If you really want to experience a shift this weekend, combine the contemplation and affirmations. Perform the contemplation first thing in the morning for 5 minutes. Then go out for a walk and use the same quote and perform your incantations.

I guarantee you feel a difference.

So…here are 40 very powerful mental strength quotes for personal empowerment and personal success.

1. Try not to become a man of success but a man of value. – Albert Einstein

2. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. – Henry David Thoreau

3. Inspiration and genius–one and the same. – Victor Hugo

4. To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: “Leave no stone unturned.” – Edward Bulwer Lytton

5. If you would create something, you must be something. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

6. Every artist was first an amateur. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

7. The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be. – Horace Bushnell

8. Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself. – W. C. Doane

9. Do we not all agree to call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration? – George Eliot

10. No great man ever complains of want of opportunities. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

11. Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can. – Thomas Carlyle

12. Men’s best successes come after their disappointments. – Henry Ward Beecher.

13. Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true. – Leon J. Suenes

14. The power of imagination makes us infinite. – John Muir

15. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. – Epictetus

16. It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

17. Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. – George S. Patton

18. If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes. – St. Clement of Alexandra

19. We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day. – Thornton Wilder

21. The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. – Arthur C. Clarke

22. Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks. – Johann Gottfried Von Herder

23. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle

24. Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need. – Voltaire

25. If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. – Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe – Latin Proverb

26. Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action. – Benjamin Disraeli

27. You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind. – Author Unknown

28. The best way out is always through. – Robert Frost

29. o not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking. – William B. Sprague

30. Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. – Samuel Johnson

31. Fortune favors the brave. – Publius Terence

32. hen the best things are not possible, the best may be made of those that are. – Richard Hooker

33. He who hesitates is lost. – Proverb

34. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. – Albert Einstein

35. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

36. We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls. – Winston Churchill

37. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

38. For hope is but the dream of those that wake. – Matthew Prior

39. Constant dripping hollows out a stone. – Lucretius

40. Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose–a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. – Mary Shelley

Please let me know how you plan to use these quotes, or if you have a favorite of your own in the comments below….and enjoy the long weekend….you deserve it!

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Self-Discipline, Freedom and Personal Success

Mental Strength, Personal Develpoment No Responses »

Sep 032010

It can be done when you believe it can….

It’s known as a “self-fulfilling prophecy” whenever something happens simply because we think it will. Your mind is built to ensure that it continuously looks to manifest into physical reality the things it acknowledges most. The majority of us will never understand the enormous potential we possess-because we’re unwilling to believe that we can achieve things that other people consider are impossible. “Impossible” tasks demand extra effort and greater focus, but when they’re finished, the rewards and personal success, i.e. financial and psychic, are proportionate with the work required. You may not be able to achieve everything you’d like, but you won’t accomplish anything unless you believe you can.

And when you come across a situation that you are absolutely positive that can’t be accomplished or solved you need to put it out of your mind immediately and forever. Think of it as the mental strength task of “closing a door.”

Here’s what Dr. Napoleon Hill has to say about ‘Door Closing’

“Consider the rather serious problems which arise in one’s mind in connection with disappointments and failures of the past, and the broken hearts that occur as the result of the loss of material things or the loss of friends or loved ones.

Self-discipline is the only real solution for such problems. It begins with the recognition of the fact that there are only two kinds of problems: those you can solve, and those you can’t solve.

The problem which can be solved should immediately be cleared by the most practical means available, and those which have no solution should be put out of your mind and forgotten.

Let us think, for a minute, about this process of forgetting. Refer to it as closing the door on some unpleasantness which is disturbing your emotional equilibrium. Self-discipline, which means mastery over all emotions, can enable you to close the door between yourself and the unpleasant experience of the past. You must close the door tightly and lock it securely, so that there is no possibility of its being opened again. This is the way to treat unsolvable problems, too. Those who lack self-discipline often stand in the doorway and look wistfully backward into the past, instead of closing the door and looking forward into the future.

This door closing is a valuable technique. It requires the support of a good, strong will, and you have a strong will if you have the departments of your mind organized and under the control of your ego, as they should be.

Door closing does not make you hard, cold or unemotional, but it does require firmness. Self-discipline cannot permit lurking memories of sad experiences, and it wastes no time worrying over problems which have no solution. You cannot yield to the temptation to relive your unhappy memories, for they destroy your creative force, undermine your initiative, weaken your imagination, disturb your faculty of reason, and generally confuse the departments of your mind.

You must place the power of your will against the door that shuts out that which you wish to forget, or you do not acquire self-discipline. This is one of the major services self-discipline can perform for you. It closes the door tightly against all manner of fears, and opens wide the doors of hope and faith!

Self-discipline closes the door against jealousy, hatred, revenge, greed, anger and superstition, and opens the door to friendship, goodwill, confidence and love.

Self-discipline look forward, not backward. It roots out discouragement and worry and other negative emotions. And it not only encourages the positive emotions, but it forces them to come before the faculty of reason every time they express themselves so that they, too, may be kept under control.

Self-discipline makes your mind strong. It enables you to take possession of your mind and exercise your God-given right to control your mental attitude. You do not have real self-discipline until you organize your mind and keep it clear of all disturbing influences. Every principle of this philosophy must function through your mind, and self-discipline, which keeps your mind orderly, is the controlling factor in this process of becoming successful”. - Source: PMA Science of Success. Pgs. 286-288.

I often find in my coaching that many clients think that self-discipline restricts them of their freedom. Just the opposite is true. When you have the mental strength and self-discipline to adhere to a task or structure you free up other ‘space’ to be creative.

Think if this….a long winding river with deep strong banks. The banks provide the discipline and structure so that the river can free flow around and about. If the structure of the banks were not there the river would flow everywhere without ‘purpose’ and perhaps even cause damage to nearby homes, gardens and people.

My challenge for you is to create personal development plan to create structure and self-discipline in ONE area of your life and execute this plan for 30 days. Then take a look at this area and see how far you’ve come.

I’d like to hear about your plan, please share it in the comments below.

If you’d like some assistance with this request an Introductory Consultation

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Persistence vs. Consistency for Personal Success

Mental Strength, Personal Empowerment No Responses »

Sep 022010

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” — Calvin Coolidge – 30th president of the United State.

Persistence Defined:

Dictionary.com gives one definition of Persistence as “the continuance of an effect after its cause is removed.”

Most people are not persistent and this definition explains why.

Think about this…you’re 10 pounds overweight (the ‘cause’) and you decide to take up a fitness program (the ‘effect’). In a few months you succeed in losing the weight….you feel good about this and you stop your program.

Then in 6 months your back to being 12 pounds overweight and you do the same thing again and again and again.

Why?

Lack of persistence!

Once the ‘cause’ was eliminated (the excessive pounds) the ‘effect’ stopped (the working out)

If there you had persistence, your exercise program would have continued past the point of losing the weight.

Now let’s look at consistency

Again, dictionary.com defines consistency as “steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.”

Taking the above exercising example, you were consistent in getting to the gym, but once you lost the weight you were not persistent with the exercise program.

Do you see the big difference in the two? You can, at some level, have consistency but not have persistence. But you can’t have persistence without consistency.

Let’s look at achieving a goal of making $100,000 a year by starting your own business.

You set-up a business plan, a marketing strategy and you start to let the word know about your product or service. You market on a very regular consistent basis and within a year you hit your goal! You’re making $100,000/year!

Then what happens?

Most people will pull back on the marking thinking that momentum will take it from here. This may be true, but only for awhile. Without persistence (continuing the marketing plan after you’ve hit your goal) you’re revenue will drop off.

Just as fear is a prerequisite for courage, mental strength is a prerequisite for perseverance. It takes mental strength to continue PAST to point of success. Simply measuring how long someone sticks with a task until they reach their personal success doesn’t capture the true essence of perseverance.

Persistence and Personal Success

The formula of 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration applies to consistency and it great up to the point of reaching your personal success goal. But this formula needs to be modified to add variable of persistence. I would say that constancy X persistence = personal fulfillment. And personal fulfillment is the achievement of a goal and moving beyond that goal to something great.

This can only be done by combining constancy and persistence.

Since consistency is a prerequisite for persistence lets look at some aspects of consistency.

Consistency and Mental Strength

In general people with a higher level of mental strength will be consistent in tackling a difficult task to the point of success. This seems intuitive. If you believe you are a capable person with a good chance of succeeding at most things, you are less likely to quit.

What seems less intuitive is the following finding: People tend to be consistent longer at solving problems when they are told that what they are doing is difficult as opposed to easy.

Why?

Failing at a task that everyone else finds easy can be humiliating and damaging to mental strength and personal empowerment. In contrast, there is minimal shame when one fails a widely acknowledged difficult task (Starnes & Zinser, 1983; Frankel & Snyder, 1978)

A destructive compromise is self-handicapping. This is a detrimental byproduct for failing to be consistent. Most often the term is used in the context of a failure to be consistent at practice or in preparation for a major task or event. Golf is a great example of this.

Developing Persistence

The following exercises for building mental strength capability of consistency were adapted from a list provided by psychologist Jonathan Haidt at the University of Virginia:

Finish a project ahead of time.
Notice your thoughts about stopping a task, and make a conscious effort to dismiss them. Focus on the task at hand.
Begin using a time management aid of some sort (a palm pilot, a daily planner, etc.). Find a system that works and actually use it.
Set a goal and create a plan for sticking to it.
When you wake up in the morning, make a list of things that you want to get done that day that could be put off until the next day. Make sure to get them done that day.

So now that we’ve briefly gone over consistency how would I describe persistence?

Very easy….”Start Strong and Finish Stronger ™”!

Now it’s your turn….let me know your thoughts in consistency and persistence in the comments below.

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Great Mental Strength Tips From Jon Gordon

Mental Strength, Personal Perfromance No Responses »

Sep 012010

Here are some great mental strength tips from Jon Gordon

9 Ways to Beat Negativity

1. Tell yourself a positive story. Life is a story. The story we tell ourselves and the role we play in that story determines the quality and direction of our life. Successful people are able to overcome adversity by telling themselves a more positive story than the rest. Instead of a drama or a horror movie, they define their life as an inspirational tale. Instead of being the victim, they see themselves as a fighter and over-comer. You may not be able to control the economy, but you can influence the outcome of your story.

2. Model yourself after success. Are there people in your industry succeeding today? Of course there are. Seek out those people in your industry and ask to meet with them. Learn from their advice and model their attitudes and actions. If they can succeed, so can you.

3. Focus on the important stuff. Tune out the negative voices and start making positive choices. What are you doing on a daily basis to grow yourself, your team, and your business? Don’t focus on the negative things other people and the media are saying. Instead, focus on marketing your business, taking care of clients, and building loyal relationships. Every morning ask yourself this question: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?” Then take action on those items.

4. Replace “have to” with “get to.” This simple word swap can change your mind-set and your approach to work and life. It turns a complaining voice to an appreciative voice, and acknowledges that life is a gift—not an obligation. So often we grudgingly say things like “I have to go to this meeting,” “I have to meet with this client,” or “I have to make a bunch of phone calls.” In reality, it’s not about what we have to do. It’s about what we get to do. Research shows that when we practice gratitude, we get a measurable boost in happiness that energizes us and enhances our health. It’s also physiologically impossible to be stressed and thankful at the same time.

5. Refuse to participate in the recession. Professionals who’ve thrived during past recessions continued to go about business as usual regardless of market conditions. They worked hard and focused on taking actions to grow their business. As others are paralyzed by fear, take the opportunity to charge forward.

6. Boost your marketing and advertising. It may seem counterintuitive to spend more money on advertising and marketing right now. But with so many of your competitors cutting back in these areas, this is a great opportunity to build your brand and gain market share. People are still buying and selling, and they will buy from those whom they trust and see in the marketplace.

7. Create a positive vision. Instead of being disappointed about where you are, make the decision to be optimistic about where you are going. Create a positive vision for your future and the future of your team. Vision helps you see the road ahead and it gives you something meaningful and valuable to strive towards.

8. Invite others on your bus. Invite colleagues and customers to board your bus for a positive ride. Send them an e-bus ticket at The Energy Bus. Share your vision with team members and ask them to join you in making this vision a reality. Be a positive influence.

9. No more complaining. Abide by the “no complaining” rule. When you realize you’re about to complain, replace your thoughts and words with positive actions. Let your complaints help you identify what you don’t want so that you can focus on what you do want. The key is to turn complaints into solutions.

What strategies do you utilize to deal with negativity? Share your tips in the comments below.

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Mental Strength Being Tested

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Aug 212010

This will be a VERY short post…my Dell Laptop died after only 2 years. This time it’s the mother board. Just 3 months after I got the hard drive went.

This is really testing my mental strength…I have to use a public PC and my wife’s (when she let’s me). So for the next couple I’ll post what I can.

Oh yea, heading out this weekend to see a family and friends in the LA area. Perhaps I’ll post about the journey

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Struggle is Good

Mental Strength, Personal Develpoment, Personal Empowerment No Responses »

Aug 202010

If you are sure you are right, don’t worry about what the world thinks.

If you are ever to achieve personal success in your life, you must be willing to stand apart from the crowd. Success is something that is achieved by the minority, not the majority, of people. As you climb the ladder of success you may discover that there are a few who, out of jealousy or envy, will disparage your achievements.

If you have the mental strength and courage of your convictions, nothing can discourage you from your mission. You develop a warrior mindset of confidence in your beliefs by doing your own personal development, mental strength thinking and by constantly testing and revising your knowledge. I suggest looking into W. Clement Stone’s R2A2 Principle to Recognize and Relate, Assimilate and Apply information from any field to help solve your problems and direct your thinking….adapt and continue.

As you adapt and continue you’ll discover something about yourself…you’ll discover your hidden assets.

Here’s what Dr. Napoleon Hill says about using your hidden assets.

“Each of us has locked within us all that is necessary to achieve wealth and greatness. It’s merely a matter of learning to use these hidden assets, of investing them so to speak, so we can cash in on them.

The tragic thing is that so many go through life without ever putting them to use. Sometimes, trouble and adversity is necessary to make people use their resourcefulness and brain power to achieve success.

A bookkeeper lost his job as Christmas was approaching. He had no money to buy his 10-year-old son a gift. Instead of merely despairing, he went to work making the boy a gift.

Using two wheels from a discarded baby carriage, a few pieces of lumber from the basement, and some bright red paint, he constructed a toy that captured the attention of the entire neighborhood.

Other children wanted similar toys. The demand grew so fast that the unemployed bookkeeper turned his basement into a factory, then moved his production to a real industrial plant.

The toy the bookkeeper designed was called the “scooter.”

Or consider the case of a soldier returned from World War I. He had been a salesman before the war but was not unemployed. He used his hidden assets too. He took a chunk of ice cream, stuck a stick in it for a handle, dipped it in chocolate covering—and the Eskimo Pie was born!

Then there was a young man working as a filling station helper in Dallas. The work was hard, hours long, pay short—all adding up to a state of mind I call “constructive discontentment.”

The young man began selling for a publisher of children’s books. But instead of approaching parents, he made friends with school teachers and got their permission to tell the children in class about his books.

Then he would ask the children to arrange an appointment with their parents so he could sell them the books. The plan worked wonderfully and the last time I saw the young man he was preparing to go into the publishing business for himself.

Have you searched carefully for any “hidden” resources you’ve overlooked simply because they weren’t in some form you could bank immediately?

Have you some plan or idea which might prove of great value if you brought it into the open and put it to use?

A very successful man once gave this splendid formula for gaining wealth.

“Get some useful item that will bring repeat sales,” said he. “Then put everything you have into taking it to the millions of people who need it.”

His name was F. W. Woolworth. He didn’t create anything new. He merely took something old and gave it a new method of sales distribution.

The opportunities our country offers today are greater than ever—and growing constantly. Think, for example, of the millions to be made by someone who devises some simple method of reducing traffic accidents.

Somewhere you have unused assets. Put them to work for you and make yourself financially independent.” – Source: Success Unlimited. December 1966, pp. 33-34.

Did you notice that the individuals ‘hidden assets’ where discovered under adversity? This is main principles of developing mental strength, to seek out ‘resistance’ so that you can train your mind (and discover your hidden assets). If life was easy we would never find our hidden assets or build our personal empowerment.

We must have resistance, struggle and adversity in order to grow!

What’s one situation that at first seemed ‘bad’ or ‘negative’ that actually uncovered a hidden asset or helped with your mindset? Let me know in the comments below.

If you’d like some assistance in your own mind training take a look at Coaching for Success

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10 Lessons From Bruce Lee

Mental Strength No Responses »

Aug 192010

The following is from a great post by J.D. Meier of http://expertaccess.cincom.com The entire post can be found HERE

I think J.D. did a great job of picking the best 10 lessons one can learn from Bruce Lee. In the full post J.D. also covers quotes and other philosophies.

TOP TEN LESSONS LEARNED FROM BRUCE LEE

Be YOUR best. It’s not about following in someone else’s footsteps or trying to be somebody you’re not. It’s about unleashing your best version of yourself. According to Bruce, “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

Absorb what is useful. It’s not about blindly adopting patterns and practices. It’s about taking the best of the best and tailoring it. It’s also about throwing away what doesn’t work. Bruce borrowed concepts and techniques from everybody and every art in a relentless pursuit of the best of the best. According to Bruce, “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”

Keep an open mind. You have to be willing to throw out what you already know and have a curiosity to explore new paths. If your cup is already full, you can’t learn new things. According to Bruce, “First empty your cup.”

Aim past your target. Aim past your target, so when you fall short, you still land in the ballpark of success. Bruce Lee was famous for his one-inch punch, but in reality he was aiming past the one-inch. According to Bruce, “Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”

Stay flexible. Be flexible in your approach. Learn from everybody and everything and don’t get locked into a particular style. According to Bruce, “Expose yourself to various conditions and learn.”

Focus on growth. Push past your limits. According to Bruce, “There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

Know yourself. Your blind spots and ignorance can be your biggest weakness. According to Bruce, “After all, all knowledge simply means self-knowledge.”

Master your mind and body. It’s not enough just to be smart. It’s not enough just to master your body. Your body and mind support each other. Your body helps turn what you think or dream up into results. According to Bruce, “As you think, so shall you become.”

Apply what you know. Life is not about watching from the sidelines. Use what you know and put knowledge into practice. Test yourself. According to Bruce, “Knowing is not enough, we must do. Willing is not enough, we must apply.”

Make things happen. When there is no wave, make one. According to Bruce, “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

I think it really boils down to making the most of what you’ve got, including your mind and body, pushing past your limits and following a path of continuous learning and growth.

OK…what is your favorite lesson from Bruce Lee? Please let me know in the comments below.

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Mental Strength and Wealth

Mental Strength, Personal Empowerment No Responses »

Aug 132010

: Cover of Grow Rich!: With Peace of Mind

Keep your thoughts focused on what you want in your life, not on what you don’t want.

We’ve just recently started to discover the internal workings of the mind; however we have long known the results of our thoughts. Whenever you focus on not missing a target as opposed to on hitting it, the outcome in many cases is miserable, for it is impossible to think negative thoughts in a positive way.

Ask any golfer who’s attempted not to miss a putt or a bowler who’s struggled not to miss a strike. Make certain your goals are specific and exact. “Making a lot of money” or “earning regular promotions” are wishes, not goals. State exactly how much money you expect to earn and when, and the specific promotion you want, how you plan to earn it, and when you expect to do so.

As Carlson Companies Chairman Curt Carlson once noted, “Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eye off the target.”

If you’re target is wealth, are you focused on creating wealth…or are you focusing on not going broke? You can only hold one thought. Here’s what Dr. Napoleon Hill has to say about “wealth creates wealth”

“Wealth creates wealth. A large sum of money in the hands of one man generally does not create as much wealth as does money which circulates, provided that those who handle its circulation are interested in creating wealth.

A man’s happiness and peace of mind depend on his sharing all kinds of wealth. Business relations cannot properly be described as a relationship of love between buyer and seller; yet when the idea of service to one’s fellow men comes into the relationship, much that is profitable to both parties also enters in. “A little bit of myself,” said Henry Ford, “goes into every automobile that rolls off our assembly lines, and I think of every automobile we sell, not in terms of the profit it yields us, but in terms of the useful service it may render the purchaser.” Thomas A. Edison said: “I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others.”

The idea that a business should give its customers more than a product for a price is not new, and history proves it creates both good businesses and good customers. Good relations between an industrial employer and his employees, however, are not very old as history goes. This is natural enough when we consider that enterprises which employ people by the thousand have not been with us more than a few generations. They are a great way for the owner of the business to make money, and unfortunately many a labor force has been badly treated in the process.

In past years we have our own era of those industrial pirates who never thought of sharing with their employees the wealth their employees helped to create. While they made a great show of their money in New York, Newport or Palm Beach those men would have sneered at the idea that a society needs a large number of well-paid people who are able to buy more goods and lead better lives.

Millionaires are far more numerous today. More than five thousand new millionaires have so declared themselves on their tax returns in the last decade. Also, as I have mentioned, today’s millionaires do not seem to want the notice that rich men used to require. Most of my readers will not recognize the names of some of the present-day millionaires and multimillionaires I have cited.

Nor do today’s moneyed men seem anxious to form a definite class to which the poor may not aspire. I quote Arthur Decio, who made so much money in building and selling mobile homes: “It’s easier to get ahead than it was fifteen or forty years ago. Look at the population growth and the tremendous rise in personal income . . . . This country is just loaded with opportunities.”

So it is, and many of the opportunities would not exist if wealth were not better distributed than it used to be. Employers have seen the value to themselves, to their people and to society of taking workers into partnership with industry. A capitalist society proves over and over that it is the best way to create maximum, widespread wealth. “ Source: Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind. 1967. Fawcett Crest. Pgs. 80 & 81.

Let me ask you….when you pay your bills do think of it as “circulating wealth” or is it a burden and something you don’t look forward to? By shifting our perspective from spending money to circulating wealth our personal success will be dramatically affected.

This shift does take mental strength and practice and when this mindset is mastered you will actually feel the difference. You’ll feel it when you pay for groceries, gas and even going out to eat. When you think of these a means for circulating wealth, wealth will return to you.

Let me know your thoughts about this in the comments below.

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Hypnosis, Imagery and Personal Success

Mental Strength, Personal Develpoment, Unconscious Mind No Responses »

Aug 122010

: Image via Wikipedia

Hypnosis with regard to sports performance is an accepted area that is used to improve the performance of athletes, both at the amateur as well as professional level.

More recently the amazing power of hypnosis for athletes has been increasingly extensively recognized here in the U.S. For many years in the Eastern European countries have utilized hypnosis with their athletes and have experienced a significant distinction in their athlete’s performance.

If you look at the top 10% of athletes what separates the elite 1-2% from the rest?

It’s not that they’ve practiced more or have more skill and talent, at this level of performance they’ve all put in the hard work and honed their skills to a fine science.

So what does make the difference?

Their mind…specifically their imagination and their use of visualization.

So, if Olympic athletes use hypnosis shouldn’t you?

Let’s look at how an athlete uses hypnosis as well as visualization.

Visualization, Imagery and Hypnosis

Mental imagery, sometimes know as visualization, is the method used to recreate experiences in the mind using information from real events. This information is stored in our memory. Dreaming is a scattered form of imagery and the imagery. The visualization of interested here is structured imagery, where the athlete uses his or her imagination in a controlled fashion to recreate specific images for a precise goal.

There is a difference between visualization and imagery. Imagery is full body sensation, i.e. see, feel, smell, and touch the experience. Visualization is only “seeing” the experience. It has been found that imagery is the more powerful of the two.

There a three main ways of imagery. 1st person, you see and experience the event thorough your eyes as you are the competitor. 2nd person, you’re watching from the standpoint of a spectator or coach, and 3rd person, it’s like you’re watching a movie, detached from the entire event.

Research has shown that the most effect perception to use is 1st person. In addition, research also shows that the more able an athlete is to control his or her imagined movements, emotions, sounds etc, the greater the potential performance enhancement.

As for hypnosis, there’s nothing mythical about it…all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The process of hypnosis is nothing more then getting the brain into the Alpha state. This is a state where there is direct access to the sub/un-conscious mind. Basically this is simply a method of inducing a state of heightened relaxation and awareness. And when achieved, provides an ideal mental environment in which to practice imagery.

Indeed, the effects of imagery can be even more powerful when practiced in an Alpha state (hypnotic).

How Imagery Works

Research has shown that visualizing a specific muscle movement (in the mind) can create electrical activity in that same muscle even though there’s no actual movement in the muscle itself! In addition, the specific pattern of muscle activity closely resembles that seen during actual movement.

So what does this mean?

Detailed and controlled imagery can stimulate electrical impulses in the desired muscles, and then those ‘primed’ muscles are ready for the physical activities that follow.

Physical skills can be maintained or even improved by proper imagery when practice isn’t possible, i.e. injury, off season, etc. Evidence also suggests that using imagery can even accelerate rehabilitation and recovery after injury.

As for the best type of imagery to use, until recently evidence suggested it depends on what you’re trying to achieve. For the acquisition or improvement of sports skills, it was thought that using an external perspective (i.e. that of spectator) was best for learning or retaining those skills. For ‘psyching yourself up’ or priming yourself for an event, an internal perspective (i.e. imagining the feelings in the muscle) produced better results.

Now, new research indicates that the best results are archived when using first person or internal perspective, although there are benefits from the second person perspective as well.

Combined with other techniques, such as the use of music, imagery can enhance performance or enter the Alpha state. Combining both mental imagery practice and physical practice can be more effective than physical practice alone. Data from various studies have also shown that mental imagery conducted in a state of hypnosis (Alpha) results in far more vivid and realistic imagery than without.

The practical use of imagery while in hypnotic (Alpha) state is numerous. It can be used for skill learning, preparation for an event, injury healing and what if scenarios.

Practical Use of Hypnosis

Aside from being extremely relaxing and enjoyable in its’ own right, hypnosis can enhance the efficacy of the imagery techniques outlined above and assist in developing mental strength, personal success and person empowerment. The heightened state of awareness that hypnosis produces will enable you to tap the power of your subconscious mind. You experience a more vivid mental rehearsal, and so benefit from more effective ‘muscular reprogramming’, whatever your sport, occupation or goal. Remember, if you can imagine it, you can achieve it!

If you’d like to known more about how hypnosis or NLP can assist you with your personal success, please Contact Me.

Now let me hear from you….how do you think you can use hypnosis and/or imagery in your life? Let me know in the comments below.

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Seven Codes of a Success Warrior

Mental Strength, Personal Develpoment, Personal Perfromance No Responses »

Aug 112010

In observing successful warriors I have noticed that they live by seven distinct codes. If you’ve been struggling with getting, or barley just missing achieving your personal success you may be missing one of these codes.

For the purpose of this post, and my mental coaching, I define of a warrior as ‘any person who conquers oneself.’ These means mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. As for ‘success’ it is the accomplishment of your peak potential and all that comes with it.

Here are the Seven Codes of a Success Warrior

Always Act From a Warrior Mindset
1. You take focused action. Not out of anger, hate or destruction, but from love, honor and loyalty…for family and their lives
2. You act in spite of fear. Fear prevents action; lack of action will get you slaughtered
3. You know there are no failures, only results or outcomes
4. You always successful in producing results.

Completely Responsible for Own Results
1. You’re in charge of own life and outcomes
2. If you need help, you ask for it
3. If you don’t have the right ‘weapon’ you get one
4. If you don’t have the advantage, you create it
5. Questions, if you’re not responsible for your own results who is? Then how much power and control do you have?

Constantly Develops Mental Strength
1. You push the limits of your comfort zone
2. You “If you can’t you must”
3. You put yourself on the line…consistently
4. You make a commitment to yourself to do something that seems to beyond my present ability
5. You make a public declaration/commitment
6. You model someone who is already getting the results you want
7. You Take action
8. You following the steps of your model
9. If you don’t know what to do, act as if you know what to do

Committed to Experiencing Personal “Zone” of Excellence (unconsciousness competence) Instead of Reading About It (cognitive understanding)
1. Knowledge is great, and with out action it’s useless
2. You push yourself to experience your personal ‘zone’ of excellence on a regular basis
3. You practice daily what you know so that you can experience your personal ‘zone’

Always Act From Personal Integrity
1. Act in accordance with YOUR personal values
2. Know your values and their priorities
3. Integrity = wholeness = true to yourself

Knows That The Meaning of Communication is in the Response You Get
1. The meaning and understanding of the message/communication is up to the sender – you
2. If you don’t like the response you’re getting, change the message or the way it’s delivered.

Committed to do W.E.I.T. to Succeed (without hurting others and breaking any laws)
1. What Ever It Takes
2. With 100% commitment there is only a hobby
3. Interested in something vs. committed to something

So, there you have, The Seven Codes of a Success Warrior. When you start to integrate these into you life and your heart you’ll be posed to reach your peak potential and achieve your personal success. Yes, it will take mental strength, mind training and perhaps hiring a personal development coach and it will be worth it!

After what choice to you rely have? You can push yourself and grow, or you can stay where you are and wither away. There is no “balance” in the Universe….there is either growth or death. Thank goodness there is a choice.

The e-book “How to Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior” will help tremendously in integrating the above seven principles in your life.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.