Happiness and success are ‘inside jobs’.

You can learn how to take charge of your own happiness and success rather than relying on – or waiting for – external factors, people, or events to make you happy or make you feel successful.

Be Happy! by Robert Holden is an interesting new title related to an earlier blog topic – being happy.

His work on happiness and success has been featured on Oprah and in two major BBC-TV documentaries, The Happiness Formula and How to Be Happy,

The step-by-step process in this new title  includes:

• Follow Your Joy — stop chasing happiness and start enjoying your life as it happens.
• The Happiness Contract — undo mental and emotional blocks to happiness and success.
• The Receiving Meditation — increase your natural capacity for happiness and abundance.
• The Forgiveness Practice — give up all hopes for a better past and be happy now.
• The Gift of Happiness — use the power of happiness to bless your life and benefit others.

The book is available via Hay House publishers

Technorati Tags: bbc-tv, Be Happy!, happiness, hay house publishers, meditation, oprah, power of mind, robert holden, self help

Posted: June 8th, 2009 under power of mind, self help.
Comments: none

I’ve just discovered a clearly written and practical self-help title on Amazon, When Am I Going to Be Happy? How to Break the Emotional Bad Habits That Make You Miserable – by Penelope Russianoff

Although published in 1997 – it could just as well have been written today.

I particularly like the way the author hands back power to the reader by discussing destructive emotions (such as fear, guilt, anxiety, worry) – as ‘habits’ – as opposed to labeling such emotions as ‘traits or inherited qualities’. The latter implies we can’t change the unwanted emotion; the former implies we can change the unwanted emotion.

Here are some quotes.

“What is a negative emotional habit? Like any habit it is a learned reflex.  It is a response that becomes unthinking and automatic through constant repetition.  The drug addict is hooked on heroin or some other dangerous substance.  But others of us become guilt addicts, or anxiety addicts, or rejection addicts, or fall into any of a dozen other negative emotional obsessions.” (p.7)

“Strange – while negative emotions stick to us like tar, our positive, healthy, happy feelings are often fleeting and fragile. Good moods are shattered by the mildest opf reversals and instantly replaced by bad moods.” (p.7)

“I sometimes suspect that people cling to their emotional bad habits because negativism seems somehow more chic these days. It is fashionable to be cynical and pessimistic. It is cornball to be positive and upbeat.  It is Mary Poppins to look for the silver lining. It is sophisticated to find the dark clouds.

Why should this be?  Why this obsession with accentuating the negative?  Why, in a society that has declared the pursuit of happiness as an inalienable right, are so many of us addicted to habits of thinking that virtually ensure our unhappiness?” (p.8)

When Am I Going to Be Happy?: How to Break the Emotional Bad Habits That Make You Miserable

Technorati Tags: emotional bad habits, emotional habits, habitual negative behavior, negative emotional habits, personal power, self help

Posted: May 22nd, 2009 under power of mind, self help.
Comments: 1

The Abraham-Hicks materials are leading edge thought on a wide range of subjects.

Here’s a newly released video talking about a new paradigm involving autistic children and how we/ they may communicate.

Most interesting!

Technorati Tags: Abraham-Hicks, autism, autistic children, law of attraction, self help

Posted: April 2nd, 2009 under law of attraction, self help.
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What makes your heart beat with joy? What makes you feel excited about life?

Anything that makes your heart sing, anything that ignites excitement within you; anything that you just want to jump in and do -- is your passion speaking!

Passion is easy to recognise once you know the signs.  And the signs are always ones that make you feel good, that make you exhilarated about life.

Passion is your inner voice -- your private muse speaking to you and leading you forward on a path that is uniquely your own.

Do not follow others’ ideas of what you should do or what constitutes ’success”. You are unique. You must develop your own ’success formula’.

This involves some trial and error as you learn to listen to your inner voice and trust it’s pull.

Many will tell you that  people who are rich and famous are a success and that that is the path you should mimic.  But your success will be different to others’.

Your success may well include fame, fortune. But it may also include vibrant good health, mutually rewarding relationships and friendships, emotional freedom, mental freedom (being aware of the beliefs that serve or hinder you) -- to mention less commonly discussed criteria of success.

Trust your insights. Trust your gut instinct. Trust that your talents, capabilities and passion are there for a reason.

See the short video below on the topic of ‘trusting your passion’  -- from John Kehoe.

Technorati Tags: gut feeling, intuition, John Kehoe, success, talents, trust your passion

Posted: January 6th, 2009 under dreaming-visioning, self help.
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Yesterday I attended the first ever Sydney event for an Abraham-Hicks Law of Attraction seminar.
It was the third and final event of their Australian tour (sponsored by Hay House Australia).

The excitement in the queue from 8.30am was palpable! The doors opened at 9am letting in an estimated 4,500 people over the next hour.

Preliminaries over, Esther Hicks invited in Abraham. I felt a distinct energy shift in the room – much like the entrance of an esteemed dignitary. It quickly merged and became unobtrusive.

During the day, questions ranged across many subjects of general interest: relationships, money, health, the meaning of life/ death, the importance of wanting (desiring) something + believing you can have it, making peace with where you are, world-peace, campaigning for causes, treatment of animals, the global financial crisis, to mention some.

A recurring theme was that of learning to manage your own thoughts and emotions in a constructive way – as Law of Attraction is continuously responding to the balance of our vibration (thoughts/ feelings).  Law of Attraction is bringing “more of the same” to us!

Whilst emotions don’t “attract”, emotions are an easy indicator for letting us know what we may be thinking at any time.  Thoughts create (or attract in kind).  And every thought triggers a matching emotion.  There is a direct link between what you are thinking in any moment and how you are feeling. Change the thought and you will immediately notice a shift or change in how you feel.

While it is almost impossible to track the thousands of thoughts we have in a single day, it is relatively easy (with practise) to notice how we are feeling in any moment.

Abraham says that basically there are only two categories of emotion: emotions that feel good and emotions that feel bad. Our “natural” state is one that feels good. But many have learnt to accept negative feelings as their “norm”. They have forgotten that their natural state is one of well-being.

From a Law of Attraction perspective, emotions that feel uncomfortable or ‘bad’ (eg impatience, annoyance, anger, guilt, rage, depression) are alerting us to thoughts that are in the process of attracting “unwanted stuff” into our lives.

A simple example. If a person finds themself feeling impatient or annoyed about many things, then Law of Attraction will bring more events or situations that trigger impatience or annoyance.  The thinking pattern perpetuates the types of people, events, situations they find themself having.

The only way to break a negative cycle is to start thinking different thoughts – thoughts that bring relief or an improved feeling state. We need to find a way to “chill” – a way to defuse how we are feeling (eg take a walk, pat your dog or cat, listen to some music you like).

As we establish a new feeling-state, Law of Attraction will begin to match the new, improved feeling-state with events or circumstances that trigger more of the new feeling-state.

Here’s another typical scenario.
If you talk about problems, Law of Attraction will give you more problems to talk about!  Even listening to others talking about problems can cause a negative feeling-state within you – and thus become a point of attraction for you

I had many ahas yesterday.  However this was one of the biggest.  What you talk about, think about, remember, imagine, worry about, anticipate, and so on – is literally acting as a trigger for matching experiences – thanks to the Law of Attraction.

Patiently listening to a friend complain or whine about some issue is an invitation for a matching, unwanted experience to come to you!  You have to become “selfish” about what you think and how you feel!

By listening to a complaining friend or client or family member you reinforce (validate) the negative scenario for the other person and also invite that same energy into your own life!

Each of us is responsible for our own thoughts and feelings.  We are not responsible for how anyone else thinks or feels.

The balance of our thoughts and feelings at any time in our life is reflected in the people, events, and circumstances we encounter.  If we like our life – great!  If we don’t, then we need to change our habits of thought – and begin to listen to how we feel on different subjects.

“Nothing is more important than to find relief or to feel good”, is an Abraham mantra. Yesterday, this sunk in at a deeper level than ever for me.

The repercussions of doing otherwise play out in your life in the people, events, circumstances that you encounter – from the people and sales assistants you meet, the types of conversations you find yourself having, the traffic you find yourself driving in, the clarity of your thinking, the ease or difficulty of doing anything! Everything in your life is there because it is mirroring to you the balance of your current thoughts and feelings.  Change your thoughts and you change your experience.

This is profound.  It is a radical shift in how most people live their life.

I have been reading the books and listening to many of the CDs and videos of Abraham since 2005. Over this time I have been piecing together my own understanding of how Law of Attraction works in our lives and the immense power of thoughts and emotions as catalysts for the life we are currently living.

Yesterday was a truly memorable day in the sense that certain vital pieces of the puzzle clicked firmly into place in my mind.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a live Abraham-Hicks event – take it!  You will find yourself truly uplifted, inspired – maybe even transformed!

Technorati Tags: Abraham tour of Australia, Abraham-Hicks, esther hicks, law of attraction, Law of Attraction review, Law of Attraction seminar, Sydney

Posted: December 15th, 2008 under law of attraction, self help.
Comments: 2

In the short YouTube video below, Dr Wayne Dwyer demonstrates a kineseology exercise testing ‘true or false’ statements (thoughts).

He says jokingly, “We could have saved $93 million if we had used this technique with President Clinton” (audience laughter)!

The message: Every thought has an effect on the thinker. Strong thoughts can either uplift or depress -- depending on their nature.

Strong positive thoughts uplift and strengthen us.
Strong negative thoughts drain us of our energy.

He demonstrates the ‘power of thought’ with an audience member.

Technorati Tags: Dr Wayne Dwyer, kineseology, kineseology exercise, mind power, positive thinking, power of mind, the power of thought

Posted: December 8th, 2008 under power of mind.
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For the first time ever, Law of Attraction experts, Esther and Jerry Hicks are visiting the Land Down Under – Australia – in December 2008.

This is a very exciting event for anyone in Australia who reads or follows their work (The Teachings of Abraham).

Their books have added enormous insight and clarity – in answer to the question – “How do I create my reality?”.

What is not generally known, is that their work was the real source and inspiration for the movie, The Secret. They were the ‘The Secret Behind The Secret’!

However it is the quality and depth of the live interactive events (Q and A sessions) that Abraham has with audience members that never ceases to amaze me.

The underlying message is one of soothing, acceptance and hope for the future.

Every question asked by an audience member in the “hot seat” is treated with startling wisdom, insight and often times – humour.

For more information on their Australian tour

Dates:
Gold Coast – 7/12/08
Melbourne – 12/12/08
Sydney – 14/12/08

Technorati Tags: Abraham-Hicks, Australian LOA tour, Esther & Jerry Hicks, Hay House, law of attraction, self help

Posted: November 22nd, 2008 under law of attraction, self help.
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Louise Hay is one of the mostly highly respected individuals in the area of “self-help”.

Her feel-good movie, You Can Heal Your Life, (see short excerpt below) is the story of her life. It is produced in the style of popular self-help movie, The Secret.

Louise Hay used positive affirmations to change her life.

“Everything you think about or speak about is creating your life.”
“If you change your thinking you can change your life.”
Ask yourself “Would I like this thought to change my life?”

Some testimonials:
Law of Attraction expert, Esther Hicks “The thought you are thinking either allows you to become who you really are -- or holds you apart from it.”

Author, Wayne Dwyer “You become what you think about whether you want it or not.”

Author, Cheryl Richardson “What really gives the affirmations their power is the emotion you put behind it.”

Louise Hay “Your thoughts create your life -- literally. And if you can get that -- you can make enormous changes.”

Technorati Tags: affirmations, Cheryl Richardson, esther hicks, law of attraction, Lousie Hay movie, self help, Wayne Dwyer, You Can Heal your Life

Posted: November 12th, 2008 under law of attraction, self help.
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Gregg Braden certainly presents in a clear, powerful manner. His discussion about the partnership between thoughts and feelings in the creative process is profound.

When thought and emotion combine you can move mountains. This is a literal thing -- not a metaphor!

Gregg asked a Shaman about his process for praying.
Shaman. “Our prayer is about creating a feeling.”

In the West we have lost the texts that originally told us that feelings are a ‘language’. Instead we began to think that the words themselves were the prayer. We learnt to say the words. But we were not taught to add the vital ingredient -- feeling.

In so doing, we lost our ability to really pray -- and thus to change our reality in an elegant way. We came to rely upon a benign “Father figure” to look kindly upon our requests and pleas.

What is the force that holds the universe together?

“Compassion”, the Abbot answered.

Compassion is a feeling that we experience in our bodies. So in effect, we have the ability to feel in our own bodies the stuff that holds this universe together!

Earlier posts have discussed the other segments of this series.

See interview 5 of 6 below.

Technorati Tags: developing creativity, developing imagination, feelings in the creative process, Gregg Braden, power of mind

Posted: November 4th, 2008 under creativity, imagination, dreaming-visioning, power of mind, quantum physics.
Comments: 1

Imagination used effectively can be the most powerful way to unleash the power of your own mind.

As a generalization, in Western society tools that develop or nurture creativity and imagination are considered far less important than tools that develop logic, proof, evidence, persuasion, being “right “.

Being “wrong” is anathema to most people under any circumstances! Sadly this has unfortunate consequences when it comes to nurturing imagination and creativity – and thus for new ideas, inventions and developments.

Developing imagination and creativity

In the recent past there have been people like Edward De Bono whose books received public acclaim – The Six Thinking Hats is one that springs to mind most readily. In “6 Thinking Hats” the intent was to encourage people to think outside their usual frames of reference; to encourage creative thinking.

For example, it offered a technique for dealing with challenges and problem-solving that relied on adopting different perspectives on the problem-issue. The concept was novel and clever. However interest in “6 Hats” never really became widespread as a tool. Certainly not amongst the group of people who could have benefited from its application – businesses and corporations.

My hunch is, “6 Thinking Hats” asked people to step too far beyond their “comfort zones”. “6 Hats” was too novel (fanciful) as a technique.

Human beings are creatures of habit. While habits are great for carrying many mundane or routine activities, relying on habits isn’t effective for non-routine activities. This includes problem solving, planning, invention. Resorting to what you already know and do habitually, only results in “more of the same”.

Except for people working in creative areas and innovative industries like car design or aeronautics to mention two, most people have not been taught the value of developing or using creativity or imagination on any regular basis. And certainly not on a daily basis in their jobs or lives.

What is imagination and why is it so important to develop?

Let me address “what” first. Imagination is about the free-wheeling of ideas and emotions. It’s big picture stuff. It’s about dreaming, envisioning. Imagination has no interest in “being right or wrong”. It is exploratory, pioneering. And above all – it’s meant to be easy, light and fun!

True imagination explores and reaches into the unknown. It frequently ‘mixes and matches elements’ from diverse sources – to create something new, different. Or it may wipe the slate clean, as it were, and dream something totally original, new.

Full bodied imagination is a multi-sensory experience

At it’s best imagination is truly multi-sensory involving all common senses – sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, as well as ‘uncommon senses’ like intuition, gut feelings, passion, clairvoyance, clair-audience, clair-sentience.

The latter referring to faculties or abilities of “insight” – the ability to reach into the future (mentally); to hypothesize, see or sense outcomes and consequences; to feel inspired in the present to achieve or mitigate future probable outcomes and events.

Imagination is not about ‘proof or logic’ it’s about exploration

Imagination taps into our deepest Inner Being or Inner Self for solutions to current problems. It does not rely upon the logical, conscious mind to solve problems alone. The person who utilizes imagination for creative problem solving – and this includes creatively designing the lifestyle they want for themselves – has a huge advantage over someone who simply rationalizes what they might have or do – or who tries to figure out the “next logical step” to take.

Imagination is different to logical thinking. However, imagination has its own “logic” (or system). Its just that we don’t understand the system at a logical, conscious mind level. The activity occurs at a deeper level.

For example, although we don’t understand how our bodies perform countless essential activities (e.g. metabolism, blood circulation, digestion, tissue repair, healing, conception and so on), we do at least realize than without this unseen support system, we would not be able to function effectively in daily life.  If we had to deal with these kinds of processes at a conscious level we would be totally over-loaded with data and decision-making in every waking second.  We would never get around to enjoying our life or planning for our future!

Yet ironically, when we DO become overloaded, overwhelmed or “burnt out” – from trying to solve problems logically – we don’t make the connection that perhaps we are using the wrong mental tool or approach! Instead we often work even harder and feel even more overwhelmed.

Access vast reserves and resources using your imagination

However, this doesn’t have to happen. We can access vast reservoirs of data and knowledge without having to consciously track everything – simply by learning to use our imagination effectively. This post can only touch on this incredibly important and exciting faculty we have at our disposal – our imagination.

Imagination comes from that same unseen or unknown domain that supports us physically. Imagination accesses, triggers and develops our mental, emotional and psychic abilities.

The technique of ‘creative visualization’ is one technique that, in a simplified way, taps into the powerhouse available within imagination. Many sports people use the technique in their training. Hopefully they generalize its application to other areas of their lives.

I hope this has got you thinking about how you can begin to deliberately engage your imagination for problem-solving as well as for generating exciting or new life style choices.

Technorati Tags: 6 thinking hats, developing creativity, power of mind, using imagination, vision

Posted: October 27th, 2008 under dreaming-visioning, power of mind, self help.
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