SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY

It is well documented that many people fail to achieve their goals in life due to the phenomenon known as "fear of failure" but are you aware that a major factor that is often overlooked, is a state known as "fear of success"?

Fear of failure will lead many people into inertia - the inability to make decision or take action in case they receive rejection or negative outcomes. This mental state is fairky easy to identify and there are many tools in the personal development industry to help combat this plague and reprogram the mind for success. However, the fear of success is much more subtle, harder to spot and also harder to eradicate.

Perhaps you have this tendency in your life. Here are some indications of a fear of success mentality.

Studying and trying to implement self-improvement techniques and/or personal development tools but your life does not improve or may even get worse.

You settle for less than you feel you deserve or are capable of achieving.

You start new projects full of enthusiasm and optimism but wane in your efforts or stop short before you have completed them.

You expect things to go wrong no matter how well the situation appears to be at the moment.

Can you identify your own patterns in the any of the above statements?

The fear of success can also make you behave in ways that hold you back. Look at the list below. These are ethe symptoms of the fear of success.

Procrastination - putting off what needs to be done or not doing what you know will bring you closer to your desired result. Everyone suffers from this inner 'demon' at some point in their lives (although some of us suffer from it more than others!).

Procrastination is a 'success killer'! How can ou expect to reach your destinationm if you do not take steps towards it? Strive to do little things each day that will bring you small steps closer to your goal. This is why having a personal development plan is an essential ingredient in the fight against procrastination. Take action! Any action! Refine your steps as you go along but do not sit and do nothing. Taking action is one of the key aspects in personal development.

Can't see the forest for the trees! - this is almost the opposite of procrastination but has the same effect on your personal development. The aforementioned saying is well known but have you ever given it real consideration?

Don't get caught up in your plan believing that it is more important than the materialised goal! For many years I got caught in this trap. I started to think and act as though my plan was more important than my end result and thus missed many opportunities to alter my path and reach my goals more quickly! Let go of your ego and allow the Universe to show you a quicker route to your goal. Remain flexible.

Thinking that the time is not right - have you ever waited until the timing was perfect before starting a venture? Have you ever waited until you had more information on a better plan?

Again ACTION is the key to the door to success. Taking small steps forward are better than taking none or waiting to see if your foot is landing on the right spot! Even if your actions take you away from your goal you have at least gained insight and knowledge about what does not work!

Being a perfectionist - this is similar to the point above and has the same effect, namely, that you never really move forward. No matter how good a job is when its finished it can always be improved! I have heard many great musicians tell how they hate listening to their own songs because they can find a million things that need improved. Yet, we still enjoy them. I think a classic example of this is "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Paul Simon. This song is hauntingly beautiful yet Mr. Simon does not think its good enough!

Seeing only problems - how do you use your focus? Do you constantly see only and alll the problems involved? If you are this way inclined it is pointless trying to change overnight! However, you can use this mindset to your advantage while you strive in your personal development to acquire an opportunistic frame of mind instead.

"How can you use seeing only problems to my advantage?" you say. "Easily", is my reply! Look at the problems and prepare a plan to deal with them. Everytime you overcome one congratulate yourself. Use them as a gauge for your achievements. If you keep seeing more problems remind yourself of how well you dealt with the others. Look at how far you have come! If you see a problem ask yourself, "how best can I overcome this challenge?" or "how quickly can I rectify this situation?". The quality of your questions are important as I have outlined in a previous article. Use the problems as fact finders. Is there a real problem now? If so then deal with it. Is it a potential problem? If so then create a contingency plan in case it does occur but don't get caught up in it just be prepared.

Enjoy the journey, follow the above guidelines and you will achieve success. Eventually your fear of success will dissipate and you will have moved a long way forward in your personal development.

What do I mean by Activating Your Personal Success?

As I’ve outlined in my book Awaken the Genius each one of us possesses inherent skills, abilities and resources. Skills are obvious these are things that you do better than everyone else around you, or at least as well. Abilities could be physical or mental in nature. Some people have the ability to do math, others have the ability to do art, as examples. Resources are our inner ability to handle and manage situations. A resource would be the skill to be patient when outside influences seem to be slow or difficult. Another resource might be the ability to transform anger into flexibility.

With hypnosis you learn how to cultivate these inner resources that are at the core of who and what you are. At Positive Changes we believe that you are far greater than you have been lead to believe. Far more capable that you have yet allowed yourself to become.

You have started a journey into the world of self-mastery. That journey is to develop who and what you are at the greatest possible level. I believe we all have a internal blueprint. A blueprint that was there when you were born. This blueprint represents your true potential.

How was your success blueprint developed? Psychologists have determined that only 15% of your knowledge is in technical training and the balance of 85% is represented in the personal qualities such as:

• How a person sets goals
• How a person uses their memory and recall
• How creativity is used in a persons life
• If a person responds calmly to situations
• How enthusiastic a person is about their own personal life or the lives of others
• If you are diplomatic under stress or not
• How relaxed you are when you are put to the test of stress or anger or any other negative emotion
• If you have personal confidence or not
• How decisive are you, are you able to make decisions
• How aggressive are you, when you see something you want do you go after it
• How do you get along with others
• Do you procrastinate or do you take action.

All of these are learned through life itself. They are not learned through books or through classroom experiences. So, it is time you cultivated these inner skills. This inner knowledge will help you to Master Your Mind and therefore Master Your Life.

When picking out whatever it is you want to accomplish there is a few things you need to consider. Is the result totally up to you? If it is dependent upon you winning the lottery or some external force outside of your control then I am going to suggest you pick something else. It is best to use your mind to accomplish things you have control over. I can’t teach you to turn water into wine or to walk across water. What we are talking about is Mind Mastery, the mastery of your mind in your own personal life.

So, think of this goal you have in your mind. Hopefully, you have thought of something you want to accomplish. Imagine all of the unseen forces of your mind going to work for you helping you to accomplish that goal. With hypnosis you don’t have to worry about all of the details of how and why and what you are going to need to accomplish this goal. The key here is to think of the “End Result”, keep it focused in your mind.

We all wish to be successful and yet somehow we seem to be missing the target. In this article we will show you how to become more successful in all your endeavors.

Success often eludes many people. Like the inevitable pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, people set their hearts on following their dreams only to wake up disappointed.

Disappointment can be crushing to people. They sit and wonder what on earth they did wrong. They may have a strong belief in that pot of gold, but a dream alone cannot make your visions a reality.

You may have read a myriad of books and followed all the rules and imagined yourself as the successful person that you want to be. Your vision may be crystal clear and that is a good thing.  The Bible says, “Without a vision the people perish”.  The problem remains that envisioning yourself as successful is not enough.

What are your dreams?
What are you hopes for the future?
Have you ever written them down?

If you could be anything that you wanted to be and go where you wanted to go, who would you be? What would you be like? Where would you be living?

I want you to take a few moments now and write down the answer to these questions. Be as specific as you can so you can visualize these things as being true today.  Crystallize these ideals in your mind.

Don’t cheat here, this is an important exercise, now go and write the answers down on a piece of paper, or better still in a book. You can call this your Dream Book to Success.

Now ask yourself this question: What do I need to do in order to live the life I dream of?

What do I need to do to make my dreams a reality?

The first step is to make sure you do not put off the vision too far in the distance. Don’t live on tomorrow’s sunshine. At the same time, don’t expect to have a change overnight.  There is no magic pill that is going to bring about your dream. There is no easy road that will bring you to the Emerald City.

Someone once said “the road to success is filled with hard knocks” and this is reality.

You CAN achieve your dreams only if you systematically prepare yourself to receive them.  You also must believe that you CAN receive them.

Henry Ford said, “If you think you can you can, and if you think you can’t, you can’t”

If you believe that you CAN achieve your dreams then it’s time for you to start planning on how you are going to make your dreams of success come true. Don’t let fear sabotage your thinking.  If you have faith, you can move mountains!  Sometimes though a mountain must be moved a piece at a time.

This takes planning.  No amount of wishful thinking will get you what you want.  Your vision may be crystal clear but with out a plan it’s just a dream.  You need to plan your life in order to get the results you wish for.

You need to set goals for yourself. I know, you hate the thought of setting goals, but unless you put it down in writing and give it a date, it won’t happen. I can guarantee it.

Do you see yourself as slim and sitting on a beach somewhere?  Well if you need to lose weight, dreaming isn’t going to make it happen.  You must write down your goal for losing weight.

In order for my dream to come true I must lose __________ pounds.  This is a good start. Now visualize yourself standing in front of a mirror weighing your perfect weight.  Doesn’t that feel good?

This is your target, your dream, your vision.  Now ask yourself, in order to reach that goal, what steps do I need to take today.  Is it reasonable to say to yourself that you could lose 10 pounds a month?  Too much?  How about 4 pounds a month?  Can you make a decision to yourself to lose 1 pound a week.  In a year that would be 52 pounds!  If you lost 2 pounds a week that would be 104 pounds! See how much you can do by breaking your goals down to bite size pieces. Your mountain can literally be moved piece by piece, or pound by pound in this example.  Voila ! Success!

There is nothing mystical in making your dreams a success. In every situation you can do it piece by piece until your mountain is moved and you achieve Success.

The Law – Everything is energy.  Choose to believe this law. You must accept it.

Your thoughts, your feelings, what you focus on are all energy.  Do you understand that you have created the person you have become and created the quality of life you have.

Take a good look at what you have created.  You, and only you, are responsible for your present level of success in life.

Right now, reflect on ways to make a positive difference in the quality of your life.  

First, choose the area of life you want to focus. It can be your relationship, your career, your health; your finances just to mention a few.  The most important thing to remember is to focus on just one area to start.

As you conquer the first obstacle, then go to the next.  Keep moving forward until your goals are reached.

Know your purpose.  Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence.  Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind.  Identify your life purpose and stop wandering through life with little or no direction.

You must stop and smell the roses.  Try this experiment and take note of reactions of different types of people.
1. Go to your local park
2. Find a bed of flowers or some magnificent location.
3. Carefully watch people passing this location.

Some will stop and enjoy the flowers.  They will take time to smell and touch and enjoy them.  Some will walk by and offer no more than a quick glance.  Others will pass by and never see them at all.  If you stop them and ask, they will reply “what flowers?”

Meditation is like stopping and smelling the flowers.  It is an intensely personal and spiritual experience.  There are many forms of meditation however they all use concentration techniques that helps us become aware of all of our inner thoughts.

Meditation is the key to finding your secret force that can overcome these obstacles and change your way of life.
You must first take action to face your current fears, honor your strengths and live from the inside out.

Live your life on purpose, not by accident.

The Past – It’s gone and should be no more than a fading memory.
The Future – It has not happened yet.  Things you do today are likely to impact your future.

Don’t compare your present situation to anything else.  Accept it for what it is and make the best of it or decide to Take Action now if it is not the present that you are happy with.

The time is here to decide that there is no such thing as failure.  It is time to take the opportunity to learn from the experience and move forward.  Learn from your mistakes and grow wiser and stronger and you will grow to accomplish more.

Are you stuck in a rut and unsure how to make changes in your life?
Do you need some support in helping motivate you to move forward in achieving the life you deserve?

It’s your life.  Don’t complain if you are not willing to Take Action.
With clear goals and constructive support, you will be surprised how fast progress will be made.