Many of us have goals and dreams and yet, we find ourselves not getting closer to these goals although we dedicate time and effort to achieving whatever it is we’d like to materialize in our life. If you’ve ever experienced a situation like this, it may be worthwhile examining how much “white noise” there is while you work on the fulfillment of these goals.

Ask yourself every once in a while how many distracting factors there are in your environment? Are there things you can reduce or even eliminate? If that’s hard to do, can you find a little time each day to just sit there and be quiet for a few moments so as to free up your mind and re-focus?

Reducing “white noise” not only helps us focus on what we want to achieve, it also opens our minds to new ideas and opportunities.

“It is a process of diverting ones scattered forces into one powerful channel”, James Allen

Article Source: http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

Our economic system promotes the exchange of goods and services for money, investments for returns etc. We are taught that we primarily give in order to get something back either immediately or in a certain timeframe.

The effectiveness of giving to others without expecting something back is in fact, although not widely promoted, a very real way of giving something to yourself.

You don’t have to be wealthy in material terms to give back. You can offer your expertise, your help, a service, a product or whatever you choose to give that is within your possibilities and of value to others.

By doing so you’re sending a message that you’re open to give and receive. You may or may not receive something back immediately, but at some point you will for sure get something back. It may be from a completely unexpected source and in a different form. It always works, try it.

“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves”, James Barrie

To learn more go to: http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

Change can be difficult. Especially if it comes unexpected, and we’re forced to adapt to new situations without having time to digest it. But it is most difficult when we feel resistance to change.

You may have experienced situations where you thought things were going well and change was really not the thing you wanted. And yet change is constant. The only thing that is consistent is change itself. There is no point in resisting it, or in thinking back about how things used to be.

The best thing we can do is to embrace change; to look at it as an opportunity. If you feel resistance to change, ask yourself whether there may be an opportunity to take advantage of it.

And if you can’t see one immediately, trust that something positive will evolve from it. In that way you give yourself a good chance to recognize new opportunities, whereas if you’re stuck in the past you’re not open for what the future may have to offer you.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often”, Winston Churchill

Source: http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

Why is it important to make difference or make a positive contribution to the world? It’s simply because by giving something to others, you’re giving something back to yourself. It is really about creating a so-called win-win situation. You could compare it to a boomerang. You throw it out there and it comes back to you.

Well, you may think, if I throw a boomerang, there are some physical laws in place that make the boomerang come back to me. If, on the other hand, I help out in a homeless shelter, how exactly is that going to help me?

Some call it karma; some call it a law of the universe. The truth is that there are countless examples, where people who have helped others were blessed with good luck in areas that seemingly had nothing to do with what they did for others.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”, Theodore Roosevelt

To learn more go to http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

We’re all different individuals, and as such respond to different types of stimuli that may either reduce or increase our stress level. What’s right for one person may not work for another. We all need to find our own individual mix of life balancing factors.

One important factor that we often tend to forget or ignore, however, is time for meditation. Meditation is about finding balance in our mind. It is not a series of complex processes for which you necessarily need to attend a course. It is simply about taking a few moments each day and being by yourself in a quiet environment with no distractions while you listen to whatever crosses your mind.

Meditation not only relaxes you, but it produces answers while you’re not focusing on finding answers. We practically know all answers to whatever questions we may have. We just don’t to access them, because we forgot how to listen to ourselves.

Often times we desperately try and find answers. And the more desperate we are, the less we find the answer. It is like looking and re-looking for a pair of socks in the first drawer of your drawer cabinet, while the socks you’re looking for are in the third drawer.

Try and take a little time each day and listen to yourself. Gain access to those drawers of potential you haven’t opened. It is an important factor in terms of finding balance and alignment.

“We must learn to balance the material wonders of technology with the spiritual demands of the human race”, John Naisbitt

To learn more go to http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

How many people do you know who could truly tell you what your limitations are ? The most probable answer is that nobody knows you as well as you do and therefore, nobody outside of you can be in a position to know what you can or cannot achieve. Your personal limits are where you decide they ought to be. They are not where other people think they are.

Achieving starts with believing. If you believe you can do a thing, chances are that you can do it. It may take time, but you can do it. Many times we ask “Why can’t I do or have that” instead of “What can I do in order to do or have that too”.

Look around you. There thousands of examples of people who started with nothing and achieved wonderful things. Are these people smarter or more talented than you ? No, but most of them one day simply started believing they could materialize their dreams and never stopped doing so.

“You must do the things you think you cannot do”, Eleanor Roosevelt

Learn more at http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

But what do you do with negative opinions that are directed at you personally? Opinions about your character, personality, the way you do or don’t do things, your intelligence, your abilities, the way you look, your likelihood to succeed etc.

The question is how we deal with these opinions. The important thing to remember is that we have a choice. We can either adopt these opinions and make them a reflection of what we think of ourselves, or we can simply acknowledge that someone has a certain opinion and leave it at that. People have opinions and that’s ok.

The truth is that nobody out there knows yourself as well as you do. You know best who you are and what’s right for you – and that’s the only opinion that really matters.

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without our consent”, Eleanor Roosevelt

To learn more go to http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

Many of us sometimes dream of a simpler life, or a life that would at least allow for some time to do the things we truly love doing. The bolder ones of us even go as far as to dream that they could do what they love doing and make a living of it.

Have you ever caught yourself saying or thinking, “Yes, I’d love to do it, but I just don’t have the time, money, talent, intellect, education etc. to do it”. Imagine a big steel ball in front of you. It takes an initial effort to get the ball rolling, but once it rolls, it takes at least as much effort to stop the ball.

In many ways, getting started with whatever it is you’d like to do – but always had a reason not to start it – is like having the courage to say “Today is the day I decide to get the ball rolling and make time to really do the things I love doing”.

Once you’ve taken that decision 50% of your effort is already done. The rest is merely a question of keeping the ball rolling.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step”, Confucius

To learn more go to http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

The average person processes over 60’000 separate thoughts per day, of which 90% occur subconsciously. Automatic thoughts are produced by our subconscious mind and continue to execute without the involvement of our conscious mind. Think about how many things you just do day in day out without even consciously thinking about it. These automatic thoughts are like mini computer programs in our subconscious minds. They automatically come into action as a response to stimuli in our environment.

While many automatic thoughts are positive, some of them can create undesirable limitations in terms of our ability to evolve and progress – you could call them “success blockers”. They simply prevent us from progressing or being successful in certain areas. Automatic thoughts determine your thought patterns, attitudes and behaviors. The reactions we then observe from your environment validate your thoughts.

Certain negative “automatic thoughts” are triggered by common negative deeply rooted belief and thought patterns with groups of people who experience the same or similar challenges and limitations. Conversely, observations of successful people reveal that many of their successes can be attributed to a distinct set of positive cognitive patterns in their belief system.

Thanks to continued research, we now have much more accurate insight into positive as well as negative cognitive patterns. Identifying and recognizing these very patterns forms the foundation of effective cognitive conditioning. Let’s have a look at some success enabling patterns:

Success Enabling Thought Patterns

• Believing in your Unique Skills, Talents and Capabilities – Believing in our own innate skills, talents and capabilities is not only important from a professional development perspective; it also enables you to align your uniqueness in its entirety with your potential. Several studies reveal that we are the happiest and most effective when we can utilize our individual abilities to the highest degree possible. The objective is to allow you to raise beyond your current limitations and maximize your personal potential.

• Viewing Life as a “Platform” for Opportunities- Viewing life as a big platform of opportunities opens doors for opportunities to materialize. It focuses our minds on the possibilities rather than the limitations. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have a disproportionate amount of luck? They seem to be at the right place at the right time or meet the right people at the right time. The truth is that it isn’t mere luck, most of these people consciously as well as unconsciously look for opportunities and find them, because their mind is open and receptive to opportunities.

• Accepting and Expecting Positive Change – Change has a tendency to reward people who embrace it. Welcoming change also means having the courage to explore new areas of potential success. An open attitude toward change is essential for positive change to take place.

• Feeling Empowered and in Charge – Accepting responsibility for your own destiny and feeling empowered to shape your destiny according to your ideas is a key success factor. Successful people don’t look for other people or circumstances to shape their destiny. They actively take control and create their destiny.

• Self Confidence and Self Esteem- A healthy level of self confidence and self esteem is not only necessary, it is essential for any kind of success we seek achieve. Only when you’re comfortable with who you are and confident in what you can do, will other people believe in you and your abilities. This applies both to your personal as well as your professional life.

• Living with Purpose – All successful and generally happy people display high levels of purpose and action orientation. They keep their goals in mind, act on their ideas, follow through with their plans and stay the course until they achieve what they want.

• Accepting and Offering Help – Many people have a hard time asking others for help. They confuse accepting help from others with weakness. This couldn’t be farther from reality. Most successful people know about the importance of seeking and accepting help. They achieve their goals by leveraging other people’s skills and strengths that they themselves lack. At the same time they offer their help to others and create mutually beneficial relationships.

• Seeing Setbacks as Opportunities for Progression – Most successful people will tell you that they have had their share of setbacks. What sets them them apart is that they accept setbacks as a natural phenomenon and have the ability to stay focused on their long term goals. Setbacks are often accompanied by opportunities and it is key that you continue to look for these opportunities while you experience setbacks.

Do you “own” all these success enablers? If not, focus on adopting the ones you don’t own and continue to build on the others.

While adopting positive success enabling cognitive patterns is extremely important in terms of reaching your goals, it is of equal importance to eliminate limiting thought patterns (“success blockers”) that continue to stand in the way of personal growth, progress and success. The following is only a partial list of typical “success blockers”:

Negative Thought Patterns

• Feeling “not good enough” – One of the key reasons why most people never reach their full potential is rooted in various forms of mostly unconscious beliefs of not being good enough. Although most people don’t like to admit it, it continues to lead the charts of top “success blockers”.

• Resistance to Change – Resisting change is mostly coupled with fear of the unknown. It is often evidenced by people who despite their unhappiness with their situation experience resistance to exploring opportunities for change. This resistance to change often leads to missed opportunities for advancement.

• Dependencies or Co-dependencies – Perceptions of dependencies and co-dependencies come in many forms. The result, however, is mostly the erroneous belief that our happiness and success is dependent on certain people, actions or circumstances outside of our control.

• Blaming Others for Missed Opportunities – We’ve all experienced instances where we thought other people stood in the way of our success. If these experiences turn into core beliefs that we carry with us, consciously or unconsciously, we not only create excuses for not progressing, but also obstacles to recognize ways to work around them and achieve our goals.

• Negative Expectations – The are multiple roots causing attitudes of negative expectations. Negative expectations in life tend to create self fulfilling prophesies. If our mindset reflects an attitude of “I can’t possibly do or achieve that”, chances are that these predictions will become a reality. People with generally negative expectations often feel that life is a constant struggle and the next negative event is just around the corner. Imagine an athlete going into the Olympic games thinking “I’m can’t possibly win”, or a CEO of a company thinking “I don’t believe we’ll ever succeed here”. Releasing negative expectations is key to any form of success you may want to achieve.

• I-don’t-deserve Attitudes – I-don’t-deserve attitudes are often deeply rooted beliefs connected with beliefs of inferiority. Because we unconsciously believe that we don’t deserve to strive for or achieve certain things, we either “go into the game” with low expectations for success, or often don’t even try. The result is often that we simply miss out.

• Being a Victim of Circumstances – Victims of circumstances tend to accept unhappiness, mediocrity or failure as part of their destiny. Victims of circumstances often feel helpless, they think cannot or don’t know how to do or achieve certain things. They often miss to realize that they have the power to change their circumstances. Therefore, they don’t empower themselves to take control in shaping their circumstances according to their wishes.

• Procrastination and Passivity – Positive change always requires an orientation toward action. The best objectives and plans don’t mean much if there’s lack of action and follow-through. And yet, one of the top reasons most people don’t progress or fail to achieve their goals is because they don’t follow through.

• Earning Approval or Love of Others – Cognitive patterns reflecting the necessity to earn the approval or love of other people can create serious limitations on many fronts. These attitudes divert our thoughts, behaviors and actions from our own individual needs and goals to doing to what’s good for someone else. We can be supportive and helpful to others while staying true to ourselves.

• Rational Excuses for Irrational Behavior – Rational excuses for irrational behavior come to light when we find “good reasons” for why certain things can’t be done, or why we do things that shouldn’t be done. Excuses, even if packaged in rational sounding reasons, can’t hide the fact that we’re still looking at excuses. As long as we believe these “good excuses” positive change cannot be initiated.

Do any of the above patterns sound familiar to you? If you’re like most people, chances are that at least some of the above “success blockers” are currently preventing you from advancing. Make a conscious effort to address them.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”, Wayne Dyer

To learn more go to http://www.inspirized.com/ – The Power of Positive Thinking

For those who experience the day-to-day effects of low self Confidence it is a very real and troubling issue. The fact is that it dramatically reduces your chances for success in life due to its far reaching consequences. No matter how badly you may want something, a lack of self confidence will always work against you and undermine your efforts.

Low self confidence manifests itself in thought patterns and behaviors that continue to make you feel under-valued and unappreciated. It is a far more common issue than most people would like to admit.

Recent research findings reveal the clear cognitive and behavioral differences between people with a healthy level of self confidence and those with lower levels. The following a just a few examples:

People with healthy levels of self confidence tend to

- feel good about who they are and their value to society
- don’t let their actions be dependent on other people’s opinion or approval
- think they deserve to be treated with respect
- feel they’re in charge of their own destiny
- believe in their future and have positive expectations
- seek and enjoy the company of others

People with lower levels of self confidence tend to
- feel unappreciated or not respected by others
- criticize themselves or others
- question or not trust their own judgments and decisions
- feel inadequate, different or disconnected from others
- take actions to earn the love or approval from others
- be reluctant to change / taking on new challenges

While the reasons for people to develop low self confidence vary, its effects can be traced back to our thought patterns, i.e. the way we think of and view ourselves relative to our social environment.

Therefore, it is important that we not only become aware of the way we think of ourselves but also that we consciously and actively take steps to change the beliefs that cause low self confidence. These are predominantly beliefs that in some way or other make us think that we’re “not good enough”. Ask yourself the following questions:

- What are the areas where you think you’re not “good enough”?
- Is it really necessary to be “good enough” in these areas?
- Are you trying to be “good enough” for yourself or someone else?
- What would “good enough” look like?

Once you’ve identified what the ideal state looks like, write it down in the in the first person presence tense. Here are a few examples:

- I see myself as a radiant being, filled with energy, creativity and purpose
- I choose to surround myself with people who are kind, supportive and appreciate me for the great person I am
- Other people’s thoughts about me or my abilities do not affect me.
- I am comfortable with who I am and have no need to earn the love or approval from other people.

While changing cognitive and behavioral patterns requires a more targeted effort with adults than with children, it is possible.

There are several techniques that can help you change your thought patterns. Some of the ones you may want to consider include positive affirmations, self talk, autosuggestion, visualization and self hypnosis.

“As is our confidence, so is our capacity”, William Hazlitt

Go to http://www.inspirized.com/ to learn more about how to obtain Great Self Confidence