10 Tips To Help You To Remember To Practise Auto-suggestion

I wanted to use the post today, to talk about ways to maximise the chance that you will remember to do auto-suggestion every day.

The key to remembering a new action is to incorporate it into your daily routine. It needs to become a habit. It has been said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. In my experience, the actual number varies quite significantly based on the type of activity (as you would expect), but is a rough guide. During those first few weeks, you need to make it as easy as possible to remember to perform the activity. Here are some suggestions to help make this happen:

1. Based on your own schedule, pick a time of day, that you think will suit you. Napoleon Hill (and others since him) recommends first thing in the morning or last thing at night. I think these are the times you are most likely going to be able to focus, and not be distracted by other things. But this isnt a hard and fast rule, and if you find that another time suits your schedule better, then do that. Its better to do it at a time that suits you, than try for the ideal and not do it at all.

2. You may need to pick different times for the weekends. Again, this isn't ideal, but its better you accept this, than aim for the ideal, and not get it done at all. A lot of people find weekends so fluid, that its difficult to fit in a structured activity like autosuggestion, and it sometimes gets forgotten.

3. Set an alarm on your cellphone / PDA / Blackberry for a specific time each day to remind you to do auto-suggestion

4. Tell someone else about what you have to do. Even better get them to do it with you. Often its hard to tell people about these activities, since many people are sceptical about anything to do with the mind. An added problem for people who are keen on self-development, is that this is often not the first time they have attempted something like auto-suggestion, and it may provoke a "Not again!" response from friends and loved ones. If you think this is the case and that it will affect your efforts, don't share it, or dont make a big deal about it. If you can, find someone else who does identify, and tell them. A public commitment can sometimes increase the chances of follow through.

5. In the first few weeks, post reminders everywhere. A note on the bathroom mirror, on the fridge, on the steering wheel of your car. Make it impossible to forget about this. Of course, notes have a fixed life in terms of reminding you to do something. After as little as a week, the notes become 'part of the furniture' and they will stop standing out to you. Once this happens it doesnt mean you stop using reminder notes, it just means you need to move them elsewhere.

6. Make rewards based on whether you remember to do auto-suggestion or not. This works well if you have the discipline to deprive yourself of a reward if you dont do it. An example could be, saying, if you remember to do auto-suggestion tomorrow and the day after, you can see a movie the next day. Or watch a favourite programme on TV. Any reward that you have control over, and can withhold, will work. In my experience, the use of rewards is great, but takes some time to get used to. You may need to start small at first: e.g. If I read this page, I can get a bite of this cookie etc.

7. Make the goal short term, to begin with. People get overwhelmed if they think they have to do something forever. If you tell yourself, you only need to do this for 3 weeks, it will be much easier to organise yourself around this.

8. Tell your kids to remind you and that they will get a reward if they do. This is almost failsafe!

9. Place the auto-suggestion statement where it is easy to access. Keep copies in different places. Reduce the amount of effort needed to get it done.

10. Have realistic expectations. "Why isn't anything happening yet?" has killed off more attempts at autosuggestion than anything else. Be patient. You have to be very patient. Results will not just occur immediately. It takes time. Napoleon Hill talks about faith. Thats whats needed with a new habit like this. The faith to keep trying it, even though you cant see any immediate results. That is counter to everything our culture and society tells us (If it doesnt work immediately, then its not working), but if you think back through your life, has any worthwhile achievement come easily? It all requres work, and commitment, and ongoing action. Auto-suggestion is no different.