In a previous post I talked about remembering to practice auto-suggestion (click here to read that post).
To me this, is the key. But you may find that before you get to the point where you are practicing your affirmations every day, you need to be convinced that its worth doing it in the first place.
This is where I urge you to follow Napoleon Hill's advice. Read out the chapter on auto-suggestion, OUT LOUD, once a day. Napoleon Hill says to keep doing it till you're convinced, but I think, just do it for 2 weeks to begin with. If you make it open-ended, it will seem like too much of a commitment, and your mind will not want to persist. If you know its only for 2 weeks, then that makes it easier to commit.
Set it up, so that you give yourself a reward for doing the 2 week reading. Make sure its a good reward too, something that will motivate you. And most important of all, be prepared to deprive yourself of the reward if you dont achieve your goal. I know lots of people, who give themselves the reward whether they achieve their goal or not. Obviously, if you get the reward either way, theres no motivation to do the task.
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Incremental Affirmations
In place of fears, today, I want to talk a bit about incremental affirmations.
Most people have heard of affirmations. Its the repeating of a statement to yourself with the intention of changing a belief.
The theory behind affirmations is that we all "self-talk". That is, we are all talking to ourselves every second of every day that we are awake. Some of these things are good, like "I can really do this" and some of these things are bad, such as "This is never going to work out. I am not capable of this". Furthermore, repeated self-talk can actually influence the way you think about yourself, your beliefs, and eventually your behaviour. Affirmations are a way of replacing your random, misdirected self talk with deliberate statements designed to replace existing beliefs.
All of the books that I have read about affirmations talk about making statements that reflect the new desire. For instance:
If you wanted to earn $100,000 a year, but didnt feel it was possible, your normal self-talk would be "I can't do this. I'm not good enough. No one will pay me that much" etc.
To use affirmations you would replace this with a statement about how you will earn the money. e.g "I will earn $100,000 a year".
Some people even suggest making the statement as if you already earned $100,000 a year.
Now, I'm sure that affirmations work, because they are used by so many people with great success. But for me, the whole idea of telling myself something that I really dont believe, prompts a "whatever" response from my mind. An affirmation of earning $100,000 a year, when you are only earning $25,000, seems too extreme, too out of reach to be effective. Even for someone earning $75,000 a year, they may feel that $100,000 is out of reach.
The main solution provided to this situation is for people to scale down their aim. e.g. aim to earn $40,000 a year. This is certainly one way of doing it, but a smaller target, does not fire up the desire in the same way a big target does. And as Napoleon Hill says, desire is key.
But, sticking with a big target, if you feel it is truly out of your range, then contrary to what the books say, repeatedly stating something like that, does not eventually replace doubt with belief. For me, I continue to feel that it is too unrealistic to be credible.
And thats when I came up with the idea of the Incremental Affirmation. Keep the big target, but vary the certainty with which you feel you can achieve it. You dont have to beleive it will happen to begin with. Thats too much for your mind to cope with. But if you were to say to your mind it is possible, that it could happen, then the mind reacts to this better. "yes, it is possible, after all, anything's possible". And thats exactly the attitude to take. Anything is possible. It is remotely possible that a person earning $25,000 a year, can earn $100,000 a year, within 12 months. Its not likely, but it is possible. And thats all that matters. If you convince your mind that it is possible that somewhere it could happen, you have taken the first step. Then if you can convince yourself, that it is possible it could happen to you (Anything's possible), you have taken the next step. The next step after this is convincing yourself, that on the back of the remote possibility that you could earn $100,000 a year, it is possible for you to do things that increase the possiblity of it happening (getting more training, networking etc). Remember, each step is much easier, if you truly believe the preceding step. And honestly you havent said anything that is completely whacky or impossible. It is possible that anybody could earn $100,000 a year, and it is true, that they can do things that increase the chance of this occurring. Once you believe this, you can start ramping it up, by increasing the certainty with which you think this will happen, until it becomes absolute fact. And all this while you are doing the things that increase the chance of it happening (don't forget that!). By taking it in small steps, you have "tricked" your mind into believing something that it would never have believed if given to it in its final form.
Here is an example of the steps used in achieveing belief that you can earn $100,000 a year. (or $1 million a year if you want)
1 "It is possible that someone, somewhere has increased their income to $100,000 a year"
2. "It is possible, (its happened to others, so it can happen to me)that my income can be increased to $100,000 a year"
3. It is possible for me to increase my income to $100,000 a year (Note the shift from passive to active. First the increase was happening to you, now you are making it happen)
4. If it is possible for me to increase my income, then it stands true that "I can earn $100,000 a year"
4. "I will earn $100,000 a year" (An increase in certainty)
5. "I earn $100,000 a year by January 1st 2009" (The positive tense increases the urgecy, and the certainty)
I have to emphasise again, that I dont think affirmations by themselves will achieve your goal. Despite claims to the contrary, I dont think positive thinking alone will guarantee success. Of course believing that you can achieve something is a prerequisite to achievement, but this has to be backed up by action. And to get back to Napoleon Hill, the action should be based on sound plans. Action is essential.
If you have tried affirmations before, and found the "yeah right, whatever" phenomenon was a problem, try it again using Incremental Affirmations. But, remember, that you need to be patient. Affirmations, even incremental ones, take time. And you need to be able to practice them every day. If this is a problem use my 10 tips to help you remember to practice autosuggestion from an earlier post. Click here to read that post.
Most people have heard of affirmations. Its the repeating of a statement to yourself with the intention of changing a belief.
The theory behind affirmations is that we all "self-talk". That is, we are all talking to ourselves every second of every day that we are awake. Some of these things are good, like "I can really do this" and some of these things are bad, such as "This is never going to work out. I am not capable of this". Furthermore, repeated self-talk can actually influence the way you think about yourself, your beliefs, and eventually your behaviour. Affirmations are a way of replacing your random, misdirected self talk with deliberate statements designed to replace existing beliefs.
All of the books that I have read about affirmations talk about making statements that reflect the new desire. For instance:
If you wanted to earn $100,000 a year, but didnt feel it was possible, your normal self-talk would be "I can't do this. I'm not good enough. No one will pay me that much" etc.
To use affirmations you would replace this with a statement about how you will earn the money. e.g "I will earn $100,000 a year".
Some people even suggest making the statement as if you already earned $100,000 a year.
Now, I'm sure that affirmations work, because they are used by so many people with great success. But for me, the whole idea of telling myself something that I really dont believe, prompts a "whatever" response from my mind. An affirmation of earning $100,000 a year, when you are only earning $25,000, seems too extreme, too out of reach to be effective. Even for someone earning $75,000 a year, they may feel that $100,000 is out of reach.
The main solution provided to this situation is for people to scale down their aim. e.g. aim to earn $40,000 a year. This is certainly one way of doing it, but a smaller target, does not fire up the desire in the same way a big target does. And as Napoleon Hill says, desire is key.
But, sticking with a big target, if you feel it is truly out of your range, then contrary to what the books say, repeatedly stating something like that, does not eventually replace doubt with belief. For me, I continue to feel that it is too unrealistic to be credible.
And thats when I came up with the idea of the Incremental Affirmation. Keep the big target, but vary the certainty with which you feel you can achieve it. You dont have to beleive it will happen to begin with. Thats too much for your mind to cope with. But if you were to say to your mind it is possible, that it could happen, then the mind reacts to this better. "yes, it is possible, after all, anything's possible". And thats exactly the attitude to take. Anything is possible. It is remotely possible that a person earning $25,000 a year, can earn $100,000 a year, within 12 months. Its not likely, but it is possible. And thats all that matters. If you convince your mind that it is possible that somewhere it could happen, you have taken the first step. Then if you can convince yourself, that it is possible it could happen to you (Anything's possible), you have taken the next step. The next step after this is convincing yourself, that on the back of the remote possibility that you could earn $100,000 a year, it is possible for you to do things that increase the possiblity of it happening (getting more training, networking etc). Remember, each step is much easier, if you truly believe the preceding step. And honestly you havent said anything that is completely whacky or impossible. It is possible that anybody could earn $100,000 a year, and it is true, that they can do things that increase the chance of this occurring. Once you believe this, you can start ramping it up, by increasing the certainty with which you think this will happen, until it becomes absolute fact. And all this while you are doing the things that increase the chance of it happening (don't forget that!). By taking it in small steps, you have "tricked" your mind into believing something that it would never have believed if given to it in its final form.
Here is an example of the steps used in achieveing belief that you can earn $100,000 a year. (or $1 million a year if you want)
1 "It is possible that someone, somewhere has increased their income to $100,000 a year"
2. "It is possible, (its happened to others, so it can happen to me)that my income can be increased to $100,000 a year"
3. It is possible for me to increase my income to $100,000 a year (Note the shift from passive to active. First the increase was happening to you, now you are making it happen)
4. If it is possible for me to increase my income, then it stands true that "I can earn $100,000 a year"
4. "I will earn $100,000 a year" (An increase in certainty)
5. "I earn $100,000 a year by January 1st 2009" (The positive tense increases the urgecy, and the certainty)
I have to emphasise again, that I dont think affirmations by themselves will achieve your goal. Despite claims to the contrary, I dont think positive thinking alone will guarantee success. Of course believing that you can achieve something is a prerequisite to achievement, but this has to be backed up by action. And to get back to Napoleon Hill, the action should be based on sound plans. Action is essential.
If you have tried affirmations before, and found the "yeah right, whatever" phenomenon was a problem, try it again using Incremental Affirmations. But, remember, that you need to be patient. Affirmations, even incremental ones, take time. And you need to be able to practice them every day. If this is a problem use my 10 tips to help you remember to practice autosuggestion from an earlier post. Click here to read that post.
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Subconscious Mind
The true test of a book like TAGR is how well it can be applied to your daily life. One of the keys to this book, forming the "keystone to the arch" of this philosophy of success, is the daily practice of auto-suggestion. That is, saying over and over again, a personal statement of intent for achieving your major definite purpose. Following this practice is crucial to realising your goals. And yet, most people I have spoken to who have read this book, have not done this. As Napoleon Hill himself says in the book, most people will read this, nod their heads in agreement at the concepts expressed, and then go about their lives as usual.
Make no mistake, it takes an extraordinary kind of person, to read this book, and then faithfully apply the suggestions. But, if the book is useless without doing this, then what's the point of reading it in the first place?
As hard as it is, you have to find it in yourself to make an effort and follow the instructions given in the chapter on autosuggestion. If you aren't going to do this, then put the book away right now, because its not going to help you.
In my next post, I want to share some ideas about how to maximise the chance that you will follow through on doing this every day.
Make no mistake, it takes an extraordinary kind of person, to read this book, and then faithfully apply the suggestions. But, if the book is useless without doing this, then what's the point of reading it in the first place?
As hard as it is, you have to find it in yourself to make an effort and follow the instructions given in the chapter on autosuggestion. If you aren't going to do this, then put the book away right now, because its not going to help you.
In my next post, I want to share some ideas about how to maximise the chance that you will follow through on doing this every day.
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Sex Transmutation
This chapter is an interesting one. The first time reader of this book, may find the name of the chapter a little intriguing, but soon finds that rather than providing any steamy content, Napoleon Hill tells the reader that the key to success is channeling the sex drive into your burning desire to achieve your major definite purpose.
The section that talks about Dr Elmer Gates is fascinating for the fact that someone could earn a lucrative salary "sitting for ideas". This feeds into the idea of practising solitude. This means, sitting still for a set amount of time each day, with no distractions like TV, radio or other people, and allowing your thoughts to flow. Most people find this extremely unsettling and unpleasant to begin with, but once you get over the initial discomfort, you will find that your mind settles. Depending on where your thoughts take you, and depending on how much you wish to direct it, you may find yourself experiencing new insights into problems that had been troubling you previously.
There are different recommendations on how much time is needed to practice solitude. Some people suggest an hour a day. I think this is almost uniformly too much for the average person to handle, and will end up putting people off the whole idea of it. Instead, start slow. Try half an hour during the weekend. You may find having a pen and a notebook to jot down some thoughts may help you focus, and be useful to capture ideas that you have.
The section that talks about Dr Elmer Gates is fascinating for the fact that someone could earn a lucrative salary "sitting for ideas". This feeds into the idea of practising solitude. This means, sitting still for a set amount of time each day, with no distractions like TV, radio or other people, and allowing your thoughts to flow. Most people find this extremely unsettling and unpleasant to begin with, but once you get over the initial discomfort, you will find that your mind settles. Depending on where your thoughts take you, and depending on how much you wish to direct it, you may find yourself experiencing new insights into problems that had been troubling you previously.
There are different recommendations on how much time is needed to practice solitude. Some people suggest an hour a day. I think this is almost uniformly too much for the average person to handle, and will end up putting people off the whole idea of it. Instead, start slow. Try half an hour during the weekend. You may find having a pen and a notebook to jot down some thoughts may help you focus, and be useful to capture ideas that you have.
Friday, 17 August 2007
Organized Planning
"Your achievement can be no greater than your PLANS are sound."
I love this statement. Its so true. And it follows from this, that:
"Temporary defeat should mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan."
It is fascinating to strip away all the emotions and stigma of "failure" and reduce it down to that one statement.
Because there is no such thing as failure, if you keep going. Persistence turns "failure" into temporary defeat.
And there is no need to let failure become an indictment of your entire personality, which some people let it become. It just means that your plans are not quite right. If your plans don't work the first time, change them, and try again. If it doesn't work this time, change them again, and keep trying.
I love this statement. Its so true. And it follows from this, that:
"Temporary defeat should mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan."
It is fascinating to strip away all the emotions and stigma of "failure" and reduce it down to that one statement.
Because there is no such thing as failure, if you keep going. Persistence turns "failure" into temporary defeat.
And there is no need to let failure become an indictment of your entire personality, which some people let it become. It just means that your plans are not quite right. If your plans don't work the first time, change them, and try again. If it doesn't work this time, change them again, and keep trying.
Thursday, 9 August 2007
The TAGR Blog
Welcome to the TAGR Blog. What does TAGR stand for? TAGR is "Think and Grow Rich", the grand-daddy of all self-development books. But of course you knew that, or you wouldn't be here.
My intention in writing this blog was to share my thoughts on this classic book on an ongoing basis, and invite others to do the same thing.
I will be aiming to write one post every two days and invite guest writes to contributors posts describing their thoughts and experiences with TAGR.
My intention in writing this blog was to share my thoughts on this classic book on an ongoing basis, and invite others to do the same thing.
I will be aiming to write one post every two days and invite guest writes to contributors posts describing their thoughts and experiences with TAGR.
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