Attitude Training, Part 6 – Tints and Filters

Have you ever put on a pair of sunglasses that were any color other than the typical shade of black or brown? I mean like those that have a very light blue tint to them. Perhaps even those that are meant to be used on a shooting range that are bright yellow?

As I was giving a keynote a few months back, I pulled out a pair of those bright yellow tinted sunglasses. I had purchased them at a local indoor shooting range. I was talking about different filters that we view life and the world through.

I had a guy in the audience come up to the platform and put them on. Once I got him in place, I then pulled out a pair of very light blue glasses that I used to wear when riding my Harley. I brought another man up and had him to put those glasses on.

To have a little fun, I got them to convince us of how they saw the world through their specific lenses. As you can imagine, each one saw it very differently. It got pretty funny as they carried the enactment so far as to pretend to get into a fight over whether the world had a yellow tint to it or whether it had a blue tint to it.

My point was well taken.

Your experience of life has determined your ‘tint’ of how you see things. Negative experiences seem to have a more lasting ‘tint’ than positive experiences.

Most people, for whatever reason, believe that once they become an adult, they should know how to do everything in life perfectly. Perhaps it is because our ‘formal’ education has ended. In fact, we celebrate the ending of our ‘formal’ education with what is known as a commencement exercise. To commence means to ‘begin’.

We are ‘commencing’ to go and begin our lives as an adult. It is the signaling that we are to go find a career, get a job and start being responsible for our lives. However, as we walk across the stage to receive our diplomas, whether it is high school or college, there should be a flashing neon sign at the bottom of the stairs that says, ‘NEVER QUIT LEARNING. YOUR LIFE EDUCATION HAS JUST BEGUN’.

Because of this false sense that we should know how to do everything in life perfectly, we never realize that our ‘tint’ of past experiences still determines how we see the world and how we see our lives.

I talk about Suzanne in my first book, Powerful Attitudes. Suzanne had several tumultuous relationships with men for much of her life. It wasn’t until she was in counseling with me that she ever came close to any kind of breakthrough to understanding why.

As you can imagine, Suzanne had a very bad relationship with her father. Her ‘tint’ of her lens that she saw the world through was ‘colored’ by this relationship with her father. She even had the epiphany that her father was still controlling her life even though he had died some years before. She didn’t hear voices from dead people or see apparitions of ghosts. However, her subconscious mind had been ‘tinted’ by her father’s views which affected how she lived her life.

Suzanne’s breakthrough came when she finally realized and admitted, ‘I’m letting a man who is dead control my life. How weird is that?’

Past experiences ‘tint’ how we see the world, other people and how we view ourselves. Opportunities, deservability, capabilities, perceived competence, etc. are all affected by the tint that has been developed as a result of experiences.

Recognize today that you likely have a certain ‘tint’ in how you perceive the world. Also recognize that not everyone else is seeing things the same way the you are. We have millions of different ’shades’ of how we see our lives. Identify your own.

Then decide if your tint is serving you in a positive way or a negative way. If it is serving you in a positive way, then keep using. If not, then it is time to make a conscious decision to change it.

I’ve found that most people have looked through the same tint so long that it is difficult to see anything else. However, you can change how you see the world that is serving you in a way that is bringing more of what you want in your life and less of what you don’t want.

Lastly, realize that your ‘tint’ determines much of your attitude about life. Start waking up to your perception of the world and start making whatever changes are necessary to get you more of what you desire for your life.

http://www.positiveattitudes.com
http://www.powerfirmations.com

Attitude Training, Part 5

Can you imagine a gnat on the backside
(as Forrest Gump called it, ‘Ma buttocks!’)
of an elephant? I mean a gnat can
certainly be annoying if it is flying around
you head. Especially in your face. But,
as you can imagine, it is little consequence
on an elephant’s ‘buttocks’.

Have you ever been walking down the
street and a little tiny dog charge at you
like it was a police dog chasing down a
thief (like you’ve seen on those cop shows
on television)? I mean if it is a little
chihuahua, you might at first be startled
but then you realize that it couldn’t hurt
a fly?

Part of the aspects of a powerful attitude
for success is what I call, ‘Success Armor’.
Let me explain.

Invariably in your life, you will experience
rainy days. Likewise, you will also experience
someone who doesn’t like you. For reasons
you could never dream of, they just don’t
care for you. And then sometimes, for
‘no reason at all’ you cross the path of people
like that.

Another huge caution sign, blinking your
face, that I should share with you is,
the more success you experience, the
bigger target you become. When you
experience success, money or fame,
you set yourself up as a target for people
who are frustrated with they own lack.

Like the next conflict to arise in Congress,
you can count on it. You can also count on
it not being too far away from happening.

So WHEN this happens, what do you do?

I love the books and teachings of a fellow
Texan, Jerry Clark. Jerry teaches a concept
called, ‘Rhino Success’. Like a rhinoceros
charging through the jungle, you can live
your life undaunted by those who don’t
understand what you’re about.

Part of your powerful attitude for
success, must be that you have a
plan in order to deal with opposition
from other people. In fact, as a
side note here, the difference between
reacting and responding is having a
plan.

First, be completely aware that unwarranted
challenges will present themselves to you
through other people. Its going to happen.

Second, realize that those who might be
jealous and/or envious of you are in
fact dealing with themselves, not you.

I know that it is difficult to see this
sometimes, but this is in fact what
they are doing.

They are seeking a feeling. They are
attempting to ’scratch an itch’ deep
within their mind and emotions. You can
rest assured that they have no clue as to
what they are doing. They truly believe
that their job in life is ’set you straight’
or get you fixed.

Dr. Wayne Dyer has an amazing attitude
when it comes to people attacking him.
Dr. Dyer says, “What you think about me
is none of my business”.

Dr. Dyer goes on to teach that, ‘we don’t
see others as THEY are; we see others as
WE are’.

Like the chihuahua, they are really harmless
in their verbal attacks or schemes that
they enact against you. In rare situations
a person like this can attempt something
extreme that definitely needs to be dealt with.

However, much of the time, whatever they
do can do no more than hurt your feelings
(unless you’ve prepared yourself for such).

Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor, had,
some of the greatest and wisest perspectives
of living that I’ve ever witnessed.

He said that people who act unbecoming need
not be opposed (except in the extreme situations
that I mentioned earlier). He said their suffering
for being that way is already enough punishment.
I interpret that to be that they are already suffering
due to their own lack of self-esteem, confidence or
success.

Prepare yourself for just such personal attacks.

Deal with such attacks, in your own heart and
mind, with wisdom and understanding.

Recognize that ultimately the attack likely has
little consequence other than hurting your feelings.

Decide today that you are going to build a
rhino-like success armor for staying focus even when
attacked, challenged or criticized.

 

When you are ready to engage your personal, success
power at warp speed, go to http://www.powerfirmations.com

Attitude Training, Part 4

So how does a tall, skinny kid who was an
emotional misfit turn his life around and
begin to live his dreams?

Coach McCord asked me that question. He
had a long history as a teacher who helped
to fashion the character and feed the knowledge
of seventh and eighth grade kids in the small
Northeast Texas town where I grew up.

I ran into ‘Coach’ and his wife recently at a
local restaurant in my hometown (she happened
to be my first grade teacher and back then,
I had this amazing crush on her; glad ‘Coach’
never knew my secret).

‘Coach’ was the first person to ever acknowledge
my value as a human being.

During the eighth grade year, after one of the
very grueling football practices of the very
hot and sweltering days of early September,
‘Coach’ had us doing sprints due to some of the bad
behavior of 2-3 players on the team.

After nearly dying in the Texas heat and sultry
humidity, I sat in the locker room attempting to
catch my breath. Being the 14 year old ‘genius’
that I was, I boldly declared to my other team
mates that, ‘I don’t think its fair that all of us
are punished because of the stupidity of just
a few.’

Little did I realize, ‘Coach’ was standing right
behind me. He quickly said, ‘Murphy, I need to
see you in my office.’ Ah carramba! I was in
trouble.

‘Coach’ kept it short and to the point. He simply
said, ‘Murphy, if you don’t like the way I run this
team, then quit! Now, get out of my sight.’

Well, I wasn’t about to quit. So I decided to
adjust my attitude.

At the end of the season, when ‘Coach’ was
handing out the awards for certain accomplishments,
‘Coach’ said, ‘I have one award for one player who is
without doubt the most improved player on this team
this season. I’m giving this award to Michael Murphy.’

I had never been acknowledged for any accomplishment
up until that moment in my life. I didn’t know what
incredible pride and deep emotion I would feel when
given that kind of public recognition and encouragement.

When I saw ‘Coach’ eating lunch recently, he gave me
the biggest hug and let know again how proud he was of
me now as a 48 year old man. He had bought and read
my books.

I could see in his eyes a question that he had a question
but didn’t want to ask. So, discerning what he was asking
with his eyes, I rightfully finished what needed to be
said that day. I told him that he played a large part in
everything that I’ve accomplished in my life. Those
words garnered another hug from ‘Coach’ and his
wife.

My friend, never underestimate the power of encouragement.
I believe that the thinking when I was a child was
predominantly, ‘Don’t brag on them too much; you’ll give
them a big head and ruin them’. Well, nothing could
have been further from reality.

I recently read about the most expensive car on the
market today. It is likely the Bugatti Veyron. At
1,001 horsepower it has a zero-to-60 time of under
three seconds. It sells for around $1.2 million. (To
give you some perspective, you could buy 6 Lamborghini
Gallardos for the same amount of money.)

They produce so few of them, their waiting list can be
quite long and it could be 3-5 years for those who can
afford one.

One of the biggest secrets in producing such a fast
car is the turbo-charged nature of the engine. Simply
put, there are four turbo chargers pushing enough air
which in turn forces massive amounts of fuel into the
engine.

Likewise, you can propel a tall, skinny, low self-
esteem teenager into being, doing and having things
‘he’ would have never imagined for his life
with encouraging and empowering words
(breath or air). Think about it.

Your belief system is established by the
words you’ve allowed to set up resident in
your subconscious mind. Your belief system
will produce the actions you take in your life.
Your actions will always determine your
results and what you get out of life.

So, how do you turn a tall, skinny, low self-
esteemed teenager into an author of some
renown and a soul that positively affects
tens of thousands of people around the world?

You do it by feeding him the right words. By
breathing the right air into him. You
do it by him choosing to focus on the right
thoughts. You do it by setting verbal milestones
of empowerment and encouragement in his
life.

Like the little engine that could which I mentioned
in my last article, he repeats what he believes
about himself until what he believes becomes
his reality.

Consider doing a couple of things.

First, consider encouraging someone today.

It may or may not be a teenager. But do it for
someone and do it today.

Second, if you have no one to force or even give
‘turbo charged’ encouragement to you, then choose
to empower yourself. The greatest voice that will
determine your future in your life is your own.

Start saying, thinking and meditating on things that
will empower you. Start training your subconscious
mind to deliver success into your reality of life.

When you want to sky rocket your success and go
at life with an unstoppable passion, go to
http://www.powerfirmations.com and allow yoursef
to be amazed.

http://www.powerfirmations.com

Attitude Training, Part 3

Attitude Training, Part 3

When you adopt the attitude of choosing to
let go of negative events, people and emotions
from the past, you are actually making room
for more positive and beneficial events, people
and emotions to fill your life.

Out with the old and in with the new. The hinge
on which the door to your better future is the
amazing power of choice. And the choices
that you available to you are based solely on
your perspective.

On the now world famous DVD, ‘The Secret’,
the great Bob Proctor begins by stating that,
‘you can have anything you want’. Many people
will take issue with Bob and go on to attempt to
prove that their choices are limited.

I recently was called upon as a character witness
in a wrongful death, malpractice lawsuit against
a trauma surgeon. When the plaintiff’s attorney
called, he asked when I would be available for
depositions. We set up a time where he and the
doctor’s attorney would ask me questions.

As I sat there giving the depositions and later
while testifying on the witness stand, I was
very aware of how people acquire the mindsets
and attitudes that they own. They take depositions.

They serve as prosecuting, accusing and even
defense witnesses for their own experience of life.

Our attitude is based on how what think. It is consists
on what we choose to focus upon and what filters
we look through. Those filters and focus are established
by what we expose our mind to through words.

Do you remember ‘The Little Engine Who Could’? It
was a popular book when I was a child. Though we
didn’t have a lot of material possessions, we do own
one of these books.

The little engine couldn’t climb the hill until it started
saying that it could. In the example of the depositions,
the little engine was giving witness to build its case
for what it was able to do. It was giving testimony to
prove a case.

The late great Henry Ford said, ‘If you think that you
can do a certain thing or if you believe that you can’t,
either way, you are right.’ Belief is established by
what you hear. Give testimony that says that you
can’t do whatever you choose and you will prove
your case. Give testimony that you can and you
will also prove your case.

You can choose your attitude today. You have within
you an amazing power to think whatever you want to
think.

The stubborn and defiant little boy is standing up in
the classroom while all the other students are seated.
The teacher says to him, ‘You must sit down’. He
refuses and tells her emphatically, ‘No!’

Again, she tells him to take his seat. He again refuses.

Finally, she tells him that if he doesn’t sit down then
she would take him to the principals office and
he would be a ‘big trouble’.

Finally he relents and plops down in his seat.

Another little boy sitting nearby laughs at him.
The defiant little boy says to all those around
him, “I might be sitting down on the outside;
but on the inside, I’m still standing up”.

Your attitude is an ‘inside job’. You choose what
you focus on. You choose your internal language.
You choose the good or the bad. You choose the
empowering or the disempowering. You choose
to believe in your abilities and your outcomes
in life. Or you choose to complacently allow
your attitude to default to the negative.

Make your choice today to start choosing to
focus on the outcomes in life you want. Like the
the little engine, you will find that life will be
much more rewarding, satisfying and adventurous
when you do.

For the most amazing book you’ll ever hold in your hands
go to http://www.powerfirmatons.com.

Attitude Training, Part 2

Attitude Training, Part 2

If you’ve ever been to the Royal Gorge and crossed
the suspension bridge, you either got over any fear
of heights that you have or you got off the bridge.

Just outside of Canon City, Colorado, with a width
of 50 feet at its base and a few hundred feet at its
top, and a depth of 1200 feet in some places, the
Arkansas River has created a true wonder.

While crossing it, the greatest temptation is to at
least take a small rock and drop it over the side.

The depth is so great, you actually never see it hit
the river below.

Part of our adopted attitude in life must be one of
‘letting go’. I like to say that your personal attitude
must be both adopted and adapted to your perpetual
thinking. It must become an automatic response to
the way that you filter life.

Our tour guide at the great crevasse there in
the beautiful natural surroundings in Southern
Colorado told us not to drop any object off of
the bridge as walked across. If his instruction
was not enough, there are over a dozen sign
posted on the railing on both sides.

One family had 3 very high ’spirited’ kids. The
temptation appeared to be far too great for these
children. I observed them dropping small pebbles
through the cracks of the wooden planks of the
bridge.

One of the greatest temptations that we all face
in life is hang on to past hurts, residual pain and
grudges of things that have no longer any direct
effect on our lives.

We hold on to memories where we feel as if were
have been wronged with an almost sacred adoration.

Sadly we allow such hurts to not happen just
once, but by the constant mental review and
rehearsal of damaging emotions. We live those
single occurrences over and over until they
become deeply embedded in our subconscious.

One of the most dynamic exercises in releasing
past hurts is to visualize your deliverance from
the event. I want to share with you a technique
that many have used to release their thoughts
and emotions from the lingering unresolved
anguish from such emotions.

Let’s travel back for just a moment to the
Royal Gorge. Imagine a rather large rock
14-18 inches in diameter, weighing 40-50 lbs.

Visualize yourself standing at the very center
of the suspension bridge. You look down
and the Arkansas River looks no wider
than a few centimeters 1200 feet below.

See and feel yourself struggle to
carry this rock to the middle of the bridge.
You strain as you exert all of your energy
lifting that rock to the top of the guard rail.

Now, as you stand there resting the rock
on top of the guardrail, take a good long
look at the rock. Picture a symbol that
represents that event (a person’s
face, a specific location, even the emotion
itself) on the side of that rock. In fact, allow
yourself to imagine whatever you associate
with the pain that you’ve carried from the
hurt, to be thoroughly embedded in that
rock.

Once you allow yourself to feel the emotion
of the hurt, embedded in that rock, lift it
as high over your head as possible. Now,
with all the emotion that you can muster,
throw that rock into the deep gorge.

Step to the rail and watch it as it grows
ever smaller as it is cast down until it
is no longer visible. Notice how you feel
as it falls. Release. Freedom.

Now, take a very deep breath recognizing
that the pain of that event is now gone from
your life. Breathe very deeply. Allow a smile
to come across your face. Allow the emotion
of freedom to well up inside of your heart.

Friend, the residue of unresolved emotions
can hinder your from success in business,
in relationships, in your own clarity of
mind, in intellectual pursuits and in your own
spiritual quest. It can so cloud yourself to
attitudes and actions that will cause you
further pain.

Repeat this exercise as often you need to.

Choose to cast hurts, disappointments and
scars from the past to be cast out of your
life.

Stop reliving an event that happened
once. There is no law or written rule that
says you have to live with it forever.

Lastly, there certainly is no reward in
living with the past for the rest of your life.

The false sense that somehow that you
will eventually get satisfaction in harboring
unabated past hurts is an impostor that will
rob you of the happiness and success that
you deserve.

Cast it out of your life and free yourself
from it. It will brighten your perspective
of life and give you the freedom that you
truly long for.

Join an amazing worldwide community of quantum achievers
http://www.powerfirmations.com

Attitude Training

Less than a year ago, I found myself in beautiful Tampa, Florida.

I had received a call from a CEO there who expressed his need

for my help. He told me that morale in his company was far

below what it needed to be. He asked me to come in and train

his upper management in positive thinking.

 

I had other business in Tampa and didn’t see him until my third

day there. I walked into his office suite (and was it ever ’sweet’).

This man had started this company ‘with his own two hands’

(as he put it). He was very proud to say that he had ‘run this

company single-handedly for 32 years’.

 

He started in telling me how his management and employees

had a very bad attitude towards him, his company and his industry.

His sales staff was turning over every six months. His VP of sales

had been with him one year and he felt as if he was about to put in

his resignation.

 

To my horror, he offered me the job as his sales manager. I told

him ‘no thanks’ faster than a stroke of lightning in the middle of

a Texas thunderstorm. In fact, he hired me for a month at more

than the salary he was paying his sales manager on an annual basis.

 

He let me know that he could ‘probably double that for me’. This

poor man was clueless (and I’m about 1000% sure that he won’t

see this article here .

 

The first order of business was for him to pay my full fee upfront.

I knew that what I had to tell him might affect how good my

check would be if I waited until the end of my services with

him.

 

He put me up at very lovely resort 3 blocks from his office.

 

My first day (after making sure my check had cleared) he

sent someone to pick me up. We arrived at his office and

I promptly went into his office suite.

 

He had a list of all of his ‘troubled managers’. He wasn’t

wanting to fire any of them but he did want me to ‘fix’

their attitudes. I told him that we would be spending

our first week on ‘his’ outlook and philosophy of his

company.

 

As you can imagine, this poor guy had no clue that the

basic problem in his company, was him. Much to my

surprise, after getting over his shock that I would be so

direct in confronting his attitude, he agreed that he knew

that he had ‘allowed his managers and employees’

drag his attitude down as well. (Clueless again.)

 

Friend, everything starts and stops with leadership.

This man had a lot of pride. However, secretly I

think that he knew that the problem in his turnover,

financial loses, bitter disputes with customers and

almost all out war with his competitors are stemmed

from him.

 

I spent the first two weeks working with him and his

upper management. I spent one-on-one time with

each one of them (he had 12 in all). I ate lunch with

them, watched football games with them and even

drove a few of them on the golf course (I don’t play

golf; well I do but you wouldn’t want to see it. Its

not a pretty site.)

 

If everything rises and falls on leadership, then

leadership rises and falls on attitude.

 

I determined whether his 12 managers were really

sold out to the company of whether or not they were

irredeemable. I listened to their complaints, gripes

and general unhappiness. We identified why they

were still with the company and discovered their

future hopes for themselves and their employment

there.

 

You have an amazing power within your control

at this very moment. It is the power of choice. You

can choose to have an awesome attitude or you can

default into negativity. Let me be very direct.

 

Negativity leads to poverty. Positivity leads to

prosperity. For you. For your company. For your

employees.

 

The great motivator and author, Keith Harrell said

it best. ‘Attitude is Everything!’

 

We developed a training program that is still being

utilized in that company. We called it ‘attitude training’.

Along with all technical aspects of a business enterprise

‘attitude training’ will determine profits.

 

Attitude is far beyond ‘positive thinking’. It is the perpetual,

consistent outlook that you choose to have. I believe that

attitude can be taught. When attitude is taught, then it can

be caught and have a phenomenal synergistic effect on

everything.

 

It might seem trite now, but when Zig wrote many years

ago about, ’stinking thinking’, he discovered a key that

would make or break an individual or a company.

 

Do a check up from the neck up right now.

 

1. Rate your overall attitude regarding life in general.

   Give it a 10 for possessing an awesome, powerful

   attitude. Give it a 0 if your attitude stinks.

2. Make a decision now to do something about your

attitude if you know that it needs improvement.

1. If you are a business owner or manager, take responsibility

for the morale that exists around you. You can’t change what

you won’t acknowledge.

1. If your personal or corporate profits are suffering find out why.

   Even though you may have changes in your industry and business

   you still need to assess you ‘umbrella of attitude’ that exists in your

   company and environment.

2. Be honest if you are having trouble with your own attitude.

   Also, if it is something that you don’t know what to do about,

   get some outside help.

Take action to turn your personal attitude to one that seeks, explores and

finds new opportunities.

 

If you haven’t done so in a while, set some new goals in your life and/or

in your company. If you feel that you or your company has lost its edge,

then decide now that you are going to do something about it.

 

Go to the local bookstore and find a book on attitude. Hire a consultant

to come in an assess where the problem is.

 

Start some ‘attitude training’ in your company. I guarantee that if you

identify with this article, your profits can and will go up very quickly

we you choose to turn attitudes around.

 

Do something to stir your passion up again for your life and/or business.

Take positive action today.

What is Faith?

When pursuing your dreams and achieving goals, you will hear a lot of people say, ‘You have to have faith’. Faith is essential to living. Most people relate ‘faith’ to religion. However, a lot of different ‘religions’ require you to believe a certain set of rules and admonish you to keep those rules.

In the twelve steps of alcoholics anonymous, one of the steps suggests that you must believe in a ‘higher power’. Some people relate and refer to this ‘higher power’ as ‘the universe’. Most relate to this higher power as God. I personally relate to this higher power as God. However, I realize that many do not. Nonetheless, you are being encouraged to activate that part of your that is considered spiritual and believe that there is a universal force that you can petition and receive help from.

When you look at a Biblical definition of faith, it is described in varying ways. One passage says, ‘Faith is the substance of things of hoped for and the evidence of things not seen’. Another passage alludes to faith as being the action that ‘calls things which are not, as though they were’.

I think that many people look at faith as being a bit of a gamble. By the definitions I’ve given above, faith is much more substantive than a mere gamble.

When I consider the miracle of each of us being here on this planet, I have to believe that we were born with purpose and for a purpose. I believe that each of us have a role to fulfill during our lives. I also believe that each of us must go through a process of going from where we start out to realizing and actualizing whatever that purpose is for us.

Many people find difficulty in discovering what their specific purpose is. I could write hundreds of blogs to help instruct you in finding your purpose and still not be comprehensive in what is involved. There are, however, some general guidelines in doing that.

For this blog, I want to assume that you already know your purpose. You know the dream that is and has been planted deep in your heart. I want to share with you how to exercise faith towards fulfilling your purpose or dream.

In the infinite mind of God, your purpose is already complete. God, having no beginning and no ending, likewise cannot have any concept of ‘time’ as we do. As an eternal being, God would no need for measuring time. You and I cannot relate to this but when you consider God’s eternal nature, I believe you will agree.

God sees you as complete now. Knowing your future and knowing the purpose that has been established for your future, God sees your dream and purpose already complete. Relating back to the second Biblical definition that gave for faith, God sees those things which you do not see presently, as if they were already in existence. In fact, with that definition, ‘God calls your dreams and purpose that you do not see as complete, AS IF they are already fully complete’.

I’ve come to the conclusion (at least for myself) that God calls (sees) my purpose as being already achieved for me in my life. I specifically say it like this.

“Not only do I have and exercise faith in God, but God has and exercises faith in and for me.”

As you get it into your consciousness that God sees your purpose, goal or dream as complete, then you exercise your power and ability to believe to accept how God sees you.

Another Biblical reference that I love says, ‘And you are complete in God’. From God’s perspective, your purpose for being born is seen as complete.

Thus, your faith can be exercised to begin to believe, to visualize and to cross the threshold of acceptance that your destiny and purpose is complete. Every perspective of God, the universe or the higher power will likely agree that visualizing, believing and crossing the threshold of belief within, brings your dream into your manifested reality.

I want to encourage you to begin the practice of seeing your dreams and purpose as already complete. See yourself in that place of having achieved whatever you have longed to do. Allow yourself to even cross the line of feeling the emotion of having achieved that vision you’ve long held in your heart and mind. As you do, you will see the manifestation of it.

Overcoming Shyness

A report came out this morning from Live Science that stated that shyness is not something that is hardwired into our brains. It is a condition of the mind that is developed as an adolescent.

What in fact it is, is an underdeveloped since of possessing a healthy self image and self concept.

Bernardo Carducci, an expert in the study of shyness says that a person who suffers from the social anxiety of shyness, can do certain things to strengthen a healthy image of self.

If you are one who suffers or who knows someone who suffers from this condition, you should take heed to what Carducci says that you can do about this condition.

The first thing that he talked about was, volunteering. If a person was is shy volunteers for a charity, a local church or for organizations like the Red Cross, Boys Club, Girls Club, any type of youth oriented organization, you are not being judged on your talents or skills. You are simply there to give of your time. In fact, Carducci goes on to say that you might discover skills, talents or aptitudes that you didn’t know you possessed.

The second thing that one can do to overcome shyness is through changing their self talk. When you choose positive self talk, you raise your level of confidence and belief in yourself. Beliefs are established by the repetition of thought. Self talk makes you ‘think out loud’. This is one of the amazing transformations that I’ve seen with people who use affirmations. They force you to change your self talk.

Sandra Ray, an advocate and expert in the use of affirms for 30 over years, recommended that you can add ‘rocket fuel’ to your affirmations by doing them in a ‘certain way’. She suggests that the affirmation be written and repeated in the first, second and third person voice. When you do this, you should add your name in the second and third person voice. In the second person, you might want to add your first name to affirmation.

Example: Michael, you possess amazing power now.

Then, in the third person voice, you might say,

Michael Murphy possesses amazing power now.

When you say your affirmation in all three voices, you comprehensively saturate each possible perspective of your self concept or self image.

A second aspect of using affirmations to overcome shyness, (which may include call reluctance for sales/marketing people, fear of the opposite sex, fear of asking for a raise, promotion or a job, fear of speaking up in a situation that you might desire to), is to make the affirmation completely positive all of the time. You should state the affirmation in a complete ‘affirmative’ and avoid using words like ‘never’, ‘not’, ‘don’t', ‘quit’, etc.

The mind creates and sees internal pictures fast and vividly. However, it is very slow in processing a negative. Thus, the ‘don’t see the pink elephant’ phenomena. You actually have ’see’ the pink elephant in order to ‘not’ see the pink elephant. In fact, don’t get a picture of Donald Trumps’ famous hairdo in your mind right now. You didn’t see ‘The Donald Swoop’, did you? Don’t do it! Don’t get a picture of the Empire State Building in your mind’s eye right. Well, I think you ’see’ the point.

Make your affirmations positive. Go to the opposite end of the spectrum of whatever it is you don’t want. Choose to say, ‘I am living in abundance’ rather than saying, ‘I’m not poor’. You have to ’see’ yourself poor in order to ‘not see yourself poor’.

These are two very powerful components in eliminating shyness.

Work on building your confidence with powerful affirmations. Strengthen your self image through positive self talk. It will transform your life.

How To Create A Power-filled Life Through Affirmations – Part 2

A good friend of mine owns a plumbing, electrical and air conditioning services company here in Texas. Danny Hutchins is one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever known or met. When I need a personal ‘positive boost’, I stop by his office and spend as much time with him as I possibly can.

Danny created one of the largest service companies in the North Texas region, starting with nothing but an old broken down pickup, a tool box and a dream.

As he and I were talking lately, he shared with me how, as a very young man who didn’t finish high school, he took charge of his life by putting his faith into action. Danny would put positive, spiritual and inspirational notes on the dash of his truck while, as he says, ” I prayed that his old truck would take me to his my appointment.”

Danny used those notes to feed his subconscious mind and strengthen his faith in himself and his destiny. He told me, “Michael, I got so into being positive, I didn’t even like turning my car radio knobs to the left. To me, somehow that was an image of ‘going backwards’.”

Danny’s full story of struggle, humble beginnings and ‘unbelievable odds against him’ would inspire anyone regardless of where they came from, where they are or where they want to go in their lives.

As you can easily understand, you know why I choose to be around just such a man as Danny. He inspires me to be better than I am.

The great Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones writes in his success classic, ‘Life Is Tremendous’, that, “you will determine where you will be five years from now by the people that you associate with and the books that you read.” That’s why I choose friends like Danny.

I heard a comment once regarding Charlie Jones’ great quote. A successful entrepreneur said to a younger ‘wannabe’ protegė, “Son, with the people that you hang around, you better start reading a lot of good books.”

Take a look around you right now. Who are you associating with? Who do you choose to spend your time with? The carpenter from Galilee said, “Take heed to what you hear”. Take notice of what the people that you spend your time are always talking about and thinking about. Remember, ‘from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.’ Fill your heart, mind and soul up with trash, guess what comes out in your life?

Whatever you are hearing will become what you are thinking. When you listen to the words of others, the simple act of hearing their words causes you to repeat what they’ve said in your own mind. That is the only way that you can process what is being said to you. It is how we are designed. It is how our minds work. If you are around folks that are always negative, always blaming others, always negative about the government, always finding fault, then that is what you are thinking if you are listening to them at all.

Several years ago, the 5 time Grammy award winner, B.J. Thomas, sang a song who’s title and words were, “I’m gonna play, another, somebody done somebody wrong song. It makes me feel at home.” Well, if, another ’somebody done somebody wrong song’ is what you’re always hearing, then, you are going to repeat past failures and disappointments. Again, ‘as you think, so you become’.

Your mother, along with Dorothy Murphy (my mother), very likely told you to be careful who your friends are. If your friends are not a positive influences in your life, then you might consider shifting those friendships to more positive people. Your life is important. Your life is meant to count for something positive. You weren’t given those dreams down deep inside to only ‘wish and hope’ that they could be realized. They ‘are’ to be realized.

Give yourself the advantage of creating a power filled and power-full life by choosing who you are going to spend your time with. Expose your life, heart and mind to people who are aspiring for greater things than most will ever hope of attaining. You owe it to yourself.

How To Create A Power-filled Life Through Affirmations – Part 1

Since the late, great James Allen released his amazing book, ‘As A Man Thinketh’, over 100 years ago, the message of ‘thought producing things’ has been proven many times over. The phrase originated with the ancient proverb, ‘as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.’

The anatomy of thought reveals it to be a function of the brain we identify as ‘the mind’. The mind is an obscured yet evident function of the human brain. The mind is that ability and function of the brain that has potential to even analyze even the brain. It is also the place where events are recorded and retrieved. And most importantly, it is that place where events are interpreted. These interpretations create beliefs and associated emotions.

The starting place to transform your mind to serve you in a desirable and profitable way is to first control your thought. Simply put, language creates thought, thoughts create emotion, emotions determine actions and actions produce results.

While visiting friends in Russia a few years back, I realized that their thinking is very similar to ours here in the West. The primary difference being that they think in Russian while we think in English. Thought involves language. Internal language. Language creates concepts and beliefs.

There are two ways to live your life. You can (1) choose your thoughts or (2) live by default and allow others, society, environment, television, etc., to determine your thoughts.

In the spiritual classic, “The Game of Life and How To Play It, Florence Scovell Shinn says, ‘If you don’t run your (subconscious)mind, someone or something else will.’ If anyone other than you, does your thinking for you, then ‘they’, not ‘you’, are determining your life outcomes.

If you are going to be in charge of your mind and your life, you must choose your own thoughts. You must choose the language you allow in your mind. You must deliberately, on purpose, choose thoughts that empower you. Thoughts that direct the rudder of the ship of your life, to the ports that you choose to go.

How To Develop Dynamic, Powerful Inner Language

As you take charge of your inner dialogs and monologues, you will find that your emotions and actions will be directly affected. Most people never consider the way that they communicate with themselves (or the process of thinking). Let’s take a look at some aspects of how we talk to ourselves.

First, our inner talk is done in all three personal perspectives, that is, first person, second person and third person singular perspective. Beyond the very power ‘I am’ perspective, first person, we likewise communicate with ourselves and to ourselves in the second and third person.

A simple decision to get and walk to another part of your home from where you are presently can be accomplish in any one of the personal perspectives. For example, you may communicate with yourself by thining, ‘I’m going to get up and go to the kitchen’. If you have a more urgent need to go to the kitchen to do something, you might say to yourself, ‘Get up and go to the kitchen’.

Predominantly, we communicate with ourselves in the first or second persons perspective when we want to accomplish a certain task. However, our self image and self concept is more based upon a third person perspective. We may wonder what how other people see us and/or think of us. In fact, our self image or self concept is largely based upon what we think others think of us. Or said another way, how we believe others see us, judge us or love or like us.

When creating inner dialog for personal affirmations, it is important that we make those affirmations in all three personal perspectives. Incorporating all three perspectives gives us a more comprehensive saturation of our subconscious minds.