You Can Win Part 37

For example, when I am talking to someone and I forget what I had to say, I tell the other person, "See, I forgot what I wanted to say. I have such a poor memory."

People who come into contact with crime the first time, hate it. With constant exposure they get used to it and if the exposure is long enough, they may embrace it. And they become creators of their own misfortune.

When a person repeats a belief long enough, it sinks into the subconscious and becomes reality. A lie repeated long enough becomes accepted as the truth.

Positive auto-suggestions are being widely used in the field of sports and medicine. Why make positive statements? Because we want to create a picture in our minds of what we want to have rather than what we don't. Any picture that we hold in our mind becomes reality. Auto-suggestions are a process of repet.i.tion. A person who repeats a statement long enough lets it sink into the subconscious mind. For example, I am relaxed. I am cool, calm and collected.

Auto-suggestions should not be practiced in a negative way I am not tense. I won't be angry.

Positive statements are made because we think in pictures and not in words. If I say "Don't think of the blue elephant," what is the first picture that comes to your mind? The blue elephant.

If I say "mother," what comes to your mind? A picture of your mother. Did you start spelling m-o-t-h-e-r? Of course not!

When a negative word comes in the auto-suggestion, it forms a negative picture which we want to avoid.

Why in the present tense? Because our mind cannot tell the difference between a real experience and an imagined one. For example, parents are expecting their child to come home at 9:30 p.m. but the kid is not home and it is now 1 a.m. What is going through the parents' mind? They are probably hoping everything's okay. "I hope the kid didn't get into an accident." What is happening to their blood pressure? It is going up! This is an imagined experience. The reality could be that the kid is having fun at a party, is irresponsible, and did not get home when he was supposed to.

144*Now reverse the scenario. Supposing the kid was very responsible and was actually coming home at 9:30 p.m. but got into an accident, and still didn't get home at 1 a.m.

What is happening to the parents' blood pressure? It is still going up! The first scenario was an imagined experience. The second one was a real experience but the body's response in both cases was identical. Our mind cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience.

Prepare the Subsconscious

How can we use auto-suggestions to eliminate negative habits and develop positive ones? We have all used auto-suggestions unconsciously. For example, when you have to catch an early morning flight, you automatically tell yourself that you have got to get up. And invariably, you do (sometimes, even without an alarm clock). A prepared subconscious mind has hunches and gut feelings.

Auto-suggestion is a way to program and condition our mind to make a statement into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Auto-suggestion is a repet.i.tive process through which we feed our subconscious with positive statements which translate into reality. Repet.i.tion alone is not enough, unless it is accompanied by emotions and feelings.

Auto-suggestions without visualization will not produce results. The first time our mind receives an autosuggestion it rejects it. Why? It is an alien thought, contrary to our belief system. Success would depend on our ability to concentrate and repeat the process.

Steps to follow on auto-suggestions.

1. Go to a spot where you won't be disturbed.

2. Write down your suggestions.

The self-discipline to finish what one starts, is imperative. Auto-suggestion is a powerful character building tool.

Translating Auto-Suggestion into Reality

1. Make a list of your auto-suggestions in the present tense.

2. Repeat auto-suggestions at least twice a day: first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. This is because in the morning, the mind is fresh and receptive and at night you deposit the positive picture into your subconscious overnight.

3. Repeat it consecutively for 21 days until it becomes a habit.

4. Auto-suggestions alone will not work. They need visualization.

VISUALIZATION.

Visualization is the process of creating and seeing a mental picture of the kind of thing you want to have or do, or the kind of person you want to be. Visualization goes hand in hand with auto-suggestion. Auto-suggestion without visualization is mechanical repet.i.tion and will be ineffective. In order to see results, auto-suggestion must be accompanied by feelings and emotions (visualization).

CAUTION! Auto-suggestion may not be acceptable to the mind the first time you do it because it is an alien thought. For example, if for the past few decades I have believed that I have a poor memory and now all of a sudden, I tell myself, "I have a good memory!", my mind will throw it out, saying, "You liar! You have a bad memory!" Because 145*that is what it has believed up to this point. It will take 21 days to dispel this notion. Why 21 days? Because it takes a minimum of 21 days of conscious, consecutive practice to formulate a habit.

The big question is: Is 21 days of conscious effort a heavy price to pay to change a lifetime for the better? It all sounds simple but it is not easy. I am not surprised to see how few people go through this routine.

146*

ACTION PLAN.

1. Make a list of your auto-suggestions _______________________________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________________.

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2. Repeat the 21-day program with visualizations.

147*

CHAPTER 7.

GOAL-SETTING.

Setting & Achieving your goals

148*

Knowledge helps you to reach your destination provided you know what the destination is.

An ancient Indian sage was teaching his disciples the art of archery. He put a wooden bird as the target and asked them to aim at the eye of the bird. The first disciple was asked to describe what he saw. He said, "I see the trees, the branches, the leaves, the sky, the bird and its eye.."

The sage asked this disciple to wait. Then he asked the second disciple the same question and he replied, "I only see the eye of the bird." The sage said, "Very good, then shoot." The arrow went straight and hit the eye of the bird.

What is the moral of the story? Unless we focus, we cannot achieve our goal. It is hard to focus and concentrate, but it is a skill that can be learned.

On the journey to life's highway, keep your eyes upon the goal. Focus on the donut, not upon the hole.

--Anonymous

KEEP YOUR EYES UPON THE GOAL.

On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick was on her way to becoming the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had already conquered the English Channel. The world was watching. Chadwick fought the dense fog, bone-chilling cold and many times, the sharks. She was striving to reach the sh.o.r.e but every time she looked through her goggles, all she could see was the dense fog. Unable to see the sh.o.r.e, she gave up.

Chadwick was disappointed when she found out that she was only half a mile from the coast. She quit, not because she was a quitter but because her goal was not in sight anywhere. The elements didn't stop her. She said, "I'm not making excuses. If only I had seen the land, I could have made it."

Two months later, she went back and swam the Catalina Channel. This time, in spite of the bad weather, she had her goal in mind and not only accomplished it but beat the men's record by two hours.

Why are Goals Important?

On the best sunny day, the most powerful magnifying gla.s.s will not light paper if you keep moving the gla.s.s. But if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of concentration.

A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, "Where does this road take me?" The elderly person asked, "Where do you want to go?" The 149*man replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said, "Then take any road. What difference does it make?"

How true. When we don't know where we are going, any road will take us there.

Supposing you have the football eleven enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived? Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction.

Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?

DREAMS.

People confuse goals with dreams and wishes. Dreams and wishes are nothing more than desires. Desires are weak. Desires become strong when they are supported by