My youngest of 6 children, David, is now nearly 4 years old. I want to show you a part of a recent letter we received from a GP regarding David, so you can get an idea of what he has:

“David was noted at birth to have a hairy lump at the top of his skull. He had brain imaging at around 1 year of age and this suggested that the lump was an atretic meningocele. It also showed agenesis of the corpus callosum, some abnormal collections of nerve cells in one part of the brain and abnormal position of some of the large brain veins.

David has significant development delay and hypotonia. His general health has been good.

In summary, David has evidence of abnormal neural tube closure (the atretic meningocele) and abnormal brain development (agenesis of the corpus callosum, neuronal heterotopia, abnormal anatomy of the tentorium and abnormal anatomy of large brain veins).”

Now, I did not actually realize how much of an impact such a statement could have on a parent until I received this letter, which is almost 3 years after these initial tests and diagnosis was done. All those words are quite long and scary and would suggest a handicapped child at the very least.

However, I paint a different picture. Although he can not speak the way other 4 year old’s can; although he can not walk quite the same way other 4 year old’s can; for some reason, he still understands me.

For example, even way back before he was two years of age, he fully understood the word ‘no’. To illustrate this, I was watching my wife play netball, and minding David at the same time (this is before David was even two). As there were other kids and plenty of noise, I let him walk around a bit. At any time he got too close to the court, I said ‘no’, and he would simply stop and turn around. After a few times, he learned not to even get too close. A simple example of a child learning something.

At the same time another child who would have at least been 4 if not 5 was uncontrollable. This child was your typical 4 or 5 year old when it came to talking and walking (well, more like running around and screaming), and nothing the parents did or say would stop this child. The child had no respect for the parents, and it was obvious the parents didn’t care about this fact one bit either.

There is no excuse for not giving your child both discipline and love, and I don’t believe you can have one without the other. On the other hand, it can be quite easy for parents with a child who is obviously a lot slower in their development, and has risks of long term neural issues, to be wrapping them up in cotton wool and even throwing things like discipline out the window…but not me, no way! And I’ll tell you why.

Kids need discipline no matter what because not only does help them with structure, guidance, boundaries and building inner strength, it demonstrates something about the parents too. Kids are going to imitate the parents regardless of their learning abilities, and if you are not firm, how on earth can that help them. You are the shining light for your children, the guidance, the god, the highway, the map, the example, the hero, the inspiration, and all parents should realize this.

Our kids need us more than ever right now and it is high time we pulled ourselves out of this dependant mind set and stop blaming the world for our problems. I don’t care if Obama is the saviour, why on earth do we need saving anyway? Because we have become too dependant on others for our well being and we are teaching our children to do the same thing.

I hope this inspires you to rethink the way you look at life if you feel like you need saving.

All the best
Dean

One of the things I explain in my new and upcoming book (current program owners will receive this free as an upgrade) is the organic cycle within us all, the name I give to the process by which we are kept in our comfort zones. I realized how the process was almost a mirror image of the machine.

In summary, the organic cycle involves three main systems, the brain, the body and the senses and how they interact through the use of smaller systems within each of these main three. The machine is the same in that it involves three main systems, the fuel, the mechanical process or purpose and the operations.

If we look at each of the three main systems for people and machines we can draw some interesting parallels.

First of all, we can look at the mechanical purpose of a machine. It doesn’t matter what machine you use, whether it’s a coffee machine or a crane, it has a primary purpose that is mechanical in nature. This mechanical process however must be put in motion by some sort of trigger, whether it is by humans using switches and levers or from senses that sense that a mechanical process needs to be put in motion (i.e. the air conditioner and the thermostat). Then we have the fuel that all machines need in order to run be it electricity, gas, oil etc.

So let’s look at the human being and the organic cycle.

We are almost purely mechanical by nature. That is, we react to things in life with behaviours where the behaviour itself (the reaction) is triggered by the event, and the same events always cause the same reactions. This in itself makes it very hard to deny our mechanical nature. But don’t be alarmed, it is a survival mechanism built into us.

Then we have our senses which we can clearly see are part of the triggering process (although not all of it which you’ll learn shortly). Through our eyes, ears, nose etc, we process the environment and react accordingly.

So the difference here between a coffee machine and us, is simply that a coffee machine has one mechanical process, and we have many, and the coffee machine has switches and we have senses.

So let’s look at the fuel.

Well for us the fuel is emotions. Some may think that motivation and drive etc are the fuel but not from the point of view of organic cycle, it is emotions that fuel the organic cycle, the comfort zone, for emotions are simply chemical reactions involving the brain (the producer) and the body (the receiver), and this completes the organic cycle.

When we curse at someone in traffic (just as an example) we are reacting in a mechanical way to an event picked up through our senses that triggers the emotions to fuel the behaviour, and we do this all day every day.

Now let me go one step deeper. If we return to the machine, the machine only operates for as long as it is needed to operate, and what I ask you determines this? Motivation and drive! Machines are operated for the purpose of creating a benefit to the user, and that is us. Whether it is for the satisfaction of a great cup of coffee or from the profits made from building a skyscraper, it is all the same. There is a benefit to be had and the more a machine is run, the more benefit is being had.

And where is the parallel here for us beings? It is addiction! For our organic cycle, our comfort zone, our personalities, our beliefs, our results in life, our reactions and our behaviours are all motivated by addiction, and the addictions are to our emotions, or to be more precise, the chemicals produced in the brain that create these emotions and hence feelings (the feelings are the product of the body receiving the chemicals).

Now a machine does not become addicted to its fuel, so there the similarity ends, but the operator of the machine has a very real motive, and so do our addictions to our emotions. I said earlier that the senses are only part of the triggering process, because our addictions are a major factor in triggering reactions. For example, someone who always appears irate is subconsciously and constantly seeking events to fuel the addiction to the chemicals produced from being irate. If the senses can’t find it in the immediate environment, the next step is to trigger memories that will do the same job as memories will trigger emotions.

If we want to create a more fulfilling life we have to step back and observe our reactions and see them for what they are, simply addictions. We are running around trying to make a cup of coffee using a crane or a photocopier and it simply will not work. We are using the wrong mechanical processes and emotions in our everyday lives because we are not aware of what is motivating them in the first place. If you want to have an enjoyable day, does it really serve you to curse all and sundry when you stub your toe as soon as you get out of bed?

Visit our home page at www.reprogrammingthemind.com if you haven’t already and get our free ebook, video and 6 part series on the science behind the law of attraction. If you have already gone through this then you might want to consider purchasing our program at www.reprogrammingthemind.com/Course.html. Our program and online group and forum are two major tools to help you use the right processes to creating a more successful life rather than being run like a machine.

To your success

Dean

The complete step by step guide to Reprogramming your Mind for Success

One of my daughters has a turtle, and one day while watching her swim around the aquarium, I noticed her want to get out or to go beyond the glass walls. The back glass wall has a picture of green underwater plants, however the picture only takes up some of the wall, and as the turtle reached the edge of the picture, I could sense her desire to go around the edge and beyond, as if the edge of the picture was actually a corner.

It got me thinking about the other animals we have. One of my other daughters has a blue fish; we have a dog and also three chickens. All of these pets live within physical boundaries, from which they can’t really escape. The chickens have the ability to fly out if they really wanted to, and on two occasions one of them has, only to want to get back in to the pen knowing that this is where its food is. Our dog has also had many chances to run away (thanks to kids leaving gates open etc), and every time she has come back.

With all of our pets, it is our duty to keep their needs met, with food, water, a clean environment and tending loving care. I realized that when given the chance, although some of them could leave permanently, their ‘needs’ and the security of always having those needs met, was the main driver behind their actions.

But watching the turtle made me also realize, that we have effectively domesticated what are essentially wild creatures, and regardless of their need for security, there is still that part of them that craves just that little bit more freedom to explore. Wild creatures do not have physical boundaries, only mental ones. In the wild, and I mean complete wild where no human intervention exists, the boundaries of creatures are created by their own instincts, not those of some other force.

It pains me to say this, but we humans are trapped within a mental boundary that is not of an instinctual nature, but of a conditioned need for security. Just as we have conditioned our own pets to accept smaller boundaries in exchange for security, we as humans have accepted a life of mediocrity and monotony in exchange for security and having our needs met.

We do not bump our heads into a glass wall thinking that what we just saw was a corner we could go around; instead we live within a mental boundary that is our comfort zone, and any attempts to move out are met with anxiety, doubt and fear of the unknown, ridicule, and a fear that our security may not be there tomorrow if we venture too far out. There are people who are happy with this, there are those who are not happy but accept it, and there are those who do not accept it. The majority of people are those that are not happy with it, but accept it, not really knowing what it is or why it is this way.

Some people believe that there are people in higher positions of power who control the rest of the population, that they know how to create this mental boundary through education, TV, news, laws and politics. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, for all you have to do is ask yourself this question. ‘Is my current life based on needs or wants?’ Do you need your job, your TV, the News at 6, the mortgage payment, the car payments, the gossip at work, the arguments, the drugs, the computer games, entertainment and so on? Are many of these needs things you do to escape life, not realizing that they are the reason you are trapped? Are many of these needs the reason why you can’t spare your self the time and motivation to do anything else with your life, to do what you really should be doing to get out of your comfort zone and really live life like the wild, curious, explorer you really are?

There are many reasons why most people will continue to live within this mental conditioned cage because they know no better, the answers to breaking free are not readily available, they fear the unknown, they fear ridicule, they fear losing their security, or they believe these needs are helping them escape reality. For many who may have even been presented with some of the answers, their needs have become all too powerful that they are too time strapped or mentally drained to do anything about it.

All it takes is a small amount of your time a day to explore your own inner and outer world, and as you start to do this you open the door to many things such as opportunity, awareness and knowledge, all of which go hand in hand with freedom, and you find your addictions to your needs and security lose their grip on you and you break free from the confines of the conditioned mental cage.

To your success

Dean

The complete step by step guide to Reprogramming your Mind for Success

Imagine yourself; quietly sitting somewhere in a nice park, relaxing and watching a stream of ants do their thing, also noticing a sense of urgency in them, the sort of urgency that usually precedes a storm or rain. You watch in wonder, their strength, their knowingness, their loyalty, their co-operation and co-ordination, wondering how on earth such simple creatures create the cohesion they do.

Then you think of how the ability to sense rain or a storm serves such a grand purpose, not only for the ants but for the keen observer too, and in this case, you. If you had been wondering what you were going to do this weekend, the mere observation of the urgent ants will make you think twice about taking the boat out for a spot of fishing, or playing a round of golf with your buddies, or taking the family out for a picnic.

But then you decide to become on of the ants. All of sudden you are in a new world, a world of urgency, order and fear. You must serve the queen and her lava, you must perform your tasks, constantly communicating with other ants; you must be weary of any prey, and then attack anything that stands in your way. Phew! what it must be like to be an ant!

It may not be like that for the ant at all. They just do what they do, and maybe they have no awareness of this way of living for they have nothing to compare it to. But we do, we always have the ability to compare, to assess and to choose based on what we experience.

We all know we are emotional creatures; however what we may not understand is that our emotions serve a purpose, the purpose of allowing us to assess and make decisions based on what we are feeling, but from the observers point of view, not from the point of view of the ant; and this is exactly what most of us are doing. We live our lives, reacting to our emotions from the ants’ point of view and not the observers’ point of view.

To illustrate this, one of my pet emotional reactions is my reaction to arguing children. I don’t mind sharing this with you because I want you to feel as if we are all friends here. When children argue, especially my own, it can raise the hair on my neck! Why, because it is a reaction. At that moment in time I am the ant, thinking I have to defend myself from the noise or hysterics. But in reality, when I am able to distance myself and observe, all I am really experiencing is noise, and although I don’t like it, because it is irritating, I am able to deal with it more calmly and offer solutions.

The key difference here, and this difference can only be determined once someone becomes an observer, is that one is an automatic reaction, and the other is a calculated response. The ant reacts to its stimulus automatically, it never questions for it has no ability to, only doing what it is created to do. Humans on the other hand have the ability to choose a response to a stimulus, but only if they become aware that an emotion has become triggered within them.

Emotions therefore serve a very important purpose for people. They alert us to the fact that something is happening that is offering us a chance to question what is going on, and to choose our response. Much like the observer noticing the urgency in the ants, decides what may be and what may not be an appropriate activity in the next day or two, the person who notices an emotion he or she does not like can choose if the normal reaction is appropriate for all involved; and in most cases, if the normal reaction is automatic, it will not, and a new and more beneficial response can be employed. When this occurs and the person chooses a new and more beneficial response, much against the inner urge to react their normal way, the person would have moved out of their current comfort zone…..and this is called ‘growth’.

To succeed in anything in life you must grow!

To your success

Dean Whittingham

The complete step by step guide to Reprogramming your Mind for Success

I have a short video I hope will inspire and motivate you.

Some is personal to me and some is general, so I hope
some of it relates to you.

Here is the link to the video:

Inspire

Have a great xmas and let 2009 be your year.

Dean

I want to share a little story with you to show the power of asking, and how the process of asking sets in motion the organic systems within you that enable your subconscious to find the answers in the outside world.

I was having a deep conversation with my Mum because both she and Dad are going through a rough patch, (It is unfortunate with all the knowledge I am able to share with them, especially after their lotto ordeal, they are unwilling to take that extra step and break free form their comfort zone) and I explained that she spends her time merely hoping her way through the day, and gives up on her goals because she concerns herself with the ‘how’. To explain I told her my story of how I got an Ipod.

Recently I decided I wanted an Ipod. I have never owned one but I was increasingly finding myself in need of a tool to store mp3 files, and being the way I am, I simply asked for it. Before I go on, I need to explain that although I may pay for something, I do not like to go out and purchase something when I decide I want it; and the reason is simple…it takes the fun out of it. Most times what I want turns up or I am led to the item, but rarely, if at all do I pay anywhere near top dollar, or a price that one would pay if they simply went out and purchased it. Also, I am always curious and then in awe of how something shows up.

So, after I asked for an Ipod, I simply went about my normal business. Maybe 12 hours later, I was going through some finances and needed to check my credit card statement, and out of curiosity, I decided to look at my rewards points. At this time, I had completely forgotten about my request for an Ipod, however as soon as I clicked through to the rewards section, the very first image I saw (out of about 12 images) was of Ipod shuffles. Then I remembered my request, and thought ‘wow’, this is how I’m getting my Ipod, which I then did, having more than enough points to do so. My mum just sat in awe, not because of the Ipod, but because of the regularity of these sorts of events I share with her.

Another similar story occurred when I needed an image of a shiny dollar coin, and no where could I find one in the house, nor on the internet (which was very surprising). Three days later I was filling up the car and I could see an extremely shiny dollar coin maybe 10 metres away on the mat in front of the sliding doors to the service station. What was amazing were the number of people walking past it and over it, not one of them noticing it, yet there I was filling up and could see it clearly. Naturally, I picked it up, took it home and used it for my image.

I use these small examples (although I don’t see them as small) because I want you to understand the power of thought, and the power of your mind in finding solutions for you. I could just as easily use bigger examples but for many, such examples may only cause a sort of envy of the object or achievement, when what I am trying to explain is the power of the process itself. It doesn’t matter how big the question or desire is, the process is exactly the same, always. (What I will say though, it was this very process that enabled me to find my wife, and she was exactly what I asked for!)

To demonstrate, after I got the Ipod I told my son about the whole episode. He thought for a bit and then asked, ‘Dad, how can I get a credit card and will I be able to get reward points?’ I replied with ‘Son, you’re looking in the wrong direction. It wasn’t the credit card or the reward points that got me that Ipod, it was the process of me asking, my mind answering, and me having belief that the process works.’ And there lies the most important part…having the belief that the process works, and to do this means understanding the organic processes and systems within us all.

So my suggestion is for many, to work on understanding the way our brains work, and work on the belief that there is always a solution to a problem, an answer to a question, a ‘how’ to get something, that doesn’t require you to work out the ‘how’. If you have a desire for something, but you believe it is an achievement beyond you, work on the belief that the world always provides a way, if you just allow your mind to receive it. Examples would be ‘My mind always seeks the answers I need’, or ‘all my desires already exist’, or ‘I receive all solutions, desires, answers that I seek’. Just find a belief statement that flows for you.

If you concern yourself with the ‘how’, what you are effectively doing is stating that you do not believe in the process, and of course, if you do this, your subconscious has to respond by making you closed to opportunities, answers and solutions. It’s just doing its job.

To your success

Dean Whittingham

The complete step by step guide to Reprogramming your Mind for Success

That’s a great question.

“I am grateful for this happening to me because it means I can now feel this.”
“I am grateful this didn’t happen to me because now I won’t have to feel that.”

Does this sound like the definition of gratitude to you? Basically if you are grateful for something it means you are thankful.

Someone once told me after watching the movie ‘The Secret’ that they didn’t understand the concept of gratitude as it was explained in the movie, saying that it was difficult to understand how one should be grateful all the time when the majority or many of the daily occurrences are either negative or neutral. Negative or neutral events should not require gratitude because they are unwanted or undesirable events.

I am not going to say that my answer is the complete picture or complete answer, but the following is my take, and if it means anything to you, all the better. Afterwards, you can download a free short book by Apryl Jensen with her take on gratitude which I think you’ll enjoy.

To me gratitude is the acknowledgement to the universe, the world, yourself, whoever; it doesn’t matter, but acknowledgement that you are the sole creator of all events and circumstances that occur to you, whether you deem them as positive, negative or neutral.

When you acknowledge that every event and circumstance that is occurring to you is your creation then you are not displaying gratitude for the actual event but you are being grateful for having the power to create that event, whether it feels good, bad or neutral.

However, if you are of the school of thought that you are not the creator of all that occurs to you and around you, it is basically impossible for you to be grateful for anything unless it is something you want or desire.

Just imagine for a minute that it was the truth, that you are the sole creator of every single event and circumstance in your life. Now remove all the emotions and judgments attached to any outcome and just think of the actual outcome itself as if it had been a process or creation that started somewhere and ended with that outcome. Now imagine that you are the architect of that creation.

For me, knowing I am the creator of all is what I am grateful for, not the outcome itself; and if I create something that I then judge as bad I see it as an opportunity to examine my current beliefs, for it is my beliefs that influence my creations.

I understand that removing judgments from an event is difficult, but I will leave you with this following story; and don’t forget to download the short book by Apryl at the end of this post.

A farmer had a horse that one day ran off. After hearing the news, the neighbor came to condole over the loss. The farmer replied “What makes you think it is so terrible?”

A short while later the horse came back, bringing with it a small group of wild horses. After hearing the news the neighbor came to congratulate the farmer. The farmer replied “What makes you think this is so good?”

Not long after, while riding one of the wild horses the farmer’s son was thrown from the horse breaking his leg. After hearing the news, the neighbor came to condole over the incident. The farmer replied “What makes you think this is so bad?”

While the boy was recovering a war broke out, and all able-bodied men were conscripted. Seeing the boy’s broken leg the army left without him.

Here is Apryl Jensen’s short book on gratitude:

http://www.reprogrammingthemind.com/gratitude.pdf

To your success

Dean

I apologize for the title, it may seem a bit extreme but once you read the following you’ll understand why I used it.

Full blown heroin addicts are known to have a $500-700 a day habit. They are able to find this money day in day out whilst fighting the elements of weather, street crime and the law.

Although the means by which they acquire this money is certainly not commendable, one must marvel at their ability to continually find it against all those odds. I’m sure the majority of us would struggle in such an environment.

“But it’s the drug making them do it” I hear you say, and what a great point, because at this point of time, if you did think this you have possibly had a great Ah-ha moment in life, well at least I hope so; let me explain.

You are right; it is the heroin that makes the addict do what he or she does. There is no question about that, but in fact the heroin addict is performing the exact same way as all of us throughout our day, the only difference is their chemical is heroin, and yours are based on your habitual thought processes.

Every thought you have and action you perform throughout the day has an associated chemical release from the brain into your body. This is extremely important, because any chemical, it doesn’t matter whether it is heroin or a chemical produced in your brain, will become addictive if the body receives it too often.

Let me repeat: any chemical, it doesn’t matter whether it is heroin or a chemical produced in your brain, will become addictive if the body receives it too often.

Think of any habitual behaviour you have, whether it is yelling at the kids at the slightest err, reacting in traffic, your reaction when receiving a bill; all these reactions release chemicals, made in your brain, that flow to every living cell in your body.

Think of thoughts you have, worrying about the next mortgage payment, worrying about your kids future, worrying about your health, re-living a moment in the past; all these thoughts release chemicals, made in your brain, that flow to every living cell in your body.

The cells in your body have receptors that receive chemicals, and it doesn’t matter whether the chemical is produced in your brain or from an external source (like heroin), the receptors job is to receive them, and when they stop receiving them they get upset!

So let’s return to the heroin addict. We already established that the behaviour of the addict is driven by the drug itself. But what about you? Can you accept that your everyday behaviour, reactions and thoughts are driven by chemical addictions?

Well, guess what, if you accept this, your well on your way to creating a better life, because indeed it is true, you are a walking chemical producing and chemical receiving organism and all that needs changing from your point of view are the sorts of chemical in circulation.

When you react badly to something, feel the feeling it is producing in your body; that is your body receiving a dose of chemicals! The more you do it, the more your body craves it, and the more the circumstances that trigger this off will appear (The process that creates more circumstances, like a valve that blocks out or lets in, involves other parts of your organic make-up which is explained in our book).

The point here is that when you can associate feelings in your body, that you do not like, to a thought process you have, you have uncovered a possible addiction, which put another way is a habit.

Habits are fuelled by chemical addictions, it is the receptors that become addicted, the receptors send messages to your brain requiring more chemical, the brain responds by searching the memory bank for memories that will trigger off the feelings associated with this chemical, or the brain will instruct the 5 physical senses to seek out circumstances outside of you to trigger of a reaction. That is the cycle of addiction and habit.

To put it bluntly, your results in life are based around your chemical addictions. Those who have the sort of life people envy are also walking chemical factories, but their chemicals are those associated with feelings of success, good health, peace, love and so on. I’m afraid I can’t put it any other way; addictions will continue to produce the same thoughts and the same circumstances in your life day in and day out.

Next time you react to something and it makes you feel bad, ask yourself if this is a common behaviour for you? If it is, your next job is to accept that you have an addiction and replace what ever thoughts you are having with something that gives you a good feeling. A perfect example, my 6th child, all I think about is the way he laughs, and how often he laughs. No matter what bad reaction I have, thinking of him always stops the chemical bombardment in its tracks. Now you try it!

In the world of self help and development, there are two primary schools of thought relating to the creation of desires in our life.

One is that in order to get what you want you must focus on it as often as possible, and at the same time block out any opposing thoughts to your desire.

For instance, if you want to own a nice new house, you should affirm this intention as often as possible using things like pictures, affirmations (i.e. I am living in my dream home now), visualizations, writing down the goal and many other sorts of tools for the sole purpose of bombarding your sub conscious with the new desire.

To make it even more effective you should learn to add emotion to it, thereby creating a more intense realization that you already have it. At the same time any time doubts creep in suggesting that you can not have this desire you need to be aware that the thought is occurring and stop it in its tracks.

However the second school of thought is to make your intention clear to the universe, and then simply let it go. By letting go it means you basically do the opposite to the first school of thought, and that is you do not spend huge amounts of time and energy bombarding your sub conscious with your new desire.

When looking at these two schools of thought there seems to be a contradiction. How can one camp say you need to bombard your sub conscious and the other camp say you should not. The answer lies with one thing and one thing only, and that is your belief that the desire can happen.

This is extremely important because someone who needs to tell themselves something over and over again needs to do this because deep down they simply do not believe it is possible.

Think about it for a second. If you believed that a certain desire, experience, possession etc was very possible in your world, would you need to continuously tell yourself that? The answer is no. Think of it another way; a lot of things are possible in your life but have you achieved them all yet? No, simply because you haven’t had time, but that doesn’t make them impossible to you.

However once you get to goals that are larger than anything you’ve ever attained before there is an instant blockage in your system and the only way to remove this blockage is by force.

By force I mean you have to literally reprogram your beliefs and automatic thoughts. Automatic thoughts are what drive you daily and when someone lacks belief in what they can achieve their automatic thought processes match that belief. Using tools like the ones mentioned earlier, such as affirmations and pictures etc are all great at doing that.

So what is really at the core of achieving something is not the goal itself but rather the belief that you can actually attain it.

Reprogramming your mind then is a process of instilling the belief that you can attain something and removing any limiting beliefs.

If on the other hand you have faith in yourself and the process, then all you need to do is make your intention clear and let it go, knowing that in due time it will arrive.

What is essential in either process is removing any need to know ‘how’ it will come. If you keep asking yourself how something is going to come to you, you are simply reinforcing the belief that the goal is out of your reach.

As you attempt to venture into a new world such as success, a world that has so far eluded you but a world that you know exists because you see other’s living it; at some point you are going to have to experience a significant Ah-ha moment; a moment when you become aware of something that is going on within you.

To help explain this I am going to tell you of one of my Ah-ha moments, a moment back in time when I realized I was addicted to negative thinking. That’s right, I realized I was ‘addicted’ to negative thinking and knew there and then that this was something occurring from within which meant I could change it, at the time though I just didn’t know how.

I was in my early stages of learning techniques such as meditation and visualization, and in fact was using an aid called ‘guided visualization’ where you are listening to an instructor guide you through the process of visualizing the things you want in life. It was really great at times, but I also noticed at other times some really shocking pictures or scenes would appear in my mind.

To give you a graphic example, one of the scenes I was visualizing was me sitting in my nice big boat, a cross between a luxury boat and a fishing boat, as I love to fish, anchored in a really nice bay where the fish are plentiful, the sun is warm, the breeze is slight but cool and the sea is calm.

As my mouth widens to a smile, I all of a sudden start seeing other images which seem to come from nowhere; images of my son falling overboard, a shark bumping into the boat, a big wave coming out of nowhere and capsizing us! And I’m thinking to myself, what on earth is going on here? Why am I seeing these horrific pictures?

It wasn’t isolated to just the boat either. Another of my visualizations was I’d be waiting in the bank to speak to my bank manager, and then she would call me in where I’d sit down in front of her and we’d discuss all the new found wealth I had and not only how I made it but what I planned to do with it.

But some of the times I wouldn’t even get into her office, instead while I was waiting some bank robber would come running in and start wielding a knife or a gun! (Do you notice how the negative scenes are very similar to the sorts of things that happen in the movies or on the news?) It only took me a few days of going through this each and every time to realize that somehow I was addicted to these negative thoughts; I knew this because they seemed and ‘felt’ very real.

My brain did not like the new positive thoughts, not because they were positive as such but because the thoughts were themselves releasing new chemicals which the body was not used to. To counteract this, the body needed to command the brain to release chemicals it ‘was’ used to.

Negative thinking releases the same chemicals; it doesn’t matter what the thoughts are about, if they are negative the same cocktail of chemicals are being created in your brains pharmacy and pumped through the blood into every living cell in your body. The more this happens, the more addicted the body becomes to these chemicals and the more displeasure it experiences when you try and replace them with a new chemical, i.e. a chemical associated with success.

So how can you tell if you are addicted to negative thinking?

This is very simple. Close your eyes and visualize something you really want but believe you can not have, and do this for as long as you possibly can. You may not see graphic scenes like I did, it may be that I watched too much TV as a kid; but even subtle feelings and inner voices of doubt will creep in. It doesn’t matter, either way, whether you see things that you don’t like, feel feelings of doubt, or hear your inner voice saying ‘no’ to you, all of these are addictions to negative thinking and beliefs.

So how do you stop being addicted to negative thinking?

Part of the reprogramming of the mind process is the need for you to become aware of yourself. This may sound odd to some, but it’s not. If you did the exercise above than you have already started this process. Becoming aware of your thoughts is the first step in understanding how your whole mind works, and once you understand how it works, you can then change it for the better.

I’ll give you an exercise. The next time you have a shower commentate to yourself the whole time, as if you are broadcasting to the world and explain every single thing you are doing as you shower. This will show you how automated we have become with such things as showering because you’ll find commentating every action very strange to do.

This will also demonstrate how the same automation processes are going on throughout our whole day with almost everything we do from driving a car, to reacting to something we see! This is one of our biggest problems; we are running on autopilot and are not aware of our own thoughts or reactions most of the time.

The more you do this exercise, not just for showering but for many of things you do throughout the day, the more conditioned you’ll become at being aware. Awareness is the first and probably the most significant step to reprogramming your mind for success because awareness alerts you to the negative thought or reaction as it is just starting to happen giving you the ideal time in which to stop it in its tracks!