My Self Help Solutions

First of all what is an affirmation. It is statement that you written down that you repeat or read daily. Do they work. In my life I always prepare the ground with them. I try to make them fit on a 3 by 5 index card.

Here are some rules that I have for making them.

1. Avoid negatives. Dont say No don’t, wont. Instead keep it positive.

2. Keep it present tense. Saying I am becoming smarter is better than I will.

3. Read them 3 times  a day or more. Many times my affirmations is the 1 st step I take on a life change. I prepare the ground. I might read them when I shave,cook,ride the bus

4. Make sure there is emotion involved. Add emotion and it will make the affirmation more powerful.

5. I focus on mine on a weekly basis. I focus very hard on try to make the affirmation the center of a change and then I rotate a new one in.

6. Focus on how your life will change if the affirmation comes true.

So we have discussed habits as unconscious actions dealing with repetitive  or routine actions. Could it be used a s a positive force to change your life for the better? Of course.  A habit can be good or bad. So where should you focus your attention. Here are 3 habits that if you   it implement them would change your life.

1. Focus on the money coming in and out. If you live within your means you would wipe out your credit card debt which most people pay 18% or higher in interest. To put it into perspective if you were an invest manager and you had an 18% yearly gain inyour portfolio you would be a super star. In this financial climate you can not afford to have any e out go. One thing I do is forecast  6 months out and I look over everything to see what might come out of nowhere to wreck this. This allows you to get an idea where the problems might be.

2. Put important papers in 1 spot. This way you know where you insurance polices your tax records are always. This way when you need them you dont have to tear your house apart to find them. It’s less stress on you which is another positive.

3. Review your job performance before your boss does. Do it monthly. If you combine this with work related goals. You will increase your job performance and your job satisfaction. This will only work if you are brutally honest with yourself. You may discover that you need to add some skills or maybe take on more responsibility.

These 3 things will make your life flow a little better and allow you to build a strong foundation for the future.

In reading 1 of my last posts I saw I had referred to the Pain and Pleasure principle without going into detail. Many authors have referenced this including Tony Robbins and many others in the field,

So what is it. The principle basically states that your actions try to move you away from pain toward the things that bring you pleasure.

So the question then become if you feel pain when you see yourself as over weight why don’t you stay on the diet. You perceive the diet as more pain full than being over weight. You also are fighting the pleasure that food brings you.

Being caught between 2 things that you think might bring you pain which I call a pain lock because it has you all locked up and you are moving away from the pleasure that your favorite foods bring you.

So how do you break this  pain lock. You have to put more pain into play but researching what will happen if you not over come this bad habit. You can associate the pain of dieing early,poor health,loss of independence etc with being over weight. What you have to is load extreme pain with the thought of being overweight. You will then research the positive side of being thinner and find the things that will bring you pleasure. You may have to change the way you think about your favorite foods.

I was not aware of the principle of pain and pleasure when I was younger but I used it. In the fight of my life I had an addiction  to methamphetamine more commonly called speed,crank and meth. I had quit 3 times but came back. I had used for about 5 years off and on but I kept coming back.

1 day I bought a 16th which is a gram and 3 quarters which is not large amount but enough to keep me up for about a week. I started to lines and nothing happened. I got pissed and started dropping a quarter of gram on the mirror 1 after another. In about 3 hours I had cleaned out what I had bought I leaned back and it all hit me I kept getting higher and higher. I could not sit still but I did not want to go out as I was sure someone was waiting for me. The anxiety attacks started and I was sure that I was dieing. This went on for 3 days. Went I finally got to sleep and then woke up I had no wish to ever to do meth again. I was afraid of it and realized that the pleasure that it brought me was an illusion. I have not used for over 20 years now.

So to break habits or change habits you need to do the following. Find out the pain the habit that you want to change brings into your life. Be honest with your self. Then find out the pleasure that the habits brings. Do the same with the new habit then make sure that the new habit brings more pleasure than old habit and make sure you under stand the pain of not changing.