I’m a massive fan of having rituals, especially morning rituals . In his book The Miracle Morning Hal Elron tells us how to wake up early and create a morning ritual, which will set up our days and ultimately help us to achieve our goals.

Affirmations

Our morning should start with affirmations and in Hal’s book, we also discuss Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, as a way to get our mind-set right.

Life Purpose

Without a life purpose, our life is aimless. The book also shows us how to first define our life purpose. This is the WHY that we need, to give us the motivation to get up early. Before we embark on our miracle morning Elron implores us to spend some time first defining our life purpose. The alarm clock will then actually be our reminder to go after this big picture.

Accountability partners.

Another thing we will need, as we try to change our lives for the better, is an accountability partner. This can be someone like minded, who will buddy with us on our journey. The idea is that if you promise your partner to catch up with each other at 6am (or whatever); you are more likely to actually get up at 6am. Hal tells us we can find these partners on Meetup.com or through networking, if there is no one who you have in your current close circle.

The steps to set up your Miracle Morning

1. Firstly the night before, set the intention that you will rise early and be energised.
2. Next move your alarm clock to the other side of the room, so that you aren’t tempted to just press snooze.
3. Once you are up and about, get yourself a drink of water straight away. Much of our grogginess in the morning is due to dehydration, so a good swig of natures finest will perk us up.
4. Next you could brush your teeth and splash water on your face. Again this will perk you up.
5. You could even shower before your routine. By then you will be almost fully awake.

The miracle morning routine

What should you put in your miracle morning routine? Well that is completely up to you although, Elron advices exercise, meditation and visualisation. Then finish off your miracle morning by planning your day out.
By this time you will be fully in to your day and ready. I would advise also, as an addition, that when you start your working day, you concentrate first on those major income generating activities first. After your miracle morning routine you will be at your most productive, so use this time to its fullest.

The post How to Wake Up Early appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

The subconscious mind is influenced very easily and if you don’t watch out you might find external influences can start to control you. Here are six ways that you can influence the subconscious mind yourself, so that you can take back control.

Affirmations

Affirmations are the second gateway to the subconscious. The repeating of a short statement or mantra will influence the subconscious as a command. There are some rules to this though. For affirmations to work, they need to be positive, specific and the present tense. For instance, “I am now a size ten”.
Belief is the foundation of all achievement. If you believe you can do something, you will. If you suspect that you don’t believe in your goal, you can change this by the use of affirmations. You can saturate your mind with positive expectation, until you believe.
If you think about it, we come into the world as babies with no beliefs, we are a blank page so to speak. Our beliefs are then formed by experience, repetition, indoctrination or suggestion. There are a thousand and one ways; such as throw away comments by well-meaning relatives such as:

“You’ll get fat if you eat that” (not necessarily)
“Clear your plate so you grow up big and strong” (what even when my stomach is full already?)

If you repeat something often enough it becomes a strong belief. Therein lies the solution. In my book on The Habits for Fat Loss, I go into how you can identify limiting beliefs. If can identify your limiting beliefs, then the next stage is to write out an opposing positive belief, in the form of an affirmation. For example if you identified a belief such as “I don’t like the way I look” the opposite would be “I love and value my body, I am perfect as I am”. Write out your positive affirmations on a card and read them out aloud as soon as you get up and just before bed. Read them throughout the day, as much as you can. Again, repetition is the key. Ideally repeat 50 times per day, for 60 days.
It may feel awkward at first, you may not really belief what you say, yet. You will believe soon. So how long should you do it for? You do it for as long as it takes.

Gateway NumberThree – Visualisation

The third gateway to the subconscious mind is visualisation. Visualisation is seeing in your mind’s eye the results you want to achieve, before they actually occur. It can also be mentally rehearsing a process.
The subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. Picturing yourself achieving your goal or performing the habit will actually train yourself to do it. Next time you need to deliver a presentation or performance – visualise yourself doing it before the event. Then see how it goes.

Gateway Number Four – Acting as if

Acting as if, or fake it until you make it. Does this really work? Try this then:
Smile. Go on a cheesy daft grin. How do you feel? Are you happier?
The mind and the body are part of the same system. For this reason, we smile when we are happy, but we are also happy because we smile. But what about skills such as social skills and being outgoing. It can be uncomfortable and potentially embarrassing, to pretend to be outgoing. But if you force yourself to be a little more outgoing and sociable every time you go out, eventually your subconscious will learn that this is the new you. You will then become that which you pretended to be.

Gateway Number Five – Influence

External influence is very powerful, probably the most powerful gateway to the subconscious.
We have evolved to conform to the group, so that the group becomes stronger. In evolutionary terms, if the individuals in a group are like each other, they will stick together. If the group or tribe sticks together and the individuals are safe, then that group will survive.
If an outsider joins this group, there is a strong subconscious influence on that individual to conform. For instance if an overweight person starts to hang around with thin people, they will slowly start to change their habits. This is all at an subconscious level. The tip would therefore be to hang around people who you want to be like and avoid those that you don’t want to be like.

By the way if you are looking to lose weight contact me and I will show you how I did it.

Gateway Number Six – Authority or the Master and Apprentice

What do you do when you are driving down the motorway and you see a police car? You automatically slow down.
Or, what if a man in a white coat and stethoscope tells you to take a pill? Are you more likely to believe him? Yes, you subconsciously believe him. This is the power of authority and it has been used and abused since Adam was a lad. This is because we will unconsciously defer to those who we perceive have a higher status than ourselves, rightly or wrongly.
So how could we use this to our advantage? You can find someone who is already doing whatever it is you want to do. If you spend time with them, you will unconsciously learn their habits. This is why the old master and apprentice model and is also a very powerful way to change.

Gateway Number Seven – Therapy and Coaching

You could find a teacher or coach who you trust to coach you into changing. A good coach should be able to communicate to your subconscious. They should be trained to use language carefully, so that it has a positive effect. They may be trained to use certain techniques designed to influence the subconscious mind, such as hypnosis or NLP. If you would like to learn more about my coaching methods, then please do email me. My address is at the end of the book.
Do you have a goal you want to achieve or a habit you want to change? If you use as many of the seven gateways as you can, you will find that your success rates will increase.

The post Six Ways to Influence the Subconscious appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.

The more focused your mind is, the quicker your results will be. A good analogy is focusing the sun’s rays with a magnifying glass, to create fire. In the same way, you can focus your mind on your objective. Another word for focus is concentrate and that is exactly what you should do – concentrate.

Be Specific

Be very specific about your goals and dreams as much as you can. Think of your subconscious as an ever-faithful servant. Whatever request you give it, it will act upon, sometimes literally. Ask it for more money and it may go and find you 1p. So be very specific about what you want. See my book  Done: How to Achieve Your Goals and Make Your Dreams Come True, where I go into a lot more detail.

Cut out the Unnecessary

To help you to focus, you must cut out all the unnecessary distractions in your life. As your focus becomes scattered, so do your results. Firstly cut down (or even cut out) TV, radio and surfing the net. Much of today’s media is commercially lead. Program makers want you to be distracted; they want you to think in a certain way, so that you buy their products. Cut down on your information and you will allow you mind to concentrate.
Next, review all your commitments. I’m not going to tell you what you should commit to, but if there is too much going on in your life, you will make slow progress. I’m also not suggesting that you become like a single-minded Olympic athlete, who only lives for one moment every four years. Although the closer you can get to this state, whilst maintaining balance, the better.

Adopt the Positive

Cutting out the unnecessary is a constant process, be discerning about what goes on your radar. Whatever you allow your attention to focus on, adopt the positive. Life happens, but if you can find the positive in as much as you can, then your life will transform. Having a positive mental attitude is not the same as deluding yourself. If you are in debt, telling yourself you are not is delusional. However if you ask the following question, you can start to change anything round.
What is great about this situation?
This is one of the most powerful questions you can ask. Asking yourself this question forces you to search for an answer. You trigger the Reticular Activating System in your brain, to search for an answer. This answer probably won’t come straight away, but it will come eventually.

Affirmations

Belief is the foundation of all achievement. If you believe you can do something, you will. If you suspect that you don’t believe in your goal, you can change this by the use of affirmations. You can saturate your mind with positive expectation, until you believe.
If you think about it, we come into the world as babies with no beliefs, we are a blank page so to speak. Our beliefs are then formed by experience, repetition, indoctrination or suggestion. There are a thousand and one ways; such as throw away comments by well-meaning relatives such as:

“You’ll get fat if you eat that” (not necessarily)
“Clear your plate so you grow up big and strong” (what even when my stomach is full already?)

If you repeat something often enough it becomes a strong belief. Therein lies the solution. In my book on The Habits for Fat Loss, I go into how you can identify limiting beliefs. If you can identify your limiting beliefs, then the next stage is to write out an opposing positive belief, in the form of an affirmation. For example if you identified a belief such as “I don’t like the way I look” the opposite would be “I love and value my body, I am perfect as I am”. Write out your positive affirmations on a card and read them out aloud as soon as you get up and just before bed. Read them throughout the day, as much as you can. It may feel awkward at first, you may not really belief what you say, yet. You will believe soon. So how long should you do it for? You do it for as long as it takes.

Repetition

How often should you look at your goals and recite your affirmations? Once or Twice a day? – do it as much as you can as often as you can. You need to brainwash yourself. (Wash your brain?). Live your goals and dreams now, so that you can see them and feel them in your mind as you go about your day. Live your vision of your future now.

The post Focus appeared first on Mike Holden Sales.