Master Your Monkey Mind January 2019

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COACHING & BUSINESS TOOLS Coach, I’d Like to Buy a Judgment Please INSPIRATION & GROWTH Are we living in the movie Groundhog Day? Master Your Monkey Mind with Mindfulness Open to Love Break the Cycle of EGO. Upgrade Your BS. Dance With Your Dreams in 2019!

Want to Live Long & Prosper? Resolve to Connect 1 in 100,000 Nothing New Under the New Year

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HEALTHY LIVING 5 Simple Tips: How to Improve Your Health in the New Year Turn Up the Heat

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PUBLISHERS Natalie Rivera Joeel A. Rivera, M.Ed.

EDITOR Lisa Cedrone

CONTRIBUTORS Brian Hawley, Leon VanderPol, Ashar Mohammed, Natalie Rivera, Mary Boutieller, Gregg Sanderson, Arielle Giordano, Terez Hartman, Jo Mooy, Alan Cohen, Rena Greenberg

© Copyright 2019 Transformation Services, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.TransformationMag.com

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Are we living in the movie Groundhog Day?

So many people say that they want things in their lives to change, yet they are unwilling or unknowingly ready to change any of the patterns or habits in their lives.

By Brian Hawley You remember that movie of the 90s where Bill Murray is living one day over and over again, and yes with Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog?

Well, what if I told you that most of the population is doing that exact same thing (minus the groundhog, of course). This is especially true if you are in your 30s or older.

Why would I dare make such a claim? Let’s look at some interesting facts. Now I don’t know you, but I would be willing to guess that every morning you follow a routine. You get up on the same side of the bed, put the same leg through your pants first, brush your teeth in the same pattern, and wash yourself in the shower the same way. Oh but it doesn’t end there: You probably take the same route to work, stop at the same coffee place, drive in the same lane (watch out for that pothole that was there yesterday), even interact with fellow coworkers in the same mannerism every day. Then you come home, take your shoes off in the same place and, of 4

course, take the shoe off the left or right foot first as always.

You follow the same repeatable patterns all the way up until you fall asleep.

These patterns have been ingrained in our being for most people many, many years with only slight modifications. This type of patterning causes neurons in the brain to hardwire together and after years it will actually start auto programming the body. Just think, the last time you were taking a drive and drifted off only to mentally return back and realize you drove 40 miles without consciously thinking about it. That was your “autopilot” body programming that took over; this pattern is so hardwired that your subconscious was telling the body what to do.

I hear so many people say that they want things in their lives to change, yet they are unwilling or unknowingly ready to change any of the patterns or habits in their lives.

Why? Because it feels comfortable, the mind and body are used to doing things in a certain way and at certain times.

It feels unnatural to do something different. Many equate

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Danny Wage

that feeling of unnatural to something bad that is happening and shun away from it. In some extreme cases the body will actually fight against change. You may get sick, come down with the flu, develop pains, aches, or a host of other physical ailments—just to keep you from changing.

In order to make a change, we have to change our thought patterns first.

You see most people are doing the same things everyday and they relive the same experiences over and over, and, thus, experience the same emotions, which are sparked by the same hormones being pumped through their bodies. After a period of time the body actually becomes used to getting its hormone fix at a certain time of the day causing physical stressors. It’s not that stress in general kills us, in fact, in some cases stress can be a good thing. Our bodies can handle stress for short periods, and our bodies are pretty well designed to do just that. The antelope being chased by the lion (yup, whole lotta stress going on there) is pumping huge amounts of adrenaline throughout its body to put it in either the flight or fight mode. But say he does

outrun the lion and after a while the threat is gone; he sits under a shade tree and all hormone levels are back to normal. This is what is termed short-term stress.

Let’s apply this concept to us driving to work. Some jerk cuts us off and we yell a few pleasantries, maybe even give a salutation gesture, and he fires back a few as well. Of course, this escalates us to the adrenaline rush for the fight or flight mechanism. Then we see a police officer pulling him over for running a red light and we thank lady karma and all is well and we return to normal. Later, as our mind wonders, Credit: Unsplash/Valeria Zoncoll we relive the experiencePhoto in our minds and since the body does not know real from imagined it starts producing the fight or flight hormones and our breathing picks up, pulse rises, we become super alert and then the phone rings and breaks us out of that thought process, and then we lose focus and return to normal.

The next day we go to work using the same route and pass the area of incident and—without even thinking— we start breathing hard, our heart rate increases, we start thinking about the incident all over again and the hormone cascade starts back up again. The prolonged stress that is brought upon by us continuing to relive events over and over in our minds is what is harmful.

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We on average have 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day, and most are recurring thoughts from previous days, weeks or �ven months.

After a while these become hardwired in our neural system and repeat patterns keep leading us to the same thoughts along with the same emotions and stresses. Then we wonder why we keep getting the same results and same things keep showing up in our lives.

In neuroscience there is a term that goes “neurons that wire together fire together.” If they have been wired together for years due to repeating patterns, then changing things will seem tough and out of the ordinary. This is especially true if emotions and hormones were involved because the body is used to a certain “fix” of hormone at a certain time of day (like when you drive pass that intersection every day at 9 a.m. where the incident occurred). So you have to ask is there any hope? How can we change this?

The first step is to realize that we are master creators, and we really are in charge of what we manifest and what experiences we wish to bring into our lives. Think of our brains as the hardware and the thoughts are the software. Science has now shown that we can change the hardware by changing the software—or, in other words, change the brain by changing our thoughts. When we do this we undergo a process called neurogenesis, in which we create new neuron connections by creating new patterns

and thoughts. After a while of following these new patterns and thoughts our old ones start to die and wither away (neural pruning). After repeating these new patterns, they become the hardwired ones. The trick is to realize when we start to slip back into old thought patterns and observe what we are doing and thinking; science terms this as metacognition. Once we realize we are falling back into our old pattern of things we can then become the role of the observer of the program. That is when we are unattached and can make changes in our attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, words, and actions to reflect the better version of ourselves. When we start doing that on a consistent basis we start seeing things manifest and change according to our will.

Now keep in mind once you start to re�ire your ��ain and change your behaviors you are going to ���getting some strong opposition from your old universe.

The people you used to hang around with are going to be saying, “You’ve changed. You’re not the same anymore. You seem different.” Well that’s because you are changing, your energy dynamics are changing, your focus is changing. You no longer want to go out to the clubs and stay up all night. Instead, you may want to take come self-improvement classes, yoga, meditation, art classes, volunteer or a host of other things that are in line with your new self and universe that you are creating. Your energy will change and will not match old energies, and the people or things attached to them. This is where your inner will has to be stronger than your outer environment. It’s very easy to slip back into old habits and routines they may actually feel better. (It’s because the ego doesn’t like change and will use every trick in the book to keep you from changing.) As long as you stay focused on what you want to see change things will happen and you will start changing things to your will.

When we start doing this we are entering into a whole new universe and we can begin to manifest from the 5th dimension instead of manifesting from the 3rd dimension, which is much more difficult and slower.

May you transform in the New Year!

Listen for Your Calling with Dr. Bryan Hawley Dr. Bryan Hawley has served in the healthcare arena for over 30 years. He has owned several high-end clinics and has traveled all over the United States lecturing and teaching healthcare practitioners. He currently teaches guided meditations and energy work to clients all over the world. He lectures on topics such as neurogenesis, epigenetics, metacognition, and how we can literally reprogram our brains and create the lifestyle of our dreams. He is currently finishing two books on the subject which will be available in January 2019. Contact him at info@drbryanhawley.com.

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Coach, I’d Like to Buy a Judgment Please

Photo Credit: Pixabay/Pixel2013

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By Leon VanderPol

It is always worth it to shine the light of awareness on all the ways we judge others, and to notice the subtle ways that our judgments cause harm.

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What defines unethical behavior? The simplest line I can draw is this: whenever there is harm done to another person, no matter how justified the act, it is unethical.

I know the philosophers in the room could argue this one to death, citing all sorts of situations where harm could be construed as ethical. And who could argue? Ethics is by definition a contextual assessment, a personal framework constructed out of one’s own belief system of right and wrong. By nature it’s gray, and I have just painted it black and white.

Yet for coaches there is, at times, a black and whiteness to it: action that hurts or harms a client is a baseline for determining the ethics of that action.

Coaching stands in support of life coming to life, and harm is the opposite of that stance. If it’s harmful—if it causes pain, turmoil, or distress to another person—it’s unethical.

I once had a client who, after our fourth session, revealed to me that the real reason he had requested a discount on coaching sessions with me (which he did receive) was because he wanted to use the saved money to spend on a prostitute.

It’s nice to think that judgment would not have crept in here, but it did.

Interestingly, my judgment was not that he used a prostitute, as exploring his newfound sexual liberty after a failed marriage was one of our coaching objectives, but that he had deceived me.

That thought would not leave my head, playing like a broken record in the background…and in crept judgment. Oh so insidious! Oh so harmful!

Despite my best efforts to mask it, I have always sensed that my client picked up on it. Judgments, no matter how subtle, are harmful, and this is unethical in coaching. And our clients do not come to buy a judgment.

I’ve never meet a coach who intends to hurt a client, but that does not mean harm is not done by coaches.

What a massive challenge it is for a coach to become free of all judgments!

Judgment is perhaps the most insidious type of harm that can be inflicted.

Do you ever judge your clients?

No? Not once?

I have.

To become a spacious space in which people can show up as they are, and to know that in that space they are as accepted and loved as they will ever be.

Years ago I met a well-known coach who told me how he was once ap-

proached by a billionaire for coaching.

Through their initial conversations, the coach found out the businessman had some dubious dealings, dealings that could be considered unethical if not criminal.

The coach had some very clear-cut ethical guidelines of his own, and despite the significant amount of money being offered for coaching, the coach told the man that until he had cleaned up his unethical business dealings he would not coach him. On one level, I admire the coach for standing strong within his own ethical framework.

One the other hand, I always felt that the businessman was being judged by the coach, being seen as less than worthy of being coached. Being worthy of coaching meant he had to come into the coaching space in a way that the coach deemed acceptable. This always felt off to me, that people would have to meet my ethical standards before I would coach them. At the end of the day I have to ask, was the businessman harmed in anyway by the coach’s words or action? In their interaction, did the businessman feel judged, belittled, made to feel less than?

If so, then in my view the coach violated the ethics of coaching.

It is not the most pleasant of tasks, but it is always worth it to shine the light of awareness on all the ways we judge others, and to notice the subtle ways that our judgments cause harm. The more we clear of selves of this tendency, the better a coach we will be. Not only ethical but infinitely enlivening!

Transformational Coaching with Leon VanderPol Leon VanderPol is an internationally-recognized coach mentor, master teacher, and founder and director of the Center for Transformational Coaching. He is the creator of the Deep Transformational Coaching training program, which now has graduates from more than 25 countries. Leon travels the world teaching people how to catalyze deep transformation in soulful, spirit-based ways. Visit www.centerfortransformationalcoaching. com to learn more about Leon and his work.

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Photo Credit Unsplash/Jamie Street

5 Simple Tips : How to Improve Your Health in the New Year

By Ashar Mohammed

Health is like money, we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.

Yet we often ignore health even at the simplest levels when focused on achieving coaching goals, so here are some quick and easy tips to improve your health in the New Year:

2. DRINK WATER 4. GET SUFFICIENT Approximately 70 percent of the body is made up of water, and H O plays SLEEP Adequate sleep is must to stay 2

an essential role in staying fit and healthy.

Most fruits and healthy beverages (skip the soda, please) contain water that will help the body to stay clean, hydrated, and energetic. Water also helps to flush toxins and waste material from body in the forms of perspiration (sweat) and urine. Fresh, plain water is the most important fluid needed by the body, and we should drink at least eight glasses per day.

1. EAT HEALTHY Good nutrition is one of the keys 3. EXERCISE to a healthy life. Every diet should be balEveryone should keep moving to anced and full of nutrients, with fruits and vegetables at the top of every shopping list. A healthy diet considers minerals, vitamins, fat, carbohydrates, protein, and more. And make sure to say NO to fast food, which is one of the main contributors to poor nutrition. Eat seasonal fruits and green vegetables as much as possible.

stay fit and healthy. Walking and running are easy ways to exercise, and both are beneficial, especially when done outside in the fresh air. Exercise releases mental and emotional stress and can build up muscles.

It also improves heart health and blood circulation. Consider walking for half an hour outside each day.

fit because it relaxes and rejuvenates the body and mind. Proper sleep also will help eliminate many nagging issues including headaches, restlessness, and problems with concentration, etc. Aim to get six to eight hours of rest each night.

5. PUT AWAY THE GADGETS Today, everything can be done

online and everyone is surrounded with gadgets. Mobile phones, laptops, televisions, etc. all emit frequencies that can be disharmonious with the human body.

It’s also advisable not to use a computer screen in a dark room because it strains the eyes. Minimize use of electronics when possible, and don’t leave a cell phone nearby while sleeping.

Pursue Your Freedom with Ashar Mohammed Ashar Mohammed is Nutritionist, Networking Business Coach, NLP Practitioner, Life Coach, and the author of Home Work Out Bible and Healthy Eating. After earning a MBA, Ashar worked in business for his family and on his own for 13 years, until becoming a coach in 2015. Now pursuing his true passion, Ashar has helped thousands of people around the world to achieve their freedom—freedom from disease, freedom of time, and travel and financial freedom. For more information, visit his blog at ashardxn.blogspot.se.

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Master Your Monkey Mind

Master Your Monkey Mind with Mindfulness

Mindfuln with

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ness

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“The outer situation of your life and whate�er happens there is the surface of the lake. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy

and rough, according to the cycles and seasons. Deep down, ho�e�er, the lake is always undistur�ed. You are the whole lake, not just the surface.” – Eckhart Tolle

For most people, the chaos and noise happening around them and within their own minds feels like all there is. They live in a constant state of reactivity, being pushed and pulled by the thoughts and emotions they experience.

They’re controlled by a voice in their head that worries about everything that can go wrong, criticizes them for everything they do wrong, and feels guilty or angry about everything that went wrong.

This voice interprets every situation instantaneously and we don’t question it, just like we don’t question our breathing. It all happens unconsciously, meaning we are unaware of it. And then we feel and act based on the voice’s interpretation.

The truth is that everyone has a voice in their head, including you.

Some people’s voices are nicer than others, but everyone’s voice tends to have the same disfunctions. But the good news—perhaps the best news anyone can ever hear is that:

This voice is not who you are.

If you’ve ever argued with yourself over something or you’ve ever noticed yourself thinking about something ridiculous or you’ve ever talked to yourself in your own mind, then you’ve experienced that there are two of you.

There is the one that does the thinking, feeling, and reacting and there Credit: Pixabay/Free-Photos is Photo the one that is aware of the thoughts,

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emotions, and reactions.

You are that awareness.

You are the presence that witnesses the voice, but you are not the voice.

Knowing this allows you to observe what your inner voice is doing and thinking. This is called self-observation or self-awareness. As you become more and more aware of what has always been going on unconsciously, beneath the surface of your awareness, you become conscious. You wake up from the dream. And the process for developing this awareness is called mindfulness.

The truth is that unless you know what you’re thinking, feeling, or doing, you have no way of changing it.

Simply developing this awareness is the key that unlocks all of your power. Power to direct your own inner voice, choose better-feeling emotions, and making better decisions.

Start by listening to the voice in your head as often as you can. Pay particular attention to any thoughts that repeat.

Be the observer of what is happening inside of you—both the surface of the lake and the depths. See if you can find and

feel the deep calm at the bottom of the lake even when the surface is rough.

As you practice mindfulness and observing your thoughts and reactions, you’ll be able to recognize even more clearly that the presence doing the observing is the true you.

When you notice yourself feeling angry, you’ll observe that the angry part and the part observing it are not the same thing. This is important to know because your true self never becomes disrupted and entangled in these surface level dramas. There is a part of you that is at peace, content, safe, and joyful no matter what is going on around you and in your mind.

Your higher self is untouchable, un-disruptable. Knowing it is always there means you can seek to find it in any moment.

And, just like when the sun dips below the horizon you know that it s�ll exists, even though you cannot see it, this calm, peaceful presence that is you is always there, even if you cannot see it.

As you begin to pay attention with a sense of curiosity to discover what your inner voice is up to, you’ll begin to notice interesting things it does.

Until you de�elop self-awareness and mindfulness, you will likely li�e much of your life on auto pilot, feeling like you ha�e gi�en control of your thought and, emotions to your monkey minde.

You’ll notice when you are behaving in a way that is in alignment with our goals and our values, and when you are not.

You’ll notice when you are smiling even though you are actually sad, or when you say you are fine even though you are not. You may notice you are pretending to be mad when you really aren’t, just to manipulate someone else’s behavior.

Or, you may notice that you are thinking negative thoughts about yourself, making you feel insecure. You may even notice when we are soothing yourself or feeling relaxed or happy.

The last thing you need to know about cultivating mindfulness is that:

what is going on in this moment, you can notice the mind remembering an experience from the past or worrying about the future. But, if you go with your mind TO these past or future places, you lose your sense of awareness. For this reason, one excellent way to develop mindfulness and self-awareness is to pay attention as often as you can to what is happening RIGHT NOW. Pay attention to each step you take, to the noises going on around you, to your breathing. Once you pull your awareness back into the present moment, it gives you an opportunity to notice what you’re thinking.

It is also important for you to know that:

The doorway to all awareness is the present moment.

The next time you notice yourself experiencing a negati�e thought or emotion, it d�e�n’t mean you’�e failed—it means you’�e succeeded!

Most people’s minds have a strong habit of spending a lot of time thinking about the past or imagining, and usually worrying about, the future. But, the power to observe and redirect your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is only accessible when you are focused on the present moment.

When you’re paying attention to

Until you are able to become aware of these negative experiences you have little power over them. So, every time you notice a negative thought, celebrate! Give yourself a high five! Because now you know that this negative thought is NOT who you are.

You are the one in charge and you have the power change the content of your inner world.

TAKE THE 21 DAY MINDFULNESS CHALLENGE! Join me for my new online course, which includes 50+ mindfulness and meditation exercises for mastering your minkey mind, finding peace of mind, and establishing a mindfulness routine going into the new year.

Let’s begin the new year being fully aware, awake, alive!

Use coupon code newyear to take the challenge for FREE! www.transformation-academy.com

Ignite Life with Natalie Rivera

Natalie Rivera is a firestarter, speaker and entrepreneur. She is passionate about empowering others to GET REAL and live authentically. After a decade of living a life that wasn’t hers and developing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Natalie let go of everything and completely transformed. Through her journey to healing she rediscovered her true self and greater purpose—to inspire others to transform their lives. Natalie “retired” from the rat race at 24, put herself through school as a freelance designer, created a non-profit teen center, and later created Transformation Services, Inc., which offers motivational speaking, curriculum development, life coaching, event management, and publishing. She is also the Publisher of Transformation Magazine.

Visit http://www.transformation-academy.com.

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Photo Credit: Unsplash/Juan Pablo Rodriguez

Open to Love

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By Alan Cohen

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If we are wondering what we small, insignificant beings can do in a world that seems to sometimes spin out of control, it is both simple and profound—we can love, each in our own small way.

By Mary Boutieller As we begin another year, I’ve been pondering what this life is all about.

Why are we here, what in the world are we doing with our one and only precious lives, is there a purpose to all of this, or is it as some people say, “We are born, we live, we die, the end?” As I look back over the previous year, I have experienced both joy and sadness. I’ve seen massive good in the world and tremendous hurt, pain, and tragedy.

In this country alone, the nightly news is so awful that I can’t bare it on a daily basis without wanting to numb out my feelings. It feels like we have become a nation wrought with gun violence, hate crimes, addictions, intolerance, disasters—both natural and manmade—and more. So I keep coming back to the fundamental question: • Why are we here?

• What is our purpose?

• What can I do as a small and insignificant human being to make any difference?

The answer, it seems, is actually pretty clear to me… ...I can love.

I can reach out of my protective shell and care about others; I can recognize my own demons and try to find compassion for myself and for others. I can love— in spite of the pain or the desire to curl up and hide in hopes that “it” will go away; I can look in the mirror and look out at those

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in front of me and seek understanding.

There are examples of love all around us: a wife who sits hour by hour at her husband’s side while he waits for a lung transplant; a volunteer who serves dinners at the Salvation Army; grandparents who upend their lives to take in and love a grandchild; the Hospice nurse, all nurses, all volunteers, all teachers; people who lend a helping hand without looking for compensation; strangers who smile at you or say a kind word or give you a hug at just the right moment.

Poet and author Anne LaMott said this:

“Love has bridged the high-rises of despair we were about to fall between. Love has been a penlight in the blackest, bleakest nights. Love has been a wild animal, a poultice, a dinghy, a coat. Love is why we have hope.”

I remember reading a newspaper story a long time ago about a driver who accidentally hit and killed a woman who was crossing the street with her husband.

As the tragedy unfolded and the driver cried in horror at what had happened, the husband, a devout Christian, held him and said something like this: There is nothing more we can do for her; lets you and I pray together for ourselves and our own healing. I’ve remembered that story for so many years—finding love, forgiveness, truth in the midst of pain and loss.

Recently I read a story in a book called Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver, about such love. The story took place in the hills of Lorestan Province in Iran, where a lost child was found alive in the cave of a bear. The parents of the child had left him in the care of a young girl while they went out to work in the fields.

Imagine their horror as they learned that their young child had wandered off and was missing. They and the other villagers started to search, moving further out into the rocky outskirts of the village in hopes of finding the child. It was cold and dark and there were lots of creatures out there, including bears. Many of the villagers gave up and went home, trying to convince the father that this child of his was gone. But he did not give up. He convinced several villagers to keep looking over the course of several days, until they found themselves near some of the caves inhabited by bears.

As they entered one of the caves,

they heard a small cry—the boy was in the cave and so was a large bear. To their surprise, what they found was a mother bear, who had maybe lost her own cub, and who had nursed and protected this little, vulnerable child and kept him alive.

As I read this story, which may be a parable and not a “factual” account, my heart was moved by the unspeakable power of love: the love of the parents and their unwillingness to give up; the instinctual, maternal drive of the she-bear as she fed a helpless, hungry child. True story or not, it reminded me of a kinder, more gentle, hopeful world.

Another story of love took place in the worst of circumstances: a mass shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 people dead. A newspaper article talked about the “Jewish nurse” who treated the shooting suspect, Robert Bowers. The registered nurse, Ari Mahler, was on duty at the hospital that day, panicked with worry that his parents could have been victims in the shooting. And then the shooter was brought to his hospital, needing care. Can you imagine?

When asked how he could have treated this man, Ari said this:

“Love. That’s why I did it. Love as an action is more powerful than words, and love in the face of evil gives others hope.

It demonstrates humanity. It reaffirms why we’re all here…I could care less what Robert Bowers thinks, but you, the

person reading this, love is the only message I wish to instill in you. If my actions mean anything, love means everything.”

I am continually humbled by this message of love when every instinct would be to run, to hurt back, to turn away. I’ve kept this article and have read it several times, as a reminder of what love is and what it can do.

There are examples of love everywhere; we only have to open our eyes to it. And if we are wondering what we small, insignificant beings can do in a world that seems to sometimes spin out of control, it is both simple and profound—we can love, each in our own small way. We can find the strength to reach out, begin again, and be better angels, in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said this,

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Love yourself, seek grace and understanding, show love, and be love in your own unique way. Let go of grievances and imaginary separations and choose to make this world a better place, one simple act of love, of kindness, of compassion, at a time. This is who we really are, and this is why we are here.

The Yoga of Life with Mary Boutieller Mary Boutieller is a Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance. She has been teaching yoga since 2005. Her work experience includes 22 years as a firefighter/paramedic and 10 years as a Licensed Massage Therapist. Mary’s knowledge and experience give her a well-rounded understanding of anatomy, alignment, health and movement in the body. She is passionate about the benefits of yoga and the ability to heal at all levels through awareness, compassion, and a willingness to explore. She can be reached at: SimplyogaOm@gmail.com.

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Photo Credit: Photographerlondon

Break the Cycle of EGO. Upgrade Your BS.

By Gregg Sanderson

“As I watched the dog chasing his tail I thought ‘Dogs are easily amused.’ Then I realized I was watching the dog chasing his tail.”

— Anonymous Photo Credit: Pixabay/Pexels

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The last columns have been about the many ways that Bummer BS affects happiness, and that Be�er BS is be�er. All you need to do is upgrade. Nothin’ to it, eh?

We each have an invisible helper who, in blatant puckishness, helps by hindering. Its purpose is to make us think the BS (belief system) actually works and preserve the status quo.

It’s the biggest obstacle to overcome, and once we get it working for us instead of against us, the rest is easy. I call it Elegant Glorious Obfusca�on, and it’s widely known by its ini�als—EGO. • Elegance makes it so easy for us to spot the BS in others.

• How Glorious is the security of our own superiority!

• We Obfuscate the fact that it’s as much in us as it is in those we observe.

Thus, the quote at the beginning of this ar�cle. Many of us become our metaphorical dog in pursuit of our tail.

The toughest task of the whole happiness trip is to recognize when you get caught up. You can then use that awareness and emo�onal energy to upgrade your BS. That’s where Ego comes in. Most of the �me, it hides in the “J”s* and shows up as control and defense.

Negative Thinking Works.

In a past workshop, we had a client who had been alone and lonely for many years. We traced it back to her last breakup where she vowed, “I’ll never let anybody hurt me like that again.”

The strength of that emo�on was such that she believed what she told herself then. She sabotaged her later opportuni�es for in�macy without realizing it.

Many well-meaning folks will tell you to s�fle or “let go” of the nega�ve feelings. You can do either, but next �me the BS gets triggered you’re right back where you started. It’s like trying to cure a cold by pu�ng li�le corks up your nose.

Emotional energy is powerful.

When your words have a lot of emo�on behind it, your mind accepts what you tell it without ques�on. It works whether the emo�on is ecstasy, terror, or guilt.

Yet Ego tries to protect you from the hur�ul feelings. Forgive it, for it knows not how it works. The first big step to upgrade your BS is to recognize when it’s triggered.

Do you have a right to feel bad? Do you judge the people and situa�ons as evil or wrong?

Do you avoid facing a situa�on or wait for some outer circumstance to change it?

When you feel bad, you don’t feel love or peace. You limit your ac�ons and your op�ons.

You seek control or escape rather than solu�on, and your emo�onal responses are automa�c.

Yes, it’s that simple. Feeling bad is nothing more than not feeling good. Once you set Ego aside and realize you’re in charge of how you feel, the rest is easy, Your Tools: Stimulus>BS>Response 1) Your stimulus: A scene from your life where you got upset. Past, present, or future.

2) Your BS: Your unconscious beliefs that make you feel bad.

3) Your response: The emo�ons triggered by your BS. 4) Better BS: “It’s OK if …” and “I’m OK even if…”

Once you get it that you’re 100 percent in charge of your BS, you can move on to ways to use these tools to the max. Don’t miss next month’s exci�ng episode. *The “J”s: Justification, Judgment, and Justassoonas (Procrastination). See the June, 2018, issue of Transformation Coaching for more details, and be sure you subscribe while you’re searching it out. It’s the best free offer around.

Happiness is BS with Gregg Sanderson

Gregg Sanderson is author of Spirit With A Smile, The World According To BOB. He is a licensed practitioner in the Centers for Spiritual Living, and a Certified Trainer for Infinite Possibilities. His earlier books were, What Ever Happened To Happily Ever After? and Split Happens—Easing The Pain Of Divorce. His latest project is the New Thought Global Network, where subscribers can enjoy the best in New Thought presentations from anywhere at any time. You can see it at http://www.newthoughtglobal.org.

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Dance With Your Dreams in 2019!

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Allison Heine

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By Arielle Giordano

A SIMPLE EXERCISE TO STEP OUT INTO A NEW YOU. Looking back on 2018, what do you know and see? What was most significant about last year? What would you like to let go of and release? What goals and changes did you accomplish?

Imagine that all of the leftover things you are carrying in your mind, body, and spirit are being released from 2018.

Are you are ready for a new beginning?

The less you hold on to from the past, the more you will spring forward! Closing out the past year is an opportunity to reflect and release 2018 and have maximum energy in 2019!

TO DANCE OUTSIDE THE LINES MEANS TO STEP OUT OF YOUR BOX OF BOUNDARIES AND GET OUT OF YOUR WAY!

As a child, were you taught to paint the sky blue, the grass green, and trees with leaves? While painting or coloring did you follow directions and avoid coloring outside the lines? Now imagine stepping out of your own lines into the beyond and a new you!

Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper, word processor document, or phone device. List your responses for 2018 on the left and goals and possibilities for 2019 on the right.

1. List of all the things that you are grateful for in 2018. As you write, open and be in your heart. Feel and fill your heart with appreciation and gratitude.

2. What stories would you like to release in 2018? You may want to let go of stories from the past, experiences, patterns, pain, thoughts, feelings, emotions, anger, abandonment, sadness, fear, unhealthy habits, memories, relationships. You get to choose.

3. List your dreams for 2019. What will you create in the New Year? How can you fill your life with joy and laughter, health, and happiness? What are your financial, health, wellness, exercise, work, career, relationship, and family goals?

4. Be creative and brainstorm changes, experiences, and new ways of being for 2019. Creative expression reaches into the window of the past to know and see the future! Some favorites are: dancing, walking, working out, sharing thoughts and feelings, writing, theater, journaling, making art, building, inventing, doing what you do differently, cooking, baking, being creative, and having fun.

5. List your personal growth intentions for the New Year. With awareness, you have the ability to shift into deeper levels. In what ways will you grow and evolve in 2019?

Relax, and be open and soft in your heart!

As you write your lists here are some suggestions: Be quiet and relax into the deeper, inner you.

While being present, take a moment for you. Enjoy being in your body. Be aware of the sensory experiences of where you are, what you are listening to, seeing, feeling, tasting, and smelling. Be okay with everything as is.

Be with your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. Let go and release pent up energy, tightness, and stress in your body, mind, heart, and soul. Relax into your heart. Be open and soft in your heart. Love you.

Renewal happens when you let it in with an openness and willingness of heart.

Enjoy dancing your dreams in 2019, whatever they may be!

Dancing from the Inside Out with Arielle Giordano Arielle Giordano’s new book, Dancing with Your Story from the Inside Out, was released in March 2017. With a Masters of Arts and Masters of Education, Arielle is an author, professional dancer, inspirational speaker, certiďŹ ed Essentrics/Aging Backwards instructor, and workshop facilitator. She enjoys sharing her gifts and talents with an authentic style rich in the grace of dance, psychology, philosophy and the expressive arts. Her career includes: provisional psychologist, guidance counselor and substance-abuse therapist. As a Lead Faculty Area Chairperson and Faculty Member for College of Humanities at the University of Phoenix, she inspired students with her creative gifts. She also writes for Tampa Bay Wellness, We Woman and Transformation Magazine.

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Want to Live Long & Prosper?

Resolve to Connect

by Terez Hartmann

lay realizing your dreams.

If you’ve ever experienced anything similar to this, the best medicine may actually come in the form of… …Peeps! (And no, not the sugar coma-inducing candy!)

Connecting on a regular basis with a good vibe tribe can be a mega-tool for THE POWER OF POSITIVE transforming your life. PEEPS

A MULTITASKING RESOLUTION?

Welcome to a glorious New Year filled with oodles of possibilities for fab-YOU-lousity!

With the wave of new-beginning mojo at its highest, it’s no wonder that so many of us want to get on and ride it via creating resolutions and declaring intentions for the coming year! …But what if there was a resolution that could actually help you meet MULTIPLE goals at once, AND enjoy the journey even more in the process? If this intrigues you, you may also want to resolve to CONNECT!

FREEDOM WITH A TWIST…

Even though (via the magic of technology) having the freedom to be able to work, create, exercise, date and live on your terms in the comfort of your casa or mobile office is pretty freakin’ awesome, it can be FAR too easy to spend a little too much time in your PJs, live in constant project mode, forget to eat and move, or turn what should be only a passing funky thought into a monster, mind-melting tornado that can deplete your energy, slow your success mojo, and kill your joy. And, when it comes to keeping your resolutions, feeling like you’re going it alone can also make it very easy to lose steam and de24

Being an introverted extrovert (or is it an extroverted introvert?), there are definitely times that I like my cats FAR more than many humans, which results in typically opting out of events that have the highest potential for the dreaded “small talk.” <insert retching sound here> However, I HAVE found that connecting on a regular basis with a good vibe tribe of people who want to thrive can be a mega-tool for transforming your life!

We independent types have many things in common, especially our ability to stand on our own (which is a fantastic thing, indeed!), but often, without meaning to, we can buy into feelings of isolation and start busting our own groove in mega ways. Yes, you may have a gazillion Facebook “likes,” Instagram followers, or YouTube subscribers who shower compliments upon you, but there’s something about creating meaningful, authentic connections— and connecting on a regular basis—that has been proven to have far-reaching benefits for increasing and maintaining well-being, keeping the fires of your career passions lit, helping you follow through on your resolutions and goals, and even help you LIVE LONGER! In a detailed, solution-focused study, researchers have identified five “Blue Zones” (https://www. bluezones.com), which are places on planet earth that have the highest occurrence of health, happiness, and

longevity. In addition to heathy eating habits and active lifestyles, one of the key contributing factors to keeping your chin up AND allowing longevity was linked to what Okinawans call a “Moai” or what I like to call a “Tribe of Five.”

In Okinawan culture, individuals who form life-long, constructive, nurturing, authentic bonds with a group of five or more friends and who meet on a regular basis feel a strong sense of being supported and typically live active, healthy lives into their 100s!

Taking this idea a step further, when you connect with like-minded peeps who share your desire to accentuate the positive and embrace healthy habits, while also creating “accountability anchors” for each other, you not only enjoy all the health and well-being bonuses, BUT are also FAR more likely to stick to your guns and get things done!

And one more thing: On top of feeding YOUR positive vibe and momentum*, meeting on a regular basis with your good vibe tribe allows YOU to get to share YOUR gift of a fresh perspective with another fellow traveler, allowing YOU to get to be a catalyst for fabulous for other peeps! *This BTW, keeps a positive POA, “Point of Attraction” in play = far less “required” action to bring your dreams to fruition!

Yep, resolving to connect is truly THE gift that keeps on giving and could perhaps be THE thing that makes life most worth living!

READY TO RESOLVE TO CONNECT AND FIND YOUR TRIBE? CONSIDER THESE IDEAS:

• Join a like-minded, positive Meetup group (www.Meetup.com) with

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• • • •

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people who share your interests and passions (If you’re a fan of Law of Attraction, Abraham-Hicks, Mindfulness, etc., use these key words in your search).

Volunteer for a good-vibe organization whose mission is all about making a positive difference in your community/the world (FYI: I volunteer for a fab local organization in the greater Tampa Bay area of Florida, USA, that empowers women www.TheAmazingWoman.org ).

Create or participate in a weekly or monthly “Mastermind” group.

Join or start a book club, focused around inspiring reads.

Participate in one-on-one or group coaching to stay on track and keep your inner fire lit.

Create a work-out/wellness tag-team. Establish a group of three to five peeps who want to get and stay healthy, so that someone is always available to be a positive catalyst for helping you eat and drink in ways that energize and strengthen your bod, and keep your dates with the trail, your fitness/yoga class, or to go the gym.

-Even if you are married, in a happy, committed relationship or have a #1 bestie, create a Moai*/Tribe of Five; rather than making one person your “absolute everything,” this allows all parties the opportunity to be “human” and to have “tag-team” assistance/support when needed. Connect/touch base with your Tribe of Five in some way on a regular basis.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON: WANT TO LIVE LONG AND PROSPER—RESOLVE TO CONNECT!

You are meant to see and be seen. You are meant to thrive and be truly ALIVE. You have a story to tell and music in your soul that SO wants to be expressed to and THROUGH you—and even though the act of creativity is in and of itself a great reward, SHARING your ideas, stories, knowledge, and creations with

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Rawpixel

others can give them hope and inspiration, while providing you with another avenue to experience the beauty and wonder of YOUR sweet SELF. Enjoy the fabulous leverage and opportunities our amazing tech has to offer, but remember that there is truly incredible joy, power, support and FUN to be had by showing up and participating in life alongside your good-vibe tribe!

Follow your inspiration and connect with the peeps your soul wants to meet...

And you may just come to see that this may be one of your greatest keys to realizing your dreams!

*For more about Moai and “The Blue Zones” visit: https://www.bluezones.com/2018/08/moai-this-tradition-is-why-okinawan-people-live-longer-better/

ALLOWING YOUR SUCCESS with Terez “Firewoman” Hartmann

Terez “Firewoman” Hartmann,“Your catalyst for all things Fab-YOU-lous,” is the author of Allowing Your Success!, a proud contributing author of Transform Your Life! book one and two, a professional Keynote Speaker/Workshop Facilitator, Singer-Songwriter/Recording Artist, “Allowing Adventures!” & “Savor Vacation” Facilitator, and true Renaissance Woman, and Visionary. She keeps her fire lit by embracing and promoting a lifestyle of “Allowing,” and by using creative expression to elevate and ignite the human spirit, a passion that she shares with her husband, soul-mate and creative partner of over 15 years, John Victor Hartmann. Together they share “Allowing TRUE LOVE” workshops and experiences designed to help others attract, allow, and maintain extraordinary relationships, and create custom jingles and voiceovers in their studio, THE Creativity Express. Visit: http://www.TerezFirewoman.com

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1 in 100,000

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Nathan Anderson

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Jo Mooy

The road to enlightenment requires a commitment that few will stick to over time.

Like small stones or larger boulders on a dirt road, the enlightened path is strewn with mystics, teachers and seekers, sometimes stumbling over each other. Especially at the beginning of it. While the path is long and winding, those who walk it seldom go the distance. It becomes more and more challenging to remain on the road the further along you go. Especially with the magnetic pull and glamour of life’s many distractions.

The road also requires a commitment that few will stick to over time. Even the mystics and teachers often take detours from the road before returning and possibly reaching enlightenment. That’s why the phrase “one in 100,000 seek” is so potent. It’s often difficult to find that sincere seeker. You never know who they are, or where they live. Sometimes they show up unannounced with the briefest of messages. If you’re lucky enough to find “one” take note. For it might be a miracle and just the impetus you need to get back on the road.

While traveling through Colorado this past summer, I wasn’t looking for the “one.” In fact, the “one” never entered my mind until I was caught up in the grandeur of the vistas in front of me. I listened to the stories the whispering aspens told.

Sitting on 10,000 foot peaks and looking

out over vast canyons, I thought about the pioneers who dragged heavy wagons over those same gorges. Amid all their efforts I wondered if there was a “one” among them who pondered the scene and thus became a seeker.

Needing to refill our food supplies, I headed to the little unpainted store in the valley. Gathering up sandwiches, chips, and water I took them to the cashier.

It was hard to tell her age. Her skin was dry and leathery brown. Her hair was lifeless and pulled tight in a bun. She wasn’t very talkative. But, as she placed the items in a bag I noticed her arm. From her wrist to almost her elbow she was covered in bands of bracelets. To my practiced eye, the “bracelets” were malas, but in the middle of nowhere I assumed she wouldn’t know what malas were. So I said, “Your bracelets are beautiful.” She replied, “They’re not bracelets, they’re malas.”

“I know,” said I. There was nothing more for me to say. I studied her for a moment, touched the blue mala, and for the first time, she smiled. “I have many more on my altar at home,” she said handing me the bag of food in dismissal. In a valley, in the Rocky Mountains, in a store with no name, on an unpaved road, I’d stumbled on a pensive woman, whose arm was covered in multicolored malas. I sensed I’d met “one” of the “1 in 100,000.”

A month later I was sitting on a bench in front of a shopping center. I was moaning that this bustling enterprise felt energetically hollow. Some of the people

going in and out of the various stores were robotic. A few ambled along with carts, while others were on a mission. No one made eye contact with anyone else.

Watching the scene unfold, I pushed back into a more comfortable position on the bench to people watch and contemplate humanity.

It was then an old man with a British accent approached me. I had no idea where he’d come from—he just appeared out of nowhere. At first I thought he was a panhandler because he had one hand out in a begging position and the other flat over his chest. As I readied my “can you spare a dollar” retort the man put both hands into the prayer position.

He said, “Good afternoon ma’am. I saw you sitting here and wanted to say that I wish God’s grace and blessings for you on this day, and for all your days.” Then he turned and walked away, disappearing behind a counter.

In a large shopping center, outside a crowded store, while shoppers noisily went about their tasks, a “seeker” sought me. In my reverie of people watching, he had been watching me. Just like the mala-cashier in the Rockies had appeared out of the desolate landscape, so too in a noisy shopping center, in a large city, while I bemoaned the state of humanity, a blessing had come from out of nowhere.

Twice in six weeks: I’d stumbled on not one, but TWO of the “1 in 100,000s.” In a world gone mad with anger, hate, and divisiveness, it may be that the seekers are multiplying. I feel hope again!

Conscious Living with Jo Mooy

Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine.

Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.

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Photo Credit: Unsplash/Fabrizio Verrecchia

Nothing New Under the New Year

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By Alan Cohen

To become new, we must recognize that we never change.

As we enter the New Year, we all hope this year will be better than the last one, and new and wonderful things will come to us. We seek to improve our worldly situations and become better people. But what if the most wonderful thing that could happen would be to realize that we live in a universe absolutely and eternally dedicated to our well-being?

While listening to a classical music radio station, I heard the show’s host announce a cantata by J.S. Bach entitled, “The Spirit Soothes our Weakness.” I was struck by the title, as appropriate today as it was 300 years ago when Bach composed the piece. Even while Bach’s world was radically different than ours, the issues he dealt with were the same. He, too, was plagued by the insistence of the deluded self, and he, too, recognized the empowerment of a spirit-guided life. In that awakening the apparent chasm of time dissolves and we are joined.

King Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” The more I explore what appears to be new and different, the more I realize that, while the world goes through constant change, truth is impeccably reliable.

What works always works and what doesn’t work never works. All else is detail. It is not the parade of events that makes evolution, but the upgrade of consciousness. If there is any evolution, it is the awakening to the presence and power of a kindly reality that far transcends worldly events. Here we come to the juiciest of paradoxes: To become new, we must recognize that we never change.

Healing comes in claiming our inherent eternality. The personality seeks to gain newness by manipulating people, things, and events. The soul needs no newness because it is eternally whole. The part of you that seeks change is not the part that will be fulfilled. What needs to change is to gain the awareness that you don’t need to change. I told you this paradox is juicy!

A Course in Miracles tells us, “Seek not to change the world, but seek instead to change your mind about the world.”

If you attempt to change your circumstances without changing your mind, nothing will change. Change your mind, and everything around you will change. The world is not a cause. It is an effect. Edgar Cayce said, “Mind is the builder.”

Time is a blank screen upon which we project our consciousness and play out our intentions. Any demarcations we make in time come only from our beliefs about it and what we wish to use it for. Most people in Western culture made a big deal about the advent of the year 2000. Meanwhile that same year was the year 5760 on the Hebrew calendar, 4697 in China, and 1420 in the Islamic religion. What year was it really?

The year lives in our minds more than we live in the year. Buckminster Fuller said, “Human beings are the only creatures who tell time and think they have to earn a living.” Whatever we think time is, it is a story we made up. Nothing happens because of time. Everything happens because of the thoughts we apply to it. The only purpose of time is to learn to use it wisely.

If we are going to make something of the New Year, let’s use it to discover ourselves rather than find new and more complicated ways to forget ourselves. Rather than moving more pieces

around the chessboard of your activities, rise above the board so you can see it from a higher perspective. Use the year to make up a new story rather than continuing old stories that lead nowhere. A mythology expert identified 11 plot categories into which all stories fit. That’s it.

So it is with life. We just keep repeating the same stories over and over again, with minor variations that make them seem different, while they are not.

There are two kinds of evolution: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal evolution just keeps playing out the ego’s beliefs and reinforcing its fearful world in more complex forms. Cave men stockpiled rocks to throw at invaders. We stockpile nuclear weapons.

Just more and bigger expressions of the same mentality. Just because technology advances does not mean we are progressing. Seven billion people thumbing smartphones does not necessarily indicate an advanced society.

What people say on their smartphones demonstrates evolution or its absence.

Vertical evolution is measured by the level of consciousness with which we use our tools and toys. The only real evolution is self-knowledge, awakening to the you that never needed to evolve because you were created perfect by God. The outer world is a set of props laid out according to the mind we are using. If you are going to make the New Year new, recognize that time has no power over your life, but you have power over time by recognizing you live beyond it. Pray not for new things to happen, but for a new consciousness. St. Paul said, “Be renewed by the renewing of the mind.”

I wish you the best year of your life because it is the one in which you escape time and claim your eternal self. In this moment you are new because the real you lives beyond time, and you have no age, history, or future.

You just are.

Get Real with Alan Cohen

Alan Cohen is the author of the soon-released Spirit Means Business, illuminating how to succeed with money and career without selling your soul. Become a certified professional life coach through Alan’s transformational Life Coach Training beginning February 1. For more information about this program, Alan’s books and videos, free daily inspirational quotes, online courses, and weekly radio show, visit www.alancohen.com.

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Turn Up the Heat

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Maxim Tajer

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We can change by focusing on the results we want in life and how much it hurts not to have those results.

By Rena Greenberg When my best friend was young, her house caught on fire and, tragically, burned to the ground. Miraculously, her family’s lives were spared. Lynda has told me that what she remembers most vividly about the incident is the unbearable heat and smoke that drove her and her family out of the house and to safety.

I have often pondered that this story is a great metaphor for life. Many of us long for change, but we often wonder why a crisis is necessary to drive us from a disastrous health situation to safety.

Coaching clients often sit with me in bewilderment and frustration, explaining how much they want to be different. I often hear people complain that, no matter what they do, they can’t lose weight and keep it off long-term. Sure, fad diets and popping pills work to some degree, but, if you’ve ever tried those gimmicks yourself, you know that the benefits are very short-lived.

On client, Sandy, said to me, “I know exactly what foods I should and shouldn’t be eating. My dad was diabetic, and I just crave sugar and carbs. I eat pretty healthy, but I always end up bingeing on carbs or candy later.”

Sandy is not alone; I hear this from so many people who are desperate for a permanent solution to weight loss.

Like so many others, Sandy is successful in many other areas of her life. She has a career at the top of the corporate ladder, a wonderful marriage that she has sustained for decades, a great relationship with her children, and nurtured lifelong friendships. “So why can’t I do this?” she cried out in frustration.

At that moment, I thought about Lynda, as a small child, dashing out of the home she loved, gasping for fresh, clean air. Her only motive was to get away from the smoke and heat. That desire put

a spring in her step and adrenaline filled her bloodstream, making her getaway swift and successful.

Think about areas of your life where you succeed. You are motivated, aren’t you? Now before I go any further, I can hear Sandy’s voice telling me, “I am motivated.”

“Why,” I ask her. “What if you were to go on exactly as you are for the rest of your life, at the weight you are right now? Why wouldn’t that be OK?” She didn’t miss a beat. “No. I don’t like how I look, and I don’t like how I feel.”

So the issue for Sandy is to increase her motivation. And it’s not just conscious motivation that matters, but it’s the hidden beliefs of the subconscious that are driving her.

I am not a person who is particularly fond of pain. Like many, I shy away from emotional and physical pain as much as I can. But there’s a secret about pain that I discovered long ago. It makes us take action—and that’s not always a bad thing. When I look back at my life, I must admit that often I have been more motivated by avoiding pain than I have been by wanting something better. In other words, once I realize that my motivation in life tends to be avoiding what I don’t want— at least in many areas of my life—then it makes sense for me to turn up the “heat” when it comes to self-motivation to achieve my goals—whether that’s in regard to a relationship, health, weight, or work.

For example, if I have a project to do, instead of focusing on how much I may not feel like doing it, if I remember how badly I will feel if I don’t do it, or conversely, how much relief I will feel when I get it done, it’s a lot easier to get my subconscious mind to send impulses that

put me to work. Many athletes have confided in me that this is exactly the technique they use to motivate themselves to practice and achieve their best game. In fact, it’s very common for athletes to use self-hypnosis, as I do, to make their goals much more achievable.

The key to success with all our goals is remembering how much we want to achieve them. But that’s not enough.

Not only do we have to dangle the carrot in front of our own eyes... ...whether that carrot is a beautiful, healthy, sexy body; a sense of great accomplishment when we finally write that book and people tell us how much they benefited; or a husband or wife looking at us adoringly... ...we have to go a step further and link that carrot to a new behavior.

This action step may be something that you don’t feel like doing right now. You may say to yourself, “Yes, I want the great body, or the sense of accomplishment that will come with finishing that book, or a happy, healthy marriage, but I don’t want to do the work.” I’m sure this cycle of pain and frustration is very familiar.

Most of us have been through it in one area of life or another.

How can you break the cycle of procrastination and self-sabotage?

Turn up the heat!

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Forget about what you do want because even though you may be on a spiritual path and only want to focus on the positive, it’s time to be realistic.

Why? It’s because the positive may not be enough to get you to take action! So, what is? What motivated me to take action to live the last 30 years at my ideal weight and health is the fear of what my health might be like if I didn’t put that attention into my eating and lifestyle.

For me, health has always included the mental, physical, and emotional aspects of well-being. Since my 20s, I’ve known intrinsically that what I eat and how I live could completely reverse my destiny. I could literally change the outcome of my life from being a very unhealthy, sick person to being a motivator for wellness and health.

When I first started, I don’t know if the thought of helping other people onto a new, healthy road even would’ve been believable to my subconscious mind, the seat of all behaviors. But the fear of being sick and tired sure was, and I took advantage of that by linking every harmful food to painful, negative feelings.

Though spiritual growth is my greatest value and joy in life, my message and teaching to others is to live practically.

How do you change? One way is by focusing on the results you want in your life and how much it hurts not to have those results. Why focus on how sad you are that you’re not going to fit into a size 2 when that really isn’t a good enough reason anyway? For me the thought of diabetes and all those complications, and the chill that ran through my spine when I contemplated that, was a much stronger and more effective motivator.

In parenting, my marriage, my career, my health, and in all my relationships, I have found over and over that the fear of what I don’t want and how easy it is for me to create what I don’t want has driven me to the empowerment of taking the action steps I need to take to get what I do want.

For that, my heart is filled with gratitude.

Ultimately, self-hypnosis and hypnosis are about taking control of your destiny by figuring out how to inspire yourself to do what you really want to do. The mind thinks in pictures, and when you link the inner images of what you really want

to your new behaviors, you’ll find that you can attract a new life of health, peace, and happiness with ease and grace.

As we bring in this wonderful new year of 2019, it’s time to start changing the old patterns of the past. Fear that’s debilitating and just causes you to waste time worrying is useless. Make a list of how you want your life to be in the areas of health, relationship, finance, and personal fulfillment.

Now thinK of three action steps YoU Need to taKe in each of these areas to get closer to what YoU waNt. imagine what YoU waNt. Finally, turn up the heat. How are you going to feel when it’s December 2019 and you’re no closer to your goals than you are today? Is that OK? Why not?

Be kind to yourself, but at the same time, feel the heat a little. And let that heat be a reminder that you have everything you need. You can do it and it’s time to take action!

Love Life, Live Happy, Live Healthy with Rena Greenberg Rena Greenberg, a Hay House author, can be reached at EasyWillpower.com. Her weight loss and gastric bypass hypnosis success has been featured in 150-plus news stories including USA Today, Woman’s World, The Doctor’s, CNN, Good Morning America and Nightline. PBS stations nationally aired Rena’s show, “Easy Willpower,” in August 2015. Her wellness program is sponsored in 75 hospitals and 100-plus corporations.

She conducts hypnotherapy sessions with people all over the world on Skype.

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We believe that self-employment is the ultimate form of empowerment. Our mission is to bring you guests whose powerful entrepreneurship stories and real-world advice will give you the inspiration and tools to create a business and life that you love.

Meet the first 6 guests (ourselves included)!!

Listen on our website or your favorite podcast app or watch the video version on our YouTube channel.

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