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Draw Inspiration from Anything and Everything

I had cause to travel to London today, on the first day of the tube strike, along with millions of other who have found their travel plans disrupted. It is not my way to comment on the strike itself, as I respect everyone’s model of the world even if it might affect my plans. I have no control over the London underground, but I do have control over, and accept full responsibility for my reaction to it and my state of mind.

As circumstances would require a trip across the city, an alternative form of transport was required. You could be forgiven for taking on a mood of doom and gloom at the thought of unending queues for the remaining public transport, or even canceling the journey. Instead I found the trip encouraging and inspiring.

Of course the train was late in to Paddington, but people just went about their journey with that steely expression which reveals deep determination if you chose to look for it. Of course the queue for the taxi rank reached almost to the end of the platform, in the direction of Reading (for US readers, that is pronounced “Red – ing”!), but it was thoughtfully inside, out of the rain. I found that uplifting and was able to bath in an attitude of gratitude.

Sure, it took thirty minutes in the queue to get to the front, where you were given a coloured card indicating the area of London you were headed. But it gave you a chance to talk to people around you who you would otherwise never have spoken to or even met. More opportunity for celebration!

It took a few more minutes while you were organised by the marshals into taxi sized groups with the same coloured card, each bearing the identity of the Paddington Station Taxi share scheme and the fixed fare price. There was a feeling of excitement as your group waited for its turn, with everyone listening eagerly to the marshals for their instructions. We looked back along the rank of taxi cabs wondering would we get a black one or one of the odd white ones?

Even the trip across London squashed into the cab was interesting, with everyone in the group chatting, or at least contributing to the banter. When I got out of the taxi at my destination I was impressed to notice that I was still in time for my meeting. In fact I have just enough time to add another post on my blog.

It just goes to show that if you take responsibility for your own personal state, you can draw inspiration from anything and everything, and that way lies personal power.

Have a wonderful day!

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Try the Benefits of Hypnosis

How would you like to be able to get your conscious thoughts so aligned with your unconscious, that you could be, do, have or achieve anything that was humanly possible? Who would like to be able to reprogram their own unproductive responses and install new and empowering strategies, or adopt the behaviors of successful entrepreneurs? Who would like to model the success strategies of great leaders and take on their level of self-belief, enabling empowering change at the deepest levels?

You can achieve these things, and more by using hypnosis and trance states and installing new behaviors and strategies while you are deeply relaxed. In such a state, suggestions pass to your unconscious mind without being filtered by your critical factor. You can adopt the imprintability of a child and absorb new learning from old experiences. With the help of a trusted coach, you can even reprogram your mind body connection and reduce and suppress pain.

I note with interest that Professor David Spiegel, of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in the US, will be telling the Royal Society of Medicine to promote the use of hypnosis as an alternative to general anesthetics for some operations. He suggests that Doctors should be taught to hypnotise patients not to feel pain rather than resort to traditional anesthetics, and that it is time for hypnosis to work its way into the mainstream of British medicine.

The theory behind medical hypnosis is that the body’s brain and nervous system can’t always distinguish an imagined situation from a real occurrence. This means the brain can act on any image or verbal suggestion as if it were reality. Hypnosis puts patients into a state of deep relaxation that is very susceptible to imagery. The more vivid this imagery, the greater the effect on the body.

Dr Martin Wall, president of the Section Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine, said hypnosis fundamentally alters a subject’s state of mind. Hypnosis is not, he said, simply a matter of suggestibility and relaxation.

Interestingly, hypnosis was actually used in medicine before the discovery of ether when, as far back in1843, James Braid discovered that patients could undergo surgery without being rendered unconscious by a blow to the head, the previous technique. However, the practice of hypnotherapy is thought to go back even further, as long ago as 6,000 years, to the ancient Sumerian people, who used hypnosis as a therapeutic tool administered by priest-physicians.

Modern hypnosis is credited to Milton H. Erickson, an American therapist who in the 1950s and 60s began to develop the modern form of hypnosis to help him make health-improving suggestions to patients in a deep state of trance. It is in widespread use today by hypnotherapists and life coaches to improve the health and wellbeing of patients and clients.

Dr David Oakley, a Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Hypnosis Unit at University College London, believes hypnosis is a very valuable tool for assisting psychological therapists. He points out that if there is a good psychological treatment for a condition, then using that treatment while a patient is under hypnosis can be helpful in most cases. The basic idea is that the trance state helps the patient improve imagery, focus their attention and enter a more deeply relaxed state.

Why would you want to be in such a relaxed state? Because it is in that state that your Reticular Activation System no longer acts to filter your reality, and so impose your old beliefs and memories on you. You can remove unwanted beliefs such as those that limit your potential. You can install empowering new beliefs such the belief that you can have do or achieve anything that is humanly possible. You can even overturn years of self-doubt that may have been installed, deliberately or unconsciously, by your peers, siblings, parents or competitors.

The Buddha (562-483 B.C.) is quoted as saying “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.“
Where in your life do you think you could use that power and knowledge? What change would you like to make in order to improve your life and move forward in powerful new directions? What would you like to become?

We show you new techniques to deal with problems, see them as opportunities and clear the way to solutions. We teach you how to listen to your body and your inner voices so that you can live harmoniously with yourself. We leave you feeling confident and powerful, with the tools in your hands to do the job and so reach your full potential.

If you are interested in experiencing the beneficial effects of hypnosis and light or deep trance, why not click on the link below, fill in your details and get in touch.

Click here to contact us

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Life Is About Choices

In these troubled times it is easy to slip into the prevailing mood and blame someone else for all the problems of the world. The Financial system is in turmoil so blame the bankers, or the fat cat corporate executives, or the criminals, or the alignment of the planets. In fact it is easy to blame anyone else or any external factor like the weather, just so long as we do not have to accept any responsibility for what goes on. I believe that this tendency is disempowering and helps to sustain the situation as it is, or even contributes to the decline.

English philosopher Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ I believe that this is what has happened to the world’s financial systems. Right minded people sit back and do nothing when the spiral starts, and the press smells a story. As more people jump on the bandwagon in order to profit from the decline, so the rate of decent increases. Pretty soon hardworking people are queuing up outside the banks, and evil has the upper hand.

However, I chose to believe that I am responsible for everything that goes on in my world, and so can chose to see either crises, or a long overdue adjustment. I can wake up in the morning and see the end of the world, or boundless opportunities. This is how I am always cheerful and up beat, and how I can respond positively to the worst situations that occur in my life.

At the moment I am spending a lot of time counseling people who may lose their jobs as a result of the financial downturn. Without exception they adopt an attitude of fearfulness and depression. When I put a positive spin on things they see only the inevitable catastrophe that will occur when they are told they have lost their job. This disempowering state makes them feel bad, and prevents them from taking any positive actions.

However, if you can imagine, just for a moment, that a change of job might just be a good thing, and start to celebrate the new circumstance, then life has suddenly turned out to be exciting. Imagine then, if you will, what new and exciting things you could be doing tomorrow, that you would not be able to do if you were constrained by your current job. How much more fun could you be having if you had more time to spend on your passions?

Well, if you can imagine that it would be good having more time to devote to your passions, perhaps you can imagine working in a new way, or in a new field of interest. Perhaps you could imagine a new way to earn a living, maybe even doing what you love?

According to popular mythology, there is a Chinese curse which goes ‘May you live in interesting times’. In my philosophy, I chose to believe that this is in fact an opportunity for the recipient to choose their meaning. When I hear this said, I chose to interpret the comment as an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and expand my horizons. When that happens, I accept responsibility for my own life, and I tend to soar to new heights.

How will you chose to interpret the next event which occurs in your life?

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Be a Giver

Earlier this month I included a quotation in my Blog, from a site I came accross while searching for some inspirational material. It resonated in me imediatly, and I could see the sense in it and feel the wave of warmth rising through my body. If you like I had an Ah Ha! moment. The quote was “Once you become a giver than your receiving is on autopilot”.

Although I have been coaching people in this for years, and living what I truly believe to be in accordance with the principle, I have unconsciously always held something back. I have always given something with one hand, while keeping something back with the other.

It is a bit like the old nautical principle, forged in the days of square rigged sail, when seamen would struggle aloft to reduce canvas as the wind blew up. I always wanted to keep one hand for the ship, and one hand for myself.

After I had my moment of clarity, I resolved to commit to giving even more than I had up to now. I wrote those emails offering help, which I had been putting off because of the financial climate. I started helping some of the people who had seemed less deserving because of their negative attitude. I even took a couple of faltering steps towards starting a movement to help kids get a positive start in life by giving them an alternative to drugs.

Would you believe it, as soon as I concentrated on giving, then the phone rang, and an old friend asked me if I would like a couple of free tickets to see Bob Dylan at the weekend! That is the Law of Reciprocity in action.

When you need something, it will show up in your life. I must have realy needed those tickets! Go figure!

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Corporate Change Management

Did you know that two out of three change management projects fail for one reason or another? All too often, major organization redesigns create little, if any, value, yet the cost of change is high. The ability to change is a key differentiator in today’s fiercely competitive global economy. Yet studies consistently show that two out of three major change efforts fail.

Programs to improve corporate organizational performance have become increasingly common. Yet they are notoriously difficult to carry out. Success depends on persuading hundreds or thousands of groups and individuals to change the way they work, a transformation people will accept only if they can be persuaded to think differently about their jobs. In effect, CEOs must alter the mind-sets of their employees, which is no easy task.

Successful change projects usually have some common themes running through them, and the project implementation team have likely been good at the following:

  • identifying the right business issues,
  • pinpointing the right underlying obstacles,
  • adopting the right design characteristics,
  • implementing change the right way.

In the 1998 paper by Jeff Dooley entitled A Whole-Person/Systemic Approach to Organization Change Management, the application of Aikido principles in workplace training was recognized as beneficial. This provides a potentially powerful new form of organizational learning. He points out that there are four organizational layers of this model of nested core competencies, which are listed here, from the outside in:

  1. Structural organizational and work craftsmanship
  2. Group process and teamwork management tools and practices
  3. Leadership through skillful speaking and listening
  4. Leadership through Inner Mastery

It is common for change management processes to deal with and address the first two layers of this model, as they will likely have a structure decided before they start. In a corporate merger, for example the new CEO will probably have identified a central management structure, with two or more divisions, as the vision of a unified corporation. Most change mentors would advocate use of documented processes, lean management techniques, and that the best management tools and practices should be enshrined in the change methodology. Some enlightened project managers might even recognize the importance of leadership in successfully negotiating the many change management hurdles, and include a slide on Leadership in the presentation to the board.

However few would be so bold as to advocate Leadership through Inner Mastery and encouraging effective action through mindfulness and managed temperament. This smacks of mysticism, mumbo-jumbo and is out there with burning insence and Jedi mind power. Unfortunately this limiting decision to ignore something because it is internal and therefore intangible is a fundamental mistake, and could eventually lead to the failure of a change management project.

All meaningful change takes place in the mind of the people involved, and indeed in the unconscious mind of every individual, rather than on a white board or in a process manual. You can have the best, most detailed process charts, but they are meaningless if people just go on doing what they have always done before. To change the behavior or a department or organization it is essential to change the beliefs of the groups and individuals in order to change the way they work.

While Inner Mastery is a key leadership skill, it is not practiced extensively, or even overtly acknowledged. Yet leadership manifested through Inner Mastery could be the key to a change program’s success, or the limiting factor. All responsibility for the success or failure of a change program is internal, and within the control of a project manager if she accepts the responsibility.

In their 2003 article The Psychology of Change Management, Colin Price and Emily Lawson suggest that four basic conditions have to be met before employees will change their behavior

  • A compelling story – they must see the point of the change and agree with it, at least enough to give it a try
  • Role modeling: They must see colleagues they admire modeling the desired behaviors.
  • Reinforcement systems: Surrounding structures, systems, processes and incentive must be in tune with the new behavior.
  • The skills required for change: They need to have the skills to do what is required of them

If these basic conditions are met through a truly effective communication strategy, and the leadership genuinely embrace the core competencies, then the change program is likely to succeed. Put the right systems and tools in place, publish the processes and project plans, and remember – all meaningful change takes place in the unconscious mind.

References:

  1. A Whole-Person/Systemic Approach to Organization Change Management By Jeff Dooley
  2. The Psychology of Change Management, Colin Price and Emily Lawson
  3. Mindfulness in Wikipedia
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Ask For What You Want

All of us have needs and wants. The funny thing is that they arise no matter how hard you try to be self-sufficient. Life has a way of throwing you a curve ball when you least expect it.

I have been taught to ask for what you want – Exactly what you want – multiple times and in the most effective way possible. When you do ask, you may not always receive, even if you really need it and the other person has the power to give it to you without much personal loss.

However, there are two simple ways to receive what you want in life when you need it. Wealth and success are easier than you imagined.

One way is to ask within, “ask and ye shall receive.” What you want will simply show up in your life.

The other way is to give freely and generously when you can. Once you become a giver than your receiving is on autopilot. When you need something, it will show up in your life.

For more on this subject click here to visit ambafrance spirituality where most of this text first appeared. With thanks.

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The Law of Reciprocity

The Law of Reciprocity states that the world gives you what you give to the world. By doing for others you make favorable impressions on them and relationships blossom as you extend courtesy, kindness, honesty, respect, and other favors. Even if favors are small, they accumulate over time, as you build trust and create a history of what to expect from each other.

Some people confuse the Law of Reciprocity with Newton’s third law of motion, where every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Actually the two are subtly different, and the main difference is time. For Newton, every action force is always opposed by an equal and opposite reaction force immediately and instantaneously. There is no delay or latency, and where no external forces are present, the reaction is in a predictable direction and of calculable magnitude.

However, if you give with an expectation of an immediate and equal reciprocation, then you are straying across to Newtonian physics and are likely to disappointed. The principle is that others will reciprocate in kind based upon the way you treat them. People evaluate your actions and motives through giving and receiving, and you may give many times, over many years before you see a return.

Interestingly, the world may reciprocate from a completely unpredictable direction, and may surprise you. If you give to others, with no expectation of direct and immediate rewards then the results will seem almost miraculous and be completely unexpected.

Finally, remember that according to The 7 Spiritual Laws of Prosperity you can’t out give the universe.

Click Here For more on The 7 Spiritual Laws of Prosperity

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What we call reality is just a state of mind

Have you ever wondered about the nature of reality? It might surprise you to know that it is not only philosophers, Zen masters and Deep Thought that contemplate the meaning of life, the universe and everything. Some of my favorite quotes about life come from Albert Einstein.

Try this one for size: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Have you ever come across an accountant or computer technician who used jargon to baffle you rather than explain something? Is it that they do not want you to know something, or is it that they just don’t understand it themselves? That must be why Warren Buffett will not buy a company if he cannot understand their financial reports.

Another Einstein quote defines Insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Where in life do we see this strategy repeated? How many Government IT projects are set up using the same procurement process, the same project management methodology, contracts awarded to the same companies, and even the same individuals running thse projects? Why is everyone surprised when the results are the same?

Physicists argue that reality is something that, while not a purely mind-made construct, can be but the picture our mind forces us to form. In life, we get what we focus on, and what we focus on grows. Some people believe that we are all born rich and successful, and it is though changing our focus that we manifest this as wealth. That is why when given a choice of what to picture, we should always visualize and focus on success.

Update: For more on the subject of reality, see What we call ‘reality’ is just a state of mind from guardian.co.uk