Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

 

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you harness the power of your mind.

 

THE CHALLENGE

 

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"What is the value of the questions that I ask myself?"

 

THE PROMISE

 

Ask yourself this question to boost your brainpower and to become better at solving your own problems.

 

 

THE TIPS

Whether you like it or not, you are destined to encounter problems during your lifetime, it is simply part of the experience of being human.

But for human beings, it is not the problem that is important, but how we go about solving the problem that matters most.

Whether you realized it or not, you are constantly thinking to yourself and solving problems in the form of self-talk.

Think about when you ran into that old friend from high school and you were struggling to remember their name.

When you ask your subconscious to get it for you, it will usually come back with the right answer, although maybe not at the time you are face-to-face.

When you ask your subconscious a question, it has no choice but to return an answer to you. You can use this fact to your advantage. Here's how.

First, make sure that your internal-dialogue is positioned to help solve problems. Monitor the discussion, will this conversation move you closer to what you want?

If not, then the quality of the questions you are asking yourself may be the first place you want to change.

What if you could change your life just by changing the questions that you ask yourself? Yes you can, you were meant to, and you can start training yourself to ask better questions.

The moment you wake up tomorrow morning, and before you begin thinking about your day, ask yourself:

"What is the value of the questions that I ask myself?"

This question will give you an idea of whether major changes are needed, or perhaps just a tweak here or there will do the trick.

 

"Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." --- Anthony Robbins

Half of your problem-solving power should always be devoted to clearly and accurately defining the problem. An accurate diagnosis is half the cure.

When you know exactly what the problem is, you are already that much closer to implementing a feasible solution.

 

Without knowing the exact nature of the problem, you will not very well-equipped to solve it, no matter what the situation. 

For instance, if you were unsure why a friend was upset with you, and never took the time to understand why, then how easily could you solve the problem?

 

Probably not very well. Luckily the ego will usually rectify this problem, so you don't have to worry about it, through its usual avenues such as justification, blame, denial, anger, etc... 

Some people would write-off the friends behavior as too weird or rude to be bothered with, some people even perhaps would ignore their friend until they "disclosed" the problem.

 

The problem with going this route is that by the time you two actually sit down and talk, there will be an emotional dam between you both that feels like it is about to burst.

Then, the best question from this lowered mind-frame and highly emotional vibrational state, would likely be: "What is your problem anyway!?" 

However, this question often doesn't solve the problem, in fact, it usually makes the situation much worst.

 

The real issue of why your friend is upset needs to be answered from a different level of thinking then what created the problem.

 

The real question is not what their problem is but, rather "How can you solve it?".

Which approach do you personally think would be more effective for you, or if it was used on you? Of course, knowing the problem is half the battle.

Therefore, you can immediately increase your personal effectiveness through the use of critical thinking questions. 

A good question will clearly define the problem, uncover any false assumptions, and help your mind focus on a solution.

When it comes to problem-solving, it is not the problem itself, but your perception of the problem that will make the most impact towards a solution.

 

For example, asking quality questions such as "What do I already know about this person/topic?", or "How have I solved problems like this before?" will help you tap into your existing experiences in order to better brainstorm solutions.

 

You must always focus on how you can be more personally effective, the moment you let up your lower-priority activities will start to consume all of your time, keeping you busy and burned out.

 

The key to personal effectiveness is the quality of questions that you ask yourself. You can take stock on the quality of your current level of questions by asking yourself:

"What is the value of the questions that I ask myself?" 

 

THE SECRET 

The power and affect that quality questions can have on your life is unquestionable. 

First, by thinking about quality questions you become more aware of the (normally unnoticed) conversations that you have with yourself.

 

This awareness will help you observe whether your self-talk is effective towards your goals or not. Are you treating yourself as an unconditional nurturing coach, or a conditional constant critic?

This will help you start to develop a less-biased opinion about whether your actions and self-talk are reinforcing your success, or in fact negating it.

Quality questions will also help you improve the quality of your inner self-talk, the conversations and commentary you have inside your head.  

  

When you master the anatomy of a quality question you become free to explore the future freely, and also where your past choices have taken you. 

When you are free to explore your self and experiences, you will now start to develop your natural navigation system, use this to hone in on your dreams.

  

The more valuable questions you ask, the more each quality answer will bring out the capable and confident person inside of you.

The goal of any quality question is to build a framework for success inside your brain, a process to use yesterday's and today's experiences in a positive way tomorrow.

With quality questions you can find a way to win, or at least walk away with one lesson to apply in the future, regardless of whether the experience was good, bad, or ugly.

Asking yourself quality questions is about finding better questions to bring about a better experience for all those involved.

Here is an off-the-cuff example. Imagine for a moment that you have this annoying habit that you want to break, i.e. you tend to talk too much when you are nervous.

You've determined that this isn't working for you and you want to change it, the first question you might ask yourself is: "Why do I over-talk when I am nervous?"

Again, all you need to do is ask your subconscious a good quality question, and then patiently sit back and allow for an answer.

 

Perhaps you will discover that you tend to talk more when you are nervous, because you feel uncomfortable with silence.

What happens when you are not sure what to do with an answer you receive? In this case, all you have to do is ask your subconscious another question.

Continuing with the example, you know that it's feeling uncomfortable with silence that is the problem, now you can ask your subconscious why.

The question you might want to ask now is, "Why am I uncomfortable with silence?" and then allow you sub-conscious to answer.

Maybe the 'reason' that returns to you is that you are uncomfortable with silence because you have low self-esteem.

What could you do at this point? Well you could continue to ask another question, i.e. "why you have self-esteem", and continue to go down the path of your problems.

However, consider now how much more empowering it would be to transport yourself into the realm of solutions?

How about instead of asking "why do I have this problem", you shift your questioning to "what can I do about it"?

In our over-talking example, how about switching from why you are uncomfortable with silence, to "what can I do to not be so uncomfortable with silence?"

Or, instead you could ask yourself, "In what ways can I communicate more confidently and concisely?"

Now you have shifted the emphasis off of diagnosing the problem, and switched on to finding a solution for the cure.

This works better because now you don't even need to solve your low-self esteem, because if when you find a way to be a more powerful and confident speaker, your self-esteem will have to match right?

Can you see how this little shift in thinking can make a huge difference. If not, go back and read it again until you get it!

By asking your subconscious questions you can begin to tap into your true power.

Stuck in a situation right now and still not sure where to start?

How about asking yourself a quality question such as: "What does success look like for me?", or "How can I turn my current situation around to best suit me?", or "What question have I not asked myself, but if I did, would lead to the greatest increase in the quality of my life?"

The better questions you ask yourself, the better answers you get, the better results occur, and better quality of life you will live.

Ultimately, quality questions add balance to your way of thinking, nurture your way of doing, and help to discover the consciousness behind being.

You can get a start to discover the power of your questions by asking yourself: "What is the value of the questions that I ask myself?"

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you get to the bottom of any unwanted behavior.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"Why do I do what I do?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question whenever you wonder what is at the root of your behavior.


THE TIPS

No matter who you are, or where you live, there is only one measure of success; to be able to live your life in your own unique way.

We all have different ideas of what life as our "ideal" self looks like, but, how many people live up to their own personal standards?

Certainly by the evidence one can see that it's not the majority of people in this world.

Yet, we can all safely contend that no one "intentionally" wants to end up unhappy and not their ideal self, so what happens along the way?

We all have a built-in "ideal-self" meter, which means we know deep down inside if our actions align with our highest vision, or at least we know when our current lifestyle choices do not fulfill our deepest desires.

Research tells us that as many as 7 out of 10 people are working in their jobs "just to pay the bills" or "out of necessity".

If we could fast forward our lives to where we are unhappy, miserable, mid-life crisis, we would learn that sacrificing our self for money is a complete sell-out.

Yet how many of us are doing these right as we speak, saving the excuse their diversion from purpose is a learning experience.

Why not challenge yourself to start this learning experience earlier? How about striving to experience learning who you truly are?

Besides, is it not more a necessity to be who you are and to find a way to prosper from just being?

How would you like to pay the bills by being yourself?

How would you like to do what you loved and get paid for it?

Well yes you can, in fact it's not only your birth right, you can start moving towards it right at this moment.

It's called being in unison, and it means you are living your life authentically, answering your calling, discovering your true purpose.

It's exactly why people like Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Rachel Ray, and Jimmie Johnson don't work to get paid.

These people wouldn't consider doing what they love as work, they would do it regardless of whether they get paid. This is important.

All these people do is express themselves, live their passion, and they are remunerated and rewarded accordingly. Handsomely, we may as well adds well.

So what is the secret, why is the case of people living in their unison the more exception rather than the rule?

Ask yourself "What really prevents me from living my life authentically?"

Identify and commit to what you will have to do differently to make any changes happen.

Remember, nothing in your life will change until your behavior does.

Therefore, in order to change behavior you need to know why you behave that particular way to begin with.

We are all like computers and our behavior are like software programs.

At any time you can install and update old software versions with new more relevant replacement beliefs.

A good question to start probing into your behavior is to ask yourself: "Why do I do what I do?"

Give yourself permission to explore, and don't be afraid to discover the underlying causes of undesirable behavior.

Be patient with yourself and dig deep until you've found the root.

When it comes to living authentically, and fulfilling your deepest desires, it is never to late to start and always too soon to quit.

The only thing worse than a quitter is a person who is too afraid to begin.

Start today and begin by asking yourself the question: "why do I do what I do?"


THE SECRET

The billion dollar question is why do you behave in the way that you do?

If you don't know exactly why, then how do you ever expect to change, or correct your behavior?

Isn't that like playing a game that you have no idea about the rules?

Try playing chess, tennis, hockey, baseball or any game for that matter completely ignorant of the factors that you can control.

Chances are you would spend all your energy, attention and focus in areas that would bring you little reward or gain.

You would be making errors and mistakes left right and center, and the worst part is you wouldn't even know why.

Now you can see why so many of us are walking around frustrated about effecting positive changes to our behavior. We don't know the rules of the game!

In order to effect positive change to anything in your life you first need to know how to control human behavior.

So what do you really think determines human behavior?

Is it our circumstances? No, we are all dealt with a different hand, it's not the cards but how we play them that counts.

Is it our skill? No, because experience shows that success is due less to ability than it is to attitude.

Is it our parents? No, because our behavior can go either way, we can be alot like them, or a lot not like them.

Is it our personality? No, our personalities reflect our behavior as opposed to changing it.

Is it our habits? No, even the worst habit can be replaced with a more empowering one.

What determines human behavior then?

Ok... if you're stumped let's approach the situation from another angle by asking some other questions:

"If you knew a quicker, safer, hassle-free way to improve your life would you go that route?"

Yes, of course. So your driving behavior is only limited to the navigation system of the driver.

How about "if you knew how to lose weight effectively would you take it and apply it"

Chances are yes, and you would use this knowledge to alter your eating behavior.

What if "you could find out the money blocks that are holding you back from abundant prosperity, would you want to know?"

Again, the answer is absolutely yes! You would immediately apply these lessons to make more money flow into your life.

Would you then also agree that the only reason that you are earning your current level of income is because you don't know how to make more?

Obviously, because why would anyone still choose to make anything less?

No one would. Just like if you knew how to make a billion you wouldn't settle for earning a million. At least Donald Trump and Warren Buffet wouldn't.

So what is the main ingredient that is in all of these above scenarios?

The answer is knowledge. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is the application of information.

Wisdom is the experience of that knowledge.

Therefore, it all begins with an idea, or new information being inputed into the brain.

"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions" - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

With better information we make better choices right?

Better choices lead to better beliefs, better decisions, and stronger action.

Our actions repeated over a period of time is what we call behavior.

Information is what allows us to change our behavior and replace our habits.

Awareness is the first and most important step of changing any behavior. You cannot change what you are not aware of correct?

Once we become aware of something that we want to change, we can use that information to make adjustments.

What do we use to make adjustments? More information of course.

Everyday you are either moving towards or away a more authentic life for yourself.

How you recognize, accept and change the information will determine your degree of success in life.

An amazing way to ask for more information to come into your life is through quality questions.

The question to ask yourself to begin with is "Why do I do what I do?"

Write your answers down, discover your triggers, your interests, your conscious contradictions.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

 

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you get out of your own way in order to open up the floodgates and let your wildest dreams rush in.

 

THE CHALLENGE

 

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"How can I be more allowing?"

 

THE PROMISE

 

Ask yourself this question whenever you meet resistance in your life and it will help reduce your discomfort and attract more success.

 

 

THE TIPS

Most people are familiar with the Law of Attraction made famous by "The Secret", but did you know there is also a Law of "Allowing"?

Don't worry, you are not alone, if you haven't heard of this important universal law.

Yet, those who have heard of it, and applied it into their lives, are happier, more fulfilled and seem to instantly attract whatever they desire into their lives.

Would you like to know how to tap in to the law of allowing in order to bring better results more quickly and easily into your life?

If happiness, joy and abundance is what you really want, then you need to take a moment and consider the question "how allowing am I right now?"

Do you allow others to be who they are? Do you fight against their beliefs? Do you think that if one person gets their way, that you can't get yours? 

How often are you in opposition to the situation? In what ways to you "resist" the people, places and things in your day?

Look at any areas of resistance in your life as prime indicators of areas that are in need of more allowing.

Whenever there is resistance in your life, there will also be accompanying negative emotions.

Resistance is like putting on the emergency or parking brake while trying to drive. Sure you can still drive with it on, but the performance of the vehicle is greatly diminished.

The problem is that many of us fear what we truly want, which is why we put on the brakes to begin with.

We ask, pray, and intend for our desires to be manifested and right before they are, we say "whoa wait-a-minute", "hold-on", "stop".

We think, who am I too have this? Why do I deserve this? Am I even worthy enough? 

Meanwhile, the universe is trying to give you whatever you want, but you are stating to it through your actions that you are unsure if you want it.

Then, when you finally decide that you want something, you decide that you want it yesterday!

However, no matter how skilled or resourceful you are there is always a time lag between the original conception and the manifestation or achievement of the goal. 

Then when it doesn't show up today, you begin to doubt and question whether or not you can even attract it.

A vibrational state like this places counter-thought, and counter-intention, into whatever your trying to attract and acts like a parking brake to your pleasure.

No matter how much you work, and work, you will still not succeed, because the effectiveness of your action is dependent upon your state of being.

This is important to understand, because the more time you put into being against anything, the less time you have to spend bringing positive things into your life!

The creative process takes time! Allowing what is wanted, essentially keeps your attention on the wanted thing, and off of the fact that you don't have it yet. 

Imagine if you could find a way to take your foot off the brake and live life full throttle?

Understanding the law of allowing is easier than you think, but it is the practice of what you know where the challenge lies.

The most important thing to remember is that whatever you focus on will expand into more of it.

If you spend your time, energy and attention focusing on the "resistance" the "disagreement" with whatever is, you are creating a vibrational state to bring you more of the same.

Therefore it is of the utmost importance during the process of manifestation that no matter what happens you remain committed to focusing your energies on that which you intend.

This keeps your vibrational signal oriented in the right direction, and allows you to rendezvous with the people and resources that match up with you.

By not resisting the wanted thing you allow the law of 'like attracts like' to work in your favour.

The law of attraction is able to work more effectively when you don't resist the wanted thing and allow the process to take place, whatever it is.

Do you truly want whatever you want... or are you more concerned about the process in which in manifests?

If you don't care how it comes, only that it eventually comes, then allow your thoughts and feelings about the process to relax. 

By relaxing into your creative process you strengthen your intention and become a more powerful attracting magnet for the things you want, and a more effective co-creator.

For example if you want to be more wealthy and you thought it was going to happen via the lottery, and you ended up getting a promotion would you be upset?

Think about this story and how it parallels in your life. What in your life do you say that you want more of, but are too 'attached' to the details of how it happens?

If you truly desire whatever that is then you will want to spend your time and effort on allowing more.

Even after you bravely recognize the need to become more allowing, you still may get lost in the contemplation of exactly how to do that.

One of the easiest ways to learn is to simply ask yourself the question: "How can I be more allowing?" 

THE SECRET

The art of allowing means you believe it is possible to have challenges, yet at the very same time be absolutely in love with life and excited about the world.

In what areas of your life can you become more allowing?

Can you become more allowing in the relationships you have with your friends, family, co-workers, or even your ex's?

More importantly, it what ways can you be more allowing with the most important relationship of all, the one with your SELF?

Are you your own best friend? How often do you practice allowing yourself to fail, learn and grow without judgment?

Based on the way you have treated yourself for the past week, would you be your own best friend?

If you and your best friend were working together on a project together, would you want them there to support you, or hinder your progress?

The choice is an easy one, of course you would want them in your corner to support you.

The question is then, "Are you offering the best support to yourself as your own best friend?"

Every day that you wake up you are responsible for being a partner in the biggest and most important project of all, your life.

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you criticize or complain about something?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you doubt the creative process?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you constantly notice what is missing in your life?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you question why you don't have it yet?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you spend time blaming or judging people, including yourself?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you carry around all your failures and mistakes from the past?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you feel low energy and negative about something?

Are you offering the best support to yourself when you offer resistance to whatever shows up in the moment?

These are only 8 of the many ways that you can check-in with your self. 

Use them to determine how aligned your thoughts and actions are with your intention.

Is it possible that you need to learn how to be more allowing, accepting and/or forgiving?

Are your thoughts, feelings, and actions in vibrational harmony with what you seek to attract?

If you seek to support your self then it is vital to maintain a pure creative vibration aligned precisely to your desire.  

The law of allowing works hand-in-hand with the law of attraction, meaning whatever you place your attention on you get more of. 

As mentioned earlier, if you focus on something positive, something that you are passionate about, related opportunities come to you. 

When your thoughts, your focus and your intent are exclusively on what is wanted, you feel relaxed, joyful and lighthearted about the goal.

Paradoxically, the more joyful you are, the less hard you have to work, and the more powerful and effective are your actions.

In short, allowing is the aligning of your vibration with that of your desire. 

A great question to ask yourself to be more in the moment and go more with the flow is:

"How can I be more allowing?"

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

 

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help see that the hidden truth behind your existence.

 

THE CHALLENGE

 

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"What are the miracles in my life?"

 

THE PROMISE

 

Ask yourself this question and you will start to appreciate all of the intricate and inherent beauty of life.

 

THE TIPS

When you wake up tomorrow morning ask yourself the question: "What are the miracles in my life?"

Take a moment to think about what in your life is so incredible that it makes you want to shout at the top of your lungs?

Ok, ok, if you are like most people then you probably came up with the answer "nothing".

Yet if you knew there was a miracle in the making of your life wouldn't you shout for joy or scream with excitement?

Certainly you would appreciate it right? Because after all, if you didn't appreciate the miracles in your life then why would any one (or thing) give you more of them?

In fact, could it be the case that perhaps your life is already chalked full of miracles and you don't even realize, or appreciate, them now?

When was the last time that you stopped to account for, and appreciate, all of the miracles in your life?

If you still cannot see miracles in your life, then perhaps it is just that you can't see the forest for the trees.

There are miracles right in front of your face, all around you, and surrounding you.

Consider the miracle of your existence and how many sets of grandparents had to physically exist to create you.

How many millions of your ancestors had to pass through the same "event horizon" that you came through?

If anyone of those people were "not in the mood", or choose to do anything else than exactly what they did to procreate, you would not be reading this.

Your genealogy is a miracle unto itself, but put that aside for a moment, and now consider the complexity behind your birth.

When you were first conceived you were a double strand of DNA in a fertilized ovum.

It divided 50 times, and after only 50 replications you had over 100,000,000,000,000 (trillion) cells. 

To give you an idea of how much that is, it is bigger than the number of all the stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

Every second there are about 25 million new cells that are being produced in your body.

Each and every one of those cells does over 6 trillion things per second and has enough power to illuminate the world.

What is even more amazing is that every new cell, just like every existing cell in your body, is instantly aware of what the other cells are doing.

The essence of a human being composed of 60-70 kilos of flesh and a mass of bones was originally contained in a drop of fluid. 

It certainly is a wonder that an intelligent, emotion experiencing human being, with a remarkably complex physical structure, could come into existence from a drop of fluid.

This development was certainly not the result of a random process or the operation of chance, there is an inner intelligence in your body.

It is this inner intelligence that allows the human body to simultaneously think thoughts, listen to music, remove toxins, fight germs, and make love in rhythm all at once.

The rhythm of your heart will beat 3,000 million times during your life, every and every time without you ever having to ask it too. Have you thanked your heart lately?

Day in and day out your blood travels almost 100,000 kilometers round trip from various places around your body back to your heart, without you having to give any directions.

Every year your eyes close, clean, lubricate, and re-open over 13 million times without you ever having to consciously "bat an eye".

Each day your lungs take approximately 23,000 breaths, they do this automatically without your instructions.

Every one of the cells within your nervous, skeletal, respiratory, digestive, and immune system operate with a miraculous intelligence.

If your cells and body is able to do all of these things easily without your instruction, can you imagine what type of miracles could be created if you consciously intended them?

Miracles are in more shapes and sizes than you realize. The more you stay aware and look for them, the more you will find them.

You can begin to increase your awareness about the miracles in your life by continually asking yourself the question: 

"What are the miracles in my life?"

THE SECRET

The truth about miracles is that the most significant miracle is you.

Each and every one of us is a unique living and breathing miracle in the flesh.

and infinitely smarter than you give yourself credit for. 

Yet for some reason the majority of us don't usually recognize this fact in our daily lives.

It is almost funny when people think that there are no miracles, because as long as you live you are a miracle.

However it's not funny to realize that people who don't believe in miracles, or don't see miracles, probably are not living miraculous lives.

It doesn't make any sense why anyone would choose to live anything less than a miraculous life.

Yes believe it or not, no matter who you are or what your situation is, you are entitled to limitless miracles.

We don't have to do anything to earn them, we don't have to be anyone to deserve them, because just our BE-ing qualifies us.

You are perfect as you are, unique as a snowflake, and so important that world would not be complete without you.

As long as you exist there are miracles occurring, miracles to be made, fantasies to be fulfilled, and destinies to be discovered.

Best of all there is only one thing that you have to do differently in order to immediately attract, and experience, more miracles in your life.

All you have to do is choose. Your intention must be set on seeing the miracles in your life versus the misery.

This is important because what you focus on in the mind expands in the physical realm, and will eventually attract more of the same. 

If you spend your time and attention focusing on fear, it only makes sense that you will become fearful, or full of fear.

If you spend your time and attention complaining, whining, playing a victim, you will be provided with more reasons to continue.

In order to attract more miracles you must begin to see and appreciate the miracles that are already in your life.

There are many miracles unfolding right now for everyone, it's just a matter of choosing to see them.

It is a miracle that you awoke this day and with eyes and that can see and a brain that can comprehend. 

Can you commit to starting your day tomorrow by not taking this miracle for granted?

Just the fact that you can and are reading requires further miracles to happen.

Besides being blessed with eyes, you are reading these words because you have a computer, an Internet Service Provider, and a roof over your head.

Although it may not seem like much of a miracle to you, but the majority of the world today does not even have that.

In fact, if you are reading this then you are ALREADY living a miraculous life that millions of people in less fortunate countries are praying to have.

People would literally do anything to have the opportunity to make the mistakes you do, and to experience your failures.

If you are guilty of getting yourself caught up in the mania of the mind's judgment, criticizing, or blaming, then ask yourself this question:

How can I get out of my own way and allow myself to experience the miracle that I am each and every day?

How about committing to telling your loved ones that they are miracles today? How about gently reminding yourself?

When you are feeling low, the ultimate pick-me up is for you to seriously contemplate the question:

"What are the miracles in my life?"

Write down your miracles, share your miracles with a friend, and teach others how to find miracles in their life.

Be the miracle you want, feel the miracle you are, and celebrate your miraculous future.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

 

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you see things more clearly and live with more clarity.

 

THE CHALLENGE

 

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"What else could this mean?"

 

THE PROMISE

 

Ask yourself this question in every instance you are searching for meaning and you will gain new perspectives.

  

 

THE TIPS

Have you ever got confused, angry, sad, hurt, frustrated, nervous, stressed, anxious, or upset?

If you are human then you have definitely have experienced at least one or two of these negative emotions.

Chances are, you may even be experiencing them on a daily basis.

If you want to reduce the amount of those feelings in your life a great question to ask yourself is: "What else could this mean?"

Human beings see the world first through our brains and then use our eyes to generate a matching perspective.

We see whatever we believe, i.e. seeing is believing... We also ignore what we don't want to believe... i.e. ignorance is bliss.

In general people underestimate their natural abilities and overestimate their weaknesses.

This means that your situation is probably not as bleak as you imagine, and you're more strong and talented than you give yourself credit. 

Yet we tend to think that everybody thinks, feels and acts the same way, or at least they should in most cases.

You think this way if you have ever got upset at someone with a different approach to doing things than you.

If you traveled with 12 of your closest friends on a trip for a month you would quickly spot exactly just how different you are.

But if during that trip you were faced with a problem that took all of you to solve, you may walk away more appreciative of our differences.

Our perspectives are by design as unique as our fingerprints, with no two being the exact same.

There is a beautiful and divine purpose as to why we all think, feel and act differently.

The truth is that it takes all sorts to make the world go round. 

The sooner that we appreciate and believe this then the sooner the conflicts and wars around the world will end.

You can make a big difference in your life and the lives of others simply by asking one question:

"What else could this mean?"

Answering this question will help you gain perspectives, feel empathy and increase awareness.

When was the last time you stopped to consider that there might be another way at looking at the situation?

Here is your challenge for the next week...

The next time you are frustrated, confused, angry or upset ask yourself this power question.

Try asking it the next time that you are stuck on a problem or arrive at a dead-end.

Ask it to yourself the next time you are in the middle of a so-called crisis.

Ask a friend this question the next time they are emotional and distraught over something.

The more that you ask yourself this question the more easily you will be able to come up with alternative ideas.

Remember, the answers that you come up with are not the most important part of the process, rather it is simply the awareness of all your alternatives.

To change anything in your life requires that you choose a new path, because you cannot change what you don't know.

A great question to ask yourself to gain awareness and perspective is: "What else could this mean?"

THE SECRET

We live in a world that is infinitely filled with all sorts, shapes and sizes of information.

Our ability to recognize, access and change information creates endless potential and possibilities for our species.

From cloning mammals to Cuban missiles we have the power to use information to both create and destroy life.

However we must always remember that information itself is neither inherently good or bad. 

For instance the Ying and Yang symbol tells us there is a little bit of good in evil, and a little bit of evil in good.

Information will always make the world go round and it will forever just be information.

Ultimately it is the person who uses the information that applies the purpose and meaning to it.

We can use information to empower and improve our lives, or we can use the same information to hinder and hamper our progress.

This choice is entirely up to us and is determined on the basis by the type and quality of questions we ask our self. 

For a specific example of how this might play into your life consider the following scenario or one like it:

You have arranged to meet your partner or good friend for dinner and you arrive on time at a restaurant. 

After about 10 minutes and the person still hasn't shown up you begin to dialogue with yourself and say “typical, she is always late, she simply has no respect for other people”. 

Stop! Wait-a-minute, immediately taking up a position like this is not going to prove very useful for your emotions is it?

Also, think about the type of evening you are setting yourself up for if and when the person does show up. It's not likely going to be a fun and friendly night will it?

Before you are temped to take your next shower in negative emotions, how about if you asked yourself "What else could this mean?"

Just by asking the question you have now given yourself some choices.

Start brainstorming from the other person's perspective and put yourself in their shoes.

Do you think they are doing this to intentionally hurt or upset you? If so, then perhaps it is time to find some new friends or even family to hang around.

If you realize that they probably didn't do it on purpose, then perhaps you could change the internal dialogue in your head to reflect something more understanding and empathetic.

For example you might think "she must really care about me because she is obviously taking the time to look her best”, or “How thoughtful of me was it to pick a restaurant that is notorious for no parking."

Coming from a perspective like this you can see how you can eliminate the build up of negative emotions and free yourself from "reacting" when they finally arrive.

With that perspective how much easier it would be avoid any arguments, make sure you put in a real effort, and try your best to salvage the rest of the night.

Think and reflect for a moment on the last time that you had an argument with a loved one. 

Try and briefly regain those feelings by seeing what you saw, hearing what you heard and feeling what you felt. 

Now take a moment and recreate the dialogue that was going on inside your head at the time. What are you saying to yourself?

Are you asking questions that are helping or are you asking questions that are likely to exacerbate the situation and lead to an argument? 

At times like this we often disappear inside our heads and look for ways to justify our feelings and support our behaviour.

Would you like to put a hugely positive spin on the situation instead by changing your state and outlook?

The alternative is to ask yourself the question "What else could this mean?" to contemplate new and more powerful perspectives.