Setting Yourself Up For Success

Today's Video: Setting yourself up for Success

In my yoga studio, one of the lessons students learn is to value each moment. No one moment is more important than the next, and the journey is just as important as the destination.

Set yourself up for Success by living THIS moment in the present to your maximum potential. Then the next moment will ALSO be lived to its fullest potential, and then the remainder of your life!

It’s about creating a positive mindset and developing the habit of never settling for good but striving for BETTER in every THOUGHT and every ACTION.

Life is not about what you think may happen in the future. Life is about enjoying the journey of daily creativity and loving experiences, of focusing on the beauty of life, of filling your life with positive experiences through books, music, and the right people who uplift you with their happiness and attitude; not the people who complain and find problems everywhere rather than seeking solutions and opportunities.

Change your life. Make it even more purposeful, with an aliveness, vitality and a higher sense of purpose in life.

Will you be able to say in a few months time that this moment TODAY changed your life, because you changed to THINKING POSITIVELY and living to your maximum potential?

Starting today, resolve to be more positive! Look at what you have achieved. No matter how small the success.
Focus on what is working, and give thanks.

You make a difference so believe in yourself.

Remember, YOU are a remarkable individual with untapped possibilities and you CAN have amazing success with everything you put your mind and positive thoughts to.

You CAN do it.

Thanks for reading and watching today's posting.

POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

Affirmations Tuesdays and Thursdays)

To maximize the effects of affirmations, it is important to identify the core values that lie deep within you. These embedded ideas and deep-seated beliefs can either nurture you and produce good feelings or promote a mind-set of unworthiness.

Through regular meditation and self-inquiry each one of us can discover who we really are and what we truly need. We will slowly peel away the layers so that we can accept who we are without judgment and uphold the values that benefit ourselves and the world around us.

The two are interconnected, like a parent and offspring, as how we think and act affects not only our personal life but all that we come in contact with. We do not know how deeply our actions will affect another yet if we are knowledgeable about what lies at our very core, we can attract more of what we enjoy into our lives.

Promote clear and positive feelings by seeing yourself as honest, kind, and compassionate in all that you think, say, and do.
Thoughts have their own unique energy. Use the power of your words to create only that which is positive for you.

See yourself feeling strengthened and invigorated as you awaken in the morning. Smile and embrace the start of this new day.
Hear yourself welcoming the potential that this glorious day will bring.
See yourself succeeding in whatever tasks you need to fulfill.

“I am successful in all that I do.”

AFFIRMATION

September 1st marked the 6th month since I started the meditation blog.
The blog continues to evolve and grow and over the coming weeks I wanted to begin to formalize the daily postings.
I will continue to write Monday through Friday except when on vacation or traveling due to work obligations.
Mondays and Wednesdays will have a guided meditation and Tuesdays and Thursdays will have an affirmation. Fridays will have either an uplifting message or information about a technique or other method that I have tried and found beneficial.

AFFIRMATION

As always, choose affirmations that feel appropriate to you. Feel free to create an affirmation that's suitable to you by asking yourself the following question:
What do you want?

This will help you to create affirmations that assert your purpose and therefore have special meaning to you.
It is important that the words you use are your own or that they feel comfortable to you.
Once you become familiar with using an affirmation, you can create your own ones, based on your specific needs on a day-to-day basis.
The affirmations presented below are a suggestion and I encourage you to change the language and content to better fit what is happening in your own life.

GRATITUDE

An integral part of any affirmation is to believe that it will happen.
If this does not come naturally to you, an easy way to learn this is to practice feeling as if it has already happened by imagining what it will feel like.
I always follow up any affirmation with an expression of gratitude, whether it’s a simple “Thank You” or a more lengthy prayer or communication of thanks.

Today I choose to believe rather than hope.
Divine guidance is with me always.
There are opportunities for deeper insight in all of my interactions.
I am willing to grow. Love is my guide

TODAY’S AFFIRMATIONS

• I am successful in all that I do
• I recognize the infinite wisdom within me
• I now surrender to the will of God

MEDITATION PRACTICE

"Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course.
It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there.
It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices.
Just follow it.
Never let it out of your sight.
It will take you."

Sheng-yen (807-869 CE)

Are You at Peace?

In the busy, high-pressure, fast expectation environment that we so often find ourselves, it is often challenging to set aside fifteen or twenty minutes a day to be in meditation.
We cling to past thoughts and behaviors hoping that that will be enough to help us deal with unexpected challenges.

Meditation is a means to achieving peace not only during the meditation experience, but during your daily life and interactions with others.
Are you at peace?
What thoughts circulate through your mind about how you perceive yourself or other people?
The thoughts that you think and the words that you speak say a lot about you as a person and influence the way that people treat you. If you are not aware of negativity in your choice of language, your tone of voice, or even the flow of your thoughts, you should not be surprised when your life does not go the way that you hoped.

The awareness that emerges through regular meditation practice is applied in daily thoughts and reactions, ensuring that you only think and say good things.
Firmly held beliefs can be chipped away at and permanently removed by meditation. You no longer need believe that you are undeserving of success, love, or happiness in whatever endeavors you pursue.

Release Attachment

We've all seen someone whose happiness circulates around the material stuff and possessions that they acquire. They are on a seemingly endless quest for more toys, gadgets, and objects with no end in sight. Are they happy? For a short time yes, then they're off looking at something new.
Yoga philosophers such as Patanjali wrote over 2000 years ago of the importance of non-attachment in helping a practitioner achieve peace. While a degree of attachment is necessary to enable us to achieve goals, help those in need, and to nurture those whom we love, the freedom, happiness, and joy that we all seek arises from connecting to the peace that lies within.
The same holds true with your meditation practice. Follow it, never force it, and go where it leads and guides you.

Meditation Holds the Answers

Previous postings give specific details on how to begin to meditate.

During your meditation practice, awareness on the breath slows the thought process down so that you become aware of what you are thinking and can then respond accordingly rather than reactively. For example, by using the breath and a chosen word such as relax, you can direct this energy of the word to tell your body to breathe deeply and slowly.

Replace your old thought patterns with a new phrase.
Start with one thought.
Choose a specific word or phrase that you can repeat during your meditation.
Take a moment right now to listen to your mind and body.

• What is it that you need more of, or less of e.g. more peace, less stress.
• What is preventing you from achieving this goal?
• Decide what you need and be specific rather than too vague and all-encompassing.
• Ensure that what you ask in your affirmation is positive in nature and in the present tense; eg “I am loved” rather than “I will be loved.”
  

Following your meditation, carry one of the affirmations with you throughout the day and soon you will see the changes that you desire manifest in your life as you develop your ability to be more aware and in tune with your thoughts.
You will find that you become less attached to the external world as you uncover the source of real peace.

Putting new thoughts into new actions is not just about producing a new way of thinking though.
It’s about generating a new way of living, discerning and applying the information gleaned from meditation to let go of old ways of reacting to a lifestyle that no longer serves you.

Delight in the peace that is yours to have in abundance.

Follow your stream and see where it takes you.

ATTRACTING SUCCESS

Attracting Success

No matter who you are or what you are doing, you want to succeed in your particular endeavor, whether it is seeking a new job, finding a dream house, or even a dream partner.

Using your mind to visualize what you want to draw to you is a natural technique that we can all learn. Many people use it unconsciously but wonder why they don’t have “luck” in their life. This is because they focus on negativity rather than positive trains of thought.

Thinking “I’ll never get a job that earns x amount, or I can’t afford to live in a neighborhood like that” are all affirmations that come true.

Creative visualization is a mental technique that uses the imagination to help you to “see” what you want and thereby assist it in coming true by attracting the success that you want. Visualizing your goals as already accomplished “tricks” the mind into thinking that it has already happened. The mind cannot distinguish between reality and fiction and envisioning that you have what you want and need draws the energy of the mental picture to you.



Successful Visualization

If you truly want to achieve and be successful, set aside a time and place for your daily meditation session.

Decide what it is that you want to draw to you, and enter into meditation using one of the previously taught breathing and meditation techniques in this blog.

• With the eyes gently closed and the breath and body relaxed, creating a mental image of what you want.
• For example, if you want to see yourself in a new house, try not to struggle with adding details that are too specific such as colors, types of moldings, styles of doors and windows. Instead know how many rooms you want, bathrooms, size of house, whether it has a garden, etc.
• See yourself unlocking the front door and entering the house. Walk through each of the rooms, spend time there.
• Every time you enter your visualization meditation, see the same image and it quickly becomes clearer and more real.

Universal Visualization

If you are unsure about what you want, practice the following visualization to familiarize the mind with the technique. This Universal Visualization helps you to start the day right.

Enter into meditation with a calm breath and mind.

• See yourself smiling and at ease.
• In your mind’s eye, follow yourself as you do each of your normal morning tasks. Feel yourself enjoying each moment.
• Embrace the day and see yourself being happy to greet everyone that you meet.

Your New Job

Enter into meditation with a calm breath and mind.

• See yourself smiling and at ease.
• Know what job you want to do. Envisage yourself doing the job
• See how successful and relaxed you are.
• Hear the praise that you receive for a job well done.
• See your environment and feel how happy people are to work with you.
• Everyone that you interact with is happy to see you.

Implementing Your Visualization

Identify the steps required to achieve your visualization. In the example of acquiring a house, identify all that you need to do in order to attract the house.

Creative visualization uses the power of the mind and can improve your life.

Writing down your goals helps you to work progressively toward the direction that you want to proceed in. This helps you to take control of your life and avoid or overcome obstacles that appear.

Do something everyday that helps you move closer to achieving your dream.

Expend your full effort to achieving your dreams.

See yourself successful every day. Notice your positive traits and believe that you are worth receiving what you want.

Gratitude

As you work toward achieving your goal, help as many people as you can along the way. Demonstrate gratitude through prayers, through acts of kindness, and by monitoring your thoughts and subsequent actions to ensure that you are truly thoughtful with every word and action.

Grazie
Merci
Thank You

No matter how you say it, giving thanks and showing your gratitude is a positive emotion that unlocks the fullness of your energy.
As opportunities open themselves up to you, you will be able to recognize them and act upon them. You have the power to influence your thoughts.
Meditation helps you to be mindful and remain in the present, thereby helping you to fulfill your dreams.