THE POWER OF A POSITIVE SELF IMAGE

The most important psychological discovery of the 20th century was the discovery of the “self-image”.  Whether realized or not, each of us carries a mental blueprint or picture of ourselves.  It may be vague and ill defined to our conscious mind, or not even consciously recognizable.  Nevertheless, it is there – complete to the last detail.  This self-image is our concept of “the sort of person I am”.  It has been built from our own beliefs about ourselves.  Most of these beliefs have unconsciously been formed from our past experiences; our successes and failures, humiliations and triumphs, and the way people react to us.

Self-image is the key to human personality and behavior.  Self-image defines the boundaries of individual accomplishment; defines what you can and cannot be; determines the way you think, the way you behave, and the way you perform every activity.

Your self-image is formed by the beliefs held in your sub-conscious mind.  The beliefs comprise a belief system that includes all the beliefs you possess about everything in your life – work, education, family, religion, what you read, write, sing, dance, your parents, dress, speech, etc.

You cannot see your self-image, even though your wear it like a coat.  But everyone sees it.  Behavior and performance is the physical manifestation of self-image; your appearance is a presentation of self-image – hair, clothes, walk, voice inflection, and the world forms its opinion of you primarily from the opinion you have about yourself.  You are responsible for how you are received (accepted) by others.

You must accept responsibility for your self-image.  Self-image is either a catalyst or a brake.  It either propels or holds back.

Self-image is projected by 7% speech, 38% voice (tone inflection), and 55% body language, facial expression, general posture, and body movements.  Your emotional disposition affects all three areas.

Self-esteem is the emotional component of self-image, and is the core of human personality.  It is the most critical element affecting all performance.  Self-esteem is always true to the image you hold in your mind – the person you keep telling yourself you are.  Self-image affects your mental attitude.

Attitude is the habitual manner of acting, feeling, and thinking that shows your dispositions, opinions, and beliefs about life.  Eighty-five percent of accomplishment comes from attitude and 15% is due to aptitude and abilities.  Winners are made, not born.  The winner is in you.  You are responsible for drawing it out.  You already possess the ability to excel in at least one area of your life.

• The dominant force in your existence is the thinking you are engaged in.
• You are empowered to create your own reality.
• There is some benefit in every adversity.
• Each one of your beliefs is a choice.
• You are never defeated until you accept defeat as a reality, and decide to stop trying.
• The only limitations on what you can accomplish in your life are those you impose on yourself.
• There can be no great success without great commitment to a definite purpose fired by a determined desire.
• You need the support and cooperation of other people to achieve any worthwhile goal.
• It should be self-evident that if you harbor any failure thoughts, then all your endeavors will result in failure.
• The rewards you receive in life come as a result of your performance, not your potential. Your self-image determines your performance.
• There is never a storm so violent that it is not followed by the sunlight.
• Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

Our physical actions are simply the outward manifestation of our inner thoughts.  This recognizes the universal truth that we are and will become that which dominates your thoughts.  People have in their lives today exactly what they keep telling their mind they want.  All that you accomplish, or fail to accomplish, in life is a direct result of the images you hold in your mind. 
           
Do you limit your actions to have no more success than you unknowingly believe you deserve and are comfortable?  We often get the results we subconsciously believe we deserve.  Our self-image defines our comfort zone.

What do you really believe?  Do your actions show you believe you deserve better in every area of your life?  If they do not why not?  Is it possible that the world we live in encourages us to deny better?  It is not a matter of doing better than others do.  It is a matter of doing better in the present and the future than what we have done in the past and in the present.  Old programming of self-defeat or self-limits must be purged, and new programming put in its place.   Do not drive with the parking brake on!

A positive, strong affirmed self-image is vital to realizing the power locked inside your mind.  Self-image is a key component in building belief.  What we do mirrors what we believe.  If you passionately believe in something, you will be compelled to make it happen.

A healthy self-image is the difference between thinking BIG and thinking small.  Self-image acts as either a multiplying or a dividing factor, and combines with other key factors of success you possess to produce performance.

We always create a self-image according to the basic beliefs we have about our abilities, the world, and ourselves.  The beliefs are based on conscious decisions we made about ourselves and what we are capable of achieving.  The decisions are repeated to our subconscious.

Become more aware of your inner communications – what you see and say to yourself because of daily events and work to control it.  From these experiences, the mind constructs a picture of who we are.  Once an idea or belief about ourselves goes into this picture, it becomes “true” as far as we personally are concerned.  We do not question its validity, but the subconscious mind begins to act on it just as if it were true.  A human being always acts, feels, and performs in accordance with what he images to be true about himself and his environment.

The self-image is important for two reasons:

1.  All your actions, feelings, behavior – even your abilities – are always consistent with this self-image.  You will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be.  The self-image is the foundation upon which your entire personality rests.
2. The self-image is changeable.  One is never too old or too young to change their self-image.

Self-image determines Self-worth.  Time valuation is part of self-worth.  Self-image is the determination of the value you place on what you do and what compensation you receive from life, and how prosperous you become.

At least ninety-five percent of people have their lives blighted by feelings of inferiority to some extent, and feelings of serious inferiority handicap millions.

Feelings of inferiority originate from inaccurate thinking that produces negative conclusions drawn from evaluation of facts and experiences.  We judge ourselves and measure ourselves, not against our own norm, but against some other individual’s norm.  We let someone else define our reality.  We conclude that we are not worthy and do not deserve success and happiness.

• Laziness and hypochondria are indications of undervalued self worth.
• Things turn out best for those that make the best of the way things turn out.

Self-image influences our actions.  If the image is changed, actions will also change.  Repetitive actions build habits.  Habits are stored on the sub-conscious level of the brain.  Habits are behavior programming that motivates our actions in ways we are oblivious to.  Habits are familiar territory – the comfort zone.   Habits are the landscape of our reality.  They are landmarks that steer the conscious mind.  Ninety-five percent of our behavior, feeling, and response is habitual.

Modify, change, or reverse behavior (habits) by simply making a conscious decision, and then practicing or acting out the new behavior with constant watchfulness and practice until the new behavior pattern is thoroughly learned in 21 days.

Self –image is realized in identity.  Identity is the image we have of ourselves. Israel identifies itself with the temple in Jerusalem.  Christians identify themselves with the cross.  Companies have a brand or logo that identifies them.  Think about your identity.  Who are you?  How do you see yourself? Can you describe yourself with only a few words?

We are all unique, unrepeatable, miracles of God, and we should live our lives in that realization.  There will never be another person like you.  It is that uniqueness that gives life value. We should revel in the knowledge that we are one-of-a-kind – not regret it, or accept someone else’s opinion of us as superior to our own opinion.  It is self-image that controls our reaction to external stimulus.

Do you limit your actions to have not more than the success you unknowingly believe you deserve and are comfortable with?  We often get the results we subconsciously believe we deserve.

What do you really believe?  Do your actions show you believe you deserve better in every area of your life?  Is it possible that the world we grew up in encourages us to deny better?  It is not a matter of doing better than others do. It is a matter of doing better in the present and the future that we have done in the past.  The old programming of self-defeat or self-limits must be purged, and new programming put in its place.  We must learn to drive without the parking brake on.

What we believe is reflected in what we do.  We choose what we believe.  We are responsible for what we believe.  We are in charge of what to believe and not to believe.  The reality of life is made up of beliefs, and life is nothing until we decide what we believe.

STEPS TO A SUPER ATTITUDE

It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind. In this message, you learn powerful strategies you can use to keep yourself thinking and acting positively and creatively. Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
Whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.

FOCUS ON THE SOLUTION
Whenever you’re faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.

LOOK FOR THE GOOD
Assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, “Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem.” The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.

LOOK FOR THE VALUABLE LESSON
Assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.

DO WHAT SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.

START NOW

Become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.

Seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.

Think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to

HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS: MAKE SUCCESS A HABIT

January is the month that symbolizes new beginnings. It is the start of a new year, and the New Year's Holiday is a time to re-valuate one’s life and make resolutions for the upcoming year. 

The idea of making resolutions is not a bad thing. They can be helpful. But too often the resolution of January becomes the failure of February.  Resolutions do not have the force of repetition behind them.  Habits, on the other hand, are much harder to break because they operate at the subconscious level of our brains. And once a habit is established it will operate far beyond January. 


Habits are formed by repetition.  Repeat the same behavior over a given period of time and you wind up with a habit. Initially this can be a painfully slow process, but once you put determination behind your purpose.  And as you work to develop the habit the change in behavior becomes automatic.  And that is our goal: to make our behavior subconscious (a habit).

1) Write your goals down.
This sounds cliché, but it's important.  Thoughts are fleeting things.  They come quickly and they go quickly.  In the midst of distractions the thoughts that we wanted to save have evaporated from our consciousness.  They were not in the mind long enough to become a memory.  Pen and paper preserves your thoughts, and allows us to return to them.


2) Review your goals everyday.Keep your goals in front of you.  Read your goals when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night.  The easiest way to fail to achieve something is to let it be forgotten.  Keep your goals in your mind all the time.  Put reminders everywhere.  Evaluate your progress.  If something is not working change it.   Make your goals your reason for living.  Make the achievement of your goals a matter of survival.


3) Do something every day to move you closer to your goals.  A goal is no good without a plan to achieve it.  That is what separates a resolution from a purpose.  A purpose must have a plan.   Every journey has a destination.  You must get in a habit of making plans

4) Build a success attitude.  No goal has ever been achieved with a “can’t do” attitude.  The way to achieve a goal is to believe that it can be done.  Work to develop the habit of being positive.  All achievement is based on faith.  Faith is the belief in something that has not yet happened.  You cannot have faith in your goals if you reject the role that faith plays in achieving those goals.  You can only have one thought in your mind at a time.  Positive and negative cannot live in the same house.  Make positive emotions a permanent houseguest and evict the other guy.  Use the positive emotions of love, faith, and gratitude to chase the negative feelings away.  This is not an option.  IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

MAKING MONEY WITHOUT MONEY

A little short on cash? Take heart: most entrepreneurial success stories involve one person with little or no money matching ideas, drive, determination, hard work, and other attributes with other people's money. Never let the lack of money (or good credit) hold you back.  If you have a reasonably sound business plan and sufficient commitment to your plan, you can obtain the money you need to make it happen!  Let's deal with finding the money you need to finance a new business, to reorganize, expand, or diversify your present business, or to buy an existing business.  If you happen to have capital and/or good credit, so much the better, but if you're starting from a "disadvantaged' position, that's okay too.

MONEY ALONE ISN'T THE ANSWER
Money is not going to be your problem. But it is not going to be your solution either.

If you can't make money without money, you won't make money with money either.

The business battlefield is littered with the skeletons of entrepreneurs who erroneously believed that a big chunk of cash would solve their problems. It's a stubborn belief in cash as a cure-all that gets a lot of people in trouble. The challenge is to take nothing and make it into something.

The most successful entrepreneurs are like the main character in the television show "McGyver." McGyver was always getting out of a jam by creating some incredible gadget with whatever happened to be lying around. Entrepreneurs, too, sometimes have to turn thin air, spare parts, and other people's discards into resources with which empires can be built. Drop one of these McGyver-type entrepreneurs out of an airplane into a strange city with nothing else but the clothes on his or her back and $5 cash, and he or she will have an office or store opened and be doing business by the sunrise.

The story of Doug W. exemplifies this kind of unique resourcefulness that successful entrepreneurs need. Doug went broke in a big way in a direct sales business and wound up sitting in his bare house, all the furniture gone, and nothing left but a box of 48 copies of the book, Think and Grow Rich, and a dozen broken down auto-dialing (telephone marketing) computers.  Doug had used these machines to set up appointments for his salespeople in his now-defunct business. He knew they could work and he believed in them. He had used the books in his classes to
motivate his salespeople.

Doug asked himself what resources he could draw on to get some cash. He repaired the auto-dialers so they could be sold as used but operable equipment. Then he got on the phone, calling insurance salespeople, real estate agents, and other salespeople, inviting them to a free seminar on using auto-dialers to increase business. He offered a free copy of Think and Grow Rich to anybody who came to the meeting.

Doug called and invited hundreds. About a dozen salespeople showed up. He nervously stood up in front of the group, explained how auto-dialers worked, how he used them successfully, and how others used them. Then he gave a demonstration and offered a unique "rent-and-try-then-buy" offer on the machines he had in stock. That evening, Doug sold eight machines; in the first month he collected $800 from rentals. He discovered that he had a knack for selling this type of equipment.

In short order, Doug found a manufacturer of auto-dialers and convinced him to sell the machines at wholesale as Doug needed them, without an inventory requirement, franchise fee, or other up-front payment. In the next few years, Doug built a large business, with national advertising and sales representatives, selling these machines. He also used some of the profits from that business to invest in a new idea for computer software, and that, too, turned into a very successful business. Doug went from bankruptcy to big money without borrowing a nickel.

Doug is in the process of grooming replacements to run his companies, personally working two weeks a month, and sailing the Caribbean on his yacht the other two weeks of the month.

WHAT ABOUT RAISING MONEY?
In most cases it is necessary to "use other people's money" to get a business from some stage to another. I'm not suggesting that you go through your business life avoiding borrowing or raising capital, but I have seen a lot of people borrow huge amounts of cash suffer from the erroneous beliefs in the power of that cash. By itself, cash cannot change things for the better.

The bottom line is that there's no point in getting money before, unless, and until you have a solid plan for matching and merging it with other resources for productive purposes.