Ugh. I used to be sooooo good at self-discipline before I got married and had kids.
I could give myself a command and follow it – no problem. I even took great pride in my exemplary existence (cough, cough).
But everything changed when I became responsible to a bunch of other people outside of myself. No longer could I set a self-improvement goal to do this or that for so many minutes or hours a day… because frankly, the kid who needs to throw up simply isn’t interested in what your calendar has down for the present hour.
But there are other reasons for failing personal goals, I’ve discovered. While I’d love to blame my kids or my husband for my shortcomings, I’ve found a much more nefarious culprit that is more often responsible for my floundering and flub-ups.
It’s ME. My inner self, my core, my subconscious, my evil twin insider.
Whenever I try to behave in a way that is not entirely in sync with my inner core, the battle rages and victory slips away more often than not.
I figured it out, though. I learned that the real secret is to FIRST change your inner core, and then the battle to adopt better behavior is no longer quite the same struggle.
How does that work?
I’m glad you asked. Let’s start with this:
Stop and think of yourself as if you were a radio set. Basically, if you’re breathing, you’re plugged in. Your mind has a sort of receiver that picks up on influences all around you, which are broadcast through the airwaves and other forms of media.
And I’m not just talking about commercial data input, I’m also talking about what real life people in your world are doing, how they look, what they’re saying… the environment that you live in day in and day out, the buildings around you, the cars driving by, the weather outside your window…
These various images and sounds are all data input into your mind. But like I said, you are like a radio, and although there is all of this data swirling around in your mind, only SOME of it will catch your attention and influence your direction.
So, what’s been catching your attention? What station are you ‘in tune’ with? Well, the station you’re tuned in to can be determined in large part by the outer conditions in your life: YOUR health, your wealth, and the quality of your relationships.
The fact is, many of the outer conditions in your life are a byproduct of your behaviors, which behaviors are really determined by the ideas and beliefs that have been deeply established in your subconscious mind.
It all comes down to how you see yourself – what you believe about yourself, and how you believe life is supposed to look for you.
So if you don’t like the way life looks, you can begin to improve your circumstances by tuning in on a different broadcast – a different station of thought – to become consciously aware of DIFFERENT ideas and things in your environment than the ones you have been naturally, or automatically, noticing to this point.
To help this make sense, let’s look a little closer at how a radio works, and then we’ll talk about how this information applies to you and your life.
CONTRARY TO APPEARANCES…
A radio doesn’t pull music into the room when it is turned on. It doesn’t suck the sound vibrations through the walls. No, it only makes audible the music that is ALREADY there.
That’s the thing about the laws of success or even the so-called “Law of Attraction”… people think that when you’re living according to the principles, you’ll “attract” everything you need to your life. But the fact is, you don’t attract it all, as much as you simply become AWARE of what is already within reach. It doesn’t get “sucked” into your life as soon as you start thinking right; by thinking right, the blinders fall from your eyes and you see things that have been there all along but that you may have been unintentionally blocking out of view before.
So that’s why I want you to think about yourself as a radio. The solution to your problem is only an IDEA away, and the idea shows up like a sudden spark in your mind once you’ve tuned yourself to the right station. The idea was already in the room with you, just as music is in the room even when the radio is turned off.
Here’s an example of this phenomenon from history:
The way to fly a plane has always existed. The awareness of how to do it was only made known after the Wright brothers tuned in through their passion and commitment to find the way.
Now lets look at, for example, a person who is trying to quit smoking. Deep inside, they are “one” with the cigarette. So to try to leave it alone is as hard as it gets. Even if they are successful at leaving it alone, deep inside they feel incomplete for a long, long time. I don’t mean to say that the following idea is the cure-all for everyone’s addiction, but I know of one very interesting case where the person made it a practice whenever they felt tempted by the cigarette, to say out loud in a brushing-it-off tone of voice, “Oh, I don’t do that anymore…” and they said it even if they didn’t really believe it in their heart for a long time.
The fact is, we are affected by the things we hear. If we continually listen to people on the same station – people who have the same problems we do – we will continue to hear only the broadcast that inspires us to nothing better than the life we already have.
Affirmations
A person who tells themselves (here’s a generic example of an affirmation), “I am happy, healthy, and wealthy” – and they speak it out loud enough about the new desired “truth,” they will eventually start noticing other broadcasts (data input) around them that supports it. They will be in tune with a different collection of ideas and solutions that they had never picked up on before – and they will begin to believe them where they may have discarded them as ludicrous before.
The person who said, “I don’t do that anymore” was essentially (and consciously) tuning in to a new level of thought. As a result, his inner core changed much quicker because his own ears heard his own voice make a statement of decision.
Compare that to a person who, every time he is tempted, says out loud, “I’m trying to quit, but I’m having a real hard time with it.”
Knowing which of the two people are more likely to succeed is hardly a mystery.
But what about a person who is strapped financially? Well, they have a problem, don’t they? But every problem has a solution, so let’s figure out where it is.
The solution to one’s problem is never on the same level of thought as the ones that got the person into the mess in the first place. As Einstein put it, “The significant problems we face in life cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Notice he places responsibility for our problems squarely on our own shoulders.
The Key to Change
Would it be harder for a smoker to leave a cigarette alone, or for him to SAY the words, “Oh, I don’t do that anymore,” before it is 100% true?
Sometimes it’s hard to lie – aka, tell the truth in advance – but it’s MUCH harder to quit the behavior without first changing your inner core.
So take a look at your circumstances. The kind of home you live in, the occupation you hold, the balance in your checkbook, the condition of your relationships, your level of spirituality, your health… if any one of these areas could be improved, they are what they are (as Bob Proctor says) only because you lack the understanding on how to make them better.
You may think you know how to change it, but unless it has already changed, you only have an intellectual concept of how to change. Your thoughts about it are actually on the same frequency as the thoughts that got you to where you already are.
The real solution is probably not what you think it is. The good news is that the solution is continually broadcast over a different station, it’s even right there in your room right now, and your job is simply to “tune in” to it.
Need money? Quit telling yourself you’re broke. Quit saying, “I would, IF I could afford it.” “I will go, IF things work out.” These are thoughts which are tuned in to a life of mediocrity. If you want anything to change, you need to first begin thinking on a different level.
Different level of thinking?
Think of how many radio frequencies there are!
Just as there are countless radio frequencies, as we go through each day, we are also subject to the bombardment of a variety of broadcasts, right and left.
Every commercial, every billboard, every conversation, image and thought that we allow into our mind has an effect on us. Some input pulls us down to a lower level, and sometimes (thank heavens) we stumble onto something that uplifts us.
If we stay on a frequency that only brings static, chaos is often the physical manifestation of the confusion.
The ideas stored within our inner core are that which literally controls our behaviors, which in turn dictates our results. Take control of your results by first taking control of the data INPUT into your mind.
Ultimately it’s best to be like a radio tuned in to the highest broadcast available.
Divine inspiration fills the air on that channel. But if we are not already in tune on that level, it might be a good idea to be an IPOD for a while!
While a radio simply makes audible whatever is floating through the air on whatever channel your dial is tuned to, an iPod plays only exactly what you give it to play.
To Be Like an iPod for a while helps:
To be like an iPod means you consciously and carefully select messages to uplift you, until the elevated way of thinking becomes your natural way of life.
While a radio can be subject to every frequency available, an IPOD only delivers precisely what you give it.
So feed your mind with ideas that uplift, intentionally. Don’t wait for something good to float through the airwaves on the channel to which you’re tuned. Instead, purposely subject yourself to input created by mentors or musicians who live on a level where you want to be. In time, (and it can take time) your inner core will more naturally and automatically think on that elevated level.
If you don’t know how to tune in to a different frequency of broadcasted solutions (which present themselves as flashes of inspiration), you can at least listen on purpose to people who live on that elevated frequency.
I’d like to present a few ways that you can fill your personal mental iPod with great input. Some of these will not be right for you right now, some will. You can discern them simply by:
Deciding first what YOU want out of life, and write it down. (Read “The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can” to understand why that’s important.)
Letting yourself feel it as though it is already so, for at least a few minutes today.
There.
If you do those two things, you’ll put yourself on a frequency where you will resonate with and recognize the solutions you need. Then when you look at someone’s recommended resources, you’ll be naturally drawn to one or the other… or none. Trust your gut and follow through. Act on the hunch, believing that you will discover what you seek. I will not pretend that what I have is the right thing for everyone, right now. Not everyone is in the right mindset to receive what I have to give, and that’s okay.
To receive guidance from THE highest power, tune in to God – your creator’s frequency by generating genuine feelings of gratitude. Feel grateful for life, however it is now, and then allow yourself to feel grateful for the life you want, even before it is with you. Pretend it is so in your mind and feel the gratitude. That is what turns your dial to a divine station of inspiration and guidance. It’s as simple as that.
Dig in to all 20 lessons in the online Mindset Fundamentals course and watch what happens… 😉
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