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The Law of Vibration Explained | How to Make it Work Wonders for You

The Law of Vibration is always working in your life, whether or not you realize it. It’s the Law of Vibration that drives the Law of Attraction. After reading this article, you’ll understand what the Law of Vibration is, how it works and how to use it to your advantage. I’ll keep it simple, so you can understand it easily.

In the past, spirituality and science were polar-opposites. Most of the spiritual philosophies could not be “proved” by science. However, with quantum physics, many spiritual concepts can now be explained scientifically.

This makes it much easier to understand, believe, and use these spiritual principles to improve your life. The Law of Vibration is no exception.

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Everything is Energy

The first principle of the Law of Vibration is that everything is energy and energy is everything. Quantum Physics states that everything is energy too.

The chair you’re sitting on is energy, a table is energy. You are energy, trees are energy, animals are energy. Even light and sound are energy. If everything is energy, then ideas, thoughts and emotions are energy too.

If you looked at your body through a powerful microscope, you would find that your body is made up of cells. Zoom in a little more and you’ll see that the cells are made up of tissues, atoms and molecules. Keep zooming in and you’ll discover that these atoms and molecules are pure energy.

Energy is Always Moving

The second principle of the Law of Vibration is that energy is always moving. It never stands still. It never rests. Instead, this energy moves in waves that go up and down. These waves are known as frequencies or vibrations.

Every object has its own frequency or vibration. A chair is pure energy vibrating at a certain frequency that makes it look like a chair. The same with a table, plant or animal.

Anything that is solid (including you and I) are a series of cells, atoms and molecules that are continually moving. It’s this movement (or vibration) that makes the object appear solid. We perceive it as solid, because our eyes cannot see the movement or vibration because it’s so fast.

The same energy can vibrate at different frequencies. A brilliant example is radio waves. Radio waves are energy and they are all around us. However, the same radio wave energy has different frequencies. Therefore, you can use your radio to tune into several different radio stations depending on whether you want to hear the news, the latest hits or classic rock.

Human beings are also energy that vibrate at a certain frequency. However, just like radio waves, we don’t all vibrate at the same frequency. A person that is good with money has a certain energy vibration. Someone that always gets into terrible relationships has a different energy vibration.

Your vibratory frequency also influences your health. A healthy human body has a frequency of between 62 and 70 Mhz. When the frequency drops to below 62 Mhz, cells begin to mutate. People with a cold or the flu have a frequency of around 58 Mhz. When the frequency drops below 42 Mhz, cancer can appear.

This explains why you might have a friend or family member that has constant health issues. They seem unrelated, but their vibrational frequency is the common link.

We naturally have a vibratory frequency range that we rarely go outside of. This is known as a set-point or paradigm. This is controlled by our consistent, habitual and predictable ways of thinking, feeling and acting. As this is subconscious, it requires some effort to change.

Now your energy and vibratory frequency vary each day. Therefore, you might have “good” days when everything flows and seems effortless. Or bad days, when everything seems to go wrong.

You cannot see this vibratory energy, but you can sometimes feel it. When you enter a room after 2 people have had an argument, you can feel that energy. It influences how you think and behave. You might decide to tread lightly or leave the room.

Also in social situations, you’ll feel the energy of different people. Some people radiate energy and light up the room. They’re positive, enthusiastic, and full of life. Other people drain your energy by complaining, moaning or thinking and talking negatively.

So you now know that everything is energy and that all energy is moving or vibrating. That’s interesting, thought-provoking and could make an interesting talking point at parties! However, if you want to transform your life, then this next bit is crucial!

Like Energy Attracts Like Energy

The fundamental idea behind the Law of Attraction is that like energy attracts like energy. So energy vibrating at a certain frequency attracts other energy that is also vibrating at the same frequency.

To explain this, I will talk about tuning forks for a moment. Tuning forks are used to help tune pianos and other musical instruments. They have two prongs. When struck, the prongs vibrate and make a sound.

If after striking the first tuning fork, you place a second tuning fork close by, then it will pick up the vibration and make the same sound automatically.

So similar vibrations work in harmony with each other, and we call this resonance.

It’s exactly the same with people. If you have an abundance mindset, you will attract abundance. A lack or scarcity mentality will attract more lack and scarcity.

You don’t get what you want; you get what you are. This is super important to understand! It’s who you are that truly makes the difference.

But what are you? You are energy that is vibrating at a certain frequency. At the very core, this is who you are. Your sense of identity, core beliefs, consistent thoughts and feelings can change your energy and vibration.

Energy is Never Created or Destroyed.

How often have you said that you want to create something in your life? Perhaps it’s a new car, house, relationship or career. Well, the truth is that we don’t create anything!

According to quantum physics, energy is never created or destroyed. It just changes vibration. So anything that you want is energy that is vibrating at a frequency that you cannot see yet.

To understand this further, think about how a dog whistle works. The sound from a dog whistle is at a pitch and vibratory frequency that is beyond what human ears can hear. However, the dog hears it because their ears are more sensitive to very high sounds. So the dog whistle exists even though we can’t hear it.

Whilst we can’t improve our hearing, so we hear the dog whistle, we can change our vibration in other ways, so we pick up or tune into things that are vibrating at a higher frequency.

So rather than thinking about creating things, focus on changing who you are, so that your level of vibration increases. You then resonate more with the things you desire.

You Can Change Your Vibrational Frequency

Physical objects, plants and animals cannot consciously change their vibrational frequency. However, we can by changing our thoughts and more importantly feelings and emotions!

The most effective way to influence your vibrational frequency is to change your emotional state.

When you choose to feel happy, you create an energy vibration that is in harmony with happy feelings. This then attracts more people, situations and opportunities that bring happiness to you.

If you are regularly upset, angry or feel inferior or worthless, then this will send out a different energy vibration and you’ll attract further situations or people that make you feel upset, angry, inferior or worthless.

It all starts with awareness. Notice how you feel as you go through the day. What situations or people trigger negative emotions? What tasks or activities are you doing that don’t feel good? How you feel is the best way to determine how your vibrational frequency changes from high to low.

How to Increase Your Level of Vibration

Now that you understand the science and the benefits of operating at a higher vibrational frequency, let’s look at some practical ways to raise your vibratory frequency.

Meditation

When you feel stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, impatient, angry (or any other negative emotion), it’s important to stop this in its tracks. The best way to do this is to meditate.

Meditation will help you observe the limiting thoughts behind these negative emotions and let them go. Relaxing the body and mind will also reduce the emotions and put things into perspective. It will help you achieve more positive emotional states such as joy, happiness, peace or gratitude.

Meditation is also a superb way to get better at stopping old negative thoughts and replacing them with new positive thoughts.

Release Negative Energy

Many people hold negative emotions inside. They believe that feeling or expressing these emotions is uncomfortable or not helpful. The Law of Vibration responds to long-term negative emotional states, so a good cry, or bashing some pillows is totally fine!

Journaling is also a brilliant way to release negative emotions. Just the act of writing down how you feel can help you release the emotions and gain a fresh perspective.

Eat High Frequency Foods

Every food has a vibrational frequency. Therefore, eating foods that have a high vibratory frequency will increase your level of vibration.

Here are some examples of the types of foods based on their vibrational frequency:

Processed Foods = 0 MHz
Meat = 2 MHz
Fresh Herbs = 20-27 MHz
Fruit and Vegetables (especially the green ones) = 65-75 MHz
Green cold-pressed juice and spirulina = 170 MHz
Essential Oils – from 52 MHz to 320 MHz

Source – http://www.naturalawakeningssa.com/super-charged-high-and-low-frequencies-in-foods-in-our-bodies/

So what you eat has an enormous influence on your vibrational frequency.

High Frequency Emotional States

Positive emotional states influence the Law of Vibration far more than positive thoughts. So the more you can experience positive emotional states, the better. Examples of high frequency emotional states are unconditional love, gratitude, joy, forgiveness and enthusiasm.

You can get into a high-frequency state right now by:

Putting on some uplifting music and dancing!
Exercising
Performing random acts of kindness
Expressing gratitude
Keeping a gratitude journal.
Finding funny videos on YouTube (or other things that make you smile or laugh)
Reading inspirational books.

Choose High Vibration Situations and People

Spend more time with people that make you feel good. Those people that emit a higher vibratory frequency. I like to call them “radiators”, as they radiate positive energy.

Also, choose situations and places that make you feel good. Nature has a high vibrational frequency, so getting out in nature will help raise your vibration.

Positive Thinking

How you think affects how you feel. Consistent and persistent negative thoughts will lead to negative emotional states. Consciously choose thoughts that make you feel good, empower you and move you towards your goals and dreams.

When you notice a negative thought, mentally say the word “STOP” and choose the opposite positive thought.

Also think of those negative thoughts as coming from another person. This will help you separate those thoughts from your sense of identity.

Become the observer of your thoughts. Don’t judge them, just notice them. This is easier to do when meditating, but can be done at other times too.

To Conclude

When you believe in the things that you cannot see, you open yourself up to a whole new world of possibilities. The Law of Vibration is invisible, but it’s all around us and ready to be tapped into.

Just remembering that everything is energy vibrating at different frequencies will change your perception and belief about what is possible. When you apply some of the ways to raise your vibrational frequency, you’ll realize that the Law of Vibration is real. You’ll then find it easier to attract the things you want into your life and experience the “good life”!

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and found it useful, then please share it with other people, or on social media.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paul

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My Top List of Limiting Beliefs and How to Change them

Have you ever wondered which limiting beliefs hold you back?

The ones that prevent you from having the wealth, health, love, and happiness you desire. What is the top list of limiting beliefs that hold most people back?

In this article, I share my top list of limiting beliefs. I’ll cover the 12 most important ones and explain each of them in turn. I’ll also give you some tips, techniques and strategies to help you change them.

Some of my list of limiting beliefs are core beliefs that apply to almost all areas of life. Others are more specific to health, relationships, or money. But first, I will introduce you to 3 categories of limiting or unhelpful beliefs:

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The 3 Types of Limiting and Unhelpful Beliefs

Before getting into my limiting beliefs list, I want to cover the differences between limiting beliefs and unhelpful beliefs. Limiting beliefs are usually negative. Unhelpful beliefs are often positive or neutral, but can result in negative consequences or get you into trouble.

Both limiting and unhelpful beliefs can be about you, others or the world in general. Here are some examples.

1. Limiting beliefs about you.

These could include:

I’m a loser.
I’m a failure.
I’m not liked or popular.
I’m not good enough.
I’m not worthy enough.

2. Limiting beliefs about others.

These could include:

Other people are untrustworthy.
Other people are manipulative.
Other people are always against me.

3. Limiting beliefs about the world in general.

These might include:

The world is too competitive.
Too many terrible things are happening in the world.

As mentioned earlier, believing something positive can sometimes get you into trouble. It depends on whether that positive or neutral belief is helpful or unhelpful.

Here are some examples of positive beliefs that could have unhelpful or negative consequences.

1. Unhelpful beliefs about you.

Positive, but unhelpful beliefs often arise when your level of confidence is higher than your level of competence.

Imagine you are a new therapist. You’ve just completed your training. You’re excited and super confident that you can help anyone that comes through your door. However, you have very limited experience and your initial training is unlikely to be sufficient to help everyone.

Your high confidence encourages you to use techniques and processes that may not be appropriate for some clients. It might even make things worse!

2. Unhelpful beliefs about other people.

If you believe that everyone is trustworthy and kind, you might get walked over or ripped off. Sadly, there are people that are not trustworthy and kind. So it’s important to accept this and develop beliefs that reflect the reality of life.

3. Unhelpful beliefs about the world.

This is believing that the world is perfect, that everything is fine and will work out okay. If everyone held this belief, we would ignore the world’s problems and take no action to solve them. I personally believe that this would have devastating consequences!

So, you can see that even positive beliefs can be unhelpful and cause harm. So besides watching out for limiting beliefs, keep a look-out for unhelpful beliefs too.

The Top 12 Limiting Beliefs

I will now share my list of 12 limiting beliefs that hold most people back.

1. It’s hard to change.

I see this all the time in the personal development world. Maybe you know someone that reads loads of self-help books, attends lots of seminars. Someone that is a “seminar junky”, that has invested a small fortune in personal development, but has little or nothing to show for it. Nothing has changed in their life or about them as a person.

So why is this? It’s because they have a core belief along the lines of “It’s hard to change” or “I can’t change”. Therefore, they take little or no action. They don’t consistently apply what they’ve learned. They get fired up with brilliant ideas, but after that, nothing changes.

Many years ago, I was a member of a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) group in London. I saw many people there that embodied all the principles, changed as a person, and changed their lives. But I also saw other people that didn’t change. I asked myself, “Why is that?” Well, I now know that it’s because of having a core belief that it’s hard to change.

This limiting belief also manifests itself in business. I reckon it’s the reason people stay in the same career for many years. Or why a business stays static and doesn’t grow. It’s that unconscious core belief that it’s too hard to change.

It also applies to health. Perhaps you know someone that is overweight or has a chronic health condition that’s been going on for years. It’s because they believe they can’t change it or that it’s too hard or painful to change. As a result, the person takes little or no action.

Take Action

What’s the solution? It’s simple! Take lots of action, even if you don’t believe it will help. Things change when you take action! They have to. Sometimes it can take a while, but they will change.

Seeing positive changes from taking action will increase the belief that you can change. You’ll realize it’s easier than you thought. This creates a virtuous circle where you see change happening, which increases your belief and this fuels greater action.

2. I don’t have enough …..

This is a very common limiting belief. Here are some examples:

I don’t have enough time.
I don’t have enough money.
I don’t have enough education.
I don’t have enough skills.
I don’t have enough experience.
I don’t have enough friends.
I don’t have enough contacts.
I don’t have enough connections.

I wonder which of these apply to you?

Let’s delve into the more common ones in greater detail.

I don’t have enough time.

We all have 24 hours in a day. We all have the same amount of time. What do you currently spend your time on? What could you do less of or stop altogether to give you more time for those important life-changing activities?

I don’t have enough money.

Identify how you currently spend money. Where does it go? Are there ways to save money, so you can put it towards something that’s important to you? Sometimes, it can take time to save money, but with strong intention and focus, you can do it.

I don’t have enough education, skills, or experience.

The best way to banish these limiting beliefs is to disprove them! That’s what I did. Back in the year 2000, I changed my career and became an IT Trainer. I decided to apply for IT training jobs for 3 months even though I had no relevant skills or experience. I had some public speaking skills, but nothing in the technology area.

I applied for many jobs. After 6 weeks, I got a marvellous job as an IT trainer in a law firm. If I hadn’t landed an IT training job within 3 months, then I would have obtained a qualification. However, I didn’t want to invest the time or money in a qualification if I could avoid it!

If you believe that you don’t have enough skills or experience, give yourself 3 months to prove yourself wrong. Only after that time, invest in gaining qualifications or additional skills and experience. You could save yourself unnecessary time and expense.

Also look for success stories. People that achieved what you desire and didn’t have the skills you believe are necessary. Look for contrary evidence. This is evidence that goes against your limiting belief and disproves it. This is an excellent way to deal with any limiting belief.

3. I am not ….. enough.

The next one on my list of limiting beliefs is similar to the previous one. However, it’s not about the lack of external things like time, money or qualifications. Instead, it’s more about a lack of internal qualities or personality traits.

Here are some examples.

I am not good enough.
I am not smart enough.
I am not intelligent enough.

A great question to ask is “How do I know?” This is a tough question to answer because, in reality, you don’t know. You don’t know that you’re not good enough, smart enough, or intelligent enough.

Think about the qualities you have. Maybe you are highly motivated, great with people or a deep thinker. Ask yourself, “What skills or qualities do I have that are important for achieving success?” This is a superb way to knock out this limiting belief.

4. I am not worth it.

This limiting belief causes issues in many areas of life. It makes it harder to ask for a pay rise or charge what you feel your services are worth. It’s behind feeling unworthy of love or to a particular person. This can negatively influence your love life.

It can lead to not being assertive. Not asking for what you want or need in life. It can cause you to procrastinate and not take action. You might avoid dating or asking for a pay rise. So, taking action is a super way to smash this limiting belief!

Another brilliant way is to write down all your strengths and the things you’re good at. Focus on what you can give to others. Remember that everyone has unique skills, qualities, and personality traits that are valuable to other people.

With this limiting belief, go back to childhood, and identify where it came from. Sometimes it comes from a childhood experience. Once you know what that is, you can reframe it and that can help you overcome this limiting belief.

5. There is never enough money.

I included this on my list of limiting beliefs as it applied to me for many years. When I was a child, my parents were both teachers. They didn’t have a lot of money and their bank account was always a little overdrawn by the end of the month. They would do extra teaching in the evenings to bring in more money.

As a child, I formed a belief that there was never enough money to go around. That continued into my student days. The first couple of years in employment were a little better. However, I was still inexperienced and on a low salary.

Many aspects of life (especially when you’re younger) can easily support a limiting belief that there’s never enough money. However, when you hold this belief, you’re unlikely to do anything to change it.

Instead, you’ll keep doing what you’re doing. You might earn more money by getting a promotion, but that’s not guaranteed. And often comes with longer hours.

Instead, be creative and look for alternative and proactive ways to become more valuable and earn more money. It comes down to mindset.

In reality, there is an abundance of money. It’s just wrongly distributed. I have some very wealthy hypnotherapy clients. I could charge them double and they would happily pay. So it’s about getting a slice of the money that they already have.

Think about how you can offer more value. Embrace the belief that there is enough money to go round. When you do that, you’ll notice different opportunities and ways to make money.

6. I will never find love.

On my list of limiting beliefs, this one was very strong in my 20s. For women, I came across as Mr. Nice Guy and was put in the “friend zone.” I found it very difficult to find a romantic partner. This is one reason I got into personal development. I wanted to improve my social confidence and be more comfortable on dates. I believed there were strategies that other people used to get the results I desired. I wanted to learn and apply these, so I could meet the right person.

The reality is that there is someone, in fact, many people, that will love you. It’s a case of becoming a better version of yourself, taking action, going on dates, and enjoying the journey. Also, letting go of feelings of frustration or desperation is also helpful. These were the things I did that helped me find my perfect partner.

7. All the good ones are taken or gay.

I have heard this one so many times, especially from women. Challenge this limiting belief by asking “How do I know that?” You’ll find this question very difficult to answer. In reality, especially if you live in a larger town or city, there are new people becoming available all the time. They either move into the area, or separate from existing relationships.

This limiting belief is an excuse to not take action. If you believe that all the good ones are taken or that no one is available, then you’re unlikely to even look for dates! It seems pointless.

The solution is to take action! Prove that this limiting belief is wrong for you. Do you see a common theme appearing here? Taking action is key to smashing many of these top limiting beliefs.

8. It’s difficult to make money doing something you love.

This can be true to a point. It often requires a lot of hard work over an extended period to make a good income doing what you love. But it’s definitely achievable. I’ll give you a few examples to expand your awareness of what is possible.

Examples of people doing what they love

A few years ago, my wife and I traveled to Darwin, the top end of Australia. We both love wildlife and wanted to go on a birding safari with a local birding expert. Someone that could find the unusual birds that would be virtually impossible for us to find ourselves in the brief time we had there. He charged $200 per person, so $400 for both of us. That’s good money for a day doing what you love. He had the expertise, provided incredible value, and we were willing to pay for that. It was worth every cent!

A train enthusiast in the UK created a website that helps people plan rail journeys around the world. He goes into incredible detail, including the exact seat number to get the best view of the scenery. On many trains, the seats don’t always line up with the windows, so this is very useful to know. He makes good money through sponsorships, advertising and perhaps some affiliate commissions when people book via his recommended websites. To check him out, go to seat61.com.

In Australia, a person who loves bushwalking, hiking and nature created a website that provides details of hundreds of different bush walks and hikes. His directions are very thorough with maps that you can print out and take with you. He also has a mobile app that you can download to find walks on the go. He makes money through sponsorship from local outdoor and hiking shops, from people purchasing the mobile app and from advertising. To see what he does, go to wildwalks.com

It’s not all good though

Even when you make good money doing something you love, there will be parts of your job or business that you don’t enjoy. If you’re a therapist, you may not enjoy marketing your services or writing up session notes. If you’re an actor, you may need to do commercials (which pay a lot better) to pay the bills and allow you to do other acting work that you love. Or accounting and bookkeeping which no one enjoys doing, except perhaps accountants! Sometimes it’s necessary to do a few things that you don’t enjoy, even when you do what you love for a living.

You want to be flexible and creative, but it’s certainly possible to make a good income doing something you love.

9. Making money is hard.

This is important on my list of limiting beliefs. It’s similar to “There is never enough money”, that I mentioned earlier and often comes from our childhood too. If your parents worked hard and long hours to make ends meet, it can reinforce the belief that making money is hard. Then in your 20s when you start working, you naturally take on the belief that making money is hard.

As a student, you won’t have much money. When you find a job, your wage will be low because you lack experience. You probably have student debt too. You may be in your early 30s before things change.

Perhaps some of your friends have become lawyers or doctors and are working incredibly long hours. It seems like everything in our culture and environment supports the belief that making money is hard.

Whilst working hard plays a part, working smart and doing the right things is more important. So how do you do that?

Understand the difference between passive and active income.

Active income is spending time to earn money. That’s an income from a typical job or a business. You put a certain amount of time in, and you get a certain amount of money back.

How do you make more money? You increase your value by getting promoted or by providing a higher quality service that allows you to charge more. The more value you provide, the more you can charge. There may still be an upper limit to what you can charge because of what people will pay.

Passive income is not directly dependent on your time. Examples include rental income from properties or income from investments. Many online businesses generate passive income because the internet is doing a lot of the work for you.

With all these passive income examples, there is still time invested in setting these up. However, the key difference is that you can take a break and the money will continue to come in.

I encourage you to find wealthy people that don’t work very hard. They definitely exist. I know some of them! Look out for contrary evidence. It’s out there! You just need to look for it.

10. I have little or no control over my health.

There is overwhelming evidence that what you eat, how much you exercise, the quantity and quality of your sleep, and how well you deal with stress can have a dramatic effect on your health. Most chronic diseases can be avoided by focusing on these 4 aspects of your health.

One reason people believe they have no control is because health changes take time. It takes several months of eating healthily and exercising regularly to notice the benefits. However, many people are inconsistent or they give up too soon, before they see any noticeable or meaningful results.

11. I am addicted to …..

Examples of this limiting belief include being addicted to a certain food, drink, drug or even a person.

Behind this limiting belief is the idea that you need a certain external thing to cope with stress, life’s problems, or pain. In reality, you are rarely addicted to something. Let me give you an example.

Let’s say you’re on a 12 hour flight. You’re a smoker and believe you are addicted to cigarettes. However, you know that you can’t smoke on a plane, so you don’t think about it. You forget about it. Once 12 hours has gone past, and the plane is about to land, you may think about having a smoke.

Let’s say that next to you is a heroin addict. Would that heroin addict be able to think about not having their heroin fix for 12 hours? Highly unlikely. Or what about someone with Type 1 Diabetes? Would they be able to think about not having their insulin injection for 12 hours? Probably not. These are real addictions. In most other cases, it’s just a habit that you believe is an addiction.

I also encourage you to remove your sense of identity from the habit. When you say things like, “I am an emotional eater”, or “I am an alcoholic”, you make the habit part of your identity.

Think about all the other significant things that you are. Maybe you’re a great parent, salesperson, accountant, friend, or spouse. When you notice your other identities, this habit will be a far smaller part of who you really are.

12. Only after I have ….. I’ll be happy.

This is the last one of my list of limiting beliefs. It can include things like:

Only after I have found my soul mate, I will be happy.
Only after I get promoted, I will be happy.
Only after I earn a 6-figure salary, I will be happy.

The problem with this limiting belief is it prevents you from being happy right now. Remember that happiness is ultimately a feeling. Of course, finding your soul mate or earning a 6-figure salary will make you happy. However, if it becomes familiar and you take it for granted, your level of happiness will reduce over time.

This is called the Law of Familiarity. When you experience anything for enough time, it becomes familiar. You take it for granted and you appreciate it less.

So to be happy, focus on the good in your life, and don’t compare yourself with other people. Be grateful for what you already have and enjoy the small things in your relationship and in life too. Also, develop healthy habits. Eat well, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep. Your body will appreciate you for that. You’ll feel better, have more energy and be naturally happier.

To Conclude

This was my list of 12 limiting beliefs that prevent you from living a happy and successful life. I hope you related to my examples and feel empowered to take action to smash the limiting beliefs that are holding you back.

Choose a limiting belief that is keeping you stuck, challenge it, change the meaning of it and take action to disprove it. You’ll be glad you did!

Finally, I encourage you to read my related article on how to permanently change your limiting beliefs.

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and found it useful, then please share it with other people, or on social media.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paul

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The 8 Areas of Life – How to Design Your Perfect Life

For most people, a perfect life is a balanced life. It’s when you satisfy your wants and needs in all areas of life. In this article, I will cover the 8 key areas of life. This will provide a foundation to help you design your perfect life.

You will learn why it’s important to set goals in each area of life and what could happen if you don’t! I’ll then cover each of these 8 life areas in detail. I’ll also give you some ideas and suggestions to help you improve each of these areas of life.

I also score myself for each of these 8 life areas. You might find my scores interesting and revealing! I encourage you to score yourself too. This is an important first step to creating a balanced life. A life where you feel happy and fulfilled.

I’m a big believer that you’re either improving or going backwards in all the major areas of life. You never really stand still.

Also, you will be happier when you’re intentionally focussing and working on all the key areas of your life. It helps you put yourself first rather than other people. It ensures that one area of your life such as your career does not take over.

These 8 areas of life work best for me. However, you can change these slightly, to fit in with your culture or values.

Watch the Video Below:

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Career or Business

So the first area of life is career or business. You will probably work in a career or business for 40 or more hours a week. So you want to make sure it’s something that is fulfilling, enjoyable, and that challenges or stretches you. You want a career or business that meets your values, interests you and helps you become a better person.

Ideally you want to have a great company culture, wonderful people to work with that may become your friends too. This includes a supportive and understanding manager that stretches and challenges you.

I’ve had jobs in the past that have not been enjoyable. Jobs where I struggled to relate to my work colleagues. For me, this negatively influenced my friendships, intimate relationship and my mindset when I wasn’t at work. So when your job or career does not meet your needs, it can affect other areas of your life too.

If you’re running a business, you want to ensure that the business is growing and improving and that you’re getting better at being the business owner and entrepreneur.

Regularly check key metrics to ensure that you are on the right track and that your business is growing in the way you want it to. You want to have a great reputation and feel proud of what you do.

My Score: 8

I put a lot of time, energy and focus into my career and business. However, I value other aspects of my life and make time for them as you’re about to find out.

Health & Fitness

I believe that health and fitness are significantly different, so I’ve split this area of life into 2 sub-areas. You can look very fit on the outside but have poor health. Or you can be healthy on the inside, without being strong, flexible and in great shape.

Health

Health is about what you eat, drink, the quality of your sleep and how you deal with stress.

Do you have any destructive habits in this area? Perhaps it’s comfort eating, or drinking too much alcohol.

When destructive health habits go unchecked, they gradually affect your health in subtle but very predictable ways. The effect of a poor diet on your health over a 10 or 20-year period is very certain and predictable. Chronic health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are very likely to happen when you have poor health habits that continue for years. Anything you do (or don’t do) consistently will have predictable results on your health.

Long-term continuous and prolonged stress can dramatically affect your health. Your body is very well equipped to deal with short-term stress, through the fight-or-flight response. However, when this stress continues unchecked, this can put your health at risk. For some great ways to reduce stress, I encourage you to read this article.

Fitness

This falls into three categories. First, cardiovascular fitness, which increases your energy. It’s good for your heart, circulation and it forces you to breathe fully. Second, strength or weight training to help you become a stronger person. Finally, stretching, yoga or pilates to increase your range of movement and become more flexible.

My Score: 6

My diet is pretty good. I eat mainly whole foods. I drink some alcohol, but not much. I normally get 8 hours of good quality sleep most nights. Fitness is more challenging for me. My cardiovascular fitness is good as I walk a lot. However, I struggle with strength training and flexibility.

Partner or Intimate Relationships

If you’re single, this is about getting a partner. If you’re in a relationship, this is about keeping your partner. So let’s start with finding a partner.

Finding a Partner

This isn’t completely within your control. However, there are lots of things you can do to increase your chances of finding the right person. Start by knowing what you want in a partner. What would your ideal partner look like? What would their values be? What mental, emotional and spiritual qualities would this person have? Write this all down and visualize it regularly. I did this in my twenties, and it really worked for me!

Then take action. Go on dates, join clubs, go to places where your ideal person might hang out. Use internet dating. Practice talking to new people daily. The more people you meet, the sooner you’ll find the right person for you.

Keeping Your Partner

If you’re in a relationship and you want to keep your partner, then prioritize quality time together. This could be a weekly date night, or a weekend away once a month.

Remember the romantic things you did when you first met and start doing these again. Buy flowers, surprise presents or treats.

Communication is super important in a relationship and you can always improve the way you communicate. Ensure that you’re always communicating as effectively as you can.

Dream together. Think about your future life together and how you would like that to be. Be grateful and never take your relationship for granted. Appreciate the little things your partner says and does. Say “I love you” regularly and enjoy being with your partner right now.

If you feel that your relationship is going backwards, then this great quote will help you get back on track. It is, “if you were to treat this person as if it was the beginning of the relationship, then there would be no end”.

My Score: 7

Hopefully, my wife agrees!

Money and Wealth

One of the fundamental reasons relationships end is a lack of money and the stress that comes from financial difficulties. So you can see how one area of life can influence another. Being in debt is hugely stressful, and that can negatively impact your relationship and your health.

To improve your financial situation, you want to earn more, spend less or do both! Personally, I find it easier to spend less money than make more money. I think that’s the case for most people.

Budgeting

To get ahead financially, you want your living costs to be around 60% of your total income after tax. This leaves you with 10% for guilt free spending (for example nights out, restaurants and other treats) and 10% towards longer term purchases (for example vacations, a new TV or new furniture).

You save the final 20% for unexpected financial costs and for investing. Unexpected financial costs include losing your job, serious illness, going through a divorce, a recession or a coronavirus health pandemic. Did you see that one coming? These are all things that are unexpected and difficult to predict.

I cover these budgeting concepts in greater detail in my article on how to spend less than you earn.

Wealth

This is having an income stream that comes in regardless of whether or not you are working. This includes interest from savings, dividends from shares or rental income from an investment property. It could also be income from an online business where you’re selling physical or digital products on the internet.

My Score: 4

I am debt-free. However, my income is relatively low, and that’s a lifestyle decision. I’m reducing my expenses. I also believe that I have a good roadmap in place to improve my financial situation in the future.

Personal and Spiritual Development

Like health and fitness, I’ve broken this area of life into multiple sub-areas.

Personal Development

As you know, personal development helps you become a better person and be more effective and successful. You can do this by meditating, journaling, using creative visualization, repeating affirmations, reminding yourself of your goals, reading, learning and many other methods or techniques.

This also includes investing in courses and seminars that give you fresh information, insights and inspiration to better your life.

It’s essential that you apply what you learn consistently. One of the best ways to do this is to have an empowering daily morning routine. Before you do anything else, dedicate 15 mins, 30 mins or even 1 hour to your personal development. You’ll feel so much better for it and your day will be much more productive and fulfilling.

Spiritual Development

This could include prayer, meditation, keeping a gratitude journal and expressing gratitude. It’s about connecting to a higher power in whatever way that works for you. This will depend on your religious or spiritual beliefs, so do what is right for you.

Community Activities and Volunteering

You may wish to include any community or volunteering activities in this area of life. These activities often help you become a better person and increase your sense of connection with humanity.

My Score: 6

I learn and research personal development topics to share with you or to help my hypnotherapy clients. When I come across fresh approaches, I try them out on myself first.

However, I don’t have a consistent personal development or spiritual practice at the moment. This is primarily due to my focus on helping others, growing my business and being in a good place mentally and emotionally right now.

Family, Friends and Social

I’ve also broken down this area of life into multiple sub-areas.

Family

Most important is your immediate family such as your parents, siblings and any sons or daughters. This is about spending time with them, resolving any conflicts and improving your relationship and connection with them.

However, you can also include uncles, aunts, grandparents, nephews, nieces and other extended family members here too.

Friends

For me, this is about connecting and reconnecting with good friends and spending quality time with them. I do this by having a weekly friend ritual. Once a week I spend an evening with a good friend that I haven’t seen for a while and we share experiences about life and catch up.

If some of your friends are a long way away, then why not meet up via Skype or Zoom? You can still share experiences and have a drink together. You’re just doing it virtually!

This might also be about making new friends by joining clubs and going on activities where you can meet like-minded people. Personal development seminars can be great for this!

Social

This is connecting with groups of people, such as your work colleagues, school or college friends. It could also be social or activity groups. I highly recommend going to meetup.com and finding groups in your local area. It’s free.

When I first moved to Sydney, Australia 10 years ago, meetup.com was the way I met most of my friends. There are hundreds of meetup groups covering a wide variety of common interests.

My score: 5

Whilst I’ve been busy developing Self Help for Life and my hypnotherapy business, meeting up with friends has been on the back-burner for a while. However, I’m redressing this now through my one-on-one friend ritual.

Recreation and Hobbies

These are the fun things that make you happy and help you relax.

Recreation

For me, this is day trips, weekends away and longer holidays or vacations. It’s experiencing other countries, cultures, seeing unique wildlife or tasting different foods.

When I was a child, my parents always took us into the country for a few hours each weekend. It was lovely to go hiking and get some fresh air.

None of my other friends at school did this. They were stuck at home whilst their parents were doing chores. I’m lucky that my parents valued the importance of recreation.

Hobbies

Hobbies could include playing or watching different sports, going kayaking, sailing or playing golf. You could play a musical instrument or listen to music. Perhaps for you it’s art or crafts, or playing computer games.

Whatever it is for you, take some time to cultivate a hobby.

My Score: 7

My major hobby is walking. I love walking in nature and make time to do that. Also weekends away, holidays and vacations. I also love music and use my Sony noise-canceling headphones to listen to music whilst walking and on public transport.

Home, Environment and Things

Home

Home is about the place you live in. Is it large enough, well designed, comfortable and peaceful? Do you like the color scheme and the overall feel of your home? This area of life would include doing any home renovations.

Environment

This is the area you live in. Is it a safe area where you feel comfortable walking the streets? This would also include access to shops, cafes and public transport if this is important to you.

It also includes the weather. Is it a hot or cold area? Do you get lots of sunshine or many gray, cloudy or wet days?

People that live in the far north (for example, in Scandinavia) often suffer from S.A.D. This stands for seasonal affective disorder and is common in the winter months when daylight hours are typically 6 hours or fewer. This can have a major effect on the mental health of people in these areas.

So do winters affect you? Do you feel down and depressed in the winter? If so, consider the influence of S.A.D.

What is the air quality like where you live? Is the air clean and fresh or polluted?

Environmental influences often take time to change. However, consider these when you next move house or decide on a new town, city or country to live in.

Things

This is buying things that are not related to a hobby. For example, a new car, TV, computer, smart phone, or other gadget. This would also include clothes.

My Score: 8

We live in a very safe and beautiful part of Sydney in Australia. We have views of Sydney Harbour from my apartment and it’s very safe to walk alone at night.

However, this wasn’t always the case. Just over 10 years ago, we lived in London. The crowds, packed public transport, icy winters with short daylight hours bothered us, so we hatched up a plan to move to Australia. It was a massive undertaking, but we will never look back. It took a lot of time and commitment to make it happen, but we did it!

In Conclusion

Now you know the 8 major areas of life. Awareness is the first step to change, so I encourage you to score yourself for each of the 8 areas. Discover the areas that are strong for you and the ones that require more attention.

Some areas will be more important to you than others. That’s okay. The most important thing is that you strive to live a life that makes you happy and fulfilled right now, but also in the longer term too. Regularly checking in and scoring each area of your life will help you do that.

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and found it useful, then please share it with other people, or on social media.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paul

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Don’t Let the Law of Familiarity Ruin Your Life!

In this article, you will learn about the Law of Familiarity. Most people do not understand this law. As a result, they strive for happiness by pursuing the wrong things. This law also has the potential to ruin your life if you don’t understand it or treat it with respect.

When you truly understand the Law of Familiarity, you will understand where true happiness lies. You will live a more balanced life and experience more variety. You won’t take things for granted.

You have already experienced the Law of Familiarity without knowing it. As you read this article, you may well get an “a-ha” moment as you realize how this law has influenced your life.

Take the time now to get to grips with this law, so you can live a happy, fulfilling and meaningful life.

Watch the Video Below:

Listen to the Podcast

What is the Law of Familiarity

When you experience anything for enough time, it becomes familiar. You take it for granted and you appreciate it less. This could be a person, place or thing. Here are some examples of the Law of Familiarity in action.

New Relationship

You’ve met someone new. This time it’s your soulmate. It’s so exciting! Like a new adventure. There’s that spark, passion and all you see are their good points. You’re having a lot of fun, whilst learning and discovering more about this new special person in your life.

A few months or years go by and it seems like the spark has gone. Life seems a little dull now. You take this person for granted. You know them inside out, you know everything about them. You’ve run out of things to talk about.

Perhaps you ignore some of their good points and notice more of their bad points instead. That’s the Law of Familiarity in action. The more time you spend with that person, the more familiar they become and the more you take them for granted.

New Car

You decide to buy a brand new car. You do your research, choose the brand, model and color. You hunt for the best price. You buy it and experience the thrill of driving this new car home.

It’s got that lovely new car smell. It’s all shiny and new. Over the next few weeks, you take your new car along all your favorite roads. You really enjoy learning how all the new technology and functionality works. You’re driving along, and you’re thinking life is good! You wash it twice a week and keep it clean and tidy inside.

Six months later, you haven’t washed the car for weeks! There are cobwebs on the wing mirrors and lots of junk and clutter inside. Well, that’s the Law of Familiarity in action. You have this nice new car and then over time it becomes familiar and you take it for granted.

Holidays or Vacations

You plan your next holiday, deciding where to go and researching different destinations. You book your flights, accommodation and perhaps some tours.

Two weeks before you depart, you’re so excited about it. You’re imagining this wonderful holiday! You can’t wait to leave the office. You notice that the excitement leading up to your holiday is almost as intense as being on holiday!

You then arrive at your destination and are getting into the holiday spirit. Over the first few days you try out many new and exciting activities and explore the surrounding area. Life is great, and you’re really enjoying being on holiday,

Then after a few days, time seems to go more quickly. You become familiar with your surroundings. It feels more like a normal experience. It’s still far better than being at work, but it’s becoming more normal. Perhaps you miss your friends or some of the creature comforts you have back at home. That’s the Law of Familiarity kicking in again.

It works the other way around too!

The Law of Familiarity applies when you lose something or someone too. For example, the loss of a loved one. Initially, you naturally go through a grieving process where you really miss this person. However, over time it becomes a little easier until eventually, you gain a feeling of acceptance over the loss.

Another example is a chronic health condition. Perhaps one of those annoying conditions that is not life threatening. However, it’s something you now experience that wasn’t there in the past. It might take a while to get used to that health condition, but over time it will become more familiar to you and the new normal.

So with the two examples above, the Law of Familiarity helps you gain acceptance for something that you can’t change. So when you’ve experienced sadness or loss, the Law of Familiarity helps you heal and recover.

The Biggest Problem with the Law of Familiarity

So the biggest problem with the Law of Familiarity. The one that can really ruin your life, is complacency. Here are some examples.

Career

You get a great new job. It’s a promotion and a significant step-up. The first few months are great. You’re really focussed, you work very hard and challenge the status quo. You come up with new ideas, change things for the better and get to know your colleagues really well.

Two years go by and your job has become very familiar. You’re more complacent. Perhaps you come in later or leave earlier. Maybe you take some of your colleagues for granted. You appreciate them less.

Meanwhile, one of your colleagues is champing at the bit for greater responsibility. He really wants a promotion and a new challenge. He believes he can do your job better than you! So who is more motivated? Is it you, or your colleague that wants your job? Of course, it’s your colleague! So you’ve really got to watch out for complacency in your career, especially in more senior roles.

Back in 2008, I was working in the IT department of a law firm in London. They made a few of my colleagues redundant as part of the economic downturn that was starting to bite. Some of these people had been with the firm for many years and had become very complacent in their roles. So it wasn’t a complete surprise to me when I found out that their roles had been affected.

So in your career, it’s important to challenge yourself, move things forward and evolve in your role.

Relationships

Another area where the law of familiarity and complacency could ruin your life is intimate relationships. Let’s say you’ve been with your partner now for a few months or years and you begin to take them for granted.

Other things in life have become more important, such as your career. You have stopped doing all those romantic things that you used to do in the early days, such as date nights, buying flowers or little treats for your partner.

Perhaps you’re spending less quality time with them. Meanwhile, your partner gets attention from someone else at work. You can see where this could lead to!

Law of Familiarity and Happiness

Any new person, place, thing or experience can bring us joy and happiness. My earlier examples of the new car, relationship or being on holiday show how this is the case.

The problem is that it doesn’t last. Why? because it eventually becomes familiar. So thinking your happiness can only come from something that you don’t have right now is a recipe for misery!

So why is that? Well, because you’re believing that your happiness is outside of your own control. Believing that your happiness depends on some future event, keeps you out of the present moment.

It can also be an excuse for not taking the steps to be happy right now. Let’s say you’re chasing a promotion at work. You believe that the only way to do this is to work long hours and be totally committed. However, while you’re doing this, you’re missing out on all the other activities that you could do in your spare time that make you happy.

Or you’re studying hard to get a new qualification such as an MBA. You want to get this as quickly as possible because you believe it will really help advance your career.

Now it’s true that you might need that qualification to get ahead. But studying super hard could mean that you’re missing out on things that make you happy right now.

When I first moved to London in my early 20s, I was very lonely. I hardly knew anyone. I had one very good friend from university that had also moved to London. However, we would rarely meet up because he was working in the evenings to make more money or he was studying. He was so focused on improving his future that he missed out on spending time with his friends right now. Do this for long enough and your friends will drift away.

So the key here is balance. It’s good to work hard in the present, to make the future better. However, don’t put your happiness on hold to do this. Continue to spend some time with people and on activities that bring a smile to your face.

How to stop the Law of Familiarity from Ruining Your Life

So how do you stop the law of familiarity from ruining your life?

Gratitude

The first way is gratitude. Appreciate all the things that you currently take for granted. These could include your partner, family, career, health, your home or where you live. It could be being grateful for being alive.

Act as if it’s still new and exciting

The second one is to act as if it’s still new and exciting. This is great for relationships. Treat your partner like you did at the beginning of the relationship. Start doing those fun, romantic things that you used to do.

If you feel that your relationship has gone a little stale or turned sour, then here’s a great quote to help you get back on track. It is, “if you were to treat this person as if it was the beginning of the relationship, then there would be no end”.

Pay more attention to the important areas of your life

Also pay more attention to the most important areas of your life. These are typically your career, partner and health. Start being proactive and make positive changes in these areas of life. Remember that you rarely stay still in any area of life. It’s either improving or declining. Getting better or getting worse.

If you don’t pay attention to these important areas of life, you could lose them. You could lose your job or career, your partner or your health. Everything of value requires care and attention. Remember that.

Seek Variety

Another great way is to get uncomfortable and seek variety. The Law of Familiarity breeds comfort. Do something different with your partner. If you normally go out for dinner, go to the theater instead.

You could take on a new diet or exercise routine to improve your health. This will add variety to your life and this will make you happier. And you’ll get that feeling of aliveness back! When you take on a new challenge that takes you out of your comfort zone, you get that wonderful feeling of aliveness. It’s the complete opposite of the Law of Familiarity.

So now you know more about the Law of Familiarity and how to stop it from ruining your life. I encourage you now to check in on the main areas of your life. Make sure you’re grateful for those areas and are not taking them for granted. Pay attention and do something today to ensure that you are growing in each of the main areas of your life.

Add some new activities to spice up your life so you feel alive! This will give you more happiness and joy too.

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and found it useful, then please share it with other people, or on social media.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paul

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The 11 Benefits of Gratitude and How to Practice it Daily

There are so many benefits of gratitude. It’s wonderful for your body, mind, and spirit. In this article, I’m going to cover the benefits of gratitude in detail. This will give you the motivation to start becoming more grateful for what is already working in your life.

Practising gratitude is also a wonderful way to improve how you feel instantly. To feel happier and more fulfilled. It’s fun to do and I cover 4 very easy and effective ways to incorporate the practice of gratitude into your life.

To make the most of the benefits of gratitude, I recommend that you practice being grateful for a few minutes every day.

Watch the video below:

Click here to watch on YouTube

Listen to the Podcast

What are the Benefits of Gratitude?

Gratitude makes you feel good and this improves your mental and physical health. Have you noticed that when you achieve or gain something (for example a new car), you feel excited, happy and grateful, but the feeling doesn’t last. It soon becomes a normal experience.

When you focus all your attention on achieving more, this creates a habit or pattern of taking things for granted, because you’re focusing on what you don’t have.

Achieving is a good thing, but you want to do it in a way that makes you feel happy and fulfilled at the same time. Why do you want to achieve something in the first place? – My guess is that it’s probably to experience some kind of emotion such as happiness, fulfillment or satisfaction. However, you can have these emotions now without having those things.

I’ve also found that if you focus too much on wanting to achieve something, this gives an energetic message to the universe that says “I want that”. However, the feeling of wanting is different from having. Wanting something means that you don’t have it yet and that is a different feeling that the universe picks up on.

By practicing gratitude, you focus on what you already have. This sends the message of “having” to the universe.

So let’s look at some of the benefits of practicing gratitude.

1. Improves Physical Health

People that practice gratitude daily have fewer aches and pains. They look after themselves better and exercise more often. They have lower blood pressure, live longer and have more energy.

2. Improves Sleep

Practicing gratitude regularly helps you sleep better by sleeping for longer and getting deeper, restorative sleep. When you worry about things before you go to sleep, the level of stress in your body increases and that reduces your sleep quality.

If you practice gratitude instead by focussing on what you already have and what’s going well in your life, then this initiates the relaxation response. Your body can then relax and you’ll sleep much better.

Before you go to sleep tonight, I invite you to do the following:

Think about three things that went well today.
Think about three things that I’m grateful for.

3. Reduces Stress

As mentioned above, being grateful induces the relaxation response. This then lowers the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your body. Lower levels of cortisol mean you feel more relaxed.

4. Improves your Mental Health

One of the other benefits of gratitude is a lower chance of becoming depressed or developing other mental illnesses. Think of being grateful as fitness for the mind.

5. Enhanced Self Esteem

Being grateful improves your levels of self esteem. You have less resentment towards other people that appear to be doing better than you. Instead, you appreciate their accomplishments. You’re less likely to compare yourself with other people and have greater satisfaction in your life as well.

6. More Resilience

Practising gratitude improves your resilience and mental strength. A study measuring post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam War veterans found that people that were more grateful during the war and afterwards generally had fewer symptoms of PTSD. A study undertaken after the 9/11 attacks found that people that were more grateful of what they had before the attacks seemed to deal better in the aftermath of the attacks.

7. Changes Memories

Practising gratitude helps you to change past memories. Your memories are not set in stone. They’re not like files in a computer where the information stored never changes. Memories can and do change over time. You may remember things as better or worse than they really were. The people in that memory may have been kinder or crueller. Gratitude increases the chances of remembering those things in a more positive way. It can also help you gain closure from upsetting memories.

8. Improves your Emotional Wellbeing

Being grateful helps reduce many negative emotions such as frustration, anger, regret, envy, aggression, revenge and resentment. It also helps increase your level of happiness. Practising gratitude makes you feel good, which in itself is a great reason to practise it.

9. Better Relationships and Social Life

One of the other benefits of gratitude is improved relationships and social life. When you feel grateful, people will like you more, you will come across as more trusting. You will be more social and appreciative. You will have more friends, deeper friendships and a better relationship with your partner as well.

10. More Career or Business Success

When you feel good about yourself and grateful for what you already have, you will be more productive and make better decisions. You will be more positive, solution focussed and find it easier to get results through other people.

11. Better Manifesting

Practising gratitude helps you to focus on the positive (the things you already have), rather than the negative (what you don’t have). When manifesting, it’s so important to focus on what you do want. A great way to do this is to focus on what you want AND what you already have. This helps you get the feeling of having what you want NOW.

How to practice gratitude on a daily basis

Hopefully, you’re now sold on the benefits of gratitude, so I’ll now cover a few quick ways to do this.

Gratitude Journal

A gratitude journal is simply writing down the things that you are grateful for. Things you might include could be your body, physical & mental health, family & friends or books & resources that you’ve benefited from. It could also be happy memories from the past or even small things like your heart beating consistently every day, or having running water and electricity.

Gratitude Questions

Ask yourself the following questions

What am I grateful for in my life?
What am I proud of in my life?
What do I love about my life?
What made today great?
What was good about today?

Notice what comes up when you ask these questions. Gratitude questions are powerful because it focuses your mind on answering the question and this will lead to more things that you are grateful for.

Gratitude Bucket List

You probably already have a bucket list for holiday destinations, experiences and people you would like to meet. What about having a gratitude bucket list? Think of all those things that you have already achieved, the places you’ve already visited, the people that you’ve already met, Create a gratitude bucket list of all the things you’ve already achieved.

Showing Appreciation to Others

What can you do that will brighten up someone else’s day? How could you show gratitude or appreciation for something that someone else has done? You can show your gratitude and appreciation face to face, via text message, email or on social media.

As you can see, there are lots of great benefits of gratitude. I hope this convinces you that it’s worth practicing being grateful on a daily basis. Best time is first thing in the morning when you get up and just before going to bed.

However, practicing being grateful throughout the day is great as well. It will make you feel better about yourself and happier too. It will balance your life as you’ll be focusing on things you already have, as well as focusing on the things you want.

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and found it useful, then please share it with other people, or on social media.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paul

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Unleash the Power of Acceptance for a Happier You

The Power of Acceptance is so important to achieving success, happiness and a sense of fulfillment. It will help you be at peace with your current situation whilst taking action to improve it at the same time.

Many negative emotions such as impatience, frustration, guilt and blame can be reduced or even eliminated by practising the power of acceptance.

There are some things in life that we cannot change. These include:

Our Height
Our Parents
The Past

There are a huge amount of things that we can change. These would include:

Habits
Self-Image
Learning New Skills
Relationships
Money
Friends
Attitude
Health

So we need to accept the things that we can’t change and work on improving the things that we can change.

Watch the video below:

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

Listen to the Podcast

In these situations, it is important that we can accept the current situation and also work on changing it at the same time.

What is Acceptance?

Let’s start with what Acceptance is NOT!

It is NOT apathy, giving up, surrendering control or blaming someone or something else. It is also not accepting that it is going to be that way forever.

Acceptance is fundamentally an attitude or state of mind. It is the opposite of resistance.

For example, if you were stuck in traffic, it is your impatience and eagerness to reach your destination (and the possible consequences of being late) that make you just want to get moving! – That’s resistance in action. You don’t want to be where you are right now.

Instead, you could be listening to music, practicing affirmations, looking at other people with curiosity or being grateful for having a car!

Accepting something does not mean that you like it, want it, choose to have it or even support it. Instead, it’s choosing to allow it to be there in this moment. To make space for it. It’s giving yourself the chance to feel what you feel, experience what you have experienced without feeling negative emotions such as shame, guilt or anxiety.

How does the Power of Acceptance Benefit You?

When you can better accept what is, you will notice that you will :

Have less arguments
Stop trying to make other people wrong
Stop complaining
Look for the good in other people
Notice frustration melting away and being replaced by curiosity and fascination.
Look for good things in your life
Attract more good things to you. This could be new opportunities or new people.

I believe this happens because your thoughts and energy change. You increase your level of vibration, by letting go of resistance and being more at peace with yourself.

The power of acceptance can neutralize unpleasant and irritating experiences. It might even transform them into positive ones.

Acceptance and Pain

Struggling against pain (whether physical or emotional) can be one of the hardest areas to practice acceptance.

In the case of chronic physical pain (or a chronic health condition), it can often feel that it fits into the “things I cannot change” bucket.

However by resisting it or rejecting the pain, it will cause you to suffer more. Using the Power of Acceptance may not reduce the pain, but it will reduce the suffering.

By reducing the suffering, you will develop the patience to work on solutions that can sometimes take some time and trial and error. You will probably find that you will notice the discomfort less often. It’s also good for the immune system.

Practising Acceptance

Acceptance isn’t something that just happens over time. It requires practice until it becomes a habit.

Acceptance and resistance are opposite ends of the spectrum. By practising acceptance, you strengthen the neural pathways in your brain, so that acceptance becomes easier in the future.

It is natural to yoyo between acceptance and resistance, but this will reduce over time as you practice the power of acceptance.

Acceptance can be practised in all areas of life including:

Your current experience or reality
Health
The past
Other people
Your thoughts and emotions
Other people’s beliefs or ideas
Your appearance

When you wake up, repeat the following affirmations:

Today is good and where I am is good
All my mistakes are just fine.
I am learning the lessons that I need to learn to graduate to something better.

And when something goes wrong, say something like “I don’t know why this happened, but this is okay”, then look for reasons to be happy.

If you’re having a hard time accepting something, say “Right now, I have absolutely no idea why this had to be a part of my journey but I embrace it anyway”

Another tip is to avoid the word “should”. Using the word “should” tends to make you argue or resist reality. For example, I should have gone to university, the government should do something or that person shouldn’t be so angry.

Acceptance and Other People

Happy people tend to be more flexible and more accepting of others. Rather than making demands on life and people, they will have preferences instead.

Here are some examples of preferences in action

I prefer quiet neighbours, but if they are noisy, I can handle it.
I prefer people to be polite, but when they are rude, I can be okay with that.
I prefer people to see my point of view, but when they don’t, that’s fine too.

Can you see how that defuses potential negative emotions by a change in prospective?

Here are some examples of situations involving other people that you can choose to accept.

People that work less than you
People that make more money than you
More intelligent people
Angry or rude people
Ungrateful people.

Acceptance, Happiness and Peace of Mind

Whatever we are trying to achieve in life, it is probably to achieve some level of happiness and peace of mind. When you realise that this is really the ultimate goal, you can often be more flexible and less resistant to the tangible results.

If you can accept where you are, see the best in other people and make an effort each day to do your best, then you can achieve your goals and dreams and be happy and at peace in the process.

I based this article on a podcast about Acceptance by Andrew Matthews. You can listen to it here.

Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoyed it and found it useful, then please share it with other people, or on social media.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Paul