How fast can you change a thought? - Ways to Enhance Your Personal Power

Have you ever noticed that most of our states of discomfort, displeasure or unease stem from thoughts of corresponding nature, or thoughts that generate these negative states?

When I commenced my journey of self-improvement, self-development and self-strengthening I discovered meditation, holistic healing and various modalities that are designed and intended to enhance our state of mind and thus quality of life. One of the teachers I came across was Byron Katie who pioneered a line of powerful inquiry aptly entitled The Work. Her work has helped millions of people worldwide overcome life's difficulties, tumultuous thoughts, and inner demons.

The reason I bring this up is because she, along with dozens of other empowering figures, Louise Hay for example, have harnessed the power of Self-Awareness by underscoring the notion that:

A thought is only a thought and it can be changed.

If the source of negative emotions, and thus a negative state of mind, is a corresponding thought, and a thought can be changed, then it makes sense to conclude that if we change thoughts to positive/empowering/uplifting/resourceful thoughts we will consequently experience a boosted state of being. 

Thus the question: 

How fast can you change a thought?

There are different factors involved in Thought-Creation and Thought-Change.

Thoughts that we think consistently and repeatedly become a personal mantra and take the shape of a Belief. Beliefs are potent as they shape identity, self-confidence and our map of the world.

Thoughts that are strongly held are suffused with emotion, and emotion that is interlinked with a belief and desire for action is a potent catalyst for change and taking action.

However, not all thoughts are consistently held nor do they all become beliefs.

Some thoughts are fleeting and ephemeral, emerging unexpectedly from random life situations.

Some thoughts generate a positive mood or state, while others can potential have the opposite effect. The latter can be conducive to generating unresourceful states such as fear,doubt, anger, frustration, etc.

The thoughts that combine emotion and consistent "airtime" assume MOMENTUM, and we know how that momentum goes - once you get started it takes a life of its own, and soon enough one thought trails behind the other and it grows exponentially.

This is great for the Positive ones, however not so much for the latter set.

So how do we change the set of thoughts we willingly and readily want to release?

There is no simple, easy or one single answer or technique. Everyone is different and experiences thoughts in different ways depending on the various intrinsic personality traits.

I would like to present and share a nifty NLP + Life Coaching Technique that I have applied in Coaching sessions and on myself which has resulted in great, desired results for the Client. 

It is through the use of SUBMODALITIES and METAPHOR COACHING.

Perhaps you can consider:

- How do you effectively shift unresourceful thoughts?

- What are your trick, tips and techniques?

- What is the main difference in the momentum between your positive thoughts and nnegative thoughts?

- If you could change one thought you think repeatedly that is not serving you, what would that be?

What would be its Counterpart (the opposite thought)?

Powerful questions generate powerful answers.

SUBMODALITIES and METAPHOR COACHING

In NLP, Submodalities are referred to as representational systems or modalities; the Reps systems is basically the way we individually use the five basic senses: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory. Everyone has a more dominant use of certain reps systems. For instance, some people are more Kinesthetic which means they are more physical and absorb more experience through being involved in physical movement. If you are more visual you will be more impacted by the things you can see (perhaps you've heard the generalization that men are more visual?); some people are more auditory which is evident in musicians and people who are sensitive to changes in tonality and pick up on slight variations in a person's voice. Certainly we are all a combination of these senses however the point is that typically 1 or 2 reps systems will be more dominant.

Thus, if you can actively engage your dominant reps system you can actually generate powerful change in how you experience a situation, memory and, yes, a thought.


Life is a journey; enjoy the unfolding.

How fast can you change a thought? - Ways to Enhance Your Personal Power

Have you ever noticed that most of our states of discomfort, displeasure or unease stem from thoughts of corresponding nature, or thoughts that generate these negative states?

When I commenced my journey of self-improvement, self-development and self-strengthening I discovered meditation, holistic healing and various modalities that are designed and intended to enhance our state of mind and thus quality of life. One of the teachers I came across was Byron Katie who pioneered a line of powerful inquiry aptly entitled The Work. Her work has helped millions of people worldwide overcome life's difficulties, tumultuous thoughts, and inner demons.

The reason I bring this up is because she, along with dozens of other empowering figures, Louise Hay for example, have harnessed the power of Self-Awareness by underscoring the notion that:

A thought is only a thought and it can be changed.

If the source of negative emotions, and thus a negative state of mind, is a corresponding thought, and a thought can be changed, then it makes sense to conclude that if we change thoughts to positive/empowering/uplifting/resourceful thoughts we will consequently experience a boosted state of being. 

Thus the question: 

How fast can you change a thought?

There are different factors involved in Thought-Creation and Thought-Change.

Thoughts that we think consistently and repeatedly become a personal mantra and take the shape of a Belief. Beliefs are potent as they shape identity, self-confidence and our map of the world.

Thoughts that are strongly held are suffused with emotion, and emotion that is interlinked with a belief and desire for action is a potent catalyst for change and taking action.

However, not all thoughts are consistently held nor do they all become beliefs.

Some thoughts are fleeting and ephemeral, emerging unexpectedly from random life situations.

Some thoughts generate a positive mood or state, while others can potential have the opposite effect. The latter can be conducive to generating unresourceful states such as fear,doubt, anger, frustration, etc.

The thoughts that combine emotion and consistent "airtime" assume MOMENTUM, and we know how that momentum goes - once you get started it takes a life of its own, and soon enough one thought trails behind the other and it grows exponentially.

This is great for the Positive ones, however not so much for the latter set.

So how do we change the set of thoughts we willingly and readily want to release?

There is no simple, easy or one single answer or technique. Everyone is different and experiences thoughts in different ways depending on the various intrinsic personality traits.

I would like to present and share a nifty NLP + Life Coaching Technique that I have applied in Coaching sessions and on myself which has resulted in great, desired results for the Client. 

It is through the use of SUBMODALITIES and METAPHOR COACHING.

Perhaps you can consider:

- How do you effectively shift unresourceful thoughts?

- What are your trick, tips and techniques?

- What is the main difference in the momentum between your positive thoughts and nnegative thoughts?

- If you could change one thought you think repeatedly that is not serving you, what would that be?

What would be its Counterpart (the opposite thought)?

Powerful questions generate powerful answers.

SUBMODALITIES and METAPHOR COACHING

In NLP, Submodalities are referred to as representational systems or modalities; the Reps systems is basically the way we individually use the five basic senses: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory. Everyone has a more dominant use of certain reps systems. For instance, some people are more Kinesthetic which means they are more physical and absorb more experience through being involved in physical movement. If you are more visual you will be more impacted by the things you can see (perhaps you've heard the generalization that men are more visual?); some people are more auditory which is evident in musicians and people who are sensitive to changes in tonality and pick up on slight variations in a person's voice. Certainly we are all a combination of these senses however the point is that typically 1 or 2 reps systems will be more dominant.

Thus, if you can actively engage your dominant reps system you can actually generate powerful change in how you experience a situation, memory and, yes, a thought.


Life is a journey; enjoy the unfolding.

Timeline Legacy Process - Empower Your Decisions, Empower Yourself, Empower Your Life

Recap - This week's Self-Empowerment Videos:

Early this week I made a video introducing the notion of taking "The Path of Least Resistance" as a type of framework or Guiding Question you can ask yourself when you are making a decision or find yourself in a troublesome or challenging situation. As I finished that video I touched on the idea that decision-making becomes easier, more efficient and straightforward when we take stock of the broader context or circumstances that the decision will affect. Once you make a decision you then check the Ecology - you check if it is a realistic, viable and workable course of action given the practicalities and realities of daily life, existing commitments and the people in your life.

I then shot a follow-up video on making more powerful decisions by going through the Timeline Legacy Process, a Neuro-Linguistic Process, that is designed to help the person get clarity on where they see themselves in future years. You can do it yourself in the privacy of your home, and it may be easier and more powerful if you have a skilled NLP Life Coach who can take you through the process. 

Here it is in a nutshell:

Timeline Legacy Process - NLP Technique

You stand in a spot with enough space for you to take 4-6 steps forward (depending on the time increments you choose). You are facing the direction of your imagined future. You are standing in the current day (your 'today'). In other words, your future literally lies ahead of you.

1. You take a step forward and place yourself 5 years into the future. You are 5 years older; what is your life like? What work are you doing? Who is in your life? Where are you living? How do you feel? What have you accomplished as you had wished?
2. Take another step forward and imagine yourself 15 years in the future. You are 15 years into the future and you can ask yourself again what your life looks like, who you are with, what work you are doing or are you retired? What kind of an income do you have? Etc. 
3. Take another step forward and see yourself 25yrs older. You can ask the same questions and gauge where you are emotionally, mentally, physically, professionally and spiritually.
4. Finally, you will take a final step forward and this time you are moving into your post-death experience. This is after you have passed away and left your mark on the world.  
5. Turn around and look back on your life. You can close your eyes (or not) as you mentally re-run the events of your life that you just experienced on your timeline. 
6. What was your legacy? What was your contribution to the world? What mattered most? Which people mattered the most? What was the most important or valuable aspect(s) of your life experience? 
7. From that whole life experience what message would you like to send back to yourself to the you that is living in the current day (the day you are doing this exercise)? Once you identify that message, send it back to the you in the present day. 
8. Once you've sent the message you will walk back through your time i.e. going back in time. Ensure that you are taking steps back so that you are still facing your future yet walking backwards.
9. Once you reach the current day (today) you will once again be standing in the original position facing your future. Now you will receive the valuable message that the future you sent to the current you. Close your eyes and receive this message.
10. Once you are sure that your internal self has received and absorbed the message you can acknowledge this in a subtle way (rub hands together lightly, open your eyes, or nod your head) and you can continue with your day with this new knowledge you've received from the future.

 [Source: Thank you to Mindbridge NLP Trainings where I received my Life Coach and Master NLP Practitioner Certifications, and who taught me these modalities through their course materials and classes. It was an exceptional experience.]

 

Timeline (TL) Legacy Process - Elucidating Values

The Timeline process is designed to generate new ideas and clarity around the things that really matter to you in the long-term. This long-term perspective can help us identify, fine-tune and reconfirm our deeply-held values, or criteria. Values are the guiding stars of a person's behavior, attitudes and fundamental way of seeing the world. They serve as parameters for action (or inaction) and can certainly influence the meaning we ascribe to situations and experiences.

Since our Values shape our Identity, and our Identity is integral to a firm and secure sense of self, our confidence and place in the world (ego). 

Values and Identity are inextricably linked.

Thus, it is natural that we protect, defend and cherish our Values. We have seen this evidenced since the beginning of time when civilizations and individuals have defended their religion, independence, gender equality, racial non-discrimination, and suffrage (right to vote).

Living up to our Values reflects congruence, or internal alignment, generates more personal clarity, and reconfirms our identity (Who I am, What I do, What I believe). In other words, the world makes sense and you feel secure in your place in the world and life. Living your highest, deeply-held Values will ideally reflect you at your best and enable living the life you love.

Thus, supporting your Values with the corresponding actions, thoughts, ideas, people and situations will further boost levels of optimal living and personal satisfaction.

This is why congruence and internal alignment are key.

Once you've gone through the TL process and learned, discovered and/or reaffirmed your Values

you can better understand what really matters for you in your life; which activities, people and situations will benefit your overall happiness and reflect you at your best, and living optimally.

It allows you to live with more ease, wisdom and peace; You don't sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff?) and to envision Your bigger picture, the great things in store for you, and the amazing possibilities you can create for your future.

Thinking about the future can be frightening or intimidating to some of us, especially when you haven't thought this way before. Perhaps no one has asked you where you see yourself a few years down the line. Or you draw blanks when you try. Or you think that the Greater Powers of the Universe will decide how things play out and you don't have much say in the end.

Regardless of where you stand on this spectrum, going through the Timeline Process will definitely give you feedback you can work with; remember - there is no such thing as Failure only Feedback. You will have more self-awareness and once you begin the process you might find it exciting to discover that you can in fact design your future with your thoughts.


Have fun with it! Use your imagination and ask yourself some powerful, creative 'creation' questions:

- What would I like to see happen?
- You don't know the answer, but imagine if you did know, what would that be?
- If anything were possible what would you see happen?
- Where do you see yourself thriving the most?
- Do you know anyone who already has the life you respect or admire? Which qualities or aspects would you like to have in yours?
- What are you doing when you're at your best?
- Where do you see yourself most in love with life?

In Closing...

I hope you've found this beneficial and relevant. Life is fun, life is amazing, life is a miracle and we are all co-creators in this experience. There are such beautiful and magnificent possibilities before us if we can only envision them, imagine them and then see and feel ourselves attuned to those potentialities. We are only limited by our thinking (Zig Ziglar's Stinkin' Thinkin'); we are only limited by our imagination.

One of my next posts & videos will focus on another NLP process: Fun and Magic with the Reframe Technique.
Here is a taster...

Feeling Lonely? Let's Reframe that!

Comparing yourself to someone else/to others? Let's Reframe that!

Frustrated by your lack of progress? Let's reframe that!

Feeling stuck in a rut? Let's reframe that! 

Themes to explore: context of situations, all things being relative, things have meaning we choose to give them, and more.

Thanks and focus on empowering, resourceful thoughts. Life is a product of the quality of our thoughts.

-Jennifer (9 Apr 2015)

The Path of Least Resistance - Video & Life Coaching

April 7, 2015:

 

Today's Video

On today's video of Path of Least Resistance (PLR) - http://youtu.be/YfYNsO_pf1k

I invite you to consider how it feels to ask yourself "What is the path of least resistance?" whenever we are faced with making a decision or in a situation that generates some blockage, challenge or resistance.

Once you've asked the question you can then identify how you want to feel as a result of the decision - What decision would make my life easier? What (would) make me feel better? What is the easiest course of action that will get me where I need to be? Shift my State to a more resourceful one.

Moving forward, I'd like to make a subsequent video focusing on how these decisions fit into the bigger scheme of your life. In Coaching this means "Checking Ecology" i.e. How the decision fits from a practical day-to-day perspective (how feasible is it in real  life) and also within the wider scheme of your life.

More often than not any decision you take will fit within a broader context. Here are some examples of typical situations:

• Work Example - The bigger picture is one's overall, overarching career goals, work performance and personal happiness. How does the particular decision fit with your professional, career, self-development and financial goals?
• Is the Path of Least Resistance to avoid and procrastinate a given project, and then eventually get stressed and rush to finish at the last minute? OR, is it to break the project down into parts and then gradually finishing in time with minimal stress?

• Getting stuck in traffic - The bigger picture is you want to reach home safely, low stress, in good spirits, and have an enjoyable night. 
• Assuming taking another route is not feasible, is the Path of Least Resistance to make peace with where you are and make the current conditions as enjoyable as possible? i.e. play fun music, listen to an audio book, call a friend or family member, think about what great things happened in your day and what you are grateful for. 

• Relationship/Social - Someone (a friend, romantic partner, etc.) walks out of your life and despite your efforts it just didn't work out. Or perhaps there is someone who for whatever reason does not like you. 
• The bigger picture is that you enjoy and want healthy, happy, harmonious relationships and you also value and appreciate yourself (Ask yourself if this is true for you. If does not feel true for you then there may be a deeper underlying Limiting Belief on your own value and worth). So then how does this situation and potential course of action fit into your overall aim of having happy, healthy and harmonious relationships?
• Is the Least Resistance to just allow and accept this has happened? Or, is it to continue thinking over the issue wondering why it didn't work, where it went wrong and what you could've done differently, or if you should try further?

Sometimes the greatest difficulty is LETTING GO.

 

The course of action taken upon asking "What is the path of least resistance?" is intended to facilitate and help you come into better alignment and focus with the overarching goals you have in the given area of your life.

This brings up why it's valuable to have a longer view of one's own goals and overall priorities.
Why?
Because when we have clarity on our values, priorities and overarching personal/life objectives, we can better understand which decisions and actions while align and beneficially contribute to and support those overarching values, priorities and goals.

Why does this matter?

This matters because it reflects Congruence, Internal Alignment, and personal satisfaction for the life we are living and the way life is evolving.

Next Video Idea:
I'm really looking forward to creating a new video on Momentum & Why It Feels So Good.

 

Gratitude

I am so grateful for today's insightful and fun video on "The Path of Least Resistance" and that I  have contributed to my community in this manner.
I'm really happy with the way things are evolving.
I'm really enjoying the creation process, the self-expression and expansion; sharing overall, the thoughts, ideas, development. Contributing positively into this marvelous universe.

  

Want to boost your mood, raise your vibration and feel better? 

Make a list of your own Positive Aspects, a list of things you appreciate, like, love, enjoy and for which you are genuinely grateful. You can't go wrong once you get started with your own list of positive aspects. (Resource: Abraham Hicks)

The finisher - My Positive Aspects:

- I love vacation!
- I love the morning coffee feelzzz!
- I love calm, peaceful and joyful mornings - fresh
- I am exuberant
Take the easy way out.
My dream is coming alive bit by bit and it feels divine.