www.1001TopWords.com |
Anamchara - Beyond Positive Thinking
One of the most well known books ever written on success is James Allan's "As a man thinketh." This book advocates thinking in a positive manner in order to create the life you dream of having. It suggests all you have to do is change your internal dialogue and you can begin to adopt a successful mind set. After an unspecified time you will then "have it all." For some this approach has undoubtedly worked. For many others it has manifestly not done so. There are more books written and read on positive thinking than on most any other subject. This has made some difference to people's lives but real change has not manifested for too many others. I think this is because the writing of James Allen has been understood only at a surface level. In his wonderful book "As a man thinketh," he writes: - "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he, not only embraces the whole of a mans being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance." Note the language. It is a form of language you do not hear in today's personal growth market. I think this is why it is not so well understood. James Allen clearly states, "As a man thinketh in his heart?" He is, to my mind, talking about clearly making an emotional connection with one's heart. This is where all positive change begins. The heart speaks to one's being and not only to the intellect. The intellect is only a part of the wholeness of our humanity. Thinking positive thoughts can go some way to creating a wonderful experience of what it means to be alive. However, being alive is not just an intellectual experience. It is a when fully allowed a free flowing experience of delight. The heart knows things that the head can never imagine. The heart embraces the imagination. James Allen uses the word "embrace" in the above passage. The mind does not embrace. It rationalises. The mind operates in a linear fashion. It moves from point A to point B. An embrace is something that encircles you. A circle is complete it is not something that is partial. A circle is more holistic. James Allen goes on to say that this "thinketh of the heart" is so comprehensive it affects all conditions and circumstances. It is in effect transformative. It changes ones relationship to life and living. I personally think James Allan would have been better naming his wonderful book "As a man feels." This I think would guide many others to the experience of "embracing a man's being. It would more clearly focus one on the free flow of feeling within the body allied to ones purpose and values. This connection with your purpose and values at the heart level raises passion. This is the real power that will "reach out to every condition and circumstance." This will be a warmer and more powerful experience than the cool application of simply repeating positive words and phrases. Remember you are already forever enough no matter how much positive thinking you may apply to your being. Remember that the Blessing is already here and you are it. Tony Cuckson is an Anam Cara. This Celtic term means "Soul Friend." He specializes in providing insight for the spiritual journey, Blessings for YOU, words of wisdom and finding inner peace. Visitors to Irish Blessings Matter website and Tony's Blog get the opportunity to develop a purpose driven life through articles, newsletters and other programs. Get your free report called "7 ways to it's a wonderful life" at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.com/, or go to Tony`s Blog at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.info/ where you will find links to information related to spiritual parenting, spiritual coaching and spirit in business.
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Affirmations to Improve Your Life An affirmation is a positive assertion, a solemn declaration, a way to change your way of thinking. You can use affirmations to improve performance and results in all areas of your life. The "positive action" self-talk of specific affirmations is beneficial to achieving desired outcomes. Help Yourself to a Better Future There are very many methods for achieving improvement to our personal confidence and self esteem, far too many to investigate in depth in a short information file. So on this page, we will have a look at the most popular and, for most people, the most effective. Quick Steps To Improve Your Performance Though Positive Self-Talk Want to improve your personal performance? Positive self-talk can help. Having the Attitude I am the Greatest! While trying to ignore my teen daughters rap music a thought came to me. Whoever the rap artist was that she was listening to, is very positive about him self. He was negative about the women in his life, he made negative statements about the police but when it came to himself he was very positive. He used "I" statements, "I am going to be rich by the age of 24." He visualized all the material items he would like to manifest such as cars trimmed in gold, houses and yachts. In his music he was claiming his success. Business Career, Executive Coaching - The Top 10 Tips to Begin the Practice of Positive Affirmations Positive Affirmations are things we say to ourselves that build us up and make us strong. They empower us to take chances and to be our best. Thoughts run through our mind thousands of times a day and are often negative. Making positive affirmations a daily practice gives you a powerful tool to strengthen your inner foundation and follow your bliss. 11 Great Ways to be Positive about Change Look for the positives!Seek them out - those little scary places that it's challenging to let yourself go to - the positives are genuinely scary, because they give you hope and it's hard to let go of all the fears you have right now - so hanging onto them is the easiest path!So try letting yourself go, just for the heck of it!Take that step back from being 'done to' and take the initiative. At work, at home or wherever, this can be a great time, if you let it. There are loads of ideas why. Here are eleven of my favourites...Personal GrowthChange gives us great moments for self-development and personal growth. It is in times where there is a lot going on, where we have to get out of our box to think, even when change is imposed, that we move forward.Involving OthersDuring change periods we can create relationships that are new - and we, as managers, have a great chance to bring others into our confidence and into our network.AdventureThere is something about change, large or small which creates 'something different' from our routine day. This is pretty cool really. We are being provided with stimulating mental exercise to make the best of things happening differently. It might not look that way, but change brings adventure!Building it inLearning about big changes, means that we can closely observe why those changes are necessary. We have to make radical changes because we have strayed well off course. So as we learn, we can make provision to have some minor course corrections rather than completely the wrong destination.ChallengeIn his great book, 'The Inner Game of Work', Timothy Gallwey talks about the fine balance between security and challenge being what gets people motivated. By creating new things to learn, to do, we stretch our people - and ourselves.OpportunityChange brings new opportunity. For learning; for understanding ourselves better; for new perspectives; for different roles. These can be grasped personally or they can be dwelt on miserably. The better choice is to go for it!Team BondingChange exercises, big and small can be great to develop a team. Where there is the opportunity to work together, manager with their closest people there are often places, moments where the team spirit; the trust and the shared commitment - the 'Dunkirk spirit' even, enables future potential of a team to be loosened.HonestyWhere radical change proves necessary it enlightens those involved that where they are is not where they need to be. Carrying out a review of why serious change is necessary and seeking the real truth is very revealing. The icing on the cake for those involved in organisational change processes is to create a feedback loop that renders future major change unnecessary.ChoiceChange is not truly necessary. Change is about choice. You have the choice whether to accept it positively or not. It is your choice and everyone has that - believe it or not. No-one is holding you down to prevent you getting away. Take personal responsibility for the choices you make.FocusChange gives the opportunity for and usually gets really down to the gist of the issues that have precipitated the need. This is good. Your organisation is realising that things need to be different, for all sorts of reasons, but usually for the health of the organisation and that means you, usually. For some it may mean loss of role, status and even job - now what positive opportunity does that bring!PassionAnd finally, we have the opportunity to review our own roles, not just in the workplace, but in life too. Are you passionate about your work - or are you just muddling through? Are new opportunities presented to you personally through change - within or without the place where you work today? What is your personal passion and how do you work towards making that how you spend every day of your life? Does It Really Matter? We are all involved in this game called life and we will have our challenges and successes. One thing that will have great bearing on our attitude and lives is how we treat those challenges and successes. Creating Positive Environments, Part 1: Using Art One of our most active senses is sight. What we see can affect our outlook and attitude by how its counterpart, our brain, perceives visual information that it filters through its memory banks. You can improve the odds and therefore your attitude and outlook by creating environments that are viewed as positive. Here, in part one, the positive effects of using art will be explored. Looking For Answers In All The Wrong Places? Looking around at our circumstances we may see only mountains of problems, debts piling up, fear, failure, and defeat at every corner. Maybe you've looked around and thought, where's the answer, I need a new life? A Solution For Trouble? Try This Breath Of Fresh Air! I just heard the story of a man who hired a plumber to restore an old farmhouse. After he had finished a rough first day on the job he realized he had a flat tire which made him lose an hour of work; then his electric drill quit, and then his truck refused to start. As his customer drove him home, the plumber sat in stony silence. Our Worst Enemies Most of us love to think that our problems are the result of the actions or in-actions of others, economic conditions, timing and any number of other things outside our control. These things do in fact have a bearing on our situations. They are not however, the root cause. The real problem lies within! Are You Inviting Misery into Your Life? Often, I've come across individuals who, while in conversation, will stumble into a rendition about 'how miserable life is.' The adult children are wrecking havoc in the home, the job's not going well, money is short, and a whole other slew of treacherous stories. During the conversation, I would interject, 'but how does this effect you personally?' Life Is Not Always Fair I once heard the story of a grown bear that lived in a cage and traveled with a circus ever since he was a small cub. The bear spent everyday of his life pacing back and forth in his cage while countless spectators looked on. When the bear's keepers were not looking some of the spectators would poke the bear with sharp sticks or would throw pieces of food filled with broken glass into the cage. When the great bear would eat what he thought was a wonderful treat, the broken glass would cut the inside of his throat and stomach. 10 Tips to Cope with Negative Emotions at Work It's a fact of life - if you want to succeed in business, you need to know how to interact and communicate effectively with your employees, business partners, vendors, prospects, and customers. As a small business owner, this might involve rapid shifting from one type of language to another. For example, how you'd explain your expectations to your employees might be different than how you'd convey these to your business partner or potential client. Beware: Your Mind is a Battle Field! When Penury Perpetuates Poverty So...you might just believe I hide behind computers creating and updating my websites and researching potential markets. Well...I love to spend time "in the street"..."under fire"...where the "action is." As a copywriter wannabe...and I'm learning much...I talk to many people on the street as well as business owners. As a "hands-on" direct marketer, I pass out a lot of publicity pieces...and get a lot of feedback. Dump Those Negative Tapes Every time something doesn't go quite right (rather frequently for some of us), we start berating ourselves. We can be the soul of courtesy and forgiveness to those we care about and then turn and savage ourselves in the most brutal fashion. How many times have you told yourself: "I'm an absolute idiot!" What was I thinking?" And that is just the start. Ditch Lack of Confidence and Unlock Full Potential Being the next Carmen Electra or Paris Hilton might or might not appeal to all you, but there are things that do appeal to you, and you don't do them. Develop Yourself - The Power Within Living without limits. Living your life to the fullest. Living with happiness. Living your dreams. Living free from fear and worry. You have the power to live your life any way you want. Possibilities When you look at your future in terms of your business and/or professional career, do you see unlimited potential or do you see a lack of opportunities? Recently, many of my clients have asked me how I remain so upbeat and optimistic about the future. They cite the predictions that claim there won't be enough jobs, or that companies don't have the money to invest in their employees as good reasons to be cynical and pessimistic. |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |