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What is a Strategy?

Sometimes, when clients hear, “What is your strategy?”, there is a deafening silence on the other end of the line. Not only do they have no strategy, they have no concept of the meaning of the word. So what is a strategy and how do you develop one?

The American Heritage College Dictionary’s first definition of strategy is, “The Science and Art of using a nation’s forces to execute approved plans as effectively as possible.” Leaving aside the military aspect of this definition, substitute a few words, and for our purposes, you get, “The Science and Art of using a client’s resources and skills to execute detailed plans as effectively as possible.”

Science and Art means that the effort is done in a meticulous way, according to laws of nature, but adjusted and finessed in the moment, as needed when circumstances require it.

In practice, what are the most meaningful ideas that need to be understood about strategies?

1. The primary purpose of behaving strategically is to be as effective as possible, i.e., have the best results, and to have the intended results.

2. Strategic actions are part of a well thought out, detailed plan, a plan that has the most likely probability of success, a plan so well prepared that chance is no longer in play.

3. A client will execute their plan in a logical and realistic progression. Effective strategies are laid out on time lines, so that the client is taking the right action at the right time. With a timeline, the client can release fretting and worrying about any action but the current one.

4. Using a client’s resources and skills means that the client looks at their current resources and considers how they can be used to produce the greatest results. Has the client considered all their resources, including those that have just been sitting on a shelf? Assessing skills is equally as important. Which skills bring the greatest satisfaction? Is there a new combination of existing skills that could produce greater financial return in the market place?

5. Plans are detailed. Initially, the client spends some time brainstorming every possible idea they could conceivably put into action as part of their strategy. Later as part of the process, the client chooses some actions and deletes others. These choices are made, based on things such as clients’ likes and dislikes, likelihood of success, projected results, conditions in the marketplace, time available, and family considerations.

6. Strategies, in the end, are about being executed as effectively as possible. This means that they bring the intended results, and are almost guaranteed to do so. This means that, if executed as planned, there is a high likelihood of success as projected. It also means that skills and resources have been used as efficiently as possible.

7. Lastly, strategies are flexible. Clients should review their strategies regularly (weekly is recommended), and as needed, adjust when the need becomes obvious. If you are reviewing your strategies and evolving them as you go, you can expect even greater results.

Now that you have a better understanding of the meaning of strategy, think about using strategies and strategic planning in your life.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

A Life of “Drahma”: No Drama Queens Need Apply! A Nine Step Solution

Do you have a life full of drama and upset? Do you experience a constant stream of upsetting issues…lost jobs, frequent housing moves, conflict-ridden relationships, tumultuous romances? Do you have financial problems and massive credit card debt? Are you worried about losing your home, going bankrupt, or ruining your credit? Does it feel like you will never know peace or love?

How can you leave the life of “drahma” behind and create a life of peace and joy?

1. Decide that making this change will be the most important activity in your life.

2. Decide that you will maintain awareness and consciousness as you assess upcoming decisions to deliberately choose non-dramatic choices.

3. Realize that you have made a lot of self negating choices in the past to create the situation. It will take time and a lot of self validating choices to reverse it.

4. Take a good look at how you have been producing these results. Have you created desperate circumstances, so your choices have been desperate ones? Have you acted abruptly and unwisely in anger, frequently producing even worse circumstances for yourself? Have you created fantasies that you used to drive your choices, only to crash and burn into reality (dead end jobs, relationships and housing)? Have you failed to comprehend how your behavior would impact others…producing detrimental results.

5. If you have a substance abuse problem, realize that this is playing a much larger role in your problems than you realize or acknowledge. Take action on healing this issue in your life.

6. Make a list of all the issues to be handled…those with the greatest potential consequences at the top. Handle one at a time with extreme focus. Don’t be overwhelmed by the size of the list or the dire nature of the issues. Sometimes in life, we are confronted by circumstances where the only mode that works is “one foot in front of the other”. It is not fun. It is not joyous. Probably it feely awful, but it keeps us going and we will “pop through” sooner or later…to great relief.

7. Develop constancy. Examine decisions judiciously before making them. Consider all aspects. Be realistic. Don’t be slowed down by the process, but give up “snap” judgments (preceded by lack of consideration for ramifications). Once all angles have been considered and the decision made, follow through to conclusion. If you’ve decided to clean up your credit, don’t stop until you’ve handled every single debt. If you’re looking for satisfying work, don’t relent until you have gotten clarity on and produced the work for yourself.

8. Become unstoppable. Don’t give up at the first “bump in the road”.

9. Decide to eliminate people, places and things that contribute to an out of control life. you have a pattern of associating with people who mistreat you, discontinue the pattern. If you know something is a mistake and leads to misery, do it differently.

Your life does not have to be one of relentless drama, misery, dissatisfaction, upheaval, tumult and dread. You can change it!

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

They Are Telling You Who They Are: An Answer to Being Disappointed in Relationships

Have you ever had the experience of being mistreated by a fellow human being, causing you to become sad or depressed about it? Has someone ever lied to you or cheated you, and you have afterwards felt a general distrust of everyone you meet? Has someone deceived you, and you then had difficulty believing you could distinguish truth from untruth? Has some act of chicanery caused you to generalize this behavior to an entire population and become fearful of being “tricked” again? Has someone ever convinced you to trust them with your money, heart, property or time…and afterwards, not receiving the promised value…you stopped trusting almost everyone?

Most of us have had these experiences. They cause us to feel disheartened. We interpret it to mean negative things about ourselves, “There is something wrong with me.”, “I must have been a fool.”, “Why was I so stupid?”, “That’s not going to happen to me again.” In these cases, your self confidence, trust and self trust were just as seriously damaged as your wallet or your heart. How can you trust again? How can you regain your former feeling of confidence and trust?

One of the best and fastest ways to shift these feelings is to realize that, through their behaviors, these people were simply telling you and showing you who they are. They are showing you that they are people who are willing to lie, to be deceptive, to steal, to defraud, or whatever the offense was.

Most of us take such experiences, and make it be about us. We say things to ourselves like, “How could I have been so stupid…so blind?” or, “How could they have done that to me?” or, “What’s wrong with me that they would hurt me so?” Off we go in a downward spiral of self recrimination and suffering.

Better questions would be, “What would be wrong with someone who would treat fellow human beings in such a way?” or, “How could someone be so hateful to another person?” or, “What’s wrong with them?”

Rather than making their treatment of us be about us, realize that they are simply showing you who they are. Every time you are disappointed in your human relationships, simply realize that this person is showing their true character in their behavior. They are showing you that they are willing to be dishonest, hurtful, deceptive or whatever. This is a clear signal for you to choose no further interactions with this person. It is an immediate and simple way out of the suffering.

Their behavior has nothing to do with you except for your misfortune in interfacing with them, or, perhaps some sort of way you were not paying enough attention. Maybe you need to look at any way you are not listening to your intuition, or not heeding good advice when it is given. Frequently, there is something in our behavior that has given us these results. Be aware that our behavior is the only thing that we can change to get more satisfying future relationships.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

Is There Something Great You’re Here to Do? Use Strategies to Create It!

Do you have a strong feeling that you have a life purpose to fulfill? Do you have an inner urge to accomplish something specific with your life? Do you have these feelings, but have no idea what specific thing that might be? Does it seem that you are here to do something great? Do you wonder how to accomplish it? Do you believe you know what to do, but not how to do it? Does it seem you are lacking know how, knowledge, connections, guts, support, self confidence, or financial wherewithal?

Consider approaching life purpose strategically, that is, laid out as a complete plan consisting of many and varied small action steps accomplished over time.

For our purposes here, we will assume that you know what your life purpose is, but don’t know how to accomplish it. Figuring out life purpose is more complex than could be covered here. So, you know what you are here to accomplish, but cannot figure out how to go forward, taking action consistently.

The first thing to do is to do a “brain dump”, that is to get down on paper every single idea you’ve ever had about how to accomplish this purpose.

At the top of the first page of paper, write “Strategy:”. After the colon, write your life purpose goal. Underneath, draw three columns. Use several sheets of paper, drawing three columns on each sheet. At the top of each column, write “Tactic:”. After each tactic heading, come up with a tactic for that column.

Let’s say your strategy is to become a musician whose work provokes humans to treat fellow humans lovingly and compassionately. Let’s say you are already a trained musician. Some of your tactics might be:

- Create a band or performing group

- Learn music business

- Create electronic press kit

- Create a repertoire of songs

- Write songs

- Get a booking agent

- Plan a tour

- Develop professional relationships

- Get recording contract

Now, under each tactic, begin to list as many small action steps as you can think of. If you realize there is knowledge you need to acquire, make a tactic column titled “Acquire Knowledge”.

For an example of the tactic “Create a Band Or Performing Group”, you might have the following action steps:

- Decide on size of group

- Decide on instruments

- Figure out participants (already known and needed)

- Decide type of music.

- Create Ground rules

- Hold auditions

- Find practice studio

- Decide practice schedule

Create more tactics as you realize the need. Consolidate or expand as needed. Your strategy is a living document that expands as your vision expands. Print your completed strategy off and file it in a binder. Set aside regular times to work on reviewing and revising your strategy. This could be once a week, or twice a month.

When you review your strategy, cross out all the items you have completed. You will find that simply by having a written strategy, you are taking action on it without even thinking of it. As you see what you have completed, you will get new ideas. Add them to the strategy. Date the old version.

Then create a new version, typing it up and adding new items. As you accomplish action items in your strategy, you will meet new people, gain new knowledge, get new ideas, develop new contacts. Add all this into your strategy.

Developing a strategy is the way to bring your Life Purpose into reality the easiest and fastest. It can be done…and it can be easy.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

My History is No Longer My Identity: A Solution to a Painful Childhood

Did you have an abusive childhood? As a child, were you the victim of sexual, verbal, or physical abuse? Were your earliest years lived amid chaos, conflict, substance abuse, neglect, poverty, or crime? Were these things such a part of your youngest years that they have become your identity? Do you find that tears come to your eyes at the thought or mention of those days…even 20, 30, 40, 50 or more years later…even if the people are long dead? It may be true that the intensity of this early conditioning and trauma has imprinted itself on you and your brain to such a degree that it has essentially become your identity.

It is your identity if:

- You use it as a context to explain your current behaviors, especially not performing to your abilities.

- You consistently and constantly reference it to describe your “specialness”.

- You make self-limiting choices now because of these “ancient” experiences.

- Anyone who knows you needs to understand your background to get close to you.

- You feel that you’re “entitled” to unique treatment or behavior because of having been traumatized.

- You must mention your background everywhere you go.

- You believe you have suffered unusually more than others…entitling you to “kid glove” treatment.

- You still suffer regularly and often from the experience.

- You believe others have been so much more blessed than you.

- You have multiple ways you let these past experiences rob you of a fully expressed life now.

- You are easily traumatized in present day life.

If you recognize yourself in these statements, it could be that you are robbing yourself of a great life now, by not realizing that you have let your history become your identity. This does not mean anything bad about you or who you are. It is a fairly common occurrence and may just be a natural part of the human animal. It is simply an unconscious way that humans let the past control their present and their future.

Here are some things you can do to change your past from being your identity to simply being your history:

1. Bring these behaviors to consciousness by paying attention to any way you limit yourself now because of your past.

2. If you need help, seek out an excellent therapist. Get referrals from people you trust. If the first session is not spectacular, keep “shopping” for a therapist, until you get the feeling that you have “found the one”. Don’t settle for someone average or second rate. Go to therapy as long as you need to resolve your issues. There’s a great life on the other end of this work.

3. Start to notice when you find yourself needing to tell the story again to new people, and see how it feels “not to go there”.

4. Consider modifying your behavior by not repeating the story again, but instead, identifying yourself in a new way.

5. Having this type of history does not mean anything bad about you. It just means that you had the misfortune of never having known a normal loving family. It is better to have compassion for the child that you were.

6. Make a point of choosing people, places and things that validate you and support you and help you grow in the ways you want to grow.

7. Realize that you have a responsibility to yourself to create the type of “intentional family” that you wish you had had as a child. Go to those types of places where caring, loving people are. Keep showing up and make a point of “putting yourself out there” to connect with others.

8. Realize that many people who have had painful childhoods punish themselves with various forms of substance abuse. If this describes you, get help. There are no solutions (and certainly no happy lives) in the bottom of a bottle.

9. Know that it is possible to completely heal from a horrible childhood. It is not easy. It takes a lot of work, but the happiness and joy are worth it. Don’t let “them” steal a wonderful life from you.

Just because you have allowed your history to become your identity does not mean that your whole life has to be like this. It is possible to deactivate these traumatic events, release this old identity, and have it just be simply your history. Take back control of your present and your future.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

The Story I Made Up: How We Let Our Fantasies Steal Happiness From Our Lives

Have you ever gotten furious at someone, causing a big scene about how wronged you were, only to find out it was some trivial misunderstanding? Have you ever accused another of some transgression, only to discover later it was a miscommunication? Have you ever believed that someone had done something terrible to you, and then learned that this person was in extreme suffering in their own life (serious illness or severe loss) at the time? Have you ever spent hours, days, weeks, or months suffering over believing someone had deliberately hurt you, only later to learn that they were totally unaware due to their own life crisis?

If you’ve ever experienced any of these (and I think we all have), you’ve been blessed to be shown your process of “making up a story” about what is happening so you can be justified in feeling wounded and behaving hurt.

I was once walking down the street with a friend. He said, “Hi!” to a stranger on the sidewalk as we passed. The other person gave no acknowledgement. My friend ranted and raved and fumed long after the event. He thought the other person was rude. Here are some alternative possibilities to explain what happened.

- Perhaps the man was a city dweller and was more suspicious of friendliness than my friend (who lived in the country).

- It could be that the man had just lost a family member and was too deep in grief.

- Maybe he had just learned he had a life threatening disease.

- He might have a mental illness that made him terrified of strangers.

- Maybe he was late getting somewhere and did not even notice us on the sidewalk.

Start to be aware of any stories you tell yourself to explain the behaviors of others. Do you have a consistent pattern of explaining events so that you are the victim of other people’s behavior? Do you create a “story” about what happened without a word to the other person? Do you “go along” with things you don’t agree with, withdraw, make up a story and feel injured? Do you overreact by automatically assuming you have been deliberately slighted? Do you spend a lot of time focusing on other people’s behavior looking for transgressions real or imagined, while paying little attention to your own behavior and its impact on others?

Consider moving your attention back into your own body and sphere of influence. Start looking to your own behavior. Become aware of any “stories” you are making up about a situation. Look at the pattern of results of your stories. Do your stories justify your getting angry, feeling rejected, being hurt, retaliating, being mean to others (misdirecting your anger), or ending relationships?

Usually people use their “stories” to justify a behavior they want to do anyway, and intend to do anyway. Look at what you use your stories to justify. Do you justify stealing (”The clerk gave me too much change. They shouldn’t be so stupid.”), being mean (”They hurt me, so I’m going to hurt them more”), lying (”He said he is working tonight, so he must not care. I’m going out with another guy.”)

If you’re really paying attention to your stories, you will soon discover how you use stories to justify your behavior, pretend to be a victim, make yourself right and others wrong and generally complicate human interaction. Letting go of stories will guarantee you a lot more happiness.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

Discovering Life Purpose: Some Thoughts

Discovering Life Purpose is one of the most perplexing endeavors in human life…if you have no idea what your life purpose is. It can feel very furstrating, a bit like being the only one at the party who doesn’t get a joke. Here are some ideas on the topic:

1. Consider the possibility that Life Purpose may not be a single thing, but a continuum of purposes. You may not see how they are all connected until a later date.

2. Life purpose may not look as dramatic and huge as you expect. It may be small and subtle…so much so that you may be already involved in life purpose work or living and not realize it.

3. When you are considering multiple possibilities for your life purpose, always choose the one that “lights you up” the most when you think of it or engage in it.

4. If you are frustrated because you have many options and feel equal intensity toward each and cannot distinguish any one as more prominent, try each on for a short experiment. If you think being a writer is it, make a commitment to write 30 minutes a day every day for a week. At the end of the week, examine the experience. Did you write? Did you write every day? Did the writing flow easily? Were you excited “being a writer”? If your answers are no, that probably indicates that now is not the time in your life that writing is your life purpose. Perhaps you will later. Take the next option and devise a way to experiment with it for a week.

5. If you have some inklings of your life purpose, but no idea how to pursue it, you may want to hire a coach, find a mentor, or connect with an entrepreneur center/business incubator facility.

6. If you know aht you want to do, but currently support yourself with an exhausting, all consuming job, you’ll need to rearrange your life some. What works best is a “dual-pronged” approach. Find a way to leverage your current expertise in such a way that it provides income and time to work toward the life purpose work.

7. Work up a strategy on pursuing your life purpose. Break it down into a lot of very small and doable action steps. Start taking action.

8. Don’t get frustrated and give up. Pursuing the certainty on life purpose and actually living life purpose is worth the effort. It is very gratifying and satisfying.

9. You will recognize life purpose when you are doing it. Your inner core vibrates like a tuning fork, and you experience a feeling of light.

10. Letting go of the old and confortable (rut) can feel like jumping off a cliff when you’re not sure if your parachute’s working. Working strategically, with a well thought out plan takes most of the risk out of the process.

11. Taking one small step at a time on your plan alleviates the fear inherent in making such seemingly radical changes.

12. Realize that Excitement and fear feel a lot alike on the emotional scale. Just move fear into excitement. The satisfaction, direction, and sheer exhileration of fulfilling your life purpose soon takes over and fear is forgotten as you deepen momentum.

Know that living life purpose is the most gratifying way to live you life. It is worth the effort to discover it and to pursue it. Life becomes magical lived this way.

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

Do You Live Your Life As an Amateur?

Do you live your life like an amateur or like a pro? An amateur never figures out what his/her life goals are. An amateur never takes time to discover their values, much less to embody and live them. An amateur never makes their goals into the #1 priority focusing on them daily and putting them first. An amateur never assesses or addresses their “weaknesses”. If you think of like as a game, do you play like an amateur or like a pro? Here are some ideas to get out of amateur league living.

1.) Decide that you are going to live like a pro and go for what you really want. This means a commitment to excellence, to doing your best, to give up second rate performance.

2.) Pros are almost always clear on their goals. When they start, they may not know the whole process necessary for success, but they start the work anyway, knowing they will learn along the way. Taking the time to make goals, assess progress regularly, and alter the plan as you go is the sign of a pro.

3.) A pro considers their deepest values when they make their goals. If you’re going to devote a major part of your time to something, doesn’t it make sense that it is in alignment with and supports your values?

4.) To live your life like a pro means that you consistently make your goals your #1 priority. It means not coming up with excuses or yielding to diversions, but instead remaining committed day after day over time. Most days, this will be easy, but there will be times when this is challenging and troubling and you just want to quit. Every pro goes through this. Decide that you will live that level of commitment to your life.

5.) Every pro knows the elation of winning and the sting of defeat. You will have these same experiences living your life like a pro. It is not so much about the experience istself, but about our reactions to the experience. Some people will let the slightest disappointment be the reason for giving up and abandoning their goal. A pro always resists these temptations. Yes, pros experience these same potential choices, but they know it is simply a temporary feeling. They don’t let the feeling take over. They keep moving forward anyway. In extreme cases, they may take a short break to refresh their resolve, but it’s always only with the intention to take a breather and come back fresh.

6.) A pro looks at their overall game and puts emphasis on drilling on skills to improve any weaknesses. If you realize that you have areas that could use improving, make the effort to do what it takes to become more skilled in these areas. Whatever skills are required, do your best to become well rounded in all of them.

7.) Practice, practice, practice. A pro spends days and days in practice for every game played. Getting professional at your craft is a major commitment of time.

8.) Choose to do what you love. It makes getting up every day an exciting thing to do.

9.) All pros have coaches, sometimes multiple coaches. Consider hiring yourself a coach for success in your life. You will find that a good coach can bring you financial results considerably faster than you can achiever on your own. Why go it alone? You will produce professional results more quickly and easily with a coach in your corner.

Take the time to assess your life. Have you been choosing to live life as an amateur? Are you ready to live like a pro?

Suzi Elton is a success coach working with highly creative types to create income that matches their talent.She has coached hundreds of clients to approach their goals strategically through tiny steps to bring about quantum leaps. Get free Life Purpose exercises, at http://mylifepurposecoaching.com.

Money Quest: Lessons From the Millionaire Mind Intensive

I attended T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive. My girlfriend raved about how amazing this program was and at first I was really excited. This was a three day event and I got first in line. I was disappointed that she wasn’t going to meet me there for the opening session. Still, I kept my chin up and walked into the auditorium.

As soon as the rah rah sessions started I knew I had made a big mistake. I nervously looked around for the door and wondered when an appropriate time would be for me to leave the scene. I like money making and I like marketing but I am not a big fan of rah rah. You know what I am talking about. I mean fist pounding, blood and sweat, soul shaking rah rah sessions.

Tell me what to do to make money and I can learn from it. I take good notes and have good follow through. But don’t ask me to be a cheerleader for prosperity. It makes me feel uneasy.

But as I sat through this tirade it slowly transformed into a soul changing, mind bending, rejuvenating event. It was ground breaking. I can say this because for the first time I realized what money was. Money, or the lack of it, centered around one critical thing for me. All money was at the end of the day was one simple thing.

Service.

This hit me over the head like a ton of bricks. I figured out that all money really was service. If you lacked money or were living in a state of lack then it meant that you were not serving as many people as you should. If you had a steady flow of customers that took your service then money would flow freely to you. Now I realize that many of you out there are pretty smart. I’m just getting this for the first time.

This was absolutely ground breaking to me because I grew up in a steady stream of institutions. I went from Catholic grade school to high school, college and Universities and then got clobbered in the ruthless and humiliating hallways of Corporate America. I was prepped and stuffed for the chopping block under the guise of freewill and freedom of choice.

It never occurred to me to have a free form thought all my own.

Heck, I didn’t even know what money was until I tried living on it. After I got out of the doldrums of society and took the gutsy road of real entrepreneurism I realized how completely naked I was. I really didn’t know what money was or how it functioned. I had people in higher realms of authority to dictate its value to me all of my life.

I place this blame on my college professors who repeatedly brainwashed me to the point of stupidity and uselessness. I had it ingrained upon my thick skull that $40 grand a year was all one really needed in this life or any other life for that matter. Forty grand was enough to keep you fat and happy. I am not making this up. In fact, this was a real number that was being touted around in a number of learning institutions that I attended.

But that’s not the scary part. The scary part to me was that nobody I attended class with at the time ever challenged this paltry amount. That simple fact still disturbs me to this day. It baffles me how so many kids in my age bracket listened to this terrible advice and followed these professors from week to week like blind sheep.

WELCOME TO THE 2000’S – EVERYONE IS A MILLIONAIRE THESE DAYS

I refuse to take guilt for not becoming a millionaire sooner. This recent wave of “millionaire thinking” did not exist when I was involved with institutions. In the 90’s they were still telling kids in college to pursue jobs. The focus was to get a job. That was the function of the University. And to stay more in line and to ensure that you would never have an authentic thought form of your own the University endorsed the mindless Greek fraternity and sorority system.

Thanks guys but no thanks. I avoided that whole scene thank God.

The truth is I never had to pay a dime for any of my friends in college.

Universities were not in the habit or the business of cranking out non-conformist thinking. The job of the University was to create mindless, soulless corporate drones who take mundane jobs and become cogs on the wheel. They were to go out into the world en masse and procreate and create more confused, conforming, in the box thinking individuals to populate “the system”.

So like the mind numbing Nazi soldiers I repeat the infamous words, “I just did what they told me.”

I drank the Universtiy kool aid and got crappy results. This was later reinforced through other forms of institutions including religion and social groups. And would you believe that in just a few years time of leaving the safety of University living that I was beyond miserable, broke and unhappy?

Oh, say it ain’t so.

I am actually embarrassed to say that I partook in formal education in the 90’s. I am embarrassed that I participated in a lot of my institutionalized activities. I would like to erase the time that I spent in those nerve shattering, confusing and ridiculing environments but you only live once. Time does not reverse.

So to take sole blame for my total state of lack makes total sense. But for life to turn out any other way would be nothing short of miraculous. I admit to contributing to my misery but I will tell you that nobody back then ever talked about creating millions of dollars. That did not happen until after 2001. And to be even more accurate nobody really talked about it much until the horrific events of 911.

Now everyone is up my ass about it.

BREAKING FREE FROM THE PRISONS AROUND US

The mental trappings of the self are perhaps the most damaging and soul crushing prisons of them all. You can destroy your mind, body and spirit over your own limiting beliefs about success and failure. These can be reinforced with religious convictions, cultural beliefs, corporate identity, social identity and political idealisms. I can proudly say that I have thrown out a lot of these frameworks of limited ideologies. I can also admit that I do not miss them in the least and feel a good 20 pounds lighter in my chest because of it.

As for the ones I had to leave behind – I am quite confident that they do not miss me.

I am luckier than most people when it comes to breaking free from mental prisons and institutionalized living. I never grasped my cultural roots because I was taken away from them years ago by moving from school to school. Being Native American is more or less meaningless to me as I grew up in a homogenous institutionalized society.

I later ended up leaving my church after 911 after receiving some racial slurs from fellow parishioners. It appears that I was mistaken for being of Middle Eastern descent of which I am not. But I got to thank them for opening my eyes to the type of closed minded and simple short sighted viewpoints of my social peers. I left that whole scene immediately and never looked back.

As for corporate America, I had actually left that years ago. Just like the church I found that I did not miss that much either. I did not feel tied into any type of group and for the first time I really felt like I was truly alone in the world.

I liked that.

I liked that a lot. Because for the first time in my life absolutely nobody was watching me. Best of all nobody was eyeballing what I was up to. I could do whatever I wanted to and I could come and go whenever I pleased. It was exhilarating.

T. Harv Eker talks a bit about breaking out of certain mindsets that inhibit wealth. It is amazing to see this in action and to be able to recognize it. I was pretty sure I could break out of the typical negative thought patterns and do amazing things.

But one thing that really needed to get out of my way was how I viewed money. My professors wanted me to believe that trading time for money was A-OKAY. This is great in theory until you actually try doing it for long periods of time. You sacrifice more than your time. You also fling away your physical life, your sanity and pack yourself in a tiny box and live with limits.

My big take away moment centered around the money issue. I realized that I could have as much money and freedom that I wanted. I just had to find a way to create more service for people that I dealt with. That was so liberating to hear. When I reached that moment I was elated.

We have a saying in Michigan which I find rather disturbing. It goes like this…. “We refuse to partake in Michigan’s sagging economy”. Well, la-dee-dah. I’ll tell you what – you had better start participating in this sagging economy because that is where the money is.

All the money you need is not going to drop out of the sky and fall straight into your hands.

You should wake up each and every morning and praise God above for sending you a recession. All a recession really is at the end of the day is a warning sign. It is a constant reminder that we lack serious leadership. It means that companies and business leaders are living with tired norms and need direction. It also serves as a large road sign that people are looking for new ideas and are open to suggestion.

As long as the old ways aren’t working there is room for improvement. Fortunes are made under these kinds of conditions. So in this type of market you must provide things that aren’t there. The market is receptive to something new and exciting. That means that the time can be right for you and your new crop of goods and services.

That could be some very good news for you. Taking your ideas from concept to money in the bank can become a reality. So I am asking you to take the leap of faith and to start thinking of money as levels of service. If you are providing this for people then you can definitely make a difference in your own personal finances.

Money is service and service is everything.

Ted Cantu runs i-Cantu Media LTD which is a Web 2.0 Video studio located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. You can find him at, http://www.1seomichigan.com http://www.1seomichigan.com Download his FREE,

5 Keys To Hypnosis & Mind Control

Hypnotism, Hypnosis, or Mind control and the terms alike send are often alluring for many of us. Many of us relate to these terms though our knowledge about them from movies where villains are shown to control their subjects deviously by hypnotizing them.

Adding to this misconception are friends or acquaintances who boast of hypnotizing you.

Have you ever been hypnotized by a trained psychotherapist, not by just any friend who read few text from here and there? And had chosen you to apply his just learned skills only to result in mumbling a single lines repeatedly, “Oh just wait a moment, it will happen?”

Well that never happened, you see. Let us now take a close look at what these terms really mean.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is essentially considered to be a mind control technique that involves psychotherapy which associates with mind and its working. Today hypnosis has been recognized by medical science and it main objective is to heal mind related problems and restore sanity if something is wrong. There is a long list of impediments that can be taken care of through hypnotism:

• Amnesia

• Pain in body

• Sleep related disorders.

• Identity loss

• Motivational therapy

• Psychological imbalance

• Personality disorder

• Removal of certain addictions such as smoking, drinking alcohol etc.

How Hypnosis is done?

Hypnosis is done on a person usually called a subject in the medical term by a trained specialist called hypnotist. A subject is prepared to relax in a comfortable position. The hypnotist then turns all his skills on his subject to induce him into the state of trance. A subject is given simple instructions. After 5-10 minutes generally, subject looks dozy. This is the first stage of hypnosis.

Further on, the hypnotist extends the modus operandi and makes the subject fall into a state where he is neither sleeping but not awaken as well. This essentially allows answers to come directly from the memory which is only possible when the subject is awake enough to reveal them.

Keys or Steps to Do Hypnotism

Hypnotism as it looks is not so simple. Few basic requirements such as Willingness and Co-operation of the subject, bond of trust between subject and hypnotist, trained background of the hypnotist, and most importantly the absence of pre considered notion about hypnotism are mandatory for its success.

Willingness and Cooperation of the subject

The subject’s degree of hypnotism is directly proportional with his or her willingness and cooperation. When a subject releases all barriers, then hypnotism becomes easier.

Some people believe that easy hypnotism is the sign of weak mindedness, but medical research suggests that it is all about the receptiveness of the mind. The mind which is easily hypnotized has more absorptive power.

Trust between Subject and Hypnotist

Usually people have fear or apprehension in mind about the hypnotist and hypnotism in general. They feel that their secrets can be extracted and used for blackmailing them. So the hypnotist has a huge responsibility of maintaining professional integrity.

Sound Technical Expertise of the Hypnotist

Quality of hypnotist marks quality of hypnosis. If the Hypnotist is the likeable figure and emanates warmth and love, then his work becomes easy. People are easily attracted to such qualities and let their mind loose.

Pre determined Result

People who are cynical in nature find hypnotism a mere deception because in their mind, they are already decided that they will not let themselves be influenced by what the hypnotist will say. The next step is up to you.

A.Thomas Perhacs, is an Expert on Covert Persuasion & Hypnotic Influence. Author of several books and courses covering hypnosis, meditation, and esoteric powers of the mind. He has just re-released his best selling book, Manipulation, The Master Secrets of Covert Persuasion & Hypnotic Influence. For a FREE 1 hour audio seminar and report go to: http://advancedmindpower.com/hypnosis_b.htm

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