Positive Change Archives

Visualizing Negative Outcomes

Are you the type of person that typically visualizes the negative outcome first? And then you wonder in a very frustrated way, “why the heck do I do that and drive myself crazy?!”.

First, give yourself compassion. There must have been a reason for your deeper more primitive self to visualize negative outcomes as a way to protect yourself.

Second, every time you do this just become aware of what your mind visualized. Oftentimes we come down hard on ourselves for doing something and we don’t reward our self for recognizing the very act itself which is an important step in grooving a new, more positive neural pathway towards mindfulness.

Third, recognize there are numerous outcomes. And in the numerous outcomes recognize which you tend to gravitate toward and ask yourself, “Does it always come true?”.

Most often than not it never does.

And in following these steps, realizing your tendency should bring you huge relief, because that’s all it is – a tendency that never comes true!

Now, to get more technical, understand how your brain projects the image or feeling. Notice if there are any sounds or voices; and notice which part of your brain they come from. Is the image always projected in the same place? Is the image in color? Are you in the image? Where are the sensations in your body?

Whenever you visualize negative outcomes, you are always projecting them from a certain place in your mind, and this is because you’ve created that neural pathway. Again, this should bring you huge relief because for the most part, that’s all it is – a neural pathway that you’ve created by repeating an action over and over again.

Fortunately, with NLP you can change the projection when it happens. Shrink the image, lower the volume, throw it out into the Universe! Use your same powerful mind that created the image to counteract the image.

If you’re the type of person that visualizes negative outcomes first I’m here to tell you it’s ok. You’re not alone and it’s not a problem with you or your brain. It’s just a matter of repeated actions, and the very same (powerful) mind that is creating the negative visualization can create an equally more logical visualization.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by SHINE TANG on Unsplash

How Does Your Life Reflect Your Beliefs?

“All that we are is the result of our thoughts.”

~Buddha

If our life is a culmination of actions and reactions we took upon ourselves, where are we now and do we like it?

If not, can we take an honest assessment of what we don’t like about our life and inspect what actions and/or reactions led us here? What was the underlying belief (or lack of) that initiated certain actions and reactions?

When we do the work to understand our self, we can begin to understand what needs to be changed and whether or not we are ready and willing to make that change.

This is how true desired change can occur. Most people desire change all the time and it’s beautiful how as humans we get to experience desire! However, without first understanding our self we cannot get to true desired change nor can we know whether or not this desire is good for us.

So here’s to doing the work and understanding ourselves at the deepest level so that we may up-level our lives for our highest good.

In deep wellness,

Susan

Photo by Miguel Salgado on Unsplash

Letting Go Of Mental Shaming

I see a lot of mental shaming that goes on when people can’t seem to make a desired change. Particularly when they don’t understand why all of their efforts and mental willpower doesn’t lead to enact permanent change.

First of all, don’t judge yourself. That is the worst thing you can do in this type of situation. Why? Because it’s not your fault. And trust me, I’ve been there myself where I used to judge and blame myself for failing multiple times in trying to change behavior.

You see, somewhere deep down in your unconscious mind there is still a limiting belief (aka Fear) holding you back. So no matter how hard you try or consciously believe you want the change, there’s still some work involved in trying to get your unconscious to believe it.

Aside from actual behavior, another way we know we are running old belief systems is by taking a closer look at our body. Our bodies store a lot of this hidden emotion; more than we can ever truly know. Try to think of one specific goal you’ve been trying to work on for the past few months or even years. Now, take a moment to be honest and ask yourself, “what event or trigger prevents me from going the last mile?”. You’ll often notice that when you recall a specific moment your body is also reacting to the limiting belief. Whether it tenses up, becomes anxious, angry, etc. your body is only reacting to a running belief system.

Now for the good news: whether you get to the underlying belief system or not is not nearly as important as this one fact – you have the power to change.

As I’ve mentioned before, making permanent change requires you to understand and pinpoint specific moments where desired change should happen and change your response by changing your state. If old belief systems were running our outcomes then it requires a NEW belief system to make new outcomes. What do you need or want to believe so that you don’t run up against the same wall over and over again? How do you need to feel in order to overcome the block? These are just a few key questions you can ask yourself to get started.

Now, having said that though also requires a bit of faith and surrender. After all, if we can’t surrender and/or aren’t willing to see things differently where is the room to consider possibilities? Change? Hope? Where is the room to learn, grow, and be open to greater magic to unfold?

And of course on that note…

Sometimes, surrendering and knowing this is where you need to be for where you are is good enough.

Sometimes, what we need is more compassion and time for the dust to settle.

And sometimes, that is more than good enough.

So be kind to yourself. Trust the process and know when you are ready you have all that you need to make positive change happen. Last but not least, lean in to surrender and faith. Don’t be too tied to a specific outcome. After all, who knows what the Universe might give you instead? 😉

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash

Friday Focus – 12/1/17 {Living With Complacency Or Finally Making CHANGE!}

I am beyond excited about a couple of things. For one, it’s DECEMBER. To be honest, I didn’t really feel like it was the holidays just yet. But something hit me yesterday… maybe it was all the neighborhood decorations, the overall mood of this city, or sitting at Starbucks reading Peter Levine’s Trauma and Memory while Christmas music was playing in the background. Either way, I am FEELING IT and excited to give this last month of 2017 100%.

Second of all, it’s Friday Focus and today – I wanted to talk about something that I have been feeling passionate about ALL WEEK. Clearly I have a lot of passion in general these days given the number of CAPS I’ve been using so far in this post 😉

Ok, so for this week’s Friday Focus I wanted to talk about PATTERNS.

Yes, I write about patterns – a lot. But what I want to drive home today, especially since a lot of people will be reflecting on this past year and working on New Year resolutions, is the idea around pattern recognition and why change ensues (or doesn’t).

Can we for one moment have a come to Jesus moment about our patterns? It’s one thing to say, “Oh yea, I kind of do that don’t I?” and grin at your friend, it’s a complete other thing when you actually recognize the pattern and the EFFECT it has on your life and most importantly the outcome.

Which outcome, or area in your life are you unsatisfied with? You see it every single year and yet, no change. Why? No really, WHY?

Scrutinize your patterns. There is an underlying emotion that is prohibiting you from stepping forward and making progress. Did you know that?

Often times, we say we want to make change in our lives and yet, we know deep, deep down we won’t do anything about it. And to be honest, that’s ok.

You see, we have to be completely READY for change to actually happen. No matter how hard you consciously try, if your subconscious doesn’t believe you, then unfortunately change won’t happen.

I actually LOVE telling people this because it’s the wakeup call that everyone needs to hear to A) either come to peace with the complacency and stop the mental shaming or B) grit their teeth and believe it to their bones that they are actually ready for CHANGE.

Isn’t that empowering? I mean, either way…. Now the power is truly in your hands!

Ok, this was sort of a love rant because I truly do care. I mean hey, we’ve all been there where we wanted to see change in one area of our life but couldn’t figure out why. This is one big hint as to why that might be the case!

When you have a moment to reflect, jot down the patterns. See where you are held up, where things aren’t flowing, and try to understand yourself a little more. It’s the one small step toward change you can make today before understanding the type of change agent you need to seek 💗

In deep wellness,

Susan

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Powerful Questions Pt. 1

This week I wanted to do something a little special.

Have you ever found that asking powerful questions can help clarify thoughts and feelings? They certainly have for me, and with the New Moon in Leo (first of two!) I wanted to honor this new energy by asking a few powerful questions everyday this week.

These questions will relate to how you honor your own creative forces, and how you show up in the world. I don’t know about you but my own creative energies have been on FIRE lately!

Most importantly, with deep reflection it may even reveal how you actually WANT to show up in the world. Make sure you spend at least 5 minutes asking your deeper self to show you your most authentic and honest answers. Center the mind and allow time for self reflection.

Are you ready?

? Where have I been neglecting my creative outlets?
? When have I noticed my pulse racing a little thinking of doing something new?
? If I have, what are the qualities of these activities?
? Are they entrepreneurial? Activity based? Connection based? Health based? Art based?

(Pictures of the beautiful Wishing Tree nestled in the neighborhood of Capital Hill. You should check it out if you’re in the area ?)

I did these myself and absolutely LOVED the process. For me, my love for photography has been coming back in ways I never expected! I’ve been making it a point to bring my professional camera along with me because I never know what I might find inspiring while meeting up with a friend. In addition, I have been deeply considering creating a women’s group in the North Seattle area. I’m still working through the main concept and what intentions I’d like for this special group, but thought I would share with you all some of my creative ideas that have come up in the last couple of days and weeks.

How about you? Any big truths or hints come up for you? You’d be surprised at what comes up if you really honor the time to reflect ✏❤?

In wellness,

Susan