What is the best way to begin to make changes? Simple. Decide to. Decide that you are beginning the PROCESS of changing your life for the better. Recognize or realize or accept that it is a process you initiate. To be in a process, is not unlike being in or on the river.

Wherever you find yourself on the river that is where you are. That is, from, where you begin. A process means ongoing as a river is. Go with the flow. Put your boat in. Let it take you to where you want to go. Paddle in the same direction. Don’t fight it. Go with it! Allow!

Don’t resist. Don’t try to go upstream. Let go and go with the current. You decided you want to make a change or begin making changes. Accept that you are beginning the process. Enjoy it. Don’t try to do to much or figure out the ‘hows’ yet. Just begin.

What You See Is What You Get

A great way to begin is to read some positive or inspirational material each day. Morning is a great time of day. When you start your day begin with a positive, inspired, optimistic, motivated mindset. Read Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles, or others.

Read for as long or as much as you can. Try for a half hour; too much, cut it down. Make a point to read even if it is only a page a day. Do it every day. Just as you eat each day to feed your body read to feed your mind. Think about what you read. Reflect on it. Practice it!

Study success. Study happiness. Learn from others. Find positive mentors and role models. Be wise about choosing mentors. I’ll share more in another post. Learn from those who do and have and are what you want to beWHO BEGAN as you did. Study their approach.

What You Say Is What You Get

Begin reading. Remember, our first step. Clarify what you want. I assume you already have done this or you are in the process. This is the 3rd post in a series. If you haven’t read the previous two please go back and read those first. Then return here. Clarify your purpose.

Know what you want. Specify it. Keep it in mind. Read and fill your mind with positive thoughts about your goal. Feel good about it. Think about it often during the day and affirm, ‘I can begin now to change my life.’ ‘I am in the process of making my dreams come true’.

You can substitute your actual dream for ‘my dreams’. ‘I am in the process of creating more happiness in my life’. ‘I am beginning the process of taking control of my money and becoming financially free.’ ‘I am learning to be smart about managing my money’.

What You Feel Is What You Get

‘I am in the process of learning to communicate better so I can connect with people and enjoy more lasting friendships’. ‘I am beginning to attract the right person into my life’. ‘I am deciding to be more open and tolerant of other people’s views.’ Whatever it is.

‘Even if I don’t know how I can begin to take tiny baby steps that move me forward to what I want’. Get it? You declare it. You make statements about how you are beginning the process of making the changes you want. Affirming is a great way to begin.

Up your energy and vibrational levels and affirm with enthusiasm. Why affirmations don’t work for some people is primarily two fold. One reason is they recite meaningless phrases with no emotional power behind them. The words aren’t what your brain responds to.

What You Think About You Become

Rote repetition doesn’t impact our brains or our being. We must emotionalize it.  We must use enjoyment, enthusiasm and power. Chant and declare what you affirm. Do it  loud, clear, with fun, energy and optimism! Think military boot camp. They chant a lot.

In armed services boot camps they chant as if their life depended on it because it does. They chant to wire in important concepts and habits. They do it for different purposes than we do; it works just the same. Our purposes are not so much survival based but could be.

Chant your affirmations. Shout them out with joy, Have fun and delight in doing them and mean it. Commit to these. Make them short, to the point, positive and energized. This makes the process work faster. Your brain learns from exaggerated examples!

What You Focus On Expands

Don’t be subtle. Your brain doesn’t learn by subtle. Be subtle only when surrounded by others at home or work and when you don’t want to draw attention to yourself. Otherwise GO FOR IT! Declare them and mean it. Believe it! Know it. Convince yourself completely!

By doing this you create new neural pathways and new positive habits. Enjoy the process! The other primary reason is people don’t believe them. They make too large a statement and then resist it. The declare ‘I can make 100 million this year’. It is too big a leap.

Certainly, it could be possible. BUT it is not that likely they will make that kind of money if they never have. Could they, yes. Is it possible, yes! Is it plausible or likely? Not so much. IT COULD happen, but usually a goal too big makes people doubt they will be successful.

What You Think About You Bring About

If you have never made big money before start with smaller sums. Make them big enough to stretch you but not so big as to seem impossible. Your goal should stretch and challenge you and maybe make you a little afraid but not too much. I will explain. Stretch!

You want to choose something that takes you out of your comfort zone. Something you do have to work at. Something that would exhilarate you when you make it happen. BUT, not something you don’t believe you could do and will do. You need to believe you can.

You want to eventually feel certain, not only you can, but that you will. When you choose something you feel certain you can make happen; and believe that you will; and you absolutely want to have it; then you have found your sweet spot. Then it IS likely you will.

If You Think You Can Or You Think You Can’t You Are Right

Get it? You want to believe YOU WILL do it. This will be reinforced by your affirmations, too. You will come to believe it more if you don’t at first. Still, choose something you CAN believe. Those people who don’t, since they don’t truly believe they can, usually give up.

It isn’t that the process doesn’t work. It is that they didn’t choose wisely. Start smaller. Get some wins. Prove to yourself you can do it. Prove you can make it happen and gather wins Then increase the size of your wants and make those happen too. Experience matters!

For those people, since it is outside the sweet spot, they don’t feel good when they think about their goals and affirm them. Instead they doubt or feel concerned. They hope it will happen. They don’t feel they will absolutely make it happen. The mindset is different!

Believing Is Seeing – Perception Is Everything

It isn’t a winner, ‘I CAN DO ANYTHING’ mindset. It is a ‘gee I hope I do this right and get what I want some day, but it probably won’t work and then I’ll be worse off than before’ mindset. Do you understand? Those people are defeated before they begin.

They abandon the affirmations because it doesn’t feel right or good when they affirm. The give up and then state, ‘I tried affirmations and they don’t work.’ You are beginning a process. Accept you are a beginner. Take baby steps. Fill your mind with positive thoughts.

Implement these practices. Use positive affirmations powerfully. This, is and area  where my Directed Questions™ is absolutely beneficial to use. I will share more about this later. For now, read, affirm and imagine already having what you want in the future.

Live The Future You Want Right Now As If It Is Already Yours

Affirm, declare, command and own. Own your future. YOU make it happen. You create and you attract. Enjoy learning to do this. Enjoy the process. Be grateful and express your gratitude freely. Make a list daily. Feel appreciation for everything! That makes you feel better all around. Plus, you’ll feel more positive. Enjoy everything and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Feel thrilled. Feel Delighted. Feel enthusiastic. Feel Fully Alive!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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