I’ve been studying self improvement and personal development material for many years and, during that time, I’ve come to understand that some of it works some of the time for some of the people.
None of it (that I’ve found) works all the time for everyone. There are several reasons, some apparent and some not so apparent. Here are those I’ve found to be the most damaging.
First is lack of desire and commitment to improvement. It seems that most people would like to have more success in their lives but, when it comes down to doing something about it, they’re lazy. Self improvement books, tapes and seminars are big sellers because most of them offer a quick fix.
There’s no such thing as instant mastery of success!
To improve your life in any significant way, you must commit to a program of gradual improvement. You can’t become an expert in any subject of much complexity by reading one book or attending a week-end course. Self improvement is an extremely complex subject, one that requires study, application, and practice.
Next comes failure to address inner, subconscious beliefs. No matter how many goals you set, affirmations you repeat, visualizations you visualize, or meditations you meditate - you won’t have much if any progress if you hold inner beliefs that are contrary to what you’re trying to achieve.
There are a number of other factors that impede your progress but, probably, the one of next importance is persistence. If you start with the best, most perfect plan, it won’t get you where you want to go if you don’t consistently work your plan.
The best definition of faith I’ve found is the one in the Silva Mind Control course. It defines faith as desire plus belief plus expectation.
Beyond having faith that you can and will achieve your desired outcome you must take inspired action and be persistent in your efforts until you’ve reached your goal.
My question to you is: do you want to improve your life enough that you’re willing to put in some effort?
If so, like they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, “Keep coming Back!”
I’m going to break down the steps to becoming successful at anything into bite sized chunks over the next several weeks. In order to be as helpful as possible, I need your input! What are your questions? What have you found that’s helpful and what isn’t?
When I opened this article, I said that desire to change is most important. In a way, that goes hand in hand with belief. If you don’t believe change is possible, you won’t have much desire to try. It’s important to examine your beliefs along with developing your desires.
A belief is only a thought that is held on to and accepted as true. Some are correct and helpful - some are self defeating.
I may be a renegade but I’ve come to know what works, what doesn’t and why!