If you believe in reincarnation as a lot of people do, do you ever wonder what you were in your past life, how did you live, who did you marry, how did you die?

I believe in the collective consciousness of the world whereby when we die, our memories, minds are mixed into a big melting pot of minds and memories.  When we are born, we tap into these memories and minds and take on the persona of a particular mind and carry it with us until our next life.

I’ve always wondered about my past lives and wondered how I died.  I found this fun quiz to do and thought I would share it here.

Remember, this is purely for fun, so don’t take it too seriously

How Did You Die in Your Past Life

 

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I have been married to a strong woman for 10 years, and have to say it’s been an amazing journey.  I have learned so much about myself and more importantly learned so much about my wife, Sharon.

Sharon is strong minded, quick witted, intelligent, funny and assertive, and that can be a lot to handle for a man, however we compliment each other perfectly which is why our marriage has worked so well and continues to get stronger..

But, not all men can handle a strong woman, so I thought I would write an article on the things you should expect when dating a strong woman.

 

9 Things to Expect When Dating a Strong Woman

1. She won’t play games

Don’t expect the usual game playing at the start of the relationship.  You either like her and call her or just get out of her life.  Strong women have no time for the game playing, so no need to wait the 2 days before calling her.  Also, don’t do the ‘I’ll make her jealous by having female friends’ if you do, you’re dumped, as she sees it as juvenile and a waste of her time.

2. She doesn’t want a man who is indecisive

Don’t expect the usual conversations about where to go when you are going out: ‘I don’t know where to go, where would you like to go out?’ That’s just not going to cut it with her.  If you’re taking her out, then she will expect that YOU are taking her out and have made the decision, booked the restaurant, or theatre and know where you’re going for drinks afterwards.

She’s probably in a stressful job and making decisions all day, and her time away from work is about her and she doesn’t want to always be the strong one outside of work as well.

When she’s taking you out, expect the night to be well planned, and expect a great tiem.

3. She will want a real conversation

If you’re gossiping or complaining about the people at your work then be prepared for an icy cold stare and a few choice words.  Strong women like to be intellectually stimulated, and mindless chatter about mundane things just won’t cut it with her.

4. Respect is a big priority

Getting respect and being respectful is a big priority in her life, so don’t expect to act like a jerk and get away with it, no three strikes and you’re out here, you’ll be out on your first strike.

5. She will always expect follow through

If you say you’re going to do something, then you better make sure you follow through and do what you say you’re going to do.  She thinks there’s nothing worse than a man who makes a decision and doesn’t stick to his decision to do something. If there’s no follow through then expect a grilling about it.

6. She hates men with no ambition

If you lack motivation and have no ambition in your life, forget about her.  To her there’s nothing worse than a man who lacks ambition, it’s ugly, and shows her you don’t really have a plan for life.  To her setting goals and achieving them is what life is all about.

7. She will expect loyalty at all times

Loyalty is another key trait she admires in a man.  Once she commits to you she will be the most loyal person in the world, but she will expect loyalty back on all levels.  Never ever side with someone else in public, never jokingly put her down, never disrespect her in public (In private she can handle you herself).  What you can expect in return is loyalty, and we’re talking Godfather loyalty here: she’ll defend you to the hilt in public, woe betide anybody who says anything bad about you, she sing you’re praises behind your back.

8. She won’t settle for a night in all the time

Don’t expect to get a carry out every weekend and have a nice cosy cuddle on the couch.  Her mind needs stimulation.  However, don’t think you have to go mountain biking and kayaking every weekend, as a quiet night in will work sometimes.

9. Expect a lifetime of loyalty, love and excitement

If you are strong enough to handle a strong woman then you can expect a lifetime of passion, love, excitement, and loyalty.  You won’t find a better friend, a better lover and a better mentor than the strong woman you’re dating or married to.

Don’t get confused with dating an aggressive woman, this is totally different from a strong woman.  Strong women are assertive, but never aggressive and never passive.  If you accidentally start dating an aggressive woman, then you’ll soon know the difference between a strong woman and an aggressive woman.

Now you might think you’ll have to be this weak man who always defers to the woman’s wishes – DON’T EVEN THINK LIKE THAT.  The strong woman will need you to be just as strong, just as ambitious, just as passionate, just as loyal, and just as loving as her, if you’re not, the relationship won’t last at all.

 

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If you’ve never watched PewDiePie on Youtube then I suggest you go check his YoueTube Channel out. The guy is nerdy, funny, smart and just….well, really funny.  He’s a gamer and makes videos about gaming, but he’s so much more than that.  You don’t have to be into games at all to enjoy watching his videos, I don’t play games at all and still love his videos.

This week PewdiePie made a video called ‘Things I Wish I knew’, which you can see below this text.

The advice is primarily for teenagers however I think a lot of it could apply to everybody in life.  Watch the video and see what you think.  Whatever you think about it, I can almost guarantee your children will love it, so pass it on to them, but do it such a way as to make your children think you’re not trying to be cool

8 Life Lessons from PewDiePie

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1.

Do stupid shit now, because when you’re older you’ll get into trouble for it.

2.

Follow your own god damn dreams

3.

Don’t just do something just because the ‘Cool Kids’ are doing it….

4.

It doesn’t matter if you’re small, big or different in any way, it doesn’t matter as you won’t care about that when you’re older.

5.

Trying to be popular is just a waste of time

6.

You have to take risks to really get to where you want to go in life

7.

Remember when other people try and call you out on something, they’re doing it to mask their own insecurities.

8.

You should like yourself

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It’s not about working harder but learning how to work smarter.  Below are some tips that can help you increase your efficiency, your productivity saving your time for people and things that matters to you the most in life.

Practice the 80/20 rule

Focus on 20% of the things that are important because they yield the greatest value. These would be the need to do task that contributes and will have the most impact to your bottom line, or in achieving your life goals.

Know when is your productivity period

We all have times when we feel more energized and productive. Identify when your times are and schedule the work that requires the most effort to be done then. For the other times, you can focus on menial tasks or schedule time for fun.

Get the most important tasks completed first

This can be difficult for some.  It certainly was for me.  I used to do the easy, less important activities first and then procrastinate until the end to do the important task. But then someone challenged me to try this for a month.  I realized by getting the important task out of the way first, it helps improve my energy since I’m not spending the whole day in dread and heaviness convincing myself that I still got that BIG thing I need to do.  It’s about just do it.

Plan your day the night before

Before you sleep, spend a few quick minutes thinking about all the things you want to get done the next day.  Write it down and then prioritize. In doing so, you set yourself up to get cracking when you wake up in the morning.

Multi-task

For activities that does not require a lot brain work.  For example, doing laundry and listening to a pod cast.

Meditate

There are countless studies that have been done that shows if you mediate for just like 10 minutes a day, it can tremendously help ground you, bring peace and boost your mental clarity.  This is true as I find whenever I miss a day or two of meditation, my days always seem more chaotic.

Learn to Delegate and Outsource

When you have work that needs to be done and it’s not something that is within your scope of work or you know someone who can do it better and faster.  Delegate or outsource. You can hire professionals on Odesk and Elance for a decent price for graphic design, admin, web management work.  The key is to optimize the effectiveness of your time spent on essential tasks that creates value to your personal and professional life.

Divert distraction

We are bombarded with distractions constantly and we easily get sidetrack.  Thus, to divert being distracted block off some free time for you to get whatever important task that you need to get done completed.  This could be blocking your calendar so people can’t schedule meetings with you during specific times.  Or waking up early, and get some work done in the peace and quiet before the hustle and bustle begins, or simply unplugging yourself.

Get a mentor

Learn from the people who are the best in what you are trying to do or perhaps they are just a few steps ahead of you. They’ll be able to share with you their mistakes and their best practices. They’ll help you see your blind spots. You can adopt and model their behaviors.  There’s no point in recreating the wheel if someone has already figured it out.  This will help speed up your productivity in mastering something.  Once you learn from them, apply them, make it your own and make it even better.

Batch similar tasks.

Bundle same activities together instead of scattering them throughout the day.  This way you keep the flow and momentum going as you work on everything that is related to a similar activity optimizing your productivity.

Learn to say no.

I had a great manager who once said to me, no one is going to take care of you and your needs so you’ve got to.  You need to keep an eye out for opportunities that jive with you and learn to say no.  Say no to things that are not within your scope of responsibility and that are insignificant and unrelated to making an impact to your performance and your goals.  If you keep saying yes to everyone and neglecting your own needs, you’ll have lived a life pleasing everyone else. You’ll end up not progressing with anything you want to do.

Taking a break.

When you are feeling overwhelmed and your brain is foggy and fried, there’s no point for you to power through a task.  Instead, take a break, relax, have some fun and recharge.  You deserve it! Your productivity will soar with a clear head.

The post 12 Crazy Effective Ways to Increase Your Productivity appeared first on Change your thoughts.

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Your birth date, feet, hand lines and even fingertips may reveal insights to your personality. Everyone has slightly different fingers, but in general you can break it down into 3 main types of finger lengths.

The fingers on either side of your left middle finger, your index and ring finger, are the same size or slightly different with one longer than the other.

Take a look at your own hand and find out what it reveals about your personality.  The finger length personality is just for a bit of fun

What Does Your Finger Length Reveal About Your Personality

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Your birth date, feet, hand lines and even fingertips may reveal insights to your personality. Everyone has slightly different fingers, but in general you can break it down into 3 main types of finger lengths.

The fingers on either side of your left middle finger, your index and ring finger, are the same size or slightly different with one longer than the other.

Take a look at your own hand and find out what it reveals about your personality.

Remember this is only for fun

What Does Your Finger Length Reveal About Your Personality

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It is very sad to say, but many of us will never realize our true potential. We were all born with talent, but very few of us ever take the time or put the work in to find out what our talents are and to develop them.

I worked at a large Hardware Store for a few years in the early 2000s while attending college. I worked as a cashier. It was a great place to work at the time especially for me. I could make some money, get assistance with my college tuition and also I could work on shifts, so that was my dream job at the time.

During my time there I met a lot of young people who like me were trying to get ahead. We all worked hard and long hours but what amazed me was that everybody complained about their job, and their boss but no one wanted to go to college or to do anything to change their lives. I was a bit older and coming from a different culture with a totally different mindset I became somewhat of a mentor. I thought this was a great opportunity to earn a living and go to college at the same time.

I worked hard at my job like most but would be more excited about leaving for the university at the end of my shift. I knew I didn’t want to work at this job forever, so I worked hard making sure I had other choices.

After graduating college, I went on to Graduate school. I lived in the area so occasionally go to the store to get things for my apartment. It would break my heart because the people there even though very excited to see me, would still be complaining about the job and management, and yet no one ever made an effort to do anything about it.

By this time, I was growing in my career and completing my masters. A few had gotten married and or had children of their own but they were there either still frustrated or now trapped in a job they disliked but need to get a paycheck yet no one had made the commitment to do anything about their life. They didn’t seem to want even to move up the ladder to become a manager of even a supervisor.

If you want to become successful, you need to make changes in your life and most of all in the way you have been doing business. Observe the people you perceive as successful and who you would want to be like. Adapt the way they do things. Do the research on their lives and how they conduct themselves, do business and follow their lead.

Everyone can become successful if they want to and want to badly enough to want to do whatever it takes to get them there.
If you find yourself year after year in the same position and doing the same thing maybe, you need to take a good look at yourself and reassess what it is you want for your life. There is no way you can continue to do the same thing year after year and expect the results will be different.

If you find yourself in the same situation I was in here are some tips that people who remain stuck tend to do, and you should avoid them at all cost:

1. They fail to figure out what it is they want

Many people go through life bouncing from pillar to post all because they do not know what they want. You must first decide what it is you want to achieve, and then you can work towards it. It like sailing you could spend your entire life on the ocean and never get to shore unless you have a destination point you want to reach. You must decide early what it is you want, and the put the plans in place to work towards attaining that goal.

2. They fear failing

The fear of failing is the biggest dream killer. People have such a fear that they might fail at what they do that they refuse to even make an effort. Failure is an inescapable even if you intend on becoming successful. Failure is only a sign that either you need to reassess what you are doing, or you need to try harder you are on the right track. You need to be happy when you fail as it could mean you are almost there. Face your fear and go after your dream. It is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.

3. They listen to people who do not care about their dreams

If you listen to people when you discuss what you want to aspire to be or the business you want to start, you will never get going. People do not see your vision and might not be able to understand it even if you explain it to them. Some will outright discourage you from going after your dreams because either does not want to lose you to your ambitions, or they do not think you can be successful. You must have the confidence to go out on your own and make up your mind to be successful or die trying.

4. They lack confidence

If you do not believe in yourself how you can then expect others to believe in you? You must believe that you can achieve anything you want and put your mind to and be prepared to do it. Your confidence is part of the puzzle to success. Look at all the very successful people you see on TV or know they all have an aura about them. They are confident, and they believe they can do anything and guess what they can. Once you believe it you can achieve it.

5. They procrastinate

People who are successful seize the moment. They are always looking for an opportunity to improve on what they have already started or to start something new. They do not put things off for another day when they can do it today. If you find yourself delaying or putting things off, then you will never find the time to do it. There will never be the right time, or you will never have enough money to go after your dreams. You must be willing to take the chance of what you have and not delay if any longer.

6. They are afraid to take the risk

Successful people are risk takers. They are not afraid to put themselves on the line. They are confident enough that they can take the risk ordinary people wouldn’t dream of taking. They know the greater the risk the great the rewards and successful people keep their minds on the rewards. If you are afraid to take risks, you will never become successful in life. You must be willing to gamble with your life.

7. They fail to seek knowledge

If you are not someone who believes in constantly learning something new, you will not be successful. The world is changing so fast and in order to keep up you must be willing to put the time in to learn new things and to apply that knowledge. Knowledge is power, and that power leads to success. Take a look at the most successful people around they are always trying something new or trying to increase their knowledge of what they can do to better themselves and their business. They refuse to stop learning, and that is why they are so very successful. You too need to adopt that attitude. You do not need to go back to school to get a Masters Degree or Ph.D. unless that is important to you, but you need to be constantly updating your knowledge base.

8. They are quitters

Quitter never wins and people who never win will never success. If you want to be successful, you must be willing to work hard and never give up. Losers give up. Successful people never dream of giving up. It is not in their nature to quit. Success isn’t for sprinters; it is more for the long distant runners. People who are willing to put in the time and effort in trying to achieve success will become successful. Successful people never quit. They work at it day after year and year after year until they achieve their goal. Once you’ve set a goal for yourself, do not stop until you get it…

9. They are impatient

Impatient people cannot become successful because they do not give themselves the time for their dreams to be realized. You need to give yourself and your dream time to come to life. Successful people take all the time required to make their dreams a reality. They set goals for themselves and also set long-term and short-term goals. You need to do likewise. Set your short-term goals for about two years and the long term ones ten years and above. You will not see your dreams realize in a month or so. It just doesn’t work that way. You have to be patient to see the fruit of your labor.

10. They are ungrateful

People who are ungrateful cannot be successful as they do not see the need to be grateful for the small things they have been blessed with. Successful people are very grateful for everything they have been given since they have learned early that being grateful will help you to appreciate life and all it has to offer.

11. They complain a lot

People who will never become successful spend their lives complaining about everything and everyone. Anyone who complains a lot will always be frustrated, angry, bitter and, for this reason, do not have any time or energy to pursue their dreams. Instead of working on improving themselves and their lives they spend their entire life complaining about how horrible their lives are. Successful people do not waste time complaining. They take action. You need to do likewise. If there is something, you are not happy with go out and change it. Do not waste your time and energy complaining about things you have no control over.

12. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions

If you aren’t prepared to take responsibility for your action, then you will never be able to become successful. Successful people put the blame where it belongs, and that is on them. They take responsibility for their actions. You likewise need to be able to take the responsibility for your life and action. It is never anyone else’s fault why you aren’t achieving your goals. The onus is on you to make sure your dreams are realized.

13. They aren’t dreamers

If you are not able to dream and dream big, you will never achieve your goals. You must be able to see in your mind’s eye where you want to reach and what you want to achieve long before you set out to go out to achieve it. Dreaming is what will make you work harder and longer and even when the times are rough. There will be bad days and good days, and your dreams are what will help you to remain motivated and want to continue to work hard.

What lessons have life taught you long the way that could help others?

The post 13 Reasons Why Some People Never Attain Success and How to Make Sure You Do appeared first on Change your thoughts.

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For a while now I have been wanting to write a blog article on the subject of the Law of Attraction, but I am not comfortable with the term Law of Attraction, and don’t really believe in the whole concept with the way it is being taught and so wanted talk about it in another way with more detail, but couldn’t think of a name for it. Then, a few weeks ago when I was out walking my dog I figured it out: MAGIC

Magic is not quite the law of attraction, it’s not cosmic ordering, it’s not about praying or religious in any way and not about Wicca, although you may call it that. It’s simply about Magic: The kind of magic we all have inside of us, but we’ve forgotten how to use it. We had the magic as children, and then life got in the way and most of us lose it as we go into adolescence.

This article is probably one of my longest but I hope one of the most useful articles I have ever written.

I also have to say that whilst doing research on this I came across 3 books by Genevieve Davis called: Becoming Magic, Doing Magic, and Advanced Magic. When I found these books I promptly downloaded them and then thought about not publishing this article, as the ideas in Genevieve’s books were so close to the thoughts I had on this topic, it was like listening to (I bought the audio books) my own thoughts and writings on the subject.

However I have decided to publish it anyway, mainly because I didn’t want to waste 4 weeks of research and writing and I believe I can help open up the topic of magic to another audience and hopefully help Genevieve reach a new audience as well.

I also notice there is another book by Rhonda Byrne called ‘The Magic’, but since this is not a book, I don’t mind that so much.

What is The Magic

When we think of magic we think of the likes of Harry Potter, or witchcraft or possibly the druids. However, magic is not about making potions, casting spells, and using wands, all those things are just tools to focus the mind on the magic.

The MAGIC is you!

You are the magic, you have the power of magic inside of you right now, lying dormant, possibly unused ever in your life, or for some unused for a number of years. You are the vessel that holds the magic and your mind is the tool to help unleash it.

It is the power we have to bring about change in our lives by using the power of the subconscious mind. Now, before you stop reading and say, ‘Oh, I’ve heard it all before.’ hear me out, as I guarantee you this will be life changing for a lot of you reading this.

Magic is the powerful force that helps us gather the people and the objects we need and sometimes want in our lives. The mind is the key that unlocks it and in this article I want to show you how to unlock the magic.

How I came to learn of The Magic

Being honest I always knew there was something different about me, even as a young child and I believed, even back then, in the power of magic, only I didn’t know how to harness it.

It wasn’t until I was older that I really started learning about it and using it in my every day life, and learning a hell of a lot along the way. And Today I use it every day, I am literally magic, just like you, only i have learned a little more about it and can bring about change without really thinking about it.

Some examples from my own life:

Since the age of about 25 I had started to look for my ideal partner, as I was tired of ‘Playing the field’ and the single life. I looked, had a few girlfriends, but nobody came along that made me say ‘She’s the one’. Well, I looked for around 7 years and one day on the 19th July 2002 I let go. I let the thought go of finding my ideal partner and told myself it’s okay to be single and happy and I mentally let go as I walked along the street to work that morning.

Then on the way back from work at around 5pm I was persuaded to go out for a drink as Cathy, from another department (Thank you Cathy) was celebrating her 40th birthday, and even though I didn’t know Cathy that well, and didn’t want to go out, I went out for a drink and ended up staying longer than ‘Just the one’.

At 7.30pm someone walks into the bar to join our crowd and my jaw literally dropped and i blurted out ‘Who the fuck is that’ in a mesmerised state (sorry for swearing, but that’s what I said). It turned out it was the sister of someone who worked with me.

13 years later we’re still madly in love and have two sons and a mental little dog.

That’s just one example of Magic, and one of the principles at work: Letting Go of the Outcome, which we will talk about later.

GuidedMind.com

In 2012 I truly wanted to give up my full-time job as an addiction worker and work full time online, but just didn’t see how it was going top be possible due to financial reasons. I worked out I would need around $3,000 per month to give up my full-time job. So again, I quickly seen in my imagination myself working from home and let the thought go and entrusted the magic to do it’s job.

A few months later I was chatting with a friend on Skype, who already ran some very successful websites, and told him my ideas about doing guided meditations and had already tested the market. He suggested we collaborate.  After a few months of talking  we agreed to start a new site and his company would pay me advanced royalties for every guided meditation I wrote and recorded until we got the site to go live a year later, the amount was around $3,000 per month, that’s when GuidedMind.com was born.

The magic had worked again. I gave up my full-time job in September 2012 and worked full time online, and have never looked back since.

Another example

Another example is a more recent one.

Last year I truly started getting into Facebook and growing my page, so much so that I was getting about 20 FB Messages per day asking how the hell I was doing so well with my Facebook page. I had grown it from 33,000 likes to 540,000 at the time. I answered all the questions in the messages about FB Marketing and then decided to write a course on it, and get all the answers out of my head and on video and put up the website http://ift.tt/1tjjNpe, and that was going to be the end of it, no more telling people how to do it I would just direct them to my course.

But alas, the magic had other plans for me. I had hired a great business coach to move my business further on and she suggested that i should become a coach on Facebook marketing. I thought about it and let it marinate for a while and decided it would be a good idea.  Well, the very next day I received a message from someone asking if I did Facebook Coaching 1 – 1. Not one to ignore the magic, I immediately said yes and set the rates and took on my first coaching client.

Then, a week later, I received a phone call from Curly Martin (the Life Coaches trainer) who wondered if it would be okay to pass on my details to David Vox from Goaly.com who was interested in collaborating on some kind of Facebook marketing course, so I flew to Copenhagen to meet him and it looks like it is going to be very lucrative for me and help a lot of businesses out there who are struggling with their Facebook page.

That’s the kind of magic I am talking about.

Now, you might think it’s all just coincidence, and that’s your prerogative to think that, only I know different and want to teach you how to make it all happen for you, if you’re open to learning?

The first step on the magical path

YOUR BELIEFS

Have you ever wondered why some people can become a huge success and others can’t? Well, it’s all to do with their beliefs. Their beliefs about themselves, and their beliefs about the world around them.

They have created a reality of the world for themselves, and within that reality they have the belief that they are able to do anything they put their mind to.

You too have that power, you have the magic stirring within you right this very second, but you may not know how to tap into it.

I would love to share with you just how amazing you are and how to tap into this amazingness and finally become the person you were born to be.

Let me start with one of my favourite quotes:

Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
Mahatma Ghandi

I also have a video to show you about the power of beliefs which gives you an insight into how our beliefs are formed:

http://ift.tt/1hrYeCJ

Okay, time to show you just how amazing you really are:

Reality is Based on Your Perception of the Truth

Your reality is based on your perception of the truth, meaning that what you believe to be true about yourself and the world around is true. However, someone else with different beliefs and a different view of the world also has a reality that is true and real to them. In effect we all have a different view of the world and it all starts with our beliefs.

Change your beliefs and you change your view of reality.

So how does that work?

Okay, let me ask you if you’ve ever had this experience before:

You see someone in a bar, a club or at your local gym. You have noticed them before and don’t find them particularly physically attractive. So you believe they are not physically attractive, according to what you believe attractiveness is. However, when that person speaks to you, you find they have an amazing personality, they make you laugh, they are intelligent, and quick witted. Suddenly your view of them literally changes, you now find that you are physically attracted to them, their appearance seems to have changed somehow and your belief about what makes someone physically attractive suddenly changes. Have you ever had that experience?

That’s not to say that everyone with a great personality is going to look physically attractive, as there has to be some core elements of physical attractiveness, or what you believe constitutes attractiveness.

That’s only 1 example of how beliefs shape our world.

How Our Beliefs are Formed

Psychologists say that most of our beliefs have already been formed by the age of seven years old.

SEVEN YEARS OLD!

We are not cognitively able to comprehend what beliefs are at that age and have not fully formed an opinion of the world at that age, and yet most of our beliefs about the world have already been formed and carry on into adulthood.

Where our beliefs come from

Most of our beliefs comes from our parents, our teachers, our peers, our close family and the TV and media, predominantly from the person who raised us as children.

You’ve got to ask yourself: If your parents are the primary source of your beliefs, where did they get their beliefs from? Well, they got it from their parents, and their parents got it from their parents. So in effect some of your beliefs are literally hundreds of years old, being passed down from generation to generation.

That’s not to say that’s a bad thing as some beliefs stand us in good stead e.g. Believing that family is important, that you have to work hard to get somewhere in life, you believe in justice, that all people should be treated with respect and so on.

However, some of your beliefs are outdated and if you wish to change them then you need to acknowledge them first.

Why Change Our Beliefs to Walk the Magical Path

That’s a very good question we have to ask ourselves, why change our beliefs?

If we break beliefs down to their simplest state you have two different types of beliefs:

Disempowering beliefs – Beliefs that hold us back in life.

The disempowering beliefs are holding us back from truly living a life of fullness and wellness, and can even cause us physical and mental harm if we don’t recognize them and acknowledge them. Beliefs like: I am not good enough, I am not intelligent enough, I am no good at (insert subject here), I am too old, I’ll never have any money. All these beliefs and more hold us back, they stop us from growing as human beings, and our purpose in life is to grow as much as we can and to reach, what Abraham Maslow calls, Self Actualization.

Empowering beliefs – Beliefs that drive us forward and help us to grow.

The empowering beliefs are the ones we should nurture and aim to install in our minds in order to help us reach our true potential in life. These are the beliefs that drive us forward, that help us to grow and help us to achieve all of our goals in life. Nobody would have any goals in life if they didn’t have some empowering beliefs, so you see you already have some empowering beliefs already.

So to answer the questions why we need to change our beliefs to start our journey on the magical path, it’s to help us grow to reach our full potential.

Your beliefs just now reside within your comfort zone.

Your Beliefs Reside within Your Comfort Zone

Your personal beliefs you have about yourself reside within an area in your mind called your comfort zone. This is the place where nothing really challenges you and you are coasting along in life, minding your own business, and just getting on with life. And that’s okay if you are happy with that, but a lot of us aren’t happy, we want something more, something to challenge our mind, heart and body. Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.

The thing is, we cannot grow if we are not challenged in life. That’s the reason we go to school to challenge our minds, that’s the reason we go to the gym to challenge our bodies, that’s the reason we start a business, write a book, network, speak in public, take a new job, it’s all to challenge ourselves. Sometimes it can be tough, but the challenging journey we take when we go outside our comfort zone is so much better than the stagnation of staying inside it.

By challenging every area of your life you will change your beliefs about yourself, about what you believe is possible and your reality will change, sometimes overnight, and sometimes over time.

How to Know What Beliefs You Have

It’s strange, if I were to ask you what you believe about yourself you might take a few minutes to even give me a few beliefs that you hold. That’s because we rarely think about the beliefs that we hold in our minds, we just believe something and that’s it, and they don’t really come to the fore unless a strong belief is challenged in some way. For example if I was to tell you that testing new drugs on animals is right (and I don’t believe that) you might suddenly find yourself vociferously arguing against that belief, because you believe it is not right to do that. You’ve now found a deep belief within you without necessarily knowing that belief existed.

So a more practical way to find out what beliefs you have is to set yourself outcomes in life.

Outcomes are things you want to achieve in a certain time frame, for example, getting that book you’ve always wanted to write, finished by the end of the year.

Another outcome a lot of people have is to lose a certain amount of weight by the end of month.

You can write down your outcomes for every area of your life: relationships, money, career, family, health, personal development, recreation, and spirituality. You can even go a step further and use a life wheel to see exactly where you are in life just now.

So for each area of your life you write down your outcomes and that’s when you find out what your limiting beliefs are.

So, say you have an outcome to lose 10Ibs in 30 days, you write down what your limiting beliefs are about that particular outcome e.g.

     · I don’t have the willpower to do it

     · I can’t do it

     · I’m too big to go to the gym, everyone will look at me

     · My partner will feel threatened if I lose weight

These are all good to know, because without acknowledging our limiting beliefs we will never get over them.

How to Change Your Beliefs – The Beliefs Formula

I have come up with a belief formula, it’s not necessarily new or anything groundbreaking but it’s a formula you can use and easily store in your mind to help you.

         Perception + Evidence + Repetition + Time = Belief

So let’s break each part of the formula down:

Perception – This is the current perception you have about yourself at any particular time. For example you might believe that you are not an intelligent person. That’s the perception you have of yourself at this particular time.

Evidence – The evidence you have gathered over the years to prove that perception might be: you failed your exams in the past, you feel stupid around other people, other people may have said that you weren’t particularly intelligent and so on. Your subconscious mind has gathered all this evidence to prove your perception.

Repetition – Over the months and years you’ve repeatedly reminded yourself of why you are not intelligent so your mind just assumes that you’re not intelligent and the deeper the belief will be entrenched.

Time – This is about the length of time you’ve held this belief. The longer you’ve held a belief the more you will believe it. So if you’ve told yourself for years that you’re not intelligent then guess what, you’re not that intelligent, or so you think!

That’s how a belief is formed. Similarly you have empowering beliefs that have been formed using the exact same formula. So if you believe you are intelligent and you have gathered evidence over the years to prove that and you’ve repeated that belief over the years, then you are intelligent, no question, you just are.

Question Your Beliefs

Once you’ve found out what your disempowering beliefs are by writing down the outcomes and disempowering beliefs in Big Idea number 5, you then start to question each belief.

Your beliefs are like an egg, hard on the outside but liquid on the inside, unless it’s hard boiled which is a deeper held belief. Once you start to crack the shell of the egg you can start to change it.

The way to start cracking the egg, or your beliefs, is to question them.

For example if you believe that you are not intelligent, you would question that belief. You would ask yourself ‘is that really true’ and then you would find examples to prove that you are intelligent: you passed that exam at school, you work in a position of authority and need intelligence to be organized and do your job well, you read lots of mentally stimulating books (by the way that’s the very best way of increasing your overall brain power, not just intelligence), and so on.

So you’ve cracked open the shell of that belief it’s now time to replace it with another new, empowering belief.

Installing a New Belief

This is a lot easier than you would imagine.

Once you’ve identified a new belief you would like to install, you essentially immerse yourself in the new belief until your subconscious accepts it as true and integrates it into your mental operating system. I love to use visualization with physical proof, but a lot of people use affirmations combined with strong emotion.

Using evidence from your past you can install the new belief by reminding yourself on a daily basis the evidence you have to prove your new belief. You then go on to gather more evidence by going out and putting your new belief into practice, which means more evidence to prove your belief.

For example you want to have the belief that you can lose weight easily:

You would remind yourself a few years ago just how much weight you lost, which proves you can lose it, you then remind yourself you actually enjoyed going to the gym back then, you enjoyed being healthier, and you remind yourself about the great comments you received from other people telling you how great you looked and that you seemed to lose weight quite easily.

So you start going to the gym again and begin to enjoy it, you feel more healthy by going to the gym, so your mind tells you to eat more healthy, friends start to comment again about how great you look which motivates you more, you start to see the weight dropping off, your old clothes fit you again, pretty soon your mind tells you it is easy to lose weight and you have installed a new belief.

Remember the belief formula:

         Perception + Evidence + Repetition + Time = Belief

But, what if you don’t have evidence from your past?

then you have to start gathering evidence from now on.  Every little thing that happens, no matter how small, take it as evidence that you new belief is taking shape.  This way you will amass evidence that will help you install the new belief that you want.  It might take a little time, but eventually the new belief will just be a part of who you are.

The Magic of Believing

The beliefs you hold about yourself are the source of magic, and not many people know how to control. You now have that power in your own hands, you’re the Harry Potter of your world, but there’s no need for a wand to channel your magical powers, it’s all held in your mind and your bodies energy.

To show you just how powerful beliefs are I want to share a story from a respected Physician named Bernie Siegel, who has written a lot of books. In Tony Robbins’ book he has a conversation with Bernie Siegel:

“I had the pleasure of interviewing Yale professor and best-selling author Bernie Siegel. .. Bernie shared with me some of the research he’d done on people with Multiple Personality Disorders. Incredibly, the potency of these people’s beliefs that they had become a different person resulted in an unquestioned command to their nervous system to make measurable changes in their biochemistry. The result? Their bodies would literally transform before the researchers’ eyes and begin to reflect a new identity at a moment’s notice. Studies document such remarkable occurrences as patients’ eye color changing or physical marks disappearing and reappearing! Even diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure come and go depending on the person’s belief as to which personality they’re manifesting.”

We’ve also all heard about the placebo effect, whereby a patient is given a drug for an illness. The patient does not know that the drug is actually a sugar pill, but still shows signs of recovery, because they believe that they have been given a real drug and that it’s going to help them.

There’s hundreds of documented cases about the power of the placebo, and that’s the magic of your mind and the power of belief.

That’s the power of belief and I want you to use those lessons on beliefs when you start your journey on the magical path, because you’re going to need it.

Believing in Magic

For magic to work you’ve got to believe in it.  Well, that’s not very scientific is it?  

Think about it, we don’t do anything in life unless we believe we can do it and magic is no different.

We’ve got to believe with all our hearts that it will truly work for us.  I know about magic, it works for me and I know that anybody can practice magic, but this is not about me, this is about you, you’re the one who is going to practice it, you’re the one who is going to walk the magical path for, possibly, the first time.

So let’s get started with.

Now that you know about beliefs we need to start putting the magic into practice using the belief principles.

The first step on the magical path is asking for what you want.

THE ASKING

This is where I have an issue with the law of attraction teachers.  It is made out that all we have to do for our desires to manifest is just ask and they will come to us.  Well, that’s just not true.  In fact the asking part of the magic is probably the least important.

I want to share with you an amazing way to ask for your desires to manifest themselves.

Writing a letter to the universe.

About 18 months ago I wrote an article for GuidedMind called Writing a Letter to the Universe which was an updated version of something I wrote about 6 years ago called ‘An Invoice to The universe’.  Here’s how it works:

Write a letter as if you’re writing to a friend, and describe the situation you are in just now e.g.

“Dear Universe, I am struggling financially just now and don’t have enough money to make the payments for my car, and I really need the car to get to work. I’ve tried everything I can think of and can’t seem to find a solution”

Your concerns

Normally with the Law of Attraction we don’t mention what we are fearing, instead we focus on the positive, but it’s important to rid ourselves of the fears we have.

So write down your concerns about what might happen. In the example above you might say, ‘I’m really concerned that I will lose my job if my car is repossessed, and that I will find it difficult to get another job if I don’t have a car…….’

Just keep going and let all your concerns be noted in your letter.

This does two things; it helps to dissipate your anxious feelings, it’s like talking to a friend ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ and all that. Secondly, it builds up your positive emotions. You might think that writing a letter like this will increase your anxiety, but it actually sets your mind up to receive a positive outcome.

State your Desire

Okay, now you’ve got all your concerns out of the way it’s time to state exactly what you desire to happen. What do you need to happen? What do you want to happen? When do you want it to happen? this is where you become more positive and outcome focused again.

Using the example above you might say:

‘I would like to be able to make this month’s car payment in full before the (insert date here). I would also like a little more to be able to have next month’s car payment in my bank account to make sure I don’t get in this situation again.

I am so grateful for my car and really don’t know what I’d do without it, it gets me to work, helps me socially keep in touch with all my friends, and lets me see amazing places I wouldn’t have otherwise seen.’

Become emotionally involved in your desire

You have to send out the emotion of your desire as if you have already achieved it.  You do this by thinking what it will be like when you gain your desire.  really put yourself and visualise yourself as having achieved what you want.  Do this for a few minutes, and then go onto the next part.

Your emotions are what will give the magic even more power, it’s like throwing petrol over a fire, it will explode your ability to do the magic that is within you.

Gratitude

In your final paragraph thank the universe for delivering your desire, and write it as if it’s already happened. really get into this state of gratitude, as it will line up your vibrational energy to receive your desire. Tell the universe how amazing it is, and how you are in constant awe, no need to suck up, just appreciate the efforts it has made in helping you.

Let it go

Once you finished writing the letter, sign it, date it, fold the letter and put it in an envelope. Place the envelope in a drawer that’s only used for letters to the universe, or you can use a special box. If you’re writing it on the computer, make a folder named’ Letters to The Universe’ and put it on your desktop and place the file you have written in your folder.

Letting go of the outcome is extremely important.  You should not think or dwell on your desire again, as it’s now time for you to trust the magical process.  Believe that it is working and your desire is being processed, and then put it out of your mind.

This works as it gets you out of the way of the magical process.  Have you ever forgotten someone’s name and tried your hardest to remember it, only it is not forthcoming, and then you simply forgot about it. Then suddenly a few hours later their name comes to you as if by magic.  That is you getting out of the way, and so it is with letting go of the outcome.  Just get out of the way of the process and it will come to you quicker.

Expect it, believe it and trust that it will come.

That’s the asking part and it’s only one way to ask, but I have found this an amazing way over the years and seems to manifest what I need quicker than anything else.

I may update this post from time to time and will add a letter template for ‘Letter to the Universe’.

Now, onto the magical part of the process: Receiving

THE RECEIVING

Receiving is possibly the hardest part of the magical process as we have not really been taught how to receive what we want correctly.

As I said earlier you’ve got to truly work on your beliefs that the magic can work for you, and you do this by starting to notice that things are changing for you.  Take a mental note or keep a journal (a small moleskin notebook is ideal for this) of every little thing that happens out of the ordinary.

Keeping a journal like this does two things:

1. It embeds the belief of magic

2. It provides documented evidence and strengthens your resolve to keep practicing magic, instead of dismissing it.

When something small happens e.g. you have asked for £500 in order to pay for your car’s MOT, you unexpectedly receive a bank refund of £100.  This is evidence that the magic is working.  Now, you might say to yourself ‘No’ it’s not, it was just a coincidence’, you’ve got to let go of these thoughts.  The more you start to believe in the magic the quicker it will become a part of your belief system and the quicker it will really start to work for you.  You’ve got to trust me on this, I practice the magic every day and it’s working beautifully.

Don’t tell anyone about the magic

It’s not like fight club: The first rule of fight club is to not talk about fight club :), we keep the magic to ourselves until we firmly believe in it; an unshakeable belief.

So another part of receiving is to keep it to yourself, until you’ve been a competent practitioner and firmly believe in it.  If you were to tell other people they will either laugh at you, ridicule you, or tell you that you’re nuts for believing in magic.

Once you have been practicing this for a number of months/years, then you can start to share your secrets with those closest to you.  When you have a deep held belief about the magic, it won’t matter what anybody else says.  It’s like me trying to tell a christian that god does not exist, it won’t matter as their belief is absolute, and they won’t give two figs about what I say.  That’s the stage you want to get with the magic, and that may take a while.

For now, just record every piece of evidence that it is working for you.

Develop a positive mindset

Positive people have much more energy about them and therefore more magical energy surrounding them, so it’s important to develop a positive state of mind.  You can do this in a number of ways wich i have written about lots of times in this blog, but to give you some major ways in developing a positive state of mind here are a few ways to do it:

Stop reading/watching and listening to the news –  One of the worst things to do is to read, watch or listen to the main news.  Not the sports news or the financial news, but the main news.  It’s overly bias towards negative news and it’s pure mind rot.

Stop gossiping – When you gosspi about someone else you are putting them down in some way and bring your own energy down with it.  stop engaging in this behavious.

Start reading and watching positive books/blogs and watching inspirational videos  One of the best ways to open your mind to positivity is to read inspirational books, and watch inspirational videos.

Stop watching soap operas – You might not belive it but you get just as emotionally involved in a soap opera as you do with the dramas in your own life.  Again they are negative in nature, as they are overly bias toward drama and bad things happening.

Set aside time to spend alone – There is nothing better than getting a bit of peace and quiet and going out for a walk in nature, or curling up with a good book and raises your spiritual energy, connecting you to the magic.

Stop catastrophising e.g. it always rains when I want to go out, my boss is always in a bad mood, everybody hates me…

Let stuff go and stop being angry – In the past whenever someone cut me up on the road i used to get so infuriated and chase after them and do the same to them.  It was such a waste of energy and emotion. Now, if someone cuts me up, I care not a jot, I let them go, and don’t give it a second thought.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking you to be soft, if someone smacked me in the mouth I would definitely stick the head on them and fight back, and then let it go

These are just a few ways to start developing a positive mindset and over time you will see the massive difference these things will make in your life.

Gratitude

Another huge part of the magic is to truly become grateful for what you currently have in your life just now. Without being grateful for what you have in life, you are affirming what you don’t have and want, which is a state of wanting/needing and that will halt the process of magic.

Again you can keep a journal and write down 2 things you are grateful for every morning and every evening.  This keeps your mind in a state of gratitude throughout the day.  It can be the small things in life, from having a computer, having a car that works, to the big things like having an amazing wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend.

Just be open to the state of gratitude and this will help to bring about the process of the magic even more in your life.

Putting it all into practice

Please do not start practicing the magic until you’ve fully grasped everything above, this is a process and it will take time to begin your journey, but once you start the process speeds up very quickly.

Don’t test the magic, just ask for something that you need in your life and start to trust it will happen.  If you think to yourself I’ll just test the magic by asking for $10 to come into my life, you’re just playing with it.  Treat this as a major part of your life, and be serious about it from the outset.  Think of it as becoming a way of life, and soon it will just be a natural part of your life.

Why doesn’t it work?

Over the years I have discovered a few reasons as to why magic does not work:

1. Back to the old habits of negative thinking and worrying.  

When we start to allow our lives to become mainly negative, and worrying all the time, the magic will stop working for you.  When you are in this state you are not in flow with the magic, as it requires a certain energy to stay in touch with it, and negative thinking will definitely repel the magic.

2. Asking all the time for the same desires.  

Do you remember when you were a child and you kept on asking your parents for something.  You harped on and on about it until you eventually got a clip around the ear.  That’s how it is with the magic, it will repel the very thing that you desire if you keep asking for it or keep wondering where it is.  This is akin to being in a state of lack, meaning that your mind constantly thinks ‘I don’t have this’.  Stop asking and trust the magic.

3. Lack of belief

This is the big one that stops the magic from flowing.  When you don’t believe in it, you close of the part of your subconscious mind that makes it work, essentially you are cutting the cord between the magic and yourself.  If you find yourself in this state, simply start looking for small pieces of evidence that it is working and bring yourself back to a state of believing.

Step Into The Magic

Okay, that was a long read, but hopefully you got a lot out of it, and I definitely think it is one of my best posts to date.

I will be updating this article from time to time, adding in things here and there and incorporating questions from readers.

I will also make an audio version of this and an ebook version and charge around $7 for it and donate ALL the proceeds to charity.

Please leave any questions or feedback below.

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This test has been shared around the web on a number of sites and incredibly it always receives very positive results.

All you need to do is take a look at the arches, then down the path it shows. The path you choose can reveal a lot about your potential future. The results are usually pretty accurate.

 

If you chose number 1, your path is freeing. You are the type of person who needs a ton of space. You need the freedom to do things your own way, you prefer a path that you carve yourself, especially one with infinite possibilities and routes. You don’t want to feel constrained and are highly independent, rebellious even, but you don’t like confrontation. You’re more likely to passively resist someone or something. You hate being rushed, and prefer to take the to  time savour life. You’re too busy enjoying life to draw attention to yourself (This was my choice).

If you chose number 2, your path is private. You are the kind of person who prefers to travel alone. You like to observe, think, and sort out whatever is in your head. You prefer a path that’s fit for one. You can see others once you arrive at your destination, but you need your downtime first. You are very original and insightful. You look at the world in a unique way, and others can benefit from your point of view. You are a bit of a loner, but you connect well with people when you take the time. You are very understanding.

If you chose number 3, your path is colourful. You are a very engaging and engaged person. You love to be part of the world… you like to experience it all. Your ideal path is filled with colour, excitement and beauty. For you, it’s more about the journey than the destination. You are curious and excited to learn more. You love to start conversations, and you ask lots of questions. You are intellectual and witty. You think of more zingers than you’d ever use, and you keep people laughing (This was also my choice!)

If you chose number 4, your path is exciting! You are always moving forward in life, often into the unknown. You just go for it and deal with the consequences later. Your ideal path is unpredictable and maybe a little scary. You are drawn to the unknown. You can be a rule breaker, and you’re even somewhat careless. You have been known to act without thinking, but it usually all works out for you. You are very spontaneous and a major thrill seeker. You are going to make the most of the time you’ve been given on this planet!

If you chose number 5, your path is welcoming. You are a peace-seeking low maintenance person. You are very content, and you don’t like to be bothered. Your ideal path is clear cut and enjoyable. You want to enjoy your trip and to know what you’re getting into. You will often take the easy choice whenever possible. Life is hard enough, and you never want to make it harder on yourself, you are stable and supportive of those around you. You are known for your consistency and down to earth perspective.

If you chose number 6, your path is quiet. You value solitude in all aspects of your life. You can spend large periods of time alone without feeling lonely. Your ideal path is one that is very still and quiet. You want to absorb everything around you without feeling overwhelmed. You seek meaning in every aspect of life. You live your life very deliberately- both in action and in thought. You don’t like crowds, but you do like people. You value authentic relationships, and you prefer the depth of one on one interaction.

Thank you to in5d for this

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I previously wrote a great article about why drinking water will help you lose weight, which a lot of people connected with.

Today I would like to present you with a visual as to why drinking more water not only helps you to lose weight but can keep you healthy and energetic as well.  The effects of dehydration can be disastrous for your body and can keep you fat, sick and tired.

Infographic used with kind permission from Get Skinny Be Happy

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