What's Your Excuse?

I received a reviewer's copy of The Forbidden Book of Getting What You Want by J.K. Ellis this week.

Ellis is really swimming against the current tide with this one in that it promotes an attitude of personality responsibility and getting past EXCUSES when pursuing the kind of life you desire.

This is in stark contrast to a slew of self-help works of late that maintain that somehow you will be rewarded for wishful thinking without any further effort on your part-a recipe for disaster in many cases. Yes, it is helpful to create a clear mental image of what you truly want, however as the old saying goes, "if you are going to grow potatoes, you are going to have to pick up a hoe!"

Experience has shown that one of the best ways to help people overcome motivational blocks is to convert their "whys" in to "hows."

Traditional therapy dictated that insight was an essential key to personal transformation.

"Why do I continue to smoke?"
"Why can't I stop overeating?"
"Why has success eluded me?"

Yet even if you do manage to answer these questions, what are you left with? A pile of EXCUSES! Insight is at best a starting point, it is action that will really make the difference.

Now let's take a shot at turning a why into a how. "How can I quit smoking?" suggests that you can quit smoking, it is just a matter of figuring HOW. "Why can't I quit smoking?" implies that you can't and encourages you to search for an EXCUSE.

The Forbidden Book is based on the premise that when you accept personal responsibility and let go of of EXCUSES and blame, you create a kind of trap that forces you to succeed. A really good quote from the section on excuses goes"

"Life is not based on the quality of your EXCUSES!"

And there really is no excuse not to learn more about the Forbidden Book either!

The Giants Win Big!

Except for those who conscientiously avoid any news related to sports, you probably heard about the Giants winning the Superbowl against the New England Patriots last night-the latter team going into the game with a perfect, undefeated season.

It was an exciting game to say the least and both teams really did give it their all. To me, the Giants win was particularly inspiring because it was a tangible demonstration of a comeback. Early in the season many fans were calling the for the Giant's management to give coach Coughlin and quarterback Manning their walking papers due to lackluster performance.

Yet somehow these two men were able to find a way to turn things around and lead the Giants to victory in what is considered one of the greatest accomplishments in the world of athletics.

Now most of us will never compete on such a high level. Yet who hasn't had the experience of a poor start coming out of the gate or stumbling mid season when it came to losing weight, quitting smoking or pursuing some other worthwhile goal? Did you follow the natural tendency to become discouraged and give up?

Its my educated guess the Manning and Coughlin probably were deeply discouraged too at the beginning of this season. It is not easy to face up to the fact that you are not living up to you true potential. Yet they dug deep, focused on what they truly wanted and persisted towards their desired outcome. And you should consider doing the same.

If you could use a personal trainer for your mind, please feel free to contact me. Also, my monthly Creative Calm E-Newsletter will help you stay on the right path too. You can sign up on my homepage at http://www.njhypno.com and you receive three great reports as a bonus:

-The Beginners Guide to Yoga and Meditation.
-Eliminate Stress and Anxiety
-100 Weight Loss Tips.

Rest assured subscriber info is never shared and you can easily unsubscribe any time you wish-no questions asked! So let's see if we can put together your winning season!