12 MOTIVATIONAL TOOLS THAT WILL GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS

The standard for success across the globe is having a vision that compels you to succeed. Motivation is the key in accomplishing all your goals.
No matter how many years you spend in a classroom or from what social class or lifestyle, motivation is the common factor among those who are high achievers.
Finding the tools to put meaning and purpose in your life, developing a vision, and becoming highly motivated can lead you towards a successful and exciting life.
Here are 12 motivational tools that can bring you success:
1. Recognizing obstacles and learning to remove them can make your vision a reality. The individual who is extremely motivated and successful has been motivated by a vision.
2. The quest for freedom is the basis for motivation. Total freedom is not necessarily desirable or possible, but the pursuit of that ideal is what motivates us to succeed.
3. People who develop a vision control their own life and destiny. With no vision, your life and destiny are controlled by outside forces. You must change your thinking habits in order to change your life, and you change your habits by keeping the desired results in sight.
4. Develop a major goal, but take a specified path to get there. You'll have many smaller goals to reach before you get to the final result. By learning to accomplish these smaller goals, you'll be motivated to take on the larger challenges.
5. Get into the habit of finishing what you start. An unfinished project is of no value. Leaving things unfinished is a habit that must be changed.
6. Find support through friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. If you surround yourself with motivated, visionary people you will naturally develop the attributes that helped them get that way. Mutual interests and like-minded associates can be excellent motivational tools.
7. Another motivational tool is failure. Failure teaches us to keep trying until we get it right. No one ever became successful without prior failures. Failure is a by-product of imagination and creativity. It challenges you to take risks and teaches you to keep trying until you get it right.
8. The fear of failure is a common factor among those who procrastinate. If you want to succeed in reaching your goals, you must be willing to take a risk and lose. Many people trade joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment for a job that is considered conventional and safe.
9. The unfulfilling job is not the failure; not pursuing your dreams is the real failure. Developing a vision requires conquering your fears and finding motivation from within.
10. The power of your dreams is the primary factor in becoming motivated. Productivity will be the result of developing habits and attitudes that keep you on the right track.
11. By changing bad habits and focusing on your specific goals, motivation will come to you even when you wish you could quit and times are tough.
12. By identifying the behaviors that you need to change, developing a vision of what you would like to achieve, and striving to attain that goal, you will become a naturally motivated, highly efficient, productive person.
Do not let fear of failure stop you from having the freedom to choose the lifestyle and destiny you desire.
True motivation is not only a learned skill; it is developed due to a need or desire to make our dreams a reality. If you want to find inner motivation, you must identify your goals and set out on an unwavering path to achieve them.
Overcoming procrastination is perhaps one of the most important steps you can take to improve your life and become the motivated, successful person you are capable of being.
You have to let go of your old personality and ways of doing things to change, quit procrastinating and get motivated!
Your success is guaranteed.
Olubunmi Filani.

3 SIMPLE STEPS TO ACHIEVING YOUR HEART'S DESIRES

One of the very first steps in manifesting your desires is getting clear about what you want. It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Yet, millions of people around the world still have no idea what they truly want. Are you among them?
If you've spent most of your time taking care of responsibilities or feeling disconnected from your inner self, you have probably not been able to decide what kind of life experiences you desire. You probably won't believe me if I tell you that you do already know what you want. Wouldn't you be aware of such knowledge? Yes and no. I should rephrase that statement to say that a deeper part of you already knows what you want, even if you are not consciously aware of it. Don't worry, you will be soon!
Here are 3 simple steps that can serve as a treasure map on your journey to your heart's desires:
1) Spend quiet time alone regularly. Most of us do not do this often enough, but it can act as a powerful energizer, harmonizer and balancer for our minds, bodies and spirits. Be sure to take advantage of silence as often as possible, because it is only in silence that you will be able to hear your inner voice. That "voice" may not be physically audible, but may instead come through as a faint stirring in your heart, tingly gut feelings, or an instant mental "knowing."
2) Put your thoughts to work. There are two different types of thought processes you should work with. The first is focused brainstorming sessions. Use a notebook to record your ideas about your existing skills and talents, things you've done in the past that you loved, things you do now that you love, and things you've always wanted to do but never did. The other type of thought process is to allow your thoughts to roam freely without trying to direct them anywhere specific. Just think about whatever comes to mind. Very often, a powerful insight will pop up out of nowhere when you simply relax your focus like this.
3) Expand your dreams. Daydreaming about your best life is also a great way to awaken your inner guidance. Think about dreams you had when you were younger, or come up with new dreams you would choose now. Then, make them as big and grand as you can. Keep going until your heart is pounding with excitement! NOW you are on the right track.
These techniques are only a few examples; there are many more ways to figure out what you truly want. Bottom line: the most powerful question you can ask yourself is, "If I had no limitations, what would I want my life to be like?"
The answer you come up with? THAT'S what you REALLY want.
Your heart's desires will surely be granted.
Olubunmi Filani.

10 LAWS FOR CAREER SUCCESS

The Law of Passion - In terms of work, the happiest people I know are the ones who not only love what they do, they have a strong passion for what they do. Their passion can get them up early in the morning and keep them up late at night, enjoying every moment.
The Law of Do What You Love - Doing what you love is a great way to spend you working hours. If you are not sure what it might be that you would love doing, ask yourself these questions: What is my life's purpose? How would I have to think, speak and act in order to fulfill that purpose? What activities would I pursue? What would get me up early and keep me up late, looking forward to every minute? What would I do for a living if a I new I couldn't fail?
The Law of Love What You Do - While those are good questions to ask on the way to doing what you love, what do you do in the meantime, if you are not doing something you love? How do you learn to love what you do? Find something within the job that you can love, even if it's simply something that prepares you to do something you love later on.
The Law of Your Personal Signature - One way to learn to love what you do is to put your own personal signature on what you do. Barbara Glanz, author of "care Packages for the Workplace" writes about a bagboy with Downs Syndrome who had attended one of her workshops. He had taken to heart her suggestions about putting your own signature on your work. His signature was to slip a "thought for the day" into customers' grocery bags. The idea was so successful that customers would wait in line just to get one of his slips of paper. What personal signature could you put on the work you do?
The Law of Contribution - To realize what you contribute through the work that you do, you may have to "redefine" your job title. For example, a teacher shapes the future, a real estate or car salesperson provides people's dreams, etc.
The Law of Learning- The days of the 30 year career in the same job with a gold watch at the end, are, for the most part, a thing of the past. Most people change jobs several times in a career. The important thing on each job is to learn the things that you will use to your advantage later on in the next job, and then the next, and then the next.
The Law of Initiative - Whatever you do, wherever you do it, few things are as powerful as taking initiative in your job. Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. If you see something that needs doing, do it.
The Law of Leadership - Whether you are a boss or an employee, you are a leader. People are watching you, and will imitate what you do.
The Law of Self-employment - No matter what your pay stub or tax return may say, we are all self-employed. Even if you work for someone else, you are still working for the betterment of yourself and your family.
The Law of Your Most Important Job - While applying and using these universal laws for our working lives, here’s something that is so very important to remember: no matter how much you like or don’t like what you do for a living, it’s not your most important job. Our most important job is at our home address, with our families.
You will make it.
Olubunmi Filani.

SUCCESS THINKING

If you think success, success will happen. It sounds like magic, success thinking, but that is exactly how it works! Before anything is realized in our lives, it is preceded by a thought. If you want shoes, you first have to think shoes. If you want to eat, you first think food. Without the thought, no action is taken and nothing is realized. In life, if you want success, you have to learn how to think successfully.
If at some point you have the thought to change a certain area of your life, deciding to create change is just the first step to making a transformation. Falling into the same approach to change that failed in the past will only lead to the same result. In order to get new results you have to change your mental patterns. Learn how to use success thinking and you will create the life you want.
It is said, “We become what we think.” In other words, we are shaped by our thoughts. When you were born, your brain contained over 100 billion cells. Imagine that! Granted, these cells had yet to develop any real circuit connectivity.
Over time, you developed synopses that became the road map to your thoughts resulting from environmental exposure. Everything you have seen and experienced has shaped and defined the patterns of your thoughts. These thoughts drive the engine of your actions.
Learning takes place in the region of the brain called the cerebral cortex. When we are actively learning we are consciously concentrating. Once we have an activity fully understood, our learning passes from the conscious to the unconscious. Think back to when you learned to tie your shoelaces, drive a car, or brush your teeth. These activities once required a great deal of our focus and concentration yet now we are able to perform them with very little or often no thought at all.
Think of all the activities you do without thought. Think about your breathing, your heart, your arms moving, walking. The “automatic brain” performs much of what we do.
Your brain develops automatic activity from every single experience, thought and emotion. The words you speak to yourself will determine your brain patterns. You need to once again become conscious and take an active role in your life.
When we fail, we fail largely because of our own self-limiting thoughts and partly because of our desire to make changes in our circumstances without changing our thinking. There are no magic bullets or magic answer that will solve your situations. There are no magic diets, magic exercise machines or get-rich-quick programs.
Success requires a shift in thinking. Success is not limited to a few arbitrary individuals. Success is only limited to those who learn how to think positively with the genuine belief in their ability to achieve. This means you have to change the way you talk to yourself.
Get actively involved in changing how you are thinking. Take a new mental approach and you will find your life changing as a result. The way to achieve a change in your thinking patterns is to use empowering affirmations. The words you speak are the ideas with which you train yourself and those around you to accept.
The only limitations on your life are the limitations you place on your life by how you think. In Tools-To-Life, the approach to changing your thinking is called “correctional thinking.” This method allows you to substantiate how you should think to achieve your goals and achieve self improvement. The result is success thinking that actualizes your ability to re-create your life and make it what you want it to be.
Olubunmi.Filani.

MANAGE YOUR TIME

How do you react to deadlines? How would you feel if someone said "Hurry up, the clock is ticking and we've got to get this completed!"? How well do you cope with stress? Isn't it amazing to notice how radically your experience of passing time changes depending on the circumstances, with little correlation to the steady flow of time as shown on a clock.
Have you ever sat in a waiting room with a clock on the wall that went "tick tock, tick tock" over and over and over again, until such time that you either wanted to run out of the room, or throw the clock out the window?
This kind of experience is especially excruciating when you are waiting for something that you really are not looking forward to, like a treatment from your dentist.
In particular, when you are feeling stressed out you experience time distortion. In some instances, like when waiting for your dentist, one minute of clock time seems to take forever. At other times when you are working towards a deadline, time appears to slip away without your knowing where it went, and you are left wondering why you are accomplishing so little.
Waiting for a train that is twenty minutes late, when that train is bringing your loved one back to you, is very different than getting to the train station early with your loved one and waiting twenty minutes for the same train to take your loved one away from you. The train is the same, the station is the same, your loved one is the same, and the time on the clock is the same, but somehow, your emotional experience of "twenty minutes" is quite different.
It is important for each of us to understand how the fixed passage of time as measured by a clock, has little to do with our emotional experience of time. Rather than being under the illusion that time rules our life, we will do well to recognize that it is our emotional experience and our mindset that determines how we relate to the ticking of the clock.
Restrict your breathing and tense your muscles and time invariably will appear to speed up. You relate to time according to your expectations of what will transpire. Expect that you will be successful and the clock on the wall appears to offer you a bit more time. Expect the worst and you will have difficulty keeping up.
What can you do to have a healthier perspective in regard to time?
The first thing you can do is breathe slowly and deeply. When you slow down your body clock, the clock on the wall appears to slow down along with you. The next thing you can do is check in with your body. If you create a feeling of expansion in your body, by aligning your posture and releasing your muscles, time will appear to expand somewhat as well.
Furthermore, you can notice your surroundings and extend your awareness out into the space around you. When you extend your awareness to take in the wide range of sights and sounds taking place in your local environment you will also extend your concept of time.
Lastly, realize that with any luck, you will have tomorrow to accomplish what you were not able to accomplish today. Every new day, brings new opportunities for appreciating your life and the people you care about.
Olubunmi Filani.

11 START'S AND STOP'S

1. Here are 11 start's and stop's that will help you to really live a better life. 1.Stop rigid thinking............Start open mindedness.2.Stop waiting for action........Start making things happen.3.Stop hiding despair...........Start discovering happiness.4.Stop accepting confusion......Start cleaning your mind.5.Stop regretting your past......Start understanding yourself.6.Stop condemning your life......Start living your days.7.Stop accepting everything.....Start examining ideas.8.Stop covering up errors.........Start correcting yourself.9.Stop complicating life.......Start freeing your mind.10.Stop feeling helpless........Start using your potentials.11.Stop being grin........Start enjoying everything.Have a nice day.Olubunmi Filani.

WINNNING THE STRUGGLE WITH MONEY

I’m going to give you three definitions, and you guess what the word is. Are you ready? #1) to contend or fight violently with an opponent, #2) to make great efforts or attempts; strive; labor, and #3) to make one’s way with difficulty. If you’ve guessed the word “struggle”, you’re correct.
But why would we discuss “struggle” in an article about money? Because, so many people seem to “struggle” with money—they struggle to make it, they struggle to keep it, and some even struggle with having too much.
I too, have “struggled” in my financial life—until I made some changes. Not changes in my techniques of handling money or changes in my income, but instead, I decided to get off the money-worry rollercoaster. In other words, like a person who exits a fight, I stepped out of the ring.
First, I sat down and thought about some of the sayings I’d heard in my own childhood. I quickly realized that I had been conditioned to struggle with money. While growing up, I had been taught that it was noble to struggle. Unless there was blood, sweat and tears involved, things weren’t worth doing. The easy way was the lazy way. After all, I should be “pounding the pavement” or “hitting the books.”
How many times have we heard these sayings, “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” or “Money is the root of all evil!” or “Don’t be money hungry!”
Hear me people—we’ve been conditioned to believe that having money is hard work. That keeping money is hard work. That having too much money is hard work. In short—that money is hard work.
In order to bow out of the “struggle”, I had to first, see that my beliefs were mere conditioning. Next, I just started to accept where I was at financially. Like a dam that gives way and no longer has resistance, things began to flow. The extra energy that I used to expend “struggling” with money worries, I now put into actually making money.
You can do the same. Stop worrying. Stop wrestling in your mind. Just accept where you’re at now and then proceed ahead. Win the struggle with money by eliminating the “struggle”. It doesn’t have “to be hard”, it just has “to be”.
Don’t underestimate two things. First, don’t underestimate the amount of money conditioning you’ve received. It really has shaped your current financial position. Second, don’t underestimate the amount of energy you expend in the “struggle” itself. Remember, the old saying says, “It takes two to tangle.” If you step out of the ring, there is no “struggle”.
Olubunmi Filani.

10 WAYS TO LIVE A SIMPLY LIFE

So many people embark on projects to make changes in their lives, only to get detoured or bogged down in the numerous other things that are in their lives. These can be physical blocks, such as a cluttered living room or kitchen but they can also be emotional issues, mental clarity or personal relationships. Here is a 10-point guide to simplifying your life of the obstacles that stand between you and fulfillment of your vision.
1. Empty Your Brain - If you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, it can be liberating to empty your brain of your internal “to-do” list and emotional baggage. Hire a coach to verbalize all the things you have to do, haven’t done, and the feelings that go along with all of that.
You can also lighten your mental load by writing down or journaling the stuff that is taking up mindspace. At this point, you don’t have to take any action on it. The objective is to clear it from your head. It frees up your brain so you can then start planning and taking action with more clarity and less negativity.
2. Get Rid of the Human Vampires - Eliminate relationships that are sucking the energy out of you. Even if they are family members that you cannot avoid altogether, take steps to limit your time with them and set boundaries around what activities you allow them to engage you in.
Be honest in your evaluation. Who is helping you and who is dragging you down? Who is eating up your time and giving nothing back? Who makes you feel good, supported and energized? Anyone who adds value to your life stays in and everybody else goes away.
3. Lighten Your Heart - Getting closure on the past and relationships can unburden you of emotional baggage that is weighing down your heart and spirit. Forgive and forget. Let it go. Call that person up or write them a letter you never send, but get over it. Work with a mental health professional if necessary but you can’t move on if you’re stuck in yesterday. Why continue to rob yourself of tomorrow by living in the past?
4. Clean House - A big part of simplifying is to declutter your physical landscape. Start with one small area like the kitchen counter or junk drawer and finish it in one shot. Focus your energy on this one space; don’t think about the messy garage or bedroom closet.
You can even invest extras into your small project such as putting in a drawer liner or organizing tray. This may encourage you to protect it from future clutter. It’s important to come up with a system as you organize and also to take steps to prevent clutter from even coming into your home. You can contact catalog companies and ask to be removed from their mailing lists, enroll in online billing and take other proactive steps to keep the clutter inflow to a minimum.
5. Get a Healthy Body - While you are getting rid of the junk around your house, examine your eating and health habits and start eliminating the junk there, too. Along with limiting caffeine, sugar and alcohol, look at eliminating junk food, tobacco and any other thing that ages, erodes, clogs up or adds weight to your body and puts your health at risk.
It’s also good to update your personal appearance. Are you still sporting an ‘80s haircut or wearing clothes you bought five or ten years ago? It’s time to upgrade!
6. Clear Out Your Debt - Stop impulse buying and start paying off your credit cards. Establish a budget and start living within your means. Can you imagine all of the free time you’ll gain when you are not worrying about money? No more shopping around for credit and transfer balance deals. No more writing out checks or purchasing money orders. No more avoiding phone calls from creditors and lawyers. No more feeling guilty. Talk about freedom!
7. Simplify Your Language - Try to speak honestly and directly with courtesy and kindness. Don’t use whiny and apologetic language to ask for what you want. (“I wonder if I could possibly persuade you to…”) Quit overusing jargon and slang such as “put that baby to bed”, “let’s throw it on the wall and see what sticks”, “out of the loop”, and “lock and load.” Eliminate euphemisms and toss out denials (“Just because he is sleeping with another woman doesn’t mean he doesn’t love me.”).
Get rid of the swear words, hostile comments, and the idea that you must voice your opinion about everything. Throw your judgment of others to the wayside.
8. Learn to say NO - It was probably one of the first words you ever learned so why are you having so much difficulty using it now? Use it! It’s your life, your time, your resources and you have the absolute right to use it as you see fit. Don’t feel you have to explain, excuse or justify saying “no” to office observers, gossips or nosy individuals.
9. Limit Tradition Tradition is wonderful so long as it doesn’t run your life. If a tradition has lost its meaning or purpose and is just a timewaster, then get rid of it. When anyone says “but we’ve always done it this way”, figure out why. If it no longer makes sense, then feel free to walk away or change it.
10. Make Time for You - Time is tight for most of us. Make a decision that you will set aside time that is just for you. Start with 15 minutes a day if that’s all you can find. Lock your door, turn off the phone, or whatever it takes, but it’s important to create a space where you can focus on only you. Meditate, pray, write in a journal or eat an apple. Whatever you want to do with your time, do it.
Olubunmi Filani.

ALWAYS THINK OF SUCCESS

If you think success, success will happen. It sounds like magic, success thinking, but that is exactly how it works! Before anything is realized in our lives, it is preceded by a thought. If you want shoes, you first have to think shoes. If you want to eat, you first think food. Without the thought, no action is taken and nothing is realized. In life, if you want success, you have to learn how to think successfully.
If at some point you have the thought to change a certain area of your life, deciding to create change is just the first step to making a transformation. Falling into the same approach to change that failed in the past will only lead to the same result. In order to get new results you have to change your mental patterns. Learn how to use success thinking and you will create the life you want.
It is said, “We become what we think.” In other words, we are shaped by our thoughts. When you were born, your brain contained over 100 billion cells. Imagine that! Granted, these cells had yet to develop any real circuit connectivity.
Over time, you developed synopses that became the road map to your thoughts resulting from environmental exposure. Everything you have seen and experienced has shaped and defined the patterns of your thoughts. These thoughts drive the engine of your actions.
Learning takes place in the region of the brain called the cerebral cortex. When we are actively learning we are consciously concentrating. Once we have an activity fully understood, our learning passes from the conscious to the unconscious. Think back to when you learned to tie your shoelaces, drive a car, or brush your teeth. These activities once required a great deal of our focus and concentration yet now we are able to perform them with very little or often no thought at all.
Think of all the activities you do without thought. Think about your breathing, your heart, your arms moving, walking. The “automatic brain” performs much of what we do.
Your brain develops automatic activity from every single experience, thought and emotion. The words you speak to yourself will determine your brain patterns. You need to once again become conscious and take an active role in your life.
When we fail, we fail largely because of our own self-limiting thoughts and partly because of our desire to make changes in our circumstances without changing our thinking. There are no magic bullets or magic answer that will solve your situations. There are no magic diets, magic exercise machines or get-rich-quick programs.
Success requires a shift in thinking. Success is not limited to a few arbitrary individuals. Success is only limited to those who learn how to think positively with the genuine belief in their ability to achieve. This means you have to change the way you talk to yourself.
Get actively involved in changing how you are thinking. Take a new mental approach and you will find your life changing as a result. The way to achieve a change in your thinking patterns is to use empowering affirmations. The words you speak are the ideas with which you train yourself and those around you to accept.
The only limitations on your life are the limitations you place on your life by how you think. In Tools-To-Life, the approach to changing your thinking is called “correctional thinking.” This method allows you to substantiate how you should think to achieve your goals and achieve self improvement. The result is success thinking that actualizes your ability to re-create your life and make it what you want it to be.
You will be successful.
Olubunmi Filani.

PROGRAMME YOURSELF FOR SUCCESS

Imagination builds cities. Imagination makes dreams come true. Imagination will drive a lot of people to success, and you are a part of it. We know that imagination and rationalization don't go well together. When you dream, the right hemisphere of the brain and your subconscious mind are working and usually, you feel peace, you see compelling pictures and you hear beautiful sounds. Success is within your reach. But the problem is that the left hemisphere of the brain is also working and usually tells you "you can't do that" or "it's not for you" "You don't deserve it" "what if I tell my friends and family?" "You are crazy".
The truth is that you are unique and your contribution is important. You can make a difference and have success. High achievers are only what you will become in a few years, aren't they? There are some "tricks" I would say or some proven methods and techniques to program yourself for success. The only and necessary step to do that is to bypass your conscious mind. When done, your subconscious mind takes it over.
You can freely dream, visualize yourself winning the game of life. You turbo charge your mind and you program yourself for success. This is what successful people do and that's what you will do from now! The three components of the programming of your mind are relaxation, visualization and affirmation.
1. Relaxation: the first key to mental programming for success. As we start to relax our brain wave cycles start to slow down and our brain would enter what is called the Alpha State in which the conscious mind has effectively fallen asleep, and our subconscious mind remains in control of our Autonomic Nervous System. During relaxation, the mind relaxes, the body unwinds. It is here where our thoughts slow down until they become so light they begin to float. It is here that we are able to restore, re- energize and empower ourselves and harness the power of the subconscious mind to help create long-lasting change. Alpha state is the gateway, the entry point that leads into the subconscious.
2. Visualization: the second key to mental programming for success. Through relaxation you enter a state of creativity, essential for your success. You can induce new thoughts and new beliefs to your subconscious. And now you hold the image of what you really want and act as if you already possess it. Remember, imagination rules your lives, frightens you, excites you or undermines you. Pictures can make you worry or make you happy. Clear pictures, and rich details of what you really want is one of the critical factors for your success.
3. Affirmations: the third key to mental programming for success. You can induce new thoughts and new beliefs in your subconscious by using affirmations or suggestions. One of the power principles of the subconscious mind is the compliance principle meaning that part of the mind complies to where you direct it to go. In the book, the one minute millionaire" from Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hanson, one of the affirmations they encourage us to say is "I walk like a millionaire, I act like a millionaire, I'm a millionaire". When you add feelings, it doubles or even triples the results. Really believe what you're inducing.
You can program yourself for success. It is all about using the same tools and techniques that high achievers use. Relax, visualize and affirm what you really want out of life. You can win and you deserve to win. It is reserved only for those who really want to go for it.
Are you ready to take your personal and professional life to a whole new level?
See you at the top.
Olubunmi Filani.

WHO DO YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE?

If I asked you to describe yourself, what image would you paint? Another way to put this is: Who do you believe you are?
Your self-image is exactly what the term says ­ an image consisting of the mosaic of ideas you hold about your own self. In short ­ how you view your capabilities and skills, your body, your mind and your personal potential.
While almost everyone agrees that it’s important to have a good self-image, very few people seem to know how to acquire one ­ or even how they got the self-image they now have.
The History of Your Self ImageYou began to form your self image and sense of “worth” as a very young child. As you interacted with the important people in your life, you received messages from them about yourself ­ their responses to your actions. These messages settled into your impressionable subconscious mind.
As these messages collect, they seem to take on a life all their own ­ creating what will become your self image.
Then "belief" moves in, and sets those messages into mental cement. In short ­ we come to BELIEVE that we actually ARE that subconscious collection of other people’s impressions of us.
This process has continued even to this day in your life ­ but largely as a reinforcement of what you already believe about your self.
Wow. Think about that for a moment. The interesting thing about “beliefs” is that they are usually NOT open to question or reason. We just BELIEVE them to be so.
So if you BELIEVE that you lack self-confidence, are a poor public speaker, don’t know how to lead others, will never be successful, don’t have the capability to create a good relationship, and so on ­ guess what. You will defend that belief even to yourself!
This occurs because the intense emotional component attached to a belief automatically causes our brain to resist any attempt to question it with “reason.”
And in the meantime your subconscious mind, which has a photographic memory of every event that went into the making of your self-concept beliefs, will make SURE your actions reflect your beliefs.
How to Overhaul Your Self-ImageYour self image determines what you will (and will not) achieve in your life. So if you are not who you want to be, or are not living the life you want to live, the place to start is with an overhaul of your self image. Anything else will just create more of the same.
After over 30 years in the field of psychology, there is one thing I can absolutely guarantee to you. That one this is this: YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY *NOT* WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE!
Your self image does not mirror who you really are today.
You are NOT that collection of painful or limiting memories. You are not that kid who was always told to speak only when spoken to. You are not that “clumsy” Girl who fell a lot only because she needed corrective glasses.
You are not “stupid” because you had more interest in drawing than reading and math. You are not “a failure” because your first lemonade stand (or MLM business) was a total bust.
You are none of those things. You are *not* your past history. So stop *believing* that old stuff ­ and stop acting as though it were true
Here’s a reminder of what you REALLY are:
1. You are Totally UniqueThere is literally no one else like you. No one else thinks like you, has your ideas, or does things the way you do things. No one else has your unique set of talents and abilities. Your brain is as unique as your fingerprints. No one has your mind and memories. No one!
You are NOT “ordinary.” Actually no one is! Stand up and carry yourself with dignity, because this IS your life. You and only you live in your skin ­ and it is your unique right to decide how to best do that.
2. Your “Limits” are Not RealIt is today an accepted truth that we really create our own reality. You have a choice to simply REACT to what is happening to and around you ­ or you can choose to RESPOND.
There’s a big difference between reacting and responding. Reacting is an automatic knee-jerk response to life ­ while responding involves a conscious choice.
You can respond to your desire for a better self-image by taking conscious action to replace those old beliefs. Simply begin to challenge those old “beliefs” about yourself. Drag them out of your dark subconscious into the sunlight of conscious examination.
3. You Have Unlimited Personal PowerHere’s something else I can guarantee: Most of those old limiting beliefs about you will NOT hold up under conscious examination! And once you begin to challenge this old stuff, you will discover that what you thought were your “limits” do not exist.
The greatest personal power you have is the power to choose your own thoughts.
Read that sentence again!
The late Earl Nightingale said: “You become what you think.” The truth of this is to powerful it is almost overwhelming.
You and you alone decide what you will think -- and what you will believe your limits and potentials are. And you and you alone will decide what to do with this awesome power.
The fact is: YOU can recreate your self, and build and strengthen virtually any aspect of your being or area of your life. Just choose to consciously BUILD YOUR OWN BELIEFS and take action!
What I like to say is this: Just stand up and roar like a lion!
Olubunmi Filani.

SPEAK OUT AND INCREASE YOUR SELF WORTH

Have you ever wished that you had the CONFIDENCE TO SPEAK OUT about something you disapprove of or disagree with? Maybe you'd like to tell your boss that there's a better way to do something, or that you don't like being treated in a certain way. Maybe you're sick of people taking you for granted, or hurting your feelings without even caring to assess the damage they're doing to your self-esteem.
If you struggle to speak out, it's probably for one or more of these reasons:
* You're afraid that people may like you less if you say something they find controversial or disagreeable
* You're afraid that someone, whom you perceive to be more powerful than you, may try to take revenge on you if you dare to speak out and challenge his or her behaviour
* You're afraid that someone smarter than you will point out the errors in your argument and make you look foolish
But, even if you can relate to all three reasons, ask yourself this: is suffering in silence really more satisfying than speaking out and dealing with the consequences?
When you choose silence, there's a voice inside your head that judges you. And, no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to shut it up, can you? It's your own chatterbox, and it tells you "you are powerless and weak. Your opinions are worth far less than other people's. I don't think you deserve to like yourself very much today."
Do YOU have a chatterbox inside your head that drives you mad?
Each day that you choose to stay silent, the voice becomes more smug. Your self-esteem drifts downwards as if falling into a deep, dark hole. You start to lose belief that you will ever be able to climb out again, to hold your head up high in the sunshine to fill you with warmth and the joy of living.
Of course, none of us can expect to feel as if the sun is shining on us every day, but hiding your thoughts from the world is one of the surest ways to guarantee a pretty dull life.
So from now on, whenever you have something you want to say, whether it's to your friends, your colleagues, family members, or a group of strangers, remember these four powerful and foolproof steps. They will almost guarantee that you get your point across effectively.
1. straighten out your thoughts
Wherever possible, think through what you want to say in advance. That way you stand far less chance of tripping yourself up with logical inconsistencies. And, the best way to get your thoughts straight is to WRITE THEM DOWN!
2. stabilise your emotions
Get control of your emotions - one of the easiest ways to get your opinions ignored is to express them with either too much or too little "heat". Acting too apologetically or sheepishly, raising your voice, crying, or becoming too upset will seldom (if ever) help your cause.
3. strengthen your motivation
Make yourself a commitment, before you speak out about something, that the ONLY thing that will cause you to concede is if the audience to whom you are talking provides you with new and sound evidence to show that you are in fact wrong!
4. JUST speak out!
Yes, all that's left is to take the initiative and speak out, often! Bear in mind also that you cannot "lose" or look foolish if you make an honest point calmly, rationally, and with a motivation to achieve an outcome that is right for those involved.
You will definitely make it.
Olubunmi Filani

YOU CAN DO IT

Never underestimate yourself. If you have been thinking about starting a new business or job and then catch yourself thinking, oh I don't know how to do this or that to make this work. Don't give up. You can always learn something new. Never tell yourself that you cannot go further in life just because you do not at this time have all the skills to do it.
If you are sick of working at the same job that you hate every day, you can get a new one even if you need to learn something new. You are never too old to learn. Write down everything you need to know how to do in order to start that new business or get that job and then mark off the things you already know how to do. This will just leave what you want to learn. You can do it never give up.
Your success is certain.
Olubunmi Filani