Personal Power - Day 5 (At last)

OK, Dyb has reminded me I have to post this right now.

Today I've been learning how your physiology controls your state of mind ;-) I managed to get my physiology down to the post office today and get some passport photos. I still have to do several large blog updates but I'm too lazy. I don't think I've got to the day that deals with motivation yet.

DAY 5

People don’t specifically want to be healthier, thinner, or richer, or more successful in business or relationships. They want the things that go along with that. Mainly a change in how they feel. You don’t want little pieces of paper with pictures of dead people on it (money) you want what it gives you… or what you think it’ll give you.

What do you really want which doesn’t come down to how you’ll feel if this happens? We want to feel good. Everything is for our emotions.

What we do at any one time is based on the state of our body and mind at that moment in time… not on our ability. When you’re frustrated do you behave the same way as when you’re on a roll?

Ever forgotten something really obvious? Like, your own address? You were in a ‘stupid’ state. You knew the thing but just couldn’t grasp it. You need to manage your state of mind… emotional state.

Is what happens in your life the thing that determines how you feel at any given time? No! It might compliment and influence you but you control how you feel. Take responsibility and take control. There is a major price on not managing your state. If you manage your state then the rewards are great.

Most things come down to ‘why to’ first before we can get to ‘how to’. There are two primary ways to control your state of mind. One is to control your physiology and the other is to control focus and mental images.

Let’s look at physical movement. Everything we feel in life is through our physical body.

How does someone that’s totally depressed look? Slumped over? Head down? Eyes pointing down? Shallow breathing? Slack facial muscles? Talking slowly?

Sit up tall and breath fully.. look towards the ceiling with your shoulders back. Put a silly grin on your face. Now, continue doing all that and get depressed. How easy is it? Not very! How come you don’t feel depressed? It’s difficult because you’re sending a totally different message to your brain. Doing something is always a good distraction when we feel bad. Lots of people try to change their physiology in the wrong way… Alcohol, Cigarettes, Drugs. Take smoking. When smoking someone takes slow deep breaths to inhale…. They think that the cigarette is making them feel better, it’s not… it’s the change of breathing pattern.

Professional athletes are often experts at managing their emotional state when they’re taking part.

To motivate others you also need to be motivated and enthusiastic yourself first! The way we use our voice affects our states and other peoples as well. Everything is context related. We don’t always need to talk loud and fast and enthusiastically as sometimes it’s not appropriate.

Emotion is created by motion. The way you move your body is the fastest way to change your emotions.

Clasp your hands together in front of you as if praying and then throw them out to your sides as far as they’ll go as fast as you can. Repeat this ten times.

::Several other exercises that you’ll need to listen to the tapes to do, but they work!::

How valuable is it for you to be able to go from bored and tired to excited and energised? Smoking and over eating slow down your breathing which makes you feel more relaxed.. but you can do this without those things. We have over 80 muscles in our face and even a slight change instantly changes how we feel. Blood Sugar level affects how you feel emotionally.

Today’s exercise: Wip yourself into a passionate state. Talk to someone (or the wall if you’re on your own). Talk about something you feel really passionate about but talk in a really dispassionate way like you’re not very enthusiastic at all. Focus on what you do with your voice, breathing, facial movements. Focus on how it feels to be dispassionate. After a few minutes change your state completely and get passionate… you have to go the full whack and be outrageously enthusiastic. Note the specific gestures you give and how you use your voice and expressions.

It's All Going Horribly Wrong

OK, I've not updated this blog in quite a while. The simple (and honest) answer is that I've been fine, I've had a good time and I've been doing well. I'll fill you in with some of the trivial details later on in a few 'catch-up' posts.

So, it's pretty ironic that whilst I've been really happy the last few months and been distracted by everything going well in my life and things heading in a positive direction... everything's been going horribly wrong and I've just not taken the time or care to notice.

What happened to 'Personal Power'? Call in brainwash if you want... but when church elders and my psychiatrist are amongst those who tell me I need to start listening to them again then I probably need to take that seriously! They were working, so why did I stop? On the discs, Tony Robbins clearly says that if you don't follow through to the end and complete the course then continue to exercise your brain daily and follow the tasks you will fail... I have failed.

That failure has caused a series of failures. Many of the decisions I made and decided to stick by have resulted in failure... though I have been able to stick to some. I know I've had a substantial change in routine and sorroundings by moving into my new flat... which, again, I'll post about in another Blog (I'm loving it by the way).

Over the last month or so my diet/weight has reached the stage again where it's started to affect my health which results in me being in more pain so therefore grumpier than usual with people who annoy me (more on that later!). I need to be careful how much fat/salt/sugar and even protein I eat. I need to remember I can't tolerate as much of these as most people rather than just ignoring that and eating more than them. Some of the time I'm in a fair amount of pain which makes me less useful and also my pancreas has started to deteriorate. Also, needing to take a heap more of painkillers slows down my reaction times... although unfortunately they don't make me less hyper or manic. Being manic is another problem because I'm frequently crossing the line with jokes etc at the moment and there's only so much of that that some people can take. I've also gambled on a few occassions... not a large amount of money, just a few pounds in fruit machines and I've generally won BUT it's a slippery slope and one I need to avoid going anywhere near. Winning at this stage would be more dangerous for me than losing as it makes me think I'm unstoppable and can win every time and then do it all the more so I need to nip that in the bud! I don't mind allowing myself the concession of playing the quiz machine (because I'm so damn smart, and also it doesn't eat money very quickly).

On a fun night out yesterday it suddenly dawned on me that if I'm manic at the moment and I'm also letting my standards slip... then I'm heading for a serious fall... and I'm not to keen on falls so would rather deal with it before it happens. A nice gentle climb-down will suit me nicely.

So, it's a case of STOP! (hammer time)... before I get distracted by anything else I'm going to read over my notes from the days of Personal Power I did and make the decision to reapply myself and my goals. I need to focus.

Look out for more updates... oh, did I mention that John G says that he can't understand people who need to write about their sad pathetic miserable little lives on the internet and he can't understand people who are sad, bored and pathetic enough to take an interest in reading about other people's sad pathetic miserable little lives. I'm sure he has a wonderful career in social work ahead of him!