Articles / Practicing MindPower

Changing BeliefsOne of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do. -Henry Ford

The following is an excerpt from Money, Success and You, a book by John Kehoe.

Beliefs are as necessary to us as our physical organs. We cannot exist without them. We need them as parameters to interpret what is happening in our life. One could never be without beliefs, nor would you want to be. What you do want, however, is to consciously decide the beliefs you want working for you. To choose the lens you will view the world through. And here your choices are unlimited.

You are not at the mercy of your past experiences, unless you believe that you are. With this new system you are free to break away from any past conditioning or limited circumstances by simply changing your thoughts and beliefs. When you change these you change everything. The future that you will encounter in your life is not preordained, nor does it happen arbitrarily. As you have seen in the previous chapter, your reality is forever being moulded and created from your thoughts and beliefs. Your possible future - and there are literally thousands of possible futures - is being formed by what you think and believe today. The present is the womb by which the future will be born. The future is dynamically alive within you now. You hold within you your own destiny. Change your thoughts and beliefs and you will change your future.

Once you fully recognize the power and influence beliefs have in your life, the next step becomes obvious. Change the beliefs that are limiting and holding you back, and create powerful new beliefs that serve and uplift you, beliefs that will take you wherever you wish to go.

There are three main methods for doing this, and all three should be employed. You can begin by using them individually or in combination with each other. Either way, you will eventually be working with all three.

1) Repattern Your Past

Don't spend time and energy looking back at your life to find out why you have a certain limiting belief. Why bother? To look backward in this way will only lead you into the habit of seeking negative examples that verify your old belief. Your past has been distorted by the lens you have chosen to examine it through. What is accomplished by searching the past with the same old lens, other than to further reinforce that limiting belief already held within you? This is why much psychotherapy proves futile, simply miring the patient further in his or her own muck. A great many of the unsatisfactory conditions in our life have resulted from our becoming frightened or confused during an unpleasant experience. We began to doubt ourselves, and started concentrating upon negative aspects of our lives, thereby eventually creating that imprint within us. For example, one person, because of an unpleasant experience, begins to doubt his ability to get along with others. So he searches his past with an I don't relate well with people lens, and much to his horror finds many experiences to support this idea. His mind begins to feed on these memories. His remembering becomes highly selective. Without even realizing it, he invents his own history, and furthermore convinces himself that this history represents an accurate picture of who he is. However, if this person had journeyed through his memories with the lens, I get along great with people, trying to find a different kind of proof, he would undoubtedly have discovered many instances when he got on very well with others. However you choose to view your life, through whatever lens you have constructed, this will structure and filter your memories, and you will always be able to justify your belief with "proof." So in changing beliefs you must practice changing your lens. Look through your past in a new way, looking for new, forgotten or ignored truths. If you lack confidence, for example, search your past for instances when you were confident. If you are honest in this search you will find lots of examples of you performing tasks assuredly. But you must search with the lens, "I'm confident," not the "I lack confidence lens." Each lens will produce a different set of examples. There will be numerous examples of both. It all depends upon which you want to emphasize. In almost all cases of present limitation you have programmed yourself to stress negative aspects relating to that part of your life. We all do it. So to rid yourself of these restrictions, you repattern your past from the present. Whatever your circumstances, use the past as a rich source of power, looking through it for long ignored successes. Restructure your past. Reinvent it. Rediscover it. Its like finding a bank account with money that you didn't know you possessed. Whatever you want to become or create in your current life, you can find ample evidence of it already happening to you in the past if you will only change your lens.

The Present is Your Point of PowerStop for a moment and realize that the present is your point of power. When you are thinking about the past or imagining the future, both these actions happen in the present. When you act upon your life, it takes place in the present. In fact nothing you can do will ever happen outside of the present. So choosing in the present to reframe your past and future is incredibly powerful. An example: Pick a positive quality about yourself that you are proud of and absolutely certain you possess. Perhaps that you are caring, loving and compassionate towards others. Now, using your memory, search your past for times when you were not caring, times when you were selfish, mean, unkind and hurtful. Locate a number of these examples. Now imagine yourself lingering on these images each day. Each day you purposely recall these images and feel bad about them. Soon you begin telling yourself that you are indeed mean-spirited and selfish. If you continued this practice you would literally hypnotize yourself into believing that this selfish, mean-spirited person is who you are, and then you would begin to become this person. This belief would become self-fulfilling. Likewise with our negative qualities. We have programmed ourselves without even realizing what we've been doing. We have hypnotized ourselves through repetition and selective memory into believing that this reduced version of ourselves is who we are. But you can change this. You can look within yourself for evidence of whatever positive qualities you desire. Examine your past with this in mind. Do not let the past reinforce your limitations; use it to reinforce what you wish to become. Be diligent about this. Use the selective process of your mind to your advantage.

2) Imprinting

What is 6 x 6? , 7 x 5? , 9 x 9? How is it that you know these answers instantly, quicker than you can punch the numbers into a calculator? It is because you have imprinted the multiplication tables into your consciousness. Think back to when you were in school. Think of how many times these tables were repeated, written out and practiced, until eventually they became imprinted into your consciousness. And now they are firmly imprinted. You need not practice them or refresh yourself - they are there for life. What you have done with the multiplication tables can also be done with new beliefs you wish to permanently imprint into your consciousness. The process is exactly the same, and the repetition equally important. For five or ten minutes a day concentrate your attention as vividly as possible upon one simple statement. For example, if you wanted to imprint a belief about your subconscious that would help you to be successful you might use this one: "My subconscious mind is my partner in success." Having picked the statement you wish to use, begin to concentrate on it. Try to feel the statement in whatever way possible. Do not allow your mind to drift to other subjects. If it does, bring your attention back to your statement and refocus. Feel the power and implication of what you are saying. Let it become alive within you. Repeat it over and over, allowing your mind to absorb its message. If your mind insists on images, channel the images toward your declaration. Close yourself off to all other truths or realities, focusing solely upon the feeling and power of the statement. The repetition, whether verbal or mental, is important because it activates neurological patterns. Do not strain. Do not question or doubt. Enjoy the process. Claim it absolutely within. Lose yourself as completely as you can in this one statement. Let it vibrate within you, letting you and it become one. Feel its power. Let it energize you. When the exercise is finished, do not dwell upon it, second guess yourself, wonder if its true. Put if from your mind until the next day, when you will repeat the process. Realize you are using the present as a moment of power to insert new beliefs that will naturally be materialized. It will happen automatically. You may want to experiment with the precise wording of your statement. Often it takes three or four revisions before the statement feels exactly right. Once you have it right then simply continue with it. You may experience spectacular results almost immediately. If you do, wonderful, but do not let this fool you into discontinuing the exercise. Often when people begin this process they do not realize how quickly results can be seen, and they become overexcited about the results achieved. In their excitement they forget to continue the exercise. If you want permanent results, you must fully imprint the new belief. A minimum of sixty to ninety days is necessary for a permanent imprint to take hold.

3) Action

The sooner you begin to act upon the new beliefs you are creating, the better. Otherwise you are not trusting and using the present. If you are poor and want to have more money and you're trying to establish a belief in abundance while still faced with your lack, then begin demonstrating abundance. In your outer reality take some symbolic action that shows you are changing. Maybe give some money (no matter how little) to charity. Indulge yourself somehow. A nice meal, a new article of clothing, a little gift to yourself. Or if you're lacking confidence, you would first repattern your past, searching and finding past examples of you being confident and you would focus daily on these. You would also imprint new empowering beliefs supporting your confidence, and then finally you act as if it were true. Bring action into the formula. No matter how small or inconsequential the action may seem, it is a huge step. It is a manifestation in outer reality. Responding to your new beliefs in this way is sending a strong signal to your subconscious that new realities are beginning to take hold, that you are willing to change, that you are cooperating with the process, that it is in fact already happening. The initiative must come from you. Challenge yourself to find ways to demonstrate your changing reality.

John Kehoe

- See more at: http://www.learnmindpower.com/articles/changing-beliefs/#sthash.6UZVQO4F.dpufArticles / Prosperity & Abundance

Money Secrets2008 is going to be great! Thats my most recent affirmation, so it feels appropriate to address the subject that is of great interest to so many peoplemoney. Coincidentally I have just produced a new CD called The Money Seminar a 2-disc live presentation that is now available on this website, so you may wish to check that out when you finish this topic. It was an inspired live performance and Im really pleased we recorded it. There is a prosperity system that, when followed and practiced, invariably leads an individual to financial success. This system, which involves mastering both inner and outer skills, does not happen by chance or luck (unless you win the lottery) but by the application of very specific principles. Here are some of them:

1. Commit yourself to self-mastery

You and no one else can achieve your success. You are the one that is called to think, plan and act in successful ways. When you commit yourself to self-mastery, you are demonstrating that you have the desire and willingness to do whatever is necessary in order to achieve your financial goals. This is important, for it sets you apart from others who are willing to simply wait and see whether success happens to them. The proactive person, on the other hand, creates success by the daily application of practices. Self-mastery involves an honest appraisal of both our mental and working habits so that we can see what needs to be changed and developed. When we commit to self-mastery we commit to changing our thinking and activities so that we maximize our abilities.

2. Work smart not hard

Do not confuse working long hours with working smart; the two are rarely the same. When you work too hard you are less effective, drained of energy. You rarely come up with the brilliant ideas that are so crucial to success when you are always working. Challenge yourself to work fewer hours but to be more effective. Your mantra should be, I work smart not hard and I get lots done. Make doing more in less time a habit and youll have more time for fun and leisure. Down time allows us to recharge and come up with innovative ideas.

3. Create prosperity beliefs

Your financial success will be directly related to the beliefs that you have about money. The number one reason that people dont achieve financial success is that there is a part of them that feels uncomfortable with the idea of having a lot of money. One of my chapters in Money, Success & You is called, Is Rich a Four Letter Word. In this chapter and in the new Money Seminar, we examine the limiting beliefs many people have about money. If you think that it will take too much work to achieve success, or that to have a lot of money is selfish or unspiritual, you will have great difficulty in creating abundance. These limiting beliefs resonating within your subconscious will distract you from achieving your goals and set obstacles in your way. Build your desire for financial abundance upon a firm moral and spiritual code that truly believes that our success helps many people and our failure helps no one. Program your mind daily with prosperity beliefs and this will get your subconscious mind working for you.

4. Find your passion

You will never be tremendously successful until you can find something to be passionate about. Whether it is a product or service or simply your own talents and abilities, you must be passionate about what you do. We all have strengths and weaknesses, different skills and desires. What it takes to be a successful salesman is not necessarily the same talent that is required to be a scientist. Each calling has different skills that are called for. Find something that really turns you on and follow it where it leads. This is one of the secrets of success. While I was writing Money, Success & You I sent out the manuscript to all my financially successful friends to get their feedback before it was published. I received many suggestions which were ultimately used, but what was of real interest to me was that, as I looked at the list, I noticed that every single one of them made their fortunes in areas that they loved. One was a jewelry wholesaler. Another was in publishing. One was in home renovation and another was a clothing designer. All of them had made their money by doing what they loved to do. It got me thinking; I wondered if it is possible to make a fortune doing something you dont enjoy. It soon became apparent to me that its certainly possible to make a living doing something you dont love, as unfortunately many people do, but to make a lot of money you need to find your passion.

5. Be creative

Ask any four- or five-year-old if they think they are creative and ninety percent of them will say yes. Ask the same question to anyone over twenty-five and the percent rate drops dramatically, to about seven percent. What happened? What happened is that somewhere along the way we got discouraged and forgot that we are creative individuals who can come up with brilliant ideas and solve any problem. Were neurologically wired to do this. Lets get over this idea that only artists and poets are creative. It takes just as much creativity to start a successful business, in many ways more so than to write a book or be an artist in the traditional sense. The same can be said for raising children, or almost any pursuit that involves intense activity. If we want success, we need to draw upon our innate inventiveness and dare to be creative, to do things differently. Creativity is the art of success.

6. Tap into the subconscious mind

The subconscious mind is the hidden engine of success. Through the beliefs we hold within us we are constantly either attracting or repelling success. Not only can we imprint prosperity beliefs into our subconscious, but we should be in the habit of listening to our subconscious and always be open to inspiration when it arrives. A good affirmation is, My subconscious mind is my partner in success. Repeat this to yourself many times each day until it becomes imprinted, and then watch as the subconscious brings to you opportunities and inspired ideas. Another good affirmation is, I am guided to success and I act upon my ideas and inspirations.

7. Take advantage of the Dharma of action

Action is the science of success. All ideas must be backed by consistent action in order to flourish. Learning how to both set and achieve goals on a regular basis is the key. Always be asking yourself what you can do today and what you can do this week? Set yourself a daily and weekly goal and then do it. It is through applied action that things change. When you master action you will master success, and the most important action of all is the daily application of your Mind Power exercises. Make this your first and most important priority. Daily application of Mind Power practices, combined with inspired daily activities, will attract success and wealth to you. Napoleon Hill, an advisor to many wealthy individuals, once said, When riches arrive they arrive so quickly and in such abundance that you wonder where it had been for all those lean years. That certainly is my experience, and it can be yours too when you master the money practices.

John Kehoe

Articles / Prosperity & Abundance

Find Your PassionThis above all - to thine own self be true...-Shakespeare

The following is an excerpt from Money Success & You, a book by John Kehoe.

A recent national poll revealed that more than 80 percent of North America's working population do not enjoy the work they do. This is a profoundly tragic statistic, considering that work consumes so much of our lives. Nor is it a good formula for success, because when you study closely people who are successful it becomes abundantly clear that their achievements are directly related to the enjoyment they derive from their work.

This really struck home for me while I was writing this book. Since this is a book about money and success, I decided to send each of my financially successful friends (those with assets over $1 million) a copy of the manuscript so that I could get their feedback. As I finished my list and was reading over the names, I suddenly realized that every single one of them had achieved their success in areas they enjoyed working in - one was in publishing, another was a jewelry wholesaler, one in law, still another in home renovating - and so it went. They had found their passion, devoted themselves to it and had prospered. Every single one of them was doing what they loved doing.

It got me thinking: Has anybody ever made a fortune doing what he or she dislikes? I thought about it for a while and you know what? I couldn't think of anyone. Not one. This is something to seriously ponder if you presently find yourself trying to get ahead working at an occupation you dislike.

Do What You Love; the Money Will Follow

Lars-Eric Lindblad loves traveling. As he backpacked his way to some of the more exotic locations around the world, he thought of what he would do when he eventually returned home. Nothing seemed appealing; and then he suddenly had an idea. "There are probably others like myself," he thought, "who want to experience a more adventurous type of travel. Why not start a business to cater to their specific needs?" So that's what he did. He started his own travel agency, Lindblad Travel, offering adventurous trips to offbeat locations-the Gobi Desert, Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands. People in the travel industry told him he was sure to fail. "You can't make money offering just adventure packages," they said, almost unanimously. This was before exotic travel became fashionable. Lars was one of the first to venture into this field and succeed he did, in a very big way. And 500,000 customers later, his travel business is still booming. Here's the lesson for those of you who wish to follow your dream: the real key to Lindblad's success is that he chose something that he was excited about, something he believed in.

Peter Moore hated his job as a bank manager. Although he liked dealing with people, he felt stuck in his choice of occupations and felt he wasn't using his talents to the maximum. He wanted more. Realizing that his people skills would be well suited to sales, he began thinking of a career in selling. But selling what? Then one day, as he was handling the affairs of a woman whose husband had recently died, it hit him. Why not sell life insurance?

Peter's experience as a bank manager had given him experience in dealing with families who are left without proper financial support. He believed absolutely in the service and excitedly began researching all the available companies to see which ones had the best policies. When he had made his decision, he approached the sales manager and told him what he'd done and why he wanted to sell life insurance for them. He was given a job on the spot.

Within one year he became one of their top salesmen, and eventually he became their district sales manager for the entire West Coast. He succeeded because he found something he could do with conviction. Something that felt right. He found his passion.

Stephen Sandler thought his grandmother's mustard was the best in the world. Nothing else he had ever tasted even came close. Everyone else who tasted it at his house said the same. Then, one day, he had a wild idea. "Why not bottle it and sell it?" But then came the doubts. "There are already lots of brands of mustard available. I have no real business experience. There's stiff competition for shelf space. Why would they give an unknown a chance?" And there were hundreds of other reasons why not to do it. But Stephen genuinely believed his grandmother's mustard was better than anything else available, and this thought kept nagging at him. So he decided to give it a try.

He made twelve jars, had some labels printed, and went to visit several local delicatessens. He told them he already had a company that produced the mustard and offered them a free jar as a sample. Much to his surprise, Stephen received an order for 120 jars from one of them.

"At six jars an hour," he laughed, "I didn't think I'd ever get through that first order." He started by making it in his own kitchen and eventually the operation took over the house. Then he had to move to larger premises. Sandler Mustard is now sold in delicatessens all across the country and his small company, just barely out of its infancy, is now worth over $2 million. Stephen Sandler found his passion - mustard - and he made it his livelihood.

"People whose whole objective is making money, usually don't," says Jerry White, professor of entrepreneurial studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. He should know. He's made it his business to study successful entrepreneurs and to teach others their winning ways, and the one message that came through loud and clear in his research was: Find a product or service you can believe in passionately, because without this you will not succeed.

What is your calling? To what areas are you best suited? How can you find a livelihood that will nourish and fulfill you?

You start by simply believing in yourself. Take stock of your assets, your strong points, and then see how you can best use them. Very often it's a lack of self-confidence that keeps us in positions we don't like. If this is the case then embark upon a daily program designed to build self-confidence. Make this your first priority, and once this is achieved, your perspectives too will change.

Who am I? What are my possibilities?

You may think of yourself as a parent or spouse or in terms of your present job or profession, but that is only a part of who you are. Beyond this what are your possibilities? You have talents and strengths. You have natural inclinations towards certain subjects, while others have no interest to you. You have activities that bring you pleasure and others that you disdain. In fact you are quite unique, and this uniqueness can be your compass. Trust it and let it lead you.

Remind yourself that you possess a powerful subconscious mind that will guide you. Go to it daily, instructing it to bring you the answers you are looking for.

Make Lists:

Write down all the activities that give you pleasure.Write down your mental assets and strengths, your past and present accomplishments.Write down choices that you would make for yourself if money were not an issue and careers that sound interesting regardless of whether you think you have the talent or opportunity to pursue them.Open up your mind to options and possibilities. Dare to dream. There are no boundaries except those that exist in your mind. As media tycoon Rupert Murdoch said, "Fortune favors the bold."The choice of how to make a living is perhaps the single most important of all our decisions, yet it's often the one most neglected. Sometimes we feel we have to take a job because of financial needs, or we are steered into a career because it has "excellent prospects," when really our heart isn't in it. This is unfortunate and totally unnecessary when you realize how many options are available to you. Certainly in any given period of several months or even several years you might have to work at something you don't enjoy to make ends meet, to pay off debts or just to get started, but new opportunities will always present themselves to you if you are open and receptive to them. Don't ever sell yourself short. You deserve more than just a job.

No amount of money, no matter how much it is, will ever compensate you sufficiently for remaining in a job that is drudgery and robs you of your spirit, or one that prevents you from fulfilling a dream. As the old saying goes, "In your haste to make a living don't forget to make a life." Be bold; forge off in a direction that you have a passion for.

That's exactly what Dominic Chang did. An avid golfer, he often felt guilty about putting golf ahead of his family, and he suspected millions of other golfers felt the same way. So in 1992 he quit his job at the Bank of New York, where he was a senior vice-president, to follow his instinct and passion. He raised the money to open Family Golf Centers Inc. The basic tenet of his business plan: Encourage golfers to bring their spouses and children along with them to the centers. Have party rooms, snack bars, restaurants, miniature golf, so that it is exciting for everyone to come, male, female, young and old. His first center was a big hit and was soon followed by others. Now his company has gone public and Dominic's three million shares are worth close to $100 million. Not bad for six years worth of work, or should I say six years of passion.

Everyone has his or her own specific vocation or mission in life. It cannot be replaced by something else, nor can someone else do it for you. Everyone's task is to discover his or her uniqueness and find an opportunity to implement it.

Life is filled with choices and opportunities, so follow your heart, your instinct. Find something you can be passionate about and devote yourself to it. This is where your personal fulfillment as well as your contribution to the world lies.

Joseph Campbell says it well: "Your whole physical being knows that this [following your passion] is the way to be alive in this world and the way to give to the world the very best that you have to offer. There is a track just waiting there for each of us, and once on it, doors will open that were not open before and would not open for anyone else."

"Every calling is great when greatly pursued," said Oliver Wendell Holmes. Whether you're selling life insurance, designing buildings, managing a company, writing a book, marketing new products or cutting hair, find the passion and excitement in it. If you can, you will succeed like you never have before. Follow your dream. Trust your instincts. Find that something you can believe in passionately and give it your all. Do what you love; the money will follow.

John Kehoe

- See more at: http://www.learnmindpower.com/articles/find-your-passion/#sthash.aUZeGlOX.dpufArticles / Prosperity & Abundance

Four Secrets of ExcellenceThis month we draw upon the wisdom of a scientist, a professional athlete, a rock musician, and the CEO of a major corporation to share with us their personal secrets of excellence. Each one of these individuals offers a single insight on how a particular practice has helped them achieve personal success in their chosen fields. From these four distinct individuals we gain four pieces of wisdom to help us navigate ourselves to a winning and prosperous life in 2009.

For our first piece of wisdom we hear from Daria Hazuda, scientific director for the giant multinational pharmaceutical company Merck. For most of us, failure is a disappointment, but not to Daria. She explains her approach: For me, a failed experiment is actually a rich source of information. People tend to focus only on positive results. But if you look at people in the drug-discovery business who are successful, it is often those who also learn from the negative. They take all that information and synthesize it in a holistic way. One of Hazudas fellow researchers at Merck, Amy Espeseth, adds, Whats unique about Daria is that shes a very creative, nonlinear thinker. A lot of people in science do things in a step-by-step way. With Daria, its kind of like a chess game; her moves show shes thinking a few steps ahead of everyone else.

For her part, Hazuda says she begins with simple curiosity. I really try to understand the basic biology and chemistry of how the different enzymes work. There were dozens of publications on enzymes that other researchers had discovered, but none of them worked against the HIV virus. I was trying to learn from what some really fantastic scientists had done. I tried to understand why those particular approaches werent successful, and then I used those lessons to develop a different approach. This different approach helped Hazuda develop one of the first successful drugs in treating HIV. Studying what didnt work led to her success.

Wisdom learned: Failure is valuable information. Dont ignore it or miss its lessons.

For our next piece of wisdom we go to Adam Vinatieri, kicker for the Indianapolis Colts. Adam may well be the greatest clutch kicker in NFL history. In his 13-year career hes been to four Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, and won two with last second kicks. His grace under pressure has earned his the nickname Iceman. He explains the importance of focusing your efforts. I know exactly what I need to do to help me do my job. The older I getand lets face it, its a young mans sportI do a lot more stretching, including Pilates and yoga. I need to be flexible to avoid injury, and for my follow-through. I dont have to run as long and fast and as far as a receiver does. Its not my job. My job is to build fast twitch muscles so I can kick the ball a long way. In my third year as a professional I missed an important field goal that would have won us the game. I was down about it but my coach told me that everyone whos great has missed a kick that has cost his team the game. Its about how you respond after that which is the key. Dont get too high in the good times or too low in the bad because you will experience both. You must stay focused with the same intensity throughout every part of your job. Stay focused on excellence. Stay committed. Do what needs to be done to be successful. Its really that simple.

Wisdom learned: Stay focused on excellence. Dont let setbacks disrupt your progress. For our third piece of wisdom we go to Robert Trujillo, bassist for Metallica. Befitting a musician who has played in all kinds of bands, from hard-core punk (Suicidal Tendencies), to old school metal (Ozzy Osbourne), to his most recent place in Metallica, Trujillo listened to almost everything growing up. But he says he finds inspiration by watching masters in disciplines far removed from the music world. Muhammad Ali, for the way he had to use his smarts and the way he moved. I love Kelly Slater, the surfer whos the Michael Jordan of the sport, and author H.P. Lovecraft, who had an amazing creative influence on so many. All of them fuel me when Im playing. I feel the magic of those and others when Im performing. Its an injection, a mixture of all those that moves me. Those of you who have been long time viewers of this website know well the importance of role models in helping us achieve our success. We thank Trujillo for reiterating this important point.

Wisdom learned: Be inspired by others; let them lead you to greatness.

For our final piece of wisdom lets go to Hector Ruiz, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices. Since Ruiz took over as AMDs CEO in April 2002, the AMD microprocessor has increased its market share dramatically and now challenges Intel, which is six times the size of AMD. His piece of wisdom is to embrace ambiguity and change. Part of my job is to make people comfortable with change and ambiguity. That sounds counterintuitive. A lot of people think CEOs have to be absolutely crisp and perfect on what they want. Quite often my people push back, but I dont like spelling out exactly what people need to do. I think that boxes them. I challenge them to go off in different directions and to experiment. You can never be really creative unless you are comfortable with taking on new challenges and going in directions that have no defined goal or benefit, but you do them simply to see where it leads you. Almost every successful person I know will echo these sentiments. We need to be comfortable with change and the best way to demonstrate this is to be constantly creative in work, play and every other aspect of our life.

Wisdom learned: Be creative in your life and be comfortable with change.

Four pieces of wisdom to take with us into the New Year to aid us in achieving our goals. Happy New Year everyone.

John Kehoe

Articles / Prosperity & Abundance

DesireFirst you fuel the desire, then the desire will fuel you.-Napoleon Hill

The following is an excerpt from Money Success and You, a book by John Kehoe.

Knowing what one wants in life is not enough. Nor will wishing or hoping to achieve success help you. You must go one step further and add the vibration of desire to the mix. It is desire that acts as the catalyst with your thoughts and beliefs, supplying the needed emotion that the subconscious mind requires in order to translate your thoughts into reality.

All the great men and women achievers of the past have known this. They have all shared this one overwhelming similarity - a burning desire to achieve their objectives.

Thomas Edison experienced more than 10,000 failures before he perfected the light bulb. His desire to succeed never waned. Wilbur and Orville Wright suffered through years of humiliation and ridicule for daring to believe they could make a vehicle fly through the air. Yet the strength of their purpose and desire allowed them to persevere until they produced the first successful airplane. Henry Ford went bankrupt twice before the first Model T rolled off the assembly line, yet he never wavered from his determination to mass-produce the automobile.

Ted Turner also knew what he wanted. It was not a mere wish or hope that he had, but a burning desire to achieve his objective - owning and running a media and communications empire. When this thought first entered his mind, he owned a tiny billboard company in Atlanta. He began to build his dream by purchasing a small radio station, followed by a lackluster UHF (ultra-high-frequency) television station that less than half the TV sets in the area were able to receive. The year was 1968. Right from the beginning he ran into problems. The TV station was hemorrhaging money. By 1970 it was losing over $700,000 a year. "The station will bring down the whole company," said Irwin Mazo, Turner's accountant at the time, who promptly quit.

"It's pretty tough when your own accountant quits because he thinks you're doomed," said Ted. Others at this point might have backed off and been more prudent, heeding their accountant's advice. Or maybe they would have given up, thinking their dream was unattainable. But not Ted Turner. What was his response? He went out and bought another station. His rationale? It was only losing $30,000 a month! And not only did he purchase it; in the process he further assumed nearly $3 million in liabilities.

Now at this point, I would like to say to the reader that a strong desire to achieve your goal might cause a man to act in ways that seem crazy to others. So crazy that even his accountant may quit, and for Turner that was not all. Several of his top people quit as well, certain that Ted was headed for disaster. But they could not see what Ted saw. For in addition to a lightning-quick mind, Turner also possessed a sixth sense that allowed him to see beyond conventional wisdom and act accordingly.

And sure enough, within several years he had turned his struggling Atlanta station into America's first "super station," beaming its programming off a satellite into homes all over North America. Revenue began pouring in, but rather than stop while he was ahead, Turner set his sights even higher. In 1979 he borrowed over $27 million to finance CNN, an untried "all news station" that many said no one would watch. And in the beginning, it looked like they were right. CNN lost over $70 million in its first five years. During this time, Turner had a sign on his desk that read, "Lead, follow or get out of the way." He knew what he wanted, and nothing was going to stop him. His burning desire overcame all else. And here we come to one of the secrets of desire. A strong desire to have or do what you have set your mind to recognizes no such thing as failure. All disappointments, problems and setbacks are but temporary obstacles on the way to success.

By 1984, CNN had turned the corner and finally began to show a profit. Then in 1987 Turner made his biggest gamble to date. With a combination of junk bonds and other financing that highly leveraged his company, he bought MGM Studios for a whopping $1.2 billion. It saddled him with almost a billion dollars in debt. Most analysts at the time thought Turner had overpaid MGM's former owners by at least $300 million. One Hollywood veteran was quoted in Fortune magazine as saying, "Turner got the worst screwing in the history of American business." But they did not know what Ted Turner knew. Nor could they see the profit he would one day derive from the MGM film library of over 3,000 titles, how he would repackage this content and broadcast it on still more TV stations. His desire to have his media empire, and his sixth sense drawing upon the wisdom of his subconscious, let Ted see what no one else could. With boldness, some called it reckless boldness, he pursued his goal, never wavering.

"Turner has an uncanny ability to obliterate anything and everything peripheral to his immediate objective," said Porter Bibb, former White House correspondent for Newsweek. "This is why he is so successful."

By 1990, a mere three years later, with the media landscape changing rapidly and the cost of programming skyrocketing, Turner's instincts were again proved right. His company entered into a period of explosive growth and profits. The MGM deal was suddenly called by Institutional Investor, "one of the deals of the decade."

In 1997 Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner to become one of the largest communication and media companies in the world. Ted Turner's media empire was now a resounding international success, worth billions of dollars. He had revolutionized the broadcast industry and made Marshall McLuhan's "global village" a reality. He had rewritten the very definition of news as something that is happening rather than something that has happened. He had built the largest news gathering organization in the world. He also controlled the largest library of motion pictures anywhere, and one of the largest collections of animated films. His broadcasts reached over 120 countries.

In the merger, and for his efforts, Turner personally received over $3 billion in cash and stock. He had achieved his wildest dreams.

The same force of desire and determination that Ted Turner harnessed is available to each and every one of us. Follow these four steps and watch desire come alive within you:

Step 1 - Write down a clear and concise statement of what it is you wish to obtain.

Step 2 - Outline what you intend to do or give to achieve this objective.

There is no such thing as something for nothing. What skills, knowledge, disciplines and actions will you obtain or practice? Be clear and concise.

Step 3 - Promise yourself to let nothing stop you from obtaining your objectives.

Make a commitment to yourself to do whatever is necessary to achieve your goal. Be firm in your resolution.

Step 4 - Read this statement over twice every day.

Read it upon rising in the morning, and again before you go to sleep, and begin immediately to put this plan to work. When reading your statement, magnetize your mind to the reality of achieving your goal. See and feel yourself already in possession of that which you desire. As days turn into weeks and then months, this ritual will be the source of a great amount of power and inspiration for you.

A strong, burning desire to obtain and possess the goal you are pursuing is the starting point for all achievement.

This isn't a vague wish or a simple hope; it is something much more powerful than that. Burning desire, when properly ignited, takes on a life and power of its own and empowers you in hundreds of different ways.

There is a Zen parable that will help to illustrate what I mean. A Zen monk and his student were walking by the river when the young student begins to plead with his master, "How do I become enlightened? What must I do?" The master grabbed him roughly, pulled him into the river and pushed him under the water until the young student was completely submerged.

The Zen master continued to hold the student under water and soon the student began to thrash frantically. But still the master held him under the water. Desperately the student tried to free himself, to no avail. Finally, just at the point of drowning, the master released his grip and the student surfaced, gasping for air.

"What were you thinking while I held you under the water?" the master asked. "At first I thought of many things," the student answered. "But after a few seconds, when there was no sign that you would let me up, all I could think of was: Air! Air! Give me air!" "When you desire enlightenment with the same intensity," said the master smiling, "you will soon have it."

The same applies to achieving your goals. You must desire it with your whole being. Desire is the fuel that propels you towards your objectives and influences your thoughts and actions. Desire helps you overcome obstacles and draw inspiration from your subconscious. A strong desire combined with prosperity beliefs and continuous action towards your goal will attract to you the people, circumstances and situations you need to be successful.

John Kehoe

Articles / Prosperity & Abundance

The Importance of Role ModelsHero worship shouldn't disappear with adolescence. It can and should be a lifelong source of inspiration and motivation for us. Many of the most famous and influential people we know let great men and women shape their lives well into their own adulthood, and so can you.

Long before he ever became a Beatle, John Lennon idolized many of the old rhythm and blues greats, people like Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. He had their pictures on his wall and used them as inspiration when he first began playing guitar. In this way he could influence his imagination by conceiving mentally that he was them. This process is not just idle daydreaming, but allows new creative ideas to be released from the subconscious. It allows us to move beyond our preconceived limitations and feelings of inadequacy. It is an excellent process for developing inspiration and creativity.

Woody Allen watched the Marx Brothers' films hundreds of times and dreamed of being as funny and talented. It's no secret that Groucho Marx was a major influence on the talented filmmaker.

Billionaire Ted Turner, founder of CNN, studied the Greek classics in university. His father, a very practical businessman, couldn't understand why his son was wasting his time with the classics. What he didn't realize was that Ted was conditioning his mind with images of the fabled Greek heroes who seized opportunities, turned sure defeats into victories, and surmounted countless obstacles in order to win. Sounds familiar? It certainly does to those who watched the meteoric rise and breathtaking moves made by one of America's most exiting and successful businessmen. [And congratulations Ted on giving away one billion dollars to charity. For those of you who might not have heard, Ted announced last month that he would give one billion dollars to the United Nations for humanitarian purposes. I hope you now become a role model for many of the world's millionaires. I know you're certainly one of mine and have been for many years.]

Singer Whitney Houston watched her older cousin Dionne Warwick release hit after hit and dreamed of one day being just like her. She was lucky in that she had a family member to model herself after as she made her way to super stardom. But you don't have to know the person in order to model yourself after them. Few of us get that chance.

A millionaire clothing manufacturer once shared with me how in her early struggling years, she would draw inspiration from other successful women. She had pictures on her wall of prominent women who had made it. They became her mentors. Each time she looked at the pictures it gave her encouragement. If they could do it, she could too, she reminded herself. And she did!

All big companies that pride themselves on excellence have what is called their "war stories." IBM, Microsoft, 3M, and Hewlett Packard, all have them; stories of past employees who performed great feats under difficult circumstances. These were people who achieved spectacular results; men and women who did the impossible, who surmounted all odds and won. They became part of the companies' lore, like folk legends, and today continue to inspire others to carry on in the same tradition.

We all need to know that what we're trying to accomplish can in fact be achieved. Perhaps it will take an almost superhuman effort, but we have to believe that if we harness all our resources and determination, it can be done. And this is what our heroes can do for us-they can prove to us that our goals are not impossible.

They can also show us how to proceed in any given situation, especially a difficult one. In Mind Power Into the 21st Century I mention the example of Napoleon Hill, millionaire author of Think and Grow Rich, who regularly convened, in his mind, his "invisible counselors." He chose nine men whose lives and life works had been most impressive to him. Just before going to sleep at night he would close his eyes and imagine this group of men seated with him around his council table. He would discuss what projects he was working on and ask for assistance. Although these sessions occurred entirely in his imagination, the ideas generated through this process led him "into glorious paths of adventure and wealth."

When we model ourselves after those who have achieved greatness, we take on their character, their strengths and determination. Soon their success leads to our success, and in the process we better ourselves. It's a win-win proposition.

Role modeling is an effective and powerful step in achieving success because it supplies us with inspiration and encourages us to move beyond temporary failures. It also stimulates the creative imagination and draws from the subconscious mind ideas and insights which would not come to us unless we were so inspired.

And let us not forget the most important principle of all. What you think about, dwell upon, focus on will make an imprint on a subconscious level if thought of regularly each and every day. You can imprint the qualities of your mentors within. This ultimately is the greatest gift they give us. So choose your heroes and role models wisely, and let them lift you to heights you could not accomplish on your own.

John Kehoe

Articles / Prosperity & Abundance

Taking RisksThere is a common misconception that taking risks is well, risky. But the truth is that taking risks is no more risky than playing it safe, or maintaining the status quo. In fact, often by failing to innovate, make changes and move forward in different areas of our lives, we open ourselves up to the possibility of stagnation and falling behind.

Its all perception. How we see ourselves, our lives, our world, our intimate relationships with the countless circumstances that surround us, determines how we make decisions and choices. And often our perceptions of reality do not match the truth of reality. For example, statistically speaking, you are far less likely to be injured in an airplane than in an automobile, by almost 100 to one. Cars are far more dangerous. Think about it. How many people do you personally know that have been injured or killed in a plane crash? Not in newspaper reports youve read, but people you actually know. Now how many people do you know who have been injured or killed in a car accident? Point made. Yet many people feel apprehensive about taking a plane trip, and these same people feel no apprehension whatsoever about a car ride. Their perceptions and fears do not match the reality of the situation. This happens in our lives more than we would care to realize.

Another common misconception that many people have is that life just arbitrarily happens to us without cause or reason. While some of it we may have control over they argue, most of it is just luck.

Mind Power students of course would find this notion incredulous, yet, amazingly, most people believe it. If this hypothesis is true and everything is just a matter of luck, then choice and decision are a meaningless exercise. Those people who think in terms of good luck and bad luck are obscuring the truth, because they separate events from their causes. When we say that someone has fallen on bad luck, we relieve that person of any responsibility for what has happened. When we say that someone has had good luck, we deny that person credit for the effort and choices they have made that undoubtedly have led to the happy outcome. The question becomes what is luck, and what is cause and effect?

Canadian essayist Stephen Leacock once wrote, Im a great believer in luck. Amazingly the harder I work, the more of it I seem to have. A. J. Foyt, five-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 said it another way, Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

There is very little luck in our lives as we understand the term. Synchronicity yes, but luck isolated from cause and effect, no. True, many of the causes behind events are beyond our perceptions and understanding, but the vibrating matrix that we live in is governed by laws of cause and effect.

We are on far more solid ground when we look to ourselves for an understanding of what is happening in our lives, when we look at our choices, our actions, our thoughts, our beliefs, our fears, our desires both past and present. These are causes, and they set in motion effects. Is there no fate or destiny or randomness beyond our own initiating factors, you ask? Of course there is. But even these have deep hidden causes beyond our mortal comprehension.

When we choose to take a risk in some area of our life, we do so anticipating a positive outcome from this decision. We do not know for certain what the outcome will be, but we take a chance weighing all options. Lets be honest with ourselves, every decision we make has its risks. Even the decision to do nothing has its risks. Often we dont make changes in our life because we are satisfied with what is happening. Why change, we reason, when things are fine? Its a valid point. Even people who are unhappy with their life situation often resist change. The rationale being, Better the devil I know than the devil I dont know. I might be unhappy, but maybe a change will make me even more unhappy. At least this unhappiness I can handle. This resignation comes from a distrust of life. (See the past topic Trusting Life, from the book The Practice of Happiness.

It is not understanding the the Law of Constant Change that keeps people stuck in situations that are crying out for change. The Law of Constant Change states that everything is in the process of becoming something else. Change happens everywhere, with everyone and everything. Nothing is staying the same. Your health, your career, your finances, your friends, your children, your parents, your opportunities, your interests, even your thoughts, fears, desires and beliefs are all changing, morphing into something else. And all things around you are changing too. You cannot be isolated from this phenomenon. New causes are causing new effects.

Renaissance thinker and philosopher Jacob Bernoulli postulated that, If all throughout eternity could be repeated, we would find that every one of them occurred in response to definite causes, even the causes that seemed most fortuitous.

But what if we make a mistake by taking a risk, we wonder? What indeed? Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow was an air force weather forecaster during the Second World War and shares an incident that illustrates our natural human instinct to try to avoid uncertainty. Some officers had been assigned the task of forecasting the weather a month ahead (this was long before satellite technology). Arrow and his statisticians found that their long-range forecasts were actually no better than predictions pulled out of a hat. The forecasters all agreed on this point and so they finally asked their superiors to be relieved of this duty. The reply came back to them: The commanding General is well aware that the forecasts are no good. However, he needs them for planning purposes.

We want certainty in our life, but uncertainty, change and movement are the dynamics of this life experience. You can fight this fact, ignore it, pretend it is something different, but you cannot avoid its effects.

There is a growing volume of research that reveals that most people yield to inconsistencies, myopia, fear and a host of other forms of distortion during the process of decision making, especially while making major decisions that will potentially have a lasting effect on our life. All of us like to think of ourselves as rational beings, even in times of crisis, applying the laws of logic in cool and calculated fashion to the choices that confront us. Yet how realistic are such images? Not very it seems. Furthermore, many of the important decisions we make occur under complex, confusing, even frightening conditions. No wonder we feel stressed.

What can we do? The answer is deceptively simple. Relax and accept that this is life. In real life you are never granted one hundred percent certainty about the outcomes of your decisions. Hopefully you use your logic and your intuition, trusting both equally. You trust that which resonates in your heart as true you trust what youre passionate about, for this passion is in you for a reason. You trust synchronicity. You trust life.

In conclusion, I have one simple question to ask you. Are you a risk taker? If your answer is sometimes, that is good. If your answer is always, then perhaps you should learn to sometimes play it more conservatively. If your answer is never, then you need to shake things up by taking some risks.

Taking risks after a thorough examination of most of the possible consequences (you never get to know all), trusting your logic and intuition, is not foolhardy, but rather smart and proactive. Life demands that we take risks. Not all the time. Not in every situation, but where we need to see change, growth and movement. Often it is the most prudent thing we can do.

John Kehoe

- See more at: http://www.learnmindpower.com/articles/taking-risks/#sthash.0ZEpaqbi.dpufArticles / Prosperity & Abundance

The Ten Practices of Successful LeadershipAll of us will have times in our life when we are required to lead or champion a cause. Knowing and applying the ten practices below will assist you greatly in that challenge when it comes. Interestingly enough, not only do these practices work in leading others, but they also apply in pursuing our own goals as well. Next month I will take these same principles and show you how we can apply them in our individual lives, but for this month read and absorb these time-tested and proven practices of success in a leadership role.

1. Have a large vision:

People want to be part of an organization or group that has an exciting positive vision for change. Small visions attract a small response. Large visions attract large numbers. Whatever your vision for change or growth may be, you must articulate it well and be clear on the process of attaining that vision, but most importantly it must be a vision that can inspire.

2. Break the large vision into easily understood goals with deadlines:

As the old saying goes, The journey of one hundred miles begins with the first step. A large vision will inspire people, but unless there is a plan to achieve the vision, the inspiration and excitement will soon dissipate. Completion of a large vision happens by accomplishing numerous smaller goals. Each goal and step builds on the one preceding it. Have a clear and workable plan that everyone can understand.

3. Focus on the big picture but work daily on the little picture:

Become goal oriented. It is through the accomplishment of thousands of smaller goals that the final accomplishment is achieved. Ask yourself, What can I do today? and then do it. The next day ask yourself again, What can I do today? and then do it. The same the day after. Focusing on what can be done today and accomplishing that is one of the secrets of success.

4. Love the process, not just the final result:

As the mystic Gurdjieff said, Dont think of results, just do. Live life one day at a time. Life is a journey, not a destination. Each day enjoy the process of the people you meet, the challenges, the surprises, the victories and yes, the failures too, for they also teach us. When you dedicate yourself not just to the end result but to the process, good fortune and synchronicity come to your aid. When you can embrace the process as a means and end unto itself, and appreciate the process as a journey within the journey to be mastered and enjoyed and appreciated, you will be in harmony with the deeper currents of life.

5. Ask for and expect others to help you:

If you are dedicated to your vision and you believe that the accomplishment of this vision will help many, you can expect others to become enthused as well, and want to help you. This is not to say that every single person you meet and share your vision with will want to help. Some will be too busy or committed to other projects. Others may disagree or argue with your vision, as is their right. However the law of averages works in such a way that if you ask many to help, some will respond. Carry no animosity or ill will towards those who do not share your vision, but embrace and work closely with those who do. These people will help you immensely. A group of individuals committed to a shared vision can accomplish the impossible. It is these people that you are destined to be with, learn from, and work with. Fortune favours the bold, and unless you share your vision, how will others know of it?

6. Leaders see more in others than others see in themselves:

Most of us are in many ways our own greatest enemy. It is a very common human trait to feel unworthy and to put ourselves down. Often latent talents never get noticed. A successful leader will always bring out the best in people. He/she will encourage people to live up to their potentials, and praise them when they do. Encouragement, praise and recognition on a regular basis will inspire those that you work with. Successful leaders understand this and spend time developing the talents of others. Leadership is not only in harnessing others to achieve a vision, but in changing and empowering every person it is your privilege to come in contact with.

7. Leadership is service:

Service to a vision. Service to others. Service to a greater good. Always lead with humility and respect for the position you find yourself in. Never be arrogant or full of ego. Leadership is about stewardship and you are simply a steward of the vision. Serve it well. A leader must also anticipate chaos and be prepared to work through temporary failure and disappointment. Numerous challenges and tests go with the territory of leadership, so do not let them surprise you or throw you off course when they inevitably happen.

8. Your ability to serve others starts with mastering yourself:

Successful leaders have spent much time developing the character traits and working habits that are necessary for success. You must learn to be a good follower before you become a leader. You must know how to overcome procrastination and inertia. How to set goals and achieve them. How to be honest, creative, intuitive, How to manage both the micro and macro situations. You must know how to listen, how to inspire, how to bring the best out of others and yourself. Understanding that personal growth never stops, a good leader will never stop working on him/herself. In a leadership role, you must expect twice as much from yourself as you expect from others.

9. Realize that we live in a real world, not an ideal one:

Allow for the fact that we live in an imperfect world. Your vision must allow for this. Nothing is one hundred percent black or white. Trying to change everyone and everything is unrealistic. Your vision must inspire and be a great vision, but not an unrealistic, impossible vision. Do the greatest good you can and make a difference to the world by achieving that which is possible.

10. Have fun and celebrate your successes regularly:

Do not become so serious and fixated upon your goal and vision that you lose the spontaneity of fun and joy. The joyful path is more effective than the fanatical one. Joy, compassion, love, empathy, fun and success all go hand in hand with one another. Enjoy each day amidst the busyness, and remember to celebrate each victory and success no matter how small. A joyful atmosphere will attract more people and be more productive. Look for ways to celebrate success and improvement wherever you find it.

John Kehoe

- The Subconscious: The Hidden Engine of Our SuccessI could have just as easily titled this section, "The Subconscious: The Hidden Engine of our Failure," for both would be an accurate description of how the subconscious works in our life. According to the beliefs and imprints that we have allowed to enter into this hidden, mysterious part of our being, so will our life attract to us the conditions and circumstances that match the energy vortexes that vibrate within. For those of you who have followed my work, you will know that I have spent over thirty years teaching Mind Power worldwide and I love what I do. However, it was only ten years ago that I began to seriously probe the mysteries of the subconscious and learn the methods and techniques that unlock the secrets held within. And it was during my three year "listening" sabbatical, from 2002 to 2005, that my work took a quantum leap in understanding the subconscious. Now it is the centre of my teaching and what I am most passionate about, so over the next two months I will devote this space to sharing with you some of the things I have learned about the subconscious.

But first let me explain why it is so important to comprehend, use and come into relationship with our subconscious. We are a multi-dimensional being made up of a body, mind, soul and subconscious. If any part of our being is out of sync, then the whole will suffer.

Mostly we live in our minds. This is fine as long as the other parts of us are honored and listened to, especially the subconscious. Why is the subconscious so important? It is important because it is the hidden engine of what happens to us. Not only that, but it is through the subconscious that we get our insights and inspirations, and the hidden mysteries are revealed to us. Our subconscious is proactive and will always respond to the requests we put to it. In fact, we have access to unlimited power and understanding when we learn the techniques for changing the inner patterns that reside within us on a subconscious level.

By coming into a working, functioning relationship with our subconscious we will improve our health, become more effective, increase our personal power, feel more in tune with ourselves and others, discover our life purposes and reclaim a life of power and destiny. We achieve all this by reclaiming the part of us that has always meant to be a functioning part of who we are, but instead has been ignored, misunderstood and neglected, to our own misfortune. In order to awaken and live a full life of power and opportunity this must change, and it can change when you understand the truths of the subconscious and apply the appropriate techniques.

TRUTH #1 - The Subconscious Has No Will of Its Own

Our subconscious mind has no will or agenda of its own. Its mandate and function is simply to manifest according to the beliefs and images that reside within it. It does not choose these beliefs and images, nor does it judge them. It will manifest prosperity just as easily as lack, sickness just as easily as health. Whatever resides within your subconscious is the blueprint to what you will experience in your life. To understand this is to understand something great. When we become conscious of this astounding truth, our next task is to discover what it is that we have residing within this all powerful faculty, for to know this much is to know the causes of everything that is happening to us.

TRUTH #2 - Patterns Are the Hidden Footprints of the Subconscious

Each of us have certain patterns in our life that defy logic, and no matter how many times we try to change these patterns they seem to have a power of their own that overrides our best attempts. Whether it is the workaholic who tries again and again to relax and take time off, only to find himself back working all the time again, or the person who tries to get ahead financially and demonstrate abundance only to find herself stuck in the same financial situation, struggling with money. We achieve success in some areas of our lives, and yet in certain other areas we do not. Why is this?

In most cases the reason is simply that we have a subconscious pattern that overrides our best intentions and desires. Let me share with you a law: when your desires are in conflict with subconscious patterns, the subconscious patterns will always win. This is a law, and until you change the patterns within that are sabotaging you, you will not achieve your desires.

Let me share with you an experience of mine. For many years I had the pattern of leaving relationships. It was very strange because I wouldn't leave when the relationship was going badly but rather when it was going well. This happened time and time again in my life. Then one day in my mid-forties I was doing some subconscious work on myself when suddenly what popped into my conscious mind was the thought, "My mother didn't leave me because I wasn't good enough." What a strange thought, I thought to myself, and of course she didn't leave me because I wasn't good enough.

Now a little background information. When I was thirteen my mother drowned. It was traumatic, as you can imagine, and I dealt with it the best I could, and it appeared to have no lasting effect. Yet here I was in my forties having the thought that, "My mother didn't leave me because I wasn't good enough." All at once I got it. My subconscious mind had interpreted the drowning of my mother as her leaving me because I wasn't good enough. I had also made a subconscious decision that I would never be hurt by a woman again. Notice I say subconscious decision because none of this was conscious.

So as an adult when a relationship became too intimate my subconscious kicked in and made me leave. How could I make that decision and how did the subconscious make the mistake of interpreting my mother leaving me as proof that I was not good enough? I will write about that next month and share more of the truths of the subconscious. Let me for now just say that anytime you see a recurring pattern in your life, it is safe to say that it represents footprints of the subconscious, and until these footprints are understood and changed, you are unlikely to change that pattern.

Finally just let me say that once I understood the faulty images I had within my subconscious, I immediately began reprogramming new beliefs, and within six months I met the most amazing woman who was smart, sexy and spiritual and everything I had dreamed of. Needless to say I didn't have to leave because the old patterns had been replaced with new ones, and now, fifteen years later, we are happily married and I am more in love with her today than the day I married her.

John Kehoe

The Subconscious Contains Our Unused Potentials and Our BlockagesThis is part 2 of the chapter on the subconscious from my new book, to be released in 2010:

The subconscious contains within it our unused potentials, as well as the personal blockages that keep us stuck in the various problem areas of our life. I sometimes refer to these as our light and dark shadows. The word shadow is a Jungian term and refers to those parts of us that are unconscious. Being unconscious, we do not see them, but we often see their effects in our life, that is we dont see what causes the shadow, but we see the effect.

Each of us has both a light and dark shadow, and each needs to be examined so that energy captured there can be released.

Dark Shadow: That which is holding us back. Repressed emotions, grief, hurts, inner wounds; all these are part of our dark shadow. So are dysfunctional beliefs. For example, a belief such as, If there is a flu around Ill catch it! which, as you now understand, would attract the flu to you, could be called part of our dark shadow, especially if we are unaware of how this belief operates in our life. Any part of us that makes us unbalanced and that we are unaware of can be called part of our dark shadow. The dark shadow is that part of us which is self-defeating, holding us back, often absorbing vast amounts of energy, leaving us feeling depleted, anxious, frustrated, and at the mercy of forces that we ourselves have set in motion. The Mind Power student is keenly interested in both his light and dark shadows. He understands better than anyone what it means to ignore these shadow parts of his being. What is in our dark shadow is limiting us, so we do the inner work necessary to reveal these parts to us. Once revealed, we can design strategies to change those aspects of ourselves which are holding us back.

Now there is also the collective unconscious, which does not develop but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes. The collective unconscious contains both dark and light shadows, and as such they are common to all of us. They reside as archetypal messages resonating in the human unconscious matrix and so find their way into all of us. One such dark shadow archetypal message is the belief, Im not good enough. This can be held as a general belief, Im not a good enough person or something more specific, Im not a good parent/spouse/artist/mediator/entrepreneur/teacher, etc. When you find yourself thinking this, which you sometimes will, you can counteract the thought by first suspecting that it does not belong to you but rather to the collective. This works to make it non-personal, giving you the opportunity of nullifying it. It is our duty to overcome and heal the wound of Im not good enough upon every occasion that it arises. By doing so we help not just ourselves but also the collective. We are helping our species when we refuse to accept shame. Paradoxically, the act of eliminating shame is easier when we do it for the sake of others than when we do it just for ourselves. Doing this is not a selfish act; it is heroic. Shame is the original sin. What is not claimed and owned by the inner will manifest in the outer. The dark shadow must be faced and addressed or it will cause all kinds of problems in your life.

Light Shadow: Our potentials and those parts of us that have not been explored and brought to fruition in our lives. Special gifts and talents that lie underdeveloped, our art, our hidden desires, our unused and unexplored abilities, all these form part of our light shadow. Because we are a fragment, a holographic piece of the overall design of the universe, everything that is possible and good and excellent is potentially part of our light shadow. While theoretically true, practically speaking, some things are more available to us than others. Not all the talents and gifts within the universe are ours to use, at least not in this particular lifetime. Some are more difficult to access, while others are waiting just below the surface, like a seed in a dried out river bed awaiting the rains to sprout and grow. Our light shadow can be discovered by following our bliss, our natural talents, our joys, our creativity. Trust what turns you on the most and follow it wherever it leads you.

The emergence of both light and dark shadow is always a positive event in our lives. It shows we are connected and in touch with the hidden parts of ourselves. When we awaken to these possibilities of transformation within ourselves, almost anything becomes possible.

How to come into relationship with your subconscious:

You come into relationship with your subconscious by desiring contact. You educate the conscious mind to the existence of the subconsciouss functions and potential through daily mediations. Until you are aware of its existence, and not just in an intellectual way, you cannot work with the subconscious effectively. Contemplate daily the existence of this second mind. Think about the fact that the subconscious is part of the etheric web of all reality. Think about the potentials of imprinting into it, how it works, etc. Affirm to yourself daily, My subconscious mind is my partner in success. This is a very powerful affirmation and has a threefold effect. First, by affirming my subconscious mind, you are educating the conscious mind to the existence of this second mind. Secondly, by affirming my partner, you are reminding the conscious mind of the possibilities and advantages of working with the subconscious. And thirdly, it is your partner in success. By affirming this you are building up a success vibration; you are weaving success into your etheric matrix. Make this a regular affirmation.

Finally, dialogue with your subconscious. Praise it and let it know how appreciative you are of its power and ability to create and interact with the etheric web. Tell it what you want to create and what imprints you are presently working with. Let it know that you are working diligently to have a functioning relationship established. Get to know this part of yourself as a separate and neglected component that is being welcomed back into the human matrix. By doing all of the above you will find that you will enter into relationship with your subconscious, and when you do, a whole new level of working with it reveals itself to you.

John KehoeThe Subconscious Mind Part IAs many of my readers of this site know, I have been on a three-year sabbatical. This time has been very powerful and rewarding for me on many levels. Firstly, it has allowed me to view myself, my life, and my work from a fresh perspective. You will be happy to know that I hold all three in the highest esteem and am coming back with renewed commitment to them.

Secondly, I am coming back from the sabbatical with a depth of understanding of the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, and the soul which far transcends my previous understanding. So in these upcoming months I will be revisiting topics I have written about before and infusing them with new insights and perspectives.

I am now in South Africa doing three weekend seminars on the Mysteries of the Subconscious and the Soul, so I can't think of a better way to begin this month's topic than with a fresh and new exploration of the subconscious mind.

To understand the subconscious one must first understand that we do indeed possess a second hidden mind that functions day and night beyond the awareness of the conscious mind. Understanding and working with this second mind is the basis of all mind power techniques. It is also the key to your success and happiness. Those individuals, and they are the vast majority of us, who live their lives without an understanding and working relationship with their own personal subconscious, limit themselves immeasurably. This is unfortunate, for it is not difficult to establish a functioning relationship with your subconscious. All it takes is a basic understanding of the dynamics of the subconscious, and a will to establish a relationship with it. So let's begin by examining this second hidden mind that exists within all of us, first from an overall perspective, and from there we can work out the details of how to effectively work with it.

The subconscious has two main functions. The first is to give you guidance and insight that transcends your normal everyday conscious mind awareness. The second is to interact with the vibrating matrix of your reality, attracting to you the circumstances and situations that approximate the vibrations of your inner mythology.

It is this second function that I now wish to explore. Now when I speak of your inner mythology, what I am referring to is the myriad of beliefs that you have resonating within you on a subconscious level. Often we are unaware of what our subconscious beliefs are, and it is only through inner stalking and personal archaeology that we discover them, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We have beliefs about every area of our life. We have beliefs about money, sex, relationships, other people, ourselves, our opportunities or lack of opportunities, our health, our bodies, even life itself. If our beliefs are faulty or limiting in any area of our life, this will result in our subconscious acting upon the etheric web of reality to attract to us these faulty limiting patterns.

Beliefs exist on a subconscious level. Hopes, desires, wishes, goals, intentions, these all exist on a conscious level. We think of them with our conscious mind. But beliefs are different. They are deeper and more entrenched. They are submerged vortexes of energy that we have unconsciously allowed to take root within us. If they are empowering, helpful beliefs such as, I am a competent, talented person capable of great success, achievement and happiness, then this will be our unconscious resonance and with this as our core belief we will attract to ourselves situations that match this imprint. Our subconscious will work day and night to make this a reality.

If, however, we have faulty, limiting beliefs such as, I am an unworthy person and nothing ever works out for me, this then becomes our inner resonance. And our subconscious, which works with whatever resonance has been imprinted, regardless of what it is, will attract to us situations which match these images.

I think it is plain to see that knowing and understanding what our subconscious imprints are is critically important if one wishes to have a happy, successful, fulfilling life.

Next month we will examine the methods of discovering what our inner subconscious beliefs are, but first I will give you a hint, and something to think about this month. Namely, that your life is a reflection of your subconscious patterns. Your life's limitations, as well as your life's successes, reflect quite accurately what you are vibrating subconsciously.

John Kehoe

The SubconsciousFor the next few months I am going to share with you a work in progressthe unedited first draft of my new book on Advanced Mind Power, to be released in 2010. The emphasis of this book is the alignment of the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, the body, and the soul. This following is a segment from the chapter entitled The Subconscious.

We have been designed with not just one mind but two. One mind, it seems, is not enough for what nature and destiny have in store for us. These two minds have very different functions, but they are designed to complement each other, to work together as a functioning team. This complementary work, however, rarely happens, and this is one of the reasons we have problems in our lives. Without harmony in the inner kingdom, there is bound to be dissent and disharmony in the many different ways that life unfolds.

The problem is with the conscious mind. The conscious mind, unless it has been awakened, remains uninterested in the subconscious. It sees no value in working with it. Even the subconsciouss existence is at best conceptual to the conscious mind; a working functioning relationship has not yet been established between the two minds. But with awakening comes the realization of the possibilities of such a relationship. At this point the conscious mind woos the subconscious. This is why it is so important to educate the conscious mind to its role in the human matrix.

The subconscious mind is very powerful, but quite different from the conscious mind. The conscious mind, as you will remember, seeks out Inventory, knowledge and meaning. The subconscious mind, on the other hand, does not seek out Inventory, but receives its mandate and imprints from its interpretation of the content and focus of the conscious mind. What the conscious mind thinks about and focuses on will be the material that the subconscious works with, and that is why we also call the conscious mind Guardian to the Gates of the Subconscious. It is the conscious minds function to be discerning about what thoughts it thinks, knowing that whatever its focus and attention is on will eventually enter into the subconscious.

As we awaken, we train the conscious mind to take this Guardian of the Gates of the Subconscious seriously, and we train ourselves to think only thoughts and images that we would want the subconscious to pick up. There is a very intimate relationship between these two minds, and as the conscious mind gains respect for this relationship, it will work accordingly.

The subconsciouss mandate and function is simply to resonate according to the energetic images that reside within it. It does not choose which beliefs or images it will hold, nor does it judge or censor what it receives. Like neurons wired together because of constant traffic, the subconscious accepts content delivered to it by repetition and feeling. Repetition and feeling are two of the methods we use to reach the subconscious. Whatever the conscious mind thinks about regularly will be picked up by the subconscious and imprinted within. Repetition and deep feeling are what it is looking for and it will seek these out. If your thoughts are about abundance and success, it will pick these up. It will manifest prosperity just as easily as lack, and health just as easily as sickness. If your thoughts are about scarcity, that is what it will pick up. If they are of fear, it will pick up this too. Whatever blueprint resides within our subconscious as an energy vortex becomes the attracting process by which experiences happen to us in our life. To understand this is to understand something great.

The conscious mind is also the holder to the will. This is another interesting difference between the two minds, as the subconscious mind has no will or volition of its own. It is passive in what it receives, and acts upon the Inventory it receives from the conscious mind. In fact, you could say that all of Mind Power is based upon the receptivity of the subconscious to suggestion and instruction.

More to be revealed

John Kehoe

Subconscious Blockages - Part IIA fabulous affirmation I often use is My subconscious Mind is my partner in success. I like sharing this affirmation and encouraging my Mind Power students to use it as well, for several reasons. Firstly, by saying my subconscious mind we remind ourselves that we do in fact possess such a faculty. The subconscious mind is not some vague new age concept, but a real part of who you are. Saying so over and over reminds you again and again of its existence.Secondly, it's a partner. A partner is someone who helps you accomplish your goals. Two people can accomplish more than just one. So too can you accomplish more when you harness this part of yourself. Thirdly, the word success is a powerful word to have vibrating in you at a subconscious level. When you repeat this affirmation it resonates three important themes within you.

You are the one who decides what your inner vibration will be. Your subconscious can only work with the material that reaches it through the conscious mind. If through neglect, your subconscious resonates with a number of limiting beliefs about a certain area of your life (i.e., money, relationships, health, etc.), then no matter how hard you work or how hard you desire to achieve your goal, you are unlikely to do so. It then becomes obvious that knowing and understanding what your subconscious believes is crucial in achieving success.

Now since we don't have a conscious awareness of what is in our subconscious mind, we have to approach it in a roundabout way. We do this through a creative analysis of our life. Mind Power teaches that our life will always reflect the inner patterns we have within us at a subconscious level. So to understand your inner patterns, look at your life. Your life will tell you a lot if you have the courage and honesty to look at it objectively. This is not as easy to do as it might seem. Most of us are so preoccupied with our lives, so intent upon succeeding and doing the right thing, that using our life as a mirror to the subconscious seems well, a waste of time and effort. And besides, who amongst us is willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, the reason we're not seeing results in a certain area of our life has nothing to do with others or the outside reality, but in fact everything to do with us. Hard to swallow but true, and taking this approach will teach us a lot.

If you have used Mind Power regularly you will have noticed how powerful and extremely effective it is in manifesting your goals. It is the greatest tool we have in achieving happiness and success. But each of us has areas where Mind Power seems to not be as effective. It seems to work ninety percent of the time, but that ten percent is where we question ourselves asking, Why doesn't it work here? Well actually it would were it not for your subconscious imprints blocking and sabotaging y