“The Devil Makes Me Do It!”

By Gayle North, CH
Positive Change Coach

"I've described the power of the subconscious mind, but I want to emphasize that there is no need to consider the subconscious a scary super-powerful, Freudian font of destructive "knowledge."  In reality, the subconscious is an emotionless database of stored programs whose function is strictly concerned with reading environmental signals and engaging in hard-wired behavioral programs, no questions asked, no judgments made. " -  Bruce Lipton, author of The Biology of Belief

Do you wonder why it is so difficult for you to change your unhealthy habits with food, tobacco, gambling, shopping, internet pornography, or alcohol?

Do you find yourself repeating unhealthy patterns over and over even though you know that you are hurting yourself physically, emotionally, and/or financially by the behavior? Who is pulling your strings?  Who is pushing your buttons?  What makes you sabotage your good intentions?  I have had clients tell me it's almost as if, "The devil makes me do it." 

Look first to your mind. You know that your mind has two aspects: your conscious mind and your unconscious mind.  Together they are a dynamic duo! The conscious mind can think forward and backward in time while the subconscious is always operating in the present moment. 

If you are using your conscious mind to daydream, or create future plans, or thinking about something from the past, then your subconscious mind is on duty managing your behaviors without the need of conscious supervision.  You can count on it.

Bruce Lipton gives this example in his book, The Biology of Belief: "  Operating together, the conscious mind can use its resources to focus on some specific point such as the party you are going to on Friday night.  Simultaneously, your unconscious mind can be safely pushing the lawn mower around and successfully not cutting off your foot or running over the cat—even though you are not consciously paying attention to mowing the lawn."

Even though the two minds together are truly a phenomenal mechanism, here is how it can go awry.  The conscious mind is the "self": the voice of our own thoughts.  It can have great visions and plans for a future filled with love, health, happiness and prosperity.  However, while we focus our conscious attention upon those happy thoughts, who is running the show?  It is the subconscious that manages our routine affairs—precisely the way it was programmed to perform.  When we are not paying attention, the subconscious mind's behaviors may not be of our own choosing because most of our fundamental behaviors were downloaded during childhood and adolescence before we developed discernment.  

The behaviors and beliefs acquired in your past may not support your conscious mind goals or health.   Imagine what life would be like if our subconscious minds had been programmed in a culture of highly evolved, conscious, loving parents as well as a community of teachers and people who served as exemplary life-models who always expressed the most humane win-win philosophy.

Unfortunately, this happens for very few if any of us—and you can kick the jukebox when it doesn't play what you want it to, but it won't help.  And you might as well realize that the subconscious mind will not change a pattern or habit just because the conscious mind yells, or criticizes, or pleads for a change.  Engaging in any kind of a battle with the subconscious mind is as pointless as kicking the jukebox to "make" it change its play list. Your Unconscious Can Only Replay Your Old Habits!  That is its job!

Habits with food: When you were small, did your Grandma console you with cookies? Did some authority figure make you clean your plate before you were allowed to have desert?  As a consequence, years later, you continue to look for those cookies when you feel hurt or frustrated. You still clean your plate even though it may no longer be a good thing for you.

Let's look at smoking:  Most people try smoking when they are young.   Some of us persisted through the coughing, sputtering, dizziness, burning eyes—not to mention the awful taste—and repeated this behavior until the unconscious mind said, “OK, let’s download it and make it an automatic habit.”  From that moment you have become a “smoker”.  After it gets "downloaded" to the subconscious, even if you swear to yourself that you will no longer smoke, odds are that you will still find yourself wanting to reach for another cigarette because the conscious mind is no longer in control.  

The good news is that empowerment technologies are available today that make it easier to change the programs in your subconscious mind.   Some of the methods can be self applied and some require the assistance of a trained practitioner.   


Visit  www.PositiveChangeInstitute.com  for other articles. Call Positive Change Institute at (406) 837-1214 or to schedule a free consultation.

YOU CAN! Make Up Your Mind Now

By Gayle North

If you are still smoking or chewing tobacco, you probably do plan to stop in the future. Most people do stop, sooner or later.

Maybe you are waiting for a vague “something” to help you make up your mind. I hope this article will assist you to do just that – make up your mind. Because you can use your foresight and stop now before you burn up any more of your precious money and before the tobacco poisons do any more damage to your body, --- or you can wait for hindsight.

Ray Price waited until his hindsight took over. You may have seen his picture and the article about him on the front page of the Daily Interlake a few years ago showing him with the oxygen tube he had to wear all the time. Ray waited until his lungs were irreversibly damaged by emphysema to stop smoking. He said at one point he was using a nebulizer and puffing away on his cigarettes at the same time! His friend "the cigarette” cost him his beloved golf game, his breath, even the ability to shower himself, -- and then he made up his mind.

It’s was too late for Ray to recover his health but he stopped the poisoning and use the last three years of his life promoting programs to help people to stop smoking.  Appearing at schools wherever he could, his health permitting, he’d show kids what smoking did to him.

Johnny Carson’s death has been in the news, too, with a lot of commentary about his smoking habit. Even fame and money couldn’t provide an escape from the ravages of the habit. He had everything a person could want in life – except the health to enjoy it. His friend "the cigarette” slowly took it all away.

Smokers in denial about the dangers of their habit may point to elders who have used tobacco their entire life with, seemingly, no ill effect. But people who smoke into old age and die a natural death are extremely rare. The general consensus from 20 years of studies and research is that cigarettes are killers.

More Americans will die prematurely this year from smoking than all the Americans killed in 24 years of battle deaths from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Viet Nam War combined! Talk about chemical weapons of mass destruction!

The Center for Disease Control now says that on average, adult men and women shorten their lives by 13.2 and 14.5 years of life, respectively, by smoking.

The CDC also says that each pack of cigarettes results in $3.45 in medical costs down the road and another $3.73 in lost productivity. If we combine these costs with the $5.45 you pay at the local store, the cost for a pack of cigarettes is actually a whopping $12.63! And you already know about the other hidden costs of increased insurance premiums, damage to clothing, furnishings, and risk of fire.

If you smoke one pack a day for another month, you’ll be another month older, you will have wasted another $215 of your money, and you will have poisoned yourself with 600 more cigarettes - and your excuses will probably still be there. In a year that’s $2,400 and another 7,200 doses of cigarette poison.

If you smoke two packs a day, you can double those figures. Why not make candles out of your dollar bills and burn 10 of them each night? You could have some fun - and you won’t be poisoning yourself or suffering the high hidden costs.

Or you can wait until you earn the right to say “I wish I could have a second chance – I wish I would have known what I know now.” The cost of smoking can be computed financially, physically and emotionally, and your costs grow with each passing day.

Whatever your reasons for waiting – you know they are just excuses. Your loved ones who are increasingly concerned about you wish they could make up your mind for you – but they can’t. Only you can do this for yourself. Why not make up your mind and stop now?! Help is available. There are lots of ways to go about it – as we will explore in the next issue.

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Gayle North  offers Personal Coaching for Positive Change using recently developed empowerment technologies to clear mental and emotional blocks that keep people stuck in unhealthy habits and prevent them from performing at their highest potential  in school, sports, relationships, work and finance. Call 406-837-1214 to learn how you can STOP SMOKING IN ONE HOUR and for coaching in person or by phone.

…On Addictions Engage Your Inner Power to Change

By Gayle North

Positive Change Coach

“I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me.”   

George Bernard Shaw

There are principles involved in creating the positive change in your life.  As a Positive Change Coach, I employ techniques used to support medical intervention or the individual who wants to make changes with the assistance of educational coaching. 

 One applicable principle is this: “People are always making the best choices available to them in their personal map or model of the world.” (NLP Presupposition.)  This is true of anyone caught in the habitual loop of a compulsive behavior.   When the behavior was first learned, it may have seemed like a solution and only later  do you begin to see the addictive trap you set for yourself.

Often we see people trying to force themselves into compliance with a new goal by mistakenly giving themselves orders like,”You are not going to smoke anymore”, “Don’t smoke, don’t smoke, don’t smoke”. The more we repeat this kind of an order to ourselves or another person, the more ingrained the unwanted habit will become.

We cannot even interpret the statement unless we think about smoking first.  Once we think about smoking we will want a cigarette.  These types of statements actually hypnotize us and have the effect of intensifying our desire for the habit. To make matters worse, when we weaken and smoke a cigarette, we punish ourselves with defeating words like, “You are so weak,” or “You are so dumb, you know all the reasons you should quit smoking.”

Enlist your imagination.

Unless our imagination has been enlisted in the process so that we now see and define our self as a nonsmoker, there will be a struggle between the willpower and our imagination.  The imagination always wins those battles, so if we see ourselves as weak or dumb, we will create more of the behaviors that support those images of ourselves.

Discover your purpose or mission in life.

Discovering our purpose, mission, and capabilities supports us as we create a new life – a new way of being in the world. As we align our imagination and create new images - a new model of our life – these new images become the picture on the top of the box so we know what the puzzle is supposed to look like when it is finished.  Without this picture, putting the puzzle together is very difficult, if not impossible. In other words, if we are unable to imagine a life without our dependencies, we cannot manifest such a life in the physical world. Once our imagination is fully engaged, the limiting thoughts of our dependencies no longer dominate, and the picture of the new life becomes like a magnet attracting all of the pieces to it.

”Consciousness Changes Physics”  

The truth of this statement is demonstrated everyday as people give up lifelong habits using new empowerment technologies like NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Hypnosis – habits that some consider addictions.  Using these methods, most people make the changes with ease and comfort in contrast to the “no pain-no gain” philosophy that so perversely pervades our society and is the typical approach to personal change.

Resolve inner conflict

Resolving inner conflicts is another important piece of the personal growth puzzle.  What do we do when one part of us wants to do one thing, while another part of us wants us to do something else?  Using NLP we can reach a satisfying and comfortable resolution to inner conflict without compromising either part.

Discover the positive intention 

Discovering the positive intentions behind the behavior is an important aspect of the conflict resolution process. “Underlying every behavior is a positive intent”, is another NLP Presupposition.  It is usually a life changing discovery to realize the specific positive intent of the part of us that generates a behavior such as substance abuse or other forms of dependency. 

We are, perversely, used to beating up on ourselves and looking for evil intent or negativity within ourselves.  Most people feel a flood of compassion and appreciation for the part of themselves that has been generating these behaviors once they find out that it is really trying to produce, however misdirected, something positive for them.

Creating new supportive behaviors that serve the positive intent of the part that was generating the dependency behavior is another piece of the puzzle for positive change.  The creative part of ourselves, the part that is giving us the desire to make a change and express more of our potential in the world, can give us inspiration and instruction when we open up to the idea of adopting some new ways of satisfying our needs.

Recover from shame and guilt

Recovering from shame and guilt is another piece of the puzzle. “Shame is being recognized as a toxic emotion that binds people to their addictions and co-dependency.  Understanding how to rapidly and gracefully transform these destructive emotions into an empowering sense of self is key to moving into a new way of being.”   Heart of the Mind by Steve and Connirae Andreas

Change can be an elegant and gentle process, one in which the magnet of our highest possibilities is steadily drawn to the magnet inherent in our heart’s desire to become more of who we are …a way of being where things that are bad for us will not tempt us.

You Become What You Think About!

Your thoughts cause you to be…

Rich or Poor

Loved or Unloved

Happy or Unhappy

Attractive or Unattractive

Powerful or Weak

It is a psychological law that whatever you desire

to accomplish you must first impress upon your subconscious mind.

Rehearse Your Success! 

v Relentless, repetitive self talk will change your self-image.

v You can affect your subconscious mind with pictures of what you want and positive verbal repetition.

v You'll find that constant repetition carries conviction.

v Anything that changes your beliefs to fit your values changes your behavior.

v Begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.

v Self-suggestion makes you master of yourself.

vWhat you can picture yourself to be, you can become.

Stress "Dumbs You Down"

By Gayle North, CH

Positive Change Coach

"When we are under stress, we become less intelligent.  When stress is on-going, we shut off our growth, we shut off our immune system and we shut off our intelligence. "   - Bruce Lipton, Research Biologist and Author of "The Biology of Belief"

In school, we call it "exam stress".  What happens when a student is feeling stress during an exam?  You may have experienced it.  The ability to recall the information is mildly or severely weakened depending on the intensity of the stress.  In extreme cases, the student might feel like screaming or crying and might have an urge to run out of the room!

According to Dr. Lipton, "Teachers see it all of the time among students who "don't test well".  Exam stress paralyzes these students who, with trembling hands mark wrong answers because in their panic, they can't access cerebrally stored information they have carefully acquired all semester."  But you do not have to be a student to experience the effect of stress in your life. 

According to Dr Lipton, the human body detects environmental threats it sends a signal to the pituitary gland, the "Master Gland" which is responsible for organizing the 50 trillion cells of the body community to deal with the impending threat. 

This is the reason that stress makes you less intelligent.  If you are threatened by a challenging situation, your body will rally its resources to help you deal with the most immediate problem or danger!   These responses are controlled by your subconscious mind – and your subconscious mind is programmed by nature to protect you from the most eminent danger. Much of the blood that would be flowing through the internal organs and the brain is automatically redirected to the arms and legs – for your "flight or fight" state. 

PERCEPTION, PERCEPTION, PERCEPTION!

What runs the stress programs?  We know that all people do not respond in the same way to tests or exams – or to life.  What makes the difference??  PERCEPTION.

WHERE DO PERCEPTIONS COME FROM???

Certain perceptions are inherent in our programming as an organism.  We do not have to be taught to suckle, or to remove a hand from a hot stove.  The fear of falling and the fear of loud noises are also inborn.  Other perceptions, however, develop through our own unique and personal experience of the people and the world around us. 

One person may have experience that tells him that taking tests is an enjoyable challenge while another may develop a perception that test-taking is threatening, dangerous, and frightening.  The first person will look forward to test-taking and will be resourceful during the test.  The latter will have a fear reaction that causes difficulty in recalling the information needed for the exam.  For both, their experience will prove to them over and over again that their personal perception of exams is right/true/accurate.  They will have a hard time perceiving that they could have any other response.   

WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK?

The challenge is to discover the perceptions – especially the unconscious perceptions you use to define "who you are"  and "what you are and are not capable of".

WE CAN change the subconscious perceptions and beliefs that hold us back .  With each old erroneous perception we correct, we unfold more of who we really are – and have more joy to offer our loved ones and our world.  It's about time!

Gayle North is a Positive Change Coach who uses the latest "empowerment" technologies to cut the time it takes to improve self image, change eating habits, stop tobacco use, clear negative emotions, improve performance in school, sports, relationships, and more.  Visit  www.PositiveChangeInstitute.com  for other articles. Call Positive Change Institute at (406) 837-1214 or Toll Free at 1-866-To-Gayle to schedule your free screening.

Birth Your Success: WITH YOUR BELIEFS

By:  Gayle North, Positive Change Coach

“If you don’t believe that success is achievable for you, what would motivate you to go for it?”

If a student believes he/she is not smart or are not capable of making good grades, how much effort will they put into the class work?  Will they be confident and attentive and put their time and energy into learning with enthusiasm?

In contrast, consider the motivation level of the student who believes he/she is smart and capable of getting high grades, and believes that getting the good grades is beneficial for them.   How much effort will this student put into class work? 

“Beliefs open the door to excellence.  Beliefs are prearranged, organized filters to our perceptions of the world.  Beliefs are like the commanders of the brain. ” – Anthony Robbins

So if you want to be fit and healthy, start by assessing your beliefs. Examine your beliefs related to the goal.  If you believe you will just gain the weight back after taking it off, how motivated are you to take it off – again? 

Do you believe it is possible for you to enjoy living your life healthy and fit? Do you believe you can trust yourself to do what it takes?  Do you believe that you will maintain your new healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life? The answers to these kinds of questions will give you clues into your history of success or failure with your health goals.    

If you don’t think your positive change is possible, you may have occasionally made enough of an effort to be able to tell yourself and others that you “tried”.   If you level with yourself when you do that, you know that you went part way to “validate” your existing belief that the goal is impossible.   You might say to yourself or others,  “I really tried even though I didn’t think I could do it and I was right.”   “It is hard to imagine my life healthy and fit.”” I always gain the weight back again.”

If you don’t believe that you can trust yourself to do what it takes, you have a little work to do with your motivation strategies.  You may be thinking; ”It might work for other people but I can’t imagine that it would work for me.” “It’s too much work.” “I can’t change.” “This is just the way I am.”  “I can’t do it because ________.”

One reason we ask people to come in to Positive Change Institute for a free screening  before accepting them as clients, is to assess the negative programming they have in opposition to their goal so that we can recommend a strategy for their success.  To be permanently successful, these old beliefs will be replaced with new beliefs that support their true desire.       

YOU CAN CLEAR UP THIS DOUBT IN YOURSELF.  Doubt is just old programming that can be changed.  You deserve to be healthy and fit and you deserve to believe in yourself and in your ability to reinvent your body and your life in a way that pleases you.  Begin by noticing the beliefs that keep you stuck and pick some new beliefs you want to adopt that support you better.  You are part way there already when you do this!

If you have old negative beliefs or habits, consider hypnosis coaching to un-hypnotize yourself from the old self defeating patterns and reprogram your subconscious mind with more supportive beliefs and behavior patterns.  

If you would like to explore your beliefs related to attaining your goals, write to me at gayle@PositiveChangeInstitute.com   or call me at 406-837-1214 and I will be happy to provide you with worksheets to help you get started.       

YOU CAN develop beliefs that open the door to your success in any project or endeavor.

Gayle North is a Positive Change Coach offering coaching to help you make fast, easy, lasting positive changes so that you can enjoy life fully.  Improve your test scores, control your weight, let go of compulsive habits, improve your golf game.  Call Positive Change Institute at (406) 837-1214 or Toll Free at 1-866-To-Gayle to schedule your free screening.  Visit  www.PositiveChangeInstitute.com  for other articles.                                 

  

5 Healthy Ways Get Unstuck & SUCCEED

 “These techniques do not create peace and confidence; they simply help us to rediscover and enjoy the inner calm and certainty that is always there waiting for us to notice it  - when we stop disturbing it with negative beliefs and self criticism.” – Gayle North

1. Become Your Own Best Friend: Negative self talk/self criticism is usually the underlying cause of anxiety. The most important thing you can do is to become aware of your negative self-talk and replace it with the kind of encouraging words you would offer a good friend. Adjust your beliefs to support your goals. Let go of defeating beliefs and affirm positive beliefs about you.

2. Breathe-To help Your Body Relax: Use an enhanced breathing technique such as the “Breath into Bliss” technique.  Deep breathing soothes us physically, mentally, and emotionally.  It is easy to learn and you can find directions on the opposite side of this handout.  Use this technique to fall asleep at night or as a daily practice to keep you calm and resourceful. 

3. Hypnosis for R&R:  Achieve even deeper relation and replace your stress habits through hypnosis.  Have a half hour guided hypnosis session in person or turn off the phones, darken the room and give yourself a home session on CD for a great escape from the incessant mind chatter and the to do lists.  With regular hypnosis sessions, you will eventually create new calm responses to life challenges great and small.  Many different choices of hypnosis sessions on CD are available at PCI.

4. Emotional Freedom Technique/Meridian Tapping: This is a tool you can use for anxiety release.  You will enjoy more inner peace instantly and increase yourself acceptance with this method.  USE DAILY for a cumulative effect.  Use it to replace anxiety with peace and acceptance, to enjoy better sleep and to stay in a   state of self-love so that you naturally want to eat healthier, get proper exercise, drink the right amount of water and listen to your home sessions, etc.

5. Double Check Your Nutrition: Make sure you are getting enough nutrients like B Vitamins, D Vitamins, Omega 3-Oils, and Iodine.   Do a little research on anxiety in a nutritional encyclopedia such as “Nutritional Healing” by Bach. Your research will reveal that low levels of certain nutrients can create a state of anxiousness or depression in the body and emotions.  Conversely, proper amounts of these and other nutrients can strengthen you for the ups and downs of life.