Ducks in a row: Power lies in aligning your heart and head

Is there something more powerful than brain power, when it comes to making your business work? So often, people are raised to think their way through most situations, with the implication that we should stop feeling so much and use our heads more.

I love to read and ponder what Socrates, Plato, Nietzsche have to say about the truth of the human condition. But we’ve blown past one of the most fundamental truths: We have to have our hearts and our brains in literal harmony to be our most powerful and productive (and human) selves. Scientific research now proves this.

The Institute of HeartMath, which has 17 years of work under its belt, has found that the heart is the largest generator of electrical and magnetic energies in the body. The heart produces the largest rhythmic electromagnetic field of any of the body’s organs. Its electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity generated by the brain and its magnetic field is 5,000 times greater.

We’ve been conditioned as a mind-dominated culture to believe that emotions are inappropriate and ineffective in our professional lives. In truth, the most powerful source of our inner power lies in the heart and in our ability to experience and manage our emotions.

To help the brain to begin seeing and acting from a clear, logical perspective, it’s necessary to consult the heart, and it is often a variety of emotional elements that need clearing and clarifying. The heart’s magnetic field — some unresolved emotional component of fear or self-doubt or some little old memory of things going south — keeps the system from delivering the most powerful performance. Once the emotional component is brought into clarity, the heart and brain come into alignment and there is no stopping the force of that talent, insight, even brilliance.

My advice to you? Go out of your mind. And check your heart. Then get them aligned. Think how powerful you will be when you’ve got both those energy forces going in the same direction! Read more!

Living Your Passion

Every rule in the book can be broken except one: Be who you are and become all you were meant to be.
-- Sidney Harris

People interested in peak performance know that the first and foremost consideration for clarity is this - are you pursuing your deepest passion? Are you heeding the still small voice that gives you the same clear message year after year about what you are to be doing and yearn to be doing?

All too often, many of us trade our passion for what seems to be the sensible thing to do. "Be sensible." We do what we think we should and lose our aliveness. We worry that what we want is beyond our reach, that we're not smart enough, we don't have the right schooling, that what we want sounds silly and our friends and family will certainly not agree. These false beliefs have seeped into the pores and cells of each and every client I've seen over the last 23 years. And these clients are usually the brightest and best. But the self-doubts, the fears, and the prescriptions of others to keep yourself in your place have taken their toll.

We must know and trust that if our still small voice is urging us to do something, the universe will support us when we take action. Let me repeat that - when you know and trust what your knowing tells you are to be doing with your life, the universe absolutely will support you in this endeavor. Everything lines up, for it is the thing you are here to do. Listen to your inner voice - it rings clear and its telling you the truth!

Jean Houston's study of 55 of the most creative people in the U.S. revealed interesting commonalities. Each was familiar with their interior world and believed its ideas and images could spark their projects - and followed its urgings.

Know you are here for a purpose. It's important. This purpose serves the world and serves you - with passion, joy, enthusiasm, excitement and power. Choose to honor what's in your heart by following its lead. The only other choice is to set limits. Limits create dull, passionless lives. Ask yourself, "What do I love to do? What brings me joy? What do I have fun doing? Joseph Campbell said, "When you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a track that has been there all the time waiting for you." I like that. Read more!

What it takes to Survive -- and Thrive

I'm not addicted to too many things, well . . . not really. But I do like to read my Newsweek magazine each week. I look forward to its arrival in my mail box and I always start at the very back page to read "The Last Word" by either Anna Quindlen or George Will. They see the world through quite different lenses, and I do like to imagine how they came to such divergent conclusions. I exercise my tolerance muscle, or lack thereof, when I disagree.

An article that caught my eye was about what it takes to survive, given the recent airline crash into the Hudson River in New York City. All the points they mention about survival also apply literally and metaphorically to the business world as well. Why do some people walk away from a plane crash or thrive after a job loss, while others seem to fold in and lose themselves?

Here's what really caught my attention since it goes hand in hand with the work I do with aligning your thoughts (and your physiology ) with what it is you really want to happen for your thriving success.

Quoted from Newsweek, February 2, 2009: excerpt from Dr. David Spain, Stanford Medical Center

After two years of research, I discovered that everyone has a crisis personality - a Survivor IQ - that they marshal in a moment of adversity: a mindset and ways of thinking about a situation. The best survivors and thrivers understand that crisis is inevitable, and they anticipate adversity. Understanding that even misfortune gets tired and needs a break, they're able to hold back, identify the right moment and then do what they need to do. Psychologists have a clunky term for this: active passiveness. It means recognizing when to stop and when to go. In a critical sense, doing something can mean doing nothing. Action can be inaction, and embracing this paradox can save your life.

I would like to add that one's deep, inner sense of safety and confidence in the world is a tremendous factor in whether a person can possess any ability to assess when it’s time to do nothing or time to take decisive action. In crisis, only a brain not flooded with panic and fear can make any discernments of clear thought. Unconscious beliefs such as “I’m not safe,” “The world is always out to get me,” “I never get a fair shake” leave one feeling vulnerable at best and absolutely paralyzed or panicky when something critical calls for the best you have.

It’s important to get to know your unconscious beliefs –- you can’t know what you’re dealing with until you get them into the light of the day. Energy Psychology methods can easily help you transform these beliefs into positive, confident ones. It can save your life. Read more!

Believing In Your Success Makes It So

We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are.
-- Anais Nin

I saw the movie "Doubt" a few nights ago and was so moved by this thought-provoking film that I went right home and began journaling. I wrote about the complexity of perception and reality, of what we deem "right and wrong," of moral certitude threatening the reality of the heart and flexible considerations. Did Philip Seymour Hoffman's Father Flynn take advangtage of the vulnerable boy, its first black student, Donald Muller? Or was he taking a special interest to love and guide him amidst the dangerous waters of his situation? Meryl Streep's sister Aloysius rules with the iron-handed assurance of unwavering discipline and installation of fear. She always knows what is right. Was she?

We now know that Belief, yes, what we Believe, actually creates our Reality. Perception is through our own lenses. We have known this for a long time. Anais Nin said it well at the beginning of the writing. Norman Vincent Peale knew what he was talking about in his "The Power of Positive Thinking." Our thinking is Powerful! Now in the 21st century, we actually have the science to back up the knowlege that Belief creates your reality.

I urge you to visit Bruce Lipton's book, "The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles," Bruce H. Lipton, 2005. Also please note Dr. Masaru Emoto's work entitled, "The Hidden Messages in Water," Masaru Emoto, 2001 (Japan), 2004 (USA). The scientist in you will be marveling at how our beliefs create literal chemical synaptic changes in our body's functioning. Dr. Emoto shows pictures that display how your belief and emotional attitude toward water( whether loving or hateful) actually changes its crystals from beautiful and symmetrical to ugly and asymmetrically harsh.

Imagine how our own thoughts could shift to create a more supportive, vibrant, powerful, productive, successful reality for ourselves and for those around us. Check out the science of Belief. And if you aren't interested, well just take a look at how things have manifested in your life. Really, how did your success come about? Believing makes it so. In Doubt, we are left not really knowing what is the truth - at least that is what my lenses left me to believe. What do you believe? Whatever it is, it is so. Read more!

Mental Blocks for Business Success - Fear of Success, Part 2

The first key to reaching the results you want is to quickly identify your blocking beliefs.

I find a special joy in working with Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) because it allows me to do just that -- to find a plethora of precise blocking beliefs easily and comfortably, without any big effort on my client's part. EFT allows me to use all the nuggets my client tells me outright, along with all that I "hear" underneath what my client does not say. I can suggest things out loud, insert my own intuition, and synthesize many things without it feeling like I'm rushing the process. EFT done artfully allows the client to feel fully heard without having to have the verbal skills to make that happen. Blocking beliefs are identified very quickly.

Step 2, of course, is clearing the blocking beliefs and getting on with the business of success!

My business clients want results! Period. They don't want a long process. The vast majority do not want or need to sit and talk through a lot of stories of their life. They want to clear the blocks and get back out there with a more prosperous business and more personal satisfaction.

"Joe" is a very successful businessman. He has been very successful not only at sales but at developing a wide variety of company functions that support the community and other businesses. Joe also happens to have a mother who is very competitive with him regarding success. They're both in the same business; in fact, Joe began his career working as a youing man for his mother's company. A lot of people start their careers by being brought into the family business. It's a wonderful opportunity to give your children!

Years later, however, if the son happens to start outproducing the mother -- well, most mothers would be proud as punch. But not so in this case. Joe's mother starts making jabs at him, begins to find a plethora of ways to sabotage Joe's work and often his reputation. It finally came down to Joe having to make a very tough decision - and he left the very successful business he had been instrumental in creating to begin again - alone. And through hard work, he became successful again.

So what's the problem, you say? Well, nothing that's apparent. Joe is successful once again. But there is a non-conscious sabotage going on that no one can see. It's so unapparent, that it is perplexing to Joe. So he comes in and we talk awhile. (It's helpful for all of us to have someone else hearing the story with a different set of ears.) We do some tapping around the area of; "if I become REALLY successful as before, my mother will find another way to hurt me," and other things.

Rejection is a difficult thing for all of us. And rejection by a parent is particularly hard. It goes against all that we are wired for to feel safe, loved, and comfortable. The tapping was able to loosen up some of that "wired" script that he would not be safe if he became a huge success. It's why I love EFT so very much. It doesn't put anything on anybody. There are no rules about the way you should be. It merely - and powerfully - clears the fear or whatever block is in the cellular structure, and you are free to make the choices that you want. Joe was free - to be hugely successful, to hide if he so wished - free to do whatever was his desire. It's called Emotional Freedom Technique. You are free from any emotions that would hinder you from pursuing what is your path, your passion.
Here's to your free pursuit! Read more!

Mental Stumbling Blocks for Business- Fear of Success, Part I

Business people have a wide laundry list of stumbling blocks that can handily sabotage their success. Just this week a solo entrepreneur (let's call him Bill) came in to talk about his desire to have greater success in his selling. It did not take long before he stated that his father was not able to provide very well for him and his four siblings. This client was well aware that his own father felt bad about this. Bill thought if he was more successful than his father it would certainly make his 75 year old father feel even more inadequate. Bill said this was a tape that just kept running over and over inside the recesses of his mind. He did not realize, however, how this tape put the brakes on his sales.

Are these blocking beliefs conscious for most people? No. Most people have fears of success that are completely unknown to them. For Bill, being a conscientious, sensitive middle-child son, he would never want to do anything to hurt his father's feelings, or, for that matter, be viewed unfavorably by his father.

We used some creative EFT to release the stuck blocking beliefs and in 20 minutes the many aspects of this block were gone.

This is one of many classic examples of "Fear of Success" themes that keep people unconsciously selling within a lower comfort zone than what they profess to want. Bill knew intellectually that his father was proud of him, but his gut, his non-conscious self, was in conflict about making his father proud and at the same time not feeling he could be more successful than his dad. His blocking belief and emotion made it seem mandatory to "protect" his father and maintain a lower sales comfort zone.

It's essential to ask yourself two important questions:

1. What do I really want for myself? Be specific.

2. What might be keeping me from not wanting to go there?

One good method to begin identifying what's really supporting your sabotage of success is a "stream of consciousness" writing. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write as fast as you can about any and every thought about reasons you would not want to achieve the success you talk about. You'll be amazed at what you uncover! Your list may look like a litany of thoughts that have, in fact, convinced your non-conscious self to make sure you don't succeed. Or at a minimum, these thoughts make success extremely hard work.

In 22 years of working with private clients, it's apparent that getting to the blocking beliefs very quickly is the first key in blasting them out and getting to the results you want. I'll talk about the second key in an upcoming blog. Thanks for listening and talk with you soon! Read more!

Raising Your Business Vibration

The economy is tanking - we hear it around every water cooler, every TV show and within every conversation. And if you open up your investment mailings, well - need I say more! This is just the time to put the cutting-edge technology of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to the test. It is more essential than ever to rid yourself of negative beliefs and emotions that will literally set you up for sabotage and a personal and professional downward spiral.

If you aren't familiar with the burgeoning literature of how thoughts create reality, revisit the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know" ( 2005), re-read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, or read the latest research by Bruce Lipton and others about beliefs, thoughts and how they literally create a physiology for success or failure. I urge you to request a special report I wrote compiling research by many of the top scientists in this field of energy psychology. You can request this report on my website www.powerful-performance.com. The main thing to know is that you MUST learn how to create a success physiology if you want to not only survive well, but ultimately thrive in this latest economic turn.

This thriving is just not economic. It's also about thriving in your sense of joy and freedom in your day-to-day living. It's easy, almost contagious, to get pulled down the drain with others who are complaining aout the economy, bad-mouthing their jobs, or projecting a negative version for their future. Be careful that you don't unknowingly allow this to lower your vibration. You can use technologies like Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to rid yourself of negative thoughts, both the ones you know about and the unconscious beliefs you don't even know are running the show and stopping your success efforts! You can use EFT so that your body and mind and spirit develop a congruence to assist you toward all your goals for a satisfying life.

This is not mumbo-jumbo. This is hard science that too few people know about and particularly DO anything about. I encourage you to find out about this science because we now have these technologies you can use, most anytime, anywhere,to enhance your mood, your energy, clear your blocking beliefs, and instill powerful thoughts that will create a significant shift toward your success. I've been increasing the amount of time I use EFT with myself lately. It's made a huge difference in raising my vibration - creating a sense of "all is well" even if my retirement account reads a much lower number! I may have less money than the "papers" said I used to have, but I'm feeling good, feeling positive. It is this vibration of energy that is allowing me to make good decisions and proceed with a light heart and positive expectation for success. Read more!