I recently attended a seminar where I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a personal development tool of great benefit to me. I have come to realize the importance of having a balanced life, caring for myself as well as for others and believing that I am worthy of success.

I have discovered that I had inbuilt negative barriers which I learned from my parents as a young child, from my mother as a young adult and also from society which were preventing me from achieving my goals. The good news is that these negative beliefs can be unlearned and a more positive outlook adopted. Once beliefs and behaviours are adapted, your results will change.

I have improved my memory, become a better listener and also developed the art of small talk.

All of these changes are uplifting, enlightening and empowering. My outlook is more positive and I now believe I have the power to live the life I have always wanted.

The great news is that not only am I benefiting from the power of personal development, but I am also in a position to create an income for myself. You see, Success University not only enables you to grow through personal development but is a network marketing company offering step-by-step guidelines to ensure member's success.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Empower Magazines. This magazine has been designed to offer information on wealth creation, providing a cash-flow strategy and a personal development program. The magazine is very professional, contains personal stories of success and also includes a CD/DVD outlining the company. By introducing this magazine to your friends/acquaintances you can create a network marketing business generating income.

More recently I undertook a course on setting goals. I learnt the art of writing positive affirmations concerning all areas of my life. But even more exciting is by putting music to your affirmations (called musivation) you are able to recall your affirmations easily and immediately feel the power of being in a positive state. I took my main affirmation with relation to Success University goals and put it to a jingle that I have known since childhood. I was amazed at how many times throughout the day this jingle popped into my head, it was almost constant. How powerful do you think this jingle is to my mindset? It uplifts and empowers me every time I hear it, which must be around 100 times a day.

The benefits I have achieved through personal development have been extremely positive. My outlook on life is always positive, I am totally focused on my goals and I now know where I am going.

If you are stuck in a rut, tired of your job or always focusing on the negatives in your life, do yourself a favour and consider personal development. Go to the bookstore and purchase a book on personal development (I'm currently reading a book by Jack Canfield titled "How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be"). I undertake online courses in personal development, read something uplifting on a daily basis and focus daily on my goals. If I can do it, you can too. Make 2008 your year to grow.

There are thousands, if not millions, of people who are trying to create a better life for themselves and their families. They put their best foot forward and give it everything they've got yet just seem to fail continually.

Why is this so?

The truth of failure, when you try your hardest and are prepared, is low self esteem. You cannot achieve anything of value for yourself if you do not appreciate, respect and love yourself. If you have a self-image that does not support you then no-one else will support and neither will life!

I'm sure you know of someone who sells themselves short in a relationship. There are many people who put up with unloving relationships and relationships that neither support nor encourage them. Most people keep their dreams hidden from the world and even those closest to them. They will not set goals to achieve them due to fear and apathy. What these people lack is a basic belief in themselves and their abilities.

Is there something you would like to achieve in your life or improve but you lack the belief that it is possible for you? Do you see other people succeed and believe that others can do but you can't?

We all suffer from some form of self-doubt. This is a necessary part of the human condition. Self-doubt can keep us safe. It is designed to keep us safe. You have a great deal of doubt that you could walk on water and therefore do not drown. You doubt that you are capable of walking on fire and therefore do not get burned. However, many of our doubts are unfounded and have their roots in the soil of low self-esteem!

If one human has achieved something great then other human beings can achieve it also. If you have dreams and desires rejoice. Ask yourself if you believe God would have given you such dreams and desires if you were incapable of achieving them? Do you think the Creator would be so cruel? You must realise that you would not have these dreams if you were not capable of achieving them!

However, you must learn the skills you need to learn to achieve your goals and make your action worthwhile. But, before you acquire the necessary knowledge and skill to complete the task of achieving your goals it is of major importance that you first believe that you are capable of achieving them.

To build faith and the belief that your goal will be accomplished you must first build faith and belief in yourself. You must build your confidence in your abilities and strengthen your self esteem. This will radically alter your self-image and you will start to view yourself as a winner and someone who can achieve his goals.

Here are four easy to follow steps to building your self esteem and changing your self-image.

1. The first step to high self esteem is to stop berating yourself. We all criticise ourselves. Some do it constantly. This is one of the most damaging things you can do with your thought processes. Be compassionate with yourself when you make mistakes, we all make them. Congratulate yourself that regardless of how many mistakes you have made in the past or how many hurtful experiences you encountered you were able to deal with them and are still here today and getting on with your life.

When you find yourself berating yourself then stop and reverse it. Look for the things that you did right in the situation. If you hadn't have dealt with the situation in the way you did might it have turned out worse?

2. Start to give yourself forgiveness for your previous short-comings. Forgive yourself for any past mistakes you may have made. Write them down if you want and read over them. Take the paper and tear it into tiny pieces, Then throw it away or go outside and let the wind take it for you. This is symbolic of you releasing the past and moving on.

3. Give yourself some approval. Look for the things you have done correctly. Review all the things in life that you have achieved both recently and in the long past. Allow yourself to accept that you have done things right. Give yourself compliments when you achieve even the smallest of objectives. When you complete a goal or obtain an objective reward yourself.

4. Learn to love yourself. Each day for 5 or 10 minutes stand in front of a mirror. Look into your own eyes and say out loud "I love and accept you just as you are." In the beginning this simple exercise can be extremely hard to do. Many people have become so accustomed to beating themselves up that they have forgotten how to nurture themselves. When you do this exercise you will find thoughts and feelings arising that contradict what you are saying. This is the perfect opportunity to release these past negative, false beliefs.

When such thoughts arise do not try to suppress them. Instead allow them to surface and allow yourself to fully feel the emotions that are attached to them. This is vitally important. Suppressing an emotion will keep it active and the thoughts that are linked to it. By allowing the feeling to be fully expressed in your body it will naturally dissipate. If you find some stubborn feelings and thoughts persisting then stop for a moment and give them some real thought. Is that really true about you? Is it possible that the belief you now hold could be incorrect?

When you follow these simple exercises you will build your self esteem to heights unimagined. When you increase your love and approval for yourself your life just starts working. You will find improvements begin almost immediately with little or no effort from you. A by-product of this increased self esteem will be better relationships. Your closest interpersonal relationships will benefit greatly from the work you are doing and it will all happen naturally and effortlessly. It is by loving yourself that you truly learn to love other people. When you have respect for yourself other people are tuned into this and it sends them a clear unconscious message about how you want to be treated. Treat yourself with respect,, love, compassion and kindness and others will treat you that way also.

Learning the steps to achieving the life of your desire is an exciting journey. Many people unfortunately do not live this kind of life. Only 3% of our population are actually living the life they have designed the way they want it to be. How can you get on board and begin the exciting journey towards what it is you desire? Easily the only way to be do have anything you desire is to begin taking some kind of action.

Without the willingness to put action behind your goals then you are only dreaming of what you would like to be do have. You can never achieve anything without action. If someone has figured out how to achieve their goals without putting any action into it; then I would love to know and I am sure so would others.

Personal development can be an exciting journey; plus it will also empower you in areas that could use some improvement. If you work on your personal development on a daily basis it will assist you in improving:

* self confidence

* self esteem

* courage

* beliefs

* positive outlook on life

* spirituality

* Getting rid of procrastination

Anything you wish to improve or develop a new habit personal development can be an exciting journey towards a new beginning. Yes it will be a new beginning because even though you have been living; chances are you have not been truly living. I know before I became involved with personal development I was just plainly existing. All I did was go to work, pay the bills and do it all over again. I did not have a purpose in life.

A life without a purpose can be very boring. We all desire something that we strive for so that we do not become frustrated with life. We tend to get bored easily if we are not challenged. However keep in mind that your conscious mind wants you to remain where you are today; because you are comfortable. Anything that causes change or makes you uncomfortable whether it will improve your life; the subconscious is going to attempt to scare you so that you do not move forward.

Yes you want to improve your life and begin your exciting journey towards what you desire. However you are going to have to learn not only your conscious mind; you will also have to learn how to ignore the people who will constantly tell you that you are crazy to change your life. When I left my government job after 8 years, everyone I knew kept telling me I was crazy to be leaving a job like that. However I pursued my goals and continued towards what it is I desire, and guess what it is paying off today.

Houston, Texas, famous for manufacturing oilfield equipment, is a world class Gamma city. Energy, the aeronautics industry, and its famous shipping channel are major contributors to its city’s economy. Starting a personal development coaching business in Houston can be a good idea, as you will be helping so many people find themselves and put them on the right track towards achievement and success.

Tips for Starting a Personal Development Coaching Business:

It is necessary to determine if you will be operating on your own or if you will be hiring the services of other certified and experienced coaches. Find out and analyze your competitors to get a clearer picture of the business and to correctly structure your services in such a way as develop a competitive edge as well as determine the duration of sessions and the rates per session.

It is always recommended to form a legal entity because it offers limited liability protection, so hire a lawyer and decide on an appropriate name, too. Make sure you get required licenses and permits as well as insurance coverage. Estimate start-up costs, arrange for the finances and draft a business plan with clearly defined goals. A good plan will also act as a performance assessment tool and a blueprint of all your day-to-day operations.

Decide on the kind of coaching you will be providing, face–to-face, via Internet and conferencing, or via telephone. Select the areas you will coach them in, such as spiritual coaching, parent coaching, business coaching, coaching them for promotions, sales and marketing coaching, accounting and bookkeeping coaching, and corporate coaching. Select an appropriate location and be sure that your establishment is located in a busy commercial area with easy access and ample parking space. Buy all necessary equipment, supplies, materials, Internet connections, and systems as per your needs. Invest in services and products that are designed to help new businesses succeed.

Hire suitably certified and genuinely motivated people with good listening skills, ability to aptly guide persons to achieve success, and who have experience with the techniques and principles of Neuro-Linguistic Programming to correctly guide the clients. Be sure to use all prescribed techniques to help their clients achieve what they seek.

Marketing and advertising your services is another area that must not be neglected. List your business in the Yellow Pages; advertise regularly in the newspapers and on the radio. Have a business website listing all your services, the rates you will charge, and if there are options such as classroom coaching or a much less personal telephone coaching. Be sure your site is easy to navigate and is keyword-optimized. You can also offer a free newsletter, which can generate leads for you to follow up on.

These are just a few facts regarding starting a personal development coaching business in Houston.

Dear Tristan,

I’m a bit confused as to what personal development means and what is involved with it. How is personal development different than self-help, self-improvement, human potential or personal growth? Can you help clarify this for me?

Thank you,

Jeanette Merlow

___________________________

Hi Jeanette,

I agree with you. There’s quite a bit of confusion in the field as to what personal development is exactly—and what it is not. I shall do my best at clarifying what personal development is for you.

What is Personal Development?

Personal development is the enhancement of specific life skills which are necessary to facilitate happiness and success in one’s personal life. These life skills are the basic building blocks that form all the success or failures that you have in life. Personal development skills become the foundation from which all your achievements in life flow from and it has a direct relationship with winning and life success.

One key distinction between personal development skills and other skills that you might possess is that personal development skills are used 24 hours each day, whereas you may only be using your programming skills eight hours a day in the capacity of your employment. When you talk to someone, you are using personal development skills. What you decide to eat is personal development. When you investigate your feelings—that’s personal development. Even managing your sleeping habits belongs in personal development.

Personal development skills are life skills that must be honed in order to reap the benefits of a life worth living. The investment of time in developing yourself personally leads to a peak performing individual who lives a more fulfilling life than those who do not choose to develop themselves.

What Personal Development is Not

Personal development does not involve diagnosing or treating an illness or injury. There seems to be a general confusion in the personal development field concerning what it is and what it is not and since there are so many books at bookstores and libraries that miscatagorize mental illness books into the self-improvement section of the store, let me clarify that point. A key characteristic of someone who wants to practice personal development is that they are generally healthy and normal individuals who are able and willing to move forward in their lives. In other words, they want to become peak-performing individuals.

On the other hand, a person who is not able or willing to move forward in their life and pursue happiness and life success due to past illness, traumas or injuries that prevent them from doing so are in need of treatment or therapy to aid in their recovery. These are individuals who are not performing normally and their goal is to be performing at a normal capacity. In other words, they want to recover.

Personal Development’s Many Other Faces

In the scope of my own coaching practice, I view personal development, self-improvement, and personal growth as all the same thing. I view self-help as slightly different than personal development in that self-help topics tend to be less focused on personal growth and more on remedying a certain condition, hence, that is why there are many books in the self-help sections of bookstores and libraries that focus on treatment of problems, rather than on creating peak performance.

The Ten Components of Personal Development

The definition of personal development will vary from person to person, but through my experience as a personal development coach and former police officer, I’ve discovered that there are in fact ten key areas that comprise an individual’s peak performance. These areas of focus are:

1. Life Purpose: Having a life purpose gives meaning to all the activities and goals that you set for your entire life. We all know how to use up the time that we have in life, but unless we give meaning to those activities that occupy our time, then our lives will utterly be without meaning.

Subsections of Life Purpose Include:

* Legacy
* Values
* Passions
* Talents
* Spirituality

1. Goal-Setting: Goals are the stepping stones that allow you to reach your legacy in life. Any successful person out there knows that In order to achieve personal success in life, you must challenge and stretch yourself to accomplish more than your status-quo. Goal-setting is a powerful success skill that enables you to win in the game of life.

Subsections of Goal-Setting Include:

* Visualization
* Strategic planning

1. Productivity: The problem that many people make when they set goals is that they start cutting corners to get what they want and they end up bitter and discouraged in the end because goal-attainment doesn’t work that way. It’s like someone who wants to stand on the podium and receive a gold medal in the Olympics without putting in the time to train. While we can’t take shortcuts to reach our goal, we can shorten the time it takes to reach those goals by being more productive. Successful people are masters of productivity and it’s no mistake that they are able to achieve more in less time than most people out there. Learning how to be productive and making the best use of the time that you have is an important part of personal development.

Subsections of Productivity Include:

* Time Management
* Organization
* Prioritizing
* Delegating
* Getting things done

1. Motivation: If goals are the path towards personal success, then motivation is the fuel to get you there. Motivation is a necessary aspect of personal development because nearly all of us know that a lack of motivation considerably hinders our goal attainment process. Learning how to master your motivation can help you reach your success faster than you ever thought possible.

Subsections of Motivation Include:

* Inspiration
* Role-models
* Accountability partners
* Pain-pleasure principles

1. Self-Awareness: Emotions can either empower or hinder our performance. Emotions act as a thermometer that tells us the quality of experience that we are living. Therefore it is necessary to not only understand our emotions, but also to learn how to use them effectively. Self-awareness involves intrapersonal communication, which is the ability for you to really communicate with yourself and identify your inner wants and your needs.

Subsections of Self-Awareness Include:

* Emotional intelligence
* Responsibility
* Anger management
* Unconditional Love
* Intuition

1. Marketing: No matter how good you are at a given skill or how much you want to contribute to others, none it will matter if people don’t know about it. All the enormously successful people throughout history knew how to market themselves and it’s crucial for everyday life. If you are married or want to be someday, that involves marketing YOU. If you have ever gone through a job interview, then you were using marketing skills. Those who know how to market themselves or their products simply are afforded more luxuries than those who do not know how to market themselves, regardless of actual competency or skill levels by the mere fact that people are aware of them.

Subsections of Marketing Include:

* Marketing YOU
* Marketing services or products
* Networking

1. Physical Health: Your body is the vehicle that carries your thoughts and intentions into the real world. Therefore, you want to have a vehicle that is well-maintained and performing without problems. Keeping your body working optimally includes eating right, exercising and watching your stress levels.

Subsections of Optimal Health Include:

* Fitness
* Diet
* Sleep
* Stress

1. Relationships: The definition of synergy is the coming together of two or more entities with the purpose of creating more together than any one of them could have created on their own. All superior relationships in your life should involve synergy and creating synergy with other people involves the skills of empathy and communication. Life success is never a one-person project. It involves many people and it involves synergy.

Subsections of Relationships Include:

* Empathy
* Communication skills
* Negotiation
* Conflict resolution
* Interpreting body language

1. Leadership: Every successful person who has ever lived has been a leader in their respective fields. A leader is one who paves the way for others to follow and has the courage to stand out among the pack. A leader is a change agent and is flexible enough to roll with the unexpected events that come their way. They show others the path when that path is unclear.

Subsections of Leadership Include:

* Courage
* Decision-making
* Problem-solving
* Responsibility

1. Money Management: In order for personal success to happen, you have to reach financial freedom, which is the point at which you make enough money that you don’t have to worry about money. Money is energy and you need to learn how to manage that energy for optimal personal development

Subsections of Money Management Include:

* Entrepreneurship
* Delivering value
* Investing
* Money management

I hope that clarifies personal development for you.

For Passion and Purpose,

The doors were set to open for the first time at 5pm in time to catch the early birds for evening dinner. Amy was bustling and checking last minute details, but she knew everything was just the way it should be. Since Amy made the decision to open a restaurant her world took on a new dimension in all aspects and especially her morale. Numerous motivational tapes, reading great inspirational books and the support for her friends, family and personal coach prepared her for this evening. Her smile was so infectious that it was felt by all the employees and it appeared everyone was floating in tune to the soft music in the background. The first customers arrived and were guided to their table and after a few minutes allowing her guests to relax Amy when over wishing them a warm welcome and some light talk...

The evening was an amazing success and Amy toasting a celebratory glass of champagne with all her staff at around midnight when all the clean up was completed thanked them all for their support and to her self a big thank you of acknowledgment that she had made the decision to be and sent out that message to the universe loud and clear that she was in for the long haul.

John clocked into his job at the same time every morning and had been doing this for many years. For the past six months John had been attending a business course at the local college and had been encouraged by the sheer enthusiasm of the lecturers and clicked with all the materials he had been studying. Soon he told himself he would find the business he was sure would be the right fit for him, because he knew he had set the stage in motion for attracting the right fit. Every weekend John coached with the local chapter of the boy scouts that his son Luke was a member of and just loved the rallying and the feedback he was getting from the kids. The plus side to this was Luke had told him how proud of his dad he was and it was a great boost for Luke with his friends. At work John was called the team cheerleader because he always had a bright smile and a happy way about him encouraging his fellow workers all the time. Self improvement and personal development played a large part in his life and he knew that was the area he wanted to find his niche.

Above are two scenarios where personal development played strong supporting roles in the lives of just two people and no matter what career any of us has there is always tremendous benefits from continual exposure to motivational materials and then being able to implement what you learn in your daily life.

Being self-employed for many years has had its many ups and downs, oftentimes scary too but the rewards have also been tremendous in ways that could not have been achieved with a paycheck. Yes there is the comfort of a guaranteed income every week, but actually that guarantee is waning and each day thousands take that huge step into the ranks of the self-employed because they want more from life.

Those who are successful go beyond the distance and do more, give more, learn more, practice more than the ones who fail and you know in all great accomplishments from NASCAR to swimming the difference in first and second is normally a second or two but the difference in income is doubled by the winner...it pays to win and it pays to be self employed and it more than pays to be working a self improvement personal development positive mental attitude if you want to be successful and live the life of success. Do It.

When it comes to making changes for the better; there is no such thing as quick fix personal development. There are several successful people today who still use the principles taught in personal development. If you stop learning then you become stagnant. Personal development is a way of life it is not just a one time thing and then you never do it again.

If you want to lose weight you do not just go on a diet for a couple months and then go back to your old way of life of eating junk food and drinking soda and filling your body with the very things that made you overweight in the first place. No if you truly wish to keep the weight off then you learn how to develop new eating habits and exercise so that you can continue to live a long and healthy life.

People who have watched the movie "The Secret" have put the principles into use for a couple weeks and when they do not see any changes they lose their faith and quit believing in the law of attraction. If you are looking for a quick fix personal development you definitely will be disappointed. In order to be do have anything in this world you must do what it takes.

The most important thing is to know first of all what you wish to have. When you have that down on paper then you must learn how to control your mind and begin seeing yourself with whatever it is you desire. This takes persistence and time the important thing to remember is not to be discouraged if the first couple of times you attempt this you can not control your emotions the way you would like to. This is not a quick fix personal development life it is not a overnight fix. There is no such thing as something for nothing.

The ability to reach and influence your mind to help you achieve whatever you desire has a price and everyone who wishes to do so must pay that price. The price I am talking about is persistence there is no way to cheat believe me if there was everyone would be utilizing personal development in their lives. You and only you must decide whether or not the reward of your goal which you are striving for is worth the price to pay. No one can think the thoughts for you; you have to learn how to keep your thoughts on what you wish to experience and keep them off of your everyday life and financial worries. It is a simple process however it is very difficult to keep your mind focused on the things you desire especially when your outer world is in constant struggle or not designed the way you wish it was.

As you continue the process of personal development and learn how to influence your subconscious the way you want it to you will realize that you are a very powerful individual.

The power of personal development is available to everyone. It is available to you whether you understand its internal workings or not. There is no need to be skilled in self improvement to achieve amazing results from applying a few simple techniques from its mighty arsenal. You can, right now, begin to create miracles in your life without ever having to probe the depths of personal growth. Get ready now to learn the secrets of personal development, apply some of its simple techniques and perform miracles in your life!

There are people from every walk of life who are performing miracles everyday. You may have heard the stories of a woman lifting the full weight of a car to save her child or a man walking again after years in a wheelchair. Perhaps you have heard of the British man who's body miraculously cured itself of AIDS or the men and women around the world who have found their cancer dissolve. You may even have heard of stranger things happening in places like India and Tibet.

However, you may be unaware of the miracles that ordinary people, just like you and me, are performing all over the planet. Miracles like, turning financial ruin into avalanches of wealth and abundance, finding soulmates and healing illness. Miracles are happening right now where men and women are; rekindling failing or failed relationships; healing old emotional wounds that have been carried for decades; finally reaching all there long cherished goals.

Would you like to be one of them?

The power of miracles does not lie in some long and almost forgotten past of avatars and saints. Nor does it lie in some distant mystical land or with metaphysical warriors who had studied ancient hidden arts for decades. The power of miracles lies right here in the present. Your power is in the NOW!

The reason why so many people fail to gain results from tried-and-tested techniques such as visualization, affirmations, hypnosis, subliminal programming etc., is because they are constantly living in the past. They allow hurts from the past to impinge upon the present. Every negative thought or feeling that you have is based in the past. You developed that way of thinking and feeling because of something that happened to you in your past. You must learn to release these hurts.

The secret to performing miracles in your life is to get clear on what you want. There is no need to do anything else at all. This is the truth - if you were capable of thinking of only those things and situations that you want to have then they are the only thing you would ever get. Unfortunately, you tend to think negatively when you bring to mind those things that you desire. You permit your mind to dwell on thoughts and emotions that are connected to past experiences. You may think that because you have never achieved any goal you set that there is no point in trying again. You may have been hurt in relationships and thus you allow these episodes in your life to stop you from trusting and committing. You know yourself what pains you have endured in the past. Do you want to continue recreating them or would you rather break free?

A great universal truth that is known by many but not fully understood by most is this - your predominant thoughts, backed by belief or emotion, create your reality. Quantum physics has already told us that matter cannot exist without consciousness. This new science is now telling us that it is consciousness itself that is the very driving force behind the physical universe and everything that is in it. It goes further by stating that consciousness, through thought, actually collapses the quantum field of possibilities into just one reality - in other words your thoughts and beliefs make things real! You create your own world!

Therefore the first step to creating miracles in your life is to take full responsibility for everything that you have created so far - bad relationships, terrible jobs, unfilled potential or good relationships, great jobs and goal achievements etc. By taking responsibility you regain your power because if you did it then you can undo it or redo the same way or in a way that is more pleasing to you.

Look at how you were thinking in regards to the good things in your life - the things that you are happy with. I bet you do not have much negative thoughts and feelings around them. Now look at all the things in your life that are not how you want them to be. I bet you think in negative terms about those a lot. Also look at the things you do not have. Are you in a state of wanting to have them? Are you lusting after them or grabbing at them? If so, then you are affirming to yourself and your subconscious mind that you do not have them!

Begin to dissect your thinking by reviewing how you feel about things in your life. Your emotions are a great guide to what you are currently creating. When you are in a state of happiness and your emotions are postive you will find that it is because you are mentally focused upon the things that you want in life. When you are feeling negative emotions or feeling generally unhappy this is a very strong indication that you are mentally focused on the things in life that you do not want. When you do this you are infact creating more of these things, recreating them again or attracting them to you. When you find yourself in this state you can quickly change it if you start to direct your thinking towards the things that you do want. Once you do this you will feel your mood lightening and if you are persistent you will enter a happy state. This lets you know that you are back on track and thus attracting and creating the things that you do want in life.

Seek out ways to eliminate all the hidden negative thoughts and feelings that you are currently afraid to look at. We all have them! It is strange but things that are clearly apparent to other people about ourselves are hidden from us because we refuse to acknowledge them. I am sure you know of a person that has some undesirable qualities and yet they are the first to point out those qualities in another. They just cannot see that they are like that themselves. We are all guilty of doing this!

Once you begin to eliminate your hidden negatives you will find that your thinking becomes much more positive without any conscious effort. You will find your life begins to change in magical ways. And you will surely see many miracles taking place in your life as you embrace the life you always wanted and deserve!

It is possible to release your past regardless of how painful or deprived it was. Through these personal development techniques you let go of all your emotional baggage and start fresh.

Once you release your emotional attachment to your past you are free to enjoy the present. From this powerful place of being happy and content with where you are you can then begin to create the future of your dreams.

Although you cannot change anything that has happened in the past you can change how your past experiences affect your future. The first step to releasing the past is to accept that it happened. No matter how traumatic the experience or how distasteful the memory is you must acknowledge here and now that it occurred. This is what we call entering a state of Acceptance. Many people live their entire lives wanting to change the past. They moan that if only things had been different their life would be so much better. The past is gone. It happened. There is no way to change the past so there is no point wishing that it never happened or that it happened differently. You cannot change it so accept it!

After acceptance you can enter a state of peace when you realise that the past, all of it, good and bad experiences alike have helped to form and mould the person you are today. All the knowledge, desire and love that are in you right now are a direct result of the past experiences that make up your life.

Next realise that the past has some powerful lessons to teach you. Have you learned anything positive from your past experiences? Use your past as a learning tool. See where you went wrong and make the changes you need to make today so that your future becomes a bright and welcoming place. Never use your past as an excuse to stay the way you are or to tolerate circumstances and situations with which you are currently unhappy! Realise that the past has been and gone. All you have is this moment and that is all you need to make changes.

Many millions of people throughout the centuries have overcome their own personal adversity to achieve great things. You can do the same. These people refused to accept what life had handed them. They never moaned about their past nor allowed it to interfere with their present and thus they created their future the way they wanted it to be.

You should never use the past an excuse for staying stuck in your life. Your power is always in the present moment. Use your past negative experiences as a motivational tool to spur you on. It is all about your perception! It is your perception of the things around you that determines your reality. What you focus on expands. This means you get more of what you focus on in life. If you chose to focus on the mistakes and hardships of your past then that is what you will experience more of.

But if you decide to put the past where it belongs, in the past, and fully embrace the present moment and where you are you will find yourself in a powerful creative place. Only revisit the past to learn from it not as an emotional trip. Although much of your current mental conditioning originates from childhood and early life experiences it can be changed. By making the decision now and holding the intention now that the past will no longer affect you, you can free yourself from your own self-imposed bondage.

From this place of freedom you can make decisions based upon current situations and circumstances instead of being the slave to reactive emotional thinking and acting. The evidence is everywhere that people with painful, damaging pasts have overcame them and gone on to achieve high levels of success. Look at the business world, sports, creative arts etc. There are rags to riches stories everywhere you care to look.

You may encounter past experiences that are very difficult for you to realease. At these times you should seek professional help in whatever form you feel appropriate, even if it is just a subliminal or hypnosis recording. Do something now to release your past - make the decision that it will no longer rule over your current life. Intend to be free of the past. In your own mind decide now that no matter what you need to do you will release your emotional issues. Even though you may not know how you are going to do this yet hold the intention that you will do it. When you do this and begin to live in the now you will be more content and at peace while you wait for your marvelous future to unfold.