Be Inspired

Photo Credit: Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot

Many people wrongly view themselves as passive products of the financial climate around them. Are you one of those people? Take a moment to become inspired to make the changes that lead to a wealthier you. You can empower yourself to achieve dreams that may, until now, have seemed out of reach. I’m sure that by now you know that you can become empowered physically, emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually, but did you know you can empower yourself financially? First you have to change the very root of your view of money. You have to tell your brain what having money really means for you. You need to repeat an inner dialogue that moves you toward success.

Money has often been used as a complicated motivational tool. It is used by employers to motivate us to toward earning it. It is used by advertisers to entice us with the idea of saving it. This has given the word “money” a negative connotation and leads many to view it in a negative light. Money is not something that manipulates you; it can help you build your dreams. This requires that you ask of yourself, “what is money, really?” Money is, in itself, neither good nor bad, it is just paper. It is the secondary purposes this paper serves that give it positive meaning. It does not satiate the primal needs that motivate us, but it is used to procure some of those needs. This is why, in the psychological field, money is known as a secondary reinforcement. Food, shelter, and anything else that provides instant gratification is considered a primary reinforcement. Money itself is paper. Paper is not typically something that people are inspired to attain in mass amounts. Those with financial freedom realize that it’s what money represents that should inspire us to achieve wealth.

Take the time to determine what being financially successful looks like to you. Let yourself enjoy the details of this daydreaming. Does it mean a nicer car or bigger house? Could it provide you the means to move to the place you’ve always dreamed of living? What about the ability to take a beautiful vacation with loved ones? Draw, write, paste pictures, do whatever it takes to make it real for you- because it can become real. These things are not just for other people. Paint a picture, in your mind’s eye, of what a wealthier you looks like.

What do behaviorists know?

Behaviorists know, above all else, how to motivate an individual. Rewards can be used to encourage the brain to perform desired tasks. The faster the reward appears, the stronger the neural connections become that tie the reward to the behavior. For instance, a paycheck is a “reward” for the behavior that an employer desires (clocking in on time, professionalism, quality).

You can train your own brain using a reward system as well. Ask yourself- what do I need money to do for me? What are my goals? Start with the smaller goals on the way to the big dreams. By starting with smaller more attainable goals, you provide yourself with rewards sooner.

How can we help you get there?

With our five-part process, you will learn how to rewire your brain for the success you deserve. You can discover more about what is holding you back and how you can take control of it. Let us inspire you to live the life you dream of living. Our goal is to help you achieve your goals.

About the Author: Sue Stebbins, is the CEO/Founder of Successwaves- a 19 year old  Premier brain based Coaching and Consulting company, specializing in Healthy Integrated and Brain Based Peak performance.

Sue’s Successwaves Neuro-Coaching Audio, and Training, are used by Fortune 500 clients, Entrepreneurs, Experts, and people of all ages- around the world- who want the latest science of how we learn, and improve.

An internationally recognized trusted authority, on brain based learning, optimal performance, and the science of brain based accelerated learning and results- she is a highly sought out speaker, trainer, and coach who is often referred to as “the Woman who delivered my dreams”.

To schedule a Complimentary  Make it Happen Now! Session, or for more information on Sue’s and her coaches speaking, online training, retreats and workshops, please contact sue@successwaves.com or toll free 1.866.731.8344. Your Life Will Change

Embrace Change

photo credit: Ambro

Unfortunately, the human mind is naturally wired to be resistant to change. Keeping everything the same often feels safe and soothing. It’s comfortable. This feeling of complacency is not your friend, rather it is an illusion your brain thrusts on you to avoid potential threats. The truth is that change can be exhilarating and productive. Employees, in particular, may find the word “change” intimidating and frightening so it’s important to get them up to speed on the benefits of change to your business and to them as individuals. This starts with engaging them and implementing teamwork as well as creating a stimulating work environment that engages your team and keeps them moving forward.

Build Relationships

The most successful bosses and owners know that employee relationships are key to the overall success of everyone at the company. The more you show your employees that they are valued assets and individuals, the more devoted they become to their own success as well as yours.

Your team’s relationships with one another are also vital to complete success. When you view fellow employees as valuable teammates rather than feared competitors, you begin to care about their success as well as your own. The goal is for employees to feel less like lone employees and more like valuable parts of a dynamic team.  This is pivotal to their ability to be engaged and ready to make productive leaps forward.

Focus Attention

Once employees are unified and engaged, attention density can do its’ job to make your team more successful. Attention density is used to measure the amount of attention being given to a particular concept. As attention density grows, so do the neural connections in the brain that make attention to that concept easier and stronger. Focus this deep attention on the right things and you will remove countless limits to your success. With attention focused on teamwork and the success of the organization, your employees may surprise you with previously untapped abilities. Soon, your team will be more than willing, excited even, to embrace positive changes in both their personal and professional lives.

Engaging and unifying a team is the first area in which executive coaching becomes invaluable. Draw your employees into the process of positive change through brain-based, interactive coaching. Once the skills of teamwork are firmly in place, coaching will aid in the use of attention density to place and maintain focus on success. Repetition of engaging activities as well as positive concepts will further solidify the brain connections that will make your team unstoppable.

Here are three questions designed with the brain and brain-based attention and performance in mind:

Three Strategic Questions for Fast Results:

How can we create an optimistic vision?

What do we need to design to create our breakthrough strategic direction?

What milestone, benchmarks will we use?

Sue Stebbins, is best known as the “New Brain For Success” – Results Breakthrough Expert. For the past 19 years, through Successwaves, her brain based coaching and consulting company  Sue, and her team of Expert Consultants  have become the ‘insiders secret’ for business growth results.  Known for their scientific, and proven research and a futurist’s eye towards trends- Sue’s team are the “go to experts” for blending the best of how to scientifically reach customers, develop products, and grow expertise with brain based  insight- that drive measurably more effective results. Sue’s clients have her on speed dial, for insights, and strategies that quickly produce effective measurable outcomes. Sue and her team work with Fortune 500 clients, high impact small businesses, entrepreneurs, experts, and leaders looking to “BE the Pre-eminent Solution”, by creating a better world.

To schedule a Complimentary  Make it Happen Now! Profit Acceleration Session, or for more information on Sue’s and her Expert coaches speaking, retreats, workshops, and Private VIP coaching: visit www.successwaves.com, or call toll free: 1.866.731.8344, or Skype sue.stebbins

Quantum Zeno Effect

Photo credit: Ambro

Quantum Zeno effect may sound like a science fiction movie but, not only does it exist, you have been affected by it numerous times in your lifetime. We all have. By association, your business is also affected. Put simply, Quantum Zeno affect describes the focus-based changes to the structure of your brain. Your brain will absorb the information that you pay the most attention to. Structural changes will be created in you neural circuitry to accommodate the information that you tell your brain is most important to you.

Attention Density

How does your brain decide what information is important to you? The answer is in attention density. The phrase, “attention density” is used to describe the amount of attention and focus that you place on an object or concept. What receives the greatest amount of attention from you? What do you have your employees focusing on the most? These are the key questions to the changes you seek. The answers will tell you what you need to know about your strengths and weaknesses as an individual and an entrepreneur.

Now that you know where your focus has been, it’s time to decide where it should be. This is the point at which executive coaching can change everything. Imagine all of the brains involved in your business being wired to focus on the things that bring you all success and happiness. It isn’t just a fantasy. Executive coaching is a way to retrain your brain to focus on things that matter; to quiet the stress and chaos that permeates most work environments. By repetitive coaching, new neural-connections are formed. These new connections strengthen your focus on productive thoughts and patterns. You, literally, adjust your brain to serve you better in every aspect of your life.

New Connections

Brain-based coaching is a gentle teaching method that draws out the knowledge and brain power the client already possesses. You already possess everything you need to be successful; coaching is simply a way to help you access it by using your brain’s natural inclination toward learning and remembering. Most people are so pleased with the results of executive coaching, they tend to request follow up sessions which further strengthen to new connections being made. Follow up sessions are vital to the success of the attention density method because repetition is the heart and soul of the process.

Once you being to change your life and take control of your thoughts, as cliché’ as it may sound, the sky truly is the limit for you, your business, and your family.

Sue Stebbins, is best known as the “New Brain For Success  “- Results Breakthrough Expert. For the past 19 years, through Successwaves, her brain based coaching and consulting company  Sue, and her team of Expert Consultants  have become the ‘insiders secret’ for business growth results.  Known for their scientific, and proven research and a futurist’s eye towards trends- Sue’s team are the “go to experts” for blending the best of how to scientifically reach customers, develop products, and grow expertise with brain based  insight- that drive measurably more effective results. Sue’s clients have her on speed dial, for insights, and strategies that quickly produce effective measurable outcomes. Sue and her team work with Fortune 500 clients, high impact small businesses, entrepreneurs, experts, and leaders looking to “BE the Pre-eminent Solution”, by creating a better world.

To schedule a Complimentary  Make it Happen Now! Profit Acceleration Session, or for more information on Sue’s and her Expert coaches speaking, retreats, workshops, and Private VIP coaching: visit www.successwaves.com, or call toll free: 1.866.731.8344, or Skype sue.stebbins.

Importance of Attention

Photo credit: Stuart Miles

Keep in mind the term “attention density.” It’s about to change your life just as it has changed mine. The term “attention density” was coined to describe the amount of attention being paid to a particular mental experience over a period of time. We all know that it is important to pay attention to the task at hand. I’m sure we’ve all been scolded by a parent or teacher to “pay closer attention” but do we really know what that means?

In the fast-paced, fast-food, instant gratification world we live in, information rockets into and back out of our cognition at a dizzying pace. We are inundated with information overload that takes away from our ability to focus on the bits of information that we need. The idea that we don’t have to live with this overload is a revolutionary one. You can increase your own attention density and that of your employees through brain-based business coaching

Long-Term Change

Coaching in attention and focus not only aids in the immediate task at hand; it also changes brain circuitry in the long-term. As your brain holds focus on one thing for longer and longer periods of time, circuitry that helps the brain maintain focus and attention is strengthened. Imagine the success of a business peopled with executives and employees sporting stronger brain circuitry and increased attention density. The possibilities of such an enterprise are endless.

Brain connections are formed based on what we are paying attention to. Where is your attention focused in this moment? The rushed and pressure-fueled atmosphere of many business environments is toxic to production. Should we choose to direct our attention to the stress and negativity around us, stress and negativity become a part of our brain circuitry. Is that the ideal environment to work in day after day? Of course not!

The wonderful thing about brain circuitry is that it does change. It is never too late to change the focus of both your work and personal life. If you learn to maintain focus on the right things, they become part of your brain structure- overriding the previous damage done by negativity.

Focus on Success

There are two truths about the business world that are unfortunately, all too often, overlooked. The first is that happy employees are more productive employees. The second is that focused employees are more productive employees. Happiness and productivity are within your company’s reach through properly focused attention density.

Consistent follow up is a proven way to assure that the concepts learned during a coaching session sink in. The repetition aids attention density, providing better results and a more productive environment. This is life-changing news for the struggling business and the struggling individual. Don’t settle for less in your life.

Sue Stebbins is best known as the “New Brain For Success” – Results Breakthrough Expert. For the past 19 years, through Successwaves, her brain based coaching and consulting company  Sue, and her team of Expert Consultants  have become the ‘insiders secret’ for business growth results.  Known for their scientific, and proven research and a futurist’s eye towards trends- Sue’s team are the “go to experts” for blending the best of how to scientifically reach customers, develop products, and grow expertise with brain based  insight- that drive measurably more effective results. Sue’s clients have her on speed dial, for insights, and strategies that quickly produce effective measurable outcomes. Sue and her team work with Fortune 500 clients, high impact small businesses, entrepreneurs, experts, and leaders looking to “BE the Pre-eminent Solution”, by creating a better world.

To schedule a Complimentary  Make it Happen Now! Profit Acceleration  Session, or for more information on Sue’s and her Expert coaches speaking, retreats, workshops, and Private VIP coaching: visit www.successwaves.com, or call toll free: 1.866.731.8344, or Skype sue.stebbins.

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You are the new Virtual Leader;

                                     it’s time for you to:

•   discover the CRITICAL PROCESS needed to manage a worldwide team
•   overcome communication challenges
•   gain clarity to move ahead BOLDLY!

Having a communication break down?

Whether you are the CEO of a global company, a team leader in an internet firm, or a successful entrepreneur dealing with worldwide team members, I’m sure you’ve had the frustrating, hair-pulling experience of watching your team break down.

You know how it goes, everything starts out smoothly and everyone is getting along great – productivity is soaring and outcomes are getting pounded out.  Then somewhere along the way, things aren’t as sleek and oiled as they used to be.  Until that horrible day when you realize your team is rife with communication conflicts that are keeping productivity flat.

How do you lead a global team to the top?

Particularly if you’re just beginning to grasp how to effectively manage such a far-reaching group of talent?

You need CLARITY on how to communicate those key components so everyone is on the same page, no matter what time zone they’re in!

You need a proven PROCESS to make this happen quickly (like yesterday) and smoothly.

We simplify the most complex business situations, breaking them down to basic steps to create a mapping process anyone can follow. Here's an example of the first steps in a Project Mapping process.

Capitalizing on Asynchronous Learning

In today’s workplace, learning is asynchronous as well as synchronous, meaning that learning takes place everywhere, all the time, and is directed by many experts on your team, not just by you the team leader.  (Synchronous learning is where everyone learns at the same pace, taught by the same person.)

In this fast, agile, diverse, global workplace, teams must learn to work non-locally, across different cultural gaps, language barriers, and time zones.  Add all this to the normal challenges that teams face when communicating, and you can readily see why you have your hands full!

Creating the Company’s Voice

I know you’ve heard about VISION more times than you can count, and yet, it just won’t go away.  That’s because it’s the leader’s excitement, drive, vision and voice that gathers the team together and helps them all move forward in the same direction, toward the same goal.

We’ll help you bring your company’s voice and value to the world – crafting your message in a way that allows your team members to pursue projects they enjoy, and enabling you to have concentrated groups working on focused learning in order to produce, produce, produce!

Problem Solved

Let us bring our 19 years of research in brain-based learning to your aid.  We have charted the processes that all successful teams use to overcome communication challenges, and are excited to share them with you.

No matter how many different brains, various cultural backgrounds, and diverse learning styles your team has, we have the research to prove how to successfully lead your global team where YOU want them to go.

Practicing Success Matters

Don’t wait another week for your team to continue down that chaotic path – get them focused NOW on getting specific results, hitting your targeted objectives and carrying your vision out into the world.

Call or email Sue today 1-866-731-8344 (or sue@successwaves.com) — stop ‘corralling cats’ and start leading your global talent effectively!

   now train your brain – for SUCCESS.

Photo Credit: Salvatore Vuono

Scientific studies prove you can turn your thoughts into bottom line profits.

Research has proven, time and time again, that our brains will actually change and rewire as a result of our continual, habitual thoughts.  So what we think about really does make a difference – a big difference.

Thinking changes everything.

The thoughts that we think day in and day out create neural pathways, or familiar routes, in our brains.  And scientists in neuroplasticity, specifically Professor Willoughby Britton, a neuroscientist at Brown University, have been studying the brain’s neural networks and how they are impacted by our daily routine thoughts, activities, and practices.

Studies have proven that our emotional state (i.e. happy or sad, successful or unsuccessful) is really a state of mind and that it can be created.  It is not something you are born with; it’s not a result of your genetic code, your upbringing, or even your net worth.  Research shows that it’s the things you place your attention on daily that determine your emotional state – or in other words, how you choose to perceive and interpret your experiences determines your mood.

You are what you think you are.

People who meditate daily to calm their mind or who think about all the things they are grateful for are making a big difference in their overall well-being.  The bottom line is that feeling successful is an acquired skill; it’s something you can learn by repetition.  It all comes down to where you put your attention.

Here’s how to think your way to breakthrough profits:

We have unraveled the process that takes your thinking, and therefore your business profits, to the next level – using secrets from the field of neuroscience on how to reprogram your thinking.  You CAN learn how to train your brain for success.  Using techniques in neuroplasticity, we will teach you how to actually change your neural network so that it works FOR you.

Breakthrough your profit goals.

Working with us, you’ll focus on getting specific, with three objectives in the next 30 days.  This is a powerful, research-based approach that delivers fast results.  You’ll practice for success and then you’ll experience it.  It’s really that simple.

Once you’ve learned how to change your habitual patterns of thinking, you and your business will achieve the unprecedented success you’ve been dreaming about.  Yes, it will take some effort on your part, but we’re here to work with you, and neuroscience is behind you with proof that it works.

For more information on Private VIP Business Strategy Retreats with Sue, email sue@successwaves.com.  Capitalize on our 19 years of experience serving the top 10% of companies worldwide.  Find out how you can use science to train your brain and improve your business – all by learning to train your brain for success.

Turn your thoughts into bottom line profits, and freedom!

Photo Credit: Gabriella Fabbri

Research has proven, time and time again, that our brains will actually change and rewire as a result of our continual, habitual thoughts.

So what we think about really does make a difference – a big difference.

Thinking Changes Everything

The thoughts that we think day in and day out create neural pathways, or familiar routes, in our brains.  And scientists in neuroplasticity, specifically Professor Willoughby Britton, a neuroscientist at Brown University, have been studying the brain’s neural networks and how they are impacted by our daily routine thoughts, activities, and practices.

Studies have proven that our emotional state (i.e. happy or sad, successful or unsuccessful) is really a state of mind and that it can be created.  It is not something you are born with; it’s not a result of your genetic code, your upbringing, or even your net worth.  Research shows that it’s the things you place your attention on daily that determine your emotional state – or in other words, how you choose to perceive and interpret your experiences determines your mood.

You are what you think you are.

People who meditate daily to calm their mind or who think about all the things they are grateful for are making a big difference in their overall well-being.  The bottom line is that feeling successful is an acquired skill; it’s something you can learn by repetition.  It all comes down to where you put your attention.

The next question is:  “What would you like to feel?”  Most of our clients would answer:  “Freedom resulting from having achieved incredible success.”

Here’s how to think yourself to breakthrough profits:

We have unraveled the process that takes your thinking, and therefore your business profits, to the next level – using secrets from the field of neuroscience on how to reprogram your thinking.  And now we can even show you how your customers’ brains work as well.

Imagine understanding how your customers’ brains are wired.

When you understand your customers’ thought processes (what they’re thinking and why), you can uniquely position your company and product as a one-of-a-kind experience.  Picture for a moment how powerful this could be – you can double the intensity of the connection to your clients, leverage the power of your relationship, and break through your profit goals.  When you truly understand your customers, they are easy to sell to…so the entire sales process becomes enjoyable for both you and the customer.

Break through your profit goals and experience freedom.

Once you’ve learned how to change your habitual patterns of thinking, and have tapped into how your customer’s brains work, you and your business will achieve unprecedented success.  Yes, it will take some effort, but neuroscience is behind it and proves that it works.

When you’re ready to take your profits to the next level, call Sue at 1-866-731-8344 (or sue@successwaves.com) and capitalize on our 19 years of experience serving the top 10% of companies worldwide.  Find out how you can use science to improve your business and experience freedom – all by using the inherent power of your thoughts.

How Brain-Based Science can help you

CHANGE your habits &

IMPROVE your life!

Photo Credit: digital-delight.ch

Your brain is always learning.

The real question is, “What is your brain learning?”

An enormous amount of research has shown that our brain never stops learning, changing and adjusting.  And what is it adjusting to?  The answer is simple:  our brain is constantly taking in new information from our life experiences and information that we are exposed to.  And that is what neuroplasticity is all about – the brain’s ability to change and adjust.

We are what we think and do.

Used to be that scientists thought our brains had developmental windows when they were growing and changing, and that these windows closed at a certain age and our brains became rather static (unless we experienced an injury or deterioration of some sort).  But now there is overwhelming evidence showing that we literally become what we think and do.

In other words, our brains are constantly adapting to the things we are experiencing each day.  So if you are in a routine and always doing the same thing, many of your brain synapses are literally dying off from boredom and lack of use (much like a muscle will atrophy from inactivity).  Whereas if you are continually exposing yourself to new experiences and situations, thoughts and ideas, your brain is growing, adapting, expanding and adding new synapses in response to all that stimulation.

What happens to the brain when new knowledge is acquired?

Every time you learn, experience or think something new, the brain stretches and adapts.  Every time!  And when you do that new experience repeatedly, the changes in the brain become stronger and more permanent.  That’s why your professors harped on doing homework and applying your new knowledge – application and repetition are the keys to creating permanent pathways in your brain.

So now you know that environmental changes create changes in your brain – when you change your experiences and thoughts, you change your brain!

Anything is possible!

Take a moment and dream about what changes you would like to make in your life.  What behavior patterns would you like to alter?  What new inspiration or motivation would you like to feel?  What new habits would you like to create?  There is no limit to the changes you can implement successfully in your life.

Exposure + Repetition + Application = Permanent Change

This is the secret formula – memorize it.  It is your new best friend for spearheading personal change.  Exposure to new ideas and experiences stretches your brain.  Repetition causes your brain to store these new concepts in short-term memory.  And repeated application moves the knowledge into long-term memory – meaning you have adopted your new habit or thought process permanently.

Focus, Focus, Focus

Here’s another key point – multi-tasking is not helping!  It’s vital that you focus your attention on one change at a time, alter your environment, and allow your mind time to make the shift.  Give yourself the time to practice and integrate the change into your daily routine, until it becomes second nature and you don’t have to think consciously about it.  Only then is it appropriate to begin to implement another change.

Multi-tasking is ineffective

Why?  Because there are five mental processes for understanding:  believing, making a decision, recalling, memorizing, and inhibiting.  (Rock, 2009)  Each of these requires you to shift gears and think differently.  So it’s important to not jump back and forth between processes or you’ll never get anything accomplished.  The most efficient way to get effective results is to focus on one mental process at a time.

For example, let’s say you want to become a positive thinker.  An effective way to do this would be to focus your attention on making positive decisions about your thoughts.  Keep your focus on this one mental process until you’ve truly incorporated this new behavior into your repertoire…and only then, consider focusing on another mental process or shifting your attention to another behavior you’d like to change.

Now not only do you understand how neuroplasticity works, but it is your new catch phrase for “all things are possible”.  Who knew you didn’t have to be a brain surgeon to use neuroplasticity to create change in your life?  Now you know!  Believe it and you can do it too.

To get started immediately, call Sue at 1-866-731-8344 (or sue@successwaves.com) and start making your possibilities a reality.

Find Clarity, Ease and

Revenue on YOUR Terms

Photo Credit: Elise McLaughlin

The Key to Taking Your Business to the Next Level

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, but feel bogged down with the details of everyday operations, take a minute to read this.

I get that you:

-  Can’t find anyone who knows how to do what you want to do with your business.

-  Are having a hard time getting highly-trained staff to take things to the next level.

-  Haven’t found a model to show you what path to take – because you’re blazing new trails.

If this sounds like you, please read on…

Start Right Now: Decide to Think and Act Differently

The first thing to understand is that you’re doing things this way because of how your brain thinks – basically you have trained your brain to work a certain way, and it has served you well — until now.  Now you desire to break through to the next level of business, but your brain doesn’t have the habits in place to handle the volume and pace.  That’s where I can help.

The New Brain Science is the Key

Using brain-based research and years of successful experience helping business owners just like you, I can show you how to leave the overwhelm behind.  Imagine what your life would look and feel like if you were calm, sane, focused, and felt totally supported?!  I can teach you specific practices that are simple and easy to learn – to help you focus, create and envision solutions with clarity and ease.

Case Study: Ingrid

Connection + Confidence = 1M New Business

Take Ingrid for example, she is a financial advisor and the mother of a special needs child.  She was frazzled and overwhelmed, and found herself barely getting through each day and falling into bed at night exhausted.  Within three months of working with me, she jumped to the head of her industry nationwide, with record sales!  But more importantly, she was able to cope with her work-life balance. She did this by learning how to have connection and confidence with her partners (not clients or prospects or sales).  And she mastered being able to connect to a partner in a big way – landing $1M in new business!

Ingrid’s Key: Lead Your Brain – Relax, Focus

How?  By teaching her brain to relax and focus so that she was centered, aligned and focused solely on her partner and their needs.  She practiced in advance of their appointment, saw herself winning their trust and becoming a valuable asset to them – and then watched in utter amazement as that exact scene unfolded during the actual meeting.

What You Can Do

Your turn:  I’d like to hear from you – envision how you can get clear, focused and connected to your biggest strategic partners and create clarity, value and win-win income.  Practice this for the next two weeks, and then let me know your results.  If you’re ready to commit to making changes in your mental habits, then I’m ready to show you how to take your business to the next level.  Let’s get started!

Contact Sue Stebbins:  (203) 831-8344

]]> http://successwaves.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=35 0 http://successwaves.com/wordpress/?p=26 http://successwaves.com/wordpress/?p=26#comments Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:01:14 +0000 billionairemaker http://successwaves.com/wordpress/?p=26 Continue reading →]]> The Fifteen Minute Cure

Fog – Fear – Fixation

by Sue Stebbins

Are you plagued with the distress of mental chaos? Do you feel like there is perpetual fog in your brain that you can’t seem to clear out? Are you afraid to fail? Do you feel trapped in your current environment, with no way out? If so, you are with the large majority of leaders – it is a normal feeling. Seems ironic to mention normalcy and mental chaos in the same statement, doesn’t it? Not really.

In today’s world, multi-tasking is no longer a talent or a new way of thinking – it is a requirement and it is demanded of people in leadership roles – from stay at home parents to entrepreneurs to CEO’s of Fortune 100 Companies. With multi-tasking demands often comes mental chaos.

Does Your Brain Feel Foggy?

By definition, fog exists when clouds touch the ground and limit our visibility. Our minds are no different when too many thoughts collide. We can easily become foggy and lose sight of our direction. When our brains become foggy, we have to turn on our internal windshield wipers and FOCUS on our direction. That focus comes from within and is mandatory in order to drive toward the vision – toward the destination of success.

Are You Overwhelmed with Fear?

Are you afraid of being lost in the fog? Do you feel like you have no hope of reaching your destination? If you feel like you are driving in circles, you are not alone – we have all hit a point in our lives that we are driving forward and feel we are not making progress. Fear is caused by the lack of direction, the lack of progress and potential failure if we do not find our way – all as a result of the murkiness that has built up in our minds. Without a clear map, we have little hope of getting back on track.

Have You Become Fixated with the Status Quo?

When we have multiple priorities without a plan and still have the same expectations of ourselves, we often revert to our old habits and stop thinking. You are probably saying to yourself, “What do you mean I STOP thinking?” The fact is that under the pressures of seemingly insurmountable deadlines, we are afraid to think “out of the box”. We revert to “doing what we have always done”, when, in fact, the state of chaos is usually the BEST time to think creatively. If we do not force ourselves to think of innovative solutions, we become fixated in our current state. That fixation naturally closes our ears and minds to new ideas or different approaches. If often forces us into our comfort zone and results in completing tasks that are not necessarily the means to the end. Someone once said “If we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always gotten.” How true. The definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results, so when your mind is in a state of chaos why perpetuate the insanity?

There are CURES to this mental anguish. Mental chaos does not have to be a continued state of mind. There are 3 CURES to the MENTAL CHAOS that most leaders face every day.

1) FOCUS and CLEAR THE FOG

The first cure to mental chaos is to focus on prioritizing your demands, organizing your thoughts and gaining clarity on the direction you are heading – or the direction that you NEED to be heading. If you left your house in the morning to drive to the airport to catch a flight and it was foggy outside, what would you do? You would get in your car, turn on the engine, turn on the lights, turn on the windshield wipers and drive very carefully toward the airport. You can’t afford to miss your flight but you have unplanned obstacles with the weather. The same principal applies when your mind is foggy. You need to reengineer your thinking and clear your mind. Before you entered a state of mental chaos, you had a destination – just as would if you were driving to the airport in the fog. The pressure of catching the plane caused clarity of thinking and focus on the destination. The same thing occurs when you focus on clearing your mind in order to get back on the road to success.

For many people, the best way to clear your mind is to write down everything (in no particular order) that you need to accomplish – a virtual Brain Dump. That relieves you of the pressure of trying to juggle all of the priorities and the clouds of your mind start to thin. Once you have captured all of your tasks on paper, you can move to the next step on the road to the cure of mental chaos.

2) CREATE A ROADMAP

You now have everything that you need to accomplish on paper and you should have a fresh outlook – you should be starting to see light through the clouds. You now need to create a roadmap so you don’t lose your way if you have a future detour. Make a PLAN. Take all of the things you listed and prioritize them – assign dates to them, whether real or arbitrary, to help organize what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. Now you are on your way to MENTAL CLARITY vs. MENTAL CHAOS.

3) TAKE ACTION

The best way to fight the fixation is to DO SOMETHING about it. Now, here is where it all starts to come together – apply the same focus that you did to create your plan and begin to execute it – follow your roadmap. Use the same focus you did in the Brain Dump to allow yourself to think of new, creative ways to approach your goals. Focus on breaking your paradigms. Don’t approach the plan and the tasks on the plan with the same methods you have used in the path. Remember the definition of insanity that leads to mental chaos? Don’t let history repeat itself. Evaluate everything on your plan and FORCE yourself to come up with at least one alternative way of accomplishing the same thing in a different way than you have in the past. Once you have done this with the first 2 or 3 items, it will become more natural and you will start to see all of the possibilities that weren’t clear to you in your foggy state.

DON’T WAIT – START NOW! Get a piece of paper and just start jotting down all of the things running through your mind that you need to do – bills you need to pay, calls you need to make, clients you need to meet with, reports you need to complete – whatever those tasks are, don’t be judgmental of them and don’t try to solve them – just WRITE THEM DOWN.

In FIFTEEN minutes or LESS, you will have completed the first step of curing your mental chaos. If the first step is this easy, isn’t it worth your time to invest in all 3 cures and start turning that energy that is cluttering your mind into positive, productive energy?

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About the Author: Sue Stebbins aka ” The Maven of Accelerated Results “- and her Successwaves Coaching Partners are the Trusted “Go to Source” For the World’s Leading Experts, Executives, Business Owners, and Career Transitioners, who want to Powerfully And Quickly Gain the Clarity and Proven Innovation Strategies they need to Transform their Business, Income, and Fulfillment. She can be reached toll free at 866.731.8344.

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