If you feel like you’ve been stuck in a rut and that you want more in life, author Robert Ian Bonnick shares 5 easy tips to help you unlock your potential and discover unlimited success and happiness.
These suggestions below have one important thing in common – they all work with the mind, which has the ultimate power to help you to unleash your potential or block it. We shall spend longest on the first point as it will set the tone for what is to come.
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1. Have something to stretch for like a Dream
This is such a crucial step in unlocking your potential. What is your dream what is that you want; your life to look like? Your significant relationships to look like? Yourself to look like? What is it do you want to life to stand for? Or simply, what do you love to do? So often we don’t know the answer to any of these. How can you unleash your potential if your thinking or your fear stops you. When you allow yourself to dream putting aside what you think you’re capable of and replacing it the possibility of what you can be, do and become your life can begin to change in extraordinary ways. The process is easier than you think.
Before you go sleep keep a daily gratitude diary i.e. write down five things that day which you are really grateful for. It could be quality time spent with your kids, or significant other, it maybe scoring that promotion at work, or pride in the work you gave today. Whatever it is let it out on to the paper. It’s a mood changing exercise! For instance, how would you feel right now if tomorrow you had an all expenses paid holiday to your number 1 location earth! What would you be feeling? Excitement, waves of joy, positivity or a love for life? Most likely you wouldn’t be able to sleep! From this place of gratitude it is easier to dream about all the things that you would love to do – as your mind is open to it. The opposite state of mind so many of us live in; a state of upset, boredom, fatigue, lack of will power and personal power – which is why we find it hard to let go and dream.
Before your head hits the pillow after completing your five gratitude’s for the day as completely as possible whilst taking the time to reflect upon each one as you go. Then ask to yourself sincerely one of the following (it doesn’t need to be aloud) what experience, dream or purpose would I love to do or to fulfil. We have our own innate wisdom; over 90% of our brain’s latent faculties are not being used let alone discovered – Einstein was a considered a genius utilising less than 5% of his brain! As we continually ask and repeat this process over a week or so we are re-wiring the brain to think in terms of possibility. We’re embarking on the road to possibility thinking. You may wake up with instant clarity, or after waking and going about our day be on the lookout for clues and coincidences which will give you guidance.
2. The “300” exercise.
Once you have come up with your dream, purpose or an experience you would like to fufill. You need to get really clear of why you want it. Doing this will unleash your potential by creating, the resilience, willpower and determination to blast through any obstacle that you may put in your way immediately or later down the track.
Take out some paper and write down “300” reasons why you want that experience/dream or why you stand so strongly for that purpose. At first this may sound like a large number, it may also feel like that you are constantly repeating yourself. Keep to the task let it all come out – free flow writing. We are clearing out all of the negative limiting thoughts simultaneously as finding the gold; those compelling reasons which expose the very heart of us.
These reasons are so profound that when you connect with them fill you with a deep emotional response; the urge to well up, cry, shiver or shake may appear. These are some of the indications of reaching reasons so gripping to you; that you know deep inside you will not give up til you achieve what you set out to do! Say it aloud to yourself whilst looking in the mirror each morning.
I can’t tell you what these reasons are for you – all I can say is that you will know when you find them. I had to succeed playing basketball for England because I carried the pride and dream of success of all the other eighteen kids I grew up with in the children’s home for seventeen years I had to succeed I could fail by letting them down.
3. Visualise and Action.
The brain doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what is imagined – especially if that imagination is vivid enough drawing upon all the 5 senses. The same hormones are released, creating the same sensations as if we were doing those things in real life. I used to freeze whenever I got the ball in “clutch” moments whilst playing basketball. With the help of a great coach Jerome Lamarque I was able overcome this fear, learn how to embrace it, harness it and to function at a high level of awareness i.e. in spite for the fear which was still present – but now in a watered down form that I could handle.
So I would create a 30 second movie based around the end result; taking the ball in clutch moments and scoring with the last play or final shot of the game. Like I was courtside tracking the precise movements of my favourite player.
The key thing here though is to take action not just sitting there visualising only – I kept training, shooting drills, practicing, running, defence drills.
Some of you might remember the inner the game of golf this is where it started; many years ago which has been commonly used amongst elite sportsmen and women.
These last work very well together as just thinking positively isn’t always enough.
4. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.
Such a deceptively simple tool this one but vital. As you can see all these actions act as five chapters in the same story. The law of attraction dictates what you focus on expands. Briefly translated if you focus on negative people negative self–talk negative chatter, talking negatively of others or talking negatively about yourself few would argue that what you seem to attract is more and more negative; events, life experiences and people accordingly. Whereas if you surround yourself with successful entrepreneurs in your chosen domain (if it’s work related), positive people with a can do attitude; spend less time with the former and more time with the latter.
5. Overcoming setbacks or fear
For some people it’s just too hard to focus on what they want when there are more nagging doubts which threaten to derail them from reaching their potential. Eventhough, the 300 exercise blasts away most of these limiting beliefs, fear may still have a hold. Take note of the final one which comprises 3 steps. Ironically I was reminded of this recently by a youtuber called Mike Vestil.
1. Define your fear
2. Describe the worst case scenario; more importantly, how could you deal with it if it happened – most of the time the worst case scenario is never really that bad. It may be uncomfortable maybe but really not that bad. What are we really afraid of is the Fear of the unknown.
3. Design an action plan for that worst case scenario – after you complete this step you’ll realise that this is will not hold you back anymore and you re-commit to step 4. Away you go hurtling towards achieving your dream!
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