Practice Self Mastery

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One of the secrets of legendary NBA coach Pat Riley’s success is his commitment to gradual, consistent improvement. In 1986 he was faced with a major challenge: his team thought they’d played their best, but the championship had still eluded them the year before. To inspire them to move to the next level, he convinced them that if each enhanced thier performance by a mere 1 percent in 5 key areas, it would make all the difference.

The genius of this plan was it’s simplicity: Everyone felt certain they could achieve it. Each player only had to dedicate himself to a 5 percent increase, but, multiplied by 12 players, it produced a 60 percent improvement for the team- their best season ever!

Could you imagine what you could accomplish with small but steady improvements?

Yes i feel that if i put only 10 minutes a day into my horse revision- that’s 60 hours over the space of a year. More than enough to pass my exam.

The only true security in life comes from knowing that every single day you are improving yourself in some way. I don’t worry about maintaining the quality of my life, because every day i work on improving it.

I think this is a great philopsophy to live by.

In order to be happy, human beings must feel they are continuing to grow. And in order to succeed in today’s business world, organisations must constantly be improving. Clearly, we must adopt the concept of continuous improvement as a daily principle rather than as a goal to be pursued only occasionally.

In Japan they have a name for this: kaizen, which means to focus on constantly improving the quality of products and services. I propose that we americans commit ourselfs to the process of contant and never-ending improvement, or CANI. If we habitually focus on how to improve things that are already great, can you see how this spirit can transform our organisations, families, and communities?

How could you put the philosphy of CANI into practice immediately?

I can start working on my tarot development and not critize myself about my errors, just see it as CANI.

All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs. How do you replace limiting beliefs? The most effective way is to destablize your old belief- shake your certainty- by questioning it.

Remember that your brain is always trying to move you away from pain, so think about all the negative consequences this belief has caused.

Ask yourself:

1. As i reconsider it, what’s actually silly, ridiculous, or stupid about this belief?
2. What has this belief already cost me? How has it limited me in the past?
3. What could it cost me in the future if i don’t change now?

Answering these types of questions will help you associate painful feelings to the old, undesired belief and provide you with the oppotunities to replace it with an empowering one.

I am going to use this to take away my fear of being alone, monophobia.

Optimists see failures as leaning experiences, as challenges to modify their approach. Pessimists take failures personally, interpreting them as evidence of some deep-seeted charator flaw. Because thier identity is so closely tied to the problem, they feel overwhelmed. After all, how can they change their entire lives in one stroke?

Avoid this belief of the problem being ” personal” at all costs, Begin to use problems as valuable feedback to help steer you a straighter course toward your destiny, and be grateful for these gifts.

I do tend to get personal about my failures. I’m going to try stop this.

The ability to keep problems in perspective enables achievers to avoid falling prey to the “pervasive problem” mindset. Instead of saying ” because i overeat , my whole life is destroyed,” they might say ” i have a bit of a challenge with my eating habits,” and focus on how to improve their behavior. On the other hand, those who believe thier problems are pervasive figure that because they’ve failed to achieve in one area, they are failures- a generalization that leaves them feeling completely helpless.

To overcome the false belief that a problem is all encompassing, you must take control of some part of it immediately. It doesn’t matter whether you tackle even the smallest part of the problems; just get started now.

I have abit of a problem with being alone, i’m going to take small steps, the first is to move out into my own place!

How we deal with adversity shapes our lives more than almost anything else. Achievers usually see problems as transitory, while those who fail usually see even the smallest problems as everlasting. Adopting the latter mind-set is the first step into the trap of what Dr, Martin Seligman calls learned helplessness, which is caused by following three perceptions:

1. The problem is permanent ( rather than temporary)
2. The problem is pervasive( instead of affecting only one area)
3. The problem is personal, evidence that something is wrong with us ( rather than an oppotunity to learn).

For the next few days , we’ll concentrate on the antidotes to the debilitating beliefs. For today, remember “this too shall pass” to counter the first belief. If you keep persisting, you WILL find a way.

I did once think that i would never get rid of my agoraphobia, thank goodness i dropped that belief!

If you’re going to make a mistake, often it’s better to err on the side of overestimating your capabilites. Why? Your success may depend on it. One of the differences between pessimists and optimists is that, after attempting a new skill, pessimists generally assess their performance accurately, whilst optimists view their behavior as more effective than it actually was.

As a result, pessimists give up, seeing no intelligent reason to continue a fruitless endeavour. Yet optimists positive perceptions provide them with the emotional support and drive to persist and eventually master the skill. Thus seemingly unreaslitic evaluations become a reflection of the actual skill.

Remember, the past does not equal the future. What is the first small step you could take towards a dream you once thought was impossible?

Well i’m tempted to say that passing my horsecare exam is bordering on this. However i think that if i get out my revision book and revise now for 30 minutes a day and test myself and get the 14k sales job that fits around my hours, i feel that i would possibly be able to achieve this! I will definately be able to pass given more time!