“S” like Success:

– Self-respect

– Self-efficacy

– Satisfaction

All of nature expresses itself through thriving, blooming, and joy. We humans are a part of nature. Our natural expression of ourselves, in its very nature, is thriving and joy.

That means that success understood as an expression of who we are is a natural thing in our life. Expressing what is true to us deep inside, fulfilling our own purpose makes us feel fulfilled in life.

1. Self-respect

Have you ever experienced a sudden turn for the worse in your life just when things started to go well and you were about to make positive changes in life or achieve your goal? Many of us have.

Do you remember what happened then? Perhaps due to your own actions, or lack of them, or because of some unpredicted events – you didn’t reach your goal, you didn’t succeed.

Often when we look back at such situations, we know exactly what happened:

We ourselves, for some unexplained reason, ruined our chance for success. It could be that we have reached our desired weight and then gained 10 pounds over the holidays. Or we overcame a bad habit and then fell off the wagon. Perhaps we found our dream man/woman but became distant and mean and that person left us. Or, on our way to an important business meeting we took a detour and got stuck in traffic. So we never got the job or made the deal.

Sometimes we are left wondering why we had such bad luck, or why things fell apart despite our hard work. Sometimes, however, it is obvious that our own actions, thoughts or attitude sabotage our efforts.

The last thing we need in such a situation is to blame ourselves.

Yes, we might have sabotaged our own success. We might have done it for various reasons. Perhaps we have a subconscious fear of failure, or perhaps we have a subconscious fear of success. No matter which is the case, the important thing is to face the fact that everybody makes mistakes, everybody has weaknesses, everybody has some imprinted subconscious programming that may be causing them to behave in a particular way, including self-sabotaging their efforts.

There is no shame in that!

Notice and admit to yourself that you are capable of learning AND unlearning anything you want.

It is up to you which patterns you want to perpetuate and which you decide to unlearn.

2. Self-efficacy

• Self-efficacy can be defined as a belief in our ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task. Our sense of self-efficacy plays a major role in how we approach goals and tasks, and how we face challenges.

When we are faced with overwhelming tasks, or stressful situations – it is important to remember that no matter what, we all are capable of doing what’s needed. With no exceptions, all of us can perform well under stress, and be at our best at any point. We are the heroes. It is our human nature.

As a human race, we have proven that over and over again in various circumstances. We can always find the strength within, look the impossible in the face and say: I don’t take “no” for an answer.

We have not been defeated. We have survived. And we have an ongoing opportunity to prove how strong, wise and trustworthy we are. Yes, we can trust ourselves if only for this: we are survivors, and we don’t easily back off when we are fighting for what is important or dear to us.

If, for whatever reason, we have forgotten about that, we can simply flashback to our past success and remember that since we did it before, we can do it again. All of us can recall situations, whether in our private life or at work, where we faced the impossible and we made it possible. This is our true nature.

• Often what really overwhelms us in situations that require lots of our effort, skills or strategizing is that we tend to think about the outcome, fearing that it won’t be the way we want it.

And this is the major cause for how we shoot ourselves in the foot. If you are concentrating on the outcome, due to your negative subconscious programming – your thoughts often trigger your subconscious fears: fear of change, fear of failure, fear of inadequacy, fear of being judged, fear of rejection, loss of freedom, fear of success, fear of getting hurt etc. In other words: all the fears you stored in your subconscious kick in when you are hoping for a certain outcome.

What’s the remedy for that?

• Forget the outcome. It will be what it will be. You are living your life. You can design it in any way you want – BUT there is always some room for surprises or for improvements made by the process of life itself.

• Instead, concentrate on the task at hand and see it simply as a challenge: challenge yourself to have fun with the task and do the best you can do. Being the best you can be, and doing the best you can, in any given situation, is the natural thing to do for humans. Fearing what may or may not be – is not natural to us.

Such fears have been imprinted in our subconscious. We were never born with them. We were born with our innate joy of life and until our subconscious was reprogrammed by our caregivers or our society, belief system, or the spirit of the times we were born in – we had no reason to speculate about such fears.

• Before you step forward, slow down and find a way to de-stress.

It may be sometimes difficult to deal with our rushing thoughts. Yet it can be done. Listen to music for a while, smell the flowers, look at a peaceful landscape – whatever engages your senses in a pleasant way and helps you to de-stress. Breathing deeply is another good technique. Or – if there is no time to slow down, use a very simple technique: when a stressful or negative thought comes to mind – shout at it in your mind: STOP! Or put elastic on your wrist and snap it instead. Your brain will quickly learn to associate unwanted thoughts with pain, and will avoid them at all cost. It really works like magic.

• Think of your task as if you were playing a game. Make it fun for yourself. Be creative, reach for your childhood memories: remember how you played? How inventive, passionate and joyous you could be? Try to evoke in yourself that lust for life. Think of your task as if it were an adventure, not a task – whatever that task may be. There are no limits or rules when it comes to your perception. You decide how you see things. Enjoying your life is the key. We don’t need to change circumstances to feel happier. But we definitely need to change our perception of the circumstances. And that is how it works.

• Don’t think about things that you have no control over.

Don’t think about what may happen or not because of them. It isn’t important how many people apply for the job you want, or if it’s going to rain. These are things you can’t change. What you have control over is your attitude, your performance, your faith in yourself, and how much effort you want to put into whatever it is you’re attempting.

• Be confident about who you are and don’t dwell on what is not who you are. You hold your entire world within you. The world outside only mirrors that world. You create it with your thoughts, whether you are aware of it or not. Stop complaining about what you don’t want, because that way you are creating what you don’t want.

Remember: what we focus on – grows. Just as the plant we water, grows and blooms. Stop watering the plant you don’t want to grow.

3. Satisfaction

Life is a stream of opportunities. Each of them is just an experience through which we learn who we are and let ourselves become who we want to become.

• There is not just one opportunity of a lifetime. Every opportunity can be such an opportunity for us. And if we miss out on some, we will find more of them around every corner – IF we know how to look for them.

You are the opportunity of your lifetime. The one and only that counts for real. Everything else can be repeated, duplicated or dismissed. Not you. You are unique, and your life journey is unique. Don’t look outside to find your strength. Because you can find it only inside. And once you find it, nothing is impossible for you.

• True success cannot be mistaken for anything else. All of us know exactly what we need, what truly fills us up with happiness and what is in alignment with whom we are deep down, at the bottom of our Heart.

• True success – unlike the false ideas of what success is supposed to be – brings us true happiness and by default takes away all the misery, stress and sorrow we experience when we live the life we don’t want.

When we stay under the influence of our subconscious fears and programming, striving for what is not in alignment with who we are – there is no amount of money, not enough power in the world, not enough of anything that can make us happy.

We all know stories of some influential, powerful people who have been devoured by stress and unhappiness, constantly striving for more money, more fame, more power, more lovers, more this and that and yet unable to reach the state of happiness. They are only creating more misery in their and other people’s lives.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with having lots of money or power – as long as it is in alignment with who we are deep inside, and we cause no harm to others. However, striving for that kind of success is not natural for most of us. Most people want to live a peaceful, healthy and happy life in which they can express who they are in any way they want.

True success brings happiness.

False success brings misery.

True success is always aligned with who we truly are, and what is our true purpose.

False success is only a temporary bandage for our misery.

True success means living the life we want to live, not having to live the life others want us to live, whatever their reasons may be for pushing on us their idea of success.

• Because of how all of nature is designed, so that every single being, whether it is a plant, an insect, an animal, a fish, a bird or a human being – is unique – the purpose of each being is also unique. That means everything and everyone is equally important in the whole design.

We always need to remember how important it is to see others and ourselves as the unique beings that we all are. All of us are equally important, and all of us have the right to live the way we want to live.

Your life is a unique journey of all times.

• Begin with clearing your mind, and continue with clearing your subconscious patterns.

• Open your Heart. You will find within all the answers you need. Your Heart knows what will bring you true happiness in life. Your Mind will show you the way.

 Look inside your Heart to find out what you truly want and need to bring to the world. Then go for it.

* In the Master Teachings of HOPE we use the word “Heart” to describe the core of your essence, your “pure inner person”. The part of you where you hold your own beautiful truth, free of any conditioning and fears.

REMEMBER ALSO: OUR SUBCONSCIOUS rules 90% of our thinking and behavior. It is responsible for our habits, emotions, automatic reactions, defensive mechanisms etc., which may keep you stuck in unwanted situations in life. You can reprogram your subconscious and get rid of the negative patterns stopping you from Living The Life You Want. 

Useful Affirmation:

“I fill my Mind with positive thoughts, such as Love, Gratitude, Compassion, Generosity and Hope. I’m on the road to Happiness, Success, Health, Peace of Mind and all forms of Abundance.”  – From the award-winning book  “365 (+1) Affirmations to Create a Great Life” by Johanna Kern.

TOOLS YOU CAN USE:

Click on the pictures to read or listen to FREE FRAGMENTS