From Procrastination to Motivation

Why do some people procrastinate when putting things off eats up their peace of mind and vitality? Most of us put things off because they are too difficult, time-consuming, or unpleasant. Yet putting them off results in more stuff to keep track of and worry about.

The two types of motivation

Fundamental to dealing with procrastination is knowing how best to motivate yourself.

Towards Motivation emphasizes the benefits of doing something, paying attention to the pleasant feelings, such as achievement, success, enjoyment, and status, experienced as a result of taking action. This is commonly referred to as the "carrot" method.

Away From Motivation focuses more on the consequences to be avoided, the feelings experienced from inaction. This is sometimes referred to as the 'stick' approach to motivation and is frequently considered to be the 'negative' way of motivating.

Both of these types can produce motivation. The trick is to know which one works best for you. Neither is necessarily better than the other.

A very 'positive' Towards motivational approach, in which you focus on all the benefits of doing something, will rarely work in dealing with your own procrastination. Using an Away From approach, by focusing on the consequences of inaction you're much more likely to get things done.

Six steps for dealing with Procrastination

1. Consider something you like to start procrastinating on. Make sure this is something you could have acted upon before now. Set aside about 15 minutes or so for the following exercise.
   
2. Take a few minutes to feel just how much stress putting this off has already caused you.
   
3. Consider and feel just how much stress procrastinating is really causing you, in every way. Are you feeling guilty for your inaction, etc?
4. How much discomfort it will cause you if you continue to do nothing about it for another few months?
5. Now, let's switch gears and uncover how it will fee to have taken action and completed your project.
6. Compare the cost of taking action (in terms of energy, effort, time) with the cost of not taking action. Write it down.
   
7. Once you recognize how much you're losing by not doing it, and how much time and energy you'll save yourself, ACT!
8. Begin taking action right this minute. Commit to seeing it through to completion.
   

Motivating yourself is an emotional rather than an intellectual exercise. So take the time to really feel both the Towards and the Away From emotions rather than simply making lists of feelings. Deal with just one procrastinating issue at a time. It's easier to focus your attention and your motivation this way.

Immediately you've completed the task, make some notes on the same sheets of paper about how you feel. Reading through it now and then will remind you of the discomfort and distress that you cause yourself each time you procrastinate and on the benefits of adopting a new 'do it now' attitude.

Secrets of Changing Minds

How is it possible to turn tragedy into prosperity, depression in joy, and chaos into success?

In this article I will introduce you to the power of changing beliefs, including step by step NLP strategies.

How is it that two people can face the same challenge, and one ends up fumbling it while the other glides through it like a pro? Is there a difference and if so, what is it?

If someone believes that he doesn't have the ability to change his situation, you can teach him new strategies that can help him make changes. But if he still believes that he is powerless, no change will take place.

3 Warning Signs of a Self-Sabotaging Belief

When you want to change someone's mind over a problem, whether it's about their lives, their relationships or your product, how do you know when the belief is more problematic than the problem itself?

1) Personal - Believing you are the problem
2) Pervasive - The problem isn't the problem, your whole life is the problem
3) Permanent - No resolution is possible

If you notice when someone feels this way about their problems, you know you have core underlying beliefs about that problem that you need to bust.

What Is The Root Belief Of All Limiting Beliefs?

All limiting beliefs can be grouped into these categories; I am broken, or the situation is broken.
On the other hand, healthy beliefs have their roots in the belief that people are not broken, that people have the resources they need to overcome any challenge or they have the ability to get those resources.

The key, then, is to shift the belief that you are broken into a belief that you are whole, that problems are not personal, pervasive or permanent, but impersonal, in one area of life and temporary.

How Do You Change a Belief?

1) Offer counter-examples. A belief can be built because the person has never seen evidence to the contrary. If someone has never seen a TV, they'll never believe that when you turn it on little people will appear in it. Bring them to a TV, and switch it on.
2) Break the belief down into tiny little bits. Use questions, but do it with kindness and compassion. Every generalization will break itself at some point, including that one. All generalizations? All the time? According to whom? How do you know that? Ever had a time when it never happened? What would happen if it didn't?
3) Re-frame the belief. It's not that you can't learn, it's that no one has ever shown you how. It's not that there's no such thing as a TV, only that you haven't seen one before. It's not that you can't change beliefs, it's that you've never noticed you do it all the time.

Until limiting beliefs are shifted, any attempts to change minds will be blocked by these beliefs. It's like walking into a room with the door shut; it's not going to happen. The wonderful thing about going after beliefs rather than problems is that once beliefs are transformed, changes are usually generative: resources are freed up and solutions are often thought of on their own.

Why Fast Track to NLP?

There are a lot of options out there for NLP training. It's the scheduling, teaching techniques, and environment that really make the difference. Studies have shown that the brain learns better and faster when you are totally immersed in the subject matter.

Our Fast Track program provides you with leadership training, management skills, communication skills, health care processes, and personal development. Here is an overview of what you'll learn.

• Set goals in a way that ensures your success
• Create and use personal states of excellence
• How to ask the right questions
  
• How to use influential language patterns
• Enhance your communication skills
  
• Listen to how your clients say things rather than what they say
• Discover in minutes what motivates someone
• Change unwanted behaviors
• Use people's representation of time to ensure they reach their goals
• How to use hypnosis, covertly and/or openly
  

By learning the secrets of human operation and potential found in Neuro-Linguistics, you can be trained to easily and influentially communicate with anyone at any time. Our instructors have studied for years to gather the "best of the best" techniques in order to offer them to you. The Best of exceptional individuals like Milton Erickson, Richard Bandler, Tony Robbins and others are distilled for you. Here is the stuff that really works!

Healers Have Been Healed

The healers are back from Costa Rica! We had an amazing time receiving healings and getting adventurous in the jungle. Most of all, we enjoyed the opportunity to get to know each other on an even deeper level. Between the shamanic soul retrieval, reiki circles, and salsa dancing we lounged in the pool and climbed waterfalls. And it was all good!

I just had to thank everyone again for making this retreat so amazing! Here is a comment from one of our participants.

"I loved, loved, loved the trip. I loved the combination of healing and adventure. The group gelled well together. I loved healing on the 7 planes. The openness of the setting and the participants, the flow between activities made it hard for me to squish myself back into my office’s four walls. I liked to connection to nature, the warmth, the water, the cicadas, the birds, the trees, the vistas, the sky. The casitas were nicely appointed and well nestled in the hillside for privacy and a feel of fauna. I thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of activities and how you wove them all together. I was definitely ready for an afternoon nap by Wednesday and did sleep for 3 hours!.

You were an awesome leader: guiding with no air of superiority, and very generous with your time and spirit. I hope you received back as much as you gave."

Lightwork Activist

(Janis with Gary Zukav)

In his talk at the Green Festival in San Francisco, Gary Zukav reminded us that a true activist acts from a place of love, rather than from anger. Because there are only two true emotions, fear and love, he invited us to examine our emotions of fear, anger, and sadness and ask ourselves, "What am I afraid of that is perpetuating this feeling in me?"

Earth Stewardship

Spirituality is a difficult word to pin down and define. But, if it could be summed up in a single word, it might be consciousness. The essence of life is consciousness, the goal of our efforts is an increase of consciousness, the solution to our challenges is a shift in consciousness.

The greatest creative force is consciousness. And, of course, as spiritually-minded NLP practitioners and hypnotists we expand that term to include the vast storehouse of the unconscious, which holds potentially conscious information that just doesn't happen to be in the awareness at a given moment.

Increasingly rising into the awareness of popular culture is an accelerating environmental crisis, but also the power of our choices and intentions to heal the Earth. It's not surprising that the greatest, most important step in reversing damage to the environment is to be conscious of how our lifestyles impact the planet. Only from a position of consciousness can we reevaluate these choices and make positive changes to embrace our role, as individuals and as a species, of Earth stewardship.

The connection between spirituality and Earth stewardship was recently made explicit at the Bioneers Conference by Evon Peter, chairman of the Native Movement, whose very presence onstage with a host of other indigenous Americans from various tribes was a reminder that we are all guests on this planet and that our connection to the forces of creation, the Great Spirit, come up through our relationship with the land and our bodies, not in spite of them.

It was in this spirit that Janis and I recently attended the Bioneers Conference and Green Festival in the San Francisco Bay area. It was truly remarkable to see how the environmental movement has grown from a few very expensive and inconvenient items that required great sacrifice, to a loving community with its own alternative economy of easy to use products literally covering every aspect of daily life from clothes, food and pet care to furniture, cleansers, media and office equipment. It's not just about alternative energy (though that's important, too)! With the holiday shopping season now upon us, this is a fantastic time to learn about these new companies and their products, and to share this knowledge through our gift-giving.

These two recent events were experiences we cherish and will never forget. We hope you'll take the time to explore this email, save it as a reference, and share in the effort to raise awareness about the environment and fair trade practices. Support our commitment to improving the world through conscious intent -- join us on purpose!

Joe Nicholson
San Rafael, CA
November 2007

Healing the Healer in Costa Rica

I hope this finds you healthy and enjoying this beautiful season. Because I'm very excited and can hardly wait, I'm sending you this invitation now to join Joe Nicholson and I in gorgeous Costa Rica next February! Our plans are finalized, and we're looking forward to taking a group of healers on a journey of healing, exploration, and transformation.

Take a moment to reflect on whether or not you've taken ample time this year to relax and receive energy from others. I know many of us have a tendency to give too much, and we need to be reminded to slow down and take some time for ourselves. If it's time to recharge, meet new people, and have some exciting adventures, consider Healing the Healer.

Healing the Healer in Costa Rica!

DATES: February 9-15, 2008
LOCATION: Ama Tierra Retreat, Costa Rica
OPTIONAL ADDITION: February 16th at Manuel Antonio State Park before heading to San Jose Airport

If you have requested more information on this retreat, we will be sending you a packet in the mail with all the details you need, including an itinerary and a list of what to bring. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Janis (415-491-1122) or Renata (707-694-2691).

Space is limited and we can only take 16 people with us to this beautiful place. Many people have already expressed excitement over this retreat, so be sure to get in early!

December 9th is the last day to register.

In light,
Janis