The New You - A Short Guide to Personal Transformation

Maybe you've recently been 'released' from a job, relationship or some situation you thought was stable and long term. Perhaps you suddenly feel like something is different and the things that used to interest you and bring you enjoyment no longer seem adequate. Whether you find yourself with an unexpected abundance of time or a recently developed need to experience a deeper, richer life- up until this point you have only known one way to exist and will need help switching gears and incorporating life changes that will aid you in your personal development and transformation.

Some people hire life coaches or enroll in expensive courses and programs in order to overhaul their lives but many of us look at the hefty prices usually associated with such methods and come to the depressing conclusion that we cannot afford transformational breakthroughs. This is simply not true! Even if you have a modest income you still deserve a major breakthrough just the same. You might not be able to subscribe to a coaching or personal growth program right now but a ton of free information and a large amount of tools are available on the web to help you redesign your life.

This is for those who have made the decision to do something evolutionary right now. It includes some of the resources I have used to transform my own thinking. Thought always proceeds action and if you want a different life you will have to take different actions however if you have not transformed your thinking you will eventually end up repeating the same actions and ultimately achieve the same results. If your current thinking was working the way you desired it to you would already have the life that you want. So commit to being different and thinking differently in order to experience a life unlike that which you are currently accustomed to.

I will mention useful places and people to assist you with your personal growth. You will be provided with information, exercises, and other resources to help you live life in a way that you would like to but it is up to you to do the work and put this new information into practice if you want to see results. Personal development is not a journey for those who expect someone to change their lives for them. If you commit to personal growth or more accurately becoming more your true self, you will transform your very being which will lead to you transforming your life. I will focus on six areas that are crucial to this process: 1) Intuition/Guidance Development, 2) Vision and Envisioning, 3) Practice, 4) Releasing, 5) Reprogramming and 6) Allowing. It is important to understand that these processes are overlapping and ongoing throughout your personal development. I have also included actual resources to help you through these steps. While the content providers named in this book have free and/or low cost information most also have an option of deeper study if you decide to invest in doing so. Without further ado let's get to it!

Have you ever had a gut feeling that you ignored only to discover later that you should have paid attention to it? The average person has no idea how truly sentient they are. We are all capable of perceiving things without actually seeing or hearing them because everything is energy and that includes us. Many of us are taught to ignore or even fear this aspect of ourselves which leads to us relying on others' misinformation to live our lives. This is one of the reasons intuition development is important at the beginning of this journey. I will be sharing personal development techniques that have worked for me personally and recommending information from leaders in the transformative field but some of these teachings may not resonate with you.

Having a strong sense of knowing or inner guidance during the self expansion process will help you to discern what feels true and may work for you, and what will not. It will also alert you to when you are avoiding some action out of fear or resistance to change and when you are genuinely being led away from an action or situation that does not serve your higher good though, in the early stages of intuition development you may not be able to tell the difference. This useful ability is beneficial not only in the early stages of personal development but throughout because it will help you recognize favorable opportunities and the next steps or action to take on your journey. As you continue to gain awareness, your intuitive abilities tend to increase simultaneously.

You can start very small by learning to listen to what your body is telling you about environments, foods, people, etc. Intuition works like a muscle and the simple act of paying attention to and following it strengthens your intuition and gives it permission to grow. This is not an invitation to throw complete rationality out of the window as you should still also exercise common sense. Nevertheless, the next time you get a feeling that there is some action you should take, a person you should call, or a new dish you should try at a restaurant for example act on it and keep track of the results. You may not always be right but you will gain experience intuiting.

A short exercise to help you command your awareness.

If one compared the daily lives of people who live from a place of peace and contentment against those who live in what feels like never ending struggle and misery a major notable difference would be a divergence in their daily habits. When people decide to live and experience life differently, they do not all start from the same place. Some may have already adopted a view of optimism while others live with a pessimistic ideology and doubt they can change the behaviors and beliefs they have held onto for so long. With the right set of steady practices we can reprogram our minds and change how we experience life, it is this internal shift in ourselves that allows an external shift in our circumstances. The refusal to accept this universal law causes people to waste time trying to change their circumstances through sheer force only to encounter repeated resistance and reversals.

An easy daily practice to begin with is dedicating at least fifteen minutes each day to something that trains your mind and body to expand awareness -meditation is an excellent tool for this, (there are many free meditation videos for those who need some help getting started on YouTube). Prayer, affirmations, I AM statements and creative visualization including using tools like vision boards can also be integrated into your daily routine to help you shift and expand your consciousness to higher levels of being. I AM statements are statements starting with the phrase "I AM" where you declare something that you wish to be as if it already is. I use a digital version of a to-do list to schedule not just my goal related and personal tasks but also my spiritual practices; this has assisted me tremendously when introducing new habits into my routine. This digital to-do list known as the Simpleology Cockpit is available with Mark Joyner's free course Simpleology 101: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want and is available through the Simpleology website. This course helps you organize your thoughts, goals and dreams into practical action steps to help you achieve what you want.

Meditation for beginners can be frustrating since most people have no experience in quieting their minds or even know what a completely relaxed mind feels like. The ever popular Silva Life System has a free starter kit that includes their renowned Silva method of meditation and deep relaxation. You can also watch guided meditation videos like the one below at Finerminds.com. As you become more familiar with deep relaxation and stillness you may experiment with using Solfeggio tones during meditation. Habits take at least 21 days to form so start a life improving habit and do it consistently for at least three weeks.

This part of personal growth promises to be the most fun (besides reaping the benefits of course!) The step of envisioning is where intention meets creation and is followed by action. The surge in Law of Attraction information brought on largely due to the movie The Secret, resulted in a rise of the number of people using various tools for creative visualization. Some people use physical vision boards filled with images of what they desire their lives to look like. You can create your own digital version using a program like PowerPoint or create a series of slides to make your own ideal life movie. If you are not particularly technologically adept you can simply set aside some time each day to mentally step into your ideal life. When you wake up in the morning before you get out of bed keep your eyes closed and see yourself living your dream life – not just what you want to have and where you want to be but also who will be with you and how you will feel. Really step into the experience engaging all of your senses. This not only gives you a clear reference point for what you are trying to move towards it is also a great positive way to start your day.

Many people reach a point of frustration and desire better lives yet never take the time to clearly define what better looks like. The result of not having clear targets is you never determine where to aim your energy and efforts which can lead to an equally frustrating pattern of shooting blindly or taking action with no clear agenda and ultimately accomplishing nothing. Ultimately, as you set clear goals and visualize what achieving them would be like your developed intuition should kick in and guide you towards aligned action. This part can be tricky since we never get a full plan of action merely step by step assignments so it requires a lot of faith. It helps to note that in contrast when we sit down and plan step by step courses of action without allowing for deviation, we tend to end up with useless plans since life isn’t anywhere near as predictable as we would like it to be. Alternatively this guided approach makes it easier to adjust to ever changing circumstances. It also forces us to take actions that sometimes make no rational sense within our linear thinking so we would never think of them on our own. By acting from a place of stillness with intention and developed intuition we can receive and create opportunities we may not have been able to orchestrate from our own conventional viewpoint.

As we encounter this new world filled with possibilities we must continue to be discerning about which opportunities are in line with our end vision and which are simply adventurous detours. Ultimately there are no wrong turns in life however some paths provide easier and more direct access to our desires than others. It is important to keep in mind the larger vision you have for your life in order to determine what opportunities may bring you closer to your end goals and which will not.

Like most of the processes within transformation, releasing is a continual process. As we go about our lives we encounter circumstances that leave energetic imprints on us. A benefit of personal growth and continual practice is less and less negative energy gets trapped in our energy bodies so over time there is less to constantly release. When first beginning this journey the average person will have layers and layers of stored emotions, limiting beliefs and other baggage accumulated from their past. If we could truly see all that we have held onto that does not serve us, the task of releasing would seem insurmountable.

With a steadfast commitment to change and the discipline of practice we can remove that which stands between us and a more fulfilling life. Without addressing this crucial step completing all of the other steps may not be enough to bring about our desired results since we cannot enter into a true state of allowing with our barriers and walls of old baggage in place. And like most things in life releasing gets easier with time and practice. Additionally you can often release multiple impediments at once if they are tied to the same point of origin. Releasing can also be a frustrating process since the same issue can have multiple layers and we may revisit an experience or pattern to rid ourselves of various aspects of it.

Common tools and techniques used for releasing include intention setting, prayer, active meditation, emotional freedom techniques and forgiveness. Setting the intention to release limiting beliefs, fears, blocks, or attachment to the situations and traumas that caused them is a simple method. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) such as tapping have increased in popularity in recent years due to their effectiveness. Tapping on points along the body while reciting statements that address your counterproductive thoughts, feelings and beliefs helps to release them, you then conclude the process with a round of positive statements to lock a new and improved mindset in place. This is a very simplified explanation, to learn the specifics of how to do this visit www.thetappingsolution.com. Additionally, there are free step by step videos at www.margaretmlynch.com/.

An often overlooked method of releasing is the act of forgiveness. Forgiving those who you feel have wronged you and especially forgiving yourself for past choices and actions frees a lot of trapped energy that can be directed to attract more of what you want in your life and less of what you don't want. If we visualize better for ourselves while simultaneously rubbing our noses in our worst we create a standoff energetically.

None of the previously mentioned methods are quick fixes but they do allow you to release old baggage over time without costing a hefty sum, they also teach you to help and heal yourself. As a reminder, it is the continual practice of using any method that will achieve results.

You have developed your intuition, incorporated awareness practices into your routine, released your old junk programming, and set an intention while holding it in vision - now what? It is time to replace those outdated and limiting beliefs with a mindset more in line with the life you see yourself living and the person you hope to become. What does the person you hope to become have to believe in order to live your ideal life? Let’s say you got rid of the belief “I was born to struggle, I never seem to have enough” and the ‘you’ in your ideal life is carefree and has more than enough resources to not only take care of themselves but also others, well the new belief needed to bridge the gap between where you currently are and the ‘you’ you wish to become would be something like “I live a life of ease, all my needs are met and all my desires are fulfilled. I want for nothing.”

Techniques like tapping (an Emotional Freedom Technique) naturally build in the reprogramming step during their positive rounds. You can also add statements that represent your desirable beliefs into your daily affirmations and/or I AM statements. Since you have already become accustomed to transformational daily practices you will merely have to incorporate this content into what should be an existing habit for you.

DailyOM.com is a wonderful resource for personal growth. This website offers a large variety of courses on a sliding pay scale geared towards personal development and life transformation. These courses which you can take for as little as a dollar (no fooling) help to develop healthy practices, release non-beneficial programming and reprogram your mind into a healthier, more productive way of functioning. Additionally, many of these courses include affirmations and I AM statements tailored for specific areas of life improvement.

When you know you have done all that you can to bring about your desired results there is a point where you move into faith and let the universe do the rest. Entering into a state of allowing means you stop exhausting yourself in chasing down your desires. Now that you've set intentions, visualized what you would like your life to look like, rid yourself of anything that would prevent it from coming to pass, taken guided action and adopted a new paradigm of everything working for the greater good you can reside in a place of calm and ease while opportunities are steered your way. It may feel like an eternity but remain patient and practice maintaining a constant state of gratitude.

Undergoing the process of personal development and transformation is not easy. If you are not surrounded by people holding a similar focus it can be all too tempting to regress into the old habits and thought patterns that stunted your evolution at the start. If you can afford a personal coach or subscription to a community that helps to keep you moving forward this is a smart investment. Many leaders in the personal transformation field agree that immersion in the way of life you are attempting to integrate is crucial for maintaining momentum in your preferred direction.

One of the benefits of living in the age of information technology is immersion in positive thought is easier than ever before. Chances are you already use some form of social media or at the very least have an e-mail account, below are Facebook and Twitter accounts that you can subscribe to and follow in order to fill your timelines with inspirational advice, thought provoking videos, free tools, techniques and meditations to help you stride into a more fulfilling way of life.

Don't forget to sign up to join personal development e-mail lists so you can get personal growth content delivered straight to your inbox. Finerminds.com for example, offers a newsletter you can subscribe to and they have informative content for those who are just beginning their transformational journey as well as more advanced content. Stay open and remain alert for personal transformational events and tips from leaders in the field. Happy soul searching!

In this bonus video Abraham-Hicks breaks down the true meaning of selfishness and the vortex, watch this video whenever you need transformational tune-up!

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