Faith and the ‘As If’ Principle

‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’

 Paul of Tarsus

Faith has nothing to do with blindly accepting someone else’s religious beliefs. It is simply trusting the process of life as expressed in the great spiritual laws such as the Laws of Cause and Effect, Attraction, Forgiveness and Nonresistance. If you lay down the right causes, the right effects will follow. This not only the foundation stone of lasting peace of mind, but also an essential prerequisite for success. If you don’t have faith in yourself, how can you possibly succeed?

Faith is best expressed in action through the ‘As If’ Principle.

  1. Act ‘as if’ you are already what you wish to be, and are on your way to achieving everything your heart desires.
  1. Act ‘as if’ the whole power of the universe is with you, that Life itself is set up to help, nurture, guide and support you.

You need faith when you first set out to make changes to yourself, your way of being and your life style by setting goals. There are periods when things change rapidly, and others when little seems to happen. It is then that faith carries you through.

Change does not happen at a constant rate. You move forward – then you plateau. You may stay on the plateau for several weeks, even months: don’t let doubt creep in because in time you will move forward again. The process has been likened to the drip, drip of water on a rock. For long periods there may seem to be little change, then all of a sudden a crack appears.

Keep the faith. Apply the principles consistently knowing that unseen changes are taking place. What starts off unseen eventually becomes seen. You never know when you are on the verge of breaking through to a whole new level of growth and understanding.

Focus your mind on what you want and visualise it becoming a reality. Follow your inner guidance and you’ll discover an  astonishing inner power, as if there’s an Infinite Intelligence responding to your thoughts, feelings and actions. If this stretches  your credulity, realise that this is not some fanciful esoteric notion, but science. Quantum physicists have long recognised that energy alone cannot crystallize into matter, it needs a pattern, information fields to shape it.

You are not the body. You are not the mind. You are the ‘Witness’that is aware that you are aware, that knows that you are thinking. The real You is non-physical, spiritual, the part of you that has the power to think. This is what shapes your life.

Have faith in who and what you are and your full potential come to fruition. Health, happiness, prosperity and peace of mind are yours!

Finally, the most empowered individuals know that the secret of true fulfilment lies in helping others to enjoy all the health, happiness, prosperity and success they want. This is the highest mission in life, a certain route to happiness and prosperity, and genuine love in action.

‘If you head confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the kind of life you have imagined, you will come across a success undreamed of in common hours.’

Henry David Thoreau

 

©David Lawrence Preston, 18.7.2016

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How to access your Inner Power

You have a wonderful power within you.

Consider the moment of your birth. At the instant your umbilical cord was cut, you became a separate human being, full of possibilities, charged with spiritual energy. You had within you the seeds of everything you needed to build a happy and fulfilling life. All you needed was someone to encourage your natural birthright to burst forth.

Then what happened?

Did anyone explain how you could make of your life whatever you willed? Were you encouraged to feel like the wonderful miracle of creation that you truly were? Did your adult caretakers nurture your self-esteem, helping you use your innate talents to the full?

Whether they did or not, your Inner Power is always there, just as it always was. It nurtures and sustains you, but the way you conduct yourself ultimately determines how you use it and consequently the kind of life you create for yourself. Everything you do and say has consequences. Greed, envy, selfishness and cruelty are all too much a part of modern life: you don’t have to be a part of them.

It originates in the way you think, imagine and feel.

What you think, feel, and how you speak originates in your ‘inner world’. They condition your behaviour, and attract events and circumstances into your life according to your state of consciousness. Your life is a reflection of whatever you hold in your mind.

It is non-physical, i.e. spiritual.

It has nothing to do with physical attributes. If this were not true, elderly, impaired or diminutive individuals such as Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa would have made little impact.

You will never realise your full potential as long as you think of yourself primarily as a physical body with a brain. You must go beyond all that to that part of you which ‘knows’ at a much deeper level.

You can access it through your Superconscious Mind

The Superconscious oversees the Conscious and Unconscious Minds and communicates with you through intuition and synchronicity. When you are conversant with it, it endows you with higher-level wisdom, creativity and inspiration, peace of mind, and an exhilarating sense of freedom

There is an ever-present Intelligence that responds when we direct our attention and our thoughts to it. It is the invisible ‘energy’ or ‘intelligence’ that governs the universe; the ‘life-force’ which suffuses everyone and everything, and connects us to each other.

Attune yourself to Higher Consciousness….

The Superconscious is powerful, but only because it has a direct line to something even more significant: Universal Consciousness.

Do I mean God? No. The idea that something or someone is ‘up there’, outside of ourselves, looking down on us, belongs to a bygone age.

Many religious people refer to this life-force as ‘God’, but J. Krishnamurti, a great spiritual teacher from the last century, a man familiar with both the Eastern and Western traditions, said, ‘There is only one God as manifested in you, but I am not going to use the word ‘God’. I prefer to call this ‘Life’.’

God/Life is within you. You can feel it pulsating in every part of your being. It is present in rivers and oceans, it makes the stars shine, the Earth rotate on its axis, flowers bloom, trees grow and fish swim. It heals the sick, and without it, everything dies.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote,

‘Whilst everything around me is ever-changing, ever-dying, there is underlying all that changes a living power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves and re-creates.’

A student once asked the teacher, ‘How can I find God?’ The teacher replied, ‘How does a fish find the ocean?’ You are living in an ocean of consciousness. It is all around you and within you, just as a wave is part of the ocean. Like sunlight, which radiates throughout the solar system, it is available to everyone.

Love, peace and happiness are not to be found in faraway places or unusual states of consciousness, but here, right now, if you are willing to receive them.

…. by having some quiet time to yourself each day….

Make a priority of having regular quiet time for you. When you commune with your Inner Power in silence, your spirituality assumes a progressively greater role in your life. Regular practice of prayer and meditation makes a profound difference.

Affirmative prayer is simply a conversation with your Inner Power.  Many people think prayer is a waste of time, because they have tried it in the past, felt their prayers went unanswered, and gave up. If this is your experience, it is probably for one of two reasons.

  • Either you have not listened hard enough for an answer because that still, small voice within was drowned out by mental clutter.
  • Or your prayers were answered, but either you didn’t notice, or it happened in a way you didn’t expect.

…. then miracles might just happen.

When you make prayer and meditation part of your daily life, everything flows more smoothly. You realise that, from a spiritual point of view, the best thing that could happen to you is happening right now. Learn as much as you can from it and let your Spiritual Self be your guide. Don’t expect miracles to happen, but equally, don’t be surprised if they do.

Allow this power to guide and support you….

The idea of acting ‘as if’ the power of the universe is flowing through you is not an abstract idea, because this energy is as real as you are – indeed, it is you. Until you fully grasp this, you are like a light bulb without current.

You can light up yourself and the world around you, but only once you are plugged in and switched on. You can receive spiritual power whenever you have a use for it.

Universal Consciousness constantly emits creative energy like the sun gives warmth and light. As the Indian teacher, Sai Baba, said:

‘The rays of the sun fall equally on all who are directed in their way. If someone is behind an obstacle, or in a room, he will receive only part of the light. Cultivating the higher spiritual yearnings is like coming out from the confinement of a room into the sun’s rays.’

Your task is to facilitate the flow of this universal energy through you and get out into the sunlight! How? The basic toolkit is in the letters I-T-I-A.

  • Intention: Aspire to your highest potential, aiming at nothing less than completeness and harmony. As long as your intentions are pure and focussed, it’s there for you.
  • Think: Cast off your negative beliefs. Shake off the habits and thinking patterns that have constrained you, clear away the rubbish you have gathered inside you, and raise your thoughts to the underlying Intelligence that governs all our lives. When you look for happiness and fulfilment in a higher way of thinking, anger, fear and anxiety fade into nothing.
  • Imagine: Imagine yourself permeated with this Inner Power, attracting whatever you need into your life as naturally as breathing. Imagine yourself as a giant solar battery absorbing energy from the Source, this energy flowing through you and put to good use in the service of your fellow beings. Imagine that tranquil centre within you radiating energy and drawing others towards you, seeking the same peace of mind and sense of purpose that you have.
  • Action: Put your ideas into action. Allow the invisible hand of Universal Consciousness to guide you. Trusting to this degree may be scary at first, but you know the reason for this is merely your programming and conditioning. The more you use it, the more available it is. Persevere and you will change yourself, your life, and the lives of those around you.

Ironically it is not the achievement of your goals that brings happiness, but the sense of purpose and direction they bring. If you succeed – great! If not, at least you’ve enjoyed trying.

…. and you will be happy, peaceful and fulfilled and have the courage to follow your dreams.

No words can express how you will feel once you have awakened the infinite power within you. You realise that all along there was something wonderful within you, and you did not know it. But now you do know it. You are greater than you knew, and all is well.

©David Lawrence Preston,

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How to Succeed at Anything

The formula for achieving anything you want is very straightforward, although it must be applied with determination and persistence.

Many years ago a millionaire businessman who had gone bankrupt several times and each time recovered to become a multi-millionaire  was asked what advice he would give to ambitious young people.  ‘Have a clear idea of what you want, he replied, and be prepared to pay the price to get it.’

By paying the price, of course, he meant committing the necessary time, energy and effort. But ‘price’ is the wrong word – they’re really an investment. Your investment in a successful future will pay off if you follow these eight clear steps.

 1.      Set clear goals.

 2.      Use the power of your mind – think positively, undo negative conditioning, build positive beliefs, and use your imagination to help you create the life you want.

 3.      Acquire the knowledge, qualities and new skills you need; become the person you need to be to realise your ambitions.

 4.      Evaluate your current situation.

 5.      Consider your options.

 6.      Take action – the right action, and lots of it. Put your heart and soul into it.

 7.      Monitor your progress and make adjustments if necessary.

 8.      Keep going. Plug into the power of persistence.

Put these eight steps together and you can’t fail.

©David Lawrence Preston, 2.7.2016

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Problems, problems, problems!

Think of a problem that seemed terrible at the time, that you now look back on and think, ‘I learned a lot from that?’ Perhaps you surprised yourself, and now thanks to this, you feel more confident. Perhaps you now realise that opportunities often come disguised as problems and all it takes is a change in thinking to make the most of them.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Eight ways to handle a problem

 1. Write it down.

Problems often seem less overwhelming when put down on paper in a clear and organised fashion.

 2. Focus on finding a solution.

Spend no more than 20% of your time and mental energy analysing the problem, and 80% on thinking about the solution.

3. Stop pitying self-talk and negative questions.

Ask yourself, ‘What can I do to solve this problem?’ ‘How can I turn it to my advantage?’ ‘What more do I need to know?’ and so on. These questions get your unconscious working for rather than against you.

4. Don’t exaggerate the problem.

Problems are soon blown up out of all proportion by anxious thoughts, anger, guilt, and looking for someone or something to blame.

5. Don’t underestimate the problem.

Don’t underestimate the problem nor your capacity to deal with it. Many problems are handled badly because they aren’t taken seriously enough. See reality as it is.

6. Take action.

Take action.  NOW. You solve problems only by doing something about them. Sometimes you need to take time to think things through, but once you’ve worked it out get started. Procrastination can be risky.

7. Ask for help if you need it.

Don’t be too proud to ask for help if you need it. Most people like to lend a hand, like to feel useful. It boosts their self-esteem.

8. Ask your intuition.

If all else fails, ask your intuitive mind for guidance (see my other blogs).

Stay flexible

Stay committed to your plans, but don’t be too rigid. Be open to new ideas and don’t dismiss options you haven’t yet thought of. Flexibility does not mean weakness. Trees that sway with the wind best weather the storm!

Sometimes things happen you just can’t help and what matters is how you respond. You have choices. If one path becomes blocked, look for a workable alternative and try again.

Learn from your failures

Life presents each of us with a series of learning curves, each building on the other. Failure is a natural part of success. Failing doesn’t make you a failure as a person. The only real failure is giving up or not trying at all.

There are opportunities in every challenge. Every setback contains within it the seeds of success, providing you can spot them. Deal with problems as they arise and turn difficulties to your advantage. Hardly anyone gets everything right first time.

The big questions

If you’re sure you have the right goals, have tried your hardest and still don’t seem to be getting every far, ask yourself the big questions. Be honest with yourself. You may not like the answers that come:

WHAT AM I NOT FACING UP TO?

WHAT AM i UNWILLING TO DO?

Lack of success is often the result of being unwilling to do everything that is required. For example, many well qualified and competent professionals struggle to establish their practices. In nearly every case, their failure is due to their unwillingness to get involved in the business side of things, especially sales promotion.

If you’re aware of something you’re unwilling to do that is holding you back, make a plan, apply the I-T-I-A Formula (https://blog.davidlawrencepreston.co.uk/2016/03/i-t-i-a-formula/) and Eight Steps above and start putting it right.

If you are stuck in a rut and nothing seems to be working you could try consciously breaking your habits and routines. This could give you a fresh outlook. For example:

  • Travel to work by a different route or different mode of transport.
  • Read a different newspaper and tune in to different media channels.
  • Wear something different.
  • Eat at different times.
  • Mix with different people.

Moving out of your comfort zone encourages new thinking and stimulates the creative juices!

And finally – be grateful for your problems! They help you to grow as a person, and that’s what life is all about.

©David Lawrence Preston, 1.6.2016

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Time Management

‘If I use my time well, I gain time.

If I use my energy well, I gain energy.

If I use my wealth well, I gain wealth.

In this way, I find leisure in everything I do.’

 Ken O’Donnell

Good time management is important in all areas of life. If you use your time wisely your life will be meaningful and fulfilling.

We all have exactly the same amount of time each day. It’s what we do with it that counts. How do you currently manage your time? Do you have a plan? Think of what you have to do in the next week. How have you planned to get it all done?

The golden rule in time management is ‘put first things first’. Do things in order of importance and don’t waste time on trivialities. Be clear on your priorities. Ask yourself: ‘What could I do that I’m not currently doing, that would make the biggest difference to my personal or business life?’

The Action Plan

An Action Plan is a chart, updated weekly, which sets out your priorities, the actions you need to take and timescales.

The best way to use an Action Plan is to keep it on computer so that it can easily be amended and updated. The best time to review it is on Sunday evenings, or just before your working week starts.

Goal
 Milestone  Timescale  Notes Imp/ Urg?
         

 

Identifying the Urgent and Important

In his book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, Dr Stephen Covey suggests that you classify things to do under four headings:

  • Urgent/important
  • Urgent/unimportant
  • Not urgent/important
  • Not-urgent/unimportant
Important Not important
 

Urgent

 

Urgent and important

Do these first

 

Urgent but not important

 

Not urgent Important but not urgent

Allocate time to these every day

Not urgent and not important

 

 

The important but non-urgent items map the course of your life in the longer term. Allocate some time to these every day

Dr Covey states that many of us get so bogged down with the unimportant and non-urgent, that we lose sight of what really matters. He also points out that the important but non-urgent items are usually those that build your future. They do little to ease your immediate workload, but they map the course of your life in the longer term.

Identify your ‘time robbers’ – those habits and distractions that take up too much time and stop you pursuing more rewarding activities.  Write them down, then look at what you’ve written. What do you intend to change?

Keeping and using a ‘to do’ list

What happens if you go shopping without a list? You waste time, buy things you don’t want, and forget some of what you do. It’s the same with your time – when you make a list of things to do, you keep yourself on track and make better use of your time.

Correct use of a ‘to do’ list can increase your productivity by up to a third. Here’s how:

Use a small notebook or loose leaf pad. (Alternatively, you may prefer to use an electronic organiser.) Update your list of ‘things to do’ continually. When you have a new task to complete, add it to your list. When you have completed a task, cross it off.

 

If urgent (tick) Things to do today

Day/date…………………………………

Done? (tick)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Each evening, make a list of what you intend to do the following day. Mark each item either urgent or non-urgent, and either important or unimportant. Make sure you include everything – work, recreation, household duties, etc. Then rank all items.

Use a pro-forma similar to the one above. Complete one every morning as soon as you are ready to get started.

Work down your list tackling one task at a time. Complete each item before moving on to the next.

When you think of something that needs to be done, add it to your list. When you finish a task, tick it off. If you don’t get everything done today, add it to tomorrow’s list if it’s still important enough.

At the end of each day, carry out an evening review. Cross off anything you haven’t done which no longer needs doing (i.e. because events have overtaken you). Add in anything that needs to be added. Then start the cycle again.

Remember to focus on the most important, not the most pleasant. Postponing tasks simply because they are unpleasant clogs the brain, reduces your creativity and gets you bogged down in trivialities. Moreover, they rarely get more pleasant by being postponed.

Further hints on time management

Use wisely those times when you’re at your best

Do what requires maximum energy and attention when you’re at your best. Your brain can only cope with so much when you’re feeling jaded, and you’re likely to make mistakes, so use those times to get the routine tasks done.

Decide when you don’t want to be disturbed

Fix times when you definitely do not want to be disturbed. Tell others and put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on your door.

Organise your work environment

Keep your workspace tidy and well organised. Nothing wastes time as much as looking for things that have been misplaced.

Do things well enough

Avoid exaggerated perfectionism – nothing is more time consuming. Doing routine things well enough leaves you time for more important things.

Don’t lose your spontaneity

If an opportunity comes up to do something you hadn’t planned for, go for it; you may not get another chance. If the weather’s good and you have a chance to take a walk by the sea, do it. These moments are precious and add hugely to your quality of life – and you can always catch up on your work later.

©David Lawrence Preston 25.4.2016

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What You Must Do To Succeed

The tools for transforming your life are:

I – Intention

T – Thought.

I – Imagination.

A – Action.

Intention sets your course; thinking and imagination bring your mind into line with your ambitions; and action makes your goals reality.

The points below are in no particular order of priority – they’re all important.

  1. Keep your goals very clearly etched in your mind. Write them on a small card and keep it with you. Read it daily. Affirm silently and aloud that you can achieve them and are well on the way to doing so. Every morning and night, ‘visualise’ yourself (in clear detail) accomplishing your goal, and use autosuggestion.
  2. Be proactive. Take the initiative. Make things happen. ‘Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.’ (Goethe)
  3. Identify your key result areas. In many fields, there are only a few – perhaps three or four – activities at which you must excel. It’s important to know what these are, and master them
  4. Plan carefully. Planning starts the process of translating your goals from ideas into something tangible. Included in your plan should be your long, medium and short-term goals. Long-term goals spell out your ultimate destination; medium goals are the major landmarks along the way; and short-term goals are your immediate priorities. Specify how you will set about achieving your goals and write it down. Read through the plan regularly to assess whether you’re on course. If not – make adjustments. But remember, no plan should ever be cast in stone. If it turns out to be impractical, change course. A good plan is not restrictive, but allows for every likely contingency.
  5. Assess risk. You may need to take a few risks, but risk taking doesn’t mean being foolhardy: weigh up the odds and if there’s a good chance of success have a go. Do your homework.
  6. Teamwork: Most achievements involve working with others to accomplish a goal. You’re unlikely to have all the information, skills, resources and contacts that you need. Find people who can help. Working with a team enables you to plug the gaps in areas where you’re relatively weak, generate more and better ideas than you could alone, gain access to resources you do not have and benefit from synergy – (the ‘2+2=5’ effect).  And most importantly, make sure that everyone in your team benefits.
  7. Go the extra mile. Give a little extra. Look for ways of doing more than is expected of you. Your ‘customers’ will come back for more and will recommend you to others.
  8. Learn from your ‘failures’ – everyone has them. Every successful person knows that each so-called ‘failure’ contains within it the seeds of success – providing you can spot them and turn them to your advantage. Thomas Edison tried for years to perfect the electric light bulb despite being told by the best scientific minds of the day that it was impossible to get light from electricity. After approximately five thousand attempts, a journalist asked him why he was risking his reputation on such a futile exercise. ‘You don’t understand the way the world works,’ he replied. ‘I haven’t failed at all. I’ve just found five thousand ways it won’t work. Each one takes me closer to discovering the way it will’. View setbacks merely as inconvenient and keep going.
  9. Don’t be a DOPE – ‘Driven by Other People’s Expectations’. Many people deny their own potential because listen to the wrong people. Dr Albert Einstein offered the following advice: ‘Be independent of the opinion of others.’ Share your dreams only with people who have high aspirations of their own. They’ll understand.
  10. Time management: success depends a great deal on how you use your time. You’ve heard it said that ‘time is money’, and this is partly true, but with two important differences: You can’t save time to spend another day; and no matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you’ve still got now… and tomorrow… and the day after that…
  11. Monitor your results. If you’re making headway – fine. Keep going. Carry out some fine-tuning if necessary. But if you’re not, be honest with yourself. Find out where you’re going wrong and make adjustments.
  12. Never, never give up. Determination and perseverance are probably the main distinguishing qualities of successful people.

©David Lawrence Preston, 21.3.2016

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Your Inner Teacher

Just suppose you had an ‘inner teacher’ who knew exactly what you needed to learn in any moment. Well you have.

It’s one of the functions of your intuition, housed in your unconscious mind.

If certain situations or thinking patterns bring about ‘negative’ emotions in you, your inner teacher makes sure you have more of these experiences until you get the message. In other words, if you handle a situation unskillfully you’ll get another opportunity to learn.

If there are patterns which you would like to change, reflect on the best way of handling them, clarify your intentions, examine your thinking and beliefs, mentally rehearse future situations  and adjust your words and actions.

Remember, your inner teacher doesn’t just rely on uncomfortable experiences to get its message across – it works for ‘positives’ too. If you’re experiencing good feelings, it’s your intuition saying, ‘You handled that perfectly. Congratulations!

©David Lawrence Preston, 9.3.2016

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