World-class athletes, top managers and world-class performers, when tested, all show high levels of what’s called brain integration. Their brains are wired with strong connections between the different areas, they experience heightened attention, and can think quickly when dealing with problems.

Meditation causes those changes in your brain waves that improves its functionality. It’s an alternative way to mastery instead of devoting thousands of hours to learning a skill. Just think of all the time you’ll save!

Meditation is one of the best personal development activities you can perform. It will take time and patience if you’re new. There are many things you can do to make your time spent meditating easier and more effective.

Enhance your meditation experience:

1. Find the proper position. You might not be able to sit in a full-lotus position for hours on end, but you don’t need to. There are two keys to proper posture for meditation:

• The position must be comfortable enough to hold for the duration of your meditation. The longer you sit, the more precise your posture needs to be.
• Your body must be well-supported. Slouching or sitting on a surface that is too soft will make it impossible to sit for long. Your back and neck must be straight, or they will tire.
• Avoid being so comfortable and well-supported that you fall asleep. For this reason, sitting is ideal. Experiment with different positions until you find one that works for you.

2. Start slowly. You would think sitting still and controlling your thoughts for an hour should be easy. Your brain isn’t used to being quiet. Start with just five minutes and build from there. I found the Mindfulness Bell app an excellent tool and use it throughout the day.
3. Give yourself the best chance to be successful. Some situations make meditation easier to perform than others. Choose an environment conducive to meditating.

• Choose the right time. It’s easier to meditate when you’re relaxed than it is to meditate when you’re stressed or pressed for time. Plan your meditation accordingly. I do mine first thing before getting out of bed in the morning. I intentionally set my alarm 10 minutes earlier, hit snooze and use those ten minutes to meditate.
• Limited noise and activity make it easier to concentrate. Find a suitable location for your meditation practice.
• Avoid meditating when tired. You’ll find yourself falling asleep.

4. Consider the use of guided meditation. It can be easier to meditate to someone else’s voice than to take the task on alone. There are plenty of free options online you can try.
5. Give different types of meditation a try. One is sure to appeal to you more than others. Do a little research and determine which type interests you the most. Here are a few to get you started:

• Zen, Vipassana, Mindfulness, Metta, Mantra, Transcendental, Taoist, and several types of yoga meditation. Learn enough about each to find a few that you’d like to try.

6. Meditate with others. It’s not always easy to know if you’re meditating properly. Meditating in a group setting can provide the instruction and support that you need to advance your meditation practice. Give several groups a try before making a decision. You’ll find one group that appeals to you more than the others.
7. Use a timer. A common challenge is the constant checking of the time. You might want to get it over with, or you might be worried about being late for your next activity. A timer frees up your attention and permits a higher level of focus.

Meditation is a simple process.  Do everything you can to make your meditation sessions as productive as possible. Be persistent and enjoy the many benefits that meditation provides.

Stay Unstoppable,

Hypnosis and meditation both produce impressive results when applied properly and consistently. For thousands of years, people incorporated meditation in their lives People experienced the influences of hypnosis since we began to roam the earth. However, the idea of hypnotism wasn’t proposed until far more recently.

While they may appear similar, hypnosis and meditation differ in several important ways. One isn’t a good substitute for the other, but both can be powerful tools.

Understand the differences between hypnosis and meditation:

1. You’re hypnotized several times each day. Each time you daydream, reflect within or go deep in thought, you’re hypnotized. You experience this while watching a movie or reading a book. Have you ever driven in the car, only to wonder where the time went after arriving at your destination? You were hypnotized.

• It has been suggested that people are technically hypnotized after watching only 7 seconds of television!

2. Meditation attempts to empty your thoughts. In most types of meditation, the objective is to concentrate on an object, such as your breath, or white noise to create a mental state with minimal thought activity. You want to quiet your mind.
3. Hypnosis is dissociative. In a highly hypnotized state, the subject is unaware of his immediate surroundings. It’s akin to being in a dream that’s directed by himself or another person.

• Meditation is the opposite. The goal of meditation is complete presence.

4. Both techniques can be useful tools for managing stress or anxiety. Both can be equally effective for dealing with mental distress:

• Meditation can help by revealing the reality of self-induced. stress and anxiety
• Hypnosis often uses visualization techniques to experience new ways of reacting to the same stimuli in the future.

5. Hypnosis could be viewed as experiencing something with your senses that’s not really there. When you close your eyes and imagine something, you’re hypnotized. When you relive a conversation in your head, you’re hypnotized. How much time do you think you spend hypnotized each day?
   When you close your eyes and imagine something, you’re hypnotized.Click to Tweet
6. Hypnosis is more outcome oriented. Hypnosis often undertakes the approach to solve a challenge or to enhance performance. Hypnosis is used to get over a trauma, increase self-esteem, lose weight, or quit smoking. It’s directed at a specific outcome. Meditation isn’t normally applied in this way.
7. Hypnosis is aimed at the subconscious. It’s believed that hypnosis works around the conscious mind and influences the subconscious. It’s easier to address the subconscious while the conscious mind is otherwise occupied.
8. Hypnosis is considered an altered state. Your perception of reality is flawed because your mind is in another place.

• On the other hand, meditation seeks to eliminate everything except the truth. All opinions, beliefs, and preconceptions are dropped. Nothing remains but mental stillness.

Despite these basic differences, there are many kinds of meditation, some of which could be considered similar to hypnosis.

You already spend a portion of your day in a hypnotic state. Put it to work! Take control of the trances you enter each day.

Consider adding meditation and hypnosis to your personal growth activities. Meditation and hypnosis are simple but require practice. There’s no better time than the present to get started.

Comment below on your thoughts about hypnosis and meditation.

Stay Unstoppable,

Do You Desire to Follow Your Heart and Trust Your Instincts?

Giving a talk last week, somebody in the audience asked what steps I took to reach the point where my life is awesome.

Good question on his part… First step was taking responsibility for my life. Not easy and very scary.

Secondly was learning to trust my instincts and follow my heart.

Do you struggle with being able to follow your heart and trusting your instincts?

I started reflecting back on circumstances where I didn’t follow my instincts. That little tiny voice in my gut. (Guiding Universal Thought™)  Guess what? My instincts were right. How about you? How often are your instincts usually right?

Learning To Trusting Your Instincts

There are several good techniques that can help you better grasp the process of trusting your instincts. Some of these common solutions might work for you.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself. – Oprah Winfrey” quote=”Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself. – Oprah Winfrey”]

These strategies can help you trust your instincts:

1. Stick with your gut feeling. Following your heart and instincts are very similar things. It’s important to go with your initial thoughts. This is because it’s likely a thought that’s coming from within and not something you’ve had time to think endlessly about. You’d be amazed with how many times you just end up going with your initial feeling anyway.
2. Write down your thoughts. It might help to engage in a free writing session. Pick up a pen and just write your thoughts down as they come. Try not to put the pen down. It doesn’t matter if you start writing some things that don’t pertain to the subject. After reading your notes, you’ll probably get a better idea about your base instincts.
3. Keep yourself in a relaxed state. It’s always best to do your thinking while you’re relaxed. That way you know you’re not making any strained decisions. Do what you can to relax yourself, whether it’s deep breathing, a warm bath, or meditation techniques.
4. Avoid changing your mind unless there’s a valid reason. Occasionally, you’ll know that your initial instinct was wrong. In this case, if you have a valid reason to change your mind, you should do so. However, if you don’t have a good reason, just follow through with your initial thoughts.

Now Start Following Your Heart

Sometimes following your heart instead of your mind can seem like the "weak" thing to do. This is not the case; following your heart is following the core of your beliefs… your Magical Essence… and is usually the best thing you can do.

When you follow your heart, you’re usually happy. Happy people enjoy their lives and are usually healthier in the long run. If you want to be happy, you must learn how to follow your heart.

You can begin following your heart by keeping these tips in mind:

1. Trust your subconscious thoughts. It can be tough to stay in touch with your subconscious thoughts, but they make up your initial instincts and they’re close to your heart. You know that the truth will be revealed to you if you give yourself enough time. Learn to trust yourself.
2. Go with what feels right. Don’t be afraid to take action towards the things that feel right. If something feels off to you, you can stop and explore the reasons why. It always starts with a feeling. Go in the direction of your positive feelings.
3. Avoid over thinking. Sometimes your mind can get away from you and start cycling through negative thoughts. Take deep breaths and get back into a positive mindset so that you can see your true path more clearly.

You’ll find that most of the time your instincts and heart are correct in the end. Even when they’re not, banish discouragement and keep practicing. Maintain a positive attitude and keep trying and soon your heart and instincts will be your guiding lights.

What are your thoughts on following your heart and trusting your instincts? Share them below.

Stay Unstoppable,