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Start believing in “Yes I Can!”

On January 1^st, 1983, the World Wide Web (internet) made its public debut. Almost overnight, communication took on a whole new meaning. In a few short years, the population using the internet went from 16 million viewers (1995) to an outstanding 4,833 million viewers as of June 2020. That breaks down to 62 percent of the world population is using the internet on some level daily.

However, with so much time being spent in front of the screens, it is inevitable to find that viewers find themselves more depressed and less motivated. In 2019, Preventative Science Reports concluded that “those who spent more than four hours each day staring at a screen were about twice as likely to have depression.”

As of 2020, early research shows people watch and interact with some form of technology for up to 18 hours per day.

As a society, we rely heavily on other opinions, leadership, and ideas. 2020 has created a new way of learning this information. Often, the data our brains are receiving is negative, especially this year alone. Psychologist Dr. Logan Jones wrote that “Consuming too much of this kind of news, whether actively or passively, can be very toxic, and what you hear has an impact on your mood.”

So, how do we change our thinking patterns?

Affirmation is the practice of constructive thought and the reinforcement of conviction by the present tense writing of statements or phrases. It is the repetition of new concepts and images that help the subconscious mind change. By repeating several optimistic statements makes this technique successful, connecting them with a specific feeling.

Our subconscious mind is necessary to manifest and achieve our objectives, and our subconscious mind governs most of our behaviors. Thus, changing your thoughts and actions to reprogram your brain for new accomplishments.

How does confirmation bias affect your thinking?

Cognitive discrimination includes the brain looking for proof that supports our current convictions and reinforces them. Constant thoughts can lead to action on your brain. If you continually reflect on negative thinking, your brain will see positive and negative information to reinforce the negative belief and behave accordingly.

When exploited positively, this can play an essential role in the success of an entrepreneur. If you start a company with a deep conviction that you will succeed, you will do so and eventually have a greater chance of understanding your beliefs.

Start taking action!

• Write down your goals - Take a pen and write down your short and long-term goals, as well as deadlines and the method for achieving those goals. Divide the objectives into minimal, operational targets and aim to achieve them. You turn the intangible into something concrete by writing down your objectives. Also, include periodic rewards for reaching your goals.
• Be attentive - Distraction and lack of motivation are goal killers. Preparation and eliminating distractions are crucial to keeping focused. Most people attempt to do many different tasks regardless of their value, which leads to a further diversion. Concentrate on the few, not the rest. When needing to focus on your daily career, use the 80/20 law. The Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) is defined as “an aphorism which asserts that 80 percent of outcomes result from 20 percent of all tasks done. In business, a goal of the 80-20 rule is to identify inputs that are potentially the most productive and make them the priority.”  Concentrations are like a muscle; they are continually taxed by information. Periodic breaks during an activity will improve your engagement and productivity.
• Now act - As stated, confirmation bias includes collecting evidence from the subconscious mind that confirms a specific belief. The subconscious mind often tracks, observes, and forms our behavior. In this context, you can work to shift your previous beliefs by repeating and visualizing a phrase, sentence, or statement through affirmation and concentration. 

By taking this step forward, the mind will accumulate additional information to alter your current conviction. American film critic Pauline Kael summed up life by saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open.”

Meditation and Mantra 

Many people are familiar with the idea or practice of meditation as a silent and contemplative practice. While this is a traditional way to practice meditation, there are also more modern and unique ways to practice meditation. Technology has allowed for new ways to engage with mindfulness practices that can benefit our busy lives. 

Additionally, many people have heard traditional mantra’s, used as a prayer for thousands of years in ancient and spiritual cultures. The practices of guided meditations and affirmations are deeply steeped in traditional experience and practice and have been proven effective over thousands of years to reprogram the subconscious mind.

Modern medicine and research have shown that these practices can be adopted and implemented in new ways to be useful and engaging. It is beneficial to honor traditional healing practices and meditations and make sure these practices are practical for daily life in modern times. Some techniques can be adapted to ensure that these practices are helpful in our fast-paced society. 

The Subconscious Mind 

The subconscious mind is the aspect of our minds that lies below the surface of our awareness. The subconscious mind is in control of various decisions we make even when we are unaware of them. This is helpful because it allows our brains to conserve energy and streamlines decision-making.

Imagine driving with full awareness of the conscious mind at all times. Instead, we rely on the subconscious mind to remember directions and take over a sort of autopilot. Many of us are already deeply ingrained with the understanding and physical practice of driving regularly. Similarly, the subconscious mind can hold onto experiences we have had that were deemed harmful and can use these old ideas as the framework for new decisions. When this happens, it can become detrimental to our creativity and ability to produce a new outcome. 

So, we sometimes get stuck in a cycle of repeating past choices or actions even though we thought we had learned our lesson. In these instances, the subconscious mind strives to protect us from harm and is guiding our decision making without our consent. 

Accessing and reprogramming the subconscious mind is essential for creating a new reality with greater patience, clarity, and success of our true nature and is not forced or faked.

Reprogramming the Mind with Guided Meditation 

When we regularly participate in guided meditation, we can access the subconscious mind and create a new underlying program for our lives. The subconscious mind is responsible for our underlying belief systems and ideologies.

Instead of allowing our subconscious mind to rule our existence, we can start to program our minds with whatever beliefs and ideas we prefer. Utilize affirmations throughout the day to strengthen our mindset and resolve conflicting ideas in the subconscious mind. Affirmations are phrases and statements that we create and repeat to ourselves to establish a new idea. 

When we repeat affirmations to ourselves, our mind begins to believe the new thought, and it can override any old patterns of negative behavior. Changing paradigms does not happen immediately, but we can reprogram the subconscious mind to a different outlook through devoted practice. Affirmations can be done anywhere and anytime. They can be said aloud or can be repeated silently to oneself. 

Affirmations can also be written repeatedly to engage both the mind and the body into a new state of manifestation. Regular use of guided meditation and affirmations will shift the old paradigm to a new useful response.

The Oxford dictionary defines affirmation as "the action or process of affirming something or being affirmed (he nodded in affirmation), and or, emotional support or encouragement, for example, "I am filled with confidence, I know I can handle anything."

In general, affirmations are used to reprogram the subconscious mind, motivate one to believe such things in ourselves or the universe and our position therein.

Affirmations also allow us to change our present reality into the reality we want — often to construct riches, love, elegance, and happiness. There is another meaning of affirmations of this sort, according to Walter E. Jacobson, MD, "because our subconscious mind is influential in upgrading our lives and voicing our wishes. The outcomes of events may have a huge effect on a subconscious basis."

Affirmations are essentially declarations intended to make the person self-change. They will also help concentrate emphasis on the ambitions that can facilitate meaningfully and sustained self-change all day, both in and of themselves.

You can use affirmations in every situation where you would like to see a positive change.

These might include times when you want to:

• Raise your confidence before presentations or important meetings.
• Control negative feelings such as frustration, anger, or impatience.
• Improve your self-esteem.
• Finish projects you have started.
• Improve your productivity.
• Overcome a bad habit.

Affirmations will be easier if you incorporate them with other constructive reinforcement and targeting strategies.

• Write down a variety of places or behaviors in which you would like to focus -- Make sure it is consistent with your fundamental beliefs and the things that matter most to you because you are genuinely inspired to do so.
• Make sure your statement is credible and feasible -- Focus that on a practical, factual test. Think of the income amount you are earning. Does this amount bring security in your life? If not. You could use affirmations to request an increase.
• Transform negative into positive -- Note the recurring feelings or perceptions that annoy you if you deal with negative self-talk. Then pick an argument that is contradictory to this reasoning and emotion. Go through the disagreement and sort out where you could have communicated better. By acknowledging our own mistakes, this, in turn, lets us try harder next time.
• Write in the present tense -- Write and tell, as if something was already going on, your affirmation. This helps you to think that the declaration is correct in the present tense. For instance, if you feel anxious about talking in front of a group, write down how you would picture the speech going. Remind yourself that, "I am well prepared and well-read. I am prepared to give a great lecture." 

• Say with feeling -- Affirmations that bear emotional weight are more successful. Remembering any expression you want to echo is a sentence that is important to you. You might say, for example," 'I am ready to face new challenges at work because I am qualified."
• Practice affirmations with others – When the mind is calm and content, it shows on our faces. Merrillresearch.com reported that "a sign of happiness is when the lips rise symmetrically. In a genuine smile, the eyelids drop, and eyebrows lower. By complimenting someone, naturally strokes our endorphins.

Remembering what is important

Life seems to run smoother when we feel comfortable and have a good attitude. "Law of attraction" proponents sometimes point to this as an improvement of our vibration to make us magnetically attracted to good things when our vibrations are positive — such as financial prosperity, intimacy, and renovated wellbeing.

As author Dale Carnegie once said, "It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.'