By: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Sr. Associate Editor-ICN Group
KOLKATA: In the last article, we saw how to tap the unlimited power of positive affirmations. Today we will see how to use the power of visualisation for applying backward goal setting.
Positive thinking
As Zig Ziglar says, “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”
Your mind is capable of reproducing any experience. It is up to you, what inputs you have given to your mind in the past. If you have made your mind a storehouse of positive inputs, it can reproduce the feelings anytime on demand. Remember any past visit to any beautiful hill station or seashore, where you enjoyed the scenery. Even after 5 years or 10 years or 20 years, your mind is capable to reproduce the memory of that place at will. If there is huge storage of peaceful ideas and feelings in your mind, whenever you sit silently, some of those feelings will come to the surface and you will enjoy that experience again. If you fill your mind with negative feelings, you will experience negativity all the time. Modern scholars often call this concept as GIGO i.e. Garbage In Garbage Out. You have no control over the inputs given so far to you. You have to control quality of your input in future. Once your mind is filled up with positivity, old negative inputs have to make room for fresh positivity.
I often ask the participants in my workshops, what do they understand when they listen the words ‘positive thinking’? They say that whatever I desire will come to me; or whatever I think will happen; or my future is bright and everything good will happen in future. Here I want to clarify that all these are just positive affirmations, which are good and essential to have, but these are not really going to benefit you in achieving your goals in a big way. At the core of all these affirmations is your desire or wish, which you think will happen because of your thinking only. No. Absolutely no. Nothing is going to happen without GOPTA i.e. Goals Oriented Positive Thinking and Actions.
In a workshop, I met a student, who said that next day he has to face an interview for job in a very good company and he is very desperate to join this company. If he could not get this job, he will be ruined. I said that there is nothing like overnight failure. This job opportunity is just an ‘opportunity’; and even if you don’t succeed, you can knock the next door. He looked slightly assured but he said that he is not confident in anything. He knows that he is going to fail in the interview because nothing good happens to him whatever he does.
I told him that this is due to his poor self-image. He has to sit alone and find out by deep introspection, from where these thoughts have originated. It must be a programming since childhood. I honestly told him that as the interview is next day only, it was not possible to have a complete introspection session with him, but I suggested him that he should go to his home and relax and then he should start positive affirmations in his mind. This positive affirmation was same, which I always use – The Universal Father Almighty God, who has sent me on this earth, is always with me.
I asked him to affirm this 7 times in the night; then in the morning; and then before leaving for the interview. I also advised him to repeat this silently while waiting for his turn for interview. By now, you must have understood that he got the job. Can you imagine, why? What happened to him overnight? His capabilities were not changed; attitude was not changed; self-belief was not increased. He just got the feeling that he is not alone; he has the support of Almighty God and he succeeded. Had he not done so, he would have depended upon his knowledge during the interview, but now he knew that he has some backing, which never fails, and he deserves the best.
He was failing because of his negative programming since childhood that ‘he can’t succeed’. The only solution is to give positive inputs to the sub-conscious mind in the form of positive beliefs and faith in the Almighty God. Continuous inflow of positivity will gradually flush out all the negativity from the system. Remember, your sub-conscious mind has unlimited power to produce antidotes of negativity i.e. positivity.
Power of silence
Practice silence for at least 15 minutes a day. Decide a time of about 15 minutes when you can sit alone. Try to free your mind with any types of thoughts; don’t talk to anybody; don’t speak anything; don’t think anything; don’t read anything; keep your mobile phone on silent mode. If you find it difficult to remain free from mind’s thinking process, you can focus your attention on your breath, its inhalation and exhalation. Soon you will find that your mind is free from thoughts, except looking at inhalation and exhalation. With a little practice, gradually, you will develop the habit of experiencing total silence at will. You will experience inner peace and stillness. It will be a state of bliss.
(From the next article, we will proceed to the much-awaited goals setting process. I believe that you are enjoying the journey towards the future of your dreams with me. If yes, please stay tuned every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. Happy G.O.P.T.A.)
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Creator & copyright holder of the concept G.O.P.T.A.© is an Author, Certified NLP Lifestyle Master Practitioner, Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker and recipient of Honorary Doctorate of Excellence (Management) by prestigious Young Scientist University, California, USA. He is Founder of ‘Read, Learn & Earn Movement’ and is popularly known among his fans & followers across the globe as ‘Time and Goal Guru’.
His book ‘How to Add 50000 Productive Hours to Your Life’ is available at Amazon & Flipkart in English at http://bit.ly/HowToAdd50000ProductiveHoursToYourLife
