The Confidence Doc

Quantum Physics: What's Your Vibe?

Quantum Physics revels that everything is energy.  Everything is energy.  This reference to energy sometimes spooks some people out and others think it is woo-woo.  

Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss. 

What you don’t know can sabotage your life and it has never been more important that you become aware of “reality”.  What I mean by this is that there is more to life than what you can experience with your five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. 

Just because you are not aware of the Law of Vibration does not mean that you are not affected by it.  It would be the same if you refused to believe the Law of Gravity.  Whether you believe it or not, if you go outside and jump off of the roof of your house - you are going down! 

Well, it is the same with the Law of Vibration.  Like attracts like.  We live in a vibratory Universe and it responds to preset parameters and principles.  This is true whether you are aware of them of not.  For example, we know that your energy flows where your attention goes.  If you are giving your attention to negative media all day, or worrying and focusing on doom and gloom, do not be surprised if it really starts to pour into your life! 

What you focus on expands. 

Self-Confidence: Protecting Your Ego Is Holding You Back

Self-confidence building that is done from the inside out requires self-evaluation and acceptance.  Protecting your ego is one of the greatest obstacles
to personal growth I encounter as I talk to people and observe them.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say."

I came across an article in the New York Times yesterday written by Benedict Carey, entitled, “Some Protect Their Ego By Working On Their Excuses Early”.  There were several points made, but for the purpose of this conversation, here is one quote given from the article from a male subject; “I try not to get too intensely involved in competitive activities so it won’t hurt too much if I lose or do poorly”. 

The articles said men tend to score higher on the measures that show they are in denial or playing small, to handicap themselves more severely was the conclusion.  They do this to avoid the pain they feel from over identifying with their ego as who they really are.  Can you see how this is flagrant self-sabotage? 

Also, this is why you will have to start to understand the concept of Spirit, Mind and Body more clearly.  And whom are you kidding anyway?  Playing small does not serve you or society.  This is one reason why I decided to share my journey of self-esteem and confidence building with the world.  To the degree you live in shame and self-doubt you cannot live out the life you came here to contribute. 

You will not enjoy your journey because you do not live “in joy” you live in fear.  And here is a news flash for most people – you are NOT your thoughts!  If you are not your thoughts, you are not your Ego! Here is where it can get interesting. 

Ego is a mental thinking pattern, which means that if it is associated with logic, linear, linguistic areas, it is from a Neuroscience standpoint, coming from your left hemisphere.  A basic, simple way of looking at ego in this context is that the ego is a dominating thought that thinks it IS you.

Neuroscience: Mind Reading Is No Longer Sci-Fi

Neuroscience is a field whose time has come.  I so appreciate my science background in this area as it complements my interest in building confidence from the inside out.  At the end of this post is a 13 minutes video from yesterday’s episode of 60 minutes on Neuroscience and Mind Reading.  No joke.

I do not see myself as intellect only.  I am spirit, soul and body. Science cannot answer many of the deeper questions of life such as who am I really?  Why am I here?  What is the meaning to life?  But science can give some assistance along the way. 

I am using it when possible to better explain how our minds work so that changes to old habitual negative thinking patterns can be done easier.  Having some science helps our intellectual mind to better understand the “why” behind some things, and it also helps to quiet the fear centers of our brain from signaling off when we encounter new information that conflicts with our old paradigms or beliefs. 

Some of the things that are being discussed today in science only a couple of years ago would have been called “woo-woo” or spooky by many that are now actually paying attention.  I even read today in my local newspaper that there is a church that I am familiar with, who traditionally is quite conservative, now uses visualization as a tool for the congregation to take a new direction for the church’s future. 

Actually, science has known for many years the power of properly done visualization on the subconscious mind, but I noticed that in general it was considered on the outskirts of normal.  Now, gratefully this is changing. 

I am seeing and sensing that there is a much greater purpose behind all of the turmoil going on in the world today.  It looks more like birthing pains to me rather than just another cycle of business as usual.  In order to grow to the next level, we need to access and apply new information. 

Neuroscience and Self-Esteem: Low Self-Esteem Can Cause Memory Loss

Self-esteem discussions can stir up debate, as there is no one hard and fast definition for what healthy self-esteem is or how to attain it.  From my perspective, self-esteem is the value or sense of worth that you have about yourself, your being, who you are. 

Most people still look to the opinions and judgments of others for this value they impose on themselves.  Also, commonly people look to their external accomplishments to define their worth as a human being.  I believe, to truly feel empowered in a long-term stable way, one has to have a sense of worth from their very core, regardless of outer appearances. 

This is really a spiritual quality.  Regardless of its source or how you define it, if you do not like yourself, or if you believe that old adage that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, you are more likely to have a smaller brain and degenerative forms of brain disease as you age. 

An interesting study was cited in the BBC News Online version, November 20, 2003 which connected low self-esteem with memory loss and a 20% smaller brain mass.  The lead researcher was Dr. Sonia Lupien of McGill University in Montreal. She is quoted as saying the she believes (as I do also) that if those with a negative mind set were taught to change the way they think they could reverse their mental decline. 

This is one reason why I have chosen to focus my work on building inner self-esteem and confidence.  If you stop and think about it, how you perceive yourself runs your life.  If I think I am unworthy of whatever it is, I will generate feelings and thus ultimately words and actions that sabotage my ability to obtain those very things. 

It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Understanding the neuroscience behind it makes it easier for your logical brain function to process this new information and thus to be open to understanding and using it.  Dr Lupien is also quoted as saying this very thing. 

Neuroscience: Thoughts, the Software of Your Mind

“Thoughts” can be metaphorically compared to the software downloaded from the “Mind Field”, and your brain as the “hard-drive” in computer language.  I love how humankind has unconsciously, or otherwise, created a whole technological revolution around a model of our own brain. 

I doubt, if a then 19 year-old Bill Gates when he founded Microsoft, realized this.  It is amazing just how similar our mind and brain work so in line with the model of computer software and hardware.  Now if you have noticed, there is a photo of the cover of this month’s Scientific American, (November 2008) posted with this blog. 

You can read more of what I am talking about here in this magazine.  Here is the story of how I “attracted” this issue last week at the airport.

I was visiting Palm Springs, California last weekend and I had dinner with two goods friend of mine.  We were discussing many ideas from Neuroscience and I began to explain my version of how our thoughts come from “The Field”. 

In some of my other posts, I have blogged about, “you are not your thoughts” and that “thoughts are things”.  Well, not long ago, I came across a neat and understandable definition of the mind when I was listening to the audio book by Daniel Siegel MD, entitled “The Neurobiology of We”. 

Dr. Siegel studies and is active in Neuroscience research.  A definition that sticks with me of the mind from this audio book is this: The mind is “the process of the regulation of energy and information”.  You see your mind and brain are “separate”, not one and the same as many people believe. 

Conscious Creation: Be Mindful of What You Think - Thoughts Becomes Things!

Conscious creation is being aware of how the way that you think, feel and act impacts what you are experiencing in your life.  You are creating anyway, whether you are aware of it or not. 

An example of this would be getting just what you “don’t want”.  Stop and think about it.  How often do you say, “I don’t want something versus expecting looking for what you do really want?  And, unfortunately it often shows up! 

When I talk to people, I find that the majority really do not know what they REALLY want if they thought they had no limitations.  Actually, what I often hear in the media or read in the media,.is what is wrong with the world or what fears and limitations are “out there” holding us back. 

You would think we are hapless victims of the Universe.  Well, sadly, most of humankind still believes this, but I am gratefully starting to see the early signs of a trend toward a new way of thinking.  This is important as even Neuroscience is starting to see that “thoughts are things”. 

Everything has a vibration and like vibrations attracts each other.  So, be mindful of what you think.  If you are thinking about what you want and FEELING good, feeling as if you have what you desire already, anticipating it, you are bound to eventually attract the perfect form of that thought for YOU.

Confidence and Change: Keep Your Eye on the Prize!

Confidence is developed by doing what you said you would do and staying focused on your way to your goal.  It is very easy to get distracted with all of the negative news if you do not consciously choose to ignore the bad press.  What impacts you take charge of, but the rest is out of your control anyway. 

If you get too focused on the “what ifs”, you may find yourself feeling helpless and hopeless. This is one of the reasons why I am so focused on my goals.  I know from experience that what I keep my faith and focus on expands, so why would I feed my mind all of the negative news stories?

Speaking of how the mind works again, as I said before, the mind acts like a missile when you are very clear about what you desire and you are expecting to get it.  I am not talking about wishful thinking, you have to FEEL or expect to receive your goal also.

 Feeing is physiologic, or in your body and it is very powerful in determine what you experience.  How you think and feel creates your experience, one way or another.  This brings me to the fifth, and last KEY which is KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE, or keep your focus. 

One thing that science is showing us is that what we focus on expands.  And what we resist persists. 

Confidence and Change: Your Brain’s Fear Button Is Getting Pushed

Confidence begins by making a decision that you are willing to make changes in your life.  For that matter, everything you do starts with making a decision, often though, unconscious.  Most people are more motivated to move away from what they don’t want than toward what they do want. 

Many people make their choices in life based on what they are afraid of.  Why is this?  Where does all this fear come from in the first place?  Well, it is very deep rooted in the fabric of our society.  Even more importantly, it is even ‘hard-wired’ into our brains.  Yes, you read correctly; we have fear centers in our brain, which create the ‘flight fight or freeze’ response that you may have heard from your days in biology class. 

Nature intended it as a survival mechanism.  Over the generations of time, it is passed down in the genetic coding from life experiences as well.  We now know that the areas in the brain related to this response will alarm even when there is not a true threat to survival.  It works overtime and it also produces stress in the body. 

Even when you simply want to break old habits, you can feel fear because of the hormones that are released because you are moving out of your comfort zone.  This brings us to KEY NUMBER TWO:  REALIZE THAT THE FEAR YOU FEEL IS COMING FROM BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES, because you are facing the unknown.  The brain is just over reacting because you are so habitually expecting the worse.  The danger is not life threatening, just uncomfortable. 

This is where you have to develop tools to deal with your busy thinking mind, such as mindfulness mediation and ways to relieve stress.   You may also want to avoid focusing on negative news stories that only serve to aggravate this problem and offers no solutions or balance of information. I stopped focusing on bad news stories years ago and it was one of the best things I have ever done for myself. 

Neuroscience and Personal Growth: Where Logic Meets Experience

Neuroscience is the study of the brain and nervous system.  Neuroscientists who are truly open-minded are finding some very powerful applications in the arena of the personal growth field. 

I am very excited about what is going on in the field.  Practically speaking, our society, for better or worse, look for material ‘proof’ before they can accept new concepts about how life ‘works’. I used to belong to this camp; until I stopped trying to dictate how I thought life ‘should’ be and learned to listen to my inner wisdom. 

Once I realized that this inner Force was more powerful, intelligent and creative than I could ever make happen in my head alone, I gradually began to ‘trust my gut’.  Unfortunately, many people will not make this transition with out help from science.  This is a function of the logical ‘left brain’. 

In my opinion, the majority of scientists are so ‘in their head’ that they have a difficult time seeing new evidence that goes against the accepted, prevailing paradigm.  They too are Human of course and subject to perceptual bias.  I am grateful though to those scientists who go out on a limb, risking their own fame and fortune, to practice true scientific methods. 

It is these courageous souls who make an impact on our planet for generations to come.  Most people do not realize it, but Einstein was a definite misfit in the Physics and academic world when he first started out.  In fact, he was essentially blackballed for disagreeing with the ‘establishment’. 

Empowerment: What You Focus On Determines How You See

A key to empowerment is recognizing that life is full of paradox and duality and learning to stop the unconscious resistance to what is.  What is, is.  What story we decide to create about the situation is another story. 

What I mean by this is that the way we respond to a situation is determined by how we REACT to it.  Empowerment is about becoming aware of your choices. Instead of RE – ACTING, that is, repeating dysfunctional behavior over and over again, we take our power back and begin to make better choices.

It is about realizing that in this moment, you can choose differently than you did yesterday.  Instead of reacting to what the media says about the economy and feeling fear and distress, you can choose to focus on what is good about your life. 

You can choose to appreciate the provision that you have NOW, the shelter that you have NOW, the computer that you have NOW in order to access this blog.  If you worry about what could happen or about the ‘Great Depression’ of the last century, you are much more likely to fill your mind and body with processes that will cause worry and ill health.  This is a conditioned response.  It is also addictive. 

In our brains we have areas that are wired for survival which, while nature’s intent is for protection, can cause us to become stuck in a cycle of ‘flight, fight or freeze’’.  True, there is a lot of chaos going on in our world today, but I CHOOSE to see it as an opportunity for change.  Most people will not wake up from the sleep walking that they call their lives until they start having a nightmare!