PMA: A simple guide to eliminating negative thought patterns by iluminair

I am committed... to being a better

person today than I was yesterday, better thoughts,better decisions, better actions. affirmation.

Positive mental attitude: a simple guide for eliminating negative thought patterns.

Contents »» Introduction 4 »» What is negative thinking »» First let’s take a further look into this phenomenon and its origins. »» How not to get rid of unwanted thoughts

5 8 10

»» Understanding Positive thinking

»» How Positive Thinking Works

»» Positive Thinking Instructions and Advice

»» Putting positive thinking into practice

»» Practicing positive thinking every day

»» What Negative Thoughts Do to Your Brain

»» What Positive Thoughts Do to Your Brain

»» How Positive Thinking Builds Your Skill Set

»» The health benefits of positive thinking

»» Let’s take a look at how positive thinking determines success

»» Why You Need to be Positive

»» Release the emotions.

»» Becoming Aware & Taking Control of Your Thoughts

»» 21 Day PMA (Positive, Mental, Attitude) challenge

»» The PMA (Positive, Mental, Attitude) challenge

»» #21PMA guide

»» Guidelines 30 »» References 32 »» Websites 33

Introduction

F**k their opinion.

Taking control of your mind from negative thought patterns. This eBook was created to serve one purpose; to help you control your mind from negative thought patterns and use it to empower you throughout your life experiences. It has been curated using some of the best resources available, tailored by people like you, for you! iluminair. understands that one of the key things that stop people from achieving their goals, is the negative thought patterns that they entertain every day. The bad news is that these negative thoughts can have a huge crippling effect on goal achievement. They say the graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it has a collection of millions of unwritten novels, unrecorded music, unlaunched business’s, films that were never produced, insights and experiences never shared and so forth.

The good news is that these thoughts are completely ordinary, and we have unearthed proven solutions that will help you to take back control of these dominating thoughts and turn them into the driving force that helps to empower your goals. This eBook will unravel the not often spoken about truths of the impact your repetitive thoughts have on your life and how you can simply but effectively take control of these thoughts, and use them to drive you towards happiness and success.

“You’re picky about the car you drive. You’re picky about what you wear. You’re picky about what you put in your mouth. We want you to be pickier about what you think”

- Abraham Hicks

confidence.

Positive mental attitude: a simple guide to eliminating negative thought patterns.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone elseâ&#x20AC;? - Albert Einstein What would happen in your life if you consciously decided to focus on exactly what you wanted, rather than on trivial white noise, random thoughts, old thoughts and negative thoughts?

What is negative thinking

Some thoughts are like passing clouds, we barely notice them before they drift away, but others appear to have taken permanent residence in the chambers of our mysterious brain. Such thoughts run rampant, colouring our perception and shaping our attitude. If they were supportive, motivating and empowering that would be great. Unfortunately, most of the time the thoughts are negative, limiting or unhelpful. These thought patterns will be repeatedly recognised throughout this e-book and will help you understand how to take control of unwanted thoughts.

“The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. -Winston Churchill

Thoughts become unwanted because of the emotional pain they create in their wake. Doubt, fear, insecurity, hesitation, resentment, sadness, or anger are all born out of negative thoughts - either as a by-product of life experiences, or imagined situations.

Unwanted thoughts that are repetitive and negative are similar to negative nagging people. No one likes to hang out with them. Like an unwelcome guest, we try to get rid of these thoughts. But they stick around anyway. Is your self-talk positive or negative? Here are some common forms of negative self-talk: Filtering. »» You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones. »» You had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. »» That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received. Personalising. »» When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. »» You hear that an evening out with friends is cancelled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.

Catastrophising. »» You automatically anticipate the worst. »» For example, the drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong and you automatically think that the rest of your day will be a disaster. Polarising. »» You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground, you feel that you have to be perfect or you’re a total failure. Worrying. »» This typically involves repetitive thoughts about future potential threats, imagined catastrophes, uncertainties, and risks (e.g. “What if they have an accident?”). It is conceptualised as an attempt to avoid negative events, to prepare for the worst.

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it”

- Confucius

Scientific evidence shows we tend to dwell on the same old thoughts day after day, this has a powerful effect on how we see ourselves and how we relate to others. Ruminating and dwelling on negative feelings and consequences in an unformed, purposeless manner, causes emotional distress and can lead to clinical anxiety and depression disorders. However, when a person consciously develops a positive structure for discussing and processing events, with an intention to understand and learn, then repetitive thoughts affect positive change, have purpose and are imbued with healing energy.

“Your life is your garden, Your thoughts are the seeds. If your life isn’t awesome, You’ve been watering the weeds.”

-Author Unknown

Psychologists found that 98 or 99 percent of our thinking is repetitive, a lot of this thinking is very negative. As human beings we tend to dwell more on the negative rather than the good. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negativity, judgements, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.

Many people live habitually as if the present moment were either an obstacle they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment. Imagine living your whole life like that, where this moment is never quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one, the continuous stress and pressure. Do you ever find yourself stuck in a rut of repetitive thinking or an infinite loop of obsessive rumination in which you replay the same thought again, and again? On the flip side, do you find that spurts of repetitive thinking are an important part of your creative process and that being “obsessed” with solving a riddle is essential to having “Eureka!” moments? The answer is “yes” to both questions.

“Staying positive is one of the hardest fights, though I’m happy I’m in it”. -Daniel,@blindedpoet

So lets gets to it, we are going to help you to kick the habit of senseless, negative thinking, and use the same process to create focussed positive thinking, which will in-turn create the life you truly deserve to live.

What you think you become, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you create. wisdom.

First let’s take a further look into this phenomenon and its origins. We are thinking emotional beings, it is estimated that the human brain processes between 12,000-50,000 thoughts per day; other estimates average around 70,000. The mind is always buzzing about something, unfortunately most of these are repetitive negative thoughts, dwelling on the past; fearful of the future or simply utter nonsense.

“I am an optimist. It does not seem to be much use being anything else.” -Winston Churchill

How many of these thoughts do you think we are aware of? Most of the repetitive thoughts are on automatic - programmed into the subconscious mind and beyond your conscious awareness. (The conscious mind

can process about 40 bits of information per second; the subconscious mind can process 40 million per second.)

one wonder if we are ever in control. Can we control our thoughts? And do we need to control our thoughts?

The conscious mind is the part of your mind that is responsible for logic and reasoning. If you were asked about the sum of one plus one, it’s your conscious mind that will be used to do the calculation.

We don’t need to control our thoughts, but we need to decipher them and create a mental gate so negativity doesn’t continue to seep into our subconscious based on previous thought patterns and experiences. The negativity was programmed by having thoughts go straight to the subconscious, unquestioned, and unchallenged. Over time, they turn into habitual nagging beliefs, they can trigger emotional responses before we can process what has happened.

The subconscious mind is responsible for all of your involuntary actions like, breathing rate and heart beats. Your emotions are also controlled by your subconscious mind. That’s why you sometimes might feel afraid, anxious or down without choosing to experience such a feeling. Beliefs and memories are also stored in this part of the mind. The sheer number of thoughts and incredible power of the subconscious mind can make

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” -Willie Nelson

Your mind selects the thoughts that confirm what it has been conditioned to believe, most of this conditioning took place unconsciously during early childhood. The consequence of this mental conditioning is your mind is prejudiced to pay attention to what it believes based on past experiences, and not what is actually happening moment to moment.

essential to pay attention and be present, to make sure you are safe. However, when safety is more important than taking new risks or saying no, then safety prevents you from being authentic and reaching your fullest potential in life. Beyond your self-preservation, paying attention allows you to notice and appreciate all the wonders and mysteries around you.

The reason for this limited way of functioning is twofold, first being socialisation at home; second, the current educational system which produces adults that mistake thinking for paying attention. These are different functions, which will be discussed shortly.

In terms of your inner world, paying attention consciously is vital to know yourself and monitor your well-being moment to moment.

Paying attention consciously is important for many reasons; to begin with your mind identifies with what it thinks about, it allows us to experience a level of awareness without the usual limiting and constrictive labels we usually attach to what we observe whilst thinking. Reflect on this for a long moment…. have you noticed that angry thoughts make you angry? Fearful thoughts make you afraid? Sad thoughts make you sad? With regards to being in the world it is

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” - Oprah Winfrey

There is evidence from experimental studies suggesting that repetitive thought can have constructive consequences on aspects relating to depression.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence.”

-Helen Keller

I am heir to the kingdom,

abundance is my birthright. affirmation.

How not to get rid of unwanted thoughts If you have a dominant unwanted thought pattern, think about it now; see if you’ve used these methods in the past.

Using logic and judging ourselves: While thoughts are mental processes, their emotional responses are instinctive.

Fighting: We treat the thoughts and feelings like a sticky annoying visitor who doesn’t leave.

We can dig deeper into our own feelings and thoughts, exerting more emotional and mental effort that may not yield the sought after release. Then we judge ourselves for feeling reactive and illogical.

The more we try to kick him/her out, the stronger they get, and the longer it takes us to get rid of them. Even if we finally succeed, we feel miserable, fearing the visitor might come again, or another visitor might take their place. Assigning blame: We look for ways to blame others for the feelings we have and their underlying thoughts. Victim-hood might absolve us from feeling responsible for the unwanted thoughts, but blame also creates more unpleasant thoughts and feelings - resentment and helplessness.

The above attempts add more pain and suffering. Now you have seen the effects negative thinking has on you, think about why you want to change this and how it can benefit you, it’s not going to happen over night so having a reason will be a good motivator and make the journey worth it. We have one life, doesn’t it make sense to make the most of it.

Before we take a look at more effective techniques, lets first understand the benefits of positive thinking and how it can have a dramatic impact on your entire life.

My success health & happiness depends on the thoughts I entertain. affirmation.

Positive thinking doesn’t mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life’s less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive, productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

“A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, he becomes” - Mahatma Gandhi

Understanding Positive thinking

How Positive Thinking Works The following story illustrates how this power works: Allan applied for a new job, but didn’t believe he would get it, since his self-esteem was low, and he considered himself as a failure unworthy of success. He had a negative attitude towards himself, therefore believed that the other applicants were better and more qualified than him. Allan’s mind was fully occupied with negative thoughts and fears concerning the job, for the whole week preceding the job interview he was actually anticipating failure. On the day of the interview he got up late, to his horror he discovered that the shirt he planned to wear was dirty, the other one needed ironing. As it was already too late, he went out wearing a wrinkled shirt and had no time to eat breakfast.

During the interview he was tense, negative, hungry and worried about his shirt. With all this distracting his mind, it made it difficult for him to concentrate on the interview. His overall behaviour made a bad impression, so consequently he had materialised his fear and didn’t get the job.

visualised and successfully materialised his positive thoughts, made a good impression and got the job.

----

“Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life become more secure, more fraught with action, richer in experience and achievement.”

Jim applied for the same job, but approached the matter in a different way. He was sure that he was going to get the job. During the week preceding the interview, he put up signposts around his house with positive words and often visualised himself making a good impression and getting the job. On the evening before the interview he prepared the clothes he was going to wear, and went to sleep a little earlier. On the day of the interview he woke up earlier than usual, therefore had ample time to eat breakfast, this inevitably led to him arriving to the interview ahead of the time he had scheduled. Jim

»» What do we learn from these two stories? »» Was there any magic used? »» No, everything happened in a natural way.

- Edward Rickenbacker

Positive Thinking Instructions and Advice In order to turn the mind toward the positive, some inner work is required, since attitude and thoughts do not change overnight, here is a short guide to get you started: 1. Read about this subject, think about its benefits, then persuade yourself to try it. The power of your thoughts is a mighty force gradually shaping your life. This shaping is usually done subconsciously, but is possible to make the process a conscious one. Even if the idea seems strange, give it a try. You have nothing to lose, but a lot to gain. 2. Ignore what other people say or think about you, if they discover that you are changing the way you think. 3. Use your imagination and positive signposts to visualise only favourable and beneficial situations. 4. Use positive words in your inner dialogues,

5. 6.

or when talking with others. Smile a little more, as this helps to think positively. Once a negative thought comes to mind, you have to be aware of it and endeavour to replace it with a constructive one. If the negative thought returns, replace it again with a positive one. Act as if there are two pictures in front of you, you have to choose one to look at, therefore disregard the other. Persistence will eventually teach your mind to think positively, and to ignore negative thoughts. In case you experience inner resistance and difficulties when replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, do not give up, but keep looking only at the beneficial, good and happy thoughts in your mind. It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are at the present moment, think positively, expect only favourable results

and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. If you persevere, you will transform the way your mind thinks. It might take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they will. 9. Another useful technique is the repetition of affirmations. This technique is similar to creative visualisation or positive signposts in your home and can be used in conjunction. Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them:

“I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.”

-Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl.

Putting positive thinking into practice Negative self-talk

Positive thinking

I’ve never done it before.

It’s an opportunity to learn something new.

It's too complicated.

I’ll tackle it from a different angle.

I don't have the resources.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

I'm too lazy to get this done.

I wasn’t able to fit it into my schedule, but I can re-examine some priorities.

There's no way it will work.

I can try to make it work.

It's too radical a change.

Let’s take a chance.

No one bothers to communicate with me.

I’ll see if I can open the channels of communication.

I’m not going to get any better at this.

I’ll give it another try.

“Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitable bring about right results.”

- James Allen

Practicing positive thinking every day If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more selfacceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you. When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you’re better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking. Positive thinking sounds useful on the surface. (Most of us would prefer to be positive rather than negative.) But “positive thinking” is also a soft and fluffy term that is easy to dismiss. In the real world, it rarely carries the same weight as words like “work ethic” or “persistence.” However these views may be changing. Research is beginning to reveal that positive thinking is about much more than just being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude. Positive thoughts can actually create real value in your life and help you build skills that last much longer than a smile.

The impact of positive thinking on your work, your health, and your life is being studied by very significant individuals such as Barbara Fredrickson. Fredrickson is a positive psychology researcher at the University of North Carolina, and she published a landmark paper that provides surprising insights about positive thinking and its impact on your skills. Her work is among the most referenced and cited in her field, it is surprisingly useful in everyday life. Let’s talk about Fredrickson’s discovery and what it means for you…

“To everyone is given the key to heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell.” -Ancient Proverb

No more negative self talk it’s time, rise up be all you are meant to be .

confidence.

What Negative Thoughts Do to Your Brain Play along for a moment... Let’s say that you’re walking through the forest and suddenly a tiger steps onto the path ahead of you. When this happens, your brain registers a negative emotion — in this case, fear. Researchers have long known that negative emotions program your brain to do a specific action. When that tiger crosses your path for example, you run. The rest of the world doesn’t matter. You are focused entirely on the tiger, the fear it creates, and how you can get away from it. In other words, negative emotions narrow your mind and focus your thoughts. At that same moment, you might have the option to climb a tree, pick up a leaf, or grab a stick — but your brain ignores all those seemingly irrelevant options at that moment, how could it not when there is a tiger is standing in front of you. This

is a useful instinct if you’re trying to save life and limb, but in our modern society we don’t have to worry about stumbling across tigers in the wilderness. The problem is that your brain is still programmed to respond to negative emotions in the same way — by shutting off the outside world and limiting the options you see around you. For example, when you’re in a fight with someone, your anger and emotions might consume you to the point where you can’t think about anything else. Or, when you are stressed out about everything you have to get done today, you may find it hard to actually start anything because you’re paralysed by how long your to-do list has become. Or, if you feel bad about not exercising or not eating healthy, all you think about is how little willpower you have, how you’re lazy and how you don’t have any motivation.

In each case, your brain closes off from the outside world and focuses on the negative emotions of fear, anger, and stress — just like it did with the tiger. Negative emotions prevent your brain from seeing the other options and choices that surround you. It’s your survival instinct.

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong or the success and the failures: those who make it or those who don’t. I divide the world into learners and nonlearners” -Unknown

Now, let’s compare this to what positive emotions do to your brain. This is where Barbara Fredrickson returns to the story.

What Positive Thoughts Do to Your Brain Fredrickson tested the impact of positive emotions on the brain by setting up a little experiment. During this experiment, she divided her research subjects into five groups and showed each group different film clips. The first two groups were shown clips that created positive emotions. Group 1 saw images that created feelings of joy. Group 2 saw images that created feelings of contentment. Group 3 was the control group. They saw images that were neutral and produced no significant emotion. The last two groups were shown clips that created negative emotions. Group 4 saw images that created feelings of fear. Group 5 saw images that created feelings of anger. Afterward, each participant was asked to imagine themselves in a situation where similar feelings would arise and to write down what

they would do. Each participant was handed a piece of paper with 20 blank lines that started with the phrase, “I would like to...” Participants who saw images of fear and anger wrote down the fewest responses. Meanwhile, the participants who saw images of joy and contentment, wrote down a significantly higher number of actions that they would take, even when compared to the neutral group. In other words, when you are experiencing positive emotions like joy, contentment, and love, you will see more possibilities in your life. These findings were among the first that suggested positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options. But that was just the beginning. The really interesting impact of positive thinking happens later…

“A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory”

- Arthur Golden

How Positive Thinking Builds Your Skill Set The benefits of positive emotions don’t stop after a few minutes of good feelings subside. In fact, the biggest benefit that positive emotions provide is an enhanced ability to build skills and develop resources for use later in life. Let’s consider a real-world example: A child who runs around outside, swinging on branches and playing with friends, develops the ability to move athletically (physical skills), the ability to play with others and communicate with a team (social skills), and the ability to explore and examine the world around them (creative skills). In this way, the positive emotions of play and joy prompt the child to build skills that are useful and valuable in everyday life. These skills last much longer than the emotions that initiated them. Years later, that foundation of athletic movement might

develop into a scholarship as a college athlete or the communication skills may blossom into a job offer as a business manager. The happiness that promoted the exploration and creation of new skills has long since ended, but the skills themselves live on. Fredrickson refers to this as the “broaden and build” theory because positive emotions broaden your sense of possibilities and open your mind, which in turn allows you to build new skills and resources that can provide value in other areas of your life. As we discussed earlier, negative emotions do the opposite. Why? Because building skills for future use is irrelevant when there is immediate threat or danger (like the tiger on the path).

If I can imagine it, I can achieve it, if I can dream it, I can become it. affirmation.

The health benefits of positive thinking Researchers are continually exploring the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include: »» Increased life span »» Lower rates of depression »» Lower levels of distress »» Healthier immune system »» Better psychological and physical well-being »» Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease »» Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

A positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body. It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and tend to not smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

“Behind me is infinite power, before me is endless possibility, around me is endless opportunity, why should i fear?”

God lives inside you. happiness.

Let’s take a look at how positive thinking determines success Thinking positive thoughts; creating a positive attitude. Hold that positive mindset for a few minutes. Thinking about all the different layers of that thought pattern that make you happy. Does it make you smile and feel lighter? Do you feel happier? A positive mindset makes you feel good. Think about it. You feel good thinking positive thoughts. How do you think others will feel around you when you feel happy and satisfied? And if you build on that positive feeling you start to magnetise what you desire…… and in this positive mindset you have the power to create your dreams and goals… to create what you want to be successful in life.

“You’ve your five senses to create and express yourself for a happy life. Why let mere thoughts alone overpower all of them?”

– Alden Tan

Something wonderful is about to happen.

Why You Need to be Positive Climbing the ladder to success has a lot of pitfalls and setbacks. It’s a huge challenge to go from nothing to real success, but it can be done. To be successful you must be very focused and determined to reach your dreams and goals. For instance, if you want to own a business and work for yourself you would need the motivation to do some inner journey work to discover what sort of business would suit your personality and values, align your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes towards your overall goal and create a positive mindset of success. And then you would be eager and ready to do some outer work to expand your knowledge of business regulations, licences, expenses and so on, in order to start-up your specific business. You need to be focused on every step along the way.

colleagues, taking a course, doing their own research, and so on. They don’t stop until they are running a successful business.

If you look at successful people in business they all work very hard at what they do. They are focused and don’t back down. If they come up to a brick wall, stumbling block or something that’s stopping them from being successful they figure a way around it by asking

If you were to learn from your mistake and pinpoint exactly what went wrong you could learn from the mistake and turn it into a positive learning experience. No one is going to be perfect and we all make mistakes in our life, but this is how we grow. If you dwell

To create success you must be focused, but you must also have a positive mindset because this is the only way to get beyond the challenges that come up. For example, if you make a bad business deal what good does it do to dwell on this deal for months on end? What is a negative attitude going to do for you in this instance? You need to accept that you made a mistake and you have to move past the mistake to push your business forward, thinking positive thoughts. If you were to think negatively and fold your business you would be making a huge mistake based upon negative emotions.

on mistakes then you surround yourself with negative energy and you will have a difficult time pushing and struggling towards success. The power of positive thinking changes your overall energy, focus, motivation and you gain the ability to think ‘outside the box’ and seek new possibilities and opportunities.

“If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things you don’t get that you don’t want.” -Oscar Wilde

Being Positive Will Open Doors When you are positive and feel energetic and passionate you will find many doors of opportunity opening up for you. Suppose you were positive and full of energy at work, your boss would see this and you might get promoted or be given a special assignment. People want to be around positive, energetic people and when you are this way it can pay off in a big way. Focus on the positive things, remain focused and motivated towards your overall goal in life and you will find doors opening up for you.

align to what you want in life. If you want change make sure your thoughts are focused on “Change is easy for me” or something similar. You need to put a positive spin on everything you do because being positive magnetises success right to you. That’s the power of positive thinking and that’s how a positive mindset attracts success. All of this research begs the most important question of all: If positive thinking is so useful for health reasons, developing valuable skills and appreciating the bigger picture of life, how do you actually get yourself to be positive?

Success is Attracted to You If you can focus all your energies in a positive light you will magnetise positive events, situations and people to you. Surround yourself with people who support, respect, understand and appreciate you. The way you think and act has a big influence on the success you can find in life, thinking positive thoughts definitely attracts success to you. When you say “I will succeed“ you will, but if you focus on the “I never will” then you are going to struggle. Can you imagine thinking to yourself “Change is difficult, it’s nearly impossible” and then actually trying to generate the change you desire, NO. It doesn’t work that way. Change your thoughts so they

Kill them with success & bury them with a smile. confidence.

“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” -Alphonse Karr, A Tour Round My Garden

Release the emotions. The thing that bothers us most about thoughts is the unpleasant or painful feelings they generate. Deep unwanted thoughts arise very quickly. In all likelihood, we won’t notice them, but we will definitely feel them. So let’s start with the feeling, we’re programmed to want to avoid pain; the thing that traps us in the negative emotions is our rejection of them, which compounds the pain. We try to fight the feelings and when that doesn’t work, we try to numb the pain. The better choice is to release the emotions by allowing them to be. How do you release negative emotions?

Don't worry, you

can do it,

you will do it, keep going. happiness.

It is fortunate for you that you are interested to know how to pay attention consciously so you can be present to make more intelligent choices, when it matters most. Now we have taken a look at the facts and we are sure you are ready to take back control of your life and are willing to do what it takes, we can now have a look at the simple but extremely effective challenge for eradicating negative thoughts and replacing them with positive transforming one’s.

“It’s so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to.”

-Annie Gottlier

Becoming Aware & Taking Control of Your Thoughts

21 Day PMA (Positive, Mental, Attitude) challenge Welcome to iluminair.’s #21daypma (positive mental attitude). Inspired by William Bowen’s complaint free world campaign, we have created a 21 day challenge (the time it takes to install new habits) to shift your most constant thoughts from negative ones to positive ones.

(Please note, iluminair. will giving away special edition wristbands to the first 100 UK residents who signed up for the eBook via outrcompetition during the pre-launch. The wrist bands will be readily available when we launch on August 1st, however if you would like to get started straight away and cannot wait,

The idea is to place a wristband on your dominant wrist (right if you are right handed and left if you are left handed) and every time you find yourself absorbed in negative thinking; you must switch the wristband to your opposite arm. You will not be permitted to move the wrist band back to your dominant wrist until you have completed 1 hour, 1 day, one week, whichever you deem necessary, without being absorbed in negative thinking.

please email 21daypma@iluminair.com )

This challenge is designed to help you become aware of your negative thoughts, and by becoming aware of them, you can take control over how they make you feel, and take back control of your life. Instead of rejecting the emotion and fighting with it, the key is to embrace it, separate the emotion from yourself and it will allow you to control how it feels to you.

“I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.” -Denis Waitley

The PMA (Positive, Mental, Attitude) challenge Let’s look at why we are recommending the PMA challenge.

hedgehog. He’s feisty and playful, he reminds us of childhood games from the past.

Separate thoughts from yourself. When you assign other parties to be the bearers of your thoughts, you separate yourself from them. You realise that you are not your thoughts. They can come and go and you are the same, unless (or until) you believe them.

The Destroyer: On the left side sits a creature. He’s critical, analytical, and negative, but he’s not really evil, he doesn’t know any better. He wants to support you in his own goofy way (survival).

Imagine that you have two sidekicks, one sitting on your right shoulder and the other on your left shoulder. They are your thinking sidekicks, guards, assistants, or any other name you’d like to call them.

Gatekeepers The Supporter: On the right hand side sits a character that’s imaginative, cool, and supportive. You could choose Sonic the

Pay more attention and filter incoming thoughts, this is a result of separating yourself from your thoughts. This separation allows you to stop and decide if you want to believe a thought or not. This can be a huge improvement from the automatic programmed response.

“Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures”

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Life’s Little Instruction Book

The key to stop these automatic mechanisms is being aware of them in real time. You are aware when your attention is focused consciously on what is actually happening within you and around you. This way of paying attention strengthens your presence and increases your personal power. Being aware is paying attention consciously, which includes knowing what your mind is thinking and sensing the feelings and emotions you are experiencing, at the same time. When your attention is unconsciously scattered by incoherent, irrational, and conflicting thoughts about what isn’t real, meaning what is not happening in this moment, then you become increasingly absent, and your personal power is diminished. Also, when you worry and expect

bad things to happen you feel weak, engage in self-doubt and hesitation, and you end up confused and procrastinate more frequently avoiding tasks and situations.

“Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it.” -Joe Clark

If you desire to do things powerfully such as accomplish your goals, be authentic and loving, you need to learn to pay attention consciously. Your mind’s ability to pay attention is continually distracted by what it believes. Paying attention is an art that is mastered through practice. What needs to be mastered is having an increasingly longer capacity for uninterrupted attention, this discipline consists of cultivating and refining the skill of focused concentration or simply put, mastering being present. The way most people pay attention is hardly conscious and can be a polarised reaction to what they perceive. Have you experienced having mixed feelings about a person or a situation? For instance, have you been attracted to someone and felt nervous at the same time? This conflict arises in your mind, which is not capable of directing its attention

towards something it has identified. The simplest answer that works really well is this: allow yourself to fully feel the emotion as it courses through your body, then feel it again, till it fades on its own. If it arises again, feel it, every time you do this, you become accustomed to the feeling—without the reactive rejection that makes it worse. This practice takes time, and more importantly, the willingness to stop and feel, instead of automatically reacting. You might fall back into the familiar pattern of rejecting the feeling, but the more you notice and feel, the better you become at it. Being okay with the feelings is the first step in being okay with the thoughts. An example: You just thought about an estranged family member visiting soon, that made you feel anxious and nauseous. Feel the tightness in your chest, the knot in your stomach, and focus your attention on the solar plexus (bottom section of the centre of your chest area), till the feelings ease. When the thoughts come up again, you notice another wave of anxiety. You feel it in your body until it subsides. The thought might resurface again with more feelings, you notice and feel. You may still have some residual anxiety, but it’s not as uncomfortable and intense as it used to be.

The more we do this, the more we strip the thought of its emotional power. Once there is no negative emotion, the thought is neutralised, and it won’t have the same crippling effect. Lighten up and don’t take thoughts too seriously. The process is a fun exercise of the imagination. We imagine all sorts of things all the time. So why not change our thinking pattern while having fun?

“You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” -Ralph Marston

#21PMA guide Start off with a wristband on your dominant wrist. If you give momentum to a thought it will create a pattern, such as we mentioned before. Abraham Hicks once explained that is takes 17 seconds for a thought to create momentum and create a new similar one. Therefore the time frame we need to become aware and notice our thoughts is 17 seconds. At first this may seem challenging but you will become better with practice. When a thought comes through, listen and see which side is telling you this. Is it the supporter or the destroyer? Is it helpful, negative, or just nonsense? Do the process of paying attention.

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”

-Scott Hamilton

If you find that you engaged in a negative thought pattern, this is when you must switch the wristband to your opposite wrist. The idea is to then avoid a negative thought pattern (one that repeats itself past 17 seconds) for a specific period of time, which is completely up to you, we recommend a beginner to use 1 hour, and prolong the gap as you get better. Switching the wristband will help you notice and become more aware of your thoughts as they pass by. Filtering thoughts: If the thought is just pointless and useless, imagine one (or both) of your sidekicks throwing it away. If it’s supportive, smile and imagine your supporter saying well done. Gently touch your right shoulder and thank your supporter. When a negative thought comes through and you have acknowledged its existence, looked at the feelings from an observational point of view, do the following...

Take notice of the feeling as usual; separate it from yourself, imagine it’s just the “creature,” and pay attention to the feeling you have, then focus on your solar plexus area, the sternum and sense as the feeling eases. Continue this process and the negative emotions will have a greatly diminished effect on you. When facing a new challenge, and the “creature” suggests to you that you can’t do it, it’s important to view the statement separate from yourself. Understand it’s just a defence mechanism based on fear and you have an alternative viewpoint. This is your supporter who will build upon and imagine the true possibilities. Here you can then decide which feeling or opinion to go with. Appreciating the moment will help to repeat the positive thought process and change your state.

After you have looked at both viewpoints, you can then imagine something to be grateful for. The fact you overcame the negative thought, the opposite emotion to the negative one, eg. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can definitely do it,â&#x20AC;? Or even thankful that you know you are on your way to becoming better, this will create a positive feeling inside of you. Use the 17 second rule of momentum to multiply the positive emotions and focus on all the great thoughts, without resisting or rejecting them. Please refer back to this guide, practice makes perfect, soon it will become second nature! You are on your way to becoming a better you.

Forgive quickly,

learn from your mistakes, accept each day & person as they come,

trust your vision, stay around positive people, seek to learn from the best. wisdom.

Guidelines These are not magic bullets that will transform your life, they’re basic steps that will ease the emotional reactivity. Use them on a regular basis, and not as a one-time solution.

Have fun with it, taking things too seriously will compound the negativity, not reduce it. Play with the idea and don’t be afraid to act silly and laugh at the whole thing.

This process is intended to be fun and experimental, It is not a rigid technique that you either get right or wrong. You will not capture every thought this way but you will do much better than nothing at all. The purpose is to question the negative and clear it out before it sets in. (17 seconds)

Choose characters that resonate with you. The gatekeepers don’t have to be cartoons or animated graphics. They can be actors or personalities which you can relate to, or certain characters from movies and TV. Use your imagination!

Becoming aware will help you in stopping thoughts from going straight into actions and emotions. This can be very helpful.

Practice. You won’t capture every thought. But the more you practice, especially with the negative debilitating thoughts, the better you get at it.

This experiment works with most of the daily challenges and thoughts. It won’t work in emergency situations, at that point your level of awareness will be heightened by your instincts and you will act without much thought.

Our thoughts have tremendous power if we believe them. The process of noticing and breaking thoughts down will help you immensely in becoming more aware, and less reactive to negative thoughts that drain your energy and limit your growth.

Consider the following when you want to start your experiment.

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” -Buddha

iluminair. is designed to empower people to be, do and have more. As well as membership programmes for your personal growth and success, we have specifically curated an array of Vinyl Decor to help inspire and empower you in everyday life. Here is what to expect when iluminair. launches: With the purchase of your first iluminair. vinyl decor wall quote, you will receive a 10% credit with the discount code ‘21DAYPMA’ and your very own iluminair. wristband for the #21daypma challenge. In our quest to offer you the best, we have partnered up with international life coach André Hills who will be providing you with guidance in the areas of happiness, health, success and entrepreneurship. We will also provide you with a free eBook of the world famous “Think and Grow Rich.” This book, originally published in 1937, is responsible for countless success stories around the globe and has been praised by people such as, Bruce Lee who reached to the height of orientation after reading “Think and Grow Rich,” Ken Norton who gives credit to the book for being responsible for his victory over Muhammad Ali and Shane Morand, the co-

founder of Organo Gold who lead the company to earning $213 million in revenues through “Think and Grow Rich”. The list also includes Oprah Winfrey, Lana Del Ray, Daymond John, LL Cool J and many more. Next steps: 1. Try out the #21dayPMA Challenge and keep us updated via our social media channels. 2. Follow us on our Social Media Channels instagram, twitter, facebook & pinterest 3. If you received the eBook via our ‘Free Vinyl Decor Wall Quotes & Mentor-ship Competition, when announced, make sure you join our exclusive webinar with International Life Coach Andre Hills. He has a proven track record in helping individuals across the globe to become a better version of themselves. We will be revealing the 10 winners of our competition via email, so keep a look out for it. 4. Keep your eye out for emails from us with lots of great free content you can use to empower your goals.

Before you pray, believe, before you speak, listen, before you spend, earn, before you quit, try, before you die, live. wisdom.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;These then are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.â&#x20AC;? -William James

References

Websites Complaint free world: https://experiencelife.com/article/a-complaint-free-world/ Unwanted Thoughts: http://onewithnow.com/unwanted-thoughts/ Aware of Thoughts: http://onewithnow.com/aware-of-thoughts/

When all else fails squat.

Quiet the nag: http://onewithnow.com/nag/ The Art of paying attention: http://www.becomeselfaware.com/articles/52-the-art-of-paying-attention.html Constructive and Unconstructive negative thought: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672052/ Positive Thinking, stop negative self talk to reduce stress: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950 The science of positive thinking: How positive thoughts build your skills, boost your health and improve your work: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950 How thinking positive thoughts attract success: http://www.personaldevelopmentinsights.com/blog/how-thinking-positive-thoughts-attracts-success

fitness.