Secrets of Self-Empowerment

Unfinished business is a drain on your mental resources and a major source of time-wasting worry.

The following exercise will give you a simple and reliable method for dealing with unfinished business and creating more space in your mind to enjoy the present moment. Use it now and whenever you find yourself being plagued . . . → Read More: 2.1 Unfinished Business

You may have found that the exercises you have done so far have brought to light thoughts and feelings of which you were previously only dimly aware – or which you had not before fully acknowledged. Among these there may be some useful and interesting ideas, some that could give you new insights and . . . → Read More: 2.2 Do-It-Yourself-Therapy

The past is past – it is done, gone, over. The only place it still has any reality is in our minds. Yet how much of your time is spent mulling over past ‘mistakes’, or punishing yourself for things you ‘should’ have said or done?

You may have found the ‘unfinished business’ exercise useful . . . → Read More: 2.3 Putting the Past in Perspective

The events of our lives are just things that happen. They only have a meaning if we decide to give them one, and we can choose what they mean.

A stranger smiles at you in the street. What could this mean?

Some of the possibilities include:

They were happy and wanted to . . . → Read More: 2.4 Searching For Meaning

Sam was sitting on a bench at the edge of the park, waiting for his sister Mel to finish her music lesson. Her flute teacher lived above a newsagent’s shop.

‘I can do magic,’ said Mel as she sat beside him.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I can wish something . . . → Read More: Part 3: Creating An Empowering Self-Image

Whatever you may sometimes think, you have had many successes in your life already.

Starting with being Gold Medallist in the Sperm Olympics, when you beat off several million other competitors! Since then, you have successfully learned an enormous range of complex skills, many of which you probably now take for granted – . . . → Read More: 3.1 Success Inventory

Far from being a sign of madness, talking to yourself is one of the most effective ways to develop a healthy self-concept – so long as you say the right things in the right way. Because we do most of our thinking in words, we need to be careful what we say to ourselves . . . → Read More: 3.2 Talking To Yourself

When someone complains to us about another person’s behaviour, we may invite them to ‘see it from their point of view’.

We are suggesting that, by imagining themselves in the other person’s position, with their beliefs and values and with their particular set of life experiences and current level of physical, emotional and . . . → Read More: 3.3 Points of View

Do you ever wonder how other people see you?

Having had some practice at seeing things from another person’s point of view, you might like to consider how interesting it could be to see yourself through someone else’s eyes. This might be particularly useful if you are in the habit of thinking the . . . → Read More: 3.4 As Others See Us

‘What do you want to do when you leave school?’ Sam asked Mel at breakfast one day.

‘I want to be a doctor,’ Mel replied. ‘A surgeon, in fact.’

‘And spend your time cutting people up and sewing them back together? Yuk!’ said Sam, pulling a face.

‘But I know I . . . → Read More: Part 4: Freedom From Stress