8 years ago · StuartDowning · 0 comments

Do You Need To Be Rich?

Napoleon Hill wrote the book “Think and Grow Rich” over the course of many years. Written in 1937, it gave birth to the new era of self-help books that inspired people worldwide to make huge bets… on themselves.

If you’ve ever read the book, you will understand what I mean. Yet so many people think that “it requires money to make money.”

I’m here today to tell you the three things that will enrich your life, without having to spend a penny.

Education & Knowledge

We live in a world with tremendously powerful information at our fingertips. With so much information at hand, only ignorance stops us from learning.

The truth is, without spending any money what so ever, we all have access to sources of information that will make us incredibly valuable.

Be studious. Acquire knowledge. Set yourself apart from the crowd. Over the long-term, this sets you up for success, you become more valuable and will inevitably earn more money.

Skillset & Experience

Firstly, no amount of money will ever give you the skills needed to survive in everyday life. Practically, we need to be able to organise ourselves in a way that we set ourselves to live functionally, as part of society.

On the same note, we need to be able to control ourselves both emotionally and mentally, setting ourselves up for success both in our commercial world (work, careers) and personal relationships (family, friends, partner).

Our experiences in life shape who we come and ultimately: it’s all we have. Each experience can give you more meaning and purpose, or each can send you into a spiral of anxiety and depression.

Money? It can help a little, but your experiences will always triumph massively over how much you’ve got in the bank.

Goals & Time

Setting long-term goals and having the time to work towards achieving them? It’s a blessing in itself.

All of you out there reading this in your 20s? I speak for all of us who have proceeded into the later years of our lives when I say we would trade places in a heartbeat!

If you asked most eight-year-olds if they would trade their wealth (even if that’s billions of pounds) for their youth, what do you think they would say?

Money only takes you so far. But the power to enrich your life with thoughts and activities that allow you to achieve your true potential and live through magnificent life experiences. What is more powerful than that?

Somethings money just cannot buy. Do you want to increase your motivation? Let’s speak about setting goals so high that you won’t be thinking about how much money you’re making, but how many people you’re helping with your actions.

8 years ago · StuartDowning · 0 comments

Generating The Commitment

A recent thought on goal setting inspired this post. Imagine if your commitment levels were set by how much you were stretched by your goals?

As a life coach, I work with highly driven individuals. Some of whom want to achieve success at all costs.

What surprises me the most is not how high they set their goals, but how committed they seem to be to achieve them. It would also seem that the bigger the goal, the higher the level of commitment. The higher the level of commitment, the more creativity and energy that is created as you take steps to achieve those gigantic goals.

I have ten questions that I would like you to ask yourself about your goals. My guess is that right now, your goals are far too small to release the motivation inside of you to truly reach your full potential and achieve greatness.

• Is your goal clearly defined and specific?
• Do you have a solid understanding of your own motives and behaviours and why it is you want to achieve this goal?
• Do you understand the full implications of the sacrifices required to reach your desired outcome?
• Can you visualise what it would look like if you were to achieve your goal?
• Do you have a long-term plan that is created to achieve the goal?
• Are you doing something every day that contributes to achieving your goal?
• Are those around you in your everyday life supportive of you achieving your goal?
• If you achieved your goal, would you make the lives of those around you better?
• When you think about your goal, do you become worried you won’t achieve it?
• Do you have the skills you require to face up to the tasks needed every single day that accumulate in your achieving your goal?

Remember, these questions were thought about in the context of long-term goals that are meant to inspire you to take action. Set huge goals that you only dream that you can achieve. Set yourself a long-term plan to gather the experience, knowledge and skillset required to chase down your dreams and scale every obstacle on the way. Motivation will flow through you like never before when you set goals that take you outside of your comfort zone, and inspire thought on a completely new level of thinking.

How do you set your goals? Are you setting them right ones? Or they are simply another form of limitation that you are setting on yourself? Get in touch to speak about how we could transform the way you think about goal setting, and ultimately transform the way you live your everyday life.

8 years ago · StuartDowning · 0 comments

Three Steps To Overcoming Your Phobia

As a hypnotherapist, I often work with people who have phobias and fears they just cannot escape. As they realise how much this is affecting their daily lives, they come to me seeking help to alleviate the anxiety and stress that has been caused by the phobia.

Phobias are irrational fears that develop in a person’s mind. They could be of an object, animal or experience. Some of the most popular examples include;

• Social phobia (social anxiety disorder) – the fear of social situations
• Arachnophobia – the fear of spiders
• Claustrophobia – the fear of confined spaces
• Agoraphobia – the fear of open spaces and public places

If a phobia becomes too much, people tend to avoid that particular activity. If we take this into context; imagine having a fear of social situations, they enclosing yourself in your home to avoid meeting people. How isolated would you be after six months? How many friends would be like in a year?

This is often how people’s lives become isolated and lonely, escalating the cycle of depression and anxiety and can lead people into the worst of situations. And this can happen to anyone; phobias are said to be caused by traumatic experiences or can become learned behaviours through repeat patterns of abuse or unease.

Today I want to give some practical advice to those out there who may be suffering from any kind of phobia, helping you to overcome those irrational fears.

Step One: Recognise The Problem

What areas of life are your phobias affecting? Deep-dive into this. Is it your relationships? Your career? Your health? Whatever it is, how bad is it being affected? Is it becoming a more recurring problem, and is it affecting your daily life?

It can be hard for someone to admit they have a phobia, as these fears can seem very irrational to those around them. It’s an essential first step for anyone who wants to be truly rid of their irrational fears once and for all.

Step Two: Provide Meaning

What would it mean for you to solve this problem? That relationship you are consistently ruining because you can’t buckle up the courage to show up to dates? The ten minutes you waste every day walking up the staircase because you won’t take the lift? The experiences you are missing out on with friends because you’re afraid of heights?

How would you feel if you were suddenly free from all of that unnecessary stress and anxiety? To be able to confidently be yourself in any situation, to no longer be afraid to meet new people and socialise?

It can be priceless to those who want to escape their irrational fears or phobias. Attaching a meaning to why you want to finally make this change and become phobia-free is one of the most fundamental parts of this process. Let your emotion fuel you’re finally letting go.

Step Three: Face Your Fears

What is it you’re afraid of? Face up to it.

There is no better way than dealing with your fears than facing them. It’s as simple as you want to make it. Ask for support from those around you, but facing up to your insecurities and escaping your comfort zone is always the most effective way to cure any phobia.

The good news? It will get easier with time. The bad news? There’s only you who can do it.

Phobias can be debilitating. They can wreak havoc on your life like you’ve never seen before. If you need someone to speak to and want to seek help to overcome your phobia, then get in touch with me.