The Open Loop Project

I'd like to tell you about a small project of mine for these last days of year 2011.

David Allen defines Open Loops as "anything pulling at your attention that doesn’t belong where it is, the way it is." Open loops could be large tasks like finishing your degree or very small ones like buying light bulbs. The point is that all the open loops of your life cause you stress pulling you in their direction.

I suggest you take three days to write down EVERYTHING that comes to your mind that you think you should do. When you're finished, spend one day organising these to appropriate lists (to do right now, tomorrow, next year, someday maybe etc.) and discard the ones that are unnecessary. Then start taking care of these things. Remember: if it takes less than two minutes, you should do it now.

I started this yesterday and already feel less stressed.

This project will give you more energy and freedom to set challenges for next year.

Getting astonishing results by changing my mind

I have got some really impressive results on working with my mind.

About two weeks ago I started doing NLP (neurolinguistic programming) exercises, and I started to have some resuts immediately. One of the things that I want to change in my mind is public speaking anxiety and on Tuesday I got some proof that my training has already worked even though I've just begun.

Another thing that I've achieved by trying to change my unconsciousness is weight loss. Two months ago I did some work with runes, ancient alphabets used for writing and magic. I called Uruz, a rune that stands for  physical strength, health and energy, to affect me in my mind so that I would be able to exercise and eat in a healthy way without conscious effort. Apparently this worked or something else happend since I have been able to lose weight very, very easily, almost with no effort at all.

Having these results certainly gives me more motivation to keep on training my mind. I'd recommend it for anyone.

Cleaning out my closets

Today I started a process of going through my stuff in order to sell and throw away some of it. I really don't like throwing away things because I always think I might need them some day. Now I'm going to need some more space both physically and mentally and this process is hopefully going to be very rewarding.

Finding the right attitude for solving problems

I just realised something. I have done a lot of work in order to eliminate my problems and succeeded quite well. However, sometimes I tend to blame myself after figuring out a problem, especially one that concerns taking care of my baby. Instead of going "Yes, yes, yes! I did it!" I'm like "Dammit, I should've realised it a long ago... Oh no I've suffered so much just because of this..." I define this attitude as a problem and start changing it.

It may be hard to let go of one's concerns. Maybe it's because we know that the next one is just around the corner... or maybe it's because our problems give us an identity, they make us feel safe.

Hanging on to one's problems

"Sometimes, people hang on to their problems because they want to feel unique or important. Their problems give them an identity. They seek out to prove that nothing will work for them and that they are hopeless cases."

-Owen Fitzpatrick, co-founder of the Irish Institute of NLP

Touché!

It's the flu season, again

This is the time of the year when people get a flu very easily. If you don't want to get sick, pay special attention to hand hygiene. Click here to remind yourself of the things you can do to avoid a flu.

If you do, however, catch a nasty germ of some kind, don't start feeling sorry for yourself, because it will only make you feel worse. This is the perfect opportunity to rest, to skip excercise with good conscience, to think about new things, to engage in reading a good book under the banket. It helps you to appreciate the times when you're NOT sick. 

Body composition success

Today I went to have my body composition measured and got just the results that I had been waiting for. Last time I had 2,2 kg extra fat and I've been trying to get it off for a couple of months.

I succeeded. Now I've got in black and white that don't have to lose any weight nor gain any more muscle.

These are the moments of victory that one should keep in mind forever.

A birthday ritual

I recently had my 31st birthday. A year ago I did a birthday ritual: thought about my past and future and decided what I wanted to achieve next year. I'm proud to announce that I achieved the goals I set a year ago. My goals for the next 12 months are 1) taking good care of my family, 2) gaining wealth, 3) X, 4) staying in good physical shape. Of course I've got more specific determinations of these goals but I'm not going to review them here. Even though I'm not very good at visualising things, I've tried to picture myself next year in this kind of situation.

When you specify your goals for a specific time, you have a direction to go to and you can spend your time in a meaningful way. And if you set goals that inspire you, define them well and work on them consistently, you are  most likely going to achieve them.

Complaining

Next time you hear yourself complaining about something, ask yourself what you're going to do about the things that feel problematic. 

One day you have beaten your inner complainer and can start asking this question from others. 

In other words: Kun vituttaa, mieti, mitä oikeasti aiot tehdä asialle. 

The power of mind

Everyone knows that placebo drugs work and now it's been also proven that placebo surgeries can significantly alleviate for example Parkinson's and heart disease symptoms. The power of mind affects the immune system and endocrine system in many ways.

Did you know that the placebo effect has an evil brother, the nocebo effect? If you have negative expectations, the outcome of treatment will make you feel worse and more ill. Patiens having placebo drugs tend to have just the side symptoms that they are warned about.

It has been discovered that people who think their health is poor will die 10 years sooner than those who think their health is excellent, despite their actual health state.

If I change my mind, it will affect my chemistry, which will change the fate of my cells. If I'm afraid, it will cause my body to make stress hormones, which go to my blood and affect the cells of my body to protect instead of growing, which in turn changes genetic activity and shuts off the immune system to conserve energy. Being afraid or stressed exposes us to disease. The way we believe actually overrides the biological system of the body.

I've got some experience about this. A few years ago it happened that I got a cold only once a year. Since then I've believed that I only have a flu once or twice a year and that has also happened.

I used to be the most negative and cynical person until I started to change my thoughts. I was about 24 years old when I began this and I had suffered from negative thinking my entire life. I'm not saying I'm completely cured since every now and then I tend to think in the most terrible way, but I've improved tremendously. Now this is not an easy thing to change about yourself, but if you can do it, it will change everything. It will change you and your entire future. And you can start now.

Someday, maybe

When you give yourself a place for good ideas, you start to have more of them. The way to get great ideas is to have a lot of ideas.

Consider starting a "Someday, maybe" -list. Collect anything that you might want to do some day in your life like your dreams and goals, or countries to visit, wines to taste, movies to see... Update and review when you feel like doing it. This will help remember what you have planned, what's important in life and what you want to work on.

A mastermind group

You probably remember some occasions when you were talking with a friend and got really excited about an idea, something that would make your or someone else's life better. You feel exhilarated, bursting with energy, and can't wait to start with your new project... And then the idea gets buried under new ideas or whatever, and you'll forget about it. What a waste!

I read a suggestion that you should be a part of a "mastermind group" if you want to accomplish something - anything. This is a group of a few, a maximum of six people who tell each other about their goals and offer each other ideas. People should have varied backgrounds but they should however be like-minded on some issues. The goals can be anything: studying, personal growth, starting one's own business, learning a new skill, getting a new job, anything!

In a group you could share ideas and get inspiration. If you would make a decision of some kind, next time someone would ask if you have done something about it. The group would inspire, support and help you.

It would be relatively easy to form such a group. Would you like to do it?

Working with money

First I'd like to talk about money. People are often not that good or rational about money, even though might they think they are. Me neither. But I decided to change this.

I've started to take control over my personal finances and plan them years forward. First I started collecting notes and writing down how much I spend on what. I analyzed this information and started to think where I could save money. Then I made a decision to not use cash on my personal spending like books, clothes, restaurant visits and so on. However, I actually made about three purchases with my card before I remembered this decision... It is not easy to change such a deep habit of showing the card. I wrote "ONLY CASH" on my debit card so that I wouldn't do this mistake again. I strongly encourage you to take these two steps - you might be surprised. Even though you would think have enough money, I suggest this, since it is in any case interesting if nothing else.

Secondly I started to think more deeply my relationship with money. What worries me about money? What decisions am I not making regarding money? And so on. I found two things to change and I'm working on them. This kind of changes are big and one can only start with realising ones problems and then taking the initial steps to change things. It doesn't happen in a few weeks, on contrary to the first point.

My third initiative was to start thinking how I would be able to make MORE money. Obviosly this isn't easy. Making more money means that you have to have more information and action compared to the current situation. But first it means changing your attitude. To do this I started reading. I can recommend Joe Vitale's free book Attract Money Now, because it is very inspiring (and because it's free). For Finnish speaking women I'd recommend Leila Simonen's Naiset ja raha and for women in general Lois P. Frankel's Nice girls don't get rich: 75 avoidable mistakes women make with money, which is available in English and Finnish. It seems that women in particular have issues with money and they're not using it the way they would like to, for example they may let their husbands do all the financial decisions in the family. There are many good books to read on the subject, but don't get stuck on just reading.

The fourth thing I did was a major change in my life, but I'm not going to tell you about it just yet. I'll get to this in a few weeks or months.

The Beginning

A few days ago I was running in the woods, smelling the autumny air, feeling the moss in my mind, watching the trees move as I ran with ease, and I had this incredible feeling of clarity, of insight, of knowing myself thoroughly. For a long time I've been thinking about collecting the wisdom I've gathered between covers for myself to read whenever I want to refocus or need some inspiration and advice. Now it struck me that I'll do this, but not only for myself, but to share with anyone who's interested.

That moment came into being my blog which is about changing my/your life for the better. It is about control, inspiration, wealth, contentness, mind, body, power, dreams, meaning in life.