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Make it Happen

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First published in 2011 by Liberties Press Guinness Enterprise Centre | Taylors Lane | Dublin 8 Tel: +353 (1) 415 1224 www.libertiespress.com | info@libertiespress.com Distributed in the United States by Dufour Editions | PO Box 7 | Chester Springs | Pennsylvania | 19425 Trade enquiries to Gill & Macmillan Distribution Hume Avenue | Park West | Dublin 12 Tel: +353 (1) 500 9534 | Fax: +353 (1) 500 9595 sales@gillmacmillan.ie Copyright Padraig Lawlor and Philip OCallaghan, 2011 The authors have asserted their moral rights. ISBN: 978-1-907593-12-3 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library. Cover and internal design by Ros Murphy Printed by Castuera Peanuts Copyright 1960 Peanuts Worldwide, LLC. Reproduced by permission. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or storage in any information or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher in writing.

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Make it Happen
A Success Guide for Teenagers

Padraig Lawlor & Philip OCallaghan

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Contents
Acknowledgments ............................................................................viii Make it Happen Why bother? ........................................................1 Users Guide: Making Make It Happen work for you ......................3 Press the Red Button Exercises............................................................8

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO SUCCESS ........................................11

Episode 1: Its All in the Mind ............................................................12 The Conscious Mind ....................................................................13 The Superconscious Mind............................................................14 Im a Believer ................................................................................16 Self-Limiting Beliefs........................................................................17 Empowering Beliefs ......................................................................20 Chain Reaction ............................................................................24 Episode 2: Dream Big ........................................................................30 Permission to Dream ....................................................................30 Defining Success ..........................................................................32 Triumph Over Adversity................................................................37 Characteristics of Success ..........................................................38 Taking Stock ..................................................................................40 The Wheel of Life ..........................................................................41 Balance ........................................................................................43 Episode 3: Break the Barriers ............................................................46 Your Potential Power....................................................................47 Switch On Your Potential ............................................................48 Beware! Dreambusters ................................................................48 Finding Evidence for Your Beliefs ................................................50 Changing Your Beliefs..................................................................52 Self-image ....................................................................................54 Awareness of Success..................................................................58 Episode 4: The Secret to Success ....................................................62 Get a Rich Life ..............................................................................63

SECTION 2: MAKE IT HAPPEN: The SUPER System of Success ......70 Episode 5: SEE Your Success ............................................................72 Personal Vision Statement ..........................................................74 Writing Your Personal Vision Statement ....................................77 Visions Do Come True ..................................................................80 Cant Be Bothered? ....................................................................81

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Episode 6: Understand It ..................................................................83 Dreaming ......................................................................................87 Dreamers v. Achievers ................................................................88 Failure: Its Not All Bad! ................................................................92 Keeping Passion Alight ................................................................93 Episode 7: Plan Your Path ................................................................97 Goals ..........................................................................................101 Programme Your Superconscious for Success........................104 Episode 8: Execute and Reward ....................................................108 Actions Speak Louder than Words ..........................................108 Get in the Habit..........................................................................113 Getting Started and Keeping Going ......................................116 Reward Yourself ..........................................................................117 Tech Spec: Impulse Control & Marshmallows ........................118 Staying Positive ..........................................................................119

SECTION 3: TOOLS FOR SUCCESS ....................................................125

Episode 9: An Attitude of Gratitude ..............................................128 Being Grateful Brings Success ..................................................132 Ways to Become More Grateful ..............................................135 Episode 10: Use the Force ..............................................................141 The Misdeeds of Doubt..............................................................142 Gaining Self-belief......................................................................145 Affirmations Made Easy ............................................................146 Me TV ..........................................................................................149 Episode 11: Heads or Tails ..............................................................155 Decision-making ........................................................................155 Under the Influence ..................................................................156 Choice ........................................................................................158 Get the Power ............................................................................159 Making Empowered Choices ..................................................161 Episode 12: Team Game ................................................................168 What Are Friends For? ................................................................169 Encourage Diversity ..................................................................171 Power Up!....................................................................................171 Youve Got to Give to Get........................................................173 Episode 13: Manage Your Thoughts ..............................................176 The Superconscious and Thought Management ..................176 What is Intuition? ........................................................................178 Meditation, Not Medication! ....................................................180 Channel Hop: Mind Lab ............................................................181 The Benefits of Meditating ........................................................183 Keep on Dreaming! ..................................................................184

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Episode 14: Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk ......................................186 Talk the Talk ................................................................................186 Rapport ......................................................................................186 The Art of Conversation ............................................................188 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall ............................................................190 Walk the Walk ............................................................................193 Love the Lingo ............................................................................194 Make Your Language Work for You ........................................197 Episode 15: Never Say Never ........................................................200 The Chosen Few ........................................................................201 Cultivating Will-power................................................................202 Wheres Your Habit At? ..............................................................204 Criticism ......................................................................................208 Over to You ................................................................................213 Our Concluding Thoughts ........................................................215 About the Authors......................................................................216 Philips Personal Fact File ..........................................................216 Padraigs Personal Fact File ......................................................216

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Acknowledgements
There are many people we wish to thank who helped this book become a reality. Firstly, Xanthe Wells, who provided creative direction throughout the project and assisted us in creating a book that is accessible, entertaining and engaging. Thanks to all the contributors, who told us their personal stories of how the principles in this book helped them. Particular thanks to Kim Jordan and Jean Walsh, two young students who proofed the material and helped us to really understand what our readers are looking for. Your advice and guidance is greatly appreciated. To Raymond Langan, a trainer with The Super Generation, whose creative ideas and ability to communicate were invaluable in helping us distil the message of the book into understandable concepts and language. We are truly grateful for your contribution. A special word of thanks to the many schools, teachers and young people to whom we have delivered our seminar programme. You motivated us to write this book and we hope you gain as much from it as we have from writing it. To Sean, Clara and all the team at Liberties Press, a truly heartfelt thanks for your effort, work and patience in helping bring our vision to life.

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MAKE IT HAPPEN
Why Bother?
What is success? Most people think it is about getting what you want and the faster you get it, the more successful you are. We have a different view. Success is a journey not a destination. Ultimately, success is working towards being, doing or having the things which you want in life. This book shows you how to define what success means to you and also shows you how you can achieve it. Along our journeys of trying to be successful and finding ways to be happy, we have met many wonderful people who have helped, motivated and inspired us. We have both read many books and listened to countless stories of people who have achieved success. And thats why weve written this book: so that we can share these insights with you. This book is a team effort. We, along with many of our friends, have contributed our ideas, knowledge and experience to create a book we hope you will both learn from and enjoy. There are plenty of personal thoughts and stories to inspire you on your journey. More importantly, we know whatever you want to achieve in life, you will find a way to do it within these pages. It is often said that there is both an art and a science to success. We think of this book as the science, because success leaves clues. Follow the steps laid out in this book, and you are laying the foundations to succeed. There is no hidden secret to success; there is no magic formula. It is all about following some simple steps. This book will show you what those steps are, and how to follow them. The other important thing you will learn is what we call the art of success. This is the life-changing part: the art of success is the ability to enjoy the journey and be happy, no matter what the outcome. Its what we have come to understand as the real meaning of life. If you can enjoy the journey, you will always be successful. And thats the real gift. When you follow the simple steps in this book, you will discover what it is that makes you truly happy. You discover, or rather uncover, what you are passionate about, what your real purpose in life is, and what brings you joy.

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There is no short cut to success: you can only uncover it as you take the journey. It is different for everyone, and may happen without you noticing it. As you travel that journey, we would be delighted if you could share your story with us. We cant promise you an easy ride, but then nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished easily. We promise you a guide, which will help you define what your personal success looks like and help you put in place the steps to achieve it. It is an invitation to start a journey like no other you will ever make. But before you get started, we need to say one thing, and that is: Thank you. Thank you for allowing us to help you on your journey. We are very passionate about helping young people. We try to do it every day, to the best of our ability. Our hope is that this book will guide you to whatever it is you want from life. We look forward to going on the journey with you. For anyone who ever had a dream, hope or wish but didnt know how to make it happen, this book is for you. Good luck!

Padraig and Philip

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Users Guide
Users Guide: Making Make It Happen Work for You OK, so there are many different ways you can use this book. But although it could make a potential doorstop, frisbee or dinner plate, the best thing to do is to read it. The book is divided into three sections:

1.

Introduction to Success Episodes 1 to 4 Making It Happen Episodes 5 to 8 The Tools for Success Episodes 9 to 15

2.

3.

The most important section is Making It Happen. (Why do you think we named the book after it!). So if you want to only read a few episodes, then thats the bit for you. However, were pretty pleased with the rest of the book too: the Introduction to Success will give you information about how our minds work and what success really is, while The Tools for Success will speed up your ability to make things happen. At a glance, the book looks something like this:

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Overview Over View

Make it Happen
A Success Guide for Teenagers

Introduction to Success

Section 1

Making it Happen The Super System

Section 2

Tools for Success

Section 3

Superconscious

Its All in the Mind

Episode 1

Episode 5 Success
See your

An Attitude of Gratitude

Episode 9 Gratitude

Episode 2 Imagination
Dream Big

Episode 6 Understand It

Affirmations

Use the Force

Episode 10

Break the Barriers

Episode 3

Empowerment

Episode 7 Plan Your Path

Positive Choice

Heads or Tails

Episode 11

The Secret to

Episode 4 Success

Episode 8 Execute and Reward

Team Game

Episode 12 Friends

Manage Your

Episode 13 Thoughts

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Episode 14

Communication

Never Say Never

Episode 15

Persistence

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We know that people learn in different ways, so we have used loads of different styles in this book. Like when you watch TV, you can pick and choose the bits that work best for you. You might like the step-by-step interactive features. Or you might like reading the true stories. Alternatively, you might be a channel-hopper and only read the fictional stories and the ad breaks. If one of these sounds like you, then thats fine. And if there are sections that really dont suit you, then dont worry: just take what you need from the book. We recommend a quick dip into the book to get a sense of what its about from the bits you like, before you sit down to read it properly. But, like any TV series, it always helps to start at the beginning and keep going, episode by episode, until you reach the end. After that, you can revisit your favourite episodes as much and as often as you like.

Replay
Like watching TV, you can pick and choose the bits you want. Of course, you could have a back-to-back episode marathon and read the whole thing in one go. The important thing is that you use this book as a manual that you can refer back to whenever you want. At the beginning of each episode is the TV listing for that particular episode, showing where it fits into the schedule and what the episode is about. You can use these to help you navigate through the book and to plan what bits you might want to return to in the future. Stick markers in it, highlight bits, and write your comments and thoughts in it wherever you like. Finally, this is an interactive book, so every now and again well ask you to Press The Red Button and get interactive with a short activity. You can write your notes in the space provided in the book, but you might like to get a notebook to keep all your thoughts together so that you can revisit them and add to them later. Some of the exercises should ideally be done every day, but dont worry, we dont expect you to tackle all of them at once. The idea of the book is that it becomes a guide to use along your way to success, so theres no rush. Just do the exercises that are right for you at the time. You may find you come back to others later on, maybe days, weeks, months or even years from now.

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Here are some descriptions of the main features you should look out for:

Now and Next

At the beginning of each episode, this handy schedule tells you whats going on in the episode. Use it to give you an overview of whats to come and to help you find the sections you want to go back to in the future.

Channel Hop
This symbol shows we have changed subject or style, as if youve changed channel to another programme. Just like you can get bored of a TV show and want to see what else is on, Channel Hop sections spice up the book and keep you interested!

Reality Bite
These sections contain the real stories of real people. Yes, really! We think they are important to show you what we are talking about really can make things happen and will make things happen for you.

Tech Specs
Sometimes its useful to know the science behind the subject. Tech Spec does just that without too much jargon.

Press the Red Button

Here you can go interactive and get stuck in to techniques and exercises that will help you get the most out of this book. Remember, you dont have to do all of them at once. Page 8 has all the Red Button exercises in the book listed, for you to record which ones youve done and how you got on.

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Press Pause
Press pause, and take some time to think about whats been said and how it relates to you.

Replay
Youve seen this one at work already. Some things are so good theyre worth saying twice! These snippets are the really important bits that will help you to Make it Happen.

Listen Up
These are short quotations that summarise a particular idea or concept. Read all of these, and youll be on the way to success without even trying!

60 Seconds
At the end of each episode, we give you a quick roundup of all the important bits of the episode. This way, you can refresh your memory before you head on through the book. You can also use them as quick reminders when you come back to the book in the future. So thats the basics covered. Now lets start making it happen!

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Press the Red Button

Exercises
Use this table to help you keep a note of which exercises you have done and which ones you would like to do next. Use the comments sections to make a note of your first impressions, and compare them when you revisit the exercises again later. You may be surprised at the change in your perception!

Episode Page
1 2

Title
Limiting beliefs What is success? Motivation Wheel of life

Done

Comments

Create empowering beliefs Self-image

Write your Personal Vision Statement

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Episode Page
6

Title
Understanding Your Vision

Done

Comments

Constructing Your Goals Record Your Goals

8 9

Create an Action Plan Feeling grateful Gratitude meditation

10

Affirmations for self-belief Goal and self-belief combo

11

Making positive choices Tapping into your intuition

13

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Episode Page
14

Title
Good Impressions and Rapport Mirroring Power language Develop your persistence

Done

Comments

15

10

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Section 1: Introduction to Success

Make it Happen
A Success Guide for Teenagers

Introduction to Success

Section 1

Making it Happen The Super System

Section 2

Tools for Success

Section 3

Episode 5 See your Success

Its All in the Mind

An Attitude of Gratitude

Episode 9 Gratitude

Episode 1

Superconscious

Episode 6 Understand It

Episode 10 Affirmations
Use the Force

Episode 2
Imagination
Dream Big

Empowerment
Episode 8 Execute and Reward
The Secret to

Break the Barriers

Episode 3

Episode 7 Plan The Path

Episode 11 Positive Choice

Heads or Tails

Episode 12
Team Game

Episode 4 Success

Friends

Episode 13
Manage Your

Thoughts

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Episode 14

Communication

Never Say Never

Episode 15

Persistence

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Episode 1:

Its All in the Mind

Now and Next
NOW NEXT Its All in the mind How your mind works and how to get your superconscious to work for you. Dream Big Imagining your route to success

There is a very important piece of kit you need to have in order to make things happen. It is the ultimate in processing technology: better, faster and smarter than the most expensive computer in the shops today. But dont despair. Before you start moaning about the fact that youll never be able to afford such an amazing machine, well let you into a secret: you already have it.

Wow, thanks Mum and Dad, its just what Ive always wanted!

on sale at ists good stock

NEW MINDl al

This fantastic piece of equipment is, youve guessed it, your mind. And the good news is that we all have one (although some of us use it more than others). But what we want to share with you is how our mind works and how it affects what we think and do. Once you know these two things, there will be no stopping you on your journey to making your life a success!

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Channel Hop

The lightning shot down onto the tower and lit up the room. Dr X laughed manically as she threw the lever that connected the power surge to her creations. The room crackled with electricity, and the smell of burning drifted into the damp Transylvanian air. From the table in the centre of the room came a low groan. And then another. Two figures slowly sat upright and turned to face their creator. Aaaaha ha ha haa, she cackled gleefully. You are alive my precious ones. Am I? asked one. Of course, replied the other. Our new state has been instigated by the electrical current coursing through our constructed limbs to connect our synapses, restart our hearts and send the source of life into our very bodies. But I dont feel alive, the first one said. Feelings are irrelevant, answered the second. We are alive because we are. I think therefore I am. But I have to feel. I have to believe in something. If I have nothing to believe in, then I cannot exist. Saying this, the first creation disappeared. I cannot understand that, said the second creation. If I cannot understand, I cannot exist. And he too vanished. Dr X looked forlornly at the table where her two amazing creatures had been. I knew I shouldnt have split one brain between the two of them, she said.

Horror TV

Our minds are made up of two parts: the thinking mind and the feeling mind, or the conscious and the superconscious mind.

The Conscious Mind

Now, no doubt you will have heard this term before. In fact, you probably use it in your day-to-day vocabulary. For example: I was conscious of the time, so I went home quickly.

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Or: I was so tired in that lesson, I was barely conscious. We use it to mean thinking about or aware or even awake. By contrast, when we are asleep (or have received a large blow to the head) we are said to be unconscious. So it makes sense for us to use the term the conscious mind to refer to that part of ourselves which is in control of thinking, doing and making decisions.

Conscious
Thinking

Superconscious
Feeling

Replay
The conscious mind is in control of thinking, doing and making decisions. This can make the conscious mind sound really important and significant, but in fact it doesnt have as much impact as we think. You see, the conscious mind is only the outer appearance of the mind. Holding the power, but hiding in the shadows, is the superconscious mind.

The Superconscious Mind

We use the term the superconscious mind to mean the part of ourselves that holds all the unseen information that we use without even thinking. Its also known as the subconscious mind, and is often thought of as the feeling part of a person.

Replay
The superconscious mind holds all the unseen information that we use without even thinking about it. Our superconscious is like an enormous warehouse, holding everything we have thought, seen or done in our life so far. Its always working, and uses about 90 percent of our total brain power. This is what makes the superconscious so super. Without us knowing, its working out how we feel, what we remember, and what we

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believe. Amazingly, it lets us concentrate on the exciting bits and bobs of life, while it does all the other stuff automatically. Think about it for a moment. When did you last have to remember to blink your eyes? Or think about how to walk? Or how to brush your teeth, tie your shoelaces or use a computer mouse? Of course, youve had to learn how to do all of these things at some stage in your life, but once youve worked out how to do them, you can sit back and let your superconscious take control. Marvellous!

Press Pause
Imagine your favourite celebrity. It could be a rock star, an actor, a comedian . . . Got a picture of them in your mind? OK. Now look to the left or right of them. Whos that person whos always just a few paces away from them? Thats right, their bodyguard. Now imagine its late at night and the celebrity wants to go into the city and have a meal. The bodyguard may prefer to go to bed but, because its his job, he accompanies the celeb to the restaurant. When they pull up outside, theres a huge commotion from the public, and a crazy fan tries to throw herself on their favourite celeb. What happens? If the bodyguard is any good, they will instantly move to protect the celebrity. Whatever the situation whether the crazy fan wants to get an autograph or to attack its the bodyguards job to act without thinking to protect them. Thats what theyve been trained to do. In much the same way, the conscious mind thinks and makes decisions (like where to go and what to do) while the superconscious does what it has been trained to do (breathe, walk, and so on). Now this is undoubtedly very handy and useful but, because the superconscious cant think or make decisions, it can be trained to do stuff that the conscious mind hasnt stopped to think about. These become habits, and these habits become our belief system. The more we do something, the more our mind believes that this is the right thing to do (even when it isnt), and it will keep telling us to follow that action. Its how we remember to do positive things, like brush our teeth every day, and how we get caught up doing negative things, like biting our nails. Luckily, we can change our beliefs with a bit of help from our superconscious.

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Im a Believer
Our belief system is the foundation on which we build our behaviour. It acts as a filter between our conscious and our superconscious: its the jam in our mind sandwich, if you will. Whatever we feel or experience in our superconscious forms a belief, and the conscious mind then uses these beliefs to help us understand ourselves and the world around us.

Our belief system acts as a filter between our conscious and our superconscious.

Replay

History Today
Before the fourth century BC, people believed that the world was flat. This made sense: you could see to the flat line of the horizon, therefore the earth must be flat. By 330 BC, the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle had provided evidence that the world was a sphere. What a weird idea, people thought. By the eighth century AD, it was commonly accepted that the world was indeed a sphere. This made sense: however far you went, you didnt fall off the edge. In nineteenth-century England, some Christian thinkers began to argue that the world was, in fact, flat. What a weird idea, people thought. In 1968, the crew of the Apollo 8 Moon mission took a photograph of the Earth from the Moons orbit. It was a blue sphere. Well, that proves that the world is round, people thought. Today, there are thousands of people across the globe (or disc, depending on your point of

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view) who believe that the world is actually flat. They are known as flat-earthers. (If you dont believe us, look em up.) They believe that the Moon landing was a hoax and that the photographic evidence for it was faked. What a weird idea, people thought. Or is it? The thing about our beliefs is not whether or not they are true, but the fact that our superconscious believes them to be true. This is the scary bit: if our superconscious believes something to be true, our conscious will make it true. So if we can learn how to slip our superconscious some really great beliefs about our lives, just think what we could achieve!

Listen Up
Whether you believe you can, or whether you believe you cant youre right. Henry Ford, of the Ford Motor Company

Self-Limiting Beliefs
Many of our beliefs are useful, and prevent us from harm: for example, a fire will burn you, and stepping out in front of a car could kill you. However, some of the beliefs we have dont serve us so well. We call these self-limiting beliefs, because they prevent us from achieving our potential.

Replay
Self-limiting beliefs prevent us from achieving our potential. As you work your way through this book, there will be time to look at your belief system and give it a spring-clean by dusting off your positive beliefs and throwing out the old, negative ones. We will even give you some techniques to develop new beliefs which will support and empower you as you begin to make things happen.

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Reality Bite
Aged nine, I was in the school choir along with all my classmates. We were preparing to perform in front of our parents for a Christmas concert. However, my teacher didnt think that I had a singing voice and asked me not to sing, but to mime the words instead. She said that nobody would notice. Maybe that was true, but I certainly did. She planted a belief in me that I was unable to sing; this affected my self-confidence and my own perception of my singing ability. For a number of years, I firmly held the belief that I was unable to sing, and always refused to sing in front of people, even though I would have dearly loved to do so. I was lucky. In sixth class, I had a teacher that held a different belief: indeed, he believed that everyone could sing, and was determined to show me that I could too. He spent a lot of time singing with us and was always enthusiastic about the annual folk mass. I believed that I was tone-deaf, but he refused to accept this. He got me to sing simple songs as part of a group; eventually, after a lot of work, he proved to me that I could sing. He was proud of his achievement, and I was delighted to be proved wrong: I really loved to sing, but I was too shy to admit it. Finally, I sang as part of a duet in our sixth-class folk mass in the local church. I was delighted with myself. Sarahs teacher worked hard to change a disempowering belief which she had been given in early life. No doubt the junior teacher was well intentioned, but Sarahs superconscious mind was not able to distinguish between fact and fiction, and in this case it accepted the negative false beliefs that the teacher had given her. If she had not encountered another, extraordinary teacher, she would still be living with those negative beliefs today. Sarah works as a housewife in Wicklow and still enjoys singing in the local church.

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Press the Red Button

Limiting Beliefs
Take a moment to think about the things that you believe you cant do. Write them down. You might have one or two, or lots of them. Now look at your list and, for each one, ask yourself: where did I learn to believe the belief that I cant . . . ? Think right back, and try to remember the time you were first told you couldnt do something. Was it as a baby? A toddler? At school? Who helped you construct your belief? Your parents? Relatives? Friends? (We call people who sow the seeds of self-limiting beliefs, dreambusters; theres more on them coming up in Episode 2.) If you can find these memories in your superconscious, write them down. If you cant quite catch them, dont worry: theyll come to you when you least expect it such is the power of the superconscious!

Your Notes!

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So, where do your self-limiting beliefs come from? Once you can answer this question, youre well on the way to turning your limiting beliefs into empowering ones.

Empowering Beliefs
As weve already said, the superconscious mind is a clever piece of kit. As children, before our conscious mind develops, we only have our superconscious. This is why, when you tell a small child about Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, they believe you. Its also why, if you give your four-year-old cousin a lemon and tell them itll taste nice, theyll believe you although you may not want to face the consequences of actually trying that out! But the best bit about the superconscious is not just that it forms our beliefs, but that it lets us act on them as well. And positive actions bring positive results.

Replay
Positive actions bring positive results.

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For example, if you tell a child that they are fantastic at swimming, they will believe that they are fantastic at swimming. This makes them act as though they are a fantastic swimmer and, lo and behold, they become the best swimmers they can be.

Tech Specs
In the same way, if you go to the doctor and she gives you some tablets to make you feel better, you believe those tablets will make you feel better even if you find out later that shes actually given you sugar pills. This is known as the placebo effect. Scientists have proven in many cases of illness and disease that a placebo can have a positive effect on the patient. This shows that its not only the medicine but also the superconscious minds belief that helps alleviate pain and illness. So its true: what we achieve in life is directly due to our beliefs. Impressive, or what?

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Reality Bite
Ben Underwood was born in Riverside, California, on 26 January 1992. At the age of two, he was diagnosed with bilateral retnoblastoma (cancer in both eyes). Bens tumour was a very slow-growing one, but his condition was still very serious. Ben's right eye was completely consumed by the cancer, so it was removed. After that, he had another eight months of chemo, and then six weeks of radiation therapy, to try to save the left eye. These treatments were unsuccessful. Bens mother had to make a tough decision for her child. Of course, she would do anything to keep him alive, and agreed to have his second eye removed. When Ben woke up after the surgery, he said: Mom, I can't see any more. Oh mom, I can't see. But instead of Bens mother letting him feel her fears, she said: Ben, you can still see. She took his little hands and put them on her face and said: See me. You can see me with your hands. Next, she put her hand to his nose and said: Smell me. You can see me with your nose. Then she said: Hear me. You can see me with your ears. You can't use your eyes any more, but you have your hands, your nose and your ears. Ben has been seeing ever since. His mother treated him as though he could see, and used visual language with him. She made sure that he saw everything. She would put his hand on the road and say: Look at this: the road is rough, and the sidewalk is smooth. You name it, she put his hand on it. Soon afterwards, Ben started using clicking noises to help him see even better. Ben says he practiced, to see how far his echo would go. He could hear a rubbish bin on the floor, and could work out where stationary objects were. He was able to play video games, ride a bike, skate, climb trees do everything he always had done, as if he had never lost his sight. When his doctor saw Ben playing his Game Boy, he was amazed. He walked into the patient room and looked at Ben, walked over to the computer desk and looked into his chart, walked back over to Ben and looked in his eyes, then looked down to see if he was really playing the game. He finally looked over to Bens mother and said: His eyes are nucleated. She

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said: Oh yes, he's blind. The doctor said: How the heck does he play video games? She replied: He does everything: ride bikes, rollerblades, electric scooters. You name it, he will try it. Ben started writing a novel when he was in fourth grade. He writes at the level of a college student, and types at a speed of about sixty words a minute on a regular keyboard. His novel is science fiction; he has written at least twenty chapters. He also wants to develop video games. He is so full of ideas, and he is encouraged to pursue them all. His mother says: The sky is the limit, and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to if you try. Don't stress about failure, because success often begins from there. The only place from rock bottom is up, and failure is bottom. Sadly, Bens cancer returned, and he died, aged sixteen, on 19 January 2009. Ben may have only had a short life, but it was certainly a full one. You can read the complete story at www.benunderwood.com.

Bens story truly shows the power of belief. If his mum had given him a white stick or a guide dog, he might never have developed his sight in the incredible way he did. Instead, through the power of the superconscious minds acceptance that he could see, he was able to participate in the world as much as anyone else.

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Chain Reaction
Our beliefs trigger a chain reaction from thought to result. That reaction can be either positive or negative. For instance:

Im no good at maths
If you are told you are no good at maths, and you believe that you are no good at it, your feelings towards the subject will be negative. This will make you not want to do your homework (because it wont help), and you wont study for your exams (because you know you wont pass). These negative actions will result in negative results your chances of passing are greatly reduced.

I am good at maths
If, on the other hand, you think you are good at maths and receive positive reinforcement from others, you feel positive towards it. This makes you want to work harder and study more...these positive actions result in positive results and your success!

Its pretty obvious that positive thoughts and feelings are better in the long run than negative ones. But wait, here comes the science bit . . .

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Tech Specs
Our brains are made up of billions of cells with arms called dendrites. Each dendrite is separated from the others by tiny spaces called synaptic gaps. When you have a thought, it sparks an impulse in the centre (nucleus) of the dendrite, which speeds off along the arms to make a connection with another dendrite. When this happens, the thought spreads out across your brain cells to form a pattern of understanding.

But this is the clever part: if you have a positive thought, the impulse releases a chemical called serotonin at the end of the dendrite arm. Not only does this give you feelings of happiness and well-being, but it also allows the thought to bridge the synaptic gap and spread out across your mind: it makes good things happen, if you like.

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On the other hand, if you have a negative thought, the chemical cortisone is released. This makes you feel sad and miserable and, more importantly, it blocks the gap and prevents the thoughts from becoming positive: it actually stops good things from happening. So, thinking empowering thoughts allows a free flow of ideas, so that good things can happen. Thinking self-limiting thoughts prevents this flow, and means that you only see more problems and dilemmas. Isnt science great? (For more about this, read Goal Mapping by Brian Mayne.)

Reality Bite
Michelles parents were neither wealthy nor privileged. Her father worked at a city water plant; her mother was a full-time homemaker. Michelles family history didnt hold much success either, with ancestors on both sides of her family coming from American slavery. But that didnt mean that the family did not believe in success. Quite the opposite, in fact. Michelles father had multiple sclerosis, but living with a limp and having to use crutches did not deter him from being the familys bread-winner. Nor did issues of race and colour. The couple their children that they could succeed despite

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any prejudices that they may encounter in life. They also taught them that achievement and hard work would bring them the success they deserved. Michelle did face discrimination as she progressed through her education: she was part of a programme for gifted students in her first school and went on to become one of the very few black students attending Princeton University. She was even dissuaded by the college counsellors at Harvard from studying law. Thankfully, Michelles self-belief carried her through Harvard and on to a position in a top Chicago law firm. Here she met her future husband, Barack Obama. As the wife of the president of the United States, Michelle Obama still believes in the importance of striving to achieve success. She is in bed most nights by half past nine and rises each morning at half past four, to run on a treadmill. She still believes what her parents taught her: You work hard for what you want in life, your word is your bond, and you do what you say youre going to do.

Channel Hop

Computing for You

Our body is like a computer system, with its own hardware and software. Our body is the hardware the machine, if you like and our beliefs are the software. Computers are not much use without software, and most of them come pre-programmed with an operating system. Our operating system of beliefs is often pre-installed by people who want the best for us (like our parents); then we go through life adding software to help us develop along the way.

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Sometimes, the software we have doesnt help us move forward, but contains limiting beliefs lurking inside, like viruses. If your computer gets a virus, you can often still use it for a while, but eventually the virus starts to corrupt your other programmes, and the computer begins to malfunction. If the virus penetrates your operating system, it may be too late, and your computer will respond only with the blank screen of death. Even switching it off and on again wont help! If this happens, the only solution is to wipe out your software and reinstall everything, including the operating system. Some people use this opportunity to choose a more appropriate operating system. Others are happy just to reinstall the bits they need. After having a bad experience with a virus, people are generally more cautious about what software they accept and will install an antivirus package and firewall to help protect them from dangerous programmes or viruses in the future. If we approach our beliefs with the same care and attention that we use when we accept or decline email attachments, we can monitor whether we are accepting empowering or limiting beliefs. We can perform virus scans with tools and exercises, and we can reject negative thoughts even from those who want the best for us. In short, we can keep our hardware safe and allow it to run at optimum capacity.

So thats Episode 1. You made it! Take a break maybe grab a cup of tea and some biscuits then get stuck into Episode 2, where well tell you all about success, and how you can make it a reality.

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60 Seconds

Its all in the mind

1. Our minds are made up of the conscious thinking mind and the superconscious feeling mind. 2. Our belief system acts as a filter between our conscious and our superconscious. 3. What our superconscious believes to be true, our conscious will act upon. 4. Self-limiting beliefs prevent us from getting positive results by convincing us that we are not good enough, or not able enough, to do something. 5. Empowering beliefs help us to believe in our abilities and to achieve success. 6. Our beliefs set up a chain reaction of thoughts a feelings a actions a results. 7. It has been scientifically proven that positive thoughts make you feel good and help you to achieve, while negative thoughts make you feel low, and more likely to give up. 8. By becoming more aware of our thoughts and feelings, and using tools to help us, we can create new beliefs and achieve success! Up Next . . . Dream Big: Your ideas about success

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