Every one of us is involved in some for of self improvement or personal development. This is true of you whether it is something you currently realise or not! If you have any desires, dreams or goals then you are striving to better yourself, your environment or your world and this we call self improvement.

However, there is one key area of your life that stops you from progressing in a fast and effective manner towards your desires, dreams and goals. I will now highlight this obstacle and show you how to effectively remove it forever so that you can create the life you want!

One of the worst things you can do when you need to motivate yourself to reach your long held goals and dreams is to criticize yourself. This is a pattern that has been taught to you since you were very young with school tests, grading, placement in your class and class evaluations. Teachers, parents and peers constantly compared you to others as if that was a way of gauging your true worth. This kind of personal evaluation probably continues to this day with employment superiors over-viewing your work, progress and most likely conducting some form of personal evaluation.

This view of assessing your strengths and weaknesses, although probably well-intentioned, has set a pattern within your own mind for self-criticism and self-doubt. Are you in a perpetual state of comparison? Do you find yourslef comparing how you perform to the performance of other people? Do you beat yourself up for not having attained the same level of success as those around you or those you view from afar? Are you disappointed in yourself when you fail to achieve exactly what you set out to achieve in the time you gave yourself?

Being self-critical can cause untold damage in your life. Criticism, regardless of what area of yourself or your life you have focused it, has a ripple effect that damages all other areas. By believing you are less than you should be you are sending a very strong message to your subconscious mind that you are just not good enough. Such a belief halts your progress towards your desires. It leaves you feeling frustrated and extremely unhappy. If you are really and truly not good enough then how could you ever change anything? If you are not good enough then there can be no way for you to change yourself, your circumstances or your life.

The first step to overcoming this self-defeating pattern of thinking and feeling is to become aware that it is there. Look carefully at yourself and how you interact with yourself internally. Notice when you have a tendency to berate yourself. When you notice yourself comparing your behaviour, talents, abilities or results to those of someone else immediately stop. Only judge your own performance. If you must compare yourself to anyone then compare yourself with yourself. Look for how you have improved. If you give a task everything you’ve got and do your best then you are already a success regardless of the outcome. You have stretched yourself and your personal self-imposed boundaries.

Keep a journal of all your goals and list the success you have already created. When you can look back at where you once were and see the improvement that you have made personally then your confidence will be increased and your self-esteem will rocket. If you compare yourself to someone else then bare in mind that you do not know the other person’s circumstances. You do not know what advantages they had when they began, so comparing yourself to them is a futile exercise. Even if these people did overcome serious adversity to achieve the same things that you now want take it as a positive sign. If they did it then so can you!

Try to encourage yourself when you are faced with a challenge. The difference between internal criticism and internal encouragement can mean the difference between a life of fear, dread, discouragement, pain, frustration and a life filled with abundance, joy, peace and harmony.

Giving yourself approval takes practise, so start right now. If you look at what you are doing when you criticize yourself it is really a form of self-disapproval. Approving and disapproving are just choices. You make them internally and you can re-make them in a different way. Approving of yourself and dispproving of yourself is merely a choice you make!

Right now begin to give yourself some approval just for the heck of it. Many times we disapprove of ourselves and others for little or no reason so turn that around. Begin to give yourself approval just because you are you. Can you imagine how differently you will view the world through the eyes of self-approval? Can you guess what kind of strides forward you can make in your life with an internal voice of encouragement? Do you think you, your family, friends and work colleges would benefit from you taking this new radical approach to how you view yourself?

By taking this approach and viewing yourself in a much more positive way the progress you make will astound you and the speed at which you start to move in the life direction that you have chosen will be amazing. You will gain more peace, happiness and harmony as a by-product and live a life filled with much more contentment, satisfaction and joy. Your personal development is assured!

I’m sure you are aware that you talk to yourself constantly throughout the day. You inner voice is continually giving you feedback about situations, people, circumstances and relationships. Many times this inner voice can be a great friend cheering us on and helping us sort out problems. However, all of us, regardless of how positive we are or how much we believe in ourselves and our abilities, are at some time haunted by that voice when it whines and criticizes us. When this small voice becomes our inner critic it instils fear and self-doubt while it causes internal havoc, procrastination and failure.

It is a truth that you and I listen to our own internal voice every minute of every day. Sometimes it is positive but most of the time it is extremely negative and reminds us of our problems, past failures and limitations. What if you could teach that inner voice to be your greatest ally and biggest fan? How do you think your thoughts, your actions and your life would be different?

The first thing to understand is that this inner voice is in no way your enemy. No matter how critical or judgemental and negative your inner talk is your inner voice is your best friend. It is trying to protect you. The very fact that this inner critic is a positive aspect of your mental processes and is designed to help protect you from uncomfortable situations is the reason why it’s so easy to transform it into your greatest fan! It wants to help!

How you use your inner voice and the way you speak to yourself internally is just a learned habit. You have done this so many times that it has become an automatic process. Now this is not as frightening or disheartening as it may first appear because if you have learned to do something in a certain way then you can learn to do it in a different way.

Now trying to force this voice to become more positive is self-defeating and needs a lot of energy. There are much more effective ways to create positive inner dialogue.

There is one simple technique that involves a rubber band. The band is placed around your wrist and snapped against your skin everytime you catch yourself in a critical or negative thought. This stings just a little but after awhile your subconscious mind relates negative, critical thinking with pain. After you snap the band immediately think the opposite positive thought. You can also stroke your wrist gently where the rubber band snapped against your skin. Pratcise this simple technique for seven days straight and you will reprogram your subconscious mind to be more positive and silence your negative critical voice once and for all.

You can also try another way. Become aware of the way in which your inner critic talks to you. Listen to the tone and identify where in your head it is speaking from. The inner critic can be found usually in the center of your head but can you tell if it is more left than right or higher up or lower down? Is it close or far away? When you identify where this voice is originating from and how it is speaking to you, you can start to play with it.

With some simple techniques you can start now to interupt the pattern of this inner critic in a way that is not only very rewarding and life changing but also a great deal of fun. Repeat what your inner critical voice just said to you but give it a funny squeaky high-pitched voice. Move it to a different are of your head. Speed it up or slow it down. Make it louder and then softer. Make it speak in a backwards manner. Change its tone so that it is almost singing. Doing this in a way that you find funny will teach your subconscious mind that you do not take this criticism and negatively seriously. After a short while this inner critical voice will start to fade and you will find that your internal dialogue becomes much more positive and uplifting.

Your personal development is in your own hands. You inner voice can be your greatest motivator or your worst critic. Which one you want it to be is your choice!

At some stage of life every one of us desires change. There are some people who desire to make husge Self Improvement gains while others just want to make small personal development changes. It really doesn’t matter how large or small these changes may be for, regardless of how impossible they seem, they are possible to achieve when you know how to do it.

It is possible to improve your life in any area you can think of. Millions of people have overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve their dreams and so can you.

However, in order to create change in the outer world you must first be willing to make the necessary internal changes. You can restructure the world of form and materiality only when you alter and realign your internal world of thought and emotion!

The first step to creating a better life is to know what you want. You must be clear on your intent. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have and your thoughts are the most powerful force for change that you will ever encounter in your own life. By getting clear on your intentions you will immediately set in motion the necessary energy needed to accomplish the change you desire.

Through your mind you can formulate new positive thoughts that are in alignment with your wishes. These thoughts will regulate your actions, reactions and ultimately your results. You should not underestimate the power that your thoughts and emotions play in creating the changes you desire. Decide now what it is that you want. Be clear and concise on your goal. Then form a menal image of yourself as though your were already in possesion of it right now. Dwell on that picture at different times throughout your day and recall the positive emotions assosiated with it.

Next you must cultivate the belief that you are capable of making these changes. Many times people will set goals and even formulate plans to attain their desires but they are unwilling to release their own self-doubt. As strange as it may sound holding on to false beliefs of inadequacy or the thoughts that certain things are impossible gives many of us a sense of safety. You must begin to challenge your own self-doubt and build your self-belief. If the human race has learned anything from its time on this planet it is this – Man can achieve anything physically that he can first create in his imagination. You were born with the same basic mental equipment as everyone else and what one person can overcome to reach their goals another can overcome also.

Do something everyday that will move you closer to your goal. No matter how small the action may be, do something. The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you take small steps everyday you will eventually walk a thousand miles! Taking small action steps everyday will just as surely mean you eventually reach your goal! Take these small action steps in the knowledge that, regardless of how small or insignificant they may now seem, they are moving you in the direction of your desire.

Begin to act as though you were already in possession of your goal – “fake it till you make it”, is a saying that springs to mind. This means if your goal is to create better relationships start to plan how you will spend your time together. Doing this forces the mind to focus on your desired outcome and as the mind only thinks in pictures it will be unconsciously visualizing your desire. Leave space in your bedroom for your future partner’s belongings or park your car so there is enough room for your partner’s vehicle – or anything that is meaningful to you and sends out the message that you are making room for your partner to appear! If your goal is a financial one mentally begin to spend your money and see your bank account grow. A word of caution though – do not spend money you do not have! Spend it mentally, in your mind’s eye.

Prepare for your new found fortune. Build the plans for your changed life in your mind first. Then the material manifestation will follow!

Do things differently. The famous quote “If you always do what you’ve always done then you will always get what you’ve always gotten”, sums this up. There is a Chinese proverb that describes insanity which encapsulates the very idea that I am now presenting to you. The Chinese definition of insanity is as follows; Doing the same things in the same way and expecting a different result! Be prepared and willing to change yourself before you see changes in your world.

Reward yourself for your successes. If you acknowledge even the smallest gain you make you will be building up your self esteem and reinforceing your confidence. Never berate yourself! Use your mistakes as learning experiences. There is no such thing as failure only giving up. When Edison failed 9,999 times in his attempts to create the electric light-bulb he did not give up. When quized about his failures he said, “I have not failed, I have just found 9,999 ways that don’t work!”. By uses your mistakes as learning experiences and viewing them as merely gained knowledge you will increase your understanding and know what does not work. Sooner or later you will find a way that does work and your success will follow.

Cultivate an understanding of other people. Use their knowledge and experience to your advantage. There is no point trying to do things in a way that has not succeeded for anyone else. Look closely at those people who already have what you want and try to ascertain how they got to where they are from where they started. You do not need to go through countless trial and error exercises to reach your goal if someone else has already found a way that would work perfectly for you.

However, be prepared for set-backs. It seems that life naturally throws obstacles and learning experiences in our path so that we can grow and become better human beings as a result of them. It is only through our rejection and resistence to these obstacles that cause us pain and suffering. If everything came to you effortlessly would you enjoy the triumph of success as much as you would if you had overcome some obstacles along the way?

Be open to opportunities and allow life to show you the way. By remaining flexible in your approach to your goal-attainment you leave your path open to allow for unexpected windfalls of good fortune.

Strive to remove as much of your negative mental programming as you can. Your unconscious thoughts have a greater effect on your life than you currently realize and should be eliminated at their root. This clears your mental processes and ensures when you have a thought it is not battling with opposing thoughts and feelings. A focused thought is powerful enough to create any change and to create it quickly.

Start right now to form a picture in your mind’s eye of how you want your life to be. Visualize your desired outcome as though it were already a part of your life. Feel the joyous positive emotions that this vision evokes. Everyday take some action that will lead you closer to your goal. Eliminate the negative unconscious thoughts that are in direct conflict with your desires to ensure your thoughts are strong and powerful. If you diligently put into practice the steps I have shared with you your life will be transformed and within one year you will be astonished at what you have achieved.

It is possible to release your past regardless of how painful or deprived it was. Through these personal development techniques you let go of all your emotional baggage and start fresh.

Once you release your emotional attachment to your past you are free to enjoy the present. From this powerful place of being happy and content with where you are you can then begin to create the future of your dreams.

Although you cannot change anything that has happened in the past you can change how your past experiences affect your future. The first step to releasing the past is to accept that it happened. No matter how traumatic the experience or how distasteful the memory is you must acknowledge here and now that it occurred. This is what we call entering a state of Acceptance. There is no point fighting with your past and wishing it was different. You cannot change it so accept it!

After acceptance you can enter a state of peace when you realise that the past, all of it, good and bad experiences alike have helped to form and mould the person you are today. All the knowledge, desire and love that are in you right now are a direct result of the past experiences that make up your life.

Next realise that the past has some powerful lessons to teach you. Look for the positive learning experience that the past has taught you? Use your past as a learning tool. See where you went wrong and make the changes you need to make today so that your future becomes a bright and welcoming place. Never use your past as an excuse to stay the way you are or to tolerate circumstances and situations with which you are currently unhappy! Realise that the past has been and gone. All you have is this moment and that is all you need to make changes.

There are literally millions of people who have overcome major adversity to reach their goals so why should you be any different from them. These people refused to accept what life had handed them. They never moaned about their past nor allowed it to interfere with their present and thus they created their future the way they wanted it to be.

You should never use the past an excuse for staying stuck in your life. Your power is always in the present moment. Use your past negative experiences as a motivational tool to spur you on. It is all about your perception! The truth about this universe is that you always get more of what you focus on. If you chose to focus on the mistakes and hardships of your past then that is what you will experience more of.

But if you decide to put the past where it belongs, in the past, and fully embrace the present moment and where you are you will find yourself in a powerful creative place. Only revisit the past to learn from it not as an emotional trip. Although much of your current mental conditioning originates from childhood and early life experiences it can be changed. By making the decision now and holding the intention now that the past will no longer affect you, you can free yourself from your own self-imposed bondage.

From this place of freedom you can make decisions based upon current situations and circumstances instead of being the slave to reactive emotional thinking and acting. The evidence is everywhere that people with painful, damaging pasts have overcame them and gone on to achieve high levels of success. Look at the business world, sports, creative arts etc. There are rags to riches stories everywhere you care to look.

You may encounter past experiences that are very difficult for you to realease. At these times you should seek professional help in whatever form you feel appropriate, even if it is just a subliminal or hypnosis recording. Do something now to release your past – make the decision that it will no longer rule over your current life. Set the intention that, even though you may not currently know how, you will release all your emotional attachment to the past. Do this and you will start to live more content in the present while you await your glorious future.

What do you think your life would be like if you could be, do or have anything you could imagine? Do you have ambitions that remained unfilled? Have you still got dreams that burn deep within you yearning to become reality? Are your goals still unachieved? Well what would you decide to be, do or have if you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that could not fail?

Well fasten your seatbelt and get ready for the ride of your life. It really is possible to be, do and have anything that you can imagine and it is possible through some simple personal development techniques!

So ask yourself the question, “what would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”

There are only two things that can stop you from having what you want in life and being the person you aspire to be.

1. Lack of Clarity. You must know exactly what you want. Most people fail to achieve or gain the things in life that they want simply because they do not know what they want. Their desires are like leaves in a breeze, blown this way and that on the winds of change. You must be clear on exactly what you want if you are ever to achieve it. A strong vision of your future is the first and most important step in goal achievement.

To get clear do the following exercise: Take a piece of paper and write as many things you can think of that would make you happy. Give yourself three minutes to complete this exercise. Don’t limit yourself. Don’t allow limitations to get in the way. No matter how unbelievable it may appear or how impossible it may seem right now don’t let it discourage you. There is a universal maxim that states “You only have a desire because you are capable of achieving it!”

Now after you have written your desires down number them from 1 upwards in order of importance. Then pick the top three most important things to you. You will use these as your personal goals. You will focus on these goals until they become reality. Ensure that these are the most important things to you at this time.

2. Resistance. Now there are people in this world that are very clear on what they want in life. In fact not only are they clear on what they want but they are also very clear on how to get it, yet no matter how hard they try they seem to make little, or no, progress. Why is this?

Resistance is the only thing stopping you! Resistance is the killer of success. Re you one of these people? Do you harbour resistance within your being? Somewhere deep within you are conflicting beliefs that stop you from achieving success.

You must weed out these destructive modes of thought and feeling in order to achieve your aims. Truly when you have resistance it just means that you are not yet fully clear on what you want.

Your thoughts are only creative. Your thoughts are the building blocks upon which your personal universe is built. If you have resistant thoughts then you are sending out mixed messages to the universe. On the one hand you have the thoughts that reflect your desires but on the other hand you have thoughts of doubt, confusion, disbelief or fear.

It is essential to do one of two things.

1. Get so clear on what you want that you wipe out resistance through your belief in your vision. 2. Destroy destructive thoughts at their core and you remove resistance from your thoughts, emotions and life.

Here is the key to universe and to achieving everything you want in life – YOU ALWAYS GET MORE OF WHAT YOU FOCUS ON in Life! However, you tend to believe in your own limitations and concentrate on them rather than focusing on your strengths and believing in them. Do you tend to focus on what you cannot do, or do you focus on what you can do? Do you focus on what you want or do you focus on the lack of it? There are many great techniques for eliminating resistance from your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. However the quick way to overcome resistance is to get so clear on your goal and vision that nothing will stand in the way of its attainment!

Start by visualising your ideal situation twice a day. In the morning when you awaken and at night before you sleep imagine your ideal scene where you have already achieved the three things on your list. Actually step into the picture and live it as though you already had it. Feel all the great feelings that being, doing and having that vision conjure up in you.

Then when you go about your day reinforce that picture by acting as though it were already true. Evoke the same feelings you had when visualising it and you will convince your subconscious mind that your visualised life is really your true reality right now. Once this happens nothing can stop its achievement!

Stay focused on what you want. If you have negative thoughts realise that this is just resistance and when you catch yourself doing it – stop. Then immediately think the opposite thought while evoking strong feeling with the thought. Always make yourself feel good when you think of your vision. If you start to feel frustrated that you have not yet achieved your vision take several deep breaths and concentrate on the rewards of having. Get yourself back into a state of feeling good!

This is the only tool you really need to create the life of your dreams. It is not always easy to learn at first but the rewards are worth many times the effort required to master it. If need be seek out quality assistance to or any of the great tools available to help you stay focused and remove resistance but most importantly of all enjoy the journey and transition from where you are now to the deliberate creator you were born to be!!