Archives for May 2019

For the three individuals out there who have never hear of Spock, he is the Vulcan in the Star Trek series, books and movies.

Spock’s overriding character trait was that he never expressed emotion and, thus, was ruled by logic.

Interestingly, controlling your emotions was one of the common Rich Habits among the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study.

There is a great deal of new brain science out there that explains how emotions, in particular,negative emotions, alter brain performance. One of the most profound impacts emotions have on the brain is that they interfere with the operations of the Prefrontal Cortex.

Why is that a problem?

It’s a problem because the Prefrontal Cortex does numerous things, some of which impact your ability to live a successful, happy, healthy and wealthy life:

• Executive Command and Control – The Prefrontal Cortex is the area of the brain where logic and decision-making reside.
• Creativity – Insight, flashes of genius and intuition result from the joint communication between the Prefrontal Cortex and the Limbic system.
• Consciousness – Although consciousness is spread out among many areas of the brain, the Prefrontal Cortex is the CEO of consciousness and self awareness.
• Emotional Control – The Prefrontal Cortex has the ability to stop emotions in their tracks, upon command.

When your emotions erupt, you have two choices – let them flow or shut them down.

When you allow your emotions to flow, the Amygdala, one of the primary emotional centers of the brain, takes complete control of the brain by shutting down or overpowering the Prefrontal Cortex.

There are millions of people around the world, sitting behind bars, all because they allowed their Amygdala to control their behaviors and decision-making.

So, controlling your emotions keeps you out of trouble?

Yes, but it is much more than that.

Controlling your emotions also happens to be critical to success, wealth, health and happiness.

When the Prefrontal Cortex is trained to control emotions, and this training becomes a habit, the Amygdala loses all power over you. This allows you to intelligently and logically think through difficult situations, without any emotional interference.

Those who have trained themselves to be unemotional, as I have done, are able to tune out all negativity, no matter the source, and go on about their business.

If someone says something offensive to me, I ignore it.

If something unexpectedly bad happens, I shrug my shoulders and immediately begin seeking a solution.

If I have to perform a task that I loathe, like firing someone, I never allow myself to emotionally react to that employee’s emotional outburst, during the firing process, which only exacerbates a bad situation.

In other words, I have trained myself to be like Spock. And, I even have a mantra I use often to help me retain control of my emotions. When I feel my Amygdala acting up I say to myself over and over –  Be Like Spock.

This way I retain complete control over my thinking, which prevents me from getting off track, allowing me to focus on the task at hand.

Becoming successful is a process. Part of that process is learning to Be Like Spock and control your emotions. And, it’s a big part of that process.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Back in October 2015, I went in for my annual physical. One of the standard procedures included taking my blood pressure.

Now, my father struggled with high blood pressure. When he was in his mid-50’s, his blood pressure was so high that he was forced to take blood pressure medicine to get it down and my Dad stayed on those meds until he died at age 92.

So, naturally, when I reached my 50’s, high blood pressure became a concern of mine.

Well, when my Doctor took my blood pressure, he startled me – “Too high”.

“How high?” I asked.

“149 over 110.”

My Doctor opened my file and checked my history. “Last year it was 122 over 81,” he commented, paused, then continued.

“Your father had a history of high blood pressure. I think it’s only going to get worse, the older you get, due to your family history. I believe it would be prudent to get you on some meds.”

I had a different idea.

I told my Doctor that I knew a little bit about health from my Rich Habits research and promised him that next year my blood pressure would be back to normal.

The following year, at my annual physical, my Doctor took my blood pressure. It had, in fact, dropped to 108 over 77 and my Doctor wanted to know how.

I told my Doctor that, after our last exam, I began running “every day”. In fact, I had just completed 365 straight days of running, when it was time for my annual physical.

I also informed him that I had altered my diet – Since my last exam, I began intermittent fasting and shifted 60% of my diet to green vegetables.

How does this have anything to do with confidence?

My new commitment to running every day, in order to help get my blood pressure down, had an interesting and unexpected side effect – my running confidence went through the roof.

I was able to run very long distances after only a few months of running every day. I became so confident in my running ability that I completed three half marathons and, in October of 2018, even completed the Long Beach Island 18 Mile Run with my kids.

At age 57, I was more confident in my running ability than at age 18.

You see, daily repetition in anything you do, produces mastery and mastery creates confidence.

I have high confidence in my writing because I write every day.

I have high confidence in my understanding of habits because, every day, I do daily research on habits.

I have a high confidence in taxes and financial planning because, every day, I spend about thirty minutes engaged in technical reading.

I learned something else about confidence. It’s fleeting. When the repetition drops off, so too does your confidence.

Case in point – Since early January, I have had severe pain in my right foot. “Too much running,” I thought. So, I stopped running for the entire month of January.

During that entire month of January, I could, almost on a daily basis, feel my running confidence dropping like a rock. When I finally laced my sneakers for my first return run, I had zero running confidence and struggled to get through two miles.

Concern about re-injuring my foot has forced me to abandon my daily running routine in favor of an every other day running routine.

My running confidence is still very low, as I write these words. I struggle to run more than four miles at a clip.

Daily repetition produces mastery and mastery creates confidence. 

Inconsistency results in mediocrity, which impairs confidence. 

And, like a third eye, people can sense your level of confidence.

You broadcast your level of confidence to everyone in your orbit.

If you want those around you to have confidence in you, you must first have confidence in yourself.

Daily repetition, in whatever you do, will create a high degree of self-confidence and that self-confidence will be broadcast, subliminally, to everyone you come into contact with.

Those who perceive in you a high degree of self-confidence, will become confident in your skills or knowledge and want to do business with you.

Those who perceive in you a low degree of self-confidence, will lack confidence in your skills or knowledge and shy away from doing business with you.

Daily repetition leads to mastery, which leads to confidence.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

5% of the population in America make most of the money, own most of the wealth, pay most of the income tax and dictate the lives of the remaining 95%. Here are some stats that will open your eyes:

• The top 5% of households make $231,206 a year (source: Tax Foundation).
• The top 5% of households control 60% of the nation’s wealth (source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finance).
• The top 5% of households pay 57% of all income tax (source: Tax Foundation).

This top 5% run big companies, run small companies, employ millions, create new jobs, hire and fire employees, invest in new companies, liquidate old companies, increase wages, decrease wages, increase benefits, reduce benefits and outsource jobs.

They also control politicians through their political contribution and the lobby groups they control, which means the politicians work for them and the other 5%, not for the 95%.

This 5% can (and do) alter our lives, for better or for worse.

So, who are these 5%? Who are these individuals that leverage so much control over our lives?

In my five year study on the daily habits of the rich and poor, I found out.

Here’s what I found:

• 18% were senior executives working for large, publicly-held companies
• 51% were small business owners
• 13% were salesmen/saleswomen
• 28% had some professional designation. Some worked for big companies, others in a small business.
• 63% took a personal financial risk in search of wealth
• 85% liked what they did for a living
• 91% were decision makers at their job
• 21% were “A” students
• 41% were “B” students
• 29% were “C” students
• 68% had a college degree
• 25% had a post graduate degree
• 56% worked their way through college
• 86% worked more than 50 hours per week
• 27% failed at least once in business
• 54% considered themselves optimists
• 67% were frugal
• 76% grew up poor or middle-class
• 80% pursued a major goal or dream in life
• 62% focused on specific goals every day
• 75% had good daily habits
• 76% exercised aerobically 30 minutes or more, four days a week
• 63% watched less than one hour of T.V. a day
• 64% lived in a modest home
• 84% said they created the opportunity for good luck to occur in their lives
• 93% who had a mentor, attributed their wealth to their mentors
• 86% associated with other rich, success-minded people
• 94% engaged in daily self-improvement

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Use it or lose it applies to intelligence.

The more you use your brain, the more brain mass you create. More mass = greater intelligence.

Brain density is measured by the number of synapses (connections between neurons), the girth of the myelin sheath surrounding each axon (the axon is how brain cells send signals) and the volume of glial cells, which support brain cells.

When you engage in daily learning, daily aerobic exercise and eat healthy, nutritious foods, you increase the production of Nerve Growth Factor (NFG) in your brain. NFG is a protein that helps grow and maintain neurons, the myelin sheath and glial support cells.

Increasing the production of NFG is important when you consider that the average person loses 10% of their brain weight in a lifetime, with more of that brain loss occurring after age 60.

Daily learning, daily aerobic exercise and good nutrition are particularly important in maintaining and growing glial cells.

Glial cells protect the health and support the growth of neurons and the myelin sheath.

Although there was nothing particularly unusual about his brain, Albert Einstein, at the time of his death (age 75), did have an above average number of glial support cells, which no doubt helped keep Einstein’s brain functioning at a high level during his lifetime.

Even up to his last breath, Einstein’s brain was hard at work trying to come up with a unified field theory.

Your brain is a muscle. Like any muscle, you must use it daily for it to grow and you must feed it. You feed it through daily aerobic exercise and healthy eating.

If you want to succeed in life, you must forge daily habits that improve brain performance and brain health.

Success is a process. Part of that process includes increasing your intelligence throughout your success journey. When you optimize brain performance, you are able to find creative and intelligent solutions to all of the obstacles, pitfalls and problems you will encounter during your journey towards success.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Obsession is an unrelenting focus that enables you to overcome all obstacles, pitfalls, setbacks, problems and and any unexpected consequences life throws in your path.

One of the common threads of most of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study was that they had found their obsession.

The rich were single-mindedly obsessed, typically with achieving a long-term goal or in pursuing a major purpose or dream.

Pursuing a long-term goal, dream or purpose infuses you with a passion that gives you incredible powers of focus and persistence.

You can’t force or fake obsession. You either have it or you don’t. It is almost always the byproduct of pursuing some long-term goal, dream or major purpose in life.

Human beings are goal-seeking drones. We function at an optimum level when we are obsessed with achieving something big in life; something that forces us to stretch, grow and become something different, something better.

Goals and dreams are catalysts for great achievement in life. They enable you to accomplish seemingly super-human feats. They force you to dig deep and, in the process, they introduce you to the amazing person buried deep inside of you. Someone who was there all along.

When you find your obsession, your life will change in unimaginable ways.

Read, explore, experiment. Join a new group. Volunteer. Start a side gig. Step outside your comfort zone into the discomfort zone. That is where you will find your obsession.

Your obsession is out there, patiently waiting for you. It won’t find you. You must find it.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

There are three parts of the brain:

1. Brain Stem
2. Limbic System
3. Neocortex

All three parts of the brain are connected through a series of nerve fibers. The subconscious mind is found in the brain stem and limbic system.

The conscious mind is found in the neocortex.

Intuition, that little voice inside your head, is found in all three parts of the brain.

Brain Stem

The brain stem is the oldest part of the brain. It is sometimes referred to as the Reptilian Brain, the Reactive Brain or the Instinctive Brain. At one time, it was the first and only part of our brain.

The brain stem connects to our spinal cord which branches out to form our central nervous system.  It is primarily made up of the Medulla Oblongata and the Pons. The brain stem controls all of your autonomic processes such as breathing, heart rate, swallowing, and organ function. It prompts hunger, your sex drive and the fight or flight mechanism. There is no thinking involved with the brain stem. It exists to ensure your survival.

Limbic System

The limbic system is the second oldest part of the brain. It is sometimes referred to as the Emotional Brain. It is where all of our emotions reside and takes part in memory storage, both long-term and short-term. It includes the following components:

• Amygdala – Memory and emotions.
• Hypothalmus – Muscle vibrations and internal temperature. This is why you shiver when you are sick. The hypothalmus increases body temperature to kill bacteria. Muscle vibrations generate heat to kill bacteria. The hypothalmus also controls appetite and hormones.
• Thalmus – Sits right next to the Basal Ganglia. Affects touch, pain, temperature and muscles.
• Hippocampus – Where short-term memory is stored. During sleep, it will move short-term memory to long-term storage in the neocortex.
• Olfactory Lobe – Triggers smell. This is why smell sometimes evokes emotions. They both are connected in the limbic system.
• Recticular Activating System – Vets the sensory information you take in. Most unimportant sensory information is blocked out by the recticular activating system.
• Cingulate Cortex – Creates Mirror Neurons that are critical to developing new skills and for survival. These mirror neurons program children to mirror the behavior and emotions of their parents, good or bad. It is sometimes called the Monkey See, Monkey Do process.
• Basal Ganglia – This is where habits are stored. The basal ganglia acts like the hub of a wheel for neural pathways created in the neocortex. Habits are formed when you repeatedly use certain neural pathways. The brain will create a hub inside the basal ganglia and link to that often used neural path. The hub stays there forever. That is why habits are hard to break. It takes 18 to 254 days for the brain to create a hub in the basal ganglia and, thus form a habit.
• Neocortex – This is the newest, most unusual part of the brain. It is found only in mammals. It is most of your brain. Fully 5/6ths of our brain mass is made up of the neocortex. It has the most neurons – 40 billion. It is sometimes referred to as the Thinking Brain, Higher Brain, Conscious Brain, Cerebrum or Cerebral Cortex. It is responsible for learning, long-term memory, thought creation and decision making. It is comprised of the four lobes: Parietal, Frontal, Temporal (vision) and Occipital (vision), the Amygdalae and the Corpus Callosum – a bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the neocortex.  It takes in and processes all sensory data.

Wealth Creation Programming

When a thought or action is coupled with any powerful emotion, the brain automatically creates a highly charged neural pathway which becomes permanent. These permanently stored emotionalized thoughts act like software programming in our neocortex.

When you repeat an emotionalized thought or action over and over again, the neural pathway created in the neocortex then creates what is the equivalent of a neural spoke (like a spoke on a wheel).

The neural pathway, by virtue of this neural spoke, is then linked to a newly formed neural hub (again, like the hub of a wheel) in the basal ganglia. This is how habits are formed.

Once formed, a habit stays with you forever or until you break the old neural spoke link by forming more powerful, alternate habits (i.e. it goes away only when you form new, similar, but more powerful habits).

The repeated emotionalized thoughts, which eventually become habits, reprograms your mind. They create the foundation of your belief system. If you create a belief that you will be poor or that you will never be rich, that programming sticks and will direct your behavior in such a way as to ensure you are forever poor or never rich.

Repeating a behavior over and over again will eventually become a habit. If that behavior is bad, such as watching T.V. for hours or overeating, it sticks and the effect is wasting valuable time or obesity that can lead to heart disease or diabetes or any number of detrimental health issues.

The good news is that your belief system can be reprogrammed through this same process. If you change your repetitive emotionalized thoughts you can reprogram your mind.

Similarly, by changing your emotionalized actions and repeating them over and over again they will eventually become habits which will alter your behavior.

Wealthy, successful people reprogram their minds for success by using a number of reprogramming tools and strategies:

• Practiced Gratitude – Every day give thanks for any good things that have come into your life in the past or the present. Try to find at least one good thing that happened yesterday and give thanks for it. Practiced Gratitude is like software that reprograms your brain. Once this programming is accepted by the brain, through repetition, it becomes a daily habit and will actually create new permanent neural pathways inside your brain. These new neural pathways then go to work directing your behavior in such a way as to cause the creation of more things to be grateful for. It changes your behavior from bad behavior to success-oriented behavior in order to draw in more things to be grateful for. You become a success-seeking GPS.
• Practiced Optimism – Practiced Optimism means not allowing any doubt thoughts even a second of life. It requires that you monitor your thoughts and when one flashes in your mind you stop yourself and replace the doubt thought with an optimistic thought. “I can’t” become “I will”. “Nothing ever goes my way” becomes “everything goes my way”.  When you Practice Optimism every day you are creating new neural pathways that will eventually become habits. Once they become habits, they then go to work directing your behavior in such a way as to create success. Much like the Practiced Gratitude Rich Habit, you become a success-seeking GPS.
• The Future Letter – Write a letter to yourself from the future about how incredible your life is. Be lavish in your details about the home you live in, the car you drive, the ideal job you have etc. Read this letter every day for a month. After a month revise it and repeat the process of reading it every day. The future letter works by agitating the brain into altering your behavior in order to create the ideal life you persistently think about every day.
• Visualization – Create a pictorial Vision Board of all of the things you hope to accomplish and have in life. Keep adding to it every so often. The brain thinks in pictures. The Vision Board is the perfect software to feed the brain. By viewing your Vision Board every day you are reprogramming your mind and creating new neural pathways. Once these pathways become habitual thinking, the brain will then go to work to alter your behavior in order to obtain those things that are on your Vision Board.
• Daily Affirmations – Daily Affirmations are repeated daily software programming that agitate the brain by asserting something that is not currently true about yourself. Saying “I weigh 135 pounds” every day, when you clearly weigh 180 just pisses off the brain. If you keep repeating this affirmation the brain will eventually seek to alter your behavior in order to get down to 135 pounds. You may find yourself eating less, eating healthier, exercising more. Once the brain accepts the affirmation as reality it then forces you to change your behavior. You don’t have a choice. In order for affirmations to work they have to be tied to some goal. Goals are only goals if they are 100% achievable and require some action. Otherwise they’re wishes and the brain cannot make wishes come true. The brain isn’t magical. It doesn’t manifest things out of thin air. It’s an organic computer. Its real magic is in altering your behavior, by directing you to perform an action that will allow a goal to be realized.
• Living in the Present – Have you ever been at a party or on vacation, on a golf course or in a bar and thought about nothing but work, family problems, financial problems, etc.? If you have, you’re not alone. Many people fall into this Poor Habit. When you allow worries to intrude in on what should be a Happiness Activity, you lose the Happiness Event forever. It’s just gone. Happiness Activities are the key to overall happiness. The more you have, the happier your life will be. It is critical, therefore, to make a habit of Living in the Present. When you find yourself worrying about something, while engaged in one of these Happiness Activities, you need to stop yourself and tell yourself “just enjoy the moment”.  If you make a habit out of this, eventually you will find yourself worrying less and you will also find yourself happier. Not worrying and Living in the Present gives your brain a breather. Living in the Present is good brain management and will allow you to employ all of the incredible powers of the brain. It relaxes your brain and you are able to think clearer when you have to.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

Habits have a purpose.

They save the brain from work.

It’s really quite a feat of evolution that the brain created habits. Habits are, in a very real sense, the reason humans are at the top of the food chain.

By isolating certain repetitive functions to a very small, almost fractional area, the brain freed itself to expand and perform higher level functions. This expansion gave birth to tool-making, then speech and finally cooperation; humans working together for a single purpose.

Physiologically, habits are a series of neural pathways interconnected along the neural fibers underneath the neocortex, to a central neural hub within the center of the brain called the Basal Ganglia.

When a synapse repetitively fires up, day after day, it gets the attention of the Basal Ganglia. The Basal Ganglia then sends long, spindly dendrites into close proximity of the synapse, to monitor it as a potential habit candidate. At some point, the Basal Ganglia makes a decision.

If the decision is that the synapse meets the criteria as a good habit candidate (frequency dictates this decision), the Basal Ganglia permanently anchors its long dendrites into the cavity of this repetitively firing synapse, forever stamping it as a permanent habit.

According to a famous London study performed on 89 people, this habit creation process can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days, depending on the complexity of the behavior forming the habit. The more complex the behavior, such as brushing your teeth verses mastering certain complex piano strokes, the more time it takes for the habit to form.

Depending on the study, 40-60% of all daily activities are habits. These daily habits unconsciously control your life.

Your daily habits, as boring as they may seem, are the secret to success, failure or mediocrity. Your behaviors, decision-making, emotional responses and your thoughts are the cause of wealth and poverty. And, to a large extent, they are habits.

Those who learned good daily habits from their parents, a mentor or through the school of hard knocks, excel in life. Their lives are outstanding. They rule the world. They command respect, make more money, and exert control over the lives of millions who have bad habits.

From the research I gathered since 2004, I can say unequivocally that your daily habits define the circumstances of your life.

Your daily habits are the reason you live in a beach house or a slum.

Your daily habits are the reason you make millions of dollars a year or eek out a living.

Your daily habits are the reason you are overweight or lean and muscular.

Your daily habits are the reason you are happy or unhappy.

Your daily habits are the reason your children go to the finest colleges or fail to graduate high school.

The very blueprint of your life and the lives of your children are determined by daily habits.

That’s how important habits are. They are the fountainhead of success, wealth, good health and happiness.

If you are unhappy with the circumstances of your life and want to change your life, you must first start by changing your habits.

Bad Habits – Bad Life

Good Habits – Good Life.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

I forge ahead every day, fearless yet afraid.

Driven on by hope, and dreams of better days.

No certainty, no guarantees, hurdles everywhere.

Like Sisyphus I push my rock, never looking back.

For who I want to be, is now very clear to me.

Fear of failure rears its head, every now and then.

But passion comes to rescue me and sends him on his away.

Good habits are my steady friends, who help me plod along.

Never surrender, never quit! is my daily song.

A banker, accountant, lawyer, writer,

speaker, salesman, learner and leader.

I am many things out of necessity.

But above all these things, I emphatically decree:

“I am a Dreamer many call the Entrepreneur!”

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

One of the common habits of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study was something called Gamma Focus.

Gamma Focus is a unique type of focus.

Gamma Focus is why we were able to go to the moon.

Gamma Focus is why Steve Jobs was able to raise Apple, like a phoenix, from the ashes of near-bankruptcy to the trillion dollar company it is today.

Gamma Focus is why only a few businesses thrive, while most others eek out a living.

Very few make Gamma Focus a daily habit.

Almost everyone has experienced Gamma Focus:

• Studying for and taking college finals.
• Studying for and taking a standardized test.
• Working on a deadline.
• Creating something – writing a book, developing an app, designing a new product or starting a new business.

When you are in a state of Gamma Focus, your brain waves operate at an accelerated rate.

Your goal should be to make Gamma Focus a daily habit.

How?

Blocking off 90 minutes to two hours each day to focus on the things that help move you forward in realizing your dreams and goals or in growing your business.

How To Get Yourself Into the Gamma State

Prior to engaging in any Gamma Focus, do the following five things:

#1 Eliminate Environmental Distractions:

• Avoid People – Shut Door or Isolate Yourself
• Ignore Phone Calls
• Ignore Text Messages
• Ignore Emails
• Shut off all devices that create background noise – TVs, radio, phones, notifications, etc.

#2 Exercise Aerobically and/or Anaerobically

Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise helps de-stress your brain and boosts your metabolic rate.

• Aerobic Exercise: Running, Jogging, Biking, FastWalking.
• Anaerobic Exercise: Weight Lifting, Resistance Exercise, High Intensity Exercise.

#3 Naps – Take a 30 Minute Nap 

This helps restore any loss of willpower energy and eliminates Decision Fatigue.

#4 Eat a Healthy Meal Prior to Engaging in Gamma Focus

Consume high fiber foods. This will give you about two hours of energy, perfect for optimal Gamma Focus.

#5 Gamma Focus After a Full Night’s Sleep

You need between 7 to 8.5 hours of sleep every night. Sleep cleans the brain, resets your emotional and metabolic state and helps consolidate memories.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!

When negative thoughts dominate your thinking, you shut down or stifle the amazing powers of your prefrontal cortex, your brain’s highly evolved and very powerful executive command and control center.

The prefrontal cortex is the most advanced part of the human brain. It’s incredible power is derived from it’s connection to other parts of the brain. The prefrontal cortex uses spindle neurons (neurons with a long axon and long dendrites) to connect to the limbic system and the brain stem.

Because of this master connection, the prefrontal cortex has access to the treasure trove of information that exists throughout the entire brain.

Negativity shuts down or interferes with this master, brain-wide connection.

When you are in a negative mindset, the amygdala, part of the limbic system, overpowers the prefrontal cortex.

Example: Sometimes car accident victims go into shock. When the police or emergency service personnel arrive at the scene they are trained in dealing with individuals who are in this state of shock. Those in a state of shock are unable to communicate with the outside world. This is because they are still under the complete control of the amygdala, which has effectively shut down the prefrontal cortex and taken control of the brain. It’s a survival mechanism, intended to  eliminate the need to ponder what to do in emergency situations. The amygdala takes the prefrontal cortex offline, and automates what you do in emergency situations. It is the seat of your fight or flight control system. It’s there for a reason – survival during life threatening emergencies.

Obviously shock is the extreme effects of the amygdala taking control of the brain and shutting down the prefrontal cortex. But, a negative mindset does the same thing, albeit, in a watered-down sense.

A negative mindset allows the amygdala to subordinate the prefrontal cortex, effectively cutting off or short circuiting prefrontal cortex access to other parts of the brain.

Negativity hands over control of your brain from the prefrontal cortex to the amygdala, thus muting or disabling your prefrontal cortex.

When your prefrontal cortex is disabled, you are operating without the most powerful, most evolved part of our brain.

Success is hard, even with your prefrontal cortex operating at full capacity. But success is impossible when your prefrontal cortex has been disabled by negativity.

This is why it is no coincidence that so many self-made millionaires are often described as having a very upbeat, optimistic, positive mental outlook.

Positivity unleashes the incredible powers of the prefrontal cortex, thus increasing your odds of success.

In order to put an end to negative thinking, you must make positivity a daily habit. Here’s how:

1. Meditation
2. Positive Affirmations
3. Five-Year Future Journal
4. Vision Board
5. Gratitude List
6. Love

Meditation

• Sit in a chair and get comfortable
• Close eyes
• Feel your eyes relax, then your whole head, then your neck, then your shoulders, then your chest, then your arms, then your waist, then your legs and then your feet
• Take thirty deep breathes and see the numbers in your head. Let all thoughts drift by one after the other
• Visualize your big dream coming true. Visualize all of your goals being realized. Visualize your ideal life, with your ideal home, ideal job, your income, your good health. See yourself happy and successful
• Ask for help in overcoming any obstacles that are in your way
• Open eyes and say “I am happy”

Positive Affirmations

Affirmations need to be in the present tense and represent a future state of being. For example: “I Am our company’s #1 salesman”.  Affirmations only work when they are tied to your goals or your dreams.

Five-Year Future Journal

This is an entry you write in your Journal, if you have one, that is five years into the future. It lists all of the major goals you accomplished over the past five years, the things you acquired during that period, the wealth you accumulated during this period etc. It paints a picture of your ideal life, five years from now.

Vision Board

Your Vision Board is a visual representation of all of the the things you desire in life. Each dream you desire is represented by a picture.

Gratitude List

Each day write down at least three things that happened yesterday, that you are grateful for. Gratitude is the gateway to positivity. It shifts your thinking from lacking to abundance by forcing you focus on what you have, not what you lack.

Love

Love is the most powerful positive emotion. When you make a daily habit of utilizing this very powerful emotion, like a muscle, it strengthens your positive mental outlook. Express love as often and as frequently as possible. The more you “love” the more positive you become and the less negative you become.

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