is to replace them with positive ones. For instance, whenever you have a negative thought where you use the words “I can’t,” replace the thought with “I can.” You also can replace the negative thought with a visual. For instance, we all think about the possibility of getting into a car accident. When you think this thought, replace it with a vision of something more pleasant such as playing with a puppy, smelling a rose, or sitting having a beer at a baseball game. The end all objective is to replace a negative thought with a vision of a happier outcome which in return will assist you with creating a better future.
There are times when a negative thought becomes part of your belief system because someone else mentions it to you. For instance, as a teenager, someone mentions that you look heavy in the color white. As an adult, you no longer wear the color white fearing that you still look heavy.
The medical community can significantly impact people’s belief systems in a negative way. I am living proof. Prior to getting married, Michael, my now husband, and I had the discussion of children. It was a difficult discussion because I had to share with him the probability that I may not be able to conceive children. I shared that in 1989, after months of extensive picking and prodding, doctors at a prominent hospital in Boston, Massachusetts diagnosed me with premenopausal symptoms. As a result, they said that I most likely will not be able to have children even with fertility treatment. It was heartbreaking for me to hear those words come out of the mouths of well-educated, highly experienced professional doctors. I was only 21 years old. How could this be possible? I loved children and had always dreamt of having one or two. But that day, when I heard the doctor’s words, “You most likely will not be able to have children even with fertility drugs” a dagger shot through my heart. For a split second, the doctors took away my vision and hope.
As the years passed, something inside of me questioned the doctor’s diagnosis. I still could see the vision of me giving birth to twins. When I shared the doctor’s diagnosis with Michael, I also shared my childhood vision of having twins. Michael for some unknown reason didn’t seem concerned with what the doctors diagnosed, nor my vision. It was like he knew something that I didn’t. At that time, it was important to Michael to put off the subject of having children until our first wedding anniversary. Well, to our surprise seven months after we got married I was pregnant. And not even 16 months after my first son was born, I gave birth to a boy and a girl—yes twins!
Everyday doctors misdiagnose patient’s symptoms as a result of lack of research and knowledge. The doctors who misdiagnosed me with premenopausal symptoms were professional and truly did their best to understand what my body was experiencing at that point in time. Through this experience, I learned that you should never let go of your vision even if someone else tells you differently. If you can see it, then you can create it no matter what negative thought someone else shares with you. Perhaps my pregnancy is a miracle. Or just maybe it is a result of the power of the mind–the power of visualization and positive thinking.
Take some time to think of a situation when someone told you something negative about yourself which you then believed. How did that make you feel? Do you still have that belief about yourself, today? What power did this person have that caused you to accept what they said? Now think about a situation where someone told you something about yourself that you didn’t believe. Why didn’t you believe it?
The Suggestive Vibe
The premise of the power of suggestion stems from being conditioned at a young age to conform to certain behaviors and thought processes. For instance, as a child you were taught to brush your teeth when you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night. You were taught this for two reasons—better dental hygiene and preventative care. As an adult, as soon as you wake up you unconsciously walk into the bathroom, open the toothpaste container, put a little on your toothbrush, and begin brushing your teeth. It’s become a habit. Brushing your teeth during certain times of the day and sometimes even after meals has become part of your normal daily behavior and routine. Brushing your teeth is just one of many routines that you have been conditioned to do for preventative care. And it simply started with a suggestion.
We all have been conditioned to believe certain thoughts, leading us to act or react a certain way. In fact, many of us condition ourselves to believe certain thoughts and to act a certain way as a result of our repetitive thinking. For instance, if you continue to think the thought, “I know I won’t get that job,” then you probably won’t get that job. Whatever you think is what you will begin to manifest into your life. This is the outcome of the power of suggestion.
The goal of the power of suggestion is to replace old thoughts and feelings hidden deep within your subconscious mind with new positive thoughts that when triggered result in a new positive behavior. One way is through repetition. If you want to be happy, then keep thinking to yourself that you are happy. Another way is to replay a negative situation in your mind resulting in a positive outcome. For instance, if you are overweight, begin visualizing yourself losing weight. Even better, see yourself in six months tone and lean. See yourself eating healthy and exercising. The key to the power of suggestion is repetition. The more you think it, do it, believe it, and feel it the sooner it will become part of who you are.
Below are several techniques to assist you with replacing old thought patterns and negative thoughts with positive ones.
1 When you have a negative thought repeat the words, "Stop, stop, and stop." What this is doing is getting your mind to stop the flow of energy from the prior thought. Some people like using the words, “Cancel, cancel, and cancel.” The key is to get your mind to think and believe the energy of that negative thought has been erased.
2 Whenever you have a negative thought, replace it with a positive one. For instance, when you think, “I will never fall in love or get married,” replace that thought with one that states, “I have a loving healthy relationship” or “I am happily married.”
3 Create and say your affirmations everyday such as “I am happy,” “I am successful,” and “I am a loving person.”
4 Use visualization techniques as described in the following section.
Visualize a Vibe
Visualization is the ability to use your imagination to picture images of what you would like to manifest. This is a powerful tool when you add to it feelings, intention, and action. Visualization can bring changes into your life sometimes immediately.
This great mind power has been used for centuries because of its success in altering thought processes and causing events to happen. It also has had great success in helping people overcome addiction, reduce their stress level, improve their productivity, and increase their confidence. In fact, visualization is a technique used often by elite athletes such as major league baseball pitchers.
Major league baseball pitchers use visualization techniques to improve their concentration, resulting in better performance. Let’s take an example where a major league baseball pitcher is using visualization techniques the night before a baseball game. That evening the major league baseball pitcher practices visualizing himself standing on the pitcher’s mound with a baseball in his hand. As he continues to visualize, he takes a deep breath in, allowing himself to stay focused and relaxed during the process. He then sees himself throwing the baseball over home plate, resulting in a perfect strike. The pitcher continues visualizing the same scene over and over again in his minds-eye (your minds-eye is the part of your brain that lets you day dream or imagine). Then the day of the game, the same pitcher throws a perfect strike.
But that’s just the beginning of the power behind visualization. The medical community also has
