Category Archives: Behaviors

How to Be a Better Ally to Your Black Colleagues | Harvard Business Review

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“The relationship between Black employees and their employing organizations is, at best, a tenuous one.”

by Stephanie Creary, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Management
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

July 08, 2020

Executive Summary

Research suggests that the relationship between Black employees and their employing organizations is, at best, a tenuous one. Black employees — at all levels — feel that they have not been adequately heard, understood, or granted opportunities to the same extent as their white peers.

The author, Dr. Stephanie Creary, has devised a framework to help people from different backgrounds build stronger relationships in the workplace. Known by the acronym LEAP, the framework encourages company leaders — particularly people managers — to become better allies by:

  • Listening and learning from your Black colleagues’ experience;
  • Engaging with your Black colleagues in racially diverse and casual settings;
  • Asking your Black colleagues about their work and goals; and
  • Providing your Black colleagues with opportunities, suggestions, encouragement, and general support.

Public Positioning (Woke-Washing)

Woke-washing is “a modern-day marketing tactic in which corporations superficially align themselves with progressive causes, often while continuing to perpetuate inequality or unethical practices behind the scenes”.

A few U.S. CEOs and corporations have been positioning themselves publicly as being progressive on social issues such as racism, injustice and inequality. They have been taking a public stand against the racism and injustice while also admitting their own shortcomings in matters of equality.

Yet, for many well known corporations and organizations, there has been a large dichotomy between their companies’ (or organizations’) words and their actions.

Read more: https://hbr.org/2020/07/how-to-be-a-better-ally-to-your-black-colleagues

References:

  1. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ceo-statements-on-race-matter-more-than-you-think/ar-BB14ZzVk

About Professor Stephanie J. Creary: Dr. Creary is an identity and diversity scholar and a field researcher. She is also a founding faculty member of the Wharton IDEAS lab (Identity, Diversity, Engagement, Affect, and Social Relationships), an affiliated faculty member of Wharton People Analytics, a Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI), and affiliated faculty member of the Penn Center for Africana Studies. She leads the Leading Diversity@Wharton Speaker Series as part of her Leading Diversity in Organizations course at Wharton. She conducts research on the topics of identity, diversity and inclusion, and relationships across differences.  She also advises and speaks to corporate audiences on the following topics:

  • Building stronger relationships in the workplace among people from different backgrounds
  • Improving leader engagement in diversity, equity, and inclusion work
  • Reducing bias in selection processes (hiring, promotion, team)

Asset Allocation Strategy

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Asset allocation is designed to help an investor take short-term fluctuations more in stride.

When you divide your money among a variety of asset classes — stocks, bonds, real estate and cash — you can potentially smooth the ups and downs of financial markets. Diversifying your investments within the major asset classes and investment styles can help balance out a portfolio.

Asset allocation enables you to own a wide selection of investment types to potentially benefit when one asset class does well and limit the downside when another asset class does not. Once you create an asset allocation strategy as part of your comprehensive financial plan, it helps to keep a long-term perspective when the inevitable financial market volatility occurs.

It’s important to note that asset allocation and diversification do not ensure a profit or protect against loss. However, it makes sense to remember your long-term financial plan and asset allocation strategy, and stick with it, no matter how great short-term economic challenges may seem.

A long-term commitment to your asset allocation strategy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take action during periods of uncertainty. The key is taking the right action. You may discover the original percentages you allocated to different asset classes and types of investments are not in sync with your strategy due to shifts in the market.

Your portfolio may be overly concentrated or under-represented in one area. If so, you can reallocate your assets and ensure your long-term asset allocation strategy is back on track.

Of course during times of market volatility and economic uncertainty, many investors are tempted to move out of stock investments, into the safety of cash positions. Yes, cash is an asset for investors, but understand that you earn nothing with this asset class…no return from cash.

As a result, investors tend to stay on the sidelines until financial turbulence settles, but this may be a costly mistake. One thing previous recessions and bear markets have taught us is that life goes on. In each of the most recent five bear markets since 1987, sell-offs and correction were ultimately followed by economic and market recoveries.

Thus, once stock markets unexpectedly rebound, as they typically have done in the past, you may end up getting left behind during what could have been a good opportunity to benefit from market rapid recovery and gains.

We live in a world fraught with headline risk and conflict, something that will be ever-present. This fact will always be an integral part of the investment landscape. Those who exit or try to “time the market” tend to miss a significant rally. Those who remained invested or rebalanced towards equities tended to boost their returns during a market rally.

The length of time an investor is in the market can make a difference in the amount they will save and invest to potentially grow their investments. If you sell assets while the market is declining, you risk missing upward trends that have historically followed. If you want to retire someday, start saving and investing now. It takes decades of long-term financial planning, saving and investing to get there. 

Always remember…

Learning to manage money. You need to learn and understand core principles of financial planning — long-term investing, risk management, diversification, asset allocation, retirement, estate and tax planning.

Asset allocation and diversification do not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

All investments involve risk including loss of principal. Certain investments involve greater or unique risks that should be considered along with the objectives, fees, and expenses before investing.

References:

  1. https://im.bnymellon.com/us/en/individual/articles/letter-from-the-lion/spring-2020/stick-with-a-plan-in-uncertain-financial-markets.jsp

Power of Vulnerability

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In a speech that Teddy Roosevelt gave in 1910, Roosevelt said:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

The powerful Roosevelt quote resonated with Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, who gave the blockbuster TEDTalks “Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability”.

In the introduction to her book, Dr. Brown comments on Roosevelt’s words, which she says perfectly encapsulate her research into why she and other researchers find being vulnerable such a hard thing to do.

According to Dr. Brené Brown, Ph.D, in he book, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead:

“When we spend our lives waiting until we’re perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our backs on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make,” says Dr. Brown. “Perfect bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience.”

Here are a summary of the ThenPower of Vulnerability key points:

  • Vulnerability makes you authentic and allows you to feel love, belonging and joy
  • To be vulnerable you have to:
  • – Internalize that you are a worthy (of being loved) and enough the way you are
  • – Have the courage of showing up and engaging even if could hurt
  • “Your willingness to own and engage your vulnerability determines the depth of your courage”

“Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you’re feeling. To have the hard conversations,” according to Dr. Brown.

Source: 5 insights from Brené Brown’s new book, Daring Greatly

  1. https://thepowermoves.com/daring-greatly-summary/

7 Habits to Help Build Your Wealth | U.S. News and World Report

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By Paulina Likos. — U.S.News & World Report May 18, 2020

Successful investors practice these habits to be one step ahead of the market.

Develop a routine of successful investing habits.

When you’re investing for your financial future, practicing successful habits is a fundamental step in constructing a resilient portfolio. It’s evident that in the world of investing, money management can get complex. That’s why having the right habits ingrained in your investment approaches is important in bringing clarity to your decision-making and confidence in your portfolio management. Here are seven habits that will help guide you through investing decisions during unprecedented market movements.

Read more: https://money.usnews.com/investing/portfolio-management/slideshows/habits-to-help-build-your-wealth

Periodically review your investment plan.

Know what your specific financial goals are and develop an investment policy statement. An IPS is a plan that outlines investment objectives and goals for a particular investor drafted by the portfolio manager and their client. This can be a helpful tool to guide portfolio managers on implementing strategies to grow or preserve a client’s investments. Experts advise that clients stick with the initial plan even when drastic market changes occur; however, certain benchmarks should be monitored from time to time. You should examine your risk tolerance and investment plan every six months to ensure you’re on track with your investments when a financial crisis hits. “Changes will likely need to be made in accordance with a well thought out plan that was put in place before the first punch is landed,” says Tim Bain, president of Spark Assessment Management Group.

Invest in what you know.

While experienced investors can try to evaluate the quality of a company, more often than not, it can be difficult to define its overall valuation and understand its trends. Taylor Kovar, CEO of Texas-based Kovar Capital Management, says, “Don’t invest in something you’ve never heard of just because someone online said it was going to make you a millionaire.” It’s best to focus on companies with products that you’re familiar with, that way it will be easier to predict and understand the ebbs and flows of a company and, most importantly, help in managing your portfolio effectively. “Look in your closet [and] kitchen cabinet, and invest in the brand of the products you see,” he says. “This will help you invest in companies you actually enjoy. It’s like you are paying yourself every time you buy their products.”

Stay away from the latest fads.

Investors seeking yield in a low interest rate environment should try to steer clear of fads. This short-term phenomenon is prevalent during market underperformance and tends to be pretty risky. “It is psychologically very difficult to remain true to your patient investing convictions when it seems investors speculating in the latest fad (think cannabis or tech ‘unicorns’) are being rewarded,” says Robert Johnson, professor of finance at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. There are plenty of other ways to diversify your assets rather than putting your money at risk with fads. “One doesn’t need to chase the latest trend to have investment success. Quite the contrary, chasing investment trends can be hazardous to your wealth,” Johnson says.

Be honest with your risk tolerance.

At any stage of your investing journey, it’s important to know if you are a conservative or aggressive investor. Defining risk tolerance is a habit that directly aligns with your financial goals. But sometimes, it can be unclear on how to determine where you lie on the risk spectrum. “Many investors tend to overestimate their level of risk tolerance, which causes them to sell at the worst times,” says Jerry Verseput, president at Veripax Wealth Management in Folsom, California. Market sell-offs like the one in March are good opportunities for investors to assess their feelings honestly as they saw the value of their investments drop.

Keep educating yourself.

An expert tip: Keep reading about how the market is changing. With the pandemic in mind, think about how habits and behaviors are changing in the short term, how that will affect the long term and how future trends might evolve. “What is going to be long-lasting in work and personal life? Do you want to be [investing in] Kodak film or the person investing in digital cameras? Don’t believe what you hear as much as know-how and where to find the facts,” says Peter Creedon, CEO at Crystal Brook Advisors in New York City.

Save for retirement.

Keep investing in your future by adding into your retirement account each month — that’s the power of dollar-cost averaging. Even if some months are fewer than others, allocating some of your income to retirement savings consistently puts long-term investors in a better position toward meeting their future financial goals. You can measure how successful you are as a saver by monitoring your retirement score, an estimate of what your retirement income may look like according to the steps you are taking to save now. This estimation will predict whether you’re on target on meeting your retirement needs or if you need to boost your allocation. It will also give you an idea of how much you will need for retirement and what changes you need to make that happen.

Know when to seek assistance.

Many individual investors try to find “do it yourself” methods for investing. There’s a misconception that successful investors should be monitoring the markets constantly and hold a finance degree, but most experts say the biggest hurdle is knowing when to seek help and how to find the right financial advisor. One tip: Find out what kind of experience the advisor has and which investing strategies they often use. “Make sure in an interview that the advisor shares your investing values and has a well-defined process to develop an investment policy statement for you and your goals,” says Jamie Ebersole, founder and CEO of Ebersole Financial in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. “If you and your advisor are not aligned on these important issues, it will make for a very frustrating relationship.”

Setting yourself up for investing success.

  • Periodically review your investment plan.
  • Invest in what you know.
  • Stay away from the latest fads.
  • Be honest about your risk tolerance.
  • Keep educating yourself.
  • Save for retirement.
  • Know when to seek assistance.

Sources:

  1. https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/307635
  2. https://money.usnews.com/investing/portfolio-management/slideshows/habits-to-help-build-your-wealth

Don’t Panic

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Here’s the most important piece of advice for long-term investors: Don’t panic.

Both the current pandemic driven economic environment and equity market environment are incredibly uncertain. Likewise, the future is equally uncertain and unpredictable.

Unprecedented unemployment, declining oil prices, liquidity concerns in financial markets, and expanding federal debt represent a clear and present risk to future U.S. economic prosperity.

Moreover, the current uncertainty has had a negative impact on global economies and equity markets. The impact has created fear and caused investors to panic sell their positions and seek safe havens by moving into less riskier assets.

Yet, it is important to understand that market corrections happen on a regular basis. A stock market correction is a sudden drop in the value of stocks, usually by more than 10% from their most recent high.

Bottomline, it’s going to be okay. This too shall pass. Investors are advised to ‘stay the course’, follow your financial plan and focus on your long-term goals.

Financial Life Planning

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“People have the potential to live longer than any other time in history. This gift of extra time requires that we fundamentally redefine retirement and our life journeys leading up to it.” What is “Retirement’?  Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

Financial Life Planning connects the dots between our financial realities, our values and the lives we long to live. It helps both pre-retirees and retirees identify their core values and connect them with their financial decisions and life goals. It is an financial planning and investing approach which helps people manage their portfolio.

Financial life plan focuses on the human side of financial planning, including people’s anxiety, habits, behaviors and other emotions (e.g., fear and greed) tied to investing money and accumulating wealth. People struggling with retirement and other finances really need a plan that helps them manage their attitudes, habits, goals and resources.

George Kinder, known to most as the “father” of the life planning, is the founder of Kinder Institute. He views life planning as “a way of holistically delivering financial planning that focuses on delving into people’s real goals, beyond just their financial concerns, in an effort to help them use their money to deliver freedom into their lives”.

Financial Life Planning combines personal finance and wellness. It spends time to discussing life planning and to building an intentional life. There is more to living a life of freedom and purpose than money and wealth. To live a life of freedom and purpose, people are encouraged to consider George Kinder’s famous Three Questions, which are:

Question 1: Design Your Life

“I want you to imagine that you are financially secure, that you have enough money to take care of your needs, now and in the future. The question is, how would you live your life? What would you do with the money? Would you change anything? Let yourself go. Don’t hold back your dreams. Describe a life that is complete, that is richly yours.”

Question 2: You have less time

“This time, you visit your doctor who tells you that you have five to ten years left to live. The good part is that you won’t ever feel sick. The bad news is that you will have no notice of the moment of your death. What will you do in the time you have remaining to live? Will you change your life, and how will you do it?”

Question 3: Today’s the day

“This time, your doctor shocks you with the news that you have only one day left to live. Notice what feelings arise as you confront your very real mortality. Ask yourself: What dreams will be left unfulfilled? What do I wish I had finished or had been? What do I wish I had done? ”

Society tends to attribute personal and professional success to the acquisition of material things and the accumulation of wealth. Most of us find ourselves inextricably caught in a cycle of earning, spending, and investing often induced by societal and peer pressures to fit into a perceived definition of success.

And in spite of this, how many times have we heard from even well-to-do friends, acquaintances and relatives that they are not exactly happy with how their lives have shaped up, how they don’t enjoy what they are doing, how they are drowning in debt or living paycheck to paycheck, or how they don’t have any time to pursue their dreams and interests?

If you look closely, there is a common undercurrent running across all these statements that we find ourselves ‘enslaved’ to a script or lifestyle broadcast by social media which was not exactly aligned to our values and innermost dreams.

No one ever wanted to spend more time in the office

“No one ever said on their deathbed ‘I wish I’d spent more time at the office.’ ” Harold Kushner

Having read many anecdotal reports regarding end of life issues, it is important what truly matters to most people in the end. Typically, people do not say that they wish they had earned more money, spent more time at work, or had one more side hustle.

Most often instead, they wish they had spent more time with family and friends. They had more experiences with those that they love. They had taken better care of their health and bodies over the decades. They had saved more and planned better for their retirement. And finally, they wanted to make sure that those they left behind would be taken care of once they were gone.

References:

  1. https://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T023-C000-S004-retirees-build-a-financial-plan-based-on-you.html
  2. https://www.kinderinstitute.com
  3. https://www.kitces.com/blog/george-kinder-institute-life-planning-podcast-seven-stages-maturity/
  4. Podcast: #FASuccess Ep 015: Why Life Planning Is Simply Financial Planning Done Right With George Kinder

Market Timing

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“The idea that a bell rings to signal when investors should get into or out of the market is simply not credible. After nearly 50 years in this business, I do not know of anybody who has done it successfully and consistently. I don’t even know anybody who knows anybody who has done it successfully and consistently.” Jack Bogle

During the 2008 financial crisis and economic uncertainty, global financial markets were melting down and Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection.  The resulting economic recession and global slowdown brought unemployment rates in the U.S. as high as 10 percent.  And, the U.S. stock market lost trillion of dollars in value as the S&P 500 experienced a single day drop of 90.17 points, nearly 9.04 percent.

Americans, and specifically American investors, believed inherently that the global economy and financial markets were collapsing.  Fear and panic selling took hold worldwide.  Both professional and retail investors started to sell and it didn’t matter what they sold.  Yet, Warren Buffett was buying stocks that were rapidly falling in price when everyone else was panic selling and sprinting to cash.

“I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” Warren Buffett

According to Buffett, “A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful,” he wrote in the NY Times.

Additionally, Buffett wrote in his 2018 shareholder letter.

“Seizing the opportunities when offered does not require great intelligence, a degree in economics or a familiarity with Wall Street jargon such as alpha and beta.  What investors then need instead is an ability to both disregard mob fears or enthusiasms and to focus on a few simple fundamentals. A willingness to look unimaginative for a sustained period — or even to look foolish — is also essential.”

There are several valuable lessons investors learned from the 2008 financial crisis that can be applied towards today pandemic driven crisis.  The lessons are based on the same principles that allowed Buffett to invest so effectively during the crisis. To sum them up:

  • Don’t panic and sell stocks simply because the market is crashing. When times get tough, Buffett is invariably a net buyer of stocks. For this reason, he keeps billions of dollars in cash on the sidelines — so he can take advantage during times of investors’ fear and panic selling.
  • Focus on best-in-breed companies trading at discounts. A great example was Buffett’s investment in Bank of America and Goldman-Sachs.
  • Don’t try to time the market. Just because the market has crashed doesn’t mean it can’t go down more. It certainly can. Instead of trying to invest at the absolute market bottom, focus on stocks you want to hold for the long term.
  • Understand that no stock or industry is completely immune. Back then, many investors had a disproportionate amount of their portfolio in financial stocks because they were thought to be safe.  Essentially, no stock or industry are safe.

Warren Buffett believes intrinsically that “it is a waste of time and hazardous to investment success trying to time the market”.  In a 1994 annual letter to shareholders, Buffett wrote:

“I never have an opinion about the market because it wouldn’t be any good and it might interfere with the opinions we have that are good.  If we’re right about a business, if we think a business is attractive, it would be very foolish for us to not take action on that because we thought something about what the market was going to do. … If you’re right about the businesses, you’ll end up doing fine.”


Bottom line: As long as investors keep a level head and maintain a long-term perspective as Buffett does, investors should come out of it just fine, if not stronger than they went in.

Sources:

  1. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/warren-buffetts-rule-for-investing-during-the-financial-crisis.html
  2. https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/09/23/10-years-later-warren-buffett-and-the-financial-cr.aspx
  3.  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/08/warren-buffett-says-he-never-tries-to-time-stocks-i-never-have-an-opinion-about-the-market.html
  4. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/24/highlights-from-warren-buffetts-annual-letter.html

Accumulating Wealth

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The wealthy accumulate wealth by being frugal

Frugality – a commitment to saving, spending less, and sticking to a budget – is a key factor in accumulating wealth, according to DataPoints’ founder, Dr. Sarah Stanley Fallaw.  Dr. Fallaw is also the co-authored “The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth“.

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In an University of Georgia’s financial planning performance lab research paper examining the topic of “what does it take to build wealth over time”, the key findings were that those who were successful at accumulating wealth frequently exhibited the following behaviors:

  • Spending less than they earned
  • Having a long-term outlook on their financial future
  • Maintaining sound financial records
  • Keeping up with financial markets
  • Saving regardless of income level

Essentially, her research shows that anyone can accumulate wealth if they know the right steps to take. And, if individuals possess a certain set of characteristics, they may be more likely to become wealthy, according to Dr. Fallaw, who is also director of research for the Affluent Market Institute.

In her research, she found that six behaviours, which she called “wealth factors,” are related to net worth potential, regardless of age or income:

  • Frugality, or a commitment to saving, spending less, and sticking to a budget
  • Confidence in financial management, investing, and household leadership
  • Responsibility, which involves accepting your role in financial outcomes and believing that luck plays little role
  • Planning, or setting goals for your financial future
  • Focus on seeing tasks through to their completion without being distracted
  • Social indifference, or not succumbing to social pressure to buy the latest thing

In order to accumulate wealth, it is imperative for investors to understand that their underlying financial behavior and habits matter significantly. DataPoints research supports the notion that, “…individuals who successfully accumulate wealth often engage in basic and identifiable productive financial management behaviors.” And, they are often “socially indifferent” to the latest “must haves” and they resist the “lifestyle creep,” which is the tendency to spend more whenever they earn more.

To properly build wealth, financial experts recommend saving 20% of your income and living off the remaining 80%. Many wealthy individuals, who religiously follow this principle, espoused the freedom that comes with spending and living below their means.

Reference

  1. Grable, J. E., Kruger, M., & Fallaw, S. S. (2017). An Assessment of Wealth Accumulation Tasks and Behaviors. Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 71(1), 55-70.
  2. https://www.datapoints.com/2017/04/06/tasks-of-wealth-accumulators/
  3. https://apple.news/A4YIQ2ahsSKqzUG3rh1PmTQ

Seniors Are Stressed About Income in Retirement. What To Do. – Barron’s

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A large number of American workers closing in on retirement are showing anxiety not just over how much they’ve saved but also over how to manage their different income sources during their post-career lives.

A new study by Charles Schwab found that most pre-retirees—defined as those within five years of retirement—have at least one fear about their income in retirement. The findings were gleaned from a survey last summer of 1,000 Americans aged 55 and older with $100,000 or more in investable assets, half of whom fell into the pre-retiree cohort. 
— Read on www.barrons.com/articles/most-seniors-stress-about-income-in-retirement-heres-what-theyre-most-worried-about-51582977602

A Man is What He Thinks

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“A man is literally what he thinks.” James Allen

James Allen, a British philosophical author of ‘As a Man Thinketh’, wrote, “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. As the plant springs from, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.”

The things you choose to focus on, your thoughts, determines how you perceive the world – and influences many of the experiences you have as a result. If you focus only on the negative things in your world, the world can seem like a terrible place and your mood and outlook may suffer.

“Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts. We are where we are because that is exactly where we really want or feel we deserve to be, whether we’ll admit it or not.” Earl Nightingale

But when you focus on the positive things in your world, you see that the world is actually full of faith, hope, love, and joy. There is kindness and beauty that inspires people to do incredible things.  Each man holds the key to their own perception and focus, good or bad. He also hold the key to everything that enters into his life. By working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts and focus, he may remake his life, his behaviors and transform his circumstances. 

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” James Allen

Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.

“He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.” James Allen

The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of faith and knowledge. The people who embrace readily doubt and fear, who refuses to slay them, hinder himself at every step.

Changing the Subconscious Mind

Daily affirmations are techniques you use to begin he process of improving your life. Affirmations are simply statements that describe a goal or thought in its already completed state. Positive affirmation helps eliminate negative and limiting beliefs.

Affirmations can transform an individual’s comfort zone from a limited one keeping them trapped in mediocrity to a more expanded one where anything is possible. It helps to replace your “I can’ts” with “I cans,” and your fears and doubts with confidence and aspirations.

Affirmations are reminders to your unconscious mind to stay focused on your goals and to come up with solutions to challenges and obstacles that might get in the way.

“These things we bring on ourselves through our habitual way of thinking,”

Daily affirmations are simple, positive statements declaring specific goals in their completed states. Affirmations also hold a key to creating the life of your dreams. Successful people have long known that using willpower alone to energize their success isn’t enough.

Let go of negative beliefs

It is important to let go of and not focus on negative thoughts and images. Instead, individuals should bombard their subconscious mind with new thoughts and images that are positive and stated in the present tense.

In closing, William James said: “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in question were real, and it will become infallibly real by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real. It will become so knit with habit and emotion that our interests in it will be those which characterize belief.”

James also said,

”If you only care enough for a result, you will almost certainly attain it. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich. If you wish to be learned, you will be learned. If you wish to be good, you will be good – only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them exclusively, and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.”

References:

  1. Allen, James, As a Man Thinketh: Original 1902 Edition
  2. http://www.jamesallenlibrary.com/authors/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh
  3. https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/practice-daily-affirmations/
  4. https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/become-a-millionaire-never-too-late/