Self Improvement Techniques

There are many different self improvement techniques that you can use for anything from changing your beliefs about money to conquering a fear of public speaking to building more self-esteem and confidence. It is the purpose of this page to give a brief introduction and an overview of some of the most popular self improvement techniques you might encounter.

Usually referred to as NLP, neuro-linguistic programming is "The Study of the Structure of the Subjective Experience." (Dilts, Grinder, Bandler, Bandler, and Delozier NLP volume 1 1980) NLP is a process of discovering and duplicating the thought patterns of individuals that are highly skilled in a particular area. For example, a person that wanted to learn to paint might interview or observe an accomplished artist in order to discover that artist's thought patterns whilst he creates a painting. What pictures does he have in his head? What does he smell and what does he say to himself? Are there any repeating thought patterns that he has when he is painting? Once the artist's thought patterns are uncovered they can then (in theory) be duplicated to achieve a similar result.

Click here to learn about practicing autosuggestion.

Neuro refers to neurology or sense organs. It is about how a person perceives their surroundings with their five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Linguistic refers to the language, pictures, and sounds that a person uses to make sense of what is perceived with the five senses. Programming refers to your habits, patterns, programs and strategies. NLP can be a useful self-improvement technique if we use it as cognitive restructuringto identify, stop, and change patterns that do not benefit us or, if we use it to instill new patterns that help us.

Meditation is consciously directing your attention to alter your state of mind. Meditation is probably the most popular self improvement technique and it is continuing to gain popularity, as more doctors, therapist, and spiritual teachers believe that there is more to the connection between body and mind than we can explain. Meditation has been shown to aid the immune system and improve brain function. More and more physicians are prescribing meditation as a way to lower blood pressure, improve exercise performance, treat asthma, relieve insomnia, and reduce the stresses of everyday life. Many hospitals even offer meditation sessions for their patients.

Traditionally meditation was for spiritual growth but more recently has become a valuable tool for managing stress, developing self awareness, and finding inner peace and tranquility in a very demanding and rapid-paced world. Benefits resulting from meditation include: emotional well-being, reduced levels of stress and other negative emotions, improved breathing, deeper relaxation, unlocking creativity; and manifesting personal change.

The Sedona Method is a very popular self improvement technique for teaching one how to let go of a negative emotion or belief. The premise of The Sedona Method is that letting go of negative emotions is natural, and that if you pay attention you will notice feelings coming and going easily as long as you do not repress or cling to them. According to The Sedona Method the only reason a bad feeling is bad is because we don't allow it to be fully felt and processed naturally.

To begin, the method focuses on letting go of negative feelings like fear, anger and frustration by asking the following questions:

• Could you let this feeling go?
• Would you let this feeling go?
• When?

Releasing is a natural process and feelings want to be felt and then flow out of your body and the power of the above questions is that they invite you to let the natural process happen!

Click Here to Learn About Radical Acceptance

Self hypnosis has been used by humans for centuries to create relaxed physical and mental states and condition the mind to respond differently to outside situations. Most of the time hypnosis is performed by a professional hypnotherapist either in person or on a pre-recorded CD or MP3. It is also possible for you to enter a hypnotic trance by yourself, give yourself hypnotic suggestions or you can simply make your own hypnosis recordings.

Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT is a technique that deals with invisible meridian energy lines that run around your body. EFT states that barriers within these invisible meridia are the cause of certain emotional disturbances like fear, phobias, and depression. Basically, EFT is a process of tapping on these points where the blockages in the invisible meridia occur and clearing those blocks. EFT may also have a person hum a song, count out loud, or move their eyes in certain directions while thinking of the thing that is causing negative emotions.

In summary, you should take some time to become familiar with various self-help and self improvement techniques that are available. Using the right technique can make help you speed up your progress or help lift you over a huge hurdle!