Though many of us yearn for positive change and transformation, our conscious or unconscious conditioned beliefs may tell us that we really do not have the ability to become substantially different or better than who we have been.  Do any of these statements ring true to you?

• You can't teach an old dog new tricks 
• This is just the way life is; we have to accept it
• You have to be born in the right place at the right time to make it
• You have to get the breaks and the right circumstances to be successful
• You can't have it all.  Getting by is good enough
• Most of us just aren't cut out for greatness

Some of us firmly believe these statements to be true.  Others claim that they believe in unlimited human potential.  But when it gets right down to it, almost all of us honestly experience life in terms of one or more of the limiting statements above. 

Human potential is the hope, but life's limitations feel like the reality.

You may not ever say these statements out loud. You may even argue against them, using the positive self-talk of recent decades. But take a moment: In your heart of hearts, do any of those statements seem like the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Deep down, do you trust these "reality" statements more than the possibility of transformation? If so, these beliefs have been hardwired into your brain and will sabotage any personal growth program you begin--and probably have done so in the past.

I am not asking you to just believe and trust in the possibility of your own transformation.  Those limiting "reality" statements, like all conditioning, are hardwired in and need to be unplugged and rewired to release their power. ...  I'll show you how to do this in future chapters....

(Above is an excerpt from the fist chapter of, "Back in Charge!")

Let's see how the brain operates to solve problems...  If you want to experience this exercise, it is very important that you do not skip ahead and read the material below where you are at the moment.

I’m going to show you two sets of puzzles.  This isn't a test where you get graded on how well you do. But I want you to pay attention to how your brain approaches these puzzles. The first set is very easy and almost everyone can solve it with no problem. But, however you see it, don't worry about it. Just pay attention to your process. 

Take just a few minutes with this set of puzzles:

1) What common 3-letter word can go into every blank below to make another word?

                        NIS

S                        CIL

KIT                       

2) What number goes in the blank box so the 4 numbers in both sets total the same number?

The next set of puzzles is much more difficult. I've seen Mensa members who couldn't solve it. The problems may look obvious on the surface but they aren't. Even when you think you've got the right answer, you probably won't. But still just work on the problems and see what you come up with. And notice how your brain is trying to tackle them.

Take a few moments with these puzzles:

3) Cross off 4 letters in this word to come up with a vegetable:   

CHLORINE

4) A deli has 2 types of bread, 3 kinds of cheese, and 3 kinds of meat. Customers can choose one type of bread, one cheese and one meat for their sandwich.  How many variations of sandwiches can there be?

• 17
• 18
• 24
•  27

Now, think about for a moment how those two experiences were different for you.

Before we go any further, let me confess that the second set of puzzles was not really harder. Both of these come from an elementary school level puzzle book. But what happened to your ability to solve the puzzle when you believed it was impossible?

I will be doing a radio interview tomorrow morning with “The Coaching Show with Christopher McAuliffe.” Find out more and listen to archives from the show.

As I think about the interview, I think about the most often asked question I get these days – about why I claim that affirmations, goal setting and positive thinking do not work?

I often get heat from clients when I say that repeating affirmations is a self-improvement tool that doesn’t work!   This is NOT because I believe affirmations and positive thinking can not be powerful tools in manifesting our dreams.  It is because I know that unless we acknowledge and release our underlying negative thought or belief that is currently directing our entire system – brain, heart-rate, perceptions, behavioral reactions, blood pressure, breathing, etc… -- we will continue fighting ourselves:  “I have all that it takes to be successful” vs. “I’m doomed to fail!”

There are ways, however, to make affirmative statements effective. But just plopping a happy, fluffy, shiny thought over grimy, nasty, negative one does not work.  The way to make affirmations effective is to unearth the negative belief that’s fighting it before attempting to rewire yourself with a new truth that you want to start living by.

Here is the way to make those affirmations start working for you!  

1) Acknowledge the negative thought

2) Breathe with attention directed toward the feeling.  Experience how that thought makes you feel—whether the feeling is physical (tight neck, jittery stomach) or emotional (frustrated, angry, panicy),

3) Cleanse that negative thought and it’s associated feeling from your brain and physiology. Breathe in – acknowledge the thought and its associated feeling.  Breathe out – release it from your system.

4) Rewire in a new truth that you want to start living your life by. 

Using these 4 steps you are paving the way for your affirmation to take root and start supporting all you want to have, do, or be.

The power of your brain has much more effect on our health, wealth and general well-being than any external circumstance.  Most of us have it backwards because we haven't understood how the brain works -- and how we can consciously re-wire it to support our goals and desires.

Whether it's coming up with creative business solutions, increasing income, losing weight, or healing relationships, tonight's show, "Snap Out Of It NOW!" on KPBS-TV San Diego, Channel 11, at 7 P.M. will give you practical tools to get the wiring of your own brain to work for you, not against you!

Be sure to watch, or set your Tivo or DVR -- you won't want to miss it!


If you would like to become a member of KPBS-TV, or continue giving your support, please call in (Toll-free: (888) 399-5727) or go online and make a pledge!  Be sure to reference, "Snap Out Of It NOW!"

Just minutes away from my Blog Talk radio interview with my friend, Jordan Mercedes!  Check it out and take some time to listen.

Host Name:     Thrive In Balance    
Show Name: Time Out Before Burn Out with Dr.Adrianne Ahern

Length: 45 min
Description:  Are you addicted to going fast, never slowing down and working to the point of burn out? If so you'll want to tune in to hear Dr.Ahern help us to take time out before burn out and learn how to slow down to revive, rejuvenate and avoid the dangerous work burn out crash.

Are you aware of what a powerful organ your brain is?  Do you know that it runs your entire physiology and determines the course of your life? Your brain is brilliant, efficient, and neutral. It will do its best to support whatever messages are carved into its neuropathways—whether they are positive or negative.

So, here’s the thing—if by repeating certain thoughts you have hard-wired your brain to believe that it's “impossible to make money in an economy like this,” “my industry is going down the tubes,” “we'll be lucky to survive,”. . .well, your brain is going to take the hint and realize that it is impossible to come up with creative solutions or innovative ideas – so it won't!

Now, the good news is that we can consciously re-wire our brains so that our conditioned beliefs and attitudes support us, embrace positive change, help us feel empowered in challenging times.  And when we feel empowered? We come up with brilliant ideas, effective strategies, innovative solutions.

So, ... how do we get there?  

Start by watching, “Snap Out of It NOW! with Dr. Adrianne Ahern” Airing Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 7 p.m. on KPBS TV - San Diego, Channel 11. 

I’m preparing for a keynote I’ll be giving next week at a business luncheon in La Jolla and thought you all might enjoy this little awareness test. 

In my talks I show the audience some of the ways our brain works and how it – not circumstance -- controls our outcomes. Many of you have been doing all you can think of to keep your businesses going, increase income, encourage your employees and/or families, etc. But even if you are "doing all the right things," you may not be getting results. Let me show you why.
Here's a video about perception and awareness:

How many of you saw the moon-walking bear the first time through?

So how does that relate to us right now? If you’re conditioned to focus on how bad the economy is, how many businesses have closed in your industry, how many other people have lost money…well, that's what you are going to see. Your brain will not let you see the moon-walking bear or that unusual opportunity or that potential opening in your field. But if you re-wire your brain, your internal authority to start looking for the moon-walking bear, your brain will let you see it. 

You can consciously re-wire your brain so that your conditioned beliefs and attitudes support you, embrace positive change, help you feel empowered in challenging times.  And when we feel empowered? We come up with brilliant ideas, effective strategies, innovative solutions.

So how do we get there?   There are four basic steps to the process -- you can read about them and start the process with getting, “Back in Charge!”

If your brain is convinced that your situation, whatever it is, is nearly impossible to solve, how do you think it is approaching it? But, if your brain believed that solutions would come easily and that it was fully capable of finding them, how does it respond?

Let me share with you a true story from my book, "Back in Charge!," about a graduate level mathematics student at UC Berkeley in 1939, George Dantzig.  George showed up late for class one day and found two problems on the blackboard which he believed to be homework assignments. He copied the problems and took them home. George struggled to find solutions to these problems but, knowing he was as capable as any other student in the class, he worked diligently until he solved both of them two days later. Six weeks after turning them in, George was contacted by his very excited professor, Dr. Jerzy Newman. The two problems had not been homework assignments at all. Dr Newman had written them on the board to show the class two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics.

Yet George had been able to solve these problems. Why? Probably because he, and his brain, believed he could. Could the other students in the class have solved them as well? Perhaps. But all of the other students in class knew that the problems had never been solved. Their brains perceived a situation that was unknown and probably impossible; George's brain perceived a situation that was difficult but doable. It was not the circumstance, but the perception of the circumstance that made the difference.   Let me make this clear – – George perceived the circumstance to be mere homework. But they were exactly the same problems that other students perceived to be unsolvable!  When the brain is told something is unsolvable, impossible or very difficult, it approaches it as unsolvable, impossible or very difficult.  

The Facts. Period.

Even without understanding the neuroscience of the brain, you can experience how to harness its power through this simple, practical exercise…

Oftentimes, especially when we’re under pressure, we get carried away by our conditioned reactions. For example, say I find out that my next GET BACK IN CHARGE! workshop has only 14 people signed up so far. "Oh, my gosh! Only 14 people! Obviously, the word isn't getting out. My PR people must not be doing their job. Or maybe the sponsors. Or maybe the word is getting out and nobody wants to come. I've spent all of this time and effort to put this together and nobody will experience it! What's the matter with people? I get paid thousands of dollars to speak but now that I'm offering something for free, nobody shows up. Or maybe what I have to offer isn't really valuable. Maybe. . ." Can you relate?

An event happens and our internal conditioning takes off and runs with it!

Well, try this. The next time you hear news or experience something that usually throws you into reaction (anxiety, anger, uncertainty, fear), PAUSE, restate the facts of the situation, and add a forceful "period" to the end of it. Don't allow your brain to speculate or follow its normal path of anxious thoughts. Just state the facts neutrally, then say "period." "Twelve people have signed up for my workshop so far. PERIOD."

Try this out for yourself: "I can't pay my morgage this month. Period." "The company lost an account this week. Period." "Home prices in San Diego are at an all time low. Period." By cutting off your brain's typical dialogue, you reclaim your place of choice. You'll find yourself responding to life's situations more creatively and positively. And you'll feel better!

Depends on the Question

"Ask the right questions if you're to find the right answers."
Vanessa Redgrave

So many of us are focused on the economy and how it affects us personally, and those we love. We're all looking for answers. But, after presenting the first Get Back in Charge! workshop early this month, it occurred to me that what we really need to be seeking for ourselves is the right questions.

Once we take some deep breaths, release our anxiety and unplug from some of our negative conditioning, we discover that our brains have unlimited capacity to find positive solutions for us. But our brains will only respond to the questions we pose to them. If we ask ourselves, "How can I scrape by this month?" or "What will happen to me if I lose my house?” our brains focus on helping us only "scrape by" and remain in the cycle of worry and fear. But what if we ask, "How can I use this period, not only get by, but to create a new, more fulfilling life for myself?" Can you feel the difference?

I ran into this difference for myself several weeks ago. I had been stressing over various aspects of my business and asking questions like: How can I make this more profitable? How can I get to the levels of success others have achieved? What should I do if my public television show/new book/speaking career lose momentum? How can I get faster results? My brain offered plenty of answers to these questions – all of which added to my stress!

Finally in the middle of another anxious night, it came to me: The only question I needed to ask was "How can I serve others?" As soon as I heard that question, I felt a flood of relief. My brain offered up wonderful images of ways I had, could, and would serve others. I realized that all of the prior questions I had been asking were blocking me from seeing and experiencing what was really possible for me -- and what was really important to me. Those questions came from my fears, not from who I truly am. Now, when I focus my brain on that one question – How can I serve others? -- I feel calm, energized, creative and inspired.

So what questions have you been posing to your brain? Are they questions rooted in fear or from the best part of yourself? Are they small questions that assume small outcomes? Or are they the questions that tap the yearnings of your soul? Whichever questions you ask, your brain will not know the difference. It will offer up answers to whatever you ask of it. So choose wisely.

The participants of our first
Get Back in Charge! workshop took the first steps to asking bigger questions by working with old, negative conditioning and unearthing new possibilities for themselves. Some of their comments:

"I learned that I can choose my thoughts and beliefs. The only important question is 'Does it serve me?'" -Lynne

"I left feeling more compassion for the part of me that bought into false truths. I can choose something different." -Wanda

"I became aware of how much fear had shaped my perceptions. That if you think a situation is not resolvable, it isn't!" -Blair

We still have some openings for the San Diego Get Back in Charge! workshop on April 21st. If you have been negatively affected by the present economy, please join us. And please let friends and family who might benefit from this workshop know about it as well.
To register, go to www.GetBackInCharge.com

Book Launch Promotion - Take Advantage Today!

I know you are always being offered new books to enhance your life. My friend, Mike Robbins, is releasing a new book that I believe you will find valuable.

In his book, Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken, Mike teaches us simple yet powerful ways to be authentic in our relationships, our work, and our lives – thus leading to greater peace, passion, and fulfillment. He discusses how, "most of us aren't taught by our families or the culture in which we live to be ourselves and be authentic." His five principles of authenticity will empower you to be bold, to express yourself fully, and to live your life from a deep place of authenticity within you.

When you order Mike's book today, you will receive exclusive bonus gifts and recordings from authors that I respect like Michael Beckwith, Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, Jack Canfield, Marci Shimoff, Mark Victor Hansen and many others. You will also receive, from me, an ebook and MP3 of my program, "Unlock Your Potential." More information and to order…


Wishing you focus, fitness, & flexibility in mind and body.
Adrianne


P.S. I can't resist offering a few more quotes I found about questions!

"In order for answers to become clear, the questions have to be clear."
Abdolkarim Soroush

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers."
Voltaire

"Questions structure and, so, to some extent predetermine answers."
A.R. Ammons

"Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers."
Tony Robbins

The Facts Period

The Facts. Period.

“There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles. ”

Stephen Covey

It’s the third week of January and how many of us have already discarded our New Year’s resolutions? Obviously, I’m going to tell you that it’s due to the hard-wiring of our brains! But this year, there is even more pulling us away from becoming who we wish to be and our potential. Every day we’re bombarded with never-ending bad news about the economy. Reports on how many thousands have lost jobs, or fears expressed around the water cooler, or even chipper little articles on “Great Style in Lean Times!” Anxiety seems to be in the very air we breathe these days.

So I want to share a very simple, incredibly powerful exercise to help you stay in a place of choice – not a place of anxiety. I call it The Facts. Period.

Whenever you hear news or experience something that usually throws you into a whirlwind of anxiety, pause, restate the facts, and add a forceful “Period” to the end of it. For example, you hear your company has lost a big client. Don’t let your mind flip into your normal anxiety story: “So they’ll probably have to lay people off, and my boss has been cold to me lately so it will probably be me, and I’ll never find something in my line of work, and we might lose the house which will make my spouse resentful. . .” Instead, pause, take a deep breath and say, “Our company lost a big client. Period.”

Or take the example of faltering New Year’s resolutions. You realize that you haven’t been to the gym in over a week. “Here I go again, flaking out on getting fit. I have absolutely no willpower! Now I’ve wasted all that money on a gym membership and I’ll never. . .” No! Pause, take a deep breath, and state the facts neutral: “I didn’t go to the gym this week. Period.” Make sure that your “Period” is firm and non-negotiable!

Another example: Your spouse forgets to squeegee the shower door– again! Unplug from your normal mental chatter: “He always forgets to do this. It’s as if I’m the only who cares around here. He just takes it for granted that I’ll pick up the pieces and. . .” Pause, deep breath and “He didn’t squeegee the shower door. Period.”

The power in this simple practice is in experiencing it. By just stating the facts neutrally and not allowing your conditioned stories to rev up, you’ll find yourself in a place of choice. You can start looking for another job or come up with ideas for replacing the lost client. You can get yourself to the gym or find a way to exercise that is more fun for you. You can ask your spouse to squeegee the shower or do it yourself. (By the way, my friend who used The Facts. Period. with the squeegee issue chose to ask her husband– calmly and without recrimination– to squeegee the shower. His response? “I’m sorry, hon. I’m always forgetting to do that, aren’t I?” No fight, no resentment – and after years of forgetting, he actually started using the squeegee on the shower without prompting!)

Try this out for yourself: “The stock market is faltering. Period.” “He didn’t call. Period.” “I can’t afford to go out to eat. Period.” By creating a moment of choice, you’ll find yourself responding to life more creatively and positively. And you’ll feel better!
Exciting news!

Our public television show has be picked up by APT, one of the top distributors for public television! Snap Out of It Now! will air across the country throughout March. And our public television station here in Reno, Nevada (KNPB-TV, Channel 5) has chosen Snap Out of It Now! for their special January pledge drive. The program will be shown January 22nd at 7:30 PM and I’ll be there for live interviews. If you live in the area, please tune in. And let your family and friends in Reno know so they can be the first in the country to see the show!
Wishing you focus, fitness and flexibility in mind and body,