The Benefits of Sports Psychology for Athletes

Mental Game Coaching is that the segment of sports psychology that concentrates specifically on helping athletes break through the mental barriers that are keeping them from performing up to their peak potential. By focusing on the mental skills needed to be successful in any sporting competition, mental game coaching seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement.

Sports Psychology is about improving your attitude and mental game skills to help you perform your best by identifying limiting beliefs and embracing a healthier philosophy about your sport. Below is a list of the top ten ways that you can benefit from sports psychology:

1. Improve focus and deal with distractions. Many athletes have the ability to concentrate, but often their focus is displaced on the wrong areas such as when a batter thinks “I need to get a hit” while in the batter’s box, which is a result-oriented focus. Much of my instruction on focus deals with helping athlete to stay focused on the present moment and let go of results.

2. Grow confidence in athletes who have doubts. Doubt is the opposite of confidence. If you maintain many doubts prior to or during your performance, this indicates low self-confidence or at least you are sabotaging what confidence you had at the start of the competition. Confidence is what I call a core mental game skill because of its importance and relationship to other mental skills.

3. Develop coping skills to deal with setbacks and errors. Emotional control is a prerequisite to getting into the zone. Athletes with very high and strict expectations, have trouble dealing with minor errors that are a natural part of sports. It’s important to address these expectations and also help athletes stay composed under pressure and when they commit errors or become frustrated.

4. Find the right zone of intensity for your sport. I use intensity in a broad sense to identify the level of arousal or mental activation that is necessary for each person to perform his or her best. This will vary from person to person and from sport to sport. Feeling “up” and positively charged is critical, but not getting overly excited is also important. You have to tread a fine line between being excited to complete, but not getting over-excited.

5. Help teams develop communication skills and cohesion. A major part of sports psychology and mental training is helping teams improve cohesion and communication. The more a team works as a unit, the better the results for all involved.

6. To instill a healthy belief system and identify irrational thoughts. One of the areas I pride myself on is helping athlete identify ineffective beliefs and attitudes such as comfort zones and negative self-labels that hold them back from performing well. These core unhealthy beliefs must be identified and replaced with a new way of thinking. Unhealthy or irrational beliefs will keep you stuck no matter how much you practice or hard you try.

7. Improve or balance motivation for optimal performance. It’s important to look at your level of motivation and just why you are motivated to play your sport. Some motivators are better in the long-term than others. Athletes who are extrinsically motivated often play for the wrong reasons, such as the athlete who only participates in sports because of a parent. I work with athlete to help them adopt a healthy level of motivation and be motivated for the right reasons.

8. Develop confidence post-injury. Some athletes find themselves fully prepared physically to get back into competition and practice, but mentally some scars remain. Injury can hurt confidence, generate doubt during competition, and cause a lack of focus. I help athletes mentally heal from injuries and deal with the fear of re-injury.

9. To develop game-specific strategies and game plans. All great coaches employ game plans, race strategies, and course management skills to help athletes mentally prepare for competition. This is an area beyond developing basic mental skills in which a mental coach helps athletes and teams. This is very important in sports such as golf, racing, and many team sports.

10. To identify and enter the “zone” more often. This incorporates everything I do in the mental side of sports. The overall aim is to help athletes enter the zone by developing foundational mental skills that can help athletes enter the zone more frequently. It’s impossible to play in the zone everyday, but you can set the conditions for it to happen more often.

I will add that sport psychology may not be appropriate for every athlete. Not every person who plays a sport wants to “improve performance.” Sport psychology is probably not for recreation athletes who participate for the social component of a sport or do not spend time working on technique or fitness to improve performance. Young athletes whose parents want them to see a sports psychologist are not good candidate either. It’s very important that the athlete desires to improve his or her mental game without having the motive to satisfy a parent. Similarly, an athlete who sees a mental game expert only to satisfy a coach is not going to fully benefit from mental training.

Sports Psychology does apply to a wide variety of serious athletes. Most of my students (junior, high school, college, and professional athletes) are highly committed to excellence and seeing how far they can go in sports. They love competition and testing themselves against the best in their sport. They understand the importance of a positive attitude and mental toughness. These athletes want every possible advantage they can get including the mental edge over the competition.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/recreation_and_sports/article_407.shtml

Sports Psychology and Performance Enhancement

Mental Game Coaching is that the segment of sports psychology that concentrates specifically on helping athletes break through the mental barriers that are keeping them from performing up to their peak potential. By focusing on the mental skills needed to be successful in any sporting competition, mental game coaching seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement.

Sports Psychology is about improving your attitude and mental game skills to help you perform your best by identifying limiting beliefs and embracing a healthier philosophy about your sport. Below is a list of the top ten ways that you can benefit from sports psychology:

1. Improve focus and deal with distractions. Many athletes have the ability to concentrate, but often their focus is displaced on the wrong areas such as when a batter thinks “I need to get a hit” while in the batter’s box, which is a result-oriented focus. Much of my instruction on focus deals with helping athlete to stay focused on the present moment and let go of results.
2. Grow confidence in athletes who have doubts. Doubt is the opposite of confidence. If you maintain many doubts prior to or during your performance, this indicates low self-confidence or at least you are sabotaging what confidence you had at the start of the competition. Confidence is what I call a core mental game skill because of its importance and relationship to other mental skills.
3. Develop coping skills to deal with setbacks and errors. Emotional control is a prerequisite to getting into the zone. Athletes with very high and strict expectations, have trouble dealing with minor errors that are a natural part of sports. It’s important to address these expectations and also help athletes stay composed under pressure and when they commit errors or become frustrated.
4. Find the right zone of intensity for your sport. I use intensity in a broad sense to identify the level of arousal or mental activation that is necessary for each person to perform his or her best. This will vary from person to person and from sport to sport. Feeling “up” and positively charged is critical, but not getting overly excited is also important. You have to tread a fine line between being excited to complete, but not getting over-excited.
5. Help teams develop communication skills and cohesion. A major part of sports psychology and mental training is helping teams improve cohesion and communication. The more a team works as a unit, the better the results for all involved.
6. To instill a healthy belief system and identify irrational thoughts. One of the areas I pride myself on is helping athlete identify ineffective beliefs and attitudes such as comfort zones and negative self-labels that hold them back from performing well. These core unhealthy beliefs must be identified and replaced with a new way of thinking. Unhealthy or irrational beliefs will keep you stuck no matter how much you practice or hard you try.
7. Improve or balance motivation for optimal performance. It’s important to look at your level of motivation and just why you are motivated to play your sport. Some motivators are better in the long-term than others. Athletes who are extrinsically motivated often play for the wrong reasons, such as the athlete who only participates in sports because of a parent. I work with athlete to help them adopt a healthy level of motivation and be motivated for the right reasons.
8. Develop confidence post-injury. Some athletes find themselves fully prepared physically to get back into competition and practice, but mentally some scars remain. Injury can hurt confidence, generate doubt during competition, and cause a lack of focus. I help athletes mentally heal from injuries and deal with the fear of re-injury.
9. To develop game-specific strategies and game plans. All great coaches employ game plans, race strategies, and course management skills to help athletes mentally prepare for competition. This is an area beyond developing basic mental skills in which a mental coach helps athletes and teams. This is very important in sports such as golf, racing, and many team sports.
10. To identify and enter the “zone” more often. This incorporates everything I do in the mental side of sports. The overall aim is to help athletes enter the zone by developing foundational mental skills that can help athletes enter the zone more frequently. It’s impossible to play in the zone everyday, but you can set the conditions for it to happen more often.

I will add that sport psychology may not be appropriate for every athlete. Not every person who plays a sport wants to “improve performance.” Sport psychology is probably not for recreation athletes who participate for the social component of a sport or do not spend time working on technique or fitness to improve performance. Young athletes whose parents want them to see a sports psychologist are not good candidate either. It’s very important that the athlete desires to improve his or her mental game without having the motive to satisfy a parent. Similarly, an athlete who sees a mental game expert only to satisfy a coach is not going to fully benefit from mental training.

Sports Psychology does apply to a wide variety of serious athletes. Most of my students (junior, high school, college, and professional athletes) are highly committed to excellence and seeing how far they can go in sports. They love competition and testing themselves against the best in their sport. They understand the importance of a positive attitude and mental toughness. These athletes want every possible advantage they can get including the mental edge over the competition.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/recreation_and_sports/article_440.shtml

The Psychology of Urgency: Make Them Want It Now

“I’ll think it over and get back to you.” “Sure, we’ll do that someday.” “I need to check with my colleagues.” “Give me a call next month, then we can set a date.”

Tired of excuses? Looking for a more successful way to get others to take immediate action?

For the last century, psychologists have been studying simple persuasion tactics that will allow you to motivate people and get the results you desire. This article focuses on using the psychology of persuasion to create a sense of urgency in your customers.

The Psychology of Limited Resources

The first strategy for getting people to take immediate action is to present yourself or your product as “limited,” “scarce,” or “in demand.”

Why? People want what they can’t have. Repeatedly, psychologists have shown that human beings find more value in things that they have a hard time obtaining.

If you tell people that they can’t have something, they end up wanting it more! You may have experienced this in your own life. Have you ever found yourself interested in a home or a car and then discovered that someone else may try to buy it first? If you’re anything like me, the item becomes even more valuable to you. You are more motivated to get it.

Do You Want It? You Can’t Have It!

This is an important point for sales and marketing purposes. Car salespeople are quick to let us know that, “This is the last model of its kind available on the entire lot—after it goes, that’s it.” Newspaper and television ads constantly remind us that the “sale ends soon,” that “supplies are limited” and that “time is running out.”

Some retail stores create motivation by putting “sold” tags on merchandise that they have a hard time selling. When customers see the “sold” tag, they become more interested in buying the item.

Infomercials place a ticking clock at the end of the advertisements. They say, “Order before the clock runs out and you will also receive a free set of knives.”

Getting Immediate Results

When I first started speaking and consulting, it was hard for me to get business. I made the error of telling potential customers that I would be available whenever they were ready to hire me. Big mistake.

It wasn’t until I became so busy that I had to start turning customers away that I was able to charge what I am worth. When they felt as if they couldn’t have me, they wanted me more. When I was inaccessible, they became anxious and assigned more value to my service. This sense of urgency has had a huge impact on my business.

Here are three steps that you can use to create a sense of urgency in others:

1. Set a deadline. People are natural procrastinators. Without a deadline—and the potential risk of losing something—people will wait until they collect more information, talk it over with their spouses, or save more money. By setting a deadline, you create an inner drive helps them take action.

2. Remind them that your offer is “limited.” Always present your opportunity as being limited with regards to time or quantity. If someone asks you whether you have a certain product in stock, don’t say, “Oh, yeah, we have tons of them.” The better approach is to say, “Yeah, we have some, but they go fast.”

3. Play hard to get. Remember, people want what they can’t have. By sounding too available, you’re diminishing your value. By sounding somewhat unavailable, you’re greatly increasing your value. Never say, “Oh, yes, I’m available any day next week.” Instead, use the more powerful and persuasive approach by saying, “Hmmm, I’m very busy next week, but I might be able to squeeze you in.”

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_996.shtml

Sports Psychology Guidelines for Sports Parents

Sports parents have a big impact on their young superstars. A healthy and successful sports experience will depend on sports parents' ability to instill confidence and self-esteem in athletes. Read sports psychology expert, Dr. Patrick Cohn's view on how to make sports a successful and fun experience.

Youth sports are huge in today’s society. Coaches and parents have a tremendous impact on how children will engage in sports. I get several emails a month from concerned sports parents asking me how they should help their child superstar win at and enjoy sports. When working with young athletes, I often work with the parents themselves so parents can reinforce the concepts I teach to athletes in our mental game coaching sessions. Below are eight simple guidelines for sports parents to adopt with youth athletes.

8 Simple Guidelines for Sports Parents:

1. Sports should be fun for kids. Treat sport as a game—It’s not a business for kids. With all the money in professional sports today, it is hard for parents to understand that it’s just good fun to young athletes. The primary goal should be to have fun and enjoy the healthy competition.

2. Your own agenda is not your child’s. Young athletes compete in sports for many reasons. They enjoy the competition, like the social aspect, engage with being part of a team, and enjoy the challenge of setting goals. You might have a different agenda than your child and you need to recognize that racing is your child’s sport, not yours.

3. Emphasize a mental focus on the process of execution instead of results or trophies. We live in a society that focuses on results and winning, but winning come from working the process and enjoying the ride. Teach your child to focus on the process of the challenge of playing one shot, stroke, or race at a time instead of the number of wins or trophies.

4. You are a role model for your child athlete. As such, you should model composure and poise on the sidelines. When you are at competition, your child mimics your behavior as well as other role models. You become a role model in how you react to a close race or the questionable behavior of a competitor. Stay calm, composed, and in control during games so your child superstar can mimic those positive behaviors.

5. Refrain from game-time coaching. During competition, it’s time to just let them play. All the practice should be set aside because this is the time that athletes need trust in the training and react on the court or field. “Just do it” as the saying goes. Too much coaching (or over-coaching) can lead to mistakes and cautious performance (called paralysis by over analysis in my work). Save the coaching for practice and use encouragement at game time instead.

6. Help you athlete to detach self-esteem from achievement. Too many athletes I work with attach self-worth to the level of performance or outcomes. Help your child understand that they are a person FIRST who happens to be an athlete instead of an athlete who happens to be a person. Success or number of wins should not determine a person’s self-esteem.

7. Ask your child athlete the right questions. Asking the right questions after competition and games will tell your child what you think is important in sports. If you ask, “Did you win?” your child will think winning is important. If you ask, “Did you have fun?” he or she will assume having fun is important.

8. Pledge the: P.A.Y.S. Parent’s Code of Ethics. PAYS (Parents Association for Youth Sports) provides a parental handbook and code of ethics that adults must sign before each competitive season. This is a great tool to guide parents in their interaction with young athletes.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/parenting/article_243.shtml

The Psychology of Color in Web Design

Persons engaged in website design, here’s a scoop for you! Would you just like to know that by understanding the basics of cognitive psychology around color and patterns, we could further improve our Web design!

Designing a Web site does not only concentrate on making web pages of a certain site interesting and impressive. This skill and talent must also be used to ensure the user-friendliness of a certain site and must strive to reach the widest range of users possible.

So what’s this about psychology? It simply implies that by understanding the capabilities of the human eye, we can produce Website designs that are more user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that our website design will not only cater for normal sighted Internet users but also to those partially sighted, blind or estimated 8-10% of men with red-green colour blindness.

If you don’t know anything about vision and colorblindness and their reaction to various designs, then you must start learning now! 'Normal' vision is subject to huge variances. Even the size of elements will affect an individual user's perception of colour. The colours and the intensity of shades you choose to use in your Website design will be discerned differently by every individual who visits your Website.

Inconsistencies in color patterns are affected by changes in the ambient lighting levels. It’s like changes in your hair color depending on the amount of lighting it was exposed. Some people even see blue colors in some objects like clothing wherein others do not perceive. These persons just happen to have more blue sensitive cones (photosensitive cells which convert light energy into nerve impulses) in their retina. They seem to view the world with 'blue-tinted spectacles'. As a web desinger, you have to be aware that these conditions are the reasons why your perception of your Web design may be different to other people and certainly are not the same with everyone else's.

The key aspect to contemplate to achieve accessibility, aside from impaired vision, is by being aware that your design might be manipulated by assistive technology. Screen readers or magnifiers are examples of this. They are software the physically disabled employ to enhance their experience of user interfaces. Some Web users can only read a certain combination such as yellow text on a black background, which allows no room for greyscale.

In order to have good legibility for users with certain visual difficulties and impairments, strong contrast can be a main ingredient in your design. Test the effectivity of this by manipulating screenshots of your design in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Try converting the image to greyscale then make the screenshot monochrome to see how it might be viewed using the most extreme visual manipulation -- do this by increasing the contrast level to +100. This is a particularly useful approximation of difficulties colour blind users may experience in discerning one colour or shade from another.

You can start adjusting your color application now and keep in mind that your designs will not be considered impressive if few people could discern them.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/web_design_and_development/article_356.shtml

Psychology of Success

You must understand You are already a Success, and before you think I'm crazy read further you'll get the point.

Have you Ever wondered what is the thing you personally call success? What makes you feel good about yourself, is it to be rich to be famous to be approved by people to be loved or even to be hated?

It is strange but most people never ask themselves to define the thing, they call success. They have a disjointed picture of what they want in their brain so it is natural for the outcome to be rather unpleasant. The success here is that you do have an outcome and you are responsible for this, you created your life the way it is today.

So the answer is rather simple change your internal definitions to what you truly desire and life will start picking up. The brain is like a car if you don't have the control you will get killed but if you do, it makes your life easier.

The Key is Focus, have a very clear vision of what you want and train your mind to focus it's power to one purpose. It is coordinated and massive action towards a goal that gives you the result.

To conclude a word about failure, it simply Does NOT exist. Feedback is the right word to use. Feedback is your Compass in life without it you are lost.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_2427.shtml

Color Psychology, Decorating a Bedroom For the Subconscious

Color can have an astounding effect on perceptions, feelings, and interactions. Different colors evoke different memories and different ideas. In the bedroom, where one is supposed to be most at ease, it is important that you plan out your color scheme so that it creates the maximum comfort for you.

Psychologists have been studying the effects of color on people for many years. While they have made many discoveries about color effects on people in different societies, they have not found any effects that occur across all societies. For instance in China the color red tends to make people feel calm, while in America red tends to make people more aggressive. This means that the effect of color on a persons mind is individual and perceptual, rather then being physiological and inherent. In order to choose the right color for a setting, you will have to get in touch with your inner self, and see which color you harmonize best with. In the bedroom one tries to achieve maximum relaxation. By choosing the colors that you feel most comfortable with, you will find the greatest contentment with your decor.

Think about the following colors. Think about each one separately. Think about their different shades, how you feel about them, what they invoke in you.

Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Violet. Purple. White. Black

Once you have gained insight into how you feel about those colors, you can read about the general effects these colors have on people in American society. Don’t be afraid to disagree, your tastes are different from anyone else’s, but do keep in mind that the average American that enters the room will feel these effects to some extent.

The two extreme colors are white and black. Black is an attention grabber, and can create a bedroom with a dark, sultry look. Unfortunately it will also make the room look smaller and seem more restrictive. Overuse of the color black can be dangerous in a room like the bedroom, as it can darken a person’s mood. It may even produce night mares. Meanwhile its polar opposite, white, can be uninspiring. Most rooms start off with white walls, and it is the generic look for many homes. It can have a positive and soothing effect on ones emotions, but it may also lead to a lack of stimulation which can be a terrible thing in a bedroom. Whatever ones perceptions however, white is a good color for warm climates. White reflects light creating cooler temperatures and a breezy feeling.

The earth tones are gentle and will keep a bedroom feeling close and snuggly, as long as you pay attention to the tones you use. These colors include browns, oranges, and yellows. Browns tend to remind Americans of family, and of emotional bonds to each other and the world. Orange is a color that makes people happy, but is also the color associated with food and could lead to midnight snacking. Yellow creates a very positive effect on people psychologically, but only short term. Long term exposure to this color can lead to irritation.

Blues and greens evoke serenity and peace. They are colors associated with nature and the ocean. Using these colors heavily in your bedroom can help to calm the emotions of its inhabitants, and bring restful nights. Blue will also calm cravings for food after you’ve gone to bed, because there is very little blue food in nature, so our minds tend to repress hunger at its site. Pink is the extreme claming color and many will find it impossible to act aggressively when surrounded by it. Purple is a nice color for a bedroom that will make it look more sophisticated.

Red is an exciting color. If you have trouble falling asleep, don’t use red in the bedroom. However, to get a tired relationship going, red may be just the color you want. Red makes Americans aggressive. It speeds up their metabolism and gives them energy. Red is a good color for sheets or blankets, because if it becomes too distracting it can be put away until desired.

Combining these colors yields further effects, which are numerous beyond the scope of this article. Remember that shade and tone is important, and will alter these effects. Most importantly, you should have the final say; it is the colors effect on your own mind that is important, and only you can truly understand your own impressions.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/family/article_1017.shtm

The Psychology Of Success

Everybody has a dream. A fantasy, if you like. Usually it takes the form of something we would like to have, or something we would like to happen to us. How we respond to this dream will decide whether we are successful, or whether we remain as we are.

We could continue to dream and say 'If only...', knowing that we will never see our dream come true. In this case our dream becomes a SUBSTITUTE for action. Or we can act on our dream and try to make it happen. In this case our dream becomes a MODEL for our action.

I think we all have a dream. Be a millionaire, own a nice home in the country, own a Rolls Royce, whatever... That dream will only remain a dream for as long as we let it. In most cases this is forever.

Many people think that a dream is just a pleasant fantasy. Well, it can be. But the most important aspect of a dream is that it is a signal for action. The most incredible succ*ess stories all began with a dream. A dream is a goal for us to achieve a purpose in life - a destination.

That last point is very important. A goal is essential if you are to achieve great wealth. And it is important that you focus on a specific goal in your dream. It is no good saying that you want to be rich. This is not specific enough. That would be like going to a bank and asking for plenty of money!

To set an effective goal it must be a specific one. Your ultimate goal will be reached via many smaller, short-term 'goals'. Remember, a goal is a destination, and you can't get there if you don't know where you're going.

The Power Of Desire

Once you know what you want, you must then imagine what life would be like when you have it. If you want to be a millionaire, think of how you would spend your free time, and the luxuries you would enjoy. This brings into play the power of desire. This is an enormously strong emotion. When we desire, we tend to make more positive attempts to obtain the object of our craving.

Buy a small note book and write about a typical day (or day off!) when you are we*althy. Imagine what you would be able to do with the increased spending power. Write down everything that you would like to do, given the chance. Be as explicit as you like, and write it as vividly as you can.

When you have finished, read it back to yourself. What does it do to you? Can you feel yourself aching to be able to live life that way? Does it make you really jealous of those who are enjoying that sort of life? If it does, then well done. You have just created desire. If you have done it well enough, you should want that life so much that it hurts!

Read this note book every day. Add more to it if you think of something else you would like to do. Your book will motivate you through desire. It will remind you of the reward waiting for you - and it will inspire you to succeed.

So now go back over your dream of the future. You are now going to focus on the things you desire. You no longer want a Luxury car - you want a Rolls Royce. It isn't A house it's THE house. The one on Accacia avenue that you pass every day on your way to work. You must now start to focus on your 'goals'.

Observing The Reality

The next stage of action is to observe the reality. If there IS a house you would like, then visit it often. By this I don't mean you should stand under an adjacent street-lamp and leer ghoulishly at it until the cops arrive! You need only walk past it. Plan what changes you will make to it when it is yours, mentally re-arrange the garden and picture how you will change it to suit you.

If you know which sort of car you would buy, look at a model in a showroom. Find out about it. Get the specifics. Find out how much it costs, what extras are available, and other relevant details. Remember, you are converting your dream into hard facts. You are creating a specific destination. By doing this, you will be taking a positive step toward achieving your dream. Whereas before you were a thinker, now you are a doer. Positive action is characteristic of a successful entrepreneur.

Look To The Future

An important aspect of of visualizing your dream is the ability to look to the future. In doing this you are applying the same technique as millions of other successful people. You must see your life as it will be when your dream comes to fruition. You are preparing yourself for your own success.

Many of the people who buy books on starting a business actually don't bother starting up. They can't imagine themselves ever running their own business and earning Un*limited amounts of money. They never see things how they can be - only how they are. Don't make this mistake. KNOW what you want, KNOW how to get it, SEE how it WILL be, and then go for it!!

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_2735.shtml

How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing And The Psychology Of Selling

I'm assuming that the movie theatres have tested their price point and figured out what the highest price is that they can charge and get away with - the highest price the market will be willing to pay.

And, that's what they charge for their popcorn.

I believe that's a mistake. Here's a better way of doing it:

Test your price point. Find out what the highest price is that the customer is willing to pay for your product. Then, bring the price down considerably! Offer a 'better' deal than your competitors. Or offer them a lot more value than others, by adding additional bonuses to increase the overall perceived value.

Sure, you can take advantage of your customers by charging as much as you possibly can. But, I wouldn't recommend that strategy. Instead, tell them what others are charging and what a great value you're giving them. Break it down for them and explain the difference. Show them how they're unique and why buying from you is in their best interest.

Remember, you can either corner them into buying from you, or you can just make your offer so much better, and so much more irresistible, that they will want to buy from you!

Moreover, I want the customer to feel good 'after' the purchase as well. I'm not a fan of buyer's remorse, and I assume my customers aren't either.

You ensure that they will continue to feel good about their buying decision after the purchase by delivering on your promise. In fact, you can go a step beyond and 'over-deliver.'

When you do that, you will also:

1) Dramatically decrease your refund rate, and

2) Ensure that the customer will buy from you again, in the future, because his first purchase from you was a positive and rewarding experience.

And, besides, the only reason I'm "in business" is because of the 'customer.' Why would I want to cheat him or trick him? We're in this business because we want to help people and create real value in their lives. Not because we want to suck every penny out of them, right?

Most marketers are bad marketers because they think that marketing is about 'tricking' people into giving them money. That's absolutely not true.

If you do it right, they will want to give you the money, and feel good about it. And, you'll be able to sleep well at night.

Marketing is not a one-shot deal. If you try to trick the customer into giving you as much money as possible just so you can get one sale out of him, you're seriously missing out.

Instead, if you make the first buying experience a pleasant one, the customer will continue to buy from you again and again, and will happily give you more money. So, don't forget about your existing customers after they've made that first sale. That's just the beginning of your mutually-beneficial relationship with him.

Well, there you have it… "popcorn marketing" explained, and then some! :-)

There are many extremely powerful marketing strategies and psychological motivators at work in the above 'movie popcorn' scenario.

Remember, just 'knowing' about these strategies and concepts won't do much to increase your profits. Start applying as many of them to your own business as possible, and I guarantee you'll sell more, and sell more often.

In fact, you'll get much better results than the movie theatres ever will, by always keeping the customer's best interest in mind.

Here's to your dramatic increase in profits!

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_1430.shtml

The Psychology Of Effortless Writing

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. ~James Michener

Writing has always been a highly pleasurable form of art for me. I find it surprising that many people view it as something to avoid as much as possible. The most baffling thing to me is how people complain of "writer's block." I've also heard of metaphors like "squeezing blood from a stone."

Not only is it a delicious experience to read and to write, but it's really easy. After all, it's talking and expressing your view of the world. Sometimes your views, like that of Nelson Mandela’s, can even change the course of history.

Through writing I can convey my entire experience so that someone else can benefit from it and learn from that experience without having had to be there. So, by writing I can give others much more than I can in person. In addition, writing bends time and I can convey my experience to someone centuries away.

Anyway my point is not to wax eloquent on the joy and gift of self-expression. Rather it is to demonstrate how easy it is to write quickly and with delight.

Here are five simple things that you can do to make your writing effortless.

1. Read. Enjoy your favorite book, luxuriate in the imagery, and allow yourself to drift into someone else's experience of the world. When you read, your brain starts to warm up. It starts to hum and sing. It discovers the pleasure of its own function.

2. Write. After getting inspired by the writings of others, it's time to cut your own piece of the pie. Sit down and write. Let the words flow; fall into a reverie; and go swimming in the river of your own cogitations.

3. Edit. Go over what you've written. Cut out extra words and tighten sentences and rearrange paragraphs. Make it a game. Play with the idea of how you can make it shorter, simpler, or more expressive.

4. Proof. Read over what you've written. See if there are any typos or spelling mistakes. See if there are any grammatical errors or awkward sentences. Prune, correct, and shear.

5. Publish. Get it out there. Do a blog. Post a letter. Gather it into a volume and pack it off to a publishing house or post it as an e-book.

Finally, bless the work and let it go. Don't be attached to the outcome. Your pleasure was in writing. You can't do anything about how others respond or fail to respond.

Writing can be a chore only if you set about it the wrong way.

Here are five ways that people like to turn pleasure into pain:

1. When you confuse the inner editor with the inner writer, you feel confused and pained and blocked. First, let the writer show up. Then, the editor can do its thing. Keep both functions separate.

2. When you write under pressure, with no sense of beauty, and with no sense of magic within. This is easily cured by reading a good book. Let the flow of language carry you. Your subconscious will then be attuned to replicating the beauty.

3. When you spend hours editing, trying to get it perfect, and upsetting yourself because it's impossible to read it through and not make a correction. Words are plastic and they can always be molded better, and each time you read you can see more to shape. Hence, just edit it once and let it go.

4. When you cling to the outcome. When your work is not published and you feel rejected. When it is read by “friends” who make comments that have nothing to do with what you wrote. When you expect something for your efforts and nothing comes back to you. After you write and send it out, let it go.

5. And when you're unclear on an idea and it never comes out right. You can’t get it right because your thoughts are all jumbled up. In this case, outline or wait for inspiration.

In conclusion, write. It will do your soul a world of good.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/writing/article_613.shtml

Psychology of Motivation

Anything a person does is driven by some certain desire to acquire a predetermined goal. Cognitive psychology theorists endeavor to study and to fully conceive the nature of motivation or desire. People do one thing in order to achieve a specific goal; however understanding that doing one thing is necessary to achieve another thing is insufficient for a person to start doing the “one thing”. This fact leaves nothing else but to bring out the idea of desire. Therefore, the knowledge, or the cognition, about particular characteristics of actions and objects is required but is not enough to motivate a person to start doing relevant things. Another important component is person’s personal desire coming from within a person; otherwise the nothing will be done.

In order to achieve some C, a person has to do a particular action B, but, as mentioned above, the person needs to wish this C in order to get to action B. These are the basic concepts of the folk psychology, that try to explain the nature of motivation. On one hand, these concepts as well as the “scientific” terms of this branch are incompatible with genuine psychology. They also fail to explain the real procedures of behavior, although they seem quite satisfactory and sufficient. These folk concepts are mainly different from Maze’s theory. On the other hand, however, there truly are similarities in this folk “purpose” or “desire” concept and Maze’s understanding of nature of motivation.

The main differences between the folk cognitive psychology concept and Maze’s instinctual theory are the following; folk psychological concept of desire suggests that the mechanism from its inception till the achievement is mental. In other words, a person fully understands actions, means, their goals, and ends. What Maze offers, is that processes in a person behavior are “neutral”(Maze, 1983, p. 150). What he meant is a human has certain centers in his or her brain, which are responsible for things like thirst, hunger, self-defense, sex, and others. And so whenever a person’s get excited, the person immediately receives a signal and does everything necessary to satiate the need. Of course, people would not defend themselves when are thirsty, rather they would try to get something to drink, which means that they understand what is going on, but have no control over the phenomenon. Folk psychology, on the other hand, suggests that people consciously motivate themselves to get a drink, but Maze offers another view, which completely satisfies the needs of the science to explain human behavior. Of course both folk psychology and Maze’s theory claim that a person does one thing in order for the other thing to happen, but the approaches and mechanisms are completely different.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_3148.shtml

The Psychology Of Weight Loss

You see the razor-thin models gracing the covers of magazines…you watch actors and actresses on the big screen who seem to never gain a pound. And you wonder: How do I differ from them? You may be surprised to learn that a number of famous people at one time had difficulty maintaining a healthy weight. But they were able to conquer their problem, thanks to a new-and-improved, healthy view of eating.

You may not realize it, but there is a certain psychology at work in successful weight loss. It is no surprise, then, that the magazine Psychology Today has explored the issue in-depth. In October of 2004, the magazine posted an article on its website detailing the experiences of Diane Berry, a nurse practitioner who studied women who had shed at least 15 pounds and had maintained their weight loss for an average of seven years.

The women shared some important things in common. For instance, they all achieved their weight loss through either Weight Watchers or TOPS, which meant that they had a firm support network as they tried to maintain their weight. The group meetings were highly important, because they learned to recognize that they were certainly not alone in their struggles with weight. The women were also quite unusual because up to 90 percent of individuals who have lost weight end up putting it back on within five years.

Another common trait of these women is that they appeared to undergo a profound mood shift as they made the transition from fat to thin. From all indications, they appeared to be depressed when they were heavy but, as they attempted to lose weight, their mood brightened.

For these women, healthy eating became a habit—a habit they refused to break. They themselves recognized the tremendous role that psychology plays in weight loss. They refused to give in to negative feelings of frustration and denial and chose a positive path instead. The women also made it a point to weigh themselves regularly so that they could chart their progress.

And they recognized that maintaining weight loss would be a lifetime struggle. They knew that they could not attempt a weight loss program then put it back on the shelf. They had to learn new eating patterns that they could continue week in and week out. In some cases, they likened their struggle to that of an alcoholic. In other words, they recognized the gravity of their problem and took steps to correct the situation.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these women’s experiences was the fact that their weight loss actually came in spurts. At times, they regained their weight, but they did not let that deter them from their final goal. They simply viewed their setbacks as challenges that they needed to overcome. This may be the key psychological trait that separates successful dieters from unsuccessful ones—perseverance. In essence, these women were able to change their personalities in a positive way in order to achieve their long-term weight loss goals.

Another interesting aspect of this study was that it showed that the women who had undergone weight loss transformation were genuinely happy. This shows the tremendous psychological impact that weight loss can have on an individual. Once an individual is free from the burden of extra weight, he or she is better able to meet the challenges of life head-on. The dieter benefits from positive reinforcement, as relatives, friends, and co-workers congratulate him or her for the weight loss. In this way, losing weight can be quite a life-affirming experience and can lead to a more optimistic outlook on life.

It must be noted here that the psychology of weight loss is a complicated matter. There is no single ingredient that can turn a fat person into a thin one. However, recognizing that there is a psychological component to successful weight loss may, in fact, be half the battle. Once an individual recognizes that he or she is engaged in a psychological fight, he or she is better able to do battle. By retraining oneself to seek healthy approaches to diet, one can, in effect, mold oneself into a new individual—one that no longer lives to eat, but simply eats to live.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/health/article_2966.shtml

Trading Psychology: Mistakes in a Trading Environment

When it comes to trading, one of the most neglected subjects are those dealing with trading psychology. Most traders spend days, months and even years trying to find the right system. But having a system is just part of the game. Don’t get us wrong, it is very important to have a system that perfectly suits the trader, but it is as important as having a money management plan, or to understand all psychology barriers that may affect the trader decisions and other issues. In order to succeed in this business, there must be equilibrium between all important aspects of trading.

In the trading environment, when you lose a trade, what is the first idea that pops up in your mind? It would probably be, “There must be something wrong with my system”, or “I knew it, I shouldn’t have taken this trade” (even when your system signaled it). But sometimes we need to dig a little deeper in order to see the nature of our mistake, and then work on it accordingly.

When it comes to trading the Forex market as well as other markets, only 5% of traders achieve the ultimate goal: to be consistent in profits. What is interesting though is that there is just a tiny difference between this 5% of traders and the rest of them. The top 5% grow from mistakes; mistakes are a learning experience, they learn an invaluable lesson on every single mistake made. Deep in their minds, a mistake is one more chance to try it harder and do it better the next time, because they know they might not get a chance the next time. And at the end, this tiny difference becomes THE big difference.

Mistakes in the trading environment

Most of us relate a trading mistake to the outcome (in terms of money) of any given trade. The truth is, a mistake has nothing to do with it, mistakes are made when certain guidelines are not followed. When the rules you trade by are violated. Take for instance the following scenarios:

First scenario: The system signals a trade.

1. Signal taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade.

Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money.

Experience gained: Its good to follow the system, if I do this consistently the odds will turn in my favor. Confidence is gained in both the trader and the system.

Mistake made: None.

2. Signal taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade.

Outcome of the trade: Negative, lost money.

Experience gained: It is impossible to win every single trade, a loosing trade is just part of the business; our raw material, we know we can’t get them all right. Even with this lost trade, the trader is proud about himself for following the system. Confidence in the trader is gained.

Mistake made: None.

3. Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a profitable trade.

Outcome of the trade: Neutral.

Experience gained: Frustration, the trader always seems to get in trades that turned out to be loosing trades and let the profitable trades go away. Confidence is lost in the trader self.

Mistake made: Not taking a trade when the system signaled it.

4. Signal not taken and trade turns out to be a loosing trade.

Outcome of the trade: Neutral.

Experience gained: The trader will start to think “hey, I’m better than my system”. Even if the trader doesn't think on it consciously, the trader will rationalize on every signal given by the system because deep in his or her mind, his or her “feeling” is more intelligent than the system itself. From this point on, the trader will try to outguess the system. This mistake has catastrophic effects on our confidence to the system. The confidence on the trader turns into overconfidence.

Mistake made: Not taking a trade when system signaled it

Second Scenario: System does not signal a trade.

1. No trade is taken

Outcome of the trade: Neutral

Experience gained: Good discipline, we only need to take trades when the odds are in our favor, just when the system signals it. Confidence gained in both the trader self and the system.

Mistake made: None

2. A trade is taken, turns out to be a profitable trade.

Outcome of the trade: Positive, made money.

Experience gained: This mistake has the most catastrophic effects in the trader self, the system and most importantly in the trader’s trading career. You will start to think you need no system, you know better from them all. From this point on, you will start to trade based on what you think. Confidence in the system is totally lost. Confidence in the trader self turns into overconfidence.

Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system.

3. A trade is taken, turned out to be a loosing trade.

Outcome of the trade: negative, lost money.

Experience gained: The trader will rethink his strategy. The next time, the trader will think it twice before getting in a trade when the system does not signal it. The trader will go “Ok, it is better to get in the market when my system signals it, only those trade have a higher probability of success”. Confidence is gained in the system.

Mistake made: Take a trade when there was no signal from the system

As you can see, there is absolutely no correlation between the outcome of the trade and a mistake. The most catastrophic mistake even has a positive trade outcome, made money, but this could be the beginning of the end of the trader’s career. As we have already stated, mistakes must only be related to the violation of rules a trader trades by.

All these mistakes were directly related to the signals given by a system, but the same is applied when getting out of a trade. There are also mistakes related to following a trading plan. For example, risking more money on a given trade than the amount the trader should have risked and many more.

Most mistakes can be avoided by first having a trading plan. A trading plan includes the system: the criteria we use to get in and out the market, the money management plan: how much we will risk on any given trade, and many other points. Secondly, and most important, we need to have the discipline to follow strictly our plan. We created our plan when no trade was placed on, thus no psychology barriers were up front. So, the only thing we are certain about is that if we follow our plan, the decision taken is on our best interests, and in the long run, these decisions will help us have better results. We don’t have to worry about isolated events, or trades that could had give us better results at first, but then they could have catastrophic results in our trading career.

How to deal with mistakes

There are many possible ways to properly manage mistakes. We will suggest the one that works better for us.

Step one: Belief change.

Every mistake is a learning experience. They all have something valuable to offer. Try to counteract the natural tendency of feeling frustrated and approach mistakes in a positive manner. Instead of yelling to everyone around and feeling disappointed, say to yourself “ok, I did something wrong, what happened? What is it?

Step two: Identify the mistake made.

Define the mistake, find out what caused the mistake, and try as hard as you can to effectively see the nature of that mistake. Finding the mistake nature will prevent you from making the same mistake again. More than often you will find the answer where you less expected. Take for instance a trader that doesn’t follow the system. The reason behind this could be that the trader is afraid of loosing. But then, why is he or she afraid? It could be that the trader is using a system that does not fit him or her, and finds difficult to follow every signal. In this case, as you can see, the nature of the mistake is not in the surface. You need to try as hard as you can to find the real reason of the given mistake.

Step three: Measure the consequences of the mistake.

List the consequences of making that particular mistake, both good and bad. Good consequences are those that make us better traders after dealing with the mistake. Think on all possible reasons you can learn from what happened. For the same example above, what are the consequences of making that mistake? Well, if you don’t follow the system, you will gradually loose confidence in it, and this at the end will put you into trades you don’t really want to be, and out of trades you should be in.

Step four: Take action.

Taking proper action is the last and most important step. In order to learn, you need to change your behavior. Make sure that whatever you do, you become “this-mistake-proof”. By taking action we turn every single mistake into a small part of success in our trading career. Continuing with the same example, redefining the system would be the trader’s final step. The trader would put a system that perfectly fits him or her, so the trader doesn’t find any trouble following it in future signals.

Understanding the fact that the outcome of any trade has nothing to do with a mistake will open your mind to other possibilities, where you will be able to understand the nature of every mistake made. This at the same time will open the doors for your trading career as you work and take proper action on every mistake made.

The process of success is slow, and plenty of times it is attributed to repeated mistakes made and the constant struggle to get past these mistakes, working on them accordingly. How we deal with them will shape our future as a trader, and most importantly as a person.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/business_and_finance/article_4217.shtml

The Psychology of Markets

We know that greed and fear rule the markets. But did you know that when investors gets too greedy, markets usually fall, and when investors are overcome with fear, markets usually rise. So how can when we monitor investors emotions and take advantage of investors emotional extremes?

Welcome to the world of investor sentiment analysis.

Investor psychology has been analysed for at least 250 years. Charles MacKay wrote his book, ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds’, in 1841, describing, among other manias, the herd mentality that caused the South Sea Bubble. Since then, many academics have published financial theories based on the concept that individuals act rationally and consider all available information in the decision-making process. But real life frequently demonstrates that the behavior of equity markets is irrational and unpredictable. A field known as “behavioural finance” has evolved over the years attempting to explain how emotions influence investors and their decision-making process. Studying human psychology helps predict the general direction of financial markets as well as many stock market bubbles and crashes. At the height of a period of optimism, greed moves stocks higher, ignoring business fundamentals and therefore creating an overpriced market. At the other ext!

reme, fear moves prices lower, ignoring obvious opportunities and creates an undervalued market.

One important study, (“Aspects of Investor Psychology,” The Journal of Portfolio Management, Summer 1998) found that investors are much more distressed by prospective losses than they are made happy by equivalent gains. Some researchers theorize that investors “follow the crowd” and conventional wisdom to avoid any regret in the event their decisions prove to be incorrect.

QUANTIFYING INVESTOR EMOTIONS OR INVESTOR SENTIMENT

When a stock or market index rises, we know that it means investors are more eager to buy than to sell. But how can we accurately gauge just how investors feel?

Most often, investors are somewhere between mildly positive and mildly negative, and only occasionally do they demonstrate the extremes of greed or fear. It is easier to detect emotion when it is close to either irrational exuberance or outright fear. When markets act this way, it becomes "news" and moves from the business section, to being featured at the start of the evening news, and on the front page of the daily newspaper.

The success of charting as a tool, depends on investors repeating their behaviour patterns. There is always a comfort factor in doing the same as others and generally an aversion to behaving differently. Investors display herding instincts in their behaviour and this has become particularly noticeable among institutional investors. In the early stages of a rising trend in a market, positive sentiment can act as a positive driving force as everyone rushes in to join the party. However, there comes a time after the trend has been in place, when this positive sentiment acts as a warning that the trend is nearing its climax. That’s when smart investors will start switching to alternative investments.

The most sophisticated and active players in the market use derivative products to effect their transactions. These players tend to display earlier changes in emotion than most investors and normally their emotions run to greater extremes. So, derivative markets are a good source of data on investor sentiment. There are various options available on stocks, ETF's and indexes. By using an option pricing formula, we can extract a measure of how much investors are prepared to pay for the possibility of making a profit, or hedging against a loss. This is known as implied volatility, and it provides a mathematical valuation of investor emotion. Implied volatility tends to be high (the scale is inverted) when the market has had a sharp fall and this is associated with investor fear. At the other extreme, low implied volatility often occurs after a rise in the market and when investors are becoming complacent.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/business_and_finance/article_4941.shtml

The Psychology of a Confident Golf Swing

Ever notice what happens when you are more confident with your Golf Swing? Want to have more confidence with your Golf Swing? Then read on and discover some amazing techniques to develop confidence in your golf swing today.

Here in England we are on the verge of the new football season and there is a large amount of transfer speculation and the like occurring. With football, we often find that the players who are doing well are confident. When they are having a great spell of the season, scored a lot of goals or something like that, their competence escalates as they feel more confidence. When their confidence is knocked, they might go through a bad spell and often their skills seem to be less available. My point here is that of self image and how we perceive ourselves. This is true with our golf swing also.

Our self-image often works like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have got a great friend who won't mind me saying that he is not classically good looking (whatever that might be) however, he thinks of himself as attractive and as a result he carries a certain way about him that people are attracted to. Anyone who truly believes themselves to be acertain way; unnattractive or lacking in self-confidence for example, sabotage their chances of being anything else. This is the same with our own internal image of our golf swing.

Our self-image is very important to mention here; remember, you can never be better on the outside than you believe yourself to be on the inside. So you need to believe in your golf swing.

If someone feels negative, sad, angry or frustrated with their golf swing when they enter certain circumstances, events or situations, especially when taking to the golf course, it is very likely that they are going to feel lacking in confidence and this leads to lacking in competence with the golf swing. You need to change your self-image and paint a better picture of yourself in your mind as to how you believe your golf swing to be and what you feel capable of doing and being. No other person can reach inside us and change our feelings for us. If you really want to feel more confident about your golf swing, your self-image needs to be changed in relation to your golf swing. If you see yourself as successful, skilled and confident, you can enter any golf course with your head held high and standing tall and feeling safe and protected by it. You are feeling good about yourself and your golf swing.

We all react automatically to life according to our inner sense of ourselves. Our self-image is our inner sense of ourselves and we refer to that part of ourselves all the time to see how to behave or perform in certain circumstances. In other words, your reactions are founded in your self-image. Building and developing and creating a progressive, positive self-image with regards to your golf swing ensures that your automatic reactions come from a sense of freedom, confidence and are powerful.

I once attended a course whereby the facilitator had devised a wonderful technique that I use a lot with many of the individual clients that consult with me to better their golf swing. The reason I like it so much is because it makes you instantly feel good about your golf swing. This simple technique can be done absolutley any time that you are in a room with a mirror.

So many people I meet condition themselves to feel uncomfortable or bad when they look into a mirror by looking into it and thinking about fat, wrinkles or a blemish or how poor their golf swing is! I have noticed several of my friends look into a mirror and "tut" at themsleves while reminding themselves of all the bad things that attack our confidence. So this technique interupts that process and allows you to recondition yourself to feel better and more confident about your golf swing.

Ok, so first up, take a seat or position yourself comfortably in view of a mirror so that you will be able to see your entire self, however, do not look into it straight away. Just wait and look away for a moment.

Then, think about an occasion when someone you know was being sincere when they paid you a compliment following a shot you played. It can be any compliment what so ever of any kind related to your golf game.

Thirdly, remember what it was that they said and hear it again in your mind and remember how it made you feel. Locate where abouts in your body those feelings were. Really tune into them.

Now, imagine that feeling of being complimented, feeling good about your golf swing and feeling talented spreading through your system, working its way into your cells and into your mind, really imagine it spreading and travelling through you. Imagine that the more it spreads, the more intense the feelings become, this is going to make your golf swing awesome.

Now, turn or look up and into the mirror. Really look at yourself while feeling that feeling.

Spend some time enjoying this feeling.

Lastly, imagine taking a picture of yourself just like that image in the mirror. Imagine taking that picture right into your heart. Keep it there, right there, so that you can look at it whenever you want to remind yourself of how good you can feel about your golf swing.

Please remember; self-confidence is innate. It is built into us from the day we were born. We can often lose touch with it and learn to worry or lessen it, however, confidence is simply hard-wired into you. It is there all the time underneath your worries. Worries and lack with regards to your golf swing are things that can go up and down, can be learned and unlearned. Your confidence is always there beneath all that. Let it permeate in to your golf swing.

It is like when a baby keeps on wanting to walk and keeps on falling down and keeps on at it. However may times they stumble, they get up and they learn and they benefit from it. The persistence is rewarded. Your confidence is hard-wired into you. We all have it. Every technique in both parts of this confident golf swing article are just ways of reminding you all of what you already have.

Good luck with getting that confident golf swing.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/recreation_and_sports/article_1379.shtml

The Psychology of Network Marketing

The general public usually misunderstands the network marketing industry. When they hear of network marketing opportunities their biased perceptions of the industry can cause them to avoid these opportunities. This negative reputation has been brought about by information about organizations within this industry that are perceived as being unscrupulous and deceptive. And as we all know, negative word-of-mouth can travel quickly.

However, the public’s perceptions of network marketing are beginning to change. This is largely due to changes in behavior by the network marketers. Today, enlightened network marketers have made the subtle change in focus from building sales to building relationships. This new breed of network marketer is involved in building, not only relationships, but long-term relationships that are mutually beneficial to both parties.

In many cases network marketing has turned into a full-fledged mentoring system. When you take the risk to grow your own business channels the risk is greatly reduced when there is someone there to guide you and offer advice, making this is a true business relationship. Enlightened network marketers will also acknowledge the psychological differences in people. For example, they are aware that some people are auditory while others are more visually oriented. Therefore their teaching tools will reflect an individual’s needs.

If you are researching network marketing opportunities look for those organizations that cater not only to your financial growth, but also to your personal development. Look for opportunities that are built on relationships as well as other types of rewards. Integrity is a major component of the enlightened network marketing organization.

The truth is that opportunities do exist and the rewards can be great. However, success often comes to those that are able to work within the system’s framework. And, as in other walks of life, the most successful network marketers are those that are highly motivated. Your success will be measured, not by your own achievements, but by the achievements of others within your organization.

Every new industry is faced with the challenge of establishing their collective identity and ethics. Network marketing has been no exception. However changes within the industry are occurring and people’s perceptions of the industry are changing. This is reflected in the growing number of individuals from all walks of life who are embracing the concepts and rewards of network marketing.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_2309.shtml

Self Defense And Street Fight Psychology

Let’s speak about the psychological aspect of a street collision. You should differentiate two items. You must realize, whether your fight is a result of a usual domestic conflict, or you are attacked by a robber, killer or bandit. Your actions will flow depending on these circumstances.

If it is an everyday domestic conflict that happens in the street (someone pushed you or your leg, disturbed the queue order etc.), you should not use your fighting knowledge and skills to put your opponent out of action.

As a rule, all these conflicts occur because of trifles, and you need to behave normally in this case, let’s say naturally. When this conflict happens, no one wants to fight actually, but just gets rid of the negative energy that was accumulated.

Those who express harshly their negative reaction are not dangerous at all in most cases. He will threaten you, make expressive gestures, grab you with iron fingers but nothing more will happen. This is nothing but the pose which does not contain real threat at all. However, there are exceptions in this case too. You must define at once who is dangerous and who is not.

I would like to precise one thing. Though laws and principles of a hand-to-hand fighting are the same, a sports battle in a gym differs greatly from that one happened in the street. If you are calm when fight in a sports gym and don’t worry about fatal injury, you will be extremely nervous when come across your real enemy in the street. You won’t fight according to rule (as you do in the sports gym), you need to act most quickly and cruelly sometimes for your effective self defense.

The psychological aspect plays a very important role in the street scuffle. You must prevent your enemy’s attack or take the lead over him. Therefore, I advise you on no account not to start fighting if you see you can avoid it.

If you cannot do that and you know you will be attacked inevitably, you should act quickly, harshly and be the first with attack actions. Lots of things depend on who starts the battle first. This is the main distinction of a street fight. When you train in the sports gym, it is not important at all who will attack first. Both fighters are ready to attack and defense.

It is not the same thing in the street fight. Opponents rarely stand at the certain stances (as in the sport gym) and are situated in close distance quite often. In other words, they are in the hitting zone of each other. Hence, a person who starts his attack first has a huge advantage. Attack here means just the most harsh and strong action and not the expressive gestures at usual domestic conflict.

I always feel awkward when I am forced to come into such conflict. When I see a person standing in front of myself and offending me, I feel ashamed for this conflict that occurred. This person cannot be dangerous for me, he is completely defenseless.

I know that I can put him out of action in a moment, but my consciousness does not let me do that. As we see, such clashes that happen in shops, public transport, streets etc are not the fight itself, but just an everyday conflict.

Real fight happens when your enemy or enemies are certain in their superiority over you. For example, it may be numerical advantage, force advantage or armament advantage.

So, I strongly recommend to you: try to avoid street fight at any cost. If you see you are about to be attacked, you need to act most quickly and harshly. You must always remember that if your enemy is eager to fight with you, he is sure in his superiority. If he is alone and is not too strong or high, but still wants to fight, it means most likely that he is either armed with the weapon or instructed of some martial art.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/recreation_and_sports/article_1677.shtml

Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship

It seems everyone you meet these days is a self-proclaimed psychologist. From radio talk shows, television interviews, romance novels, weekly magazines, to cliques at work; everybody has an opinion on the latest “mental illness.” I was first introduced to practical psychology when I joined the United States Air Force in 1970. It was expected that Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) would become counselors to their subordinates. Profession military education devoted entire chapters and lectures on non-directive or eclectic counseling techniques. Maslow's hierarchy of needs was drilled into our heads. We were sternly warned to avoid any mention of religion, but instead to make ample use of psychological techniques.

Paul Vitz in his book “Psychology as Religion” attempts to expose psychology for what it really is, i.e., religion. He begins by giving the reader a brief biography on the fathers of the modern psychology movement along with some of their theories. The opening chapter was dry reading but I suppose necessary as a historical backdrop. My interest peaked when I immediately recognized Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow since I was forced to study them for 26 years while in the military. Vitz also discusses Carl Jung, Erich Fromn, and Rollo May as being significant contributors to the movement.

Vitz quickly transitions into explaining the concept of self-esteem which he promotes as the center of the entire selfism movement. This became important to me as it seems no matter where you turn, a lack of or poor self-esteem appears to be the cause of every ill known to mankind. For a movement to be so widespread to the point where psychology has been woven into the gospel message, Vitz says that the self-esteem concept has “no clear intellectual origins.” That’s a surprising claim considering the impact selfism has had on academia and the practice of counseling.

Vitz states that self-esteem should be understood as an emotional response and not a cause. He says it is a reaction to what we have done and what others have done to us. High self-esteem is a desirable feeling to have (like happiness), but the feeling itself isn’t the cause of anything. In trying to obtain a feeling of self-esteem, the only successful way is to do good to others or accomplish something. In so doing, you’ll get all the self-esteem you want. However, the downside is people begin to pursue happiness as a far greater goal than the goal of obtaining personal holiness.

Not only is selfism a self-defeating goal for the Christian, Vitz goes on to make the case that it is also simply bad science and a warped philosophy. The little clinical evidence that does exist is mostly based on empirical observations and doesn’t stand the test of solid scientific problem solving. He exposes flaws in each step of the process, from stating the problem, forming and testing the hypothesis, to testing the conclusion. He also identifies several philosophical contradictions and in some cases, actual misrepresentations. The spread of this bad science and faulty philosophy is believed by the author to have contributed to the destruction of families. Additionally, the entire recovery group mentality convinces the person with “low self-esteem” that their ills are due to trauma inflicted on them in the past. Recovery group therapy strokes the patient with self-pity thereby convincing the clients are victims. Once labeled, the “victim” now assumes the attitude of victimhood.

Values clarification has become the model taught in schools and begins with the assumption that man is naturally good. Since the developers of values clarification reject moral teachings, Vitz claims that if responsible adults, i.e., teachers, don’t promote good values then someone else will. Providing a permissive environment supposedly nourishes the child by granting satisfaction for the child’s desires and interests. However, this philosophy is bankrupt because kids will assume the values of irresponsible sources in lieu of responsible ones. This combined with the aforementioned teachings has produced a society of victims where everyone is pointing to blame someone else for their misfortunes.

Vitz takes three chapters to present a Christian analysis and criticism of humanistic self-theories. He gives the credit to our educational system for the transformation of our society into a culture of pure selfism. He notes that the New Age movement has many founders, but Abraham Maslow’s theories have been the most influential. Vitz argues his Christian critique within a historical framework and the impact it has had on the evolution of our society. Unfortunately he gives scant attention to biblical references for his position, but does show how the selfism heresy affects teachings on depression, idolatry, and suffering. He closes his work with the observation, "never have so many people been so self-conscious, so aware of the self as something to be expressed...., the self has become an object to itself." (I think this may make the case that self-esteem has become a new barometric indicator to the question everyone asks, "How are you doing today?")

Overall, Vitz's book uses a cerebral approach in attempting to prove that self-worship is simply a religion. Biblical counselors looking for material to help their counselees break free of a selfish worldview of life will be disappointed. Then again, Vitz didn't write his book for that purpose. Moreover, he provides a wealth of information and a refreshing argument against those who say, "You can't teach religion in public schools." This leaves the reader with an irony: it's not a question of should we or should we not teach religion in public schools, but instead, what religion will we teach; selfism or Christianity.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/religion/article_323.shtml

Tennis Psychology – The Foundation Of Winning Tennis

The field of tennis psychology is not just common advice and tactical or mental tips. It is based on general and sports psychology and then applied to tennis specifically.

There are many common elements in the psychology of tennis which can be found in other sports too. An athlete that wants to perform at his peak needs to learn:

1. How to refocus

Many players start the match with good concentration but they drop their level of concentration because of disturbing outside events, pressure situations, emotional reactions to various events and so on. A player needs to learn how to quickly and effectively refocus to be able to play his best tennis.

2. How to control his arousal – to manage his intensity and body energy

A player's arousal can be too high or too low and in both cases he is not able to play his best tennis. Arousal affects his body and mind abilities – a player may have too much muscle tension and his decisions are usually not tactically intelligent.

Learning to find the »ideal state« is the key in controlling one's arousal and one of the most important aspects of tennis psychology.

3. What elements of the tennis game can a player control

A player may get upset (and it happens often) about an event that he cannot control or even influence. For example – the noise of the planes flying over the court, windy conditions, court conditions, his opponent’s luck and so on.

By being focused on these events he wastes his energy which could be used on elements that he can control – his attitude and effort, how he intends to play, …

4. How to control his thinking

Negative thinking affects players much more than they are aware of. It affects body abilities in two ways – being aware of them (feeling tension) and being unaware (the pendulum experiment); moreover it evokes negative feelings – emotions that cloud the player's judgment and affect his body abilities – again.

By being more and more aware of what he is thinking a player can then change his thoughts to a more positive and solution based thinking. The awareness of our thoughts is quite a challenge in the psychological approach to tennis.

5. How to use imagery

Imagery or visualization is extremely useful in almost all aspects of the tennis game. A player can improve technique, strategy, physical abilities and his mental preparation of certain events. Another use of imagery is when a player misses a shot and then quickly sees in his mind how he hit the ball correctly.

Using imagery is an incredibly efficient technique, not only in the psychology of tennis but in everyday life too.

6. How to build confidence

Confidence is one of those elements where tennis psychology can help really quickly and with very simple tools. A player who is not confident will hesitate in his decisions, will be afraid to take risks and his shots will usually miss by just a little. Doubt can be seen in reality as small misses that happen regularly.

When a player builds his confidence he is able to play at his best and doesn't lose his hope when a big challenge appears.

7. How to find and get rid of limiting beliefs

Limiting beliefs are one of the most limiting and troublesome aspects of human's psyche. They are mostly deep in the subconsciousness and are sometimes hard to find. A limiting belief for example is when a player believes that he is not good in tie-breaks and he will then self-sabotage himself in those crucial moments to prove himself right.

Having no limiting beliefs means that the player is in total acceptance of everything that happens. Outside events are just events with no meaning. The player accepts them and deals with them.

8. How to empty the mind – Inner Game principles to enter the zone

There are three main principles of the Inner Game – quieting the mind, non-judgment and trusting the body. The player must first learn to apply them in training. And when he experiences these effects in training he knows what to look for in the match. He then plays the inner game – how to perform at his peak.

These are the fundamentals of tennis psychology and by understanding these principles and applying them daily a player develops mental toughness. He knows how to apply the tools and as a very positive side effect gains a lot of self confidence.

He now knows that he has ways of dealing with his own mind and that most of his competitors do not. He is aware that he has the edge in the most stressful situations in the match and that gives him inner strength and belief that he can persevere through tough matches.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/recreation_and_sports/article_1847.shtml

Psychology Of The Winning Trader

It is said that nine out of every ten traders loose money. It is also said that day trading is seventy five percent psychology and the other twenty five percent divided up between your trading system and proper money management. Now I do not know if those facts are true or false. I have never seen a survey published on the topic, maybe someone can help me with that information, but let us assume that if it’s not absolutely true then it is nearly true. This would mean that most traders are lacking the proper psychology for trading.

Therefore we need to look very carefully at this business of our thought patterns, what we are thinking while we are trading. All our actions are governed by either pleasure or pain. Whatever we do, we do it to either to experience pleasure or escape pain. We have a need to avoid pain and a desire to gain pleasure. We need to do some introspection and decide what is it that drives us while we are trading, pleasure or pain. Do you jump into every trade even when the setups are not quite right because you just cannot stand missing the next big move, not having the pleasure of the winning trade. Fear will probably cause you to not enter trades when everything looks perfect because the chance of loosing money is just too much for you. So you sit there paralyzed, or you enter the trade but your stops are so tight you hardly ever make any money. Most traders I believe associate trading with pain. They are ruled by fear. The fact is that every trader looses money. It is part of the game. It’s how you deal with it that matters.

If we associate pleasure with every winning trade and pain with every loosing trade then our trading career will be an emotion roller coaster ride of up and down feelings. This is the very heart of the problem. Most of us are emotional traders. Our psychology has associated winning with pleasure and loosing with pain. The problem with this is that in day trading we will experience a number of winners and losers everyday. If you start the day with a couple of losers you will begin to hurt, which causes fear and when the next setup comes along your fear level is too high and prevents you from entering the trade, That trade just happened to be a winner and you missed it. Now you are really going to pieces. What can we do to overcome our emotions?

We have to change or psychology, change the associations we have formed of pleasure equals winners and pain equals losers. The first thing is to set goals for our trading and our goal should be consistent profitability. What are our monthly and our yearly goals? Use points or pips instead of money. Secondly, we need to know what is preventing us from achieving our goals. Is it fear of loses, incorrect position sizing etc. Look at what you are doing and why it is not working. We now need to break that pattern of behavior and install a new pattern. How do we do that?

Every trader needs to choose a few setups that they are comfortable with. Investigate the numerous different types of trades and choose a couple that you really like. Then you have to gather your historical data and you will need to advance the data bar by bar and test each setup. Take your number one setup, the one that you are most comfortable with and back test it with your data. You will need fifty to one hundred setups. With each one write down exactly what happens. Develop a set of written rules for entry and exit for the trade. Do this for all your setups. When you are finished testing each setup you will have data on the profitability of the trade. Now you must own the trade in your mind. You have tested it, now believe in it.

The next step is to paper trade the setups for a period of time. One month should be sufficient. Log every trade. Practice until you are automatically entering the trades as you see the setups almost without thinking. Your associations have now changed. Your thoughts are now focused on identifying a set of conditions that when they present themselves you act. You can now trade without emotion. Yours trades are proven winners historically and though you will have losses you know you are profitable. The psychology of trading has now changed from pleasure and pain to one of identifying setups and acting upon them without emotion. This process will guarantee a long and successful trading career.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_3998.shtml

What are your 50,000 thoughts a day creating? - the psychology of today

Our thoughts create our reality - this statement is not just a mere psychological point of view, it is fact! This is a simple truth known by all people involved on the spiritual path and in the psychology of the mind. It is one of the most taught universal principles in the personal development field. Yet it is one of the most misunderstood!

People practice visualisation, affirmations, they use psycho-analysis, hypnosis, subliminal programming or countless other tools to transform their lives. However they fail to recognise one key area in their lives that hinder these wonderful techniques from being effective.

They sit day after day visualising their perfect scene and yet nothing happens. Why? They have followed all the instructions to the letter! They have chanted and imagined! They have formed a colourful, vibrant scene in their minds and affirmed that this is their reality. Then all of a sudden things get worse! What is going on?

Would you like to know the secret? Would you like to know why these people get no results? Would you like to hear one powerful statement that explains everything?

Yes?

Good. I will tell you why these people get no results or even opposite results to those they are aiming for -simply because of the following truth. Consciously controlled thoughts such as visualisations do not materialise - ALL thoughts materialise!!!

Most people believe that if they visualise for 10 minutes a day their lives will magically transform. This is not the case. You must change your core thinking. You think approx. 50,000 thoughts a day. How many of those thoughts are working against your ten minute visualisation?

You can control the thoughts that enter your mind by changing the way you view the world. You can decide which thoughts you give energy to and which thoughts you discard.

The thoughts that you follow and give energy to become more dominant than the thoughts you discard. Your subconscious mind records these as your dominant picture on the issue at hand. You then move towards this picture because your subconscious mind starts making your outside world reflect the picture that you have stored internally.

Your mind should be on whatever you want. The picture you need to have is a positive vision of you already having achieved your goal. To realise this vision you need to focus and concentrate. Remember thoughts are real, they create your reality.

Let's say you have been visualising a new house. You spend your ten minutes in meditation picturing yourself living in your dream home. You finish your session and get up feeling positive that you will achieve your goal. Then during the day you get a heating bill through the post and exclaim "Oh no look how expensive this is I cannot afford to heat this house". Where is your focus in the present moment? What are you affirming? You are telling your subconscious mind that you cannot deal with what you have. You are affirming that your life is not how you want it to be. If you knew without doubt that within a week you would be moving to your new home would you honestly be worried about a heating bill? Perhaps other doubts creep in like "I should be happy with what I have", or "I will never get this house looking the way I want it" and so on and so on.

These thoughts that are not aligned with your goal. You are not giving complete attention to what you want. Whilst you are dealing with these other lines of thought your attention is not on your goal.

If you are aware of your thoughts you will suddenly realise that you have spent much more energy on counter productive thoughts than on creating a dominant picture of the goal you want.

Point your focus in the direction of you're the life you want. Think about what you want NOT what you don't want. It's that simple.

Your focus determines your reality. Change your focus and you change your life.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_4761.shtml

Conquer Panic Attacks by Understanding the Psychology of Emotion

Panic attacks cripple so many people. I’ve fallen victim to them myself earlier in my life. One theory is that panic attacks stem from the built-up garbage of negative emotions spawned by past traumatic experiences that eat away at the soul and call to you from deep within yourself, paralyzing you and choking the life out of you.

We are apt to think of the emotions as independent from habit. We easily may think of acquiring habits of action, and even of thinking, but we are apt to regard the emotions as something connected with "feeling" and quite divorced from intellectual effort. Yet, notwithstanding the distinction between the two, both are dependent largely upon habit, and one may repress, increase, develop, and change one's emotions, just as one may regulate habits of action and lines of thought.

It is an axiom of psychology that "Emotions deepen by repetition." If a person allows a state of feeling to thoroughly take possession of him, he will find it easier to yield to the same emotion the second time, and so on, until the particular emotion or feeling becomes second nature to him. If an undesirable emotion shows itself inclined to take up a permanent abode with you, you had better start to work to get rid of it, or at least to master it. And the best time to do this is at the start; for each repetition renders the habit more firmly entrenched, and the task of dislodging it more difficult.

Were you ever jealous? I sure was- insanely jealous, in my early relationships with men. This came from a lack of confidence and self-esteem. If you were jealous, too, you will remember how insidious was its first approach; how subtly it whispered hateful suggestions into your willing ear, and how gradually it followed up such suggestions, until, finally you began to see green. (Jealousy has an effect upon the bile, and causes it to poison the blood. This is why the idea of green is always associated with it.) Then you will remember how the thing seemed to grow, taking possession of you until you scarcely could shake it off. You found it much easier to become jealous the next time. It seemed to bring before you all sorts of objects apparently justifying your suspicions and feeling. Everything began to look green - the green-eyed monster waxed fat.

So it is with every feeling or emotion. If you give way to a fit of rage, you will find it easier to become angry the next time, on less provocation. The habit of feeling and acting "mean" does not take long to firmly settle itself in its new home if encouraged. Worry is a great habit for growing and waxing fat. People start by worrying about big things, and then begin to worry and fret about some smaller thing. And then the merest trifle worries and distresses them. They imagine that all sorts of evil things are about to befall them. If they start on a journey they are certain there is going to be a wreck. If a telegram comes, it is sure to contain some dreadful tidings. If a child seems a little quiet, the worrying mother is positive it is going to fall ill and die. If the husband seems thoughtful, as he revolves some business plan in his mind, then the wife is convinced that he is beginning to cease to love her, and indulges in a crying spell. And so it goes - worry, worry, worry - each indulgence making the habit more at home. After a while the continued thought shows itself in action. Not only is the mind poisoned by the blue thoughts, but the forehead shows deep lines between the eyebrows, and the voice takes on that whining, rasping tone so common among worry-burdened people.

The condition of mind known as "fault-finding" is another emotion that grows fat with exercise. First, fault is found with this thing, then with that, and finally with everything. The person becomes a chronic "nagger" - a burden to friends and relatives, and a thing to be avoided by outsiders. My domineering aunt, with whom I shared a first name, was a chronic “nagger”, and she nagged over things that were silly and petty. Once, she threatened to have me arrested because my son’s kitten was “trespassing” on her property! Women make the greatest naggers. Not because men are any better, but simply because a male nagger is likely to have the habit knocked out of him by other men who will not stand his nonsense - he finds that he is making things too hot for himself and he reforms; while a woman has more of a chance to indulge in the habit. But this nagging is all a matter of habit. It grows from small beginnings, and each time it is indulged in it throws out another root, branch, or tendril, and fastens itself the closer to the one who has given it soil in which to grow. The unfortunate recipient of nagging may become the person who can’t get out of bed in the morning, due to being frozen with panic and fear.

Envy, gossip, and starting and spreading scandal, are all habits of this kind. The seeds are in all of us, and only need good soil and a little watering to become lusty and strong.

Each time you give way to one of these negative emotions, the easier do you make it for a recurrence of the same thing, or similar ones. Sometimes by encouraging one unworthy emotion, you find that you have given room for the growth of a whole family of these mental weeds. This is what is thought to create panic attacks.

Now, this is not a “sermon” against the sin of bad thoughts. It is calling your attention to the law underlying the psychology of emotion. Nothing new about it - old as the hills - so old that many of us have forgotten all about it.

If you wish to choke out these habits, there are two ways open to you. First, whenever you find yourself indulging in a negative thought or feeling, take hold of it and say to it firmly, and vigorously, "CANCEL! CANCEL! CANCEL!" It won't like this at first, and will bridle up, curve its back and snarl like an offended cat. But never mind - just say, "Scat" to it. The next time it will not be so confident and aggressive - it will have manifested a little of the fear-habit. Each time you repress and choke out a tendency of this kind, the weaker it will become, and the stronger your will becomes.

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_5069.shtml