John James Santangelo PhD

Want To Live Longer, Happier, Healthier?

Avoid This #1 Killer!

How often during your week do you feel stressed out? If more than a couple times, you are above the national average.

A 1996 Prevention magazine survey found that almost 75% of people feel they have “great stress” one day a week, with one out of three saying they feel this way more than twice a week. Job stress tends to be the leading cause of stress for adults. It has been estimated that 75 - 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems. No doubt this number will keep rising as the decade’s progress.

Hans Selye father of the “stress theory” describes stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon it.” Stress can be either physiological or psychological in nature. Stress is the response to events in our environment. First come the stressors (cause) and then the stress (effects). If stress isn’t controlled or alleviated it can literally be stored up in the body and may lead to physical and emotional disruption such as sicknesses, cold, flu, headaches, insomnia, or more severe symptoms such as chronic pain, depression, heart attacks, cancer, or even suicide.

The fact is it’s not the ‘stressors’ of our environment that cause us to stress out, but how we respond to the events in our life, never the events themselves. How can the same experience such as losing or transferring a job garner such a different response from two different individuals?

In simple terms, it is the meaning we place upon the events which create the emotional reactions we experience. All the clinical research has shown that stress is “the perception of not being in control.” Since we cannot control our outside circumstances or events, the only way to regain a sense of control is to effectively manage our emotions. YES?

Within the technology of NLP neuro-linguistic programming, there is the understanding that two things predicate our behavior, Focus and Physiology! Focus is what we choose to focus on internally or externally and the meaning we place upon these experiences. Then, our physiology is how we interpret the experience within our bodies to respond to the outside conditions.

Here is the best kept secret! Once you learn to control our emotions, we learn to control our world! If not, we allow our emotions to control us! So, which is it for you more often? If you completely grasp this concept of how the brain works, you can begin to control it!

The fastest, most effective way to handle stress or anxiety is to change your physiology, specifically your body posture AND your breathing.

Your state of mind is tied directly to the positioning of your body; how you stand, sit, lean, and move! Think about it. How does someone look when they are depressed - slumped and slouching, breathing shallow and restricted? Then, how is their body posture when they are happy or excited, upright and open, breathing full and deep, YES?

So, if you really want to take control of your life, you need to manage your emotional states! Next time you are confronted with a challenge in life, STOP, and ask yourself; “what am I focusing on and what does this mean?” Chances are you have placed an unrealistic meaning upon it. Now ask again: “what ELSE could this mean?” Choose a more empowering meaning; something that motivates you to take a more positive action.

Then… IMMEDIATELY change your posture and your breathing. Remember, each emotional state of mind has a specific physiology associated to it. So, it stands to reason that if you shift your physiology to a more resourceful posture then your emotional state will change, leaving you feeling more empowered to deal with the experience!

We are not taught how to effectively deal with life. This is just the beginning, start here, gain emotional control, make better decisions!

How To Properly Set Goals For The New Year/Decade!

by John James Santangelo

PhD It’s that time of year again. Setting New Year’s resolutions, making plans, and setting goals… usually, for most, to see them fade before spring. Very few people even bother to set goals, and even fewer follow through on them. This short article is a specific working method to ensure IF you set and follow through, you can produce massive results like never before.

The reason most people don’t achieve what they truly want is only two things;

#1 is they don’t KNOW exactly what it is they do want, and

#2 they don’t know HOW to get out of their own way to take action! We’ve been conditioned to believe that the theory of S.M.A.R.T. goals work; i.e. SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, and TIMED is how we intelligently achieve our goals. But if that we’re the case then we’d all have everything we want correct?

(Yes, this is important process, but what it actually lacks is the kind of person we need to BE in order to achieve the goal.)

The answer to get what-ever you want is simply KNOW what you want; Clarity - The Power of Focus, obtain enough reasons WHY you want it; Emotion - The Driving Force, and develop the PROPER skills to get out of your own way; Behavior - the Ability to ACT! Clarity - The Power of Focus - Here’s the first question I pose to every one of my coaching clients; “If I were your travel agent, what would be the first question I’d ask you?” And of course they answer, “where do you want to go?” Because without a destination we’d never arrive, no matter what vehicle we use.

The unconscious mind’s primary objective is focusing on your dominant thoughts. Because what you focus on inside, manifests outside. Fear, Lack, Self-Worth, Goals or Wealth, the unconscious does not care. Where attention goes, energy flows, results show!

So whatever you put up on the screen of your mind you move towards it. If you focus on what’s NOT working and lack, you’ll tend to get more of that, if you focus on prosperity and what IS working, you will tend to create more of that. Napoleon Hill, author of “Think & Grow Rich” called this - a definiteness of purpose!

TASK – let’s figure out WHAT you really want. We’ll start out small and build on our success. This will build confidence and faith, which consistently drive us forward: MOTIVATION and PERSISTENCE! Write out one goal in one SHORT, CLEAR, CONCISE sentence, then we’ll break it down into an effective action plan. The key is to primarily focus on your most important task then discipline yourself to concentrate single-mindedly until it is 100% complete! This is called ‘chunking’ breaking down each goal into small DO-ABLE tasks. This makes it very easy and manageable to move through the list. Then if you’re really committed to finally get your goals… do this for all ten of your most important goals. “How do you eat an Elephant… one bite-at-a-time!”

Fear… it’s a conditioned response that has allowed us to survive since the dawn of time! But now, in this climate, fear has taken hold of our common sense and its wreaking havoc on our daily lives, with business and especially our emotions.

We all recognize what’s currently happening around the globe. We’ve watched the news, read some articles (both factual and fake) and we all have an opinion about it.

(I genuinely hope you are safe and taking precautions to remain healthy. THAT is the most important thing!)

Fear creates a lot of doubt and uncertainty. It’s 100% natural and understandable. Nobody REALLY knows what will happen. Do we?

That’s not what this article is about, though. This is about our perspective and how we impact our world! I believe in times like this that we all need to can focus a little more on others. Ask yourself - Where can I provide VALUE where others need it most?

Whatever you decide to do, it probably won’t change the world, but it can impact just ONE other person around you in a positive way… and that’s worth it! When we take the focus off ourselves and reach out to help others around us – we actually help ourselves! Let’s show humanity the best of what we’re capable of, YES?

Okay, here is the easiest way to make a huge impact on others and most importantly, yourself…

CHANGE YOUR INTERNAL LANGUAGE!

When we change our language, we change our thinking. When we change our thinking, we change our reality. When we become ‘awake’ to our language, we utilize a powerful tool (the unconscious mind) in programming the other 90% of our brain. You become fully potentialized out of your limitations and into the world of possibilities.

We create the world of our experiences, literally through our thinking. Our thinking is symbolized by the words used in our internal self-talk and in our conversational language. The words we choose provide a window into our beliefs, values and perspectives on the strategies that influence our lives.

As we speak words, millions of neurosynaptic responses are being fired off in our nervous system to create emotions. From these emotions we respond to others and the world around us. Both our internal self-talk and our conversational speaking help create our emotional states. When we learn to master our language, we control our emotions. Begin now! Make it your task in life to become fully aware of the language you choose to create and shape the world around you!

“Master Your Emotions, Master Your Life!”

Words hold power! Each word carries with it images, sounds and feelings. Because of this, our subconscious takes our language literally and personally. As we speak, we are programming our subconscious each and every moment.

The challenge is this: We are completely unaware of how the words we choose penetrate our health, outcomes and behaviors to ourselves and others. The words that empower us most are those that propel us towards the results we desire. This is when we are held responsible for our choices.

If you want to truly impact your world, others you interact with, and your business, begin to become AWARE of the internal language you use to create and shape your world! The CHOICE to change your language will have the largest, generative effect on your thinking and behavior than any other means of personal power development.

Words of disempowerment keep us stuck, and the use of empowering language will upgrade our mental outlook and those of others…

My favorite seven examples are:

DISEMPOWERMENT > EMPOWERMENT UPGRADE

Decide My choice is

I would, could I will, can

I can’t I can, I will

Try I will, or won’t

It’s a problem It’s a challenge

I should I will, I choose to

I don’t know I choose to find out