What does it take to succeed? How can you move forward - no, take a quantum leap forward - in your achievements, in realizing your dreams?

According to some research, a person who grows up in an average, reasonably positive home is told "no" or told what he or she cannot do over 148,000 times before they hit their 18th birthday! The number of "yes'" or encouragement on what they can do is far smaller than the "no's", "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" (which are all "no's").

So what?

Well, think about it. The results you achieve in your life are a result of the actions you take. So what determines the actions you will take?

Let us first discuss the power of practice and repetition. We all know that repetition creates habit. Our brains and physiology learns through repetition. We are pattern-making and pattern-following creatures. Practice makes perfect. Whether you like it or not, the more you repeat something, the more it becomes part of you.

Repetition is programming. Repetition is programming. And 148,000 "no's" is a lot of programming!

Repetition creates programming, which in turn creates beliefs, which in turn determine your thoughts and emotions, which in turn determine your actions, which in turn determine your results.

Have you noticed how you tend to think the same kind of thoughts over and over again? Studies show that we have about 50,000 thoughts per day, and a whooping 90% of them are repetitive! Like an old, tired record. And remember, repetition creates patterns, habits. You are literally hypnotizing yourself with your repeated thoughts.

Other research shows that 77% of everything that most people think about is negative, self-damaging, hindering, and counterproductive. Now, remember, your results come from your actions, and your actions come from your thoughts, and your thoughts come from your beliefs, and beliefs come from your programming (what you repeatedly tell yourself or get told).

It goes even further than that. Your subconscious mind controls almost everything about you. For example, it controls your autonomic nervous system. What is that? Here is what the Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia says: "Autonomic Nervous System, in vertebrate anatomy, one of the two main divisions of the nervous system, supplying impulses to the body's heart muscles, smooth muscles, and glands. The autonomic system controls the action of the glands; the functions of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and urogenital systems; and the involuntary muscles in these systems and in the skin. Controlled by nerve centers in the lower part of the brain, the system also has a reciprocal effect on the internal secretions, being controlled to some degree by the hormones and exercising some control, in turn, on hormone production." Which all means that your hormones, energy levels, actions and so forth are controlled by the subconscious mind. If you have told yourself that you are clumsy, the subconscious will work with your hormones, motor skills, and so on and make you act, move and talk stupid. If you have told yourself that you don't fit in social situations, you will find yourself standing in the corner not fitting. Whatever you say, boss. Your subconscious is like a computer. Whatever you program into it, it makes happen. No questions asked. You are the boss, and whatever you say, happens.

Your imagination, your thoughts, what you perceive, what you don't perceive, what you see and what you miss, how you act, what you feel... these are all determined by one thing: your programming, what you repetitively tell yourself (and what you repetitively got told or observed during your youthful formation years).

So how do you take the quantum leap, how do you step out of the box of your own thoughts and see beyond it. How do you program yourself for success? Well, the same way you create all programming: practice. Repetition. You have to not only find what works positively for you, but you have to practice that new positive way over and over until it becomes part of you. Positive thinking and self-help advice will not work unless you make it permanent for you by practicing it over and over. Your entire physiology has to be rewired; your neural pathways (which create pattern and memory) have to be redrawn. All this happens by practice. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Practice. Then one day, like with everything else you ever learnt through practice, you just find yourself automatically doing it! It becomes you!

Ok, now how fast and to what extent can you grow your consciousness within one lifetime? The quick and dirty answer is that there is an average rate of growth, but there are no limits. According to Dr. David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., in his bestselling book Power vs. Force, people on average tend to increase their consciousness by 5 points in a lifetime (on a scale of 0 to 1000). So if you were born at a consciousness level of 300, you tend to get to 305 by the time you die. But that is an average that includes billions of people. There is nothing to limit anyone except their own choices. Many are on record for having achieved 100% or even 2000% increases or more, where they are literally renewed and are different in just about everyway. A transformation happens.

So if you wish to leap forward, know that nothing stops you. But also know that you have to leap forward in your mind first. You have to re-write the negative programming that is keeping you where you are. And re=programming is done best through acting in the new way and practicing that over and over until it becomes part of you. The more you open up, let go, allow, trust and not resist or defend your old ways, the faster you will move forward. Practice. You can even use helpful tools like the one that I personally use called Sculptor (see it at http://www.imagesofone.com/h/a/). Whatever you do, practice until it becomes you. And it will happen automatically, you will find yourself anew.

David Cameron is the author of wealth and self development books such as A Happy Pocket Full of Money, showing many how to create the lives of their dreams and beyond. Download free trial ebooks, software, courses. http://www.imagesofone.com/?c=a