AlexK’s Blog
Feb 04
Our language can affect our perception in significant ways through the subtle internal meaning of words.
Our self talk and what we tell others about ourselves affects how we see ourselves and how we experience our highs and lows.
The words, depression and frustration, describe similar feeling, possibly even the same feeling [...] [...more]
Posted: under confusion, frustration, learning.
Our language can affect our perception in significant ways through the subtle internal meaning of words.
Our self talk and what we tell others about ourselves affects how we see ourselves and how we experience our highs and lows.
The words, depression and frustration, describe similar feeling, possibly even the same feeling with the word (label) chosen based on an individuals experience or perception. Both words imply the idea of, no where to go, no answers. Boxed in. Helplessness. Spinning your wheels, not knowing or understanding. An overall sense of helplessness and often the feeling of doom or forever stuck in this state. Nothing is changing neither in the mind nor in the outside world.
It’s also similar to another feeling and that one is confusion. Each of the words I used to describe frustration and depression apply to confusion with the exception of doom and thinking you are forever stuck . Instead there is a sense of, there is an answer, I can find it, I will find it if I persist. The word confusion has an expectancy of an outcome or change. Confusion is verge of a breakthrough, finding an answer, getting going again and understanding. When you are confused neural networks are working to connect the answer. When you are frustrated or depressed no new networks are forming.
Yet they are just words that describe largely the same feelings or emotions. Their meaning convey to the brain instructions how the feelings or emotions should ultimately be processed. The words point a direction in our thinking. We think we are describing where we are really at. Yes and no. Yes we are there, and no because that can change even for a moment when we are distracted by a good joke. Depression, which stems from anger and frustration and is essentially frustration that’s taken over every part of your life. If we are experiencing frustration with our learning then it can lead to depression and affect our whole life. If we can change our perception we can change our life. And we can change our perception by changing what we say about the problem.
To help my students to understand the similarity in the feeling and emotion of frustration and confusion. I demonstrate the power of our language by facing a wall when I say,’I'm frustrated’. When you say it that is what you are cuing your mind to do. Facing the wall leaves no way to move ahead.
When you repeatedly say I’m frustrated or depressed it becomes a mantra - think about it, how often do you say it to yourself to explain your feeling, how often to you say it to others? Repetition makes it a mantra. So facing a wall becomes your dominant experience. Every time you say I’m frustrated or I’m depressed. You place a wall in front of you. Because that is what the words are cuing you to experience. so you feel helpless.
Then I turn around and say, ‘I’m confused’, I look around and acknowledge I don’t know yet where the answer is in front of me however I see more before me than a wall so I’m more open to getting an answer and moving ahead.
Each time you say "I am" you bring your focus to specific thought or feeling, even triggering them if they aren’t loud enough. So when you say I’m depressed, I’m frustrated, I’m stuck that’s where you lead your focus. To no, answer, not getting anywhere spinning your wheels, more gloom.
Try changing the mantra (what you say to yourself and others) to I’m confused. Being confused suggest there is a solution, you haven’t found it yet. and if you want to move out of depression and change your situation you are looking for a solution. Look with expectancy of finding a solution with confusion rather than the expectancy of no change from the place of frustration or depression.
Confusion it tells our mind there is an answer out there and now the mind is looking for it and can expect to find an answer. The feeling, sensation can be the same. Your mind processes it differently because it has a different perception.
It’s important that you do get help. So see your counsellor, and stay on your medication if you take any. It takes a while to create a new habit and if you intend to change your self talk it isn’t the final solution to what caused the depression or frustration. You still need help getting through your confusion. You want those answers and going it alone probably led to frustration and depression in the first place So work with the professionals. You may even need help taking action on the solutions that come to you.
Be kind to yourself.
© Alex Viefhaus 2010
Sep 30
In my previous post I introduced some insight into the abilities we have and the flawed thinking that PhotoReading is something mystical that only a special few can learn.
In this post I want to show the stumbling blocks of our thinking and beliefs that can prevent us from learning the PhotoReading system.
There are a couple [...] [...more]
Posted: under Activation, Change, Persistence, Photoreading, frustration.
Tags: belief, comprehension, learning, Photoreading
In my previous post I introduced some insight into the abilities we have and the flawed thinking that PhotoReading is something mystical that only a special few can learn.
In this post I want to show the stumbling blocks of our thinking and beliefs that can prevent us from learning the PhotoReading system.
There are a couple of other stumbling main blocks that affect the belief of the learner. One is the stories and videos of expert PhotoReaders. The ones who flip the pages of the book or scroll the computer screen and then answer questions about the text. First it must be understood that they are experienced in PhotoReading. They would have been unsuccessful in the early days of learning to PhotoRead as any beginner now learning PhotoReading. They had build the non-conscious to conscious mind connection and trust by applying the full system and applying it often. Something the beginner has trouble believing they are capable of.
This creates a paradox. If you don’t believe you can do it and then test the system, you’re going to score as you believe. The way to do what the expert does, is use the system enough to own the system. This means shifting out of limiting reading and passive reading habits that you learned in elementary or primary school.
This brings us to the second stumbling block. The passive reading habit. The PhotoReading system is an active reading system. By active I mean you need to know what you want from what you are reading and be able to recognise when you’ve consciously grasped that. The techniques are straight forward and the activation step when applied quickly help the beginner to get through their reading material 3 to 5 times faster in a live seminar. However the deceptive simplicity of the activation step leave the beginner to believe they don’t need to work on this part of the system. They believe they aren’t getting the PhotoReading step right when they don’t see instant results at the beginning of activation.
Here again we run into a problem of habit. It’s habit that keep us in the passive reading approach. By applying the PhotoReading system a beginner can get their reading done three to 5 times faster. However because they measure themselves against the PhotoReading experts they hold the belief they cannot do it well enough. Their belief that it’s difficult keeps them stuck working with one book for 12 to 18 hours because they think the experts get through all their books in 3 to 20 minutes. They see 4 to 6 hours as a failure to apply the system. Their belief that they are failing because they don’t match the expert time becomes a barrier to learning. 
What you see and the success stories are exciting experiences however even experts spend more time with the books they really want to know. In fact the more books they have used the full system on the better their conscious - nonconscious mind connection that such demonstrations become possible.
I offer my own experience here to help the beginner.
I consider myself an expert PhotoReader and a book of about 350 pages that I really want to understand and expect to learn something important from would take me 30 to 120 minutes. It depends on my reading purpose. By the same token there are many books I only spend 5 to 15 minutes with to discover they have nothing of interest to me. These books I have put on my mental bookshelf. I can always come back to them if my circumstances change and it does become important.
If you can believe that you can read you have the necessary skills to become proficient at PhotoReading . You won’t be demonstrating the PhotoReading skills you might find on the web overnight. The only person you should be measuring your progress against is your own. If it takes you 18 hours to read a book and in the process of learning a system you could reduce that to 9 hours with the same or even better comprehension isn’t that progress?
Focus on believing it is possible for you to learn PhotoReading. Don’t compare yourself with others and give up. Aspire to progress to that level.
© Alex K Viefhaus Sept. 2009
Feb 04
Changing your mind to making it work [...more]
Posted: under Personal development, expectation, frustration, learning, success.
Tags: experience, Photoreading, thinking
Are you getting the results you desire with all those self help audios?
Often people use tools like meditation and hypnosis tapes to improve an area of their lives and despite committing their time to listening to the tapes they feel they have a program running that blocks them. Some even feel like they are going backwards when they use self improvement audios. They find themselves gaining weight or even more fearful or anxious than when they started.
One thing I have discovered through the years is that often people say words like confidence, determination, stamina but they don’t really know what they mean to them. When I ask them what they want they might say, ‘I don’t want to be afraid.’ They are focusing on what they don’t want. And if you do this the meditation, the hypnosis or any audio guide you’re working with will work to keep you where you don’t want to be.
Think about it. The mind works in pictures. Need help?
Not, a polar bear in a pink polka dot bikini wearing a lime green tutu.
Did you laugh? Did you see the polar bear? Did you notice that your mind pictured what came after Not?
What do you picture when you think of not afraid? Since the mind has no meaning for not it draws up an image or memory of being afraid. Then when you listen to a program designed to help you conquer this fear it winds up reinforcing exactly what you fear.
Since the non-conscious mind takes things very literally it works with the image you bring up. This is where you need to put some conscious reasoning to work. Because if you want to change you need a different picture. The opposite of being afraid. Since using the expression not afraid with the first image or idea that pops into the mind is someone who is afraid we know the non-conscious mind is not that great with opposites so we need to think of a word that means the opposite to us. In this example it might be “brave”. When you think of this word a completely different image comes to mind.
So when using a self help audio and consider what you want. Pay attention to the word “not”. It’s a valuable cue that you need to discover the opposite image.
Another problem area is with the meaning of words. Or rather what the words mean to you in your experience
For example if someone says the word ‘confidence’, do you get an image of yourself weak lacking in confidence because that has been how you’ve experienced yourself in the past? If you keep this image as you listen to a guided self help audio you’re going to be successful in keeping the image you have of yourself. Again you need to change this image. One of the easier ways to do this is to think of someone who exhibits the quality that you desire. Think of that person and then pretend you are that person. Play it out in your minds eye. When you are ready and can say, that’s what I want. That’s how I want to be. Then you have an image of what you can become and then the audio programs or your meditations have a greater chance for rapid success.
Just to be clear. This article isn’t saying that those audio programs won’t work. However your mind is powerful and by focusing on what you don’t want you will keep it in your life longer. A good program will get you to make that switch to seeing the image of yourself how you do want to be, eventually. You can help yourself and accelerate that process by checking what you are seeing or sensing in your minds eye. If it’s the image of the problem that you want to end. Clear the picture and paint the image you do want.
© Alex Viefhaus Feb 2009
Jun 19
I learned how to PhotoRead but I suck at activation
Lets check your activation technique and discuss some of the experiences you might have had.
Begin your activation by revisiting step one of the system. This is probably more important than most people realise and often overlooked. Check in with your purpose regularly make sure you are [...] [...more]
Posted: under Activation, PhotoRead, Photoreading, Purpose, comprehension, confusion, expectation, frustration, motivation.
I learned how to PhotoRead but I suck at activation
Lets check your activation technique and discuss some of the experiences you might have had.
Begin your activation by revisiting step one of the system. This is probably more important than most people realise and often overlooked. Check in with your purpose regularly make sure you are on track. Then select one of your questions and review your trigger word list. From there you want to select the first question you want answered.
Remembering that the book was written by a human who wanted to pass on information imagine that you are entering into a conversation with that author. You are about to ask them a question. As look for the answers to your questions you will also find other questions coming to mind. If your question hasn’t been answered write the new question down.
As you find answers you may want to mind map them. Its very easy to dismiss the results of your first activations. You may feel like you’re not really getting anything and get ready to quit for the old fashioned way of reading. Before you do that lets consider this.
When you begin reading you just read. You hope information build as you follow word for word what the author has written. In 10 minutes you may have finished the first chapter. How much do you really know? Is that even important information in relation to your purpose or studying?
The purpose of activation is to build trust in your body mind connection. How often have you set out to learn something only to realise you already knew most of what is being taught? An interesting experience my students often have. “I discovered something else I want to know more about and my original question turned out not important.
It saddens me when beginners negate this experience. I think its brilliant and yet they think no, no its not right. I should be able to form the perfect question in the first place. In my mind it was the perfect question. It got them started and lead them to the next question that they wanted answered even more. Isn’t the next question always more important than the one that was before it? Its brilliant it got the ball rolling. You started a conversation with the author. The more you do use the PhotoReading system the better you get at it naturally and you learn to recognise you already know the answers.
It’s the same when they say to me. I did badly. I ran out of questions but felt I was missing something so I rapid read to check and sure enough that I found that very important piece of information that I missed. I am no good at activation.
What? No good at activation?
What you did was activation. It was listening to that feeling, thinking, knowing, small voice within that told you, you were missing something. It didn’t help you form a question and yet guided you to rapid read to find the answer. That’s how you activate, you follow your gut and strengthen your body mind connection. That something “wasn’t right” is a powerful activation signal that your body mind has given you and you write it off?
My suggestion is make note of it and mentally tell yourself that in future you expect to pull that information during your activation layers. Your body and mind has done everything right. It might have taken longer this time and will always take longer if you write off this very special communication you just had from your body and mind.
If you want to perfect your PhotoReading skills take every experience as just that an experience. Its neither good nor bad. An experience is something to build on. The better you leave behind the judgment and negative self talk the sooner you will be able to recognise yourself as a proficient PhotoReader. See my post on Noticing even small gains.
© Alex K Viefhaus
May 29
After their initial success with learning PhotoReading many students fall back into their old reading habits. There are a number of reasons for this. One the reason I’m going to cover right now is learning to accept the results you get.
New PhotoReaders often excited to apply what they learned and then it doesn’t happen. [...] [...more]
Posted: under Goals, Persistence, Personal development, Photoreading, expectation, frustration, learning, success.
After their initial success with learning PhotoReading many students fall back into their old reading habits. There are a number of reasons for this. One the reason I’m going to cover right now is learning to accept the results you get.
New PhotoReaders often excited to apply what they learned and then it doesn’t happen. It’s a problems for any newly learned skill or attempt to change not just PhotoReading. Many have left a self-improvement seminar excited to use these brilliant ideas, only to realise two or three weeks later nothing has changed. What is going wrong?
The unrealistic expectation
“Now that I know it I will automatically apply what I know.” Sorry it doesn’t work that way.
Sadly no matter how much time we can save or how much easier the new approach may be, old habits die hard. The old habits are like well worn, familiar tracks, through the jungle of out neural networks. They are the first one we take when we are on automatic pilot.
Change takes a conscious approach and it takes 21 to 30 days to develop a new habit. We need to make a conscious effort and when we notice we missed an opportunity to use our newly acquired skill to acknowledge it. To first become aware that we have choices.
The other thing we can do is schedule specific activities for the next 30-days in our planner that make use of the new skill. The time need only be 15 to 20 minutes. It’s important to remember it takes 30 consecutive days. If you are not one to use a planner Get a calendar and aim to put a cross through each day that you have successfully applied the new skill.
If you want to succeed with PhotoReading look for opportunities to use your skill. Select one book for the week to work with over 6 days at 15 to 20 minutes each day. Play with the steps of the system and see what happens.
Be aware
It’s important to remember when we learn something 
new we often fall short of our expectation. This means the result we got might have been less than what we hoped for. You may have done really well in the PhotoReading seminar and now on your own you fall short of your expectation. If you followed what you learned as best you can you did get a result. And any result that takes you in the direction you want to go is a good result.
New PhotoReaders they are often uber critical of their minor successes and throw the baby out with the bath water.
Why do we do that?
The problem probably stems from our education system where there is a top grade wins awards and accolades and a passing grade which is considered just barely acceptable and in many cases not quite good enough or even poo pooed. Just passing or not passing left us feeling inferior and to avoid that feeling we procrastinate in doing what we know we need to work on.
We develop an ’All or Nothing’ approach and result to developing new skills. It becomes a stop sign, anything to avoid feeling inferior. It leaves us stuck with the old habit even when we know the new skill we learned would serve us better. If we could just develop it some more.
The biggest problem is we never learned to celebrate small improvements. We ignored poor results instead of using them as a guide post to push ahead. We scratch it and start over instead of keeping going until we’ve given it all we have.
That too is the biggest problem for those who are learning PhotoReading on their own. They do one activation and say it doesn’t work instead of using that activation layer and building on it with another and then another. For the beginner to finish a book in 1/3rd the time it takes them to read it in the traditional way you need to do a few activation layers.
Be kind to yourself and learn to celebrate minor successes. If you only managed 10 minutes of your new exercise routine although you planned to do 30. Give yourself credit. Celebrate. It’s 10 minutes more than nothing. And it makes it easier to add more minutes next time.
Ignoring it or berating yourself about it isn’t going to motivate you. Your mind will think what if I only manage 9 minutes next time that’s worse I better not start because I feel bad about myself then. Only because you threw out the results you got as not good enough. Don’t make yourself start over. Build on it and see if you can do a bit more than that next time.
If you find yourself disappointed after applying yourself to do something, Stop! Reconsider. You did something and you got a result. Can you champion yourself to use that as something to build on? Something to get better than rather than starting over?
Celebrate your successes. No matter how small.
© Alex K Viefhaus May 2008
To help my students to understand the similarity in the feeling and emotion of frustration and confusion. I demonstrate the power of our language by facing a wall when I say,’I'm frustrated’. When you say it that is what you are cuing your mind to do. Facing the wall leaves no way to move ahead.
