As a Personal Development Coach I get asked often, “What is personal development?” I think personal development is made up of a whole lot of actions and activities. These could include things like improving identity (who am I, really) and knowledge of ones self.

Also included could be the realisation of our own talents and latent potential which could lead to increased employability and an overall enhancement of the quality of life that we experience.

Self development is tied to our realisation of our dreams and aspirations.

The concept of personal development covers a wider field than self-development or self-help; it also includes developing other people, and by extension refers to the methods, programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems used in personal development. Which is where it is appropriate to introduce Coaching into this discussion.
Personal development is probably as old as civilisation itself - so what does it mean?

Well that’s a question that is guaranteed to provide a myriad of subjective answers! Where an individual embarks on his or her quest to better themselves, we could say that they are on the path of self-improvement. They buy books, go to seminars even research the Internet - they are doing it by themselves. And many make excellent progress.

When the process of self-help or self-development changes to one of personal improvement, an individual will seek out the services of a teacher, mentor or coach.In other words they go beyond self, learning to being guided,often at an accelerated rate toward that which they would like to achieve.

By utilising the services of a Life Coach, a person on the path toward developing him or herself will require that individual to get really clear as to what it is he or she is attempting to realise. An element of objectivity is introduced to the process, which might otherwise not be the case if that person were to ‘go it alone’.

There are often more options to consider, a degree of accountability and some form of time line and strategy developed in conjunction with a Life Coach that is part of the process n individual might unwittingly leave out.

I guess this fits with the old adage that ‘two heads are better than one’ - another perspective if you like.

Most of us want to experience a better life, we just don’t know how best to start that improvement. For example we have all witnessed the amazing success that is ‘The Secret’. Yet how many are aware of the massive personal development industry that has grown around’ the secret behind the secret’?

In other words there is a ‘secret’ to success and most of us cannot get beyond our limiting beliefs [those ‘voices that hold us back] without some assistance.

So you want to be a lucid dreamer. Well that’s a good start, at least you know what you want to do; but how exactly do you go about it?

You also need to think about exactly why you want to become a lucid dreamer. What are the benefits of lucid dreaming? To help us find the benefits, let us first look at ‘normal’ sleep.

When you go to sleep, you get into bed, close your eyes for a certain length of time, and either dream or just see black for a few hours and then wake up! It isn’t very interesting now is it?

Normal sleep just seems to serve the purpose of simply refreshing ourselves in order to live out the next day. But what if you could control that period of time that you have dreams?

What if there was a way to become a full participant in your dreams? Lead them in the manner in which you alone determine consciously? That my friend is basically what a lucid dreamer does. They control all aspects of their dreams, going where they will and doing whatever they want in the confines of the dream state.

This sounds great the only thing left is the how. You can accomplish lucid dream state in one of two ways. One, you can have a dream initiated lucid dream (DILD); this is where while dreaming you become aware of the fact that you are dreaming. In this way, you bring a level of consciousness into the dream.

The next way is called wake initiated lucid dream (WILD); in this process, you go from wake to sleep stage with no loss of consciousness. To put it more simply you walk through the door from here to your dreams instead of just happening upon them

So how are these types of lucid dreaming induced?

Dream Recall

If you’d like to lucid dream, perhaps one of the most successful way of doing so is known as dream recall. Dream recall is simply the ability to remember one’s dreams. By remembering your dreams, you are able to recognize them when you are sleeping, because most likely, you will have the same dream, or at least aspects of it, more than once.

The way to practise dream recall is by keeping a dream journal. The dream journal is meant as a tool to write down anything you can remember about your dream, in order to recall it for the future. This should be done right after waking up; otherwise dreams will become harder to remember.

Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)

Developed by renowned lucid dream researcher Dr. Stephen LaBerge, this technique works by telling yourself to recognize a certain object or situation when you see it in your dreams. When you see this object, it triggers the realization that you are in a dreaming, allowing you to begin lucid dreaming.

Wake-Back-to-Bed (WBTB)

This technique is fairly simple. You set your alarm for just a few hours after you go to bed. When you wake, don’t just go back to sleep. Instead, stay awake for about an hour, then return to sleep.

According to research, this technique has about a 60% success rate. What has happened is you were awakened during an intense time of REM sleep. Your brain will not be completely aware that you are awake. Many times since REM stages tend to be longer, the episodes of lucid dreaming will be as well.

Cycle Adjustment Technique

This method was created by Daniel Love in this technique you set an alarm to awaken you 90 minutes before you normally would awaken. This is done for approximately a week. After a week, you begin to alternate between normal wake up and early. On the normal waking days, the body will come alert earlier thereby increasing the chance of lucidity.

Wake-initiation of Lucid Dreams (WILD)

This technique involves maintaining mental alertness even as your body shuts down for sleep. Think of it as if you are in a movies theater, with the film soon to begin; your closed eyelids are like the black screen just before the movie starts.

You can also use this technique with tactics like counting, chanting or imagining yourself climbing stairs as you go to sleep. This method of achieving lucid dreaming is best done in the afternoon or other times when you are not terribly tired.

Technology has moved on in recent years, and there are various devices like dreaming masks and other scientific appliances which contain such things as strobe lights to induce lucid dreams.

Listening to binaural beat frequencies through a head set is the simplest and most consistent way to create a lucid dream.

The purpose is to synchronize both sides of the brain to create the REM frequency that is required for lucid dreaming.

Combined with the self hypnosis sessions and affirmations to prepare your subconscious mind beforehand, becoming a lucid dreamer is something that everyone can now experience!

Just about everyone has heard of hypnosis. Some may know a friend or family member who has tried it. But how much do you really know about being hypnotized? And is it something that can help you?

The word hypnosis comes from the Greek word for “sleep.” This root makes sense, when you understand that those who are being hypnotized are meant to slip into something relating to a trance.

There are many different reasons why one may want to try out hypnosis. Some try it to rid themselves of anxiety, while others use it to help themselves to lose weight or quit smoking.

The idea is that the suggestions made take root into the hypnotizee’s brain, allowing him or her to be free of food addiction and nicotine addiction. Some who have been hypnotized proclaim that they hardly even feel the need to eat until later in the afternoon, for example. To go even further, some say that instead of craving chocolate and other unhealthy sweets, they craze a much healthier alternative: fruit!

The secret is that these habits are made subconsciously, meaning that they hardly even affect your daily life or train of thought. Just like whatever habit or behavior is responsible for you being a smoker or overweight is subconscious, the correcting habits and behaviors will be more effective when they are rooted deep in the subconscious.

If you feel as though your budget is too tight to afford a professional hypnotist, there is an alternative: self-hypnosis. Self-hypnosis is when a person hypnotizes his or herself. There are several ways to achieve self-hypnosis.

Some use equipment called mind machines that stimulate the visual part of the mind as well as stimulating the audio portion and making the person more hypnosis-ready.

After a significant amount of time passes, many who practice self-hypnosis find that they are better and better at reaching the trance-like state-and without the assistance of a mind machine.

However, hypnosis is not something to simply dabble in. There are potential risks, as you are somewhat vulnerable when in this trance-like state. This is why you should trust yourself to professionals or be sure to do your research before attempting self-hypnosis.

If you are interested in the benefits that hypnosis could possibly offer you, do your research and check it out. You may find that even if you are skeptical about hypnosis, the benefits are astounding and well worth the effort!

Conversational hypnosis can be learned by listening to simple hypnosis audios teachings with an instruction manual. There are various conversational hypnosis online courses that teaches this powerful skill. By learning the covert techniques of influence and persuasion, you will find use for them in almost all everyday situations. If you want to learn it yourself check out this site: conversational hypnosis.