Suggested Reading
 By Lonny Shavelson
Five Addicts Challenge our Misguided Drug Rehab System.
Synopsis
Hooked explores the links between drug addiction, mental illness, and
trauma, including child abuse, and argues for an integrated approach that
treats the roots of drug abuse, not just the behavior itself.
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The New You continued
achievements and spotlight heroes, but the truly heroic act is not the outcome but in starting out and not knowing if you will succeed. Aristotle write, "A vivid imagination compels the whole body to obey it." Emile Couce wrote in Willing, "It is the imagination and not the will that is the dominating faculty of man. It is a serious mistake to advise people to train their wills; they should learn to control and direct their imaginations." (5)
Keep picturing yourself as the hero who will succeed in making a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rather than talking about what you are giving up or how you might fail, always think and talk about your goal as the inevitable future of what is going to be.
To keep your resolve, surround yourself with those who want you to succeed. In the book, The Healing Brain, psychologist Robert Ornstein and physician David Sobel, suggested we learn that the need for community is a key part of our evolutionary heritage and a way we can learn to change. The brain's primary purpose is not to think, but to guard the body from illness and despair. "The brain acts as an internal health maintenance organization, governing everything from the release of stress hormones to the functioning of the immune system. The brain cannot do its job of protecting the body without contact with other people. We have evolved to be dependent on others. For your evolution towards your goal, plant yourself firmly among those who'll reinforce your desired constructive behavior. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."(6)
"The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn." wrote David Russell. Notice your patterned choices towards your goal. Avoid being sidetracked. What colleagues and friends help or hinder you on your path? Discover these patterns now and you will be more powerfully productive towards all of the goals you set for yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself when you're not perfect. As Charles Garfield wrote in Peak Performance, "On course doesn't mean perfect.
It means...»»
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