A Potion of Positive Thinking

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A Potion of Positive Thinking

A frequently overlooked aspect of managing acne and getting the most from your acne treatment is getting yourself into the correct mental state. The correct mental state involves having clearly visualised goals and being able to achieve a state of confidence so that you can enjoy life to the full.

Goals should always be positive. In other words they should be where you want to move to as opposed to negative goals which require you to move away from something you don’t like. Positive goals will be more motivating and achievable because as you get nearer your goal it will feel more attainable and consequently you will be inspired to continue with greater energy and enthusiasm. Negative goals have the opposite effect and as you get further from the state you are moving away from you are less motivated to continue.

Many of you who have tried to lose weight will recognise this effect. If your original weight loss goal was to be not quite so fat then as you shed a few pounds you tend to ease your disciplined diet. However if you set a goal that is positive such as fitting into a size 10 dress then as you get closer to that size you will find yourself more motivated to achieve it.

Goals must also be realistic, which rules out being superman, and you must want them and be able to visualise them strongly and clearly. Visualising goals is very important as it focuses the mind on where you want to be, and with that focus comes motivation and confidence. Goals shouldn’t just be about having a perfect skin; you should aim at setting your ultimate goals of wealth, health and happiness and these should be strongly visualised. Then you should visualise where having a good skin fits into your ultimate goals.

Once you have set your goals, you should set aside definite times for visualising them. The easiest time is on waking in the morning, this is also the best as it will give a focus for the day. If you have set your goals properly you will find yourself more motivated and consequently your skin care routines will cease to be a chore and become something you want to do. This is important as complying strictly with your skin care regime really does improve results when treating acne.

The next task is to feel confident about the way you are. Most of us are fortunate in so far we can put our spots into perspective and get on and do the things we want in life regardless. However for some of us it is not as easy as that and we find ourselves hiding away rather than joining the big bad world. You know that acne shouldn’t bother you, and the reason I know you know is that we’ve all known some acne sufferers who manage to just get on with it and get to the centre of the fun and action. In order for us to succeed we just have to be like those people. This might be easier said than done for some, however if you try some of the following exercises you will gradually find it easier and easier.

The first thing you should do is realise that about 90% of the people who come into the SkinGenesis clinics overestimate the severity of their acne (the other 10% get it about right). This means there is a very strong likelihood that you are seeing yourself more critically than others will.

The second thing you must do is just observe people who have acne. For a start you will find that well over half of the people you see who are aged between 16 to 36 are suffering from some sort of acne. When you see someone, categorise them either into someone who is in control of their life (i.e. not letting acne affect them) or those whose lives appear controlled by their acne. Next I want you to think about the people whose lives are controlled by their acne and then think how much better their lives would be if they were like the group who were in control of their lives.

Now think about how good your life would be if you were one of the people who were in control of your life.

You now come to the final part. You will need a little bit of time and some peace and quiet to do this, so make yourself comfortable where you won’t be disturbed. When you are nice and relaxed think back to the first occasion that you were embarrassed by your acne. Think quickly rather than hard because the first event that comes to mind is probably the most significant. Now think back to that event and observe in a disassociated state (i.e. as an observer or fly on the wall), and then replay that event with you being in control of your life. Do this until you feel happy with the outcome. Once you have done this you must go back to the event in an associated state (i.e. it’s actually you reliving the experience) and relive the event with you in control. Repeat this re-enactment until you are completely at ease with the experience. Once you are happy with this first event move forwards in time towards the present moment, stopping at each embarrassing moment that comes to mind and reworking it as you did with the first event until you are happy with the outcome.

Once you have completed this exercise you should find that you are a little more at ease with the idea of getting out there and joining in. Some people may have to repeat the exercise several times to feel completely at ease, so persevere. If you do the exercise thoroughly you should feel better and more confident each time you do it.

Next time you feel inhibited about joining in an event, just recall the last time you did the exercise, then see yourself in a disassociated state (i.e. fly on the wall) participating in the exercise as someone in control of their life. Repeat this exercise until you feel confident and in control of your life and ready to join in.

Feeling positive and confident will actually do more than improve the quality of your life, it will improve your treatments. Happiness, confidence and feeling positive are all great ways to avoid stress, which is good because stress can be bad for the skin. Some stress hormones can aggravate acne and inhibit the rate at which the skin heals, so inhibiting stress will produce great results for the skin. Another side effect of stress can be the comforting behaviours we use to help us cope. These are normally the things we do in a stressful situation that we regret almost immediately afterwards (such as smoking and bingeing). They can play havoc with blood sugar levels and cause spikes in hormone levels, these too can be factors that will aggravate acne.

Finally being positive and confident will result in you looking positive and confident and also happy as well. This positive, happy, confident look is both noticeable and very attractive. If you are in any doubt compare a spotty but happy, confident and positive person with someone with clear skin but looks negative, insecure and unhappy. You will be in no doubt which is the most attractive person.