INTRODUCTION:
Here at Ultimate Vocabulary we’re committed to a philosophy of helping other people achieve their dreams through self-education and self-improvement. That’s why we’re so excited when we meet other people who have the same belief, and who are actively working to assist others in finding the way towards their goals. One such person is Steven Aitchison, a successful author and self-made businessman. We talked to him recently and asked him to share some of his secrets with our readers.
UV: You’ve been through a lot of changes in your career – nurse, counselor, customer service professional – but there has always been a theme of “helping people” in your jobs. Were you consciously choosing this type of work, or did you need to do some self-reflection to bring that focus forward?
I went through a long period of introspection before I knew what my calling was in life. Between the ages of 12 – 21 I honestly didn’t know what my place in the world was; I didn’t know why I was here and what my place on Earth was.
At 20 years old I reached a pivotal point in my life, I wasn’t happy with my job, the place where I stayed, my ‘friends’, and life in general. It was then that I found a book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ and knew things had to change for me. So I decided I was going to drop everything. I left my job, tried to travel alone for some time but wasn’t quite ready, I dropped my friends at the time who were really drinking buddies, and left my hometown.
It was at this point I knew I wanted to help people in some capacity, but just didn’t know how. So I decided to try nursing. I loved it but fell ill 18 months into the course and left. I then took my Psychology degree and went on to counsel people with drug and alcohol issues, all the while writing and developing personal development programs, and it has now become my full time business.
UV: “Change your thoughts” is a key phrase in your writing. Does this involve changing the way you talk to yourself, and choosing specific words to use when you think about problems, questions, or decisions you need to make?
One of my major discoveries in life has been the fact that we can change the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world around us. I used to think that our beliefs were rock solid and that they couldn’t really be changed and my personality and life was tied to the beliefs I held about myself.
When I discovered beliefs are actually malleable and that we can change them, my whole life literally changed and that has been my passion ever since: to teach others this amazing fact.
Our thoughts are born from our beliefs and if we can change our thoughts we can therefore change the beliefs we hold about ourselves and that’s why I feel it is key in changing our lives.
It doesn’t necessarily involve changing key words, it involves changing our perspectives in life. This involves the questions we ask ourselves. We have been asking the wrong questions of ourselves and if we can structure a good question to effect a positive outcome then this can ultimately change our lives.
UV: Following up on the topic of words, as a published author you know the power of a good vocabulary. While Ultimate Vocabulary is focused on helping people improve their English vocabulary, we also know that achieving this goal helps boost a person’s confidence. What are some of your other recommendations for self-education and self-improvement that lead to multiple benefits?
We’ve all had that feeling when we’re talking to someone and we’re trying to find the right word to describe something, and we get frustrated because that word seems to elude us for some reason. Well, a lot of people feel frustrated a lot because the right words never seem to be there when they need them. Vocabulary gives us the power to express our emotions, our thoughts, our stories in a way that accurately describes what we are trying to say. If we have that power to hand every day of our lives, our confidence skyrockets; we become much more involved with life, more involved with learning, we don’t feel so ‘stupid’, our social interactions become richer and ultimately our lives are deeply improved with an improved vocabulary.
UV: What is “lucid dreaming” and how does it help people?
Lucid dreaming is the art of becoming conscious whilst you are dreaming. Imagine what it would feel like to be dreaming and suddenly realize you are dreaming, the feeling is just amazing.
It empowers you, I think that is the biggest benefit. It gives you a feeling of self control.
I was plagued throughout my childhood with a recurring dream where an unknown entity would chase me, or grab me from behind and I would wake up screaming. When I started lucid dreaming I was in this dream being chased by this entity when suddenly I turned around and confronted it. The entity turned out to be myself in a white cloak. I still occasionally get these dreams but nowhere near as much as I used to, and I felt so empowered because I was able to become conscious in my dream.
UV: Sometimes the problem isn’t finding out how to reach a goal – it’s figuring out what that goal really is! What do you advise people to do if they aren’t sure what they want, or can’t see where they want to go?
The problem with having a lofty goal is that we haven’t a clue how to reach that goal, all we see are the immediate obstacles and hassle that going for the goal can bring us, so we stop having goals in life.
The real secret is having small goals. When we reach the small goals in life, it gives us confidence to go for bigger and bigger goals until pretty much anything we want to achieve becomes achievable.
You’re right that a lot of people don’t know what they want and I believe it’s because we fall into a trap; the trap of money, the trap of a family, the trap of responsibility. What we don’t realise is that we can still achieve what we want despite all of these ‘traps’, but there’s one caveat; you’ve got to want something, you’ve got to have a dream, a goal, a wish. The person who sits around waiting for life to happen to them will not go far in life, but the person who has even an inkling of a goal and decides to do something about it will achieve so much more and be so much happier than the person who doesn’t.
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