Free Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life by Trevor G Blake

headline or news story has the potential to induce fear into our systems.
    The challenge we face with regard to the news media is that the brain does not distinguish between that which is real and that which is imagined. Watching a scene of carnage in a war zone causes some of the same detrimental stress effects as actually being there ourselves. The fear response we have in front of the television is the same we would have in the real situation. Of course, it is diluted somewhat by the safety net of our home, but people addicted to the news are subjecting themselves to chronic stress every time they tune in. Day after day, they take their dose of news and induce a cascade of destruction in their neurons.
    To make matters worse, everything you see and hear in the media triggers images in your brain. If you watch a news report about a crime, the pictures in your brain are a reaction to the horror you are observing. Your eyes take in a stranger on the street being mugged, which at first might seem inconsequential. The emotion you feel, however, is not because you recognize the stranger but because you know how you would feel if that happened to you or someone you know. Many times, I hear people say “I don’t know how I’d cope if that happened to me.” The moment they say it, they imagine it, and those thoughts remain out in the universe with the potential to create exactly what they don’t want. Every time you watch something fearful on television, you also place your life at risk because your thoughts have the propensity to convert to matter and come right back at you.
    You should understand I am not antimedia—far from it. Media are simply vehicles for transmitting messages and can be valuable assets in our quest for knowledge and success. I enjoy a comedy, an educational documentary, or a film as much as anyone, and I watch a lot of sports. The key is in being selective in what media messages you allow into your brain, and then how you choose to react to them.
    For instance, if you are in debt, then you should avoid those advertisements that offer debt solutions because of the effect on your thought generation as we discussed earlier. If, however, you desire to own a top-end Mercedes-Benz, then not only is it acceptable to watch those advertisements, you should record them and play them over and over until, instead of the actor in the driver’s seat, you start to see yourself. You should call the toll-free number to request a brochure and more information. Then read the car reviews in the newspaper. Find your local dealer and go for a test drive. You should watch any show or film in which the car manufacturer has paid to have their vehicle used by the actors. The point is that we must be selective in whatwe allow into our minds, manage what we think about them, and control our reactions. We avoid what we are against and seek out what we are for .
    Media marketing attempts to influence our behavior in remarkably simple ways. An unguarded state of mind can be shown an advertisement of a sexy girl, who appears attracted to a man smoking a particular brand of cigarette. As he watches, the viewer knows it is a carcinogenic poison. He knows his nicotine-stained hands, poised to hit the channel-change button before a girl in a bikini showed up, would turn off any female who looked like the one on the screen. His breath would send her to the nearest bathroom. His reaction, however, is to reach for a cigarette because he subconsciously fears being undesirable.
    In my father’s case, his reaction to this type of advertisement was to send me out to the store to buy some more cigarettes. When I was six, in the days when there was no age limit required for their purchase, he would send me to the corner store for an extra pack of his favorite filter-tipped brand. I once forgot what I had been sent for and brought home half a dozen eggs, a ball of wool, and some oranges. Audrey appreciated the wool, but a man deprived of his