July 24, 2008
You may have thought you would never find yourself in this position, but here you stand. A little befuddled, a little depressed, wondering if you’re wasting your life. You might be working sixty hours a week at a job that pays too little and asks for too much. You may be staying in a relationship that looks like it’s going nowhere fast. You may be chasing after your dreams while they get further and further away. How do you know when to call it quits? How do you know when it’s finally time to throw in the towel and call the whole thing off?
If you’ve ever wondered whether or life is passing you by, it probably is. If you had to ask, it’s flying by as we speak. Happy people, content people, passionate people, they don’t ask that question. It’s like being in love. How do you know when you’re in love? You just know. How do you know you’re unsatisfied? You just know . . . if you’re honest with yourself. And most people are honest with themselves, except when it comes to their failures, then they turn to self delusion.
I’m not talking about little delusions like “this dress still fits,” or “the comb-over works.” Self delusion on the scale I’m describing is when you say that your ten year relationship still works, though you can’t stand the sight of each other anymore. You tell yourself you like your job when you couldn’t hate your boss more if you tried. That is serious self delusion and it is always a sign that you are wasting your life on a daily basis.
Here is the test for telling whether or not you fit this category. Do you go to bed every night excited for the coming morning, dreading it, or utterly indifferent? If your answer was indifference, dread, or ?I don’t know,? your life is leaving without you.
Now what are you going to do about it?
Like any addiction, you first have to admit that you have a problem and, yes, it is an addiction. If you qualify for the above categories, you are addicted to something that it wasting your life. Now you must find out what that is and put a stop to it now and forever.
It may seem as if these things are happening to you instead of being brought on by you, but you are always the cause of these addictions. It’s easy to argue that you don’t cause random accidents, but every day that you wake up and walk into a job you hate you are giving life permission to be miserable. Every day that you stay in that stale or unhealthy relationship is a day that you create your own misery. These moments are you choosing to be unhappy.
And you are addicted to this unhappiness. I know it may not seem that way, but when you go to work, you are getting your fix. When you stay with that un-significant other, you are reaffirming your unhappiness. Why? Because you feel unhappy and need a reason to stay that way. It’s a vicious cycle if ever there was one. Our unhappiness leads to blame and complaining and self pity which feel good. We like these things and we want to continue doing them so we must continue to be unhappy.
Admit this to yourself and internalize this knowledge now because it will speed your recovery greatly if you do. Deny it now and you’ll postpone a change you may desperately need. Admit your addiction, but by all means DON’T fight against it. The addiction is a creation of the mind and fighting the mind never works. It can be like quicksand dragging you down, the more you fight the harder it gets. You cannot fight against yourself, you must work with yourself.
The more you struggle and moan about your problems the more power you give them. If you catch yourself in this mindset, STOP. Stop everything you’re doing and take a deep breath. Break the thought process and the flow of energy that is building up to an unhappy crescendo and your mind will have to start over. If you can be vigilant enough to catch yourself every time it happens, you will break the habit of sinking in the quicksand. This is the same method used to break animals of bad habits. Your cat starts scratching the drapes, you squirt it with water. It isn’t so much a punishment as it is a redirection of the animal’s focus away from their habitual behavior. This is what you want to do with yourself.
Depression
There is something you need to get straight if you find yourself unhappy or dissatisfied: it is occurring for a reason. Your mind, your body and the Universe never do anything without a reason. If you are suffering from depression, there’s a reason: your life sucks.
Science has never been able to pin down the true cause of depression, despite many successful treatments, and I believe it is because they have overlooked the most obvious reasons. They looked at serotonin levels in the brain, but that is only a symptom. They examined chemical imbalances, but they found nothing conclusive. They neglected, however, to test whether or not people who suffer from depression do so for a good reason. They didn’t examine their living conditions.
Do you ever see people who are in their dream jobs, are financially abundant and have many friends suffering from depression? No. The simple reason is that they have no reason to. If you are unhappy, there is a reason. Now you must discover that reason and put a stop to it.
Honesty
If you want to change your life, now or in the future, you must start being honest with yourself. Dishonesty with one’s self is how these addictions begin. It’s when you lie to yourself and say that complaining feels good, or the situation warrants it, that you continue a self destructive pattern. That pattern is the reason you are wasting your life. It is the reason you are unhappy and the reason you are going to remain that way.
Break the habit. Break the pattern. Have a happy life.
All it takes is a little bit of honesty and a lot of courage. You have to be willing to stand up and tell yourself and anyone who asks that you no longer like your job. That what you have been working toward has been a waste. That your spouse is not the one for you. It takes untold amounts of courage. People all around the world want to do just this but they don’t and it isn’t for a lack of desire. They want to change their lives and they have the courage to do so, but they cannot bring themselves to admit they’ve wasted time.
If you have ever wondered why people stay in unhealthy relationships for too long, this is one of the reasons.
We don’t want to admit our mistakes because they may be mistakes that have lasted for years and we can’t admit throwing away that much time. You don’t want to say that your job is a dead end because ten years is a long time to spend on a dead end. You don’t want to admit that your marriage is a failure because it would mean all those years together were failures as well. You want to feel as if all that time meant something; that you might get a return on your investment.
The truth is that you won’t and if you don’t realize it now, you will only end up wasting more time. More years will pass and then you will realize that you have wasted twenty instead of ten. Many people put off making these kinds of decisions because they feel they might make them in haste. They say things like, “well I’ve only worked here for a year, maybe if I stay another year it will get better.” It hardly ever gets better.
You are a smart person. You know when the situation you are in is not the right one for you. Now you must admit it.
Posted in Being Proactive, Determination, Fear, Goal Setting, Happiness, Motivation, Providing Value, Relationships, Social Do's and Don'ts, Success 
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July 22, 2008
Never mistake the truth that you are in control of your life. No matter what you may think of the law of attraction and the role that intention plays in the quantum physics of the universe, it is impossible to believe that we are not in full control of ourselves. Or should I say that we CAN be in full control of ourselves. Most choose not to be, saying that their mind goes where it wants and they simply are what they are. They excuse themselves from being in control by creating habits and personality traits that they set beyond and outside of themselves. They identify themselves based on these traits and internalize them as if they were law, never realizing that they are the creators of all their attributes, good and bad.
They identify themselves as stupid, or clumsy. They become a person who is bad at managing their finances, or a person who is socially inept. They strip these attributes of their descriptive powers and wear them like a name tag. ?Hello, I’m Person-Who-Gets-Nervous-In-Crowds, what are you??
Never in the history of the universe was there a dolling out of personality traits. No god dealt you a hand to play saying, “Ah, you got the smart card, good for you but, too bad, Old Sport, looks like you got the clumsy card as well! Bad luck! Well, watch those stairs on your way out!” There wasn’t a sorting ceremony before you came to earth where you were put into the “bad with numbers” house. The attributes that you put on yourself are your creations, your labels and therefore, completely under your command. Believing otherwise is one of the greatest misconceptions of humanity.
When you let any one part of you take on a mind of its own, you are asking for trouble in your life. We’ve talked before about the manifestations that can result when the ego takes control of you, but the rule applies to any part of you. When you let your “clumsiness” take over, you will undoubtedly fulfill your own clumsy prophecy. When you let “moodiness” take over, you will not be happy or very well liked. These are not you and they never have been. They are creations, fabrications of you and the world around you.
Perhaps you think you are clumsy because you were always told that this was so. Your clumsiness only manifests because you internalize it and take it on as an identity. It is not an identity and it certainly isn’t your identity. Whatever you are now, you are choosing to be. Whatever you want to be will also be a choice.
If you are unhappy with yourself, remind yourself that everything you are unhappy with is a creation of your own pure mind, as is the unhappiness you feel. You’ve invented them all.
I understand that this may be hard to digest for many people who have never viewed their world from this perspective before. Right now it may feel as if I am blaming you for your short comings, but I ask you not to view it from such a short-sighted stance. What you have been is of no concern to you right now. The past is gone and cannot be brought back. It is what you choose to be now that is important. I am not blaming you, I am trying to empower you. Imagine what you could do right now if you would only internalize this knowledge.
Could you do something practical like, say, stop smoking? If you have long internalized the identity of a smoker, could you turn it around with a thought?
Could you become less negative and judgmental simply by letting go your self-created identity as a negative person?
This knowledge doesn’t diminish you in the least. On the contrary, it bolsters you, it makes you greater, perhaps, than you have ever made yourself!
Remember that ?all things in moderation? applies just as well in the mental realm of thoughts and feelings as it does in the physical world of manifestation. Just as too much of anything can harm your body, so too much of any attribute can harm your consciousness. Fear can grip you when the ego is allowed to rule over you and anger can grow from internalized insecurities. These attributes should be tools at your disposal, not processes operating without your consent. Think of them, not as uncontrollable forces, but as you would brushes to paint with. You can fill your canvas with poise, grace and confidence or with fear, anger and resentment, all through choice.
They are not done unto you. They do not make you up. They are not you. They are tools that will always and forever be your creations to use as you see fit. If you can internalize this, you can be born anew, happier, healthier and in full control of your own resources.
Posted in Consciousness, Emotions, Fear, Happiness, Self Improvement, Social Do's and Don'ts, The Mind No Comments »
July 17, 2008
The genre of self-help and personal development is rife with buzz words. Words like, ?attraction,? ?abundance? and “energy” sound good so we repeat them and nod along when they’re said. Playing fast and loose with the terminology has left the real, life-changing possibilities in the dust. The word “consciousness” has been reduced to meaning nothing, which is sad because it means everything if you are serious about your personal growth. To live consciously is a spiritual practice that can take a lifetime to master and is not for the faint of heart. It is not always easy and it is not always fast, but it is all encompassing and life altering.
Being conscious in one’s life means to be clearly aware of one’s self. You may not understand what this means right now, but one day you will experience it and, no matter how short an experience that may be, you will seek it again from that point forward. It is the quiet, still mind that observes itself and knows that its fears and anxieties are a myth of its own creation. To live consciously means living your life from that inner silence without the background chatter of your mind. It means never being overwhelmed by your own emotions and whirling thoughts. It is the silencing of your ego and the opening up of yourself to a deeper sense of identity.
I know all of this sounds like more buzz-word phrasing, but for those who have experienced this, the understanding is clear.
The goal of living consciously is to do so every day. Not just while you sit quietly with your eyes closed in meditation, but when you are sitting in traffic or dealing with your boss or coworkers. It is remaining calm and clear while dealing with stressful situations. It is the ability to be faced with any situation, while never being overtaken by a runaway mind. The ego, you see, can be a trap. It isn’t meant to be and I will always come to the ego’s defense from those who would condemn it as somehow baser and more evil than the “higher self.” Your ego is nothing to run away from and certainly nothing to be done away with. It is a natural part of you. You cannot give up this half of yourself, but neither can you let it overrun you. This is where most people find themselves. They are slaves to the ceaseless and many times vicious voices in their heads. They have become attached to, and ruled by, the ego. If you wish to live consciously, you must avoid this.
Attachment
Attachment is the detrimental alignment of yourself with one thing over another. It is the denial of something for the 100% devotion to something else. It is dangerous and ultimately useless. Attachment is denial and denial is the epitome of unconscious living. The pain that Buddhists link to attachment is the pain caused by being unwilling to adapt and change, being un-malleable. This is all caused by the polarization of one’s self and the unwillingness to venture out from that pole.
When we identify ourselves with the ego, we become ruled by it and it alone. We lose sight and sensation of our spirit or our deeper sense of self. Conversely, when we align only to the deeper self, we loose our sense of pragmatism and individualism and ultimately become lost to the rest of the world. A good example of this are the holy men now sitting on the banks of the Ganges River who have given up everything. They are in poor health, malnourished and have nothing but the rags on their backs. Spiritually they are giants but in the manifested world they are sickly old men. They aligned solely to their higher self and let everything else fall by the wayside.
This kind of neglect has to be avoided. If we choose to shun or deny the physical world it leads to unconscious living and shows a lack of mental strength. It would show far more discipline and character to be successful in the physical AND spiritual life at the same time. Say what you will about such selflessness, but to me it demonstrates only a portion of a successful life; only half the coin.
Denying What Is
Denial leads to unconsciousness because of the nature of consciousness as a calm state of acceptance. The conscious person does not fight against the world they live in and therefore does not resist their circumstances. They understand all life is necessary and all life is purposeful. This understanding leads away from struggle and into peace. You no longer deny the world as it is and wish it were otherwise. You accept it for what it is and find ways to make it otherwise. Do you see the difference?
Accepting what is and moving toward a change utilizes your circumstances to create the desired outcome. Denial fights against reality and attempts to push it away. This cannot succeed and leads only to suffering and self pity which is the work of the ego.
This is why the true test of living consciously is one’s reaction in stressful situations. If you can react with calm acceptance of what is and work with your reality toward your desired result, you are living consciously. If you seek to blame yourself or others and suffer mental anguish because of your circumstances, your unconscious suffering will become a part of your everyday experience.
Staying Conscious Everyday
Becoming conscious for short periods of meditation is easy and can be practiced by everyone. And while these short trips into peace are helpful to be sure, the real goal here is not for conscious living to be an occasional hobby but rather a sustained way of life. The goal is to create a new default pattern to your life wherein you feel peace and joy instead of suffering.
The challenge is to live your life as you live it now, but without the chatter of your mind and without the fear brought on by the ego; to balance your spiritual and pragmatic sides and begin using your ego as a precise tool to shape your life. But can you learn to do this in the middle of a traffic jam? Ah, the real test. You’re behind the wheel of your car in the middle of the highway and stuck behind a never ending line of other cars. You’re late for work, again, and you have that big meeting in an hour. Can you stay in the moment without getting caught up in fantasies about the future? Can you keep your mind inside the car, in the now, and accept the wait or will you rage against your reality and curse the fact that this had to happen on today of all days?
The answer for most people is obvious. They will react with the “why me?” attitude. Instead, what would happen if they let go and allowed the traffic jam to be as it was? What would happen if they simply sat back and said “yes” to their wait and gave no attention to the upcoming meeting and the waiting boss? Would the traffic move faster? Would they be in less trouble with the boss? Maybe not, but they would certainly feel happier and more in control of their own lives. They would shed the suffering of the unconscious mind as it rages against a world it cannot change, because the traffic has never caused suffering. Only the ego can create such pain and only your consciousness can do away with it.
And more often than not, these conscious people are given reasons to be happy. They accept their circumstances and work happily toward even better circumstances and they tend to succeed in their endeavors. On the other hand there are the unconscious people who blame others, wonder why bad things always happen to good people and put their fate in the hands of pure luck. These people tend to be unhappy and are constantly given reasons remain that way.
To stay conscious every day, one must learn to internalize the words, “all is as it should be.” If you can take this thought and turn it into your default reaction you need never again suffer from fear or confusion. This does not, however, mean that you will never experience sadness again. You will of course feel sadness, but you will never be overwhelmed or debilitated by it for you will understand that from your circumstances will arise precisely what you are looking for and that “all is as it should be.”
Live Like Water
The Tao Te Ching compares the all encompassing power of the Universe to water and there is no better comparison. It is fluid and moves smoothly from form to form. It flows in us and around us and is as malleable yet unstoppable as a river. You can bend it, dam it or harness it and yet never hold on to it. If your goal is to live your life consciously you must look to water for you answer.
When I was young, my middle school principle used to have a motto he would repeat every morning over the intercom. “Go with the flow,” he said. I came to hate that phrase. Looking back, I think he might have been onto something. If we can learn to live our lives like flowing water we can never find ourselves at an impasse, for water can never be stopped in its liquid state. It moves with the wind, it flows around rocks and over dams. It can be slowed or diverted but never stopped completely.
Seek to live every day as if you were water, accepting your path as it comes to you. With this mindset you could never find yourself stuck or in complete failure. These states wouldn’t exist for you. Where others see failure, you see a new place to flow. Be that flexible and that relentless, and be unstoppable.
These are easy methods of living. They require little energy on your part and in fact require far less energy than living and suffering unconsciously. All that is required is the reminder and the belief that ?all is as it should be? and that you, too, may flow with the easy and peace of water. Begin to internalize these beliefs now and you will soon find that your life begins to flow more smoothly. Setbacks that would have crippled you, now fall before you as if never there. You will discover that you always had this power for happiness and ease, but had channeled it into fighting against your world and feeding your own suffering and pain. Remove the power from your pain and you will find the will to live consciously every single day.
Posted in Being Proactive, Consciousness, Fear, Happiness, Law of Attraction, Relationships, Social Do's and Don'ts, Success, The Mind No Comments »
July 14, 2008
Photo by Hryckowian
Your instincts, your intuition, your gut, your heart. All things that are supposed to tell you the truth, right? All things that give advice which, when heeded, cannot fail, right? If that’s true then why do we still make wrong choices? Just think if we could discern when the information we’re feeling is “right” and when it’s leading us in the wrong direction. We would never again have to live in fear or in doubt of our own abilities. We would live everyday knowing that we’re heading in the right direction and could never be lead astray. Imagine the freedom that this would grant you! But how do you tell the difference between a decision made out of fear and one made out of intuition? We’ve all experienced moments in our lives when we felt a flash of “insight” and suddenly knew the right path to take in our lives. What was different between that decision and one that failed horribly?
Just think if we could discern when the information we’re feeling is “right” and when it’s leading us in the wrong direction. We would never again have to live in fear or in doubt of our own abilities. We would live everyday knowing that we’re heading in the right direction and could never be lead astray. Imagine the freedom that this would grant you!
To understand the differences, we must first understand how these two methods of decision making manifest themselves. They can manifest through mental symptoms, meaning they both illicit not only different types of emotions but also different types of thoughts. Learning to identify the type of thought is far easier than identifying differences in content. The physical manifestations are far more varied, spanning the gamut of sensations from an ecstatic buzz to total numbness. By going through how each manifests mentally and physically and the differences between them we can identify the larger trends and learn to tell one from the other when they arise in the moment.
For the sake of simplicity in this article we’ll stick to the terms insight and ego. Insight is the decision made from your “higher self” or your intuition. Ego is the fear-based rationalization put forward by your mind.
Let’s start with ego, not only is it more easily recognizable, it also the more often experienced of the two.
Posted in Emotions, Fear, Happiness, Motivation, Self Improvement, The Mind 1 Comment »
July 10, 2008
Law of Attraction, life changing principle or giant fraud? A sticky question seeing as it depends on who you ask. A multitude of millionaires claim life changing, while the mass of middle-brackets call bullshit. What’s the difference? Surely manifestation can’t favor a certain type of person, so what’s the catch? If luck favors the prepared mind, just what does the prepared mind look like and, more importantly, how can you prepare your mind?
The makeup of the prepared mind is a tricky proposition. Many people have tried to find the secret recipe used by the rich and successful with mixed results. Stephen Covey narrowed down 7 Habits, while T. Harv Eker found the Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. And while these books are very informative and very practical, I’m uninterested in seven differences, I want THE difference. What does the successful brain do that the mediocre can’t or won’t? Without exaggeration, I believe I’ve found that magical difference. I think it is the ability and the self discipline to focus on the present moment, without being distracted by the chatter of the mind.
Those we consider successful all have an uncanny ability to focus. Ever notice how some of the most successful people in the world seem so relaxed? You never see them in a hurry. Go watch one of the presidential candidates next time you catch the news. Barack Obama doesn’t run, he strides easily no matter where he is. He never looks as if he wants to be anywhere else but here. He’s focused, he’s in the moment, he’s like a laser beam. This behavior shows a calm control of his own inner thoughts. His mind is collected and quiet. He is, in a word, focused. That focus creates a calm exterior by keeping the mind in the present moment where it cannot worry or regret.
Creating the Laser Beam
This ability to focus cuts down greatly on mental chatter. The brain can run away in many directions at once, giving rise to thoughts, feelings and fantasies that have nothing to do with the present moment. The mind is constantly in flux, moving from topic to topic, traveling from past memories to future anxieties.
And the future is always an anxiety to the mind. When left to its own devices the brain creates the worst case scenarios. It calls this planning, but that’s a lie. To plan is organized, this view of the future is always chaotic.
Have you ever looked around at your life and found that what you are manifesting seems like mixed signals? Great things one minute and aggravation the next? This is why! When your mind is chaotic, so are your intentions. This noise is like television static that is blurring the path to clear manifestations.
Bringing Your Focus to the Present
When we focus, we cut down this background chatter. We bring the mind to a pinpoint and, in a sense, place blinders on it. Don’t look left, don’t look right, look straight ahead. We keep it on track, not through a battle of wills, but through gentle persuasion. And your persuasion must be gentle. If you seek to force your brain into quiet, you’ll find it fights back just as hard. Your thoughts are created by you and will match your energy. Fight meets fight, peace meets peace, and when that idle noise is gone, we find peace inside ourselves. We no longer feel the need to worry or stress, especially over events that have yet to occur.
Put in this light, it’s easy to see why such focus is effective in manifesting things like financial abundance. How can you attract anything else when you are free to plan instead of worry? When you can feel peace instead of dread?
The process of gaining focus is easy, the practice is not.
To focus your mind, you must raise your awareness of your body. The biggest mistake is to place your awareness on your mind. Your awareness just fuels those random and ridiculous thoughts. It makes them worse and more frequent. Move your awareness into your body. Feel everything fully.
How do your arms feel? How do your legs feel? Your hands? Your face? The key is not to give yourself an answer. That would be making a judgment and that is an act of the mind. Just Be. Ask the question, but leave all words behind after that. Answers are irrelevant here. Observation is all that matters.
Now do this for as long and as often as you can. You needn’t close your eyes or let this state affect how you live your life. You should grow to maintain it throughout every day.
Now I am not suggesting that Barack Obama, or any other successful individuals perform this practice exactly as I’ve written it. I am suggesting that they do not need the process. The effects of this practice are already so natural to them that they are habitual. They don’t notice the method because they don’t notice the effects.
This should be your goal.
The process of manifestation will become more effective when you realize that it isn’t your identity that creates. It isn’t your mind. It is the power that remains behind once all of the false thought chatter fades away. It is the peace that you feel. The power is in the silence, never the words.
Posted in Creativity, Emotions, Goal Setting, Happiness, Law of Attraction, Metaphysics, Synchronicity, The Mind No Comments »
July 8, 2008
We see it in our everyday culture. In our universal remote controls, our drive-thru restaurants, our house cleaning robots. It came on the wave of the future our grandparents dreamed of. It is the plague of laziness. We are all, Americans most frighteningly, growing lazier. Why else would we invest millions of dollars every year into the purchasing, producing and researching of new alarm clocks? We constantly seek out something else that will wake us up because the last thing we bought just can’t do the job. The problem is that we can’t get out of bed and stay that way.
I’m not about to tell you that you have to wake up at 5am, but being able to get out of bed to stay is a skill everyone should have. And “staying” is the real problem. It isn’t waking up, it’s STAYING up, which is why we haven’t yet invented the perfect alarm clock. The problem has nothing to do with alarms and what they can do. Sometimes it’s a lack of self discipline. Sometimes it’s a lack of desire or need. If you have no reason to be up at 5am, convincing yourself that a few more hours of sleep is a bad idea is going to be impossible. If you just despise the idea of being up that early, then there isn’t enough self discipline in the world to make you do it every morning. Before you worry about whether or not you have enough self discipline, worry about whether or not you need, or even want, to wake up as early as you’re attempting.
This is also putting aside all of the more practical reasons why it’s hard to get up with the alarm, such as sleep deprivation. Modern man is almost constantly sleep deprived due to that wave of the future I mentioned earlier. But it’s surprising how many people stay awake until four in the morning and want to wake up at eight. Get it straight now, it ain’t gonna happen, at least not with any sustainable regularity, which is really what you’re after.
Anyone can wake up with their alarm once. It’s takes real discipline and clarity of mind to do it every time, without fail.
But that it’s hard is nothing new. The reasons it’s hard are nothing new. So what’s so new about my method? Well for one thing, it works. Every time. Without fail. For another thing it is a sure-fire way to build your self discipline in every thing you do in your daily life. Be it working, finding more time in the day, running errands. Whatever you need to get done, this method will help you develop the strength and presence of mind to do it without hesitation.
The Method:
1. Put the alarm clock all the way across the room (in the other room if you can manage it and still wake up). I know this part is nothing you haven’t heard before, but it’s an important step, you MUST get up and walk all the way across the room to turn off your alarm.
2. Set the alarm for WELL before you have to start getting ready. You do not want to rush this process. Give yourself at least 30 minutes. If it takes less than that, good for you, you gained half an hour. But who knows, you might need more. Set yourself up for success. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
3. Once you’re up and at your alarm, stand there. THIS IS THE HARDEST PART. Don’t move. Don’t think. Don’t try to do anything for right now. Just STAND.
What destroys most people’s will power in the morning is trying to make decisions too early. You’re not in your right mind in the morning so don’t try to be. You know that if you try to think, you’ll talk yourself back into bed so don’t let yourself get that far. Just stand there and focus all your attention on standing there.
If you must do something just repeat to yourself a simple mantra like, “don’t move, don’t move, don’t move,” or “stand up, stand up, stand up.”
4. Do nothing else until your head clears, THEN make your decision as to whether or not to get up for good. You may still feel tired, but you’ll be in your right mind. This may take 30 seconds, it might take 30 minutes. Just keep standing until the numb sensation in your limbs and your brain goes away for good, THEN go about your day.
Believe me, this works. It works because you are not trying to ask anything of your tired and disoriented mind. Thoughts like, “I need to get up and workout,” are doomed to failure because that is too complicated and unpleasant a task for so discombobulated a mind to follow. “Stand up,” however, is easy.
Not to mention that standing there and not going back to bed will be hard for only a few seconds. I have never experienced the pain or discomfort of standing still for more than maybe ten seconds on a bad day. That’s it. The pain literally dissipates by the second. So with every passing tick of the clock your ease will grow exponentially, as will your self discipline.
That’s it, just stand there. I do this every morning. All you have to do is stand there in one place and zone-out until you come back to yourself. What could be easier? Does it take some self discipline? Yes, but everyone has enough to do a task this simple and doing this every morning will help grow that discipline greatly. It’s an easy place to start, why not start now?
Posted in Being Proactive, Determination, Featured, Goal Setting, Happiness, Motivation, Self Improvement, Success, The Mind No Comments »
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