It All Starts with a Dream

Consider this.

Some say you should do "what you're good at." Others say you should do "what you love." Most say you should do something that represents both. Yet, if that was the whole truth, we'd all have jobs.

Who would dream of something new and think, "why not?" Who would follow their intuition into the unknown? Who would push themselves out of their comfort zone and attempt something never done before?

I say follow your dreams-- even if you're not good at it, the road ahead is hard, or you're ill prepared at this point in time. There is always a place for someone with destiny on their side. You'll find a way. Live it!

The Blessing of “C” students

When “A” students get great ideas -- one of the 20 or so they get each day -- they think, “Hey. Cool!” Yet, before they’ve had time to react, another idea comes in tune; then another. Jaded by such treasures, they begin to think “Ah, these trains come along every 15 minutes. I can always catch the next one.”

With so many amazing possibilities, they might go into “option shock” and do nothing. Or, if inclined to action, they might exhaust themselves like a plate spinner putting one idea after another into motion without reaching sustainability on any one endeavor-- my personal favorite.

In contrast, when “C” students get a great idea, they run with it. That’s all they think about. They don’t want to miss this train, knowing another may never come along again. Scarcity creates high value; commitment; full-focus tenacity. In effect, being born with a natural blindness to idea flow brings the blessing of action.

The rest of us don’t have a scarcity problem; we have a sorting problem, which makes discovery of our destiny so critical. Only an internal compass can guide us. For us, it’s like being in the midst of a carnival. The possibilities are endless and reach out in every direction. Yet, our time here is short and we need to be working on ideas that matter most.

In “Victorious in Life,” Yogananda says, “Do something in this world-- do something wonderful!”  In another passage, he says,  “Unless you actually accomplish, you are not successful. It is not enough just to think success or think ideas; they must be demonstrated.” He didn’t say to merely dream, believe, or love something wonderful; he said, “do.”

So discover your destiny and blind your passions to anything other than the legacy you are here to create. Then, be like the “C” student. Catch that train!

New Years’ Resolutions are for amateurs.

The regulars at a local bar my dad frequented used to quip, "New Years is for amateurs!" There’s a great truth in that.

These guys were professional drunks, not just weekend warriors or drinkers on occasion. What made them good at drinking was that they did it everyday. While they could barely hold a job, they could really hold their liquor. Likewise, New Years’ Resolutions are for amateurs, not for those with big dreams.

Resolutions alone don’t work anyway. Anyone who frequents a gym will see the “resolved“ crowds each January.  By the end of January,  the parking lots are back to normal and there’s no more active members than before. This happens every year because this only happens once every year. Sure, New Years is a great time to begin anew, but it’s what you do everyday that drives results. 

"New Years’ Resolutions are for amateurs, not for those with big dreams."

Everyday resolutions are what keeps the fires of your will power burning; forging thought into sustainable action. It’s not sufficient to simply resolve, “I will go to the gym everyday,” and then expect that you will consistently, relentlessly "drag your ass" to the gym for the next 365 days.

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Exercise must become “second nature,” as it is for the active members who have made the gym a central routine in their life. The difference is they don’t think, “Darn. I have to drag my ass to the gym again today.” Rather, they spontaneously think, “Great. I get to go to the gym now.”

There’s a great wisdom in this term "second nature," which has been lost. Most believe this to be the natural consequence of practice. Not so. Going to the gym everyday becomes “second nature” only if you engrain supporting beliefs. If you do not hold supporting beliefs, then going a few dozen times -- practice alone -- will change nothing, and it will take a supreme act of will to make it to the end of the month.

If it’s not sufficient to simply practice, then what do we do? Those of us who want to hold our resolutions must install supporting beliefs. Install beliefs?... Yes. Install them. New beliefs must be installed into your cyber self  -- the “i robot” or “i Bot” that holds the collection of learned habits we call, "second nature."

Right now, you may find it second nature to go home each night and take a nap, spontaneously thinking, "Oh, I'm tired. I'll just go to the gym tomorrow." If that’s you, then the “you” that is comforting your candy ass and justifying your lack of action needs to be replaced by a “you” that doesn’t think that way. Your "second nature" needs an upgrade to version 2.0.

It is essential to understand that you are not the “you” that is sabotaging your resolutions. Nor are you the body, the physical expression or “print out” of your mind set and cumulative actions in the kitchen and the gym.

You are the awareness, the essence behind the “iBot;” the being that has a body and a bot. Your “iBot” is merely a collection of your spontaneous programming; the little “i” that was built upon belief, one limiting experience at a time, throughout your lifetime. So, if you've been looking for the sa-"bot"-teur of your New Years plans all these years, it's been there, right before your eyes, all along!

"Until you reset the autopilot, you will never change your destination."

Your current “iBot” is the “you” that exactly matches the results you’ve achieved in the past. It's not that you live in the past, but that the past lives in you. Awake!

To get different results, you need a different "you," the unconscious, spontaneous thinker that has yet to buy-in to those New Years resolutions of yours. It's like autopilot on a boat. Time after time you can you can reset your destination, but the boat just snaps back on course. Until you reset the autopilot, you will never change your destination. It's as simple as that. 

It’s your unconscious programming that holds the real power, like the submerged portion of an iceberg. Yet -- just as though they were ice -- beliefs are frozen in form, and can only be chipped or melted away as new beliefs are frozen in their place. With that understanding, let’s call this cyber self, this "i-bot" our “Ice Bot” to denote both its massively submerged and stubbornly frozen, yet mendable nature.

It is the Icebot that walks, talks, and expresses "you" automatically, just as it was trained to do. It imposes limits on everything outside its comfort zone by its reaction and performance.

You are the big “I” imposing dramatic change on the walking and talking planned for the new year, and the one who stands in horror as “you” react or perform badly. An Icebot always resists change. It doesn’t know or care about what big “I” says or accomplishes; it’s just the autopilot! And while big "I" has the brains, this little "i" asshole holds all the power. In effect, it's as though your puppet has come to life and you've lost control of the show!

"It's as though your puppet has come to life and you've lost control of the show!"

In the Power of Now, Echart Tolle recalls the moment of his profound breaktrough when he screamed, "I can’t live with myself any longer," but suddenly realized there were two here— the “I” and the "self" he couldn't live with. This "self" is your second nature or icebot, a collection of operating habits forzen into form. Thankfully, habits are like software and can be re-formed.

The key to upgrading your "second nature" is the bombard it with everyday affirmations.  Affirmations are replacement beliefs carefully designed to support your desired performance. Installing the right reasons to go the gym -- and anything else you set out to accomplish-- is the basis of a simple, sustainable system for continuous improvement. 

I have to say that I found affirmations to be silly and had no idea why they kept showing up in all kinds of writings, especially in “self help” books. They seemed useless -- like ammo without a gun -- until I learned the power and promise of installing new beliefs. Was I supposed to stand in front of mirror a say this silly stuff?! Well, yes, but then it didn't seem so silly once I realized what was going on here.

You are not talking to yourself. Rather, you are talking to your cyber self, the Icebot, and by all available means -- visual, audio, imaginative -- deliberately and methodically “re-forming” ineffective beliefs with new programming that works. Think of as the re-education of a bad robot. Every day; every way.... Frequency builds awareness. Before long, new beliefs will be iced in place of the old.

Soon, supporting beliefs will bubble up when it’s time to go workout. Where "you" used to think of yourself as “lazy,” your new spontaneous thoughts are nothing of the sort, “I’ve got a body made of steel. It’s an amazing machine that I love to put through its routine. It’s time again? Fantastic. I can’t wait to get to the gym!"  Believe. You can.

Your spontaneous thoughts will change to whatever you sincerely and relentlessly affirm. Try it. Icebot doesn't care. Like a parrot, it will just repeat whatever it's trained to say. This is how you master your game. Master yourself.

At the end of one of his audio books, Jim Collins talks about his own New Years resolutions. Each year he comes up with three things he's going to start doing, three things he's going to stop doing, and three systems he's going to put in place to support these efforts. The brilliance is in the systems. It's the support systems that empower these new resolutions, never the goals on their own. Simple, sustainable systems.

So why wait for New Years to do an upgrade? Go for continuous improvement and let the results determine when it's time to add a new resolutions.

Life is short. Is that your legacy calling? 

ON Perfection-- Part 1: Putting Perfection in it's Place

Perfection has been given a bad rap.

I'm amazed, amazed, amazed when I hear excellence equated with perfection, and then dismissed as though excellence is some absurd standard and "good enough" is, ...well, good enough.

It is not.

That is, unless your intent is merely to entice the masses to take baby steps away from their TVs and off their couches. All the really amazing accomplishments of mankind have been a result of chasing perfection.

Yet, you first have to understand one eternal truth; perfection is a means, not an end. We should all strive for "perfection" and, through that, hope to achieve excellence. Let's look to a football great to see how this works.

“When Vince Lombardi walked into the meeting he looked us right in the eye. He said, ‘Gentlemen. We’re going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we won’t catch it, because nothing is perfect. But, we’re going to relentlessly -- and that’s how he blurted it -- chase it. Because in the process we will catch excellence"... And he said, "I’m not remotely interested in being just good.”

"Holy macros. Man I was up just like this. I didn’t need a seat to set in. I was up like this ready to go.”

-- Bart Starr on Lombardi’s first day with the Green Bay Packers.

What's not universally understood is that these two words describe different aspects of the same standard. Perfection is an ideal; Excellence is an actual result! You will rarely achieve perfection in anything you do, yet only when you aspire for perfection can you hope to achieve excellence. Through excellence we achieve self-mastery.

"Perfection is a means,

not an end."

 -- Big Dreams.com

With "good enough" as our standard, we only learn to compromise, to take short cuts, and to quit when giving our best is too hard or inconvenient. We learn self indulgence. 

What kind of cars would Lexus build if their vision was Relentless Pursuit of "Good Enough?"

John Wooden had it right. What did he do after his team not just won the NCAA championship, but had a "perfect," undefeated season? Not one loss! He had his team work on weaknesses; continuous improvement. Results were secondary. Wooden always believed that giving your best -- and becoming your best -- is what truly mattered.

"Master your game. Master yourself."

-- Big Dreams.com

 While few of us have the privilege of using sports as a vehicle to achieve perfection, this still holds. For the rest of us our "game" is our work, family, and community. When you do something wonderful, you not only stand to serve others but develop your inner strength.

PART I: PUTTING PERFECTION IN IT'S PLACE

PART II: PERFECTION REVEALS EXCELLENCE

PART III: THE DARK SIDE OF PERFECTION

PERFECT PLAY

Success Defined!

I believe "success" is creating legacy from your destiny, in this lifetime.  

Life has never been about material gain; nothing you own will go with you in the end. Rather, it's about the self-mastery achieved from this struggle, and the legacy you leave behind for others.

It once seemed to me that self-mastery was a goal in itself, but then it became obvious. Tiger Woods doesn't think about self-mastery; he thinks about perfecting his shots. Michael Jordon never thought about self-mastery; he thought about winning at basketball. A yogi doesn't think about self-mastery; he's thinks about knowing God.

Without mastery, there can be no excellence. Yet, it is the attainment of excellence that breeds self-mastery. You must first discover your destiny. Then, design a compelling vision for your legacy. Think big! From there, bring big dreams to life!