I am not sure of where you are at when it comes to roller coasters.
Occasionally, they can be fun.
Like once or twice a year (for me), but definitely not weekly.
Pass.
So I would like to (strongly) recommend you don’t make a habit of this.
Unless of course you love roller coasters, and especially the emotional kind…
Hands up if you want a ‘hard’ life?
I am guessing we had about 0% of hands showing.
I reckon the numbers would swing back to approximately 100% if I asked who wants more PEACE in their lives!
Who wouldn’t?
So let’s imagine at one end of the spectrum there is HARD and the other end is PEACE.
This article is about what we mostly ‘unconsciously’ (or accidentally) do, which sends us closer to the HARD end of the spectrum, and what we can do to move closer to the PEACE end of town.
So let’s dive straight in with the first way we make life harder.
This post might save you an inordinate amount of pain in your butt.
And who wouldn’t want a bit less of that?
You know I am big on decision-making, and how it shapes our reality.
I also have a lot of experience in the decision-making space, having not only written a book on it (Decision Making Mastery), but also having attended one of top leadership academies in the world (Royal Military College, Duntroon), was an Army Officer for 14 years, did consulting on bomb management to a bunch of Olympic Games, and been coaching for over 15 years.
I am not tooting my trumpet.
I just want to let you know I have some experience in the topic of decision-making, and how not to suck at it.
Sucking at it, is something I find is pretty common (unfortunately).
And the consequences are significant and make peoples lives much harder than they need to be.
I have also paid extra attention to a blind-spot playing out in a number (most) of my clients of late.
And because I am super curious, I am now even more clear about what the issue is.
Which is something you will DEFINITELY benefit from.
So let’s walk through the process.
You know I am big on the consciousness thing.
You also know I am big on the EVOLUTION thing.
YOUR EVOLUTION.
I want us all to evolve into our fullest potential.
Plus to experience the most JOYFUL and BLISSFUL life experience (day-to-day).
I also believe at my core the human potential we have to date witnessed is still WAY short of our possibility.
There are a whole bunch of genes not expressed in our DNA, which are just waiting to be unlocked.
So, let’s help this evolutionary process.
And let’s do it in an super practical way.
That is, with a little help from Dr David Hawkins and his Map of Consciousness work.
And yes, I have talked about this before, but because it is SO important, I want to really zero in on one particular aspect that holds back almost all my clients.
If you have read any books relating to Eastern philosophies, or yoga, or Buddhism, or even the Greek and Roman stoics; you are likely to have heard of the practice of ‘non-attachment.‘
Plus if you have followed me for awhile, you would have heard me slip it in – more than once.
WHY?
Because attachment is such a powerful force.
And because we are operating on autopilot (subconscious programs of the brain and autonomic system) well over 90% of the time, having more awareness of what we are, or are not attached to, is hugely beneficial.
And of course there is a very different outcome based on what you are attached to – i.e. sugar versus daily physical activity.
One is taking you two steps forward, and the other two steps back.
So it is not only the practice of non-attachment, but an awareness of what you might be attached to.
Is an attachment beneficial or detrimental to your physical and mental health?
That’s where we are going today.
Is life a sacred journey for you?
If not, would you actually like it to be a more sacred experience, rather than a race on the hamster wheel?
These days in my business I am MUCH more interested in working with awesome humans people who want to focus more on EVOLUTION (as a whole being), rather than having a “6-figure” (plus) salary or business. Boring!
In the bigger picture, isn’t it more fulfilling to have a sacred life experience, as opposed to being part of a mob of mad racers scrambling for the finish line?
Or a race to amass the most impressive pile of possessions.
Now I am not saying we have to live like paupers to have a sacred life, but I am questioning (which is a good thing) the crazy rush to somewhere we are probably are not even sure we know, or even want.
So today, let’s talk about “What the frigging hell is the rush?!?!”
And the idea of a spiritual journey, as opposed to trying to get “there” quickly.
Most of my last 20+ years has been trying to figure out how I can make stuff happen (in my favour and with the least amount of energy) and how I can teach others what I have learned.
What works a little, a lot, or not at all.
Last week I talked about building up the Leader within us, and how being a greater leader is ESSENTIAL when it comes to optimizing our experience in life.
The other part of the optimizing-life-and-results-game is not only coming up with the great ideas and insights, but actually acting on them.
You, like me, probably know a lot of ‘great ideas’ people, who spend a lot of time marching on the spot and getting not much actually done.
Ideas are great, but it’s the execution of those ideas that brings them into being.
So…
How do we make sh#t happen, when it takes effort and energy (and sometimes we just don’t feel like doing it)?
Enter left of stage our inner WARRIOR.
Or to be more precise; enter from the very core of our gut, the part of us that gets stuff done…even when we don’t feel like it.
I believe all of us have a Warrior spirit within us.
Unfortunately, sometimes the Warrior needs more prodding and poking to ‘wake it up’.
It’s like our inner Warrior is still working off the after effects of an all-nighter and 3 bottles of red.
Hands up if you received any leadership training in your life.
What about exceptional role models leaders who guided you through childhood.
How about the quality leaders and leadership you experienced through the educational system.
In my case, I did have leadership training, I did have some great leadership examples growing up, but I also had some WOEFULLY poor leadership role modelling through the first 25 years of my life, which I spent the next 25-years UNLEARNING!
For many clients I work with, they have had no clear leadership training, and either poor or mediocre role modelling in their life.
There is a gap in their KNOWLEDGE and EXPERIENCE, which negatively impacts the quality of their RESULTS (in all areas of their life).
It even impacts how they experience life, on day-to-day basis.
The answer to the question in the title, as it relates to me, is a big YES!
And I don’t just need a touch-up or a solid rewrite.
I actually threw my old Playbook out and decided to write a new one from scratch.
Sort of like a post 2021 version, and it is an evolving document, because I am always learning and the world and its systems are going through major changes.
Take this last last week for example…
I was in a pretty high level of pain (9/10) for the first 3.5 days of the week; in my lower middle back, side of hips and top of my glutes (butt cheeks). I was getting around like a 90-year old grandpa, well before my time.
Since I have a pretty solid playbook on how to deal with body pain, I got to work.
It consisted of Dr Joe Dispenza’s 75-min guided meditations (Blessings of the Energy Centres) at least 2 times a day. Supplements. Clean, clean eating. Less food in general, so not too much energy was used for digestion, instead of healing. Plenty of sleep. Relaxation. Rest. Rescheduling coaching sessions until next week.
This worked pretty well.
Often in a workshop or presentation I ask people to put their hands up in the air.
And then I tell them to leave their hand in the air, IF they are using 100% of their potential.
I have only ever had one person leave their hand up and I am not sure they understood the directions. 😉
This means almost everyone I have ever asked the question of, knows they have more potential inside.
Fact 1: We all (very very likely) have more potential in us than we are expressing.
Is it 10 times or 100 times?
Who really knows, until we really step into it.
Take Wim Hof for example; who has been setting Guinness World Records for years (about 26).
One of them (2007) was climbing 22,000ft up Mount Everest in only shorts and shoes!!
He not only performs these ‘extreme’ practices, but he teaches other people to do them too.
He trains them to express more of their potential (physically and mentally).
So yes we all have more potential, and no we are not sure where the actual ceiling to our potential is.
But what I really want to talk about now, is how do we sabotage this expression of our higher potential?
Let’s see…