Do You Want a One-Way Ticket to the Funny Farm

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “We create our own reality.”
It’s very big in new age, self-help and motivation circles.
Is it true?
Of course not!
But hey! Didn’t the Buddha say, “With our thoughts we make the world”? And Jesus said, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” And Shakespeare had Hamlet observe, “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Each of those thoughts is very true. But the aphorism drawn from them is wrong.
The above is a very poorly worded, poorly thought out proverb which, if believed literally will separate you from every other person on this planet.
The fact is, we do NOT create our own realities. Reality is what IS. Irrespective of our opinions, beliefs or delusions.
The truth?
We create our own perception of reality.
Big Difference.
And inherent in this difference is the idea that, even when we can’t see it ourselves or agree on what it is, reality is real. Existence exists. What is, is. Whether you or I like it or not.
Just a thought.

God’s Best.

~TK~

Don’t Set Goals — Seek Adventures!

Don’t Set Goals — Embrace Adventures!

Just a note to myself I came across in my journal.

I like it. I’ve always wanted to be a big goals-setter — and goal achiever! But for some reason I always reacted emotionally to goal setting with the thought from the movie, “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” “A life that is planned cannot be lived. . .It can only be endured.”

Wow! Talk about a downer thought!

So, what to do?

Don’t set goals. Seek adventures!

Describe the things you want in life in terms of metaphors that excite you, empower you. . .”thrill you, fill you with [fantastic joys] never felt before!” (with apologies to EAPoe. LOL!!)

For me this means describing what I want, not in terms of jobs to be done, goals to be reached, tasks to be done, but in terms of adventures to be experienced, mountains to be climbed, foes to be vanquished, mountains to be moved, dead to be raised, sick to be healed, etc., etc., etc.,

WoW! That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

No?

Then perhaps your most motivating metaphor is something else. But what?

What picture, image, sight, sound, feeling most energizes you ambition to live your dreams?

It’s probably very different from mine. So what is it?

Would you let me know? I’d love to hear what floats your boat. What gets your motor racing. What fills you with emotional energy.

Emotional Energy. What a concept! Emotions give us energy. There’s a lot to mine from that idea.

Maybe later!

God’s Best to You.

P.S. I see it’s been a long time since I posted, but I have not been idle! I”ve been reading and filling up my journals with notes from books I’m reading and thoughts I’m thinking. I’ll be taking the next couple of days (hopefully!) to transcribe some of these entries. And I certainly hope they profit others.

Are YOU Living On A Starvation Diet

It occurred to me this morning that for most of my life I have lived on a starvation diet. A mental, intellectual and motivational starvation diet. How so?

Since my wife re-introduced me to the library (and since the experience has been upgraded with the online card catalog, express self-check out and on-line renewals so no more late fees), I have allowed myself unlimited access to anything that catches my attention. Anything at all. If I am thinking about something or if something occurs to me while I’m driving and I think, “I need to learn more about that,” in no time at all, I am online to the library’s card catalog and researching what books are available. If I have to get them from another library, I do it instantly, online. In a day or so I get an email telling me the book is now on hold at my home branch. I stop by there on my way home and, thanks to express check-out, I’m on my way in less than five minutes! It’s great.

I now have seemingly unlimited resources to feed my brain. I can study the latest research on whatever interests me and gain a benefit from it. And it’s not just books. I can’t believe how many books on disk they now have! So no more wasting time in the car.

Before, I couldn’t afford even a fraction of all the books that interested me, so I rarely ever bought any new books. Instead, I would go to Barnes & Noble, grab a half-dozen books that interested me, and sit and read them as fast as I could over the course of an evening or a day (Thank you, B&N!).

The problem? Just how often did I have enough time to read and learn all I craved? Everything my heart and soul wanted to read? Married, working two to three jobs? Very, very little. Plus, I’m not a fast reader. In fact, I’m kinda slow. Three-seventy-five a minute? Sounds right. Not quick at all.

But another reason I was on a starvation diet was because I had the mistaken notion that unless I could recall what I’d learned, or practiced it until I’d made it a habit of thinking or doing, it hadn’t affected me. So why read stuff I was never going to remember long enough or well enough to put into practice?

Guess what? I was wrong. The wonderful bio-computer God gave us is much smarter than that, as I discovered.

It was recently, during one of my book-feasts, that I learned what I’d believed wasn’t true. I was studying Milton Erickson and hypnotherapy and it suddenly dawned on me that all it took for a learning to become part of me was for it to be accepted by my un-conscious mind. And it’s at that point one can be really changed by it. And that can happen in an instant!

Also, I learned a little about how we ourselves create and install new mindsets and it is these mindsets that organize our inner resources and frame (or re-frame, as the case may be) our experience of life.

How miraculous is that?

So the result? I’m not sure yet. It’s only been a few months and my subconscious and I are still working on integrating it all. I’m not sure I’ve yet added all the ingredients I need to create the wonderful dish I’ll be feasting on soon. But as any good cook knows, you’ve got to experiment to discover anything new or amazing.

God’s Best to you.

P.S. What about my previous post, you ask? Wasn’t I going to talk about positive self-reinforcement? You bet! But another great thing about blogging is, I get to follow my muse. Also, it’s clear most of the hits to this blog haven’t happened yet! So it’s less important I write everything now, just eventually, so when (if?) people read this a year from now, they won’t have to wait to read the follow up! ~TK~

A Quick Update. . .And Then On To Other Things

I’m learning so much it’s hard to come back here and write about it.

Since my last post I’ve probably read at least eight to ten books on psychology, hypnosis, motivation and behaviorism. Quite a mix. What is amazing to me is how they all seem to fit together, like a tapestry or a piece of needlepoint.

“Nature to be Commanded, Must be Obeyed,” Francis Bacon said. And it’s true. Especially with regards to our own consciousness, our own psychic and neurological nature. Knowing how we think and how our brain translates that thinking into our bodily responses should only help us in our quest to use the gifts God has given us to achieve those things He expects of us.

Neurosemantics offers a really good theory for that which I have found very helpful. I suggested to its deveoper, Michael Hall, that it perhaps should have been called “neuro-somatic semantics” or “soma-semantics”, each translating to “brain-body meaning” and “body-meanings.” Meaning how your body creates the feelings of meaning for you. He disagreed. He felt “neuro-semantics”, meaning the meanings we create by our neurology, was best. Hey, its his theory. I do think neurosemantics is better than neurolinguistic programming from which it is descended.

In my quest to always derive something useful from all my musings, I have been focusing on learning how each of us can positively reinforce our own behaviors, instead of focusing on changing other people. I’m talking about
the behaviors we want to habituate which we believe will take us where you want to go in life. And I must say, it has been exciting!

I read (again) the book, “Whale Done,” by Ken Blanchard, and also the book “Fish”, by Whomever, I can’t remember. Both talk about positive reinforcement for employees and family members. And I read the books “Other People’s Habits” and “Bringing Out the Best in People”, both by Aubrey Daniels. In fact, it was Daniels’ books which lead me to re-read “Whale Done.”

Since I don’t have any employees of my own, nor any “direct reports,” and my wonderful wife is already so close to perfect I can’t think of anything about her I want to change, I started thinking about how to apply the principles of Positive Reinforcement (R+) to myself. And what an education I’m getting!! And hopefully what an education I’ll be able to provide anyone who reads this blog!

So stay tuned!

What’s My Biggest Problem?

Sitting this morning and thinking about stuff from “The Max Effect,” I asked myself, “What is my biggest problem?”

The flash answer is I don’t get to use my strengths in my life; either at work or at home, at what I am trying to make my “avocations.”

That sounds silly. An avocation that doesn’t include one’s strengths. Almost a contradiction in terms.

So what strength do I want to be using that I’m not? My creativity. My talent for slogans and catchphrases, my idea generation ability.

You see, I’m good at coming up with ideas, not with implementing them. And what’s the use of that?

Ah! Another stumbling block! Thinking my avocation has to be useful!

Just some thoughts. That’s all for now.