Using the Power of Habit – Are You Doing It Wrong?

ThinkingMan_RodinI read a lot of books. Most people don’t read these days which is a damn shame. OK, I’ll admit I went through a dry spell for a good block of time where I didn’t read anything that wasn’t force fed to me in Junior High and High School, but luckily for me I got back on the horse in college. I love to read books about psychology and thinking. I am a deep diver when I get into a topic of interest and this is both a blessing and a curse. I get fixated on whatever is in my cross-hairs. Always have, and this has pushed me into some pretty negative thought patterns in my day. I have inadvertently set a handful of bad habits this way which had to be undone later on. Most (close to all) of the unhappiness in my life, both past and present, has come from me not maintaining control of the voice in my head and allowing it to set bad habits in my way of thinking.

I talk about that “voice in your head” quite a bit because that voice in your head is what governs the way you perceive your personal reality. Your “reality” that you experience is 100% subjective. thinking-gorillaNo two people share the same exact reality. Quantum physics even tells us that there isn’t even such a thing as a solid matter “Reality” with a capital R. There are only billions of “realities” (lower case r) rendered to each of us as we observe what is going on in our environment. Five honest people could witness the same car crash and give five completely different accounts to the police of how it played out. Each of them would believe their own account enough to pass a polygraph. So who’s right? We have to let the judge and jury decide. But wait, even their views are completely subjective.

You don’t attract what you WANT. Wants are intellectual in nature. Wants are in your conscious mind. You attract what you are in harmony with, what you ARE. And you ARE the sum total of your thoughts that become fixed in your subconscious mind.

-Bob Proctor

The fact is we usually have little to no control over anything that happens around us in our life.  We can exert a certain amount of control over our physical surroundings and we can manipulate people around us to a certain degree with some effort (if your into that sort of thing), but there is only one thing you can control. That is the way you respond. Lets face it, SHIT HAPPENS and you get to deal with it. Your habits of thinking directly govern how you respond. How you respond to things and the story you tell yourself in your own head is what determines your quality of life.

Humans like all other animals are creatures of habit. But what exactly is a habit? Simply put, a habit is a usual way of behaving. Something that an organism does often in a regular and repeated way. Getting more into it, Merriam-Webster’s medical definition says a habit is “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntaryhabit aristotle by frequent repetition or physiological exposure.” Our subconscious mind functions totally on habit.

When we DO or THINK anything repeatedly our subconscious mind literally takes in the program just like a computer and then acts it out automatically without any further conscious effort. This goes for anything that you repeat enough times whether it is beneficial or detrimental to your quality of life. This is why it is so important to become aware of our inner thought processes and conduct routine audits. It’s tough, but it’s so important if you want to make any sort of change to your lifestyle. Any change that you attempt to make in your way of living whether it be physical, mental, or spiritual HAS to be a change made at the subconscious level. You must make it a lifestyle change that you repeat for long enough to adequately “program” it into the subconscious mind.  You must make it an automatic way of being otherwise you will go right back to the undesired state.

The chains of habit are often too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

-Warren Buffett

I like the way Earl Nightengale talks about the subconscious mind as a garden. The garden will grow any seed you plant in the fertile soil whether the plant be a medicinal herb or a deadly poison. The garden will return whatever you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant. A garden will also go to weed and be eaten by intruders rather quickly if you don’t properly protect and tend it. This is why it is of utmost importance to make sure you are only planting what you WANT to see grow up tall and bear fruit. Only set habits that will be beneficial to our quality of life and lead to our physical, mental, and spiritual advancement. All three of these go hand in hand and they all work with the same universal habit force.

I was listening to a lecture last week that almost brought me to tears because of how beautifully the person talked about how we can grow up and set a habit of being more spiritual in our daily life. It wasn’t anything that I expected but it was so true. I don’t even know the man’s name that was speaking but it doesn’t matter. Even a bum on the street could have said it and it would be every bit as true. spirit evolveWhen something eloquently put rings true and resonates with your soul the source doesn’t really matter. All that matters is the value you gain from it.

What he said was that a person who is very spiritual is a person that you can’t even tell is spiritual. One that simply walks around balanced and knows who they are. Someone that doesn’t have to yell it from the tree tops. One that can simply walk from place to place and be peaceful; not in fear. Comfortable all the time because they know who they are. Balanced, all the time. Compassionate, all the time. Slow to anger, slow to be irritated, willing to listen. That is the evolution of spirituality in a human being. These are the kinds of habits that we should really be setting. Habits that help us grow up at the “being” level.

Have an amazing rest of the week and remember… keep evolving a little every day in every way.

Who Are You Behind Closed Doors?

The only normal people are the one’s you don’t know very well.

-Alfred Adler

The man who spoke these words was founding the school of individual psychology back at the end of the 1800’s, but they have never been more relevant than today.  His peers and colleagues were intellectual giants like Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Over 100 years later and we are still mulling over the “weird” ideas these gentlemen introduced into the mind of our collective culture. We are still coming to terms with the ideas that spilled out of that era.  The ideas of these men and others such as Tesla and Edison and Einstein were the culmination of the seeds planted by the Enlightenment area in Europe during the preceding hundred years. The intellect of the general public has taken this long to catch up.

enlightenment
What was the main idea of the Enlightenment, you ask?

Wikipedia will tell you that it’s purpose was to reform society using reason. The goal was to challenge all ideas, especially those grounded in tradition and faith, and to advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted skepticism on all fronts.  The Enlightenment was a revolution in human thought. It’s rather easy for us to see how many benefits came to our culture from this period, but to the rest of the general population at the time it was absolutely crazy. Completely weird! But they showed us that there is a HUGE advantage to being weird and thinking differently than the herd.

It is too true that the definition of a “normal” person is a person we don’t know very well.

lucyEverybody is a different person behind closed doors. You would be shocked to see what some of your closest friends are doing behind closed doors right now as you read this. I’ll bet your grandmother would be completely shocked to see that thing you did just the other day. Don’t lie! Pretty much every person you have ever seen in your entire life is a complete weirdo. The whole idea that there exists these “normal” people that we need to stifle out our uniqueness to impress is complete bullshit. Owning your weirdness is wonderful and freeing.

What you think of as your greatest flaw might actually be your greatest gift in helping you become your greatest version.

-Ralph Smart

I grew up knowing I was different.  My mind was on things like the cosmos and ancient Egypt from the time I was old enough to read. I was into all sorts of things that none of my friends and family were too interested in. At a certain age after starting school I thought I was too “weird” to be fully accepted by the herd. I stopped being comfortable with my weirdness and didn’t talk about anything “weird” for almost 20 years. 20 whole years! I was more concerned with socializing and sports and everything else that fills time. I am proud to have finally arrived at a place where I am only going to keep getting weirder as time goes on and I get more confident in myself. The more confident you become in owning andhandovermouth expressing your authentic uniqueness the more of your inner weirdo exposed to others with no fear.

If you’re reading my articles, chances are you’re a weirdo too. The greatest way to be weird around normal people is to stop justifying what you are doing if you feel it is right. It still won’t make sense to anybody that doesn’t want to understand and you should save your energy for something you really want to be doing. We can’t go around trying to convince everyone that we are right. We need only to BE the way that we know we should BE. Live the lifestyle that you know you should. Act in an authentic way and do what you feel in your heart to be right all of the time.

It’s always easier to fight for one’s principles than live up to them.

-Alfred Adler

A sad truth to face as adults about ourselves and other adults is that you can’t SAVE anybody. When you force somebody into something they’re not (at their core) ready to do, you’re not helping them. They’re not changing at the “being level” because they are not putting their own honest effort in. It’s like helping them cheat on their homework in school.  Which only leads to cheating on the test, failing the course, and more risky behavior down the road. They’re not learning their lesson they’re meant to be learning and as soon as you slack horsewaterin your involvement they go right back to the condition you found them in. If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. The only way to truly lead and inspire real change is to lead by example. BE that change you want to see in the world and stop leading horses to water.

Come out of the closet about whatever makes you weird. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas, but don’t force them or feel you have to defend them. We are afraid to reveal to the world who we really are. We keep ourselves in perpetual bondage because we are afraid of being whispered about. Let’s face it. You are going to be ridiculed and called out by people who are close to you as well as people you’ve never and will never meet. Don’t let that bother you. My wife and I literally had to “come out” to our families about eating a healthier diet and getting rid of other toxic things from our lifestyle. It was a lot harder than you think to say, “No offense, but I don’t eat that anymore.” You also wouldn’t believe the looks I get when I tell somebody I moderate my kids’ sugar intake.

The herd is programmed to police itself. The herd doesn’t like when you start doing anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. This is especially true if it involves you starting/stopping something that makes them feel like they aren’t making the bestherd choices in their own life. We get very insecure around people who we feel are “better off” than we are. We break ourselves down in our own mind and tell ourselves that we are “less than” and not “equal to.” We literally and subconsciously hand our power over to anybody our mind has identified as “superior” to us. This isn’t fair because of how aggressively our subconscious concepts of who we should be idolizing are molded by the media. This is followed by accusing said person of “thinking they are better than us” when the only problem exists within the story we’re telling ourselves in our own heads.

The truth is that we are all magical beings that are capable of manifesting anything we can imagine into our lives as long as we put in the required effort. We need to keep looking in the mirror when we complain about things that are happening in our life. Like one of Tony Robbins’ mentor
Jim Rohn always says, “If you want your life to get better, you’ve got to get better” and “If you’re not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to lightbrainsettle for the ordinary.” Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Don’t be afraid to start making changes in the way you think and set some new goals. There is literally nothing stopping you from doing anything you want if you are confident enough withstand the criticism until you get there.

Evolving Every Day in Every Little Way

The largest danger in life is that you might be too careful.

-Alfred Adler

 

Oh Grow Up!

We have all heard it… We have all SAID it… “Why don’t you GROW UP!” Perhaps you were even having one of those monumentally insightful (eyes rollingconversations about somebody close to you in the 3rd person and uttered the phrase “If he/she would just grow up, they could stop struggling with ___ (insert character flaw here).  thedudeI don’t even have to have ever met you and I am certain that you are guilty. I certainly am. Although we may technically be right, at least from our point of view, how much thought have you actually put behind it? Have you ever really contemplated what it truly means to grow up?

Growing Up at the “Being” Level

When we in our culture use the phrase “growing up” what do we actually mean? We aren’t really talking about getting older per se. Although there is a tangible amount of wisdom and experience that comes with age, the amount of birthday candles on your cake isn’t exactly correlated to how “grown up” you are. There is a strong current that more or less sweeps us along through our younger years and then past adolescence before spilling us into the Gulf of Adulthood. It takes some folks longer to get down the river than others, but most make it at least floattripto the gulf. After you’re a bonafide adult its on you. Because we all know of both 70 year old whiners and toddlers with the wisdom of an old soul.

I spent some time last summer with a group of these so-called responsible adults for a workshop in the mountains southwest of Washington D.C. One of our main topics of discussion every night was this theme of growing up, but growing up at the being level. We had the privilege of working intimately with NASA Physicist and Expert in consciousness research Tom Campbell who put a proper perspective on it for me.

What do I mean by the “being” level?

When I talk about myself at the “being” level, I am talking about the way that I “am” at the core. Not about the way that I act, but the way that I really am.  Me at my being level is the sum of my talents, my values, my habits, my fears, my beliefs, my assumptions and my overall disposition. It’s how I conduct myself in my interpersonal relationships. My level of maturity at the being level that I bring into any given situation has to do with my INTENT. The conscious INTENT is the key to having those “aha” moments that lead to real personal growth. Each personal epiphany is like a little trophy letting you know you “grew up” a little bit. It has everything to do with the story you are telling yourself in your own head while you are “acting” out your daily behaviors.

Age doesn’t define maturity, some people will never grow up.

crossingLets say I help an old lady cross a busy street. There are several possible intents that I could have while I was acting out the seemingly good deed. From a higher point of view, whether or not it was actually a good deed has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I helped anybody cross any street. It has to do with my “intent” and what I was thinking to myself at the time of the occurrence.

If I walked up and thought to myself “How stupid of her to be out here alone and vulnerable, now I of all people get stuck helping her.” Maybe I could have been thinking, “Hey, there goes an old lady who needs to cross the street… and there are a few other people around… and if they see me help this old lady they’ll really think I’m a swell guy.”  I could even be thinking, “There goes an old lady who needs help, and I know that Jesus wants me to help people, so I aught to be a good boy and help her otherwise God will be mad.”  All three of those show a low level of personal maturity at the “being” level.

Every human being is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.

-Miguel Angel Ruiz

The INTENT of a person who has a certain maturity of the “being” would have to do with a genuine caring and love. It has to do with stepping in whenever help is needed because deep in yourtouching soul you want to make her feel safe and it makes your heart warm to add value to other people’s lives. Not just your friends and family, but everybody you come into contact with is worthy of experiencing the best version of you. Life should be an art form where we leave every person we interact with in a better emotional state than they were in beforehand.

Having positive and constructive interactions with other people literally super charges our attitude and raises our vibrational/emotional state to a place where we find more and more opportunities for personal advancement. This coupled with a childlike open minded curiosity to keep learning new things is all the fuel you need to keep growing at the being level. This is the true meaning of spiritual growth. When spiritual growth is the only thing we get to take with us from this Earthly realm, the ability to learn and unlearn becomes a crucial skill. The speed and quality of our growth depends on how much we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and put real, honest effort into rooting out our fears, getting rid of bad habits, and shedding light on false beliefs and assumptions.

caterpillarThink about it, who are you anyways? Who are you really? You have a body, and a brain, and a mind, and your thoughts… but YOU are not any of those things.  You are not your body any more than you are your Toyota. You are the consciousness that possesses and observes all of these things. We and our children accumulate these experiences through lifetimes here and there and everywhere gleaning the meaning and lessons taken to heart from each of these experiences over eons. Lets face it, wise men and women have been trying to WAKE US UP on this planet alone for thousands of years. Now it’s our responsibility to encourage each other to keep growing up with a genuine compassion, because we are all powerful beings waiting to be activated.

Know ye not that ye are gods?

Remember the plan.  Evolving a little bit every day, in every possible way.

TJ

Welcome to my On-Ramp to Wholeness!

Alaska FlowersThis website is a product of my own continuous evolution.  I have come to a point in my life where I need to begin sharing what I have learned (a lot of times the hard way) in my personal experience that have brought me to greater awareness of my self and the world around me.   This website is my attempt at cutting that learning curve for both the people I know and love very much, and everyone else who resonates with the message I’m bringing across.

I had to work on practicing what I preached for a couple of years, before I could turn around and start preaching what I actually practice.   After actually incorporating these things into my daily grind, its amazing how much wisdom I am going to be able to pass down to my kids that will benefit and strengthen the vitality of my family tree.  I’m just trying to share this feeling with anyone who wants to pay attention.

Keep in mind that everyone is doing the best they can do at any given time given their own personal experience.  We need to have compassion for each other, but maybe even more importantly, we need to have that same compassion and forgiveness for ourselves.

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.

-Dale Carnegie

There are content devoted to what has helped me expand my awareness and achieve greater balance physically, mentally, and spiritually.  I will be providing lots of facts that I have picked up along gonnamakeitthe way, but mostly I want to share a perspective that allows you an easy path toward your own optimization of self.  Think of it as a free, 3-phase online crash course that will give you the opportunity to feel some of the good I feel.

People are always asking me what books to read, what to research, what products to avoid and which are non-poisonous, what protein should they buy, etc, etc, etc so I’ll be putting up weekly blog updates and providing links to what I currently use and have experience with, things I have used in the past, and even what were good stepping stones to the next understanding.  I will even share music and artwork that resonates with the message.

Remember that all change has to be achieved through conscious effort. Whether you are already in what you would consider “peak” health across the board or if your whole mind/body/spirit construct is a mess, the keys are here that will allow you to get on this ON-RAMP TO WHOLENESS!

Don’t forget to subscribe to get my weekly updates go live every Sunday night so you can check them out while you’re getting your Monday morning coffee!

Remember, baby steps one after the other (along with a leap forward every now and then) in the direction of the lifestyle you want brings you that lasting change.

TJ