Inner voice is like a radio

 I like Listening to the radio while driving. 

With all the travelling I do, I like to tune into a "feel good" station that helps the miles slip away. It lifts the mood. Every now and then I adjust the radio, looking for clear reception, keeping an eye on the numbers that show the frequency. 

Like the radio, our unconscious mind is able to receive many frequencies. Our inner voice, mind mutter, acts like the needle, telling us which station we're tuned into. 

 We can gauge how much "feel good" the frequency offers by listening to our mood, mind mutters mood. 

 Maybe your mind mutter isn't negative. Maybe you're just tuned into a bad radio station. It may be time to adjust that dial?

Principles are true

 I've recently discovered that the majority of people aren't neccesarily looking for the meaning of life, but rather, people are looking for some kind of amazing experience that makes them feel like they are alive instead. 

 And that's totally okay and acceptable. 

What's not okay is if they are waiting for the reward, payoff or rapture, waiting to feel good, without first putting in the effort. 

We live in a universe where we reap what we sow. The sowing comes first, and then the reaping. We must put in the effort before we feel good. This isn't a "because the Bible says so" type thing. It's more of "it's the principle that gives us the success" type of thing. 

 A friend recently wanted to build a floating platform. Like a DIY boat, custom made for comfortable fishing. 

 He told me how he would buy 50mm diameter plastic pipe to make a frame. He also said he would make a deck from superwood, large enough for him, a cooler box, all his fishing gear, a 15hp motor and fuel. I said - it's going to sink. 

"Why,"he barked. 

"Simple calculation," I said. 

 An object must move water with a greater mass than it's own in order to float. That is, if the object you put in the water weighs 100kg, the amount of water it displaces when you put it in the water must weigh more that 100kg, or the object will sink. 

 "We don't need calculations", he said. 

He bought his plastic pipe, made the frame, placed it in the water and it sank. Instantly. It sank without the deck, coolerbox or motor being added. His boat frame simply didn't displace enough water to be able to float. 

Maybe you don't need a calculation, but the principle will remain true. The principle is to first put in the effort and then you'll get the shanana feelings. 

 Simple.

Mind Mutter Matters

When people complain about their mind mutter being critical, I share this info with them:

Your mind mutter just repeats back information to you that you gave it. It's like a broken record player repeating stuff, over and over, that it learned from you before you reached the age of 10.

I'm guessing you've learned some stuff since then, and you've made better life choices along the way.

You need to tell your mind mutter about the new way. When it complains, calmly affirm the new belief or decision that you have made.

Say: "that's the old way. The new decision/belief is now..." and then clearly define the new opinion, decision or belief, and that will be that.

Mind mutter has your best interests at heart, but sometimes it just needs to be recalibrated.

Why am I here?

The most common question people ask me is "why exactly am I here?"

Maybe life is less about discovering purpose, but rather more about choosing a meaning.

When a dog wakes up in the morning, it doesn't ponder the reason for being a dog. It didn't have to go on a quest to discover its purpose. The dog simply gets up and does doggy things.

For some reason, people get to choose their own purpose. For some, selecting a reason to live is frightening. The thought of committing to a single mission can be more intimidating than picking a partner, for life!

People seeking a life mission often wait for the heavens to open, as they watch a white dove flutter down and land of their shoulder. Then, a divine messenger with a voice like James Earl Jones tells them what to do in life. Life is more grounded than that, and purpose is a lot less flamboyant.

Clarity comes from engagement.

By involving yourself in charity work, or volunteering to do community service, you will recognize a need in others that you can fulfill.

You won't find your "calling" on your first outing, maybe not even within the first one hundred times. At sometime, you will be touched by a situation, challenging you to be a champion for the cause. Then, you make a simple choice whether or not you will pursue that cause.

Choose to give the life you live a meaning, and life will give you a purpose.

Finding something or someone that you can stand up for is liberating and satisfying to the soul, but getting off the couch is going to be your first real challenge.

Making the effort is your second challenge. Get past those two hurdles, and the rest... well, let's just say that the fat lady will warm up her voice.

Meaning or experience?

 People say that we are all looking for the meaning of life.

I also thought that people were seeking a purpose, but now I am not so sure.

Now I think people are looking for an experience of living. They want an outward, physical event of some sort that resonates inside of them, clicks with their idea of what it means to be living. People want to experience the rapture of life.

Mach the Truck

Mach, the 18-wheel truck was embarrassed. His 18 tyres needed work. Some were smooth, some were flat, some were bigger than the rest, and none of them pointed in the same direction - all of which made his life difficult on the road.

 The 'professional' trucks just laughed and jeered at Mach, mocking his lack of alignment. "It's the basics, rookie! you can't even get that right," they teased and insulted him.

One day, Mach met a pretty lady that specialised in wheel alignment. "Don't worry, Mach" she said smiling at him. "We will get you aligned and back on the road in no time."

 
Soon Mach was back on the road. All his new tyres matched, pointed in the same direction, and were the same size, making Mach's job of transporting goods for customers so much easier.

This little story is a lot like your life... would you care to tell me what the similarities are between Mach's story and yours?

This is why I do it

 I do what I do because I want you to have three things in your life:

1. I want you to have a sense of being alive,

2. I want you to have a sense of who you really are,

3. When you combine the first 2, you will have a sense of meaning for your life. I want you to fulfil that call.

These are probably not the things that you want for yourself, maybe you've never even given a thought to these things.

But... I do. Every day. Every day, I research, plan and prepare potential connective paths of discovery that you could take to ... well, to meet you, to live you, to be fully you.

No, I don't care if you remember my name or recognize my face on the street, because it's not about me and my development. It is, however, about your growth.

At best, all I can offer you is a single piece to the puzzle you call your life. That's the best anyone can do - offer you pieces, the rest is up to you.

Your only thought should be that you did it, that you sculpted your potential and that you completed the puzzle of your life.

Please, don't just live this life to exist. Live this life to connect, to engage and to be.

Definition of Success

 After talking about the buildings he owned and the deals he just struck, the arrogant young man asked what my greatest achievement was. 

If I were a poor man, I would have told him about providing for my family and bonding with life long friends, as a poor man's success is often in the power of relationships and connections. 

 As a rich man, I would speak of my cars, houses, buildings and businesses, because a rich man's success is measured in the objects he accumulates. 

Stoic wisdom and ethral connection to the universe would be the spiritual man's motivation as he recounts the time he met God. 

What would you have answered? 

It's a tough question to answer if you are not clear on what success means to you. 

So, here's a little exercise to guide you. Take pen and paper and set a timelimit on a stopwatch for 30 seconds. Start the timer and write down 3 goals for yourself before the time expires. 

Did you do that? 

Now, put each goal under one of the following headings: 

 - freedom 

 - meaning 

 - wealth 

Whether you pick them in 30 seconds or 30 days, chances are high that your goals will fit under each of these headings. You probably have one goal under each heading. 

What does that mean? When we select our goals, our unconscious desire, our intrinsic motivation wants us to be free, have meaning in life and enough money, health and connection to be happy. 

It seems that our intrinsic or unconscious definition for success is to have enough money, health and wisdom, setting us free to do something meaningful.

I am my own prisoner

 I am my own Kidnapper!

My divorce 8 years ago was a messy and traumatic event. I crawled out with a broken spirit, no self image and very little desire for anything. 

 For a long time I allowed that defeat to rule my life, causing me to lose jobs and flake in relationships. I became a second-class citizen in my own life, believing that the divorce settlement held me at ransom, held me as a prisoner against my will. 

 We all have an event or incident in our past that broke us a little. You might even be living in those circumstances now, somewhere that makes you feel trapped and choiceless. 

 We believe that the event or circumstance took away our options, forcing our hand, pushing us up against the proverbial wall. We justify our pathetic attitude, our resignation from life, the "kidnapping" by saying: "I felt like I had no option. This is all that was available to me." 

We become our own kidnapper. 

Although it is true that we cant always control what happens to us, we can definitely control how we respond. 

It's the power in that truth that woke me up one day to the reality - niether the settlement, the ex or my circumstances had kidnapped me. I took myself ransom by believing that I had no alternatives. I imprisoned myself in shitty circumstances and then blamed everything but me. 

It's time to shake off the psuedo chains and depression. It's time to make a choice to live. 

I made the change in my own life (with some help of course) by taking the following 3 steps: 

1. See things as they really are. Honestly evaluate your circumstances, focusing on the painful realities that make you believe you are a prisoner. 

2. Recognize your truth because it will set you free. Look at your circumstances and ask yourself what do you know that you wouldn't like to know. Maybe it's the role you played in creating your kidnapping. Maybe it's a dark truth about character flaws. Maybe it's a heavy secret you carry that protects someone else. Recognize the truth, spot the light on it, and the shadows will fade. 

3. Recognize your joy and chase it. Kidnapping yourself forces you to sacrifice things that you really want. We are prisoners after all. So now that you're free, pursue your joys. Allow yourself to have experiences that make you happy. 

As you speak truth and open yourself to joy, the chains will fall, you will come out of hiding and you will take your rightful place in the light. Options will become apparent, and you will discover that you do have a choice. 

It is your time to shine.