Menu

Andrew Challies

About Andrew Challies

http://webmotivational.com

Posts by Andrew Challies:

seminar a

Dr Joe Dispenza’s Progressive Workshop – Ascending Your Energy

, , 0

I’m writing this during a visit to Blenheim, a town I lived in while the trajectory of my adult life was being defined. That trajectory is the reason I was in Auckland for Dr. Joe Dispenza’s Progressive Workshop – Ascending Your Energy: Tune Into Your New Destiny.

  • Product                    Progressive Workshop: Ascending Your Energy: Tune Into Your New Destiny.   
  • Author                      Dr. Joe Dispenza
  • Price:                         $345.00 USD
  • Where to Buy:        DrJoeDispenza.com
  • Refund:                     Full, less $50 admin fee 30 or more days prior to the event.
  • My Rating:               5/5  

“In the age of information Ignorance is a choice”

Dr. Joe Dispenza

It’s an odd thing revisiting those places after so much time has elapsed. The ghosts of our memories are as shades over the current reality. I see the things that have remained the same alongside the things that have changed. And I bear witness to what has changed in me and the familiar that is maintained.

Trajectory

I recall the choices I made that created that trajectory. Choices that at the time seemed as if they were no choice at all; and in fact moved life forward to what it is today. A broken marriage leading to a string of broken relationships and onward to a stable relationship firstly with myself and now with another. It is a treasure. I wouldn’t be where I am now without those challenging experiences. They strung the bow that shot the arrow of my life through time to where it is now.  And a catalyst to my seeking an understanding of the evolution of my soul in this lifetime.

It seemed apt that I visited Auckland For Dr. Joe’s Workshop. I was a fledgling when I arrived first in Auckland. And this is where I would begin to sprout feathers and take my first awkward flights in the personal development field. If Blenheim had defined me then Auckland was where I began to refine that calling. Beginning with courses in People Skills and following up with Foundations in Counselling. This is where I began to clear the path leading to this workshop.

What the Bleep?

Exactly! What the bleep did I know? I first came into contact with Dr. Joe’s work through this 2004 Movie. The concept followed is that both your own and the collective consciousness can affect the material world. It is told through the story of a fictional photographer encountering experiences that have her questioning the way life works. Similar to the questions I was asking myself in the wake of a failed marriage and relationships.

Dispenza’s name would pop up now and again over the next few years keeping it on the edge of my consciousness. When I came across the title of a book “Breaking the Habit of Being Myself” in my online surfing I was immediately interested and purchased it first as an audiobook, and then as a hard copy. I listened to it twice back to back and became a follower. The purchase of his other books soon followed.

What is so important about his work? 

  • Truly a marriage of the spiritual with the scientific.
  • Synthesizes his work from different traditions & disciplines.
  • Backed up with science.
  • Quantifies everything with energy measurement.
  • Does it with integrity. He walks his talk.
  • No keynote addresses anymore as he believes this can’t express the work fully.
  • Consistently provides great experiences for his workshop participants.
  • No Q&As; He didn’t say why but my feeling is that any questions will weaken the unwavering belief that is required for measurable results.
  • The stories from people healed by following his work are a testament to the process.
  • Has that same belief in his work from being witness to the results and speaks from that place.
  • Allows the work to evolve and focuses on where it is going rather than remaining with the concepts that he now knows definitively work.

Photo by Ezra Comeau-Jeffrey on Unsplash

The Workshop

Where is the knowledge that is lost in information? Where is the wisdom that is lost in knowledge? – T.S. Eliot

Right from the beginning, Dr. Joe was giving us information. I’m not that alert in lectures and soon found myself drifting off. I soon realized taking notes was going to keep my attention on what was being said. As the quote says I was looking for the knowledge lost in the information. I believe we all have a good radar when it comes to discerning what is important in the course of a speech or in the text of a book. Once we’ve used that discernment and pulled out all the knowledge we can then apply it to draw out the wisdom.

Essentially the workshop is about our ability to create new neural pathways and then maintaining a commitment to that.  The old pathways that have brought us to where are now have mostly become programs that are not serving us. They have created conditioned responses to life. They are manifest in any physical symptoms we may have – the pains, the cancers, the postures, the habits. When we become the architect of these neural linkages we take a chance on the possibility of change. We can create a new personality from the ground up. Turning off the genes that aren’t serving our current reality and turning on new genes to facilitate new conditioning is achievable. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions generate our conditioning.

Tapestry

Dr. Joe has a beautiful analogy for the mind calling it a “3-dimensional tapestry” and when we create new thoughts we’re adding new stitches to the picture we’re building. One of the ways we do this is to decide what we want to manifest. That may be health or wealth. From there we construct a clear intention and image. Then when we hold that in our imagination and can sustain an elevated emotion around it the possibility of realizing it in actuality is greatly increased.

Our mind is unable to discern between reality and thought. When we enter the meditative state we are able to create a new reality for ourselves through our minds. We generate a space in meditation in which we can bypass our analytical mind and objectify our emotions. From there we can begin to recondition our personality. Just as we take our cars into the shop when the motor becomes worn out and tired so we take our personalities into the meditation shop when they need a neural upgrade.

Meditation

A couple of Dr. Joe’s sayings are, “neurons that fire together, wire together”, and “what syncs in the brain links in the brain”. He spends time each morning meditating to reach an unshakeable state, through having clear intent and focused elevated emotions (joy, compassion, gratitude), that will carry him through the day. The meditation is the perfect location for us to facilitate this process. When we follow the example we are opening ourselves to firing neurons together and synchronizing new pathways in the brain.

When we’re designing our intent the question to ask is, “Who do I want to be when I open my eyes”. Remember that you are conscious and consciousness; that you have the will and at your essence, you are a transcendent, holistic, happy being. When we’re accessing this experience through meditation we’re matching our energy to a potentiality; enriching our brains; building a positive electromagnetic field; and creating coherence.

If we find ourselves being distracted in the meditation that is a program seeking to take us away from the divine. When we reach beyond distraction we begin to free up energy from the wellspring of inspiration. Energy is created in the void – the unknown. This sounds as if it may have parallels in ho’oponopono. In their tradition, they are seeking the zero point (the void, the unknown) from where inspiration and possibility arise.

Photo by Indian Yogi (Yogi Madhav) on Unsplash

Entering the state

Dr Joe re-iterates often that the experience we are seeking in meditation is encountering the space where we can become no-thing, no-body, no-one, in no-time and are open to the field of infinite possibility.

During the weekend we were introduced to the following meditations: the Heart Lock-in, Finding the Present Moment, Tuning into New Potentials, Reconditioning the Body to a New Mind, Changing Beliefs & Perceptions, and the last one, The Blessing of the Energy Centres (Ascending Your Energy). 

Each of them carried a real-world example from Dr. Joe himself or from a person who had used that particular meditation to produce healing or lasting change in their lives. And he has accumulated energetic data that has been generated by entering some of the meditations.  Most inspiring.

Present

Some of the gifts we receive in being with these processes are:

  • creating new experiences for our soul,
  • being baptized by the divine,
  • owning our inherent nobility,
  • opening to mystical moments,
  • initiation through our blind spots, the knowledge reflected back to us when we’re sometimes emotionally triggered in our interactions,
  • sitting in the fire of those initiations,
  • understanding there is no courage without fear,
  • knowing we may have to do what seems unnatural in order to become supernatural (change our personality),
  • defining our life by the future we wish to create and loving ourselves into it,
  • planting the seeds to be born again into a new life,
  • the power to hear and then ignore our own BS,
  • discovering our innate wisdom when we experience our memories without an emotional charge to them.

Newsletter signup

Keep up to date with our latest posts

Please wait...

Thank you for sign up!

Conclusion

The workshop carried me along on waves of energy. The stories of what seemed miraculous and the data accumulated and quantified created confidence in Dr. Joe’s teachings. I’m inspired to continue along the path he’s outlined through book and workshop.

From the perspective of healing ourselves and in the presence of what we’re experiencing with climate change I have to return to the opening quote – “In the age of information – Ignorance is a choice”. With the information out there – information from which we take our knowledge and then wisdom can we choose to remain ignorant in the face of healing potentials?

Blessings

 

 

 

the sign you've been looking for

Does Preparation + Opportunity = Success? – and why only you can answer this question.

, , , , 0

“Success occurs when preparation meets opportunity”. Zig Ziglar

Our entire life is a process of preparation. Each moment is preparing us for the next. As we embrace that moment, it blossoms into the next seeding future opportunity and creating success. It means we’re evolving.

Preparation

blocks

My earliest memory of being successful at anything was of creating a building out of blocks at kindergarten. One of those times you wish you had a cell-phone with a camera. Well, it was over fifty years ago before cell phones were even conceived. Would ‘ve been great to capture moments like that back in the day. Wonderful that parents these days can grab those memories as they happen.

I’m not sure how I prepared for that particular success. I imagine it was something like osmosis. This is the gradual integration of ideas, principles, knowledge etc. into our understanding of the world as we know it. I can’t remember my first day at kindergarten but I imagine I was in awe tinged with fear as I was deposited into this unknown environment for the first time. I’m guessing I was escorted around the place being introduced to my peers and having the important places pointed out.

My Process

It was probably pretty much the same as I do now when coming into new surroundings. I look around and discover the layout of the place. Then I turn my attention to what is happening in the interactions between those present. I tend to pick up what is happening emotionally for people so I endeavour to keep an air of detachment now in similar situations. Back then I think it was that sort of process only in a more rudimentary form.

Preparation takes time. There are elements that take just moments and others that take longer – may be days or even weeks. Even building with blocks. The time between working with the different shapes, and seeing how they fit together. Building simple structures initially until you receive a realization that something more complex can be produced. I vaguely remember being inspired by “Thunderbirds” and their home base when I put it all together. It was a wow moment as a toddler.

A Journey Preparing

I guess I’ve carried that with me as I’ve journeyed through life. Without really being conscious that it is happening I use building blocks as I embark on any new venture. I am a chef and at present working as a trainer and supervisor. The ingredients in any recipe are the building blocks for a dish. And each part of a work plan are the blocks that create the framework to produce the series of dishes that make up a menu. Commercial kitchens these days are of a modular design to achieve optimal results from appropriate workflows.

Preparation involves creating systems to allow all aspects of production to flow to the desired outcome. I remember when I was employed as a Catering Manager at an Outdoor Activities centre. When I say Manager – it was more of a sole charge “do-almost-everything” kind of position. During the first few months, I was finding my way leaning heavily on the staff already working there.

While I had no problems with my skill-set, I did struggle a bit. What was required came from the experience I’d collected 10 years before. From a cooking perspective, the transition was seamless, from the systems angle there was work to do.

New Environment

Getting used to a new environment has its challenges. The first couple of months was a bit of a frenzy working 12 hour days and familiarizing myself with systems and processes, making new relationships with staff. I attempted to maintain the status quo in the first instance. When it became apparent that something the previous manager had been doing could be done better I changed.

I previously worked in situations where I had a captive audience and variety was essential. Now the diners would be here for 3 to 5 days and so I was able to relax. There were less building blocks to deal with.

As I relaxed I was able to bring more of myself to the job and consequently any worries I had begun to melt away. I had 2 part-time staff to help me when I first started and that was whittled away to 1 before the year was out. I hardly noticed as the system I was bringing in had begun to become solid. 2 of us could easily achieve what was required. And I was posting myself challenges along the way.

The site had 2 kitchens – 1 up the hill and 1 down. With 2 of us, it was easily covered if required. Towards the end of my employment there I lost my other worker and there were times when I had to work in both kitchens. A challenge I would’ve preferred not to have and one that held a degree of difficulty but was managed without loss of quality. The methodology I put in place to achieve this were again building blocks to its successful outcome.

Anywhere there are systems, structures have been built to support them. Courses have modular components that lead to successful learning outcomes. Visual technologies and vehicles come to us through the combination of many components. When we use these and achieve the results they offer we are successful. When we are successful we change our self-image for the better.

Self-Image

The building of Self-Image is a lifelong process.

Aristotle, the Greek philosopher famously said, ‘Give me a child ’til he is seven and I will show you the man’.

So much of self-image relies on the experiences we had with parents in those formative years. I imagine being in a constant state of absorption. Not only of food but everything around us. Was it safe?

We’d sense the vibrations around us. The vibrations of love, of stress, anxiety, anger, happiness, concern, care. Understanding when we could remain open to receiving, or when to withdraw our energy. It’s a response without judgement to the negativity we were experiencing, even though we couldn’t name it as such.

an image of self

Constructing self-image

The self-image itself has a structure, a combination of elements – physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, financial, spiritual. All of these have a part to play in a strong self-image. When we move into making judgements and creating meaning around experiences, any that we perceive as negative can damage that strength. This not to say that an adverse incident can’t be beneficial in the long term creating a growth edge for us.

In a perfect world, our self-image would expand as we reached and moved through the different phases and stages of life. If only it was as simple as, “Oh it’s just a phase he’s going through”. To recognise some of the struggles we have as, “just phases”, and to notice that we are moving along to a natural conclusion, is healthy. There are other times when the shoulds, the oughts, the musts, and the can’ts arrest the passages of these experiences and the self-image begins to contract. If we don’t catch this contraction early and face it with openness this image begins to solidify. Once it has solidified we may need assistance to soften it up and allow it to expand naturally again. Friends, mentors, journalling can assist with this.

Downward

Each of the elements mentioned before needs to be nurtured to maintain confidence in the image we’re presenting to the world. A deficit in any of them can lead to self-doubt affecting them all.

I know when my marriage broke up life went into a slight downward spiral. The self-image that was generated by the love of my work kept me from sinking into a black hole. While my spirit and emotions were down, I was maintaining at a functional level the other aspects that created my self-esteem. Being in the Defence force at the time keeping physically fit was an essential requirement.

Intellectual pursuits have always been present in my life. That box was ticked. Most jobs have a relational aspect and being part of a team helped me with that particular feature of self-image. It is a career that has good remuneration so while not financially well off I was able to put aside money to see my children on a regular basis (they’d moved to the North Island of New Zealand). My self-image had reached a plateau and life a status quo.

We can experience self-image as a set of stairs. That plateau I reached was like a landing at the top of some steps. I hit a flat spot until life brought me something else to be interested in. This is the course of self-development. It expands our self-esteem. When we find another interest we ascend a flight of stairs learning what we need to know about that particular activity and on the landing, we absorb and apply.

Climbing the stairs

My stairs have consisted of foundations in counselling and psychotherapy, HeartMath, shamanism, mythology, coaching, education, and currently I’m climbing the stairs of Internet/Affiliate Marketing. These stairways enable us to reach the towers of our inner castle. The higher we get, the further we are able to see not only outwardly but also our inner selves. And when we share what we see we can change the world.

The journey of discovery is a search for treasure. There is work to do on the quest. We sail towards and over the horizons of our knowledge. Information gives us clues but not the full story. Practical application is the spade we use to dig for the gold. We unearth more opportunity and begin the learning process again. Our self-image continues to expand

Opportunity

the sign you've been looking for

Knowledge is the compass we use to traverse the oceans of opportunity. The speck on the horizon is where we find buried treasure. And we also find it within. When we take the opportunities that come through preparation and the expansion of our self-image we break open the treasure chest. Opportunities lead to increased confidence in our physical abilities, increased confidence in our intellectual, relational, emotional, financial and spiritual abilities.

Some of the opportunities that arise may be specific to only one of the abilities, while others may encompass more. Some may involve all of those elements.

When the student is ready

We’ve, most of us, heard the saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. Likewise, when the student is ready, the opportunity will appear. Opportunity is a teacher. Many times an opening became available when I was ready for it. And there is still a choice point at the cusp of each of these openings. When I did choose to embrace what life was offering there were still challenges to overcome. There were still obstacles on the path before reaching and knocking at the door to success.

I was talking to my mother today and she told me about a time when life offered her a choice – one that she took life up on. She told me she went and sat at the beach and watched the waves and considered the option that she had received. She said the waves had helped her make that decision. I thought about that and saw the beach as being any one of us. And the opportunity, as waves breaking on the beach and ebbing out to sea again. Choice is ever present. When we’re ready we can dive right in and ride our chosen wave.

Another analogy

The sea offers us another analogy for Opportunity. If you’ve ever watched the Americas’ Cup you’ll know there’s no greater sight than seeing a yacht running with the wind under a spinnaker especially if its a run to the finish.

You’ll know that there is a lot of gamesmanship and jockeying for position even before they get to the start. Their actions need precision. If they prepare badly and start too early the penalty is having to go round and start again.

When they’re tacking against the wind they work hard as they tack from side to side making progress up the course. There are times when they’ll stay with the boat that is leading so they don’t lose any position they’ve gained. Other times they may tack away from the lead boat and seek a stiffer breeze to enable them to get into the lead. Sometimes this tactic will pay off and the lead will change.

At the top of the course, they reach the first mark. They have to round the mark (a bhoy) and then tack away again to another mark. If they touch it on the turn they have to go round again. There are also penalties if one boat touches another, depending on the circumstances.

The way they work the boat is the preparation, what the wind is doing is the opportunity. Success is an organic outcome of what they’re doing and where they are.

What can we take away from this?

  • planning is essential
  • get your start right
  • seek an advantage
  • care and precision aid the cause
  • run your own race
  • plot any turns ahead of time
  • be ready to ride when the wave breaks for you
  • embrace opportunity as a teacher

Success

Life breathes a sigh of relief when preparation meets opportunity. You can almost hear it when you say “SUCCESS”. The rose has bloomed.

rose

When autumn segues into winter the roses’ sap stops running and they fall into a dormant state. Those who tend roses know this is the time to give them their winter prune. This is much harder than what they get during the growing season. In summer some gardeners may only remove “dead heads”, others may give a summer prune which will take the stem back to a point where it can easily support more and healthy blooms.

Removing “dead heads” and pruning are great parallels for our understanding of success. We remove anything not serving the process. We invest in whatever allows strength to flourish.

Witness the rose bush coming into spring after pruning in the winter. It’s fascinating. The stem manifests a pinkish blush where the new stem is about to come through. The rose seems coy about its future beauty.

Successful projects coming to fruition are beautiful moments.

Defining Success

Why then can we not define success for others? What makes its definition an elusive beast to catch for anyone but ourselves?

Only I know…

  • what my success means to me.
  • where I am on the path to manifesting success.
  • what importance I place on the tangible and intangible outcomes of the success.
  • the sense of relief when that sigh of success comes.
  • what I want the future to hold once this goal has been achieved

Have you ?…

  • articulated the meaning of success for yourself.
  • defined the trail you’ll follow in the quest for success.
  • decided what the tangible results (physical representations) will be.
  • determined the intangible, but no less important effects (mental, emotional & spiritual).
  • asked yourself, “Is there more”.

Gratitude

“No man is an island”, John Donne

Even as solopreneurs our successes don’t come to us in isolation. Yes, writing or any exercise that requires us to work alone can be a lonely occupation, and it can also be collaborative when we gather to share.

Though we can be alone in our work the experiences of a past shared with others create food for our thoughts. That food loads the cannon of our imagination and explodes on to the page. Emotion gives colour to the facts, metaphor and symbol enhance understanding.

I am grateful for those who people both my past and present and give thanks in advance for those yet to arrive that will assist in my future successes.

 

Any success leaves a trail of gratitude. We’re grateful to those whose example and experiences we followed on the quest for our success. And through our achievements, we lay down tracks for others to come after us, for which, no doubt, they will also be grateful. Being in gratitude creates a shortcut to further success.

As Rumi said, “What we are seeking is also seeking us”. And that includes success.

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headache Pain

Pain. Motivation or Demotivation?

, , , , , 0

An early morning trip to the bathroom. Putting my best foot forward on the return and kicking my little toe into the door frame. Muffled expletives from my mouth and not so muffled expletives exploding in my head. And hobbling back to bed. Pain. Oh yes. Pain. Getting up about an hour later with an ache but nothing visible to indicate my earlier altercation. Getting ready for work. Gingerly inserting my foot into a sock and then a boot and going about my business. Certainly not demotivation in this case. And I can’t say it was motivation for me either. Eight hours at the coal face (metaphorically). Moving some of the time, sedentary the rest. Still feeling the pain. Home at the end of the day. Boots off. Carefully removing the sock. Bright purple bulb on the far side of my left foot. Not good. A visit to the doctor the next morning. Diagnosis: Broken.

Demotivation

I wasn’t sure I could see it but the doctor assured me the x-ray indicated a break. They xrayed it from three different angles. To make sure. Prognosis: there’s nothing we can do. The doctor prescribed painkillers. The nurses bound the toe and its next door neighbour together. Then I was off to work. I could have quite easily felt demotivated by this event. I could have taken the time off and sat at home nursing my foot. A broken little toe is one of those things that can’t really be fixed with an intervention. Feeling sorry for myself was a possible response. It is a sobering experience when we arrive at a brick wall in our lives. It is easy to become discouraged especially when we’ve chosen to take a bend in the road, only to find it is a cul-de-sac. A narrow cul-de-sac that we have to back out of. Despondency can come visiting. What will I do now? Luckily some of the experiences we’ve left in our wake are familiar. We can begin to rebuild. We can take what we’re accustomed to and embrace it again.

Motivation

I went to work. Because I’d broken a toe before I knew how it would all unfold. I didn’t need to put life on hold while I healed. Getting on with it was the only way through. I limped around for a few days. Followed their suggestions about binding my little toe to to its next door neighbour. It soon became apparent after a week that this was more trouble than it was worth. The limp had diminished by then anyway. It was business as usual. In the face of an injury work is not the only concern. Often based on the severity, any exercise program can be put on the back-burner. I’m not hugely into exercise but I do monitor my daily steps and endeavour to keep them above 9000. I also have a press-up regime that I stick religiously to. I didn’t want go backwards with this so I began hooking the injured foot over the healthy ankle. Still slowly increasing the reps. No loss of motivation there.

Acute vs Chronic Pain

Though it wasn’t very cute when it happened, the pain associated with my broken toe would be termed acute. It has lasted less than 30 days. The next step on the ladder is subacute pain that lasts from 1 to 6 months. After this it is defined as “pain that extends beyond the expected period of healing.” I am fortunate enough not to have experienced pain like this myself but have witnessed first hand the torment it can cause in another. It is soul destroying. I know from experience how habit can become addiction and how difficult it is to break the pattern and become demotivated. I imagine something similar happens with chronic pain. The sufferer becomes habituated to the pain which becomes embedded in their experience. In enduring the pain they may become used to it even though their suffering is not diminished. It may lead to further despair through depression and anxiety. Fortunately there are ways of managing chronic pain.

Management

Not being a health professional I’m unable to comment on the efficacy of any treatments involving medication. From studies in psychotherapy and life coaching I can encourage readers to look into the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Acceptance and Committment Therapy. Using these therapies will provide motivation to deal with any pain that has become chronic. There are also alternative therapies and practices that have shown to be useful in the treatment of chronic conditions. The eastern practices of acupuncture and tai chi have shown value in some instances as has the use of hypnosis in other cases. Any options mentioned are not “a quick fix”.  Pain doesn’t become chronic overnight. And so relief from symptoms is a process to be worked through. Be committed to the the therapies. It could take as long as a year for you to come out the other side.

“The Hidden Door to Healing”

My friend Amy Clarke had her journey through the underworld of chronic pain. It first presented as back pain and Solving back and neck painthen shifted to her neck. It held her in a vicious grip for many months. From being seriously demotivated in the initial stages she found the place inside her that wasn’t going to be beaten by pain. During this time she was intensely motivated to seek healing from not only doctors in general practice and specialists but also a string of different complementary therapies and practitioners. Throughout the journey Clarke met with dead ends and often had to retrace her steps to the path again. Just when she thought she’d turned a corner it would lead to a cul-de-sac. And there were lights in the windows along the dark streets. Those lights she combined into a program for fellow sufferers  – “The Hidden Door to Healing”. Again it’s not a quick fix and requires committment to the work.

Conclusion

The path through pain – especially chronic pain – is also a path through motivation and demotivation. It may feel like a roller coaster ride in extra slow motion.There may be screams and moans, loops and barrel rolls, ups and downs, and then the stop. Dismounting the beast and feeling on stable ground once again. With a profound sense of wonder and gratitude that you’ve conquered a mountain. And in conquering that mountain you have gained the motivation and confidence to look towards and scale other peaks in your life. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”  Sir Edmund Hillary Resources: “Pain terms and taxonomies”. In Loeser, D.; Butler, S. H.; Chapman, J.J.; Turk, D. C. Bonica’s Management of Pain (3rd ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 18–25. “The Hidden Door to Healing”. Amy Clarke. Digital program through Clickbank.
 

creation

Design – The Secret of Deliberate Creation Reviewed

, , , , , 0

 

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

There are so many takeaways in The Secret of Deliberate Creation. But the ideas around living by default, or living by design really jumped out at me as I listened. This is the program in a nutshell. Dr. Robert Anthony talks about this early on and using his program hinges on how you apply the ideas. Will you work with them through your default lens or a lens through which you embrace a life you’ve designed?

  • Product:                 The Secret of Deliberate Creation
  • Author                     Dr. Robert Anthony
  • Price:                      $97.00 USD
  • Where to Buy:        Clickbank
  • Guarantee:             Double – Quick Start + 60 Days
  • My Rating:               5/5

Default

Default is such an interesting word. As a noun it can mean a failure to meet an obligation, or; a preset option adopted when no alternative is specified by a user or programme. As a verb, it is failing to fulfill a duty or automatically reverting to a preset.

We’re born to defaults. We accept how life presents itself. When we exit the womb we’re mostly immediately fed by our mothers. This becomes the default setting at least ’til such time as we’re weaned from the bottle. This isn’t a choice – forced on us by parents we again have to accede. External reality is where decisions affecting our lives are made. Sure we do have the element of distress we can use to get our needs met.

When grizzles evolve to tears we know there is something bothering our parents especially if we don’t tail it off after 5 – 10 minutes. Once it becomes sustained and vociferous crying notice has been given. Generally, they’d check us to see what it is we require. Changing, feeding, positive regard. We discover a default that enables attention. And on it goes. Searching for defaults that will support our needs being met.

On weekends and sometimes during the week sports teams are scheduled to play each other. When one team doesn’t turn up to play the other it is said they have defaulted. The other team gets the points for a win without even having played. Bonus. Chances are they were unable to muster enough members to bring a full team to the game owing to sickness or injury. In younger grades, this often isn’t a problem because the teams may even themselves up and just play.

This is what happens when we stick to our default settings. Because our defaults are predetermined they can easily become ruts. When a new experience crosses our path it may be we experience fear. Then we either face it to gain something or slink back into the shadow of it and revert to our routine. If we look at our own internal processes as a team we may imagine that we’re going along fine. We may not be aware of our strengths and weaknesses because we’re just treading water in our lives. By becoming conscious of our strengths and weaknesses we can even up the ‘inner’ team and get some skin in the game of life.

We have the potential to reframe that fear as excitement and take the opportunity to expand our consciousness. We move out of default and into self-responsibility. When we do that our default isn’t modeled on an external focus. It comes from our inner self. As we embrace that responsibility we move from default to creating something new.

default or design - the secret of deliberate creation
Photo by Edho Pratama on Unsplash

Design

The model Dr. Robert Anthony is referring to here isn’t the bricks and mortar kind or even something created with a CAD program. This blueprint has an internal frame of reference. It is how we create and build inner emotional intelligence to enable the process of deliberate creation. The Secret of Deliberate Creation steps you through the essential elements you need to internalize for the life you wish to create. The features of deliberate creation become sharper as you work your way through the modules.

He places his spotlight on the relevant aspects of Quantum Physics, the Law of Attraction & the Collective Consciousness. He opens up an understanding of how our soul works in his concept of the “Essential Silent Partner” and in his ideas around “Heartset versus Mindset”.

In the last Modules, he encourages us to get our head around Time, and the elimination of self-sabotage. And sums it all up with the “Ultimate Secret to Creating a Life by Design”. This one may come as a surprise!

Deliberate

Deliberate is another fascinating word. It resonates differently when used firstly as an adjective meaning on purpose and secondly as a verb referring to giving careful consideration to something. Both of these play a significant part in Anthony’s program. Being on purpose as we follow the trail he sets up is crucial to the results we receive. And we also need to deliberate on questions as they arise along the way. Any of the modules may cause you to question your current mode of thinking.

It’s like being on a jury. You’ve heard of juries beginning their deliberations. They’re listening to the presenting of evidence and then deciding on the fate of the person on trial. What is on trial here is following a new path versus maintaining the status quo. Following a dream or remaining in a life by default. Feeling a deliberate purpose propelling you forward or drifting along in the wake of a rudderless vessel.

Creation

Once your purpose is clear the process of creation can begin. Just like design, creation also flows from an internal point of reference. Once we have all our ducks lined up in our inner control panel then our thoughts can kickstart creation. Eventually, the thoughts become a physical manifestation. Writing a blog, creating a video, taking a picture – all of these are perfect examples of the process of creation. As the Bible says, “The word was made flesh”. A blog, video, photos – all of these are our ideas fleshed out in their respective mediums.

Creation serves the greater good. Sure, we create first for ourselves – we have to generate form before we put it out to a wider audience. We build our purpose into our creation. Our reason for building becomes what we receive for broadcasting it to the world. The feeling we get from the achievement becomes the fuel for further creation and it builds like a snowball collecting more snow as it rolls on.

We’re rolling out a red carpet for more ideas to make their premiere as invention, construction, concept, artform, or performance. And the emotion we derive from the process becomes the propulsion for more. We spiral ever upward as we focus on developing ourselves and our dreams further, pushing through each ceiling on our path. We begin to see the beauty of the path we’re on. Not just the beauty of our creations but also the sense of beauty the process evokes within.

The Secret of Deliberate Creation – Conclusion

Dr. Robert Anthony’s program is one of the most comprehensive programs available. He brings understanding to each aspect of the process of creation. And then he goes the extra mile adding a series of bonuses. Once you’ve immersed yourself in Deliberate Creation it’ll whet your appetite for more.

He offers the following bonus ebooks to purchasers: Beyond Positive Thinking; Betting on Yourself; The Ultimate Secrets of Total Self Confidence; The Magic Power of Super Persuasion; Doing what you Love, Loving what you do; How to make the Impossible Possible; and, 50 Ideas that can Change your Life. + One more special bonus.

Remember to keep a notepad and pen or your journal close at hand while listening to catch the pearls of wisdom. The whole program bears listening to multiple times. Each time I’ve listened I’ve gained some new understanding. And hearing again the “Ultimate Secret to Creating a Life by Design” has reinforced one of the most powerful aspects for me. This one thing has meant my life is a relatively low-stress existence enabling me to appreciate more of life’s wonderful qualities.

Blessings

 

 

imagine

Jewellery for Inspiration & Motivation – Why It Works

2

inspirational wristband

Have you ever had the inspiration of a great idea and thought I must write that down. And then you never do because you’re suddenly distracted by the next thing that comes into your awareness. That thing becomes absorbing and the great idea goes out of your mind and then completely forgotten. You find yourself thinking, “What was that thing I was supposed to remember”. Then – Nothing. “Never mind it’ll come back to me”. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s one of the benefits of wearing jewellery that evokes inspiration or motivation.

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take”

Wayne Gretsky

Being conscious of the fact it’s sitting on your wrist or hanging around your neck can be the difference between you taking action, taking the shot, or allowing the idea to dissipate into thin air.

imagine

Inspiration starts with an idea

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. Give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. Keep on turning and they make new combinations indefinitely, but they are the same old pieces of coloured glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

Mark Twain

I also like to think of ideas as having a genealogy. A family tree. Ideas born from the marriage of other ideas. They, in turn, create more brainchildren and on goes the procreation.

My idea for getting inspiration from motivational jewellery came from something I’d read or heard about Mel Robbins (The 5 Second Rule). Someone who was a friend or had attended one of her workshops gave her a motivational bracelet that said 5,4,3,2,1. It was this sequence that had Robbins turning a corner in her life. Sitting there one night at a low point she watched a program that contained the countdown for a space launch. It was an epiphany. She used this to launch herself out of bed the following morning, and then, as time went on, to launch herself out of other habits holding her back from experiencing an inspired existence.

That idea set me on a path to find a bracelet for myself. I looked online for one with a countdown on it to no avail. So I went to AliExpress and created my own wording to be engraved. That was a great reminder. Then another idea struck.

Fitness tracker. Google calendar. Hourly alerts or whenever you feel you need them. And you get not only the friendly reminder vibration but also the inspirational quote to get you fired up if your mental or physical energy is flagging.

Modelling Excellence

When we’re seeking motivation or inspiration, the end result we’re reaching for is excellence. Using jewellery or fitness trackers to fire our spark when we need it helps light that pathway. What is the excellence you are seeking? And why?

For me, I’m working on my writing and creating blog posts. Someone else may be seeking physical excellence, another artistic excellence.

Often when we’re not sure what we want it’s useful to think about and write down the things we’re sure we don’t want. Sometimes we can see others modelling things we know we don’t want.

When I was at primary school (New Zealand ages 5 – 10) I remember I used to chew my fingernails. It was serious enough – I was getting them down quite a lot. Then I began to notice the nails of a friend. They were almost chewed down til there was nothing left. I recall thinking how grotesque they looked (well I probably didn’t use grotesque at that age) – may be ugly. I didn’t want my nails looking like that. Almost immediately I stopped chewing my nails and began to look after them.

So what we consider in a negative light can be a signpost for a positive outcome. Following the motivational kick or inspirational insight may lead us into negative territory, and this, in turn, can then evolve ultimately into a positive outcome.

 

Strategies

Having jewellery, a wristband, a fitness tracker that inspires or motivates is a strategy. It’s a reminder to Begin It Now!  To start to use those tools we know are going to move us in the direction of our dreams.

A strategy helps us bridge from one experience of our reality to another expanded version of ourselves where more is possible.

building a bridge

On my way to work most mornings, I pass by a building site where they’re putting together overhead bridges for a motorway. At the moment they’re creating the huge concrete pillars that will eventually bear the weight of the bridge and the traffic passing over it. This is a great pointer for me that I need to provide great foundations when I’m motivated to move toward something different for my life. Those pillars will create the stability I need as the gap is bridged. Once that solidity has been achieved the next parts of the bridge can be put in place. I’m looking forward to the day when I can watch the traffic cross that bridge and remember the bridges I’ve crossed in my life.

Pillars

What are the pillars of our own lives that create our experience?

Thought > Feeling > Action > Belief

By spending time consciously with each of these elements when considering a course of action we can determine if it’s important for the stretch of road our life is on at the moment. Once we’ve considered the thought through the medium of emotion and action we’re able to either maintain it for its usefulness in our life or reject it as not relevant. Then it becomes a belief.

All the thoughts we have will eventually dictate how our experiences evolve. They will touch our creativity, our body image, finances, health, faith, relationships. Be careful with your thoughts  – shift to the motivational or inspirational when you find yourself perhaps leaning toward an energy slump. Reach for excellence.

Results

How will you know if that reminder on your wrist is working? What was the original idea that spurred you to purchase the item? If you use a journal write down that idea and describe where you are at present relative to the idea and where you want to be as you follow your motivation or inspiration. There should be something about it that is measurable. If it’s a blog you’re writing it might be the number of words per post or posts per month. If it’s physical – miles walked or run, minutes exercising, repetitions. Is it a financial goal – money saved, investment target reached? It could be a weight loss goal you’re working towards. Leave it for a week and then check your progress.

If you’re checking it every day you may not perceive a great change and could possibly become disheartened. Obviously be aware of that reminder sitting on your wrist and allow it to inspire your actions. As for the measuring aspect – you’ll be more heartened by your progress if you give yourself a decent amount of time for the scope of changes to become apparent.

fitness tracker

Conclusion

 

Ideas, cultivating excellence, strategies, pillars, results. All the landmarks on the journey to creating our dreams. Inspiration or Motivation to follow up on those ideas that create a fire in us can be instilled with the simple act of wearing jewellery. It can take us to that place where we are profoundly influenced to create excellence in all we do. Where we put strategies in place to maintain that mindset. And pillars to bear us up when we experience difficulty along the way. Always working towards the ultimate goal of achieving the result we had conceived in the beginning.

 

dew-drops

Ho’oponopono – Hidden Intentions, Heart Openings & Surrender

0

My previous post How Ho’oponopono Can Help You outlined some of the understandings I received by doing the Ho’oponopono Practitioner’s Course. Nine months to a year after that another opportunity arose to further develop my learning – Certification in Advanced Ho’oponopono. What follows are the powerful takeaways from it that inspired me. The course contained the input of the following practitioners and how Ho’oponopono had inspired them in advancing their modalities.
  • Harry Bartholomew – the Power of Vibration; Marissa Perks – Aromatherapy & Chakras; Kit Holmes – the Labyrinth; Mathew Dixon –  the Power of Music; Steve G. Jones – Hypno’ponopono; Chuck Pennington – Harmony & Mastermind; Dr. Joe Vitale – Advanced Clearing Techniques; Dr. Mary Oz – The Ho’oponopono Challenge; Michael Abedin – Reiki, Flower Remedies, and Forgiveness
All of the presenters provided great actionable methods. I took pages of notes as a result. When I returned to my notes these were the pieces that held special regard for me.

the unplucked string

Photo by Dark Rider on Unsplash

“Trust a mistake as a hidden intention” – Brian Eno

Matthew “Guitar Monk” Dixon mentions in the course of his talk (Ho’oponopono and the Power of Music) the quote above by Brian Eno. He also says that in music if you make a mistake once it is a mistake. If you make the mistake twice, it’s jazz.  Interesting I should have this piece programmed for today and I receive this in my email – a saying from Gene Wilder – “I trust if your life is right, the right things will happen at the right time. If the chords are in harmony inside, I think other things will happen in the same way.” Mistakes are an invitation to change something on the inner first. From cultivating that change within, our outer experience changes. Jazz is improvisation and innovation within music. Mistakes force us to improvise and innovate within to evolve our lives for the better. The more we improve, the more harmonious those inner chords become. Our vibrations create openings for the universe to bring people, experiences and things to us that are in accord with that vibration. Mistakes are opportunities within Ho’oponopono to clean and to continue to clean. Not only do we have the whiteboard as an analogy for the ‘Great Something’ out of which we allow inspiration to arise – we could also use the unplucked string. An unplucked string is awaiting the inspiration of a musician, awaiting improvisation and innovation. Awaiting the Divine. It is the creation through vibration, of something beautiful. The unplucked string is pregnant with the expectation of the Universe singing through it, of being open to deeper harmony. It has come back to stillness. As we clean on our “mistakes” the data falls away, the whiteboard is erased. The Divine can now work through us, instead of our data creating a barrier to the infusion of the “Great Something” in our lives. Running to the land of the dreamer Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Have you ever sought something only to discover that when it is found you become scared and run away? Return and open your heart to it!

This was something that Michael Abedin – Ho’oponopono, Reiki, Flower Remedies, and Forgiveness said in the body of his presentation. I’m not sure about being scared of something and then running away after discovering it. When I consider that, it’s really my uncertainty of having the belief to actually attain the thing I’m seeking. From there I sink into some form of self-sabotage where I’m not motivated to bring that which I seek to fruition. Self-sabotage is the baggage I carry round in an old duffle bag. It holds familiar garb, comfortable attire for a mind that comes home and sits on the couch replaying old movies and reruns. I waste time on other activities, I procrastinate, I find something that is almost as important as believing in becoming a full-time internet marketer. Self-sabotage is the running away. I don’t need to run away physically, I can easily do it in my psyche. There are plenty of recesses in my mind that are good hiding places. If I look at running away from a different perspective I might see it as a “running to”. Eventually, I will tire from running away and have to stop. Where I am now is where I’ve run to. The scenery may be different, but the things I carry with me won’t necessarily have changed. Wherever I am, opening my heart will bring the gifts I require. I’m a staunch believer in what we put out we will then receive. If I present with a closed heart, I won’t be surprised if I am ignored. Open-heartedness enables me to receive the gift of another open heart. Smiles most often beget smiles.

Stop Running!

When I stop running and open my heart I make the time. I become still within and realize the stillness is the whiteboard on which divine inspiration displays itself. I sit and type a post, creating content for my blog. Time falls way. I’m surprised how little time it takes to produce even 150 words. If I just did that every day I’d have a 1000 word blog post every week. And yet I still find things to draw me away. The four Ho’oponopono phrases come back to me. I’m sorry. I forgive myself. I’m thankful I see both the obstacles and the way through. I love I’m able to do this. It still amazes me how this works. I decided to look for an image to illustrate this running away or running to and in my search, I find the above. Someone running from or to carrying a banner “Land of the Dreamer”. Ho’oponopono is the Land of the Dreamer. As we become clearer, it is the place from which inspiration arises, the place where we stop running and allow our dreams to put down roots. And this place is within each of us.

To begin your journey in Ho’oponopono Click Here!

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Surrender = Alignment with the “Great Something”

Joe opened the workshop with his new understandings of Ho’oponopono. Both the opening of our heart and the allowing of a mistake to show itself as a hidden intention or inspiration are incidences of Surrender. It is aligning and allowing the Great Something to work through us. Surrender is when we desist from plucking the string and let it become still. It’s when we wait for the string that is the soul to be plucked by the divine. We hear the call within…. “Not my will, but thine be done.” When we let go of perceptions and the interruptions of the mind, surrender happens. It allows the fullness, the opportunity inherent in the whiteboard.

Surrender = Empowerment

Surrender is the empowerment that emanates from the soul, the empowerment that comes from zero. When we have surrendered we become 100% responsible for all we experience through our presence. We are the fulfillment of that which we were created to do. That which is perfect for each of us already lies within us. Surrender is the letting go of memory. All that we speak, all that we hear, see and feel feeds into memory and becomes the data we need to clean. As soon as our miraculous moments have passed they become data. It is easy to allow ourselves to sink into the comfort of these sorts of memories. This comfort is a barrier to zero. Again we need to erase and in the erasing is the surrender. From imperfection to perfection we ride the waves from data to cleaning to zero to inspiration to the miracle. When we surrender we offer ourselves in faith for the divine to work through us. Faith in itself is a cleaning tool. When we go forth in emptiness and await inspiration it is faith enacted. We just keep cleaning. And hold ourselves in grace. Dew Drops Photo from personal collection

Grace of God

In Ho’oponopono dew drops refer to the Grace of God. And one of the definitions of Grace is around divine assistance. It’s exactly what we receive when bringing Ho’oponopono to our particular modality or simply use the 4 phrases. A sustained practice is always an act of faith and an entering into soul space humbly. Soul space is grace. There’s nothing we have to do. Just allow ourselves to be and let our actions flow from the grace of being. Touched by the dew, moist –  in that there’s something about the fertility of inspiration. In the drops, we witness not only the plant bearing the dew magnified but they also act as a mirror for other plants in the proximity – a reflection of beauty, of the divine nature of nature.

Conclusion

Ho’oponopono is a way of magnifying our personal inspiration, and of polishing the mirror in order to witness our own divinity and the divinity of those people and experiences with whom we connect. Trusting our mistakes, opening our heart and surrendering – each of these allows us to clothe our souls with God’s Grace. Each is a diving board into the divine pool, and an ongoing pathway for living our inspiration. Blessings to you.

To know more about Ho’oponopono Click Here!

ho

How Ho’oponopono Can Help You

0

Ho'oponoponoPhoto by Faye Cornish on Unsplash

If you’ve heard the name Joe Vitale you may have heard of the ancient Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono.

Joe became interested in Ho’oponopono when he heard of someone who had healed an entire ward of criminally insane patients without ever having seen them in a therapeutic setting. This someone was Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len. After shelving it as an ‘urban legend’ Joe let it lie. A year or so later the information again turned up in his life. This time he felt moved to discover the truth behind Ho’oponopono. He managed to track down Dr Hew Len who confirmed the information Joe had been hearing as a rumour. Indeed he had healed an entire ward of the criminally insane without seeing them. How he did it was the most surprising.

Working on Yourself

Dr Hew Len took personal responsibility for everything that showed up in his life including these inmates. How easy it would have been to reject this idea! Not only were the criminally insane inmates his personal responsibility, but also all the disasters, catastrophes, and terrorism he witnessed in the world.

In Joe’s conversations with Dr Hew Len what came through was that the good doctor would read the patients’ files and then work on himself. As he considered what was in the patients’ history he looked within himself to see what it was that created them. When he found that, he healed what was within him.

And what was the manner of his healing – he simply repeated to himself over and over… I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you.

I was fascinated by this idea! How simple! And humbling.

How does Ho’oponopono work

Maybe it’s a male thing wanting to pull things apart and see how they work. And I wanted to know how this worked. It was all very well hearing that you can create this and that by repeating the phrases and remaining open to inspiration. I didn’t have the resources. I was struggling to have money left before I’d even got paid and working for almost minimum wage at the time.

What I needed to understand was that this struggle with money came from thoughts about money. These thoughts were the data that Dr Len refers to, data that came from memories, memories that were creating a dirty window for my life. Ho’oponopono was the way to clean this window and allow the light of divinity to shine through.

And I continued to throw mud at my own window making the cardinal Ho’oponopono mistake of telling some of those that I’d told of this seemingly wacky spiritual process that they should clean on that. “They should clean on that” – Haha – If I need to take 100% responsibility for anything that shows up in my experience I should clean on it. My mistake!! Back to one of Joe’s great analogies for Ho’oponopono – the whiteboard. I start cleaning on not only the mistake but also the incident that had me saying, “you should clean on that”. Like I said – humbling.

Using it in the everyday

I didn’t get as far as having the phrases on a continuous loop in the back of my consciousness as Joe did. Working at the time in hospitality as a chef the phrases took a back seat to “Where are my fingers while I’m cutting this onion”. In hospitality, we’re generally completely focused in the present moment. Our whiteboard is as clean as the benches we use. We flow easily in the eternal moment as we collectively bring the food for a major event to the table. The cleaning of the kitchen after work became an opportunity to practice the phrases I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you with an inner focus. When I did become aware of any mental state that required some detergent or sanitiser the phrases slipped easily back into the foreground of my mind.

Incremental Changes

And the idea of how much I felt myself to be worth was also beginning to change slowly. Doubling my income in 8 years seems slow. Nothing miraculous appeared within that time but there were incremental changes as life progressed. Obviously, something was working but I was unsure of what that was. I still remained fascinated with Ho’oponopono.

Joe talks about unconscious counter-intentions playing havoc with our manifesting abilities and this idea I immediately resonated with. It seemed to sit easily with some of the concepts I was learning in my part-time life coach training. The emails began to arrive around this time for the opportunity to attend a Ho’oponopono workshop run by Dr Joe and Dr Hew Len. I wished I could attend but while there were incremental financial changes happening, my consciousness wasn’t stretching enough to allow me to sign up and resign myself to the investment required. Hello counter-intention!

Learn more about Ho’oponopono Click Here!

Rewind

I’d discovered Joe early through seeking spiritual and self-development ideas online. He put up a lot of free content which I’d download with relish. I’d purchase the odd book through Amazon – my budget stretched at least that far – and download the bonus content that came with the launch. I found this material wound up in my downloads folder and was never to be seen again. It wasn’t content that I’d devour like the book that eventually turned up in the mail. I found my mind going back even further to a time before the internet when I’d done Reiki training…

I remembered Dr Usui when he’d discovered the Reiki system, had offered free healings and attunements to the poor people. He imagined these people had been healed and yet he found they would do nothing with this gift they’d been generously given. He soon discovered that he needed there to be some sort of payment or energy exchange in receipt of the healing or attunement. When people had to pay for something it was more likely to be respected.

All this free stuff was a gold mine and yet I would mine this gold put it in a vault (file or folder) and then forget about it. I neglected to bring it out, look at it, create some sort of action around it and bring it to the marketplace.

Fast Forward

A few years passed, the emails came and went, books were bought and read (Zero Limits, At Zero, The Key), and Joe started making music which blissed me out. Then a couple of years ago the very same workshop that I would have loved to attend was offered as an online course. What an opportunity! I’d inhaled the content of the Ho’oponopono books that Joe had written and now the prospect of seeing both Joe and Dr Len in action providing the picture that could be added to the words wrought an immediate response and I signed up for the course.

I sat in front of the laptop whenever I had a free moment jotting down notes as I watched. Rewinding to capture passages again in case I missed the veins of gold running through them.

Both Dr Len and Joe are down-to-earth types and their honest accounts of how they came to the understandings required by Ho’oponopono and the help that it can give practitioners created a profound sense of integrity around the material they were offering.

Using Ho’oponopono

For such a simple process there are quite a few layers of understanding to go through as we journey to the healing space.

I believe the cleaning process works on our personal self-image. As we connect a problem or issue we may have with another it is projected on the screen of our own self-image. It is this projection that we are cleaning. We take 100% responsibility for that which we are experiencing even though we may imagine that we are not really responsible. As we clean the lens of our self-image we allow the light of the divine to project onto the screen of our souls.

Everything is alive and our environment is sacred. The place where we are needs to be loved and cared for. The 4 phrases (I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you, I love you) provide us with an opportunity to clean on our environment if required. This maintains our surroundings (home & workplace) in a cocoon of sacred care.

In my day to day dealings with people, something may come up that has a hook in it for me on which I need to clean.  There’s sorrow for those feelings have come up and have severed the sacred connection. I seek forgiveness from the divine for my allowing that connection to be severed. Then gratitude to the divine for forgiving me and loving me. Commit to love – I reconnect to the divine.

I connect to the triggers that register in the conscious mind and pray for cleaning. I offer this up to the super-conscious – where we access the collective divinity. The frustrations, issues, and disconnects that come up are the barriers between myself and God. This is what we are continually erasing.

Seeking the Divine

Love becomes the sword of healing. As a soldier of Ho’oponopono, the cuts that I make give life, not death. What I am seeking for myself I am seeking for all. I invoke the Mana that happens through cleaning. Both my subconscious and the trigger are cleared. The memory, data, information is thus purified and transmutes into pure energy.

If I start to imagine that there is something obscuring the vision of others I come into contact with I need to look at that very same thing myself. I must “Remove the mote from my own eye before I remove the mote from my brother’s”. Memory is keeping us from experiencing the divine within. It is this memory that is keeping us stuck, in time, in place, and in our emotions. It is only divinity that can void these. First seek the divine within and that which is creating a barrier to that experience.

When what I find in the daily round is someone with cancer or bankruptcy I need to embrace detachment. I maintain the cleaning process. Whether these experiences come from data that is interrupting their connection to source, or from a deep sense of inspiration within their divine soul I can’t know. I just clean.

Tools

Not only do we have the phrases, Ho’oponopono also has an array of cleaning tools to assist us.

  • Breathing Cycles – one of these mitigates the effects of jet lag and Alzheimers.
  • Blue solar water
  • Saying the following“I love you” –  peace begins with me.
    • Ihaleakula
    • Hawaii
    • New Zealand – this came through as I cleaned during the course, as I embraced collaboration with the divine.
  • Bluebonnets or Bluebells
  • Corn/Maize – The growth of the plant represents reaching for the divine. The subconscious. The cosmos. Soul-searching and paying down debt and death.

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

Conclusion

What were the takeaways for me from this Ho’oponopono Practitioner’s Course?

  • Surrendering to what is.
  • Allowing myself to be a window for the divine to shine the light of inspiration through.
  • Cleaning to open a clear channel for myself with the divine. Allow what unfolds for others to be as it is.
  • Allow God, Source, Universal Life Force Energy to be my only Guru.
  • Let go and let God.
  • The stories of Practitioners who were using Ho’oponopono in New York around the time of 9/11.
  • Being present to the inspiration-evoking tools of Ho’ponopono.
  • Finding tools that enable us to be the change we want in the world.

There is always data, information, memory smudging the clarity of our whiteboard. With terrorism, disaster, crime there is always something to clean around. I give myself to Ho’oponopono and acknowledge 100% responsibility for everything I witness in my experience. I become an instrument for the divine to work through. This is the help that Ho’oponopono offers – to be of service with humility and the understanding of the human condition.

Blessings

If you’d like to know more about Ho’oponopono Click Here!

 

 

 

35e1992d85070b529f3beaa738e463b0_cropped_1526382002_optimized

How a Couch Potato uses Sport for Motivation.

, , , , , , , , , , 0

It is timely during the 2018 Super Rugby season that I review the 2017 season from a motivational perspective. The focus is on what I saw in the marketing of our local team. And because I’m a bit of a couch potato how it motivated me.

I wouldn’t consider myself as a sporty type even though I’ve completed a triathlon. That was in the distant past. Recently I’ve enjoyed mountain biking. Now the responsibilities of a lifestyle block keep me in almost reasonable shape even if I’m beginning to take on the attributes of that couch potato.

Anyway, I’m lucky enough to live in the city that can boast one of the premier Super Rugby teams – the Canterbury Crusaders. We’ve been truly blessed to have a team of their dedication grace our city. They brought home the Super Rugby Trophy last year. We’d been waiting for 8 years for it to inhabit the trophy cabinet again.

It wasn’t that we’d had inexperienced teams as there is always a deep pool of talent ready to draw from. Since 2008 our worst finish has been 7th, – with four 4ths and two seconds. Each squad in each of those years had the potential to go on to win the championship so what made last year different. It would be easy to say the Coach as we had a new one. I’m sure he was a great source of inspiration. It was the players that took that inspiration and made it work on the field binding together to create an almost unbeatable spirit. How did they get there and what was so inspiring to me?

Mantras

Beginning with the pre-season build last year up billboards started popping up around the city stirred something within. And that something obviously created an iron will within the team as they won game after game only losing one on the trail to the trophy – in fact surpassing the record they’ve held since 2002 of 13 games without a loss.

It was obvious each player had gone away and thought about what they would bring to the team and indirectly to the city that supported them. Their mantras said something about the commitment they felt. Will, pride, go-forward, trust, unity, support, opportunity, preparation and creativity had all been internalized and personalized first for themselves, then the team and ultimately for their supporters. (I’ve added my personal take on these mantras in italics)

We will:

  • “Smash into rucks and not take a backwards step.” – I will meet my challenges head on!
  • “Stand together and wear the jersey with pride.” – I will stand strong and noble within myself!
  • “Trust the man beside us and back each other to the hilt.” – I trust and back myself to the hilt!
  • “Play what’s in front of us and make our own luck.” – By responding to what is going on in the moment consciously I create an opening for luck!
  • “Prepare like no other.” – By preparing well opportunity makes itself known!
  • “React with creativity.” – I will find opportunities to use my creativity!
  • “Do it for you.” – I will do it to add value to my communities!

Laws

There are certain laws that act as drivers for motivation. I thought more about what must have been going on for the players as they continued on their winning way. I imagined what it would mean for me if I was a player and I was seeing these billboards everywhere as I drove around Christchurch.

The first thing that sprang to mind was the Law of Natural Obligation – in which honour and conscience bind the person who holds that obligation. I felt that I’d want to give of my best not only to the team but also to the city that stood behind me and the responsibility to do that.

Law of Reciprocity – In response to the encouragement given by the team’s supporters I imagined winning matches would be a way of reciprocating this.

Law of Cause and Effect – for each effect there is a defined cause while for every cause we get a definite effect. Thought manifests in action and creates the effects that become the unfolding of our games, our lives. The way the team absorbs the influences driving them to success and prepares for each match becomes the ultimate effect. Winning.

One thing I have noticed this year is while they’re still winning they have had a couple of losses. Based on the billboard messages last year it seems that both personally and as a team, they were more intrinsically motivated than this year. The billboards indicated they were taking ownership of what they were bringing to the team on the field. While most of the billboards this year display a more extrinsic direction, a more outward focus to the messages they’re broadcasting to the city.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation means me, or the team, base our purpose on the inspiration that arises within us without being diverted by an outside influence. A motivation that is implicit within our consciousness and self-created.

Extrinsic drivers are based in purpose arising from outside of ourselves. These can be as strong as intrinsic motivations especially if we’re touched deeply by them. But if we’re not we’ll be easily distracted and then lose focus. If we’re part of a team we need to draw on our bonded strength and own everything as a unit.

Battle

Life is a battle for territory as Les Brown so eloquently puts it and so it is on a rugby field as well. Each game becomes a microcosm of life. At the end of each game the commentators will address the stats – the percentage of time each time has spent in the others territory and other elements that dictate how the score unfolded. Most often if you had the territorial advantage you would win the game as long as you could take any opportunity that opened up to score. Sometimes, however, this is not always the case especially if a team has a great defensive pattern and the talent to counterattack. At the end of the day, it is the team that scored more points wins.

So it is with our motivations. A battle for territory and we often have multiple battlefields – our finances, our relationships, our careers, our recreations, our health. We’ll make some territorial gain in one area only to find ourselves being pushed back in another area.

Landmarks

A season of Super Rugby is like working towards a long-term goal. Each game becomes a marker along the way. We’re going to have wins – we’re going to have losses.

Losses are an indication we have to work harder – leave 100% on the field when we’re playing – give 100% when we’re practising. Reflect on our losses. What could we have done better? What did we do well even though it turned out to be a loss? Rather than attaching blame, taking ownership. And celebrating those small things we did even if they didn’t amount to win in the ledger.

Likewise, reflective practice is valuable even if we’re on a winning streak. Though we have a win perhaps there are elements of what we’ve produced that aren’t up there in our minds. Things we can give a bit more time to bring them to a peak. There’ll always be something we can improve in our lives with reflection.

Celebration

And then there are the trophy moments!! The utter exuberance when everything comes together. The Shield was retained, the Cup was won and runneth over, the Event was a success, your SEO paid off and your page came up #1 in Google, someone purchased through your Affiliate link for a high ticket item, you finished a module in WA training and your rank took a leap, the ocean was crossed, the peak was conquered. Whatever it is it’s an opportunity to, punch the air, let go a resounding YES from the depth of our heart, uncork the champagne, bust out the breakdancing, hug the closest person to you, hug everyone, cry, weep, sob, stand around with a silly but serene smile on your face and a silent yes in the depth of your belly. However you do it, just know YOU ARE AWESOME!

Conclusion

We need time on the couch and I’m not promoting a couch-bound lifestyle. There is good on the couch! What’s good? As long as we’re relatively distraction-free while we’re there we can let our thoughts flow. And armed with a tablet and stylus or notebook and pen we can record them and reflect on them.  Create to-do lists, timelines, plan, prioritise, and procrastinate. A little procrastination can help our clarity. Then when we’re ready, we can use our couch as the launching pad, the springboard for our latest project. A sports team may not be your inspiration – it may come in another form. It could be just as potent as you ponder the power it gives your motivation.

Blessings

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017-National-PartyVote-SecureFuture2-768x382

Politics & Motivation. Strange Bedfellows?

, , , 0


Political Review New Zealand 2017

I don’t have a great deal of faith in politicians. I’m sure they go into politics with the best of intentions. I believe we need politics, just not in the form it currently takes here in New Zealand.  Most of what is apparent in the media is that politicians try to make points to sway voters, not through the work they do but by crying down the work others are endeavouring to do. This is more explicit during an election year. This point making gets great coverage during the leaders debates.

Left, centre left, right, centre right, far right, far left – far out. Each attempting to garner their share of the vote, especially in a mixed member proportional system (MMP) where 5% of the vote will get a seat in the government in NZ. There’s the staunch supporters of each party with a steel ramrods where their spines would normally be. They will never waiver from the cause as long as they live. And then at the other end of the spectrum there are the truly apathetic. Well they used to be apathetic – now they just don’t care!

The rest of us are arranged somewhere at varying points along the continuum. With varying levels of belief and disbelief. As it was election year in 2017 what follows are some of the beliefs the political parties wanted us to take up and the disbelief particularly from this commentator that they evoked.

Delivering

Politics & motivation may seem to be a little at odds with each other? Well, perhaps not too much. Politicians are campaigning – motivating their voters to maintain their loyalty and to grab the fence-sitters that can’t make their minds up.

On the cusp of the election year – late 2016 the incumbent Prime Minister John Key stepped down creating a space for those waiting in the wings to push their claims. In the end they went with the obvious choice – Finance Minister and the PMs Deputy Bill English. A difficult time as there’d been another major earthquake with extensive damage to infrastructure. He coped well coming in not only with that on his plate but also the shadow of an election on the horizon.

When a party is campaigning for an election there are certain rules they must follow. They staged a good campaign – their billboards (the NATIONAL party) were probably the first to be sighted around the urban areas and countryside. Silly me! I thought they were advertising a new courier company! They were a potent force carrying the country through years of earthquakes and that was the best they could come up with?

Let’s Do This

About the same time that John Key stood down there was a changing of the guard in the LABOUR party. Andrew Little took the reins and the party expected he was the figurehead on the prow of Labour’s ship sailing into the harbour of the election. His deputy in the campaign was the woman at left – Jacinda Ardern and the slogan chosen was A Fresh Approach.

No sooner had the electioneering begun Andrew Little dropped a bombshell and stepped down from the leadership and the reins fell into the hands of Ardern. A Fresh Approach became Let’s do this and the campaign gained some impetus with a focus on working towards the elimination of child poverty. On election day the scales were well balanced.

KingMaker

In the wake of election day National had a narrow lead. Once the Special Votes were counted (nearly a month later), a decisive majority was about as clear as mud. The Leader of the third string New Zealand First party Winston Peters came into play holding the power as KingMaker to either go with National and gift them another term or bring together the Labour, Greens and Maori parties to create a new government. Their campaign slogan was Had Enough. I guess he had had enough. Winston became a QueenMaker with Jacinda Ardern at the helm of a new government. She will steer the parliamentary ship for the next three years with Winston as First Mate.

Manifesto

A manifesto, often associated with political parties, is a published declaration of their motives and intentions. Anyone can access a party manifesto and see if its ideology gels with theirs. It’s helpful to know what a party stands for – if you can stand with them. I think I heard it said somewhere that if you don’t stand for something you could fall for anything. Back in the day voters would seek out the party manifesto. Today as I said before parties are relying on advertising on billboards, television, radio. Unless you’re watching or listening to the Leaders’ debates you’ll never be clear about what policies you’re voting for.

Takeaways

From a motivational perspective these political musings leave me with plenty to ponder:

  • I wonder if I am delivering my best for myself and others?
  • Have I got a great campaign strategy for my life?
  • What is the Manifesto that will guide my journey?
  • Are my intentions and motives for the New Year clear?
  • When I say to myself Let’s do this am I clear about what I am doing and where I’m going with it.
  • Party politics is great for getting a melting pot of voices into the houses of parliament. My belief is that parties should leave those politics at the door and their voices should join together to create harmony in what is best for the country.
  • Likewise you may have many ideas about what you should be doing with your life. There maybe indecision when contemplating the ideas individually. Start molding these ideas into a form that will keep you on track. Discover which are the strongest and closest to your heart and focus on those to achieve your goals.
  • When going through this process work out what the ideas are which are most aligned with your values.
  • Be aware if there are aspects of your life where you are sitting on the fence. Are you waiting for an outcome that doesn’t require any input from you? You may need to invoke some decisiveness.

That’s the beauty of life – everywhere we look, we can find soulfulness, wisdom and humour.

Blessings

Party posters courtesy of http://www.electionads.org.nz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

d8ac76dad965924c426eb446f3d42a66_cropped_1515927232_optimized

Big Decisions – 2018

, 4

Selling a business, embarking on a radical new project, moving house, change in a relationship – these are all stressful circumstances requiring decisions. We may even wonder when considering them – Is it worth it? Losing sleep, agitation, anxiety, and moodiness are all possible symptoms of the stress that manifests in our lives. I know this – leaving a previous relationship created deeply affecting footprints in my mind. And it can become debilitating – especially when our emotions runneth over. At the times we are in this state it doesn’t seem fair and we can get into a why me, what if loop. Loop…Sometimes it can feel like a noose.

At home, we’ve had the noose of big decisions hanging over us recently. The stress hadn’t yet become unbearable. It was on the rise and we wanted to head it off at the pass. On the surface there was no alternative – we had to go ahead with it. Making a decision determines a future. When there is money involved it’s always easy to run the figures and make a decision based on what will be the best return on investment (ROI).

Talking

When you’re a partnership you tend to pick up emotional signals from your nearest and dearest. We’d run the figures and produced a cost analysis. When it’s an integral feature of your life there other aspects that will benefit from crunching numbers. These numbers tell a different story. They tell us the cost not only from a financial perspective but also from physical, mental, emotional and spiritual perspectives. By taking each of these and creating a dialogue around them we are more easily able to understand how they are affecting the decisions we need to make. Remaining open in the conversation and not allowing walls we may have previously erected in our minds to colour any notions that arise can lead us to ideas we may not have considered before. These ultimately change the evaluation we make purely on the financial aspects.

Charting

It helps to have a pen and paper handy when going through this exercise. By writing ideas down we can connect what is in our minds with something tangible. The concepts we are contemplating may be dismissed as sentimental so write them down anyway as the physical act of writing grounds them in a sense of reality. We begin to realize these decisions are more than just monetary and may involve finding a more profound reason for their emergence. This contemplation could be likened to a brainstorm. Well, maybe the mental and financial aspects. For the emotional, physical, and spiritual a deep heartful breeze would be more conducive to the discovery of the factors affecting our decision. Charting them makes them visible and we decide which hold more weight in our hearts. Get them written down as you go. Create a chart for maintaining the status quo and then another for the new possibilities you are envisioning. Then split both into advantages and disadvantages.

Marking

The process of charting reminds me of the music charts –  what’s number 1, what’s in the top 10, top 40 and so on. Once you’ve charted the ideas important to your decisions you can weigh the spiritual & emotional in your hearts, the mental and financial in your minds. You probably won’t make it to a top 40 but, certainly you’ll come up with at least 10. Then assign a number between 1(least important) and 10(most important) to each idea. Soon you’ll know which advantages and disadvantages hold the most weight for you.

Perspective

As you count up the numbers the decisions may become immediately apparent or they may not. You may have more advantages than disadvantages and the weight you attach to them may have given you a total that doesn’t make a decision definite. If that’s the case you can turn the final numbers into percentages to give you a better idea. This may make the decision much easier. Up to this point, we’ve focused mainly on the separate pros and cons and weighted them individually. It is a good idea to sit back and ponder both the status quo and the new possibility and all the different aspects together as a whole. There may be more insights to gain here that may colour a final decision. And if there is more than one person involved in this then more diverse insights can be gleaned.

Conclusion

Think outside the square when making a decision – look at it from all sides. The more sides you look at it from the better the picture you get. Do the numbers from each perspective. You do the numbers right the more clarity you get. Numbers don’t lie. There is a sense of control over the decision. I know when I’ve made some decisions in the past especially when I was sitting on a dilemma I felt like I might as well have tossed the dice or flipped a coin. Somehow that seemed frivolous and didn’t really honour the seriousness of what was being considered.

Anyway being a geek once we’d used this process to help us with the outcome I just had to jump into a spreadsheet and put it together to make it easier in the future. It seems fortuitous that we’re on the cusp of the New Year as this process seems tailor-made for considering resolutions in this physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, 360-degree fashion. The Power Grid seemed a good name for it as gives a sense of control to any decision making process. And it can open the user up to other objectives. Another use that struck me as I created it was as a prioritisation tool, especially for planning a day, an event, a project – anything with an expected result. I’m sure you’ll come up with other uses for it as well. [thrive_leads id=’460′]Good luck – Your decisions determine your future and move you with determination to your destiny. Happy New Year, Blessings, and all the best for 2018.

 

 

 

 

Load More