Oh crap, I've just discovered I don't exist

You know, your mind is a very, very amazing machine yet, at it's most basic level, it is nothing more than a bunch of chemicals and some electricity. I suppose that makes it even more amazing but you get what I mean!

Every thought you've ever had, every emotion you've ever felt, every sunset you've ever marvelled over, every incredible thing you've ever learned...nothing more than chemistry and electricity.

But we can go further than that. One of my favourite books is 'A short history of nearly everything' by Bill Bryson. In the book he has a short passage that basically says that if we could pick you apart atom by atom we would end up with a pile of atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but, all the same, all of which had been you. 

So what is life? How do we create it from this atomic dust, chemical soup and ability to generate electricity?

It's when we put all these things together that magic happens.  It's when this atomic dust learns the exact chemical soup to conduct the perfect electric dance that somewhere inside it comes together into something we experience as an image. A representation of the experiences of our sensory cells translated from a cacophony of light, sound and electrical resistance. 

This is our reality. And, when we learn that we are the machine, we can have control. 

Now that I am this far into this post I've realised I've opened a can of worms bigger than one post! Woops!

So here's a wee temporary conclusion before we come back to it tomorrow - you are in charge of you. You are the machine. Put the right things in, get the right things out. So tonight and tomorrow, notice what happens if you take charge of your machine and only run pictures of what you want rather than what you don't.   

You have been put in charge of some remarkable machinery. You owe it to yourself to drive it with care and precision :)

7 Rules of Life - A week of Learning ends

7 Rules of Life - A week of Learning ends

This last week I've taken you through what I believe these 7 principles of life can teach us.  Here's a quick reminder of all 7 -


1. The world is what you think it is
2. There are no limits
3. Energy flows where attention goes
4. NOW is the moment of power
5. To Love is to be happy with
6. All power comes from within
7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth 

I wish I could claim these as my own but they were written by a superb writer called Serge Kahili King.  I recommend you go and check out some of his books, no matter what your belief system.

Anyway, I hope they have made you think and here's one final thought for you -

Enjoying them is not enough.  Reading the book is not enough.  Clicking Like on a Facebook post is not enough.  The only thing that is going to give you the life you want is action.

You need to take all the things you have learned and put them into action NOW.  You have to believe you have that power, you have to understand that the way you see the world is in your control and that you have no limitations apart from the ones you set on yourself.  You have to start loving yourself and taking care of YOU and do it TODAY, you have the ability to do it and to deny that power is to give your life away.  Be honest about your level of happiness, be open and free and focus on what you want.

This is your one shot at this.  There are many people who understand their destiny is waiting to be grasped and owned....are you one of them?

For the last time this week, Aloha

See you again tomorrow. Have a fab Friday night :)

7 Rules of Life - 7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth

7 Rules of Life - 7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth

One of my favourite phrases on all my trainings is one that, I must admit, I nicked from Tony Robbins.  It really resonated with me when I first went to see Tony live and he explained it.  The phrase?

'The truth will set you Free'

It is an exceptionally powerful statement yet one that is not always easy to live by.

In truth we find what works and what doesn't (in other words, what's effective and what isn't) because when we are true to ourselves and our lives then we have nothing to hide, does that make sense?

Let me put it another way, when we bluff and bullsh1t, we end up doing things that don't work for us.  we end up in relationships that are dysfunctional, we end up in jobs we actively dislike, we poison our minds and bodies and the more we do it the more we end up needing to bluff and bullsh1t to hide the mistakes  we don't want anyone to realise we are making.

When we are true, when we are honest, when we are ourselves we admit to our mistakes.  We accept that we are fallible and open our minds to change.  We become effective in every area of our lives because we understand that we aren't always effective in every area of our lives!!  I'm going to nick another quote from Robbins here, Good decisions come from good judgement, good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from making bad decisions.

Do a quick diagnostic of your life...where are you at your most effective?  And how much do you feel like yourself when you do that thing?  It's so obvious.  So why don't you live the rest of your life like that?

Tomorrow is Friday, so here's a task.  Live tomorrow and the weekend being honest with yourself about what works and what doesn't.

I promise, I know it might be scary, but the truth will set you free...

7 Rules of Life - 6. All power comes from within

7 Rules of Life - 6. All power comes from within


When I coach people I am always very aware of one change, that any change that occurs for that person is 100% down to them.  I have merely been a witness and a guide to help them find the places they already possessed to empower them to make the change.

That might sound a bit bizarre to anyone that puts their faith in a specific guru or expert or attributes change to some magic touch they received but I promise you that you made the change yourself.

I am privileged and honoured to be the guide for so many people and many people who I have helped through courses and privately have expressed their gratitude for any help I have given them.  I thank you if you are one of them however I didn't make the change, YOU DID!

You see, everything you have ever done and accomplished is because of you.  You probably don't even realise just how much you are capable of but, and I promise this is true, if you just went for your dreams with 100% conviction and refused, point blank refused, to stop until you got everything you wanted, guess what? You'd have everything you wanted!

But so few of us do that.  We give away our power, becoming martyrs and victims of our own crappy circumstances.  We believe we have no power and we end up stagnant or potentially we even end up going backwards, running from life like it is some scary zombie that refuses to be baseball batted into submission (scary, life zombies...now there's a metaphor!).

We have unlimited power when we choose to use it.  There have been times in your life when you have went deep and managed to find that extra ounce of energy, that little push when you needed it most, that moment of clarity amidst chaos.  This is your power.  You own it.

If you just chose to really use your incredible power, just what amazing things would you be capable of?

Or is it easier to sit on your ass, do piss all and pretend you don't have any?

Your move...

7 Rules of Life - 5. To Love is to be happy with

7 Rules of Life - 5. To Love is to be happy with


Let's boil life down to it's most simple form.  Everything you do and everything you don't do is governed by 2 simple forces, Pleasure and Pain.  It is as simple as that.

These two forces guide our lives every day pushing us away from the painful and, technically speaking, towards the pleasurable.  But that's not really how it happens is it?

For many of us what happens is we are pushed away from the really painful towards the slightly less painful.  The pleasure aspect never really comes into it.  Our lives become a dizzying cycle of running away hoping that some day our white knight on his majestic steed will ride in and save the day (or, for the blokes, we'll just find the answer and be able to fix it and everything will seem ok again!).

The thing is this whole cycle has a simple solution.  And it starts with you.  Are you ready?  Really ready?

To find true happiness you must begin with yourself.  The endless search for the solution or the white knight is a signal to your own heart that you don't actually believe enough in yourself to pick yourself up and fight for your own life.  You can't even love yourself, how can you expect anyone else to?

Love is the root of all happiness.  When you can truly look yourself in the mirror and respect and love yourself you have the key to happiness.  It doesn't need any magic book, any learned guru, any life changing course...it just needs you to look in the mirror, accept yourself totally for who you are, where you are and what you are doing and think, to yourself, those 3 words...I LOVE YOU.

The moment you say that, and really, really mean it, you have found happiness my friend.  Go practise.  If you leak from your eyes the first couple of times that's ok!!  You'll get used to it by Thursday :)

7 Rules of Life - 4. NOW is the moment of power

7 Rules of Life - 4. NOW is the moment of power


Where have you just been? And what is about to happen next? And, mind bending time again, are either of the answers you just gave to those questions real?

The answer is no, by the way.

The past is now just a memory.  A moment in time that only you experienced.  There may have been other people with you but none of them will have experienced that moment, or that moment, or that moment, or (this could go on for a long time so I'm going to stop)...in the way you just did.  It was a truly unique moment of time, experienced in a way no one ever has before and no one ever will again.

The future is a fantasy.  A guess on your best knowledge of what you can see, hear, feel and know about yourself.  But it isn't real.  If you really wanted to, you could run out of your house naked and run around the street proclaiming your love for Doctor Who.  You probably won't but it is an option ( if you do, grab a video and post it. That sounds funny!).  And that's the thing about the future, it isn't defined until you choose what to do next.  And when do you choose..?

Now.  Now is when you choose.

Every second has a myriad choices available.  You can choose left or right, good or bad, now or later, him or her, yes or no, fight or flight, stick or twist.

Now.  Now is when you choose.

So what do you choose to do?  Your life depends on your answer....

7 Rules of Life - 3. Energy goes where attention goes

7 Rules of Life - 3. Energy goes where attention goes

How are you tonight?  Good?  Or not?

The answer to that question will tell you where your internal focus is pointing.  

If it points towards being back at work tomorrow, your packed inbox and the multitude of phone calls you have to make then, guess what, you'll get to feel stressed and possibly even anxious.

If it points towards these precious moments with family, friends or just you being you then you'll get to feel good, loved perhaps, possible even content and happy.

The only difference is focus.

Too many people spend hours, days, weeks, years, even lifetimes focusing all our attention on what we don't want.  It's ruddy bonkers!! Stop it!!  Why would you waste your energy and thought on what you don't want?  Have you not realised that it isn't free?  It costs you, every time you do it.  It costs you time, energy and saps you.  Do you sleep properly? If not, what is the thought(s) that keep you awake?  Bet you it's lots of thoughts about what you don't want.

I'm into energy investment.

When you focus on what you want, when you focus on the people that love you, the things you have achieved, the things you will achieve, the dreams you have and the joy of a future that you are in control of not only does it not cost you anything but you also get interest on every ounce of energy you invest.  It just keeps on coming.  

You give power to your emotions by directing thought towards them.  Which ones are you empowering?

Aloha

7 Rules of Life - 2. There are no limits

7 Rules of Life - 2. There are no limits

When I do my training courses (BreakThrough Weekend in Glasgow September 15 & 16th, thanks for asking!!) I often say a line I do everything I can to live by...

THERE ARE NO RULES

It's the unconscious rules we set ourselves that define our limits, when we discard our rules - none of which are real - that we lose our personal limitations.

Think about it, how many times do you say 'I should...' or 'I need to...' or even 'I can't...' or 'I shouldn't...'?  These little gems give away our rules and limits on our lives.  

You need to realise that the only person that has ever set limits on how you live your life is you.  No one else.  

What the hell do you do that for?!!  

Realise that this is your one shot.  I'm not saying you should be out there bungee jumping from bridges and inventing submarines, I'm just saying that in your life just now you know that you are not doing things you wish you were.  Maybe now is the time to just go do it?

Why wouldn't you?

Aloha

7 Rules of Life - 1. The World is what you think it is

7 Rules of Life - 1. The World is what you think it is

Every minute of every day we filter the world through everything we have ever learned and experienced.  Every single second you have been alive has contributed to the way you experience your life today.

For example, if you grew up in a world of red, blue would seem amazing while orange may appear not quite right.  I know it's a crazy example but I hope it makes sense!  

At no point in your life will you ever interact with the 'real' world.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, you experience is filtered by you.  Here's a mind blower, you are that unique that not one person ever in history has experienced this moment before and no one will ever experience it ever again.  This moment, right now is unique.  What have you done with it?!

Your expectations of life, the world and everything are defined by your internal experience.  If you think work is going to be hell, it probably will be. If you think your boss is an ass, it doesn't matter what they do you will see them as an ass. If you believe you are not good enough you will find your evidence to support that and you'll get to be right, congratulations!

Your thoughts are powerful.  How would your world change if you believed you are capable of anything?  How would you change you if you trusted that the opportunity to live your dream will present itself? 

The world is exactly what you think it is because your thoughts are your world.  The second you realise that is the second you take power over your life.

Aloha

7 Pillars of Life

When I first started my Personal Development journey I was excited about everything and investigated all sorts of techniques and systems, some of those spiritual.  One of those systems, that I symbolise proudly everyday as a tattoo, had the following incredible 7 'pillars' that it was built around.  Here are those 7 pillars.  What the system was, doesn't really matter, what matters is that you understand how true these are;

1. The world is what you think it is
2. There are no limits
3. Energy flows where attention goes
4. NOW is the moment of power
5. To Love is to be happy with
6. All power comes from within
7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth

I think they are beautiful.  A perfect summary of how to live an effortless life.  Look out next week and I'll expand on each one in turn over the course of 7 days with a wee optional exercise for you to do :)

Aloha :)