Arnie's Secret
I saw a column in the paper today in which Arnold Schwarzenegger was quoted as saying that he learned in bodybuilding the belief in "the third eye - where you see things as a finished product way before it happens." That sounds like visualization to me, the practice of forming a clear mental image of what you want and holding that vision on the screen of your mind until it shows up.
I had heard several years ago that Arnie was a long-time practitioner of this technique and had used it in bodybuilding and in becoming a movie star. He said in bodybuilding that when he worked out he visualized himself on stage at the championship and he could smell the oil, feel the heat of the lights and hear the crowd cheering. One set of reps with that vision, he said, was worth 10 sets without it.
He's right, you know.
When he went to Hollywood, people laughed at him. A big, overmuscled guy with a thick accent didn't look like someone destined for stardom. The first couple of movies he was in didn't help - low budget sword and toga epics. But his visualization continued, and the rest is movie history.
My friends laughed again when he announced for Governor of California. "Just another hack actor with political views", they said. I knew the story and said, "Don't ever bet against this man. He has achieved more impossible goals than anyone else I know of." I'm not a betting man, but I should'a put serious money on him.
What's to learn from Arnie? The awesome, seemingly miraculous power of clear, focused visualization! When you confidently and continuously visualize yourself in possession of your goal, the universe swings into action to help you. You act fearlessly from that vision and you become "darn lucky." You become unstoppable.
So what's your vision? If you don't have one, get busy. As Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else."
Metaphysical Easter
Have you ever had a crucifixion/resurrection experience? I've had 2 big ones in my life, and they weren't very pretty.
These are the experiences where you feel like your life and existance is destroyed in some real way. In my case, both times I had to give up important beliefs about me and about life that I thought were true and, seeing a phase of my life end in flames, start over again from scratch. Each time I became a significantly different person - wiser, I hope, but time will tell.
The second of these two experiences was the most severe and complete. In a 18 month period, I left a marriage that was dysfunctional, traumatic and increasingly violent, and then walked away from my corporate career. Stripped of my self-assurance about almost everything, it was a real crucifixion.
Here's the good news if you ever have to deal with this in your life. I found that when I got emptied of what I thought I knew, I became teachable. Out of the teachableness came the resurrection into the life I have now - an unbelievably great marriage and work that I love.
See, I didn't even know that I was unteachable. I was just confidently opinionated about a lot of stuff. As Mark Twain said, "It's not what we don't know that's the problem; it's what we do know that ain't so that's the problem."
My motivation for becoming teachable was not particularly high-class. I just wanted to find out how I had created such a pile of crap in my life so that I would NEVER do it again. Any motivation will do if it moves you in the right direction! So with the help of some great teachers like Bob Proctor, Dr Mike Buck, Richard Rogers, Emile Cady, Flo Dibblie and others I got to work.
You know the old saying about "When the student is ready the teacher appears." You can count on it. Make a committed decision and ask the Universe for the information. Then pay attention.
All my teachers were there all the time, but I was blind to them until I was ready to listen.
Everything I do now is part of the resurrection out of that crucifixion. I discovered my life's work, my spirituality, and the love of my life. The book I'm writing, "You Can Have It!" is a direct result of what I learned about the mind from Bob Proctor and what I learned about relationships from my own miserable experience.
One of the 7 great laws is the Law of Opposites (or Polarity) which says that every experience has two equal and opposite aspects. If it looks really bad, there is a really good part you can find if you look. You may not be able to see it right away, but with time and looking, you'll find it.
What Happened To Authenticity?
I've been reading an interesting book on speaking called "Be Heard Now" that states that one of the main keys to effective and relaxed public speaking is being authentic. Seems reasonable, but what I was wondering about is why we have to learn to be authentic.
Have you ever had to teach a small child to be authentic? Heck, no! You never have to ask a kid how they're feeling - it's right there. You get their authentic self whether you want it or not.
So what happened to us? How did we lose that spirit of genuine expression? Why are we afraid to just be ourselves?
Well, I think we had it trained out of us. A lot of folks were brought up in an environment where they were told that they were not good enough, broken, defective. Did you ever hear a mother yelling at a kid, "Why are you so stupid! I told you never to do that! You are nothing but trouble!" A person who thinks they're broken won't be authentic - someone might find out!
Others of us were brought up in more supportive environments but still had to deal with occasionally harassed parents who said things we misunderstood. When you're a 2-year-old, you can't see that your feelings are OK to have, but your 2-year-old method of expressing them might not be appropriate. So we quit expressing what we feel, even though we have new ways of expressing.
So we get to be adults and wonder why we can't connect with people in satisfying ways. It doesn't just show up in our personal life, but in business, too. Many people in sales struggle to find the key to winning business. The secret that many top salespeople have found is that authenticity and the connection that it brings has enabled them to move from average to top producer. Why? Because people buy from people they like. Authenticity bypasses the buyer's BS detector.
What the key to authenticity? Love and accept yourself, with all your glorious human imperfections. Quit trying to hide - you're not so bad, after all. When you accept yourself, you can accept others. When you like yourself, you act with integrity. People feel that, and it builds trust.
Besides, it'll make you a lot happier, too!
