More Observations on Success, part 3

Power of State
Putting yourself in the right state is like putting yourself in the right part of the library- it makes the resources you need readily accessible.

Power of State
As opposed to trying to REMEMBER the answers focus on BEING in the right state were the answers NATURALLY flow. In the right state, you are aware of the answers that were inside of you all along. This is why “Learning is Remembering”.

The hardest part is thinking the thought the first time. Once you have have done that you have created a neural pathway on which to build on.

Either you consciously make decisions, and systematically follow through on them, or you drift. It is that simple.

Disempowering emotions are an action signal if heeded and a distraction if not.
Be wary of stacking reasons for failure- oftentimes you create a wall that makes it al but impossible to suceed. Stack reasons fo success only. Seperate out, and deal individually with, reasons for failure. Remember!! If you create enough reasons you can do virtually ANYTHING- or virtually nothing.

Give the Gift of Specificity
If you want to help someone, including yourself, you must first help them to get specific- remember the “tyranny of vagueness”. The mind NEEDS specifics to build from.

It is PRECISELY the people who find it most difficult to do something (i.e. exercise, plan, assert themselves, communicate clearly, etc.) that most need to do it.

The most valuable time can be those “spare moments” during which you are doing mundane tasks such as shaving, showering, etc. This is because it is during those moments when you can reconnect to your passions, get focused on your outcomes (daily, weekly, long term) and feel the power of your outcomes (feel as if you have already acheived it).

It is amazing how even a couple minutes of creative thinking can break the chains of years or decades of petrified thinking. This is why you MUST regularly brainstorm out ideas. As Robert Ringer says, “Give me one hour of creative thinking to 100 of your constricted thinking”.

Crazy ideas can lead to great ideas if given the “freedom to evolve”

Paradox of important tasks
The more something is a “must“ the more you must focus on it being a fun because it is only by seeing it as something fun that you are going to do it enough and with sufficent quality to acheive the results you want.

Window Shopping
Window shopping is a far more generic concept and a far more powerful concept than most people realize- you can “Window Shop” for a girlfriend, what you want your body to look lke, what kind of a life you want to life, what sort of a love life you want, etc.- you can find a world of great role models to help you live a more fulfiling life.

To really improve the quality of your life you can't afford to take things at face value.

A true change in identity is NEVER dependant on money- that will follow. True identity is thnking and action. To have so and so identity you don't have to have XXX- those are accutrements for later.

Limited Limiting Patterns
There are only a handful of patterns that are holding you back- you need to identify them in whatever area of life you seek to improve (physical, relationships, finances, etc.) and then come with alternatives.

When you mess up, do the wrong thing (such as overeat), DON'T come up with reasons for it- don't justify it. This only strengthens your messing up because you are stacking reasons why you will mess up in the future. Instead focus on how to do the right thing- waysto better handle the situation. Focus on solutions.
Discipline is at the bottom of all good things and state management is at the bottom of discipline.

Your state becomes your reality.

To be good at something study it, to be great become a student of it.

If you want a great answer you must ask a great question. Questions are the seeds.

There is no substitute for desire- you must really want it or else you won't be consistent enough to regularly get the result again and again.

Don't come up with excuses- come up with improvements

Power of Repetition
It is only when you have many REPEAT exposures to an idea that you start to THINK it- at least usually
It is only when you THINK it that it becomes REAL to you
It is only when it is REAL to you that you start to INTERNALIZE it
It is only when you INTERNALIZE it that you start to consistently ACT on it
It is only when you start to consistently ACT on the that you LIVE it

Actionable Chunk
When you ask a question all you need back is “an actionable chunk”- some specific action to move you closer to the solution. Generally speaking, you don't need to know all of the answer to act.

Question Mapping
After question storming (brainstorming questions), take the time to organize your questions into “question trees” / question maps- i.e. hierarchies of how the questions are inter-related. This way you can attack them in a more systematic manner.

Be careful NOT to try and motivate yourself with untrue or inaccurate communication- at some level you know it is incongruent and therefore it ultimately backfires.
For example, if tempted to overeat don’t say, “I can't eat that”. This was NOT true or accurate- You have the ability to eat it. Instead say “I CHOOSE NOT to eat it”
The point of asking questions is NOT to et an ULTIMATE ANSWER, it is to get an ACTIONABLE ANSWER.

The Growth Chain
Until you think it, it is not real to you.
Until it is real for you, you will not consistently act on it.
Until you consistently act on it, it will not benefit you.
Hence, for ideas to benefit you, you need to keep flooding your mind with good ideas until they reach a critical point and you start thinking those ideas yourself. And thus begin the growth chain.

The reason you must convert a decision or an idea into immediate action is so that you get the idea/ decision INTO YOUR BODY as soon as possible. Then it will be there for future reference and growth. For example, upon asking a Question answer it- unless you are doing question storming. In this case, come up with answers right afterwards. Any answer you can build from.

Never leave the sight of a decision OR AN IDEA without taking some action to make it come true. By doing it you get it into your body.

There is a cybernetic loop between beliefs and reality: You adjust your beliefs to your reality and you adjust your reality to your beliefs. This is why beliefs are so crucial. Beliefs are self fulfilling prophecies.

Pivot Point
How can I best motivate myself?
You need to come up with a “phrase that pays” an incantation that you can use to motivate yourself whenever you go into a spin. This is about finding the leverage point- “pivot point”.

The difference between an opportunity and a challenge is your viewpoint (i.e. the way that you frame it).

It is very important that you WRITE your fears, current limiting patterns down- and get as SPECIFIC a possible. Look at them critically. By doing so you rob them of much of their power.

False causes
TTR - Take Total Responsibility
Be very wary of blaming false causes for your challenges. Remember!! Your challenges are due to your limiting patterns. Focus on specifically defining your limiting patterns (i.e. don't just say “overeating” ). Your challenges are NOT due to things outside your control. Put the blame where it belongs- on your limiting patterns. Don't blame germs- blame your bad eating habits. The first key to success is taking responsibility.