Excuses Begone!

Twhe first step in making our excuses be gone?

As Wayne says, we’ve gotta move from excusing to CHOOSING—shifting from a helpless victim to a powerful creator.

We need to see that everything we do, speak and think is a CHOICE.

Little by little. Thought by thought. Word by word. Action by action. We can change our lives.

Shall we? :)

That is what we call hot sauce.

You got excuses?

What are some affirmations you can use to counter them?!

P.S. Reminds me of some goodness from Mary Elaine-Jacobsen’s great book (see Notes) where she shared a set of criticisms with new responses:

“CRITICISM #8: “Can’t You Just Stick with One Thing?” NEW RESPONSE: “No, Probably Not.”

CRITICISM #10: “Why Don’t You Slow Down?” NEW RESPONSE: “Going Fast Is Normal for Me.”

CRITICISM #1: “Who Do You Think You Are?” NEW RESPONSE: “A Humble Everyday Genius Called to Serve.””

Amen to that.

The first step is to cultivate awareness of our current habits. We need to SEE what we’re doing before we can shift it, eh?

Vernon Howard has a great take on this in The Power of Your Supermind (see Notes) where he tells us: “Encourage yourself by remembering that any detection of negativity within you is a positive act, not a negative one. Awareness of your weakness and confusion makes you strong because conscious awareness is the bright light that destroys the darkness of negativity. Honest self-observation dissolves pains and pressures that formerly did their dreadful work in the darkness of unawareness. This is so important that I urge you to memorize and reflect upon the following summary: Detection of inner negativity is not a negative act, but a courageously positive act that makes you a new person.”

Detection of negativity is a courageously POSITIVE act.

Here’s to the honest self-observation that allows us to connect to the Highest within ourselves more and more consistently!

Newsflash: NOW is the only moment we have.

Period.

Reminds me of Marcus Aurelius’ wisdom from Mediations (see Notes) where he tells us: “Were you to live three thousand years, or even thirty thousand, remember that the sole life which a man can lose is that which he is living at the moment; and furthermore, that he can have no other life except the one he loses… This means that the longest life and the shortest amount to the same thing. For the passing minute is every man’s equal possession, but what has once gone by is not ours.”

Here’s to having a *really* good relationship with this now.

And the next.

And the next.

(On that note, what can you do to improve your relationship with the now? :)

We go off on the 19 characteristics of a self-actualizing individual in our Notes on Abraham Maslow’s Motivation and Personality.

The essence of Maslow’s ideas around self-actualizing can be expressed in this iconic passage: “Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization… It refers to man’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become actually in what he is potentially: to become everything one is capable of becoming.”

Guess what?

Self-actualizing individuals do not become what they are destined to become by thinking about all the things going wrong in their lives.

They get their by, as Dyer tells us, “focusing their minds on the conditions they wish to produce.”

Begs the question: What conditions do YOU want to produce?

(Are you focusing your energy on that goodness or on all the things you think are getting in your way? Choose wisely! :)

I love that image.

If you practiced bowling every day you’d increase your bowling average.

Got it.

And…

If you practiced contemplating what you want to create in your life, you’d increase your MANIFESTATION average.

Especially when you combine that contemplation with diligent, patient, persistent and playful action, eh? :)

So, back to you. Let’s spend a few moments on this.

What do you want to see in your life?

How’s your health?

Your relationships?

Your professional life?

Your financial situation?

Take a few moments and imagine your ideal in each of those domains right now.

Then get in the habit of doing that often while aligning your behaviors to match your ideals! :)

Reminds me of some wisdom from the last Note I just did on Deepak Chopra’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes where he tells us: “Superheroes understand that creativity is not an impulse, but a process.”

It’s REALLY easy to get all geeked up about something for a day or a week or a month.

It’s an entirely different thing to show up day-in-and-day-out bringing that seed of an idea to fruition.

All the great teachers talk about this.

Eknath Easwaran puts it this way in Conquest of Mind (see Notes): “In Sanskrit we have a word which means “heroes at the beginning”: people who take up a job with a fanfare of trumpets but soon find that their enthusiasm has tiptoed down the back stair. Those who go far in meditation are the ones who keep on plugging. They may not be very spectacular; they may never hear a trumpet. But they keep on trying day in and day out, giving their best in every situation and relationship, never giving up. Such people are bound to reach their goal.”

Here’s to committing to holding the vision regardless of what difficulties or obstacles may surface!!

P.S. As you do that, keep this wisdom from Russell Simmons (see Notes on Do You!) in mind as well: “Focus on your vision and keep going until you hit the finish line. Don’t be one of the people who believe in their vision at first but then give up. See it through, no matter how long it takes. Understand that obstacles are just part of the game. Whatever you imagine, you can achieve. Once you realize this truth, no one is going to be able to stop you.”

P.P.S. To what areas of your life do you need to apply this mojo?

This is awesome.

As a guy who named his business after the Greek words that make up enthusiasm (en*theos), I just LOVE the idea of a “vigorous kind of enthusiasm” that drives us to fulfill our dreams.

How do we cultivate this kind of vigorous enthusiasm?

Glad you should ask.

Dyer tells us: “The best way to keep your passion alive is to make your number one relationship in the world be that between you and your Source of being. Stay in a state of wonderment and bewilderment over everything and everyone you encounter. Go through life being continuously grateful and appreciative—give thanks for all of nature and the multitude of miracles you see appearing before your eyes each and every day. This is a daily practice for me, and it’s the most prominent factor I can identify for keeping my zest for life alive and well.”

Love it.

I like to think of it this way: My #1 job is to do the things that help me plug into the Divine within me. As I do that, I naturally shine with a radiant enthusiasm.

Paul Ray puts it this way in The Highest Goal (see Notes): “The highest goal is simply to be in this experience of connection or truth (no matter how you refer to it) all the time. That remains a goal, of course, because this is something you spend a lifetime working toward rather than attaining. But your commitment motivates, inspires and guides your journey, and gives you more and more time in this state of connection.”

What about you?

Are you rockin’ the fundamentals that help you stay plugged in?

Sweet! :)

I’ll take it!

You? :)