mastery.fm – Page 26 – caffeine for the mind & spirit

Escape Velocity

People act a lot like gravitational fields, and when you put enough of them together, all tugging at you in a consistent direction, you’re going to move.

(…)

If you find that the people you spend the most time with are high achievers, I’d bet you’re either a high achiever yourself or quickly becoming one. And if the predominant people in your life are going nowhere, you already know how stuck you are.

To escape mediocrity requires that you surround yourself with the exceptional. Steal time from your mediocre relationships, and invest it in building new relationships with people you find extraordinary.

(…)

Whenever you want to pull yourself up to a new level of performance, start by asking yourself, “Who’s already getting the results I want, and where can I find them?”

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People

Steve Pavlina:

Think for a moment about the 5-10 people with whom you spend the most time. Even include online communities if you spend a lot of time reading them — which individuals are having the most influence over your thinking right now? Actually write out the list — it should only take a minute. And this includes family members.

Now look at the list. It’s been said that this list will give you a glimpse into your future.

Do you want to become more like these people? Yes or no.

And:

There’s no “getting rid of people.”

People are always drifting in and out of each others’ lives. Associations grow into friendships, and friendships fade into associations. You don’t get rid of anyone. The truth is that in order to make room for new people and new experiences, you may need to loosen up some of your existing connections.

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Are you doing your best?

Steve Pavlina:

The only question that matters for setting your standards is this: Are you doing your best? If the answer is yes, you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, regardless of how your results stack up against other people.

And:

What really got me out of this mess is that I made a committed decision to raise my standards. … No one was coming to rescue me — it was entirely up to me. … The outlook for the next few years looked bleak, but no matter what happened in the immediate future, I could still imagine being in a better place five years hence. It might get worse before it got better, but at least it would eventually get better.

And:

What if I were to ask you, “Are you doing your best?” and you honestly answer, “No, I’m not.” Then you’ve got a problem. You have unused potential that you’re just wasting. You’re living below your capacity.

(…)

What other people are doing is irrelevant. You know you’re capable of more, so step up and claim those results.

(…)

Follow the trail of better. Raise your standards. Can you perform today a little better than you did yesterday? And can you do the same thing tomorrow and the next day? Follow that trail, and you’ll come to discover just how incredible your best really is. I guarantee you it’s way, way out there. Your best is so far ahead of you that you can’t even see it yet. It’s going to take you years before you think you’ve even gotten close to it. And even when you think you’ve found it, you’ll discover it’s always one more step ahead of you.

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Parallel Realities

Steve Pavlina:

When I want to make a significant change in my life, I often think of it in terms of switching dimensions. My attention is focused on my current reality right now, and my desired situation can be said to exist as some alternate reality outside of my primary focus. In that other reality, there’s another me who’s already where I want to be. My goal then is to become that other me and to shift into his reality.

On shifting your vibe:

One way to trigger your desired vibe is to create a scene in your mind that evokes the vibe. After some practice this only takes seconds to load the vibe.

You may need to play around with the scene in your mind to reach the point where it feels just right. Keep tweaking your imagery till you feel it’s helping you experience the desired vibe.

In your imagery be specific. Imagine you’re playing the scene in a movie theater. So it’s not blurry or fuzzy or riddled with options. You just click a mental “play” button and watch it go.

Note that you are not necessarily trying to manifest exactly what’s in the scene. You’re simply creating a trigger to reload your vibe.

The most important part:

Now here’s the biggest and most important step. Commit to spending time each day triggering and experiencing your new vibe. Do this for at least 20 minutes a day, and keep it up for 3-4 weeks minimum. You don’t have to do the 20 minutes continuously though. Just aim to spend at least 20 minutes out of each day consciously practicing your new vibe.

If you do less than this, you’re probably wasting your time. The new vibe will not stick.

The idea here is that you have to condition the new vibe as a permanent, long-term habit. It typically takes about 3-4 weeks to do that.

A tidbit from a related post:

Initially I found it very difficult to get myself to imagine having what I wanted in the present moment. My logical mind rejected the notion because it was clear that I wasn’t anywhere close to having what I wanted. But I found a nice little trick that helped a lot. I imagined that I’d shifted to an alternate reality where there was another me who was experiencing exactly what I wanted right now. I just had to tune my thoughts to the right frequency to feel what he was feeling.

Trusting Your Taste

Dan Brown talks about writing, success, and taste:

I had written The Da Vinci Code. I had finished it. It had not been published yet. The galley came out, the advanced reading copy. I took it out to a park and sat down with it, and read it in a whole day. Read the whole thing from cover to cover. And thought, if this book doesn’t work, then I shouldn’t be a writer. Because to my taste, this is a terrific book. This is a book I would want to read. When you’re a creative person, all you have to guide you is your own taste. I don’t care whether you’re a painter, a musician, or a writer. You have to create the piece of art, the piece of music, the literature that you like. Then hope other people share your taste.

And:

So for me, it was trusting my gut, saying: “Wait a minute: Just write the book you want to read. That’s all you’ve ever been doing.”

(…)

You compartmentalize and realize that whatever you’re doing, you’re doing for yourself. You are writing the book that you would want to read, then hoping other people share your taste. In my case, I knew at that point people shared my taste. The worst thing I could do for my brand was to chase what I thought they wanted. I know what they want. It’s what I want. So just do what you, as a leader, or an artist, or whatever it is, want to do.

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Appreciation

Abraham-Hicks:

If all you did was just look for things to appreciate you would live a joyous, spectacular life. If there was nothing else that you ever came to understand other than just look for things to appreciate, it’s the only tool you would ever need to predominantly hook you up with who you really are. That’s all you’d need.

And:

All those hundred different subjects are already in motion. The Source within you has already tended to them, and lined them up.

Your only order of business is to find one aspect of your life which gives you no trouble and only joyous thought, and fixate on it. And by focusing on one thing that makes you feel good, you come into alignment with who you are, and all 100 projects can move forth happily. Isn’t that interesting?

But most people, because you’re working on action, you take one thing that’s bothering you the most and give it your undivided attention. And use that as your excuse not to line up. And then you feel fragmented and you think it’s because you’ve got too much going on.

You’ve got Universal Forces to help you with all that, you see! You’re not in this alone. You’ve got the Broader Part of YOU and All of the Resources of Source. You’ve just got to let your priority be to tune into that. And when you tune into that, everything else takes care of itself!

And:

Make lists of positive aspects. Make lists of things you love―and never complain about anything. And as you use those things that shine bright and make you feel good as your excuse to give your attention and be who-you-are, you will tune to who-you-are, and the whole world will begin to transform before your eyes.

It is not your job to transform the world for others—but it is your job to transform it for you.

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Tell a Different Story

Abraham-Hicks:

You have to tell a different story. You have to begin to tell the story of your life as you now want it to be and discontinue the tales of how it has been or of how it is.

And:

You must find a way of feeling the excitement or satisfaction of your currently unrealized dreams before those dreams can become your reality. Find a way to deliberately imagine a scenario for the purpose of offering a vibration and for the purpose of the Law of Attraction matching your vibration with a real-life manifestation.

When you ask for the manifestation prior to the vibration, you ask the impossible. When you are willing to offer the vibration before the manifestation — all things are possible.

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Decide

Steve Pavlina:

If you want to achieve a goal you’ve set, the most crucial part is to DECIDE to manifest it. It doesn’t matter if you feel it’s outside your control to do so. It doesn’t matter if you can’t yet see how you’ll get from A to B. Most of those resources will come online AFTER you’ve made the decision, not before.

If you don’t understand this simple step, then you will waste a lot of time. Step 1 is to decide. Not to ruminate or to ponder or to ask around and see whether or not you can do it. If you want to start your own business, then decide to make it so. If you want to be married and have a family, then decide to attract a mate. If you want to change careers, then decide to do so.

And:

The universe itself works on the same principle. Think of it as the superconscious mind. When you’ve made a clear, committed decision, it will open the universal floodgates, bringing you all the resources you need, sometimes in seemingly mysterious or impossible ways.

Whenever you want to set a new goal for yourself, start by setting it. Take the time to become clear about what you want, but then just declare it.

Say to the universe, “Here is the goal. Make it so.”

Do not ask the universe for what you want. Declare it. Don’t ask. This is very similar to prayer, but you are not praying FOR what you want. You are praying WHAT you want. You are simply saying, “Here it is. Make it so.” It is like planting a seed in the ground. You do not say to the ground, “Here is the seed. Please, can you make it grow?” You simply plant the seed, and it will grow as a natural consequence of your planting and tending to it. It is the same with your intentions. Simply plant them. There’s no need to beg.

And this bit on cultivating burning desire:

When asked during an interview how he managed to reach the top as a professional bodybuilder and Hollywood actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger replied with a single word, “Drive!” All great success ultimately begins with an idea, but what makes ideas become reality is the fuel of human desire. An idea by itself can give you a temporary feeling of inspiration, but burning desire is what gets you through all the perspiration necessary to overcome the inevitable obstacles along the way.

How committed are you to achieving [your] goals? Under what conditions would you give up? What if you could significantly increase your desire to achieve these goals? What if you wanted them so badly that you knew with absolute certainty that you would absolutely, positively never ever give up? When you are truly 100% committed to reaching your goals, you move from hoping to knowing. If you want something badly enough, then quitting is simply not an option. You either find a way or make one. You pay the price, whatever it takes.

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Lately I’ve been on a Law of Attraction kick, reading various articles about altering one’s vibration and energetic signature. Here are some articles by Steve Pavlina where he describes the 20-minute technique he uses to change his vibrational state:

Physical vs. Non-Physical Reality:

My recommendation is for you to sit in quiet meditation for about 20 minutes each day, and imagine yourself already where you want to be. But imagine yourself changing into the kind of person who already has your desires manifested. Feel what he feels. Think what he thinks. Vibrate as he does.

Shifting Your Vibration to Manifest Your Desires:

Visualize in such a way that you can feel strong emotions. An emotional shift indicates that you’re broadcasting a new signal. The longer you can hold this new vibration, the faster your reality will shift.

Feeling Blessed:

A realistic way to do this is to set aside 20 minutes every evening before going to bed just to dream. Do this sitting up so you don’t fall asleep. Close your eyes or stare off into space, and think about what you want to experience in each part of your life. Whatever you think about is fine, as long as it feels good to you.

Imagine your ideal physical body. Think about your ideal relationships. Picture your ideal career. Imagine having your finances just the way you want them. Imagine living where and how you want to live. Be specific, and picture as much detail as you can. Don’t worry about getting the details perfect — just imagine details that seem attractive to you.

And:

Don’t project your dreams into some distant future. Imagine that whatever you want is happening right now this very moment. Imagine that it’s 100% real.

If it takes you 10 or more minutes just to get a clear picture of some small part of your life getting better, then so be it. Put in the time. Deliberately thinking about what you want is a very important activity. This kind of visualization is an outstanding use of your time.

Overcoming Depression:

Within your mind’s eye, you must construct completely imaginary circumstances that make you feel good when you think about them. Then spend more of your time focusing your attention on your imaginary creations and less of your time observing external reality.

And:

This solution will work if you take the time to understand it and apply it, using whatever energy you’re still able to muster. This isn’t an all-or-nothing solution, so even a partial implementation will yield partial results. Best of all, you don’t even need to take any direct physical action. You can do the whole thing lying motionless on your bed.

Why Do Intentions Take So Long to Manifest?:

Stop putting your attention on what you don’t want, and put your attention on what you do want. You should be more concerned with living in denial of your dreams. Depressed people live in denial of joy. Broke people live in denial of abundance. People in unhappy relationships live in denial of love. Acknowledge the reality you want to create more than the one you wish to leave behind.

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Your Vibrational Hum

Steve Pavlina:

You attract what you’re signaling.

Think of yourself as a vibrational transmitter. You’re constantly sending out signals that tell the universe who you are in this moment. Those signals will either attract or repel other vibrational beings, events, and experiences.

And:

The first step to change your reality — your experience of reality, that is — is to intend precisely what you want to experience. You do this by imagining it as already real and by getting excited about it. The excitement will draw it into your world. Your excitement can be rooted in fear or love. It will work either way.

Abraham-Hicks:

If you really understood the power of your vibration, you would never focus upon an unwanted reality again, for your reality is extremely temporary; and it can be easily molded into situations, events, scenarios, and conditions that please you.

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