Week 8 and 9 – When technology attacks

You know, I’m thankful that I had that 7 day mental diet in the time frame that I did…because as soon as the 7 days were up, I was at the buffet.  All day, every day!   And I’m not happy about it.

Technology has done so many wonderful things such as this, which allows us to put our thoughts out there for anyone to read.  But it’s when technology doesn’t want to work the way we expect it that can cause frustration beyond belief.

I’m sure many of you have experienced that when putting together many of the things on your blog that you may not just haven’t done before, but have never heard of before!  What’s a Twitter feed!?  Is that something I give to animals?

Well, in my case I’ve been dealing with internet issues which have prevented me from getting online and doing the things I’m used to doing at night to better myself.  And when that dedicated time gets interrupted by the cell phone gods not wanting to cooperate, well, that makes you want to head to the negative buffet and go crazy.

It’s no coincidence that in our recent webinar that we were told that we are at a crossroads…the fork in the road.  And we can choose to go down the path that we know where it leads…average things, average life, and just getting by.

Or do you want to take the other route, to fight against the old blueprint that is doing all it can to hold us back.  That route has a future of unlimited possibilities, where we are best friends with our future self, where we become everything we are capable of.   But it will take more work.  It will take more dedication.

And many times my mind has fought hard to tell me to just say I’m too far behind, let it go, try again next time.   But my aware conscious knows why that is happening and I know to fight against it.  I have the tools to do so.

So I will continue to fight forward and refuse to let technology slow me down on where I want to go.  Now if only I could just tweet that.

Week 7 – Time to go on a diet

When I think of a diet, this is what comes to mind:

Yeah…we’ve all been there.  The dreaded diet to lose weight.  We go one day, maybe two.  Then someone calls and invites us to lunch to our favorite place and it’s like, “I’ll start again tomorrow!”  3 months later you’re telling yourself you need to go on a diet again.

But this is different.  I’m on a new diet and it’s unlike any other I’ve done.  It’s the 7 day mental diet.  And I must say, I’m probably a little luckier than most who are going on it and I say that because I’ve been preparing for this for quite awhile.

See, this diet is where you have to go 7 days without a negative thought.  Yeah, that’s right.  You probably had one right when you read that!  And if you have one, you have to start over…like Day 1 start over.

And after the week I had last week, where I was not happy at work almost every day, I was actually excited to do this.  Let me tell you, it was exhilarating going into work KNOWING I was going to have a good day because I was going to make sure it was positive.  And it was!  I didn’t allow anything to get me down like it had all last week.  But it helps when you’ve been greeting each day with love in your heart.

When I said that I’ve been preparing for this, I wasn’t doing so specifically for this.  Over the past few years I’ve been very aware of my thoughts and have been working on my mental strength.  When I was a manager, I was known as the one who always found a silver lining and it would drive my employees nuts where they’d say, “Can’t we just complain without you throwing that positive stuff at us?!”

I wanted to wait until I was really into the week before posting and I’m on day 6 of my diet.  I honestly haven’t had much trouble at all.  I did forget my phone at home when I went to work and after one quick cuss word, I told myself it was no big deal and it was fine.  I work with some people where you would probably hear about it all day that they didn’t have their phone and how their life was over.

Let’s just hope that the ease of this continues today as I head to watch my undefeated Hawkeyes play tonight under the lights.  They have a chance to make history tonight so everyone is watching.

Actually, I know regardless of how they do, I won’t go Chris Farley and feast on the fries of negativity. But it’s taken a long time of focus to be able to do such a thing.  It’s one diet that we all should all be on.

Week 6 – Opinionated

Well, last time we met, I talked about how we had to go a week or so without giving opinions.  Like nada, zip, zilch, ain’t happenin’.   So here’s how that is going!

Just as I suspected (again, was that my opinion?), the most difficult time was spending half the day tailgating for your undefeated college team.  Everyone was asking each other, “What do you think they’ll be ranked if they win?” or “What do you think about today’s game?”

I had that exact situation happen when we were driving to the game.  A friend of mine acted like a reporter, asks the question into her fake microphone and puts it in my face with 3 other people in the car, “Joe, what do you think about today’s game?”  My response…”I’m excited for today’s game!”  She doesn’t back down.  “Joe, how many touchdowns will they score today?”  Oh boy, this is not going to stop, is it?  “I’m excited for today’s game!”  She started to go frustrated and was confused, so she obviously continues with questions and I fire back with the same non-opinionated response.  She gives up.   I survived.

But what happens next is traffic gets backed up on the interstate way before it normally would and we come to a complete stop.  Here come the opinions from everyone…”I think there’s an accident”, “I think we have to get over”, yet the funny thing is, there was no accident, there was actually nothing.  Everyone was going over to one lane, we kept going and then all traffic went ahead.  Then more questions, “Why did everyone stop?” “That made no sense, why did that happen?” etc.  And I’m just sitting there in the back, not saying a word, not worried about it.

It’s crazy to think how fired up everyone was getting, throwing out opinions and really wasting a lot of energy on something that did not matter.  And I think that’s when I really saw this thing in the big picture.  Everyone was wanting to give their opinion so they could be right!  It’s the ego!  Everyone is trying to get opinions so they can give their own.

And of course all week I’ve had issues at work where I had LOTS of opinions to give…but did my best to bite on my tongue.  It’s no coincidence that this month’s scroll has me telling myself to do so because I greet each day with love in my heart.

Week 5 – No comment (ok, just no opinion)

I have to be very careful how I write this week’s blog.  Why?  Well, you may come across someone’s blog and they feel like sharing their opinion.  Some more than others.  You won’t find that here this week (unless I subconsciously do it on accident!).

See, we have the task of going up to 2 weeks without sharing our opinion.  Oh, not just verbally…but also in that voice of yours that talks inside your head.  Why?  Well, let me tell you some facts first.

I have not turned my TV on in over 2 years.  I used to be a die-hard Packers fan, but it’s toned down the past few years.  I would watch the hours of pregame on ESPN, NFL Network, you name it…all to hear what the “experts” would say about my Packers.  But guess what.  It didn’t matter if they thought Green Bay was going to win by 2 touchdowns because that would be decided by the actual team.  And then I realized I’m really wasting my time worrying about who is going to pick who, or who thinks the better team is.   So I stopped.

This led to more time in my life…less time watching these shows to do something more important.  Like, focusing on my fantasy football team.  Ok, I’m kidding.  Kind of.

So when we were given the task of not sharing our opinion on ANYTHING for the next 2 weeks, I thought this would be tough.  And guess what happens?  My Dad texts me, “What do you think about X phone company?  I’m looking for a cheaper plan.”  Ugh!  I reply, “Sprint has a promo that has 2 lines for $100.” He then gives me the other price point and asks if it’s worth it.  This is not easy.  “Verizon changed their plans too.  Take a look at them.”

The biggest test will be this weekend as I’m going to my first Iowa game of the year and the guys I’m going with are EXTREMELY opinionated on sports.  And my Packers play the undefeated Broncos on Sunday and we are watching with a bunch of friends.  I’m already planning my responses.  “Joe, why can’t we beat their blitz?”  My response will be, “I like football.  My name is Joe.”  Hey, I’m just stating facts.

Bottom line is this…I’m looking forward to seeing how much people’s conversation is merely opinions now that I’ll be paying a lot of attention to it.  And especially being aware of what my responses will be and what they MIGHT have been.

I’d tell you how I think this will play out, but that would merely be just my opinion.

Let the games begin!

Week 4 – A change to my PPNs

So I had to be honest with myself.  I didn’t want to…we all like to lie to ourselves and pretend certain things aren’t there so we can avoid them.   But based on my post last week where I said it’s time to give my best, I had to re-evaluate my PPNs.  And I knew I had to make a change with one for sure.

What that change was from Helping Others to basically helping myself (something I’m not very good at) and that was choosing True Health.  My stomach turns as I write this…but in a good way (and not because I just ate a pizza!  I didn’t…I swear!).  Seriously, it turns because I know with choosing True Health, there’s no more excuses…this is one where you truly SEE results.

All my life I’ve said I’m going to get in great shape and start a healthy lifestyle and it starts now!  And then when I’m invited to go eat tacos the next day, I say I’ll start tomorrow.  Lo siento.

It’s not like I’m really overweight, but I’ve just never had that confidence I truly want and it’s because I’m self-conscious about how I look.  And when I’ve been the most productive in my life, it’s when I had spent some time eating right and working out and felt great about myself.

Well, it’s time that I make that a more than a part time deal for a few weeks here and there and regress.  So as much as my stomach turns, I’m excited!  It will be a hell of a challenge, but I know it will be absolutely worth it!

And I know deep down before I can do the other things that I want in helping others, I first must help myself and get myself into the best shape I’ve ever been in.  Every time I’ve been on that path, I’d do well and then say, “Ok, take a break…you earned it.”  Not this time…it’s time to sprint past the finish line (and not be out of breath when I do!) and get this goal accomplished!

Ready…set…go!

Week 3 – Do your BEST!

You know, everything was unicorns and rainbows last week when I posted my blog…but let me tell you, this ain’t a simple stroll down the yellow brick road!  See, it was called out perfectly that we were going to hit a wall.  Why?  Because the newness fades away and now some simple tasks that didn’t seem like much now feel like work.  And what do people do when they have extra work?  They push it away!

But that is only if you’re doing “the best you can”.  Let’s face it, we have our own idea of far we can run, or push ourselves.  We are limited by our thoughts and what we perceive as giving what we can.  And learning this week more about giving “YOUR BEST” as opposed to “the best you can” was a big eye opener.   I’ve been doing the best I can these first few weeks, but not my best.

And by doing that, all I’m doing is robbing myself of all that I’m capable of.  I wanted to be a part of the MKMMA because I was tired of not being all that I knew I could truly be.  But I never thought of it as me saying I was simply doing the best I can.  I must do MY BEST!

So when I had to do revisions to my DMP, I did my best to truly dig deeper and follow the suggestions from my guide.  And when I became frustrated at myself, I pushed harder to be more specific and put true feelings into it.  I know I will still make more revisions.  But when I was done reading it out loud to myself, I had goosebumps.  I really, truly felt my DMP.  And that’s because I did my best.

I know I will have my struggles through this journey and that’s ok, because we learn from those,  As long as I’m giving my best throughout, I know I will reach my destiny.

Hopefully this clip will help give an idea of what we are capable of when we give our best instead doing the best we THINK we can.

Sdd

S

Week 2 thoughts – Forming good habits

How often do you wake up in the morning and instantly there’s a song in your head?  Especially one you may not even like.  But there it is…playing in your head.  That’s your subconscious at work.

Well, here we are in week 2 and there’s a ‘song’ on repeat in my head…and it’s what we’ve been reading every day since we started.  And when I start to think about making a decision I normally would make, there’s that song again…telling me to do the good habits.  It’s crazy!

I totally feel that reprogramming going on and you start to notice little things.  Then you start to wonder, “Is that because of that?”  And just this week I’ve had a few things happen that has really put me on notice.  I’m very excited to see if these things continue.

I also find myself conscious about things that I felt negative about before.  But with what we learned this week, that’s me just attaching a feeling to that based on previous events.  So I’m now trying to think the correct way, and just putting enthusiasm to that thought.  It hasn’t been easy, because I do go back to old feelings, but being aware of it makes a huge difference.

It’s just so weird that it’s not even a full 2 weeks and you can see and feel incredible changes taking place.  It’s amazing what creating good habits can do.  The key is continuous constant effort.  And as we continue, it will only get easier because things will be more normal.

Now if you excuse me, I want to go listen to my new favorite song some more.

#unencumbered

Week 1 thoughts.

You know, if college would have provided me something with just the info we had in week 1, I actually would have attended class (or at least a few more of them).  It’s amazing when you are fed information and you WANT to learn…it’s like you’re on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear the next piece of info.

This is how it was for me in our first week.  There was so much information, I’ve had to watch the webinar numerous times and I always picked up more tidbits each time.

And I have to admit, the fact that my favorite movie of all time, Jerry Maguire, got a little airplay was fine by me.  Most importantly, when the “Quan” was referenced.  Rod Tidwell created that word and defines it as a combination of things in life that no one else will have…and I feel like this course will be our Quan.  And that excites me!

When the red pencil syndrome was talked about, how in school we were trained to know what we got wrong, not what we got right, I had a huge a-ha moment.  That was me, an awful test taker and never felt I learned anything that way.  Why was I never helped in getting the wrong ones corrected?  If you ask me, tests should be taken until you get them all correct…isn’t that the point?  I digress.

And then as we put our DMPs through progression (I’m a little nervous about it), I love how it is based on Dharma, not accomplishments.  Much like when Mark said quotes are nice, but does your world change?  It takes much much more.

And yes, I will probably pull my hair out numerous times as I’m told to rewrite my DMP over and over again, but I know it is what will truly push me to dig deep into finding out my true purpose.  I’ve known I’ve always been here to help people, but this will make me truly define it…to think in pictures, as they say.  And I’ve never really done that before.

So it scares me to death, because I haven’t been able to truly write it out how I’d like, but that was me in college.  Never wrote a first draft, just wrote the paper the day it was due.  Not this time.  When you’re dealing with something as detailing your very own Quan, well, it’s worth it.

Help me, help you.