Week 23 -Finishing Strong

Let me share a quick funny story.

When I started the MKMMA, we were required to setup a blog site.  In doing so, I planned to have a dedicated email for my MKMMA journey, so I setup a new gmail account.  Naturally, I used this email to setup my blog.  After going well early on, I misplaced my password for my blog. So, I sent a password reset to my email.  Coincidentally, I forgot my email password also.  Since it was not linked to any of my existing accounts, I had no way to retrieve it.  They only I access I had to my blog was an old laptop that decides to cooperate maybe 15% of the time.  Other times, it just hangs.  It has certainly made blogging a chore, but I won’t be stopped. Fun times and memories, and lesson learned!!

I was really pumped up by the webinar for week 23.  It has been a long journey, but I had lacked in a few areas.  I decided and challenged myself to finish strong.  In doing so, I had to take stock and see where I was lacking.  I have slacked on Og, the MK, and especially my blog.  Today, I have put in 4 entries to catch up.  Seems like a theme for this round of MKMMA, especially working from a lame laptop and the password issues.  Makes blogging a pain, but it feels so good when I get it done.

I still have a few things I want to touch on for this week.  Found some really big discoveries.

1st, I have given myself permission to be self-reliant.  I didn’t realize I struggled with that until our last webinar and I really thought about it during a recent quiet sit.  Looking back, I need improvement, but now I fully realize and take responsibility for being self-reliant.

2nd, the Franklin makeover is just genius.  Doing this exercise has really let me see where I excel, and where I need to improve.  This tool will make me stronger and unstoppable.

3rd, the Law of Least Effort.  I found this so confusing when first introduced to it. It took some deep quite thought to really wrap my head around it.  It was some of the same principles that I learned some years back.  I cannot control most of what happens, but I can control how I respond to it, especially other people.

So, before I sign off, I do want to share another cool thing that happened this week.  I’m a big sports fan, and my favorite team was in the NCAA tourney this week.  I decided to be happy regardless of the outcome.  Some big wins that fueled excitement, but the biggie is when they lost and the season was over, I decided not to let that sink me into despair and sulking around.  I walked away with pride and happiness, feeling good and not being my usual self of dread.

Today, I am thankful!

Week 22 – Controlling emotions

I have did some reflection this week and this has been an amazing journey so far. I’ve always been that person that likes to know the details.  I have always asked ‘why’ to everything, as I yearned for an understanding of how everything works before I trust it.
Using guilt, anger, hurt, and fear to my advantage is something I have thought of in the past, and probably even read or heard in a seminar / book, but never have I been able to effectively use it.

Using these perceived negative emotions as a tool to create a positive outcome, I can see how powerful they can become.  From an early age, we are ruled and guided by negative emotions.  I can clearly see mine, and many others blueprints built around them.  To flip that on it’s head is ingenious.

I’m starting to truly realize that silence really is golden.  As my sits have become longer (and no, I have not had 1 full day of silence yet), I have had more discoveries than ever before.  These are the same type of discoveries that I have found while my mind has wandered off in church or at a non-verbal event.

It is so exciting to find something that you know will help you, and that you will do for the rest of your life.

Today, I am thankful.

 

Week 21 – Knowledge and Application

Been working really hard to find happiness lately.  My old subby keeps sneaking back in, and I know it stems from lots of stress from my job.  It seems that the the inertia of happiness has turned and become the inertia of sorrow.
I have to get out of it, and am working on doing so.  I have been trying to put positive emotions into my work life, but it has not been as easy as I had hoped due to being around so many negative people with crazy expectations each day.

But, I trust the process.  I won’t let any negativity or negative people live in my head rent free, so they are gone!

What Would The Person I Want to Become do Next? –>  This is so powerful.  Not sure if it is a blessing or curse at times.
It certainly pushes a person to get out of their comfort zone.  It has made me start asking myself ‘what do I fear?’

What do you pretend not to know?  –>  This one stung, but maybe in a good way.  I have read so many books and taken quite a few courses, and now I have to ask myself ‘what are you not getting’? Maybe I know everything I need to know, but why
aren’t I putting it into action. ‘What do I fear?’

Peeling back the layers and chipping away at the cement is exhilarating, but this gut check is not easy to swallow at times.

I’m very thankful for this journey.

Week 20 – Blogging is tough business

Is it hard?  It is hard, but when thinking of what is hard that requires perspective.  What is hard?  Why?  How do I fix it?

Keeping up with the blog has probably been one of the hardest things for me with MKMMA.  Starting out, I thought it would be one of the easiest, but it seemed I got behind quickly. It shows me I have to get better at using OATS and keeping a tighter schedule.

Today’s goal is to catch up, in doing so, learning some lessons the hard way, and finishing strong.

Week 19 was an off week, and I had intentions to catch up at that time. It didn’t.  Life got in the way.  Again, lack of planning and discipline.  One of the great things of the MKMMA experience is I have identified areas in my life that I need to work on. Many times we don’t understand how we aren’t doing better or farther along that we are, and we want
to get better, but we don’t know how.  All of my life I have been taught that to fix any
problem, you have to 1. realize there is a problem, 2. want to fix the problem 3. identify what needs to be fixed.
MKMMA has did that for me in several areas in my life.

Week 19 – Thank You!

Tags

confidence, gratitude

Ever been drunk on gratitude?  That’s kind of how I feel right now.  It’s one thing to hear how looking for kindness and implementing being happy in your life will lead to gratitude, but it is another thing to feel it.  I find that is the norm on most things:  Got see it / feel it, to believe it.  This leads back to believing and to having faith.  When we are young, we are full of faith.  As we get older, our conditioning and experiences push us away from this attribute.  More and more we have to see to believe.  It has to be concrete to be real.  My lesson learned here is that I need to instill more trust and faith in those that deserve it.

I really loved the lesson from week19.  It is absolutely amazing how a few little psychical actions can change the chemicals in your body, and lead to a different mental state.  For years, I have heard, and noticed personally, that exercise combats depression.  I assume this is the same premise.

I find the example of job interviews proves to be true.  Looking back, I notice that the jobs that I really wanted I would go in nervous and with high anxiety.  My body language had to be less than desirable.  More than not, I was not offered the job.  I know now that my body language was less than desirable and not communicating in the way that I wanted.  In the few times that I agreed to a job interview for a position that I did not want, or thought I had not a prayer in landing, I would go in loose, almost carefree, with my chest out with pride like I owned the place.  I thought ‘what the hell, may as well have fun and see where it goes’.  In these instances, it was amazing how differently the interviewers would treat you.  Most of the time, I was asked back for further interviews, and a few times offered the position on spot.  I guess confidence in yourself does go a long way.  They knew my skills as I had already shared that in the resume.  By that

At the end of the day, it just shows how powerful of a tool the mind really is.  We spend so much time exploring external physical unknown when we should be learning what is #within.

You #MKMMA peeps are sneaky, sneaky people, and I mean that with all love and respect.

Have a blessed and happy day!

Week 18 – Quit Pretending and Answer

Looking back, it is absolutely amazing to see how far we have changed.  This journey has been spectacular. It is amazing how much transformation that can take place when you make the decision to just do it.

I’ve heard it as the NIKE tag line for most of my life, but I have never applied it. I am trying to do so everyday. So, it does come down to

What Am I Pretending to not Know?

What would the person I want to become do next?

I am answering the call of the Hero’s Journey and I am going to

DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW DO IT NOW

Seeing the kindness of the world, and making the decision to be happy is nothing short of a miracle.  I’m not perfect yet, and may not ever be (and that’s OK) but the decision of being happy has grown my life exponentially.  I’ve noticed that it is easier to forgive.  It is so much easier to accept that things will happen, but they don’t determine my mindset.  I see this is part of taking control of the subby and making myself truly ‘you are what you will to be’.

So many times since Week 1, it has been apparent that it is true, whatever you focus on grows.  We just have to make the conscious choice to give ourselves permission of what will grow.  It is nothing short of breathtaking to watch this happen.  As a matter of fact, it is downright scary.

Not only has this changed my life, I see it spilling over into my family and work.  Everywhere I go, it seems everyone is more happy.  Kindness is all around.  The more I see it around, the stronger the inertia grows.  Proof that what I have been learning is true:  what you focus on grows – Be happy, get more happy / Law of Attraction – Be happy, get more happy / Thoughts Become Things – Make the decision to be happy, and you will be happy.

Week 17 -Giving Permission

Tags

happy, permission

I never thought about it before, but I have never verbally and consciously gave myself permission to do anything.

Maybe I have did it unconsciously.  But, I find this concept really amazing.  After learning about this, I gave myself permission to be happy.  Not the short term type of emotion when you hear a joke, but to allow myself to be truly happy, where regardless of what happens, or what I’m dealing with, I can put it in perspective and be happy.

In the past, I have found myself to be reactive to what happens in life.  More often than not, happiness was not the outcome.  I would find myself upset after my team loses, or frustrated after a hard day at work. 

Today, I give myself permission to be happy regardless what comes my way.  My state of mind and emotion will not be determined to what happens to be.  It is determined now.  My happiness is a predetermined outcome of whatever happens from here on out. 

Tomorrow, I may give myself permission for something else.  Maybe success, or maybe to be more courageous, or to be more enthusiastic.  But today, I give myself to be happy. I AM HAPPY

Week 16 – NARC: Game Changer?

Most people have no clue how to create new habits.  If they did, so many New Year’s resolutions would not end within a matter or day or weeks.

In steps NARC – Neurological Associative Reactive Conditioning

I love the concept of how NARC.  As humans, we are conditioned to run toward pleasure, and flee from pain.  With NARC, we can associate pleasure or pain with any act.  In doing so, that act is more likely to happen over and over (habit), or rarely happen again (another habit).

How could would it be if all of these people with multiple New Year’s resolutions knew about NARC?  It would be really amazing to see so many people achieve their goals.

I haven’t mastered NARC yet, but once you know about it, you know about it.  I am thinking about NARC constantly and keep going back to read about it.  I am implementing it into several areas of my life.  I can’t wait to see the results.

Week 15 – Seeing What is Around Us

After 2 weeks of looking for kindness, it is amazing how much it can be seen all around us.  I see it as soon as I wake in the morning until I go to sleep at night.  It has also certainly changed my mood.

Now, we I find bad thinking or a bad mood present, I’m now searching out the first act of kindness I can identify (Law of Substitution.  It helps to get back on track.

Now time to start becoming aware of instances of courage.

Week 14 – You Get What You Give!

https://vimeo.com/22717276

Every time I hear the phrase ‘Give more, get more’ or ‘You get what you give’, the New Radicals is stuck in my head all day.

Been a fun week noticing the kind acts that go on around us every day.  Too many to really get into them.  Being a follower of the golden rule, I’ve always wanted kindness, so I have given kindness. Treat people how you want to be treated.  It’s really not that hard.

So, now if that song is stuck in your head, we are in sync.  Enjoy!