Good at something? CTRL +C, CTRL+V

Think about how you organize your thoughts regarding and act in the most successful area of your life—those same thought patterns and habits will work in the less than sparkly realms, too.

SURPRISE! You can paint everything wondrous with the same brush.

Great at biz, but sucking at bod? Attack fitness & nutrition like you would a new consulting project. Plan. Measure. Manage. Iterate.

Killing it with family, but can’t make money? Give it the same attention to detail and care. Hold yourself accountable. Think ahead of customers’ needs. Be there.

Why don’t we do this naturally?
My guess?
Blocks.
Big, ol’, beautiful emotional or mental boulders of varying shapes and sizes.

But fear not! If you’re ready, you can start renovating today.
No psychological-archeology tasks to perform.
You can simply choose to step around said blocks.
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Do the things and you’ll have the power.
#LIVINTHATCOPYNPASTELIFE

Often, it’s better to NOT ‘do’ than it is to ‘do.’ We rush about making messes cleaning up other messes, inadvertently creating a cycle absent of progress or meaning. Must you make so much money to buy things to make up for how hard you work to make so much money to ….? Become clear on what feelings you’re after, then make ‘do’ decisions accordingly.

No matter how hellish it feels, trust me, your world is not ending. Any time the skies are so dark that you can’t see your cute little paws, know great change is coming. Relax into it. Soon, the pain will stop. Turmoil will cease. You’ll rise from the ashes more alive than ever.

“Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 percent of everything you think and of everything you do is for your ‘self’—and there isn't one.”- Wei Wu Wei. We live in an illusion of separateness, but not unlike great poets and sages have gorgeously pointed out — we are all drops of the same ocean. #playbigger

Be it now. Whatever you think you need to do/have before you can feel _______ is not true. With practice, you can learn to feel it now. Feelings are a result of perception. Perception is a result of focus. Focus is a result of unconscious programming or conscious choice. Study how to direct your mind and choose to impregnate the moment with meanings that free you.

Judging something negatively in another person actually means you’ve found a quality or behavior in yourself you’re wrestling. Practice compassion and you will be free to move forward.

Love. It is all love. No kidding. Somebody behaves in a way that is annoying, hurtful, or crazy to you? They’re scared, one way or another, about not being loved. Love them, without design or desire. It heals everything.

^same thing, but for you. In turmoil? Fearful? Sad? Approach it logically, when you’re ready, and find the fault in your thinking proof where you concluded your lifeline to love was at risk.
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The more you give, the more there is. <- The math you didn’t learn at school.

Treating my mind and body like domesticable animals.

We have these two incredible tools to traverse our universe and planet, respectively, and what do we do with them? Let them run us into the proverbial ground. Senseless, stressy thoughts. Poor body management. Lazy everything.

Loops on loops on loops of the same circular messes, all dirtying our best intentions and highest truths.
But, alas! There is a better way!

Leveraging Eastern philosophy, Western psychology, and a grab bag of physiology, physics, art, and poetry gadgets, I now have two adorable, highly-functional, only-sometimes-annoying pets.

“ello, Mind. hullo, Body. It’s me, yo’ boss.”

Taking the reins of these two animals and breaking them in is as much willpower as it is an understanding.

If you aren’t your body, which Michael Singer beautifully argues in “The Search for Truth,” *and* you have the ability to observe the voice in your head, which makes it separate from the thing observing (you, baby), then you can safely walk towards the comforting conclusion that *YOU* are neither.

Discovering this was game-changing— the incessant wants of my mind and body were irrelevant noise and mostly pointless, troublemaking antics.

After the understanding, then the work.

For years I had been winding down (or maybe it’s up?) the path of enlightenment and this tiny truth time-wrinkled the road.

I set out to learn how to reliably rule both for the greater good — peace.

TBH, it’s a bit of a scuffle to restore authority to its proper owner.

Here are some strategies I found useful:

• Start small
  • If you want to learn to play piano, you begin with something manageable. Like where and how you sit.
  • Instead of wrestling your biggest dragons, start with something that isn’t emotionally-charged. Like making your bed or nixing negative talk.
• Use data
  • You (the mind) can’t lie to you (you-you) about many numbers for very long.
  • Most things can be tracked — calories, words, time, applications — so quantify the BEHAVIOR (not the outcome) and train yourself to stick to MANAGEABLE targets.
• Be forgiving
  • If you jack up (and you will), don’t abandon the cause. Review what’s working and what’s not. Make a pivot and keep playing.
• Invite other eyes
  • A mentor, an unbiased audience, or some public display of something will make a difference.
  • For example, working with a personal trainer helps when you (the body) doesn’t want to push past thresholds towards what you (you-you) really want.
• Recognize discomfort and resistance as goal posts
  • If your mind starts to chatter like two girls on a Friday afternoon school bus, know you’ve found a huge opportunity for growth.
  • Come to terms with being uncomfortable mentally and physically and learn to find joy, or at least humor, in it.
  
  

The idea is to build up confidence in your inner knowing, find a reliable protocol to dominate these two demanding entities, and strengthen your ability to focus and execute even when they urge/yell/protest.
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I have to say, IMHO, it’s worth a few months of psychological scrapes, ego bruises, and pouty, whole-body standoffs. When you have these powerful beasts on your higher side, you’re practically limitless.
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