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There’s a difference between being intelligent and being conscious.

It’s possible to be extremely smart, yet relatively unconscious.

I don’t care how smart you are.

Strive to be increasingly conscious.

Here is my top seven list of things to develop greater consciousness around:

1) Yourself. What makes you tick. Your needs and desires. Your unconscious habit patterns. Know thyself. At least so you can stop impacting the rest of us with what an asshole you are. (I’m sorry, am I projecting again?)

2) The people around you, their needs, their beauty, and their preciousness.

3) Nature. Even in a city, the signs of nature abound. Be more conscious of other beings as well as natural processes. Without nature we’re toast.

4) The preciousness of this moment. The miracle of being alive and of each breath. Albert Einstein wrote: “There are two ways to live- you can live as if nothing is a miracle, or you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

5) Gratitude. Make it your second nature to plug into appreciation and gratitude. Without suppressing your awareness of unpleasant realities, choose where to put your focus, and focus on positivity and gratitude.

6) Possibility. So much more is possible than that of which we’re aware. As Permaculture teacher extraordinaire Doug Bullock once said to my design class, “dream big and go for it!”

7) Humor. Cultivate lightheartedness, play, and fun. Quite taking yourself so seriously.

What are some other things that you would add to this list?

Post them below.

 

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by Alan on May 15, 2012 in Mindsets

A sure-fire recipe to not do something is to tell yourself you should.

Anything done out of “duty” or obligation, shoulds or have-tos, is not nearly as enjoyable, and can easily lead to resentment either of the task or of other people.

Instead, back off until you can connect to how it serves. How does it contribute to life? What Needs does it meet?

A simple example: doing the dishes.

You can do the dishes out of a should or a have-to, or a sense of obligation. The task quickly becomes a drag – creating tension in your mind and body – and you may even resent other people for it.

Or you can connect with how doing the dishes meets your needs for health and hygiene, or order and cleanliness; or how doing the dishes aligns with your values of being a contributing member of your household.

When you are connected with the needs it will be more fun.

The energy with which we do things is just as important as the action itself.

The cost of doing things out of shoulds and have-tos is too high.

Please quit shoulding on yourself!

 

 

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by Alan on May 10, 2012 in Mindsets

Fell off the horse again?

May 9, 2012

I don’t care how many times you’ve fallen off the horse. What matters to me is your willingness to continually get back on.

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Geeks and geezers

May 1, 2012

The geeks and geezers syndrome refers to the following, fascinating, cultural phenomenon: The most likely demographic to be engaged in personal development work are people in their late teens and early-to-mid twenties and people approaching their 60s and older. The period in between — the adult doldrums — tends to be characterized by much less [...]

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The two wings of the positive change agent

April 27, 2012

What is the relationship between creating positive change in the world and personal development? From my perspective, each leads to the other. Positive change work leads to personal development In our efforts to make a difference or have an impact, we will run into our personal barriers: limiting beliefs about ourselves, or about the goodness [...]

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Imaginal cells

April 17, 2012

Caterpillars spend a relatively long and stable phase of their lives as caterpillars and then also a relatively long and stable period as a butterfly. But it is the time in the cocoon that is shorter and full of extraordinary transformation. Biologists found that there are cells in the caterpillar’s body which are activated in [...]

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Best advice I’ve ever gotten, part 1

April 12, 2012

At the age of 20, a very wise Outward Bound instructor said to me: “Alan, you have a good cognitive mind. But I suggest you get some direct experience first-hand through meditation. I’m not here to sell you on my technique or tradition. Actually you need to go out there and ‘shop around’ – pardon [...]

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My job in this moment

April 11, 2012

Sometimes I lay awake at night, my wheels turning. I just can’t stop thinking about this or that — and then I remind myself: “What is my job RIGHT NOW – in this very moment?” (The answer late at night in bed is sleep or at least rest.) It’s often clarifying and stress-reducing to bring [...]

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Pre-empting confusion

April 5, 2012

I’ve been working hard, building the “Blackbelt Communication Skills Coaching Program.” This is an online program that will include about 50 training videos, monthly Q&A/Coaching calls, a live event (and a few extra surprises). I’m very excited and I know this program will benefit many people! But I realize the term Blackbelt may confuse a [...]

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Open loops

April 4, 2012

Projects begun but not completed, agreements made but not followed through with, these are all open loops. Open loops are like airplanes that have taken off but not landed. We are in the control tower, and the more open loops we have, the more stress and distraction. So land as many as you can. Close [...]

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