Entries Tagged 'Balance' ↓

The first hour is the rudder of the day. We essentially set the tone ( or the vibe) for the day starting the moment we’re awake.

Here is an exercise for you.

Tomorrow morning as soon as you’re awake pay attention to what’s going on in your head. Even before you get out of bed.

What is the conversation going on in your head. Are you glad to be up or do you hate that damn alarm clock. Are you having a pleasant conversation ( in your head) or is it one of lack and annoyance or worse.

First time I tried that exercise I was shocked to find out how someone as positive as me could have so much negativity in the first 5 minutes of the day……. It was an eye opener……..

This is my morning routine.

Sometime between 5:30 and 6:00

I am consciously in my body( time you wake up-before getting up) I take a few deep breaths and recognize this morning my body is alive. That’s a good start.

then I think of my expectation for this day to be a happy and exciting day and a day of constant contact with my infinite source. A few more deep breaths. hug my wife and get out of bed. Great to see my feet are still working..

I drink a pint of water.:::Slowly:::. Notice how the water hydrates my body starting with my tongue. If I don’t need more water then head to bathroom for the shower/shave/brush. Before I start I set my intention to clean my physical body. And during the process I produce positive thoughts. Think about funny things, fun things anything to keep increasing my vibe.

Now my body is watered and clean I grab my dream-magazine (Turk made magazine filled with things I want in my life.) I look at the pictures until my vibe reaches the point where I am happy to have those things in my life. Then I set my timer to 20 minutes, and start thinking about my life at that point in particular about the feeling I am going to have about it.

When the alarm goes off. I ask for clear guidance for anything I must do to reach that vision and faith for the times I’m in doubt of my connection to my God.

My work for this day is done.

I dress up and GOOOooooooo.

Discus this post in Turk Akbay Forum

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I’ve been in the Metaphysics kick lately. Submerging my brain in books, MP3s  and videos. I also just realized I’ve been visualizing to accomplish things and/or to bring them to me rather than for the joy of it. I think Gordon “the Go getter” has snuck in from the back door to keep my mind running rather than creating.

I’m going to stop now.

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This expression feels very current to me. It refers to the fact that a busy cobbler will be so busy making shoes for his customers that he has no time to make some for his own children.

I’ve been so busy past 6-8 months preparing for the launch of my training site and my forum I just remember I haven’t send out anything to my list all this time.

I’m afraid they’ll think I forgot about them.

Silver lining to all this is I’ll be done with 2007 in couple days and that is a great feeling.

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Saturday was Charlotte Marathon (AKA Thunder roll).

I’m not a runner, and after seeing how unprofesional the event was handled by Run Charlotte I don’t plan to become a runner any time soon.

Being stuck in my neighborhood because of all the roads being blocked did not stop me from looking for something to learn from this experience (besides boycotting all Run Charlotte events.)  I learned life is like a marathon. Everyone has to go in their own pace. There were fast runners, and slow walkers. There were slow walkers ahead of fast runners which indicated they were faster runners at one point, but in time the people they past at one point will catch up and/or pass them.

It became obvious to me marathon is like life an individual experience. You are among your peers,  but it’s you the runner has to determine your pace, when to speed up, when to slow down, when to stop and start again. All of those decisions must be based on minute by minute changes in you.

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Originally uploaded by Turk Akbay

Djembe had an operation Friday and was shocked when he heard the vet’s instructions: No running, No jumping, No chasing of cats, squirrels or lions for 10 days.

I remember when I was his age I had an operation and I wasn’t allowed to run, jump or chase lions either, and was just as frustrated.

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Funny commercial clip
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0kz8MCxq6A]

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We have the unique ability to define their identity, choose their values and establish their beliefs. All three of these directly influence a person’s behavior. Conscious use of effective affirmations can modify any and all of these three behavior controlling factors resulting different responses than would have occurred previously to a given situation.

A fundamental principle of psychology is: “People are internally compelled to respond to situations in ways that will support or be consistent with their beliefs.” When a person reaches to turn-on a light switch or turns the key in a car’s ignition, his action is motivated by the belief, based on past experience, that light will be produced or that motor of the car will begin to run. A person with no belief of light being produced by changing the mechanical position of a lever or that transportation by other than animals is possible would not be motivated to take these simple actions. People have been known to go to great lengths demonstrate the validity of their beliefs, including war and sacrificing their own life. Conversely, people are not motivated to support or validate the beliefs of another, when those beliefs are contrary to their own.

People also will act congruent with their personal values or what they deem to be important. One definition of values is: “A value is a principle that promotes well-being or prevents harm.” Another definition of “values” is “They are our guidelines for our success-our paradigm about what is acceptable.” One resource on values defines Personal Values as: “Emotional beliefs in principles regarded as particularly favorable or important for the individual.” Our values associate emotions to our experiences to guide our choices, decisions and actions. The father of American psychology, William James, identified that “When the will and the emotions are in conflict, the emotions most often win.” Consequently, a person’s actions rarely conflict with their values and distress is felt when they do conflict.

A person’s observations of their environment are filtered through his values to determine whether or not he should expend energy to do something about his experiences. A person that values gold and sees a large bag of gold (a positive value) in his path as he walks will be motivated to reach down and pick it up. A person that values his life and knows about venomous snakes will retreat from the sound of a rattlesnake (a negative value) nearby when he is walking in the desert. Said another way, “Values are the scales we use to weigh our choices for our actions, whether to move towards or away from something.”

Not all values have the same weight or priority. Some are more important that others and must be satisfied before others can be addressed. Dr. Abraham Maslow illustrated this with his hierarchy of human needs. Survival has a higher priority than security, which has a higher priority than social acceptance. Self-esteem can only be addressed to the degree that social acceptance fulfilled. Similarly, self-actualization can only be pursued to the degree that self-esteem has been satisfied.

One of the things a person holds most important is her/his “identity.” Dr. Maxwell Maltz, identified over 4 decades ago that people will behave in accordance with their definition of themselves or their self-image. A person that has an identity that is “I’m terrible at math.” will avoid having to solve mathematical problems or will make more than the normal amount of errors when doing so. A person with the self-image of “I am an excellent public speaker.” will eagerly speak before large audiences, while a person with the opposite self-image will do whatever is necessary to avoid speak-in to even small groups of people.

A person’s beliefs, values and identity are usually acquired unconsciously based on his personal experience or observations of others’ experiences as to what produces desirable or undesirable results in the environment. A baby’s learning to walk and talk are clear examples of identifying with human adults, valuing the act of being able to have the mobility and communication ability of an adult and the belief, based on unconscious observation, that humans can and do walk and do talk with each other.

Physiologists have been able to identify the parts of the human brain that are involved in producing behavior in accordance with beliefs, values and identity. All information collected by human senses is passed through a net-like group of cells, known as the Reticular Activating System (RAS), located near the top of the brain stem. The RAS compares the data received with accepted values, positive and negative (threats), and beliefs stored in memory and determines whether or not immediate action is required. The results of the RAS’s comparison are communicated to the amygdala near the mid-brain.

The amygdala produces neuro-chemicals that cause emotions consistent with the nature of and proportional to the match between environment and values and beliefs. The neuro-chemicals initiate the chemical processes needed for the action to be taken. If the emotions produced are strong enough, the perceived information is blocked from reaching the logical, rational and conscious executive center of the brain, the pre-frontal lobes. In which case, the resulting behavior will be automatic, not necessarily logical or rational, and completely in accordance with the person’s strongest held beliefs, values and/or identity.

Put succinctly, a person’s beliefs about his/her identity and what is important determines his or her response to the stimuli received from the environment. These beliefs are stored in the subconscious mind and are subject to change by the conscious mind. Before a child learns to count correctly, he only know the names of numbers not the sequential order for them. Once he makes a conscious decision to count correctly, he memorizes the correct order through repetition and positive reinforcement. Before a person learns their multiplication tables, he does not believe that 8 time 8 equals 64. He consciously develops the belief that this is true either by repetitiously memorizing the multiplication table or by an “ah-ha” response from laying out 8 groups of 8 objects each and then counting all the objects to see that the total is 64. Through these methods the belief is built that the “truth” is that counting means that numbers have a specific order and that “8 times 8” and “64” mean the same thing.

The same process of repetition using affirmations can modify or create new beliefs about a person’s identity and/or what is important to him (his values). Simple verbal repetition of statements intended to become new beliefs, values or identity will result in these being stored for use by the RAS for comparison with the environment being experienced. The longer the period of time affirmations are repeated the higher the priority they are given in a person’s value system and therefore the more they influence the person’s behavior. Typically, consistent daily repetition over a minimum period of 3 to 5 weeks is necessary to create new behaviors. The greater the difference between the current beliefs, values and identity and the intended ones; the longer is the time needed for repetition to produce the new behaviors. Ultimately, the affirmation will dominate over the previous beliefs, values or identity trait in the person’s subconscious and will automatically produce the corresponding behavior.

This process can be accelerated by affirmations that produce emotional responses and vivid images when they are verbalized. The more intense the emotion the quicker the realization of the affirmation. The clearer and more complete the image that is triggered by the affirmation, the more accurately and quickly the intention will be realized.

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